Paddington Bear

I look at all my childhood toys, from Buzzlight year to Charlie, a knitted clown I had, and spotted Paddington. Not only was this bear able to stand up, he was also a reasonable size to use. He was not too small you couldn't see him and he wasn't so big that it looked odd. He was the perfect choice for my music video. The fortunate thing about Paddington Bear was he is not just in the memory of my childhood, but the memories of many others, from all ages.

His first appearance in the public eye was in his book, A Bear Called Paddington and was published on 13th October 1958. In 1972 the first toy of him was created and his first TV series was broadcast in 1975. He has now had 21 series of books, over 80 episodes of his TV and millions of toys have been created of him. Also a new film about him has just started being made, so this shows he is still popular in modern culture.

The advantage of Paddington is that our audience will make an automatic emotional connection with him, as he is a recognizable figure of their past. His audience is not only in the UK but he has sold over 30 million books WORLDWIDE, and has thousands of different products in America, Asia, Australia,  Sotuth Africa and Europe.

By the audience having an emotional connection with the character means they are more likely to continue watching to see what happens.

Music video idea

To fit with what our target audience wants we had the idea or a comedic narrative and a comedic performance.

For performance we shall spoof various music videos, e.g. Amarillo, bohemian rhapsody.
For the narrative we shall have Paddington bear leaving me at the start, then myself having flash back of memories of what we have done. At the end Paddington shall return.

We shall use split screens to show there is performance me and narrative me.

Lyrics and meaning to them

Although the song seems upbeat and happy, it is actually about someone leaving. Steve Harley wrote it about ex band members who left. Because of this and the fact we want to keep it comedic we shall have a teddy bear leaving me and then in the end returning, for the narrative.

You've done it all, you've broken every code 
And pulled the rebel to the floor
You spoilt the game, no matter what you say 
For only metal - what a bore!
Blue eyes, blue eyes, how come you tell so many lies?

Chorus: Come up and see me, make me smile
Or do what you want, run on wild

There's nothing left, all gone and run away
Maybe you'll tarry for a while
It's just a test, a game for us to play 
Win or lose, it's hard to smile
Resist, resist, it's from yourself you have to hide

Chorus: Come up and see me, make me smile
Or do what you want, run on wild

There ain't no more, you've taken everything 
From my belief in Mother Earth
How can you ignore my faith in everything 
Cos i know what Faith is and what it's worth
Away, away, and don't say maybe you'll try

Chorus: Come up and see me, make me smile
Or do what you want, run on wild

Potential Parodying

Parodys

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Music Video Inspiration

Sleep texas

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Target Audience

As the song was brought out in 1975 most people who know it would be aged around 50. This is the age we are basing are target audience around, however due to the song being used on various adverts it is widely known by people of all ages.

We conducted a focus group with 20 of our parents and their friends, who are the target market and asked various questions about what kind of music videos they like.
Here are the results:

Q. Are you male or female?

Females - 12
Males - 8


Q. Do you prefer your music video to be funny or serious?

Funny - 17
Serious - 3

Q. Do you watch music videos?


Yes - 4
No - 6
Sometimes - 10

Q. Do you like pop rock/classic rock


Yes - 17
No - 3

Q. What do you prefer in a video?


Performance - 3
Narrative - 4
Both - 13

Q. What music video's are memorable to you?


(Is this the way to) Amarillo - Tony Christie, Dancing in The Street - Bowie/Jagger, I Want to Break Free - Queen, Thriller - Jackson, Hit Me Baby One More Time - Spears, Take On Me - Aha, Hello - Richie, Sleep - Texas

Conclusion


In conclusion our video has to be funny and combine both narrative and performance. I also looked at the memorable videos they suggest and noticed many had funny elements, or included dressing up.

Background of Song and Artist

Make Me Smile (Come up and see me) was released in 1975 and was a number one hit for Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel. It was released as a single, and was on their album The Best Years of Our Lives. Since 1975 it has been re-released 3 times, 1992, 1995 and 2005. It has also been covered by more than 100 other artists, most notably by Duran Duran and Erasure.

It is Steve Harley's only number 1 song to date, however he did have a hit with a cover of Here Comes The Sun. He also released Phantom of The Opera with Sarah Brightman, as he was going to play the role of the Phantom until he was replaced by Michael Crawford.