Friday, 11 November 2016


Here is the first draft of my digipak. I chose the location for the photos as brick walls and suburban areas are conventional for the grunge rock genre. I edited the images on photoshop by inverting the colours and adjusting the colour balance to achieve a psychedelic look.

Thursday, 20 October 2016

Artist biography


Guillotine are a grunge rock band from South East London that formed in January  2013. They consist of Sid Rivers (vocals and guitar), Dom Chehal (bass) and Tom Ross (drums). The band were formed when Rivers met Chehal at a party and they discovered they had a love of grunge and other forms of rock and metal music. The two began jamming songs together and eventually begin writing their own songs. During this process they met Ross and they wrote their first EP together. On the 8th June 2013 the band played their first gig at the Hope and Anchor  in Islington. From here they began gigging as often as they could, building a fan base and self releasing their first EP. In the 2014 signed a three album contract with roadrunner records. They chose this label as they allowed them to have complete creative control and they liked other bands on the label. The band’s sound has been described as a modern take on 90’s grunge music. They dress like a 90’s grunge band and love being on tour getting to play gigs around the world. The band are due to release their debut album on Roadrunner Records late 2016 along with two singles and music videos to correspond and help promote the album.

Thursday, 13 October 2016

Mood Board





Here is my mood board. This shows of things that can represent my artist. This includes items of fashion that are synonymous with my artist, and activities that the artist would take part in. Also the instruments used by the band are shown which can give an understanding in to the type of music the band play.

Conventions of magazine adverts for Digipaks - Digipak Research

Conventions of magazine adverts for Digipaks
Name of artist

This is probably the most common convention of all advertisements as it serves as the main promotion for the artist and is what brings them the popularity and validates that it is their work.
Below is Pearl Jam's print advert for their album 'Lightning Bolt'. This has Pearl Jam's name in a very big font that stands out. This is to help an audience identify with the product being advertised and they can know what they expcet just from seeing the name.





Image An image that relates to the album being advertised is usally seen on the advertisemnt.

This is famous of how Nirvana used the image of Nirvana's album 'Nevermind' cover to promote the album. Showing an infant underwater with money on a fishing line, is not really important in terms of reference within the music. However, this could hold a link with the themes or genre of the music, showing a child and water representing pureness, while the money may show desire.
Logo
One of the most recognisable logos within music is the Rolling Stones using the tongue and lips image. the fact that this image has become extremely popular and significant to the artists means that it is instantly recognisable to most audiences. This is proved with the image showing the logo in the centre of the advert, attracting the most attention and, even outshining the actual name of the band, showing that they do not necessarily even need to feature their own name, due to the attribution of the logo.






Digipak Research


Band Logo

Here is the logo for my artist. I choose this font as I feel that it represents that artists image well. It has almost a rough and scruffy handwrittren look to it that the artist also has. The font choosen also represents the artist well as it is fairly simple and not over complicated just like the artists music.

Tuesday, 4 October 2016

Music Video Timeline

Music Videos are a way of promoting an artists new single or album. Music videos can be made on a small budget for lesser known artists or they can have huge budgets for massive artists who want an extravagant music video. Here is a well documented music video timeline:

1960's: The beatles release their first official muaic video for 'I Feel Fine'
This was a simple performance music video that didn't have a narrative and it is in black and white due to the technology the time it was shot and released.

1967: The Beatles release music video tv promos for their two songs Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever.

1969:  David Bowie releases  music video for Space Oddity, still only a live performance as there was still no 'music videos' as such..

1970: Top of Pops airs on british TV, artists perform live as a way of promoting their new single or album.

1975: Queen release music video for Bohemian Rhapsody (diredcted by Bruce Gowers)

1977: Saturday Night Fever was released and this is an example of intertextually as the music scenes freom the film were being played on TV.

1977: Buggles: Video Killed The Radio Star was released and this went on to be the first music video played on MTV.

1980: David Bowie releases video for Ashes to Ashes.

1981: MTV launches, a 24 hour channel showing only music videos.

1983: Micheal Jackson releases music video for Thriller, sets a new standard for high budget music videos.

1985: Vh1 launches.

1987: MTV Europe launches. This created a wider audiences for music videos as they could now be viewd more easily by a european audiences.






Tuesday, 27 September 2016

Adorno and Horkheimer

Adorno and Horkheimer 

Theodor Adorno was a philosopher, sociologist and composer was born in 1903 He lived until 1969 and was a leading member at the Frankfurt School in Germany, along with Max Horkheimer who was a philosopher and sociologist, born in 1895 and lived until 1973. Horkheimer was also a member of the Frankfurt School of social research. Both Adorna and Horkheimer were German theorists who fled Germany during World War II from Geneva and they moved to New York in 1935.
The pair wrote the book 'The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception' in 1944. Within this book, they both came up with the theory that pop culture essentially is a commodity and that it is mass produced to please wide mass public. This can be done in many different forms of media sucg as films, radios, pop music and music videos. They beilieved that certain idelogies and beliefs/messages could be put into (sometimes subliminally) these formats to convey a message to a mass audience.



Grunge Genre Analyses

 Grunge rock is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the late 1980’s in Seattle, Washington. The movement started with the help of the Sub-Pop independent record label  in the late 80s releasing ‘alternative’ rock albums. In the early 90s its popularity spread with artists such as Nirvana and Alice in Chains signing to major record labels and earning strong followings and gaining commercial success. The genre became massive in the early 90’s with the help of Nirvana’s album ‘Nevermind’, Pearl Jam’s ‘Ten’, Alice in Chains' ‘Facelift’ and Soundgarden’s ‘Badmotorfinger’. 

Characteristics of grunge include:
Aggressive 'dirty' guitar sounds
Powerfull singing 
Raw sound
"straight forward"


Clothing most commonly worn by grunge musicians was a mix of thrift store items          with the typical outdoor clothing and most notably flannel shirts.long hairstyles were also very commom.





Briefs
When centres choose briefs to offer to candidates, they should be guided by their strengths in terms of resources and expertise. Centres should also bear in mind the key areas: forms and conventions, production contexts, the role of technologies, audiences/users and representations.
The set briefs are as follows:

The purpose of this unit is firstly to assess candidates’ ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills (AO3); secondly to assess candidates’ application of knowledge and understanding in evaluating their own work, showing how meanings and responses are created (AO2); and finally to assess candidates’ ability to undertake, apply and present appropriate research (AO4). The unit requires candidates to engage with contemporary media technologies, giving them the opportunity to develop their own skills in these technologies. It also enables them to develop the skills of presentation that are required for further study at higher levels and in the workplace.
This is a coursework unit. Centres must set the brief from the menu below, though they may define more precise details in negotiation with candidates. From this brief, candidates will produce:
  • a media portfolio, comprising a main and ancillary texts;
  • a presentation of their research, planning and evaluation in digital format(s).
    The media portfolio will be produced through a combination of two or more of the following media:
  • Video
  • Print
  • Web-based
  • Audio
  • Games software
    Each candidate will evaluate and reflect upon the creative process and their experience of it. Candidates will evaluate their work digitally, this evaluation being guided by the set of key questions below. This evaluation may be done collectively for a group production or individually. Examples of suitable formats for the evaluation are:
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  • Ablog
  • DVD extras
  • A podcast
  • A powerpoint
  • A Website
  • Or a combination of two or more of the above.




    Briefs
    1. A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:
    page31image2144
    • a website homepage for the band;
    • a digipak for the album’s release;
    • a magazine advertisement for the digipak. 

Thursday, 22 September 2016

Genre Brainstorm


Here is my genre brainstorm. This is a brainstorm of my many genres of music but predominately rock as that is the genre I will be doing a music video for.

Goodwin's Theory

There's a set of rules and conventions for Goodwin's theory of music video's,
These set the boundaries for analysis.

These include:


  • A relationship between the song and visuals.
  • Intertextuality references.
  • Notion of looking.
  • Voyeurism.
  • Demand of the record label.
  • Performance based, narrative based or concept based music video. - Narrative and performance.
  • Star Image (protagonist), lots of camera shots making him/her the centre of attention.

Tuesday, 13 September 2016

Music Video Inspiration

Here is a video that I found that I really like the style of. 
I want to do my music video in a similar stye as I think it will suit the genre of my video which is rock. This style includes lots of layering images over videos and layering videos together. The style is also grainy and reminiscent of a VHS film







Friday, 9 September 2016

Lesson Notes 8/9/2016

Advanced Portfolio:
This year we will have to create a band and for the band make a music video, a digipak and a magazine promoting the digipack.

Some things to consider when choosing a song and making a music video:
Nothing with explicit lyrics,
Do not rely on found images for the music video and digipack.

The album cover is designed to promote the artists uniq selling point (USP)... Here are some examples:
Biffy Clyro, there are Scottish
Black Sabbath, here were very heavy for the time they came out
Amy Whinehouse, Beehive hair and eyeliner
Slash,  Top hat
David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust outfit

You have to think about what colours are typical to their genre.

Typical album cover styles:
Iconic Headshot 


Iconic graphic design:

Iconic Image:



Digipak - Will have six panels: Front panel, track listing, spines, and four panels to be creative with.

Magazine Advert:
Poster based around the album cover or a different image with a small image of the album cover.

Tuesday, 5 July 2016

Music Video Inspiration

Hang the Bastard - Sex in the Seventh Circle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvYvGo2CBxw
Muse -  Stockholm Syndrome https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXN9acC9edU
Black Sabbath - Paranoid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkXHsK4AQPs
Black Sabbath - Iron Man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s7_WbiR79E
Sound garden - Jesus Christ Pose https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14r7y6rM6zA
Tyler Byrant & The Shakedown - Loaded Dice and Buried Money https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6gjFkdrXbo
Metallica - Enter Sandman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD-E-LDc384
White Stripes - Seven Nation Army https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J2QdDbelmY

In the 1990s, a number of technical codes became common:

In the 1990s, a number of technical codes became common:


  • Most common form of editing associated with the music promo is fast cut montage 
  • Many images impossible to grasp on first viewing thus ensuring multiple viewing
  • Spilt screens, colourisation are also commonly used effects
  • Non-representation techniques, in which the musical artist is never shown, become more common
  • Lack of edits, Long take/steadic also a common experimenaton

Development of Technical Codes

Development of Technical Codes


the key innovation in the development of the modern music video was; video recording and editing processes, along with the development of a number of related effect such as chroma-keypr Green/Blue Screen


The advent of high-quality colour, videotape recorders and portable video camera enabled many pop acts to produce promotional videos, quickly and cheaply in comparison to the relatively high costs of using film.

Technical Codes

Technical Codes

Editing
  • The most common form of editing associated with the music promo is fast cut montage
  • Multiple viewing
  • Slow pace and gentle transition to establish mood.
This os particularly apparent for the work of many female solo artists with a broad audience appeal, such as Dido.

  • Often enhancing the editing are digital effects which play with the original images to offer different kinds of pleasure for the audience. This might take the form of spilt screens, colourisation and of course blockbuster film style CGI.

Technical Codes

Technical Codes


Cinematography


  • As with any moving image text, how the camera is used and how images are sequenced will have a significant impact upon meaning.
  • Camera movement, angle and shot distance all need to be analysed.
  • Camera movement may accompany movement of performers ; (walking, dancing, etc) but it may also be used to create a more dynamic feel to stage performance, by for instance constanly circling the band as they perform on stage.
  •  The close up does predominate, as in most Tv, party because of the size of the screen and party because of the desire to create a sense of intimacy of the viewer.
  •  It also emphasises half of the commodity on sale not just the sing but the artist, and particularly the voice. 

Pop Music TV Shows

Pop Music TV Shows 

 1970: the record industry discovers TV-Shows as a great opportunity to promote their artisits.

They focus on producing short "Promos", early music videos which started to replace to live performance of the artist on the Tv-stage.

Bohemian Rhapsody

1975: Bohemian Rhapsody, a groundbreaking video released by Queen,marked the beginning of the video era and set the language for the Modern music video.

The video is considered one of the first to used advanced visual effects.

Music video uses a combination of lives performance and some sort of set performance.

History of music video

History of music video

The invention of film and cinema brought about the possibility of
combining music and moving images.
Advances in technology have turned the music video into what it is
today but you might be surprised at where it came from...

The early years...
1. Surprisingly, music videos have been around since the 1920s.
2. Many Jazz musicians of the time,such as Bessie Smith,made short
films to accompany popular songs..
There are music videos that are not the modern music videos that we
know about it now.

Bob Dylan

1965: Bob Dylan Films
Subterranean Homesick Blues as a segment for D.A. Pennebaker's film,
Dont look Back-widely credited as one of the first modern music
videos.

Music videos was about live performance but this video illustrate the
lyrics of the song.