First Album Cover evaluation

For our block week, we were assigned to create an album cover for a fictional artist, just the cover of the album and nothing else.

Here is my album called 'Still Take You Home' by 'White Heat.' The names were very hard to come up with believe it or not.

I decided to make an album cover for a band who go by the name 'White Heat' and the genre is  indie rock with elements of Jangle pop. They're inspired by The Smiths hence the jangle pop but come across as your classic britpop band like Blur or Oasis. I wanted the band to come across as charming, confident and cheeky hence the name 'Still take you home.'

I knew that I wanted to create an album for a band so I experimented with a possible album/EP cover for my actual band The Remy Boys.

I did this in preparation to help me get used to the software of 'Canva.' Not many edits were made, I used a bit of vignette to darken the sides and help focus on the centre with the Band's name.

For my actual album cover, I spent half an hour taking photos of areas around my house. I wanted to use natural scenery so it would be refreshing. Here are some of the drafts I took.

And here is the photo I used for the cover unedited.

I was trying to make the band come across as organic, they have created their own success and so I didn't want to have an alternative cover with loads of hidden meanings, I just wanted a straight forward, no nonsense cover that stands out to others.

For the Edits, I used a 'Dalliance filter' at 70% intensity, I also used some grain on the image and trialed a few filters, at first I used red but it felt quite gothic and heavy metal, then I used blue which didn't feel natural enough, then I used purple which was perfect for the cover, just made the cover look authentic and made it stand out. The the Purple makes the album distinct from others, colouring is important as its the main convention on what Genre the album is.

Feedback - 

The teachers really liked the simplicity of the album and the colouring, The guitar really added a sense of organic ness to the cover and the filters were pleasing to the eye.

However, because of the guitar involved they didn't really think the cover was for a band, more for a solo artist like Eric Clapton or John Mayer. The Parental advisory sticker was a bit unnecessary, I only added this on for authenticity. 

The were able to identify the genre from the conventions, which was indie rock/alternative. 

This album by Milan stood out to me the most. It reminds me of something from the 1975. The the clouds in the background gives me a sense of freedom and purity. Having the artist on the front as well makes it professional and an overall good job.

If I was to make the cover again, I would maybe have another instrument to really show the audience that it is a band, I would also alter the font to make it a shade of purple so it isn't as harsh looking.

First Album Cover design - preparation.

Im determined to create an album cover for an indie band which involves the band members on the cover. Many bands choose to have the band of the album cover for only 1 or 2 of their albums, other wise they will have an artist image.

Some example of these include:

Or Even an organic solo artist.

conventions of Album Artwork

References -
https://www.nme.com/news/music/arctic-monkeys-443-1347345 *



Album artwork is very important to the artists these days as Vinyl consumption has become a trend again meaning that the visuals must represent the album and the artists. Doers the artist come across as organic or synthetic?

Album No.1 - Favourite Worst Nightmare - Arctic Monkeys
This is my favourite album of all time and I have the CD version and so I've taken some pictures of it to analyse.

The 3rd album from Arctic Monkeys resulted in some experimental sounding indie rock with distortion and other effects pedals on the guitar to create magical sounds in the guitar that really make the album sound unique. 

 For me, the album artwork fully looks like the sound it makes. It's the combination of colours, shapes and fonts that really emphasise the overall sound of the album.

 Let's start with disk, it clearly depicts a face with some sort of hat on. It appears to me that there are horns on the hat which could be a nod to the word 'Nightmare' which appears in the title. Horns are a nightmarish look and Cleary is used to possibly scare the consumer. However, looking at this CD, we can also see that there are stars on the face along with sunglasses. To the audience he looks like someone who likes to party and stay out and is quite a rebellious character.

Album Artwork

 We can tell that the genre of music is indie rock from the alternative artwork and the colouring. The pictures all have subtle meanings behind them but they are not clear, I think they are all close ups of the long shots of the house.

 A star image isn't really created by this album, however this is because the Arctic Monkeys created their star image in their first albums and received lots of publicity after playing at Glastonbury and headlining reading a year after their second album.

The majority of album Artwork is just various images that don't really have a backstory, in an interview on NBE.com the band stated that “We wanted to do something physical, like do something real with the artwork. We got all these illustrators, played them some tunes and that and got them to draw bits of stuff, bits of things that we liked and stuff."* 

The colour with the blacked out house makes for a treat for the eyes, the eyes are attracted to the colour in the blacked out house which give it a sense of not judging something by the outside look.

Album No.2

Wizville, presumably based of Ocean Wisdom's rapper name is a collective of modern rap songs but with a jazz twist. The use of upright bass and jazz instruments along with the electronics sounds make this album sound unique and it is reflected by the album artwork.

The star image is created on the front, the long shot gives us a full outline of Wisdom's figure in a tunnel with lots of graffiti on the walls. The lack of lighting in the shot combined with the Jazzy tones in the album give me a feeling that this album is quite exclusive like an underground club.

The song 'Tom and Jerry' featured on the Fifa 19 soundtrack which I decided to give Wizville a listen and I really enjoyed the sound. He is quite an underground artist and so this was his breakthrough album which I imagine was helped by Fifa 19.

Rock

This is Spinal Tap's most famous album, as you can see, the consumer can deeply analyse this cover.

That was joke...

AC/DC Black Ice featuring tracks like Rock 'N' Roll train and War Machine. this album allegedly saved the band's career!

The consumer can easily tell that that this album is a rock and roll album by the illustrations on the front. They are quite gothic and the font represents the name AC/DC which are the two power options on a battery, the lightning bolt represents that.

The artwork represents a sort of crest showing that the band are like a famous family.

Goodwin Music video theory.

Goodwin states that in music videos, the are two main identifiers including Amplification which is where the video builds on the words and amplifies the meaning. Disjuncture do the lyrics relate to what's happening on the screen or do they not relate at all?



In this music video, the band act as the character and shows the narrative of the band crossing a vast empty piece of land in a beaten up convertible. The song addresses the 2nd person as it mentions "Scar Tissue that I wish YOU saw." This means it isn't using direct address to the audience.

The verses mainly involve the band in the beaten up car, the lyrics aren't disjunct from the video, the title 'Scar Tissue' relates to the cuts and bruises on the band member along with the guitar that Frusciante uses in the chorus'. The chorus' don't have words, they are Guitar Solos that reflect the emotion of the band the song as they are gentle but also very powerful. The chorus' use similar shots of Fruciante's silhouette. The broken guitar fret board represents the scar tissue and the broken heart but no matter what happens it will still beat as the guitar is still playable.

The verses mainly consist of the band in the car or on the side of the road in the dirt, just standing by trees or sprinkling dust in the wind. The lighting is very warm but we as an audience can see and feel how hot it is because the scenery looks so dry. 

The first shot is really pleasing to the eye. The wide shot reveals the scenery and we can see the vast wasteland. The video is in linear form. We can tell this because of the lighting, the video starts in the afternoon and by the final guitar solo, the sun is going down and we get a beautiful sunset.

The long shot of the band in the car is repeated throughout the video as like a scene setter. the shot allows the audience to see not only the car but the background too.

Keith Negus Theory

Organic Artist.

Although Mac DeMarco in this album cover doesn't create a rebellious image for himself, this has all the right boxes to be an organic album cover as it showcases the artist and the instrument that he plays. As the image shows, he is in a naturalistic way. The image isn't enhanced that much, only a grey scale has been put over it. This shows that he is a naturalistic artist who is straight forward and is very down to earth judging by the pose he is pulling.

His Music is aimed at a more sophisticated audience who are into alternative indie music that involves traditional band instruments and synthesisers.

The record company 'Captured Records' financed the album after hearing him in the recording studio where he was originally going to record an album under his own name. He stated in an interview that took place in 2014 that the album artwork was inspired by Harumi Hosono's 'Hosono House'

Organic artists usually are sold on how authentic they are in their music and socially. the image of the artist should feel natural and uncontrollable and genuine. Record companies usually use the revenue generated by synthetic artists to fund organic artists.

Synthetic Artists - Usually sell on looks or personalities. Their image is often controlled and a character is formed that they must conform to.



Ed Sheeran

 The Album covers have more of an aesthetic look too them, it doesn't show Ed Sheeran as the artist but with the publicity created by his record company, Asylum Records, this is one of the most famous modern album covers.




His image is that he is this rebellious solo artist who all the ladies fall for. This is also portrayed through many of his songs which are about him meeting a girl in all kinds of situations and spending the night with them.

Narrative Music Video structure analysis.

The music video to the song Californication shows the narrative of the band in a video game level where they must survive the ever-changing climate.



The video begins with a player select screen with all members of the band which shows their abilities. This is comparable to the beginning of a narrative where there is equilibrium. Towards the end of the video we see the video game become increasingly hostile towards the characters until it crumbles at the end.

Camera
The camera is constantly moving to reflect the video game and the way that there is constant action in the game. The shots are usually long shots in the game to help the audience not only visualise the characters but also the scenery and environment around it. We also have some dutch angles of the band playing there parts and a mid shot of the band playing together.

There is no added diegetic or non-diegetic sound just the song playing.

Editing
There are a few transitions between the video game and the band to represent what's real and what's not. Each band member get an equal amount of screen time apart from Anthony (the singer) as he is the lead member and the face of the band.

The marketing of this video is clever, it appeals to the target audience who are young people who will often play video games and so this greatly appeals to them making it a fantastic music video.

This Is America - Textual analysis

Camera
There is a mixture of shot sizes in the video from close ups and mid shots to longs shots. These are over looked as there are no still shots. the camera is constantly in motion giving the video flow and making it exciting to watch.

The handheld camera matches the unusual and inconsistent movement made by Glover in the video. This could represent the Chaos of America portrayed in this music video. We can tell that Glover is the main character in this video because the camera always says on him. He gets the lowest screen time as he's on for 90% of the video.

Editing

The video is edited to look like it is filmed all in one shot with smooth but sharp transitions from set to set. There is 1 noticeable cut at the end in the final. The transitions help cover up the cuts and give the image that it is a single take video, this makes it a visual spectacle for the audience and makes the music video stand out from others.

The editing tells the story of a black man in America and the treatment that he and all the other Americans are treated by each other. There are some interesting symbols and conventions in the video that i'll talk about after sound.

Sound

Throughout the video, we have many examples of non-diegetic sound. Like gunshots and screaming crowds. This highlights one of the themes of the song which is how kind of corrupt America is and the injustices. 

There are many controversial scenes in this video. For example, the hostage who is shot in the head by Glover. The man is then dragged off and the gun is handled carefully with a cloth. This highlights the gun laws in America and easy it is to obtain legal and illegal firearms. The second shooting shows the Gospel Choir to be an innocent party. Along with Glover dancing on the cars and the cars on fire and the constant movement of people on set just shows how un civilised America can be.

Why conventions are important for audience and institution.

Conventions in a Pop music video

A Classic from the infamous Michael Jackson.

In the video there are many conventions that support the pop genre. For example, the storyline of the video and the multiple different locations portrayed give the audience the feeling that the video is light hearted adhering to a stereotypical pop video.

There is some non-diegetic sound at the start of the video which compliments a short comedy skit. we  are then taken tov Africa with some Lions and that's where the music video starts. This song is about diversity and not judging people by the colour of their skin, this is shown through the different ethnic groups involved in the video. This sends out a positive message to the world.

The Majority of the shots are mid and long shots of Michael dancing within a crowd of dancers. We do have a few tracking shots which track Micheal as he moves between locations which makes the video flow really nicely as the transitions are smooth.

Rap/Hip Hop.

In this music video, there are two main characters, Coolio and Michelle Pfeiffer, Its taken from a film called dangerous minds which is about a white teacher becoming a teacher in a city school in LA and it highlights the relationship with her students. The school is dominated by African American students.

The lighting in the video is very limited and many shadows are cast especially on Coolio suggesting that he is a mysterious character who is also a dodgy character. The majority of shots on Coolio are close ups to see the emotion in his face. The majority of Shots on Pfeiffer are mid shots and many dutch angles are used on the crowd to highlight the chaos they are causing in the video.

Rock

Although the pixies are an alternative Rock band, this still counts. Monkey Gone to Heaven is 30 years old and still a masterpiece.

The video itself is not a video of the band playing the songs but in a sort of documentary style video showcasing the different members of the band. The videos are slowed down making the video seem very weird and takes you to another world.

Star Theory - Richard Dyer

Star Theory - Dyer's Star Theory states that Stars depend on lots of Subsidiary media such as Tv, radio and magazine etc. in order to construct an image of themselves to match their target audience. The Star Image is made up of multiple meanings that are attractive to the target audience.

An example of an interesting band who have created an image through different subsidiaries of media are Gorillaz who are a British virtual band. They have one human member Damon Albarn (lead singer of Blur) and the rest are virtual characters represented in album artwork.

The Now Now

Humanz

Plastic Beach

Demon Days

As you can tell by the album artwork, the band come across as rebellious which is one of the values in Dyer's theory. With Demon Days being perhaps their most recognisable album cover from the distinct Gorilla morphed human characters, there were many hit singles in the album which bough the band much publicity. The Music Videos in Demon Days are all animated cartoons in a fantasy world. an example of this is the music video for 'El Mañana'

Plastic Beach may be a reference to the amount of harmful plastic that washes up on beaches which are bad for the wildlife surrounding it. The music itself in the album has a very melancholy and sad but peaceful feel to it. So the album has a political/environmental message to it.

2D, Murdoc, Russel and Noodle are the virtual band members each with their own identities as a Gorilla type character.