"sounds creepy...i love it!!!" ; " I love how it sounds like its from the 1920's.. makes it sound creepy-ish.... Guess thats why i love it so much! :)" ; " Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.-Benjamin Franklin" etc.
Sunday, 17 April 2011
Friday, 15 April 2011
Evaluation
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products ?
Our media product perpetuates conventions of real music videos, as it can be observed that we have edited the pace of the video, so it would match and go along with the rhythm of the song, in a way that makes the video complement the song. Consequently this makes the video fitting to the song, and much more attractive to the audience.
Another aspect in which we have used conventions, is the fact that indie music videos are often random and colorful; we changed the brightness and the contrast of the video so it would look unrealistic, to intensify the colors so they would be vibrant and have that aspect of fantasy, after all our concept does play with the fantasies of beauty standards created by the media.
As the video comes to an end, and our character rebels against these beauty standards, the colors go back to its original arrangement, this depicts the young woman going back to reality, and her urge to get out of - what the majority of modern society considers to be - the ideal lifestyle.
Nevertheless, there are no such rules and precise conventions to follow in this particular genre of music, when comparing with other genres such as Pop, Rock and RnB. Therefore it can be argued that the convention for a indie music video is to simply be different than the conventional mainstream music video, to have no conventions at all; this was suitable as it allowed us to have more freedom in our project to film and edit, as we didn't have to worry so much about conventions.
Our project challenges conventions of music videos, as it is a truth that music videos in general do not convey important messages; the majority of them are used as a form of escapism, to entertain audiences and promote the artist's work. We challenged that convention to a certain extent, by including a serious message in our video - which is that women shouldn't be passive towards the media - through lively actions and playful, comic visuals, hence our media text still plays its role which is to entertain audiences and promote the artist's work, but it goes beyond its expectations as it carries a strong ideology behind, and in my personal opinion, this makes our music video unique and successful.
Usually - in indie music - the artist appears performing their songs in their music videos; however, we wanted to be different and challenge that convention, by creating a concept that reflects the band's beliefs, and consequently reflecting some of the band's identity. We put some thought into it and decided that this would be utterly effective as many bands have done this at least once, and the results were always successful. This option would bring enigma and it would evoke curiosity in the viewer, this would ultimately lead them to research the artist and make them want to watch their other music videos.
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| Print screen of changes made to the brightness and contrast of the video. |
As the video comes to an end, and our character rebels against these beauty standards, the colors go back to its original arrangement, this depicts the young woman going back to reality, and her urge to get out of - what the majority of modern society considers to be - the ideal lifestyle.
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| Glamorous depiction of the young model. |
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| Turning point: The young model is fed up and breaks free from the media's manipulative ways. It can be seen here the transition, from 'dreamlike state' which isn't really dreamy - vibrant colors, which emphasizes that notion of fantasy - to reality. |
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| Final depiction of the model who urges to go back to a ordinary reality. |
Nevertheless, there are no such rules and precise conventions to follow in this particular genre of music, when comparing with other genres such as Pop, Rock and RnB. Therefore it can be argued that the convention for a indie music video is to simply be different than the conventional mainstream music video, to have no conventions at all; this was suitable as it allowed us to have more freedom in our project to film and edit, as we didn't have to worry so much about conventions.
Our project challenges conventions of music videos, as it is a truth that music videos in general do not convey important messages; the majority of them are used as a form of escapism, to entertain audiences and promote the artist's work. We challenged that convention to a certain extent, by including a serious message in our video - which is that women shouldn't be passive towards the media - through lively actions and playful, comic visuals, hence our media text still plays its role which is to entertain audiences and promote the artist's work, but it goes beyond its expectations as it carries a strong ideology behind, and in my personal opinion, this makes our music video unique and successful.
Usually - in indie music - the artist appears performing their songs in their music videos; however, we wanted to be different and challenge that convention, by creating a concept that reflects the band's beliefs, and consequently reflecting some of the band's identity. We put some thought into it and decided that this would be utterly effective as many bands have done this at least once, and the results were always successful. This option would bring enigma and it would evoke curiosity in the viewer, this would ultimately lead them to research the artist and make them want to watch their other music videos.
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts ?
It can be seen in this, that she has already been completely manipulated by the media, to the point of reaching degradation of herself. This particular picture, resembles the stereotypical polemic images of celebrities. It depicts the conventional negative behavior that celebrities usually have. It links perfectly with our video, as it is another repugnant depiction of the mass media. The main theme found in this back cover, is drugs, this allows another link with the video, as the scientist induces drugs on the model many times.
Like our music video, the front cover of the digipack is really striking.
The message conveyed in our video is conspicuous, and even though the front cover emphasizes the concept, it is done in a rather subtle way, which contrasts with the manner in which we displayed the concept in the video. The connotations of eating disorders and beauty standards set by the mass media, are definitely there, but if one hasn't seen the video, there will be an element of mystery as the front cover only hints the themes explored in this album. This is highly desired, as the artist does not want the album art to give too much of the content away to the audience, otherwise it won't evoke the interest in them to purchase the product and listen to it. Therefore the album art has to evoke curiosity, it has to be delicate.
By researching professional album magazine adverts, we found that the majority of them use the actual front cover of the band's album, in order to promote their work on their magazine. Therefore, we did the same, we only changed the dimensions and the contrast of the image, so it would resemble an actual magazine advert. We also decided it would be better to keep the front cover as the magazine advert, because that way the audience can relate one with the other. They see the advert on the magazine, and it not only promotes the product as it also makes it easier for them to actually find the product as they become aware of what the album art looks like.
The fact that these themes are found not only in the main product, but also in the and ancillary texts, makes the connection between these media texts even more poignant. Consequently, its promotion of the artist is stronger, as the ancillary texts emphasize the ideology already found in the music video.
I find the combination of our music video, with the digipack and magazine advert utterly effective, as the actress who plays the role of the model in our music video, also appears in both the digipack - front and back cover - and in the magazine advert; hence, there is a connection between our main product and our ancillary texts, which I personally believe is essential and fitting, as it enables the audience to relate one with the other. This method is used by many artists, that way the audience becomes aware that there is a link, that these products belong to the same artist - but more importantly - to the same album.
Another way in which the combination of the two is effective, is the fact that the themes found in our video are also found in the magazine advert, front and back cover of the digipack, these themes include eating disorders, beauty standards set by the media, celebrity's behavior, etc.
Another way in which the combination of the two is effective, is the fact that the themes found in our video are also found in the magazine advert, front and back cover of the digipack, these themes include eating disorders, beauty standards set by the media, celebrity's behavior, etc.
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| Back cover of the digipack |
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| Scientist's checklist. |
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| Front cover of the digipack. The fact that she is tempted to eat the plastic burger telephone, connotes she is on a diet and is deprived from eating what she wants. |
The message conveyed in our video is conspicuous, and even though the front cover emphasizes the concept, it is done in a rather subtle way, which contrasts with the manner in which we displayed the concept in the video. The connotations of eating disorders and beauty standards set by the mass media, are definitely there, but if one hasn't seen the video, there will be an element of mystery as the front cover only hints the themes explored in this album. This is highly desired, as the artist does not want the album art to give too much of the content away to the audience, otherwise it won't evoke the interest in them to purchase the product and listen to it. Therefore the album art has to evoke curiosity, it has to be delicate.
The fact that these themes are found not only in the main product, but also in the and ancillary texts, makes the connection between these media texts even more poignant. Consequently, its promotion of the artist is stronger, as the ancillary texts emphasize the ideology already found in the music video.
3. What have you learnt from your audience feedback ?
From my audience feedback I have learnt that the artist's image is utterly important in the music industry, as young people find that their overall image is essential in order to evoke in them the desire to listen to the artist. I have also found out that music videos are more important than I originally thought, this is so because the majority of teenagers find them a crucial component in their everydaylives, as well as a necessary method for them to connect with their idol and to start listenning to new artists, as it is through music videos, that they can get a feel of what the artist's style is like.
Through the feedbacks gained, I have learnt that music videos are truly like commercials for songs, they are vital to an artist, as it helps them promote their song in a way that no other media text could do:
"I find music videos so important, that once I watch them, I never look at that song the same again, so if the video is really appealing to me, it makes me like the song more, and listen to it more often."
I also found out, that our concept is indeed evident in our video, and that it is a effective video, which conveys a important message through playful visuals, which makes the whole experience entertaining and different, as it was mentioned before, most music videos do not bring serious messages. Some people even compared our video to the notion of movies: "it brings a life lesson at the end, but it is very entertaining to watch as the visuals are attractive and humorous."
We had problems when editing, as we could not change the green background, because we were unaware in the filming process, that we weren't supposed to move from the right spot. Therefore, we turned the video to black and white, but our audience was quite honest about this, they all agreed that the black and white effect did not work well with the vivacious visuals, so we got advices from our college staff, and later we changed the contrast and brightness of the video, which worked out better than the original version, as it gave the notion of dreamlike world, which fitted our concept entirely.
Through the feedbacks gained, I have learnt that music videos are truly like commercials for songs, they are vital to an artist, as it helps them promote their song in a way that no other media text could do:
"I find music videos so important, that once I watch them, I never look at that song the same again, so if the video is really appealing to me, it makes me like the song more, and listen to it more often."
I also found out, that our concept is indeed evident in our video, and that it is a effective video, which conveys a important message through playful visuals, which makes the whole experience entertaining and different, as it was mentioned before, most music videos do not bring serious messages. Some people even compared our video to the notion of movies: "it brings a life lesson at the end, but it is very entertaining to watch as the visuals are attractive and humorous."
We had problems when editing, as we could not change the green background, because we were unaware in the filming process, that we weren't supposed to move from the right spot. Therefore, we turned the video to black and white, but our audience was quite honest about this, they all agreed that the black and white effect did not work well with the vivacious visuals, so we got advices from our college staff, and later we changed the contrast and brightness of the video, which worked out better than the original version, as it gave the notion of dreamlike world, which fitted our concept entirely.
I have also learnt that Indie music is popular with both females and males, which goes against what I originally predicted. I reckoned at the start that males were the target audience of Indie music, but in fact, indie music can be compared to RnB as it attracts both genders equally.
4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages ?
Firstly, I have used Google throughout the whole process of research, planning and evaluation, this is due to its versatility. Every image, lyric, quote or information needed, I managed to find straightaway on Google without any problems or having to search elsewhere.
Blogger was a really useful tool, it allowed me to post all my research online quickly; it also helped as it saved us from doing a lot of printing, it also prevented us from losing any paper work. Apart from Google, Blogger was surely the easiest tool to use throughout this entire project. I used the Blogger as an online folder, every piece of research, planning, and even the process of the video production can be found in it.
Furthermore, I used this website in order to analyse music videos that were relevant to our chosen concept for our project, as a part of our research, and later embed the video on the blog along with the analysis.
I also used youtube to find videos that reflects on fandom, artist and video director research.
Later I used the website Slideshare in order to upload Powerpoint presentations unto the internet and ultimately embed them here.
I made a free account on this website, and found that it is a easy to use tool.
As it can be seen in the picture above, we have used a professional camera, a tripod, professional lights, and lastly, a green screen.
Unfortunately we had problems with changing the background of the green screen when editing our footage, hence we had to work with other techniques in order to embellish our music video in a way that would be relevant to its concept.
We were very fortunate to have mac computers in our college, which was utterly helpful, as they are indeed high technology that brings the ultimate softwares, it enabled us to get the best out of our project.
Final Cut Pro, a software which allowed us to easily edit our project, we learnt how to use the program quickly due to its versatility. I really enjoyed working in final cut pro since I had no experience in editing before, and I found that this particular program was easy to use, it wasn't complicated at all, so I quickly got a grip on how to use this software.
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We also used Adobe Photoshop Cs4 in oder to create our digipack covers and magazine advert.
Video Director Research
Alan Ferguson is an American music video director who is currently signed to Yvette Lang-Einczig & Yell Productions. Most of his work is for Mainstream Artists such as Katy Perry, Nelly Furtado and Fall out Boys.
He also worked with Janelle Monae.
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| Janelle Monae |
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| Nelly Furtado-the Night is young |
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| Natasha Bedingfield- Pocket full of sunshine |
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| Katy Perry-Hot 'n Cold |
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| Fall out Boy-Dance,Dance,Dance |
Because he works with Mainstream Artists the music videos he directed are conventional.
James Frost is an English Music Video and commercial director. His most recent work is Ok Gos' music video "this too shall pass".# which took 5 months to design and build up and two days to shoot the final version is one continuous shot. Similar to our music video, it breaks the fantasy at the end by showing that it was staged. here a link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w
Mark Romanek is an american film and Music Video Director. He has worked with many well known artists and received many awards for his work.
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| Michael Jackson& Janet Jackson- Scream |
He also worked with Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson on their Video Scream which cost 7 million US Dollars. It is similar to our idea of them being trapped and pressurised by the media.
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Sunday, 10 April 2011
Old and New Fandom
Fandom now
Fandom befor
And Beatle Fans
After watching some Fan Videos, I feel like there is this different relationship between a fan and an artist. It moslty happens to mains stream artists and it seems like super sincere fans worship their idols\stars. Hence there are shows like "American Idol" etc. Sometimes being a fan turns into being a stalker.
This shows again that gettign so much media coverage has some good and many bad effects.
"People catagorized as obsessed fans or stalkers are really only obsessed by their own feeling of insignificants. They act out towards the people they envy in a desperate attempt to gain their own notariety."
Fandom befor
And Beatle Fans
After watching some Fan Videos, I feel like there is this different relationship between a fan and an artist. It moslty happens to mains stream artists and it seems like super sincere fans worship their idols\stars. Hence there are shows like "American Idol" etc. Sometimes being a fan turns into being a stalker.
This shows again that gettign so much media coverage has some good and many bad effects.
"People catagorized as obsessed fans or stalkers are really only obsessed by their own feeling of insignificants. They act out towards the people they envy in a desperate attempt to gain their own notariety."
Mulit- What?
So, I was searching the web and I came across these Videos on Youtube that are called "Multi-fandom" Videos. They are mash ups of different TV shows and movies made by fans. One can relate that to music Fans as both would sacrifice their spare time to making a "Fan Video" tributed to whatever they are a fan of. For TV show fans they are called Multi-Fandom and for music Fans they are called "Covers\Parodies" etc.
This is a "Multi-Fandom" Video. The creatir of this video must be really committed to what she\he is doing because after two years of Media Studies I know that Editing can be very time consuming and tiring.
and there is more...
Offcourse Music Artist Fans have their way of showing their fandom as seen in this video:
The Person that uploaded the video wrote "Lady Gaga saw this video on her birthday, March 28, 2010 & tweeted the following: "I've never cried so hard in 24 years, from pure joy and unconditional love. Tears still streaming.""
And it is not just GaGa Fans
And not just Britney fans either
This relationship between Artist and Audience is very important for the marketing of the artist and their fame so they often do or say something to keep those fans and get more.
So we've established that fans like to dedicate time to their idols but artists like to do the same sometimes(or maybe they have to??).
This is a "Multi-Fandom" Video. The creatir of this video must be really committed to what she\he is doing because after two years of Media Studies I know that Editing can be very time consuming and tiring.
and there is more...
Offcourse Music Artist Fans have their way of showing their fandom as seen in this video:
The Person that uploaded the video wrote "Lady Gaga saw this video on her birthday, March 28, 2010 & tweeted the following: "I've never cried so hard in 24 years, from pure joy and unconditional love. Tears still streaming.""
And it is not just GaGa Fans
And not just Britney fans either
This relationship between Artist and Audience is very important for the marketing of the artist and their fame so they often do or say something to keep those fans and get more.
So we've established that fans like to dedicate time to their idols but artists like to do the same sometimes(or maybe they have to??).
Songs that inspire!(or do they??)
To be fair on the Music Industry they do have some songs try to make people comfortable with who they are and how they look like. For example Christina Aguileras Music video "beautiful"
and India Aries "I am not my hair". I am going to compare how these songs and music videos try to convey their message.
Christina Agiulera is a Pop & RnB artist who targets the mass market with her music. In this particular Music video she tries to reach a range of audience (mainly people who feel insecure about themselves) this is amplified in the video by cross cutting between an anorexic girl, a girl that is being bullied, a crossdresser, a homosexual couple, a black girl, basically a group of people that are usually not accepted or judged by other members of society. The video starts of with all of the characters being sad and her singing "to them" "you are beautiful, in every single way, words can't bring you down". A very symbolic part is when the black girl tears up a magazine and burns it, it is a bit similar to the idea in our music video. What I like about the video is that there are characters in it that are not conventionally beautiful, so considering that it does challenge the conventions of usual, mainstream music videos. Nonetheless Christina Aguilera (who is conventionally beautiful) still gets most of the screen time, so it looks a little bit like she is using these other characters in the video to sell herself and make a better image for herself.
India Arie is a Soul & RnB artist, her music is not as mainstream as Christina Aguileras. Just as Aguileras Song was supposedly inspirational her Song "I am not my hair" was too. But unlike Aguilera Arie is mainly targeting black women with that song. Most black women in the mainstream Media do not wear their natural hair because it is not "desirable" and often labelled as "nappy hair" or "slave hair". This idea goes all the way back to the time of slavery and how white slave owners instilled the idea that "Negro hair is not feminine or beautiful" and "the straighter(and lighter) the better". Unfortunately this idea still exists in todays society. To deliver that idea Akon states "was it the hair that got me this far?...I hate to see it but it seems so flaw the success didn't come 'till I cut it all off" and Arie sings "Good hair means curls and waves, bad hair makes you look like slave". The song has a great meaning and I believe more people should listen to the lyrics and feel more comfortable in their own skin. The lyrics of the song are different and inspirational but unfortunately the video is again mainly of the artist performing into the camera with some good editing. This is something that appears in most Music Videos, even if they have a deeper meaning they often concentrate on the artist and try to establish the artists image but I suppose they have to earn their money somehow.
Digipack
Many artists like to release digipacks due to aesthetic reasons, they are more expensive than normal cds, they look nicer as the digipacks material consists of paper/cardboard, therefore it does not crack like jewel cases do, this may be one of the reasons why fans particularly like these. Digipacks include bonus tracks and extra footage/documentaries/interview with the artist.
Below find some examples of different digipacks:
Fandom
With the Media bombarding our everyday lives with all sorts of music, tv shows, films, games, cartoons, it is a consequence for all of us to become a fan of something; since there are endless options for all different tastes.
"this emotional attachment - some have compared to a form of love - is a vital component. May even be so intense as to go beyond an individual fan's ability fully put into words and explain it(...)" Matt Hills.
This video shows how obsessed one can become with a famous musician, but more importantly how -unfortunately- often, only girls go to extremes like this.
With new technologies such as Twitter and Youtube, fans have gained the freedom to interact with their idols. It has become easier for them to meet their favorite artists, as the majority of them post on Twitter when and where they will be, hence it goes beyond online interaction, it enhances the relationship between fans and their heroes, as it often gives them the opportunity to actually meet them in real life, many times.
"It is important to make contact in real life and not just online in social media like Twitter." Amanda Palmer, lead singer for The Dresden Dolls.
Youtube is also used by fans who are trying to gain their idols attention, or to simply show how much they appreciate their work and their style/image.
There are tutorials teaching fans how to copy their artist's make up...
There are fans who are also artists and are trying to show to people -and their idol- their own talent -and again- how much they love the artist's work.
Some videos do grab the artist's attention, and it may ultimately result in this..
With new technologies such as Twitter and Youtube, fans have gained the freedom to interact with their idols. It has become easier for them to meet their favorite artists, as the majority of them post on Twitter when and where they will be, hence it goes beyond online interaction, it enhances the relationship between fans and their heroes, as it often gives them the opportunity to actually meet them in real life, many times.
"It is important to make contact in real life and not just online in social media like Twitter." Amanda Palmer, lead singer for The Dresden Dolls.
Youtube is also used by fans who are trying to gain their idols attention, or to simply show how much they appreciate their work and their style/image.
There are tutorials teaching fans how to copy their artist's make up...
There are fans who are also artists and are trying to show to people -and their idol- their own talent -and again- how much they love the artist's work.
Some videos do grab the artist's attention, and it may ultimately result in this..
Music Video Director Research
Joji Koyama
London-based director, Joji Koyama is also known as "Woof Wan-Bau"; After his graduation in art, Koyama started to direct music videos; he has also shown his talent through short films, comics, animations, drawings and photographs, which ultimately displays the versatile artist that he is. Koyama won the prize for 2004's Best Music Video Public Choice Award, British Animation Awards, as well as 2005's Best Animated Film, Halloween Short Film Festival ICA London.
It can be observed in his work that skills are abundant as he masters different techniques such as stop motion, computer animation and live action. The surrealism and creativity are surely the main aspects of his works, he has once said in an interview:
One of Koyama's work that can be linked to our music video, is the video to the song 'It was acceptable in the 80's' Its main style: vibrant colours and comic/playful visuals, are aspects that are also found in our music video. We researched various music videos, including Koyama's work, and the video below inspired us to produce something similar.
Evan Bernard
Evan Bernard is an american director of both commercials and music videos. He is known as he has directed videos for punk bands such as Green Day and Rancid, as well as other artists like The Beastie Boys, Moby, etc.
He is also famous for directing television ads for companies such as Toyota, Puma and Red Stripe.
Bernard's most recent work, is the music video to the song 'Double Vision' by 3OH!3, which gained positive reviews due to its creativity and originality.
Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton
Faris along with her partner, Jonathan Dayton, have directed award-winning music videos, such as "Californication" by the band Red Hot Chilli Peppers, "Freak on a Leash" by Korn, Smashing Pumpkin's "Tonight, Tonight". They have also made music videos and documentaries for artists such as Oasis, Weezer, Janet Jackson, Beastie Boys, R.E.M, etc. The couple has gone even further since they have directed many commercials for IKEA, GAP, Apple Computer, Mastercard, Puma, and many others.
The team has received critical acclaim due to their comedy-drama film, as it won them two Academy Awards.
Liz Friedlander
Friedlander is highly respected in the music industry and is considered one of the most admirable directors. She has directed over 80 music videos, and is known for working with artists such as U2, Celine Dion, Alanis Morissette, R.E.M, Blink 182, Plus 44 and others.
She won the MTV's Viewer's Choice Award for Best Video of 2002 for her work with the artist, Michelle Branch. Friedlander formerly worked as a producer and editor, she has worked with The Red Hot Chili Peppers among others.
It can be seen in the music video "Adam's song" by Blink 182, a important concept that conveys the lyrics to the song. Stop motion technique is also used in this music video, and is surely one of the main aspects of this video that makes it eyecatching, and it was one of the techniques we considered to use at the beginning of our project.
It can be observed in his work that skills are abundant as he masters different techniques such as stop motion, computer animation and live action. The surrealism and creativity are surely the main aspects of his works, he has once said in an interview:
"My ethos is to be as playful as possible, to make something that is not just simple and glossy—with something a little bit more imaginative going on."
One of Koyama's work that can be linked to our music video, is the video to the song 'It was acceptable in the 80's' Its main style: vibrant colours and comic/playful visuals, are aspects that are also found in our music video. We researched various music videos, including Koyama's work, and the video below inspired us to produce something similar.
Evan Bernard
He is also famous for directing television ads for companies such as Toyota, Puma and Red Stripe.
Bernard's most recent work, is the music video to the song 'Double Vision' by 3OH!3, which gained positive reviews due to its creativity and originality.
Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton
The team has received critical acclaim due to their comedy-drama film, as it won them two Academy Awards.
Liz Friedlander
She won the MTV's Viewer's Choice Award for Best Video of 2002 for her work with the artist, Michelle Branch. Friedlander formerly worked as a producer and editor, she has worked with The Red Hot Chili Peppers among others.
It can be seen in the music video "Adam's song" by Blink 182, a important concept that conveys the lyrics to the song. Stop motion technique is also used in this music video, and is surely one of the main aspects of this video that makes it eyecatching, and it was one of the techniques we considered to use at the beginning of our project.
Monday, 4 April 2011
Music Video Analysis
Wikipedia:"The Pierces are a New York-based band. The principal members are sisters Catherine Pierce and Allison Pierce. Their genre is Alternative,Folk rock & Pop rock."
So it is not your mainstream pop music. The music video reflects on the song and has a rather dark theme. It is a mixture of narrative and perfomance as the lead singer performs throughout almost the whole video.The main message of the song is quite straight forward and I believe they have succesfully elaborated on the lyrics with their music video. There are often music videos one might forget or not even watch until the end but this is definately one of those videos that you have to watch untill the end. This is because of its originality and individuality. The story of the video is about two friends, one tells the other a secret,the other pormises (on her life) not to tell anyone, eventually she does tell others, her friend finds out and kills her because "two can keep a secret if one of them is dead". In the video you can see a person that is supposedly dead because she did not keep a secret as the video moves on the audience is shown how and why exactly she(the leadsinger) decided to murder her.
The represantation of women in this video is actually negative because it impliments that a woman might kill someone for such a trivial reason as exposing a secret. Also we can see that after she murders her she "beautifies" her with make up,a wig and nail vanish. So even though she is dead what matters most is the looks. It also represents American culture in a way as "image is everything" and by exposing somebodies dark secret, you are basically threatening their existence.It also shows that the Band is creative and not scared to experiment and be different. The song is used in the intro of the American mystery teen drama television series Pretty Little Liars.
On YouTube you can see some of the audiences responses to the video e.g. :
Thursday, 3 March 2011
Editing
We've nearly finished editing our music video. One of the last things we will need to do is change the background colour (green screen). There has been a few issues with the green screen, for example when we were filming we did not have the knowledge of, and therefore access to, the green floor- so our shots have a green background but a normal floor which doesn't look as proffesional as we would have liked. There is nothing we can do now, since we have a time limit and re-filming is simply not an option. So we are going to overlook that and focus on what colour the greenscreen should be. At the moment, we have roughly decided on a plain bold coloured background and for the catwalk shots, we would like to superimpose a catwalk video from youtube in the place of the greenscreen, as the background, to make our ending catwalk scene more realistic.
We received some audience feedback this week on our nearly completed music video. It was generously positive (for example it was mentioned that the theme is rightly obvious and it is interesting and relevant & also that the visuals correlate to the music and it is generally, ok and good to watch), so we pushed for some criticism... the one and only piece of negative feedback we could get was that there was too much repetition of some of the shots in the middle section of the video. Having noticed this earlier, it is definately something we will inspect and change in due course. All in all, the feedback was positive and we are constantly receiving it at all stages of the production to help us improve our music video and make it as good as it can be.
Another issue we had when we were editing was that there are some (very small) gaps between our shots, this occured when we were cutting up the shots and arranging them to the time of the music. So we will be fixing that soon.
Lastly, we've experienced a difficulty with the black margins on some of the shots being "stubbon" and not the same size as on the majority of the other shots. All of the "Lesson 1..." shots have somehow incurred a slightly bigger black margin. Simon stepped in and made the black margins almost the same size as the other shots so they look fluid when played together.
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Digipak Research
Digipak's can mean a lot to some fans, take the video below...
They can offer unique merchandise and hidden tracks, and the design is key to how successful a digipak can be.
I found a blog called "sandman-chronicles.blogspot.com". The blogger is a design artist who has worked on CD/Digipak designs for Mika and Bat For Lashes. On the right is a design from his blog. I really like the CD design, it is bright and colourful and suited to Mika's style and his bubbly and up beat songs.
Lastly, this digipak appears to be a different genre and therefore imagery and tone than the other two I've displayed. However, I think the artistic imagery is very nice and gives whatever band this is, a more serious feel and gives their music a more darker or sincere tone. This digipak has a contrasting layout to The Gorillaz's digipak, it seems taller and wider and opens like a book. There is sufficient information on the side panels and no doubt there will probably be further information in the sides of the digipak.
They can offer unique merchandise and hidden tracks, and the design is key to how successful a digipak can be.
I found a blog called "sandman-chronicles.blogspot.com". The blogger is a design artist who has worked on CD/Digipak designs for Mika and Bat For Lashes. On the right is a design from his blog. I really like the CD design, it is bright and colourful and suited to Mika's style and his bubbly and up beat songs.
This digipak is simpler than the Mika one but is relevant to the band's image and is also a clever advertising technique as it continues the secretive image of the band, and moreover, the characters are what we relate to the band members. I like the way in which the digipak is constructed, with the sides folding into the middle. The images also convey the multiple characters within the band and the main focus is on the characterisations.
Lastly, this digipak appears to be a different genre and therefore imagery and tone than the other two I've displayed. However, I think the artistic imagery is very nice and gives whatever band this is, a more serious feel and gives their music a more darker or sincere tone. This digipak has a contrasting layout to The Gorillaz's digipak, it seems taller and wider and opens like a book. There is sufficient information on the side panels and no doubt there will probably be further information in the sides of the digipak. Fandom
Unlike fans of Justin Bieber...
... Indie music fans seem to be a bit more relaxed and there is less hype and sense of "fandom" amongst them...
... Indie music fans seem to be a bit more relaxed and there is less hype and sense of "fandom" amongst them...
“Wearing jeans with Converse high tops, a retro tee, a skinny tie, and a linen blazer is one way an indie can up the fashion stakes.”
Instead of crying fans and car chasing madness- Indie fans look to fashion to bring about a sense of dedication to their music brand.
For example, http://bobnbee.com/en/ is a site used by an Indie fashion blogger in New York, it advertises new styles and also introduces new bands.
I think that Indie fandom is centred around image and lifestyle rather than obsessing or following around the actual band themself because most Indie bands are niche and unknown and the mainstream successful ones like Kings of Leon do things like spark controversy within their own fan group...
"Kings of Leon caused minor controversy at the 2009 Reading Festival when Caleb Followill tried to get the crowd going by asking, "I thought this was supposed to be the loudest crowd in the world?" Picking up on a perceived hostility towards the band, he announced "we know you're sick of Kings of Leon, so for all those who don't give a fuck about us, I understand. But we've worked fucking hard to get here. So anyone that has anything to say to us, fuck you. We're the goddamn Kings of Leon." The band later smashed their guitars in anger and made rude gestures before leaving the stage."
(http://www.nme.com/news/nme/47008)
(http://www.nme.com/news/nme/47008)
Indie bands, like the Kings of Leon, don't perfect their image as much as stars like Justin Bieber, who has a large fanbase of teenage girls, because they simply don't need or want to. When I saw Kings of Leon at the V festival last year, they were a good hour late to the stage and the crowd were drunk and annoyed but by the time they got on and played "Use Somebody" nobody really cared anymore because we were there for the music and the music only- not for the band members or any individual.
With Indie fans, I guess the nearest they get to some form of "fandom" is the festivals. Huge gatherings of teenagers dressed in indie style, living up to the lifestyle those clothes demand of them- the drink, the smoke, the music, the dancing etc.
However, fandom is when a fan becomes obsessive and the object of that affection is a celebrity- who is usually completely unattainable. And that fandom works both ways as celebrities such as Lady GaGa reach out to fans in turn, making the fans feel wanted and complete. These sort of artists, GaGa and Bieber, give into their publicity and exposure and they increase their own fandom.
Indie artists work from the inside-out, they rely on word of mouth, they don't really care that much about their fans- supposedly they are in this business for the music they produce, and so, their fans should be too.
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