Lip Syncing

Foo Fighters - Learn to Fly

Today in class we split ourselves up into groups of 3 and practiced lip syncing for when we come to creating our own music videos. We lip synced 'Learn to Fly' by Foo Fighters. This task was difficult for me as I have never done this before and being filmed on my first attempt at it was slightly off-putting. It was a fun task that has helped me to understand what the aim of our coursework is and what I will have to do. In order to be able to lip sync properly I will have to ensure that I know the song in depth so that I do not make any mistakes during filming.  

What Makes An Effective Music Video?

Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag
This song is a cliche story about teenage romance in high school. It tells the story of a 'nerd' who's in love with more popular girl. The video backs this up with its layout by using the lyrics in line with the video to show the different parts of the song. It also reverts to filming of the band in the same environment (Hight school) which again relates to the lyrics and the story of the song.

This shot is at the beginning of the music video and shows the 'nerd' looking lovingly at the more popular girl getting out of her boyfriend's car at school. The clothing used represents the differences between them the way the girl is dressed in nicer clothes and by the way she looks. She is shown to be too good for the 'nerd'.

The video also uses shots of the band throughout the video. This shows the performance of the song and also shows the style of the band and what they represent. The shot used is in a high school gym which relates perfectly to the song and the area the lyrics are based around. This links the band to the video and their style and what they represent as a band and through that particular song.








The video reverts between the band and the story the whole way though. Each part of the video is used to represent the lyrics at each point. This is effective because it helps the audience keep up with what the song is about and also gets the message through to people a lot quicker and easier. This helps people to understand the song and gives them a better idea of what the band is all about.

During the chorus, the focus goes back to the band. However at this point there are crowds of teenagers around the band all going crazy. This part of the video is used to represent the band and also the audience. It fits in with the cliches of teenagers and gives the song a lot of energy, making the song exciting and shows off the sort of audience that this music has.





I think that this video is a good representative of this genre because it tells a story of cliche teenage behaviour and also explains it through the lyrics and music video. The performance of the band is also shown in the video which represents the style of the band and allows audiences to relate the genre of music to a particular style. The location used is also very well planned out as the audience of this music is predominantly teenagers which are also likely to be high school students themselves. I think that this video is a good choice to represent the genre of my choice because if this because it is also a song that relates well to my childhood as I grew up listening to this sort of music and this song in particular was a part of it.
I think this video stands out from other music videos because it represents the audience of the music as well as the band itself. However, looking at other music videos from this genre, there is a trend throughout which shows that the bands from this genre represent their audience a lot through their videos and also give off different impressions from their style and behaviour in their music videos. So although the videos are very similar, they are also very different.

Childhood, Memory and Current Music Videos

Childhood Song

Sum 41 - In Too Deep





This song was a big part of my childhood because I used to love this genre of music. I used to watch Kerrang a lot and this song came up quite a lot and it grew on me more each time. I also love skateboarding and used to play on all of the Tony Hawk games which all featured songs similar to this. I liked this style of music growing up because I have always been into the American style and wanted to follow in their footsteps by playing guitar and wearing their clothes.

Memory

Metallica - Sad But True






This song is a memory because this band became my favourite band around the ages of 15/16 and I went to see them when they headlined Download Festival 2012. This band became my favourite when I moved on a bit from punk and became more interested in heavier music such as metal. 

Current Music Taste

The Offspring - Want You Bad




This is a song that represents my current music taste. I still have a keen interest in the punk genre and still like the style and representation of the genre. I listen to this music a lot and enjoy it as much as I used to when I was growing up.

Introduction

What you will find on my blog.
On my blog for this project you will find examples of music videos from a range of genres with explanations of the music videos on how they represent the song. The information on my blog will all relate to the set tasks throughout the course and will be included to show what work and research has been done when looking through music videos and finding ideas for my own work. On my blog you will also find information on my background research about meanings of chosen songs or what different bands represent.

What genre I am going to use.
I am going to use the punk genre for my music videos because it is a genre that I enjoy and the music videos relate well to what the genre represents such as rebellious attitudes and skateboarding. I also used to watch a lot of these sort of music videos growing up through the likes of Kerrang when I had music channels on so I am already aware of the types of music videos from this genre. This genre played a huge part of my childhood and has influenced me in various ways to the person I am today. 

What I think of this work.
I think I will find this work interesting because I enjoy music and learning about the surrounding areas of music. I think it will be a difficult course but with the right research it can be made easier. I think I will be alright in this course when doing tasks relating to my chosen genre in particular because I know a lot of music videos from the genre already and will enjoy watching the videos because I love the music. To help me complete tasks of looking at music videos, I will also do research on the chosen songs to find out the various meanings behind the lyrics and look to see how the video could possible represent what the lyrics are trying to say and the message that the song is trying to portray.

• What are your initial ideas for your Music Genre? Why?
• Have you any ideas about the blog, do you think you will find it interesting? Are you looking forward to doing this work? Do you think this will be difficult? What kind of support do you think you will need?