Intertextual References

Intertextual References.

Intertextual References are methods in which are used by certain bands to promote a image of themselves or the times they try to represent. A good example of this would be Weezers Buddy Holly, in this video the band play in a famous shows bar, the bar is in the fictional 1950s American, but the band deliberatley picked out the Fonze 1950s. The reason Weezer may have chosen this time period is becasue the Fonze illustrates a happy peaceful America, which is probably the image Weezer try to represent.

Another example of intertextual referencing could be Green D

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Location Ideas

Stills of location ideas.

Animal Collective - Abstract/Contemporary music video

Just as much as the Killers are known for their storytelling narrative within videos, Animal Collective are known for their weird, yet wonderful abstract videos. Like I did earlier, analysing the Killers story telling videos, I will look to analyse that of Animal Collectives, use of abstract to create their unique rhythms music videos.

Animal Collective – Fireworks,2007

Fireworks opens with a black screen, after about 2 seconds in the music begins with a flash on screen, which collaborates with the music, creating a match on action effect. When the beat of the music sounds, the rain of lights that have appeared become much brighter to the beat of the music, whilst lights at the bottom of the screen randomly explode to no real kind of beat, mainly unrelated to the music. As different types of fireworks shoot up from the bottom of the screen, in different colours. When the vocals kick in, the band appear on screen behind the fireworks, the band however don’t appear to be singing along to the music, just adding to the abstract ways of the music video, by holding sparklers, giving much more of a abstract feel.

  The characters fade out, as the screen is lit by yet more streaks of fireworks, and stray fireworks shoot up from the bottom contrasting with the rest of the shot. As the fireworks explode, sometimes the band light up - as if being lit up from the fireworks. We have close ups of members of the band as they play with glow stick’s and other light emitting equipment. This time they are in front of the fireworks, yet when they explode their faces still light up, the members still remain not singing along. These are the main real features within the abstract video as they continuously flash up fireworks and very similar shots to the ones mentioned above.





Lyrics :

Now it’s day and I’ve been trying
to get that taste off my tongue.
I was dreaming of just you,
now our cereal, it is warm.
Attractive day in the rubble
of the night from before.
I can’t walk in a vacuum,
I feel ugly, feel my pores.
It’s the trees of this day
that I do battle with for the light.
Then I start to feel tragic,
people greet me, I’m polite.
“What’s the day?” “What are you doing?”
“How’s your mood?” “How’s that song?”
Man it passes right by me,
it’s behind me, now it’s gone.
I can’t lift you up cause my mind is tired.
It’s family beaches that I desire.
A sacred night, where we’ll watch the fireworks.
The frightened babies poo. They’ve got two flashing eyes
and they’re colored why. They make me feel
that I’m only all I see sometimes.

I was eating with a good friend who said
“A Genii made me out of the earth’s skin”
but in spite of her she is my birth kin,
she spits me out in her surely blood rivers.
All the people life lurking
in dominions of a hot Turk dish.
If elephants are reaching for our purses,
then meet me after the world with the shivers.

“What’s the day?” “What are you doing?”
“How’s your food?” “How’s that song?”
Man it passes right by me
it’s behind me now it’s gone.
I can’t lift you up cause my mind is tired,
it’s family beaches that I desire.
That sacred night where we watched the fireworks.
They frightened the babies and you know they’ve got two flashing eyes
and if they are color blind, they make me feel,
that you’re only what I see sometimes.

Animal Collective – Brothersport

This is the latest single for Animal Collective, the video again is very abstract, it would appear that there is a theme for bands following the same trend of music videos. Brothersport is in fact about the mourning of a certain band members dad, and through the whole video is a sense of mourning for his deceased dad, if you watch the video, there is really no evidence that this is what the video is about.

The video opens with a shot of a clear blue sky, the camera tilts downwards to reveal a tree line and a small hut, this is the establishing shot of the area. Within the shot we also see a donkey and two ducks walking across. We have a cut, which brings us closer to the hut this time a medium shot, the music has not yet started, but we get the possibly ambient sound of birds chirping. The camera stays fixed on the hut until the door slams open as the music begins. This is were the abstract theme comes in, as 2 children dressed as monsters run out of the hut, one in a dress, one with a minotaur head on. As they run we have random shots of animals walking around, the forest within the shots doesn’t even look real as if it was some kind of enchanted forest. After a few shots of the children running, the camera cuts to a caravan in the middle of the forest with, what appears to be a old lumberjack and a man dressed as a fairy holding a egg in his hand, there is also a large saint Bernard sat next to the sleeping lumberjack.  As the children run past, the St. Bernard, the dog and the man holding a egg look at each other. We have a close up of the dogs eyes, where we have a cut which cuts to a cartoon drawn dogs eyes, followed by animated cartoons which look like cells dancing around, splitting up and jumping around the shot. The children continue to run, more shots of this and shots looking up at the sky as they do.  Eventually as the video progresses, through sue of bright lights and colours, the shots of numerous chickens and other animals, and in general whacky appearances, the children eventually run into a small building, and enter a small room.

As the children drop the floor upon entering, they a large collection of eggs, as they do it cuts to another animation, this time to a rain of bright lights and colours. The colours, soon after are followed by more animations of cells with faces dancing around the screen, creating yet a more abstract feel.

After the animation the children take off their masks, and begin squirting the paints all over the walls and painting the eggs. The characters are joined by animations of the same screen, this seems to act as a cross over from the animation world to the whacky world in white the characters seem to live in. As the children continuously through paints around and dance around, the boy puts one of the eggs to his ear, and can hear the animations trying to communicate with them. I think that the overall point in this video is to show how wonderful the children’s imagination is, which is why we have the children dressed up, the whacky ideas presented to us in the video, even in some of the print screens below this idea is evident.

In conclusion I think this is one of the most abstract videos I have ever seen, Animal Collectives use of colour and magic ideas are wonderful, and the ideas presented to us are both unique and brilliant. Which is probably why the band has prospered for so long, the way that want to stand out via use of not just music but the videos itself, as the music is how the music video should sound like, for example the song ‘Brothersport’ is crazy thus making the music video equally visually, crazy.



Lyrics:

Open up your
Open up your
Open up your throat
And let all of that time
All of that time
All of that time
All of that time go

I know it sucks that Daddy's done
But try to think of what you want
You've got to open up your
Open up your
Open up your throat

Matt!

Sport brother
Support your
Brother sport

You've got to weigh all he said
He helped you shape the way you play
You've got to get rid of the mourning
Sort out the habits of your mind

Matt!

Until you're fully grown
You've got a real good shot
Won't help to hold inside
Keep it real/Give a real
Shout out

Until you're fully grown
You've got a real good shot
Won't help to hold inside
Keep it real/Give a real
Shout out

Matt!

Both sets of lyrics have been extracted from the official Animal Collective website.

http://animalcollective.org/lyrics/

The Killers

The Killers, an American born rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada that formed in 2001. The band members include Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Mark Stroermer and Ronnie Vannucci.

Influenced by sounds and styles from the 1980s. The group debut album ‘Hot Fuss’ (2004) brought the band mainstream success. In 2006 their second ‘Sam’s Town’ was released closely followed by a complication album, ‘Sawdust’ containing B-sides, rarities and new material, within the next year the bands third studio album was released in the form of ‘Day and Age’.

The band, over the course of 4 years has sold 5 million albums in the United States, 4.5 million albums in the United Kingdom and over 15 Million worldwide.

Influenced by bands from the 1980s music by bands such as New Order, The Cure, Smashing Pumpkins, Beck, Depeche Mode, U2 and the Beatles. Their music has hits of music keys from these bands, be it cords and tunes to the odd references in music videos they definitely draw something from their influences and hope to amount to as big a success as these bands.

                                                                                                  

In July 2005, The Killers performed on the London stage of the Live 8 concert, playing "All These Things That I've Done." Robbie Williams incorporated the song's refrain "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" into his own performance. Coldplay and U2 followed suit and, at their separate concerts played in Las Vegas, with The Killers in the crowd, incorporated the line into their songs "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face" and "Beautiful Day," respectively.