The Kooks Music Video

Watching The Kooks ‘Sway’ has showed me how the band technically construct their music videos.

1)By opening the video with a reasonably long still shot of a beach the mood and scene for the rest of the video is set.

2) Emphasis is particularly put on lead singer, Luke Pritchard.

3) Other shots of importance appear to be close ups of faces to bring through emotions.

4) The fast cuts contrast with the slow beat yet make the video flow well as they are in sync with the track and the facial expressions of the band.

5) Towards the end the (approx 10 secs ) shot of Luke walking whilst singing the songs chorus whilst debris falls down around him brings forwards the meaning of the lyrics.

Ideas We Found From Other Music Videos

PARACHUTE - THE MESS I MADE

Although this isn't something overly effective or difficult we like the idea of extreme close up
of the lead singer to convey the emotions of the lyrics.

KINGS OF LEON - USE SOMEBODY

As The Kooks are of a borderline similar genre and 'Use Somebody' is of a similar tone to 'Sway' we liked the idea of included a birdeye view of a lit up city. It would obviously be on a smaller scale to this one but the idea of using lights as part of our video is one we got from this:

Song Choices

A laid back acoustic song that would be effective as we could use features of narrative for example flashbacks. The lyrics are meaningfull and would give us alot of filming options. Although it isn't one of there most popular songs, it could work well.

Complete contrast with 'Sway', 'Naive' is arguably The Kooks most recognisable song and we felt that the up beat melody would enable us to create a feel good video to compliment the song. The band are a good band to choose because they are in the mainstream but still remain in the indie genre.

The Kooks

We have chosen The Kooks as we wanted a band from the UK because we thought we
could make a video more effectively if it is set in the place the band is from. Not only are we very familiar with the bands work but the lyrics are very simple to comvey through narrative.

Kerrang

Kerrang was primarily a magazine for rock and heavy metal fans.


In 2000 it launched Kerrang radio followed by a music channel and online forum in 2001


Followed by a Kerrang tour in 2004.


Kerrang is a good example of a company who are using differant outlets to target audiences of differant ages.

My Space

Websites such as Myspace let audiences watch videos and listen to music. It helps to lauch unsigned artists and promote signed musicians at the same time. Younger users in particular find the site appealing because they can brown music by genre such as 'hip hop' or 'classical'.
The number of hits per page on Myspace indicate what's popular to record companies.
There is also an interactive feature in that you can contact an artist or leave feedback on the forums. In 2002 it was launched as a social network sight but since the music aspect of the website has overshadowed the personal use. So much so that Myspace Records has been launched. It is basically Myspaces own record label for unsigned talent that has been popular on the site.

An example of the playlists avaliable for fans:

Other Indie Bands

ARCTIC MONKEYS
Arctic Monkeys were already massive way before they inked a deal with Domino in June 2005 with sell out tours, masses of fans subscribes to their blog and dedicated fans who knew there lyrics to famous hits such as 'Teddy Picker' word for word. They have became one of the U.K.'s biggest bands of the 21st century and are of course the most popular indie-rock band.



THE STROKES
The Strokes are one of the few indie-rock bands from America that have been just as popular in the UK, the five piece have had international success. Ever since their debut in 2001 they have gone from strength to strengh with a mix of speed percussion, guitars and relatable lyrics.



THE LIBERTINES

Starting off with one aim 'to be the best band in the world' back in 1996 The Libertines showed the public a much more rebellious side to indie rock. Even though they didn't have chart success the bands controversial front man Pete Doherty managed to attract flocks of fans to intimate gigs around the UK.