2. Purpose
The idea of a music video is to sell the song and promote the artist. It also makes the song more
memorable. If the video were to be clever or creative, the song would be even more popular.
Some songs are well known because of their video.
It helps the audience understand the song better by showing a visual narrative. By also
creating a narrative, the audience can relate to the song and the artist better.
A not well known band can do a cover of a well known popular song and do a video
for it to make themselves popular.
If there were to be an unknown artist featured in the video of a popular artist, they would
be noticed and could become popular as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvtNS6hbVy4
Deadmau5 featuring Chris James is an example of this. Chris James wasn’t a well known artist before he became featured in ‘The Veldt’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTAAsCNK7RA
This is the Okay Go video for ‘Here It Goes Again’. The music video is memorable and makes you want to listen to the song because it reminds
you of the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGwZ7MNtBFU&list=PL1487B0A90D0B66E5&index=2&feature=plpp_video
This music video of Gwen Stefani’s ‘Cool’ tells a story of her meeting her ex boyfriend’s new fiancé
and her having parallel editing flashbacks of their time together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSvjoiyT6CQ
This is the band we have chosen for our music video. They have a cover of ‘Someone Like You’
originally by Adele. This is the video for their covered version.
3. MusicVideo 1
Till We Drop - Someone Like You (Adele Cover)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSvjoiyT6CQ
It starts off with a sped up sunrise over Budapest where the
band is originally from. It then fades out to the band playing
their instruments. It goes back forth from a storyline of the lead
singer to the whole band playing.
The genre is a mixture of pop, punk and rock because it is
a cover of an original soul-pop song.
The style of the music video is live action
with no animation or CGI involved. The
video consists of the band playing in front of
a crowd with a storyline cutting in between.
The video consists of a band playing to a small
crowd with a parallel storyline about the lead
singer, Peter. He wakes up in a park and walks
around to find the band. It cuts back and forth
from the band to the storyline throughout the
video until Peter finds his way to the band. He
has a Steadicam on while walking around to
show a close up of his reactions as he runs
around Budapest. It jump cuts to him in a
deep fountain with an underwater camera.
Wires are wrapped around him and stopping
him from resurfacing. He becomes free and
breaks through the water’s surface catching
his breath. This scene represents his passion
for music and how it is restrained.
Jump cuts are at the start of the video for every 4 beats
to go with the music pace. It then goes to a long shot of
the storyline where the singer is sitting up in a park.
They use a Steadicam in this video when the lead singer
is looking for the band. It shows his journey at an up
close angle. It has the camera shaking to the beat of the
music as a general rock music convention when the
band is together in the break down. It also has a varied
amount of shots such as low angle, panning, Steadicam,
long shot and many more. It uses a number of editing
techniques such as jump cuts, fade in and out, parallel
editing and other varied ones. Most of the editing is
done to the beat of the music and to suit the storyline.
This song and video has an appeal to their audience
because it is a cover of a well known international
song. It is a rock version which appeals to a wider
audience who are interested in rock. It also appeals
to Adele fans which gives the band more coverage
and makes them become more popular because
they are not a well known band.
In typical rock music videos, there is usually
parallel editing between a storyline and the
band; this video follows this convention.
Another convention that rock videos have is
the camera shaking. During a break down of
the song where the beat is heavy, the camera
shakes to the rhythm of the double bass. The
video also cuts to the beat in certain parts
which is also another well known technique
in rock music videos. In rock music, there
can be parts of the song where a crowd is
singing the lyrics with with just the drums
playing.
4. MusicVideo II
Chunk! No Captain Chunk! - "In Friends We Trust”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBNSZQvP1PU
It starts with a camera angle outside a street with a foot
hanging out of a car window. It cuts to the different band
members sleeping in the car. It cuts to different people passed
out on the ground to show that it is after the party. It jump
cuts to a garden full of people jumping to the beat of the music
to show a party atmosphere. The band is playing their
instruments with the crowd of young people surrounding
them. The whole video consists of the band playing in front of
this crowd. It ends with the video fading out into a blur and
showing a band member sleeping in a bed. He awakes and is
frightened by a man in a spiderman costume watching him
sleep.
The genre of this band is pop-punk and portrays the conventional effects in
average rock videos.
The first long shot of the band members foot outside of the car is
one of the longest shots in the video. The rest of the song jump cuts
to the beat of the music. Even the start, where no music is playing,
the video cuts to different people quickly with a red and yellow
colour flair every cut. It then blurs to the band playing in front of a
crowd. It then cuts to split screen of different angles and different
people jumping around to show that a lot of things are going on.
The members of the band change clothes every few jump cuts. A
few jump cuts or so, the red and yellow flair is shown, this could be
to make the party seem like a memory. The video also cuts to
daytime and night to show the length of the party. There are
different shots to show the perspective of different people such as a
long shot showing at the start, the high angle shot showing the
people on the floor and the multiple shots of the band playing.
The appeal of the video is the way the band are having fun and partying
with a crowd of people while playing live music. The way the band is
portrayed is fun and wild.
There are conventions in this music video such as a crowd surrounding the
band as they play and the video jump cutting to the beat of the song. This
band uses a colour change as some parts of a transition to another scene.
The screen makes a quick flash of an orangey-yellow colour, which looks
almost like a flare of the camera to transfer from one jump cut to the other.
Some other bands do this in other videos.
5. Magazine Advert IThe colour scheme of the advert is a dark
setting to go with the theme of the bands
departure. It goes with the caption
‘Believers Never Die’ to represent the
‘death’ of the band. The white writing is
there to stand out but it could also
represent some hope that the band could
get back together.
The band that is advertised is ‘on a break’ and the
representation of the two skeletons holding hands could
mean that the band will never stop loving the fans. Or it
could represent the band and the music never parting
even though the band could be ‘dead’. The caption on
the top,‘Believers never Die’, explains the image for the
audience. It looks as if the skeletons are in a teenagers
bedroom because of the shoes, the open record, the
clothes on the floor and the guitar laying on the floor.
This relates to the teenage audience the band has been
aiming for.
Fall Out Boy: Greatest Hits
The layout of the advert is simple yet
effective because it shows the
information needed but it isn’t covered
in writing and displays the image in the
right way. The advert would stand out
in a magazine because of the layout
and the fact it is a popular band that
have fans who want them to get back
together.
The purpose of the magazine advert is to
advertise the popular band’s greatest hits.
Fall Out Boy are still popular and the
hope that they may get back together is
still being held on to by the fans. Which
means that all the advert needs to say is
Fall Out Boy and it will be noticed
immediately by the fans.
The target audience for the band and for the advert
are teenagers and adults who are fans of Fall Out
Boy. This advert is most likely to be advertised in
rock music magazines such as ‘Kerrang!’.
The genre of the band is pop-
punk and the advert portrays
that.
There are some codes and conventions
of this advert such as the dark setting to
represent the music and meaning and
the way it is laid out.
6. Magazine Advert II
This band is classed as rock punk
and the advertisement reflects
their music and the stereotypical
genre.
The colour scheme represents the
music’s meaning and theme. The
black and white theme shows the
simplicity of the album, how music
and community can be as easy as
black and white.
Blink 182: Neighborhood
The image of the buildings spelling ‘Blink 182‘ in
a strange font shows the simplicity and
uniqueness of the album as well as the band. It’s
different from their other posters and themes
because they are usually colourful. This could
also show a contrast in their music.
The layout of the advert is simple and
easy to remember. The black outlined
border makes it look as if the main image
is coming out of the page. The writing on
the bottom is in a backwards random
font to show the quirkiness and ‘random’
nature of the band. It shows all the
details it needs to so it can be read
quickly and easily. The writing also stands
out from any other poster or album
which makes it even more memorable
and unique.
The target audience for the poster and
the band are teenagers interested in
punk music and who are fans of Blink
182. They already have a worldwide
fanbase so this poster is for them. This
advert would be found in music
magazines such as Kerrang!, Q or
NME.
There are certain conventions this advert
has followed such as the dark contrasting
colours to reflect the music and the band.
The drawing of the buildings can also be a
convention because drawings are quite
common in punk band albums and adverts.
7. Album Cover Artwork I
D.R.U.G.S: Destroy Rebuild Until God ShowsThe colours of the album cover artwork reflects the
band’s name and album title. The drawing and idea of
the album cover makes it seem like the album is a
drug user’s imagination. The sunrising or sunsetting
sky in the background of the ripped hole makes the
land behind look appealing and enticing. The
cobwebbed dress, the spiders, and the eye on the
cloud above gives the artwork a sense of creepiness.
The long spider-like fingers coming out of the rip
make it seem as if the ‘creature’ is coming out of the
page. This gives a trippy illusion to the viewer and
also adds to the ‘drug’ effect. the white around the
hole could represent the innocence of someones
mind and the way drugs or insanity is trying to rip
through the innocence which gives the album cover,
the songs and the band a deeper meaning and
connection to the audience. The eye on the cloud
looks almost scared of the ‘creature’ and it looks as if
it is smiling evilly directly at the viewer.
The colour and font of the title at
the top of the album makes the
album seem more sophisticated. This
album cover is well thought out
because if the writing was in black, it
would take away some of the focus
on the image itself so with it being a
greyish-green colour it shows that
the writing doesn’t want to take the
spotlight as well as being noticeable
and readable.
The image is extremely eye-catching and
memorable to anyone in who sees it, even if
they are not interested in rock music. If it was
seen in a music shop, it would be something
that would intrigue the audience. The image
reflects the music so if the album cover is
interesting, then the audience makes the
automatic assumption that the music must be
interesting.
The band’s music relates to
the audience. They aim for a
young audience form
teenagers to adults who can
relate to some lyrics in the
album.
The genre of music is rock
and appeals to the generation
of today.
There are some stereotypical
traits the album cover has
supported such as the colours
representing the music and the
meaning of the lyrics.
8. Album Cover Artwork II
The band’s genre is rock and
appeals it their target audience
which are teenagers and young
adults who are interested in
rock music and the meaningful
lyrics.
There are some conventions to this
artwork such as the darkness representing
the music ad the outstanding title to
attract the audience and catch their eye.
A Day To Remember: Homesick
The colours of the album artwork reflects the
band and the genre of music they produce.
Blue can represent sadness and purple can
mean strength in some cultures and the way
they combine together can represents the
band’s meaning. White writing is not only
there to stand out but can also represent
innocence and good and the way the
silhouetted man is facing towards the light can
show that he is trying to get out of the
darkness and into the light. The forest looks
almost like a fairytale forest, not an innocent
‘Disney’ forest but the original scary fairytales
which were made to scare children. This is
what the forest reminds me of, a creepier,
original tale of ‘Alice in Wonderland’. The
band’s music is about these kind of ‘finding
yourself’ problems and overcoming them. This
is why the artwork represents the music of
the band.
The image shows a man standing in a
strange forest, he forest could
represent the person’s mind and a
way of trying to fight through his
‘forest of fear’. The writing’s innocent
colour shows the ‘light’. There are
branches on parts of the letters and
each end is slightly darkened which
could mean that the fear is trying to
take over the innocence which
reflects the song lyrics and the band’s
lyrical intentions.
9. Conclusion
From this research, I have learnt the variety of options I have for the planning of my own
product. It has made me think of the message I want to give my audience, who my audience are
going to be and how they would react to certain videos, scenes and genres. I have researched
the different micro elements in my chosen genre’s music videos to see what shot types and
editing techniques are conventional. I have looked into the conventions and semiotics of this
genre in videos as well as posters, CD’s and digipaks to get ideas on what my audience would be
expecting from this type of video. I also analysed the artwork of my chosen CD front covers to
think about the representation and semiotics of the artwork. This has helped me to think of
what my artwork would mean to the audience if they were to analyse it like I am.
As a group, Martin and I have decided to do a song by Till We Drop,
which is the band we did an analysis on. We researched other bands
like this one to get a good idea of what our audience wants.
We chose this genre of music because Martin and I are more familiar with this
genre. We know some conventions, related bands, this type of audience and we
can use our own music knowledge to create what we would want to see, as we
are part of the target audience.
10. Conclusion
From this research, I have learnt the variety of options I have for the planning of my own
product. It has made me think of the message I want to give my audience, who my audience are
going to be and how they would react to certain videos, scenes and genres. I have researched
the different micro elements in my chosen genre’s music videos to see what shot types and
editing techniques are conventional. I have looked into the conventions and semiotics of this
genre in videos as well as posters, CD’s and digipaks to get ideas on what my audience would be
expecting from this type of video. I also analysed the artwork of my chosen CD front covers to
think about the representation and semiotics of the artwork. This has helped me to think of
what my artwork would mean to the audience if they were to analyse it like I am.
As a group, Martin and I have decided to do a song by Till We Drop,
which is the band we did an analysis on. We researched other bands
like this one to get a good idea of what our audience wants.
We chose this genre of music because Martin and I are more familiar with this
genre. We know some conventions, related bands, this type of audience and we
can use our own music knowledge to create what we would want to see, as we
are part of the target audience.
