DiaryBlog Entry 8: Small Update of Filming

Unfortunately I did not get all the filming that I wanted to get done over the weekend with the bear, YET, it gave me the chance to reflect on how much work I had to do for some of the scenes, these I shall explain.

Basically, for the filming; I ran out of day-light time, by the end of it, most of the shots I had to do by bedroom light as it was too dark for the camera to capture the right expression and detail that I wanted. Yet, it's kind-of turned to my favour, as now when I look at the 3 minute footage that I have; it makes it look a little bit unnatural, and a little bit nerving, which I can link to an accidental stumble across a method of showing expression; without necessarily having to literally act it in the screenplay.

When I talk about the amount of work I have to do for one scene, I mean a lot! By this I could say that I've been a bit too ambitious with some of the screenplay. One scene in particular. By this I'm referring to my early confirmed shot of the rotation sequence with the toy bear in the middle of my room, as it constantly cuts between a current and a past version of my bedroom (reminiscing). I got the current footage, yet it hasn't got everything that I wanted it to have (like the posters I've researched music video screen shots put up around my current room). But now I'm sort of dreading the past footage as it'll take a lot of work to get my room into the right condition (especially with what I've got planned), I can't have much current technology in the shot, as it emphasises the fact as to how alien it all appears to the toy bear.

First difficulty with the shot, which I overcame, was the fact that the bear can't stand upright on it's own. This really frustrated me throughout me trying to film him. So I got some tub-aware which helped in me propping him into a stable position, without it being present in the footage itself. (this I'll take a picture of to upload to blog later).
Second, was the arrangement of the room itself. Although there isn't AS many changes that need to be made to my room for the present shot, it was still time-consuming moving stuff out of the way to get a clear shot, which is why it took up so much of the weekend. Plus, from wasting time doing all this, that's how it lead quickly to it being dark, making it even harder to get the right shot.

The other days were simply too dark for me to even try to attempt taking footage, which is where I lead up to my second outcome of this.

In this time, I instead worked on the shot list, perfecting the times of which I was going to film collections of scenes, that were relevant to others they were put with. I have now split my work into four even sections of filming (some bigger than others) where they focus on availability of different aspects and conditions of the scenes themselves. First would be of the opening scene, which requires a lot of effort (as stated thus far). The second being all the shots that have Bronwen present, and relative scenes close to that (because of available camera man and same shot conditions). Third being the next large half of the video, only comprising of me and the Toy bear, without difficult camera technique. And last would be the scenes leading up to Tommy becoming the new owner of the toy.

So really, I did get a lot of good work done this weekend, yet I've still got a long way to go. It's safe to say that this will probably go over Christmas, but hopefully not much longer after then. In addition there's still a ton of paper-work documentation that I have to complete (now just looking at my checklist :/ )

I shall update my blog promptly of any changes or reflections that I may come across in the near future.

Matt.

DiaryBlog Entry 7: Planning DONE!

Now I have done my timeline analysis, to great detail, and have started to plan for my first real camera shoot this weekend! Last weekend didn't go well as my teacher was away last Thursday and Friday, so I couldn't get the camera off of her.
Initially I thought to then use my own camera, but when the day came, I arranged to meet up with one of my friends, but left it too late to film anything as it was not the right time of day that I wanted for the scene she's in.

But now I've planned to film everything with the bear and me this weekend and then arrange other shootings with the people I need at a later, yet current date!

Right now, I'm starting to get up the paperwork like No-Fee Release forms and other such documents, as-well as trying to convert the timeline analysis into a suitable format to be uploaded onto my blog.

I hope that I don't stumble into anymore problems this week, than what I did the last week...

Matt

DiaryBlog Entry 6: Test Shoot Fail

Unfortunately, my friends little brother Tommy did come round last weekend for what I planned to be a test shoot, but I only got 10 minutes with him, so I didn't test shoot anything.
Yet, I was able to tell him about his role and that I needed to print off the No-Fee release forms before anything major can happen. This will be presented to his mother also.

Now in class, I'm filling in the rest of my timeline (all scenes with Tom, are already complete) and completing the release forms. Next lesson, I shall be helping my fellow student Becka Heasman film her band performance scenes in her video.


I'll Keep you posted on further details.
Matt

DiaryBlog Entry 5: Update of what's happening

So far, I've ticked off a lot of criteria for the first part of my coursework; which is really good! And now I plan to do some film testing this weekend with my friends younger brother on the last scene of the video itself (as this is when he is featured). I still have to complete the "No-Fee Release Forms" which shall basically prevent me from being sued by angry parents :3

I won't need to take one of the school's cameras, as it's only just a test shoot for the scene, which shall help me to understand, and hopefully, perform the scene better when the time actually comes. This will be my first time in testign with actual footage, so I'm not expecting MASSIVE results. But it would be nice to upload this to my blog as a "first attempt" of filming with the prop bear and actors with it :)

I shall update when I get confirmation for the release form from him and his mum (as he's in year 4), which will tick off the paperwork that needs to be made.

Ice Nine Kills

Band Name: Ice Nine Kills

Origin: Boston, Massachusetts

Genres: Metalcore

Years Active: 2000 - Present

Labels: Red Blue, Ferret

Associated Acts: Remember Tomorrow

Website: www.iceninekills.com

  

History:

 The band was formed in its earliest incarnation in 2000 by middle school friends "Spencer Charnas" and "Jeremy Schwartz". They originally pursued a pop-punk, emo, post-hardcore and ska combining style that would eventually further to develop the bands own innovative blend of rock, however the band have moved on since then to become more of an experimental metalcore hybrid. This is because of the influence of band members who have left and joined. Charnas remains the only founding member to still be in the band.

Back in the time of their uprise and major starting development, the band was originally called "Ice Nine", but they changed their name before the release of their first album.
Following the on Novemebr 20th 2007, Ice Nine Kills released their EP, "The Burning" through Red Blue records, where they then set off on a several national tours in support of this. Throughtout this they had opening slots on tours with "Eyes Set to Kill", "I See Stars" and among many others.
Through the fame, garnered in the same year; the band's song "We Ate Gilberts Grapes" was used in the opening and closing credits of the Lionsgate skateboard comedy "Dishdogz" starring Luke Perry, Haylie Duff and Ryan Sheckler. By 2008; the band had been invited to open for well-known acts such as "As I Lay Dying", "A Day to Remember", "Thursday", "Paramore" and a one-off performance at Taste of Chaos 2009.

Charnas was made the only founding member left in the band in mid 2009, as Schwartz decided to leave after struggling with life on the road. Charnas then recruited the former members of the Rochester NY based psot-hardcore band "Remember Tomorrow" which had recently disbanded. And because of this, this is what changed the bands song into more of an experimental metalcore sound; which "Ferret Music" took notice of, and so signed the band in the spring of 2009.

After their appearacne on the "Warped Tour 2009", the band began writing and recording what would be their next record. They released their second album on July 12th 2010, it was produced by a three-man team "James Paul Wisner", "Steve Sopchack" and "Tom Denney".
This received praise from the heavy metal magazine "Revolver" in the 2010 Hottest Chicks in Rock Issue and subsequently; they were invited to attend the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in Los Angeles CA on April 20th 2010.
After this they carried on through the promotion of their album through numerous tours and concerts which lead up to the release of their music video, insipired by the film Inglorious Basterds; for their song "The People Under The Stairs" on June 20th 2011.

On the same day of the music videos release, the band announced their partnership with Outerloop Management who represent numerous bands such as We Came As Romans, Refused and Periphery among others.
Currently (as of November 2012) they are recording their yet to be 3rd album in Marcellus, NY; which will be full-length and will be produced with Steve Sopchak.

Here is a list of their Current and Former Members:

Current Members:

• Spencer Charnas - Lead Vocals (since 2002)
• Justin "JD" deBlieck - Lead Guitar, vocals (since 2009)
• Justin Morrow - rhythm guitar (since 2009)
• Conor Sullivan - drums (since 2009)
• Steve Koch - bass guitar (since 2011)

Former Members:

• Shane Bisnett- bass guitar, vocals (2009–2011)
• Jeremy Schwartz - guitar, vocals (2002–2009)
• Grant Newsted - drums (2003–2008)
• Hobie Boeschenstein - bass guitar (2004–2008)
• Dave Marvuglio - bass guitar (2008–2009)
• Dave "Brittney" Sieling - vocals (2009)
• Joseph Merturi - lead guitar (2008)
• Terrence Donnelly - touring vocalist (2008)
• Andrew Justin Smith - bass, vocals (2002–2003)

Albums are:

Last Chance to Make Amends

(and)

Safe is Just a Shadow

The song that I have chosen from this band, is actually one of their covers that they've even done a music video on:

This is their version of "Someone Like You" by "Adele".

Music Genre and intended audience

As I am using the metalcore band "Ice Nine Kills" did a pop-punk / Easycore version of "Adele's" no.1 single: "Someone Like You".

Despite the song being of a genre like this, it can still aspire to the metalcore and other relate-able genre audiences, as-well as the fans of the band itself.
Others who may like the song: "Someone Like You" by "Adele" may wish to have someone else influence the style of the song, as to deprive it of it's mainstream fame, and present it in a new form, to a whole new audience that may would not of originally conceived the song in this way.

In general, this music I hope to attract the following:

Gender: Male and Female (as the metal genre generalises the video as being more masculine, but with the innocent toy aspect may attract just as much a feminine audience)
Age: 15-19 year old (this will be my own generation as when they watch the video; they shall reminisce over their own past and share the same new experiences that every young adult witnesses before maturing into adulthood.)
Personal Genre Preference of Fans: Metalcore, Metal, Easycore, Pop-Punk, Pop, Punk, Hardcore, etc. (generally going towards more of the metal genres than that of the mainstream ones)
Background: General mix, as everyone is different, but this will largely involve those who are fans of the band itself.

Later I shall post about the band, and their general history and development over the years...

Camera Work Planning 1

The main theme of the video; is the reflection of childhood, and how time has passed. For this, I'd really like to involve the effects of the camera from the Toy Bear's Perspective! This would involve things being brighter than what they are, even if the scene is of a negative matter, as the bear still wants everything to be positive and fun, like back when I was a child. This perspective will be heightened if there are any flash back scenes within the video (especially of the room changing between times, etc.).
For this the brightness setting will be adjusted to a higher intake of light, and I may involve more contrast upon the image itself. For the alteration of flash-back scenes, I'd create a blurrier focus (to make it seem dreamy - flashback etc.) by turning off auto focus and using the camera manually. And the contrast shall be made more extreme within the scene.

There will be other posts after this one, where I shall further the detail of my ideas!

DiaryBlog Entry 4: Pitch Aftermath

I have just performed my pitch to my Media Studies class, it went quite well a-part from the fact that I had to do most of it again as the camera ran out of memory space :/
Now I'm planning for what I'm going to do for My Digipak and Magazine Advertisement. Got some really good consistent ideas so far!

Research of the Digi-Pak

Here is my research on the Digi-Pak, as this shall be one of the products that I shall produce for my Coursework.

This product is a patent style of CD, DVD or BD packaging which is personified as an upgraded version of a the normal casing featured with the above products.
This usually consists of a gatefold (book style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside. This form is usually used for special editions of the products, especially CD's, as this presents a higher quality of work than the standard packaging for the above products. This offers greater quality in display, protection and aesthetics as it produces a new medium for products, such as these, to be sold at.

The history of the Digi-Pak consists of trademark changing ownership between different companies. Originally it was owned by IMPAC Group, Inc where it went through great changes to now be owned by a combined company called "AGI-Shorewood".

Here is a picture of a Digi-pak, in comparison to a CD case:

Resource Audit

From what I understand, a Resource Audit is a simple list of different resources that is available to a specific entity, in this case it shall be my Music video. These I shall list briefly, yet may edit further on if  something new comes to availability!

• "Canon EOS 550D" (camera used to film and take photoes of the music video)
• Camera Tripod (used to stably position the camera within a comfortable position to take photoes or film at a higher quality)
• The contents of my Bedroom (this is my main setting for my music video, all contents in my room will be used to set the scene of a modern teenagers and kids room, when looking back in the past, etc.)
• From my Bedroom, the most important prop is my Toy Bear which is the star of my video.
• My house (again, will most likely be involved as a setting)
• Mac OS X, Version 10.5.8 (my home computer that I shall use to store, create and simply use as a necessity for the making of the video itself)
• Computers at school (these will be used for the same reason as my home computer, YET this will probably have the software that I'll need to finish and most likely make the video itself)
• I pod Touch (my I pod that shall be involved in one scene)
• Haribo Star mix (prop in one scene)
• Beer bottle (prop in one scene)
• Laundry bag (prop in one scene)
• Internet (research tool)
• TBC

Human Resources:

• I will have myself as a character in my own video, for the camera I will use either a tripod to film myself, or I'll have my brother, friend from school, or other such person film me in a scene.
• I will use a few friends who come round mine as other characters featurted in my video including close friends, my friends little brother (who shall be given the toy at the end), etc.

Classification of Performance

Performance - I will most likely not be having a performance section in my video, and if it does come to one, It shall be very obscure and quick, as to not show the detail, etc.
Animation - Highly likely won't be present
Narrative - Shall be presented through intended actions related to the lyrics or mood of the current theme in the song, etc
CONCEPT - I have a nice concept idea of having my old toy bear, trying to reconnect with me, after so many years of him sitting at the bottom of my wardrobe, waiting for me to finally see him again
This I'll achieve, by controlling him, like a puppet, showing him to spy on me (representing voyeurism), whilst he goes round trying to get my attention.
He interacts with new technology, and discovers new ways of having fun (inspired by the series storyline of Toy-Story and the concept of how they feel if they were alive).

For this, I'd like to use the song: "Someone Like You - Adele" (COVER) by "Ice Nine Kills", this'll show how the toy bear shows his feelings for me, wanting things to be back like they were before in my childhood when we played together.

I also have ideas for certain parts of the song:
Like the lyrics: "And, you're married now", obviously it'd be stupid to have me married by the age of 17, so I could have a friend (posing as my girl friend) to have a bag of "Haribo Starmix" (intertextuality) where I can use the certain sweet, shaped as rings, to then let us be in a scene where we joke and eat together, showing a pun of the lyric.

Other such scenes, would involve the toy's interaction with current technology, like how he tries to send me an email saying to play with him, yet because he hasn't got fingers to interact properly with the Ipod touch, he ends up sending a mess of text to me, simply making me confused.

Another really good idea that I had, would be to have the toy bear, stand in the centre of the room (showing that the plot is focusing on him), and then have the camera rotate around him (looking slightly up at the character), as it shows the viewers my room, as it rotates, it constantly changes from past - to - present, with the items of the room simply being swapped around (like Xbox 360 - Playstation 2, DVD's for Toys, books for children's books, etc, etc).
Also another good point here is to show a lot of intertextuality, as I plan to have posters (in the present room) of screenshots from the videos that I have analyzed for this music video.

This was inspired by my first music video analysis of "Walking Disaster" by "Sum 41" where it used the toy robot as it's focused character. From this I may involve performance scenes, yet it will most likely be of the toy bear (which shall be very hard to achieve) as he is the main character, and if I have someone else singing, then it may detract from the attention of the plot itself.

Glossary: Camera Aspects

My teacher (Mrs. Keenan) has now brought in the cameras that we are hopefully going to be using in the making of our videos. These are the "Canon EOS 550D" models that are able to film HD quality video!
For this, I decided to do some research on some of the camera aspects and skills that shall allow me, through further understanding of the medium, to produce higher quality film, than what I intended!
Here is a power point presentation (Microsoft PowerPoint 2010) upon some listed and important factors when it comes to understanding the use of cameras:

The following slides are of:

• Shutter Speed
• Aperture - AV
• ISO
• The exposure Triangle
• White Balance
• Exposure modes
• What can you do if the shot is too bright? Too Dark?
• What is 'gain'?

Unfortuneately there is no possible way that I can upload the presentation itself without converting it into a video file (which I don't really know how to do nor do I think that these computers have the correct software), so here is my presentation within 14 images (in correlation to its 14 slides), in clear and readable detail:

 

Other useful aspects that I have found are within (these) tutorial videos, that show step-by-step guides as to how to use the "Canon EOS 550D" 

Here is a general, yet extremely thorough review of the product:

And here is an entire documentary on the product:

DiaryBlog Entry 3: Update

Sorry for the long wait in posting something, I have a lot of draft work made, but is still incomplete. Hopefully I'll post them quickly, but for now the last post ("Music Video Analysis 6") really took it out of me. I fully went into great detail with the video, and I hope to do this with 9 others! I have started to test the camera, using my own (yet not the same model) to familiarize myself with the settings (that are generally designed into all cameras: ISO, AV etc.). Yet I still have to have to come to the customs of using the Cannon EOS 550D.

Hopefully I shall post more during the week!

Music Video Analysis 6: "Next To You - Chris Brown feat. Justin Bieber" (COVER) by Megan Nicole and Dave Days

Don't worry it isn't a "Justin Bieber" video, this is simply a nice cover by "youtube artists": "Megan Nicole" and "Dave Days" who singularly created a fan base for their music careers by creating music videos of them doing covers... just for the fun of it. This is one of my updated music video analysis' which I hope to now structure throughout my other research, etc:

Overview of Artists and Video:
Megan simply made music videos on youtube because of her enjoyment and enthusiasm for the subject!
While Dave, started off doing goofy music video pardoies of different artists songs, his first ensemble focusing upon the pop - artist "Miley Cyrus".
Both slowly gathered many youtube fans, subscriptions and other commendations for their work on youtube, and are now at a pivotal point of producing high quality work that they simply do out of enjoyment.

This video has the unique concept of using stick note labels, with Dave follwoing them around town, pursueing Megan Nicole who is placing them in symbolistic places. It's a nice concept showing how finding love is a journey, that sometimes cna make us lost a long the way (as represented when Dave missed one of the notes)


(looking at the principals of "Andrew Goodwins" theory:)

1. Genre Characteristics:
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals:
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals:
4. The star image of the artist:
5. Voyeurism:
6. Intertextuality:

1.
This is more like a pop, sort of going towards soft-punk, sort of video, that, doesn't really focus upon the genre as much, seeming as it's a home-made cover of the song, simply focusing on the artists performance, influence and interpretation of the covered song.

2.
There is a meaningful message with the chorus' lyrics: "One day when the sky is fallin' - I'll be standing right next to you, right next to you" symbolises the use of the "love journey" aspect within this video, literally quoting and narrating the meeting of two people, which was implied through this song.

3.
Yes, it intervals at certain parts of the song, and especially with the fact that this is being played as a duet, shows that it flips from one performer/artist to the next. So, when it gets to their parts of the song, in which they sing, they change the focus to show their collaboration with the journey/plot. This is also done to emphasize their part of the journey to the viewer, leading up to the eventual meeting of the two performers/artist.
This also intervals at breaks in the song where neither the two artists are singing, this is allow us to sometimes focus on none-performer/artist related parts to the story, that still contribute but do not have either of them present in the scene. This is sometimes focused upon the intrumental section of the acoustic guitar, showing the harmony and quality of the song that is being played, rather than just focusing the full attention on the performers/artist.

4.
As these artists ARE NOT governed by record label companies, or other large corporations, yet still get paid by youtube to post videos of high quality. These artists simply share at the screen time between each-other, more focusing on their cooperation with the song, rather than simply trying to advertise themselves to their internet fan-bases.
From this, their is less-pressure for them to make their videos, as they can be as artistic and creative as they please, with this, it leads them to crete parodies, or even make music videos out of the sheer enjoyment of making them (as said before). However, despite this, they do use the traditional style of close-ups and focusing effects, as to centre the attention of the viewer around one of the performing artists (within the current scene), yet, this is probably done out of artist vibe and style, rather than the branding aspect for artists.

5.
This is done in most scenes, yet really, it's simply about following them on their journey, rather than looking into something thats secret, as she posts the labels everywhere, showing how open and free it is to the public to come and watch. The performing artists even interact with the general public on the journey, which does not specialise the audience within the plot. However, this does uise some screenshots in a spying manner (as gone into further detail in the Screenshots section:), yet they sometimes connect with the viewers through eye contact, showing that we are involved in their journey, etc.

6.
It hasn't got many big ones, like relating to videos or other artists, yet it does relate to the other people who were involved in the making of the video. This was done in the scene where Dave interacted with the guy on the phone, this is actually a cameo of the cameraman and editor for the video: (simply credited as) "Joey".
Sometimes they use the labels to post lyrics over the streets, again showing the progression of the journey/plot, etc. Yet, this doesn't show a complete sense of Intertextuality, as this is an entire video of the song itself, not really relating to external products or artists.


Technical Codes and Conventions

• Speed, Camera movement, editing cutting and post production

For the speed of the video, this matches the slow pace of the song, cutting only at certain points within the video, showing a lot of interaction within scenes before they cut to another. The Camera movement, is steadily hand-held, as it is mainpulated well within the interaction scenes, yet most of the video is filled with cuts to others, not really focusing on the camera's movement. Yet within the long scenes, it shows this manipulation.

• Lighting and colour help set moods and emphasize key moments of the song for dramatic effect

This is set outside, where the light is bright and natural, symbolising how the future is percieved as being bright, with the natural aspect, emphasizing the purity of their "intended" love for each other. This is ellaborated on in the scene where Dave misses the last sticky label. In this scene he is in a car park, where it is unnaturally lit by the car parks lights, where it is also darker, representing that he has lost his way, and the journey/plot has turned a slight negative turn, etc. This can also be said at the start, where Dave is in his house, again being dark, this shows that the journey has just started, which then emphasizes the middle of the songs bright lighting, as this shows his enjoyment and slow realisation to love over the course of the video. Then when he reaches the car-park area, the lighting becomes a little darker: where this can represent the loss of the emotional path, as he also loses one of the guiding sticky labels. When he is then reunited with Megan in the elevator, the light is focused and emphasized to show their union, as the video then ends.

• Mise-En-Scene

-Setting
In this video, as it was made by amateur youtube artists, this was set in a local part of America that coincides with the artists residence (this could be for either one of the two). This was probably done for convenience (especially with the opening scene with Dave; being in "supposedly" his house) where the area around them was well known, and that the locals would simply dismiss the fact that they were filming. The normal suburban area is relatable to most people as this is a common and recognizable environment, used to relatively link to the audience. 

-Sound
There is no interlude dialogue, as the only sound is the music itself, which is simply mimed/performed by the artists themselves. This is used to focus more upon the song and it's quality, than the performance and plot of the video. 

-Characters
Few characters show up along with Dave and Megan, one notably was the camera man's cameo appearance within one of the scenes. These were used as comical interaction with the environment, to show that the setting is a normal neighborhood, reinforcing it's authenticity. 

-Props/Costume
No costumes were used, YET the essential prop to this video would be the sticky note labels; used to guide Dave to (his metaphorical love) Megan who is shown planting them around the community, involving locals and numerous locations, symbolizing the journey of relationships and other love related metaphors. 
Other such items were of instrumental use; within the performance scenes. This was used to reinforce the origin of the music itself.

-Expression of Movement
It was typical movement and expression, a lot of walking (as to present the journey) from Dave and running from Megan, as to represent the flirtation and secrets kept within relationships (hence, the sticky notes leading a trail to being with her). Most expression used was with the tone and lyrics of the song, as to then perform the lyrics themselves at emphasizing scenes.

• Editing - Cutting to the beat or off the beat: music videos use cuts to go with the beat or rhythm, either on or off, for deliberate effect

The edits are usually placed in time with song; especisally at the transition of verse to verse or verse to chorus (etc.) This is again, to give focus to the song itself, rather than to the performance of the video, as it's quality of the song that shall pen-ultimately be the reason for it's success, not on how well the video has been done.

Star Image & meta-narrative

• The star image is essential to music videos, whether explicitly or otherwise

As said before, Dave and Megan produce these videos on the shear coincidence that they enjoy them, they get a small amount of profit from the video and songs over itunes (and other music marketing brands), but ultimately they will have to put all the singular effort into making the songs and videos themselves, and so, also considering the tools they have to make a good video and song, this would not be to simply create a star image of themselves, as the only profit they get is from making the song and video full stop, no other inquiries or certain contract were made to have one person have more screen time than another, as most of this is just following the sticky labels, with little focus on the characters themselves. 

HOWEVER, because this is a compilation of two artists, it is mandatory in any such songs music video, for the two artists to be shown together, as to confirm that the two have met and collaborated. Through this, it introduces fans from both artists to the other, selectively promoting to artists in one video! Creating an even larger fan base for both.

• Consider the meta narrative of the artist's career or the trajectory of their personal life alongside the narrative of each individual pop promo, eg. How may this realte to their personal life story?

Not much is known of Megan story, as usually her videos are simply of her performing the song, rather than giving a concept or story like in this video, YET Dave is extremely obvious. Throughout most of his love song relatable videos he is shown to be a hopeless romantic, even generating a meme for himself, as he has a continuously joke-like crush on the pop-artist "Miley Cyrus", who he frequently covered at the start of his youtube channel, usually in the form of parodies and other funny videos. This meme even escalated to such a popularity, that one of the last songs that he performed in dedication to her, he actually got the chance to meet her himself, as she participates in being in his video! This sent him sky-rocketing in popularity and internet chatter, as now it was apparent that even "Miley Cyrus" watches his videos. Through the relation to a popular celebrity, Dave firmly placed himself as being one of the most popular youtube/parody video artists on the internet.

Other such songs were more for the parody focus, rather than in reflection of his life, AND when it came down to his own songs, ti showed him to be a hopeless romantic, constantly searching for his true love(?).

Narrative & Performance

• Artist acting as both narrator and performer or participant to create an authentic persona.

Both artists are present in the story, and are both performing in alternating scenes, usually with Dave singing while playing the guitar, while Megan simply sings in her convenient alternating settings.

• Audience need to identify with the artist and believe in their 'Story'

This is done through the simple use of the sticky notes, to represent the small important things in a relationship, and the journey that is taken to finally matching up all of the important notes together to form an entire timeline of story.

• What blend of narrative and performance does the video have? Why have these choices been made?

They have been deliberately made to link with the characters on plain terms, as these can even be identified by younger ages, as to the events of the story that slowly occur throughout the video. This simpleness  is what defines their videos, adding onto their style and creativity.

Screenshots:

Here are some interesting screenshots in this video, which symbolise many different aspects to the song and artist themselves:

"0:50 - 4:08"

This screenshot is shown through the love heart frame in the chair, to show that this is Dave's love interest, and it automatically opens up a positive view to the character, creating a subtle and strong connection to the audience. The lighting in this shows the natural and bright beauty of a young relationship, with the emphasis of the artist expression, this fully defines the theme of the video. This may represent the good aspects that Megan has witnessed through having relationships.

"3:13 - 4:08"

As you can see from the clear opposition of the last screenshot, this one has a much darker lighting with the artist giving off an unhappy expression, to emphasize the negativity of the scene, thus reflecting the bad moments that can occur within the Journey's relationship. This may also represent the disappointment that Dave has witnessed in his life, in trying to find a good relationship.

Brainstorm of Initial Ideas

Here is a mind map of the general ideas that I have, for the actual music video concept/plot Ideas I shall make a separate mind map as to structure my planning course. But for now here is my Brainstorm of Initial Ideas:

Music Video Research: General Overview

Here is my research on the general subject of music videos, as a universal topic, rather than a singular analysis. For this I have made a "Prezi" to easily show the development of "music video" throughout its origin and history: (this is also a good example of a better way of presenting information, except in a more appealing and interactive form!)

Prezi of Music Video Research: General Overview

DiaryBlog Entry 2: Refresh on Analysing and Researching music videos

I have been shown a more detailed way of analysing music videos, than before. From this I shall be able to analyse in professional standard detail, of the concept, design and manifestation of the music videos themselves.

This is achieveable by looking at "Andrew Goodwin's" theory of how music videos are divided up into six different categories.
BUT, first here is the helpful general categorization of music videos on a universal scale:
1. Performance Based - the artist or band is playing the song throughout the video (NB is the performance stage, studio, stadium or location based?)
Good example of this would be my muisic videos

• "Kings and Queens" by "30 Seconds to Mars"
• "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" by "Fall Out Boy"
• "Walking Disaster" by "Sum 41"
• (etc)

This is advantageous to the artist, as it shows the origin of the presented music, promotes how well they can play, and may also try to replicate the experience of how they perform in-front of live audiences, or simply try to set the mood/theme of the artist themselves.
This may also help to connect them in with the concept of the video, if another story is present (through Concept based), as to not confuse the song's artist as someone else.

2. Narrative Based - the video represents the narrative of the song lyrics
This isn't normally achieved, and I have no current examples of this basis, however I have seen it been used in songs to emphasize the meaning of the lyrics within the song. Like presenting the word literally, or presenting the image of the word (like "fire" the video then presents a flame to the audience, etc).
This is also achieved by reoccurring the story within the song, as it's being presented, to fit in time with the plot of the lyrics. This used to be a popular base, yet, due to the style of having videos having NO correlation to the songs lyrics, yet may reflect the theme/mood that the artist wanted to achieve, generated the new artistic look of the medium.

3. Concept Based - single cocnept or idea, often unconventional
This is what I described in the "Narrative Base", this is where the video presents a concept, rather than plot, which may or not relate to the song itself. As said above, this is usually unconventional as this is a more arty approach to the subject.
Relevant examples would be:

• "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" by "Fall Out Boy"
• "Kings and Queens" by "30 Seconds to Mars"
• "Move Along" by "The All American Rejects"
• (etc)

With "Kings and Queens" this was very much expected of "30 Seconds to Mars" as the lead vocalist: "Jared Leto" comes from a film background, so most of the bands actual videos are more like short movies than your simple promotional video.

4. Animation
This is the style of using the medium of Animation within music videos. This can be a full animated piece, or simply having characters (perhaps band members) interacting with the fictional entities. This is used to directly convey imagery to the audience, rather than trying to replicate the intended image in real life.
Such examples (Which I HAVE NOT analyzed) would be:

• "Dig" by "Incubus"
• "Walk Over Me" by "The All American Rejects"
• (etc)

This is used as another unique and current art form within music videos, however, it is considered to be troublesome hiring an animator or designer, including syncing the animations with any real-life interaction (as said before). All in all this isn't a wise choice to use, as I have not got the right equipment, skills or tools necessary to achieve a video on such a high level of quality.

Andrew Goodwin's "Dancing in tyhe Distraction Factory" (Routledge 1992) identified 6 key points within media products (mainly music videos:):

1. Genre Characteristics - Music videos demonstrate gnere characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band).
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals - (either illustrate, amplifying, contradicting). How does what you hear relate to what you see? Are they dancing in time to thew music? Does the editing cut on the beat of the music?
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals - (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
4. The star image of the artist - THe demands of the record label will require lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style). Lok for the artist close ups, artist logo or iconography.
5. Voyeurism - There is frequently reference to notion of looking or spying (screens with screens, mirror shot, frame-within-frame, unconscious exhibitionism, private view, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. Voyeurism = Pleasure gained from watching (ideally when the object is unaware of being watched). Relate this to gender theory, e.g. Laura Mulvey & the 'male gaze'.
6. Intertextuality - There is often intertextual reference - ie a reference to well known image or phrase from another media text (films, TV programmes, other usic videos etc). Eg. Madonna's Material Girl / Marilyn Monroe's Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend; Dr Dre's 'California Love' / Mad Max; Sinead O'Connor's Nothing Compares 2U / Jannelle Monae - Cold War

These points I shall have to reference and detail within my own work. Especially the points:

• Illustrative - showing or illustrating the meanings of lyrics and genre clearly
• Amplifying - repeating and emphasising themes, meanings and effects to the viewer
• Contradicting - deliberately abstract or opposite images in the video compared to the lyrics of the song eg. Ratatat - Drugs

That were shown in Goodwin's points. I'll also have to look at the camera angles and shots presented, as to evidence my claims of these points. These shall be a guideline to my analysis and evaluation of videos, along with other guiding concepts, in-order to produce the best quality analysis that I can possibly achieve!

DiaryBlog Entry 1: First Initial Update of Blog

At the moment, my blog is only just starting to come together.
Before, in my A level course, I didn't focus on my blog as much as I hoped, BUT; now that I'm in the full swing of Year 13, it's nice to simply get on with the work at hand... :)

The Blog at the moment, I designed in lesson. I simply chose the template present (picture gallery? or something like that) and then chose for it to display a mountain within a rain filled setting (this I chose simply for the fact that I liked it)
Then I wanted to change the layout of the blog itself, for this, I added the label section; AS TO GIVE EASY ACCESS TO ALL MY POSTS THROUGHOUT THE BLOG. And then added the photo at the start. This is of the band "All American Rejects" performing one of their latest songs ("Beekeepers Daughter") for their music, which incorporated ALOT of choreography, dance and movement, which as they quoted "is a mesh of everyone wacky", they have girls dressed as devils, muggers, thieves, the common stranger and (as put) everyone else. This personally inspired me, as the video simply had no correlation or easy to see symbolism, it was literally making the audience trying to work out what was happening, yet, in the end, it was an impressive final product!

I've also added the labels to my posts (in correlation to adding the nice system in my blog that enables you to go to them quickly-through the labels themselves) and have finished doing the Evaluation over my current music video analysis work.

I don't know at the moment how often I shall update this labelled section (DiaryBlog), I shall probably inform you at some point over the next few months (as to develop routine, etc).
Now, I'm going to organize a plan or list, of what I shall produce over the course of my work, whether I shall add this to my blog or not, I really don't know? But what I definitely know, I that I shall execute a few more video analysis work, as to make sure that I fully understand the gravity and design of my task.

Thanks for reading
DiaryBlog Entry 1: END

Evaluation of Music Video Analysis 1-5

The Videos I chose were genred around Rock, Punk, Pop-Punk (etc) themes, which relates to the music that I personally like. This, I'd greatly like to involve in my own final product. HOWEVER, this is not to say that I'm only going to be looking at only these genres, as my view may change over the coarse of my research, production and other preparation stages, going up towards the eventual creation and evaluation of my final product.

1: "Walking Disaster" by "Sum 41"
Evaluation:
This song, is a personal tribute to it's lead members past. Presenting their fans with emotional information, performed within a unique way. It's a nice idea to follow an item, such as a toy, or other object, as this saves having to write out dialogue (actions etc) within a script, and can simply control the movement of the object itself. This can also lead to represent inner meaning because of the appearance of the object, etc.

2: "Move Along" by "All American Rejects"
Evaluation:
Posted as an "Anti-suicide" video. This artistically heart-warming piece allows it's symbolism to connect to a wide variety of audiences by having the simple concept of having one person swap clothing, as to then represent different people. This'll save having to get more people involved, and can be used to devise more interesting aspects.

3: "I Can Talk" by "Two Door Cinema Club"
Evaluation:
The mainstream example out of the 5, this song portrays how lead man, "Alex Trimble" has gained the right to talk within hard relationships, that being from girls to companies, etc. This is very similar to "Move Along'" portrayal by having someone change clothing, this'll be hard to set up, as I can't simply obtain an entire room filled with clothing. However, I liked the concept of "how" they changed the clothing, the effects used I'd like to portray in my own video.

4: "Sugar, We're Going Down" by "Fall Out Boy"
Evaluation:
Extremely different to the others, this follows a story pattern, where the song partially links in to what is happening. This concept is usually used in most videos, for instance following a couple, character or (like "Waling Disaster") an inanimate object/character etc. This I shall have to DEFINITELY consider for my own video, especially with the wacky and strange concepts that I can device for the plot (like their half deer man idea).

5: "Kings and Queens" by "30 Seconds to Mars"
Evaluation:
Due to the lead man: "Jared Leto" having been associated in the film industry, most of the bands music videos are comprised rather like "short films" rather than the common music video. Their epic and globally aware campaign featured videos are rather a stretch for me to achieve at this level of work, yet incorporating the simple ideas that have been presented to me through the other music videos that I've analysed shall help me to produce a video that not only has the sweet simplicity and design as the mainstream products, BUT also the depth and inner meaning that "30 Seconds to Mars" strives for in their own videos.

OVERALL: These videos are a great FIRST example for what I want my video to theme itself around. This has made me focus upon the scale of my video, the amount of people that I shall involve, and the emotion and symbolism that I shall eventually want it to portray.

WHAT NEXT: I hope to produce more analysis upon other (not so much well known) music videos as to further the spread that shall be apparent to me when making my final product.

Project Brief - Start to Course

"Week 1" of school, and we have now been given our project brief: it details:

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with:

• a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package);
• a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package);

For this, I expect to use a mixture of skills, in-order to achieve the completion of this breif. These skills are:

• Graphic skills; in-order to produce products, advertisement and other mediums with efficiency, quality and relevance to the brief at hand
• Artistic skills; in-order to produce detailed work that has layers of inner meaning and depth, creating a product favoured for its ellaborate structure and beauty
• English skills; in-order to analyse and debate about the importance of products and media, within a clear and passionate context
• ICT skills; as to control and effectly use the latest equipment to create the specified products to a professional standard
• (AND) Media skills; as to help evaluate, compare and gather large amounts of social information, and turn it into unquestionable knowledge.

The challenges that I shall find most interesting to face would be:

• Organising the filming and general creation of the video when moving through the "Making" stages of the product
• Asking for feedback from friends, due to the reactions and efficiency in the feedback that they may give
• Finding a suitable location to produce the video
• Finding people to be IN the video
• Coming up with the scenario that will be conducted within the video, and how this shall relate to the song itself.
• Having to take a photo shoot of actors present in the video (if needed)
• (AND) Any future technicalities of filming (such as new camera, absent actors, etc)

Music Video Analysis 5 "Kings and Queens" by "30 Seconds to Mars"

Last video analysis is of "Kings and Queens" by "30 Seconds to Mars":

This video was directed by lead vocalist: "Jared Leto", under the guise of "Bartholomew Cubbins" ( a Dr Seuss character) where the video was then premiered at The Montalban Theater in Los Angeles on November 9th, 2009, where it was then posted online 3 days afterward.
In an interview with Jared, he explained: "For me it's impossible to think of these as videos 'cause I come from a film background. It's all I know, and I don't know how to make a music video really. It's a lyrical and slightly metaphorical surreal journey through the city of Angels, from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica Pier. We like to create an adventure and this has been an adventure. It's brought it to a place we haven't been before, even in our own city. It's so great. This is what we were supposed to do. And I doubted the idea up until the very last minute, but the process has been phenomenal."
He then continued in another interview: "Our rule as a band is, when we do videos — which, I don't often think of them as videos, more as short films — let's make sure the experience is amazing. We've been to China in the past. We've been to the Arctic, so really, to do this video, in one way, was much simpler ... but it's also been more of a challenge. It's still equally huge in its own way."
And then again within another interview: "I think this city is a beautiful place at night, and we have these empty streets, and it's kind of a haunting, forgotten landscape. It's been an incredible adventure, but it's also been really difficult, because there are so many people, and we're shutting down streets of Los Angeles."

They filmed over the course of several nights, where they tried to capture footage of Los Angeles' iconic landmarks, as to incorporate them within the video's sequences.
On the night of October 11th (2009), the band had taken over Santa Monica Pier, to film a part of their video called "The Ride", with this, they also brought an army of fixed gear-riders to take part in the video. 
Jared gave a further interview as to how they framed some of the shots, where he revealed, that despite most of them being hard to achieve and set up, most of the good shots that they captured were simply happy accidents.

The video itself, is a beautiful display of Los Angeles, with the harmonious union of one own committee experience the utter wonder of the city streets in a unique way. Through this we get to share the adventure of the cyclists going through most of the city, and a Santa Monica Pier, whilst alternating scenes between the band (who also cycled among them) to be playing upon a cliff edge, in Griffith Park, overlooking the city. 
However, throughout the video, it styles many artistic forms within symbolic meanings that relate to the bands cult, such as; the reenacted the infamous underground artist "Banksy's" work of "Flower Chucker" graffiti, and had a white horse, run down the streets of Los-Angeles in slow motion (for one scene), as to represent the emphasis on the importance of the beauty of the city. 
This video greatly aids the concept of the song, as to theme positive atmosphere and to generalize everyone as being "Kings and Queens", therefore giving everyone equal value. Showing the people go through the cities in total control of their environment, simply shows that everyone has a right to do something, no matter who they are. Plus, through the use of the bikes, it gives that inner meaning of freedom and control, as to be free of walking, and to be in-control of what you're doing. 
Jared quoted the video: "As a love letter to Los Angeles".

This video was an actually very different compared to the bands previous videos, as they have been quoted as more worldly and largely epic, which this video is said to still achieve yet not in the same retrospect. From the video "From Yesterday" being filmed in China, and then "Beautiful Lie" being performed upon the polar ice caps, this video simply tries to connect to the intended audience, the people, of whom made the band who they are today, and so, this video, no; the album itself, is a dedication to the bands fan-base and cult, and to all other people across the globe, within an artistic network that still has much left to give us.

Music Video Analysis 4 "Sugar, We're Goin Down" by "Fall Out Boy"

Fourth video is "Fall Out Boy"'s lead single from their third album (From Under the Cork Tree): "Sugar, We're Goin Down":

The video was shot in Margaretville, New York, found in the Catskill Mountains.

The main concept for the song is a scenario of complete jealousy: it depicts how he wants to be a girls boyfriend, but he's not. The line "I'm just a notch in a bed post but you're just a line in song" indicates that he means nothing to her, and he's trying to make it seem that she seems the same to him, but from hints in the song, it doesn't look like it's working too well. It continues to reveal that their relationship is failing miserably in an "earlier round" as they don't even have a relationship in the first place. "I'll be your number one with a bullet, a loaded God complex, cock it and pull it" means that she might as well be killing him as he's hurting from the rejection so much.

The video is a very different take upon the song, as apparently the band let director "Matt Lenski" take charge of it's scenario in the video, as they believed that someone else's impression would differentiate the band between other mainstream pop-punk bands.

And in doing this, it generated the video's story-line following an outcast male character who has the unique disfigurement of antler-horns. For this he is shunned and repelled in all social aspects within his community. He falls in love with a local girl, to which her father sees this and forms a deep grudge for the character. As the two characters relationship develops, it is halted by the angered fathers demand. From this, our character tries to cut off his antlers in-order to be with the girl, yet before doing so is stopped by her, as she loves him for who he truly is. Afterward, the father tries to kill the male character with a bow and arrow, yet in his attempt is run over in the process. When the male character goes to help the father, it turns out that he also has the unique deer disfigurement, in his case having hooves. From the boys kindness he grows to accept their relationship and his own disfigurement, as now all the characters are happier for the outcome.

The song is instead reflected in the fathers jealousy for the boy, in finding happiness, despite his more obvious disfigurement, which is why he tries to break up the couple in envy that he couldn't find happiness as-well.
Throughout the song, the band are occasionally shown in VFW hall performing the song at hand, whilst having no connection to the other story.

This video can be seen as being different from the others so far, as it does not incorporate the band within it's song's own story-line, unlike the others, which I can take note of when developing my own video.

Music Video Analysis 3 "I Can Talk" by "Two Door Cinema Club"

Third video is of "Two Door Cinema Club's" second album single (from "Tourist History"); "I Can Talk":

Very different to the other two videos that I have analyzed so far, as this doesn't have the deeper and personal meaning of the last two.

The reason "Two Door Cinema Club" decided to write "I Can Talk" was explained in an interview with lead singer: "Alex Trimble" saying that when they made the song, it was back where the band was first starting to talk with record label companies. Which is where this song was inspired, as they hated talking to them, as they were so demanding and wanted to change a lot about the band. So they took the initiative and started to talk for themselves, and as quoted by Alex said "It shut the record label companies up".
However, the song does not use this concept as it's repertoire, as it simply follows the story of a paranoid boyfriend (lead singer Alex Trimble) and how he believes his girlfriend is cheating on him, which is where people tell him that he's crazy, when really all he wants to do is state his point (giving the meaning of "I Can Talk").

The video uses a unique style which requires various outfits, camera editing and other such implements in-order to create the illusions that unfold in the video.

It's main scenario is to have Alex, go round a dark building, whilst he cleverly changes his clothing in different ways (such as making the illusion of him coming out of his shirt stomach in new clothing, etc), once it reaches the chorus, he is usually reunited with his other band members as they perform in a sea of clothes, whilst strobe lights and other effects are applied.

The meaning behind so many clothes, is to probably represent peoples disbelief of Alex when he tells them that he's wrong about his girlfriend cheating on him (doubt), and so as he goes round, he changes into different clothes, yet is never fully free of doubt itself, as he is still unsure whether it's true. This could also be applied to the first concept of how instead, he's trying to break free of the demands of the record label companies, in the same way as to how he tries to break out of his clothes.

When it goes to the chorus' this is to represent that he truly believes that she's cheating on him, and the fact that he is surrounded by a sea of clothes is to show how the disbelief intensifies as to reflect how he intensifies his own beliefs. With his other band members being present in this scene, simply emphasizes how he believes in himself.

With the band going through most of the video in darkness, can reflect on the statement: "kept in the dark", which can be applied to Alex's situation (where he is kept in the dark by his girlfriend). This scenario is emphasized when it hits the chorus, as the strobe lighting is used to represent his partial enlightenment upon his relationship.

Altogether, the song is a battle for one's own self-belief, where despite others frowning upon a persons accusations, can be overcome if you truly believe in your self.

Music Video Analysis 2 "Move Along" by " The All American Rejects"

Second song that I will be analyzing, will be the title track "Move Along" by "The All American Rejects".

This song was purposed as an anti-suicide message, as to symbolize believing in one-self and persevering in the face of problems.
The song achieves this by acting out a conversation between friends, with one feeling the negativity of his life, while the other persuading him to stay strong.
It starts off with such lines as "Go ahead as you waste your days with thinking, when you fall, everyone stands"; this is where the friend has tried to help the other, yet he keeps on getting lost in his own thoughts, piling up the negative aspect that he is worse off than most other people.
Other lines such as "Such a heart that will lead you to deceiving" continues on the story, by saying that his heart seems to ignore the problems rather than deal with them, which leads on to worse situations, etc.
So the main aspect is that the friend constantly reminds the other to "move along" in life, to deal with his problems, and then therefore be much better for the outcome.

HOWEVER, in the video, it is depicted much differently, as it tries to connect to a large audience through a unique use of different aspects:

First off, the video was directed by Marc Webb and was filmed on several different sites to which none have been noted (most likely Film Studios).
The video follows the lead member "Tyson Ritter", as it starts off with him falling backward from a diving board into an empty swimming pool.
This probably symbolizes the suicides, and the empty pool represents the empty hope that the person, who wishes to die, have in his/her own life.
Throughout the song, Tyson is shown in stand still scenes, where the camera then changes between alternating scenes, that requires Tyson to change outfits and backgrounds, resulting in a massive collage of different situations, in which they show the stand still character Tyson, having a rough time.
This is used to connect to different audiences, in which, whatever the situation, people have a hard time, and so makes this video relatable to a lot of us.

It also shows a lot of trivial objects within these scenes, as the video is starting up, reflecting upon what we may think is bad, is simply trivial in reality, showing how we can perhaps over-think when we are at an "all-time-low".

Such situations involve; a doctor failing to save someone's life in hospital, a football player loosing his game badly, an office worker being shouted at by his supposed boss/manager, eating supper alone at a dinner table, a young man getting a full tirade off of his angry father, and more shown throughout.

With this, Tyson is shown singing the song through all of the scenes, despite their negative escalation.
When ever the song reached its chorus, the transition of editing would amplify, and show many scenes to the viewer at once, showing a correlation between all people that we are the same, and could use with same motivation and help, in-order to get back to living normally.

As the video comes to it's end, it returns to the starting scene where Tyson was falling into the pool, as he does, he is then caught by a wave of people within the pool (fans+friends,etc) and is then crowd-surfed to where the rest of his band are playing in the centre of the pool, as they then continue to play the song normally with scenes being presented to have happy endings to their situations.
This ending pen-ultimately sums up the intentions of the song, as to "move along"and if done so ti shall lead to better things, or to put it simply your troubles will be eventually solved if you handle them properly.
The people in the pool, represent friends, family or simply people who can help, and as they catch Tyson, this symbolizes how they prevent him from suiciding and as he crowd-surfs, this could reflect upon the songs title "Move Along" as he moves with the help and comfort of others.

Music Video Analysis 1 "Walking Disaster by Sum 41"

This first analysis will be on the punk video "Walking Disaster" by "Sum 41".

The overview of the song (according to the lead member of the band "Deryck Whibley") illustrates his awkward childhood and how he reflects upon that, now that he is an adult. The song itself depicts his emotional journey through childhood, penultimately optimizing in realization to the fact that he has now grown up.
It starts this off with the verse: "Mum and Dad both in denial, an only child to take the blame"; this reflects on how his past is now damaged by his conflicting parents, and with the verse talking in a third person perspective, shows his vulnerability to the subject at hand.
"Walking Disaster" ends (as said) on a positive paradigm, with one of it's ending verses: "I can't wait to see you smile, I wouldn't miss it for the world", showing how he has now overcome the damage of his past, and due to his maturation into adulthood, allowed him to accept and fully understand his troubled childhood; enabling him to become enlightened and better for the experience.

Now for the music video; it was filmed whilst the band were in "Los Angeles" performing on Jay Leno, where the end product was then premiered on August 20th on MTV2.

The synopsis of the video itself, is that if follows the journey of a toy robot; more or less representing Whibley back when he was a child, with the robotic aspect making the character appeal to be humanoid: which will allow us to develop compassion for the character (as it is something that we can relate to) and the toy aspect to present it's childishness and vulnerability. It's actual size (due to it being a toy) really emphasizes the fact that it is a "me against the world" concept as he is small in an imposingly larger environment.
As we follow the robot, the band (Sum 41) are playing the song in a toy store, somewhere in "Los Angeles", as to allow us to see the origin of the music as to promote the band, reflecting how they might play at live shows (advertisement).
Due to the theme of the song, and the concepts presented within, it's presumed the the toy robot has run away from home, as he is seen rummaging around on the streets, acting over-the-top and carefree. His attitude slowly breaks down throughout the song, to show the sadder side of the character; as he is shown to have a rough time on the streets; in such situations where he is thrown away as garbage because of his presumed low worth, contrasting to perhaps a psychological aspect of how Whibley felt on a low basis between his conflicting parents.
Where the robot drinks alcohol, may try to present how Whibley tried to grow up faster than what he should have, as to try and be strong to resist the turmoil that occurred in his parents arguments.
Like the song, the video is also directed towards a positive ending, by first showing the robot character a ripped-apart teddy-bear toy upon his travels, which he comes across in a small out-skirt. This is symbolic revelation for both the robot and Whibley, perhaps realization or understanding, but what is certain was that the robot character decided to return home from the fear of the fact that if he continued going on alone, then he would end up as bad as the teddy bear (which is really emphasized by the out-skirt environment in which they're in).
Whilst this scene is occurring, the band are shown trashing the toy store. This is to represent the destruction caused by his parents fighting, as they proceed to even replicate ripping apart a teddy bear (like the one shown before). HOWEVER, when the robot returns, he is met with other happy robot toys, which symbolize Whibley's family, and how, despite the destruction in the toy store (representing the damage of the arguments on Whibley's Childhood) they are able to move on and be happier because of the simple fact that all of them are together.
Another way of showing how the present Whibley has overcome his past, he allows himself to be apart of; and represent the destruction of his parents conflicts, YET this nicely contrasts as he appears to simply be an older version of the robot character, as mere damaging of the store can be interpreted as a childish act, reflecting the inner child that is still inside Whibley.

It is not known whether Whibley actually ran away from home as a child, but it would be most probable that he didn't due to the circumstances of the music video. This would be best described in the terms that when he was a child, running away probably seemed like a good option to undertake, yet probably never gathered the courage to perform such an act, with this song, it's a realization for the lead member, that now looking back, AS AN ADULT, he is able to see how that would of made things worse rather than good, and how he has simply learnt from the experience rather than gaining the addictive habit of running away from your problems.