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.
Foo Fighters - The Pretender
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.
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.
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.
Looking Through the Viewing Window
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'.
Police Board
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.
The music video "Loverboy" is strongly generic in that the lead singer is represented as a rebellious loner who challenges authority. If you look at Solay's music video by Foo Fighters there is a similar representation of the rebellious rock star challenging authority. There are also costume references to Elvis Presley's early work with the jeans and jackets part of rock band iconography. Note the representation strong masculinity (similar to the Foo Fighter's music video on Solay's blog) and importantly cultural signifiers indicating the cultural roots of the artist.
You could add another post addressing these generic aspects of the music video.
The music video "Loverboy" is strongly generic in that the lead singer is represented as a rebellious loner who challenges authority. If you look at Solay's music video by Foo Fighters there is a similar representation of the rebellious rock star challenging authority. There are also costume references to Elvis Presley's early work with the jeans and jackets part of rock band iconography.
ReplyDeleteNote the representation strong masculinity (similar to the Foo Fighter's music video on Solay's blog) and importantly cultural signifiers indicating the cultural roots of the artist.
You could add another post addressing these generic aspects of the music video.
You could also identify the target audience.