WS - Representation of Women in Music Video

The representation of women in music videos is an area of great controversy. Ideas and 'tactics of music video may often be described as insulting and maybe even humiliating to women. Strangely however, it is often female artists that use such techniques with people such as Lady GaGa, Rhianna and Madonna to name a few who are famed for such videos.

 

A theory that has often come up when looking at music videos is the "male gaze theory", which suggests that music videos will often use women with very little clothing on, who are also quite glamerous and 'busty'. The idea behind their inclusion is that they will attract a male audience or the male gaze. This kind of technique is common in music videos, despite arguably been degrading to women.

 

As can be seen with the previous point, women do not appear to be represented fairly in music video; they are certainly represented very differently to men. One complaint that we have come across in the study of music videos so far is that women are often objectified and are their bodies, they are not people in the same way as males are in the video but just an object. 

 

The clothing and actions of women in music video represent that they are objects and, as with the majority of media, they have an effect on normal people, particularly the young. Music videos often seem to signify that women are rewarded for sexual acts, and that it is good to dress similarly to the female artists who many younger people will admire and look up to. This is a very negative view of women, yet seems to make the industry a lot of money. The idea that women can gain fame through dressing like this and behaving in this way is supported through cases such as those mentioned earlier in Lady GaGa, Rhianna and Madonna.

 

It would seem strange that female artists would agree to have themselves represented in this way as it is seen in such negative fashion, but as I have already mentioned it brings about fame and therefore money for the artists. One such reason that has come up a few times as to why an artist may want to make a controversial video is that if there is publicity surrounding it, maybe even as far as it getting banned or censored, then that will make people curious and interested in seeing the video. Having a video banned can in some cases make it more of a success for the artist, and while this and portraying women as simply objects there for the pleasure of men is making the music industry money, it is likely to carry onn for a long time.

 

To see more on representation of women, here is a link to a good powerpoint found on the internet. The presentation is not mine.

SP - Codes and Conventions of Music Videos

Music videos contain different storylines and meanings, which are portrayed through various ways:

Goodwin's Theory:

Performance - Where the band or the music artist is playing the song throughout the video.

Narrative - Where the song involves a narrative and so, the words and meaning of the song is acted out in some way. 

Concept - Where a music video is based on a single, random idea or concept

However you can have some different ways of approaching a music video:

Mixture - Where there is the musician playing as well as a narrative storyline occurring and the camera cross cuts to each scene. 

Animation - Some music videos involve animation that is edited in, this creates creativity and entertainment to the video. 

Camera: Depending on what the style of the music video is, depends on the type of camera angles that are used, such as:

Crane shots - These are used especially when there is a usage of stages and where the musicians is performing. The crane shots are able to hover around the stage from many different angles to capture what is happening.

Pans/tilts - These are to move to each performer and can also be used to show the location as it pans around which is very effective.

Close ups - They focus on the musicians as their mouths move to the lyrics as well as when there is a narrative and there are close ups on the characters to show their emotions, which suit what the song is about. There are usually close ups on instruments and certain, significant props.

Tracking shots - These are used to track the band members if they move whilst playing their instrumets.

Editing and Sound: The editing process in music videos takes a lot of time and is a crucial part of music videos. ThIS is because, the shots and need to be selected. The lip synching definitely needs to be edited so that the musicians look as though they are actually singing the song at the exact same time as the music playing. Some editing techniques include:

Jump cutting

Footage used is edited to match what is said in the lyrics of the music, as part as parallel editing.

Split screens

CGI effects-many music videos use effects to show impossible outcomes such as superhero moves and flying.

Choosing to include diegetic sound-at the beginning and ending of some music videos, there are scenes without any music to explain what is going on and to start or finish the narrative.

Changes in the levels of sounds- in certain areas of the song, the music level changes for effect, narrative reasons or to suit what is going on.

Mise-en-scene: Mise en scene is important in music videos as it includes:

Props - All music videos contain props depending on the genre and type of song it is, such as, if it is a performance style video, there would be performance equipment, instruments, and stages and lighting.

Costume - This also depends on the lyrics of the song as well as the genre. Certain performers will have different outfits suiting what they are representing in the video.

Location - The setting for music videos basically sets the scene immediately and many settings used are simple settings where many people can relate to.

Mise en scene in different genres: Many music videos have certain elements that make them have various vibes to represent the view of the music tribes, such as:

Hip hop music videos use quite dark colours, simple settings and there are portrayals of women to show their sexuality, which appeals to males. On the other hand, the majority of hip hop music artists are males and so, females are the fans.

Pop music videos feature the usage of many bright colours, flashing lights and creative settings and backdrops. The colours would appeal to mainly younger audiences as many pop artists are young and express themselves through the lyrics of pop music, as well as their costumes that make the musicians look innocent and relatable.

Rock music videos have dark colours throughout and use simple settings. Many videos contain the use of music equipment such as drums and guitars, which is why many rock musicians do performances in their videos. There is a lot of emotion in the videos through the characters and musicians facial expressions, and normally they do not portray happiness in the music videos as they relate the lyrics and meaning of the song to the storyline and emotions.

R'N'B music videos are similar to hip hop videos as they contain simple settings and many show women dressed in revealing clothes. Also, these videos have an element to portray wealth and power through the use of cars and jewellery due to the costume and setting.

Jazz music videos contain bright lights and are often of performances on huge stages. Costumes include suits for the men and sophisticated dresses for women as well as classy hairstyles and bright make up, with the use of old fashioned microphones. The overall view of these videos are to portray sophistication and elegance. 

Others codes and conventions include:

1. Alot of cut shots and not too many transitions between shots

2. Very fast paced editing

3. Short takes

4. Male / female gaze

5. Lip syncing

6. Backing dancers
7. Focus on the frontman

SP - Changes To The Coursework Idea

In reference to Rob Shaw's original coursework idea post, as a group we have had some feedback on the concept and we have decided to make some changes.

1. We were going to have a protagonist being unsettled with himself and is envious of another person who is settled with himself. The protagonist was going to want to take away this persons perfection so that he doesn't feel envious anymore. Now we have decided to have a group of four people who are at the top of the social ladder and the protagonist is enviuos of the person leading the group. We will still have two main characters but it makes more sense to have this social group because it gives us more scope with locations etc.
2. As i just mentioned now that we have changed the idea to a group of four people who are at the top of the social ladder we have decided to include some more locations that dont just include shots at school. We will now also be able to film in and around Ilkley and maybe in someones house. We still do not have a set storyboard and call sheet so we can still change any things we may feel we have a problem with.
3. We have always had the idea to include performance footage but now we have had some time to think about who we want to do it. We have asked a band called "Ice Cream for Activists" to be our musicians in our performance footage. Rob, Will and I are good friends with the members of they group and Rob Shaw asked their drummer Dave Atkinson in registration if he was interested. Now that we have arranged it with them, they are now learning the song and in a week or so we will record some sample footage. 

RS - The Original Coursework Idea

Artist: Muse
Song: Bliss
Year: 2001
Album: Origin of Symmetry
Genre: Space Rock/New Prog


 

Muse are a Grammy Award winning Alternative Rock band from Teignmouth Devon. Muse are well known for putting on amazing live performances and are often voted as "best live band". Muse consists of three members; Matt Bellamy: Guitarist, Pianist, and lead Vocalist. Dominic Howard: Drums, Percussion and human bones. And Christopher Wolstenholme: Bassist, Guitars, Keyboards, Backing Vocals and Harmonica.  Most of Muse's songs are driven by the bass-line with guitar effects layered over the top, such as Hysteria and Time is Running Out for example. They have a fusion of different genres ranging from Space Rock, Prog Rock to Heavy Metal and Classical or even Electronica. They have seen huge sucess world wide selling over 10 million records worldwide, selling Wembley Stadium four times in under an hour and headling Glastonbury twice, a large list of events for a career which only started in 1994. They even plan to be the first band to play in Space! (after pursuading Sir Richard Branson for help).

Muse are big innovators of new media and have made use of brand new technology, most notably when they used new high tech 360 degree cameras at there gigs at Wembley Stadium last year. You can see the 360 degree cameras in action here. These cameras are "the future of concerts" and give the audience the ability to move the camera by clicking on the screen and dragging it around with their mouse. The band released two 360 recorded songs from Wembley as a Christmas present to their fans on their website. The same 360 degree cameras were also seen at this years R+L Festivals and fans are expecting another Xmas present this year!



The band also created the worlds first Augmented Reality Tour Programme. This Programme is the future and has technology called augmented reality built into it, when you hold certain pages of the programme up to a webcam, the book projects an image out and in 3D onto your webcam image and also provides interviews within the augmented reality.
 

Origin of Symmetry which is the album Bliss is on just celebrated its 10th birthday. Because of this the band played two "special" gigs at this years Reading and Leeds Festivals in which they adapted the stage to look like the album cover, they also played the whole album from start to finish in order which they had never done before! They also had to relearn a few songs which had been dropped from the set list over the years since the release of the album. Because of this 10th year anniversary I believe it is a great idea to create my own version of the Bliss music video and introduce it to a new audience. There is already a music video for Bliss but it is older than 10 years due to the 10th birthday of the album so it now fits into the criteria of choosing a track for a music video. I believe it could be re-branded now and what a perfect oppotunity to do it!
 

My idea for the Bliss music video is a hybrid between a performance and a narrative music video (Goodwin's theory). The narrative side of the video will be based on the songs lyrics, the protagonist is unsettled with himself and is envious of another person who is settled with himself. The protagonist wants to take away this persons perfection so that he doesn't feel envious. There will be shots of the protagonist using high angles to show his weakness and low angles on the other person to show his power. For the protagonist to be envious I want it to show him doing poor in his exams whilst the other character does better, he gets a girlfriend the the "pro" doesnt, he recieves awards in assembly whilst the "pro" doesnt and the class clap/cheer for his sucess whilst he is jealous of his sucess. I want to use a SnorriCam in the music video for CU's of the protagonist to show his emotions when he keeps seeing this person he is envious of. This is only my initial thoughts and are based around the lyrics so don't expect it to keep the same, however I would very much love to do a Muse music video and especially from this album as it is celebrating 10 years and could be a way to re-brand the album!


The performance side of the music video will be down to the lip syncing by the characters within the narrative. There is also the ability to have the characters writting the lyrics in a lesson or the lyrics being written on a whiteboard in lesson. They could also be used in a text on a phone etc. There is also an option to find a local band and ask them if they will be willing to feature in the music video to perform the whole song, that way we could get lots of shots of them performing them and then cross cut them into the narrative. It would be hard because it would take more than one filming session but it is achieveable. I have been to see Muse live before and when I saw them last year I did some live recording however the quality is not great and the camera is shakey! however I have come up with a plan of just having it being played in the background of the narrative such as being played on a computer screen/tv screen similar to "Can I play with madness" by Iron Maiden, or on someones phone screen so that the quality would not be so obvious.

The main location for the music video will be in our school along with shots of the two main characters walking to and from school and also the protagonists bedroom/house. Costumes for the music video would most likely be our schools uniform however that does mean (because we are in sixth form) we would have to raid our wardrobes to find our old uniforms! which could run into problems, however we could have the actors wearing casual clothes like our sixth form.
 

The length of song is 4:13 which could be seen as an issue as it would take a vast ammount of shots however the first 15 secs of the song is played on a keyboard and is like a little intro which could be seen as a chance to get lots of establishing shots and slower pace editing which could save alot of time and effort. 

 

For the editing I have thought of using extensive use of the multi layering technique to show the two main characters at the same time to show the emotion of the protagonist seeing the other character (man with no name!). I also want to use the "Sin City" effect where you isolate one colour on a shot so that it makes everything black and white other than the colour you choose to keep the same. Currently I am not sure of what shot I will use this effect on but it's only the early stages at the moment. I also want to create my own track dolly to give a smooth shot when I am tracking a character. It will be a budget version of the hollywood Dolly constructed by myself.

Here is the official music video for Muse's Bliss:




Here is an example of some footage I recorded last year. Bare in mind the clip will be muted so its only the visuals that are important. I did record multiple tracks so any could be used!

SP - The Coursework Group

Here is abit of background information on each member of the A2 coursework group for this year.

Name: Sam Pollock

Age: 17 

Nickname: Cherub

Main Attribute: Cuteness

Hobbies: Football and Cricket

Idol: Steven Gerrard

Favourite Band: Oasis

Favourite Film: The Inbetweeners Movie

Favourite TV Show: The Simpsons

Subjects Taken: English Lit & Lang, Applied ICT and Media Studies

 
Name: Rob Shaw

Age: 17 

Nickname: Bert

Main Attribute: Blogging

Hobbies: Gaming and Blogging
Idol: Matt Bellamy

Favourite Band: Muse

Favourite Film: Back to the Future

Favourite TV Show: MythBusters

Subjects Taken: Geography, Media Studies, Applied ICT 

 
Name: Will Spivey

Age: 17 

Nickname: Wiz

Main Attribute: Angry Face
Hobbies: Football and Cricket

Idol: Freddie Flintoff

Favourite Band: The Killers

Favourite Film: Saving Private Ryan

Favourite TV Show: Soccer AM

Subjects Taken: Media Studies, Psychology, Philosophy & Ethics

Here is the group itself, however we are better known as Swillob Productions:

SP - My Coursework Pitch

As i only had 2 minutes to do my Coursework Pitch in, i decided to use a PowerPoint Presentation to add more visuals to my idea. It was also to allow my class mates time to see my whole idea in alot of information. In the time i had i could only say so much. The PowerPoint was to try and bolster my efforts to persuade people to choose my idea.

Here is my PowerPoint Presentation:

My Course Work Pitch Idea


Our Media Technician, John Cockshaw, filmed my whole Coursework Pitch which included a question and answer session at the end of it if any of my class mates didnt understand any of my idea or why they should choose my music video.

Here is my Coursework Pitch for the music video Wonderwall by Oasis:

SP + RS - Marking an A2 Blog: Jonny Hughes

Today we got set the task of marking an A2 music video blog from last year. For this task Rob Shaw and I chose to evaluate Jonny Hughes blog, who recreated the music video Joy Division - Disorder. Jonny worked with Joel Colborne and Callum Moreman on this task and the group created a joint blog which can be found here.

As i have previously said, for this task I worked along side Rob Shaw!

Research and Planning:

Is there excellent research into similar products and a potential target audience:

Excellent. There is a lot of research into the genre such as doing case studies and further research out of the lessons. Evidence into researching bands from a similar genre as well as completely different genres to cover a wide range of material and investigate all the different audiences from all the products. A fine example can be seen here from a different range of genres.

Is there excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props: 

Excellent. There are several examples throughout the blog and even a mention in the evaluation questions with an interesting image to accompany.  Overall the level of organisation is high and there are multiple posts on all of the above over a good consistent time period to show time management skills. The groups treatment is a perfectly organised document with all the relevant information above to help them secure high marks.

Is there excellent work on shotlists, layouts, drafting, scripting or storyboarding:

Excellent. There is obvious detail in storyboarding and scripting for this music video because the end product is of such a high quality. They even posted storyboards and scripts on their blogs to show their planning process. Overall the quality of all of the above are excellent and display exactly what should be happening and gives the audience a good understanding before seeing the final product.

Is time management excellent:

                                                                               
Excellent. There was a consistent feed of blog posts throughout both of the years providing all the relevant information and posts needed for the music video. The consistent stream of posts keeps the audience updated and knowing what they have done and what they are hoping to do next lesson etc which shows good time management, also the final product was completed on time.

Is there an excellent level of care in the presentation of research and planning:

Excellent. Yet again the level of care is excellent like the rest of the blog. Images, hyperlinks and embedded videos are aparent throughout the research and planning and paragraphing has been used keeping the presentation in tip top condition and very easy for the audience to read whilst giving all the relevant information.

Is there an excellent skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the presentation:

Excellent. There is an excellent post on how they made the artwork which had been created for the digipak which shows high skills in ICT. Embedding from Scribd has been used on multiple posts and the Treatment once again shows excellent use of ICT skills like everything else on the blog.

Are there excellent communication skills:

Excellent. Once again top marks due to the ease of use on the blog, the use of links lists, blog archive and hyperlinks within the blog make it simple to navigate around for the user which is very helpful and keeps them on the webpage.

Overall I would give the blog a mark of 20 out of 20. We couldn't find any faults with the blog, everything was there and to a very high standard and because of the navigation around the blog it made it simple to locate everything.

SP - Bradford Film Festival

Today, Thursday 6th October, all Media students in Years 12 and 13 went to the National Media Museum for the 45th anniversary of the Co-operative Film Festival in Bradford.

On the National Media Museum website there was a section on the Co-operative Film Festival and it said: 

Exciting News: James and Oliver Phelps, the actors that play Fred and George Weasley in the Harry Potter films, will be opening this year’s festival on Thursday 6 October! The brothers will also be talking about their experiences in the film industry in a live Q&A session. Each year the Co-operative encourages young people to express themselves and make a short film and the result is the Co-operative Film Festival. Over 2 days the National Media Museum plays host to screenings of over 100 short films and a wide range of film workshops, events and masterclasses. There will also be professionals on hand to offer advice to young film-makers in friendly feedback sessions. Come along and watch a diverse range of fun, inspirational and thought provoking films; take part in an animation, film-making or TV studio workshop or learn how to get a job in the TV and film industry. Be inspired, participate, be challenged, be co-operative, express yourself, have fun. Whether you’re a film-maker, film enthusiast, parent or teacher, or you just want to be inspired - there’s something for everyone at the festival.

The first thing i did when i got to the National Media Museum was have a look around the museum which has a wide range of different Media related items from diffrent time periods. We could also use more advanced Media equipment and take part in a number of activities such as workshops. We could just look around the different floors of the museum and take in all the information we had learnt.

Just like last year ther was a number of students from our school that were having their work screened and I was one of them lucky people. However there was four more groups from Ilkley Grammar Schools having their videos screened. Three of them were for the AS coursework, including our 2 minute film opening. The films were first all shown in Screening 1 and once they had finished, the creators of the film walked up on stage to recieve their awards but also have a photograph taken. The screenings were impressive for different reasons and made all the Year 12's want it to be their work that is screened there next year. After the screening Rob Shaw, Asa Newmarch and I then took part in a short interview. This was to explain what our film was about, what our inspiration was and then to highlight some tips on what to tell people thinking of entering their films into the festival for next year.


In the afternoon i went to the Final Cut Pro - Editing Master Class where i was taught some new techniques by our tutor, Rad Miller. Unfortunately i had to leave near the end of this 2 hour session but in the time i was there i learnt alot about the software. The brief for the session was:

This intensive course is designed for the more serious filmmaker that is aiming to take advantage of the more complex features of Final Cut Pro. Participants will learn time saving techniques, logging techniques, refining edits, key frame clips, createlayered composite images, colour correction and exporting in various formats. 

I have learnt alot from this experience such as customising the workspace, log and batch capturing, using key frames, creating matte shapes, using a garbage matte, using the chromakey plugin fliter and basic colour correction. Unfortunately because i had to leave around 30 minutes early i missed how to use nesting sequences, how to use the media manager and exporting files to diferent file formats but i am sure i can learn these off the other people that attended the session.

SP - My Coursework Pitch Idea

Artist: Oasis

Song: Wonderwall

Genre: Britpop
Director: Nigel Dick
Year: 1995
Audience: Over 24-35

Idea: My idea for the A2 coursework is based around the lyrics to the Wonderwall song by Oasis. I want to have a music video that is based around a couple that has just had a major fall out. The first few shots will be based around this argument. The song starts off quiet slowly so I will use a slow motion effect. This will show the emotion of the two people, with the girl crying and the man throwing things on the floor. After the guitar at the start, the first verse starts to be sung and I plan to time this with the man storming out of the house and when the door is slammed shut this is when the singing comes in. I plan to have this man lip-syncing quiet a lot of the lyrics because it will show his emotion of what has just happened. The majority of the song will be focused around this man with him having alot of flashbacks, remembering the good times between the old couple. I plan to use a black and white effect for these flashbacks and it will show what the couple used to do when they were together. These shots will be filmed in several different locations. I will use alot of cut shots away from these flashbacks to the man in the present walking down a main street lip syncing the lyrics to the song. I also plan to have shots of the band aswell because just having this man walking down the main street would get repetitive and boring.  Another feature to the music video would be a when a couple who are still together holding hands and having a good time walk past the man walking down the main street, he would brush shoulders with them but keep walking. This will show his anger and jealousy. I am not 100% sure about the ending to my music video but during my research process I found that people from last years A2 coursework went down the route of suicide to complete their music video. This is a possibility for my video because it would suit the narrative sections but I will explore all the routes and get feedback from my classmates.

Type of Music Video: In relation to Goodwin's Theory my music video will be a hybrid as it is a mixture between a performance and narrative based music video. I have already touched on this in the previous section but there will be cuts shots between narrative sections and the performance aspects of the music video. I have already mentioned in detail the narrative sections but the performance sections will be mainly based around the man walking down the street lip syncing. I do also plan to use some band shots and I will have to get in touch with some people I know who might be able to help me out. There will not be many of these shots but variation is key in any music video.  

Locations: There will be several locations in my music video as there will be alot of flashbacks. Most of the locations will be in Ilkley however, as there are alot more places I could film. Obviously we would need to film in someone’s house for the very first scene but this would be very easy to do. I am hoping to be able to film the main street shots on New Brook Street Road in Ilkley. This is an ideal road as it is not too busy and it is away from the town centre. There are also trees on either side of the road and I believe there is perfect opportunity for some good framing in the shots. The road also leads down to some other locations I would like to film at which are the skate park. This would be ideal location for teenagers to be lounging around and taking it easy which is stereotypical for this age group. Another location I would film at is the river. Again I think it would be good to get the couple skimming rocks on the water as a flashback and maybe even get a reflection on the water. I would also film in the actual park at the bottom of Ilkley as it has a path along the river and it would be good to have the man reflecting of old times here. The good thing about all of these locations is that they are all in close proximity of one another. I would like to film on Ilkley Moor aswell because it is iconic and it is a good setting for a music video. There is also potential here for getting some really good shots of Ilkley and the surrounding areas. I would also like to use pathetic fallacy in my music video. This is when the weather is portraying the person’s feelings. For example, if it was sunny the person would be happy, however if it was raining the person would be sad.

Actors: There would only be two actors in my music video, one man and one woman. I have a person in mind for the role of the man. He is called Conor O'Loughlin and he is in the other Media class. I have chosen him because he looks abit like Liam Gallagher and he is a good actor. He is also in a band so I might even be able to get some performance shots of them all playing together. He would be an ideal choice to play the role of the man in my video. In regards to the woman, I do not have anyone in mind at the moment but I am sure there will be a few people willing to do the role as it doesn't require too much acting and there are no specifications (e.g. they do not have to have a specific hair colour etc) 

Inspiration: There are a few music videos that inspired me to think of this particular idea. The first one is The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony. This music video focuses on Ashcroft, the bands vocalist, lip-synching the song while walking down a busy London pavement, refusing to change his stride or direction throughout. He is oblivious to what is going on around him. He repeatedly bumps into passers-by, narrowly avoids being hit by a car, and jumps on top of the bonnet of another vehicle stopped in his path.The driver gets out of her car and proceeds to pursue and shout at him, while he continues unflinchingly. This gave me the idea of the performance elements of my idea with the man walking down the main street lip syncing words to the song. Here is the music video for The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony:

The next two are from some students from last year who attended Ilkley Grammar School.  

Jonny Hughes, Joel Colborne & Callum Moreman recreated Joy Division - Disorder: 

Mary Jenner, Lucy Mannall & Chris Lawrence recreated We Are The Ocean - Confession: 

Both of these music videos did extremely well and scored very highly and i want to include some features from both in my own video.

SP - Pitch Research: Oasis

Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher (vocals and tambourine), Paul Arthurs (guitar), Paul McGuigan (bass guitar) and Tony McCarroll (drums, percussion), who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher (lead guitar and vocals). They have had eight UK number-one singles and eight UK number-one albums, and won fifteen NME Awards, nine Q Awards, four MTV Europe Music Awards and six BRIT Awards, including one in 2007 for outstanding contribution to music and one for the best album of the last 30 years as voted by the BBC Radio 2 listeners; they have been nominated for three Grammy Awards. As of 2009, the band have sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide. Also the band was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2010 for “Longest Top 10 UK Chart Run By A Group” after an unprecedented run of 22 top 10 hits in the UK. The band also holds the Guinness World Record for being the "Best band Britain has produced in the Last Decade" in the UK between the years 1995 and 2005, spending 765 weeks in the Top 75 singles and albums charts.

Its members were signed to independent record label Creation Records and afterwards released their record-setting debut album Definitely Maybe in 1994. The following year, the band recorded (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995) with their new drummer Alan White in the midst of rivalry with Britpop peers Blur in the charts. The Gallagher brothers featured regularly in tabloid newspapers for their sibling disputes and wild lifestyles. In 1997, Oasis released their third album, Be Here Now, and although it became the fastest-selling album in UK chart history, the album's popularity tapered off quickly. The band lost members Paul McGuigan and Paul Arthurs as they went on to record and release Standing on the Shoulder of Giants in 2000 and were replaced by Gem Archer and Andy Bell who joined the group for the tour in support of Giants. The band found renewed success and popularity starting with 2005's Don't Believe the Truth.

In August 2009, Noel Gallagher announced his departure from the band after a backstage altercation with Liam before a festival appearance.

Source: Wikipedia