They have their own website, on which people can post comments, so there is a mini forum style to their website.
They have videos of them on youtube.
They are on twitter, Facebook, Wikipedia and Myspace which again allows fans to follow them and keep up to date with information about the band and where they are.
The quick editing that is cutting to the beat is a convention of electro house music videos.
When i researched about this video I found out that this song is an attack on critics who sad that their music as a band was "repetitive" and "boring" in their first album.
It has repetitive lyrics at the beginning of the video which emphasis the repetition in the video.
There is a lot of quirky imagery used such as the people in the green screen room in the green screen suits playing around.
It has the conventions of a video game when there are flashing words like you have in a video game.
This type of electronic music desensitises the warmth from the music and almost dehumanises it. This almost cuts off the audience from reality, much like they are showing in the video by being in this green screen room.
There is a match on the action in the video where there is a picture of an explosion in the green room and then a shot of him actually jumping away from an explosion. This actually is showing you the editing within the video.
In the video they are placed in order of importance to the band as we would conventionally see in music videos. We see the lead singer and guitarist near the front with the other instrument plays such as the keyboard player and the man with the symbol placed towards the back.
Another thing I noticed was that the stage they are on is not joined they are almost on individual stages to each other. This could be trying to show they are individual artist in their own right and therefore breaking this convention that the more important people are the lead singer and the lead guitarist. They could also e trying to show that each of them are bringing something different to the song in with their different music styles and rhythms and even though they are a band each of them still have their own unique style in music.
Editing:
Here the video uses Dolly Shots, mid shots and close ups again like the Daft Punk Video, they use these in this video however to show the people in the video playing the instruments or singing. There are mid-shots used to show the different camera editing techniques, such as when they are pretending to catch the ball and hit it to one another. This time it focuses more on the repetition of the people moving in the video because this is what the video is about.
There is almost a jump cut used to show the passing of time when they are performing and the fans come to watch them,however the band playing is not cut in order to keep them playing in time with the music.
They focus on cutting with the beat, and the editing is quick and in time with things that are going on in the video e.g the skipping or the tennis ball launcher.
In their video is it mainly all shown in a green screen room which is used for editing in backgrounds and backdrops. This could be showing that they are original and that they are creative. This is because when we see nearer the end of the film they are on a roof top performing, its almost as if we have seen the pre final production stage of their music video and then we are seeing it in the process of the background being made. This is because we can see different lays then being added when they are on this what looks like very cartoon like building.
Analysis- Daft Punk- Around the World-Focusing on Repetition in Music Videos
In this video I will mainly be looking to see how the use of repetition is used through things such as lyrics and editing. And then how we can apply and incorporate these ideas into our video.
There is match on the lyrics. The lyrics are "Around the World" and they are walking around in a circular shape as if it is a miniature world.
The Lyrics "Around the World" are said repetitively but at different speeds. This helps the audience to differentiate the chorus and the build up in the songs compared to the lower tempo areas of the song.
There is repetition in that they are continuously walking in circles but in different patterns of circles within their dancing.
All of the people in the video are steeping in time/sync with the beat of the music. (beat matched).
Again the repetition of circular motions withe their arms at one point link back to the world lyrics in the song.
Also I think the repetition of their dance moves could show that their is repetition around the world as in, the world all moves round together in a repetitive way. People work the same every day, people move around and live.
I feel this repetitive motion could also have codes in it talking about the repetition of life how it goes in cycles and is never ending like a circle which the world is shaped.
I feel they have showed the characters dancing in time with the beat to show how people in the world are in time with life almost. As is they are moving with the times and how things change and we move with them like technology.
In one shot we see a over head shot of the people dancing, and now we can see the platform type things they are all on is also round.
They have the same dance moves within each group of people in the video and they are exactly in sync with each other and the beat of the music. This adds to the repetition of the music video.
There is also repetition in their costumes their are groups of four people wearing identical costumes to each other.
Editing:
The camera work focuses on their feet and their movement in time with the beat rather than focusing on their faces.
The actors in the music focus on the beat and the way that it changes every bar. They complete 4 repetitions of one movement then the camera will focus on their next repetitive movement.
There are a number of Dolly Shots swooping across from the front giving us a view of the whole stage area the characters in the video are in. mid shots are used to show us their repetitive movements, and close ups to emphasise their costumes and their expressions on their faces such as the women in leotards. The camera shots change in time with the beat.
There is not much going on in the video so therefore the use of camera work helps to keep the audience interested and watching it.
The se of lighting in this video is interesting as it is in time with the beat and when certain parts of the music is played then they change and also when the dancers do moves they lighting changes for example at 2:25mins when they skeletons and the women in leotards come forward and back the lighting changes from dark to light.
For our music video we as a group have decided to make it using the song: Over and Over by Hot Chip. We have chosen this video because we like the use of repetition in the video.
We will aim to look at using many examples or repetition in our video as well as looking at other video that use repetition and how they use it.We will look at their repetitive editing techniques, costume, dance moves, syllables, phrases and so on.
All of this we can then look to see how we can put these techniques into our won music video and use them as they would be in a music video.
"This is the repetition of a sound, syllable, word, phrase, line or stanza that is used at a basic unifying device in music. It may reinforce or supplement the controlling factor in the arrangement of lyrics in a musical piece."
Repetition is basically used in music videos to help us remember the lyrics or the song so we recognize this song next time we hear or see a segment from it.
There are the four main basic types of repetition used in music videos:
1) Alliteration- Repeating the same constant sound at the beginning of several words.
2) Anaphora- A device that consists of repeating words at the beginning of neighboring clauses.
3)Phrases- For example the repetition of phrases in the chorus.
4) Beat- The rhythmic beat in the song.
These techniques are used in every music video, but so that we as an audience do not realize because of the way they are edited into the video.
Most music videos make such extensive use of the dolly that a static shot seems anomalous.
The dolly shot help keeps the video moving; it starts almost invariably as soon as the video begins, and only ceases towards the end. It provides a simple way for music videos to catch and sustains a songs momentum.
Low Angle Shots in Videos
These are used more extensively in music videos, partly because they reproduce relations among the audience, performer and stage. Such shots centre authority upon performers and assert their sexual charisma, often crudely, by highlighting the erogenous zones of performers. A high angle shot in music videos, as in film, gives the viewer a sense of power and mobility. (Carol Vernallis).
Hypodermic Needle Theory- Media texts are like a drug- they directly influence the audience and alter their opinions, attitude and values- (Ideology) - Propaganda.
Effects Debate- Does it actually make the audience at in certain ways? - Children act in certain ways that characters they see in films and on their video games.
In both of these debates they assume the audience is passive (letting themselves influenced by the media text they are taking in).
Encoding and Decoding- The producer encodes the text so the audience can decode it and get what the producer of the text is trying to get across through the codes. However the audience can decode the text incorrectly; this is called oppositional reading.
-For example:
I have encoded my text with facial expressions and body language within this image as a means of conveying certain ideas to the target audience- however; I do appreciate that the process of decoding from the audience may result in the intended meaning being decoded differently. (Oppositional reading).
There are a number of ways the audience can go when they de-code a text:
Preferred reading- This is what the producer has intended to get across to the audience and that the audience have decoded it correctly.
Negotiated Reading- Audience agrees with certain elements but not all of the text.
Oppositional Reading- This is when the audience disagree with the ideology or text or de-code it in a manner that was not intended.
Uses and Gratification- In this theory the audience do have an active role in choosing which text to engage with and what aspects of those texts.
With reference to the uses and gratification theory, target audience may well use my text as a means of discovering the latest fashion in clothing/ music/ technology, etc.
Roland Barthes- He was a semiotics professor around the 1950-1960’s. He used to analyse texts. He said that texts can be either open or closed. Open texts can be unravelled in a numbers of ways and can have many codes. Closed texts can only really have one main code that you can derive from the text.
Roland Barthes “The Death of the Author” this links into post modern theory.
Reception Theory- The audience are actively creative in the construction of meanings from the text. They control the actual interpretation of the text (de-coding) the producer does not have the final word on what the text actually means to the audience.
- This video is narrative the whole way through, the artists never performs.
- It is shown in chronological order.
- The editing is synced to the beat.
-It uses flashback to show the past and present times in the video, we know they are flash back through the types of editing used.
Codes-
-The police/news choppers radio talk is code for the crime shown in the first few images of the video.
-Rain- This is pathetic fallacy, it is used to add to the mood and that the fact that something bad is happening.
-There is a point of shot view used of someone as if they were standing in the crowd. This makes you feel as the audiences as if you were an onlooker to the crime scene.
-There is a time shown at the bottom of the screen. This is shown as if you were following “a day in the life of..” this person.
-The camera height is level with the person on the floor. This gives us as the audience a feeling of that we are there with them witnessing it as it goes on.
-It has the convention of a music video that it has an opening scene before the music starts.
-The words Ghetto and Gospel are an oxymoron. This means there are two words next to each other that don’t go together.
-There is also juxtaposition with Tupac and Elton John performing in the same song as each other as their genre of music is completely the opposite also one of them is a black man from a tough background and the other is a white gay man.
-When the person is crying there is a defocusing of the camera, this adds to the mood.
-The lyrics that are being sung match the imagery shown on the screen.
-The establishing shot in this video shows it is an urban environment, we know this because of the large buildings and the overpopulated areas.
The scene of them at the table reading shows they are educated people and they don’t belong in an area like the one they are shown in.
-There is a religious connotation when they are eating; a picture of the last supper is on the wall. This could be trying to make him as a Jesus like figure almost.
-All these codes lead to us as the audience to believe that he is a good person, it also adds to the emotion when he gets shot as we see it as an injustice to happen to a good person.
-The costume and body language gives us clues that the people on the street corner are a gang.
-There are close ups of their hands and when they exchange drugs, this helps to progress the narrative for the audience.
-There is also juxtaposition here as the gang are outside a church, two things which are not usually put next to each other.
-There are scenes of the main character with his family. This also adds to us as the audience to believe his a good person.
-There is a close up on the hand holding between them. This shows he is a father and a husband and shows the love between them. This adds to the sadness of when he gets shot.
-There is a close up of him looking to be in deep thought; this could be of him thinking that he needs to get out of this environment in which he doesn’t belong.
-When he is outside he holds his hands up to the sky and light is coming from behind him from the sun. This links back into the last supper picture on the wall which is trying to suggest he is Jesus like.
-There is a camera shot that is looking at him through bars. This could symbolise that he is in this trapped lifestyle in the Ghetto.
-When he is shot there is a close up of the glass of water he was drinking spilling on the floor. This could be code for his death and how his life is poured out. It could also wine at the last supper which links into the other codes for making him Jesus like.
-At the end of the video we see that it ends where the video starts.
-We see him at the end of the film, like as if his family member can still see him standing on the corner with his gang. This is also Jesus like as it is like Jesus’ resurrection.
-The artist/band in music videos are performing within the world of the music video.
There are usually parts in the video of the artists/ band performing to us with their instruments or singing.
-Sometimes however the artist themselves cannot appear at all in the video.
- Also not all music videos use narrative in them, some have all performing in them.
-A large amount of videos have imagery that is associated with the artist/ band so when the audiences see’s this they will immediately known the band.
- This image is created by using the editing, lighting, costume and mise-en-scene all help to bring together an image of the artist that the audience recognise.
- Codes are all employed to perpetuate/ establish the identity of the artist/band.
- A lot of artists/bands have costumes/graphics that have become iconic/synonymous with them.
Conventional Music Videos have:
-Use the establishing codes and conventions of music videos.
-Does not break the expectation of the target audience.
-It uses all the established codes that a music video would use.
An original music video uses:
-Uses striking/ original imagery that is styled in order to create publicity and interest in the song.
-Things that are new or different form the norm in music videos.
-Anything that goes against the normal conventions of music videos is an original video.
Example of an original video:
The white Stripes- Seven Nation Army
-It establishes and perpetuates the identity of the band through the colour and coding of white, red and black, which have become iconic and synonymous with the band.
-Associated with their musicianship, (focused on the guitar playing and the drums playing).
-A series of close ups and extreme close ups are used; also rhythmic editing is used in time with the video.
-This video is more of a vehicle for the song.
- It uses a striking and unusual change of the imagery on screen, which goes against the conventions of a conventional music video.
-Music magazines use editing that is quick and in sync with the beat of the music.
- There is a rhythmic basis closely connected to the song.
- Editing: Edits in the music video come more frequently than it would in a film.
-Music film editing bears a far greater responsibility for many elements than does classic Hollywood film editing.
-The quick edits can sometimes be used to build up a montage and often tells the story of the video (progress the narrative).
-Balanced: The editing in music videos work hard to ensure that no single element (the narrative, the setting, the star, the lyrics, the song) gain the upper hand.
-When I come to make my music video I must ensure I have an even balance between images and the song itself.
- The video should not distract from the song but must also grab the audience’s attention, which is a tricky thing to do.
-Graphic Match: When editing sequences connect objects through colour and shape, this will create fluency in the video.
Some rules I need to consider when producing my music video:
-Using a series of editing where different people/ objects are doing the same thing. For example I could have a close up on some feet- and then a cut to someone’s feet running.
-180-degree rule- ensures that I do not confuse the audience or disorientate them when watching. The audience should maintain the same position between edits in terms of orientation.
-30-degree rule- when you break the 30 degree rule it is called a jump cut- a sharp awkward edit that looks clumsy. Jump cut draws attention from the audience to the techniques that are being used.
-To avoid this the camera should move 30 degrees between edits.
-Connections with Clubs and bars that play his music style- Cream
-Posters
-Digital Display Ad’s
-Festival Banners
-Printed Lanyards
-Editorials in magazines such as NME and Mixmag.
-Social Networking Websites- Myspace, Facebook.
-YouTube
-Iconic “Mau5 Head” symbol
All of these are examples of the artist’s use of cross media convergences; where he has used other media sources to advertise and promote himself and his music.
How he uses different Marketing Strategies:
His choice to have his music on websites such as Facebook, MySpace and YouTube means that millions of people around the world will hear his music in a short space of time when he releases a new album or single. This kind of marketing is called viral marketing, where it will spread through a wide range of people from only being shown to a few.
Another thing Deadmau5 uses is his image of the mau5 head. This image has therefore become iconic to his fans as when people see this image they instantly know that this I him.
He uses his gigs and tours to promote himself as an artist, through this it helps to generate sales in his merchandise and for consumers to purchase more of his products.
Our band the Dynobots is a five-member band from Leeds. They are an Indie with an electronic twist with one of the secondary singers on a synthesizer. An artist you could compare them to is Robin but with more of an Indie influence.
Slide two:
We will design a web page when they gain a larger fan base. We will use the Internet as a marketing vehicle for our tours and upcoming gigs. We will do this by promoting it through social networking websites such as Facebook, Myspace and Bebo.
We are also going to release a free download on iTunes. This will be useful for us as the store has a new application called Ping which allows the audience to give feedback and reviews on songs they have bought or heard.
Slide Three:
We will advertise our bands by having handouts of CD’s and T-Shirts. We will also post videos of us at some of our recent gigs.
Slide Four:
At the moment we are only performing in local pubs and bars. We are aiming to progress onto larger venues when our fan base becomes larger.
Slide Five:
We will promote the band by performing at bars and venues, such as the Brixton o2 Academy. We will aim to perform at venues that are focused at our target audience which is over eighteens and who like Indie- electronic styled music.
Slide Six:
As we are only small band with a small fan base we only have a manager who is part time. However we are possibly open to alliance with other bands of similar music genres. This will help us to progress a larger fan base in a shorter time. Then after this we maybe will split off as an individual band.
Slide Seven:
When our band has a gig we plan to have a pre-performance signing which the press can also attend and ask the band any questions they like. The signings will be held in well-known stores such as HMV, which will also be aimed at our target audience.
We also have media input with local newspapers and magazines. We will then look to develop onto a double page spread within a widely known music magazine, which will also gain attention from our target audience.
Slide Eight:
Our target audience is over eighteen; who enjoy going to gigs regularly. This will be a good audience to target for our planned tours, as they are more likely to attend gigs.
This will also make them want to go out and buy the album form a store rather than illegally downloading it from pirate websites such as pirate bay.
Slide nine:
We will have a large range of merchandise that will be sold at our performances. The funds raised from this will help us with further merchandise expansions.
Slide ten:
We will use these five ‘Dynobots’ as our bands image/logo. This image will be associated with us and will hopefully be recognised as our band when the consumer see it. Also there are five ‘Dynobot’, which represents the individual band members.
