JAWS (Artist research)

JAWS are an English indie pop band formed in Birmingham, England in 2012 after singer Connor Schofield had posted a demo (Holy Cat) online that received enough positive feedback to encourage him to start a band with friends from Halesowen College. They have often been identified as part of the Digbeth-based B-Town scene and hotly tipped as ones to watch.
Jaws have published two EPs so far, and have also released four singles "Toucan Surf", "Surround You", "Friend Like You" and "Gold". The B side of "Surround You"—"Stay In" featuring on the Ubisoft game Rocksmith 2014. "Gold" was featured in an episode of Hollyoaks. They have toured with The Twang, Peace, Swim Deep, Spector as well as various support slots.
In December 2013 the band announced via their Facebook page that they would be recording a full studio album in 2014 partially funded by the PRS. In April their next single will be released called "Think Too Much, Feel Too Little".
In June 2014 the band announced the Debut album "Be Slowly" would be released on 15 September that year. The band announced over Twitter a tour in September, stopping at Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow and plenty more. Support acts being Fickle Friends, Milk Teeth and Brawlers.
On 27 April 2015, JAWS shared the standalone single "Bad Company" via Huw Stephens Radio 1 show.

Band member

Connor Schofield – lead vocals, guitar (2012–present)

Alex Hudson – guitars (2012–present)

Eddy Geach – drums (2012–present)

Jake Cooper – bass (2012–2015)

Below we see a discography and all music videos that have been previously made by JAWS

This is 'Right in Front of Me' is taken from JAWS forthcoming album 'Simplicity'. It is simply official audio not an actual music video. 

Official video for "Be Slowly" by JAWS. Taken from the Debut Album "Be Slowly. This is a performance based video with no narrative.

'Just A Boy' is taken from JAWS forthcoming album 'Simplicity'. Which is simply the official audio not a music video.

"Surround You" by JAWS

Produced by Dreamtrak & Gavin Monaghan

Official video for "Think Too Much, Feel Too Little" by JAWS. Taken from the Debut Album "Be Slowly", out 15/09/14. Is simply performance based video.

"Toucan Surf" by JAWS

Produced by Dreamtrak

Simply an audio track

Friend like you. Simply an audio track

Official video for "Gold" by JAWS. Taken from the Debut Album "Be Slowly", out 15/09/14.

A performance style music video however this does include some scenery

Sadly, as JAWS are only a small band they have not got many music videos. Furthermore this makes it near impossible to find out who directed the videos so that is why I don't have any of that info available.


Discography

I have done some more in-depth audience research. With another short description of the band.

JAWS are a small indie band who operate in and around the dream pop genre, they became more popular around 2013 when there was a new wave of popular indie music. There audience tend be males around the age of 14-18, who in general are left leaning in political view. I could not find any real dater on JAWS as they are to small of a band. However by looking at a similar band who are seen as related artists on several websites I have devised a target audience.

Age
Best Coast are similar band to JAWS and they have a following which has a low average age. My source for this is https://yougov.co.uk/opi/browse/Best_Coast. Where we see the average age is around 14-18. Peace another similar band has a similar age meter with it slightly older than that of Best Coast, so I feel I would be correct in saying that JAWS would have a very similar audience or at least core audience. So feel 14 - 18 is an appropriate age range. However, of course there is a section of the indie genre who are above the age of 20, but of course this isn't as large a group as that of the core audience of age 14-18. That I would consider my secondary audience when it comes to the age demographic. However I do admit other figures on the you gov website as seen below that show that more people of the ages 25-39 like similar bands to JAWS, however as it is a much wider age range I decided to take into account the 18-24 year olds as compared to the rest of the population as a whole ,because 16% more people in of the age range of 18-24 like similar bands to JAWS compared to the 9% difference between population and people who are into the band. All of these statistics are sourced from the link above and are seen inn the screenshots below. So from this I plan to input more teenage themes in my music videos in order to make my core audience and secondry  audience

Gender

Through Looking at other bands I have found out that the majority of people who listen to JAWS or at least related artists are male, however only by a slim majority so in general there is a fair balance between gender. So this means I'm going to take this in mind during the process of making my video so I can have the video appeal to the widest audience possible. To do this I will ensure I use an actor that will appeal to the female population. Using the premise of  the male gaze that being that I use attractive male characters In order to attract and interest female viewers. Secondly, my video also has purely male characters in which will give the male audience something to relate to, furthermore I could also say by using the attractive male protagonist could be taking advantage of the gay gaze. Which is of course the use of attractive character in order to attract the opposite sex to watch the film.

General Beliefs

On the whole people who are into indie pop, indie rock and dream pop are in general left thinking progressives seen by yougov stats seen in the screenshots below for Best Coast. This is probably because their demographic is young, and stats show the younger you are the more left wing you are as youth gives you an idealistic view of the world. So from this I have decided to use the left leaning communist manifesto as a prop within my video. Furthermore I primarily am doing this in order to reference the communist movement that was taking place at the time of German expressionist movement, because I have taken such a string influence from such film makers like F.W.M.

Film and Television interests

The website yougov give you the ability to look at what somebodies TV likes may be if they like a particular band. Through this I again used the band Best Coast in order to identify the likes of the type of person who would listen to the band JAWS as they don't have a page on yougov as of the size of the band. From this recourse I found out that the people who like this genre of band tend to like the following films.

Which shows us overwhelmingly that the most popular genre is horror, which is why my production is going to be of this genre. As my narrative follows a very similar story to that of the famous film and story of Frankenstein. I feel this will ensure that I attract and engage the audience I'm aiming for.

In conclusion, the audience for the band JAWS tends to be of  either male or female of the age of 16-24. Who is in general left leaning in political ideology and into indie music and horror genre productions.

Genre Researh Evaluation (Indie and Rock Sub genres)

I have researched several music videos in the same genre as the song Bad Company by JAWS, these being: Best Friends by Palma Violets, Luv Hold Me by The Drowners, Charlemagne by Blossoms, Money by Peace and You're a Germ by Wolf Alice. I also did more in depth analysis of songs like change of heart which are loosely link to the band JAWS by genre.

The general genre of JAWS is indie rock, alternative rock and other sub genres. Much like the 5 music video analysis overviews I have written. I found that in the indie and rock sub genres we tend to see the following conventions.

• Black and white themed, meaning that we see the background colours to be in general dark and low key E.G You're a Germ.
• Some bright pastel colours, like yellows, geens and deep blues. For example the Blossoms, Charlemagne video where the walls in the foreground are deep blue seen below.
• Costume has no real convention, meaning that in indie music videos as a convention is wearing alternative forms of clothes unlike heavy metal bands who we see dressed in dark leather on the most part.  
• In general indie and alternative rock videos have a darker story line for example You're a Germ by Wolf Alice and the Bad Company video itself.
• Tend to have a retro feel or look. For example the grainy footage in Alvvays's video Adult Diversion and Luv Hold Me Down by The Drowners. What I mean by this is that the footage in fact looks like it was shot years before it was.
• Transitions tend to be clear cut.
• Tend to be a mixture of performance and narrative. So will cut from a story to pictures if the bands.

Genre Research (Drowners- Luv Hold me down)

The Drowners are a band who work within the indie rock genre similar to my band of choice. The music video for their song luv Hold Me Down fits this genre accurately, with the same old style footage I talk about and the same rock and roll alternative clothes. This video has a narrative of the band it’s self on tour going around the world in different places with the underlying tone that “Luv is holding them down” obviously in relation with the song lyrics, so you could go far to say that this aspect makes it unconventional. Another part of the video which is arguably unconventional of this genre is the bright colours that exist due to the more summer landscape narrative in the video. So we obviously don’t see the typical black and white. However it could be argued that this song is the furthest away genre wise from my song choice of bad company by JAWS which is almost in the genre of alternative hard rock, due to the uneasy atmosphere and almost metal like instruments of the heavy guitar.

Genre Research (Blossoms- Charlemagne)

Blossoms are a band which work mainly in the indie genre Charlemagne is typical of the indie music video genre as we see pastel colours which contrast highly with the costumes that people are wearing, This gives the effect that it’s based in another time frame, however even though it’s in another time frame it comes across that the people within it act as if they are living in the past as well. Furthermore at the start of the video we see it start off as quite dark in tone which is again typical of this genre as unlike pop genre who would us very bright colours to get the story across. There is no clear narrative, however we do see men gambling and have lyrics which relate to love. So I guess we see a story of a man who has lost his lover as a result of gambling addiction she doesn’t understand. There is no significant link between the lyrics and visuals apart from we see the focus change between the man and the women depending on who is being addressed.

Genre Research (Peace- Money)

Peace are a band that specialize in the  indie rock genre, which of course related to the band JAWS which as I have mentioned previously to be my band of choice. The video for their song money is not black and white or anything like that, however their colours are dark. Being Greys warm whites and navy blues to signify the pinstripe background in which it is set. Which is the same colour scheme I’m aiming for however I wish to incorporate warm yellows to give off an unnerving vibe. There is a narrative in this video, that following the story of a business man going through the ranks of big business slowly reaching the top, to get there to end up being there in a room of “snakes”. We see how big business is represented as it is shown to be all song and dance. Shown by the dance handshakes that take place. In general we see similar things in this video to that of other videos in there genre however of course it’s the indie genre so it’s of course they have totally different story lines.

Genre Research (Wolf Alice- You're a germ)

Wolf Alice- You’re a Germ


Wolf Alice are a band who work within the alternative rock genre, the song you’re a germ is also in this genre which of course is what my song Bad Company is in. In this video we see footage similar to what I wish to achieve within my video. This being that it is in a 60’s cinefilm style, which gives it a weathered look which is associated with songs in the indie genre. Evidence of this is in Alvvays’s song Adult Division which shares the same genre. The narrative is a group of friends keep reliving the same point in their life where new monsters each time hunt them to the point of death. Which is horror style which is the image I want to go for my video. On the whole the colours are reflective of the indie genre as we see pastel colours mixed with what is an almost black and white theme. The lyrics do have a relationship with the visuals as seen when you here the lyrics “1 2 3 4 5 6 7” and at 7 we see the monster strike also when there is a heavy beat we see a significant point in the storyline.

Genre Research (Best Friends, Palma Violets Music Video Overview)

My song is Bad Company by JAWS, JAWS are a band which explore many genres these being Dream pop, indie pop, alternative rock, surf pop and synthpop. Similar artists are Palma Violets, Peace, Wolf Alice, Blossoms and the Drowners. 

In this Blog I will talk about Best Friends by Palma Violets. The Palma Violets are a indie rock band which means they are seen as a similar band to JAWS. As JAWS have in the past made indie rock songs especially like bad company the song I'm using. The Best Friends music video which was filmed and directed by Jim Tobias, and edited by Alastair Graham and Neil Drummond. The Video is of the band performing in a party atmosphere with a strobe light of warm colours with the typical indie colour scheme of darker colours giving it a black and white effect. Showcasing what their gigs would be like. There are no links with visuals. Apart from the obvious theme of friends being at the gigs. This video is typical to other videos in the alternative rock genre as we see the dark theme with the performance. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poFXWUTEs1k 
 

September 12th progress

My Pitch

My idea is, to have a narrative video using the song Bad Company by JAWS. The narrative will follow the life a one man creating an idea of having his own "monster" which eventually is the death of him. From the start to finish of the video we will see him form the idea, shown by a light bulb lighting up above his head in some way, which of course would simulate the idea. Then we would see him going through the planning and process of making the "monster", with visuals of blueprints and also close-ups of the creator himself struggling and working to create the "monster" itself. Then lastly we would see that the creation was successful, we will then of course see how the his creation is the death of him.

The videos general mood will be dark an unnerving. Having no real colour apart from greys, blues, soft yellows and blacks with grainy film like visuals that are reminiscent of 60's film. Like seen below in Avvays's Adult Division.


To Signify the idea coming into is his head I will use a shot much like this that I previously had in my ident apart from it's likely to be above the head of the actor to create a surreal world where thoughts are visualized. However the light would probably have more of a yellow tint.

To avoid making the video look tacky The monster shall only been shown through a silhouette on a wall for example. Also the way the creator is killed off will be deliberately tongue in cheek. The type of shadow I will be looking for is similar to the one seen below.

This is the video of the pitch I did in class. 

https://youtu.be/gl_meLopaOM

Music Video Analysis (Lovecats, The Cure)

Type of Video

I believe that this video is a hybrid. In most discussions people seem to class The Cure as Post Punk or Post New Wave. But, I believe that it this video fits the genres of Rock and Pop. Therefore, this is a hybrid as it's a bridge between separate genres. The music – in especially this song - is quite cheerful (as it's in a major key). However, Robert Smith the lead singer of the Cure dress in a gothic style as seen in the picture below– this shows again it is a hybrid and also, is an example of juxtaposition.

Narrative or Concept

This video has no clear narrative so I could only categorize it as a concept video> as it is not really trying to explain anything, however you could claim it is a bout how cats and humans find love in similar ways. However this is quite a farfetched claim. However having no real storyline is a convention when it comes to the Cure.

Characters

The music video only really has one character. That being Robert Smith plus the rest of the band I guess however the close ups are always on Smith. They are all in a set were there are real and fake cats as seen below. Setting – There are two different settings: The streets – coming from the view a cat would see. Also, the house. The house looks like it’s has been broken into – possibly by the band or maybe it is their house. As seen to the right of the text with the slanted paintings.                                                                                           

Idolizing Aspects

 We see several ways that Robert Smith the main singer is idolized, the first being the many close ups involve in the video as seen in the picture above. Furthermore we barley ever see a shot without Robert Smith within the shot.

Goodwin's Theory On Music Videos

Here is a video explaining visually the key principles that Goodwin outlined.

Click here for the video

Music Video Analysis (Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen)

Background

Directed by: Bruce Gowers
Produced by: Thomas Baker
Written by: Freddie Mercury
Starring: Freddie Mercury, Brain May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon.
Production Manager: Jim Beach
Assistant Director: Barry Dodd

The video took 4 hours in total to film with a budget of £4,500 on November the 10th 1975. This song has separate sections these being an intro, ballad, operatic, hard rock and a coda section to bring peace.

Type of Music Video

It is a performance type music video as we can see all members in the video singing along to the audio. Which is typical of a rock genre music video. Much like in the Seven Nation army music video. We also see in some parts of the video people playing the drums and the guitar. as seen in the picture below. Which again connotes the hard rock section of the song. As this video and song can be split into several different genres. As I have mentioned previously We also see as shot of the full band performing in a smoke filled stage. You could also argue that using smoke is a indicator in a video that it is in the rock genre. However, we can't generalise as I'm sure there are 100's of rock videos which don't include any smoke at all. However a rock video which does have smoke would be By the Way,  Red Hot Chili Peppers. Seen in the screenshot below.

 Relationship Between Lyrics and Visuals

At the very start of the song we hear the lyrics "Is this the real life. Or is this just fantasy" Along side the picture you see below of 3 silhouettes of men. Surrounded by a Smokey back drop, which you could argue looks like a fantasy or at least out of the ordinary. 

 Furthermore when the 4 members of the band fade in they all open their eyes at once. Which is in direct correlation with the lyrics, this being "Open your eyes". This is a smart move as it allows the listener to really tune into the preferred reading as it provides a guide for the consumer. This was most likely due to the production company however this is questionable as Queen are a very large band so could probably choose the direction of their own video much like someone of David Bowie's prowess.                                       

Mis-En-Scene

At the cross fade just at the beginning of the video just down and right of this text. The light fades which allows for the cross-fade to a close up Freddie Mercury one of the main members of the bands. I believe this is brilliant, withholding the same mystery in the eyes of the each band member. At this time there was really no such thing as, post-production editing as it was new at this point in time. So this magnifies the significance of  in this video. The use of this makes evident which member of the band is the lead for this song, or which band member has been the most idolized etc.. Which is sometimes done in today’s industry.

The video also includes shots of the band playing instruments.  Which gives the viewer the ability to let their mind run wild with what it could be like at one of their concerts. Which would obviously be great promotion as people are more likely to go to one of their concerts. This of course will lead to making more money. This is also something which is used in today. I think it's something which can go either way as it can make the video look rather cliché, however in this case I fell the live performance seen two pictures above really gives the song a identity. That of course being predominantly in the rock genre.

Close-up shots are used to show the passion. The close up’s are mainly of Freddie, because he is the main band member, as he writes all the songs, and is gossiped about in the newspapers. However, he is not the best looking member, so this would be different in today’s society as it goes against everything you would see in music videos today.

Intertextuality

As far as I can see there is no really intertextuality that is evident in this video. Which may have been one of the reasons for the videos success as it was so original.

Genre Characteristics

Bohemian Rhapsody fits no specific genre parse as different parts of the song resonates with different genres. as it has a ballad section a operatic section and also a hard rock section. Typical ballad conventions would be performance and close ups as these types of shots are what show us emotion as after all a ballad is defined as. "a poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas. Traditional ballads are typically of unknown authorship, having been passed on orally from one generation to the next" and also known as "a slow sentimental or romantic song" which would of course need to have a video which help tell the story through emotion.
The Operatic part of the song shows genre specific characters as these conventions are similar to those we see in ballad videos of the close ups to show emotion and expression.
Lastly, the hard rock section comes within the performance it's self. Performance type videos are classically rock videos like the majority of the Red Hot Chili Peppers videos we see performance like we see in this video.

Mode of Address

In this video there is one lyric were the artist addresses the audience directly. This is a line I mentioned previously. That being "Open YOUR eyes" Which is a command to the audience. Which gives the effect that the video is personally made for you. There is no real mode of address, and when I say this I mean that there are no points in which the musician looks directly into the camera while actually addressing the audience.

Special Effects

The director of the video said that there were no post production special effects used. This means all the effects like the kaleidoscope was done while shooting. Which is very impressive for the time it was shot. 

Music Video Analysis (Seven Nation Army, The White Stripes)

Mis-en-scene:

There are 3 different colours used in the video these were black, white and red all the way through, however arguable the white is has a hint of blue. The black and white are typical colours found in a video in the rock genre, as they connote darkness and sadness. The colour red shows danger and so using red as one of the only bright colours in the video solidifies the idea that rock is in ways rebellious.

There are low angle shots of the man playing guitar, as it gets closer to the screen it begins to get larger in dimensions This makes the audience feel look up at him like he is a celebrity figure in some way. This camera effect gives the people in the band a idol like figure

As the song picks up and becomes more intense. so it begins to flash which builds up more excitement and energy than if it was to continue at the same pace. As the speed of the song increases, the speed of the triangles directly correlates to the speed of the music, So when the song slows, the triangles of course also slow. This gives the video variety of speed which makes it more clear.

EDITING:

The video is one shot which lasts all the way through the video as the camera seems to go through a never ending kaleidoscopic tunnel of triangles; this gives it a hypnotising.

GENRE:

There is a guitar and a drum kit which are seen in the video which helps us to acknowledge that this video is in the rock genre as they are rocks trademark instruments. As the man is plays the guitar he head bangs which shows he is performing with  passion and rock bands tend to put all their energy into a show. However this is a very generalized convention. 

There are skeletons in armour in the video marching this relates to the song and also gives another idea of what genre it identifies as. Skeletons tend to connote death which is a convention in some rock songs and so are more likely to appear in a rock video than  in any other genre.

MODE OF ADDRESS:

There are some shots of the singer looking straight at the camera whilst singing, and sometimes points into the lens. This makes the audience feel like he’s personally talking to them and so a relationship is formed in order to relate to him relate to him.

Music Video Analysis (Beat it Music, Micheal Jackson)

Background

The song is written and sung by American Michael Jackson. The purpose of the music video is to of course promote the artist as is the case with most music all time chart. It reached number 3 in the UK singles chart. Unlike most of Michael Jackson songs which are of the pop genre, this one is of the rock- pop genre and acts as a hybrid.

Type of Music Video

It a performance and a narrative. The performance element is intercut with the shot related to the story  showing the artist singing, whilst there is a gang war takes place in a old sryle American dinner. The gang war is stopped by the singing and dancing of the artist and the violence stops. This shows that the artist is trying to make the statement that music and dance have the ability to cease violence. 

Genre Characteristics
There are several characteristics of the pop and rock genre. Firstly, the lighting is dark with out any other colours apart from the clothes people are wearing. This is for the purpose of verisimilitude because it is set at night, but it gives it the feel of rock than pop. The fact that it is set at night adds to this. The performance element, is converging to the stereotypical pop music video as most videos in this genre do contain singing and dancing. The costumes are definitely a match for the rock genre, with the tatty jeans, dark black clothes aren’t things you would probably find in a pop video but if it was in a rock video it would be no surprise. The narrative is something that is more common of the pop genre, is when problems are sorted through activities like sing and dance. Which happens a lot in pop videos. All these things clearly show it as a mix of the genres.

Relationship between Visuals and Lyrics
The visuals are not a direct portrayal of the lyrics but they are a close  match. The lyrics set out set out a scene were somebody is trying to act "hard", and this ends up in a fight, and the song is trying to warn the antagonist to fight and that one is imminent. The visuals are set in the future during the fight. The lyrics are the back story to these visuals.   
The music is edited in time with the lyrics. The music gradually picks up  speed as time goes on and each shot time begins to increase in speed. This means that as the music gets faster  as does the pace of the edit. Another bit of relationship between the visuals and the music is when the instrumental section kicks in, so does the fight. When the lyrics resume the fight is ended. This helps to show the story in a clearer light. This being that singing and dancing that solves the problem.

Intertextuality
The entire plot of the music video is traditional of most American Gangster films. The fact that it is set in a diner, and gangs are at war with each other is the stereotypical plot of one of these films. The entire music video is a lot like Broadway Musical ‘West Side Story’ as there are two gangs fighting.