Initially I didn't give as much thought to font due to the constant change of my Digipak cover, once decided on my front cover I then proceeded on with the font.
For my front cover I used a small and delicate font, very feminine, this was due to the large amount happening on the front cover, I didn't want the viewers eye to wonder and be oblivious to the detail in the image due to a large font. The font is very basic, yet again reinforcing the idea that the viewers eye can focus in on the image. Black has been used for the artist name "Noccankani" this again reinforces the idea of darkness ans stands out against the top of image while being in contrast to the white font "Hurt Me" album title, this highlighting the good and the side of light in which the girl is. The use of two different colours results in them both standing out from other another, although located some distance apart the use of the same colour could have resulted in them merging both into the background and into another and audiences may have got confused about the difference between the two.
On my back cover I used a very contradicting font compared to my front cover, where as on the front the font was small and feminine, the font showed on the back cover is large and masculine. This is used to present the other character shown throughout my music video, the father to the young girl, the font presents his enormity and size in comparison to the young girl.
The use of white is very contradicting to the character and there reinforcing these two opposing size, all track names are in white as they stand out against the black and white background and yet still correspond well with the light emitted from the lights.
My magazine advert uses a mix of both fonts presented on the front and back covers, the reason for having the artists name in bold letters across the top of my advert was simple, I wanted passers by on the street or in stores windows to catch the title, and proceed to continue on down the rest of the poster. Hurt Me was still presented in small delicate font as I wanted the theme of the music video to still be presented through the use of text, it also provides a clear representation of the album cover so individuals will easily be able to find it.
The idea of my album cover being made of cardboard was decided at the very beginning of the process and was something I kept with throughout, cardboard presented something a lot more unique and unusual than plastic, which is used commonly in todays society. The use of cardboard sticks well to the Alternative genre.
My concept for my Digipak covers were constantly changing throughout the creative process, as mentioned in a previous post I wished to have a plain black background presenting different body parts emerging from the darkness, after trying out this idea on Photoshop I decided against the idea. It presented the piece as being too clean and looked polish, I decided I wanted something that presented the emotions that the young girl is feeling throughout the music video.
My next idea was to have an females face on the front cover, it would be a montage of different peoples facial parts presented in different tones, yet again I discovered a problem very early on that it created something too clean, I wanted something more raw and emotional.
I then decided upon one persons face which had the effect of being broken up into small pieces and then layed out for the world to see on my cover, I wasvery committed to this idea and once I had taken the appropriate pictures I then went onto create the piece. Providing more difficulty than I had originally believed, I was unable to create an image that had this effect and instead created something that was distorted and too muddled, the viewers eye would be to confused as to where to look and would not fully understand the meaning.
My final piece was then decided, I thought to make the piece more basic and still allow the emotion and message to easily be read by the viewer, I still used the image originally designed for the more shattered effect. I split the picture into three pieces, as seen on the right, to the left I changed the tone to a darker shade, this shows the darkness the girl is feeling through the pain her family is forcing upon her. To the left the tone is light, this shows the goodness in which in the girl is and the endless battle between the two. The image is cut in three as it visually presents the damaged and broken effect the young girl is feeling as a result of her family.
I believe this piece had a much greater effect than the original concepts I came up with and provided a harder hitting piece. The inside was originally going to be something that presented nature such as forest, river, this was my concept in my reflection however as I invented my front cover the inside followed in accordance to visual present the haunted feeling in a much more visually obvious manner.
Throughout the creative process I continually received audience feedback from those in my class and out of it, initially in class we had a select number of students view each others work, videos had not been finished but audience feedback could still be received on initial ideas and works. After positive feedback we then continued on with our music video, once finished we exhibited the final piece to the class, comprising of both male and female, 17-18 year old's, therefore getting an even selection of results. As audience views are such a crucial part of a product it is important to get the views of both male and female however, as our protagonist is female I believe our music video is more catered towards the female population. 17/18 was part of the demographic we set out to appeal to, this is because they are highly involved in the media, viewing or interacting with it every day also, the theme of the video could appeal to the audience as they could understand the feeling the protagonist is going through. The amount of females asked and the age range asked to carry out the questionnaires were specific to my audience profile as I believe they would be the age/gender more likely to watch my music video. The music videos were shown on the computer using speakers to play the sound clearly, students gathered round the computer were they could all view the production, afterwards they wrote down shots they found interesting and key elements that stuck to the genre Alternative/Pop. After gaining these results I then went on to add final touches to the music video, after this I produced 6 questionnaires, these I gave out to students in the class and a few out of the class, this was to produce a wider range of results as those out of class would have no idea about the genre conventions or storyline.
Questionnaires ranged from one word answers and tick box questions to long answered questions, this produced a varied array of quantitative and qualitative data in which I could compare.
Below are an array of the questionnaires completed by individuals; they provide a variation of questions which are; tick box questions, multiple choice and the participants own opinions, this allowed for instant feedback on any aspects of my music video I may need to edit/remove/add.
Another reason for using an large variety of questions was because individuals in my class would have been adapted to understand and view things from a different angle to those not in my class, a key example of this is the question, How does the music video use genre conventions? Those in my class would already be aware of what conventions would be expected of particular genre types in detail, where as those outside of the class would not have as keen of a eye to pick up where we have applied a convention to the scenario.
The first 4 questions all provided very similar results, the first question; did you enjoy the music video, the results included one 4 and five 5's, 1 being Bad and 5 being Good, this provided a very broad idea with little detail but still showed that the viewer enjoyed the music video. The next question, did it hold your attention, although yet again very broad and crosses over slightly with the first question, I could see if the individual with engaged with the production piece; the results produced two 4's and four 5's, although one marked slightly lower on this question they still showed as being engaged and I however had further detailed questions in which they could highlight what they viewed negatively. The next question, was the music video; too long, too short, correct, all participants answered correct. And finally, would you watch the music video again, all answered yes, this therefore showed me that the music video was interesting and had elements that kept the viewer hooked.
Above shows one of the questionnaire completed in the process, the first question answered, How does the music video use genre conventions? The individual states how I have used certain shots to the beat such as the young girl running down the stairs and drumming to the beat, this is a convention of the Pop genre and also applies to Goodwin's theory. She also says that the camera work and editing was effective in the next question, I believe this may have been one of the more difficult questions to answer, especially for those who have not been taught to notice how camera angles can create a whole different scene. What are your favourite shot/shots? This question was one based solely on the individuals preferences, in this case their favourite shot was of the shadow spinning on the grass, this shot provided the feel of freedom the young girl received from the outside world in a very simple shot which still provided great effect. I liked the shot and thought it went well with the portion of the song and so by receiving this response it only heightened my belief in this shot. She then goes onto say she understands the storyline, this question holds much greater power than the other questions as the music video is a narrative piece, it is very important that the viewer understands what is happening and therefore is able to relate to the piece. What did you dislike about the music video? The participant states she dislikes the strong use of black and white throughout the piece, I understood why the participant said this however, the use of black and white was chosen at the very beginning of production and was something we knew we would never change throughout the piece, alas when it came to editing we did view what the piece would look like in colour but quickly decided against it as it went "cheesy" and more into the Pop genre instead of being a mesh of both Pop and Alternative. Although Beyonce "If I Were A Boy" is of the genre Pop and also shot in black and white, the production is polished and the black and white works well with it however, one of the
main themes of this video is the pain that the woman is feeling, this corresponds with ours even though it is a different pain. This shows that black and white can work well within the Pop genre depending on the theme and the storyline.The use of black and white also highlighted the key theme of pain and the side of good and bad, in colour these themes wouldn't have been able to be highlighted in multiple contexts. And finally, How could I improve the music video? The answer was corresponding with the above answer, have certain scenes in colour for example the part where she is happy, this is a good idea as it would allow viewers to clearly visualise what the character was feeling emotionally nonetheless, I believe changing the colour effect on just a few shots would change the feel of the video too much, to something that was more theatrical than something highlighting this girls pain and freedom she then rightfully earns. After carrying out the questionnaire I asked the participant whether overall they enjoyed the piece and found the theme to be carried out in the correct manner, they agreed and said that the theme was carried out professionally without being violent/explicit a different kind of pain was shown which isn't very often in music videos.
The next participant also female, 18 years old, this fits the age of the demographic we wished to reach out to with our music video and also, I asked more females than males about the music video as the protagonist was a young girl going through this pain and therefore they are more likely to relate to her. The main question I wanted to highlight about this questionnaire; what are your favourite shot/shots. The participant answered with the flashing lights and the fireplace, these were two very important scenes to the production piece and therefore gaining this response was rewarding. The shots taken of the young girl sitting amongst the lamps as they flash on and off both in sync and out of sync were shots decided upon very early on in production, originally with a slightly different concept they were altered slightly to adapt to a more adequate and realistic location, they provide a normal setting with a peculiar concept happening on around the young girl, the lamps. These shots were ones we believed to be strong and really capture audiences to keep watching, this is why the shot was used more than once throughout the piece, receiving the respond confirmed that these shots were used in a correct manner. The other strong shots noted were the fireplace shots, these were important to the piece as they provided one of the four elements in which we had used, the young girl is seen looking into the fire, this occurs within many family homes and yet the viewer can immediately sense that something is not right within this young girls. This shows that what we believed to be our strongest shots were and provided the themes and elements we wished for.
A participants questionnaire presented above, 18 and male, although in the same age range I wanted to view what a male's opinions were on the production piece.
How does the music video use genre conventions? Noted down are black and white, lighting and unhappy family. The effect of using black and white was taken from the Alternative genre, it provided something raw and allowed the piece to become more realistic while also seeming a little dated. The use of lighting is something that comes a lot more from the Pop genre, lighting is a major theme which is constantly mutated and is very rarely natural lighting, in our music video the only lighting trying adapted was the lamp scene. The unhappy family is a theme seen in the Alternative genre as they present real life scenarios and therefore we have moulded this convention into our own. According to the individuals feedback we have clearly represented our genre conventions in the video of both Alternative and Pop.
How effective was the camera work and editing? "great, the spinning shots with the cutaways." I found that these shots split up the scenes and provided something interesting, they distorted the viewers vision on what was happening within the scene, I hoped that this view would be seen by the audience as well and so it has.
Did you understand the storyline? As mentioned earlier this question is of heavy importance due to the narrative structure, "family arguing with the girl, girl runs away to a happy place." The answer given to this question simplifies what is happening throughout the video, this shows that the audience member was engaged with the piece and interpreted what was happening in the correct manner, this also shows that we managed to interpret the storyline of the video accurately.
And finally how could I improve the music video? "More shots of Charlie (the young boy)
drumming" The drumming was used along side the building of the beat, this corresponded well with the conventions and provided interesting visuals which weren't expected due to the topic of the video. I understand the need to have more shots of Charlie drumming however, I feel if I had too many then it would have taken the grand effect away from the other shots. Also, these shots could be interpreted in a number of ways; the boy could have been part of the family and him drumming could have just been caught on film or it could have been a shot used to break away from the narrative piece, breaking the 4th wall down, like the boy is aware of the beat. These are decisions that the viewer needs to decide within the few seconds of viewing the shot, it provides enigma to what the boy is doing by only providing a small number of shots.
Throughout the process of designing and making my Digipalk I was constantly asking others for their views on my ideas, I received feedback verbally. I asked my partner on my music video, Holly Duffield, for her opinions on my original concept for my Digipak, we both choose to design two very different pieces when it came to our Digipak, originally she liked the idea of body parts emerging from the darkness when I then presented the idea on photoshop she didn't like the idea, she believed it to be simple in the wrong manner.
I then moved forward with my other idea, I asked others outside of the class what they liked and disliked about it, at this point my front image was the same but with a plain black background, Rachael McCarney liked the image but believed the background to be too harsh and plain against the image, after some consideration and looking at the image I found this to be true and went onto change it.
After completing the music video I went on to create a Digipak and magazine advert, the original concept I had was of a young girls face displayed on the front cover smashed into pieces to create a shattered effect, after playing around on photoshop and researching other album covers I decided against this idea as too much would be happening on the front cover, confusing the viewers eye.
I started by researching into album covers of a similar genre as well as those of different genres to see what conventions are primarily used, the main concept I wanted to discover was how to make an album cover eye catching as this is what will draw the buyer in to look over and then purchase the product.
Album covers of the same genre to my own or of the Alternative genre use very simple formats for their album cover. An example is, Of Monsters and Men album cover, it portrays a man on the beach smiling at the camera, the image itself looks as if it could be captured by his friend, family etc, it does not look as if it was professional taken and I believe this is what gives its appeal to the audience, its simplicity is appealing and they will be able to relate to the image. Out in the waves is a small house, this provides a level of "anonymity" which would lead the audience to believe that the music videos of this artist have everyday life situations with unusual things happening or by changing a certain element. I then went on to view a music video by Of Monsters and Men "Little Talks" the video is in animation format, its the story of 5 men who spot something falling from the sky and go over to discover a female being inside, as the group go on with their journey they come across numerous beasts which the female is able to defeat, its a story of however small you are, you can defeat your demons. This is a realistic story which conforms to the conventions of Alternative and yet tells the story in an eye catching point of view which audiences will find intriguing, this then goes on to relate to the normal scenario on the album cover with the out of the ordinary placement of the house.
Throughout our music video we included shots of this normal scenario with the out of the ordinary placement of objects, such as the shots of the young girl surrounded by lamps flashing on and off, the room itself presents a scenario presented within a home. Although all the furniture is seen to be covered up by sheets presenting the idea that the home is abandoned or that the individuals will soon be leaving, this is commonly seen within homes, the use of the lamps presents something unusual. First of all they are the only objects that are seen to have not been covered up and second that they are flashing on and off in a circle around the young girl, she is aware of what is happening around her and that the camera is upon her, this breaks down the 4th wall.
Another example of a simple front cover is Sea Wolf, as seen on the right, it presents a basic image of the sea and sky with the font being the key focus, the band name corresponds with the image and although it is simple it still brings in the viewers eye, both album covers present the element water, this is one of the key themes throughout our video.
A shot is used at 1:29 presenting a river, the shot pans along part of the river, this is used as a cut away from the original scenario unfolding and also provides distortion between the shots so the audience is provided with this overwhelming feeling that the young girl feels when she is outside, she is trying to take everything in of her place of happiness.
After my research I concluded that most, if not all Alternative genre albums don't include an image of the band on the front but instead a location, an object or a group of individuals portraying the theme of the album.
I then went onto look at Pop album covers, what become obvious throughout my research is that the singer is the focus point of the viewers eye, an example on the right is of Lady Gaga, Artpop. Lady Gaga appears clad with carefully positioned objects/hair to hide her body, although a convention of Pop is extravagant costume, not wearing any clothes is seen as being dramatic and in some cases controversial. The surrounding background is a mixture of images carefully edited with no natural setting, this is also a convention commonly seen in Pop. The album cover works with the music videos on the album, as both supply theatricality, audiences can initially view this album cover and it's themes come across clearly, individuals know what they are getting when they purchase the CD.
After viewing these and others I decided that my album cover should take one element from the music video and expand it to provide the key theme of my Digipak. I preferred Alternative covers as I believed they manage to capture the viewers eye without being extravagant, this is what I wanted as my music video is about abuse and loneliness of a young girl, if I had a front cover with bright images and provocative women, audiences would be confused about the correlation between the two and they would not be getting what they expect. An album cover is there to provide a single image of the entirety of the music on the album, therefore the image needs to correspond with the conventions of the sound and visuals of the songs/music videos.
The element I then went on to capture was the haunted and broken feeling the protagonist is feeling, this was then captured and amplified on each panel of my digipak.
My front cover displayed the image of a girl, her face is split into three parts, this displays how broken she has become because of the abuse she has suffered and the lifelong neglect, this also provides the possibility that she may never truly be "fixed", the image provides an insight into the main product. What is also noticeable is that the girls face on the left is shadowed by darker lighting compared to on the left, this is to represent the dark and light in her life, the good- herself and the bad - her family, this continues on with the theme, haunted. The other thing viewers will see is that her eyes are closed, this can be interpreted in a number of ways; she is praying for help, she is at peace or that she is trying to ignore the world and escape to her own piece of paradise. The background is a collection of trees, they are presented with an effect which results in them having a haunted look about them, nature is used throughout the music video and this theme is therefore presented on the front cover. In our music video the image of a tree is shown, this was used was a contradicting image against the images of the young girl trapped inside.
The font is very simple and elegant reflecting a feminine style, this is amplified by the harsh background, these two elements portray the key elements of the music video.
Panels 2 and 3
The main theme throughout the middle two panels is that of a haunted building, a church in this case, although it is quite different to what continues on throughout the music video it still provides an eerie feeling. Churches are known for being hallow and cold, this can present the emptiness that the protagonist is feeling. The effect used gives the church a haunted feeling, a feeling of dread, it portrays the place as abandoned, the effect would more commonly be used in the genre horror, I believe this adds something else to the Digipak and individuals would be more intrigued by it and therefore, be more likely to purchase this as a CD for collection purpose rather than download it online. The shades of red used supply an array of shadows across both the inside and outside of the church, this provides a visual of ghostly objects/figures, this presents the lost feeling that my protagonist is feeling.
I didn't wish to use the theme of nature too much throughout the Digipak because it was used thoroughly on the music video, therefore I captured more of the emotion which was portrayed, thus the darkness of this emotion can appeal to audiences.
The back cover continues on with the editing theme from within the CD cover, the lights were captured inside a home, this is the first image which links in a more obvious fashion with the music video. Two adjoining turned on lights are connect on a wall, this is the single object in the shot, this is the first image that would be captured within a home environment. The shot is a close up of the two lights, thus the viewer cannot see behind them to view what is happening in the rest of the household however, due to the black and white used on the surrounding area, the viewer get's the impression of darkness, loneliness and pain. Comparing this then against the contrasting bright colour being emitted from the lights, which portrays a single solidarity bright light against the darkness. In relation the young girl in the music video is considered the bright light against the darkness, her family, therefore I have displayed the young girls solidarity through the image of a household object which then goes on to relate to the environment in which she lives in.
The font used is entirely different to that on the front cover, the font on the front is delicate and feminine while the font on the back is more masculine and bold, this is vast contrast, a further representation of the battle between the female and male. It is also used because it is considerably large and therefore individuals will easily be able to read the song titles at a glance.
Goodwin identifies that music as a form will have a relationship between visuals and the music and therefore lead on to have its own style in which audiences will be able to relate to, with the various elements such as; pain, the use of black and white and elements being reinforced throughout the Digipak, audiences will be able to establish the style and this will in a long term effect result in them associating this style with Noccankani.
The above image shows the magazine advert which will be used to promote the CD, the image is the same as used on the CD cover, this is because I believe it is a strong piece and if I used a different piece it may confused the customer and not tie in as well to the overall themes portrayed in the piece. By using the same image, individuals can establish the style of the product. The one main difference is the font 'Noccankani' and 'Out Now' the font is bold and large much like that on the back cover of the CD, the different being that it is black, this allows it to stand out boldly from the background, black also represents a darkness within.
Goodwin's theory states that music videos include a demonstration of typical genre characteristics and can also link to film genres, one of the most clear examples of this is Iggy Azalea 'Fancy', the song takes on Hip Hop/Rap but still has influences of Pop, the music video provided for it is a replica of the 1995 comedy Clueless, this shows high intertexuality with visuals identical to that in the film, this includes; location, mise-en-scene and costume. The film is very much a chick flick comedy, this corresponds well with the Pop although, Iggy Azalea is more Hip Hop they have merged the two ideals well together to provide something that audiences are very much interested in watching. This also brings in a wider range of audience, those who enjoy Rap would listen to the song then go on to watch the music video, after enjoying it they would go on to watch the original film, this provides credibility for the film. On the other hand those who are fans of Clueless would then go to enjoy Iggy Azalea music, using intertexuality introduces a different array of individuals to the artist.
For the music video the main influence of movie genre was independent 'indie' these include feature films that are produced outside of major film studios, budgets are usually lower and they are credited for the way the producers/writers print has been left on the piece, the content is usually a lot deeper and portrays real life scenarios instead of fantasy worlds which are shown in higher film studios, a clear example being Harry Potter which was produced by Warner Bros, an American producer of Film, Music and TV.
The music video has taken on this indie genre, it was produced as a way of helping people and a video in which people could relate to, it wasn't necessarily used for escapism, this is the idealism of many other genres such as fantasy.
My Digipak has influences from the movie genre horror, this genre seeks out individuals most primal fears and results in a negative emotion, this ties in well with my music video as some peoples fears may include that of abuse or abandonment. My front cover shows a young girl with her eyes closed, this to some horror genre enthusiasts may portray the girl as asleep waiting for the villain to attack or that she is dead.
The main influence resulting in this horror convention is the effect used on the middle panels and back cover, the distorted movement of image looks as though objects/buildings are being shadowed, dark colours are used aiding to this effect. The use of this horror genre effect provides a larger range of audience to be intrigued, upon viewing the front cover they would then go on to listen to the track and the music video, this allows them to be introduced to a wider range of genres.
"A text cannot belong to no genre, it cannot be without genre. Every text participates in one or several genres, there is no genreless text" Jacques Derrida.
The genre of our chosen track was always ambiguous as it doesn't truly fit into a single genre but instead merges two; we identified it as alternative/indie with an aspect of pop. A music video cannot be made without using genre conventions, each genre has many conventions these can then cross over into others and therefore when making a music video, you may or may not intentionally add these conventions.
I had to research into these two genres separately to take into account what the main conventions of each one is. Once this was done I could conform to both genre to produce the piece I now have. Alternative and Pop are two very mainstream genres in today's industry.
When it comes to music videos, pop and alternative genres generate two different products; pop will usually introduce a dance piece and is theatrical rather than a straightforward storyline, although the beat of the song is something that would be heard in a pop song.
Lady Gaga always includes numerous dance numbers into her music videos and one of her biggest themes will be theatricality. As seen in the music video above there is no distinct storyline but instead a great number of costume changes, dance and green screen/effects used, no natural setting was used. Comparing this to our music video which uses the same music genre, it is clear we have challenged this convention. We have produced something entirely different, something raw and real which viewers can relate to, instead of a music video which sole purpose is to entertain and used for escapism.
However, after watching Lady Gaga's 'Alejandro' music video, we applied some of the editing techniques to our own music video. For example at 5:38 seconds a fade to black is used repetitively on the scene, it makes the scene unusual and adds something to it. We incorporated this idea onto our music video on the scenes of our main character outside, as this scene was very simple just showing her exploring her environment, this changed it to provide more interest. This also helps to add something quite fast paced and like the pop genre, which central point is the beat and producing visuals to mimic this beat. By adding the effect we have provided something which would have originally been slow paced to speed up to correspond to the music.
Very early we decided to use Black and white. Bright colours are conventionally used in the Pop genre such as 'Katy Perry', black and white is a form used more in the Alternative genre, this is because it can connote a number of things; class such as used in film noir, it can also portray the good and the bad which is a heavy theme in our music video.
The costumes used in our piece are very much of the Alternative genre, they are every day wear, our main character can be seen wearing three outfits throughout the video; a white dress, a black dress with a fur coat and casual black leggings and t shirt, the father and mother who are viewed briefly can also be seen wearing jeans and tshirt/jumper, thus sticking to the conventions of the Alternative genre that individuals in the video should be wearing everyday wear. By doing this we have broken the conventions of Pop genre, which like the rest of the video, proposes that characters should be dressed in either a theatrical manner or in fashionable clothing, in most this will usually be bright clothing. Examples of these can be seen on the right, Katy Perry and Ke$ha can both be seen in theatrical outfits for their music videos.
One of the first ideas we both came up with was this idea of flashing lights and how we could incorporate them into the video, originally we wanted lamps to spread amongst the forest floor flashing on and off, after we realised this would be difficult to do we arrived at the conclusion of having them spread amongst an almost empty room. This idea was taken from Adele "Rolling in the Deep" of using a room which looks as if it may be abandoned, with the use of carefully positioned lighting, see below.
A music video in which the key element is lighting is Katy B "Crying For No Reason" see below.
Both of these music videos are of the Pop genre and therefore we conform to this particular convention of lighting, bright lighting moulded to create something bright and unusual, rather than standard lighting. The natural lighting in the outside shots are something that is seen in Alternative genre, this genre likes to keep things natural and unchanged.
Goodwin states that there is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. This idea was strongly presented at times, however in some cases it was difficult to use the lyrics such as; "maybe cut me on the back with your rainbow". It was difficult to interpret what these lyrics truly meant and therefore to visually interpret, also to provide a representation of those words would have steered towards theatricality. In other places we did provide visuals for the lyrics, "And use it as a mask, keep it in the dark" at this point the leading character moved their hand over the camera to produce darkness. The main element we took from the lyrics was pain. The title itself is 'Hurt Me' and this is repeated throughout, we incorporated this into our own interpretation.
The original idea we had was of domestic violence being the pain presented between a couple however, after some research we decided against this. A clear example of domestic violence between a couple can be represented in 'Love The Way You Lie' the music video is also an example of Goodwin's "relationship between lyrics and visuals", although the song is from a genre which is considered both Pop and Hip Hop the key theme is still similar.
Goodwin also states that the music video should have a Narrative and Performance, our piece is solidly Narrative, from the beginning of our planning we believed a Performance piece would not work well. Narrative also follows on to use one of the main conventions of the Alternative genre, the performance element is rarely used, this is because it makes the video less intimate and viewers can't as easily relate and like the Alternative genre we wished for viewers to relate to our music video. However, some may consider our leading characters performance is her inability to talk because she's been abused and therefore the music talks for her, she's aware that she's in this performance, this is seen from the opening clip which shows her staring down the camera, when she covers the camera and then reveals herself in a different surrounding and then at the end when she laughs. This could also be seen as her 'breaking the fourth wall' although she isn't directly addressing the audience she is still acknowledging that the camera/audience are there. We have used this convention in our music video. Few characters are in our video; the protagonist who was a young girl, the mother and father, the first shot the viewer sees is of the protagonist, this as well as the setting intrigues the audience into watching on.
The reason for choosing violence between a youth and her family was that it wasn't the most conventional theme, and we aimed to break some conventions and make something new, younger adolescents will be able to relate to the feel of the video when they watch our finished piece. This therefore resulted in the male gaze not being used, this is a conventional aspect in many Pop genre music videos however, in recent years the artist has decided themselves to dress in a provocative manner to attract the audience, the male gaze is not used as much in the Alternative genre.
An example of the male gaze being used is in Scouting for Girls "She's So Lovely" the camera is drawn to and lingers on features of the woman, giving the viewer no choice but to view her. As our music video involves a young girl and is a about domestic violence is would not be appropriate to apply this convention to our video and thus we did not use this convention. This was done in a number of different ways; through the protagonists use of clothing, the young girl is shown wearing a white dress at the beginning of the video, white provides a sense of innocence, the dress is also conservative especially with the her body language, she is shown with her legs to the side and her hands on her lap. The gaze from the beginning of the video therefore does not imply the male gaze, the camera is zoomed out on the whole of the young girl and surrounding setting, not zoomed in on certain body parts. Other clothing changes are made but these are still conserved for example, the black trousers and jumper the young girl is wearing. A shot is taken of her covering her hand over the camera, this presents her as alienating herself, unlike the male gaze in which the female wishes to get attention, our protagonist doesn't wish for the camera to be heavily focused upon her.
"To gaze implies more than to look at - it signifies a psychological relationship of power, in which the gazer is superior to the object of the gaze" Jonathan Schroeder. Our leading character is one which is inferior, this does apply however, the audience does not wish to feel superior to the character, they pity her.
Domestic violence in the media is most commonly presented on TV adverts or as pamphlets. They don't glamorise it but instead show it for what it is and use it as a way for viewers to reach out for help if need be via contact numbers etc.. This is more of the view point we wished to take and took one main convention from this, that domestic violence needed to be seen for what it is. However, we only showed one type, we didn't wish to show physical violence because as well as being difficult to shoot, it could have come across as too far. Some portray it in such a harsh manner that they do not wish to view it and through word of mouth more and more individuals hear about it and hear negative comments, this results in few viewers. Following on from this consumers may find it insensitive if they are currently going through that situation.
A continuing theme appearing in our music video is the elements, we use wind, fire, water and earth throughout the video. While planning we hadn't intentionally planned to have these elements but as filming went on they were incorporated into it, they help to break up the main storyline and provide something interesting to the video. A lot of music videos will feature the elements but not necessarily all of them, this is because they are naturally occurring and therefore easy to add, fire is however the hardest to include as it doesn't occur in everyday settings.
As the Pop genre is theatrical, one of the elements which is likely to occur is fire, this is because it is viewed as the most dramatic and feared and therefore used increasingly to add effect. Where as the Alternative genre takes on a more natural feel and therefore elements such as water and earth are used more commonly.
Fire - The element is one that is viewed in two contradicting aspects, it is seen as bringing destruction, the pure symbol of chaos and war, individuals should fear it, on the other hand it can also be presented as a symbol of "banishing the darkness" and of an eternal love, burning away at the individual. Fire was portrayed in multiple ways in it's single shot, the individual could be seen staring into the coals trying to gain power, while also using it as a way to present the fear and threat that is faced by this young girl, she could be interpreted as staring into hell. Fire is the only element which can be made my man kind and therefore can be seen as a weapon. Fire is not likely to occur in the Alternative genre purely because of this, it does not occur in natural day to day life and therefore would be out of place.
Although mentioned earlier Eminem ft Rihanna "Love the Way You Lie" uses fire throughout the entirety, the first shot of Rihanna features a blurred image of flames in the background, that can be presented as a man made fire burning a building. This leads onto a shot of a woman, Megan Fox, with her hands cupped with a flame emerging and flickering, this causes the audience to associate her as the one that burnt the house down. In this video fire is presented as a weapon and something that will cause harm, a retaliation to the broken love the individuals have, this can in some ways therefore be related to our music video.
Water - The element is most commonly interpreted as purity, it washes away the sins of an individual, however with a lot of media these days water can be seen as something which kills an individual, suffocating them, this can seen as a metaphor for how alone the young girl feel and constantly surrounded by pain and abuse from her family. This appeals to the Alternative genre audience because they like to relate to something that they are going through to feel that they are not alone.
An example of water heavily being used is in Lana Del Rey 'Blue Jeans' she is indie pop and therefore a mixture of both genres of which my music video presents, there are similar conventions between both this and our own music video. The first shot presents an image of water rippling, the artist's face then appears in the water rippling along with the water, this Pop convention continues throughout the video of the main artist being the main visual point. However, instead of giving a singular performance she is supplying a hint of narrative through the use of the swimming pool and the male. Water is used in every shot in different varying effects, whether she is in the pool or the reflection of the pool is emitted on to her, the male gaze is used continuously throughout the piece comparing this to ours in which we have challenged this main convention to use no male gaze. The main similarity between this and our music video is the use of black and white, in this music video it has made the video glamorise and therefore more appealing to audiences, I believe if this video would have been in colour it may have come across as cheesy.
Earth - Alternative videos do not commonly occur without the use of earth/naturally occurring settings however, Pop genre music videos will largely use green screens located in studios and therefore what the audience sees is not naturally occurring. We therefore used the conventions of the Alternative genre, included in the video; trees, fields, hills etc, a big part of the video is how she feels trapped within the confides of her house and feels freedom when she escapes the outside world, the natural world provides her with his freedom. Audience individuals will be able to relate to this due to the fact that although individuals may feel in pain they have somewhere they can escape to, their own piece of paradise, they can relate to that feeling they see portrayed on the young girls face.
I first began by editing the front cover of my CD cover, I began by cropping out a tree in on of my original photos to then copy onto my template to produce a background. I originally had it solidly as this but as the editing continued, decided to place an effect on to heighten the product, I think this helped to make it unusual.
Then continuing on I edited the face; this was achieved by selecting my chosen picture and cropping it into three pieces, this was first difficult as I had to do each piece separately and therefore it was hard to get each piece to flow. After sometime I realised it wasn't necessary as it produced an usual look if the picture didn't fully make a whole.
The idea of then having them in black and white was raised however, I decided against this as it would be similar to the background. Each side of the face then went to have a different shade to it, representing the light and the dark.
Onto the back cover, I used a photo taken of a light in my house, an effect was used to give it an eerie feel, I then stretched this onto the entirely of the template and then simply added text with different song titles.
The magazine advert was carried out similarly to the album cover but with a different template being used, I proceeded to use a different font as well as the original. (will be seen on the finished product)
Although Bloc Party is not of the same genre as the chosen song 'Hurt Me' the front covers resemble elements of my ideas. Each album cover shown above is of a single which was released, the album covers are all very simple, a single picture within either a black or grey background. Each of these pictures are of a body part; hair, neck, hand.. Extravagant effects, props, locations etc have not been used instead, a clear single shot has been taken, this was the idea I first had for my CD cover but instead a single shot I wished to use multiple with a black background.
No effect appears to have been used on the 'Mercury' and 'Talons' front cover and if so it was very slight, the 'signs' front cover has had an effect used, creating a yellow effect over the individuals neck and shoulder and also a pink haze outlining them and shadows on them. I find simple ideas such as these more interesting and so are drawn to them more than other dramatic pieces, they also produce an almost art feel about them. A single image placed on a canvas for display.
The font is very clear and bold, all in capitals, it is easy for the buyer/viewer to know what this CD is, the plain background amplifies this effect, the colour of the font changes on each one according the background and effect used, for example on 'Signs' the font is yellow, this stands out brightly on the black ground and matches with the effect used.
The album artwork shown above is very similar to the artwork I want to produce it is also similar in not so obvious ways to the artwork for 'Bloc Party'.
Black and white is used but the most prominent colour used is a light grey on the background and also on the flower petals, the same colour is used but the tone is slightly altered throughout, this effect works well. The picture itself is of a single flower broken into different pieces, it's almost as if an explosive has happened causing the flower to break and this shot has been taken during. It's a very simple idea and if this had of been solely the flower with no other effect on (breakage) I believe it may have been too simple and almost boring. The artwork I resulted in wanting to create was an image of a face which has the almost same effect as the image above, after seeing this artwork I wanted to go with that choice even more.
The font used is quite small but as the artists name is in a different tone and colour it stands out from the grey background, also in capitals it is prominently bigger than the album name. The album name is in white this follows the tone of the rest of the album but as the viewers eye is already drawn to the artist name their eye will follow on.
The first thing the viewer is drawn to is the two individuals portrayed naked in the middle, the most unusual thing about this is the woman is carrying the man, even in today's society males are seen as the more dominant and stronger gender. This results in making the female appear strong and confident and therefore may appeal to females before they even listen to the music. The viewer can't see the entirety of the males face, what can be grasped is that he appears to have his eyes closed and his posture slumped around her, his body language could presume death or some other form of pain inflicted. On the other hand the female has a strong posture, standing tall and still, she is not looking directly down the camera but instead slightly to the side and above, this makes the viewer believe she is looking at someone.
Black and white is used over the entirety illuminating the two individuals in white while the background ranges from a dark grey to light, this is a sharp contrast against the two.
The colour of the font also matches with this, the bands name in white with the album name in black, although it matches well with the rest of the front cover, it doesn't truly stand out and therefore the buyer/viewer may overlook it however, I believe using a different bright colour would have appeared unusual and wouldn't have gone well.
Style: The album would be made of cardboard and resemble a pocket style, with the CD slotting in one side and a booklet with lyrics, pictures etc on the other. An example of a pocket cover can been seen on the right, it is basic and yet I believe it still corresponds well with the genre of our song and also individuals may wish to buy the CD in it's physical form as it's unique and more of a collectors buy instead of downloading the song online.
Album Cover: The album cover will have a main block colour of black this will be the background, there will be different body parts then shown in 'invisible' boxes, not all of these boxes will have something they may be plain back, the body parts will be of pure white, this then goes on to provide a visual representation of the light coming out of the darkness. The artist and album name will be in the middle. An example of one type of picture I could use is shown on the right, I would cut out the skin on Photoshop so only the lips emerged.
Changed ideas:
After using selected images off google images, to see what my piece may look like before I take my own pictures, I discovered that the the piece didn't look how I would want it to and appeaed too clean and cut and not like the 'collectors buy' I wished for. Then I thought of two new ideas; producing an individuals face out of a collage of different peoples faces, I could slightly alter the tone on each of these pictures, still consisting of black and white. My other new idea was that I could take a picture of an individuals face with their eyes closed, I could then go onto cut this image into seperate pieces on photoshop, not cleanly almost as if its been smashed and then tried to be put back together as a puzzle. This would also still have the black and white manner about it.
Since completing our music video we have had various individuals view it and then, comment on what they believed the strengths and weaknesses to be.
One of the major strengths is the shots of our main actress sitting amongst the lamps as they turn on and off, together and also at random, this may be due to the extremity of the shot and the vast contrast between black and white.
As the character is sitting alone this presents the extreme loneliness she feels by also presenting the anxiety she may feel, this is shown when the lights turn on in a harsh manner. The mise en scene pictures a middle class home, this is unusual as most videos use a high end environment, something the viewer wishes to have not something they already have.
This singular shot may to some just appear unusual and for that they find it compelling however, to others it has a much more deep and meaningful out-take, it is different to everyone.
One individual was not keen on the black and white and believed that perhaps it should have been in colour, we did consider this but certain aspects would not have been perceived as well as they were in black and white.
The lighting in each shot was also very different from one another so by having it in colour it would be difficult to have the same effect continued throughout the video. The main issue is that the black and white portrays the continuing issue throughout the video; good and evil, light and darkness, the black and white represents these two sides and amplifies them, therefore black and white needed to be used.
However, the editing did change throughout the video after we watched Lady Gaga's 'Judas' music video, their is a brief scene in which a fade to black effect is used repetitively on the shots, we believed this to be interesting and also made a simple shot a lot more effective and different, this idea was then used on the shots of our leading character in the outside shots.
Elements to take to print
Although black and white produced mix opinions, I thoroughly like it and therefore will be taking the idea to print. The inside of my CD cover will include a picture of a river/forest, this is due to the fact nature is used a lot throughout the music video.
The 4 elements will be transferred onto the Digipak in some way as these are used continuously throughout the piece.
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