By doing this mind map of ideas it has helped to explain why I want certain things in my music video and why. It is a good starting point before I start to do my rough treament.
CKY- 96 Quite Bitter Beings.
The song titled ’96 Quite Bitter Beings’ is by a band called CKY, which are from
The Band, consisting of two members, (Deron Miller and Jess Margera) was originally called ‘Foreign Objects’. However, the next year, they had both began to release less heavy metal music to become more radio friendly music under the band name ‘ Oil’, and also brought in a new bassist member named Ryan Bruni.
Whilst in recording sessions, ‘Oil’ met Chad Ginsburg, who became fourth member, becoming the second guitarist in the band. Due to this extra member in the band, ‘Oil’ soon changed to the new band name ‘Camp Kill Yourself’.
Jess Margera’s brother, Bam Margera was then asked to create videos for the band, as he was an entertaining skateboarder, thus producing the CD’s CKY Volume 1 and 2.
‘Camp Kill Yourself’ signed with Volcom, and they asked for the band to change their name to ‘CKY’, which is still their band name now. In this time they fired Ryan Bruni from the band due to their disappointment in his performance abilities, took on Vern Zaborowski, and then fired him due to the same reason. They had another bassist Matt Deis, who also got fired due to his lack of commitment to the band, and so now have Matt Janaitis.
The band has produced five albums together: ‘CKY Volume 1’,’ CKY Volume 2’, ‘Infiltrate Destroy Rebuild’, ‘An Answer Can Be Found’ and ‘Carver City’. The most popular album I think, is ‘Infiltrate Destroy Rebuild’, this is because they produced a separate CD for this album which includes a short interview with Bam Margera before showing videos for each song on the album.
This is one of the videos which were made. By having a separate album for the videos and by having Bam Margera as the producer for each video, I think it has made ‘Infiltrate Destroy Rebuild’ the most popular album.
Genre
I researched into the genre of the band and this video especially and found that the genre is rock or alternative rock. All rock bands sound different to the next and so I think that this band is a type of rock, maybe alternative. This is because they do not sound as heavy metal in comparison to rock bands like Rammstein, but do not sound as indie as bands like Arctic Monkeys.
Rammstein Links 2 3 4
Arctic Monkeys I bet that you look good on the dancefloor
Another reason I believe that they are a type of alternative rock is the way the lead singer (Deron Miller) sings his lyrics and the facial expressions he uses. In a lot of CKY’s songs, he looks as though he is shouting his lyrics, which is common in heavy metal/ rock music. The facial expressions he uses are also something that you would see in heavy metal/ rock songs, as his expressions are not nice- looking and he is constantly frowning in this specific music video.
The genre conventions in this music video is the use of a narrative and a performance based music video, as this is the most common in the rock genre. The location of the performance is also a convention, as it is quite dark and grungy. Clothing and the instruments used are also a convention of a rock/ alternative rock music video, the close up of the electric guitar shows a lot of stickers, including a sticker of their band name, CKY.
The target audience for this band may be teenagers aged 15 to people in their 40’s, especially men. I think this would be the target audience because this video is the genre of rock, and teenagers aged 15 are just starting to find out what type of music they prefer, they would also like this video because of the funny stunts that the band and their friends do. I thought that the target audience would go up to people aged 40 (especially men) because a lot of men this age are into rock music, they also quite like to watch funny stunts. I chose not to raise the age range of the target audience because people older that 40 or 50 would think the stunts are stupid.
The lyrics do not fit with the narrative which is being shown in the video, as the song is about a small town and the narrative shows a lot of stunts being performed.
The lyrics are sung in a loud, screaming way which does fit the performance side of the video because of the facial expression the lead singer uses. However, the lyrics do not fit the feeling of the narrative as the narrative is funny and the lyrics are quite dark.
Representation
The group which is represented in this video are young adults which are seen to be messing about and doing stunts to make each other laugh and for the adrenalin rush. To most people, this is seen as funny and young adults and teenagers envy these people because of the fun they look like they are having. However, older people will see this as dangerous and stupid. This video shows the stunts to be a positive thing because all of the outcomes of each stunt is good and no one gets hurt. However, if someone did get hurt then it would be seen as a negative music video.
Institution
This band has belonged to four different record labels, starting from; Distant/ Teil Martin from 1998-2000, Volcom 2000-2001, Island Def Jam 2001-2006 and currently belong to Roadrunner from 2006.
Camera shot/editing/ lighting
The lighting used in this video is mostly used in the performance side of the music video; it looks like the lighting is coming from above the band, which makes a lot of dark shadows on the vocalists face. By doing this it fits with the darkness of the songs lyrics which are quite scary, like the vocalists face with the lighting.
There is a lot of lighting used in the performance side of the video; I think that some sections of lighting do not look good in the video. For example:
I feel that the lighting dazzles the camera and the audience does not see what is happening in the video.
In this music video there are a lot of close ups of the vocalist singing to the camera, with the combination of the lighting making dark shadows on his face and the close ups, it makes him look quite angry and again, scary.
The narrative in the music video does not fit with the lyrics, however, the fast tempo of the camera shots make it look like there are a lot more stunts going on and also make the stunts more exiting due to the fast action shots.
By having the faint lines on the screen it looks like other camera’s like CCTV are surveying what stunts the men are doing, making it look like they are doing something wrong and dangerous.
Intertextuality
There are media references used in this video, as the stunts which are included in the video are also included in programmes such as Jackass, CKY, Viva La Bam and Bam’s Unholy Union, which can also be viewed by watching their videos and DVDs.
Theories
This music video supports Goodwins theory. This is because the theory states that the record label would want close ups of the artists, and there are a lot of close ups of the vocalist, who is seen as the main person in the band. the relationship between the lyrics, music and visuals are mostly contradicting, as the narrative does not fit with the lyrics but the performance side of the music video does fit with the lyrics and music.
This music video does not fit with Laura Mulveys theory of the male gaze, as there is no reference to a woman's body in this music video.
OK Go This Too Shall Pass
The song titled ‘This too shall pass’ is sang by the band OK Go which consists of four members called Damien Kulash, Tim Nordwind, Dan Konopka and Andy Ross.
To me, the most familiar music videos by this band are ‘Here it goes again, End love and this too shall pass’, this is because either the video has been copied like it has been on The Simpsons, or as the new album has just been released and people are searching the songs on youtube to see if the band has made a funny, viral music video.
OK Go here it goes again original
The Simpsons Here it goes again
name ‘OK Go’ because of their art teacher shouting it when they had to start a new drawing at an art camp. They then met the former guitarist Andy Duncan at high school with their soon to be drummer Dan Konopka, and they released their first album together. Songs from this album were used in games such as guitar Hero, Burnout revenge and Rock Band.
Genre
I researched into the genre of OK Go and found that they are known as an Alternative rock band and their sub genre is Power pop.
To me, if I did not know the sub genre of the band and their music, I would have thought that they were more of a pop band than an alternative rock because the song sounds quite up beat in comparison to the first analysis I did of CKY ’96 quite bitter beings’, as they were an alternative rock also. I know that it is an alternative rock and power pop song because of the upbeat and fast tempo this song uses. Also, the instruments used and also the melody of the music.
Alternative rock bands are very different to genres for example; Indie and classical. Indie ban
ds like to be taken seriously with their music, therefore are shown to be playing their instruments a lot in their music videos. However, Rock and alternative rock bands are a lot more laid back in their music videos.
This band breaks the conventions of normal alternative rock music videos, as they direct their videos themselves, they are very laid back and the music video itself is quite funny. By breaking the conventional features of a music video, it has worked very well for the band and their publicity, on YouTube they have over 20,000,000 views, and that is on just one video.
The generic features of an alternative rock, sub genre power pop is the use of instruments like electric guitars, bass, drums, percussion instruments and keyboards, which are all used in the songs OK Go produce. Power pop also incorporates things such as strong melodies, which is easily heard in this song; in some sections it can be quite loud and dominant over the vocalists’ voice. Lastly, there are no long musical bridges in this song, which is a common factor within power pop.
Codes and Conventions
This music video is a Narrative music video, however it is not a pure narrative as there is lip synchronization in parts of the music video. It is a narrative because it is showing a story, which is very interesting due to each of the objects moving and hitting the next object in a very unusual way.
Unlike CKY, OK Go did not use any performance clips in this music video which would usually make a video dull for the audience as there is no variation and nothing different happening within the video. However, OK Go have managed to make their narrative interesting because it appeals to the audience and makes them want to watch the rest of the music video.
The conventions of alternative rock, sub genre power pop is the use of a narrative and a performance music video, which is very common within rock music. OK Go has not used this convention as I have said before they have only used a narrative performance throughout their music video. This may not work with a lot of bands, however, with OK Go it has worked very well because all their music videos use the same format of doing low budget, funny videos.
As an alternative rock band, their surroundings do not fit with the conventions of a rock bands narrative location, as it is usually dark. However, by being the sub genre of power pop they have broken this convention and gone for bright and attractive backgrounds and objects, which are very pleasing to the audience.
All the band members are wearing white body suits with different splashes of paint on, you do not realist why this is until you watch the ending of the music video.
This band breaks a lot of conventions within their music video as an alternative rock band, however, as they are also known to be involved in power pop, the music fits quite well within that genre, and the feeling of the video is more pop-like than rock.
Audience
The target audience for this band and especially this song will be children, teenagers and young adults aging from approximately 10 to 30 year olds. I think this because the music video is quite fun-looking, and would make young people feel like they would want to participate in something like the music video. I also think the song is quite up beat and fun, which is also what young people like compared to stereotypical old people who would like slow, instrumental music.
I chose the target audience to range up to the age of 30 because a lot of adults this age (especially men) would find the music video amusing, older people would find it dim-witted.
Music and Lyrics
You know you can't keep lettin' it get you down
and you can't keep draggin' that dead weight around.
If there ain't all that much to lug around,
better run like hell when you hit the ground.
When the morning comes.
When the morning comes.
You can't stop these kids from dancin'.
Why would you want to?
Especially when you're already gettin' yours.
'Cause if your mind don't move and your knees don't bend,
well don't go blamin' the kids again.
When the morning comes.
When the morning comes.
When the morning comes.
When the morning comes.
When the morning comes.
When the morning comes.
Let it go, this too shall pass.
Let it go, this too shall pass.
Let it go, this too shall pass.
(You know you can't keep lettin' it get you down. No, you can't keep lettin' it get you down.)
Let it go, this too shall pass.
(You know you can't keep lettin' it get you down. No, you can't keep lettin' it get you down.)
Hey!
Let it go, this too shall pass.
(You know you can't keep lettin' it get you down. No, you can't keep lettin' it get you down.)
When the morning comes.
(You can't keep lettin' it get you down. You can't keep lettin' it get you down.)
When the morning comes.
(You can't keep lettin' it get you down. No, you can't keep lettin' it get you down.)
When the morning comes.
(You can't keep lettin' it get you down. You can't keep lettin' it get you down.)
When the morning comes.
(You can't keep lettin' it get you down. No, you can't keep lettin' it get you down.)
When the morning comes!
These are the lyrics for ‘this too shall pass’ by OK Go. The lyrics do not describe what the audience are seeing in the video as the video does not relate to things like the morning and kids.
The lyrics do not fit the feeling of the video either, however, the way the lyrics are sung and the tempo of the music fits very well with the video as it is very up beat and fun, like the video.
The video is not edited to match the lyrics as the lyrics do not relate to the video as I have already stated. But, in certain sections when the band members sing ‘When the morning comes’ at a higher volume, the objects used in the video get larger (1 minute 5 seconds, 1 minute 10 seconds).
Certain sections of the video do fit with the music for example, 23 seconds into the video a piece of metal hits a speaker, which starts the music. This is quite effective and quite attention grabbing because a lot of bands have never tried to link the start of their song to an object before.
Whenever a band member is on screen with the objects moving, they are also lip synchronizing. This doesn’t make it a pure narrative but it helps the audience connect with what the band are doing, especially when a band member makes eye contact to the camera.
Representation
The group which is represented in this music video are young adults which are quite creative and like making humorous stunts to please their fans and audience, by making these videos it also makes the band feel good about them as they have achieved something spectacular for their music video.
Along with the music, this video is quite positive and therefore represents the band as good people as the outcome of the act is positive, and the objects used do not go wrong. As there is nothing violent in this video, even older people would see it as a positive, up beat music video and would also enjoy watching it.
Institution
When the band first formed and belonged to a record label, they belonged to Capitol Records, which is owned by EMI. EMI is the fourth largest record label company in the world, and owns around 80 sub-labels such as, Angel records; Manhattan records; Caroline records and Sparrow records.
http://www.capitolrecords.com/
Capitol record alone is a very large record label and owns famous artists such as: Lily Allen; Katy Perry; Tinie Tempah and Kyle Minogue. None of the artists that this record label owns are the genre of rock or heavy metal, which shows that this label owns more pop, indie and rap music.
The music videos that were made were under the influence of Capitol records, and I feel that the label did not have a large influence over the videos that were made by OK Go. This is because the videos are humorous and low budget. However, all the videos are very unique so the record company may have influenced what the videos were about, to keep OK Go’s videos popular and distinctive.
As it is a large, well known record label, this could mean that the music artists are told what type of songs to write, what clothing to wear and what they do in their private life.
As it would influence what the artists are like and what they do, this may be the reason why OK Go decided to leave the music label and create their own personal record label titled ‘Paracadute’.
The band then re-released the album ‘Of the blue colour of the sky’, as they wanted the legal rights of the album. As this label was created by the band, it is a small company with no other artists belonging to it. By creating their own record label, it gives the band the freedom to do what they want with their music and videos and be able to wear and sing what they want.
Camera shot/editing/ lighting
OK Go This too shall pass
In most of the music video, the only lighting used is the warehouse lights which lights the whole room up. However, 1 minute 6 seconds into the music video a tire rolls down a plank of wood and in the background lamps light start to light up as the tire rolls past them. By doing little extras in the video like this it makes the video more exciting and it also makes the audience think a lot of work has gone into the making of this video.
The use of lighting is also used on large objects such as at 2 minutes 53 seconds into the music video, lighting is used to make the orange bins bolder.
The camera shots used in this music video are quite simple as they are just tracking the movement which is going on in the music video. By making the camera do this it helps the audience see everything which is happening and the jerking movements of the camera almost makes us feel like we are there, so the camera shots help the audience connect to the music video.
There are no visual effects or editing used in this music video which I think is a good thing. As I have said, the movement and camera angles make the audience feel that they are there seeing the movements and stunts happen, however if there were a lot of visual effects in the video it would not feel as life-like as it does now.
Intertextuality
In this music video, there are no other references to any other form of media references. However, the outgoing music video the band have produced is similar to other videos as all of the music videos they have made are very unique in comparison to any other band.
Theories
Green Day 21 Guns
This song is sung by Green Day and is called ’21 Guns’ and the band members are Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool.
More commonly known as Billie Joe, started a duo band with Mike Dirnt which was called ‘Sweet Children’ and gained a member called John Kiffmeyer, who played the drums. A few years later Kiffmeyer left the band and Tré Cool joined, making the trio which still play together today. Earlier that year they signed with the record label Skene! This did not do much for their career.
The band was then signed with Lookout! Records, which signed Green Day after a seeing them play live in an earlier show of theirs; they also changed their band name to Green Day. The band then sold two albums with Lookout! Records, however, because of other larger records wanting to sign Green Day, they decided to sign with a new record label called Reprise Records. They then created albums such as ‘Nimrod’ and ‘Dookie’.
http://www.lookoutrecords.com/blogcms/
They are currently signed with Adeline Records with the widely known album ‘American Idiot’.
http://www.adelinerecords.net/
http://www.warnerbrosrecords.com/
Some of the songs they have sang are very popular, for example: ‘Basket case; Warning; Walking Contradiction and American Idiot’.
Greenday - Basket case
Uploaded by chris38. - See the latest featured music videos.
Green Day Basket Case
Green Day is seen to be different types of genres depending on the album and song such as punk rock, pop rock and alternative rock. I think this video is more of the punk rock/ pop punk genre because the song and music video for ’21 guns’ is quite political as the lyrics say things such as ‘lay down your arms’ which is a term used in the military. There are also gun shots coming through walls, which also support the political feel to the song.
The dark clothing worn and the makeup used in this video like eye liner with white faces is also seen as punk or rock.
The instruments used are also of the punk rock genre, with the use of electric guitars, bass guitars and a drummer, which are all used in the video for ’21 Guns’.
However, I also feel that it is of the pop punk genre because the song is radio friendly, as this song has no swear words used and the vocalist does not scream his lyrics like some other hardcore punk rock bands do.
Codes and Conventions
This music video by Green Day is a narrative and performance video. I know this because there is a clear narrative being played by a young couple, which is that the room they are standing in is not safe, gun shots are coming through the walls and then nearer the end they are obviously scared and kiss each other like it is their last. It is also a very strong performance clip because most of the music video is the band playing their song and instruments together in the same room which is being shot with guns, without the couple in the narrative inside.
The conventions of a punk rock/ pop rock video is the location, conventional locations for this genre is somewhere dark and dingy, however, Green Day are performing their song in a well lit room. The only time it is dark is when the lighting changes as the tempo and lyrics change, clearly marking a change in the narrative and performance.
Another convention of this genre is the appearance of the band. The whole band are wearing dark clothing with visible white faces which will be due to makeup, and also black eye liner, this is a typical convention of this genre and Green Day have looked like this consistently through their music videos.
Target Audience
I think the target audience for this music video would be young teenagers aged 14 to middle aged adults aged 45. This reason for this is that Green Day began in 1987 under the name ‘Sweet Children’, so they would have gained their older audience in their early years. And young teenagers are just starting to realist what genres of music they like and the teenagers can relate to songs Green Day produce as they would know more about politics.
The music video is quite serious to link with the lyrics, and so I chose the target audience to range to older people as there are no stunts like other music videos I have analysed, so older people won’t think the band are immature. Also, the band members of Green Day aren’t as young as other bands like CKY or OK Go, therefore relate to older people.
The uses and gratifications that the audience will gain from watching this video is that the lyrics fit to the Music video well, and the feeling that the music video conveys makes you wonder how you would feel if that narrative happened to you.
Music and Lyrics
The lyrics do not exactly describe what the audience views in the screen. However, certain sections like the first verse and the chorus, sings about: '21 guns; lay down your arms, give up the fight; do you know what's worth fighting for' which links to the visual element of the music video as you can see gun shots coming through the walls and police lights can be seen through the window.
The lyrics also link well to the feeling of the video as the song is sung quite slowly and sound quite unhappy. The narrative is in slow motion, which then fits with the tempo the song is sung, matching the lyrics. As the lyrics are quite unhappy, it also creates the unhappy mood within both performance and narrative plus, the expressions on the characters and bands faces are very negative, which helps the bad feeling within the music video.
There is a change of lighting at 3 minutes 15 into the music video, and the lighting goes out and all that is left is little lighting coming from the top and shining down on the characters and also the band. By doing this it makes the feeling of the song darker and is edited well to match the tempo of the lyrics. This is because the vocalist Billie Joe raises the pitch of the lyrics and then the song moves on to an instrumental bridge.
Representation
The narrative characters are represented in a good and bad way. They are seen in a bad way because there must be a reason why they are in a room with writing on the walls and they are also being shot at. They are also seen in a good way due to the fact that the couple comes together nearer the end and kiss, showing that they love each other.
Institution
The first record label Green Day belonged to was Skene! Records, at the time Green Day were called Sweet Children, but later changed their name to Green Day. Skene! Records closed down in 1995, just after Green Day left.
Then the next record label Green Day belonged too was Lookout! Records which produced the albums ‘39/Smooth’ and ‘Kerplunk’, it also signed the bands like Rancid and The Donnas.
http://www.lookoutrecords.com/blogcms/
Because of the interest from other labels, Green Day soon left Lookout! Records and signed with Reprise records which resulted in the albums ‘Dookie, Insomniac, Nimrod, Warning, International Superhits and Shenanigans’. Lookout! Records was quite a large company and owned bands and artists such as My Chemical romance, HIM and Michael Buble.
http://www.warnerbrosrecords.com/
Green Day are currently signed with Adeline Records which has produced the album ‘American Idiot’ and ‘21st century breakdown’. Billie Joe is the co-owner of this record label and other bands who produce music through this record company are Link, Save your Breath and Jesse Malin.
http://www.adelinerecords.net/
The other artists which are managed by Adeline Records are al similar to Green Day, this will be because Billie Joe is a co-owner and would therefore pick which bands he likes.
For Green Day, I think that the record company does not influence the style of the music and the band due to the fact that Billie Joe co-owns part of the record company, therefore he can do what he likes.
Camera shots, Editing and Lighting
Green Day 21 Guns
In most of the music video, the lighting is exactly the same through out and does not effect the feel of the music video. However, 3 minutes and 15 seconds into the music video the lighting changes and becomes very dark, the only think lighting the characters and the band is small, harsh lighting coming from above, which only lights certain sections of their faces. By having this change in lighting it changes the feeling of the video as it was quite a dark feeling video before but with the change of lighting it makes it even darker and makes the characters and band members bolder, as if something is going to happen.
There are also pieces of burning ash, bright flashes and sparks of lighting in both the performance and narrative, which shows that something is going wrong and things are getting worse within the scenes as they are breaking.
At 3 minutes 46 seconds into the music video, there is a single spot light on Billie Joe the lead singer, which changes the feeling as you know something different is going to happen as the lighting has changed.
At 4 minutes 24 seconds the room is fully lit and by doing this it shows that all the action is going to start again, like before the lighting went down.
At the start of the music video, the camera shot of the bullet makes the audience feel that the music video is not going to be about something good, as bullets are obviously seen as bad things. Also, the camera shot of Billie Joe 40 seconds into the video shows his expression to be quite sad, making the audience also feel sad as they know something bad is about to happen.
By having all the close ups of the bullets hitting various objects like the sofa, mirrors and bottle makes the audience know that what’s happening in the music video is quite serious. The numerous shots of the room shows the extent of the damage done by the bullets which makes the audience scared for the couple as they don’t know what will happen next.
By changing the lighting, making it very dark and using a track shot around Billie Joe whilst he looks frozen makes the audience feel as though the chaos has been paused for the next verse to be sung and the couple to kiss. It makes the audience feel like all the couple can think about is kissing each other, and the noise and turmoil looks like it has been forgotten for them few seconds.
Intertextuality
There is no other reference to any other media in this music video, like the other bands I have analysed, it does relate to other songs the band have sung together such as ‘Wake me up when September ends’. This song is from the album 'American Idiot' and yet '21 Guns' is from '21st century breakdown'.
Green Day Wake me up when September ends
Theories
This music video does fit with Goodwins theory, as the lyrics used in this music video establish a sad feeling within the video and the audience and the tempo of the song fits well with the slow motion narrative. There are also a lot of close ups of Billie Joe, who is commonly known in comparison to the other band members.
