RM - Parkway Drive Breaking Point Lyrics

As we have two plans for a song to use for our music video (Parkway Drive's Breaking Point and Sunburnt In December's Like A Match To An Arsonist) the group and band members need to be clear on the lyrics of the song and the timings. Here is the post for Parkway Drive's Breaking Point with the timings of lines.


Lyrics [Time]
Black plagues, line a fading sky. [0:36]
A dying world stripped to the bone,
Intoxicated by the madness. [0:44]
Blood weeps from open wounds.

And still the fires rage, [0:48]
Consumed, now chaos reigns.
Our pride dissolved,
The rise and fall,
The breaking point,
Burned and crossed. [0:58]
Lost,
Now immune to all the carnage, [1:05]
We turn upon ourselves.

Within these times of desperation, [1:13]
We are the virus that has infected, [1:18]
To its last.

Nothing is sacred,
Nothing shall be saved, [1:28]
No one shall be spared the horror,
That has yet to come. [1:38]
Destroy and discard, [1:44]
This is all that we know.
Blackened flesh, blistered, [1:51]
Hangs from skeletal frames
Stalking this arid wasteland, [1:58]
Our minds immune to change.

The shreds of morality, [2:04]
Fall by the wayside,
As we are left to ponder, [2:10]
These black box revelations.

In these days to come, [2:18]
In this,
Our final hour,
We will witness the true depths to which,
Humanity can sink. [2:29]
Humanity can sink. [2:41]
We will learn, [3:00]
To suffer.
We will learn, [3:07]
To fail.
And before long, [3:20]
We will beg for the end.

And still the fires rage, [3:25]
Consumed, now chaos reigns.
Our pride dissolved,
The rise and fall. [3:31]
The breaking point,
Burned and crossed [3:36]

RM - Parkway Drive's "Breaking Point" in Cyberspace

On media sharing sites such as youtube there are a range of covers of Parkway Drive's "Breaking Point". If you search for "Parkway Drive Breaking Point Cover" into the youtube search engine there are currently 335 videos. However on the first page there are the track (performed by Parkway Drive) and a live version of the song. As you would expect most of these covers would either feature someone playing either bass or guitar however there is the odd exception of drum covers. As well as this there are no covers of this song done by artists.

Here is one example of a drum cover, found on youtube. The video has (at the date and time of this post) 14,023 views. The video was uploaded in November 2009.



Here is an example of a guitar cover, again found on youtube. This video currently has 53,002 views. The video was uploaded in November 2008.



There is also an instrumental cover of the song which has been done completely by the owner. The owner has helpfully put the gear for the audio and recording equipment in the description of the video. The video currently has 1,414 views.



There are also live recordings of the song being played by the initial band (Parkway Drive) whilst at festivals or gigs:

Here is a live recording of "Breaking Point" at their gig in Gothenburg. This video has 23,909 views. This appears to be the only live recording of this song on youtube at the moment.

RM - Ten Things I Have Learnt So Far and Three Things I'd Like To Learn

Here is my list of the ten most important things I have learn't whilst doing the A2 course in Media Studies.

1. Getting used to how to use Final Cut Express
2. Learning how to use some of the tools in the program. For example the pen tool which allows the editor to put points in the audio. This points allow for the audio to be increased or decreased, before or after the point.
3. Goodwin's Theories (Narrative, Performance and Concept)
4. Planning aspects need to be thought though in detail (i.e. Storyboarding and call sheets)
5. How important coverage is. This allows the use of more shots keeping the audience interested.
6. Playback of the song allowing people to lip-sync
7. Code and Conventions of music videos
8. Music Video auteurs such as Spike Jones (directed Beastie Boys' "Sabotage music video) and Anton Corbijn (directed  Depeche Mode's "Enjoy The Silence")
9. How to mark a previous A2 music video and blog
10. The presentation of blogs and the featuring of gadgets

Here are three things I would like to learn about in the future during this A2 course:

1. The different genres and their common conventions
2. How to create a good digipak and advert for it
3. How to create a QR code.

RM - Research Into the Metal-core Genre

Metal-Core

Killswitch Engage

Metal-core is a subgenre of the two genres hardcore and metal. The genre began in the late 80s, early 90s. The genre gained commercial success in the beginning of the 2000's with bands including Killswitch Engage, Bullet for My Valentine and The Devil Wears Prada.

Bullet for My Valentine

Metal-core is distinguished from other punk metal fusions by its emphasis on general heavy metal characteristics as well as breakdowns. These breakdowns consist of slower, intense passages conducive to moshing. The vocals are normally screamed with the occasional presence of clean vocals during either the chorus or bridge.



Throughout the evolution of the genre it has had phases of crossover thrash, metallic hardcore and melodic metal-core.


Crossover Thrash

Crossover Thrash is a form of thrash metal that combines hardcore punk and standard thrash metal. However bands in this genre were more influenced by the hardcore punk genre compared to the thrash metal genre. Throughout this genre inspiration was taken from bands such as Motörhead, and Black Sabbath. These influences carried on through the Metallic Hardcore age. During this genre Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax became popular and are now known as the big four. These four bands are still popular to date and are releasing new material.

Metallica, the biggest band of the big four, have produced an album with Lou Reed entitled “Lulu” this album is going to be released October 31, 2011 worldwide.

After finishing their latest tour for their album “World Painted Blood” Slayer is currently postponing creating a new album until Jeff Hanneman's, the guitarist, condition improves.

Megadeth are still currently touring their latest album “Thirteen”.

Whereas Anthrax have just released their latest album called “Worship Music”. The album was released on September 13.

The Crossover Thrash genre is often confused with thrash-core, which is essentially a faster hardcore punk rather than a more punk-oriented form of metal.


Metallic Hardcore

All Out War

Metallic Hardcore started in 1989 and carried on as a genre until 1995. This let a new wave of hardcore bands emerged included All Out War, Biohazard, Earth Crisis and Vision of Disorder. These bands took inspiration from many of the bands mentioned in the previous paragraph (see Crossover thrash) as well as Septic Death, Samhain, and Joy Division as well as taking some aspects from the death metal genre.





Melodic Metal-core

Avenged Sevenfold

In the early 1990s bands placed more significance on the emphasis of the melody. These bands combined more modern elements of punk and metal. This also included the fuse between the melodic death metal and post-hardcore genre, as well as some of the aspects associated to the emo genre. The first bands incorporate such genres include Avenged Sevenfold, Killswitch Engage and Bullet for My Valentine. These bands have emerged as the most commercially successful artists of metal-core. Unlike metal-core of older generations Melodic metal-core makes use of clean vocals.







Sourced: Wikipedia - Metalcore

RM - Research into Parkway Drive

Yesterday (14th October) we had to research into the band we will be creating a music video for. However as plan A is to create a music video for Sunburnt in Decembers "Like A Match To An Arsonist" to had to create a plan B. Plan B was Parkway Drive's "Breaking Point".

Research

Parkway Drive are an Australian metal band formed in 2002. The band have released three albums entitled: Killing with a Smile (2005), Horizons (2007) and Deep Blue (2010). As well as this the band released an EP in 2004 called Don't Close Your Eyes and a DVD in 2009 called Parkway Drive: The DVD.

Parkway Drive consists of Ben "Gaz" Gordon (drums), Luke "Pig" Kilpatrick (guitar), Jeff Ling  (guitar), Winston McCall (lead vocals) and Jia "Pie" O'Connor (bass). Former members include: Shaun Cash (bass) and Brett Versteeg (bass). Cash left the band in 2006 due to personal reasons and Versteeg left in 2004.





Parkway Drive debut album was entitled "Killing with a Smile", it was released in August, 2005, through Resist Records. A video was produced for "Smoke 'Em If Ya Got 'Em".

The name for the song "Guns for Show, Knives for a Pro" is a quote from the film, Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels.

The album cover is pictured to the left.

The track list for this album is:

Parkway Drive second album was entitled "Horizons", released in October 2007. Horizons was produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and recorded at Zing Studios in Massachusetts. A video has been made for "Boneyards".

The track "Feed Them To The Pigs" is named after a line in the Guy Ritchie film Snatch.

The album cover is pictured to the right.

The track list for this album is:

In 2009 the band announced that they would release a live DVD.

The third album Parkway Drive released was "Deep Blue", released in June 2010. The album cover is pictured to the left.

The track list for this album is:
























In an interview with NME, Winston McCall spoke about the band's upcoming fourth studio album. McCall said:

"We've got ideas for this record that are bigger than anything we've done in the past. We're trying to pencil it in, but we want to get in the studio sooner rather than later." The album is set for a 2012 release.
Source NME: http://www.nme.com/news/parkway-drive/57913 

As well as this the band has their own youtube, facebook and twitter accounts along with their own website. However song of the videos on the bands official youtube account will not play as the videos are not available in our country.



The band have released four singles these are:


Smoke 'Em If Ya Got 'Em:


Sleepwalker:



Karma:




Unrest:



Parkway Drive are currently on three record labels: Resist, Epitaph and Burning Heart. The band's current general manager is Graham Nixon

Resist are an independent record label and retail based store. Resist was initially set up as a shop in 1996 but then became a record label in 1998 by Toe To Toe vocalist Scott McFadyen. The company has an annual hardcore festival which features local and global bands that specialise in hardcore. The majority of the bands on Resist's record label come from Australia.

Epitaph is another independent record label, this time owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Originally set up in the 80s through to the 90s the majority of bands that featured on the record label specialised in punk and pop punk, as well as their being bands from the post-hardcore and emo genres. Artists that are on Epitaph record label include Big Talk (whom are The Killers' drummer,  Ronnie Vannucci Jr, side project. The band specialises in rock), Bring Me The Horizon (British metal core band) and Weezer (American rock band). However the record label has also had a number of bands on their record label. This includes The Blackout, Gallows (Both British post-hardcore bands), Green Day, The Offspring (Both American punk-rock bands) and You Me At Six (A British alternative rock band).

Burning Heart is an independent record label which has close connections to Epitaph records. The record label is best known for releasing garage punk music but also releases music from different genres. The record company has had success with several bands which include The Hives (A Swedish garage punk band,whom are no longer on the record label) and The [International] Noise Conspiracy (A Swedish garage rock band).


The Track

The song we are creating a video for is "Breaking Point". This song can be found on Parkway Drive's second album "Horizons".

As there is no music video for the song. I could only embed the audio track. Here is the Parkway Drive's "Breaking Point":



The song hasn't featured in any film or television show to date. It also wasn't a single therefore didn't get into the charts.

Sourced from: Wikipedia, Parkway Drive's Website, Parkway Drive's facebook page, Last.fm, Epitaph Records Website, Epitaph's Youtube page, NME.

RM - Marking A Past A2 Blog: Jonny Hughes

Today (Thursday 13th October 2011) we were set the task of marketing an A2 blog from last year's students. The blog I decided to mark is Jonny Hughes whom worked with Callum Moreman and Joel Colborne. During the project each member of the group was given a position:

Director - Jonny Hughes
Cinematographer - Callum Moreman
Director of Photography/Cast Member - Joel Colborne

As well as this they created a joint blog for their record company this is the link: http://newtransmissionrecords.blogspot.com/

This is the link to his (Jonny Hughes) blog: http://jonny-hughes-musicvid.blogspot.com/

The Research and Planning mark scheme goes like this (To receive 'excellent' 16 - 20 marks are requires):
1. There is excellent research into similar products and a potential target audience?
2. There is excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props?
3. There is excellent work on shotlists, layout, drafting, scripting or storyboarding?
4. Time management is excellent?
5. There is an excellent level of care in the presentation of the research and planning?
6. There is excellent skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the presentation?
7. There are excellent communication skills?

There is excellent research into similar products and a potential target audience?

Excellent. Throughout the research and planning stage of the course there is evidence of a wide range of genres and artists being looked into. This is anchored through his practice pitches which contains artists including Gary Numan, Pendulum and The Doors. Another good example of this comes from his post called "Further Research: Eight More Music Videos" this emphasis the range of genres Jonny has looked into. Click here to see that post. With the range of genres Jonny has covered a range of them which appeal to different audience. This is shown through his blog post about the common conventions in the heavy metal genre but also rock, electronic, alternative rock and pop. A good example of Jonny doing this is in his "Music Video Research". Click here to see the post.

There is excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props?

Excellent. During this section of research and planning there is good use of multimedia. This multimedia includes vodcasts as well as an embedded powerpoint. During this powerpoint it features youtube videos and images of locations both of these have been created by each of the three group members. The youtube videos consist of production diaries at each locations the group filmed at.
With the actors and costumes the group looked at previous examples, this was mainly focused on Anton Corbijn's film about Joy Division called "Control". This enabled the group to decide on their cast member and was able to compare and contrast each of their decisions. The same was done for props. These three elements all feature in one post.

For the locations blog post click here.
For the actor, costume and props selection click here.

There is excellent work on shotlists, layout, drafting, scripting or storyboarding?

Excellent. Throughout this coursework Jonny has blogged multiple times about drafting, scripting and storyboard for all aspects of the product (this features the digipak and advertisement for the digipack as well as the music video). All these aspects have been blogged on in detail. This is shown on the "Call Sheets" post. The call sheets provided contain clear information on what the group want and how they intend to do it, for that day. Click here to see the "Call Sheet" post. This has also been done with the storyboarding which is located in the "Storyboarding & Animatic". Click here to view the "Storyboarding & Animatic" post.

Time management is excellent?

Excellent. Throughout the entire stage of the coursework there was a constent stream of blog posts during both years the coursework cover. Allowing the audience to be updated regularly and interested in what the group were producing as well as producing an audience that would give feedback.
 

 

There is an excellent level of care in the presentation of the research and planning?

Excellent. Throughout the research and planning stage there was a constant stream of blog posts which contain different aspects of multimedia. The apsects of multimedia used range from screenshots, video and word documentembedds, hyperlinks. As well as including gadgets which include the latest new on Joy Division, the audio track itself, influences and books the group have read.

There is excellent skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the presentation?

Excellent. Like said before a range of multimedia technology has been used including video and word document embeds. As well as using a wide range of blogger gadgets. This is shown in particular in the Locations blog post (which has been linked above) showing the audience the locations and a production video.

There are excellent communication skills?

Excellent. Throughout the coursework the communication skills have helped made the blog easier to use. This has mainly been done through the use of gadgets provided allowing the audience to quickly get to a blog post or information on a relevant subject easy and quickly.

 

Overall I would give this blog 20 marks (out of 20). Throughout the duration of this coursework Jonny's work has maintained a high standard. It was also easy to get around the blog with the gadgets provided.

RM - Music Video Pitch

We were given the task of coming up with an idea for music video for any genre. We were given 2 minutes to pitch it to the class.

Here is my pitch:



After everyone in the class had pitched we formed into group.. I will be working with Conor O'Loughlin and Sam Boyes. Together the three of us will create a music video for Conor and Sam's band Sunburnt in December. However if this doesn't work out we will create a music video for Parkway Drive's "Breaking Point". For this music video we will be taking inspiration from the film "An American Werewolf in London" as well as taking elements of Conor's pitch.

The idea consists of a band packing gear into a van after their last gig and set off to the location of the next one. The next gig would be in a town called Ilkley. Whilst travelling along the moors the van breaks down or a band member spots something. Whilst the band have stopped they all split up and get picked off one by one. There will also be performance aspects either in a small cramped room or whilst the band were in limbo on the moor with guts and blood scattered around the location. Another possibility is to add 'found footage' to add to the video.

Here is a link to Sam's post on his idea to see further details: http://hazepictures.blogspot.com/2011/11/my-idea.html

Sam's pitch (This is the visual aspect of the pitch - the entire pitch will be embedded when it has been uploaded onto youtube):



Conor's pitch:

RM - Research Into Alternative Rock Genre

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music that emerged in the 1980s and became popular in the 1990s.


Alternative Rock in the 80s

Throughout the decade this genre remained mainly unheard of, with the odd song becoming a hit and received reviews from mainstream publications such as Rolling Stones. Despite this during the later stages of the decades there were a number of popular bands this included New Order, Public Image Limitedand The Sugarcubes. As well as Joy Division whom were around in the early 80s but became New Order after Ian Curtis, the lead singer, died. Despite this genre not producing spectacular album sales they provided influence to modern bands.

R.E.M.

During the 1980s one of the first popular bands in this genre and also most successful band was R.E.M., whom broken up in early September 2011. R.E.M.'s success came from their debut album "Murmur". R.E.M. managed to build up its reputation over the next few years through subsequent releases, constant touring, and the support of college radio. In 1987 R.E.M. achieved their first mainstream hit with the single "This One I Love". A year later the band were signed up to Warner Bros. Records. Despite this their two most commercial albums came out in the early 90s their first one was called Out of Time (1991) and Automatic for the People (1992) as well as this later alternative rock bands, such as Nirvana, claimed the band were a pioneer of the genre.

The Smiths

Another key band to emerge during the 1980s was The Smiths, despite at the time the band had little chart success, believe it or not the band haven't had a top ten single, and a short career the band have had an influence over the British indie scene throughout the decades. One example of a band that has been influenced by The Smiths is Oasis as well as other Brit-pop bands such as Suede and Blur.



Alternative Rock in the 90s

Grunge

Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock which is inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal and indie rock. It is generally characterized by heavily electric guitars. Grunge became commercially successful in the early 90s. This was mainly down to two bands, Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

Nirvana

In the 1991 Nirvana released an album Nevermind which had the massive hit single "Smells Like Team Spirit". Nevermind celebrates its 20th anniversary last month, however Nirvana only released two albums, one of these was before "Nevermind", Bleach (1989) and (In Utero (1993) due to Kurt Cobain's death in 1994. After Cobain's death Dave Grohl decided to create a solo project called "Foo Fighters". In 1995 Grohl was reunited with Pat Smear, Nirvana's touring member, as well as bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith, whom were both formerly with Sunny Day Real Estate. Although Smear left in 1997 but rejoined the band in 2006. In 2011 Foo Fighters released their seventh album entitled "Wasting Light". The other band albums are called: Foo Fighters (1995)*, The Colour and the Shape (1997), There is Nothing Left to Lose (1999), One by One (2002), In Your Honour (2005) and Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007).

Foo Fighters

*Foo Fighters debut album "Foo Fighters" only featured Dave Grohl as at the time he was the only official member of the band.





Following the success of this album it opened the door for other bands. An example of this is Pearl Jam's album "Ten", this was released a month before "Nevermind", but sales for "Ten" only started to pick up after the release of "Nevermind". "Nevermind" was responsible for bringing alternative rock to a large mainstream audience, and critics subsequently regard it as one of the best rock albums of all time.


Britpop

Oasis

Britpop was mainly influenced by music from the 1960s and 70s. The genre emerged in the early 90s with Blur and Suede launching the genre. Other bands such as Oasis, Supergrass and Pulp were quick to join the music revolution. However the two main bands in this genre were Oasis and Blur who brought it to the public’s attention in the mid 90s. Ultimately Oasis won the battle as they had more commercial success as they sold more records.

Throughout the mid 90s to late 90s Britpop became popular with Oasis and Blur being the genre leaders. Throughout this period of time the UK charts were dominated by these two bands. Ultimately Oasis won this battle

However it the late 90s the popularity of this genre declined. Despite this Oasis we still popular and acclaimed one of the best bands in the world until they split up in 2009. Later that year the band reformed and called themselves Beady Eye, without Noel Gallagher.

Blur

This decline in popularity for the genre opened the door for Radiohead as well as post-Britpop bands such Coldplay. Since these two genres (Britpop and Grunge) the Alternative genre has had widespread success.



Alternative Rock in the 21st Century

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, several alternative rock bands emerged, including The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, and The Rapture that drew primary inspiration from post-punk and New Wave. The post-punk genre laid the groundwork for the alternative rock genre and found success in the 80s whereas the initial puck rock explosion of in the mid 70s.

The New Wave genre is a subgenre of rock music hat emerged in the mid 70s alongside the punk rock genre. The New wave genre incorporates electronic and experimental music. Both of these genres have influenced bands today. An example of a band that is inspired by the punk-rock genre is Green Day, who is often compared to the likes of The Clash, Sex Pistols and The Jam. An example of a band that is inspired by the New Wave genre is The Killers.

Green Day

Despite Green Day being formed in 1987 their first major success was "Dookie" which was released in 1994, seven years after the band had formed and four years after the band’s debut album. Despite the mass popularity the band received after "Dookie" the band's popularity decreased until 2004 when the band released "American Idiot".  This album reignited the band's popularity with a younger generation.


As well as this 21st Century has had a number of bands that have come into the music headlights a few example of these are Muse, Interpol and The Strokes.

Although in the late 00s alternative rock has become more mainstream. Two prime examples of this are Muse's album "The Resistance" and The Killers' album "Day and Age". This has also happened to other successful bands that become popular in the 90s such as Radiohead with their album "The Kings of Limbs".



Partially sourced from Wikipedia.

RM - Bradford Film Festival

On Thursday 6th October (2011), all Media students in years 12 and 13 went to Bradford Media Centre for the Bradford Film Festival for the entire day.

In the morning I attended the Beginners Taster Workshop in Final Cut Pro, this was a two hour long workshop. Despite in the first half an hour of the master workshop the host went over pretty much everything he taught us in the beginners class, it was still a good decision to go to the beginners workshop as we had more time to use and get familiar with each tool. During the workshop I learnt new techniques which feature “A/B editing” and the “Toggle Clip Overlays” tool. “A/B editing” is where you can switch between the mouse cursor to the eraser cutting tool by simply pressing the “a” and “b” key on the keyboard. “Toggle Clip Overlays” is a tool which can be found in the bottom left of the program, thus shows the volume of each audio and video clip the editor can then change the volume levels, add volume fade ins and outs by pressing the pen tool (shortcut “p”) and clicking on the part before or after he/she wants to change the volume level.



In the afternoon I attended the Editing Master Class in Final Cut Pro, this was a two our long workshop. During this workshop I learned several key tools which could help me during the coursework task these features where: “Chroma Key”, “Key framing”, “Garbage Matte” and “Colour Correct”.

“Chroma Key” removes the green screen as well as backgrounds and replaces it with the editors chosen background, which could be an image or a pre-recorded shoot. Whilst using this tool it is useful to use the crop tool (shortcut “c”). To use the crop tool select the wanted clip then the image button located in the canvas screen to the bottom right, then click on image and wireframe. After this has been selected a blue box should appear in the canvas with a cross in the middle, to crop the clip move the blue lines inwards until the unwanted area has been cropped out. After the clip has been cropped the image needs to be put into the timeline in the line called V2, then put the wanted background into V1 (underneath V2).
      After this go to effects > Video Filters > > Key > Chroma Key. Then select the clip wanted (this opens it in the viewer window) then click on the Chroma Key tab, thus reveals three options: “Colour”, “Sat” (Saturation) and “Luma”. These three options remove most of the green screen background behind the subject. After this there should be a green halo surrounding the subject the three other options (“Edge This”, “Softening” and “Enhance”) are used to remove this.”Edge This” and “Softening” are to remove the remaining Halo. “Enhance” replaces the green halo with a red halo which at one stage cancels out each other.


“Key framing” is used to move text, which can be added to the timeline by selecting the option in the bottom right hand corner of the viewer and then selecting text and then text again, onto or off the screen. To use this highlight the text > Add Motion Key frame (Diamond option in the canvas - Shortcut “K”) > Shift Key and slide to whichever side you want the text to be on (Use the middle of the square box where the cross meets)


“Garbage Matte” is used like the crop function but it is a more accurate way to edit clips. To use thus function, select the clip > effect > video filters > Mattes. After that click filters in viewer > click on one of the eight key frames at a time and grab the respective cross hairs to edit the wanted area > when this portion of the clip is done click the right arrow key till the subject has moved out of the position previously selected > move key frames into the new position needed so the subject isn’t being cropped out > repeat procedure


“Colour Correct” allows the editing of the colour in each clip if the lighting isn’t the same through the duration of the footage (unless it has been edited or designed like that). In order to do this select the clip > effect > video filters > colour corrector > 3 Way Colour Corrector. In “3 Way Colour Corrector” there are three wheels: Black, Mids and Whites. Black is tended to be used for underexposed parts whereas whites is used for overexposed parts. These three wheels can also be used to make a precise colour dominate in the clip.
      In “colour correct” there is also a “Saturation tool” which effects how much colour is in the clip. Decreasing the saturation allows for a black and white clip compared to increasing the saturation produces a more colourful clip.


In conclusion I thought this was a good trip to go on and should help to improve my editing as well as allowing myself to use new techniques for the coursework task.

RM - Further Research into Muse

Throughout Muse's career a number of videos have been created, using Goodwin's Theory of Narrative, Performance and Concept. However most artists tend to use two out of three of these.

"Muscle Museum" Single Cover

An example of a concept music video is "Muscle Museum", directed by Joseph Kahn. "Muscle Museum" was the third single from their debut album "Showbiz" (1999).

The concept idea is quite weird with the video focusing on residents of a suburb whom all start crying when the chorus starts for first time. This video also features a performance aspect.






"Muscle Museum" Music Video:

"Stockholm Syndrome" Single Cover

Muse have released two music videos for “Stockholm Syndrome” one for the UK and one for the US, both of these are performance based.

The UK version features the band playing the instruments whilst being filmed by a thermal camera.

The US version features the band performing live on an American chat show. Throughout the performance the studio the music video is located in turns into chaos with the audience running out, as the vulture flies above them – whom is owned by a guest on the show as well as this a monkey is also involved in the video. Another way the studio is turned into chaos is when the crew, presenters and guests start flying out of the room due to high winds.


Here is the UK music video for "Stockholm Syndrome":




Here is the US music video for "Stockholm Syndrome":

"Knights of Cydonia" Single Cover

An example of a narrative video is "Knights of Cydonia", directed by Joseph Kahn. "Knights of Cydonia" was the third single of their fourth album "Black Holes and Revelations".

“Knights of Cydonia” has been created so it appears to look like a short film which features opening and closing title. The narrative story focuses on the protagonist (“The Man with No Name”) fighting the villain (who is the Sheriff of “Cydonia”) to rescue his love interest (or prize). The location throughout the video is a small town called “Cydonia”, this is anchored at the beginning of the video (at 1:33 to be precise), and the population.

There is also a performance aspect throughout the video.


"Knights of Cydonia" Music Video:

"Neutron Star Collision
(Love Is Forever)" Single Cover

An example of a music video that uses archive material is "Neutron Star Collision (Love is Forever)", in the music video the archive footage used comes from "Eclipse", the third instalment of the popular franchise "Twilight". The music video also features a performance element of the band playing in front of screens showing the film material.

There is also another version of this music video to accompany the single, which contains no film footage at all. However the location remains the same but the screens have just been turned off. Therefore the music video has been transformed into a performance video from an archive material video.


"Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)" Music Video, featuring footage from "Twilight":




"Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)" Music Video, without "Twilight" footage:

RM - Research into Muse

Muse's Logo

Muse are an alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band features Matthew Bellamy (lead vocalists and guitar), Christopher Wolstenholme (Bassist and backing vocals) and Dominic Howard (drums). The band are well known as being one (if not the) best live act in the world today. The band has released five studio albums to date and is currently in the studio writing their next album. The albums that have been released so far are Showbiz (1999), Origin Of Symmetry (2001), Absolution (2003), Black Holes and Revelations (2006) and The Resistance (2009). During September and October Muse have been in the studio writing music for their new album. The band's new album is rumored to be released in May of next year (2012). As well as this the band are rumored to be headlining Reading and Leeds Festival next year (2012) despite headlining the festival this year (2011).  The band have also released two live CDs which are Hullabaloo (2002), H.A.R.R.P (2007), this also comes with a live DVD. As well as this the band have also released two other live DVDs which are Hullabaloo (2002), unlike the H.A.R.R.P  CD + DVD combination both the CD and DVD are sold individually, and Absolution Tour (2004).

From left to right:
Christopher Wolstenholme,
Matthew Bellamy and Dominic Howard

Showbiz Album Cover

Showbiz
 Showbiz was Muse's debut album, released in 1999.
The band released five singles from this album: “Uno”, “Cave”, “Muscle Museum”, “Sunburn” and “Unintended”.

Origin Of Symmetry Album Cover

Origin Of Symmetry
Origin of Symmetry was Muse’s second album, released in 2001. They were to release four singles from this album: “Plug in Baby”, “New Born”, “Bliss” and “Hyper Music /Feeling Good”


As part of the “Origin of Symmetry” Tour Muse recorded two live performances at Le Zenith, Paris. These two live shows were called Hullabaloo. For these special shows Muse recorded and released two singles entitled “Dead Star” and “In Your World”.


In August 2011 at Reading and Leeds Festival, Muse played the whole album in celebration of its 10 year anniversary. This is the first time the band has played one of their albums in its entirety. For this special occasion the stage was designed like the album cover (pictured to the right).

Absolution Album Cover

AbsolutionThe third  album Muse released was Absolution, released in 2003. Six singles were released from this album: “Stockholm Syndrome”, “Time is Running Out”, “Hysteria”, “Sing for Absolution”, “Apocalypse Please” and “Butterflies and Hurricanes”


To date “Falling Away With You” is the only song on this album Muse haven’t played live.

Black Holes and Revelations
Album Cover

Black Holes and Revelations
Muse’s fourth album was Black Holes and Revelations, released in 2006. This had five singles to accompany it these are “Supermassive Black Hole”, “Starlight”, “Knights of Cydonia”, “Invincible” and “Map of the Problematique”. However “Map of the Problematique” was only available through digital download.

The Resistance Album Cover

The Resistance
The Resistance was Muse’s fifth album, released in 2009. There were three singles released from this album, these were: “Uprising”, “Undisclosed Desires” and “The Resistance”.

Since the release of The Resistance, Muse have released a song called “Neutron Star Collision (Love is Forever)”, which was recorded especially for a film in the popular Twilight Saga, “Eclipse”. This was the third Muse song to feature during “The Twilight Saga” with the other two being “Supermassive Black Hole”, which featured in “Twilight”, and “I Belong To You”, which featured in “New Moon”.

RM - Professor Green (feat. Emeli Sande) - Read All About It Deconstruction

Artist: Professor Green (feat. Emeli Sande)
Song: Read All About It
Genre: Pop
Audience: 15 - 24
Year Released: 2011


Professor Green feat. Emeli Sande’s “Read All About It” is a hybrid music video featuring narrative and performance aspects of Goodwin’s theory.

The performance aspect of the music video features a wide range of locations with the focus on the person singing at the time. Although there is more focus on Professor Green compared to Emeli Sande as he raps most of the lyrics where as Emeli Sande sings the chorus. During the parts where the focus is on Professor Green a wide range of locations are used these feature an empty warehouse and a docking area. Compare this to Emeli Sande who only sings in another warehouse. In both situations when the two warehouses shots are used where the light is behind them therefore brining the audience’s attention onto them during their sequences. During both these sequences the artists are lip-syncing a common convention in music videos.

The narrative aspect focuses on a young boy, who’s possibly a young version of Professor Green which would also tie into the lyrics, and shows the audience the family issues he has with his parents. Towards the end of the music video the boy and Professor Green are in the same warehouse which could signify that Professor Green is remembering his childhood which would anchor the theory just mentioned.







Throughout the music video a wide range of shots are used, both in the narrative and performance there are lots of examples of shot variation. This is commonly shown when the focus is on one of the people involved in the video (whether it is a vocalist or cast member) there are close ups to medium shots as well as two and group shots. There is also anchorage in the locations through the use of extreme long shots. Compare these to the Sean Kingston music video where medium close ups where used for focusing the audience’s attention and the use of text cartoon text messages to anchor the setting.

RM - Sean Kingston - Party All Night (Sleep All Day) Deconstruction

Artist: Sean Kingston
Song: Party All Night (Sleep All Day)
Genre: Pop
Audience: 15 - 24
Year Released: 2011


Shaun Kingston’s “Part All Night (Sleep All Day)” is a hybrid music video featuring both performance and concept aspects. Both the performance and concept elements of the music video are linked throughout through the use of jump cuts.

This performance aspect features Sean Kingston lip-syncing in front of a black background. During the performance aspect of the music video there is a serious lack of shot variations which the majority being medium close ups of Kingston’s face. As well as this a number of shots are repeated if the lyrics are as well an example of this is to the top left. However this video also has a number of effects running through the entire video which can be added by using editing software such as Final Cut. Despite this the same effects are used therefore the audience gets bored of these as well as the lack in shot variety. During the performance in front of the black screen it appears beams of light have been added by adding them in during the editing procedure. These beams of light are placed across the chest of the protagonist therefore focusing the audience’s attention more on the face of the vocalist. An example of this is located bottom left. Taking the attention off the vocalist’s appearance isn’t a common convention in this genre.

During the concept part there are three scenarios. In all of these the shots are repeated the only difference being the location. An example of this is the 360 degree pan, which is a take on the Matrix. This shot is first seen by the audience in a living room where Kingston is surrounded by people dancing around the room whilst he himself is dancing (on the spot) and lip-syncing. This is again repeated in the club, again people are dancing around the room whilst Kingston is dancing on the spot and lip-syncing. This is also repeated in warehouse however instead of Kingston being included the focus is on someone break dancing. This is partically shown in the shot located to the right top. Throughout these three scenarios cartoon style font appears. This cartoon style font is in fact some of the lyrics of the song and appears when Kingston sings them. There are several other examples of this one is when Kingston wakes up, the only difference being what date it is, and at the end of the music video the shot is just reversed. This shot is featured to the bottom right. During this scene cartoon text is used to signify that his alarm clock has gone off as well as the text messages he has got which anchor the location of the next scene before the audience views it.

RM - Pitch Idea 1: Muse - Dark Shines

My idea for a music video is Muse’s “Dark Shines” which features a performance and narrative aspect.

Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon. The band consists of Mathew Bellamy (Vocalist and lead guitarist), Christopher Wolstenholme (Bassist) and Dominic Howard (Drummer).

The band have had five studio albums entitled “Showbiz” (1999), “Origin of Symmetry” (2001), “Absolution” (2003), “Black Holes and Revelations” (2006) and “The Resistance” (2009), the band are currently in the studio writing material for their next album. The band has also released two live albums entitled “Hullabaloo” and “H.A.A.R.P”. Both of these contain a live DVD performance as well as this they have also released a DVD of their Glastonbury 2004 performance called “Absolution Tour”.

“Dark Shines” is on the album “Origin of Symmetry”


The performance aspect will feature live footage that I’ve recorded of Muse performing this song at Leeds Festival, this year. This will be linked into the narrative aspect by the protagonist watching the performance on a computer screen in his room, which is full of Muse memorabilia.


As well as this part of the performance element of the music video would consist of a band performing live in a smaller location, this would allow the access to gain close-ups of the performance and wouldn’t mean the only live footage was from Leeds festival.


The narrative part of the music video will feature the protagonist thinking about a girl he likes, whom has a dark nature about her, but knows he won’t get which tortures him. This will feature of the close-ups of the girl face and himself imaging being with the girl. The dark nature of the girl is shown by shots of the protagonist watching the girl with her friends – whom when sees him points and laughs at him. This aspect could also include the girl walking off or kissing someone in a cafe with the protagonist watching her. This would allow the use of male and female gazes and cross-cutting the past, present and future.


Towards the end of the music video the focus will then turn back onto the protagonist whom gets annoyed with himself and lashes out. During this sequence the protagonist will start trashing his room and then puts his hands on his head over the table. After this the door opens and an over the shoulder of one of his parents stands looking at the mess he has just caused.

Album recording:



Performance footage taken at Leeds Festival 2011: