It's Christmas!

Yesterday was Christmas Day which is why I have not progressed in my album artwork. Soon I will be investigating some more album artworks and showing the process of creating my own. I will need to consider the name of the band, the name of the album, colours, and symbolic imagery.

Ideas For The Main Image On The Front Of The Artwork

All album artwork has a dominant image on the artwork. I need to think of what the image could be and how I will position it on the artwork. To get some ideas I decided to think about how the audience will associate the band name 'Forgetting Last Friday' with an images.

I asked a number of people what is the first image they think of when I say 'Forgetting Last Friday' and 'Bring Me To Life".

Amy: "Well I think of a huge house party if I am honest"

Ben: "A calender of some sort, quite a dark coloured one to match the genre"

Andrew: "The view of Earth from space, like you are on a different planet and are looking down and trying to forget. Also a coffin would make sense for the title 'Bring Me To Life'"

Jess: "A sunset or a sunrise to symbolise the end of a day (Friday) or the beginning of a new day.

James: "'Bring Me To Life' obviously must involve something like the living dead, a zombie or a graveyard, and for the band name I agree with Jess and it should involve the sun."

After receiving and reading back through these answers I decided that the main foc
us on my album artwork would be the sun and a zombie. The sun symbolises a new day and the zombie symbolises a person who is literally 'brought back to life'. Below is a quick sketch I drew of the initial composition of the images on the front of the album.

After this drawing I felt that it would be necessary to ask others what they thought about the initial image. The response I got from the majority of people was that they liked the idea of the sun and zombie however something else needed to be added. Danielle then suggested a tree or some kind of plant should be put into the image to give it more depth and make it more interesting for the buyer. So I decided to add a tree into the artwork image.

When I finished my drawing I looked closely at the composition of tree, the sun and the zombie and decided to have an apple hanging from the tree. I believe this could be what the zombie was walking towards. The apple also could represent life/new life and link back to the beginning of time in Christianity where one apple hanging from a tree was very important in the story of Adam and Eve.

My finished drawing of the main image on the front of the album can be seen below

Font Ideas For My Album Artwork

Before I begin and start planning my album cover for the band I decided to use, edit and create my own fonts. I decided to research a number of different fonts and needed to insure I keep the codes and conventions to the rock genre.

1)

 

I liked this font because of the use of the circles around the 'R' and 'A'. The circles look like moons which represents night and darkness. This is a convention of the genre rock. I also choose to make the font colour black as this too is a code for darkness and a convention of the genre rock.

2)



I like this idea because of the use of the patterns inside and between the letters. I believe this makes the text look quite gothic and suitable for our chosen genre.

3)

I like this font as it looks like it is hand written and spontaneous. It looks as though this was used on an album artwork then it gives the audience the feeling that this artwork was created with passion and personal to the members of the band. It is not a serious font either which is suitable for the age group of teenagers - young adults.

4)

 



The reason I like this font is because it has a fade out effect on the edges of some of the letters. I also like the way the font looks like a medieval font which could be used in a variety of different album artworks. I also like the fact that not all the letters are straight, instead they are slightly jolted, as if they have been placed randomly on the page. This makes the words seem more personal to the band.

5)

This is the last font I considered for my album artwork. I like this font because of the use of the lines scattered across the letters, as though they have been scratched into the font. However I do not like the excessive use of spirals on the edges of the letters and fact that all the letters are lined up perfectly.

6)

Before moving onto the production of my album artwork I decided to change my previous font as I was not completely happy with the layout and design of the letters. I edited the font one letter at a time and had them on separate layers so I can position them easily. One problem I faced while editing the font was the fact that the previous idea was saved as a .jpeg therefore when imported into photoshop a white background was placed behind each letter. This was easily sorted out by using the magic wand tool to remove the default white background. I then positioned and rotated the letters however I wanted. After doing this I still was not happy with the overall shape of the letters, therefore I used the eraser tool and removed the excess spirals from some of the letters and stretched some of the letters tails. When I was completely satisfied I saved the file as a .jpeg and a .psd so I could adapt this font with the final album artwork later.

By this stage I was happy I had looked and created enough fonts. Therefore I decided to ask my group which font they though was the best and the most suitable for the genre rock. Both Faye and Elliott choose font 6, which is what I also decided on. I am now happy that I have a suitable font for my album artwork which I will be creating soon.  

Meeting

As members of my group were not in today I decided to go back to my star image collage and add some more detail to it, I decided to add quotes about Rihanna to the collage and go into more detail about her as a person. I chose to look more closely at her physicality, talent and race and also look at the message she is giving us through the images on my collage and how she has changed throughout the years. 

Music Video Analysis - Lost Prophets - Rooftops

 
This music video opens with a mid shot of the singer. The camera is still and has a flash/defocusing effect added near the end of the clip. Using video effects and transitions is a convention of music video, the main reason this is added is to remind the audience that they are only watching a music video. The next shot is a close up of another member of the band. The change of shots is synced to the beat of the music (rhythmic editing), this is also a convention used in music video. This same idea is repeated for the other band members, where we see a close up of mid shot of the band member. They are always the main focus of the frame, the camera is focused on them and the background is defocused/blurred. This is used to make them the main focus point and to once again remind those watching that this is only a music video. We then see a close up on the singers face, during this close up we can see that he has long black hair covering parts of his face, his eyes are very dark and it looks as though he is wearing a black shirt. As the genre of this music is rock, this is the type of style we would expect to see from the band members, dark colours is a convention of the genre rock. There is then a close up on the guitar and then the guitarist. Instruments are a very important part of music videos and close up of instruments is also a convention of music video. There is also a very strong back light shining on the guitarist to give us the impression that he is important and to show us that this music video is almost like a performance and we are watching them perform in the spotlights.

The video then switches to the narrative which is also synced to the beat of the music. The narrative begins with a shot of three people sitting at the dining table. There is a woman to the right, a man to the left and a girl sitting directly in front of the camera. This gives us the message that she is going to be a major part in this music video, we first get a mid up on the woman's face who is looking directly across the table at the man, from the expression on her face she looks as though she is worried or anxious about something, she may also be looking at the man in an attempt to say "don't do anything stupid". We then get a shot of the man who looks slightly angry and is looking in the direction of where the girl is sitting. At the moment it seems as though he is mad at her and the woman is anxious/worried about what the outcome is going to be. The video then switches back to the band where we see a mid shot of the singer. When the video changes to the narrative we see the expression of the girls face. She does not look scared or worried about the man and slowly looks away from him. From this shot of the girl we can see that she has a slight gothic look to her. She has long straight black hair, black makeup around her eyes and is wearing a black shirt and a necklace. In front of her, on the table, are some red roses. The symbolism of roses is love, passion and desire, this may represent the girls feelings and how she does not care what others think about her, as she is happy who she is. However we then see a close up of the girls dinner plate which has been untouched. We see her playing with the food but not eating it. This gives us the message that although her body language tells us that she is strong minded and not scared of other people, she is still anxious and worried about something.

We then come back to the singer for a few seconds and then switch back to the narrative, this constant switching between the band and the narrative is a convention used in music videos. In the narrative this time we see the man and woman arguing over the table in front of the girl. Throughout this the girl is sitting in silence and watching, this gives us the impression that this happens often and she is used to seeing these arguments. Parts of the argument itself is in slow motion, this is to emphasis the importance of this part of the music video and also to add to the emotion. Just before the main chorus of the song the video switches to the band where we see quick edits between each member of the band and their instruments.

We then see the narrative again however this time we are shown a man and a boy, most likely his son, driving in a car. The man is arguing with his son who is sitting in the back of the car. The boy has a similar expression to what the girl had, he does not seem bothered or scared of this confrontation. The boys appearance is also the same as the girl, he too looks gothic.

In this music video there are three narratives In the third narrative we see a boy working in the kitchen of a restaurant, preparing food to be taken out to the customers, then a man comes in and complains about the food. This third narrative is the same as the other two where the person involved in the argument looks like a goth and has a 'I don't care' mannerism.

When the chorus is played for the second time the camera is only focused on the band and does not switch to the narrative at all, this is too show the importance of the band in this music video and to remind the viewers that all they are watching is a performance, not a film. During this part of the music video I noticed that the lead singer is wearing a white jacket, whereas the rest of the band are wearing black and grey. By making him stand out from the rest of the band this shows how important the singer is in the band. White represents purity, peace and calmness. I believe the producers of this music video purposely did this to make the two worlds, the performance and the narrative, very different to each other. Throughout this part of the music video a lot of different camera angles are used such as a low angle shot to make it feel as though we are looking up at the band while they are performing on stage, and also give the band a feeling of importance. We also see a couple of dolly shots and long shots to add to the feeling they are performing on a large stage. It could also represent how the band are free from the arguments happening in the narrative, the shots show the open space around them and that they, like the title says, are standing on rooftops.

Then we see the three narratives, one after another. In these narratives we see each of the teenagers screaming, and in doing so smashing anything made of glass. Each one of these screams is synced to the songs lyrics, when the lead singer says 'scream', the narrative does exactly that. This is sometimes used in music videos to give a sort of connection between the narrative and the performance and to constantly remind the viewer that they are watching a music video. Also each of these three scenes are in slow motion to add to the tension and emotion. As the narrative starts to build so does the performance. The band look as though they are really getting into the song and are putting everything into this performance as if it was a performance on stage in front of thousands of fans.

As the music video begins to finish we see the three main actors in the narrative on the rooftops with the band. This is a convention of music videos and is used in a lot of them, for example Eminem ft. Rihanna - Love the way you lie. By having the narratives joining the band on the rooftops we feel as though they have gotten away from the arguments in the narrative. Although we have not seen what has happened in the rest of the narrative the audience assume that they have all succeeded in escaping from reality.     

Track Choice

The track we have decided to produce a music video for is Evanescence - Bring Me To Life. This was finally decided after writing down as a group a list of artists and songs we would be happy to produce a video for. On the list we had such artists and songs like Bon Jovi - Living On A Prayer. As I have said earlier the genre we have decided to focus on was rock.

I am very happy with our choice of track and believe that we will be able to produce a very successful music video.

The inspiration came from when we were writing down a list of possible song choices. We then decided to look through a list of popular rock songs on the internet and also look through an iPod. This was when we all saw and listened to Evanescence. All of us have heard of Evanescence and felt that this was one artist that we wanted to look at more closely. During our research we discovered the song 'Bring Me To Life', we listened to the song the entire way through and jotted down all the things we thought we could put into the video.

I will upload these initial ideas soon and compare them to our final ideas.

Next we need to start finalising our storyboards and plan our shots for our music videos. We will then need to plan when and where we will shot our music video.

What Genre Have We Chosen?

After doing thorough research into music genres we, as a group, decided to focus more on the genre Rock. We decided to focus on this genre as we found it be the most interesting out of all the different music genres.

Meeting

Today I meet with my media group to discuss how well we thought our lip sync activity went and also to discuss what the next step should be in our journey towards producing a music video. We felt that at this stage we should make a final decision on what genre of music we are going to choose. We decided to look back through the list of music genres I produced earlier and also watch several music videos for each of these genres. The genre we decided to focus on was Rock, as we felt this was the genre we would be able to produce the most successful music video to. Next we will produce a brainstorm about the genre Rock to get a better understanding on the genre and to generate our ideas.

What I Have Learnt From The Lip Syncing Exercise

1) How did you feel about the editing program and learning how to use it? 

When I was creating my film opening sequence in AS Media Studies I used the software, iMovie '09. This year we decided to use Final Cut Express as it is a more advanced and effective piece of software that offers a wider range of effects. Before beginning the editing on our lip sync we decided to watch the tutorials offered on the Apple website. After watching these tutorials and reading through the instruction booklet we were given we felt confident with using the software. At first we imported the film from the camera into the canvas, cut the video into long shot, mid shot and close up shots and imported the music. We then put the music into the timeline and played with the shots to match the music. The finished music video can be seen below.

Overall I like using this new piece of software, I believe I have learnt sufficient skills to make an effective and exciting music video. 

2) What did you learn about making music videos from this exercise? 

The main thing I learnt from this exercise is how to properly lip sync the music track to the video. I have also learnt how to take and edit between effective shots. I have also been reminded of some of the codes and conventions that are involved in music videos and what camera angles can and can not been used. 

3) How will what you have learnt affect how you approach you proper production? 

I believe that if I had not first completed this exercise then I would not be able to create a very effective music video. I would have had to taken time to learn the software at the time of production and editing which would have affected the final outcome of the video. I have also learnt how to use effective camera shots which will help when I come to make and edit the music video.

Meeting

Today I asked my media group if we should continue on our music video treatment however both Faye and Elliot needed to continue with both their star image collage and AS Media coursework retake. Therefore I decided to evaluate the lip sync exercise we completed earlier. This evaluation can be seen above.   

Lip Syncing Exercise - Glee - Don't Stop Believing

Star Image Collage

Below is my star image collage I made on the artist Rihanna. It includes images of her through her years in the music industry and words that describes her image.

A quote from, http://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/rihanna/, said "a performer audacious enough to sing on stage while splayed across a hot pink tank; a self-possessed woman who deftly brandishes her sexuality like a rapier".

Meeting

Today I decided to meet with my media group to discuss what would be the next stage to take in our journey towards creating our own music video. We had already researched ideas and genres so decided to do some further research on an artist or star image of our choice. We then thought of how this research will be best displayed and came to the conclusion of creating a 'Star Image Collage'. I decided to research Rihanna, Faye decided to research both Avril Lavigne and Lady Gaga and Elliot decided to research.

Initial Music Video Idea

Below are my very early music video ideas, I completed these in my own time while listening to the song found below. We may not chose to use this song as the final music video track however I hope to use some of the initial ideas when filming our music video.

I was initially interested in this song as it has a very easy to follow narrative. The beat of the song is also well done which will allow use to do very successful edits between the narrative and the performance. I also like the chorus of the song as I found it to be very simple yet very effective. 

Kate Nash - Merry Happy

Album Artwork Analysis - Scouting For Girls - Everybody Wants To Be On TV

I have decided to analysis Scouting for girls second studio album called Everybody wants to be on TV.

The bands name 'Scouting for girls'  is clearly displayed on the top half of the album artwork. The band title is in caps and has evenly spaced letters. I believe they may have wanted to have this style of font as it represents simplicity, it is also not entirely formal as the 'R' is slightly curved. The white font colour is also code for simplicity and purity. I believe this font was used to make the album look fun and unique. The blue backdrop colour behind the band title looks like it is made of paper and has been hand crafted by the band and personally created. The blue colour itself is code for freedom, happiness, fun and clarity. This may represent the characteristics if the members of the band or how they would like their audience to perceive them. The word 'Girls' is significantly larger and bolder than 'Scouting for' as I believe this is what they wanted to catch your attention first. On the 'I' of 'girls' there is a girl dressed in a short red dress and posing. The colour red is code for love and passion, heat and sex. The image immediately catches the buyers attention and matches the band title, Scouting for girls.

The girl is standing on top of an old fashioned TV. These images match the title of the album 'Everybody wants to be on TV'. The album title is inside a yellow star situated to the right of the TV. The star represents importance and significance. The colour yellow represents cheerfulness, warmth and friendliness. I believe Scouting for girls are trying to signify the importance of their album however at the same time does not want the album to look too formal. This is also achieved as the album art looks as though it is torn and hand made.

At the bottom of the album art is the albums song list and their record label logo 'Epic'.

Album Artwork Analysis - Oasis - Be Here Now

 

Album Artwork Analysis - Oasis - Definitely Maybe

 

Album Artwork Analysis - Nirvana - Nevermind

At the time this album cover was unique as it showed a very bold message in the simplicity of the one image. Many codes and conventions are found in this album cover, here are some.

Codes used in this album cover are:

- The baby is code for new life and a sense of freedom and innocence. The baby also represents simplicity and purity. The purity is also achieved as the baby is untouched, naked, it is a new born. It plays on the thought that the baby is free but not free from American consumerism.

- The money represents wealth, materialism, gambling and chances we take in life. The money is a dollar bill which makes the audience aware it is about American consumerism. The dollar is attached to a fishing hook which represents use, the consumer, chasing money and 'consuming it', hence it being attached to a hook like fishing bait.
- The open ocean represents freedom and the very blue water represents happiness and clarity. This could represent the happiness people feel when they have money and unknowingly are consumed by the music industry.

The 'Nevermind' album title looks as though it too is underwater. The letters are very uneven and not the same in size. The title looks as though it is swimming in the ocean.
The 'Nirvana' band title is very simple and stretched out. The font looks very sophisticated and elegant, for example the 'R' is slightly looping giving it pride and elegance. This is giving the impression that they are not impressed with the American money and society and like to stand tall and look down on it. We can gather from the title that Nirvana have a very clear political ideology on America and believe that American consumerism has gone too far.
The black font used in both titles is code for simplicity and also death and horror. The black colour also could represent their hatred against the American consumerism and how much they want it to be changed. 

Album Artwork Analysis - The Beatles - Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

At the time this album cover was revolutionary. It was full of new ideas, it was unique/original and iconic. The artist, Peter Blake, who produced this album cover was a Pop Artist, The Pop Art movement was a popular culture to high art. Peter Blake and The Beatles wanted the album cover to be a piece of art.

Codes used in this album cover include:
- Flowers are code for peace, the hippy scene and love, this is how they wanted their audience to percieve them
- Drum situated in the middle of the cover highlights its importance. The drum is obvious code for music, and also the circus. The circus also has codes for example when people think of the circus they think of it as fun, crazy, colourful and entertaining
- The band are wearing costume that are very circus like, they are in a way iconic and look like military uniform. However the bright colours on their costumes almost make it look like they are making a parody of the military uniform
- Famous people in the background. All the people standing behind the band are legends. By situating the Beatles in the center foreground they are telling us that they have or like to establish themselves as one of the most iconic legends in history. A slight sense of arrogance may be seen from this album cover however I believe they want to show their confidence and belief rather than express their arrogance
- The blue sky is code for freedom and space, happiness, fun, summer and hope for the future.
- The palm tree is exotic and was possible placed on the album cover to say they have 'broken away from Britain' and gig around the world.
- The island they are all standing on is code for them being separate from the rest of use. As if to say that this is a legendary island and only legends are allowed to be on the island. This can also be seen as arrogant however I believe they wanted to simply express their success through their album artwork

Why Use Album Artwork?

Album artwork is used by artists and bands for many different reasons. These reasons are:
- To represent the artist/band
- To stand out and be eye-catching
- Enhance profit
- Used to advertise the contents
- Tries to draw the audience in
- Establishes album/artist and the music genre
- Acts as a selling tool. Art looks nice and can be used as a persuasive device
- Shows the creativity and originality of the artist
- Shows the credibility and artistic merit of the artist, art becomes the icon

All these reasons are achieved by using codes and conventions to communicate with the audience. When I come to creating my own album artwork I need to insure I am aware of all the typical conventions found on them. I researched album artwork and found that these are the typical features of an album cover:

Front

- Main image
- Name of artist/band
- Title of the album
- Band logo or recognisable symbol of the artist/band

Back

- Track list
- Special features
- Another image underneath the text

Institutional Information

- Price
- Barcode
- Record label
- Year of publishing
- Copyright information
- Individual track writers, composers, engineers, producers
- A reference number
- Band members
- Guest performers

Spine

- Name of artist/band
- Title of album
- Record label
- Reference number

Marketing Strategies

I believe there are seven main marketing strategies which artists use to market and promote themselves. They are all shown below in the mind map:

Marketing is a very important part of an artists career as they will need to use all of these strategies to gain a larger fan base and to promote themselves further. Using the internet for example is an extremely good marketing technique as you can promote to a wide range of audiences whereas a biography or a chat show may only be aimed at a particular group or demography.

Music Video And Its Ideologies

Music is perceived ideologically as:

- Natural

- Subjective

- Expression

- Timeless

- About The Scenes

- Body

- Pleasure

- Freedom

- Resistance

I believe that the dominant ideological view on music is that it is something that generates atmosphere. It is a natural form of timeless enjoyment which can stimulate freedom and resistance. 

Music is meant to be enjoyed, the video above the music adds to the enjoyment and atmosphere. Video adds an entire new element to music and can be used and perceived in a number of different ways.

"There is a common acceptance that music (video) and lyrics are linked but this isn't necessarily true - if you were to listen to 'Do you really want to hurt me' by Culture Club the lyrics would seem to be about romance but when you see the music video it features Boy George (Lead Singer) in front of a judge and this repositions the meaning to rhetoric about gay rights."

Hence Graeme Turner concludes that the video contains meanings totally unrecoverable from the song's lyrics.

Quote taken from - A. Goodwin - Dancing in the Distraction Factory

Researching Music Genres

Before going any further in the project I decided to research some of the many genres of music. I have only decided to research the main genres.

The main music genres are:

- Alternative - also known as alternative rock/music is a sub genre of rock which became very popular in the 1990s. Sub genres of alternative include grunge, britpop, gothic rock and indie pop. Alternative is one of the most popular and successful out of the genres

- Blues - originated from Africa, in the seep south of the USA. The genre Blues form from jazz, rhythm and rock and roll. Blues always uses specific lyrics, bass lines and instruments

- Classical - became aware in the early 19th century. Usually classical music consists of instruments found in an orchestra plus a few extra solo instruments. Classical music is produced to give a very emotional relationship between the music and the audience

- Country - blend of different musics that people became rapidly aware of in the beginning of the 1920's. Country has produced different forms of the genre, for example 'country rock' and 'country pop'. Sometimes artists use essences of country in their music, for example Lily Allen - Not Fair 

- Easy Listening - a mixture of two or more different genres of music, usually a mix of a big band song and a soft music. People think of easy listening music as simple, yet catchy and relaxing melodies

- Electronic - is music that quite simply uses electronic instruments and electronic musical equipment. Now the genre is used with a mixture of dance in night clubs and is known as electronic dance music

- Folk - is most commonly known to people as the music that is 'transmitted by word of mouth'. Different types of genres have originated from this single genre, including folk rock, folk metal and electronic folk

- Hip Hop/Rap - has four key stylistic elements: Rapping, DJ/Scratching, Sampling and Beatboxing. It is now one of the most popular music genres of todays   

- House - is a sub genre of electronic dance music that became known in America in the 1980's. It reached Europe in the 1990's. House is influenced by elements of soul, funk and disco

- Indie Rock/Pop - Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that became known in both the UK and USA in the 1980's. Typical instruments used in this genre are guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and of course the vocals

- Jazz - Originated from African American communities in the 20th century. Typical instruments used are saxophones drums and trumpets

- Pop - Pop music is one of the most popular genres of music today and is dominantly aimed at the youth market. Pop music is also associated with rock, indie and R&B

- Rock - Rock music is a genre of popular music that first became known in the 1960's. Rock uses rock and roll, rhythms, blues and country. 'The sound of rock' often involves an electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, and keyboard instruments. In rock music a guitar solo is a very important part of the song   

- Techno - is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the 1980's from the USA. Techno uses essences of trance and electronica in the music. Techno is used mostly in dance and night clubs 

- Trance - is also a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the 1990's. Trance consists of short repetitive melodic pieces of sound that is commonly repeated at a speed between 120 and 145 bpm. Like most of the other genres it uses essences of other genres. In trance they use electronic, techno and house

Marketing A Band - The Fleurbelles

Today we were given the task of promoting and marketing a band. We were put into pairs and were in charge of marketing the band 'The Fleurbelles'.

Below is an automated video version of the presentation we produced:

Low Angle Shot - Carol Vernallis

"Low angle shots are used more extensively in music videos, partly because they reproduce relations among the audience, performer and stage. Such shots confer authority upon performers and assert their sexual charisma, often crudely, by highlighting the erogenous areas/zones of performers. On the other hand high angle shots in music videos, as in film, give the viewer a sense of power and mobility."

To summarise a low angle shot gives the audience the impression they are watching a performance and constantly reminds them that what they are watching is a music video, where as a high angle shot gives the opposite effect. 

Dolly Shots - Carol Vernallis

"Most music videos make such extenstive use of the dolly that  a static shot seems anomalous (when it is still it seems out of place). The dolly shot keeps the video moving, it starts almost invariably as soon as the video begins, and only ceases towards the end. It provides a simple way for a music video to catch and sustain a song's momentum."

For example this can be seen in the music video Eminem - Love The Way You Lie (ft. Rihanna) in the scene where Eminem is in the open field

Examples of constant moving on an artist can be when the camera is:
- Hand Held
- On Dolly Tracks
- Falling Effect

Functions And Meanings Of Music In Editing - Carol Vernallis

"quick cutting on the beat"
- Every cut or edit in music video needs to be in sync with the music
- There is 'rhythmic basics clearly connected to the song

"edits in music videos come far more frequently than in film"
"Music video editing bears a far greater responsibility for many elements than does classic Hollywood film editing"
-  There are lots of very short, quick edits in music video. These build up a montage and often tell the story of the video (progress the narrative)

"the editing in music videos works hard to ensure that no single element (the narrative, the setting, the performance, the star, the lyrics, the song) gains the upper hand."
- When I begin to create my own music video I must focus on creating a balance between images and the song itself.
- The video cannot distract from the song but must also grab the audiences attention. 

Still Analysis - Diary Of A Wimpy Kid

Despite this still not being from a music video I felt it would be beneficial for me to analysis a still of a film, I chose this still from the movie, Diary of a Wimpy Kid

This scene happens near the end of the movie. The movie is, for the most part, set in a school where a ‘mysterious piece of cheese’ has appeared on the playground and anybody who touches it gets ‘the cheese touch’.

In this frame we see a slight high, wide angle, long shot of a large group of children running towards the school while one boy, Greg, is standing alone to the left of the shot. By looking at this frame we are immediately attracted to Greg as he stands out from the rest of the school. He stands out because he is the largest person in the shot, as the other children are far away from the camera they look small compared to Greg, our eye is immediately attracted to him. We are also immediately attracted to what he is wearing, the bright orange t-shirt amongst the dull surrounding makes our eyes attracted to the him first, it looks as though the editors of the movie have increased the saturation on Greg’s t-shirt to force our attention to him. We can see that he is holding something; this may explain why the rest of the school is running away from him.

We assume the rest of school children are running away from him, as he is standing alone. We instantly assume that he is an outcast, a loner, somebody nobody wants to talk or be seen with. As you can see in this still we can only see the back of him, this may have been done to make the audience feel that they too do not want to be seen with him, if the camera shot was of a close up of Greg the audience may feel like they are one of his close friends or a close family member, however due to the frame being taken at a slight high angle and as a long shot, the audience feel like they too are running away from Greg.        

As we can only see the back of Greg, we are unaware of his expression, however we can see that his left arm is to his side, his feet are firmly on the ground, and he is making no attempt to catch up with the other children, we assume that Greg looks miserable and slightly annoyed by what has happened.

The light in this scene is not bright, nor dark. The lighting in this scene adds to the dull atmosphere, this atmosphere is a metaphor for the way Greg is feeling to the whole situation. 

The framing in this scene is loose. There is a lot of free space around the frame and in particularly between Greg and the other characters. This gives the illusion that all the free space was once taken up by children and suddenly all the children are bundled together towards the top of the frame leaving Greg alone. The fact that Greg has not moved towards the other children gives us the impression that this had happened very quickly or that Greg know longer cares and is used to being alone and isolated from the world.

Meeting

Today I spoke with Faye to ask her what she thought the next step should be. We have both done analysis' on several music videos so decided to do an analysis on something different; we decided to each analysis a film still of our chose to help use notice the different codes and conventions, camera techniques and editing tools which we could use or change in our own music videos. I decided to do an analysis of the film 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid'.

Music Video Analysis - 2Pac - Ghetto Gospel

 

Music Video Analysis - Radiohead - Street Spirit (Fade Out)

 

Music Video Analysis - White Stripes - Seven Nation Army

 

Music Video Analysis - Michael Jackson - Thriller

 

Music Video Analysis - Eminem - Love The Way You Lie

 

Music Video Analysis - Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends

 

Music Video Analysis - Madonna - Like A Prayer

 

Music Video Analysis - Lady GaGa - Telephone

 

Important Termonology

Graphic Match - Edits between two images, with a match between both. Such as colour or shape

Match On Action - Using a series of edits where different people/objects are doing the same thing. For example a close up of person A's feet running cuts to a close up of person B's feet running.

180 Degree Rule - Ensure I do not disorientate the audience by breaking this rule - the audience should maintain a posistion between edits in terms of orientation.

30 Degree Rule - When you break the 30 degree rule it is called a jump cut - a sharp awkward edit that looks clumsy - The camera should move 30 degrees between edits to avoid this

Jump Cut - A sudden jump in the edits. For example a mid shot of a person sitting in a seat jumps to an close up of the same person standing up

Defocusing - A blur in the video. An interesting tehnique used to disorientate and draw the audiences attention to the technique being used

Intertextuality - Making reference to other media texts/techniques. For example in the music video Lady GaGa - Telephone, there is intertextuality with the movie Kill Bill

Illustration - Not always literal

Amplification - New layers of meaning added to the song

Disjuncture - Contradiction between lyrics and music

Researching An Artist - Lily Allen

Lily Allen, 25, is an English songwriter and artist. Her father is musician Keith Allen. She was mostly interested in glam rock and alternative when she began her music career. She dropped out of school, at the age of 15, and concentrated on producing music. Lily Allen finished recording, alone, several songs and then released them on her own MySpace page. Lily was recognised before she made a profile on MySpace. She was still at school and was overheard singing in the playground by Rachel Santesso who asked Lily to take up singing lessons at lunchtime in her office.

How she markets and promotes herself

·       She became well known by using MySpace and other viral on the internet. She set up an account where she uploaded some demos and parts of songs. Her view count rose past tens of thousands and got signed by ‘Regal Recordings’

·       Release demos and parts of songs to ‘tease’ her fans. Her song LDN was released as a 7” vinyl that was sold out almost instantly; they were being sold on for around out £40

·       Free downloads of parts of songs to let the fans ‘get a taste’ of what to expect, Lily also produced two mix tapes, both of which were very successful

·       Touring, she performed at the Glastonbury Festival in 2007 and 2008, she also toured America on a 14-city tour to promote her work. In 2009 she performed at Oxegen Festival, T-Mobile INmusic festival, Bestival Festival and Big Weekend Festival

·       Merchandise, badges etc. are available all over the internet both fan made and official.

·       Billbords and posters scattered around the country attracting people to her music, posters are on buses and on the undergrounds saying 'New Album Out Now'

·       Own website - http://www.lilyallenmusic.com/lily/

·       News feed to let her fans know exactly what she is doing, when the next concert is etc.

·       Interactive content on her website to make people interested in her work, such as ‘Remix your own Lily album’ and her own Lily Allen online game

·       She has signed up to Twitter, another easy way to inform and market herself with other people and her followers

·       Blog to keep people informed and add information about herself and career

·       Appearing on a TV show or hosting one. Lily Allen was the guest host on ‘The Sunday Night Project’ and also had her own chat show ‘Lily and Friends…’

How she uses the Internet to promote and market herself

Lily Allen has used the Internet dominantly to promote herself and her new material. One use of the Internet she has been using is social networking sites such as MySpace and Twitter. She has been using MySpace as her own music promotion webpage - http://www.myspace.com/lily_allen and http://www.myspace.com/lilymusic. MySpace was the first website Lily uploaded her material to, as she heard it had been successful for other artists at that time. On her MySpace profile she wrote ‘Music became a lifeline to me.’ With in a few months of uploading some of her demos online she added to her profile ‘The online support I got for my music grew quickly, then the next thrill was hearing it on the radio.’ The songs on her MySpace webpage have been downloaded approximately 19 million times, she also had at the time approximately 500,000 friends and was the most popular music artist in 2008. This massive success was spoken of in an article in OMM, she also appeared on the magazines front cover story about two months later and since then has received several awards including the 2010 Brit Award for "British Female Solo Artist". Due to this mass music impact on Lily’s life she received countless amounts of abuse so decided to shutdown her MySpace page in September 2009 and stopped social networking altogether in December. After she finished with social networking she said "The days of me making money from recording music have been and gone as far as I'm concerned" and her spokesman said, “She is not quitting pop music. She is not thinking about her next album right now because she is still in the middle of promoting her current record”. Lily then went to Twitter to keep in contact with her many fans. On 2 February 2010 Lily made several tweets to her Twitter account. Her first read, "hello, I'm back".

One other way Lily Allen has used the Internet, is her setting up her own website - http://www.lilyallenmusic.com/lily/, her website keeps fans informed on her life, shows tour dates and has a section where you are able to purchase ‘Goodies’. On this website she can promote her music and videos which have been created recently, and add quick links to purchase her new albums and play interactive games and music. Her website is designed to be fun, informative and user friendly. There are other sites dedicated to Lily Allen such as http://oh-lily.com/wp/, a fan made website for all things Lily Allen.