Use of mirrors

We strongly used reflections in our thriller production and found using reflections in production makes a strong visual images. Having looked at the music video, 'The Beat - Mirror in The Bathroom' I really liked the use of mirrors in the music video. When shooting the lead singers part in the music videos I decided to use a mirror and film behind Issy singer, filming her reflection. Although these shots are very static I think they are still make a strong visual impact. The use of Mirrors also appears in 'Madness - Our House', where there is a shot of one of the band members gelling over their hair and putting a hat on, influenced by this idea when constructed a similar shot of one of the band members looking in a mirror and doing his hair. This idea then developed further we began to think about showing someone getting ready, a ska fan putting on there braces etc, this would both establish the generic image of ska as well as appealing to the target audience. We used a shot of Issy get ready in a mirror, and put this at the beginning of the video.

Still from 'Madness - Our House'
















'The Beat - Mirror in The Bathroom'

Screen shot from our music video, lead singer singing into / looking at herself in a mirror.



Locations- Urban and British culture./ signifiers

To establish the urban location, which is generic to ska and signify British culture in our music video we went out and did some shooting around some estates in Norwich and general run down areas, we where particularly influenced by the beginning of 'This is England'.

Music videos such as 'Madness's - Our House'. We have used urban areas in Norwich such as Anglia Square, where we used an area of graffiti as a back drop to our mise-en-scene/ shooting, the graffiti again established the urban location.

'Still from Madness's - Our House' features show industrial urban images, and creates a strong sense of community.

Still taken from the beginning of 'This is England'.

Anglia Square - graffiti establishing urban location generic of ska

Discuss avatars in terms semiotics (signifiers/ signifieds) and their psychological and social functions,

Discuss avatars in terms semiotics (signifiers/ signifieds) and their psychological and social functions

The symbol of the avatar (signifier) points to the signified (the user), creating a sign. The signifier can provide information about the signified in terms of their interests, personality and appearance. The avatar’s function is as a representation of the user within the online environment, As such, the user instills the avatar with qualities they want to project into that environment. The project of the signified though means of an avatar has become more popular and important according to the rise in online technology, and other technology such a gaming. The online social world is becoming bigger and bigger and people from all over the world can communicate with ease whether they are on a train or sitting at home, as the technology becomes more fluent and accessible.The signified presents certain aspects of their personality, real, imagined or aspiration to the society they interact with. For example avatars can take the forms of profile pictures like on Facebook and MySpace; they are like wearing your best clothes to non-uniform day at school, presenting these aspects of their personality. These avatars in particular identity the user very personally, their identity is visual, and visual says ‘I am here, this is me’. Similarly on Social Networking sites, an avatar acts as a calling card/ telephone number/ identification card etc, allowing others to find the user/ avatar. These kind of avatars will identity things about the user visually, their appearance with signify things about their personality, the user may present themselves in such a way to appeal to / fit in with a certain tribe / social group, as well as letting everyone else know what tribe / social group they are in. These avatars can also be the most expressive, for example a photographic avatar provides many ways for the user to express themselves, for example a picture with their friends enjoying some good old fashioned fun times, or a picture with their family, the user can show what is close to them, what they find important, as well as showing everyone how much fun they have. 

At the same time, it provides a distancing device that turns person (user) into character (avatar), It is a fictionalizing tool that creates a new reality. By providing a distance between the user and their avatar they can create and play with a new reality, for example online social games like ‘Second Life’ provide the opportunity to create a whole new online life, this allows the user to escape into a world which could be entirely different from their own.  Avatars often revel in the gap between the signifier and the signified: users enjoy creating avatars that are not like themselves, so that there is a big difference between signifier (avatar) and signified (user).The user creates a fabricated reality, in the case of social networking this can be similarly true; ““Teens often fabricate key identifying information like name, age, and location to protect themselves.” Users may also manipulate their avatar in a way to guard themselves, this quote explains that teen particularly fabricate key information about themselves, this could be as said to form a kind of protection, but this thought could be developed to explore the idea of teens portraying themselves as someone they are not to impress others, maybe they feel that they must fabricate information about themselves to fit in.

Filming over Half Term

Over the half term we went to Chapelfield Band stand and began to do some of our performance shooting, as well as seeing how the location would look. The shooting went well, we got lots of close ups of Andy playing the guitar, dancing feet and face, this was inspired from 'The Beat - Mirror In The Bathroom' video. 

Over the half term I went and did some filming at Gt. Yarmouth. The idea was to get some general shots of the cheap shops, 'Regent Street' and arcades, linking to the theme of money within our song. I also got some shots of the empty beach, I think they look particually miserable and could make a good contrast to the comdey element of the video. I got a shot of two eldely people eating icecrem, I really like this shot I think it is quite comical and could work well.  The bleak rather tacky aspects of a British seaside resort in October says a lot about the way the British are determined to enjoy themselves and consume junk despite the weather.


Blackpool

The TV Drama series "Blackpool"  is focused on similar British iconography, the drama is full of British cultural signifiers, fish and chips, bingo etc. The drama paints a quite comical picture of comtempory British culture, where the seafront is king.





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When we started the new term we did some filming at school, we got given access to the instruments at school which was a great opportunity, we did some performance shots with the drum kit, trombone, trumpet and saxophone. We are planning to take the camera out again and possibably get some filming done over Guy Fawkes of fireworks, fair etc.

This is Ska! Documentary 1964

This is Ska!

A brief history of ska, a documentary from 1964 featuring the best in Jamaican ska.
Part one


Part two


Part three


Part four

Another excellent video is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AesId12OKsY
'Abrief History ska' - sadly the video has been disabled from being enabled.

Legends Of Ska Trailer - http://www.legendsofska.com/
A clip from the upcoming documentary on ska and the birth of Jamaican music. This scene features the singers Stranger Cole & Patsy Todd.



Ska special...from Jamaica to the U.K.

Another interesting documentary/ move : Rock Rock Rock - 1956 with Alan Freed.

Planning notes

Planning notes from a recent media lesson:

Locations
Funfair
Norwich (Chaplefield park) (Sparks in the park)

Comedy
'Slapstick' - Norman Wisdom :

Norman Wisdom - Trouble in Store - New Chief's office

The simple very comical style of Norman Wisdoms comic act has informed us in the research and planning of our music video.



Bannana skin
Telephone box - disscussed in previous post.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Ska/punk

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - The Impression That I Get

I love this music video, it has a superb range of shots, excellent editing, a strong sense of movement and performance. The compostion is also excellent.

I like how the band members 'filter' in out of the white background onto the screen, the constrast of the white background and the black suits is really effective the combonation of black and white also is a generic image of ska.

Lighting

The lighting is supurb about half way though the music video, the lighting changes to make the members appear in shiloutte, this makes the band members dominate the mise-en-scene. Towarsds the end of the video different editing effects have been used, sepia, negative and a blue lighting filter.

Editing and shots

The pace of the cuts is fast, and reflects the beat of the music, this makes the video seem lively, energertic and fun. I think the combination of close up's and mid shots is superb, it makes it seems as if the band members are jumping around the screen, the composition also reflects this liveliness. The camera is constantly moving, moving with the bands members, close up's of feet, hands and performance. In the last third of the music video the pace of the video becomes really fast, and different filters have been used, negative, sepia, and a blue filter, the camera is moving around constantly, the sense of movement and preformance is explosive. The composition of the music video is amazing, there is an abundance of the use of the rule of thirds. There is slow motion, depth of field, a large variety of camera angles. All of the band members have a similar amount of shots 'dedicated' to them, there are lots of close ups used of the band memebers faces, whereas in some music videos the lead singer in singled out from the rest of the band. This makes the band seem united, with all members being as important than one another, the audience is engaged with all members of the band. I think as a ska band this is important because they tend to be large bands. I think this video is very playful with its use of camera angles and editing, the variety makes the video exciting, energetic, and 'stand out'.

Rule of thirds, draws the audiences eye to the preformer.

Use of C.U / E.C.U. Close of of mouth and hand on mircophone intensfies and reflects the sense of performance, the C.U brings the audience into the performace/ action.

Analysis of the audiences of three other similar artists

Reel Big Fish
Ska punk
Third wave ska
Reel Big Fish our an American ska punk band from Huntington Beach,
California.They formed in 1990 and are have been signed to Mojo, Jive, Rock Ridge Music records.

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Who is their audience?

"The kids who filled the floors of the Ogden Theater that night came to dance, mosh and crowd surf, and they got their wish".

"My conviction that Reel Big Fish are one of the world's best cover bands was also reaffirmed as they ripped through their classic take on A-Ha's "Take on Me", as well as their excellent version of Lita Ford's "Kiss Me Deadly", playing up on Aaron's '80s metal fetish".

Some comments from a gig review on Last Fm.

Fan fashion
The picture to the left is a generic diagram of a ska/punk fans dress. It combines tradictional ska dress (tilby, checkered tie) with a punk/nerd elements (Crazy shirt, baggy shorts and glasses)

'Last FM' provides information of recent Top Listening and other artists they listen to. This is really useful as it allows me to find out what other music the bands fans listen to.

How do they interact with their audience?

Gigs

Recent tours

Vans Warped Tour 2010 - America
Soundwave festival - Australia
Fashion 
Bands connect to and influence their fans though their fashion/style. Bands of course are also influenced by their music influences, Reel Big Fish's style is a mixtire rudeboy and punk fashion.

 The music

“The songs are filled with something anyone can be relate to: desire, despair, drugs, parents, learning from your mistakes and ultimately hope,” observes Chris. “The topics hit home whether you’re 12 or 50, and year after year, we find this wider and wider cross section of fans coming out to our shows.”
 

What can you learn from this artist about how to appeal to the audience?

Touring, gigs and their fans are evendently important to the band. 

 

Cd covers

 

Reel Big Fish's album covers tend to feature cartoon drawings. Similar to that of pop art, notiably Andy warhol in this cover. This is a motive across the bands album artwork. 'Reel Big Fish' image is particually comically, this is portrayed though their album covers, on stage performance, videos and their dress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This best of cd cover features a picture of the band, there iconic font is featured on the cover. The checkered background is a generic image of the ska/ punk genre.  The costume is also generic, the lead singer in wearing a black and white suit, and the band member next to him in holding a trombone.

 

 

 

 

 

No Doubt

Ska pop
Third wave ska
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. 

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Save Ferris
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Who is there audience? How do they appeal to their audience?
Fansites:
http://www.justnodoubt.net/
No Doubt combine a misture of ska and punk as well as pop, this makes them a wide appealing band, meaning that they have a greater range of fans. A mixture of ska fans, punk and pop.
Fashion
No Doubt fashion/ image combines the generic/ tradictional ska look with a punk rock twist, and 90's fashion. The band seeks to appeals to it's fans though their image.
The Music
The band's diamond-certified album Tragic Kingdom helped to launch the ska revival of the 1990s, and "Don't Speak", the third single from the album, set a record when it spent sixteen weeks at the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart. Following this the group released its next album, Return of Saturn, four years later. Rocksready - the album produced two Grammy-winning singles, "Hey Baby" and "Underneath It All". No Doubt released the compilation The Singles 1992–2003 and box set Boom Box in 2003. Frontwoman Gwen Stefani launched her solo career the next year with several collaborations, the band embarked on a US national tour throughout the summer of 2009.

Album cover for 'Rock Steady' the font used is dissorted, it looks rebelious reflects punk. Rock Steady, which incorporated reggae and dancehall music into their work.

Album cover for 'Tragic Kingdom' The cover features the lead singer of the band in the forground, and the other band members in the background. The design is a mixture of illistrations and photography. The images of the band memebers 

The release of 1995's Tragic Kingdom and the single "Just a Girl" allowed the group to achieve mainstream commercial success. No Doubt began touring in support of the album late that year, and it grew into a 27-month international tour. The band embarked on a US national tour throughout the summer of 2009.

Madness

Ska/pop
Second wave ska - 2 Tone
Madness are a British pop/ska band from Camden Town, London, which formed in 1976. Madness achieved most of their success in the early to mid 1980s.

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As of 2007, the band has continued to perform with their most recognised lineup of seven members, although it’s varied slightly over the years. They were one of the most prominent bands of the late-70s 2 tone ska revival. However, as their career progressed, the band moved away from ska & closer toward conventional pop music.

Who is there audience? How do they appeal to their audience?


Fansites : http://www.mis-online.net/madness/
Fans now:
Fans in 2005 Norfolk, forest tour

Early in their career, Madness were linked to skinheads; members of a British working class subculture that the media often stereotyped as racist (although many skinheads, including the original generation, are non-racist or anti-racist). Not only were Madness, along with other 2 Tone bands, popular with skinheads, but it was said that the band members themselves were associated with the subculture. In a 1979 NME interview, Smash was quoted as saying "We don't care if people are in the NF as long as they're having a good time." This added to speculation that Madness was a racist band supporting the National Front, although the band members denied those allegations, and Smash responded to the NME article in the song "Don't Quote Me On That". Eventually, band members denied their skinhead roots, which disappointed much of their skinhead fan base.

Madness's fans are a mixture of older fans 'original fans' from when they where first sucessful, and newer fans who have come to like there music though their parents, interest in the genre - music history etc. It's fair to say that from the wide range of fans they have there music will remain popular for a long time. I think what makes the band so successful with all aspect of music fans is that they have a 'comforting' British ska/pop sound. People wore brought up listening to Madness when they where teenages, and then their children follow to listen to them to. They are an iconic Brtish band, with a strong sound and image.

The music
Early success:

In 1979, the band recorded the Lee Thompson composition "The Prince".The song, like the band's name, paid homage to their idol, Prince Buster. The song was released through 2 Tone Records, the label of The Specials founder Jerry Dammers.The song was a surprise hit, peaking in the UK music charts at number 16. A performance of "The Prince" on popular UK music show Top of the Pops helped Madness gain public recognition. Madness then toured with fellow 2 Tone bands The Specials and The Selecter, before recording their debut album, One Step Beyond..., which was released by Stiff Records.

Fashion

Part of Madness's generic image is their fashion - in several of their videos and photoshoots they wear black suits, sunglasses and hats - trilby, porkpie. There distinct image is partly used to appeal and relate to their fans, as well as establish an 'image'.

Album cover for 'Total Madness' The London bus is a cultural signifier - British culture. The cover features the bands 'logo' motif. The cover also features an iconic image of the band.











These are three very different bands/ types of ska. How does your act fit into this?


I have looked at three very different types of ska, Madness - 2 Tone (second wave) Reel Big Fish and No Doubt third wave. The Skanx descibe themselves as a ska/funk band, with the bands I have researched I would say The Skanx are similar to No Doubt because they have a female singer but also they have a similar rocksteady style.

How can you draw on your understanding of these bands to strengthen the promotion of your band?

I think we can draw on how these bands market themselves though there use of online media (band websites etc)
also there print productions - I have looked at some album covers of the three bands. For example 'Reel Big Fish' have a particually comical element to their album covers.
Notice how humour is important to all these acts (in the cd artwork and fonts; in the 'dances' of Madness; in the costumes...): how will you use humour in the promotion of your act?

We have planned to have a comical element to are music video. We have started to look at and research several slapstick comics, and comic acts such as Norman Wisdom, Laurel and Hardy by watching comidians work it has given us inspiration to what kind of comedy we create in our music video. The theme of the song we are using is money, so we have began to plan comdey based around the topic of money, for example we shot an animation using monopoly money which spells out the title of the song 'Moneygrabber'. This issue of money is also very topical at the moment with the recession, and new 'goverment' etc, so we have also thought about including a political side to are comedy.

Performance aspect - a-ha - The Sun Always Shines On TV

I realise this is an slightly appaling a-ha song, but I think the performance element of the video is shot really well. The camera is constantly moving, lots of close ups are used, this really strengtens the sense of performance.Large range of camera angles. I like the use of manikins too, and the location, the lighting and black and white editing makes the manikins looks quite sinister and creepy, as well the the band memebers hair styles.

Email to our chosen band - The Skanx

We emailed our band - The Skanx to ask permisson to use there track/ show are interests and what are coursework will envolve. We got their email address from there website. Wendy from the band replied to our email.

Target audience

Target Audience

Ska fans

Target Audience mind map
On my mind map I noted down areas to do with my target audience such as; lifestyle, clothing, hair, music, media, interests, hobbies, values.


http://www.wikihow.com/Dress-like-a-2-Tone-Ska-fan

Taken from 'Wikihow.com'
'Dress like a 2 Tone Ska fan'

The page provides a step to step
guide on how to dress like a 2 Tone Ska fan.

Some ska fans from the 70's and 80's (Second and third wave)

How ska fans dance

'Skanking'

Skanking is a form of dancing practiced in the ska, ska punk, hardcore punk, reggae, grime, dub, dubstep and other music scenes.The dance style originated in the 1950s or 1960s at Jamaican dance halls, where ska music was played. British mods and skinheads of the 1960s adopted these types of dances and altered them. The dancing style was revived during the 1970s/1980s 2 Tone era, and has been adopted by some individuals in the hardcore punk subculture, and more recently in the grime and dubstep subcultures.

Originally, skanking consisted of a “running man” motion of the legs to the beat while alternating bent-elbow fist-punches, left and right.Over time, however, variations have emerged across the musical world. The punk version features a sharp striking out look with the arms, and is sometimes used in moshing to knock around others doing the same.

Music
Music is a large and important part of ska fans interests/ lives,
wether its going to small ska club gigs or hunting down the best of ska music.

Ska 2nd 3rd Wave (1970's & 80's 2 Tone)
The Specials
The Beat
Madness
The Selector
The Skatalites
The Upsetters

                                                      Ska punk/ modern ska
                                                                        Less Than Jake

Reel Big Fish
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Bowling For Soup
[Spunge]
The Aquabats
No Doubt

Reggae

Toots and The Maytails
Bob Marley

Prince Buster

The Wailers

Instruments

Brass- massive part of ska music

Trumpets

Trombone

Saxophone

Organ
Keyboards
Guitars
Drums

Music shops

Records shops :

Beatniks

Soundclass

Purple Haze

Record fayres

HMV

collect records - strong interests in music history

 

Live music

Small ska bar/ pub nights -

Local ska bands, and D.J

 Some ska gig posters/ poster art

Video of Images of ska fans music interest/ tendencies and clothing/fashion


Clothing
Rude boy & Rude girl
Skinheads
Polo shirts
Braces
Trilby hats
Sunglasses
Suits
Badges
Skinny ties
Boot- Doc Martins
Pointed shoes
Turned up jeans
Checkers
Shaven hair

Hobbies
Listening to music, live and recorded
Making music - in a band or alone (playing an instrument)
Socialising - going to pubs, gigs
Music lovers


How does your target audience draw upon past/ other subcultures?

Skinhead
A skinhead is a subcultured originated amongst working class youths in the 1960's. The first skinheads where greatly influenced by rudeboys and British Mods in terms of, music, fashion and lifestyle. Originally, the skinhead subculture was primarily based on those elements, not politics or race.Fashion-wise, skinheads range from a clean-cut 1960s mod-influenced style to less-strict punk styles.

Music
The skinhead subculture was originally associated with black popular music genres such as soul, ska, rocksteady and early reggae. The 2 Tone genre was named after 2 Tone Records, a Coventry, England record label that featured bands such as The Specials, Madness and The Selecter. 2 Tone was epcially popular in the late1970's.
 
Political beliefs
The skinhead subculture varied from far right to left beliefs. Early skinheads were not necessarily part of any political movement, but by the early 1970s, some skinheads aligned themselves with the white nationalist National Front. As the 1970s progressed, racially-motivated British Movement saw a rise in white power skinheads among their ranks. The mainstream media started using the term skinhead in reports of racist violence (regardless of whether the perpetrator was actually a skinhead); this has played a large role in skewing public perceptions about the subculture. "I'm a skinhead, and if you got a problem with that, I'll kick your teeth in".


How does it appropriate/ use elements from other subcultures?
 The late 60's and early 70's was led by the mods, skinheads, and rudeboys. 2 tone became massive by the late 70's and the skinhead subculture exploded,  originated by working class youths. The 90's saw the rise of ska punk which had early began to be influenced by punk bands in the 70's like Sham 69. A Calfornia based rocord company kicked of this regenerated sounds, signing bands like Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake.

How have these elements/ signifiers been hijacked for other groups/ meanings?
"Ska is not a fashion it's a way of life". Many ska fan sites seem to carry a proninate message, ska fans are passionate about their music, and carry strong political beliefs. There is a strong message of anti-racism amongst the ska music genre, this is reflected from the roots of ska, and an 'anti-skinhead' movement., but of course not all skin heads right wing.

Shane Meadows, 'This is England' heavily portrays the skinhead culture and it's rise with the political uncertity the United Kingdom faced at the time.

An archive image of skinheads used in the opening of 'This is England'.