Welcome to my A2 Media Studies Blog. The brief is: to produce a music video, a digipak cover, and magazine advert for the digipak. Throughout the course we will be learning about conventions (general and genre specific) used for each of these products.

Saturday 10 September 2011

RM - Blur - Parklife Deconstruction

Artist: Blur
Song: Parklife
Genre: Britpop
Director: Pedro Romhanyi
Audience: All
Year Released: 1994


Blur’s “Parklife” music video features all three elements. These being narrative, performance and custom based. The video features a cameo appearance from Phil Daniels and also features the band portraying roles during the entire music video. This music video has aspects of a performance, a narrative and a custom based music video.


Phil Daniels in Blur's "Parklife"
music video.
The performance element of the video features Phil Daniels and Blur’s lead vocalist, Damon Albarn, lip-syncing throughout the music video. The narrative aspect of the video features the other band dressed as characters dressed up whilst Daniels and Albarn pass them in a car. This is anchored by Daniels lip-syncing the lyrics signifying whom the pair have passed. For example Daniels lip-syncs “Who’s that gut lord marching? You should cut down on your parklife, get some exercise” as they pass an overweight male. This aspect also features the concept part of the music video.


Damon Albarn lip-syncing whilst
the remaining band members
open and close umbrellas.
The concept part can be broken down into two parts. One part is where Daniels and Albarn lip-syncing driving around in a car around different locations portrayed in the background with the band being cast members for Daniels to name and poke fun at. The other part of the music video which is custom based is where the band are located in a housing estate, which is the same housing estate featured at the beginning of the house. This also includes props for the band to entertain them whilst Albarn lip-syncs. The props that feature in the video include an ice cream van, a three manned bicycle, and a football, shopping trolley, umbrellas and a dog. By allowing the band to carry out these activities it is allowing the audience to laugh at both sides of the custom aspects of the music video.

Throughout the video special effects are used. This mainly features of blue-screens which are used throughout the video. This features the two singers diving around in a car and the entire band featuring in a housing estate. Another special effect used for shots is fish-eye which is only used at the beginning of the video whilst the two vocalists try to sell windows. An example of fish-eye being used is to the right



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