Artists Websites

 Similarities:

• Both websites advertise tour dates with locations.
• Both include a picture of the band/artist
• Both have links to social media
• Both advertise sale of merchandise 
• Both advertise to buy current songs that are popular
• 
  

Differences:

• Nicki has a very colourful website where as Oasis is based around dark colours.
• The name of the artist is in the biggest writing in her website where as the album name is the biggest writing in the bands website. 
• Oasis are wearing clothes that cover most there skin where as nicki is wearing a revealing top, this is trying to sell her sexually (scopophilia)
• The picture of the artist of oasis is based around them performing and playing music where as her picture is about just her with her low cut top and colourful outfit. Differences in approach. 

After analysing contrasting websites of organic and synthetic artists, i have come to the conclusion that i want my website/album cover to be organic rather than synthetic because fans of organic bands like them for what they produce rather than who they are. Synthetic artists have to reveal details about their personal life in order to gain followers and their fans are short term and grow up quickly where as an organic bands fans are mature and will still enjoy the music as they get older. Overall, it is a lot more reliable being a successful organic artist rather than synthetic because people like you for your unique music style where as with synthetic artists, someone cooler or better looking could come along and all your fans would disappear. 

Rule of Thirds and Album Covers

The rule of thirds is a concept in video and film production in which the frame is divided into into nine imaginary sections, as illustrated on the right. This creates reference points which act as guides for framing the image.

Points (or lines) of interest should occur at 1/3 or 2/3 of the way up (or across) the frame, rather than in the centre. Like many rules of framing, this is not always necessary (or desirable) but it is one of those rules you should understand well before you break it.

In most "people shots", the main line of interest is the line going through the eyes. In this shot, the eyes are placed approximately 1/3 of the way down the frame.

Depending on the type of shot, it's not always possible to place the eyes like this.

In this shot, the building takes up approximately 1/3 of the frame and the sky takes up the rest. This could be a weather shot, in which the subject is actually the sky.

The rule of thirds is interpreted differently by synthetic artists in comparison to organic. As seen here, this synthetic artist has based his album cover around his face as it is the biggest thing in the picture and is focused in the centre third where everyone looks first when they see a poster. This synthetic artist has chosen for it to be designed like this because the album is more about selling him as a person rather than his music. Him as a synthetic artist means that he is trying to sell his star image therefore to do this; he is exposing his shoulders so it is more revealing so people also buy his album because they are attracted to him in the cover. However, there is an argument that he does care about his music rather than his image because the whole upper third is album name and as nothing to do with his star image. 

This album cover conforms to the rule of thirds. This organic band show they are different through the placement of objects and titles in this cover. The middle third where people look first consists of a man sitting on the couch playing guitar. This is the major part of the cover and it connotes originality as they care about the music they make rather than their star image and how they are visually perceived. The use of the bold black and white in the top third shows that they want people to notice the album and band name as this is the reason they want to be well known. The colours contrast to the rest of the cover.  

Music Video Prelim Task

My group and I filmed our prelim music video on an iPhone using an app called video star. The reasoning for the app we chose was primarily because it was free which enables us to add filters and a song for no cost. As a group we chose to do the song ‘Rude’ by Magic, this was because we all liked the song and the meaning behind it, which made it easier to create the actual lip-synching video. This song was a good idea as it was a popular song and well known so we were able to know the words as well as knowing what it was about. We used Matthew as the male actor in our video because the singer is male in the actual song. The roles within our group were split so everyone had something to do which enabled us to work well as a group.

We used different shots like low angles to represent the power of the male in the video and the other male has a high angle to show that he was weaker and that the dad overpowers the boy. We used two spare actors in the video to make it more realistic that there were more people involved in the situation. For example the daughter/girlfriend. I think that both Matthew and I were good when we lip-synched, as it was our first time although there were bits out of sync. We chose ourselves as the actors because we are both males which enabled the task to make more sense due to the song is an argument between two men. This was a good draft as it enabled us to improve for our actual music video.

When filming we went around to a couple of different locations to give the video a setting as well as getting different lighting in the video. For our final task, we would have created a storyboard and planned the music video which we didn’t do as we didn’t have the allocated time given, which is why it was messy and bits were not in time.

Overall, I am very happy with how our first draft turned out as it enabled us to see what our music video should include and what it shouldn’t. I am able to benefit from it in the future like when we are planning our final video in advance and getting people to lip synch who are used to it (actors). This task taught me new skills and it enabled us to work as a group in an efficient way.

Analysing the Narrative in music videos

Chase and Status - Let you go

Equilibrium - hosting a show. watching others have problems and be miserable.

Disruption - Alcohol, Drugs and prostitution make us question his power

Acknowledgement - having a crash under the influence of alcohol and drugs

Attempt to restore - getting back on tv to watch people be miserable

New Equilibrium - repeating the cycle of being fine on tv and a mess outside of it.





Lady Gaga - Telephone 

Equilibrium - Entering prison, everyone is acting normal and getting along

Disruption - Getting out of prison, meeting up with beyonce and planning to kill people

Acknowledgement - Poising people in the diner

Attempt to restore - Kill the husband so they can ride off in the sunset together an friends

New Equilibrium - Ride off into the sunset however with the police chasing them. New criminal life.

Narrative Theories in Music Videos

Todorov - he proposes that all texts have a narrative structure. He states that there are 5 stages for each narrative structure and he analysed old Russian folk tales in order to demonstrate his theory. He argues that we have the following:

Equilibrium - normality at the beginning.

Disruption - event occurs to disrupt normality

Acknowledgement - when the main protagonist understands that he/she needs to do something in order to restore normality/equilibrium

Attempt to restore - the act of rectifying the disruption to restore equilibrium

New Equilibrium - The restoration of normality however due to the act or journey undertaken by the protagonist, this is a new normal as the old version no longer exists.

The narrative structures do not have to come in a specific order and can often start at the point of disruption or acknowledgement and then work in a non linear fashion towards the new equilibrium.

Vladamir Propp - Russian folklorist in the early 20th century.

he said that there are only ever 7 different character types that exist in literature

Hero
Donor
Helper
Villain
Princess
False Hero
Dispatcher

He added that it is not a necessity for all 7 types to appear in the plot but after analysing a range of different folk tales and literature observed that these 7 character types were the mainstays of all fiction and therefore media texts.

Enrique Iglesias - Hero

It starts at the point of disruption because the princess and the hero have run off together. Acknowledgement occurs when Enrique realises he needs to fight the villain to win the princess. He cannot escape the villain and restore equilibrium without fighting him first to win her and the money. Attempt to restore when they meet up in the desert and fight. Winner takes money however they are not aware that princess has called for the police but they do not get there in time and the hero dies therefore subverting stereotypes. New equilibrium is when the villain is arrested, the hero dies and the princess rides off in the sunset with her money.

Band of Horses - Dilly 

Heroes and Villains.

Equilibrium - riding on the bikes along the country road

Disruption - When they realise they are in the wrong place and are not liked and react in th wrong way, causing trouble.

Acknowledgement -  go into cafe and start shooting people so people call police on them. They realise they are in trouble so they try and ride away to escape prison

Attempt to restore - police catch them and do not let them leave when they are criminals

New Equilibrium - they ride off into the sunset on the country road however new normal is that they are now murderers.

Presentation on Goodwin's Research in Conventions of Music Videos

Analysing music Videos

This is the music video for the song "what do you mean'. The analysis will be according to Andrew Goodwin theory on the features of music Videos.

1.

Firstly we see a close up of Justin Bieber to show his star image and sell him as powerful and to act as a promotional tool for Him. This close up is shown alongside a high angle to show that he is the singer in the song and represents him as the star and to make the audience focus on him and his looks.

2.

Here, a wide shot is used to show a contrast between the two people shown in the shot, we see that the women in the back is not wearing any clothes. We can see that the women is showed in a more sexualised manner, of which this is done deliberately to attract a male audience to listen to this song. This shot also represents a gender inequality, allowing male views to objectify the female in the music Video, whilst the male artist retains more powerful.

3. 

this shot of Justin Bieber Kissing the girl is used to portray him as a sex symbol, it also is used to sell his star image and sell him and dominant and attractive. This also highlights the ideas of male gaze as 'sex sells'  and thus portraying him in a powerful manner. The colour within this image is a shade of red which connotes the idea of love, which again is used to match the performance to the narrative. The red colour is also used to portray the idea that he is no longer a teenager singer and is now grown up and dominant.

4. 

Here, Editing techniques such as cut to the beat and quick cuts are used to match the tempo with the visuals. 

5.  

discontinuity shows that the music is not working in order and keeps repeating the same scenes, in this case discontinuity editing is used to repeat the sex scenes which is shown multiple times within the music video, from different angles. The idea that the audience keeps seeing this scene also links to the idea of Voyeurism as the audience likes to watch. This again highlights the idea of sexualisation and to promote the male gaze as 'sex sells'

6. 

Discontinuity editing is again used, as the music stops half way through to make the music video seem more like a film. This is now a common convention in big artists as they can afford to dramatise the music video and draw attention to the artifice of the music video

Zayn who is singing the song 'pillow talk' is smoking which is seen through the close up. He does this is order to show that she is no longer part of the band and sert his own image to the viewers by smoking. It is also to present his as rebellious and older to the intended target audience, who is teenage girls mainly.

With Zayn fully clothed and the girl 'Gigi Hadid' in contrast to him  with hardly any clothes on. This views her as being showed in a more sexual manner, this is deliberate in order to widen the target audience to males, as well as females. Also, helps sell his star image as being a sex symbol  because she is the one that is interested in him. This reinforces gender inequality in society as the man is allowed to be fully clothed where the women is encouraged to be objectified by the men and be seen as a second class citizen.


- This close up of them kissing is selling him as a sex symbol. Reinforcing his star image as an attractive pop singer.
- This shifts his image from what he was in one direction to what he is now to a more mature singer.






-shows elements of voyeurism. how the gaze is reinforced in different ways.









The colour of Zayn is red which portrays the idea of love, which has a purpose to match the performance of the narrative. As well as this this colour demonstrates that he has power.






The discontinuity technique is showing this at several points in the music video. This specific one of Zayn to show that he is the main one and highlighting his importance. The face pace of this editing matches the visuals. The song is cut to the beat to match the tempo with the visuals.






Katy Perry - Bon Appetit



In this music video, the star image of the artist is that she is selling herself through sex whilst being used as food, showing how she is there to be eaten off of from men, because that is 'what they want'. She is laying flat on the table whilst people do things to her in very little clothing, representing her as Mira Sorvino in American beauty, this represents the inter-textual referencing when the flowers are placed on her. The colours within the music video represents the genre of music being pop, as it is bright and looks expensive, where she is selling herself as a synthetic pop musician as she is not seen playing an instruments in the video. Bon Appetit represents the way in which the lyrics match the visuals as we clearly see she is being covered in food, being served up as a dish, hence 'Bon Appetit'. The high angle shot looking down on her and close ups as she sings also represents her star image as being a singer and not a musician, as there are no instruments being shown in the video. Editing techniques in this includes freeze frames on the artist, quick cuts between different locations is another example of the way in which we see the high production values of the music video, which further demonstrates the way in which its aimed at a mainstream target audience. The fact she is not wearing any clothes throughout the video demonstrates that it is primarily targeted to teenage boys and males.

Recreating a green day album cover using a vector illustration program

1. I used the bezier tool to draw around the hand/arm. once it was cut out, i was only left with fingers and the bomb to do.

2. I then pressed Ctrl and the down arrow to create a square. I then filled the square in black and made it similar size to the original. Dragged the shape into the square and lined it up with the edge.

3. I then used the bezier tool to draw around the grenade to replicate the shapes. Once the shapes were attempted to be formed into similar shape, i filled them red and tried to make it into a grenade.

4. Finally i used the text tool to make the title of the album cover. I changed the font of the writing and the colour when relevant e.g. Green day white

The Promotional Brief for Year 13

1. A promotional package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, a website homepage for the band and a cover of 4 sides as part of its release as a digipack.

Positives of making music video:

fun, exciting, relevant. Looking forward to filming it and planning the details. Widen tech skills, 50% of final grade, no narrative needed,

Negatives:

Many different shots, time consuming, memorise a whole song, creating star image from scratch, lip syncing.

Analysis of a student music video: Morning Blues

• Star image - represents herself as 'girl next door' type in urban setting.
• Organic - use of buildings, clothing, and thrift shops help her as slightly alternative and organic. 
• Narrative - through the lyrics, we can see the song is about relationship breakdowns and sells her as vulnerable and through the visuals, we see her shopping to get over break up thus reaffirming her as a girl next door and not sold through sexuality. 
• Locations and editing help sell the artist through the fast paced cuts, lighting, whip pans and hand held camera movements. 
• Through the locations, quick cuts of people show her image is reinforced as slightly alternative and independent. 

Learning how to make an album cover using photoshop

We are re-creating this cover using photoshop




















How we did it:

• Cropped outside of original image until it was only the face remaining. Used the posterise tool to do this. This flattened the image.
• Then selected black ad white tool to make the picture black and white.
•  I then lowered the tone to level 2 so there was less detail in the image,
• I then used the drag and drop tool to insert the crying image. I used the magic wand tool to rasterise the layer so there is only red left. 
• I then got rid of the white background and changed the angle of the picture to make it seem more like she is crying. 
• Then used rubber tool to shape the tears to make it seem realistic. 
• Then used colour balance tool to change the colour of the tears to blue from red. 
• Then used ellipse tool to create circles. 
• Made the circles the correct colour and duplicated the layer 9 times so i was left with the 10 circles i needed.
• Then dragged the circles to the correct places like they are in the original poster. 
• Finally changed opacity to 60% to make the circles transparent. 

Star Image

When looking at the music industry, it is important to look at the relationship between the audience and the stars. The term star is mythological but is used in order for performers to sell to large audiences.

Richard Dyer has written extensively about the role of stars in film, TV and music. All stars have common features. He says stars are not real people and we construct them how we want them to be. Stars are commodities that are produced and consumed on the strength of their meanings. Who they appear to be to us ans what they supply to our needs. Stars are reliant on other media platforms in order to appeal to their target audience. Image of stars is unclear and is based on the 2 key paradoxes of the star being present in our lives but and also absent.

Common Features of a Star:

• Youthfulness
• Rebellion 
• Sexual magnetism
• anti authoritarian attitude
• originality
• creativity/ talent
• aggression/ anger
• a disregard for social values relating to drugs, sex and polite behaviour
• conspicuous consumption of sex, drugs and material goods
• success against the odds

We try to fill in the blanks of what we do not know by following their social media and watching TV appearances and listening to their music.

Beyonce's change over time:

1997

200420092017

These photos of Beyonce over the last 22 years show 3 clear stages in her image. She began in the band Destiny's child where she was more covered up and it was more about the music and exposing their sound to the world, this is clear to see by her clothing in the first image as she is wearing bright colours but is covered up and is also smiling. When she went solo after Destiny's child, she began to sexualise herself and felt she had to expose her body in order to start gaining a fan base as a solo star. In this 6 year stage, she gained a huge following and sold millions of albums and millions of dollars and became a worldwide star. Now in 2017, she is a well known star and does not need to build up her star image anymore so she is more reserved with her clothing and is a mother so does not need to sexualise herself as much as she knows she still has a massive fan base and her records will still sell. The more reserved look in present today also shows signs of maturity and a potentially a start to becoming a new artist with a new image and making a different style of music.  

2017

Poster Analysis 2 - Organic vs Synthetic

Poster Analysis

They are represented as organic through the use of green in their title. Organic because they are pictured in a gig playing live music with an instrument which portrays them as musicians rather than just artists. Smashing of guitar represents anger through the type of music they are playing - seriousness about their music. Clothing shows they are organic through the ripped clothing and the dark nature of the colour of the clothing. Cables on the stage shows the lack of authenticity about their band and that they do not need to do things by the book. Cover of album represents the band as part of rock history because it references Elvis Presley`s cover of 1955, same setting and same font doing the same thing.




Selling herself through her looks through lack of clothing and position of her legs as well as her cleavage. Synthetic through the bright colours as well as the facial expressions shows she isn't serious as she looks surprised and shocked. Selling her image through the use of stars above her name. Her name is more important than the song. Clothing is baby doll like as well as revealing and informal to show off her star image and expose her body. Colours are synthetic.

Ariana Grande - Yours truly:

• The bright vibrant colours are used to connote the idea that she is synthetic. The Pink is used to attract a young mainstream pop audience of girls.
• Flowers are used to reflect the synthetic nature of the artist as it draws attention to her innocence as an artist.
• Her title of the album is the same size and font, showing that the album is not selling the music but also selling herself as an artist. This also shows that she is an established name as she is a big mainstream artist
• High - key lighting is used as a spot light around the singer, which sells herself and her star image
• The artist is looking directly at the camera, highlighting that she is selling her looks rather than the actual music itself.
• Her stance represents her to be innocent and young which is also her intended target audience.

Organic vs Synthetic Artists

Mumford and Sons - Little Lion Man

Target audience are country and rock lovers. They place emphasise on the music they play and they are musicians in comparison to a pop artist who just sings. They appeal to a person who listens to indie music rather than mainstream as they have to prove themselves by lip syncing. Location in the music venue playing a gig shows they are a alternative country/rock band and are proper musicians. Swish pans and dutch tilts used as irregular camera angles. Close ups of cello and banjo show that their organic. Mise-en scene is key in identifying that they are a rock folk band to their target audience. Close ups to sell star image of authentic band and organic status. Close ups of sweating help sell their real and authentic image. Target audience primarily males over 20.

Organic Artists

• Clear distinctions between the ways in which different types of artists are represented to ensure short or long term success.
• Organic acts are often sold on their authenticity both musically and socially 
• The image of the artist appears unconstructed 
• Synthetics acts are often sold on their looks and personalty 
• The image of the artist is carefully and unashamedly constructed 
• More natural - nurtured by record company. Image is enhanced by record company. Artist is given time to progress through their career as they recognise their fan base can continue to grow over time. 

Synthetic Bands:

One Direction 

JLS 

Take that 

Girls Aloud 

Spice Girls

The Saturdays

• Aimed at single sales and to promoting first album.
• Aimed at younger, less sophisticated audiences
• Profits generated are short term because the fan base grow up and grow out of the artist.
• Record companies construct synthetic artists through music, clothing and overall image. 
• Artists are given short amount of time to prove success. 
• Artist has to rely on merchandise to make their money

Organic Bands:

Mumford and Sons

Oasis 

U2 

Arcade Fire

Imagine Dragons 

Led Zeppelin

Guns and Roses

Rolling Stones

 

Conventions of a Music Video 2

Conventions of a music video include the following;

• Music video contains a series of events that both make sense to the audience and appear to be unified in time and space. So as to ensure repeated viewings and the effective marketing of the band/artist and song, the narrative code must be loose or simply suggestive rather than realistic or detailed. 
• A band performance - adds a degree of authenticity and is filled with lip syncing, close ups, mimed instrument playing, repetition of chorus shots to enhance repeat-ability, unusual camera shots and angles. 
• Conventions of a solo artist performer - many of the above conventions included as well as choreographed dance routines and a first person mode which directly engages the viewer through many different shots including close ups which include eye rolling and gesturing. This allows for the solo artist to become part of the narrative. 

Arcade Fire - Everything Now

The narrative of this music video was about them in a mysterious/isolated location surrounded by abandoned children in the middle of the desert. It is designed to make you ask questions about the video and is used as a way for people to interact with one another about it.
This music video sold the band as an indie pop band who seek to be different from others as a way of standing out. The mysterious edge in their music video is their USP and makes people interested and therefore purchase their songs. I feel this music video is targeted in the 20-30 age bracket as they are at a stage where they will still watch music videos and also old enough to appreciate indie culture.

Foo Fighters - Run

This music video is authentic because it is counter typical of stereotypical rock lovers as they portray old people as rebellious and aggressive with connotations of anger and violence. Rock fans also like how it appeals to all ages.

It would appeal to all ages because of its humour and typical rock vibe in comparison to other rock videos that all tell the same story, this portrays it in a different way.

Conventions of a band performance music video in this are the lip syncing, mimed instrument playing, repetition of the chorus and unusual camera shots. These conventions make it authentic and give it a clear structure and a reason for its enjoyment.

Katy Perry - Roar

A lot of first person address as she is talking to the audience by directly addressing the camera, this allows her to actor as the solo actor to tell the story of the video. A lot of close ups and low angles designed to sell her star image. The lyrics match the video.

Pop music videos use brighter colours to appeal to their target audience of young people. Visual effects used to encourage us to watch it again. Lots of eye rolling and gesturing to attract us and make her seem sexier and more approachable. Lots of lip syncing because she is the star. No instrument playing shows focus is solely on her and she is the star and not a musician. Male gaze and scopophilia show her star image as well as the music being cut to the beat.