Friday 26 November 2010

Textual Anaylsis of Magazine advertisement



  • Star ratings and quotes from popular magazines/newspapers e.g The Guardian & Q
  • Logos where the album is available and the record label e.g. HMV & Slivertone
  • Colour scheme -  red,white and blue, represents UK,(where the band are from)
  • List of editions the album can the purchased in - e.g. collectors edition,downloads
  • Includes website reference
  • Includes of taster of songs and additional features on the album e.g. uncovered photo's,and brand new interviews
  • Unusual Image, paint splatter
  • Black background, 'stone' coloured title

Tuesday 16 November 2010

Digipak's

Digipak is a patented style of compact disc or DVD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI Media, a MeadWestvaco, Inc.

  • Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside.
  • They were among the first alternatives to jewel cases to be used by major record companies, and because there is no other common name for Digipak-style packaging made by other companies, the term digipak or Digi-Pak is often used generically, even when the media holder is a hub or "Soft Spot" rather than a full plastic tray.
  • Digipak-style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums and the tall DVD Digipak (DVDigipak) is used as a premium package for DVDs and DVD sets.

Friday 12 November 2010

Music Videos

A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a piece of music

  • Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings.
  • Music videos came into prominence in the 1980's

  • Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques, including animation, live action filming, documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film.
  • Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation and live action.
  • Many music videos do not interpret images from the song's lyrics, making it less literal than expected.
IMPORTANT DATES:
1894: George Thomas projected a series of still images on a screen simultaneous to live performances. This would become a popular form of entertainment known as the illustrated song, the first step toward music video.
1926: Wth the arrival of "talkies" many musical short films were produced.
Early 1930s:Cartoons featured popular musicians performing their hit songs on-camera in live-action segments during the cartoons.
1940's: one-song films - "promotional clips".
Late 1950's:The Scopitone, a visual jukebox, was invented in France and short films were produced by many French artists.
1961:For Canadian show Singalong Jubilee, Manny Pittson began pre-recording the music audio, went on-location and taped various visuals with the musicians lip-syncing, then edited the audio and video together.
1970's: The long-running British TV show Top of the Pops began playing music videos, although the BBC placed strict limits on the number of 'outsourced' videos TOTP could use. Therefore a good video would increase a song's sales as viewers hoped to see it again the following week.
1981-1991: the U.S. video channel MTV launched, airing "Video Killed the Radio Star" and beginning an era of 24-hour-a-day music on television. With this new outlet for material, the music video would, by the mid-1980s, grow to play a central role in popular music marketing. Many important acts of this period, most notably Adam and the Ants, Duran Duran and Madonna, owed a great deal of their success to the skillful construction and seductive appeal of their videos.
  • The most successful and influential music video of all time was released — the nearly 14-minute-long video for Michael Jackson's song "Thriller". The video set new standards for production, having cost US$500,000 to film.
  •  MTV launched the channel VH1
  • MTV Europe was launched in 1987
Two key innovations in the development of the modern music video were:
  • the development of relatively inexpensive and easy-to-use video recording and editing equipment
  • the development of visual effects created with techniques such as image compositing
 2005-Present: The earliest purveyors of music videos on the internet were members of IRC-based groups,who recorded them as they appeared on television, then digitised them, exchanging the .mpg files via IRC channels.
  • 2005- LAUNCH OF YOUTUBE
  • 2007 -LAUNCH OF MYSPACE'S Video functionality.
  • Such websites had a profound effect on the viewing of music videos; some artists began to see success as a result of videos seen mostly or entirely online.
  • the RIAA issued cease-and-desist letters to YouTube users to prevent single users from sharing videos, which are the property of the music labels.
  • MTV itself now provides streams of artists' music videos, while AOL's recently launched AOL Music features a vast collection of advertising supported streaming videos.
  • At its launch, Apple's iTunes Store provided a section of free music videos in high quality compression to be watched via the iTunes application. More recently the iTunes Store has begun selling music videos for use on Apple's iPod with video playback capability.
 The Internet has become the primary growth income market for record company-produced music videos!

Popular Music Stations

Kerrang    Scuzz    NME TV    VH1   MTV   TMF   4Music  

Friday 15 October 2010

Textual Analysis of Video - Man who can't be moved ' The Script'.


Mise-en-scene
Busy Street
Empty multi story car park
Snowy scene
Everyday clothes show everyday person everyday life.
Camping bag shows he’s got clothes with him to go somewhere,
Natural lighting.


Editing
Cut’s
Shot reverse shot
Zooms
Panning
Fast pace cut’s from each location
‘Breaking News’ News headline strip at the bottom of the screen.
Faster pace changing the lighting to night time.
Fade.

Sound.
Music
Singer


Camera angles
Low ( Just of Feet)
 Mid head shots
 Close up of head singin
Shot Reverse Shot
Long shot.
Side on shots
Group shots (band)
360 degree rule used
 Match on action
 Point of view shot
 Over the shoulder shot

 Representation
Going to wait for the girl Sitting on the floor saying ‘he wont be moved’
 Lot’s of business going on around him he doesn’t care as long as he gets the girl.
 Lighting change shows he will wait as long as it takes.
He will wait months/ seasons if that’s what it takes ( will go through all weathers)
 Increase of the speed creates tension
 At the end him sitting there lonely shows she never turned up.
       


Audience Research. (Secondary and Primary)




Linking Genre:
·   Alternative & Indie
·   Pop
·   Rock
·   Miscellaneous


Format:
·   CD
·   Cassette
·   Vinyl.


The Wannadies were formed in 1988 and they were active until 2009.


They were influenced By Bands such as:

o      The Go-Betweens - 977-1989        2000 – 2006

o      The sisters of Mercy – 1980 – 1985      1987 – 1993      1995 – Present


o      John Lennon – 1957- 1975         1980

o      The Pixies- 1986 – 1993     2004 – present.


The Clash.  -  1976 - 1986



We also sent out this questionairre to 20 people of all different ages to try and find the most common age of our audience.




This asks them questions such as :
  • their Gender
  • Their age
  • Do they know/ have they heard of the group
  • Do they know the song
  • And what other songs do they know by that group.

Tuesday 12 October 2010

Record Labels



The Wannadies were with the following record labels:

COOKING VINYL
  • Cooking Vinyl has developed a reputation as one of Europe’s prime artist-focused independent labels, inspiring an enviable loyalty among its artist roster. It is also in the vanguard of music companies offering innovative services-only deals that claim no stake in artists’ copyrights.
    Cooking Vinyl take full responsibility for the management of a project whether functioning as a label or in a services-only setting. Adding more than just marketing muscle, Cooking Vinyl devise and implement worldwide sales, marketing and distribution plans for their artists, working alongside booking agents and artist managers.
    Artists signed to services deals with Cooking Vinyl include Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly., Underworld, Groove Armada and The Charlatans
RCA
  • RCA Records (originally The Victor Talking Machine Company, then RCA Victor) is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America (later renamed RCA Corporation), which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.



SONG BMG
  • Sony BMG Music Entertainment was a global recorded music company, which was a 50–50 joint venture between the Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann AG.
  • Industry - Music & Entertainment
  • Founded - March 3rd 2004

Lyric Analysis

Trying to stop the fighting 
Always when we fight
I try to make you laugh
Til everything's forgotten
I know you hate that
ba ba da da ba ba ba ba (2x)
Always when we fight
I kiss you once or twice
And everything's forgotten
I know you hate that
I love you Sunday song
The week's not yet begun
And everything is quiet
And it's always...
You and me always, and forever
You and me always, and forever
ba ba ba ba da ba, it was always
You and me always..
You tell me I'm a real man
and try to look impressed
Not very convincing
But you know I love it
Now we watch TV
Til we fall asleep
Not very exciting
But it's you and...
Me and we'll always be together
You and me always, and forever
ba ba ba ba da ba, it was always...
You and me always, and forever
You and me always, and forever
ba ba ba ba da ba, it was always...
You and me always, and forever
You and me always, and forever
ba ba ba ba da ba ba....
ba ra ra

  • Trying to stop fighting - 'Trying to stop the fighting'
  • Female doesn't like male trying to forget arguement - 'I know you hate that'
  • No fights arguements have happened yet, peaceful - 'The weeks not yet begun, and everything is quiet'
  • Compliment - 'You tell me i'm a real man'
  • Typical love scene - 'Now we watch TV, Til we fall asleep'
  • Normal,but suited to their relationship - 'Not very exciting'
  • Commited, In love, meaningful relationship - ' But its you and me always, and forever'
  • Comfortable, Know each other well - 'But you know i love it'
  • Repeated, cute, love - 'You and me always,and forever'
  • Sensitivity - ' Always when we fight, i kiss you once or twice'
  • Male Narrative
  • Romeo & Juliet Soundtrack (Famous love story)
  • The song is about love/relationship

Song Choice

The song we have chosen to use in our music video is:
YOU & ME SONG - THE WANNADIES
  • The Wannadies were an alternative rock band formed in 1988 in SkellefteÃ¥, northern Sweden.
  • Early influences included: The Go-Betweens, The Sisters of Mercy, John Lennon, The Pixies and The Clash.
  • The You & Me song was on the album - Be a Girl
  • Record Labels - Cooking Vinyl, RCA, Sony Bmg
  • Studio Albums
  • The Wannadies (1990)
  • Aquanautic (1992)
  • Be a Girl (1994)
  • Bagsy Me (1997)
  • The Wannadies (1997)
  • Yeah (1999)
  • Before & After (2002)

Sunday 10 October 2010

Textual Analysis - CD Covers

Textual Analysis - Videos

The Script – We Cry


Mise-en-scene

  • The city
  • Natural lighting
  • Artificial lighting
  • Urban – Graffiti
  • Normal, everyday clothing
  • Streets, tramlines, terraced houses

Editing

  • Intro – Fade In, slow motion of child on bike
  • Fast cuts – different people/locations
  • Straight cuts- throughout
 Sound
  • The song music
  • Singer’s voice
 Camera Angles
  • Close up – singers face
  • Hand held camera – sense of realism
  • Tracking – walking (continuous throughout video)
  • Over the shoulder shot – over the singers shoulder
  • Group shot – of the band
  • 360-degree shot – goes around the band performing
  • Extreme close up – singer’s lips
  • Two shot – mother and child

Representation

  • Rain – symbolising crying
  • Reflecting harsh city life
  • Ambitions
  • Liabilities
  • Teaching children right from wrong
  • Adult’s inner child

Textual Analysis
The Fray – Over my head ( Cable Car)

Mise-en-scene
  • Setting - High school /boarding school
  • Stone stairs, corridors, and lockers
  • Costume – uniform, badges (connotation of genre), band in normal clothes
  • Props – classroom objects, poster, tables, blackboard etc, band equipment
  • Lighting – natural lighting
  • Lyrics written on blackboard
  • Artificial lighting – when bands playing
Camera angles
  • Extreme long shot – opening sequence (school)
  • Group shot – shows school boys in classroom
  •  Head and shoulder shot/close up – shows boy singing
  • Medium shot – lead singer at piano
  • Close up – band equipment
  • Group shot of band
  • Point of view shot- playing piano
  • Over the shoulder shot – looking into sixth form room
  • Two shot – school friends
  • Tracking – boy walking down corridor
  • 360 degree panning
  • Birds eye view - crowd
Sound
  • The song
  • Boys singing
Editing
  • Straight cut – classroom to the band
  • Cuts back to the classroom
  • Fast cuts
  • 180 degree rule
  • Effects e.g. fade out
Representation
  • School – being young
  • Looking back on the past
  • Leaving classroom – as music builds up
  • Intimidation
  • Switching places in the video, (lead singer/boy) piano playing
  • Friendship
  • Loneliness/struggles through school
  • Happy playing piano
  • Memories
  • Dreams/aspiration

Lauren and Jess' AS Media Coursework

Lauren's Front Cover.

Jess' Front cover.
Lauren's Contents Page.
                                                                
Jess' Contents page.
Laurens double page spread.
Jess' Double page spread.

Tuesday 28 September 2010

Coursework Brief

The brief I have chosen to do is:

A promotion package for the release of an album,to include a music promo video,together with two of the three options:

  1. A website homepage for the band
  2. A cover for its release on DVD
  3. A magazine advertisement for the DVD