All Time Low - A Love Like War: Tempo and Instruments

Tempo

The song has an upbeat tempo. There is a constant tempo in the song that is maintained and sometimes increased to match the instrumentals. The tempo also helps keep up with the songs key focus - War. War is generally an event that picks up the Tempo of your heart, which is something that this song does. by having an upbeat tempo, you can replicate this feeling. This tempo is also boosted and made more clear by keeping the Tempo of the instruments up to match the lyrics and help create that fast heart feeling.

Instruments

The instruments used in the song also help to create the Tempo. The Drums create a sound that people can relate to a heart beat, which could sub-consciencly increase the heart rate of the listener. It also sets the beat for the other instruments and the vocals. The guitars, both the bass and electric create the sounds of war. the bass creates low booms, which could be related to explosions and the fast strumming of the electric guitar could be related to automatic weapons. Finally the vocals are a very important factor in making the Tempo so effective. By singing the song at a faced pace helps to create a upbeat tempo, as it keeps the different sounds in the song together, reinforcing the tempo. It also adds a pinch of humanity to the song which can be related to war. Altogether, the instruments create a loud sound, which is something which can help show that the Tempo is upbeat, and is also relatable to war.

The instruments also make us feel anxious. The upbeat tempo creates an air of heightened threat as the fast beat is sub-consciencely increasing our heart rate, which makes us anxious.

Uses and Gratification Theory in "Centuries" Fall Out Boy

Uses And Gratifications Theory

The Uses and Gratifications theory discusses how users can deliberately choose media that will satisfy their needs and allow themselves to develop their: knowledge, relaxation, social interactions/companionship, diversion, or escape.



Information

From this video the audience can test their knowledge of history. For example: the people in the frames are famous people throughout history, i.e. Mother Teresa and Jesus. For those who might not know who they are, they can satisfy their curiosity by researching them and could link them to events of today. It could also give them a sense of security, by giving them some information that could prove useful, for example: having a fight to the death, if there is no other alternative.

Personal Identity

The audience can construct a violent behavior from this video as they see the band launch a pebble at goliaths head and kill him. This may lead to the audience becoming violent by identifying the band as their role model and copy everything that they do, which could lead to them committing some form of violence. Some members may already have this violence inside themselves and will use this video to reinforce their violent nature, because if they can do it, why can't I. This could all lead to audinec committing acts of violence, all because they saw it on a music video.

Integration and Social Interaction

Some audience members on the other hand, would have seen it as a message that they can be strong and can conquer they're fears, for example: it could allow someone to reconnect with family, friends and society. This is a positive effect provided by the video, showing that the violence could be interpreted in a different way. Other people could use this video as a verbal companion, who would help them conquer any fears they may have, i.e. Speech issues. Furthermore, it could help people, who are very shy. It could give them a basis on which to start a conversation, which could help to build their confidence. This will further help them gain a sense of belonging as they are able to hold conversations and meet new people.

Entertainment

On the other hand, some audience members may just use the video as a chance to escape from mundane aspects of life, or from the problems that they face daily, i.e. bills or horrible bosses. The video could be used to relax or fill time between meetings or free time. Others may use it instead for emotional release, for example: if they are angry they may watch it as seeing anger may make them less angry as they see what it can do. Finally others may use it for sexual arousal, for example: the actresses in some scenes.

Camera Movement

Types of camera movement:

Crab: Crabbing is a less common term for tracking however it tends to move side to side as opposed to forwards/backwards.
Its effect: this is commonly used to keep up with the action to enable the audience to see around the subject to feel like they're involved. 

Dolly: A dolly shot is where the camera is mounted on a track in order to get a smooth shot, from a dolly shot the shots tend to be in and out and can also be known as a tracking shot. 
Its effect: this is commonly used to keep up with the action to give the audience a sense of realism.

Dolly Zoom: A dolly zoom shot is when the camera is moving either towards or away from the subject, again on a track, however the zoom is adjusted to keep the subject the same size to fit the frame.
Its effect: the dolly zoom can be used to show a sense of vertigo if a character is up high, it can also be used to show an emotion as Spielberg did in Jaws.

Follow: This shot is simply following the person or object at the same distance, commonly with the use of a stedicam but it can also be done via a tracking shot. 
Its effect: this makes the audience feel like they are physically in with the character, providing a sense of realism as it feels like they're the one following what they are doing.

Pan: A common shot in which the camera has a horizontal movement of left to right,
Its effect: This shot is usually used to establish the setting of a film or music video to make it clear to the audience. 

Pedestal: This is where the camera moves vertically on the subject in an up and down motion. 

Tilt: This shot is where the camera is pointed in a vertical motion to change the camera angle. 
Its effect: changes the angle of the shot on the subject to a high angle shot which would make the character appear superior or the low angle shot which would make the character powerless. It changes the audience's perspective of the audience.

Track: A tracking shot is similar to the dolly shot in which the camera is mounted on a track, however in a tracking shot the more common use is parallel to the action and which stays a constant distance from the action.
Its effect: again the same as a dolly shot, this is commonly used to keep up with the action to give the audience a sense of realism and enables them to see everything that is going on.

Truck: This is another uncommon term for a tracking or a dolly shot, the camera tends to move side to side as opposed to a dolly or tracking shot. 
Its effect: again the same as a dolly/tracking shot, this is used to keep up with the action.

Zoom: A zoom isn't a camera movement as such however there is a change in the focal length to make the subject either closer or further away. 
Its effect: the same as dolly zoom - it can be used to show a sense of vertigo if a character is up high, it can also be used to show an emotion as Spielberg did in Jaws.

A performance video in less than 10 words:

There is a band performing and is cheap to make. 

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin theory suggested that music videos are made to 'sell' the star and he said that there are six different conventions within a music video.

1. He said there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals which can either amplify or contradict the lyrics.
2. Through beats - the video is edited in a way which fits in with the beat of the song
3. Iconography - Most artists have a 'trademark' which they're well known for or represents the genre of the song
4. Close Ups - to sell the artist or the single
5. Voyeurism - to enhance the audience's interest by sexualizing the artist
6. Intertexuality - some videos have a direct reference to another media product

An Example:
In McFly - Love is on the Radio we can see an element of these conventions.

1. There is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals which amplify the lyrics - when they sing 'we could be married like MRS and MR' Harry shows his wedding ring and when Tom and Danny stand together Danny points to Tom on MR. Also when they sing 'we'll have a song and we'll give him a sister' it shows what could be Tom/Harry's son and then it shows Tom cradling his arms like a baby therefore referencing the lyrics. There are lots of links between lyrics and visuals.
2. The editing also fits in with the beat as the edits follow off from each beat, each cut emphasizes the lyrics of the song
3. McFly represent the genre of rock as they all play their own instruments and they wear rock clothing I.e. smart casual - jeans, waistcoats, hats but they don't as a band have iconography as such
4. Again in this video there are various close up shots of each member of the band, this would appeal to the teenage girls who follow the band as they may like a specific member of the band and so it encourages them to watch the video
5. There isn't a large element of voyeurism in this video as there are no women however it could apply to the band still as teenage girls may see them as attractive however in this video they aren't sexualised.
6. There is some intertexuality in this video i.e. Dougie licking the hammer is taken from Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball which is a direct reference to her music video.

Questonnaire Results

We recently conducted a survey to our aimed target audience (teens) to try and find out what they like and why they watch music videos. This is our feedback.

1. What is your age?

The most popular age was 17 however there were a couple 16 year olds and one 18 year old.

• From this we know that the main target audience that like rock music videos are aimed at teens aged around 17, when it comes to planning our music video we know to cater to that specific age range.

2. Would you be happy to appear in a feedback video?

5 people said Yes which amounted to 29.41%, 12 people said No they did not want to appear in the feedback 70.59%.

• From this we now have 5 people who we can film for the filmed focus group to which we can pitch our ideas to and get further feedback.

3. Please rank your top music genres which you enjoy most.

Above is the table of our results from this question. If we look at the Rock Row we can see that 10 people said that Rock was their favourite, 9 said they liked it, 1 person said they disliked it and 1 person said they hated it. We also know that rock music was the most popular as almost 50% said it was their favourite and only 5% disliked/hated it.

• From this we can see that for teens a popular music choice is either Rock or Pop music, therefore we know that from our music video again we can cater to the teen audience by using rock codes and conventions.

4. Why do you like Rock Music?

There were a lot of responses to this question, the lyrics of the song was a popular response to this and the answers included "the lyrics have meaning", I feel that I can connect and relate to the lyrics", "The lyrics are much more relatable" and "strong lyrics"

Also other comments included about the beat "generally upbeat".

The majority of answers involved being fun and good to listen to - "full of energy", "You can have a great time with friends listening to it!", "sub-genres of Rock cater for every mood".

A couple of answers involved being able to play instruments "I like that most rock bands play their own instruments, and their songs are usually pretty good" and " rock bands are actually talented and can create their own music unlike pop stars"

• From this we can see that teens like rock music for the beat but also that they feel they can relate to the lyrics and message of the song.

5. What are your three favourite rock bands?

We put this information into a table of all the rock bands that were said from this question -

From this we can see that a lot of bands were suggested from this question and a few came up a couple of times. For example AC/DC came up 4 times. Bon Jovi, Imagine Dragons, Nirvana, Patent Pending, Queen, Fall out boy, Bowling for soup all twice. There are quite a variety of rock bands that have been suggested, therefore from this we can use this to help with our research by comparing rock bands.

6. On what platform do you watch music videos?

From this table we can see that the 90% of our respondents watch music videos on Youtube, and only 10% of them watch music videos on the bands official website. This can be useful to us in terms of distribution as we know where it would be effective to post to get the views. However music channels still have about 35% of the views. 

7. How often do you spend watching music videos?

From this we can see that the most popular option is 0-30 minutes as 66.67% said this is how long they watched music videos for, this could mean that they lose interest after a short amount of time therefore we need to make our music video interesting as only a small amount of people watch music videos for much longer. We need to gain their attention.

8. How many rock music videos do you watch in a week?

From this we can see that the majority of people (66.7%) watch 0-2 music videos in a week. 14.27% said they watched 2-4 and another 14.27% said they watched 4-6, no one watches 6-8 or 8-10 but one person watches over 10 videos per week. Gain this could mean people don't watch many as they don't seem interested so we need to make sure we gain their attention, however it also needs to stand out from the other music videos watched. As the majority of recipients were 17 therefore they were students they may not have as much free time to watch as many music videos or they may watch a different type of genre. 

9. How often do you spend listening to music in a day?

From this we can see this is more varied than music videos providing that listening to music is preferred to watching the music videos. 8 people said they listened to music for over 2 hours, 4 people said that they listened to music for 0-30 minutes and a further 4 said 31 minutes- 1 hour. The least popular option was 1 hour 31 - 2 hours followed by an hour to an hour and a half. This is much more varied than watching the music videos as people can listen to music whilst doing other things however it still proves that music is a very popular past time.

10. What do you expect to see from rock videos?
We asked the recipients to tell us what they expected to see from a rock music video.

"Dark urban background                                            

guitars, drums, rugged looking men                                            

a guitar (we had guitar's and guitar solo's mentioned about four times)     

drums                                   

lots of fun                                                                                     

a good song                                            

The Rock and roll lifestyle of the artist

being able to picture being able to rave to the song in a nightclub                                            

Musicians actually loving what they do                                            

amazing stage presence

in touch with the crowd

heavy breakdowns, heavy

originality                                            

Loads of people aimlessly screaming                                             

Catchy tune

good lyrics

having fun                                                                                                                                                                             

Animal print leggings and wigs                                            

good performances                                            

a good message in each song                                           

performance/maybe a visual narrative"     

Therefore from this feedback we know the kind of things that our teenage audience expects to see from a rock video; so we can try and incorporate these things into the video to please the audience. Therefore we can still follow the conventions of rock music as most of the comments suggested are involved in the iconography of rock music videos i.e. guitar solo's and live performances.                                        

                         

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