Hannah Cook A Level Media Studies Blog

Deconstruction of Indie music magazine Front cover The colour of the front cover is very bold and striking, what catches the audience’s eye first is the concentration of yellow at the top of the cover as well as the bold title spelling out the artist’s name connoting the idea of joy and happiness, however the other colour which stands out is the colour red which conflicts with the colour yellow as it connotes danger and power. This could represent the behaviour of the artists demonstrating a rebellious attitude however bringing happiness to their audience with their music.  As we can see the title of the band is in bold yellow writing in the centre of the page to so it is easily noticeable as well as stands out, this is also good selling point for other indie bands as the magazine advertises the artists on the front cover as well as other similar artists.   However the previous front cover is a more modernised version of an Indie music magazine, it st...

Lyric analysis Tell me the truth now Are you looking for fame or just playing the game Like it’s cool now Cause they’ll trip you up and then laugh as you fall on the way down My interpretation on these lyrics is that the singer is angry at the audience, at the way success is achieved. 'cause they'll trip you up' This shows that he could perhaps be talking about music producers or even audience members.  Even the title of the song suggests that they are talking about the failure of there career, telling a tale of feeling lost in themselves. Is that you're worth the time when the money ain’t mine Feel a fool now Feel a fool now The repetition of the line 'feel a fool now' emphasizes the shame the artist is putting on the audience,  I really wanna know if there’s somewhere else I should go And if the journey’s looking rough and you know It’s gonna leave you frozen Cause I’ve tried a million times to make it work And after all this time I’m no...

Way Down - Redfaces

Focus groups  After playing the track of my chosen song and a track of the same genre to a selection of my friends who are 17 years of age and are fans of the Indie genre, I asked them a series of question relating closely to the traditional themes of Indie pop style music 1) How did the music make you feel? The initial response I received from this was that the music itself gave an excitable feeling, the up beat tempo gave the listeners a sense of  urgency to have fun. 2)  What elements of the music video did you like? 'The energy from the artists made the video fun to watch'  This was agreed by the majority of the group. As well as this, by watching the artists use their instruments in the video made it more enjoyable as it was as if they were watching them live.  Going forward, my focus group will give me significant feedback throughout the filming and editing process, suggesting what is both positive and negative about it.

                                  Andrew Goodwin's theory  Andrew Goodwin states that there are 5 key aspects to a music video... 1) A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics. For example, 'The Sound' by the 1975 the majority of the lyrics and visuals closely relate to eachother especially the editing elements of it. The whole video revolves around the artists trapped within a cube as they play there music, the on screen titles then critics them by saying 'Is this a joke?' and  ' Do people really still make music like this?'  These on screen titles relate to the onlookers acting as critics as it infers they are making these comments. 2) Thought beats- the relationship between music and visuals. Goodwin identified that the visuals within a music video may be edited to the timing of the music in order t...

Costume After watching different sources of Indie style music video, I have decided that the main character will adopt a very dark sense of style. I want the characters in my music video to wear ripped jeans, this follows the traditional fashion of most indie artists.   Originally it represented tacky and perhaps ungroomed. Here, the 1975 singer Matthew Healy, tends to wear an excessive amount of eye makeup in his videos, this is a reoccurring motif in most of his other music videos, this has become part of his style challenging the concept of gender roles within the music industry. Therefore when planning my costumes designs I will assure the male protagonist in my video is wearing dark eye makeup.

The Wombats 'Greek Tragedy'  Media language  Alongside other indie pop style music videos, this ones portrays similar aspects to the other ones, it demonstrates the artists using their instruments viewed through the lens of an old camera as if they are being filmed at a concert therefore the perception is through the eyes of the audience.  For the majority of the video the narrative is from the perspective of a fan stalking the band.  The intensity of the video increases hugely throughout the song, becoming more and more sinister. The start of the video begins with the main character (the fan) embracing the song as she spreads her arms out and admires the music as any normal fan would. However throughout the video, for example at at 00.44 seconds, the fan is stalking the artists in her free time which begins to create a more uncomfortable experience for the audience.  Editing  In terms of editing- the main element is that the narrative is of ...

The 1975 'The sound' Media language  The Sound is a studio performance / narrative based music video.  Camera  The very first shot is a zoomed out shot of the entire band, it then uses anchorage by displaying the title of the band straight after this shot to establish who they are for marketing purposes. An arc shot (tracking shot) is used at 00.13 seconds, moving around the protagonist.  mis'en'scene     Traditionally, the artists have their instruments alongside them as they express their music, however the set is different compared to other indie style music. As they play the song they are surrounded by a giant cube to signify they are trapped, this is clearly shown at 00.15 seconds when the artist walks up to the glass and holds the glass and hits his head against it, demonstrating he is trying to escape. As well as this it could perhaps suggest they are not accepted by society’s opinion on their style of music and could relate to the ...

                                   Media language The Kooks                                     'She Moves In Her Own Way' Mis’en’scene This plays a large part in the indie style kind of music, this is because the artists have an unusual kind of behavior and look which is created through sets they use and their appearance. This music promo is a performance based as it demonstrates the artists actually playing their instruments throughout which gives an indie style to the video. I will take these certain aspects and apply them within my indie music video.  As the video takes a performance based structure, t he sound of the video is the backing track of the song however the sound is perceived as diegetic as the characters in the video tend to be performing to the camera as if they were in ...

Institutional research Institutional research    An independent record label such as 4AD founded by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980, discovered and produced many artists following the typical themes of my selected genre. For example: ·          in there single ‘telephone’ it adopts similar aspects of an Indie genre such as, the majority of the music video is performance based therefore, the video is perceived by an audience as if they were in concert performing. d     How to promote and distribute the song Different media platforms such as youtube or MTV music help promote newly released songs. However smaller institutions such as 4AD have their own way in distributing their songs. Beggars Banquet is a British independent record label who donated a start-up fund of £2,000 to 4AD, acting as 4AD’s parent company It owns a number of different stores to sell their records. The original concept w...

Target audience  The specific target audience for the Indie genre is typically females varying from the ages of 15 and 25. This research was easily found by discovering that the majority of viewers of music promos such as ‘The kooks’ and ‘The 1975’ are generally viewed by this category. In addition to this, as a result of conducting my research through the use of focus groups it was also discovered that the majority of the group who were female and the same age demonstrated a huge amount of interest in the songs that were played for them as well as the promos shown following the themes of Indie style music.

The location of my music video After doing research and watching several indie music video's, it is evident that most of the shots happen in towns, city's, open waters such as lakes of the beach and roof tops. Therefore as an advantage to living near several lakes and two close towns this is where the majority of my filming will take place. I would like several of my shots to take place at sunset as it adds natural vibrant colours to the shot and sets a peaceful mood for the audience.  In the Kook's music promo 'she moves in her own way' it demonstrates the artists being reckless and finding locations such as abandoned buildings and roof tops. As most indie music promo's are performance based, the main element in the video will be the main character performing the music on stage.

To Miss Dobbs I am laaaaving your outfit today. from Hannah