Magazine Adverts for Digipaks

A popular and common form of promoting and advertising digipaks, is through the media and in this case, magazine advertisements. Usually, the advert is placed in a magazine that follows a similar target audience to the artist or band releasing the album, such as Complex magazine promoting a hip-hop or R'n'B orientated digipak. The advertisement could also be displayed in the same section of the magazine as a interview or article on the band or artist, hoping the more detailed insight the article provides, would entice the audience to become interested in the album. The adverts are usually quite basic, following a basic colour scheme, or similar colours to that used on the album artwork. It usually states the artist or band name, the name of the album, the price, where it is available from, and potentially reviews from critics to help bolster appeal.

Here are some examples of adverts for digipaks:

Digipak

Digipak's are the most common way of getting music to audiences and fans, in the form of CD. They usually consist of a paper or card displaying an image or picture, and details of the artist/band and song/album name. It also contains a plastic tray able to hold a disc, in which the CD itself fits in. Throughout the years there have been many different styles that are included on the front cover of the digipak, varying from a picture of the artist or band, to a symbolic representation. One of the most iconic album covers ever made is 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' by The Beatles which features a colourful collage of life-sized of famous, significant people (including Marilyn Monroe, Bob Dylan, Oscar Wilde), with the lyrics being printed on the back cover, a rarity on CD designs. The cover regularly features top of polls and list such as 'Greatest Album Cover of All Time', creating another accolade for the music legends.

Previous Student Work

I have looked at numerous examples of previous student work, from the good to the bad. All have different ideas and styles, however some are better at displaying these than others.

Esser - Work It Out (Davide Hodgson - Lorente)

This is an impressive example of previous student work, with the up tempo song being reflecting the eccentric, quirky video. It follows a narrative, but still contains elements of performance, with the lead male sometimes lip-syncing to the music very well. The narrative is very interesting in itself, the diving into the bed and 'green-screen' dinosaur effect being particular highlights. The quirkiness of the video means it does lack any real deep emotion or meaning behind it, instead focussing on the 'bubbly' nature of the song, which I think fits well, however that would be my only real criticism. As all good music video with a narrative, it is wrapped up by the end of the song, with the twist being a surprising, yet subtle way to finish things. Overall, I enjoyed this music video, it is experimental yet simple at the same time, and deserved the award that it won for best music video made that year.

Mumford and Sons - The Cave (Roisin Evans & Louis Perry)

This is another enjoyable music video, to a song that I am personally very fond of. This doesn't have such an easily recognisable narrative, mainly focussing on performance elements. The idea of two separate forms coming together, music and dance, is an interesting concept which I think works well, with the guitarists' lip-syncing being near perfect. The mise-en-scene is also something that I think works positively in the video, with the forest setting reflecting the folky style song, with the dancer representing a slightly different interpretation. Again, this is a good music video, that they have obviously put a lot of effort into, much like the first video, which I can admire.

Through looking at the former student's video, it has made me more focussed and made the direction I want to go in even clearer. I am committed to doing a narrative style video, something that I have found is not all entirely popular amongst previous students, and in some cases not done very successfully. However, this has only given me more inspiration to do my video in a certain style, and by putting a lot of hard work into it, make a creative and polished music video.

The Art of a Music Video

Music videos are a popular form of entertainment, helping to visualise songs, giving the artist or band an identity and a chance to provide different interpretations.

Why do we have music videos?

• To entertain
• To make songs more commercial (providing air time on TV)
• To advertise (product placement)
• To promote the artist
• To give the song a visual platform
• Creates, adapts or feeds into a 'star image'
• To familiarise the artist with the audience
• To be iconic
• To win awards and be recognised for creativity

There are 3 main elements to music videos, with all music videos being one of these styles:

Performance:

Narrative:

Concept & Symbolic:

My Potential Idea

I have thought of many ideas for my music videos, however I feel as though I have come up with a good idea which I believe to be my final. I am going to be using the song 'Street Lights' by Kanye West, an emotionally gripping song that I hope to capture in the video.

My Plan

I have taken some inspiration from Rihanna's 'We Found Love' video, and have decided that a narration could work well at the start of my video, to in some ways explain the narrative but also make it slightly more intruiging. I plan to use a quote, or a few sentences on the subjects of memories, lost love and regret, over the instrumental of Frank Ocean - 'Acura Integurl', which I feel is a beautiful piece of music. This will be accompanied by some shots of a couple in love, doing nice things, being happy, but then arguing and falling out.

0.00-0.17 (of the song)

The male character seems to be moping about, sitting in a cafe (or a similar location) looking lonely and discontent, thinking about past loves.

0.18-1.14

The male gets up, walks out of the place, and starts to walk down the road (with his head down). This is broken up by many shots of street lights and cars going past to break up the shot, as he continues down the road with a dark look to the scene. He catches eyes with many girls, to which he smiles at and says 'hi' but still continues to walk.

1.15-1.34

He walks past his ex lover (the female character) and they both catch each other's eye, and stare intently for a few moments, the camera near enough freezing on the moment. They then walk on slowly, with both looking back at each other once.

1.35-2.21

A few shots of the male character, walking slowly, deep in thought, as a series of flashbacks of happier times are shown (couple kissing, joking around, going to functions, cuddling). Towards the 2.10 mark of the song, the male stops and contemplates going back. Also, falshes of streetlighs are shown throughout to break the shot up.

2.22-2.45

He starts to run back, as the flashbacks get more intense, with his run picking up pace as the flashbacks get more prominent.

2.46-3.08(end of song)

The male character reaches his destination, only to realise the girl is walking off with another man, smiling and laughing unaware of the rushing male character. He gazes on disappointed, then turns around and walks off, putting his hood up and the camera tracks him walking down the hill.

Questionnaire Results

I produced some questionnaires, to find out some vital information that would help me with the production of my music video. I then created some tables and charts in order for them to be easier to read and display, with the information making some insightful reading.

Gender?

Favourite Genre:

What do you look for in a music video?

Are you keen on black and white in music videos?

Are you a fan of Kanye West's music?

What style of music do you prefer?

Do you like the style of the music video for Ed Sheeran - 'The A Team'?

Do you become more fond of a song if you like the music video?

We Found Love - Rihanna

I am very impressed by the new music video for Rihanna's latest song 'We Found Love'. Rihanna is a extremely successful artist, who has become a worldwide star and one of the biggest female artists of the last ten years. Her music videos are usually very successful, propelling the song to even greater heights, such as the 'Umbrella' video which made the song a phenomenon and one of the songs of the decade. However, her videos never contain much of a message or an interesting narrative, instead focussing on her the performance of the song itself (Umbrella, Rude Boy) or using an obvious narrative that is linked to the song lyrics (Unfaithful, Hate That I Love You). However, I feel this has changed recently, with the release of firstly the 'Man Down' video and secondly the 'We Found Love' video. Both have not been without controversy, with some critics saying that Rihanna is glorifying domestic abuse, violence and drug taking. I disagree with this though, I feel that both video's are shining the light on a difficult, dark subject matter and forming it as 'art', which is showcasing how important and insightful the format of a music video is.

'We Found Love' is a captivating and cinematic video. Straight away, the narration of Agyness Deyn draws you in with her rough, northern accent, something you wouldn't expect from a R'n'B superstar. The quote used at the start is a wonderful way to start the video, building up the narrative and fascinating the audience with the polemics of good and evil in a relationship. The video then goes on, with the editing picking up speed as the song does, showcasing some beautiful cinematic imagery, filmed in Northern Ireland. The song has a very intruiging narrative, showing how love can be like a drug, with their being many dangers to it along with the good feeling that it gives. As familiar in all Rihanna video's, the essence of voyerism is still there, with the singer flaunting her beautiful looks in revealing and iconic outfits. However, at no time did I feel this was a sexually driven video, which Rihanna has perviously done in the past (S&M), and I was just overly impressed by the variety of shots, range of editing and the engaging narrative which shows many different ideas and representations. I am very impressed by the video, mainly because it isn't just a normal conventional pop video to visualise a 'electro-pop' song, instead Rihanna, and the creative team behind it, produce a video with a message and real backbone. I have to agree with Rihanna, that this is her best and deepest video to date.

Previous Work

During Year 12, whilst we began working on the art of music video's, we made a music video to show off the skills that we had learnt. We used the element of performance in the video, using a female lead singer and backing dancers and singers to represent the feel good element to the song. The song was called 'Why Does Love Do This To Me' by The Exponents, a feel good and extremely catch song, and we hoped to portray that element, in a positively structured video. We unfortunately didn't have time to finish the song due to a lack of time whilst we were creating it, however we still managed to show off some skills we had learnt, such as the concept of performance and using the lead singer to mime the words, over a backing track.

Initial Ideas

I am initially brainstorming many ideas and I am interested in the idea of a simplistic video, which has proved successful for many artists over the generations. I am thinking of doing a black and white video, reflecting the emotion in the song that I will potentially use. The song I am thinking of using is 'Welcome to Heartbreak' by Kanye West from his '808s and Heartbreak' album, a song that provokes a lot of different emotions, therefore creating an interesting song to partner my visual.
I am inspired by Ed Sheeran's video for 'The A Team', as I feel that is another good example of a song that provokes emotion, vulnerability and a character's lifestyle, something that I hope to portray in my own video.

One Shot Wonders

An interesting example of how a one shot wonder video can be used, is Coldplay's 2000 hit, Yellow. The song is known for its emotion and rawness, with it still being considered amongst the best songs the band has made, even though the continuously produce hit after hit. The video has an extremely basic concept, relying on Chris Martin's performance as the vocalist to portray the song's obvious emotion. He does it extremely well, performing as if he is in the moment, rather than making a music video, creating an incredibly personal visual, which reflects the brilliant song. Coldplay themselves came up with the idea, firstly wanting all the members of the band to walk down the beach to a sunny backdrop. However, due to one of the band members having to attend a close family member's funeral on the day of the shoot, it was decided that Chris Martin should be the only one to feature, with the circumstances also reflecting Martin's mood. Due to the video being in slow motion, Chris Martin had to sing the song at double speed so that the audio and visual content would be in sync, a common yet difficult practice of music videos. A wonderful video to reflect a wonderful song.




Another example of the format being incorporated in to a music video is the visual for 'Wannabe' by The Spice Girls. It is certainly more chaotic than the Coldplay song I mentioned above, depicting the five different characters of each girl in an abnormal situation, trying to catch the 'madness of the Spice Girls'. The video was a first for director Jhoan Camitz, with his only other experience being TV commercials for companies such as Diesel and Nike. His concept for the video was the girls taking over the building, and running a riot— reflecting the same thing they did when they were looking for a manager and a record company. Because the video needed to be taken in one shot, the group rehearsed the routine several times through the night, while a steadycam operator followed them. The video won Best Dance Video at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, and Best Video at the 1997 Comet Media Awards. It was also nominated for Best British Video at the 1997 BRIT Awards,and was ranked at number 41 in the Top 100 Pop Videos of all time by Channel 4.




An example of the style being used in a different genre, Hip Hop, can be found here. This is an interesting, due to Hip-Hop being conventionally associated with a bravado type video, not the minimalism that a one shot wonder brings.

Influential Music Video's From The 1980's

A-Ha – 'Take On Me'

This 1985 classic propelled this Norwegian trio to international stardom, as well as earning them an MTV Music Video Award for best video. Appreciated due to it's experimental aspect, it is described as 'one of the most successfully executed concept videos of the early MTV era' and uses intertextuality with the ending based on the 1980 film Altered State. Directed by Steve Barron, it is regularly recognised in critic's top 100, due to its collision between fantasy and reality, a trait directors of today continuously try to reproduce.




Queen and David Bowie – Under Pressure

This paramount hit from 1981, pitched two of the greatest artist of the decade together, providing a classic song and classic video to match. Interestingly, the video does not feature Mercury, Bowie or any other members of Queen, relying purely on silent film and documentary footage. Although being a simple and cheap concept, I am fascinated by the portrayal of the contrasting perceptions of 'Pressure' throughout the visual. From collapsing building's to an economic crisis, the video acts as a metaphor to society, all the while accompanied by one of Freddie Mercury's finest hours.

Goodwin's Theory

Close up’s
Intertextuality
Genre characteristics
Voyeurism
Relationship between Music and visuals
Relationship between Lyrics and visuals

Director Study - Jake Nava

Jake Nava grew up in Hackney, London, and went to the University of Westminster, before moving to America to further his career. After moving to America, he signed to a film production company called FM Rocks.

He started making music videos when he left film school, making visuals for UK artists such as Beverley Knight, Atomic Kitten and The Spice Girls. It wasn't long before he was noticed across the Atlantic in the US, with one particular artist propelling his career to the next level. That artist was the worldwide phenomenon, Beyonce, who soon asked Nava to direct her début solo release, 'Crazy in Love'. The video was a surrounding success, aiding the song to a number one position both in the UK and the US. Beyonce herself describes the video as 'celebrating the evolution of a woman. It is about a girl who is at the point of a relationship. She realises that she is in love, she is doing stuff she would not normally do but she does not care. It does not matter she is just crazy in love'.



After the success of that video, he was in high demand by many top artists, such as Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears, Enrique Iglesias and Usher. He has since become a main and prominent fixture on the US music scene, gaining a successful reputation amongst the world's top artists. He has created award winning videos, as well as working with a diverse range of artists, from the genre of pop (Mariah Carey, Britney Spears) to rock legends (The Rolling Stones). The Rolling Stones video was actually based on the look and feel created in the hugely appreciated 2002 film 'City Of God', with Nava presenting his Latin roots, in the form of a music video.







Nava is credited for having the natural talent and ability of capturing individual talent and beauty for each of his subjects he works on. He works very closely with artists, who sometimes ask for my narrative or performance within the visual, and in such cases, Nava goes back to planning in order to suit both his and the artist's needs. His style continuously changes depending on the artist, but he maintains that he always gives the artist their own unique identity, not merely copying another successful format from a previous artist he has worked with. He describes his ever-changing style is due to the 'visual being dictated by the genre of the music, and the vibe he feels will make the artist performing the song, look their best'.

The contrast between narrative and performance in Nava's videos is exemplified perfectly in two consecutive Beyonce video's from 2008. The first 'If I Were A Boy' is a perfectly constructed narrative piece, shot in black and white, telling the story of the song itself. It portrays a narrative about an ordinary day for a couple (played by NFL player Eddie Goines as the male character and Beyonce as the female one) in a role reversal that is hinted at by the lyrics. Beyonce said that the video is 'both compelling and reflective of the independent woman stance that she has exhibited throughout most of her career', highlighting Nava's fondness on creating a personal image for each performer.



The second video was that for 'Single Ladies', shot immediately after 'If I Were A Boy' and displayed to show the contrast between Beyonce and her alter ego, Sasha Fierce, the main theme for her album. Again shot in black and white, the video took 12 hours to make and was a simple concept consisting of Beyonce and 2 other dancers performing a dance routine to the track. The choreography used inspiration from a 1969 Bob Fosse routine entitled "Mexican Breakfast. Knowles said that she wanted to keep the video simple. She explained that it was shot without different camera shots and cuts, without alterations to hairstyles, costumes, sets or lighting. She focused only on the performance. Nava said that on the day the video was shot, the song was divided into three parts. He deliberately used lengthy shots so that viewers "would connect with the human endeavour of Beyoncé's awe-inspiring dance". He stated that all the changes in looks and lighting were executed on-camera because he wanted to keep the feel "very organic and un-gimmicky". Regarding the "Single Ladies" video, Knowles said, "Out of all my videos, it was the least expensive and took the least amount of time. And it ended up being the most iconic. I just wanted to keep this one really minimal. But once we got on the set, it was like, wait a minute. This is something special."



The video garnered nine nominations for the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, and it won three: Video of the Year, Best Choreography, and Best Editing. It won numerous Best Video awards at the MTV Europe Music Awards, at the MOBO Awards, and at the BET Awards. The video received a nomination for "Outstanding Music Video" at the 2009 NAACP Image Awards, and it was ranked at number 4 on BET's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2008 countdown,and at number 3 on VH1's Top 40 Videos of 2009. It has gone on to be recognised as one of the most iconic videos of all time, and certainly this decade, so maybe Kanye was right. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanyegate#Kanye_West_controversy_and_debated_incidents)
















Overall, I admire Jake Nava due to his diverse range of ideas and creativity. He has worked with many different artists and gives them each their own personal identity with each visual, a trait which is admired by the fans, critics and artists themselves.