Questionnaire Analysis

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Treatment, Location, Props, Costume & Casting

Poster of the event I will be attending to
record the Mojokings on the 21st of
November.

Treatment:

For my music video I am going to do a performance based video. This is what's typical of the Psychobilly genre as it gives both fans and new listeners of the band the ability to experience what it is like to watch the artist live at one of their concerts. It gives them a feels for the people, the venues and the atmosphere of the music scene for that genre; however most importantly it gives them a view of the band members so they can see what they are like. For existing fans it takes them back to past gigs and also might tempt or remind them to go to another event that the Mojokings are playing at. The band will be main feature of the video with the shots being focused on them playing the instruments and the vocals of the song. With fast pace editing in-between shots good lip-syncing will be key. The idea of this type of video is to make the person watching the video feel like they were at that gig, like they are a member of the audience watching the video. Another idea for this video is a performance video with a twist, not only showing the band playing but the people at the gig and what they're doing. The idea of having a live performance also was inspired by The Brains music video 'Misery'. For technical aspects of the video i.e. special effects (SFX), this was rated as one of the most popular technical aspect of a music video in my audience research. I will also use transitions taking inspiration from the Graveyard Johnny video 'Dead Transmission' and the Hellfreaks video 'Godless Girls Fun' I am going to have some shots as though they are on an old fashioned TV with shots going out of focus or being distorted. The general idea is that I am going to attend one of the Mojokings gigs and record them live which is conforming to my audience research as they wanted to see performance of the band for their music video.

Transitions I intend to use in my video include a TV style static as an overlay to footage linking to the idea of a broadcast in the song and also reference to 1950's black and white television. Close ups of instruments are also also a stereotype of the Psychobilly genre being especially heavily featured in performance videos.

How I'm Going To Film The Band:

Important shots such as the initial drums and and lyrics will be recorded when the band play the song, however with some technical match on action with other shots such as generic instrument shots can be recorded throughout the night; it doesn't necessarily need to be that song. With the song overdubbing the footage the shots will match sound. Lip-syncing will also be a key aspect of this video as they need to be correct to make the video believable. To make sure I have all the shots I need for the video the band will perform the track twice, once at the beginning and once at the end. There may be an issue with getting footage of the band if people are dancing/ wrecking at the event however by filming early on I should be able to get all the video I need before people begin and also by filming some later on I should be able to get some good shots of people doing this later on from the audiences perspective.

Location:

Photo of a band playing at the Voodoo Lounge

The place where I will be recording the Mojokings is a venue in Samford, Lincolnshire called The Voodoo Lounge. It is a small and atmospheric venue which is underground. They do many Rockabilly/ Psychobilly gigs and have had well known artists of these genres such as the Graveyard Johnnys and The Meteors. These are all bands which my audience would be familiar with. The Voodoo Lounge itself is a small room underground with a stage in the centre of the room, meaning there is plenty of room to get different angled shots from lots of different perspectives, including ones from behind the band and facing the crowd. The venue is an ideal place to film as it is great conditions for filming a band due to there being no distracting natural light. It is also a small low roofed place which has a great atmosphere when lots of people are all together watching the band. Though it is not a local venue it is one of the better places to record a music video because of it's quirky feel & look. It is also likely to bring in lots of fans from all over the country as the Mojokings are band headlining at the event. People who know them from the Norfolk areas are likely to attend the even as well.

"Hidden underneath Mama Lizs in a vaulted Victorian wine cellar is the Voodoo Lounge. An intimate and individual live music, comedy and dj venue decorated with some unique Obey Giant artwork. Specialising in up and coming bands, playing original material from all genres the Voodoo Lounge has gained national acclaim, attracting acts from the USA, Canada, Brazil, and the Europe as well as home grown artists." - http://www.mamaliz.co.uk/index.php/voodoo-lounge 

Props:

Since I will be recording from a venue many aspects such as glasses of people drinking and instruments etc. will already be there since it will be at a live performance. I will make sure to make a point of features such as the interesting bar and decor of the venue as well as any significant props that are there such as posters for the event.

• Camera
• Tripod
• (Band) Instruments

One key prop for my video is the bands banner which is pictured in the photo (right). It is a large feature of the bands logo and the lyrics from their song "whatever happened to rock 'n' roll?". This would be very good for my video in terms of referencing the song. Many bands in the Rockabilly/ Psychobilly genre have these type of banners to promote themselves at gigs, it also adds to the look of the band and gives the appearance of status. Another key aspect of the props are the instruments, each band have their own signature sound depending on what they play. To conform to technical aspects of the genre I will heavily feature the double bass (slap bass), which is the icon of the Rockabilly/ Psychobilly genre and what the style of music is mainly characterised by. Having this featured in the video helps with identity of the band and recognition of new audience members as it helps them realise the bands genre, if they are in to that type of music then they are more likely to enjoy a video knowing the band have a double bass.

Costume:

Mojokings famous
'Punk 'n' Roll' t-shirt

Costumes will depend on the band but the crowds and the band will both be wearing clothes of the Rockabilly/ Psychobilly style. Typically this consists of deep blue jeans with turn-up's which is the icon of people of this genre. Often people will attend gigs like this wearing the T-shirt of the band or ones similar to them, even ones of the venue or bands that have played there before. Popular footwear for this style include Converse 'Chuck Taylor' plimsoles and Doc Martin boots. The band members are likely to conform to this style and they generally wear their well known stripped T-shirt (which is part of their style and the style of their fans). The clothing fashion style goes for men and women however the women may wear dresses with different 1950's designs on them generally conforming in this sense and with their hairstyles to the Pinup look. This even is likely to be more casual therefore people of both genders are likely to wear simply T-shirts and jeans. This would appeal to my target audience (predominantly males aged in their 40's) as they would want to see people of the Rockabilly/ Psychobilly style featured in the promo as it makes it easy to relate with in terms of genre conventions. I will also use intertextuality in my costumes referencing other bands which is something done in Psychobilly music videos primarily through the band members and audience who may wear merchandise from more well known bands to promote and make link to them.  Below are some examples of the male Rockabilly/ Psychobilly look.

Casting:

For casting of my music video I will actually be recording the band and therefore they will obviously play themselves, since it is a straightforward performance video I will not need anyone specific although I will consider getting family or friends to 'pose for the camera' i.e. singing along to the band and wearing a T-shirt of a different band to give aspect of intertextuality (linking to costume). People attending the event have been notified that they will be filmed prior to the event and will just be generally recorded for the video as part of the crowd. Listening to my audience research where people wanted to see the audience of a band featured in the video, this allows them to gain an element of what the atmosphere is like at their gigs.

Song choice - 'Whatever Happened To Rock 'n' Roll?'

The song I have chosen for my music video is 'Whatever Happened To Rock 'n' Roll?' for many reasons. Firstly I chose this song as it is very fast pace and loud which I believe will show off the bands skills as performers and their energy when singing the song. Having seen the band perform this song live it always gets a good reception from the crowd and it is also one of their favourite songs to sing. Since it is so fast pace there will also be a lot to film regards band members playing their instruments and people in the crowd are more likely to be active. Secondly it is also one of the more famous songs known by fans of the Mojokings which will mean that is popular amongst them in terms of promotion as well as people dancing and having a good time. Finally the song title itself works well with the band as it like their own iconic phrase where they have "brought back rock 'n' roll to the 21st century" it also signifies their hard hitting original sound with the fusion of Rockabilly with garage and punk.

Moodboard - Rockabilly/ Psychobilly Genre

Ideas for my music video 'Whatever Happened To Rock 'n' Roll?'. These influences come from the Rockabilly/ Psychobilly culture featuring heavily around similar bands of the genre, instruments, cars and weekenders.

Exam Question 1a - Research & Planning

Discuss the progress and development in the use of research and planning in your AS and A2 coursework portfolios.

My media coursework portfolios has progressed form AS to A2 in terms of look and design of my blog as well as the content that has been posted on it. In both years I have produced research and planning in order to find out information about the products I was making. At AS I analysed posters i.e. looking at colours and identifying conventions and themes from thriller movies as well as opening scene analyses and just general scene analyses to see how they were presented through technical codes such as shot types and symbolic codes like costumes and colours of objects. These were films both of my choice which I believed best suited the style of video we were making as a group as well as those we thought were good examples as part of a group. At AS I only managed to rewrite some of my posts as I did not leave enough time to edit all of the ones I had done. At A2 however my research and planning was a lot more specific and I was able to chose music videos and digipaks to analyse which I believed best suited my chosen artist. As a result I was able to go into greater detail in conventions of the genre as I knew it better and also the links in symbolic and technical codes from the videos I found easier to identify since again I knew the genre as well as the artists i.e. I could identify what was typical for a video and/or digipak as well as something which was different and unusual for that genre.

In terms of organising my research and planning initially I did not have a very good technique. I did not have labels on my blog nor did I give good titles to the posts, it was only later on that I realised it was needed to keep relevant posts together. Conversely this year for A2 I have had labels from the beginning of my coursework portfolio to help keep on top of organisation. I have made the label relevant to each post i.e. video analyses or digipak analyses. I also have made sure that the titles of each blog entry is relevant to the post so I know e.g. which analysis I am looking for as oppose to simply "Poster analysis 1" like I had at AS. It has helped my learn that if you keep organised from the beginning of the assignment then it helps later on and you're not rushing trying to find old blog posts which you don't know because the names aren't relevant. Keeping on the theme of my blog I have changed the look of my blog for A2 as last year my blog did not really look like it was selling the product i.e. my thriller "Hightide" I in the end created some graphics to go on there but they did not look brilliant. This year I have created a theme of my artist from the start and put in photos and other links so it looks like a living advert for the Mojokings.

At AS I didn't really have any draft pieces of work which meant that any work I completed had to be edited or was not adapted, meaning I didn't always have as good quality in terms of presentation and content. However at A2 I have completed drafts of work and had it assessed by peers such as my survey where I posted a draft questionnaire and we commented on each-others work to help improve the quality of questions which therefore would create a higher standard of responses for analysis later on. This will therefore translate into a more successful music video as it will follow themes and conventions the audience want. The targeting of my questionnaire is much more specific than what it was at AS where I simply sent out an email with the link to my survey out to everyone at my college. This year however I have put a lot more care and consideration into who I am asking as it needs to be the opinions of fans of either the Mojokings (my chosen artist) or those who are fans of the Rockabilly/ Psychobilly music genre.

Looking back at AS we should have made checks on our equipment and settings before filming. For example in our thriller we had a party scene at night which was really too dark and this affected the quality of the video since we had to use plug in flood lights and lamps to light it up as best as we could. Additionally when it came to shooting the actual video we also could have taken a shot more than once as some did not come out as expected and therefore had to be left out of the final edit. Therefore this year I will make sure technical aspects such as lighting and costumes (as mentioned previously) are correct and actually reflect the image of the band as well as keeping up to a professional standard. Additionally I will take more than one shot of each as well as other alternative ones as 'backup' in case some don't come out as planned or do not look right with the rest of the video. With issues regards lighting this might be helped with the equipment I am using this year as the cameras will be professional filming cameras with back-light options. I will also consider additional lighting.

Working Example

Results show most people want to be entertained and see the latest trends. 

To fulfill these viewing needs I will look at recent popular music videos and identify what is conventional and what are the new innovative things to be featured. I have discovered various things which give a video and edge to make it more desirable to those who like the latest trends. These things are:

Nicky Rothen from Flesh Roxon

• Distorted camera shots/ angles i.e. fish eye effects and movement shots following and instrument as it's being played. These are interesting shots are they are different and distorting angles keeping the viewer intrigued and creating a 'weird' effect. A good example of unusual/ distorted camera angles is in the video 'God Sent Me To Hell' by Flesh Roxon where we see the singer falling and the camera follows him as his face hits the dirt.

• A lot of Psychobilly music videos feature people (either the audience at a gig or the band members themselves) drinking, since this is a common feature it would be good to include in a

  

  Black & red double bass
  of The Marksmen

  music video since it gives the atmosphere of a live performance to people who have not seen the band or artist before, this is essentially what the audience want to do i.e. go and see the band. Throught this ideology it gives a little flavour of what it is like. A second thing that is often featured in these music videos and is quite popular recently is showing members of an audience enjoying the band as part of a live performance, it was usual for a music video to be solely narrative yet the popularity of performance videos has brought along this. The audience are either dancing or interacting with the band members. Finally another feature as part of the Rockabilly/ Pychobilly culture it heavily shows people with tattoos, this is common among the fans of these kinds of artists. When it comes to shots of the bands the main instrument which is focused on is the double bass which is the piece that sets this genre of music apart and makes it unique, it is the symbolism of most bands for the genre and different artists have different coloured/ styled basses, additionally this is one of the most powerful (in terms of sound) instruments which the band play.

Example of low key lighting in the music video 'Godless
Girls Fun' - The Hellfreaks

• Low key lighting is another feature in most videos since it gives an artistic effect and again gives it a more real feel to the video if it is of a live performance. It also links in with Psychobilly's horror themes i.e. it being dark, and nighttime. This is generally combined with flickering lights as well or some form of flashes in transitions between shots as shown in the video 'Godless Girls Fun' by The Hellfreaks.

• The style of special effects are something which always changes in popularity for the music

  

  TV transition style which has recently brought back.

  videos, for example most used to feature focuses and blurred out shots to make the shot seem hazy. However since the Graveyard Johnnys released their video Dead Transmission it is cutting edge to have TV styled transitions and effects making it seem like you are watching an old fashioned programme. It's like a sense of nostalgia going back to how thing would have looked back in the 1950's with some shots being in grayscale or pure contrasting black and white. This is new and cutting edge since the style of the retro revival became popular recently in the last couple of years. Other special effects include slow motion shots (primarily of the drummer in a band) which outlines the skill and puts emphasis on the performance. 

• Some aspects of these music videos apply to Mulvey's Male Gaze theory i.e. these videos

  

  Glamorization of drink and sexualaisation of women are a
  common feature in Psychobilly videos. This screenshot is
  taken from 'Won't Back Out' by The Graveyard Johnnys.

  often feature women who are sexualised and glamorised being represented as objects (these are generally not members of the band but extras in a video, this convention is often more common in all male bands as they do not have the attraction). They are used to bring in and attract the male audience.

• Finally one more common feature in Psychobilly music videos which is relatively new and follows trends is the location of filming in a small confined space or somewhere which is crowded, it gives of a certain lively atmosphere as well as making the band seem more independent i.e. a small store room, prisons cell, recording studios, they are not on a big stage or at a large festival. This is appealing as it is different to most performance videos which have their artists on stages or in wide open spaces.

Screenshot of Relentless from their music
video 'Haunted By The Devil'

Relentless ,being a relatively new band, they have successfully incorporated most of the new trends and conventions of Psychobilly music videos i.e. the small spaces, fish eye, fast editing closely featuring the instruments. They also follow a relatively new trend to the Psychobilly scene regards music videos which is featuring other bands in the form of t shirts. For example in this video we see the double bass player is wearing a 'Living End' top. This never used to be a feature as bands tended to be focused around themselves and not promote others however this has changed in recent years and many artists are seen wearing clothes advertising other bands, this is especially common now in those who are signed to a record label as it does promotion for other bands they are signed with.