Magazine Album Advertisment Analysis

The target audience for this artist and the advert are males and female, early-mid 20’s. This is shown through the use of a black and white image filter, this shows that audience who the artist is but it doesn’t focus on his ‘star image’; this effect is suitable for his audience because they will be buying his album for the high quality music not because of his celebrity status or image.

The sketched drawing on the front of the album is a child-like impression of the artist Joe Zeffa. This ‘character’ has been used in the advert, he is hiding behind the artists shoulder, and this may link to the mood of the album. The music may include themes such as loneliness- this is indicated by the sketch of the artist being alone on the CD cover, the songs may also use themes of longing for companionship and friendship- this is indicated by the sketch being behind Zeffa’s shoulder, it could be seeking protection or company.

The advert highlights the artists name and the album title, this has been done to make the audience create a link between the artist and his debut album. The title of the album ‘After the Cake’ is quite obscure, unless the song focus on food and cake the title does not reveal much about the content of the album. Zeffa’s pre-existing audience know his style and understand any references that he may be making in this title. If somebody has not heard his music before, this tile may seem odd or random, this could make this new audience interested and intrigued and want to listen to the album to find out the hidden meaning. But it could just confuse them and make the album less appealing.

This is a full page advertisement; this makes sure that the audience can easily see this advert. Because no distinct colours are used the greyscale colour scheme will stand out against the bright colours on the other pages surrounding it.

Because the album cover has been put into the advert, the audience will know what the cover looks like if they plan to buy it in a shop. The advert also states that the album is available to download form his website, this is ideal for the early-mid 20’s audience who use a lot of technology in their everyday life and increasingly for music.

Half of the artist face is shown; he has a stubble beard and shaggy hair. This is his image which his target audience will recognise but he is not relying on his image to attract this audience. At the very top of the advert it says “Manchester born”, this represents his roots and background. It shows that he is a normal, inner city man who has found success; his audience may feel that this makes him a more down-to-earth and honest person, who they can relate to.

The artist’s logo is large and bold. It dominates the top quarter of the page making it stand out. This will draw the audience’s eyes to the artist name so that they know who the album is by and who he is if they don’t recognise him.

Research for Digipak: HMV

Album Art Design Idea

Album Cover Design Idea

Album Analysis- 'Love in the Future' by John Legend

Album Analysis - Nirvana, Nevermind

The massively popular grunge rock group Nirvana released the groundbreaking album, Nevermind in 1991. It ushered in a new era of rock and music in general with the hit single Smells Like Teen Spirit taking the chats by storm for the many years that followed. In this post I will analyse the album and highlight the underlying message of it's strange and vivid artwork.

The front cover of Nirvana's 1991 album Nevermind

Initially the name of the album was set to be Sheep, which was a subtle joke created by Kurt Cobain directed at the people that would be buying the album. In the end however, Cobain grew tired of the name and settled on Nevermind as it as a metaphor for his attitude on life in general and that it was grammatically incorrect.

The typography of the name of the album, Nevermind, is written in a way that almost reflects water shimmering and bending. The name of the band is written in it's traditional style that is associated with them and that they use on all of their work.

The album cover features a baby boy in a bright blue pool who is seemingly chasing a $1 bill that's on a fish hook. The artistic idea behind the image came from Cobain who had been watching water births with his fellow band member Dave Grohl. Cobain thought that it would symbolise how even at birth a person is chasing money, they're always after it. The nakedness of the child shows innocence and purity, this is enforced by the clearness of the pool and it's vivid blue colour. This idea of innocence is reinforced by the concept that the water is a associated with baptism.

Cobain wanted to create a memorable image that would challenge the business ideas of the time. The entire concept is a strange one as a baby of course doesn't understand what money is and how currency works. The baby chasing the dollar bill shows greed and avarice that is not possible in a child so young but it signifies how big business manages to reel us all in and have us chasing like fish.

One of the most striking parts of the album is the showing of the young boys penis. There was some concern initially from Geffen who though that if the penis was shown that the album would be received badly. Cobain however thought that it should remain. He refused to have it removed and his only compromise was that a sticker could be placed over the penis that said "if you're offended by this, you must be a closet paedophile".

It could also be said that the penis may symbolise an umbilical cord and that the image of the baby seemingly happy could remind audiences of babies in the womb. The deep blue of the water could signify danger despite it being clear that the baby is near the surface of the water. The deep blue could also however signify peace which relates to the name of the band, Nirvana. The Buddha described Nirvana as "the perfect peace of the state of mind that is free from craving, anger and other afflictive states (kilesas). The subject is at peace with the world, has compassion for all and gives up obsessions and fixations" via Wikipedia.

The back cover of Nevermind is very different to the front but it follows a similar watery theme. The background is a turquoiise blue that shimmers almost like water. This, like the watery theme on the front cover could symobolise innocence and purity.

The main image is a collage that Cobain made himself. The collage which has a rubber monkey superimposed over the top of it features images from Dante's Inferno paintings, photos of raw beef and pictures of diseased vaginas. Cobain used many of his collages and paintings in Nirvana's art work as he preferred it to what others came up with. Cobain also revealed in an interview that if you look hard enough you can see an image of the legendary rock band, KISS. Just above the monkey's head the band are shown standing on top of a slab of beef. The collage of images could symbolise an internal struggle or just the rebellious attitude that Nirvana had. Shops would have to show these images whether they liked it or not and they wouldn't know what the images actually were.

Music Press Research - MOJO

We looked through a selection of music magazines on Magforum.com looking for a suitable publication for our band. We wanted a magazine that was appropriate for the genre and reflected the band effectively.

We have chosen to use MOJO for our magazine advertisement. This is because the magazine covers a wide range of genres but it encapsulates the indie/alternative style. Here are some examples of previous covers:

The Smiths

Nirvana

The Black Keys

Album Cover In Depth Analysis

Chorus Lip-Syncing: Practice and Analysis

What went well?
Shooting the clip was successful as the lyrics were well rehearsed and we managed to film without any problems. As a group we chose a suitable spot for the filming of the video; a wooden background which complimented the Indie Rock feel that we were aiming for, for this reason, we may end up using this in the final video. We found that the pronunciation was correct and we managed to stay in time with the lyrics as the music during the chorus was not too fast paced.

What did not go well?
One of the final lines was very quick so it would be better if we had a backup singer for that line so it would work in time with the music better. Also, it would be better if the performance was dynamic with potentially more people in the shot to enhance the video.

What have I learnt?
The artist should be more aware of the tempo of the music and the lyrics and how they should be sung to do this we need to immerse ourselves within the feel of the music in order to get into character and give a more dynamic performance.

What sections will we lip synch?
We will lip synch the chorus and verses that are not needed for narrative purposes. We’ll be more selective about verses which include backing singers, this will overcome the problem of overcrowding the shot.

Initial title ideas

We have used Wordle to create a representation of our initial ideas for the title of our album.

This is a Wordle of our title ideas.

This is a Wordle of the key terms and phrases associated with our song.

Album Cover Analysis

A look at album covers of different genres:


A look at album covers from the Indie Rock genre:

A look at the history of album covers

Health & Safety

Above: our set of health and safety considerations. It includes our filming locations, issues that may appear in each location and how to deal with the issues.

Peer feedback of rough cuts

This feedback sheet shows that we have met most of the criteria to a satisfactory standard. They feel that we have produce very steady shots but we need to increase the binary opposites in our video. We will do this by increasing the amount of narrative in our video so that we can continue our use of binary opposites. 

This feedback shows that we have performed strongly in a majority of the criteria including variety of shot types used, variety of angles used and inclusion of binary opposites. But we didn't perform as highly in our use of a variety of shot movement, framing and semiotics. We will improve in these areas by using more camera movement during the performance sections of our video, taking more time to check the framing of each shot and think about how to include more semiotics. 

This feedback shows that we have performed well in some criteria; steady shots, variety of shot angles and framing, But we have not performed as well in the other criteria including variety of shot type and variety of shot movements. We can improve these scores by, like above, increasing shot variety and movement.

This feedback shows we have performed well in the top 4 criteria, including shot type and movement. But we need to improve the framing in our shots, semiotics and binary opposites. We can do this by, like above, taking time to checking the framing of our shots, including more semiotics and binary opposites.

 This feedback shows that we have performed well in all of the criteria and very well in one criteria- our variety of shots. This shows that so far we have created a varied and interesting video.

This feedback shows that we have performed well in a majority of the criteria including steady shots, shot variety and framing. But there is room for improvement in the shot movement, we can do this by using more movement. We also need to improve on our use of semiotics and binary opposites, we can do more research and planning into these criteria to find inspiration.

This research shows that we have performed well in a majority of the criteria but we need to improve our use of shot variety and angles. We can do this by using creative shot types and angles to make the video more interesting. At the top of the sheet we have received a comment saying that we need to move the objects that were behind the dark curtain which in behind our band during our performance sections. We can rectify this when we re-shoot this footage.

This feedback shows that we have performed well in two criteria, steady shots and framing. But we need to improve on the other criteria including variety of shot type and shot movement. We can do this by trying out different and interesting shot types and movements. 

This feedback shows that we have performed well well with our variety of shot type and angles.
We could do work to improve the shot steadiness by increasing our use of the tripod. We have   performed less well in the other criteria including shot movements and framing. We can improve in these criteria by increasing our use of movement but ensuring that the shot is steady and we should take time to check the framing of each shot. 

This feedback shows that we performed well in just over half of the criteria including shot angles and movement. But we need to improve our framing, semiotics and binary opposites. We can do this by checking the framing of each shot, increasing semiotics used and adding more binary opposites.

This group feedback board shows that our peers felt that we used a good variety of shots, had good content, had a good balance between narrative and performance and high quality editing technique.



This group feedback shows what our peers feel needs to be improved. They felt that we needed more footage that's linked by a running theme, more binary opposites needed, develop narrative further, speed up some narrative shots, move boxes from behind curtain in performance shots (framing) and use more close ups.

Locations

Narrative:

Cars and people in the town center, we will use footage shot in town during the narrative parts of our video to display the setting our artist is in.

Narrative:

House, this is the first location in the video. It shows where the artist starts his journey.

Narrative:

High street, this town location contributes to the themes and narrative in the video.

Narrative:

Merrow Downs, this remote location emphasis themes and narrative in our video.

Performance:

Drama Studio, this location suites the performance parts of our video. We can use spot light to create an intimate feel to the shots.

Filming Schedule

Filming Schedule

Editing Schedule

Animatics

Indie Rock Mood Board

My Indie Rock Mood Board ft. Various Artists and Styles

Moodboard - The Indie Rock Genre

A collection of images which show conventions, motifs and ideas of the indie rock music genre.

Props list

Shoes: the dark coloured shoes will draw the audiences attention to the artists feet, especially when his feet are seen running or walking. This represents his journey, and longing to escape.

Music player: This will be used at the begining of the video to show the artist pressing play to start the music. This will create a direct link between the music and visuals and this follows Goodwin's rules.

Instruments: We will be using a four piece band to be in keeping with the song. We will use a microphone, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar and Drum kit.