Directing a Year 10 Music Band

Today we had our turn at directing and filming for a year 10 band, by both practicing and watching others do this. Our class was divided into two groups, one of which went first in filming the band perform while the second, the group I was in, watched, and then took our turn to record two takes whilst they watched. From being in the second group I think we had an advantage as we had a better idea of what we were doing.

With the first take, the band were very self conscious and as a result they were very static and unable to really get into the performance, but as more takes were done they became more comfortable with performing and were able to perform better and as a more believable band. By the last shot, they were really able to act how a professional band would.

We had several different camera's at several different angles throughout filming. We had a static camera focusing on the entire band, though the problem with this is that we often had other people with the other camera's in our shots. The other camera's focused on other angles and individual members of the band.

From this experience I have learnt new things about filming a live band which I will take on to my own work. I learnt that it helps to have several camera's filming different angles in order to get different footage of the same take, and that they should each have a different fucntion, such as one getting a constant longshot, one which gets close ups, and one which gets midshots and moves around in a line. I also learnt it helps to have a marker so each camera can be synched up correctly when it comes to editing.

Research and Planning

We spent today's lesson based on research, focusing on the survey, focus group and internet based research. We began with the initial plans for questions (which will be on the blog in a later post) and began to look at genre research.

We started off by looking at examples of general rock bands, and quickly ended up looking at more parodied versions/ less typical of these videos. The ones we looked at where:

The Beastie Boys- Sabotage: Although the band are more often linked to hip-hop, they have a strong link to the rock genre. The video is a parody of 1970's crime drama's, and is even presented with opening credits for a 1970's police show called 'Sabotage', with each band memeber being shown as a different fictional character and actor.

Red Hot Chili Peppers-Dani California: The band are a rock band who incorporate elements of funk and psychedelic rock. The video shows a short evolution of rock music, with the band performing on stage, in outfits which represent important figures and movements in rock. They made reference to era's; Rockabilly, British Invasion, Psychedelia, Funk, Glam, Punk, Goth, Hair metal and Grunge, but also made reference to specific people within these; Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Parliament-Funkadelic, David Bowie, Sex Pistols, The Misfits, Twisted Sister, Motley Crue, Nirvana, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers as themselves.

Bloodhound Gang- Bad Touch: The Bloodhound Gang are an alternative rock band. In the video, the band are dressed as Monkey's, and travelling around Paris causing problems. They use blowguns to shoot four young women with tranquilizers and drag them away, use a fishing rod to make a group of French Chefs follow a croissant, eat mealworms, capture a dwarf mime artist in a net and put him into a cage with the four women and the chefs and a gay couple, with the cleat parody of animal collectors capturing frightened animals. The most memorable part of the video is the catchy dance which runs throughout. 

Weezer- Buddy Holly: Weezer are an alternative rock band. The music video portrays the band performing at the original Arnold's Drive- In diner for 'Happy Days'. The video used a mix of the band, and clips from the show. 

Weezer- Pork and Beans: Weezer is an alternative rock band. The video is made up mainly of internet phemomena, such as YouTube celebreties, such as Tay Zonday, Chris Crocker and Ryan Wieber, and internet memes, such as The Dramatic Chipmunk, Charlie the Unicorn and The Dancing Banana. The video was designed as a celebration of creativity

My Chemical Romance- Na Na Na: My Chemical Romance are an alternative rock band. The video features a strange outlaw gang called the Killjoys, who are played by the band members. They outlaws are being pursued by the executive of Better Living Industries, but in between battles are indulging in magazine, fast driving and hacking vending machines. they have a young girl with them who BL/ind are out to capture. The video references a number of  movies, such as Blade Runner and Mad Max, as well as other My Chemical Romance albums and videos.

Genre Iconography

Initially, looking at Hard Rock was the plan, as the band who originally produced the song 'Vagabond' (Wolfmother) are actually a hard rock band. From this research on iconography, I found that hard rock uses very similar things, The colour schemes tend to be dark, using colours like reds, oranges and blues, as well as the obvious black. The fonts tend to be messy or inky, or use conventional fonts which have been altered to lay or look different. They also have a very similar image. The bands are all quite casual, and share this look, which also is a bit reminiscent of the 70's, when the movement took off. 

Lip Syncing Practice

I practiced lip syncing and editing a video to this as it isn't fair to ask someone to lip sync in our music video if I was not prepared to do so myself. From this I learnt that lip syncing is actually really difficult. I was incredibly embarrassed, even though only I was going to see it, and it took quite a few attempts to get right, as syncing it up so I looked as though I was singing was very difficult. It has taught me that when I am filming I should be quite sympathetic on those who are doing this, as it is really not easy, and can take a great deal of time to get right.

Getting Permission from the Band

Our group emailed the band via their website to ask for permission to use the song as part of our coursework, as they are the copyright owners, and therefore have the right for the song. 

Song Choices: Wolfmother- Vagabond

We chose the song 'Vagabond' by Wolfmother as the song we are going to be producing a music video for. Wolfmother are a hard rock band, though this song is quite different to their usual work, so the genre which we will be really working into may differ to this.

Richard Dyer's Star Theory (Emilie Autumn)

Richard Dyer's Star Theory is divided into four sections:
1) Stars as Constructions- Celebrities are constructed, artificial images, who are particually big in advertising, magazines, films and music. Consumers like them to have a unique selling point. Record companies groom their artists, but we have more respect if they groom themselves. We want to believe that stars convey their emotions to us.
2) Industry and Audiences- Stars are often manufactured with the sole purpose of making money for the record company. Stars are repeatedly churned out based on what they think we want.
3) Ideology and Culture- Audiences may copy star's cultural beliefs and attitudes, or trends. Forms of media are dedicated to celebrity gossip.
4) Character and Personality- Presented as real human beings. Stars support dominant ideology of time/generation. They are represented as reinforced idea's of the music industry. When we see their life in magazines we feel close to them. The ideologies are constantly changing, so the stars are too so they remain in the spotlight

Stars as Constructions

Emilie Autumn, at fist glance at least, appears to be somewhat a construction or artificial image. Her image has passed through several ‘phases’, including fairy and Victorian, and could appear as though she was being manufactured and processed in order to create this sort of image. However, she is has been part of two record labels, The End Records and Triscol Music Group, neither of which having much more to do with her than releasing her material to different countries.

Her image is unique, and this makes a brilliant unique selling point, which is something which draws people in. Her image is entirely created by her, and evolves as she does and was formed with her interests in mind, not anyone else’s. Her music in itself has a unique style, and cannot be entirely categorized within one genre, though she is particular popular amongst fans of rock and industrial music, though she also incorporates elements of classic and electronic, and makes it known that not only is she a singer, but she can play, to a high standard, the violin and the piano. Her music also conveys hugely of emotions which she herself has felt, as much of her music is written based on her own experiences and emotions, including when she does purely instrumental songs.

Industry and Audiences

Her musical intentions were never really to generate a profit, even now, the bulk of her shows comes from her own pocket, and she puts a lot of the money from her audiences back into her audiences and their experiences. Unlike many artists, she was never really sure of fame, and wasn’t sure anyone would like her music or even buy a record of hers, but instead wanted to create something to help herself out of bad experiences which she is incredibly public about, and helping others who can relate in anyway at all to the feelings, and wanted to create a world where everyone is welcome, and she’s thankful to all her fans, and incredibly appreciative of them, as it means she can continue to do what she loves.

She doesn’t make music or create shows based on what she thinks her audience will like, and is entirely prepared to let her music change as she does and go in a different direction, and just hope that her fans will be accepting of this change and not change their opinions of her simply because she is also subject to human change.

Ideology and Culture

Among the fans of Emilie Autumn, a lot of her ideologies are shared, although she states she never set out to do this. A lot of her fans have been inspired to help other people through creative mediums, such as Emilie does, and she’s inspired many to keep on trying and fighting. She also has inspired many of her fans to read literature, as she has stated her love of books and history many times as some of her biggest influences. Many have also decided to buy rats, her most beloved animals, as she has two of her own.

She shared many aspects of her private and personal life with her fans, though it is always on her terms and hers along, for example, she released an autobiographical novel, acounting parts of her own life, as well as a fictional character living a parallel life to her own. This meant she could be selctive about what people knew about her rather than having other people dictate it, as many of they things she includes would not have been allowed in a mainstream publication due to being so graphic. It also advocates her ideology of honesty and help. She has also been a feature in several magazines nationally, and keeps to her veiw of only sharing what she wishes.

Character and Personality

Emilie Autumn is a very easy person to relate to, and her own veiws on herself mean that she is very easy to accept as a normal human being and a real person, even underneath the extravagent costumes and theatrics. She refers to herself on the same level as her fans ('plaguerats') and is very open about her experiences which fans may share or be able to connect with, and makes it know it's okay to be this way, despite what society says (seeing as she has had issues connecting to how society see's her and generally insults her) which helps fans feel close to her. She is not typical of a woman, or person at all for that matter, within the music industry, and does not support the dominant hegemonogies of society, instead breaking and bending the ones of other societies within her own (for example, she often referes to herself and acts as though she were in Victorian England, despite being in modern day America) by how she looks, acts and feels. People like her are not commonly represented, as they are considered a minority and non heigmonic.

Although her image has changed several times during her career, it is not to match or create ideologies, but merely an evolution of herself, and most certainly not as a way to gain media attention.

Coldplay Synergy Analysis

How do their products appeal to the target audience?
Their target audience is most likely older teenagers and younger adults, and they appeal to this by their use of bright and strong colours, which especially attract people of this age, females in particular, though males aswell.

What is their ideology?
They want to be seen as a serious group as well as normal people, and this is reflected in how they try to reach out to their fans with their use of less serious images, which still manages to be somewhat serious and effective at the same time.

What is the genre and how do you know?
The genre is some sort of pop/rock or 'indie', as it uses bright colours and cartoon-like icons, though in a far more serious way than traditional pop artists, though not enough to rule them out of the genre (or as normal people)

How have they created synergy?
they have created synergy throughout their adverts, website and album cover by their use of saturated colours which are nearly neon, and by all of these using a combination of childish cartoons, graffiti and scribbles.