Three Days Grace - Give Me A Reason
The first verse says "I can only do so much but of course it's never enough", which is an actual feeling many people get in life, when it feels that you try your hardest but you never make the cut. This is a realistic perspective and it helps to link to the lyrics later in the song. Another lot say "I don't think that you see, exactly what you're doing to me", which is possibly linking to peer pressure, when other people mold you to their image and what they want, rather than you being your own person.
The song makes many references to an actual situation that one could experience in real life. For example, the lines in the third verse say "Give me a reason to turn and run, give me a reason to burn this house down" can link to extreme, exaggerated peer pressure. It can link to when people do things they do, just because they can, when really sometimes they want a better reason to act in such a way.
More lines say "So you've tried your best, to get out of this mess, but that's just a joke, you've never awoke to the sound of a mother screaming at night". These lines can imply that this is the aftermath of being caught in a rough situation or a crime, as people try to worm their way out of situations. The line of a "mother screaming at night", could be involved in the scenario, as if a parent would be crying out of disappointment of her child. Or if there was a break-in of a similar crime, or if the police came knocking on the door violently, finding out what the crime was.
Tuesday, 19 January 2016
Monday, 4 January 2016
The Assignment
Purposes
Promotional - In music videos, there are many opportunities for promotional ideas and purposes, music videos are a very popular medium and are used to promote other upcoming things in media. Such as films, TV shows and radio shows, they can advertise and promote almost anything.
An example of this is this - https://youtu.be/ccNzBhTcehs
This video shows coca-cola advertising the famous holiday of Christmas, and it highly recognisable to anyone.
Extension of Income - Music videos are a great method for companies to cash in on a lot of money, as such, they find ways to make more money by doing things such as combining a music video with a DVD to make more money and get more fans and attention from this.
Extension of Outlets - Music videos are often used through many different sorts of media to get more attention and potential fans. This can be such as being on music channels on services like Virgin, Sky and MTV. Many music channels have specific genres dedicated to them and they make it so that they have top 100 or top 10 lists of these songs by popular demand.
http://www.mtv.com/
https://www.sky.com/
http://store.virginmedia.com
Synergy - Synergy is when two forms of media end up crossing over and are put into one, causing synergy between the two, promoting both pieces of media as well. It is usually where two companies or products combine their efforts into a single product or video advertising something. This is done in this video:
Producer's Strategies - Producers often have ways of exploiting strategies into getting you to watch and invest yourself into a music video by doing very simple yet subtle marketing strategies. For example they could encourage a narrative that will encourage word of mouth to spread between people and make the video seem more deep and interesting.
An example of this is in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfDLE2DDFek
'Three Days Grace - Time of Dying' includes a narrative, which may have been included by the producer's suggestion to make the video more gripping.
An example of this is this - https://youtu.be/ccNzBhTcehs
This video shows coca-cola advertising the famous holiday of Christmas, and it highly recognisable to anyone.
Extension of Income - Music videos are a great method for companies to cash in on a lot of money, as such, they find ways to make more money by doing things such as combining a music video with a DVD to make more money and get more fans and attention from this.
Extension of Outlets - Music videos are often used through many different sorts of media to get more attention and potential fans. This can be such as being on music channels on services like Virgin, Sky and MTV. Many music channels have specific genres dedicated to them and they make it so that they have top 100 or top 10 lists of these songs by popular demand.
http://www.mtv.com/
https://www.sky.com/
http://store.virginmedia.com
Synergy - Synergy is when two forms of media end up crossing over and are put into one, causing synergy between the two, promoting both pieces of media as well. It is usually where two companies or products combine their efforts into a single product or video advertising something. This is done in this video:
'You know my name' advertised not only the artist but also the film it was featured in, 'Casino Royale (2006)'.
An example of this is in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfDLE2DDFek
'Three Days Grace - Time of Dying' includes a narrative, which may have been included by the producer's suggestion to make the video more gripping.
Styles
In-concert and 'as live' footage - In-concert footage is footage of the band/artist performing at a concert. The footage is taken and then placed into the music video and makes the video seem more energetic and gives you a feeling of the atmosphere of seeing the band/artist live. 'As live' footage is footage that is filmed in a studio but they act as if they are in a concert, they're not, but it seems like they are which makes it seem like an illusion.
An example of this is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw2LU1yS7aw
'Before I Forget - Slipknot' is a video that contains in-concert footage and it helps to feel what the band wanted you to feel when you watch the video.
Animation - Animation in music videos is like an age old thing, they are a thing that has been around for a while. Every now and then there are music videos that are made with animation even though it is quite uncommon. Animation can give music videos a new feel and also show some extra creativity from the band and animators.
An example of this is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGBhQbmPwH8
'One More Time - Daft Punk' is a predictable choice, but it is animation over a video that is done well. It is drawn in an anime-esque style and it follows a narrative that shows some character reacting to a scenario and the music fits really well.
Interpretative - Being interpretative with a music video often can mean being talented enough to convert lyrics from a song into a visual story. Showing a connection and making the two work simultaneously, it can make some music videos a lot more engaging when you actually see a visual take on just what they are singing about.
An example of an interpretative song is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqds0B_meys
'Animal I have Become - Three Days Grace' is a song that shows the lyrics come to life in front of your eyes. It shows many scenes of the actor conflicting with this other self and constantly fighting the many thoughts he has with his split personality disorder.
Surrealist - Surreal music videos are based off of surrealism itself, which is showing the inner workings of the mind through imagery and subtle messages. Surrealism is usually quite hard to pick up on but for those who are observant, or stubborn enough to check, it can make many videos more intriguing.
An example of a surreal music video is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=n6P0SitRwy8
'Heart-Shaped Box - Nirvana' is a surrealist music video, in that it has a dream setting, as in dreams we have in our everyday lives. It makes the video a bit fictional and shows some of the themes that cross our minds on a daily basis that we maybe, don't think about enough.
Pastiche - Pastiche is like parody, in that the artist/band performing in a similar style to the original but it is done in a respectful manner. It is made for comedic laughs and slight humour and is made with the best intentions, not to directly mock the original performance.
An example is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4PkcfQtibmU
'Walk - Foo Fighters' is a pastiche music video, it's a more respectable parody and contains references, to a film made in 1993 titled 'Falling Down'.
Parody -Parody music videos are unlike pastiche, they are often made as to mock the original source material. The songs often have very similar lyrics and an almost exact same amount of specific instruments used and also the same bpm as the original.
An example of a parody is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qYF9DZPdw
'White and Nerdy by Weird Al' is a parody of 'Ridin Dirty by Chamillionaire', it has very similar vocals and instruments in it too.
Referencing - Referencing in music videos is often a common occurrence, it usually is done to get a laugh or two out of the audience if doe visually, or saying quotes from a famous piece of media in audio. Often it can be pointless, but sometimes people reference another artist's name as a play on words or a pun, which can be clever and make one find it humourous.
Homage - Homage is like showing some respect for an artist/existing media that you feel isn't credited enough. There are many times where this happens in many different music videos, and in fact, there are a few videos which include this.
An example of a homage is this: https://youtu.be/NOG3eus4ZSo
Influence of Commercials - Influence of commercials are usually when commercials are connected to s certain product, like promotional techniques. For example, the Christmas coca-cola advert I linked at the beginning of the blog. This advert makes us associate Christmas with coke, and coke with Christmas, the commercials influence us into thinking they are tied together somehow in how they're made.
An example of this is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw2LU1yS7aw
'Before I Forget - Slipknot' is a video that contains in-concert footage and it helps to feel what the band wanted you to feel when you watch the video.
Animation - Animation in music videos is like an age old thing, they are a thing that has been around for a while. Every now and then there are music videos that are made with animation even though it is quite uncommon. Animation can give music videos a new feel and also show some extra creativity from the band and animators.
An example of this is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGBhQbmPwH8
'One More Time - Daft Punk' is a predictable choice, but it is animation over a video that is done well. It is drawn in an anime-esque style and it follows a narrative that shows some character reacting to a scenario and the music fits really well.
Interpretative - Being interpretative with a music video often can mean being talented enough to convert lyrics from a song into a visual story. Showing a connection and making the two work simultaneously, it can make some music videos a lot more engaging when you actually see a visual take on just what they are singing about.
An example of an interpretative song is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqds0B_meys
'Animal I have Become - Three Days Grace' is a song that shows the lyrics come to life in front of your eyes. It shows many scenes of the actor conflicting with this other self and constantly fighting the many thoughts he has with his split personality disorder.
Surrealist - Surreal music videos are based off of surrealism itself, which is showing the inner workings of the mind through imagery and subtle messages. Surrealism is usually quite hard to pick up on but for those who are observant, or stubborn enough to check, it can make many videos more intriguing.
An example of a surreal music video is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=n6P0SitRwy8
'Heart-Shaped Box - Nirvana' is a surrealist music video, in that it has a dream setting, as in dreams we have in our everyday lives. It makes the video a bit fictional and shows some of the themes that cross our minds on a daily basis that we maybe, don't think about enough.
Pastiche - Pastiche is like parody, in that the artist/band performing in a similar style to the original but it is done in a respectful manner. It is made for comedic laughs and slight humour and is made with the best intentions, not to directly mock the original performance.
An example is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4PkcfQtibmU
'Walk - Foo Fighters' is a pastiche music video, it's a more respectable parody and contains references, to a film made in 1993 titled 'Falling Down'.
Parody -Parody music videos are unlike pastiche, they are often made as to mock the original source material. The songs often have very similar lyrics and an almost exact same amount of specific instruments used and also the same bpm as the original.
An example of a parody is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qYF9DZPdw
'White and Nerdy by Weird Al' is a parody of 'Ridin Dirty by Chamillionaire', it has very similar vocals and instruments in it too.
Referencing - Referencing in music videos is often a common occurrence, it usually is done to get a laugh or two out of the audience if doe visually, or saying quotes from a famous piece of media in audio. Often it can be pointless, but sometimes people reference another artist's name as a play on words or a pun, which can be clever and make one find it humourous.
Homage - Homage is like showing some respect for an artist/existing media that you feel isn't credited enough. There are many times where this happens in many different music videos, and in fact, there are a few videos which include this.
An example of a homage is this: https://youtu.be/NOG3eus4ZSo
This music video pays homage to one of Georges Melies films, 'Voyage To The Moon', and it also has the same iconic scene of the moon with a face featured on it too.
Influence of Commercials - Influence of commercials are usually when commercials are connected to s certain product, like promotional techniques. For example, the Christmas coca-cola advert I linked at the beginning of the blog. This advert makes us associate Christmas with coke, and coke with Christmas, the commercials influence us into thinking they are tied together somehow in how they're made.
Conventions
Lyric Interpretation - Lyric interpretations are when fans try to see if the song that they know of so well, has maybe a deeper meaning, or just what it was trying to mean anyway. This can often be seen on a site called 'Lyric Interpretations.com', the link to the site is here for evidence: https://www.lyricinterpretations.com/
An example of a song being taken into depth and being interpreted by it's lyrics is 'Viva La Vida - Coldplay'. On this site, it claims the theory most agree on states: "A lot of people have interpreted the song as a portrait of King Louis XVI, etc. but I feel that the song's purpose is a lot more general than that.
King Louis XVI was found guilty of treason, and ultimately beheaded. However, the song clearly states a transition from ruling to not ruling. He is still alive, and he is reflecting on his past. (now in the morning I sleep alone, sweep the streets I used to own.)". - Not my words, this was taken from the site, the link to the interpretation is here: https://www.lyricinterpretations.com/coldplay/viva-la-vida
An example of a song being taken into depth and being interpreted by it's lyrics is 'Viva La Vida - Coldplay'. On this site, it claims the theory most agree on states: "A lot of people have interpreted the song as a portrait of King Louis XVI, etc. but I feel that the song's purpose is a lot more general than that.
King Louis XVI was found guilty of treason, and ultimately beheaded. However, the song clearly states a transition from ruling to not ruling. He is still alive, and he is reflecting on his past. (now in the morning I sleep alone, sweep the streets I used to own.)". - Not my words, this was taken from the site, the link to the interpretation is here: https://www.lyricinterpretations.com/coldplay/viva-la-vida
Extending/Consolidating a Song's Meaning - Extending a song's meaning can often involve a process such giving the video more potential than the song originally did. Or, in contrast, making extended lyrics to the song to give it even further meaning and emphasis on just what it is trying to get across to the public.
Allusion - An allusion is to allude to something, which is more-a-less a reference to something, for an example of this is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yvGCAvOAfM
Links to Other Artists - Links to other artists are made almost all the time, the most common type of linking to other artists are usually when they collaborate. Often, the song title will be the song name, then after it will say feat. (featuring) and then whichever artist joined for that one song. This is a clever idea as it can bring in many more people to watch your content and even make it so you can gain fans if they like what you produce.
'Don't Stop Me Now - Queen' is an excellent example of long, drawn out, yet effective shots and camera movements. It not only captures the vibe of the concert, but the emotions the band conveys as they play.
Techniques
Cutting to the Beat - Cutting to the beat is often done in many different music videos, and many times it makes the video more gripping an involving, more energetic and go-getting. The video has way more life in it and you feel the effort that the editor went through to match up timings and shots with different parts of the song.
Effects - Effects are mostly added to music videos with narrative, maybe used to emphasise something for example. Like if you were to show someone singing very slow and in a sad manner. Then adding a filter and maybe some motion blur with slowed down clips could help hammer down this emotion into the song, the video and the viewer.
Miming and Lip Sync - Miming in music videos is often done through a process of recording the person singing, then they mime the vocals, matching the audio to their mouth movements. This makes the performance seem oddly enjoyable to see, like something about the time it must've taken to do so makes you appreciate it all the more. However this can also sometimes be seen as lazy for live performances in that regard.
Playback and Lip Sync -Lip syncing in music videos is often done through a process of recording the person
singing, then they mime the vocals, matching the audio to their mouth
movements. Similar to miming, however, playback and lip sync is where the editors have to match the playback of the video and audio together in the music video to make sure they do not have sync issues.
An example of this is in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xT82-VnOO4
'Born to Love You - Elodie Adams' is a definite example of a video which uses re-recorded audio for the music video. It is not much of an issue keep in mind, it helps to engage the watcher and it is somewhat interesting and enveloping when the audio is as crisp and clear as the visual content.
An example of this is in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xT82-VnOO4
'Born to Love You - Elodie Adams' is a definite example of a video which uses re-recorded audio for the music video. It is not much of an issue keep in mind, it helps to engage the watcher and it is somewhat interesting and enveloping when the audio is as crisp and clear as the visual content.
Multi-Image - Multi-imaging in music videos usually involves two shots, either side by side or often blended together, the opacity of the two clips are often cross-faded or they fade from one into another.
An example of multi-imaging in a music video can be seen here: https://vimeo.com/16335289
An example of multi-imaging in a music video can be seen here: https://vimeo.com/16335289
Camera Angles - Camera angles can bring life to a music video, camera angles can, on many occasions, make videos a lot more enjoyable. It can also be more enjoyable to watch a video, with varying and diverse camera angles as opposed to actually seeing a performance live.
Camera Movements - Camera movements are usually connected to the pace of the video,they match the overall feel and vibe of the song too. For example, if a song is more fast-paced and frantic, then usually that is paired with some flashy, speedy camera shots. On the other hand, if it's more slow and methodical, then you'll witness some paced and methodical
An example of a music video with slower-paced camera angles is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgzGwKwLmgM
An example of a music video with slower-paced camera angles is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgzGwKwLmgM
'Don't Stop Me Now - Queen' is an excellent example of long, drawn out, yet effective shots and camera movements. It not only captures the vibe of the concert, but the emotions the band conveys as they play.
Chroma Key - Chroma Key is mainly different types of video effects, such as a method, known as 'green screening'. Green screening is a process that entails recording an actor in a studio pretending to be in a certain atmosphere and area in front of a large green sheet that covers the shot. Then you take that shot and place the footage behind that actor for the video, it can save you a lot of money. However, this is often associated with very mediocre and cheap videos, though that's not to say it can't be used effectively and efficiently.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)