Music Video - Costumes

 

 The clothing worn by James' character represents the "alternative mainstream" fashion that fits the genre of music played by A Joker's Rage. Because this style of dress is so common amongst fans of rock music, it will easily attract fans as they will be able to relate themselves to the character. It also continues the simple yet effective theme that influences the genre of Garage Rock.

Choosing the clothing that was worn by Sorrel was much more difficult as there were several different options available that would still connote the same characteristics of "alternative mainstream" as the clothing worn by James. The final decision was made for her to wear something that would be fitting in the gig scene, that is no effort is wasted on flamboyance but the style of clothing is still relatively represented.

Musical Profile - Festivals

A key indicator of the style of music a band plays, and the type of fanbase they will attract is the variety of music festivals they play. For example, Sonisphere, a metal festival that has previously been headlined by bands that include the Big Four, is a popular location for metalheads and rockers. In contrast, very few Sonisphere attendees will also be present at Latitude, a more family-oriented festival with folk being as prominent in Southwold as metal is at Knebworth.

Given their origins in Glasgow, A Joker's Rage would be unlikely to pass up an opportunity to play at Scotland's biggest festival, T in the Park. The style of music played at the festivals is varied, although A Joker's Rage would have no problem fitting in. The T in the Park website takes a very simple approach in its design, with very little clutter on the main page. The colour scheme of the main page is natural, by making it predominantly blue, representing the sky, with the festivals traditional attractions on a green field at the bottom.

Music Video Analysis - "Wake Up" by Story of the Year

Story Of The Year - Wake Up by epitaphrecords

This essay is an analysis of the video for "Wake Up" by Story of the Year, a post-hardcore song that was released in 2008. It contains several generic characteristics shared by post-hardcore music videos, including the band performing in a warehouse, and a loose narrative, cutting from one to the other throughout the video. It was directed by Ryan Smith. It targets an age group of 16-25yr olds as its primary age group, who like to avoid sharing the tastes of mainstream/popular culture. In April 2010, I attended a gig headlined by this band and the audience consisted of predominantly this age group, while the gender balance of the crowd was probably slightly in favour of males. The post-hardcore genre of the band and song is an offshoot relatively modern offshoot of hardcore punk music, itself an evolution of the original punk movement in the 1970s. While it began to appear during the 1980s, it experienced a growth in prevalence during the mid-00s. The genre differeentiates itself from the earlier punk rock and hardcore punk movements due to the presence of more complex guitar riffs, a wider range of vocals and varying levels of heavyness within the songs sound.

Even though there is no obvious link between the lyrics and the visuals, there is a link between the concept of the video and the lyrics. Both the lyrics and the narrative come across as derogatory of contemporary society and aim to highlight the negatives of modern life. This aspect is most obvious in the chorus, "Wake up, to the sound of this time bomb, wake up, to it's deafening song." These lyrics imply that it is so glaringly obvious something is wrong and that, if we don't do something about it soon, it will be too late. Visuals that illustrate the lyrics includes, towards the end of the video, where Marsala repeats the chorus several times, the camera becomes shaky and smoke fills the screen, referencing the “time bomb” and “deafening song” that the band believes is about to hit contemporary society.

The video frequently cuts in time with the beat of the song, and even changes pace to keep up with the music. An example of this is the opening of the video.  It begins with images of various places, such as a building, an airport and a highway, making use of shadows and low lighting to give it an air of dystopia,  before cutting to a warehouse where the band are playing. This cut is accompanied by a change in the tone and pace of music and features an increase in the speed of the camera's movement. There are also many close-ups of the lead singer, Dan Marsala, in the video. This is achieved through the use of the conventional camera being used to shoot the music video and a handheld camera, used by Marsala himself, which breaks the potential monotony of the regular camera.

Throughout the video, the logo associated with the album which features the song, The Black Swan, plays a fairly important role. It is used in the narrative in the form of a graffiti emblem sprayed onto plain t-shirts and already appearing on the clothing worn by members of the group within the narrative. It is also heavily featured at the end of the video in several different forms. This includes on buildings, billboards, a water tower, planes and road signs, heavily promoting the band and album. Instead of using sexuality to promotoe the band, Goodwin's notion of looking is referenced with Marsala's use of the handheld camera. By pointing the camera at himself, and with the TV behind him, the video image is looped several times due to what is being shown on the TV also being captured, in turn making it appear on the screen.

As previously stated, both the video and lyrics refer to the band's attitude towards contemporary society and the way in which this attitude is promoted. The notion the effectiveness of a cause you truly believe in is accomplished by highlighting that a small-scale operation is able to make themselves known on a much larger scale, by displaying an image in various places. This is a form of protest as well as a quasi-tribute to anonymous artist, Bansky.
The video contains elements of performance and narrative, cutting from one to the other throughout the course of the video. They are also linked together as they are taking place at the same location, but only existing together towards the end, when a smoke grenade is thrown into the warehouse, to cover the fact that the activists have been there, promptly explodes near a guitarist as he is playing.
The point of this video is to highlight the importance of standing up for the right cause and making sure changes are made before it is too late. There is also a secondary emphasis on the value of grass roots and small-scale organisations of activists that aim to promote their cause.

Similiar Artist Imagery Part 1 - Images

According to the band themselves, A Joker's Rage are significantly influenced by Jane's Addiction, an alternative metal band from Los Angeles, CA.

When considering bands that have a similar sound to the band that I am promoting, A Joker's Rage, one stood out much more than the others. This band was the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, a garage rock band from Los Angeles, CA. Their style was almost identical to A Joker's Rage, despite coming from very different backgrounds. Both bands are also able to create their own sound, despite the similarities in style of play.

 

Along with Jane's Addiction, A Joker's Rage quote American alternative metal band, Faith No More, as a key influence on their own bands sound.

What is UK Tribes?

What is Find Your Tribe/UK Tribes? How was information gathered, by whom, and for what purpose?
UK Tribes is a Channel 4 commissioned project designed to find out how to keep certain youth cultures interested in their TV productions. Find Your Tribe is an aspect of this project that looks to find quantitative data about this.

Qualitative research was also carried out through desk research, interviews, diaries and self-reports.

Description and facts about my target audiences' tribe

According to UK Tribes, my target audience of Metalheads have a very fluid membership, of mostly white working and middle class teenagers. Despite large numbers of Metalheads coming and going frequently, there are often small numbers of loyal fans that maintain their identity from their early teens through to their late twenties.

Most members are very likely to use the internet to explore their musical taste and talent, with key use of YouTube and MySpace. They are also likely to use file sharing software, like LimeWire, to pass on music they have discovered to others. There are also some attempts to discover “underground” music by attending gigs at local venues.

As a sub-group of the Alternative culture, my target audience are very passionate about music, something which can heavily influence whether they are interested in my choice of song, Elegant War by A Joker’s Rage. And although they like to make their own choices, they are slightly influenced by popular alternative music magazines, such as NME and Q.

Metalheads are also the most likely to attend music festivals, Download and Sonisphere being the favourites, while also being slightly interested in Bloodstock Open Air, Damnation, and Leeds. The TV channels most associated with Metal music are Kerrang and Scuzz, although Kerrang is sometimes frowned upon due to its tendency to also air music more in tune to the tastes of Emos and Scene Kids, two tribes that Metalheads supposedly frown upon due to their music tastes and fashion sense.

The idols of Metalheads are likely to be musicians who have sustained their career and lifestyle for many years. For example, Lemmy of the band Motorhead is seen by many UK Metalheads as the most popular icon for his ability maintain a rocking and partying career since the 1970s. Members of the popular US band, Metallica, is also considered icons within the sub-culture due to their constant presence at the top of the scene, as well as touring all over the world.

The sub-culture can be divided up even further based on the timeframe and sub-genres that members listen to. A prominent example of this the NWOBHM scene that has maintained a significant fan base despite its heyday being in the 1980s.

What might marketers find useful about this?
Marketers can use this research to pinpoint the best audiences for them to target with certain products. They can also find out how well different subcultures can be interested in similar things, by blending different ideas together.