Group Thoughts

I am not sure who I will be working with on the upcoming music video project. The most obvious choice for me would have been Jacob, but as he has now quit Media, I am not sure with whom I would work best in the group. I have no real preference and will go with whoever it is convenient for me to go with / doesn't mind having me in their group.

Intertextuality

Dani California - Red Hot Chili Peppers

This video is all about intertextuality. The theme of the video is a journey through pop music history and involves the band dressing up in costumes typical of many different genres, including Rockabilly, British Invasion, Psychedelia, Funk, Glam, Punk, Goth, Hair Metal, Grunge and eventually themselves, as the sum of all those parts.

Here is the official video:

(Embedding has been disabled on request, but here is the link):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb5aq5HcS1A&ob=av3e

and here are parts 1, 2 & 3 of an interesting "making of" video which explains their concept and how they came up with it:

Initial Idea 1

Garden - Pearl Jam

This track has a really atmospheric, tense feel to it which I think could work really well in a more abstract, artistic kind of video.

The track is off Pearl Jam's debut album Ten and was never a single and rarely played live.

The theme of gardens could be interesting with this track and there is plenty of opportunity to be inventive with set design.

The epic, building feeling of the song would enable the music video to progress in feeling itself and not become too repetitive and boring, eg. soft music at the beginning - slow, artistic shots: epic hard music at end - fast cutting etc.

Dirty Frank - Pearl Jam

This track would need a completely different music video. There is a lot of humour in this song, and it tells a story of a murderer called 'Dirty Frank'. The story behind this song is that while Pearl Jam were on tour, they jokingly imagined their slightly disturbing bus driver was a serial killer, and then recorded a song about it. Therefore we could build a video around the lyrics in a very literal sense, which a kind of murder mystery plot unravelling throughout. I believe this song is very strong as its story is so clear, and there is a lot of humour to be exploited.

The song is not even an official album track - it was only released on the European edition of Ten and was never played live, so copyright should not be an issue.

Album Cover Analysis

Nevermind - Nirvana

The front cover depicts a naked baby swimming after a dollar bill, which is being dangled on a hook in front of the baby. The baby is a very strong symbol of innocence and purity, and its nakedness emphasises this. In contrast, dollar bills signify the adult world, greed and corruption. The fact that the baby is chasing after this token of the adult world shows the corruption of its innocence and gives the message that even from birth, human beings are lured into the capitalist world and the ways of greed. It may even signify that this greed is natural - an original sin. The line and hook are being dangled by the dark capitalist figure at the top, pulling all the strings - "The Man" if you will.

The album title is written in curvy letters which not only fit in with the underwater theme, but also connote the psychedelic, hippie ideals with which the album cover's message is aligned.

Apart from serving the cover's metaphor, the underwater setting of the picture creates a distinctive blue colour scheme which instantly makes the cover recognisable.

The presence of the baby's genitals in the shot also encourages controversy and fits in with the band's anti-establishment, punk rock image. It also makes the album cover not able to be consumed by a mainstream audience and immediately classifies the album as "niche".

Songs I Like

King Of The Rodeo - Kings Of Leon

• Brings back holiday memories
• Important to me as an album, not just one song
• Saw band live - song took on new meaning

Nightrain - Guns N' Roses

Diary Of Always - Biffy Clyro

• Calm atmosphere
• Lyrics appeal to me
• Current band who I like

Update

As I had to leave school a couple of days early due to the Music Tour, I didn't have time to finish editing our Eminem lipsynch before I left. Me and Jacob decided that he would try to finish it before the holidays, but if he didn't manage in time, we would finish it in September. He tells me it is almost complete, but will require a bit more tidying up before it is ready to post on youtube. We should have it finished by the end of the first week back and then it will be online.

In The Sun Edit