Parody vs Patiche

 Parody and Pastiche are both types of music videos and are both similar but have small differences, They are both examples of intertextuality. A parody music video is a video that intends to be humorous by exaggerating features of the original video or changing features such as the lyrics. A pastiche video is a music video that imitates or copies features such as techniques, theme, style etc. of the original music video. Though both have small differences and huge similarities they are different but thought as the same. A parody or pastiche is very popular nowadays as it allows anyone the chance to make a video at home and is an example of new digital media spread through technology such as handheld devices, web 2.0 like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, Parody/Pastiche music video are used to promote the artist and make the artist popular.

Teaser video from failed first shoot day

We thought that even if we were to use a new idea we would like to of gained something from our first performance element, so I decided to make a teaser video of The Walls in production of a new album, purely to get back into the editing status and add to a promotion campaign which is one of my specialties. We used the black and white and grainy effect to match the fake tales of San Francisco so we can incorporate a sense of authenticity but incorporate organic music with the instruments and the realistic footage used.

Band Tour Poster

I designed a tour poster for the band. I did this because to promote the band and show they have resources. This could also be used as merchandise as the band could sell signed copies... We stuck to the theme of black and white like the website as it is a similar theme to other indie rock bands such as Catfish & The bottle men

Account of shoot day

We decided to film the music video on a Friday after school as we finished early and the school would be empty so there would be no distractions and we could get it done. Overall, the filming took us around 3 hrs. 

We began filming the intro first. We filmed our media teacher Simon Wood because he has amateur experience in acting and is good at different accents. This was important as we weren't sure how we wanted the TV show presenter to act or sound. We trialled different accents, trying American, Russian and Australian. We wanted to create a 1950's Beatles era feel to it, where the presenter would be on one stage in the studio just in front of a black curtain, and the camera would cut to the other side of the studio where the band will play. We came to the conclusion that the american accent would be the best option. We wanted to create a pastiche rather than a parody and thought the american accent would be more realistic. We also filmed an outro where the presenter says "How 'bout that band!" This was a very common saying on those type of shows in america at the time. We only had to film the intro and outro twice as the presenter already knew what to say and we just had to perfect it.

We then moved into our school theatre which had a stage set up for the school production. We weren't happy with it and so got permission to move the units that makes the stage to change the shape to more of a "live music" feel. This took a while to decide on the best set but we wanted the video to look as similar to a live studio performance as possible. We wanted a small stage either side, so the lead guitarist and bassist were more visible and to create more of a concert feel. We also raised the drums slightly above the main walk way so that the drummer could be more visible behind the lead singer. By raising the drummer even more we had to take health and safety precautions to make sure that the stage was save and had no chance of breaking. As you can see on the right is a lectern. We covered the lectern with black curtains so that in the music video - which was going to be black and white anyway - it would blend in to the black curtains at the back. 

Luckily, we had the use of the tech box so we could use lighting and spotlights on the band. We had two options on how to film the song. We could either film many individual shots which would get confusing as we would forget where we were up to in the song. Or we could film the performance the whole way through from start to finish, at a number of different angles and then make sub-clips when editing. We decided to do both! We filmed the whole song with the performance around 6-7 times from different areas with different amounts of zoom e.g a wide shot, a close up of the lead singer, and close up of drummer. After that there were certain specific shots that we wanted to include in the music video such as capturing the vibrations of the bass drum and close up shots of the bassist and lead guitarist so we filmed them as well. 

All the changes to our idea

Firstly, we decided to once again change the narrative of our music video. There are a number of reasons for this. When thinking about all the narrative elements that needed filming we came to terms with the idea that some of the elements would be practically too difficult to film on no budget. Therefore, we decided to change to a pastiche of the 50s and 60s. We liked the idea of a parody or pastiche similar to the 'Weezer - Buddy Holly" video and the lead singer dreaming of them being seen on TV. The lead singer will be sitting in a dark empty flat, sitting on the floor. The room will be empty. Just him and a TV. The light from the tv will light his face. On the TV he will be watching an 50s related american music show. The camera will zoom into the TV where the band will be introduced and play a live gig. Mid way through the camera will cut to individuals band members doing different activities and after that activity they look to a tv and see the band playing on the tv.

We wanted to use a more up beat, pacy song to create more of a 50s rock and roll feel. We decided to change to Miss Alissa by the Eagles of Death Metal. The vocals in the song are perfect for what we are looking for. However, we are not changing the star image of the band as this one music video is a pastiche the 50s. The rest of the album, the band will still be indie rock. 

Completed Digipack

 Here is my finished digi pak design, which I created using Photoshop. For the front cover, I decided to use the wide shot of our band so it gives the audience an insight of the type of band we are. It gives us a sense of individuality and presents us an organic band. The clothes we are wearing are not of any specific interest as we are classified as an indie organic rock band so we like to connect with our audience by making as look like normal everyday citizens.We decided to take a picture of us performing different poses to again accentuate the idea of being individual but as well to cohere with the Ramones album. I chose the colours as it links back to Primate but it also adds an authentic look that gives it its difference towards other indie albums, as if the past is being re-invented into the future. Also the Ramones, Stone Roses and the 2000's The Strokes, also use black & white within their covers and photo shoots. The name Walls also gives it a mysterious/conspiracy feel as we could be portraying many different things relating to the characteristics of a wall. It raises questions such as... 'What is on the other side? When will it end?'. Hence why I named one of the songs 'Jaded' as it means being bored, therefore our audience may think that it represents the simplicity of a dull wall or dead end in which we make it sound more interesting as it is such a broad idea.

We used this type of font (Floydian) because it was the closest to getting it to look like it was embedded into the wall as if we had painted it on. I positioned it behind our heads and slightly erased some of it so it would look a little more realistic because it would of been illegal to paint on the wall.

Our website link

www.deanandalexmusic.wix.com/thewalls