My Song Choice and its Lyrics

I am currently waiting for a reply from Warner Music Group, however if they get back to me and there is no copyright issues, the song I would choose to appear in my final project/music video is a song that I have previously analysed - Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams. However I have tried several times to contact Warner Music Group and various people it employs.

Looking at the exam boards requirements, it states that there is no need to obtain permission as long as the student has tried to get in contact with the music company. I originally E-mailed the man who sent me the link to the request form on the 9th of October and instantly got a reply.

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"Boulevard Of Broken Dreams"

I walk a lonely road

The only one that I have ever known

Don't know where it goes

But it's home to me and I walk alone

I walk this empty street

On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Where the city sleeps

And I'm the only one and I walk alone

I walk alone

I walk alone

I walk alone

I walk a...

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me

My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating

Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me

'Til then I walk alone

Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, aaah-ah,

Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah

I'm walking down the line

That divides me somewhere in my mind

On the border line

Of the edge and where I walk alone

Read between the lines

What's fucked up and everything's alright

Check my vital signs

To know I'm still alive and I walk alone

I walk alone

I walk alone

I walk alone

I walk a...

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me

My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating

Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me

'Til then I walk alone

Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, aaah-ah

Ah-ah, ah-ah

I walk alone

I walk a...

I walk this empty street

On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Where the city sleeps

And I'm the only one and I walk a...

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me

My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating

Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me

'Til then I walk alone...

 

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Brief History of the Band

• Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt
• Their big breakthrough happened between the years of 1994 when the producer of Reprise Records (Rob Cavello) signed them on, and soon after their debut album 'Dookie' was released, 3 of the songs that featured on it instantly went to #1 
• They are one of the world's best-selling bands of all time, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide
• The group has won five Grammy Awards: Best Alternative Album for 'Dookie', Best Rock Album for 'American Idiot', Record of the Year for 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' and Best Rock Album for '21st Century Breakdown'

Awards

• The band has won a total of 94 awards whilst being nominated for a total of 215 (lost out 121 times)
• Their first award was presented in 1994
• They've won every award they have ever been nominated for at the California Music awards (18 times)
• The majority of the awards they have won have been won by the group as a whole for their performance, instead of individual songwriters, etc.

Band Name

 

These are various names I have come up with that could have been the name of the band that will appear in my final project/music video:

 

 

After eliminating the ones that didn't particularly sound right for my genre of music (Punk Rock) I was left with Ceres, Back to the Light and Onyx, and after determining which one I preferred, I arrived at the conclusion that Onyx would be the name whilst merging it with the font I used for Ceres...

 

I used the website 'Cool Text' to generate the image. The form of text was called 'Lasers', and the font is called 'BatmanForever'.

Music Magazine

 

You're Gonna Go Far Kid

 

 

The music video I'm going to look at that can be associated with my Youth Sub-Culture presentation is The Offspring's 'You're Gonna Go Far Kid'. Unlike the 4 music videos I previously analysed on this blog where I applied Andrew Goodwin's and Joe Gow's concepts to the videos. For this one I will be looking at the codes and conventions of the piece.

 

Props:                                                                                                                         The main prop that the music video director has decided to focus on is an acoustic guitar. This is rather strange given that the song is actually performed on electric guitars. At the beginning of the music video, the star can be seen cutting things down and out of his way with a scythe. Indicating he is on a path of destruction before the lady hands him a guitar which turns out to be his saviour. After he is handed said guitar he is never seen in any shot without it until it is taken off him at the end, the star even clutches it tightly when travelling through a dodgy looking neighbourhood. Implying that he fears without the instrument he will lose all respect that has been gained from various people.

 

Costume:

At the beginning of the video, the man's costume conveys the man as being poor or and/or irrelevant to society. As the song progresses, the guitarists clothing gets more formal as he gets increasingly recognised for his skill. The different audiences he performs to dress as if they are in different places on the socio-demographic model, because when he gets richer, the onlookers appear to become better dressed as well.

Stock Characters:

There are only 2 stock characters in 'You're Gonna Go Far Kid'. There is the guitar player and the woman that appears to be an angel. Through the entirety of the video, it appears that it is the male is in control, however going against stereotypes, the woman has the true source of dominance in the video as she possesses the ability to take away everything that made the guitarist so important.

Stock Events:

The primary stock event of the video is a man finds fame through learning how to play the guitar. It turns out that everyone seems to love his music, and it is because of this that he starts to become increasingly egotistical.Over the music video we have seen the man progress from bringing other people joy for the fun of it to expecting riches for the music he makes. The woman takes away the guitar from him because he abused his power too much. After this he gets taken away from the social gathering as he now has nothing to offer the people.

SFX:

In this shot we see the star of the video surrounded by darkness. The guitar is acting as a beacon of light, and of happiness and hope. The people in the background start to surround the guitarist as if they want to listen to the music in order to be happy. This shot in particular connotes that in even the darkest of times, music does not fail to bring joy to those playing it and the onlookers that are merely listening.

Lighting:

In the early stages of the music video when the star is playing his guitar as he walks through the town, the lighting is very dim. This darkness personifies fear, treachery, and terror of the unknown. When the video gets to the stage where the guitarist has found fame, the lighting has gradually gone from dim to bright. It is generally understood that light stands for purity, hope, and new beginnings and from what the video suggests the star has all 3 of these things.



Youth Sub-Culture Presentation

 

 

Stop Motion Animation

Another project that I had to undertake was a stop motion production. Much like my first transition project I was put into a group with 2 fellow media students. The task involved us picking two objects which would be the main focus of the clip, and we would then move them into various positions to construct a story. My group chose a T-Rex and a 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle' with which we would create a series of events, and we would use a Samsung Galaxy 3 to film these events.

This project has given me the option of using the stop motion effect in my music video. Although I don't believe I will use this type of effect for my final product, it is good that I have at least obtained the skills so that if I change my mind, I still have the option.