Initial Idea: 3

INTIAL IDEA 3

SONG: 'Rolling in the Deep' - Adele

The concept of the video has a strong narrative element where the singer acts as the storyteller for the central two characters. The video depicts the faltering relationship of a young, working class British couple as they struggle to make it in the world. The male figure is perpetually involved in varying degrees of crime and violence while the female struggles to make ends meat. The video cuts back and forth between the artist who passionately sings the song and the couple at different stages in their lives. In terms of the narrative structure, the first scene is the end and the ending scene is in actual fact the beginning of the story and is what acts as a trigger for everything that occurs chronologically during the video. The video starts with a shot of the male protagonist having his mug shots taken after being admitted to prison. Before doing this he removes a rabbit mask from his face that he had used to attempt to rob a local store. As well as being visually striking, the mask also symbolises how people in his socio-economic station are at the bottom of the 'food chain' and are lacking in support from the government. While often cutting to the performance of the singer, we then see various scenes of the couple including first happiness and joy at the news of a new child, which then turns to alcoholism on the part of the man. This then results in pub violence which escalates into arguments and furthermore domestic violence. We then go to a shot of the male figure in the shower washing off the blood from his recent brawl and contemplating the direction of his life. This is a well used and effective shot that is often seen in films such as Goal. After this we see him then actively try to rob the shop the next day and run away before being caught by a bystander on the street. The video finishes with a shot of the woman sitting at the bottom of her house's stairs crying while holding at the telephone. After putting it down, she stands to walk up the stairs and consequently reveals the bump on her belly and communicating to the audience the cause and implications of the story. 

Goal

The lyrics of the song have poignant relevance to the tragic yet current nature of the narrative with lines such as "We could have had it all"/"The scars of your love"/"You had my heart inside of your head". While actually being the songwriters personal anecdote, the song may also make political points about the lack of support for young British, working class people who try to build families while struggling to find work in the current climate. Stylistically, the camerawork would reflect the song with large portions of the video being filmed handheld to help achieve dramatic intensity. However, extreme contrast would be created when filming the artist with the shots being far much more carefully constructed with an array of closeups and wides as she sings. I would also be interested in using a track for when the melody of the song reaches its peak. The contrast would also be extended to costume with the artist wearing refined, polished attire where as the couple where casual, urban clothes to reflect their status and also reinforce how the artist and the characters are very much two separate entities.

Similarities between this idea and Jake Bugg's 'Two Fingers' could be drawn due to the domestic theme featured. However, there is a key difference in that Jake Bugg is actively integrated as a character in the narrative of this video. In our video the artist is firmly a spectator/narrator of the story and would only appear in the same shot as the characters as a stylistic element.

A strong image can be created with this song of the artist being honest and heartfelt in her approach to commercial music, which is noticeably rare in todays industry. This speaks volumes as to the singers integrity and obvious talent which perhaps means she obtains the likeable trait of 'Success against the odds', one of the factors that Dyer believes can aid a performer in being successful. To reinforce this attribute, the person we would cast to lip-sinc the song would not have an archetypal perfect, 'pop star' image in order to further emphasise her originality as an artist.

Initial Idea: 2

INITIAL IDEA 2

SONG: 'Oxford Comma' - Vampire Weekend

The concept behind the video is following the song 'Oxford Comma' from its original conception in the apartment of the lead singer, to writing the lyrics, recording it in the studio and eventually performing it on stage at a gig. Its much like a autobiographical, subconscious video diary for the band. Stylistically, the majority of the camera work would be handheld as to look roughly put together and naturalistic. The video would naturally show the band in their rawest form while in the studio recording as they have banter with one another. This jovial atmosphere of the band would project them as entirely un-synthetic and make them simply look like a group of friends making music that they are passionate about. This is heavily endearing to the music industry and would make them likeable. This like-ability would be added to by their indie look, and obvious talent for alternative music. Due to the nature of the narrative, there would also be a performance element to the video as it would cut between snapshot 'behind the scenes' footage of the band to higher quality clips of them either recording or performing that would potentially go onto a DVD extra for the band in the real world. The cut of the video would be snappy and often in time with the strong drum beat of the song. The song is is noticeably carefree, light yet still cool which coincides with the bands projected image. At the start of the song there would possibly be an introductory, still title text covering the video that is very fashionable with artists today, being featured in music videos for artists such as Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke and Bastille as shown. This title text could overlay a fixed head and shoulder shot of the lead singer as if he is in an interview for the record label. It would be silence, as he (in character) recalls the sound of the opening of the song and tries to describe to the interviewer. This only lasts a matter of seconds before concluding with "Yeh, like that" at which point the music kicks in and the video proceeds. This quirky idea is simply another tool of making the video and the band seem likeable and genuine.

In terms of look the band would follow current 'indie' fashion trends and would be likely to be wearing skinny jeans with big hair. This aesthetic bands of a similar vein that are popular at the moment and our producing a similar genre also such as Bastille and The 1975;

In essence the video is trying to achieve what One Direction did with their music video for 'Little Things'. However, I believe that One Directions version is notably synthetic and produced in a way that is trying to hard to make the audience emote towards the band. I would attempt to make my version more subtle, yet still intimate, playful and overall enjoyable. I would be aided in doing this by also including a fully lit performance section to the video which shows the band at a real gig to detract it from being too personal and showing that the band have a clear audience who enjoy the music.

Initial Idea: 1

INITIAL IDEA 1

SONG: 'Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair' - Arctic Monkeys

The video would centre around the story of 17 year old boy with a very specific type of mental condition.  He is essentially an 'adrenaline junkie' but with a particular compulsive addiction to the fairly well documented theory of 'Suicide Addiction'. On a regular basis this individual would try to push his body to its physical limits for recreational purposes and to always achieve not-fatal suicide by pulling out of what ever method he has used at the last minute. This is a rare, but genuine condition that I think would allow for fantastic visuals e.g. baths/water, rope, fire, guns. There would also be a performance element to the video as it would cut back and forth from the individual as he completes these attempts to the band where they sing and play to camera. The attempts would not be shot in away that is too distressing and would therefore make the video unsuitable. The themes of the song has heavy links with this concept. The song is is about doing daring and dangerous things while taking care not to trust others. It features heavily revenant lines such as "Go into business with a grizzly bear"/ "Find a well known hard man and start a fight"/ "Bite the lighting and tell me how it tastes/ Do the Macarena in the devil's layer". These lyrics all trivialise dangerous things and give the  impression that danger is fun. The genre of the music is Rock with heavy emphasis on guitar riffs and drums which is impactful like the images you would see on screen. However, there is a slight element of comedy to the song which heavily contradicts the character and would create an unsettling tone. Throughout the course of the video we would see the boy engage in different methods of suicide before eventually surviving each time, and therefore unveiling the absurd and radicalist way in which he lives his life. These ideas could possibly coincide with the image of the band as they could be similarly edgy and anarchic. 

There would be two major sets for the video. This would be the performance space for the band and the bedroom/bathroom of the teenage boy. The performance space would use high intensity 'chiaroscuro' lighting to bring out the drama of the video and emphasise the 'Rock' feel. The boy would wear standard teenage clothing where as the attire of the band would be modelled on modern rock bands such as the Arctic Monkeys or possibly even synth-pop duo Hurts if you were looking for a more recognisable look. The lead singer of the band could potentially also perform as the boy to offer an interesting narrative device.

Initial Ideas

After already completing a year of the Media Studies A level and going through the process of creating an opening sequence to a thriller, I can retrospectively look at the way we developed ideas. In the same way that I must do now in relation to my A2 Pop Promo, I have to begin to generate initial ideas. Looking back at the blog posts from the same stage last year, I can recognise that very few if any of my initial ideas made it to the final product. However, that does not mean that those ideas did not contribute in some way to the forming of that final product overall. I have to start somewhere so after already having some possible images and ideas in my head, I decided I would convert these into three blog posts from which I can then progress from.

A Background to the Music Industry

As a part of our summer pack of holiday work we were instructed to cipher through a collection of notes and articles and pick out key theories and ideas about the music industry. This was massively informative and will surly prove to be useful when it comes to making my music video and having to construct a imaginary music artist from nothing that wouldn't look out of place in the real industry.

GENRE

Of all different media, pop music is the most dependent on genre. Genres in music are constantly being invented, crossed and revisited, and the process of categorisation is important for the producers and fans alike. Retailers and customers heavily rely on genre to make their buying choices. Music services such as iTunes and Spotify also depend on genre to define the music you are listening to and continue to provide you with music of a similar vein for you to buy or stream. However,  many artists resent being pigeonholed in such a way.

All the different genres of music can be easily characterised by definable conventions that we as an audience can notify in them. These are;

1. MUSICAL STYLE - Rhythm, instruments used for melody, lyric and vocal style (Although, these features are constantly intertwining between genres to create a 'hybrid' sound.)

2. LOOK AND LIFESTYLE - Similar visual reference points can often be made in certain genres with things such as attire and hair, with an artists look usually categorising them before they get the chance to start sining or playing. Can also be outlined by the artists projected lifestyle and ethos, most notably with common circulating rumours about the behaviour of classic Rock bands.

3. INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT - Genre can often be represented through the institutional support and distribution that an act receives e.g. performance spaces, radio stations, record shops, magazines and festivals.

This depth of knowledge on genre will prove useful in allocating my future artist in the chosen area and knowing what sort of supplementary details to associate with them regarding aesthetics and awareness.

WHAT MAKES 'STARS' SUCCESSFUL IN POPULAR CULTURE?

As media theorist Richard Dyer cleverly identifies, the terms "pop performer" and "pop star" have become different on a broader scale. In media terms, they are not the same thing. Pop performers are known simply for performing pop music where as pop stars do the same, yet this comes with an additional, 'constructed' persona which is not restricted solely to their musicianship. Stars are artificial images, even if that artificial image is that the artist is a 'real person'. If an audience is thinking in this way about a star, then that is only because they have been subconsciously stewarded into thinking this by the team behind the star in order to make them more appealing.

Pop starts often retain common characteristics. The songs change but the singers remain the same. They embody a small collection from the same list of workable values that contribute to their public interest such as;

.Youthfulness

. Rebellion

. Sexual Magnetism

. An anti-authoritarian attitude

. Originality

. Creativity/Talent

. Agression/Anger

. A disregard for social values

. Conspicuous consumption, of sex, drugs and material goods

. Success against the odds

Obtaining a number of these traits and combing them with the correct publicity is likely to produce a successful cocktail in the music industry and always has done. However, no one of these traits is enough singularly. Even if an artist is successful and consequently becomes a 'star', the battle for retention becomes the new issue. The longer the star remains successful on the world stage, the more difficult it is to embody these values. Even these 'stars' become a victim of nature as creativity burns out, looks fade and consequently interest wains. This is why prematurely dead artists make perfect pop stars. They don't become old and unattractive, nor do they loose their iconic musical abilities. This gives us the answer to why in such a youth-obsessed medium, the dead are so venerated. Without doubt pop stars have a sell-by date. Those who leave the industry early go with most of their dignity and appeal still intact and therefore live on afterwards as we cans see with Elvis Presley. In some cases, it can often even act as a significant commercial boost like with Michael Jackson. However, if this fails to happen we are left with cases such as Paul McCartney who is left in a position where nobody in any way doubts his talent and contribution to the industry, but are essentially wishing he would stop singing now! "Dead rock stars appeal to people because their death allows something nebulous to become a story with a beginning, a middle and an end." - Pat Gilbert, editor of Mojo.

These articles not only offered me insight into the ageing process in the music industry which I found incredibly interesting, but also reminded me of Dyer's 'star image' concept which proves to be perpetually relevant in the industry and must likewise be when I create my own artist. They must too have definable features that, along with the song, could equate to commercial success in the real world.