We have decided that we will firstly not use a boat in our filming. This is for practical reasons, as there would be a difficulty in filming decent shots while the two actors are in the boat. Also, the weather may effect whether we are able to even get on the water, as the lake is currently frozen and may be on the decided filming date.
Secondly we have decided to scrap the idea of having shots in a built up area. This is because we want to keep to the theme of 'Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest' and we think that it may look a bit random and the message we wanted to perceive may not come across to the audience.
Thursday 9 December 2010
Thursday 18 November 2010
Issues concerning design ideas - Jade Podmore
After reviewing our design ideas, we have come across some issues.
The main issue is concerning the use of the giant chess board. We have researching and searching for possible locations that have a giant Chess board we can use, or the possibility of buying one. So far, there has been little progress, as there is nowhere within decent traveling distance that has a Chess board we could use, also the cheapest price that we can find to buy a Chess board, at our desired size is £35.00.
The main issue is concerning the use of the giant chess board. We have researching and searching for possible locations that have a giant Chess board we can use, or the possibility of buying one. So far, there has been little progress, as there is nowhere within decent traveling distance that has a Chess board we could use, also the cheapest price that we can find to buy a Chess board, at our desired size is £35.00. Therefor we are currently in the process of re-thinking the idea and come up with some alternatives that may be possible. These are: using the green screen; thinking about positioning and the manipulation of size and distance using camera angles; the use of a regular sized chessboard and filming the actors simply playing chess.
So far, the latter seems the most fees-able and simplistic alternative, however, we are worried that this may not send the same message that we had originally intended and so we plan to think about this issue further..
Tuesday 16 November 2010
Questionnaire Results by Helen
Questions
Gender
What age group are you in?
What is your favourite genre of music?
What is the most memorable music video?
Which aspect of a music video do you think is the most important?
Do you think music videos are important?
Do you think the genre of music should be reflected in a music video?
Do you think live footage is a key aspect in a music video?
As we have asked 6 more females than males this could effect the reliability of our results as we are targeting at a unisex target audience. We wanted to target our audience at 18 and under so it is effective that there is mostly under 18s that have answered our questionnaire. The genre of music that is featured in our music video is Indie therefore the results that we have collected relate to our selected genre as the results show that the majority prefer indie music. The most popular memorable music video was Telephone by Lady Gaga ft Beyonce, this video has a narrative running all the way through the text which is the key feature of our music video. Which reflects the question after 'What is a key aspect of a music video?' which one of the most popular choices was the narrative, but that came shortly after the band/artist being the most important which will be shown in our music video. The results of the question 'Do you think music videos are important?' displays a positive yes which is originally why we chose to do a music video in the first place as it has key importance in the music industry and in everyday lives. 'Do you think it is important the genre of the music is reflected in the song' again shows a positive yes answer which we will respond to. As the band is quirky and 'scene' music we will be showing those representations in our music video.
Tuesday 9 November 2010
Location, Props, Costume, Equipment by Emily
== Location
We have decided that our location will be at Rudyard Lake near Leek. This is to create a romantic mise-en-scene. The lyrics refer to 'Robin Hood' and 'Sherwood Forest' and therefore we wanted to film a location that fits the setting and theme of Robin Hood in a forest. We therefore decided that we needed a location that was surrounded my trees and nature. Rudyard Lake has a lot of trees and the surroundings are very picturesque.
We then decided that we wanted to portray the relationship of Maid Marion and Robin Hood and therefore our setting and location would have to look romantic and we needed picturesque places where the couple would be isolated almost like they are in there own little world. We decided that we wanted them in a boat and therefore we needed a location that also had a lake. This is a very stereotypical image of a romantic relationship. However we subvert these stereotypical images as the relationship is not as content as it seems, as the female character is leading on the male character, as the lyrics suggests.
This is the boat house at Rudyard that we may use in our shots as again it is very picturesque and will conform to our romantic theme. This will add to the contrast of the romantic setting and the couples' faulty relationship.
Props
Our main prop that we will use throughout the music video is a chess set. This is because the chess board relates to the song's title 'Chess' and also one of our main ideas is to use stop start animation. The idea of playing a game like chess represents the idea that the female is playing a game with the male in their relationship- 'playing hard to get' and leading him on.
We also plan to have a big human chess board for the band members to play their instruments on. If the price is higher than our budget we have discussed that maybe using the green screen would be more feesable and also maybe have a better effect.
We need an old fashioned rowing boat in our music video in order to again create a romantic mise-en-scene of the couple rowing the boat laughing and playing. This is almost like his memory of happy moments with the female. Even though we can still see signs of her troublesome character.
Actors
We have no specific actors and actresses, as only the band members are going to be used in the music video. However two of the band members will act out the the couple. These band members are the only two members that sing in this song. This is effective as we can get them to mime their singing parts. The band members look and style is very effective as we want the couple's style to fit the genre of our music video.
Costume
We have decided that all the band members would be in winter clothing, as we will film in December when the scenery in the location that we are in may be frosty and icy and all the leaves will be off the trees. Therefore we want the band clothing to fit the wintery setting, in order to create realism.
We want the female band member who is the girl who is in the relationship to have a red coat. This is to represent her character as dangerous and sexual, rather than innocent and pure.
We also want the lead male band member in the relationship to be wearing a green jumper or coat in order to link back to our theme of Robin Hood, as the stereotypical costume colour of Robin Hood is green. We will not have the stereotypical costume of Robin Hood, that is shown above on the right. This is because we want the characters' costumes to be modern so that the audience can relate to the band members.
We want the band members in different bright colours in order to give them a mise-en-scene of being fun and youthful and that there is nothing dull about them. It also fits with the band's image, as one of the band's conventions is that they often dress in different bright colours to their gigs and photo shoots.
Here is the band's myspace page and you can see the image they have created for themselves which we intend to represent in our music video http://www.myspace.com/tgatj
We have decided that our location will be at Rudyard Lake near Leek. This is to create a romantic mise-en-scene. The lyrics refer to 'Robin Hood' and 'Sherwood Forest' and therefore we wanted to film a location that fits the setting and theme of Robin Hood in a forest. We therefore decided that we needed a location that was surrounded my trees and nature. Rudyard Lake has a lot of trees and the surroundings are very picturesque.
We then decided that we wanted to portray the relationship of Maid Marion and Robin Hood and therefore our setting and location would have to look romantic and we needed picturesque places where the couple would be isolated almost like they are in there own little world. We decided that we wanted them in a boat and therefore we needed a location that also had a lake. This is a very stereotypical image of a romantic relationship. However we subvert these stereotypical images as the relationship is not as content as it seems, as the female character is leading on the male character, as the lyrics suggests.
Props
Our main prop that we will use throughout the music video is a chess set. This is because the chess board relates to the song's title 'Chess' and also one of our main ideas is to use stop start animation. The idea of playing a game like chess represents the idea that the female is playing a game with the male in their relationship- 'playing hard to get' and leading him on.
We also plan to have a big human chess board for the band members to play their instruments on. If the price is higher than our budget we have discussed that maybe using the green screen would be more feesable and also maybe have a better effect.
Actors
We have no specific actors and actresses, as only the band members are going to be used in the music video. However two of the band members will act out the the couple. These band members are the only two members that sing in this song. This is effective as we can get them to mime their singing parts. The band members look and style is very effective as we want the couple's style to fit the genre of our music video.
Costume
We have decided that all the band members would be in winter clothing, as we will film in December when the scenery in the location that we are in may be frosty and icy and all the leaves will be off the trees. Therefore we want the band clothing to fit the wintery setting, in order to create realism.
We want the female band member who is the girl who is in the relationship to have a red coat. This is to represent her character as dangerous and sexual, rather than innocent and pure.We also want the lead male band member in the relationship to be wearing a green jumper or coat in order to link back to our theme of Robin Hood, as the stereotypical costume colour of Robin Hood is green. We will not have the stereotypical costume of Robin Hood, that is shown above on the right. This is because we want the characters' costumes to be modern so that the audience can relate to the band members.
We want the band members in different bright colours in order to give them a mise-en-scene of being fun and youthful and that there is nothing dull about them. It also fits with the band's image, as one of the band's conventions is that they often dress in different bright colours to their gigs and photo shoots.
Here is the band's myspace page and you can see the image they have created for themselves which we intend to represent in our music video http://www.myspace.com/tgatj
Wednesday 3 November 2010
Design Ideas by Jade Podmore
The song we have chosen to create a video for is called "Chess" by "The Gospel According To John". This song has been created by an unsigned band and does not already have a music video, which we feel was a contributing factor in the decision to use this song. This is due to the blank canvas that using an unsigned band offers us; we will not have to conform to any already 'established' ideas about the song or Band that our video must adhere to. We have also decided that their 'image' and their 'sound' are suitable for the audience that we are aiming to target, this being males and females aged 16-20.
Below are our design ideas:
The main story line of our video is based largely on the lyrics and message of the song. However, we have tried to incorporate our own interpretation of the song. For example, one of the lyrics is as follows "Im Robin Hood" and "Did you have fun? Driving my heart?". This lead us to the idea of having Robin Hood and Maid Marion characters running through a forest, with Robin chasing Maid Marion as she tries to run away from him. This is inverting the traditional love story of Robin Hood. Maid Marion is in love with Robin and encourages this love, however in our video, she is portrayed as a woman who is leading Robin Hood on, making him chase her endlessly and controlling him, like his heart is a machine (like a car) and she is the driver, this scene aims to be an extended metaphor for the stereotypical relationship between men and women, where men have to chase after women and women lead them on. This is the typical stereotype of the female gender. However it also inverts this stereotype as it gives the female power of the male that is a-typical of the established gender stereotype of women.
We have also tried to en-corporate the idea of love being a game, this idea came from the lyrics "and we'll have a game of chess". This made us think about how love is all about strategy, competition, out smarting one another and in the end, defeating your 'opponent' or 'partner'. For these scenes we have chosen to use a giant chess board, on which the band members who played Maid Marion and Robin Hood will play the parts of the king and queen, their aim being to be the last one standing, like in a game of chess, this being another metaphor for love.
Our aim is to invert tradition and represent the more realistic side to love, the side that may be 'harder to swallow'. The message we are trying to send with our video is timeless. This has lead to the idea of combining both the traditional setting of the Robin Hood love story, 'Sherwood Forest' and a far more modern, less 'romantic' setting of a built up area, perhaps a Terrace estate or industrial centre. This will send the message of the struggle between a man and a woman in love is one that is timeless, and is still relevant today.
Throughout our video, we want clear splashes of colour, these will come from the actors clothing, Mise-en-scene of the forest and any background colour from signs or posters in the streets of the more built up areas that will feature in our video. We hope that by doing this, we will be representing the band as young, fun, care-free and different; we want them to stand out against the bleaker background of the streets or forest.
Style of Editing/camera work
For our video, we have chose to use small sections of 'stop-start' animation. This decision has come from looking at other video's from bands/artists that share a similar image and/or musical style as our chosen Band, such as Alphabeat and the Macabees. We think that this technique is original and will give us a chance to emphasise the childish, care-free simplicity that we feel is vital to the message and representation of our video.
Below are our design ideas:
Story line/message
The main story line of our video is based largely on the lyrics and message of the song. However, we have tried to incorporate our own interpretation of the song. For example, one of the lyrics is as follows "Im Robin Hood" and "Did you have fun? Driving my heart?". This lead us to the idea of having Robin Hood and Maid Marion characters running through a forest, with Robin chasing Maid Marion as she tries to run away from him. This is inverting the traditional love story of Robin Hood. Maid Marion is in love with Robin and encourages this love, however in our video, she is portrayed as a woman who is leading Robin Hood on, making him chase her endlessly and controlling him, like his heart is a machine (like a car) and she is the driver, this scene aims to be an extended metaphor for the stereotypical relationship between men and women, where men have to chase after women and women lead them on. This is the typical stereotype of the female gender. However it also inverts this stereotype as it gives the female power of the male that is a-typical of the established gender stereotype of women.
We have also tried to en-corporate the idea of love being a game, this idea came from the lyrics "and we'll have a game of chess". This made us think about how love is all about strategy, competition, out smarting one another and in the end, defeating your 'opponent' or 'partner'. For these scenes we have chosen to use a giant chess board, on which the band members who played Maid Marion and Robin Hood will play the parts of the king and queen, their aim being to be the last one standing, like in a game of chess, this being another metaphor for love.
Our aim is to invert tradition and represent the more realistic side to love, the side that may be 'harder to swallow'. The message we are trying to send with our video is timeless. This has lead to the idea of combining both the traditional setting of the Robin Hood love story, 'Sherwood Forest' and a far more modern, less 'romantic' setting of a built up area, perhaps a Terrace estate or industrial centre. This will send the message of the struggle between a man and a woman in love is one that is timeless, and is still relevant today.Throughout our video, we want clear splashes of colour, these will come from the actors clothing, Mise-en-scene of the forest and any background colour from signs or posters in the streets of the more built up areas that will feature in our video. We hope that by doing this, we will be representing the band as young, fun, care-free and different; we want them to stand out against the bleaker background of the streets or forest.
Style of Editing/camera work
For our video, we have chose to use small sections of 'stop-start' animation. This decision has come from looking at other video's from bands/artists that share a similar image and/or musical style as our chosen Band, such as Alphabeat and the Macabees. We think that this technique is original and will give us a chance to emphasise the childish, care-free simplicity that we feel is vital to the message and representation of our video.
Tuesday 2 November 2010
Emily Rhead's album cover, album advert and video anaylis
I sent my teacher this analysis and research work by email before the given deadline.
This album follows conventions of an album cover as it has the name of the band and the album name on the cover. The font is very minimal and simple and this represents that the band don’t need fancy writing to advertise their band. It also represents their genre of music simple, but caters to the pop cultural identity. The text is also in capital letters and bold and this suggests importance and this is how the band want to be represented. The text is central on the album cover, which makes the name of the album and band more noticeable to the audience
It also follows the conventions of an album cover, as it displays the band members on the cover. However, the band members are represented as if they are mannequin dolls, which is unconventional. This aims to create an identity of individuality, unlike normal artists seen in pop culture. The shininess of the band members also suggests perfection. The band also breaks conventions as they are all costumed in different colours and usually bands are known to be colour coordinated in their costume. This mise-en-scene represents that they are all different to one another and all have their own identity. Also the mise-en-scene of the bright colours reveals that they are fun, exciting and youthful.
This album cover is very unconventional. Unlike the Maccabees album is does not feature the band members on the album cover. It does display the album name and band name which fits conventions. However the band name is not noticeable as it is hidden within many letters, so this is unconventional of an album cover. This gives them a unique representation. The letters also represent the theme and genre of the band. Using the alphabet for a band that is named ‘Alphabeat’ has represented the theme of the band. Also the use of the alphabet on their front cover is very youthful and innocent like the band’s genre of music. The album uses bright colours like the other two album covers that I have analysed and represents the band as fun and exciting.
'All Time Low'- 'Put Up Or Shutup' Advert (On email cannot get it onto blog nor find it again on internet)
This advert contrasts to the last two adverts; however it follows some of the conventions that they have too. It follows the convention of having the album name and band name on the advert just like the last two adverts. This is so the audience know what to buy and who wrote the album. However this advert reveals the band name three times and the album name twice. The album name and band name is written on the hand to represent how the audience should remember this album to go out and buy it as it is something worth remembering. The band name is also written in a very bold, capital font on a piece of paper held by the animated hand. This is to represent how important this band is. It needs to be remembered and the font suggests that the band has great importance. Both the album name and the band name are in capitals at the top of the page again to show importance and for the audience to sense urgency to buy this album. This seems to be a convention throughout the album adverts (bold and capital font).
This album follows conventions of an album cover as it has the name of the band and the album name on the cover. The font is very minimal and simple and this represents that the band don’t need fancy writing to advertise their band. It also represents their genre of music simple, but caters to the pop cultural identity. The text is also in capital letters and bold and this suggests importance and this is how the band want to be represented. The text is central on the album cover, which makes the name of the album and band more noticeable to the audience
It also follows the conventions of an album cover, as it displays the band members on the cover. However, the band members are represented as if they are mannequin dolls, which is unconventional. This aims to create an identity of individuality, unlike normal artists seen in pop culture. The shininess of the band members also suggests perfection. The band also breaks conventions as they are all costumed in different colours and usually bands are known to be colour coordinated in their costume. This mise-en-scene represents that they are all different to one another and all have their own identity. Also the mise-en-scene of the bright colours reveals that they are fun, exciting and youthful. The simplicity of the minimal grey and white background is used to make the band members stand out with their bright coloured costume. This creates a representation that the band and their music stand out from any other music and artists and therefore will make them more attractable to the audience as the audience desire their unique image.
This album cover is very unconventional. Unlike the Maccabees album is does not feature the band members on the album cover. It does display the album name and band name which fits conventions. However the band name is not noticeable as it is hidden within many letters, so this is unconventional of an album cover. This gives them a unique representation. The letters also represent the theme and genre of the band. Using the alphabet for a band that is named ‘Alphabeat’ has represented the theme of the band. Also the use of the alphabet on their front cover is very youthful and innocent like the band’s genre of music. The album uses bright colours like the other two album covers that I have analysed and represents the band as fun and exciting. 
One of the animations being a piano reveals where Mika’s passion is- music. The piano seems to look like it is coming off a rainbow, as if the piano is the treasure at the end of a rainbow. Another of the animations revealing a man on a sofa and a variety of sofas around him suggest that Mika’s music can also be relaxing, but he has many sofas to keep with his theme of being exuberant and abstract, as well as relaxing.
The layouts of the animations are very random. The animations are almost as if it is an artist’s doodles- placed anywhere and everywhere, making the layout of the album cover very busy. This represents this album as having a variety of genres and styles- fun and random just like the layout. It’s almost like he is trying to represent life- varied, fun and different to each individual, but in ‘cartoon motion’, like the album suggests.
Like the other two album covers this album follows the convention of the artist’s name and the artist’s album to be featured on the album cover. However, the way that the text is presented is very different and contrasting. The font of the album cover name is in italics and looks like handwriting, which sticks to the theme of the album being an artist’s doodles. The font of the artist’s name is very big and bold, is three dimensional and is central. This is first to make it stand out so that audience know the artist that made the album and to also give his name importance.
The album follows the convention of having the artist on the cover, however unlike conventions the artist is not the focus of the cover as he is very small in comparison to the animations and to the very left of the cover. This represents that he wants his imagination and music to be the focus of this album, not his appearance. Also the artist’s photo is the only aspect of the album cover that is not in animation and not in bright colours. This is because he wants to reveal that he is reality and reality is dull unlike his imagination and he makes the animation the main theme of the album as his music is what brings his youthful and fun imagination to life.
Album Advert Analysis
Foals- Total Life Forever- in NME 8th May 2010
This advert follows the convention of an album advert, as the advert has the same picture and, title and style as the actual album cover of the album. The only thing that is different about this album advert compared with the album cover is that the band name and the album name are much bigger and spread more across the page. This is to catch the audience’s eye to make sure that they remember the album and the artist’s name in order to go out and buy it. The font of the album’s name and artist’s name is very bold and in capital letters. This suggests urgency for audience members to go and buy the album very quickly. The text also takes up almost half of the advert which suggests that the album is very important and makes the audience remember it more than if it was smaller. Another convention that the advert follows is that is says the date in which the album is out and what the album entails (‘CD/2CD/12”/Digital/LTD Edition Box Set’). The website, displayed in the bottom centre of the advert, is revealed to get the audience to gain more information on the ‘Foals’ and therefore feel more attached to the band. This makes it more likely for the audience to buy or download the album.
The fact that they keep the same theme and concept in the album cover and advert makes the audience gain a recognition of this theme (like a brand identity) and therefore are more likely to buy the album, as they recognise the theme.
The mise-en-scene of the album advert seems to be very dark and mysterious, because of the isolated environment and the low key lighting. This is to represent what the bands want to be seen as. Their faces are also not very clear revealing that maybe they want their image to be mysterious. Also they may also want to reveal that they don’t want to be the focus
The album creates a mise-en-scene of calmness. The blue water gives the band a calm image t and represents their music as calming and relaxing. The layout of the band also suggests this image, as the band members are placed in a soft curve and they look like they are gently floating separately. There is also no border to this advert suggesting that they are in open water and their environment is spatial and free, representing that the band see their music as freedom.
They do not follow the conventions of an album advert as they do not say much about themselves or the album on the advert. This suggests that they don’t need to say anything- they need no introduction as their music is well known and respected.
Liars Advert – Sisterworld- NME 20th March 2010
This advert, unlike the ‘Foul’s’ album advert doesn’t follow the convention of the advert being the same or very similar to the album cover. This gives the representation that their music genre and style is varied as they don’t stick to one theme. However the advert does have the same font of the band’s name ‘Liars’ and the album’s name ‘Sisterworld’. This gives the band a brand identity, so that audiences associate this font with the band and recognise it.
Like the ‘Foul’s’ advert they give a relaxing and calm mise-en-scene. The empty beach, the blue sky and the calming colours sell positive lifestyle- calm relaxing and a free. Like the last advert there is no border and they seem to be in an isolated open space, this represents their feeling of freedom because of music. This mise-en-scene also represents their music as laid back, relaxing and calm, as well as the image of the band members. Each band member is very far apart; they are not together posing for a photo like a conventional band album advert. This represents them as individuals and also represents them as a care-free and unaware of their image. This is also represented again, as like the ‘Foul’s’ advert they don’t reveal their faces. It shows that their focus is not on their image, but their music.
Like the other advert it reveals when the album is out(‘OUT NOW’) and what the album is available in (‘2CD Special Edition/ CD/ Download). This gives the audience information of when and what to buy. Like the Foul’s advert when the album is out is in capital letters. This is to reveal importance and urgency for the audience to buy the album as soon as they can.
The advert, unlike the last advert, has information about their next live gig. This gives them publicity, revenue and also enables the audience to have a taster of their able by attending the live performance.
'All Time Low'- 'Put Up Or Shutup' Advert (On email cannot get it onto blog nor find it again on internet)
This advert contrasts to the last two adverts; however it follows some of the conventions that they have too. It follows the convention of having the album name and band name on the advert just like the last two adverts. This is so the audience know what to buy and who wrote the album. However this advert reveals the band name three times and the album name twice. The album name and band name is written on the hand to represent how the audience should remember this album to go out and buy it as it is something worth remembering. The band name is also written in a very bold, capital font on a piece of paper held by the animated hand. This is to represent how important this band is. It needs to be remembered and the font suggests that the band has great importance. Both the album name and the band name are in capitals at the top of the page again to show importance and for the audience to sense urgency to buy this album. This seems to be a convention throughout the album adverts (bold and capital font).
Another convention that the advert follows and has the same as the other two adverts is that it displays what the album is available in (‘CD/ DVD Digipak release’). This is again so the audience know what the product is available in and gives them options. It also typical to the conventions as it reveals the date the album is released. However it is in much smaller writing compared to the other two adverts and the text is not in capital letters.
This advert stands out more compared to the ‘Fouls’ and ‘Liars’ advert. This is because of the mise-en-scene. It uses much brighter colours, whereas the other adverts are more calm colours this advert is bright and exuberant. The bright green compared to the dull grey unconventionally contrasts and makes the advert stand out. This gives the band a representation of a band that likes to stand out. It is also unconventional because the advert does feature the band members. The animation of a hand is very unconventional and therefore attracts the audience’s attention.
Music Video Analysis
‘Marina Hollywood
This music video is conventional as it follows a theme and the theme relates to the song. The song describes the American lifestyle. The mise-en-scene reveals this theme. Marina
The editing creates representations of American lifestyle. The cross cutting between Marina blowing out the American flag, iced cake and the celebrating teenagers is showing what she is singing about- the typical American teenage party lifestyle. The fast pace editing once the chorus begins, not only synchronises with the faster beat music, but represents American lifestyle busy and energetic (something always going on). It also represents the artist and her music as fun and energetic.
When slow motion is used with the fading in and out of various images (girl putting on crown, baseball player about to bat a ball and a footballer kissing a winning cup) it builds up tension for the chorus and also puts emphasis on the stereotypical proud American moments.
The cinematography used creates representations, follows conventions and represents the artist and her music in various ways. The extreme close up of the artist’s bright red lips in the opening of the music video represent sexuality and reveal that the artist is attractive. This is a convention of a music video- that most of the character’s, dancers, and artists are attractive or made to look attractive in the music video to interest members of the audience more. There are many close ups of the main artist, ‘Marina’, so that the focus is on her to enable the audience to know that she is the artist of the song. This is conventional of a music video. There is a mid shot with ‘Marina Marina
There is a close up shot camera man taking a photo and there is a flash- this again represents American lifestyle as a media obsessed one. Marina
‘Kate Nash’- ‘Foundations’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryH5cga0yUI&ob=av2e
Like the ‘Marina
Unlike the’ Marina
The mise-en-scene of this video represents their relationship. The video involves very bright colours and the costumes that the artist wears are also very bright. This is to represent their relationship as childish, not calm and ever-changing. It represents the artist in a more positive way- youthful, exuberant and fun. The music video is set only in a household, unlike the last video that was set in various settings. This is to represent that in the household is where all the arguments happened giving an impression that everything happens behind closed doors- private life. It also represents the artist as simple- she doesn’t need ‘glitz and glamour’ in her music video as her genre of music is not just about the image. The props are very random, but are all items that you would find in a household, so they stick to the theme of everything happening behind closed doors, but the randomness of them represents the artist as intriguing and unique.
Like the ‘Marina Hollywood ’ music video. There is also a mid shot of the couple’s feet under the table, which reveals that she moves her feet away when he puts his close. This represents their relationship again as faded and unpleasant. The overhead shot of the man lying on the artist asleep when she sings hateful lyrics about him creates a juxta position as they are lying like a happy in love couple would but she describes him hatefully behind his back. This represents a love hate relationship- she loves him but she hates what he does.
Like the ‘Hollywood ’ music video, editing is used to represent a storyline of a faded and aggressive relationship. There are two flashbacks which relate to the lyrics sung. First there is a fast cut to a aggressive moving image of a a mans hands holding down a woman’s when she sings the lyrics ‘you got aggressive’ and there is another fast cut to an image of Kate Nash punching with boxing gloves on when she sings ‘every time we fight.’ This is conventional of a music video and also represents their relationship as violent and aggressive.
‘Fascination’- ‘Alphabeat’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3RjCiq1ICY&ob=av2e
This music video is very different to the last two music videos I have analysed. It doesn’t really follow a theme or a storyline it just concentrates on the band and how they have fun playing their music. It is unconventional that they don’t follow a storyline or theme, but it is conventional that they reveal the band’s style and display them as if they are playing live.
The mise-en-scene represents what the band want the audience to see them as and also makes their video more interesting. The beginning of the video begins in black and white and the artists’ costume is in black and white, but when the chorus commences the costume and set change to colour. The bright colours fit their ‘cheesy pop’ genre and also represent the band as fun and energetic. The mise-en-scene beginning in black in white creates a build up to the sudden flash of colour when the chorus begins. There is a contrast between the band members and their dancers- the dancers’ costumes are dull and simple, whereas the band members’ costumes are bright and different. This is to make the band members stand out compared to the dancers as they want he audience to have focus on them. When the screen changes to a different colour in every shot it resembles disco lights and represents a song that audience members will want to dance to. All three videos use bright colours to create a fun and youthful atmosphere to their music videos.
The text of ‘Alphabeat’ and ‘Fascination’ is synchronous to the introduction beat. This introduces the song and the band to the audience and is very unconventional of a music video (this is revealed as both of the other videos that I have analysed do not use this technique).
This video has mixed dancers, but they seem to dance at separate times this is to put emphasis on the fact that their music is unisex, as it is a mixed group and a mixed group is not very common, so they want to illustrate how unique they are.
The cinematography also gives representations of the band and follows conventions like the other two music videos. In the beginning there is a two shot of the lead singers. This is to introduce the audience to the main singers of the band and puts more importance on these two leads. It then zooms out to a wide shot and this introduces the audience to the rest of the band. It also reveals that the band are playing/singing synchronous to the music and gives the audience a feeling that they are watching a live show of the band.
Like the ‘Hollywood’ and ‘Foundations’ video this video shows many close-ups of the lead singers. This is to remind the audience which band members are singing the song and also to put importance and focus on the two lead band members.
The editing also gives representations of the band and follows conventions like the other two music videos. The use of fast pace editing creates an energetic mood which resembles the band and their music. The fast pace editing is also synchronous to the fast beat of the music. The use of cross cutting between the dancers and the band members reveals the band to be universally liked as we see dancers throughout- it also gives the impression to the audience that they must dance too, because the dancers are shown.
Analysing our Target Audience by Jade Podmore
Before we begin to make and design our video, we must identify our target audience. As our music video is based on a modern editing technique, we must find a way to target a modern audience. We have decided to research audience demographics of a well established music channel in order to identify our target audience based on their interests and profile.
Our video aims to meet the conventions of the modern 'Indie-alternative’ genre. MTV2 is a music channel that defines its self as follows:
“MTV2 is the premiere destination for audiences to find the hottest mix of music videos”
They also explain the vast age range of their viewers as:
“Persons aged: 18-24, 25-34 Men:18-24, 18-34 Women:18-24 and Kids: 12-17”
This vast age range means that audience of MTV2 would be an appropriate target for our video.
MTV2 is also well known for it's association with the Indie genre, broadcasting videos from bands such as 'Alphabeat'. Fans such as Emily Rhead aged 17, describe Alphabeat's identity as: "fun, an escape from reality and youthful". This identity is one which we feel The Gospel According to John share, and so the audience of MTV2 would be open to hearing their music and watching their video.
MTV2 is also a valuable resource whilst researching Target Audiences, as it caters to both a male and female audience. This is appropriate for our video, as we too aim to provide a music video that can be enjoyed by both male and females. This is due to the band's identity, the band features one girl and four boys and so it makes their music available to both genders; it is important that our video needs to reflect this.
Saturday 30 October 2010
Album advert analysis - Georgina Lowles
This unconventional layout for an album advert is the key to its success; unlike most others it presents itself to be in the style of a film advert. It works well, as it grabs the attention in a slightly different way, as you see the band’s name “The Stone Roses” as a film title, which people would be intrigued by and would want to read further. The “20th Anniversary” is meant to mimic the 20th Century, which is a production name for a film company, so its like a play on words almost. Also the 0 in the 20, uses the lemon which is the stone roses iconic image, so this works well to aid familiarity. It offers quotes from magazines which the band’s music would hold the right appeal towards, such as Mojo and Q magazine, which relates to the bands target audiences and what they would be reading. Using quotes from musically popular magazines gives the album support and provides the audience with information to form a good opinion on, as the album has got a clearly well recognised and sustained reputation.
The name and album name are in key focus, centred and in yellow font to connect them together, which by using a separate font colour to the right around it allows it to flow. You have red blue and white, which interestingly are the union jack colours, which link to the lower picture via the colours. The yellow font is the most relevant, the name of the band and album, but also important information at the bottom; the different ways you can own the album. At the bottom, in smaller print, in provided more details about the album, what songs are included, special tracks and music videos, but also a very important link; the bands website; which in this day and age, with technology guiding the way to the future, the website is the key to the success of sales.
This combinational balance of the band name with the credits and the background image, provides an idyllic layout which cleverly reflects the genre of the music. It is important to reproduce the genre and style of music, via the album advert, in order to draw the audience in.The band name is placed on the lightest area of the image, to draw the eye in to the band name, it is also in largest text on the advert, again to gain attention towards the name. it is also using the iconic font, that labels the bands merchandise, which is a point of recognition for the band. The album title is below the band name “love is noise” is the name of one of the songs, most well known from the album, used again as a point of recognition. Below the titles are credits, this is an opportunity to add more information for the audience to learn about the release of the single or album. It offers how to download the single, the ability to buy it on vinyl, and also the website. Advertising more ways to access the band and its singles and albums is a perfect way to increase sales and popularity.
The layout of David Ford’s album A long time ago, is presented in a more traditional and conventional way. It is easy to gather the required information, almost as if it was bullet-pointed down the page. You get the release date, which is important for the audience to know when they can acquire the album. You then see an image, of which you can assume is David Ford, holding a guitar which will reflect the type of music he produces, he is also allowing you to see his fashion style which is important to potential fans. You then get his name and the album name, which is of course important, but from the information given, I can’t see any iconic recognition points of observation such as the font style or image, which may suggest he is a new or unrecognised artist. Lastly you can see at the bottom of the advert is a 5 star rating from a newspaper. This has little relevance to the music business, which again lets you believe that this artist is un-established within the music business.
Thursday 21 October 2010
Music Album Analysis: Georgina Lowles
Music Album Cover Analysis:
Destiny's Child – Lose my Breath
For a girl band in the 90's, this was a rather conventional layout for an album cover. The band title is the largest font used on the cover, centred and brought to the font, in order to stand out but also catch the eye. The bold metallic shine on the font is reflecting the bands strong powerful influence of the “girl power”. The chosen font used is also the style of the bands font logo, so as expected it has been used. This shows continuity of the bands appearance, but also helps buyers look out for a recognisable product.
Lose my breath was chosen specifically as a title, in order to reflect the sexually and indulgence they want to present within the albums' songs but also imagery; also it was the most successful song on the album. This is written below the image is a shiny white font in order to relate and compliment the image.
The three singers are all in similar poses and costumes, but are are all portraying different emotions, via the facial expressions. Sexuality, Power and Vulnerability. This is highlighted through the Mise-en-Scene used; hats were originally seen as an iconic symbol for a powerful male, so the statement that is been made is that three female sexual icons portraying strength and dominance.
The use of no background is deliberately used in order not to take anything away from the picture and the titles. The focus is simply on the band title and the singers. They have also included a side extra, some of the more popular songs, “loose my breath” and “solider”, along with featuring artists such as “TI” and “Lil Wayne”. It also includes a website which is a way to advertise and publicise the bands profile further.
Beyonce – Dangerously In Love
This album was the most important release of Beyonce solo career, as she had just left Destiny's Child. This album had to make a statement and an impact in order to successfully display her as a soloist. Before she was not the centre of the attention on the cover, as there were three members, which had to be equally exposed, but also they were branded by the bands name. Here, you can see that she is the centre of attention, the first thing you see, and the thing creating the most impact.
The image itself can be broken down into four categories; sexuality, power, facial expression and body position. The sexuality she is expressing here is reflected through the close up mid shot of her semi-naked body, the mise-en-scene demonstrated here, shes alone looking at you with a salacious look in her eye; her body position is seductive and she expresses herself to be a temptress. Her facial expression is used to gain your attention as she is looking into the centre of the lens. Along with her body position, what she is wearing is demonstration her wealth, power and importance and again sexual appearance. Diamonds are a symbol of money and wealth; she is wearing a revealing top of wealth and power. She is also making fists with her hands, as she clenches it puts forwards the image of dominance and strength, a strong sex symbol.
The font used here, is the start of re-branding herself, and she uses this font as her logo font. The album name is also in the logo font, but interestingly the words dangerously and love are both in bold, which may be suggesting a new domain for beyonce. The position of the text is on her hips, so your eyes are drawn down her body and stopping on her hips. The font is very small in comparison to the picture, but this is done so that your focus is on her, and you remember and recognise her.
Beyonce – I Am... Sasha Fierce
This most recent album cover is completely different to her first cover produced, in many ways. The image uses a close up head shot showing her shoulders; this exposes a completely different
meaning showed through the image. She is not in a sexual or rude body position, though she has no straps or top visuable which may suggest nudity, but not in a salasiouse way. Her hair is back off her face, with minimal make-up warn and no jewellery warn, which shows beyonce stripped back to reveal a more real to life interpritation, or linking to the album cover; “ I Am... Sasha Fierce” a new identity. Her facial expression is black and neutrle, she is not being sudductive or aggressive, just passive and natural. This again could reflect the idea of adapting identity.
The photo is in black and white, which is a strong statement to make on an album cover, as conventionally you would expect to see colour. This is done to continue the theme of changing or gaining a new identity; you haven't seen Beyonce like this before, so this is technique to be different and out of the norm.
The Mise-en-Scene used is simple and is meant to appear natural; the religious symbol hanging from her wrist, resting on her name “Beyonce” reflects her beliefs which again is not something you would expect to see on an album cover for a pop artist.
The position of the album name is up the side, going virtically up, which is non-conventional of a cover. This non traditional layout is helping to reflect the idea of change. Her name on this album cover has changed logo fonts, before it was the same as “Dangerously in Love” but for this, it has changed. Yes another way she is reinventing or creating a new Beyonce, or a new identity.
Video Analysis: Georgina Lowles
Music Video analysis:
These six screen shots are only a few frame shots that make up the extremely fast pace stop-start chorus. They are expertly placed together as each frame the man sings a different word, which makes the wave of words work well.
The fact they have used the main singer from the band, to play the main character in the video shows a convention which is usually seen in this type of genres’ music videos. The critic of this production is demonstrated throughout, and the high standard continues, right to the climax.
Oren Lavie – Her Morning Elegance
There is an intricate balance of technical fundamentals underpinning the mechanics of this video, which makes it work perfectly. The camera angle throughout the video is stood stationary at a high angled crane shot, which is also used to the same effect as an establishing shot. Although the stop start motion style of filming and editing does not appear to be smooth and flow from shot to shot, it has a much more raw quality to it.
Wallis Bird – To my Bones
Within this music video, there are two scenes, which coincide with the song, and are edited to fit match on action. You can see the use of stop start animation developing patterns that eventually covers the wall, that begins to get more crowed as the song advances. There is a mid shot of the main singer with her face in four different boxes, each box is singing a different line and dancing in a different way. This effect is used well to show the fluency of the song, and is also used as a transition shot. This effect takes the scene from the home setting, to a scene of the singer playing the guitar and singing to the song. The stop start uses a verisimilitude style of editing, which works well to sink with the real life shots.
The word “home” is the first thing you see, which is used to set the style and atmosphere of the video; creating a nostalgic feel. Interestingly, it is also the last thing to be seen, which shows a sense of continuity but also, shows how the video has developed.
Here you can see the way that the word “home” develops, from the start where she begins the transition, to the end where she has gathered everything of importance within her life, all together on her wall. It also includes a frame of stop-start animation of herself performing.
Throughout the chorus, you see the singer performing at a party scene, but also you see her singing and dancing through the stop start animation of photos and snap shots. They also use words in the style of stop start animation on the wall, which as they are being sung, you can actually see the lyrics being wrote; adding deeper meaning to watch she is singing.
This music video does uphold some expectations of a traditional music video for its genre, but it does break the conventions in other ways. You see the singer with the band performing “live”, which is a convention of a music video that does not necessarily have a story line to follow. Ingeniously, it has embroidered a prominent theme, which is reflected through the narrative, created by the style of editing.
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIVif6zvDIs
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIVif6zvDIs
The All American Rejects – Move Along
This music video is produced incredibly well, as they have focused so clearly on two critical technical areas; the framing of the shots and continuity. The shots have a fixed framing, which works excellently to create a flowing form of stop start editing. Through the changing of the backgrounds and most importantly changing of the shirts, they are able to embed a type of story line. It is not a fixed one meaning interpretation, but allows audiences to understand what they will from the details provided. The visual displays alongside the lyrics, which are singing about moving along, help to guide the message.
These six screen shots are only a few frame shots that make up the extremely fast pace stop-start chorus. They are expertly placed together as each frame the man sings a different word, which makes the wave of words work well.
The fact they have used the main singer from the band, to play the main character in the video shows a convention which is usually seen in this type of genres’ music videos. The critic of this production is demonstrated throughout, and the high standard continues, right to the climax.
At this point, where the man is seen to be saved by hands of hundreds, relating to friends and family, you then see the “live” performance. This is also a very important element, as it shows the whole band performing, which is what the audiences really want to see from a band.
The Mise-en-Scene alongside the editing is extensively the key component in making this video what it is, the man sings every word in the song, which shows the flow of the video, but also he sings every word even as the scenes crosses over and switches with the next. This high pace editing works so well to create continuity, but also keeps up with the speed of the song. The lyrics sung guide the story, to create a match on action type of editing also, which combined with the Mise-en-Scene creates this brilliance
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XleOkGsYgO8&ob=av2e
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XleOkGsYgO8&ob=av2e
Oren Lavie – Her Morning Elegance
There is an intricate balance of technical fundamentals underpinning the mechanics of this video, which makes it work perfectly. The camera angle throughout the video is stood stationary at a high angled crane shot, which is also used to the same effect as an establishing shot. Although the stop start motion style of filming and editing does not appear to be smooth and flow from shot to shot, it has a much more raw quality to it.
Here you can see two screen shots, showing how they distinguish between the singer and the main character. The singer makes eye contact with the camera, but the woman never does, which helps to add construction and continuity to the video.
The Mise-en-Scene appears at first to be basic and lacking any depth, as it only includes one simple location and uses one character with a transient male singer, but the detail that is included is so incredible that it counteracts the limited visuals. By removing all excess information from the shot, adds a real depth to the video, almost making the audience hang on every transition of the scene within the bed, to see where they are being taken next. Although there is so real change of scene, there are massively obvious changes occurring as the song develops.
From seeing the girl dance in the clouds, on crystal white sheets to when she dives into the ocean and swims with the fish, on a deep blue sheet. Uses obvious elements such as sheet changes, breaks the video up and add direction.
Within this production, there are only a few flickers of noticeable conventions of a music video, as a result of the style of cinematography. The main one being that the story line is a reflection of the song and its lyrics, but also when the main singer appears as the dreamers romance, he does two things that the woman does not do. He makes eye contact with the camera, to single his presence out, but also sings the lyrics, which would fit with the “live” element of the video.
Interestingly enough, when I was researching this video online, it had such high numbers of supporters and viewers, but also many re-constructed and imitation videos, made in the same as this video, as thought it had set some form of trend in its diverse and modern ways.
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_HXUhShhmY
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_HXUhShhmY
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