Mood Board

SPCTRM's Girl Music video should demonstrate the above atmospheres for the viewer such as 'dreamy, youth (culture), love and care-free vibes, and ultimately reflecting the life of a teen in a grimy area of London.

The purpose of the photos of Trainspotting is inspiration for our music video, where lighting, iconography and camera movement is sophisticated to reflect the life of the teen boy, of which he tries to get out the drug scene. Ambient lighting as well as fluorescent lighting is used in this film which we are keen to use ourselves, with in this Goodwin's theory where intertextuality is used to reference something within a medium platform.

Planning

As the genre is Future Garage, we need an innovative name for out artist to reflect this. When playing the song Girl, we can imagine fluorescent lights being used throughout the video, in conclusion we came up with a few ideas for names of our artist. Although our artist fits in with the DJ genre, we didn't want a 'normal' name for him, and wanted to go with the theme of colour. We came up with the above names, SPCTRM (Abbreviated - Spectrum) got the most likes from our audience of 17/18 year olds (I will discuss our target audience later on). The name SPCTRM is based on the theme of colour, as spectrum is a variety of colour, as well as reflecting the genre Future garage being experimental and metaphorically colourful.

Genre

The genre of music I am most interested in exploring is Future Garage/electronic, of which I will be using the song "Girl" by Jamie XX. Girl creates a very surreal atmosphere almost; experimenting with colour, lighting, dynamics and general creativity will fit the song perfectly. As we have this idea in mind, we're on the hunt for a name to fit our male artist.

Conventions of Electronic Music Videos

Camerawork - Lots of mid shots to show the artist performing the music; DJ's make music through electronic instruments i.e the Synthesiser, which involves upper body movement and this instrument is positioned mid torso/ hips so this shot is most complimentary.

Editing - The shots are cut to the beat, and Girl has a fair amount of beats so there will be a lot of different shots to make the video coherent. Around the 3rd into the music video there is some kind of change, and the song changes slightly, so the pace of the cuts will alternate and something new will be added/change.

Setting - Dependent on what the narrative is, or what the lyrics connote. Girl doesn't have many lyrics, but begins with the dialect "Most beautiful girl in Hackney" so according to Goodwin, we should have the setting in Hackney to begin with in order to make the video make sense to the song. Electronic is generally aimed at a 'younger' audience, so urban settings would compliment the genre.

Performance - A mash up of the artist and the actress/actor. There could be a somewhat narrative as electronic music doesn't usually have much lyrics and mayb
e a voice over instead, so the performance could literally be anything upbeat.

Initial Ideas

Our first ideas for out digipak is the use of lighting and colour, and during our research on Tumblr of this theme, we came across rainbow reflections on the hand:

as this shows a spectrum of colour.

The reasoning for this concept for the front of the digipak is because it would be an inexplicit character to the audience, but would also refer to parts of the music video as we would include the same concept int he music video. To do this we could use acetate sheets by printing an image of a rainbow onto it and decrease the opacity, then projecting it onto the wall. We could use a rainbow light source or some sort of reflective device i.e a CD. 

First song choice

As mine and my partners taste in music are similar, we have considered future garage, Indie pop and funk which all form an alternative concept, as they usually target a young audience, therefore the artist will be innovative. These genres were inspired by DJ Jamie XX, Swim Deep and Ben Khan, along with other artists that we generally enjoy listening to.

Considered Songs for Music Video:

Jamie XX - Girl

There is no music video for 'Girl' so we can completely experiment from scratch; applying Goodwin's theory and link sound and visuals together, as well as many other features.
At the beginning of the song, a man says "The most beautiful girl in Hackney y'know", referencing the title of the song. This ambiguity of this intro can be explored in many different ways throughout the song as there are no lyrics apart from:

"I want your love"
"I want your love"
"I want your love"
"Give me your love"

perhaps indicating Jamie XX's emotions towards 'the most beautiful girl in hackney' as this is the hometown of the artist. The imagery is already created of the setting - Hackney, which is an urban area and reflects the artists himself; a young and trendy character, and also applies to the genre as electronic music videos conventions include urban areas.
The repetition of the song lyrics and beat connote an obsession (of the girl) so the main focus of the song is this girl, representing the life of the youth in London. This stereotypically, including drugs, alcohol and of course; music.
Throughout the song, the atmospheric rhythm is a main feature and is an obvious theme, therefore we will keep this theme applicable through visuals of the video.

First song choice

Swim Deep are an all male band, and the song "She Changes The Weather" is an obvious indication that the song is about a woman who is significant to the guy in the music video reflecting the title of the song and the lyrics:

"She takes my time and I don't mind
 She makes me feel like
 Like I can see for miles.
 She changes the weather in my world
 Seems like it's never getting cold."

Supporting Goodwin's music video theory, the music video is introduced through a woman under water focusing on movements as the scene transitions back and forth to a guy and girl on a bus as the guy moves the woman moves in the water showing a connection and discomfort. A range of camera shots and movements are used; close ups to allow the audience to see them hold hands - representing relationships, of which the audience (whom are young) would relate or see as iconic. Youth is represented in these music, reflecting the band themselves, through the use of iconography such as an urban colourful area, bikes and public transport, as well the actors themselves being young. 

digipak analysis 3

Digipak presentations from taylor lyttleton

Digipak Anaylsis 2

Lana del rey digipak from taylor lyttleton

Digipak Analysis 1

Digipak Analysis - Enema Of The State by Blink-182 


This is the 6 panel digipak for Enema of The State by Blink-182, released 1999. The most popular tracks on this album are, What’s My Age Again? Adams song and All The Small Things.  Blink-182 are known as quite a humorous band, which is recognised through the photography on the digipak; where the iconic band are being like their usual selves and reflecting the genre of pop-punk. 
 There is no writing on the digipak, reflecting the band's braking conventions of albums; band name and album title on the front and the track listing on the back. The track listing instead uses the colours blue and red to create symbols, which generally have not much relevance to the digipak, but again resembles their quirkiness. This also compliments the nurse who is wearing red and blue. The image on the CD contrasts with the image in the background, with the same girl on the CD as on the front of the whole digipak but the boys in their boxers behind the CD, suggesting the target audience are male as the male gaze is being used. 

Cross-media study

Music artist study (james blake) use from taylor lyttleton

Adorno and Horkeimer

Adorno and Horkheimer 

Artists that conform

                                                              Katy Perry

Katheryn Elizabeth "Katy" Hudson, better known by her stage name Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter and actress. After singing in church during her childhood, she pursued a career in gospel music as a teenager. Perry signed with Red Hill Records and released her debut studio album Katy Hudson in 2001, which was commercially unsuccessful. She moved to Los Angeles the following year to venture into secular music after Red Hill ceased operations. After being dropped by The Island Def Jam Music Group and Columbia Records, Perry signed a recording contract with Capitol Records in April 2007.

"People also searched for"
Evident of other similar artists with the same audience.

Adorno and Horkeimer theory

Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer (1944)

The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception

THE sociological theory that the loss of the support of objectively established religion, the dissolution of the last remnants of pre-capitalism, together with technological and social differentiation or specialisation, have led to cultural chaos is disproved every day; for culture

now impresses the same stamp on everything. 

Applying Adorno and Horkheimer's theory to music artists, the idea is that artists are just a reinvented versions of before-artists of that same genre, and this is for audience purposes and profit making. If there is already a 'pre-sold' audience from previous artists of the same material, than a new artist that fits into this category will sell to the audience, of which record labels endeavour for money making. However, some artists may not conform this theory but then again may only have a niche audience - what record labels are afraid of.

Goodwin's theory

Goodwin's music video analysis 

 1) Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics 
 2) There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals
 3) There is a relationship between music and visuals
 4) The demands of the record label will include the need for the lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work 
5) There is frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the bfemale body 
6) There is often intertextuality reference.

Timeline of The Music Video

What is a Digipak?

Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside.

Since Digipaks were among the first alternatives to jewel cases to be used by major record companies, and because there is no other common name for Digipak-style packaging made by other companies, the term digipak or Digi-Pak is often used generically, even when the media holder is a hub or "Soft Spot" rather than a full plastic tray.

Digipak-style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums and the tall DVD Digipak (DVDigipak)  is used as a premium package for DVDs and DVD sets. Such packaging is less resistant to abrasion than jewel cases, so it tends to show signs of wear relatively quickly. Licensed digipak manufacturers such as domestic U.S. printer and disc replicator Oasis Disc Manufacturing recommend coating the raw printed paper with a protective UV coating, thus ensuring greater longevity.

Although less vulnerable to cracking than a jewel case, the disc tray inside the package (particularly the "teeth" of the hub which secure the disc in place) remains rather brittle and is prone to cracking if the package is crushed. Digipak-style cases grew in popularity among record labels and recording artists in the early 2000s.

What is a music video?

Music videos are audiovisual experiences which are used to accompany a song, generally modern day music videos (which are most relatable to my Media A2 project) explore a medium of art and creativity. 

i) music videos communicate through TV-screen and TV-speakers ii) music videos are a form of low-brow popular culture
iii) the reception of music videos depends on the beholder (music video may be beautiful or ugly, art or trash, etc.).

The music video can represent the artists genre, style and typically pop artists, are iconic towards their target audience, so their appearance within the music video could be crucial.