Finished Video

The editing for our video has now been finished and the video has been uploaded to youtube.com

We were impressed with how it turned out and really liked how the special effects worked with the rest of the video. In the end, even with cutting down all the bad shots, we still had a bit more footage than the length of the song and so we had to make the difficult decision of cutting a few scenes. These scenes weren't as important to the narrative as the shots in the final cut, and so could be lost with no expense to the audience.

The finished uploaded video is below:

More shooting Dates

On Friday 23rd we attempted to shoot more of our performance shots however, mainly retakes of shots that looked bad when we watched them back on the computer. Our group was not organised enough and we only managed to get the drumming shots done. Although this wasn't all bad as we were able to spend more time on them to make them better. When watching the drumming shots we had filmed back on the computer they looked much better than the ones we had filmed before, and our group was pleased with the outcome.

On Saturday 24th we travelled up to London for our big London shoot. We spent many hours framing and filming shots, shooting most shots at least a few times, as this was our only chance to film in London we had to make sure our shots were as good as we could make them. After getting back and watching our footage of London on the computer, nearly all the shots we filmed were perfect with only a few being not so good, and a few bad ones. However due to the large amount of footage we captured it won't be a problem cutting those bad clips out as we have plenty of good footage to replace it with. Due to our song being fairly short the advantage is a lot of shots can be cut if needed, however this is also it's biggest disadvantage; we have so many good shots it's hard to decide what makes the cut and what doesn't.

Overall the Friday shoot, although not as productive as our others, turned out some good footage as well as did the London shoot, and overall our group is pleased with our progress. We have scheduled to film the remaining performance shots tonight.

First Shooting Day

Our group did our first shoot yesterday of the performance shots of the band. We aimed to complete all of our preformance shots including filler shots of the band waiting for the main singer to arrive. We used the stage within our school to give a lo-fi ambience feel to the music video that we had set out to achieve from the knowledge we gained from our music video analysis' and technical analysis; ie. types of shots. We were able to successfully shoot many of the instrumental and singer arrival shots to a good standard. Unfortunately, some lighting issues were noticed whilst capturing the footage, mainly of the singer's performance and the lighting on his face. Also, we need more of the filler shots that see the waiting band members involved in various activities waiting in boredom for the singer; ie. playing on the wii. As a result, we have scheduled to re-shoot these specific shots tomorrow. Hopefully, our second shoot will allow us to have all the required perfomance shots necessary. To conclude, many of the shots from our first shoot will be included within the final music video but some will be re-shot and modified.

London Location Scouting

Our two locations for filming were the school stage and London, we knew when we were filming but not where in London. So on Sunday Mark and I went to London to find some good locations for filming to use for next Saturdays London shoot. We spent the day "browsing" through different locations, finding quite a few decent ones that would fit our music video very well. We took some photos to show the other members of our group who were not able to attend.

Now that our location scouting is over, we know exactly where we are going on the Saturday and so will have maximum time dedicated to filming instead of finding locations on the day and wasting time. This means that we will be able to hopefully get all the shots we need in one days visit and this will give us more time to film the performance shots and edit our footage.

Some pictures of the locations are shown below:













(Appendix 6a)

Finished Animatic

Here is our finished animatic for our song:



(Appendix 7a)

Animatics

We began our storyboard during a groups meet over the festive period. During this time we were able to finalise our ideas and began to conclude the length of the particular time zones as well as the relation to lyrics and time within the song. Mark focused on the practical factor of the storyboard and began to draw the start of the video as well as the final performance scene involved in our idea. We also discovered it would be easier and time saving if Sam and Ben were to draw their own ideas to create a clearer understanding. This meant by the time this discussion concluded everyone was clear of our idea and could add the finishing touches to our storyboard, we also regularly spoke using facebook to ensure everything was up to date and our level of understanding was still at an adequate level. This meant that when we came back to school our storyboard was effectively complete, however we found there were a small number of shots that had to be revised.
Once back at school we started to film the storyboard so that we could upload them onto Premiere Elements and create the animatic for our music. We are creating an animatic to ensure that our idea was suitable for our song as well as it allowing us to determine lengths of shots and to make sure that no shots were missing and there was no way to further enhance the video. It would also allow us to refine and modify our ideas efficiently so that the video would easy to film. It also gives us an idea of the number of shots that we have to shoot and the length of time we would have to designate to those shots. it was important that we could determine shot lengths so that when it came to the actual shooting of footage that we could ensure we had enough accurate footage for our video. It also allowed us to shorten particular frames ans stretch others, in addition to this we were able to visually see the speed of cuts in relation to the song tempo. This was particularly relevant to the performance aspect at the end of our video and we could see that our video analysis' were accurate in terms of quick cuts being needed throughout this sequence.

(Appendix 7b)

Feedback #3

Well d0ne - technical analysis is overall focused, relevant and reflective. Ben - I read yours as a draft post; can you submit and spellcheck.

I'm looking forward to seeing your reccie and test shots as you record the development of ideas. Keep up the good work!

Technical Analysis (The Libertines-Don't Look Back into the Sun)

I made the choice to analyse this particular after it was suggested during our focus group. The video is focused around the band performance during a gig and also the band in a relaxed and joyful environment where they seem to be enjoying themselves. From my technical analysis I have been able see the way in which this particular aspect of the video is shot. These sequences in particular are shot to build band authenticity and realism in their everyday lives. The shots themselves are largely between 1 to 8 seconds and are almost entirely shot with a handicam and this causes shaky movement and a lack of focus in many scenes. In fact in the third scene one of the cameramen actually appears in shots as well as microphone appearing on another. This once again amplifies the authenticity and realism that the video constructs. The shots are also often shot from a low camera angle and could also possibly be shot from other members of the band. The most common type of shot used is medium shots of 1 or 2 members of the band. It is still evident that the star persona is of key importance in the video and the star image remains very important in the video. There is also a tourist feel to the video as there are various iconic London monuments and recognisable items. These shots are mainly shot using Close-ups, Medium close-ups and Medium shots which help the star image. There are however a few steadicam shots which portray a feel band being watched, one in particular of them in Trafalgar square, a long shot using a crane and a high camera angle feels like a CCTV shot. A key aspect of the video is the lo-fi ambience which again reinforces the band authenticity. The majority of the shots involve the band walking through dense areas and oblivious to their surroundings. There is no real narrative to the video; it is simply the band enjoying a day out. The rock & roll image is constructed through their lack of real facial expression or any emotional references in the video. There are also close-ups where the band appears to be talking to the camera which again suggests the non-serious, relaxed attitude to the video. The costume of the band also challenges the expected of the rock video; they are seen to be wearing red jackets and sunglasses so the question of image is seen to be of little importance and the band are portraying that they are eccentric.

These shots are broken up though the video cutting back to performance shots throughout the video. These shots are once again shot to build authenticity and are shot from inside the audience and a low camera angle is used. The use of quick cuts from close-ups to medium close-ups and medium shots ensures the video stays differentiated and appealing. These shots focus mainly on the bands faces and instruments which is the expected of any performance shot. Although the performance is shot largely from within the crowd the focus is the band performance through the use of lighting, the audience is effectively in the dark whilst the band appear lit by the lights. However the shots are heavily repeated and are often broken up by these quick cuts, however the performance shots can last up to 20 seconds and tend to involve around 15-20 shots during this period. Three separate camera are used to video the band from different angles. The cuts are frantically quick and there is lots of camera movement to once again build the authenticity and realism of the video.

In conclusion the video is split between the performance based shots and the handicam shots of the band in random locations. The performance shots are broken up using quick cuts between the types of shot and where it is shot from. The use of handicam is of key importance as it builds the sense of authenticity and realism.

Technical Analysis Evaluation - Ben

I chose to analyse this particular music video because of the way the performance is constructed and presented to the audience. There is a key focus around the band and the fact that it connotes that its all about the music constructed through the choice to construct a purely performance video. This provides a real authenticity, anchored by the lo-fi ambiance. The video was created when the band were first finding their feet in the music industry; which is heavily reinforced by the non-sensationalised style used in the video. Furthermore, the video is a construction of almost amateurish and very basic camera movement and positioning. At one point during the video you can actually see the camera on the opposite side of the shot.

Patterns emerge during the video in the type of shots being used and the repetition of these. Throughout the video only medium close-ups and medium shots are really used which depicts how although there are a huge amount of quick shots during the video they only really use two or three specific styles. Over half of the shots are of the main lead vocalist/guitarist with shots every now and then of the other members of the band which establishes them as still being a key part of the band and very important and that they are appreciated.

At several times a medium close-up is used of the lead vocalist/guitarist with the drummer in view over his left shoulder. This interlinks how the band acknowledge both the work and musicianship of the vocalist but also the other aspects of the band as being integral parts too. This establishes the sort of camaraderie of the band and a sense of genuine friendship between them which is evident and reinforced in the way they all walk around while playing and go up towards each other which constructs them as being engrossed by the music and into it. This constructs the meta-narrative of the band as being real friends who enjoy each others company and acknowledge each others attributes and what they bring to the band whilst having a real passion for the music they are creating. This ideology of enjoying each others company is further reinforced by the amount of shots given to other parts of the band which is quite a bit more in comparison to a "normal" music video. This sense of recognition of all the members provides the ideological discourse that they want their fans to like all of the members rather than concentrate on just one person.

A couple of big close-up shots on the band's hands on the guitar strings are used so the audience acknowledge that they are multi-talented. For example, the lead vocalist doesn't just sing, he plays the guitar too which is presented to the audience using the big close-ups so that the audience recognise this and appreciate their talents. Also, by having different shots of what the band members are doing in the video it further reinforces their status of being multi-talented as they are all seen as multi-tasking.

There is minimal use of tracking and panning but enough to keep the video dynamic and entertaining for the audience. This connotes that although some movement in shots are required to keep it fresh, the majority of the shots are still and stationary. A medium-long shot begins the video, which is a clever idea because it shows all of the band members in one shot; further reinforcing the ideological discourse that they are all equal and all thought of as being important factors and irreplaceable components that make up the band.

Overall, the video has helped to decipher the performance aspects that we intend to include within our own music video. It is a clear example of how the shots are just as important as what they are actually doing in the video because through the shots alone ideologies and perceptions of the band can be constructed if planned carefully. This technical analysis will come in very useful when it comes to construction our storyboard and planning out the types of camera shots, movement and positioning that we will use during the video. It has also widened my knowledge of what creating a music video entails and the importance of planning out the camera work so it is effective within the video. Also, the quick shot style of filming is used throughout the genre and is very much present during this music video and, as such, I believe it will be an integral part of our music video that we will have to perfect to establish continuity in a flowing video.

Arctic Monkeys- I bet you look good on the dance floor


(Appendix 3b)

Technical analysis Evaluation - Sam

I have learnt from my technical analysis that during the course of the video there are a lot of very short shots lasting sometimes less than a second, and many shots lasting somewhere between 1 and 3 seconds for the rest of the time. Rarely are any longer shots used. The longest shots in the video are 5 seconds long and two are used, the first is shot 2, the image of singer on TV, and shot 4, the second part of the swish pan and then crabs left through the wall.

Every shot but two in the whole music video are straight cuts except the two shots in which the camera crabs through the walls and it is edited to appear as one shot. Even the edited swish pan is a straight cut, again disguised to appear like one continuous shot. The most common shot size i found was the MCU (Medium Close Up) of usually the whole band or separate band members in the frame. Two other common shot sizes were the MS (Medium Shot) and CU (Close Up). Some of the variations used in these shots consisted of shooting from HA (High Angles) and LA (Low Angles). Some shots were static with no movement from the camera, but were generally short just like the majority of the other shots in the video. The longest static shot was shot 2, which i mentioned earlier.

There is not really much relation between the visuals and the lyrics of the song, with possibly "I'm looking like a fool again" relating to the man and his lack of knowledge about impressing girls showing him up again. The narrative fuzz makes it unclear whether he has tried to go with the girl before or whether it's referring to past experiences with other women. The other lyric "Waking up on the bathroom floor" could also be referring to the man and him waking up on the floor, from maybe a bad night, coming home drunk for example, and just falling asleep there. The other parts of the narrative, the man and woman getting ready for the day is constructed by continually cutting back to them between performance shots, completing various tasks like applying makeup and exercising.

Quite a few of the performance shots are repeated including a LA MCU of the drums being played with drums in the foreground, MCU shots of the band from the front with the camera tracking in towards the lead singer, BEV (Birds Eye View) MS of the drum player and finally a CU of the rhythm guitarist playing and moving his guitar very close to the camera as he played.

When planning my own work i will take into account the vast amount of shots often used, and plan my own filler shots of performance and various other things when doing my video. I can also consider using a lot of MCU and MS shots of the band for performance shots, and various CU for showing indivduals playing and singing. The length of shots also showed me that a lot of shots are requiered to fill the time of the video and that often shots are not more than a few seconds long.

Here is the link to the song:

Sugarcult - Bouncing off the Walls (2 minutes 21 seconds)



(Appendix 4a)

Focus Group Results: Notes made by participants

This post includes the notes that the group participants made during the focus group and what they thought about select videos and tracks; along with any other videos we could look at for inspiration. From the notes that the group participants made and the discussion we had, it was brought to our attention that much of what we have discussed previously (between our group; ie. me, Sam and Mark) is the general view from the niche audience also. This therefore confirms that we are on the right track although further thought has to be taken to tweak our ideas to fully satisfy the expectations of the audience. Our group had already come up with the idea of a black and white style with small bursts of colour to emphasise specific aspects of the video and this idea was strongly reinforced from the focus group who all mentioned the idea without being prompted by us.

We also gained an insight into their expectancy of performance shots of which they inferred that they expect to see the band playing using filter shots during a strong narrative using close-ups on the bands faces (particularly the lead vocalist) and close-ups/extreme close-ups on the bands instruments; e.g. the hands hitting the strings of the guitar. It was interesting to find that much of our ideas that we, as a group, presented on individual moodboards came into the minds of the participants in the focus group via their initial reactions to our track. Also, it came to our attention that there is a need for a reflection in the music video of the lyrics is a good idea to use within our video; however it can be very loose and the focus group like the idea of it appearing in text form during the video; e.g. splashed across a wall that the lead vocalist walks past during the narrative or being displayed as actually coming out of his mouth whilst singing. Overall, the focus group was extremely helpful and helped us greatly in gaining an insight into the needs and expectation of the niche audience we aim to appeal our music video to.

We Are Scientists - Lousy Reputation (track only)
- Shots of instruments being played
- Shots of band in open space
- Serious
- Black and White (with few colours showing through)
- Narrative with band shots
- School life - montage of school kids
- Lots of cuts back to the band
- Zombies
- Statues coming to life and attacking
- Performance shots on stage
- Large open space
- Low Key lighting
- Shots of the singer
- Showing just the singer without the band
- Coloured spot lights on stage
- Dark, dull colours
- Echo effects
- Monotone
- Strobe effects
- Comical and funny story
- Need performance shots
- Skinny jeans, etc.

Justice - D.A.N.C.E. (track with video)
- Simple
- No need to worry about actors
- Reflects the music - fashionable
- Aimed at young people
- Covers lots of ideas but isn't over-complicated
- Lyrics on screen
- Good use of colour
- Black and white with bright colours works well
- Needs more performance shots
- On-screen lyrics looks good
- Going into things (legs) at start; then back out at the end
- Not seeing their faces is good but in Lousy Reputation would be better to see all of them
- Switching from film to graphics
- Entrance and exit are good
- Clean setting
- T-Shirt idea is awesome
- Like idea of black and white background with colour for writing: looks cool
- Graphics are amazing

Foo Fighters - The Pretender (track with video)
- Like band shots
- Close-ups with far away shots look good
- Integrate band with narrative ideas
- Big empty space
- Like the way band is in colour and other people are black and white
- Paint water covering band is really good
- Good build up to the end
- Switching from faces to instruments to whole band
- Looking up at artist
- Sets the scene then brings in another character
- Doesn't loose your interest
- Subtle effect, red wall object is overlooked until end when becomes a main part of the video
- Slow-mo in a fast part of the song
- Single singer-no band
- Too bright
- Can't see walls, fades out, seems brighter
- Over-cranked performance
- Blurry all around the singer
- Destroying instruments
- Band walking in
- Faceless police compared to personality of the band
- Lyrics work well with narrative: "What if i say I'm not like the others?"
- Boring and Unoriginal
- RED with black and white theme
- Unrelated to lyrics
- Attention on performance

Possible Videos to look at...

Videos showing friends having fun together (meta-narrative and star persona construction)...
OK GO - Here we go

The Libertines - Don't Look back into the sun
Contemporary and Post-Modernism style of video...
Black Hole Sun


(Appendix 6b)

Focus Group: Possible Discussion Areas

Methodology:-
We are proposing to complete a qualitative focus group with roughly 4-6 people.

Purpose:-
We are planning on certain areas that we have discussed as a group and aim to bring these aspects up within the discussion and gather feedback of our ideas. We expect to get a clearer understanding on the suitability of our idea within that specific genre. Also, we aim to gain more knowledge and a wider understanding of the expectations of the niche audience of the indie genre.

Sample Audience:-
The group will include people who enjoy the specific genre of our track and those who are sensible enough to provide us with key feedback. Also, we aim to include people outside of the media subject as the audience won't have the knowledge that media students would and so would be less biased and over-technical.

Media Stimulus:-
We will show them a couple of videos that we have enjoyed and include aspects within them that we could incorporate into our video. These include Justice - D.A.N.C.E. for the pop-art and special effects (animation) as well as Foo Fighters - The Pretender for the close-ups and performance based aspects of the video. This would allow them to see visually our possible ideas and gain us feedback on these. We will also watch and discuss any video's they suggest to widen our knowledge of videos that appeal to our target audience.

Discussions Topics:
Colours.. Black and White? Bright and colourful?
Narrative.. Do they think a storyline would work? elaborate..
Performance.. Do you expect to see the band playing during the video?
Style.. How do you imagine the video for this song to be like? Animated? Serious? Funny?
Meta Narrative.. How do you think the band would be presented? A group of friends having fun? Serious about their music?
Costume.. How would you expect the band members to be dressed?
General.. What sort of music video do you enjoy? What ones? Why do you like these specific videos? What is it about them that you like?


(Appendix 5b)

Mark's moodboard response

Feedback #1

Well done guys - outstanding analysis of videos, clear group discussion of development of ideas and all elements (apart from Mark's moodboard?) are evident. You are working at a high level 4 at the moment. Keep it up...

Your concept ideas are very exciting - I look forward to seeing Sam's test shots to see how far you can take it. I do think you will also need to consider some performance too possibly... otherwise it will be quite static if your characters are not walking about.

My Moodboard; by Ben

I decided to concentrate a lot more on the colours and possible effects rather than the location. This is because i felt that the style of the video would only need very basic locations that wouldn't need major construction and planning. As a result, i strongly believe that a basic black and white background for the narrative with bursts of colour and bright animations to stand out would be the best option and a very strong idea to take back to the group. This is because I believe that it would really highlight our extraordinary capabilities with special effects and bring the audience's attention to it.
I have looked at the prospect of having a perfomance video or at the least having filter shots from a retro-animated narrative with a pop-art feel to it. The perfomance aspect of the moodboard involves having close ups of the instruments because i think that this style of shooting would look really good with the track and fit into the music genre we are looking at.
Also, whilst listening to the track i got a visual idea in my mind during the lyrics "A bigger man could probably get past it all... Oh the problem here is that I just won't grow up." I had this idea of a post-modern, contemporary style of special effects/animation that sees a man (whether in real life or animated..) suddenly grow really big into a "bigger man" the shrink down into being small and defenceless, "I just won't grow up." Its a very contemporary idea but i really think that it could work with the track and also this comical aspect would construct the meta-narrative of the band as being almost jokers and having fun with the lyrics.

(Appendix 4b)

Justice - D.A.N.C.E

This video doesn’t demonstrate the typical genre characteristics of an electro techno band and the variation and innovation of their music style is evident through their choice of music video and the pop art style that is used. There are no aspects of band performance as well as no meat shots of the duo themselves. It is clearly a post modern style and approach to this particular genre and demonstrates a shift from the expected video. The group members Augé and de Rosnay walk and the images of their T-shirts constantly change and morph (cars, mouths, eclairs, lollipops, numbers, letters and the lyrics). The lyrics of the song would suggest the video would include people dancing and a band performance of some sort; however the video is certainly contradicting the song lyrics by using this pop art animation style. It also is illustrative of the lyrics as the lyrics are frequently portrayed through the imagery on the t-shirts as well as the lyrics themselves also appearing on the t-shirts, in addition to this they also appear on a black background in time with the lyrics. According to Goodwin the record label will demand various close-ups of the duo; however this puts that theory into doubt as there is not a single shot of the artists. I have also looked at other Justice videos and the pop art style is not a reoccurrence across their works so once again challenges Goodwin’s identification that this is a requirement. There is also no voyeuristic treatment of the female body as the only image of a woman is quick and she is not particularly noticed as a key element of the video, however the animations on the t-shirts and also at the beginning of the video there are some images of the female body being represented in a misogynistic and negative manor, with the focus being on there legs and also some are disorientated suggest that nudity is present.

The pop art style is the primary and the only really noticeable technique used in this video, in particular the t-shirt animations that I earlier stated. The group and directors have stated that this was just fun and the t-shirts have little or no meaning, however they have admitted to designing some for specific reasons whilst some are still available to buy or are old t-shirts that they wanted to feature. “They're wearing blank T-shirts in the video, and we did the animations for it, they’re all based on flat, 2-D graphics, which we had to animate”. The technical aspect of this visual effect is very precise and time consuming and in particular the sequence were the keyboard falls from the t-shirt. However it seems the purpose of this video and this technique was simply to create an original and unique video which illustrated the lyrics in the same approach. The mise-en-scene in the video is key to the video and the focus is obviously based upon the t-shirts animation, the use of colour is also pivotal as it is bright and stands out above the surroundings of duo.

This video represents the band in a very unique way as it gives little away in terms on their personalities, it does however portray them as different and original to that genre of music. It doesn’t have any reference to the groups meta-narrative and there are no meat shots of the band to build up their image. The appeal of this video and the reason it will help them to sell records is largely because of the pop art style and post modern approach to the video. The fact that is something new and unique will contribute greatly to the repeatability factor that can make a video successful. The auteur directors are now recognised a on a global scale after the group won best video at the European music video awards and have been used by Kanye West in his video for “The Good Life”. The representation of the band is limited because of the lack of narrative and little in the way negotiated readings of the band.

The video is clearly illustrative in terms of the lyrics being frequently displayed in the video in the pop art style. However, it is also a form of disjuncture as the video challenged the typical conventions of a techno music video. The typical fan of this genre would expect band performance in a nightclub referencing a live performance. The reason for this is simply because the group see themselves in a different light and believe that their influences from other genres of music and in particular the 70’s and 80’s should be amplified in there videos as well as the songs themselves.

There is an intertextual reference to the song ‘video killed the radio star’ by The Buggles in 1979 and the ideas that they used in their video, in particular the sequence of the old radio at the beginning of the video as well as the song name appearing on one of the t-shirts with the slight change to “internet killed the radio stars” to make it relevant to the modern technological age. There are also references to popular culture on the t-shirt animations, in particular the images of the female body and crime aspects that are portrayed on some of the animations. The relevance to the audience in this is that it can help them to respond to the band and the more dedicated viewer can pick up these factors.

This video can 100% be considered art, the directors are also considered to be auteur. This is safe to say because the video is unique and original and they have chosen something that had not been considered in the mainstream music industry before. They have moved from the expected and created a technical piece of brilliance that intrigues and causes discussion amongst people in the music industry. It is certainly post modern also because it has shifter from the expected of this genre and demonstrates a new area of the music video that can be explored. The video is most certainly challenging in relation to it allowing and opening a new wave of directors such as French directorial duo Jonas & François who shot this video. There is more freedom for artists to attempt in their videos. However, whilst it is not questioned that this video is post modern and art, it is still commercial in terms of this change bringing in a lot of interest and publicity to the group, because of the style and technical aspect of the video.

The video doesn’t really represent and particular socials groups in any particular way, a reference in the songs lyrics “Neither black nor white/It doesn't matter” however represents a equality between race. The representation of woman can also be considered derogatory as the images of woman on the t-shirts is blurred and text in relation to those images reads “ultimate Lolita” which can most certainly be interpreted in a negative manor. The only real analysis of ideological discourse in the video is that the idea that woman are seen as desirable and objects of sexual desire is reinforced through this imagery and text seen in the video.

This video would be considered as being targeted at the focused audience as the genre is quite specific and would appearing on channels such as MTV Dance. However, the success and recognition that the video has received could mean that it has become vaster and more towards the ambient viewer.

Kanye west – Good Life Analysis by Sam

This video appears to be shot completely on a green screen, with colourful pop-art cartoon effects shown in both the foreground and background throughout the video. The pop-art effects are related to the lyrics either by being representations of lyrics or the lyrics themselves. The rappers and woman in the video are monochrome while most of the added effects are in colour, and are heavily saturated so that they stand out. Due to the rap genre of the song, it is expected that the music video would concentrate on the lyrics and the story they tell, and so this song is a clear example of illustration of the lyrics.

The visual technique of the colourful, evolving pop-art really stands out and demonstrates the creative and fairly original feel to the video. The lines and lyrics often move or are moved out the way by the rappers, as well as some that follow them, for example the picture frame that changes their colour to colourful vector art. This changing and evolving design makes the video more interesting to watch than boring static images. It also gives the feeling that the animations are alive and gives an upbeat, ‘alive’ feel to the song. The visuals are also good at catching the eye. They stand out due to the over saturation and single colour backgrounds, and so the video has a better chance at attracting ambient viewers to be more focused. Some of the animations are quite fast, and detailed as well as being good fun to watch, and so this adds to the repeatability of the video.

Kanye West in this song is singing about his way of living; ‘The Good Life’. He sings about making it big and living in some big cities in USA, and with that comes respect (not getting pulled over by cops, which are also featured by other rappers in some songs), money, women and fun. He also talks about fast, expensive cars, like Ferraris for example, one of the many things he can spend his money on. He also makes later reference to the black oppression by white cops when he mentions being asked to pop his hood and trunk of his car.

There are some possible references to popular culture in the song. A possible one is that the song is based on making it big in the USA and basically living the perfect life with everything you could ask for, i.e. the American Dream. This is similar to ‘Scarface’ (1983) in which Tony Montana comes over to Miami from Cuba to follow the American Dream. However drugs in this song are not labelled as bad, nor do they lead to any apparent negative consequences, although it never says that people would take them, only that they were transporting/selling them:

“Welcome to the good life

Where n-gg-s that sell D

Won't even get pulled over in their new V”

Another reference is a small one to ‘King Kong’ in which on the lyric “It feel like NY” it shows a collection of New York icons, of which King Kong is one of them. Finally ‘Snakes on a Plane’ is referenced as a sexual innuendo about having sex during flight.

This video would appear to be commercial as essentially it’s promoting Kanye West and his lifestyle as something desirable, and something to aim for. However with the amount of effects used in the video could be considered as an art form. Overall all though, there are no hidden meanings or challenging ideas, as the effects simply illustrate the song.

The heteronormative discourse in this video is clearly shown by the presence of the supporting female in who Kanye West takes an interest in. He is also shown, talking about sexual moves and reading porn magazines in parts of the video. Although dismemberment is not used in the video, he does rap about particular body parts of women, and so can be seen as derogatory.

The ideological discourse running in the video is reinforcing capitalism as the song is about the 'Good Life', having money, cars and women, and so is also promoting commercialism. It is also, as I have mentioned, reinforcing the American Dream of 'making it big' and getting riches and with that comes happiness, and that of course anyone can get there. He does that by saying "welcome to the good life" at the start of the song, saying everyone is welcome.

Due to the fast and fairly complex nature of the lyrics I would say this video was meant for focused viewing. As well as the great detail and effort put into the visuals, they attract your eye to increase the possibility that the audience consuming will become focused once they notice the effects. The target audience for this would be male teens to early 20's. There is a clear first person mode of address in this video as well as plenty of meat shots of both rappers, and so is again showing that it is for focused viewing.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=su_zrW9WBVk&fmt=18

(Appendix 3a)

Foo Fighters - The Pretender; by Ben

Foo Fighter's "The Pretender" is definitely a performance and illustration video with the use of a loose narrative involving the control of authorities in society; with lip-syncing throughout. Fast cutting is used throughout in order to establish a connection between the pace of the video and the very fast tempo of the track. Therefore, the fast action occurring through the duration of the video is constructing an alignment with the fast tempo of the track. This is reinforced in the ending of the video because the tracks tempo increases dramatically which is aligned with the action when the red paint comes bursting from behind the band, following the charge; that overpowers the policemen. Although, to the audience, it is visually seen that the paint is what is overpowering the police, it is almost as if it is the bands music and powerful volume of the ending of the track that is what is attacking; creating the ideology that the band overpower through their music rather than by physical means. This helps to construct the star persona and meta-narrative of the band as it being their desire to construct meaning within their music to establish messages and address issues. This strongly provides and reinforces the ideological discourse that you don't need to get your message across through physical means. The director uses a series of close-ups on the lead vocalist in order to successfully construct the "meat" of the video and to show his facial expressions to the audience and the strong, powerful, emotions he is channeling into the song connoting that it is an issue on a personal level of which he cares strongly about. The video is in sync with the track and lyrics and, as such, it is almost like he is telling the police that he will "never surrender" and they can charge at them creating a sense of taunting them with his music, daring them to attack. By doing so, it represents the band as being in control and could be again interpreted as them being above the authorities and their way of telling everyone; the audience and society in general, that they can't be controlled and they are, essentially, their own men.

There is an authoritative theme running throughout the music video which sees the special unit police charge toward the band in an attempt to attack. This could be read as constructing the ideological discourse of there being corruption in authorities within society, and more specifically, the police. There isn't any real reason shown as to why they are being surrounded and attacked by the police which shows the police extremely negatively through their seemingly unnecessary force and over-reaction having not been shown as provoked. They are carrying batons and protection shields whilst the band members have nothing except for their musical equipment; therefore posing extremely minimal threat to the police. This further reinforces the ideology of the police taking advantage of situations and using an extremely heavy hand on society and the public and as such the harsh treatment of citizens. The band's meta-narrative is constructed as them having a dislike for authorities and being told what to do, therefore establishing them as rebellious. They are also positioned as being higher and above authorities in society because of their victory in the fight against the police. The lyrics establish the band as being defiant for their cause and mentally strong and that no matter what the police are going to do they won't give up what they're fighting for; "i will never surrender." Also, there is this idea that they will stop at nothing to be heard and they effectively can't be hurt presenting them with almost invincible status even though the police clearly outnumber them in large numbers; reinforced by the numbering on the police's uniforms. This outnumbering further reinforcing there being an unnecessary, over-reaction by the police establishing the band as the victims. Alternatively, the track on its own could provide the alternative, negotiated reading of the song being about a girl. It could be interpreted as him trying to convince the girl to trust him and that he isn't like the other men she has been with; "what if i say I'm not like the others?" The lyrics compliment this idea because when he says "i will never surrender" it could be his way of telling her that he won't give up on her and it is her that he is actually fighting for.

Mise-en-scene provides and reinforces the reading and representation of the video. At the beginning of the music video he is strapping up his tape in white tape which is commonly associated with street fighting as if he is mentally and physically preparing himself for the battle he is about to face; in this case a fight against the police. However, this alternative reading of the track being aimed at a girl could be reinforced by this strapping up his hand motion. Instead of preparation for his fight against society and corruption in authorities he could be preparing himself to fight for the girl of whom he loves and, as such, will stop at nothing to get her; even fight. The costume in the video establishes the band as the victims of a viscous attack from the police in the colours of their clothing. The lead vocalist is wearing white in comparison to the police wearing black uniform. White is commonly associated with the colour of peace and tranquility whilst black is more known as stereotypically representing evil; thus constructing the binary opposition of the evil police vs. the victimised band. This idea of good vs. evil is further reinforced by the line that separates the band from the police of which could be interpreted and signifying this divide of good and evil; almost like the white of heaven in contrast to the black of hell. This could also reinforce the ideological discourse that the band feel as if they are sometimes wrongly judged as always being in the wrong rather than fighting for a cause they believe in. Furthermore, white and black are the predominant colours in video which emphasises the the burst of red paint that overpowers the police, which could be read as washing away the corruption in society.

Foo Fighters - "The Pretender"


(Appendix 2b)

Our Chosen Track

Here is a link to our chosen track for our video:

We Are Scientists - Lousy Reputation

My Mood Board: Updated

Combing a few ideas from our group so far and including a few of my own I have created a mood board for our song, which hopefully will help evolve and express ideas between everyone in the group once everyone has posted there's for us to discuss. Hopefully by discussing and seeing similarities in each others mood boards, we can more easily work towards common ideas and interests.

Click the button below to view the mood board, and once the page loads click the picture to zoom in:



Here are some of my ideas explained:

We Are Scientists: The band that performs the song. In all their videos they have a funny jokey feel to them and so either this jokey manner could be implemented in our video or we could include a possible reference to one of their other videos, so fans would get more of a meaning from our video. Other ideas or ways of portraying themselves in their videos could also be referenced or included in ours.

Dynamic Colours/Clothing: Shown in the Kanye West and Justice videos these are the designs and patterns that are changing and evolving, animating around the performers in the videos. I would like to implement something similar in our video, although that will provide a great challenge. Also some of the filters used in the Kanye West video look really good and give a nice stylistic effect, and would be nice to include something like that in our video if need be.



(Appendix 5a)