The Script are an Irish alternative rock band from Dublin, formed in 2001. Mark and Danny were formally part of a band formed in 1996 called 'mytown'. They found themselves invited to Canada to collaborate with artists such as Dallas Austin, Montell Jordan and Teddy Riley. They were based in the US for many years but they moved back to Dublin where they recruited two new band members. The band's influences were artists such as U2, The Police, The Neptunes, Timbaland and Van Morrison. Danny and Mark started making demos for other artists, but when they met drummer Glen Power, their objective changed. The three of them went on a working holiday to Los Angeles and in one week, they produced three songs. The Script received an award at the World Music Awards for 'Best Selling Irish Act' and on the 19th February 2010, they won 'Best Live Performace' at the Meteor Ireland Music Awards.
They realised their first album 'The Script' in August, 2008. The album has featured in popular television programmes such as 90210, Ghost Whisperer, The Hills, Eastenders, Vampire Diaries and Waterloo Road.
This album cover gives the audience an idea of what the concept of the album is going to be. Displayed is a lady and a man, and the man has his head blown off. This suggests that the woman has hurt the man, rather than the stereotypical idea of the man hurting the woman. It is also urban because of the buildings surrounding, this emphasises the genre of the music.
In August 2010, they realised their second album 'Science & Faith'. This album was recorded in London. The vocalist Danny O'Donoghue talks about people being stripped from everything that they own and how this inspired the band to write the songs for the new album. 'For The First Time' entered the UK charts and reached number 4 and entered the Irish charts at number 1. On 1 October 2010 tickets for The Script arena tour in March 2011 went on sale. The tickets for all 12 arenas around the UK sold out in 5 days.
This album cover displays holding hands of a man and a woman. Holding hands implies a romantic theme so this suggests the album is going to be about love. The title of this album has the word 'faith' in it, this links with the cover because the showing of holding hands implicates they have faith in each other.
Here is a three-shot showing all of the band members. They create a typical stereo type image of an 'alternative rock band'. We can see this through the clothes they are wearing (jeans, plain tops) and through the mise-en-scene of dark lighting and black and white editing.
Textual Analysis of 'Before the Worst' - 'The Script'.
I am analysing ‘Before the Worst’ by ‘The Script’. The video was directed by Paul Minor. The genre of the music video is alternative rock and the characteristics of this genre that this music video displays are: male based, urban setting and casual clothes (jeans, jackets).
There is one main relationship between the lyrics and the visuals and that is the concept of wanting to go back in time. Most of the video shows the band rehearsing this song before a show, this links with the song because it is before something has happened. The lyrics say 'take it back to the night we kissed' and at this point we get an extreme close up of the lead singers face. This is to imply emotion when the song is talking about going back to happier times. When the lyrics say 'who would have thought it would end up like this?' we see him singing out to an empty stadium. This is to suggest he is now singing to no one, and the girl he is in love with has gone. When the chorus is first played at we hear the lyrics sat ‘let’s take it back’ and 'before the worst' we see separate close-up and mid-shot camera angles of the band members to capture emotion of sadness. The video highlights through out the video that they are not playing to an audience by showing the empty seats, this is linking to the lyrics because it is showing that they are alone and this makes us sympathise with the band members, especially the lead singer Danny O'Donoghue because the video mostly focuses on him. The music video also shows him being alone on a street. This could be interpreted that this is before anyone is there, which links with the lyrics because he wants to go back before a relationship went wrong. This video relates to other video’s that ‘The Script’ have produced as they all relate to heartbreak and break-ups.
The lights shining on the band when they are performing matches with the beat of the music, to emphasise the style of the music to the audience. The instruments playing in the music are focused on in small bits throughout the music video, for example there are close-ups of the drums and keyboards. This is to add to the effect on the performance based video.
The lights shining on the band when they are performing matches with the beat of the music, to emphasise the style of the music to the audience. The instruments playing in the music are focused on in small bits throughout the music video, for example there are close-ups of the drums and keyboards. This is to add to the effect on the performance based video.
The record company is looking to sell this track through the focus on the lead singer and his sex appeal. He is the main image of the band, however he is not dressed in a sexual way because this may not fit with the genre they are trying to put across. We can suggest that the video is aimed at a female audience because of the spotlight being on a young, attractive man. We can also see it is aimed at a female audience becuase during the music videos we see small clips of a few girls watching the band rehearse. This suggests that girls love this band.
Their are inter-textual references such as the band going on tour. This relates to the artist's star image as they go on tour a lot because of how famous and popular they are. They are rehearsing for their show, this creates a sense of realism for the audience as the band would have to rehearse many times before they perform.
The music video is mainly concept based. This is because the lyrics relates to the concept of the music video - before something has happened. This implies that the artist wants to go back in time. It is also performance based because the band are playing on stage with their instruments and some girls are watching. There are always clips of The Script performing the music in their muic videos so this is a star-image motif.
Overall, this music video may come across simple but there has been a lot of thought into how to relate the video with the lyrics so it looks effective and interesting for the audience to watch.
I am now going to analyse the music video 'The Man Who Can't Be Moved' by 'The Script'. This video was directed by Marc Klasfeld. The genre of this music video is alternative rock. The characteristics of this genre are: the artist performing their music (often showing instruments such as guitars and drums), male dominant and the setting of an urban based area.
There is a distinct relationship between the lyrics and the visuals in this music video. The lead singer of the band tells the story of the lyrics through his actions. When the song says 'you'll see me waiting for you at the corner of the street', the man is sat on the corner of the street. In the song it mentions that he 'isn't broke, just a broken hearted man', at this point in the video he refuses money off people in the streets. People also try and move him in the street but he refuses showing that he is 'the man who can't be moved'. He gets questioned by news reporters because he will not move from the street. At this point in the song he says 'you'll see me on the news'. The video shows traffic moving by in the city fast, yet he doesn't move. This makes it clear that time is passing by before him but he won't move. This makes the video a narrative based video that tells a story.
The lead singer of the band is the main image of 'The Script' so therefore the music video has many close ups of him. This is because they are trying to sell the video through his looks, this indicates that the song is aimed at a female based audience. There are focuses on the instruments that the band are using, this is to add to the effect of a performance based video. 'The Script's music videos are usually based in urban cities, this is known as a star image motif.
In the music video the police are watching the lead singer of the band from their cars because he won't move off the corner of the street. People walking past stop and crowd round to watch him. This is to emphasise the narrative of the song that he will not move from the corner of the street.
There is reference to other media in parts of this music video. When the lead singer is sat on the side of the street he is being questioned by news reporters which is another type of media. This adds to the narrative to the music video and it also creates a sense of realism.
The video is narrative based because the lead singer of the band tells the story of the song through what he does in the music video. It is also performance based because there are clips of the band performing the song, this adds to the characteristics of the genre that they are trying to portray.
Overall, this music video emphasises the narrative of the song through Danny O'Donoghue's actions. The video has a feeling of sadness and heartbreak, but also determination to try and get the girl back. A female audience may feel sympathy for the singer and this might make them like the record and therefore buy it.
I will now do a star analysis of another band: You Me At Six.
You Me At Six are an English rock band from Surrey formed in 2004. In their early days they released two extended plays 'We Know What It Is To Be Alone' and 'Untitled'. They were nominated for 'Best British Band' in 2008, 2009 and 2010 at the Kerrang Awards. In spite of losing each time they won in 2011. The band's bassist Matt Barnes also owns a clothing line range called 'Cheer Up! Clothing' which was formed in 2007. The clothing line sponsors many artists such as All American Rejects, Four Year Strong, Emarosa and VersaEmerge. The band's lead singer Josh Franceschi also owns a clothing range 'Down But Not Out'. The clothing line models' feature several of the band's members. In summer 2011, the band's rhythm guitarist Max Heyler also started his own clothing range called 'Become Antique'.
Overall, this music video may come across simple but there has been a lot of thought into how to relate the video with the lyrics so it looks effective and interesting for the audience to watch.
Textual analysis of 'The Man Who Can't Be Moved' - 'The Script'.
I am now going to analyse the music video 'The Man Who Can't Be Moved' by 'The Script'. This video was directed by Marc Klasfeld. The genre of this music video is alternative rock. The characteristics of this genre are: the artist performing their music (often showing instruments such as guitars and drums), male dominant and the setting of an urban based area.
There is a distinct relationship between the lyrics and the visuals in this music video. The lead singer of the band tells the story of the lyrics through his actions. When the song says 'you'll see me waiting for you at the corner of the street', the man is sat on the corner of the street. In the song it mentions that he 'isn't broke, just a broken hearted man', at this point in the video he refuses money off people in the streets. People also try and move him in the street but he refuses showing that he is 'the man who can't be moved'. He gets questioned by news reporters because he will not move from the street. At this point in the song he says 'you'll see me on the news'. The video shows traffic moving by in the city fast, yet he doesn't move. This makes it clear that time is passing by before him but he won't move. This makes the video a narrative based video that tells a story.
The lead singer of the band is the main image of 'The Script' so therefore the music video has many close ups of him. This is because they are trying to sell the video through his looks, this indicates that the song is aimed at a female based audience. There are focuses on the instruments that the band are using, this is to add to the effect of a performance based video. 'The Script's music videos are usually based in urban cities, this is known as a star image motif.
In the music video the police are watching the lead singer of the band from their cars because he won't move off the corner of the street. People walking past stop and crowd round to watch him. This is to emphasise the narrative of the song that he will not move from the corner of the street.
There is reference to other media in parts of this music video. When the lead singer is sat on the side of the street he is being questioned by news reporters which is another type of media. This adds to the narrative to the music video and it also creates a sense of realism.
The video is narrative based because the lead singer of the band tells the story of the song through what he does in the music video. It is also performance based because there are clips of the band performing the song, this adds to the characteristics of the genre that they are trying to portray.
Overall, this music video emphasises the narrative of the song through Danny O'Donoghue's actions. The video has a feeling of sadness and heartbreak, but also determination to try and get the girl back. A female audience may feel sympathy for the singer and this might make them like the record and therefore buy it.
I will now do a star analysis of another band: You Me At Six.
You Me At Six are an English rock band from Surrey formed in 2004. In their early days they released two extended plays 'We Know What It Is To Be Alone' and 'Untitled'. They were nominated for 'Best British Band' in 2008, 2009 and 2010 at the Kerrang Awards. In spite of losing each time they won in 2011. The band's bassist Matt Barnes also owns a clothing line range called 'Cheer Up! Clothing' which was formed in 2007. The clothing line sponsors many artists such as All American Rejects, Four Year Strong, Emarosa and VersaEmerge. The band's lead singer Josh Franceschi also owns a clothing range 'Down But Not Out'. The clothing line models' feature several of the band's members. In summer 2011, the band's rhythm guitarist Max Heyler also started his own clothing range called 'Become Antique'.
They became extremely successful after the release of their first album 'Take Off Your Colours' which included the popular singles such as 'Save It For The Bedroom' and 'Finders Keepers'. These entered the UK Singles Chart. They released this album through Slam Dunk Records on the 8th October 2008.
This album cover is deliberately ambiguous, we can interpret this album cover however we want. It is not particularly displaying anything about the actual band other than the fact they are different. It links with the bands name because the words 'me at' are put together so it looks like the word 'meat'; and displayed on the album cover looks like a sink drainer. This could of been done as a play on words. It has a link with the album name because different colours are used such as red and green and the album is called 'Take Off Your Colours'.
On the 11th November 2009 Josh Franceschi (the lead singer) announced their second album was complete and will be released in early 2010. It was released through Virgin Records on the 11th January 2010. The album was produced and engineered by Matt O'Grady and mixed by John Mitchell. This album debuted at number 5 in the UK album chart, however it hit number 4 for the mid-week chart. They released their first song from the album 'Underdog' and made it available for free streaming from their myspace website. On the 28th January the band announced that they would be releasing an iTunes exclusive bundle, including their second follow-up single of their new album. On the 21st July the band released a music video for their third single on this album 'Stay With Me'. This song was used in a popular television programme called 'Made In Chelsea'.
This album cover could be interpreted as feminine because of the mise-en-scene displayed. The image of flowers and the colours such as pink and yellow give a girly atmosphere. I think they may have done this to try and sell their music to a female audience.
Textual Analysis of 'Stay With Me' - 'You Me At Six'.
This video that I am analysing was directed by Frank Borrin. The genre of this music video is rock. I can see this because of many of the genre characteristics they have used. The music video is based around the band performing, showing the instruments they use. The clothes that the band members and the characters are wearing display a rock image because they are dressed in jeans, jackets and t-shirts.
There is a strong link between the lyrics and the visuals in this video. The lyrics say 'I give you take, it's the way it's always been' and at that point there is a man in a car, looking very sad and emotional. The same man then buries a picture in the ground of him and a girl. This indicates that he has been hurt in love and wants to get rid of his memories of them two together which goes with the lyrics. Later in the song the lyrics say 'I give you take, some things they never change'. At this point there are girls walking around an empty field all looking alone and upset. This suggests that these girls have all been unlucky in love and relationships because they have been treated badly. When the lyrics say 'I know that I could walk away' we see girls burying items in the ground. This implies that these objects have something to do with a bad relationship and them burying them in the ground symbolises that they can walk away from it. Then a very literal link between the lyrics and the visuals is shown. The lyrics say 'these things take time to grow' as it shows a girl with a watering can, sprinkling the water on the floor. This has a hidden meaning that relationships take time to grow. As the chorus starts again and the lyrics are 'stay with me' repeatedly, people grow out of the ground from where the previous people have buried the objects of their relationship. This is suggesting that the person is going to stay with them.
The main image of this band is the lead singer Josh Franceschi so therefore when the video shows the band performing there are many camera angles focusing on him. This is because they are sexualising the artist and trying to sell their track to girls by using his looks. The video shows many close-ups for guitars and drums so that the beat of the music matches what the audience are hearing. This also emphasises the rock genre that they are trying to portray.
The setting that they have used is not a stereotypical urban city like bands such as 'The Script' often use. It is a large, overgrown field. This could be for reasons such as they are trying to show that they are different; and also to emphasise the mood of the characters being lonely.
The video is concept and performance based. The concept of the music video is love and heartbreak, yet also wanting to stay with someone. This is portrayed through the man burying the picture of him and a girl and through all the girls shown walking around on their own and burying objects of a past relationship. The feel of the video changes right at the end when their lovers come back and are close to them again. The video is performance based to show off the bands image and to emphasise that they are a rock band. From watching this music video and others by 'You Me At Six', I have found out that all of their videos have a lot of performance included. This is a star image motif.
Overall, from analysing this music video I can now see that though it may come across simple, they have included many aspects to show that they are a different type of band (the setting and people coming out of the ground); and also to try and sell their music mostly to a female audience (making this song about love and sexuallising the artist).
