The genre for the music video is electro pop. Electro pop was popular in the 1980s and used synthesizers prominently. It arose in the UK and Japan in the late 1970s/early 1980s as part of new wave. Modern electro pop artists include La Roux, whose music is influenced by 1980s British synthpop acts. Their music video for "Bulletproof" follows one character through a variety of shots and locations to portray a distorted atmosphere characteristic of the genre. Key conventions seen are the use of a single character, varied shots, bold colors, and fitting location.

1. The genre for our music video is
electro pop.

2. Electro pop...
• It is a sub-genre of pop that was particular popular in the 80’s, where the
synthesizer was the most dominant instrument.
• It arose as a distinctive genre originally in Japan and the United Kingdom as part
of the post-punk era and within the new wave movement of the late 70’s to the
mid 80’s.
• Some of the most famous synthpop (electro pop) include ‘Duran Duran’ and
‘Spandau Ballet’, who where popular in the United States.
• This genre did begin to die out towards the end of the 80’s, however has since
been revived, with commercial success for artists, La Roux, Kesha and Owl City.
• Electro pop has been described as ‘eerie, sterile and vaguely menacing’. With
common themes of isolation, loneliness and the feeling of being cold and hollow.

3. A modern example of and electro pop artist...
La Roux

4. • La Roux are an a Electro pop duo made up of a singer and keyboard player,
Elly Jackson, and writer and produce, Ben Langmaid.
• Their music is influenced by 1980’s British synthpop, including artists such
as ‘The Human League’ and ‘Eurythmics’.
• They released their debut single, ‘Quicksand’ in December 2008. However
their second album, ‘In For the Kill’ was much more successful debuting on
the 16th March 2009.
• In order to promote the band, they supported Lily Allen on her UK tour of
March 2009. As well as performing at many festivals and gigs, in particular
headlining at the ‘Samsung NME Radar tour’ in 2009.
• Their main target audience is from the ages of 13-20, with a predominant
female gender.

5. The lyrics to one of La Roux’s most famous
songs, Bullet Proof...
Been there, done that messed around Do, do, do your dirty words
I'm having fun, don't put me down Come out to play when you are hurt?
I'll never let you sweep me off my feet There's certain things that should be left unsaid
I won't let you in again Tick, tick, tick, tick on the watch
The messages I tried to send And life's too short for me to stop
My information's just not going in Oh baby, your time is running out
Burning bridges shore to shore I won't let you turn around
I break away from something more And tell me now I'm much too proud
I'm not turned on to love until it's cheap All you do is fill me up with doubt
Been there, done that messed around This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof
I'm having fun, don't put me down This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof
I'll never let you sweep me off my feet This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof
This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof
This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof
This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof This time I'll be bulletproof
This time I'll be bulletproof
I won't let you turn around
And tell me now, I'm much too proud This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof
To walk away from something when it's dead This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof
This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof
This time, baby, I'll be bulletproof

6. The artists name is placed at the
Their are very dark colours top of the cover in the bold white
used on this album cover,
creating a shadowed, eerie
La Roux- colour, therefore making it
instantly stand out from the rest
An album cover
atmosphere. The black of the cover. This and the size of
connotes a depressing feel, this title, makes it the first thing
following the orange/red the audience see’s when looking
colours that express fire and at this cover. I believe the text
power. It could highlight the font that they have used is quite
artists passion. sci-fi, but clean cut. Which I feel
reflects the music in this album
and the genre electro-pop, which
also has a sci-fi feel.
Their is an indirect contact from
the artist, creating an impersonal The title of the album is slightly
cover. The position of the artist less obvious on the cover,
creates a strong, but shy because of it’s smaller size and
persona. The placing of her on the font that has been used.
the cover, of centre, places her However it has been placed in
further towards the background. the centre of the cover, therefore
This is further emphasized making it stand out more than
through the dark clothing and her the image of the artist. like many
shadow, therefore she does not other album covers, they present
stand out from the rest of the the artists name as more
cover. important than the album title.

7. I have decided to analyse La Roux’s music video Bulletproof, so I am able to gain an understanding of
the codes and conventions that is used in the genre of electro pop.
One character
Throughout the whole of the music video there is always the one character, we follow her story the whole way
through the video. Despite this, she does often change her outfit providing an element of variety. I think through the
track that is used and the long shots, this helps the audience to be positioned with this character and helps us to feel
what she is feeling, therefore allows us to connect with the song. I think this is a convention that we could easily use
in our music video, because only one actor is required which takes a lot less organization than it would do if we
needed a group of actors.

8. The Variety of shots
La Roux uses a variety of shots in her music video, cutting simultaneously from long shots to
medium shots to close up shots. I think this provides variety within the video and helps to create
the distorted atmosphere that La Roux wishes to portray. I think this convention is something
that we could adopt quite easily. Using a number of different, quick shots to create a scene/
movement is something quite simple, but looks very effective. Although I do think it will be hard
to keep the continuity perfect, because of the number of different cuts that we will have to fit in.
This has been done well in La Roux’s video which means the cuts flow well into each other.

9. Location
The location that has been used in this music video is very unique, something that I don’t
think that we will be using in our video, because we want to keep it more naturalistic.
However I think this location works well in this video because it fits in with the distorted
feeling that is attended to be created.
Colours
The colours used in this video are very bold and vibrant, something that I think we could
use in our music video. They make the video stand out, grabbing the attention of the
audience. Using these colours in our own video would be effective because they would
server the same purpose. This could be changed when we are editing the video, using
the colour adjustment tool.