Tuesday, 4 January 2011

Dubstep Music Video Research

In order to develop my understanding of Dubstep and how the filming techniques and the story line emphasises the mood and atmosphere, I researched some original dubstep videos to gain inspiration of how we should do our music video. The first video i looked at was Magnetic man- I need air:









This music video is concept-based. There is no performance from Magnetic Man behind the dj decks or from the singer and in terms of Goodwin's Theory, there appears to be no specific dance routine. The video captures people dancing differently and freely (some wearing glasses, some on shoulders, others waving their hands). The target audience can relate to the club atmosphere as it is natural and the free expression of the dancers symbolises the character trait seen in the target audience. The music and visuals are synergised, the visuals often have a fast cutting pace to the beat of the music which volumises the impact of the club. The lyrics and visuals are illustrative, for example there are close-up shots of people hot from dancing as the chorus goes 'I need air', effectively relating to a target audience which dance. The music video is clearly not all about selling the image of Magnetic Man (as there are no shots of them at all in the video) but rather they are selling dubstep nights. Emphasizing on the lights and atmosphere of the club effectively promotes and may influence the audience of the song to go to a dubstep night, perhaps to promote the culture of dubstep to make it more popular.




This is a purely concept music video. It emphasizes an abstract, metaphorical interpretation of the music. The relationship between the title and the images on screen have no obvious correlation. The theme of the video seems to be a journey comparing between bare feet walking and a car driving. Because there are no lyrics, it is hard to compare the relevance of the music to the visuals and perhaps this is why the music video is concept- based rather than narrative, because of the lack of lyrics. The visuals on screen have been experimented upon (the background patterns and the lighting) which represents the experimental instruments used by the artist. The same visuals are repeated over and over again which synergies with the music because the music doesn't change- the same tune is repeated over so in that respect, the music and visuals are intergrated.

Katy B- Perfect Stranger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-VcBiS6dqw

(-unable to embed the video, please watch on youtube)

The music video for Perfect Stranger is a combination between narrative and performance. Katy B is a mainstream artist under dubstep, her music video's are more to do with selling her image, so the audience is presented with her performing and also being the main character in the narrative as there are many close up shots of Katy. The black and white effect makes the video look distant or far away (it is set in another country).







Under Goodwin's Theory, the lyrics and visuals do correlate, but not obviously. There is a sense of division between them and the police, as though a war is going on (which relates to the target audience because the police are disliked).













The lyrics 'I don't know who you are' synergise with the visuals on screen as at this point she is looking at the uniformed man behind a curtain.
however, in this music video the relationship between music and visuals is not amplifies. when the base drops at the beginning there is no dramatic change in the visuals (she is still singing behind the curtain which emphasizes her as an image to her audience).





Skream- Tapped




This is another concept-based music video with a narrative element. the lyrics and visuals on screen correlate to make a narrative story line. the fly is personified, for example when the lyrics go 'Sometimes I look back' the fly is watching tv as though looking back in time through the tv.
















Although the lyrics relate to the target audience, the main character on the screen is the fly. The song is aimed at teenagers, the lyrics emphasize being trapped when grounded, a 'big brother' tapping in on your phone, not having freedom. the flies dance to the pounding speakers which represents the target audience (young people) listening to this dubstep song.









Again, there is no clips of the artist suggesting no interest in selling the artist as an image.


I was unable to find any more as there is a lack of music video's under the genre of dubstep. This is because dubstep is still an underground genre. In general the artists are not interested in selling their image, thus the lack of music video's.

Monday, 3 January 2011

Lyrics to our chosen song

SONG LYRICS:






Lyrics:
Mister Postman, look and see
(oh yeah)
Is there's a letter in your bag for me
(Please, please Mister Postman)
Why's it takin' such a long time
(oh yeah)
For me to hear from that boy of mine


Wait
Oh yes wait a minute mister postman
Wait mr postman
Oh yeah (x4)
Please please mister postman
Oh yeah wait a minute
mister post man post post oh yeah
wait mister post


There must be some word today
from my boyfriend who's so far away
Please Mister Postman, look and see
Is there's a letter, a letter for me?
I've been standin' here waitin' Mister Postman
So (so so) patiently
For a card, or just a letter
Sayin' he's returnin' home to me!


Oh yes wait a minute mister postman
Wait mister postman
Oh yeah (x4)
Please please mister postman
Post post man man please please mister oh yeah man, post post man


So many day's you passed me by
You saw the tears standin' in my eyes
You wouldn't stop to make me feel better
By leavin' me a card or a letter
Please mister postman, look and see
(Oh yeah)
If there's a letter in your bag for me
(Please, please mister postman)


I know it's been so long yeah since I heard from this boyfriend of mine
You better wait a minute
Wait a minute
Can't wait (x22)
wait (x13)
Please (x2) Mister
Please (x6)

What are the likes and dislikes of our target audience?