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Analysis of Mystery Jets digipack

Analysis of the mystery jets digi pack for the

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Analysis of Yeah Yeah Yeah's Digipack

The front pane uses an image of the bands logo in the form of a crudely stitched flag in 3 colors which would usually look mismatched, There is no writing on the main part of he front pane but on the the joint is the band name and album title in a scrawled copy that looks like handwriting. The image and copy font gives a personal feel to the Digi-pack.

The side pane again features the band name and album title in the same copy on top of the front pane image bent round to continue the theme.

The Reverse pane depicts 3 of the flags shown on the front pane, continuing the theme of three, to go with the band name 'Yeah Yeah Yeahs' the rest of the image is a snowy mountain range which has no relation to the album title, band name or tracks. This suits the band as they belong to the indie rock genre and have a very conceptual sound. As a legal requirement there is copy right information and a bar code and the record label on a 'strap' down the right hand side.

Again the theme of three is continued on the insides panes depicting the three band members on the left and the three flags in a different location again with no link between the images.

The insert is mainly full pages of all of the fan mail the band has received, and the last 4 pages are thanks from the band for everyone who helped create the album and copy right information.

Digi Pack for the Gorillaz album Demon Days.

Gorillaz is a music project headed by Damon Albarn, formerly of Blur. Gorillaz is a virtual band depicted by four cartoon characters as the four band members, pictured here on the front pane of the Digi-Pack. Blur had a similar Digi-pack front cover, designed by Julian Opie. Both depict all four band members. This pane follows the theme throughout of the characters being present. The text on the front pane is relatively small and contrasts with the white background giving a minimalist feel.

The side pane shows the band name and album title as well as the record label, EMI Records. Again a black background is used with the copy in white, conforming with the theme.

On the left hand side of the two inner panes are the credits of each track on the album with track number, beneath this are three lots of copyright information, which is a legal requirement of all Digi-packs, however there is no single required place for this information. The track credits are in a larger copy than the copy right information as the music is the main emphasis in a CD Digi-pack. On the right pane, the disc tray is black again following the theme shown so far on the side and front panes.

On the reverse pane of the Digi-pack, there is both contrast and conformity, the contrast comes from the colors of the background and text being reversed, however the conformity is there from the characters/band members being shown both on the front and back panes. Also present is more copyright information and bar code, above the bar code is the official band website.

These four images above are of the Digi-pack insert, each pane here features the track name and number and a screenshot usually from the video of each single. The theme throughout the outer panes of the Digi-pack give a feel of minimalism using mainly black and white, however the insert has a more personal feel using images not seen previously.

Music Magazine Advert Analysis

I have analysed music magazines using Flickr, here are some links to images i have uploaded and added notes to:

Advert for 'Cassius' by Foals.


Advert for the debut self titled album from Magnetic Man:


This is a magazine advert for The Stone Roses 20th anniversary album:


Magazine Advert for The Cribs 'Ignore the Ignorant':


Music Magazine advert for The Horrors album 'Strange House' :

Music Video Conventions.

I have created a Prezi on Goodwin's conventions of music videos:

Conventions of Music Video. on Prezi

Mona-Teenager, Music Video Analysis.



Mona is a four piece American rock band originating from Nashville, Tennessee. The music video I will be analysing is for the single Teenager, released 16^th may 2011 from the debut self-titled album, Mona. Mona releases their singles under Nick Brown’s (lead guitar & vocals) own record label Zion Noiz, with licence from Island Records.

‘Teenager’ by Mona is an indie rock song with a strong sound and upbeat rhythm, focusing heavily on guitar and percussion. These factors are illustrated by the speed of the cuts at certain points in the song when the tempo increases. In Goodwin’s analysis of music videos he proposes that there is a relationship between the music and the visuals seen in the video, in this case the video is illustrative of the jumpy pace by showing relatively fast cuts to the tempo of the song between the band preforming and the models in the loose narrative and when the chorus is being sung the band is shown performing, in particular Nick Brown on lead vocals. This theory is further emphasised by the parts of the bands performance shown through out, when the song slows down the camera tends to focus on Nick singing, while when it speeds up it tends to capacitate the whole band moving around as opposed to being stoic as some performances; adding to the stereotype of teenagers being hyperactive.

The colour used in the music video is quiet low which conforms to the mood of the video portraying teenage angst and playing on understatement and teenage nonchalance. The low colour contrasts with the comparably higher levels of light in the video which could connote the silver lining of youth or leaving the years of not being able to find the one, as sung in the lyrics.

In the music video  there are a lot of over the shoulder shots to put you in the actor’s shoes, there are also a lot of close ups on the band performing and them playing their instruments, ‘ The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work’ (Goodwin), there is also a narrative alongside the performance part, during the performance there are a lot of medium shots to show the actress’ this gives visual reference to a number of sources in relation to using models for example Robert palmers addicted to love as indicated by John Stewart.

For the duration of the song the tempo increases and decreases and with the cuts are matches to the tempo and to an extent, the drum beats too. The video takes place in American motels and launderettes and in a car with the band playing the main male character and scantily clad actresses , the narrative is linear and portrays typical the teenage stereotype of sexuality.

In terms of Intertextuality the video includes typical American institutions such as the motel and launderette which are part of big cult classic films such as psycho; this will have been used to help the audience remember the video and track. This is also reminiscent of the strong American trend of Road trip movies.

The style of the video is not particularly clear but a lot of muted colours are used to give the video a nostalgic feel, also voyeurism plays a large part in the video in relation to the female models used. There are a lot of shots of their bodies and parts of their bodies in different positions and different actions with sexual connotation, in this instance the voyeurism is not used to show any form of dominance but instead is used to reinforce the sexual stereotypes surrounding teenagers in America especially through some daring and suggestive shots including close ups to emphasise one body part or mid shots to show the whole body.   The Band is also shown performing the song in a room, connected to the rest of the video, with close ups on Nick Brown’s face when singing and fret board when playing, and other members of the band like the drummer and bassist, it is a basic requirement from the record label to show the band playing the song. The voyeurism also gives the video more repeatability because people will want to watch it again to see the actresses or to see how the lyrics relate to the video and to find hidden meanings.

‘Teenager’ is one of three singles released from the debut studio album, self-named Mona released in 2011. The music video for ‘Teenager’ was directed by Ryan Hope of STAMPLONDON, Hope specializes in stunning visuals with a heavy fashion influence. The Brit born director came to the industry from a Fine Art background and demonstrates a unique blend of chic styling and graphic composition that seamlessly manages to reference classic editorial touchstones while remaining achingly modern. One of the main players in the UK Music Video market, Hope spins sensual, loose narratives filled with vivid characters and daring imagery, a combination that has seen him recently complete visually arresting videos for Groove Armada, Coco Sumner, Dizzee Rascal, Mona and Alpines.

Music Video Conventions.

I have created a Prezi on Goodwin's conventions of music videos, here is the hyperlink:

http://prezi.com/fbn2zlfcue-g/conventions-of-music-video/ 

Goodwin's 6 Conventions, Showcased in Real Media Texts.

1. Music Videos demonstrate genre characteristics:




Goodwin says that there are certain genres of music that use certain types of images and visuals, here i have used the example of MGMT's "Time to Pretend",
MGMT are an alternative electro-rock duo from California; heavily inspired by the 60's psychedelic music movement, the video shows this through the use of colour and obscure images, it almost looks like the equalizer screen found on I tunes and Windows Media Player, this is typical of the genre.

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals:



Goodwin proposes the idea that visuals in a music video can either illustrate the lyrics directly, amplify the lyrics and exaggerate them or contradict them, where the visuals are contrapuntal to the lyrics, but even then there is still a link. In the video for the Maccabees single Toothpaste Kisses, the visuals both illustrate the lyrics and exaggerate them, for example there are characters in the video kissing, which illustrates the lyrics, but the veracity of the acting helps exaggerate the lyrics as they are "doing things that lovers do" but in a way that would usually be done intimately in private.

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals:



Again, Goodwin says that the visuals can illustrate, exaggerate or contradict. However; this time he is taking about the music its self as the rhythm and pace can conjure up visuals, in this case "Shake me Down" by Cage the Elephant has a melancholic sound with a slow tempo which speeds up as the track progresses, this is shown by the video's low colour saturation and slow visuals with minimal cuts, all of which get faster as the tempo increases.


4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist:




This convention is a pretty simple concept, the record labels pay the artists, so there are certain conditions which are placed on the music videos they create and star in. In the video for "Yellow" the majority of the video consists of close up shots of the bands front man Chris Martin; this will have been a legal requirement of EMI Records, related the the advertisement and marketing of the track and the band.

5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body:



In media studies, voyeurism relates to watching people without their acknowledgement, it usually occurs with women being the subject and can be shown in music videos by seeing them the subject of voyeurism on a screen within a screen or through a telescope. In this example voyeurism occurs in the form of business men watching women pole dance in a strip club.

6. There is often inter-textual reference:




A video that shows inter-textual references usually pays homage, or spoofs an existing film, television program or even another music video. This example is clearly a parody of Danny Boyles' "28 Days Later".

Music Magazine Advert Research.

Kings of Leon-Magazine Advertisement Analysis

I am analysing the advertisement for Kings of Leon’s new single Come Around Sundown from the album Radioactive. In the background of the advertisement is an image of some palm leaves at sunset, which goes with the title of the single released from Radioactive, the colours used include deep reds and browns alongside yellows and whites which gives a sepia tone of another era for example the 50’s, this theme is carried throughout Radioactive’s dig pack.

Positioned in the top third of the page in the centre is the band name in a large font size, with the name of the single and release details directly below in the bottom third of the page, below that from bottom left to right is the web address of Amazon where it will be sold, the official band website and the recording label. All of the information found at the bottom is in white text with the release date in white outline with no fill colour. The band name and single name are in a white font with a yellow drop shadow; again, this font is carried out through the album. The font used is old fashioned to match the sepia tones of the picture used in the advertisement.

Together with the image, the text helps create a dated feel to the advertisement, using the larger font size for the band name and single name draw the audience’s attention. The nme.com audience is made up of key demographic groups that can be difficult to target through other media: -

• 65% Male*
• 50% 16-24*
• 23% 25-34*
• 79% ABC1*

http://www.nme.com/mediapack/

It is shown here that the highest percentage of readers come from the ABC1 social group (79%).

 The Track. Money, The Drums (Portamento (2011))

The track we are using, Money, is 3 minutes and 53 seconds long, released off the album “Portamento” in 2011. The track features Guitar, Drums, Tambourine, Bass, Synthesiser and Vocals. Money starts off with the Guitar and Bass riff and Drum beat at 00:02 seconds after a brief second of background noise, the rhythm created is rich and deep in terms of the Bass and Percussion while the Guitar riff is lighter and mellower floating above the latter.  The Vocals and Synth come in at 00:24, yet the synth does not have the electric sound usually associated with it, but fits in with the rest of the track. The vocals are clear but not crisp and sometimes seem as if the song is much older than it is, making me visualisea sepia or black and white or super eight music video, in this sense the track is rather evocative. 



Comparatively a similar sound to the Drums is the Smiths, a British Alternative-Rock band from Manchester, formed in 1982.

The Drums

The Track I have chosen to use for my A2 Media Course Work Media Music Video is “Money” by the American Indie band The Drums.

The Drums are and Indie Alternative band from Brooklyn, USA, and are signed to Island Records (UK). They first hit the airwaves in 2009 with their Summertime! EP, which instantly gained attention from the Indie Pop and Rock scene both in the UK and USA, their timing of album release was perfect earning them places on the Shockwaves NME Tour 2009, the BBC sound of 2010 award and earned them the 2010 Phillip Hall Radar Award.

The front pane for the Summertime! EP Digi-pack.

Both the first self-titled debut album “the Drums” released in June 2010 and the second album “Portamento” released in 2011 have a nostalgic feel, rich with bass and light guitar riffs avoiding any overt form of imitation.

The Drums (self-titled album) Digi-pack Front pane.

The bands EP’s and albums are self-produced with the Sophomore LP being recorded in lead vocalist, Johnny Pierce’s kitchen, between the two albums their sound has hardly changed apart from the more prevalent synth in the “Portamento” album.

Front Pane or "Portamento" Digi-pack.

Audience Profiles.

This is a Mood Board for my Audience profile. The audience for our music video will typically be interested in 'guitar bands' and read music magazines similar to NME and Q. The mood board i have created contains images of things that the target audience likes, such as the music they listen to, the instruments they play, their hobbies and the bands they like.
MALE 69%
FEMALE 31%
AVERAGE AGE 24
WORKING FULL TIME 52%
WORKING PART TIME 7%
STILL STUDYING 29%
ABC1 65%
CIRCULATION: 40,948
READERSHIP: 369,000
ABCe UNIQUE USERS: 4,454,983this is the NME readership profile showing that the largest proportion of their readers are Males with an average age of 24 in full time employment. These are the kind of people we are aiming out video at as our track and video will be advertised in similar magazines.



Inspiration for music video

The Music Video I want to create is predominantly performance based, with some conceptual narrative which is loosley related to the lyrics but fits more with the fashion based around the genre of the Drums and the track. (There is a seperate page on the Genre of the Drums.)

One idea i had was for the video to look slightly aged as if filmed with a Super 8 camera, giving a grainy effect, originally I had considerend making the video black and whilt but i would prefer the clours to be less saturated as opposed to black and white.

The location for the performance part of the video is going to be in the main hall of my Sixthform, I have chosen this place because it has a stage used from performances with a heavy red velvet curtain and lighting facilities. I will be shooting these parts of the video on thursday the 17th around 3:15pm, this is an ideal time because the days are shorter at this time of year so i wont have to do much work to lower the overall lighting of the hall and stage. I plan to have the band members/actors on stage pretending to play to the song, illuminated by stage lights to give the feel of a traditional music performance with a theatrical theme.

For the Conceptual narrative i will be filming in Newcastle and the moors surrounding Consett. Male and Female actors will perform as a couple with no dialouge, there will be no action of any sort in order to fit with the tempo of the track.

I have taken  inspiration from some videos to come up with these ideas, one of these videos is Who Can Say by the Horrors:



From this video i will be taking the inspiration for the performance part of my music video, with the shooting location being on the main stage at my school to give a dramatic feel.

Also in my video there is some Conceptual narrative for which i have taken inspiration from multiple videos...


Dust On the ground by Bombay Bicycle Club has a video which is also conceptual with loose or no relation to the lyrics but does fit in with tthe genre by the costumes used and the location, as the genre is Alternative, for the Drums as well, allows for a un related narrative due to the mood created by the music, which is usually melancholic.


The music video for suck it and see shows how effective costume can be in the suggestion of genre, in this case, rock. This is also enforced by the american dust-bowl type location used.

Planning

Shot Plans.

Here are the shot plans for the video, including props, costumes, locations and equipment required.

Risk Assessment

Alot of the risk involved in the photo shoot involves the environment we are filming in, ie. filimg on high bridges-stay away from the edges. here is a table created for risk assessment of damage to persons and property involved:

Shotlist.

Track Length= 03 minutes 53 seconds

Scenes in total= 27

1. 00:00 - 00:01= Red velvet curtain onstage through second of background noise, spotlight on center stage.
2. 00:02 - 00:06 = Curtains begin to open with band already playing, spotlight still on center stage, only on lead vocal(/guitar) through track.
3. 00:07 - 00:16 = Lights illuminate the rest of band members on stage playing instruments, then close up on each member.
4. 00:17- 00:23 = Close up on lead vocalist singing (miming words) with spotlight.
5. 00:24 - 00:32 = When second synthesizer sound is used close up changes to bassist.
6. 00:33 - 00:40 = Close up on drummer then landscape shot of whole stage with whole band playing, becoming more animated.
7. 00:41 - 00:50 = Footage of over a bridge from window of moving car.
8. 00:51 - 00:58 = Low angle shot male and female leaning against railings beside a river facing camera but not looking at it.
9. 00:59 - 01:08 = Male and Female walking along street/waterfront, female walking in a zig-zag but same direction as male who is walking straight.
10. 01:09 - 01:18 = Mid shot of lead singer on stage miming lyrics, animatedly.
11. 01:19 - 01:21 = Mid shot of male leaning up against a vintage car (if possible)
12. 01:22 - 01:25 = over the shoulder shot of actor shooting bottles.
13. 01:26 - 01:35 = Shot out of window of moving car in countryside area.
14. 01:36 - 01:54 = Band playing on stage again lights flashing, all band members moving more than before, close up on drummer.
15. 01:55 - 02:17 = Male and female wandering around city (Newcastle) walking over different bridge looking for things to do.
16. 02:18- 02:25 = Fade into guitarist, extra close up on strumming .
17. 02:26 - 02:38 = Cut to mid shot of lead vocals.
18. 02:39 - 02:53 = Zoom cut out to show whole band playing.
19. 02:54 - 03:01 = Close up on drummer playing part with vigor.
20. 03:02 - 03:15 = Male and Female walking down street, more distanced than before.
21. 03:16 - 03:19 = Close up on Female's face looking downwards, sad.
22. 03:20 - 03:23 = Close up on males face, looking unhappy into camera.
23. 03: 24 - 03:28 = Close up on females face again looking sad but this time into the camera.
24. 03:29 - 03:37 = Band playing on stage still moving but a bit less.
25. 03:38 - 03:48 = Long Shot of girl walking away from boy against sun/ sunset creating silhouette, boy facing towards girl.
26. 03:49 - 03:52 = Band standing still, mid shot on band, all looking away in different directions as if avoiding the camera lights cut out.
27. 03:53 = Cut to Black.

Magazine Advert Plan.

prelim sketch.

At the top of the Magazine Advert is the band name, this is so the audience can immediately establish some recognition and people new to the band know exactly what to look for if wanting to find out more, beneath the band name are 3 of the real life awards which the band have earned, the use of these helps add to the reputation of the band possibly giving reason to buy the album advertised. below this is a screen shot from the  first single released from the album and below the image is the name of the album in the second largest copy giving emphasis to identity, the single name is to the right beneath, to inform where the image is from. As a legal requirement the record label is in the bottom left of the page along with the retailers that the album is available from and in the bottom right corner is the release date and the official website of the Drums where additional information can be found. 

I Decided to follow the intended look of the music video, i.e. low colour saturation and theatrical especially with the effect of the title being in lights, and the screen shot used is of the band performing in the video which incorporates the red velvet curtains, the album title will be white on a black background to give some level of understatement while still making it seem to be emphasized on the page as one of the main features. I intend to give the advert some class and drama to stand out from the rest of the music magazine.

Mock Up of digipack using existing photos of the band.

Copy of Permission Letter.

Liam and I decided to write to two Bands/ Record Labels asking permission to use their tracks, we wrote to Island Records for the Drums' track 'Money' and Little Comets for their track 'Figures'.

Here is a copy of the covering letter that i wrote:
Dear Copyright Holder,

         I am an A-Level Media Student and i am writing to request your permission to use the Drums track 'It Will All End In Tears'. With your permision, this track would be used in my current A Level Media Studies project that involves creating a music viedo for a popular music track, aswell as producing an album and a music magazine advert for this artist. If i recieved your permission, this track would ONLY be used in an educational context and be viewed by my media class, my teacher and the OCR exam board moderator. The artist and record company would be fully recognised throught the pre-production and the final video its self. A copyright notice, with wording supplied by you can be included in the records of the project. if this is required please send us full details.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Regards,

Chris Murray.