Contextual Research - Case Study 3 - Blur

ParkLife - Blur 

Blur bief context:

Blur are an English rocked band that formed in 1988 reaching the hight of their fame in 1995.

They rivalled another British pop band, Oasis, both being heavily influential in the formation and popularity of the music movement, BritPop. 

Video summary:

The video encapsulates the bands BritPop, youth movement style through use of bright, saturated colours, familiar locations, witty humour and charismatic leads. The video plays on satires of British values using a blend of narrative and performance to showcase the bands personality and entertain their audience. 

leads: Phil Daniels (British icon (Quadrophenia - mods and rockers in Brighton)) and Damon Albairn (lead singer of blur)

        The other members of the band (Alex James, Graham Coxon and Dave Rowntree) make cameo appearances in the narrative story and all feature predominantly in the performance sections.

Parklife definition - the act of being unemployed and instead gaining money from benefits 

Mise en scene

The main mise-en-scene of the video is poking fun at British values. The video creates a relaxed, cheeky, young feel reflecting the bands persona and therefore interesting their teen, rebellious demographic. 

Bright colour is constantly used throughout the video to reflect a fun feel and for entertainment of the audience. It reflects a feeling of creative freedom and the youth culture idea of not fitting into the crowd, presenting these ideas to audience. The bright colours of the band and the mise-en-scène in the performative sections work to contrast the dull suits work by the narrative of the two car salesmen. This creates a positive promotion of the band as being fun and free which will resonate with their target demographic, young adults. 

The way the band members dress and partake in the video is essential to the enjoyment of the video. They dress in a relaxed manner, the popular style of the time which will fit to their target demographic. The fun they have in the performative sections mixed with their charismatic cuts to camera create a sense of artistic expression and enjoyment. 

Throughout the video, the band and members dress up as other characters. The way they submerse themselves and have fun reflects well on them and makes audiences like them more. For example, one of the members is dressed up as a seductive woman, a stereotypical convention for music videos (Laura Mulvey - male gaze). The video uses satire to show the bands humour. The band members dressing up also adds an element of easter eggs for audience enjoyment.

Throughout the video their is a clear use of Goodwins music video theory - links between lyrics and visuals, with the words ParkLife cropping up in the mise-en-scéne such as on the bus or as a signpost. This also adds to the band wacky feel almost breaking the fourth wall to the audience appealing to the audiences desire to be on the same page as the artist. 

The video also features iconogrpahy of the bands name with a beer tnakerd. They blend british ideals with the band which is instantly established as the first shot of the video and seen throughout. It then has the possibility of becomg an iconic image for the band with the added possibility of it becoming part of the bands merchandise (such as prints or stickers).

It could be seen there is an intertextual reference to The Beatles, Abbey Road album cover with the band crossing the street. This could be for audience enjoyment but also a claim that they they are going to be like The Beatles in popularity and fan following. 

Narrative:

The narrative follows two cars salesmen, The lead singer, Damon Alabirn and his superior, Phil Daniels. 

    Daniels is an icon of British culture the use of him as the narrative leads can be seen as an intertextual reference to he film he was in, Quadrophenia, It is a film about mods and rockers in Brighton - teen age rebellion, which the band reflects in their persona. 

The narrative pokes fun at British culture, presenting the leads as stressed, going about their daily lives, having sandwiches and tea, red busses, ice cream vans etc

    - everyone is a prat of the "hand in hand" nature of "ParkLife"

Performance:

The performance section of the video is where the band are truly allowed to shine as themselves. They wear bight colours and play with similarly coloured toys. 

They are presented as the children in the street, casing cars and having fun running up and down the road, performing to the camera, climbing on the van etc  

    This somewhat creates a value transference of familiarity allowing the audience to see themselves in their band which is what helped the band create their icon status

The direct mode of address in both the performative and narrative sections holds the audiences attention and creates the idea that the audience is included in the media product. 

Shots

The fast, comedic editing pace is consistently used to keep the audiences attention, convey the image of the band as well as the style of the song - all unconventional, relaxed, comedic tones 

• The shots work to create a disorientated, disjointed feel. there is a feeling of oddness and easygoing that further reflects on the bands persona
• the varying shots in the video create an eclectic, fast paced, fun feel to the video adding to the mise-en-scene.

fish eye lens 

    the use of this lens creates a disorientated feel. It is quite comedic - fitting the tone of the song and is a filter that has now become a staple of the 90s being associated with the decade and such media products as home videos and skateboarding videos

high and low angle 

These again add to the disorientating feel to the video and act as an introduction to the somewhat off centred-ness of the video and the songs message - suggesting the idea of ParkLife is as the video suggests, a bit wacky 

Low angles follow the convention of making the person seem powerful while high angles make a person seem smaller and weaker. 

close-ups 

Close ups are used in a comedic manner. It also established the lead as confident and proud by highlighting his facial expressions 

zooms in and out 

Zoom outs are used to establish the characters surroundings while zoom ins are used to frame the lead character of the scene establishing them as the centre of the shot. 

In this shot we see the leads surroundings of a busy city scape as he sits on his smoking car bonnet and as we zoom in, we are focussed on him and what he is saying as if the surrounding is not bothering him - as "ParkLife" suggests, he is getting on with his day despite problems.

Branding

The purpose of a music video is to promote the artist so all the above is essential in creating the persona of the band to attract and draw in their young, free target demographic. 

The blurring between celebrity and non celebrity is seen through the way the band present themselves as relatable to audiences. This can also refer to Bandura's media modelling theory with audiences wanting to copy the behaviour of celebrities in media products. In this case, audiences would want to follow the bands laid back, eccentric presentation of self. 

It is also important to note the cross platform branding - as seen with the records releaser cover, the dull colours and contesting bright colours that are featured in the ParkLife music video are followed with the cover of the record (on the right). 

Overall: (aspects I would like to transfer to my music video)

• Odd camera angles (low and high, fish eye lens, zooms) - feeling of youth, fun and enjoyment 
• Fast editing pace 
• Everyday, relatable setting
• Establish the band as charismatic  
• Mix of narrative and performance
• Bright (saturated) colours
• Iconography - established at the start of the video and seen throughout
• Show the artist enjoying themselves and having fun - this will then translate to audiences the feel of the song as well as the personality of the artist