Wednesday 11 May 2011

Creating Artists Website/Fan Page



I wanted to make my artists website through a social networking site so I made a choice between Facebook and Myspace. I made this choice due to the fact I feel Facebook is more respected in the world today. 


Creating the page was fairly simple I uploaded my artists picture and entered information about my artists into the personal and biographical section. After this information was secured into the page, the option is given to promote your artist and inviting people to the page is an option. 


Ashh Fan Page

Thursday 28 April 2011

About Me

My name is Sam Gendler, I'm 18 years old and I live in Loughton. I am a sixth form student at West Hatch High School. I study English Language, Media and Drama. I really enjoy media as a subject, I think that media affects the world in many ways, I also have a passion for music, this latest project gave me a lot of enjoyment due to the content I was able to research. 

Thursday 7 April 2011

Original Story Board







This is our original story board. We haven't truly stuck to the original plan with the actual final video coming out a bit differed compared to the original plan. 
Still the basic idea of the actual narrative came through successfully. We knew that when drawing this up some aspects would have to be changed due to timing or location.





Album Back Cover Design- Ash


This the back cover to Angels Should Hide, my artists album. I decided to go for a very simple layout i feel its most suited to the front sleeve. I added a bar code to stick to normal conventions. I used the same font used on the front cover, but a slightly different colour scheme on the back.

Album Front Cover Design Ash


The album is entitled Angels Should Hide, I have completed this as my final design for my artists album cover. I used an acrostic for the lettering on the album, Ash being the name of the band, being the beginning letters of the words, the name of the album. I made the artist name and the album name different colours so it is easier to depict.

Inspiration behind track choice

The song we chose to use in our music video was a track by Jessie J entitled Casualty of Love. Jessie J is a very popular and upcoming artist, this would be the main reason for our choice. Her style is very unique in fashion and music, she was discovered on youtube which is where we originally found her. 


We debated upon a few songs we could use, we wanted to pick a song with the right amount of emotion to successfully portray a narrative. Other songs we were considering using were 'Big White Room', 'Who's Laughing Now' and 'Mamma Knows Best'. In the end we decided on using 'Casualty of Love' it had enough emotion and lyrical influence to think of ideas for a narrative. The flow and tempo of the song seemed very effective to edit to. Some of our original narrative ideas related into the title of the song, we considered using an ambulance and possible a death in the video, however this proved to be tricker than we expected because of losing the element of realism we wanted. 


Looking back Im not particularly happy with the choice of the track, i personally would of chosen something more up beat and fun, the narrative we created would necessarily appeal to me but the none the less i feel its a very effective narrative in itself. 

Wednesday 6 April 2011

Album Artwork Analysis - The Strokes - Angles


This is The Strokes album Angles it was released March 22nd 2011. This is The Strokes fourth studio album.
Immediately as an audience you are drawn to this album cover. The bright colours and patterns engage you to notice the album cover. The actual picture seems to be an optical illusion, which if you are a fan of the band you would notice seems to be theme to the bands album covers. Previous albums have also included similar ideas with optical illusions. 


The album is entitled angles and actually looking at the picture it is visible to see it is at an angle, leaning towards you. The cuboid structure in the is made into 3D which cohesively fits with the checkered optically illusive floor. The structure in the centre is also stands out once more with its florescent use of gradients of tone the pink, purple and blue used is really effective colour scheme.


Overall I think the album is extremely effective, in actual fact its doing all an album should, draw the audience in with its artwork, in some cases people might just buy the album because it looks interesting. The album ticks lots of creative boxes whilst still keeping within the normal conventions of an album cover with displaying the band name and title of the album clearly on the front.

Evaluation of the first day of filming.

After finally getting a date to film when we were all available including the actress, we began filming. I think its fair to say we would of had liked to get more shots than we did but the shots we did get came out really well. We managed to get successful shots of the forest, park and the cafe, we have more to get but we found ourselves experimenting with shots while we were filming, rather than what we had previously planned. I think actually filming, changes the shots you envisioned on a story board, and you look at actually filming the shots in a different perspective. 


More ideas were being thought of when we shot on location, however this wasn't the ideal location we thought about shooting at but none the less I think its really effective now.


As a group we worked well all pitching in with different ideas, actually filming and taking pictures of us working, also actually directing the video. 

Tuesday 29 March 2011

Star Image - Arctic Monkeys


It took me a while to decide on my star image as I am not necessarily interested in the typical and obvious icons in the music industry, for example lady Gaga and Cheryl Cole who are clear style icons. I chose the Arctic Monkeys because I am interested in Indie and Rock music and this band has always stuck openly to its image.

Arctic Monkeys currently consist of four members; Alex Turner; Jamie Cook; Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders. This English indie rock band formed in 2002 in a suburb in Sheffield. Their debut album 'Whatever You Say I Am, That's what I'm Not' was released in 2006 and was actually the fastest selling debut album in British music history. The band have released three albums in total the other two being, 'Favourite Worst Nightmare'(2007) and 'Humbug'(2009). The reason for Arctic Monkeys causing such a massive sensation upon their arrival to the music scene was because they were one of the first bands to become noticed due to the internet. Which ultimately changed the way music is promoted today. 

The band have been very likable with their image based on sticking to their roots especially with Alex Turners coming through predominantly when he sings. The band love showing that their down to earth and don't let the fame go to their heads. 



In 2008 the arctic monkeys arrived at the Brits in a sort of shepherds look with flat-caps and tweed. They won the award for Best British Album and came up to accept the award very drunk with pipes in their mouth which epitomises their image. 


Wednesday 9 March 2011

Analaysing Album Artwork - The Maccabees - Wall of Arms



As soon as you see this album artwork it is immediately eye-catching. The lead singer of The Maccabees, Orlando Weeks saw an artists work on a front cover of the magazine Art World. The name of this artist was Boo Ritson. She is a very unique and impressive artist, she paint people but not on canvas or a board, she literally coats people in paint. Her pictures are presented as photographs, the portraits in this case a group portrait is a double masquerade. Her subjects are coated in a sticky disguise which reveals the wet skin look. This look creates a statuesque effect and a plastic toy look.


So the band had to all be painted by Boo after discussing costume and composition the lead singer made a blog on the whole experience. As for the aesthetics of the album cover i think the look is exceptionally effective, an original piece of album artwork has been created successfully. The plain white banner with the Bands name and title of the album is clear to read and cohesively fits into the theme of the whole cover. 

Wednesday 2 March 2011

The Impact of The Internet on The Music Industry

The internet has had a gargantuan effect on the music industry, ultimately changing so many aspects of how its runs, works and actually distributes records. This change was never really predicted or adapted to quick enough. The whole concept effects record companies the most, they are the people who are worried especially the ones that appeal more to the younger markets, like those with rock bands. Nobody can even predict what the situation will be like even in five years time. 


Record labels and their associations like the RIAA and BPI blamed the internet for basically beginning the destruction of the industry. It began with illegal peer to peer file sharing networks where people downloaded their music for free. Different  organisations began to pursue excessive downloaders and prosecute them with large fines. There was false hope when they believed discouraging would halt the decline and reversal of record labels fortunes. The sales of CD's have decreased each year. 


However an ultimatum came along which revived hope, with the rapid increase of the popularity of the MP3 and personal music players like the ipod, legal downloads have become more popular being led by Apple through their global online music store itunes, although there is other competition. None the less illegal downloads have decreased due to this. 


Although this is all positive CD sales are still declining particularly within the rock music genre which once was the most successful selling genre. Legal music downloads are helping record labels the traditional models are still in decline. People no longer just buy albums they are more enticed to buy the separate songs alone which is another factor thats  changing the industry and affecting the record labels. I believe some sort of system will sort the situation out sooner or later but for now its not working that well. 

Thursday 3 February 2011

Our Group Lip Sync Video - Beyonce/Halo



This is our groups first lip sync video, in practice for our actual video to come. I think it was very effective doing this, as a group we learnt a few things.
I benefited from this personally by getting to grips with editing, I think I got the hang of it quite quickly and managed to help my other group members into understanding it. This now means when it comes to editing the actual video we shouldn't have too much trouble. 


Overall I think the video was pretty successful for a first attempt, I look forward to making the actual video. 

Music Video Analysis - Rhianna/Only Girl In The World



I have decided to analyse this video as it is similar to our groups chosen song for out own video to be made, Jessie J Casualty of Love. Jessie J being a new artist, i found it slightly more difficult to find an artist that follows the same themes.


The video begins with a mid-shot of Rhianna in a windy field, all we can hear is the sound of the wind and no music which is normally a convention of a narrative video. However this video does not display a narrative. The first few shots reveal a beautiful colour scheme, a soft pink with a mixture of other colours creating a psychedelic effect to the video. Rhianna's costume also backs this up also with her loose 70's styled hippee dress and headband.


This follows onto the use of a series of mid-shots, quick edits in sync with certain layers of the song. The first few edits sync with the drum beats, as the video progresses their some edits in sync with the synths used in the track. There are many effective edits in the video which all break the narrative, they make the audience aware that they are watching a music video.


The video itself is fairly minimalist, never exceeding three main settings. The colour scheme stays the same throughout but is very effective. 


Further more discussing edits, many effects are used throughout the video. There is a moment where flower petals are rising up in front of Rhianna in a reverse falling motion, which clearly it has been edited in reverse, I feel this type of shot would be deemed post modern. One edit speeds up, fast forwarding the action on screen. Another effective edit is where Rhianna jumps like a video has got stuck and then back into normal playtime, this also syncs into the music. A use of zooming and defocusing are noticeable as well. Finally more edits at the end are reversed when the fireworks explode in reverse.

Wednesday 26 January 2011

Album Cover Art Analysis-The Beatles - Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band



This album art can be deemed as pop art, art that emerges from popular culture and high art. Peter Blake is the artist who designed this album artwork, Blake is famous established, british pop artist. This album artwork is viewed as a revolutionary creation it broke boundaries of a work of art with its collage of famous figures. The flowers displaying the bands name relates to the time and lifestyle, the hippee nature of peace and love. The bass drum towards the back reveals circus writing which gives an element of fun, the drum itself codes music. 

A large statement is made with The Beatles wearing vibrantly coloured military uniforms. This is actually mimicing the establishment. It defies and undermines the military ways. The bands actual positioning establishes their cult significance, in front of the many famous figures in the background.


Finally the actual background is a blue sky representing happiness; freedom; summer of love; exotic; peaceful; heaven; hope. And a palm tree that signifies the idea of an island, the band being untouchable, escaping the british norm and the sense of exotica. 

Wednesday 12 January 2011

Album Cover Art Analysis

  • The album cover design establishes the genre of the music.
  • It establishes the identity of artists.
  • It established credibility of the artist and the album itself.
  • It seeks to attract audience attention through striking imagery.
  • It acts as a persuasive device drawing the audience in.
  • The cover can be original, Inventive, Innovative, Unique or conventional depending on what is sought.
  • Album cover use codes and conventions to communicate with the audience.



Music Video Analysis Micheal Jackson - Thriller



Michael Jackson's Thriller is considered to one of the most revolutionary and voted most influential video ever, the 14 minute music video is credited for its fanatastic effect of merging filmaking and music. Selling 9 million units it made it in to the Guiness world records.

The video falls under the genre of horror and this is revealed clearly as soon as the title screen appears, with font colour being red to symbolise blood and slashed lettering. The opening scene shows the mise-en-scene to be realistic, dark, eerie setting with diegetic sounds of crickets. 

Micheal Jackson is dressed in his iconic costume including the white socks and rolled up trousers. The opening continues by entering some non diegetic music which isnt the actual song and we are then shown the short film before the videon even begins which is one of the reasons for video being revoloutionary, this had not been done before. We are shown a series of close ups that convey Micheals characters transformation with the mise-en-scene fitting the genre once more, dark forest surrounded by fog. Once again this was so revoloutionary as it the audience were watching a film within a film, something that defied typical conventions of a music video.

The setting changes again into deeper fog ending the short film and merging the world of the song and the narrative. The song becomes a vehicle for the video, ultimately inverting the music video. The people in the narrative join in with the song when the zombies begin to dance which is the iconic dance that people still imitate. 


Finally the video ends with actual credits once again using a convention of a film, supporting the idea of the merging of genres. 

Thursday 6 January 2011

Carol Vernallis Music Video Theory

What is clear from my detailed research is that the music videos synchronise the images with the rhythm of the music itself, Vernallis states that the videos exhibit, "quick cutting or editing on the beat". This is evident in a number of videos i have analysed, for example in Tupac - Ghetto Gospel it follows this theory various times throughout. Specifically showing the effect in a fairly fast montage.

The music videos i have analysed have a number of very short scenes or edits with consistently quick cuts; this notion is also explored by Vernallis who states, "edits in music video come far more frequently than in film".

There s a massive responsibility of editing in music video, the editing has to be to be able to convey the narrative if there is one to be displayed. "Music video editing bears a far greater responsibility for many elements than does classic Hollywood film editing".

"...the editing in a music video works hard to ensure that no single element (the narrative, the setting, the performance, the star, the lyrics, the song) gains the upper hand".