Magazine Advert Analysis

Especially for Indie artists, it is important to have an eye catching and effective advert displaying an album. Even with the rise of the internet, magazines such as NME and Mojo are still extremely popular in advertising new Indie music. Here are some examples of these adverts.

This is an advert for a single rather than an album but it still shares some characteristics that we would use in our album advert. 

Layout- All the features are equally spread across the page and everything is framed appropriately adhering to the rules of thirds with Bugg  being displayed on the right. The layout along with the choice of sizes fro the fonts, lead your eyes down the page to be left with his website. 

Color- The color scheme is very "greyscale" with not much color. It is also very minimalistic which reflects his music. The black text is bold and stands out in front of the lighter background. This color scheme also adheres to the BBC radio 1 logo which is always black and white.

Font- the font is very simple and plain and all the text is written in capitals which shows a certain determination and boldness. It makes the artist seem strong and confident. 

Content- It is very simple with just one picture of the artist. He is also holding a cigarette which hints at the idea of rebellion and almost freedom which is what Indie artists often emulate. There is also very little text which means that the text that is there stands out. He is looking straight to camera which makes a connection with the audience but the profile stance adds an sense of mystery and is almost intimidating

Ed Sheeran has been a breakthrough Indie artist in 2011 and 2012 and has gained critical success. 

Layout- The layout of this advert again draws attention to the artist himself. And the way the text is set out draws your eyes down the page to the legal text and the text displaying other platforms to consume his music. 

Color- The colors follow the recurring theme of Ed Sheeran with the orange, black and white. This gives the artist a certain identity and makes the advert instantly recognisable. These colors also contrast well meaning that the text stands out on the page. The orange also reflects Ed's distinct ginger hair.

Font- the fonts is the same that is used across all of Ed Sheerans text and is instantly recognisable as his own. This again creates a sense of identity.

Content- The advert again is very minimalistic and simple, reflecting the simplistic nature of his music. It has a quote from a credited source which makes the album more desirable. Something that we would want to emulate in our advert. Sheeran is not looking into camera but the extreme close up of his face creates the connection with the audience and makes it more personal. 

This is the 2nd album from artist Jack Johnson after his very successful debut album "In Between Dreams" 

Layout- this is a slightly different layout to what we have previously seen with the page being split into two. The top half shows the cover of the album so that it could be easily found in a music store etc. The bottom half contains all of the technical details, text and legal text. 

Color- the colors are all quite cold except for the pop of orange in the top left hand corner of the page. This color scheme links with the album cover and generates an overall theme between the texts. 

Font- the fonts of artist is different to the rest of the text on the page. The "Jack Johnson" text is in a font that is used on all of the artists work and creates a sense of identity and makes it more recognisable. The font of the rest of the text is plainer and easier to read. It also makes the page less busy in comparison to what it may have looked like if the first font was used the whole way through. 

Content- there is more text on this advert compared to others that have been looked at. It includes the name of his new single and also the different means of buying his music including 9" which is a vinyl record. Something that is becoming increasingly popular amongst Indie artist and audiences. There are also logos of record labels and websites and social media sites where the audience can learn more about the artist.

Vampire Weekend are an Indie band who have earned a loyal fan base through their unique style of music. 

Layout- this is  avery simple layout which hardly any features. The large image catches your eye immediately and the writing is laid out down the page with the artists name at the top. 

Color- there are quite a lot of pastel colors with the yellow of her shirt and the pink background. The white writing stands out on top of this but is still in keeping with the overall softness of the advert in comparison to if the text was black for example. 

Font- the font is very plain and again is written in capitals suggesting a boldness.

Content- there is very little content on the advert. The image is the cover of their album and bears no link with the band itself. There is very little legal text apart from the small print at the bottom. I think that the simplicity and boldness of the advert catches the audiences eye and is very effective 

Video Narrative

Music videos often have a mix between the narrative and the performance. This narrative has to have some relation to the lyrics of the video.

Indie videos in particular have a connection with the lyrics and often tell a relatable story that the audience can identify with. They often tell a love story or a story of desperation.

This is evident in Ed Sheeran's music video for The A Team.

This video tells the story of a young girl caught up in drugs and prostitution. The use of a handheld camera adds to the sense of poverty that the video emulates. It is shot much like a film and follows the day of the young girl. This is something that we want to take and use to follow our artist throughout the last day from the morning to the evening. Although the story of the video may not be one that audience members can directly relate to, it is an everyday problem and highlights sadness which is a common feature of indie music.

Illustrating and Amplifying Lyrics- Joshua Radin

Illustrating lyrics directly depicts the meaning of the lyrics in the video, whereas amplification shows the meaning but through symbolism and other meanings.

Joshua Radin's video for Rather Be With You does both of these.

The very first lyric of the song is illustrated as "sitting here on his lonely dock" and he is seen sitting on a dock by himself. The idea of illustrating lyrics gives a direct correlation between the video and the lyrics of the song.

Amplification is also used. For example the lyric "you waited on me for so long" doesn't actually show her waiting for him, but the reaction that they have when they see each other. Showing that they have been aart for a long time.

We also hope to use a mixture of amplification and illustration in our video to give meaning and links between the image and lyrics.

Jack Johnson Digipack analysis

In Between Dreams was the debut album from Jack Johnson. The cover is very simple using only 2 colors, the yellow and green. It creates a silhouette like image with the yellow being the light from the sun. Johnson is only seen very small compared to the tree and we cannot see his face making it more mysterious but also gives the impression that he is less about his image and more about his music. He can be seen with his guitar a prominent feature in his music and this gives him the credibility as a musician. The font is relatively small and simple again reflecting the simplicity of his music. The slight view of the sea in the background represents his home town of Hawaii but also adds a sense of tranquillity and relaxation. The image of his guitar emphasizes the genre of his music and is a running theme throughout all texts by Jack Johnson. 

The back cover again is yellow and black creating the silhouette effect and the font is simple. The composition of the texts mirrors the branch and creates a balanced layout.
The spine also follows the theme of the whole album. The small print offers the audience other platforms to find music and special features; something that we would ideally like to mimic.

This is a contrasting inlay compared to the one seen above. It shows a collage of photographs from the music making progress and it almost a "behind the scenes" look. It confirms Johnson as a credible artist and someone who is involved in all aspects of his music. It also has a "thankyou" section which helps connect with the audience.

John Mayer Digipack analysis

This is the cover and one of the inlays of John Mayer's album "Room for Squares". Compared to the last album of his tht i looked at you can see that this one has a much brighter color pallete using orange and yellow tones. On the front cover there is no eye contact with the camera which is not challenging to the audience. He is also dressed very casually making him seem very relaxed and laid back. Also Mayer is featured in the left third of the screen which again does not challenge the audience. He is sitting down which adds to the relaxed approach of the cover. His guitar is featuerd which imidietely links the artist to the Indie genre. The division of the cover into smaller squares links to the title of the album "Room for Sqaures" and creates an interesting way of dividing up the page. The black emboldened writing contrasts with the stark white backgroud that it has been placed upon but lso contrasts with the warmer yellow color scheme that is seen throughout the rest of the digipack.

The inlay includes thankyou sections which helps the artist connect with their audience and maybe even thank them for buying the record. The photos follow the color scheme and again the guitar is featured. The overlapping photos creates a square linking wit the title. However in the lower photo we see Mayer directly adress the camera but in a playful way with a slight smile so again this is not challenging the audience. The lighting in the photos seems natural and bright which is more suggestive of happiness.

This is the back cover of the album. Again we see the black writing on the plain white background which makes the song titles easy to read. The squares that can be seen make up the shape of the periodic table which links to science. This I think implies that there is a science to art and music but also includes the sqaures that are mentioned in the title of the album. Even the colors match those of the color scheme. The legal small print on the album is inbetween the two sections of the table where there would normally be writing on a scientific version of the table.This creates an almost accurate representation of the table. However the squares are empty which creates a simpler and more basic pattern and almost reflects the pattern on the cover of the album. The barcode is situated in an unuasual place (we would expect to find it at the bottom of the cover somewhere). This may be so it does not interfere with the table of sqaures that we see.  

This is the CD artwork and again shows the periodic table but this time in its entirity with all the elements being labelled in the boxes. Also although the orange keeps the color scheme it is brighter and less soft and against the black background creates a greater contrast. The text is also in orange making it stand out against the black background. The black background itself creates contrast witht the rest of the album which contains very little black. Even though this is the case it does not create sadness as one may thinks. The website is displayed on the disc showing the other platforms that the music can be consumed on. There are also lables and small print round the bottom of the disc which confirm its credibility as a CD

Filming a guitar solo

This music video is contains a memorable guitar solo in which slash appears out of the sea and plays whilst standing on water.

There is strong emphasis on the guitar and at 8.18 a close up shot of the body and lower neck of the guitar gives focus to his fingers and the playing of the guitar. This could give the audience the idea of learning the solo from the video as well as displaying Slash as a credible artist.
The shots are constantly moving but does have a slower cutting rate. This almost mimics the playing of the guitar as it is constant and smooth.
The choice of color filter also matches the lacquer on the guitar and against the black costume of Slash again brings attention to the guitar which becomes the main focus of this particular sequence.

Location Filming

 Wanting to film on a beach we wanted to look at a similar product that effectively films at a beach. The long establishing shot at 0.11 shows a "postcard" shot of the beach. In our video we want to create a romantic setting for our artist. Framing the beach shot and frequently returning to it will emphasize the romantic setting and enhance the relationship between our characters.

The slight sepia color filter when filming on the sand of the beach highlights the sun rise and gives the video a softer overall look. It also gives the shots a yellowish tint much like the color of the sand on the beach.

The performance part of the video is soley set on the beach with mid and long shots from the back of the artist. This creates shadows and emphasizes the sun and the water. This is something that we want to emulate in the performance part of our video

Looking at Filming Preludes

This is a good example of the story before the music video that we would like to include in our music video. Although it helps set up the story it doesn't give too much away and it leaves the audiences asking questions adhering to the enigma code. It is filmed similar to how a film would be filmed.
It uses a lot of close up shots of hands and faces which enhances her emotions. This is something that we want to take in and use for our story to amplify the emotions of our artists. It includes diagetic sound that adds to the movie concept of the video. The slower cutting rate sets the prelude apart from the music video which usually will have a faster cutting rate.

The use of the prelude gives meaning to the title f the song without detracting from the performance. It also avoids having to explain the storyline in the music section of the video. 

This prelude is around 50 seconds long. I don't think that we will have ours this long just due to planning and time restraints on filming. 

John Mayer- looking at integrating storylines

Steve Archer suggested that "often music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance of the song. Sometimes the artist (especially the singer) will be park of the story, acting as a narrator and participant at the same time. But it is the lip synch close-up and the miming of playing instruments that remains at the heart of the music videos as if to assure us that the band really can kick it." This is why integrating the storyline well into the performance aspects of the video is crucial and is something that we will definitely be using in our own video.

• First of all, the video has a short introduction with diagetic sound to set the location and the tone of the video, containing several establishing shots of a city scene which then contrasts with the country and rural setting of the rest of the video. As a group we were considering including this again to help establish the story of the video and introduce the artist and the characters of the video to the audience. 
• The artist plays the only role in the video which is himself which almost helps the audience get to know him better as he can be himself when he is alone, but also contributes to the lyrics of the video and his "shadow days" of being alone. 
• There is a mid profile shot of Mayer in the car and him singing along to the radio which happens to be his own song which I think is a really original way of combining both performance and story in one shot. 
• Overall the story is shown through a montage of establishing shots of the scenery which creates a good and effective way of setting the story apart from the performance; however cross cutting between them and the performance helps keep the video fluid and creating a good blend between performance and story. I don't think however that we would use this sort of technique purely because we dont have the means to shoot lots of locations or have the really eyecatching surroundings to shoot in
• The story includes him as a musician buying and playing the guitar but not as a performer which could connect to the type of audience that he attracts as many of them may be guitarists. This also helps us connect with him, showing his passion for music and guitars and we almost see him at his most open and vulnerable, especially at 1.17 where the slightly low angled mid shot across the bed shows him playing the guitar alone in a motel room
• The overall story of the video shows him as a "regular" man, going into the rural depths of america and not having to worry about being spotted or noticed by fans like he would in the city. It is an escape to him and he enjoys getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city

David Grey- How to shoot a performer

 David Grey offers a very different approack to recording the performance aspect of his music video. The fact that the piano is suspended up in the air gives a more varied range of shots that can be used. This has been taken advantage of as we see numerous different shots being used. The shots used are static though, offering no examples of panning or tracking or movement of the camera.

•  A mid shot, face onto the camera gives the opportunity for Grey to directly address the audience by looking straight down the camera lens. This is something that we want to replicate in our video. Addressing the audience is something vitally important in all genres of music: because our song is about love and lost love we want to create a sense or desire and adoration towards our artist so having him sing down the camera would be a good way of achieving this.
• There a frequent low angle shots of him and the piano which offer a unique perspective of what the people walking in the streets of the video would see (as the piano is in the air above him), helping to cleverly integrate the performance in with the story happening below. This would be a difficult concept for us to copy but we would still consider looking at using low angle shots to provide an interesting angle on the instruments and him as a performer. 
• A birds eye shot of Grey at the piano gives a great overview of him as a performer and shows the location of the video really well. This might be something that we want to emulate in our video as a way or showing our performer as a whole and will also show off the location that we will choose to use. It may also be a way for us to link the story to the performance side of the video. We will hoever have to find a safe and efficient way of filming this as a birds eye view shot can be difficult with the equipment that we will be provided.
• There a several shots such as another birds eye view shot focusing on his hands playing the piano which gives him credibility as an artist as he is playing his own instrument showing him as a true musician. This is something that we definitely want to use, but we will have to focus on a guitar rather than a piano. This again will show our artist as a credible musician but also lives up to the expectations of the Indie genre