The link above will take you to our animatic for our music video - this will be the foundation of our plan when we go on shoot, and it has given us a great indication as to what we need to do when on shoot...All that is left now is to shoot and edit...
Friday, 23 October 2009
JB - Shot Ideas: Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZBQwHd_1Vo
As you can see, above are just a couple more ideas of ways to carry out certain shots, and emotions that we want to convey on screen. The black and white photo from East 17's 'Stay another Day', shows how using black and white on flash back narrative sections can have a huge impact to the type of mood it gives, mainly a sombre feel adding to the theme of love in boy band songs. Also the CU's of *Nsyncs 'Girlfriend' shows how it adds to the sexual magnetism of the boy band which is one of Richard Dyers key terms when thinking about 'Stardom'.
JB - Autuer Directors
An Autuer music video Director is someone who breaks the boundaries of typical conventions characteristics and norms of music videos. This makes the director more of an artists, hence 'Autuer'. This means that the director will have his or her own style when creating a film or music video, and will have all of the control over what is happening in the video. I have looked at the work of Chris Cunningham (known for his videos with Bjork) and Spike Jonze. Bjork's style matches the ideas of Chris cunningham as you can see in the first image, as she tries to portray a very futuristic feel to add to her meta narrative and star persona. This is why the futuristic, robotic style of Cunningham is seen to work well. As well as this, Autuer Directors may wish to use iconic actors and actresses when making the video. For example in Spike Jonze's Fat boy Slim Video 'Weapon of Choice' in which he uses Christopher Walken.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hDGAvqwgdk
‘The Kooks’ Product Analysis JP
I have chosen to analyse a different type of band to what we are going to be doing for our own music video. ‘The kooks’ are a band who is widely recognised by many people in UK indie music. I have decided to take a different approach to find out more about what kinds of camera shots are being used in different videos which we could possibly use in our own music video. By looking at a different genre of music it has opened more doors and given me more ideas to make our video more successful.
The music video I have chosen to analyse is by The Kooks ‘naïve’. The reason why I chose this music video is because it is familiar to me and it is a song I enjoy. At the beginning of the music video there is a medium long shot of the main artist walking down the stairs in a party atmosphere. This shot is used to set the scene to an extent, showing the main artist and his surroundings, giving the audience a clear understanding of what the video will entail. Right from the start there is a feeling of youthfulness and all the stereotypes which surrounds youth culture in today’s society. Throughout the music video there is a number of close up shots of the main singers face, this gives a true indication of the singer’s facial expressions allowing the audience to tell what mood he is in and more of an understanding of what is going on in the video. The music video is mainly narrative based because there is a story relating to the lyrics which are being performed throughout.
Throughout the music video there is a representative of young teenage people and the stereotypes surrounding youth drinking and parties. It is almost trying to put forward a certain message for people to look at and perhaps relate to the situation. I feel the video is aimed towards a younger audience because these are the types of people who may have been in a similar situation themselves and will enjoy the song as well as the video. It has proved to be helpful by analysing different types of music to that of a boy band. The shot types are mainly the same; there are a lot of close up shots of the main singer, lots of panning shots, MCU shots of the singer and a narrative to fit the lyrics which is what we are trying to create in our own.
However unlike boy bands, the idea of cult of youth and beauty is not being portrayed. Furthermore the band member’s looks are not being put on show; the song is not being sold further and does not generate a huge fan base through the way they look. In a boy-band music video, the female audience are drawn in because of the male’s sex appeal. During this video ‘naïve’ there doesn’t seem to be a promotion of the main singers looks, he isn’t being portrayed as a sex icon for women.
The music video I have chosen to analyse is by The Kooks ‘naïve’. The reason why I chose this music video is because it is familiar to me and it is a song I enjoy. At the beginning of the music video there is a medium long shot of the main artist walking down the stairs in a party atmosphere. This shot is used to set the scene to an extent, showing the main artist and his surroundings, giving the audience a clear understanding of what the video will entail. Right from the start there is a feeling of youthfulness and all the stereotypes which surrounds youth culture in today’s society. Throughout the music video there is a number of close up shots of the main singers face, this gives a true indication of the singer’s facial expressions allowing the audience to tell what mood he is in and more of an understanding of what is going on in the video. The music video is mainly narrative based because there is a story relating to the lyrics which are being performed throughout.
Throughout the music video there is a representative of young teenage people and the stereotypes surrounding youth drinking and parties. It is almost trying to put forward a certain message for people to look at and perhaps relate to the situation. I feel the video is aimed towards a younger audience because these are the types of people who may have been in a similar situation themselves and will enjoy the song as well as the video. It has proved to be helpful by analysing different types of music to that of a boy band. The shot types are mainly the same; there are a lot of close up shots of the main singer, lots of panning shots, MCU shots of the singer and a narrative to fit the lyrics which is what we are trying to create in our own.
However unlike boy bands, the idea of cult of youth and beauty is not being portrayed. Furthermore the band member’s looks are not being put on show; the song is not being sold further and does not generate a huge fan base through the way they look. In a boy-band music video, the female audience are drawn in because of the male’s sex appeal. During this video ‘naïve’ there doesn’t seem to be a promotion of the main singers looks, he isn’t being portrayed as a sex icon for women.
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Story board/Animatic
When we began story boarding our animatic, it became apparent how many shots we need to think about in order to create a good music video. We have to keep our shots originality to create the right effect. We divided up tasks amongst the group in order to finish them by the deadline. Each of us took a section of the song to story board and think up ideas which we could involve in our animatic. Mitch began editing the animatic why Jon and I story boarded our ideas and began to film what we had done.
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
JB - Product Analysis #2
Music Video Analysis #2 – Blazin’ Squad ‘Lets Start Again’
Blazin’ Squad’s Video for ‘Let’s start again’ is very urban and contemporary when looking at typical forms and conventions of boy band music videos in the pop genre. The Boy band does display typical conventions, and characteristics of the genre, but they use an urban base for their video which enables them to take away the cheesiness of the genre. The music video is a performance based one and starts with a series of establishing shots on the artists, and also shows us the location in Tokyo, Japan. The notion of looking is used a number of times throughout the video where the artists look at the camera towards the audience, for example when the second artist enters into his verse coming up the steps. This shows us that they are singing towards the audience, trying to create a connection and relationship with their fans. This is an emblematic convention in pop genre videos, particularly performance based, because it is all about conveying to the audience the star persona of the artist and creating that bond. A link is shown between the lyrics and the visuals, mainly through the main chorus ‘Let’s start again’ in which the boy band are literally walking through the city in despair as if they are lost without their love. The lyrics “you don’t see what I see, girl’ also relates to the visuals which connotes the band are always in different cities just leaving their girlfriends at home. This shows examples of illustration and also there is a link with the time of the beat and the time of the cutting and editing. The very first shot is defiantly showing a link between the visuals and the lyrics also as it shows the passing of time. The simple image of a clock brings many connotations, most of which relate to the songs lyrics. This video combines both performance and very slight narrative, adding to their grand narrative/meta narrative, and yet with the street dancers in the video this makes it, to some extent, post modern, combining both advertising and art for the band to sell their track. This is used, according to Emap’s research on music video audiences, for both ambient viewers and focused viewers, where subconsciously the audience become attracted to the video and song, resulting in hopefully some sort of purchase of the track or more tracks from the same band. The music video also helps give viewers the opportunity to get to know their artists more, and build on that personal bond.
Visual techniques are used throughout the video through the range of shots, shot sizes and shot angles, and also through lighting. Straight from the beginning with the establishing shots we gain the location through shots of Japanese shop fronts, traffic lights, and pedestrian crossings, crowds of people, car lights, and street lights. These street lights signify an urban feel, and the traffic signifies a busy street which can be related further to connote the busy lifestyle that the boy band leads. Camera movement is also used in the first establishing shots and a slight handi-cam movement is used as the band artist walks away. Another visual technique is the way that the camera moves into and out of focus creating this blur effect. A common convention of boy band music videos is to have the camera tracking towards and away from the artists. By adding on the blur, or out of focus effect it creates a much more atmospheric feel, giving connotations that seem more emotional and this anchors the genre of music whereby the common theme throughout the song is ‘love’. A series of close up shots, medium long shots and medium shots in the taxi are used, making the location seem accessible for the audience, and creating a feel that we as the audience are actually perhaps in the city or with them in the taxi. This suggestion of the band in the taxi actually makes the band seem more like everyday people because it makes them seem like typical British lads, as oppose to rich boys that go everywhere in a limo. The quick paced editing anchors this camera work, by moving with the music, and also there is more post production editing with the colour wash that denotes the night life that they live as boy band members. In certain points in the video we see use of intertextuality and references to popular culture with the use of the street dancers, underground tube stations and mainly the clothes that they wear which are mainstream from shops such as Top man – which may show possible star motifs and iconography such as the necklace of one of the members.
The location chosen by the production team is one that definitely enhances the boys meta-narrative. The location shows the three English boys, making it internationally. They are showing to the audience that they are becoming increasingly popular throughout the international scene, perhaps more than they are in England. The group were originally a 10 member boy band, who concentrated mainly on the UK hip hop scene. The video shows just three of them continuing in the band. However, rather than choosing an obvious over seas location, such as the United States, the band chose one that is never really seen in music videos - Tokyo, Japan. This tells us that the video has its own originality and creativeness, which may add to certain star motifs of the members.
This whole ideology of what the slight narrative is trying to convey is shown through the mise en scene of the band members. The clothes the band where are very mainstream which tells us that they want to be seen as everyday normal characters. This makes the band seem both extraordinary and ordinary, one of Richard Dyers key paradoxes. Other mise en scene such as the shops that we see the boy band drive past in the taxi seems very tourist like, which connotes that they are like any other tourist when they travel to different countries and also the underground tube station emphasises the type of urban genre they have and how they still want to be known as a less mainstream boy band and more of a grime boy band. Other mise en scene such as the coffee cart in the surroundings of one of the locations give this implication of ‘late night’ and tells the audience that they do stay up late, maybe because they are bothered, worried or disturbed by the love in the theme of the song. This is anchored by the other mise en scene such as late night take away stalls and the vacant tube station.
In the video we see dominant ideologies of the working class background of the boys, being reinforced, however challenged in the sense that they choose to keep that appearance in their video. They could have gone all out and sat in limo’s, instead of taxi’s and gone to posh restaurants instead of small take away stalls and vending machines, but instead they wanted to show the audience their true nature. They want to be seen as people that work hard for what they achieve and they certainly achieve the two paradoxes of Richard Dyers theory. Richard Dyer said that the term ‘stardom’ all came down to a set of semi-mythological meanings containing different values of stardom. Blazin’ Squad achieve some of these by showing, international success, sexual magnetism, youth, and some rebellion. Dyer also talks about what roles the stars play, and he says that they are commodities of the business, and stars depend on subsidiary media. He says that ‘the star image is incoherent’ based upon two key paradoxes. The first being a star must be both ordinary and extra-ordinary and the second being the star must be both present and absent to its audience. This video is a great example of showing both these qualities of a ‘Star’ as the location and mise en scene they have chosen all adds up to give this overall representation.
This music video product, would most certainly be targeted towards young females much like most boy band genre products. The age range being from young teenagers from the age of 10 till possible some older people in the age of about 18-21. The product would be sold in all worldwide mainstream shops as oppose to niche market shops, and would be in shops such as HMV and shown on music channels for example KISS, MTV Base, Channel AKA, and FLAVA.
Blazin’ Squad’s Video for ‘Let’s start again’ is very urban and contemporary when looking at typical forms and conventions of boy band music videos in the pop genre. The Boy band does display typical conventions, and characteristics of the genre, but they use an urban base for their video which enables them to take away the cheesiness of the genre. The music video is a performance based one and starts with a series of establishing shots on the artists, and also shows us the location in Tokyo, Japan. The notion of looking is used a number of times throughout the video where the artists look at the camera towards the audience, for example when the second artist enters into his verse coming up the steps. This shows us that they are singing towards the audience, trying to create a connection and relationship with their fans. This is an emblematic convention in pop genre videos, particularly performance based, because it is all about conveying to the audience the star persona of the artist and creating that bond. A link is shown between the lyrics and the visuals, mainly through the main chorus ‘Let’s start again’ in which the boy band are literally walking through the city in despair as if they are lost without their love. The lyrics “you don’t see what I see, girl’ also relates to the visuals which connotes the band are always in different cities just leaving their girlfriends at home. This shows examples of illustration and also there is a link with the time of the beat and the time of the cutting and editing. The very first shot is defiantly showing a link between the visuals and the lyrics also as it shows the passing of time. The simple image of a clock brings many connotations, most of which relate to the songs lyrics. This video combines both performance and very slight narrative, adding to their grand narrative/meta narrative, and yet with the street dancers in the video this makes it, to some extent, post modern, combining both advertising and art for the band to sell their track. This is used, according to Emap’s research on music video audiences, for both ambient viewers and focused viewers, where subconsciously the audience become attracted to the video and song, resulting in hopefully some sort of purchase of the track or more tracks from the same band. The music video also helps give viewers the opportunity to get to know their artists more, and build on that personal bond.
Visual techniques are used throughout the video through the range of shots, shot sizes and shot angles, and also through lighting. Straight from the beginning with the establishing shots we gain the location through shots of Japanese shop fronts, traffic lights, and pedestrian crossings, crowds of people, car lights, and street lights. These street lights signify an urban feel, and the traffic signifies a busy street which can be related further to connote the busy lifestyle that the boy band leads. Camera movement is also used in the first establishing shots and a slight handi-cam movement is used as the band artist walks away. Another visual technique is the way that the camera moves into and out of focus creating this blur effect. A common convention of boy band music videos is to have the camera tracking towards and away from the artists. By adding on the blur, or out of focus effect it creates a much more atmospheric feel, giving connotations that seem more emotional and this anchors the genre of music whereby the common theme throughout the song is ‘love’. A series of close up shots, medium long shots and medium shots in the taxi are used, making the location seem accessible for the audience, and creating a feel that we as the audience are actually perhaps in the city or with them in the taxi. This suggestion of the band in the taxi actually makes the band seem more like everyday people because it makes them seem like typical British lads, as oppose to rich boys that go everywhere in a limo. The quick paced editing anchors this camera work, by moving with the music, and also there is more post production editing with the colour wash that denotes the night life that they live as boy band members. In certain points in the video we see use of intertextuality and references to popular culture with the use of the street dancers, underground tube stations and mainly the clothes that they wear which are mainstream from shops such as Top man – which may show possible star motifs and iconography such as the necklace of one of the members.
The location chosen by the production team is one that definitely enhances the boys meta-narrative. The location shows the three English boys, making it internationally. They are showing to the audience that they are becoming increasingly popular throughout the international scene, perhaps more than they are in England. The group were originally a 10 member boy band, who concentrated mainly on the UK hip hop scene. The video shows just three of them continuing in the band. However, rather than choosing an obvious over seas location, such as the United States, the band chose one that is never really seen in music videos - Tokyo, Japan. This tells us that the video has its own originality and creativeness, which may add to certain star motifs of the members.
This whole ideology of what the slight narrative is trying to convey is shown through the mise en scene of the band members. The clothes the band where are very mainstream which tells us that they want to be seen as everyday normal characters. This makes the band seem both extraordinary and ordinary, one of Richard Dyers key paradoxes. Other mise en scene such as the shops that we see the boy band drive past in the taxi seems very tourist like, which connotes that they are like any other tourist when they travel to different countries and also the underground tube station emphasises the type of urban genre they have and how they still want to be known as a less mainstream boy band and more of a grime boy band. Other mise en scene such as the coffee cart in the surroundings of one of the locations give this implication of ‘late night’ and tells the audience that they do stay up late, maybe because they are bothered, worried or disturbed by the love in the theme of the song. This is anchored by the other mise en scene such as late night take away stalls and the vacant tube station.
In the video we see dominant ideologies of the working class background of the boys, being reinforced, however challenged in the sense that they choose to keep that appearance in their video. They could have gone all out and sat in limo’s, instead of taxi’s and gone to posh restaurants instead of small take away stalls and vending machines, but instead they wanted to show the audience their true nature. They want to be seen as people that work hard for what they achieve and they certainly achieve the two paradoxes of Richard Dyers theory. Richard Dyer said that the term ‘stardom’ all came down to a set of semi-mythological meanings containing different values of stardom. Blazin’ Squad achieve some of these by showing, international success, sexual magnetism, youth, and some rebellion. Dyer also talks about what roles the stars play, and he says that they are commodities of the business, and stars depend on subsidiary media. He says that ‘the star image is incoherent’ based upon two key paradoxes. The first being a star must be both ordinary and extra-ordinary and the second being the star must be both present and absent to its audience. This video is a great example of showing both these qualities of a ‘Star’ as the location and mise en scene they have chosen all adds up to give this overall representation.
This music video product, would most certainly be targeted towards young females much like most boy band genre products. The age range being from young teenagers from the age of 10 till possible some older people in the age of about 18-21. The product would be sold in all worldwide mainstream shops as oppose to niche market shops, and would be in shops such as HMV and shown on music channels for example KISS, MTV Base, Channel AKA, and FLAVA.
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
MH- product analysis 2
JLS- Beat again
From the beginning of the video, it is evident that this video is for a boyband. It has all the typical conventions of a boyband video and is executed in exactly the same style as most other videos of this pop genre. Furthermore, in boyband videos, sometimes there is a link between the visuals and lyrics, however in this video, there is evidently no link. In fact the whole video is performance based as the band are dancing and singing in synchronisation with the song and so this video is an example of amplification. Furthermore, a first person mode of address is used throughout the video, which indicates that this is a boyband video, as this technique creates a voyeuristic aspect for the sequence. This further reinforces the typical conventions of a boyband video as boyband’s are generally represented as young attractive males, as this supports the cult of youth and beauty, ultimately creating more of a fan base. The video therefore, is post-modern in the way that the video has no other reason than to promote their music and sell their product, ultimately meaning that the video is an advert for their product. This is why the band is represented as perfectly moulded young males, so that the appeal to the band is broadened.
The video is very upbeat and fast pace, therefore, the shots are cut very quickly and there are a lot of shots used, throughout the performance there is a consistent pan from left and right of the performance area, and also a consistent zoom in & out, these shots are alternated so that the visuals are constantly changing, this is so the video is open to repeatability. Every now and then the shots are cut with a blink effect; this is used so that the shots can jump easily to another shot. For example, there is a close up of Astons face, then the blink is used and the next shot is of the band performing. Close ups are used throughout the video so that the audience can get a detailed look at each of the young men’s face, this could be viewed as quite provocative in the sense that young females may be attracted to the group.
The only social group represented in the video is young males. And this video connotes that all young males are attractive, athletic men. Furthermore they are represented like they should be iconic for the younger generation, and in many ways this becomes true, for their recent success has boosted their popularity in the younger generation. They are all represented as likeable characters as they all smile throughout the performance, and create this first person mode of address as i mentioned previuously. There is no idealogical discourse as such which is used in this video, only the cult of youth and beauty which promotes the band as an astheticaly pleasing group of young males. no other institutions or groups are represented throughout the video which creates this focus on just the band, which would glamourize there fame and stardom.
This video would be played on all music channels that play general pop and recent hits, as this channel spreads out to a wider audience than those that just focus on hip-hop/soul/R&B videos, although the video could be played on those channels also. the target audience would probably mainly be teenagers or young adults as these groups are more likely to be interested in commercial music.
From the beginning of the video, it is evident that this video is for a boyband. It has all the typical conventions of a boyband video and is executed in exactly the same style as most other videos of this pop genre. Furthermore, in boyband videos, sometimes there is a link between the visuals and lyrics, however in this video, there is evidently no link. In fact the whole video is performance based as the band are dancing and singing in synchronisation with the song and so this video is an example of amplification. Furthermore, a first person mode of address is used throughout the video, which indicates that this is a boyband video, as this technique creates a voyeuristic aspect for the sequence. This further reinforces the typical conventions of a boyband video as boyband’s are generally represented as young attractive males, as this supports the cult of youth and beauty, ultimately creating more of a fan base. The video therefore, is post-modern in the way that the video has no other reason than to promote their music and sell their product, ultimately meaning that the video is an advert for their product. This is why the band is represented as perfectly moulded young males, so that the appeal to the band is broadened.
The video is very upbeat and fast pace, therefore, the shots are cut very quickly and there are a lot of shots used, throughout the performance there is a consistent pan from left and right of the performance area, and also a consistent zoom in & out, these shots are alternated so that the visuals are constantly changing, this is so the video is open to repeatability. Every now and then the shots are cut with a blink effect; this is used so that the shots can jump easily to another shot. For example, there is a close up of Astons face, then the blink is used and the next shot is of the band performing. Close ups are used throughout the video so that the audience can get a detailed look at each of the young men’s face, this could be viewed as quite provocative in the sense that young females may be attracted to the group.
The only social group represented in the video is young males. And this video connotes that all young males are attractive, athletic men. Furthermore they are represented like they should be iconic for the younger generation, and in many ways this becomes true, for their recent success has boosted their popularity in the younger generation. They are all represented as likeable characters as they all smile throughout the performance, and create this first person mode of address as i mentioned previuously. There is no idealogical discourse as such which is used in this video, only the cult of youth and beauty which promotes the band as an astheticaly pleasing group of young males. no other institutions or groups are represented throughout the video which creates this focus on just the band, which would glamourize there fame and stardom.
This video would be played on all music channels that play general pop and recent hits, as this channel spreads out to a wider audience than those that just focus on hip-hop/soul/R&B videos, although the video could be played on those channels also. the target audience would probably mainly be teenagers or young adults as these groups are more likely to be interested in commercial music.
Thursday, 8 October 2009
MH- Brighton Reccie
This was the video from brighton, we practised using the camera and familiarising ourselves with the equipment. we took various shots that would be conventionally used, in a boyband. we tried to perform to some extent, but our performance skills were limited due to lack of dance practice, and choreography.
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Wednesday, 7 October 2009
JB - Lighting Problems We May Encounter Out on Shoot
Since choosing a more edgy and urban path for shooting our music video it is evident that a major aspect that will anchor this feel is to shoot at night. This however, comes with certain lighting issues.
The Media Studies Department has some small lighting equiptment, however this will not do considering where there is light, it needs to be powered by some sort of generator, therefore we cannot walk around public places with massive generators. Whilst trying to come up with some ideas in a discussion between the whole group, it came to my attention that I have some battery powered Bright light strips at home that are used in the event of things like Blackouts, and powercuts. These lights are especially designed to brighten up entire rooms, and there power is very substantial. This is something we shall use in our shoot.
The Media Studies Department has some small lighting equiptment, however this will not do considering where there is light, it needs to be powered by some sort of generator, therefore we cannot walk around public places with massive generators. Whilst trying to come up with some ideas in a discussion between the whole group, it came to my attention that I have some battery powered Bright light strips at home that are used in the event of things like Blackouts, and powercuts. These lights are especially designed to brighten up entire rooms, and there power is very substantial. This is something we shall use in our shoot.
JP Audience Research Discussions
Mitch and Jon, i need up-dating on what target audience we are producing our music video to? Are we going for the younger generation? middle aged? i think that we should focus more on the younger generation but giving small reference to older people in our video for the song title 'everybody in love'. We have had brief discussions about what we should target our music video to before but it seems unclear?
MH- Outfits
After researching the typical outfits and type of clothing for the boyband genre, i came up with some ideas for what our boyband could be wearing. most of the clothing would be very new, modern and in fashion. furthermore, each look would need to be repeated for each member of the boyband, to create some sort of correlation. most of the time boyband's use this correlation, futhermore sometimes they each have their own individual look. this applies to the colours also, either all of the colours match or all of the colours are different. here is a collection of outfits i gathered together, to show tyhe type of clothing that we would be wearing.
Group Discussions
After a lot of consideration on locations as to where we will film our music video, we have decided to take a different and less 'cheesy' approach. Before hand, we planned to conform to the conventions of a boyband but now however, we have decided to take a more 'urban' feel. After discussions we have decided to shoot more shots at night time and play with different lighting techniques to give a professional and stylish effect. We will shoot a lot of our shots in london and greenhithe castle to generate the right look for our music video. Lots of fast, quick paced shots of things such as shop fronts, buildings, cars driving in the dark, street lamps and generalistic things which gives a more urban feel to our video.
Saturday, 3 October 2009
JB - Shot ideas: Part 1
The image above is one take from the music video by Blazing Squad 'Let's Start Again.' Throughout the video it involves the boys walking around a City Centre, which is similar to some of the ideas we have had as a group. Whilst watching the video, certain shots became evident as the most effective, and this example of an establishing shot of the traffic, lets the audience know they are at the city centre.
This one here is CU of the wing mirror, with the headlight in the background, and the rest of the background appearing blurry. Blurring is an effect I have seen in a number of boy band videos and is something that we would like to add in the editing of ours. The view in the wing mirror lets us know the location as Hong Kong.
This is a MS of the singer/artist walking along the street. The angle on the member of the band is good, and as he walks the lights of the passing traffic creates a good effect. This is also a good angle on showing the emotions of the character being portrayed in the video.
Here is another example of an establishing shot on another member of the band:
This shot shows the artists looking disparingly at the vending machine, perhaps at his reflection. This gives the idea of the notion of looking in a music video, something that we may consider when shooting and framing.
The two shots above are some examples of establishing shot. The shot of the clock connotes the turning back of time to 'start again' and the shot of the car lets us know that a member of the video will be in it. these Establish the scene and anchor the lyrics in the song.To view the full video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3DLgsoZnWY
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
JB - Technical Analysis Evaluation
After spending time on my technical analysis with a pen and paper in front of the screen, it became clear to me that there is a much larger amount of shots than I first realised in a music video. My analysis consisted of 61 shots in total, and that was after just three minutes. Because our music video is only about three minutes long this is all I needed to realise what a large amount of shots there were. The video I looked at was ‘Backstreet Boys – I want it that way’. I chose this video because it is a boy band, as we are doing, and because its style is much like the song we have chosen by JLS, ‘everybody in love’.
There were some certain conventions I spotted whilst analysing the video. Firstly I noticed that there were many Close Up shots, and this is a typical characteristic of all boy band pop genre videos. This goes back to Richard Dyer’s characteristics of the term ‘stardom’. One of those that are pointed out by him is ‘Sexual Magnetism’ and this is definitely something that boy band members try to show and the CU anchors this. Also I found that this video was based around a series of flashes back and forwards. This is also shown in numerous boy band video’s, usually showing a side story with a girl perhaps, mixed in with the time of the performance. Throughout the performance based part of the video which is the most part, it is clear that the ‘Meat shot’ becomes important among our genre conventions. This is definitely something that we need to bare in mind when planning our story boards and shot lists. Through the shots on the runway in the 'Backstreet Boys' video it is clear that some shots need to have very artistic features. This is important to our group when we need choose our location. Our ideas for locations so far we have considered this for example Greenhithe Castle at night. Furthermore it is evident that within all these shots mise en scene plays a large part in how the frame looks. For example in the video I studied the audience wouldn't have been able to understand they were on a runway unless there was an aeroplane in the background.
There were some certain conventions I spotted whilst analysing the video. Firstly I noticed that there were many Close Up shots, and this is a typical characteristic of all boy band pop genre videos. This goes back to Richard Dyer’s characteristics of the term ‘stardom’. One of those that are pointed out by him is ‘Sexual Magnetism’ and this is definitely something that boy band members try to show and the CU anchors this. Also I found that this video was based around a series of flashes back and forwards. This is also shown in numerous boy band video’s, usually showing a side story with a girl perhaps, mixed in with the time of the performance. Throughout the performance based part of the video which is the most part, it is clear that the ‘Meat shot’ becomes important among our genre conventions. This is definitely something that we need to bare in mind when planning our story boards and shot lists. Through the shots on the runway in the 'Backstreet Boys' video it is clear that some shots need to have very artistic features. This is important to our group when we need choose our location. Our ideas for locations so far we have considered this for example Greenhithe Castle at night. Furthermore it is evident that within all these shots mise en scene plays a large part in how the frame looks. For example in the video I studied the audience wouldn't have been able to understand they were on a runway unless there was an aeroplane in the background.
Monday, 28 September 2009
Technical anlysis
Whilst doing my technical analysis, I learnt a lot about the shots, camera angles and editing used in music videos. Boy band videos in particular. For example, I analysed N’sync ‘its gonna be me’. Throughout this video there are various shots that are referred to to keep a level of consistency throughout. In this case there is a shot where the boy band is dancing as a group and there is a colourful background. This shot is used throughout the video and creates the performance side of the video, furthermore there is a narrative going on and this I also referred to every fifth or sixth shot. The different types of shots are used so that diversity is created, to avoid tedium. Furthermore thy leave this video open for repeatability which is vital for a worldwide selling pop group like N’sync. A pattern emerges if you look at the technical analysis thoroughly, each shot is incorporated every few shots and this is a typical convention of a boyband video.
JP-Evaluation of technical analysis
From looking at the different shot types used by the boy band we are going to be using, I found out that there are a huge amount of different shots which we need to take into account when making our own music video.
From the song ‘beat again’ by JLS most of the shots consisted of close ups of the band members faces, high and low angle shots of the band performing their dance routine as well as medium long shots and medium shots which shows their routine clearly. There are also occasions when the camera pans around the group showing them from different angles throughout. From looking at this music video it is evident that we have to be thinking about using a lot of shots letting the audience see facial expressions of each member in the boy band because this is commonly used in top music videos which are successful.
However when I had finished looking at this music video ‘beat again’ I decided to have a look at another song by JLS – ‘everybody in love’ (which is the song we are going to base our music video on). This video had a slight narrative to it unlike ‘beat again’ which was solely performance based. There were less shot types and the editing wasn’t as fast, in ‘everybody in love’ the shots were slowing giving the audience a chance to become familiar to what is going on and a story became apparent in the video.
From the song ‘beat again’ by JLS most of the shots consisted of close ups of the band members faces, high and low angle shots of the band performing their dance routine as well as medium long shots and medium shots which shows their routine clearly. There are also occasions when the camera pans around the group showing them from different angles throughout. From looking at this music video it is evident that we have to be thinking about using a lot of shots letting the audience see facial expressions of each member in the boy band because this is commonly used in top music videos which are successful.
However when I had finished looking at this music video ‘beat again’ I decided to have a look at another song by JLS – ‘everybody in love’ (which is the song we are going to base our music video on). This video had a slight narrative to it unlike ‘beat again’ which was solely performance based. There were less shot types and the editing wasn’t as fast, in ‘everybody in love’ the shots were slowing giving the audience a chance to become familiar to what is going on and a story became apparent in the video.
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Brighton Reccie Evaluation
On Tuesday the 22nd of September the class took a trip to Brighton to propose some shots which may inspire the groups to use in their real music video final project. As soon as we were introduced to the video cameras and equipment the knowledge that each member of the group learnt last year became apparent and we were soon familiarized with how things worked and how to treat the equipment in a safe and advanced manner.
Our group (group 10) began trying out a number of different shot types that we could potentially use in our final piece. We all found this process extremely helpful and it provided us with some useful ideas in making our boy band track successful. Shots such as POV shots, high angle, low angle, medium long shots, panning and establishing shots were used whilst in Brighton which gave us all specific ideas that we could use later on. All this camera work allowed each member of the group a chance to give their own input on what they would like to do when it comes down to creating our final piece. Everybody was bouncing off ideas for instance Jonny believed that it would be a good idea to have the sea in the background when it comes to our final piece. Mitch and I agreed with him because most of the scenes where the waves were rushing in the background panned out to be the more professional looking shots.
On the other hand after discussions with the group we feel that although Brighton was a challenging location for us as well as proving to be extremely inspirational, being the source of our ideas, we feel that the location isn’t quite what we are looking for to make our final music video something original and upbeat. JLS are a young urban boy band with an original feel to all their music, they have a lot of style in everything they do and we are setting ourselves a challenge as a group to make our music video as original as possible, making it look slick and stylish to have a successful outcome
Our group (group 10) began trying out a number of different shot types that we could potentially use in our final piece. We all found this process extremely helpful and it provided us with some useful ideas in making our boy band track successful. Shots such as POV shots, high angle, low angle, medium long shots, panning and establishing shots were used whilst in Brighton which gave us all specific ideas that we could use later on. All this camera work allowed each member of the group a chance to give their own input on what they would like to do when it comes down to creating our final piece. Everybody was bouncing off ideas for instance Jonny believed that it would be a good idea to have the sea in the background when it comes to our final piece. Mitch and I agreed with him because most of the scenes where the waves were rushing in the background panned out to be the more professional looking shots.
On the other hand after discussions with the group we feel that although Brighton was a challenging location for us as well as proving to be extremely inspirational, being the source of our ideas, we feel that the location isn’t quite what we are looking for to make our final music video something original and upbeat. JLS are a young urban boy band with an original feel to all their music, they have a lot of style in everything they do and we are setting ourselves a challenge as a group to make our music video as original as possible, making it look slick and stylish to have a successful outcome
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
JB - Brighton Reccie Evaluation
On tuesday the 22nd September the A2 media studies class went on a reccie trip to Brighton. This was to enhance our ideas, and hopefully develop more discussions throughout our group on locations, outside of tunbridge wells and the places we live. The trip proved to be a very helpful day, and we couldn's have asked for better weather. We took our video equiptment, and explored different types of camera shots and movement, at different locations in Brighton.
Jack, Mitch and I found it very helpful using the equiptment again and familarising ourselves before we head out on our production of our music video. We paracticed a number of different shots including; Panning establishment MLS, Close Up shots, POV shots, Tracking, and 360 degree pans. This enabled us to realise which sort of shots become more obvious for the type of track and genre we have chosen. Considering we are working on the track 'Everybody in Love-JLS' this is a boy band video, and we found that certain shots such as the tracking shot with first person mode of address work better than others for example the POV shots.
The location of Brighton was actually surprisingly useful to us. There was some beautiful scenic shots that were possible when the weather was right, and that is evident in our reccie shots. What we found though was that although a boy band video could indeed be located on something such as Brighton Beach, it was not right for the feel of the boy band that we would like to convey to the audience. JLS are a more urban boy band, as oppose to bands such as Take That.
Jack, Mitch and I found it very helpful using the equiptment again and familarising ourselves before we head out on our production of our music video. We paracticed a number of different shots including; Panning establishment MLS, Close Up shots, POV shots, Tracking, and 360 degree pans. This enabled us to realise which sort of shots become more obvious for the type of track and genre we have chosen. Considering we are working on the track 'Everybody in Love-JLS' this is a boy band video, and we found that certain shots such as the tracking shot with first person mode of address work better than others for example the POV shots.
The location of Brighton was actually surprisingly useful to us. There was some beautiful scenic shots that were possible when the weather was right, and that is evident in our reccie shots. What we found though was that although a boy band video could indeed be located on something such as Brighton Beach, it was not right for the feel of the boy band that we would like to convey to the audience. JLS are a more urban boy band, as oppose to bands such as Take That.
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Deconstruct an Advertisement – JLS ‘Beat again’
It is evident from the meat shot on the poster that The genre of the group being advertisement is boy band / pop. Each of the members of the group are gazing at the camera, or at us, creating this first person mode of address, which makes the viewers feel familiar with the band. This is a typical convention of a boy band. Furthermore, each of the males are well groomed, and well dressed, indicating that they are young, fresh and full of life. This reinforces the cult of youth and beauty, and because the band is aesthetically pleasing, this could attract more members of the public to their product, especially females. Moreover, the gaze that the 4 group members are using, can be seen as sexually provocative, and so this voyeuristic factor is created. They are being used in a sexual way to sell their product. The background colour of the advert is black. This is so that when the advert is looked at the contrast of the colorful title against the background helps us catch the name of the group first. JLS. This can also be known as the Dominant reading path. The next thing that we look at is the group them self. And then eventually the song title ‘Beat Again’ and its release date. Then the clothes that they wear are all very modern and trendy. Another important aspect of a boy band is to be current with fashion. From the photo it is evident that JLS are. This will attract more fans, because more people will aspire to be like them.
In their logo there is the symbol of a star, which suggests that they are becoming stars through the music that they produce. The title of the song is ‘beat again’ which would sometimes automatically inform the consumers that the song is about a heart beating again. This indicates that the song is about love or heartbreak which is a typical theme for a boy band to sing about.
In this advert the band are represented as young, well groomed and iconic figures. This adds to their meta-narrative in the sense that this new, young, boy band that have been introduced are in fact the trendy new icons. JLS were created by X factor, which is a very mainstream television programme. A large portion of the public followed their progress and watched them win the X factor, now, they have kept the same personas and that’s why there product is further marketable. Because people relate to them and feel that they are close to them because they followed their progress since day one.
Monday, 21 September 2009
Feedback #1 Deadline 21/9
Jack, Mitch, Jonny,
There is some evidence here of thorough, thoughtful research - however Mitch and Jack you are missing your music video analysis. Mitch - I still have your draft, but expected it to be up on the blog.
CF
There is some evidence here of thorough, thoughtful research - however Mitch and Jack you are missing your music video analysis. Mitch - I still have your draft, but expected it to be up on the blog.
CF
Deconstructing an Advertisement (JP)
In the magazine that I have chosen to deconstruct there is an advertisement of the boy band ‘blue’. Each and every band member is portrayed in a stylish way to make themselves look modern, up to date, and sexually attractive this generates them a cult of youth and beauty which people aspire to be like. They are all seen to be gazing into the camera so it looks as though they are making eye contact with the consumer/audience. This is a technique used to make the reader feel more involved with the band as if they are looking directly into their eyes. They are all well groomed men which female readers will be lured in by. This type of market can be a huge plus point if you have good looking member in a boy band. Being in a boy band is all about the sex appeal and being cute and cheesy because that is what women especially want to see and men would aspire to be like them. As well as good looks they need to have talent in song writing and have a good and original sounding voice which people can enjoy when listening to it. The article is used by the Boy band in a proviking way.
This magazine is trying to sell the members of the bands looks rather than their musical career; they are made out to look like sex symbols. The black member of the band is wearing a tight vest which emphasises his masculinity and also brings in an aspects of voyerism.
The way in which this band is represented is to be masculine, the dominant reading path draws the audience’s eye towards each member of the band simultaneously, and they are all standing in a horizontal line posing for the camera. The reading path then draws your eye towards the title ‘blue’ in bold black letters towards the bottom of the page with a slight fade to it. This gives the people looking at the advertisement a chance to see everything going on on the page in order that the eye takes it too. The light blue background emphasises the masculinity that this band are trying to create. The colour blue is stereotypically associated with men and pink for females. Everything in the advertisement shows off the band member’s good looks and their songs in hope to maximise sales increasing profit for all parties.
This advertisement it done in a professional way and has a stylistic feel to it to create mass sales for the boy band. They are a well known famous band which the younger generation will have grown up on and heard about. From looking at the advertisement and each member of the band is gazing into the camera to look as though they are staring the audience in the face as though they are somewhat attracted to them emphasises a cult of youth and beauty.
This magazine is trying to sell the members of the bands looks rather than their musical career; they are made out to look like sex symbols. The black member of the band is wearing a tight vest which emphasises his masculinity and also brings in an aspects of voyerism.
The way in which this band is represented is to be masculine, the dominant reading path draws the audience’s eye towards each member of the band simultaneously, and they are all standing in a horizontal line posing for the camera. The reading path then draws your eye towards the title ‘blue’ in bold black letters towards the bottom of the page with a slight fade to it. This gives the people looking at the advertisement a chance to see everything going on on the page in order that the eye takes it too. The light blue background emphasises the masculinity that this band are trying to create. The colour blue is stereotypically associated with men and pink for females. Everything in the advertisement shows off the band member’s good looks and their songs in hope to maximise sales increasing profit for all parties.
This advertisement it done in a professional way and has a stylistic feel to it to create mass sales for the boy band. They are a well known famous band which the younger generation will have grown up on and heard about. From looking at the advertisement and each member of the band is gazing into the camera to look as though they are staring the audience in the face as though they are somewhat attracted to them emphasises a cult of youth and beauty.
Mood Board (Jack)
Here is a deisgn of my mood board consisting of different boy band album covers in hope to inspire our group to make a stylish and successful album cover. This mood board shows a wide variety of boy bands which we are likely to take ideas from in order to create a successful music video. From this, we can also take different styles and dress codes from the boy band members. For our dress code we will be looking at a stylish and fashionable look like JLS, we want to make ourseleves a fresh and exciting music video with everything about it looking professional and not out of place.
JP-Deconstructing a Digipak: ‘Westlife-Back Home’ Album
Westlife is a famous boy band which is widely recognised over the world. From first glance at this album cover you can easily distinguish that this is a boy band and not a solo artist or a mixed sex band. West life are a boy band who’s style would fit the conventions of what we are trying to achieve in our own digipak. They use the same genre and types of songs and portray a slick layout with each member of the group looking fashionable and well groomed.
From looking at the dominant reading path you can easily tell that this is a boy-band. The reader’s eyes are automatically drawn to the centre of the page and in this case it is the name of the band and album. From then on you explore every band member singularly from front to back. The reader’s eyes will look towards the man at the front of the album cover and work their way back. Lastly the reader will begin to explore the album cover in more specific detail and try to look into what is happening in the background. This background is set outside with trees and green grass which they are walking across. This signifies a ‘naturalistic’ environment which they are associated with which will appeal to not just one specific target audience. If Westlife were to have a more futuristic or modern background the older generation may be put off by this and see it as ‘youth music’. They use neutral colours and nothing stands out too greatly, the blend of greens and the white sky gives a laid back effect which maximises its sale to all ages. From the clothes the band members are wearing e.g. fashionable/casual jeans and shirts or waistcoats the audience is given the impression that these men are in some ways ‘easy going’ and loveable characters with a likeability factor for everybody.
Each of the band members generate a certain sex appeal, their well groomed and fashionable look adds to this sex appeal as well as their ‘stylish hair’ and good looking faces. This generates a cult of youth and beauty which maximises their fan base, attraction of more female fans, which makes this more of a business in selling themselves rather than their music. Each member of the band due to their fame and good looks brings about a sense of ‘sexual desire’ to certain females all over. This inevitably helps them sell more of their albums/singles which leads on to more profit for themselves. This process however all boils down to their fortunate genetics of being good looking and ‘sexually desirable’ to a lot of women.
The title in the middle of the page is part of the earlier mentioned ‘dominant reading path’. The simple white bold letters allow the audience to determine the name of the band easily and it anchors the rest of the page well due to its simple layout. The background connotes ‘nature’ and ‘wildlife’ which gives the audience an inset to the minds of the band members showing their tranquil side and perhaps ‘love of the naturalistic environment’. Each of the band members looking to be ‘down to earth’ and well rounded individuals; they do not look completely driven by just fame but have a passion for music. The name of the album ‘back home’ emphasises this because home is a place associated with warmth and safety, the looks on the band members faces shows a desire for this warmth and safety of ‘home’. On the other hand if they were completely driven by fame it would be each of them dressed in revealing clothing with a modern look to the album cover with their photos being taken by the media and complete stardom. This album cover doesn’t connote this at all, they are all famous individuals and they chose to keep themselves looking like role-models for both young and old audiences.
All of these stages add up to how the band is being represented or perceived in reality. Using dyers critical framework on stars it is evident that the term ‘star’ was a set of mythological meanings which contained common values of being in music stardom. These common values consisted of youthfulness, rebellion, sexual magnetism, originality, creativity/talent and success against all odds. Westlife matches each of these traits which are key to making them a successful band. 'Dyer' also mentions that ‘the star image is incoherent’ relying on two different key paradoxes. The first paradox being that ‘The star must be ordinary and extraordinary, the star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer’. This paradox matches up well with Westlife and their genre and status over the world. They can both be seen as ordinary by the way in which they dress and their mannerisms, however on the other hand they can be seen as extraordinary by their fame and talent shown in their music.
The product will be targeted to be sold in mainstream shops such as HMV and other high profitable music stores. The reason being for this is because Westlife are not a band starting out and trying to sell a minute number of records to create a name for themselves. They are already an established band with clear goals to make money and have a likeability factor by making good music for everybody to enjoy and take pleasure in listening to it.
It is fairly evident through the images and style of this digipak cover that the genre of these artists. The way in which the artists are positioned and the way that they are all staring at the camera, creates this first person mode of address which is a typical convention of boy bands and in pop. Furthermore, all of the men are well groomed and dressed fashionably (for the 90’s). This creates this use of the cult of youth and beauty, which is a technique used to attract more fans, as people aspire to be like them. seeing as though the boy band is more aesthetically pleasing, also a very common convention of the boy band/pop genre.
The background of the digipak colour is a light blue, as a consumer my first interpretation would be that they were trying to suggest that they were ‘cool’ by using this colour. Furthermore it shows the contrast to their tanned skin which would further suggest that they are well groomed.
3 of the members of the group are wearing caps backwards; this creates this feeling of rebelling against society and the norms of pop music, which is supposed to be pleasant music. This connotes that the band are trying to reach out to all different groups of people, so that the females want them, and the males want to be them. Moreover one of the caps that is worn in the photo reads athletics, which again connotes that they keep fit and are interested in sport, another reference to the cult of youth and beauty. furthermore the fact that they are all evidently young males will attract older members of the public, in the sense that they will buy and listen tot he music to make them feel like they are trendy and part of the younger generation.
The fact that the digipak is called ‘steam’ creates this meaning of sexual activity, which means that the boy band is now being represented voyeuristically. This would be used to reach out to more female members of the public to be attracted to their music or themselves.
JB - Mood Board Showing Boy Band Albums
Here is a mood board showing a number of different boy band album covers. This will help us when thinking of our own design for a Digipak. Click on the image to see it more clearly.
JB - Deconstructing an Advertisement: ‘The Beatles’
Deconstructing an Advertisement: ‘The Beatles’
The advertisement I have chosen is one for ‘The Beatles’ as they were the closest I could find to the genre I wanted. This advertisement was assembled to advertise for all thirteen classic studio albums and past masters that are all digitally enhanced and remastered for the first time. The group formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music. The group consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Although their initial musical style was rooted back to the 1950s rock and roll, the group worked with different musical genres, such as psychedelic rock/pop.
The genre of the band is initially shown through the meat shot of the four members of the band. From this meat shot, certain star personas become clear. We see that the genre is actually a rock/pop band from the 60’s. This is highlighted by the black and white photograph contrasted with the bold red title of the band ‘The Beatles’. From the mise-en-scene we also see the genre of the albums for example the clothes that the band members are wearing, such as the round glasses that were extremely fashionable at the time of their music. The long hair in the photograph actually helps suggest this hippy style of the band, that lets us know their could be some psychedelic twist in their albums. Other visual techniques that are used are the rule of thirds. Everything on the page is lined up with one of the divisions, for example where the thirteen albums are shown at the bottom of the last horizontal division. As well as this the way that the black and white colour contrasts with the bold red connects the old with the new, as this album is all about rediscovering the band. The tone of the whole page creates this rediscovering idea, and the text anchors this statement with ‘Remastered. Rediscovered.’ This is an example of linguistic devices they have used and with the break up of the full stop in between it is clear that this is meant as a bold statement. The font uses the typical Beatles font that is a star motif for their band. It is used on all their albums, making it their own logo. Semiotics is used in the advertisement to create certain meaning, for example the way the way that the band are all looking across in the same direction. Obviously this is an old picture of the band, but the advertisers chose this photograph for a reason. The notion of looking used here could signify that the group are looking ahead towards the future or oppositely connoting the group looking back in the past at their previous albums, as this advert tries to convey that meaning of being ‘Rediscovered.’
References to popular culture are used here, but in a much more post modern way. Because these albums are all remastered versions, the meat shot of the band that has been used is in fact also an old photo, therefore making this print text post modern by making references to popular culture of the 60’s. Robert Greenfield, a former editor for Rolling Stones, said "People are still looking at Picasso. People are still looking at artists who broke through the constraints of their time period to come up with something that was unique and original. In the form that they worked in, in the form of popular music, no one will ever be more revolutionary, more creative and more distinctive than The Beatles were." This is an example of just how much of an affect The Beatles had on their audiences across the world. The Beatles were one of the first British rock/ pop bands to break through with an influence on American Bands. In the 1960’s there was also a wide spread influence from the band on style for example the hair cut imitations that were being seen everywhere. It encouraged the Hippie movement throughout the 60’s where there was numbers of people latching on to this psychedelic way of life. Hippie fashions had a major effect on culture, influencing music, television, film, literature, and arts. Since the 1960s, many aspects of hippie culture have been assimilated by mainstream culture. The Beatles are represented as an extremely post modern band. The fact that certain styles from the 60’s have become fashionable and up to date again, means that the advertisers have chosen now to make this rediscovery of the band, because they used creativity in their work. Creativity is an example of what Richard Dyer called Semi mythological set of meanings for the term of a ‘star.’ The Beatles possessed many values of stardom; youth, rebellion, sexual magnetism, originality, creativity, drugs/sex, and success. This advert shows the materials that The Beatles have been constructed through. Richard Dyer said that the star image is incoherent, based upon two key paradoxes. The first is that the star must be both ordinary and extraordinary, which The Beatles are, and the second being present and absent, which they are also. The type of institution that the band would be shown in these days would include both mainstream shops, and also vintage shops. The advertisement here is actually for remastered versions of all thirteen albums, and this is commercial for http://www.thebeatles.com/. This advertisement has also come from EMI, one of the largest music companies in the world showing just how popular the band have been, and how large their influence has been over the years.
The advertisement I have chosen is one for ‘The Beatles’ as they were the closest I could find to the genre I wanted. This advertisement was assembled to advertise for all thirteen classic studio albums and past masters that are all digitally enhanced and remastered for the first time. The group formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music. The group consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Although their initial musical style was rooted back to the 1950s rock and roll, the group worked with different musical genres, such as psychedelic rock/pop.
The genre of the band is initially shown through the meat shot of the four members of the band. From this meat shot, certain star personas become clear. We see that the genre is actually a rock/pop band from the 60’s. This is highlighted by the black and white photograph contrasted with the bold red title of the band ‘The Beatles’. From the mise-en-scene we also see the genre of the albums for example the clothes that the band members are wearing, such as the round glasses that were extremely fashionable at the time of their music. The long hair in the photograph actually helps suggest this hippy style of the band, that lets us know their could be some psychedelic twist in their albums. Other visual techniques that are used are the rule of thirds. Everything on the page is lined up with one of the divisions, for example where the thirteen albums are shown at the bottom of the last horizontal division. As well as this the way that the black and white colour contrasts with the bold red connects the old with the new, as this album is all about rediscovering the band. The tone of the whole page creates this rediscovering idea, and the text anchors this statement with ‘Remastered. Rediscovered.’ This is an example of linguistic devices they have used and with the break up of the full stop in between it is clear that this is meant as a bold statement. The font uses the typical Beatles font that is a star motif for their band. It is used on all their albums, making it their own logo. Semiotics is used in the advertisement to create certain meaning, for example the way the way that the band are all looking across in the same direction. Obviously this is an old picture of the band, but the advertisers chose this photograph for a reason. The notion of looking used here could signify that the group are looking ahead towards the future or oppositely connoting the group looking back in the past at their previous albums, as this advert tries to convey that meaning of being ‘Rediscovered.’
References to popular culture are used here, but in a much more post modern way. Because these albums are all remastered versions, the meat shot of the band that has been used is in fact also an old photo, therefore making this print text post modern by making references to popular culture of the 60’s. Robert Greenfield, a former editor for Rolling Stones, said "People are still looking at Picasso. People are still looking at artists who broke through the constraints of their time period to come up with something that was unique and original. In the form that they worked in, in the form of popular music, no one will ever be more revolutionary, more creative and more distinctive than The Beatles were." This is an example of just how much of an affect The Beatles had on their audiences across the world. The Beatles were one of the first British rock/ pop bands to break through with an influence on American Bands. In the 1960’s there was also a wide spread influence from the band on style for example the hair cut imitations that were being seen everywhere. It encouraged the Hippie movement throughout the 60’s where there was numbers of people latching on to this psychedelic way of life. Hippie fashions had a major effect on culture, influencing music, television, film, literature, and arts. Since the 1960s, many aspects of hippie culture have been assimilated by mainstream culture. The Beatles are represented as an extremely post modern band. The fact that certain styles from the 60’s have become fashionable and up to date again, means that the advertisers have chosen now to make this rediscovery of the band, because they used creativity in their work. Creativity is an example of what Richard Dyer called Semi mythological set of meanings for the term of a ‘star.’ The Beatles possessed many values of stardom; youth, rebellion, sexual magnetism, originality, creativity, drugs/sex, and success. This advert shows the materials that The Beatles have been constructed through. Richard Dyer said that the star image is incoherent, based upon two key paradoxes. The first is that the star must be both ordinary and extraordinary, which The Beatles are, and the second being present and absent, which they are also. The type of institution that the band would be shown in these days would include both mainstream shops, and also vintage shops. The advertisement here is actually for remastered versions of all thirteen albums, and this is commercial for http://www.thebeatles.com/. This advertisement has also come from EMI, one of the largest music companies in the world showing just how popular the band have been, and how large their influence has been over the years.
Sunday, 20 September 2009
JB - Deconstructing a Digipak: ‘Backstreet’s Back- Backstreet Boys’
Deconstructing a Digipak: ‘Backstreet’s Back- Backstreet Boys’
‘Backstreet’s back’ by Backstreet boys was an album of theirs that was initially released in 1997, as a follow up to their successful debut album ‘Backstreet Boys’. Backstreet boys are a boy band that’s style would fit the conventions of what we would try to convey in our own digipak. The genre of the band is clearly evident through the digipak’s front cover through the meat shot of the boy Band. Straight away we can tell that they are a boy band, and this is apparent through the dominant reading path of the cover. The title of the artists, ‘Backstreet Boys’ is the first thing the audience look at when glancing at the album. From the style of their name, it is fairly understandable that we are dealing with the pop genre boy band music. Also the genre is shown through the conventions and characteristics of their outfits. They are clearly wearing matching styled clothes, in which we can tell they are trying to be portrayed as a vocal band. Whereas in a rock band or instrumental band the clothing of the individual artists may not match, in a vocal boy band, especially pop, they would tend to wear similar clothes or colours. The genre is also shown through the style of the members themselves, for example their hair styles such as dyed blonde hair.
Whilst looking at the artwork cover, the producers have used certain visual techniques in creating it. As previously mentioned, there is a dominant reading path, starting from the artists name, to the album title and then finally to the photograph of the band. Additionally the rule of thirds has been utilised as the bands heads are all situated on the top horizontal line of the thirds, as well as having them all standing evenly spread across the horizontal divisions. The initial part of the cover, the title, has been created much larger than the rest, and actually appears very bold, against the grainy, lo-fi texture they have used. The font type used creates a modern star persona about the artists, as it is quite, ‘new millennium’ styled with the silver, metallic design. Furthermore the tone and mood of the picture appear to be quite ‘mellow’ with the use of colour tint and the weather in the photo is actually rather chilling. The overall consumption of all these different products is in fact making the artists look very laid back, and cool. Mise-en-scene is also playing a part in producing this look for the artists, for example the wall that they are standing against. This corresponds to the title of their band ‘Backstreet Boys’ because they are standing in a street. The wall appears a very dingy, every day, worn down wall. This lets the consumer see them as normal everyday people. Along with other parts of the mise-en-scene such as the member of the band second from the right appears to be looking at a mobile phone. This is an example of intertextuality, and a reference to popular culture of the time. For the time that this album was released (1997), mobile phones were at their prime of becoming this modern day technology that everyone can have. In this sense that is what makes this cover post modern. It is selling the product of the phone along with advertising the band. This was around the same time that all the new Nokia phones were getting increasingly popular, and this therefore plays a large part in how the band are to be perceived., making them appear slightly avant-garde. Certain parts of their accessories let the fans, and audience know more about their star personas. For example one member is wearing a cross around his neck, showing he is religion. This could be simply a fashion statement, or just one of his own star motifs; however it could be telling the fans that religion plays a large part in his life. This is an example of how meaning is generated through the techniques used. The cross, signifies religion, and connotes many other parts of that member of the bands personality, also adding to their meta-narrative. The semiotics seems to play a large part in this album cover. Another example is that just the member on the far left is in black. The other three are all wearing lighter coloured shirts/jackets, whereas just one of the members has chosen to wear black. This brings connotations to mind, for example it could signify to the audience he likes to go against norms and values. He chooses to rebel against what is expected of him in a way. In a macro sense, this emphasises this ideological discourse of rebellion in society. Perhaps the band is trying to represent good and bad, with the white and black. With white, come connotations of heaven and angels, purity, innocence, whereas in contrast black has connotations with darkness and rebellion. Also this emphasises the cult of youth and rebellion. Moreover, there are also some examples of how linguistic devices have been used, mainly through the emotive language such as ‘Backstreets Back’. This brings connotations of stating a fact. To say that they’re ‘Back’ is a bold statement, perhaps signifying a comeback or return after their successful debut album. This is also anchored by the font, which gives this ‘edgy’ effect to the bands star persona.
This all adds up to how the band is represented and perceived. For example Richard Dyer said that the term ‘Star’ was a set of semi mythological meanings, containing values of stardom, such as ones that Backstreet Boys possess, e.g. youth, rebellion, sexual magnetism and success. Dyer also talks about what roles the stars play, and he says that they are commodities of the business, and stars depend on subsidiary media. He mentions ‘The star image is incoherent’ based upon two key paradoxes. The first being a star must be both ordinary and extra-ordinary and the second being the star must be both present and absent to its audience. Backstreet Boys are a great example of this, because they come across as just four ordinary boys that are present to the audience. Through their artwork on the album cover this is what they suggest, but in actual fact they are absent from their audience, and this is an example of hegemony.
This product would be sold in all major music stores and in actual fact all over the country. Certain boy bands are actually a lot more popular in other places than their home country, for example this Backstreet Boys album has proved to be very popular in Europe, Canada, and Japan. The type of institution it would be sold in would be a major chained music store because of the genre and the star persona that the band offers. Places such as HMV would be the place it would be consumed and this is evident in the way the print text is constructed, which clearly emphasises the genre, of popular music.
1,170
Words.
‘Backstreet’s back’ by Backstreet boys was an album of theirs that was initially released in 1997, as a follow up to their successful debut album ‘Backstreet Boys’. Backstreet boys are a boy band that’s style would fit the conventions of what we would try to convey in our own digipak. The genre of the band is clearly evident through the digipak’s front cover through the meat shot of the boy Band. Straight away we can tell that they are a boy band, and this is apparent through the dominant reading path of the cover. The title of the artists, ‘Backstreet Boys’ is the first thing the audience look at when glancing at the album. From the style of their name, it is fairly understandable that we are dealing with the pop genre boy band music. Also the genre is shown through the conventions and characteristics of their outfits. They are clearly wearing matching styled clothes, in which we can tell they are trying to be portrayed as a vocal band. Whereas in a rock band or instrumental band the clothing of the individual artists may not match, in a vocal boy band, especially pop, they would tend to wear similar clothes or colours. The genre is also shown through the style of the members themselves, for example their hair styles such as dyed blonde hair.
Whilst looking at the artwork cover, the producers have used certain visual techniques in creating it. As previously mentioned, there is a dominant reading path, starting from the artists name, to the album title and then finally to the photograph of the band. Additionally the rule of thirds has been utilised as the bands heads are all situated on the top horizontal line of the thirds, as well as having them all standing evenly spread across the horizontal divisions. The initial part of the cover, the title, has been created much larger than the rest, and actually appears very bold, against the grainy, lo-fi texture they have used. The font type used creates a modern star persona about the artists, as it is quite, ‘new millennium’ styled with the silver, metallic design. Furthermore the tone and mood of the picture appear to be quite ‘mellow’ with the use of colour tint and the weather in the photo is actually rather chilling. The overall consumption of all these different products is in fact making the artists look very laid back, and cool. Mise-en-scene is also playing a part in producing this look for the artists, for example the wall that they are standing against. This corresponds to the title of their band ‘Backstreet Boys’ because they are standing in a street. The wall appears a very dingy, every day, worn down wall. This lets the consumer see them as normal everyday people. Along with other parts of the mise-en-scene such as the member of the band second from the right appears to be looking at a mobile phone. This is an example of intertextuality, and a reference to popular culture of the time. For the time that this album was released (1997), mobile phones were at their prime of becoming this modern day technology that everyone can have. In this sense that is what makes this cover post modern. It is selling the product of the phone along with advertising the band. This was around the same time that all the new Nokia phones were getting increasingly popular, and this therefore plays a large part in how the band are to be perceived., making them appear slightly avant-garde. Certain parts of their accessories let the fans, and audience know more about their star personas. For example one member is wearing a cross around his neck, showing he is religion. This could be simply a fashion statement, or just one of his own star motifs; however it could be telling the fans that religion plays a large part in his life. This is an example of how meaning is generated through the techniques used. The cross, signifies religion, and connotes many other parts of that member of the bands personality, also adding to their meta-narrative. The semiotics seems to play a large part in this album cover. Another example is that just the member on the far left is in black. The other three are all wearing lighter coloured shirts/jackets, whereas just one of the members has chosen to wear black. This brings connotations to mind, for example it could signify to the audience he likes to go against norms and values. He chooses to rebel against what is expected of him in a way. In a macro sense, this emphasises this ideological discourse of rebellion in society. Perhaps the band is trying to represent good and bad, with the white and black. With white, come connotations of heaven and angels, purity, innocence, whereas in contrast black has connotations with darkness and rebellion. Also this emphasises the cult of youth and rebellion. Moreover, there are also some examples of how linguistic devices have been used, mainly through the emotive language such as ‘Backstreets Back’. This brings connotations of stating a fact. To say that they’re ‘Back’ is a bold statement, perhaps signifying a comeback or return after their successful debut album. This is also anchored by the font, which gives this ‘edgy’ effect to the bands star persona.
This all adds up to how the band is represented and perceived. For example Richard Dyer said that the term ‘Star’ was a set of semi mythological meanings, containing values of stardom, such as ones that Backstreet Boys possess, e.g. youth, rebellion, sexual magnetism and success. Dyer also talks about what roles the stars play, and he says that they are commodities of the business, and stars depend on subsidiary media. He mentions ‘The star image is incoherent’ based upon two key paradoxes. The first being a star must be both ordinary and extra-ordinary and the second being the star must be both present and absent to its audience. Backstreet Boys are a great example of this, because they come across as just four ordinary boys that are present to the audience. Through their artwork on the album cover this is what they suggest, but in actual fact they are absent from their audience, and this is an example of hegemony.
This product would be sold in all major music stores and in actual fact all over the country. Certain boy bands are actually a lot more popular in other places than their home country, for example this Backstreet Boys album has proved to be very popular in Europe, Canada, and Japan. The type of institution it would be sold in would be a major chained music store because of the genre and the star persona that the band offers. Places such as HMV would be the place it would be consumed and this is evident in the way the print text is constructed, which clearly emphasises the genre, of popular music.
1,170
Words.
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