Matt is aged 17. He grew up in a small town/suburb.
He finished his GCSE's and went straight to College to study music.
He is in a mostly unknown punk band playing out of the drummer's garage who play local shows every 2 months or so.
He owns 5 guitars and has been playing guitar for 5 years. He plays mostly mellow music at home but thrashy punk music for his band.
He listens to bands like Foo fighters, Avenged Sevenfold, Greenday, 30 Seconds to mars, The clash, Blink 182 and
He doesn't particularly like the heavier side of music but appreciates the skill reuired to play it and likes a few bands like Metallica, ACDC and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Music Label Institutions
The Croft's Influences-
Foo Fighters - RCA - Flagship label of Sony Music Entertainment
Avenged Sevenfold - Warner Bros
Kings of Leon - RCA & Sony Music
Snow Patrol - Fiction & Interscope
Rise Against - Interscope
All-American Rejects - Interscope
Bullet for My Valentine - Sony Music
R.E.M - Warner Bros
Interscope Records Wiki
It appears Interscope (derivative of Universal Music Group) incorporate many different genres (hybrid) under their label. Many bands under Interscope do not stick to one genre, and diversify into others that are similar.
This label would be suitable for The Croft since many of their songs can be classed as different genres (rock, punk, alternative rock). Interscope also acquire bands that influence The Croft (All-American Rejects, Snow Patrol, Rise Against), and these bands are not glued to one specific genre.
Avenged Sevenfold - Warner Bros
Kings of Leon - RCA & Sony Music
Snow Patrol - Fiction & Interscope
Rise Against - Interscope
All-American Rejects - Interscope
Bullet for My Valentine - Sony Music
R.E.M - Warner Bros
Interscope Records Wiki
It appears Interscope (derivative of Universal Music Group) incorporate many different genres (hybrid) under their label. Many bands under Interscope do not stick to one genre, and diversify into others that are similar.
This label would be suitable for The Croft since many of their songs can be classed as different genres (rock, punk, alternative rock). Interscope also acquire bands that influence The Croft (All-American Rejects, Snow Patrol, Rise Against), and these bands are not glued to one specific genre.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Jack's Progress Report
Positive - Negative
2 Music video analysis' completed
Twitter account registered
Researched into the music genre
Discussed music album covers relating to our genre
In an ideal world I'd have more blog posts
Need to talk about and research the audience and fan side of the genre
Could do with researching into numerical statistics in relation to the genre
Need clarification on blogging objectives and targets
Rock album covers and their image
I looked at some album covers of the three different genres our band cover; rock, progressive
Rock
This is a very typical rock album cover. The lead singer is in the middle of the group, with the guitarists/bassists to his side, and the drummer in the back. It's the setup you would see at a concert or gig, and the picture denotates them playing live. Their hairstyles definitely meet the 'rocker' expectation. Black and long, the typical convention associated with rock. Also their clothing, black jeans, leather jackets, belts and chains, also depict the same message.The artists poses signify quite an old, traditional rock image, that I doubt would be used in this day as an album cover, as times have changed, and rock has modernized.
Progressive Rock
Rock
Progressive Rock
Here is an unusal album cover.It clearly shows 4 men, dressed "oddly" sitting round a dining table in an unusual location. It looks like a very hot desert or another planet perhaps, maybe mars considering the red colour. Also the album is called "Black Holes & Revelations" so the extra-terrestrial planet can relate to black holes. Also it seems that the men and the table are the only objects in that area, surrounded by a lot of sky and space, with space again relating to black holes. The 4 men are wearing unusual, eccentric clothing - shiny and wild, colourful suits. This represents Muse's music and how different they are. Muse and their music genre have the ability to be different and not follow orthodox genre conventions.
Alternative Rock
The album cover is in black and white (apart from the band name text) this makes it seem retro and vintage. Which meets genre expectations. On the right you see 2 of the artists, kneeling, with 1 trying to perform a medical action of pumping the chest. Along with the person laying on the floor clearly looking knocked out, this medical action also proves hes knocked out/ unconscious. The man on the left draws a lot of attention to himself as his face is lit up and holding his hand out as if signalling "stop". This shows he acknowledges the camera which is taking the photo, and my implication of this is that the person taking the photo is a photographer/paparazzi and is taking a photo of the aftermath of the night out these men endured. And because it seems like quite a controversial night out (unconscious man on the pavement) the man on the left is trying to prevent the photo being taken.
Quite a confusing/ interesting album cover because they're all wearing formal suits, and you don't associate this apparel with folk laying unconscious on the side of the road. You could intepret he has passed out because of an intense night involving copious amounts of alcohol, which can be associated with the heavy, rock lifestyle in which they party and drink a lot. However this is different, thus giving an edge, or difference over the typical rock conventions.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody music video analysis
The first shot shows the band watching themselves pre-recorded on television. This is quite unusual as it is not common for an artist to watch, or acknowledge themselves in a music video. It may also subliminally relate to fans watching the music video, by suggesting it is something the fans would do - watch prerecorded footage of the Kings Of Leon on television. In the beginning multiple shots are used to interest, entice and somewhat confuse the viewer. The shots change between a aerial shot of an american city at night, traffic on a motorway, and live performances by the band. It then blends in to a close up of the lead singer, singing to and around the camera. This to some extent supports the Horton and Wohl "Parasocial Theory". This is about involving the audience with the video. If he singing to the camera it is as though he is singing to the audience, however this is highly associated with pop boy bands, and so for Kings Of Leon to keep it suitable for the rock genre, he doesn't cosistently look at the camera, but glances at it, and also looks around it. It builds up to the chrous where it then goes into a live perfomance of the band on stage and shows the crowd within this. This adds interactivity to the band and its fans by including them in their music video. Shots of the band backstage and in the dressing room are also shown, this again, is a plus for the fans of the band, by showing extra and perhaps exclusive footage.
As the second verse continues, scenes are still switching between the performance and the simple narrative, which is the band walking down the street and into a pub. Where it seems they are having fun, bonding and exchanging banter. And once again, when it breaks into the chorus, and the beat becomes faster, faster cuts are used to increase the pace of the video.
The whole video seems to revolve around night time with the scenes of the city and freeways. There was not one shot where it was in the day time, so overall the lighting of the video is dark, I think this is to do with the incorporation of the live performances, which are normally played during the evening. And also the video seems to focus on the band and the performances then the narrative itself.
As the second verse continues, scenes are still switching between the performance and the simple narrative, which is the band walking down the street and into a pub. Where it seems they are having fun, bonding and exchanging banter. And once again, when it breaks into the chorus, and the beat becomes faster, faster cuts are used to increase the pace of the video.
The whole video seems to revolve around night time with the scenes of the city and freeways. There was not one shot where it was in the day time, so overall the lighting of the video is dark, I think this is to do with the incorporation of the live performances, which are normally played during the evening. And also the video seems to focus on the band and the performances then the narrative itself.
Progress evaluation
Obviously I would have liked to have done some more posting, but the fact is that I'm not ENTIRELY sure what I need to be posting on.
I'm happy with my video evaluations but I'm certain that my contribution comes more in the form of verbal ideas than actual blog posts.
I'm happy with my video evaluations but I'm certain that my contribution comes more in the form of verbal ideas than actual blog posts.
Greenday - Boulevard of Broken dreams video analysis
Worm's eye view of a car breaking down on the road, close ups of each band member as they get out of the car and a medium shot of the singer kicking the car in frustration.
The camera centres on the singer's face with a medium shot as he begins singing. long shots from thigh up to catch each band member walking towards the left as scenery moves behind them. The video is heavily edited with pieces of desolate landscape in the background. During the chorus there are sequences when the camera zooms in and zooms out on the band as they walk.
The band members are wearing clothes representative of their genre in the sort of smart-casual area by wearing shirts, ties and blazers with skinny jeans and trainers.
After the first chorus we see medium shots of the band with their instruments. During these sequences we see lots of shots that involve various members fading in and out of focus. A lot of these cuts are tied with segments of the song, such as focussing on the bassist as he does the backup singing in the chorus. There are also a lot of sweeping shots to the drummer during the end part of the song.
The camera centres on the singer's face with a medium shot as he begins singing. long shots from thigh up to catch each band member walking towards the left as scenery moves behind them. The video is heavily edited with pieces of desolate landscape in the background. During the chorus there are sequences when the camera zooms in and zooms out on the band as they walk.
The band members are wearing clothes representative of their genre in the sort of smart-casual area by wearing shirts, ties and blazers with skinny jeans and trainers.
After the first chorus we see medium shots of the band with their instruments. During these sequences we see lots of shots that involve various members fading in and out of focus. A lot of these cuts are tied with segments of the song, such as focussing on the bassist as he does the backup singing in the chorus. There are also a lot of sweeping shots to the drummer during the end part of the song.
Music video deconstruction-Avenged Sevenfold, The Beast And The Harlot
I chose to review and deconstruct this video because of its stated influences to the band and relevance to the song we have chosen. I.e Heavy riffs, powerful drumming and aggressive vocals.
The first thing i notice in this video is the lighting and hue of the video. Its dark and shallow. This compliments the music being over driven and deep. The whole mise en scene of the video is shaped around the style of music and appearance of the band.
There is a story being told throughout the video which accompanies the lyrics. It exchanges between the story line and a live performance of the band.
During the live performance we see Matt (singer) give a direct mode of address to the viewers by looking at the camera. This supports the Horton and Wohl "parasocial theory". This is the idea that fans have a parasocial relationship with the artist. In other words. They feel involved.
The video comes across as being a high budget video. This appears like this to me with flashy lights, Alot of actors/actresses, and effects. (The skin being covered black)
There is alot of burlesque-esque women in this video. This attracts the male viewer considerably, especially because the rest of the band are males. Sigmund Freud's Theory of voyeurism comes in to play here. His theory is that pleasure may be gained by looking at a sexual object. Which is obvious but very valid. Without this appeal male viewers may become bored or distracted from the video and its selling purposes.
When the band is performing, the camera works impact on the meaning. Angles and movements are quite in particular and messy. This reflects the band attitude and the songs energy and style. Also the editing is fast cut and on the synchronized. This creates an energetic busy video.
The storyline on the video includes no dialogue or narrative but it is showing us what is going on. We can understand the story by listening to the lyrics and watching the video. Andrew Goodwin's theory explains how visuals are illustrating the song and amplifying what is trying to be explained through the song itself. This is easier for the audience to understand the lyrics and provides a better more informative video.
The video overall is very well made and i think i will especially take in the storyline visuals and how it directs the song and crates an impact on the lyrics.
The first thing i notice in this video is the lighting and hue of the video. Its dark and shallow. This compliments the music being over driven and deep. The whole mise en scene of the video is shaped around the style of music and appearance of the band.
There is a story being told throughout the video which accompanies the lyrics. It exchanges between the story line and a live performance of the band.
During the live performance we see Matt (singer) give a direct mode of address to the viewers by looking at the camera. This supports the Horton and Wohl "parasocial theory". This is the idea that fans have a parasocial relationship with the artist. In other words. They feel involved.
The video comes across as being a high budget video. This appears like this to me with flashy lights, Alot of actors/actresses, and effects. (The skin being covered black)
There is alot of burlesque-esque women in this video. This attracts the male viewer considerably, especially because the rest of the band are males. Sigmund Freud's Theory of voyeurism comes in to play here. His theory is that pleasure may be gained by looking at a sexual object. Which is obvious but very valid. Without this appeal male viewers may become bored or distracted from the video and its selling purposes.
When the band is performing, the camera works impact on the meaning. Angles and movements are quite in particular and messy. This reflects the band attitude and the songs energy and style. Also the editing is fast cut and on the synchronized. This creates an energetic busy video.
The storyline on the video includes no dialogue or narrative but it is showing us what is going on. We can understand the story by listening to the lyrics and watching the video. Andrew Goodwin's theory explains how visuals are illustrating the song and amplifying what is trying to be explained through the song itself. This is easier for the audience to understand the lyrics and provides a better more informative video.
The video overall is very well made and i think i will especially take in the storyline visuals and how it directs the song and crates an impact on the lyrics.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Typical Conventions Specific to Rock Music Videos
The main convetions connected with Rock music videos include;
At some point the video tends to be black and white.
The artist or band feature heavily within the video.
The use of Extreme Close up and Long Shots.
Dark Locations.
Use of Special Effects.
These are the main conventions however not evey single video will conform to this especailly if it is a parody.
I think that Andrew Goodwin, Steve Archer and Horton and Wohls theories apply and are very relevant to rock videos.
Andrew Goodwin with his ideas of visuals to illustrate amplify or contradict lyrics and Genres with the idea of Iconography.
Steve Archer with his ideas of needing a coherant relationship between narrative and performance and his idea of cutting between narrative and performance of the song showing a real connection to the music.
Horton and Wohl with the parasocial theory that the band has a real connection with their fan base by using real names and addresses and giving the fans what they want and expect.
At some point the video tends to be black and white.
The artist or band feature heavily within the video.
The use of Extreme Close up and Long Shots.
Dark Locations.
Use of Special Effects.
These are the main conventions however not evey single video will conform to this especailly if it is a parody.
I think that Andrew Goodwin, Steve Archer and Horton and Wohls theories apply and are very relevant to rock videos.
Andrew Goodwin with his ideas of visuals to illustrate amplify or contradict lyrics and Genres with the idea of Iconography.
Steve Archer with his ideas of needing a coherant relationship between narrative and performance and his idea of cutting between narrative and performance of the song showing a real connection to the music.
Horton and Wohl with the parasocial theory that the band has a real connection with their fan base by using real names and addresses and giving the fans what they want and expect.
Conventions of a Music Video
Music videos today are a way of expressing the lyrics of the song in a different more visual way.
It can make the singer, artist, band a star of the small screen. some music videos are like mini movies just roughly 3 and a half to 4 minute long, however not all music videos are like this infact music videos range from live performance to hardly seeing the band instead having a narrative the whole way through following a short part of a fictional character life or story.
However there are some basics that every video will have and these include;
Lyrics every music video will go to a song therefore it must have lyrics they set the mood of the video. The artist(s)'s video may give the lyrics meaning through visual links.
Music as before the video will go to a song, the tempo of the music often drives the editing of the video and makes the video more memorable.
Genre will often be shown throughout the video by means of mise en scene and camera and editing style. mise en scene is a very key part of any video as it helps set the scene and helps link to the audience through use of wardrobe/costumes and props and can shows location.
Camerawork can reiterate lyrics using different angles and movement aswell as showing emotion and location. Close ups are mainly used not only to show emotion but to reflect the words of the song. This all links into the representation of the artist or band.
Editing most artist/bands will use quick cut montages to keep the audience interested but also to make the audience question what they saw leading to veiwing the video several times. They commonly use transitions such as dissolve or fade to mix it up abit. Like i said before music videos nowadays are more like short movies and just like in a film you have to keep your audience interested.
Digital effects every video will probably have this to some extent playing with the original footage and images to enhance and offer different posibilities and levels of pleasure to the audience.
Intertextuality this is when not all of an audience may not spot a reference within the video however for those that do it can bring more pleasure through watching it by feeling flattered it can increase the audience engagement to the video aswell getting a better understanding.
Exhibitionism the is where the more powerful and independant female artists of recent years have added complexity to gender and the way its portrayed within videos by being powerful but, sexy and provocative by being incontrol of and inviting sexualised gazes.
It can make the singer, artist, band a star of the small screen. some music videos are like mini movies just roughly 3 and a half to 4 minute long, however not all music videos are like this infact music videos range from live performance to hardly seeing the band instead having a narrative the whole way through following a short part of a fictional character life or story.
However there are some basics that every video will have and these include;
Lyrics every music video will go to a song therefore it must have lyrics they set the mood of the video. The artist(s)'s video may give the lyrics meaning through visual links.
Music as before the video will go to a song, the tempo of the music often drives the editing of the video and makes the video more memorable.
Genre will often be shown throughout the video by means of mise en scene and camera and editing style. mise en scene is a very key part of any video as it helps set the scene and helps link to the audience through use of wardrobe/costumes and props and can shows location.
Camerawork can reiterate lyrics using different angles and movement aswell as showing emotion and location. Close ups are mainly used not only to show emotion but to reflect the words of the song. This all links into the representation of the artist or band.
Editing most artist/bands will use quick cut montages to keep the audience interested but also to make the audience question what they saw leading to veiwing the video several times. They commonly use transitions such as dissolve or fade to mix it up abit. Like i said before music videos nowadays are more like short movies and just like in a film you have to keep your audience interested.
Digital effects every video will probably have this to some extent playing with the original footage and images to enhance and offer different posibilities and levels of pleasure to the audience.
Intertextuality this is when not all of an audience may not spot a reference within the video however for those that do it can bring more pleasure through watching it by feeling flattered it can increase the audience engagement to the video aswell getting a better understanding.
Exhibitionism the is where the more powerful and independant female artists of recent years have added complexity to gender and the way its portrayed within videos by being powerful but, sexy and provocative by being incontrol of and inviting sexualised gazes.
Foo Fighters
As the band we are using has listed Foo Fighters as one of their inspiration i thought i would do a little more research on them aswell.
they link into my profile of Nirvana as Foo Fighters drummer Dave Grohl formed the band after his previous band Nirvana split up. the term Foo Fighter comes from WW2 they used this term for unidentified flying objects. Foo fighters formed in 1995 and their music videos tend to be either parody or mainly focused on performance breaking away slightly from the typical conventions of a rock music video.
Their music ranges from more acoustic to hard rock.
Some of their music video ideas have been mimiced by the likes of 30 seconds to mars focusing alot on the performance but having flashes of images or a few seconds of something happening thats not a narrative but are relevant to the song or lyrics, for example in Foo Fighters Video to Best Of You the video is mainly them performing but has images such as a baby to show life when they say the words your giving me life or death and an animal pouncing on its prey to show death.
Throughout their career they have had several band members leave and new members join. in a way this can help them stay on trend, by bringing in new band members it can bring in new ideas.
A few of their videos are parody, its mainly them dressed up as different characters occasionally with a few extras. The narrative to these stories are comedic for instance, learn to fly beggins with the Tenacious D posing as cleaners whilst they try to smuggle drugs into the plane, the captain comes aboard an they rush accidentally putting the drugs into the coffee the rest of the video is how the coffee ends up being served and everyone gets high without realising including the captains and they need a hero to save them from crashing.
The way its done is amusing as the lead singer of the band plays most characters including a young girl.
Videos like this are also very typical of bands like Blink 182 with all the small things and first date both being of similar set ups to this.
they link into my profile of Nirvana as Foo Fighters drummer Dave Grohl formed the band after his previous band Nirvana split up. the term Foo Fighter comes from WW2 they used this term for unidentified flying objects. Foo fighters formed in 1995 and their music videos tend to be either parody or mainly focused on performance breaking away slightly from the typical conventions of a rock music video.
Their music ranges from more acoustic to hard rock.
Some of their music video ideas have been mimiced by the likes of 30 seconds to mars focusing alot on the performance but having flashes of images or a few seconds of something happening thats not a narrative but are relevant to the song or lyrics, for example in Foo Fighters Video to Best Of You the video is mainly them performing but has images such as a baby to show life when they say the words your giving me life or death and an animal pouncing on its prey to show death.
Throughout their career they have had several band members leave and new members join. in a way this can help them stay on trend, by bringing in new band members it can bring in new ideas.
A few of their videos are parody, its mainly them dressed up as different characters occasionally with a few extras. The narrative to these stories are comedic for instance, learn to fly beggins with the Tenacious D posing as cleaners whilst they try to smuggle drugs into the plane, the captain comes aboard an they rush accidentally putting the drugs into the coffee the rest of the video is how the coffee ends up being served and everyone gets high without realising including the captains and they need a hero to save them from crashing.
The way its done is amusing as the lead singer of the band plays most characters including a young girl.
Videos like this are also very typical of bands like Blink 182 with all the small things and first date both being of similar set ups to this.
Nirvana Profile
After doing some research into our genre alternative /progressive rock A name that keeps coming up is Nirvana so I thought i would research them a bit more.
They were one of the first major alternative rock bands to make a name for themselves in the early 90’s. They released their first album in 1989. Although they are sometimes classed more as ‘grunge’ the originated in Washington state America but made a name globally. They worked there way into the mainstream and continued gaining popularity throughout their career. Grunge music is defined by slow tempos heavy guitar strong drumming and simple repetitive phrases or lyrics. The lyrics themselves are always about quite big issues love hate anger and frustration.
Kurt Cobain lead singer often felt the public had misinterpreted their music despite being referred to as the spokesman of a generation kurt cobain didnt like the media attention.
the band fell apart following the death of Kurt but Nirvana inspired a lot of bands and still is a very popular band even today catering for audience everywhere.
Nirvana's videos are similar to the lost prophet video i analysed early most rock videos follow the theme of switching between narrative and performancein nirvana's video they conform to this in some ways by switching between them performing and what looks like a janitor/cleaner an then to a crowd they are playing to. this crowd also switches between being seated like in a school gym linking to the name smells like teen spirit by filimg in a school gym, and a crowd jumping around and pushing like the type of crowd you would find at a normal live performance.
the lighting again was fairly dark using spotlight to illuminate where it was needed.
they use teens in there videos and to show that the also used cheerleaders a typical american teenage activity for girls.
the crowd seem fairly 'normal' but they also have the typical grunge look linking to what is now there genre expectations and links to their audience.
They were one of the first major alternative rock bands to make a name for themselves in the early 90’s. They released their first album in 1989. Although they are sometimes classed more as ‘grunge’ the originated in Washington state America but made a name globally. They worked there way into the mainstream and continued gaining popularity throughout their career. Grunge music is defined by slow tempos heavy guitar strong drumming and simple repetitive phrases or lyrics. The lyrics themselves are always about quite big issues love hate anger and frustration.
Kurt Cobain lead singer often felt the public had misinterpreted their music despite being referred to as the spokesman of a generation kurt cobain didnt like the media attention.
the band fell apart following the death of Kurt but Nirvana inspired a lot of bands and still is a very popular band even today catering for audience everywhere.
Nirvana's videos are similar to the lost prophet video i analysed early most rock videos follow the theme of switching between narrative and performancein nirvana's video they conform to this in some ways by switching between them performing and what looks like a janitor/cleaner an then to a crowd they are playing to. this crowd also switches between being seated like in a school gym linking to the name smells like teen spirit by filimg in a school gym, and a crowd jumping around and pushing like the type of crowd you would find at a normal live performance.
the lighting again was fairly dark using spotlight to illuminate where it was needed.
they use teens in there videos and to show that the also used cheerleaders a typical american teenage activity for girls.
the crowd seem fairly 'normal' but they also have the typical grunge look linking to what is now there genre expectations and links to their audience.
Lost Prophets Video Analysis
The video for lost prophets rooftops is based on the average teenage life it tends to focus more on a specific type of teenager the more grungy ‘scene’ outcast teenagers that has become a very popular style the song refers to the moment in every teenagers life when you just want to scream. They choose this kind of teenager to star in their videos as they are the typical audience, the people that listen to their music there typical genre expectations if you will. The video begins playing the intro to the song it show a few seconds of each band member just standing there. The camera flashes, blurs, refocuses and moves to the next band member, they focus several times on Ian Watkins the lead vocalist and front man for the band. This is done to reiterate that he is slightly more important and that he is the lead in the band. When the lyrics kick in the camera flicks back to Ian but this time a more close up shot of his head and shoulders he stands still but sings the lyrics. The scene then changes to the narrative of the video following several young teens and their typical situations. The first is of a girl and her parents at the dinner table you can tell buy their body language there is tension it goes to a mid shot of the mother with a very tense look on her face and then to the father who returns that look. This may be a typical situation there audience encounters so makes them feel like they can connect more to the music as the video gives the song more meaning. The next shot is of Ian singing once a again and then to the teenager who looks emotional she plays with her food pushing it around her plate rather than eating it showing once again something is wrong. it then errupt in a big arguement between the parents the father points at the girl as to suggest the arguement is to do with her.
the next minute or so plays out very similar to this switching between the narrative and the bands performance.
the look of the band fit their typical profile the way they dress is smart but has elements of rock within the outfits the lead singers hair is a typical type of style for the audience they are trying to attract. their audience will consist manily of teens that like rock and punk music
the rest of the video is fairly similar to the beggining of the video except switching between similar situations of other teenagers
one is a boy working in some sort of diner restraunt and another boy in a car with his dad
both are in situation where an older figure a boss or a father is shouting at them.
the video is about feeling your never good enough or being told your never good enough
if you watch at about 2 minutes you can see the boys boss/co worker mouth what looks like not good enough reiterating the videos menaing.
in the sections of the band performing the aer performing an what is meant to look like a rooftop giving the song more meaning as the song is called rooftops
in the background they have a flag with there bands motive on it. they appear to be performing at night using lights to light up the 'stage'.
the next minute or so plays out very similar to this switching between the narrative and the bands performance.
the look of the band fit their typical profile the way they dress is smart but has elements of rock within the outfits the lead singers hair is a typical type of style for the audience they are trying to attract. their audience will consist manily of teens that like rock and punk music
the rest of the video is fairly similar to the beggining of the video except switching between similar situations of other teenagers
one is a boy working in some sort of diner restraunt and another boy in a car with his dad
both are in situation where an older figure a boss or a father is shouting at them.
the video is about feeling your never good enough or being told your never good enough
if you watch at about 2 minutes you can see the boys boss/co worker mouth what looks like not good enough reiterating the videos menaing.
in the sections of the band performing the aer performing an what is meant to look like a rooftop giving the song more meaning as the song is called rooftops
in the background they have a flag with there bands motive on it. they appear to be performing at night using lights to light up the 'stage'.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Audience research
We've been looking at radio stations who aim themselves at a similar audience to our chosen band, such as Planet Rock, Kerrang and Rock FM.
Planet rock's audience demographic consists of 700,000 adults above the age of 14.
71% of this figure are male, which heavily suggests that women are not quite as interested in the genre.
62% of the audience fit into the ABC1 social category, suggesting that the majority of the station's listeners are in the higher end of the social/economic scale. This is an important piece of information for potential advertisers as it means that the station can afford to advertise, as the products will be recieved by more wealthy members of society. Potential advertisers would be hesitant to advertise with a radio station that caters predominantly to the less economically stable listeners.
68% of the listeners are aged between 25 and 54. This tells us that the majority of listeners are self governing adults with a stable income. (as suggested by the large percentage of wealthy listeners)
Planet rock's audience demographic consists of 700,000 adults above the age of 14.
71% of this figure are male, which heavily suggests that women are not quite as interested in the genre.
62% of the audience fit into the ABC1 social category, suggesting that the majority of the station's listeners are in the higher end of the social/economic scale. This is an important piece of information for potential advertisers as it means that the station can afford to advertise, as the products will be recieved by more wealthy members of society. Potential advertisers would be hesitant to advertise with a radio station that caters predominantly to the less economically stable listeners.
68% of the listeners are aged between 25 and 54. This tells us that the majority of listeners are self governing adults with a stable income. (as suggested by the large percentage of wealthy listeners)
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Quick update on the blog - Twitter
On the right-hand side of the blog I added links to all of our twitter pages. Although still need to add Andy and Will. Thinking back to AS, this is a form of media synergy, linking two media links.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Our Target Audience
Our target audience practically covers all social demographics, as rock music is one of the few generes that has been established properly for almst 40 years. As a result of this, it has had a larger amount of exposure to a wider range of listeners than a lot of the more contemporary genres such as R&B
We'd be looking at a sort of 14 to 30 year old fans of rock music.
We'd be looking at a sort of 14 to 30 year old fans of rock music.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Types of rock
The band we're doing cover three types of rock; rock, progressive rock & alternative rock. So I this post will try and clarify each (sub) genre.
Rock has been around for years. Its derived from rock and blues, rhythm and blues and country music. The genre often includes the electric bass & guitar, drums and more recently, synthesizers and keyboard instruments.
Some examples:
Alternative rock submerged from rock in the 80's. It consists of various artists that belong to independent music companys, and have emerged from that scene. This is what The Croft (our chosen band) have done, being a home grown, underground and independent band creating their own form of rock.
Some examples:
Progressive rock, again submerged from rock, but in the 70's. "Progressive rock and art rock are two almost interchangeable terms describing a mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." This claims that progressive rock is mostly british, so it wouldn't be unsuitable if The Croft were trying to achieve that look. Progressive rock tries to incorporate sounds that rock and alternative rock may not try to do, such as classical, jazz and world music.
Some examples:
Rock has been around for years. Its derived from rock and blues, rhythm and blues and country music. The genre often includes the electric bass & guitar, drums and more recently, synthesizers and keyboard instruments.
Some examples:
Alternative rock submerged from rock in the 80's. It consists of various artists that belong to independent music companys, and have emerged from that scene. This is what The Croft (our chosen band) have done, being a home grown, underground and independent band creating their own form of rock.
Some examples:
Progressive rock, again submerged from rock, but in the 70's. "Progressive rock and art rock are two almost interchangeable terms describing a mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." This claims that progressive rock is mostly british, so it wouldn't be unsuitable if The Croft were trying to achieve that look. Progressive rock tries to incorporate sounds that rock and alternative rock may not try to do, such as classical, jazz and world music.
Some examples:
Friday, September 17, 2010
Links to the bands web pages!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Escape the fate - Situations. Music video analysis
The video opens with a little bit of narrative involving a child boarding a schoolbus, driven by Ronnie Radke, the band's singer.
As the band walks into the school, the music starts. Most of the song takes place in a classrooom shifting between two different situations. The first is a normal class but with the singer singing directly into the camera. The second is the same classroom but with flashing lights and scantily clad women dancing on tables while the band play their instruments with the song.
This reinforces the band's collective "bad boy" image and also makes it look as though they like to have fun, as most of their videos feature the same sort of party structure.
This would certainly appeal to the band's young, fun-loving fans and give their image a lot of positive reinforcement. The camera cuts frequently and sweeps around the classroom at low angles while the singer continues to sing directly into it while playing guitar.
As the band walks into the school, the music starts. Most of the song takes place in a classrooom shifting between two different situations. The first is a normal class but with the singer singing directly into the camera. The second is the same classroom but with flashing lights and scantily clad women dancing on tables while the band play their instruments with the song.
This reinforces the band's collective "bad boy" image and also makes it look as though they like to have fun, as most of their videos feature the same sort of party structure.
This would certainly appeal to the band's young, fun-loving fans and give their image a lot of positive reinforcement. The camera cuts frequently and sweeps around the classroom at low angles while the singer continues to sing directly into it while playing guitar.
Song decision!
The song we have decided to do is called "Everything's Undone" and it's by Andy's band: "The Croft"
The Croft is a 4 piece band consisting of a vocalist, 2 guitarists, bass and drums. They are a Alternative Rock/ Prog Rock group. There main inspirations are successful bands such as "The Foo Fighters", "Avenged Sevenfold" and "Metallica".
The song itself is a more fast paced, lively song.
The Croft is a 4 piece band consisting of a vocalist, 2 guitarists, bass and drums. They are a Alternative Rock/ Prog Rock group. There main inspirations are successful bands such as "The Foo Fighters", "Avenged Sevenfold" and "Metallica".
The song itself is a more fast paced, lively song.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Delivering to the target audience
Music videos are essentially used to make profit and so the video would not contain content unsuitable or irrelevant to the genre and audience it's trying to target. Except for the exception of parody, although within parody, reference to, snippets of, and links to the genre are still shown. Therefore I will discuss what we may need to do and incorporate in our video, to deliver to our target audience.
Our genre: Rock/ Progressive rock
I watched the video "The Pretender" by Foo Fighters to have a look at an existing rock video, maybe extract some ideas, and also analyse any techniques they used.
Link to the video (Embedding disabled by request otherwise I would have embedded the video)
We learn that the music video is set in some kind of warehouse, with the band present, but no audience. It could be suggested that they are carrying out some form of "band practise" an idea that has come accross our minds, when discussing what we are going to do for our music video. An interesting concept that comes into the video is that, to some element, the "band practise" merges in with the narrative. Many policemen or the riot squad, come into the scene to form a line, and it appears they are hostile towards the band, and it now seems as though the band are singing at the riot squad.
As the video goes on, the riot squad prepare and charge the Foo Fighters. The backdrop behind the band then shatters, and an unknown substance unleashes which hinders the riot squads charge and unstabilizes them, even pushing them over, a powerful force that they can't cope with. However, with their backs to this, the band overcome the force and play their song through it as if it's not even happening. This makes them seem powerful and above the law, could be implied that the band are rebelling. All this, is associated with the rock genre, powerful, strong, rebellious etc.. so some genre expectation is created there.
Also, I forgot to point out that the band are wearing typical, rock associated clothes, jeans, standard t-shirt, black shirt, and the drummer and lead singer both have long hair. The setting also shares the same colour scheme, black surroundings, red back drop, white floor.
Our genre: Rock/ Progressive rock
I watched the video "The Pretender" by Foo Fighters to have a look at an existing rock video, maybe extract some ideas, and also analyse any techniques they used.
Link to the video (Embedding disabled by request otherwise I would have embedded the video)
We learn that the music video is set in some kind of warehouse, with the band present, but no audience. It could be suggested that they are carrying out some form of "band practise" an idea that has come accross our minds, when discussing what we are going to do for our music video. An interesting concept that comes into the video is that, to some element, the "band practise" merges in with the narrative. Many policemen or the riot squad, come into the scene to form a line, and it appears they are hostile towards the band, and it now seems as though the band are singing at the riot squad.
As the video goes on, the riot squad prepare and charge the Foo Fighters. The backdrop behind the band then shatters, and an unknown substance unleashes which hinders the riot squads charge and unstabilizes them, even pushing them over, a powerful force that they can't cope with. However, with their backs to this, the band overcome the force and play their song through it as if it's not even happening. This makes them seem powerful and above the law, could be implied that the band are rebelling. All this, is associated with the rock genre, powerful, strong, rebellious etc.. so some genre expectation is created there.
Also, I forgot to point out that the band are wearing typical, rock associated clothes, jeans, standard t-shirt, black shirt, and the drummer and lead singer both have long hair. The setting also shares the same colour scheme, black surroundings, red back drop, white floor.
Confirmation
I have confirmed with the band that are the performers and the writers of the song that it is ok to use their material for our music video :)
Dream Theatre Music Video Analysis
I watched Dream Theatres "Another Day" video because this relates to our band choices Progressive Rock side.
It has a mixture of performance with Black and White images of what i can only describe as sad things. E.g a girl who appears to be hiding or trapped. We can tell this with a small beam of light across her face and dark everywhere else suggesting shes in something. We also see images of a scan of a human brain what appears to be tumorous. All the images in the video reflect the mood of the song and the lyrics. If these images were replaced with fluffy bunnys and pink balloons it would simply clash and ruin how we perceive the song/band.
As for the live performance we see alot of the singer singing to the camera. This supports the Horton and Wohl "Parasocial Theory". This is about involving the audience with the video. If he singing to the camera it is as though he is singing to us.
There are many close up shots of the guitarist guitar when the main riff is being played and solo. This is to emphasise the skill of the guitarist and almost show off what the band are capable of. Mike Portnoy (Drummer) is wearing his famous wrestling overall which is what the fans assosciate with him. This is also connecting to the audience as that is what they are familiar with personally.
As this is a soft song the band have been portrayed as quite solemn and soft i think. This also is reflected in some youtube user comments. "James is so cuddly in this video". But yet they have not lost there rock band image at all. "is it just me or does anyone else think john myung looks mighty cool in this video?".
Overall I would seriously consider using aspects from this video in our music video as the band genre we are dealing with have major connections with Dream Theater.
It has a mixture of performance with Black and White images of what i can only describe as sad things. E.g a girl who appears to be hiding or trapped. We can tell this with a small beam of light across her face and dark everywhere else suggesting shes in something. We also see images of a scan of a human brain what appears to be tumorous. All the images in the video reflect the mood of the song and the lyrics. If these images were replaced with fluffy bunnys and pink balloons it would simply clash and ruin how we perceive the song/band.
As for the live performance we see alot of the singer singing to the camera. This supports the Horton and Wohl "Parasocial Theory". This is about involving the audience with the video. If he singing to the camera it is as though he is singing to us.
There are many close up shots of the guitarist guitar when the main riff is being played and solo. This is to emphasise the skill of the guitarist and almost show off what the band are capable of. Mike Portnoy (Drummer) is wearing his famous wrestling overall which is what the fans assosciate with him. This is also connecting to the audience as that is what they are familiar with personally.
As this is a soft song the band have been portrayed as quite solemn and soft i think. This also is reflected in some youtube user comments. "James is so cuddly in this video". But yet they have not lost there rock band image at all. "is it just me or does anyone else think john myung looks mighty cool in this video?".
Overall I would seriously consider using aspects from this video in our music video as the band genre we are dealing with have major connections with Dream Theater.
Twitter!
Just created my Twitter account. Thought I'd follow some rock bands since the music video we will be creating will be based on the rock genre.
https://twitter.com/jdunn17
https://twitter.com/jdunn17
Friday, September 10, 2010
Our first post
We are group Bengal. Consisting of Nikki, Andy, Will and Jack.
we've already decided what song we're going to create a video for. It's by Andy's band: The Croft.
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