.

2. Background Knowledge
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlO-KOvpPOw
• From the Album “ Lifes not out to get you” (Aug 14th 2015) By ‘Neck Deep’
Who are signed with Hopeless Records, and the video was directed by ‘Kyle
Thrash’ written by Neck Deep with Seb Barlow, Andrew Wade, Tom Denney
& Jeremy McKinnon.
• The album charted at number 8 in the UK, reached the top 20 in the US,
and reached the top 40 in Ireland and Australia. Shortly after the album's
release, guitarist Lloyd Roberts left the band.
• Genre-Pop Punk
• Vocalist revealed his greatest inspirations were Blink 182, Newfound glory,
Bring me the horizon, Eminem/Notorious BIG and dallas green (city and
colour).

3. Video Conventions
• A Key convention of pop-punk videos is both a narrative and
performance element in the videos inc the band performing at
various interludes in the video.The ‘Gold Steps’ video shows the band
playing as a band on top of a skateramp aswell as several other areas
at a lake, this follows the conventions of pop-punk as it is seen as
youthful and exciting and summer-feel like , and by having the
stereotypical youth skating, and drinking/partying emphasises how
the band is in touch with youth, has music for them, and the general
poppunk feel.
• Another common convention is quick closeup shots of the bands
hands or face playing or singing throughout the performance side of
the music video synchronising with the lyrics of beat of the song.

4. Costume Conventions
• Pop punk encompasses elements of both the pop and the punk genres meaning the
costume holds similarities to both kinds of music. Distinctive aspects of the punk rock
style remain in pop punk clothing style resulting offently in a dis-sheleved appearance;
including ripped jeans, ear gauges, facial piercings perhaps signifying the carefree
youthful attitude the youths and the artists have themselves.Gold Steps shows the band
in casual dress in T-Shirts, or Vest-top-like attire that Dani the Drummer is wearing,
aswell as khaki shorts and trainers, the band also has a kind of unkempt look with a few
of them unshaven and with ear gauges and the lead singer in a five panel cap, and one of
the guitarists donning long hair and beard.
• The casual costume is also to do with the energetic music where everyones required to
move about a lot such as at gigs and performances.
• Current pop punk fashion has changed a lot from the earlier darker pop-pier versions of
eyeliner and baggy jeans, Vans or converse shoes are likely as well as skinny jeans and
branded music tops to do with other band swith that genre aswell as varsity fonts(to do
with the ‘American Attitude’ these bands want to promote.We can see Ben Barlow the
vocalist with an ‘explosive taste’ t-shirt and an ‘onlyNY’ cap therefore promoting the
American attitude.

5. Narrative/Performance
• The Narrative aspect of a music video often tells a story that is both suggested or
featured in both the lyrics and visuals. It can be like a mini film with a beginning middle
or end, or can be applied to the 5 stages suggested by Todorov. In Neck Deep it shows a
bunch of teens in a small town/estate lazing around with nothing to do, until Neck Deep
drives through on a Van/Skate Ramp and they suddenly become energetic and run after
the Van, ending up at a party, as Ben Barlow sings about his youth and troubles and the
‘gold steps’ he has taken to where he is now.
• The Performance aspect is much more simple an just means the band is seen playing
their instruments or singing in various parts of the video.
• Ben Barlow – vocals (2012–present)
• Fil Thorpe-Evans – bass guitar (2012–present)
• Dani Washington – drums (2012–present)
• Matt West – guitars (2012–present)
• Lloyd Roberts – lead guitar (2012–15)

6. Todorov
• 1. Equilibrium-- Teens bored at home and on the streets
• 2. Disequilibrium-- Neck Deep Arrive
• 3. Recognition-- Everyone Runs to the outside gig, following the
van/skate ramp
• 4. Reparation –They Reach where Neck Deep have set up the
Van/Skate ramp
• 5. New equilibrium—Fun party at the lake

7. Binary Opposites applied to gold steps
• Levi Strauss
• Binary Opposites: Direct Contrasts
• Adults V Young Adults/Teens
• Boredom V fun
• Sensibility V Reckless
• Music V Quiet
• Drunk V Sober

9. Music Videos demonstrate genre characteristics
• The video begins with an array of Med/long shots of various teenagers looking very
bored and up to nothing at all really, this relates to the youthful audience of the
video who all have most probably been bored and have nothing to do at some
point or other.
• In the next shot we see Andrew Goodwin's 4th key area come into play because of
the graffiti tag of the bands name and the song title being sprayed onto the
halfpipe ramp as a motif and relates back to the actual band. Aswell as this we
have the skating ramp which is stereotypical to the youthful audience neck deep is
trying to attract to their music aswell as the fact poppunk is a casual youthful music
genre.
• When the band arrives the music pace increases aswell as the teenage dozers all
jump up and become a lot more active coupled with tracking shots of them chasing
after the band connoting the teenagers are chasing the idea of fun no matter what
it is, in a spontaneous way, this fits with the typical view of teenagers not thinking
things through.We get a few close up shots of the band to see that they are
wearing casual dress which fits In with the casual rowdy music genre and again
relates with the audience and lets the band fit in with the teenage crowd in the
video. When the skate ramp truck stops there is lots of rowdy jumpy dancing off
the ramp and the crowd was able to get onto the ramp around the band putting
them on the same level.Ben barlow (Vocalist) in particular interacted with the
crowd (e.g a high five, or singing and pointing at members of the crowd)
highlighting their friendliness, casual attitude and strengthening my point of them
being represented on the same level as their fans/crowd.

10. There is a relationship between lyrics and
visuals(illustrative, amplifying or contradictory)
• I've been stuck in the middle pages,
Hung up on a cross that I created,
Built out of the bones that I've been breaking.
The sign you said you needed,
Is there but you can't see it.
You might be down and out but you're still breathing.
If you write the story, then you'll find out we're all stuck on the
same page.
Sometimes things will bend you,
But trust me you'll be fine,
I've been moving mountains that I once had to climb.
And life's not out to get you,
Despite the things you've been through,
Because what you give is what you get,
And it doesn't make sense to make do.
The walls are caving in again,
Happens every now and then,
Always got me feeling like I'm fucked.
Falling in and out of bed,
Sleep so I feel like I'm dead,
Trying to get a grip is kinda rough.
You say life has lost it's meaning,
And that's true if you believe it,
But someday you will stand above your demons,
You're not beneath this.
Yeah, life's not out to get you.
If you write the story, then you'll find out we're all stuck on the same page.
Sometimes things will bend you,
But trust me you'll be fine,
I've been moving mountains that I once had to climb.
And life's not out to get you,
Despite the things you've been through,
Because what you give is what you get,
And it doesn't make sense to make do.
So pick yourself up,
You can't change what's been,
You must go on and learn while you live.
And when you see the signs saying hope is up ahead,
Then you're right on track for a better end.
Sometimes things will bend you,
But trust me you'll be fine,
I've been moving mountains that I once had to climb.
And life's not out to get you,
Despite the things you've been through,
Because what you give is what you get,
Yeah, life's not out to get you

11. There is a relationship between music and
visuals(illustrative, amplifying or contradictory)
• Different cuts of the band and audience are used when the music builds up or drops
speed.e.g at the beginning the song is building up and the teenagers are shown to be
running and starting to move about rather than before this and before the music
commencing, there is little movement of people, and everything is going slowly.The Cut
speed works in the same way, when there is slower/no music, cuts are spread out and
longer, whereas when the build up or faster parts of music commence, lots of short cuts
are used to show the energetic nature of the music and the visuals.At the end of the
video the vocalist is singing slowly into the camera, with a long extended slow cut
zooming into his face.

12. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close
ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which may recur
across their work(a visual style).These include Close ups of the artists
face,iconography of band image, visual trademarks and motifs

13. Motifs:Drinking, Skating, Not Caring, Music, Youth, Fun, Excitement

14. There is frequently reference to the notion of
looking(screens within screens,mirrors, stages etc)
and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the
female body.
• Neck Deep are seen playing on a
stage throughout the video, On a
Skate ramp being carried by a van,
and then just later on the back of the
van.This coincides with the idea of
youth and the stereotype of
skateboarding and childish ideas.
• No/little voyeuristic treatment of the
female body, in fact it might be the
other way around:males may be
treated more voyeuristically

15. There are often intertextual references(to Tv,
Film,other music videos etc)
• N/A