Poster Analysis.

This is the poster I am choosing to analyse because it is in relation to my genre because foo fighters are post grunge artists also. 

For this poster they have used only black and white, even though the colour scheme is boring, the image the effect on gives it a more interesting feel. I think these colours work well because it adds simplicity to the poster which i think if the poster was in colour would loose. I think the boring colours gives the picture a dramatic impact which, like i said, coloured photographs wouldn't be able to do. 

The poster is just a plain band photo. The band are dressed in the stereotypical post grunge clothing, and present the typical look accosted with the post grunge genre. One of the band members is wearing a light shirt compared to the others, even though he isn't the lead singer i think this gives him more attention which may be the reason for it. i think the light shirt breaks the poster down slightly otherwise i think it may look too black and dull. i think the contrast word really well with the images and from this we have a clear indication in which genre the band is.

The background like the rest of the poster is very simple which fits in with the whole scheme. The font is also simple which helps it work with the back and foreground images. The writing contrasts with the background no matter where it is, which is good because it stands out. The only sophisticated writing is the bands name, which draws the viewers eyes to it and makes sure it stands out from the background. 

Current Digipak and What I need to change about it.

This is my current digipak design. I used dark and dingy colours to go with the grungy theme. This didn't work because the pictures of the same single person made it look like a single artist even though it was a band. 

Another thing that didn't really work was the front cover because you couldn't really see the design of the silohettes because it was too dark. On my updated version of this i have changed the picture i took the boys out of so it looks more like three people instead of a large weird shaped person and make them more individual and changed the background colour to make it a little brighter so you can make them out better. i though this worked but the feedback from the class said that they thought it was more indie looking. This means i have to add more grungy things and maybe make the colours darker to show the genre better. 

The most positive feedback I had was the first two panels of my digipak design, which is the lyric book and the CD design. I am pleased overall with my feedback because it can direct me in the right direction to make a good grungy looking digipak. i think i am going to keep some of the pictures but add different filters and better photos of the band tougher to show that it is a band and not a single artist. 

Music video analysis (same genre) 'The Calling-Wherever You Will Go'

The Calling is a post grunge band. The song is medium paced, but the video is slow. this creates emotion within the video which singing alone wouldn't be able to create.

The dark clothing and low key lighting give it that grungy feel and the setting adds to the dinginess. These also may connote that the darkness of everything, and the sewer may be a representation of whats in the girls head. This is one of Goodwin's theories, where the video is a representation of the lyrics, creating an atmosphere which in this case, is a depressing one. How the video is cut adds to this too,  alternating between cutting and fading into shots. This gives it a jumbled feeling which, once again may be a representation of the girl in the videos head. One scene in the video which i thought was the best to give an example about the speed and beat is when she is her house and finds her boyfriend/husband cheating and shes wrecking the house, and even though the music has quite a fast paced beat by now, the video itself it extremely slow, showing the emotional side of whats going on. i think slow paced videos and a reasonably fast beat work best in a sad song because it just looks more visually interesting, and you understand it more.

Throughout the video there are not really any noticeable relationships between the lyrics and video except its a love song and there is a couple in the video. Other than this there is nothing, its just kind of stage performances, and the band playing there music. This is also another one of Goodwin's theories, as post grunge is a sub genre of rock, so there is a key characteristic for the band to be playing their instruments in it. 

Throughout the video there is many close ups of the lead singer, who has the key features of a post grunge artist; long hair piercings etc. The reason for the close ups may be because he has a recognisable face and will help promote the video and music, making more money for record label which is probably why there is alto of them in the video.

A band performance is used quite a lot in this video making it a frequent reference to notion of looking, there is also slight voyeuristic treatment in the video as he uses pretty females and good looking men, these target the audiences in different ways because of the appearance of the actors so that the audience become more involved emotionally because they like the look of the people so will watch it until the end to see what happens. 

There are no intertexual references in this video meaning that it goes against what Goodwin said about there often being one.

Overall, this shows a few of Goodwin's theories but not as many as the other videos i have looked at. 

Music video analysis (same genre) 'Foo Fighters-All My Life'

Foo Fighters genre is a mixture of alternative rock, hard rock, and lastly post grunge.

Goodwin said that certain genres music videos have specific things within them. For example, post grunge, being a sub genre form alternative rock, and grunge, would be something like stage performances. The same way as a pop star would probably have a dance routine. In this video, Foo Fighters are doing what is expected, with stage performances. This is continued through a lot of the video and most of it is aimed to look live and realistic. 

There are not really any relationships between the lyrics and what's on the screen as most of it is performance based. Any emotion from the lyrics would have to be shown through the singer, which in this case there are no parts where he needs to cry, smile, or anything like that, so he just sings. The video is simple, just performing on stage. But the lights, and the shots used to present the band make it more complicated and edgy.

The shots are cut to the beat giving it a neat finish too. This is a key thing to do, otherwise if they are cut at different places in comparison to the beat, the video will end up mushed and not look as professional as it could.

There are a lot of close ups of the lead singer because everyone knows who he is. This helps the record company working with them because it is promotion for the band. Especially because he was associated with Nirvana it will attract people who listen(ed) to them and encourage them to listen to Foo Fighters.

Goodwin also talks in his theories about frequency reference to notion of looking, meaning, in this case, the use of the stage as it is a post grunge band. 

The colours in the video are very dark and echo the moodiness from the song well. This is another one of Goodwin theory. The way the video and lyrics work together to create an atmosphere. In this video Foo Fighters did exactly that. The surroundings in the video were dark and had low key lighting which creates a sinister atmosphere what works with the type of genre in this case. The clothes worn were typical 'post grunge'  clothing. 

Music Video analysis (favourite video) "Five Finger Death Punch - Wrong Side Of Heaven"

Five Finger Death Punch is a heavy, alternative metal band. This video, like the others I have analysed go against Goodwin's theory, not representing the typical 'heavy metal' image. A typical heavy metal video consists of dark colours, and low key lighting, and a lot of live band shots. Five Finger Death Punch, in this video do not show any of this. They do not include their faces once during the entire video. This definitely goes against the theory.

During the video, depending on the way you view it, you can make a connection with the video, and the music because the lyrics are talking about being on the wrong side of heaven and the rightest side of hell. The conneciton between the lyrics and the video are deep, as being in the position of the people on the screen, they a) for being on the wrong side of heaven, may connote that they are out of the war, which is heavenly, but as they, toward the end, you see the facts about being homeless, it may be that they are on the wrong side of it. And b) being on the rightest side of hell  may connote that they are proud of what they are doing, being in the war which in this case, is compared to hell. The link between the lyrics and video are also anther theory by goodwin used well in the video.

Goodwin says that music videos consist of many key elements, one being the reflection on the tone or atmosphere caused by relationships between the video and lyrics. The lyrics are deep and meaningful and the slow motion on the screen gives it the kind of an emotional feel which you wouldn't be able to get if it was in normal pace. The slow motion video give it a kind of depressing feel which is what the song is about in a sense.

The colours in the video are neutral, adding a sense of calmness to the video. the calmness from the colours is juxtaposed with the violence with the shooting and dying throughout a majority of the video. i think this makes a positive impact as it adds subtlety to the video.

Music video analysis (any genre) "Eminem - When I'm Gone"

For my other video analysis I am going to be talking about Eminems When Im Gone video because compared to Sam Smith, his genre is completely different.

Eminems genre is rap/r&b, and for this genre, the stereotypical video contents are usually lots of girls, money, flash cars, etc, but like Sam Smith, in this video he goes against what is expected from a rap artist, and the only girl he includes is his daughter.  Eminem aims at a wide audience range, with his primary audience being 15-25 year old american or English males. This is the audience for him because a lot of the younger portion in this range would look to him as a role model or inspiration. Eminem's music is very pacy, and these are picked up with the cuts in the video. The cuts in the video aren't as frequent as the actual beat, but this may be trying to keep a slow emotional pace in the video as it is a meaningful song, but the tempo moves too quick to show this.

As soon as the song kicks in, and the beat starts, the cuts get more frequent, showing images, what relate to the lyrics he raps. Within the first 2 sentences he already uses this when he says 'have you ever loved somebody so much you'll give an arm for, not the expression no, literally give an arm for"  and pulls his sleeve up to reveal a tattoo covering a large section of his arm, showing that, like his lyrics he has given an arm for this somebody. Throughout the video, there are always little clips representing what he has rapped. this is something that has been done effectively, and helps bond the music video and the lyrics together. His clothes give obvious indication on what type of person, and song this video is. The snapbacks, bandanas and baggy clothing fit in with the stereotypical male rapper.

Throughout the whole sequence, clothing colours are kept dark, as a representation to Eminem's personality. Goinng through the sequence, red is one of the most prominent colours within the shot. The red may connote love, passion, or even evilness. the red colour m,ay be comparing Eminem to the devil, especially from his daughters view, who is also wearing mainly red. The red on the daughter may connote love, as throughout the video she is trying to keep him at home to spend more time with her. When Eminem wheres the red tie or red hat he is mainly talking about how much he loves her, so this would be what the red connotes in these scenes. In the chorus, when he is talking about looking down on his daughter, there is hardly any dark colours on the screen. He wore a white and red striped coat, the colour red continues connoting love, and now the white from it may connote innocence, as if to say, even though she thinks because he leaves her a lot for tour and things that she doesn't love her, that he hasn't stopped loving her at all.

Overall, Eminem continues to represent r&b/rap artists throughout the video in a non-traditional way, by not including women, fancy cars and money,  but instead, more meaningful things such as family. 

Music video ananlysis (any genre) "I'm Not The Only One - Sam Smith"

Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One is a slow paced song. This music video isn't the typical pop video. His face isn't really shown in his videos as much as other pop artists, this goes against Goodwin's theory, as his face is not shown, this must mean that his music is being sold on his voice. Sam Smith compared to pop artists like One Direction, in this video, is completely different, purely to this fact, as in One Directions videos they are constantly on screen, and because there is a group of them they are distributed throughout the whole video, making them the selling point.

The shots are set to be in time with the music beat. The video itself is in slow motion, this adds depth to his video; and because his face is not in it, this helps the audience gather the emotions which he would be showing singing this. There are a lot of close ups used throughout this video, especially with the woman who is apparently getting cheated on by her lover. These close ups show her emotions are are more intense when the lyrics are deep and most meaningful.One of the key close ups I noticed went a lot with the lyrics was when he sung 'for better or for worst', there was a close up of the woman all dressed up,as if going to a wedding, and staking her ring off. Close ups of this ring were continued here and there during the whole video. This gives the audience the feel as if she is questioning her relationship as it is shown a fair bit. 

The lighting throughout the video varies from low key, to high key lighting. this may be a representation of the two personalities, one being dark, gloom, or maybe even uneasy to see, and the other being happy, open and natural. The dark lighting is used mainly when the man is on the screen. This may connote that he is a dark character, and his true personality is comparison to the woman is dark and dingy. This can be backed up with the fact that he is clearly cheating and sneaking or 'hiding' something. The lighting is a juxtaposition of light and dark, this is also a juxtaposition of their personalities maybe. The two lighting differences maintain the same throughout the video. Until the last few second where the woman and man greet each other again the two lighting's are carefully combined, but still keeping quite a boarder between the light differences. 

This shot caught my attention because, this is a shot where the woman is in the dark as well as the light. This gives a clear contrast between the two lighting differences. The juxtaposed lighting could connote that she is trying to cover her eyes from the light, almost contemplating weather she wants to stay in this 'pure' role she is playing.

This is a key shot where sam smith goes against Goodwin's theory. Relying mostly on his voice and music, Sam Smith isn't the typical pop artist using his face to promote himself, but relatable and meaningful lyrics instead. 

This is the end shots where the two light differences are combined. 

This is where the mise-en-scene is used to naturally lighten up the dark elements of the video using the neutral coloured costume. Even at the end of the video, the woman is still in the light and in white, so this may portray her innocence and purity compared to the man, as at the end she is still being lit up. The brightness and the white colours connote purity this is another thing that may be portrayed in the video.The only difference with the lighting now is its not natural like before, so this  may connote that, much like the lighting, her personality is fake. As for the man, at the end he is still in the shadow, maybe connoting the woman still cant see who he really is, and that even when he is home he's still, in a sense, hidden. 

Overall Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One is a largely narrative video but, as before, does not rely mainly on his face. 

Jay Z analysis 99 problems.

This video looks like is is aimed at 15-25 year old black american males because they are the majority audience for  the rap/r&b music genre. We can also see from the settings, such as the grimy estate covered in graffiti and the ball courts is where is where the typical black american lives. 

This video has classic examples of goodwins theories, covering all of them. Firstly he has alot of close ups within his video. this is because he is a well known artist and everyone knows him and this helps sell the music, and makes more money for the record label.

This video has quite alot of the typical expectations in response to goodwins theory. Who in this case says that R&B male stars use alot of women, flash cars, money etc to appeal to the male audience.This is to make the audience want to look at the artist as a role model. I think the way Jay-z has represented women in this video has two meanings as when he talks about having 99 problems and a 'Bitch' not being one of them, it cuts to women. This refers to womens as girl dogs. This will feed the male audience though because it has these aspects, almost giving the men a superior feel.

The black and white effect on the video gives it an old feel. This works well because he is reminiscing throughout the video, talking about his past and giving the audience an idea of where he's come from, and worked from. Being a celebrity like he is, we know he doesn't live there no more, so we can see the difference from then and now and see how far he's come. 

The song is fast paced cutting roughly every second in time with the beat. The videos continuous cuts vaguely follows the lyrics, but there are a lot of random shots. I think this adds more depth though  because it gives the video a sense of realism, showing the audience what life is actually like where he came from. Throughout the video there are alot of close ups, this refers to goodwins theory about pop artists using their faces to sell their music instead of the music itself. 

The clothes the people are wearing on screen show the stereotypical black american fashion sense. For example, baggy jeans, vests, big coats, chains and tracksuits etc. The dark coloured clothing and lighting may connote that his past was dark too. Through the use of voyeurism JayZ  is attracting more black american males, through the relatable situations in his lyrics, and people who are from the same back ground would look to him as inspiration because they were the same at the beginning but he's progressed from that.