Song Lyrics- Oh Me, Oh My

Every day I seem to turn around-

I'm on my back again,

cause I know there's something better than

this room I'm living in.

Looking outside- the sky is black.

I know a better place,

cause if these four worlds are closing in,

we're wasting time and space.

Oh me, oh my.

You know that I got something to say,

oh me, oh my,

I think about it everyday.

Oh me, oh my,

You know that I've been changing my ways

cause I dream of better days...

Dirty old towns ringing in my ears,

and don't I know just why

cause there's nothing changing in this town, 

the same grey northern sky.

Gotta get away, got to start again,

gonna turn my life around,

cause if these four walls keep closing in,

as ground hog day goes round.

Oh me, oh my.

You know that I got something to say,

oh me, oh my,

I think about it everyday.

Oh me, oh me.

You know that i've been changing my ways,

cause I dream of better days with you now.

(Instrumental interlude)

Oh me, oh my,

You know that I've got something to say.

Oh me, oh my,

I think about it everyday.

Oh me, oh my,

You know that I got something to say.

Oh me, oh my,

I think about it everyday.

Oh me, oh my,

You know that i've been changing my ways,

Cause I dream of better days with you now.

The 99s- Target Audience

For the band I have been researching I believe the target audience that I should target is 14-25 year olds as this age group is usually into their music and many people of this age listen to music of the indie genre. People of this age are often into their clothes, and fashion and many people try to dress indie and style themselves on musical icons such as their favourite bands.

The lyrics of the songs they create are very relevant to people of this age so the audience can sympathise with the band writing the song and the melodies are very catchy so people are likely to sing along to the songs.

To appeal to this demographic I would market the band mainly online using social media websites like facebook, twitter, myspace and websites like YouTube and blogs. Another method would be music tv channels and radio stations.

I will need to do some analysis to find out what appeals to this target market group.

The 99s- Background image

This is a picture of the band relaxing on the moors near their home town, they have a simple, sophisticated, but individual dress sense. 

Contact with chosen band- The 99s

I contacted the band via the email address from their unsigned profile page. I told them I am an A-level Media Studies student and need to create a music video for a song by an unsigned band, and said I was interested in creating a video for their song, 'Oh me, Oh my' and asked if they objected to me doing this.

I got a prompt reply confirming it was fine for me to use their song, adding that they would love to see the video when finished.

Chosen Artist- The 99s

After looking into the chosen three artists I decided that the one I would most like to create a video for is The 99s as I think the band persona seems a lot more refined than the other bands and the songs seem more professional and polished. As well as this I like the clean tones of the bands music, and their simple, but modern fashion style.


When I first heard this band I started to hear influences and make comparisons between their music and existing, similar bands. The bands that first sprung to mind are The Kooks and The Zutons with strong Beatles, northern sounding, Byrds-like melodies.

The 99s- Background information

After reading the description of The 99s that was written on unsigned.com and various other websites, I have found out a little about them and their target audience.  


The  band are from Saddleworth, north-east of Manchester in the foothills of the Pennines in the borderlands of Lancashire and Yorkshire. A place which will forever scarred with the memories of the Moors Murders. Despite this, the melodic indie-rock trio, The 99s, are very proud of their roots and instead of grouping themselves as another Manchester band, they proclaim their Saddleworth origins.


The three band members developed their musical identity through time together at school, and grew into a band when bassist James Loughlin and drummer Adam Quigley recruited Johnny West as singer and guitarist after admiring his performances in local folk clubs. The lads decided that fate had dictated their band line-up was complete, when all three seats in Adam's van were filled.


The band have since established themselves as a great live band and song-writing group after intense local gigging and appearing on Clint Boon's renowned XFM show and In The City festival. In 2009 the lads then took their gigs to London and had three successive gigs sold out at highly praised venues in the music industry such as, The Water Rats and Club 229.


As time has gone on the three have established their own musical style which has grown in confidence and as drawn together many influences which now sits between pop, folk and rock. The bands musical style can be heard to draw inspiration from the folk and brass bands of their hometowns as it does from Northern bands such as The Beatles. Their sunny, Byrds-like melodies take you far from any notions of grim Northern mills and moorland. 

"“We want to put where we come from back on the map for the right reason,” says West. “The music we write reflects our area. We write songs on top of hills.” "

Possible artists

When searching for an artist I could produce a music video for I came up with a shortlist of three bands that i thought could be viable to direct a video for.

These bands were:

• The 99s
• The Ginger Bread Men
• The Bad Robots

I will need to do some further research and planning to decide which would give the best result.

Andrew Goodwin's Six Points

• Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).

This means that music videos for the same genre of music often show similarities and use related kinds of themes/ shot types. I will research music videos from artists that are the same genre and style as my chosen song and analyse videos from these artists for conventions and begin thinking about how I can apply these to my music video.

• There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

This is basically stating that the footage/shots/ themes and mise en scene should reflect the lyrics of the song in some way. To do this I will analyse the lyrics to the song and film the video showing scenes constructed around the imagery created in the lyrics.

• There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

This is also saying that that the footage/shots/ themes and mise en scene should mirror the music or beat of the song. I could do this by filming dull/grey skies and rainy weather in my video to match a sombre song or sunny, weather to match an upbeat cheerful song.

• The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).

A method of using lots of close-ups of the artist themselves is used by the record label to market and advertise the artist. To do this I will have to cut regular close up shots of the lead singer.

• There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

This is drawing from the fact that in a high proportion of music videos women are portrayed as sexual objects. This may or may not be relevant to the genre of song I choose to film for.

• There is often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc)

In other words, parts of other films, music videos, characters etc. may be used in a video to attract attention of people who already know and like the material being referenced. For example the music video for 'Buddy Holly' by Weezer using the television programme 'Happy Days' as a setting and theme. This only works if the two texts are closely related, if something immediately springs to mind when I listen to the song then, this could be utilised, but it would need to be a clear cut and well known reference for the audience to understand it.

System of a Down- 'Toxicity' Animatic

Here is an animatic that me and Daniel produced of the music video 'Toxicity' by the band System of a Down. I believe this video is typical of this genre of music, it is heavily weighted towards shots of the band performing and includes fast camera movements such as pans, tilts and zooms as well as the use of the fast paced editing technique. Although in my opinion this video is rather bland and boring as the whole video is a montage of shots of the band performing in a white room, however, this is effective at drawing the audiences attention the band and their performance, and in particular the emotions of the performers whilst playing the song. The element of the band performing is typical of the rock/metal genre for music videos, but unlike many other videos of this kind there is no audience watching the band perform.


This music video was directed by Marcos Siega who also directed the video for 'Chop Suey!' by System Of A Down as well as many music videos for other very well known bands such as Blink 182, Weezer and Papa Roach. Many rock bands saw Marcos' past experience in rock as beneficial hence why Marcos has directed so many videos like Blink 182's famous singles 'What's My Age Again?' and 'All the Small Things', Weezer's 'Beverly Hills' and Papa Roach's 'Last Resort' in which I can see many similar features throughout.

Michel Gondry

Michael Gondry is a French filmmaker who has received awards for various areas of his work that includes commercial directing, screenwriting and directing music videos. Among many he is renowned for his individual, creative manner.

Michael Gondry’s career as a filmmaker first started when he made music videos for his band, Oui Oui, in which he was the drummer. The interesting style of his videos for Oui Oui caught the eye of various other artists, especially Björk who commissioned him to direct the video for her track ‘Human Behaviour’ after which he went on to direct videos for another seven of her songs. Gondry made quite a name for himself in the music video industry and has directed videos for some artist on numerous occasions, these artists include many well know bands and artists like Radiohead, The White Stripes, Daft Punk, The Chemical Brothers, The Vines, Stereogram and Beck to name a few.

As well as music videos, Gondry has directed television commercials and lead the way in the development of the “bullet time” technique which is a special effect that refers to a digital effect in which the time and space of the photography appears heavily manipulated i.e. slow motion of time-lapse in which the film is slowed down to such an extreme that you could see a bullet flying through the air or move around a scene at a normal speed showing the events as slowed , this is near impossible to with conventional slow-motion as the camera would have to move very quickly in order to be normal speed when the footage is slowed.

Along with Spike Jonze and David Fincher he lead the way in the wave of  music video directors transferring their skills in the music and commercial directing industry into feature films which he first did in 2001. Some of his most recent feature films include ‘Be Kind Rewind’ and ‘The Green Hornet’.

Some successful videos include:

The White Stripes- Hardest Button to Button

This video uses pixilation animation which is a form of the stop motion technique. I particularly like this filming/editing technique because, although simple, the result of the stop motion used is very effective since it emphasizes the basic, heavy, repetitive drum beat and guitar riff that runs throughout the song. This is a great example of editing to the beat of the song, which massively improves a music video as it integrates the musical and visual element seamlessly creating one entity rather than a video that seems separate to the music, more like a slideshow of clips that never quite relate to the song.

Spike Jonze

Spike Jonze, born in October 1969, is an American film director who has had a diverse career and has worked on various media products including music videos, television advertisements, feature films and television. As well as directing he has also produced and acted in many things.

Jonze is famous for his collaborative work with Charlie Kaufman, including works such as ‘Being John Malkovich’ and ‘Adaptation’. He also directed the 2009 film ‘Where the Wild Things are’ and is well known for co-creating and being executive director of MTVs ‘Jackass’

He founded the ‘Directors Label’ along with two other film makers Chris Cunningham and Michael Gondry. Jonze’s directing career not only includes producing and directing feature films but also many music videos for big name artists such as Weezer and The Beastie Boys and he is well known for his knowledge in this field.

Weezer- 'Buddy Holly' Analysis

When I first saw this video it i found it very interesting how it had been edited in such a creative way, so I fully analysed it to get a better idea of the concept.




The song 'Buddy Holly' was the second single that was released from the début album (The Blue Album) in 1994 by rock group Weezer. The lyrics of the song quote the names of the 50's rock and roll star Buddy Holly, and actress Mary Tyler Moore.


The video for this single was directed by Spike Jonze and shows the band performing the song on the original set of Arnold's Drive-In Diner from the popular 1970's American television show 'Happy Days'. The video starts with an intro from the original TV series including the end of the theme tune and a voice-over stating "Happy Days is filmed before a live audience" whilst a shot of the "Arnold's" sign is shown. This then cuts to an original piece of footage in which a television reporter introduces a live event. A horizontal transitional wipe is used to give the effect of blinds of shutters closing and reopening on another scene. The next shot is a mid-shot of Al Molinaro, an original cast member who plays the owner of the diner, who introduces Weezer who are on a raised stage dressed in matching 1950s style clothes; white shirts, stripy ties, mustard colour cardigans and drainpipe tailored trousers. The props used in the video like the guitars and microphones are indicative of the era the video is depicting as are the lyrics "I look just like Buddy Holly" and "you're Mary Tyler Moore".


The rest of the video is mainly mid shots of the band performing and long shots of the whole band with the audience dancing around the diner before the band. The upbeat song and memorable lyrics go hand in hand with the 50's costumes and dancing to create a cheerful, warming atmosphere. Jonze has cleverly knitted together contemporary footage of the band filmed in the Charlie Chaplin studios in Hollywood, to which Jonze applied a slightly grainy and tinted filter, with period clips from the original TV programs. Any shot containing Weezer is staged with actors in vintage costumes, any shots where the band would not be in frame Jonze has used original material. Use of body doubles allowed Jonze to frame shots of Weezer picturing what appeared to be the same customers as in the original footage. An example of this is at 1:26 into the video which shows a mid shot of two original characters from 'Happy Days' which at 1:27 then cuts to a reconstructed shot showing Weezer in the background with people dancing in front of the stage and  two doubles in the foreground, who are dressed in very similar looking clothes and acting as if they are the same people as in the previous shot.


At 2:15 the music is cut in full flow and a freeze frame shot of the band is held on screen whilst "To Be Continued" is layered on the shot whilst you hear a studio audience sighing as the music has ended. After this the 'Happy Days' neon sign is shown with a voice-over saying "stay tuned for more Happy Days". Next the video cuts straight back to the performance in the typical American diner. At the end of the video when all the customers in the diner have left, there is dialogue between the diner owner and the band members. These elements plus the original television introduction and narrators voice-over give the video a feel that it is an episode of the TV show as it is shot and edited in the style of a short film. The use of some authentic recordings reinforce the episode-like nature of the music video and create an even more realistic portrayal of the past.

Kings of Leon- 'Use Somebody' Analysis

In this video the opening shot is a helicopter shot of a busy city- this insinuates a high budget video. A few shots later a crane/high angle shot is used in which still, long exposure photographs are merged and then sped up to create a stop motion clip of light paths from car headlights on the motorway. These are used to show that the band is travelling at night, the lights emphasise the animatedness of the city and the stop motion long exposure technique is used to portray a passing of time.
Long and medium shots are used to show the band members in a pub/ bar/ snooker hall. These camera frames are used to show the band playing pool, table football whilst drinking and smoking and possibly drug taking. These actions all relate to a stereotypical image of rock stars which derives from the punk rock era of the 1970s/80s.
Close-up and extreme close-ups are also utilised to show the lead singer's mouth, eyes and facial expressions. This effectively demonstrates the singer's emotional involvement and intimacy with the song and lyrics he is singing.

Project Brief

Welcome to my A2 media blog, this is the blog for my A2 media studies project which is to plan, film and edit a music video and digipack for an unsigned band. I will have to do some research on the internet to find an unsigned band.


In the meantime I will need to analyse existing music videos, research music videos directors and look at how different types of artists are marketed.