Storyboard

Why should you make a storyboard?

Planning is the key to creating a good music video, and this is where you start. 

Never overlook the story boarding process when creating a music video. Many people think that this isn't important as they have a rough idea of how it is going to look and just start filming. This is a big mistake. Planning is effective as it allows you to know how to film on the day. You don't want to spend too long shooting one scene, and not give yourself enough time to shoot the rest of the video.

It also makes it easier as you know what you need to shoot. You don't need to waste any time when shooting trying to decide which shot will look best. After all, when you film you're often paying to use the equipment or the actors so you need to be as time effective as possible. It also allows you to send out the storyboard to everyone else before filming. This means that everyone knows what they have to do on the day, and if anyone has any problems with their requirements, they can contact you and sort it out beforehand. 

Creating storyboards is all about saving time and getting things right on the day of filming.

Websites

Why you need a band website

With all the social media about, who needs a band website?

1. You have to have somewhere where people can find everything of yours in one place.
Despite the fact that social media can keep people updated on tours, and there's apps such as Spotify to keep people updated on music. However, you need somewhere to put everything in one place. This is what the website will be used for. It can have links to Spotify, social media and can have a store built in to sell merch or concert tickets.

2. You get to be in control
When using social media or YouTube you don't get to be in complete control. You can post whatever you want but you can't change the view of the website itself as you're using a third party website. This means that your website can be as personal as you want. At the end of the day it is YOUR website.

3. You can create an image
By being in control of your own website, you can create an image which will continue along social media. This image will reflect you as an artist/band and will allow you to be easily recognised. This image will be reflected in everything from your album covers to your outfits, and will reflect your personality.

4. You look more professional
Having a website creates an initial impression when people are looking for you online. It makes it look like time and effort has been put in to yourself as an artist or a band. Once this has created the first impression, let the music do the talking

5. Social media isn't reliable.
Although you may rack up 10 million followers over a couple of years, this can easily change as you account can get suspended or the platform you're using may stop being used. Look at MySpace, many people used to use that, and some artists who built their profiles up on it will have lost everything when its user count started decreasing rapidly.

6. SEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) makes it easier to get new fans. It allows you to appear more when people search for similar artists and it is often overlooked. For example, you can change it so that if people search 'pop music' your band appears first.

7. Sell what you like
Although you can use third party websites to sell products, they usually take a percentage of what is sold. However, the pro's of selling on your own website is that you can choose how much to sell it for, and you get all the profits.

8. Audience feedback
You can create an area for the audience to give their own feedback on your products. And you can also choose which reviews will appear first. You can select positive reviews and broadcast them on your website.

9. Subscription
You can allow the audience to subscribe to emails giving them information other people can't access. This makes people feel connected to you as an artist which means that they are more likely to buy your product. You can also send out exclusive member only offers.

10. It's yours
Although we have already spoken about this, it's the most important point. The website is, and will always be yours.



What makes a good band website:
-Interactive multimedia
-Take a lot of photos
-Good opening splash page
-Band info
-Don't be too text heavy
-Have a clear house style which links with everything
-Link with points of sale
-Easy navigation (3 click rule)

Production Schedule

When thinking about creating my music video I realised that I need to make a production schedule so that I finish my video in time.

As I've already chosen my song, I now need to create a storyboard for my music video. Obviously this may change, but i intend to make my first draft by the 20th January, giving me 10 days to create, and change my storyboard.

Throughout story boarding I will also need to scout locations to see where is suitable. While evaluating these different locations I need to take images so I can see the proxemics before filming, giving me chance to plan. I also need to find out when these places are suitable to film, thinking about times of day, weather, and how busy the place is.

Also throughout story boarding I need to discover the talent (see who will take part in my music video). I will need to find out what times will be suitable for both of us to film, and try and see if these correlate with when the locations are available.

After story boarding I will need to create a shooting schedule and book out any equipment needed. This is important as the actors will need to know when they will be needed for filming.

Once all equipment is booked it's time to start filming. Throughout the filming process I will also edit my video. This saves time, and also allows me to change any footage if needed while I still have access to the equipment.

After filming I need to finish off any post production as this is where the magic happens. This is also when I need to start on my ancillary tasks (the website and the album cover) as these will need to link with  my music video.

Changing my song choice

After hours of trying to storyboard my ideas, I realised that it wouldn't be possible to 'jump and shake' by Timeflies. I then spent the next coupe of weeks listening to different songs over and over again while trying to find the right one. I finally came along 'Right here right now' by American Authors and decided that this is the song I will be using for my music video.

Target Audience

After thinking for a while about my target audience I decided to go for teenagers.This is a pretty mass audience. The main reason for this is because I am a teenager myself. I know how they think, and feel and I can empathise with them. Now I know that all teens are different, but most of them have some things in common. For example, we are all in, or have been to some sort of education. Most of us have experienced some point in our life where we wish we could just run away and live on a beach in a hot deserted island.
Also, teenagers are the best to target for many other reasons. Teenagers hear better than older people. I know this doesn't seem very important, but when it comes to music this is surely the best thing out there. You can include different layers of sound which fits in with the visuals on screen. This gives another dimension to the video which some people won't understand. Teenagers are also more impressionable. This means that they can easily be swayed and changed. They don't have one specific type of music they listen to. They're also more willing to try new things. And with this, they believe that the music is new. Older people have already had years of listening to music, and seeing videos so they think that it is being copied. They don't see the originality as they only see or hear older 'recycled' music. Teenagers also often don't have to work for their money, or if they do, they often don't have priorities. This means that they can spend money going to concerts, or buying the latest CD's if they like the music and the video. This gives the artist more revenue.

Timeflies - Marketing Strategy

The band Timeflies recently changed their marketing strategy by creating a new image based around AIM. Aim was an AOL Instant Messaging service which was around in the late 90's and early 00's. However, after MSN was introduced, and was free, AIM started to close down as less and less people logged on. AIM was a large part of people's childhood and Timeflies has taken advantage of this and used it to market their latest album.

Choosing the location

As my music video will have a holiday theme I need to choose my location very carefully. There are a couple of different places which came to mind. The first idea was to go somewhere hot and sunny such as the Mediterranean Islands, however, getting there on such short notice was a huge issue. I then thought about other places and while looking online an ad came up for Disneyland Paris and it gave me the idea to film there as I had been before so I could plan what I needed to film.

Richard Dyers Star Theory

Richard Dyer's star theory looks at the way in which 'stars' (popular celebrities) create an impact on the audience. This theory can be split up into three main topics; the star as a construction, the star as a commodity; the star as an ideology. As well as these he also proposed the idea of 'the paradox of the star'. 

The star as a construction
-This theory suggests that there is no such thing as a star, and it is just a construction created by corporations to try and sell their product, This star is constructed through music videos, magazines, advertising etc. When creating this image they try to make something that can be easily copied by the public. This allows them to create a larger fan base, and in turn sell more products. For example, Justin Biebers image at the beginning of his career was created to try and be copied. People all over the world copied his hair, or his clothing and this in turn made him more known.

The star as a commodity
-This links in with the star as a construction, as this says that stars are used to create a profit. They do this by selling related merchandise such as t-shirts, posters and bags. Record labels will use data collected to create stars which will make the most profit. For example, The Wanted was formed in 2009, and after they blew up, One Direction was formed in 2010. This was why One Direction was formed on the x-factor, thanks to the success of The Wanted.

The star as an ideology
-This is where the star represents a certain group such as a social class, or a race or a gender. As a result of this, the stars are often copied and idolised by the audience. For example, many fans of Beyonce share her view on how woman are treated and how they shouldn't be controlled by men, which may convince them to become feminists.

The paradox of the star
-The star must be both ordinary and extraordinary. The audience must feel like they can relate to the star, but they must also feel like their is something special about them. They don't want them to be too extraordinary, but also don't want them to bee too boring and 'normal'. The star must also be present an absent. This means that the star must be present in their lives through merchandise or social media, but they must also be out of reach so they can sell tickets o visit them on tour, or do meet and greets.

Male gaze theory

The 'gaze' is a term which shows how viewers interact with the visual media, including adverts, television and film.


The male gaze is the way in which the visual arts and literature depict the world and women from a masculine point of view, presenting women as objects of male pleasure. The phrase and definition was created by feminist, Laura Mulvey 1975.


Mulvey argued that traditional Hollywood films respond to a deep-seated drive known as “scopophilia”: the sexual pleasure involved in looking. Mulvey argued that most popular movies are filmed in ways that satisfy masculine scopophilia.





Main features of the male gaze theory :

-The representation of women as a sexual fantasy and from a heterosexual male point of view

-Scopophilia- the pleasure involved in looking at other peoples bodies

-Objectification of female characters

-Patriarchal society

-Objectification of female characters

-Active male and passive female

-Men – controlling subjects

-Women as an image

-Men do the looking and the women are there to be looked at

-It feeds the needs of the male ego 

Timeflies

Timeflies is an American pop band which was created in 2010 and consists of two people: Rob Resnick and Cal Shapiro. The band is well known for their popular music and their YouTube covers. 
Following indie breakout 2011’s The Scotch Tape, their 2014 first major label offering, After Hours, debuted at number 8 on the BillboardTop 200, went to number 1 on iTunes Top Pop Albums chart, and yielded the hit “All The Way” which soared to number 2 on Billboard’s Top Digital Songs chart and has earned over 50 million Spotify streams.

http://saveaim.com/

Look what you made me do

Taylor Swift recently changed her image by releasing a new music video for Look what you made me do, which showed the old Taylor getting rid of her old self. The video can be seen below.

 

The video starts off in a graveyard where we see Zombie Taylor and a tombstone with the words Here Lies Taylor Swift Reputation. This signifies that the old Taylor Swift is dead as she has changed her image.



The next shot is a high angle mid shot of Taylor in a bath full of diamonds. In this bath there is a single dollar bill, which is all she got from the sexual assault charges against a DJ who groped her back in 2013.



After this we get a long shot of Taylor sat on a throne surrounded by snakes. She has been called a snake in sheeps clothing multiple times by different people, but repeatedly by Kim Kardashian. She tweeted multiple times calling Taylor a snake, so she has embraced this and used it to create a new image. The chair also has the words 'Et Tu Brute' calved into it which is a quote from Shakespeare's Caeser, when he is being assassinated by his friend Brutus. This shows that even her closest friends are out to get her and ruin her career.



Next she crashes her car and shows off her grammy in this slow motion shot. This is because she wants to show that she doesn't care about anything anymore, and she knows that she is a good singer and that's all that matters.



The next shot shows her and some cats robbing a music industry. This is because she disagrees with how much Spotify and Apple music pay the artists to use their music, so she has decided to get her own back by robbing them. She disagrees with the Apple three month free trial, as this means that the artists get paid even less than usual, as people aren't paying for their subscription.



The next long shot shows Taylor surrounded by dancers wearing 'I heart TS' t-shirts, which was also worn by one of her ex-boyfriends. This is because there is a stereotype that surrounds her which suggests that she only surrounds herself by people who are massive fans of her, who idol her.



The final shot shows Taylor with all of her previous and new personas. They talk a bit and hint at previous experiences in Swifts past, but ultimately they are showing that Taylor Swift has changed.

Media Regulation

Who actually regulates music videos?

The BBFC are helping to regulate online music videos by working together with Vevo and YouTube to regulate music videos. They are currently working on a project which they hope to age rate all music videos by artists signed to Sony Music UK, Universal Music UK and Warner Music UK that are unsuitable for younger children (under 12s).

The rating will appear on both the mobile app, and websites for Vevo and YouTube. 

The record labels submit to the BBFC any music video by their artists for release online in the UK which they would expect to receive at least a 12 rating.  The BBFC then classifies each video, watching it through in its entirety and then assigning an age rating and bespoke content advice (BBFCinsight, for example, strong language, sex references or sexualised nudity) on the basis of the BBFC's published Classification Guidelines.  The sort of issues the BBFC considers in classifying music videos include:

• drug misuse 
• dangerous behaviour presented as safe
• bad language
• sexual behaviour and nudity
• threatening behaviour and violence 

However, the problem with this is that everyone has different opinions, and as times change, so does societies opinion of what is acceptable. So a video may get classified with a rating of 15, but then a similar video a couple of years later may only get classified as a 12. 

Also, sometimes this deterrent can actually be seen as a good thing. Children want to buy these Cd's or watch these music videos because it's exciting and rebellious.  

How are music videos made?

Music videos aren't created in a single day. They take a while to produce as they contain numerous steps and have to get verified by multiple companies. For example, it could take a couple of weeks to even get permission to start filming.

There are also multiple steps you must have before planning can even start for the music video.

1) The record label of the artist or band must find investors. These are people who are willing to pay to help fund the music video. This means that the video can have high funds, and the more funds means more facilities. This will result in a better quality music video, and therefore a better music video.

2) If the song hasn't been recorded, this is your next priority. Obviously, you need a song before you can have a video. Sometimes the song is released before the video, this builds up hype for when the video is released. This means that if the song is a success, the music video will be anticipated, However, some artists release the music video before the song. This is because if the song is released first, and it doesn't have much success, then not many people will watch the video. But if the video is released first, people will have to watch it in order to listen to the song.

3) Next the planning for the music video needs to be done. This includes the story boarding, shot list, and any safety tests. All planning must be done before any filming has started. This is because it is very expensive to shoot a music video, and if you start filming halfway through, and then realise that something needs to change because planning wasn't done, then this can cost you time and money.

4) Next the locations need to be found, and permissions need to be given when filming in private places. This is because getting permission to film on private property may take a while to go through. Also, if it is not possible to film in certain areas, then these locations may need to be duplicated on a set. These may be made of props, or edited in post production using a green screen.

5)Next the directors, producers, writers and cast must all be hired, and filming should begin once the narrative is set. These employees must know exactly what they have to do in the music video, and must sign a risk assessment form and a disclosure form.

6) After filming, the editing commences. Because of all the fast cuts in music videos, there should be lots of footage so this step may take months. Every second of the music video must be carefully chosen, and many different versions will be made in the process.

7) Next the promotion must take place. In the past this would have included getting adverts on TV's, billboards, radio and newspapers. But no, due to technological advances most advertising is done online. Social media will be the main form of promotion.

8) After the video has been promoted, it is time to release it to the world. This is when the distribution company publishes the video around the world.

Music videos aren't real

Music videos play on our suspension of disbelief (the audience know that it's not real).

Because we know that music videos aren't real, they can do basically anything they want. Unlike films, who have to follow some sort of structure so the audience isn't confused, music videos have don't have to have a specific structure. Films are made to show a story. This means that if something is wrong in a movie, it's noticed. A YouTuber called CinemaSins finds things wrong with films, such as continuity errors or storyline errors.

The video below shows everything wrong with Shrek 2 in 18 minutes, bearing in mind the film was only 93 minutes. This means that films have to be made very carefully.


However, music videos don't have to make sense. They don't need to have a narrative so they can literally do whatever they want. When creating a music video, you don't need to worry about continuity or whether it could actually happen. Even if you make a narrative music video, you don't have to make sure that continuity is always the same. Someone can go from London to LA within a shot with no explanation.

One page pitch

Jump and Shake - Timeflies

Overview – The song is an upbeat pop song about going out and enjoying yourself. It tries to encourage everyone to make the most of being young as you won't be young forever.  

Plot – I want to use Goodwin's theory to create a link between lyrics and visuals. This means that the storyline will follow the day of a male protagonist who is going out and enjoying himself. The video will show a day out of his life. I intend to show his whole day from him getting up and getting ready, to the end of the night.  

Purpose – Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratifications theory suggests that people use the media for different things such as diversion, personal identity, personal interaction, or information. I intend to create my music video to provide entertainment. Although the music video will also try and inform the audience to go out and enjoy themselves, it is mainly for entertainment purposes.  

Target Audience – My music video will be aimed at 18-25 year olds, as the video will try and tell the audience to make the most of being young. The protagonist is also going to be an 18-year-old male, so the audience will empathise more. It will be aimed at a mainly British and American audience, as the song is in English. However, the context of the music video will also be understandable by people of other nationalities. 

Album Recreation

Album Recreation

Although I have a lot of previous experience with Adobe Fireworks, I haven't used Adobe Photoshop much in the past. In order to practice using it, I decided to recreate some iconic album covers. I recreated Michael Jackson's 'BAD' album cover. 

Synergy

Synergy within the music industry - The Weeknd

Synergy is very important when releasing a new song or album. It allows the artist to promote their new content, while also promoting their older content. However, in order for the artist top be known, they need to keep up the same style throughout all of their media outlets. They can't have a bright, joyful pink website, but a dark and gloomy CD cover, without it matching up in some way.

 

The Weeknd's website advertises his latest music video straight away, and then advertises his latest album underneath. Throughout most of his media outlets he contrasts dark colours, with bold, bright colours. He continues this throughout his website, by using a black background. This also allows his latest album cover to be more prominent, and catch not only the users attention, but also the attention of anyone near the device that it is being viewed on. The contrast between the light and dark also reflect the hidden story behind The Weekind's music videos, which have been explored in a previous post. The story tries to show an ongoing fight between The Weeknd's conscience and the devil (his fame). The darkness represents the devil taking over, whereas the bright colours (along with the bright crosses) are The Weeknd's conscience trying to regain control.

    

The Weeknd continues this theme throughout his 'Starboy' album cover, and any album covers for his singles that he has released (such as 'Party Monster', 'I feel it coming', and 'False Alarm'). This allows the audience to recognise his image when in a shop, making it easier for them to find and purchase his products. This is also the theme he tries to use in his music videos, as he contrasts colours. This is especially shown in his 'Starboy' music video where he has a giant, bright pink cross in a dark room. This religious icon helps to show the fight against fame that The Weeknd is a part of.

Music Videos which follow a narrative

http://www.eonline.com/uk/news/801889/the-weeknd-s-false-alarm-music-video-makes-this-mind-blowing-fan-theory-seem-totally-legit

Some music videos follow a narrative, intended to link the lyrics and visuals to tell a story. This needs to be easy to follow as the only sound it contains, are the song, so this is why the lyrics must match. If a music video is pure narrative then it won't contain any lip syncing at all, as it tryies to create a sense of realism. However, the most common type of narrative is performance narrative which includes some sort of performance, but also tries to tell a narrative. The music video often tries to include a meaningful story.

For example, Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal tells the story of a 1930's gangster. The video was directed by Colin Chilvers who had previously directed films such as 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' and 'Superman'. This is where he got his inspiration from, and why the music video is so narrative based.




The Weeknd also creates many narrative music videos. However, his are different as they all link together, following one big narrative. His videos tell the story of someone who has sold his soul to the devil (his fame). All of his videos follow the narrative, and although he hasn't confirmed this fan theory himself, he continues to play with this idea.

The narrative starts with 'The Hills' which starts of the video with a car crash showing The Weeknd and two women in the crash. As he starts walking away from the car the two women start pushing and blaming him, but he seems completely unfazed and continues to walk away. The rest of the video shows him walking to this unknown destination, until near the end. He enters a large house, and walks up the stairs to a red room. We then see a POV shot of a man on a sofa with the two women from the car with him. The man is holding and apple, which refers to the story of genesis in the Bible, where the snake gets Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. This suggests that this man in the red room is the devil, and he has been expecting The Weeknd to show up.

 

The next video in the narrative is 'Can't feel my face'. This video starts of with The Weeknd standing on stage singing in a club in front of an audience. At the beginning of the video most people seem disinterested in the Weeknd's music and don't interact with it. He then continues to sing and the 'devil' from the previous video appears and sits at the front. He watches The Weeknd as he continues to sing and get a drink thrown on him. As the devil continues to watch, he sees the audiences disinterest. This is the part where the Weekend starts to give in to the fame./To show the Weeknd how good fame is, he throws his lighter and sets him on fire. The audience take interest and get up and start dancing as the Weeknd continues to sing and dance while on fire. Although he is burning, he has gained the fame and power form the devil. However, as he continues to dance, he becomes too deep into his dealings with the devil, and continues in this path.

 

After 'Can't feel my face' we get 'Often' which is an NSFW music video, showing the Weeknd's fame in action. After the devil helped him to succeed and become famous, IN this video, the devil can be seen bringing the Weeknd Champagne and glasses. This shows that he is continuing to feed The Weeknd and give him false ideas of how good the fame is. He continues to create the illusion that everything is great and although the devil is helping him, he is actually making The Weeknd's life better.


The next video is 'Tell your friends' This video starts of with a burning bush, another Biblical reference. In the biblical story this is where God told Moses to lead the Israelite's out of Bethlehem to save them. This is where we believe that the Weeknd has been told to do the right thing, as he goes to bury someone. This someone is believed to be his old self, the one consumed by fame, who sold his soul to the devil. As he finishes burying himself, we see the devil walking towards him. He they both start walking together and as they come close, the Weeknd shoots the devil. He tries to put a stop to his old self. As the song starts top end, the music changes and we see what is asumed to be the devils Bentley. This creates a link between music and visuals as Andrew Goodwin said, as the music gets faster in pace, and we see the Weeknd decide to become the devil, as he gets in the car and drives away.



The next video is 'In the night' which adds to the illusion the The Weeknd is now the devil. The Weeknd has now been completely overrun by fame, as we see him being bombarded by paparazzi, girls and money. He is being hunted by other people who want this fame from him, but he is being protected by multiple women. However, two off the women who protect him are from the previous videos, they are the women who used to serve the devil. This continues to create the illusion that The Weeknd is now the devil as hye now has power over these women.

 

After this  we have 'Starboy' which is the first video from his new project. This video continues the story as he tries to get rid of the devil inside of him. At the beginning of the video we see him killing himself by placing plastic over his face and suffocating him. His new hair is also an icon for his new self. He has changed and he wants to leave all of his fame behind him, as this is what made him be consumed by the devil. To do this he starts smashing up all of his trophies and awards won by his career with a massive cross, a symbol of Christianity. This is a metaphor, to show that he wants to leave his fame and fortune behind him, but he can't quite let go as we see him driving away in a sports car at the end of the video.



After this, we have 'False alarm' which follows The Weeknd in a first person view of a bank heist. The video is after he has given up his fame and fortune, so he turns to theft. he robs a bank, but his conscience got in his way, as he ended up with no money at the end. Throughout the video we see many people dying and we see a hostage which although she is used as bait at one point, The Weeknd doesn't actually want her dead. We see this because at the end of the video The Weeknd and the hostage are the only ones left. He gives her the key to the handcuffs and she takes the money and leaves. He has the opportunity to shoot at her but he doesn't as he still has a conscience. We then see that it is The Weeknd as he looks in the mirror to his right, just before he shoots himself.



The next video is 'Party Monster' where The Weeknd has died and gone to hell (literally). After he shot himself in the previous video, he has now gone to hell and is starting to try and have fun. However, he still has his conscience, and he keeps trying to hang on to it, as we see the red crosses appearing throughout the video. He is also seen with multiple women and is seen driving around in a sports car. He is now trying to embrace what he has became, but is still struggling. However, because he is the devil, hell is not a bad place for him, the only bad thing for him is his mind.


This satanic view also connects with his cover art for the physical copy of Starboy. The Weeknd uses cross media convergence to help further prove this theory, as his physical copy displays three rows of six symbols, which is the devils number 666. Also the star on the vinyl refers to Lucifer (the devil) as Lucifer means morning star in Latin, as the devil was supposed to have fallen from the sky like a falling star. This is another reason why he calls himself starboy.



The whole of The Weeknd's story is a metaphor to show the audience how fame is the devils work, and how it has taken over his life (not for the better). He tries top tell the audience that there is more important thing, and when you start top do wrong, eventually it takes over and consumes you (as he eventually became the devil).

Intertextuality

Intertextuality

Intertextuality is the way in which media texts refer to another. This can either be obvious or just small, subtle hints throughout the text. Intertextuality may refer to other the same texts or different texts such as music videos, movies, literature, TV shows and even historical events.

POP 101 - Marianas Trench

Marianas Trench song POP 101 is supposed to be a song which teaches us how a pop song is made. Throughout the music video it gives many references to different popular music videos of the time.

At the start of the video Marianas Trench makes reference to Iggy azalea's Fancy music video, as he parodies it to show that he is going to be teaching us how to create a pop song.

Later on we see the 'iconic' party scene from pop songs. This part of the video uses iconography to show the use of alcohol through the plastic red cups. In this scene we also see a slow motion builder spraying alcohol on himself to try and create a sexual look. This gives reference to the satisfaction music video which was highly sexualised.

Marianas Trench then continues to make reference to the black eyed peas by copying their I gotta feeling music video, and even linking the visuals with the lyrics which go 'guitar and strings like these to sound like black eyed peas'. 

After this they make reference to Mumford and Sons by making it look like they have recorded it in a barn, and by copying the instruments they have used. This also shows that, as Rick Altman said, there is no more pure genre. Mumford and Sons is a cross between pop and country which is shown by the location, as barns and hay is an icon for country music, as is the banjo which is used in both videos. 

Marianas Trench then continue to recreate even more music videos by creating the controversial 'Blurred Lines' music video. This was controversial for many reasons, the main one being the high amount of nudity in the video. However, in the Marianas Trench POP 101 version, the cover up the nudity.

Marianas Trench even pay homage to Katy Perry by recreating her as a person with bright pink hair. This is another example of how popular artists have specific icons, such as Katy Perry's bright hair from her California girls video.

He then tries to recreate another controversial music video which was Miley Cyrus' We Can't Stop music video by copying the close up shots of her face. After she changed her image from a 'good girl' country singer to a pop artist who doesn't care about what people think, a lot of people judged her so she continued to do what she wants. However, because of the controversy, Miley Cyrus ended up being plastered all over the news and therefore ended up being well known and managed to get we can't stop up to number two on the billboard hot 100.

Pop 101 also reflects the zeitgeist by showing twerking. This dance move originated in the 1980's but then came back when Miley Cyrus started twerking at the MTV music awards in 2013 and has since became a popular dance move. 

Theyt even try and duplicate LMFAO's popular music video, sexy and I know it. They use the same hair and glasses, to make it obvious what they are doing.