MAGAZINE AD- Procession

Here are the chosen magazine ads for our fictitious band The Project and the release of the album Days Out in Sepia. There are more than one example, where different changes will progressively be made. 

After the sketches, I looked again through the images we took, and eventually I came across the edited version of the Kes-sequel image of one of the band mates, Josh Hobson. The symmetry of the image attracted me greatly and it was further emphasised with the connection to the album cover; eyeless band mates, with the intention to declare music as a feast for the ears, not for the eyes. Also, Josh's eyeless face is an attempt to attract the consumer as well as express the message intended for it.

     The Braggadocio font was applied to the main title on the magazine, linking to the same font of the album, and using the large 72 size font to attract consumers. 

     The reviews used here are of course fake, but I wrote one review as though it's from NME, and one that was from a made up magazine. The inclusion of NME was intended to express the popularity of the album,bit being positively reviewed by a well-known music magazine.

I inserted a screenshot of the album cover on the advert, with a release date (my birthday) and suggested options of how to buy the album: technologically (MP3) or physically (actual album). The intention of this was to show how similar in tone to the magazine the album is so that consumers can identify with the advert when they come across the album.

Here, the added features are the social networking links with the intention of following the technological conventions of advertisements; sharing through prestigious social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Here, like the album screenshot; I've formatted the social networking icons with borders the same colour as the majority of the advert; orange. I've also included a QR code (fake) that, if I had enough time, i could use a code that takes you to the actual music video we made. It was intended to cover the empty space beside Josh's face, but also to adhere to the technological conventions of the modern day, like the social networking icons do.

Here, like the 'Pre-Order Album' notice below the album screenshot, I changed the colour of the words in the reviews to make them stand out more. Also, I decided to avoid changing the colour of the reviewers (NME & Listen Up) so that they could also stand out below the different, more peachy colour of the quotes. 

This being the final example, and the one I intend to really use as an advertisement, I added a fictional website address. It's titled 'http://www.projectsepia.co.uk' in a light green font to stand out with its colour among the advertisement, despite its small size. The use of the words 'Project' and 'Sepia' in the address were derived from the album title 'Days Out in Sepia' and the band title 'The Project.' 

           Like the QR code, I may consider turning the address into an actual link that takes you to my blog, if possible. 

Thanks for reading!

10 Chosen Images for Album Art

Here are the images I have chosen for the artwork for the album digi-pack. They have been altered through iPhoto.

This was taken very recently. I blurred out the eyes with the intention of indirectly saying that it's not an album of pictures, but of voices, music and sound. The sepia effect, as is the same with most of the other pictures, is intended to express a sort of antique-y feel, as Gabrielle Aplin's single artwork for 'Home' has the same look; a countryside background.

This is also a new image taken recently. It's an image of me looking at the guitar in the tree (I don't know why. Viva la obscurity!!), with the intention to fill in the space left by Ryan's (the singer) departure from the project. The vignette effect is just to say that this is the image that will be the artwork for the disc-holder.

This image was chosen because, after I thought of the subtitle of 'The Project' being 'Days Out,' the photo of the coastal park was a very useful image because it was synonymous with the title. This will most likely be intended to be the back cover, where the track list will be placed over the sky to the right of the ferris wheel.

I chose this image because the words are fully conventional to the music industry. And the sepia effect gives an indie feel to it, as well as an antique look.

Again, 'Days Out' and this image connect well. Also, as I said in the previous post, the rusting of the sign  could imply idiosyncrasy, as people aren't following the directions; instead going their own ways and doing what they want. Going your own way, or 'choosing your own path' is frequently considered as a factor of life. 

This is a person finding their own way in the world after a long time of following others. They don't know what to expect, but they'll never find out until they go through the 'door' and see. This image could be symbolic of a few meanings, which is why I'm possibly choosing it as the artwork for a square.

As I said previously, this is a still of the roundabout that Nicole jumps off of in the 'Human' video. However, it is the 'Days Out' connection along with this that drives me to use this image for a square of artwork.

Connected to a song I'm thinking of calling 'Fog Lamp,' this image would fit well with it. But it's also the artistic style of it that creates an atmospheric image that makes me consider this for part of the artwork.

As mentioned previously, the castle overlooking the modern housing was a very useful image because of how out of place it seemed. But, like other images, it connects to the 'Days Out' title and the antique-y look fits well with how old the castle is. This image is also considered to be the back cover art because the track list would look well and fitting in the sky. 

This is an image I'm considering for the front cover because of how perfectly well Josh is framed, as well as the intended focus on the eccentricity of the photo: no eyes, for the same reason as mentioned in the top image. Also, the flagging and facial expressions looked rebellious, and the field background  looked nice and rustic. Apart from the goalpost...

Jack is very most likely going to be used for the artwork because he's part of the band, and also because the tree appears in every shot of the band members. I blurred out his eyes again, like I did with the other photos of the members, and the countryside look was very useful as well as the 'Days Out' connection. 

These images will be narrowed down to six for the digi-pack artwork, so I will present the 6 chosen images on a design template for the album art. 

The Killers 'Human' Music Video Analysis

This blog post was intended to be published before we begun filming our own take on the video.

 The first 6 seconds of the video consists of an obscure camera angle, which may be intentional despite it looking unintentional, because all we hear is the band getting ready to perform (we can't see them) on a sandy yellow setting (possibly a desert). This is proven when we hear one of the band members (most likely Brandon Flowers) saying "yeah, hang on," as though they're not ready yet. The whole meaning of this short section could be just to show a behind-the-scenes clip to set up the video, because the next shot is clearly signifying that the video has truly started. The mentioned shot is a possible mid-shot of the 'k' from the band's title suddenly lighting up in synchronisation with the first instance of music; the tune of a guitar. After, an establishing shot of a desert sets the scene for the video, with the golden and yellow palette implying a mostly positive and bright tone. In the same shot, Brandon Flowers (lead singer) is seen walking by and stopping, framed between two large boulders, which emits a slightly eccentric feel, such as the superficial question; why is he in the desert? Could it signify that because it's a vast landscape, there's the chance to be alone and expressive without any judgement from anybody else? And because the song could be implying a sort of 'transition' from being a normal, average human being to being a dancer; a spontaneous person, who could be idiosyncratic in nature, and with the band being in the desert, a very unusual setting, could emphasise that 'dancer.'
     Following this is a series of mid-shots of Flowers singing, with a stage light behind him to emphasise his presence, that we should be focusing on him. There's a dissolving transition in between these mid-shots that shows four self-portraits of the band on stands, from a long shot. I can't exactly interpret the meaning of this, even with the lyrics corresponding to this scene; "sometimes I get nervous, when I see an open door."It could be to do with the positioning of the portraits (two closer to the camera, and two further from the camera), but of that, I'm dubious. Next is a return to Brandon, this time shown from a more close-up shot and the camerawork is more loose, eventually panning up to catch a bird flying past, shot with a more steady angle and there's the familiar distinction of look between Flowers and the bird, as he is wearing a suit with golden feathers circling the collar. The bird is a black colour, yet there's a golden tail. Could it be that he wants to fly away like the bird does, which is implied with the line "cut the cord" as the bird is shown, which most likely means to cut yourself off from the world and be a 'dancer.' From this scene (0:43 seconds in) up to the 1:10 mark, there are multiple transitions between each band member performing, shown from mid and long shots as well as a slight close-up shot, with every shot circling the performer. Each guitar stroke corresponds with the transitions, creating a rhythmic and synchronised relationship between sound and vision. At the end of this scene, Brandon punches the air (from a possible long shot) as a sudden loud beat is heard, giving way for the instrumental.
     During the instrumentals, we're shown, from birds-eye shots, mid-shots and long shots, a Tiger and a Lion roaming the desert, with intercutting shots of the band, as though to  imply that we are the animals in the desert.
    As the singing returns, we are presented with a multiple Vignette style framing of different shots of the band playing, with the style of the appearance of these frames paralleling the rhythmic beat. Eventually, four of the frames are replaced by mosaic self-portraits of the band members (the YouTube thumbnail image above), obviously referring to the mosaic pattern of the 'Day & Age' album art, which is also an image of a desert (or an oasis), as well as the self-portraits being the single art for 'Human,' 'Spaceman,' 'The World we Live In' and 'A Dustland Fairytale.' The camera hovers around the set, putting instruments such as the cymbals into centre frame as well as Brandon also being framed in subsequent shots, with another appearance of the bird, circling the band. It's clear that this video focuses on the band performance more than anything, which is a rather frequently applied convention of indie/alternative music videos, like with Kyla la Grange's 'Walk Through Walls,' and Mika's 'Grace Kelly,' despite the vast majority of indie videos focusing on symbolic or plot-based scenes, hardly ever showing the artist's performance. Also, with the whole tone of the video awash in golds, browns and yellows, we know that it's a video expressing a positive coda. We see again the Lion walking for a few seconds, which seems to raise a question: is it walking towards the band?
    A wide shot (from a fair distance) of the band obscuring their faces with their mosaic self-portraits still reveals their identities, yet seems to distort them because the division between the darkness of their clothing and the more colourful portraits could be interpreted that they're more mindfully artistic. However, the line "are we human" at this point could be reflected by this scene, because it could even be interpreted that the band are hiding their faces with portraits so that we can't see their true faces, which may not be 'human,' so to speak.
   Then a high angle shot establishes the set on which they're performing, which is then followed by the band with the portraits again, however this time they're swapping with each other; taking on a new identity. Could this imply a swap (or transition) from being 'human' to being a 'dancer' because they're not themselves anymore, but somebody else. For around 7 seconds after this scene, the camera loosely (again) hovers around the set, capturing each band member performing, shown with some closing in shots, which possibly begins to imply that there's a bigger reason for why the video looms upon the performance and hardly any other scenes shot outside that area. It links to the Lion walking towards an undisclosed location. Is it the band? Can the animal hear the music?
  After this, the music builds up to a more faster pace, shown with 15 seconds of high angle shots of Flowers and the band, which could imply that because the music and the speed is building up, the high angle affectively emphasises that. The build-up is held with a sudden drop to the original, slower pace, with a long shot of the band which applies the contra-zoom effect (see Vertigo and Jaws) to make it seem that they're even further away, and they're without the stage setting. It seems expressionistic because of the setting: a desert; a vast open landscape where, if you were alone in it, the contra-zoom emphasises the distance of it (this reason may be insubstantial).
    The camera then returns to Flowers singing in a kneeled pose, holding the wire of the microphone with a tightness, making it taut, as though he's under tension and stressed (which I don't exactly know how to interpret it). Then, as we hear "looking for the answer," the same shot of the two boulders framing Flowers is revisited, this time with him walking, then stopping to look ahead, and then continuing to walk, which implies the "looking for the answer" despite us not entirely knowing what that is.
   The music builds again for around 8 seconds, then suddenly being met with a drop in beat which gives way to another chorus. The chorus consists of slow dissolving transitions between the band (shown from high and low angles, as well as continuous shots) and very high angles of a desert mountain/hill to emphasise the enormity of the setting.
   The chorus repeats and fades towards the end of the video, repeating the line "are we human, or are we dancer," along with a single shot of the Tiger that was introduced before the Lion was (I don't know why the Lion was shown more frequently, however), positioned in the same background with the self-portraits mounted on stands, which presents the Tiger in a close-up, taking up most of the frame from the left, with enough space on the right to define the familiar background. It could be viewed as an exodus of human qualities and being exchanged for qualities that metaphorically represent freedom (of the mind); the Tiger, because it's a wild animal, it's free, and spontaneous (we don't know how it'll act), like a dancer. The desert also reflects that possible interpretation of freedom, as well as the portraits turning off (lights), which could also be signifying the end of the video.
     The video ends with a low angle of the band standing and looking at a mosaic sun in an evening sky (the colour is too orange to be the moon), which is an odd, yet artistic image which mirrors the 'Day & Age' album art. The whole setting then transforms into a mosaic pattern, which proves that it mirrors the album art, as this final image is the end of the video.
    'Human' was 'Day & Age's most successful track, so this still shot of the mosaic desert landscape could be promoting the album by referring to the successful song through the album cover.
   

Planning the Artwork

After viewing the 5 album artworks for indie/alternative artists, I had decided that a simple yet effective image would be useful and conventional for our album. Here is my first plan of the cover, which probably won't stay that way, and also accompanied with a few (cheesy) cover artist names/titles.

NOTE: This post was started before I used the selected photos as seen in the very recent posts for the album art.

I'm going so far going with the name 'The Project,' which after checking, I haven't found any other band with that title who are signed on to a label. I intend the image of the tree to be also on the back cover, where it's more close up, but still zoomed out enough to establish a background. On the back cover the tree would be shown by itself, with instruments from the band hoisted up between the branches to present an odd image, which could possibly border on surreal because it's not exactly an image that we'd entirely expect. However, before trying this, I would need to check if there isn't any similar images already done and copyrighted. 

I decided to also include another tree image, but from a low angle to make the drumstick-holder's arms and the tree look much bigger; an intention that would benefit the connection with 'Human.'

This is a birds-eye view that I intend to use as the disc-holder artwork. However, trying to pull off a birds-eye shot would be very difficult and time consuming, so if I can't obtain an image of this, then I will either take a photo of it from a high angle or stand on the roundabout itself and take a close-up birds-eye shot of it.

Originally scenes in the storyboard that weren't filmed, these two images (above and below) are intended to be used as part of the artwork. I want these to be included because they 'complete' the video, as well as apply the sense of eccentricity as some of the albums from my analysis of covers did. They both symbolise the transitions of both characters from 'human' to 'dancer,' breaking from the typical features of being human and taking their own paths.

Like 'My Head is an Animal' by Of Monsters and Men, this album art is similar to the front cover, yet without the band and the instruments instead being placed in the tree, which was an improvised scene at the end of the 'Human' music video. The oddness of it is what drove me to include this image as the back cover. The track list would run either side of the tree, as though to replace the band who were stood in those previous positions. The barcode adds authenticity, as does the company name (which I haven't thought of what to name yet), giving the album a genuine look. The bareness of the background is also occasionally used on indie albums, like 'English Rain! By Gabrielle Aplin, or 'We Started Nothing'by The Ting Tings.'

5 Alternative/Indie Album Covers Research

For help with producing album artwork for our music video of 'Human' by The Killers, I've searched for 5 various albums (of which the artists I've listened to before) that match The Killers' genre: Indie/Alternative. I'm going to be comparing album artwork and attempting to find a common ground between the majority of them. Here they are:

                               Of Monsters and Men- 'My Head is an Animal'

The front cover of the album has an abundance of a bluish grey tone, with a man walking on a beach whilst the central image takes the normality of the scene away and brings in a surreal, artistic element in the form of the small wooden house being flooded by the tide. It raises some questions: is the house owned by the man on the beach? If so, is he escaping the tide, despite him not being in the running posture? Is the central framing of the house intended, so that it's the first thing we see upon viewing the cover? Are these surrealist tones supposed to mirror the album content? The only other different tone is the pink of the artist name, which forms an acronym. This cover design could also be simply derived from a song lyric in their work.

The inner cover of the album is much more multicoloured (For each of the three sides of artwork in the album, there's two portraits). We notice the black and white/possibly sepia torsos below the multicoloured drawings. It is obviously a take on the album title 'My Head is an Animal,' which was a line from their song 'Dirty Paws;' connotations of animals. The division between the monotonous torsos and the rainbow-scheme of the animal drawings could imply the alternative genre of the band as their songs range from indie pop and rock like 'Mountain Sound' or 'Six Weeks' to slow-runners like 'Slow & Steady' or 'Your Bones.' The animal drawings seem beast-like because of the tusks and horns accompanying most, which could refer to possible Icelandic folklore concerning mythical beasts, so as to introduce their culture. Also, the colours used in these drawings are very organised into the appropriate areas of the animal faces, which could maybe remain in a surreal fashion without mixing colours like most mainstream pop albums do. It could simply be interpreted that the animal drawings, the colours used in these drawings, and the division between monotone and 'multi-'tone could just be the personalities of each band member, as there are six of them. 

The back cover is the same location as the front cover, but without the man, the house and the slight roughness of the sea. Could the front cover, because it is the front, signify the introduction of the album and how it will be like, then the inside album artwork of the animal heads mirrors the artistic, alternative nature of each song (as we're listening to it), and then the back cover signifying the end of the album, with the surreal-ness (house in the sea) of the album gone and now it's all calmed down, as pictured with the sea. 

Arctic Monkeys- 'Favourite Worst Nightmare'

Again, with this album cover, we're given an image of something normal, which is (possibly) Sheffield's terraced council houses. There is the abundance of a dark greyish tone, yet it's put out of focus because of the bright 70's style groove of the wallpaper designs in the three lit rooms, where it attracts you first before you turn your attention to the mustard-yellow title of the album, which gives the band title as well as the oxymoronic subtitle 'Favourite Worst Nightmare.' These terraced houses could be the band's original housing either before or during their fame, as it seems to have at least some significance with the lit rooms which could be where the music (or the band living/performing) is coming from.

In comparison to the front cover where the lit rooms are shot from a diagonal long-ish shot, the flipside (inner) of the case shows the rooms dead on, multicoloured and very attractive designs. It seems,  like the first album, to suggest that you're listening to the music as implied by the colours and the dynamic designs, as though to further suggest the album content. The central disc artwork has only three colours: black, white and green, which could be just a convention of the designs of indie album artwork; simple yet effective.

Only dual colours black and yellow used here, probably to indicate the end of the album, with no terraced council house, light or position of the title. Just a list of the songs for information and company labels etc.

Gabrielle Aplin- 'English Rain'

Again, there's an abundance of the grey tone to give the album title it's meaning; bad weather or (English) rain. The title is in a handwritten font, maybe to emphasise that Aplin wrote her own songs, as most indie artists do. Her presence in center frame wearing a creamy yellow dress and running in the rain with a rainbow umbrella as though she's trying to gain momentum and fly, attracts the most attention. She's the good in the midst of the bad (weather). The emphasis on one coloured image alone attracts us and raises our curiosity on the content of the album.

The flipside (despite it not being divided into three separate images) is very artistic. There's the same image of Gabrielle Aplin with the umbrella (on the left) yet this time she is pointing the umbrella towards us, presenting a wheel of colours to attract. The other side consists of Aplin attempting to fly with multicoloured balloons in an otherwise monotone background, which mirrors my suggestion of her trying to fly with the umbrella on the front cover. Also, the idea of her being in a wide open field, as the front cover also is, it could be allegorical, maybe symbolizing the openness that allows her space to fly, or just basically giving a view of the English countryside to visually correspond with the title 'English Rain.' The booklet is just the umbrella itself in center frame, more close up and topped with Gabrielle's name along with a kiss as though to thank us, the audience (or spectators) for listening to her music. The colour is the same as the front cover to maintain its indie look without overusing colours in a different image.

The trackless on the back page is in a handwritten font to possibly further the suggestion that Gabrielle wrote her own tracks. The position of the tracklist replaces Gabrielle with the umbrella, resulting in a dull 'English Weather/Rain' background, as though to, like the other albums, signify the end of the album.

Mika- 'The Boy Who Knew Too Much'

This album cover is very different to other indie albums. The colour scheme is very vast and the imagery is very imaginative. The colours could indicate the colourfulness of the album content and it's variety. The title 'Mika' is presented in a white stencil font with a blue 3D pop-out which resembles the childlike nature of the album cover, with connotations of fun and imagination. The image of the boy on the floor reading the book is very interesting, as the surrounding environment of colour,  space, planets and stars derive from the book he is reading, his imagination. He's 'The Boy Who Knew Too Much,' which is a reference to Hitchcocks's 'The Man Who Knew Too Much.' Alfred Hitchcock directed independent films like the iconic 'Psycho.' This independent factor is a possible reason why Mika's album is indie: an indie artist referencing an indie film/director; the wild yet controlled colours of his imagination; introducing us to the colourful album, using a childlike design like he did with 'Life in Cartoon Motion' to attract us straight away, and also having that surreal element of the Birdseye angle that establishes the imagination, as though suggesting that when we listen to his music, we imagine the songs visually, like the boy imagines the book visually. The colour does, however, seem to break the convention of indie albums being mostly dim toned and fixed on just a few light colours, instead creating a multicoloured and imaginative design.

The flipside mirrors some of the songs. The blue background emphasises the white symbols, such as the female symbol, which could relate to the song 'Blame it on the Girls,' or the article that mentions the song 'Dr John,' or the sewn up rag doll that relates to the song 'Toy Boy.' These images are not disjuncture or amplification, but illustration of the lyrics in the songs on the album. The idea that the images illustrating the lyrics being on the flipside, where the disc is, could imply the songs playing as the images are seen in this section. The colour scheme again is very imaginative and instantly attractive, yet not too childish as some images, in particular the devil using a sewing pin on the rag doll, seemingly reference dark fairytales because of the rag doll; a child's toy, is being attacked by the child demon. Yet the bright colours take the seriousness out of it and remain attractive to the eye.

The back cover is very imaginative in comparison to the other albums. The tracklist is golden in colour, surrounded by an artsy depiction of the universe that continues to attract. It resembles Mika's style of music and videos; indie pop, electronic, partly ballad (Relax, Take it Easy) and alternative. The back cover still remains imaginative and appealing, yet without 'The Boy Who Knew Too Much' in the frame, it's the end (possibly).

Wolf Gang- 'Suego Faults'

Wolf Gang's 'Suego Faults' has a very interesting front cover. The overall tone is a very light blue/turqouise colour, which is very conventional of indie albums because there's not an abundance of colour, where only turqouise, black and maroon/brown are the main colours. The surrealism of this cover emanates from the central framing of the person wearing an Indian War Bonnet in the middle of the woods. It could emphasise the alternative and indie nature of the album, mostly consisting of indie alternative and indie ballads and rock. The image of the fallen tree seems possibly symbolic, but I can't exactly put a finger on it. The positioning of the title and the subtitle in the top-left corner is possibly intended to be small because the artwork attracts us first because of its interesting imagery, before we take a look at the title. In comparison to mainstream albums, such as Katy Perry's 'Teenage Dream' album, which doesn't reveal any title at all because we already know who she is, indie albums rely on a variety of low key and interesting imagery to capture the eye of anybody who would consider listening to new, unknown artists.  

The back of 'Suego Faults' is very reminiscent of Paloma Faith's 'Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful' album. Faith's album consists of her in center frame, donning a very classy hairstyle and holding what look like doves. 

The back of the 'Suego a faults' album is dark in tone, with the only real flare of colour being a woman's fiery hair. The tracklist is very formal and in a low-key golden colour. The imagery is, like most indie albums, simple but effective. 

So from the look of these five (six if you count Paloma Faith's) indie albums, to successfully produce our own five-sided Album artwork, we would need to consider: tone,mostly dim, yet with certain colours that attract ('English Rain,' the rainy background with the colourful Gabrielle Aplin in the center); simple (and occasionally surreal) imagery, such as the man from 'Suego Faults' in a War Bonnet in the middle of the woods, which is overall effective; central framing to attract (as well as attractive colours in a single image); the title being positioned marginally or in corners to allow for full view of the image; possibly an image of the band. These are factors that I will mostly consider for the creation of our album artwork.

Thanks for reading :-)

Treatment of my Music Video

     For my own interpretation of the song 'Human' by The Killers, I have constructed a trio of narratives on my storyboard. This is where I have created two separate settings for the two main characters to start in, then a third is included to show the band performing the song in certain sections throughout my storyboard. The two separate storyboard narratives will follow a man and a woman, who both live separate but very average lives. The woman is introduced sleeping in bed with dishevelled hair and wearing all of her clothes instead of clothes like pyjamas etc, to insinuate that her life is out of order in some ways. She wakes up with a depressed look on her face, then walks towards her phone (which is ringing) and then, just as she picks it up, the shot of the singer is shown with the microphone. The woman then suddenly drops her phone, as though she has just heard the singing, then begins to peel off a fake upturned smile imprinted on a sticker over her mouth, which when she removes, she is smiling, then leaves her apartment/room and starts walking to an unknown  destination that is revealed later on.

   The man in the other narrative is introduced just as the other narrative finishes until later on. The man is in hospital, being pushed on a gurney down the white corridors, until they stop at a set of double doors. Around this time, the singer is shown again in the third narrative, as the man sits up, gets off the gurney, and walks through the hospital (signs of 'sadness' and 'devotion' direct towards the place where the man has just come from, and a 'dancer' sign that points in the direction he is going). The hospital is sort of a metaphor for the mans ruined life. The man then leaves the double doors and starts walking to an unknown destination. As this is happening, the woman is shown walking down a street, feeling at her frowning eyebrows and noticing that they are peeling off. She pulls these stickers off, now revealing a much happier face as she walks towards the unknown destination. The stickers represent sort of a manufactured sadness that becomes automatic when people live the same life day after day. Now she has given her 'regards to soul and romance,' she can set off to become the 'dancer.' With the bands performance and singing lasting, the woman finally reaches the outside of a forest, in which she begins to pass through. Around this time, the man from the other narrative enters the same place, just metres across from the unsuspecting woman (the man also doesn't realise that the woman is nearby). The music becoming louder to both people, they quicken through the forest, both eventually reaching a clearing at the same time, but still not noticing each other. It's at this point where the story briefly cuts to   a deserted street, as though to question the disappearance of everybody. Cutting back to the man and the woman in the forest clearing, a large crowd of people are shown surrounding the band. Upon noticing the man and the woman, and upon the man and the woman noticing each other for the first time, the crowd rushes towards both people. The video ends with the two people being brought through the crowd and everybody becoming much more joyous. 

   

Audience Profile for the Indie/Alternative Type of Music

        With my main chosen genre, the indie/alternative style, I realise that the audience profile for this could be extremely varied, depending on if a certain indie song possibly goes viral and becomes more famous, such as Marina & the Diamonds with her singles 'I Am Not A Robot.'
         So, the audiences that would be normally attracted to this kind of genre would probably be a group aged 14-35, as independent bands and artists have reputations for writing the majority of their own songs, so certain elements such as emotions and the tune of the song can reflect the listeners feelings. Compared to Pop, the lyrics are not reputed to be repeated throughout the song just to try and encourage singing almost the same line over and over again, even though some pop songs don't follow this 'rule.' This would then connect to mainstream music, as the charts that play the same songs on the TV and Radio would become tedious with the same rap, pop and R'n B songs. Only a few independent artists become famous on the charts, such as Gotye with 'Somebody that I used to Know.' In my opinion, listeners may tend to switch over until a more diverse song is played, one which provokes thought and encourages singing along to almost unrepeated lyrics. With the world of technology making listening to music available on multiple platforms, people may take to YouTube to listen to the independent songs. This would then pave the way for discovery of less known and much more diverse artists on the internet, giving the chance to listen to new music through the magic that is the recommendations tab.
         So, to sum up, this demographic of audiences is quite a wide variety of people, even though most listeners of indie/alternative music would need encouragement via viral 'marketing' on social networking sites, which then begin the discovery of songs that are buried deep within the undergrowth of mainstream pop/rap/R'n B culture.
         Below this paragraph is the links to the referenced indie/alternative artists I have used as examples. Please take a look, and enjoy. Or not :-)

Marina & the Diamonds- I Am Not A Robot-  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_oMD6-6q5Y

Gotye- Somebody That I Used To Know-  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UVNT4wvIGY

     

Music Video Analysis 104

Name of Song- New Soul

Artist- Yael Naïm 

GENRE CHARACTERISTICS

            The dress sense in this video is sustained to each person; it doesn't change throughout. This is evident as Yael Naïm wears the same blue striped dress from beginning to end. It's the same with the 'strange' characters who wear odd things and hold odd items, maybe to imply the imagination of the singer? The tune of the song has a very happy but melancholic tone, it has an upbeat piano rhythm with new instruments being introduced through the course of the song. This is evident when a character is shown walking through a field with what looks like a trombone/trumpet, this instrument is then introduced into the song. The cinematography presents a very positive and child-like atmosphere. This is obvious as we are given a bright sunny day and a nice lake with a fancy floating room in the middle, which counts for the child-like factor as the rooms walls fall down and reveal a surrounding lake, which implies the fun imagination of the artist as she then encounters the strange characters and an upbeat, positive ending. The location basically speaks for itself as it much resembles the typical indie genre; a nice wide open space that is empty and seemingly imaginary characters begin to appear. The location is quite easy to tie in with the lyrics, especially here, as the room is floating on a lake. Could that mean something?

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS?

              'Im a new soul, I came to this strange world, hoping I could learn a bit 'bout how to give and take.' These lyrics do coincide with the visuals, as the events in the video are certainly odd, with what looks like imaginary characters and the imaginary demolition of a room floating on a lake. This straight away gives us the idea that she has certainly come to a 'strange world.' Apparently the lyrics are about Yael Naïm moving from Isreal to America, so the big cities and the people is like a whole new world to her, hence the song title 'New Soul.'

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN MUSIC AND VISUALS?

               The only relationship between the music and the visuals is that both are upbeat and represented very positively, such as the bright sunny day and the colourful clothes worn by the strange characters. 

ARE THERE CLOSE-UPS OF THE ARTIST AND STAR IMAGE MOTIFS?

               The camera does close in on the artists face on occasion, but there isn't a strong sense of relation of thematic elements between this video and the artists other works, so her work doesn't exactly harbour a known artists trademark. There is, however, a similarity in the sound of the music, as her other single 'Toxic' is very slow and melancholic, much like a few parts in 'New Soul.' Her other video 'Go To The River' has little to no relation in thematic elements with this video. The location, costume, cinematography and the tune are almost completely different compared to the cheerful video.

IS THERE REFERENCE TO THE NOTION OF LOOKING?

ARE THERE INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES?

                As long as I know, there isn't any intertextual references in this video, as the lyrics just reflect a new world to the artist, and the video embodies that with imaginary characters and falling walls and floating rooms. There isn't any reference to other texts or other works in general. Maybe there will be, but if so, it's certainly subtle.

IS THE VIDEO CATEGORY ILLUSTRATION, DISJUNCTURE OR AMPLIFICATION? HOW MUCH?

               This video is probably 30% Disjuncture and 70% Amplification. Disjuncture because we already know that this world is 'new' to the artist, so strange and odd things occur in a positive and happy sense because it's a whole new world and she doesn't know what it would hold for her. This leads to the amplification side, as the odd occurrences, such as the room dismantling into a floating wooden raft on the lake and the strange characters are just subtle metaphors for her own impression on moving to a different and bigger place: the people she'll meet and being able to keep afloat in this world etc.

THE VIDEO- http://youtu.be/XgEfYGzojcA

Music Video Analysis 102

Name Of Song- Life is Life

Artist- Noah & the Whale

GENRE CHARACTERISTICS

            As mentioned before in '101,' the costumes, the cinematography, tune and location are the characteristics of the indie/alternative genre. In this music video, I found that the costumes are still not vast but also not so diverse for this genre, as the band wear suits and the main girl who runs is wearing what looks like a PE Uniform. The cinematography here is much more varied, as the lighting is (seems very) natural and bright, which is reflected by the tune of the song, which is very upbeat and cheerful despite the lyrics being a tad darker, such as 'he took up all his old things, and set 'em all on fire.' The location used is rather typical of this genre as well, because it's using mostly one single location, even though it's a wide open setting on a long street with a school field and houses that run along it, eventually leading to an airport hangar then to a hot air balloon.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS?

             The only noticeable connection between the lyrics and visuals is a very large section of the video shown as a metaphor for putting away your old life and chasing a better one. This is shown with the very beginning scene of the girl dropping the slice of watermelon (could that resemble manufactured happiness; the slice looking as though it creates a smile if held to the face?) and screaming, as though she's letting everything go; her old life. The line 'left his house at midnight, resolute and young. In search of something greater than the person he'd become.' This is obviously reflecting the girl throughout the whole video running in a visually straight line, eventually passing everything and into a hot air balloon, as though she's off to find a new life.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND VISUALS?

              The music here is very upbeat, which ties in with the bright sunny day and the bright clothes. It sort of becomes the epitome of a warm day for the video, as the beat at the very beginning plays along the girl running, which gives it a lively feel to it.

ARE THERE CLOSE-UPS OF THE ARTIST AND STAR IMAGE MOTIFS?

              There aren't close-ups of the artist, as the band is shown from many mid-shots maybe to allow the bright and sunny background to be shown. However, motifs are evident, such as the suits they wear, which are also in their other single 'L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N, where they sit in a gloomy bar with black suits.

IS THERE REFERENCE TO THE NOTION OF LOOKING?

ARE THERE INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES?

              There seems to be no intertextual references to books, other music or other works, which shows the video as being more of a genuine indie video.

IS THE VIDEO CATEGORY ILLUSTRATION, DISJUNCTURE OR AMPLIFICATION? HOW MUCH?

             The video is probably 85% amplification and 15% disjuncture. Amplification because almost the whole video resembles the lyrics, but not in an illustrious fashion, more of a semantic fashion. We see the girl running to a location undisclosed until the end, but we know that she's running after a new life as she took apart her old life and 'set it all on fire' and she's 'gonna change' and she feels like her 'new life can start, and it feels like heaven,' possibly resembling the bright sunny day and going up into the hot air balloon at the end. It's also a quarter disjuncture because some of the allegory is so subtle that you may be wrong in thinking you've interpreted it right. Such examples are the shots of the cheerleaders and of the band, which is a normal element of any video anyway.

THE VIDEO- http://youtu.be/6HKdXbTI49U

Analysis Of A Music Video From An Independent Artist

To prepare for the planning of my music video of 'Them Heavy People' by Kate Bush, I need to be able to analyse another indie artists music video, so I can get a clear idea of what the music and video of this particular genre consists of in terms of features, like sound, costume, production design, location etc. I will analyse the video for:

           'Fallen Trees' by Saint Saviour

Here is a perfect example of what indie music videos feature. 'Fallen Trees' begins with a close-up shot of the artist, Saint Saviour, as she begins her song with just one camera shot directed at her when she sings. Throughout the whole video, there are very few different shots, such as side shots, mid and long shots and shots that follow the artists movements. The limits of these shots contribute to how an indie music video is defined, as the camera never veers away into unneeded establishing shots of sparkling images. The same can be said with the cinematography of the video, as it is clear that there is no evidence of post-production editing, yet maybe apart from a possible change in brightness. It basically shows that the artist and the cameraman went out and filmed the video and used whatever was already there without need of adding effects inappropriate to the song. In most larger-budgeted music videos from big, well known artists (who in my opinion are much less talented than the independent singers, who write and help produce their own work without needing a dozen big-time producers), the use of props can either heighten or worsen the videos intended effect, but with an independent video, we, the audience, are presented with a video that focuses more on the song meaning than on the surrounding colourful visual aspects and large items that get needlessly thrown around to insinuate fun, but it ends up looking silly. However this isn't to say that indie artists never use colour in their videos, as with Marina & the Diamonds and her 'Oh No!' video, which has a pop-art effect. In the 'Fallen Trees' video, the only noticeable props are two sets of black balloons, each set tied to each hand of the artist as she sways with the balloons. The use of these balloons can convey much more meaning than thinking that they're just there for effect. Is she trying to fly away from something? Why are the balloons black? Now to analyse the use of location. As I said before; the indie artists use whatever there is in the shots of their videos, so here is a wide open space that looks countryside-like or even coastal or looking as if it was filmed on the top of a cliff. Juxtaposed to the more well known music vids by more well known artists, Saint Saviour's 'Fallen Trees' strives for effect from its music and visuals, and not glamour, like many chart toppers try to achieve instead just to get a larger target audience. When a big artist makes a music video, the budget is much bigger, so the idea of being able to put almost anything into a video from the budget gives it a bigger chance to ruin the song with irrelevant uses of over-the-top cheesiness and special effects. The same applies for the film industry. 

       These features that I have analysed should now help me get further with my own my own music video of Kate Bushe's 'Them Heavy People.' Hopefully it should go well. In my next blog I'll share the first stages of my planning for the music video. If you want to view Saint Saviour's 'Fallen Trees,' you can find it here at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHUr7KfD8WY

My Five Potential Songs for my Music Video

Because I prefer the Indie genre of music, here are the five songs I would like to make into a video:

Florence & the Machine- Cosmic Love

The amazing beat of the drums in Florence's colourful, imaginative and allegorical song is enough to make me want to make a video of it, despite it being already a music video. The song builds up many times to the chorus, which bursts into a set of completely booming and exciting drum rhythms. The song is fantastic and fantastical.

Florence & the Machine- Howl

The perfect oppurtunity to film a video of this dark and haunting song in the woods, as it would perfectly reflect the animalistic symbolism in the song. This would be an amazing song to do a video for, and luckily it's not been made into one. So, hurrah.

Kate Bush- Them Heavy People

'Rolling the ball!' From the weird and the wonderful Kate Bush, this song is absolutely excellent. And making the video would create a strong accessible point for me: express the weirdness. Catchy, weird, symbolic and just plain fun, this song is a classic and should be listened to by everyone. If I made a video for this, then hopefully encouragement would follow.

Noah & The Whale- L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.

An instantly likeable song that raises the spirit if you're feeling down. So making a video surrounding this song would require the implication of a negative atmosphere being overthrown and replaced with a positive atmosphere everytime the chorus plays. A truly remarkable song.


Of Monsters & Men- Mountain Sound

A great, merry indie song. The video for this would require a lot of nature and open spaces to be able to express the song and its harmonic and upbeat tune. This is probably the least depressing video I have considered to make haha.

   A possible, but limited option, could be 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' by Edvard Grieg. The complete lack of lyrics would be what would make the video limited in perspective, but it would certainly have an element of mischief and a sneaky, sly atmosphere.

One of My Originally Chosen Music Video Songs

And the chosen song is...

'THEM HEAVY PEOPLE' BY KATE BUSH

My reason for this song to be chosen for my music video is because, like I've mentioned, I can express my weird'ry' on film. The idea of somebody attempting to stay inside their head and avoid the world's indifferences with the person who is the central subject in the video is a strong point for me. The song is weird, so the video will be. The song has allegory (symbolism/meanings), so I would try to put as much of it in the video as possible so that it could reflect the song. Who are 'them heavy people'? Why was she 'hiding in a room in my mind'? It'd be the most fun song to video, but nevertheless it would also be quite challenging in terms of location and also trying to crack as much of the meanings as possible so the video would fit the song. I will start planning for my music video very soon. Here is the link for the video for 'Them Heavy People', http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfNtPbHkp0U 

 

"They arrived at an inconvenient time. I was hiding in a room in my mind."

Common Features of Music Videos from Independent Artists

Most Indie bands/artists seem to follow a certain common feature in their videos from several different aspects, or sub-categories. I created a one-page slide on 'Photovisi', where I included these features. They were:

Subliminal Messages
The hidden meanings, euphemisms and semantics in the video. Can be quite hard to notice.


Costume & Make-up
Alternative costumes, that seem to have a sort of 70's, hippy vibe, but not all Indie videos have this.

Hairstyles
More diverse than normal if presented as a ratio. These normally detach the Indie genre from all the other glamorous, tiring hairstyles of the mainstream music artists. This is what defines Independent music as its own style.

Locations
Regularly fields, forests, villages, locales, or anything that is either outside in the country (or a countryside feel), or in a local place.

Regionality (of the artists)
Instead of being just one nationality, Independent artists are very widespread in terms of their regionality. Wales, Iceland etc.


Imagery
Regularly surreal imagery to help with the allegorical aspects of the music videos.