Saturday 19 September 2009

CD covers

I have decided to do a CD cover for MGMT and so I have been looking for inspiration from other bands of the same genre. Most of these album covers are done in the same style, of which I would like to incorporate on my CD cover. From my research I have found out that bands can make there CD covers look like whatever they like and it does not necessarily have to have a picture of the band and can be cartoons or any graphic images.


Kids in Glass Houses ,Blur, Coldplay













MGMT, Pink Floyd ,The Editors













In all these albums there is no actual image of the band or artist, I think this works very well because from my research I have found out that these sort of album covers are more rememberble and also perhaps have deeper, metaphorical meaning.

Magazine Adverts

This music advert is one I found in NME magazine, a music magazine associated with punk rock bands. It is for a single by Fall Out Boy, the focal image is of the band standing behind what seems to be some sort of machinery by looking up I can identify that they are standing behind a window. It is as if they are standing this way like they are hidden away and wanting to invite the audience to buy the single.After watching the video of this single, I found out that the band are making a statement similar to the statement they made in their video which was about the emo/punk rock scene and the competitive music industry.



The band members are all posing in different directions, showing that each individual member is different in their own style and personality, I think they are also standing this way showing their importance in the band for example the lead singer is standing right at the front.The lighting isn't very clear, so doesn't highlight their faces well, suggesting that the band have attittude similar to other rock/punk bands, they are represented as being a typical punk rock band standing solemnly.The font colour is white on a blue background, I think this matches well attracting the audience instantly which comes to a big advantage as people will be able to spot the advert easily when reading through a magazine.



The action line at the bottom which isn't in bold letters like the album title but can be seen clearly to give the audience information of where to purchase and download the single.





Kids in Glass Houses Magazine Advert


I found this magazine advert for Kids in Glass Houses particularly interesting, I thought this because it is very visually attractive. The font of green and red compliment each other well, the red looks quite stark. The white writing on the left hand side looks sophiscated and italic type title of 'Kids in Glass Houses' empotimises what a rock album should look like.


The main image focus is a red lolly with mouth titled open, the red is very bold and dominants the cover even though the only red is on the lolly and the womans nails, together they work extermely effectively as they constrast together well.


The album name is 'Smart Casual' the woman on the cover excudes but has a casualness of licking the lolly. The picture is an enlarged copy of their album cover making it easy for the audience to identify the album when wanting to buy it. The ratings at the top are always postive as they enhance the audience appeal, these ratings will enchance the audiences appeal as they are from well etablished rock magazines.
The advert is very bold and has vibrant, exciting colours that will attract the audiences attention.


Monday 14 September 2009

Album cover analysis

We also need to make an album cover, the most important thing when making the CD cover is for it to be visually attractive for it to stand out and for people to buy it. I also have to ensure that the cover reflects the bands individuality but also the genre.

Album Cover analysis
This particular CD cover is very simple looking, and not very eye catching. The lettering is clearly displayed at the bottom right corner, it can be described as neat and simple perhaps even a bit boring. The dominant image within the front cover is of the star which connotes not only that she is the artist but also that her music may also be centred around her.

The physical appearance of the star is that she is well presented and her facial expression reveals that she is happy, this highlights that the music may also be centred around happiness. The colours are dominating lilac and white suggesting that the music may be very happy and lively genre and also shows her femininity.
In conclusion I think her Cascada's CD cover as a whole doesn't work too well, I believe that there should be more on the CD that would attract potential buyers, In my own CD I will try my hardest to make the cover visually attractive and unique.


Muse- Black holes and Revelations

This cover by Muse is from their third album, Black holes and Revelations. It clearly displays four bald men sitting at a table in a background which appears to be red and dusty. I think this is Mars, I can see it is the planet Mars from the background and how Mars has a distinctive 'red' colour.

This album cover is very different from others, although there isn't much on the cover it connotes onto another level, that the band are meaning to be metaphoric, this can reflect their personality's and perhaps is shown in their songs.

The font is clearly shown in the top left hand corner, in clear black lettering- this can be for many reasons, most importantly so that it can be seen easily by the audience but also connotes the band's individual brand name 'muse' and black holes and revelations being the albums name taken from one of their songs 'starlight' highlighting the bands imagination but also showing their personal reference.

The physical appearance of the men cannot be seen clearly but we can see that they are wearing quite strange, eccentric type clothes highlighting the genre of the songs and also their own personal individuality at the same time.

In conclusion, I personality think this particular album cover works very well, not only is it visually attractive it conveys the individuality of the band.

Mika- Boy who knew too much

The boy who knew too much by Mika is a very unique album cover, it features a lot of graphic images inspired by a pop art style. On the right hand side we can see a picture of the artist,this is very strange as many artists have a whole image of them dominating the cover,on this cover we can only see a small image of him suggesting that his music may not all be about him and the rest of the cover is much more dominating,instantly attracting the attention of the audience. The images are painted from bright and vibrant colours,the pictures on the front are illustrated interpretations of each one of his songs which cannot be said of other artists as this can be very difficult to do. The album name 'the boy who knew too much' may be a reflection of him and his album suggesting that he perhaps knows too much and everything is confusing and mystifying and thrown onto the cover. The album is similar to his debut album which also features cartoon images of this kind which is good as it lets us as an audience to identify it as mika's album.In conclusion I think that Mika's album is one of the my favourite, not only is it easy to make, its visually attractive and attracts the audience because of its unique quality. The distinct style of drawing would also target different kinds of people reflecting his type of music.



Story of the year- in the wake of determination



This album by story of the year is very different from the other albums I have analysed, as it doesn't actually have a dominant image on or does it feature a picture of the band and only a title of album and the band's name and no prominent art work on the front. However there is a background art, from first glance this image looks like water and green paint being thrown at the album to make a nice combination of the two colours, but when I looked closer I realised it was a dragonfly being killed portraying violence and also the violence in their lyrics. I think the front cover is also very harsh showing the harshness that is in life. The albums font also matches the colour of the dragonfly's blood contrasting both of the colours together.




In conclusion I believe this album cover is quite successful because from the visuals shows the story of the music and the type of music the band makes only from the album art.

The Beatles- Abbey road



Abbey road was an album released by The Beatles, it was the last album of theirs.The whole idea of the image is that Paul McCartney is dead, also suggesting in a song called 'Paul is dead' and other hidden lyrics in their songs.



The physical appearance of the band members is distinctively unusual, John Lennon is dressed all in white, similar to a clergyman or maybe a 'god' like being. Ringo starr is wearing a black suit representing an undertaker. Paul Mccartney wears a black suit and walks out of the step with the other beatles, it is common for people to be buried with no shoes on, and Paul is wearing no shoes, revealing that he is a ghost or he is in fact dead. Right in the background we can see a hearse and it looks like they are walking towards it.


In conclusion I think this cover is very successful and is it my favourite as it tells a story, at first glance it just looks like 4 men crossing on a zebra crossing but after looking at for longer time the story is revealed.


I think its use of hidden messages is very clever although takes a lot of thinking to work out, it also features all members of the band showing the audience whose album it is. The idea that Paul McCartney is dead was a publicity stunt carried out by The Beatles and so supported this cover, the idea of Paul wearing the white outfit and the Hearse in the background made the audience think Paul was dead, adding a surreal effect. I think if a person doesn't understand the dominant image on the CD cover then its not very successful, because it doesnt have anything to offer the people who can't see the hidden message or who aren't actually Beatles fan. Although I do belive that the cover is successful when targeting fans of The Beatles, but not very when attracting new fans.

Target audience



I have decided that the main target audience for MGMT will be a predominatly a young audience. MGMT's target audience also tends to find music by artists such as Mika, Paramore, Blur to name but a few, appealing.

"Time to Pretend is a space-rock gem that mocks the clichéd coke-and-hookers rock-star lifestyle, over big synth whooshes." - Kevin O'Donnell, Rolling Stone

"Time to Pretend" clearly attracts a target audience who enjoy a "message within the lyrics" - music which evokes a response from its audience, not simply so called 'plastic pop music'.

Thus I wanted to create a music video which would appeal visually, creatively and strive to achieve originality - continuing to maintain its existing fan base while also seeking to reach new musical heights.



Overall I think my music video will be teen based as it has featured in many television dramas that are teen associated such as Skins, Gossip Girl, and soundtracks to many teenage films. As well as aiming at teenagers I think my video will also seek to reach new fans because of its oringinality and the memorable electro pop music is away from the norm of mainstream pop and will still appeal to both a mainstream and alternative audience.















Has technology changed?

Technology has changed vastly over the 20 years, allowing an artist/ artists to make music videos, and the budget artists used to have has also dramatically changed. In recent times it is necessary to have a music video to accompany a single, however in the past this was not always considered. This issue is very contrevisional as many people still have mixed views on this, some belive that music videos have destroyed the music industry, while others say it has made it better as some people like visuals aids in a music video, especially when the lyrics are hard to comprehend and a music video can help this.

Saturday 12 September 2009

Music video analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-KnNVoFsCc&feature=fvst

The kooks- naive
The kooks are an indie band, most of the video is narratively based with lip- syncing during the narrative from the lead singer of the band. The music video tells a story of a girl that is cheating on her boyfriend but he still loves her and is afraid to leave her therefore he is being naive. He is scared to ask her if she is in fact cheating as he is afraid of the answer : ‘true or false it may be’.


There is a relationship with the visuals and the lyrics, this is shown in many segments of the video, the video also illustrates the lyrics for example 'just don't let me down' shows the audience that the girlfriend is letting him down. The girl has blonde hair which is a stereotypical image presented of being innocent when in fact she is showing us she is the complete opposite by cheating, the contrast of lighting lets us know the different periods of time throughout the video for example when the couple are sitting on the bed we can tell that he knows about her cheating, the audience realise this from the bright lighting, the camera focuses on them when they are sitting apart suggesting that they are having relationship problems, they are distant and no eye contact.

The camerawork begins with tracking the lead singer (the boyfriend) when he is walking into the party, giving the audience a feeling like they are part of the video and are moving in, the camera tracking is slow like the song. The numerous close ups allows the audience to connect with the lead singer, also when he walks towards the camera gives us the impression as if he is looking for someone (i.e. his girlfriend). There is a clear sense of ambiguity in the video, for example when the girl is cheating on her boyfriend there are scenes of him having fun with his friends and unaware what she is doing, towards the end of the video the truth is revealed that in fact she is cheating on him, the use of the point of view shot was very successful when he discovers her coming out the toilet after she has cheated on him, makes the audience feel part of it as if they are there too, the use of a green light used during the frame of when the girl is cheating indicating a 'dirty, cheap' atmosphere, illustrating the negative tone of what is happening.

The editing is slow together with the pace of the song, the editing changes as the song is getting faster, when the lead singer is looking for his girlfriend it is almost that it is in slow motion indicating that he has been looking for her for a long time and nearly beginning to get tired of it.

The bands clothing is very casual and not anything glamorous revealing that they are down to earth, representing that they are more interested in their music than their fame, however they are also represented as having an 'indie' look, leather jacket, curly hair giving them a stereotypical view but also a unique feel as well.

In conclusion the music video illustrates the lyrics and music video style, the music video has inspired me to use some similar techniques such as camera shots.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVboOdX9icA&feature=fvst


Foo Fighters- The Pretender

This music video is by the band 'Foo Fighters' who are a punk rock band. This video shows the foo fighters in an ice hockey rink with a red and black background, along with white lights, and it is the only location for the whole of the video, opposite the band seems to be be a riot police officer standing behind a black line on the floor because of the emptiness and simplicity, it makes the audience wonder why the red screen is displayed behind as if its there on purpose, the pace of the music is generally much faster because of the genre of music the editing is very fast to join in with the pace of the music.The camera circles around the whole band, giving low angles and high angles of the band, the band also move along with the music, moving back and front, including many of the lead singer (Dave Grohl).

The shots are flipping back and front to the lead singer and to the riot police officer standing opposite him as if they are going into a battle without words. As the video progresses, other riot police officers join and stand in a long line behind the black line facing the band, looking very intimidating, the editing is very fast and includes numerous shots of the riot police officers standing in a line and back to the band facing them, the numerous shots of the lead singer, lets the audience connect with him and understand what he is saying,when the line 'I'm the enemy' comes up the camera has a shot of the lead singers eyes which look extremely scary and intimating at this point fitting in well with the atmosphere.


The video seems to build up to a bridge just before the last chorus, where it seems to be 'quiet' and light music part, and then the officers run towards the band in slow motion to charge at the band and just as they begin to get close enough, the big red screen behind the band suddenly erupts a red like water liquid jets past them, the water is too much for them and appears to overwhelm them and throws the officers off guard. This happens exactly when the band plays their last chorus, but louder and angrier than before, feeling a sense of accomplishment.It is clear that the guards are defeated as the song ends and the lead singer smashes his guitar down to the fall and falls on to his knees indicating that he is exhausted after the battle.

Overall the video is made up of many pans, zooms and tracking shots making it very successful. The fact that the director has used a isolated them in a white ice hockey rink makes the political lyrics stand out, as the lead singer shouts out 'what if i say i never surrender'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJEySrDerj0

The Cranberries- Zombie

The video starts off in black and white showing small children in a street jumping across a roof top to another roof top, the surrounding they are in suggests they are poor, or in trouble, the camera shows a shot of one child in a hood with dirt on his face revealing the hurt perhaps he is feeling.
The song is directly to the conflict between Ireland and England the reference to the easter rising of 1916 make this obvious however the song can also be seen to be about the horror`s of war. There are many shots of a solider walking with his gun, then shots of children holding a wooden plank running showing that the soldiers are having some influence on them to protect their country, the lyrics and video suggest that the band are saying the children may believe they are fighting for justice even though that might not be true, and 'the violence caused such silence' could mean that each side of the war caused such terrible atrocities that neither side were willing to negotiate and so the violence continued.

As the video progresses the bands lead singer is shown dressed in complete gold, her face is gold and her hair is gold and sitting down beside her are children also dressed head to toe in gold, the camera moves from the top where she is tied to a cross to the bottom revealing everything, The question "who are we mistaken?" asks if war and killing is ever right and says that its always a mistake to go to war no matter the circumstances. The point of having the lead singer tied to a cross shows that the people in war are catholic and even though their religion has high morals they still are at war, there is a key relationship with the lyrics and the visuals when the lead singer sings 'its not me, its not my family' the child sitting beside her is agreeing by nodding his head, also when she sings ' in your head, in your head' she is holding her hands in her head also suggesting that she is exhausted with it all and that she cannot escape from it or distance herself.
The editing keeps coming back to the children (the importance of the video) they are shown fighting with wooden swords, showing that they are conforming to the soldiers and aren't really sure of what is happening at the same time revealing their innocence, this whole segment of the video is in black and white, adding an old fashioned feel and going back to the time of the war in 1916. Once the music gets the faster, the editing picks up too, there is a shot of the band and the music getting louder and louder and we can see they are getting angrier and angrier, the camera pans around shots of graffiti about the war, then showing soldier holding his gun and also showing the emptiness of the town because of the war. Another mother's breakin',Heart is taking over" this line mimics the first in that the death of a child causes so much pain however the next line is slightly changed instead of asking if war is wrong like the first verse it is a statement this time "We must be mistaken", the camera goes back to showing the lead singer in gold and her sways along almost like a robot with the music, there are a number of images shown back and forth of the band, of the lead singer in gold and most importantly the children running around with pretend guns and swords, when the tempo is high the children in gold are displayed on the screen going round and round and then the camera is flipping back and forth to the band and then the children. The music then begins to be very slow and the editing matches with this, the white, bright lights are reflected onto the children showing the pure innocence of them, when the loudest bit of music is played the children start to scream in pain, many images of children fighting and in pain are displayed, the soldiers looking around are also displayed on the screen. The children in gold now begin to sway their arms about and still remain screaming. The music begins to fade out and shows a image of a child in pain to end.


OK GO- Here it goes


This music video has become incredibly famous since it has been out, the music is video is very different from others as it actually emphasises the low budget the artists had, instead of playing the instruments the band make eye catching dance moves on the treadmills.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjtI2WZTZ9k


Michael Jackson- Liberian Girl
This video story is a 'behind the scenes' look at the making of a fictional movie, it starts off in black and white creating a gothic aspect. The video is truly a showcase for all Michael Jackson's famous friends, fristly the camera focuses on a young beuatiful black woman who then turns to technicolour, and the clapboard goes down and the video starts. Though the audience doesnt necessarily know who 'liberian girl' is, it is as if she is kept a secret, the camera pans out focusing on different celebrities talking pratcising lines for the video as if it is some film including John Travolta, Olivia Newton John.


Michael pledges his love for this Liberian girl as more precious than any pearl, your love so complete.In the video itself however, it was quite one of togetherness and excitement. One of a celebratory look with real life celebrities preparing to sing, learning their lines, having a cup or two of coffee, tea, drinks, just generally getting ready, but obviously, not without Michael. Whoppi Goldberg ask who is directing this and lots of the celebrities start to speculate and continue to ask where michael is, the camera also continues to move around now revealing that steven spielberg is there and the camera almost answers Whoppi Goldberg's question by showing him in a directors chair marked 'director', another good aspect of the music video is that the celebrities never look directly at the camera not even once to take a glimpse and remain talking to each other happily and are eagerly anticipating the arrival of michael and cleverly making the audience wait for him too. Regardless, the celebrities learn their lines and simply appear to feel at home quite a warm, enthusiastic feeling and impression, an air of friendliness and respect,The camerawork is very well done as the celebrites never look directly at the camera nor do they even glimpse, they remain chatting happily to each other. Celebrites dressed as policemen come in also asking where michael is, and it is then when we hear michael saying hello and the audience feel an excited relief, the camera pans out to showing all the celebrities reaction and genuine shock when the camera focuses upwards and it is revealed that michael has been filiming them the whole time.




Overall I think this video works well as it is very unique and attracts a lot of people for this reason. It is good to see celebrities unite and shows the celebrites as real people also.





Thursday 10 September 2009

Props/ Actors

Props would be a huge part of my video, I want to use lots of objects in the mise- en scene. I think by having loads of objects they will match well with the song, and by having random, imaginative props it would add in with the idea of 'pretending' and being in a dream like atmosphere.


Also I am going to have about 10-15 actors, by having this amount of actors I think the music video would be successful by keeping the attention of the audience in throughout the video.


I am going to have people from all ages, from young children and maybe old people, by having such a broad age of people I think would add a comedy aspect by having old people in a video that's aimed at teenage audience would be quite surprising for the audience but also be quite funny. The younger people I was going to have like I was thinking of using my nephew and niece in the video who are 4, by having such younger children in my film I think would work well as the whole video is about reminiscing of being younger by actually having children in the video it would not only be matching the visuals with the lyrics but also be matching with the dream like, bizarre atmosphere.


Props

I don't have a particular list of props that I will use, I am going to use anything and everything I kind find for example a saxophone, I will use a number of musical instruments like drums and a guitar and the actors in the film will 'pretend' to play them. The mise- en scene will basically be filled with items and clothing of bright, vibrant colours, I will use a rainbow carpet, lemons, flowers, balloons, a buddha statue, dice and clocks to name a few. I will also try not use too many things as I wouldn't want too much presented on the screen although I do want to attract the audiences attention I don't want there to be to much choas.

Saturday 5 September 2009

Actors costumes

I have drawn out ideas of the costumes and outfits that the actors in my video can wear, I felt by doing I will acheive the unqiueness and oringinality I wanted to create.
















Tuesday 1 September 2009

Locations

I've looked at many different locations for my video and have narrowed it down to 4 main locations, I thought by having different locations it would be very diverse,maintain the audiences attention and also match the visuals with the lyrics of the song.


Field





I think by having a field in my film would be a good idea as a field is a common location for many music videos and ones that I believe have been successful for example;

I also think by filming in a field, it video will link into the story behind the song of being in dream like atmosphere and escaping from the reality of life. The lyrics also reveal a fantasy like feel which should be reflected in the video so therefore I think filming segments of the video in a field would be a good idea.I also have easy access to film in a field, and think the idea is very unique and it wont be a common location.


Playground/park







By having a playground in my video I believe that this would add a childish aspect into the film and would be quite imaginative by also matching with the visuals with the lyrics. From my research I found out that my target audience thought this would be an ideal location for my film, they liked how it reminiscent of being younger and having fun in a playground.
It would also have deeper meaning of having fun and not forgetting your childhood and family like the song does, about having fun and the playground will help achieve this.


Town









Another location would be Hitchin town, I think this would also be an ideal location as it would be easy to film here, and we would not need to gain permission to film here. I think filming in Hitchin would be a good idea as it would be a good place to begin the interpretation of the lyrics, the peacefulness of the town would help me generate cheerful pitches from the song.
The many parks and rivers in Hitchin would help us create the high contrast the difference between adulthood and childhood the song highlights.

London- tube station


I have thought about filming some segments of the film in London tube station as it would be the perfect location to intepretate the busyness of adult life, it would also match the visuals with the lyrics ' Get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute' it would everyone look robotlike highlighting that adultlife is monotomous and the same.