communications essay final version

8/3/2019 Communications Essay Final Version

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Matt BeltUnit 2: CommunicationsMusic Video Written AnalysisFinal Version

Apocalyptica, Ft Corey Taylor - I'm no Jesus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMLsF8ajI6U&ob=av2e

Slipknot Psychosocial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wws7mnMewPw&ob=av2n

Stone Sour - Through the Glass http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIzDsGyxsQM&ob=av2e

_______________________________________________________________

± Introduction

The music video industry is a way of bringing visual to the audio wonder that is music,where anything is possible with the correct story telling techniques and visuals.

The music video industry is important for giving more depth to a song, adding more to

the "story" of the song or just a way for the band/artist to have even more fun.Some are to help spread the bands fame/music, whereas others are used as a "Thank

you" to their fans. Some videos can be set in their home towns using the friends andfamily that showed up to all their starting shows as the cast. The music video couldbring a lot of tourism to a location, helping the local economy.

Advertising in the music video industry is a way of promoting your band, your image and

your products. Some music videos have companies in them, ³product placement´.

__________________________________________________________________

Section 2 ± Overview

Metal comes in so many forms, and possibly has more sub genres than any other genre,

with things like Crabcore: The Christian metal band Attack Attack.

http://inlog.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/crabcore-is-the-new-crunkcore.gif http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSHafavwfZ0&feature=related

To things like Neo-classical-folk-blues-metal. Such as the band Agalloch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTzPihhzmQY&feature=related

Apocalyptica, Ft Corey Taylor - I'm no Jesus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMLsF8ajI6U&ob=av2e

I have chosen this music video because it is a unique take on metal, unconventional in

so many ways. When one thinks of metal one doesn't think of the cello, but Apocalyptica

are a metal cellist band. This song has Corey Taylor in it, and he will be in all 3 of mymusic videos - a good way of showing all the different styles of metal and how it can

always be so versatile and distinctive.



Apocalyptica do not look like a metal band, theylook more like a classical band.

A band with cellos does not usually bring about

the images of a metal band.

The usual combination of signs/ codes of a metal

band include things like, drums, guitars, loud

screaming vocals, long hair and dark imagery(such as Ozzy Osborne biting the heads of

animals).

This band has the long hair, sometimes, but that¶s about it. They break away from allthe usual stereotypes that are associated with metal.

In the blue image we can see the band playing during a live concert. It could bemistaken for a classical show, with the cello often being portrayed as a classical

instrument, not one of metal. The blue bright lighting is also different in terms of metal,it is a deep, yet relaxing tone of blue.

Seeing as this is a metal/classical/neo-folk. It can appeal to many music lovers. It has a

classical feel as well as a metal feel. It is aimed at both genders, and ages 15+ most

likely, though everyone is different. It appeals to all races, all occupations, allGeographic¶s as it is a hybrid of genres in a sense, being metal and classical. It is not

likely to appeal to one nationality over another, nor gender, it can be enjoyed by people

in towns, cities and the country side.

In this image we see Corey Taylor in the front. It is a way of indicating that he is themain aspect of this song, he is the vocalist and is shown on screen in the music videomore than the members of Apocalyptica. The image has a relaxed feel to it, themembers of Apocalyptica are holding on to each other and sitting, and the facialexpression of Corey is a relaxed, confident one.---------



Slipknot Psychosocial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wws7mnMewPw&ob=av2n

I have chosen this video because it has all the stereotypical codes and conventions of a

metal music video, with dark imagery, with an almost satanistic feel (even though it isnot satanistic in any way ± There are flaming pentagrams, burning faces and creepy

masks. When most people see a pentagram they think of evil things, even more so when

it¶s on fire.). It has a good tempo and a good balance of "screaming" and clean vocals. Italso has Corey Taylor as the lead vocalist.

It is aimed more towards metal fans, older teens and adults, with no specific race,

gender or geographic in mind when they made it. Fans will want to buy it as well as

people who are into metal. Kids and younger teens might not be into this kind of music,nor would older adults, though there are always exceptions to anything. The energeticfeel and tempo will draw fans to it. The fast paced visuals will also draw fans attentions.

They have been going since 1995, and are always getting songs in the top charts, and

their music videos are done to the same professional standards..

In this image we can see the 9 members of the band, with their iconic masks. The

vocalist, which is often seen as the main member of any band and often put in the front,Corey Taylor is almost hidden in this one. You can see the members all standing how

they want, some acting silly be standing weird, such as Jim Root with his head to the

side pointing at us. With others just standing how they are comfortable (For exampleCraig Jones ± under the Slipknot logo ± is off to the side, kind of away from the others.

He is a very shy person.)

Wiki quote ± (About Craig).

µHe begins most interviews with the zipper covering his mouth opened, and closes the zipper

before making any reply to the questions asked. Jones prompted a burst of complaint letters

when, another time he broke his silence during an interview, he was quoted as having madethe sole statement that, "If I wasn't in this band, I'd probably be out killing people!" He has

answered this question also, "If I wasn't in the band today, I'd be driving forklifts in a

warehouse all day long.¶

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members of Apocalyptica are seen head-banging which is usually associated with hardrock and metal, which is not usually in the same sentence as "cello"

This music video is classified as alternative metal as it has a metal and classical feel to itat the same time. The self-parody effect created by a metal song on cellos helps lend to

the comical interest of this video (the idea of a person playing a cello and head-banging

is a strange one. The idea of a whole metal band using only cellos is also a strange one).

It doesn't obey the usual codes and conventions of the metal genre in terms of what you

would expect. It has the metal sound to it, but it¶s coming from cellos.

The images of metal are guitars, screaming and images of dark monsters. (Bands likeLordi which use full demon suits play along with all the stereotypes)

The metal band Lordi, complying with the images of dark monsters of metal. They callthemselves µmonster metal¶ as do several other bands who wear masks and suits. We

can see their costumes as demonic disfigured creatures. The demonic association of

metal can be because of people not understanding or not wanting to understand them.Most metal bands are not Satantistic, there are a lot that are in fact Christian. Many may

have images, and words that could be seen as evil, but if you look closer you will see

that they are not.

Music fans have said metal is originally from 1968 with bands like Black Sabbath startingit. Now some people say those songs are now rock compared to the level of heavy metal

we have now. So we can say that metal has gotten darker/heavier over time, but then

you get songs like this one which prove that that statement is wrong. Some people say

that with lyrics getting darker and imagery has become darker. (With the improvementof special effects they can show death and other morbid imagery a lot easier now.)

We see in this video the strange styling of Apocalyptica, the black and white effect

throughout the whole video, as well as hints of Corey's creativity and tribute to Slipknot

with the mask the one person wears for a time. It was written and directed by TonyPetrossain, who often does music vidoes for Slipknot.

Fans of Apocalyptica will see the usual tones in the video, their strange mismatch of visuals and lyrics, yet it somehow still matches perfectly.



Their other music videos usually have theband members playing in interesting andstrange locations ± some times they are

in igloos, or atop ruined walls, or atoppiles of wood which get set a light, sitting

on chairs in the middle of a forest or a

lake. Some videos have a darker feel,with bats and castle ruins, where as

others have calm fields.

This image shows two of the membersplaying next to a tree with the black andwhite effects they use in a few videos.

It promotes both Apocalyptica and Slipknot by having elements of both bands and is not

a way of increasing sales but is a way of having fun and giving back to the fans, andhaving fun with music. This is what Apocalyptica often does with all their guest vocalists.

On the album covers of their singles with guest vocalists, Apocalyptica is often in the

background with the guest in the front.

The audience will have a nostalgic and familiar feeling towards the video as it doesn¶t

stray far from normal Apocalyptica videos.

In the above picture we can see the four main members of Apocalyptica, again with ablack and white effect that they often use.

They have released a memory stick shaped like a cello, with the name of the new albumon it, it is a way of advertising, and distributing as a few of the songs come on the

memory sticks. This is a way of how the band is embracing technology as well as

thinking of creative ways of advertising, distribution and sales.



---------

Slipknot - Psychosocial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wws7mnMewPw&ob=av2n

A metal song by Slipknot, one of their more well known songs. It shows their heavierside, while still having clean vocals in it. It has all the things people expect to see whenthey think of a metal music video ± strange masked people, fire, and strange images.(some people think of these things as evil or dark and most people who do not listen tometal will think of these images because of the dark connotations metal has had in the

past ± E.g. the band KISS is rumoured to be an acronym of ³Knights In Satans Service´ or AC/DC standing for ³Anti-Christ/Devil-Child´. The metal band Iron Maiden with their

song ³666 ± number of the beast´, at first glance it could be mistaken for a satanistic

song, but if one were to look closer you could see that it is actually about dreams.) Theclean vocals mixed with the ³screaming´ make an interesting tempo in this song.

This song has even been mashed up with Baby by Justin Bieber, and Corey Taylor

himself has even said he really enjoys it and it fits well, in a strange way. He said, ³it¶s

genius´

Psychosocial Baby

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kspPE9E1yGM

Corey Taylor interview about Psychosocial Babyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDJEQ-7Q_cw&feature=related

The genre fits with the stereotypes many people see when they think of a metal band.such as the fire, scary masks, head-banging and flaming pentagrams.

The band is shown as being themselves in the video, all the members are playing andhaving fun. (During filming Corey and Pinhead were hurt because of the nails in Pinheads

mask - he was head-banging and a nail went into Corey)

A video of Corey Taylor singing the theme song from Scooby Doo,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBBiyoufM_g&feature=related This is not something you would expect from a metal singer. It shows how you shouldn¶t

judge people by their tastes in music.

Fans see the pyrotechnics of the video and dark visuals, like a lot of the bandsother music videos.



I do not think it really promotes the band as a way of money, or selling out. It seemsmore like a "we are doing this because this is who we are and we enjoy this" -much of what the band does is because they enjoy it. The video was recorded in a farm in Iowa,the bands home town.

The band is always keeping up to date with their technology, their music videos have

been going on for ages, and they are always using amazing visual effects.

One of the band members, Craig Jones, A.K.A Pinhead, 133, #5, he is a techy nerd andis proud of it. He keeps up to date with a lot of tech and special effects. He is also the

bands sampler and mixer. He has to stay up to date with the technology and softwarefor this. He is a video game fanatic and gets his ideas for samples in songs from movies.

Eg: The line "Here comes the pain" in the track "(Sic)" was taken from Carlito's Way; the

voice was of Al Pacino. The opening track for their self-titled album was created byCraig, and the dialogue in the background, "The whole thing I think, is sick", was takenfrom a Charles Manson documentary.

--------


- The song was originally inspired by front man Corey Taylor 's outrage at the music industryand how he felt that the musical revolution had never taken place.

Taylor was quoted as having said: (wikipedia quote)

I remember exactly where I was. It was 2004 and I was on tour with Slipknot. I was sitting in a

European hotel room watching a music video channel, seeing act after act after act of this

insane, innocuous, plastic music. They were plastic, bubbly, gossamer-thin groups where it was

really more about the clothes they wore and the length of their cheekbones than it was about

the content of the song they were singing.

It really made me mad. I was like, is this it? Have we just gone full circle? Did thesinger/songwriter revolution never happen? Is it just the same drivel from the same

replicate over and over again? 'Through Glass' is really a very angry song. It's me basically calling 'bullshit' on pretty much everyone involved with the 'American Idol'-

type shows. It has its place, but when you're basically cornering the market and makingit very hard for anyone who actually writes their own music to get ahead, then it's

wrong and that's really why I wrote this song.

In many of the band¶s music videos they use either plain simple effects, such as in the

song ³Brother´ or they will go all out with visuals such as in this video.

This band is often classified as Rock, but it is still a metal band. They often have cleaner

vocals, and this song in particular has an amazing music video that goes very well with

the lyrics. It is classified as alternative rock. The visual effects help convey the narrative.

In this music video we see a different side of metal, gone are they stereotypical imagesof darkness, fire and demons. It is set up to be more like a rap video with the luxurious

house.



This band has stayed the same over the years, something which fans love about them,they don¶t branch out to strange genres they stay true to themselves.

In this video we see the band relaxing then playing, from interviews and other things we

can see that the band is a laid back band, all the members have other bands as well soStone Sour is more of a hobby. It was written and directed by Tony Petrossain, the same

person who made the Apocalyptica Ft Corey Taylor video ³I¶m no Jesus´.

The amusing visuals of the video will appeal to fans and to others. In the picture below

we can see a screen shot of the music video. The Hollywood sign has been spelt ³Hollowood´. In other scenes we can see that the items and even people who look

luxurious and rich are actually cardboard cut-outs.

The band doesn¶t have their name or logo anywhere in this video, they do however show

many items often associated with being rich. It could be seen as a way of the bandflaunting their success, but more logically it is about how everyone is not what they

seem, fitting into the overall message of the song and matching the lyrics. They aremaking a satirical video of how the music industry has become sell-outs in a sense: with

the focus being more on money and image rather than music and the fans.

____________________________________________________

Section 4 - Narrative

Apocalyptica Ft Corey Taylor - I'm not Jesus

The narrative in this video is more about viewer interpretation than the actual story

being told. We are given lyrics about children, and struggles and forgiveness, and we areshown children hiding, and struggling. The children show no emotion through the whole

video. According to the Wikipedia article this music video is about child abuse and theclerics, and Corey is a man who was abused and is now confronting his tormenter.

They have used black and white to show the contrast between adult and child, as well as

to add a sorrow effect to it.

Apocalyptica often have strange music videos that don't have much in the way of a

story.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efojzMwLIK0&feature=relmfu

Apocalyptica ³End of Me´ Ft Gavin Rossdale. In this video we see blur effects, smokeeffects, and it is mainly the band in frame.

People might be drawn in by the black and white effects, or the strange imagery used.

The audience watching could feel sympathetic for the children, and some could havehad a similar childhood and feel even closer to it. Corey was homeless for a long part of

his childhood, he can relate to the struggles of the children.

-------

Slipknot - Psychosocial

There is not much of a narrative in this video as it is just the band playing with

pyrotechnics and other effects. In their other music videos they often have stories anduse a lot of metaphors and allegories.

The masks seen being burnt during the video are special masks used during apromotional video with, the masks were burnt as a way of burning up the bands egos.

- Wikipedia quote"During an interview with K errang!, guitarist Jim Root revealed that the video features

the burning of the purgatory masks adorned by the band members in the splash teaserphotos shown on Slipknot's website, reportedly because the masks represent the band's

ego"

We see a lot of dark imagery and images associated with the stereotypical image of

metal, flames, strange masks, head-banging, etc. We can see a darker side to Slipknot,as well as the genre of metal. The stereotypical images might attract some of the

heavier "metal heads".

This video was directed by Paul Brown and was shot using high end cameras that shoot1000 frames per second as opposed to the usual 35 frames per second.

Wikipedia quote

- Percussionist Shawn Crahan told The Pulse of Radio what he could regarding "Psychosocial", saying,"One thing I can feel is like that song has got a lot of, I would say social anxiety. It's got a real goodtempo. It's really fun and it's different. I think most of the stuff that we have is different." -

- Rolling Stone praised the song, saying that it "slows down the tempo to bludgeon with a steady,pounding groove instead of all-out thrash in a manner reminiscent of the band's more slow-burning butstill malicious second album, I owa." They went on to explain, "That track is capped off with a time-signature shattering guitar/drum breakdown that will leave the best air-instrumentalists stumped." This

is actually an erroneous statement, because while the instruments do display syncopation, the timesignature is still 4/4 throughout. The song also has a similar layout to Welcome to the Jungle by GunsN' Roses. -

------

Stone Sour - Through the Glass

The narrative in this video we see a luxurious house with a party and photo shoot in it.



We see that everyone and everything is not what it really seems to be.

They use green screens and other visual effects to make people and objects look realand then change to fake cardboard cut-outs. They use extra lighting as well as sun light

in a lot of the scenes. The changed ³Hollywood´ sign also adds to the imagery andmessage of the song.

It is an unconventional video in terms of how most people see metal bands. The coloursare bright, the whole setting is sort of a hip-hop or rap video. The band is a calmer metal

band and it shows in this video with the bright colours and lack of dark imagery.

The colourful imagery will attract your attention and the interesting visuals will keep you

entertained even if this is not your type of music.

The audience will be mesmerized by the creative effects and story this video has.

Nothing is really what it seems to be, and in this video we can see exactly how true thatis.

In some of their other videos they use dark colours, in this video ³Brother, there are

very few colours used and it is mainly focusing on black.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-pXD0FXLQ8&ob=av2e

In the above picture we can see Corey in the ³Brother´ music video, he goes through

multiple stages of aging with the help of makeup and other special effects. Again, thereis not much colour. You can compare this to the image of ³Through the Glass´.



This image has bright colours, and creative special effects. We can see the pool, which is

actually fake, being taken away. ____________________________________________________________

Section 5 ± Representation

Apocalyptica Ft Corey Taylor - I¶m Not Jesus

In this video we can see the band going against the stereotypes of metal, mainly with

their instruments.

In the past metal was seen as evil and wrong, with it being synonymous with things like

Satanism. Now metal is a wide and varied genre of music, with many sub-genres. From

the time with Black Sabbath, where Ozzy would bite the heads off of bats, to todaywhere you can get everything from metal love songs, to metal Christmas songs.

The band talks about the struggle of children in this song and music video.

This song shows how metal can be more than just screaming and angry noises, and loudguitars. It shows people that metal can be different, and something completely

unexpected.

The audience who are already fans of Apocalyptica and/or Corey Taylor will enjoy this

song, it has a strong energy while still being calm and it has the elements from bothparties in perfect balance.

The audience will be affected by the visuals of the unfortunate children and dark colours

used in the video.

----------------

Slipknot ± Psychosocial

In this video we can see a lot of the stereotypes that go with what people think of metal,

as I have mentioned in the above sections. We can see the band going from dark in thebeginning to branching out, with songs like Snuff and Vermillion P.t 1 and Vermillion P.t

2 ± where the band have made softer songs, and Vermilion P.t 2 is classified as a love



song by some fans.

Vermillion P.t 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvetJ9U_tVY

The band has changed though out the years, starting darker and now they are a mix of soft

and heavy metal.

We can see how Slipknot portrays metal as both dark and light as well as representing a

middle ground very effectively.

The audience will enjoy the song for its tempo and energy. It is a good representation of how

Slipknot can play heavier metal.

The audience will be affected by dark visuals, tempo and mix of lyrical styles.

Corey Taylor has written an autobiography called ³Seven Deadly Sins´

The image above is one of the covers for the book. In it we can see his face as well as part of his main Slipknot mask. It is a way of showing us the two sides of who Corey Taylor is. The

dark streaks and smoke effects as well as the font, give off a grunge/dirty feel.

---------------

Stone Sour ± Through The Glass

In this video we can see a lot of anti-stereotypes, as part of the narrative: nothing is really

what it seems to be.



They do not follow most of the usual imagery of metal. They are always light hearted andhappy in interviews.

They do not do heavy metal and they are part of the newer metal sub-genres, a lighter form of

metal.

The audience will enjoy the video for its clever story, imagery and lyrics. It is a fan favouriteand has been one of the most popular Stone Sour sings since its release.

________________________________________

Section 6 - Conclusion

Through the Glass is a wonderful song with a great message, and a perfectly executed music

video. The video matches up with the lyrics and over all feeling of the song. It is the fan

favourite and is their most requested songs at any live show. It shows how metal is not all

about demons, fire, bats, loud instruments and inaudible screaming. It can be about philosophical messages, it can be about emotions and passion, it can be calm and bright.

___

In a music genre that has been around for 50 years or more, it has changed time and time

again, it is always different and so are the music videos in each song. Some follow theconventions where as others are as unique as the bands themselves. The metal genre will

never die and will always be changing; it has an energy that no other genre has. In my

opinion it is the richest and most diverse of all the music genres and sub-genres.

________________________________________________________________

Fin.

communications essay final version

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