U2 have a mainstream audience, consisting of a massive number of fans whom they have collected up throughout their career in the music industry, spanning just over 30 years now. The ages of their fans therefore range widely from adults of about 40 - 50 years old, who would have become fans when the band first started their career, to young teenagers who have just discovered the band in recent years. I fall into the latter category, having only realised the existence of U2 in 2004, after seeing them on Top Of The Pops performing Vertigo.
U2 know how to interact with their large mainstream audience using all the technology available to them to get their music into the heads of fans and potential fans all over the world. Obviously, not all fans may be able to make it to a live show, so U2 have this year brought their music into the homes of millions. In October 2009, U2 broadcast an entire show from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on their 360° Tour live on YouTube to the world. It is estimated that nearly 10 million people watched the concert online between 188 countries, making the event the largest in YouTube's streaming history. In August 2009, U2's Sheffield concert was played live on the radio as well as the audio been streamed directly from u2.com to listeners all around the world. It is clear that U2 like to do things big to satisfy their ever growing number of fans and these events proved to be extremely successful.
U2's latest song, I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight, was released in two different music videos. One is a short animated film created by David O'Reilly and the other was filmed live at a 360° show. The animated film tells a short story, including different individual characters and how their lives entwine together one fateful day. The characters include a boy who runs away from home, his worried mother, a girl who has also run away from home, a girl who has lost her dog and a tramp. The tramp finds the dog and the mother rescues the runaway girl whilst looking for her son, who meanwhile is on a train. The train stops and the tramp gets on with the dog and sits opposite him. The boy, looking at the tramp, realises that he doesn't want to end up that way and leaves the train quickly with the dog following him. As they run, the owner of the dog is walking along in the opposite direction and is reunited with her dog. The boy keeps on running and rushes straight past a cafe where his mother and the girl are sat. Seeing him, the mother rushes outside shouting after him and they too are reunited. I think this video is really well done and sends across a good message. It has elements of humour in it as well as anxiety and sadness. I think this video appeals to the mainstream audience because of this. It is clearly not targeted at a specific age group as the messages in it can be read by fans of all ages and overall it is a very appealing and thought provoking video.
The other video for this song features the band performing on their 360° tour in Barcelona, directed by Alex Courtes. The song was not recorded live for the video, the pre-recorded version was used for the audio. I like this video a lot too, because I think it has been directed very well and gives the audience what they want to see - the band. Lots of close ups of the band members are used as well as shots of the crowd and the amazing 360° stage. Filming the video live at the first 360° concert allows fans to see what they will experience themselves when the tour comes to their country. It shows the band interacting with their audience, and this excites fans, making them want to be in that crowd in the video. It also allows potential fans to see what going to a U2 concert would be like. I think the two videos are both very good in their different styles and both definitely appeal to the audience.
Friday, 27 November 2009
Monday, 16 November 2009
Ideas For My Video
First Idea
The first idea I had was to begin my music video with a sunrise and end it with a sunset. I thought this would be a good idea for a few different reasons. Firstly, these sights are seen as magnificent as they are natural and beautiful. They are also romantic as couples often like to watch the sunrise or sunset together, so this idea also goes with the love theme in the song. The sunrise opens the day and the sunset ends it so it makes sense logically that these could open and end a music video.
I thought about a location that I could use to film both the sunrise and sunset and the first place that came to mind was the Humber Bridge as I have seen the sunset from there before whilst travelling across and it looked quite nice from there, looking over the river. I thought that maybe I would use the woodland setting of the Humber Bridge country park for the main part of the video. I would have someone lip sync to the song in this setting.
Second Idea (Chosen idea)
I like the idea of the sunrise and sunset so I am certain that I want at least one of these included in my video, maybe just the sunset at the end. I thought about a different location, a beach landscape where the opening shot of the video could be one of the sea which is also seen as a magnificent feature of the world and the beach setting is also a romantic one. I thought this setting would look a lot nicer than the river.
The singer would then be seen, walking along the beach towards the camera. This shot would be the master shot, and would have shots of the sea and other things cut into it. When the singing starts, the singer would lip sync in a close up. Other shots of the location would be juxtaposed with shots of the singer. Maybe shots of wildlife, such as birds flying for example, could be used too as life on earth is another magnificent thing. As the second verse begins, the singer would still be in the same location but sat down on a rock or something rather than continuing to walk. Another idea I had, was at some point in the video, probably towards the end somewhere, to have a shot of something related to the song written in the sand. The sunset would then end the video.
I have decided that this idea was much better than the first and I think it will look good and work well in this natural setting. Next I will create a storyboard for the video and then I will decide on who will star in the video and what they should wear. After this, I will be ready to start filming.
The first idea I had was to begin my music video with a sunrise and end it with a sunset. I thought this would be a good idea for a few different reasons. Firstly, these sights are seen as magnificent as they are natural and beautiful. They are also romantic as couples often like to watch the sunrise or sunset together, so this idea also goes with the love theme in the song. The sunrise opens the day and the sunset ends it so it makes sense logically that these could open and end a music video.
I thought about a location that I could use to film both the sunrise and sunset and the first place that came to mind was the Humber Bridge as I have seen the sunset from there before whilst travelling across and it looked quite nice from there, looking over the river. I thought that maybe I would use the woodland setting of the Humber Bridge country park for the main part of the video. I would have someone lip sync to the song in this setting.
Second Idea (Chosen idea)
I like the idea of the sunrise and sunset so I am certain that I want at least one of these included in my video, maybe just the sunset at the end. I thought about a different location, a beach landscape where the opening shot of the video could be one of the sea which is also seen as a magnificent feature of the world and the beach setting is also a romantic one. I thought this setting would look a lot nicer than the river.
The singer would then be seen, walking along the beach towards the camera. This shot would be the master shot, and would have shots of the sea and other things cut into it. When the singing starts, the singer would lip sync in a close up. Other shots of the location would be juxtaposed with shots of the singer. Maybe shots of wildlife, such as birds flying for example, could be used too as life on earth is another magnificent thing. As the second verse begins, the singer would still be in the same location but sat down on a rock or something rather than continuing to walk. Another idea I had, was at some point in the video, probably towards the end somewhere, to have a shot of something related to the song written in the sand. The sunset would then end the video.
I have decided that this idea was much better than the first and I think it will look good and work well in this natural setting. Next I will create a storyboard for the video and then I will decide on who will star in the video and what they should wear. After this, I will be ready to start filming.
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
LIIAR For Magnificent
Language - Some people believe that the song clearly features religious imagery and phrases, which I think is probably true. The song features a lexical field of love which dominates the song. Some rhymes are used in the song, for example "time" and "rhyme" in the first verse. Repetition is also used, as it is in most songs, with "I was born", "only love" and "magnificent" being repeated throughout the song.
Ideology - The ideas of the band, particularly Bono since he wrote the lyrics, are obviously present in this song. Although the meaning of the lyrics can be interpreted in different ways, there will be set ideas and values that Bono had in mind when writing the song and has when performing it. The lyrics were inspired by Cole Porter and Bach, according to Wikipedia. This is also this site which states that Bono has said that the song is about "two lovers holding onto each other and trying to turn their life into worship."
Institution - The music for the song was written by U2, Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois and the lyrics were written by Bono. The producers of the song were Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and Steve Lillywhite. U2 are signed to Mercury Records, a subsidiary of Universal.
Audience - U2 have a fan base consisting of a great number of fans. Since their career in the music industry has spanned over 30 years now, the ages of their fans range from adults of about 40 to 50 years old who would have got into U2 in the early years of their career, to young teenagers who have become fans of the band in recent years. This means that U2's music appeals to all ages and therefore so should their videos.
Representation - The lyrics in the song must be repesented through the video, not necessarily meaning an absolute representation of every single subject in the lyrics, but the video must match the theme and atmosphere intended by the lyrics. Camera angles, editing and the duration of shots will do this.
Ideology - The ideas of the band, particularly Bono since he wrote the lyrics, are obviously present in this song. Although the meaning of the lyrics can be interpreted in different ways, there will be set ideas and values that Bono had in mind when writing the song and has when performing it. The lyrics were inspired by Cole Porter and Bach, according to Wikipedia. This is also this site which states that Bono has said that the song is about "two lovers holding onto each other and trying to turn their life into worship."
Institution - The music for the song was written by U2, Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois and the lyrics were written by Bono. The producers of the song were Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and Steve Lillywhite. U2 are signed to Mercury Records, a subsidiary of Universal.
Audience - U2 have a fan base consisting of a great number of fans. Since their career in the music industry has spanned over 30 years now, the ages of their fans range from adults of about 40 to 50 years old who would have got into U2 in the early years of their career, to young teenagers who have become fans of the band in recent years. This means that U2's music appeals to all ages and therefore so should their videos.
Representation - The lyrics in the song must be repesented through the video, not necessarily meaning an absolute representation of every single subject in the lyrics, but the video must match the theme and atmosphere intended by the lyrics. Camera angles, editing and the duration of shots will do this.
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