3. Album Front Cover
We have made the Artist name large and bold off centre. This is usually a conventional
feature with the artists name. We chose this font because it stands out and is clear to
the audience. However, as we are going for a calm look the font isn’t too harsh.
We made the title of our Album
the same font as the artists name.
This is to keep it bold and stand
out. This is following the usual
conventions of an album cover.
We have kept the background
simple yet effective. This is so the
album cover links to our chilled
out, smooth, innocent character
that we are going for. We looked
at many other artists in the same
genre and they also had a very
simple background to make the
viewers get drawn in straight to
the subject (being the artist) and
feel the emotion coming off the
page.
We were going for the
singer/songwriter genre. This
is why we just have our artist’s
face in the cover. This is so
when the audience see our
cover they will know what this
album involves.
Having our album cover in black
and white portrays the emotions
and calm atmosphere in which
we want to create for our artist.
Many singer/songwriters have
their albums in black and white
such as : Jason Mraz, Jake Bugg
and Laura Mvula. Therefore
showing we are using the forms
and conventions of an album
cover for our suited genre.
Having just the artists face on the cover is very
much so following the forms and conventions of a
singer/songwriter genre.
4. Album Comparison
As with our Album
cover, James Blunt has
used the same font for
his Artist name and for
the Album Title. Both
titles are Large and bold
which stand out to the
viewers and grab their
attention.
The background is kept
simple and clean. James
blunt is a
singer/songwriter.
Having a simple
background shows off the
fact that he’s calm and
collected and there is
nothing to distract the
viewers away from his
face and emotion.
When we looked at this album
cover we thought just having
the face was effective and
really expressed how James is
a singer/songwriter. It shows
off the fact that he has a calm,
innocent atmosphere which is
what we wanted to follow.
This is us following the forms
and conventions for a
singer/songwriter.
5. Album Back Cover
We have used a standard
number of tracks which most
CDs use. This is also showing
how we are being
conventional. If we were
challenging conventions we
would only have a few tracks.
However, we have used a
different font for the tracks as
the font on the front page for
the titles of the Album cover
and the Artist name. This is
challenging conventions
especially as
singer/songwriters like to
keep their covers simple and
clean without different fonts. I
chose this font because I
thought it was simple yet not
too bold. I didn’t want it to be
too bold as I thought it could
be slightly too overpowering
being the same font as the
front cover.
By keeping the panels all the same by keeping everything black and white is following
conventions. This gives us the look we are aiming for. Simple, clean, organised yet
effective. Keeping a constant theme makes the album cover link to the rest of our work
by having a down to earth artist.
By having a piano on the back
cover suggests to the viewers
that this artist is a
singer/songwriter. It also
proves that the artist is
organic and is in the business
because they have a huge
passion for music. This is
following typical conventions
for this genre.
A barcode is found on all
album covers for sale.
Following conventions.
This is a typical licensing agreement which
is standard for all CD cases. This is us using
forms and conventions with our products.
6. Album Comparison
We looked very closely to
Seal as he is a very similar
artist to ours. This album
back cover is very simple
only having a photograph of
Seal’s face. This attracts the
viewers attention because it’s
him by himself portraying
the image that he is a solo
artist. This Album Cover is
following the forms and
conventions of an organic
singer/songwriter.
Following conventions as barcodes
are on all albums for sale.
Seals album also has quite a
few tracks showing what a
conventional album back
cover looks like. Most albums
have up to 20 songs on the
back. Seal also has the same
font used for these tracks as
well as the font on his front
cover. This is keeping a
constant theme with his
panels for his album.
Licensing agreements have to be on the back of any album cover.
We saw the way Seal laid his out and we thought it looked very
tidy and neat. Looking at other artists as well we chose to follow
the forms and conventions of a typical singer/songwriter genre
7. Our Website
By researching similar artist’s
websites we came to a
conclusion that most
singer/songwriters have
their title off centre so that
their other sub genres have
more space. We followed this
making sure that we were
following the forms and
conventions to a typical
website for an artist.
We decided to have our
website in black and
white so that it would fit
with the digipak and
keep a constant theme
within our products.
However, we challenged
conventions but breaking
that theme in having our
video in colour.
It is conventional in a
website to have tour dates,
News, Photographs and
twitter feeds. You can also
have ‘Join The Mailing List’
which many websites for
nearly every genre of music
has. With most
singer/songwriter websites
you see photographs to
show you how calm and
genuine this artist is.
Most singer/Songwriters
have two columns on
their websites. This is so
you can see the image on
the background. This is
us following the
conventions in doing a
similar thing so that the
fans for this genre will
also like our website.
8. WEBSITE COMPARISON
This bar is standard for
most artist websites. This
is so the audience can see
everything they are
looking for and go into
different sections of the
website.
On nearly every artists
website we looked at the
artist had news about
what they are doing and
what dates they are doing
concerts or tours. This is
so that the fans who
follow these artists can
look on the website, see
when they are and then
book tickets. Many fans
love knowing what their
artist is up to and doing
I researched James
Morrison when we were
looking into our website.
Here you can see that
James also has his title off
centre. In this case it’s so
that we can see the
photograph of his face.
He also has the Facebook,
Myspace, Youtube and
Twitter icons on the top
bar which is what we
have. This shows we are
using and following
forms and conventions.
As you can clearly see
James Morrison follows
the forms and
conventions of a
singer/songwriter.
Most artists in this
genre have their most
recent video on their
homepage.
9. Camera
Extreme Close Up
We used an Extreme Close Up of our artist face whilst he
was singing because this was to help build recognition of
our artists star image. As you can see this is a very calm
laid back performance. He has emotion on his face linking
the music with the lyrics and what they mean. Shows this
is obviously not a pop video. This is us following
conventions of this type of genre.
Mid Shot
Wide Shot
We used a Mid Shot in our video to show the audience our
artists body language and costume. You can see that he’s
looking down at something which quite clearly represents
a piano as of the music. You can also see he is a very
organic artist by what he is wearing. This shows the
audience he is in this industry for his love of music not for
himself. You can also see that he is a very innocent
character.
This is a wide shot but is is also a tracking shot. This is to
show we are following him and listening very carefully to
his lyrics and what he is saying. We also used wide shots to
show the audience where he is and what the location is
like. This is to show the piano and all the props around
him. This is all very conventional in a music video of our
genre. However, we are being unconventional in the way
that our video is upside down.
10. Camera Comparison - Seal
Extreme Close Up
Mid Shot
Wide Shot
For our comparison for camera one of the
artists we looked at was Seal. It is standard
for most music videos to use a variety of
different shots. Most music videos use
Extreme Close ups, Close ups, Mid shots
and Wide shots. We wanted to use these
shots to get the audience to connect with
our artist and to follow whats happening in
our video. In Seals video he has also used
these shots to build up a recognition of his
star image. Seal has also used these close up
shots to emphasise the link with the music
and the lyrics. He had used the mid shot
like we have to so the body language and
the costume in which he has on. This will
show what kind of character he is and what
emotions he is portraying. In his wide shots
this is just to show his location so that the
audience can relate to where he is. This
shows who they are and what they are like.
It shows the artist in their domaine. Seal is
following the forms and conventions just
like we are for the typical camera shots used
in a music video.
11. Editing
Lip Sync
We had a lip sync of this backing singer who sings the girls
part. This connected her with the audience. This is to mimic
a live performance. As the camera is in a close up it also
helps the audience to feel the lyrics and to connect with the
song.
Transition Editing - Scene Change
We edited the shots in a fade transition from one scene to
the other. This is to make the audience feel as though they
are floating and in a dreamy scene just like our artist is in
the video. This is so the audience can see the full wide shot
of all the scenes.
Cutting to the beat
We cut from different scenes along with the beat as our
video had many pronounced beats within the song.
Therefore, we highlighted this and edited to different scenes
on the beat to make the video more interesting. This is to
keep the audience intrigued in our video. Most artists cut to
the beat, it’s a very standard procedure in a music video.
This is to give the audience a new feel.
12. Editing Comparison - Lemar
Lip Sync
Transition Editing - Scene Change
Cutting to the beat
Lemar was one of the artists we searched for
editing. Having an extreme close up whilst
the artist is lip syncing makes the audience
feel connect to the artist and feel as though
they are with the artist. Especially with the
singer/songwriter genre it makes the
audience feel and relate to the lyrics of the
song. Having the transition scene where
Lemar stands up out of his own body and
then cuts to a different scene makes the
audience know they are following him and
his every move. This is also so that the
audience can see the set of where he is.
Cutting to the beat of the song emphasises
the rhythm and whole atmosphere of the
song. It makes a change and makes the video
all the more exciting and not boring. This will
keep the audience interested and stay
focused in whats going on. This is all very
conventional in a music video. As Lemar did
this so well we thought we would look at his
as we looked into his videos quite deeply
when we were researching artists.
13. Lighting
We used artificial lighting
because we wanted the room
dark but particular items
highlighted. This is because
we wanted to give our artist a
glow of perfection, innocence
and a sense of smoothness
around him. This is to show
the unthreatening character
that he is, we want to show
that our artist is very genuine
and has a huge passion for
music. Many artists we
searched had their videos in
black and white. However,
we found a few with artificial
lighting which is why we
chose to do this. This lighting
also helps create the tones,
shadows and atmosphere of
the while video. Showing that
it’s all very relaxing and safe.
14. Lighting Comparison - Lemar
Lemar had used artificial lighting in one
of his music videos and it was really
well done. Therefore, we decided to
take this into account for our own
video. The artificial lighting gives
Lemar a glow of perfection and makes
him look innocent and passionate about
music which is exactly what we wanted
for our artist. The lighting also helps
create tones and atmospheres for what
the music video is about. These lights
make the video look very safe and
unthreatening. We wanted our video to
be like this and make the viewers
connect with the smoothness of the
video and relate to the easy, genuine
character that these artists are. This is
why we searched Lemar. The lighting in
this video is vert conventional for this
image and look and that is exactly what
we were trying to create. Therefore, we
are following the use of forms and
conventions with a singer/songwriter
genre.
15. Props
Metronome
We used a metronome in the foreground of our music
video because we wanted this to be the only prop moving.
This was to symbolize what was going on around the
room. Everything else in the room is floating as if a bomb
has gone off yet this is the only prop still moving. This is
us trying to get across the sad emotion that something bad
has happened.
Sink
As props is our main thing in our music video we had to
make the audience know what was going on and which
set they were in. This is why we have a sink in the
‘Bathroom’ so that the audience knew where they are.
Singer/songwriters always try and get certain things
across in their videos and this is hat we were trying to do.
this is what makes our video original how everything is
floating.
Piano
We included a piano because our artist is a singer/
songwriter. Instruments are not only symbolic but they
also link into a distinct category of the genre that we are
aiming for. Not many videos have pianos in unless they
are classical or singer/songwriter. This is to show who are
artist is and what genre we are proving to the audience
and how we are putting this across.
16. Props Comparison - Simon Webbe
We searched Simon Webbe as one
of our many artists for Props. In
this video of Simon’s he has a
microphone which symbolises the
fact that he is a musician and an
organic
artist.
The
guitar
symbolises that he is a real
musician and has a great passion
for music. This is all done to let the
audience know this is all done by
him and that the audience should
follow him and feel connected with
his lyrics. You can see that Simon is
trying to get this across to the
audience that he is a real musician
and that he has a great amount of
love for what he does. All of these
are very symbolic and fit into
distinct categories that link to the
singer/songwriter genre. This is
why we looked at Simon as he is
very conventional and this is the
look we were aiming for.
17. Sets and Locations
Main Performance
This is our main performance set. Our main artist just stays in
this location. This is so the audience can relate to the music and
lyrics and not have the distraction of following round different
sets. Sets and locations in a music video establish the domain of
the artist and where they belong.
Bathroom
This is our bathroom set. This is to show the different scenes
within our video. The actress in this scene lip syncs to the
woman’s part of the song. This give the audience a glimpse of
what else is going on around the video and what the meaning is
behind it. As you can see in the bathroom everything is floating
in the air along with the sink. This relates to the lyrics and
shows that something has gone wrong. As though a bomb has
gone off.
Sitting Room
This our final scene of a sitting room. This actor doesn’t move or
lip sync. These scenes allow the audience to connect with the
artist and see what his life is like which is cherished by fans.
Some of the fans will be able to connect to this if their house has
been affected by a bomb or by anything that has gone wrong.
All of our scenes are conventional in the way that we are
connecting the artist with the audience.
18. Sets and Locations Comparison - John Legend
John Legend was a very good artist to use
for sets and locations. This is because he
has three different sets just like we do in
our video. He has the performance which
shows the piano which portrays the fact
that he is an organic genuine artist. The
video always cross cuts back to the
performance to show that we are
following him and so that the audience
can relate to the meaning and emotions in
the lyrics. Many artists use different sets
so that there is a different story line
behind each set to keep the audience
entertain and to keep the video
interesting instead of being boring. Sets
and locations establish the domain of the
artist as to where they belong and who
they are. These scenes will feature
locations familiar to the target audience
to enable the audience to relate to the
artist. This is why we looked at John
Legends because his videos are perfect
for following the use of forms and
conventions for this genre of music.
