Thursday 22 September 2011

Director Case Study

Francis Lawrence - Is a successful Music video and Film director. Working in the business since 1993 Lawrence has directed numerous films, commercials and songs including the award winning Lady Gaga song 'Bad Romance' and enjoyed success directing 'I Am Legend'.

Researching about Lawrence I discovered he has covered many genres of music with a list of over  20 substantially successful artists such as Shakira, Missy Eliot and OK Go.  Lawrence uses very provocative imagery and has successfully altered the image of many A-Listers causing them to appeal to a wider audience. For example, in Britney Spears video "I'm a Slave 4 U" , Lawrence managed to transform Britney's girl next door image into something more overtly sexual, showing her promiscuously dancing in a crowded sauna. The strong, memorable images that Lawrence projects for his clients is a necessity to success. I hope with the correct image I could reach a broad target audience and still access niche markets.





Lawrence directed The Black Eyed Peas song 'Let's Get It Started' in June 2004. The video takes place in a night time setting in an urban area. With the whole band, particularly Will.I.Am, performing extremely fast-paced energetic dance moves while singing the song. During this various objects fall in the background (including a grand piano), these smash against the ground in varying effects and speeds (especially in slow and fast motion and even in reverse). This idea of energy and excitement is something I would like to incorporate into my music video as I aim to make my video as visually exciting and interesting as possible as to engage my audience.




Lawrence uses suspense within OK Go's video 'Get Over It' to exaggerate the musical 'Drop'. This adds elements of comedy and also an extra element to the music that you would not get if just listening to it. He juxtaposes the energy of the bands performance with the tranquil and relaxed way in which they later play table tennis, the immediate cut between them at 1:55 creates comedy and suspense for the consumer as they find themselves having an intake of breath for when the music starts again. I would want to incorporate something like this into my video as to encourage my audience to watch the video for a better experience than merely listening to the song. 



Album Covers



1. What are the typical features an album cover has?
- The Artist(s) feature heavily (especially on debuts)
- Eye-catching Imagery
- Album name
Back Cover
- Track list
- Institutional Information (Bar code, Label etc.)


2. How would you categorise the covers? Are there any other ways of distinguishing between them other than generically?
Many well-known bands seem to abandon the idea of featuring the artists on the cover and forgo that for a more interesting visual that is perhaps eye-catching or memorable. For example, many people recognise The Arctic Monkeys album cover of the man smoking and this is not due to an interesting concept but that the band is very well-known so the people are often exposed to the imagery of the album meaning it sticks in their mind. This is the same with both The Beatles and The Killers albums which are simple yet memorable. The majority of the covers (aside from the beatles montage) are from a music movement in the 2000's and the pattern appearing seems to favour simplicity in album covers. 


3. Album covers serve many different functions. What do you think these are?
Album covers serve to entice potential buyers of the album, they are often visually interesting and are designed to be eye-catching. They often show off a bands image that the label deems to be aspirational to its target audience. As-well as this the cover and back cover serve to inform the audience of what music is available within the album. The front cover often notifies the buyer of bonus features with band interviews etc that the CD may feature.


Specific Album Cover



This album is simple but I think its successful for it. It shows the band 'hanging out' back stage. It connotes a relaxed, cool side of the band making them appear more human and likable. The old-style effects of a double image makes the album look 'charming' and retro. The text is a modest font and doesnt jump out at you. I believe the cover appeals to its audience as it is laidback and 'chilled' just like the consumer. The back cover is just as simple as the front, It features the album title and songs, its clean look is appealling as it just is easier to look at and is not too strenuous to see excactly what you want to find out. The slight overrun of colour from the front to the back in the top right adds just a slight artistic look to the back and again shows-off the overall modest chic of the album.


Thursday 15 September 2011

Music&Me

Throughout my life my music taste has stayed pretty similar. I first got into music when I bought myself an iPod at age 13, up until then I was oblivious to any other forms of music that weren't on my parents 'Travel songs' (the majority of which were by The Eagles and the sound of them still makes me feel car sick).



This song by The Offspring is a favourite of mine..... I am still unsure why. It was a bit vulgar for a child of my age but I don't think I enjoyed it for the rush and rebellious feel I would get when saying 'B****'. This leads me to believe that the laid back beat and steel drums appealed to a younger form of myself and to some extent actually brainwashed me to enjoy the sound of the band. Listening to it now I can see that the singer lacks talent and all their songs sound the same, however, I really don't care. I saw The Offspring at reading this year and absolutely loved it, I quickly found myself at the front surrounded by tattooed, pierced thirty year olds who had obviously grown up loving the band. All their videos are quite childish and cheeky and I think it fits the image of the band, I think the music has rubbed off on my character as more recently I find that I am slowly turning into a child trapped in a young man's body.
A portion of my life is void in my memory and I am yet to discover why. It was the time between joining Latymer and starting GCSEs, I believe this gap in memory is due to a lack of Media coursework, as I usually pinpoint precise times in my life by thinking of what project we were working on at the time. Anyhow, my memory returns around the time of the 2009 children's TV trailer project. A song that reminds me of the time is the song 'Clint Eastwood' by 'Gorillaz'.


This song is popular with me as it reminds me of simpler times with no exams or work. I first became interested in the Gorrilaz when they released their album Demon Days in 2005, however, my enjoyment of their music returned when I used the track 'Feel Good Inc.' as a backing track for my trailer 'Halloween Horrer'. The song is again catchy and laid back with a steady almost hypnotic beat, similar to other gorrilaz songs. They are again a quirky band as all the band members are cartoon characters played by the DJ's Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. I am still a fan of their music as I find its easiest to listen to when trying to fall asleep (this is meant in a complimentary way as the music makes me feel relaxed!).

At this point in my homework, I've 
realised that every single song I have posted has been released in 2005, 'Why don't you get a job' is the exception being released in 1999. However, I've been playing the CD of 'The Offsprings Greatest Hits' whilst writing this. So I just turned over the album and what do I see? 'Why don't you get a job' was re-released in 2005. Whilst it would be nice to spice up the years and mention a more recent song the one I had lined up for my final song is 'Bowling For Soups' song 'Almost' which, you guessed it! was released in 2005. Must have just been a good year.


I got into this band a few months ago when their album, 'A Hangover you Don't Deserve' was recommended to me on iTunes. I had always been a fan of their song 'Girl All The Bad Guys Want' but I was quite new to the band as a whole. Something about their songs always gets me in a happy mood, Possibly cause I see the band members and am thankful I am not anything like them. However, its in-keeping with my narrow genre preference of alternative/punkish/1990's style rock bands. I think I enjoy the bands quirkiness and how laid back they appear. I've always been someone who listens to albums rather than singles as I just enjoy finding the hidden gems that bands can sometimes produce, I found plenty on the album and still listen to it on repeat!