Friday, 10 September 2010
Chosen Cover Track!
Artist Profile!
Members:
Elliot Henson - Vocals + Keyboard
Joe Colley - Bass
Kris Bell - Guitar
Will Phipps - Drums
Genre:
Rock/Alternative
Hometown:
Farnham
They are a very new band and haven't quite worked out their image which makes this project exciting for us because we are going to have to work from scratch and create and promote this band for REAL instead of pretend.
Our Target Audience!
I also think that the majority of the target audience would be male because of the indie rock genre, however because of the band attractiveness i think there would also be a large percentage of female audience members. The target audience will be people who like the indie rock genre or similar genres and are also new music and festival enthusiasts. Luckily for the band they have already been building up their credibility by performing in such places.
Also because the audience are essentially young people, they will be aware and most probably part of social networking sites such as facebook and myspace and would therefore be very aware of anything new or big in the public eye.
Here are a few images of what i think our target audience would be...
Our Record Label!
The acts signed by this label are artists like:
Joshua Radin
Biffy Clyro
Marmaduke Duke
Sneaky Sound System
The Wombats
And various other artists.
Joshua Radin
Biffy Clyro
Marmaduke Duke
Sneaky Sound System
The Wombats
This record label seems to be a sensible choise for 'Now is Everyone' because they have signed Biffy Clyro, who is one of their influences and all of the other bands that have been signed are similar if not the same genres. The artistes also signed to 14th Floor Records are also all quite successful, so it is obvious to me that the label know what they are doing when it comes to promoting a band like 'Now is Everyone'.
Institutional Context!
Institutional Context
The band we are using are called 'Now Is Everyone'. They are a band local to Guildford. There are four members and they are:
• Elliot – singer
• Will – Drummer
• Joe – Bass player
• Chris – Guitarist
This the the link to a podcast of Now is Everyone on Eagle Radio. This is where i got most of the information about the band aswell as talking to them over the phone-
http://www.964eagle.co.uk/podcasts/eagle-radio-live-sessions/9-8-10.mp3
1)What is the history of the band / artist you have used?
- What was the history of the band / artist you have used?
- How long have they been performing?
- How has their star image changed or developed over time?
At the moment and since they have been formed their star image has been a indie rock look, which at present is very popular and unoriginal.
So now my media group and myself want to give them a new star image in order for them to stand out amoungst the many other similar bands that they are competing against. We were thinking of going for a more military style because we want to make them different in order to stand out but also to tie in with their style of music, which is alternative rock / indie. Here are some images of the types of clothes we would want them to wear:
- What future developements are likely?
We are hoping that by creating an eye-catching image and performance heavy video that they will be noticed and recognised, giving them the edge against any competitors.
2) What genre(s) of music do the band / artist fit into?
- Who are their influences?
'Now is Everyone' are influenced by people like Muse and Biffy Clyro because of their genre and performance style and star image.
They have also benn influenced by a local band call 'Enjoy Destroy'. They are a mixture of alternative rock and indie also.
- Who are their comtemporaries or competitors?
Their current competitors are 'Enjoy Destroy' and another local band called 'Play Dead Sister'. However if my media group and myself change their image they'll have more of an edge because they won't be like every other band within the smae genre, making them interesting and fresh.
- How does the genre help to shape their star image?
Their genre; Alternative rock / indie is a popular genre adopted by many bands. Therefore it is quite difficult to come up with an original star image, but it does give us a starting point in which to create an image that is recognisable to fans of this genre and but slightly adapted to give the band a new look.
- What are the commercial implications of their choice of musical genre?
Like i have said previously, their choice of musical genre is very popular so it is hard to create of look original. However slightly changing their look will give them the edge. But it is also a good musical genre choice because so many people like that style of music. So it has its pro's and con's.
3) What record label are the band / artist sighned to?
- What kind of company is it? Does it have a parent company?
Unfortunately 'Now is Everyone' are currently unsigned. However, I asked them what record label they would like to signed to and the said a label called 14th Floor Records. 14th Floor Records are a reasonably big record company but not like someone like EMI. I don't think 14th Floor Records have a parent company.
- What other acts are signed to this label?
The acts signed by this label are artists like:
Joshua Radin
Biffy Clyro
Marmaduke Duke
Sneaky Sound System
The Wombats
And various other artists.
- What effect might the choice of label have had on the development of the band?
This record label seems to be a sensible choise for 'Now is Everyone' because they have signed Biffy Clyro, who is one of their influences and all of the other bands that have been signed are similar if not the same genres. The artistes also signed to 14th Floor Record are also all quite successful, so it is obvious to me that the label know what they are doing when it comes to promoting a band like 'Now is Everyone'.
- What are the commercial considerations of belonging to this type of record label?
I don't think they are a huge record company so it may be a little more difficult for the label to make the public aware of a new band however they seem to go for the same style artists who are quite successful and known by commercial audiences therefore by belonging to this label 'Now is Everyone' would have a good chance of making it in the music industry because the label seems to specialise in that particular genre.
4) Who are the band / artist's audience?
- What sort of demographic does the band appeal to? (Gender, age, ethnicity, education, class, sexuality etc.)
'Now is Everyone' appeals to an audience ages between 18-30 years old, probably a more male audience and anyone else that is a rock genre fan.
- What kind of lifestyles would the typical fan demonstrate?
The lifestyles of a typical fan because they are between 18-30 years of age are likely to students. Therefore they would be studying, partying and working.
- What other music might the fans listen to, typically?
They would probably listen to other genres such as, rock, heavy rock, metal, heavy metal, scream, alternative, and possible death metal.
- What other kind of media products might they consume, typically?
They would probably buy films, TV's, mobile phones etc. pretty much any kind of new technology.
5) What kind of visual image has the act / band created for themselves?
- What kind of imagery is used on CD sleeves, posters, magazines etc. and why is this effective?
- What kinds of music videos have they releases and how have these helped to sell the band to its audience?
- How do the band's videos compare to other artists in their genre?
This video will be their first video so i can't compare them to any other artists.
- Where are the videos likely to be exhibited?
Because they are unsigned, probably on Youtube and on the social networks sites like Twitter, Facebook and Myspace.
- How does your video compare to the real output of the artist / band?
This video will be their first video so i can't compare any videos other than my own.
Initial Ideas!
1. Bollywood
- Set in the Taj Mahal
- Bollywood dancers and dances
- Taj Mahal decorated with drapes
- Painted Elephants
- Monkeys with cymbals in their hands
- Tigers doing tricks
- People walking on glass and/or fire
- People laying on beds of nails
- Indian instruments and musicians within the crowd
- Big traditional bollywood scene of colour and dancing
- This is what audiences expect
- Eastern Jam - Chasing status
2. Heavy Metal
- Set on a space ship
- Travelling to the moon
- They land on the moon and have huge bonfires on the moon (Set the moon alight)
- They will all be wearing black astronaut suits
- Space ship will have skulls and fire images on it
- Slow motion shots of flames
- Video of death and destruction which is what fans of this genre will want to see and expect to see
3. Acid
- Set on a rollercoaster
- Blured images
- Images of characters or symbols from the park talking / singing / dancing
- POV of one person intoxicated with illegal substances
- Colours changes and distort
- Showing the effects of the substances
- Once again the kind of video fans of the genre will want and expect
Other Initial Ideas
Idea number one:
Other initial ideas that came from this was the idea that we would juxtapose the bollywood genre and image with another contrasting genre, for example rock or dubstep.
Therefore creating a bollywood mix.
Idea number two:
Another idea we had, was to use the drum and bass genre and add in more or increase the
volume of guitars / drums used in the tracks, for example we thought we could use Watercolour by Pendulum and have our band perform in a white box whilst in slow motion paint balloons get thrown and dropped on them. We thought it would be visually exciting if we shot it in slow motion from different angles, for example we thought about tilting the camera directly up into the air and place cling film or a glass cover over the top and film a balloon hitting it in slow motion.
Idea number three:
Another idea we had was to use stop frame animation. For this we looked up videos on youtube for inspiration and to see how it was done.
We all really like the idea of using stop frame animation in the same way as 'The Pen story'.
We looked up similar videos to see how it was done in different ways so we could decide what would suit our pop promo the best. Here are some of the videos i've found so far including a video on how they did 'The GIANT pen story'.
This is another way of using stop frame animation that we liked. This one is still shot with cameras but then each photo isn't laid out after one and other and photographed again like 'The Pen Story'! Here the photos have just been played one after another without see the boarder and solid picture in the frame itself.
I have also included how they made this music video too.
We want to animate 'Now is Everyone' in this way creating a kind of story. We like the way 'the pen story' goes around a room which has inspired us to possibly do something similar.
However, the only floor with this idea is that it may not work and may take too long. We only have one day to film so it may be impossible to accomplish getting all of our footage in one day???!! This is why we are going to try doing a few trial runs!!
http://www.myspace.com/nowiseveryone/videos/video/102862406
Now Is Everyone MySpace Video
Above are images of the band we are making a pop video for. They are called 'Now is Everyone'.
Here is some initial information on them...
Members:
Elliot Henson - Vocals + Keyboard
Joe Colley - Bass
Kris Bell - Guitar
Will Phipps - Drums
Genre:
Rock/Alternative
Hometown:
Farnham
They are a very new band and haven't quite worked out their image which makes this project exciting for us because we are going to have to work from scratch and create and promote this band for REAL instead of pretend.
Our Production Group!
Davina Thorne
Francesca Dowle
Jo Harrison
Oscar Mitchell-Heggs
Conventions of the Video Promo!
- The explicit and unashamed promotion of the artist’s “image” (aesthetic/generic/ideological) as a specific product with a brand identity, ready for mass consumption
- The featuring of the artist (almost without exception)
- A wide and extensive use of shot types, camera angles and movement
- Repetition of reoccurring thematic elements and generically specific iconography (one key element often being dominant and providing the skeletal structure for the promo).
- A possible narrative structure.
- A possible performance element.
- The flexibility to disregard Realism!
- Shots cut tightly to the beat of the track.
- Use of special effects (lighting, animation, CGIs, in-camera effects).
- A carefully constructed Mise en Scene appropriate to the content and tone of the track.
- High impact instantly!
Background to the Music Industry!
- Universal/AOL-Time Warner
- Sony/BMG
- Warner Bros
- EMI
- Artists and Repertoire (A&R)
- Marketing/Artist Development
- Promotions
- Legal
- Financial
