Their heavy-metal influence has helped to brand them more as rock stars than DJ's and their iconic illuminated cross which often accompany's them on stage acts as a recognisable symbol for fans to latch onto.
Luke Clarke
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Justice: Background
Their heavy-metal influence has helped to brand them more as rock stars than DJ's and their iconic illuminated cross which often accompany's them on stage acts as a recognisable symbol for fans to latch onto.
Justice - Video Idea's
Our Song - Justice - Phantom 2
JUSTICE - PHANTOM II HD from Pedro Mendes on Vimeo.
This video below is another video by Justice which follows a group of kids walking through town vandalising things and assaulting people. From watching videos like these and past projects we decided to avoid filming a band or DJs playing as it usually seems badly done and cheesy. We plan to use the music as the backing to a short story as the video below demonstrates. The events are still undecided. 26/10/2011
Jus†ice, Stress from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.
Spending the time since the last update we have came up with numerous new and equally unique ideas the finished idea is still under discussion.
There will be no script and the opening 10 seconds will have only diegetic sounds.
Shots
0-10s: Opens with the protagonist looking in a mirror, he fixes his hair and fixes a fake smile. Shot over the shoulder with his reflection seen in mirror, no music is playing, he closes over his bathroom mirror and the music starts.
10-20s: Consists of 7 shots which match with the first 5 seconds of the song, those 5 seconds are edited to last 10 seconds to accommodate the shots of him:
After an email to the chief examiner about our use of drugs, we have adapted our story as to still include drugs, but not show the use of them or any deaths as a result of them.
16/11/2011
Ryan Kearney
JUSTICE - PHANTOM II HD from Pedro Mendes on Vimeo.
This video below is another video by Justice which follows a group of kids walking through town vandalising things and assaulting people. From watching videos like these and past projects we decided to avoid filming a band or DJs playing as it usually seems badly done and cheesy. We plan to use the music as the backing to a short story as the video below demonstrates. The events are still undecided. 26/10/2011
Jus†ice, Stress from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.
Spending the time since the last update we have came up with numerous new and equally unique ideas the finished idea is still under discussion.
Spagetti Western
Priest Rave
Amateur DJ playing gigs, thinks he's good.
House Party that turns bad.
Geek real world role playing war.
Ninjas fighting.
Superheroes fighting
Supervillans fighting.
Dinosaurs fighting.
DJ Hero front room.
Throwback Bank Robbery.
Farmer dancing with his sheep.
Pacman chase through town
8/11/2011
As of now we have decided on a video of events not mentioned in the previous update. Our events will focus around a wealthy businessman who's only shown flaw may be vanity as he doesn't allow for his colleagues where he works to see him as if he has a lower status than they do. He is motivated by selfish gains which include having a false relationship with his employer to increase his promotion prospects. He appears happy, content and strong when faced with his equals, behind his smile he is sadistic, his smile is noticeably false to all but his colleagues who have only ever seen his created self. The audience has seen his real personality from the opening scene and are immediately weary of him. It isn't until we see him leaving work that he fully removes his mask and his darker side comes through. Throughout the remainder of the video his contempt for those in a weaker financial state than him is shown, he hates those who are weaker and see's no reason for their living. From this conclusion he uses his opinions of those to decide who he should enable himself to be completely honest with before he eventually kills them.
There will be no script and the opening 10 seconds will have only diegetic sounds.
Shots
0-10s: Opens with the protagonist looking in a mirror, he fixes his hair and fixes a fake smile. Shot over the shoulder with his reflection seen in mirror, no music is playing, he closes over his bathroom mirror and the music starts.
10-20s: Consists of 7 shots which match with the first 5 seconds of the song, those 5 seconds are edited to last 10 seconds to accommodate the shots of him:
- Standing at a water cooler with colleagues
- Laughing with his boss
- Flirting with female colleague
- Taking a phone call
- Checking looks in mirror
- Relaxing, listening to music
- Getting into his car (end of working day)
20-45s: Base kicks in as he enters his car, he is being driven. He loses his smile and has a sinister, uninterested look on his face. The camera shows his face from the side and a homeless person can be seen through his car window. The extent of the class difference is seen but the protagonist does not look at the person. In the car he snorts narcotics, further emphasising his darker side coming through.
45-60s: Exits car and begins walking through a lower class neighbourhood with tramps and abandoned houses, he enters one of the houses looking out of place.
1.00-1.40: He enters a den of drug addicts. They look scared, close ups of their face. He keeps his disgusted expression and is then shown through a high angle shot against the rule of thirds as he reaches deep into his pockets and with insane happiness throws countless drugs (pills) into the air. The drug addicts stumble over each other to grab the most and eventually pass out and foam from their mouths. As they die the main character dances over them for a while in slow motion, fixes his hair and leaves.
1.40-1.50: As he leaves the building a homeless man grabs for his leg and the main character stumbles to avoid him. He then kicks his hand away from him.
1.50-2.10: Walks through town at night, insane expression, loving life.
2.10-2.34: Sees homeless guy at night and is seen flipping out his flipstick. He walks up to him dragging the stick on the closed store shutters. As he gets closer he hides the stick behind his back and makes him stand up, teasing him with money. He fixes the homeless guys torn coat and unexpectedly (to the hobo) headbutts him, hobo falls, character beats him with the stick although this is not shown on camera.
2.34-END: Song slows down as he arrives home, he walks in and pins the picture on the wall, giving them a rating of 6/10. Camera begins to zoom out and exit the room slowly. This gives a greater view of the wall he is facing and there are a lot of pictures covering the wall, door closes.
14/11/20111.40-1.50: As he leaves the building a homeless man grabs for his leg and the main character stumbles to avoid him. He then kicks his hand away from him.
1.50-2.10: Walks through town at night, insane expression, loving life.
2.10-2.34: Sees homeless guy at night and is seen flipping out his flipstick. He walks up to him dragging the stick on the closed store shutters. As he gets closer he hides the stick behind his back and makes him stand up, teasing him with money. He fixes the homeless guys torn coat and unexpectedly (to the hobo) headbutts him, hobo falls, character beats him with the stick although this is not shown on camera.
2.34-END: Song slows down as he arrives home, he walks in and pins the picture on the wall, giving them a rating of 6/10. Camera begins to zoom out and exit the room slowly. This gives a greater view of the wall he is facing and there are a lot of pictures covering the wall, door closes.
After an email to the chief examiner about our use of drugs, we have adapted our story as to still include drugs, but not show the use of them or any deaths as a result of them.
16/11/2011
Ryan Kearney
History of Websites
Websites have been the major form of every internet based venture since the introduction of mainstream usage from the late 90's. Website design has changed and evolved through out the past decade being written in new and more complicated languages bringing an overall more immersive experience for the end user.
Websites in the late 90's consisted of basic html and had minimal user interaction compared to todays websites. Graphics were extremely low resolution to deal with the slow internet speeds that people had access to. Music and video on the internet was practically a myth as the file sizes where too big for streaming purposes.
Nowadays websites are more immersive and consist of rich multimedia and interactive user interfaces. With the introduction of new website languages such as css, flash and html5 websites can be fully customisable to produce the best results.
Many people can simply create a website in the comfort of their own homes and have minimal knowledge. This is due to the fact that websites give more publicity and can allow creators/owners to interactive with their audiences in a quick and simple way.
Here are a couple of website examples from site nowadays:
Websites in the late 90's consisted of basic html and had minimal user interaction compared to todays websites. Graphics were extremely low resolution to deal with the slow internet speeds that people had access to. Music and video on the internet was practically a myth as the file sizes where too big for streaming purposes.
Nowadays websites are more immersive and consist of rich multimedia and interactive user interfaces. With the introduction of new website languages such as css, flash and html5 websites can be fully customisable to produce the best results.
Many people can simply create a website in the comfort of their own homes and have minimal knowledge. This is due to the fact that websites give more publicity and can allow creators/owners to interactive with their audiences in a quick and simple way.
Here are a couple of website examples from site nowadays:
Justice the artists we have chosen take a less traditional route in that they do not have their own official website. They use social media for communication and publications to their fans. The major it of their online content can be found on their myspace page and their Facebook page.
On their website you can listen to their music via streaming, look at photos and publications, by tickets and see when the next shows are on. People can give feedback on tracks and pictures and overall have a better interaction with their artists through this medium.
Monday, 17 October 2011
History of Album Art
Through history album art has been used to influence a consumers first impression of the music and help create the bands image.
Jerry Lee Lewis - 1950's
Beginning in the 1920s, collections of empty sleeves with a plain paper or leather cover, were sold as record albums that customers could use to store their records. These empty albums were sold in both 10" and 12" sizes. The covers of these bound books were wider and taller than the records inside, allowing the record album to be placed on a shelf upright, which protected them.
Bob Dylan - 1960's
In 1938, Columbia Records hired Alex Steinweiss as its first art director. He invented the concept of album covers and cover art, replacing plain covers used before. After his initial efforts at Columbia, other record companies followed his lead. By the late 1940s, record albums for all the major companies featured their own colorful paper covers in both 10-inch and 12-inch sizes. Some featured reproductions of classic art while others utilized original designs.
Boston - 1970's
The cover became an important part of the culture of music at the time. Under the influence of designers like Bob Cato who at various stages in his long music career was vice president of creative services at both Columbia Records and United Artis, album covers became renowned for being a marketing tool and an expression of artistic intent.
Talking Heads - 1980's
With the increasing popularity of digital music downloading service and the inflating cost of conducting business, the purpose and prevalence of the album cover is evolving. While the music industry tries to keep up with technological and cultural shifts, the role that packaging will play in consumer music sales in the near future is uncertain, its role is changing, and digital forms of packaging will continue to surface, which, to some degree take the place of physical packaging. Both MP3 and WMA music files are able to contain embedded digital album artworks in jpeg format. As of 2008 physical music products, with a physical "album cover", continue to outsell digital downloads.
Blur - 1990's
Ryan Kearney
Beginning in the 1920s, collections of empty sleeves with a plain paper or leather cover, were sold as record albums that customers could use to store their records. These empty albums were sold in both 10" and 12" sizes. The covers of these bound books were wider and taller than the records inside, allowing the record album to be placed on a shelf upright, which protected them.
Bob Dylan - 1960's
In 1938, Columbia Records hired Alex Steinweiss as its first art director. He invented the concept of album covers and cover art, replacing plain covers used before. After his initial efforts at Columbia, other record companies followed his lead. By the late 1940s, record albums for all the major companies featured their own colorful paper covers in both 10-inch and 12-inch sizes. Some featured reproductions of classic art while others utilized original designs.
The cover became an important part of the culture of music at the time. Under the influence of designers like Bob Cato who at various stages in his long music career was vice president of creative services at both Columbia Records and United Artis, album covers became renowned for being a marketing tool and an expression of artistic intent.
With the increasing popularity of digital music downloading service and the inflating cost of conducting business, the purpose and prevalence of the album cover is evolving. While the music industry tries to keep up with technological and cultural shifts, the role that packaging will play in consumer music sales in the near future is uncertain, its role is changing, and digital forms of packaging will continue to surface, which, to some degree take the place of physical packaging. Both MP3 and WMA music files are able to contain embedded digital album artworks in jpeg format. As of 2008 physical music products, with a physical "album cover", continue to outsell digital downloads.
Ryan Kearney
History of the music video
History of the music video:
Here are some outstanding examples:
- A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song .
- Modern music videos were primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings.
- Music videos are often called promotion videos or simply promos , due to the fact that they are usually promotional devices. Sometimes, music videos are termed short-form music videos to distinguish them from full length movies pertaining to music. In the 1980s, the term "rock video" was often used to describe this form of entertainment, although the term has fallen into disuse.
- The earliest music videos or music promos were filmed in the mid 1950’s, however, before then, as early as the 1920’s, films by animators such as Oskar Fischinger were accompanied by musical scores labeld ‘visual music’.
- The defining work in the development of the modern music video was The Beatles ' first major motion picture, A Hard Day's Night in 1964 , directed by Richard Lester . The musical segments in this film arguably set out the basic visual vocabulary of today's music videos, influencing a vast number of contemporary musicians, and countless subsequent pop and rock group music videos.
- The key innovation in the development of the modern music video was, of course, video recording and editing processes, along with the development of a number of related effects such as chroma-key . The advent of high-quality colour videotape recorders and portable video cameras coincided with the DIY ethos of the New Wave era and this enabled many pop acts to produce promotional videos quickly and cheaply, in comparison to the relatively high costs of using film. However, as the genre developed music video directors increasingly turned to 35mm film as the preferred medium, while others mixed film and video. By the mid-1980s releasing a music video to accompany a new single had become standard, and acts like The Jackson's sought to gain a commercial edge by creating lavish music videos with million dollar budgets.
- In the information technology era, music videos now approach the popularity of the songs themselves. Enthusiasts of music videos sometimes watch them muted purely for their aesthetic value. Instead of watching the video for the music, (the basis for the artform), the videos are appreciated for their visual qualities, while viewers remain uninterested in the audio portion of the performance. This is a normal sociological reaction, some say, to the increasing trend in the music business to focus on visual appeal of artists, rather than the quality of the music. Critics say that the corporate music managers, over the course of logical and calculated business decisions, have sought to capitalize on the sex appeal of females in music videos rather than in choosing less profitable musicianship-based music.
Here are some outstanding examples:
By Luke Clarke
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Research into similar products: Grunge music
Grunge music is a genre first seen in the 80's which was influenced by the punk rock and indie rock of previous years. Some of the most influential bands to come out of the era are Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots and Pearl Jam which all followed the conventions of the genre.
Conventions, Style, Audience, Brand
Pearl Jam - Alive from La Buena Musica on Vimeo.
The conventions of grunge music are closely followed by the two bands above, which is to have minimalistic videos which centre around the band.
Conventions, Style, Audience, Brand
Pearl Jam - Alive from La Buena Musica on Vimeo.
The conventions of grunge music are closely followed by the two bands above, which is to have minimalistic videos which centre around the band.
Rap research
The genre of rap and hip-hop music has evolved over the years however many of the conventions and normalities remain today.
The style of rap is closley linked with it's conventions, again with "bling" often taking a central role. Below we can see an example of what would be considered a sereotypical rap music video. There features lots of examples of rapping down the camera and slow motion shots of scantily clad women with the back drop of a super car. We also get the very unsubtle mention of their wealth with slow motion shots of money literally being thrown at them.
by Luke Clarke
The style of rap is closley linked with it's conventions, again with "bling" often taking a central role. Below we can see an example of what would be considered a sereotypical rap music video. There features lots of examples of rapping down the camera and slow motion shots of scantily clad women with the back drop of a super car. We also get the very unsubtle mention of their wealth with slow motion shots of money literally being thrown at them.
by Luke Clarke
Monday, 10 October 2011
Research into Similar Products: Pop Music
Pop music is commercially recorded music which through the years has adapted to appeal to young culture. Pop has been known to be influenced by every genre and depending on the trends of the time however some genres influence pop more than others. Simply, pop music aims to attract a mass audience rather than a sub-culture, encourage dancing and put an emphasis on recording and technology rather than live performance.
Conventions, Style, Audience, Brand
It is relativly easy to identify if a music video is of the pop genre when you see one. The camera movement and angles is most commonly focused on the artist.
3OH!3 Feat. Katy Perry - Starstrukk from M2-Stil on Vimeo.
This is an typical pop video which meets the criteria of a large emphasis on the artists with a young sound which encourages dancing. It meets the demands made by their audience and is also of a high quality.
Lighting used in pop videos changes depending on the tone of the song often black and white for sad songs usually concerning breakups or enhanced colours for those which aim to be uplifting. The above has very bright lighting and enchanced colours which shows how it aims to be lightly taken.
Costumes also play a large part in pop music as they do in every genre. Within pop music however, the costume mirrors the current fashion trends of the time and shows how pop music includes a variety of things such as modern fashion, modern interests and anything else modern to appeal to their young audience.
Ryan Kearney
Conventions, Style, Audience, Brand
It is relativly easy to identify if a music video is of the pop genre when you see one. The camera movement and angles is most commonly focused on the artist.
3OH!3 Feat. Katy Perry - Starstrukk from M2-Stil on Vimeo.
This is an typical pop video which meets the criteria of a large emphasis on the artists with a young sound which encourages dancing. It meets the demands made by their audience and is also of a high quality.
Lighting used in pop videos changes depending on the tone of the song often black and white for sad songs usually concerning breakups or enhanced colours for those which aim to be uplifting. The above has very bright lighting and enchanced colours which shows how it aims to be lightly taken.
Costumes also play a large part in pop music as they do in every genre. Within pop music however, the costume mirrors the current fashion trends of the time and shows how pop music includes a variety of things such as modern fashion, modern interests and anything else modern to appeal to their young audience.
Ryan Kearney
Thursday, 6 October 2011
What makes a strong brand ?
The word brand when used as a noun, can refer to a company name, a product name, or a unique identifier such as a logo or trademark. Branding today is used to create emotional attachment to products and companies. A strong brand therefore can be one that is easily identifiable and also one that can be seen as reliable to consumers. A strong brand can influence customers choice of purchase and shapes the ownership experience. Branding creates trust and an emotional attachment to the particular company that owns the brand in the first place.
How is a strong brand created ?
A strong brand cannot simply be created in a short amount of time, brands take years to become "strong" through customer interaction, advertising and heavy marketing schemes. A strong brand is one which the consumer can relate to and have an emotional connection.
Give an example of a strong brand
An example of a strong brand would be the Beats By Dre venture. 
The Beats brand was formed via a collaboration between Dr Dre and inter-scope records chairman
Jimmy Lovine. The original Beats studio headphones where released in 2008 and they where the starting point for the brand. More and more artists began to market the headphones in their music videos creating a consumer want for the products. The product line expanded and so did the amount of artists endorsing the products. Lady Gaga, P-Diddy and Justin Bieber, three of the biggest names in the music industry each have their own versions of the product which are sold globally.
An example of the Headphones being used in a video:
We are also seeing a lot of conversion with the brand as now HTC and HP have started integrating their products with the beats audio trademark.
HTC + Beats by Dre from Oh, Hello on Vimeo.
Darren Campbell
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Differently Branded Artists
Kanye West
Throughout his career Kanye West has had to alter his brand and identity multiple times in an attempt to avoid going into decline and continue making music. He began as a typical rapper with a similar music and upbringing to most. For his first 2 albums he retained this persona but for his third when engaged in a sales war with 50 Cent, took a risk of rebranding in order to beat him. This involved collaberating with artists such as Daft Punk and Chris Martin, which also included various accounts of singing in autotune. Before recording the album he toured with U2 in an attempt to combine his hip hop background with a new genre.
Kanye West then edged more towards the auto tuned indie sound and changed his appearance to suit during his forth albums release. He began to put greater emphasis on the background music and chorus rather than verse vocals and edged further away from rap. His image changed to the furthest above image and people saw him as an original recording artist.
After multiple mistakes in dealing with press, fellow artists and bluntly giving his views, Kanye West declined in the public eye as sales began to diminish. He then uses his most recent album 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' to complete his new image and apologise. He has now been renewed within the music industry and continues to move further away from the rap genre.
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses one of the 80's leading madchester bands had a branding strategy which was very different to Kanye Wests modern branding strategy. Their strategy was basically to have no strategy or at least appear not to, dress in baggy clothes and be openly blunt in their opinion of the modern music of their time. Said to be influenced by bands like The Smiths, their music is based on the indie music of the time collaborated with a newer acid house sound which many other madchester era bands based their sound on. Unlike Kanye West The Stone Roses didn't change their branding with time and were distant with the media, displaying no interest in the business. However it was things like these which allow their brand influence to carry through today.
Cee Lo Green/Gnarls Barkley
Cee lo Green has been in the public eye since 1992, first as part of the hip hop group 'Goodie Mob' (Shown Above) which attained moderate success within their genre supporters. It wasn't until he removed himself from this group to be a solo artist that he received critical acclaim and grew in status. However in 1998 he began to collaborate with DJ/producer Danger mouse on the 'Gnarls Barkley' album 'S.T. Elsewhere'. He received international notification with this album, in particular with the 2006 single 'Crazy' which charted number 1 in 8 countries. This success was not only the highest point of his career so far, but marked a drastic change in style from his rap roots. As his music changed his image changed to the furthest above picture.
Alongside his collaborations with Danger Mouse, Cee lo began to work on new solo material which was released in 2010 with the single 'Forget You', surpassing the success seen from his 'Crazy Single'.
Ryan Kearney
After multiple mistakes in dealing with press, fellow artists and bluntly giving his views, Kanye West declined in the public eye as sales began to diminish. He then uses his most recent album 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' to complete his new image and apologise. He has now been renewed within the music industry and continues to move further away from the rap genre.
The Stone Roses
Cee Lo Green/Gnarls Barkley
Cee lo Green has been in the public eye since 1992, first as part of the hip hop group 'Goodie Mob' (Shown Above) which attained moderate success within their genre supporters. It wasn't until he removed himself from this group to be a solo artist that he received critical acclaim and grew in status. However in 1998 he began to collaborate with DJ/producer Danger mouse on the 'Gnarls Barkley' album 'S.T. Elsewhere'. He received international notification with this album, in particular with the 2006 single 'Crazy' which charted number 1 in 8 countries. This success was not only the highest point of his career so far, but marked a drastic change in style from his rap roots. As his music changed his image changed to the furthest above picture.
Alongside his collaborations with Danger Mouse, Cee lo began to work on new solo material which was released in 2010 with the single 'Forget You', surpassing the success seen from his 'Crazy Single'.
Ryan Kearney
Branding an artist
The word we hear most often from these two videos is consistency. It is driven home the importance of an image or representation which defines the artist or band which should become an integral part of their brand. A single demographic will reel in a solid fan base whom agree with your message rather than changing up and possibly losing an audience, "clarity and repetition" is how the 'independant rockstar' describes it. For example, it is obvious that Justin Bieber would most certainly lose a many few of his millions of teenage girl followers (and Darren) if he suddenly uped style and released a hardcore grunge album. Simply put it is giving your audience what they want to hear, read and see. The artists brand is what will have attracted a fan base originally therefore when they read the artists twitter or listen to their records, they want to hear much of the same.
Articles all about branding artists, including examples of well branded artists:
http://bit.ly/aZ63MZ
http://bit.ly/odOo4X
Posted by, Luke Clarke
Music Video Research
IS TROPICAL - THE GREEKS (official music video) from EL NINO on Vimeo.
Kid Cudi - Make Her Say Feat. Kanye West & Common (HD) from DatNewCudi / DP on Vimeo.
OK Go - Here It Goes Again from OK Go on Vimeo.
Fat Boy Slim - Weapon of choice from BOMBJACK05 on Vimeo.
Ryan Kearney
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)