I tried to stay in keeping with true ideologies and the representation of a young alternative rock back in this day and age, particularly when it comes down to costume and sticking to my genre.
Costume
I told my talent to come in comfortable clothing that they would typically wear to perform, as I already had a good idea of their style and knew that I wouldn't need to style them in a particular way. Although they did turn up wearing four completely different outfits, they all fit in with the alternative rock genre, showing just how diverse a genre it is.
The Singer
My singer turned up in skinny jeans, black converse, a white t-shirt and a brown blazer, the typical "stylish yet cool" lead. He is renowned for basing his hair on Alex Turner's famous quiff, which is ideal when I'm filming to an Arctic Monkey's song. His outfit allowed him to look laid back and relaxed, yet confident, and fitted in perfectly with the smart-casual feel they all created. In a way his blazer is quite controversial as nowadays the majority of people may not expect to see a teenager in one, but it proves that he has a quirky edge, making him very similar to the lead singers of many rock bands such as Alex Turner and Robert Damiani. Alex is renowned for performing in either a black leather jacket or white blazer, whilst Robert is renowned for playing in a colourful or patterned shirt.
The Guitarist
My guitarist definitely connoted your typical guitarist appearing in all black yet making it look effortlessly cool. He contrasted particularly well to the coloured lights used in my video, including the side shot used on my digipak. The guitarist in a rock band tends to be laid back and wear very comfortable clothing, not overly caring about their appearance and I feel all black does support this. Similarly to my singer he also has a quiff styled on Alex's, which is almost a house style of my piece all on it's own!
The Bassist
Opting for converse, skinny jeans and a navy patterned polo shirt, the bassist went for smart-casual yet cool. I feel this worked really well as it was a contrast to the guitarist, yet similar to the singer being smart on the upper half. Bassists in rock bands tend to dress slightly more smartly as they don't tend to move as much, yet my bassist completely refuted this as he gave the performances his everything and upped the enthusiasm of the other bands members. He chose to wear clothes he was comfortable performing in and which he felt suited his appearance the most.
The Drummer
Having to sit down throughout the whole song the drummer definitely needed to be comfortable. He decided on skinny jeans, converse, a white t-shirt and black and white baseball jacket. He instantly connoted the "cool" atmosphere that surrounds the drummer of all bands, particularly rock bands due to the heavy drumming included in the majority of their songs. Although baseball jackets are usually classed with being very casual, it actually looked very smart on him, which did surprise me quite a bit.
It surprised me how well all four different looks came together, seeing as most rock bands are either all smart-casual, cool, or edge, so I was secretly thrilled how good they all looked together! I think that the variety of looks is a clear representation of a young band, as they won't have a set look or a real house style yet, so it presents them as modern and fresh. However, the fact they all wear skinny jeans and converse presents them as united and as a proper band. I also feel that enables an audience to relate more to the video, as the majority of them will have the same, if not similar, items at home and that will once again prove that they are just normal boys enjoying themselves and having a laugh performing together.
I think that the fact my band are young and modern enables people of similar ages to look up to them as inspiration and see how much you can enjoy yourself doing what you love with your friends. Therefore, some audience members may aspire to be like my talent and focus on doing what they enjoy the most.
I created my video for entertainment purposes and I definitely believe that my talent wearing everyday outfits adds to this as it doesn't take away from my video and allows the audience to focus on enjoying it.
Thursday, 6 February 2014
Tuesday, 4 February 2014
Tropes and memes of my genre
I chose to follow, challenge and refute tropes and memes of my genre to create a product that was creative and not cliché. When researching into tropes and memes there were three main ones that I came across, only two of which I have really used.
Face of the Band
The lead singer in a band tends to be the most well-known member of the band, and sometimes even the only member that the public have heard of. Therefore, when it comes to music videos for any genre, they will get the most camera time compared to the rest of the band, including lots of close-ups and extreme close-ups. However, I decided to refute these as I feel it is incredibly unfair on the rest of the band. In my opinion, the drummer holds the band together as he sets the tempo for the piece, and so I decided to make him the "face of the band" in my video, and give him the most camera time. Although many people didn't comment on the lack of singer in my audience feedback some did and saw it as very controversial, but I feel it looks just as effective showing more of the drummer, as I think he's more interesting to watch!
Dress Rehearsal Video
This is a common trope of the rock genre, but only in very small doses. Therefore I have challenged this as I have based my whole video on a "dress rehearsal" style video, as there is no audience there, which none of my audience picked up on, yet they have all the lighting and props set up for a professional gig. I'm really pleased I chose to use this concept for a lot of my video as I feel it looks really effective and appealing as it makes the audience feel as if they are there with the band, watching them perform and enjoying themselves.
Surreal Music Video
Another common trope of the rock genre is a surreal video, which is one I have refuted. Surreal music videos usually include being set in a surreal location, such as an abandoned boat, or a montage of footage that has no relation to the band or song. I find watching surreal videos difficult to follow, which is why I chose not to follow this trope as I find them difficult to follow as they are so irrelevant. Although my video doesn't have a narrative for an audience to follow I feel it is much clearer than a surreal video as it is only set in two locations and it is clear it is a performance video with elements of a homage to the original throughout.
When looking into tropes and memes I realised that I have refuted a lot that are typically associated with music videos, for example:
Conveyor Belt Video
A "conveyor belt" video, involves using continuous tracking shots and nothing else, especially not jump cuts. My music video is full of jump cuts and so I have clearly refuted this trope. My video would be incredibly boring if I didn't include jump cuts and so I can't imagine watching a "conveyor belt" video, and it definitely wouldn't be fitting for my chosen rock genre.
Choreographed Routine
A typical trope of a "boy band" video, is to have a dance break with a huge choreographed number. Once again I refuted this as not only are all of my talent appalling dancers, but it would also look absolutely ridiculous in the middle of an alternative rock genre if they started dancing. Instead, in the break in the song they just move around the stage enjoying themselves, which I believe is much more appealing to watch than a cringe worthy dance routine.
Mid Vid Skit
A final trope I refuted is known as the "mid vit skit", which is becoming increasingly popular in music videos. It is a point in the video where the music is interrupted, usually by talking. I don't like this trope as I prefer the music to carry on until the end of the song instead of stopping and breaking the flow midway. Therefore, once again I didn't include it in my piece as I feel it would have been even worse in a fast pace video with several different cuts.
Overall, I feel I have followed, challenged and refuted tropes and memes in ways that are most effective for my video. I have focused on what will work and what won't in order to make my music video appeal to my target audience, something which I believe I have done successfully. I don't believe in following tropes purely because people are used to seeing them in videos as if it doesn't add anything to my product that it really isn't necessary and I am confident that I have made the right decisions within my video.
Face of the Band
The lead singer in a band tends to be the most well-known member of the band, and sometimes even the only member that the public have heard of. Therefore, when it comes to music videos for any genre, they will get the most camera time compared to the rest of the band, including lots of close-ups and extreme close-ups. However, I decided to refute these as I feel it is incredibly unfair on the rest of the band. In my opinion, the drummer holds the band together as he sets the tempo for the piece, and so I decided to make him the "face of the band" in my video, and give him the most camera time. Although many people didn't comment on the lack of singer in my audience feedback some did and saw it as very controversial, but I feel it looks just as effective showing more of the drummer, as I think he's more interesting to watch!
Dress Rehearsal Video
This is a common trope of the rock genre, but only in very small doses. Therefore I have challenged this as I have based my whole video on a "dress rehearsal" style video, as there is no audience there, which none of my audience picked up on, yet they have all the lighting and props set up for a professional gig. I'm really pleased I chose to use this concept for a lot of my video as I feel it looks really effective and appealing as it makes the audience feel as if they are there with the band, watching them perform and enjoying themselves.
Surreal Music Video
Another common trope of the rock genre is a surreal video, which is one I have refuted. Surreal music videos usually include being set in a surreal location, such as an abandoned boat, or a montage of footage that has no relation to the band or song. I find watching surreal videos difficult to follow, which is why I chose not to follow this trope as I find them difficult to follow as they are so irrelevant. Although my video doesn't have a narrative for an audience to follow I feel it is much clearer than a surreal video as it is only set in two locations and it is clear it is a performance video with elements of a homage to the original throughout.
When looking into tropes and memes I realised that I have refuted a lot that are typically associated with music videos, for example:
Conveyor Belt Video
A "conveyor belt" video, involves using continuous tracking shots and nothing else, especially not jump cuts. My music video is full of jump cuts and so I have clearly refuted this trope. My video would be incredibly boring if I didn't include jump cuts and so I can't imagine watching a "conveyor belt" video, and it definitely wouldn't be fitting for my chosen rock genre.
Choreographed Routine
A typical trope of a "boy band" video, is to have a dance break with a huge choreographed number. Once again I refuted this as not only are all of my talent appalling dancers, but it would also look absolutely ridiculous in the middle of an alternative rock genre if they started dancing. Instead, in the break in the song they just move around the stage enjoying themselves, which I believe is much more appealing to watch than a cringe worthy dance routine.
Mid Vid Skit
A final trope I refuted is known as the "mid vit skit", which is becoming increasingly popular in music videos. It is a point in the video where the music is interrupted, usually by talking. I don't like this trope as I prefer the music to carry on until the end of the song instead of stopping and breaking the flow midway. Therefore, once again I didn't include it in my piece as I feel it would have been even worse in a fast pace video with several different cuts.
Overall, I feel I have followed, challenged and refuted tropes and memes in ways that are most effective for my video. I have focused on what will work and what won't in order to make my music video appeal to my target audience, something which I believe I have done successfully. I don't believe in following tropes purely because people are used to seeing them in videos as if it doesn't add anything to my product that it really isn't necessary and I am confident that I have made the right decisions within my video.
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