Music Video Analysis:
Language:
The shot throughout is a tableau shot, meaning it is just one shot, which is at a medium shot range at a slightly low angle, which connotes power and dominance as is conventional within the rock genre. The mise en scene mainly focuses on the costume of the lead singer; the person holding the lyric boards. He is wearing a plain smart casual shirt and ‘skinny jeans’, though the jeans aren’t visible because of the shot framing. The original plan, which can be seen in older drafts of my music video, was that the costume would be a checked shirt rather than a smart casual shirt. However, time constraints lead me to shoot with the costume which was used in my final music video. The shirt, like a checked shirt, however, is an example of contemporary style and fashion amongst young adults and teenagers, as well as the older generation of people. Facial gestures are important to the music video, with the lead singer throughout having a look of horror on his face, so to resemble the ‘amateur’ quality of the music video, as though it has just been put together quickly (which wasn’t the case). Towards the end of the music video, he then had a look which represented an “I don’t care” attitude. This went hand in hand with the representation of a ‘crash’ when the music video ends, as though the Chroma Key has stopped working, as has the position of where the lead singer is situated, as he turns upside down and darts across the screen. The background shots are also important in terms of the mise en scene. The shots all consist of ELS establishing shots at a low angle and straight angle, because the structures are all much bigger than I am. They, like the lyric boards, follow the colour scheme of red, black and a creamy yellow. It also has additional colours such as grey, whereas the lyric boards also feature white. The background is iconic of the Russian Constructivism style, with the colour scheme being resemblent of the colours of Soviet Russia, whilst also being iconic of the rock genre; I even used it as the colour scheme for my foundation portfolio. The lead singer is in black and white, which is conventional of the Indie genre. This fusion of black and white with the red and black represents the hybrid genre of my music video, as the song is of the Indie Rock genre, which is a hybrid genre and postmodern in itself. The music video also features intertextual references to Franz Ferdinand, in the style, and Bob Dylan, as the video is a pastiche of the promo video for ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’. In addition to this, somewhat towards the end of the video, and during the middle (so twice) the imperative flashes on-screen “but the album”. This self-reflexiveness takes the audience’s attention and focus out of the music video by making it self-reflexive. Another time this happens, the layers are exposed and highlighted by text, which is yellow so it stands out amongst the red and black, which states “look at that”. This self-reflexive feature brings to the audience’s attention the imperfection, not found in contemporary music videos, where a part of the footage has been masked and then layered (to allow for a black & white lead singer but coloured lyric boards) and pokes fun at it, making it also funny for the audience to see.
Institution:
The band is signed to ‘Ruff Trade Records’ which is a play on the name ‘Rough Trade Records’. It is an independent record label, as it is based on the old Rough Trade Records, were it started off as a record shop. The institution information doesn’t appear on the music video because, as in ‘Indie band’, they don’t want their image of being independent from a record label to be tarnished. However, it was necessary for the institution information to be on the Digipack and magazine advert which isn’t exactly bad for the band as the record label is independent of any large conglomerate corporations or major record labels. The plan was to distribute the digipack through the HMV website and record stores, as well as iTunes, because audience research found out that they had the habit of downloading music online because it was easier. The music video shown above, however, would be consumed through digital music channels such as Kerrang! TV, NME TV, Q TV, Lava and MTV ROCKS. Furthermore, if the song was to chart (although unlikely because of the anti-mainstream genre) the promo would be consumed through other digital music TV channels, such as KISS and Smash Hits! Which focus on mainstream music and music that is successful in the UK TOP 40 charts. It would also be available to consume as it is distributed online, on Web 2.0 sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Myspace. Synergy would be used here, as the link to the YouTube video can be posted, on a wall post, on Facebook where the music video can also be played on the social networking site. This synergy allows the two to share information and further the spread of the music video, allowing for easier viral marketing.
Ideology:
One important ideology is that the style of Russian Constructivism is ‘back’. It can be contemporary and it is also cool. In addition to this, it is under the ideology that it is important as an art, style and building design. The ideology behind the band, by incorporating this style, is that they are unique, not mainstream (Russian Constructivism is rarely used in contemporary society) and most of all, they have an established identity.
Audience:
The audience would be aged 16-24 of both male and female audiences (although audience research found that I had more of a female audience). Females would like the product and media text because the lead singer is stylish and good looking, whereas the males would aspire to be like him and would idolise him. The target audience will be young adults and teenagers, making them young and impressionable, which is why they would be attracted to such an ‘alternative’ music video with a well-dressed, stylish and good looking male lead. Furthermore, if ‘Renegades’ were to be a real-life band, they would need to have personality and charisma. This is one of the reasons why I cast ‘Billy Minns’ (or ‘William’ as he is known in the fictional band) as the lead singer, because he is popular amongst college students, has a large outgoing personality and so if he was to conduct interviews, say on T4, he would win over a large number of audience members; creating new fans. If I was to decide on a niche audience, it would be social groups such as ‘EMO’, ‘Indie’ and ‘alternative’ social groups that ‘outsiders’ tend to turn to. This is reflected in the lead singer’s style. In addition to this, with the intertextual reference to the Bob Dylan video, as a pastiche of the video ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’, the band would also attract an older audience, who would see the reference, though this wouldn’t be the target audience.
Representation:
The lead singer is represented as being young and cool and someone to look up to, as he is up to date with contemporary popular ‘alternative’ style and fashion (audience research and feedback also revealed that this was important to them, in a band). He is wearing a smart casual shirt which is iconic of emerging fashion, though not widely worn – though this represents him as fashion-conscious and aware of the emerging styles – more the reason to look up to him and listen to his band. The band as a whole are represented as new, fresh and different. They are individuals within a cramped music industry, and will be popular because they are unique. The Bob Dylan reference represents them as highly knowledgeable in terms of music and their music taste, as they clearly like Bob Dylan (at least, this is how they are represented) and so they must be wise and mature, though still have the charm, style and charisma to wow the younger target audience. Therefore, this places them in a higher-up position, in terms of music as an art, than bands such as ‘All Time Low’, which are placed firmly within the Pop-Punk hybrid genre. In addition, they are also represented as contemporary and modern, as their digipack and also the background sequences resemble the Franz Ferdinand cover ‘You Could Have It So Much Better’ which places them firmly within the roots of Indie music, as Franz Ferdinand have become somewhat of an icon of that genre. This also reveals their genre of music.
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