Blog post 6: My chosen track

To find my track, I looked at some prospective tracks and then narrowed it down from there. I then researched my chosen track before analysing the lyrics in order to find interpretations of the song. I did this before watching the original video for the song so that my interpretations wouldn't be affected and so that my idea was original and hopefully not clash with the original music video.

Prospective track ideas:
My shortlist was composed of six songs. They were all chosen because they are all recognisable, fun and in the pop genre. I also wanted the voice to be believable when sung by me so that my artist was authentic and the video seemed as realistic as possible and so the mismatch doesn't distract from the video. So the singer had to sound like he was early twenties/ late teens. The song also needed to be appropriate and meet regulation for an audience as young as 16. So the song could not have reference to drug use, violence or explicit activity.

Just My Type- The Vamps

She's So Lovely- Scouting For Girls

Cake By The Ocean -DNCE

Grace Kelly- MIKA

Heartbreak Girl- 5 seconds of summer

I listened to all the songs individually and thought about possible interpretations of the lyrics as wwll as how well it met the brief and the message and meaning I could spin with the visuals and narrative in a possible music video. 

'She's So Lovely' is a mix of both the pop and rock genre and so I rejected it because I wanted to be sure my song met the brief which states the song must be in the pop genre. 'Cake By The Ocean' is very pop and did well in the charts but has inexplicit sexual references and so I wasn't sure if it was appropriate. I rejected Mika's 'Grace Kelly' as it wasn't as upbeat as I wanted and I had seen the video so many times before that it was harder to think of other interpretations. I then rejected 'Just My Type' and 'Heartbreak Girl' as I struggled thinking of strong interpretations for the song. 'Heartbreak Girl' is also not as fun as I wanted my song to be and also was influenced by the rock genre quite a lot and I wanted a more pop song.

My chosen track is 'Dance With Me Tonight' by Olly Murs.

Why?

-chart success- reached number 1 in the charts 

-very upbeat, positive and fun

-solidly in the pop genre- follows conventions such as it has hook, repeated choruses and a verse- chorus structure

-easy to dance to

-lots of possible readings

- close to 3 minuet mark

-suitable to brand identity

-catchy

-recognisable

Facts

• By English songwriter- Olly Murs
• released on the 18th November 2011
• pop with doo-wop influence
• written by Murs, Claude Kelly and Steve Robson
• number two in the UK for two weeks before reaching number one single in December 2011

What Olly Murs says about the song

Lyrically he said that the song was inspired by his frustration with modern-day dating, in particular the  use of social networking websites:

"I'm sick of Twitter and Facebook, you know, I want to meet a girl in a club or in a bar. Every time I meet a girl they're like 'Just add me on Facebook, or Tweet me', and it's like why don't we go out on a proper date like we used to back in the early 2000s, go for a proper drink and get to know her? So I went into the studio and just went, 'OK, I wanna write a really old, classic song about seeing a really fit girl in a club and taking her out on a date.'

Existing Music video:

Narrative of original video:

The video starts with Olly going through a police station and pulling funny poses at a mug shot camera, after being arrested with his friends and another girl. Five hours before the incident, he drives around London in a Peugeot 504 Cabriolet, picking up his best friend and supplies for a street party along the way. In the process of getting the supplies, Olly also invites two young clerks to come along with him. Together they set up the street party with the aim of Olly wooing the girl who was with him in the police station. They dance as a display of fireworks goes off behind them, whilst a more senior female citizen looks out disturbed by the noise, and calls the police. As the video ends Olly and Jamie are arrested by the police revealing what they were arrested for was obviously disturbing the peace.  

I had seen the  original music video before, but not in a long time so I listened to the song without looking at the original music video, so that I was able to create my own interpretation of the lyrics.

I printed the lyrics and then wrote possible interpretations and themes on to the lyrics.

I wrote the 4 main interpretations out in a notebook which allowed me to fully develop the ideas and see if they were actually possible and if they met the brief. I highlighted and circled ideas that I really liked and wanted to use in my music video.

My favoured interpretation of the song was of a couple dancing throughtout the decades, with different set ups, costumes and mise en scene for each decade. This developed into a couple dancing in different set ups that were intertextual with iconic dance scenes from iconic films such as Grease. I also took ideas from other interpretations, I would have the girl seem grumpy at first and gradually become more loose and happy as the video goes on. 

This research was beneficial to me as it allowed me to pick a suitable song that met the brief and that will allow me to have a authentic and realistic artist and that fits into the pop genre conventions. It had allowed me to pick out interpretations, develop them and pick parts out in order to create one that I can use in my video and meets the brief. I have also been able to look at existing readings which help me understand certain readings and themes that I could pull out. Most importantly it has helped me develop an interpretation that I can use in my music video that will reflect the intended representations and readings to the audience.