Friday, 13 February 2015
Evaluation question 2
Below is the link to my groups response to the second evaluation question. This was recorded as an audio and uploaded to soundcloud.
Evaluation 1 part b)
Ancillary task
On our front cover we thought that the best way to represent the song 'Friends' would be through the masks that we chose to use in the music video. By linking these two products is a form of branding and allows the products to be easily identified as those of the band. By branding products allows for one artists to be identified and so creates competition with other artists who may not follow branding and who do not have specific iconography.
On our album we used a type writer typography as we thought that it would reflect the retro aspect of the band and portray them as an indie pop group. This therefore allows consumer to foresee what the band/ album is like without having to buy it... this could then lead to higher sales.
The purpose of a poster as part of our ancillary task, was to advertise the band and their tour. We used the same branding on this as we did on the digipak and within the music video. By linking all three of the products allows for greater identification of the band and once again allows the band to be foreseen by the consumer.
Therefore in conclusion, the use of digipaks and posters in the marketing of the band allows for greater identification and therefore consumption by existing consumer/fans and new.
- Posters are used as a form of marketing for the band or artists that is being advertised. This means that a wider audience will see the bands product and therefore may capture a wider audience/ fan base.
- A digipak is a type of packaging for CDs or DVDs, typically made from cardboard with an internal plastic holder for one or more discs.
Olly Murs digipak
Below is an example of a digipak for the artist Olly Murs. The front cover includes a picture of him and the repetition of the albums name on the background. This is important as by including his image on the cover, is giving a direct representation of what the consumer should expect from the album: him as an entertainer. Olly Murs' style is simple and his songs usually feature just him singing, with little added to it. It is vital to represent this through the album artwork as a part of branding. On the back cover of the album it follows the conventions of a digipak, by listing all the songs that are on the album. It also includes the name of the record company that he is signed to and a web address. This allows for the record company to market the artist more and so potentially increase the consumption of Olly's products.
Coldplay Viva la vida digipak
This image of the digipak consists of the front cover and the back cover for Coldplay's album Viva la vida. The phrase Viva la vida means 'live the life' or 'long live life'. The songs it self has historical and Christian references and this is represented through the old painting on the front cover. The cover is very simple and uniquely does not contain the bands name, which is unusual for a piece of album artwork. The typography used on the front cover is as though it has been painted on which is very fitting with the song and background picture. The back cover, as expected, lists the names of the songs that can be found on the album and so allows the consumer to know what songs they are to expect on there. As with Olly Murs' digipak it also contains the record labels name on the back cover, however in the case it is smaller and less visible... therefore creating a more simplistic, olden feeling.
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What we thought a digipak should contain, as found out through research
When carrying out research into existing digipaks for artists, we found that not only is the band or artists usually represented through the album artwork, but so is their main song. This representation is created through the use of images and typography. It was important to create a product that could be easily identified as one of the bands. For us, due to Eliza and the Bear being a ready established band, we had already got similar products to get inspiration from. It became clear during research that the band tended to use similar typography on all of their album/ single covers.
An example of eliza and the bear album cover
As can be seen from this the typography is simplistic and bold. This can represent masculinity and therefore show the band being all male. This is important for when it comes to creating a product that can be identified as the bands. The album artwork is usually a simple picture (usually using pastel colours or black and white) which is representative of the song. An example of this would be the artwork for Brothers Boat...
The fact that little of their artwork has themselves on portrays them as an indie band, and not being well known. This would be a true representation and follows the conventions of their genre.
Below is an example of a digipak for the artist Olly Murs. The front cover includes a picture of him and the repetition of the albums name on the background. This is important as by including his image on the cover, is giving a direct representation of what the consumer should expect from the album: him as an entertainer. Olly Murs' style is simple and his songs usually feature just him singing, with little added to it. It is vital to represent this through the album artwork as a part of branding. On the back cover of the album it follows the conventions of a digipak, by listing all the songs that are on the album. It also includes the name of the record company that he is signed to and a web address. This allows for the record company to market the artist more and so potentially increase the consumption of Olly's products.
Coldplay Viva la vida digipak
This image of the digipak consists of the front cover and the back cover for Coldplay's album Viva la vida. The phrase Viva la vida means 'live the life' or 'long live life'. The songs it self has historical and Christian references and this is represented through the old painting on the front cover. The cover is very simple and uniquely does not contain the bands name, which is unusual for a piece of album artwork. The typography used on the front cover is as though it has been painted on which is very fitting with the song and background picture. The back cover, as expected, lists the names of the songs that can be found on the album and so allows the consumer to know what songs they are to expect on there. As with Olly Murs' digipak it also contains the record labels name on the back cover, however in the case it is smaller and less visible... therefore creating a more simplistic, olden feeling.
What we thought a digipak should contain, as found out through research
When carrying out research into existing digipaks for artists, we found that not only is the band or artists usually represented through the album artwork, but so is their main song. This representation is created through the use of images and typography. It was important to create a product that could be easily identified as one of the bands. For us, due to Eliza and the Bear being a ready established band, we had already got similar products to get inspiration from. It became clear during research that the band tended to use similar typography on all of their album/ single covers.
An example of eliza and the bear album cover
As can be seen from this the typography is simplistic and bold. This can represent masculinity and therefore show the band being all male. This is important for when it comes to creating a product that can be identified as the bands. The album artwork is usually a simple picture (usually using pastel colours or black and white) which is representative of the song. An example of this would be the artwork for Brothers Boat...
The fact that little of their artwork has themselves on portrays them as an indie band, and not being well known. This would be a true representation and follows the conventions of their genre.
Our Digipak
On our front cover we thought that the best way to represent the song 'Friends' would be through the masks that we chose to use in the music video. By linking these two products is a form of branding and allows the products to be easily identified as those of the band. By branding products allows for one artists to be identified and so creates competition with other artists who may not follow branding and who do not have specific iconography.
On our album we used a type writer typography as we thought that it would reflect the retro aspect of the band and portray them as an indie pop group. This therefore allows consumer to foresee what the band/ album is like without having to buy it... this could then lead to higher sales.
The purpose of a poster as part of our ancillary task, was to advertise the band and their tour. We used the same branding on this as we did on the digipak and within the music video. By linking all three of the products allows for greater identification of the band and once again allows the band to be foreseen by the consumer.Therefore in conclusion, the use of digipaks and posters in the marketing of the band allows for greater identification and therefore consumption by existing consumer/fans and new.
Thursday, 12 February 2015
Evaluation 1 part a)
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products
Music videos allow artists and record companies to further promote
a song. This is by creating a visual representation for the meaning of it. A
music video is a short film integrating a song and imagery. Modern music videos
are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale
of music recordings. Andrew Goodwin stated that “… a music video can anchor
meaning and gives the record company/artist a method of anchoring meaning”.
This would be to assist the meaning that is interpreted by the audience as well
as the one that they would interpret individually. There are three different
forms of music video that are used according to Goodwin, and these can be
combined together to form a single music video. These three types are;
performance- based, narrative-based and concept-based. Depending upon which is
used, can create an alternative meaning or enhance the meaning of the song. The
meaning of the song can come from the lyrics and the music itself, as well as
the visuals that accompany it.
This music video is narrative based. Narrative based videos attempt to tell a story. This type of video generally involves a main actor(s), and maybe extras, to portray the story. The narrative of the song isn’t always lyrically literal. In Justin Timberlake's 'Mirrors' the use of a mirror object is used and it focuses a lot on reflections. The song's chorus describes a man who is fighting to hold onto his relationship with a girl he believes to be "the one". In the music video this is literally represented by a female and a male actors, who are seen to be young and together at one part, old and together in another shot and young and fighting in the other shots. By choosing a literal representation of the lyrics in the music video enhances the meaning that can be interpreted from it.
Mirrors- Justin Timberlake
This music video is narrative based. Narrative based videos attempt to tell a story. This type of video generally involves a main actor(s), and maybe extras, to portray the story. The narrative of the song isn’t always lyrically literal. In Justin Timberlake's 'Mirrors' the use of a mirror object is used and it focuses a lot on reflections. The song's chorus describes a man who is fighting to hold onto his relationship with a girl he believes to be "the one". In the music video this is literally represented by a female and a male actors, who are seen to be young and together at one part, old and together in another shot and young and fighting in the other shots. By choosing a literal representation of the lyrics in the music video enhances the meaning that can be interpreted from it.
One- Ed Sheeran
One by Ed Sheeran is a performance-based music video. By choosing just this form for it portrays the simplicity of him as an artist, being just him and his guitar. This allows the consumer to understand more about him and what to expect. As well as this by using a simplistic set up makes the song and the meaning that I interpreted more personal and allowed me to empathise. The lyrics of the song are about a girl that is no longer present in his life, yet he still wants a relationship with her and thinks that she is his 'one'. The performance based video creates a strong sense of emotion similar to those in the lyrics. Goodwin suggested that music videos should create a link between visuals and lyrics... as done here.
Californication- Red hot chili peppers
This music video is concept based as it is based within a computer game. It is based solely on this one idea and has no link to the lyrics. Californication is a biting social criticism of the culture of excess we have. The song holds California up as a symbol itself for wider problems and issues we, as society have. The lyrics constantly repeat how people dream of being able to enter into this dream world, totally naive and ignorant of the problems those within California have to deal with.
The types of shots varies in the different forms of music videos. In performance based music videos, more close ups tend to be used. This is to show any emotion shown on the artists face and therefore enhance the meaning of the song. However in narrative based music videos, midshots and long shots tend to be used to portray the narrative. This makes it easier to be followed. In concept based videos a range of shots are used, but these depend upon what the idea is associated with. This is due to the visuals rarely having a link with the lyrics of the song.
Below is the music video that we made to the song 'Friends' by Eliza and the Bear:
Our music video complies to the narrative based form with some influences from performance based and concept based forms. We did this because we felt that this is what best suited the song we chose best. The aspects from each form are listed below:
- Concept based- the masks as they don't particularly have a link to the lyrics in the song.
- Narrative based- there is a story linked to the visuals throughout the music video.
- Performance based- we decided to represent the band in the music video, we did this by using the masks so that we could keep anonymity of the actors and therefore not have to use the actual band members.
Our music video contained both performance based and narrative based aspects.
This is the music video that we created as a production team:
This is the four shot that is used in 'It gets cold' which is one of Eliza and the Bear's songs. From this it is evident that both music videos use close ups in their four shots, which makes them identifiable as the products of the bands.
a music video, the conventions are quite strict. This included the shot types that we used due to it containing narrative and performance based concepts. Thus using more close ups and mid-shots than could be found in a concept based music video. These are some of the close ups that we used in our music video to ensure that we followed the conventions of the form that we had chosen. These are similar to those shown in 5 seconds of summer's 'she looks so perfect' where Luke Hemmings can be seen holding a guitar in a close up shot. This is important as it shows the similarities between performance based music videos. A screenshot of this is shown below. 
In conclusion our music video follows the conventions of a narrative/ performance based music video through the shot types used and the way that the shots are out together. This was influenced by the genre of the song.
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