BLK feedback

good stuff here mike. Im off on holiday in the morning so just checking in briefly, will have a proper look next weekend when i get back.

what do the rest of the group think? can you chase up feedback and get some sense of their thoughts on your ideas - i'd be interested to know if all 4 of you want to go in this direction or not?? particularly matt who wasn't around at the end of term.

All the Grindhouse Trailers

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Here are all four fake trailers from 'Grindhouse', after watching these i'm thinking more about how interesting it would be to do a modern spin on one of these.

Evolving Ideas

After listening to Max's track idea with pendulum, I think that this could also work with my idea for 'Machete' as it slowly speeds up (the trailer to real life transition) and also has quite a reggae sound (link to blaxploitation). As well as this I'm beginning to consider having the whole music video as one large elaborate trailer, but this will need more thought and I will post more soon.

DJ Hazard - Machete (Treatment)

After todays meeting I have thought more of one of the idea's and have tried to elaborate upon it a bit more. This is extremely rough and is by no means the final idea by it makes the 'vision' I had clearer.

First of all the track itself has a collection of soundbites from a mock trailer for 'Machete', in the film 'Grindhouse' (Rodrigues and Tarantino, 2006). Therefore seeing how the track begins, we could start it like a 1970's exploitation trailer with a character very much like 'Shaft', a 1970's no nonsense cop with attitude (i.e. really playing upon stereotype). This could be shot with an extremely grainy effect, and literally show what the voiceover describes. Slowly the camera zooms out of the trailer, which we now see is being watched on a TV, then...

(Machete Trailer)

(Shaft Opening)

...The main character of the trailer looks at the person watching the trailer, in a non realistic manner, as if he has just realised he is being watched. He then walks through the screen (don't ask me how this will be acheived as I haven't researched it yet), and is brought into the real world.

The rest of the music video would then follow what happens next with this character and the clear clash of times and cultures. I thought this could be played out comically and the 'Film Character' could somewhat be similar to MR T.

Here's your group work on Marketing!

Change of Idea

Since the group's decision to look into other area's apart from boybands, I've been looking into two different styles of video

Abstract Horror
This is the style of video like the Aphix Twin's ones shown below. The video's are nightmarish and extremely bizarre, with lots of disturbing imagery. A lot of these kinds of video's seem to have been inspired by the works of David Lynch. I think if we created a video in this style and created a good narrative it could be extremely effective especially with a grainy film look.




(David Lynches - Mulholland Drive)

Narrative
Literally the music video illustrates the song, and this is most clearly shown by the ICE CUBE video shown below. This might be good if we found the right song as it would be easy to sustain a narrative.


(Ice Cube - Today was a good day)

BLK feedback

no action on this blog for a few days Mike; try to avoid long gaps between posts. It's important to demonstrate regular progress.

Reaction To Feedback

Was really inspired by the feedback we got today especially:
-The possibility of using both London and Brighton as locations
-Ensuring we have a definite look for the band
-Playing on the 'cheeky chap' image in the video

We are now also considering doing some practice shots in the holidays, so I feel the session was really productive

BLK feedback

super blogging as always Mike! Very entertaining videos!

try to post your thoughts/reflections on the progression of the group project as you go along, on this blog, so the 2 blogs work alongside each other.

Chemical Brothers - Elektrobank

Director Spike Jonze (also made ‘Sabotage’ by Beastie Boys and ‘Get Back’ by Ludacris), Starring Sofia Coppola (Film Director and ‘actress’)

This is a purely narrative video with no performance by the group being shown in the video. However some of the Gymnastics in the video are in time with the music and so in that sense it could be said that there is some performance. For instance how Coppola twirls the ribbon in time to the music.

The track is of the ‘Techno/Dance’ genre so does not have to have a performance artist. As well as this the distinct lack of lyrics means that the music video does not have to correspond in meaning to the track title.

The main subject of the video does not seem to be sexualised at all with no lingering shots etc. Instead the watcher is seemed to be encouraged to be wowed by the gymnastic skill on display. Hence the video is more about showing an aspirational character. This is shown by the quick succession of long shots and medium shots, allowing all the action to be viewed, rather than focussing on specific parts of the female body.

The first 30 second of the video acts to set up the narrative, and it is interesting how the first gymnast performs to classical movement and loses, while Sofia performs to the ‘Chemical Brothers’ and wins.

George Michael - Come Outside

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkZCpFLVKtc&feature=related

Starts off like a 70’s German Porn Film with many innuendo names such as ‘Huu Jarrs’ etc. This is also hinted at with the grainy effect, adding to the seediness of the opening. Opening the music video like this helps to set the mood for the how George Michael is clearly setting out to shock with this video. The setting of a public toilet reflects George Michael’s personal life at that time and this is revisited further into the video. Opening with a relatively old fictional clip from a porn film also links into the song’s lyrics with how sex and how people’s sexual habits are evolving from what they were (thus opening with the past).

The video as a whole is extremely voyeuristic as the audience are shown images having sex in public, mostly from the view of CCTV. These images reflect the lyrics and the title of the track, ‘Come Outside’. The video itself is quite shocking and definitely challenges both stereotypes and the public’s view, not least of George Michael. The video definitely challenges views on what ‘macho’ is, and this is demonstrated with the two bodybuilders who turn out to be homosexuals and the camp portrayal of the police (seen as a ‘macho’ job).

The last set piece of the video is set in a toilet (again a reference to George Michael’s private life) which transforms into a disco, with George dressed as an American policeman with mirrored Aviators. Not only is this reminiscent of the ‘Village People’ (going with the 70s Disco theme) but also reflects this being the first track released after George came out. The video therefore marks a change of image for George after his squeaky clean image in ‘WHAM!’. The police image at this point is turned into a homosexual connotation, by the uniform being very figure hugging, as well as the manner in which George suggestively swings his police baton. The video at this point becomes performance based as George sings and dances to the music in time. It is also important at this point as the video speeds up with the music.

(The 'George Michael' Toilet)

Other Track Options For Boybands

While researching potential cheesy boyband tracks, ere are a few I came across that would meet the criteria.

Wham!-Wham! Rap


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fJx2L2kVw0
Wham!-Jitter Bug

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xKaOXB3iGK4

5ive-Everybody Get Down

5ive-If Ya Gettin' Down

Club Tropicana (another group idea)

Here's a link to the original video (embedding has been disallowed):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF_Jufp3s98&feature=related

So far we as a group are thinking of setting it at a pool with three band members. We would try and get the comedy out of the camp lyrics and with very camp performances. We intitially thought of using this track with another video.

At present current thoughts are:

1) A garden hose and perhaps a water fight

2) All jumping in the pool (perhaps some armbands)

3) Making cocktails

4) A BBQ

5) general sunbathing, preferably with a screen

6) Big Shades

7) tropical shirts/vests/speedos

Initial Rough Idea

(Iggy Pop - Wanna be your dog)

This is an idea that is still in its very early stages so at the moments, I'm just trying to compile images and clips that might help inspire me. The rough idea of the video is about a bunch of criminals wearing dog masks and perhaps in a police chase. At the moments I envisage it in black and white with subtitles nad it to be quite abstract in style.

Cross-Referencing in Music Videos

Did a bit of research into cross-referencing media texts after a discussion in class today, and found these two video's that both imitate classic shots from the films they are referencing to, as well as scenarios.



Amerie-Take Control inspired by Antonioni's 'Blow Up'






REM-Everybody Hurts inspired by Fellini's 8 1/2

Best 12c blog so far!

I T ' S G R E A T !!!

miss t

BLK feedback

fantastic, impressive work so far Mike - really inspirational postings

Reflection

1)What did you miss out?
i/ I think that the area of radio could have been played upon much more in the development of our market strategy, as perhaps we could have thought more about radio interviews as well as green room sessions
ii/The aspect of childrens TV could have been touched upon a bit more with appearance on TV shows such as 'Ministry of Mayhem' as well as 'Blue Peter'
iii/Maybe some of our publicity stunts could have been more original than hooking a band member up with a celebrity
iv/The use of the bands image as being extreme pop, could have been played upon a little more to build a stronger image
v/Style could have played a greater part in the band, with perhaps members of the band advertising brands such as Levi's

2) What have you learnt?
i/ The USP's are important yet are not necessary for a band's success in the industry
ii/Timing is very important for an artist/s
iii/Merchanising should be simple to start but get more sophisticated as audience numbers increase and band popularity increases
iv/Space is key in design in order for an album cover etc to be striking and bold
v/Appealing to a wide audience is important in order to get larger selling figures
vi/Fan 'clubs' can be set up easily and cheaply just with a t-shirt printer and a badge maker
vii/The music industry is unlike the film industry in the sense that design etc can be more abstract
viii/No marketing strategy will go exactly as planned due to the aspect of luck
ix/Radio can be extremely useful for a band to get records heard and gain a fanbase
x/A band's image is crucial to its success, and this is more true in recent years with the arrival of manufactured bands