Production Meeting 2: Artist Identity

We had a group meeting today to discuss the artist identity. With our chosen genre of Dubstep, it is often that the music is promoted, and not the artist, meaning that people will recognise a song but not necessarily know who made it. This is not what we want, as the aim of the project is to create a debut ARTIST, so we need to come up with a unique identity for our band.

To do this, we began by exploring what we know about other similar artists. I suggested that we do something similar to 'Chase and Status', who wear somewhat smart clothing when they perform.

We took this one stage further and said, 'well, what if we use the idea of 2 DJ's, but we make them wear full suits when they perform, to make them that bit more unique, and we'll dress them all in black'.

This then lead us to 'Daft Punk', who are a DJ duo that perform wearing masks, and we liked that idea of concealing their true identities. We considered glasses and hats to try and hide the faces, but then Chris our technician showed us the band 'Hollywood Undead', who all perform using unique masks that they made themselves, that reflect them in some way.

With the DJ's image forming, we felt that we needed something more, as the DJ's themselves could not sustain a music video alone. So we looked at another dubstep artist, 'Nero', who always perform with the same female singer, and use her in all their songs. And so we have chosen to include a stunning female lead singer that will sing the vocals of the song, whilst the DJ' mix the track.

With the stunning lead singer, and unique masks, we hope to create a unique band image that will be unlike anything seen before!

Feminine Identities

Beyonce - If I Were A Boy, Chase and Status - Time, David Guetta - Sexy Chick

When considering Feminine Identities in music videos, we explored both stereotypical and uncoventional ideas.

In 'If I were A Boy', Beyonce plays a powerful role, as a woman in police uniform, a position of authority, and perhaps a role usually filled by a man, therefore making the identity less conventional.

In the Chase and Status video, the girl plays a stereotypical emotional teenage girl, keeping to herself and perhaps suffering through family issues - as is the case with this video. She is the victim in this situation, perhaps fitting with the more conventional role of a women.
Similarly, the mother is a victim of domestic abuse from her oppressive husband/boyfriend. She is powerless to change the situation, and attempts to soldier through the violence in order to be strong for her children. This again fits with the conventional role of a women, being a good mother figure, as well as being the victim.

The final video, 'Sexy Chick', is very much the objectification of women from the male perspective, presenting them as sexual objects and is again a very stereotypical feminine identity.

Intertextual References: Nero - Me And You

The music video for Nero's song Me And You has several intertextual references in. The video itself is based around a similar idea to the movie 'TRON', where a young male stumbles upon an old arcade machine, plays through the game, and is ultimately absorbed into the game world.

The first of these references being the 'MTA' logo when he begins the game, which looks rather similar to the SEGA logo.

The arcade machine also looks similar to the original TRON machine.

The song is also self-referencing, as we are shown 2 other songs by Nero - innocence and welcome reality.

The actual videogame that he plays also looks very similar to the classic Street Fighter game.

The intertextual references have been used to create a narrative, showing how the male protagonist progresses into the game world. Reality is represented in a somewhat surreal sense; right from the start we see the 3 strange looking people, with the 'Nero' glasses, and there are glitch effects edited into the video. Ultimately, reality is presented as a game in which we are just the players.
The intertextual references impact on the band image in a positive way, they give the band perhaps a slightly cool, retro feel, even though their music is more electronic and futuristic, like the TRON game. They add meaning to the text by creating something that the audience may be familiar with, and the audience may like this, as they can pick apart the video, noticing the different references.

This use of postmodernism could be a useful technique in our music videos, as it could allow us to reference real life people/places/events/etc. and allow us to build our narrative.

Production Meeting 1: Song Choice

The three of us met with Mrs. Blackborow to discuss the possible song choice with her. We played her the remix and she really liked it - said that we could get really creative and do a lot with it.
So with that positive feedback, we've pretty much decided that this is the song we want to go ahead with, so we cut down the song to 3:30 as the song cannot be as long as it currently is.
We'll continue brainstorming ideas about the music video and the artist.

Analysing an Album Cover - Definitely Maybe, Oasis

Definitely Maybe - Oasis (1994)
Definitely Maybe was the debut album by British band Oasis, and is one of the most successful debut albums ever.



Images Used?
Both the front and back shot is of the band, of only slightly differing positions. Although released in the 90's, it looks like it should be from the 60's due to the distressed and faded look of the album. It has a yellow, blue, white and black colour scheme, making it look worn out and fitting with the 'Brit Pop' genre.
It also has the 'Oasis' Logo on both the front and the spine, a logo that is very widely known and used across multiple albums and product, all of which work in synergy to create the Oasis image.

Text?
The album title on the front cover, 'Definitely Maybe', looks like it is handwritten, perhaps reflecting the writing of songs, and the representation of the debut album.
On the back cover is the tracklist, in simple white print, so it is easy to read and fits with the colour scheme of the album.

The relationship between them?
The images and text work together to establish that this is a debut album. The shots show off the band as they are the main focus, and the text establishes that they are a brit pop band, just releasing their first album. It creates anchorage and establishes the 'Oasis' image.

Function?
The front cover's function is to promote the band - it is a clear shot of them with a few of their instruments, displaying them in all their glory. The back cover's function is to sell the the album, as it has all the institutional information and tracklist. The spine serves a slightly different function, it is their to try and make the album stand out from a rack.

Iconography?
Throughout the album, there are various pieces of iconography that reflect both them as a band, and their music.
For example, on the front cover, on the right next to the fireplace, is a photoframe with a famous Manchester City football player; this tells us that they are passionate about their home town and this context could influence their music.

Similarly, on the left is a large picture of 'Burt Bacharack', one of Noel Gallagher's idols and influences. This could also be seen as Oasis paying homage to Pink Floyd, as they used the same picture in a similar situation on the cover of one of their albums.

The small details hidden in the album cover would only be noticed by the hardcore fans that have researched it, and this could also be seen to reflect one of their biggest influences, 'The Beatles'. The Beatles album 'Abby Road' similarly hides little details in the image that would only be found by fans.

Institutional context?
The album cover shows that it is a debut album, and showing that they're part of the Brit Pop genre.

Target Audience?
The careless look of the band; the way that Liam lays out on the floor, and the way they relax on sofas and chairs suggests, could reflect the target audience of carefree, maybe slightly rebellious teenagers and young adults. The guitars suggests that the music would be aimed at fans of rock music.
All the iconic references (Pink Floyd, The Beatles) could suggest that the album is of a similar content, and so could be aimed at a similar target audience.

Album Covers Research

Stare Into the Sun - Graffiti6, Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers, Cheer Up - Reel Big Fish, Appetite for Destruction - Guns 'N Roses, Justice - Justice, Minutes to Midnight - Linkin Park, Start Something - Lostprophets, Food & Liquor - Lupe Fiasco, For All the Right Reasons - Nickleback, The Death of You and Me - Noel Gallagher, The Emyprean - John Frusciante, What's the Story (Morning Glory)

1. What are the typical features that an album cover has?

Usually, an album cover will display the artist name and title of the album, so as to establish who's album it is. Exceptions to this though, are the 'Justice' album, which has only a yellow outline of a cross, and 'The Emyprean' by John Frusciante, which is the very detailed artistic piece. In these cases, perhaps the artist has a reputation and fans will know who the album belongs to, or they wish to keep the focus on the artwork, and not detract from it with text.
Usually the front cover sells the artist, the back cover sells the album.

Sometimes, if the artist has a particular font or logo, that will also appear on the album cover, as is the case with 'Oasis' and 'Nickleback'. This will be consistent branding across all types of platforms and products (i.e. merchandise, website graphics, posters), all of which will work in synergy to create branding.
Artists can sometimes use this to 're-brand' themselves, and create a fresh new image.

In terms of institution, if the album has explicit lyrics or mature content, the cover will display the 'parental advisory' graphic, as is the case with most 'Eminem' albums. More recent albums also display copyright information and the record label. They will always have a barcode, tracklist, and the newer albums often have website URL's - one for the band's/artists website and one for the record labels website.
They always have the album name and artist on the spine, going from left to right. This will be an important convention to follow when designing our album cover.

2. How would you categorise the covers in front of you?

One way could be the type of cover; if it focuses on the band, like 'Linkin Park' or 'Lupe Fiasco' or is a piece of artwork, like 'The Empyrean' or 'Californication' by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The covers that have the artist on are usually if it is a debut album, and the label wishes to promote the artist, for example in the case of Lupe Fiasco. This is not always the case however, as can be seen with the Linkin Park album, but this is more for fans of the band that know them and their music.

If the cover is more artwork than a shot of the band, it is usually because fans know of the artist and this is a subsequent album to their debut album, and the artist might not need as much promotion; this would be the case with Californication, as RHCP previous albums had them on the cover.

Another way could be through gender, which closely links with target audience. Albums aimed at girls will have more feminine colours, and may have a feminine artist on the front looking attractive and powerful. In contrast, an album aimed at men will have darker colours, maybe looking grittier. Equally though, they may have an attractive woman on the front, but they have objectified her rather than made her powerful, as is the case with blink-182's album 'All the Small Things'.

During a discussion in class, it was suggested that album covers could be categorised through record label, as this can have a specific style to the album. An example suggested was '2 Tone Records' as they use black and white in most of their albums, fitting with the name and creating an image.

Another suggestion was nationality, which again closely links with target audience. We compared British and American covers, and found that American covers seem to add more 'Gloss', whereas British albums were far more gritty and bare.

3. Album covers serve many different functions. What do you think these are?

I think the main purpose of an album cover is to promote and sell the music, not neccesarily the artist. I also think function has changed over time.
In the days of vinyl and CD's, the album cover would be used to promote the band/artist, and it had to distinguished so that it would stand out on the shelf. I think that is why some of the most iconic album covers are from this era; for example 'Abby Road' by the Beatles, 'Dark Side of the Moon' by Pink Floyd, and 'Nevermind' by Nirvana. These covers are all very unique, and stand out.

However today, due to the change over to digital downloads, album covers have changed a lot as they serve a different function - they are artwork. Hence why covers like 'The Empyrean' don't have the album information, as it is all part of a digital download.
This is a very general statement though, and doesnt apply to all covers.

Research into Music Video Directors

Falling In Love (Is So Hard On The Knees)
Aerosmith
1997



I Would Do Anything For Love
Meat Loaf
1993

Other Notable Videos:
"Soldier of Love" by Donny Osmond (1989)
"I Love You" by Vanilla Ice (1991)
"Love Thing" by Tina Turner (1992)
"Do It to Me" by Lionel Ritchie (1992)


All of these videos were directed by current film director, Michael Bay, who now famously has done films such as Transformers, Armageddon and Pearl Harbour.

Before moving into motion pictures, he began in Music Videos, and had a particular style and motif. In terms of theme, he made a lot of music videos for love songs, or songs centred around the theme of love/sex (as can be seen by all the titles of his music videos).

Part of his motif which I have seen, is candles; he uses them in almost all his music videos, perhaps because they are associated with 'love' in the sense that they are romantic.
Technically, Bay likes to extremely saturate his footage, making colours very vibrant and creating an interesting atmosphere to the video that captures the viewers attention.

Bay also uses flashing lights in the backgrounds of his videos often, to add to his motif and style. This can create a contrast to the usual vibrant colours and can reflect a change in mood of the song.

In terms of narrative, he creates very strange and disjointed narratives that can be hard to follow, but are still entertaining to watch.
I think his videos are unique and creative, and this has shown me that my music video can be very 'out-there' and not follow the conventional style of a music video.

Production Meeting 0: My Group

Today, my group was decided and I'm very pleased. There are three of us, myself, Daniel Sheldon, and Adam Romo - the same group I worked with on my project last year. We work well together and we have similar tastes in music, so we are very excited to work on this project.

We began discussing choice of music, and Daniel and Adam both like the idea of doing a Dubstep song, in particular a song called 'Promises', originally done by Nero, but we would like to use a remix done by an artist called Skrillex. The song has a great tune to it, and has good lyrics to create a story to.



We're going to have a meeting with our teacher Mrs. Blackborow, to discuss the choice of music and get her feedback, but I am very excited to start work on this project.

What Music Means To Me

Childhood
Jerk It Out - Caesars

This was possibly my first favourite song, and still remains today one of the best. I first heard it on a video game called SSX 3. It was a snowboarding game, and to me this song reflects my interests and fantasies from when I was younger, as I was particularly into extreme sports at the time. I was used to hearing pop music from my mum, or more classic rock from my dad, and so this was my introduction to more modern rock and alternative music. It was also the first song I ever bought off iTunes, when I got my first iPod Mini back in 2005!




Early Teens
Numb - Linkin Park

Linkin Park were really my first favourite band, and I became interested in them around the age of 12/13. They were the first band where I had all the albums and loved all the songs, and they were the first band I ever saw live and was an amazing experience. This represents a time when I was still discovering myself and the sorts of music I enjoyed, and Linkin Park will always remain a favourite of mine.




Today
Whatever - Oasis

This last track is one of my favourite all time songs, by one of my favourite all time bands. Particularly nowadays, it seems that most of the popular music is very boring and all sounds very similar, but Oasis are timeless, and their music is still fantastic today. I'd always known of Oasis because of their big songs like 'Wonderwall' and 'Don't Look Back In Anger', but it wasn't until a couple of years ago that I really began to like them, and their album '(What's The Story) Morning Glory' is my favourite album ever. They are particularly important to me as I learnt to play a lot of their music on guitar, and it was because of them I enjoyed playing so much, and am still an avid guitarist today.
I chose this song in particular because it reflects an attitude that I have; some of the lyrics are 'I'm free to do whatever I, whatever I like, if it's wrong or right, it's alright' and the song just feels very uplifting and pure.

This task and discussion in lesson has lead me to understand that music is incredibly personal and can be used in an autobiographical way. Reminiscing about the music I used to like and the methods in which I consumed it can be relevant to how we market our artist; for example I discovered the Caesars song through a video game, so depending on our music choice and audience demographic, that could be a viable option.

This task has also shown us the way in which popular music taste has changed for our particular age group. Currently 'Pop' music, in other words chart music, is the most consumed genre of music, however 'Dubstep' for example is a very popular emerging genre, so it may be a good idea to consider that.