Cult of the Damned is a UK rap group known for gritty lyrics depicting working class British youth culture. Their music videos effectively portray this style through location and visual choices. One video takes place in a run-down garden, showing members engaged in various activities to represent hanging out. Their fashion incorporates hip hop elements like hoodies and caps. Overall, the videos capture the drug-fueled British lives described in their lyrics through gloomy, realistic settings and references to modern pop culture influences.

1. MUSIC VIDEO PRODUCTION
CASE STUDY
YO UR N AM E HERE

2. MUSIC VIDEO PRODUCTION
• We will look at MusicVideos from a number of perspectives, this template is for you to
write up your notes and to complete your case study.
• The document is split into 3 different tasks, each with separate questions to answer.
• Task 1 is concerned with the purposes of music videos and the strategies employed by
labels and artists
• Task 2 is concerned with the styles, techniques and conventions of music video
production
• Task 3 is your own case study into a minimum of three music videos where you can
unpack and discuss the videos considering everything you have looked at in Task 1 and
2
• You are expected to submit each section on a weekly basis during your remote
learning weeks.
• If you get stuck, talk to/email your tutor for guidance.

3. NOTES ON COMPLETING THE
CASE STUDY
• It is often easier to show something you are discussing than to take
time describing it.With this in mind,feel free to add lots of illustrative
images from your chosen video examples.Links toYouTube/Vevo/etc
are also encouraged.
• Remember,when you make a point or define something,you should
follow this with an example,an explanation of this and then link to
further texts/videos where possible.
• If you don’t think there is enough room to add your full response to a
question,don’t just reset the font size to really small, add an extra
slide wherever necessary.

4. TASK 1 -
PURPOSES
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S E C T I O N 1 B E F O R E D O I N G T H I S TA S K

5. TASK 1 - PURPOSES
• Q1 - Outline the 3 core purposes of music video with a short explanation for each:
• Visual representation – A music video allows for a much clearer portrayal of a bands
overall aestetic.They can show what clothes they like, the type of people they accociate
with and stuff they would commonly do.This gives listeners a much more accurate idea
of what the bands about and can make them so much more into them.
• More emmersive – videos give listeners an emmersive experience compared to just
listening, without having to watch them live.They get more of a feel for what the bands
about.
• Brand endorsement – popular bands use videos to endorse products. For example, a
singer could be wearing a pair of headphones that the headphone companiy paid them
to do. Fans of the band will then see the headphones and want them aswell, as there
faveorate brand wares them it allows them to relate.

6. TASK 1 - PURPOSES
• A broader purpose is often simply artistic appeal. Some artists use very
non-representative videos to appeal to a different auduience, more of a
nieche.This could be via using more unique filming and editing techniques
or incoroprating anything other than a band just singing their song.
• Another might be a political message.Depending on whats going on in
the world an artrist might try present their views or use the hype to
their advantage.
• Another could be making a revival or debut,a music video is a great way
to present their new self with more detail than a stand alone song.

7. TASK 1 - PURPOSES
• Q3 – Branding;select an artist you like and look at how they present
themselves in their music videos. Explain what their‘brand’ is, who is
appeals to and why they might have done this.
• Cult of the damned –They appeal to rebellious british teenagers and
old time hiphop fans.The overall brand is a drug –fuelled,scummy and
controversial idea packed with refrences to cans of cider and vauxhall
astras.They are so effective with their branding as this side of the
music appeals to teenagers,yet there also lyrically talented with very
repsected lyrics,especially from old timers who appriciate it, which is
rare for a newer rap grouop.

8. TASK 1 - PURPOSES
• Q4 – Compare One Direction and Animal Collective musicvideos [find them onYouTube!],what
can you discern about each act from their videos?What is the main aim? Explain why.
• One directions main aim is to appeal to a very wide audience.They appeal to mostly teenage girls
but it's so mainstream even some mums could like it.There videos are basic with common themes
being picturesque scenes such as beaches.Another common theme is relationships.These things
appeal to their audience of teenage girls,but are commonly tolerated and liked by quite literally
anybody.
• Kid rocks video is much more nieche.It taylors to teenagers in america getting into rock and old
time rock fans.He appeals to the kids and new rock listerners as he uses the inconic sounds of a
rock song with the classic image of fire,bearded men and motorbikes.He also reffersin his lyrics to
big oldschool rock figures,this shows his knowledge of rock and appeals to the older listeners who
use to be fans of the names mentioned.The video is full of fire,bikes, girls,scaryness,darkness,and
straight up thuggery.The main aim of this is to portray the rock scene with all notable lements of it.
It’s the ultimate rock song.

9. TASK 2 – STYLES,
TECHNIQUES AND
CONVENTIONS
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S E C T I O N 2 B E F O R E D O I N G T H I S TA S K

10. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
• Music videos commonly use close up shots as its emmersive, puts the
focus on the voice and keeps things simple.
• Another shot commonly used is a pan,as you can pan across the band
focusing on each memebr as they say their section, this is quite
emmersive and gives us a view of the whole band yet still keeping it
focussed on the individual singing.
• Another is an extra wide shot, often used for shots of a band on stage
which are very common in music videos.This shot allows the viewer to
feel as they would seeing them live, also it gives a good view of the artists
whole body to focus on the clothes there waring which develop the
branding.

11. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
• A common edit style is fast cut montage,this is due to the fast pace
lyrics are delivered in lots of songs and to keep it as lively as the song.
This keeps the viewer interested and allows for the video to
correspond with the lyrics without falling behind.

12. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
• A recognizable genre convention is representation of criminal lives in
rap music,specifically UK drill.Uk drill is a very urban,gritty and harsh
genre that explains the lives of people with tough upbringings.To
reiterate this with videos, often they ware face coverings,hold
weapons and stand in large threatening groups.This goes hand in hand
with the music and creates a very accurate portrayal of daily life for a
drill artist with sets often being in the areas they live with the locals
from there.

13. TASK 2 – STYLES, TECHNIQUES
AND CONVENTIONS
• Q4 - John Stuart’s description of the music video “incorporating,raiding and reconstructing”
is essentially the essence of intertextuality [something asserted by Andrew Goodwin]. Can
you explain what intertextuality is and find a minimum of 3 examples of it in music videos?
• Intertextuality is the relationships between texts,such as iconic books.An example of this in a
music video is in beastie boys "sabotage" where its styled as a 1970's cops and robbers' film.
One way they incorporate this is with the classic "Name of actor as name of character" text
and classic fashion items from that era such as moustaches and aviator sunglasses.
• Another is with Michael Jacksons "bad",which is based upon a horror film. It uses the classic
sounds a horror would, screams and zombie noises.The video is a classic zombie storyline
too which reiterates the horror theme.
• Another is my chemical romances "the ghost of you" which is based on a war film. It looks
exactly like iconic war films such as saving private ryan.They incorporate incredible props and
costume with exact replicas of uniform and actual army issue boats.The camera work is that
of a war film with close up shots of focussed faces on the frontline, lots of closeup water
splashes etc.

14. TASK 3 – CASE
STUDY
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L E C T U R E P O W E R P O I N T A N D L O O K AT
S E C T I O N 3 B E F O R E D O I N G T H I S TA S K

15. TASK 3 – CASE STUDY
• For your individual case study you must study an artist of choice,
focusing on a minimum of 3 videos [ideally 5+ videos]
• This should provide discussion on the usage of the following:
– Style[s] & Techniques employed
– Intertextuality
– Camerawork/editing
– Genre conventions
– Critical approaches [you should be applying some of the critical
approaches from your lessons and some of your own, to your selected
videos]

16. CASE STUDY – CULT OF THE
DAMNED• Cult of the damned are a UK rap group made up of their original group "children of the damned" and other UK rappers from
the "blah records" label. Cult of the damned make gritty, rude hip hop that illustrates a scene of pre-millennial brits stuck
between their childhood influences of American hip-hop and the scumbag culture of British youth. Cult of the damned stand
out feature is this combination of England and hip-hop. There lyrics are crammed with references to cheap cider and
intercourse on park benches, yet with the smooth gangster elements of American hip-hop. This gives them such a distinctive
style and their videos go hand in hand. Their videos commonly structure with the group together yet camera focus on
whoever's rapping, which allows the artist rapping at the time to use all the video real estate for themselves, in order to
portray themselves as effectively as possible. With the music being mostly dark and gritty, the videos are too. Their most
viewed video is "civilized" which takes place in the garden of a decayed old British house. They get the location perfectly, it is
straight out of a gloomy British suburb, with bungalows fit for a granny coming into shot at times. The garden is dotted with
the groups members getting up to individual things, for example one rapper is cooking some fish on a bbq and another is on a
chair with two girls on his lap. The video flows from rapper to rapper, each time switching to a new activity. It gives a sense
that you are walking around a dodgy English garden party and conversating with whoever stumbles Infront of you. Cult of the
damned make fashion choices that incorporate the hip hop element of their music. They are draped in baggy black hoodies,
snapback caps, saggy jeans and timberland boots. This again is iconic to see with such quintessentially British lyrics. Their most
recent video is a 12 min banger that takes place in a lockup with dirty old sheds and a caravan. This is their most effective
portrayal of the gritty vibe they go for. They use a very faded filter that has strong green and brown tints, this emphasizes the
gloominess. Alongside the videos straight up depressing atmosphere, they bring in hints of modern pop culture too. One
rapper rides through the lockup, past the caravans etc. on an electric scooter. Electric scooters are currently very fashionable
and relevant within mainstream Uk rap and pop which shows they still have that influence and attracts more listeners. Overall
cult of the damned make iconic rap videos, something straight out of 1990 new york, alongside their trampy British drug fueled
lives.

17. TASK 3 – CASE STUDY
• You should include a video link for the videos used
• You should include illustrative stills from the videos chosen
• Be creative in your approach,it is suggested you use the heading on
the previous slide a guide on how to structure your response to get
you started
• Remember,make a point,use a specific part of the chosen video as an
example,explain yourself and then link to another video where
possible
• Compare and contrast your artist/genre to other artists/genres
• Remember to consider differing contexts