Audience Profile

Barthes Theory applied to Lyrics

Codes and conventions of an existing text

Here I have analysis an existing music video that has been distributed by a band who fit into the alternative genre. I believe that looking and exploring current media texts will aid me when planning my mood board and other aspects of creating my own video. This will give me the ability to see the codes and conventions of my genre being in bedded into a present product.

To understand the codes and conventions of my chosen genre in more depth I thought it would be fitting to analysis an existing piece of media text. I have chosen a well-known band from within the genre, ‘The 1975’, to do so. I also picked this certain song due to the video having qualities in which I would love to incorporate into my video. To begin with, the music video to the song ‘Robbers’ is narrative based with no performance, in terms of Goodwin’s theory this would be referred to as amplification. The video explores a variety of action codes (Barthes) to create mystery for example, we are focused upon the roller-coaster relationship within a couple and are given small flash forward shot until we are then revealed at the end of the video that they ‘rob’ a shop which we most definitively did not expect.

Throughout the music video we are introduced with a variety of settings, at the beginning of the video a long shot, of the couple who feature in the video, gives the audience a view of the setting. This setting is engulfed in low key lighting but features a single source of natural lighting and some artificial lighting from lamps around the room. This type of lighting creates silhouettes of the two characters in the video creating a very mysterious feel about their relationship, this low-key lighting also allows the red fairy lights in the background to be more visible. Both the silhouettes and the red lights could symbolise that their love for each other is very dark and dangerous, which could also be foreshadowing events that are to happen at the end of the video. Overall, this part of the music video represents the genre as being romantic and gloomy.

The lighting changes from low key to high key using a cut, this lighting however is natural due to the change of setting and presents back lighting from the sun. The setting is an empty swimming pool in which the individuals within the video are using as a place to take drugs and smoke which we can see using long shots and head and shoulder shots, this fulfils the codes of conventions of the genre as this is an extremely common action to be done within the genre and its music videos. This can be explained using the uses and gratifications theory as it explores how the target audience of the alternative genre find this very entertaining and seek this through music videos produced by artists to fulfil the needs of their entertainment. The tracking shot and shot types that are used also allow us to identify their costumes in which show a very casual approach, some even not buttoning up their shirt paired with distressed clothing representing the artists and people associated with the genre as not bothered about their looks and more interested in other things such as drugs. The rural, abandoned setting also portrays the idea of carelessness.

Much of the video involves no diegetic sound or dialogue however, lip syncing is used and incorporated within the video. There is one section of the video that includes diegetic sound as the non-diegetic sound of the music comes to a pause which creates a great deal of tension. As the sound fades out the ambient sounds of a gunshot begin to echo, the high key lighting breaks the stereotype that crimes occur during the night. This however could be suggested for the genre as it does not conform to the stereotypes of the ‘popular music’. After we realise the key character has been shot the non-diegetic music suddenly starts again at a high level of volume creating enigma as the couple begin to run to the getaway car. This symbolises that love can be dangerous and as for the genre it represents the music and artists as being reckless and daring.

This particular music video can be applied to Todorov’s narrative theory. As the equilibrium at the beginning of the video was the couple enjoying each other and having a good time however, then the disruption occurs, thus being the main character being shot which is then quickly resolved to then be reintroduced with the new equilibrium of the couple returning back to their loving selves and enjoy the riches they achieved through robbing a shop.

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This is helpful with the creation of my own video as this detailed analysis allows me to understand the codes and conventions in a much more detailed way and actual applied to an existing piece of media.
It will be then easier for me to create a conventional music video and suit it to the genre.

Costume and Makeup Research

In terms of the artists themselves there costume proves to be extremely basic and come across as if no thought or effort has been put into them. The overall colour combinations consist of a bland and colourless palette for example, blacks and greys. The casual clothing fits very well with their style of music as songs are relaxed and take more of a laid back approach to music.

These kind of costumes are influenced throughout their music videos to continue this relaxed style featuring jackets and plain shirts. So this is what I will try to achieve when styling my actors that will feature within my own music video as costume in an important aspect of the genre so I will be following this convention.

As for makeup, the male artists do not seem to feature any makeup within their looks, possible due to that fact that the artists are being perceived as natural and once again casual. However, even the female artist do not show much interest in a lot of makeup, from my research I can see that it is also very natural with parts showing a more grudge feel by having dark eyeshadow showing their target audience that there may be a darker side to their music.

-This research will help me tremendously when it comes to styling my actors in order for them to fit the conventions of our music video fitting with the alternative genre. We believe that we will feature both a male and female within our narrative in our video to carry out a love story, from this I believe that the female actor should wear casual clothing for example a dress or jeans and a top, however, we may challenge these conventions of costume and allow our actor to wear clothes with bursts of colour to show originality within our video. As for the male actor, I believe the same applies with a basic costume. This will consist of a plain jacket over dull coloured t-shirt and jeans.-

Lip Syncing Research

My group and I had a discussion about our artist, within this discussion we decided that it would be better and more accessible to have an actor lip sync of a song in which will choose. This will also make it simpler in terms of narrative due to the fact that it means our video will be narrative based meaning it will contain mostly footage that attempts to tell a story through the moving image; music videos that are narrative usually have a story line that is linked to the lyrical content. Moreover, using an existing songs allows us to focus hugely on narrative in order to create a story line that expresses these lyrics and appeals to the target audience. Therefore because of this choice I feel that it is necessary that I take time to undertake research into lip syncing in order to understand how it works, how to perfect it myself and how existing videos use this technique.

Years & years - Take Shelter

Within this music video it is an amplified structured video meaning both narrative and some performance aspects are used to amplify the song and also the narrative. Lip syncing is used throughout the video both in a small performance way and within the narrative. By doing this it ties the two scenes together, I really like this idea as it doesn’t separate the two recordings up but pulls them into one. 

THE 1975 - Chocolate

This video is very similar as the years & years music video; however, it is more illustrated due to the song lyrics being explored within the video. For example, the lyrics “and my car smells like chocolate” is empathised the fact that they are in a car throughout the majority of the video. Once again the different settings are pulled together through the lip syncing and there is no distinct setting for lip syncing and another for narrative.

One Republic - Counting Stars

This video clearly distinguishes narrative and performance well by ‘lip-syncing’ as a performance and only at this setting. It allows the narrative part of the video to be cut to a different setting and show no connection between the two. This disjuncture type music shows us that the narrative holds very little relationship to the song. 

This has shown me the difference in terms of lip syncing throughout the genre, from this being focused mainly on the performance or mixed together within the narrative as well. Personally, I prefer the way the lyrics are connected through the narrative in order to put importance on them as I feel this is a really important aspect.

Initial Ideas and Influences to our Narrative

Symbolic codes in the Alternative genre

In terms of the mise-en-scene, ‘The 1975’ album cover and recognisable font gives us clues to the sound of their music. The design consists of black and white light contrasting against one another, however the dominance of the black within the band’s name suggests that their music is more on the dark side and cover darker themes. Each album covers and photo shoot follows with the same aesthetic this could imply that their style and their music are very established. The fact that the band do not feature on the front of their albums, this connotes the idea that they are a meaningful group which also shows suggestions of the way their music is. Their style and consistent use of black and white colour scheme suggests the music should be Gothic and metal, however the font gives the audience a completely opposite impression with a vintage look suggesting links with the alternative genre. The clothing/costume in which they wear also keeps within the black and white colour scheme but is very casual and laid back, this is expecting with the indie/alternative genre. Other outfit choices are retro and unique in order to further establish the genre and the kind of music they create. Everything within the band is kept very minimalist and simple, making the main focus being put on the music.

The 'Imagine Dragons' are extremely recognisable for their dark, creative style. The colour scheme used within their group is very dark and grey, this may be done in order to show the style of music. As they are commonly referred to as fitting within the ‘rock’ category, they seem to challenge any stereotypes that latch on with being associated with rock and the alternative genre. The symbolic creative and imaginative name is very appealing towards the younger category within the target audience due to the fact that it allows them to express their originality. The text style is very modern and is in capitals which makes the title stand out, especially against the dark colour schemed background. The name of the band also symbolises the creativity and uniqueness of their music. As for the costume, it is portrayed to be very smart yet casual in a unique way, this further shows the style of their music as being different and slightly unusual.

Years and years are known for their very electronic sounding within the alternative genre, the band focus upon brighter colours to represent them such as pinks and purples. The infamous ‘Y’ rainbow graphic image is very prominent within the album cover which makes it easier of them to be identified. This monochrome design symbolises a lot in terms of their style and music as they oppose the stereotypes within the genre to create this colourful image. As for their costume style it is extremely plain and casual which not only allows the audience to relate and connect with them as a band but also empathises the importance and focus on their music. Their colourful, vivid colour scheme shows some challenged conventions within the genre for the reason that the alternative genre is associated with dark, gloomed and melancholy tone, this however works with the fact that their music is more upbeat and can be fitted in the ‘pop’ genre.