Genre

The unknown track I have chosen has elements of punk - and therefore, the videos I shall be exploring will focus on alternative music from different branches of rock and rap.

Fu Manchu - Stoner rock
Flobots - Indie Hip Hop
Weezer - Alternative Rock
The Dead Weather - Blues Rock
Flogging Molly - Folk Punk
Mindless Self Indulgence - Synthpunk

flobots | circle in the square

Flobots are an indie hip hop bad who originally hail from Denver, Colorado. The band formed in 2000 but only gained real success after their single "Handlebars" became a mainstream hit in 2008.

Indie Hip hop (or conscious rap) is a term used for bands within the hip hop genre who operate out of the mainstream. The lyrics are socially conscious and anti-commercial; the artists will focus on global issues such as racism, politics and war. This ties in nicely with the "be who you want to be" lyrics sung in an equally aggressive manner in my unknown song.

• Thought beats: The music is upbeat and aggressive, akin to the unknown song and various other examples on this blog. The singer's delivery of each syllable is clear and tinged with a Blookyn accent; American. Guitars as well as violins are used; these instruments are common in rock genres and are also versatile in painting a picture. The low, thumping strums of the bass at the beginning tells the audience that this song means business, but more experimental, high-pitched guitars and instruments later on catch the ear as something different.
• Narrative & Performance: Initial shot: man with buckets of powder paint. Different shots of the location: broken wood and bits of junk Band playing, paint powder explosions. Jump cuts in key to the beats of music. Man stacking shelves, paint spots on him and can. Sam with courier covered in paint. Spear of paint on music notes. Teacher leaving colour. Kid covered in paint gets beaten up. Rioters in masks running, riot squad grazing truncheon against gate. People smearing 'warpaint', ready to take on rioters. Powder chucked into the air. Paint fight. Cuts to the band playing and rioters fighting. Riot squad begins to enjoy themselves, takes off visors. Microphone drops.
• Star Image: The band are seem throughout the music video performing live.
• Relation of Visuals to Song: The impact of the paint powder coincides with the drumbeats, as well as the banging of the swat team's batons against their riot shields.
• Technical Aspects of Video: Other than the cut cuts of the camera angles, very little editing has been used in the film; the mise en scene has been easily achieved with settings varying from supermarkets to abandoned warehouses. The attire is casual, but can easily identify certain types of social groups i.e., the police with their uniforms and muslim women with their headscarfs.

the dead weather | treat me like your mother

The Dead Weather are a supergroup composed of Alisson Mosshart (The Kills), Jack White (The White Stripes) and Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age). They formed in Tennessee in 2009 and have since spanned the genres of indie, Blues Rock and Garage Rock.
Blues Rock can also be referred to as Southern Rock, Country and Americana: Twelve Bar Blues and extended guitar solos are popular in these genre; clear roots can be found in New Orleans, California and the South.

• Thought beats: The music has a steady but changing melody. The heavy use of drums and guitars identifies the genre as rock; other more experimental sounds are used; the time signatures are not offbeat, the the jolty used of different tempos make for an interesting listen.
• Narrative & Performance: They do no look at the cameras once, which may make the audience feel as though they are watching a short movie. The narrative is both abstract and story-based. One gets the feeling that this is how all arguments between couples should be resolved - or it's at least how it feels as the tear tear into one another with sub-machine guns.
• Star Image: Jack White and Alisson Mosshart are the two front men and women of the band; therefore, they feature in the video as a duelling couple.
• Relation of Visuals to Song: At the beginning of the music video, there is a shot of a spinning bomb with its tip sparkling. As the bomb spins fast, the music's volume increases. The two lead singers are [aptly] singing the lyrics at one another in a confrontational fashion.
• Technical Aspects of Video: Most of the music video is filmed using an extended tracking shot. Other technical specs include the computer generated gun blasts and bullet holes that actually shine like through the two singers.

flogging molly | drunken lullabies

Flogging Molly is an Irish-American Punk band. They originated from California (much like Weezer and Fu Manchu).

Celtic punk is punk rock mixed with traditional Celtic music--founded in the 1980s by The Pogues (a band of punk musicians in London from Ireland). Said bands will often play covers of traditional Irish or Scottish folk and political songs, as well as original compositions. Common themes in Celtic punk music include politics, culture, religion, drinking and working class pride. Their music would not be out of place aboard a pirate ship, if pirates had access to hair dye and electric guitars.

• Thought beats: The sound is fast paced and a broad range of instruments are used such as accordions, violins, banjos and electric guitars. The time signature is quicker than most genres, even compared to punk; the sound is loud, the lyrics are aggressive overall, it looks and sounds as irish as the music video.
• Narrative & Performance: The narrative of the music video is of a typical Flogging Molly fan getting ready for a concert by skateboarding to various pubs and drinking profusely--to a point that he has to hitch a ride from people on scooters and [unsuccessfully] avoid moving traffic.
• Star Image: The band itself are performing in the video, however, the main focus has been put upon the protagonist and his journey to the gig. As a form of exploiting their star image, lots of their four-leafed clover logos are shown on clothing, their posters in the protagonist's flat, and shots are taken of their gig tickets.
• Relation of Visuals to Song: Tie in well to the music video. Lyrics such as: 'Cause we find ourselves in the same old mess Singin' drunken lullabies' seems as good as any a way of ending a song just where it started: where as very hung-over man wakes up in his flat, covered in celtic paraphernalia.
• Technical Aspects of Video: Many of the shots are deep and less focused on the musicians, unless they are shown in mid-two shots or with the crowd, which homogenises them and their fans as equals. The cuts are quick and the costumes are simple. It is believable and there are no signs of abstractness in this music video.

weezer | hash pipe

Weezer is a band that has founded the genre of Nerd Rock; who formed in the nineties in Los Angeles. Their first album (titled the blue album) was released in 1994, including hits such as "Buddy Holly", "The Sweater Song" and "No One Else".

Nerd Rock is a sub-genre of rock which - despite the name - shares some elements of punk. Typically  the lyrics are hyper-literate and clever; though many Nerd Rock bands dislike the "Quirky" label. There's often an experimental aspect to Nerd Rock, but it's more concerned with using rock and pop structures for atypical lyrics for rock songs However it's not uncommon for the music to feature rapping and intertextuality to pop culture (See: Pork and Beans). Such is seen in the unknown song that I have chosen for making a music video.

• Thought beats: The structure of the song is quick and tightly wound. however the chorus of the sound is sweeping and easily comparable to more mainstream forms of rock. The video itself opens with a sumo wrestler preparing for his fight, all to the rhythm of the aggressive guitars.

• Narrative & Performance: As mentioned, the video involved scenes of sumo wrestlers preparing for battle, as the band plays on in a separate ring. There are elements of performance, narration and abstraction.

• Star Image: All members of the band are seen and heard in this music video, who 'look' at the audience. This creates a false intimacy and bond with the artist which makes the music more enjoyable and easier to relate to.

• Relation of Visuals to Song: The song and its lyrics actually have no clear link with what is being shown, save for the confrontational nature of the band's music and the large men in nappies sumo wrestling.

• Technical Aspects of Video: Technically speaking, the editing of the video is probably the simplest of any other of their videos. The cuts time perfectly with the changes in the song's tempo; it's fast paced but not too distracting. More than once, tracking shots have been used and extreme close ups of the band members to create that intimacy with the viewer.

fu manchu | evil eye

Fu Manchu is a band that came around in the eighties (originally named Virulence). Their music has key characteristics of desert rock - sometimes referred to as Stoner Rock (perhaps due to flora and fauna in South California--and their drug problem.)

The genre of stoner rock predominantly made itself known in the 1990's with the rise of bands such as Kyuss and Soundgarden. Its style is typically slow-to-mid tempo and has a distorted,  laden bass-heavy sound, melodic vocals, and "retro" production. Oftentimes there are aspects of psychedelia in the lyrics and the videos.

• Thought beats: The story of the video is that adults are trying to ban rock music in a small community
• Narrative & Performance: The lyrics are being sung by the actual live band, and also helps to narrate the story of the group's 
• Star Image: The bar co-stars as part of the teenage rabble
• Relation of Visuals to Song: The lyrics of the song help to amplify the hidden meaning of the song, which is that drugs and alcohol are no better than rock music. Evil Eye refers to the people in charge.
• Technical Aspects of Video: There are quick cuts; the mise en scene is quite simple, in that their performance/part takes place in a house that is being built.

Unknown Track

This is the track that I chose from the selection given to our media class. Said selection consisted of techno, lashings of heavy metal and a more upbeat, indie song.
I picked Track 1 specifically because it would take me out of my comfort zone, but also wouldn't be as terrible to listen to again and again in the editing process (famous last words). 

The genre is identifiable as punk and has a male lead singer, which will push me to focus more on hiring actors/bands/doing something different as opposed to falling into the trap of lip-syncing for my own video. 

A variety of instruments and beats make for a muddled composition, and the aggressive male voice [oddly] adds a sense of comedy to song. It is far less serious than the heavy metal genre may have been to replicate - and therefore, there will be more options to explore than sticking to the metal-guns of dark scenery and macabre cuts to scenes of horror.