Music Video Analysis: When You Were Young by The Killers

The opening shot of the video for "When You Were Young" by The Killers shows a large white crucifix, then the camera tilts down to show a woman looking at it, wearing a dress that's the same colour as the crucifix. The idea of religion is that people use it for salvation, the video implying this is why she's at the crucifix. The landscape surrounding her, being a setting in Mexico, makes it an ideal location for heartland rock that is one of the genres of the song and shows how rural values can be associated with it. Folk music is a presence in the song as instruments such as chimes are heard, possibly supporting the imagery of the wedding dress and it highlights her emotion as well. This track is a departure from the usual style of The Killers as it leans more towards the style of heartland rock and is a different representation of a love story than they're known for ; possibly due to the use of discontinuity editing to frame the woman's emotions and the historical influences within the video. All of this shows how The Killers are targeting an older section of their target audience and because of the older age range, it could fit into my age range of people sixteen to twenty-five.

A man is seen driving in a car and this is where the first lyrics come in; "And sometimes you close your eyes, and see the place where you used to live... when you were young!" and they're heard in an echo, potentially signifying other people in Mexico going through the same issues the woman is suffering relationship issues. Discontinuity editing is introduced with the use of fast cuts that don't make it entirely clear what's going on and represent her memories in a realistic way. Heartland rock lyrics are known for being laid in a raw manner, the editing complementing this as well as the underground ethos of alternative rock.

A lot of close ups and wide shots are used throughout, wide shots mainly to reinforce rural values and the shots emphasise the drama, especially how the close-ups make the audience experience the characters' emotions. Focus pulls are another type of cinematography used, an instance of this while the man starts running up the hill towards her and the use of slow motion puts the viewer in his disorientated state of mind. He's shown to have cheated on her; adding complexity to the song. In terms of the representation of the themes, this video would have more of an underground appearance but the fact the single has sold over 200,000 copies in the UK, is representative of the genius of The Killers and this is one of the reasons why The Killers have been chosen to base a music video on. At the one minute forty mark, a band member is seen playing the guitar, setting The Killers as the narrators and adding to the weird feeling of the video.

Overall it follows codes and conventions well and the excellent portrayal of the themes means this is a useful video to follow for basing a music video.

Music Video Analysis: Radioactive by Imagine Dragons

Imagine Dragons' video for "Radioactive" begins with a low angle shot of a female in the distance, through a framework of surrounding leaves, setting up a foreboding atmosphere that can be linked to alternative rock as there are social themes being set up, such as environmentalism. There's a cutaway low angle shot of a flower surrounded by grass, using shallow focus on the grass to divert attention to the flower, this being a symbol of beauty in what is otherwise a desolate landscape. The first lyrics as she enters a location are "I'm waking up to ash and dust, I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust", using a mixture of alternative and electronic rock to create an enthusiastic sound that is in contrast to the tone that has been set through the elements such as the cinematography.

By using a range of instruments, including synthesisers the band are able to perform to their traditional style by taking advantage of alternative rock to tackle a heavy subject matter, while including the enthusiasm of electronic rock. The smart range of styles shown means it will likely appeal to my age range. At one point there's a tilt that lowers from a shot of smoke, to reveal someone who appears to be the boss of an underground community, his position signified by the chair he sits in, his body language and a cigar. It could be argued this is a literal representation of alternative rock having more of an underground style compared to other genres, an example where different shots show people presumably from a different socio-economic class in cells.

Animals with a stuffed toy appearance fight each other that reminds people of the D.I.Y ethos of alternative rock and it introduces a fantasy element when one of them shoots laser beams out of its eyes, potentially making the video more appealing to a mainstream audience, due to its visual appearance. There are men gathered around a betting arena dressed as gangsters, as they wear leather jackets and cowboy hats and this is another reference to social themes as it's clear a sector of society is dominant. The video has been created to appeal to their audience, using the genres of alternative, indie and electronic rock and these elements are throughout the video.

Music Video Analysis: Living In America by The Sounds

"Living In America" opens with five people walking down the street and the split-screen technique is used to signify average American life because each of the members is almost walking in the same way. The music that plays at the beginning appears to be a combination of electronic and pop music, those styles being a metaphor for their age as it's energetic and contrasting because there appears to be something going on.

It cuts to inside a drab building, the setting a showcase for the reality of what they're going through, there not being an optimistic situation and it relates to codes and conventions of New Wave as the themes that are used, including socio-economic class and lengths people go to, will inspire debate. There's a styling and arts impression, as each member is dressed in black, the aesthetic goth and this is a song that might appeal to a younger audience as pop music appears to be the sound that plays. The subject matter counters this however, making the point irrelevant and as a result, not as likely to appeal to my age range.

Desaturated colours are a portrayal of the overall attitude the band has towards America and they seem to be abandoned, as if all they've got is each other and pornstars are implied to be a part of their life. This is another reference to New Wave because the band are making a clear statement about what they think. As Maja Ivarsson sings the first part of the main chorus "We're not living in America, but we're not sorry" the split-screen technique is used again, where four of the members each perform their segment of the music, the feeling of cynicism increasing towards politics and class. New Wave is one of the few genres where these themes can be covered, but the uneasy use of synthesiser sound to make the statement might counter this point.

Maja is carrying herself in a way that's intended to be alluring, an example is how she moves her body language while singing the lyrics "Look out, shape up, boy you got to turn around, and wake up honey" in a disco style that's relevant, as disco was one of the genres that influenced the New Wave movement the most. The song comes from Mod (subculture), one of the influences on New Wave as people who are involved in Mod become fixed on aspects such as clothes and the subculture is shown through the band members, as they display a clear sense of fashion and music. Ultimately this appears to be a song that's aimed towards a more niche crowd of New Wave fans as the political statement is clear but the music is quite modern so the two styles don't merge to the best extent. All these elements combine to make it unclear whether it'll work for the age range I'd designated as my target audience, sixteen to twenty-five.

Music Video Analysis: Be The One by The Ting Tings

The video for "Be The One" opens with Katie waking in a hospital and there are hints of Synthpop as drums and electronic beats are heard that sound like they come from a synthesizer. This is used while Jules is playing an electronic keyboard at a gig and being the only person performing, it references isolation that is a common theme in Synthpop and it's apparent he and Katie need each other.

Katie sings the first lyrics "You say; it's not what you do - it's what you're thinking of, well I think it's just an excuse - it's what you put across" and it uses the tradition of New Wave having their lyrics cover complex themes, as the themes will be debated. The Ting Tings appear to be going after the same audience as "Shut Up And Let Me Go", as it's also experimental and has a love story but in using the genres of New Wave and Synthpop has a more mature ambiance. She sounds as if she's guilty about having ended up in hospital and having not been aware of what happened, something must have happened to her memory.

Katie and Jules fade into multiple screens and there's a disco vibe, that has been used in New Wave as an energetic theme through the song. New Wave shows codes and conventions in clothing, referencing styling, because Katie is dressed in a casual orange jacket and Jules has a black and white striped T-shirt, dark green jacket and so forth, these choices of style showing the broad spectrum of New Wave.

Fast cuts are included, such as at the beginning, that are important as a metaphor for the awakening that Katie and Jules feel. Cross-cutting is another important editing technique, telling the narrative of these two up to the point they meet as it cuts between them. New Wave and Synthpop are genres that would take advantage of the techniques as they can utilise multiple aspects to create experimental and upbeat music. These examples show how The Ting Tings overall aren't straying too far from convention but there's less of the energy they're known for producing, perhaps in an attempt to appeal to a broader audience than they're known for.

Music Video Analysis: Shut Up and Let Me Go by The Ting Tings

This song shares similarities to the song that I'm basing a music video on, Mr Brightside. The presence of Katie White at the beginning in a white doorframe with pulsing light and a gradual zoom-in references the genre of the song Dance-Punk, this being as there's quite an experimental appearance. Also this shot is in deep focus, meaning it gives a clear representation of the message it's attempting to encode, this being of Katie's power. Composition of the mise-en-scene varies, including a dark background that sets a developing pace as the tone ranges from upbeat to more sombre.

Katie at the beginning sets up the idea of a portal as a motif, being an enigma code where it's not entirely clear what'sher and Jules De Martino using hands on body parts, that form to make heart shapes and through these they are transported to different points in the story. The video was inspired by the Neoist art movement, functioning as a bizarre love story and the use of camera techniques such as crash zooms, an example of their use being on the hook words "Hey" and "Go" and the use of these techniques highlights the bizarre quality, and makes the audience feel like they're in a dream world. The Ting Tings look to be going for a specific segment of their audience as the genre is Dance-Punk, that helps it to stand out. The professionalism involved and relateable lyrics means it could appeal to a broad audience, including my age range of people sixteen to twenty five although it's limited by the environment, in which the research was conducted - a sixth-form college.

Synthesiser sounds take up a large portion of the song and is a code and convention of dance punk, being one of the main components that boosts the surreal quality.

While Katie sings part of the chorus "Shut up and let me go, this hurts but I can't show" psychedelic colours flash, that are representative of the disorientation she's feeling while she's attempting to make a point to Jules. The Ting Tings are doing a good job of appealing to their usual target audience even though they're going for a slightly different segment, presumably a younger crowd as despite the relateable lyrics the dreamlike appearance of the video means it will be going after a broad crowd.

Jules has a microphone but doesn't use it so this goes against tradition of music videos as artists are normally seen singing through them. The structure of the mise-en-scene, being a combination of having surreal aspects such as crash zooms and the lyrics balancing things as there's a romance, ensures The Ting Tings are able to be faithful and potentially branch out. Dance-Punk is a good choice of genre because it combines elements that means The Ting Tings can use a range of influences and this is a very good demonstration of their style.

First idea for a music video

The first idea for a music video is to create an original story based on the lyrics of "That's Not My Name" by The Ting Tings, where their style of diegesis is off-beat and allows for creativity. The story is set in 1972 and about a female newspaper journalist, as woman rights were complicated in those days. She works for The Guardian and decides to form an uprising as she's often neglected and not given the jobs that males have, this video being intended to be a comment on woman rights and what the newspaper industry was like. Therefore the main demographic will be females and friends join her, intended to be portrayed by Megan Wainwright and Beatrice Morris. Harry Bowers is set as the head of The Guardian and William Chong as a police officer who steps in when things spiral and get out of control. 

Researching artists for target audience

Researching artists for target audience

Four music bands are going to be researched, that appeal to the demographic of sixteen to twenty five, how their success has been generated and the appeal to the target age range set. There's a relation in this to the representation of their music along with the mode of address. Six music videos, magazine adverts and digipaks are going to be analysed after, along each of them explanations of some of their accomplishments that ties in with appealing to this particular audience. In accordance the research that's being done as preparation, serve as guidelines as to how part of the analyses should be written.

1. The Ting Tings

Formed in December 2007 they are a duo featuring Katie White and Jules De Martino, their main genres include indie rock, alternative dance and new wave. Indie rock is in a position of being able to experiment with the verisimilitude more, as it's not set in a particular category and is one of the explanations of how this is able to appeal to a mixed demographic. The strongest example is "That's Not My Name", reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart in May 2008 under their label Columbia Records UK, that shows how their attitudes, beliefs and values have reached a mainstream audience. and therefore the mode of address adjusts, the other reason of relevance being it's one of the genres for the music video being created. A particular focus of the analyses, being a couple of their videos have been chosen is going to be on the composition of the editing, and how it relates to representation.

2. Imagine Dragons

Imagine Dragons began in 2008 when the lead singer Dan Reynolds and Andrew Tolman became acquainted at Brigham Young University. A lot of publicity followed after the release of their first studio album, Night Visions in September 2012, taking number two in the weekly Billboard 200 chart where they then went on a world tour. Media language of how audiences generally perceive bands when this status is reached proves success so as a result of the publicity, they've been able to reach multiple audiences. Rolling Stone went as far to call "Radioactive" the biggest rock hit of the year in 2013, and it shows how by using a specific dominant ideology, where pain is experienced and becomes redemptive, huge success becomes the result. Summarising this research the target audience appears to be older because of their ideology and by going after an older audience, it's meant they've been able to gain a large fanbase.   two of their other main genres being alternative and electronic rock. A clear sense of ideology is presented in their videos, especially through the close-ups of electronic instruments. Alternative and electronic rock also contributes to style as technology plays into their songs, appealing to their target audience who generally are young males and the other genre shows through the structure of songs.

3. Motorhead

Motorhead was created in June 1975 by Ian Fraser Kilmister, having been the only member to remain since inception. Despite having achieved a lot over the years, their main genre is heavy metal so it would appear their target audience is within the niche category. The image of heavy metal is emphasised as they're associated with being an usher of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, re-energising the genre in the late 70s and early 80s. Overall they would be most likely to begin from the slightly older end of the range that I've set, going from the age 18 as their themes would appear to reach the older end of the spectrum. These include war, abuse of power and gambling and this research has helped as it shows by going after a particular area of the audience spectrum, it can be a great platform to start.

are a band who are mostly categorised for the use of heavy metal, meaning the demographic is already going to be different. Males are the focus of gender consumption and the age range is slightly older, there still being younger fans but as a result of the genre, the band has more of a niche audience. Speed metal, hard rock and rock and roll being the other genres attests to how the band uses niche marketing as a focus. Talking about themes, despite the stereotype of having an image that's less appealing the topics are maturer. Notable examples are good versus evil, abuse of power and gambling, the first example possibly being symbolised in the logo as it's shaped with fangs, large tusks, chains and spikes, representing a particular image that leads to these topics in their songs. They've been chosen for an analysis of one of their magazine adverts, as the stereotype they've been associated with allows for interesting analysis.

4. The Killers

The Killers are made up of alternative rock as a focus for genre theory. Their style is mainstream but in that are topics that genres such as alternative rock are known for better, especially the betrayal of love, how that affects people and The Killers have no problem with gender consumption, because of how their style reaches different audiences. Some of these reasons are why they're the main band that has an influence on the coursework, ranging from analysis to one of their songs being a basis for the main product as their attitudes, beliefs and values has no boundaries in who they appeal to. 

Beginning of the blog

The creative projects I have chosen to do are a music video based on the lyrics of Mr Brightside by the Killers, a magazine advert for the video and an entire digipack (front cover, inside cover, back cover for the cd & dvd)

Peter Evans-Pritchard is going to be the main band member and as a result the most prominent person across the products. However William Chong and Megan Wainwright will also feature in the music video, the story being based off the lyrics of Mr Brightside, by The Killers.

This blog will be where I record my research and progress with the projects.