The Rocket Summer - Do You Feel, Analysis of camera work

The success of this video as a media text is completely to do with the nature of the camerawork, the video relies on a simple construct of the lyrics to the song being displayed as they are being spoken, on various peoples hands. The camerawork saves this construct from becoming dull by using a simple method of shifting the focus of the camera.

The pull focus technique is somewhat overused in this production, but to its credit it is overused effectively, nearly every shot within the text has this pull focus technique used within it. This continual rapidly shifting focus, has the same effect as cutting and changing to a new shot; the change in focus completely disrupts the shot changing its individual construct and effectively generating a new shot. the effect being that the rapid movement and change holds the audiences interest.

As well as the unnecessary amount of focus pulls, they have used a stop motion technique to create a large quantity of the shots available in this video, stop motion is the art of generating movement from stills by changing the elements within the shot overtime and capturing an image of every change; when compiled, these separate images become a movie. This is used typically in animations such as Wallace and Gromit. The effectiveness of it in this video however is to break up pan shots; in turn this creates a very raw and sewn together look, this type of look is a genre convention for this music video.

The shot types used vary from long shots to extreme close ups, often zooming between extremes rapidly, once again this type of rapid movement is designed to hold the attention of the audience.

I believe that this video has done fare too much to hold the audiences attention, so much so that i find it nearly unwatchable, but there are a few good points that can be drawn from this video, namely that it is important to consider the audience when filming, taking into consideration what will most hold the audiences interest but not go too far as to be annoying.

A Perfect Circle - Judith, Analysis of editing

Immediately noticeable, this video has two effects that are present throughout its duration; the first being the the " box camera" flickers, the procedurally generated effect that imitates a style of camera present in the 70's and 80's, comprised of picture defects sudden and brief flares, as well as an overall grainy image that would have been created from using analogue film. And the camera wiggle/jitter; the entire shot is moving rapidly, i would estimate that the entire mise en scene of this video moves on an x and y axis in both positive an negative fashions by up to 5 pixels every 0.25 seconds. This effect would possibly have been present on "box cameras", but i believe this has been added separately due to the inconsistency's of "jitter" relative to "box camera" flickers. The effect of all this is to capture the audiences attention, this effect is also consistent with the grunge underground genre, grunge music being an alternative style of rock that was created in the 1980's.

The video quickly cuts between shots, this is designed once again to hold the audiences attention. The video has an interesting colour pallet, notably changed in post production, it uses dark greens for the shadows, dirt brown for the mid-tones and pale blue for the highlights, these edits were put in place to help show the audience that the video is clearly of the genre mentioned. Not once within the video is there a fade to black, the attention is always on the band, perhaps showing a degree of narcissism but more likely it is a device used to promote the band, interestingly the subject of the video is the band and the product is the music, this suggests dedication to their music, to emphasise that point, the band is not situated anywhere that could be easily accessed, and nowhere in the video is there any sign of fans meaning their music is more important to them than anything else, this is considered a desirable quality from most genres of music today.

The overall editing does distract from the content of the video, the video is heavily edited, to the point at some key moments in the video that all subjects within the mise en scene are indistinguishable. This creates an experience for the audience that simulates a live performance, full of drama an no clear focus but the music itself. I can take from this, that editing a video in the right way could increase its success dramatically, editing is used in all manner of ways, it reinforces the perceived genre for the music video as well as creating a more enthralling experience for the audience.

Evaluation of Digi-pack

Incase the enbedded function does not work: https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dg9jr4kn_0h4wmnmwf

Q3: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I have chosen to use this feedback method because; a questionnaire often returns results that are unhelpful, with this interview process if an interviewee gives an unhelpful answer (As demonstrated in the video), they can be informed of the true nature of the question and provide helpful feedback. We did first try a group feedback method, however this was unsuccessful as the answers provided within the group often only came from 2 or 3 individuals, the shy members of the group choosing to participate to a lesser extent, with the method we have used the interviewee is forced to interact with the interviewer, meaning more feedback is retrieved overall and a more accurate spectrum of results can be compiled. The sample group we have used has a mix of all different types of student, not sticking to a particular subject focus e.g. Media students. As a result, the feedback given was varied; the overall result did however appear mostly positive. The manner in which we conducted the interviews was simple, each candidate was shown our music video, when the video finished we would turn the camera on and start the pre-prepared questionnaire, we believed that it was important to start the interview as quickly as possible after they had finished watching the video; so their opinions of the video itself were still fresh. The main and only real disadvantage to this method of collecting information is that it takes a lot more time than other methods, not only to shoot, but to compile.

We used a closed questionnaire because the results of a closed questionnaire can more easily be compiled into understandable information, rather than just lots of useless data that can be retrieved from open questionnaires. For example, giving a video a rating out of 10 provides accurate and measurable results, meaning one persons answer can be measured against another persons with a great deal more accuracy than if we had asked them something like "what did you think of the music video", answers to this question will almost always be useless, giving data such as "it was good" and "it was fun ", the problem being how to measure "fun" against "good", which one is higher/ better? The questions we asked were designed to give an accurate insight into whether our music video could be deemed successful or not; successful meaning likely to sell if put on sale.

The demographic of the people interviewed is as follows:

.male/female
.white (overall)
.17-18

As you can see, there is a need for some diversity, if i were to conduct the same interview again, i would be sure to sample a wider age range as well as different ethnic groups. The results retrieved could be bias due to the lack of diversity within the sample group. In saying this however, the group sampled did contain at least four different examples of youth tribes, meaning although they appear to be the same demographically, the large differences between subcultures could provide a large amount of variation between respective answers; in this case, they did not. The answers given were all largely the same, I would be sceptical in saying that the music video was successful from only this sample group.　　 I am confident that the method uses to collect information was the correct one, as it has the potential to yield the most accurate results. However i am unwilling to suggest that the music video we have created is successful based only on the group of people sample. As it stands i would say that the results were inconclusive.

Question 1: In what ways does you media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

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Finished music video

Question 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

How did we use new media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages? on Prezi

Ultimately the development of the Internet has fundamentally changed the face of media. For instance, it was not long ago that all work done for our productions would have been done on paper. Now we use an advanced blogging system, the system saves on physical space and allows us to be creative when presenting information. For instance, my blog is comprised of images, text, videos, slide presentations, interactive media, and new forms of presentation such as prezi. All of this would not be possible without the Internet. For all the new media technologies, the Internet is the most powerful and is the one that has had the greatest effect. Without the Internet our entire projects would be paper based without any visible and relatable  media elements such as videos.

Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product with ancillary texts?

The creation of the music video and our ancillary texts were closely linked. The music video was styled around classic rock music videos(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLBFyS2hlhw), meaning it had a large focus on performance shots of the band with a supplementary story element to add depth to the video as well as convey a message linking to the lyrics of our chosen song. The music video was muted in colour and was high in contrast, many of the mise-en-scene styles match my print productions. However they are not mutually exclusive to mimicking each other.

Thematically My music video and print productions are dissimilar, the music video is based around the concept of unpredictability and change within relationships, focusing on the morning period after a breakup. The video is dark, and is devoted to self destructive tendencies, in contrast the print production trys to promote a message of deeper exploration of feelings, looking into the complexities of the world around us, whilst also suggesting that similarities and patters can be found within everything. ultimately the video shows self destruction and the print production shows self enhancement. These contrasting elements work well together, showing different sides to how people perceive the world around them and showing multiple possible thought processes.

The aesthetic links through genre are apparent in my overall project, both my music video and print productions are slightly muted in colour yet high in contrast as common with rock genre texts. Both texts convey a message about the nature of people. This cannot say much about the nature of the link between my texts however as a genre link is necessary to create texts that work naturally together.

The imagery used with the two productions is also dissimilar, despite having the same colour correction techniques applied to them, the productions both focus on the underlying message rather than the imagery used to convey them. They work well together because of this. The music video displays emotion through surroundings, the lyric "Now you're gone" is often linked with stone surroundings, suggesting hardening of emotions, or being couple with images of water again suggesting the nature of change. The print production focuses on the fact that simple ideals can change peoples perspective of the world, using organic matter i.e. a tree combined with a simple graphic to convey this point.

The Print production "Cd case, insert and Cd design itself" for the music video and song chosen is represents the bigger picture, where as the music video focuses on aspects of connotations that the print production raises. The two texts complement each other in this way, one raises questions and the other focuses on them, and trys to answer them. The audience is unassumingly uncovering an enigma they were not aware of. The tone of both texts is very serious, often i think this is to its discredit as audiences often use music as an escape, being too serious could potentially damage the production if retailed.

In total the texts do work well together, complementing each other with their differences, whilst remaining similar enough to work in this beneficial way. The productions themselves however may not appeal to all audiences due to the lack of variety, this may become a problem if the product only sells to a niche market.

Concepts of target audience

The primary demographic of "Rarest spun"

Our bands demographic is simple enough. Rarestspun's band members consist of four young adults. They believe their band to be of the phsycadelic, indie, rock genre. They seem to want to be seen as new and exciting which leads me to believe that the target audience for this band is young adults or teenagers from 17 to 19. Their style of music would suggest they target collage/foundation degree students. The content within their songs is linier i.e a breakup and does not challenge many conventions, they are as seen above playing in a small room, probably a pub which further justifies my classification of them. They would do best within the B/C1 social class due to their content that is easily relateable to everyday life. Male audiences will be targeted within the specified demographic again because of the content within their music.

We have tried to create a music video that fits with the genre and demographic specified in order to generate the most potential sales. We can not strive to hope that "Rarestspun" has a dedicated audience so we are targeting the niche audience following the demographic predictions.

Music video concepts

This video was simply a test of multiple post production techniques that can be used in adobe after effects. It demonstrates the effect i am trying to create for my music video "I wasn't ready - Rarestspun", the desired effect is that of a TV or computer screen displaying an image/video that was not present in the initial shoot. This video clearly demonstrates a look that can be achieved.

Another effect present in this video that would be desired in my music video is "selective colour", this allows only one colour range to be viewed within any single frame; meaning either, only that element or coloured item is visible in the shot, or that the shot is completely de-saturated apart from the selected element.

Definition of Narcissism and image of Narcissus

Narcissus in Greek mythology was a hunter from the thespiae territory in boeotia. He was renowned for his beauty and has exceptionally proud distaining those who loved him. As a punishment; the gods made him fall in love with his own reflection in a pool of water, unable to leave his own image "not realising that it was just an image" he wasted away to death. (adapted from wikipedia)

Today, narcissism is a term used to describe a vanity, it is a form of extreme self love and is extremely egotistical. People displaying narcissism have an inflated sense of their own importance and have an unhealthy love of their own physical appearance

Coldplay - The scientist, Analysis of video concept

The concept in this video is unique in its execution, the video consists of the main protagonist undoing is actions whilst simultaneously performing the song. The actions he is initially undoing seem arbitrary, however the full message of the song becomes apparent when the audience witnesses a car accident in reverse, leaving the audience at the end of the song with the protagonist and his female partner, the audience knowing their fate and unable to change it.

The concept of looking backwards is present in many music videos and will be included in our own music video, however the method within this video in which the past is seen to be the present is unique. Showing the audience the outcome without context develops an enigma; partially due to the location at the start of the text (a matres on the side of the road) but mostly because the ending will also inevitably provide context being that it is also simultaneously the beginning. This in turn captivates the audiences attention.

The video as a concept is effective in demonstrating its message, which is something along the lines of, if you were looking backwards what would you have done? the ideal response being changing the situation in the present. This message is one that has been told many times through music videos and will be repeated.

This video is entirely based around this concept and it is extremely effective because of it. The knowledge given to the audience at the end of the song (knowing the female will die and has been dead throughout the song) forces the audience to replay the video but in a perceived reverse order, which is actually the correct order, the effect being that the audience will want to watch the video again. The audiences empathise lie with the protagonist, once the outcome is know, re-watching the video is almost like bringing the woman back to life so the couple can re-live their last moments of happiness together, the video relies on a strong sense of empathy within its audience. It is apparent from this video that a strong concept can have a huge positive effect on a video

Find your tribe and the implications it has on the concept of identity

The whole concept of being able to find your tribal identity online seems completely orientated to deprive people of personal identity by grouping them with stereotypical masses. Popular culture seems to find the idea of individuality amusing. The “Find your Tribe” website is not an influential website, it is more a pragmatic method of cultural stereotyping. Identities in modern culture seems to be extremely rigid when viewed on a website such as this; the website itself shows a lot about today’s shifting cultural norms in that rebellion (how many youth tribes/ tribes have been formed) has evolved from a means of seeking personnel identity and separation from authority figures, to simply grouping yourself into a tribe. Leaving near all of the values and original point of true rebellion behind. This era seems to be the one of fake rebellions and a search for individualism in an increasingly un-individual word, people are grouped together in tribes all linked through social networks and online videos reinforcing the boundaries which are apparently ever harder to escape from.

For the first time in history personal identity does not have to be personal, as mentioned before social networking has created a sub-identity or even completely different identity’s for many people. The online world takes away many peoples Inhibitions, they pick and mix their identity and appear to be something they are not or someone they wish to be. If anything our culture seems to create an atmosphere in which lying is socially acceptable.

The concept of identity in today’s world, as implied by the “Find Your Tribe” website is no longer a concept, it now exists as a physical representation of ones self as a person in appearance, mannerisms and interests. But also as numbers within a computer system. Personal is no longer personal and tribes have evolved to such a state where by they are no longer feasibly divisible into set categories but are rather mix of social cultures that are in a state of continual fluid motion, contrary to the website mentioned. This evolution has come around due to two factors, people are social and want to be together by instinct, forming to make tribes is natural. However individualism is now a key concept within many aspects of today’s culture ultimately leading to a cycle of continual self alteration to appear to be someone who is unique whilst conforming to everything that makes a person not so by trying to fit into a tribe.

Who am i???

Well... to start I'm Danny Turner, I'm 17 and i live at 1b judges walk.

This really doesn't say much about me i know. Actually that depends. From that information and from the knowledge you are reading this on my "year 13 media blog" a person so inclined to do so could deduce a lot about me. This person with an unhealthy addiction for knowledge about me i might add, could work out that i am indeed in six form or collage education, the fact that i am studying media would lead most people to believe that i would like a job in or around the media; this is true. A simple Internet search engine would generate my postcode and exactly where i live, The place of a persons residence can say a lot about them; i live in a house that is on a very "posh" road, the houses on my road are expensive and large. This is almost an embarrassing fact to me. The link between my appearance to others and my sense of self is perhaps very different. Despite my residence i do not come from a well off family, we "my family and i" acquired our current place of residence through fortunate circumstances. We often joke that our presence on the road lowers the value of the houses in the surrounding area. I guess the point i am trying to make is an obscurity of don't judge a book by its cover.

Don't judge a book by its cover. This statement is very bold in my mind, i think external appearances of books are important, there is a big difference between "daisy" and "The god delusion". Perhaps the metaphor is implying age of books, stating that because something is worn and beaten it doesn't mean it doesn't have a rich inner content. In which case this metaphor is only partially true when applied to people, books can't choose how they look, people can. My dress sense is comprised of jeans and usually plain t-shirts, boots or converse style shoes with perhaps a jacket or Hoody of some description. "Hoody" that immediately flagged something in your mind didn't it... Don't define me by one item of clothing, this is becoming a problem in modern society.

Already, if you do not know me you are formulating an image of someone in your mind. From the very manner in which this document is comprised you are making assumptions about me. I can't know if they are true, even if you told me everything you believed about me i don't think I'd know if they were true, i don't think i know myself well enough. I can tell you that i believe myself to be very forgiving; but this could mean many things to many people, i know i am easily upset and i take things to heart too quickly; could this just be a product of my age?? or is this a deep emotional trait that i will carry forever. My opinions on the world today will definitely change but i cant be sure of how much. I think of myself as middle class around C2, this could be very different. The party i would and will support in government is labour "everyone makes mistakes".

Who am i? i only have a vague idea at the moment. At this stage in my life i am forming my identity, i have told you everything i believe to be true about myself and have left you with an opinion of me. You can decide for yourself who you think i am.

Shooting schedule

Finished storyboards

These storyboards are a representation and a visual demonstration of the effects we would like to create within our video as well as an outline of our story.

The narrative we are trying to create is of a couples life. How they get together, how they are happy and how things can end in anger. The storyline/narrative will be intertwined with a performance element and a visual concept using a PC monitor to transition between narrative and performance elements.

Story board (unfinished plan, need to sort out details before the proper one is made)

Shot list

Verse 1

cu - record button being pressed
ms - computer recording band
ls- band playing
cu - elements of band playing(guitar,drums.etc)
ms - zoom, cu - PC monitor
Transition to couple through monitor
(the couple is sitting at the edge of the water)
cu - couple kissing (low angle) *love*
ls - couple walking (tracking)
ms - couple sitting on park bench hugging (high angle/crane)
pull back through PC monitor to band.

Verse 2

Cu - on the singer
pan - down to the bottom of the mic stand
quick ls - the whole band
cu - computer displaying the band playing
ms - drummer
transition to couple through PC monitor
( the couple has moved to under the pavilion, the male (josh Parker) gives the female a necklace
cu - of the necklace being put around her neck
ls - the couple under the pavilion *showing strength through unity*

Verse 3

(the couple is now walking between a row of trees)*romantic symbolising the road that love takes*
ls, la - the couple walking away
"intermittent flashes of the band breaking up this romantic image"

Verse 4

(The band is not present until the very end the couple is arguing. the necklace is thrown to the flaw in anger and the couple walks away in separate directions)
cu - of each of there hurt faces (perhaps tears)
"flashing between many shots quickly"*displaying rage, hurt, heart break, longing other synonyms for sad*
final ls - whole band "fading to black"
are back with the

Actors and costume, props/objects, locations

Locations

The location we have chosen for our couple is to be shot at is Eaton park; this is because the scenery is peaceful and easily portrays happiness and tranquility. This does somewhat vary from our genre, however the overall effect will be firmly within it. The other locations we will use are the Drama rooms (for band performance)this is because of the lighting capability's; meaning we will be able to achieve a variety of effects that can be altered depending on the current mood of the song, this is co-dependant on the time scale of the song and current position within that. The city at night will also be used, this is because the city will appear very ominous and imposing creating a very dark effect, as well as this the city square has coloured lighting, the lights shine from within the floor and will create a dream like effect, casting massive shadows and illuminating the couple from below, the overall effect will look almost satanic.

The couple, acted by (josh Parker and Rebeca bealey) will be shot at these three locations within Eaton park. The shots will be taken in twilight to achieve an overall romantic effect, utilising the reflective water to amplify this effect.

This location is significant in that it shows how long the road of a relationship can be, it connotes how imposing the journey can be as well as suggesting that the path is not rigid; although it is laid out in front of them they could walk off it at any time. however the beauty of the shot does display how rewarding it could be, the barren trees show potential for growth and improvement. In the context of our couple this shot will display that they are drifting apart, the barrenness of life besides the trees (they themselves barren) will signify that the relationship has passed its prime and is now beginning to decay.

In this shot the couple will be place in the center, obviously connoting how they are the center of each others worlds. The seats surrounding them will be empty, this could suggest that they are a couple that likes to be in the lime light but have lost their audience, and are not happy unless they are the centre of attention. The surrounding buildings are extremely imposing, connoting that the relationship is almost like a prison that they are trapped inside. This location will represent a relationship more than happiness, the couple will appear happy when shown inside it, but this should be considered as a false impression. At the end of the music video the couple will be positioned outside this location, showing that the relationship has ended.

Actors

We are using myself (Danny turner) as an actor because; my hair can be straightened to fit into the genre we are aiming for, i will be dressed (along with most of the band) in dark trousers and dark jacket. I will be playing lead guitar, we are going for a casual but dark look. we have references from the foals and elbow who have similar music styles to influence our dress choices. The dark styling can also be attributed to the nature of the song, the song is that of a breakup; light clothing would not enhance the feel of sadness.
Rebeca bealey is one half of our couple, she will be wearing light blue clothing to show innocence and a peaceful nature. throughout the piece she will gradually become lighter, she will start wearing white clothing and eventually a white dress. This white appearance is not designed to signify purity or innocence, but of her ever growing clarity regarding her relationship with her partner.





Josh Parker is the second half of our couple and lead sing within the band. Once again his hair style and dress will be easily tailored to conform to our genre. His clothing will gradually become darker, starting from greys and shallow blues and retreating into black. This transformation is to signify his growing doubts and concerns within the relationship, that will ultimately lead to the break down of the partnership. He will be wearing white within the performance shots mixed with dark trousers, showing inner confusion.




Callum stroude is our drummer. He can be made to look as one of the group, but the main reason we have chosen him is because he is a drum player, meaning we will be able to capture many realistic looking shots that simply would not be achievable with a novice. He will be wearing a black buttoned shirt, and dark jeans .







Tom Marshal is being used as a character because he fits the profile of the band, his clothing style can be slightly altered; by darkening the top half of his outfit and adding a jacket. He is tall and works well within groups and is trained as an actor so can give professional performances.








Props

- Electric Guitars x2
- Drum kit
- Microphone and stand
- suitable seating
- TV/PC - The TV or PC monitor will be used to create the psychedelic effect of flying through the monitor into new locations
- Earning

All of the performance props used are classic styled rock instruments, this will help the audience in establishing the genre of our band.

The earning are the only notable prop that will be used outside of the performance elements, they will represent the couples relationship. The lead male (Josh) will give the earning to the lead female (Rebeca), at the beginning of the narrative elements. They will then be given back as the couple breaks up; as there is no opportunity for dialogue, we are relying on the earrings to signify the strength of the relationship, when they are returned it should be a clear indicator that the relationship is over.

"Find your tribe" - results and evaluation

My result is townie. Although some elements of this tribe does fit me as a person the entire concept of dividing up youth culture into tribes is flawed. The results given would match me in some ways as i have entered personal information about myself, the outputs available are far too stereotypical to match any person into a group entirely accurately. This does not mean i do not believe in "youth tribes" however i do think that individuality is present no matter how much you fit the profile of a "tribe". This "test" only shows the shell of a person and gives no diversity to them as an individual.

In saying this i have not been assigned to evaluate the issues of stereotyping and the impact this has on society. The tribe i have been designated is "townie", as i have already stated this does match some of my character traits. I do not think Chris moyles is a comedy genius, I'm not in the heart of mainstream culture, I'm not saving for a holiday, i disagree with the statement "where people are normal like you" as i believe normality is an impossibility as everyone is completely individual. In fact the only reason i fit into this category at all is because the other category's are completely void of all similarities to myself.

I am however aware that my opinion and beliefs will be influencing how i see myself and other people. This is a paradox in itself as i will forever say I'm not a townie without question when in fact this might be a key characteristic of townies.

The questions within the quiz or questionnaire were limited in their construction and forced answers for the sake of answers, this kind of liner questioning is conducive of false, incorrect or inaccurate results. I would say the nature of this quiz is not to be taken as a conclusive statement about your personal identity as a whole but rather a general outlook of what your particular media tastes are related to in terms of "youth tribes".

Music video treatment - "I wasn't ready" by "rarestspun"

The concept is based around the TV and colour keying to create a Psychedelic affect and confuse the audience to some degree. The video is heavily influence by the musics genre (Psychedelic-indie-rock). The video as an end product should be around the idea of "bedazzled" meets "back to the future" i.e confusing to say the least, a little funny with a lot of heartbreak.

We will shoot the performance elements of the video in the drama rooms at CNS school. We will have to obtain multiple cameras as an image of the band performing needs to be displayed on a television to create the desired effect. The flickering and changes of the TV to display a couple and the merging of that footage of the TV to look as though the user is now at that scene and they have traveled through the TV will be created in post production using adobe after effects. The footage of the couple will be shot in 3-4 locations: a park, the city, a walkway/path with trees and possibly a beach. The couples clothes will change with every scene.

The hook within the music video will undoubtedly be the post production effects and the shots of the couple that are incoherent. The video will hopefully be able to be watched multiple times; watch time the audience should notice more detail within the shots.

Concept board

The ideas on my concept board are as follows.

The main concept is based around a television, the television is displaying the band playing; this is being recorded onto tape. Whilst the recording is in progress the television will flicker and display images of a "couple". As the music video progresses it will be clear that the "couple" started out happy but gradually the relationship breaks down.

The next concept is designed to pull focus of the images on screen. The concept is to have only 1 object in colour at a time to clearly display its importance.

the genre of our band is psychedelic-indie-rock. The conventions within this genre aims to replicate the mind altering experience within psychedelic culture. We aim to replicate this effect in our video. we will achieve this affect by using the concepts above(colour keying) and using the TV to transport the viewer from one place in space and time to another.

Foals - Audience Profile

The “Foals” seem to be a typical college or uni band. There music style, group ethics, and dress code all point to that of out of work teenagers or young adults; thus appealing to that audience.

To begin their music likes to challenge conventions, the music itself does not have a regular sense of rhythm but more changes seemingly at random. It is a statement almost near rebellion and could be seen to be appealing to a demographic of 16 - 25 year olds (higher education). I have found an amazing picture to support this.
As you can see it clearly shows the group in a hall with very littler furnishings. This could easily be taken as the group reaching out to its audience, the picture looks as though they could be a band setting up for a school talent show or something of that nature.

Again relating to the image. Their dress sense is abundantly clear to be that of students. They are wearing hoodies, jeans and predominately student like clothing, the image is completed by the trainers they are all wearing. Further more, their hair styles all conform to that of a large group of the student body. Even the manner of which they are arranged connotes student, they are sitting on the flaw, standing, jumping and perched on seats. Most of the physical appearance would appeal to the average student of today. The way they present themselves could also show that they are predominately aiming for a male gender within the currently established demographic.

I have found sources that describe their band as “Math rock”. There music style is intellectual, near 90’s style and arty, their website (http://www.foals.co.uk/entry/) confirms this, it has a calming melody playing whilst displaying many photographs of various scenic objects and landscapes. Even one of their songs is called “Mathletics”. They originated in oxford and I believe them to be greatly made up of university drop outs apart from jimmy smith; who was the only member of the band to complete his degree , Walter and jimmy were even part of a small oxford band called “face meets grill”. There backgrounds and musical tastes and influences such as: minimal techno, Arthur Russell, Kraut rock bands such as Harmonia, Talking Heads and marijuana and the genres they fit into indie rock, dance-punk, math rock, post-punk and techno, would all suggest that they are aiming for a demographic of older teenagers to young adults.

I would like to add however that after all this information the “Foals” themselves, I believe, would like to consider themselves disassociated with demographics. However the evidence that I have brought forward does suggest a demographic of 16-25 year old males, who are in some for of higher education.

Complete song lyrics and initial concept

These are the complete lyrics of our song “I Wasn’t Ready” by “RarestSpun”. Our music videos basic idea follows the principle that the band is recording over a tape to record their music video; every now and then the video flickers and we see clips of a couple on the tape that is being recorded over.

// silence – the tape is put into the reorder and the record button is pressed
// guitar solo - shot of lead guitarist
i always thought you'd stay // pulls back so the tv is in view
i always thought you'd be here// tv starts to flicker
now you're gone // tv displays brief image of a couple
now you've gone // tv displays another image of a couple
away

there's nothing you can say// camera appears to move inside the tv
no-one left to tell me// couple kissing
now you're gone // running
now you've gone // laughing
away

i never thought you'd go // pulls back out from tv
i never thought you'd leave me // tv continues to flicker
this time // relationship starts to fall apart
this time
you're gone

i feel you next to me // into the tv one last time
put your arms around me // more couple stuff
but you're gone // picture of a card
but you've gone // tv blanks
away

Contacting potential bands - reply - lyrics

To: rarestspun

To the members of rarestspun, we have sampled your music and wish to create a music video as part of our media studies A level. The song we are interested in is "I Wasn't Ready". It would be a great help to us if you would allow us to use your music. The music video will be posted on you tube and on two seperat blogs. If it is not to much to ask, would you agree to send us the lyrics to this song if you agree to us using it? awaiting your reply. Yours faithfully Danny Turner and Sara Disborough

Re: Artist Message for RarestSpun: Music Video
Note Message yeh no problem, please put a link to our myspace on there at some point www.myspace.com/rarestspun. Send us a link when you're done. cheers.

lyrics

i always thought you'd stay
i always thought you'd be here
now you're gone
now you've gone
away

there's nothing you can say
no-one left to tell me
now you're gone
now you've gone
away

i never thought you'd go
i never thought you'd leave me
this time
this time
you're gone

i feel you next to me
put your arms around me
but you're gone
but you've gone
away

The song we have chosen is " I wasn't Ready " :





VISIT
RarestSpun

Sara then contacted them again to gather further information from the band.

extra info

Note Message Hi if it is possible could you give me some information about the band. e.g;
What inspired you to make the band?
What bands inspired you music?
How many members you have?
What made you pick the name RarestSpun?
How long you been a band?
What are your names?
Who are your main audience?
What would you say your genre was?

Sara Disborough

The band replied (after a few more messages explaining why this information was important, our identities being verified by the band; giving them our blog addresses to confirm we are media students.)

.What inspired you to make the band?
Couple of us were pissed one night and it seemed like a good idea. We had a few .sessions and enjoyed it and it's gone from there.
.What bands inspired you music?
Loads, too many to mention
.How many members you have?
5
.What made you pick the name RarestSpun?
It's from A Clockwork Orange
.How long you been a band?
5 months with the current line up
.What are your names?
Kev, Ste, Farrell, Cookie, Luc
.Who are your main audience?
No idea, we've only played a few gigs round Manchester.
.What would you say your genre was?
psychedelic indie-rock

We have obtained their "cover" images through "my space". I believe the city scape has the most potential. However we may have to create our own cover to fit into the narrativ structure of our music video.

Concepts of music Videos

There are Three main concepts available in the production of music videos.

The First concept: Performance
A performacne based music video consists of the artist or "band" playing there song whilst being recorded. This often gives the impression that the audience is watching the band live, this techniche can often be very voyeuristic in that the band often appears un-aware of the camera.

The second Concept: Narrative
A narrative based music video follows a plot line. The artist or "band" are not
present in the conventional sense (They are not playing there music) however they may be involved within the narrative structure of the video. The narrative structure is usually but not always based around the song.

The third Concept: Concept
A concept based music video is the most varied. The music video often tries to convey a deeper message, but this is not a must. Concept music videos do not have to follow a story line, they can be a sequance of numbers, pictures, shapes or anything else they dont have to fit the music but they often do. An example of a concept music video could be fottage played backwards.

It is important to note that not all music videos fit exactly into these three categories. Music videos can fit into all three. An example of this is
"Elbow - Grounds For Divorce "

Leftfield - Africa shox essay

The music video for leftfields - Africa shox depicts a social dystopia, however it is also suggestive that this is the current state of social affairs. The video follows a black man who appears to be homeless around a city, the man meets many people as he walks whom all seem to disregard his presence. They are unsympathetic to his (literal) deteriorating condition and poor health. The man eventually completely deteriorates from existence.

The genre of the music is electronic with elements of house and electro. The video conforms to many of the elements/ generic signifiers of these genres. The video uses a grey pallet which is a common generic signifier in electronic music. Urban settings and neon style lights conform to the house style of music video as well as some elements of the electro conventions although electro videos tend to be more vibrant.

The video is concept based with a narrative structure. The narrative simply follows a mean through a city without any clear goal. The ideological concept behind it is to send a message about the state of the world.

The video has clear inter-textual references to dystopian visions of the future such as blade runner and perhaps some of the terminator films, such connotations of dystopian visions are used to further emphasis the content of the video itself.

The video is set in new York city, it uses many of the underground systems to conform to the house style. However the main purpose of the video is to raise awareness of the current state of the world and is commenting on how slavery and the western world has fundamental altered corrupted and befouled near an entire race of people. As the man walks through the city he begins to fall apart and is not aided by anyone except a tribal looking (black) man, this could be interpreted either as how the western world is ignoring the needs of the east although they have the means to help them, this point is backed up by the fact that the man appears to have cataracts disease which is treatable but will leave the sufferer blind if not treated; many people in Africa do not receive treatment for this illness. Or it could be interpreted as how the slave trade slowly took away the cultural identity of Africans, whilst using them as slaves, eventually leading to their complete lose of all connection to their heritage. This is also backed up by the “shaman” offering to help the man whop is slowly deteriorating, a reference of how many black people decided to return to the safety of Africa after they were liberated from slavery.

The break dancers conform to the house style, but are also used to address the reversal of influences that took place during the time of slavery. This is because all modern “western” music and dance stems from African slaves who brought their up beat songs to America.

The video also represents a world that is heavily male dominated. This shows a clear opinion that the western world is in great need of a social reform and must undergo these changes quickly.

Labels again

Background info

This is my year 13 media blog. My name is Danny turner, i received an overall B for my year 12 (AS) grade. This was comprised of An A in my exam and sadly a D in my coursework.

This year i hope to boost my grade to an overall A.