Wednesday 16 December 2009
Thursday 10 December 2009
Audience Feedback From YouTube
MegzieMADNESS
I love the dreamlike quality you've got it to look like.
I'd look that dazed and confused too :)
Well done
boden2
Really liking the blurred effects when he wakes up in the wood, adds to the sense of confusion and surreal. Well done =D
Benjones1509
Reply nice effects in the wood with the blurring, makes it seem really dreamy. Also like the bit in the woods with the 'ghost' thats a really nice part in it. And it starts with Noah in bed so was bound to be good. good job! :>
SammyRhyno
an excellent piece of work, has a great concept and really good shots. keep it up. :)
charlee900
Great camera angles, the narrative is interesting and intriguing, a great piece of work, well done
I love the dreamlike quality you've got it to look like.
I'd look that dazed and confused too :)
Well done
boden2
Really liking the blurred effects when he wakes up in the wood, adds to the sense of confusion and surreal. Well done =D
Benjones1509
Reply nice effects in the wood with the blurring, makes it seem really dreamy. Also like the bit in the woods with the 'ghost' thats a really nice part in it. And it starts with Noah in bed so was bound to be good. good job! :>
SammyRhyno
an excellent piece of work, has a great concept and really good shots. keep it up. :)
charlee900
Great camera angles, the narrative is interesting and intriguing, a great piece of work, well done
Wednesday 9 December 2009
The Finished Video
To watch a full screen high quality version please double click the video and select the appropriate options from YouTube.
Tuesday 8 December 2009
Album/Single Covers
Front Cover of Album
This is our front cover for the single of the video we created. Myself and Lewis (media partner) decided we wanted to do a simplistic cover design to emulate those of System of a Down (check blog for details). We did this by taking a simple picture of me as Serj Tankian above a steep drop in a wooded area holding a microphone as a weapon. We then decided to use the bands signature font (downloaded form dafont.com) and overlap the text over the cliff edge in a white colour so that it stood out against the mossy cliff face.
Back of the Album Cover
This is the back of the single that we made. The picture on the back depicts me as Serj Tankian but this time being hung from the branch of the tree that was seen on the front cover. We felt this was effective as it shows two sides to the songs and refers closely to the video; with the quick change in setting. Again we used Systems signature font and listed authentic record details near the bottom of the picture. We chose to include not only the title track 'Question!' but two acoustic songs;one of 'Question!' and old hit 'Chop Suey' from the toxicity album.
This is our front cover for the single of the video we created. Myself and Lewis (media partner) decided we wanted to do a simplistic cover design to emulate those of System of a Down (check blog for details). We did this by taking a simple picture of me as Serj Tankian above a steep drop in a wooded area holding a microphone as a weapon. We then decided to use the bands signature font (downloaded form dafont.com) and overlap the text over the cliff edge in a white colour so that it stood out against the mossy cliff face.
Back of the Album Cover
This is the back of the single that we made. The picture on the back depicts me as Serj Tankian but this time being hung from the branch of the tree that was seen on the front cover. We felt this was effective as it shows two sides to the songs and refers closely to the video; with the quick change in setting. Again we used Systems signature font and listed authentic record details near the bottom of the picture. We chose to include not only the title track 'Question!' but two acoustic songs;one of 'Question!' and old hit 'Chop Suey' from the toxicity album.
Monday 7 December 2009
On Shoot: 1st Day Photos
Music Video Directors: Mark Romanek
Mark Romanek is one of the most influential music video directors of our time. Born in 1959 and inspired into film by Stanley Kubrick's cult film '2001; Space Odyssey' Romanek wanted to create visual art to inspire and to entertain audiences. Romenek experiment with from throughout his early teens in his home town of Illinois and after years of training under Brian De Parma (probably best known for his suspense and thriller films, including such box office successes as Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, Carlito's Way, The Untouchables, and Mission: Impossible) he managed to release his first film 'Static', in 1986. It was co-written with and starred Keith Gordon as a man who claimed he had invented a television set capable of showing a live picture of Heaven; Amanda Plummer also starred. The film achieved something of a cult following in London and led to his first job at the helm of a music video for the British New Wave group, The The (who featured on the soundtrack for Static), in 1986.
After a few years writing screenplays, Romanek decided to focus on music videos and signed on with Satellite Films. His subsequent work has come to be regarded as among the best of the medium. He has worked with many top-selling recording artists from different genres of popular music, and his videos have been given credit for making stars out of some. One of his earliest notable videos was for the Nine Inch Nails song "Closer". Its critical acclaim was only matched by its critical controversy, many accusing the video as being disturbing, demonic and demented (a big reason why the video was so popular among fans). Romanek would again work with Nine Inch Nails for the song "The Perfect Drug".
Romanek was given his first Grammy Award for Best Short Form Video in 1996 for "Scream," a collaboration between the pop superstar siblings Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. The video, which cost $7 million to make, is cited as the most expensive ever made. Romanek won his second Grammy two years later, again with Janet Jackson, for her video "Got 'Til It's Gone." In 2002, Romanek shot a video for Audioslave's "Cochise" in which the band performed in the midst of a prolonged pyrotechnic display of the intensity usually seen only during fireworks finales. The explosions were so loud during the night shoot in the San Fernando Valley that local police and fire departments received hundreds of calls from residents who feared that a terrorist attack was underway.Two of Romanek's music videos, "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails, and "Bedtime Story" by Madonna, have been made part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Directed Videos
Madonna - Bedtime Story
Audioslave - Cochise
After a few years writing screenplays, Romanek decided to focus on music videos and signed on with Satellite Films. His subsequent work has come to be regarded as among the best of the medium. He has worked with many top-selling recording artists from different genres of popular music, and his videos have been given credit for making stars out of some. One of his earliest notable videos was for the Nine Inch Nails song "Closer". Its critical acclaim was only matched by its critical controversy, many accusing the video as being disturbing, demonic and demented (a big reason why the video was so popular among fans). Romanek would again work with Nine Inch Nails for the song "The Perfect Drug".
Romanek was given his first Grammy Award for Best Short Form Video in 1996 for "Scream," a collaboration between the pop superstar siblings Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. The video, which cost $7 million to make, is cited as the most expensive ever made. Romanek won his second Grammy two years later, again with Janet Jackson, for her video "Got 'Til It's Gone." In 2002, Romanek shot a video for Audioslave's "Cochise" in which the band performed in the midst of a prolonged pyrotechnic display of the intensity usually seen only during fireworks finales. The explosions were so loud during the night shoot in the San Fernando Valley that local police and fire departments received hundreds of calls from residents who feared that a terrorist attack was underway.Two of Romanek's music videos, "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails, and "Bedtime Story" by Madonna, have been made part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Directed Videos
Madonna - Bedtime Story
Audioslave - Cochise
My Top 5 Modern Music Videos
5. Katy Perry Waking Up In Vegas - Dance Remix
I like this video as it has both a good sense of narrative and a good cutting sequence, sticking to the beat of the song. New shots are also included that were not used with the original video, these are mixed in with the original video shots to refer to the first video. I think the colors used are visually exciting and entice the viewer to watch on and listen to the track.
4. Killswitch Engage - Arms of Sorrow
I like this video as it is half narrative half performance. The narrative in the video is not necessarily supposed to make sense, but is interesting nonetheless as you get to see what is happening in everyone's normal life as the man falls to his presumed death. This, crossed with the energy of the band and there good use of slow motion shots in contrast with high octane band shots makes this video really pleasing to the eye for the audience.
3. Muse - Supermassive Blackhole
I love this video. The combination of the band playing with the strange figures wandering around and the creepy mise-en-scene make this a must watch video. The effects and lighting used are especially well as they add an eccentric aura to the video, making it alluring to the audience.
2. Fightstar - Never Change
This video is fantastic. They break so many modern rock video conventions. One of which, and possibly the most important is the introduction of female dancers preforming a routine while the band is playing behind them; placing the dancers at the forefront. The simple colours are well used and highlight the brilliance of the production as they do not need awesome visuals to make this video brilliant. The ending is fantastic as the girls drag the lead singer Charlie into the stage which becomes white liquid.
1. Paramore - Decode
This video was bound to be fantastic as it was part of the Twilight Movie franchise, the song was used in the movie as so Paramore were allowed to use shots of the movie in their video. They did a really good job, using the same forest setting as some of the movie is set in, in a half performance half movie style; this allowed them to add huge depth to the video. The shots used as very much like in the video, height difference shots and panning were used throughout the movie as well as a lot of close ups to show reactions of characters; Paramore replicated this in the video.
I like this video as it has both a good sense of narrative and a good cutting sequence, sticking to the beat of the song. New shots are also included that were not used with the original video, these are mixed in with the original video shots to refer to the first video. I think the colors used are visually exciting and entice the viewer to watch on and listen to the track.
4. Killswitch Engage - Arms of Sorrow
I like this video as it is half narrative half performance. The narrative in the video is not necessarily supposed to make sense, but is interesting nonetheless as you get to see what is happening in everyone's normal life as the man falls to his presumed death. This, crossed with the energy of the band and there good use of slow motion shots in contrast with high octane band shots makes this video really pleasing to the eye for the audience.
3. Muse - Supermassive Blackhole
I love this video. The combination of the band playing with the strange figures wandering around and the creepy mise-en-scene make this a must watch video. The effects and lighting used are especially well as they add an eccentric aura to the video, making it alluring to the audience.
2. Fightstar - Never Change
This video is fantastic. They break so many modern rock video conventions. One of which, and possibly the most important is the introduction of female dancers preforming a routine while the band is playing behind them; placing the dancers at the forefront. The simple colours are well used and highlight the brilliance of the production as they do not need awesome visuals to make this video brilliant. The ending is fantastic as the girls drag the lead singer Charlie into the stage which becomes white liquid.
1. Paramore - Decode
This video was bound to be fantastic as it was part of the Twilight Movie franchise, the song was used in the movie as so Paramore were allowed to use shots of the movie in their video. They did a really good job, using the same forest setting as some of the movie is set in, in a half performance half movie style; this allowed them to add huge depth to the video. The shots used as very much like in the video, height difference shots and panning were used throughout the movie as well as a lot of close ups to show reactions of characters; Paramore replicated this in the video.
Target Audience
It is vital to consider the target audience when creating a music video. Different people like different musical styles, and because of this it is imperative to target the audience that will respect the music most so that the video gains the most positive reaction possible; therefore more sales of that composition. In this case, I had to look in depth at the genre of music that I would be representing; and its following. To do this I had to look at who listens to the specific genre, in my case; rock music.
It is obvious from listening to the music within this genre, as I have done for years, that the younger generation is the core demographic for rock music. This is all too easy to discover as it is fairly unlikely that an older generation will enjoy a combination of loud screaming, heavy guitar riffs and mad drum solo’s. It just wouldn’t work. There will be exceptions to this rule, but the general hypothesis is that younger people enjoy this sort of music much more than older people.
This convention within target audience also moves into the category of clothing and its stereotypical rock style. As rock music is more of an emotional expression than other genres, clothing is generally wilder and ‘out there’ than what people would consider the norm. As most rock songs are about loss, anger and depression, the natural colours are predominately dark ones; conveying the emotive stance of the bands and their music. It is important for artists to perfect their image to appeal to this demographic of young and so-called depressed teens. To show this and to appeal to the targeted audience I used a lot of black clothing and dark makeup to both make the video more interesting and to keep the colour scheme in relation to the genre and its audience.
It is obvious from listening to the music within this genre, as I have done for years, that the younger generation is the core demographic for rock music. This is all too easy to discover as it is fairly unlikely that an older generation will enjoy a combination of loud screaming, heavy guitar riffs and mad drum solo’s. It just wouldn’t work. There will be exceptions to this rule, but the general hypothesis is that younger people enjoy this sort of music much more than older people.
This convention within target audience also moves into the category of clothing and its stereotypical rock style. As rock music is more of an emotional expression than other genres, clothing is generally wilder and ‘out there’ than what people would consider the norm. As most rock songs are about loss, anger and depression, the natural colours are predominately dark ones; conveying the emotive stance of the bands and their music. It is important for artists to perfect their image to appeal to this demographic of young and so-called depressed teens. To show this and to appeal to the targeted audience I used a lot of black clothing and dark makeup to both make the video more interesting and to keep the colour scheme in relation to the genre and its audience.
Sunday 6 December 2009
Band Research
System of a Down (sometimes simply referred to as SOAD or System) is a Grammy Award-winning Armenian-American rock band from Glendale, California, formed in 1994. System of a Down consists of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards and occasionally rhythm guitar), Daron Malakian (vocals and lead guitar), Shavo Odadjian (bass) and John Dolmayan (drums).
The band has released five studio albums and have sold over 20 million records worldwide.They have been nominated for four Grammy Awards, of which they have won one in 2006 for Best Hard Rock Performance. The group went on indefinite hiatus August 13, 2006.
In the beginning (1994–1997)
System of a Down quickly made what is known as their early Untitled 1995 Demo Tape, which had very early recordings of "Mr. Jack" (called "PIG"), along with a song called "Flake," and an early recording of "The Metro," a cover of the Berlin song of the same name. It is rumored that there are other tapes made, which contain early recordings of "Friik," "36" (called ".36"), and "Roulette." After this, the band recorded three public demos, which have been numbered as Demo Tape 1 to 3, as the early 1995 demo was not discovered until much later. Many of the songs featured on the demos would eventually make their way onto the band's debut album. In mid 1997, Khachaturian left the band due to a hand injury (he subsequently co-founded The Apex Theory, which included former Soil bassist Dave Hakopyan). Soon after playing at the Whisky-A-Go-Go and Viper Room with new drummer John Dolmayan, the band caught the attention of producer Rick Rubin, who asked them to keep in touch with him. Showing great interest, they recorded yet another demo near the end of that year. This demo, however, was made only to be sent to record companies. The tape was not released to the public until years later when it was leaked onto the Internet. After Rick helped them get signed onto American/Columbia Records, System of a Down began to record in his studio. In 1997, the group won the Best Signed Band award from the Rock City Awards.
Debut album (1998–2000)
In the summer of 1998 (June 1998), System of a Down released their debut album, System of a Down. They enjoyed moderate success with their first single "Sugar"(video analysis in blog) becoming a radio favorite, followed by the single "Spiders." After the release of the album, the band toured extensively, opening for Slayer and Metallica before making their way to the second stage of Ozzfest. Following Ozzfest, they toured with Fear Factory and Incubus before headlining the Sno-Core Tour with Puya, Mr. Bungle, The Cat and Incubus providing support. In 2000, the band contributed their cover of the Black Sabbath song "Snowblind" to the Black Sabbath tribute album Nativity in Black 2.
Toxicity (2001)
On September 4, 2001, the band rose to fame by releasing their most successful album, Toxicity. Toxicity received mass critical acclaim, making many end-of-year "best of" lists (such as being named SPIN Magazine's #1 record of the year), and earning a Grammy nomination for lead single "Chop Suey!". It is the only System of a Down album not to feature the Parental Advisory label, with only minor profanities. However, a limited edition of the album containing a bonus CD with behind the scenes footage of the making of the album does feature the Parental Advisory label, while a different limited edition containing a DVD with the "Toxicity" music video and live footage also does not feature the label.
Mezmerize and Hypnotize (2004–2006)
From 2004 to 2005, the group produced a double album, with the two parts released six months apart. The first album, Mezmerize, was released on May 17, 2005, to favorable reviews by critics. It debuted at #1 in the United States, Canada, Australia and all around the world, making it System of a Down's second #1 album. First week sales rocketed to over 800,000 copies worldwide. The Grammy Award-winning single "B.Y.O.B.," which questions the integrity of military recruiting in America, worked its way up the Billboard Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts. The next single, "Question!" was released with Shavo Odadjian co-directing the music video. Following the release of Mezmerize, the band toured extensively throughout the United States and Canada with The Mars Volta and Bad Acid Trip supporting.
The second part of the double album, Hypnotize, was released on November 22, 2005. Like Mezmerize, it debuted at #1 in the US, making System of a Down, along with The Beatles, Guns 'N Roses, and rappers 2Pac and DMX, the only artists to ever have two studio albums debut at #1 in the same year. In February 2006, System of a Down won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance for "B.Y.O.B," beating out other established artists such as Nine Inch Nails and Robert Plant. Their second single off the Hypnotize album, "Lonely Day" was released in March in the United States. System of a Down released "Kill Rock 'N Roll" and "Vicinity of Obscenity" as their next promo singles. The band headlined Ozzfest 2006 in cities where tour founder Ozzy Osbourne opted not to appear or wasn't playing on the main stage.
System of a Down's songs were used in the 2006 film Screamers, directed by Carla Garapedian. They appeared in the movie, in an interview talking about the importance of helping create awareness and recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Screamers debuted in theaters in large city markets such as New York City, Detroit, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Fresno, Providence, and Boston. An earlier engagement started exclusively in Los Angeles on December 8, 2006. Also, "Lonely Day" appeared on the soundtrack for the 2006 movie Disturbia.
System of a Down was honored at the USC v. Cal game at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, California in 2006. The Trojan Marching Band, along with Dolmayan and Odadjian, performed three System of a Down songs: "Toxicity", "Sugar", and "Hypnotize". System of a Down's song "Lonely Day" was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance in the 49th Grammy Awards in 2007, but lost to "Woman" by Wolfmother.
The band has released five studio albums and have sold over 20 million records worldwide.They have been nominated for four Grammy Awards, of which they have won one in 2006 for Best Hard Rock Performance. The group went on indefinite hiatus August 13, 2006.
In the beginning (1994–1997)
System of a Down quickly made what is known as their early Untitled 1995 Demo Tape, which had very early recordings of "Mr. Jack" (called "PIG"), along with a song called "Flake," and an early recording of "The Metro," a cover of the Berlin song of the same name. It is rumored that there are other tapes made, which contain early recordings of "Friik," "36" (called ".36"), and "Roulette." After this, the band recorded three public demos, which have been numbered as Demo Tape 1 to 3, as the early 1995 demo was not discovered until much later. Many of the songs featured on the demos would eventually make their way onto the band's debut album. In mid 1997, Khachaturian left the band due to a hand injury (he subsequently co-founded The Apex Theory, which included former Soil bassist Dave Hakopyan). Soon after playing at the Whisky-A-Go-Go and Viper Room with new drummer John Dolmayan, the band caught the attention of producer Rick Rubin, who asked them to keep in touch with him. Showing great interest, they recorded yet another demo near the end of that year. This demo, however, was made only to be sent to record companies. The tape was not released to the public until years later when it was leaked onto the Internet. After Rick helped them get signed onto American/Columbia Records, System of a Down began to record in his studio. In 1997, the group won the Best Signed Band award from the Rock City Awards.
Debut album (1998–2000)
In the summer of 1998 (June 1998), System of a Down released their debut album, System of a Down. They enjoyed moderate success with their first single "Sugar"(video analysis in blog) becoming a radio favorite, followed by the single "Spiders." After the release of the album, the band toured extensively, opening for Slayer and Metallica before making their way to the second stage of Ozzfest. Following Ozzfest, they toured with Fear Factory and Incubus before headlining the Sno-Core Tour with Puya, Mr. Bungle, The Cat and Incubus providing support. In 2000, the band contributed their cover of the Black Sabbath song "Snowblind" to the Black Sabbath tribute album Nativity in Black 2.
Toxicity (2001)
On September 4, 2001, the band rose to fame by releasing their most successful album, Toxicity. Toxicity received mass critical acclaim, making many end-of-year "best of" lists (such as being named SPIN Magazine's #1 record of the year), and earning a Grammy nomination for lead single "Chop Suey!". It is the only System of a Down album not to feature the Parental Advisory label, with only minor profanities. However, a limited edition of the album containing a bonus CD with behind the scenes footage of the making of the album does feature the Parental Advisory label, while a different limited edition containing a DVD with the "Toxicity" music video and live footage also does not feature the label.
Mezmerize and Hypnotize (2004–2006)
From 2004 to 2005, the group produced a double album, with the two parts released six months apart. The first album, Mezmerize, was released on May 17, 2005, to favorable reviews by critics. It debuted at #1 in the United States, Canada, Australia and all around the world, making it System of a Down's second #1 album. First week sales rocketed to over 800,000 copies worldwide. The Grammy Award-winning single "B.Y.O.B.," which questions the integrity of military recruiting in America, worked its way up the Billboard Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts. The next single, "Question!" was released with Shavo Odadjian co-directing the music video. Following the release of Mezmerize, the band toured extensively throughout the United States and Canada with The Mars Volta and Bad Acid Trip supporting.
The second part of the double album, Hypnotize, was released on November 22, 2005. Like Mezmerize, it debuted at #1 in the US, making System of a Down, along with The Beatles, Guns 'N Roses, and rappers 2Pac and DMX, the only artists to ever have two studio albums debut at #1 in the same year. In February 2006, System of a Down won the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance for "B.Y.O.B," beating out other established artists such as Nine Inch Nails and Robert Plant. Their second single off the Hypnotize album, "Lonely Day" was released in March in the United States. System of a Down released "Kill Rock 'N Roll" and "Vicinity of Obscenity" as their next promo singles. The band headlined Ozzfest 2006 in cities where tour founder Ozzy Osbourne opted not to appear or wasn't playing on the main stage.
System of a Down's songs were used in the 2006 film Screamers, directed by Carla Garapedian. They appeared in the movie, in an interview talking about the importance of helping create awareness and recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Screamers debuted in theaters in large city markets such as New York City, Detroit, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Fresno, Providence, and Boston. An earlier engagement started exclusively in Los Angeles on December 8, 2006. Also, "Lonely Day" appeared on the soundtrack for the 2006 movie Disturbia.
System of a Down was honored at the USC v. Cal game at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, California in 2006. The Trojan Marching Band, along with Dolmayan and Odadjian, performed three System of a Down songs: "Toxicity", "Sugar", and "Hypnotize". System of a Down's song "Lonely Day" was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance in the 49th Grammy Awards in 2007, but lost to "Woman" by Wolfmother.
System of a Down Album Covers
As we had to create an album cover for one of our ancillary tasks, it was important to look closely at the band's album covers that we were making a song for. System of a Down released 5 albums between 1998 & 2005, below i have made a small picture to show the album covers of System of a Down:
As you can see, System began with simpler album covers before moving onto more creative ones such as Mezmerize & Hypnotize. This was becuase the band evolved over time becomming a 'softer' band than they used to be, still heavy but not as heavy as the days of 1998.
System of a Down (self titled):The cover artwork is from a poster designed by the artist John Heartfield for Communist Party of Germany during the Third Reich. The text in the original poster is: "5 fingers has a hand! With these 5 grab the enemy!" This slogan inspired part of the text contained in the back of the System of a Down album: "The hand has five fingers, capable and powerful, with the ability to destroy as well as create". Later, it is written in bold letters: "Open your eyes, open your mouths, close your hands and make a fist".
Toxicity: It is the only System of a Down album not to feature the Parental Advisory label, with only minor profanities. However, a limited edition of the album containing a bonus CD with behind the scenes footage of the making of the album does feature the Parental Advisory label, while a different limited edition containing a DVD with the "Toxicity" music video and live footage also does not feature the label.
Steal This Album:The album title is a reference to Abbie Hoffman's book Steal This Book, which is regarded as a classic example of counterculture literature.The packaging for this album is quite unusual. The album comes in a normal CD jewel case without a booklet, only the CD. On the CD and the back of the case, it looks like it has been written on with a black permanent marker pen, in faux-bootleg style to make it look like it has been pirated.
Mezmerize:The album debuted at number one in at least twelve countries, including the US Billboard 200, and has since been certified Platinum by the RIAA. It was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005. The album has sold over 6 million copies worldwide since its release. The hit single B.Y.O.B. won a Grammy Award in 2006 for Best Hard Rock Performance.
Hypnotize:The album opened at #1 on the Billboard 200 with 320,000 copies on November 22, 2005. The album was certified gold and platinum by the RIAA on December 13, 2005. Both this album and Mezmerize were painted by guitarist Daron Malikan's father Vartan.
Why YouTube?
As my production is a music video, it is my aim to present it in the most visually appealing way possible to help the distribution of the product to increase sales of the bands produce. This is the case with all real music videos; the band wants them to look good as to push them into the public eye and visual information is the easiest to consume in this modern age, with the introduction of music channels and internet streaming. As a species that thrives on visual stimulation, we are attracted to songs that have videos that appeal to us and conform to the conventions of the genre we are interested in.
Professionally created music videos for huge artists such as Linkin Park, Rhianna and Lady Gaga are usually introduced straight onto the music channels as to reach a hugely expansive wide audience. However in todays fast food culture, the internet is becoming the main way of artists releasing their media to be consumed by their target audience. The new way to capture the audience is through the phenomenal revolution that is YouTube. Music videos began on this webpage by underground artists who had created their own videos to create visually appealing art to accompany their latest track, and in this technique; many artists became famous and example of this being Lily Allen. In affect this paved the way for bigger and bigger artists throwing their videos onto YouTube. It takes about an hour to upload a video and about another hour to have thousands of guaranteed album sales.
The target audiences will obviously be affected on what genre the music is, but in this day and age with the way we consume media, the lines between these are becoming thinner. A music video released on a specified genre channel such as ‘Scuzz’ or ‘Magic’ will now have a much more narrowed audience as they are only appealing to their target audience. Although this in itself will get you hundreds of thousands of sales in that genre, YouTube allows your video to progress to new heights of distribution. Every type of music lover can see your video and maybe warm to a track, increasing sales more rapidly in cross genre consuming. You only have to look at hits on music videos and their comments on YouTube , to see how much potential sales can be made. One example being Linkin Park’s song ‘New Divide’ which has had over 30,000,000 hits since June this year, the song ended up as number one in the US.
So why YouTube? The facts are all too obvious. The better your options of distribution and the more audience you can reach equals better sales. YouTube has over 100,000,000 hits a day with more than 25% of the world logging on, the possibilities of a music video being viewed, and the possible sales to over the quarter of the population must be intriguing to all artists. This ties in closely with the 'Uses and Gratifications Theory'. This theory follows a basic model. It is an audience-centered approach to the media. When an audience actively seeks out media, they are basically searching for it in order to "gratify" a need. By seeking out the media, a person fulfills a need to be informed, the desire for infomation albeit text, pictures or video. YouTube satisfys peoples needs, visual infomation on demand.
Professionally created music videos for huge artists such as Linkin Park, Rhianna and Lady Gaga are usually introduced straight onto the music channels as to reach a hugely expansive wide audience. However in todays fast food culture, the internet is becoming the main way of artists releasing their media to be consumed by their target audience. The new way to capture the audience is through the phenomenal revolution that is YouTube. Music videos began on this webpage by underground artists who had created their own videos to create visually appealing art to accompany their latest track, and in this technique; many artists became famous and example of this being Lily Allen. In affect this paved the way for bigger and bigger artists throwing their videos onto YouTube. It takes about an hour to upload a video and about another hour to have thousands of guaranteed album sales.
The target audiences will obviously be affected on what genre the music is, but in this day and age with the way we consume media, the lines between these are becoming thinner. A music video released on a specified genre channel such as ‘Scuzz’ or ‘Magic’ will now have a much more narrowed audience as they are only appealing to their target audience. Although this in itself will get you hundreds of thousands of sales in that genre, YouTube allows your video to progress to new heights of distribution. Every type of music lover can see your video and maybe warm to a track, increasing sales more rapidly in cross genre consuming. You only have to look at hits on music videos and their comments on YouTube , to see how much potential sales can be made. One example being Linkin Park’s song ‘New Divide’ which has had over 30,000,000 hits since June this year, the song ended up as number one in the US.
So why YouTube? The facts are all too obvious. The better your options of distribution and the more audience you can reach equals better sales. YouTube has over 100,000,000 hits a day with more than 25% of the world logging on, the possibilities of a music video being viewed, and the possible sales to over the quarter of the population must be intriguing to all artists. This ties in closely with the 'Uses and Gratifications Theory'. This theory follows a basic model. It is an audience-centered approach to the media. When an audience actively seeks out media, they are basically searching for it in order to "gratify" a need. By seeking out the media, a person fulfills a need to be informed, the desire for infomation albeit text, pictures or video. YouTube satisfys peoples needs, visual infomation on demand.
Conventions of a Rock Video
To match with my final video i decided to look and discover more about the codes and conventions of the music video, and how our video either breaks these rules or stays within the boundaries. Below are a list of conventions and how i challenged or kept in with the conventions of a music video:
Main Points:
The lyrics are used to establish the mood of the piece, depending on the choice subject of the artist whether this be a dark or light, sad or happy video usually depends of lyrics.
Main Points:
The lyrics are used to establish the mood of the piece, depending on the choice subject of the artist whether this be a dark or light, sad or happy video usually depends of lyrics.
- I decided to stay on track with this convention and show the feelings of the original lyrics and what they seem to conjure up. Feeling of darkness, sorrow and death are frequent and therefore i wanted the video to tie in with this instead of breaking convention and it being a happy video as i felt this would ruin the atmosphere of the videos essence.
The musics genre along with the lyrics, change the type of video you create. This will be shown in mise-en-scene, lighting, performance, and setting. If the song is heavy, a darker video will be expected.
- I decided that i would keep in form with the conventions again on the subject of genre. I believe that genre is the most important thing to get right when creating a video, so i did not want to stray from the soul of the song, which is heavy and therefore staying close within the conventions, should be represented as dark and freaky. For this i used a good choice of settings, that of an old house and a wooded area, both popular in rock videos. For mise-en-scene i used dark clothing throughout with black make up around the eyes and also strange objects such as clowns and rocking horses to 'freak out' the audience.
The music itself. This convention means that the pace of the song usually drives the editing style of the video. If the tempo is fast then the editing usually matches this.
- I felt that i wanted to give my piece a little more depth than the usual rock video. for this i half challenged the conventions by moving away from consistent fast editing by adding some sustained shots and sequences into the video. This will i believe help the effectiveness of the video when it does speed up later in the song as it is sort of a journey for the audience. The quicker paced editng that i have used in the latter part of the production is effective in representing the excitment of the video.
Camera work should have an impact on the feelings you are trying to portray. Close ups should be frequent as to let the audience connect with the band. Use a variety of different angles to represent the band in a certain way (e.g low angle shot shows the band as powerful)
- I wanted to use the camera angles to show the feelings of strain and insecurity from the POV of the protagonist/vocalist. I did this by complying with the conventions and using many close ups to show reactions and to connect. I again tied in with the conventions closely when creating the performance part of the video, as i used various low angled and close up shots of the band to make them look powerful. However i did move away from the conventions sometimes by having a varied length of shot in the introduction, as i used long shots to establish moments of terror within the protagonist/vocalist.
A strong relationship between narrative and performance. Many bands within music videos use the duality of both these so that the video is interesting to watch and engaging for the audience. This should be cut between narrative and performance as the video progresses.
- I decided from the beginning that i wanted to include both a narrative and a performance in my production. However i challenged the conventions by not mixing them up as the video progressed, but by having a narrative story with the ending being a performance. I felt this would be a good idea as i wanted the video to feel like a journey for the audience. This is key as it brings a new element of vusual excitement.
- I did this by using a transition between the narrative and the performance. The narrative part ended by the protagonist/vocalist finding a door in bushes/trees and walking into and old house where he joined his band to play the remaining part of the song.
Evaluation Questions
The task was to produce a music video along with extra ancillary tasks for a particular band. As a class we divided into groups and listened to various bands and songs on which we could base a music video around. After short listing various bands and possible songs to use, I decided to create a video for System of a Down’s ‘Question!’ I felt that by doing this song, I could reach my maximum potential as it is one of my favourite songs and therefore I would find working on this particular song the most pleasing. At the beginning of Year 12 we learnt how to use various media technologies to create both a preliminary task before then progressed onto producing an opening sequence for a film in the thriller genre. This year we will be using more sophisticated camera work, Photoshop for our CD covers and much more precise editing to that lip syncing is up to professional standards.
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
I believe that the combination of both main products and ancillary products has been effective. I believe this because I used direct references from the production of the music video to integrate into both the album cover and the Kerrang! article respectively. Personally I trust that the article text that I formed is very successful at tying in closely with the music video, as I state throughout the article the journalistic view of the video in production, as a voyeur. This way I could show to the audience how the video was created by the ‘band’ and suggest how the audience may feel about the new video. The article was really interesting to produce as I had to take an objective view of how I produced the video myself, meaning that I had to be somewhat critical of how I went about producing and starring in the video when writing journalistically. In all ancillary pieces I wanted to combine the mise-en-scene that I used in the music video (dark clothes, dark makeup, forest setting, guitar and microphone props etc.) and place them in the ancillary texts. For example in the article I use black and white frequently within the colour scheme, keeping with the dark atmosphere of the music video itself. I also took a picture of myself as my ‘alter ego’ Serj Tankian with a finger to my lips for the main article, and to tie in with the video itself I wore the same black shirt and used the same style of black make up that was seen in the music production. This was really important to me as I wanted to keep the realism intact between the professional music video I created and the article I had produced to accompany it; making both combine to appear as one project. For the album cover I used much the same technique of combination. I did this by again wearing the same make up and by using the same mis-en-scene that was used in the video; the clothes, setting and props. I then used Photoshop to merge these images and feelings they represented to create the album cover for the song that I was using.
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Within the various stages of production I had to use a variety of media technologies to complete goals successfully. As is the beginning of a media project, valuable research must be done to ensure that your production is on the right track, and will satisfy the target audience. I used the vas information highway of the internet extensively to discover more about the band I was going to be producing the music video for, their past and how their music has changed, up to their album covers and styles of video. Through this extensive research I found of that System of a Down used many conventions that I would have to emulate in order to make the final production and ancillary tasks seem realistic within the genre I would be imitating; these conventions including the simplicity of album covers and the shots they use in videos to make them effective. I also used the internet to discover more about music videos as a whole, looking at directors such as Mark Romanek and his broad spectrum of videos representing artists from pop legend Madonna to rock gods Audioslave. I examined these videos on YouTube and took note of how he used a variety of interesting shots and mise-en-scene to create his famous videos, and how these would affect the target audience. As well as the internet I used many other media related programmes to create my various ancillary projects. I used Photoshop in order to produce my album cover and back. For this I took a large amount of pictures and chose the best two for the sections I needed. I then overlapped System’s font (downloaded off Dafont.com) for the title of the single and the band name, as well as the track listing on this back. I only had to edit the pictures slightly as the noose that we used for the back cover did not show up; therefore I used a paint brush tool on Photoshop to create the hanging noose. To create the article I used Microsoft Word home vista version as it had all the tools of publishing software and a word processor that I needed to emulate the style of Kerrang magazine. We used Sony Vegas Pro to edit the video as it has a huge amount of effects and tools that you can use to mould the video clips to gain the shots you desire. This was a huge help as it meant we could manipulate shots to look more effective and professional so that the shots appealed to the target audience, an example of this was the edge blur effects that we used to make the forest shots look as if they were in a dream state. I believe that in using these professional programmes our work has really excelled as we had the best tools at our disposal and managed to create a great array of constructed work for our media project.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My media both challenged and develops upon conventions of music videos. I decided that I wanted to create a video that kept within the successful regions of the conventions that make a good rock video so that my production, System of a Down’s ‘Question!’, could look as realistic and as impressive as possible. The lyrics in a music video are used to establish the mood of the piece, depending on the choice subject of the artist, the mood usually depends of lyrics; and I wanted to continue this tradition in my video. I wanted to express the emotions of the lyrics through the video I created, conveying the dark horrors within the words of the song through the mise-en-scene, lighting and setting. I felt that this as especially important in keeping with the music videos for rock genre, as it is the most expressive genre of music. Another convention that i wanted to develop on was the music’s genre as they change the type of video you create. This will be shown similar to lyrics, through the mise-en-scene, lighting, performance, and setting. If the song is heavy, a darker video will be expected and I wanted to work within that realm. I wanted to express the feelings of the song and convey the darkness of it. For this i used a good choice of settings, that of an old house and a wooded area, both settings that are popular in rock videos. For mise-en-scene i used dark clothing throughout with black make up around the eyes another common theme within the darker area of rock videos. One convention that i wanted to challenge was the music itself. This convention means that the pace of the song usually drives the editing style of the video. If the tempo is fast then the editing usually matches this, however I wanted to add more depth than just a quick blast of imagery; I wanted to add uncertainty. To do this, I moved away from consistent fast editing by adding some sustained shots and sequences into the video of the character in enthralling situations. I believe help the effectiveness of the video when it does speed up later in the song as it is sort of a journey for the audience. I also developed upon the narrative convention of modern videos. For this, instead of firing off randomly from performance to narrative, I decided to make my video into a journey; from narrative to performance. This way i could tell a tale of the characters journey through the video, from the forest and his fear; to his comfortable environment when surrounded by music.
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
From receiving audience feedback more orally and from YouTube I have learnt a great deal about how the audience see our videos and how to improve it; to provide the audience with something they take pleasure in. I have learnt techniques and skills that will help me improve my future videos by looking closely at the audience feedback and discovering that I need to improve on some things. Firstly I have learnt that I need to increase the difference in effects so that the dreamlike state of the first sequence is more comparable to the live performance. This would be achieved by changing the lighting and adding some motion blur to some sections and maybe changing the speed of the playback. I also learned that the audience wanted to see a variety of shot speeds which I felt I did well; however some people thought that some of the shots were held on for to long and needed to be sped up with more exciting cuts; to keep inline with the high tempo beat.
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
I believe that the combination of both main products and ancillary products has been effective. I believe this because I used direct references from the production of the music video to integrate into both the album cover and the Kerrang! article respectively. Personally I trust that the article text that I formed is very successful at tying in closely with the music video, as I state throughout the article the journalistic view of the video in production, as a voyeur. This way I could show to the audience how the video was created by the ‘band’ and suggest how the audience may feel about the new video. The article was really interesting to produce as I had to take an objective view of how I produced the video myself, meaning that I had to be somewhat critical of how I went about producing and starring in the video when writing journalistically. In all ancillary pieces I wanted to combine the mise-en-scene that I used in the music video (dark clothes, dark makeup, forest setting, guitar and microphone props etc.) and place them in the ancillary texts. For example in the article I use black and white frequently within the colour scheme, keeping with the dark atmosphere of the music video itself. I also took a picture of myself as my ‘alter ego’ Serj Tankian with a finger to my lips for the main article, and to tie in with the video itself I wore the same black shirt and used the same style of black make up that was seen in the music production. This was really important to me as I wanted to keep the realism intact between the professional music video I created and the article I had produced to accompany it; making both combine to appear as one project. For the album cover I used much the same technique of combination. I did this by again wearing the same make up and by using the same mis-en-scene that was used in the video; the clothes, setting and props. I then used Photoshop to merge these images and feelings they represented to create the album cover for the song that I was using.
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Within the various stages of production I had to use a variety of media technologies to complete goals successfully. As is the beginning of a media project, valuable research must be done to ensure that your production is on the right track, and will satisfy the target audience. I used the vas information highway of the internet extensively to discover more about the band I was going to be producing the music video for, their past and how their music has changed, up to their album covers and styles of video. Through this extensive research I found of that System of a Down used many conventions that I would have to emulate in order to make the final production and ancillary tasks seem realistic within the genre I would be imitating; these conventions including the simplicity of album covers and the shots they use in videos to make them effective. I also used the internet to discover more about music videos as a whole, looking at directors such as Mark Romanek and his broad spectrum of videos representing artists from pop legend Madonna to rock gods Audioslave. I examined these videos on YouTube and took note of how he used a variety of interesting shots and mise-en-scene to create his famous videos, and how these would affect the target audience. As well as the internet I used many other media related programmes to create my various ancillary projects. I used Photoshop in order to produce my album cover and back. For this I took a large amount of pictures and chose the best two for the sections I needed. I then overlapped System’s font (downloaded off Dafont.com) for the title of the single and the band name, as well as the track listing on this back. I only had to edit the pictures slightly as the noose that we used for the back cover did not show up; therefore I used a paint brush tool on Photoshop to create the hanging noose. To create the article I used Microsoft Word home vista version as it had all the tools of publishing software and a word processor that I needed to emulate the style of Kerrang magazine. We used Sony Vegas Pro to edit the video as it has a huge amount of effects and tools that you can use to mould the video clips to gain the shots you desire. This was a huge help as it meant we could manipulate shots to look more effective and professional so that the shots appealed to the target audience, an example of this was the edge blur effects that we used to make the forest shots look as if they were in a dream state. I believe that in using these professional programmes our work has really excelled as we had the best tools at our disposal and managed to create a great array of constructed work for our media project.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My media both challenged and develops upon conventions of music videos. I decided that I wanted to create a video that kept within the successful regions of the conventions that make a good rock video so that my production, System of a Down’s ‘Question!’, could look as realistic and as impressive as possible. The lyrics in a music video are used to establish the mood of the piece, depending on the choice subject of the artist, the mood usually depends of lyrics; and I wanted to continue this tradition in my video. I wanted to express the emotions of the lyrics through the video I created, conveying the dark horrors within the words of the song through the mise-en-scene, lighting and setting. I felt that this as especially important in keeping with the music videos for rock genre, as it is the most expressive genre of music. Another convention that i wanted to develop on was the music’s genre as they change the type of video you create. This will be shown similar to lyrics, through the mise-en-scene, lighting, performance, and setting. If the song is heavy, a darker video will be expected and I wanted to work within that realm. I wanted to express the feelings of the song and convey the darkness of it. For this i used a good choice of settings, that of an old house and a wooded area, both settings that are popular in rock videos. For mise-en-scene i used dark clothing throughout with black make up around the eyes another common theme within the darker area of rock videos. One convention that i wanted to challenge was the music itself. This convention means that the pace of the song usually drives the editing style of the video. If the tempo is fast then the editing usually matches this, however I wanted to add more depth than just a quick blast of imagery; I wanted to add uncertainty. To do this, I moved away from consistent fast editing by adding some sustained shots and sequences into the video of the character in enthralling situations. I believe help the effectiveness of the video when it does speed up later in the song as it is sort of a journey for the audience. I also developed upon the narrative convention of modern videos. For this, instead of firing off randomly from performance to narrative, I decided to make my video into a journey; from narrative to performance. This way i could tell a tale of the characters journey through the video, from the forest and his fear; to his comfortable environment when surrounded by music.
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
From receiving audience feedback more orally and from YouTube I have learnt a great deal about how the audience see our videos and how to improve it; to provide the audience with something they take pleasure in. I have learnt techniques and skills that will help me improve my future videos by looking closely at the audience feedback and discovering that I need to improve on some things. Firstly I have learnt that I need to increase the difference in effects so that the dreamlike state of the first sequence is more comparable to the live performance. This would be achieved by changing the lighting and adding some motion blur to some sections and maybe changing the speed of the playback. I also learned that the audience wanted to see a variety of shot speeds which I felt I did well; however some people thought that some of the shots were held on for to long and needed to be sped up with more exciting cuts; to keep inline with the high tempo beat.
Saturday 5 December 2009
Analysing a Current Video
As i was to be creating a video for the band System of a Down i wanted to encapsulate the sort of feelings that System of a Down create within the audience to their own videos within my own production. This would also help me to pick up up tips on what sort of shots to use to make this seem as authentic and professional as possible.
The video starts off instantaneously with a giant American flag being shown in varying degrees of light, the sequence continues along with the drum beat in short close up shots to show all members of the band including the gas masked drummer. This introduction is key to the piece as it sets what the content is straight away, the American flag and the gas masked drummer suggesting the the video could be attempting to express the atrocities of unjust war involving American Government; something that System of a Down feel strongly about which they show through their damning lyrics about American politics
After the initial sequence there is a long shot (could be interpreted as an establishing shot) of the whole band playing their various instruments and singing; bouncing up and down to the beat in a live performance style. Then the camera is used to show chiaroscuro shots the lead singer Serj Tankian in various visuals, including low angle and close up shots that allow the audience to connect with him. The shots are broken up with flashes of blinding white light, causing the audience to feel somewhat disoriented with what could be happening, this disorientation is further qualified by the randomness of camera angles; which do not necessarily fit the traditional conventions. Following the establishment of the vocalist in the video, a long diagonal angled shot appears of lines of men marching through a subway station in a militaristic fashion conveying further references to warfare, this shot is used twice in the same sequence however the second shot is flipped horizontally perhaps to express the two sides of war; glory and loss.
Close up shots of instruments are used frequently throughout the next few sequences along with the band dancing around the stage in a strange manner, this style is used many times throughout the bands videos as to make a cross reference to their almost insane music and weird sense of humor. Subsequently there is then a extreme close up of front man Tankian looking thoughtfully around the stage before a man appears in full army uniform miming the words to the song. This short shot is then followed with various different camera angles of Tankian singing/dancing about on stage before switching back to a video of a marching army and the Army General in ripped uniform surrounded by fire; again portraying the two sides to war through an objective figure.
The video then takes a turn from criticising the aspect of warfare and its atrocities the the general factors of obscenity and indecency in modern culture.Various shots are used of strippers and three men who are portrayed as tyrannical businessmen; suited and carrying briefcases. These shots are again split by the blinding flashes into various sequences that include the band in them playing the song. The seeming indecencies of the stripper and the businessmen are once again miming the track and similar to the Army General, are returned to only to be seen on fire in ripped clothing. This again allows us as an audience to see that the band are attempting to express the atrocities of daily life in this modern world. Following this is a large sequence of the band playing the chorus of the song. The same sort of angles are used throughout this section as were seen on the first, showing that although the video is set to a hyper strange style; the camera angles are organised very much the same thoughout. This could also refer to the ongoing theme of there being two sides to modern culture.
Other strange sequences throughout the video show a revolving pie with the text "Aspartame Kills"overlapping. Aspartame is the scientific name for E-Numbers. The text here is very important in deciphering the subliminal message that System of a Down were attempting to convey, that the disorder such as pornography(stripper) and money(businessmen) are sweet, yet can have huge negative effects on our society as a whole. This is once again backed up when a shot of an old women reveals a gun from her handbag, showing that the Innocent are the ones who are affected by the atrocious negligence of society and warfare in general.
The ending of the video is itself a summery of my suspicions about what System of a Down are trying to show. A close up of Tankian praying followed by a series of disturbing images including hangings, public violence, fire and men dying in battle; all of which are shown in fast cutting with flashes and shots of the band playing the song over the top of the destruction. These shots are ended suddenly along with the song as the penultimate shot portrays an atomic bomb exploding. This in essence combines all the themes that the band show throughout the video, and that the injustice that they portray will in the end destroy the world.It is an opinionated video from the bands view. It is their gripe at the world and what they feel will be the end of us and this video is the perfect way to express their views to a wide audience.
The video starts off instantaneously with a giant American flag being shown in varying degrees of light, the sequence continues along with the drum beat in short close up shots to show all members of the band including the gas masked drummer. This introduction is key to the piece as it sets what the content is straight away, the American flag and the gas masked drummer suggesting the the video could be attempting to express the atrocities of unjust war involving American Government; something that System of a Down feel strongly about which they show through their damning lyrics about American politics
After the initial sequence there is a long shot (could be interpreted as an establishing shot) of the whole band playing their various instruments and singing; bouncing up and down to the beat in a live performance style. Then the camera is used to show chiaroscuro shots the lead singer Serj Tankian in various visuals, including low angle and close up shots that allow the audience to connect with him. The shots are broken up with flashes of blinding white light, causing the audience to feel somewhat disoriented with what could be happening, this disorientation is further qualified by the randomness of camera angles; which do not necessarily fit the traditional conventions. Following the establishment of the vocalist in the video, a long diagonal angled shot appears of lines of men marching through a subway station in a militaristic fashion conveying further references to warfare, this shot is used twice in the same sequence however the second shot is flipped horizontally perhaps to express the two sides of war; glory and loss.
Close up shots of instruments are used frequently throughout the next few sequences along with the band dancing around the stage in a strange manner, this style is used many times throughout the bands videos as to make a cross reference to their almost insane music and weird sense of humor. Subsequently there is then a extreme close up of front man Tankian looking thoughtfully around the stage before a man appears in full army uniform miming the words to the song. This short shot is then followed with various different camera angles of Tankian singing/dancing about on stage before switching back to a video of a marching army and the Army General in ripped uniform surrounded by fire; again portraying the two sides to war through an objective figure.
The video then takes a turn from criticising the aspect of warfare and its atrocities the the general factors of obscenity and indecency in modern culture.Various shots are used of strippers and three men who are portrayed as tyrannical businessmen; suited and carrying briefcases. These shots are again split by the blinding flashes into various sequences that include the band in them playing the song. The seeming indecencies of the stripper and the businessmen are once again miming the track and similar to the Army General, are returned to only to be seen on fire in ripped clothing. This again allows us as an audience to see that the band are attempting to express the atrocities of daily life in this modern world. Following this is a large sequence of the band playing the chorus of the song. The same sort of angles are used throughout this section as were seen on the first, showing that although the video is set to a hyper strange style; the camera angles are organised very much the same thoughout. This could also refer to the ongoing theme of there being two sides to modern culture.
Other strange sequences throughout the video show a revolving pie with the text "Aspartame Kills"overlapping. Aspartame is the scientific name for E-Numbers. The text here is very important in deciphering the subliminal message that System of a Down were attempting to convey, that the disorder such as pornography(stripper) and money(businessmen) are sweet, yet can have huge negative effects on our society as a whole. This is once again backed up when a shot of an old women reveals a gun from her handbag, showing that the Innocent are the ones who are affected by the atrocious negligence of society and warfare in general.
The ending of the video is itself a summery of my suspicions about what System of a Down are trying to show. A close up of Tankian praying followed by a series of disturbing images including hangings, public violence, fire and men dying in battle; all of which are shown in fast cutting with flashes and shots of the band playing the song over the top of the destruction. These shots are ended suddenly along with the song as the penultimate shot portrays an atomic bomb exploding. This in essence combines all the themes that the band show throughout the video, and that the injustice that they portray will in the end destroy the world.It is an opinionated video from the bands view. It is their gripe at the world and what they feel will be the end of us and this video is the perfect way to express their views to a wide audience.
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