This is "The Strokes" front cover of their digipak. It's a very plain cover and shows an artistic flare with the interesting black/white colour scheme with a dash of orange. The cover also contains an advisory note to allow their audience to be aware of its contents. The name of the band is written in the bottom left corner which isn't very clear.
This is an image of the digipak fully open. In the middle is their album which contains images of different styles of guitars in sepia. This image is mysterious and complicated and it likely to draw the attention of their audience. However, on the right and left panels they are in plain black containing no images or text. Within the left panel pulls out images of the band members and their names. Within the right panel pulls out a booklet with various images and names of their songs along with thank yous and details about it's creation.
The back cover is by far the most interesting and complicated panel on the digipak. Similarly to the front, it consists of a black and white colour scheme with a dash of orange. The name of each track is pulled out of the page through using a bright colour; the text is small and therefore less obvious but the colour enables it to stand out. Also on this page we can see the barcode in the bottom right corner and the name of the recording company in the top right corner (sony bmg).
RADIOHEAD
This is the digipak for the band "Radiohead" who's music I feel is fairly similarly to that of "Death & Taxis". The artwork on this album is really bizarre and individual, using mainly browns and blacks. The covers on this digipak are meant to look worn and old, which gives it a scruffy but mysterious feel - which would appeal to their target audience. The writing on this piece also looks hand written, which is mysterious and slightly scruffy, tieing in with the overall theme.
This image is very mysterious and it's really difficult to make out what the entire page is made up of. Again, I believe this image has been made to look old and worn in order to fit in with the theme. This piece catches the eye because it has a few intricate details that draw the audience in, in order to reveal what the image is made up of.
costume - the band members costume here looks fairly laid back and "indie". I think their target audience would dress similarly to this and therefore relate to their style. body language - the band all have open laid back postures which would appeal to their audience as they look as though they're just relaxing and having a good time. colour - this advert uses bright colours that give a warm feeling, this could have relation to the theme of their music as it could suggest their music is chilled out. facial expression - the band members appear to all have fairly subdued facial expressions, although none of them are looking into the camera this gives the audience the impression that they are relaxing and acting as though they are unaware of the camera. shot type - this is a long shot of the three men sat down in the foreground of a beach with palm trees and the stretch of the beach behind them. This makes the image interesting and nice to look at. font - the font is large, white and very simple. They would have used a large font to make the text stand out and present the audience with a clear indication of their name. I think they would have used white text as it contrasts well with the background and the fonts simplicity could also be a reflection upon the style of their music. layout - the layout of this piece also demonstrates simplicity as their are no complicated mixed images or fonts, everything is set out nicely and clearly.
colour - this advert has used bold, bright colours that allow it to stand out and appeal to their audience who are likely to be young and into dance music.
shot type - the image on this advert consists of a close up of a monkey eating a plant. This produces vibrant colour but creates a mysterious and interesting feel to the ad, furthermore it creates a humorous sense to the piece. This makes the ad more attractive and appealing to its audience.
font - the font on this piece is extremely bold and a strange shape, this makes it really stand out on the page making it more appealing and clear to its audience.
layout - the layout on this piece is clearly structured to allow each component to stand out on its own. I think the layout of this piece is really appealing to its audience because it's clear but filled with interesting colours and bold patterns.
costume - the character standing up is wearing a smart casual combination of a shirt and trousers. This suggests simplicity and may give a reflection upon their style of music. However, the other men in the video are wearing black mysterious clothing which adds a darker side to the piece. The bands audience are probably likely to wear similar clothing which they can relate to which makes this image more appealing.
body language - the stood up male has his hands in his pockets which suggests he is laid back and posing casually. The other band members are all sat and looking away from the camera which also makes them look laid back. The males on the right and left look thoughtful while the male in the center sat down is looking into the camera thoughtfully.
colour - the colour in this image is quite dull, using mainly blues and browns which are neutral but cold colours. The combination of the two mixed images on this piece blend into each other which mean there is no focus on a specific part of the image.
facial expression - as previously mentioned, all of the band members look thoughtful and are looking away from the camera. This could suggest they are portraying intelligence and maturity which would appeal to their audience.
shot type - this piece is a mixture of a shot of the four men in a room and the other image is of a busy street. The blend of these two images creates an interesting but complicated piece of artwork to look at.
font - the name of the band "Noah & The Whale" is in very large bold text which allows it to stand out and project off the page in order to be clear for the audience to view. Below this the font changes to look more elegant to say "last night on earth" which would be the name of their album. I believe this is done so the font can be easily recognised on the page in order to the audience to be made aware of its name. At the bottom of the page is a rating from a magazine which is in a standard small font, as this is less important. The date of the album is also made larger in order to stand out and become clear to its audience.
I feel the target market for the track "Icarus - Death and Taxis" would be mainly males, that fall into the age bracket of around 25-45. I have made this decision based on the idea that the sound of this music is heavily guitar based, which is more appealing to men and traditionally has a male audience.
Furthermore, this track also has a more mature and retro sound which has been influenced from the 70s and 80s style of music, this suggests the target market age bracket can relate to the sound and feel the piece is creating.
I posted my track on a public website and asked people to send in their emails if they liked the sound of it. Following this I created a questionnaire for this audience in accordance to the track in order to retrieve information on what they would like to see in the music video for the track. I have given 20 random people from the list of emails a questionnaire to fill out.
Here is the link to my questionnaire: Click here to take survey
Results
From my questionnaire I was able to gain an idea of what would be the most popular themes to have in my video, and what the audience want to see.
Currently listed as a second ballot nominee for 2011 CCMA Video Director of the Year.
The first video he produced/directed (with a grant from MuchFact) entitled ‘Say Goodbye’ was nominated for several awards, including Best Music Video, Best Director and Best Editor at the 2009 Alberta Film Awards.
At the 2010 awards, two videos he produced/directed were nominated for awards: ‘The End’, for Best Music Video, and ‘Stain’, for Best Visual Effects.
In 2010 Niemans shot, produced, directed and edited a music video for The Northern Pikes frontman Jay Semko. This video for ‘Comeback Kid’ was well received and added to rotation on CMT.
Niemans most recently shot, directed and edited videos for Six West (‘I Will Wait’) and 2010 CCMA Female Artist of the Year, Victoria Banks (‘I’m Gone’), both of which are currently spinning on CMT.
Below is the video to "Six West - I Will Wait" - a video directed by Niemans.
Colin Tilley
(Born June 27, 1988 in Berkeley, California) is an award winning music video director for Riveting Entertainment who has written and directed music videos for artists including Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, and U.K. rapper Chipmunk among others.
His most notable and frequent collaborator is Chris Brown.
The two have worked on more than a dozen videos together in the last two years including every single off of Chris Brown's gold-certified album F.A.M.E.
He was nominated for three videos at the 2011 MTV VMAs including best male video, best best hip hop video, and best collaboration video.
Tilley is currently developing several film projects.
Below is the music video to "Next To You - Chris Brown ft. Justin Beieber" directed by Colin Tilley.
Sound -
The main components that are used to create the sound of this piece are guitar, drums and vocals. This piece would be considered "rock" as there are heavy drum and guitar instumentals but combined with a sorrowful, powerful male vocal. The combination of these three components work well together to create a steady flow of sound but build up to allow the beat to become more intense.
Editing -
This video demonstrates fairly simple editing skills as there are no complicated transitions between each shot, one image just moves onto the next. However, there are numerous gun shots that pierce holes into furniture and the walls which would be considered editing as special effects would have had to have been used in order to allow this to look as real as possible.
Mise en Scene -
This video consists of two parts, a narrative, and the band playing in time to the music. The video flashes between the two so the audience are able to follow a story but are also shown the band members playing their instruments and singing to the music. The scene of the band playing takes place in a room within a house. This room is fairly ambiguous as all that can be seen is writing and picture frames on the walls, a fish tank and flashes of furniture such as chairs. Also, the narrative partly takes place in this room where a girl is stood and toward the end of the video meets a male character. This gives the audience some familiarity as they can make a link between the lyrics being sung and the story.
The narrative part of the video consists of a female in one room and a male in the other, the male character also appears to be in a room of possibly the same house. He is shown to be sat on a chair next to a desk with a television, lamp, work notes etc placed on it. This could be recognised as a study.
All of the characters and band members are wearing dark clothing, this would suggest the dark theme of the song and allows the audience's attention to be focussed on other aspects of the video.
Camera Work -
This video consists of simple angles and shots as the attention would want to be placed directly onto the mise en scene. Most of the shots in this video are mid or long shot meaning a clear image is shown from a regular distance. This creates simplicity and the mise en scene can then clearly be regocnised. Close ups are often used on characters or band members faces to show their facial expression thus putting emphasis on the mood of the video and song.
Lighting -
This video has simple, realistic lighting which is clearly coming from the lamps and lighting placed within the shots. There is a lot of shadowing on the characters which could be because they're wearing dark clothes but gives the video a mysterious, gloomy feel.
Big Four labels/major record labels represent the majority of the music sold, making up as much as 75% of the music market or more depending on the year. Artists who are signed to a Big Four record label are either signed to the central label or signed to a subsidiary of the label.
EMI
Independent, not for profit organisation
EMI raises finance from a range of sources to invest in and support the film and digital content industries.
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record label in the recording industry, making it one of the "big four" record companies.
Warner
Warner Music Group (WMG) is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies.
For three decades the comglomerate was known as WEA, which stood for Warner Bros.-Elektra-Atlantic Records; three major record companies that signed and developed musical acts and, in turn, distributed product for subsidiaries and other record labels.
Universal
Universal Music Group (UMG) is an American music group and is the largest in the music industry.
The largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations.
Universal Music Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of French media conglomerate Vivendi.
Universal Music Group owns a music publisher, Universal Music Publishing Group, which became the world's largest following the acquisition of BMG Music Publishing in May 2007.
Sony
Sony Music Entertainment (SME or Sony Music) is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation.
On July 1, 2009, Sony Music Entertainment and Independent Online Distribution Alliance announced their global strategic partnership to leverage combined worldwide online retail distribution networks and complementary technologies to support independent labels and music rightsholders.
The song I am using to create a video is called "Icarus" written and composed by my father, Ian Clarke; his band is named "Death & Taxis" He creates all the components (including vocals) necessary to create a piece of music. Although it would be difficult to match a specific genre to his music, I feel his main intention is to produce political messages through his work.
His songs produce an electronic/rock instrumental sound with a deep/dark vocal addition. I feel creating a simple video will put more emphasis on the messages produced in the music, however I am looking to add in scenes showing relative catasrophes in conjunction to the topics he sings about. This will suggest there is deeper meaning within the sound of the music meaning more concentration will be placed into recognising the discussed issues.
Electronic Genre
This is music that employs electronic musical instruments andelectronicmusic technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Electronic has many sub-genres meaning it can have a wide range of audiences. I believe today the typical audience for electronic sound would be teenagers as it can sound modern and very computer-editied which would give teenagers a specific interest in the sound it creates.
Some examples of rock bands:
Rock Genre
Musically, rock has centred around the electric guitar usually as part of a rock group with bass guitar and drums. Typically, rock is song-based music with a 4/4 beat lyrics and often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political in emphasis. Rock typically falls into hundreds of sub-genres that define it's audience. However, it has been suggested men show more of an interest in rock music than women.
Some examples of rock bands:
After researching into each of these genres and bands I feel "Death and Taxis" does not fit into one genre, so I am going to create a video that will fit into both.
Sound - the first instrument heard in this song is a guitar, it gives the song a moderately paced feel which creates a nice sounding opening. The drums are then added to the sound allowing it to become more fast paced. The singers voice is then also added to the piece, his voice is soft and quite but coarse making it sound relaxed but dark. The combination of these three components creates a steady sound, however, they soon each being to build in pace and volume allowing the sound to become more intense. The male vocalist's singing becomes more like shouting and the two instruments play harsher sounding notes, futher adding to the intensity of the song. This song would be considered a 'rock' genre.
Editing - this video demonstrates fairly simple editing skills as there are no particularly complicated transitions between shots and no editing techniques used within the shots to allow them to look visually more interesting. However, at the beginning of the video the shots flash from one to another making the picture more shocking at is appears on screen. This creates an ambiguous atmosphere making the video appear creepy and bizarre.
Mise en Scene - the opening scene reveals a man in what would appear as a hospital bed, this image only consists of floor length curtains, a bed and drip, a cross on the floor and a chairs where three other characters are sat. Following this, the next scene is set in a field where a wooden cross is stood. Fake crows are sat on the cross and the character in the scene wears a santa hat. These simple props create a surrel effect within the scene as they show little reseblence of a message or ongoing theme. The following scene stays the same with the addition of the band members playing their instruments. This places them within the narrative, furthermore creating an ambiguous situation.
Placed in the the next scene is a tree with foetus's hanging, with a large woman dress in wings walking toward, but never moving foward. This is a dark scene with grotesque images which shocks the audience. Finally, there is a small child dress in all white running through each scene, this could resemble an angelic figure, as they appear pure. Each of the props, backdrops and characters interlink between scenes, thus merging all of the themes and messages. This could create confusion as there are no specific narratives, creating an ambigious and mysterious feel to the video.
Camera Work - this video consists of simple angles and shots as the attention would want to be placed directly onto the mise en scene. Most of the shots in this video are mid or long shot meaning a clear image is shown from a regular distance. This creates simplicity and the mise en scene can then clearly be regocnised. Close ups are often used on characters or band members faces to show their facial expression thus putting emphasis on the mood of the video and song.
Lighting - in the first scene (a male character lay in a hospital bed) there is no lighting except what would be considered as natural lighting creeping through the space between the curtains. This leaves the room fairly dark and badly lit as many shadows are created. This suggests the scene is dark and the lighting refelcts upon the mood within the room.
Following this, in the scene where the wooden cross is stood the lighting is fairly surreal as the colour within the screen appears unnatural. This would suggest editing has been used to enhance the colour and lighting has been used to create specific shadows and highlight other areas. This makes this scene appear more dream-like, further enhancing the surreal feel to the video. Later on, the sky in this scene turns from blue to red, making the image appear darker and more evil. This contrast could be considered as the difference between day and night or good and evil. The video carries on this way switching between the two colours, making the narrative and meaning of the video more ambiguous, which would be a substantial theme running through out. In the final few scenes where characters are shown in a bedroom, the lighting is coming from the walls which can be easily viewed by the audience suggesting there is nothing to hide and there are no hidden meanings behind the scene.
Overall this video demonstrates a surreal and ambiguous theme as the narrative is bizarre and there is a large contrast between light and darkness shown creating a strange and mysterious feel for the audience. This is a dark video, which means each of the discussed factors must be taken into great consideration when creating this piece to inject the correct components in order to represent the right amosphere for the video.
THE STROKES
