Post-punk CD cover analysis

The White Stripes - Elephant

Elephant encapsulates all of the features of the post-punk movement; with eccentric dress sense, minimalist set design and a nod to the retro with the old fashioned amplifier. The cover is a seemingly disjunctive with any constant theme, as it has many different objects pertaining to many different subjetcts and fields. The colours are symetrical; the white of the dress, stripe of the jacket, cricket bat and light contrast with the black of the amplifier and light, all against a red background.



The Ordinary Boys - Over The Counter Culture

 

 



Again, this cover features very little in the way of cohesiveness or a clear message. The band name in white stands out on top of the sheep's black fur, while the album font is stylised to make the cover look clever rather than mundane. The capatalist connotations of the title are contrasted by the nature of the sheep, blue sky and clouds. There is a symbol next to the title which could add extra brand recognition if that symbol is used on their other releases.

Kaiser Chiefs - Employment

Again, minamalism is at the forefront of this cover. It has been made to look aged, the animal print makes it look as much like a book as it does a CD. The slanted allignment of the text and yellow box background add to the nostagic vibes. The words "A Box Of Tricks" and "Thrills For All" are present, whereas this could be seen as notable songs from the album, they are not actually songs at all. The phrases serve to be the album's matra; all are welcome, all will enjoy, and expect something different.

The Strokes - Angles

Whilst less abstract than some of the other covers, it is no less striking to the customer. The title plays in with the image, a seemingly impossible staircase, which gets the customer looking at the staircase and gets them trying to work it out. The bold colours contrast against each other to give the impression that the creators are confident and stand out themselves. The band name and title are in italics, again, adding to the angles theme.

The Hives - Barely Legal

Even in 1997, the foundations of the post-punk revival scene where already in place. The band adopt a stern, confident pose; wearing mainly black, with some white trainers and a white tie. The black and white of the photo are juxtaposed by the colours and font of the adjecent text, stylised to look like a 1930's film poster. The whole cover has a haphazard and jaunty feel, perhaps evident of their genre-defining music.

Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul poster analysis

This poster differs from the Kasabian advert in that this Oasis poster was given away in magazines with the intention of being put up on the reader's wall. The content of the poster reflects this, with less marketing material and more prominence given to the artwork than on the advert for Empire.

The brand image stays in tact, as the font used throughout is the same as what is used on the album itself. The foreground contrasts with the background through the use of bright colours in the foreground against the paler colours. The artwork is abstract, which makes it more interesting as a display than just the album's artwork, which was what was on Kasabian's advert.

The centrepiece of the art is a record, perhaps a nod to the "classic" sound they were trying to achieve and to their older audience. While the poster is made to be put up, it retains some of its promotional value, telling anyone who sees it the release date of the new album.

The serif font is eye pleasing and is suited to be displayed.

Odd Shaped Head - Corpse in the Kitchen music deconstruction

While the tempo of the music and singing is high, there are also many breakdowns and bridges dispersed along the track. The chorus is fairly lengthy, repeating four times in each instance. This gives us opportunity to either show performance or build upon the imagery we created during the verse itself.

The slower section near the end of the track ("there are two dead bodies here") we could use to shift the tone from joviality to something more sinister to give a more satisfying conclusion to the video for our audience.

There are many instrumentals between verses and choruses. This allows us to create atmosphere with cross cutting between the living room and the kitchen, where the party is and the band are, respectively.

Odd Shaped Head - Corpse in the Kitchen lyric deconstruction

Since a story is told within the lyrics, it would be difficult to make a cohesive disjunctive music video. A illustrative or amplification style would therefore be better suited. The story takes place entirely within a house which is useful to us as we have access to one to film in. The controlled setting allows us to both control variables which would detract from continuity, such as people in the background, and the lighting would be under more duress than it would be outside.



The referral of the protagonists in the third person creates an air of the unknown, which we could capitalise on through framing the shot in such a way to not reveal an identity or achieve the same effect through cutting panning shots just short in the edit. The song being set at midnight would mean the lighting has to be quite dark. This allows us to be able to highlight certain props within the frame with spotlighting more effectively.

The chorus does not advance the story and so it would be an opportunity for us to introduce a more prominent performance aspect without the audience being left with the feeling they're missing something.

Magazine advert analysis - Kasabian (Empire)

This is an advert for Kasabian's second album, Empire. The centrepiece of the advert is the band name in large, bold, stylised font. This draws the reader's attention straight away, although it makes the album name stand out less underneath, relying on its own font to catch attention. The picture used is also the album's artwork, which is useful for brand identity as the reader will recognise the image on the CD when shopping.

The album reviews serve to both attract new listeners who have heard of the reviewers, and to reassure fans of the first album that the follow up is also to a 4* standard. The writing is smaller, meaning the reader would probably read the reviews after they had both seen the artwork and read the larger text underneath.

Speaking of which, the text used is easy for the reader to glance at and take in the information. This has been done by the short phrase - The New Album - and a date, which leaves no unanswered questions. The factual intent of the phrasing is accentuated by the formal, serif font.

The red text above the websites gives information on the different formats and editions the album is available in. This would mostly be useful to current fans of the band who may wish to spend more money to get more content from a band they already enjoy the music of.  

The Libertines - Don't Look Back Into The Sun analysis

The Libertines - Don't Look Back Into The Sun

Don't Look Back Into The Sun was released in 2003, early into The Libertines' lifespan. The lack of money must have resulted in a low budget for this music video as it is very basic, both in idea and execution. Both narrative and performance feature in roughly equal amounts. The narrative shows the band going into a record shop and them stealing (and getting away with) their own album.


The performance aspect looks like it was filmed at one of their gigs, with obligatory close ups of the singer, long shots of the band and cutaways to screaming girls in the crowd. What sets it apart, for better or for worse, is the dissonance between the music and the video. At no point is lip-syncing attempted or, for example, guitar riffs accompanied with the relevant video clip. This amateur approach may be seen to be suited to the happy-go-lucky nature of the song, which is lucky considering the production values they had to work with. The shaky camcorder style used throughout could resonate better with the audience than HD visuals as it is shortens the disconnect between the band and its fans.

The costume worn by the singer, an unbuttoned red jacket, is the only link between the performance and narrative elements. The costume promotes the band's image as being quintessentially British, furthered by them being filmed inside a red phone box and visiting landmarks in London. This image feels genuine as it reflects the upbringing of the band, a similar background to what many members of the audience would feel part of.

The narrative segment is interesting as not much really happens, it's just a cameraman filming the band walking around London talking to each other. The video itself seems to refer to the lack of organisation as one shot shows not only a cameraman but also a boom mic operator following them around. This lampoons the video as what the band say is irrelevant as the song will play over the top anyway. More thought must have went into the video than they want to let on as they would also need another cameraman to film the cameraman and sound engineer filming the band.

 

To compensate for the absence of variety in the narrative, the director cuts between the narrative and performance often to keep the audience engaged. Even if the content was more interesting, the shorter shot times could be of a benefit to our video to keep the attention of our target demographic of young adults, a group not known for sustained concentration. 

The audience for the video and song is similar to ours, teenagers to young adults. Out of the three videos I've analysed (this, The Futureheads and Bloc Party), our video is most likely to be resemble this one the most. This is due to both looking rather amateurish and low budget. We don't have access to the location or big panning shots in Skip To The End, nor access to special effects such as those in Ratchet. 

Our ideas pitch

Our ideas pitch

Bloc Party - Ratchet video analysis

Bloc Party - Ratchet

Bloc Party was formed in 2003 and rose to prominence in 2005, again around the cusp of both post-punk and Odd Shaped Head's popularity. The video is fully performance based and uses many special effects to create something different to the standard video. "Ratchet" was released in 2013.


The video features mainly close up of the singer and mid shots of the other band members. The camera stays still while all of the special effects move around the screen as to not make the viewer feel too dizzy. There is very little else in the mise-en-scene in order to not distract the audience and to make it easier to edit, I presume.

The special effects pulse and change in time with the music, focusing on the singer during the choruses and verses. The lip syncing remains constant throughout, making the video more illustrative than disjunctive. There isn't much of a story to the lyrics other than to have a good time, so a song like this is a good fit for this kind of video as it is more of a spectacle than enhancing the audience's understanding of the song. This kind of video is good for marketing as it gets people talking to their friends that may have not heard of the band more than a standard illustrative video would.


When the music slows down after the choruses, the whole mood changes as the camera angle changes from close ups to a panning long shot. This allows the audience a moment to concentrate on the music and gather themselves from the spinning special effects. The lack of special effects here is emphasised by the soft lighting, dark background and the band members looking away from the camera. This tells the audience that there isn't much to see in this section of the video, unlike the rest of it where it is impossible to catch every detail in shot.

The video continues in a similarly haphazard manner in terms of it's editing style, while adding in other filters and effects to keep the audience interested. These include black and white, short exposure and low definition fuzzy shots, a homage to 1980's technology in music videos. These styles juxtapose old fashioned special effects, such as the green screen background, and their own ultra modern image manipulation. This serves to further enhance how impressive their video is.

 All of this culminates in the final shot, the band members performing and interacting with each other, except the band members are an amalgamation of these spinning images we have been shown. It's quite hard to screenshot in a way that makes sense so sorry about that. This final scene is the most visually impressive and it gives the audience a reason to remember the video. As I alluded to earlier, it would be at this point just after the video has finished the audience would be at their most likely to share the video with a friend, so it is a good idea to end with a positive impression.

Promotional strategies for small bands

Some famous unsigned bands (at least at the time of their first couple of big hits):

Arctic Monkeys were one of the first instances of the internet playing a big part in their fame - with thousands of downloads on their mixtapes on Myspace before any magazines or mainstream websites talked about them

Radiohead

The Darkness

As indie bands do not have the financial backing of a record label, they have to be more creative to reach as large of an audience as possible. This may include some of the following strategies.


Engaging with the audience


Getting involved with social media and giving backstage access gives fans something to talk about and makes them feel more involved in the fandom.

JME - If You Don't Know (Behind the Scenes)

Get an agent

An agent will promote the band and will allow them to play at gigs they otherwise would not have since they would be taken more seriously.

Stand out from the crowd


It is more likely a publication will write about their music if it is out of their usual remit, so engaging with publications that have the same theme as the music is likely to lead to success.

Lady Gaga's meat dress worn at an awards show - much publicity followed

Piggybacking


Bands can capitalise on current crazes by covering popular songs or simply using their video as a video response on YouTube to a popular one so the people on the popular video see it.


With You - Chris Brown cover - Justin singing

Justin Bieber shot to prominence with this Chris Brown cover uploaded to YouTube back in 2008

Radio 1's Live Lounge is a compilation of only covers - giving exposure to both the performers and the original artist

Get a street team


Having people out putting up flyers outside venues where the band is playing is a good way to attract new people to the band. Current fans may be willing to do it for free.

Multitask


The band should not only be involved in the music, but also new media such as publication and podcasts to reach a wider audience and give the fans something to get engaged with.

American duo They Might Be Giants have been running a weekly podcast alongside touring for the past 4 years, gaining the band many fans in the process

An example of a collaboration podcast - a symbiotic relationship between artists and listeners

Social media


Bands can build hype online before new releases or dates to create anticipation of projects.

Kasabian's Facebook page - 1,411,719 people have subscribed to updates and news from the band

Odd Shaped Head - Corpse in the Kitchen lyrics

They came around to my house

At midnight, at midnight

And left a gift aside

I think they'd think that we'd think that’s alright

But sit tight

There’s been a homicide

She wakes up to his sunrise

The … sticks to her eye

Stay awakes to surprise

There’s a corpse in the kitchen

Slowly realising

I’m done up with hiding

The saddle is for riding

There’s a corpse in the kitchen

 

Slowly creeping downstairs

Pulling twice on her hair

Throws him down with no care

Steps over …

Broken bits of porcelain

The cat had put me out?

There’s a corpse in the kitchen

Chorus x4

They don’t go by any old name

They deposit random objects but they love you all the same

They came around to my house

At midnight, at midnight

And left a gift aside

I think they would think they’d think that’s alright

But sit tight

There’s been a homicide

 

Pushing through the darkness of the kitchen gloom aside

He’s attracted to her differently, there’s a picture in the light?

There’s a corpse in the kitchen (overlaps the previous line)

He’s casting silhouettes against and fallen up her walls?

He turns around and gasps as he hears footsteps in the hall?

There’s a corpse in the kitchen (overlaps the previous line)

(Spoken with a brief pause in between each word)

I did warn you not to hear

There are two dead bo..dies here

Chorus x4

They came around to my house

At midnight, at midnight

And left a gift aside

I think they would think they’d think that’s alright

But sit tight

There’s been a homicide


Since a story is told within the lyrics, it would be difficult to make a cohesive disjunctive music video. A illustrative or amplification style would therefore be better suited. The story takes place entirely within a house which is useful to us as we have access to one to film in. The controlled setting allows us to both control variables which would detract from continuity, such as people in the background, and the lighting would be under more duress than it would be outside.

The referral of the protagonists in the third person creates an air of the unknown, which we could capitalise on through framing the shot in such a way to not reveal an identity or achieve the same effect through cutting panning shots just short in the edit. The song being set at midnight would mean the lighting has to be quite dark.This allows us to be able to highlight certain props within the frame with spotlighting more effectively.

The    

Institutions where music videos are shown

Music videos are a moving, visual medium; meaning they can only really be displayed in two forms, on television or online.


Online video sharing websites



Music videos on the internet can spread virally, gaining millions of views each day. Most modern artists have their own YouTube (or other websites such as Vimeo) account, where each view of their video earns them advertising revenue. YouTube allows viewers to type in what they want specifically or they can be recommended new songs based on what they think the viewer would like. Nearly every music video ever made is available, which is convenient for people who want to find something obscure. The nature of the internet allows content to be freely available without censorship for those who wish to view it. The audience has the ability to save and download videos along with sharing videos with friends, either on YouTube or social media. This is partly how viral videos spread due to the ease of sharing what you're watching with others. YouTube has a younger audience than TV and radio with it being online, and the most popular videos reflect this, being mostly pop videos and pranks.


Music channels



Many music channels have came and gone since MTV's introduction in 1981, but the premise remains the same. A channel that shows music videos is a win-win situation all around. The viewer watches the videos they want to see, the artist gets their work seen by more people and the channel gets money from advertisements. The viewer has no control over what videos they see, but they can change to a channel that deals in a particular genre. Examples of such stations include Kerrang! (rock), Magic (easygoing, music from the 80's) and Channel AKA (urban, hip-hop). The regulations on what is deemed fit for broadcast are tighter, with some videos being restricted to after the watershed or banned all together. The audience for music channels varies depending on the channel. For example, MTV and 4Music are marketed towards a younger aundience (12-21) while Classic FM and Smooth Radio are marketed towards an older audience (30+). On these channels aimed at younger people, reality shows replace the music after ~6pm, such as Geordie Shore and Pimp My Ride. These shows prove to equally popular or moreso than the music, leading to a larger viewership and, in turn, larger advertising revenue.



The video for Rihanna's "S&M" is only available to over 18's on YouTube and is banned before 9pm on MTV on the ground it is too sexually explicit for children

A2 Media groupings

I am working in a two man production team, consisting of Jack Burton and I. I feel a small group allows for more flexibility in that we have more individual input to the final product. I chose Jack specifically as we know each other outside of Media, meaning I can communicate my ideas more clearly to him than somebody else.

The Futureheads - The Chaos Digipak analysis

The Chaos is the fourth album by The Futureheads, released in 2010 on Nul Records. It features a front cover, a back cover, a booklet and the CD.

Front cover

The front cover features the band's name, the album name and an image of the Earth being pulled apart, revealing the core. The black-on-white text, boldness and size makes it stand out clearly. The font itself is subtly miscoloured in places, adding to the theme of imperfection and chaos. The image is large and the red core draws the eye to the centre of the cover.

Front of the booklet and CD

The image on the booklet is similar to the one on the front, furthering their concept of chaos being balanced in nature. Again, the core of the Earth is also the centre of the page. The CD artwork uses the arrow motif from the front cover, where the disc tray in the centre takes place of the Earth. The disc itself has the song listing on it, helpful for listeners who keep the CD in something other than the original packaging. The sans-serif font is constant throughout, in keeping with the dissonance between order, chaos, regularity and inevitability.

Image inside the booklet

The booklet image is like a mathematical drawing, showing that chaos occurs when there is a bending of time and space. The idea of chaos existing naturally is confirmed further. The font and arrows on the drawing retain the damaged look of everything on the album. The arrows show the Earth heading towards chaos.

Back cover

The back cover has the legal information, barcode and a full track list. This is on the back rather than the inside as it allows potential customers to see what tracks are on the album before they buy it. The text is centralised as it takes up more space on the cover, keeping the amount of white space to the minimum. The radio waves make a return from the front, telling the customer in no uncertain terms that they have a message to tell.

The Digipak

The Digipak



- What is a Digipak?

A Digipak is a storage device for optical discs, a modern alternative to the jewel case. While the term Digipak is a trademarked term for a specific product, the lack of recognised competition led to Digipak being used generally. What sets it apart from jewel cases are the folded cardboard segments inside.

Digipak for Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

- What are the advantages of the Digipak over jewel cases?

• Artwork can be more vivid as it is printed on cardboard rather than paper.
• The cardboard segments can make one large image when unfolded, allowing artists extra room for creativity in their designs.
• The extra space for artwork can cement their image and message to the audience, both of the album itself and the band.
• The cardboard segments can hold additional CD's or DVD's. 
• The packaging becomes as much part of the purchase as the CD does.
• Digipaks can be cheap to produce in bulk.
• Digipaks can be sold to consumers as a special edition at extra cost, making more money for everyone involved.
• The cardboard can be made from recycled materials whereas the plastic on jewel cases can not.

- What are the drawbacks of the Digipak?

• The cardboard deteriorates much quicker than the jewel case due to the folding process placing pressure on the hinges.
• The cardboard rip and tear relatively quickly.
• They can be expensive to produce in small numbers, making them unviable for smaller artists.
• A Digipak is thicker than a jewel case, making them less portable.
• They can take a variety of shape, meaning they can't be stored in a typical CD rack.

Despite the negatives of the Digipak, they are now in a duopoly in the market alongside the jewel case, bands opting for the Digipak where they feel applicable. It is vital that we create artwork that ties together our song, band and our video in a way that is eye catching and appealing to our audience.

Post-Punk genre breakdown

Odd Shaped Head's style of music is post-punk revival, which is a modern take on the stripped down, raw music of the 1970's and 1980's, mixing together garage, grunge and rock elements. The term relates to bands active at the turn of the 21st Century that tried to defy the bland nature of music at the time.

Among the pioneers were The White Stripes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs which proved to be so successful in America, UK based bands followed suit. These include Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party, The Libertines and Arctic Monkeys.

These bands had a definitive image, drawing on the fashion of the 1950's and 60's, with skinny ties, black belts and shaggy haircuts being commonplace. The garage-rock style lent itself well to provocative lyrics, such as the themes of politics and racism.

The end of the 2000's saw a decline of the post-punk movement, with many bands splitting up or going on hiatus, to be replaced by slower, more emotionally fuelled artists such as Arcade Fire and Mumford and Sons.



The White Stripes

Yeah Yeah Yeahs


The Libertines


The Arctic Monkeys

The Futureheads - Skip To The End video analysis

The Futureheads - Skip To The End

Skip To The End was released in 2006, at the height of Odd Shaped Head's "fame". Since this was also at the height of post-punk's popularity, the video should use many of the tropes associated with the genre.


The song uses few close ups, opting to go for medium and long shots more often than not, and the frame is composed into two shots. This is amplification of the lyrics, which are about the break up of a couple so the long shots show the lack of emotion and personalisation.

The setting is a large snowy field with dead trees dispersed throughout. This, combined with the black wedding suits, create an almost entirely monochrome colour palette. The dashes of colour are reserved for the roses the bride is holding and the children, a visual metaphor for the vibrant love they once had. The whole frame with the children has a slight sepia filter on it, adding further to the nostalgia value. The costume and props in this scene are those of cowboys and Indians, a game often played by children.

As the song is not particularly fast paced, it gives ample time for the band members to establish themselves as characters within the video. The performance and narrative strands of the video are interwoven, with the band members singing or playing instruments within the story. The band members are often seen together singing and each member sings alongside the characters, who are not singing themselves. This gives a clear indication to the audience who is in the band and who the story within the song is being re-enacted through.


The video opens and closes in hypnotist's office, and through the course of the video, we learn the relationship will not end well, signified by the pensive look the groom gives the bride in the final two shot. The director has created a spooky atmosphere by using ghosts in cutaways, giving the groom long arms and making the children eye make up which has ran. The imagery aligns itself with the lyrics, telling the audience the relationship will not end well, hence the title "Skip to the End".