Task Three – Analyse the track

The soundtrack is 3 minutes long, and the pace is steady throughout it is not too fast or too slow, with a regular beat. It has 2 verses, 3 chorus' a bridge and a repeated chant at the end of the song. 

The meaning of the song is one of freedom and self-love, explaining that we live mundane lives, and that she is bored of it, and that we need to change now and 'make your move' to do something different. That we all have dreams yet we don't follow them. Alex G is trying to explain that we live repetitively day by day 'wired for it, but we're tired of it.' That their life is wired, not spontaneous. She's being encouraging that you can break free of this and live a different life, '365 different ways we can choose to live our lives', this suggests that you have every day to do something different. As the song is directed towards a young-adult audience she is suggesting that they might be young, however 'we don't have forever' which is encouraging towards young-adults to change their lives and work hard to accomplish what they want.

'Its now, or it's never' is strong imagery, telling the audience that they need to take a leap today or that it will never happen. More imagery is shown in 'You live in boxes 9-5 always hoping for a raise', this gives you an image in you mind of an ordinary mundane life where you will never succeed. More imagery you can get from the soundtrack is from the continuous drum beat

The story of the lyrics is that she's living a everyday boring life with her partner, and stating that he may be happy living this mundane life, however she doesn't want to. She's telling a story where she wants to reach out and find herself and figure out who she truly is and what she is capable of achieving. 

The subtext that you need to delve into to understand the lyrics is that, she is comparing the 365 lies, meaning days, to what society has wired us to do. 

365 little lies we have written in our mind.

2.5 kids by 25 and you’re doing just fine.

We’ve been wired for it, but we’re tired of it.

Oh, we’re looking for something more.

365 different ways we can choose to live our lives.

Oooh, tell me what you’re gonna do.

Oooh, what have you got to lose?

It’s now or it’s never. We don’t have forever, no.

Oooh, it’s time for you to make your move.

Oh, don’t you know it’s dangerous when you try to play it safe?

You live in boxes 9 to 5 always hoping for a raise.

It’s enough for getting by, but tell me, does it make you happy? 

You’ve put your dreams on hold too long. Why wait another day?

Oooh, tell me what you’re gonna do.

Oooh, what have you got to lose?

It’s now or it’s never. We don’t have forever, no.

Oooh, it’s time for you to make your move.

We are all the same! And, we are all afraid!

We are all the same! Oh, we are all afraid!

We are all the same! (Take a step now!)

Oh, we are all afraid! (Gotta make it happen!)

Oh, we are all the same! (Whatcha waiting for?)

Oh, we are all afraid!

Oooh, tell me what you’re gonna do.

Oooh, what have you got to lose?

It’s now or it’s never. We don’t have forever, no.

Oooh, it’s time for you to make your move.

(It's now or it's never. We don't have forever.) [x4]

Task Two – Analyse the artist

The artist we have chosen is Alex G who is an American artist, who's image is very important to her in her career as a singer this is important when analysing her as an artist. Her main image is 'an everyday person', this is important to her as she wants to engage with her audience and seem like we are all the same. This image springs from the beginnings of her music career, posting song covers onto Youtube, this influences her image, as she was just an ordinary girl and she wants her audience to continue seeing her as just a typical person. This helps her audience identify with her, and to attract new audiences also, as people are looking for celebrities that they can relate to, and Alex G proves that if she can get this far, so can anyone else, this inspires fans. 

Another image which is clear by watching Alex G's videos, is the image of a strong and independent woman. This is noticeable by the strong postures in her music videos, her fearless story-lines which show many different feminist attractions, such as searching to find herself in her video 'Make Your Move', and showing that she doesn't need men to make her happy, and she's not going to dwell over a break-up in, '#LittleMissPerfect'. This is a strong reflection of women, and is appreciated by young and older female audiences, encouraging them to have the same independence. 

However, whilst still showing this capable and self reliant image, she also counteracts this with other videos and the style of song being a cute, girly image this is seen in 'LittleMissPerfect', as although this is about independence she is still dressed very over the top and girly in bright clothing, this is to keep an innocent image with her audience and maintain a feminine image. 

The other song style shown in her videos, is soulful songs with messages and meanings in the lyrics, the main focus of the videos is her strength. The power of her voice is amplified and the strength of her messages through her lyrics. The more they emphasise her vocal talent, the more the audience will believe in the lyrics, and relate to their meaning. 

Task One - Choosing the track/Gaining Permission

The track we have chosen to use is Alex G's 'Make Your Move' which I have embedded above, the reason I chose this song in particular is that the song allows me to create a story  alongside the relevant lyrics, also the person we will be using in the video will suit the sort of theme and look we are going for. The storyline we have in mind involves us portraying themes of confusion and searching for yourself.  It also has a lot of background themes of love, life and acceptance, in which this allows us a widespread of ideas we can use. 

When using other peoples media creations, it is vital that you are not breaking any copyright laws. This is because you could be using someone else's work as your own for your own beneficial gain. This means that we must ask permission before using Alex G's soundtrack, so she says it is okay, and we let her know we are not using it for any financial gain and only for educational purposes.  It is important for an artist that these copyright laws are in place so that no one can claim that the media is theirs and benefit off of it, it protects the artist from losing rights to work that is theirs.

To ensure I do not break any copyright laws before using Alex G's song 'Make Your Move', we sent her an email asking her permission and explaining to her that we will not be using it for any financial gain.  Below is screenshot of the email that I sent her:
"   Dear Alex G, I am writing in regards to get permission for me and another student, to use the audio of your song, "Make Your Move" as the soundtrack for my school coursework. I am currently studying BTEC Media Studies, in Robert Clack Sixth Form, Dagenham, Essex. The coursework involves creating a music video together for a track of our choice, we decided that we really like your song and it would fit with our ideas perfectly. The video is solely for academic purposes only, we will not be financially gaining from this video at all. We are looking forward to hearing back from you regarding our request for permission to use your song for our coursework. Thank you for your time, Yours Faithfully, Joeann Murphy.     "