Album Art Research

Group analysis of Music video presentations

This was additonal information I gained from reviewing other student's analysis of their music video presentations. 

Group analysis of Music video presentations

Music Video Presentation Analysis

Start at 5:52, then watch from 17:00 & End at 21:43

The Lyrics & My ideas

Here is an image of our lyrics and our groups initial ideas. In my view the lyrics are very playful and I wanted our music video to show a relationship between the visuals and the lyrics. Our groups intention is to amplify the lyrics, so instead of just showing a literal link between the lyrics and the visuals were adding new layers of meaning to the song.   

Influential Directors

Anthony Mandler: was raised in Hollywood with celebrity classmates and industry people all around him. As a video director, Anthony has shown his ability to make full realized and powerful moving short films underscoring music videos of today's top artists. Anthony has written and directed, among others, the videos: Nelly Furtado, 'Man-eater' The Killers 'When you were Young' Ne Yo, Sexy Love, Beyonce, Irreplaceable' Eminem, 'When I'm Gone' 50Cent, 'Hustlers Ambition' Rihanna, 'Unfaithful', Enrique Iglesias, 'Somebody's Me', Fergie,'Big Girl's Don't Cry' and the new Duran Duran video. Anthony is today's hottest video director in strong demand and receiving high critical praise for his unique style of story telling demonstrating his extensive and highly talented famous photography background. He has received numerous film project offers from studios waiting on the right project to direct. Anthony is one of my influential directors because his work is well known by a mass audience, in addition his work usually has a clear & meaningful  narrative something we wish fo our music video to have.

Melina Maria Matsoukas is the go to director for hot Hip-Hop and R’n’B videos; nobody makes pop stars look as sexy, bold and brazen as her. She launched her directing career in 2006, collaborating with various artists and studios. She quickly became a sought-after director in the world of Rap, R'n'B and Pop. Melina has an easy grasp of Hip-Hop codes and a sharp eye for fashion that attract the female performers. Standout videos include Leona Lewis, Lady Gaga, the excellent Not Fair for Lily Allen and S&M for Rihanna. Deeply inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, her distinct style is pure Hip-Hop essence: raw and glam just like the Diesel perfume film she directed for the Fred&Farid Agency. A fashion icon in her own right she has made an enormous name for herself. One of the reasons I chose to make her one of my chosen influential director is because she directed Rihanna's music video 'We Found Love'. This video was so creative & is still one of my favourites music video to date. Matsoukas said about the video  'We love, obviously, to do provocative imagery ... we always try to definitely push the limits ... '

Marc Klasfeld is one of the finest music video directors working today. His work displays a completely different tone than anyone else working in the business. His unique blend of humor and visuals makes each and every video he produces something that has not been seen before. The director of many award-winning and breakthrough music videos for artists such as Katy Perry, Jay-Z, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Nelly, Kid Rock, Sum 41, Avril Lavigne, Beyonce, Gnarls Barkley, The Script, Ludacris, Eminem, Enrique Iglesias, Justin Timberlake, Jewel and many more. His videos have established him as a director with a very unique voice. His work is very influential and I cant help but respect his creativity.

Star Image

Develeopment of star image.

  

Disney star Miley Cyrus’s transformation from sweet teen to sexpot has come as a shock to many parents, whose children may still idolize the “Hannah Montana’’ icon. Miley cyrus began her career for her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana. With the success of the Hannah Montana franchise she established herself as a teen idol. However she began to cultivate an adult image in 2009 with the release of The Time of Our Lives (2009), an extended play which presented a more mainstream pop sound, and by filming The Last Song (2010), a coming-of-age drama film. The former included Cyrus's best-selling single, "Party in the U.S.A." (2009). A studio album titled 'Can't Be Tamed' was released in 2010 and presents a new dance-pop sound. The music video and lyrics of the album's lead single, 'Can't Be Tamed', portrays a more sexualized image for the entertainer. Miley possibly began to change her star image because she had to face adulthood, as she did she would have wanted to change her image so it appeals to the older fan base.

Even her CD covers reflected her changing personal and professional image. This cover of 2008's "Breakout" before she began remaking her look shows how innocent and squeaky clean Miley's star image was.

Cyrus's CD, "Can't Be Tamed," is clearly a different story, and a few steps away from the squeaky clean image of her "Hannah Montana" days.

 

Genre Research

Genre Research: Indie-Pop Music

Indie Pop is a genre that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera. Indie Pop music videos do not tend to have a clear or linear narrative. Most images that fall into this genre use unusual props and vintage style costumes. This is an attribute that we are aiming for our music video to have. The representations usually portrayed in this genre are youth. This is shown through the use of on trend costumes, quirky props and the artist/star themselves tend to be quite young. The style of lighting used throughout the Indie Pop genre is unusual lighting such as mix-match colour like reds and blues. The use of back lighting puts the emphasis on the artist/band and creates a bizarre feel to the artist/band. This is an effect we are wishing to create in our music video.

An Indie – pop Album cover is usually simple such as a plain or patterned behind the artist/band, allowing the band/artist to be the main focus and eye-catching to the viewer. This also helps the audience to recognise the artist/band therefore creating a connection with the viewer. An example of where an unusual image has been used is on the Two Door Cinema Club album cover for ‘Tourist History’. The image is a cat, which does not relate to the band, but creates intrigue for the viewer, as they want to find out why it has been used. The inlay usually contains a recurring theme that is seen on the front and back cover of the CD such as a colour.

Some examples of Indie-pop:

Marina and the Diamonds music video for ‘Primadonna’. The video clearly has a distinct vintage feel to it, e see this through the use of costume, props and set. The use of black and black and white filter adds to the whole feel of the Indie -pop genre

Florence & the machine 'Rabbit Heart (Raise it up)'. The video has a clear quirky style to it, which you'd expect  an indie video to have. The vintage styled costumes and the unusual props add strongly to the fact that this video falls into the Indie - pop genre.

Dizzee Rascal - Holiday

Andrew Goodwin suggests that in every successful music video there has to be the following characteristics. One of his theories is that music videos should demonstrate genre characteristics. Dizzee Rascal is a rapper/hip-hop artist. Usually these artists are conveyed as rich, extravagant and as ladies men. In this video there are strong connotations of Dizzee being stereotypically portrayed as a rapper and hip-hop artist. His evidently surrounded by really good looking girls that appear to want to dance with him. He is dressed in a white suit, wearing cool shades and a gold watch which symbolises his wealth and adds to the idea of his genre. The video is full of energy and colour and the genre of hip-pop is clearly demonstrated  through the use of loads of extras to help enhance the vibrant mood of what would be a hip-pop track, apposed to an emotional ballad which would be focused on the artist singing the lyrics with full of emotion. Additionally, Dizzee Rascal's genre is reflected further because of the way he performs his track. For example, Goodwin suggests, you'd expect to see a instrumental performance in a rock band's music video but here, it is clearly a relaxed performance. Something, which you'd expect from a rapper. it isn’t a choreographed routine, the main singer just has to relax and have an energetic performance, which Dizzee does. Goodwin's second theory is that there will be a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. Just like in this video. To a certain degree the lyrics link together with the visuals. For example when Dizzee sings 'Don’t watch my passport photo' and he gestures an outline of a passport. This is a literal link between the lyrics and the visuals. However the video isn’t illustrative with the lyrics all the time. The visuals amplify the lyrics. Dizzee sings about taking a girl on holiday but his not actually doing this in the video, he adds a new layer of meaning to the song, perhaps aiming to show off his persona as this rich guy with plenty of money, who’s able to take a girl on a romantic getaway. Furthermore Goodwin suggests that there will be a relationship between music and visuals. In this video there is a energetic music rhythm that is present throughout the whole video, the visuals and music tie in very well. The visuals are quick to change to enhance the idea of 'partying'. Through the use of panning shots we get the feel of energetic mood and the atmosphere of the video as a whole. Goodwin suggests that there will be plenty of close ups of the artist to satisfy the needs of record labels. In the video we do see close ups of Dizzee and we continue to do so throughout the whole video. In the video there is frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly a voyeuristic treatment of the female body. The video depicts a highly sexualised view of women. Dizzee is the centre piece with the women surrounding him which represents male dominance. In this particular video there isn't any intertextual reference.

Album Art

For our music video package we have to develop some album art for the artist & band, in order to sell not just their particular song but an album of songs. The album is a creation of the message & style that we wish our artist to create for their targeted audience. Here is some research into a variety of album covers. The research is so that we get a wider idea and understanding of what kinds of styles are used by current successful Artists.

                                              

                                                             

Intertexuality

Goodwin suggests that in many music videos there is often intertextual reference. Visual reference in music video comes from a range of sources, though the three most frequent are film, fashion and art photography. Intertextuality is used to provide pleasure to the audience through recognition. Many music videos draw upon cinema as a starting point, for example Madonna's 'Material Girl'. Madonna's 'Material Girl' is a parody of Marilyn Monroe's performance of the song 'Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend' in the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. In the video Madonna wears a replica dress and has similar choreography created in the 1953 iconic film. The intertextual image is not necessarily of Marilyn, but of the Hollywood streotype of the sexy blonde who uses her looks to get what she wants. The idea of Manroe's sensual sexuality is mirrored and thus conveyed in Madonna's video to let the audience experience pleasure.

Voyeursim

50 Cent ft Justin Timberlake - Ayo Technology

Voyeurism broadly refers to the idea of looking in order to gain sexual pleasure. This music video really expresses the notions of voyeurism. The women in the video are clearly objectified for the artists but also for the male dominated viewers so that they gain sexual pleasure. This video has a hi-tech feel as the scenes and pictures are constantly being distorted. There is frequently reference to notion of looking and the video does this by incorporating binoculars and scopes, in order to see women in their houses getting sexually aroused. Even the colour of the women changes to a shade of green as though the viewer is looking through the scope or binoculars themselves. The female body is objectified in editing with fragmented body shots such as the legs, boobs and lips to emphasis a sexualised treatment of the female stars. This shows the idea of voyeurism and enables the male to receive sexual pleasure and satisfaction from being able to view the female from an unknown location. The female does not know she is being watched, which makes the pleasure for the male more exhilarating. The video also suggests the idea that men are controlling women all of the time, especially in their sexual desires. For example when the woman is driving the car and 50 cent is following closely behind. As he moves his fingers around on his screen inside his car, the more sexual pleasure the woman is exhibiting as she drives. This signifies how the male has control over the female even in times where she feels in control, such as when she is in the driver’s seat of her car. The all-seeing eye is another concept that may be addressed in this video. One scene shows a blindfolded, 50 Cent, sitting on a chair with a female dancing in front of him and all around him. Although he is wearing a blindfold, he is still able to see and get pleasure from the dancing woman. This supports the idea that men can see everything even when they have blinders, this is another form of control and power and also emphasises the male ego.

Lip Sync Practice

We had to create a lip sync to practice and highlight any problems we may come across so that we tackle them with ease when we come to make our music videos. We came across a few problems while doing this task. We found that we didnt have enough on the clips to establish  smooth editing. This meant that there were  a few blank moments in the video. We aim to make sure that we do not make this mistake again when making our final music video. This task helped us to practice getting the music and lip syncing in time with each other. We found this was manageable and did not present any real problems.

Reviewing AS work

Research:



Planning and Designing storyboards:


Planning the shoots, Costumes, MES, equipment and Lighting:


Classwork and Independent Study:


Peronal organaisation, group work issues, meeting deadlines, working on blogs:


Fliming, Practical issues?


Oraganising blog, keeping it up to date: