Website Analysis - All Time Low

As one of my favourite bands I thought I would look at All Time Low's website and analysis what a website for a band or artist should look and get some ideas for my website.

The home page of the site is also the news page as this is probably what the fans expect and want to see when they first enter the site. The colour scheme was the first thing I noticed as everything is following a similar light blue pattern which relates back to the 'Future Hearts' album cover. The background of the site is their most recent album "Future Hearts" cover on a titled pattern which fans will recognise and know that they are on the right site. This can also be considered synergy as it is subtly promoting their album on their own site. There is a side bar that contains Twitter links and recent videos for fans to have quick access to. At the top of the site is their logo, next to the links, and it is present on every page as it is what identifies the band and that the user is on their site:

The logo is the biggest text on the entire page as it is advertising the band's name and also informing who the sight belongs to and what to expect. The links are neatly placed to the left of the logo and are easy to see. There are six in total: news (also the home page), music, tour, photos/videos, ATL hustlers and the store. Each has its own individual page containing exactly what the label states:

The news (also home page) link displays the most recent happenings of the band and a link that takes the user the iTunes page of their newest album. They also have a YouTube video of a live performance of one of their songs "Runaways" to tempt their fans into seeing them live and showing potential new fans what to expect, presenting their star image. There is also posters for their tour and discounts to advertise their album and intrigue some potential new fans:

Under the music section there is a list of album covers, when they were released and the record label that marketed them. Most of there albums are marketed by Hopeless Records, who are also marketed their most recent album. There is also a link to iTunes to view the tracks on the album and the user can listen to a preview of each song. This preview is to convince the audience to buy the song and will usually be the middle section of the song. The link to iTunes also give their audience an easy and reliable way to purchase their music.

The tours section has all of the tour dates, venues, locations and whether there are tickets available. There is also a RSPV button that leads to a Facebook group event pop-up that allows fans to say whether they will be attending the tour or 'maybe' (there is no 'no' option). This allows fans to interact with each other, talk about the band and the tour, and create a positive word-of-mouth and excitement surrounding the tour. Clicking the link labelled 'tickets' redirects the user to another page where tickets can be officially brought. This is a easy way of buying tickets that fans will know are official. There is also a small link on the tours page that leads the user to Facebook and Twitter which adds some multimedia to the site.

Under the photos/videos there is currently only two available pieces of media to look at, three pictures (the folder has to be clicked on) and the same video that is on the home/news page. This will likely fill up during the tour with more pictures and videos to convince and persuade fans to attend later tours. The pictures available on the site are:

The ATL Hustlers page is advertising a backstage 'type' deal that allows all access during tour. It redirects the page onto a different site titled 'All Time Low Hustlers Official All Time Low Fan Club'. This, as the name suggests, is the official fan-site dedicated to the band. It is very similar to the main website as it provides a news, photos and videos page but also a added forum, community and contest to bring fans together to have them communicate and bring the fans closer together.

The final page redirects the user to the official All Time Low store that allows fans to buy the band's merchandise. There is a navigation bar to make the site easier to browse through which makes the site more appealing to navigate.

There is also a ATL Hustlers page that links back to the same page as the link on the main website. The store is very organised and is easy to browse so fans can find what they want and pay quickly and easily.

Overall the site is very smooth running and extremely easy to navigate. It offers everything that a fan would need and like to see which is the initial aim of a website. I hope to use similar navigation bars and overall layout in our website as it seems to be very effective for this site.

Vision For Noxa

When preparing our music video I decided that I wanted a visual representation of Noxa and how she would be dressed in our music video. I decided to jump on a game that would allow me maximum creativity when it comes to creating characters: the sims 4. Although the face, body shape and skin and hair colour does not matter in terms of this character creation I still enjoyed making my vision of Noxa. The outfit that I gave her was not exactly as my group had planned as we want her to have a long flowing white dress but as I did not have one that I found suitable I decided to put her in a short cream/white one as a substitute. This is a sped-up version of my create-a-sim. Enjoy!

Carol Vernallis's Theory

Carol Vernallis has a theory on music videos called "The Kindest Cut: Function and Meanings of Music Video Editing". Her theory explains that there are 4 main aspects of a music video:

• Narrative
• Editing
• Camera Movement and Framing
• Diegesis

NARRATIVE

Vernallis states that a music video is a response to the music, meaning the song comes first and the video is based around the sound and lyrics. She also states that the narrative of a music video does not need to be complete, this is shown through artistic narrative that leave the viewer questioning what they have just seen. Other narrative stories can leave the audience hanging by not completing the story or answering the questions that they raised in the video. A video that leaves many unanswered questions is Green Day's "21 Guns". After researching the plot it turns out that the couple in the video robbed a bank and the police are shooting their apartment but this plot is very unclear and requires several re-plays to fully get a understanding on what is happening:

EDITING

The editing of a music video typically has to match the tone and beat of the song and the most common cut to achieve this effect is the jump cut. Unlike a film a music video requires a different method of editing as continuity edits are not needed as much as they would be in a film. Rules such as the 30 and 180 degree rule do not apply as strongly and the transitions between texts are something noticeable, however this brings back the viewers attention.

CAMERA MOVEMENT AND FRAMING

Vernallis believes that music videos contain camera angles that move in time to the music and more extreme shots, such as close-ups and establishing shots, to show the characters emotions and expressions in more details to get a better feel of the song and how the character is reacting to the lyrics. There is always a theme amongst all of the shots which usually relates back to the lyrics. This is similar to the unanswered questions. A video were there are many close-ups and long shots is Eminem's "Love The Way You Lie". The close-ups of the two characters capture their emotions and how they are reacting to the story, Rihanna and Eminem also have some close-ups where they are serious faced to match the tone of the song. Eminem also moves in time to the music when we is shown in the field to help create a sense of rhythm and pace within the song:

DIEGESIS

Diegesis is the world created inside a video and how the characters react and behave to match the narrative that is at play. Characters may move in time to the music and the video and shot could hint or show glimpses of a characters personality and their mood from the way they are presented but will never fully disclose who the character is and why they are the person that they are in the video. This similar to the narrative as there can be many unanswered questions about the characters presented in the video.

Star Image - Richard Dyer

Star image is the concept that artists create a certain 'image' through the way they are presented, both through their looks and behaviour. Nearly every artist presents themselves in a certain way, whether it is positive or negative, and this is what can attract or send away people depending on their taste. For example One Direction's image is very different from Linkin Park's and they both have very different fanbases:

Linkin Park's fans are older and both genders whereas the One Direction fans are all young, impressionable girls screaming out for them. Linkin Park's fans may also relate a lot to the band and identify themselves with the band and in some cases could project themselves. One Direction's fans mostly have a emotional connection to the band and will go many lengths to show that.

Having an image is important for any artist as it is the first thing fans will think of when the artist is mentioned and is what will attract new fans. Image is also what can gain the star some publicity. For example a negative image will likely gain a lot of press coverage and even thought it is negative it will turn people towards that artist. A big example is the change of Miley Cyrus from 2008 to 2015:

Miley gained a lot of publicity because of her new images and because of this attention she gained many new fans that liked this new image. However she did lose some fans because of this but overall that change has made more of a name for her and not many artists are willing to dramatically change their image like she did. People, particularly adults, saw the '2008 Miley' as a role-model and under Dyers theory this would have meant that parents would have liked their child to identify with her (self identification) and to have a emotional connection with her (emotional affinity) and in some cases imitation would have been a good thing, however since Miley has changed her image parents have decided that they no longer think she should be idolised and imitated.

In the alternative rock genre a band that has changed their music genre over time but kept their image the same is Green Day. There are many fans that are disappointed with their recent music which falls under the alternative rock rather than punk but I think they have still portrayed themselves well and are still the same band only with a different style, not image. Something that comes to mind when I think of Green Day is both performance, partying and emotional content which are both shown in nearly all of their videos. Green Day's songs touch on some very serious topics which are matched with the visuals shown and they are designed to make the viewer feel strong emotions and all of their videos display this kind of content. If the video does not contain emotional content it will contain a party scene or a wild scene at the least. My favourite example of emotional content is "Wake Me Up When September Ends" and wild scenes is "Holiday":

The actual band's image is the same with dark clothes and hair and they have kept this image up for a long time and that is what people think of when the band is mentioned to them. They still look exactly the same, in my opinion, and I think that for a 10 span of time they have developed and stuck with their style and image.

Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin stated that there is a theory behind music videos that involve 6 different points:

• Genre Characteristics
• Relationship between lyrics and visuals
• Relationship between music and visuals
• Star Image
• Intertextual References
• Voyeurism

As the genre of out chosen song is a alternative song with a hint of rock to it I wanted to find a song of a similar genre and see if it matches Goodwin's theory. I chose Paramore's "Only Exception", the song is more of a rock song that ours but it still falls under the same genre:

  

The genre characteristics of this type of music are that there will be performance shots, which there are plenty of. The singer is surrounded by the musicians whilst she holds the microphone and sings which is a common feature of music videos of this genre.

The lyrics of the song explain that the person in the song will never fall in love because of her parent's marriage falling apart, however she falls in love with a man and he is the 'only exception' to this rule. The visuals follow this and tell the story of the woman and how she decides to stay with him through a unique set where each door leads to the next part of the story development. The visuals do not precisely follow the lyrics as the performance shots break the flow of narrative but the story is linked to the idea of falling and realising you're in love.

The scene with her father could link back to the theme of love as the main protagonist loves her parents, as her father is the parent shown it is likely she prefers him, which shows a different kind of love and that she will still love her father even though she never wants a romantic partner.

The music and visuals are interesting as overall the colours are fairly faded but not so much that the scene looks washed out. Love songs usually contain a lot of pinks and reds and there is a particular scene where these colours are used but overall the visuals are fairly normal. As a sad sounding song with happy lyrics the visuals are not overall sad, except for the sad looks given from the character, yet the visuals are not extremely colourful like a happy, positive song would be. A small detail that stands out to me is during the wedding scene the singer is wearing black, a contrast from all of the white surrounding her, and black is typically associated with darkness and depression, whereas white is pure and clean. I think this could be a small detail to show that the song is representing both the happy and sad times that can be experienced when you are in love.

Paramore's image is that they are a rock band with a female lead, they use many performance shots and have a very dedicated fan base. Although this video was created almost 5 years ago their loyal fans still adore both the song and the band and have watched the band blossom into who they are today. Their image today is still very similar to how it was back in 2010 and they still have a alternative rock style to their name which they still maintain, even after some members left. Some fans have stated that Paramore has turned into a pop group and dislike their more current music but dedicated and loyal fans will buy the songs despite the change in genre as they have watched the band grow. The band's image continues to show in both fast song (Misery Business), sad songs (Now), happy songs (Ain't it Fun) and the slower songs like Only Exception.

PARAMORE IN 2010

PARAMORE IN 2015

When watching the video again, I tried to spot some intertextuality however I could not spot anything. A small piece of information that links back to Paramore's fans. During the scene where Haley Williams can be seen lying on letters, these letters are actual letters that fans sent them. The band selected their favourite and placed them in the video and although it does not reference a TV show, film, piece of art or any other intertextuality, it does give a small nod towards their fans and their appreciation.

This video is very tasteful and at no point are gender sexualities exploited like voyeurism would suggest. Each outfit covers up everyone's body in the video, this might be because it would not match the song or visuals but also because it does not suit the band's image. However during the scene where Haley Williams is lying on the bed of letter her legs are being shown and the camera gradually shows more of her legs, this could be interpreted as the male gaze following her body down to her legs. Her body language is very open and inviting to the audience and the bird's eye shot could show her vulnerability about falling in love yet this could be taken in many different ways. Despite the music video not displaying any sexual content there is still a scene that could be interpreted as voyeurism due to her dress showing off her legs.
 

 

Overall the video ties in well with Goodwin's theory. Most of the arguments that Goodwin stated in this theory can be applied in this video and prove his theory to be correct. There are some contrasting points, such as the amount of voyeurism displayed in the video and how much the lyrics match the visuals, but overall this music video could be applied to Goodwin's theory.

Alternative Rock

Our song choice 'Narcissistic Cannibal' - the EarlyRise cover version - starts as a soft sounding song that gradually becomes louder and more extreme. This makes our song choice fall into the alternative rock genre. Alternative rock is a sub-genre of rock music as although it has a smaller fan-base it is still hugely popular. Some famous alternative rock bands (or artists that have published a alternative rock song at some point) include:

• Nirvana
• Green Day
• Linkin Park
• Muse
• Thirty Seconds to Mars
• My Chemical Romance
• Blink-182
• U2

These are just a small selection of artists that have created alternative rock music at some point during their music careers. To get an idea of what alternative rock video include and how to make ours similar or to stand out I decided to research my genre in more depth.

 

Record Label Research

Every song that is released and sold to the public has a record label that manages the distribution and marketing of an artist and/or band and their music and music videos. One particular artist can release each song with a different record label each time depending on the song and the artist publishing it. There are many famous record labels, one example being Capitol Records.

Capitol Records is based in America and is owned by the Universal Music Group. Many rappers, such as Cee-Lo Green and Snoop Dogg, have used this record label to market their songs as well as singers like Katy Perry, Kylie Minogue, Lady Antebellum and many more. This shows that famous record labels likely result in a hit song.

However if our music video was to have to be part of a ready-made record label it would be a smaller label that handles alternative songs. This way they would know how to distributed and market our video to a specific audience that would be interested in alternative music and through word-of-mouth they could pass the video on.

One record label could be Sub Pop. Sub Pop mainly deals with rock music, which is a small element of our song choice, but has also marketed alternative songs. The reason this label stood out to me was because it seems like a company that is interested in marketing that particular genre of music and look, overall, like a friendly label.

Another company that I think could market our song is Hopeless Records. I have heard of Hopeless Records as they market the band All Time Low's album 'Future Hearts'. They publish each song on YouTube and market merchandise for each of the artists and bands that they cater to but one of the main aspects of Hopeless Records is that they only have around 15 artists in their label meaning they could possibly concentrate on one at a time.

Final Song Choice!

We have finally chosen a song for our music video and I am very pleased with our song choice: Narcissistic Cannibal by EarlyRise. This song is a female cover of the original version by Korn featuring Skrillex and Kill the Noise which was a dubstep-type song, however the EarlyRise version is a alternative song and is slow and has a sinister element to it which is what we wanted. There is also no video for this song, that I could find, so we can take many different approaches to the how the video should look.

I originally found this song about a year ago when looking for the trailer of the video game "Beyond: Two Souls" and stumbled across a fan-made trailer that was to this song. As a fan of the game I loved the song and relate the lyrics back to the game whenever I heard it. Therefore when picking a song I was thinking about the game and thought of this song. I showed it to my group and am very pleased that they too liked the song! The song has so many possibilities for a music video and I cannot wait to start filming and drafting the video!