Genre Research

We Are The Ocean fit into the genre of 'Post - hardcore' and, 'alternative rock'. 


Alternative Rock 

• It emerged in the 1980's and became popular with the 1990's. 
• It's formed from lots of sub-genres such as grunge , Britpop , gothrock , and also indie these genres were all very popular in the 1980's. 
• Alternative rock has before been used to class and group rock music produced by underground artists within the 1980's and also all music that descended from various punk rock genres.
• Bands such as R.E.M and The Cure achieved commercial success and maintstream recognition during the 1980's  and were cult acts that recorded on independent labels and received their exposure through college radio airplay and word of mouth. 
• Grunge and Britpop were becoming more popular in the 1990's with help and break through  bands such as Nirvana alternative rock came into the mainstream which helped alternative bands to become more and more commercially successful. 

Typical Instruments used within the genre

• Vocals, electric guitar, bass, drums and sometimes keyboards.

Post - Hardcore

• It originally developed from hardcore punk and the punk rock movement.
• The genre emerged in the mid to late 1980's from the Midwestern United States but came into mainstream recognition within the 2000's. 
• Post - Hardcore is generally characterised by it's precise rhythms and loud guitar-based sounds with a combination of clean vocals and screams. 
• Many of the bands have developed a good balance of dissonance and melody.
• They channel the loud and fast hardcore elements into more measures, subtle forms of tension and release. 

Typical Instruments used within the genre

• Electric guitar, bass, drums and vocals.

[Information taken from wikipedia.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_rock and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-hardcore ]

Contacting Hassle Records and the band..

 This is our email that we sent to Hassle Records...

this is the reply that we got back from the record company ..

• We have also messaged the band themselves and posted on their Facebook fan page (which had over 38,500 fans!)

• Hassle Records website - http://www.hasslerecords.com/hassle/#
• W.A.T.O Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/wearetheocean?v=wall
• W.A.T.O Website - http://www.wearetheocean.co.uk/Home.php [registration is needed] 

Case Study On: Metallica

• Metallica are from L.A. California.

• Formed in 1986.

• They have had lots of #1 albums.

• Leit motifs such as blue filters and flashing effects were quite often used within most of their videos.
• Wayne Isham directed quite  a few of their videos.

• Enter Sandman

We Are The Ocean's existing videos...

All Of This Has To End

• Entirely performnce based
• Lots of shot variation
• An ageing effect and also different colour filters are used
• Fast paced and quick moving camera work is also used.
•  The video is set in a warehouse. Items such as ladders, wires and lights are also visible throughout the video. This gives the video a raw edge and feeling to it.

Look Alive

• A boy is in his bedroom laid on his bed, his mother then comes in and shouts at him. He then walks out of the house and she throws some pieces of paper at him. 
• It then cuts to a performance setting with quite a lively crowd. The video cuts back to this scene/ location throughout the video.
• The same boy that was in the scene before appears walking through a park past a girl and a boy that are arguing. The attention then is taken off the boy and onto the couple and the girl eventually walks away. Slow motion is also used in this take. 
• Then the girl that was featured in the previous scene is shown walking past a garage where a boy is sat on a chair. He then goes and gets told off by his boss and then he walks out of his job.
• During the performance aspect of the video very fast paced editing is used.
• Green and blue filters are also used at some points during the chorus along with slow motion.

God Damn Good

• A girl walks into a room, put on a vinyl record. The band then appear performing in that room. The room is quite dark and dimly lit.
• The band are shown performing at several points throughout the video and sometimes it is just the lead singer on his own.
• Aspect of romance included between the girl that was seen before and another man.
• Fast paced editing which matches the genre of the band and song.
• The lady then spikes the mans drink. He then proposes to her (she then regrets spiking his drink) and she drinks from the glass that she spiked and collapses, but narrative enigma is created because she could be possibly dead.

Nothing Good Has Happened Yet

• Performance in a warehouse and also with just 2 brick walls with graffiti.
• Special editing effects are used and have been layered onto the footage in the post production stage.
• Lots of close ups of the lead singer are used. Lots of shot variation is included as well, because it's an all performance video they need to grab and keep the attention of the audience. 

These Days I Have Nothing

• The video is performance with a little bit of narrative and concept.
• It starts with the lead singer picking up his mic then it fades out.
• Then it fades back in with the rest of the band. They are playing against a fence with some barbed wire across the top of it.
• It then cuts to a different setting, in the snow. Someone is walking along dressed in military uniform.
• Slow motion and blurring effects have been used within the video
• The military person walks into a house where he is greeted by a female (possibly his wife or girlfriend), they then embrace and other people go up to him to greet him.
• He then gets angry because he can't cope.
• Some other soldiers come into the house and take away the man, the female then falls to her knees and break's down. 
• It then fades out to black.
• At the end of the video, quite a lot of narrative enigma is left for the audience for the audience because they don't know why the guy has been taken away etc.

Background Of: We Are The Ocean

• 5 piece (screaming/ clean vocals, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass and drums)
• Post-hardcore and alternative rock  
• From London, U.K.
• Formed in 2007
• Singed to Hassle Records 

Bands similar to them:

You Me At Six, The Used, The Blackout, Fightstar, Funeral For a Friend, Underoath, Lost Prophets, and also Kids In Glass Houses.

• They quickly came into the spotlight due to "MySpace" and were nominated by "Kerrang!" (a UK, Rock magazine) as Best British Newcomer and voted in the readers poll, as the 2nd best unsigned UK band. 

• They released their Self Titled debut EP in 2008 and they sold all of the 1000 in 1 day. 

• Their first album (that was released in 2010) reached #143 in the UK Album charts

• Singles that they have released...

  Year	Song Title	Album
  2007	"Nothing Good Has Happened Yet"	We Are the Ocean
  2009	"God Damn Good"	We Are The Ocean
  2010	"Look Alive"	Cutting Our Teeth
  2010	"These Days, I Have Nothing"	Cutting Our Teeth
  2010	"All Of This Has To End"	Cutting Our Teeth
  2010	"Lucky Ones"	Cutting Our Teeth Deluxe Edition

  

Revised Draft Of Our Idea

• After getting into our group, we discussed our ideas that we had and brainstormed to see if we could add anything new and improved it and also look into a little more detail at what the video would include. 

This is what we came up with... (

This is taken from Mary's blog [http://mary-jenner-musicvid.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-pitch.html])

• "A girl is packing her bag in a hurry, running away from home but when she is doing this she is getting more and more frustrated and emotional.

• When the chorus drops the band are shown in a quite claustrophobic location, maybe in a garage or something
• The girl writes a note explaining why she no longer can stay at home and the reason as to why she is running away (independence etc)
• She then leaves , walks out of the house, lots of shot variation of her walking/running through the streets, lots of special effects
• Then she starts to get more emotional when she realizes she has nowhere to go and that she has made a big mistake.
• The video ends with narrative enigma, a shot of the girl on a wall then a train goes past then the girl is gone.
• There will be performance shots of the band throughout." 

The Chosen Song And Lyrics

Confessions - We Are The Ocean 


I'm writing these confessions to you
I'm writing these confessions to you 

Oh wont you hold my hand, and take me to the other side
Well I want to see you, I want to see with my own eyes

I'm writing these confessions to you
I'm writing these confessions to you

Oh wont you hold my hand, and take me to the other side
Well I want to see you, I want to see with my own eyes

I'm writing these confessions to you
I'm writing these confessions to you

So wont you hold my hand, and take me to the other side
Well I want to you, yeah I want to see with my own..
Eyes

(Guitar solo)

I'm writing these confessions to you
I'm writing these confessions to you

So wont you take me hand and take me to the other side
Well I want to see you, I want to see with my own..
Eyes
Eyes
I want to see with my own eyes
Oh Oh
I want to see with my own eyes

My Pitch

• Jack and Giles - Never Done This Before .

• Local artists, they attend Ilkley Grammar School (in year 10) so they would be easy to get hold of and in contact if needed to. 

• Rap/soul, piano, acoustic recording.

• 3 minutes 22 seconds long.

• Narrative but mostly concept possibly with a little bit of performance. 

• Romantic (comedy) situation between a girl and a boy.

• The boy (central protagonist) is trying to gather the courage to ask this girl out, he is seen looking through photos of him and her and also looking through her Facebook profile etc.. Then finally he gets enough courage and asks her to meet him to ask her out and she then says yes. 

• I would also include an aspect of parts of footage of Giles and Jack from when i was asked to record them performing before. This is quite raw footage and it gives the video a more personal touch to it and it's almost   behind the scenes footage. 

• The core audience for this song/ video is tween/teen audience and the secondary audience is youth and young adult (15-30). However because of the mixture of the genres would broaden the audiences as opposed to just having  one of the genres.