The Artists Identity

Silent Sundays
Basic Facts:
The band was formed by 4 friends Dave O'leary, Tom Harris, Chris Tracey and Lee Dainty in Sheffield 2006. All of the band members are between the ages of 16 - 18 and are white. As each member has different likes and interests they have produced a  variety of songs that appeal to a wide audience from soft rock/indie to more bass heavy rock. As the band have a wide range of influences they can perform covers of bands such as Green Day whilst also using these influences and others to create their own indie sound. They are currently an unsigned band but have released several singles and are working on producing a 10 - track album.


Typography:

I think that this selection of different fonts are best suited to the style that this group is trying to portray as they include some old school punk looking types as well as others that would appeal to the indie side of their audience. Also all the typography shown here helps to portray the band as a unique group with their own style of visuals and music.

Colours:

    Black    Red     Blue     Greens     Grey   White

Clothing:
These are some examples of the type of clothing that I feel best represents that band.

Imagery:

These are some of the images that i want my music video to put into the heads of my audience. Some are locations, others are representations os specific lyrics in the song which I feel need to be emphasised.

For the band members I will have my friends play the roles as they are very reliable and are also interested in this genre of music and so have similar fashion sense.

Pratik Clare

Jamie O'Sullivan

Reece Larkin

 

Myself

99dollarmusicvideos.com

What is 99dollarmusicvideo.com?
99dollarmusicvideo.com is an independent music network that enables individuals to produce music videos in collaboration with the artist. It aims to merge low-fi, cutting edge videos with the best of today's music scene. The artists used are unsigned and there are strict guidelines that the filmmakers must adhere to:

1. The video must be made for less than $99
2. It must be shot in one day (total)
3. It must be edited in one day (total)
4. There must be collaboration between the artist and the filmmaker

What is their Ethos?
99dollarmusicvideo attempt to bring independent artists and unknown filmmakers together to collaborate on a music video, this helps to increase the artists notoriety and promotes the filmmaker. They upload a new video each week which displays  contemporary, cutting edge techniques for a global audience to enjoy an example would be the new video for "Strange Machines" by Redding Hunter.

What Labels, Types and Genres appear on the Website?
Most of the videos displayed on the website are rock and pop songs and from the images shown on the homepage many of the bands have an element of indie in their music as well. All the labels on this website are independent which is in-keeping with the websites rules for creating a music video and posting it on the site. By examining the website further it has become clear that most of the artists fall under the genres of Rock, Indie or Alternative Pop which could be due to the lack of demand for those genres compared with HipHop and Regular Pop. An example of a Rock/Indie artist would be "Balls" by King Bee, the group has the classic set up of a rock band but the effects put on the vocals and the slightly exaggerated electro sound from the guitar sets them apart from the conventional Rock genre.


What is the Relationship between the Artist and the Filmmaker?
99dollarmusicvideos encourages as much collaboration as possible between the artist and the filmmaker so much so that it is one of their criteria for posting a video on their website. This provides a setting for the filmmaker and the artist to develop a good working relationship which will help them to further their career in the music industry and produce an end product that both parties are pleased with. The need for the video to be contemporary and cutting-edge forces the filmmaker to think creatively but in a way that the artist thinks reflects them best which helps the filmmaker to progress and produce even better music videos. An example of this would be the multitude of videos and shorts that Sherng-Lee Huang has created after posting a video on 99dollarmusicvideo.com.

Costs?
The funds given to the filmmaker are there to cover the costs of equipment/costumes that are needed for the video but which are not available for free. This means that the filmmaker could borrow a friends 1080p HD camera to shoot the video and the $99 would not be effected, but if the drummer needs a new set of drumsticks then this would come out of the $99.


Audience Participation?
99dollarmusicvideos strongly encourages audience participation by allowing people to leave comments and "liking" different videos and if they wish, can attempt to produce their own music video. There is also an FAQ page indicating that the audience actively inquires about different aspects of the process.

Is it possible to make a Professional looking video for $99?

From the variety of videos displayed on 99dollarmusicvideos.com I would say that yes it is possible to produce a professional quality video on this budget. The strict giudlines and small budget brings out the creativity in the filmmaker and encourages them to use their injinuity and persuasiveness in order to ba able to use the best equpiment available. From the quality of shots and editing in this video "Balls" by King Bee I would say that it was a very professional looking video.

Music Video Case Study

Open publication - Free publishing - More case study

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin
Andrew Goodwin was Director of Music and the Organist at Bangor Cathedral for 37 years, during which time he released his theory on music videos in his book 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory'. He theorised that every music video has a relationship between the lyrics and their visual representation in the video, that different genres use varied styles and differing amounts of voyeurism and iconography and that most artists have a "Star Persona" which is usually an exaggerated form of one of the artists qualities e.g. aggressive, sexy.

The Relationship between the Lyrics and Visuals
Goodwin's theory suggests that the lyrics of the song on some level correspond with the footage and visual effects seen in the music video. The visuals can be used to reinforce the meaning of the lyrics or the message that the artist is trying to get across. An example of this would be in Sum 41's video 'In Too Deep' the lead singer begins doing a backflip and the lyrics correspond with this, saying "I'm bending over backwards to relate". It could be connoted that this visual representation of completing a very difficult task is comparable with being in a relationship. 

Voyeurism

In most music videos, spreading across genres, there are often female dancers/performers in revealing costumes being portrayed in a very sexual manner. This objectifies these women and is used to increase the sales/views of the music video as it appeals to the "Male Gaze". In recent years solo female artists have begun using this method to increase their popularity with their male audience and have started to exploit the "Female Gaze" by introducing male performers and displaying them in the same fashion. 

An example of targeting the Male gaze would Rihanna in her video "Umbrella".

An example of the Female gaze would be the performers in Nicki Minaj's video "Super Bass".

The Genres Characteristics

According to Goodwin each genre has a stereotypical base to their videos for example a rock group usually has a lot of footage of the group playing their instruments, where as a Rap/Hip-Hop video will typically have provocatively dressed women performers and the main artists will have expensive jewellery and large expensive cars.

This image shows Green Day doing an "As-Live" performance in their music video for American Idiot.

Both these images are from 50 Cent's video for his song "Window Shopper".






Star Persona
An artists Star Persona is when one of the artists qualities is exaggerated in the videos and other form of media like news channels and sometimes in interviews. Although the persona is a part of the artist it is also fictional as the artists will only act their persona when in the public eye. Artists don't usually show their all-round character, the record companies usually try to focus in on one particular quality and market the artist by their persona. Star Persona's can change over time as the artist adapts to try and keep their popularity and income up, a great example of this would be Madonna who has changed her persona or image many times in order to be in-keeping with the current fashion and maintain her popularity.

Madonna 80's

Madonna 90's

Madonna 2000

Madonna 2011

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