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Permission letter for copyrighted music

This is an email we sent to The 1975's record label Dirty Hit Record. We did not however, get a reply therefore we took this that they did not mind that we would be using the song.

Dear whom this may concern,

My group and I are enquiring about the possibility of using the 1975's song Robbers for our A2 Media Studies course. We hope to be creating a music video to this song and used the finished video as part of our coursework. For copyright reasons we were instructed to contact you for the permission of the use of Robbers 

Thankyou, 
Yours Sincerely,

Tegan Woods, Kirsty Anderson, Rebecca Isles and Bethan Neads

Lyrics Analysis

Lyrica Anal

Chosen Song

Auteur Theory

An auteur director is a director who has a signature, normally original way for directing and has recognisable themes throughout their work.

Michel Gondry
is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He is recognised for his visual style and manipulation of mise en scene. He grew up in Versailles and moved to Paris to study at art school. It was here he joined a pop band called Oui-Oui. He played the drums and directed music video clips. Seen by Bjork on MTV, she admired his strange ideas and asked Gondry to direct one of her own music videos.

I will be looking at The Chemical Brothers-'Let Forever Be'
and Mia Doi Todd-'Open Hearts'

In both these music videos directed by Gondry, he has used similar themes to appeal o he audience. For example both have the use of well choreographed dancing by multiple dancers, creating an interesting image for the audience as they are all in time. 

The contrast of the urban areas and everyday settings with the unusual dancing and brightly coloured costumes work well.

In The Chemical Brothers video he uses special effects to create a trippy effect, almost hypnotising the audience. Although he does not use effects in Mia's music video, the use of costume as the t-shirts are different coloured on either side and the dances turn around regularly, this also creates a hypnotising effect.

Although both videos are not particularly slow paced, they do not use quick cuts and consist of longer takes, however to the the constant movement of the camera and dancing throughout, they appear to be much more fast paced.

Chris Cunningham

Born in Reading and growing up in Suffolk, Cunningham most commonly directs music videos for ambient music and electronica acts. Earlier work of his included film make up and contributing to the occasional cover painting for Judge Dredd strip.

Aphex Twin- 'Come to Daddy'

Madonna-'Frozen'

He has very dark images, with strange abstract themes.

There are a lot of close ups highlighting the almost supernatural elements he uses as they transform into something else.

An cool, almost blue tint overlayed to create a very cold looking image, making the audience also feel cold and uncomfortable.

He focuses on the artist or band's lead singer as the main character and there are not many other characters in the video, for example Madonna is the only person in the entire video even though the song is  a love song. Also, in Aphex Twin's video, although there are multiple characters, many have the face of the main singer.

He uses very technical, advanced special effects which add to the supernatural theme as well as making the videos very visually exciting.

He also uses slow motion to create a very dramatic and eerie feel.

Many of the shots are at a canted angle which which disorientates the audience and along with the entropic element of every thing falling into chaos, this confuses the audience.

Samuel Bayer

He was born in New York and is a visual artist, cinematographer, commercial, music video and film director. Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' was one of the first music videos he directed and won a MTV Music Award.

I will also be looking at Marilyn Manson's 'Disposbale Teens'.

In his music videos he commonly has a blurry or grainy overlay, so that it becomes blurry and harder for the audience to see what is going on. 

He also uses a fairly dark lighting to create a more rebellious and feel, which goes with the loud almost rock music.

Social stereotypes are also challenged in his videos as in Nirvana's music video he shows cheerleaders covered in tattoos- a much more grunged up rebellious version of what you'd expect normally. 

There are rarely still shots, as he continuously keeps the camera moving to create a chaotic feel, which also goes with the visuals of  moshing crowd. He does however stick to the convention in rock videos, of a performance element, however his take on it is much more unexpected as it is in a school.

Both Marilyn Manson's video and Nirvana's have fairly aggressive themes, with Kurt Cobain smashing up his guitar, highlighting his careless attitude and in Manson's, his angriness.

They also have a strong performance in them with both crowds being very wilds and crazy.

Favourite Auteur 

Overall I would say my favourite Auteur is Samuel Bayer. As my group  will be creating a music video for an Indie band, I feel the themes he uses are most appropriate for the song. For example Bayer's use of dark lighting to reflect the songs dark nature, would work well for our music video. I also like how the camera is never stationary which therefore makes it look much more chaotic and looks much more exciting. As we are using a lot of shots of the main character we don't want the audience to be bored therefore the movement will make  more visually appealing.

Music Video Mind Map

The Black Keys Music Video Analysis

The Black Keys Music Video

Bad Blood Music Video Analysis

Bastille

Shot at the Night Music Video Analysis

The Narrative

The Killers offer a brief modern-day Cinderella story in their new video for "Shot at the Night," one of two new songs on their upcoming best-of collection, Direct Hits.

Actress Bella Heathcote stars as a housekeeper inside the palace-like Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, mindlessly going through the motions of what appears to be a daily (and unglamorous) routine. She goes home alone where she rests before returning to work the following day, and nearly hits actor Max Minghella with her car at a crosswalk while daydreaming.

She goes about her housekeeping duties, when fate once again brings them together and Minghella and his friends convince the dutiful Heathcote to blow off work for a night on the town. The two enjoy Vegas, riding a motorcycle down the Strip, watching a poker game, holding hands and kissing against the wall of a building, while Brandon Flowers oversees the activity as he sings the dreamy song.

The video ends after the enamored couple watches others get married at a typical Vegas wedding chapel. It's well after midnight, and he kisses her tenderly as the sun rises before she rushes back to work.

Through interpretation to the point of view of Brandon Flowers, the main singer of the band, he seems to have lost the ability to get any enjoyment from his life and now feels that he has a once in a lifetime moment to drastically change his circumstances and experience the joy and excitement that he seems to have lost.  He appears desperate to take advantage of this sudden change so that his past does not mirror his future.  Something happens to this man when he realizes that he has an opportunity to change all this. This reflects the story of this girl in the video who is working all her life but soon decides to not go to work and to just enjoy life.

 The video begins with an establishing shot of Las Vegas, this automatically gives the audience a clue of the theme of the video due to the party and gambling associations that Las vegas has. A large white, thin font saying 'the killers' also spreads itself across the setting identifying the artist of the song. Not many music videos tend to put their name in the actually music video this makes the killers more unique and representing  pride in their music. The video speeds up the timing as loads of cars drive through the strip in las Vegas, this suggests a busy and hectic lifestyle choice that many artists and 'famous' people have to deal with. This begins linking to the lyrics of the song ' give me a shot of the night' which could mean that they want to stop this busy lifestyle and have a night of enjoyment rather than and overwhelming busy schedule.

Another shot at the beginning is a mid-shot of Brandon Flowers, the main singer of the band, on a balcony which overlooks Las Vegas as he is the performance element of the video. The dark key lighting over him contrasting from the brightly lit up background suggests he wants a hidden identity. The setting establishes a link between him and the narrative despite the fact that he isn't playing a role in it. He shows how he is the one telling the story as he overlooks the setting. 

The first shot of the main actress for the narrative straight away helps the audience to know something about the character. The mid-shot of her shows her maids uniform as she walks through a casino in a hotel which tells the audience her occupation and from her facial expressions we can see she does not seem to be enjoying her job. This begins the narrative and helps the fans to understand the song in terms of what is is about as the lyrics may be difficult to understand the meanings. Her natural make-up reflects an ordinary girl who perhaps has never had a fancy expensive lifestyle. This contrasts to the life of the member in 'the killers' as presumably they are wealthy whereas this girl clearly may not be. Despite their differences in terms of their jobs, due to the interpretation of the lyrics, they both seem to be fed up with their way of work. More shots of her cleaning are used again to re-emphasise her job role and responsibilities. The faint natural lighting from the window shadows the unhappy emotions of the character who is in a busy 'party' city and yet is working which in turn leads to the purpose of the song.  

 The shots also manage to cut on time with the beat of the music as its cuts between the many jobs the girl has such as hoovering, making the beds and as she is tracked through the hotel with the same consistent unhappy facial expression. The people around her are happy and talking to each other whereas she keeps to herself representing her as lonely. The video also cuts to the performance part of the video as he sings the lyrics 'once in a lifetime, the suffering of fools, to find our way home to break in these bones'. This highlights the 'suffering' of the girl and the unhappiness she is feeling as she goes day to day doing the same routine of work then going home only to go and do the exact same thing the next day. The reflection of him as he performs the song suggests he is mirroring his own story in the narrative.

 As the girl is out driving in the night the lyrics 'Once in a lifetime, we're breaking all the rules

To find that our home, has long been out grown' are used. This could mean that she is bored with her working life and it has 'out grown' her. The facts that she is not working and is in the busy crowd suggests that she is breaking her rules. It gives the audience the impression that she isn't allowed to enjoy herself or be happy however the narrative soon shows that she can be. As she is day dreaming she almost hits another man. The reverse shot used between the two characters instantly shows a potential love interest and you see the girl smile for the first time. The song at this point is at the chorus 'shot of the night' this begins to show a change of her typical working day. 

The two character first appear as polar opposites as she dresses with her hair back in a plain baggy grey jumper whereas he wears a bright blue, whats looks like, an expensive suit. And yet those differences don't stop him from asking her to come out with him and his friends the next day. This long shot again portrays two completely different characters as the girl is walking past with a cleaning trolley and the man is ready to go out for the night again. This perhaps could represent her getting a 'shot' or a chance to enjoy herself for once, which links with the lyrics. The quick cuts of the  couple doing different things establishes a developing relationship showing the two characters getting to know each other. The quick cuts suggests a fast pace moving relationship that may only be for one night as well see further on she returns to work then next day. 

The 1975 Heart Out Music Video Analysis

The music video begins with a talent show set in a school which is completely different from their other videos and other indie videos as a school is not the usual setting of choice which highlights the 1975 as being quite rebellious and unique. There are 3 young girls who are dancing fairly provocatively for their age and along with the awkward aura in the room due to the audiences uncomfortable facial expressions it becomes apparent that the video is making fun of the stereotypical young girl who longs to be older. The mid shots of the audiences uncomfortable expressions make the video slightly humorous and also awkward in combination to the silences before the song has cut in. When 'The 1975' are introduced and the music starts, it is much louder than the previous music as well as being a completely different act, again highlighting the bands long to be different and not worry about what people think, also a quality many of the bands target audience may have. Overall the video is very basic in terms o the camera shots. There are long shots of the stage and the back of the audience emphasizing the contrast between the theatrics of the performance and the stiff audience. Cuts between close ups of the 'bands' faces and tattoos allow fans to see how the young actors have been made to look exactly like the band themselves. This is also portrayed through their use of costume, something the band would wear-a leather jacket, mainly monochrome and fairly laidback, loose shirts, a style which many of their fans will also wear. The dark lighting and smoke is reminiscent of one of the bands gigs as well as many other indie genre videos which are fairly dark.

Web Design Idea 4

Website Design Idea 3

Web Design Idea 2

Website Idea

Bastille Website Analysis

The overall image of Bastille's website is very bland and almost depressing, with the grey fogginess and dark image of a man in a car, in what appears to be a desert. This image however links to both to a Bastille music video as well as their album cover, reflecting the darkness in some of their songs and their hidden meanings. 
It is obvious that Bastille have thought hard about the image of their album and it is apparent that they have decided to be understated with their website as some of their music videos are quite dramatic, therefore they are taking a different approach here Their recognisable logo, along with the car is the largest element to the homepage and the white of it looks effective amongst the read, therefore standing out. As with many webpages all their links are in a smaller font to promote themselves to their fans, so that they can be more connected. I feel that the homepage has a sense of mysteriousness about it as the band is not pictured and you cannot see who is in the car, perhaps representing how the band like to have a mysterious aura to keep their fans hooked. 

The Killers Website Analysis

Similar to many other band websites, the killers have their band name at the top in the largest font as this tells the audience that they are on the right page. Again like other bands they use their recognisable band logo to show the continuity between platforms and for fans to already feel familiar with the website before they've even looked at it. 
The Killers appear to promote their new music video on their website instead of the band themselves as there are no photos on their homepage, instead the actors from 'Shot At The Night' are the largest most attention grabbing photo. This photo along with the splashes of electric blue brighten the black background up and along with the smiling actors, represents the bands music as being much more poppy than other indie bands whose colour themes are much moodier.
The actors in the large photo are both genders therefore showing how they are targeting both genders, not only in their music videos but also through the colour scheme due to the more girly blue used. 
The headings at the top of the page are similar to their websites however they have used variations of the regular words, for example their 'TOUR' heading is called 'SHOWTIME' highlighting the theatrics of the band and how they like to be a bit more eccentric. 
Social networks such as twitter are also highlighted however in a much more prominent way as along with the link there is also a live feed, showing how they are dedicated to keeping their fans updated.

The 1975 Website Analysis

Along the top of the website there is the recognisable The 1975 logo which all fans will immediately recognise as it is on nearly all their other social media, album covers, merchandise etc. showing the continuity of their image throughout. What else also jumps out at the audience is the use of black and white, again on all their other platforms. It is not only in the website's theme it is in all their photos and also in many of their music videos. Creating a vintage, traditional quality to the band, as well as letting the audience appreciate the photos for what the subject is not the colours. The photos are a mix of tour photos from their gigs which entices the audience to see them live as well as professional photo shoot ones which are artistic and appealing to look at, again enticing the audience to view their other platforms for example Instagram and Tumble. These links are found at t he top of the website in block capitals and the same font which is on their album back cover. The overall look of the website is very simple again reflecting the subtle nature of the band. The photos are displayed in a way which is like a wall of framed photos almost like fans are being invited to see them behind the scenes, allowing a connection between fans and the band. As the band are fairly private and are not very vocal on social media this is way for fans to feel closer to them. The links at the tiop are all very simple too, with the TOUR being the first listed, highlighting how live performance are important to then. This is what they enjoy most - performing their music.