Above are our typically inspirations for our music video, our video (at present time) will be an alternative rock music video (though this is a vauage genre, rock/metal carry across the same conventions between each other) we looked at some great icons
Linkin Park,
Sum 41,
Oasis, as well as some lesser known bands such as
Cake and
The Damned Things, making it worth while to look for bands that go out full for iconography and those that wish to keep a sense of artist integrity.
What we learnt from alternative music videos is the split between live performance and narrative, and because its so heavy and in every video we've looked at, we decided that it has to be included. Typically, we want to include it because it's that type of genre that relies on its audience feedback to keep going, its that type with the immense atmosphere that they want to carry between live performance and their fans - they want them to be involved.
In the next couple of days, I will look at a music video (or few) to find the average percentage of what part of the video is live performance and narrative - at the moment, I'm guessing narrative 40% and live performance 60%, though I'll conduct this research so we have a rough idea.
Location. We're going all out urban if we can, streets, stores - random locations even, populated, metro centre and then an isolated centre for the live performance with a party of some sort. We're not sure yet because we haven't storyboarded / planned, but we have an idea of what the locations should look like - the only music video I've looked at that
doesn't have an urban location is
Linkin Park's
The Catalyst, though even the destructed buildings would still give a hint to that urban feel. On that note, mise-en-scene is more or less straight forward; band members normally have very simple, urban skate-kid clothing, like above or even other band t-shirts and jeans (well apart from
Cake, but they're more stylised funky-alternative rock). Even
All Time Low in their music video
Time Bomb had a t-shirt that said 'no regrets' getting the message of the song further along to the audience. It's basic black on white clothing, because that's the icon of this genre.
- combining all of this together, what would be pretty intense would be something like
Jimmy Eat World's video,
The Middle (not the naked part, but the basic teenage look; the fashion that everyone kinda looks the same), the party atmosphere, the slow motion shots, the close up shots and the quick editing, altogether there's a lot of stylized elements going on with the video.
So above are the basic themes of our genre. Isolation, parties, revolution, freedom and glorification of the typical 'sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll' are the typical themes expereienced and experimented in music videos, which takes on an artistic approach or the attempt to relate further with audiences. Themes often aren't taken in singular stroll, they're often combined to approach something - like a journey, from isolation to party; again referencing to
Jimmy Eat World's The Middle.
Just as everything else, album covers are often stylized too; they take on, in this genre, a very artistic approach. Whilst photos are often used to explore something, a message often, within the album, art is also used in the same method. Most of the time, covers are stark, contrasting, black and white, as though a metaphor for looking past the grey that bands sometimes approach about in their songs.
Sum 41's is one of the oldest here, and typically (though more pre-decade) album covers often host pictures of the band members - even
Linkin Park do it, though this is widely unknown but to fans.
I have yet to scan in some digi packs.
