Sending the Email

Reply from Missing Andy's Management

Before we can start creating ideas and pitching them to the class, we needed to make sure we have permission to use the song first. Matt found the band on MySpace and sent them a personal message asking if we are able to use the song for our A Level production. They replied within the hour and told us it was fine with them, but to contact there management to make sure it is ok with them. There management replied saying that we were ok to use it in our production.

Lyrics for chosen band analysis

(Click to Enlarge)

The Recluse - Plan B: Music Video Analysis

Plan B's music video, 'The Recluse' is currently the most recent music video in a series of videos by Plan B detailing the demise of a fictional character portrayed by Plan B called Strickland Banks, and is also the same character from Plan B's upcoming movie 'The Defamation of Strickland Banks'. Plan B's recent massive rise to fame has been achieved to due to his drastic change in lyrical style & song structure, and Radio One's frequent daytime playing of his singles.

The music video itself starts with an over the shoulder shot of Strickland walking through the inside of a prison and the music kicks in when he tries to get past some stereotypical prison thugs and dies down again after the encounter. The music stops for about 15 seconds, and the only audio is a crowd chanting 'Strickland' alongside Strickland himself in an isolated prison cell. This then cuts to him walking in front of presumably the same crowd which then cheers as he is seen.

The music video kick starts again after this interlude and goes to a master shot of Plan B and his band performing the song. The next 2 minutes of the video cut between different close-ups of the band and Plan B & master shots of them both, and the music video's main narrative of Strickland sitting in a room on his own, watching the TV detailing news reports of him, relating to the songs lyrics of 'Yeah they call me the recluse, 'cos I don't go outside for nothing' . There are also brief cuts of him alone in his isolated prison cell, leading the narrative to have two accounts seclusion.

The narrative progresses throughout this 2 minutes of him going into his garden and eventually going back inside after being aggravated by an overhead helicopter, and then to a house party, which is presumably before he locked himself away from the world. At this pool party he threatens all the guests with a pistol, which inevitably leads to them all frantically leaving. At this point in the video the song style changes to Plan B's signature rapping, highlighting the sudden change in Strickland's mood.

The whole mise-en-scene of the video works very effectively, making the viewer genuinely feel for Strickland and his situation - being isolated from the world in his mansion. This can lead to the famous saying 'Money can't buy happiness' which certainly applies to Strickland.

This video relates to our groups idea's for our music video as Plan B's genre is ultimately very similar to our chosen bands, mainly due to the slower tempo chorus's and rapped verses at a much higher tempo. This allows me to see how a song with this structure is portrayed effectively in a video.

The music video itself is relevant as it cuts between a narrative and the band performing, something we may consider doing for our video. The syncing is also perfect, and again lets us see how to sync rapped segments effectively to the music.

Give It All - Rise Against: Music Video Analysis

'Give It All' by Rise Against is the bands third single, and the first off their third album 'Siren Song of the Counter Culture'. The song itself is relatively short and of the Punk Rock genre and the video features the band members playing in a subway carriage in a small mosh pit. The whole theme of the video & song is living life to its full potential, and the narrative of the video reflects this (band playing in subway signifies peoples daily routines, narrative portrays office members going out at night and posting inspirational messages everywhere).

This music video is influential to me as, with the other two videos analysed, the syncing is spot on & the editing is done in accordance with the actual tempo and structure of the song (e.g. around 58 seconds in, when the lyrics are 'for far too long these voices', the video itself shows a car with the bumper sticker 'Four More Years' and at about 2 minutes in, it shows the same car but vandalised with the sticker 'ONE MORE MONTH' and the music stops in time with the camera pan to emphasise the effect).

Alongside the editing, the story the video portrays is also influential. It features a group of office employees going out and pasting controversial messages on billboards, such as drawing plastic surgery lines on an advertisement with a model on it. This is typical of the punk rock genre - rebellious, although this is more anti-government than anti-establishment. This relates to our planned music video as Rise Against are standing up against their government and fighting for what they believe in, lyrically similar to our chosen song (our song talks about English pride and typical English life, but in an ironic sarcastic way).

Research on Chosen Bands Genre

Our chosen band's genre is Britpop, with hints of Rap and Indie. The song we have chosen is mostly rapped throughout the verses, with a slow more acoustic & orchestral chorus.
Britpop's typical instruments are drums, bass, guitar, vocals & keyboard, which is exactly what our chosen band consists of, and they wear indie style clothing, which is a subgenre of Britpop, epitomising the genre.
The chorus used in our chosen song is very similar to the riffs & sounds found in popular Britpop bands such as Oasis & Blur's songs, and also the general tone of voice (verse singer in our chosen band sounds very similar to Blur's main singer during 'Parklife').

Marketing Strategies Employed by Record Companies

There are two main marketing methods, although the traditional methods originally used to promote new albums have been overtaken by the massive rise of the Internet within the past 10 years. Such traditional methods include advertising through interviews with the Press, radio, television and advertising in general.
Various forms of promotion used throughout the Internet include advertising on music based websites such as MySpace and other social sites such as Facebook, and on various music apps such as Spotify and iTunes.
Websites such as Youtube also allow bands to create Vlogs to keep their fans updated and this allows a much more direct connection between the band and its fans, yet again helping their awareness.

Many record labels now try to take a cut of money from gigs & merchandising as physical record sales are rapidly decreasing. This would help market the band more as UK top 40 charts would have to change to accommodate for gig sales as well as record sales.

Record labels also employ pluggers who help get the band known through various media outlets such as radio & magazines.

CD Cover Analysis - Biffy Clyro; Puzzles

- Name of band & album name clearly visible yet subdued in the top left, main focus is on the album cover itself. - Parental advisory label so parents can clearly see if the CD they are buying is appropriate for their child or as background music at a party etc. Also out of way to provide more focus on the album cover.
- Quotes from various reviews to try make the viewer impulse buy the CD.
- Cover itself relates to the albums name itself 'Puzzle'. Could signify the person is missing something or someone vital in his life, hence his distressed posture & puzzle like appearance & literally missing a piece of him/the puzzle. Other people in the distance (band members?) are seen looking at the door frame of a door, this could hint they are trapped and are part of a bigger puzzle.
- This links with the bands Indie/Rock genre; known for odd and unusual/meaningful covers.

- The back cover features everything on a standard back cover in a traditional manner: Copyright details, Recording Label, Website & Bar Code along the bottom out of the way.

- Production & Recording Details listed.

- Side covers for ease of use & visibility on a shelf.

- Close up of people staring out doorway, links to front cover.

- Zigzag effect links again to title of 'Puzzles'.

- Track listing easily visible & interludes also listed to avoid confusion when listening.

Our Chosen Band

The song we have chosen to do for our music video is The Way We're Made (Made In England) by Missing Andy. The genre is Rock mixed with some Grime, although the band itself calls themselves Brit Pop.
We have chosen to do this song as 1. We simply like the song as a whole, and we would enjoy making a music video for it, and 2. We feel the song is diverse enough to create an interesting music video with lots of content but at the same time maintaining a sense of simplicity & an ease to follow (i.e a video with lots in it, but not so much the plot becomes difficult to follow).
The target audience for this band would probably be fans of indie music, and people who like music that has depth & meaning behind it.

Our Grouping

I am working with Kieran Gabbitus & Matt Swinn for my A2 Advanced Production. I have decided to work with these two as i feel our media knowledge, skills & ideas will combine into a strong foundation for a authentic music video & good overall grade. I have not worked with these two before but did exchange ideas and editing tips last year, and am aware of their strong knowledge within the media industry.
Our roles within the group will be largely similar - all offering one another ideas & information & editing together. Me and Matt also both have Sony Vegas at home so we will also be able to provide further editing outside of school time. We all also possess a knowledge of Photoshop CS3 so will be able to work together easily when making the DigiPak & Advert.

Magazine Advert Analysis - Mumford & Sons; Sigh No More

This advert is extremely basic in design: Limited colours and barely any text. The advert covers the entire back page of a magazine - which is costly to use, so this signifies the bands popularity. Also, a back cover of a magazine is almost always seen, so the fact that the albums cover is the largest item on the advert, is a smart move, as this makes it even more noticeable.
Alongside the centered album artwork, the bands name is printed in large font above the artwork, and the text 'THE ALBUM - OUT NOW' beneath it, using the same font as the one used on the album cover. This helps the reinforce the simple design of the advert.
The only other items on the advert are in both bottom corners - still noticeable but out of the way of the main promotion. This is the bands recording label and an award for album of the year - signifying their success to the viewer of the advert.
Overall the whole design is incredibly simplistic and stripped back, not following conventions. This helps make the advert stand out amongst others.

Magazine Advert for Underworld; Barking

This advert would be found along the top or bottom of a magazine page as it is horizontally longer. It features the album artwork on the left hand side with all the other necessary information listed on the right. The information listed is near-enough everything posted in my conventions of a magazine advert below; album name, name of the band, release date, current singles & website. It also lists the co-producers of the album so people unfamiliar with the band may at least recognize the co-producers.
Alongside this it also details the contents of the album - 'CD, CD/DVD, 2x12", LTD EDITION DELUXE BOOK PACK, DOWNLOAD' This allows the consumer to quickly see what they will be investing in, should they buy the album.
The actual design of the advert is fairly simple - pure black background with 2 graphics from the front cover to decorate the right hand side. The text is in a neon-digital style, reflecting the bands electronic genre.

Conventions of a Magazine Advert for New Albums

- Ratings from critics, quotes from the reviewers
- Name of the band, name of the album, release date
- Sometimes tour dates/ticket resailers alongside initial promotion
- Album Artwork. This would usually take up the large majortiy of the advert, to be eye-catching
- Website of band
- iTunes/Play.com adverts (digital advertisment)
- Lists the singles already released or upcoming - so people will know they are on this band
- Possibly record label

Context
The music video I am analysing is a music video to Hadouken!’s ‘That Boy That Girl’ – one of the bands first singles & music videos. At the time of release Hadouken! weren’t as well known as they are now, so this video helped boost their fan base and become more recognised across the world (‘That Boy That Girl’ is Hadouken!’s most viewed Youtube video.).
Hadouken! themselves are a Grime/Indie/Electronica/Rock band that is popular among the ‘Scene’ culture – people who tend to listen to unusual music genres and dress in bright over the top clothing. Appropriately, the band are wearing brightly coloured clothing & the mise-en-scene is paper cut-outs of them in a handmade multi-coloured box.

Camera Work & Editing
The music video begins with an establishing shot of the box, starting at exactly the same time as the music. The box begins to rotate and the cardboard cut-out speakers visualize the music that has started with the ‘swooping’ bass. The editing makes great use of stop motion & CGI, blending both perfectly throughout the video to give the sense that the band are actually cut-outs playing in a small decorated box.
The camera zooms into the box as the lyrics begin, and syncs up with the vocalist who have just appeared via stop motion into the box. The close-up shot of the singer combined with the crescendo of the music helps create a startling intro that takes the viewer by surprise and gives the band an In-Your-Face attitude that the Grime music genre is known for.
When the song reaches the chorus, the camera shots speed up a lot more in transition and quickly cut and alternate between midshots of the singer, guitarist, drummer and keyboardist and a master shot of all of them, which is appropriately in sync with the tempo of the song. This also makes great use of the stop motion involved; none of the band actually walk around, the stop motion simply moves them to other areas of the box. This gives an interesting effect that isn’t common in most music videos.
The editing as a whole is perfect – all the lip syncing & instrument syncing is spot on despite the fact it’s done mostly in stop motion – a editing that isn’t by any means.
During the first breakdown, the camera returns to its original establishing shot of the box rotating, reminding the viewer of the location, should they have forgotten. In addition to this, the guitarist and singer are layered onto the back drop and given a blur filter. This connects well with the breakdown itself as the vocals are slightly distorted and distant & the guitar almost non existent.

Mise-en-Scene
As mentioned earlier, the band are well known within the Scene culture, and this has clearly heavily influenced the mise-en-scene and costumes used in the video. The band members – most notably the vocalist are all wearing scene clothing (brightly coloured hoodies, t-shirts, baseball caps) and the box has a constantly changing background consisting mainly of the bands logo or simply ‘H!’ in various colours. The box itself could also be seen as a miniature stage for the bands miniature cut-outs.

Narrative & Representation

The whole video is purely band based, with no side narrative at all. This is a good tactic as this single was primarily used to promote the bands awareness and help kick-start their career, and so making a music video with just the band involved is a smart move because it allows viewers to recognise who the music is coming from. The band is trying to sell themselves as a whole new genre, because they've combined their Grime influences with other genres that appeal to a culture that Grime isn't that well known to, thus helping their tactic of trying to be something different.

CD Cover Analysis - Enter Shikari: Tribalism

- Bands name in the very center - band wants to make their mark & make themselves noticeable & easily distinguishable. This is reinforced by the stylised text.

- The title of the album is just under the bands name, again with a very defined text style, representing Enter Shikari's complexity & structure.

- The image is of a typical royal looking lion symbol, similar to those which are used to represent Britain. This reflects Enter Shikari's British heritage. The lion is made from text from the first two songs on the album, giving an insight into the lyrical style.

- The front cover itself is very noticeable, mainly as it stands out due to being purely text. This relates to Enter Shikari's genre of post-hardcore/techno; unusual and stands out from the crowd.

- Spines clearly indicate the band name & album name for use on a shelf.

- Bands Record Label in the bottom right so fans of the genre can check out other bands with a similar style.

- Bar code & legal information is put out of the way at the bottom of the cover, so more attention is focused on the track listing, as that is more important when it comes to promoting the CD. However even though it is placed out of the way, it still fits the neat 'justified center' text used on the whole cover. The bands website is larger than the rest of the information as this would be more important to listeners.

- The songs are listed in large letters across the entire back cover, fitting with the centered, stylised theme of the album.

- Colour scheme is unusual for a post-hardcore/techno band so this again makes the album stand out.