ALT VIDS New vid for back catalogue tracks

I dimly recall posting on this (probably giving Doors and Beatles examples) before, but with minimal web connection for now I'll make do with this addition - glam/sleaze rocker archetypes Motley Crue, of recent biopic The Dirt fame/infamy, have cut a new vid for a track from their debut album (1983?).

Remember, this is essentially what you're doing with your coursework (dependent on track selection)!

https://www.loudersound.com/news/motley-crue-release-new-video-for-their-early-80s-track-take-me-to-the-top

WEBSITE Doors bundle t-shirts and vinyl with Light My Fire re-release

IN THIS POST: Discussion of a heritage (60s/70s) band's use of merchandise and social media; analysis of their website including detailed denotation of the features, with screenshots, and a look at their social media integration and audience interaction (or lack of...).

This isn't The Doors' main website (though that is linked, and everything here IS featured and sold through their website too), but an online retailer that sells their merchandise, and markets this (I came across this via a Facebook update of the official Doors page, screenshot below the line). 

This is a further sign or evidence of the re-emergence of vinyl, plus the centrality of merchandise (especially when touring isn't an option) to monetise music.

below - analysis on assessing target audience (core/primary and secondary) + more images + detailed analysis of their website...

(You) People Are Strange

We considered music video ideas for the track "People are Strange" by The Doors (released as a single in 1967), having first pondered which single shot would best express this track (a dutch or canted angle). 

As you can see from the image on the right (the cover of the album this song was released on) many of your ideas weren't a million miles away from those of the band themselves!

Here's how the track has been described:

According to its Allmusic review, the song "reflects the group's fascination with the theatrical music of European cabaret."^[2] The song is about alienation and being an outsider, and, as the aforementioned review also notices, Jim Morrison may have addressed the song both to the hippie culture, to outsiders in general, and/or to users of drugs such as LSD.^[2] The song came about in early 1967 after guitarist Robby Krieger and a depressed Morrison had walked to the top of Laurel Canyon.^[3] Drummer John Densmore believes that the song was the manifestation of Morrison's "vulnerability".^[3] 

[SOURCE: http://www.answers.com/topic/people-are-strange-1 - this page also contains the lyrics]

The key term there is alienation. This is a key lyrical (so narrative) and visual/conceptual aspect of much music aimed at a youth audience, especially teens.


Lessons from this exercise?

• a core idea can emerge quickly
• you should be able to quickly communicate the core idea of your music video, so a moment of inspiration, subsequently fleshed out and researched, shouldn't be discounted as a possible project!
• we need to be thinking about specific media language when expressing abstract ideas; to explain what we'd see on screen we need some denotative detail
• we wouldn't pick such an old recording, but...
• could look for a more recent cover version, though even then...
• we must search YouTube to check there isn't already a music video for this version too!
• To be clear, you cannot select a track for which there is a recent existing music video, which makes actual singles unlikely, unless they are cover versions released more recently
• I'm quite happy for you to develop any idea you come up with for these weekly tasks into a firm proposal for your own production - so long as it is a contemporary release, and you've ensured it does not have an existing video
• performance can be incorporated into concept/narrative videos, with the band actively performing within the diegetic world you have created, or simply appearing as characters without instruments
• for example, it was suggested that the band might be seen through the windows of various businesses passed by the protagonist
• another idea was that they (or, more likely in this case, specifically the band's singer) could keep appearing in different clothing as different characters while the main protagonist in your fictional concept goes past
• several of you utilised one of the key signifiers of the short film form: a twist ending. Many concept/narrative music videos quite closely match the key characteristics of the short film format: quirky, tweaking reality in some aspect, twist ending, often compressing or skipping any stage of narrative equilibrium
• finally, it was flagged up that many of your ideas would not be out of place in a Michel Gondry or Spike Jonze music video, two directors who have gone on to have quite distinctive feature films released but who made their name with quirky concept/narrative music videos. We will be looking at aspects of their work (plus the band Depeche Mode's videos) to further explore narrative/concept videos in November

 There are a variety of versions of this song to be found; lets start with The Doors' own video. This is something of a proto-video, but contains nice examples of canted angles and video effects to achieve its alienated effect:


There have been many versions of this song recorded. Just some of these follow...

Jonny + Alex's version from summer 2011:


THERE ARE A LOT OF FURTHER VIDEOS BELOW; TO PREVENT THIS POST FROM SLOWING THE WHOLE BLOG FROM LOADING, YOU'LL HAVE TO CLICK BELOW TO SEE THESE

Social Media + Fans: Doors FB e.g.

If digitisation has produced convergence (the blurring of the lines between once distinct forms of media), it has also blurred the line between audience and producer; even fairly new terms such as use-generated content (UGC) and fan-made videos don't quite capture the extent of this. Yes, fans are producing their own mash-ups, re-edits etc for film, TV and music, but what we're also seeing is the official social media presence of many bands, large and small, using fan-published YouTube uploads to encourage interaction with the act/site/page.

Most of you will have 'liked' various bands on Facebook, and presumably observed how this works. If you think about your company blogs - and perhaps, if you've set one up (its still not too late!), your Facebook page - a key traffic-driver; aspect which might encourage people to return, is video content. Here's an example from The Doors and their Facebook updates:

This video wasn't uploaded by the band officially, but is used by the official Facebook page to generate and sustain interest in the band (whose singer died in 1971), an interesting illustration in itself of how the music industry's line on copyright is flexible when it suits them.
The point here is: what have you done to reflect this important contemporary aspect of how acts and record labels reach out to a fan base, including long-defunct acts? Have you used this stratagem to encourage visitors to your blog/site/page - and thus enhanced your prospects of gaining audience feedback? 194 comments for the e.g. above just 12 hours after posting. I've blogged on a similar theme many times - see links for Q4, and recent posts such as that on the Onslaught travel blog.

CONTROVERSY: 10 Most Rebellious TV Rock Performances

SEE ALSO http://musividz.blogspot.com/2011/10/anti-vid-jesus-mary-chain.html

The appeal of the music vid for TV partly lies in the ease with which it can be controlled by the TV producers: it can be bleeped or cut at will, for example. Live performances can, by contrast, be anarchic, from Elvis' 'shocking' pelvis gyrations in the 50s, through The Doors' Light My Fire reference to 'girl we can't get no higher' to Nirvana's debut UK performance where singer Cobain shouted on The Word that his girlfriend was the best, ahem, sexual partner in the world.
You can see a list of 10 egs of (rock) bands not following the rules on a variety of TV shows, including YouTube clips of the performances, at http://loudwire.com/most-rebellious-tv-rock-performances/

I've embedded just one example below: Johnny Rotten refusing to lipsynch on US TV:

GENRE/AUD/NEW MEDIA: Pomo/Hybridity: the Re:Generation project

Here's a project that puts hybridity at the centre, bringing togther 5 DJs with a range of genres (eg dubstep's Skrillex with classic rock band The Doors):

Visit the website at http://www.regenerationmusicproject.com/

You should swiftly notice the Hyundai branding; music + vids are increasingly used for branding exercises which are much more subtle than straight ads. The brand message is that Hyundai is cutting edge, defies barriers and categories; is timeless.

Here's how the Music Guardian reported the story:

Skrillex to reopen the Doors

Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek says the divisive dubstep star will work with the band as part of a new music documentary

• Sean Michaels
• guardian.co.uk, Friday 14 October 2011 10.55 BST
• Article history



Break on through … Skrillex teams up with the Doors




The "most hated man in dubstep" is helping to reopen the Doors. Skrillex will produce "the first new Doors track of the 21st century", according to keyboardist Ray Manzarek, as part of a new documentary.
"Basically, it's a variation on Milestones by Miles Davis," Manzarek told Rolling Stone magazine. "If I do say so myself, sounds fucking great, hot as hell." Forty years after the death of Jim Morrison, Manzarek returned to the studio with Robby Krieger and John Densmore. The Doors had been assigned to work with Skrillex, real name Sonny Moore, as part of the forthcoming documentary RE:GENERATION. "[Sonny] plays his beat, all he had to do was play the one thing," Manzarek said. "I listened to it and I said, 'Holy shit, that's strong.'"
RE:GENERATION is directed by Amir Bar-Lev, who helmed 2007's My Kid Could Paint That and a 2010 documentary on Pat Tillman. Produced in association with the Grammys, it unites artists with unexpected producers: Crystal Method recorded with Martha Reeves, Erykah Badu with Mark Ronson, while Nas and DJ Premier teamed up with the Berklee College of Music Orchestra.
Not every team-up went smoothly. Eectronic act Pretty Lights were sent to Nashville to work with country artists LeAnn Rimes and Ralph Stanley. "When Ralph showed up, I tried to tell him what I wanted to do and his response was, 'I think we'll just do it my way,'" said Pretty Lights' Derek Vincent Smith.
RE:GENERATION will be released to coincide with the 2012 Grammy awards on 12 February.