Jordan Cruickshank and Fran Matthews

Target audience

Our audience is obviously

integral to our choice of music.

Firstly the music has to relate to

the cultures of the three groups

we have looked at, which are

Mods, Skinheads and Casuals.

Music genres associated with

these groups are Ska, Punk,

Soul and reggae. In particular

the bands in these genres are

iconic in British culture, bands

like the Clash, the Jam and

Madness are all bands that our

audience would recognise there

music and would enjoy our short

film more with this type of

music.

BandsThe next process of our search was to

decide which bands we wanted to chose as a

suitable choice for our short film. Bands such

as the kinks, the Specials and Madness

entered our thoughts as there music related

to our short film. However we chose to

pursue with three Bands, whose music was

suited to represent the intended themes of

our short film which are rebellion, comedy

and also present a laid back attitude which

relates to our teenage characters who are

recognised as being ‘cool’ in society. These

three acts are firstly Toots and the Maytals

who are a reggae act from the 60’s to now,

who produced rhythmic, relaxed songs which

reflect the mood of our characters. Second is

the clash who produced edgy tracks in the

late 70’s and 80’s, their music was rebellious

and bold because of their sound and lyrics

which is one of the reasons for their long

standing success . Finally we chose the Jam

which are considered one of the icons of the

Mod revival, they were described as ‘angry

young men’ because of their fast tempo to

punk rock. They were seen as style icons

through their tailored suits and ‘Liam

Gallagher-esque’ haircuts. The star of the

Jam was lead singer Paul Weller who was an

icon to Mods during the 80’s, hence his

nickname the ‘Modfather’. This suggests the

Jam was an appropriate choice to relate to

our theme.

SongsWe have chosen three songs to use in our short film:

1. The first of these songs is ‘bank robber’ by the clash. This

song is very reggae influenced as it is quite relaxed and

stylish, which is conveyed through the slow tempo and lyrics

about society which seems a suitable soundtrack for the

three characters who present this appearance of style and

happiness. This song is appropriate to introduce the three

characters as the lyrics and music imply their attitude.

2. Second is the song ‘pressure drop’ by Toot and the Maytals.

This reggae song has a soothing slow sound which seems

calming and is relevant to our target audience who enjoy

this genre. This song was used also in the programme ‘this

is England 86’ and worked well. This song is to be used in

the montage of interview room shots that show the

characters under pressure.

3. Finally our third song is ‘English rose’ by the Jam. This song

is acoustic and very emotional and poignant. This song

would play at the end titles when the future of the tree

characters is revealed. This song is used to reflect the idea

of tragedy and sadness as the characters go to jail for

nothing they have done. The tone is slow and humble and

ends the short film perfectly as the conclusion is revealed

that will evoke the emotion our audience.