Questionnaire into music video research

Gender? Male female

How old are you? 16-21 22-30 31-39 40+

Is your dress code influenced by your musical interests? Yes/ No

If yes, are there any artists or genres, which particularly influence you? Genre: Artists:

Do you go to Gigs, Clubs and Bars (Music)? Yes (circle one’s that apply) No

Do you like Dance Electronica Music? Yes No

If yes, what is your favourite sub genre(s)? Break beat Drum ‘n’ Bass Dubstep Electro Electro House Techno House Other......

Do you like urban setting music videos that involve real people? Yes No

If yes, do you feel it is because you can relate to them more? Yes No

Do you prefer Music videos with a story line? Yes No

Do you enjoy animation music videos? Yes No

Have you ever remixed or covered a song? Yes No

What way(s) did you do this? Reason Cubase Instrumentally Ableton vocally

How much did you like our song?
1 2 3 4 5

New Props and Locations *Revised*

This prop of a vodka shot glass was used during my music video to help represent the negative connotation of the abuse of alcohol in youth culture. I didn't use Vodka as the actors in my music video would have not been able to perform as well if they were intoxicated by alcohol.

This was the original white mask I used in the making of the masks for my Music Video. To make them look a bit edgy and link with the graffiti images that are present throughout my music video, I used paint splatters (colours red, yellow, blue and green) as pictured below. The masks will be worn by all of the characters in my music video and will be used to represent the influence being drunk, intoxicated by alcohol, which will hopefull derive a negative representation of alcohol abuse in youth culture.

These are examples of the effects of paint splatters and sploges on a white and a black background, this is a significant testing process as it allows me to see which is most effective and which ideas I will take forward to the creation stage of the masks. The white background is most probably the colour I will use becuase the masks are already white and the paint transfers look bolder and more eye catching on the white background.

Rumble Strips- Music Video Analysis revised *

Music Video Analysis
The Rumble strips: Not the only person
The Rumble Strips are a predominately alternative rock band, with a strong lead male vocalist. As a British band, it is clear through the mise en scene of the video that they want to express this with culturally specific British locations and props.
Set in the urban outskirts of London, we see the singer walks past train tracks, street lamps and walls covered in graffiti scribbles, all of which portray the culture and society within lower classed areas and social classes. As the video goes from dusk into night time, the vulnerability of the singer is increased, walking still in deserted areas, long alleyways, and larger exaggerated shadows. Finally a dead end of which he is trapped and faced with a gang of hooded lads which are often associated with the stereotype of people who mug, rob and perform other such antisocial behaviours, thus the video strongly communicates the contempory issues of youth knife and gun crime.
The narrative of the video is simple but well expressed. Using a linear narrative structure, the singer is being followed throughout the video by hooded characters, with stubble and in dark colours. As they follow, it is understood that they are thieves. The intimidation of the hooded characters becomes stronger as the number of them grows against the singer, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere.
The opening sequence starts as a calm and peaceful equilibrium setting, whereby the character is walking alone with the sound of birds singing and the distant rumble of a train, an abandoned shopping trolley and the monochrome low key lighting connotate urban decay. As the tube train becomes closer, the sound becomes faster and louder; creating the pace and beat of the video, whilst indicating the bands cultural roots. The main character is faced by a hooded character and bumps into him. As this happens, the lyrics of the song are synchronised with the connection between the two characters. As the singer carries on walking, the hooded figure follows him silently. The camera tracks the singer as he carries on his journey, gaining more and more hoodies, following him. As the numbers of hoodies grow, the intimidation levels grow, creating tension for the audience. The Shadows are used to intensify the sense of menace and nightmare, one that the audience and identify with. As the character is constantly moving, so is the camera. None of the shots are static, helping to add to the pace of the video. The additions of hooded characters are captured in many different ways. The multiplying of these hooded men are shown using shadows, using high angled shots and strong chicascuro lighting. As the shadows draw into the main character it portrays the closeness and paranoia that the followers are creating for the main character. The characters journey is also shown using shots from behind him creating the feeling that we are seeing him from the hooded men’s point of view. A medium close up of the main characters hand is used to show him dropping a twenty pound note for the followers. This action can be seen as a way of getting the people to leave him alone, or on the other hand it can be used to usher them in. When we finally get to a confrontation between the main character and the hoodies, we see the hoodies become transfixed and paralysed by an extraordinary ray of power that explodes from the chest of the main character.
Throughout the video we are shown a run down, vandalised and area that is run by hooded people. The only people we meet within the video are aggressive and rough looking males, all of which are wearing hoodies and caps. This casual but well known look is usually associated with criminal behaviour and yob gangs. Creating the stereotype that all hooded and capped people will be aggressive and likely to commit crime. The world represented in the video is recognizable to everyone who watches as it deals with problems within society on criminal behaviour especially within Britain. The video shows a threatening situation, which could happen to anybody and raises social awareness to the problem. The video is appealing in this way as it can be related to whilst also portraying the situation as a tension filled dangerous situation.
As the main character is the lead singer of the band, people will notice him as the face of the band. Throughout the film, the singer does not show fear or react to any of the followers until he confronts them. These strong shots of constant walking give the band an image of being fearless, strong and iconic. The main singer has created representation of a messianic image where his status draws people in to his presence, taking them to where he wants them to be. Whilst showing a strong side, there is some implications amateur behaviour introducing a slight comic side of the video where the female supernatural presence stuns the thieves using a high pitched melody. Creating the joke that the singers voice is like a female’s vocals, therefore taking the mick out of his own voice. This creates a very likable brand. By using an interesting storyline, it draws more people to watch, as they get interested in who the hooded men are and what they want, allowing the audience to feel the tension that needs to be resolved.

When looking on amazon.co.uk, other artists are shown that people who bought the rumble strips songs had also bought. Some of these included; The Maccabees, Florence and the machine and Franz Ferdinand, showing that all these band have roughly the same target audience. The demographics of the target group for these bands range from 14years to the late 30’s predominantly females, as shown on the Rumble strips comments on Myspace.com/therumblestrips. Though when looking at reviews of the band’s album, more males were commenting on the band than females. This shows that the band has a diverse target market. The band is successful as a diverse band due to their soft rock sound, as many people enjoy this genre of music, as the lyrics are usually thoughtful and about everyday problems, allowing the audience to relate to them. This video works well to attract their target audience, as the video includes a storyline. Storylines work well for these types of songs as the songs themselves normally have a narrative, which helps the audience to relate to them. The storyline used for this Video includes the idea of being paranoid and trapped yet breaking through this intimidation with comical and quite strange tactics. Most age groups enjoy these aspects, so therefore would be very popular. In addition, the band is fashionable, attracting all age groups due to their formal smartly dressed style that has a slight edge to it, allowing both younger age groups and older age groups to be attracted by it. The indie genre has become a very popular genre within the last few years, opening up a expectation that includes good fashion, soft rock, deep lyrics and interesting videos. The rumble strips tick all of them boxes, creating a good Indie band.
The band has all of the social network sites that their target audience would want to track them by, including “Facebook”, “Myspace” and “Twitter” along with their own official websites. All of which the target group can find information about new songs, videos and tour dates, also the chance to listen and download songs or watch music videos. These websites are the major way of the age groups to find out about bands and a very successful way of promoting, fast becoming the strongest tool of promotion used today.
The rumble strips are owned by Island and Allido record companies. These companies also own; Florence and the Machine, Frankmusik, The Bombay bicycle club, U2, and Keane; All of which are all from the same genre of music and are also successful bands. This shows that the company is a very good company to promote this type of music. Island Records are a major record label within the music industry, promoting mainstream artists and music. They have been very successful with making unknown bands big in the game.




Jakob Montagu-Shaw

Shooting Schedule

First Shoot- Friday October 9th- 2-3 hours

I was able to get most of the footage from my original ideas, including the park scene with just klinton and then a bit of the walking scene, but I wasn't altogether happy with the footage as I have already explained.



I went back to the drawing board and created some new ideas, with a major change in the props and try and use more stereotypical genre connotations for my mise en scene especially focusing on the setting and shot locations.



Second shoot- Thursday November 12th 3-4 hours

This will be predomintly filmed in the new locations: Wills bedroom and the Grapes Hill underpass. It will also inlcude the new props: Face masks.