Magazine Adverts II

I found some adverts in magazines in class I could use, mainly Q, Uncut and The Guide: 

 

 

Other than the Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan advert, each has at least one bright colour making it eye catching for the reader of the magazine and use a memorable font, if not the band's actual logo i.e Muse. Some, with any marketing, might use inter textual references to interest a wider audience, for example Massive Attack's Heligoland looks reaaally related to A Clockwork Orange.

 

Again, with each of the magazine adverts, the title of the band, album art (or similar artwork) underneath, and nearby the title of the the album. Underneath each is the further information such as the reviews, record label and where to buy it, such as HMV, Amazon, etc.

Magazine Adverts

For my ancillary task, I will have to make a magazine advert for my bands album/single. So I'll need to research how it can be marketed to suit the genre; I was struggling to find some in magazines I had at home/sixthform so I've found some online that might be of use.

 

The advert for Tricky's 2001 album Blowblack uses a simple type face, and colour scheme: black grey and white, with the part saying 'back' reversed to link to the ideo of it being backwards. It gives detail on the release date so fans know when they can buy it, what looks to be different test shots of the album cover as the background and all the necessary publishing information near the bottom with the ANTI- record label logo and reviews.

In this second advert, the design looks reasonably simplistic; contact and publisher information at the bottom and reviews nearer the top. The main focus is the artwork, the same as their album so people will recognise it from the advert.

 

With both, and most magazine adverts for albums, the name of the artist or band is at the top, and the name of whatever release they are advertising. The album art, or something similar is usually included. I will bear in mind this conventions when making mine, but before I do so, I will try to look out for more magazine advertisments to help me a little more.

Ideas I - Lyrics

Recently I've felt like I've not applied the information I'm gathering back to the track I'm actually looking at, so taking the focus back to that,I thought I should look at my song in detail again: ("Track 19" for now) get a better idea of what I want my music video have in it. I decided to look at the lyrics in more depth to draw out any imagery or themes I could focus on. 

Moves and clues we're owed our dues there's no doubt about it that all above is about wanting to live long enough

Beats and freaks my mind reaps seeds sown and grown I've blown a whole in my soul oh no blow a hole in my soul too slow

cos I'm prepared to declare that every one of these scenes only means that only one of my eyes does disguise that I'm heading for surprise no more lies and no ties

As I defend to the end I don't depend on those rules and the fools who try and tell me how to be how to see it's not me cos i'm free

Look at the path you're on
Out of the way of shelter
Stranger days will come
Words are over
Strange strange days i'm not crazed i'm not fazed by laws .. I am the one who deplores all war you know you got to breathe not deceiveI pledge to the edge cannot censor my speech I need to teach that we are going down we're going down no sound

and the clues are clear

don't live in fear

And the words are strong

And you need to learn

Your time has come

It's the path you're on

Look at the path you're on

Out of the way of shelter

Stranger days will come

Words are over

I create I debate I don't hate all those vibes but the lies they make me want to leave not believe in all the good misunderstood you know you should and I would

So don't show don't blow don’t be weak and don't defeat all you meet your inner intent don't relent i'm hell bent...to stay alive

I adore my freedom's why I never wanted to try nine to five ain't ever gonna be part of this machine never will I be seen not to dream

Seasons fly they kinda make you feel old and tired try and let them make you young and wise try to let them make you breath - you're alive

The song seems to be about someone wanting to be free and to not conform in society; not depending on censorship, laws and rules; and how he does not want to be part of a corporate "machine" working a "nine to five" job.  He talks about how "stranger days will come" reminding people that one day people might realise they're "free" and "alive", as he says he is.

Tool's Parabola

There is not much direct imagery for my music video in these lyrics, but a lot I could make into a concept video of someone looking at business men separately from him as though he's an outcast from society already, it could maybe contrast with his idea of being free and how it's better as the audience could see him alone from them and perhaps struggling. They could see how it's his own choice and he thinks it's a positive thing.

Or, as he says he doesn't want to be part of a machine it could kind of be set in a really depressing, industrial landscape, like in Eraserhead (something else, can't remember?) and everyone around the main character is a 'mindless drone'. I'd have to contrast it with something really different though, else it might be too dark for the kind of song it is, actually.

Obviously these are all just super brief ideas for now but it could be a good way to incorporate both the ideas of cold colours, stony and metallic imagery to contrast with grungy, dirty kind of images. The latter being his life and the first to suit the clean cut kind of life which the people working "nine to five" might live. Perhaps I could include fast shots of birds or something to fit the theme of freedom but that might be really cliché, I'm not sure yet. 

I feel like the "beats and freaks" part might be talking about the beatniks and how their lifestyle is influencing him/making him want to feel "free" and "alive" with a bohemian kind of life style which might be quite interesting to look into, too.

The use of screens, TV static and CCTV images




From Sonic Youth's Little Trouble Girl

I started to look at genre conventions in the videos, though it seems like a wide genre the videos usually had similar themes, I'll start looking into the idea of screens, TV static and CCTV-like footage because it seems to be a strangely prominant feature within a lot of the videos and possibly something I could do myself.

This could link to Goodwin's theory in music videos as it is a notion of looking and/or intra-intra diagetic gaze which gives an apparent sense of voyeurism and creepiness. This can be seen in Inertia Creeps by Massive Attack dir. "The Wiz", a person watching and rewatching a footage of a woman, and a few other people previously in what looks to be the same room as him. The idea of being watched and screens (also the male viewers smoking cigarettes cigarettes?) reminded me of the video to The Space Inbetween by How To Destroy Angels which made me think it might actually be a kind of prominant feature in these kind of music videos.

The video for Inertia Creeps uses this effect a lot

 

The of most the effects in this video I feel I could recreate quite easily, using televisions or computers to screen old film for someone to be watching -if I used an old, glass screen I could also get that flickery effect which might work well too-; if I could get some of my film on VHS or something that looks similar and TV static I could also get a similar effect. (Also, I found a website called DIYmusicvideo which looks as though it might be really helpful later on in the production of my final product with offering tutorials, ideas etc.)
 

The Get Out Clause promoted themselves through the novelty of their video Paper in which they actually performed in the streets, and using the Data Protection Act, requested copies of the CCTV tapes.

Mark Romanek

As well as looking closer to my given genre, I decided to look at the works of some famous music video directors though the songs perhaps steer a little bit away from the kind of music I'm looking at however. I decided to focus on Mark Romanek, though I also looked at works by the likes of Chris Cunningham, Michel Gondry, Anton Corbijn and Jonathan Glazer. 

Mark Romenek

Mark Romenek is an American filmmaker whose directing work includes music videos, feature films and commercials. Some of his most notable music videos include "Hurt" by Johnny Cash, "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails, "Jump They Say" by David Bowie and "99 Problems" by Jay-Z. These videos have received numerous awards, including over 20 MTV VMAs, three Grammys, a Country Music Association award, and three Billboard Music Awards.

A compilation of Mark Romanek’s work, edited by Nino Del Padre – which I found on YouTube.

After watching lots of his music videos, and a few documentaries about the way he works I'm getting pretty excited, actually, to make my own video (though I know obviously I won't have the budget or skills he does) whether I liked the artist/song or not I could tell he completely creates a distinct image of the musician and creates a complete moment within the video; I really like him. :)

Also, in a documentary about him, he says he doesn't always know exactly how the video will be, or what order he'll edit things into, just to film a lot, and see how it fits when editing. Which is a little relieving to hear.

I made a small presentation on Prezi to look briefly at some of his work:

Mark Romanek on Prezi