Schedule

A2 Media Studies Schedule Lutterworth College 2014-2015

Band Style

Our bands image is based on our target audience's look. We want to put the band in something that the audience can relate to. By dressing them in similar sort of clothes I hope that it will help to build a relationship between the band and their image and our target audience. 

By looking at the photos below, hopefully it'll give some sort of indication as to what our band are going to be dressed in. We call in simplistic but stylish, because for our audience and genre, it is.

Video Idea

Our video idea will consist of the song 'What You Know' by Two Door Cinema Club and music video ideas from both the video to this song and also the video to 'Carry Me' by Bombay Bicycle Club. We feel that the song allows us to meet in the middle like we discussed in our previous post 'Music Genre' as we enjoy different genres of music. We liked the style of both of the bands as it fit the stereotypical look of indie audiences. We feel that many people of our age enjoy to dress and look this way therefore found this the least difficult to portray as an overall style within our video. Long hair, glasses, shirts etc. All appealed to us. We also found the simple drumming element quirky and effective. It stood out to us and it's something we want to include within our video. The simplistic background fit our pitch idea also. Although the dancing in the video did not appeal to Molly, we both enjoyed the idea of having dancing within our video. It adds something unique and extra to our video and we believe we can make it look effective.  

The video will have both a performance and narrative element and will include all members playing one individual drum. The idea was to have all band members playing the drums scenes with elements of the narrative. The idea behind the narrative is based on a hidden/forbidden love as we feel our target audience will be able to relate to this in some sense. The dancing will portray two people that are in love but cannot be together. We will be filming against a plain white background and will dress the band in simplistic clothing such as shirts, T-shirts and plain trousers. 

The drumming scenes will be similar to those shown within the two videos.

Previously we decided on the song 'Feel' by Bombay Bicycle Club (BBC) however our teachers felt that the song would be difficult to achieve with the idea we have. Our teacher told us about Suren De Saram, the drummer of BBC and that we should research his work. We discovered the percussionist is very talented and his work is very difficult to create a replica of therefore decided it would be easier to change the song. We chose 'What You Know' by Two Door Cinema Club as it had the drumming beat we were looking for. 

Band Profile

Name: External Image

Age: 18-21

Biography: External Image formed as a band in the later months of 2012 after lead singer Hayden decided he'd take his career to the next level as he wasn't finding much success as a solo artist. After their debut album blew up selling thousands of records the band of four realised how much talent they really have. The combination of the four boys has had our hearts since day one and their debut album has left us wanting more... Rumours that the band are releasing another album have been confirmed and it will be released in early December 2014. 

Examples of Other Texts

As me and Molly have different tastes in music, we have met in the middle and decided to go with an upbeat Indie song. As Molly prefers to listen to Hip Hop and R'n'B more than the Indie genre we first listen to songs written by the likes of Kanye West. Although he has nothing to do with the Indie genre we both agreed that we love the way he expresses himself through music and how he holds himself as an artist. We both agreed that we want our band to hold the same confidence as he does and to portray a great persona. Thus resulting in one of our influential texts to be Black Skinhead by Kanye West.

For someone that enjoys a wide variety of music, I feel that the Arctic Monkeys, an Indie Rock band have played a huge influence on me personally, I love the way the conduct themselves and believe their style is second to none. I believe that they influence me as a listener and think that they are a brilliant band and the music they produce is unique and different to others of the same genre. For this reasoning the song "Snap Out of It" is an influential text for me personally and if I had no budgets and the capability to recreate this video, without a doubt I would.

Other influential texts would be "Lights Out, Words Gone" by Bombay Bicycle Club. The band themselves we see as very similar to the band we have created both in style and song production. They have a very similar style, simplistic and casual yet sophisticated. They are all we reasonably groomed and believe the type of music they produce fits our bands image perfectly. Not only does style and image play a huge role in terms of how the video is viewed but it is a way of the band expressing themselves whether that be through bold coloured and pattered shirts or just a plain and simple t-shirt and black jean combination. I believe that with a high quality product and awesome music video the success of the video can be down to the execution and ideas. Bombay Bicycle Club are always very creative with the idea in their videos, examples of which can be found in "Sleep Alone", "Luna" and "Beg".

Emailing Venues

I have sent out some emails to all the venues I have researched and as of have had no response. I have sent this email to both Yellow Bean Studios and Target Studios and after researching more locations will do the same for them.

Dear ________,

We are two year 13 media students and for our coursework this year we need to shoot a performance and narrative music video, ideally in a white room or against a white background. After researching spaces in our local area we have decided that your space is one of the ideal locations we would love to use. I know you probably come across several emails like this on a regular basis but we were wondering whether it would be at all possible for us to film in your location in late October. If this is not possible do you know any other locations that would be suitable? Thank you for your time in advance and we look forward to hearing from you. 

Kind Regards,

Millie Leader and Molly Simpson

Lutterworth College

Finding Locations

For our video we want to shoot it in a studio with a plain white background. After looking around for a location I have managed to narrow the locations down.

The first studio I have looked at is Target Studios on Queens Road in Leicester. As I have been here before I know that it contains all the necessary things we would need to shoot our video. It has several side rooms suitable for hair, makeup and wardrobe. The studio itself is very spacious and means we have a large area to shoot in. They provide white background sheets and we are bringing our own props and costumes. I am currently getting in touch with the owners to see what and when we can potentially use it and how much it will cost.

Another location I have been looking at is Yellow Bean Studios also in Leicester.  They have several different rooms including a recording studio, photography/video studio and isolation rooms. For us, we will be using the Photography/Video rooms which is equipped with a curved 'infinity' wall, dressing rooms, seating area, wifi and a kitchen/toilet. 

I will continue to research spaces and contact those in charge of the ones I have found and enquire what sort of prices we will be looking at to hire out their spaces. I will be emailing every venue that I find to see which is the best and who is available as and when we need them to be. 

As someone who likes to be organised I have decided to get onto this straight away so both me and Molly know where we need to be and at what time and so that we can get our band and dancers in the same place at the same time. 

Song Lyrics

For me and Molly to create an effective and convincing music video we first need to understand the song lyrics. We need to make sure that our video has a clear relationship to the lyrics. The chosen song "What You Know" can be interpreted in several ways in my opinion. The idea behind our music video is to portray a forbidden or blind love through dance. I believe that the lyrics may indicate the same kind of idea.

The lyrics for me represent a man who may not have time to devote himself to a certain female or doesn't know whether to pursue a certain romance. 
The line "I can take it if it's what I want to do" could be seen as a undecided thought on whether to be with someone or not. 
It could also be seen as a man singing about his fear of falling in love. 

In a few weeks I will get time

To realise it's right before my eyes

And I can take it if it's what I want to do

I am leaving, this is starting to feel like

It's right before my eyes

And I can taste it, it's my sweet beginning

And I can tell just what you want

You don't want to be alone

You don't want to be alone

And I can't say it's what you know

But you've known it the whole time,

Yeah, you've known it the whole time

Maybe next year I'll have no time

To think about the questions to address

Am I the one to try to stop the fire?

I wouldn't test you, I'm not the best you could have attained

Why try anything?

I will get there, just remember I know

And I can tell just what you want

You don't want to be alone

You don't want to be alone

And I can't say it's what you know

But you've known it the whole time

Yeah, you've known it the whole time

And I can tell just what you want

You don't want to be alone

You don't want to be alone

And I can't say it's what you know

But you've known it the whole time

Yeah, you've known it the whole time 

And I can tell just what you want

You don't want to be alone

You don't want to be alone

And I can't say it's what you know

But you've known it the whole time

Yeah, you've known it the whole time

Chosen Band

The band we have chosen for our video are called 'Surf', made up of four members. We have decided to choose these because they look very similar to the Indie look that our inspiration bands, Two Door Cinema Club and Bombay Bicycle Club have. Their overall look and style fits the stereotypical indie scenester. They have long hair and wear smart casual clothing such as shirts and t-shirts which were discussed in our 'Music Idea' blog. As our chosen band are a band themselves, we believe this is an effective thing to have as they have experience therefore makes directing easier for us. We will be on a tight schedule and this will help speed up the process.

Social Media

Here is the twitter account I have created for our band "External Image" here we can posts fictitious things that our band are getting involved in and target our audience through this platform. This will be where we post pictures and videos of our progress and behind the scenes shots of when we are creating our video.

Band Profile

Name: External Image

Age: 18-21

Biography: External Image formed as a band in the later months of 2012 after lead singer Hayden decided he'd take his career to the next level as he wasn't finding much success as a solo artist. After their debut album blew up selling thousands of records the band of four realised how much talent they really have. The combination of the four boys has had our hearts since day one and their debut album has left us wanting more... Rumours that the band are releasing another album have been confirmed and it will be released in early December 2014. 

Video Ideas - ML

The video will have both a performance and narrative element and will include all members playing one individual drum. The idea was to have all band members playing the drums scenes with elements of the narrative. The idea behind the narrative is based on a hidden/forbidden love. The dancing will portray two people that are in love but cannot be together. We will be filming against a plain white background and will dress the band in simplistic clothing such as plain shirts and T-shirts and plain black trousers. 

The drumming scenes will be similar to those below.

Audience Profile

Using UK Tribes we have researched who our music video will be targeted at. We believe that Indie Scenesters are the perfect audience to target after researching the things that they are interested in. Here is what we found.


Indie Scenesters


Indie Scenesters are always on the lookout for the newest music exploring online, in record shops, night clubs and through word of mouth to find it. For indie scenesters there priority is to discover new artists and spread the love about them. They have broadened their music tastes as a results of guitar music has seen its rise in electronic-synth based music in the last few years. Its no longer just about indie rock bands such as Vampire Weekend, they have embraced those "experimental, genre-blending bands" like Four Tet. Their approaches have remained the same, it is about championing indeprendant artsists rather than a specific genre, especially before the masseds get in on the act. Potentially having their own music blogs and club nights (or at least dreaming of it), Indie Scenesters are more concerned with building up their vinyl collections than conspicuous consumerism. The sounds of the moment are ever changing, but currently include Youth Lagoon, Beach House, Animal Collective, Kendrick Lamar and John Talabot, as well as old favourites like Caribou and Thom Yorke. Boys and girls are rocking similar looks – skinny jeans, vintage and Converse/Vans. Their high street staples focus around the functional and unisex – Uniqlo, Cheap Mondays and American Apparel.


Other research we have conducted is looking at other tribes and seeing whether we can incorporate some of their interests to widen our audience. Two of which we thought were similar to Indie Scenesters, Those were:




Young Alts


Open-minded and non-judgmental, Young Alts have their eyes and ears open to different genres and scenes – both new and old…


Young Alts are the Tribe for young people who ‘want out’ of the mainstream. It’s an entry-level Tribe, with equal split between the sexes, and members share an inquisitiveness for everything Alternative – from Grunge to Hardcore.


Experimenting with art, music and fashion unites the Young Alts, who are dipping in and out of scenes like there’s no tomorrow. Tribe members are likely to gravitate towards Leading Edge Tribes once they’ve figured out what they’re most interested in, but for the time being Young Alts are happy to get stuck into as much media as they can – from reading Penguin Classics on Kindle, streaming ‘Girls’ on Netflix (even the boys) and checking out the latest music on Spotify. Skater, Emo and Hipster trends are most commonly tried and tested by the Young Alts, it’s about keeping an open mind.


Individuality is key, and tribe members will experiment with looks that will make them stand out from the Townies and Trendies. Music-wise, Young Alts will listen to a wide range – from heritage bands like The Smiths, to Scene Kid favourites Bring Me The Horizon and even the occasional urban sounds like Joey Bada$ and A$AP Rocky.


Scene kids


Their original MySpace hangout may be (almost) gone, but the Scene Kids are here to stay and are thriving on social media…


Inspired by glam rock and its many iterations since the 70s, the Scene Kid style used to be an extravagant twist on skater punk, all Vans and trucker hats. Nowadays Scene Kids are very easy to spot and just as diverse, androgynous and audacious as their glam icons – brightly coloured hair (especially pinks and blues), cartoon t-shirts and hoodies, stacks of multi-coloured bracelets and piercings.


Borrowing from other Tribes comes naturally to the Scene Kids. They take inspiration from the dark make-up of Emos, and even the Blinger trend of false eyelashes and heavy make up. Tribe members are open-minded about sexuality and style, with boy and girl Scene Kids often sporting the same looks and sharing skinny jeans and eyeliners.


Certainly not shrinking violets, the Scene Kids like to be noticed! They made the old MySpace self-shot pose (camera up at an angle with a serious pout) a social media standard, and nowadays they are on every social media site going. You’re not a real Scene Kid unless you keep your Facebook / Twitter / Tumblr / Instagram / Flickr / Keek / YouTube regularly updated. Showing off is obligatory for this Tribe – making YouTube videos to showcase every self-shot photo of every time your hair colour changes is key – and some Scene Kids are lucky enough to have had 500,000+ views of their ‘hair timeline’ videos.


When not busy uploading images, Scene Kids can be found hanging out at gigs – in many areas of the UK these kids dominate the local music scene. Popular Scene bands are Bring Me The Horizon, Brokencyde and All Time Low, but dubstep is also becoming popular with this Tribe – ‘raving’ with the Chavers is fast becoming a favourite pastime.

Chosen Genre

For our genre we have chosen Indie because we both enjoy music from this genre and feel comfortable with the type of music this genre includes. We also have a very distinctive idea and image as to the type of people we would need to include within our video.

Task List

• Submit detailed analysis of music videos (at least 3) including conventions and genre categories e.g. illustration, amplification and disjuncture. (this was set as summer homework). Any students not completing work to be place on intervention list.
• Decide on genre/song of music video 
• Preparation of a 25 word pitch to include: 
• Create mood boards (e.g. animoto)
• Decide on band/artist name and create biography
• Post photos of band members alongside existing bands/ artists as exemplars
• Examples of other texts
• Audience profile and conduct market research (use uktribes.co.uk)
• Set up twitter feed for your fictitious band

The use of bright colours

Less conventional Digipaks