2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF MUSIC
VIDEOS.
• To promote an artist’s song/album. By reaching out to certain audiences by including actors and conventions that
appeal to the audience for example in Eminem’s video – ‘Love The Way You Lie’ famous actress Megan Fox
features throughout as she may draw in certain audiences as people are interested in her films.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uelHwf8o7_U
• Allowing people to gain recognition of the artist.
• Representation of the target audience through the use of gender, ethnicity, age and social class in music videos
enables viewers to become attracted to the video as in some ways the audience and band/actors may have
something in common.
• Product placement in order to make a greater profit out of the video and giving different companies credit as well
as aiming towards their target audience by researching what the viewers purchase or may be interested in purchasing.
In All Time Low’s video for ‘I Feel Like Dancing’ the band focus on mocking typical conventions of music videos
and cover what other artists do to draw in their audience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTJkE8Ki3Gg
• Music videos also aim to pursue messages it may
not have anything to do with the song however producers
may have placed it in the video to get their political, social
and cultural views across.
• Some music videos also involve synergy by including clips from a certain film that the
• song may feature in, this enables the artist and the film to receive a greater audience.
http ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNJqTVnZsCU
3. VIDEO 1:
THE BUCKET - KINGS OF LEON
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWaFVvVoj4o
The Bucket – Kings of Leon was released in 2004 as an
Indie Rock song and features on the album Aha Shake
Heartbreak. By looking deeply into this video it will be
clear to see what is a necessity in a music video of this
genre.
As the genre of this song is indie rock, typical conventions
are included in the video to portray the song’s strong
message for example shots of the band playing and shots
are various instruments associated with the genre. The
song is based around certain members of the band dealing
with fame at a young age as the band became very well
known when members of the band were only 17 years of
age.
4. CAMERA WORK + EDITING.
The video begins with a mid-shot of many record players and then
transitions into a close-up shot of a video beginning to get projected on
a screen informing the viewer that the song is about to start through the
diegetic sound that had been added of the tape going round. The video
then alternates between various close-up shots of the band throughout
the video and showing shots displaying the setting of the video for
example different parts of the room looking as though it is a recording
studio. The video continues with various shots of the band playing. The
video ends with a shot of a microphone standing on its own suggesting
to the viewer that the song has finished. This video has a linear narrative
as well as being a single strand video which focuses solely on the band
performing.
The song is based around certain members of the band dealing fame at
a young age and this is displayed in the video by fast paced shots and a
lot of movement which has been edited to the beat to give the video a
much stronger drive. There is use of lip syncing in this video which
draws in the viewer as it looks as though the artist is singing to the
audience. This non-fiction video involves several camera movements and
shots such as tracking shots in order to display the whole band and
extreme close ups which emphasizes emotion and certain objects and
actions this causes the video to catch the viewer’s eye much more easily.
5. MISE-EN-SCENE + LIGHTING.
The costume that the band are wearing stays very closely to
the rock genre and is conventional for the song as it may be
what the target audience expects the band to wear. As well as
this the clothes that the band are wearing may be the sort of
style of clothing that the target audience may wear causing
the audience to feel as though they have something in
common with the band and making them feel relaxed when
watching the video.
The video is set in a small studio type setting rather than a
large and crowded setting, I feel that the reason for this
decision of setting is so that the viewer feels at one with the
band and it looks as though the band are playing only to
them.
High key lighting is used throughout the video in order to
give a positive bright look on the video as well as casting the
viewer’s attention much more successfully.
6. VIDEO 2:
ONE NIGHT ONLY – SAY YOU
DON’T WANT IT.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF1WzzrLmp
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"Say You Don't Want It" is a song by English indie
rock band One Night Only released on the band’s
second album. The single was released in august
2010 and was available as both a digital download
and physical single.
The music video for this single was filmed in New
York and directed by James Lees. The music video
features Harry Potter actress Emma Watson which
gave the single and music video a lot more
publicity and drew in a much wider audience
causing more people to purchase the song. This
video has a linear narrative and involves a double
strand storyline as it features both the artist
performing and a storyline taking place as well.
7. CAMERA WORK AND EDITING IN
THE VIDEO.
The video begins with fast paced shots of different locations in New York,
displaying close ups and mid-close-ups of various objects for example, shoes
hanging from an electric cord as well as people walking and carrying out their
everyday lives. The video then transitions into a close-up shot of the lead singer
of the band beginning to sing the song on a roof of a building suggesting that
they are looking out at people carrying out their everyday lives. The video then
continues with fast paced transitions of shots of people carrying out their
everyday lives. There is then a long shot of graffiti stating ‘I still love her’ this
may be an introduction of a message that continues later on in the video. There
are then some more shots of the city which continue to set the scene for the
video. There is then some fast paced shots of the band playing and an extreme
close-up on a band member playing a keyboard. There is then a long shot of
Emma Watson which introduces the character to the video, following this there
is then a tilt shot following the band members and displaying the idea of them
coming down from the roof of the building where they were performing at first
and finding them walking down a street. The video then returns to a similar
long shot of Emma Watson looking as though she is looking out for someone.
The video then returns to the band members walking in a different location and
then this shot quickly transitions into mid-close-ups of the band performing on
the roof of the building where they had been performing previously in the
video. Following this, there is then a tracking shot of the band members walking
down a street , one of the members disappears into a shop and then shortly
comes back out. This shot quickly changes into an over-the-shoulder-shot of
Emma Watson looking towards the band members. There is then a quick mid-
close-up of the lead singer of the band and then on to Emma Watson in order
8. The lead singer then crosses the road to see Emma Watson
however the facial expressions that Emma is portraying looks as
though she does not wish to see him and tries to get away
however, from this moment the lead singer of the band begins to
follow Emma Watson. There is then a sharp cutaway from the
main objects which displays more of the city. This is where the
audience begins to believe that these two characters may have had
a previous relationship and the lead singer still has feelings for
her. As reluctant as Emma was at first to have dealings with the
singer, she then begins to become a lot more comfortable with
him and begins to follow him around as well. There is then
another tilt shot suggesting that the sun has gone down as the
couple are now wondering round the city at night. The couple
then come across the singer’s band members and it seems as
though Emma Watson feels uncomfortable as she is standing
quite a distance away from the others although, she is then
reassured by the singer as he calls her over and puts his arm
round her as they walk away. The video concludes with various
shots of the band playing and the couple walking around the city.
As the couple go to kiss one another a car then pulls up into shot
and a woman runs out and collects a dog that was. The video ends
with a dog looking back at another dog sat on a pavement
watching the dog in the car drive away.
9. MISE-EN-SCENE & LIGHTING.
The mise-en-scene in the video very much sets the scene for
the target audience as the video is set in a very working class
area of New York. The costume in which the cast of the video
are wearing is very much what the target audience would wear
especially those that have a great interest in the Indie genre.
The use of the youthful cast also reaches out a lot more
successfully as I had found from the questionnaire I carried
out that the majority of the indie rock genre is listened to by
younger audiences between 16 and 25.
There is a mixture of both high and low key lighting in this
video as the majority of the video is telling a love story of the
singer and the female. When the band are performing in
certain shots there is high key lighting being used although,
when Emma Watson does not look impressed at seeing the
singer, low key lighting is being used in order to change the
atmosphere and create a visible mood in the video.
10. SUMMARY OF MUSIC VIDEOS
By looking at these two music videos, I have discovered that I feel that a
music video is a lot more successful when it includes both a storyline and
various shots of the band performing and I will try to take this into
consideration when planning the music video that I will be creating. I have
also established that involving a cast that are of a similar age to the target
audience and putting them into the role of living the kind of lifestyle the
target audience may be living allows the audience to connect with the song
much more. For example, in a similar sort of area that the audience may visit
or live in as well as wearing a similar style of clothes that the target audience
would wear.
From looking deeply into different music videos I also believe that fast paced
shots work very well in the style of music video I will be creating as it will
keep the viewers attention a lot more easily. I will try to interpret this into the
music video I will be creating.
11. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF ALBUM
COVERS AND ADVERTISEMENTS.
Album covers are very significant to bands and artists as this is what makes their
music recognizable and gives their band a particular image. Not only does it make
the artist unique but allows the audience and listeners to know what they’re looking
for on the shelf when purchasing the album. Inserts inside the album also contribute
towards publicizing and promoting the music as there may be information on
upcoming tours and singles the band will be releasing as well as the audience feeling
at one with the artist as they gain an insight into the making of the album and the
artist’s everyday life. The album artwork and image are created in order to reflect the
genre of music and to draw in a specific audience.
Album advertisements cause people to gain knowledge of newly released album as
well as persuading them to purchase the album. Many advertisements also involve a
direction of where to purchase the album meaning that the credited store will gain
more profit.
12. ‘THE KOOKS – KONK’
ALBUM COVER.
The Kooks fall into the indie genre and most bands reflect the genre of
music they produce through their album artwork and posters as when
the CD is on shelves people who are fans of the specific genre are able
to pick it up by basing the album cover on conventional features. The
Kooks have been able to reflect their genre with this album cover
through colour use, font type and image. The main aspect of this album
cover is the image as this is quite spread out across the cover. As well as
this the image on the cover sticks to the typical conventions of album
covers as the album’s image on the front is of the band who are
relatively mainstream following the likes of artists such as Rihanna as
these type of artists regularly bring out albums and will also want their
faces on the front of covers to bring in a larger audience as they’re
featured on TV a lot as their music videos are shown on TV so people
who don’t know the name of these artists can just find their face on
album covers and purchase the album through TV recognition. The
naturalistic style of the image also allows the album cover to be easy on
the eye causing the consumer to feel more relaxed when observing at
the album. The colours blue and black are featured on the cover, these
colours can be associated with indie music due to the colours being
connected with electricity and strobe lights, therefore The Kooks have
used these colours on the front of their album in order to give their
audience a greater idea of what their music’s. Although the colours are
used to a great extent in order to maintain a sophisticated look.
13. The band members featured on the cover of the album are styled in stereotypical
indie rock clothing in order to attract the target audience to the album as
researchers may have looked into what sort of clothing the audience wear and
dressed the band the same in order to create a link between the artist and
consumer.
The lettering of the album is very clear, bold and
relatively informal as it is a sans serif block capital font.
The font used for the album name is also cleverly done
as it is made out of light as though it is a sign for a bar or
Nightclub although the typeface isn’t as in your face as it
could be due to the band members being featured on the
front cover.
This is a recognizable font type as their fans will be able to spot it on the shelf as
they will be familiar with the font style being included on previous album covers and
other aspects promoting the band with this house style on. The name of the album
is also made from a sans serif font.
14. ‘COLDPLAY – MYLO XYLOTO’
ALBUM COVER.
The genre of this Coldplay album is indie and was released in 2011
named Mylo Xyloto. At first glance the first thing you notice about
this album cover is the very colourful front to the album, which is
included in order to catch the audiences eye when the target audience
walk into a shop, Coldplay want their eyes to go straight to their
album cover. This album cover involves no photos however maintains
the indie look by including various other conventions to draw in the
viewer. As well as this Coldplay may feel as though they do not need
to include an image of themselves due to past success as a popular
indie rock group, Coldplay have been very successful in the past with
many album releases and none of their 4 albums include photos of
them on however have all managed to reach number 1. Meaning that
Coldplay would not need a visual indicator on their album cover to tell
their audience who they are. The album cover doesn’t even include the
band name, suggesting that the album may have had a lot of medias
coverage and publicity so the target audience will understand who the
artist of the album are. The album is advertised on TV, train station
bill boards and as pop ups on the internet, therefore people are
already aware of the album cover before its release. The album name
‘Mylo Xyloto’ has no meaning according to the band however I
believe that this is an open interpretation technique that another band
have used as album covers are mainly about opinion and being able to
find a deeper meaning within.
15. SUMMARY OF ALBUM COVERS.
By looking at various album covers I would definitely
like to interpret the style of Coldplay’s album cover in
the digi-pak I will be creating due to the hand drawn
style of the album cover. I also believe that the bright
colours included on the front cover are very important
in order to draw in the target audience. The font style
is also incredibly important on album covers as people
need to be able to read the text from a far as well as
recognize the artist. I would very much like to interpret
the futuristic look of the album covers by involving
bight colours and futuristic, informal font.
16. ‘ELLIE GOULDING – LIGHTS’
MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENT.
The image chosen to be on the advertisement is of Ellie Goulding who is a indie pop
artist the reason in which they used an image of Ellie Goulding herself is to promote her
album and make people familiar with her as well as a similar image features on the album
cover. She has not been featured with a lot of makeup in order to display a natural look.
The advertisement has been designed to look visually cluttered meaning that the page is
busy as there is no free space on the advertisement even if a lot of the page is taken up by
the gold glitter effect on the page which causes the viewer to look twice at the
advertisement as the effect is not used very often. As well as this the advertisement links
in very well with the album’s title as the album is called lights suggesting that the the
glitter effect on the advertisement are representing lights. Goffman (1979) suggests that
women have learned to see themselves as being ‘looked at’ meaning that in this
advertisement Ellie Goulding has to represent herself the correct way in order to attract
the target audience linking to this theory is the Male Gaze theory Mulvey (1975) this
theory suggests that people look at advertisements different for example for pleasure as
well as how men look at images of women and how women view women. People may
look at this advertisement and look up to the artist as a role model as Ellie Goulding is
looking very natural. The image to text ratio on this advertisement is very noticeable as
the image takes up the majority of the page and there is very little text suggesting that the
target audience are more likely to be persuaded by the image. However, the text that is
included on the advertisement is relatively persuasive as it involves ratings and comments
from well known music magazines such as The Fly.
17. ‘NOAH AND THE WHALE – THE FIRST
DAYS OF SPRING’ MAGAZINE
ADVERTISEMENT.
This album advertisement is for Indie band Noah and The Whale
who feature in the image on the advertisement. The colour blue is
the main colour used in the advertisement to suggest a calm and
relaxing look to the advert. The colour is also connoted with the
flow of communication suggesting that the advertisement is trying
to cause people to get talking about the album in order to persuade
more people to purchase the album and widen the audience. The
text on the advertisement is formal due to the serif style that has
been used. The image on the advertisement involves high key
lighting in order to portray a positive message. There is very little
text on the advertisement as the main feature on the advert is the
image. Although the text that is included on the advert is very
persuasive and tells the reader exactly what they need to know.
There is also a website address featured on the bottom of the
advertisement suggesting that the reader should find out more
about the album on the website and if the reader wishes to find out
more they have a choice to do so.
18. SUMMARY OF MAGAZINE
ADVERTISEMENTS.
From looking at the advertisements I have
discovered the successful conventions that cause
people to purchase the album. For example, I
believe that advertisements work best when there
is an image of the artist so people can recognize
the artist easily and fans of the artist will be
drawn to the the advert. As well as this I have
found that advertisements work best when there
is minimal text so the main focus is on the image
as people will be able to understand what the
advertisement is for before reading the text.