Final choice of song and a rough guide to what i am planning to do

I have finally chosen 'The Alps' as my final choice of band, because their songs have dynamics, sound professional and have enough lyric variety to create an interesting narrative. These are the lyrics to their songs which i am considering.

‘The Shining’ by ‘The Alps’ Lyrics

You’re the shining,

You’re the shining,

You’re the spark,

You’re the sparkle,

You’re the sparkle in the dark,

You’re the shining yeah

You’re the burning

You’re the burning

You’re the flame

You’re the flaming

You’re the flaming through the rain

You’re the shining yeah

You lift the world from my shoulders baby

You lift the world from my shoulders baby

You lift the world from my shoulders baby

You’re the shining

You’re the shining

You’re the shining

You’re the shining

You’re the light

You’re the lighthouse

You’re the lighthouse in the night

You’re the shining yeah

You’re the blinding

You’re the blinding

You’re the blaze

You’re the blazing

You’re the blazing through the haze

You’re the shining yeah

You lift the world from my shoulders baby

You lift the world from my shoulders baby

You lift the world from my shoulders baby

You’re the shining

You’re the shining yeah

La la la la la la la

La la la la la la la

La la la la la la la

La la la la la la la

‘As it comes’ by ‘The Alps’ Lyrics

I don’t want to spoil the party,

I don’t want to spoil the fun,

I don’t want to think about tomorrow,

We’ll take it as it comes,

I don’t need no weather forecast,

For today we got the sun,

I don’t know if it will rain tomorrow,

Well take it as it comes

Will this feeling last forever?

I don’t know … take it as it comes

Will we always be together?

I don’t know … take it as it comes

I don’t need no fortune teller,

I don’t need no crystal ball,

I don’t want to look around the corner,

Well take it as it comes,

Will this feeling last forever?

I don’t know … take it as it comes

Will we always be together?

I don’t know … take it as it comes

Will this feeling last forever?

I don’t know … take it as it comes

Will we always be together?

I don’t know … take it as it comes

As it comes

As it comes

Although the lyrics are less repetitive in 'As it comes' as a group we have decided to use 'The shining' because there are more dynamics within the music and there is plenty of imagery in the lyrics.

*Update:

As a group we having trouble finding enough ideas to fill the entire song of The Shining for this reason we have discovered a new profoundly better song with a greater narrative potential called 'Nobody's Home' by The New York Fund. For more information view post called 'The New York Fund'.

Possible unsigned bands for my music video

http://www.unsigned.com/brokenwrist - One of those nights

I really like this song i think the lyrics have good potential to build a storyline out of, however there are a lot of instrumental pieces within this song, which may be hard to fill in the video as they provide to speed or movement to the song. on top of this it is a very long song at 3minutes 30 seconds so it would have to be cut down. Unless I find a better song I will have to play around with cutting out some of the instrumental slices, but i fear this will make the song very repetitive and dull!

http://www.unsignedbandweb.com/music/bands/1714/ - The Name

This Band is called JYNXT and I am considering them because this song has many different phases and dynamics with the fast jumpy beat, guitar, computer adjusted notes here and there (especially at the beginning) the angry lyrics that rapidly change to a calmer beat. In a similar manner to the song above this one is also too long and would have to be cut down meaning that some of the phases or dynamics will be lost and wont be as effective.

http://www.payneandreece.com/listen.html - Lost

I like the sound of most of their songs because they have lyrics which can create a great plot, especially the song called 'Lost', however I am not entirely sure that Payne and Reece are unsigned because their website indicates otherwise, so it look like i will not be able to use their songs which are also too long!

http://www.unsignedbandweb.com/music/bands/13267/ - Pressure Rising

This band called Princip are quite rocky which is quite nice because I can go for a different style than with the other songs, however the lyrics are a little bit boring, 'I want to stamp out your face!', although very nice is a bit difficult to film convincingly! The music however has pace, but is a bit lacking in varience until the very short guitar instrumental. I don't think this song is quite cutting it!

http://www.unsignedbandweb.com/music/bands/10665/ -

I really liked the band name 'The Sky Diving Penguins' this is what grabbed my attention! I really like the song 'Pain killer Buzz' which has lyrics that can be adapted into a narrative, and as it is about drugs and the music is a bit psychedelic it means i can experiment and can make the narrative 'trippy'!
The song 'Think of Red Pomegranate' is a little strange but the music has lots of different dynamics, pace and movement. However it is a little long and the only lyrics being the title it gets a little repetitive and annoying because you have no idea why they want you to think of red pomegranate! Overall I prefere the 'Pain Killer Buzz' song which has good potential.

http://www.unsignedbandweb.com/music/bands/2134/ - The shining

I am really enthusiastic about 'The Alps' because they sound so professional and although it is very mainstream music this means I can create a very conventional video, or I can break conventions, making fun of the genre. After trawling through what seems like thousands of bands that are abismal these are refreshing and to me sound very promising although I may just be fed up! The songs 'The Shining' and 'As It Comes' have lyrics that partly lead places but have a good solid beat with movement and tunes that stick in your head!

http://www.unsignedbandweb.com/music/bands/11352/ -

I really like 'The Sway' for the same reasons as the Alps because they sound very professional, their song 'Going Blind' is very good, cheerful and reminds me of a fairytale, but the lyrics also lead you on a journey in the mind of a blind/crazy man, however along with many of the other songs is the fact that this song is way too long at 3 minutes 43 seconds it is about a minute too long and cutting out that much would ruin the song, but i could stop the song after the lyrics 'So Relax' which is at 2 min 4o secs which would work although that would be cutting out the amazing screamy wail at the end. This is one of my favourite entries along with The Alps!

After further investigation it would seem that The Sway used to be signed and during this time period created a music video so I need to find out whether it is acceptable to make another one and whether they are signed or not! Oh Dear

Song Fads

This video 'Move your Feet' by Junior Senior is really interesting as it is animated to look like an old arcade game. This look is unique and is in keeping with the upbeat nature of the song. The basis of this video is to keep in time with the beat and the different shots/sections are edited perfectly in time with the beat, also by using animation they have been able to create a fast paced, colourful, imaginative video doing things that they would not normally have been able to achieve like a dancing robot or a flying horse etc.

This song was extremely popular in 2003 when it was released and I remember that everyone at school had it on their phones and the video was continually being played on TMF and The Hits music channels, and because of this it soon spread and the 'move your feet' bug hit the entire country, allowing it to climb to #3 in the charts. Why was this song so popular? And how did it become a fad?

The first thing to look at is the versatility of this song enabling many different remixes to be made from it and also because of the simple upbeat lyrics and the dynamic beat its great to be played at any venue whether it be clubs, pubs or just your bedroom. On top of this it appeals to an enormous audience with children in high/middle school playing it on their mobiles, adults dancing to it in clubs and even the middle aged audience gets a kick out of the happiness of the song.

In a music world filled with depressing lyrics (in 2003) like 'Life's like this you
You fall and you crawl and you break' (Avril Lavigne with Complicated), 'dropped by your heart' (Simply Deep by Kelly Rowland) and 'Where is the love?' (a song by the Black Eyed Peas). This song by Junior Senior would obviously become a cult classic because it lightened the music scene from images of lost love and the pointlessness of life to a picture of two danish men dancing, that make you want to join them.



Another song that became a huge fad was the JCB song by Nizlopi, shown below.



This video again is an animation, but i do not think there is a correlation between having an animated video and becoming a fad single that is played everywhere, merely because the song is played a lot of the time without the video so a certain proportion of the enticement involved has to be about just the song.

These songs utilise the multiplier effect where it is released in many different formats like, mp3 downloads for your phone ring tone or mp3, video format, CD and LP (for nightclubs/discos Junior Senior only)and because it is so widely spread over the country a few people get it and it is heard on buses as ring tones, in clubs, at schools etc and others catch on and download it, and so on... This means that the songs spread extremely quickly and so become a fad that lasts for a month or two.

Another point to keep in mind is that both these songs come from relatively obscure musicians who were not well known before and are not prominent now, so although these fads can be huge they generally do not last very long.

Even bigger than the other two songs was probably the fad that has lasted the longest or has seemed to because it is extremely annoying; of course it is the crazy frog by Axel F (shown below).




I seem to remember that when I was in high school this track and video was very popular especially with the boys, because it annoyed the girls. However 'The Crazy Frog' exhibits many of the same traits as the other two videos for example it was released in lots of different formats, has had hundreds of remixes made from it, is playable in almost any venue, and has a very catchy tune.

Bring me to Life with this Short Essay

This video by Evanescence for the song 'Bring Me to Life' is set during night in a dark dingy city very much like Gotham from Batman. The very opening of the video shows the dangerous, scummy nature of the city with a flying twisting zoom that leads the audience in between the rooftops and the high rise buildings drawing them into the narrative. The audience can hear a police siren in the distance which reappears throughout the song and they also hear an electrical sputtering/sparking as the camera passes a lit up sign on a roof, showing the poverty and disrepair of the city. Due to the dark, dirty mise-en-scene and the pathetic fallacy this video is reminiscent of urban thrillers, especially when the camera finishes its twisting journey through the rooftops, connoting a turning narrative, narrowing in on a window in a high rise, with the curtains flapping in the wind we see the femme fatale lying in a fitful sleep in bed. An image of this woman falling off a high rise block of flats reoccurs through out this video becoming its motif and also symbolising the dark decent of the city as well as adding an extra meaning to the song title bring me to life, this could be interpreted as bring me to life after I have fallen off a tall building and died or it could be interpreted as meaning that her life in this city is so boring and bleak that she needs bringing to life with an exhilarating fall and a short sharp end, however it could be interpreted as the bad dream the femme fatale is having in her fitfull sleep. During the falling shots, the camera is focused on the girl and is falling with her but by focusing on the girl it shows the floors of the building behind her wizzing past and giving the audience an indication that she is plummenting extremely quickly towards the earth.

After short intermittent cuts of the woman falling and her restless sleep in bed the shot travels back outside the flat and it tracks upwards to a window a few floors up during this time the music has paused so that only the wind and a distant siren can be heard to emphasise the fact that this city is dangerous and cold, we are brought to the room by a very fast zoom that matches the fast start of the music after the pause and because the music is coming from the band inside the room it creates a pull towards them; which is a perfect link to what happens next as the woman wakes up and climbs out of the open window up the outside wall of the building to their window; throughout this video we do not know whether she is still dreaming, sleep walking or awake which adds a sense of mystery and urgency to the danger she is in. To add to that, high angle shots show the severity of the drop and the crawling city beneath.

On her journey up the building she passes a window where a man and a woman are silently sitting stock still on a sofa a feet apart as if they were robots, this is just at the moment she sings 'Make me real' which adds to the sense that life is fake and boring. In contrast with this at the next window a halloween party is in full swing, with people in creepy masks, symbolising many different things like fear, horror, danger, death and also the type of dead people that live in this city reflecting its own gloomy appearance. On top of this the masks are deathly white which reflects the dead rotting of the city and the closeness of the female singer's death, they add significantly to the haunting image of this video. She also passes a window in which an old man is sitting silently in a chair with a TV screen on that he is not looking at, also like an android, so from these fleeting shots of the type of people found in this city or in fact within the womans dream/mind are very negative contrasting the boring programmed people who look dead with the scary, unhappy, deadly people at the Halloween party. The lyrics make this analogy a bit more comprehensible when it is sung 'Save me from the nothing I have become' and 'I have been living a lie, there is nothing inside' which reveals the true meaning of this video, that in one respect it rebels against modern life as it prevents us from being individuals and in doing so makes us all the same and making us into 'nothing'.

Once she reaches the floor on which the band is she looks through the window at them and by using long lingering shots of her showing the ferosity of the wind whipping her hair about her we are given a rather romantic image that suggests that the man and woman are entwined somehow added to the fact that in the lyrics she says "I'm lost without your love, darhling". This thought is thus amplified when the lead singer in the room lovingly looks at her through the window and opens it, however it is this action that makes her fall off the ledge she is standing on, but as in a lot of films she manages to grab hold of the ledge by the tips of her fingers and the man climbs out of the window to help her up, we see this from a low angle point of view so the audience can see the female as well as the male and they are aware of the danger he puts himself in although he does not seem to be very urgent; this may be down to poor acting or because it is meant to be a dream and the vital things like running never seem to happen fast enough or simply because it needs to fit in to the music.

Towards the end the video makers are explicitly shwoing you that it was all a dream as you see a close-up of the woman in bed, this does bring to mind the cliched phrase "and it was all a dream" this point after close analysis it seems that this is probably just a dream, however this video does seem to work because of the shortness of this clip that only strongly infers that it was a dreama dn the fact that she is still in a troubled sleep and the next shot is a slow zoom out from her open window with the curtains flapping in the wind which again repeats the image of the dark, dingy city with the police siren wailing, this explains that nothing has changed and life is still the same dangerous dull monotony.

As is normal in music videos this video is filled with mid-shots of different members of the band and their intruments, but due to the continually changing pace of the song and its ups and downs the editing is mixed between fast shot cuts and slow shot cuts. The fast shot transitions seem to happen when the band is on screen because the beat is produced in their room and the fast paced vocals comes from the man in that room whereas the female singer (Amy Lee) creates lingering notes and less fast paced vocals as the man which is reflected in the shot transitions where the ones focused on her narrative are slower than those of the band. This is contradictory to the narrative even though it fits with the music because the lady's storyline is fuller and faster, however the shots are more varied whilst on the female narrative so as to fit in with the music and lyrics.

Many of Evanescences videos are quite dark and deep which is a reflection of the bands genre and style. As a gothic rock band their songs and lyrics tend to be quite gloomy for example songs like 'Sweet Sacrifice' (video shown below) which includes lyrics such as "You're gonna drown in my lost pain" and "I sleep to die".

This video is just an example of the type of disturbing images are recurrent through Evanescences videos.



To prove that the dark images are a generic theme within the gothic rock genre I have found this video by Seether for their song called 'Remedy' and as you can see in all these videos the characters appear to be possessed by something crazy with plenty of disturbing images or thoughts.

A Bad Day with YouTube Comments

I have chosen to write about this video merely for the fact that it bears one of the traits that i am finding increasingly common in music videos that it has very little to do in connection with the song and lyrics, although it does show a very 'bad day' in terms of weather from the perspective of the news which is an interesting vantage point. I wished to see what other members of the audience made of it so i checked the YouTube comments which make quite an interesting read.

Although I have said that the concept of the video doesnt relate greatly to the content of the song some of the comments left by viewers on Youtube have left pearls of wisdom telling other viewers their interpretations of the song and video for example,

ChickenKickin12 says:

"It's a metaphor for the inability to escape from the unexpected problems in life."

Despite the fact that their name is ChickenKickin12 they seem to have hit the nail on the head with this comment and it makes a lot of sense as the video is continually telling of the doom and gloom that is continually being presented by the media. However other audience interpretations are not as clear and reasonable, for example

IQ20000Berta says:

Bad days and bad news are very good for news TV all over the world.I think that's the message of this nice song.

This interpretation of the video is not very well worded and makes little sense however I think this audience member believes that this video represents the way in which news programmes always take the view point that any story is bad news because it frightens the audience and humans revel in negative news and being scared (scary movies and themepark rides for instance).

Youtube comments show the sheer amount of ways that ambiguous music videos can be interpreted by an audience thus widening the target audience and audience participation and certainly makes it memorable. Perhaps it is the way in which the band members capture the essence of news readers perfectly, or the way the video satirically plays with the fact that we as humans love to over talk the state of the weather, for as yet, I have not found a negative comment on this video!

One last comment I would like to show you is one by CutterScene:

"These guys are genuinely brilliant... just got that good ol' feeling, vocalizing their genuine thoughts and sometimes criticism and ironical take on 'civilisation' or 'society' is well merited."

So it seems that music videos whom criticise life and its annoying trivialities get a big thumbs up from their audience!

CD front covers....

As I have already posted, many bands have their own personal logos to help create their identity and make them widely known. Bands also use their CD covers the create their image and enforce it, this is why you often find artists from the same genre have the same sort of CD covers!

A prime example of this is the typical boy band CD cover (shown above and below) with the band posing in front of an outside back drop. As you can see in the Boyzone cover they were often action shots with the band walking to the camera, these types of shots mirror the music the band produce, which is corny, sloppy and designed for young teens. As teenage heart throbs the bands have purposefully designed their album covers so that young girls can see the band on the front and be enticed into buying it. On top of this as boy band like Boyzone have a very large target audience from children to grandmas the album have to be user friendly unlike 50Cents album (below) which is designed to be risky and 'hardcore!'

The Backstreet Boys album cover depicts the band as very heavenly and enduring as they are wearing white shirts over the black signifying their outward innocence. The contrast is also quite high making their faces seem infallible and gives them a slight glow like angels. the dirty weathered look of their surroundings contrasts with their whiter than white shirts and makes the band seem more real and human. Another common theme with boy band albums is that they are often unnamed with the album only bearing the bands name/logo this keeps it nice and simple and also leaves more room to have the name large and imposing as shown above. The crisp slanted writing adds impact to the words because in making it 3D with a shadow effect gives the impression of a Hollywood blockbuster giving a bang. The black to white fade on the title also keeps in with the monochrome feel off the cover which juxtaposes black and white like bad and good, making the album contradict itself and appeal to a wider audience with those after sweetness and light and those after a little bit of rebellion.


In contrast with the Backstreet Boys, Boyzone were very successful and have even begun making a popular comeback. This album was made shortly before they announced their split and so is less mainstream than that of the backstreet boys although it does bear the same signifiers of the posing action shot and the matching outfits although there seems to be more freedom with their attire as the man on the end is wearing a leather coat and matching trousers. The layout of the band members is also strategic in this, as Ronan Keating the main singer is placed at the front with the second main singer in the forefront as well, with the other three walking behind.

I picked this album because its completely different to both the boy bands and 50Cents. One main reason for this could be that Incubus are an alternative metal/rock band with a hint of funk, similarly their album cover is very alternative and different. The colours of red signifies love/blood and juxtaposed with the vibrant yellow is unsettling making the album seem a little sick so immediately the audience knows that this album is not ordinary. On top of this the title 'A Crow left of the Murder' can be interpreted as a murder is the collective term for a group of crows so a crow left of the murder in that sense would mean rebelling against the norm, which fits in perfectly with incubus's music. This CD front cover perfectly describes the type of music held within and the bands general thesis.
This front cover from 50cent is different yet again from the others i have shown you and this is because of the completely separate ends of the music spectrum they all occupy. The 'hard man' image portrayed here fits in with the rap genre of music and also with his self styled image in which he has been shot nine times, hence the bullet/vandalised hole in the glass before him, perfectly framing the cross chain creating a conflicting image of peace and conflict, this is mirrored in his music, lyrics and film. On top of this the red background signifies violence and blood, which also fits in with the title of the album, 'Get Rich or Die Tryin', this is written in an elegant font that is often used in tattoos. The phrasing sounds like a motto and as far as motto's go this is very materialistic. This point of view contrasts with his lack of clothes but matches perfectly the huge watch and designer belt. Overall this album cover is typical of the Rap genre with little experimentation, violence and the artist posing.

Logos...

Many of the iconic symbols in the world are from bands, these logos are a great method of quickly identifying the band and for the band to become known world wide. Some of the most iconic band logos are shown below:

This logo is extremely popular from the Rolling Stone and can be seen on t-shirts, bags etc. The logo conveys a sense of what the band are about with the defiant tongue sticking out at establishments and those in power. It may also be reminiscent of Mick Jagger's huge mouth (Shown below).

This is the Blink-182 Logo which is very prolific and shows the band as happy but with a twist as the eyes are crosses as if the face is dead. Also the arrows present them as on going and mixed genres however when asked about the meaning of this logo the Drummer, Travis Barker, said "It just had to be a cool kind of happy face but i wanted arrows". despite there being little meaning behind this logo it has definitely made the band noticable as this logo appears on all sorts of popular merchandise.




This logo is also very popular and belongs to the Ramones. This logo is great for the band as it makes their fans remember the band members names which is very unusual as normally the lead singer would be remembered but the others would not. This logo is an edited version of another logo, which is the official seal of Director of national intelligence in America whose job it is to provide sound legal guidance on critical national security issues facing the Intelligence Community. By using and editing this official seal the Ramones are taking a jibe at the USA, also by using an already well known logo they immediately make themselves well known and easy to remember as the band who are going against convention and against the people in power. WOOHOO REBELLION!!

The Who' s logo is straight to the point with the bold writing over the top of a traditional RAF target, the relevance of using an RAF target is unknown to me but this logo has now been adopted as a symbolic 'mod' target. This logo is very memorable by being bold simple and understated!

To sum up the reputation of bands is greatly influenced by having a bold, catchy logo (also by having good music) this is because the audience remember the logo and merchandise can be sold with that logo on it making the logo well renown and in so doing the band.

Questionnaire

Gender: …………………….

Age: .............


11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 50+

Who is your favorite modern female artist/band?

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Why?

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What is the first thing you think about when talking about the Sugababes?

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What is the first thing you think about when talking about Pink?

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Name three of the most successful female musicians of the last few years in your opinion

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Why do you think they are so successful?

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In the majority of music videos of female bands/artists how do you think they represent themselves?

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Watch these two short clips from music videos by female artists.
In this first video how are the women representing themselves to you, the audience?

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Write down 3 words that describe the way this video makes you think about them?

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In this second video how are the women representing themselves to you, the audience?

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Write down 3 words that describe the way this representation makes you think about them?

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