Blur–ParkLife

Blur- ParkLife

Video Link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIEsmGzo2UE

What is ParkLife ?

Park life is the act of not having a job or any means of gaining money except that of the dole- (Benefit paid by the government to the unemployed)

Brief History :

Blur are an alternative rock band and they formed in 1989.

The video was made in 1994 and it consisted of the actor Phil Daniels lip synching the song of park life

Expected conventions of this Genre

Convention used in Blur-Parklife

Performance being important

A storyline with scenes of band performingVibrant clothing

Low/soft lighting

Jump cuts and cross cutting is mainly used

Video performed in unusual settings

Band don’t perform together

Phil Daniels and main vocalist in Blur

Key and filler lighting used in the video

Everyday or Relatable setting

Comedy and sense of humor shown through video

Unusual camera angles, extreme close ups, fish eye lens speeded up camera

Conventions

In the beginning of the video we see two businessman trying to sell window to customers, we also see a unique shot used called Fish eye lens

The images that the lens produce is supposed to be very distorted and this gives the image and the video a dynamic abstract feel.

In this video the fish eye lens resembles a person looking through the door eye hole

Camera work-Fish Eye Lens

Low angles shows the person within the shot as powerless and often less important it makes the audience feel powerful and in control it also makes them feel as they are looking down on to the person

The high angle shot makes the person seem more powerful and of more importance as the camera is looking up at the person.

Camera Work - high/ low angle shot

Camera Work – Close Up Shots

The shots below show close up of the person in humours way as it indicates he is kind of surprised of why the person shut the door in his face.

It also shows that he might be used to this kind of thing as maybe does it everyday as part of his job

There are many close up used in this video and they are mainly used to emphasise and promote the band or the artist.

Zoom in/ zoom out

Zoom out:It is mainly used to show the surrounding of the person or the band members and lets the audience see what kind of environment the band are in

Zoom in:

This is used so that the audience can focus on the person and it makes them more important as it slowly zooms in to their face and shows their emotions and their facial expressions

Editing

In the music video we can see that some parts of the video is deliberately speeded up to create a sense of humour and really let the audience engage in with what's happening in the video

Mise-en-SceneThe video shows a British identity as all the band members and other people are white.

However in this video the main lead singer talks about lots of other cultures and races and says that they all go “hand in hand”.

The video is particularly humorous as they are laughing at the British culture but in a good way.

There are bright colours used to make the video look fun and interesting to watch.

This video is all about celebration of different cultures especially the British culture.

They also show the typical British things like drinking tea, eating ice-cream , football,bright umbrellas used for when at the beach, sharing and the community being together as one.

Throughout the video there are strong links between the song of the video and the main lyric “ParkLife” this word is revealed to be of great importance at it is repeated in numerous times in the video but it is mainly shown in a humorous way

Throughout the video the title of the song ‘Parklife’ appears in many ways especially on street signs and on the road.

Lyrics and Visual images

Content

There is no sexism shown in this video however there is one shot where one of the band member is dressed up as a girl wearing a short dress and is also sitting in a proactive and seductive pose.

This particular shot mocks the modern music videos that are created today and how women are shown wearing skimpy and revealing clothes.

Also at those times couples used to write their partners name on their car to show they are together

How the band is promoted

• The band is shown as fun, entertaining as well as humorous, this may appeal to people who like videos that have comedy in them and are interesting to watch.

• The band in this video are seen enjoying life and celebrating their British culture.