Will and the people Pitch

Focus Group

Our Chosen Song

Alternative Music Genre Conventions

With this analysis i looked at two different music videos that were the same genre of music as our chosen song. 

Mise-en-scene

The settings for both videos are quite abnormal. Muse set theirs on a ship in the middle of the sea and The Killers setting theirs in a dessert. This show that alternative music is really trying to stay away from the typical city or suburbia shots or settings. Both bands appear to be wearing smart-casual clothing, which appears that seems to be quite popular within the genre. In ‘Starlight’ the lighting is natural as it is shot outside. However there are fire works that help light up the band and you see that the whole music video is done almost as a performance and narrative is a small section. Which is something we need to take into account. As you could say that it is the same for the Killers video as well performance is blended well with narrative. Where as when you were young’ has part shot inside where the lighting is quite limited at times. Different styles of lighting such as ‘side lighting’ are used to reflect the mood and tonality of both the music and the narrative of the video.

Camera work

High angle shots are used to establish the setting of the video There are constant close ups of both members of band and their instruments. Group shot show the bands in their entirety. Low angle shots capture the lead singers and allow them to dominate the screens. Mid shots are used to good effect to show detailed movements of people in the video Long shots are used to capture an overall image of the narrative of the video.

Editing

Editing goes to the same speed as the beat of the song.  Also known as cutting to the beat. We also see that there is Fading used when the music is at a slower tempo. So when doing our video that is something that we will factor in as pace of editing can really determine whether you have a good or bad music video. When looking at the narrative part of both music videos we se Speed of editing matches the narrative of the video. For example, if someone is angry the editing speed a quick. Whereas if someone is sad, the speed of the editing is slow

Example magazine advert design

Vox pop Analysis

What is your favourite music video and why: 

From this first question we saw that people have a large variety of ideas this shows that no one person is alike by this I mean that people like them for different reasons however I feel that a slight trend would have to be the fact that a lot of the choices involved pop and rock music videos. So for us we need to make sure that we would include bright colors and also you could use word and object placement. Which is used a lot stereotypically within pop music videos. Secondly with Rock you could say that there is a large amount of performance within those types of music video, so we have to get a good balance of quality performance and narrative.

What is your favourite Genre of Music:

Do you prefer to see narrative or performance: 

The answers that we got back from the different interviewees was a split if anything however i would say it went more towards performance so when creating or doing the performance i would say that it would have to be done so it not only looks professional but however has to be the bit that makes our music video rememberable and what draws our audience back to it so that you can watch it or want to watch it multiple times.

What do you like to see in a music video: 

This was a varied response form the individuals who where questioned this will be down solely because of peoples personal preference when watching a music video. The responses where things from explosion to bright colours and good performance so in review i would say we would have to make sure that we target our performance and make it as professional as possible. 

Magazine Advert Cover Conventions

This is a magazine advert by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers in 2006 for their new album ‘Stadium Arcadium’. I believe that this is an effective magazine advert because it is attractive to the eye and also the main text which is the name of the new album is bold and large which could make people want to find out what it is. At the top of the poster it clearly has the name of the band ‘Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ so that people that haven’t seen this new album know who it is by.

The magazine advert also includes information on when the album is released which is very important, as it says the album comes out on the 8^th May 2006, this gives people the opportunity to go to a store on this day knowing it will have been released if they want to buy it.

Other information on the magazine advert includes a small piece of text below the release date of the album saying that it includes their hit single ‘Dani California’, this gives them a chance to increase their sales of their album as if people that do not know much of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers but they know of this hit song as they’ve heard it and really like it, then they may buy the album to see if they like their other songs in the album, giving them a better promotion of themselves and better marketing.

As well as all of that information the magazine advert also includes some advertising for the company O2 as at the bottom right corner their is their logo and on the left of it in the middle is some text that says 'Text CHILLIS to 2020 for exclusive downloads, ringtones and competitions on O2'. This could give the Red Hot Chilli Peppers a wider range of target audience in the people who are with O2 as it gives them access to these extras meaning that more people may want the album or other Red Hot Chilli Peppers merchandise.

Example digipack

DigiPaks are designed to fold into a square CD case. They can fold many different ways and can have different amount of panels. For my example it is a total of 6 panels. This is, as it will not over load the buyer with information however giving them enough to want to buy another Digipak from a different album. The front and back panels are the main promoters of the CD or the bands new album and are very much used to draw in the customers. The inside of the DigiPak is used more for information and extra bits to do with the artist/song/album. The theme of the inside packaging normally is more subtle compared to the outside packaging. However this can also depend on the type of band and there genre of music. You will find that there are cardboard/paper folds around the plastic case, which secures the disc in place

The front of DigiPaks tend to have a large eye-catching picture on them however again this can really rely on the type of band for example pink Floyd. The picture illustrated on the front panels tend to have some relation to the songs or artist The song or the album title is also found on the front panel or again not the case for bands like Pink Floyd.

4. Pink Floyd

Dark Side of the Moon (1973)

Design by Hipgnosis and George Hardie

“The prism represented both the diversity and cleanliness of the sound of the music,” said the designer. “In a more conscious way, it worked for a band with a reputation for their light show. The triangle is a symbol of ambition, one of the themes Roger was concerned with. So you had several ideas coming together.” However by doing this it also made a name for the band as they began every album over from there and previously so that fans new what they were looking for when going into a music shop or record shop. 

CD / DVD digipack

 

What is a digipack?

Digipaks typically consist of a book-style paperboard or card stock binding the pieces together, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside. However not designed or known for being sturdy, the idea of a digipack is to raise awareness of the band and there style. Since Digipaks were among the first alternatives to jewel cases to be used by major record companies, and because there is no other common name for Digipaks-style packaging made by other companies, the term Digipaks.

What Consists within a Digipaks?

•Card packaging

•Gate fold effect

•4-8 panels

•more info than traditional case

•Special editions / limited edition / collector’s edition, this is a marketing tool

•often additional material, extra disc, poster, lyrics, booklet

Will and the People - Holiday lyrics

Will and the People

Holiday

 

 

A long year and we don't like rainy days
Time to go on a holiday
We pay our taxes and the man lets us go away
So we should go, we should go

Jump on a plane and as we are flying low
Many many heads looking out the window
The sun is shining below me is my lilo
So we should go, we should go

14 or 40, you lie about your age
A funny foamy party is followed by a rave

Fly, fly away, 'cause you might find a better place to play
Where there is a man with a union jack on his back... you know stereo, the stereotypes... we all dance together

Dance together, dance together, dance together, oh

Super cubre libre we love the soiree...
Beer goggles on and I'm sick in the buffet.
Who was that girl? And what was her name?
I couldn't find her man she went back on a plane

14 or 40, you lie about your age,
A funny foamy party is followed by a rave.

Fly, fly away, 'cause you might find a better place to play
Where there's a man with a union jack on his back,
You know stereo, the stereotypes... we all dance together

You can fly, fly away, 'cause you might find a better place to play
Where there's a man with a union jack on his back,
You know stereo, the stereotypes... we all dance together

Dance together, dance together, dance together, oh
Dance together, dance together, dance together

Music Preliminary

Locations for use on our music video:

Skegness beach: (Reason for use of location) 
The reason for using this location within our music video is because the song is called holiday and we want it to be a play on the fact that we are going on a naff British holiday. However we will be using a lot of hand held shots to resemble the band filming there own music video. This location will also provide us with multiple places that we can add outside performance which is very stereotypical to our genre.


Back garden: (Ryan Fincham’s house)
The reasoning behind this is that we are going to be needing some shots that we will not only need privacy for however we will also need different props that we can not take out or get hold of when we are at our main place of filming.

Fast food outlet:
The reason for using this is because we are going to be using suggestible shots within  our music video. By this I mean within the lyrics there is words about eating food so we would like to have a suggestive shot of the band eating the food of either in a typical fashion by ordering fish and chips when you are at the sea side or by eating it in a disgusting manor.  



Cliff side (Used for aeroplane Shot):
This cliff side shot will be used for a shot of the band looking over the cliff and also performing. I believe with different angles used it can be a rather affective shot. we will also use it for our magazine advert as if the lighting is good it will make our band stand out as I believe no one else will get this shot .



Pub/Bar:
This again is another suggestive shot as one of the band members will try to get into a bar however "14 or 40 you lie about your age" which is a line in the song so it will be the band member being rejected access to a club.





Sand Dunes:

The reason for getting these shots would be so we can have the band running through a gap in the dunes making it look like they are excited to get on this British holiday. 

Genre

Definition of genre:

A music genre is a conventional category that identifies pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometimes interchanged and go into sub genres within a main genre.

History of indie and alternative music:

Indie music is a mix of pop, jazz, rock and blues. Indie music was created in the 1950-60’s but was very underground meaning indie bands played in little venues and in their garages. Indie music did not grow in popularity till the 80’s. Indie artists created music how they wanted. Therefore they usually were not getting signed to a big producer and did not make a lot of money. Indie artists rather create their own music or sound than rather make a lot of money. In fact they prefer to not be as popular as pop music and other genres. To this day Indie music is not as popular as the others. But a lot of well-known Indie bands started as small garage bands. It took a lot of practice and dedication. They played at venues often and started off with small CD’s.

Alternative rock music became popular in the 1990's but the history or alternative rock music goes back farther than that. Before Nirvana brought alternative rock music to the mainstream audience, the music genre had been gaining popularity with the college crowds and music underground. In the 1980's REM was making their start in alternative rock music. Most of their airtime was given by college radio stations. This is where their loyal fan base started. However, their commercial success started at about the time that alternative started to really become popular in the 1990's. The popularity of alternative rock music came about after the grunge period. Grunge was a type of alternative rock music that denounced commercialism. This movement started in Seattle, Washington and soon took the world by storm. This was ironic since it was this type of music that helped to create the commercial success for alternative rock music. Bands such as Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Similar examples of Indie music:

As we can see from this image we can see that indie music contains a large amount of colour within the album covers which you could say is represented with the lyrics of the songs that they produce. With these we do see the idea of them trying to be minimalist which is how the genre started out. People not playing to make lots of money but to have fun and jam with your friends within your garage.

 

Focus group Questions

Questions

Thumbs up thumbs down: do you like the song  

-what sort of Target Audience would you expect the song to have

·        Age:

·        Gender:

·        Type of person who would listen to this song please tick:

 

We will now present our idea:

 

·        What changes would you make?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

·        Have you seen an idea like this before? Scale of uniqueness, 1 being unique 5 not:

 

·         1       2       3       4       5

 

What genre you think it is – multiple choice

________________________________________________________________

 Your name: __________________________________________________________________________________

Your Age:

__________________________________________________________________________________

You’re Gender:

__________________________________________________________________________________

Post Modernism Within Music Videos

In order to make a music video experience unique and to break new ground in the creative aspect of music videos, directors use post modernism and related concepts when creating their vision.

 Post modernism is defined as "A late 20th century style characterised by use of earlier styles and conventions and mixing of different artistic styles and media". In essence post modernism uses modernism as its base. Modernism was a movement between the 1890's and the 1960's that intended to change out dated culture and reject realism in doing so. Post modernism is the idea of using modernism as a base and mixing that with other culture. There are a range of sub-divisions in post modernism including: intertextuality, parody, pastiche, and homage. All of these can be seen across all of popular culture including film and television, and of course music videos are no exception.

Intertextuality:
 Intertextuality is when one media text refers to another, this is quite similar to both parody and homage, however the reference is less direct as an homage, and is not intended as a mockery in the sense that a parody is. Intertextual references are essentially a tribute to a genre or the conventions of  another genre in popular culture.

The video for "Buddy Holly" by Weezer is an intertextual reference because it uses earlier popular culture and bases its video on it, in this case the video is set in an episode of "Happy Days".

Parody:
A parody is the use of a reference to other forms of earlier media intended as a mockery of that product. Often a parody will exaggerate certain parts of the mise en scene of the referenced product in order to make fun of it, or they will produce a similar narrative aspect to the imitated media with a, more often than not, comedic edge to it.

The video for "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys is a tribute to cop shows from the 1970's and 1980's which had very distinctive elements of mise en scene such as the aviator sunglasses, moustaches, and American muscle cars, elements that are exaggerated in this video along with certain conventions like kicking down doors and sliding over bonnets.

Pastiche and Homage:
A pastiche is a work that imitates the style of another work, period or artist as a self-conscious imitation, this particular term is used in close relation to homage. An Homage, much like a pastiche, is a respectful imitation of an earlier work. These are often used because of the artists personal admiration of these works.

The video for "Time is Running Out" by Muse is an homage to the movie Dr Strangelove being set in a war room as part of a crisis meeting like in the film.

 The video for "In Bloom" by Nirvana is a mixture of what is, stylistically, a parody of The Beatles' appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, and what, by the end of the video, is a classic  representation of a chaotic Nirvana live performance.