ARTIST CASE STUDY: THE PIXIES archetypal Indie

Accompanying the lyric 'half asleep with a loaded gun' (Silver Snail) - there are few more inventive, inspiring, and downright stunning videos out there than The Pixies' collection, especially their videos since 2013

there is an embedded YouTube playlist of ALL videos covered at the bottom of this post

Glamourpusses!

IN THIS POST: I embed and briefly discuss the music videos of The Pixies, an archetypal Indie or alternative rock band that date back to the late 80s and are still going strong, with a strikingly different set of videos since 2013. Their antagonism towards playing the promotional game, ironically, made them a key influence on a generation of video-makers. They initially refused to produce any videos then produced some challenging videos that consciously broke many of the most basic conventions of the format. No research into the conventions of music video as a format would be complete without some reference to this lot. The cinematography and use of colour (even the brilliant use of the generally cliched slo-mo tool) in their recent videos is simply STUNNING.

WHO ARE THEY?
The Pixies are a seminal alternative rock (Indie) band who remain a key influence today, both for their music and their highly distinctive music videos. In the UK they're signed to 4AD, part of the Beggars consortium (Indie labels often join forces in co-ops to cut marketing costs and to get better distribution deals, economies of scale etc) - see wiki and this Guardian article on its iconic status. Their music fused Latin influences with rock; a bossa nova, 50s rock sound with a hard edge and dark, literary lyrical themes.

DESCRIBE THEIR BRAND
Key to understanding the Pixies is their sense of coming from humble working class backgrounds in Boston; they did not need to see themselves as a glamorous band and this is reflected in their videos. In a word, authenticity is the hallmark of their branding - this is not a band who would indulge in the fakery most bands will accept in order to maximixe their media exposure and record sales. Their everyday clothing, in contrast to the extravagance of bands like KISS and Bon Jovi that dominated much of the 80s, would bring back a vaguely punk aesthetic to the rock world, with the likes of Kurt Cobain reflecting the Pixies' look. They were edgy too - some of their lyrical themes are very dark indeed, though often based in classic literature, and were prepared to play with basic song structure too.

THE WILL TO BE WEIRD: THE ULTRA SLO-MO SINGLE-TAKE VELOURIA

Yes, a shocker in some regards, but an uber risque effort, and commercial suicide in others. Or, simply: inspirational! Why don't you take on such an idea as an extra (not a main) production? There are several mainstream examples of such alternative, additional videos alongside the main production.

Their videos stand almost as anti-videos, an apparent refusal to play the promotional game:

As "Velouria" (their first single from Bossanova) was climbing up the UK Top 40, the band was offered a spot on Top of the Pops. However, a BBC rule stated only singles with videos could be performed on the show. To counter this a cheap video was made, with the band being filmed running down a quarry.^[105]In the video, twenty-three seconds of footage (the time needed for the band members to reach the camera) is slowed in order to last for the duration of the song.^[106] However, the effort in filming the video was in vain; the Pixies did not play "Velouria" on Top of The Pops while the single was in the charts.^[107] [Wiki]

DANCE EG: 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor (1996)

(Click pic to enlarge) These screenshots provide a sense of this act's approach

2 Brothers on the 4^th Floor -

Come Take My Hand.

Dir: Arcade Creative, 1996.

Eurodance/Happy hardcore (Dutch).

Lyrics. Wiki. Videography (eurokdj.com), YT Channel.

NB: Dance music is a genre I have some familiarity with, but lack a broad enough knowledge to be picking up on intertextual links with other dance vids; if you spot any, let me know via a comment below. At the end of this post I've also added a couple of pointers on how to go about blogging on a single track.

SUMMARY OF KEY FEATURES: 

1ST SHOT contains many key characteristics of the vid

• CGI is very evident; very sophisticated at points, fairly simplistic (intentionally low-tech/non-realism?) at others.
• Playful, surreal and offbeat (visual at times) humour, with characters that could be in a David Lynch movie; there is no coherent narrative (beyond getting off a bus, walking, and re-boarding). Pomo playfulness, aka deconstructionism, is evident, eg revealing the daft fake moustache.
• Interesting gender countertypes with the male a mostly decorative, passive presence; also notable that overt sexuality (clothing, framing/shot selection, dance moves) largely absent.
• Cinematography has an Anton Corbijn feel: monochrome with occasionally oblique angles and framing. Panning and tracking are common, but vertical movement is limited, with smooth, steadicam action (and no zooms). Also signifiers of Soviet realism through lighting, framing, angle, subject choice and facial expression?
• Editing pace isn’t frantic but still zips along, with no take more than a few seconds, and increased pace/cutting to the beat for only short periods in the track. Cross-fades are common.
• Diegetic intro and outro.
• Lipsynched MCU 2-shots are dominant, but there is considerable cross-cutting between these and non-lipsynched 2-shots, plus other characters and even CGI creatures and a vortex; successful in shot variety terms despite the simplicity of the setup.

1ST SHOT (see screenshot above):

Diegetic intro: ELS of bus, rapid editing (ellipsis to ensure this isn’t a slow start) + good shot variety; beach setting; narrative enigma: where is this/who’s getting off bus?; surrealism – bus on beach!; monochrome/B+W

IGS LipDub Challenge

I've been asked to help plan an IGS LipDub for next month; below is an example that became a huge online hit after TV reports on the BBC One Show + NI news...

The idea is to shoot a one-shot vid where the camera travels round the school, and most of the school appear, lipsynching a line/performing.

Any thoughts on track choice (in this case, longer is better) or anything else would be welcome...

Oddball Beatles lip sync

Noticed this from browsing the Media Guardian site just now (article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2010/dec/05/youtube-norway); it speaks for itself...


Nearly as odd:

Coursework Pitches

This is homework for Monday 22nd November. We may still be finishing up on the lip-sync practice, but should be ready to deliver these for the 22nd.

See the earlier post for more on the practice of pitching.

By now we've looked at a wide range of music videos from different artists, eras, directors and genres. We need now to start planning our actual productions, the 1st step being coming up with and pitching an idea.
I cannot stress enough how important it is you make every effort to create a convincing pitch no matter how much you may have been discussing one particular track/idea with a classmate. If your pitch is considered to be unconcvincing, you will be asked to re-do it until you have presented a pitch which can compete with the others presented.

If your pitch does persuade others to follow your idea, you've set yourself up as director within the production team, and should take a leading role in the key creative decisions that emerge. A producer, to deal with logistics; cinematographer, to lead on shot selection and filming (and perhaps mise-en-scene); and an editor are other key roles that can be divided up.

I will consider groups of 4 given the amount of work involved in creating a convincing music video - think roughly double the number of shots you took for your AS productions! - but only if individual roles and responsibilities are clearly defined so that individual contributions are clear, evident and easy to track.

Once we're through the pitches and have formed groups, further research and planning can be much more tightly focussed on genre/s, specific bands, directors and styles (see the blog entry on The Pixies for examples of the minimalist approach for instance). You will be issued with a detailed A2 Coursework Guide on Monday 29th Nov which sets out a list of possible blog posts. Central to your Research and Planning, as with your AS work, is the need to be able to explore how your creation uses the codes and conventions of real media texts, including a firm grasp of the institutional contexts of production, the impact of new media and digitisation on the industry (production, distribution and exhibition), and the blurring of the lines between 'UGC' and professional productions, as well as the media language used.

As has been flagged up, I highly recommend the Money For Nothing book on the history of the music vid, which also contains a lot of useful analysis (plus very many specific examples you wouldn't otherwise be aware of) of trends, styles and movements within the format.

Some guidelines for your pitch:

• you have just 90secs to pitch in
• up to 3 mins will then be allowed for Q+A (we want to fit all in to enable time for decisions to be made, though decisions can be deferred if more time is needed - I'll film your pitches and hopefully upload to YouTube that evening)
• track should be short-ish! The longer the track, the more filming/editing required
• there cannot be any swearing or strong sexual references
• you must have considered the core and secondary audiences you are targeting
• location is often key - can you gain access to the location/s you have in mind?
• try and scout these out in advance and provide imagery to illustrate
• comparability: which existing vids can you compare your idea to? (helps your audience to get a handle on what you're thinking of) Whether its a film or music video pitch, its always crucial to make some comparisons
• go multimedia: have you got an mp4/mpg you can use alongside your basic pitch? perhaps you can use the annotation tools available within YouTube when you upload a video?
• you could be ambitious and incorporate an animatic (frames from a storyboard uploaded to film, with you commenting over these)
• don't discount the various ideas you pitched for Cars, People are Strange etc - many of these were quite excellent and would work brilliantly as actual videos
• as you're preparing your pitch, keep asking yourself if your planned content will help persuade a sceptical audience to want to work on your idea
• try to anticipate questions
• you could try to engage and draw in your audience with a question of your own!
• read over the marking criteria in advance; you could flag up how your idea will hit all the points covered in the mark scheme
• be concise
• be precise
• employ media language!!!

LipSync Practice Pitch

This is homework for Monday 15th November.

Your challenge is to pick a track, without strong language or strong sexual references; think up a concept or narrative approach that can be shot in and around school; and pitch your vision to the class.
You have just 60secs in which to pitch, which includes any snippets of the track you wish to play - we do need to hear some of it for your pitch to make any sense!
Depending on your own views, each class will pick either one or two of these to film, which we'll look to do in lesson time. Your idea must be achievable!
Whichever pitches are successful, everyone will deliver some lines to camera to gain some lip-sync practice (even if you personally won't appear in your own actual video its vital you can empathise with the challenges your performers will face, and can provide clear direction to help), so no matter how abstract your idea, make sure it does incorporate some singing to camera! (and yes, that does mean instrumentals are ruled out)

(A 'pitch' is an occasion when producers briefly summarize their proposal to busy executives (sometimes to the band themselves), in the hope of winning a commission/the contract for producing the video. It is always a sales pitch!)

Read more on pitching: hubpages.com guide; actor Peter Capaldi; wiki; ehow.com.   

You can also see some examples from Latymer students doing just this here.

Most of you will be familiar with The Apprentice, which seems to feature a bunch of cretins proving how awful they are at business and dealing with human beings. Each week they have to pitch to sell some product ... and thats exactly what you're doing: selling your idea. Here's an example from The Apprentice:


And here's a satire on pitching - NB: contains some strong language