Semiotic Analysis

Blink-182 - Stay Together For The Kids

This video is about divorce and its effects on children that perhaps adults don't consider. This is evident in the title 'Stay Together For The Kids'. The lyrics also portray this, for example 'If this is what he wants and it's what she wants then why's there so much pain' which show the anger and lack of understanding by the children who are a victim of their parents' divorce.

The video is structured in two main parts, following a non-linear narrative of the children in the house as well as the performance of the band. The change in pace and editing between the verses and chorus correspond with the change in music, thus creating a more angry mood in the chorus versus the sad mood presented in the verse.

The way in which the video begins with a statistic about divorce sets up the theme of the video in an informative way. The wrecking ball represents the destruction of divorce, and the fact that it's in a house shows its effects on their home. However, the fact that the house is already abandoned and vandalized could portray the fact that their home is already destroyed by the prospect of divorce, foreshadowed by the lyrics 'this house is haunted'.

This semiotic analysis helped me to understand the crafting of a music video to convey a message. I learned the importance of signs and codes within a music video, as well as the relationship between the music, lyrics and visuals.

My Idea So Far

• Begins with a group of friends walking around London talking and having fun
• They discover a door/walk round a corner
• Walk through to find a mysterious place where they are pulled in by other people (shot in the seward studio)
• In this room there are various different scenes that take place, involving a lot of colour and dancing, generally having fun; some filmed in slow motion
• One scene could be a powder paint fight:

• Another could be UV/Neon based:

• Another could be using projections
• There could also be scenes of the band/artist performing the song in the studio so the video would cut between the friends' party shots and the performance shots
• At the end of the video, the friends will walk out of the door and appear the same as they did before, now looking confused but happy

Influential Artists/Bands

Wilkinson and Route 94 have been big influences to me music-wise as they both create dance songs that are incredibly catchy and feel-good. This is exactly the sort of song I would like to produce a video to; something that is easily recognisable but also enjoyable and something people like to dance to. I also like their styles of videos and artwork.

I have also found listening to older tracks such as MK's 'Always' incredibly useful as I like the 90s style, especially as this style is incredibly fashionable at the moment.

As for artist identity, I like the way in which Jess Glynne presents herself. She appears fun and likeable as opposed to the more manufactured female artists in pop music. In addition, dance songs often feature a female singer and Jess Glynne is a good example of this to base our artist profile around.

I have also found AlunaGeorge very inspirational as they are a male and female duo which is interesting and different yet it works. I like the cool and subtle image they create, similar to that of Jess Glynne. I also like the natural feel to their music, performance and videos as well as the visible chemistry between them.

Influential Styles

The TV show 'Skins' has been a huge influence when thinking about content of the video as well as style. The way in which it follows an average friendship group is something I particularly like as this is relateable to the youth audience, as well as sometimes being aspirational. The show does have a lot of emotion, but there are a lot of scenes that just show young people having fun, which is an idea that I particularly like. With regards to style, I like the way in which the programme can be incredibly naturalistic and realistic as well as exaggerated and dramatized. I also like the styling of the characters and the way in which this brings out each character's personality, which is something I would like to consider for my music video.



A concept that I found incredibly inspirational is powder paint parties. These look really good on camera with endless possibilities of shot types. They also look like everyone is having a good time which is something I would like to convey in my music video. The colours would work well with the sort of partying and dancing video I would like to create.

I have also been inspired by the style of the 90s. I like the bright colours, for example tie dye and neon, and feel that these create a fun and individual look. In addition, the retro style of the 90s is incredibly fashionable at the moment so this could be good with appealing to a young audience.

Influential Websites & Album Covers

Websites

Wilkinson

I really like the simplicity of this website as it makes it incredibly easy to navigate. I also like the aesthetics to the page and the way in which it corresponds to their album 'Lasers Not Included' as well as their latest single. The website is incredibly visual and enticing for the audience. I feel that these things together make the audience more inclined to actually look at all the features on the page, rather than a website that is cluttered and unappealing to the eye. I also really like the way in which their music is integrated into the site so it is easy to listen, share and buy the songs (as shown below).

Alt-J also have a similarly simple and aesthetically pleasing website. In addition, they have some interesting features such as the 'Map' which is an interactive feature, allowing audiences to find where they can buy the latest album. This gets the audience involved in the music, giving it a more personal feel.

I also like Clean Bandit's website as it has the similarly clean feel with a white background, but it is very visual and focused on social media and videos. I think this works really well as it doesn't take focus off of the band and the music they want to promote.

Album Covers  

Album covers are incredibly important part of branding as they create a visual expression for the artist. They are the initial branding image used to raise awareness of the artist and their new music. This means that the album cover should be memorable and where possible, iconic, in order to create a strong image which can be used in all senses of the campaign to create synergy, thus maintaining a successful product.

These are some of my favourite album covers for the type of album I would like to create:

 I really like these album covers as they're very colourful and visually pleasing. They make the CD look interesting and the artist appear creative. Personally I feel that I would be more likely to pick up a CD in a shop if the cover was striking and colourful like these. I also think that they're expressive but it a fun way which makes them appealing to all.

Here is some further research on alternative styles of album covers:

These album covers have simple yet iconic graphics which have made the albums recognizable for years since their release. They are incredibly simplistic yet memorable. I think this type of album cover is best suited to rock artists, usually used for their iconic/most successful albums. The memorable graphic creates an image that can be used on all of the band/artists' merchandise and branding in order to create a synergistic release campaign.

Another style of album cover is the iconic photograph. These are usually photographs of the band/artist and can range from a natural spontaneous photo like The Clash's 'London Calling' to a stylised photograph such as David Bowie's 'Alladin Sane'. These album covers are usually associated with older albums which have been very well known for decades. I really like these album covers but I feel that they only work with very influential artists whose albums create huge impact on music.

Music Video Influences

I like the way that the entire video is in thermal imaging and this turns a fairly basic idea into a really interesting video. The fact that the video is so intriguing detracts from the fact that the song is actually very repetitive which is typical of the genre. I would like to use some effects in my video that give a similar effect of transforming the image into something that isn't usually seen. In addition, I like the concept of the video with shots focusing on the dancing in the club scene but also the fact that it is focused on a narrative of two characters within a wider concept of the clubbing scene.


In this video I like the way in which they have used costumes and effects to make it appear to be in the style of a 90s video which gives it a nice retro look. I also like the way in which it cuts between the singer and general shots that have contextual significance to both the song and the era.



I really like the use of strobe effects and cuts to work in time with the music; I think this makes the video and song together very powerful. The strobes and black outs are used effectively as transitions too.  I also really like the slow motion dancing shots as they're interesting to watch and I would like to use some dancing shots similar to this in my video. In addition, I like the idea of the cuts between the character's normal life and figments of his imagination and think this is done very creatively in this video.

My favourite part of this video is the use of looped shots to create the effect of people dancing continuously. In addition, I like the way in which the darkness contrasts with the bright white lights and the effect this has on the black and white video. I also like the use of light and darkness as a transition between places and narratives in the video.

Despite this video being of a very different style to the previous ones, I like the way in which it basically just follows the band around doing different fun things. I like the idea of producing a video that follows a group of young people and is identifiable with the young British audience. There are also some really nice exterior shots which would be interesting to do, but probably very difficult to produce to a professional standard.

Genres of Interest & Possible Tracks

Although I am happy to do a music video of most genres, I am particularly interested in dance music. However, this covers a very wide range of music. The two main types of the genre I am interested in is faster drum and bass-eque songs like the one below. This could be a good track to use as it is uplifting and has a gradual build-up. It is also very catchy and has an easy concept to work with.



However, I also like the more calm tracks such as the one above. I think that calmer, more house-esque tracks would work really well with my idea of friends together as it is more realistic and not too fast to work with. This too is a catchy track which is easily enjoyable by many people.