Magazine Advert Analysis

This is a magazine advert for the 'Kings of Leon' album 'Come Around Sundown'. It shows the same kind of image as album cover's image and uses the same font as it does on the album. It shows the name of the artist and the name of the album, it states it as 'the new album' and includes the date of it's release. At the bottom it shows the production company and their website. It also shows the logo and name of 'amazon.com' which is where you can purchase the album from.


This is the front cover for the album.

Digipack Ideas- What To Include

Our Digipack will contain:

A front cover, my idea for the front cover is having the band be walking down a long road, I got this from the name of the album 'A Long Walk Home'.
A back cover, this should have the track listing of the album, barcode, copyright and legal information, production company and website.
A spine, on the spine I vision there to be the name of the artist, and the name of the album, and also the barcode number.
An Inlay, on the inlay there should be pictures of the band, the tracks and lyrics.
Reviews, we may have reviews on the front cover.

There are also bonus material we need to think about including, such as:

Postage orders, available updates and questionnaires these can also all be included on a mailing list. Also online and offline images as well as visual art.

Music Video Camera Angles

Music videos normal include and switch between: Extreme Close Up (ECU) this is used to clearly show something specific, we would most likely use it to show hands playing an instrument, or on the mouth singing. Close Up (CU) this will be used to show the face as it shows singing, and if used in a narrative it helps set the mood and show emotion. Medium Shot (MS) is used to clearly show the body of the artist, and is useful for showing performance. Long Shot (LS) this allows the audience to see everything, and is useful to break up the Close Ups which may become boring for the audience. Low Angle (LA) these are used to show power and authority, this will be useful in certain parts of our video. High Angle (HA) this is used to show low authority and weakness, this will like Low Angles, be useful to use in certain parts of the video.

Close Up

Extreme Close Up 

High Angle

Low Angle

Long Shot

Medium Shot

Digipack Ideas- Production Company/Copyright Information

The details of the production company are also important to include, these are usually the logo of the company and therefore can be anything, a well known example is Universal Music Group:





The copyright information is always shown on a digipack, therefore it is an important thing to include in our digipack, this is an example of what it may look like:

Final Cut Express Effects- Split Screening

We think a useful thing to include in our video is the use of a split screen, I found a tutorial on YouTube that showed me how to do this properly:

Final Cut Express Effects- Black and White

For our video we have been thinking about using black and white, for either the narrative or performance, we think this will help the audience identify with what it going on a when in the storyline of the video. I looked on YouTube and found a tutorial that shows us how to make it black and white:

Hybrid Genre

Hybrid Genre:

Rock Rap

Linkin Park's album "hybrid Theory" mixes primarily the two music genres of Rock and Rap. The album uses Rock to fill in the gaps which traditional Rap songs have, while using Rap to employ more unique beats and allowing for more complicated lyrics. 

You usually find the traditional instruments of rock such as guitars, bass guitars and drums, also used are elements of rap such as DJ's, scratch pads and electronic sampling equipment. Vocals are either sung or rapped. 

Rock Rap shares many similarities to rap and hip-hop such as the use of rhyme and the beat. Drums are used to keep the rock part consistent as well as allowing for an aggressive song to be sung or rapped. However drums do not normally accompany rap which is more to do with on the beat measuring.  It is also a popular practice to switch between sung portions of the song to spoken sections and back (i.e. chorus and verses sung but the bridge is rapped).

Subgenre

Subgenres are sub categories of a larger genre. the genre we have chosen to do is Indie rock, which it's self is a Subgenre of Alternative rock, the genre takes both influence from the Indie genre and the Rock genre.

Similar artists and songs

Copy of Genre on Prezi

Ideal Audience Member

IDEAL AUDIENCE PROFILE

• Name: Jim Gee
• Age: 28
• Sex: Male
• Fashion: skinny jeans, checked shirts, hats, swede high tops, 

• Interests and hobbies: indie rock music, He likes to listen to his music on his own, he likes to reflect on his day when he listens to the music. He regularly attends gigs, including the bigger fesitvals such as glastonbury and T in the park, enjoys beer, he is a university graduate from Brixton, London, where he studied biology, he socially smokes, and has experimented with some drugs, such as cannabis. He owns a xbox and plays guitar hero on the occasion. 

 

• He has had a long term girlfriend that he is still with, they met on a night out in Brixton at a battle of the bands concert.
• As a child he recieved piano lessons, he got to grade five however now he has stopped.

  

• He doesnt buys CDs, he occasionally buys a digipack, he downloads most of his music, sometimes using youtubeconverter.

Understanding Audience

Audience Engagement - How an audience interacts with a media text
Audience Expectations - These are the advance ideas an audience may have about a text
Audience Foreknowledge - Definite information the audience brings to a media product
Audience Identification - Way in which the audience feel themselves connected to a particular media text which directly expresses their attitude or lifestyle
Audience Placement - Range of strategies media producers used to directly target a particular audience
Audience Research - Audience research on all stages such as production, lifestyle and genre

Digipack Ideas

As the album of our song is called 'A Long Walk Home' I started thinking about what connotations that had, so I started to research into looking at pictures with long roads as I associate a long walk home to be on a long road, and also to have the band walking down the road detonates exactly what the title seems to imply. 

I found these images to be good because they connotate exactly what I see the meaning of the title to be, they are a long road where the end of which are barely visible, which implies that they are on their way home, but they have a lengthy way to go yet. I also like the use of black and white in two of the images as it gives it a more vintage, old fashioned and an almost mystical feel to it.

I like the use of the band name written on the guitar case in the corner, and i feel this would be a good style either to incorporate into the cover of the digipack, or into an inly. 

I felt this Scouting For Girls album cover is a good image to research as it is an archetype of an Indie cover, it is simplistic with a vintage feel given to it by the colours, the font and the image.

This image caught my eye because of the use of monochromatics, the black and white image leaking into colour, as well as this the hand drawn style gives it a stereotypical Indie impression. 

Audience Research

Looking at Indie videos on youtube I have found that the age of our target audience is 13-34 and they are both male and female

 

 Here we can see two comments made on YouTube on a video of an Indie Rock band. The second comment we found the most interesting due to the fact that it states that a possible Indie Rock fan plays a guitar and/or is in a band. This applies and emphasises our hypthesis that that our typical audience for Indie Rock either play an instruement or are in a band. Additionally with the user saying that this is addictive to play on guitar it encourages a discussion with other fans of Indie Rock. 

Additionally the first comment states that the only reason they are viewing the video was due to publication by MGMT. This could indicate that Indie Rock fans are interested in reading MGMT due to its Indie vibe.

http://www.whoismgmt.com/us/home

Digipack Theory

1. Explain Clearly what a digipack is?
A digipack is a Cd with usually three different images. They represent and market the artist indifferent ways. the digipack can create their personal image.


2. Give an example of how intertextuality could be used in the marketing of our video?
The video could be promoted by being shown in a film or on a poster.


3. Give an example of how intertextuality could be used in the marketing of your digipack?
Digipack could be shown on a poster, advertisement linked to film.


4. What did Goodwin say were the 3 possible relationships between lyrics and visuals in a music video?
Illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.


5. Give an example of how you could develop star image for your artist using star iconography?
Create an icon for the artist for the artist, eg guitar or clothing.


6. What demands does the record company make on the video and why?
The need for closeups, - not like a live performance. -Narrative


7. What usually features in a video in addition to narrative and why?
Performance


8. How could you use the elements of 6 and 7 in your digipack and how would it complement the video?
Use a live track- studio act, it aids advertising.


9. What extras could you promote in your digipack in addition to the video and music tracks?
Special bonus features eg live performance.


10. How do your plans match the chosen demographic and psychographic of your audience?
Demographics- male, 20+, middle class
Psychographics- gigs, concerts

Our Song

The song we are going to use is called Call Me Up by 28 North

 it is in the Alternative rock genre. I found the song while searching for unsigned artists, I went to their website 'http://www.28north.com/' where I found the contact details for their manager Jerry Heller. I then e-mailed him asking for permission to use the song, and he agreed so long a certain requirements were met, such as keeping the name of the band the same and full recognition was given to the artist.

Audience Research

Interviews

Today I interviewed two different indie rock fans. From these interviews I hope to recieve to information that can be helpful in creating our music video. Both people being interviewed prefered not to be filmed however I took a photo of both the scripts. Here is how the scripts went.

Name: Jeremiah
Sex: Male
Age: 15
Me: What type of clothes do you wear?
Jel: Checked shirts, skinny chinos and skinny jeans, sometimes a hat, polos,
Me: Do you see indie rock artists as icons and role models?
Jel: I like to wear similar clothes to them, and try to follow a similar fashion to them, however I dont believe the whole persona of the artists are iconic.
Me: What appeals to you in the indie/rock genre?
Jel: Guitar playing is a huge aspect of it, along with the unusual types of imagery presented.
Me: Do you enjoy guitar solos?
Jel: yes, prefer ryths in music, a constant beat to the song,
Me: What do you expect to see an artist wearing in a video?
Jel: Skinny jeans, boots, sometimes something that challenges fashion.
Me: Do you go to gigs on a regular basis?
Jel: No
Me: When was the last gig you went to?
Jel: May (4months ago), glasvegas, indie rock band in London, however go to glastonbury every year.
Me: In indie rock music videos what do you expect to see?
Jel: Guitar solos, a lot of action, things happening through out the performance that involve the artist 
Me: Why do you expect to see these?
Jel: because I know what the genre conventions are like and most artists stick to them in their videos.

From this interview we are able to recieve an idea of what indie rock fans look for in music videos, also what the typical conventions are of the videos. This interview is helpful to us as it gives us an idea of what we should feature in our video.

Name: Amy
Sex: Female
Age: 25
Me: What type of clothes do you wear?
Amy: In fashion clothing! Check the magazines, look up to role models,
Me: Is any of your fashion based around indie Rock?
Amy: Female indie rock artists usually dress quite punky, I wear skinny jeans however do not dress specifically like the artists.
Me: Do you see indie rock artists as icons and role models?
Amy: I dont base my fashion around them as much as boys maybe do, I feel as though I like the lifestyle they live, however I dont look up to them as role models.
Me: What appeals to you in the indie/rock genre?
Amy: I really like the genre as a whole, I like the combination of all the conventions, I also like the way the genre is sometimes challenged in different ways.
Me: What do you mean 'challenge the conventions of the genre'?
Amy: sometimes artists experiment in their videos by exploring different video techniques, I like the way artists dress up differently, and the videos are usually wacky and fictional. But also have a serious side to them within the music.
Me: What do you expect to see an artist wearing in a video?
Amy: Sometimes you see artists just wearing typical clothing such as skinny jeans however more commonly these days artists seem to wear almost fancy dress outfits. This helps draw me into the video.
Me: Do you go to gigs on a regular basis?
Amy: yes I try go once a week on wednesday indie nights in a bar local to me, however I go at least twice a month without fail.
Me: In indie rock music videos what do you expect to see?
Amy: I expect to see classic elements of indie and rock such as drumming and guitar scenes however I also like to see a twist in a video.

I decided to interview a female to get a different point of view. With this interview I find out that indie rock videos can challenge the conventions of the genre. Also maybe fans like to see this genre challenged. 

Indie Fashion

Indie fashion is a large part of the Indie culture which is adopted by most Indie arists, it is used as a tool to express individuality and to help fans of Indie rock relate to the artist, their general dress code choices is smart but casual with their own individual variation. Their aim is to show that they are ordinary people, by wearing clothes that generally their audience can easily purchase, it also shows that they don't adhere to the mainstream style.

Here is an image of Indie band Noah and the Whale, their style is retro with Skinny Jeans, Checked Shirts. Along with the clothing, the props which are vintage express the Indie genre, along with the style in which the picture is taken.

Plans For Audience Research

Indie Music Video Conventions

I have looked to a number of Indie music video's and I found that there is a mixture of a narrative and performance and the the narrative is generally shot in a different location, however they sometimes link at the end as is done in the We The Kings video for 'Check Yes Juliet'



Close ups of the band members and instruments are used, mainly to show their talent at singing and playing the music themselves. The bands fashion and style are often individual to them while at the same time being associable with the Indie genre which helps to create an image for the band. The narrative's often address personal issues such as relationships, personal hardship and love rather than bigger more widespread issues this is shown in The Frays video for 'How To Save a Life'

Indie genre research

Indie rock is a sub-genre of Alternative rock is derived from the term independent, which in this sense means the artist is releasing from small, little known, low budget record labels. They often experiment with different sounds, emotions and subjects that have limited appeal to mainstream audiences. However Indie rock bands have made it into mainstream success, such as Nirvana, and since the 2000's and the increasing importance of the internet as a marketing source many Indie bands have started to enjoy commercial success. The genre is extremely diverse with a number of sub-genres including Indie pop, Indie folk and Indie electronic.