Corey Taylor is my chosen star image. As a member of two very successful metal bands, he takes on two different appearances; one as the leader of the masked octet Slipknot, and the other in his original form. You can never be quite sure, therefore, what Corey Taylor will appear like, as the image above shows. The contrast from dreadlocks and a jumpsuit to tinted aviators and a plaid suit shows how Corey Taylor likes to move around. Nonetheless, his appearance is one appreciated by metal fans alike. Whether in either of his bands, or making an appearance on songs by other bands such as Soulfly, Damageplan and Apocalyptica, the heavy orchestral band, Taylor brings a strong voice and forceful appearance everywhere he goes. Taylor could be called arrogant in this sense, but is still highly respected by his fans.
With us living in a very quick technologically advancing age, the way we create and distribute has been completely reformed from 10 years ago. All industries, at the head of this, are expected to keep up with these developments, else their productions will be left behind. The ease of access right across the globe, which has led to globalisation of creative industries, has meant that the music industry now caters for more people across the globe than ever before.
Below are some new developments which have large impacts on the workings of the music industry:
Internet - every other new impact on the music industry has spawned from this. The opportunity to be able to share any sort of file across the entire world gives unlimited span for music sharing. Facebook - the 'like' system on Facebook will show your friends what type of music you are interested in. From there, friends can easily access the music you are interested in. If they then like it, all of their friends can see it, and so on and so forth. Last.fm - similar to above, your friends can see the music you are listening to and have listened to. It also gives you examples of other music you may enjoy, which therefore promotes many bands who are on Last.fm. This is a great way of advertisement and free legal music sharing for the artists. Myspace - though previously this was used as a social networking site, Myspace has now become the biggest online network of signed and unsigned bands who want to host their music and promote themselves. Many bands now use Myspace as their official website, rather than having their own. Youtube - with VEVO as a huge music provider as a Youtube user, Youtube has become an extremely easy way to access free music, and with the help of other websites, download it for free. Spotify - perhaps the most widely used legal music sharing program, Spotify allows its users to search and listen to music, sometimes with a monthly cost, but however cannot be downloaded from the program. Torrenting - this is the strongest online development to threaten the music industry. Websites such as Pirate Bay allow you to download entire artist discographies in mere minutes, due to partitioned file sharing from across the world. Almost impossible to police, large music companies tell stories that piracy is killing their business. This has led to lowering in music prices, and digital downloads. Digital downloads/iTunes - gone is the day of the cassette or CD, we are in the age of the MP3. Downloading MP3's online is incredibly simple, and takes no time at all, which gives ease of access to legally bought music. Most consumers are encouraged to use this over piracy, for obvious reasons.
Much of these have led to globalisation, where the entire world is now able to access a huge variety of music. Though this can be seen as good for a music lover, it also constricts the amount of diversity throughout the world, as American imperialism means the music industry worldwide is dominated by their music.
Usefulness of the practise exercise
This exercise has accustomed the group to Final Cut Express. Personally, I found it relatively easy to pick up, though having to render each imported file was new to me from using Adobe Premier previously. The basic timeline layout, along with drag and drop layers was very easy to pick up, along with the lipsync itself. Creating the video gave us ideas of the variation and length of each shot, and how to try and include each band member within a short piece. This will give us a scope of what to shoot, and how to place these shots within the final piece. Whilst editing, we saw the importance of these different shots to make the video interesting, else it looked rather static and bland.
The album cover design establishes the genre of the music
It establishes the artist
It establishes the credibility of the artists and the album itself
It seeks to attract audiences attention through striking imagery
It acts as a persuasive device to draw audiences in
The cover can be original/inventive/innovative/unique or conventional depending on what is sought
Album covers use codes & conventions to communicate with the audience
Coventions - album name, artist name and a centralised image are the main 3 conventions involved within an album cover.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles
Follows the conventions of having the band name, band themselves and album name all on the front of the album.
Merging popular culture and high art - pop art style cover
Revolutionary album cover - functional as a work of stand-alone art
Flowers included in the cover; code for the 'hippy' lifestyle and culture
The font on the bass drum; code for a circus style
The artists are centralised to show their importance, which is a convention of album covers
The blue sky in the background, along with the palm trees connote that the band are on their own 'fame island', with the rest of the idols included in the image
Nevermind - Nirvana
Shows a baby chasing a dollar on a fish hook - the message is that we are all sucked in to the American society and money from a very young age, as if nothing else matters; connotes greed
The baby is shown in endless water; code for freedom and purity being manipulated by the dollar
The hook connotes the baby being baited by money
The dollar is code for the American economy and way of life
The album cover makes a genuine political statement, and thus want to be taken seriously
Definitely Maybe - Oasis
Follows the conventions of the band being included in the cover, the band name appearing and the top an the album name also appearing at the top.
There are many codes within the picture.
The Manchester City framed picture promotes they are Mancunian, which is an important area in terms of the indie scene
The wine connotes a party scene with sophistication, similarly to Benson & Hedges Gold
Liam Gallagher, the frontman and songwriter, is shown at the centre and the forefront lying down, to show off his arrogance and position in the band.
Musicality is connoted through Noel holding his guitar in a relaxed and confident manner.
The band are watching TV to connote they are just regular guys, and are perhaps similar to a family or a unit, as one.
Their logo is black and white for a simple yet sophisticated look, yet juxtaposed with a trashy tabloid font.
Master of Puppets - Metallica
Follows the convention of having the band name and the album name both featured on the cover.
Does not feature the band; less focus on the artists themselves, rather the message of the music.
The cover features war graves, with puppet strings attached. This album is the criticism of war and how soldiers are merely pawns controlled by their governments. This album's lyrics all focus on war.
The iconic Metallica logo is featured in large, covering almost 1/3rd of the entire cover.
The red sky connotes an apocalyptic time of mass war.
The endless rows of graves show the amount of deaths from wars.
As a genuine political statement, this is Metallica wanting to be taken seriously.
Ninja Tuna - Mr Scruff
Includes both the artist name and the album name, with the artist name on top.
The main focus is a very playful, light-hearted doodle image of a few fish in a very childish manner in a squiggly blue fish. This shows the playful manner of the album, and that it has no real message; rather it is simply fun music. It could also show that the music
The simplicity of the album cover shows how the artist simply wants to have fun with the music, rather than promote his own character or give a message.
The light colours again give a light feel to the cover.
The music video will, most likely, include a narrative intertwined with footage of the band performing live, assuming we will get the rights for this. Therefore, most ideas will be about the narrative.
The majority of ska/reggae music videos are low budget and home made, which will allow us to be able to fit in perfectly.
Linking to the lyrics of the song, an idea for the video would be a character traveling to the Skints gig, so then the narrative and the live performance then link together at the end.
Juxtaposing the narrative with the live performance would emphasize the music stronger, and would also make people pay attention to the originality of the video. This would be a way of gaining attention via the music video. An example of this is Twisted Transistor - Korn, however this idea may be difficult if we are using the live performance. If the performance idea does fall through, however, this may become a good idea.
We are currently story-boarding our ideas using post-it notes. This way, we can change our shots and ideas around if we decide otherwise.
Our most likely idea currently will be using a narrative of a group of teenagers on their journey to the gig, intertwined with clips of the gig itself. The gig and the people then come together at the end, linking the narrative and the live performance.
Hello We have no problem with that, under a strict condition that the band has agreed to it. Regards Kate
We now have official permission to film from the venue. We now need the permission of the band themselves, and will be then permitted to film on the 11th.
Choosing the track for our project is extremely important. Considering absolutely everything about our task will be based the song, this was to be the most important decision of the project. The song and band must be one which we can all brainstorm ideas for, and a band which have a style which is realistically achievable. As a group, we also needed to have enthusiasm for our track and band. By listing various favourite songs of ours, we narrowed down the genres of tracks and bands that we would all be happy to use. Due to the various music tastes of the group, it was a relatively difficult process to whittle through the many genres of music we collectively enjoyed.
We decided that the best genre would be the upbeat style of ska. As an avid gig-goer myself, I had a large collective of names of local ska/reggae bands from East London whom play local gigs frequently. Through playing various bands and tracks to the group, we decided on the band‘ The Skints’. This was for various reasons – The Skints were original in terms of their lyrics and recognisable sound, the band members themselves (who I have been in contact with multiple times) are extremely friendly and could be willing, if necessary, to help us with the project, I have strong links with the producer of their first music video “Mindless”, and the style of the band was feasible in terms of the filming locations and style.
The track above is the chosen track for our project, "Up Against The Wall". As well as this being a very catchy song, this is The Skint's new single. The lyrics are very down to earth, about a regular guy going to an East London club. Considering all of the group live on the edge of London, finding a setting for the video should be an easy task.
As The Skints are a local band, we have an idea of using a live performance of the band for the video, intertwined with a narrative. The band are playing on December 11th at Camden Underworld in Camden. The venue is generally quite lenient on what happens at the venue, and it should be no trouble to use this performance as part of our video. My last post showed the messages I have sent out to various contacts to make sure that this will be allowed.
I have contacted two members of The Skints via messaging on Facebook, in hope to get permission to film them at their gig on December 11th, which we are hoping we will be fitting into our video, along with narrative.
Hey Marcia, Been a fan of the Skints for a very long time, and I was wondering if there was a lyric sheet around for Up Against The Wall? I've got the album so I've got all those lyrics, but can't find a full lyric sheet for the new single. Is there one available? Also, I'm currently studying media studies in year 13 at sixth form, and we've been given the task of creating a music video. I've decided to do a video for the new single, and I'm also considering doing some filming at the Camden Underworld gig for the video. Would it be alright to use the song for this project? It'll be non-profit, so no need to worry about that. Considering my brother has done the video for Mindless, I'll ask him about the technicalities of filming there, but I was also wondering if Up Against The Wall will be in the setlist for that gig? I presume it will, but just making sure so I can plan in advance. Thanks for your help Marcia! Michael Bobin
I have also contacted the venue at which the band are playing, Camden Underworld. This is to make sure I will be allowed to film at their film with permission in advance.
Hello,
My name is Michael Bobin and I am studying A level media studies at
West Hatch High School in Chigwell, Essex. This year for my studies I
am required to make a music video for my chosen band, and my group has
chosen The Skints, who are playing at your venue on December 11th.
I would like to enquire about whether filming in your venue would be
acceptable, if I also get permission from the band themselves. This
would involve two or three tripods on the stage, along with a few
handheld cameras in the audience with my group. This would be for one
song only. Would this be okey with your venue?
• Sonic Boom Six
• Jaya The Cat
• Random Hand
• Dirty Revolution
• Mouthwash
These are examples of bands linked with The Skints., our chosen band. Analysing videos from these bands will help me to understand the conventions of this genre of music in their music videos. These bands are all closely related, in that they are often touring with each other, thus videos will share similar ideas and conventions.
Sonic Boom Six – Sound of the Revolution analysis
• Establishing shot of a typical London area
• Narrative shot cut in-between the live performance in a small venue, with personal camera angles
• Narrative linked with lyrics
• Focus on the musicality of the band by close ups of the instruments, and the experience of the gig from the audience perspective
• Jump cuts during narrative to the beat multiple times – breaks conventions during the narrative section.
• Narrative mise en scene is realistic
• Band consistently the main focus of the video
Mouthwash – Dark Was The Night analysis
• Grainy, familiar area establishing shot
• Narrative short cut in-between the live performance in a small venue
• POV of the audience – shaky camera work
• Constant camera movement, whether or not anything is happening within the narrative
• Band consistently the main focus of the video
Jaya The Cat – Closing Time analysis
• Familiar bar setting with the band in the background
• Relatively dark lighting to go with the feel of the song
• Barman taps the bar – matched with the snare audio
• Focus on the instruments and the band themselves
• Shot of the band playing cards and gambling – familiar action in a familiar area
• Slow camera movement to relate to the mellow feel of the song
• Blurring of the camera to keep up aware of the video, and also to relate to the alcohol theme
• Jump cuts in narrative in time to the drum beat
• Band included in the ‘narrative’ singing
• Song fades out with the band leaving the bar into darkness
• Band consistently the main focus of the video
Random Hand - Anger Management analysis
• Establishing shot of an empty hill area – lead singer walking through
• Instant juxtaposition – singer walks into a room with the band playing
• Colours reflect the upbeat motion of the music
• Only the band shown – focus on them for the first half of the video
• Close-ups on the band members and their instruments
• Constant camera movements, even if subtle
• Camera movement and lightning becomes extremely fast once the music becomes heavier
• Band consistently the main focus of the video
Focus on the instruments seems key in this genre. Having a familiar setting keeps the music close to home and down to earth – establishing shots also seem to appear frequently. The key to the videos seem to be keeping it down to earth and about real things that it is not rare to experience in everyday life. To keep the video interesting and upbeat, fast paced jump cuts that break the 30 degree rule appear to be used. All three videos include live performances by the band.
Remix tracks to capture the eye of the original band’s audiences
Toured into 2009 from Plymouth to LondonTour with large bands such as The Prodigy, Basement Jaxx & Plan B, who they have remixed tracks for
DJ sets at smaller venues which allow their music to spread, as it means audiences do not have to pay a lot of money to see them
Myspace, Facebook, Last.fm, Discogs & an official website
Produced & co-wrote for Rihanna’s album ‘Rated R’
Official website includes competitions, newsletter & exclusive tracks for those who sign up
Chaseandstatus.co.uk has been a great way that Chase & Status have been able to advertise themselves. Unlike many official band websites (who are usually constricted to the use of Myspace for their official website), Chase & Status have made a point of giving their website users extra content and opportunities. For example, Chase & Status ran a competition in mid-2010 for those who were a member of their website to have the band play at a house party of the user’s choice. This generated a great surge of fans to their website to enter the competition, which captured their interest in the band further. Fans of the band would also then refer their friends to the website to enter the competition for a higher chance of winning, which in turn increases the amount of people who know about the band. Competitions of this manner are a great way to advertise a band, especially those which can benefit even those who do not win i.e those who go to the winning house party.
Bands that use social networking sites such as Facebook & Myspace increase their audience greatly simply by signing up and putting a few sample tracks. By using virtual word-of-mouth, a band can be ‘friended’ or ‘liked’ by a fan of theirs, which will then appear on the news feed of that persons friends. From there, any of his friends can see that he has liked the band, and can then find out who they are and listen to their songs as if they were recommended by their friend. If that person then likes the band, their friends can see the band, and so on. Similarly, the website Last.fm will choose bands that are similar to the artist, and then listeners to those similar bands will be recommended to listen to the original artist. This means that fans of Chase & Status’ genre will be referred to them via Last.fm, as they have a profile & songs uploaded onto this network.
Series of establishing shots in black and white, including sign to signify the man is homeless
We are instantly made to feel sorry for the character as the music kicks in, with him being kicked by the police officer for simply sleeping, as if he is doing something wrong
We then find out that the police officer is a gambler, in the same fashion we find out the main character is homeless. This is meant to anger us, that the police is higher authority despite his gambling addiction.
The signs show things that people are willing to pay for rather than helping out the homeless character.
All the characters we see who show signs to the main character give him a very disapproving look, yet all have different things that they would pay for rather than creating a better life for him. However, these signs can also be interpreted as things that people rely on, and in the end the only thing he can rely on is faith and hope to help him.
We see the difference in the real world and the signs world by the change in colour grades.
The shot at 2:26 shows his travel across the city, yet also shows that he is not just alone in his situation – many people face his same troubles everyday.
The video features mainly POV shots, to emphasize its realistic sense, and to put the viewer in the shoes of both the main character and those who look down on him.
The lasting shot at 2:49 juxtaposes the poor homeless man against the rich skyscrapers in (presumably) New York. The American flag then fades in, which connotes the American Dream, which is yet another juxtaposition against the male. The next fade is to a shot of industry, then to the Cross. It is showing a link between all of these, then juxtaposes them against the homeless man.
The fast paced montage is a convention of the music genre. The fast pace kicks in with the fast paced music.
Welcome to this year 13 media blog. My name is Michael Bobin, and here is where I'll be keeping my work updated here throughout the year. With a bit of luck, everything here will go smoothly, but no promises. This will mostly be my personal, rather than the group blog which will have our whole group's work, which can be found here. Enjoy the beautiful picture below.
