My media product does conform to the genre and image of the band. However in some areas I have tried to play on the norms and challenge some conventions. The idea was to create something that is typical to the Psychobilly music genre but give it a unique edge over current videos. The video style is pretty typical of the genre as seen from my earlier music video analyses the live performance is very popular for the Rockabilly/ Psychobilly genre as watching a band play is a big part of the scene as oppose to just listening to the music they want feel like they are there and get to know the atmosphere is like an artists gig. Since this was a key factor of the genre in terms of music videos I decided to conform to this idea. However since this was the norm for most music videos in this genre I wanted to make sure it stood out; to do this I used special effects and animations. One example of this was the blue filter and static effect used on certain shots to emphasise lyrics and parts of the song. The use of colour itself was different as most videos (e.g.
Graveyard Johnnys -
Dead Transmission) tend to stick to using black and red keeping to warm colours which connote energy. This meant that something with the visual effects like my video would stand out as in early research I could not find any music videos or digipak's which mainly are blue. The use of animation was also something a bit different as it isn't commonly used for Psychobilly music videos. This again would make the product stand out by having imagery from the 1950's in terms of the television screen and the use of the old-fashioned static for my transitions between some shots. I believe the use of rougher shots and visual effects also are reflective of the bands distinct sound. The reason I decided to conform to some
conventions of the Rockabilly/ Psychobilly music genre was to gain some form of realisation and acceptance from the bands audience. If it did not have any connotations or themes of what was typical for the genre then it would not be recognised by fans nor would it be accepted. On the other hand some boundaries have to be broken and some conventions subverted in order to keep the product fresh and unique which was one of the key things wanted out of a music video by my target audience.
 |
Hidden identity references the
theme of rebellion. |
The themes in the Psychobilly genre are very distinct in terms of the sound and how it differs from other genres of music. It incorporates elements from punk/rock with classic 1950's Rock'n'Roll/ Rockabilly with the influences of the standup slap-bass (double bass). The Mojokings embrace this sound and combine it with hints of other genres such as garage to make their sound different. Because of this it was important to show and give reference to the bands diverse sound but most importantly the bands roots which was Rockabilly. Their songs most strongly depict the lifestyle of the 50's and those modern-day fans who live the 1950's Rockabilly/ Psychobilly lifestyle as well as older images of teenage rebellion and standing up against society which are common themes from their vintage punk influence. The audience of the Mojokings are typical to these themes with the music not just being an interest but a lifestyle i.e. it is reflected in the way they look and dress. Their song "Whatever Happened To Rock'n'Roll?" is the best track to sum up the bands sound and it brings out all of their influences in terms of the sound (how they play) and in their lyrics (talking about teenage rebellion against their parents and society and the roots of Rockabilly with the new age of music after Elvis Presley). There are clear references to the idea of rebellion and I attempted to reflect this in terms of having the TV style in the music video which is going out of control with the static and changing colour, it's like the song is breaking out of the boundaries of typical charts music. Since this was a key theme for not only the song but the band in general I continued with it in the digipak and poster featuring a teenage character who is standing in contrast with the Mojokings t-shirt against a plain wall, the idea of rebellion is shown with the typical female Rockabilly clothing and hairstyle which is different to typical modern looks. I also attempted to convey this through the scribbled effect on these other products which hides the characters identity going against the norms of how people are typically shown on these formats (i.e. their identity isn't usually hidden) and it also gives the rougher punk look of which the band are so heavily influenced by. They also energy and the
powerful sound of the music the lyrics "chaos on the airwaves" which I have attempted to reference with fast cut shots and showing the band performing. You could argue that the use of colour in all my products rebellious themes of the band as it is going against the norms of the genre in order to be different and stand out with after all is a key part of the genre. With the music video the use of the visual effects shows the energy of the genre with the effects coming in at specific points where the lyrics are strong or at key sound points in the song for example with the powerful lyrics
"Whatever happened to selling your soul? Whatever happened to Rock 'n' Roll?" the timing was so that it emphasises the song at particular points.
There aren't particularly any messages in the video as it could be seen as just a straight forward performance video, there is no narrative as such however the performance itself could be classed at the narrative as you obviously expect there to be a beginning and end to the band performing. It is more realistic than other types of music video as the intention is to captivate the audience with fast unusual shots. The idea is to put the viewer of the video in the perspective that they are at the performance watching the band where the only focus is listening to the music and viewing the members of the band playing the song. The lyrics speak more than the video and the imagery that these lyrics give off are a big part of the song which is why at kay point in the track I focused on the singer of the band so the
audience can see him saying the lyrics. There is however a clear style throughout my video in the terms of the retro 50's TV style and the static cuts in between shots it make it seem like the music video has taken over and is being broadcast to the world. The blue static style shots are highly influenced by my digipak/ poster productions to reflect those and to to give the idea of the TV going out of control, like the energy and style of the music is too much for it to cope with; this is also seen in the more contrasting static shots as transitions between shots as they are deliberately different to the ones at the beginning and end of the video as when the song starts it's like it's affecting the whole TV broadcast. Also the rougher look for the static fits in better with the bands image and the images I was trying to convey in the video. Sticking with the visuals in terms of the TV theme whilst I did not want the footage to be in black and white like early televisions I used colour balance in Final Cut to manipulate the shots so that they looked rougher and slightly faded to still coincide with the vintage style, I did not want to go for black and white for the video parts in between the blue as the colours picked up from the raw footage look so great I did not want to lose them. In addition the vibrant colours like in my video are typically used in psychobilly music videos when looking at live performances. Examples of this can be seen in real media products such as the music video
Vienna Calling by
The Bloodsucking Zombies From Outerspace.
 |
The video also is a real media example of how the vintage style filter
look has been used in contrast with the highly vibrant live performance shots. |
The editing is a key part of the process in a Psychobilly video. The music tends to be very fast pace which requires a lot of fast changing short shots. I have attempted to conform to this in my video making sure the pace of the music is reflected in the shots, for example keeping moderately fast throughout and at areas where the music slows down I used longer shots with less cuts in between, and finally towards the end I used lots of short-cuts to make the audience feel more excitement and feel the tension as the music speeds up before it finishes. Some shots were repeated in order to create a norm for the video and helps establish certain shots in the mind of the viewer e.g. the lyric shots were repeated in parts as well as some shots of the double bass as it was more prominent in the sound track. Since it was more noticeable in the song I decided to use that shot so it shows the instrument. Also with the editing I had to use clips from different angles piecing it together, this helped with the pace of the video but also keeps the audience interested in the video as it better than just a continuous shots from straight on. Another part of the editing process which is crucial for live performance video in general as well as Psychobilly is matching the audio (the sound track) to the footage (the performance). Lipsyncing was challenging as of course the performances live can never be identical to the studio recordings, however the band were very good in their performance and with some adjustments to timing in the shots I managed to match up the lyrics as well as all of the instruments being played which was used very effectively in specific parts in accompaniment with the special effects. I also done some audio editing by overlaying old fashioned broadcast style static noise over the "Whatever Happened To Rock'n'Roll?" soundtrack to reference the static theme again and to continue with the retro TV idea. This was faded in at the beginning over the top of the sound track saying "Rock'n'Roll has got to go" and also briefly at the end when the closing title appears and the TV goes to turn off.
Whilst I did not have control of this there was low key lighting used in my video which adds to the contrast to the bright colourful stage lights. In terms of editing and special effects I used the darkness to my advantage and emphasized it by tuning up the contrast in my shots. It is typical to have low key lighting in the videos for the Psychobilly genre as it references a lot of the influences of the genre like old Horror movies or 50's B movies. On the other hand the contrast with bright flashing lights which references the other influences Sci-Fi. Most videos also do this as it helps the audience see the band better as they are the ones who are highlighted by the lights and most live performances at venues use this effects.
The themes of the soundtrack in music video relate to Levi Strauss' theory of Binary Opposites. The most common binary opposites we see are in film and tv shows, typically themes such as Good v Evil/ Hero v Villain. In terms of my music video it references the idea of rebellion which is Young v old or could be seen as children against their parents (teenage rebellion) or the sense of uprising in democracy against politicians. If the Psychobilly genre was to have it's own binary opposite it would likely be Psychobilly v Social Norms as this is the theme most videos and the songs reference i.e. being independent and totally different from other forms of music and genres.
In terms of the digipak and poster you could relate the theory of Mulvey's Male Gaze. This theory concentrates on 1) how men look at women 2) how women view themselves and 3) how women look at other women. It is typical to feature female characters on the advertising and image of the band as it both shows the female support for the Psychobilly scene but also appeals to the mainly male audience in terms of enjoyment to view/ watch. In terms of how women would look at themselves and other women the theory states that they are interested in what the characters look like i.e. their costume which in this form advertises the band. This is typical also of Rockabilly/ Psychobilly bands to have women advertise their products as it both attracts males and females. This use of a female character for the album and poster has also been done by the Mojokings before to promote their first CD; my product therefore conforms to the bands own style as well as that of the genre. The overall idea in terms of how the female character was presented was to give the 50's vintage pinup style look, which is a typical look for Rockabilly/ Psychobilly women. Real media text examples for the use of female characters used in the promotion of posters can be seen in the Live & Jive music weekender poster (see right). In terms of digipak's it can be seen in the album
Kiss & Hell by
Kitty In A Casket.
Overall my media product exploits a variety of forms and conventions of real media products of the genre and the live performance style music video. For example the type of footage and the style is very typical of the Psychobilly genre which is what I intended. I also made the other products clearly part of the Rockabilly/ Psychobilly style but with a twist in terms of how they are presented. Although in some cases my media product subverts from the norms and conventions of the genre as I wanted to make my products different and make them stand out, like breaking from the mould of convention with the unique colour scheme across my video and also my other texts (the digipak and poster). It is up to the audience to see what they take from the video as it is a live performance video they can chose to be active and pick up on the themes of the video and the lyrics of the song or they could be passive and simply enjoy the video for entertainment or escapism.
