Explanation of our narrative

The narrrative of our music video is centred around these key themes mental health, entrapment, expression and freedom, all of these emotions and feelings are expressed and highlighted through the narrative.

There is a man in the middle of a white asylum in a stray jacket and is chained to a chair, he is in a mental institution and clearly trying to free himself from this situation. He is given a pill which then sends him into his fantasy world and he is then seen exploring his mind and his freedom. However, as the song goes on and he has been free and explored his mind by looking at a brain, the frustration of being trapped or fighting his mental issues comes back and he is stuck in the asylum smashing things highlighting this frustration and anger.

The narrative really relates to the genre of hard rock as a key theme of rock is rebellious and freedom and these are both themes that are expressed in the video through the narrative. Furthermore, typical rock connotations are present in the narrative with smashing up things and raw emotion from the artist.

The star image of the band is also shone through the narrative as an organic band we want to build our fan base and relate to our specific target audience which is the disengaged youth and rebellious  members of society. We were able to do this as presenting the band members as ordinary who suffer the same problems as all of them through the narrative but at the same time are fighting it which is the message we want to send out to the target audience.

set design

This was the set of our main location where we filmed most of our music video. This is at the school media suite which we turned into what we best felt looked like a white asylum or mental institution to fit our narrative. In this photo it is clear to see the studio and the overhead lighting used to increase the brightness of the setting. We also had the camera in that position for most of our shots including the ones of the main artist and the band. To the left of the camera is an extra strong light which we put colour paper in front of to change the lighting of the room in certain shots. Furthermore, to complete the set we put down a huge white sheet to cover the entirety of the floor which we stuck to the bottom of the floor using white tape. This was needed to complete the white asylum look and have a complete white room. The setting was crucial to the narrative of the film and we feel we accomplished this to the best of our ability.

  This photo is of two of our group members setting up the camera and placing it in the perfect spot. Again in this photo the white cloth that we used to cover the floor of the set can be seen and how big it really was.




 Here is another angle of the set, one of the overhead lights is on which was facing the singers throughout and was used to enhance the colours of the video. On the left hand wall and the back wall of the video is a box coming out of the wall which has plug sockets in and is usually black. However, to fit in with our setting we used white tape to cover the box and then printed a warning danger sign in black and white and put it in a dirty old slip in sheet to give it extra effect and further sell the image of the mental institution.

Audience question

This poll was answered by a variety of people to see if our narrative does reach out to our target audience which are the alienated youth of society. The purpose of this questionnaire is to give us an idea of if we are going along the right lines. If we receive more yes answers than no, we can acknowledge that we are along the right lines and that our narrative is clear to whom we are reaching out to.

On the other hand, if we receive more no answers, we have to take appropriate action. This would be, altering colour themes in our video such as more use of dark black and grey colours and also infer more violent natured aspects to our video.

This questionnaire will benefit us and will enable us to receive more fundamental feedback into forming a great music video for the alienated youth.

Do you feel our narrative applies to the alienated youth?

Yes

No

here

Lighting for music video

As our music video is set in an asylum we will aim to have the room as white and bright as possible. We will be able to enhance the rooms ice white colour through techniques acquired in research on different 'lighting' techniques.

 

As you can see from the video the cameraman is able to enhance the white background (we will have white curtains) to make it is a white and sharp as possible to connote that crazy/trapped feeling to the audience that our character will be portraying.

Furthermore, the movie 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' relates to our music video as the story line is similar. Therefore we can take inspiration from the movie and the lighting they used and insert those ideas effectively into our music video.



As you can see from the clip the lighting and colour scheme is very basic. It is all white to emphasise the basic lifestyle one has when they live inside a mental asylum. Furthermore, you can see that the patients are all wearing simple one piece clothing with plain colours to further connote the simple and hopeless lifestyle of a patient in the asylum. We look forward to attempting to implement aspects of this movie into our music video to help create the asylum feel to the audience as well as helping to create the character that the audience will relate to.

In relation to the five key areas: (Genre, target audience, star image, synthetic or organic audience and conventions of a music video)

Genre: grunge rock - this usually means dark and gloomy lighting, however we subvert conventions of a music video as we are telling a story of a man trapped in an asylum who is let loose through music. The best way this is portrayed is through bright white lighting in the studio to convey an asylum in which the band will also perform in as their 'studio.'

Target Audience: disengaged youth/ rebellious teenagers - as we target the disengaged youth and rebellious youth, their is a good chance that our audience can relate to being isolated and different which our main artist portrays in the music video.

Star Image: Our bands star image is similar to that of Biffy Clyro, Nirvana and Kurt Cobain, the most accurate fit is Biffy Clyro, as we are building a unique image over time however we are different due to the stories we tell through our music so we subvert conventions.

Synthetic or Organic: organic artists as the band plays different instruments and care about building a genuine fan base through reality story telling through their music. Negus argues, not appealing to mainstream media and building fan base over time is essential to organic artists building a healthy fan base.

Conventions of a music video: Keith Negus argues, not appealing to mainstream media and building fan base over time is essential to organic artists building a healthy fan base.

4 Artists Similar to the Star we have Created

Our lead singer Ben Carson, has dark black hair. We are selling our artist as a band who is alienated and appeals to an audience who too feel alienated and illicit anger from society. When we researched into these artists, they all stereotypically wore dark black clothing symbolizing their anger and dark thoughts that went on in their head. We are going to put this across in our music video.

Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of Nirvana, had a severe drug addiction with mental health issues. He lived a short life yet he made such a strong impact on the music industry. His long hair helps sell his star image to the hard rock genre as the alienated youth will either have the same style hair so it'll resonate with them or they'll aspire or look up to those of this fashion style. As well as his hair, Kurt Cobain has a degree of aggression and a look of rebellion upon him. This look will again further resonate with the target audience of hard rock as it reinforces the organic feel to his music allowing him to sell his star image.

One artist immediately that springs to mind when I think our lead singer is Alex Garcia. He infers the same American rock star feel that Kurt does when he sings. His birthday is on September the 8th and he signed with long running record label Atlantic Records in 2009. Prior to this, he was signed with Fearless Records in 2006. Prior to his fame, he was one of the only original members of Mayday Parade as of 2014 along with Derek Sanders and Brooks Betts. In terms of mental health, Alex Garcia doesn't obtain any mental health issues that I am aware of so I suppose this does differ from Kurt however, in terms of musical talent, I think they both share a spark that not many other rock singers have. As mentioned above with Kurt Cobain, Alex holds the same hair style and his use of tongue infers he is a rebellious youth which will help sell his star image to the dis-affected youth.

The second artists that comes to mind is Brian Wilson from The Beach Boys. The Beach Boys were an American, California based rock band in the 1960's. Their lead singer, Brian Wilson, suffered some mental health issues. This potentially may have spiralled from his habits he developed which were: sleeping, doing drugs and overeating. Mr Wilson suffered from Schizoaffective Disorder, and was bipolar. These illness's made him hear voices in his head which ultimately limited his ability to compose and write songs. However, Wilson overcame his mental health issues and managed to finish off the album he began prior to being diagnosed, called 'Smile' which was a big moment for the band. The hard rock trademark, long hair and also his deep voice allows him to reach out to the alienated hard rock fans. As his age is older than most, his target audience isn't as youth as other rock stars. He uses generic conventions in his music videos as he used shots such as whip-pans and panning shots to show his movement during the performance which enabled him to add a layer of energy to allow his hard rock fans to be more enticed in his videos reaching out to the alienated youth of society.

Another artist that we believe in similar to our lead singer is no other than the Syd Barrett, the Pink Floyd magician. Syd was not in fact diagnosed with any mental illness however, he was said to have either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder according to fellow musicians in the industry. With regards to his music, he was absolutely fantastic and had such a powerful and positive impact in the rock industry. Although he left, a song he sung with Pink Floyd known as Astronomy Dominie was composed in 1967 and remained a popular performed song even after Barrett left the band. Long hair and a serious face with remarks of anger is a notable image of Syd which allowed him to sell his star image to the disengaged youth. His bipolar issues allow him to resonate with the mentally challenged people of society which again sells his star image.

The singer who was in similar shoes to our lead singer was a young adult by the name of Nick Drake. He had a gift at writing songs. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1974, only aged 26. During his lifetime, he wasn't as widely recognized as he became once he died. He suffered from severe depression and insomnia. These two mental illness's don't complement each other well at all as because Nick had trouble sleeping, he couldn't 'sleep away his sorrows'. He passed by overdosing on his anti-depressants. He was a exceptional singer and a gifted talent. As with all the hard rock stars I've mentioned, the use of long hair helps sell the star image. Whilst nobody encourages the use of drugs, most of the hard rock target audience 'look up' to those rock stars and when drugs are involved, it does help reach out to a further alienated youth and also to those suffering from drug addiction in any form. The organic feel to Nick shows he built his fan base over time as he was appealing to a niche audience like ourselves. 

Analysis of 2 CD covers in relation to negus theory

The Blue seen in the water shows purity and the image could represent the baptising of this baby, in reflection telling us that this album will baptise us and make us pure again. The cover denotes their 'organic' type of artists due to their alternative and subliminal meaning unlike a mainstream 'synthetic' artist who mainly aim to entice a certain audience rather then convey a message. The use of the baby and money tries to sell the image of a predisposed greed for money as we see the baby chasing after a dollar. The baby denotes the organic nature of the band because it conveys that it is the purest form of humans as we can know as it is a nude baby untouched by capitalism and in this instance the artists could be directing this message to the music industry. The font of the 'never mind' displays the bands attitude to the music industry and it also plays in with the water around to show their fluidity and attitude towards their music efforts, as if to say that they don't care about names and labels but rather the music they produce. The album also comments on americas greed and averice due to the political landscape of the reagonomic saga.

The name The Fratellis comes from the criminal family in the film the goonies. This connotes the anti-establishment attitude they have towards society. The font however is quite relaxed and informal which presents their conformity to social norms and gives a relaxed feel to the album. The image seen is of three women in revealing clothing which supports the anti-social image of the band. It portrays the idea of lounging around and relaxed listening. The name Costello Music originates from a studio the band once recorded in, in Budhill, Glasgow which the band used to rent out. Being their first album it connotes their progress from being an unknown band who had to rent their own studio to a big hit band. The dominant colour of the album is cream, this reflect the walls of a lounge which refers to the lounging effect of the album to help people relax and enjoy it. The CD is produced by Tony Hoffer, this appeals to the audience as he is the same producer /mixer who produced albums by Beck and The Kooks, therefore those respective audiences may join the Frattellis fan base.

Timeline of our Music Video

After lots of discussion and consideration, we have finally decided the timeline for our music video. This is what we will be following when editing shots in our music video.

1. At first we see performance shots of the band playing the song, and the lead singer singing it in solo shots too. This is mixed in with close ups of the drums and bass playing. 
2. The Doctor enters and drugs the patient
3. The chorus kicks in and this is a mixture of running shots and band performance shots
4. During the chorus of the song we enter the shots of different coloured room which lasts until the end of the chorus
5. More band performance shots mixed in with the mental patient running
6. The next chorus kicks in with band performance shots and shots of the mental patients and lead singer acting crazy in the studio
7. At the end of the chorus the hook at the end kicks in with close ups of the lead singer and then the drums interchanging as the song goes
8. The end of the video is of the mental patient waking up

3 examples of a music video by artists similar to yours

1.  Biffy Clyro- Many of Horror (when we collide we come together)

Biffy Clyro is a band that is similar to our band in our music video. In this video they have a lead singer on the guitar, a base player and a drummer all things that will feature in our music video. There are lots of close up shots of just the lead singer on his own which is something we will do as well as him with the band. The dark colours represent the rock genre and as the song develops and it seems as if the singer is losing his mind which is represented by the different effects this is what our story line is and the lead singer is fighting his mind.




2. The Ramones- I just want to have something to do

Similarly the Ramones are also a band similar to ours, whose genre of music is hard rock. The clothing of all the band members in the video is symbolic of the rock genre. Although more old fashioned many conventions from this video we can use and implement into our video.



3. Saliva- Click Click Boom

This is another rock band that could be seen as similar to ours. This video is chaotic, violent and rebellious all conventions of the rock genre.

The Inconography of the album cover

An album cover has to accompany the type of artist and music they produce with the art, packaging and advertising of the album cover. Julian house, a creative partner at The Intro Partnership in London, suggests that the vision for the album art should be inspired by the artist. This means it involves several sit down discussions where the artist proposes different ideas, which the creative designers then create drafts and models of what they interpreted from them. House further explains how the album cover is a portal of explanation into the artists world and ideals, providing an entry point into understanding and getting a taste for what the music contained in the album is like.

Album cover art can be different extremely depending on the artists image and genre of music this will be highlighted using photos, typography and graphics. When looking at album covers of several artists its important to answer the following questions; who made it, how they made it, for whom and for what purpose? Its important to consider who the audience is for the album and if they will respond or relate to the cover. While the immediate target audience is likely to be those who frequently buy music, especially those who are fans or specific bands, artists or genres, the artwork may be designed to attract a wider audience.

Another aspect of the album cover is associations and connotations. Connotations are meanings and associations the image may link to. E.g. an image that denotes a powerful looking car may have connotations of speed or power, but in conjunction with other elements making up the art it might also have connotations of escape or thrill-seeking. 

Furthermore the album cover has Signs, Symbols and Codes that maybe aren't as obvious at first glance. A sign is a representation that refers to something else and has meaning, such as the car. A code means the structure of how signs are organised into systems to make meaning. They are usually divided into the technical and the symbolic, there are also written codes that included the use of language and text layout.

Lastly Composition & Framing are another important part of an album cover. This mainly focuses on the construction of the album cover, like the importance of light, shadow and colour and how they play a part. We refer to conventions as established ways of doing things, in this case, established forms of presenting and image. It can be helpful to examine how closely any given image tracks the conventions you'd associate with it, for example a rock band might use dark colours and and smashing guitars such as the 'London Calling' album.