JC Deadline

We have now handed in our rough cut for the music video and today we will be viewing all the videos in class so that we can get some audience feed back in order to make any final adjustments that are neccasery before the final deadline on Thursday.

The advertisement and digipak have now been handed in. We made changes on the last couple of days by changing the background colour, adjusting the text so that our font was clearly readable over our artistic background and done a lot of photoshop to get our band images how we wanted them. We used two images on the inside pages and another on the front cover, the front cover image involved making the band members have a yellow wash over them.

We are very pleased with the work we have done and are confident of the quality of it. I think all three of us are looking forward to the audience feedback that we recieve so that we can make our evaluation and move towards the exam knowing we have done 75% of the work.

final digipaks

These are our final digital pieces for the digipak and advertisment for 'Kerrang'. We diecided to use the same sort of background as a motif for both and kept them to minimal colours. This conforms to the typical forms of this genre. The text is also goth like and so adds to the whole feel of the digital art.

SF - digiak and advertisment 1

For our digipak and advertisement we have decided to use an abstract design on the entire album cover, but with a picture of the band on one of the inside covers so that we are working within the conventions of the genre. We have included a font called 'mutlu ornamental' which we found on 'dafont.com' This was so that we had an old fashioned style of writing to use so that we could work within and utilise our idea of the silent movie style.

JC-Approaching Deadline

We are now in our final week before the deadline and we are doing very well.
The advert is done how we want it to be, and we think it conforms to the right conventions. The digipak back cover is complete, the front cover is complete, and the inside is almost done, we are just waiting to do a photo shoot with the band to put a picture inside.
We have put constructed our special effects shots, such as the face off, the ghost effect and the inter-fading in the important low angle shot.
We have been putting our video together against the animatic, with most shots correct to how we did the animatic. We have managed to sync up a lot of the singing and drum shots and the narrative section works well, making the significant parts of the song match up with the introduction of new parts of the silent movie sequence.
We are confident that the rough cut will be complete in time for the deadline, and are very pleased with the work so far. We have approx two minutes of the song that has footage that is likely to stay like it is, leaving just over a minute to be moved about to make it what we consider perfect.

SF - Rough Cut 1

We are now working towards our rough cut for the video meaning the shots will be edited to the extent that we can use our footage to carry out some audience research for our evaluation. We have used effects to darken our performance shots which works well with the fact that all the band members are wearing black shirts, a generic convention of the genre, meaning that with the darkened performance shots we can capture the mood of our track. This is because through the verses of our track, there is a sense of foreboding, suggesting the idea of darkness or sinister situations.

SF - progress with editing

We have begun editing our music video so that we can put the performance and narrative parts of the video together. It seems to be going quite well as we have managed to put together some brilliant cuts and transitions, such as from the ghosting shot into a shot of our singer. We have used different types of shots for the piece, such as using an intertextual reference from a video by '30 Seconds to Mars' using a face-off shot as they did to indicate the idea of an inner struggle or meeting the other side of your personality.

JC-Our Footage

We have captured the footage from our first location shoot and also from our first studio shoot.
From doing this we have been able to see which shots have been successful and which shots need redoing. Hence when we went out to do our big location shoot we also knew that some of our previous shots had to be redone.
We have taken some extra shots to be able to fill up any time without too much repetition, as the track is still quite long. This will mean that our storyboard will not be exactly what the video looks like, we hope this will be an improvement and that the clips will sync with the track to make the video more understandable and coincide with what the band sing about.
We have begun some of the editing, and will be getting a good picture of how things are going to look when put together over the next few days.

JC-Location shoot evalutation.

Today we did our shoot on our external location.
This was a successful shoot which we were very pleased with, hopefully we have got good enough quality to not require a reshoot.
I was director today as well as cameraman.
Scott was also cameraman and props manager.
Tom and Natasha were our actors.
We got all the shots we needed and we did so quite efficiently, taking extra shots to ensure retakes weren't required and also managing to get a few shots that we didnt initially plan.
We made sure the costumes were correct to what we had planned and the make up applied according to our research.
Tomorrow we will have our next shoot in the studio and then we should have all of our footage.

JC-Location Shoot #2

This weekend we plan to have our big shoot at our external location.
This will involve the important shots with the lead singer and the girl.
Shots that we specifically need to do are:
Face-Off shot.
Ghosting effect of girl over tracks.
Singer Walking on track.
Tracking shots.
The bridge. (Above-High Angle-Under-Low Angle)
Girl following singer.
In train shots.

We will also be using a few ideal shots that can be used as filler shots.

JC- Studio Shoot

I have just captured the footage from the studio shot which was done whilst I was absent. There is some great footage of the band playing and shots of individual members of the band.

The meat shot, which is essentially the most important shot of the band needs reshooting as the bassist is too far away from the rest of the band and means that he goes out of frame a few times.
I have realised, after looking at the footage we have got, how important the direction of people's eyes are. For this reason, some of the close ups of the singer need to be reshot. We have also decided that when we redo some of these shots, that a shot of the singer under a solo spotlight would be a good idea.
In some of the performance shots, when the drummer is not playing it looks like he may be texting behind the symbol so when the band are playing it needs to look like the whole band are involved in this performance, so the band members look involved, and if they have any movement whilst playing, they dont stare at the floor all the time.
We plan to reshoot a few of the studio shots to include some camera movement, for this we will require the dolly for the camera, we want some sweeping shots across the band playing. The shots need to be composed for the best framing, and the stage lighting needs to be combined in to make the performance seem authentic.
It would also be nice to have a few flash cuts to different things, like parts of the drum kit, the guitar, the players faces, the stage lights etc

We should reshoot, with mulitple angles:
Intro, CU of singer(spotlight)/guitarist
Drummer playing (different cam positions)
Band's faces
Meat shot
"Burning on the inside"

SF -performance shoot

We have now done the shoot for the performance part of the music video which seemed to go quite well. It was best for us to attempt each shot from multiple angles and also multiple times so that we could see which angle works best and also to ensure that we could get the best shots possible. This also allows us to work out whether or not we would need to reshoot anything due to errors by the performers or the cameraman. However, we managed to successfully make the most of of our opportunity to film the people performing in the video, using our animatic as a guideline for our shots.

TJ - Advertisement Ideas

These are my ideas of layout for our advertisemnet for the digipak. it is only an idea due to needing take our own pictures and put them into the advert. I developed it by changing the font colour and changing the background picture as well as adding an old paper texture to it.

TJ - Digipak Ideas

These are some of my digipak ideas. also with fire layered over the top. I have gone with band images as ive found that most bands have pictures of them in the digipak, either performing or backstage. this is to let the buyer experience them offstage as well as listen to them.

SF - Digipak ideas

We have been putting forward ideas for our digipak design, including designing a draft copy with our ideas. The ideas put forward on my digipak were using shots that we hope to use in our locations, such as a shot of eyes looking through fire and a train coming through steam and smoke, with a shot of the band included on the inside cover. Some of my design did not really work with the idea although we managed to agree on the idea of fire as it relates to one of the key lines in the track , 'burning on the inside' which relates to the eyes appearing through fire. Going from the top left and round the pictures are eyes appearing through fire, a picture of the band, a train going through smoke and then fire around the edge of the cover with the name of the track in the middle at the top.

SF - Shoot 1

Today we did our first shoot so that we would have some footage to play around with and also so that we could see if there were any areas in which we could improve. We thought it was best to film during the day and we managed to get some really good shots, such as a ghosting shot which appeared to work quite well. This helped us to see exactly how we could make the shots work practically. We decided to film some shots inside one of the train carriages so that we work out the best angles for the shots on the train, as well as using the railway to determine the best place to film.
We have the callsheet and risk assessment for this shoot as proof that we considered any potential health and safety issues.

SF - Animatic 2

We have now finished our stroyboard and animatic meaning that we are now able to film practice shots of our location. The animatic works really well as we cut the song down so that it would be easier for us to storyboard shot ideas as we would not have as much time to fill. We are pleased with the animatic as it means we now have our ideas written down and can now visualise the music video taking place

JC-Shoot Dates

Our first shoot will be on Sunday 25th October when we will shoot the scenes that do not have any people on screen. These shots will be the fire shot, pullaway shot and the train coming towards the camera shot.

On Thursday 29th October we will be doing location shooting on the tracks. We want to get the shots of the singer, getting he close ups and the shots of him singing into the camera.
We will also get some of the on train shots, these may only be practice shots as we don't think the train will be moving on this day.

We are planning our future shoots at the moment to determine when we will shoot the girl on the tracks and on the train.

At some point we also need to plan our performance shots in the drama studio.

SF Animatic 1

We have now started producing our animatic on Premiere as a project before our music video. This is to show the shots we are planning on using, allowing us to put our ideas down on paper and meaning that we are able to put together a preliminary plan of how the music video will be put together. This, therefore means that through the making of the storyboard animatic, we will be able to decide exactly how the music video will be structured and how we will shoot it properly.

SF ideas for digipak

We have been thinking of some ideas from our digipak and Tom has been experimenting with some ideas for the digipak on Photoshop, which allows us to see exactly what options are available to us. The ideas that we have been putting forward and that Tom has been experimenting with ideas on photoshop using different effects and textures which includes using darker colours for the cover, working with the conventions associated with the digipaks we have analysed, using three or four colours and having a centralised motif.

SF evaluation of the pitch

We did our pitch in class yesterday and we believe that the feedback we received was positive, with some new ideas included in the pitch. We managed to put across our ideas successfully which helped us to understand exactly what we were aiming for. The idea of the pitch was to show exactly what we had learnt through our product analysis and also through the technical analysis. This meant we could point out the typical conventions from our genre and show ideas for our locations after the reccie. We also put forward ideas for our digipak which we have now learnt needs at least four sides, but the ideas we put forward seem perfectly apractical and work wel with our concept.

The pitch-JC

As we are about half an hour away from our pitch now, does anyone else have anything to add to the powerpoint slideshow? If not then it is all ready on my memory stick and it has been printed for us to see the notes that go with it.

TJ - Product Analysis 2

Product Analysis – ‘The Pretender’
‘Foo Fighters’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKhnmUdmz74


I have chosen to analyse ‘The Pretender’ by ‘Foo Fighters’ as it is a purely performance based video. This will help our group understand what is needed for our performance parts in our music video by Three Days Grace.
As this video is also from the rock genre, it will help more towards the production of our video, as they follow the same types of forms and conventions as each other. This genre is shown clearly throughout the video through the performance and the instruments are typically a rock bands. Their performance reinforces the rebellious form as it is very much jumping around and shouting down the face of the camera.

This video could be considered art with a message. This is due to the simplicity and impact of the video. The video would be postmodern as it is clean and original and by the band performing in front of a red wall signifies a stage performance although they are not on a raised stage.

As the whole film is performance based, they have relied on many camera angles and effects to keep it interesting. For example, the first shot is an ELS high angled shot which introduces the lead singer as if he were walking onto a stage with the instruments already set up and the lights being turned on in this warehouse/ hanger. Also the slow motion is used for the slower bits of a song which creates the feeling of tension and importance. At the beginning there is a CU shot of the lead singer wrapping his fist up like a boxer would before a fight. This could be representing the rebellion of the band. The costume within this video, reinforcing the stereotype of the rock genre, is also black and one other colour in this case, white for the lead singer. This creates the illusion that the lead singer, which is often the case, the main focus in a band. This colour scheme continues throughout the video in the hanger, with the riot police and band. However there is one bit of colour with the wall behind the band to make them stand out.

At the beginning of the song, the guitar introduction has similarities of ‘Stairway To Heaven’ by ‘Led Zepplin’. This could intrigue people that are fans of Led Zepplin to listen to this track and create a larger audience.

Foo Fighters are a strong stereotype of a rock band as rebellion and this is represented through the bands performance and shouting at the camera. The performance also blocks riot police which is supposed to be a powerful force of the law. This then connotes that their rock music is anti authoritative with a stand off and them winning which can indicate the idea of protesters. The lyrics state the rebellion against conformity with ‘What if I say I’m not like the others?’

The police are represented to being ready to fight and reinforcing male stereotype. There are no females within this video and so it is targeted towards the male audience and would be probably consumed as focused viewing due to the message behind this male stereotype.

Response Moodboard - JC

SF - Product analysis two

For my second product analysis I have chosen to analyse ‘The Kill’ by ‘30 Seconds to Mars’, a band within the same genre as ‘Three Days Grace’ which is the alternative rock genre. The video was produced by Virgin Records and Josh Abraham in 2006. The broad characteristics of the genre portrayed in the video are the costumes used, with dark clothing and also the shots of the instruments as a method of establishing exactly what genre the music is in.

Are the lyrics amplified and are they illustrated by the visuals?

As the song is about seeing yourself for who you really are, the lyrics are amplified to a great extent at certain stages of the music video and a key example of this idea is when the singer says ‘this is who I really am’ a face-off shot is shown, with the singer facing a duplicate of himself. This connotes the idea of an inner struggle because in this shot, he can be seen fighting with his doppelgänger, showing that he is refusing to come to terms with who he is. There is also a direct reference to these lyrics when one of the band members is seen reading a sheet of paper that says ‘this is who I really am’ over and over again, suggesting knowledge of who his is but also connoting his refusal to accept the truth. At one point in the video, the visuals do illustrate the lyrics, because the singer is shown shouting as part of the performance, connoting high emotion and also working with the lyrics because he is singing about breaking down, connoting that the emotion he is portraying is all a part of the emotional and psychological struggle that he is going through.

Does the video cut to the beat? Does the pace fo the visuals change with the tempo of the song?

There are various stages in the video where the visuals seem to cut along with the beat, as indicated early in the video where longer cuts are used as a method of establishing what is happening, with the music being slow paced. There is also a segment in the video where the drums and guitar speed up, causing the shots to accelerate with roughly ten frames flashing up within the space of two or three seconds, indicating an obvious change in the video as the music changes pace. However in some cases the music and visuals do differ in pace because at one point, when one of the band members is skateboarding down a corridor there is a relatively mid tempo beat and longer cuts are being used with the visuals.

How are the band represented? Are motifs used?

Throughout the video there are multiple meat shots of the singer and the rest of the band, an idea made obvious through one particular shot, when the singer is staring directly into camera and screaming with his performance, indicating Goodwin's notion of looking, The band is continually advertised as the video frequently cuts back to the band members in their specific roles, as well as the fact that they are all included within the narrative of the video. Another less obvious form of band advertisement is included in the film with the 'room 6277' which spells out 'Mars' on a telephone keypad, meaning a part of the band name is included within the video, as well as the band members themselves. This relates to other videos by the band such as 'From Yesterday' and 'A Beautiful Lie' two videos which are also heavily focussed on the idea of a performance. There is a specific motif used by the band with the idea of make-up, most noticeably eye-liner, worn by the singer, which he wears in other music videos, such as the two previously mentioned videos. The band are provided with the image of being rebellious rule breakers at the start of the narrative, the characters are given a note saying not to go into 'room 6277' which one character ends up doing later on.

Which dominant ideologies are shown here? Are they reinforced or challenged?

Throughout the video, the main character played by 'Jared Leto' is seen as breaking the myth of masculinity because at one point, such as during the face-off shot, he is seen showing some form of vulnerability as he ends up putting his head on his doppelgänger chest, connoting that he may be about to be reduced to tears. However there is a reinforcement of typical male characteristics as the singer is shouting in his performance and at one stage is shown throwing a ball at the wall, the first image connoting hostility and the second connoting stress, suggesting that men get stressed easier than women. At the very start of the video, in the little clip just before the music starts, 'Leto' says how they will be alone all weekend, suggesting that as men, they enjoy being masters of their domain. There is also a reinforcement of violence in the nature of men as during the face-off segment the apparition is held up to the wall by the main character, suggesting some form of inner struggle and also connoting the idea of self realisation, indicated by the phrase 'this is who I really am'. There an idea of Jhally's theory of the subordination of women as at one stage a woman steps out of the shower wrapped in a towel with a male character staring at her, also suggesting that she is being shown in a sexualised way. However, there is also a reference to the feminine touch as when she touches the male characters face, he appears to succumb to her will, connoting that she seems to act as a figure for reassurance of the male role.

Are there any references to other texts? music videos?

Intertextual references are evident in this music video especially with the film industry because the video is directly based on the 1980 film 'The Shining' as indicated by many factors and images in the video. Two key references to 'The Shining' are the fact that the video is set in an 'empty' hotel and also with the shot of the typewriter with a sheet of paper saying 'this is who I really am', directly relating to the character played by 'Jack Nicholson' descending into madness with the line ' all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'. Another reference to the film industry is the use of credits at the start with the song name, but there is also an allusion to the silent movie genre with writing indicating locations and also time passing shown on dark screens and highlighted with white writing as a method of making the writing more noticeable.

Is more narrative, concept or performance based?

This music video is both narrative based and performance based with more performance aspects as more shots of the singer performing are used throughout the video, indicating that the video was being to advertise the band as great an extent as the artists could. It is more of a mainstream video because with the intertextual film reference, it means that the video is being advertised to more than one audience demographic.


Therefore, this video is a performance and narrative hybrid which is being used to advertise the band to a great extent with intertextual references. All in all it is a video that not only reinforce stereotypes but also challenges them.

TJ - Moodboard Response

This is my moodboard in reponse to our track. It shows most stereotypical motifs from the rock genre. i can see and learn that most things to do with rock are dark and, if any, not many colours. Most of the motifs are bland but affective. There are also wings in the motifs and the clothes are dark to connote the inner struggle of the bands lyrics.

SF- moodboard

This is my moodboard on punk and alternative rock. What I have learnt from this moodboard is that the members of the bands tend to wear dark clothes in their videos and also in their performances, wearing colours sch as black or red. Also , with reference to the album covers, there are only two or three colours used, which seems to be a feature of the genre as quite a lot of bands from the genre use this style.

SF - pictures from our reccie

Below are shots from a reccie that we did on Friday at the Spa Valley Railway in Tunbridge Wells. As you can see there are shots both on the train and of certain areas of track that we could use.

Our conversation

Here are some ideas and points from our conversation:

• Doll/Dressed up person as a doll.
• Jump Cuts for Horror effect.
• Face off shot, mirror filter.
• ECUs of screaming performance.
• Gothic Horror.
• Background fire, get a shot on bonfire night?
• Watch carpark north video.
• 30 seconds to mars-the kill
• Marilyn Manson
• Look into connotations of burning on the inside.
• Patrick P-B: Guitar
• Alex Dove: Drummer
• Tom Johnson: Lead Singer
• Inner struggle, self hatred.
• Screaming at cam.
• Grave yard.

Reccies

Scott, Tom: Are we still ok to do the Drama Studio reccie today at lunch break?

Scott: We're all set for our railway reccie tomorrow, so just to remind you that we'll head off after registration.

SF - Shot experimentation

Using ideas from other music videos we have seen by bands in the same genre to 'Three Days Grace' we decided to attempt a shot from a '30 Seconds to Mars' video. This was the face off shot and we wanted to see if it would work with our ideas. It seems to work really well so this is a shot that we can potentially use in our music video.

Costume probability

Today we also spoke about what type of costumes we would be wearing, for the performance and narrative. for the performance i thought we could go for a smart but casual black and red, to keep it a bit gothic.

And then for the narrative, the girl could be wearing something a bit old like a corset dress.

Cast List probability.

Today we discussed a new narrative for our video, and also been thinking about who will be in the video. So far we have Patrick for a guitarist and Tom for singer, aswell as Scott being the bassist. There are also two girls up for playing the part of the 'ghost' girl. these are Mandy and Sophie. we will decide who will be best for the part. And then finally the drummer, if he agrees will be Alex.

TJ - Problems from our reccie

There were a couple of problems we encontered whilst on our reccie in Brighton. One of the most occuring problem was the camera not being smooth enough and a bit shakey. This was apparent in the 360 pan as well as the time lapse experiment.

So when we shot our video, we will try to make the camera movements smooth.







An other problem was one of our locations was not suitable for the type of shot we were planning. This occured during our other time lapse experiment, as there werent many people walking passed for it to be effective.

Proposed Reccie-JC

Our group will shortly be visiting the Drama Studio in our school to see if this is a suitable location for a performance section of our music video.
Whilst we are there we will be looking at size, space, available lighting and equipment, times it will be available to us etc
We will take a camera to get some stills for our pitch and possibly some of the video cameras to take a few practise shots to see what we can manage with the location.

Evaluation of Technical Analysis-JC

Summary of the technical analysis that I carried out:

• I used a track from the same genre as our chosen band.
• I found that the track was highly performance based.
• There was a narrative fuzz that appeared illistrutive of the lyrics to fill up time.
• There was a lot of fast paced cutting, keeping in time with the music.
• The meat shot was repeated very frequently.
• The artist and the instruments and key props had many close ups from different angles.
• The genuine band affect was strongly reinforced.

Brighton Reccie

TJ - Technical Analysis Evaluation

Evaluation of Technical Analysis
‘Muse’ – ‘Uprising’



From my shot by shot analysis of the song ‘Uprising’ By Muse, which is the same genre of music as Three Days Grace, that most of the shots are CU meat shots of the lead singer, followed by many shots of the bands performance and close ups of the instruments. There was also a lot of slow motion effects used for the drummer to make it more effectual and more of an impact. The video has mostly performance with narrative fuzz based on the lyrics loosely alongside the performances. This creates repeatability for the video. All the different effects used in this video and the amount of shots have taught me to be using a range of quick cuts and effects for our video. This has been useful as we have found the different types of effects and shots commonly used in this genre of music. We will dieffinately be using most of these for our music video.

SF - technical analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t9K9rM1SVE

The video I picked for my technical analysis was 'I Hate Everything About You' another song by 'Three Days Grace' so that I could see a technical breakdown a 'Three Days Grace' video as a potential influence on the video that the group is supposed to be making. With this technical analysis I discovered that a large amount of close-ups are used as a method of advertising the band properly and also a way of showing the emotion on the faces of the band members, more commonly emphasised with the multiple shots of the singer's face. There are also numerous tracking shots as methods of setting the scene and establishing the ideas of the artist and the lifestyle of the characters in the video as there are shots of cigarettes strewn across the floor, a diary with 'L.S and R.M' inside a heart, which appears to appear about four or five times, along with a picture frame of a young couple together and also a bottle of whiskey being picked up by a man in a vest.

This man in the vest appears numerous times in the video with high angled shots of him, connoting an authoritative figure. These high angled shots are emphasised with low shots of a barking dog and a youth laying on the floor after being hit by the man wearing the vest. From these shots I have learnt that in this type of video, there are large amounts of close-ups or 'mat shots' used to advertise the band and there are establishign shots used to show the entire band at once or to show people in a crowd. There are also BCUs used to show the emotion on a person's face effectively as well as to show props such as guitars, notebooks and picture frames. The shots are also fast paced at times, switching between multiple images in the space of roughly three seconds, such as midway through when the camera switches between shots of the drummer then singer then a barking dog, then to a low angle of the man in the vest shouting and finishing with a shot of a bassist. The high angle shots of youths help to emphasise the view and myth that there are large amounts of youths in America that ae vulnerable and downtrodden.

Digipak Analysis-Jamie Craig

The ‘digipak’ and advertisement that I am going to analyse is the album ‘Three Days Grace’ by ‘Three Days Grace’. This is their second album and so the band have already made a name for themselves. They are a Canadian rock band and sold their music in multiple countries. Therefore their advertising campaigns are quite big, although they do already have a name for themselves. I chose to analyse this album’s work as it is from the band that our group are making our music video for, this will help us to understand the conventions of the band and their take on the genre.
The album art work is fairly simple, it is black and white sketch. It shows two larger outlines of people one smaller. The three figures denote human people, the smaller standing in front of the bigger two, this connotes a family as in a child standing in front of his/her parents. Next to the supposed family is sketched what appears to be a long path to a house by itself. Sketchy lines contain the image in a border and also create a horizon. There is a very faint hint of yellow on the house and the heart area of the people. The image gives off the feeling of winter and a dark night time environment. The album cover image does not have a squared edge, it is given the impression of being an artist’s sketch by not fully touching the edges of the cover. The text purely says “Three Days Grace” at the top of the album cover, it again has a sketchy feeling to it, it has a thick black outline with white in the middle of the letters. Behind the text are three thick black vertical lines, this denotes three lines that resonate the name ‘Three days Grace’ but connotes a sense of fear and the darkness of the band.
The advertisement for the album was generally a half page advert in music magazines and in posters in Canada and the UK. The posters were made of the album cover as the background and text for the advert was put in the white sections of the picture. The text on the advert stays in black to stick to the conventions of black and white album cover. The text purely says the release date and the fact that it’s the band’s second album, along with the recommended retail price.
The advertisement poster uses the same image as the album cover as it saves on money from having to commission an artist to make a new image, it allows the poster to stick to the characteristics of the band and it means that someone who sees the poster will quickly spot the album when they see the same art work on the album cover.
The audience is more attracted to the image by the use of light within the image, instead of purely black text, the wording has a white middle which makes it stand out more and become a sign of importance. The text becomes a signifier and will stick in the consumer’s mind when they then go to shop for or research the album or artist they have seen.
In order for an artist to be successful an artist needs to create a brand, this includes their star image, the type of music they play, the topics they sing about, the conventions of their videos and their products and art work. The adverts and products are easily relatable to each other as they conform to the ideological values of the genre and band’s image.
This can be seen as post-modern as there are intertextual references to other media forms such as print, such as the artistic style of the album cover which brings in a new appreciation to the art work. The advertisement of the band is linked to the views and values of the band, it remains dark and meaningful, making it possible for different audiences to interpret the texts differently.

SF - Brighton reccie

We went to Brighton as a reccie trip for out coursework so that we would be able to familiarise ourselves with the camera again. This meant that we would be able practise shots that we might like to use with our music video and with the shots we were practising it could potentially give us new ideas of shots that we could use. This reccie trip also gave our group the opportunity to discuss any ideas that we had for the coursework and also to put forward any new ideas and think about how they might wotk.
We needed to practise a few shots as a method of recognising them and to show that we are able to use them. These shots included a 360 degree pan, first person mode of address along with tracking in, a perosn standing in a crowd, high shots and low shots and we could use two shots of our own design too. The two shots we decided to use were a close up and also a side on shot with cars going past.
With these shots used, it was necessary to use Premiere to edit the footage so that we could see exactly how well the shots had been done and to see how well they ftted together. The footage seemed to go together quite well with no sharp cuts or jumps meaning it was editted with montage editting. After editting the footage we had to export it onto youtube so that other people can see but also so that we can embed the link to the video on to our blog so that we have evidence for our work.

Feedback #1 Deadline 21/9

Well done, there is real evidence of you researching well as a group - focused, relevant. However, there are a couple of gaps - Jamie/Tom - missing advert analysis.

Make sure you meet deadlines - so far you are doing really well so keep organised.

CF

Digipak Analysis-Jamie Craig

SF - Auteur videos

With the ideas on auteur videos I noticed that with directors such as Chris Cunningham, there is a large focus on the surreal aspect within a music video. A key example of this is in the music video for 'Come to Daddy' by 'Aphex Twin', a music video that includes the idea of a creepy image of a face on a television screen, which scares an elderly lady who sees the image, which could provide an indication of a message about society being sent through the videos. There is a link between the videos that Cunningham directs as they all seem to suspend reality with ideas that seem either warped or as previously mentioned can be seen as surreal. Auteurs also work with musicians across a vast music spectrum and using Chris Cunningham as an example again, it is possible to see how this is illustrated through his association in music videos with 'Madonna', 'Bjork' and 'Aphex Twin'. This works along with the fact that auteurs tend to direct videos for other areas of the media, such as directing adverts for perfumes and game companies.

TJ - Moodboard

I have learnt from this album cover response to our genre, that there arent really any bands on the front of their albums aswell as it being drawings or paintings instead of photos.

Video analysis 2-Jamie Craig

Three days grace-“Never too late”

The video that I will be analysing is ‘Never too late’ by ‘Three Days Grace’, under Jive Records’ label. The genre is Alternative Rock; its broad characteristics that conform to the genre are the performance sections and their style of dress. The video also challenges the typical conventions of the genre by its use of an acoustic guitar in the video.

‘Never too late’ is a prime example of videos from three days grace, as they are part performance and mostly narrative. The band always keeps a performance section in their videos to reinforce in the audience’s mind that they are a band and play their own music.

The video starts with the lead singer playing his guitar under spotlight in the bottom right hand corner of the screen, gradually the rest of the screen lights up to show the inside of a family home. Use of rule of thirds is made here by the singer being bottom right and the important part of the narrative being top left. This takes the shape of a young girl’s bedroom. She is seen to be taking the hands of her mother and father and dancing around the room. The connotations of this image are a strong family link, bringing the audience in to the sense of a welcoming family atmosphere. The relationship between lyrics and visuals is strengthened here by the introduction of the song closely linking to the on screen motion. This part of the video is illustrative of the music.

As the tempo of the song increases and more dynamic instruments are introduced, the screen cuts to a woman struggling to get away from what initially appears to be nurses. At this point, the editing is in time with the sound track, the visuals are cut to the beat, this helps the audience consume the video in close relation to the soundtrack that the video is essentially promoting. This quickly cuts away to a side on shot of the lead singer in dark surroundings, there are light shapes in the background created with directional lighting, and these lights have template filters on them to create silhouettes of the rest of the band playing. The dark surroundings are symbolic of the meaning of the song and the use of white light connotes light trying to escape from the dark i.e. trying to find happiness in such a dark life.

There is another cut back to the family scene; the camera is in a fixed position, still showing the same amount of the house as the opening, they are still dancing. The camera cuts to a medium close up to show the joy on the child’s face. The next cut goes back to the singer as he sings “you want to end your life”. This establishes the fact that the child will become the woman when she’s older and she is being restrained in a psychiatric ward.

By using semiotics, it is seen that women in music videos are not always represented in the same ways that are typical of TV Drama, in that this video does not present all of them as the mother figure(accept the mother at start and end), the weaker being, or the sleep about. There are intertextual references to film and TV drama in the way the woman is visualised, there is use of dismemberment in that the woman is introduced using her legs and face. She is not an ugly person, thus even in such a dark video there is the idea of the artificial look, she looks good and well as being well made up, even when in a psychiatric hospital. In terms of ideological discourse the woman in the video is seen to portray a stereotypical trait of the frailty of women. The girl is seen to be a happy young child until the break of her family, from this point on the tone of the music is shown to create a sense of pain and frustration, this is followed by the fact that she eventually wants to kill herself when she is older.

The room in which the woman is in is relatively bare, the walls are plain and there is a bed in the middle of the room, a typical hospital type curtain on wheels is in the corner and there is a table of belts, reels etc. This table denotes tying up the woman to the bed to restrain her from self harm. However this has connotations of the pain and sorrow that she goes through as she does not want to live her life anymore.

The table is significant to the meaning of the video as it supports the conventions of unhappiness and creates a dark sense to the room. However it becomes important when the butterfly rests on it as such a symbol of life and freedom it challenges the meaning of its landing ground.

The tempo increases and the electric guitar is made more prominent, at this point the video is based around the performance of the band. You cannot see the performers clearly as most of the screen is dark and pro filmic lighting effects are used to make the instruments light up, much of what you see is shadows. There is a pan shot that swings from an up angle shot at the singer round to the rest of the band and landing on the drummer.

The singer is shown at various angles and generally the one who is clearest in shot, there are shots of the guitarist and the drummer who are not clear but visible, and the importance of the band is recognised by the movement of the shadows of the drum sticks on the yellow light patches on the wall.

During this sequence, the band and scene does not occupy the full screen, their performing area takes various shapes and sizes depending on the lights being used and the angle at which they are placed on the screen. Post production, the image is tilted to one side in many of the performing shots.

Throughout this video, light is generally dim, but the pro filmic use of light is generally with a light yellow directional lamp. This technique is especially used in the meat shot, which is often repeated and shows the band moving up tempo and the singer leaning forward into the microphone. Using Goodwin’s theory of the notion of looking, during these shots the lead singer is seen looking into the camera, this is seen as a link between the artist and the consumer, this combines with Dyer’s theory of paradoxes, the star remains present and absent from the consumer, ordinary yet extraordinary, in that the audience feels like although the artist is inaccessible as they are shown in a star quality image and are on screen, however Goodwin’s notion of looking helps to bring the artist into the audience’s world by creating a link as though the song is being performed to them.

As the song slows down again we are reintroduced to the family scene, the hands of the family come apart and the girl is left alone. Suddenly the music becomes a type of tension builder and the shot length is reduced as the scene inter-cuts between the woman being strapped to a bed and the girl hiding underneath a similar looking bed. The lyrics seem to be attempting to talk to the young girl “it’s not too late to save yourself”

After a fade to black, the young girl is seen alone in her bedroom seeming intrigued at black feathers falling in front of her, this cuts to a point of view shot showing the “angel of death” spoken of in the lyrics. The girl seems amazed at what she is seeing, as the angel appears male human with big black bird’s wings. The mise-en-scene of this shot is not one that I’d initially be analytical of, the room is fairly stark and there’s plenty of empty space, the room is light to contrast with the dark bird and its feather. The girls lips are fairly rich in bright red colour and her eyes are bold which shows the innocence and intrigue in the girls face, this challenges the opposite side of the room where there is less detail and a dark overwhelming feeling of the big black bird. During this sequence, the 180* rule is broken, in that there appears to be no room for the crew to work, it is possible to take the idea that this is the music video version of shot-reverse-shot.

It appears at this time in the narrative that the girl has seen how bad life will become, this is challenged in the next shot, as the woman lay bound in her bed she sees a butterfly in her room. Her pained facial expression changes to that of intrigue and almost a faint smile. The singer is seen singing “this world will never be what I expected” and shortly after “its not too late”. From this point, the girl and the woman are seen in an inter-cutting section, both on their beds with the black feathers falling on them, this connotes that they are the same person. The straps are seen to fall off the woman and as this happens the room appears to light up to a light yellow, as this happens a faint smile appears on her face and she starts to walk towards the camera as it tracks out away from her. The video finishes in a reverse of how it started, the girl is going to bed and her family are saying goodnight to her, the home scene fades out leaving the singer in the bottom right hand side to finish the song, then the screen fades to black.

The video is predominantly performance based, although a long section is taken up by the performance moment which also shows where the meat shot is taken from. The camera stays at generally a medium close up for most of the song, accept for in the house where is varies between an establishing shot when the singer is on screen, an MCU when the family are shows and a CU when the child’s reaction is shown. The use of an extreme close up was used for times to show the linking and separating of hands.

This song was the third song on their second album and was highly successful when released as a single. It featured in “NOW!26” and made the band highly successful. As with most of the videos from Three days grace’s songs, the lyrics have strong connection with the narrative, such as “you want to end your life” and “this world will never be what I expected”. The video is written to work with the lyrics so that the song is listened to closely in order to explain what is actually happening in the video.

EMAP Research-Jamie Craig

What was the research methodology?A quantitative survey which used ideas from personal questionnaires from the audience and from desk research that meant they could put all their results together to find out their viewing figures and ratings.

‘Casual or commitment’ – what different types of consumption were identified?From casual and committed consumption, the types of consumption identified were those who are passive, not really watching for a purpose or rotating channels using tv guides or by flicking the channels; the other type is active consumption, where the viewers consumes the product for a purpose, their time infront of the screen was already accounted for, usually these viewers are loyal to the programme or the channel. These are identified as Passive and Active choice.
Why did the research (carried out nearly 5 years ago) see this type of TV as unique, or ‘new’?This is because it was the first time a television text was seen to form a link between the channels and the viewer. They became part of young people’s lives, potentially able to take over the CD charts.
Rather than active and passive, how does the researcher define the way in which audiences use the programming?The researcher refers to “playful exploration” and viewing “passion”, this is also referred to as Active and Passive.

Why do the 16-24 bracket watch music TV?The 16-24 bracket watch music TV at a large amount of their viewing time. In an interview, 80% of the people asked said they watch Music TV as there is nothing else they like to watch.
What is ‘focused’ viewing largely attributed to?‘Focused’ viewing is linked to new releases by bands, such as when there is a new music video produced by a person’s favourite band. Often young audiences will be focussed on a video so that they have what is known as social currency, the ability to talk about the latest clothing/dances/music etc.
When does ‘ambient’ viewing take place?‘Ambient’ viewing takes place when the audiences is not paying full attention to the music channel, the television is left playing in the background whilst the person does something else, like getting ready to go out etc.
Give some examples of when communal and solo consumption would take place.Communal consumption would take place when in a group with friends such as in a group scene and when a person is concentrating on other things and when friends have come home or about to go out. Some friends like to think up new dance routines to songs the video would play on TV whilst they worked it out, initially this would be focussed viewing. Solo consumption is more likely to take place when a person is using the television to play the radio. It could also take place during an ad break to use the time for entertainment.
What is meant by ‘social currency’ and why might this be considered postmodern?Social currency is a link between who you are and why you are. Many people are influenced by their music videos that they watch, this often affects their dress sense and their possessions. Often, the ability to be able to talk “in the know” about the latest artists/outfits etc is known as social currency, something to talk about. This is considered post modern as many companies can use these ideas to find out what you are like.How are advertisers suggested to target their campaigns to these different ‘modes’ of consumption?It is suggested that advertisers target their campaigns to the different modes of consumption by adding a visual text to the music to the music. They also target these campaigns by using mini-movies to advertise the music channels and their products.

SF - digipak analysis

The album cover or digipak along with the magazine advertisement that I have chosen to analyse and deconstruct is 'Siren Song of the Counter Culture' by 'Rise Against' . I chose to analyse this band as they are in the same genre as 'Three Days Grace', which allows me to make comparisons between the two bands as they are both bands with similar views on society.
By using the ideas of semiotics and visual and linguistic signs, we can see that the use of a speaker hanging down on a girder across the middle of the cover connotes an anti-authoritarian attitude which is then amplified by the inclusion of soundwaves. This connotes that the speaker is shown as playing very loud music, which suggests the anti-authoritarian attitude and also brings out the idea of anger and aggression. With the speaker hanging down, it therefore suggests that a concert is taking place or that the band may be performing at a rally. The text used in is a bold font sketchy which would make it more obvious to the reader as an effective method of advertising. The boldness of the text also acts as the beginning of the reading path as it draws the readers eye and then causes them to look down the page at the image of the speaker and then follows on to the text underneath the image. The text at the bottom of the cover with the album title is also a very bold sketchy font with would is used to attract the readers eyes. All the text is also coloured in white as another way of making it stand out more and also potentially makes it look more appealing in the eyes of the reader.

The signs that have been used on the cover and in the advertisement are the speaker hanging down and the soundwaves emitting from it, which duly signifies that a concert may be in progress. In relation to the positioning of this signifier, the text is positioned both above and below the images, which as previously mentioned, does help to create a reading path for the album cover. With the band name being positioned at the top of the cover, it instantly tells the consumer who the artist is and also encourages them to examine the product more. The text at the bottom also helps to anchor the image of the speaker as with the title 'Siren Song of the Counter Culture' connotes that the music is becoming a part of a person's culture and influencing them. With the speakers displayed with on the album cover, it reinforces a cultural myth about men. It suggests that men are aggressive and can often be portrayed as very angry and hostile. This helps to add to the idea of rebellion as 'Rise Against' are an anti-government band and with the title being about going against the status quo, hinting at rebellion. This is associated as a product that can be advertised to members of a society that disagree with actions that an authority may take. As Bignell said, album covers provide indexical signs that allow people to identify with the product and to construct an image for themselves due to the effects of post-modernism in the post-modern social era. With the graphic style displayed on the front of the digipak, there is an obvious example of intertextual reference with the constructivist art and architectural movement of the twentieth century in Communist Russia. This artistic style was used in Communist posters and with the image of the speaker it suggests that it is being used as a mehtod of keeping order and potentially the idea of propaganda throught the band's music.

The advertisement for this album is pretty much the same with the rebellion motifs being shown portrayed at the top of the page. This makes it easier to market the album as a brand as similar messages are being portrayed, such as the ideas of rebellion and aggression. However, there is a difference in the advert as it informs the consumer of hit singles that they may have heard that are on the album. This album cover would be advertised best in a magazine, or on the the bands official website. It would also work well if it was publicly advertised e.g. railways stations, buses.

TJ - Auteur Music Videos

Through researching auteur music videos and questioning whether music videos can be more than just a commercial for an artist and instead be more conceptual as art, I have found that there are some downsides to music videos.
David Stubbs believes that ‘music videos have helped remove the spectacle of performance from the popular sphere’ and he adds ‘music videos have commodified music, in which they are used as slick and expensive promotional advertisements for songs.
Several auteurs, however, reflect their personal creative vision, in the videos and in some cases, film producers are considered to have a similar "Auteur" role for films that they have produced. For example, Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry have similar styles in their videos. Gondry, the director of ‘Fell in Love with a Girl’ by ‘The White Stripes’ and ‘Around the World’ by ‘Daft Punk’ both are very conceptual and have no performance by the band themselves. Instead he opted for stop motion Lego bricks and a dance performance by a single group of people in bright clothing. Especially with the stop motion video, you start to appreciate the video more than the music itself, so instead of watching it for the reason that you enjoy the music, you also get people who would usually listen to that sort of music, enjoying the video.

TJ - Analysis of Print Media

I have chosen to deconstruct the album ‘Liberation Transmission’ by ‘Lost Prophets’ and the advert for the album. This is because they are in the same genre as Three Days Grace, which we are using their song for our music video. By deconstructing these media texts, it will give our group a little more research into the genre and the way it is represented.

The genre in the album cover is evident as rock. This is shown by the colours being black red and white. The black connotes the dark side of the rock genre with the red being splattered as if it were blood, signifying this again. In addition, the white contrasts to make it appealing.
The colour also makes the album be able to stand out on the shelves of music stores. It is easy to spot the motif of the band, as it is the main picture on the cover, so that fans will be able to find it. The title of the band is large and at the top of the case. This makes it the first thing you see and then you follow the picture down to the title of the album towards the bottom. This is known as creating a dominant reading path. Throughout the cover there is a red star in the ‘Lost Prophets’ name as well as in their motif. This could connote as an emblem of guidance as it is said that a star would help lead an individual over the individual travels and back home safely. Often as an individual is seeking guidance, the nautical star shows best the connotation of individual’s feelings. This five pointed star holds a special place in protection as well as guidance. So the band could be showing that they are individual and not mainstream, which most bands want to be different and individual as it sets them apart from others. This star and motif has, in turn, created an image for the band and the star on its own could remind people of them.
The bird and centre motif could connote so many different things. It has almost a shield as a chest with the star on it as well as two flying horses on its wings. It also looks as if it is possessed with red eyes and tongue out with it rising from the ground or shadows, signifying its evilness. However the horses and shield with the star could be the good side or holding it back, and these may be represented as the band. And with liberation in the title, the black and white colours could also be signifying equal rights and status. Although these could also all signify old time myths and legends with flying animals and evil spirits. This is also reinforced by the font of the album title with it being cursive.

The advert for the album is pretty much the same, with the motif and album cover at the top of the page, however, without the red splats. Underneath it has the information, with the release date in red in large font. The advert poster also has a bit of information on a ‘hit single’ by the band, reminding the audience if they have heard and enjoyed the single. Then there are websites and the record label and sponsor of where it is sold. This poster would be consumed on most public places. E.g. underground or bus stops.

TJ - Product Analysis 1 'Break' Three Days Grace

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOujvLLpWnE

I have chosen to analyse a song by Three Days Grace as they are the artist we have chosen to use a track from for our music video. This will hopefully help with their conventions they have.

The genre of their music is alternative metal and hard rock. This is shown clearly through all their videos with performance with the band and some narrative. However, this new track from their new album has changed from their normal settings and is purely just a performance. This has challenged their music style and may signify a new start for the band with also their album called ‘Life Starts Now’. The video is seemed to be loosely based on the lyrics, as they are separated into four different rooms matching the colours which they are wearing; Pink, Black, Grey and White, so ‘break away’ has separated them.
This video could be considered art by the fact they are different colours and different people. However, this performance and new start seems to be more commercial as they may be trying to break into the European market as well as the American.

The camera techniques involve panning to follow the band walking towards the rooms also with a slow zoom. Throughout the video, the only colours used are the white, pink, black and grey which may be a new motif that occurs through the album. There are also many slow motion effects occurring to show the bands’ talent in playing the instruments. Wind is used to blow the bands clothes and hair about to give the effect of the fans in the walls looking through from the other rooms. This wind has made the band music look loud and energetic. Towards the end of the video, the colours as paint from the other rooms get splattered into each other, causing the whole video to ‘break away’ from the simplicity of plain colours. This could mean that the band are not like other bands and like to see them as different.

The new start also goes with their ‘meta-narrative’ because if they are trying to break into the foreign music industry, then they have a new style which is post-modern because viewers may like to watch the special effects and this adds to the repeatability.

This video would be consumed on a niche channel as it is a punk rock genre. Although if they make it successful in Europe, then it may be seen on other music channels which are more popular with the majority of the population. It would be seen in an ambient viewing as they are not a very popular.

Track for video...

After several discussions on our music genre and artists, we have decided on 'Get Out Alive' By Three Days Grace for our music video.
This track has good lyrics for us to play around with aswell as the music itself.


Three Days Grace is a Canadian rock band, formed under the name Groundswell in Norwood, Ontario, Canada in 1992. After a breakup in 1995, the band reformed in 1997 under its current name and with a line-up consisting of guitarist and lead vocalist Adam Gontier, drummer and backing vocalist Neil Sanderson, and bassist Brad Walst. In 2003, Barry Stock was recruited as the band's lead guitarist.
After signing to Jive Records, Three Days Grace released two studio albums, Three Days Grace in 2003 and One-X in 2006, both of which have been certified platinum and double platinum in the U.S. and Canada, respectively. In 2007, the band was declared number one rock artist of the year by Billboard and was the number four artist in airplay in Canada that same year. The band's third album, Life Starts Now, will be released on September 22, 2009.

Musical style and influences
Three Days Grace's musical style has generally been described by critics as alternative metal and hard rock. Heather Phares of Allmusic, in a review of the band's debut album, compared them to rock bands Chevelle and Helmet. Dave Doray of IGN described Three Days Grace as "heavy and catchy, with chewy chunks of assurance and fury thrown in for added measure." Allmusic's Corey Apar said One-X brings an "accessible alt-metal attack of blunt lyrics and crunching rhythms" that retains the melodic sound of its predecessor "despite its lyrical darkness".The band has listed numerous influences in their music. Gontier has mentioned such bands as Sunny Day Real Estate, Kyuss, Nine Inch Nails, and Tool as influences for the band's music. According to Gontier, the lyrics for Three Days Grace songs have mostly been influenced by the Seattle music scene. He summarized about the band's influences in an interview, "Musically there's a lot of different influences, but lyrically it's hard to have different influences because you just write."

Band members
Adam Gontier – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (since 1997)
Brad Walst – bass guitar, backing vocals (since 1997)
Neil Sanderson – drums, backing vocals (since 1997)
Barry Stock – lead guitar (since 2003)

SF - Product analysis 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbHn1Pgj6Zk


The music video I have chosen for my first product analysis is 'Animal I Have Become', a song by the punk band 'Three Days Grace'. It was directed by Dean Karr for the Jive record company in 2006, meaning that it is from the contemporary punk rock genre. The broad characteristics of the genre that are portrayed in the video are typical conventions that people tend to associate with punk rock bands e.g. piercings, hair styled into a mohawk, electric guitars, dark clothes. This suggests that this video is conforming to the main conventions of this particular genre of music with the props and costumes that have been used. These props and costumes are a form of iconography as they portray the generic conventions of the genre.



As this song is about the fear of seeing what type of person you really are, the lyrics seem to be illustrated by the visuals to an extent because when the singer says 'I can't escape this hell', the visuals cut to a long-shot of the character laying in bed with the shot shaking, suggesting the situation he is in, with the next shot being of him being held down by his doppelgänger, which connotes an internal mental struggle against his demons. When a very similar shot of this situation is shown the camera zooms in very quickly after using an establishing shot to show that the room the character sleeps in is a mess. However, the visuals do amplify the lyrics as well because when he says about 'seeing the dark inside of him' his reflection is shown in a shop window, showing a dark character being reflected back at him, against connoting the darker side of him coming to the surface. The title of the track helps with the idea of an inner struggle because the title 'Animal I have become' even connotes the idea of seeing yourself as a monster. The camera does seem to focus on advertising the band by using meat shots, with the main focus being on the singer, with a medium close up being used when he is lip syncing with the performance part of the video. Some of the sequence in the red tunnel is illustrative of the lyrics because when 'Gontier' sings 'the dark inside of me' a shadowy reflection is shown which connotes that he sees himself as a monster and is trying to hide that side. The red tunnel connotes being trapped and unable to escape the torment that he suffers at the hands of his demons.



The video does cut to the beat at certain such as at the introduction because it is being used to set the scene, by using establishing shots as a method of setting the scene and in these shots it shows the characters room in a mess, connoting a bad night, or suggesting that there may have been a disturbance. During the small solo instrumental, the music is not illustrated by by the visuals because it focuses on the character staring at his reflection, which appears as a shadowy alter-ego and connotes the darker side of him reappearing and showing him what everyone else appeared to see before him. The video does change pace with the music sometimes because at the start of the video, the music was at a medium tempo, with the shots cutting with the beat. However this then changed later in the song because whilst the music remains at the same tempo, the shots start to get longer. A key example of this is when the character is walking down the street, there are really quick shots that connote that he is in a hurry, but earlier in the video, the cutting pace is much slower , such as when he is looking in the mirror, connoting that he is looking for anything that may be wrong. Another example of fast cuts is when the camera alternates between showing all the band members, as a way of advertising all members in a short space of time.



With this being a contemporary music video, the record company are looking to sell the track by advertising the band members as much as possible, but with it being the punk genre, the artists would potentially be aiming to send a message in the video e.g. the effects drugs could have, problems they see in society etc. The motifs this band are using are conventional ideas from the genre, such as the dark clothes and the piercings, which indicates exactly what genre the music is from. This motifs are shown in other videos by the band such as 'Just Like You' and 'I Hate Everything About You' in more than one band member has a mohawk or mohican. The image of the artist that is offered is as rebels and angry members of society and this image is reinforced by the visuals of the artist shouting, which connotes the idea of hostility. By using semiotics to analyse mise-en-scene it is obvious that the lighting in the tunnel helps to suggest the true seriousness of the situation as red connotes danger. With the added lighting effects, it suggests that the character is in danger of being consumed by his bad habits and allowing the darker side of his nature to take over. However this contrasts with the lighting in the room that the character starts of in as the light is yellow, which signifies warmth which suggests that the room is homely.



The artists are reinforcing the dominant ideologies of men being violent because in some parts of the video the artist is seen shouting the lyrics. The male character is shown as uncaring because at two different points in the video, he is shown forcing his way past people. This connotes ideas of the self centred trait that males in society are said to have. Although these traits are shown, there is a contradiction over the stereotypes of men being powerful because when the character is laying on the bed bed being held down by his demons, it connotes that he is vulnerable and hints at a weakness. This is a direction of the myth of masculinity which connotes the stereotypical gender traits of men being strong and resilient because he is portraying an obvious weakness. When a woman is shown at the end of the video it relates to the ritual subordination of women, a theory devised by Jhally, Goffman and Kilbourne. This included the artificial look which the woman in the video displays as she is slim, tall and long legged, connoting a sexual aura. Stereotypes are contradicted by the camera angles to because although men are seen as dominant, the camera is positioned so that the male character is looking up at the female character, connoting that she is stronger than the male character. This does not however defy the function ranking as she still appears to be pictured in a decorative role.



There is a direct reference to Goodwin's notion of looking idea when the artist looks in the mirror and is looking into several reflective surfaces and seeing the monster that he believes he has become. The meat shots used are suggesting that the singer is on sexual display as the shots are looking up at him and are focussing on his face, which uses the idea of dismemberment to objectify the musician. There is another reference to the notion of looking when the lead character looks at the wall of the tunnel he is moving through and sees the side of himself that he appears to be attempting to escape.



There are intertextual references with other music videos but only to a small extent because it uses ideas that some other bands have used in their videos with the idea of a performance being mixed in with a narrative. As with many contemporary bands, the narrative and performance concept is used as a way of advertising the band as well as a method of the band putting a message across, whatever it may be.



This music video is a performance based video to a slight extent because the shots keep cutting back to the band, showing them performing the song and the artist lip syncing. This part helps to advertise the band and the track. It is also narrative based as it shows how a man is struggling to escape from himself and the artist even refers to it as a 'nightmare' and 'hell', which connotes that he is there because of what he may have done wrong and it connotes that it is some form of personal torment for him.



Therefore, with all things considered, this is a hybridised performance and narrative based contemporary punk rock music video. In relation to most music videos from the genre it uses the ideas of the notion of looking whether a mirror is used or just a reflective surface as a method of differing from the genre conventions and also the idea of anger an being restricted as a method of keeping similarities with other bands in the genre. All in all this music video is a band advertisement mechanism but it also gives the band an opportunity to advertise their own views.

SF - EMAP Research

What was the research methodology?
The research methodology was a quantitative survey which used ideas generated from home interviews with viewers and also from desk research that allowed the company to find out how many viewers their programs were getting, whether it was through ratings or through surveys on the street on the websites of the particular channels.
‘Casual or commitment’ – what different types of consumption were identified?
With the idea of casual and committed consumption the types of consumption that had been identified were people that were loyal to the channel or the number, people who had appointed themselves viewing times, which fell under passion or active choice meaning they are committed consumers. Casual consumers are more inclined to work with passive or channel rotation methods, suggesting that the types of consumption are as content hunters, background to surfing, using youthful standby TVs and EPG rotation – electronic programme guide.
Why did the research (carried out nearly 5 years ago) see this type of TV as unique, or ‘new’?
The research saw this type of television as unique or new because it was allowing the viewer to form a relationship with the channels they were watching and these channels were become part of the fabric of the lives of the young people that were monopolising the channels at the time.
Rather than active and passive, how does the researcher define the way in which audiences use the programming?
The researcher defines the way the audiences use the programming as a method of playful exploration as well as passion, suggesting they are finding out what options are available to them with the new programming.
Why do the 16-24 bracket watch music TV?
The 16-24 bracket watch music TV as a way of overcoming boredom as over 80% of people in this bracket as there is nothing else on that they would be interested in watching.
What is ‘focused’ viewing largely attributed to?
‘Focused’ viewing is largely attributed to new releases by bands, such as when there is a new music video produced by a person’s favourite band, there will be more of a focus on viewing the new videos because they are the popular ones.
When does ‘ambient’ viewing take place?
‘Ambient’ viewing takes place when the music is playing in the background, if music is being played non-stop, whether or not the music matches the person’s mood and whether it fits a busy schedule. The most popular of these is music being on in the background as something to listen to when doing work or focussing more on something else.
Give some examples of when communal and solo consumption would take place.
Communal consumption would take place when in a group with friends such as in a group atmosphere and when a person is sitting watching the TV with their mates after getting back from the pub or even before going out. It would also occur as a dance routine as there would be more than one person taking part. Solo consumption is more likely to take place when a person is sharing multiple types of media or when using the television to play the radio. It could also take place during a commercial beak as a quick hit as a method of enticing the viewer.
What is meant by ‘social currency’ and why might this be considered postmodern?
Social currency is a term that can be used to describe the way in which fans and consumers can be determined by a company and it can potentially be considered post- modern because of the technological advances and it also focusses on determining a consumer through their possessions and the way they advertise with phrases such as 'have you seen' and 'did you know' which helps to clarify who their consumers are.
In what way is music television seen as ‘exploratory’?
Music television is seen as exploratory as it possesses zones that anyone is able see and also seems to have a policy of allowing anyone to view what the music channels are showing without question. This exploratory idea allows the music television operators to broadcast with wide typologies so that it is possible for the companies to appeal to a wider spectrum.
How are advertisers suggested to target their campaigns to these different ‘modes’ of consumption?
It is suggested that advertisers target their campaigns to the different modes of consumption by giving people the opportunity to experience a visual media as well as the music. They also target these campaigns by using mini-movies and using them to show the consumers what they would be missing if they did not view the channels that are being offered to them.