This is my music video that I made for the song "We Will Be Singing" by The Hype Theory.
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Analysis of You Me At Six - 'Loverboy'
I have chosen to analyse 'Loverboy' by You
Me At Six. I am going to be looking at the generic signifiers and how it’s
aimed at the band's target market. It's the bands newest music video and was
directed by Tim Mattia. The band belongs to the pop rock genre and this is
connoted very strongly within the video.
Throughout the video
there are many generic signifiers, most of them conform but a few challenge the
genre's boundaries. Tim Mattia has done this in such a way so that the video
will appeal to the target market and You Me At Six's fans. Firstly, the location
used for the narrative part of the story, the police interview room, is very
generic, it is quite dark and lacks colour. The walls of the locations are
plain, mostly dull white and greys. Even the colours of the clothes the lead
singer is wearing, dark denim and blues, reflects the coldness and isolation of
the location which is very common in the pop rock genre's locations. The other
location within the video, which is used for the performance scene, is where
the only bright colour is in the whole of the music video. The red lighting in
the second location contrasts greatly against the bleakness of the first. Also,
the red lighting is very strong against the white lighting in the interview
room but towards the end of the video they start to combine so you can see both
red and white lighting. This way in
which the colour red is used within the video, to create a contrast is common
in the rock genre. For example, in 'The Pretender' by Foo Fighters they use the
contrast between the colours red and black and then the colours combine at the
end of the video as the red wall explodes. It is also similar to one of their
previous music videos, Underdog, this helps the fans identify that the video is
by You Me At Six as they will recognise the similarities.
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| Foo Fighters - The Pretender |
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| You Me At Six - Underdog |
The clothes the band are
wearing also connect them to their genre as they are one of the strongest
signifiers within the video as it is the thing the fans and audience will
identify with most. Josh Franchessi, the lead singer is wearing a grey beanie
hat, a denim jacket, white polo shirt and dark skinny jeans. This is what males
within the target market of the band are likely to wear if they look up to the
lead singer. The rest of the band is also wearing skinny jeans, dark coloured
shirts and some are wearing dark jackets too. The way in which Josh is dressed
compared to the rest of the other band is so that he stands out; he is the lead
singer and is shown more throughout the video. Another genre signifier which
conforms is the camera angles which are used within the video. The narrative
shots are mostly close ups of Josh, this creates a connection between the
audience and the band as fans feel closer to the band. When they show the performance scene the camera is
mostly further away so that the performance is captured as one but some close
ups of instruments being played, band member's face, etc are shown which again
connects the band and the audience.
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| Josh's Clothing |
The overall narrative structure of the video is based on a
split between the band performing and Josh, the lead singer, acting. Although,
in some of the acting scenes Josh is singing the words to the camera like they
are part of the scene but it is like he is performing rather than acting. There
is no really story to the video itself but it is clear that Josh and the other
band members are being questioned in police interrogation rooms. This does
however link to some lyrics in the song, such as “Leave the scene smelling of
dead roses”, “Don’t you feel bad, don’t you feel bad”, and “This is a night you’ll
regret in the morning”. All of these lyrics refer to how someone is feeling
after they have done something, possibly messing up a relationship and this
could be part of the reason why Josh and the band are being interrogated by
police. The way the lyrics are reflected in the narrative structure and story
of the video is appealing to fans because the lyrics are important and are one
of the appeals of the band so the fans are able to relate to the lyrics and
therefore the narrative of the video.
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| Police Interview Room |
There is a sense of looking created by some of the shots of
the interview room being shot through the one way glass. This makes it feel as
though you are looking in on the lead singer being interrogated but he can’t
actually see you. Almost like you are the judge of the situation and what
happens to Josh, whether he gets let free or sentenced, is up to you. This
makes the viewer feel more powerful and connected with the video, like they are
a part of it. Also, most of these shots are quite close up to the artists’ face
which is common within the genre as it brings the focus of the video to the
artist. As well as the interview room the performance scene also creates a
sense of looking as it’s like you are watching the band perform. The way the
performance shots are quite bold and some are low angles is similar to how many
photos are taken at gigs by professional photographers. Therefore this will
help fans recognise the performance scene because the angles are similar to
that of photos they may have seen of the band performing.
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| Looking Through the Viewing Window |
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| Performance Scene |
The band themselves don’t represent any ideologies, like
Paramore and their Christian beliefs which are slightly reflected in their
music and lyrics, but some of the lyrics within Loverboy in particular create a
sense of anti-establishment. I think this is because of the way they band are
shown to be rebelling against the authority and this has been set up because of
the lyrics which are about doing something wrong and regretting it. The regret
in the lyrics kind of brings the video full circle creating something that
appeals to the fans in an anti establishment kind of way but not agreeing with
it by using regret and guilt. The use of the police board with the word 'sinner' written on it does have a slight religious connotation but its right at the end and is a reference to their album 'Sinners Never Sleep'.
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| Police Board |
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| Sinners Never Sleep Album Cover |
The target audience for You Me At Six is 14-19 year olds of
both genders but mainly females. I think this because when I look on their
Facebook page 17 of my friends like them and out of the 17 people only 3 are
male. Also, I believe their target audience is mainly of a white ethnicity and
have a low income because they are in education. They would be very similar to
the fans of All Time Low and Paramore as they are bands from the same genre.
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| My Friends on Facebook who Like You Me At Six |
Analysis of All Time Low - 'I Feel Like Dancin'
I have chosen to look at All Time Low’s music video for ‘I
Feel like Dancin’. It is a very upbeat song and, like their other songs, the lyrics
and fun and comical. On the 5th April 2011 it was released in the US as a
digital download through Interscope Records. When the video was first played,
it was released online exclusively on Vevo. The director of the video shoot was
Matt Stawski, he had directed All Time Low’s previous video Weightless but also one of Paramore’s music videos.
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| Paramore - Hallelujah |
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| All Time Low - Weightless |
The story of the video is that the band are filming their
music video and the different performance scenes are the ideas that they have
come up with in the scene before. It kind of makes fun and relates to Goodwin’s
theory as some of the ideas they come up with are part of his theory. For
example, one of the ideas is to reference/copy other music videos and in
Goodwin’s theory it says music videos should make use of intertextual
references.
Throughout the video the choice of images is very generic in
relation to the genre. All Time Low are a pop-punk band so the main part of the
video is made up of performance shots and scenes. This is intertwined with
acting shots where they are supposed to be sitting down with their manager and
discussing what ideas they are going to use in their video. The first scene is
related to product placement. It features the band performing with the product
Rockstar Energy Drink placed on and around the whole performance. The costumes
and the way the band are dressed are to reflect the product not who they are.
The next method their ‘manager’ says will work is selling sex. This then
involves a costume change for the band and actors, which again doesn’t
represent who they are as a band. The actors are dressed very provocatively and
are wearing skimpy outfits, when they start dancing around in the performance
scene the band start to look uncomfortable as they aren’t happy with the idea
that their ‘manager’ has come up with. The final method they use is stealing
other artists’ ideas which is taking intertextual references to a whole new
level. The first music video they copy is Lady GaGa as it is instantly
recognisable when they are dressed in white latex suits dancing around in a
white room. Also, Lady GaGa is of a
completely different genre so the song has nothing to do with the band. Another
artist’s video they copy/reference is Katy Perry and her video for ‘California
Girls’, the band is dressed in exactly the same costumes as what Katy Perry was
dressed in when she original made the video.
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| Product Placement |
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| "Selling Sex" |
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| Using Others Ideas / Intertextual References |
The narrative structure of the video is linear, it follows a
story and doesn’t use flashbacks, but the storyline is quite jumpy as bits and
pieces have been missed out, in a way they use flash forwards to move the
storyline on quickly. The director has used a linear structure so that the
video flows along and doesn’t jump backwards and forwards, this also links into
what the video is made up of, performance and narrative. After their 'manager'
has come up with an idea it then shows the band performing that idea and so on
through the ideas.
As I looked at earlier, there are many intertextual
references throughout the whole video. For example, copying the videos of Katy
Perry and Lady GaGa, at the end of their video, this is done in a comical way
rather than a serious way. Also, the way the band is set up and represented
during the performance scene is similar to many music videos from the same
genre, with the guitar and bass players at the front in a line and the drummer
behind. This is a generic set up for a band and it is also the same positions they
stand in on stage when they are touring so that fans will be able to relate to
the video.
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| Performance Scene |
There are many different representations through the video.
Firstly, the world they are represented in is just their normal world; being
told what to do by management and then trying to do what they want instead. The
way it is shot is almost like a backstage video of a music video shoot that the
band would use to connect with fans. This kind of makes it more interesting for
the fans to watch instead of seeing just a normal performance scene mixed with
a storyline. The way the band is also being represented strengthens the
promotion. There are many close ups of the band and their instruments so that
the band are the main feature in the band, all the actors in the background
only get medium shots so that they don’t overpower the band. This helps with
the selling of the track as the fans feel closer to the band. The video does
relate back to another of their music video, 'Weightless', the colours used and
the comical value are very similar. This is mainly because both of the videos
have been directed by Matt Stawski and have been given the same treatment. The
way the band is represented is still basically the same in each video too.
During the middle section of the video, there are some very obvious references
to the notion of looking and voyeurism. The second idea their 'manager'
suggests is selling sex. When it then cuts to the performance scenes the camera
are much slower and focus on different parts of the actors bodies and the actors
have changed into very provocative clothing. Also, the way in which the
location has been set up to look like a music shoot means there are lots of
people watching the band performance and also what the footage they are
shooting looks like on monitors. The way the male and female actors are
represented during the second idea is quite diminishing of them as its crude
and to the point. I think this has been done to prove a point that even though
the band have it in their video it isn’t what they are about; they are
different from other music videos that have actors dancing provocatively and
almost selling themselves.
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| Copying Lady GaGa's Video |
Because of the way they are trying to communicate a
message about who they are as a band, a lot of scenes are not traditional for
the genre even though the video is based around a performance scene. For
example, the band believe they are individual and all about the music so the
video shouldn’t need to be imitations of other videos, have sexy dancers or use
product placement. These representations are affected by social situations.
Also, the pressure from record labels on artists to be something they are not
is a current problem within the music industry and this is kind of All Time Low’s
way of saying that they aren’t going to conform, which is part of what they
stand for as a band. They believe music should be about the artist not what a
record label wants them to be. Alex has stressed this in many interviews that
they are never going to become something they aren’t comfortable being or doing
things they don’t agree with. Another aspect of this is that when one music
video includes something like a particular scene you often see it then repeated
in many ways in other music videos released after the original. The way in
which it has been done is this video is to show this up. Because when music
videos are released you often see the same sort of things in videos released in
the following weeks.
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| Band and Manager Meeting |
All Time Low have quite a large fan base spread across the
world. In the UK they are still relatively unknown but they have recently been
played a lot on BBC Radio 1 by a DJ called Tom Deacon, he introduces new music
through a show aimed at a specific audience of people aged 13-20 years old in
the UK. This is mainly the audience that the band appeals to in the UK, more specifically
females, of a white ethnicity. Most of the appeal is from the music, notably the
lyrics but also the band themselves because of how they look. The lyrics that
Alex Gaskarth writes for the songs are catch but also give something for the
fans to connect with the band. Many fans say that listening to All Time Low is
like an escape from real life or the music has “saved them”. This is something
Alex and all members of the band understand and why they give so much time and
attention to their fans. This is shown in the form of a fan club they have set
up, called The Hustler Club. It allows fans of the band somewhere to chat and
talk about music together; sometimes the band members join in. On the boards
there is a real sense of family and friendliness which makes fans feel part of
something, it also gives them a chance to buy special merchandise or win meet
and greets at concerts. I am part of The Hustler Club and can honestly say it’s
worth the $25 it costs to sign up. You make great friends, are able to have fun
and free conversations about All Time Low and I have even won a meet and greet,
which was one of the best moments of my life.
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| The Hustler Club Homepage |
Band Analysis - We Are The In Crowd
After looking at The Hype Theory, I have found other bands that are similar that I previously didn't know of. One of these bands is We Are In The Crowd. They, like Paramore, are an American pop-punk band with a female lead singer.
They formed in 2009 and are from Poughkeepsie, New York. The members of the band are Taylor Jardine (vocals), Jordan Eckes (guitar/vocals), Mike Ferri (bass), Rob Chianelli (drums), and Cameron Hurley (guitar).
In 2010 they release an EP called Guaranteed To Disagree and in 2011 they released a full album named Best Intentions which went into the US Billboard 200 and number 122. Also, during the summer of 2010 the band formed part of the Vans Warped Tour as many other band similar to them, Paramore, All Time Low, You Me At Six, have done before.
Their first single 'Both Sides of the Story' was release on 15th October 2010, here is the video for the single:
Here is the album artwork for their album and EP:
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| Album - Best Intentions |
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| EP - Guarenteed to Disagree |
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