Music Video Magazine Advertisement- Green Day

Green Day's '21st Century Breakdown' poster I chose to analyse because of its styling being different from others I had seen. Green Day as a band are very punk and against the rules styled which links to the way the poster/magazine advert has been composed. 21st century Breakdown as a title, creates the idea of the start of a modern era in which I think the colouring a graffiti style has come from and the rebellious nature of the band. The white Green Day logging pops out from the rest of the text and colours as the white is bright in conjunction to the darker colours of the rest of the poster which adds a slight bit of eye catching to the advert for an immediate attention grabber to make the audience want to read more. The paint drips running off of the bold block styled typography then brings more in of the essence of the band; a neat tidy font representing a much more structured formal band whereas this represents the opposite which is what Green Day is about. The pain drips then link to the graffiti background of the poster. dark orange and yellows creating a dark yet fiery attack to the new album which creates a perfect link, yet the spray painted couple presenting the idea of the music being for everyone and enjoyable. The composition is traditional in the idea of 1 central image on the advert, however the slightly tilted typography in the same style as the Green Day logo brings the theme together and links perfectly to the bands approach to their music. If I were to change anything about the poster I would make the 'CD and download...' font yellow and make the '21st Century Breakdown' title slightly larger and white as I feel the audience should read the band logo and album title as an eye catcher and the other information as the part in which the read after their attention is drawn in.

Music Video Magazine Advertisement- Arctic Monkeys

For the brief I am looking at, part of what we have to analyse and make is a magazine adverts to advertise our music video. I am going to look and pick out key parts of 10 adverts to extract the key parts which make them work well and not work well so that I can use this as a basis for when I make my own.

The first advert I chose was for the Arctic Monkeys song 'The Jewellers hands'  released September 2009. I chose this magazine cover because of its simplicity. I like the slightly dark tones of the song yet the alternative vibe they bring link to the colouring and layout of the album and the typography used. The black background follows the darkness of the song, but also creates a nice simple colour way between the black and the white used for the typography and the white edging of the main image. The typography of the band logo follows an old bold english style font which gives the vintage vibe which links to the band and songs feel. The logo, main image and 'New Album' text are alined down the centre of the advert with the two star ratings along the side. I personally like this layout as everything doesn't stick out like its trying to be shoved in your face and is easy to look at and comprehend, I find this because of the few features on the advert literally being the logo, picture, star rating and 'New Album' text which makes it basic and simple to view all parts of the advert really quickly. The main image is very saturated and basic in the sense of two shots of the girl however the white outline links to the colour way of the advert and makes the image standout more to match the boldness of the text despite it being dull. I don't really understand the concept of the girl shown in the centre which could be a subliminal link to the song or a theme however this doesn't standout to a basic viewer like myself.

Music Video Analysis Conclusion

From viewing and analysing many music videos in the last few weeks I have realised the differences in conventions between multiple genres and styles within genres. From this I can identify what can and can't be expected from genres and how I can go against or follow to make my video different/ the same and pre existing.

Genres such as Rap and Hard Rock/ Metal convey darker themes whether it be a representation of reality and the themes of the streets in rap or a darker evil feel to metal rock genres as a whole which then reflect in certain ways of producing etc. An example of this I have gathered would be how often low key lighting is used and uses of silhouettes and shaded areas are often planned out and used to create a darker feel to the video which emphasises the themes within lyrics. Often the settings of the videos are scarier places aswell, whether it be alleyways in 'Xaviers Wulf' video Thunderman or actual nightmares in Enter Sandman by 'Metallica'. This use of the darkness then creates a key link in the feel of the music to the style of video which works very well. Camera angles often oppose in both genres, for example the metal genre like the band Metallic use high angle shots of the person in fear in the video presenting a loss of power, whereas the band is shot from a low angle presenting dominance and importance of there selfs and control in the video. Often in the rap genre many low angles are used against the dark lighting to show a figure through the dark which makes the rapper look strong and dominate despite the darkness trying to take over. Editing is used to emphasis the power rap and metal use, the hard hitting bars and chords. Fast straight cuts are mostly used for this at the peak of a build up in a drop in the music which creates a hard hitting feel. This then often cuts to performance based shots of band or rapper in which low angle actions of close ups on instrument playing or hand coordinations emphasis the power in lyrics.

Other genres like pop, dance and the indie style music follow very different sorts of mine en scene, editing, sound and camera angle techniques which make them suit the music styles to match. A lot of these genres themes are much happier and brighter as themes and in tone, so much more high key lighting and brighter colours are used to match this. This is evident in shots like sunsets etc which the colours would be enhanced as a focus to the audience and higher lighting for lens flares and focus on the artists as a main person in shot. They also use lots of very quick cuts in a row of multiple shots for example during dance tracks when there is a build up to a drop in beat. These quick cuts follow the drum beats which is pleasing to watch and hear at the same time as an out of time cut wouldn't fit as well. Along with this a external focus from the artist on things such as strobe lights and peoples feet dancing create interesting creative shots to fill gaps between elements of lyrics with shots of the artist. Many of the dance, pop and indie videos I have watched are performance mixed with concept. Many of the concepts often link slightly to the lyrical meaning of the songs, however are metaphorical in nature making the videos look interesting and different. An example of this I have seen would be during the video California Girls by Katy Perry which is about the beach and the vibes however contrast with a Candy world theme which links however presents the same messages in an alternate reality world to present the bigger picture of this world not being for everyone.

Overall from extracting these conventions linked to genre in video I have been able to identify much more clearly what is expected and what isn't by audiences when watching music video. From this now I am going to chose a genre I would like to work in and link to elements of focuses I would like to film to create my final piece. This will all undergo in the planning process after I have looked into target audience and the use of digipacks and advertisement.

Music Video Analysis- Callum Welsh Chesaspeake

Callum Welsh was a student at the Chalfonts Community College school I study at however is two years above me. For Callum's final A2 piece he created a narrative style video based around the skating scene in which he captures elements of what skateboarding is all about and some of the things skaters do in a day.

The mise en scene of the video sets in Uxbridge where there are urban concrete obstacles and Fass skatepark. These settings along with the underground car park create a nice few places to shoot for shots of the video as a very raw realistic reality of what skating is about is created in the classic scene of UK style city is shown and the idea of the group of skaters facing the world in their own way is thought by the audience. Shots of timelaped sky and fast shots of skating through the city create the a background of the life style which I personally like as it gives the audience depth and purpose to the theme of skating with your friends and having fun. This is reinforced through low angle shots while tracking on a board of other skaters which present them high up in shot almost presenting the idea of the skaters being key to the video and them having the ability to do whatever they like in conjunction to the setting of the city; them against the world. The use of black and white filter then enhances this theme and links in well as the presentation of the raw simplicity and goals of the skaters and their lives can link to the raw basicness of the black and white shots. I finally like the use of the marginalised silhouetted shots towards the end with the coloured sky which is arty looking but also finishes the video off nicely, as the open space shown in the long shots presents the skaters differences against society and and them being slightly marginalised reinforces this as its showing the idea of difference and them being different not being central and higher up in a hierarchy society level. Despite this, close ups of the joy on the boys faces finish the video nicely, as it presents the idea that although people are different they enjoy the ways they are spending their time and the ways they live their lives.

Music Video Analysis- Prentice Johnson Jetson and Sensei Untitled

Prentice Johnson was the year above me at school and was a friend of mine. Prentice created a music video for his final piece at school for his advanced portfolio in media which uses the sound track Jetson and Sensei 'Untitled' song which is of the dance rap sub genre.

The music itself has a calm slow bouncy beat with a saxophone melody line over the top. This combination creates a nice paced rhythm for the song and then an added piano loop of out of time mixed minor and major notes with the slow rap over the top creates a trance like feel for the audience. This tone created is then where the inspiration of the video has been created, with the symbols of raves and 'trippy' visuals matching the semiotic meaning of the lyrical words and the musics feel which Prentice achieves well in his shots. The mise en scene of the shots starts with the low angle shots of a Nintendo 64 being plugged in and started, with the angles changing and a blurred colour effect added between shots. This initially starts the feel of the video, the visual colours and mixed visions kicking in. This starts the music video off well, as then the progressing scene of a  rave is introduced which links nicely, and as the songs beat drops the 'MC's' hand is raised as if he is mixing the track live, which creates a powerful start to the song. This match between the lyrics and shot works very well. The MC is then shot from a low angle as if he is given the power over the rave, he has control of the music and how the vibes are made. Extra shots of the lights helps to set the scene and the feel of the video as they all link to the party idea the audience can imagine. Following scenes of shots in mcdonalds are then shown, where extreme close ups are used where editing techniques of editing external scenes inside other shots are shown, which is clever as this effect follows the idea of multiple visuals being shown which then mixed in with the blurred edited colours creates a well thought out and creative video.

Music Video Analysis- Jordan Searle- Vicktor Taiwo Digital kids

Jordan Searle previous A2 media student produced his own music video to Vicktor Taiwo's song Digital Kids for his final piece for A2 media. I like his piece so i've decided to quickly analyse his work to see if I can use this for inspiration for my own work as I knew him.

Jordan uses a narrative structure to his video, focusing on the little boy wondering through the woods adventuring and then a second setting in a blank white room in which the boy is often shown laughing with the white background. Whilst wondering through the woods many camera angles are used creatively with certain effects, such as a zoom in track of the boy running into the distance with a slow mo effect on top which looks really nice. This is because the slow mo creates a blurred trans like effect which suits the music, and the zoom in at the same time focuses the audience on the boy. The use of black and white and the darkness of the black and white also suits the video he has created. It suits as a darker tone wouldn't work well with the expression of the boys faces and his body language and the music style being a slow paced song.

Music Video Analysis- Katy Perry California Girls

California Girls by Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg was directed by Matthew Cullen and was inspired by the work of Will Cotton who was an artist director. Released 7th May 2010 the video stayed in the charts for 6 weeks which reflects its popularity.

The concept style video doesn't follow the lyrical structure talking about the beach etc yet uses a 'candy' theme which works well. This is because of its bright colours which work well with the happiness of the song, and the structure of the candy land in shot which almost look like alternate reality of the real world, like the cotton candy clouds which could represent the beach. This metaphorical world created then links to the song in the fact that the 'perfect' things Katy talks about isn't always real in real life which is good as the fake world represents this.

The camera angles often are medium/close up shots. Many of the shots show a medium shot of Katy Perry often mixed in with a pan, tilt or track which is usually in the middle of a verse line, then a close up of a subject like the ice cream at the end of a bar/line. This then emphasises the alternate reality as the symbol of the ice cream is something desired which then links to Katy's lyrics of the dreamy idea of California and its girls/.

Her body language and facial expressions then fit the themes and tone in the song. The upbeat happy tone of the song link to the over expressed facial features Katy uses which fits well, and her gentle dancing up to the 'key change' in her voice at the end of the song and her lying on the cloud also fits as the song is easy to dance to in which her actions are not over complicated and her lying on the cloud links to the sexiness of the California girls she talks about in her dream world.