Album Digipak 4: Beastie Boys



• This digipak is for 'To The 5 Boroughs' by The Beastie Boys, there known for having a very mixed style of music which is said to be hip hop, rock, punk and rap mixed together.
• The artwork on the digipak works very well because it's been printed all around the folded panels, there's also alot of text written on it which maybe lyrics or just info on the album from the artists.
• The text used on the album mostly fits with the drawings except for the name of the band which is printed in bold blue writing fitting their genre and obviously in large because it is there main selling point.

Album Digipak 3: Daft Punk

• This digipak is for 'Human After All' by Daft Punk, Daft Punk are known for there techno styled music which is said to be in the House genre, there also iconic for their robot costumes and light shows.
• This is my personal favourite of the digipak's so far because of it's computerised style, the style of fonts used fits perfectly with Daft Punk's sound because of their energetic music, the art on the album also works really well for Daft Punk because of their style of music which usually sounds very synthesized.
• The albums artwork and style maybe seen as quite redundant in the dance/house genre because many bands and duos have these kind of styles because it fits with their music.



Album Digipak 2: Linkin Park

• This digipak is for the album 'A Thousand Suns' by Linkin Park, who are a well-known and highly popular rock band.
• The font and style of writing cannot really be seen on the digipak itself but the text on the image is quite plain but would fit in well with the imagery on the digipak.
• The colours on the digipak are really interesting, it has what looks like a kaleidoscope effect for the main image when totally folded out, I really like this effect it works very well and fits in with the albums dark-looking style.
• This digipak is definitely entropic because I haven't seen many that look like this, it is quite dark and uses very perculiar imagery, this is redundant when it comes to the rock genre because usually there are alot of dark themes but I myself haven't seen album art like this so I believe it is quite entropic.

Album Digipak 1: Radiohead

• This digipak is for the album 'In Rainbows' by Radiohead, there not really a mainstream group and are known for their strange rythms and ideas.
• The colours on the digipak are quite strange, it looks like a sunrise or perhaps an explosion of light matching with the name of the album 'In Rainbows'.
• The digipak also has a mixture of text, there is obviously the english text but then there looks like japanese amongst the albums name, this is again strange but it does make the album cover look very decorative or maybe this is a japanese version of the album.
• This digipak is definitely entropic because the album artwork is so wierd.
• The text on the cover is in many colours again matching with the albums name, the actual font itself is quite plain and simple though.

Magazine Advert 4: The Enemy - Music For The People

• This ad is advertising the album 'Music For The People' by The Enemy, this advert is quite plain much like the previous advert for Oasis but I much prefer this it has an interesting image which makes the advert catch the viewers attention. Like the advert for Oasis it doesn't use any reviews or logos at the bottom of the page, it simply says that the album is available now, reviews would have been a nice touch for an advert that I myself have seen on a full page in Q magazine.
• The font used is also quite plain but it does work with the image well, overall I not sure on the significance of the image it must be something importantin the lyrics of the song, or perhaps not.
• The Enemy are a rock band and this genre of music is most popular in the older teens to young adults sector.
• This advert I believe is quite entropic because of it's image, it's quite plain but still it has an appeal to it, and I think it works well in the alternative rock genre.

Magazine Advert 3: Oasis - Let There Be Love

• This is the poster for the single 'Let There Be Love' and it would have been seen in stores like HMV, it would of also appeared in magazines and even on the highstreet. Oasis are a very popular band so the ad would have covered a full page in a magazine at the time of it's release.
• The fonts on this poster are all quite plain but the use of the 'CND' logo for the 'o' in love is quite a nice touch linking to the name of the single, it's possibly the posters best feature. It also uses the band's well-known logo which is another feature that will help to sell the album.
• There are no features such as reviews and company logos on this poster, it's very plain and uses hardly any colour, much different to the other posters i've looked at.
• Again, I would say the target audience is teenagers and young adults, this is where this genre of music is most popular.
• This advert to me is redundant because there are many ads that use these fonts and layouts, this ad could be much more colouful and imaginative.

Magazine Advert 2: Kasabian - Empire

·    This advert is for the band ‘Kasabian’ who are a rock band; this advert is for their second album titled ‘Empire’. The example in the image is actually a poster that you may see advertised on the high streets, if this advert were in a magazine I believe it may of covering a full page in magazines like NME because ‘Empire’ was their second album and it was the follow-up to their highly successful debut album released two years earlier.

·    The fonts used on this album cover are quite classical linking with the album artwork and the Georgian style of the music videos, the artwork on the cover of the album is designed to look like a playing card which I believe is entropic because it is unpredictable, it doesn’t really help sell the album in my opinion the main feature selling the album would be the name ‘Kasabian’ in bold black writing in the middle of the image.

·    For the advert they use reviews from magazines like NME and Uncut these help sell the album because they show how well the album is doing with critics but then again this is just another persons opinion, they also show the release date for the album, other features include the images and the logos of the producing companies at the bottom of the poster.

·    I’d say that the target audience for this album would be teenagers and young adults the style of the music fits that age sector where rebellion is quite popular.

·    I think that their advert for their album is entropic because it is quite original you don’t find many adverts that have a old style to them, it is appropriate for the target audience because it fits in with the genre and lyrics of some of their songs like for example ‘Empire’ which features many scenes of fighting and they have chosen to set it in a Georgian setting which fits in very well.

Magazine Advert 1: The Killers - Sawdust

·    The albums images are entropic on this album cover, it’s quite unpredictable and you do not know what the albums lyrics or overall messages are going to be, does the album cover even connect to this? Or is it simply a more abstract cover where the message is much more difficult to understand.

·    Like all of the album covers and adverts for ‘The Killers’ they use their well-known look for the name, which is immediately recognizable. It challenges the mainstream by using a cover that’s entropic they do not focus on the band members; they try to show the meaning of their songs their songs through imaginative songs.

·    Features on the advertisement include the imagery of course and the release date. It also shows company logos and websites at the bottom of the advert. It also shows some information about the new album.

·    I believe this advert would be a small poster or it may even take a whole page in a magazine seeing the ‘The Killers’ are a highly popular band.

·    Elements that are likely to appeal to the audience include the name ‘The Killers’ which immediately any fan of the band will most likely purchase this album, other features that will interest the audience will be the artwork which is very entropic the audience will want to know the meaning behind this, if there is one.

·    This advert will not be very useful to someone who downloads their music online, this ad maybe shown on the page for something like ‘ITunes’.

Analysis of a Music Video: The XX - Islands

Shot	The shot that slowly zooms out to show all these people all sat together is very well choreographed, the whole scene doesn’t use any close ups of the members it just zooms out.	Analysis
		This scene has each member of the group sat next to each other, the lighting is quite dark apart from the light coming from the sides and the ‘x’ which is behind them, the ‘x’ makes everything seem well centered, the whole video only uses this one shot of zooming out while each person is in a different place each time, it’s cleverly done.
	'I don't have to leave anymore, what I have is right here'	Once fully zoomed out it starts over to show all the members in different places.

Shot	The next part is a repeat of the last scene but they are all in different positions and places	Analysis
		Much like the last scene it only uses the one shot again the zooming out shot to show all the members and dancers.
	‘Here I saw’ ‘Something I couldn’t over look’	At the end of the zoom it quick cuts to show the ‘x’ again and then zooms out.

Shot	Starting over again after a quick cut, each person in a different place and a different singer.	Analysis
		Using the same techniques again, things start to change as the two dancers start to become apart not kissing and looking away from each other.
	‘See what I’ve done’ ‘The bridge is on fire’	Beginning again this time with a male singer, each quick cut beginnings the same way with the two main dancers kissing.

Shot	After another quick cut it begins the next segment of the video.	Analysis
		The woman is now ignoring the man, telling a story in an interesting way, it does this by using a two-shot of them both.
		The overall story of the video is starting to show.

The Redundant and Entropic features of...

The Redundant and Entropic features of ‘Helena Beat’ by Foster The People:

•  Entropy: the video uses a post-apocalyptic setting which appears to have many features within it that are familiar from video games and films.
• Entropy: the overall video doesn’t convey a message very well, it seems to tell the story of a person wanting to be a child again, but the post-apocalyptic setting seems unnecessary?
• Redundancy: the clothing is typical of a post-apocalyptic setting, its all worn out and torn, it also features weapons.   
• Entropy: the video appears to have slightly violent scenes that also fit in with the setting.
• Redundancy: The opening acts as if you are skipping through channels this has been done on quite a few different music videos.

The Redundant and Entropic features of ‘Photoshop Handsome’ by Everything Everything:

•  Entropy: the entire video uses features that look like they’ve been photo shopped on, some look very interesting and very entertaining.
• Entropy: the video uses a lot of effects that are quite humorous, the video is unique, and well I’ve never seen one quite like it.
• Entropy: the singers face changes many times throughout the video, also clothing changes is well, the same happens with the other members of the band.

The Redundant and Entropic features of ‘Stylo’ by Gorillaz:

•         Redundancy: like many other mainstream videos it features a cameo by a famous person, in this example it’s Bruce Willis. 
•      Redundancy: it also uses many features that may be familiar from film, including car chases and shooting much like an action film, that’s obviously the reason for Bruce Willis’ appearance.
•          Entropy: like all Gorillaz’s videos it features animated characters, this has become iconic in their videos but perhaps it will become unoriginal in the future.
•         Entropy: the video features strange characters that appear it many other videos from the same album.

The Redundant and Entropic features of ‘Losing My Religion’ by R.E.M:

•      Redundancy: the video doesn’t feature any bright colors or dance sequences like many other mainstream music videos, it’s quite dark focusing on illustrating the lyrics of the song.
•         Entropy: the video features no bright clothing or large sets, it does feature a few bright costumes.
•         Entropy: Michael Stipe is quite expressive using body movement to make parts of the video more interesting and to express emotion.
•         Entropy: the video uses lighting very well, making the video show different moods, like the bright outside with the grass blowing in the wind, to the dark inside where Michael sits.

 

Unfortuntely I was unable to embed the Orignal video for 'Losing My Religion' but you can check it out by using the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if-UzXIQ5vw&ob=av2e

Introduction to Coursework Brief

For this project in A2 media studies we will be producing a music video for a song of our choice, an artist that we have permission from of course, we will also be producing a digi-pack and advertisements for the album release. The artist is George Barnett and his album 'Sierra Planes', we will also be making the video for the title song.