In this post I am going to illustrate how we are going to use narrative theory in our music video. In our video Levi Strauss's theory on binary oppositions is very relevant to what we are doing, as it shows difference which is important in our video. What will be used in our video is this idea of "rich and poor" and this will be illustrated in the video when the circus group is busking to get money and the richer people are throwing money at them.
We will also use "love & hate" in the video and this will be shown through the clown trying to get a girlfriend and not succeeding.
Using Barthes five different codes I have been able to identify two out of the five that relate to our music video. First the symbolic code, which is all about the audience assuming something about someone a bit like stereotyping. For example in our music video people will assume that the clowns don't fit in because they are different.
Todorov's theory is that in media text there are five different stages. Original equilibrium (normality), disruption, recognition, attempt to restore and new equilibrium. Not all these stages link to our storyboard such as the original and new equilibrium as we don't see the circus as it was before it got closed down and we don't see the stage where all there problems are sorted out. However there is a disruption in our story (circus closing down) and the circus performers attempt to restore what has happened by going in to society and trying various things e.g. working, making friends and driving. None of these things will help to get there circus back but its more about restoring themselves and finding happiness else where.
There is a band performance throughout the video, there is more of a focus on the lead singer but the shots go from the singer to the band as a whole and they are all playing instruments. Another redundant feature was the idea of a romance with this girl, which seems to be what the song is about.
Entropic Features
The main entropic feature was how photos were incorporated into the video, I thought this was a very different and different idea. It also shows how creative you can be when it comes to editing and creating effects.
Shots
There are many long shots and mid shots used, with close ups of the lead singer and especially the love interest. Many of the shots go from a mid shot to a long shots especially during the scenes with the repetitive photos. The shots seem to change so much because throughout the whole video the shots bounce off of each other and there is a lot of zooming in and zooming out going on.
Edits
From what I can see the only cuts used are straight cuts, this is because the video moves quite fast and it's hard to tell and you don't notice the cuts.
Mis-en-scene
The band wears suits during the whole video, where as the female characters costume changes quite a few time. She wears quite casual clothes that seem to go with the theme of what's in the photograph. Apart from the photos the backgrounds used are quite plain, and are just black and white.
The key redundant feature of this music video was that the band was seen performing for the majority of the video as well as us seeing the instruments they are using.
Entropic features
I thought that the setting for this video was entropic as I didn't think it has any relevance to the lyrics, also I know that the song was made for the transformers film therefore I expected it to relate more to that. The introduction was also surprising, the shot of the band in the water is very unrealistic and you don't expect to see them fully clothed.
Shots
Close up shots are used quite a lot in this video especially when the camera is focusing on the lead singer (Haley Williams). There are many long shots of the performances in the music video, I think this is done to show the band as a whole and to capture what's going on around them. There are a few establishing shots to set the scene of what appears to be an abandoned hospital.
Editing
There are a lot of jump cuts in this video, a lot of which go with the beat of the music. They also seem to go along with all the explosions, the band members playing guitar and the sparks coming off the lights.
Mis-en-scene
The band members wear a casual, punk styled clothing, which is redundant of the band as well of the genre of music. The way they are styled in smart clothes in the water can be seen as a entropic feature.
Foo Fighters-All My Life
Redundant Features
What is redundant of this video is the close ups of the bands and their instruments, what is more redundant of the band itself is that it is a performance based video and its shot to look like a live show.
Entropic Features
What we see at the start of the music video is a cinema styled introduction to the video and that there is no music at the start of the video, which I thought was an entropic feature. At the end of the video we see that the Foo Fighters are not performing to anyone which was unpredictable.
Shots
There was a lot of close ups of the band and the lead singer of the band which I have found to be redundant as in a lot of the Foo Fighters videos there are close ups continuously of lead singer. Also there are a few long shots of the band as a whole, I think this is to capture the performance element and to get that feel of a live show. There is quite a lot of variation in angles and camera movement in this music video, looking at the band from low angles as well as high. Also at the end the camera zooms out and away from the band (reverse zoom).
Editing
From what I can see most if not all of the cuts are quick cuts, and each time there is a cut it goes from each of the different members of the band.
Mis-en-scene
A common and redundant trait of the Foo Fighters is incorporating their logo within their music videos, we see their logo at the end of the video. The drummer isn't wearing a top and there is this hot and sweaty atmosphere, which makes it seem more like a live gig. Near the end there is a use of red lights behind the band which have a really good affect and go with the beat of the music.
This is the song we have chosen to use by the band we have chosen "Heroes Of Hanoi" which are an unsigned band from Worcester. This is the song we will be using for our music video and digipak.
After looking in detail at three digipaks all the same genre, I can now see the similarities between them. What is particularly obvious is that we do associate particular colour to the rock genre, but these are colour used a lot. The digipaks I have looked at all have a dark colour scheme, and lack in bright colours, but this does work for that particular genre and when you look at it you automatically know that the album is a rock/alternative rock genre. What else I have noticed is that there are usually some images of the band, when we think of a rock artist we think of live concerts and instruments. Also what I have found is that two out of three of the digipaks have DVD's with live footage of the band, which links to how we perceive the rock genre. In all three of the digipaks the lyrics of the songs are shown in some way, whether it be in booklets or on the case itself. I think the rock artists in particular find more of a meaning in their lyrics than other genres, as the lyrics always seem to be of great importance. Another point is that the images on the digipak's all link to what the album is called. This is good as we gain an understanding of what's its about and this works better than visuals that make no link to the album.
This is the second Blackout album I have analysed and it is very different to the first album I looked at. This digipak has eight pains, which although is a lot they are not used like I have seen on other digipaks, the only thing included in the digipak is a CD.
Although this digipak has more colour on it the colour's are still made to look dark, the images on the front of the case almost look like a painting that continues onto each pain. The image is of a town, with a man on top of a hill with a beam of light shining on him and I believe this is meant to represent the title "The Best In Town". What is clever is that the light separates the writing. The track listing is on a separate pain, the image also continues onto that pain and acts almost like a story board. Although the visual is darker, I think it is like that so the writing is bolder and easier to read.
On the inside pains the bizarre visuals continue but don't seem to link with the album and the meaning. Unlike the previous digipak The Blackout did, there is no information inside the pack. On the pains of the case some of the lyrics from the songs on the album are written but that is the extent of the visuals and writting on the digipak.
The font used on the digipak suits the images, it has that strange, creepy effect that the whole design has. However it isn't very practical, I think the font used has to be bigger and fill the space.
This digipak is similar to a book, it has four panes and a booklet attached on the inside. This digipak is more informative, but it still has two disks one being a Bonus Disk and the other a regular CD. The outside of the case has two images, the front one is dark and cloudy but there is a line of orange light which could be suggested as "hope", the front tells us the name of the band and the album name. The second image on the back is of a sunset and is very different to the first, to me it suggest's a new beginning and I think it is meant to link with the album name. On the back it has the track listing, bar code and logos. The inside of the digipak I find is quite plain, and is more informative, there is a lot of information about the band, photos of the band and the lyrics. This is quite unexpected of this type of genre and very different to other digipaks I have seen. The fonts work well against the backgrounds chosen, the fonts alternate between black and white, but are bold and easy to read.
This digipak has five panels, inside the digipak there is a DVD of the band performing and the CD as well, also in one of the panels there is a slip with photographs of the band members.
The colour scheme is dull, with the use of black and white. There is a clear link with the colours and the idea that the band members are in prison, which we see in the photographs. The name of the album also links in to what we see on the digipak, particularly the word "sinners" is emphasised.
On the back middle pane of the digipak there is a list of the tracks on the digipak, which is what you expect to see on a CD, generally the outside of the case is dark. The font used is very plain, but it looks good and grabs your eye against the black background.
The inside of the digipak is lighter and different to the outside, for the background there is a finger print chart and looking at it in more detail the band members names are scribbled on the charts, which again ties in with the idea of sin and linking back to the artist.
Overall I have found that the style of the digipak is typical of the rock/alternative rock genre. Dark colours are things we usually associate with a rock band as well as seeing the band, and what I found is everything links to the band as well as seeing a lot of the images of the band.
