Grammatics - Grammatics

This is the front cover for Grammatics debut album which is self titled. The image used is quite a strange one. The image used is quite a strange, as the image features the band members without their heads. (And yes it is a big coincidence that my last album analysis had just heads) Although this doesn't give the audience a clear view of the band members, what you can see from the image is the clothing that is worn. As it is the actual band it creates a realistic representation of the band and their fashion seems to be within the indie-pop genre. This is a similar style to the the band I am using, Blighters.

This is the back of the album which features a similar look to the front image with again the sculpture spelling out the band's name. The track list is conventionally placed on the back as well as some small print about the record label.

Like the Black Kids album, this is their debut album and also features a small booklet which features lyrics to all the songs and some pictures of the band in a collage. Other information such as band members and their roles creates a good way of introducing the band.

The CD is linked with the images on the outside of the CD package as it is the wallpaper pattern which rounds of the product as a package well.

Overall Grammatics have presented themselves well with this debut album. They have used a booklet to introduce the band and included lyrics for fans to learn their songs. A very aesthetically pleasing package.

Partie traumatic - Black Kids

This album is a plain and simple design for the bands debut album. Its in a 'jewell case' which features a small booklet inside.

This is a simple design which has a plain background and uses the big titles to catch the main attention. Again, like The Wombats, Black Kids use a house style of font this gives them something to be recognisable for. The band have pictured themselves on the cover which again they can be recognised instantly. Using a band member or band members is something I am looking to do in my production.

The inside booklet, as shown above, includes lyrics to all the songs on the album as well as images of the band. Including a booklet within the CD package gives privileges to buyers as you wouldn't get it with downloading, illegal or legal. This could influence their audiences decision to buy the CD.

The back of the CD has a again the plain and simple look with the title and a track list. This keeps it clear and easy to understand.

Overall this album gives off a good impression for a debut album. It was important to put the band members faces on the cover as a way of introducing them to music fans. From that they can build a bigger reputation for themselves. Keeping there own house style like they have done by using a unique font for everyone of there products.

The Wombats - Backfire at the Disco

The Wombats single, Backfire at the Disco immediately brings across a warm cheerful mood by using warm colours such as orange and red. This is the front image there is a pastel effect used right through the CD.

The font used is the same as the one used for their album (below). This is a feature throughout all of The Wombats products such as, CDs, T-shirts and posters. This gives them a house style which they can be recognised for. The font is unique and has joined up handwriting which could connote the bands 'inner child'.

(Album)

The inside of the CD is simple, the only other pane in the whole single is the inside left cover. This again has the pastel look carried, The inside includes slightly darker colours which contrast with the outside. It includes information about the band and has a track listing. Normally for an album and occasionally a single this sort of look would be at the back of the package.

The CD is again a simple design it uses an image from the scene in the inside left cover. Its a disco ball which looks good as the CD is obviously round like a disco ball.

Overall this is a warming CD package which creates a good image for the band. It features their house style font which which is recognisable. However it doesn't feature any real photographs or any images of the band members which, when I create my CD cover I will be looking to do.

Cd Cover Types

The two most common types of CD case are the:

Jewell Case

The jewell case is known for being 'the original' CD case where 10 years ago almost every CD case was made with a jewell case. Now there are so many options for not only style but materials. However it is still the most popular to artist and record labels mainly because it is the cheapest to produce.

Digipak

The Digipak design started to become increasingly popular in 2000. It was thought to be the new look and also be better for the environment by using recyclable materials such as paper board and card stock. Using this sort of material also allows the cases to be inprinted which gives the Cds texture.

Target Audience

For our music video I have been looking into the audience of the band. I have used to different methods to gain this information. Firstly I went to see the band live at one of their gig in Norwich. From this I could see the types of audience that attend their gigs. Also I have created a questionnaire which I have given out to many different people within the question. This is qualitative research and the two make together make for strong evidence. I included a question asking people weather they have heard of the band. From this I can see the type of audience who have and haven’t and therefore create a better understanding about the audiences.

We went to see the band perform live in Norwich and we thought they were really good. We particularly were looking at the different audiences; mostly we saw that the audience was young 15-25. From looking at how they were dressed you could see this type of music didn’t really influence there clothing or appearance but there were a few who had similar clothing to the band. This is classed as an Indie-look, messy hair with a big fringe with a plain t-shirt or shirt. This was interesting to see and it was at least a quarter of the audience. Overall it does show that many people are influenced by the music they listen to.



In the questionnaire I asked whether they have heard of the band. From this I can see the type of audience who have and haven’t and therefore create a better understanding about the audiences. I found the types of audience who had heard of the band where predominantly younger, in the ‘16-25’ category. Both genders had similar results on their knowledge of the band which is good for the band and gives them a wider audience.

The song we have chosen to promote by the band will typically be aimed at males. The title ‘Boy in Motion’ immediately suggests that and the video content we wish to include is stereotypically male driven. However just because it is stereotypically male it will not cut down the audience. I may even strengthen the female audiences because of its male dominance.

Initial ideas for our music video gave us skateboarding so with this in my questionnaire I asked whether people would enjoy seeing skateboarding in a music video. My results were heavily popular to the idea which has therefore influenced our decision. Many females asking the question were keen to the idea and therefore strengthening the point above attracting the point above

Norwich is a great place for promoting bands and it has lots of venues from very small, to very large where bands can perform. I saw the band at ‘The Brickmakers’ which is a small venue designed for mainly local upcoming bands. Many of the nights are free entry and are usually very busy which shows the love of music in Norwich. The area also has many Radio stations starting at small radio station such as ‘Future Radio’ which are perfect for promoting local bands. The Internet is also a great place to promote a band with sites such as ‘Youtube’ and ‘Myspace’

Research into Music Videos

After researching unsigned bands our group came across the song 'Boys in motion', a song by the band 'Blighters'.

We already had ideas in our head of producing a film using complex editing to make it unique and stand out. Stop motion is something I have done before and have found great fun in doing so. From looking at other stop motion music videos such as Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie it creates a good effect.




This is a great example of the animation of stop motion. The whole video is made of photos and is a very complex and professional piece. This video has influenced us to include stop motion within our music video. It has also us given ideas and motivation to achieve a great video. Realistically we know we cannot match the level of ability but it is something we can aim at.

The video is include just 3 shots which is actually very common to this sort of animation. Changing to different angles makes the whole process a lot more complicated. The video is very impressive which is roughly made up of 3225 still photos. These dreamy visuals amaze audiences and keeps them watching. The piece is a folk song so the relaxing and dream-like video matches the genre. Animation is often used in Folk music videos which shows animation is a generic signifier of the Folk genre.

I video includes a 'journey' that a woman takes without leaving her bed, which could symbolise a dream that the audience can see visually themselves. There is no real meaning to the journey that she takes but more surreal and unique. She skips through clouds which in this case are pillows and swims with fish which are socks. Using simple bedroom essentials to create an amazing piece with such variety has a clever contrasting affect

The title Boys in Motion gave us the idea of the video including skateboarding. Boys and skateboarding have always been a common stereotype and we wish to enhance this idea.



This is a video by Lostprophets which is majorly performances based. It has cuts to skateboarding shots throughout which fit to the genre and pace of the track. This is similar to what we want to achieve with our production. The skateboarding shots use a lot of slow motion which is effective to the music and has a great contrast with the fast pace shots shown when the band perform.

The video is on the rooftop of a skyscraper which seems to be a popular location for music videos. Its used to suggest popularity and being 'at the top'. It is also a great location because the shots show only the sky and tops of other buildings which gives the audiences main focus to the band. This generic location has been used by other bands of a similar genre such as Linkin Park



Here is Linkin Park in their video for 'In The End' on a rooftop for their performance based music video.

The shots used throughout the video show you that the music and the genre have that 'skater' scene as there is clips of skateboarding throughout. This is a cool image and is often idolised by many people. The performance is a to a live audience and the reaction of the crowd also tell you about the music. There are many crowd shots and there is a lot of 'moshing' and crowd surfing which gives the band a very 'rocky' outlook. These generic 'signifiers' confirm the generic blueprint over all. Mike Piscitelli, the director wanted got the bands fans to come along and be in the music video so it would give a real overlook on the band rather than a forced one. It therefore shows the real generic features through the audiences rather than being planned.

There is no narrative structure in the video. The skateboarding is simply performance stunts to look good rather than to have a storyline. They use shots where the band is in the background of the skateboarding to blend the two together nicely.

The visuals fit well with the music, especially when looking into the tempo changes. When the music it is at a fast pace the shots are quick and short when the piece mellows out and is a slower the shots are longer and panning is used. The skateboarding shots work in the same way, there are slow motion shots when the music is slow and fast pace shots when the music is at a high tempo.



The lighting is natural throughout the video, as it is filmed during day light no added light is needed. There is a shot where the sun is used very well in the background (below) which creates a good effect and adds variety. It shows a good use of using natural resources which are already there.



Both of these videos have influenced our production by giving us ideas for structure and shots as well as the motivation to produce a good quality video.

Music Video Analysis

Maximo Park - Our Velocity

The music video features a performance based video with no storyline which is unconventional. Almost the whole of the film is shot in one shot rather than the generic quick flashes of shots used in most modern music videos. The video is simple and relies heavily on good editing.
The idea of the video is to have the band playing multiple times all in one shot. This is done by shooting the band playing in different positions and then merging the images together. The lighting constantly changes using many different colours. This creates a disco effect which references 'dancing' This goes with the song well. The videos in the past by the same band have been all performance based as well.

The video has a busy mise-en-scene which matches the song as it is has a great structure a layers. This is also matches by the 'busy' lighting which produces a very colourful scenery.

The trend is set by the lead singer who has a smart and intelligent look which audiences could aspire to and this has a good look on the band. There are many close ups and low angle shots of the lead singer Paul Smith who is given that star image. This is enhanced by his clothing, he wears a smart shirt and blazer with a top hat. This gives him the main focus as he is represented as important as he is the lead singer. The black clothing worn by the band contrasts with the light background of white and the light colours that are in the video.

The band is given the image of being good performers and from this I feel people would want to see them live. This way it promotes the band and could increase there ticket sales. The band in the past have mainly used performance based videos but have occasionally used a storyline. The image of the band is therefore kept the same.

Asking a few people on there comments on the video many had different opinions. It was all agreed that it was a simple video but many thought it was effective. I also had 2 people that found it uninteresting. The trend set by the lead singer is a smart and intelligent look which audiences could aspire to and has a good look on the band.

The video has featured on many popular music video channels such as '4music', ' TMF' and 'Q' this has given the band good publicity and promotes the song well. This shows they are a mainstream band and are therfore popular.

The editing gives the video complexity and without the new technologies the music video would not have been as effective. Editing software has developed massively in the last 10 years. The video just being a performance would always be very simple but with the added effects it makes it more interesting.

Overall the video is simple but effective and has helped me produce ideas for our music video by using multiple shots of a character.