PLANNING: LYRICS ANALYSIS

The song starts with a really relaxed and up-beat background music, which creates a happy and chilled mood.

Woke up in London yesterday 
Found myself in the city near Piccadilly 
Don't really know how I got here 
I got some pictures on my phone 

New names and numbers that I don't know 
Address to places like Abbey Road 
Day turns to night, night turns to whatever we want 
We're young enough to say 

[Chorus] 

Oh this has gotta be the good life 
This has gotta be the good life 
This could really be a good life, good life 

Say oh, got this feeling that you can't fight 
Like this city is on fire tonight 
This could really be a good life 
A good, good life 
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh

^The chorus might be about us having the choice to live a good life no matter how hard the situation is, ore even if we are go through hard times in our lives, we can still choose to live a good life.
"Got this feeling that you can't fight" could be a feeling of being young and passionate and unstoppable of doing things that we want to do.

[Verse 2] 

To my friends in New York, I say hello 
My friends in L.A. they don't know 
Where I've been for the past few years or so 
Paris to China to Col-or-ado 

^This part could be about the places that the band have been to as Kutzle, the band’s base guitar and cello player said “The whole song is a memory of touring our first album,”  “It seems like one big whirlwind looking back on that now.”
Sometimes there's airplanes I can' t jump out 
Sometimes there's bullshit that don't work now 
We are god of stories but please tell me-e-e-e 
What there is to complain about 

^This part explains again that sometimes, hurdles and rough patches will come into our way, but we are the one to decide how we live our lives and as long as we are living, we should not complain and find a way to live happily.

When you're happy like a fool 
Let it take you over 
When everything is out 
You gotta take it in 

^This might mean that when people are happy they should let it out and enjoy it instead of hiding their emotions.
[Chorus] 

Oh this has gotta be the good life 
This has gotta be the good life 
This could really be a good life, good life 

Say oh, got this feeling that you can't fight 
Like this city is on fire tonight 
This could really be a good life 
A good, good life 

Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
A good good life Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh

[Bridge 2] 

Hopelessly 
I feel like there might be something that I'll miss 
Hopelessly 
I feel like the window closes oh so quick 
Hopelessly 
I'm taking a mental picture of you now 
'Cuz hopelessly 
The hope is we have so much to feel good about

[Chorus] 

Oh this has gotta be the good life 
This has gotta be the good life 
This could really be a good life, good life 

Say oh, got this feeling that you can't fight 
Like this city is on fire tonight 
This could really be a good life 
A good, good life 

Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh

To my friends in New York, I say hello 
My friends in L.A. they don't know 
Where I've been for the past few years or so 
Paris to China to Col-or-ado 

Sometimes there's airplanes I can' t jump out 
Sometimes there's bullshit that don't work now 
We are god of stories but please tell me-e-e-e 
What there is to complain about 

The song is very upbeat and cheery in general and the relaxing drumbeats make us want to get up and keep going and to really enjoy everything that we have. It really suits the lyrics of the song and it encourages people to be optimistic and live a good life. We will try and represent this message through our music video with a joyful and cheerful mood.

PLANNING- PERMISSION TO USE TRACK

Me and my group mate went on twitter and tweeted One Republic asking for permission to create a music video of their song Good Life
Here is a screenshot of our tweet

PLANNING- Mind Map

In today's lesson, we made a mindmap using MindNode based on our idea for the music video. However this is only a brief idea and there might be alteration throughout the working process. But this will give us the guidelines and help us with the planning process.

RESEARCH- MORAL PANICS

I think that people are trying to push the boundaries of music and stars nowadays, leading to the use of explicit language or offensive images, etc. This has almost created a trend and has raised the society's awareness. Although there is a lot of freedom in the music and arts culture, however I think there should still be laws and regulations to control music and music video as they might become bad influences for younger audiences.

RESEARCH- 
According to The Guardian on 1st September, 2012-

BBFC reviews policy on music and factual videos :

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will this week close a three-month consultation that most observers believe will end a loophole which means DVDs with titles like The Bitch of Buchenwald and Britain's Bloodiest Serial Killers can claim exemption from being given age guidance by the British Board of Film Classification.

 As things stand, most sport, documentary and music videos can claim an exemption from classification. "The great majority of exempt video works are fine," said the BBFC's head of policy, David Austin. "They are not going to harm anyone, but there are a significant number of titles that are potentially harmful to children.

 Austin showed the Guardian examples of videos that have claimed exemption but would have been classified. They range in seriousness. One of the more shocking is a documentary about the American heavy metal band Slipknot "which, actually my son bought when he was 10 and I confiscated", said Austin. "He's waiting till he's older to get it back."

A music video by the Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth, which was rated X in Germany but is unrated in the UK, shows topless women being crucified with blood running down their breasts.

Austin said: "Given concerns about knife crime in this country, that really is how to kill someone. If that came in for classification, we would not classify it – we would cut that."

Other potentially problematic DVDs include wildly violent cage fighting DVDs and ones that instruct in krav maga, the combat techniques developed by the Israeli army.

Examples-

• A performance by Rihanna on The X Factor in December 2011 attracted 4,500 complaints to Ofcom.
• I Like the Way She Do It (sexually explicit language)
  
• If I Can't  (strong language)
• PIMP 50 Cent (offensive images of women)
• What's My Name Rihanna (body thrusting, striptease)
• Express Christina Aguilera (burlesque)

 

RESEARCH- MUSIC TV CHANNELS

'Catch the biggest tracks of the week on UKHOT40

Tune in as we count down the biggest tracks of the week on UKHOT40. Find out which of your favourite artists are closing in on the top spot! Could it be Rihanna riding high? Or perhaps Bruno Mars will be victorious? Or will it be a surprise from Ed Sheeran or Ke$ha?
Tune in and watch the hottest music videos on the hottest chart!'

Wikipedia:


Greatest Hits TV is a British satellite TV music channel owned by UltimateHits Limited.

Lava logo

The channel launched on 29 March 2010 on Sky channel 378 as Lava. Lava specialised in the Indie and rock music genres. Lava's remit was to provide a platform for young rock, pop punk and indie musicians, and features young unsigned music acts from around the United Kingdom. Lava was a sister channel of Channel AKA, which was also owned by Mushroom TV, and replaced Rockworld TV which operated on Sky Channel 378 and closed at 7.00am on 29 March 2010. Both the Lava and Channel AKA formats allowed viewers to decide on the station's playlist through the use of a voting system which enables viewers to watch the videos they want to see.

On 26 April 2011, Lava was rebranded as Greatest Hits TV at 23.45pm.Lava continues on Greatest Hits TV as overnight programming block, called Lava Showcase, between 3.00am and 8.00am.
On 22 June 2012, Mushroom TV entered liquidation. Ofcom's television broadcast licensing update for May 2012, indicates that Greatest Hits TV was sold to UltimateHits Limited.




Wikipedia:

MTV, originally an initialism of Music Television, is an American cable television channel based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981.The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs. Today, MTV primarily broadcasts a variety of reality and scripted television programs targeted at adolescents and young adults.

MTV has spawned numerous sister channels in the U.S. and affiliated channels internationally, some of which have gone independent. MTV's influence on its audience, including issues related to censorship and social activism, has been a subject of debate for years.

RESEARCH- STARDOM

It is essential to the successful commercial production, distribution and exhibition of films and music. It has also played a special role in the medium’s interaction with other parts of the media, so that stars have played a significant part in the coverage and marketing of the music generally. The relationship which cinema and music has forged with its audience has frequently been defined by the status of stars. 

They remain the industry’s primary marketing tool and are frequently a main reason for the audience’s attendance. 

http://www.magneticmag.com/2012/07/do-you-have-aspirations-stardom-define-your-style-your-image-is-arguably-as-important-as-the-music-itself/:
"Any great pop star has a team of people—from graphic designers to stylists to publicists to the very producers that make their music—all working to keep the public’s view of their star consistent.
That consistency is so vastly important that when it comes to getting famous, it’s arguably as important as the music itself. When people hear your name, it needs to evoke a single, deeply recognizable and unique feeling. That is your image, and it reminds your audience what they are missing by not listening to your music or seeing you live. It is abstract, and has equally important audio and visual components that cooperate to push one message, one theme.
The aim of a music video is to promote an album; for this reason, almost all music videos contain the image of the star(s), the singer or band, to help promote the album. Because of this music videos often feature a wide variety of shots (especially close ups) on their singers, and give them a large percentage of the screen time within a music video.

The 'meta-narrative star image' of a musician or group of musicians is very often heavily represented through music video. The star image is sold to viewers, who watch the stars performing or larking around in videos. The stars can choose what sort of image they wish to sell through the narrative of a music video and portray themselves."

For example, in the Red Hot Chilli Pepper's Can't Stop music video, they have created a playful, cheery  and animatic image of 4 friends playing around, having a wild time together. 

This can be illustrated by their music video- Can't Stop (directed by Mark Romanek)

RESEARCH- DIRECTORS' LABEL

During lessons we studied different directors and their music videos' style. I created a Yudu presentation on this.

Enlarge this document in a new window
Publishing Software from YUDU

RESEARCH- TRENDS

I think one of the most recent trends in the media world is the use of social media, for example like Facebook and Twitter. These platforms have become more and more important and influential, it can be illustrated by the 'Call Me Maybe' case below. It shows that word of mouth and the two-step flow model can help raise the audience's attention and interest, which is key when promoting and marketing a product.

Call Me Maybe is a song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen for her EP Curiosity (2012)
Musically, "Call Me Maybe" is an upbeat teen pop track that draws influences from dance-pop and disco. Lyrically, the track alludes to the inconvenience that a love at first sight brings to a girl who hopes for a call back from a crush.
In the United States, the track reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Pop Songs chart. The song is the first number one by a Canadian female artist on the Billboard Hot 100 chart since 2007's "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne. With worldwide sales of over 8.3 million copies it is the second best selling single of 2012.
How did it become so popular?
After Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber and his girlfriend actress/singer Selena Gomez tweeted about the song, it gained international attention. Jepsen was signed to Schoolboy Records, releasing her single in the United States through the label.

Gangnam Style

Rapper Psy has become the first South Korean pop star to make it to the top of the UK singles chart with his song Gangnam Style.

The track has become a global phenomenon and the video featuring his famous horse-riding dance is YouTube's most "liked" of all time.

One of the most successful achievements is that it inspired people from all around the world to make their own versions and share with other people. 

RESEARCH: Good life sucess

Good Life" is a song by American alternative rock band OneRepublic, taken from their second studio album, Waking Up (2009). The song was written by group members Ryan Tedder, Brent Kutzle, and Eddie Fisher along with group associate Noel Zancanella, with production done by Tedder. Featuring upbeat lyrics describing the travels of its narrator, the song is accompanied by prominent whistles and fast-paced drumming.

The song was released on November 19, 2010 as the album's third single in the United States, and as its overall fourth single. Its popularity was increased by its use in various films and television series and advertisements. The single was a commercial success, peaking at number 8 on the USBillboard Hot 100 and eventually being certified multi-platinum, as well as reaching the top twenty of other music charts across Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Critical reception of "Good Life" was generally positive.

A remix of the song, featuring American rapper B.o.B, was released to radio stations in June 2011.
The background music of this song was played on a Walt Disney World Resort radio commercial.