Friday, 6 August 2010
I designed a questionnaire in order to understand what people look for in a music video and what their musical preferences are.
1. What gender are you?
Male ___ Female__
2. How old are you?
Under 14___ 14-16 ____ 17-19___ 20+____
3. What is your occupation?
Student _____ Part-time ____ Full-time _____ Unemployed_____
4. What genres do you listen to?(tick all that apply)
Hip Hop____ Rock___ Pop___ Funky____ Alternative___ Heavy Metal___ Other___
5. What is your preferred way of consuming music videos?
TV___ Websites/Internet___
6. What music chanels do you watch?
_________________________________________________________
7. What websites do you use to consume music? _________________________________________________________
8. What do you look for in a music video?
_________________________________________________________
9. What type of music videos do you prefer?
Performance Based( when acts preform in their video) ___________
Narrative Based (A music video that tells a story) ____________
Concept Based ( A music video based on an idea i.e. playing backwards) _______
A combination : please specify_________________
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
THE GORILLAZ
Gorillaz is a musical project created in 1998 by Damon Albarn of alternative rock band Blur and British cartoonist Jamie Hewlett, co-creator of the comic book Tank Girl. The band comprises of four characters; 2D (lead vocalist/keyboard), Murdoc (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar/ocassional vocals) and Russell (drums and percussion). Through their music videos, website and other media text they explore the virtual, fictional world. Their style in terms of musical sound is a combination of multiple genres including hip hop, electronic, pop and alternative rock. Currently, the Gorillaz have 3 albums with their second album 'Demon Days' going double platinum in the US, five times platinum in the UK and earned them a Grammy Award 2006 for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.
'WELCOME TO PLASTIC BEACH' is the name of the Gorillaz third album which is about each members journey to 'Plastic Beach' and innovative marketing strategies are employed to promote the album. For each character of the Gorillaz (fictional ones: 2D, Murdoc, Russell, Noodle) they have created 30 second videos (also known as 'Idents') which illustrates the beginning of their journey to 'Plastic Beach'. The single 'On Melancholy Hill' continues the story of their journey to 'Plastic Beach' from their previous music video 'Stylo'.
The Gorillaz- On Melancholy Hill
DIRECTOR: Jamie Hewlett
RELEASE DATE: 2010
Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill found on Electronic
The Gorillaz 'On Melancholy Hill' is a narrative based music video as it illustrates each band members journey to 'Plastic Beach'. This video continues from the music video 'Stylo'. The whole music video is animated using CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) and 2D drawings. This is typical of the Gorillaz style as they always make animated music videos or in the case of the music video 'Stylo' there are animated aspects.
The video opens with a passage of dialogue between Noodle (one of the Gorillaz members) and a ship host/ waiter which lasts for the first 28 seconds of the music video.
It begins with an extreme long shot (XLS) of a ship moving in the water (ocean). The XLS is used to allow audiences to identify the setting of the music video. It then cuts to a Medium Shot (MS) of something dropping in the water. The director wants us to be aware of this hence why a MS was used to draw our attention to it. This then cuts to a low angle MS of planes flying over the ship. This makes the plane seem superior and links to the previous shot as it maybe the plane that dropped something in the water therefore making the plane also look suspicious and dangerous. The sounds used within this scene such as the ship horn, the plane flying over and the splash of the water are all used to create realism and make the music video seem authentic. It then cuts to a Long Shot (LS) of inside the ship with a host running down the corridor and goes into Noodle's room. He tells her that the 'ship is under attack' and they have to evacuate.
The Mise-en-Scene inside Noodle's room promotes post-modernistic characteristics. Blurring of reality and ficiton is seen in this music video. There is a Medium Close up (MCU) of Noodles opening a suitcase; the suitcase itself is real and the shot size used highlights the contrast between the 2D character animation and the realistic suitcase. This is reinforced by the real lampshade in the background evident in this shot. By doing this, it also breaks down the boundary between the fictional world (2D) and reality (3D) as it combines both and makes fiction the reality. From this it cuts to a high angle shot of us looking down onto the gun which is in the suitcase from Noodle's perspective. The use of this shot is to draw our attention to what is in the suitcase and how realistic it looks. From this it cuts to a LS of the host outside the room. Noodle exits from the room and a MS tracking shot is used as Noodles holds the gun and walks down the corridor getting closer to the camera. Noodles costume, the mask in particular intrigues the audience and creates an enigma as we really know what will happen next as her facial expression is not seen. It then fades out then fades in to a logical pattern of sequence of Noodle firing a gun. (Close-Up(CU) of Noodle's face with her gritting her teeth. The fact that we can't see her whole body makes us wonder what she is doing to have that effect. Then dissolves to a MS of her firing a gun. This shot makes it evident to us what Noodle is doing.) At this point the music starts aswell. We then realise from the next shots like the low angle POV shot of Noddle that she is actually firing at the planes who were invading the ship because of her. When she escapes and lies on a life boat it dissolves into a XLS of a boat emerging which is the other Gorillaz characters (2D, Murdoc and Cyborg Noodle) from the previous video (Stylo) continuing their journey to 'Plastic Beach' eventually all the characters arrive by the end of the video.
During the journey underwater to 'Plastic Beach' there are appearance from well known acts who are driving submarine. There is a MCU of Bruce Willis and he is position left of frame. Audiences will identify this is Bruce Willis as this was how he was introduced in 'Stylo' where he was chasing those Gorillaz characters and now it is continuing. There is a cut from another character to a MCU of Snoop Dogg and a MCU is used of De La Soul (who featured on their 'Feel Good inc. single). The shot size is used for audiences to recognise the characters drawn but the fact that they are there is significant as they feature on the Gorillaz new album. There is also a MCU of Mick Jones and Paul Simonon (former band members of Clash) who performed with the Gorillaz on this album wearing sailor hats. There anime were also wearing sailor outfits which is evident through the hat and the stripy t-shirt. One of the characters gets out a can of spinach and squeezes it open which falls in the other characters pipe. By doing this the character which had the spinanch gained muscles. This is a parody of the cartoon Popeye-the sailor man, which began in the late 1910s, as he was a sailor who gained muscles by eating spinach.
Throughout the music video there is constant reference to 'Melancholy'. The colour scheme within the music video conveys this. At the beginning of the video where Noodle is battling the flying planes there are lots of deep reds and blacks which also connotes pain. Also during the scenes where the characters are underwater there are lots of deep blues and blacks which signifies sorrow and depression. The octopuses in the video where the only characters that were happy which is evident through their smiling faces but they got killed by the passing submarine which is sad therefore connecting to the song title and what the song is about. By doing this there is a constant connection between the sound and the imagery. When 'plastic beach' is discovered near the end of the music video the colour begins to lighten possibly as they are happier because they have discovered what they are looking for. There happiness is also connoted in their facial expression upon discovery. A CU is used on all of the characters to show audiences clearly their reaction.
I feel that the target audience for this band and the music itself is a young audience predominately in the late teens (16 up) to late 20s. This is due to the sound of the band, most of their music have a 'party feel' to it as it is normally up tempo and uses electronics; that audience are more likely to go to parties, raves and clubs where this music would be playing. Furthermore, I feel that that the diversion theory is used in this music video in order to gratify audiences. This music video offers escapism from problems faced in their own lives through discovering the virtual world. By watching this music video, audiences are amused by another world that is portrayed as well as being able to see how other peole live on it therefore forgetting about your problems whilst you think about someone else.
In conclusion, I like the orginality of this music video as it takes on another way of creating the virtual world and still making it interesting through the combination of 2D drawings and 3D objects instead of just the typical 2D drawing that is used in normal animated videos. All in all, I will take in animation into consideration when making a music video as it can be more visually interesting.