Here we have my version of the our Album cover, again it is very minimalistic, and simple in design, again i have gone for the mystery angle, were very little is given away. this is belive helps promote the persona of the band. it is also quite arty, in the sense of the image in the centre of the poster is quite abstract. the writing is also cept to a minimum, i did not want the poster to be too clutterd and ruin its minimalistic image.
I decided to go for quite minimal and simple cd cover in the end, i decided to two use dark gray shades, this is belive would help represent the moody nature of the band. i have used quite bleak looking images, again reflecting the bands image. i would also refer to it as quite abstract, the writing is fairly minimal also, but i feel it really ties in with the images well. it dosent reveal too much either, adding that air of mystery to the band. simplicity i belive is the key, leaving a certain amount to the imagination.
Easily one the most iconic ablum covers out there, the beatles ablum cover for there top selling album Abbey Road. It shows the group each in the process of striding across the now famous zebra crossing near the entrance to the studios in London in 1969. The cover contained neither the group’s name nor the album title just that iconic photograph, which I belive truly makes it even more striking, as all your attention is drawn towards the musicians. The way it was taken in the bright day sun, makes it aesthetically pleasing to look at, although perhaps it would correlate as well with the slightly more down tempo mood of our band, I still like the attention drawn on the movement of the musicians, this I believe saves any need to strike a particular pose, instead the scene via there movement.
This album cover is by Joy Division, the album is called ‘’unknown pleasures’’, and it is a polar opposite of the previous album cover. It is completely abstract and minimal, instead of showing members or even a scene, instead it is merely a textual vertical landscape, created by what looks like sound waves hitting a certain pitch. This is a far more arty approach, which I can also see working for our bands cover, I believe it might show a different dimension
this cover by oasis, ‘’dig out your soul album’’, explores again more arty and psychedelic feel to an album cover, I believe again it would portray a more creative dimension to our band, although if this is indeed the approach we take, it will have more melancholy shades and colours as we don’t to venture from the bands somewhat downbeat nature.
My final album cover of choice is Black Sabbaths ‘’Black Sabboth’’, here we see a cover slightly more in keeping with our bands image, it again is somewhat abstract, it shows a sense of eerie ness and surrealism. We see a spectral looking form standing in front of an old and creepy looking mill, the images oozes a real sense of gritty fear, perhaps slightly too much for our image but never the less I can see us using the same sense of eeriness as this. The textual use of a grainy filter also is quite appealing and definitely lends itself in creating atmosphere, I would like to use this same principle in our cover.
Andrew Goodwin released a book called ‘Dancing in the distraction factory’ in 1992. In his book he writes about genre, how music videos demonstrates genre characteristics for example, in a metal video you would normally see a stage performance, a dance routine for a boy/girl band or a story of an outsider the world doesnt understand. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals and a relationship between the music and visuals. The video will have a certain visual style, that is used specifically to make a star image. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screen, telescopes, mirrors, glass, etc) and partically voyeuristic treatment of the female body. There is often intertextual reference to films, tv programmes, other music videos.
Genre
Music videos convey the genre of the music itself, this can be seen through specific characteristics. For example:
Dance Routine – Girls Aloud.In a pop group with boys or girls, a dance routine may be choreographed for their chorus section. This can be seen from bands like Girls Aloud, JLS and Pussycat Dolls etc.
of the footage would most likely be of the band performing live or in a studio with their instruments. Examples of this can bee seen from bands like AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith etc.Sound and Vision
Sound and vision means that there must be a relationship between the lyrics, music and what you see on screen. For example:
Going along with the Narrative.The narrative could match what the lyrics have to say, either literally or metaphorically. An example of this can be seen in the music video Teardrops on my Guitar by Taylor Swift as the narrative goes along with the lyrics.Star Image/Visual Style
The video must have a certain ‘look’ or ‘style’ that represents what the band is and what genre of music the play. For example:
Chameleon Circuit’s Natural Look.Chameleon Circuit wears natural everyday clothing but there quite quirky and cool as they are all You Tube Vlogger’s. They wear their normal clothing as that is what their viewers see them in everyday, so they have a connection over this.
Beyonce wears nice looking and fashionable clothing as she is a pop singer and a female icon to many people.Voyeurism – (Voyeur – pleasure in looking)
In music videos, there is often reference to the female body. A well known concept within music videos is that “sex sells”, and as music videos are targeted at a younger audience, this idea works pretty well. For example:
Minimal/Suggestive Clothing – Pussycat Dolls.Sometimes in rap or R’n’B music videos, women are dressed in minimal or suggestive clothing and this therefore attracts an audience.Intertextuality
Quite often within music videos, there is intertextual reference to other film clips, t.v. programmes. For example:
The Soundtrack from Dear John. | Mr WordPress on Hello world! |
