ProposalAs my advanced portfolio this year I have chosen to create a promotional

package for the release of an album including: a rock music video, a cover forits release on DVD and a magazine advert. I am going to work on my own as

I’ve got loads of ideas already and it gives me full creative control. Thebands I’ve been looking at are Green Day, Metro Station and

Kids in Glass Houses (all pictures used in this presentation show thesebands). The sub- genres of rock music they belong to are: alternative rock/

punk rock/pop punk. The song I have chosen is ‘Goin’ down’’by The Pretty Reckless. This song doesn’t have a music video yet so it givesme a freedom while interpreting it. I’m not influenced by existing image of

the band; I want to make it my own. I will interpret this in a punk-rock style toemphasise the speed and energy in the track.

The focus of my work will be to experiment with the editing techniques in bothfilm and print texts – to develop the impact, the drama of the work

and to make it look awesome!The lyrics of most of the rock songs wouldn’t be appropriate for small

kids, that’s why I think the audience would be mostly teenagers. The text willappeal to both males and females, it will represent the „punk” style which a

nichegroup of teens can relate to.

Research

„Music is composed and performed for

many purposes, ranging from

aestheticpleasure, religious

or ceremonialpurposes, or as an

entertainmentproduct for the marketplace.”

What is a music video?• A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of

music/song. • Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques, including

animation, liveaction filming, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. • Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation and live action. • Many music videos do not interpret images from the song's lyrics, making it less

literal than expected. • In 1894 when sheet music publishers still ran the music business, Edward B.

Marks andJoe Stern hired electrician George Thomas and various performers to promote sales

of theirsong. Thomas projected a series of still images on a screen simultaneously with liveperformances in what became a popular form of entertainment known as the

illustrated song. It has been termed the first music video. • However the music video as we know it came to being in the 1970s.• In 1975 Queen released their „Bohemian Rhapsody” music video – which markedthe beginning of video era. It’s also one of the first where advanced visual effects

were used. • In 1981, the U.S. video channel MTV launched, airing „Video Killed the Radio

Star”and beginning an era of 24-hour-a-day music on television.

Conventions of music video

The conventions of a music video vary depending on genre of

music. However, some general conventions are: the artist is shown

performing, the lyrics of the song influence what is shown inthe video, the pace of editing fits the pace of the music, and

thecodes of dress reflect the mood of the song. A lot of

differentshots and camera movements are used to keep audience inexcitement and to help them feel that, what the artist is

feeling.ECUs and CUs are often used to show lips, guitar strings,eyes etc, to draw attention. Low angles are used to create aweak and hopeless image of the artist; high angles are used

toillustrate artist’s power and dominance. Pans and tilts are

used tomove from one performer to another.

Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene is a key factor whenit comes to the video:1. props 2. location3. costumes (very important to the

youth culture groups who are music fans)

have to fit with the narrative andalso the genre of the music.Important are also:• camera movements• angles• lighting (which usually fits in the

mood)

Genre - Rock

RockRock music developed in the1960s from 1950s rock and roll,rockabilly, blues, and country music. The sound of rock oftenrevolves around the electric or acoustic guitar, and it uses astrong back beat laid down by a rhythm section of electric bassguitar, drums and keyboard instruments such as: organ, piano,analog and digital synthesizers (since the1970s) and computerssince the 1990s. Along with these, saxophone and blues styleharmonica are used as soloing instruments. In the late1960s andearly 1970s, rock music branched out into different subgenres,ranging from blues rock and jazz-rock fusion to heavy metal andpunk rock, as well as the more classical influenced genre ofprogressive rock and several types of experimental rock genres.

Conventions of rock music video

The most obvious convention of a rock video is that they tendto be both narrative and performance based.

The narrative sometimes shows a romance between the leadsinger and a girl/boy, action based or even some form of current affair.

The performance tends to be the band with the audience , or just themselves playing to the camera. Sometimes they are filmed live,

but sometimes it’s constructed just for the video.Another main aspect of conventions would be the band logo.Sometimes it’s shown in the music video for only few seconds

but audience and fans can recognise it quickly.In early rock and the 1960s, bands made many promo films for

instance, The Beatles made a 'Hard Day's Night'. Manybands from other genres also made feature films, such as Cliff

Richards 'Summer holiday'.

• Props which are commonly used in rock music video include stereotypical things which are connected to the rock genre such as the electric and base guitars, drums and microphone.

• The setting of most of the rock music videos is club or large stage – where band is performing ‘live’.

Other settings for the story have to fit the lyrics.

Mise-en-scene in Rock

Digipak

Digipak is the exceptional alternativeto standard jewel box packaging and

isa patented style of CD or DVDpackaging.Digipak- style cases grew in

popularityamong record labels and recordingartists in early 2000s.

Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding CD or DVD attached to the

inside – which allows great graphic display.In addition, the panels can be increased from 4 to 6, 8 and

more.

Magazine adverts

Advertising is a form of communication intended to persuade an audience to purchase the product.

History: • Egyptians used papyrus to make sales messages and wall

posters.• Wall or rock painting for commercial advertising is another

manifestation of an ancient advertising form.

Analysis1.Rock Music Video2. Digipak3. Magazine Advert

1. Music video : Green Day –

21st Century Breakdown

•Editing: animations together with live action footage- to keep audience in excitement/ don’t bore them.

•American flag is used to show that they are singing about life in America.

•„Photoshopped images” :kept in black/ white/ grey mode- to make it look more dramatic, only the fire is red/orange to make it look dangerous; hearts are red- connotes romance.

•Members of band: tattoos, dark makeup, black spiky hair, dark clothes, skinny jeans, probably converse shoes (typical for rock outfit) + band logo on drums– which are iconic for the youth culture.

•Narrative and performance based: band is shown while playing and singing, others are illustrating it.

•Few of the sentences is written on the wall- exaggerates the importance of these words.

•Not stereotypical representation of female – girl repaired the car while boy couldn’t + it leads to kiss and having a baby: showing that love comes from small things.

•Loads of „cool” transitions is used.

•Sign of „dollars” is used a lot – connoting America and that everything in 21st century is about money.

•Scenes are set in random places – to fit the narrative.

•Use of graphic match – makes it look even more interesting.

•Fast camera movements – to fit the music.

•Fast pace/ fast cuts - to keep in action.

•Controversial scene – 2 men (probably presidents/ ministers) kissing each other after argument; music slows down having a romantic note + pink heart appears behind them to implies this romance.

•Red roses connotes romance between teens/ men.

•Lots of close-ups is used to show vocalist’s face, eyes –emotions.

•Long shots are used to show band together with instruments: guitars and drums, illustrate the genre.

•Last scene is like „back to reality” (real colours etc)– after all that animation it shows us that they were singing about real life/problems

•It’s set on the roof while sundown- implies the end of the day.

•Music slows down also connoting the end of the day and the song.

•He sings about „American dream” and it’s just after the scene with two kissing men – we can assume it’s an American dream to be in peace with others/other countries etc.

•After all – fading down to black – the end

Intertextuality in this music video

• Someone throws a baby down to the power station’s chimney where it burns – I think we can say it’s an historical reference/ intertextuality (in ancient Sparta they have thrown babies down the cliff if these weren’t strong enough)- and that’s been used in movies such as „300” - when Spartan kicked other king into a hole, because he wanted to show his power.

• Banksy - British graffiti artist whose identity is still unknown. His artworks are often satirical pieces of art on topics such as politics, culture, and ethics: whole video is made in „his style” (walls with graffiti/ texts etc)

• Horror films: a hand coming out of the grave is a motive often used in horror movies, for example „The night of the living dead”. It’s also a motive often used by Stephen Kings- many horror movies are adaptations of his books (for example „Carrie”)

• Clockwork Orange” – tells a story of Alex: young, violent but from good family. (Billie from Green Day sings „I was raised in hell. A welfare child where the teamsters dwelled” –matches perfectly)

2. DigipakParamore lead singer said : ‘’I found the butterfly in my

moms driveway a while ago... dead and completely in tact. After writing the lyrics for "brick..." with the one line that says "the angles were all wrong, now she's ripping wings off of butterflies"... the image we chose for this song was the butterfly I'd found. Only we cut its wings off and pinned the butterfly with all its separate pieces in order on the fence in my backyard. In hindsight, to me, it represents the fact that broken pieces... individual pieces can still make one big picture. Doesn't matter if they all have their own purpose as long as they stand together. ‘’

Symbolism of the butterfly:*as the butterfly starts its life as a caterpillar and goes

through a lot of changes before becoming a butterfly, it is a symbol of change/ metamorphosis/ transformation: the band was arguing for a long time, so I think the butterfly is a good image to represent their new live.

*many people believe that as the butterfly freely soars in the sky, it signifies freedom and independence.

*as a butterfly itself is very delicate, it also symbolizes fragility of life and impermanence.

*as the butterfly goes from flower to flower for collecting food, it also becomes a symbol of instability on earth.

Inside the digipak we find a booklet with lyrics to all the songs. Wiliams herself says that they wanted no misunderstanding while listening to their music. Every page of the booklet is designed for other song, and the image which is used fits in with the lyrics. All these pictures was taken in Wiliams’ house- and that makes it very personal. Lots of colours is used in regard to the mood in the song. For example the song ‘where the lines overlap’ tells a story of a happy couple: pastel pink, blue and green are happy colours. Also the images are really artistic close-ups . Colours are strong and all that implies the genre which is rock.

• On the actual CD the motive of butterfly repeats .

• The inside and the back, both fits into rock genre of music. Black/white mode used to make it look sad – and then the butterfly which means new life.

• In dreams, the mirror is a symbol of vanity and self knowledge. Seeing a large mirror foretells fame or success.

3. Magazine advertPage was influenced and inspired by grunge and rockartists such as Nirvana and Queens of The Stone Age:I think that’s why magazine advert is kept ingrey/black/white mode giving us that ‘’rockish’’impression. She is also holding a guitar which implies thePop -rock style of music she plays. The backgroundis white to make her stand out as her body andfeatures are dark. Fonts are rather simple and white tocontrast a dark body. Mid-shot is used to make itpersonal, as she seems closer to us. Lighting is dark toshow the rock side of her. The clothes she’s wearing arenot important, because they don’t define her as a artist. Her messy hair style and dark make-up also connotesthat she is a pop-rock artist, as it is a stereotypical rockchick look. The name of the artist is the biggest text andis set just at the centre.; connoting importance. The

nameof the album , date of release and other texts are gettingsmaller and smaller; making her name stand out.

Sources

http://02sawtrymusicvideo09.blogspot.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

http://images.google.pl

http://www.Essortment.com

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/butterfly-tattoos-meaning.html

http://breesays.buzznet.com/user/journal/4274131/paramore-talk-about-butterfly/