My chosen song for this NEA project is No Money by Galantis. This song was released on March 31, 2016 and the music video later on May 12, 2016 with a current YouTube viewing of 530,349,380 views. This song is was and still is a very popular song combining Pop with an EDM/Dance twist and coming out with a nationwide sensation. This is Galantis's most viewed music video of all time, even more than Runaway which was arguably more popular when released 2 years before hand. At time of release, the song became very popular straight away on radio stations and streaming services because of its genre hybridity, between EDM, dance and Pop. The EDM-Pop cross had already been done in 'The right song' by Tiesto and Oliver Heldens earlier in January 2016 and fuelled a new trend of EDM-Pop songs becoming popular. These two genres along with Dance, also combined with the unique style of artist Galantis gave 'No Money' a phenomenal response and encouraged artists like Calvin Harris, Chain-smokers and Major Lazer to follow suit.
The song itself follows the story of a young girl who is wearing the signature Galantis mask and is followed by a group of others her age who also wear similar discoloured masks. The video conflicts the idea that to stand out in society you need to be colourful and popular like the girl the main character has a dance off with toward the end of the video of whom she eventually defeats to finish it off.
My reasons for choosing this song and the artist:
This song promotes the need for conflict against the issues our society carries around bullying. This is an issue which has never fully been addressed and I feel is something which currently lacks in support for everyday people. This song provides a template positively build on and create a music video with a strong narrative which, like the original, fights the idea that you have to act, dress and think in some kind of 'normal' way. This song opens up opportunities to exploit tools like YouTube to prove a point to our younger society.
The differing speed and tempo of the melody allows me to use a range of different shot types and varies editing techniques to work the music video to the song when it comes down to the creation. For example, times when there are slow points provides opportunity for slow motion close ups as well as fast paced builds where there is a chance to use multiple fast flowing shot within a small space of time.
Galantis is different. They have a unique way of portraying ideas through song and video that others cannot. The identity of Galantis is recognised through the signature sea fox mask (as seen on the left) that is presented on each of their song/album covers as well as those worn/painted on in all of their music videos. This fascinating idea of identification is what makes Galantis so popular. Know one fully knows or understands why the duo do this, nor how each relates to the individual songs.
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