Analysis of a Music Promotional Package - Mika: We Are Golden [The Boy Who Knew Too Much - 2009]

Poster Analysis:
I found the poster on the back of an A5-sized showbiz magazine from The Times newspaper (a weekend edition). It was promoting Mika’s new album ‘The Boy Who Knew Too Much’, to be released later that month (21.09.09). The release date of the album is an important piece of information included on this poster. The supplements are provided by a newspaper to appeal to different interests and different members of the family. The showbiz section will appeal to younger members of the family and it is these teenagers that the poster is aimed at. I think it will appeal to teenagers because it is colourful and eye-catching. At first glance it looks like a jumbled mess but this actually invites you to look more closely to make sense of it. Therefore, it captures your interest.

Media Forms and Language
Title & Typeface (s) etc:
The name of the artist, in this case ‘Mika’, is written in the same typeface and the same style as on his new album and his previous, debut album. The style and colour of the typeface that has been used in the ‘Mika’ logo has been used like a promotion, such as a brand image. The name ‘Mika’ is also written in 3D, like a stencil giving his name a kind of ‘hero’ effect. It is white against a coloured background which makes it bold, and the most important part of the poster. The text contained on the poster looks as if it is from a cartoon or a comic book, and the word “Mika” is the centre of attention and the biggest text on the poster, with the album title smaller, underneath and in 2D, not bold like his name. The information is the same colour as the titles, again emphasising the importance of the artist’s name and new album.

Written Language (copy & anchorage):
There is one review from ‘Q magazine’ on the poster, which promotes Mika’s brand – as any artist needs promotion, especially a new one like Mika, to keep them in the public eye. Also advertised are two tracks from the new album, “Includes... ‘We Are Golden’ & ‘Blue Eyes’”, to draw attention to released tracks that are already well known. The phrase “The New Album” emphasises that although the cover of the CD looks familiar to his fans (colourful, psychedelic layout), this is in fact a new CD.

Images (Visual Language):
The main scene is a boy’s bedroom with two walls instead of four - two walls are replaced with black-and-white images of space and the universe of stars planets and moons, showing the boy’s interest in space and astronomy. The envelope on the top left-hand corner of the poster is intertextuality - the letter is a connection, or a link to the outside world. The envelope is an airmail envelope linking travelling through air with space travel. The bright yellow of the window frame is contrasted with the black, bare trees outside silhouetted against a dark blue sky. This gives a scary gothic view of the world outside, reinforced by the appearance of a purple demon cat with horns and claws, peering into the bedroom through the window. There is also a black and white portrait photograph of the artist, Mika, to the right of his name and the title of the album, to remind people who Mika is as he’s only made one previous CD.

What’s interesting about the space and universe images is that they’re in black and white, with no colours, drawing your attention away from the images to the colourful centre of the poster where the title appears. It’s different to the CD cover, where the space and universe pictures are printed in colour. This is probably so that you can also read the information in the bottom right corner more easily. It seems that Mika is influenced by the psychedelic era of the 1960s/1970s.

Representation
The designer of the poster has taken the title of the album ‘The Boy Who Knew Too Much’ and tried to show this in a cartoon style. The boy in the bedroom is lying down on the floor with his legs on the bed reading a book. The boy has a lot of interests, as shown by all the posters and things on his desk and on the floor. The general clutter and untidiness represent a stereotypical boy’s bedroom. The boy is white, as can be seen from his arms, and represents a middle class teenager from the clothes that he wears. There are unusual posters on the walls, most of which contain images of monsters, but some of the posters have shapes which look like faces when looked at more closely. The images of monsters and space reinforces the stereotypical interests of a teenage boy.

Genre
The colourful, cartoon-style artwork, with its themes of monsters and space suggest that this is a Pop album likely to appeal to teenagers.

Audience
The poster is bright and stands-out, so will appeal to teenagers who may have an interest in Mika and his new album. It could be narrowcasting, and may also appeal to a more passive audience rather than an active one.



CD Album Cover Analysis:
The CD album cover for The Boy Who Knew Too Much is virtually the same as the magazine promotional poster, except the universe and astronomy-related areas are in colour instead of black and white. Apart from the title of the album and the artists name there is no other writing on the front cover. Like the poster, the CD cover is both colourful and eye-catching and would appeal to its target audience of teenagers.

Music /Pop Promo Video Analysis:
This is the promotional video made for Mika’s ‘We Are Golden’ song from his 2009 album ‘The Boy Who Knew Too Much’. It is a pop song and I have already analysed the poster and CD cover for this song and album, and these three items together form what is known as a music promotional package. The video itself is performance-based and aimed at teenagers.

THE MUSIC VIDEO (as on YouTube):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEhutIEUq8k

Visual Stylistics
MES:

The video is set in a teenager’s bedroom, as on the CD cover and the CD promotional poster, creating a sense of continuity and connection between each item in the promotional package. The bedroom contains bright, vibrant colours which gives the childlike theme to the video. The singer Mika appears in his own video in a stereotypical boy’s bedroom and clowns around in his white boxer shorts while singing the song. The actions of Mika jumping up and down, dressing up in different clothes add humour to the catchy tune he is singing. The fast pace and colourful video creates empathy and appeal to its target audience of teenagers.

Scattered duvet covers, cuddly toys, and Pop culture posters help to create this representation of him, or at least the character in the bedroom in the video. One of the costumes he wears (2mins 29secs) is a red buttoned-suit, and is a form of intertextuality to the costumes that The Beatles wore on the album cover for ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’. His performance is that of a teenager jumping around his bedroom to his favourite music.

The cassette tapes at the beginning and end of the video take you back to the 1970’s/1980’s, which shows references to the retro-style which is fashionable at the moment. The Union Jack and England flags represent Mika’s love of Britain even though he wasn’t born here.

Cinematography:

There are lots of close-ups on Mika and certain areas of him, yet even though the frame and camera shots are still (the camera rarely physically moves in this video) the editing is fast to reflect the pace of the song.

Editing:

The video has been edited so that there is fast-cutting between each shot, reflecting the “relationship between music and visuals”. The camera has been positioned so that most shots have Mika directly in the middle of the frame. Near the end, there are shots of Mika jumping around the bedroom, and the footage has been slowed down into slow-motion so that every single detail is clear.

SFX:

At about 3mins 4secs into the video, Mika seems to be getting power from God, as the heavens open and on-screen lightning bolts appear to strike him, therefore the connotations of this are that he is world-dominant. It is basically a God delusion.

The notion of looking
It’s an exhibitionist type of video where he showing off his body and not afraid to show himself in his boxer shorts.

Conclusion
Overall, I think the video itself is aimed at young people who want to listen to tracks that contain lively, happy and rebellious words that empathise with their feelings. Therefore, it lives up to the expectations made by the promotional poster and the CD cover artwork.

Analysis of a Pop Promo Video: Massive Attack - Karmacoma (directed by Jonathan Glazer)

The third video I decided to analyse was Karmacoma, a video directed by Jonathan Glazer for the group Massive Attack. It promotes the band’s style of music, which seems to be a mix of alternative and easy listening music, with a touch of reggae in the beats of the song and a bit of trip-hop.

Visual Stylistics:
MES:
Right at the start, you are aware that the video is set inside a hotel. There is a strange man with long hair and a short-cut man holding a gun, counting room numbers on the doors of hotel rooms in the corridor. Two girls stand in the corridor in front of the man with the gun (the one with the short-cut haircut) and hold a letter stamp from a typewriter, the stamp for the letter ‘K’. This letter relates to the name of the song - Karmacoma. Also, there are strange people doing strange things within each hotel room.

Cinematography:
There are numerous extreme close-ups of the man in the hall, and an interesting high-angled shot on the smaller version of another character in a bath, the bigger version turning the taps and drowning the smaller version.

Editing:
The editing in this video reflects the slow pace and rhythm of the song. Long takes and long cuts reflect the weirdness of the video, and reflect how the song is mellow and seems to “drift along”. This editing technique results in a hypnotical, dreamlike and rhythmical song and video. The small and big versions of a character in the bath scene near to the end act as an on-screen Special Effect.


Relationship between Lyrics and Visuals
The lyrics are spoken by various characters and often the on-screen effects and visuals reflect the same pace, so that the video is continuous and at the correct pace.

Relationship between Music and Visuals
As already stated, the video mainly contains slow-cutting between each shot, but the images seem to respond to the beats in the rhythm of the song.

Intertextuality
The ‘K’ letter-stamp from the typewriter, the two girls standing in the corridor, the strange people in the hotel rooms and the kid going psycho come under intertextuality, and are a reference to the Stephen King horror film The Shining (directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Jack Nicholson), where the little boy going psycho (or “shining”) sees two sisters from the past history of the hotel, and a river of blood crashing through the corridor and around them (in his imagination). The typewriter letter stamp refers to the typewriter that the Jack Nicholson character uses to write his story in the hotel lounge during the cold, isolating winter, the typewriter he eventually uses to type hundreds of pages with the same line repeated one each page - “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”.
Another form of intertextuality can be found with the girl in one of the rooms who looks familiar - she reminds me of beautiful Bond girl Gemma Arterton (from Quantum of Solace - 2008), but also a reference to the looks and sexual attractions of the girl from Noir classic Pulp Fiction with the short-cut hair. Therefore, this character is being portrayed as sexually attractive to attract more of a niche audience.

Is the narrative performance-based, narrative-based or concept-based?
The storyline of the video makes this video mainly narrative-based, with a few close-up shots of various characters speaking the lyrics and therefore adding a tiny bit of performance within the video.

Conclusion
Overall, I think this video is aimed at a niche audience and would be shown after nine o’clock on music video channels (such as MTV) to adults with knowledge and understanding of the strange things that can go on in the world. This video has been deliberately made with a strange, weird narrative to provoke the audience rather than embrace them. And rather than have an individual storyline with unique characters, Jonathan Glazer (director of video) has chosen to create a world within a hotel to show characters similar to other characters from Hollywood Blockbuster films and films from the smaller screens, bringing different characters together into a weird world inside a hotel.

Analysis of a Pop Promo Video & Familiarities In Storylines - Owl City's "Fireflies"

While researching music promotional videos and deciding upon a storyline, you may remember me talking about possib;y using an Action Man doll and a Barbie doll in a kind of animation during the video. Yet, now that we have decided to take this doll animation element out of the video, I couldn't help but notice someone has actually made a video with toys in their video.

Owl City's video for Fireflies contains a lot of toys that I remember from my childhood, but even though it is too late to analyse their video I thought I would put it up on my Blog just as an interest in both the song and the video - I saw "Brum!" as well as many other toys I remember.

I was initially asked to analyse three Music Promotional Videos as part of our Pre-Production Research. However, it was whilst editing in Post Production, before the Easter Holidays in 2010, that I came across the “Fireflies” video by Owl City. It had been out for a couple of months, and the video itself seemed to have similarities to my original, initial ideas for our Group Music Promotional Video. The music from the “Fireflies” Video is a mix of Pop and Electronic Pop genres, mainly because of the sounds and instruments used. However, the video doesn’t illustrate any forms of these genres as the video is set in a boy’s bedroom, where all his toys come to life. This gives the video more of a nostalgic feel. This nostalgia, in terms of boys’ toys, acts as further promotion for the artist Owl City, as boys who had played with the toys in the video would have noticed these references to their childhood. The toys included are old and new, with some obvious contrasts, including a 1960’s Tin Robot, and a more mechanical robot ‘Robosapien’ from the 2000’s, highlighting that boys still play with the same toys even now. For me, it was the video that sold the song, as I remember playing with train sets and Scalextric. Therefore, this proves that a Music Video serves a purpose in the Promotion of a song and artist.
Visual Stylistics:
MES: The video is set in a boy’s bedroom, as can be seen by the untidiness of the room with toys scattered everywhere around the room. This contrasts to the portrayal of his age - the connotations therefore are that he could be remembering his childhood. The room has simple colours so that your attention is drawn to the objects in the room and the basic, yet effective, storyline. Pale green walls and a pale brown carpet reflect the light from the window, giving this video more of a summery feel, maybe late afternoon, early evening. The light from the window seems to be natural, with a slight breeze catching the curtains, but the breeze and the light could be artificial and deliberately placed to create that happy, summery mood.

The props used could go on forever. With as many toys, the list could go on, from tin robots thorough the ages to Brum, and from train sets to finger-controlled boxing rings and radio-controlled model airships. Therefore, I have concentrated my efforts on more important props. The electronic piano/organ plays a key part in the video; the ‘Magic’ and ‘FX’ buttons control the imaginary life of the toys and choruses in the song. Obvious artificial lighting is used with various desk lamps, giving the video a definite late afternoon, early evening setting. A dinosaur has been placed on a record on the record player (vinyl turntable), which is used at the start of the video to mark the point at which the introduction finishes as the song commences. The dinosaur is seen to speed up, a time-based reference to how Gramophones would have been wound up and how modern and 20th Century vinyl record players ran at different speeds (normally ‘33’ and ‘45’). The word-spell toy is used to spell out some of the key words in the lyrics, in synchronised time with the music. The disco lights are used together with the Disco Ball to create a teenagers’ life shown through objects. The jar near the end of the video (2 mins 34 secs) and the supposed ‘dreams’ inside it, as described in the lyrics, could have been used to illustrate how this video and the life of the toys is part of his ultimate, ‘strange dream’.

The closet and closet door (2 mins 35 secs) shows this is an American boy as these cupboard storage and closet-style wardrobes are more commonly used by Americans. It should have been used as a wardrobe for clothes, but instead acts as a storage cupboard for more of his toys. The closet door is opened after the boys presses the ‘FX’ button on his electronic piano/organ, and reveals a ’Funship’ airship.

The boy wears a simple brown t-shirt, brown/pale blue/grey jeans (it is not clear what the colour is, maybe a mix) and dark brown socks - dressed informally as you would in your own bedroom. He doesn’t seem to be wearing any makeup, his simplicity therefore attracts you away to the toys in the room.

Cinematography:
The establishing shot is a Medium-Shot of the on/off switch on the boy’s electronic piano. It is interesting to note the Extreme Close-ups at the start and throughout the video on the “Start/Stop”, “Magic” and “FX” buttons on the Electronic piano, as these will play a key part in the continuity of the video. As the song starts, the Wide Shot of the whole room seems to tilt up, or track up, suggesting the camera is attached to a crane, creating a Crane Wide-Shot which shows us more of the room than a still frame. Also at the start are three or four shots of the boy playing his Electronic piano, starting with a Medium Close-up, then zooming-in to a Close-up of the boy, then to an Extreme Close-up of the boy’s hands as he continues to play his Electronic piano. In quick succession of one another, there are various Big Close-up and Medium Close-up shots of lamps (toys and actual desk lamps) lighting up around the room as the song starts, after the boy presses the “Magic” button on his piano. (see screenshot images below)

The video contains mostly still camera frames, with one or two shaky frames on the handheld shots. At the start of the pre-chorus, at 0 minutes 43 seconds, there is a quick pan left-right of the notes that are played on the piano, where the last notes to be focused on together are ‘A’ and ‘A sharp’/’B flat’ using a focus-pull. On the pre-chorus, the shots are longer, more relaxed, as to keep with the mood and pace of the song at this moment.

At 1min exactly, there is a clever overhead Crane Medium-Shot of the piano lights, piano keys and boy’s fingers. After this, at 1min 5 secs, there is a Big Close-up of the boy’s mouth, in time and in-sync with the lyrics and music, with the foreground (his mouth) in focus and the background out of focus.

At 1min 34secs / 35secs, there is a nice Medium Close-up of the boy’s fingers as they play two or three different chords. Also at 1min 34secs, handheld camera shots have been used for effect, focused in on the record player/turntable. A few of these handheld, shaky camera frame shots are used on various objects in the boy’s bedroom.

At 1min 38secs, there is a contrast of timescales, in the background and in focus is a 20th Century silver and red tin robot toy, with ‘Robosapien’ a 21st Century robot in the foreground and out of focus. At 1min 39secs, there is a pan-right frame, focusing on the toy train set, as the train follows the circular layout of the train track.

At 1min 41secs, there is a Medium Close-up of the tin toy ‘Monkey-on-the-drums’, and a focus-pull between the lit-up model balloon and the tin toy monkey. At 1min 55secs, the bedroom door is opened from the outside, which is a stage effect as the boy sits absolutely still with his back to the door and all the toys. As the door opens, there is a focus-pull from the door knob to the contents (toys) in the room and on the floor near the door.

At 2mins 18secs, there is an interesting Medium Close-up and contrast of colours - a black and red robot in the foreground (in focus) and behind it is a silver, mirror-covered disco ball (out of focus), the one which had obviously fallen from its thread earlier in the video.

At 2mins 44secs, there is a very interesting ‘Robosapien’ Wide-Shot, where the toy robot appears to be pointing his right arm-gun at the viewer. At 3mins exactly, there is a tracking-down Wide Shot framed on the room, similar to the crane shots at the beginning of the video yet a contrast in the tracking direction (this time tracks down instead of up, connotations of the closing stages of video), including a lens-flare as if there is exposure to light or the Sun, with the toys alive in the room at the very top and high-pitched notes of the song so far, again the song is suggesting an approach to the ending.

Between 3mins - 3mins 19secs, there are various shaky camera shots (Big Close-ups) on toys, and on the record player again. These shaky camera frames are used effectively as they add atmospheric tension and a sense of happiness. After this 19 seconds of shaky camera shots, we see the opposite of the start (the ending), where the toys are winding down, losing their clockwork lives and slowly dying, some immediately, the connotations of which are that the magic has vanished and therefore the toys lose their almost real ‘moments’.

At 3mins 49secs, there is an interesting track/zoom out and we lose focus of the boy’s face in the foreground and the background, at the same time as the song itself fades away. The final shot commences at 3mins 52secs, and focuses on a Medium/Extreme Close-up of the boy’s hand as he turns the on/off switch on the piano to ‘off’, a complete contrast and an anaphoric reference back to the opening establishing shot of him turning the knob to ‘on’.

Editing:
In terms of editing, transitions, pace, and continuity or lack of continuity or Match-On-Action (MOA), with a touch here and there on the ‘Relationship between Lyrics and Visuals’ and ‘Relationship between Music and Visuals’, both the start and the end of the video contain slower cuts and longer shots than where the video is faster at the pre-middle (43secs onwards), middle (1min 50secs) and post-middle (3mins - 3mins 27secs) stages. The appear transitions are used to give the video a bit more pace to try to keep up with the average-paced song, and also to add more of a film/television programme structure to the editing.

Between 23-25secs, there is a ‘whoosh’ sound effect, where the dinosaur of the turntable speeds up to the pace and beats of the song. At 1min 8-9secs, the globe acts in the same way as the dinosaur on the turntable earlier at 23-25secs. At 1min 10secs, I spotted ‘Brum!’, so I’m happy that this toy has been included as I remember watching ‘Brum!’ as a child. Straight afterwards, between 1min 11-12secs, the lights on the robot light up in-sync with the music.

Between 1min 46-49secs, the ‘Word-Spell’ toy (as seen in the Toy Story films – could be an exophoric reference and intertextuality) is used in-sync with the boy’s singing to spell out the corresponding lyrics “Never as” when the boy continues the sentence “it seems”, i.e. “Never as it seems”.

At 2mins 35secs, the boys presses the ‘FX’ button on the piano, which in turn opens the closet door of toys at 2mins 36secs. At 2mins 39secs, again as I mentioned earlier under the ‘Cinematography’ section, there is the lens-flare which could be artificial, but it is used to hide the cut and possible fade into the next shot.

Between 2mins 49-50secs, there are several shots in quick succession of each other, of the new and the old toys (contrasts), again between the 1960’s tin robot toy and 21st Century robotic remote-controlled Robosapien toy. At 2mins 51secs, the transitions are a lot quicker than throughout the rest of the video, at approximately the rate of three-shots-per-second.

Relationship between Lyrics and Visuals
Refer to Editing.

Relationship between Music and Visuals
Refer to Editing.

Intertextuality
Refer to Editing.

Close-ups of artist & star image motifs
Only a boy on the piano who seems to be the singer, though in real life the band is someone else (almost like a one-man band) and the singer is a special guest, so from this video you only see the special-guest singer and not the actual “Owl City” one-man band member.

Narrative or Performance-based, a bit of both, or Concept-based?
Performance-based, artist and toys add a bit of ‘dreamworld’ narrative-based references.

Conclusion
This video promotes the band and song and also the toys as viewers are given the chance to nostalgically return to their happy, exciting childhoods and childhood Christmases. Therefore, as this ‘nostalgia’ is added into the video, the video itself can be aimed at a much wider target audience than Electro-Pop listeners as many more people will find pleasure from listening to a song which contains their toys in the video which they used to play with as a child, although from the look of things I’d say more boys than girls will take an interest in the video itself as it contains the imaginary life of boys’ toys.

Analysis of a Pop Promo Video: AC/DC - Who Made Who [1986]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQDz1hbNh6A - Link to video on YouTube

The second video I decided to analyse was AC/DC’s Who Made Who [1986], from the motion picture soundtrack Who Made Who for the Stephen King horror film Maximum Overdrive [1986]. It promotes the band in a creative way, mainly with the special lightning bolt effects on-screen, referring to the AC/DC logo. The music itself represents AC/DC’s version of a rock song.

Visual Stylistics:
MES: In the video, to represent robots several actors have dressed themselves in tin foil. Though this is not realistic, it is very effective in the video because shots of the robots are on and off the screen before you actually notice the tin foil and the fact that the robots are fakes. Where they are at the beginning looks to me like a science laboratory, but it could also be the interior of a spaceship as there are numerous tin-foil covered computers on the screen. When the chorus is sang, and loads of Angus Young clones start to move (in robotic terminology) the clones are each playing what looks to be a pink guitar-shaped bit of cardboard, yet there are hundreds of them.

Costume and clothing is basically as expected. Angus Young wears a similar schoolboy outfit to that he wears in the 2008 video Rock N Roll Train - the cap, shorts, green jacket, striped tie, boots and socks; Brian Johnson wears a similar blue denim outfit (waistcoat, farmer’s flat cap, torn jeans); and Malcolm Young wears a t-shirt and jeans, similar also to the 2008 video I analysed earlier. Simon Wright (drummer) wears what seems to be a red (with white stripes) shirt, maybe a football shirt from the 1980’s, and Cliff Williams wears similar clothing to Malcolm Young. The clothes don’t actually affect the video in any way, other than the fact that each member of the band has their own distinct way of dressing. The A.Y. clones are dressed in the same schoolboy outfit as the real Angus Young himself.

Props used are robotics, futuristic technological advancements, computers and out-of-this-world experimental and clone-making equipment.

Their performance as a band could be described as being Naturalistic (in AC/DC terms only) but for the rest of the world it is probably an exaggerated way of playing a song. Angus Young adopts his unique way of dancing, either the “kick-dance” or the “stomp left foot twice then right foot twice” dance, whilst playing his guitar, moving across to both sides of the stage seen during the first and second verses of the song in the video. Malcolm Young seems to copy his brother’s dance a little but doesn’t go to extremes and instead retires to playing his guitar. The robots at the start re-awaking what seems to be Angus Young (A.Y.), kneel before him as he awakes, as if he is somehow respected with loyalty, as if he were a king or queen - connotations of AY as a “rock legend”. Half way through the video, AY holds up his hand in the air, a hand movement for the pleasure of the audience, after playing his guitar - this is a typical move that is to be found in most rock music videos; especially when the guitarist wants the audience to rock along, and suggests he’s going to play an important part of the song next, which in this video is his/the guitar solo, where beats the hell out of his Gibson guitar.

In terms of location, the stage which AC/DC perform on seems to be a studio set - there are no clues as to where it is, but this could be because the [video] directors and producers have created a customised stage where the band can perform and where stage lighting is used. The clones-awakening part [during the chorus] could also be s a custom-built set, but in a kind of ballroom-style with a staircase on either sides of the main centre stage (where AY eventually jumps down from the level above nearing the end of the chorus).

Lots of lighting is used as it’s a custom-built set. Hard key lighting, with vivid shadows evident, is used when high angled [crane] wide shots of the stage are used. The same key lighting is used in the title sequence in the Mr. Bean British comedy television series. So even though this video is not at all comic, the Mr. Bean title sequence is another example of where the hard key lighting is used, and also on stage shows and theatre plays to light up the main subject when all other unimportant objects are not lit, so that your attention is drawn to the AC/DC band members and not the sets behind. However, the shadows on the stage suggest that these lights are above and behind the band members. There is a massive beam, a soft Fill-light, on centre stage, lighting up only BJ but not any of the other band members. There is a separate [soft] backlight on AY who is, by now, lying down on the stage, still beating the hell out of his red Gibson guitar, as he wriggles around in circles anti-clockwise (360° and kicking his feet as he wriggles his way around) as the overhead [crane] camera spins in the opposite direction (clockwise) on the guitar solo just after the first hearing of the chorus (1min 51secs). There are flashing white disco lights in the background (see Relationship between Music and Visuals).

Cinematography:
Several close-ups on drummer Simon Wright (SW); seems to be enjoying himself, as is Malcolm Young (MY) who is followed on a panning MCU shot at the beginning of the video. There is a vertically-tilted Medium Close-up (MCU) of bass guitarist Cliff Williams (CW) near the start of the video. Also lots of interesting overhead, crane and high-angled shots used. A low-angled, zooming-in shot of drummer SW at “2mins 3secs”.

Editing:
Fast-cutting, though relaxed in places, especially at the start of the video during the AY-awakening process.

Special Effects (colours, graphics, CGI etc.):
Lightning bolts repeated throughout:
- 1min 10secs: electrifying and awakening AY clone
- 1min 36secs: on middle tube of three tubes as new AY clones are deployed for action.
Maybe these lightning bolts are added as another special effect, but they could contain a little intertextuality and definitely refer to the lightning bolt in the AC/DC logo - a clever way of advertising and promoting the band itself. And another lightning bolt in finishing shot of the official AY Gibson guitar, where his hat flies in and lands on the top of the guitar as the tune fades out.
Another special effect is used at 1min 14-15secs: a flash of light to introduce the chorus.

Relationship between Lyrics and Visuals
The chorus refers to a narrative within the video and maybe a little intertextuality to the film which it was the soundtrack: “Who Made Who, Who Made You, Who Made Who, ain’t nobody told you, Who Made Who, Who Made You, if you made them and they made you, who becomes the devil and Who Made Who...” The chorus is then also very explanatory of the feelings you could possible have as one of the characters from the film, and also refers to the clone’s feelings in the video (the AY clones produced by the robotic tin foil men).

Relationship between Music and Visuals
White flashing disco lights in background (in the stage shots) flash with every drum beat. Also, at start (18secs into video) on every drum beat AY does his “stomp left foot twice then right foot twice” dance. In the drummer SW Extreme Close-up, on every other drum beat the backlights on him dim.

In terms of this video relating to other [past] videos, yes it does because it has that certain vibe to it that relates specifically to AC/DC, especially the lightning-bolt effects which is found in their logo.

Intertextuality: The video definitely contains intertextuality to the film is was made for, Maximum Overdrive (the film, not the video, was directed by Stephen King), where human scientists create a wave of robots, the robots develop a mind for themselves, and starting with their creators they start to wipe out the human species.

The narrative is performance-based with a little bit of narrative from the intertextuality to the film Maximum Overdrive.

Conclusion
This seems to be a very influential, narrative and performance combined video for a song from the film to which AC/DC wrote, performed and produced a soundtrack for, the Stephen King horror film Maximum Overdrive, containing lots of intertextuality to the film, and its’ intended audience is people who grew up as rock fans and AC/DC fans in the 1970s-80s, though it can appeal to people of all ages provided they are AC/DC or rock fans and can appreciate that AC/DC are one of the still surviving “real” rock bands of their time. I can’t imagine young children or girls would find an interest in this song as they would more than likely have an interest in High School Musical or 21st Century pop sensation-group Girls Aloud.

Analysis of a Pop Promo Video: AC/DC - Rock N Roll Train [2008]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX2xbqWtyJU - Link to video on YouTube

I have analysed three music videos as part of my research and planning before I create my own music promotional video. The first of which is Rock N Roll Train by AC/DC on their 2008 comeback album Black Ice. AC/DC are rock legends, so this song is a rock song, and evidence of this genre can be seen in Medium Close-ups of each band member, especially Malcolm Young (rhythm guitarist) on the opening guitar riff, Angus Young (lead guitarist) during the second and third verses, Brian Johnson (lead vocals) when the lyrics begin, and one or two close-ups on the minor band members, Simon Wright (drummer) and Cliff Williams (bass guitarist). The music itself represents AC/DC’s version of a rock song.

Visual Stylistics
MES: The stage where the band is playing in the video has the backdrop of massive cogs and machinery, suggesting they are playing in a warehouse or a factory of some sort. The title of the song may give a clue as to where they are, possibly in a factory where steam trains are being built or repaired. In terms of props there is the musical instruments the band members are using, including Angus Young’s iconic red Gibson guitar. Also there are cogs in the background, suggesting the shape of a steam train without its traditional “cloak” around the main working parts. Angus lives up to expectations and is wearing his trademark schoolboy outfit. Brian Johnson is doing the same, wearing his trademark blue denim outfit (waistcoat and jeans) and flat cap. The audience who are banging heads, waving arms and rocking to the tune might be a prop in terms of the video, not like a punk video where the lead singer often sings to the camera. Also, an on-stage apparatus adds to the effect of a stage that has been set-up, with lighting, in the middle of the disused factory. There are plenty of silhouettes on the band members throughout the video, the key lights lighting up only the key aspects of the stage.

Cinematography: At the start of the video, there is a Medium Close-up Shot of Malcolm’s guitar in-hand, then a few Medium Close-up Shots of him as he plays the opening guitar riff. There is also a backstage camera, a slightly high-angled Medium Long Shot, which tracks from right to left following Angus as he plays the guitar to the audience. When the video has been established as being in a train factory and the main part of the song begins, there are crane shots where the camera tracks over the audience from right to left and zooms in gradually to focus on Angus Young who is, by now, dancing in his own unique way whilst playing his guitar. There are a number of Extreme Close-up shots on hands clapping - the emphasis is on the audience who seem to like the tune, maybe a way of selling the song to viewers of the video? There is one close-up of female rocker in the audience near the end, showing that Rock and Roll music is not just a male sport!

Editing (Transitions, pace, continuity or discontinuity editing?): Fast-cutting between each shot, emphasising continuation and Match-On-Action. There was one instance where there was a repetition of the same shot but with different lyrics, but in terms of MOA it doesn’t affect the video in any way.

Special Effects (colours, graphics, CGI etc.): When silhouettes are obvious, even in the establishing shot, there is a use of a white outline on the band members, in comic-book style, which in my opinion gives them more of an unreal, superhero status. It also helps to determine where they are on the stage in the half-body silhouettes, but overall is just another nice piece of CGI and special effects to give the video a more powerful meaning, of which I cannot decipher.

The usage of archive train footage in the background, whilst Angus plays or BJ sings in the foreground, reinforces the idea of a rock and roll train, and on these bits both the foreground and background are in black and white, and the train footage is speeded up not only to represent that the footage might be ancient in our times but to keep up with the rhythm and pace of the song.

Relationship between Lyrics and Visuals
As I have said in the paragraph above, the double-time black and white archive train footage relates to the lyrics because the speed of the footage illustrates how the train is rocking and rolling. Near the end and at the end of the video, the archive footage changes to footage of the train approaching our screen at speed, then two (American Railroad?) trains collide at speed. But this is repeated twice before, for the first time in the video, the archive footage is given a dose of the superhero white outline, then right at the end there is a low-angled Medium Long Shot of Angus’ hand as he points his finger into the air on the closing guitar riff. An explosion, or rather a flame, appears on-screen as he ends the song, but it is one of those game-show effects that have obviously been added during post-production.

Relationship between Music and Visuals
On the opening guitar riff, a fast cut occurs and the establishing shot, of Malcolm’s guitar, in the white superhero outline, appears. Half-way through the opening riff, there is a fast cut to a high-angled shot on the stage where all band members can be seen standing in their half-body silhouettes. A close-up on the drum stick as it hits the drum for the first time as the first drum beat of the song is heard. Angus beats his feet onto the stage with every drum beat, 1) to keep himself in rhythm as a musician, and 2) so that continuity is kept within the video. When Angus or Malcolm play their own guitars, a Medium Close-up on them as they play; the same applies to BJ when he sings the lyrics. The audience seem to sing along and are focused on at the right moments - they sing in rhythm with the song being played.

Close-ups of band and Star Image Motifs
Angus is being represented as the lead guitarist who will beat the hell out of his guitar if he has to. Malcolm, on the other hand, and as the brother of Angus, has been represented as exactly the opposite of Malcolm; having a relaxed, laid-back approach to the style in which he plays his guitar. He is represented as being the coolest of the pack, maybe having a heart of steel. BJ is represented as the singer, though he looks like a British farmer by the way he is dressed. Simon Wright, drummer, is represented as a band member; as is bass guitarist Cliff Williams, both members a minority in the video but having a major impact on the song itself.

In terms of this video relating to other [past] videos, it does retain some of the traditional AC/DC trademarks (especially with the comic book characters of the band members). Most of their videos have been performance-based, Who Made Who being an exception as having some narrative in the video as well, though this may have been encouraged by the fact that the 1986 album Who Made Who was in fact AC/DC’s own soundtrack to the Stephen King horror film Maximum Overdrive where robots are created, have minds of their own and dominate their creators, and start wiping out humanity; but yes, this video certainly contains the same kind of content that you should expect to find in an AC/DC music promotional video.

The notion of looking: There isn’t any voyeurism or exhibitionism of the band, but the clothes that Malcolm wears could suggest his laid back approach to life. If you were to read into the history of rock bands like AC/DC, you find that the lyrics in their songs relate in some way to the concepts of enjoying sex, getting laid & drunk and enjoying life as much as you can, whoever you are!

Intertextuality: Doesn’t seem to be any intertextuality, yet the black and white archive footage of trains in the background (on close-ups shots of Angus or BJ) could have some form of intertextuality to documentaries made about steam trains, or the Wild West - an example could be the collision of the two American Railroad trains near the end of the music video.

Is the narrative performance-based, narrative-based or concept-based?
Basically performance-based, with a tiny bit of a storyline, but this could just be a concept (the trains).

Conclusion
The video for Rock N Roll Train sure does promote the band’s comeback album Black Ice since the 2000 release of Stiff Upper Lip, but numerous online reviews have suggested that although the song and the video are brilliant, it isn’t as good as some of AC/DC’s other [previous] material, so the audience have taken to it but not like they would have done to AC/DC’s best-selling album, Back In Black, released in 1980 after lead singer Bon Scott’s death and Brian Johnson’s arrival.

Overall, the video for Rock N Roll Train has to be a video under the Rock genre, not the heavy metal or metal genres. And yet even though there is no voyeurism or no sexual references in the visuals, the video concentrates on each band member, as old as they are, introducing them to new AC/DC fans and reintroducing them to current fans. There is no need for any CGI as the band is the centre of attention, not the Special Effects, therefore I think the video ticks the right boxes to be classified as a rock video.

Overviews of Pop Promos: What makes a good Pop Promo?

For a music video to successfully promote and showcase the singer, band or group, or just the song itself, directors and filmmakers alike know that Music Videos have certain codes and conventions which they will follow. These codes and conventions relate to all music videos, except those which have been made controversially or have been made differently and targeted at a niche audience.

The codes and conevtions include:

• The relationship between visuals and music (does the video contain messages and values from the song)
  
• The relationship between visuals and lyrics (if the lyrics state that the group are rocking on a Rock N Roll Train, as in AC/DC’s 2008 song, does the video show them rocking on a rock and roll train)
  
• The musical genre, codes and conventions (AC/DC are a rock band, so their video should be performance-based and contain close-ups of lead guitarist Angus Young and his Gibson guitar during a guitar riff)
  
• Intertextuality (does the music video contain references to other media texts)
  
• How audiences are targeted (rock bands are only going to appeal to a certain audience, and, in most cases, AC/DC are not going to appeal to people who grew up with Bing Crosby, Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra)
  
• The promotion of the band/artist (close-ups of band members of AC/DC - how is the lead singer promoted - costume, lifestyle etc.)
  
• Narrative and Concepts used (is there a story in the video; is the video Performance-based or Concept-based)
  
• Voyeurism and Exhibitionism (are there women hanging around with the band members in bikinis or half-naked, or are they portrayed as prostitutes or possessions as in Rap videos)
  
• Use of style - ECMS: Editing, Cinematography, Mise-En-Scene (costumes, lighting, performance & locations) and sometimes Sound (diagetic or non-diagetic)
  Possible ideology in video
  
• Iconography of the band/artist (a representation of Angus Young in a schoolboy outfit that has contributed to the growing band or star image)
  
• Star Image, Vehicle and Power—the Star Construction - Star Image refers to how the star is perceived by the audience (AC/DC is a rock band that has been around since the mid-1970s, adding to their legendary status), Star Vehicle refers to how a product is constructed around the image of the star in order to promote the star, e.g. an AC/DC music video promotes the band’s reputation as a rock band, and Star Power refers to their influence on the music industry in terms of Economic power (CD sales of AC/DC’s 2008 album Black Ice), Artistic power (how AC/DC promote themselves as a legendary rock band here to stay), and Ideological power in terms of their influence on the audience (fashion, how they act or audience opinions).

Short History of the Development of Pop Promos

The music video craze was started by one man - a German from the 1920’s known as Oscar Fischinger, who moved on to the USA, fleeing from the Nazi-ruled Germany in the 1930’s, to continue his work. One of his masterpieces was the video made for the song Komposition in Blau in 1935. Oscar went on to play a major role in the making of Walt Disney’s 1939 film Fantasia. The British equivalent at that time was Len Lye, who experimented with visuals and music in the 1937 release of Colourbox.

The purpose of music videos in the early days of sound-filmmaking was to showcase the singer or band to its target audience, often shown at the cinema as part of a full programme with a newsreel. However, these videos showcasing the likes of Bing Crosby were to be out-performed by the changing times of music and the younger generations who started the Rock N Roll era.

In the 1960’s the idea of music videos was established using the Scopitone in France. It was a massive success in France, and mid-1965 over 1000 Scopitone machines were installed overseas in the USA. The USA started to make videos containing unnatural colours and fantasy worlds. The concept of Voyeurism was often included in the French and American videos, and is still seen today in music videos made for R&B, Rap, Hip-Hop and Club and Dance songs shown on the MTV Dance channel.

As music tastes changed in the 1960’s, when youths were more attracted to The Beatles and Elvis Presley, music video companies had to change the way they showcased their stars. Music videos were shot for viewing on television, and the age of music films started from the foundations of 1940s musicals. Then came along the age of music video programmes for television viewers, especially with the USA’s answer to The Beatles; The Monkees were given a television programme slot where they performed their music and starred in a soap-style programme. This concept has been copied and used towards the success of the late 1990’s and early 21st Century kid’s sensation S Club 7, who appeared in soap-style programmes following their fictional lives whilst on tour, which was shown on Saturday mornings on CBBC.

The 1980s saw the rise of the highly camp MTV videos, with bright vibrant colours and lots of makeup and weirdly designed costumes. Duran Duran’s Rio and Wild Boys videos are noted for this new craze. The use of exotic locations and high quality camera shots increased during the 1980s, whilst the voyeurism of females and the representation of beautiful half-naked women was continued. MTV was established mid-1980s and VH1 was established for the older, more matured audience, showcasing the more borderline-pornographic videos. MTV later went on to not only broadcast music videos but to show music-related television programmes such as Unplugged and the lifestyle-orientated world began. Also, from January 1964 to July 2006 the BBC's programme Top of the Pops aired on BBC 1, and the BBC 2 version Top of the Pops 2 (late 1990s early 2000s) looked back at the performances and videos from the past, mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. The BBC programme offered British viewers the chance to view their favourite bands and artists on television when there were only two or three television programmes in the country.

Whilst the music promotional video is more of a recent and highly successful relationship between the music and moving images, it was the main component in reviving the music industry, especially in improving the sales of music. Together with MTV (Music-Television) and the new age of personal listening via the Compact Disc (CD), and moving on from the 33.5 rpm vinyl records of the 1970s (EP) and the cassette tapes of the 1980s, music videos became a key part of the marketing and development of a band’s single and brand image from the later stages of the 1980s onwards. However, in recent times the new age of illegal downloading of music via the Internet has had a major impact on the music industry, so a new form of music videos or marketing is eagerly awaited to revive the music industry. YouTube, an online subscription service available to all Internet users and continuing the age of Video-On-Demand, has been an example of the music industry’s decline of the 21st Century.