Foo Fighters Animatic

Foo Fighters Animatic

Our Pitch - Gabbie Hanna

A Model Of The Media

Added Value

                                                           Music Video Promo

Music videos can often add value to the songs and in both of the following cases its the video that ensured that the song was a hit record.
Nothing Compares 2U was a minor hit for prince but the Irish singer Sinead O'Connor's cover has proven to be a career defining release mainly because of the video.



The song was written and composed by Prince as a side project and it was later made famous by her cover and it became a worldwide hit in 1990. The video consists of shots of her walking around scenes in Paris and close up shots of her face and near the end of the video, tears roll down her face to show her strong emotion throughout the song.

TAKE ON ME - AHA




The original 'Take On Me' song in 1984 but it took a about two recordings and three different releases to be in the Uk Top Charts and it finally reached number two in October 1985. The song became the only A-Ha song to reach the Billboard hot 100 in the US. The video includes the band in a pencil sketch animation method which is called rotoscoping and it was also combined with live action.

Styles Of Music Video

STYLES OF MUSIC VIDEO

The are many styles of music video that are produced, here are some examples.

Performance:

Performance based music videos are where the act/singers are performing with their own instruments in most/some shots and they could be singing as well as playing instruments.

Coldplay - Hymn For The Weekend



Parody/Pastiche:

This is where the content of the music video is imitating something or someone else.

Foo Fighters - Long Road To Ruin




Animation (Stop Motion/Digital):

Peter Gabriel -  Sledgehammer




The stop motion technique is done by stopping the camera then starting the camera repeatedly to gain the animation effect.

Intertextual:

This is where the music video makes references to media texts using other kinds of media text.

Jennifer Lopez - I'm Glad




Live/In concert:

Oasis - Let There Be Love



For these types of music videos, it shows content of the artist(s) performing the song at their concert. It can also be a montage of clips from the current concert or previous concerts.

Narrative Based:

The Killers - Shot At The Night


This is where the music video has a storyline and throughout the sing/music we follow the storyline.


Abstract/Concept:

The Strokes - You Only Live Once


The purpose of these videos are to create a mood or feeling throughout the song in an artistic way.

Audience Reception Theory

AUDIENCE RECEPTION THEORY

The Historical Perspective:

"The Hidden Persuaders" was written by Vance Packard in 1957. 

He discussed the negative impact of mass media products with special references to advertising. He maintained that in cinemas still pictures of certain items, in this case, Coca-Cola, inserted in a film reel increased the volume of drinks sold, as the audience would see the drink and get thirsty. 

Significantly, the audience were not aware of the pictures, however, Packard claimed that subconsciously our brains register them. 

Another example of this can be seeing other images and out register them to have a meaning.

Media Effects Debate:

This is an academic and social debate about wether media has an negative impact on different audience members.

There are two different opposing thoughts:

-Passive Audience Theory: the media does have an effect.

-Active Audience Theory: the media does not have an effect.

Passive Audience Theory:

This theory references to Packard's ideas. The idea is that the media can inject ideas into people's heads like a 'hypodermic syringe'. Being 'passive', the audience has little resistance to media messages. The fear is that audiences will copy what they see on screens. 

Gerbner and Gross:

In 1978, Gerbner and Gross developed the idea of 'Cultivation Theory'

This theory suggests that, over time, repetition of viewing violent acts allows certain ideas and values to become 'normalised'.  Repeated watching of violent films, TV programmes and video games would lead to viewers becoming 'desensitised'. 

Active Audience Theory: 

Active Audience Theory, which can be also known as Uses and Gratification Theory, maintains that audiences do not just receive information passively, but are actively involved. 

The Theory stresses that if the audience does not like a certain media text, they will not consume it. Media producers spend a lot of time making sure their products will appeal to an audience. The audience are seen as active, selecting from a wider range of media texts. The Theory also maintains that audience members make sense of media messages within their own personal and social contexts. 

Some theorists argue that an active audience selects media texts for their own purposes. 

Catharsis - some theorists argue that experiencing violence second-hand through the media can enable us to release violent feelings and actually be more peaceful. 

DigiPak & Magazine Advert

DIGIPAK AND MAGAZINE ADVERT

What is DigiPak?

-A digipak usually consists of a paperboard or card stock material, including one or more plastic trays on the inside meaning the CD comes firmly inside. The digipak is usually used for CD singles or special edition disks.

What is included in the digipak?

-Photographs/Pictures

-The track list of the artists songs in order

-An artist information section

-A logo of the record company 

-Sometimes references to other artists albums

An example analysis of an album cover/small digipak:

Here is another example one of Rhianna's DigiPaks:

BASTILLE DIGIPAK:

 With the design, I specifically like how the name of the artist and album name stand out clearly as it would be easier to identify when a subject is looking to buy it.

MAGAZINE ADVERT:

A magazine advert should include:

-The name of the artist.

-The name of the album or single.

-Sometimes photos of the artist or the artists concepts,

-Sometimes a review of the album or single.

-Sometimes a release date of the album or single. 

Here is a detailed example of a magazine advert for Lana Del Ray:

Sexism In Music Videos

SEXISM IN MUSIC VIDEOS

LAURA MULVEY'S THEORY - MALE GAZE:

This theory shows that the male gaze denies woman human identity, relegating them to the status of objects to be admired for physical appearance. The theory also suggests that women can more often not only watch from a secondary perspective and only view themselves from a mans perspective and only 16% of the media creators are female. However the presence of a woman in mainstream film texts is something that is vital, often, a female character has no real importance to herself, it is how she makes the male feel or act which is the importance. In other words, the female only exists in relation to the male.

The male gaze leads to hegemonic ideologies within our societies. It is ruling or dominant in a political or social context. 

Gender roles in film: The characters that are seen as the active role are males, the characters that are to be looked at are the females, they are under control of the male gaze and it only exists for visual pleasure and females often slow the narrative down. 

Female objectification is related to the gaze, the person that is gazed at are being objectified, treated as an object whose sole value is to be enjoyed or possessed by the voyeur. Objectified characters are devalued and their humanity removed. 

An example of sexism being used in a music video is Lily Allen's Hard Out Here song. Throughout the video it shows she is attacking sexism and she also attacks Robin Thicke's song and video "Blurred Lines" by quoting some of his lyrics and is definitely showing a parody of her challenging stereotypes of women.

In Robin Thicke's video, it shows a lot of sexism as the lyrics caused the song to be banned from 20 University Student Unions in the USA as lyrics say that men shouldn't take no for an answer and that woman don't mean it when they say it, which shows the songs partly encourages rape. 

Alex Southam - Case Study

Emil Nava

Jamie Thraves Case Study

   Jamie Thraves Case Study

Jamie Thraves is a director for music videos and studied and made short films at university (Royal College of Arts)

He used an award winning short film as a 'calling-card' to get a foot in the door with the video production company Factory Films.

He began shooting three very low budget music videos costing about £5000 each.

As can be seen for many directors in the business, it is a precarious experience where their livelihood it is dependant on each commission. 

Jamie Thraves submitted treatments for his two best known videos and each video was accepted. 

COLDPLAY -THE SCIENTIST

The music video for 'The Scientist' took 3 days to to shoot and it had a budget of £200,000.
The video was filmed normally and then it was pt to be played in reverse. The singer was to learn the song backwards.


JAPANESE POPSTARS - SONG FOR LISA

This song in the most recent song and video Jamie Thraves had worked on. The video had cost about £20,000 and took 2 days to film altogether.


BREAK INTO FILMS:

Jamie has used the music videos to get into the film business and has so far shot three different features. The Low Down, The Cry Of The Owl and Treacle Jr. Jamie's tips on filming a music video are; use the lyrics but try not to be too literal and most importantly, go with the emotion of the lyrics.

KATIE B - BROKEN RECORD -DIRECTED BY JAMIE THRAVES




TOM ODELL - ANOTHER LOVE

Star Theory/Britney

 Star Theory and Britney Spears

STAR THEORY-RICHARD DYER

Richard Dyer believes that artists are constructed through artificial images such as advertising, films, magazines and music. He claims that consumers prefer that their artists to show their true emotions themselves and not be groomed by record labels who try to create a fake image for those artists.  

PROMOTION

Dyer also believes that artists are manufactured to make money for their record labels by appealing to their appropriate target audiences. Because of this, record labels have to market other artists to cater for certain target audiences as there are both 'niche' and 'mainstream' markets. He also claims that specific artists will become trendsetters in the sense that audience members will imitate artists hairstyles and clothing styles. Some artists may have certain religious beliefs and cultural values that the audience may pick up on also, if the artist shares their stuff about it. The internet has also given the audience access to the artists 'personal lives' 

STARS SUPPORT HEGEMONY: 

Stars also support hegemony, which is the leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group, over others. Gramsci is best known for his theory of cultural hegemony, which describes how states use cultural institutions to maintain power in capitalist societies. An example of this is 'Start from the Bottom' by Drake. 

REPRESENTATION

The music industry promotes and creates artists with clear defined genres, for example different categories such as rock, rap, pop etc. These different genres offer signifiers that relate to the race and gender identities.


BRITNEY SPEARS

Britney Spears raises interesting issues that regard female identity in pop music. She is also initially viewed as a role model for the target audience of teenage girls and from a gender perspective, her identity is placed securely within a male dominated industry that manufactures limited stereotypes of femininity. 

In her early videos, she was surrounded by girly iconography, which consisted of bedroom culture, dolls, dressing up with friends, hanging out, applying makeup, teen pigtails etc. Choreographed dance routines in her early videos create the desire to be part of her 'gang'.



This goes on to Laura Mulvey's theory. Her theory relates to classic Hollywood cinema. We can also apply some of her ideas to our work on the pop video. Her videos can also relate to Laura's theory of the male gaze, where women are viewed as the objects of the male's erotic desire. It also shows that men are active and women are passive.

HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME (1998)




Britney's songs and video narratives express teen girl identity and the concerns and reflections. Also when it comes to gender debates, Britney's music videos are a polysemic text, which is a text that has multiple meanings.

HOLD IT AGAINST ME (2011)

This video consists of Britney rejecting her 'constructed image'

Branding - Lady Gaga/Adele

BRANDING - LADY GAGA & ADELE

LADY GAGA:

Lady Gaga is a singer that is mostly present as a sexual figure as she mostly dresses in tight and revealing clothes. Some of her album covers are photographs of her placed in a revealing positions and sometimes wears inappropriate clothing. Her audience in this case would appear to be more older and less mature.

In her music videos, using "Applause" or "Telephone" as some examples, she has limiting clothing on which could potentially target the male audience specifically and could be her unique selling point as she appears as a sexual figure. In her music videos she shows she's strong and independent, and gives the message that she doesn't need any men in her life but she still doesn't mind the male attention she is getting.

             

ADELE:

Adele is seen as the opposite of Lady Gaga. Adele's music portrays more emotions and narrative and can be personal to her life. A lot of her songs produced are about love or breakups and are never seen sexually. Adele's album covers are really simple, they show a lot of emotion, being mostly colourless.

As Adele's music videos and songs are really mature, this could be her unique selling point. Her music videos, using "Someone Like You" and "Hello" are usually slow and dark themed which adds the the emotion behind the song.

           

This shows that Adele is very different than Lady Gaga, she does't use sexual figure in order to capture audience, she uses her sentimental music for her audience which is also suitable for younger women.

Spice Girls and Katy Perry

                                                        Spice Girls and Katy Perry

The formation of Spice Girls:

During the mid 1900's, a family management team; Bob Herbert, Chris Herbert and Lindsey Casbon set about to create a girl group to compete with popular boy groups that had dominated pop music at that time.




Selling The Spice Girls:

The Spice Girls were sold to us as a group of friends, just goofing off and making top-selling singles
together.
They were actually a carefully selected group of strangers chosen, after hundreds of auditions.
They had endless merchandising and sponsorship deals, and were involved with everything from
Pepsi ads to Polaroid ads to Barbie-style Spice Girls dolls.
Everything about them—including their Scary/Posh/Sporty/etc. nicknames was under the control of men or corporations. 
(“Ginger Spice”) almost didn’t make it into the group, because she looked older than the other girls; when they asked her age, she reportedly said, “I’m as old as you want me to be. I’ll be 10 with big boobs if you want.”


Creating A Band:

Often, artists/groups are sold as a brand and the music video acts as the product of the brand in the hope that the audience will be inspired to buy the product from them. For some artists the ‘image’ is of greater importance than the quality of the product. The Spice Girls are a good example of this.

Other times it is the song and the meaning of the song that is sold, and the artists ‘image’ has little to do with the sale of the song.

Katy Perry - How Her Pop Videos Reflect A Brand That Appeals To Her Target Audience And Reflect Her Private Life. 

Her target audience are mostly young girls aged 14 to 17.

She is like a sister or a friend, she reflects some anxieties her young audience has and can be someone for them to admire.

Katy Perry, like most artists, uses her life to create her brand. This had started when she had gotten together with Russell Brand and then his relationship led her astray from what she was actually trying to show in her music and videos and the lyrics of her songs. Her music had changed from being sexual, but not threatening, to have a lot of sex appeal. It took her a few years to see what she was doing and the decided that she was going to go back to the way she was before.





In 2008, she released the song 'Hot 'n' Cold' which gave her brand:

In 2009, Katy meet Russell Brand and her song 'I Kissed a Girl"

Katy then gets married to Russell on the 23rd October, then after releases songs 'Firework' and 'California Girls'. California Girls received a lot of criticism because it was shown as a more 'sexy' image.

In 2012, Russell divorced with Katy on the 30th of December she says she had contemplated suicide after the effect it had on her.

In 2013, she released the songs 'wide awake' and 'roar' which showed her previous image was returning and how it was building up because of the pain from her divorce.

Her timeline shows that she has let go of her previous image the Russell's impact had created.

Andrew Goodwin - Charecteristics

Record Companies/Styles of Music

                                Record Companies and Organic and Synthetic Music


MAJOR RECORD LABELS:

The music industry is dominated mostly by four multinational companies. These companies are;

- Universal



-Sony Music



-Warner Brothers



- EMI




These companies are mostly referred to as 'The Majors' and the majority of them are backed by conglomerates with stakes in other industries such as film, TV, and the electronics.

MAJOR INDEPENDENTS:

Most of these majors own or maybe license a series of smaller companies in order to reach different kinds of audiences in different genres of music and film.

-Columbia



-Island



-Syco



-RCA



-Virgin




All these companies are know as the major independents.


INDEPENDENTS:

There are a huge number of small companies with little or even no financial connection to the bugger majors. These companies often concentrate on small amount of acts within specialised places in the industry and these are called independents. An example of an independent company is Domino Records. It is quite often that record labels begin as independent record labels, but then they are bought by a major company which then means they become major independents.

ORGANIC AND SYNTHETIC MUSIC:

Artists can be divided between two categories which is organic music and synthetic music.

The term 'organic' is used in order to describe  bands where the music comes first. They make the music they want to make and then their record labels try to sell the music to the right market and audience. Organic music can often appeal to be a niche but can also appeal to a large audience too.
The Beatles and the band Radiohead are good examples of organic bands. The members in each of these bands came to know each other and they shared the love of music, then they created music in which the fame came afterwards.

Synthetic refers to manufactured groups (X Factor methodology) and it's the record labels that are mainly in charge. If a gap in the market is identified then it is usually exploited by the development of music and sometimes the artist, fill this gap. Money is the usual goal in this operation and bands such as One Direction and/or The Spice Girls are good examples of manufactured artists.

Purpose Of Music Video

                                             Purpose of Music Video Promotions

History Of Music Videos

                                                   THE HISTORY OF MUSIC VIDEO

Bing Crosby to Queen:

   

Frank Sinatra                             Bing Crosby                   Elvis Presley

These singers were the biggest stars during the time of 1940's to the 1950's

The only way their fans would be able to see them is through film/TV specials or live concerts. 

THE BEATLES

The Beatles were very popular, all around the world and they also produced two short films to promote their single record 'Paperback Writer' and 'Rain'. They were also the first ever artists to create/produce a music video.

N.B.A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Queen had also produced a music video for Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975 and it's important as it was the first music video ever to have a big impact on sales. After the video was released, the single had went to first place in the charts and was also regarded as a work of art in its own right.

Album Art Excersie

ALBUM ART EXERCISE:

For this exercise we had to create our own album covers in order to prepare for our digipak and magazine advert we would have to create for our chosen song and has a similar style as the music video. We did this exercise using Adobe Photoshop which I was able to work with as I use photoshop regularly. I have used the software before, but there was still room for me to experiment with other tools to create these album covers

Firstly, we took photographs to create an indie band album cover and we decided to choose the above photo for the final image. I then experimented with the photos colours by increasing the saturation and contrast to make the image seem more colourful, I then decided to increase the brightness slightly to make the image less dull. For the final photo effect I decided to place a filter over it which slightly distorted the image but the band members are still clearly visible, it's similar to the grainy effect. Lastly i decided to add text to the photo which was just the album name in a not too exaggerated font. 

The image above was taken to create an album cover for a girl band.  For this photo, I increased the saturation and brightness as the original photo was quite dark and seemed to give off an unhappy mood, which was the opposite of our intention. I added a vignette effect to circle around the band members as they are the main focus of the album cover. I had also added extra brightness coming from the top right corner to highlight over the girls.

For the last image, we took the photograph for a solo artist album cover. I had intentionally added to most brightness behind the artist in order to give a positive effect and to emphasise her happiness in her photo. I added another vignette effect only going through half of the photo and added the album cover name in the opposite corner of the brightness so it's easier to see and read. 

Case Study: Foo Fighters

                                                      Case Study: Foo Fighters


Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in America, Seattle in the 1990's. It was founded by the lead singer, Dave Grohl, who was previously the drummer for the band Nirvana. From July 2015, they have sold over 12 million album copies in the U.S.

"BEST OF YOU"

The music video consists of mainly performance and the video is edited like a montage. The video is made to show life in a nutshell and what can happen in a lifespan, it can go from chaos, such as the car crash and dying roses, to the brighter side such as a child being born and people having a good time. Based on Andrew Goodwin's theory, this video amplifies the lyrics of the song.


"LONG ROAD TO RUIN"



This music video is based with a narrative but is also consists of parody and performance. The main narrative in the video is that it is mimicking a 70's TV Show and how the cast does not like one of the actors and that actor quits to then move on to being a music band. He is also trying to impress a girl who doesn't like how he's using popularity to impress. The song title 'Long Road To Ruin' is literally shown in the video by him driving in a car down a long road and near the end of a video her drives off a cliff as his life was being ruined.


"RUN"




This music video is performance and narrative based. It is illustrating the lyrics of the song as it shows the viewers that as you get older, you should live the rest of your days to the most and to not waste your life. This video makes a small reference to Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' as near the end there is a small sequence of dance where they are acting as zombies.

"THE PRETENDER"



This music video is performance based and they are not mainly straight forward. They like to make you think more about the lyrics and the meaning behind it. Andrew Goodwin says that different sub genres have different, for example, boy bands such as One Direction and The Wanted, have synchronised dance routines and matching outfits. For other genres such as rock bands, they mostly have performance based music videos. We can see that Goodwin is right with this statement using Foo Fighters as an example.