Research: In-depth analysis of 'Coffee & TV' by Blur
Name of artist: Blur
Title of song: Coffee & tv
Released: 28th June 1998
Producer: William Orbit
Genre: Indie-Rock
Relationship between visuals and lyrics?
I believe that the visuals illustrate a story about a boy which has dissapeared and the worried parents have no way have finding the boy, however an animated milk carton comes to life, and with a advertisement label with the boys face on, goes on search for the boy and also to find romance. The lyrics do match the visuals as the visuals talk about the stress the boy has been put through and give hints to why he might of run away, for example
"I've seen so much, I'm goin' blind
And i'm braindead virtually
sociability
It's hard enough for me
Take me away from the big bad world"
The lyrics match the visuals as both the lyrics and the animated milk carton are following the same adventure, the milk is a representation of the missing boy and wants to find romance and get away from his home.
Relationship between the visuals and the speed of the music:
The song as a whole is a quite upbeat sounding song, however there are some parts of the song which almost fall to a silence, the visuals match the slowing down of the music video because as it start to slow down, an event would happen in the visuals, for example at the end of the song when the music starts to slow down, the visuals show the milk carton getting drank and getting threw out, I believe the producer has done this because we relate slow, quiet music with being depressed or sad so when an event such as the milk cartons death occurs, the music would slow down because of it wants to represent the feelings shown in the music video and also by the viewer.
The importance of the artist in the visuals?
The producer of the music video chosen to add a clip of Blur playing towards the end of the music to help represent them as individuals and so that the audience understand how many members are in the group and what they look like etc, also it could be the other way round, for example if the audience was watching the music video and didn't know who it was by although they knew who Blur were, allowing the audience see the band at the end of the music video allows them to understand that this music video was by Blur.
Use of Voyeurism?
There is no use of Voyeurism in this music video, presumably because the main character is a milk carton!
Any use of intertextuality?
I believe that the music video could be influenced by some sort of animation back in 1998, as the rise of animation on real life started to become much more popular in the late 90's, the producer may of chosen to use the animation to grab out to this growing population of animation to attract more interest.
What is the mixture between performance and narrative?
The music video is almost a whole narrative using visuals and the lyrics which builds a solid storyline which builds the story for the viewer to follow, the use of the performance by the band only lasts for around 20-30 seconds so it is a small minority compared to the narrative side of the video.
Title of song: Coffee & tv
Released: 28th June 1998
Producer: William Orbit
Genre: Indie-Rock
Relationship between visuals and lyrics?
I believe that the visuals illustrate a story about a boy which has dissapeared and the worried parents have no way have finding the boy, however an animated milk carton comes to life, and with a advertisement label with the boys face on, goes on search for the boy and also to find romance. The lyrics do match the visuals as the visuals talk about the stress the boy has been put through and give hints to why he might of run away, for example
"I've seen so much, I'm goin' blind
And i'm braindead virtually
sociability
It's hard enough for me
Take me away from the big bad world"
The lyrics match the visuals as both the lyrics and the animated milk carton are following the same adventure, the milk is a representation of the missing boy and wants to find romance and get away from his home.
Relationship between the visuals and the speed of the music:
The song as a whole is a quite upbeat sounding song, however there are some parts of the song which almost fall to a silence, the visuals match the slowing down of the music video because as it start to slow down, an event would happen in the visuals, for example at the end of the song when the music starts to slow down, the visuals show the milk carton getting drank and getting threw out, I believe the producer has done this because we relate slow, quiet music with being depressed or sad so when an event such as the milk cartons death occurs, the music would slow down because of it wants to represent the feelings shown in the music video and also by the viewer.
The importance of the artist in the visuals?
The producer of the music video chosen to add a clip of Blur playing towards the end of the music to help represent them as individuals and so that the audience understand how many members are in the group and what they look like etc, also it could be the other way round, for example if the audience was watching the music video and didn't know who it was by although they knew who Blur were, allowing the audience see the band at the end of the music video allows them to understand that this music video was by Blur.
Use of Voyeurism?
There is no use of Voyeurism in this music video, presumably because the main character is a milk carton!
Any use of intertextuality?
I believe that the music video could be influenced by some sort of animation back in 1998, as the rise of animation on real life started to become much more popular in the late 90's, the producer may of chosen to use the animation to grab out to this growing population of animation to attract more interest.
What is the mixture between performance and narrative?
The music video is almost a whole narrative using visuals and the lyrics which builds a solid storyline which builds the story for the viewer to follow, the use of the performance by the band only lasts for around 20-30 seconds so it is a small minority compared to the narrative side of the video.
Research: Andrew Goodwin's 6 Features of Music Videos
Andrew Goodwin released a book called 'Dancing In The Distractions Factory' which features a theory suggesting which features and characteristics that can be found in music videos:
These are:
1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
(e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images.
(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music.
(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. There are often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).
EXTENSION: MY VIEW ON DANCING IN THE DISTRACTION FACTORY
Reading parts of Andrew Goodwin's book 'Dancing In The Distraction Factory' has helped me realise the different stages of what makes a music video. Although some music video's do not follow the attributes created by Goodwin, most of the music video's I have watched do involve most of the 6 rules which apparently make a music video. I believe that those 6 rules really do help make a music video a music video and not a short film, a short film obviously follows a plot and a script however a music video uses lyrics, empathetic sound and a storyline to make an interesting video and also so it can match the music side of the video.
I will now go through the 6 rules and analyse each of them and give some of my own personal examples...
1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
(e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
The reason I believe that most music video's follow certain characteristics is because they want to attract an audience from that particular genre, for example if a band were making a music video for their rock-genre song, they would use such characteristics like blood, gore and just general crazy doings to show the audience what type of genre the band is and hopefully the audience would become interested.
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images.
(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
Some music video's make sure that their lyrics are represented with images and actions, however other's don't. I believe that directors make sure that the visuals link in the lyrics so that the audience will be able to understand the lyrics more clearly, for example if there wasn't visuals to match the lyrics then some of the audience may not follow the lyrics as properly. Other directors choose not to link their visuals with the lyrics because they want to tell another story to try and reach out to the audience and make them interested in watching the music video.
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music.
(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
Directors choose to make the visuals reflect the mood and atmosphere within the lyrics as it helps makes the music video link in with the lyrics well and the final product would look good. if the visuals didn't reflect the atmosphere of the lyrics, for example if the lyrics were quite depressing and the visuals were upbeat, then it wouldn't look good at all, however if the lyrics were depressing and the visuals were also telling a depressing story then it would make much more sense to the audience.
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).
The use of close-ups and frequent shots of the artist help the audience understand who is the artist and what they look like, it also helps develop motifs within the artist, for example if in the music video the artist was wearing some sort of stand-out items of clothing the directors may choose to keep showing the artist to help build up a motive of the artist wearing out-going clothing which can be used in other music video's which can help with stuff such as popularity and sales in that piece of clothing etc.
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
Directors in their work always look for ways to make their piece of work stand out to different people, the use of Voyeurism is a very common way of gaining more interest from a male perspective, for example if in the music video there were women who were acting in a seducing fashion then men would want to watch it, therefore gaining more interest in the music video and the artist.
6. There are often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).
Directors would try and link their music video's into other media references such as tv programmes or other music video's to try and spark more interest in their music video, for example if a music video linked their visuals with a popular tv show then the music video would gain interest from anyone who was interested in that particular tv show.
These are:
1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.(e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images.
(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music.
(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. There are often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).
EXTENSION: MY VIEW ON DANCING IN THE DISTRACTION FACTORY
Reading parts of Andrew Goodwin's book 'Dancing In The Distraction Factory' has helped me realise the different stages of what makes a music video. Although some music video's do not follow the attributes created by Goodwin, most of the music video's I have watched do involve most of the 6 rules which apparently make a music video. I believe that those 6 rules really do help make a music video a music video and not a short film, a short film obviously follows a plot and a script however a music video uses lyrics, empathetic sound and a storyline to make an interesting video and also so it can match the music side of the video.
I will now go through the 6 rules and analyse each of them and give some of my own personal examples...
1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
(e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
The reason I believe that most music video's follow certain characteristics is because they want to attract an audience from that particular genre, for example if a band were making a music video for their rock-genre song, they would use such characteristics like blood, gore and just general crazy doings to show the audience what type of genre the band is and hopefully the audience would become interested.
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images.
(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
Some music video's make sure that their lyrics are represented with images and actions, however other's don't. I believe that directors make sure that the visuals link in the lyrics so that the audience will be able to understand the lyrics more clearly, for example if there wasn't visuals to match the lyrics then some of the audience may not follow the lyrics as properly. Other directors choose not to link their visuals with the lyrics because they want to tell another story to try and reach out to the audience and make them interested in watching the music video.
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music.
(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
Directors choose to make the visuals reflect the mood and atmosphere within the lyrics as it helps makes the music video link in with the lyrics well and the final product would look good. if the visuals didn't reflect the atmosphere of the lyrics, for example if the lyrics were quite depressing and the visuals were upbeat, then it wouldn't look good at all, however if the lyrics were depressing and the visuals were also telling a depressing story then it would make much more sense to the audience.
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).
The use of close-ups and frequent shots of the artist help the audience understand who is the artist and what they look like, it also helps develop motifs within the artist, for example if in the music video the artist was wearing some sort of stand-out items of clothing the directors may choose to keep showing the artist to help build up a motive of the artist wearing out-going clothing which can be used in other music video's which can help with stuff such as popularity and sales in that piece of clothing etc.
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
Directors in their work always look for ways to make their piece of work stand out to different people, the use of Voyeurism is a very common way of gaining more interest from a male perspective, for example if in the music video there were women who were acting in a seducing fashion then men would want to watch it, therefore gaining more interest in the music video and the artist.
6. There are often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).
Directors would try and link their music video's into other media references such as tv programmes or other music video's to try and spark more interest in their music video, for example if a music video linked their visuals with a popular tv show then the music video would gain interest from anyone who was interested in that particular tv show.
Research: Collection of some of my favourite music videos
What makes a good music video for me?
Something which tells a story, it's pointless to see just a bunch of people dancing etc, a good music video should consist of a good plot, something which people can relate to and also matches the mood of the song.
Example #1
Artist name = Blur
Song name = Coffee & TV
One of my favourite music video's purely for the fact it's a living milk carton!
Example #2
Artist name = Miike Snow
Song name = The Wave
Basically the music video is a sequal to Miike Snow's previous music video, I think it's quite smart how all of his recent music video's link up and tell a story about this weird man call Jean Noel, the video is basically about a murder which happened in texas in 1980 and how the whole city came together and sang for the children murdered.
Example #3
Artists name = The Shoes
Song name = Time to dance
Something which tells a story, it's pointless to see just a bunch of people dancing etc, a good music video should consist of a good plot, something which people can relate to and also matches the mood of the song.
Example #1
Artist name = Blur
Song name = Coffee & TV
One of my favourite music video's purely for the fact it's a living milk carton!
Example #2
Artist name = Miike Snow
Song name = The Wave
Basically the music video is a sequal to Miike Snow's previous music video, I think it's quite smart how all of his recent music video's link up and tell a story about this weird man call Jean Noel, the video is basically about a murder which happened in texas in 1980 and how the whole city came together and sang for the children murdered.
Example #3
Artists name = The Shoes
Song name = Time to dance
Research: Dave Grohl speech about his interests in music
Dave Grohl, most famous from his part in both word famous bands Foo Fighters and Nirvana, gives his story about how music influenced his life and the types of music which have grew on him over his life.
Research: Me as a consumer of music
How do I listen to music?
Usually when I listen to music I use the internet to be able to stream free and good quality music, I use sites such as Youtube and Soundcloud which are some of the best sites to listen to music. Not only do I use the internet I usually listen to the radio when in the car or eating my breakfast, the radio gives me a huge variety of music I can listen to.
Do I buy my music or..?
When I was younger I downloaded my music through Itunes or I would even go to stores such as HMV to buy albums of such, now though I had decided to use illegal downloading to receive my favourite music for free, I use sites such as The Pirate Bay to find torrents which allow me to download the music.
What type of music do I listen to?
I believe I have a wide variety of different genres of music I like, most recently I have been listening to a lot of indie music such as 'White Lies' and 'Friendly Fires' I like this music because it is quite relaxing compared to the other music I listen to. The other types of genres I listen to would be Drum and Bass and Dubstep, I like the beat of the music and most of them have a positive vibe about them, I also mostly blame my brother for getting me into this type of music.
What type of music do I hate?
Anything to do with Pop or R&B. Both of them are just mainly american rubbish which tries to attract the target audience of little kids because they are most prone to being attracted to new genres of music. This type of music is also very cringy and I would make sure that if pop or r&b come on the radio, I would instantly turn it off.
Usually when I listen to music I use the internet to be able to stream free and good quality music, I use sites such as Youtube and Soundcloud which are some of the best sites to listen to music. Not only do I use the internet I usually listen to the radio when in the car or eating my breakfast, the radio gives me a huge variety of music I can listen to.
Do I buy my music or..?
When I was younger I downloaded my music through Itunes or I would even go to stores such as HMV to buy albums of such, now though I had decided to use illegal downloading to receive my favourite music for free, I use sites such as The Pirate Bay to find torrents which allow me to download the music.
What type of music do I listen to?I believe I have a wide variety of different genres of music I like, most recently I have been listening to a lot of indie music such as 'White Lies' and 'Friendly Fires' I like this music because it is quite relaxing compared to the other music I listen to. The other types of genres I listen to would be Drum and Bass and Dubstep, I like the beat of the music and most of them have a positive vibe about them, I also mostly blame my brother for getting me into this type of music.
Anything to do with Pop or R&B. Both of them are just mainly american rubbish which tries to attract the target audience of little kids because they are most prone to being attracted to new genres of music. This type of music is also very cringy and I would make sure that if pop or r&b come on the radio, I would instantly turn it off.
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