Lyrics Timing:

Analysis of Music Video Lyrics:

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Click here to enlarge image

Audience Research:

My audience is seemingly a very small section of audience, but this is not the case. The demographics is:
E1
This includes unemployed people as well as students, pensioners and casual workers. My main target audience will be, of course, students, whom make up a large amount of the British (and International) public, and also spend the most money on music. Therefore this very small band is, in fact, a large target audience.


In addition to this, my target audience will be aged between 15-24 and according to Pschographics, will be a mix of reformers and aspirers. They will seek status and have strong goals. They will be orientated to their image, appearance and persona. The majority will be stylish. Attractiveness of the packaging is far more important than the quality of the product. This band is typically younger who have clerical/sales jobs. These are aspirers. second band 'reformers' seek enlightenment and are free of restrictions and have personal growth. They are socially aware and have independent judgement. However, they are anti-materialistic, but are aware of good taste, and good style. These people have typically attended higher education, and select products for their quality. These are two very dissimilar bands, yet are very similar in some aspects. The reason i've chosen both is because I fall in to the two categories, and I am aiming to attract people to my product who are like me.


My audience will be physically aware of their appearance and will be fashion orientated, spending lots of money on not only music, but clothes and hair products, as the demographics and psychographics suggest. Their style will be 'indie' (or independent) and alternative and their life will mostly be accompanied by music at least 50% of the time, usually carrying an iPod, MP3/4 player or an iPhone (or just an average mobile phone with audio playback capabilities) with them, wherever they go. Also, the majority of the audience will be female, but a large percentage will be male. The audience will be readers of Kerrang! Magazine and NME and will also watch the music channels of the same name, (with the added 'TV' on the logo) as well as 'MTV Rocks' and 'Lava'. Their favourite TV channel will be Channel 4, specially catered for teenagers and as an alternative to the many BBC channels, and will watch shows such as 'Skins' and 'Hollyoaks'.

Lyrics Boards:

These words will be on the lyric boards:

1. waiting
2. to call
3. aching
4. my soul
5. everyday's
6. yesterday
7. yesterday's
8. everyday
9. everyday's
10. yesterday
11. yesterday's
12. everyday
13. waiting
14. to call
15. older things
16. say
17. my head
18. ma steak
19. right line
20. right line!
21. light totem
22. calmer bun
23. swallowing
24. white limes
25. searching
26. war cow
27. eye no
28. cheeses
29. my zole
30. everydaze
31. yesterday
32. yesterda... what?
33. oh sod it
34. wadin'
35. wadin' fo'
36. tickle
37. older things
38. ed
39. piss-take
40. this is not the right line
41. THIS IS NOT THE RIGHT LINE!
42. light tickle
43. camel burn
44. white limes
45. white limes!
46. [crappy guitar bit]
47. Given up on this part
48. ???
49. ???
50. ???
51. older things
52. bed
53. piss-take
54. right time
55. right time!
56. waiting
57. HEY MOM!
58. candle bomb
59. right limes
60. WHITE LINES*!
61. cba anymore...
62. ...
63. ...
64. ...
65. awful song.
66. Vote Labour!

Storyboard:

Textual Analysis 3:

Representation:

Jared Leto, lead singer of the band. He is represented as pretty, unconventional rock star (wearing a suit and a bow tie/dressed up) and as an ‘emo’. Their ‘emo’ style is iconic of them and represents them as emotional, melodramatic, weak (through the extensive use of high-angled shots) but also as stylish and cool, as his style, at the time of the song’s release, was popular amongst teenagers and young adults. Also represents the style/genre of music. Jared Leto’s his own institution (he directed the music video under the alias of Bartholomew Cubbins), he is in control of how he is being represented, and the institution (Virgin Records) plays no role in it. He is being represented as an emo because the audience will be emo, and dress like this, therefore in order to appeal to their audience, Jared Leto understands that he needs to conform to particular stereotypes to sell the product, and in this instance, he is being represented as his audience; an ‘emo’. If an institution was involved, this representation would be deemed inaccurate and unfair. However, because Jared Leto is in charge of his own representation and his own image, it is deemed fair because he may dress however he likes, seen as though he’s creating his own image. As an experienced director, having directed most of his band’s music videos, he also understands that the use of costume within the mise en scene is important, and therefore the band’s costume (suits) along with the setting of a high-class hotel, together, represents the band as wealthy and successful, as the narrative features them, as a collective, taking a vacation by renting out an empty upper-class hotel to stay in.


Language:


On a denotative level, the music video is showing the audience that the band have gone to stay in a high-class hotel, on their own, in order to take a vacation. However, as the narrative unfolds, it is revealed that the hotel is haunted. On a connotative level, on the other hand, intertextuality can be clearly established. The entirety of the music video seems to be homage to the film, starring Jack Nicholson in one of his most iconic films, ‘The Shining’. The setting; an upper-class aristocratic, abandoned hotel, is identical in both ‘The Shining’ and the music video. As well as this, the audience can see similarities with the addition of the ghost bartender as well as the ghost crowd, watching the band perform at a party, both of which are seen in The Shining. There are many intertextual references to The Shining, such as the use of the prop typewriter, which played an iconic role in The Shining, and Jared can be seen using an identical one in the music video. This intertextuality is important as it gives the target audience (a teenage audience) something interesting and new to watch, as well as giving the parents (?) of the target audience something to relate to, and in the process, attract them to the product. This is significant because it appeals to more than just the target audience, and will also gain the band recognition through critics who would most-likely praise the band on their intertextual music video. The music video refers to the song itself with the theme of death and haunting which is reflected in the lyrics “bury me”. However, the song mostly seems to be about a couple splitting up, most likely based on Jared’s own experiences. The music video seems to fit perfectly though, most likely due to the visual techniques and the non-verbal structures of meaning. For example, the genre of the song is ‘emo’, a subgenre of rock which draws influences from punk as well as pop, and is stereotyped as being wimpy and pathetic, to name a few. In order to reflect this, the extensive use of high-angle shots, previously mentioned, connotes weakness within the band and more definitively on Jared Leto, with him being the lead singer. This, added with the facial gestures of sadness, despair and angst, when the band are performing on stage, allows the music video to fit well with the song, due to the language referring to the genre and style of the song. The use of edits, such as, in some instances, the flickering of an image, when Shannon Leto, the drummer, kisses a female, which seems to be a blooded face of an old man, revealed to be a ghost, references horror movies and is intertextual in nature. The quick cut edits reflect the beat of the music, when, during brief moments, the beat picks up and drumming and guitar can be heard at a fast, energetic pace. Whenever the music slows to a near stop, the music video version actually stops the music, adding in parts of silent film. One example of this, is when guitarist Tomo Milicevic, skateboarding down an empty corridor, stops to see himself in a rabbit suit, engaging in what appears to be a sexual act with, again, himself, now dressed in a suit. This is intertextual as it seems to refer to ‘Donnie Darko’, a film featuring a man in a rabbit suit.
The use of mise en scene in the music video is interesting as the different costumes seem to connote an inner-battle. For example, Jared Leto is seen performing to another Jared; a clone. The only difference between them is the costume, with one wearing black ‘skinnie’ jeans and jumper; the other wearing a smart suit. This, along with them seemingly having a violent argument coupled with the lyrics “this is who I really am” connotes an inner-battle between the smart Jared Leto (who he isn’t, as this is a ghost) and the ‘emo’ Jared Leto (who the audience know he really is because he turned up, at the beginning of the music video, wearing the same costume).

Narrative:

The narrative of the music video is linear, with the standard cause and effect formula. The audience are situated in the audience, when the band are playing, as Jared Leto sings towards the camera for the most part. However, when the clips of the narrative are shown, the audience are situated outside of the text as spectator’s. As aforementioned, the ‘smart’ Jared, dressed in a suit, is the antagonist, as he is a ghost (or if you look deeper in to the text, the evil side of Jared, possibly) whereas the protagonist in the text is the ‘normal’ Jared; dressed in ordinary clothes that represent and are iconic of the ‘emo’ style and subculture. This outlines the heroes and villains, through the intricate use of costume in the mise en scene. The narrative, previously mentioned, albeit briefly, revolves around the rock band ’30 Seconds To Mars’, playing as themselves (and as ghosts who have taken on the appearance of themselves) taking a vacation in an deserted upper-class hotel. They get there, finding a note to keep out of a certain room, and a week later, ghostly things begin to happen. The drummer has an encounter with a female ghost, and the lead guitarist has an encounter with two ghost versions of himself, aforementioned. This binary opposition, highlighted by the difference in costume, identifies the heroes and villains. In addition to this, the use of extreme long-shots, such as the one at 1.35, and 2.07, the latter featuring Jared throwing a ball at the wall, and represented in a high angle, underlines the band's isolation from the wider world in two ways. The first way is the shot itself; featuring a lot of negative space (not even a window or a photo frame) which creates the sense of Jared being alone. Also, the diegetic sound of the ball echoing off the wall connotes emptiness, and the fact that Jared can perform this act, in a 5-star hotel, further highlights the band's isolation. The underlying themes and values of this text is isolation can change you. In this instance, the change is represented through the inner conflict of the band, especially Jared, the lead singer, who has a sing-off with his dopellganger. In addition to this, the music video is heavily influenced by 'The Shining', making the themes of the film the same as the music video.


Genre:


The media text belongs to the horror genre, featuring the generic conventions of the genre such as the sharp stacatto sound when the audience is shown an antagonist, in this case, for example, an old man (shown at 2.00) which in turn shocks and frightens the audience; making them jump. Another convention used among many others is the diegesis in which the music video is set. The setting in the above music video, shown at the beginning of the promo, is surrounded by woods. This connotes isolation further, and is also a motif throughout the horror genre, especially psychological horror's, because it plays on the audience's fears of being abandoned and hunted in the wilderness where they know nobody can come and save them. Iconography is also present in 'The Kill', which reflects the horror genre. These include, as previously mentioned, the isolation, but also the prominent use of the colour black and red. Black is a colour which is iconographic of the 'emo' subculture and 'gothic' subculture, which are both influenced by horror films. The colour red connotates love, romance but in this context danger. This, along with blood, can be seen in many horror movies. An example of this in the music video is at 2.54, where Shannon Leto, the band's drummer, meats a woman who has just got out of a shower. Following this is quick cuts to a girl covered in blood, which scares the audience as it is only on for a split second. In a horror film, the audience would expect deaths. The music video conforms to this, to some extent, as the band who arrived at the hotel are not seen from ever again; during the end we only see the 'stylish', well-dressed and upper-class doppelgangers, suggesting that the others have gone missing, perhaps dead.


Institutions:


The band starring in the music video are signed to Virgin Records, a subsidiary of EMI, a major British record label. However, there is no sign of EMI of Virgin influencing the final product, except the scale of the production due to the large budget, perhaps. The text was distributed on TV channels which specialise in music videos, such as Kerrang! TV, Scuzz, NME as well as online streaming sites such as Youtube and Myspace Music.


Media Audiences:


The text addresses the older generation who are most likely to have seen 'The Shining', the film which is continually intertextually referenced by the above music video. This is because they will point out similarities between the two texts and possibly praise the music video if it has been done effectively, which I believe it has. However, the actual target audience is teenagers, male and female, aged from 13 to 19. This is because they are the audience of the 'emo' genre and the band themselves; they enjoy listening to the music. It is important to remember that the product is the song, not the music video, and so the audience is the song's audience. The band are also icons of the, mainly teen, sub-culture of ‘emo’. Due to the band’s representation of being emo in the music video, such as wearing the costume featuring skinny jeans, the extensive use of black, and thick black eyeliner as well as the lead singer, Jared Leto, having a neat, black side-fringe. This means that the audience will receive the text positively because they can successfully identify with the bands; seeing themselves in the band and wanting to be them (fetishism). The same goes for me, being aged 18 and within the target audience criteria (I am also a fan of the band), I evaluated the text as a brilliant music video, partly because of the band’s address of its audience through representation and iconography ( I thought they looked really ‘cool’, basically), but also because I noticed the intertextual references to ‘The Shining’ and thought “wow, this is clever”. The former point is mainly brought on by my age; I am constantly looking for a new role-model, as are most teenagers.

Textual Analysis 2:

The video has since been removed, and another clip can not be found. However, the music video is a special feature on the 'Don't Look Back' documentary DVD. I have also analysed certain features of the DVD as well, as it reflects his life and character.

Bob Dylan – ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ Analysis

The music video is a conceptual clip, which draws attention to the lyrics of the song, which the music video is promoting. Bob Dylan, the artist in the music video, is renowned for his lyricism and is referred to as a poet; his lyrics often seen as more important than the song as a whole. This has lead him to make a music video, of his own idea, which would promote himself, mostly his documentary, through the deconstructing of his song, which, in turn, draws attention to the lyrics. He achieves this by holding up boards which have lyrics written on them. An example of one of these is “pawking metaws”, which kind of reflects the southern USA accent, and is spelt ‘phonetically’, meaning that he has spelt it how it would be said in some places. Furthermore another spells “success”, which connotes that success sucks, basically, and that he is against the fame. This is unconventional as many rock and roll stars aspire to achieve great success, however, Dylan was different.

Bob Dylan was infamous for his drug-taking. This is reflected in the music video, with the lyrics being “Johnny’s in the basement, mixing up the medicine”, which may be a reference to two things. It is possible that he is referencing his own drug use, with ‘Johnny’ being a drug dealer, making and dealing drugs to Bob, whilst the next lyric “I’m on the pavement, thinking about the government” highlights this, as Dylan is watching out for the police/government, as drug-use is against the law. Furthermore, the fact that he uses the word “basement” implies that they are up to no good; making drugs, because basements are away from public eyes. However, it could also connote that the “mixing up the medicine” is a reference to codeine distillation and the widespread use of recreational drugs, such as Alcohol and Tobacco, which he strongly opposed. The next line also emphasises this possible connotation, with the “thinking about the government” connoting that he is literally thinking about the government, and their support of recreational drugs, which he opposes. This is, therefore, up to interpretation.

Bob Dylan is represented, in the music video, as lazy and unprepared. “20 dollar bills”, which is written on one of the cards, should be “11 dollar bills”, but because he is represented as unprepared and care-free, it is wrong, most likely on purpose. This is also highlighted in his facial expressions. Additionally, one board writes “Here they come!” where the lyric is actually “you’re gonna get hit” which, again, connotes unpreparedness. This, to a certain extent, is a correct and fair representation as the music video was only intended to open the documentary ‘Don’t Look Back’, and was devised by Bob Dylan very quickly, leaving little time for the production of the boards. Bob Dylan’s lyrics often oppose society and government. This is emphasised by the way Bob Dylan looks directly in to the camera lens, as if he’s looking society in the eye and making bold statements; he’s not afraid to express his own opinions and beliefs. Unconventionally for Dylan, the music video shows him not wearing sunglasses. This accessory is seen on Dylan’s person for a lot of ‘Don’t Look Back’, but not in the music video. This may be because it was intended that he looked society in the eye, as if he wore sunglasses, it would make his facial expressions transparent, with his eyes not being visible. However, the facial expressions are a large part of the music video, with the uncertainty in his eyes visible when he is about to throw a board.

Further representations of Bob Dylan, seen in the context of ‘Don’t Look Back’, include the extensive amount of smoking. This represents him as cool and ‘hip’, but also relaxed about his own health and welfare. This conveys his attitude about life. Furthermore, in the documentary, we see him reading a newspaper. This represents him as knowledgeable and intellectual, something which his image defies. This is because he wears clothing including Jeans, a stereotypical rock item of clothing, and has connotative references to the working class (due to the hard-wearing material of denim, as well as its low price), and the working class are viewed stereotypically as uneducated. The audience, however, know that this isn’t the case, as we can see that his song-writing is very clever, as we see him deconstruct his song through the use of lyric boards. The use of black and white cinematography is conventional of the rock and roll genre, especially in modern day indie rock music videos, as it gives the sense of vintage. When this music video was made, colour was widely available, yet the director decided not to use it. This may be due to the budget restrictions or that the small easily-portable cameras weren’t available in colour at that time (the camera used was small in comparison to the extremely large ones which were used widely in that time period). Additionally, it may just be a choice by the director because he preferred the way black and white looked.

Dylan is also represented in a way that makes the audience view him as not a ‘people person’. This is because throughout the documentary, he is often harsh towards people, especially the press. Another artist, who I believe was a support act for Dylan during his UK tour, throws a glass bottle out of the window, or at least that is what I believe after watching the documentary. Dylan acts harshly and speaks strongly against this, as he is an unconventional rocker. He is said to be mad, but in a way, he is the most normal rock star ever. The throwing of stuff out of a window is seen to be very ‘rock ‘n’ roll’, with The Who, a top rock band, doing it. However, because Dylan opposes it, he is represented as nice and caring, although his reactions to his fellow artist are a little harsh, but then... he doesn’t appear to be a ‘people person’, like I mentioned. This goes against Dylan’s ‘bad boy’ image. However, although the throwing of items, including TV sets and furniture, out of hotel rooms by rock bands is conventional, Dylan may oppose it because he isn’t rock and roll, like The Who were. He was placed under a sub-genre of rock, which was folk-rock, amongst others.

Back to the music video, Dylan’s kindness and supportiveness of good causes is highlighted, just like in the documentary ‘Don’t Look Back’. The lyrics in the song say “better stay away from those/ that carry around a fire hose” which references the American Civil Rights Movement, in which protesters were battered back by police who were using high-pressure fire hoses. Dylan evidently supports the Civil Right Movement. In the music video, we can see two males in the background. One of them is Alan Ginsberg, the other was ‘Donovan’. Donovan was the top folk musician at the time of the documentary, and the fact that he features in Dylan’s music video/documentary connotes Dylan’s importance to the music industry at the time. Alan, on the other hand, was an American poet who influenced the work of Bob Dylan. Ginsberg vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression. The former two can be seen in Dylan’s own ideologies. Alan was also a member of the group ‘Beat Generation’, an anarchic group of young men and women who joined poetry, song, sex, wine and illicit drugs, with political ideas. Some of these aspects can be seen in Dylan’s work, especially the mix of poetry and song. As well as this, Dylan also talks about T.S. Elliot in ‘Don’t Look Back’, the documentary, which connotes that he is strongly influenced by poetry and idolises many poets. The main ideology found in this is the fact that poetry is cool; Bon Dylan was cool, he likes poetry, so poetry must be cool. Furthermore, the opposition of drug-use, or the contrasting light-hearted view of drug-taking is seen as cool and acceptable, as he would have appealed to a younger generation, depending on the audience’s interpretation of the music video and, more importantly, the lyrics.

Textual Analysis: 1

Media Representations:

The lead singer of 'We Are Scientists' is being represented as 'cool', young and 'hip', with the costume he is wearing, such as sunglasses and skinny jeans, being worn by teenagers and rock stars. He is being represented either by himself, or the director (which I suspect may have been the band as  no information on this matter could be found). However, his teenage representation of being cool and hip is smashed as the video sees Keith Murray performing tricks and stunts on a small scooter, something which can be deemed uncool or cool, depending on the audience's culture, but the fact that he badly performs the tricks, on numerous occasions falling down, represents him as actually being uncool. He is represented as cool in costume, but then seen to be uncool in his actions because of the ideology of what you wear doesn't really define you. For example, he may wear designer clothing and fashionable clothes, but that doesn't make him cool. Looks are deceiving. This is further emphasised when a young boy 'out-does' the singer in performing tricks on the scooter. Overall, he is being represented as an older man trying to be young again,yet failing at it badly. He, for example, makes rude gestures to a notice to keep dogs restrained and then knocking over a traffic cone. His facial gestures suggest that he thinks he's being cool, but we don't see it that way, and laugh at his idiocy. This is what makes the music video clever; watchable. It's a parody; a comedy, and the audience is amused by this. This is the reason behind the unfair and inaccurate representation, as not all older people are trying to be young, and those who are trying to be young sometimes do it better than young people themselves. This music video features many opportunities for the lead-singer (who is actually aged 33) to represent himself as young and cool (most of his band's fan base will see him as this anyway), as well as funny, as he is parodying what he, himself, is. In fact, his actions on the scooter, which are purposely bad, are seen as funny and represent the lead-singer as cool and funny, in that aspect.

Media Languages and Forms:

The denotative level of meaning is a male, represented by the lead singer of the band, going around on a child's scooter; doing tricks. This is quite simple, but on the connotative level it connotes him as being an older person trying to be young and cool; showing off his tricks... poorly. He continuously falls over, and swears to the camera next to a sign which just about everybody will respect, connoting him as simply not being able to be cool; he is pretentious. It also connotes the teenage stereotype, as we see lots of teenagers skateboarding and biking; doing tricks and falling over. However, this music video parodies that with the use of a small scooter as a prop, instead of the usual BMX or skateboard. In particular, the non-verbal structures of meaning in the text, such as his body stances, including a hand-on-heart to the American flag, and the shaking of his head to a sign restricting the use of a ramp for disabled people only, are important because they represent him as being a bit of a pretentious and horrible person; not caring for others. The common teenage stereotype. A great example of his body posture and facial gestures is seen at 1.40 in the above music video, as he holds the scooter like a baseball bat, pulling an angry(?) face. This connotes that he thinks he's tough and cool. The humour comes from this as just before this stance, he almost drops the scooter after performing a trick, again, failing at it. The mise en scene is also significant as it is a sunny, American setting, in the city centre, as it seems, as we can see large, tall buildings and ornaments such as large fountains. To feature a grown man acting like a child in this setting, where you'd expect to find a grown man wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase and a hotdog, is unconventional and connotes him as not knowing what he's doing. An ideal setting for him to mess about on a scooter would be somewhere were loads of people can't see you... this, again, creates the humour. Much of the music video is shot as home footage. It resembles many videos uploaded to YouTube (a web 2.0 site which allows streaming of videos, including music videos) which show teenagers doing tricks on skateboards and BMX bikes, and less commonly scooters, and therefore we usually see Keith in a long-shot or a medium shot/mid-shot, as he is being followed by a second person on a scooter, who is shooting the footage. The music video has no relevance to the soundtrack, except for the fact that the song is called 'Nice Guys' and he isn't a nice guy, or at least, he isn't represented that way. The more clever part of the music video is not what is happening on the screen, in terms of what the lead-singer is up to, but the lyrics, resembling karaoke, placed at the bottom. The lyrics are mostly all wrong, with the lyrics saying "if you're the night sky, act like the night sky", whereas the song actually says "if you're the nice guy, act like the nice sky". Another example is "if few want this, I want it more the new", which is supposed to be "If you want this, I want it more than you". The lyrics are intentionally wrong, and make the music video unconventional. They also reflect the singer's antics, as he is being rebellious, as are the lyrics in some way - not conforming to the conventional use of lyrics on the screen; instead being wrong; playing on the words in the lyrics and how they're being sung.

Narrative:

The narrative doesn't follow the conventional Todorov narrative structure, where the  equilibrium is disrupted by an event, leading to a quest and resolution, which in turns restores the equilibrium to its former state. It is linear, but there are no cause and effect. Instead it is just a collection of shots, following the lead singer on a scooter badly performing tricks and making a fool out of himself. The audience is positioned through a POV shot, of sorts, as we are looking through the eyes of the person who is following him; who is filming him, and therefore we, like the cameraman, are embarrassed but amused. Although we are following Keith, the lead-singer, the hero/protagonist of the music video is actually the little boy towards the end, as he is good on the scooter and makes a fool out of Keith, whereas Keith, the villain/antagonist goes around causing trouble such as swearing and riding on public property. The narrative embodies such ideologies and values as the 'cool' people being the villains of society, as they make fools out of themselves.

Genre:

The song in the text belongs to the Indie Rock/Pop genre, however, the text itself belongs to the conceptual clip music video. The conventions in the text include having the lead-singer of the band as the star and having no performance or narrative that refers back to the music itself. The audience can identify that the music video is going to be conceptual due to the lack of performance clips, as seen in the above blog post of 'The Kill' by Thirty Seconds To Mars. The more generic theme of the video, also, is the skateboarder theme (although the skateboard has been replaced with a scooter to parody it). This theme usually features a cameraman following a skateboarder around whilst he/she performs tricks to success. This video follows that theme but parodies it, as the scooter rider performs tricks to no avail. This, therefore, treats the conventions of the texts it derives from, playfully and ironically, openly mocking them. The star of the music video also creates irony as he is an Indie-rocker, a type of rock star who stereotypically doesn't skateboard (or use scooters) as that sport, if it can be called a sport, is usually associated with skate-punk and pop-punk bands such as Blink-182 and Sum-41, for example.

Media Institutions:

The text was distributed by the label Master Swan; a label which I have, this minute, only just heard of. The label doesn't appear to be a major record label, and I doubt it has any subsidiary labels of its own (it's possible that it, itself, is a subsidiary label of a larger conglomerate or major record label). Therefore the institution hasn't affected or shaped the text in any way. This is something seen throughout the whole 'Indie' scene. The word 'Indie' derives from 'Independent', and the scene is notable for the artists' individuality and ability to express themselves and freely manage themselves (or have a close friend to manage them; not a company man in a suit) and have the ability to just make their own music videos, if they want to, without any input from the institution except from the money they are given. The song which the text was made for is distributed by iTunes and Play.com as well as other online retailers who deal with digital downloads (as it wasn't released as a hard-copy). The text itself, however, can be seen on various music video channels such as Q and NME TV.

Media Values and Ideology:

The video creates the ideology that teenagers are foolish, but can get away with it due to their immaturity, whereas adults trying to be young and cool can't get away with it, as they are grown-up; they are mature. This affects the criteria for which footage would make it to the music video, as the music video needs to be silly, funny and most of all, make the lead look like an idiot. This means that only footage showing Keith as acting cool, failing at tricks on his scooter, and being publicly humiliated will make it to the final cut. Any serious footage simply wouldn't fit, and would be hypocritical to the overall ideology of the text.

Media Audiences:

The text is addressed to teenagers of the Indie sub-culture or alternative sub-culture. The text targets these teenagers, of the specific criteria, aged 13-19, as they spend the most money on music and are revealed to be the probable most likely group of people to buy and consume the most music. The audience will be able to see a representation of themselves in the text, and they are an active audience, so will be affected in different ways. However, the majority will see the humour in the video and be able to laugh at the singer, as well as themselves. This means that the text represents them in a fairly fair way, as it is mostly depicting the older generation pretending to be the new generation. The audience will receive the text in an informal way - on television. As stated above, the text will be broadcast on channels such as NME TV and Q, as well as many others. The size and consistency of the audience will be large, which I stated briefly above, and due to the teenage mind usually being childish and immature, the audience will find the text funny. This means that the parody music video, a conceptual clip, is a success. I, as an audience member, and fan of We Are Scientists, evaluate the text as clever, but most of all, funny. This doesn't seem to be affected by my social status, age, gender and/or background, as the part I found the most funny and entertaining was the lyrics at the bottom of the screen. I doubt, however, that the older generation would actually enjoy the music video, but in some instances they are; in this case, however, that is unlikely and I think the audience is strictly prohibited to the teenage indie sub-culture, of both males and females.

Audience Theory:

ACTIVE AUDIENCE:

My audience will be an active audience, as a postmodern text relies on an active audience to find links between other texts. Social class/status, I believe, will not affect the audience/spectator, nor will their background or gender etc, but their history of viewing texts will affect them, which I will go on to discuss now:

A passive (hypodermic level) audience will look at a text and believe it to be a music video, in this case. This will be because the music video will not be postmodern (which is impossible, because aesthetically all music videos are postmodern, but for this example to work, let's forget about that). However, with my music video, it will be a pastiche of the 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' music promo by Bob Dylan, with the stylization based on the Digipak I have created which is a pastiche (and simulacrum) of the Franz Ferdinand album cover for 'You Could Have it so Much Better', which itself is a pastiche of a Russian Constructivism poster, effectively making my Digipack a copy of a copy. These postmodern features will have the audience finding similarities and comparisons between all these media texts that have been intertextually referenced, making them active.

(This was edited on the 04/01/11 when my knowledge of postmodernism was more accurate and after I had changed my mind on the Digipack plans and decided to base the background footage of my music video on my Digipack design. I had previously incorrectly stated that my audience would be passive.)

History of the Music Video

Shot from 'A Hard Day's Night'

A music video is a short video clip that accompanies a piece of music. A music video is often regarded as a piece of marketing.

In 1964, The Beatles starred in their very first feature-length film, entitled ‘A Hard Day’s Night’. This allowed them to take advantage of their new-found fame and success. The film, representing the age it was shot in, was in black and white and was a ‘mockumentary’. The film featured comedic dialogue and a narrative as well as musical sequences, which would later become the basis for music videos. It can be seen that The Beatles inspired modern music videos, especially Oasis, whose videos were ‘post-modern’, being directly influenced from past music videos. In addition to this, The Beatles also inspired the hit TV show ‘The Monkees’ (1966-1968) which consisted of narrative and film intertwined with musical sequences. 

Shot taken from 'Rain'

The song ‘Help!’ sung by The Beatles, is arguably one of the prime archetypes of the modern performance-style music video, featuring the entirety of the band performing the song to the audience. A shot towards the end shows George Harrison’s left hand and guitar neck in sharp focus, with John Lennon, out of focus, in the background singing. This camera style, a shallow depth of field, can be seen in modern day music videos. The Beatles were the first band to use ‘music videos’, dare I say, to increase their success and promote them. I say this because The Beatles, who were a worldwide success, made promotional feature-length films to be distributed worldwide instead of physically appearing in, for Example, Malaysia, and performing. The first abstract music video was, theoretically, done by The Beatles for the ‘rain’ promo. Besides from a few shots of Lennon singing and a shot of the band performing, the video abandons all obvious narrative structures and any pretense of a performance. Also, promos were made for ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ and ‘Penny Lane’ because they were, due to the large amount of studio editing, impossible to play live. The videos, influenced by Avant Garde films, were also abstract which were artful, expressionistic and were psychedelic. The videos featured no performance or narrative.

Shot from 'Penny Lane'

Music videos in the 70’s began to gain the artist recognition and more success, and soon became an important part of the music industry, as they showcased the artist’s singing talent, and therefore transformed the music video.  In 1974, the Australian TV show ‘Countdown’ began showing video clips alongside the music of guests appearing on the show, as a means to promote the acts. This played an important role in developing the music video from a feature-length movie to how we know them now. Following this was MTV, launching in 1981 with the song ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’, by ‘The Buggles’. MTV was the very first 24-hour music channel and allowed artist’s to launch their singles with music videos. Madonna didn’t just use music videos as a medium for song promotion, but it also helped to promote her image, making her stand out. Shortly thereafter of the launch of MTV, in 1983, Michael Jackson’s 14-minute video for ‘Thriller’ came out. This performance video is regarded as the most influential music video to date, featuring aspects of performance, but largely a narrative video. However, MTV was restricted to the USA, so in 1987, MTV Europe was launched, allowing all of Europe, including the UK, to receive 24-hour music television.

Shot from the 'Video Killed The Radio Star' promo.

Before MTV Europe had launched, the UK relied on Top of the Pops to play music videos. TOTP, solely dedicated to live performances, began showing a strictly limited number of music videos in the late 1970’s. This proved to be wise, as David Bowie gained his first no. 1 in nearly a decade with the video for ‘Ashes to Ashes’ , which was highly acclaimed and, of course, the song wasn’t too bad either. 

'Bedtime Stories' by Madonna

In 1984, highlighting the importance of MTV on the music industry, MTV launched the ‘MTV Video Music Awards’, later to become the ‘VMA’s’, which celebrated the success of certain music videos (throughout the 1990’s, MTV spread worldwide). This brought the rise of the directors. In December 1992, MTV began crediting the directors alongside the musicians, and it became clear that music videos had become the auteur’s medium. Such directors included Michael Gondry, Mike Romanek, Hype Williams and Spike Jonze, who gained recognition for their directing skills. To date, the most expensive music video is ‘Scream’ by Michael and Janet Jackson, costing approximately $7million. The second most expensive is ‘Bedtime Stories’ by Madonna, costing roughly $5million.

Shot from 'Pork 'n' Beans'

In 1997, iFilm launched. This was a website which streamed short movies, and more importantly in this context, music videos. Also, Napster, a peer-to-peer file sharing service which ran from 1999 until 2001 allowed the sharing of music videos. However, this was a slow process. Youtube, launched in 2005, and Myspace Video’s, which launched in 2007, allowed the quick streaming of any videos uploaded on the websites. This included music videos and allowed audience’s to quickly view (through streaming) a music video. This had a positive impact on the music industry as most artists see a positive impact when their videos are posted online, and the portability of these music videos (with iTunes now distributing them to be played on iPod’s and iPhone’s) sees the videos spread quickly. In 2008, rock band Weezer took note of the impact that the internet was having on the music industry and featured over 20 stars in their video for ‘Pork n Beans’, all of which gained fame and popularity, originally, from Youtube. No surprises, the video was Weezer’s highest charting song to date.

Music Genre:

I have chosen to do a music video for a song within the Rock or Indie Rock genres, because my target audience prefer these two genres. I found this from a poll I did, on the right-hand side of my blog, where I found that 81% of the target audience's favourite music genre was rock, with 68% stating Indie as their favourite and 43% said their favourite genre was Pop, whereas 6% of the audience's favourite music genre was dance. The percentages don't add up to 100% because there are hybrid genres in the modern music industry, such as pop rock and indie rock, for example.

Brief:

1. A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

• A website homepage for the band;
• A cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package);
• A magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).