EH - Similar Product Research 3

Solo Task - Emma Hall 9162

 The Paper Kites “Bloom”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8inJtTG_DuU

This video’s purpose for an audience would mainly be for entertainment but some may find a sense of personal identity from the distinctive style used in the costuming, locations and music. Also they could find this by identifying with how their gender is being represented, as both are present in this video, giving it a wide appeal. There is a slight conceptual aspect to this video, with the notion of two people finding each other, which requires an active audience, as the video’s meaning could be read differently by different people. The video begins with a fade up from black, which will become a common feature of this video, and matches the gentleness of the song, which starts similarly quiet. The shot is an extreme close up of tins cans strung from a tree, gently swinging in the breeze, and moves slowly in and out of focus, creating a hazy atmosphere, as we match cut to other angles of the cans which show the bright sun behind, low in the sky, setting the video in the morning, explaining the slow, just waking up feeling created. This video is mainly narrative based, with a small performance element that is hinted at to begin with but then builds in the middle, before dissipating at the end. Initially, there are only brief snippets such as an extreme close up of a banjo being picked up out of the grass, and the plucking of strings to match the instrumental opening to the song, which builds an air of mystery and enchantment that runs through the whole video.

A fade to black as the music stops briefly marks the start of the main narrative, as we see a high angle close up of a girl laid down in the grass, opening her eyes, before fading back to black, which gives the feeling of just waking up, and blinking as your eyes adjust to the light, placing the viewer in the girls place. Another close up shows the girl sitting up into, before cutting to a side angle of her noticing a tin can on the ground and then slowly picking it up. This is all done with a long average shot length and slow movements by the girl that feel like the slow sluggishness of the morning. Each shot also reveals more of the girl, and what she is wearing. The initial close up highlights her wide eyes, clearly defined by makeup, that look straight into the camera, in a way that is clearly intended for the male gaze. The next shot reveals her sleek hair, which is simple but nevertheless endearingly pretty, before the side view shows her simple yet feminine, white dress, a symbolic sign with connotations of innocence and purity. Her natural location can also be seen and links her to a Mother Nature type figure.

The screen fades to black once more in time for the next verse, which signals a change of perspective, as we start the parallel editing that this video is based around. We see a similar sequence of shots as before, but this time with a man waking, and picking up a can to listen. This parallel is encoded (according to Stuart Hall) into the video for audiences to decode as the two are romantically linked, an association made by assuming the two cans connect to each other, and because of years of watching how film and TV media characterise romantic love. The man is wearing a plaid shirt and has a rough beard, which is a typical representation of the folk genre and a convention followed by many of the videos I have looked at. Unlike the girl, he is not made up to look particularly striking, but instead looks more like an interpretation of the ‘average man’, which suggests the video is aiming slightly more towards a male audience. This seems to fit with what Rayner says about representations being “the process by which the media present the ‘real world’”. His location, while still in the countryside, as made clear by a ground level shot that foregrounds grass stems in front of the scene, is slightly more rustic, and manmade. An old barn is featured, along with decaying wood and rusty metal, that link the man to a background of labour, industry and other stereotypical male endeavours, while the girl is surrounded by the beauty of the natural world. This video portrays the man and woman as equal partners, for they share the same screen-time, and are shown to each bring a different element with them (nature/beauty or manufacture/industry). While the respective qualities of each gender are quite old-fashioned and stereotypical, the insinuation that they are both as essential and important is quite modern.

A fade to black is again used as a device to change perspective back to the girl, as they both follow the string attached to the tin can, as the chorus begins with the lyrics “Can I be close to you”, which accompany point of view tracking shots that follow the girl on her journey. There are also a lot of close ups used of the string, and recurring ground level shots of feet walking across various terrain, which emphasis the idea of travelling so the two are closer together. This link between lyrics and visuals is part of Goodwin’s conventions of music videos, along with the link between the gently, slow music and the softness of the shot transitions. The genre of folk music also fits, with the plaid shirts and close-ups of acoustic guitars and the countryside setting being very typical. The band’s faces however are not seen as much individually but a specific shot is used later to fill the record label’s quota in one sweeping arc shot around each band member. The girl meanwhile, though clearly chosen as an attraction for male viewers, is presented in an innocent and sweet way, rather than being voyeuristic.

The main body of the song is taken up intercutting between the man’s journey, the girl’s and a gradually increasing number of shots of the artists playing, which show more and more of their faces. The parallels between the couple also continue, with one specific shot repeated in each case, where the string stretches across the length of the screen, leading the viewer’s eye and the character forward, giving a feeling of the journey moving ever onwards. The characters themselves are quite small in the frame, allowing each location to stand out, to reinforce the difference between the two. As the song again builds to the chorus, another fade to black is used to open the aforementioned long arc shot that gives the first, and only, proper look at each member of the band in full. The camera moves around a tree, with the band members sat at its base playing their instruments to the camera, beginning and ending with the lead singer to emphasise his status. They too are wearing clothes that fit the folk genre so much that I’d be inclined to agree with John Hartley’s idea that genres “limit the meaning” in this case. This video does not push any conventions, and remains safely within the realms of the well-trod folk path, with singers sat around a tree, a pro-nature message from the location and a general love story. However, I think the simplicity of the video is appropriate for the gentleness and sweetness of the song, which wouldn’t suit a ground-breaking, convention-defying video.

The narrative of this music video has a very distinctive beginning, middle and end and follows with Todorov’s idea of equillibrium-disruption-new equillibrium. The three sections of this music video are three times of day. It begins in the morning, as clearly indicated by the low sun, and the characters’ waking. The middle section is the journey, which appears to take up the main portion of the day, as when the song begins to wind down towards the end, we have a fade to black that reveals an extreme long shot, with the sun very low in the sky, which is pinky-orange that appears to be evening. This shot is where the intertextuality comes through most strong in this video, as the couple are sillohuetted against the sun, at opposite corners of the screen, walking towards each other, in a sequance reminiscent of many movie reunions. The camera tilts up from the man’s hands on the string for his reaction shot to seeing the girl, who then does likewise. The rosy lighting of this scene emphasises the romantic atmosphere, before they finally share the same shot, walking together down the centre of the screen, with the camera tracking them as they start to run, a sure indication of the song crescendoing to a finish. Another ground level shot shows their feet running together, and builds the mystery that the video was founded upon, by delaying the reveal of what the string leads to. One last fade to black places the viewer completely in the couple’s point of view as the camera tilts to follow the couples’ head looking up from the rope to the large tree, looking very majestic, sillohuetted against the evening sun, despit having no leaves. We then cut to a banjo left against the tree, with tin cans still swaying in the background, bringing the video back around in a loop to its beginning, at a new equillibrium. The music fades out to leave the ambient sound of birds and gentle wind, to give a peaceful conclusion to a very peaceful video, which fades out into black once more.

I like the way this video incorporates the performance aspects into the narrative at the end, to stop the video becoming two separate stories, which I will have to avoid doing in my music video. I also like the way male and female are represented as equal in this, and the costumes and makeup of both here are very good examples of the conventions for indie-folk videos, which my video will have to consider and take into account. The tone of the video is also quite sweet, which I think suits the acoustic sound of this genre of music, and so is the kind of atmosphere I should try to create also in my work.

'Bloom' was the first single released by the band when they were still undiscovered, coming up with the concept for the video themselves, and releasing it onto their YouTube Channel. The music began to get media attention through social media and word of mouth, as people saw the video online. However, the band were making the single's CD by hand, making around 500 copies to give out to audiences at their concerts. However after the success of 'Bloom', they managed to release a complete album with record company Nettwork. This is a good example of the modernisation of the music industry, as social media plays a much larger role in spreading the word about music, and getting a band noticed, and is something I should definitely keep in mind when thinking about my music video's promotion. Their latest albums now are advertised alongside other YouTube videos in little ads that link the user to iTunes where they can buy it.