DIGIPAKS

A digipak is copyrighted form of CD/DVD packaging. It is a gatefold card outer binding containing one or more plastic trays to hold the disc. Digipak has become the accepted name for this style of packaging, not just the patented. It has replaced jewel cases and they both have advantages and disadvantages. The packaging is stronger than a jewel case but the disc holder inside is more likely to crack, they are more environmentally friendly than a jewel case as they contain less plastic and there is research into using recycled materials to construct them with.

They have become more straightforward to create since the introduction of digipak i-create.












It is quite common now for classic bands (The Beatles, Nirvana, Queen etc.) to do re-issues of old albums and sell them in digipak form.

Click here to view the construction of a digipak, they are usually 4 panels (bookfold) but this example is 6.

Album packaging is a unique opportunity to market the band. Traditionally, LPs were packaged in a sleeve which had a picture of the artist on the front and a tracklisting on the back.

ANALYSIS OF MUSIC VIDEOS

My Music Video Analysis

ABOUT FOSTER THE PEOPLE

Foster The People are an Indie/Electronica band who formed in Los Angeles, California in 2009.

The lineup consists of:
Mark Foster - Lead Vocals, Keyboards, computers, programming, guitar
Cubbie Fink - Bass, Backing Vocals
Mark Pont - Drums/Percussion

The band's key single is Pumped Up Kicks, from their debut album Torches. The song had success in the UK and US, with its music video having over 20 million views to date on YouTube.

However, the song that we have chosen to use for our music video is Helena Beat which is the second single from the album. We chose Helena Beat because it was not as commercially popular as Pumped Up Kicks so we decided it would be a good one to use as we could publicise it with our own art-house style. With this approach we would have pre-concieved ideas allowing greater creative freedom.

The bands image is bright and colourful, which contrasts with most of their lyrics: Pumped Up Kicks is about the Columbine High School shootings.

The styling for their album and single digipaks is the same, with identical layout, fonts and colour (black and white with just a hint of mustard). They are in cartoon style but are quite unsettling on a second glance, which reflects the relationship between their music and lyrics as well.

PERMISSION TO USE TRACK

Copyright issues have meant that me and my group needed to get permission from the band to use their song in our music video, we used twitter to ask for their permission.

The UK Copyright Service website was helpful in explaining copyright as it applies to music.

MY PREZI ON THE CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF MUSIC VIDEOS

There are many ways that I could have presented my research into the genre but I taught myself how to use Prezi so that I could present it in more of a creative form than an essay. Prezi is a very useful new technology as it allowed me to present different aspects of my research in a dynamic and visually exciting way. It is very easy to present videos and images and also helped me to organise my material coherently by using frames.

Click HERE! to view the prezi

INSPIRATIONAL VIDEOS

I have been watching music videos for many years but stand out very well as exemplary; I could watch them again and again without getting bored. Some videos make me think long after they've finished (Ava Adore - Smashing Pumpkins), some are visually pleasing (White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl), some are simply so challenging that they demand further viewings (Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun).

Here are a few that I hope will influence my work:

Maccabees - Precious Time
I love the idea of using the fast sequencing that they use to move cards around and the way this amplifies the music.

Arctic Monkeys - Brianstorm
More than 19 million views on YouTube so I'm not alone in loving this one. Its clashing lurid colours and fast moving, changing images cause the viewer discomfort but the whole effect is very pleasing. It has a performance element with overtones of Joy Division,  James Bond style backgrounds, scantily clad dancing girls and some voyeuristic camerawork - what's not to enjoy!

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MUSIC VIDEO

The music video as we know it today is not a new concept, it has evolved and developed over many decades, changing and adapting along with technological development. The first music video arguably is Bessie Smith - St Louis Blues (1929), it was made as part of a two-reel film, it was a 16 minute feature film starring the singer in a lead role and other cast members. The film was shown in theatres (cinemas) in America from 1929 until 1932.

The next big historic moment in the development of music videos was when Walt Disney produced the feature film Fantasia (1940), it was a concept film that told the story of 'The Sorcerers Apprentice' by setting animation to classical music. This was a groundbreaking and truly magical step forward and has set a basis for future artists to use animation in their music videos.

The 1950's saw the introduction of Rock n' Roll to Britain, the establishment of the 'Teenager' as a concept and Black & White television, all of these things led to a rapid development in music video promotion. In 1956, Tony Bennett was filmed walking along The Serpentine in London, Hyde Park, alongside his recording ('Stranger in Paradise') being played, his film was distributed in both the US and UK for television, leading him to claim rights to the first ever music video.

Around the same time, Elvis Presley was now iconic and television had a huge impact on his status, his feature film 'Jailhouse Rock' (96 minutes) was released as a musical worldwide in 1957, the title song of the film hit number one, both sides of the atlantic for seven weeks. It started the idea of the star as the main concept, Elvis shocked parents by his dancing style and glamourising jail but won over a whole generation of teenagers with his good looks and charm.

Cliff Richard in the UK was a sanitised version of Elvis who released 'Summer Holiday' in 1963, another musical but this time in colour, the cast featured not only the star but his backing band The Shadows, developing the concept of the music film.

The Beatles had already established themselves as iconic in the UK but were not big in the US, their first feature film A Hard Days Night (1964) introduced many of the ideas and conventions of the modern music video as we know it. Although it was a feature film with a narrative storyline and many actors,   the songs were the main focus for the audience and filmed with closeup with The Beatles themselves singing. A Hard Days Night served to promote The Beatles in America and they became a huge success both sides of the Atlantic because of the film.

The power of video in promoting music became very obvious and has been used ever since. Bob Dylan moved the video to another level in year 1966 with the promotional video for  'Subterranean Homesick Alien'. As a superb lyricist, Bob Dylan literally presented his lyrics in placard form in the video - it was risky, edgy and brilliant. It has become iconic! It paved the way for artists to present themselves and their music creatively onscreen.

The Beatles' promotional videos for their late 60's songs were more avant-garde, like their psychedelic sound. Creativity in the 'hippie' era of the late 60's produced some highly original videos (many showing signs of the influence of drugs, particularly LSD), for example, The Beatles' videos for "Penny Lane", "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "I Am The Walrus". These changes have influenced many videos in the years to follow.

Moving into the 70's, televised Top Of The Pops was crucial in the development of the music video. The number of music videos in each show was limited, creating competition between bands and their videos. The program was the weekly focus for all music fans and most teenagers, and a good video could result in sales of a vinyl single that would shoot it up the charts when they were announced on Sunday evening. Live performances were rarely live (Morrisey famously sang into a bunch of flowers in 1983) - the audience wanted more from the experience of watching music. Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody video broke new grounds as it was produced specifically so that the band did not have to mime their song on TOTP. Brian May said this would have been impossible for such a complex song. After this video's huge success, this became standard practice for record companies to make a promotional video (known in the UK as promos) to accompany the single, paving the way for MTV.

In 1981, MTV was launched ironically with The Buggle's 'Video Killed The Radio Star'. MTV's original intention was to be "Music Television" playing music videos 24/7, shown by on-air personalities otherwise known as VJ's (Video Jockeys). Artists started using more sophisticated effects in their music videos, some introducing story lines with Michael Jackson taking it to a whole new level with Thriller (1984), which is more like a short film (13 mins 43 seconds).

Creativity however, caused censorship issues, for example: Duran Duran's "Girls On Film (1981)" was deemed to be too racy and had to be edited and censored. Also, Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Relax (1984)" was banned by both MTV and BBC for being too homo-erotic so a second, cleaner version had to be released. However, both of the band's controversies lead to recognition and number one hits on the charts so later artists have also used this approach.

In the IT era, music videos approached the popularity of the songs themselves, being sold on VHS tapes and DVD. The videos are now watched for the aesthetics and not just the music (there are now awards for the best music video).

THIRTY FRAMES PER SECOND: THE VISIONARY ART OF THE MUSIC VIDEO

This book could be really useful as it contains information on the music video. It tells us about how videos have both reflected and influenced culture, fashion, advertising, films and television.

WORK OF DIRECTOR VIDEOS

As a part of my research, I have watched these DVDs of the best work of top music video directors. Each of them is a compilation videos, interviews and documentary.

1. Spike Jonze: He is a director of art-house films such as 'Being John Malkovich' and 'Adaption', has worked with artists such as The Beastie Boys (Sabotage), Fatboy Slim (Weapon of Choice), Weezer (Buddy Holly) and many more.

2. Mark Romanek: Supposedly difficult to work with but his results are so brilliant that people like Madonna fight for his time. He has directed for Red Hot Chilli Peppers (Can't Stop), Jay-Z (99 Problems) and Lenny Kravitz (Are You Gonna Go My Way) to mention a few.

3. Michel Gondry: Directed many feature films but his talent was more in music video. He has directed videos for The White Stripes (Hardest Button to Button, Fell in Love With A Girl), Foo Fighters (Everlong) and Daft Punk (Around The World).

4. Chris Cunningham: Decided to shock and feature elements of darkness and horror, directing artists such as Aphex Twin (Come To Daddy), Madonna (Frozen) and Bjork (All Is Full Of Love).

After watching these, I felt particularly inspired by Michel Gondry, especially for his approach using lego animation in the video 'Fell In Love With A Girl'.

MUSIC VIDEOS THAT I HAVE VIEWED

I have a great personal interest in music and watch many music videos. Different genres of music seem to be accompanied by very different styles of video accompaniment, but each genre seems to match its music to video in some way. They are both trying to appeal to the same audience - the heavy metal fan would not be impressed by a fluffy teen pop style of video (Katy Perry 'Hot n' Cold')! As shown in my prezi there are certain features standard to most music videos, however, each genre seems to have its own style.

METAL/HARD ROCK

Often contains elements of live performance by the band, less narrative but powerfully framed shots.
Biffy Clyro The Captain (2009)

Foo Fighters The Pretender (2007)

Nirvana In Bloom (1992)

ALTERNATIVE ROCK

Strongly narrative, some element of performance but not prominent.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers Californication (1999)

Radiohead Karma Police (1997)

Muse Uprising (2009)

INDIE ROCK

Elements of performance with some focus on the artist but fast moving and many closeups that tend to be creative. Concept based.
The Strokes Reptillia (2004) 

The Vaccines Wreckin (Bar Ra Ra Ra) (2010) 
 
Arctic Monkeys Brianstorm (2007)

ELECTRONICA
Disjunctured - features dancing but not choreographed and tends not to feature the artist

Chemical Brothers Do It Again (2007)

Chase & Status Blind Faith (2011)

Fatboy Slim Praise You (1998)

POP ROCK

A mix of performance and narrative, heavy focus on the artist with strong backing narrative theme.
Coldplay Paradise (2011)                     

  

U2 Vertigo (2004)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Killers Somebody Told Me (2005)

 

POP
Dance Routines, focus on the artist/band singing - glitzy or try to make the artist look good. Very little narrative, primarily performance based and choreographed.
JLS Beat Again (2009)

Beyonce Crazy In Love (2003)

Paolo Nutini Pencil Full Of Lead (2009)

HIP HOP/RAP

Strongly concept based and narrative, trying to make a point about youth culture (frequent references to drugs, politics, gang violence, money, rebellion against authority etc.)
Jay-Z 99 Problems (2004) 

Kanye West Stronger (2007) 

Dizzee Rascal Bonkers (2009)

USING TWITTER

Twitter is a great communication site for following friends, institutions and other important figures. It helps me to communicate with friends, teachers, other members of my class/group and institutions. Twitter is also a great platform for institutions to publicise their news, celebrities to give gossip and people to find out what'd is happening globally.

There are unique benefits to all types of social media

Twitter: Instant, short and snappy. The imposed word limit leads to soundbites of information, which means that people are more creative in the way they say things and can include weblinks (a shorter version appears). This use of social media tends to be used to provoke interest which will usually lead to further investigation on the web for more detail, it is also a great way for bands to put out snippets of information to their fanbase.

For my own enjoyment and also for my media work, I am following a number of bands and institutions to make sure I get up-to-the-minute news and updates

The Guardian music page sums up Twitter in its strapline: 'Squashing music into 140 characters since 2008'.

Twitter has flourished since many more people have smartphones, like Blackberry and iPhone because tweets can come in like texts so people are constantly abreast of the news feeds. They can also investigate interesting tweets immediately by accessing the internet on their smartphone.

This constant access to up-to-the-minute messages has had a drastic effect on youth culture. At its best, it keeps people in touch and informed while they are on the move - a truly mobile media resource; at its worst, the London riots of August 2011 would not have flared as quickly or as far as they did as Twitter and BBM (Blackberry messaging) provided the rioting youths with a means of instant communication.

There is a new development in Twitter that follows trends and peaks of interest in certain areas by use of a hash code to draw attention to a particular word or phrase.