The history of music videos media coursework

View more presentations from desemester.

Analysis of The Reverend and The Makers- Heavyweight Champion of the World

"Heavyweight Champion of the World" is the top ten debut single by indie rock band 'The Reverend and The Makers', as well as the first single from their debut album 'The State of Things'. The song title is taken from a line in Barry Hines' book 'A Kestrel of a Knave'. The song is quite popular and has received rave reviews. The single appeared as Zane Lowe's 'Hottest Record in the World Today', and it is equally liked by fellows Radio 1 DJs Nick Kershaw and Greg James.

"Heavyweight Champion of the World" does not just tell the story of underachievers, but the majority of those who are ensnared living repetitive lives, doing "the same routine week after week", with the ironic hook "just be like everybody else", with the main character being a young boy growing up in Yorkshire (the band actually hail from Sheffield, South Yorkshire).

The music video is classified as a narrative video because the lyrics of the hit relates directly to the video itself, there are no elements of performance or concept included in the video. Therefore, because this video of the song relates to the lyrics, it is easier for the audience to identify what is going on before their eyes.

In terms of the audience, the song targets young people aged 18-24, but to an extent, it also attracts a mature audience, those who have been living repetitive lives for many years, so they have experienced what the main character is going through. Despite this proposition, the single also attracts a younger audience, who are currently unemployed, or those who are making 'ends meat', in relation to their salary because they associated themselves with the wrong people, giving them a bad image, and so a worthless occupation.

These are an example of several images that show that no matter what field you take, your surplus to living a continuous life where you go through the same stages everyday. The photos included above shows a businessman, an unemployed man, who sits on his couch all day, expecting his wife to do all the cooking and cleaning, whilst he watches TV, and also a Maths professor. They all have different levels of respect, intelligence and wage income, but they all go through the same phases of their job every day.

(This close up shot illustrates how bored the main character is, in this scene Jon McClure seems uninterested, on his own, with no one else occupying the pub he is currently located at. His face is also cushioned by his left hand which is a typical sign of tedium)

We see many close ups of the main character and also lead singer of The Reverend and the Makers, John McClure wearing different attire, due to the different jobs people have, although they still go through the same routine every week. The close up shots emphasises the emotions he is going through, and it is also a message to us, albeit negative one, that no matter what field you take in the future, it is inevitable that you will experience repetitive lives. The only difference would be upon wages, and those who earn the most would ultimately feel like "the heavyweight champion of the world".

Analysis of the Maccabees- 'About Your Dress'

"About Your Dress" is the fourth single by British indie band 'The Maccabees', and their second to make the UK top 40, peaking at number thirty-three - their highest charting single to date. The video for the song has become famous due to the fact that the band made it themselves with a home made set of miniatures and costumes, all shot with minimal cost.

The music video of the song is short- 2 minutes 22 seconds approximately, whereas most music videos are about 3-4 minutes long. The video itself is a 'left to right' transition from one stage of the band members' life to another, there are hardly any cuts involved in the video it just continues right until the end. The video ends in the same scene where it started, with Orlando Weeks, the lead vocalist and guitarist in the band receiving his jacket from his supposed mother.

The song is about going out with a young girl and despite all the mishaps that go on, for example, burning "your dress with my cigarette", it is just "what all young lovers do", so in other words, it is part and parcel of an adolescent life. So with that in mind, as well as the lyrics of the song, it does relate to the music video.

(photo shows one of the band members receiving help from their mother, some young females may find that 'sweet')

In terms of the audience, the music video is popular with young British females aged between 13-24, and this is obviously because of the meaning of the song, but also the nature of the band, to a certain extent. The band are reminiscent to that of the popular 1960s group 'The Beatles', due to the way in which they present themselves. Their 'mopped up hair' and neat dressing sense, as well as the scene in which Weeks is scene receiving a jacket from his mother (above), are all signs that would attract a feminine audience.

(light background contrasts to the background highlighted throughout the Babyshambles video- 'Killamangiro'.

In addition to this, the band also blend well with the colourful (although mostly white) background, which suggests that they are different to other indie groups such as 'the Libertine's and 'Babyshambles', who come across as unorganised, 'drunkards', who are also heavily influenced by illegal drugs. That, too, makes them a hit with teenage girls.

(unable to embed the video both on youtube and yahoo music station)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4xiP4gdTT4

THE DYKEENIES LYRICS – STITCHES

When you feel so weak
and you scratch those stitches
reminding you of why you fell away after yourself

And you cant hold still
and you gamble more than enough
you cant depend on them

Still, I adore the taste of rain
and the bouncing down on the ground
it reminds me

Make a wish tonight
all the stars are out
the sound of your hands were not out of reach cause

It’s not out of reach
this is not out of reach

You feel so weak
you burst those stitches
reminding you of just why you felt so cruel

Still, I adore the taste of rain
and the bouncing down on the ground
it reminds me!

Still, I adore the taste of rain
and the bouncing down on the ground
you cant depend on them

Make a wish tonight
all the stars are out
the sound of your hands were not out of reach just…

Make a wish tonight
all the stars are out
the sound of your hands were not out of reach cause
it’s not out, its not not out of reach

they build you up, they build you up

Don’t , don’t run away dear (4x)

Still, I adore the taste of rain
and the bouncing down on the ground
and the crackle of water well in the mark of all your…

Make a wish tonight
all the stars are out
it’s out of your hand but not out of reach
it’s out of your hand but not out of reach

The Dykeenies- 'Stitches'

The music video our group decided to re-make is a song called 'Stitches', by the Scottish indie group 'The Dykeenies'.

The reason behind our choice to make our own version of the group's singles was because we had to re-make a video of a son, under the criteria that they were not popular and were not signed to a major record label. Furthermore, by re-creating a music video, it would have been much easier to choose an individual or group that fall into the category of either ' indie' or alternative pop and/or rock, we understood. Therefore, we decided that The Dykeenies would be the perfect choice because they fall into both categories.

The advantage of selecting a band that come under the indie genre is that they are much easier to mimic in words and to make your video because as indie means independent, they tend to have their own style of music, as supposed to a 'hip hop' video, where the pace of the words are to hard to keep up with, and the music videos hardly match the lyrics and the video itself.

Another reason why we decided to go for the Scottish group was because the actual video of the song is a performance/narrative video, so that enables us the chance to tinker around with the video, and adding different elements to ours would thereby add a different dimension to the video.

In relation to the audience, we our aiming to target young people between the ages of 15-24. This is because during our target audience research, we discovered, that the band attract people of a similar age, and it was more popular within females because they are a boy band. This was shown on youtube.com, as we clicked the amount of views, which was over 230,000 incidentally, illustrating their relatively good popularity. In addition to this, successful indie rock groups tend to attract 15-24 year olds anyway, which is a compliment to the music the Dykeenies make.

Analysis of the Kaiser Chiefs- 'Ruby'

"Ruby" is a song by English rock band Kaiser Chiefs, and is also the lead single of their second album 'Yours Truly, Angry Mob'. It also became the band's first ever no.1 single in February 2007.

The song is basically a desperate plea from the lead singer of the band, Ricky Wilson to his supposed ex-girlfriend Ruby. During the music video, we witness the change in backgrounds (above), from the dusk in the desert to urban nightlife, but the continuous repetition of the name "Ruby" in the chorus (four times in the first and final lines of the chorus) illustrates the desperate need for Ruby to answer Wilson's question "And do ya, do, do ya, do ya, know what ya doing, doing to me?"

(their image prompts comparisons to popular British band 'Oasis')

Throughout the music video the Kaiser Chiefs are established as monsters (althought clearly human), compared to the original members of public. This is so, the music video can be compared to the lyrics, and also the fact that Ruby cannot escape from Wilson and his fellow band members. In addition to this, the band are seen wearing black. In relation to the the music video, black denotes strength and authority, and it is also considered to be a formal, elegant and prestigious colour. This emphasizes the point that they are monsters, and so, oversee everything when they were in the desert as well as the city, from night to day.

In terms of the popularity of the song, the music video were viewed by over 1.5 million people, thus illustrating the success of this single. And in reference to the target audience, the video is most popular with young people aged between 13-24. especially within males, who are probably experiencing similar problems to Ricky Wilson.

Target audience dykeenies

View more presentations from kyak.