Analysis of a band similar to ours - The Futureheads

The Futureheads are similar to Odd Shaped Head, both in genre (post-punk indie rock) and in location, being based in Sunderland.

The band consists of:
Ross Millard (vocals and guitar)
David Craig (bass)
and brothers Dave (vocals and guitar) and Barry Hyde (drums)

The quartet have released five studio albums between 2004 and 2012. The style of music, on stage persona and interviews have created a "cheeky chappy" image of the band, one Odd Shaped Head seem to emulate.

A large part of their fanbase is located in the North East, due to their extensive promotion in the area. This approach, while not unique (Maxïmo Park doing similar work in Newcastle), gives them a solid base to work from and a good point of reference. Examples of such promotion are the band supporting many acts that play at The Stadium of Light (Sunderland Football Club's stadium) and creating and playing at a music festival in Sunderland (Split Festival).

The band's representation in their music videos is typical post-punk fare, wearing mostly dark clothes with unfastened jackets. The style used in their video is similarly typical, with the singer possessing an almost hilarious level of swagger at times. As with all post-punk bands, they wear clothing that is similar to their fans' and rely on energetic live performances.

The clothing worn by the band in four different videos, displaying the prevalence of the clothing that I described earlier.

Questionnaire Analysis

I surveyed 20 people in my form group, with ages ranging from 11 to 17 (and the 27 year old teacher). There were 12 girls and 8 boys surveyed.



We hoped that finding out the favourite film genre would give us an insight to what conventions they like and what could be transferred into our muisc video. The popularity of the comedy genre tells us that our video should incorporate some comedic aspects to entertain the viewer. The other dominant genres are thriller and action, the two sharing similar defining features. We should try and make the video fast paced (through the use of quick cuts) to stop the audience getting bored looking at the same shot for too long.



There was a mixed response in regards to this question, with no catagory being particularly dominant. Traditional media and the internet are equally popular, meaning our music video and Digipak has the potential to appeal to a wide audience.


The majority of people surveyed are attracted to the music video through means other than the song itself, which means our Digipak has the potential to reach a large market with people who have not heard our song or artist before.



The favourite genre within the sample group is pop, which may have something to do with both the high proportion of girls and the younger age of the group surveyed, which pop music is marketed towards. As our music video (and the song itself) is geared towards an older demographic.


The questionnaires were answered in a manner in which we expected for the most part, however, the popularity of the artist does not seem to impact on the exposure to a music video. This is good news for us, as our audience will not be prejudiced against our video as they haven't heard of the band. Another interesting response is the equal exposure radio, television and the internet to music videos, with friends coming a distant fourth. This means both our digipak and magazine advert need to be of a high quality as they have equal reverence to potential customers.

In regards to the open questions (asking why the genres and videos where their favourite), the answers were quite self explanatory. For example, one answer to "Why is this your favourite film genre?" (answered romantic comedies) was "because they are romantic and funny". While not particularly enlightening, results like these show that the audience like their media at face value. These types of answers were particularly common in younger students (11-13), showing either their lack of understanding of what they like or simply not being able to articulate their feelings into words.

How humour is used in music videos

Humour in music videos, outside of actual standalone visual jokes, comes in the form of either parody or pastiche. While similar in format, a homage is usually more of a love letter to the original text and is not meant to be enetertaining in itself. Intertextuality is a form of an inside joke, as referances are inherent in their nature that not all viewers will "get it".

A parody is has a more acerbic tone than pastiche, as it makes fun of certain features or stereotypes of other media texts. It encourages the viewer to laugh at, rather than with, the original text. Parodies are usually less subtle than pastiches, as they can go as far as to be an entirely different song with the same instrumental.


The Beatles Live Rare - Smack My Bitch Up

A simple but effective parody of The Beatles' family friendly image, overlaying the less upbeat Smack My Bitch Up (The Prodigy) over archive footage of The Beatles preforming live. A main benefactor of why this video is so effective is the care that has went into syncing the song and video together, making it actually look like they are playing the song. The original crowd reactions (girls screaming and fainting etc) remain, seemily euphoric at hearing The Beatles preform their classic hit.

Macklemore - Thrift Shop Music Video (Parody)

 

This video is made under the pretence that the viewer has an understanding of both the original song and its music video. It both alters some scenes from the origianal video and changes the lyrics to tell its own story, again based off of the original song.

 

 

Another method of introducing humour into videos is to take amplification and illustration to their limits. This works especially well if the song in question either is humourous or has a self contained narrative.

 

 

Tenacious D - Tribute

 

 

An example of this would be Tenacious D's Tribute, which is a visualisation of the lyrics, word for word. The only thing the video adds is some slight context, with the song being performed inside a photo booth. It uses special effects to amplify the lyrics. This also has the effect of linking the song to the video, giving extra meaning on that line to those that have seen the video.

 

Beastie Boys - 3 MC's and 1 DJ

 

                                     

 

 

 

In typical Beastie Boys fashion, the video for "3 MC's and 1 DJ" is as entertaining as it is promotional for the song. The video opens with the aforementioned 3 MC's stood in the above pose perfectly still, cross-cutted with the DJ holding a record and walking down the street, going into a building and putting the record on. There is about a minute and a half of watching the DJ walk and the MC's stood still before the music starts. After the music starts, there is very few camera angles and it is all shot in the same room, meaning this style of video making would be replicable in our own production.



Unsigned band featured in our music video - Odd Shaped Head

Odd Shaped Head - Corpse in the Kitchen (live)




Biography taken from http://www.unsigned.com/oddshapedhead;

"Leapfrogging conventional rock sounds and hop-scotching conformity, these unassuming young gentlemen yell Up your pigeon-hole! to an industry obsessed with format and repeated musical templates.

In the humble surroundings of a quaint English seaside village, four of the four members of odd shaped head reside in chaotic harmony:

Paul (Bass/Vocals),
Ricky (Guitar/ Vocals),
Rob (Drums) and
Andrew (Guitar);

From childhood chums to grown up geeky misfits.

The quirky quartet take a plunge with their new single and video ~ the multi coloured ket song ~ due to feature on MTV and stamp their un-erasable mark on 2006. I want a red oneyou can have an orange one well you cant always get what you want! is the Odd shApEd mantra chanted as a dull grey world is assaulted with splatters of bold bright colour.

Their eclectic brand of energetic, rhythmic, funk-punk; jerky bass popping, powerful scatterbrained drumming and stabbing guitars bursting into vibrant melodies draws more fans along to venues already packed with a collage of characters.

Quintessentially British - just like The Beatles are rock, but aren't, Odd Shaped Head are punk, but aren't every half-baked crap band in the world could learn something from these guys this single will be their road to fame. Excellent!! Lowcut Magazine, Denmark 06"



From what limited information there is, I am fairly sure the band formed in 2004 and the last gig I found them play was a festival in 2008, releasing an 11 track album and a few singles.

The band utilise overarching melodies whilst traversing many musical genres, Indie, Pop, Rock and Punk to name a few, usually in the same song. The band are often compared to fellow North-Eastern outfit The Futureheads.

Their debut (and only) album "I Wonder How This Endevour Will End?" was critically well recieved but sold poorly, gaining a cult status in the North East.

Coventions of a Music Video

Technical conventions;

• Band shots - long shots showing the whole band, usually playing their instruments.

• Shadows - dark atmosphere accentuates certain parts of the frame, adds to the mise-en-scene.
• Equal time devoted to each band member, or in pop videos, more screen time is devoted to the key members of the group
• Bright lighting to create an unthreatening, bouncy atmosphere - pop music.

• High lighting to cast long shadows, giving the band "the spotlight" and emphasising their importance relative to the crowd (if present).
• High angle/low angle shots and special lighting effects in pop videos - gives the impression of power or emulates being at one of their concerts. The special lighting effects could give the impression of higher production values to younger viewers.

• Animation and CGI - pop
• Colour effects - often monochrome

Narrative;

• Balanced with performance, cut into performance, merged with performance.
• Amplifies lyrics, illustrates simple lyrics.
• Disjuncture - unrelated to the lyrics of the song.

Intertextuality;

• Refers to the process where one media text takes ideas from another, such as a pastiche, parody or a homage.

Librarians pay homage in their re-imagining of the Beastie Boys - Sabotage video

 (link)

• The borrowing of images and reconstructing them can be seen as post-modern.
• Draws audience into text as they recognise elements.
• Not all audiences spot these references, however.

Representation;

• Glamorous lifestyle.
• Playing out popstar lifestyle within the video.

History of the Music Video

  

History of the Music Video

The ancestor of the modern "music video" were short dramatised narratives featuring the artist and their song which were shown before movies in theatres in the 1930's. Although the practice was relatively uncommon, it paved the way for the evolution of the music video in the following decades.

The Beatles featured in their own short films (the first being "A Hard Day's Night" in 1964) to promote their albums, producing 10 in all. The advent and popularisation of television at this time led artists to realise the potential of the music video advertising to millions of potential viewers. The BBC launched Top of the Pops in 1964, which hosted each weeks' chart toppers preforming live in the studio. Television airtime gave artists an on-screen presence and image.

A Hard Day's Night

By the 1970's, Top of the Pops became big business for record labels. The music videos produced had to innovate to stay relevant and try to capture their artist in the spotlight. Music videos were also useful for use on Top of the Pops as instead of performing live, the video could be played instead. This was useful as it allowed the artist to tour without having to return to the studio to film TOTP every week. The Queen single "Bohemian Rhapsody" in 1975 was the first truly iconic and influential music video, with it still being homages still appearing to this day.

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

   

Music videos hit the big time with the introduction of MTV (Music Television) in 1981. Since audiences now tuned in to see music videos, the purpose of the videos changed from purely promotional pieces to professionally made entertainment. Two years after the launch after MTV came possibly the most influential and successful music video of all time, Michael Jackson's "Thriller". The video introduced (or at least popularised) many of the tropes now standard in modern music videos. This includes the concept of the short film, a full story wherein the song is not playing the whole time, as well as dance routines.  The advancement of special effects and editing software allowed creators to express themselves in different ways.

Michael Jackson - Thriller

The 1990's saw a continuation of the success of the medium. The Jackson's "Scream" became the world's most expensive music video in 1995, with a budget of £5 million. Many radio stations launched their own music video channels on cable television, giving the audience more choice to cater to their preferences. Ways for videos to become popular at this time included controversy (The Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up), a radical departure from the mainstream (Fatboy Slim's "Praise You) and intertextuality. The Beastie Boy's "Sabotage" used the latter, with heavy homage to 1980's cop shows. They did this by using stereotypes of that genre in their video, such as large moustachioed policemen, car chases and over the top stunts.


Michael Jackson - Scream
The Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up
Fatboy Slim - Praise You
Beastie Boys - Sabotage


                                           


The music video was revolutionised in the 2000's with the introduction of internet services which allowed smaller artists to get more exposure to an international audience. iTunes and YouTube utilse social media to share links to videos, which allow videos to become viral, amassing millions of views overnight. There have been examples of the video being more known than the song itself, such as Rebecca Black's "Friday" and PSY's "Gangnam Style". Lady Gaga is an artist who has benifitted from the viral aspect of the internet, with a total of over one billion combined views on her YouTube channel, with "Poker Face" having 163 million views in itself.

Rebecca Black - Friday (the original video has been taken down)
PSY - Gangnam Style
Lady Gaga - Poker Face


                                            

The Cure - Close To Me analysis

The Cure - Close To Me

 

We have chosen to analyse this song as it does not contain anything extravagent, and as such we could replicate (or at least take inspiration from) some effects they have created.

 

 

The wardrobe setting limits the audience to only ever seeing a very small portion of the scene in each shot, encoraging the viewer to look closely at the details they can see. The setting and camera angles themselves amplify both the song's lyrics and title; "Close To Me".

The slits in the wardrobe produce beams of light in the frame, drawing the viewer's eye towards points of interest placed within the mise-en-scene. The light often falls upon either the performer's eyes or their "instruments", which shows their change of emotions as the story unfolds.

 

 

 

 

The occasional establishing long shot of the wardrobe accentuates the clostrophobic atmosphere created as it creates a dissonance between the low lighting and close ups and the bright lighting outside. There are no distractions during the long shot, which juxaposes the large quantity of things going on within the wardrobe.