Music video Poster analysis

What is the point of synergy for an Artist?

Brand Image: Audience interest – brainwashes the audience into buying the product as they have seen it commonly around places

 

Conventions of a music poster:

·         Title of artist

·         Release date of song

·         Review of song – stars

·         Image – of the album cover

·         Places to buy the CD – shop logo

·         Website

·         Colour – represents music genre

·         Record labels

·         Venue

·         Where band are touring

·         Hotline

·         Age certificate

·         Typography

·         Layout of poster

·         Price

·         Features

Poster 1: Gorillaz - Rock

The title is located in the centre of the poster so it is instantly seen by the audience reading the poster and is in a bold red so it stands out from the other text as the title is the most important part. The title colour also links to the band as they appear to be slightly shaded red so the audience can see who they are.

The poster includes the picture of the band members in a line with the singer at the front resembling his importance over the rest of the band.

 

Poster 2: Maroon 5 - Pop

The image on the poster is the band members in a row which is easily recognisable towards the audience as they can see who they are as the main product for the audience and know each member of Maroon 5.

The date of the tour is pasted in the corner as it isn’t too important but still needs to be noticed and also there is a time on the other side of the poster.

The poster gives credit to the host/venue of the performance even though it is the smallest text on the poster.

It also has a website and a description of the website which is a charity so the audience know why the band are performing.

Poster 3: Thirty seconds to Mars - Alternative

The title of the poster is the largest text as it captivates the audience so they can clearly see who the band is. The title is the colour orange which could indicate the colour of Mars as the image in the picture represents the planet.

The image on the poster indicates the shadow of the band adding a sense of mystery as the audience can’t see their faces which could mean that they want the audience too see them in person rather than the poster. There is the planet Mars in the background linking in to the band’s name making them easily recognisable.

The posters design is different as it isn’t shaped in a rectangle as the top section has a ridge to it for the venue/auditorium to fi t making the poster unique from others. It has a smart design with black and white patterns which could suggest that the auditorium is posh and smart looking.

The poster uses dates so the audience can see when they are performing and the website for further access but this isn.t very important as the text is small.

Poster 4: Juice - Hip-Hop

The title of the hip-hop group is in a red font and id the largest sized text on the poster attracting the audience’s eye. The red colour contrasts with the blue background adding to its boldness.

The group are dressed in hoodies and clothing that represent the stereotype of ‘thugs’ and ‘chavs’ which the group are associating with for their music genre of hip-hop.

The white text on the poster is about the minor information such as features and the venue for the group.





Music companies use promotional packs for further advertisement. This is because they want to get the public to continuously see the music promo through the media and try and brainwash as many as they can to buy it. An example of this is Pendulum through their digi-pack and posters. Pendulum use synergy for their advertisement through posters and digi-packs with the same recognisable image and text/font for the public.

 

Conventions of music genre

Conventions of music genre:

Pop(ular):

·         Young Bands (teenage)

·         Colourful clothing theme

·         Targets young teenagers

·         Songs – love ,teenage problems

Rock:

·         Costume – darker

·         Rock hand symbols

·         Aggressive facial features

·         Loud

·         Song – death, hate, anti-mainstream

·         Suppression

Rap:

·         Colours – very colourful or very dark

·         Drugs & violent imagery

Indie/Alternative:

·         Hipster look

·         Anti-mainstream that became mainstream

·         Opposite to Pop

·         Orange, brown, blue

·         Real settings – Earthy imagery

RnB/Hip-hop:

·         Afro-Caribbean originated from

·         Serious singers

·         Suppressed feelings

·         Suffering/hurt feelings

 

What is the point of synergy or an artist?

Each artist has a brand image

Keep audience interested throughout the whole video

Creates links and makes the public keep thinking about it throughout the day and eventually give in to listen and purchase the product as it becomes addicting to listen to

Conventions of music genre

Conventions of music genre:

Pop(ular):

·         Young Bands (teenage)

·         Colourful clothing theme

·         Targets young teenagers

·         Songs – love ,teenage problems

Rock:

·         Costume – darker

·         Rock hand symbols

·         Aggressive facial features

·         Loud

·         Song – death, hate, anti-mainstream

·         Suppression

Rap:

·         Colours – very colourful or very dark

·         Drugs & violent imagery

Indie/Alternative:

·         Hipster look

·         Anti-mainstream that became mainstream

·         Opposite to Pop

·         Orange, brown, blue

·         Real settings – Earthy imagery

RnB/Hip-hop:

·         Afro-Caribbean originated from

·         Serious singers

·         Suppressed feelings

·         Suffering/hurt feelings

 

Narrative in music promos

Narrative:

Music video is an advert to promote band/artists music

Traditional/classis narrative

1.       Exposition – intro to scene/characters#

2.       Rising action – Rising problem

3.       Climax – big problem appears

4.       Falling down –climax is resolved

5.       Denouement – End (relaxed)

Linear – chronological order (start to end)

Non-linear - (non-chronological order) – flashback, flash-forward, ellipsis, montage

Closed ending – closure at the end (all happy/director has given an ending)

Open ended – cliff-hanger (use imagination to figure what happened) e.g. inception & Bird Man

Circular narrative – narrative finishes where it starts (circles back to beginning) e.g. Fat Boy Slim – Weapon of Choice

Singular strand –one storyline that is happening

Multi strand – multiple storylines going on at once e.g. Crash

As an audience, we look for a beginning/middle/end in a narrative

In songs, narrative is rarely completed therefore Fragmentary

Fragmentary narratives may help the repeatability of promos

Andrew Goodwin – suggests that music promos can interpret/use the meanings created in the song lyric in one of these ways:

Illustration – Promo illustrates the ideas/narrative in the song (literal interpretation) 

An example of this is the music promo: Disturbed - Asylum

This music video is about a man who tries to escape asylum following the lyrics which quote what he says such as 'Don't want to live in asylum' for the main chorus.

 

 

 

Amplification – uses a key idea/image from the lyrics and developed into a concept within the promo. The link remains between the lyrics and promo

An example of this is the music promo: Gorillaz: - On Melancholy Hill

This song follows the story of a character in trouble and is rescued and taken to Melancholy Hill. The song is quite different from the lyrics to the video but follows the story.

 

 

 

 

 

Disjuncture – The promo bears no resemblance to the lyric or its meaning and seen as unconventional/’arty’ videos – creates a new range of meanings to the song

An example of this is the music promo: Skrillex - Bangarang

This song is totally random containing teenagers robbing an ice cream van representing teen violence today but the song doesn't match what is going on but Skrillex targets the audience who is involved in the music video and their 'rebellious' behaviour linking to his 'dub-step' songs.

Tordorov's Theory

 

This is where a stimulation triggers a sensation of another, like a hearing of a sound produces the visualisation of a colour that we connote with it.

Music promo conventions

Camerawork:

·         Whole band in shots – shows the product of the song

·         Close ups – get close to performer – star access – singer/key performers

·         Long shots of band – zooms in

·         Low angle – look up at performers e.g. concerts

·         Lots of movement - dynamic/exiting

 

Editing:

·         Editing reflects tempo of song

·         Usually cuts on beat

·         Most shots on significant performers

·         Performance/narrative – integrated? , Separate? , One more dominant?

 

MES:

·         M-e-s reflects song/lyrics

·         Affected by Genre

·         Setting might vary to add interest

·         Instruments – makes band look more authentic/shows different band roles

·         Costume – links to genre of song/fashion trends

·         Lighting – mood/atmosphere – band in spotlight while background is dark (high key lighting)

 

Performance/narrative:

·         Live gig – feel like audience member

·         See the band paly

·         Narrative – relate to band/storyline – bought it to life/Develop an area of the song or concept/ ignore the lyrics (disjuncture)

 

Conventions:

·         Montage – series of cuts together to create a symbolic meaning (popular with pop videos)

·         Reverse ideas of traditional narrative – i.e. storyline

·         Originates from Russian filmmaker Eisenstein Music promo evaluation

Music promo analysis

Music promo analysis: Gorillaz - Stylo


The introduction to this music promo starts off with a long shot of a road introducing the scene of where the promo is set which seems to look like a desert.

The next shot introduces the title of the song to the audience through the use of the main mise-en-scene of the video being the car as it is named after the song on the front. There are no musical instruments within the promo leaving the audo9ence to think what is being played.

The next shot uses a close up on the singer in the car who is animated and not a real person masking the real singers identity as he has a mask on the top of his head along with the other figures in the car which captivates the audience using animation in a real life clip contrasting them both. The audience are focused on these characters as it keeps the main focus on the singer and the other members in the background.

The song includes a slow motion scene where a police car crashes giving the audience an action feel towards the prom keeping them engaged as it is different from most other music videos. This links to the camera-work as there is plenty of different camera movements within the video from sloe motion to a close up shot of the characters within the promo.

The promo also includes other celebrities adding to the bands popularity as they become more easily recognised with celebrities that the audience know e.g. Bruce Willis

The song ends with the band who are in the car crashing and uses a fade leaving the audience puzzled in what has happened and the band left it to the audience to come up with what happened afterwards.
The song contained narrative as it follows the story of these characters being chased by the police and crashing at the end.

The song uses Todorov's theory because the equilibrium starts off as calm as the characters are simply driving through a desert. Then it changes to a disruption as a police car starts to chase them in hot pursuit by Bruce Willis. There is recognition as Bruce Willis tries to shoot the characters in the car to stop them increasing the danger level and tension as the car chase progresses. There is an attempt to repair the damage of the disruption as the characters try and escape by driving away at full speed from Bruce Willis and ends up with a return of a new equilibrium as they crash into the sea and sink into the ocean.

What is a music Promo?

This is a music video of a song by an artist either solo or in a band. This is to promote the song to the public audience and also to entertain them by using the video to keep them motivated in viewing. It makes the audience want to listen to the music and makes them aware off the artists by capturing their eye through the use of visuals. It could also improve sales and publicity, might create links and it will create a brand identity. This can be seen on music channels such as ‘Kerrang’ and it can also be seen on the internet such as YouTube because this website is very popular in promoting all kinds of videos with millions of hits at a time.

Musicv video history

 

Promo	Date	Why Important?	How does it establish or develop conventions?
The Beatles A Hard Day’s Night	1964	It was one of the first music videos out. It establishes the typical conventions of a music promo.	It included a vast number of contemporary musicians and actors. The band was the main feature and there were all close ups of the band. There were cuts to the beat and we saw live footage of fans reactions. The band was acting and there was a small sense of narrative. Editing was speed increased on the clips.
Bob Dylan Subterranean homesick blues	1965	Very simplistic music video, one of the first disjuncture music videos.	It uses flash cards and it is one take. It was very simplistic and this subverts the conventions, Bob Dylan wasn’t performing.
The Beatles Strawberry Fields forever	1967	First studio promo, it uses more arty techniques theatre more conventional. The discovery of drug influenced this.	Uses bizarre conventions like slow motion shots. There were a lot of editing effects like reverse footage and an overall arty approach. There is a lot of disjuncture in this music video and colour has been used.
‘The Monkeez’ a little bit of me, a little bit of you	1967	Tried to copy the Beatles with the obscure conventions	Women are being used for effect, more surreal conventions. They used humour for effect. More jump cuts and fast motion shots to.
Queen Bohemian Rhapsody	1975	This video was available free of charge to networks.	They use a lot of early editing effect and then there is a live performance effect to it too.
Bowie Ashes to Ashes	1980	Most expensive video made at the time £250,000	Uses very obscure visuals and a different movement. Uses different lighting and sound effects.
Devo Whip it	1980	Uses more unusual conventions	Unusual use of costume and they are borrowing cultural iconography of western theme.
Duran Duran Rio	1983	One of the first videos on MTV	More unusual close ups, using more females to attract them, more sexualisation of women. Set in an exotic location, it gives the impression of a glamorous life. Multiple shot plays on one screen, more editing. More humour.
Michael Jackson Thriller	1983	Very famous music video uses a big idea of narrative. More scary and controversial.	More choreography s added, there is a greater sense of narrative, a stronger storyline. There is a better et and it cost a lot to make. Refers to thrillers and horrors.