Sample of individual storyboard

Shot Number: 52

Shot Duration: 1 second

Camera: CU low angle

Lyrics: none

Instrumentation: 1st repeat of main melody

Visual style/transition: cut to

Notes: camera should be put on level of bar, lighting with orange/red filter

Shot number: 53

Shot duration: 2 seconds

Camera: straight angle, 3-shot, MS

Lyrics: none

Instrumentation: 1st repeat of main melody

Visual style/transition: cut to

Notes: pan around the group

Shot number: 54

Shot duration: 2 seconds

Camera:ECU 2-shot, downwards tilt

Lyrics: none

Instrumentation: main melody, fits in time with a whirring trumpet sound

Visual style/transition: cut to

Shot number: 55

Shot duration: 2 seconds

Camera: straight angle, CU

Lyrics: none

Instrumentation: feet kick in time to a drum beat

Visual style/transition: cut to

Notes: may have to speed up to fit to instrument

Analysis of past student videos

2006 - Group 1 (Deja Vu, Love Machine)



Watching past student work has helped us appreciate the potential we could achieve and has helped us clearly pinpoint the application of music video theories and conventions.

This video was produced last year by Latymer Students Bruno, Matt, Harry and Francis and uses the track 'love machine'. The video is purely narrative based (there is no performance throughout), and creates a story which illustrates the lyrics but in a twisted, almost too literal kind of way. The lyrics talk of a 'love machine', so the boys literally created a love machine, or robot, which helps the geek get the girl. The video uses comedy to keep the audience's attention, beginning with a prologue in black and white, mocking the old silent movies, immediately suggesting that the band don't take themselves too seriously, and are there to entertain.

As the main body of the video begins, the boys have effectively established the characters with the use of the camera. They use lots of CU movement shots around the geek to help us relate to him, and see things from his perspective, but also use OTS shots of the robot and CUs of his eyes to establish how we are meant to view the geek, and see the robot as a cool, heroic figure. They then use POV shots from the geek when the narrative first presents Hannah, the use of seeing her from Harry's eyes allowing the audience to understand that she is the 'love interest'.

The video conforms to convention in the sense that it tries to maintain a visual hook throughout the narrative. This video in fact uses two visual hooks, the first being the ECU of the robot's eyes as it changes expression from happiness to anger, and the second being the love interest character slapping the geek who tries it on with her. The repetition of both of these shots creates comedy for the audience, and makes us want to keep watching, as it holds our attention.

However, I felt that from watching the video from a student perspective there was not a huge range of camera angles, and the use of more effective and sustained lighting could have created a greater atmosphere, and a greater sense of professionalism. Furthermore, with the focus being purely on narrative it meant that there is no sense of who the band actually is - nonetheless, it does give a sense of what they are like, and what their interests are.

Artist Focus: Christina Aguilera

"A star is an image constructed from a range of materials"

So, in the music world, what do these materials include?

Dress, songs, genre, how they sound, attitude, interviews,

media, image, private life, live performance, music videos.

I focussed on music star Christina Aguilera, who releases pop and r'n'b music. Born in Staten Island in New York, she had an abusive unbringing (reflected in many of her songs) and entered lots of singing competitions such as 'star search', and became a member of the mickey mouse club along with britney spears and justin timberlake. She was signed to RCA record label after recording 'reflection' for Disney's 'Mulan', and her debut album was 'Christina Aguilera' (1999), followed by Stripped (2002), and then 'Back to Basics' (2006). She's sold over 30 million albums worldwide, has won 5 grammy awads and has had 16 nominations.

How was her status/image established in her earlier videos?

• Girl next door image, young popstar, like Britney, cute, pretty, teeny - e.g. 'Genie in a bottle'

How was that image devloped later in her career?

• She changed from 'poppy' teen, to sex symbol, to strong woman feminist, to a serious artist.
• Her image change was made most obvious in her music videos; for example, in Moulin Rouge she plays a prostitute in a very sexy outfit, whereas in her video 'fighter' she dresses in very ugly clothes, so the audience just focus on the message of girl power and independence. However, recently she has been playing a 50s actress in all her videos, particularly 'ain't no other man'.
• However, her motifs have always been her blonde hair, her stunning figure and her big powerful wailing voice.

Look at the very obvious differences between her first video (above) and then the slow delevopment of her image in the videos below.

Dirrty (2002)

Fighter (2003)

Ain't No Other Man (2006)

Are there Close-ups of the artist throughout her work?

• All the time, she is a solo artist, so it's all focussed around her.
• They are used to make her look attractive, they are very scopophillic and often voyeuristic.

How are camerawork and editing used to reinforce and develop the image of the star?

• It always cuts back to her, she is in almost every shot, and she mimes everything.
• The editing is often fast-paced because most of her videos are pop and dancy
• Her videos are often performance based (she always sings) and in a majority of them she breaks into a dance routine in the middle.

What do I consider the wider cutural significance of the star?

• A pop teen star who has grown up into a poweful woman
• A voice for women everywhere

Marketing: MySpace

Myspace is an internet site where audiences can create and customise their own, personal webpage. They can leave blogs on their site, upload pictures or videos, add music to their page and fill in an ‘about me’ section for their friends to view. However, a fundamental section of this site is the way small bands and artists can create 'music myspaces', purposefully set-up to promote their music, their image and their upcoming appearances. By making friends online, you can establishing an online community or network of fans from all around the world, increasing an artist's reach. This site shows how easy it is to create an online community, and how integral websites such as MySpace are to the music industry; it encourages smaller, independent bands to make their own music and present it to their friends, acting as a form of their own small-scale marketing. Furthermore, it helps new bands such as Lilly Allen or The Arctic Monkeys to be recognised through MySpace, and helps already formed bands to increase their following and to give key information to the fans.

This site has been created by five friends Sam V, Sam J, Kamil, Martyn and Jobby, who are using their ‘space’ to promote their indie band ‘Open With A Joke’.

On the page:
Top left of page: Title of band (‘Open With A Joke), location (London), Profile Views (7440) and a picture.
Pictures: If you click on their pictures you can see a whole album of photos of them These consist of individual photos of the band members, the band as a whole, the band playing a gig, and friends of the band. All of the photos have comments left by their network of friends, such as under this photo of all the boys at a fancy dress party:

About the band:Friends: To the left of the page there is a ‘friends’ section where they’ve left their top 12 friends, and if you click on the link you can see their other 509 friends. These are all links so you could visit other people’s spaces, creating the real sense of a network of friends.
Videos: OWAJ have linked on their space 3 videos from the site http://www.youtube.com/. One is their music video to ‘I don’t see the attraction’ showing them and their Lego alter egos, one is of them playing live as Jobby takes off his jumper to reveal his wife-beater t-shirt and one is of a bear falling out of a tree onto a trampoline.
Comments: The rest of the page has been taken up with their friends’ comments (they have 520 in total).

Marketing: Fansite

Marketing needs to be produced from both above and below the line, ranging from mainstream television advertisements, billboard posters and national television appearances, to much smaller marketing techniques of audience word-of-mouth and discussion forums on websites such as myspace. With the boom of the internet, the audience are much more inclined to voice their opinions of an artist through websites, and the internet has recently been bombarded with 'fansites' spreading new information about the artists; in many ways, a free advertisement campaign for the record label.



An example of this is the ‘Mcfly maniacs’ website, is an unofficial site for the awesome foursome pop band (with guitars) Mcfly. The site has been created by fans for fans, to discuss their passion (Mcfly) and find out more about the band. The site states:



“Welcome to McFly Maniacs, the number 1 resource for everything McFly! We opened on 6th December 2003 and have suported McFly from the very begining! We have had alot of suport from everyone who visits and its been great running it over the past years, we will keep going as long as you keep visiting!We would just like to thank you all for the suport on the site over the years. Its been great running the site and we enjoy your company! If you wish to contact us, then click on 'Site' then 'Contact'. Hope you enjoy your stay! :) Amy and Emma”

The site is targeting all fans of McFly, and is using the website to:

• Promote the band
• Give the fans more information
• Make the fans feel involved with the band, ‘in the know’
• Create an online community
• Give this niche audience a form of media which is solely targeting them
• Personalised, narrowcasting.
  

The website contains:
Menu bar: Home, band, gallery, music, fans, fun, tours, site, web
‘Video of the moment’ where Mcfly’s current video is posted via a YouTube link.
A chat board
News bulletin board, almost like a blog, where the site runners leave messages and updated information on the boys.
Gallery: loads of photos of the band, from TV and Video stills, to scanned in magazine images, official tour photos or photos taken from live events. These are fan photos, not those you’d see on the official band website.
Music: Find out all the details and statistics concerning their singles and albums (chart positions, sales, release dates etc), the lyrics and chords to all their songs.
Fans: send in your pictures or autographs if you’ve met Mcfly, see photos of other fans bedrooms covered in Mcfly posters, send in artwork you’ve done of the band. Register with the site to leave comments on the forum or join in the chats.
Fun: get Mcfly ringtones or wallpapers, play games, caption photos, read Mcfly cartoons, read funny Mcfly quotes, send photos of Mcfly look-alikes.
Band: band members biographies.

Media texts involved are the internet, photography and video. The site is kept quite like a blog as it is an amateur site.

Video of the moment: Mcfly, Transylvania

For the industry: free market research; they can see the audience's interests, and what they like/dislike about Mcfly from this site. Free promotion - they are getting the promotion of the band and of their songs through a medium they have nothing to do with. In some ways this is scary - what's published is democratic, and therefore out of their control - but in other ways it is beneficial, they don't have to be reach audiences, the audiences find out more off their own backs.

Press Release

1st Draft of the Press Release:

"Born and raised in the Venezuelan city of Maracaribo, new star to hit the spotlight, ‘someone’ plays Golnessa, a girl who rises from a life of unattainable ambitions and distant dreams, to the world of stardom, glamour and fame. As dancers, Golnessa and her friends form the Gina Girls, and perform nightly at their local bar Mercado. After being spotted by British Producer Marcus (Williams) the girls are dramatically whirled into planet ‘celeb’ and find themselves dancing in full view of the world, performing at huge venues and attending a-list soirees. But does the rollercoaster of fame prove too much for Golnessa, and do the melodious sounds of South America seem far sweeter than the loud, harsh and claustrophobic bubble of London?

‘Mercado, the soundtrack from the original motion picture’ is an eclectic collection of sound. Intertwining Latin-infused tracks with new, gritty, London-based bands, the music makes ‘Mercado’ the spectacular film it has become. Dance is a major motif in the film, and the soundtrack totally reflects this...headlined by Papi Cazo’s ‘Takin’ it Over’, the album uses manic beats, riotous trumpets, and flamboyant melodies, to inspire listeners to get up on their feet and salsa like Golnessa.

In collaboration with the film, ‘someone’ will be making special guest appearances on MTV’s ‘TRL’, BBC’s ‘Friday Night with Jonathon Ross’, and Channel 4’s Saturday morning show ‘T4’, performing the film’s most spectacular dance routine, to the headlining single ‘Takin’ it Over’. Golnessa and the Gina Girls are also scheduled to tour next March with a multitude of artists from the soundtrack to truly show the world their stuff, and a dance along DVD to the film will be available to buy from December 10th, so those at home can learn the real dance moves from the experts.

'Mercado' is to be premiered on the 1st of December, and will be let loose to the public on the 5th. This is to be followed closely by the sublime soundtrack on the 10th of December. Find out more about the film online at www.mercado.com, and the soundtrack will be downloadable there from the 15th of December onwards."

Album Cover Ideas

Here are a collection of album covers which could be used as inspiration for our own cover. Our music video is meant to be a track from the film (which will probably be called Mercado). The star of the film is Golnessa, a fun and sexy character who enjoys spending time with her friends, performing and dancing. The film will probably have a love interest and is very inspired by the latin and south american genres - hence the music and much of our iconography. Our album, as the film's soundtrack needs to portray all the different themes of both the film and the music video and should star Golnessa, the main character, as a promotion tool for the film. The first album covers are real movie soundtracks which are very useful in terms of institutional information such as credits, film companies, various artists and so on.


This Chicago soundtrack successfully conveys the 1950s period as well as the musical film genre with the dance costumes and the title being in the same font as broadway shows. We liked the use of the extreme long shot as it makes the characters seem much more dominating and attractive, and the 3 characters shown are the film's headliners, actors we quickly recognise. We also liked the background of the big glowing letter, however this is very broadway, and may not fit with our latino theme.
This soundtrack is from a spanish/south american film and the warm colours and dark skin tones are very similar to our music video. We particularly liked the central female character surrounded by the two males as it clearly suggests a story or a plot central the film. The title faded over the top of the image is very effective as it is big and bold but doesn't take away from the main image. We also liked the linear block down the side of the cover with the name of the artists.

Once again all of the soundtracks have the star as the dominating image. Jessica Alba in 'Honey' is dancing to convey the main theme of the film, and the direct address to the camera which Rachel Weisz and Susan Lynch draws our attention to the cover and anchors the title 'beautiful creatures'. The black white and red effect used in 'el cantante' makes the film look very sophisticated, arty and beautiful which is quite a contrast to most of Jennifer Lopez' films.

These covers are from real albums and I chose them as inspiration as they are all very feminine, very much like our video. These covers are particularly aspirational for girls for example the bright pibk feathers in the Garbage album and the very pretty and innocent close up of Christina Aguilera. Thse covers also offer great appeal to the boy audience, especially Christina who is directly addressing the audience whilst lying in a bed. I thought the middle cover was great because it uses a group of girls - like our vid - standing in a kind of dancy pose (one of our main themes) and are wearing 40s/50s costumes, a period which we have drawn from with our moulin rouge inspired costumes and our 50s boudoir. The garbage cover is great with the feathers as we also used lots of silks and feathery materials in our video. I think this cover and the 'It girls' cover would be really useful for our back covers which we could fade and put the track names over the top.

And very quickly, i thought the special effect on the iggy pop album cover with the bright clashing colours could look really good on our album, thought a font similar to 'heavy soul' could look very spanish/latino if spelling 'Mercado', and liked the central image as it reminded me of Gee's chair!

Dance Routine

It has been my responsibility to choreograph the dance routine for the middle section of the music video, and I constructed it with the help of two inspirational music videos (Christina Aguilera 'Ain't No Other Man' and West Side Story 'America').

It'll make no sense to you now, starts at about 1min 20sec)

• Up and down up and down
• Step forward right, twist back on left , shake bum 3&4
• Twist with bum round to right diagonalShake shoulders, push left down first
• Forward and back forward and back with left foot and punchy arms
• Salsa step forward and back, dropping onto right foot
• Walk (right) walk (left), place legs out one at a time (right leg first)Do the swishy hair thing, clockwise directionPositions 6, 7, Goli 8
• Push down with right hand knees facing left, pull up with the left hand, knees facing right (slow)
• Gesturing hands as walking backwards (slow)
• Arms with beat, Goli spins (we clap)Arms with beat, Goli wiggles (we clap)
• Arms with beat, Goli does Shakira belly (we clap)
• Arms with beat Goli shimmies (we clap)
• Goli runs forward to jump on bar, while we all shimmy.

Target Audience

Our Target Audience:

• Our core target audience would be young (under 30), both boys and girls, who enjoy music styles from different cultures, dancing, partying and watching independent films (our track is taken from the Motion Picture…) A secondary audience could be younger consumers between the ages of 8 and 18, particularly girls who would aspire to be like the star of the video.
• The tastes and attitudes of our core audience in a media context would particularly be the enjoyment and consumption of films and music from varying cultures; particularly Spanish and South American inspired mediums. On a social level, the core audience would enjoy go out to clubs, dancing and being with friends. In many ways the video would appeal to girls who enjoy going out, as it includes scenes of getting ready, and girls running around having fun.
• The main function of this style of music is to raise spirits and as a track to dance to – it’s upbeat, catchy, fast-paced and repetitive.
• The audience could interpret this video to help them construct various identities. The most obvious would be the South American, sexy, carnival-going, Spanish dancing, hunk or mama. However, there are also identities such as being a party-goer socialite, wearing glamorous and theatrical clothing, and being someone that other people admire.
• Typically this music would be consumed at a club, bar or party to get people dancing, however consumers may also listen to it when getting ready to go out or when trying to raise their mood when working at home!

Fitting Ideas to the Track

This was my first attempt to structure the group's ideas around the music, fitting the different sections of narrative with suitable sections of music in order to be effectively illustrative or juxtapositional.

• Starts with the fast make-up shots, CUs etc
• When the big beat kicks in i thought we could have a lift opening (an idea we mentioned ages ago) and as the doors open all the girls are posing in full costume.
• Now we have the running round the streets and the bus and stuff all going on, interspersed at this point with very short glimpses of trumpets playing, silhouettes of dancers, and maybe flashes of costume and bright colours.
• Then when the tune dies down and it just the drums (the music goes quite slow) i thought we could have Goli's big entrance (like the filthy gorgeous vid) where we show everyone watching her, CUs of their expressions, the movements are quite slow. But here we could use some voyeuristic shots of Goli, cutting up her body - eyes, tummy, shoes - as if from the POV of the people watching and scrutinising/admiring her. She then begins to dance a bit...
• And when the tune kicks in again everyone else joins in. Here we have the full on mercado party; loads of alcohol, dancing, people sitting looking cool, cocktails, people having fun.
• Then the guy starts singing and the trumpets are gone (1m 25secs) i think we should have the choreographed dancing but all cut up. So we can have the girls dancing with goli, cut up with boys and girls doing ricky martin dancing, cut up with goli on her own dancing in her ZONE with projections, cut up with all the girls in their boudoir laughing (rehearsing maybe?). Use slow mo a bit here maybe?
• When it goes fast again she should run up onto the bar.

Music Video Genres - Spanish/Latino

Inspirational videos for a spanish/latin theme (if we decided to focus on 'Takin' it over')I looked at two Ricky Martin videos:

'She Bangs'


Although this video is too sexual, i loved the fast paced editing and the great use of close-ups when everyone is dancing particularly in the first verse and chorus - for example the blonde girl shaking her hair, or the low angle shots of girls' bums and legs. Also, at the end when everyone is dancing behind him - i think we could definitely recreate an atmosphere like this at mercado if we got people dancing and shaking their hips! There is a very lively latino feel throughout, and the dancing style would be a great inspiration.

'Livin la vida loca'


This video - again - is too sexual, but the group dancing is fantastic and some of the moves would really fit with the spanish theme we were looking for. I particularly liked the low angles when the girls are dancing, where we can see their sexy heels and fast-moving dancing feet. The colours are all very orangey and gold which creates a great atmosphere. I was in Mocado last night and it's absolutely beautiful and the lighting is very orange and has pink fairy lights everywhere so we could create a similar atmosphere. I also loved the trumpets in this video, it'd be great if we incorporated some instruments as it would make the 'night out' look much more live and exciting. I also thought the extremely fast-paced, flashing, editing at the end would be a great effect for our video as it would allow us to repeat shots to almost 'sum-up' the party, and would make the video look much more professional and againg just more lively and fun.

Music Channel

The Music Factory

TMF is one of MTVs many branches of music channels. TMF is devoted to pop music and is an extremely popular channel as it is part of the freeview package. TMF is one of the main MTV channels which doesn't just braodcast music:

Here are a couple of programmes I have selected from their daily schedule. There is a huge range of programmes to reach a wide audience from children's TV, to music videos, to reality TV, to celebrity programmes. There are lots of programmes where thea udience are encouraged to be interactive, for example 'love match' where you text in you and your partner's name and TMF 'predict' whether you'll be a longlasting match.

MUSIC
1:00 - Big Ones & New Ones
The freshest videos on the box can be found right here!

KIDS
7:00 - Go Diego Go!
Diego is an action-adventure hero with an intense love of animals. He invites preschoolers to help him race to the rescue with a host of gadgets & vehicles including his transforming Rescue Pack!
7:30 - Dora The Explorer
Join Dora and her best friend, a monkey named Boots, in another exciting adventure.

MUSIC
9:00 - Ultimate 20 21st Century Videos

CELEBS
13:00 - Cribs
Welcome to Cribs, the most exciting way to peep into the homes of your favourite celebrities without getting slapped with a restraining order.

REALITY/CELEBS/PRANKS
13:30 - Punk'd
Sketch comedy show featuring Ashton Kutcher playing practical jokes on unsuspecting celebrities. Friends, family and a host of extras get involved in the Candid Camera-style pranks.

REALITY
14:00 - Laguna Beach: The Real O.C.
LC and the girls decide it's about time that all of the college kids from Laguna have a barbeque get together at her house. Meanwhile, Kristen is treated to a brand new car.

REALITY/AUDIENCE INTERACTIVITY
14:30 - Date My Mom UK
The weird dating show that has 1 hot batchelor dating three yummy mummies to discover everything they can about their daughters before making a final choice comes to the UK....

CELEBS
18:30 - Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica
The Newlyweds Vacation: Nick, Jessica, Drew, and Lea go skiing. Nick has problems skiing.

MUSIC
19:00 - The Official Download Chart
We take a look at the official biggest downloads of the moment.

CELEBS
20:00 - Celebrity Fashion Disasters...
...All Access: Good fashion choices? That's easy. But we're here to talk about the other side of fashion - the choices that are usually only whispered about behind people's backs.

AUDIENCE INTERACTIVITY
21:00 - Awesomely Wacky Families
Think your family is wacky? Your relatives have nothing on these dysfunctional families. Join us as we visit the Jacksons, the Osbournes, the Bushes, the Clintons, the Windsors and more.

It's clear to see that for an artist to be broadcast on TMF they would have to be nationally popular. That doesn't necessarily mean pop artists, but bands and soloists who have national appeal, for example, the arctic monkeys aren't a pop band, but they have taken the nation by storm. Furthermore, TMF places such emphasis on celebrity culture, that an artist would have to be very involved on the a-list scene and would have to have an appealing image.

Independent Record Label

Moshi Moshi Records

Moshi Moshi Records is a small London-based independent record label that has released music by bands such as The Rakes, Bloc Party and Hot Chip. It was formed in 2001 as a hobby by a group of friends who wanted an opportunity to work on the music they liked, outside the mainstream world of their major-label day jobs. In 2006 they released a compilation album of the best songs they’ve released in the five years they’ve been a record label.

Artists:

Alterkicks
Architecture in Helsinki
Au Revoir Simone
Best Fwends
Bloc Party
Blue Foundation
Break bot
Dananananakroyd
Dntel
Fans of Kate
Foreign Born
The Grates
Hot Chip
Hot Club de Paris
Ingo Star Cruiser
J Xaverre
Junk Boy
Kate Nash
Lo-Fi-Fnk
The Mae Shi
Mates of State
Matt and Kim
Matt Harding
New Rhodes
Pedro v Kathryn Williams
The Rakes
Rat:att:agg
Roland Shanks
Slow Club
Sukpatch
Tilly and the Wall
Unsound
Yeti
Zan Lyons

Independent Record Label

Rough Trade Records

Rough Trade Records started out as an independent record label based in London. It grew out of the Rough Trade shop in 1978 and also went into the distribution business. It then became independent from the shop in 1982. It went bankrupt in 1991 ruining quite a few smaller record labels that they owed money to. It was then relaunched in 2000. Rough Trade is known for specialising in European post-punk and other alternative rock. BMG (a big record company who are in allegiance with Sony) bought them out in 2002.

In 2006 Rough Trade went on to create 'rough trade digital' an online shop where you can pay to download good 'indie' music. It was set up to compete with the growing demand for downloadable tracks, but also to promote the importance of paying for downloads, instead of illegally downloading.

Artists:
1990s
Aberfeldy
Antony & The Johnsons
Arcade Fire
A.R.E. WeaponsVirginia
Astley
Babyshambles
Beachwood Sparks
Bell Orchestré
Belle & Sebastian
Brakes
British Sea Power
Basia Bulat
Jarvis Cocker
Cornershop
The Decemberists
Delays
Detroit Cobras
Dr. Dog Cara
DillonBaxter
Dury
Eastern Lane
Equation
The Fiery Furnaces
Adam Green
Hal
The Hidden Cameras
Islands
Lavender Diamond Jeffrey Lewis
Jenny Lewis
The Libertines
The Long Blondes
LowThe Mescalitas
The Moldy Peaches
Oneida
Phantom Buffalo
Queen Adreena
Eddi Reader
Relaxed Muscle
Alasdair Roberts
Royal City Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
Scissors For Lefty
Scritti Politti
The Strokes
Sufjan Stevens
Sun Kil Moon
Super Furry Animals
Emiliana Torrini
The Tyde
The Unicorns
The Veils

Although Rough Trade is no longer an independent record label, it still acts as one, in order to retain its 'image'. Therefore, people still see the label as being, cool, new, innovative and original and so are more inclined to buy records from its artists.

My Track Ideas

Tracks

• Takin' Over - Ralph Robles, 3:03

Rough treatment for the video: tying in with the idea of people in costumes doing silly things this would be great. The latin theme could induce behavious such as monkeys shaking their bums and tums in funny latino skirts. 'The land of boogaloo' deffo ties in with the madness and animalness that would be invoked. Great breaks in the music for dance routines, loads of different instruments, no vocals.

• Freakshow - Krafty Kuts, 4:12

Rough Treatment for the video: again could tie in with the themes we have, probably too techno. Freaks. Nina can have angels devils fat people and dwarfs!

• Bass Phenomenon - Krafty Kuts, 4:03

Really deep voice saying 'Bass phenomenon' will be wicked to completely juxtapose with a skinny white boy or a moneky or whatever. The fast pace is great for narrative, especially for a chase, with people jumping on cars, hidhing behind walls, escaping from starsky and hutch-type characters.

• Brown Boxes - The Spinto Band, 2:28

About a guy leaving behind all the commotion at his house as he's breaking up with his girlfriend. To make this quirky there are a series of ideas we could pick from: the guy's being kicked out because he's different because he's a monkey and no one else is. OR it could be based around a kind of Goldilocks-style story, where the couple (dressed as bears) are arguing over porridge or something silly and he leaves and he's really cute and fluffy (the music is quite nursery-rhyme-ish). AND I had the idea of funny creatures coming out of the boxes doing silly things. AND we can esily include the band playing funny instruments weirdly in the background. A definate narrative idea.

• Convenience - BOB, 3:33

Great if we wanted to do a happy, cute video with a boy singing about the girl he likes as she goes about on her motorbike, lots of shots of her hair flowing, her smiling lots, lots of slow mo, her dancing around in cute dresses.

• Love is the only law - Pondlife, 3:19

Not really the right song but ska is a good genre we could work from, very lively lots of instruments.

• Skinny Girls - The Fratellis, 2:18

The set up of a perfect narrative - a guy wakes up with three girls in his room. The girls are very weird, superficial, cabaret-type characters who wear loads of make-up and mad dresses, highly attractive. In comparison, we have this guy who could be a monkey or a complete geek or something and he's really shocked as they drag him around, feed him cornflakes and beer, dress him up, take him to a party (someone dancing stupidly in a club in a costume!). We can definately include the rest of the band: they could just be dotted around in different shots randomly, like in the background pretending to be tramps or something, like the E4 men who are just really funny. And they could be animals too. This track is really fast-paced, so needs to have loads of energy and attack with potential for extremely impressive cinematography and editing skills.

• Oh Pretty Woman, Roy Orbison, 2:58

The video would be about a guy or a group trying to woo a woman. Plenty of scopography, intimate shots panning up the sexy woman's legs etc. Their attempts could failing a lot, plenty of them trying to serenade her. Wouldn't really fit with what we want to do, too slow and cheesy probably. But its pretty amazing this song doesn't already have a video!

Close analysis of one album cover

Image: iconic image of bassist Paul Simonon smashing up his guitar at The Palladium in New York City - which was at the time the 'Mecca' of punk and new wave music. This has been later voted the greatest rock n roll photograph of all time.

Although we appear to be close to the key figure, the image is still a long shot, and the rest of the band are out of focus - but still visible - in the background. The wires on stage are present in the image which conveys the fact that this is a live performance, proving how much of a spontaneous and impulsive moment the photographer has captured. This moment reflects the rebellious nature of 'The Clash', a band renowned for their passionately political opinions - left wing, anti-monarchy and anti-aristocracy. Furthermore, they're influence stirred up the public as it drew upon contemporary political issues, especially amongst the working classes (for example, their song 'career opportunities' expressed their discontent about the alienation of low-paid, production line style employment and the lack of alternatives.) Therefore, this picture perfectly encapsulates this sense of uprising and rebellion that the Clash's punk movement was actively spreading.

The cover conforms to conventions, with the band name and album title framing the central image. The text is pink and green, in a quite bubbly, slightly jokey-style font, apparently replicating an old Elvis Presley album. It directly contrasts with the black and white image, making the album look much more contemporary and exciting. The text here is in a reasonably large font, to grab the audience's attention and to immediately promote the album. The spine repeats the name and album title also naming the production company and showing the reference number - essential institutional information.

The back cover once again uses a large font, the same style as on the front cover, to name the band and album title. Underneath this is a list of each band member and their role:

"MICK JONES: GUITARS, VOCALS
JOE STRUMMER: VOCALS, RHYTHM GUITAR
PAUL SIMONON: BASS, VOCALS
TOPPER HEADON: DRUMS, PERCUSSION"

This gives a sense of introducing the band, which is essential in selling an album. Underneath this is a list of tracks and their titles. This is a conventional album cover feature, as it informs the consumer of the tracks, and is also a tool for recognition - when the potential buyer of the album reads the back, if singles they know and like appear in the track listing, they are more likely to trust that the rest of the album will be good. This album has 19 tracks. The back cover also includes two more photographs of the band performing live, one of Joe Strummer on guitar with the crowd cheering behind him, and one of Mick Jones and Topper Headon performing around the drum kit. These images once again establish the band as being musical and instrument-based, and anchors their genre of music - they are clearly not a cheesy pop band. Like the front cover, the images on the back are in black and white, keeping the theme and style continuous. More institutional information is included here - 'Columbia records' and their logo, the reference number, the copyright laws statement and symbol, and Sony Music Entertainment is named.

The inner sleeve of my version of the album is probably different to the original as it is a 25th anniversary addition, nonetheless it is apparent that the theme of black and white images, bright green and pink block colours is still used. A font is also used inside which is in the style of scrawly handwriting, giving a sense that the band were quite messy, arty, spontaneous and down-to-earth.

Overall, the cover gives a sense of an underground, independent band. However, this is just where the band had originally emmerged from - at this point, The Clash were huge stars who had even broken America, however they still held onto the 'small indie punk rock band' image. Furthermore, knwoing the huge scale of 'Columbia Records' productions and the importance of Sony in the music industry, it is clear that they are aiming for a huge, much more mainstream audience than you'd originally expect.

Album Covers

From top (left to right):

• Bjork - Post (1995)
• Dido - Life for rent (2003)
• Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous (1978)
• The Beatles - Abbey Road (1969)
• Destiny's Child - Number 1's (2005)
• Razorlight - self titled (2006)
• I am Kloot - self titled (2003)
• The eels - electro-shock blues (1998)
• Massive Attack - blue lines (1991)

I've grouped them according to the style/main image.

* The 1st row all have an image of a singular person. The women are both solo artists, and although Thin Lizzy is a band, their album cover predominantly shows their lead singer/guitarist.

* The second row all use images which show a whole band. Both the Beatles and Razorlight use the whole band in one image, Destiny's Child places three seperated photographs next to one another.

* The 3rd row however, is using graphics to represent the band and the album. The I am Kloot album has used simply the name of the band in bold writing, The eels have used what appears like a hand-drawn picture, and Massive Attack have adapted a well-known symbol.

It'd also be interesting if i categorised chronologically. (Differences and similarities between 1960s and 2000s)

Typical Features an album cover has:

Front:
• Main image
• Name of artist
• Title of album
• Band logo? Title in a recognisable style of the artist

Back (i.e. the sleeve)
• Track list
• Special Features
• Another predominant image underneath the text

Institutional information:
• Price
• Barcode
• Record Label
• Year of publishing
• Copyright
• Individual track writers, composers, engineers, producers
• A reference number
• Band members
• Guest performers

Spine:
• Name of artist
• Title of album
• Record label
• Reference number

Inserts:
• Further institutional information for each individual track
• Song lyrics
• Photographs of artist
• Thank Yous

Purposes of an album cover:
To protect the album
To advertise the contents
Using the artistic design to reflect the creative intentions of artists
To reflect the principles, attitudes etc of record label
To stand out, to be interesting and eye-catching
To boost sales, enhance profit

Spike Jonze

Spike Jonze - just a bit of research:

Has worked in advertising, films and television, has also done some acting. best known for his music videos:

Music videos
"High in High School" by Chainsaw Kittens (1992)
"100%" by Sonic Youth (1992)
"Cannonball" by The Breeders (1993)
"Country At War" by X (1993)
"Daughters of the Kaos" by Luscious Jackson (1993)
"Hang On" by Teenage Fanclub (1993)
"Time For Livin'" by the Beastie Boys (1993)
"All About Eve" by Marxman (1994)
"Buddy Holly" by Weezer (1994)
"Ditch Digger" by Rocket From the Crypt (1994)
"Divine Hammer" by The Breeders (1994)
"Feel the Pain" by Dinosaur Jr. (1994)
"I Can't Stop Smiling" by Velocity Girl (1994)
"If I Only Had a Brain" by MC 900 Ft. Jesus (1994)
"Old Timer" by That Dog (1994)
"Ricky's Theme" by Beastie Boys (1994)
"Sabotage" by Beastie Boys (1994) (also writer)
"Sure Shot" by Beastie Boys (1994)
"Undone (The Sweater Song)" by Weezer (1994)
"California" by Wax (1995)
"Car Song" by Elastica (1995)
"Crush with Eyeliner" by R.E.M. (1995)
"Freedom of '76" by Ween (1995)
"It's Oh So Quiet" by Björk (1995)
"The Diamond Sea" by Sonic Youth (1995)
"Who Is Next?" by Wax (1995)
"Drop" by The Pharcyde (1996)
"Da Funk" by Daft Punk (1997)
"Electrolite" by R.E.M. (1997)
"Elektrobank" by The Chemical Brothers (1997)
"It's All About the Benjamins (rock version)" by Puff Daddy (1997)
"Liberty Calls" by Mike Watt (1997)
"Shady Lane" by Pavement (1997)
"Sky's The Limit" by Notorious B.I.G. (1997)
"Home (Sean Lennon song)" by Sean Lennon (1998)
"Praise You" by Fatboy Slim (1998) - award winning
"Root Down" (version 2) by Beastie Boys (1998)
"The Rockafeller Skank" (version 1) by Fatboy Slim (1998)
"Weapon of Choice" by Fatboy Slim (2000)
"What's Up, Fatlip?" by Fatlip (2000)
"Wonderboy" by Tenacious D (2000)
"Island in the Sun" (Version 2) by Weezer (2002)
"It's in Our Hands" by Björk (2002)
"Big Brat" by Phantom Planet (2003)
"Get Back" by Ludacris (2004)
"Y Control" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2004)
"Triumph of a Heart" by Björk (2005)
" Blessed Evening" by Foetus (2005)

His work is known to be wildly creative and eccentric, he is a cult figure amongst many movie or music fans, made his name in 1994 with his Beastie Boys video, but prefers to stay completely out of the limelight. his real name is Adam Spiegel.

Good Music Videos

Just linking a couple of music videos which are pretty interesting, unusual or just memorable. well, i think so...

The Eels - My Beloved monster



Blur - Coffee and TV (the milk carton is sooo cute)



Bjork - It's all so quiet, directed by Spike Jones. It's just a bit mad, and the umbrellas are wicked.


Overall I think the song is illustrative - it fits with the lyrics (ie putting had to lips when 'sshh'), and links love with happiness (as we would expect) through dancing, laughing and big, bold colours.

There is a sense of narrative: there is a prelude to the piece where she is washing her face which starts the story. The narrative is basically, everything normal around her turns really weird and mad as soon as she starts singing about being in love. For example, she is leaning on a bin, which starts dancing with her when she sings 'when you fall in love'. HOWEVER, I think the use of conforming to many conventions of the 'musical' genre undermines the narrative, producing a more performance-based video. She sings along to all of the lyrics and dances when the music builds to a climax. The conventions she complies to are people bursting into song (she seems as though she's bursting into song because she was being normal and washing her face before hand), normal people joining in and dancing with her, everyone randomly knowing what moves to do at the same time even though they've 'never met'.

This also gives a sense of inter-textuality - it's just like any musical films we've seen. She's tap dancing and singing on the street like in 'singing in the rain', and there's a big ensemble dance and she dances on a car, just like in 'fame'.

There are many CUs of the artist, especially when she has a very intimate shot of her singing slowly, her hair blowing gracefully, and she's looking very beautiful. All of the shots of her however are not sexual, she looks small, cute, feminine and happy. The camera is following her the whole time, she's like the main character in a film.

Voyeurism: not so much people watching her, but the fact that all the dancers join in WITH her suggests that she's cool.

Mcfly - 5 colours in her hair



The genre of this music is essentially pop, boyband and the video conforms to the typical generic conventions of this type of video; the group perform, they are good looking, fun, up to mischief, young, and their main interst is concerning a girl.

The relationship between the lyrics and the visuals is illustrative (the girl who they are singing about in the video complies with the girl in the lyrics, for example she's a bit different, trendy and has five colours in her hair). However, the relationship isn;t literal, the lyrics talk about how she shaves off her hair and can't deal with her popularity at school, but in the video she just joins in with the band and dances around with them.

The relationship between the music and the visuals is also illustrative, the music is energetic and fast paced and the guitars have a very surfer-like riff which is included in the visuals. The performance of the music and the music are in sync, as well as the use of lots of movements and edits which are in conjuncture with the rhythm.

There are plenty of visuals hooks which are always CUs of the band members. There is a notion of looking in this video; the girl is watching them perform on the telly, and the band have lots of fans dancing around them and watching them. I noticed one intertextual reference; the video is about this very colourful modern girl who is stuck with her family who appear to live in the black and white world of the 60s. When her and the band jump into the telly the old BBC image comes up which was always used when there was a technical fault, but this time it has mcfly surfing in the middle.

The video is performance based, but there's an ongoing narrative of the girl who is bored and stuck at home, she's then saved by the McFly boys and she joins their performance by dancing with them.