INDIE: Archetypes

Some of the archetypes we looked at:
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Beggars Group:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beggars_Group

Pixies:
The godfathers of Indie

Joy division:
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• Sinister, deep, dark, serious, somber 
• Black and white 
• Auteur Anton Corbijn
• Quirky  video 
• Perhaps longer takes than pop or dance
• Colour correction (post apocalyptic) 
• Abandoned building/ warehouse (JoyDiv)
• Performance footage gives credibility for the band members (musical ability from performance footage) 
• This trend is dying down to budgets in music videos falling 
• Just makes everything quicker and cheaper
• John McMuria's research highlights the big 3 conglomerates still dominate media outlets like YouTube 
• Anita Enlberse found the same

Jesus and Mary Chain:

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• Colour correction
• Run down area
• Performance (shoegaze very common performance act (looking down at feet)) 
• Over exposed shots every now and then
• Low key lighting
• Layering 

Layering

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Overexposure 

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Shoegazing
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The Cure (Goth + Indie)
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• Over exposure 
• Black and white 
• Layering
• Run down area 
• Dark sinister
• Low key lighting

Sisters of Mercy 

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• Dark, sinister
• Run down area
• Layering 
• Low key lighting

Glamour and male gaze with lips, the deconstruction of glamour with the yellow eyeshadow 

The Smiths 

• Indie has always been seen as accepting and open

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BUZZCOCKS - Ever Fallen In Love

• Considered first ever Indie track 
• John Peel played on Radio One 
• Helped invent concept of Indie
• Not reliant on record label

Artic Monkeys 

• Skinny white males 
•  Hair is a bit short but messy
• Low key lighting
• Dark clothing
• Grim mise- en - scene
• Social realist like 

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Bobby Gillespie has a very Indie look in Jesus and Mary Chain swell as Primal scream 

also:

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Very Indie look 

• Dark sinister
• Messy hair
• Skinny Male
• Downwards looking
• Leather jacket/dark clothing

Oasis

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• Black and white
• Run down area
• shoe-gazing
• emphasis on performance
• dark clothing
• sinister look 
• messy hair 
• serious tone
• skinny white male

PODCAST 2: Pitch and Preparation

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Here we have part 2 of our journey of making a music video. In this one we talked about:

• Almost finished General Convention research - just minor improvements left
• Pitch - location scouting, figured out influences, plot
• Starting genre research
• Still need to figure out costumes for characters and band members 

PITCH: Preparation and Planning

The Artist/Track + Their Audience:

• Welshly Arms - Locked
• 6 band members
• Lead Singer
• Drummer
• Bass Guitar
• Guitarist  

The Idea, Synopsis:

Narrative + Performance footage

• Narrative
• Bad Relationship they can't get out of
• Or bad breakup where they can't get over their ex
• Nightmares/ Flashbacks
• Footage from during and after relationship
• Crosscut - elliptical (vernallis) 
• INSERT LYRIC QUOTES HERE Goodwin (lyrics link to narrative) 
• Propp?
• Todorov?
• Binary opposition?
• Performance
• Derelict building 
• Run-down, graffiti
• Rocks etc.
• Forest? (Make it a living room style) 

Influences:

• Travis Scott - SICKO MODE
• Smoke bomb
• Skrillex - where are you now
• Face paint
• A2 Joe - Nine Inch Nails 'Sunspots'
• Face paint
• A2 Adels - Halsey 'Control'
• POV and effects
• Travis Scott - Butterfly effect
• SFX
• Kendrick Lamar - Humble
• SFX and editing
• Underwater in with GoPro
• NEEDS TO BE CLEARER (We saw, we did)

Key Characters: Representation, Costume:

• 6 band members in performance 
• 2 in narrative 
• Couple
• Possibly LGBTQ+
• Race
• Relationships
• Sexual orientation
• Gender
• Queering

Location scouting:

• TBC - Derelict run down building
• Woods/Forest - Flashbacks and dreams
• Kirchberg - Lights + large buildings
• City centre
• Christmas time - lights between buildings
• Grund - Cobbled streets, tight roads with buildings

Health + Safety:

• Derelict buildings could have dangers
• Sharp objects, loose rocks etc.
• Transportation risks 

Secondary Texts: Website, Digipak, Social:

• Facebook
• Instagram 
• Twitter
• Contact band/ management, use fan forum

Sum Up:

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Pitch Presentation from ChristianStricks

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INTERTEXTUALITY Charli XCX - 1999

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Steve jobs and the first Mac
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Titanic
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Spice girls - Say You'll be There
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Charlie XCX intertextualizing Rose McGowan is intertextualising  Cher (signifier of a signifier) Baudrillard's simulacra

CULTURAL CAPITAL: Carli XCX seem to be suggesting that if someone was able to understand all the references they would have a higher cultural capital than someone who can't. 
USES + GRATIFICATIONS: Its a talking point. Friend groups come together to discuss this offering the education as well as possibly have interaction with one another 
RETROMANIA: Simon Reynolds has argued that the ease of access to the past makes the pop culture which was seen to disappear has been brought forward and still is heavily in use today. There is a predominance backwards looking element even though pop culture is seen as present and future.
ALTMAN'S SET OF PLEASURES: There is an "intellectual puzzle" to finding all the intertextuality and references in the music video, as there is a sense of pleasure from understanding the references. 
SUB CULTURE: Various elements are put together to create the sub culture of this genre. Clothing, Slang, Way of acting etc. Distinguish between mainstream and subcultural styles.  

IDENT Ideas

This is our initial idea for our ident:

Fr13tag Media:
Jason - friday 13th
German - sausage and beer

Jason trying to eat a sausage and drink beer - spills beer down him

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SOCIAL MEDIA 2: YouTube and SoundCloud

We have now created a shared YouTube and shared SoundCloud account.

Youtube

SoundCloud

PODCAST 1: Welcome To Our Podcast

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Above we have a podcast which will track our journey as we embark on this adventure of creating music video.

• This podcast will document our progress through this years coursework
• Locked by welshly arms
• names for label , CA
• Social media: Fr13tag media on FB, Exposition records on twitter and Welshly arms on IG 
• Convention research for each convention, vodcast summaries, blog posts and how they would influence us
• Currently working on pitch

VODCAST Improvements

Directly illustrate voice over

• Only have relevant information on screen
• Shorten length of clips shown

Include the summaries and influences 

Blog layout

• Possible influences at top
• Summary beneath
• VODCAST summary beneath

Titles

• Chapter markers
• Summarising banners

Use of more key words

Ident

• Create new ident

Clear titles for every video used

Apply theory to specific examples

• Vernallis

Check DB guides carefully

Make points more concise

Format should be per point not per video

Only having moving image if it refers to point

SOCIAL MEDIA 1: Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

We have setup these social media accounts for the following

Instagram: For the band (Welshly Arms)

Twitter: For the record label (Exposition Records)

Facebook: The creative agency (Fr13tag Media) 

ANALYSIS: Black Eyed Peas - BIG LOVE

Black Eyed Peas - BIG LOVE

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Conventions, Industry and Audience

• This music video is counter - hegemonic 
• Track is repeated twice, two distinctive narratives 
• Warning at start saying "it is difficult to watch"
• Clash between freedom of speech and freedom of information + protection of children 
• The opening warning has a voice over of a young school age female
• Primary Audience younger males/females (teens)
• Uses and Gratifications due to lip syncing done by Teens in video
• Performance is integrated into the diegetic world
• At 5:41 there is a dolly zoom 

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• At 7:24 there is a woman seeing running to the beat which is part of Goodwin's visuals link to music
• Editing is selectively cutting to beat at times in video as seen with GIF below

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• Social realism is reflected with handheld(steady cam) 
• Conscious effort to keep movement going
• Low key lighting is also seen as social realism 
• Explores social issues
• Directly represents the underprivileged in this music video
• The underprivileged are the protagonist in this video, they are given a voice through lip syncing 
• Protagonist vs Antagonist
• Slow motion, but lip syncing is still on time  

Timestamp in video 5:00

• Cannot be screened pre-watershed 
• Too visually graphic 
• In America most TV programs will never screen even post watershed (especially advertiser funded channels)
• Directly critical of Trump 
• Lack of exposure through mainstream TV 
• Does it matter that there is no mainstream exposure on TV?
• Yes and no
• Yes they lose exposure through mainstream TV 
• No because, there is still online distribution 
• Web 2.0 (top-down model has become interactive, converged) (Top-down model is when corporations produce and audiences consume)
•   Has only 6.7M views which is not a lot compared to their most popular music video, The Time 

• Due to video being 9.40 mins long it requires a certain amount of time viewing the video for it to count as a stream on YouTube 

Quite high budget due to:

• Special effects
• Bullet wound effects
• Facial blurring 
• convergence
• *Twenty one Pilots GCSE (Simon)*
• Facial mixing (face appears on others) 
• CGI
• convergence between professional and amateur technology
• audience and producer technology being blurred  
• The high budget of music videos is more uncommon due to the DISRUPTION and due to DIGITISATION. Record companies sales are plummeting due to the huge decrease in sales and revenues of CD's. The DISRUPTION of CD sales comes from YouTube and other streaming services. 
• Hugely established band created music video, not some small Indie band, more likely to get larger budget.
• the big 3 (Sony, Universal, Warner) 
• continuity editing 
• Large amount of cast
• Large variety of locations
• Law enforcement props
• Expensive mise - en - scene

• Lighting can be used with candles as seen in this shot below 

•  Frame (below) is dominated by the coffin, person lip syncing is pushed towards of the left (not using rule of thirds intentionally to focus on the message)
• There is a high angle used to show weakness which is not as common as a low angle and unusual
•  Direct Address (looking directly at camera/you) is used to make the shot feel much more personal 
• Fairly Low key lighting used (shadow is shown) not over exposed, some fill lighting. They are very careful to try and not over do the fill lighting
•  lighting is still being controlled.   
• Majority of the shot is shallow field of focus to emphasise the message 
• Selective focus

Representations:

Preferred reading can be taken both ways of will.i.am being a person of positivity or seen as pedophellic in this shot. 

• Male science teacher
• still careful to include shots of female students in lab coats 
• Male P.E teacher
• P.E class is mixed gender 
• Different to what the representations was 30 years ago
• This can be seen as counter-typing

Schedule for completing general conventions research

GC1  JC

GC2 JC

GC3 JC

GC4 CS

GC5 CS

GC6 CS

GC7 SS

GC8 SS

GC9 SS

GC10  

FRIDAY: Improve upon blogs

SATURDAY:Additional EG's  

SUNDAY: Possible Influences, SS 7 Summary + Vodcast

MONDAY: CS 4 Summary + Vodcast.  SS 8 Summary + Vodcast

TUESDAY: CS 5 Summary + Vodcast JC 1 Summary +Vodcast

WEDS: CS 6 Summary + Vodcast SS 9 Summary + Vodcast JC 2 Summary +Vodcast

THURS: JC 3 Summary +Vodcast

FRIDAY?: present...

GC1 Lyrics/Visuals; Narrative 

Individual JC: done

Individual CS: done

Individual CS: done

Combined new egs: 

Combined summary: JC

Vodcast:

GC2 Genre Characteristics

Individual JC: done

Individual CS: done

Individual CS: done

Combined new egs: 

Combined summary: JC

Vodcast:

GC3 Intertextuality & Postmodernism

Individual JC: done

Individual CS: done

Individual CS: done

Combined new egs:

Combined summary: JC 

Vodcast:

GC4 Representations 

Individual JC: done

Individual CS: done

Individual CS: done

Combined new egs:

Combined summary: CS

Vodcast:

GC5 Cinematography & Editing

Individual JC: done

Individual CS: done

Individual CS: done

Combined new egs: 

Combined summary: CS

Vodcast:

GC6 UGC

Individual JC: done

Individual CS: done

Individual CS: done

Combined new egs:

Combined summary: CS

Vodcast:

GC7 Alternative Vids

Individual JC: done

Individual CS: done

Individual CS: done

Combined new egs:

Combined summary: SS

Vodcast:

GC8 Distribution 

Individual JC: done

Individual CS: done

Individual CS: done

Combined new egs:

Combined summary: SS

Vodcast:

GC9 Branding/Promo package 

Individual JC: done

Individual CS: done

Individual CS: done

Combined new egs:

Combined summary: SS 

Vodcast:

GC10 Possible Influences  

Individual JC: done

Individual CS: done

Individual CS: done

Combined new egs:

Combined summary:

Vodcast:

CALL SHEET

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NARRATIVE Todorov's Narrative Structure

Introduction of Todorov 

Tzetan Todorov was a Bulgarian/French historian. He was also a philosopher, structuralist literary critic, geologist and socialist. He has written many books and essays linking to literary theory, semiotics, sociology and cultural theory. In 1996 he created the narrative structure theory. He believed that this theory could be applied to any film or media text with a narrative structure.

5 Stages of Theory

1. A state of equilibrium - This means everything is happening as it should 
2. A disruption of the equilibrium - This disruption can happen throughout the film
3. A recognition by the characters that a disruption has occurred 
4. An attempt to repair the disruption
5. A reinstatement of the equilibrium 

NARRATIVE Propp's 7 Archetypes

Introduction to Propp 
Vladimir Propp was a soviet folklorist who majored in philology. His character types went unnoticed until they were translated in 1958. The characters were a breakdown of fairy tales divided from 31 sections into 7. These seven character types can also be known as archetypes.

The Seven Archetypes 

1. The Villain (antagonist) - struggles against the hero
2. The Donor - prepares the hero or goes the hero a magical object
3. The Helper - helps the hero in his journey or quest
4. The Hero (protagonist) - reacts to the donor, is the person who saves the day, gets prize/princess
5. The False Hero - takes credit for the hero's actions and tries to claim the price/princess
6. The Princess or Prize - the hero's journey often ends with him wedding the princess or receiving a prize
7. The Dispatcher - a character who takes the unknown known and tells them to the hero

Star Wars Example

The Villain - Darth vader

The Donor - Obi-Wan Kenobi

The Helper - Han Solo
The Hero - Luke Skywalker
False Hero - Lando

The Princess - Princess Leia

The Dispatcher - R2D2