Thursday, 8 May 2014
CCC Background
Car Chase City are a 4-piece band from the Belfast area founded in January 2013 Car chase are a band heavily influenced by punk-rock and it's respective sub-genres with Encore N.I noting "Car Chase City's unique take on American styled punk rock" the review also go on to talk about the bands "infectious enthusiasm" and their "boundless energy", Car Chase city are a band with a growing reputation
Saturday, 3 May 2014
Conclusions
From examining and analyzing all of our research and various similar styled videos we have come to numerous conclusions on the Punk genre, concepts as well as codes and conventions prevalent throughout the music and finally how we will end up using these to influence our final piece.
We have made crucial progress with this stage of the course, from the early defining of codes and conventions and further concreting our influences and methods to which we have analysed and adopted stylings from many similar artists and their respective music videos (album art and websites).
The conclusions we have made throughout this journey have allowed us insight into how to target our chosen target audience and demographic in accordance with the codes and conventions of the punk genre.
Some conclusions we have came to are as followed:
- Dark environemt is critical
- Lighting is important
- Emotive close ups are very common
- Groups shots are also
- Taboo topics and actions are often performed (drinking smoking drugs etc)
- Live performance is essential
- Narrative is often told in exaggerated ways
We have made crucial progress with this stage of the course, from the early defining of codes and conventions and further concreting our influences and methods to which we have analysed and adopted stylings from many similar artists and their respective music videos (album art and websites).
The conclusions we have made throughout this journey have allowed us insight into how to target our chosen target audience and demographic in accordance with the codes and conventions of the punk genre.
Some conclusions we have came to are as followed:
- Dark environemt is critical
- Lighting is important
- Emotive close ups are very common
- Groups shots are also
- Taboo topics and actions are often performed (drinking smoking drugs etc)
- Live performance is essential
- Narrative is often told in exaggerated ways
Friday, 2 May 2014
Similar Products
As already stated we have researched in great detail many other music videos while retaining our focues on the Pop-Punk Genre yet we explored the alternative rock and grunge styled music videos aswell as these would further help us implement the bands influences to correlate with other music videos which are inspired by these genres, these music videos ranged from the following artists:
- Greenday (Basket case) (Holiday) (Boulevard of Broken Dreams) (American Idiot)
- Blink 182 (All the Small Things) (Up until Midnight)
- Biffy Clyro
- Rancid
- Rise Against (Savior)
- Paramore (Misery Business)
- Alien Ant Farm (Smooth Criminal - Cover)
- Shine Down
- Jimmy Eat World
- Foo Fighters (The Pretender) (Walk) (Rope)
- New Found Glory
All these music videos by these artists contain various elements that we wish to inform our final piece with, all these videos and artists as such and as already previously stated fall into the pop Punk genre or contain elements from the Grunge or alternative rock genres that work in correlation with the influences and styles of the band our efforts are focused on.
We also researched a vast selections of album and EP covers of various artists within these genres and through analysis we were able to draw numerous conclusions that would further help inform our final piece.
We finally researched website layout and design of a number of these bands official websites we looked into the following: its aesthetics, audio present, user friendliness/accessibility, colour scheme, whether it was modern/simple/complex or intricate in design and numerous other features that would further inform our final piece.
- Greenday (Basket case) (Holiday) (Boulevard of Broken Dreams) (American Idiot)
- Blink 182 (All the Small Things) (Up until Midnight)
- Biffy Clyro
- Rancid
- Rise Against (Savior)
- Paramore (Misery Business)
- Alien Ant Farm (Smooth Criminal - Cover)
- Shine Down
- Jimmy Eat World
- Foo Fighters (The Pretender) (Walk) (Rope)
- New Found Glory
All these music videos by these artists contain various elements that we wish to inform our final piece with, all these videos and artists as such and as already previously stated fall into the pop Punk genre or contain elements from the Grunge or alternative rock genres that work in correlation with the influences and styles of the band our efforts are focused on.
We also researched a vast selections of album and EP covers of various artists within these genres and through analysis we were able to draw numerous conclusions that would further help inform our final piece.
We finally researched website layout and design of a number of these bands official websites we looked into the following: its aesthetics, audio present, user friendliness/accessibility, colour scheme, whether it was modern/simple/complex or intricate in design and numerous other features that would further inform our final piece.
Informing our Final Piece
So far with regards to research and development we have explored the codes and conventions of the Punk/Pop-punk genre (energetic movements, poor hygiene - spitting etc, group shots of entire band, unique looks, selling points, shock factor, humour or seriousness, deep meanings behind lyrics or parody styled songs etc.). We have also obtained results of numerous surveys covering personal taste in music, opinions and influences from not only punk bands (Green day/Blink-182) but also bands from the alternative rock and grunge genre (Biffy Clyro/ Alter-bridge). This allowed us to get a taste of what people like from each genre, what is the unique selling point, what is visually attracting and what is influential to the viewer.
Next we researched various elements of the Punk genre, from fashion, morals, spends, demographics and the target audience we learned where to target our work and what is most effective to engage them as a result. So far we have researched what the Punk Genre is, its history, the people, their social interests, their culture, how they interact with each other, the diversity contained within the subculture and essentially the evolution of the punk genre. This combined with the research into codes and conventions, demographics, target audience and the results gained from our surveys we have begun to inform certain aspects of our final piece music video.
Our next step involved researching various music videos of the punk genre, the choice of music videos to research was influenced by our surveys and as a result we knew where to focus our attention to on certain aspects prevalent throughout the videos.
The first video we looked at was the parody song "all the small things" - Blink-182. From this song we were able to deduce that the band had created its own unique look (in Blink's case this was the three band members each having their own unique style with gelled spiked hair, piercings, shorts, colourful T-shirts and comedic attire from giant diapers etc.) this unique look created a memorable impression of the band on the viewer no matter how strange it my seem, we wish this aspect to inform our music video - to create a unique look, one that creates a lasting impression on the viewer.
Also from this video various technical aspects can be perceived such as shot types (Group shots are most prevalent, with typically mid shots also commonly zooming into close ups of the band members, focus pulls are often common as are untraditional almost unnatural styled transitions such as blurs while reverse zooming. Scenic panning shots are also commonly seen as they gradually reveal more of the band or more of the scenery or backdrop. Wide and two shots are also seen repeatedly these are used to create a more grunge styled atmosphere which is nicely contrasted with the upbeat and colourful instruments vocals and saturation. It's also worth noting that the misé en scene, lighting and props all follow the codes and conventions of the punk genre, as they retain the surreal saturated vibrant exaggerated atmosphere common to the genre and over emphasise certain elements for comedic effect along with the introduction of taboo elements and toilet humour to further "poke fun" at the target of this parody while keeping it funny, unique, weird and engaging for the audience, this is also fairly common of the Punk genre. We wish to include certain elements reminiscent of these aspects in our music video, such as the group shots, shots of the instruments either in use or as a prop, the introduction of a surreal atmosphere to further emphasise the narrative contained within the music video, possible panning shots to reveal the environment to emphasise the narrative further.
One thing we found prevalent in this video and also in many others of this genre was the lack of a filter (common in the Punk genre), but what is used quite frequently in its place is an exaggerated over saturation (as shown in "all the small things" and "basket case") this overuse of colour creates a virtual world, in which any non-realistic narrative can be told. It became apparent in this video that the narrative was not intended to be serious nor was it intended to represent reality, rather it creates an exaggerated representation of reality where it is ok for people to be dancing in giant diapers infront of crowds of fans etc. and the audience doesn't question it, they are drawn into the narrative through this exaggerated and unrealistic atmosphere.
Yet while over saturation is extremely common of the punk genre so is its polar opposite, undersaturation. This is the inclusion of only minimal colour to create a more serious grunge styled atmosphere, this is not a monotone filter this is just a desaturation of the natural colours present (as shown in "after midnight" and ''up all night") this creates a more realistic portrayal of a narrative in a music video, it suddenly becomes more 'real', emotive and hard hitting, this is often accompanied by more serious styled lyrics and resulting narrative. This knowledge and research has influenced our intentions on how we approach our final piece, we have decided to approach it with a more serious and mature attitude common with this style prevalent in the punk genre, the use of desaturated filter ( yet possibly with the inclusion of over saturated elements such as instruments to contrast against). This has also influenced our decision on narrative, we wish now to approach also with more serious intentions as opposed to a humorous or parody song.
Overall it became clear while watching this video and others that certain conventions are common and to be expected within the Pop-Punk Genre, from lyrics, to shot types, filters, clothing, movements, narrative and the combination of scenes of drama and of the band playing. From these we were able to find the typical location (usually a deserted environment such as a warehouse or a skate park), the lighting is usually dark with crisp casted shadows created from an artificial light source which is come cases shown (floodlights etc.) this convnetion can be contrasted though in some videos which have bright environments but retain the sense of isolation or create an eccentric exaggerated environment.
Next we researched various elements of the Punk genre, from fashion, morals, spends, demographics and the target audience we learned where to target our work and what is most effective to engage them as a result. So far we have researched what the Punk Genre is, its history, the people, their social interests, their culture, how they interact with each other, the diversity contained within the subculture and essentially the evolution of the punk genre. This combined with the research into codes and conventions, demographics, target audience and the results gained from our surveys we have begun to inform certain aspects of our final piece music video.
Our next step involved researching various music videos of the punk genre, the choice of music videos to research was influenced by our surveys and as a result we knew where to focus our attention to on certain aspects prevalent throughout the videos.
The first video we looked at was the parody song "all the small things" - Blink-182. From this song we were able to deduce that the band had created its own unique look (in Blink's case this was the three band members each having their own unique style with gelled spiked hair, piercings, shorts, colourful T-shirts and comedic attire from giant diapers etc.) this unique look created a memorable impression of the band on the viewer no matter how strange it my seem, we wish this aspect to inform our music video - to create a unique look, one that creates a lasting impression on the viewer.
Also from this video various technical aspects can be perceived such as shot types (Group shots are most prevalent, with typically mid shots also commonly zooming into close ups of the band members, focus pulls are often common as are untraditional almost unnatural styled transitions such as blurs while reverse zooming. Scenic panning shots are also commonly seen as they gradually reveal more of the band or more of the scenery or backdrop. Wide and two shots are also seen repeatedly these are used to create a more grunge styled atmosphere which is nicely contrasted with the upbeat and colourful instruments vocals and saturation. It's also worth noting that the misé en scene, lighting and props all follow the codes and conventions of the punk genre, as they retain the surreal saturated vibrant exaggerated atmosphere common to the genre and over emphasise certain elements for comedic effect along with the introduction of taboo elements and toilet humour to further "poke fun" at the target of this parody while keeping it funny, unique, weird and engaging for the audience, this is also fairly common of the Punk genre. We wish to include certain elements reminiscent of these aspects in our music video, such as the group shots, shots of the instruments either in use or as a prop, the introduction of a surreal atmosphere to further emphasise the narrative contained within the music video, possible panning shots to reveal the environment to emphasise the narrative further.
One thing we found prevalent in this video and also in many others of this genre was the lack of a filter (common in the Punk genre), but what is used quite frequently in its place is an exaggerated over saturation (as shown in "all the small things" and "basket case") this overuse of colour creates a virtual world, in which any non-realistic narrative can be told. It became apparent in this video that the narrative was not intended to be serious nor was it intended to represent reality, rather it creates an exaggerated representation of reality where it is ok for people to be dancing in giant diapers infront of crowds of fans etc. and the audience doesn't question it, they are drawn into the narrative through this exaggerated and unrealistic atmosphere.
Yet while over saturation is extremely common of the punk genre so is its polar opposite, undersaturation. This is the inclusion of only minimal colour to create a more serious grunge styled atmosphere, this is not a monotone filter this is just a desaturation of the natural colours present (as shown in "after midnight" and ''up all night") this creates a more realistic portrayal of a narrative in a music video, it suddenly becomes more 'real', emotive and hard hitting, this is often accompanied by more serious styled lyrics and resulting narrative. This knowledge and research has influenced our intentions on how we approach our final piece, we have decided to approach it with a more serious and mature attitude common with this style prevalent in the punk genre, the use of desaturated filter ( yet possibly with the inclusion of over saturated elements such as instruments to contrast against). This has also influenced our decision on narrative, we wish now to approach also with more serious intentions as opposed to a humorous or parody song.
Overall it became clear while watching this video and others that certain conventions are common and to be expected within the Pop-Punk Genre, from lyrics, to shot types, filters, clothing, movements, narrative and the combination of scenes of drama and of the band playing. From these we were able to find the typical location (usually a deserted environment such as a warehouse or a skate park), the lighting is usually dark with crisp casted shadows created from an artificial light source which is come cases shown (floodlights etc.) this convnetion can be contrasted though in some videos which have bright environments but retain the sense of isolation or create an eccentric exaggerated environment.
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