Analysis of Digipak - Mumford and Sons

Mumford And Sons - Sigh No More

Location/Effects

The location of the album is quite simple, set in a town with the image of different coloured buildings which look quite like town shops. The lighting contrast is dim which gives a vintage, alternative look so just by the cover we can guess what the genre may be. There are four men stood in the building window which we suggest are the band members. However, at first glance it seems asif they are just mannequins as the building is the dominant image. The writing is presented as a swirly but simple font which goes with the image and the genre of the band. Usually the band are the main focus on the album cover which they are however they are mainly in the dark shades of the album and the light areas are around them.

Costume/Props

The band are dressed in outfits which shows their Britishness. It also gives them a folk/indie look which establishes their genre. We realise that it is the band we are seeing as they are stood against their instruments in the window.


Back of Digipak
The back of the digipak for Mumford and Sons is quite simple. They use a simple medium shot of the window and the white wall which makes the text stand out. It's asif we are looking at the back of the building we have just seen on the front of the album. They have used a white colour which makes the window and the song list the main attraction. It is set out to look realisitc.

Storyboard

"I am close to finishing my storyboard, I have one more page to do then I need to scan them onto the computer to attach on here."

I had almost finished my storyboard, however I changed my song at the last minute. I didn't have much to change on my planning however, my storyboard had changed. I am in the process of completing it.

Analysis of Album Cover

Rizzle Kicks - Stereo Typical


The front cover is quite basic. The image is of the two artists in the duo. I think the image is suppose to just show the artists as who they are instead of trying to show a specific image or character. They are showing both their alternative and hip hop side by their costume. They are wearing white t-shirts and grey hoodies which are quite casual but adding a reversed cap on one of their heads and one with hands in his pockets. It looks asif they are representing both their genres and characters. One alternative, one hip hop.
The lighting is very bright which gives off a warm and relaxed feeling. This works quite well with the music as it is described as 'Relaxed hip hop'. There is nothing else in the picture but the two guys which attracts all the focus on the artists. Even though the artwork may not look as appealing as other albums with it being so simplistic, it also makes it more interesting. The image used is a medium shot which shows both artists casually sitting down which could connote a relaxed sense to the teenage target audience.

Codes and conventions of my genre

Music Video Genre – Indie Pop/New Wave

The Genre of the song, which I am using to create my own music video, is a combination Indie pop/New wave. It has a mix of both new wave and indie pop conventions in the music video.

New wave emerged in the mid to late 1970's. It is described as an eccentric and quirky but also catchy and pop at heart. It is a mix of Punk rock, art rock, garage rock, glam rock, pub rock, ska, funk, electronic music, bubble-gum and disco. Such popular new wave bands include Blondie, Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party and The Killers. The genre of a music video is shown through its conventions. Common characteristics in new wave include the usage of synthesizers and electronic productions. The typical instruments of a new wave band include Electric Guitar, bass guitar, drums, synthesisers, and sometimes auto tune on the vocals. Such sounds can be heard in a lot of 80's pop music such as Pet Shop Boys and The Eurhythmics. Another convention identified for new wave is the video effects. In many music videos, the songs which were new wave used many brightly coloured and eccentric effects similar to that in Rihanna's music video 'Rudeboy'. In her video she uses a lot of neon bright effects which gives off a club effect. For the setting, a lot of new wave music videos are set in a studio because of the huge usage of effects. If the artist needed a scene behind them they could add this on through using a green screen, if not actually shooting outside.

Looking at Duran Duran’s music video for ‘Rio’, I am aware of the new wave conventions already at the beginning of the song. There is a use of bright colours throughout the video and special effect which were highly popular in the 80’s. I can hear the use of synthesisers at the beginning of the song.

Indie pop has a variety of definitions. The most obvious would be that it is a genre of music for bands who are on individual labels but yet are very popular, however maybe not so popular in the same way as mainstream pop artists (“The mainstream of underground media.”) such as Arcade Fire, Paramore, Bat For Lashes, City and Colour and Ellie Goulding. They are the artists which are widely popular but are not always landing a strong place on the main UK top 40 charts unlike as Tinie Tempah and Adele. Another definition is that indie pop is a sub-genre of alternative/indie rock music, which includes music that is lighter and less depressing than most indie rock. It is usually the music which the commercial radio people will end up buying after hearing it a few times, because of its first-listen appeal.

The conventions of an indie-pop music video are shown through the lighting and effects. In most indie pop videos the effects used are mainly monochrome and sepia to create a vintage type of effect. If not there are no specific effects to the video just a little more brightness to make it seem less realistic and more dream looking. Some videos use a montage of shots from scenes which together suggest a collection of memories. In the videos they use a lot of long and close up shots of the artists and use many pan shots to show the setting. The use of close up shots creates focus on the artist and to attract the attention of the audience. From looking at examples, I have seen a big use of tracking shots as in a lot of indie pop music videos, there is a story used and the artist is moving around a lot. Costume colours are a big convention for indie pop as the colours are usual neutral and white rather than bright colours. 

Audience research analysis

Looking at the poll's I created to find out what the preferences were for a music video and what the target audience would be, I have recieved quite a big amount of responses.

'What type of music video do you prefer?'

Narrative - 27%
Animation - 27%
Abstract - 9%
Performance - 36%

The majority of people said they prefer a performance based music video. This is a good result as it puts more attentions on the performer. Narrative and Animation recieved the same results.

'What is your age?'

10 - 15 = 20%
16-19 = 40%
20- 30 = 10%
31+ = 30%

The results show the mode age which have answered are between 16-19. This is good because they are the age group which artists target their music at as they are more likely to purchase it. Also they are able to create variety of music videos which apply to the audience.

'What is your favourite genre of music?'

RnB - 0%
Pop - 40%
Rock - 30%
Alternative - 30%
Indie - 0%
Old rock - 0%

These results show me that the genre which is most popular are those which would be found in the charts. There are no results for rnb, indie or old rock. This shows they are not as popular as the other three which i need to consider when creating my music video.

'What gender are you?'

Male - 20%
Female - 80%

The majority of people who answered were female. This tells me that more females are interested about what goes into the music video rather that males. My artist is female which is benefits as the majority of people who answered were female. My music video will appeal to my audience.

More planning and Ideas.

Lights
I was researching a few music videos to get ideas to adapt for my video to show radioactive.
Here is an image from Florence and the machine video 'Cosmic Love'. She is seen in a mirrored boxed room with lights surrounding her. I really liked the idea of using lights in my music video. My ideas are for lizzie to be either Lizzie could be laid on lights, wrapped with lights or surrounded by lights.

Storyboard

I am currently working on my storyboard and finalising my ideas for my music video. I started by timing the lines and verse's of the song in order to time the length of each shot. On my storyboard, I am writing down the different types of shots, drawing the mise-en-scene and writing the actions.