Friday, December 4, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Evaluation
- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our music video uses the codes and conventions of a music video in terms of how it is edited, like all music videos ours is mostly all continuity editing so what the video runs almost seamlessly throughout. We used a realistic mise en scene image, the main character was a typical over confident individual who are frequently shown and highlighted on shows like 'X factor' and 'Britain's got talent' the out fit he is wearing was chosen as we believed as the main character thought we had 'talent' he would dress similarly to one of the most iconic individuals of the music industry in Michael Jackson (hence the name Michael Jameson). It could be argued that our music video challenges the normal codes and conventions as well as the majority of the video is completely random (most of the town sections) their is no particular journey that the character is on, there are even times when there are just animals dancing. However, all of the clips relate back to the video in some way shape or form.
The CD album follows the codes and conventions of most CD albums, om the front cover we have one main shot, which is the penguin posing with professional dancers, doing a famous Michael Jackson pose. Like most CD album covers this cover had a main focus (the penguin) whilst also offering offer aspects. The two inside sections of the CD cover again both follow the codes and conventions of a regular inside section of a CD cover, the two famous dancing posers do however arguably challenge the regular codes and conventions as not many albums have images on the inside (normally just text) But we do include text about the Artist and a sing-a-long page which allows the listening to sing along with the song. The backing of the CD album again follows the regular codes and conventions, we have the track listings for the audience to read and look up and we have a bar code, website and picture.
The music poster does follow the codes and conventions of similar texts, we have chosen the famous 'Saturday Night Fever' pose (which is also present in the album, allows the audience to associate with the Artist) as the main image, as most music posters have one particular key image which attracts the users attention. We have also continued to use the same text on both the album and the poster to again help the audience associate the text and images to the music video and most importantly the artist.
- How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
I also think that the CD album compliments our music video, all of the pictures have people in dancing posers (including Michael Jackson and John Travolta) so the audience will instantly realize that the album is all about dance music, we have also a dance floor as the main background on all four sections of the album, hopefully this will allow the audience to establish that our music video is all about dancing. This clearly relates to the music poster as well as both the poster and album continue the famous dancing posers theme, highlighting continuity. Overall I feel that all three products compliment each other as they are clearly relate which was the clear goal throughout the entire project, as we decided early on to use to the same animal costumes from the actual music video and implement them onto the CD album and then on to the poster would show a clear understanding of continuity and inter-textual knowledge. The idea of putting the animals in a number of different famous dancing poses we thought would work extremely well as the music video itself was designed to highlight get children it express themselves whilst dancing, we felt that the posters whilst offering the children humor (animals to strange dancing posers) the famous dancing poses would also attract a completely different generation.
- What have you learned from your audience feedback?
Apart from that all of the feedback was mostly positive, myself and Michael were credited by many of the public with the large variety of shots and angles that we used. Again this was largely satisfying as one of our main aims was to make sure our music video did not drag on and had plenty of variation in it. We were also credited by how for the large majority of the song the different shots of footage ebbed and flowed with the music video and was in sync for the large majority, again this was pleasing as editing all the different clips in order to sync with the music video was extremely taxing and frustrating due to the amount of cutting and editing that was to be done in order for all of the footage and song it merge together.
As explained earlier the major negative feedback we received was due to the change of personal for one of the judges, as well as that many people said that some of the shots did not really make too much sense. An example was when during the song it says 'do the crocodile' and we have a shot of a penguin walking down a foot path, we clearly indeed to make a late change to this to improve the music video. Some people thought that there would of been a few more angles used and shots used, we did use high, mid and low angle shots and also some close up shots for our video.
- How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
For the planning section of the project we used the Flip video camera, this was done because we wanted to film and explain where and why we were going to film our project in these particular locations. As explained earlier in the blog Michael was in charge of location spotting, he thought it would be a good idea if I filmed in at the locations we intended to use and whilst doing that we would explain what exactly was going to take place at the particular location. I also used the MP3 audio voice recorder during the planning stage to inform the viewers what our particular idea for the music video is and how we intend to achieve our goals.
For the evaluation stages I have again used the voice recorder, this was done for an interview with myself and Michael. During the interview I explain what particular parts of the project I thought went to plan, which parts did not and how I thought it would be improved and what I had learned from this task. I again used the audio recorder and the video camera to create a directors cut of the music video, this involves dubbing over all of the sound during the music video and dub over it with the recording of my voice, i will be critical of the video and highlight the parts I enjoyed and would wanted to have improved.
When creating the music video I used iMovie HD on the Apple Macs, this program is highly complex but allowed us to upload the video footage and edit the footage, after that we had to export it into a web quicktime file so that it could all be posted up on the blog. Whilst creating both the CD album and poster I used the Photoshop software available on the Apple Macs, this program was massively useful as it has a wide array of texts and visual effects which helped create what I feel is a very good poster.
Overall I believe that we have used a large variety of different media technologies to create the project, I used the voice recorder, video camera, flip camera and I took plenty of screen shots from the Apple Mac computers to highlight the different stages of creating the music video and the posters.
Here is the audience feedback which he received from members of the public after watching our music video:
HERE IS WHERE WE INTEND TO ADD THE FEEDBACK FROM ERIC HERMAN, I HAVE SENT THE EMAIL INCLUDING OUR MUSIC VIDEO BUT ARE STILL AWAITING THE RESPONSE, WILL BE POSTED UP ASAP!
Here is a short audio interview with Elliot Hamlin (lead actor), he describes what he enjoyed about the project:
Here is my summary of what I believe where the key strengths and weaknesses of the project:
With reference to Rolands Barthe's theory of 'Death of the Author' this project has played with the idea that it is not important who ahs created text (in this case the music video) but it is far more important how the piece has been interpretated by the audience. This was exercised within the opening section of the music video when by pure accident the school janitor walked through the shot in the background which went unnoticed by myself until the editng process, however we decided to keep it in (very much like Tarintino did with the balloon going across the screen when he was shooting Resovoir Dogs) whilst learning about Roland Barthes so that was the main reasoning forkeeping him in, it also allows the audience the chance to wonder what he represents in our video.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Production of Main Task- Creation of CD album
In order to create the CD album we used the Photo shop software on the Apple Macs.
Firstly what we had to do was find out the correct size of a CD album, the dimensions were 12 cm by 12 cm. Once we had found this information I had to change the dimensions of the document by 12x12. The following picture highlights how we did this:
Once that was done Michael went to take the photographs for the background of the album, this is the same background we have used on all four of the sides as you felt that the dance floor fitted the criteria for our particular CD album. Once that was done we uploaded the pictures from the still camera onto the apple Macs, the next stage included editing the pictures. This applied for every single photo that we took for the CD album.
After we had imported the pictures and edited them into the CD album we had to edit the text so the particular style that we felt best. The text we decided to use was 'Postmaster' this is the Saturday Night Fever text which we also used for the poster, I felt this felt really suited our CD album as it clearly relates to the Dancing images which are present on our album. We achieved this by using the blending options on the photo shop software, we used the stroke effect to give our text a radiant red outline which I believe helps emphasize the text so that the pictures do not over shadow the text. The following pictures shows this process:
The following is a short video highlighting how I edited the text of the CD album and imported the one of the pictures:
THIS WILL BE UPLOADED ON MONDAY, LEFT ON SCHOOL MAC!!!!
Firstly what we had to do was find out the correct size of a CD album, the dimensions were 12 cm by 12 cm. Once we had found this information I had to change the dimensions of the document by 12x12. The following picture highlights how we did this:
Once that was done Michael went to take the photographs for the background of the album, this is the same background we have used on all four of the sides as you felt that the dance floor fitted the criteria for our particular CD album. Once that was done we uploaded the pictures from the still camera onto the apple Macs, the next stage included editing the pictures. This applied for every single photo that we took for the CD album.
- firstly we opened up the particular picture we wanted to use.
- secondly we used the magnetic lessee tool to cut the main picture out from the background.
- once that was done we had to copy and paste the picture onto the CD album and place it where it was positioned.
- the same process was taken for all photos.
After we had imported the pictures and edited them into the CD album we had to edit the text so the particular style that we felt best. The text we decided to use was 'Postmaster' this is the Saturday Night Fever text which we also used for the poster, I felt this felt really suited our CD album as it clearly relates to the Dancing images which are present on our album. We achieved this by using the blending options on the photo shop software, we used the stroke effect to give our text a radiant red outline which I believe helps emphasize the text so that the pictures do not over shadow the text. The following pictures shows this process:
The following is a short video highlighting how I edited the text of the CD album and imported the one of the pictures:
THIS WILL BE UPLOADED ON MONDAY, LEFT ON SCHOOL MAC!!!!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Production of Main Task- Making the Music Poster
I used the program Photoshop on the macs to create the music poster.
Firstly I had to create a new document, the following picture highlights how it was done:
I started off with creating the background to the poster, this was done using the gradient tool, we choose two colours (blue and purple) and moved the mouse across the page to create the background we desired. The picture below shows how this was achieved:
Once that was done I uploaded the main picture for the poster, this was done by up uploading the picture then using the magnetic lasse tool. This removed the background which was not required. The following picture highlights the process:
Once the picture was cut out we had to copy and paste it onto the background of the poster.
The next step was to add the text to the poster, I had to simply press the text button and start to write the correct information where we deemed it was best to place it, the next picture shows how we achieved this:
After that was completed we began to add different effects to the text (please note that the text used was the exact text used for Saturday night fever, it corresponds with the picture in the poster) you used many different affects, including the stroke and outer layer. The next picture shows how it was done:
Once all of the text was completed, all we had to do was save the project.
The following it a short video, highlighting how I edited the text and how I edited the main picture for our poster:
Firstly I had to create a new document, the following picture highlights how it was done:
I started off with creating the background to the poster, this was done using the gradient tool, we choose two colours (blue and purple) and moved the mouse across the page to create the background we desired. The picture below shows how this was achieved:
Once that was done I uploaded the main picture for the poster, this was done by up uploading the picture then using the magnetic lasse tool. This removed the background which was not required. The following picture highlights the process:
Once the picture was cut out we had to copy and paste it onto the background of the poster.
The next step was to add the text to the poster, I had to simply press the text button and start to write the correct information where we deemed it was best to place it, the next picture shows how we achieved this:
After that was completed we began to add different effects to the text (please note that the text used was the exact text used for Saturday night fever, it corresponds with the picture in the poster) you used many different affects, including the stroke and outer layer. The next picture shows how it was done:
Once all of the text was completed, all we had to do was save the project.
The following it a short video, highlighting how I edited the text and how I edited the main picture for our poster:
Monday, November 30, 2009
Production of Main Task- Editing the Music Video
Editing the music video was without doubt the most difficult process of creating the Music Video, I used the iMovie HD program which was available on the Macs.
The first process was to upload a new file for the music video, the picture below shows this very process:
Once that was complete I had to upload all of the footage from the camera, this was was done by connecting the camera to the Mac via a USB cable and then pressing the import button.
Once the footage was uploaded, the editing process began. We had taken a number of different shots, at different angles and areas, the following shot shows all of the different shots we had taken:
Once the footage was uploaded, the editing process began. We had taken a number of different shots, at different angles and areas, the following shot shows all of the different shots we had taken:
Once we had decided on the particular clips that we felt best suited out music video it was my job to edit the clips so that they were well synced with the song itself. This meant that a large proportion of the clips had to be cut down to short and sharp shots which would keep the viewers interested and entertained. The following picture below shows that process being done:
All of the above clips were cut up significantly, this complicated the process of making the video as many clips were no longer than four seconds long, meaning that much of the other clip was re used at different sections of the video, which does not mean that the video is boring and one dimensional.
Once all of the clips were edited together, Michael had the ever frustrating job of fitting every single shot so that it was synced with the music video, as our video changed shot extremely often it was important to make sure that all of the clips were in time with the song lyrics, if that was not the case we had to delete and edit every single clip until it slotted in with the music song as well as it was possible.
The following is a short video, highlighting how we edited the footage:
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Production of Main Task- Filming Music Video and Location spotting
As I was working in a group with Michael Morris, we firstly outlined what we would do individually and collectively. When planning our task Michael was given the task of filming our small video section which highlighted how we came up with our ideas, the locations we had decided to film in and who will be casted for the music video. Once that had been decided you went on to filming our main project.
-As I mostly specialized in editing and Michael was extremely keen to film our project it was a rather straight forward decision to decide who was going to do what.
-On the first day of filming we were up at the great hall at our College, Elliot (main protagonist in the video) was filmed dancing on the stage in front of the three different judges. As we used Michael as one of the judges I was in charge of these shots, we thought that the shots and angles that we did use fitted the scene extremely well and did not break the ever frustrating 180 degree rule.
- Once we had finished filming in the great hall we filmed Elliot leaving the main entrance of the college, the idea behind this was as he walked 'into the light' (biblical reference) the character realized that it is not the end of the world and he can dance.
-On the second day of filming we shot Elliot leaving the college groups via the main gate, again we used many different angles, including a front and back angle shot and then we had a match on action shot of the animals leaving the grounds with Elliot. Michael filmed every single one of these shots, the key angle I believe was the front mid-shot as it shows all of the animals coming out from behind the gates to comfort and dance with Elliot.
-Later that day we went into the town centre, we both took terms filming different shots and angles of Elliot dancing individually and collectively with the different animals at different times. We thought it was highly necessary to film plenty of mid shots from different angles so that the audience with have a clear view of what they were doing.
-On the third and final day of filming Michael shot the high and low angle shots of the animals and of Elliot dancing, this was done mostly to add a variation of angles to add much needed variation to the filming. Again this was mostly filmed in town as it gave us easy access to people in the streets who were willing to dance randomly for our music video. We managed to persuade roughly three different individuals to dance, we wanted to get random people from the streets to dance in the music video to add a different dimension tour video, almost to encourage any to dance how they like and 'let themselves go' on the weekend.
Final Day of filming review:
-As I mostly specialized in editing and Michael was extremely keen to film our project it was a rather straight forward decision to decide who was going to do what.
-On the first day of filming we were up at the great hall at our College, Elliot (main protagonist in the video) was filmed dancing on the stage in front of the three different judges. As we used Michael as one of the judges I was in charge of these shots, we thought that the shots and angles that we did use fitted the scene extremely well and did not break the ever frustrating 180 degree rule.
- Once we had finished filming in the great hall we filmed Elliot leaving the main entrance of the college, the idea behind this was as he walked 'into the light' (biblical reference) the character realized that it is not the end of the world and he can dance.
-On the second day of filming we shot Elliot leaving the college groups via the main gate, again we used many different angles, including a front and back angle shot and then we had a match on action shot of the animals leaving the grounds with Elliot. Michael filmed every single one of these shots, the key angle I believe was the front mid-shot as it shows all of the animals coming out from behind the gates to comfort and dance with Elliot.
-Later that day we went into the town centre, we both took terms filming different shots and angles of Elliot dancing individually and collectively with the different animals at different times. We thought it was highly necessary to film plenty of mid shots from different angles so that the audience with have a clear view of what they were doing.
-On the third and final day of filming Michael shot the high and low angle shots of the animals and of Elliot dancing, this was done mostly to add a variation of angles to add much needed variation to the filming. Again this was mostly filmed in town as it gave us easy access to people in the streets who were willing to dance randomly for our music video. We managed to persuade roughly three different individuals to dance, we wanted to get random people from the streets to dance in the music video to add a different dimension tour video, almost to encourage any to dance how they like and 'let themselves go' on the weekend.
Final Day of filming review:
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Similar medIa texts- CD Posters
Street Kingz Poster
I think that this poster is highly effective at getting its point across, the large text of AVAILABLE NOW highlights that the cd can be bought now and overall there is very little text which does not seen as confusing as some other cd posters. The only text on there is the necessary text, the one main picture is right in the middle of the poster which initially draws the attention of the readers so that they know exactly what the band is and the sort of music they produce is clear through the style of language and imagery.
The title at the top shows and informs the readers exactly what the name of the band is and that it is their 'new' album. The background of the brick way gives the impression of the 'streets' and the background of the artists and their influences in their music. I think that having the web address at the bottom is extremely useful as it allows the readers to contact them or find out more about the band itself.
Nocturnal Rage Poster
I think that this poster clearly highlights everything that the reader requires, it has a website address to allow the reader a link for more information about this particular band. It also highlights the well known songs of the band, which include 'way out' and 'get your hands out my pockets' i believe that this is a highly intelligent thing to add as these songs are clearly their well known tracks and so the readers are likely to be more interested in purchasing the album as they are familiar with certain tracks.
Again like the previous poster there is just one major picture, this captures the imagination of the readers, the painting on the womans body clearly relates to the groovy text stating 'way out your mind' which suggests to me that the band is very versatile and hip. The simplistic blue background also brings the attention to the woman, which is the key aspect of the poster.
Ruester poster
This poster is again extremely simplistic l
ike the previous posters, the plain background diverts attention towards the text and the rooster. The text highlights all the required information like the date it is out and the name of the album, it uses a pun 'crowing now' in relation to the name of the band and the fact that it has a rooster on the front cover, this light hearted humour would appeal to the audience.In many wasy this poster highlights that for a CD poster 'less is more' as there is not much text at all but the poster does not confuse the reader and everything required for the poster is present. The link at the bottom on the poster again like the previous posters I believe is really important as it allows the readers to find out more information on the band and the style of music they generally produce.
ESA poster
This poster uses a black background to highlight the young pale
woman in white clothing, this is the key image of the poster which relates to the title of the album 'the sea and the silence'. The text is extremely basic and white which again is simplistic, all of the required information is there (date of release, band name and album name).The only negative I believe there is about this particular poster is that the picture behind the text and the bottom is not clear and it looks a little lazy as it is not clearly apparent what what the image is or what it is doing in the poster.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Music Video Idea
Our idea for the music video 'dance like and animal' is reasonably simplistic, it will start off with our main character auditioning for an dance competition, once he has performed the judges deem him to be hopeless and a waste of space. He will then realize that he will continue to 'dance like an animal' regardless of what people think of his ability to dance, this results in the main character dancing in town with many different animals and he will encourage many random people to dance with him as well.
The main aim of our video is to make the song well recognized, we hope to do this by making the video visually arresting tot he audience with the originality of the song. Obviously that will hopefully lead to the song selling thousands of records and becoming an overall becoming a success.
The following is a short video which involves myself being interviewed by Michael about the idea for the opening introduction:
The following is my animatic storyboard:
The main aim of our video is to make the song well recognized, we hope to do this by making the video visually arresting tot he audience with the originality of the song. Obviously that will hopefully lead to the song selling thousands of records and becoming an overall becoming a success.
The following is a short video which involves myself being interviewed by Michael about the idea for the opening introduction:
The following is my animatic storyboard:
Letter to Eric Herman
This is the letter I sent to Eric Herman, the reasoning for this was that we require his permission for the copyrights for the video:
Dear Mr. Herman,
My name is Barney Orr and I am currently in the process of co creating a music video for my Media Studies coursework. My fellow peer and I were hoping to use your hit 'dance like an animal' for our respective music video, the reasoning for this is that it is not a well known song and we feel it has a fresh beat which the public will enjoy.
Kindest regards,
Barney Orr
...........................................................................................................................
In return we received a welcoming reply!
Dear Mr. Herman,
My name is Barney Orr and I am currently in the process of co creating a music video for my Media Studies coursework. My fellow peer and I were hoping to use your hit 'dance like an animal' for our respective music video, the reasoning for this is that it is not a well known song and we feel it has a fresh beat which the public will enjoy.
Kindest regards,
Barney Orr
...........................................................................................................................
In return we received a welcoming reply!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Questionnaire results
The main two parts of all the questionnaires that I am looking at was the age and gander catorgories, this is due to the fact that music videos are suppost to reach out and attract their main target audience. The results from those two sections of the questionnaires will hopefully give me a clear indication of what my target audience will be, the results are as follows:
Friday, September 25, 2009
Research of Music channel ratings
The following graph will show a number of the most popular music channels and their daily and weekly ratings. This is extremely important research as it will help me decide what sort of genre of music video I will do, for example if I was looking to do a rock music video but the weekly and daily ratings for rock music channels was extremely low I would most likely change my genre. This is my table of results for a number of music channels:
These results show that 4music is my far the most popular music channel, as this music channel shows mostly new fresh music it would tell me that the public enjoy music which is original. The second highest viewed channel was MTV which shows very similar music to 4music. The lowest viewed channel was Omusic which is an opera music channel, from this I will choose not to do an opera much video as they are clearly not well recieved on TV. Karrang was reasonably popular and it shows rokc music which is a clear option and Kiss is very much R&B music.
The results would clearly suggest that the most popular form of music to listen to on music tv channels is pop (again reflected on the number of people who watch 4music) this in turn has lead to be seriosuly looking into the idea of creating a music video which would fulfill the correct criteria to be shown ton the most popular music channels.
Overall I think I will be making a music video in the pop genre as it appears from these results that pop is an extremely opoular choice to listen to TV.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Research into target audience
In order for me to get an insight of how to create a effective music video, cd cover and magazine advert, I will need to get facts on what the viewers are looking for when watching music videos, buying cd's and looking through magazines. I will compile three different questionnaires and show them in the general public, I will also look at different music channels and search their viewing figures throughout the day.
This is my questionnaire for the CD cover:
here is my questionnaire for music videos:
here is my questionnaire for magazine advertisements:
Once I have gathered all the required information I believe I will be a very strong position. The results will give me a clear indication of what the public enjoy watching, buying and reading with reference to music videos. I will also take into consideration the viewing figures of popular music channels, this is because if a channel shows one particular genre of music and is not popular that would inform me that people to not enjoy watching music videos in that genre and that will overall influence my decision on what genre of music video I will produce.
These questionnaires are extremely important as they will give myself a good idea of on the sort of type of video the public enjoy, this information will be extremely important to take on board when creating the music video because if I fail to take on board this information there will be a good chance that the public will not relate and enjoy the music video. This again applies to the questionnaire results for the magazine and cd cover.
Similar media texts cd albums
Eminem- Relapse
This cd cover shows a passive close up picture of eminems face, this will clearly show that this is his new album for the viewers. So it sends a very clear message, the most clever aspect of he cover is how form a distance it appears just to be a picture of his face, but when you have a close up it becomes clear that it has been made up from many forms of pills and drugs. This has a message in itself, it has been well documented about the drug problems eminem has had in the past and this makes reference to that and possibly highlights that his album will include music which explains his drug problems. The coloring has been very well done, the light colored pills stand out due to the plain black background and the lighting shows half of his face light and the over dark which could probably be a reference to his split personality or the good and bad times he has experienced.
This front cover would attract many of eminems regular fans due to the music, but what makes this cover better than most is the originality of the artwork chosen, I believe that it will strike the attention of many people passing by in a shop window, this is mostly because the olouring used (mostly red from a distance) has a clear picture of eminems face on the front cover, generally when people see his face they can recognize what he has achieved and that the music that he produces is generally of a very high standard.
50 CENT- Before I self destruct
this front cover shows 50 cent sitting down in a chair with dark covered clothing which matches the surrounding. This gives the impression to the audience that this is a more meaningful album and the songs are not just all about woman and money etc. His title is up in the top right hand corner which allows it to stand out to the audience as the best of the album cover is reasonably bland. However, in the cover he has 'bling' on and appears to be wearing a diamond watch. This keeps the trend for all rappers to have plenty of money and 'bling'. This in turn highlights that the implications of this album shows all of the stereotypes of a rapper's cd album and this would mean I will likely not use this criteria as I do not intend to create a r'n'b music video however the way this album cover has been created does fulfil the regular criteria of most album covers, including the major still image and the album title and artist title placed on the cover which will clearly be taken on board.
This album is by the indie band the kooks, it depicts the three main band members all sitting down, relaxing and working on their music. This could highlight the difficult life of a band and how stressful it can be. The text right at the tope of the cover is in black and red which stands out in the white background. All members of the band are shown with long fuzzy hair which again may attract the indie fans to go and buy as that is the style many of their fans will have their hair. The cover is in black and white, this may of been done to highlight the band name and make it stand out more. Again this cover fulfills all the criteria that people are looking for when creating a music album, with the key image taking up the entire cover, with the title and band name at the top in simple but readable font, this simplistic style will be taken on board when creating my own cover as generally from my questionnaire results many of the people asked enjoyed the more simplistic covers.
Gorillaz
This album depicts all of the animated band members of gorrillaz in a car, there is a white background which highlights the importance of the band members. The band name has been added onto the cover as it was their first album it allows the audience to identify with the band. Each of the band members has their own individual look which may say to the audience that the music that this band are producing is for all different kinds of music fans and they do not just want to be stereotyped into a particular genre. All the members and the jeep are covered in green, this will also make the band name stand out more and catch the audiences attention. This album has some very clear implications which I intend to take on board, this major still image and styled text all fit into the same mold and work very well together, this will clearly be taken on board when creating my cover as the text will have to be edited in order for it to fit in with its surroundings.
Inside Covers and Back of covers
Sterophonics- You gotta go there to come back
The inside of this CD album is extremely basic, on the left side panel it has the booklet, with pictures of a small child playing with a football, this is a continuation of the theme right throughout the album. It is the same child on each different panel of the album, this continuity helps the audience understand the key themes of the album cover. On the right side panel it holds the actual CD,behind the CD there is a montage of photos and newspaper clippings of the members of the band, although the text is arguably too small to read. There appears to be very little meaning behind this montage as there is no clear link with the theme of the album. Overall the inside of the album is extremely creative and complex whilst still staying reasonably simple in design, this is a very important factor.
The back side of the album has all of the regular conventions you would except to see on a CD album, there is the track listings which inform the user what songs will be played in particular older. They continue the theme of having the same small child of this side of the album, all the correct copyright details and bar codes etc. Overall this is a very conventional as it fulfils all of the required criteria.
Robbie Williams- Entertainment
The inside panels on this cd album are extremely basic and simple, the left panel is simply a booklet with circular affects that appear to be depicting a woman entering a swimming pool, this does correspond with the rest of the album, so there is a clear theme and pattern to the album. The right side panel is just simply a plain black background, this may of been done to keep the CD case as basic as possible as when this album was released the artist was not particularly well known throughout the music industry.
The back of the CD album continues with the theme of the same woman this time leaving the swimming pool, this back panel fulfills all of the regular criteria you would accept (track listing, bar code, publishing details etc). Overall this CD album is highly simple but yet again effective.
Franz Ferdinand
The inside of this CD album is very similar to the Robbie Williams album, on the left panel it has a booklet with the band name written across with the same font as the front cover. On the right side panel it is simply plain black, again the only possible reason I can think they did this was due to the fact that this was their first album released and they did not have a particular theme or style their fans could associated with at this particular time.
The CD back has a simple black background, it again has all of the items such as bar codes, track listing etc that you would expect. There also apears to be a form of mosaic art on the left hand side of the panel, this in keeps with the theme on the front cover. Overall this album is original and interesting and most most defiantly attracted on lookers attention when in stores.
Sterophonics- You gotta go there to come back
The inside of this CD album is extremely basic, on the left side panel it has the booklet, with pictures of a small child playing with a football, this is a continuation of the theme right throughout the album. It is the same child on each different panel of the album, this continuity helps the audience understand the key themes of the album cover. On the right side panel it holds the actual CD,behind the CD there is a montage of photos and newspaper clippings of the members of the band, although the text is arguably too small to read. There appears to be very little meaning behind this montage as there is no clear link with the theme of the album. Overall the inside of the album is extremely creative and complex whilst still staying reasonably simple in design, this is a very important factor.
The back side of the album has all of the regular conventions you would except to see on a CD album, there is the track listings which inform the user what songs will be played in particular older. They continue the theme of having the same small child of this side of the album, all the correct copyright details and bar codes etc. Overall this is a very conventional as it fulfils all of the required criteria.
Robbie Williams- Entertainment
The inside panels on this cd album are extremely basic and simple, the left panel is simply a booklet with circular affects that appear to be depicting a woman entering a swimming pool, this does correspond with the rest of the album, so there is a clear theme and pattern to the album. The right side panel is just simply a plain black background, this may of been done to keep the CD case as basic as possible as when this album was released the artist was not particularly well known throughout the music industry.
The back of the CD album continues with the theme of the same woman this time leaving the swimming pool, this back panel fulfills all of the regular criteria you would accept (track listing, bar code, publishing details etc). Overall this CD album is highly simple but yet again effective.
Franz Ferdinand
The inside of this CD album is very similar to the Robbie Williams album, on the left panel it has a booklet with the band name written across with the same font as the front cover. On the right side panel it is simply plain black, again the only possible reason I can think they did this was due to the fact that this was their first album released and they did not have a particular theme or style their fans could associated with at this particular time.
The CD back has a simple black background, it again has all of the items such as bar codes, track listing etc that you would expect. There also apears to be a form of mosaic art on the left hand side of the panel, this in keeps with the theme on the front cover. Overall this album is original and interesting and most most defiantly attracted on lookers attention when in stores.
Research into similar media texts
Music Videos
The music video will clearly alter depending on the genre of the song and the band involved. There is so many different genres in the music industry know that it is extremely important that the artist makes sure that their particular video relates to the genre of music. An obvious example would be for an R&B video the lead singer will be surrounded by stunning woman, live in massive houses and living the 'dream'. This can be seen in Dizzee Rascal's latest music video 'Holiday', In other genres such as indie will normally be never down to earth and generally revolve around the lead singer and a narrative story. The video will always be influenced by the genre of the song.
CD covers
Just like the music videos, the cd covers will clearly alter depending on the genre of the song and the style of the artist. This is very important as the cd cover sells the album to the target audience, the best ones are the ones which stand out and really grab your attention. In general an R&B artist will have him/herself on the front cover with plenty of 'bling'. Whereas with the indie style of music it is more likely to be a animation or piece of art on the front cover of the cd. The cd cover will obvious have the artist/band name on the front cover so that in itself will encourage fans of the band to purchase it but if the buyer is not a massive fan then at times it can be the cd cover that decides whether or not it is worth buying.
Magazine advertisement
The main difference of the magazine advertisement compared to the cd cover is that the advert will obviously need to be perused people and will most likely need to be more eye-catching than the cd cover. This is due to the fact that the majority of people who will be buying music cd's will already be shopping so they will not need persuaded as much as the people reading a magazine at home or at work. This will mean that the advert will have to be much more vibrant and will have to catch the readers attention as soon as they see it.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Research into similar media texts
Music Videos
There are different styles of music videos and there are 3 main forms that they come in; Performance, Narrative and Image. Performance speaks for itself, it is a performance based video normally on a stage or something of a similar sort. Narrative is where the video tells a story either the one relating to the song or a separate narrative is told. Image is when the video focuses mainly on the artist.
Beyonce- Single Ladies
Link to video- http://www.muzu.tv/beyonce/single-ladies-put-a-ring-on-it-music-video/43845?country=gb
This is an example of an extremely simple, it consists of three woman (one of which is Beyonce) who spent the entire music video dancing in sync in a slightly provocative way. This video very much focuses on the image (focusing on the artist) of Beyonce, their is absolutly no narritive throughout the video and the performance takes place in what appears to be a large white empty room. The video focuses mainly on th images of beyonce in this video, it shows how woman are and should be confident with or without a man and beoynce is the perfect example throughout the video. This song is very much an r 'n' b genre, this is mostly due to the style of music.
This particular video has delibrately decided to use black and white colouring, this has most likely been done to show off the class of beyonce, blakc and white colouring makes the viewers fouc in more on the actual artist than the surroundings. I beleive that this video was seuccessful becuase of the simplicity of the video and the creativity of the dancing by the peroformers. Therefore this particular music video highlights that in order for the main focus of the music video to be reconigsed by the audience it is important that the creator uses effects that will highlight the key focuses of the video.
Calvin Harris- I'm not alone
Link to video- http://www.muzu.tv/calvinharris/im-not-alone-music-video/170260?country=gb
This video uses a larger variety of methods throughout, at the beginning of the video it is very narritive based. There is a small child struggling to cope travelling through the cold winter weather. At the time the lyrics clearly relate to the conditions shown in the video. When the song breaks down and the chorus starts it becomes very much a dance beat and the image of Calvin Harris starts. It just depicts himself singing the song, and then there are woman dancing around him. There is absolutly no performance in this particular video, it is either image or narrative. The genre of this song is dance, like the large majority of his music.
Once again the originality of the video is the key to the success and popularity of this particular music video, the section of the video where Calvin Harris is dressed up as a doctor is particularly different to a normal Calvin Harris video, the actual video fits in very well with the song as it is random and a fresh beat. The implication of these features highlights how the mise en scene is extremely important when creating a music video, for example if Calvin Harris was not wearing the doctor out fit throughout the duration of the video then the music video would lose all effect. This is extremely important to keep in mind for my music video as I intend to include animal costumes so they will have to remain the key focus of the video or the effect will be rendered useless.
Goldie Lookin Chain- Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers do
Link to video- http://www.muzu.tv/goldielookinchain/guns-dont-kill-people-rappers-do-music-video/220799?country=gb
Like the previous vidoe involving Calvin Harris this video as a narrative and image. Throughout the video the members of the band are running away from the police and explaining how rappers kill people. Many times throughout the video it cuts to the members of the band which does not actually relate directly to the video of the song or any of the narritve. The band image throughout this music video is very much 'ganster rappers' and they get that point across in their video. The narritvie in this video is the members of the band running from the police and in a wierd way showing how the police are not that powerful. This is a very light hearted video and is clearly not to be taken seriously. The genre of this song is rap.
This video is highly entertaining due to the comic values the actual song possesses, lyrics etc. The video itself also is humorous, the members of the band appear to be going around a shop, town centre makign fun and tormenting the police. This origionality of the music video really does capture the imagination of the viewers, this will result in the song selling plenty of records due the the popularity of the music video. This music video highlights that is edited and shot well then music videos do not have to be serious in order to be appreiacted, this is clearly a mock up music video which its main perpose is to be entertaining, as this is the type of video I intend to be creating these implications are important to take note of.
System Of A Down - Chop Suey!
Link to video- http://www.muzu.tv/systemofadown/chop-suey-music-video/16738?country=gb
This video is almost completely a performance of the band, they are all on a very small stage performing to a very hostile crown. This clearly links to the genre of the song, which is heavy metal. The image of the band is that of 'rockers' as they are all wearing dark clothing, with dark hair and all the cosmetics you could expect these' rockers' to have. Again this links directly to the genre of the song. There is absolutly no narritve in this particular video, the video mostly just consiists of the band performing to their respective fans. The genre of the video is metal and rock.
This music video was made popular due to the addictivness of the music video, the special effects used really appear to be happening (like in real life) and it really captizates the listenings imagination. The song is not particully a great song but the music video really makes the song appear far suprior than most. This video again highlights how if the video has a clear aim and is well shot and edited then it can become a success, as already stated this particular video has very little happening in it (as far as events are concerned).
Michael Jackson- Man in the mirrow
Link to video- http://www.muzu.tv/michaeljackson/man-in-the-mirror-music-video/268606?country=gb
This video is narritive, although not in the conventional way. The song does not in a sense tell a story but instead it sends out a message which is extremely powerful. The lyrics of this song link directly to the many different clips shown throughout the duration of this video. The video informs the audience of the horrors that the world has witnessed throughout a space of time but it also shows near the end of the song that there is still hope that the world can 'change' if we all 'make the change'. There is no performance in this video by Michael Jackson and likewise there is no image of Michael Jackson, this has clearly been done delbiberatly to highlight the importance of the message portayed throughout this video. The genre of this song is pop.
This music video is highly emotional due to the racial context of the video clips and the motives behind the artist singing this particular song. Every single video clip throughout the duration of the song appeals to the viewers and highlights all what is wrong in the world (starvation and racism). The overall quality of the song itself meant that the record would of sold many units, but along with the music video it was a massive success worldwide. It it important to take note of the implications of this particular video as even though it is only a slide show of video clips the editingand order in which they are shown in a sense tell a very important story (in this case about the evils of the world) and therefore highlights the importance of the sequence in which the clips are shown in a music video.
Cartoons- Witch Doctor
The song starts off with a small narrative, multiple characters are waiting for advice from the witch doctor. As soon as they recieve the advice the song starts, from there on in the video is almost completely random, all of the events to not particually relate to the lyrics of th song. There is a case to claim that there is a form of performance in the music video, this is because all of the memebrs in the band are singing the lyrics as they appear. However it is important to note that the video is not on a stage so it cannot be a proper performance. I beleive that this video is mostly narrative, at the beginning there is th pre narrative which then leads all the people in the video to follow the 'witch doctor' as the 'special words' that they are given help them reach their goal. This song is a novalty song, therefore the normal codes and conventions of a music video to not apply to an extent as it is suppost to be 'wacky'.
This music video offers some important techniques, such as the massive variety of shots and in general the random nature of this music video. These key implications therefore will be taken on board when creating my music video as it intends to be very randomly shot (with a narrative) which in turn offers a clear humourous factor.
Aqua- Barbie Girl
This is yet another novalty song, it starts off with Ken (Barbies boyfriend) coming around in the car to her house. There appears to a be a party that takes off soon afterwards, there is a continous voice over from either barbie or ken which describes what a great time they are having. This is a pop genre song, again just like the previous song as it is a novalty song the normal codes and conventions of a music video do not directly apply to this video as the main point of this video is not suppost to be taken seriously and is clearly suppost to be cheesy. The fact that the band is using the characters from barbie shows that the video is suppost to be taken lightly, not like a video such as 'man in the morror' by Michael Jackson. The narritive in the song is thouough, both character seem to be describing what they are doing in the music video more times than not.
Blood hound gang- The bad touch
This song is competely image, the entire band appear to be dressed up as monkeys, runing around a massive city (most likely somewhere like New York) this main reason for me choosing this video is that it is not too dissimilar to the video which we hope to create, the members of the band appear to be eating worms at some points during the song, this random approach to creating a music video is what has captured the imagination of many music channel viewers. The actual song is not great but the quality and originality is what really makes this a fantastic music video and due the the video is sold many units in music shope throughout the world.
The genre of this song is a parody rock song, it is not a conventional rock song but has many aspects which a rock song had (including the instruments used) and taking into account the previous songs which they have released they have always been a rock band. This music video is arguably the most important, I intend to have people dressed up as animals (like this video) throuhout our town centre, this video uses a variety of shots and cuts quickly in order to keep the audience entertained, this is extremely important techniques so will be clearly taken on board
There are different styles of music videos and there are 3 main forms that they come in; Performance, Narrative and Image. Performance speaks for itself, it is a performance based video normally on a stage or something of a similar sort. Narrative is where the video tells a story either the one relating to the song or a separate narrative is told. Image is when the video focuses mainly on the artist.
Beyonce- Single Ladies
Link to video- http://www.muzu.tv/beyonce/single-ladies-put-a-ring-on-it-music-video/43845?country=gb
This is an example of an extremely simple, it consists of three woman (one of which is Beyonce) who spent the entire music video dancing in sync in a slightly provocative way. This video very much focuses on the image (focusing on the artist) of Beyonce, their is absolutly no narritive throughout the video and the performance takes place in what appears to be a large white empty room. The video focuses mainly on th images of beyonce in this video, it shows how woman are and should be confident with or without a man and beoynce is the perfect example throughout the video. This song is very much an r 'n' b genre, this is mostly due to the style of music.
This particular video has delibrately decided to use black and white colouring, this has most likely been done to show off the class of beyonce, blakc and white colouring makes the viewers fouc in more on the actual artist than the surroundings. I beleive that this video was seuccessful becuase of the simplicity of the video and the creativity of the dancing by the peroformers. Therefore this particular music video highlights that in order for the main focus of the music video to be reconigsed by the audience it is important that the creator uses effects that will highlight the key focuses of the video.
Calvin Harris- I'm not alone
Link to video- http://www.muzu.tv/calvinharris/im-not-alone-music-video/170260?country=gb
This video uses a larger variety of methods throughout, at the beginning of the video it is very narritive based. There is a small child struggling to cope travelling through the cold winter weather. At the time the lyrics clearly relate to the conditions shown in the video. When the song breaks down and the chorus starts it becomes very much a dance beat and the image of Calvin Harris starts. It just depicts himself singing the song, and then there are woman dancing around him. There is absolutly no performance in this particular video, it is either image or narrative. The genre of this song is dance, like the large majority of his music.
Once again the originality of the video is the key to the success and popularity of this particular music video, the section of the video where Calvin Harris is dressed up as a doctor is particularly different to a normal Calvin Harris video, the actual video fits in very well with the song as it is random and a fresh beat. The implication of these features highlights how the mise en scene is extremely important when creating a music video, for example if Calvin Harris was not wearing the doctor out fit throughout the duration of the video then the music video would lose all effect. This is extremely important to keep in mind for my music video as I intend to include animal costumes so they will have to remain the key focus of the video or the effect will be rendered useless.
Goldie Lookin Chain- Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers do
Link to video- http://www.muzu.tv/goldielookinchain/guns-dont-kill-people-rappers-do-music-video/220799?country=gb
Like the previous vidoe involving Calvin Harris this video as a narrative and image. Throughout the video the members of the band are running away from the police and explaining how rappers kill people. Many times throughout the video it cuts to the members of the band which does not actually relate directly to the video of the song or any of the narritve. The band image throughout this music video is very much 'ganster rappers' and they get that point across in their video. The narritvie in this video is the members of the band running from the police and in a wierd way showing how the police are not that powerful. This is a very light hearted video and is clearly not to be taken seriously. The genre of this song is rap.
This video is highly entertaining due to the comic values the actual song possesses, lyrics etc. The video itself also is humorous, the members of the band appear to be going around a shop, town centre makign fun and tormenting the police. This origionality of the music video really does capture the imagination of the viewers, this will result in the song selling plenty of records due the the popularity of the music video. This music video highlights that is edited and shot well then music videos do not have to be serious in order to be appreiacted, this is clearly a mock up music video which its main perpose is to be entertaining, as this is the type of video I intend to be creating these implications are important to take note of.
System Of A Down - Chop Suey!
Link to video- http://www.muzu.tv/systemofadown/chop-suey-music-video/16738?country=gb
This video is almost completely a performance of the band, they are all on a very small stage performing to a very hostile crown. This clearly links to the genre of the song, which is heavy metal. The image of the band is that of 'rockers' as they are all wearing dark clothing, with dark hair and all the cosmetics you could expect these' rockers' to have. Again this links directly to the genre of the song. There is absolutly no narritve in this particular video, the video mostly just consiists of the band performing to their respective fans. The genre of the video is metal and rock.
This music video was made popular due to the addictivness of the music video, the special effects used really appear to be happening (like in real life) and it really captizates the listenings imagination. The song is not particully a great song but the music video really makes the song appear far suprior than most. This video again highlights how if the video has a clear aim and is well shot and edited then it can become a success, as already stated this particular video has very little happening in it (as far as events are concerned).
Michael Jackson- Man in the mirrow
Link to video- http://www.muzu.tv/michaeljackson/man-in-the-mirror-music-video/268606?country=gb
This video is narritive, although not in the conventional way. The song does not in a sense tell a story but instead it sends out a message which is extremely powerful. The lyrics of this song link directly to the many different clips shown throughout the duration of this video. The video informs the audience of the horrors that the world has witnessed throughout a space of time but it also shows near the end of the song that there is still hope that the world can 'change' if we all 'make the change'. There is no performance in this video by Michael Jackson and likewise there is no image of Michael Jackson, this has clearly been done delbiberatly to highlight the importance of the message portayed throughout this video. The genre of this song is pop.
This music video is highly emotional due to the racial context of the video clips and the motives behind the artist singing this particular song. Every single video clip throughout the duration of the song appeals to the viewers and highlights all what is wrong in the world (starvation and racism). The overall quality of the song itself meant that the record would of sold many units, but along with the music video it was a massive success worldwide. It it important to take note of the implications of this particular video as even though it is only a slide show of video clips the editingand order in which they are shown in a sense tell a very important story (in this case about the evils of the world) and therefore highlights the importance of the sequence in which the clips are shown in a music video.
Cartoons- Witch Doctor
The song starts off with a small narrative, multiple characters are waiting for advice from the witch doctor. As soon as they recieve the advice the song starts, from there on in the video is almost completely random, all of the events to not particually relate to the lyrics of th song. There is a case to claim that there is a form of performance in the music video, this is because all of the memebrs in the band are singing the lyrics as they appear. However it is important to note that the video is not on a stage so it cannot be a proper performance. I beleive that this video is mostly narrative, at the beginning there is th pre narrative which then leads all the people in the video to follow the 'witch doctor' as the 'special words' that they are given help them reach their goal. This song is a novalty song, therefore the normal codes and conventions of a music video to not apply to an extent as it is suppost to be 'wacky'.
This music video offers some important techniques, such as the massive variety of shots and in general the random nature of this music video. These key implications therefore will be taken on board when creating my music video as it intends to be very randomly shot (with a narrative) which in turn offers a clear humourous factor.
Aqua- Barbie Girl
This is yet another novalty song, it starts off with Ken (Barbies boyfriend) coming around in the car to her house. There appears to a be a party that takes off soon afterwards, there is a continous voice over from either barbie or ken which describes what a great time they are having. This is a pop genre song, again just like the previous song as it is a novalty song the normal codes and conventions of a music video do not directly apply to this video as the main point of this video is not suppost to be taken seriously and is clearly suppost to be cheesy. The fact that the band is using the characters from barbie shows that the video is suppost to be taken lightly, not like a video such as 'man in the morror' by Michael Jackson. The narritive in the song is thouough, both character seem to be describing what they are doing in the music video more times than not.
Blood hound gang- The bad touch
This song is competely image, the entire band appear to be dressed up as monkeys, runing around a massive city (most likely somewhere like New York) this main reason for me choosing this video is that it is not too dissimilar to the video which we hope to create, the members of the band appear to be eating worms at some points during the song, this random approach to creating a music video is what has captured the imagination of many music channel viewers. The actual song is not great but the quality and originality is what really makes this a fantastic music video and due the the video is sold many units in music shope throughout the world.
The genre of this song is a parody rock song, it is not a conventional rock song but has many aspects which a rock song had (including the instruments used) and taking into account the previous songs which they have released they have always been a rock band. This music video is arguably the most important, I intend to have people dressed up as animals (like this video) throuhout our town centre, this video uses a variety of shots and cuts quickly in order to keep the audience entertained, this is extremely important techniques so will be clearly taken on board
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