Task four

why did you choose the text you are analysing?

I choose to analyse Black Wax by Dananananaykroyd because I thought it was a good song that shows the main conventions of the alternative genre. But also i really liked this song, it has the quality that you can keep playing it over and over again and not get bored.

In what context did you encounter it?
I Encountered this song by downloading it free from Itunes, i listened to the preview of the song and i thought it was really good so  I downloaded the whole song.

what Influence do you think this context might have had on your interpretation of the text?
well when I first listened to the song it was on the itunes song of the week, so I thought it must be worth a listen, but being on the song of the week didn't influence me on liking the song as I don't always like the song of the week on itunes,  I listened to it because I like the alternative genre and also the song had a really unique guitar line that built up to a really memorable chorus.

which conventions of the genre do you recognise in the text?
The different guitar line, and the different way the band approaches the song, as the band is made up of two singers and three guitarists. the randomness of the lyrics seem to be a fairly large part of the alternative/rock genre and this was apparent in this song, for example  'From kinky buses to rickets ladders for a thousand foot tunnel and the world underground, step out from your heavy breath crouch, breaking to the point pleased to meet you', the lyrics make no sense what so ever.

To what extent does this text stretch the conventions of its genre?
The text doesn't really move to far from the normal characteristics of the genre except from its unusual make up of two lead singers.

Where and why does the text depart from the conventions of the genre?
Instead of doing any close ups of the two singers the music video seems to do extreme close ups of the bassists eyes, i think they do this to make reference to the lyrics "wrap her in plastic" and as she is the only female person in the band they seem to give her more personal shots to display the fact that they have a female member in the band playing bass, stereotypes would suggest that this is out of the ordinary but the video displays how its just a normal part of every day music.

What sort of audience did you feel that the video was aimed at (and how typical was this of the genre style of music)? 
I felt that the audience that the band was trying to aim at was a more indie audience because of the appearance of the two main singers, but the genre of the music was more rocky that indie so it would seems that the video was aimed at both fans of alternative and indie, this is quite typical because the walls of these two genres are very thin so to speak, there are many similarities between the two, so this video doesn't really stray out of the genres characteristics.

What sort of person does it assume you are?
I would probably say someone who is into alternative and likes to see innovation in both music and the video, hence the less common shots of the singers, and at the chorus a face paced alternating shots of both singers saying one word of the chorus.

What assumptions seem to be made about your class, age, gender and ethnicity?
The randomness of the lyrics and catchy chorus can really be applied to anyone, so you can't really associate a class or gender to this song, but the video style would suggest that the song is aimed at a slightly older audience of about 15-25. The song is doesn't present a specific genre and the lyrics don't have specific meaning that only one gender would get, also race is really defined in the song either as alternative doesn't really have a large ethnic base.

What interests does it assume you have?
well obviously it assumes music because you wouldn't be listening to it if you didn't have an interest in music, the style of music video is very grey and black suggesting that the watcher would have more of a preference to darker colours, the video is a straight forward Illustration so it assumes you don't mind watching a band perform as a music video.

What relevance does the text actually have for you?
I don't tend to think that music needs a relevance, and especially this video as you cannot relate to the lyrics because they don't have a meaning, so relevance can't be achieved there but the song can be relevant because I like the sound of it, and that really the only reason why i like the song.

What knowledge does it take for granted?
That you know that the lyrics don't make sense, and that the song is all about just listening to the music and enjoying it for the sound, not the meaning.

To what extent do you resemble the 'Ideal reader' that the video seeks to position you as?
I enjoy a great many number of genres and a whole selection of music video types, I don't mind if its amplification, Illustration or disjuncture I only care if its good. To an extent I'm not the Ideal reader for this video because I will like the song but I won't necessarily like any other of the bands songs or albums, the video has a lose enough way of presenting the song that an Ideal reader is a hard idea to grasp.

Are there any notable shifts in the video's style(and if so , what do they involve)?
Later in the video a load of confetti bursts from the ceiling and rains down onto the band.

What responses does the video expect from you?
I think the video expects you to enjoy the simplicity of the video, and then in turn appreciate the complexity in the song.

How open to negotiation is your response(are you invited, instructed or coerced to respond in  particular ways)?
well you could say you are coerced to see the chorus at the end the most exciting part of the song because of the explosion of confetti, but it could just be there to keep the watcher interested.

Is there any penalty for not responding in the expected ways?
I would say that there isn't.

To what extent do you find yourself reading against the grain of the text and the genre?
I find that I don't really find myself reading against the grain of the text or genre much at all, because i don't put a specific list of things to expect of specific genres like alternative.

How typical do you think this video Is of  music videos?
I think its pretty common but certain parts set it apart from them , like the confetti and the random shots of a dog.