Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Final reflections on the project
In terms of my overall aims I think this project was a success in terms of planning, filming and editing. I wanted to be more creative with each of these aspects and think that after deciding on a complex and detailed MES and narrative for the video we were challenged to work hard and put in a lot of effort in production. Watching our video now I feel that we still could have filmed a better framed master shot of the band and a greater variety of whole band shots but we were at the time limited by the enclosed space. I also feel that if we had planned two days with our ‘black-hands’ actors then we could have formed a more comprehensive narrative and conveyed the structure of the narrative better to our audience. I also feel that the introduction of the video looks slightly out of the context of the video because of the complete contrast in MES and lighting and also because the band members faces are not explicitly seen really. We tried to fix this problem by greatly altering the brightness/contrast on Premiere Pro and also zooming in on some shots. For the last shot where the glass is broken we should have filmed it showing the person swinging the pole too as some people were unsure of what was happening in the shot. I am very pleased with my overall effort in production of this music video and the criticism it has received.
I am equally pleased with our Myspace and album cover and the feedback they received too and their effect as an overall promotional package. I have thoroughly enjoyed this product and feel that I put in the necessary time and effort to form a great production.
I am equally pleased with our Myspace and album cover and the feedback they received too and their effect as an overall promotional package. I have thoroughly enjoyed this product and feel that I put in the necessary time and effort to form a great production.
Proposed marketing campaign
Our marketing campaign is to flood the market focusing on viral marketing and below the line promotions that will directly target an 11-15 year old audience. Our record label ‘Easy Target Records’ will promote the band/single/album on TV through an appearance in series 3 of ‘Skins’ a teen drama that seeks out small bands and has seen the likes of ‘Crystal Castles’ and ‘The Gossip’ become intensely popular with this audience through promotion. TV advertising is not cost effective for us but we would make an appearance on T4 (channel 4’s Saturday and Sunday mornings teen-based show) in which they regularly show small up-and-coming bands and also ‘Frock Me’ a teen music/fashion show shown at 5pm on channel 4 Saturdays. This would be effective as it directly targets our audience and these shows are talked about by teenagers when they return to school the following Monday so we will also benefit from word of mouth advertising. We will target radio by making appearances on Chris Hawkins’ radio 6 new alternative/indie show (Thursdays 00:30) and Mickey Bradley’s Friday midnight punk rock new music show on AbsoluteRadio (formerly Virgin). The Internet will be an invaluable medium to target 11-15 year olds (as they access the Internet daily) if utilized correctly. We will promote the band with a deal with Myspace to mark us as a ‘featured’ band which appears on every user’s homepage and recommends the band to them. We will also enter an ‘Intel’ up-and-coming band competition to promote our band and possibly win allowing us to play a gig at the famous ‘Proud’ in Camden. Bebo, as a social networking site offers great free access to our target audience and promotes music through its different music charts. We would host our single on their site and enter their small band music chart to access our target audience in their leisure time at home.
I have researched webzines such as www.scenemagazine.com and www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk and found that they would be perfect to promote the band and so we could e-mail them our track and see if they want to promote it. Blogs such as ‘Letters have no arms’, ‘Missingtoof’ and ‘Waves at night’ are used by our target audience as a way of finding and broadcasting the newest and coolest underground music. These blogs are also then collated on website www.Hypem.com (The Hype Machine) and can be searched for, added to playlists and played from there. This website is incredibly popular and so is a very good way of promoting a small band cheaply and quickly but successfully.
Lock Up The Youth will play in venues in Shoreditch such as The Old Blue Last, in Brick Lane in 93 Feet East and in Underworld in Camden. Each of these venues are fairly small and play host to indie/alternative music nights were small bands such as Lock Up The Youth play. These gigs would have a promotional purpose and would be promoted themselves through posters around the aforementioned areas, flyers given out at other band’s gigs such as Why Whiskey Why? and The Monday Club and Myspace promotion.
I have researched webzines such as www.scenemagazine.com and www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk and found that they would be perfect to promote the band and so we could e-mail them our track and see if they want to promote it. Blogs such as ‘Letters have no arms’, ‘Missingtoof’ and ‘Waves at night’ are used by our target audience as a way of finding and broadcasting the newest and coolest underground music. These blogs are also then collated on website www.Hypem.com (The Hype Machine) and can be searched for, added to playlists and played from there. This website is incredibly popular and so is a very good way of promoting a small band cheaply and quickly but successfully.
Lock Up The Youth will play in venues in Shoreditch such as The Old Blue Last, in Brick Lane in 93 Feet East and in Underworld in Camden. Each of these venues are fairly small and play host to indie/alternative music nights were small bands such as Lock Up The Youth play. These gigs would have a promotional purpose and would be promoted themselves through posters around the aforementioned areas, flyers given out at other band’s gigs such as Why Whiskey Why? and The Monday Club and Myspace promotion.
Use of effects in our video
For our video we found that we had to use effects in production to give it a more gritty feel as the footage looked too clean. We used a range of effects such as Noise, Blur, Venetian Blinds, Brightness/Contrast and cutting segments out of one shot to make a jump. The band The Cribs have a similarly gritty band image and so in their video 'Hey Scenesters' they also use a variety of these techniques.
Hey scenesters
Hey scenesters
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
BLK feedback
good progress jake - keep up the good work
looking forward to reading your theory application stuff
looking forward to reading your theory application stuff
Class music video theory - what i learned
I have found the past two media lessons on music video theory beneficial for my knowledge of the subject and for progression with our own music video. With our last project we did try to match up sound and visuals to emphasise particular parts of our thriller however not the extent that we will have to in our music video. In this respect i feel that the lesson really helped me gain a better understanding of how to shoot a music video and work sound and visuals together.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Reflections on test shoot weekend
I think that our test shoot weekend was important for us to do for our process of making a music video. We had some shots that worked well and others that didnt and seeing that will help us shoot in the furture. When we captured our footage today i realised that the process of filming a music video is very different to any other filming i've ever done. I learnt that you can film a sequence and cut it up to intertwine with other shots and this can be a lot more effective than filming each individual shot.
I look forward to filming our performance next weekend and mixing it in with the footage we filmed this weekend just gone.
I look forward to filming our performance next weekend and mixing it in with the footage we filmed this weekend just gone.
Goodwin theory
Andrew Goodwin has revolutionized music video theory by discarding previously accepted theory and instating his own. His theories work on the close relationship between music and visuals in a music video and how they work with and reflect off eachother.
His theories can be split into 6 main categories or point
1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. a stage performance in a metal video, a dance routine for a boy/girl band).
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (and this is either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting).
3. There is a relationship between music and viduals (and this is either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting).
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist (visual hooks) and the artist may develop motifs which recurr across their work (a visual style). These include close-ups of the star's face (the 'money shots'), iconography of band image and visual trademarks/motifs.
5. There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (achieved with screens within screens, telescopes etc.) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body (and I believe also increasingly the male body in recent times).
6. There is often intertextual reference (such as to films, TV programmes, other music videos, etc.).
Monday, September 8, 2008
Myspace page research
To think about how to market our own band and eventually produce a myspace i've decided to research the Kings of Leon's myspace and see how they have done it.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=8554512
When you load up their myspace the bands 4 members take up the screen before you scroll down to their actual myspace page. The band are all dressed in black and white with straight hair and fringes. The way they are dressed represents the genre of music they play, dressed smartly but cooly with collars, ties and leather jackets. This gives the band an identity that makes them more memorable to fans and gives them personality.
By scrolling down you can access information about the band but most of the content is based on promoting their new album just out. Although you can watch videos of the band performing, see their latest news and read their blog promoting the album is clearly the main priority and they do this in several effective ways. As the audience is part of the 'myspace generation' the easiest ways to connect with them (and the way in with the KOL myspace does) are through online voting, texting, mobile no. and fan list and widgets (interactive html coded box that allows you to browse sections such as international, tour and musisc videos and the option to add to your own profile). What their myspace allows them to do is access a potentially huge market of teenagers (and olders/youngers) for free who come on the myspace to listen to the music free or read news/blog and end up signing on to something more. Fans will then remarket the band to their friends by adding a song, widget or subscribing to a blog and even add the band as a friend, showing others that they have.
By looking at the KOL myspace i can see the potential it has as a free marketting tool. I now realise the importance of having a myspace with lots of features for a fan to create a fanbase and encourage new listeners. For our myspace i think that we should use similar tools and tactics to promote our new single and lists etc. that help to create a fanbase.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=8554512
When you load up their myspace the bands 4 members take up the screen before you scroll down to their actual myspace page. The band are all dressed in black and white with straight hair and fringes. The way they are dressed represents the genre of music they play, dressed smartly but cooly with collars, ties and leather jackets. This gives the band an identity that makes them more memorable to fans and gives them personality.
By scrolling down you can access information about the band but most of the content is based on promoting their new album just out. Although you can watch videos of the band performing, see their latest news and read their blog promoting the album is clearly the main priority and they do this in several effective ways. As the audience is part of the 'myspace generation' the easiest ways to connect with them (and the way in with the KOL myspace does) are through online voting, texting, mobile no. and fan list and widgets (interactive html coded box that allows you to browse sections such as international, tour and musisc videos and the option to add to your own profile). What their myspace allows them to do is access a potentially huge market of teenagers (and olders/youngers) for free who come on the myspace to listen to the music free or read news/blog and end up signing on to something more. Fans will then remarket the band to their friends by adding a song, widget or subscribing to a blog and even add the band as a friend, showing others that they have.
By looking at the KOL myspace i can see the potential it has as a free marketting tool. I now realise the importance of having a myspace with lots of features for a fan to create a fanbase and encourage new listeners. For our myspace i think that we should use similar tools and tactics to promote our new single and lists etc. that help to create a fanbase.
Magazine cover research
Conventions:Barcode and price
Competition bubbles
Images boxed or frames with mini-headline
Coverlines relating to stories inside
Masthead at top
Quotes within coverlines to attract people to read whole story
Main image
General colours (no specific colour scheme): red, white, yellow, black, purple, pink
Band names listed at bottom as mini context page
Giveaway (CD)
Main image in front of masthead
Text and images frame but do not overwhelm main image
Breaking of conventions:
Biffy Clyro band behind masthead
No coverlines or other images on Ozzy cover
Crowded Greenday cover
Similarities:
All have a main image that doiminates and sells cover
Bright, strong colour schemes
Differences:
Some rely solely on mmain image and not on coverlines or other images
Some have competitions or giveaways
Some are crowded whilst others appear bare.
By looking at these covers of kerrang it helps me to see how bands create an image for themselves and market that image. This in turn will help me to create a band identity for our own band and use a specific image in the video, myspace and album cover.
Practice shooting final shot
This is practice for a shot we will do to end our music video. In the real thing the first locatioin will be in the narrative and the second he will be with the band with the face paint on. Our idea with this shot is to link the two (which will also be done with the addition of facepaint to the band members) sequences and create a sense of unity for the ending.
For this one the two shots don't match up perfectly and it is more of a fade but in the real hting we will try harder and have more time to perfect it.
In this one the second shot is too close but it still looks okay.
Ideally the switch should not be noticeable as it will switch while focusing on the same point of the singers back which will be taking up the whole screen. In the music video we will use a black hoody which will also make the transition easier.
Location/mood shooting in Brick Lane
Hey, these are the photos i took on monday in brick lane. I tried to take location photos but also photos that captured the mood of our song and music video. There were a lot of photos though so i mainly just uploaded the locations and may upload some of the others in another post later.
These stairs are just up the side of a building that you can climb up and leed to flats which we could film him running up or down.
This is the view from the top of the stairs down to the street below that we could use to get some good high angle shots.
You can climn over a wall to get into this area and by filming from the inside close to the bars we good get some good shots of the street on the other side (or vice versa).
This is a little side street that carries on much the same as it goes down. The teeth graffitti on the right of the shot are quite cool too.
Lots of shops in the area have big graffittied letters in different colours like this, we would have to check first but perhaps we could include shots of mike running past these in the order a s t h e n i a to spell out the song name. We wouldnt have these shots straight after eachother but interwined with other shots.
This is a part of a housing esate that you can walk into and there are some good places we could film inside.
This alley and bins might be good to film from or through.
This archway and railings looked good off down a side road.
Although this looks fairly busy, if we got there as the market traders were setting up or closing down (as they are in the shot) the boxes etc. create the illusion of business but without the people there they make it look very empty.
EDIT:
After our test shoot weekend in which we filmed in canary wharf we realised that as our best time (for practicality) is to film at the weekend we should film in areas that are busy for business (but ampty at the weekend) rather than places like brick lane (that are always fairly busy and dominated by the market at the weekend). As we found out by looking at previous latymer music videos, real music videos and by doing work in class however we realise that it is possible to film in multiple locations as if they are next to each other and so it is our plan to film in canary wharf, some small side streets (possibly in brick lane) and maybe around liverpool st. or bank.
These stairs are just up the side of a building that you can climb up and leed to flats which we could film him running up or down.
This is the view from the top of the stairs down to the street below that we could use to get some good high angle shots.
You can climn over a wall to get into this area and by filming from the inside close to the bars we good get some good shots of the street on the other side (or vice versa).
This is a little side street that carries on much the same as it goes down. The teeth graffitti on the right of the shot are quite cool too.
Lots of shops in the area have big graffittied letters in different colours like this, we would have to check first but perhaps we could include shots of mike running past these in the order a s t h e n i a to spell out the song name. We wouldnt have these shots straight after eachother but interwined with other shots.
This is a part of a housing esate that you can walk into and there are some good places we could film inside.
This alley and bins might be good to film from or through.
This archway and railings looked good off down a side road.
Although this looks fairly busy, if we got there as the market traders were setting up or closing down (as they are in the shot) the boxes etc. create the illusion of business but without the people there they make it look very empty.
EDIT:
After our test shoot weekend in which we filmed in canary wharf we realised that as our best time (for practicality) is to film at the weekend we should film in areas that are busy for business (but ampty at the weekend) rather than places like brick lane (that are always fairly busy and dominated by the market at the weekend). As we found out by looking at previous latymer music videos, real music videos and by doing work in class however we realise that it is possible to film in multiple locations as if they are next to each other and so it is our plan to film in canary wharf, some small side streets (possibly in brick lane) and maybe around liverpool st. or bank.
Thoughts on choice of song
I realised that since our decision on a track for our music video i have not expressed my thoughts on the song. The song we are using is called Asthenia and is by Blink 182.
This is what wikipedia says about the song: 'The intro features NASA transmissions. According to Tom DeLonge, "This song is about one thing only, an astronaut sitting in a space capsule about the size of a car, floating above the earth. He's contemplating if coming back or not will make a difference on such a negative place. A song about the loss of hope. A term was coined for the breakdown of life in space and it is called Asthenia, the name of the track."'
Our interpretation of the song however focuses more on lonliness and isolation and we plan to focus on specific lyrics such as 'Is somebody out there will somebody listen', 'I miss you so much' and 'Should I go back should I go back should I' and on these lyrics we will emphasise them with close ups of our singer singing.
I am excited to be getting on with making the music video for asthenia as i have been a fan of the band and song for a while and have previously wondered why there is no video for such a good song that is full of meaning and interpretation. I think we will make the most of the song in our video by encompassing the dark and lonely mood of the song in both our performance and narrative.
This is what wikipedia says about the song: 'The intro features NASA transmissions. According to Tom DeLonge, "This song is about one thing only, an astronaut sitting in a space capsule about the size of a car, floating above the earth. He's contemplating if coming back or not will make a difference on such a negative place. A song about the loss of hope. A term was coined for the breakdown of life in space and it is called Asthenia, the name of the track."'
Our interpretation of the song however focuses more on lonliness and isolation and we plan to focus on specific lyrics such as 'Is somebody out there will somebody listen', 'I miss you so much' and 'Should I go back should I go back should I' and on these lyrics we will emphasise them with close ups of our singer singing.
I am excited to be getting on with making the music video for asthenia as i have been a fan of the band and song for a while and have previously wondered why there is no video for such a good song that is full of meaning and interpretation. I think we will make the most of the song in our video by encompassing the dark and lonely mood of the song in both our performance and narrative.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
BLK FEEDBACK
this blog is starting to demonstrate evidence of independent research, some progress made
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Holiday
Just got back from a weekend holiday with family so havent been blogging yet but i'm also going to post my later holiday dates here too.
August 10-17th in Germany
August 20-end of holiday and begining of term at Reading festival and surfing in cornwall
On holiday i may have the chance to check blogger either just my group blog and the overall blog and may be able to do some posting too, if not then i will try and catch up at the start of term when i get back
August 10-17th in Germany
August 20-end of holiday and begining of term at Reading festival and surfing in cornwall
On holiday i may have the chance to check blogger either just my group blog and the overall blog and may be able to do some posting too, if not then i will try and catch up at the start of term when i get back
Monday, July 21, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Interesting video - Independant music video analysis - House of Cards
Radiohead are a great band to research when looking for any kind of innovation in music. This is what their official youtube says, briefly explaining the video: In Radiohead's new video for "House of Cards", no cameras or lights were used. Instead, 3D plotting technologies collected information about the shapes and distances of objects. The video was created from that data by 'visualizing' it.
Making of:
Basically, 3 types of data collecting equipment were used which send out lasers and the faster the lasers come back the nearer the object that they are bouncing off must be, clever. The most interesting piece of equipment however is a 360 degree rotating data collector that can measure data that is quite far away, say a street length. The downside to this is the lasers are further apart however so the image is less defined and detailed. THrough a combination of these methods they made this pretty cool video:
Watch around 3:30 in which you can see people walking around the room and again a bit later on.
This is another example of how a band has used uniqueness of a music video and free internet marketing to promote a new single. Radiohead released the video for 'House of Cards' and the making of video on their youtube account, instantly allowing any fan or curious youtuber to watch the video. The release of this video on youtube before tv or another medium meant that this video became a youtube phenomenom and was in the 'featured videos' section for the next couple of days. This video created hype for the release of their single and although the video was available for a long time on youtube before the single was released sales of the single were very good. This type of marketing is very impressive and only bands with radioheads high status are able to pull it off. It is fascinating to see how by releasing officially free versions of the song a band can encourage more fans to buy the track when it comes out and when marketing our single we should look at this.
Making of:
Basically, 3 types of data collecting equipment were used which send out lasers and the faster the lasers come back the nearer the object that they are bouncing off must be, clever. The most interesting piece of equipment however is a 360 degree rotating data collector that can measure data that is quite far away, say a street length. The downside to this is the lasers are further apart however so the image is less defined and detailed. THrough a combination of these methods they made this pretty cool video:
Watch around 3:30 in which you can see people walking around the room and again a bit later on.
This is another example of how a band has used uniqueness of a music video and free internet marketing to promote a new single. Radiohead released the video for 'House of Cards' and the making of video on their youtube account, instantly allowing any fan or curious youtuber to watch the video. The release of this video on youtube before tv or another medium meant that this video became a youtube phenomenom and was in the 'featured videos' section for the next couple of days. This video created hype for the release of their single and although the video was available for a long time on youtube before the single was released sales of the single were very good. This type of marketing is very impressive and only bands with radioheads high status are able to pull it off. It is fascinating to see how by releasing officially free versions of the song a band can encourage more fans to buy the track when it comes out and when marketing our single we should look at this.
Interesting video - Independant music video analysis - Electric Feel
For their single Electric Feel, MGMT created a downloadable (free) interative music video game in which the user controls the background, foreground and other levels including band performance etc. with a series of buttons along the bottom that change the colour or picture etc.
This is a screen capture of someone playing the interactive music video game. There are 625 to the 229th power different ways the video can turn out. Download the interactive video at: whoismgmt.com/efvideo
This video is completely unique and the band have used the uniqueness of the video to promote the new single before it is out. This video is more of a marketing tool than a music video (the band did go on to record another video) as by allowing people to download it free and play around with it (also by creating hype and making an 'internet phenomenom') it will make people more likely to persue the single and the real video when it comes out.
This is a screen capture of someone playing the interactive music video game. There are 625 to the 229th power different ways the video can turn out. Download the interactive video at: whoismgmt.com/efvideo
This video is completely unique and the band have used the uniqueness of the video to promote the new single before it is out. This video is more of a marketing tool than a music video (the band did go on to record another video) as by allowing people to download it free and play around with it (also by creating hype and making an 'internet phenomenom') it will make people more likely to persue the single and the real video when it comes out.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
BLK feedback
great ideas, really good analysis and its obvious from your blog what is inspiring your ideas. well done Jake. move things forward now though, can you post up your responses to the most recent group idea?
Monday, July 14, 2008
Music Video Analysis
STAN
Editing
-At the start of the video before any music is played the cuts make it look more like a short film than a music video
- A mixture of straight cuts and quick fades to and from black is then used which suits a music video format and the dark colours in the video and general night time setting.
-Towards the end of the video it cross cuts between Stan’s funeral and Eminem’s response letter to emphasise that it is too late.
-The narrative can be split into Stan’s obsessive actions and actions with Dido and Stan’s letter writing. In the former shorter shots are used and cuts often reflect the music and beat whereas in the latter longer shots are used and the emphasis is on Stan’s face and his erratic writing.
Lighting
-It is clear that in the video low lighting is used to reflect the shattered homelife of Stan and Dido
-The low lighting helps to create an image of gritty realism
Colour
-The contrast is overworked in Stan’s house so that stains and dirt on the walls and tiles are more obvious and so that even white is yellowish. On Eminem however the contrast isn’t overworked and his white t-shirt is actually white compared to Stan’s vest
-Tones of yellow and green reappear in Stan’s house which gives all the colours a dark tint and works with the low lighting to give the house a gritty feel.
MES
-The first obvious examples of MES reflecting the mood and narrative of the song is the bathroom in which dirt is visible everywhere, contrasting with our ideal idea of a clean bathroom. The dirty bathroom in which Stan and Dido argue could reflect their shattered relationship
-The basement is Stan’s own room and we get to know this as it is covered with his obsessive pictures of Eminem and Dido intrudes on it later. The messiness of the room reflects his erratic nature and fragile state.
-The lightning and general weather are iconography suited to the video because they represent a scary atmosphere and perhaps violence that is present in the video.
Framing
-Most framing is quite tight as the focus is on the person singing
-This is not true in some of the shots however as their purpose is to establish the situation or area that the shot is in.
Movement
-Sometimes tight framing is used but the camera circles around the target to give an all round view.
-In establishing shots too a pan or track is often used
-To bridge both the chorus and verse but also the situation in the song and how Stan’s obsession with Eminem affects his relationship with Dido a very good descending crane shot is used from the first floor bathroom to Stan’s basement.
Costume
-Stan significantly dyes his hair at the start to make himself look like Eminem
-Stan is also significantly wearing a ‘wifebeater’
-The clothes that Eminem and Stan wear are similar as they both wear white t-shirts. This and their similar hair established a relationship between the two, whether it is that Stan wants to be Eminem or how some people have interpreted the video: they are the same person.
-Dido wears homely clothes (a big t-shirt and dressing gown) which show her as domestic in contrast to Stan
SFX
-Lightening is used throughout the video
-Car crash and fall into river
-Stan’s face appears as a mirror image of Eminem as if he is looking in through the window at the end of the song when Eminem realised that Stan is dead
Representation
-Stan is represented as obsessive about Eminem but also aggressive towards him (when he doesn’t reply) and Dido. His state is represented as unstable as his mood shifts. Eminem has commented that this video is just about all the obsessive fan letters that he gets and Stan is Eminem’s representation of an obsessive fan.
-Eminem is represented as a good guy in the song but not perfect as he cannot always be there for his fans but he DOES try.
-Dido is shown as weak in the video and vulnerable. Despite Stan’s aggression towards her she stays with him.
Narrative
-The whole video follows an obvious narrative which builds up, both towards the end of each verse and the end of the song with a volatile ending.
-The narrative starts without music to set up the situation between Dido and Stan before showing how that is affected by Stan’s obsession.
-Interspersed with Stan’s letter writing are ways in which Eminem lets down Stan (letter dropped in the post office, pulled away by bodyguard outside concert) to show that it is not Eminem’s fault.
-The video comes it it’s conclusion with the last verse and Eminem’s realisation that Stan is dead. It is ironic that Eminem only writes the letter when it is too late.
Genre
-The images and narrative in the video separate it from stereotypical rap and hip hop videos that focus on girls, bling and violence and this has probably led the video and song to be so critically acclaimed.
-This sort of ‘deep’ song is present in hip hop and rap music and not unheard of and the genre conventions come more from the basic structure of the song, longer and greater number or verses and beat.
-Such a narrative based video however that does not focus on performance is unconventional of the genre.
Audience
-This song targeted an incredibly broad audience and had great success with widespread radioplay and music video play even leading the song to be played live at the Grammys with Elton John
-The video in particular targets quite a wide audience as said before it doesn’t focus on genre conventions that often limit the audience to young males.
ELEKTROBANK
Editing
-Straight cuts are used throughout
Lighting
-There is no obvious studio lighting and most lighting seems to be from windows. The Protagonists face is nearly always well lit however.
Framing
-Lots of POV and actions shots are used at the start to establish the drama between her and the rival girls.
-The framing is generally wide apart from when it is just her and it is tight. It is wide to include the crowd and scene.
-During the previous girls dance the framing is wide and distance so we do not get so attached to the rival girl
Movement
-The camera is quite static at the start but does move in some tracking and POV shots,
-As the girl becomes more active so does the camera as it follows her about and mirrors her movement with tracks and pans.
-It is generally noticeable handheld.
Costume
-The costume is all suited to the gym acrobatics environment
SFX
-Slow motion is used
-Perhaps SFX when the baton thing is thrown?
Narrative
-The start sets up the narrative story and competition making her dance more important
Genre
-The video does not particularly follow the genre but this is often common in techno videos as there are no lyrics.
Editing
-At the start of the video before any music is played the cuts make it look more like a short film than a music video
- A mixture of straight cuts and quick fades to and from black is then used which suits a music video format and the dark colours in the video and general night time setting.
-Towards the end of the video it cross cuts between Stan’s funeral and Eminem’s response letter to emphasise that it is too late.
-The narrative can be split into Stan’s obsessive actions and actions with Dido and Stan’s letter writing. In the former shorter shots are used and cuts often reflect the music and beat whereas in the latter longer shots are used and the emphasis is on Stan’s face and his erratic writing.
Lighting
-It is clear that in the video low lighting is used to reflect the shattered homelife of Stan and Dido
-The low lighting helps to create an image of gritty realism
Colour
-The contrast is overworked in Stan’s house so that stains and dirt on the walls and tiles are more obvious and so that even white is yellowish. On Eminem however the contrast isn’t overworked and his white t-shirt is actually white compared to Stan’s vest
-Tones of yellow and green reappear in Stan’s house which gives all the colours a dark tint and works with the low lighting to give the house a gritty feel.
MES
-The first obvious examples of MES reflecting the mood and narrative of the song is the bathroom in which dirt is visible everywhere, contrasting with our ideal idea of a clean bathroom. The dirty bathroom in which Stan and Dido argue could reflect their shattered relationship
-The basement is Stan’s own room and we get to know this as it is covered with his obsessive pictures of Eminem and Dido intrudes on it later. The messiness of the room reflects his erratic nature and fragile state.
-The lightning and general weather are iconography suited to the video because they represent a scary atmosphere and perhaps violence that is present in the video.
Framing
-Most framing is quite tight as the focus is on the person singing
-This is not true in some of the shots however as their purpose is to establish the situation or area that the shot is in.
Movement
-Sometimes tight framing is used but the camera circles around the target to give an all round view.
-In establishing shots too a pan or track is often used
-To bridge both the chorus and verse but also the situation in the song and how Stan’s obsession with Eminem affects his relationship with Dido a very good descending crane shot is used from the first floor bathroom to Stan’s basement.
Costume
-Stan significantly dyes his hair at the start to make himself look like Eminem
-Stan is also significantly wearing a ‘wifebeater’
-The clothes that Eminem and Stan wear are similar as they both wear white t-shirts. This and their similar hair established a relationship between the two, whether it is that Stan wants to be Eminem or how some people have interpreted the video: they are the same person.
-Dido wears homely clothes (a big t-shirt and dressing gown) which show her as domestic in contrast to Stan
SFX
-Lightening is used throughout the video
-Car crash and fall into river
-Stan’s face appears as a mirror image of Eminem as if he is looking in through the window at the end of the song when Eminem realised that Stan is dead
Representation
-Stan is represented as obsessive about Eminem but also aggressive towards him (when he doesn’t reply) and Dido. His state is represented as unstable as his mood shifts. Eminem has commented that this video is just about all the obsessive fan letters that he gets and Stan is Eminem’s representation of an obsessive fan.
-Eminem is represented as a good guy in the song but not perfect as he cannot always be there for his fans but he DOES try.
-Dido is shown as weak in the video and vulnerable. Despite Stan’s aggression towards her she stays with him.
Narrative
-The whole video follows an obvious narrative which builds up, both towards the end of each verse and the end of the song with a volatile ending.
-The narrative starts without music to set up the situation between Dido and Stan before showing how that is affected by Stan’s obsession.
-Interspersed with Stan’s letter writing are ways in which Eminem lets down Stan (letter dropped in the post office, pulled away by bodyguard outside concert) to show that it is not Eminem’s fault.
-The video comes it it’s conclusion with the last verse and Eminem’s realisation that Stan is dead. It is ironic that Eminem only writes the letter when it is too late.
Genre
-The images and narrative in the video separate it from stereotypical rap and hip hop videos that focus on girls, bling and violence and this has probably led the video and song to be so critically acclaimed.
-This sort of ‘deep’ song is present in hip hop and rap music and not unheard of and the genre conventions come more from the basic structure of the song, longer and greater number or verses and beat.
-Such a narrative based video however that does not focus on performance is unconventional of the genre.
Audience
-This song targeted an incredibly broad audience and had great success with widespread radioplay and music video play even leading the song to be played live at the Grammys with Elton John
-The video in particular targets quite a wide audience as said before it doesn’t focus on genre conventions that often limit the audience to young males.
ELEKTROBANK
Editing
-Straight cuts are used throughout
Lighting
-There is no obvious studio lighting and most lighting seems to be from windows. The Protagonists face is nearly always well lit however.
Framing
-Lots of POV and actions shots are used at the start to establish the drama between her and the rival girls.
-The framing is generally wide apart from when it is just her and it is tight. It is wide to include the crowd and scene.
-During the previous girls dance the framing is wide and distance so we do not get so attached to the rival girl
Movement
-The camera is quite static at the start but does move in some tracking and POV shots,
-As the girl becomes more active so does the camera as it follows her about and mirrors her movement with tracks and pans.
-It is generally noticeable handheld.
Costume
-The costume is all suited to the gym acrobatics environment
SFX
-Slow motion is used
-Perhaps SFX when the baton thing is thrown?
Narrative
-The start sets up the narrative story and competition making her dance more important
Genre
-The video does not particularly follow the genre but this is often common in techno videos as there are no lyrics.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Marketing strategies
What did you miss out?
-Local advertising
-Free promotions
-A USP
-PR stunts
-Appearances on more appropriate tv and radio shows (less mainstream)
What did you learn?
-To think about what is out there and the rest of the market in comparison to the artist you are trying to market
-No matter how niche the music genre you are within is you should try to broaden the audience as much as possible
-Below the line advertising can be as effective as above the line
-Getting the right mix of following and breaking conventions is important
-Timing of the release greatly affects the release
-Interacting to the fans is very important whether it is done through signings, gigs or personally written MySpace’s
-Free demos are the first step to getting an artist on radio etc.
-Through association with a well known artist or band (supporting etc.) a less known artist can greatly heighten their profile
-The creation of an image of an artist is important in how people view them and their music
-One artist can be marketed successfully in a number of different ways
-Images relating to the artist incl. album artwork does not necessarily have to be relevant and can in fact be more successful if it does not
-Local advertising
-Free promotions
-A USP
-PR stunts
-Appearances on more appropriate tv and radio shows (less mainstream)
What did you learn?
-To think about what is out there and the rest of the market in comparison to the artist you are trying to market
-No matter how niche the music genre you are within is you should try to broaden the audience as much as possible
-Below the line advertising can be as effective as above the line
-Getting the right mix of following and breaking conventions is important
-Timing of the release greatly affects the release
-Interacting to the fans is very important whether it is done through signings, gigs or personally written MySpace’s
-Free demos are the first step to getting an artist on radio etc.
-Through association with a well known artist or band (supporting etc.) a less known artist can greatly heighten their profile
-The creation of an image of an artist is important in how people view them and their music
-One artist can be marketed successfully in a number of different ways
-Images relating to the artist incl. album artwork does not necessarily have to be relevant and can in fact be more successful if it does not
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Album cover research
Hail to the Thief - Radiohead (2003)
Interesting facts about the album and its cover:
-It is alternatively called 'The Gloaming'
-Similarly each track on the album has a alternative title in brackets on the tracklist and the lyrics in the cover which are phrases taken off American radio during the 'war on terror' in 2001 and placed out of context
-The album artwork is in the style of a roadmap (which becomes more clear on the inside cover) and is said to be based on American city style layout
-Of the phrases that appear most are taken from lyrics in the album but generally all have political connotations especially as often American spellings are chosen over English (despite Radiohead being British)
-The song 2+2=5 is said to be a reference to Orwellian subverted reality
Images:
-The image that takes up the cover and the inside is a painting of a roadmap with controversial/political words instead of building names
-The colours used are all quite primary and high contrast which means the roadmap and words are highlighted
-The whole cover has quite a rustic feel and the handwriting is in block capitals and is not particularly neat
-Above the text (particularly on the inside) the blue and white background with black paint drips looks like a dark city skyline and it is clear from the darkness of the sky and the immensity and blackness of the buildings that it is not a desirable city
-An image of the band or any other image is not featured on the cover or the inside of this album
-The whole image hints at the political motivation behind the album and lyrics
-This form of middle-class protest suggests that the band play alternative music and don't play by nobodys rules (not even their own)
Institutional context:
-The cover suggests that the band is either successful enough to not have a conventional cover as people will still buy the album or that the band is on an independant label and so is not restricted by their label as much
-The cover does not look like it is trying to create a brand identity as it does not show the band so the cover looks like the cover of a band that is already well established
-The cover could connote underground insitution but it is quite typical of alternative rock to have slightly unconventional or controversial covers so in that sense it is conventional of the genre
Target audience:
-The album brings forward issues such as recycling, oil and the afghanistan war which suggest quite a middle class audience
-References to George Orwell's 1984 suggest an intellectual audience
-The whole unconventional style of the cover suggests quite an established target audience
Interesting facts about the album and its cover:
-It is alternatively called 'The Gloaming'
-Similarly each track on the album has a alternative title in brackets on the tracklist and the lyrics in the cover which are phrases taken off American radio during the 'war on terror' in 2001 and placed out of context
-The album artwork is in the style of a roadmap (which becomes more clear on the inside cover) and is said to be based on American city style layout
-Of the phrases that appear most are taken from lyrics in the album but generally all have political connotations especially as often American spellings are chosen over English (despite Radiohead being British)
-The song 2+2=5 is said to be a reference to Orwellian subverted reality
Images:
-The image that takes up the cover and the inside is a painting of a roadmap with controversial/political words instead of building names
-The colours used are all quite primary and high contrast which means the roadmap and words are highlighted
-The whole cover has quite a rustic feel and the handwriting is in block capitals and is not particularly neat
-Above the text (particularly on the inside) the blue and white background with black paint drips looks like a dark city skyline and it is clear from the darkness of the sky and the immensity and blackness of the buildings that it is not a desirable city
-An image of the band or any other image is not featured on the cover or the inside of this album
Text:
-The text style and words make up the most important aspect of this cover
-The font used is very simple which emphasises the meaning of the words
-The contrast in colour between the text and background within the squares also emphasises the words and their meaning
-The words are big enough to be read easily
-The album is very much relevant to the time it was written and recorded 2000-2003 (roughly) and the text reflects this with words and phrases such as 'Hamburger', '24hr', 'hail to the thief', 'quango' and 'capitalism'.
-The effect that the text has is controversial and fitting with the political aspect of the album
Iconography and genre signifiers:
-The whole image hints at the political motivation behind the album and lyrics
-This form of middle-class protest suggests that the band play alternative music and don't play by nobodys rules (not even their own)
Institutional context:
-The cover suggests that the band is either successful enough to not have a conventional cover as people will still buy the album or that the band is on an independant label and so is not restricted by their label as much
-The cover does not look like it is trying to create a brand identity as it does not show the band so the cover looks like the cover of a band that is already well established
-The cover could connote underground insitution but it is quite typical of alternative rock to have slightly unconventional or controversial covers so in that sense it is conventional of the genre
Target audience:
-The album brings forward issues such as recycling, oil and the afghanistan war which suggest quite a middle class audience
-References to George Orwell's 1984 suggest an intellectual audience
-The whole unconventional style of the cover suggests quite an established target audience
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
BLK feedback
Great album covers work Jake, and I particularly like the work you've done on track selection and ideas for the video - keep experimenting along those lines.
Don't forget to post your marketing stuff too
Don't forget to post your marketing stuff too
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Interesting album covers
1) Gangstarr - Mass Appeal
2) Slick Rick - The Art of Storytelling
3) Aretha Franklin - Greatest Hits
Radiohead's politically named album Hail to the Thief released in 2003 is effective as on the cover (and extending 3 more pages on the insert) controversial words and phrases are written o the cover. The title itself refers to George Bush.
9) The Libertines - The Libertines 
2) Slick Rick - The Art of Storytelling
3) Aretha Franklin - Greatest Hits
4) Blur - Best of
5) Jimi Hendrix - The best of
6) David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
7) The Beatles - Abbey Road
8) Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
Radiohead's politically named album Hail to the Thief released in 2003 is effective as on the cover (and extending 3 more pages on the insert) controversial words and phrases are written o the cover. The title itself refers to George Bush.
9) The Libertines - The Libertines
This is the album cover for the self-titled Libertines album and i think it works well as a cover as it reflects the dirty/rough and underproduced music on the alubm.
10) Blink 182 - Blink 182
Although a much more simple cover this cover for the self-titled album by Blink-182 became a major symbol for the band which was duplicated on lots of merchandise involved with the band. It is a good example of branding and a cover without people or an image that was sucessful.
Typical features of these album covers:
-The band or artist
-The name of the artist and album
-Iconography of the band in the form of symbols or logos
-Artwork
Distinguishing features:
-Blink 182 and Radiohead do not contain images of the band and rely on selling and being a memorable album cover with a iconic band symbol or artwork
-The Beatles' does not contain the band's name or the title of the album and relies on the image of the band
-The Beatles' does not contain the band's name or the title of the album and relies on the image of the band
-Aretha Franlin's best of is simple as it will be sold on the quality of her voice and significant appearances on her album (Elton John, Whitney Houston, The Eurythmics)
-Slick Rick's album relies on his image of a 'storyteller' as a book and quill dominates the cover and contrasts with his bling and eyepatch
Functions of the covers:
-To promote the members of a band or artist and the lifestyle they lead (Gangstarr + Libertines)
-To create an iconic image? Do the artists have the intention of doing so in the case of Blur and The Beatles and so deliberately refrain from adding too much text/distractions?
-To ultimately link in the band with the kind of music they play to create a following that is loyal to the music and the band
-By creating an image of the band making sure that people assosciate the music with those people with instant recognition to and make fans more likely to go and see the band on tour as well as just listen to them
Another possible choice
After looking more in to +44's song Make You Smile i began to really like the idea of a conversation style song so i looked into the song Nothing Better by The Postal Service.
Possible single
The song:
At the moment this is the song that most appeals to me to make a music video for. The song meets the criteria and i think it is a good choice as it would allow a lot of creativity in terms of making the video.
The song is called Make You Smile by a band called +44:
Unfortunately the sound quality on this video is not particularly good but the others on youtube were videos created by fans. I do have the mp3 and cd at home so that wont be a problem for production.
The band:
The band's genre is indie rock and there are 2 guitarists, a drummer and a bassist/lead singer. At the time when this song was written and recorded in 2006 the band was without the guitarists and more electronically produced alongside vocals from Carol Heller. Her featuring in this song makes it potentially a more interesting song to work with for the video and potentially something that seperates +44 from other indie bands which would also make marketting easier and more interesting. There has not been a video of this song created despite it's sucess presumably because Carol Heller is no longer involved with the band.
Early creative thoughts:
The main reason for my gravitation towards this song is due to the interplay between the male and female vocalists and the strong story played out by the simple lyrics. Therefore i think the video would be sucessful if it drew on this and a possible idea could be to film with two seperate bands, either with different members altogether in each- one with a female lead and one iwth a male lead, or the same band but just have one male lead and one female lead to switch between the two during the video but have them meet or merge in someway at the end. In terms of cutting and relating the shots to the music the song is very good as it has a strong drumbeat throughout and often the guitar chords are only played once on the fourth beat- potentially this would make it easy and effective to cut between shots in the video.
At the moment this is the song that most appeals to me to make a music video for. The song meets the criteria and i think it is a good choice as it would allow a lot of creativity in terms of making the video.
The song is called Make You Smile by a band called +44:
Unfortunately the sound quality on this video is not particularly good but the others on youtube were videos created by fans. I do have the mp3 and cd at home so that wont be a problem for production.
The band:
The band's genre is indie rock and there are 2 guitarists, a drummer and a bassist/lead singer. At the time when this song was written and recorded in 2006 the band was without the guitarists and more electronically produced alongside vocals from Carol Heller. Her featuring in this song makes it potentially a more interesting song to work with for the video and potentially something that seperates +44 from other indie bands which would also make marketting easier and more interesting. There has not been a video of this song created despite it's sucess presumably because Carol Heller is no longer involved with the band.
Early creative thoughts:
The main reason for my gravitation towards this song is due to the interplay between the male and female vocalists and the strong story played out by the simple lyrics. Therefore i think the video would be sucessful if it drew on this and a possible idea could be to film with two seperate bands, either with different members altogether in each- one with a female lead and one iwth a male lead, or the same band but just have one male lead and one female lead to switch between the two during the video but have them meet or merge in someway at the end. In terms of cutting and relating the shots to the music the song is very good as it has a strong drumbeat throughout and often the guitar chords are only played once on the fourth beat- potentially this would make it easy and effective to cut between shots in the video.
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