Genre Characteristics
• A common convention of pop/rock culture is that there is a live performance
of the band included in the music video. In the music video for ‘The Man Who
Can’t Be Moved’ there is live performance snippets throughout the video as
well as the added focus of the band playing musical instruments in the
background. They do also follow the convention of the pop genre with having
the lead singer at the front with the two other members playing the
instruments in the background of the clips during the live performance. This
can show the split between the two genres by still including the live clips but
with putting the lead singer at the front.
• The costumes that the band are wearing fit the convention more so of the
rock genre. They are wearing dark colours such as black and dark grey, which
usually symbolises seriousness and possibly a depressing theme, these fit in
with the alternative rock / pop genre as these bands usually create songs
which have a sad / depressing theme and are often about heartbreak and
breakups. The song ‘The Man Who Can’t be Moved’ fits in with this as the
song suggests a breakup.
• Most alternative rock / pop music videos touch on serious situations and
interpret them within there music videos, for example in ‘The Man Who Can’t
Be Moved’ there are references in the narrative of homelessness, heartbreak
and sadness. The audience of The Script is mainly younger people, therefore it
can show awareness to the audience about the topic and how they can help
because it is common for young people to face heartbreak and breakups.
Lyrics and Visuals
• Throughout the video there are a lot of connections between the visuals and the lyrics;
at the beginning of the video it starts with ‘going back to the corner where I first saw
you’ and in the narrative it shows one of the band members going to a corner of a
street and looking around for someone. This is done in an illustrative way, the way the
director of the video presents it in a really simple way this can make it easier for the
audience to follow the narrative.
• Another example of a connection between the visuals and the lyrics is when the
song says ‘if you see this girl can you tell her where I am?’ this matches with the
lyrics as the lead singer is shown talking to a man as if he is asking him to tell the
girl where he is, while looking at him in a conversation manner. This is an example
of amplified lyrics and visuals by taking the lyrics of him saying in the song ‘tell her
where I am’ and matching it with him saying this to an elderly man. This illustrates
emotion into the song as it suggests the character is heartbroken and feels
desperate to find the one he loves.
• Another example of an illustrative way of presenting lyrics and visuals is when during
the video the song says ‘policemen say son you can’t stay here’ and it is then matched
with the visual of a shot reverse shot of the lead singer and a police car; there is no
speech coming from the policewomen just a shot reverse shot as it is imitating a
conversation between the two, as it is then followed by Danny O’Donoghue saying
‘there's someone I'm waiting for if it’s a day, a month, a year’ reinforcing the
conversation style. This reinforces the idea that the main character is going to wait
however long it takes to see his lover again.
Music and Visuals
• Natural light is mostly used throughout the majority of the music video. Parts
of the film is set on location of the busy streets of a city where they are using
natural lighting which is a common convention for alternative pop / rock
videos. The lighting throughout rock videos tends to be a lot darker, when the
live performance is featured there is darker uses of lighting but there is also
natural light coming through the windows merging both conventions together.
The use of natural light suggests that the location of the video is in a natural
setting ( outside, on the streets of a city). The darker scenes fits in with the
sadness emotion that features throughout the song and represents how the
main characters may feel and emphasises the lyrics about a breakup and
heartbreak.
• The overall pace of the music video fits with the music; at the start of the
music video the tempo is very slow, so the pace of the shots at the beginning
are matched with the tempo. As the music gets faster throughout the video
the shots get quicker also. This makes it more enjoyable for the audience with
it not being the same tempo throughout it gets quicker making the video more
intriguing and consistent.
Close Ups
During the music video there are a lot of close ups used
mainly of the lead singer Danny. The close ups used
during the narrative part of the video show the emotion
of the story as they show the character looking desperate
and upset. This links with the tone of the lyrics and how
he is looking for someone he loves after he has
[presumably being split from his lover which has
consequently made him heartbroken. There are also close
ups of the people passing him in the narrative, this could
replicate the audience response to the music video but
they are also bringing in different diversities. However,
the main use of this is to empathise how desperate the
man looks, this suggests to the audience that the man is
completely torn about the breakup and therefore is
catching people’s attention on the street.
Close ups are used during the live segments of the video, this gives the audience of the
music video a closer connection to The Script and making the video more interesting to
watch. It also makes the audience aware of what the band looks like and allows the
audience to become familiar with the band. A lot of the close ups, have the actor or
the band members during the narrative to look into the camera, this can be direct
address to the audience making it more personal and therefore connects the band and
the audience together, allowing the audience feel like they know he band on a
personal level. It also gives them as an audience a chance to connect with the artists
and the song that they are singing giving them a personal preference, making the
audience feel connected with the band and the song.
Using close ups also adds a more dramatic effect to the song by showing his
desperation while he is looking, as well as his passion for music when they use close
ups during the live performance parts. It gives the audience chance to see the facial
expressions of the artist as they are communicating the song to the audience giving
the music video more of a meaning.
Digipak
On the cover of the digipak there is an
image of the band The Script, the lead
singer, Danny is at the front of the image
and is the main focus of the cover; the
rest of the band is placed behind him.
This empathises the who the main singer
is. Also the main singer is the most
recognised by the audience, therefore
putting him as the main focus on the
digipak would catch the audience’s
attention more as they would recognise
him. The location of the image is set in a
desert type theme, making the image
seem more natural. This could also
indicate to the audience and new
audiences what type of songs are
featured on this album. For example,
deserts are associated with loneliness
which could infer that the songs are about
heartbreak and being alone. Including the
band on the cover of the digipak can
make it more personal, it also gives the
audience more chance to recognize the
band instead of just having some art work
and not knowing who they are.
On the cover of the booklet
inside the digipak and on the
back of the case, there are two
images of hands both in
different positions, these
portray a strong message of
being together and the idea of
coming together. The writing on
the back of the cover the writing
of the song order is very small
and doesn’t really catch the eye
therefore the attention is more
focused on the image of the
hand.
The CD design features art which is attractive and different, instead of
just having a plain CD. Despite the image itself not having much
relevance / connection to the rest of the digipak, it does continue the
orange / brown theme which makes the package more stylish and
consistent.
Album Poster
On the album poster in the top left corner
is the name of the band, this acts as
advertisement for the band as it instantly
tells you what the name of the band is. It
brings awareness to who the band are. It is
also in a place where your eyes naturally
fall, in the left hand corner, therefore this
will attract the audiences attention. This is
also the logo for the band, so this is a
clever way of attracting the audiences
attraction as the will recognise the logo.
The name of the album is in the top right hand
corner; there isn’t much surrounding it but the
size and the font are still eye catching and the
colour fits in with the colour scheme of the poster.
The image of the band themselves is quite unusual
and is very eye-catching to people who are passing
the poster, by combining all three of the band
members they have manged to make it look like
just one head. This can also link into the name of
the album ‘#3’ as that is the number of people in
the band. Again this attracts the audience’s
attention s they will recognise the members of the
band.
At the bottom there is the main
information on the poster. It is presented
on a black rectangle with the date which
the album will be released. They haven’t
put a lot of information just the basics of
when the album is released which makes
it more likely that the audience will read
it. The font is standard and quite large so
it makes it one of the first things the
audience will read as this convention
makes the text easily readable. Also the
white text contrasts well on the black
background.
At the very bottom in very small writing they have
the official website for the script. This gives the
website advertisement.Also it gives new audiences
who maybe don’t know that much about The Script,
the chance to find out more.
Genre Characteristics
• In the Lawson music video for ‘Juliet’ they include the common convention of a live
performance within their narrative, they are playing in a bar looking towards the
women whom the audience would assume was Juliet. The lighting is dark and by
using dark lighting that follows the convention of alternative rock music videos and
the costumes that they are wearing follow the era which they are aiming their
video to be based upon. The same as in The Script music video the lead singer for
Lawson is placed at the front with the band playing the instruments behind him.
• Even though the majority of the colour scheme is very dark colours, there is the
placement of the colour red which is shown throughout the music video; in the
curtains and the colour of the women’ dress. This can be the pop genre coming
through adding a bit of colour to the music video. Also the colour red connotates
emotions of love and lust which features in the theme of the video as these feelings
are suggested towards the women ‘Juliet’. Also the use of dark colours could
suggest that there is a problem and not everything is perfect within the narrative of
this video. Another convention of the rock genre is the close ups of the musical
instruments and of the band singing, there is a series of these throughout the
music video showing the audience that the band are talented. This is also a
common convention for pop but it is mainly known by rock bands to use their
musical instruments.
Lyrics and Visuals
• During the first round of the chorus ‘no body does it like Juliet’ a shot of a female, who the
audience will assume is Juliet, is shown. At the start of the music video they don’t mention
any name they just refer to her as ‘her’ there is no image given to the audience as to who she
is just extreme close ups of her face. By giving the audience and image of her it makes the
music video a little bit clearer and easier to understand giving it more of a narrative. Without
any narrative it makes the music video harder to understand. Also having a hard narrative is a
convention of rock music videos.
• Another link between the visuals and the lyrics is when the band sings ‘the way she does it is
criminal’ which is then matched with her taking off her wig and revealing her true identity. The crime
could be identity theft or she could just be pretending to be a completely made up person but
whatever she is doing with her identity is a crime and that is presented in a illustrative way to the
audience as it is simply presented to them. Also this could suggest she is hiding from someone as she
may have committed crime.
• During one of the final rounds of the chorus they sing ‘she knows’ and as this is sang she lifts
up a gentleman's jaw that is hung open at the sight of her, this reinforces that she knows
what effect her looks have over the male gender and how she can use that to gain power
over them. This is amplified to the audience with the way she lifts up the mans chin as he is
admiring her, as ‘she knows’ of her beauty.
Music and Visuals
At the start of the music video the pace of the music is quite slow and
the visuals matched with the music are also at a slow cutting rate
compared to when the song starts to pace up pace and so does the
cutting rate. By increasing the cutting rate it makes it more exciting and
a lot more interesting to watch. It makes the audience want to continue
watching as it adds a sense of mystery as the audience are unsure what
is to happen next. We can include this in our music video even though
it’s a sad song it will make it more interesting for the audience to
watch.
The genre of Lawson’s music tends to be more rock than pop, the
lighting used in a lot of their music videos is quite dark with only the
use of artificial light instead of natural light. This compliments the
theme of the video well as it has mystery and a sense of danger to it.
With our music video because the genre is alternative rock and pop
we can use the combination of a lot of light as well as using shots
where there isn’t that much light where the context of the shot is a
lot more darker. Also by using natural light it can reflect the realness
of the band to the audience.
Close Ups
Throughout the music video, there are a lot of close ups
used these are used a lot when Juliet is featured in the
shot; this can create a slight intimacy between the
audience and the actress playing Juliet. It also matches
with the personality of the character Juliet as she is
presented to the audience as quite a flirtatious
character and that is how the audience is perceiving her.
Also by using close ups of the band themselves, who are a part of the
narrative themselves, makes it more personal for the audience as they can
start to feel a connection with the band themselves. It can also make them
feel part of the story line with the band being presented to be part of the
narrative. By them also including close ups of their instruments it can make a
feeling of belonging to the audience as well. They can feel like they part of
the action happening within the narrative. Making it easy for them to
understand with this personal connection being created
between the audience and the band. Furthermore by using
close ups of each of the characters you can see the
emotions being felt throughout the video. You get to see the
lust in Juliet’s eyes as well as the amount of fun the band
are having performing the song.
Reference to Notion of Looking and
Voyeurism Throughout the music video there is a few referencing to what Andrew Goodwin
would call ‘reference to notion of looking’. The music video presents this though
the presence of mirrors, towards the start of the video we see Juliet admiring a
dress in a mirror as well as towards the end we see the lead singer look in a cars
wing mirror looking backwards at Juliet and one of her male companions in the
back of the car it adds an artistic flare to the video and makes it more interesting
than just looking into a camera.
Voyeuristic treatment of the female body happens quite a lot with the way that
Juliet is presented to the audience. The women I the main focus of the video and
she is very attractive, this may be to attract the male audiences as it is using the
male gaze as a clever way to gain more male viewers. This is because they will find
her attractive and a form of ‘eye candy’, which will persuade them to watch more of
the video and talk about the video, which will widen the audience. This also attracts
the female audience as they may also find the women attractive and therefore
aspire to look similar to the women hersef. For a small part of the video, she is
wearing a floral robe, but a third of the way through you see her take of her robe
and is wearing a tight red dress and she takes of her blonde wig, this is done to vary
the scenes of the same women and it would ensure the audience wouldn’t get
bored of the women in the same outfit. Connotations of the colour red are quite
sexy and lustful presenting the character of Juliet to be quite flirtatious and craving
the attention of men. The way the gentlemen look at her as well show as more as
prey and not a human.
Digipak
For the cover of the digipak,
Lawson had individual head
shots taken and released
individually with their CD as
well as having one with the
whole band on. By releasing
individual digipak’s, it allows
the each individual band
member to connect
personally with their
audience and it also is a
clever way of pleasing all of
the audience as they are able
to buy for their favourite
member; people might not
understand that with each of
the individual digipak’s you
get the same as what you get
with the group one, so this
therefore might increase the
sales of the overall album.
For the booklet that comes inside of the digipak includes all
the words and additional people who helped out with the
making of the CD. This can give more information to the
audience about Lawson and gives advertisement to everyone
else involved.
The front cover of the album is in black
and white effect with only the name of
the album being in colour, this makes it
more effective as the audience
remembers the name of the album
because of the emphasis on the name
and the colour. Also the contrast of the
white and red text on the black
background makes the text more
readable. The back of the album has all
the names of the songs with a decent
size font, it also doesn’t have any image
on the back with only a dark
background.
Also included in the digipak there
is an added plug of it coming
with a guitar pick, this can make
the digipak is more appealing to
the audience as they may feel
like they are getting more for
their money as there is a freebie
included..
The album comes with two CD’s with an
added DVD as well as the music, this can
also make it more appealing to the audience
because again they may feel like the digipak
is worth their money as they are getting a
lot included in the bundle. Also the album is
quite plain and simple but still effective as it
creates a sense of style.
Album Poster
Includes the name of the band
taking up a long strip across the
top third of the poster, which is
used because it attracts the
audience as they will recognise
the name and the poster.
The overall image of the album is
quite small in comparison to the
image of just the band, In our poster
for our album I will do it a lot bigger
to draw more attention the album
that is being released instead of the
just the band. You can’t really see
the album cover also, so it doesn’t
really put an image in the audiences
head for what they should be
looking for if thy were to go out and
buy the album.
Along the bottom of the
image is the names of the
band members an including
each of their roles in the
band. This can make it more
personal to the audience like
they are getting a formal
introduction to the band and
it could also be giving their
fans more information that
they didn’t already know
about them.
The main image of the band takes up a
lot of the poster, in the image each of
the band members is looking into the
camera directly. This can make the
image and the overall form of the
poster a lot more personal to the
audience as it creates a sense of
connection
On the very bottom of the poster there is a selection of brands and companies that
Lawson are related to. They show how you can purchase any of their music online
as well as who their record label is, this gives more information to the demographic
of the poster. It could have a positive impact as they are involved with so many
amazing companies like Universal studios which may attract more audience as they
are presenting themselves as something big.