Music Video Task 1 - Video Seven

WOODKID – IRON

 

 

Even though I love the song – there’s something about this music video that gives me the goosebumps - in a good way plus I thought the Assassin's Creed: Revelations trailer was brilliant with this track and it made me want to get the song right away and see if there was a music video that goes with it. Apparently according to research - I wasn't the only one.

 

 

BACKGROUND

Woodkid, also known as Yoann Lemoine, a twentysomething, multi-awarded illustrator-turned-director which probably helps him a great deal since he writes music in a very cinematic style. From The Shoes Wastin’ Time, to Yelle, Moby, Mystery Jets, Katy Perry or more recently Lana Del Rey Born To Die and Blue Jeans, and even Drake featuring Rihanna in Take Care. But without neglecting his activity as a director, Woodkid decided to devote himself to make his own music and his own music videos.

Woodkid’s IRON music video seems at once surprising and classic in the way it mixes imagery and music. Featuring model Agyness Deyn, Willy Cartier (also a model), Ross Tanner (another model), Matvey Lykov (and another model), Florian N Goy, Michel Ribal, Damien Leroy as a cast of well-honed heroic types, it has a highly stylised action fantasy in monochrome, beautifully photographed by Mathieu Plainfosse.

 

This music video is filled with epic appearance and style with continually stunning imagery and a devastating climax add up to a major league labour of love.

 

His song “Iron” was in the French music charts in 2011 entering #53 but the music video was seen by 16 million well-earned views on YouTube to date.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROMOTIONAL TOOL

 

The thing that really shows off the music video is the theme, it’s sets in a sort of fantasy realm where battle is about to begin and you see the characters before they go to war. It’s almost like the video is telling a story as it involves a sleeping boy with a crown of leaves like he’s a prince and the cast is going to war to rescue him.

 

Here is what he said in a interview about what he was trying to creating when making “Iron”: I’ve had an image in my head for this project for a long time, I wanted to make a statement about heroic fantasy, not in a kitschy, elf and trolls way, but to explore what Tolkien, Final Fantasy, and Matthew Barney did. How you create a world with social codes, in a documentary sort of way, with specific imagery, dogmas, political parties, currency, dresscodes, ethnic groups, races, geography… How you recreate these codes in a parallel world. And how to do this in a way that is less cheesy than we are used to seeing in heroic fantasy, more intellectual…”

 

What creates more drama to this music video is the black and white contrast that builds the music even more into the video in a drama sense. Threais appeals greatly to those who love movies with a great meaning and that not everything has to be explained with words.

 

 

 

SYNERGY

 

Here is a quote from an interview from a website about the material theme that goes on in this video: “The project is always evolving, but I really like attention to textures, I made a film once on the texture of rocks, in IRON there is a lot of marble, black smoke. I love looking at textures and the emotions they create. The colour, the complexity, what they evoke, mystical and dark things.

 

The keys sign that shows up all the time in the video is actually tattoo that Woodkid has in real life; one each on both forearms a creating a cross when you put them together. It creates a signature mark for the music video and who creates it. It's also a bit like a "This is mine don't copyright it!" sort of thing as well.

 

The song was featured in a trailer for a famous video game, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations in 2011 (one of my favourite video games). It was because of that is the reason that Woodkid quickly became famous over the Internet and his music video was seen by millions and he is now currently working on his album Golden Age which is to be released in 2013.

 

 

 

While researching I found on a website(www.songmeanings.net) which not only show the lyrics to the song but what people thought the meaning of the song was – here is one comment that explains their thoughts about the meaning of the song and the music video:

 

General Comment:

 

Here's what I've found and shockingly it all makes sense:


0:03. Two Keys. Secret knowledge.

0:12. A lighted match. Revelation.

0:17. In anticipation of the terrible.

0:26.A guy with two tattoos. The Masonic organisation in the United States - Wolf's head.

0:36. Transvestite with an owl - Bohemian Grove

0:38. The guy with the book - the Catholic Church.

0:40. Sleeping boy on the altar - the future or new messiah

0:46. Barbarian on horseback - Russian masons

0:54. The guy with the torch - The Illuminati

1:40. A rain of ashes. Invasion ...

2:05. A guy with a big knife. Islamic secret societies.

2:07. East warrior with a hatchet - Masonic organisation Green Dragon

2:21. Triangular gate - closed the gates of heaven, the hidden truth

2:46. The fall of meteorites - probably an alien invasion or global catastrophe

3:39. The meeting place of all secret societies


If you haven't heard of these societies or the Bohemian Grove, google them.

On another note, this song was used in an Assassin's Creed trailer. Assassin's Creed games are clearly against the Illuminati and the NWO.

I'm fairly sure this clip is some kind of prophecy for the near future.

Grimwing on January 22, 2012

 

 

FAN REACTION/CRITICS RECEPTION

 

 

The music video has inspired "A Soldier On My Own", a French couture brand Dior Homme's Fall-Winter 2013 collection which is named after the lyrics on the song. The song itself is used as the soundtrack of the show.

 

 

 

 

Here are some of the fan comments on YouTube, there are the good, the bad and some who don’t at all understand what the story of the music video:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

AVAILABILITY

 

It can be viewed online: YouTube – and it’s pretty much it being online on YouTube made the video famous.

Other websites that can show the music video are: clip.dj, musicvideo.sk (mostly a link from YouTube) and where you can find it as it's online. There is currently no information about the music video being on DVD at this present time, you can get the music however from iTunes and Amazon.

 

In case you haven't yet seen the video, here is a YouTube video link:

Like most film there are sequels - this music video has one called Run Boy Run which currently the song on o2 adverts (blue circle, the one with Paula Radcliffe)

 

 

 



Music Video Task 1 - Video Six

SPICE GIRLS – WANNABE

 

 

They have to be THE girl band and I loved the band when I was younger and I still listen to a few of their songs today.

 

 

BACKGROUND

Wannabe is the debut song by British pop group Spice Girls. It was written by the group members with Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard during the group's first professional songwriting session. It was produced by Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard for the group's debut album Spice which was released back in November 1996.

The music video was directed by Jhoan Camitz and he was hired on recommendation because of his commercials for Volkswagen, Diesel, and Nike. His original idea for the music video was a one-take shoot of the group arriving at an exotic building in Barcelona, taking over the place, and running a riot which is the same way they did when they were looking for a manager and a record company. A few days before the shoot on 19 April 1996, Jhoan Camitz was unable to get permission to use the building, and the shoot was relocated to the Midland Grand Hotel in St Pancras, London.

The video won Best Dance Video at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards and Best Video at the 1997 Comet Media Awards. It was also nominated for Best British Video at the 1997 BRIT Awards, and was ranked at number forty-one in the Top 100 Pop Videos of all time by Channel 4.

SYNERGY

"Wannabe" is an uptempo pop song that incorporates a mix of hip-hop, rap, and dance music.

The lyrics, which address the value of female friendship over the heterosexual bond, became an iconic symbol of female empowerment and the most emblematic song of the group's Girl Power philosophy.

The video features the group running, singing, dancing, and creating mischief at an eccentric bohemian party. Gatecrashing a party can be a common thing when it comes to parties especially if they filled with celebrities.

Among their antics of foolish behaviour is Mel C's back handspring on one of the tables and because the video needed to be taken in one shot, the group rehearsed the routine several times through the night, while a steadycam operator followed them.  Geri Halliwell quoted as she recalled the experience in a interview "The video I remember as being very chaotic and cold. It wasn't very controlled—we didn't want it to be. We wanted the camera to capture the madness of the Spice Girls"

 

 

FAN REACTION/CRITICS RECEPTION

 

Despite mixed reviews from music critics, when the music video first appeared on the British cable network The Box it was selected so much that it reached the top of the viewers' chart within two hours of going on air, and stayed at number one for thirteen weeks and became the most requested track in the channel's history.


Virgin Records's executives were horrified with the final result: "the girls were freezing cold, which showed itself in various different ways" said Ashley Newton, one of the executives.

The video was later banned in some parts of Asia because of Brown's erect nipples (and failed to see it was the same for Mel C) and additionally the lighting in the video was considered too dark and gloomy and the best takes were the girls bumping with the furniture and looking behind them.

Virgin Records was concerned that old people appeared on the video, the part when they jump up on the table, and Geri Halliwell's showgirl outfit would be considered too threatening by music channels. Virgin Records immediately opened discussions about a re-shoot of the video or creating an alternate one for the USA but the group refused. The video was sent for trial airing in its original form on the music channel The Box and it is still seen and remembered today.

 

 

 

AVAILABILITY

 

It can be viewed online: YouTube, DailyMotion and Vimeo.com.

 

On Amazon there is a Greatest Hits album that comes with a CD and DVD featuring the best of the music videos including “Wannabe”.

 

Music Video Task 1 - Video Five

PSY - GANGNAM STYLE

 

 

I have my Mum to blame for this as she suggested this video for my assignment and myself to let myself watch it and I can’t stop watching it, it fun and funny and it’s addictive especially the dance routine.

 

BACKGROUND

 

Gangnam Style is a single by South Korean rapper PSY (real name Park Jae-sang) who is best known for his quick-witted sense of humour and comical dance moves. The song was released on July 15, 2012, as the lead single of his sixth studio album PSY's Best 6th Part 1. It went to number one in a lot of countries including, South Korea, USA, Canada, U.K and so on and as of October 9, 2012 (2012 -10-09)^[update], the music video has been viewed over 414 million times on YouTube  and is the site's most watched and most liked K-pop video. This video was shot over 48 hours in July.

 

The video has been mentioned by numerous celebrities including T-Pain, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Tom Cruise, even Nobel-Prize winning economist Paul Krugman. The song was even covered by music artists Nelly Furtado and Maroon 5. The video was featured in international media outlets such as CNN International, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, the Harvard Business Review, and the global politics magazine Foreign Policy.


Flash mobs about this dance routine have appeared in cities around the world becoming a source of parodies and reaction videos by many different groups including The Oregon Duck, midshipmen from the United States Naval Academy, the cellmates from the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center and the North Korean government.



PSY has brought the "Gangnam Style" dance to a lot of locations including The Today Show, Saturday Night Live, Dodger Stadium, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Samsung commercials.


On September 17 2012, it was nominated for Best Video at the upcoming 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards to be held in Frankfurt, Germany. Then a few day later on September 20, 2012, "Gangnam Style" was recognised by Guinness World Records as the most "liked" video in YouTube history.

 

 

PROMOTIONAL TOOL

 

As the research goes, there are also an amount of celebrities guests featured in the video and apparently when it comes K-pop, it sort of like a routine to have cameos appearances from well-known stars. The stars are also a great way to promote the videos so people might want to watch certain stars in the music videos. The celebrity stars that are in the video are:

• Korean girl group 4Minute member Kim Hyun-a played the love interest and appeared in the final two dance sequences
• South Korean band Big Bang members Lee Seung-hyun and Kang Dae-sung appeared two old men playing a board game in the park and flying in the background after the explosion
• Hwang Min-woo, a 5-year-old boy who is seen dancing at the beginning of the video. He had been on Korea’s Got Talent.
• Comedian/television personality, Korea's Nation emcee Yoo Jae-Suk, in a dance duel with PSY
• Comedian/television personality, No Hongchul, dancing in an elevator with his trademark pelvis-thrusting with PSY rapping underneath him.

 

 

 

SYNERGY

 

This dance routine is certainly join the ranks or all the other dance routines that has come before: the Cha Cha Slide by DJ Casper, The Ketchup Song by Las Ketchup, Macarena by Los del Río and all others that I haven’t mentioned. “Gangnam Style” will certainly not be the last of them and these dance routines are the sort that brings everyone together in discos, clubs, festivals and family holiday resorts.

 

The cowboy/horse-riding dance is the main theme of the song and therefore in the beginning scenes of the music video, there are a quite a few horses and their riders that show people who are learning the dance an idea and how to do the dance.

 

The music video also shows the location which is the Gangnam district of Seoul and the unexpected locations all around it including an outdoor yoga session and a hot tub. PSY also wears several distinctive suits and black sunglasses with a mindset of "dress classy and dance cheesy" and in some ways the fashion sense that are shown in the video are in style at the moment.

 

According to research “Gangnam Style” actually refers to the lifestyle within the Gangnam district of Seoul where apparently people there are trendy, hip and exude a certain supposed "class". The term was listed in Time's weekly vocabulary list as a manner associated with lavish lifestyles in Seoul's Gangnam district.

Here is a quote of what PSY said in a interview: “People who are actually from Gangnam never proclaim that they are—it's only the posers and wannabes that put on these airs and say that they are "Gangnam Style" — so this song is actually poking fun at those kinds of people who are trying so hard to be something that they're not.”

 

 

 

FAN REACTION/CRITICS RECEPTION

 

The music video has been highly praised for its catchy beat and PSY's humorous dance moves in the music video and live performances, catching the attention of media around the world.

Maura Judkis of The Washington Post wrote: “Gangnam Style' has made an extraordinarily stupid-looking dance move suddenly cool”.

Mesfin Fekadu of the Associated Press wrote that PSY is "currently having a pop culture moment."  and that the dance moves are "somewhat bizarre" but the music video is full of "colorful, lively outfits."

Deborah Netburn of the Los Angeles Times called it "one of the greatest videos ever to be uploaded to YouTube."

Matt Miller, a host from the business and financial news broadcaster Bloomberg Television, played "Gangnam Style" during his show, because "it's just a super hot video that has gone astronomically viral." He also said that PSY mentioned on CNN that he wants to make people laugh even in the midst of all these global economic slowdowns, "so that's the Wall Street tie-in" he needed.  ". UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has hailed the song as a "force for world peace"

However even though "Gangnam Style" has received largely positive reactions, some people have found the music video wacky or bad-mannered. For example Matt Buchanan and Scott Ellis of The Sydney Morning Herald wrote that the video "makes no sense at all to most Western eyes makes you wonder if you have accidentally taken someone else's medication."

Paul Lester of The Guardian labelled it as "generic ravey Euro dance with guitars" while Robert Myers of The Village Voice called it "an inspired piece of silliness"

 

 

AVAILABILITY
 

 
 

The video was made famous on YouTube so there a chance to see there and apparently there a down link download from one of the video.

 

There’s also a chance to get the video from iTunes if you research for it on Google.

 

 

 

Here is a Parody video of the music video and because I like this one better than the original (and the guy is cute), I thought I show it, please watch it: