Green Day Website Analysis

As a band that has produced several alternative rock songs and a band I am very familiar with I decided to analysis Green Day's website on how they present their star image and how they can be linked back to their fans.

Evanescene Digipak Analysis

Whilst thinking about how I wanted to present my digipak for my artist Noxa I decided to look into another alternative rock band that had a main female singer. I decided to look at Evanescene as I relate their music to our song choice and thought that the image they had created would be suitable for Noxa. The following is a analysis of Evanescene's digipak and what it includes so I remember to add the small details to my own digipak:

I love the colour scheme of the digipak and as one of the main themes of my video is the colours black and white it might be a good idea to consider them as a colour scheme. I also love the use of both the name and logo used on the digipak as their fans will identify both with their image. I will definitely use some of the techniques presented in this digipak for my own!

Website Analysis - Paramore

The following video is a screen recorded navigation of Paramore's website, as they are a similar genre and theme to EarlyRise and our song choice. As I was unkeen on speaking in the video I decided to have a computer generated voice take the listener on a tour through the sight.

Unfortunately the watermark of the screen recorder is on the screen and I cannot remove it.

(the editing is a bit slow due to the editing software I using but this will be fixed as soon as possible)

Digipak and CD Covers

In preparation for creating my own digipak I have done some research into the front covers of alternative rock artists (and artists that have created some alternative rock tracks) to get some inspiration for my own digipak cover. These are the album covers that I found the most appealing:

There are many differences but also a lot of similarities between each album cover which is what makes them all interesting. Very few of these albums use there artists on the cover, unlike many pop artists would have, as the others take a more artistic approach. The colours black and white are the most popular being present on every cover which are two colours that I will definitely be hoping to use in my own digipak. Something I noticed that I think I will incorporate into my own cover is that most of these covers have the artist name larger and more noticeable than the album name. It is either larger or bolder than the album name and is promoting the band more than the actual album. I like the idea of promoting Noxa more than her album, for my digipak, especially as it is her first album. This could also potentially lead people to her website, other music and merchandise.

Audience Research: An Interview With Jamie

For a deeper insight to how our target audience thinks my group and I prepared some questions to ask someone that falls into our target audience. We interviewed our fellow classmate Jamie and as she has never seen our project so far we questioned her about the genre and her thoughts on location, even though we have decided on a location. This way we would be able to see if it was suitable and if not we would work out another location.

Unfortunately I made a mistake in the editing process of the interview as the end text contains a small mistake as the filming process has already started and should read "when continuing to film and begin to edit" rather than "start filming and editing". Sorry for the mistake!

Group Blog Questionnaire - Answers

http://shotgunrecords3.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/auidence-rearch-1.html

The response to the questionnaire was very helpful and interesting to read. My group and I enjoyed reading the opinions from people of all different ages and to see their interests and what they like. I was most intrigued by the question about favourite music videos. Nobody had the same one and each one was like for a different reason. I decided to make a mind map on a summary of the results from the questionnaire:

Digipak Research

A digipak is a luxurious case for a CD that provides the owner with extra exclusives that would not be in the ordinary case. Digipaks are not as common as regular CD's as they usually contain special editions of the CD and have a overall nicer appearance as the case is laminated and involves several pages but the biggest reason they are uncommon is because they are expensive to manufacture. There can be either 3, 4 or 6 pages in a digipak that each have something on them such as: lyrics to a song, a thank you note, photos, vouchers or discounts, information and links.

There can also be more than one disc in the pack which can persuade the buyer even more as they get more than one CD. The purpose of a digipak is to advertise the artist or band and to tempt fans and the public to buy their digipak over another artists, this can boost sales and profits. The following alternative rock digipaks include (in order): Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Nirvana, Oasis and Nine Inch Nails.

Something that all of these digipaks have in common is they all include the CD, which is expected in a digipak, and a list of what is on the disc. This is a good way to inform the audience on what to expect from the digipak. Some of the digipaks are simple, similar to the Arctic Monkeys, Nirvana and Oasis digipak, as they only contain a front page, a disc (or two), a image and a list of what the disc contains. It does not overload the customer with information or extras and it stays to the point. The Muse and Nine Inch Nails digipaks, on the other hand, contain lots of extra content such as booklets, pullout images, a memory stick and plenty of discs. This can make the digipak feel more full to the customer and almost like a gift as their are many extra presents inside.
All of the digipaks represent the artist and/or band by the use of colour and images and each one is identifiable by appearance alone.

When creating my own digipak I would like to go down the simple route by adding in some exclusive images, a disc or two and what the discs will contain however I am keen on the idea of offering my audience more than what they would find in a ordinary CD case. I will also use colour and images to make my digipak link back to our artist, Noxa, and her star image and they way she is represented throughout our video.

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.

 

Music Genres

There are many types of music genres and usually a music video will follow the song's beat and lyrics. Some popular music categories include:

• Alternative
• Blues
• Classical
• Country
• Dance
• Hip-Hop
• Jazz
• Pop
• R&B
• Rap
• Rock

There are many sub-categories within each main category such as singer/songwriter but most genres fit into another. The song that our group is considering to do is difficult to put into a genre as it is a slow song yet there is a yelling singing section so I would possibly put it under the alternative category. The song we are considering is a cover and the original is a electronic/dance song so the cover is a completely new genre.