Regulators

Regulators

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Regulators/regulations- A set of rules or guidelines usually agreed (though not legally obligatory) between media organisations and public organisations in order to make media organisations more accountable for what they publish.

In 1990, a black-and-white warning label reading "Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics" was introduced as a standard for affected records to follow, and was to be placed on the bottom right-hand section of a given product. By May 1992, approximately 225 records had been marked with the warning. 

Contrary to the label's purpose, the explicit content warning began to entice people who wanted to buy records that they may not necessarily have bought before based on the label that the album would have swearing, violent and sexual language or would otherwise not be suitable for minors to listen to. Subsequently, the label had the adverse effect of deterring wide audiences. 

Early edition of the
'Parental Advisory' label

Music Video theorists

Music genre theorists

Here are some theorists and their views on music genres that we learnt about in lesson today:

John Hartley
Argues that 'genres are agents of ideological closure- they limit the meaning-potential of a given text'. He basically aregues that genres act as a sort of straightjacket to an artist or a sort of tether to a genre's conventions.

Robert Hodge and Gunther Kress
Hodge and Kress say genres 'control the behaviour of producers of such texts, and the expectations of potential consumers'.

John Fiske
Fiske views genres as a reflection of the zeitgeist at the time. He says that genres 'embody the crucial ideological concerns of the time in which they are popular'.

Rick Altman
Altman suggest that there's no such thing as a pure genre anymore. He states that genre is progressive in that it will always change. Generic conventions are very much a thing of the past. His theory suggests that audiences in general have become tired of the same strict make up and need more variety to keep them entertained.

One page pitch

One page pitch
Song: Santogold- Lights out
Location: Various locations around Chesterfield

Concept
Both performance and narrative. The performance will tie into the narrative, typical of the alternative music video genre. The video will feature an outdoor gig (a small one in a back garden, for obvious budget reasons) where a band will be playing Lights out, the audience will be the link between the performance and narrative. At the outdoor gig, there will be posters around saying “No vampires”. There will be vampires in the music video, who will act as a metaphor for social stigma or things that I believe some areas of the media try to make people wary or afraid of. Such as assuming teenagers (particularly males) are chaotic because of gang crimes. 

Narrative
During the first verse and chorus there will be an introduction to the performance side of the music video and to the concept of the shared fear and dislike of vampires that the public in the video have. 

The verse that follows the chorus will be introducing a group of vampires running around a quiet suburban neighbourhood causing mischief such as throwing stones at ‘No Vampires’ signs and attempting to drink the blood of household pets. The purpose of this will be to show the effect that hatred and fear has on the social groups that suffer from stigma: the group of vampires will be living up to the media’s representation of them. 

Toward the end of the video, the performance and concept merge together, when the vampires discover the outdoor gig and kill everyone there (comically), completing the ultimate self-fulfilling prophecy cycle.

Concept ideas

Ideas for music video story

For my music video, I want to have elements of both a narrative and a performance. Which means I'll need a story and lip-syncing in the video. From the offset of the year I have been inspired by music video director Richard Ayoade and his black-comedy style videos, which often includes intertextual referencing to things such as horror films and genres. 

In my media lessons, I have been developing the narrative of a vampire who is disliked by people around them because they are a vampire: a creature which is typically associated with horror and is feared among the general public in fictional stories where they exist. 

Instead of the audience fearing the vampire, I want them to be a comical character, being overly nice and just trying to fit in. However at the end of the video I still want them to take an innocent life: I want to create an ambiguous ending whereby the audience are unsure whether the vampire has killed the person because it was their primal instinct, or whether the stigmatisation they face from people has driven them to fulfil what is expected of them by those who create and reinforce the stigma.

Intertextuality in music videos

Intertextuality in music videos

Intertextuality has always been popular within music videos, especially in such a way as to make the video comical or to pay homage to directors, actors and other figures of the media that the band/artist a fans of. I have been researching intertextuality and how its used both prominently and subtly in film and music, as I want to include intertextual referencing to various vampire films in my music video. Here are music videos that I like that use intertextual referencing:

Blur- To The End 

To The End has intertextuality posing as the narrative to the music video. It references a french film from the 60s called 'Lanee Dernier et Marienbad'. Although the whole music video to this Blur song is based on the obscure french feature, it is never explicitly stated and I found out about the film via the Youtube comments on this particular music video.

Nirvana- In Bloom

In Bloom is a music video that parodies performances featured on variety shows in the early 1960s, with Kurt Cobain dressed like Buddy Holly, this referencing is less direct and more general: its referencing no particular variety shows but simply old 1960s televised performances. As well as direct referencing in my music video I want to have more general references, such as acting out folklore about vampires like their sensitivity to light and absence of reflection. 

Song choice

The song I have chosen to make my final music video to is 'Lights out' by Santigold. I chose this song because as far as I am aware, it has no current music video accompaniment, which means that when brainstorming ideas for the video's concept I won't be swayed to try and mimic or recreate the original. As a personal fan of this song and the artist, I already have good knowledge of the song and have listened to it many times. 



I was particularly drawn to the lyrics of the song and upon researching the meaning I found no clear answer.

"Lights Out"

Lights out, shoot up the station
TV's dead, where's there to run?
Watch everybody come undone

Lights out, we'll make it easy, we'll make it fun
Won't let them see now, how they had won
Still I wait another round

Darling
Don't got to worry, you're locked in tight
Darling
Don't got to worry, turn out the light

Wiped out, no concentration
They got us basking in the storm
I watch it as it loses form

I doubt, they could see me; that's what I want
A casualty, but I am upfront
And I know what it's about

Chorus

I'm still here shakin' my head
The one you can't account for
I keep just one step ahead
There's no place to run 

One interpretation I found was that the song was about the public being in constant fear because the media distributes bad news and frightening events. It highlights that we rely heavily on the news and television to direct us in what to be scared about and what not to be. I liked this idea because I want my concept to involve media stigmatisation and well-established fear, but I wanted to counteract the fear that people express in the video with a comical theme which makes the audience not fear the characters at everyone in the video does. 

Genres- ALTERNATIVE

ALTERNATIVE

In researching music video genres in the hopes of gaining some idea of what type of style to go for in my music video, I have found myself being heavily influenced by that of the alternative genre. Though alternative music is a vast genres that many artists, albums and songs can fall under, i have found that in music videos to alternative music: whether its alternative punk of rock or indie, there seems to be some common themes shared. 
These themes include:

• Violence
• Satire 
• Absurd concepts (such as clowns as real people in Fluorescent Adolescent)
• Cuts between narrative and concept
• and intertextual references to films, eras and other music videos

Here are some of the alternative music videos I have seen which have interested or inspired me in some way:

1. Wolf Alice- You're a germ

I like the consistent intertextual referencing throughout this music video: the titles of the music video bears similarity to the Evil Dead and the location of the music video (a cabin in the woods) fits this film and other productions in the horror genre, like the Until Dawn game. 

2. Parquet courts- Dust




I liked this video by Parquet Courts as I thought that the atmosphere of the video was uncomfortable and strange. because of the amount of superimposition in the video, it's hard to concentrate on one thing in particular, and the dust monster that is barely able to be seen over the footage is strange and eery-looking.

3. Blur- The Universal




Blur's universal is a more obvious intertextual reference to the book and the film 'A Clockwork Orange', with mine-en-scene and concept following one of the scenes from the film where a woman sings Beethoven to a group of men. This also fits with my list of findings in alternative music videos by having the band play the droogs from the film, Damon Alburn of Blur being the main Character Alex. 

Music video director (Case study)

Richard Ayoade

Known most famously for his portrayal of the socially inept IT Consultant Maurice Moss in 'The IT Crowd', Richard Ayoade is a comedian, actor, writer and TV presenter (Gadget and Travel Man). He is perhaps least known for being a director, which is surprising to me, as I believe some of his best work to be in the area of cinematography. He has two feature films under his belt, both of which have been moderately successful, however, Ayoade has quite a portfolio of music videos that he has directed as well. His area of music video directing is often in the indie/alternative genre, whether this is deliberate or from mere opportunity is unknown.

Richard Ayoade was born in Hammersmith, England in 1977, he began his directing in his early days of television work, where he co-wrote and starred in Garth Marenghi's Dark Place, a spoof horror British comedy show. A lot of Ayoade's directing displays satire, especially concerning the horror genre.

I was inspired by Richard Ayoade's tendency to portray horrific events such as a werewolf massacring an audience in Yeah Yeah Yeah's 'Heads will roll' or Vlad the Impaler existing in modern times in a light and comical way in Kasabian's single of the same name. I admire the satire and black comedy in making light of a rather gruesome situation, the way that Ayoade does in numerous videos of his.

I also like Ayoade's style of intertextual referencing, often paying homage to films and genres. For example, the video to 'Vlad the Impaler' by Kasabian has consistent intertextual referencing to that of 'Grindhouse' horrors and the general horror genre of 1970s cinema. This is communicated through colour grading, the after effects on the overall footage and in the conceptual aspect of the music video. There is an obvious connection between lyrics and visuals in that comedian Noel Fielding is portraying the historical figure Vlad the Third, who's nickname was Vlad the Impaler as he used to impale his enemies and leave them to die over days in the forest outside of his castle. By using a comedian to portray a widely considered evil and brutal person of history forms its own satire, and through creating the narrative of Vlad the Impaler in modern times killing people, this creates a kind of black comedy effect. 

Richard Ayoade exhibits a pattern of satire and violence across his music video portfolio, along with Vlad the Impaler, another good example of this is the music video to the single 'Fluorescent Adolescent' by Arctic Monkeys. In this video, a group of clowns and a group of men in black are having a gang fight in an abandoned estate in Sheffield. Straight away the video, though violent, appears light-hearted because of its bizarre inclusion of clowns as 'thugs'. The narrative in this video follows the head clown and the head man of the opposing side who know each other from childhood, which is cut to during the music video. At the end of the video, the clown ends up killing his childhood friend. 

Though overall, the video is quite comical to watch, it does have elements of sadness and is quite uncomfortable, as the characters display emotional connection before trying to kill each other. I would like to try and achieve a similar element to my music video: I want it to be a comical video that people can watch and not take seriously, but that, upon closer inspection, can be shown to display darker themes, such as media stigmatisation and self-fulfilling prophecies, along with an ultimate murder.



Perhaps my favourite music video of Ayoade's is 'Heads Will Roll' by a band called the 'Yeah Yeah Yeahs'. As a fan of all these songs and their artists, I was thrilled to discover that a comedian whom I already admire had also directed these enjoyable pieces. 'Heads will roll' follows a performance/narrative video that blends into one at the end. The band sing to their audience and have a werewolf who dances to their song for the audience (the dancing is also resemblant of Michael Jackson, forming another intertextual reference) and when a blinding light flashes and angers the wolf, he chases after and slaughters everybody in the underground venue.


In my original concept at the beginning of the year, I wanted an outdoor concert where a band perform to an audience in a back garden, and the music video would cut to the narrative of a group of vampires experiencing social stigma in a number of different ways. At the end of the video I was going to have the performance and narrative blend together as the group of vampires invade the concert and kill everybody there. For copious reasons, this concept was rather unfeasible, but it was an idea heavily influenced by this Richard Ayoade music video.

In some ways I would say that my new music video concept is more akin to the 'Vlad the Impaler' music video, but that's more down to the character and its comical deliverance rather than the plot.

Richard Dyer's 'Stardom theory'

Stardom theory- Keith Moon

Keith Moon of The Who is an earlier example of Dyer's Star theory. Though Moon deviated from the typical band star as the drummer of The Who rather than the frontman, his fame reached stardom in the 60s and 70s by meeting many of Dyer's criteria. 

 The Who's success began in the mid-60s and were, as a whole group, known for smashing valuable instruments on stage at the end of sets. Moon however, quickly gained a reputation for being eccentric, funny and very destructive. 

Keith Moon is considered by many sources to be one of the best drummers in rock history: during The Who's rise to fame, Moon was recognised for his unique drumming style, improvised drum fills and lots of crash cymbals. From the offset, Moon started to meet the stardom criteria with his talent and originality.

As the band became more well-known however, Moon started to become recognised for his personality, not just as a band member. He was the joker of the band, often making those who knew him laugh hysterically with his childish behaviour and lack of regard for himself or expensive possessions. 

One famous story about Moon involves his 21st birthday party, which actually took place in America on his 20th birthday, but by publicising the party as his 21st, he would be able to drink. Although none of the event remains as video footage, many celebrities at the time attended the party which took place in a hotel, turning into carnage. Moon started a food fight upon the first guests' arrival and lost half a tooth, on the way to the hospital, the doctors were unable to give him any anaesthetic due to his consumption of amphetamines before removing the rest of his tooth. The damage costed around $24,000, and after that Moon continued to destroy and be banned from all hotels the group stayed in: throwing televisions out of windows, exploding the toilets and in one instance, driving a Lincoln continental into a swimming pool in Rochester. 



During the height of The Who's success, each band member was worth a lot of money, with the earnings of his talent, Moon would spend the money in all sorts of ridiculous manners, mainly paying the bills to the hotel rooms which he would wreck. Comparing his economic background as a child to his wealth and excessive spending as a band member displays the paradox in Richard Dyer's theory, in which a star is simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary.

Keith Moon was also considered to be the most attractive member of The Who, which fits the sexual magnetism of the Stardom criterion, and was youthful throughout the whole of his career and, from his excessive self-destructive behaviour, subsequently died in his youth, at 34 years of age. 

Keith Moon and Pete Townshend of The Who

                                                               Despite his joker exterior and comical acts, it became apparent to those who would spend a lot of time with Moon that he was quickly burning himself out, and that he appeared to be deliberately putting himself in danger. There were also speculations after his overdose in 1978 that Moon committed suicide, taking 32 pills of a medicine that was sufficient to cause death after consumption of 6 tablets, although many of his friends including his bandmates, say that Moon probably died thinking it would be funny for people to find him having overdosed, and perhaps didn't realise that he would not be saved from it. 

Introduction to Stardom theory

Stardom theory

Richard Dyer's star theory is based on the idea that a star is an image, and not a real personality, that is 'manufactured' out of a range of materials. They are said to depend on a range of subsidiary media: such as magazines and radio, to construct an image for themselves. 

Fundamentally, Dyer states, the star image is incoherent, that is incomplete and 'open'. This is because it is based upon two key paradoxes:
Paradox one: The star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer
Paradox two: The star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer

Dyer argued that as an audience we strive to complete the star image through consuming their products, shows, merchandise etc. We strive to complete the image by engaging with the star’s meta-narrative and, if possible, seek the ultimate satisfaction of seeing them live.

There is criteria for 'stars' to meet, these include:

• Youthfulness
• Rebellion
• Sexual magnetism
• An anti-authorititarian attitude 
• Originality
• Creativity/ talent
• Aggression/Anger
• A disregard for social values relating to drugs, sex and polite behaviour
• Conspicuous consumption of sex, drugs and material goods 
• Success against the odds