Wake me up lyric analysis

I have annotated the lyrics in order to show the hidden meanings behind the lyrics.

Annotating and understanding the hidden meaning of the song has helped my group plan the micro elements, style of music video we will use, target audience and conventions we will use.

First we chose which style our music video will follow. As we wanted to demonstrate the meaning of the song we decided that a majority of our music video would be narrative, where we would video our characters waking up in the middle of London with a hangover after a night out which would portray them growing up and facing responsibility they do not want. However we did not want all of our video to be narrative based there for we chose to demonstrate being young through partying and dancing which would fall under the style of performance.

We then started planning who our target audience will be. As the song is about being young and not wanting to grow up we felt we should have a rather young target audience, ranging from the ages of 15-25. This age range would young however be old enough to understand the concept of the song as. We felt this was the right age range as the younger ages of 915-18) would just be beginning to live their lives and would be at the typical 'parting age'. The middle ages of our target audience (19-21) will be finding themselves by trying to sort their lives out, starting new careers, moving out ect. The older ages of our target audience (22-25) generally would be experiences the struggle and new found responsibility's with creating their own lives. We chose such a big age range as everyone within our target audience age range would be able to relate as they are experiences being young and will soon be or are experiences growing up also. We also chose such a wide age range because of the genre. The dance genre has become very popular, especially amongst young adult therefore we felt we could use a wider target audience. We also didn't want to specify a certain gender to target our music video towards as the song is very general. Growing up and facing responsibility's is something everyone goes through at one point of their lives whether male or female. We felt this was a positive as we could have a wider target audience which would gain us more success than a music video about a boy breaking a girls heart which may only appeal to the female gender.

After deciding on the style of music video and target audience we put together a rough plan for our narrative/performance music video. We wanted our video to contrast the present to the future as the song is about what will come in the future. We decided to start our music video off with our characters (2 male best friends) waking up in London after a night out. Throughout the music video camera shots will show the two best best friends finding their way home and discovering what is really important in life. In order to contrast the present day to the future we decided to add flashbacks from the night before. The whole music video is set in the present day as both different scenes are only set apart by a few hours, however the flashbacks of the night before will represent the boys being young and loving life and the morning after will represent the consequences and responsibility's that are soon to come and the boys getting ready to face them. Although we wanted to follow the true meaning of the song as we felt our music video will be more affective we also added in the concept that although going out, being young is fun and friends are important in life you will always go back to your family as they will help you throughout the whole of your life and are the people that stay with you forever. This is why we end the song with both of the boys going their separate way to their families.

When planning the cinematography and editing we did not really use the meaning of the song to help us as we based the camera shots and editing styles that we would use on what is conventional to the dance genre and beat of the song such as fast editing, close-up and mid-shots. However we did choose to use a high angled shot within the party scene as this shows that the characters are young and vulnerable, and also chose to use fast editing which will symbolise how fast they are growing up as well as following the conventions of a dance genre music video as the beat is very fast and will go with the editing.

We also chose to stick to the conventions of dance genre when planning lighting as our party scenes will include strobe, flashing and low key lighting. We will also use natural lighting as it goes with our story board of them waking up the next morning.

Facial expressions and body language where decided based on the meaning of the song as we want the actors to act young and that they are enjoying life throughout the music video however come to realisation on their actions at some point within the music video for example when they are up London and needing to get home.

Our make-up and costume will simply follow our narrative. The boys will be dressed in smart casual clothes that our target audience would find trendy. This is to make our music video seems current, more realistic and appeal to our target audience. The clothing and make up will not change in order to contrast being young and growing up like the setting will.

When planning the setting and iconography the meaning of the song helped us a lot after we saw the contrast between young and old within the song we decided how we would contrast it within the setting and iconography of our music video. The party setting and iconography such as alcohol, flashing lights will show the characters youthfulness and care free attitude to life. While the scene set in London and the missed phone calls will represent the responsibility they hold. Their desire to be young and follow their dreams will be conveyed to the audience through their flashbacks and the way the boys think positively about being young.