Ancillary Texts

Artist Analysis

As I've decided to do a song by the band Daughter, I thought it would be interesting to look at the promotion package for their album 'If you leave'. Daughter are an English indie pop band from London. As there is no music video for the song I want to do, if looked at the music videos they have for other songs on this album, like 'Still' and 'Youth'.

Youth:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QT5eGHCJdE

Still:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUWrcFpmI5U

These two videos are very different, as one is narrative based and the other is performance based. Although both videos do have images of the band performing. I like how the video for 'Youth' is very simplistic and reflects their newer style. Whereas the video for 'Still' reflects their slightly older style. 

Their album cover also reflects their older and newer style: 

This album cover is for 'If you leave' and is very simplistic. There is an image in the background, which appears to be of a woodland areas, with the silhouette of a person that is hidden by a bright flash of light. The writing over the top is very simplistic, with the name of the band, 'DAUGHTER' and then the name of the album underneath. 

This cover is for their single 'Get Lucky' (a cover of Daft Punk). This cover has the mid shot of the main singer, in black and white, with the name of the song, 'GET LUCKY' and the name of the band underneath. This cover reflects the video for 'Youth' and also mirrors their website.

As you can see, the cover for 'GET LUCKY' is the same image as their website. Their website is the large image in the middle, with links to other pages down the bottom. The main singer is placed in a close up in the middle, with the instrument players blurred out in the background. This is likely to be done as the main thing the audience will recognise is the main singer as she is the person they hear and see singing a majority of the time. At the side there are links to their facebook, twitter and other social networking pages, in order to allow their fans interact with band in a more personal way. 

I really like how simplistic their products are, and how a lot of it links together- depending on what time they were created. I prefer their later stuff, as it ties together better and the simplicity of the ancillary products. I like the idea of using an image of the artist/band with simplistic writing over the top. 

Brainstorming Ideas!

Artist Analysis

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Director Study

Music Video Analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLdTcr98fSs

This music video for Panic Cord by Gabrielle Aplin is mainly narrative with elements of performance. The narrative is broken up with her singing to the camera, occasionally playing the guitar. I have noticed how music videos of this kind of genre are often a mixture of narrative and performance and often feature some kind of love story. The narrative for this music video is Gabrielle thinking back on a previous relationship, going through objects that mean something about the relationship and then showing their significance. Lots of natural sunny light is used during the happy flash backs and when she's singing to show how happy she was at times. Then as the memories turn bad, it gets darker and this could be symbolising her relation turning sour. 

One of Goodwins 7 is a relationship between lyrics and visuals; this is done a lot in this music video as the song is a kind of love story, the video fits it. For example when she sings 'we're just a box of souvenirs' there is a shot of her pulling objects out of a box. There is also evidence of the visuals matching the music, as when there is a guitar solo, you see her playing the guitar, and there is lots of cutting to the beat. There are also a lot of close ups of Gabrielle (another one of Goodwins 7), possibly as a requirement of the record label but also because she is singing about how it's her fault and there is a lot of emphasis on her. Therefore the close ups suggest that is effected her personally, not him.

The location is important for this music video as it is easy for people to relate to. The fact that it is set in places around the home and other places people can relate to means that the audience are more likely to emotional connect to the video, the song and therefore the singer. This can be important for video's of this genre as it mostly girls that listen to these kind of songs, and therefore they can prefer it when they can connect with songs, especially songs about love. For the singer this can be important, as she needs and wants her fans to connect with her as they are more likely to buy her albums if they feel connected to her in someway. 

I really like the balance of performance and narrative in this music video, and would like to use the same kind of narrative-performance format in my own music video. However as my music video is not a love story, I will clearly have to think very carefully about how to make my artist appeal to the audience. I am also hoping to make my video a little bit concept based as there are some strong meanings behind the lyrics that I feel should be expressed in my music video.

Previous Student Example

Gabrielle Aplin-Please don't say you love me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1o-mhtrFT0

This A2 music video is of a similar genre to the song I plan to make a music video for, and therefore I found it really helpful in the planning of my music video. I really liked how there is a small introduction and the balance of narrative and performance. I also like the camera angles, shots and movements used, especially the changes between long sweeping shots and still close ups. I also love the point focus control used in lots of the shots, particularly the establishing shot. As in many of the other previous student examples I have analysed, it is the actors that make this music video so good. The actors in this video are clearly confident and therefore the lip syncing and acting is well done, resulting in a higher standard of music video.

One weakness of this music video is the fact that the narrative for it is very similar to the official music video for this song, making me think that the idea for this video was copied from the video released by Gabrielle Alpin. Another weakness of this video is the part where the singer is playing the guitar as it is clear that despite being a confident actor, she can not play the guitar. If I were to use a guitar in my own music video I would try my hardest to find someone who can play the guitar or any instrument to a high enough standard.

This video has really helped me decide the right balance of narrative and performance. It has also helped me consider the camera angles, movements and shots that might be good for my music video, as the angles and movements help create a higher standard of music video. The editing in this video is also good, and like a lot of the music video's I have studied, the editing has inspired me to look into what editing techniques will be useful for my music video.