Initial ideas

INITIAL IDEAS

1st Idea

The idea of the main protagonist being in prison. Or potentially an insane asylum.

The idea that all of these people in her head being her friends are figures of her imagination. She used to watch Alice and Wonderland as a child and feels that she is Alice. The main story-line would be that of her explaining her feelings to a councilor. The ideas she has in her mind stem down to a deep mental illness which is incapable of treating. Or potentially, she may actually be Alice from Wonderland and she is telling the truth, although no one believes her as it is too hard to imagine to be true. With her being in prison, she committed the crime of attacking people for thinking they were characters from Wonderland. The basic idea is that there is a female, who is the main singer, she is in deep pain internally and mentally. The theme would be dark and sinister and maybe even violent.

2nd Idea

She is a teenage reject, she spends time reading books and being isolated. Not the stereotypical teenager she is shunned and taunted at school. However she has one friend who has no idea about her anger management issues and depression. She lashes out and her friend turns her back on her. The whole idea is that she attends a self help group and she feels 'sane' around them. Rather than being looked at by all of her school associates as being crazy for giving her best friend a black eye. She accepts who she is and eventually puts two fingers up to the people who bullied her (hypothetically speaking) and stays true to herself without conforming to the stereotypical girl in secondary school.

3rd Idea

Drug related.

The idea being that, she is totally addicted to drugs and cannot think straight anymore. Schizophrenic girl who takes drugs in order to be with her friends from wonderland. Alice and wonderland related from the things she sees when she is high on drugs. In the real world she is on her own and is seen as a loner (cloning techniques) . However when she is on drugs she feels accepted. This idea may prove valuable for special effects of being on drugs and may actually end up giving a positive message which is the dominant (Stuart Hall) to the main audience. My main audience being 16-29 year olds, drug awareness is invaluable. Also it will prove to be interesting with costumes and effects. 

Alice and Wonderland 

I watched Alice and Wonderland (1951) animation film. It has allowed me to come up with different ideas about what to include into my music video, such as the singing flowers, the Dodo bird, or the lizard chimney sweep. 

Moral Hysteria + Controversial Issues

Moral hysteria is when large groups of the public become fearful or the choices of groups of people (usually young people). 

Many current music videos around today wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near television screens in the 60's. For example, the sex pistols TV interview which sparked massive controversy after being aired. 

This ties into my current work of music videos because certainly from the 80's to now, a major cause of moral hysteria has been music videos mainly from rap acts like Kanye West to heavy metal acts like Korn. Although not particularly known to the indie-pop genre which I am covering, the issues tackled in Mad Hatter are that of drug use and psychosis and other mental disorders. Which have in recent times become a sensitive topic when discussing the likes of depression. 

50s

Elvis thrusting his hips  

Presley has already appeared six times on national television, but it is his appearance on The Milton Berle Show on June 5, 1956, that triggers the first controversy of his career. Presley sings his latest single, "Hound Dog," with all the pelvis-shaking intensity his fans scream for. Television critics across the country slam the performance for its "appalling lack of musicality," for its "vulgarity" and "animalism." The Catholic Church takes up the criticism in its weekly organ in a piece headlined "Beware Elvis Presley." Concerns about juvenile delinquency and the changing moral values of the young find a new target in the popular singer.

60s

• Rolling Stones and The Beatles with their sexualised lyrics.

• Fear of the spread of Communism

• Rise of LSD and Marijuana leading to the counter culture 

70s

• First wave of metal 
• Punk/Anarchy 
• Harder drugs (heroin)

80s

• Cocaine 
• Margaret Thatcher is PM  
• Consumerism overtakes morals 

90s

• Rave culture 
• Ecstasy
• Grunge    

00s 

• Fear of terrorism after 9/11 (World Trade Centre) 
• Stock market crash

10's

Migration 
Terrorism 
Extremism

Textual Analysis

Marina and the Diamonds 
Primadonna 



Textual Analysis 

Textual Analysis - Primadonna from Enea Luciano

Melanie Martinez 

Carousel 

Textual Analysis

Carousel Textual Analysis from Enea Luciano

Conventions of form

The conventions of a music video that the audience most commonly recognise are:
Costume – a range of costumes throughout the music video gives it more of an interesting look.
Performance – live, lip-synced or dance, usually depends on the genre.Narrative – can be a story or purely abstract. 
Artist feature – the artist will be seen throughout the video usually, promoting the artist image through the video.
Music/song – the artist’s song would be played throughout the music video to promote the song. Other things such as a range of cinematography and a range of images are also conventions that we would use in music videos.
Rhythmic editing – editing that goes the beat of the song will usually be used throughout the video.
A range of cinematography – wide shots, pans, 360 degree shots, high and low angles, etc.
A range of editing techniques – fades, overlaps, dissolves, slow motion or reverse edits may be used instead of just the standard cut.
Alternative Music videos for Alternative bands often switch from between the band and an alternate story line or sometimes the band playing ties in with the main story. The main story in this video being clips from the 70's TV show happy days. Another convention often seen in alternative music videos is humour, this can been seen with the cameos of characters from the show. Derelict sets is another typical convention along with rough, shakey camera work and dim lighting one examples of this is Joy Divisions Love will tear us apart.
Pop
Pop music videos have a bright and warm colour scheme, this is because pop songs tend to have a happy subject matter. Pop music videos also tend to use attractive young people as the target audience are usually young. Another convention of pop music videos are dance routines, unlike the other genres I have mentioned when the artists are performing they are dancing to choreographed dance routine. 
Here is an example 

Indie-Pop

Comparing the Genres

Textual Analysis of different genres 



Indie Pop/Rock



'Breezeblocks' directed by Ellis Bahl is song by alt-J, who are a indie-pop band the reason I am looking at this video and song in particular is because indie-rock is one of the genres I am interested in looking into as I enjoy the type of music as well as find their types of music videos entertaining, such as this one. The video genre of this music video is narrative. The special thing about this video though is the whole video is actually in reverse, presenting us with a scenario that has already happened (in association to love) however we see it happen backwards an how this situation has been unveiled rather than from beginning to finish. As the meaning at the beginning of the video (the end of the situation) changes from the meaning we become apparent of at the end of the video (the start of the situation). I thought this was an extremely incredible style and concept of music video that not only portrayed the storyline of the narrative well but linked extremely well to the song.

At the start of video we are presented with a dead women in a bath in her own blood and a man sitting with his head in his hands by the bath with a wedding ring on. This is captured using camera due to close ups on the man, the wedding ring and the womans face in dead in the bath. As an audience we automatically and stereotypically think that this women has been killed by her husband. The video then begins to rewind and unveil to us he this scenario has progressed in this way. We then see the man hit the women and the women trying to escape the man running into the bathroom, with the man reaching out to grab her, indicating to us as an audience that the man is the antagonist in this narrative and the  women is in danger. We se them fight in rewind throwing items at each other trying to then hurt one another and as the video progresses in rewind we start to see the women being more violent and the man running from her and how he has instead just turn on her to stop her. Towards the end of the video we then see that this women that we thought was the mans wife is not actually as another character is introduced which is another women who is actually in fact the mans wife and is tied up in a cupboard as the women was in fact trying to kill the man, and the man is actually trying to stop her by pushing her up against the wall and throwing away her knife. As this continues to rewind we find out that actually the man has just arrived home from work and then seen her wife tied up and then untied her, but whilst he is doing so the antagonist women sneaks up behind him and tried to kill him or them. We then realise the purpose and the meaning of the video when it ends with a shot of the man coming into the apartment. This is captured all in reverse to create a change in meaning and create realisation within the audience in what they are watching. This is captured with the use of camera, miss-en-scene and editing.

For example throughout the video we do not see any long shots as the director doesn't want to give away the twist in narrative by allowing us to see the rest of the surrounding and what is really going on or what has happened previously. Instead the video is captured in only ecu's, close ups and at most medium shots. This is because we are being contained in what we are meant to and can see as the director does't want to give the meaning of the video away. This is done because by doing this and only using these types of shots using camera it allows the audience to focus on key aspects like the ring, the knife, the slab, the conflict etc. However we see a change in angles throughout the video. At the start the man is captured at a low angle making him seem villainous, however as the video progresses botht he women and man are seen at the same level, until the women is finally captured over the man at the end (start of the scenario) with a low angle shot, with the man down with his wife tied up and the women standing over the man to suggest dominance or the danger she is planning to inflict on the man, hence why the ecu's on the knife were emphasised as props such as the knife, slab, glass bottles smashing etc are all symbolising danger.

Moreover this links to mise-en-sceen throughout the video. For example the props used throughout the video symbolise danger as well as connoting or representing other themes or ideas. For instance the wedding ring at the start implying both the women and man at the start to be husband and wife. However this idea changes towards he end when another prop is brought in, that being a knife and another women tied up, therefore making us realise that they aren't actually husband and wife and the man is actually married to the women tied up. This is also similar to the glass bottles shattering, the knife and the concrete slab connoting violence. Furthermore the lighting within the video is very cold, with a slight fade over it. This is to work with the style of video having a cold indie style as well as representing the cold feelings being presented within the video. This indie style is also presented due to modern apartment making the style of music video current and about relationships now. Moreover the close up's and ecu's are important to linking into the miss-en-scene due to what they are presenting in the shot. For example the close up's on faces help the audience to feel and see the emotion within the video as well as engage with what is happening. Conflict is also portrayed through the body language with close up's showing the fight between the women and man. Finally at the end when the man is shown entering the apartment low key chiaroscuro lighting is used to show closure as the only light source being outside, so when the door finally shuts this resembles the finalisation of the video as well as completing the sequence of the scenario.

First of all for editing, the entire video is in reverse which is especially different compared to other styles of music videos. Furthermore the reverse is in a slower time, this is done so we can capture everything that is happening. At the start of the video the screen time starts of slow and for a long duration, however the jump cuts begin to increase and making the pace the video quicker towards the middle of the video, however his then begins to slow down after the climax of the video. This change of pace matches the song and the speed of the song. This is done to create reflection and sound match in the visuals. The pace of editing can also reflect on the emotion in the video, it being fast and more dangerous or thrilling and then slower being calmer.


Tom Odell's - 'Another Love' is an indie genre of music video which I thought I could compare with my previous analysis of alt-J's video 'Breezeblocks' and see trends or similarities or differences in this genres type of music video, as this being one of my chosen genre's to explore. This music video however, is very strange compared to all other videos I have seen before. This is because there is only one shot throughout the entire video and the camera does not move at all or change and there are no transitions throughout apart from the slow zoom in and out as well as one overlay transition in the last second the finish the video. This I thought was very captivating as well as very strange as by the sound of it you would think to be bored watching the same shot for approximately 4 minutes. The song is said to be about: "The song is an expose of an individual’s turmoil; wishing to show their affection to their partner, yet weighed down by lingering feelings of distrust and sadness from a previous relationship. It is implied that the relationship suffers from this constant comparison through both the rhyming couplets of the song and the building atmosphere of the music." (source - Wikipedia) This I think which may be someones thoughts or be a legitimate description, however unknown due to the source being Wikipedia, I feel that this description or meaning placed to the video and the song is very fitting due to the lyrics and what is happening in the video.

With the camera as I have said there isn't a lot to talk about as there is only one shot with no transitions between, only remaining with the exact same shot and camera angle and position throughout the video. The camera is placed in the middle of a room with Tom Odell the main actor in the video and artist of the song, sitting and remaining still in a chair, singing. The camera then begins to slowly zoom out and then at (01:34) the camera stops zooming out until it begins to zoom slowly back in at (01:54), after this the camera then keeps switching between zooming in and out, but slowly.

However there is a lot of mise-en-scene in the music video.At the start the lighting is cold and slightly pale, there is a women in white while Tom O dell is sitting down wearing black, this already shows a contrast in the two characters. The women is then walking round him and slowly giving him affection while he sits there ignoring her and singing into the camera. The room they are sitting in is old fashioned with a arm chair, fireplace, old fashioned mirror and flowers and rough brick walls and wooden flooring. This gives the old fashioned and indie style that he would be going for or maybe resembling a traditional type of love with the old fashioned setting. Then at (01:54) more furniture begin to fade in to the same shot this resembling a change of time or a growth in the relationship due to new belongings in the room maybe showing one of them moving in. Women is now in darker clothing, showing she has changed. Then at (02:26) the screen begins to shake because the sound is getting and louder, he's singing louder and the drums have now been introduced. The sound match is being shown through the shaking screen.  Women then starts trying to get his attention again and starts getting angry while he continues to ignore her but singing passionately into the camera. Her body language tells us her frustration and anger, this could also signify the change in their relationship or in the girl.Then at (03:03) the colour and lighting of the screen begins to get darker and darker, nearly black. This is complementing the lighting and what the song is about. Blackness then closes over to an ecu of tom odell where he looks sad and then bows his head to show closure as well as a bad ending.

The editing in the video is strange compared to usual editing thinking of transitional and the pace of the video, because the pace of the video doesn't change as there are no changes in scenes or shots or any cutting. However the screen shakes at one point which is a wobble effect to obviously imply destruction or anger. This the  works along with the colour editing in the way it gets darker to show depression and sadness as well as the finalization of the video. The dark colour editing is done to show change. Furthermore there is also fading, although this is overlaying fading with other items fading into the shot, meaning that its not transitional but just changing the scene in the shot, or making it look like this to show a change in time. However, the only transition is the one right at the end where a black door closing transition comes over the scene, just like a door would, almost like the women has left like when she leaves the screen or the door resembling the end of the relationship or love that is being talked of in the song.

My Genre

What is indie pop? 

Indie pop is a genre that originates from independent, do-it-yourself bands, that consist of small fan groups and have possibly released their music to small, independent record labels. This genre of music is often described to not suit mainstream audiences due to their themes within lyrics. Indie pop music is becoming more and more popular amongst teenagers and adults within the recent years. This is mostly due to a surge in popularity in the internet, due to websites such as; YouTube discovering talent and music festivals promoting them. 

Music Video Genres - in short

Animation 
Some music videos have a mixture involving animation that is edited in, this creates creativity and entertainment in the video.

Kanye West ft. T-Pain - Good Life:


Mixture 
Where there is the musician playing as well as a narrative story line occurring and the camera cuts between the two.

The Veronicas - Untouched 

Performance

Where the band/artist is playing the song throughout the video.

Lily Allen - Not fair



Cameo 
Where someone famous or from the same music label features in the narrative or music video.

Marina and the Diamonds ft. Charli XCX - Just Desserts 

Narrative
Where the song involves a narrative and so the words and meaning of the song is acted out in some way.

Sia - Titanium 

Concept

Concept videos are based around a single idea or concept and are usually unusual or obscure, even surreal for an audience. The unusual content is an attraction to many consumers, which draws them in.

Die Antwoord - I FINK U FREEKY

These are the most common genres of popular music videos however hybrids can be made along with more niche styles.

Key Features of a Music Video

Andrew Goodwin, in Dancing in the Distraction Factory (1922, Routledge), has identified the following features of music videos:

• Music Videos demonstrate genre characteristics (eg stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band). 
• There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
• There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
• The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist many develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).
• There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
• There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos, etc)

Lyric Analysis/ Timings

The song I have chosen has no music video. 

Timings of Lyrics

introduction                                                                      0-10
My friends don't walk, they run                                         10-13
Skinny dip in rabbit holes for fun                                      13-15
Popping, popping balloons with guns, getting high off helium 15-21
We paint white roses red,                                                 21-23
Each shade from a different person's head                         23-26
This dream, dream is a killer                                            26-28
Getting drunk with the blue caterpillar                             28-31

I'm peeling the skin off my face                                       32-37
'Cause I really hate being safe                                          37-42
The normal's, they make me afraid                                   42-48
The crazies, they make me feel sane                                48-52

I'm nuts, baby, I'm mad,                                                   52-54
The craziest friend that you've ever had                            54-57
You think I'm psycho, you think I'm gone                           57-59
Tell the psychiatrist something is wrong                         59-1.02
Over the bend, entirely bonkers                                 1.02-1.05
You like me best when I'm off my rocker                     1.05-1.07
Tell you a secret, I'm not alarmed                               1.07-1.10
So what if I'm crazy? The best people are                     1.10-1.13
All the best people are crazy, all the best people are   1.16-1.24

Where is my prescription?                                          1.24-1.26
Doctor, doctor please listen                                       1.26-1.28
My brain is scattered                                                  1.28-1.31
You can be Alice,                                                                   
I'll be the mad hatter.                                               1.31-1.34

I'm peeling the skin off my face                                 1.34-1.40
'Cause I really hate being safe                                    1.40-1.45
The normal's, they make me afraid                             1.45-1.50
The crazies, they make me feel sane                          1.50-1.55

I'm nuts, baby, I'm mad,                                             1.55-1.57
The craziest friend that you've ever had                     1.57-2.00
You think I'm psycho, you think I'm gone                     2.00-2.02
Tell the psychiatrist something is wrong                      2.02-2.05
Over the bend, entirely bonkers                                 2.05-2.07
You like me best when I'm off my rocker                     2.07-2.10
Tell you a secret, I'm not alarmed                               2.10-2.12
So what if I'm crazy? The best people are                    2.12-2.16

You think I'm crazy, you think I'm gone                       2.16-2.21
So what if I'm crazy? All the best people are                2.21-2.27
And I think you're crazy too, I know you're gone         2.27- 2.32
That's probably the reason that we get along               2.32-2.36

I'm nuts, baby, I'm mad,                                             2.36-2.38
The craziest friend that you've ever had                     2.38-2.41
You think I'm psycho, you think I'm gone                     2.41-2.43
Tell the psychiatrist something is wrong                      2.43-2.46
Over the bend, entirely bonkers                                 2.46-2.49
You like me best when I'm off my rocker                     2.49-2.52
Tell you a secret, I'm not alarmed                               2.52-2.54
So what if I'm crazy? The best people are                    2.54-2.57
All the best people are crazy, all the best people are   3.00-3.08
All the best people are crazy, all the best people are   3.10-3.19
Lyric Analysis

In order to construct my ideas on the meaning behind the lyrics, I used an online mind map creater, called WiseMapping. It has allowed me to take each line from the song and brake down the meaning of the lyrics.

Overall, the tone of the song is verging on psychotic. The main protagonist is a female, who is under the influence of drugs. She is addicted to the drugs and therefore believes that she is crazy and mentally ill. However this may actually be the case as she is convinced she is in wonderland. 
I will be aiming for a very dark sort of music video. Potentially reflecting the dangers of drug use. I will have to ensure there is a clear alice and wonderland theme.