Theorists

Looking at Theory’s/Theorists

McDonaldization is a term invented by George Ritzer to describe a sociological phenomenon that is happening within our society.

This theory suggests that within society, diversity and originality lack within media products and many other products such as fast food chains. The theory first arose when Henry Ford began a much more efficient way of producing his line of cars.
Though this was a good very good idea, the products being produced lacked originality and started to dominate over many other smaller automobile companies.
In my work, I will aim to avoid this theory by for example; not sticking to the rules. In this sense I mean that I will produce my music video, applying to some conventions of music videos, and challenging others. This will hopefully make my video more original, and attract audiences it did not before.


Simon Frith argued that bad music is needed for the concept of musical pleasure. He says that tracks which are clearly incompetent musically; made by singers who can't sing, players who can't play etc. have an impact on whether or not we think other tracks which are competent musically are good. When selecting the music for my video, I will find the best possible track that is available copyright free hoping that people will think it is musically competent.

Lawrence Grossberg’s theory is that the lyrics in the music have an effect on popular culture within our societies. Some of the effects are good but this is not always the case. To avoid any of the lyrics in my music effecting popular culture in a bad way, I have ensured that the lyrics are suitable for all ages and do not address issues such as political views.

Jose Gonzalez - Front Cover

Jose Gonzalez

I have analysed this album cover because the music from the album is similar to the music I am going to use.

It’s a very simple cover with what looks to be a 3D image of something like a cardboard box with the top torn off. But it could quite easily be something completely different. There is also no text or anything else that tells you about the artist.
I believe this is what he wanted so that the audience can think what they want of it.

I am thinking of doing something similar to kind of front cover. A very simple album cover, perhaps not quite as plain, but not as busy as some of the other covers I have analysed.

Linkin Park Digipak

Linkin Park

Front
The main picture is a cartoon drawing of some sort of flying robot. The picture is taken from the original album “Hybrid Theory” which this album is a remix of.
The bands logo is at the top and the album name at the bottom. This shows people clearly what artist and what album they are viewing/listening to.

Back
The main picture is a sketch of the same sort of robot things that were on the front. At the top it states that the album is a collection of remixes and underneath lists the track names, the track numbers and who the track were remixed by.
Under the tracks there is information including who produced the album, that the CD includes bonus content, and copyright notices. People may want to know this kind of information before purchasing the album. There is also a bar code so the shops can tell how much the CD is now and was originally.

Inside
Inside there are a further four pictures of the same robot things and the artist name, album name and track names are listed again. This decoration may appeal to some people and make them want to purchase the album. The tracks are stated again for a quick find for people listening to the CD.

AC/DC Jailbreak Digipak

AC/DC Jailbreak

Front
Main image is of the guitarist of the band playing at a live concert duplicated. He looks angry and sweaty, resembling the bands style. At the top, there is the bands logo and the name of the album. This tells people instantly what artist and album they are looking at.

Back
The back has a solid red colour and lists the track numbers and names in bold back text. This clearly enables the viewer or listener to find out what tracks there are on the CD/what track they are listening to.
Underneath the tracks there is information about who produced the album, who the tracks were written by, copyright warnings etc. This is there to inform people and as some of the information is legally obliged to be there e.g. copyright notices.
In the top right corner there is a bar code so that shops can know the correct price of the album.

Inside
Right - On top of a pocket there is a photograph of the whole band. Inside the pocket there is the booklet for the album. The picture is there so that people can see what the band they are listening to look like.
Left – There is a picture of the lead singer underneath the area where the CD will go.

Mississippi John Hurt CD Digipak

Mississippi John Hurt

Front
The main image is a picture of the artist on a rusty background with some of the rust covering him. The artists name is at the top followed by the album name at the bottom right. This shows people what artist and what album they are viewing/listening to straight away. At the bottom, there is some information regarding what songs the album includes and what year they were originally recorded. This will entice people to buy the album, if songs they like are stated.

Back
The main image is the same as the one on the front minus the artist. The artist and album name are shown in the top right corner followed by the track names and numbers on the right hand side. The track names are stated so people know what songs are featured on the album so they know if they want to buy it or not. At the very bottom there are copyright notices and a bar code. The bar code is so that shops know exactly how much the CD costs, and the copyright must be put there legally.

Inside
Inside, the main image looks as if it’s a blurred picture of a record player stretched over the two sides of the CD case.
The only text is on the left hand side, where the track names are stated again but with some extra information such as where they were recorded and when. People may want to know this information before making a purchase of the album. The logo of the people who remastered the album is also shown in the bottom right corner. This is so that they can advertise to people there services.

Arctic Monkeys CD Digipak

Arctic Monkeys




Front
The main picture is of a building, probably council houses. In some of the windows there are colourful patterns, which are probably meant to represent dreams as the album in entitled “Favourite Worst Nightmare”. In the top right corner there is the bands logo and album name. This will clearly show viewer what artist and what album they are looking at/listening to.

Back
The back is very bland. It is solid black colour and the tracks are listed without track numbers at the bottom. This tells us what tracks are featured on the album.
Underneath the tracks at the very bottom, there is a bar code, information about where the album was recorded and the bands website. This is there as the band can advertise their website, and the recording studio can do the same. The bar code is there so that shops know exactly how much the album is.





Inside
Inside there are three pictures each looking like the same colourful patterns that were on the front. The pictures furthermore relate to the album title. On some of them there are somewhat evil things but with innocent colours surrounding them. This directly says that the colours represent the “Favourite” of the album title and the evil things represent the “Worst Nightmare” of the title.

AC/DC Ballbreaker CD Digipak

AC/DC Ballbreaker

Front
The main picture is of Angus Young (the lead guitarist) posing with his guitar on a drawing of some sort of big podium with lightening surrounding him. All the pictures on the album have a blue theme. This could perhaps relate to the music using the blues scales perhaps. The bands logo is at the top and the album name (looking as if it’s made out of stone) is at the bottom. This clearly shows people what artist and what album they are viewing/listening to.

Back
The main picture is black with a lit up section of blue where the tracks are listed. The bands logo is at the top of the page in red, which stands out from the blue, followed by the album name in stone and then the list or track numbers and names. They are listed so that people can easily see what tracks they want to listen to or if they even what to buy the album.
Underneath the tracks there is information regarding who produced the album, who wrote the songs, and copyright notices. Some of this information may be useful to someone before they purchase the album. There is also a bar code so that shops know how much the album is.

Inside
Inside on the left is an opening where the CD booklet is located. On top is a picture in blue lighting of the drummer playing at a gig. This is mainly for decoration but a blue picture has been selected to fit in with the colour scheme of the whole album.
On the right where the CD will go is another blue-lit picture of the guitarist playing probably at the same gig as picture on the left. Both these pictures show us a bit what the band look like, perhaps enticing some people to buy the album.

The Killers Homepage

The Killers Website Homepage

The background picture of the website looks as if it's a road leading up to Vegas. The band name is also displayed in a Vegas style with lots of lights relating directly to the band being from Vegas.

Band name - Is the biggest thing on the website, attracts your attention strait away. Shows people what band website they are visiting.

Main links - Again at the top of the page for quick easy access. These link to the other areas of the website that are stated on the link. When the mouse is hovered they light up to show where you are about to click.

Sign in - at the top left of the page there is a link to where members can sign in. Most bands offer some sort of fan club people can become member of so the band can make more money by telling people when albums etc become available.

Latest News - This is where the band will place there most recent news, so people visiting can clearly see what the band are up to as soon as they enter the website. Each news item is linked to a separate page where the rest of the news can be read along with comments from fans.

Upcoming pre-sales - This is where the band will post where there next gig will be. Each gig has its own link, where you will be taken to an area where you can purchase tickets and view location etc.

Links at very bottom - These link to other websites, perhaps who designed The Killers website and there record label. Underneath these there is a bit of small print mentioning The Killers copyright.

The Kooks Homepage

The Kooks Homepage

Very basic homepage - Includes a video as the main focal point of the site and links to other areas including latest news, tour dates and feedback.

Band Name - Located in the top left corner much like other band websites. Show visitors clearly what band website they are on.

Main Links - Located at the left side when commonly at the top. They give quick easy access to the rest of the site. Each link lights up when the cursor is hovered over it and flashes when the cursor is removed. This creates a nice effect and shows us where were about to click.

Band Info - Underneath the main links there are two text boxes where you can enter your email in order to gain emails containing information regarding album releases, tour dates etc. This is so the band can make money by telling you about there most recent products and sell them to you.

On Tour - Tells viewers when and where people can go and see the band. Each location has a link taking you to an area where you will be able to purchase tickets.

Latest News - This is where the band will post the most recent news in order for us to know what the band have been doing. Common on band websites so people can quickly see if there is anything interesting going on with the band. Each bit of news has a 'read more' link so that viewers can see more about a bit of news that they want to.

Feedback - This is where visitors can read about other people’s opinions of the band. Each post links to a Kooks forum, where you can read about a certain topic on the band.

Links on all 'Read More' text highlight blue when the mouse is hovered over. This fits in well with the blue theme of the website and shows us where we're about to click.

Small print - At the very bottom, a copyright notice is displayed along with a link to the creator of the website. This is so people who like the website can visit the designer’s website.

Vampire Weekend Homepage

Vampire Weekend website homepage

Band name in top left corner - Shows people clearly what band website they are on/advertises the band.

Main Interactive Links to other areas of website - These are placed on snippets of the album artwork in circles. When the mouse is hovered over them, rings appear for effect to indicate to the viewer that there is a link, and to show you where your cursor is located.

There are more links to the side which take you to different websites such as where you can purchase official merchandise - This will gain the band more money if people click on the links as the other companies have probably paid to put there link there.

Links at the bottom - Displayed in a less fancy way (plain text). This could be for visitors of the website with a limited computer that does not allow them to view the more flashy links as most of them take you to the same place as the links above.

Mailing list - There is a text box where you can enter your email address in order to subscribe to the mailing list. This is so the bands automated service can update you on album releases, tour dates etc.

News at the bottom - This is where the band will display the most recent and important information so viewers can easily see it without searching through the rest of the website. In this case it states where there debut album can be purchased from.

AC/DC Homepage

AC/DC Website Homepage http://www.acdc.com/

Very interactive - There is sound playing, a video playing through the letters AC/DC and whenever you move the cursor a fly follows it across the screen. The fly refers to some of the band previous music. They had an album and a track called "Fly on the Wall". The whole website is set out in a way that relates to the bands style. There are fliers, cigarette buts, bottle caps scattered around indicating that the band are messy, smoke and drink.

Band name - Located in the middle of the page unlike other websites where it's typically located in the top left corner. Shows viewers clearly what band website they are visiting.

Main Links - These are located at the top of the page for easy access much like other websites. They are however slanted and placed on torn paper to again comply with the bands style. These link to different sections of the website and when the mouse is hovered they highlight a different colour for effect.

Other links - There are two links at the bottom of the page placed on scrap paper which move slightly when the mouse is hovered. These are perhaps more important than the normal links as they are bigger and contain information of a specific thing such as tour dates.

What's New - This is where the band can quickly display information on the homepage. It's placed on a screwed up bit of paper and states the most recent news. Each entry has its own link if you want to know more about that entry.

Fan club - There are links in the top right corner where if you are a member, can login and if not, can join. On the join link there are again references to the bands music.

There is also a button there where you can turn the sound of the website off if it is unwanted. At the very bottom of the page there are some small links to less important things. Basically, it’s links to the small print.

Shooting Schedule

Synopsis of Finding from Primary Planning

Synopsis of findings from videos


I have analysed 5 different music videos. Some of them have more of a story line, some are just plain shots of the band, some are in colour and some are in black and white. After analysing these 5, I have decided to create a black and white video focusing primarily on the band or artist.
In the videos that are focused on the artist, the shots tend to be very short and change camera angle very quickly. I will film my video from many different angles and while editing the video together, I will use fast paced editing to make my video move on quickly. In my video I hope to link the music very closely with the moving images. Where there are vocal parts, I will sync the music with my lips. When the guitar plays, I will match the movement of my fingers to the sound of the song. I feel this will make the video more believable and therefore more enjoyable. By doing all of this I hope my video will keep the audience interested and converge with the other videos out there, as well as being different.

As well as analysing 5 videos, I also analysed 5 website homepages and 5 CD digipaks. From doing this I learnt about the conventions of each. For example most of the CD covers have featured the band name in the top left corner and the album name in the bottom right. Most websites feature a bar at the top where the main links are. When creating my products, I will include conventions like these as well as including new ideas. On the back of my CD, I aim to make it look more interesting than just a list of tracks by incorporating them into the background more. For my website, I would like to fill it up more, making it more interesting to view. A lot of the ones I analysed were very empty.

Questionare Analysis

This pie charts shows that I have asked an even amount of males and females, so my audience feedback should be fair.

This graph shows that the majority of my audience are aged 16 to 19. I will therefore direct my video towards that age group.

This graph shows that rock and indie are my audience’s most favourable genres. As a result I will choose a bands song that suits that genre, and attempt to make an indie/rock music video that applies to some of the genres conventions within the video.

This graph shows that my audience prefer shots of the band playing combined with some story relating to the song. In my video, I will focus mainly on shots of the band or artist playing and try and include some things that relate to the song.

After asking 30 people, I found out that most of my audience are first draw to a music video if they see something happening in the video that interests them. I will therefore use interesting camera angles, combined with good lighting and other aspects to make shots of the band as interesting and appealing as possible.

My audience say that they mainly watch music video only if they feature a good band. From a bunch of local bands that I know, I have selected the one that my audience will hopefully best like.

This graph shows that my audience mostly watch music videos on the internet. As I am presenting my work on a blog, this will suit my audience perfectly.

This graph shows that my audience don’t have a preference as to whether or not they prefer bands or solo artists. I will therefore choose which one will best suit my audience, knowing that they don’t mind either way.

Media Studies Music Video Questionnaire

Please circle your gender & age group

Male Female

11-15 16-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

2. What genres of music do you prefer? (Circle two)

Pop Rock Indie Metal Punk R&B Hip Hop Any

Other (please specify)……………………………………

3. What of these would you most like to see in a music video? (Circle two)

Shots of the band playing Film like structure Cartoon

A story relating to the song

Other (please specify)……………………………………

4. What first draws your attention to a music video? (Circle one)

What band is featured what’s happening in the video the music playing

5. What's your main reason for watching a music video? (Circle one)

Entertaining Interesting Features a good band

6. How do you usually watch music videos? (Circle one)

iPod/MP4 Internet TV Bonus CD/DVD

7. Do you have a preference on either bands or solo artists featured in a video? (Circle one)

No Bands Solo artists

Analysis of 5 Music Videos

The Kooks - Sway on MUZU.

Kooks – Sway

The video opens with a short introduction including some background diegetic sound before the music track starts around 15 seconds in.

Mise en scene

The majority of the video is in black and white creating an old and authentic feel. The video is filmed in a house with band members’ playing cards and doing other various things. Towards the end of the video, the main focus is on the lead singers face as his mouth is synchronised to the music track.
Most of the happenings in the song are related to the lyrics. Different things are used to represent what’s going on in the lead singers love life.
At the beginning of the video, there is shot of the seaside. This is used to show the passing of time of the singer’s life. The card tower that is shown a number of times being very precarious, suggests that the relationship the singer has is falling apart. At the end of the video the whole house begins to fall down, again in relation to the singer’s life falling apart.

Camera

The camera tends to be quite close to the focal point, making us feel slightly cramped, but often pans around to show the surroundings of the room and what else is going on. The close camera shows us more detail so we can clearly see what we’re meant to and only what we’re meant to due to the lack of longer shots.

Editing

Throughout the whole clip, fast paced editing is used, cutting between many different shots of various things. The length of each shot varies depending on how fast the music is going. When there is a build up in the song, shots get shorter, the camera moves more rapidly and cuts become more frequent showing us more of the surroundings.

Vices - Russian Winter

Mise en scene

The video is shot in an abandoned house with graffiti walls and dirty surroundings. This creates a feel of isolation relating to the song. Guitars, drums, amps and mics are all visible in shots, showing the band playing music. The band members are wearing big coats and warm clothing which relates to the songs title “Russian Winter”.

Camera

Close ups on faces and instruments to show detail when singing and playing. Lips are synchronized with music track, but drums and guitars are only occasionally at build ups in the track. Camera continually pans around people and the building to show surrounding area and what’s been placed there to enhance the videos relation to the track. Towards the end of the video, a camera is left stationary and different members of the band are flicked between, showing what they’re doing.

Editing

The goes strait into the music track without any acted out into at the beginning. Editing tends to mach the speed of the music track. When the track is slow, the shots are longer. When the chorus and fast sections enter in the music, the shots shorten and flick between cameras very quickly. In some parts of the video, image overlay is used to fill the screen with more, creating yet more of an isolated feel. The ending of the music track is very fast paced. So in order for the video to keep up, two or three shots a second, lasting only a split second are used in time with the beat of the track.

Airbourne - Runnin' Wild on MUZU.

Airbourne – Runnin’ Wild

Mise en scene

At the beginning of the video, there is an introduction before the music track begins. The screen shows a news screen with a voice over and bird’s eye view of a truck. The headlines read information about the band Airbourne and how they have high jacked a truck and are “runnin’ wild”. Obviously this relates to the song.
When the music track begins, we see views of the band in the back of the truck surrounded by guitar amps/drums/mics. These sorts of amps etc are typical of a hard rock band.
The camera constantly flicks to the police chasing the truck, showing that they are breaking the law. This is again typical of a rock and roll stars lifestyle.

Camera

The cameras main focal point is on the band playing in the back of the truck. Most of the shots are quite close to the members playing of singing showing that what they are doing is synchronized with the music track.
There are also frequent cutaways showing the police chasing the truck and a helicopters bird’s eye view. These show us different points of view to keep an element of change in the video and to keep us more informed on what is going on.

Editing

The music track starts at 15 seconds in, after a short introduction which just displays a news screen.
Editing is generally fast paced, and cuts to different shots quickly and frequently showing only short clips of band members each time. This allows us to see a broader view of what is happening.

My Chemical Romance – I Don’t Love You

The music video is about two lovers in a strange abstract world, and the video seems to tell the story of how their love quickly withers away until one leaves the other alone. Towards the end of the video, one of the band's amplifiers explodes along with two of the guitars linking to the love life falling apart.

Mise en scene

The band is playing in a dark room with nothing surrounding them other than their instruments. The lead singer is sometimes with the band and sometimes looks as if he is in the same place as the lovers (By the cliff edge under a tree). The lead singer shows a lot of emotion as if he is really in one of the lovers situations.

Camera

The camera flicks between the story behind the song with the lovers, the band playing the song, and the lead singer showing his emotions. There are various different shots of the band and the story. Later in the video the camera focuses on the instruments exploding, linking the band playing to the story as everything is falling apart including the lovers lives shown literally here with them breaking into pieces.

Editing

Short shots are used to flick between what is going on, the music is synchronized with the moving images. When the amplifier and guitars explode the music crescendos’, making the track link even more so to the video.

The Beatles – I want to hold your hand

I have analysed this video due to it only featuring the band playing. For my music video I hope to primarily focus of the artist playing. Rather than a story being added to the song, I want people to make up their own story.

The camera flicks between different angles of the band, sometimes showing the entire band and sometimes only showing some members. At one point there is a swish pan from one member to the other showing us what they’re doing. The music is synced to the moving images making it look as if they are really playing the music there and then which they might be as it is The Beatles. The whole band are performing on what looks like a giant newspaper titled ‘The Daily Echo’ with articles about them on it.

Brief

I have been asked to create a promotional package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with a website homepage for the band and a cover for its release as part of a digipak CD package.