Thursday 30 September 2010
Analysis of music video (Swedish House Mafia- One)
Why: I have analysed this music video because it is the kind of style i would like to recreate, the fast paced editing etc.
Analysing Music Video’s 2
Analysing Music Video’s 2
This is one of the first shots in the video, it seems unusual yet it stands out because it is bright white, mixed with other pastel colours, the shot looks bold, so it draws your eye in. The editing pace in this sequence is quite fast, it matches the pace of the music, the clever thing about this part of the video is that the recording device in the shot is made to be controlling the sound of the song, which is interesting because it’s not often used in music videos like that.
The next few shots and ones before hand are mostly close ups of the recording device again, which keep our attention drawn to what is happening, another interesting thing that is used too, is the fact that the lyrics often appear on screen, which is not common in music videos because it often looks amateur. However with the technique being used in this video, it doesn’t give it that effect; within the next few shots that are shown also, the editing progresses and gets faster, with the addition of the sides of the shots moving to make the illusion of loud speakers when they jump.
In this shot we see someone’s eye, with blue eyelashes etc, the colouring to the skin is very de-saturated and cold looking, giving it a very crisp and clear look. Not only that but inside the eye there is a running scroll of different images, this one for instance is of the words in the song, others that run after that are of the recording device again etc.
This is the first birdseye shot we get, of the table and the people around it, during the video the look and things around the table begin to change, in this shot for instance there are various wires, a fan and some chain around, signifying this may be the ‘setting up, getting ready’ stage of the party.
Again we see another birdseye shot of the table, this time though we see more people, which appear now to be our main focus. There is an interesting use of costume in this shot, as the people who are in the room seem to be wearing masks usually associated with breakdance, although they are wearing them on the tops of their heads giving the audience a very surreal, confused presentation, despite that it is very interesting, and does create a good look. The editing in this part is especially quick.
The editing pace at this point is at its fastest. In this shot we see the birds eye view of the table has changed again, this time we see confetti and nobody around the table the shot is mostly of a dark black colour and just the one man Dj-ing the music. This could be a pointer in the narrative of the video as this may be the peak of the party, and it’s now about to start dying down.
This next shot, is of a break dancer, again wearing a mask. However the shot is framed oddly, it appears again to be birdseye but gives the illusion that the dancer is dancing on a vertical wall, which is impressive to look at. The editing again here is very quick.
In this shot, we see how the song title and lyrics are highlighted, this is one of the only points in the video that we can salvage some sort of narrative structure. The song, I’m assuming is about the general club scene and meeting people. This therefore highlights that point. It is an interesting shot because along with the rest of the style of the video, this you would normally pick up on as not part of the same style; however it manages to work in this video, maybe because of the fast editing pace or because the lighting of the shot is still fairly low/dark.
This shot is interesting also, because it has changed from the similar shot of the birds eye with the masked people in, to a close up of this man, we see a different use of editing here as there is effect to the fact he is breathing fire. There is also an interesting use of sound stings throughout the video, there is layered sound above that of the actual music track, giving the video more depth and making it more effective, the sounds almost act as sound effects to certain things people are doing e.g. glass breaking. This becomes especially apparent towards the end of the video.
We then see the silhouette of a woman dancing, throughout this the lighting in the background changes, to a red colour to black and white, which is again unusual because it is in contrast to the rest of the video, which is in colour. However the dancing is obviously significant to the song.
In this shot we see a close up of a woman’s lips, the background is very out of focus, we understand that the use of close up on lips in music video’s is very conventially popular, I know this from the research I did on conventions of music videos.
As you can see this shot is a strong contrast to the one above, on it’s own it even looks like a picture rather than part of a video. The interesting thing about this shot is that the front layer is of the tape recording image again, yet the background is full of colour, there is an actor waving a flare light around, as this is when the end bridge of the song comes in, it matches the pace of the music really well, and the count down on the tape recorder makes it even more powerful because you are anticipating what is going to happen next.
In this shot again we see the lyrics to the song, instead this time though they are presented in the middle of the screen, this is still the breakdown part of the song so the lyrics are clearer now and this may be the reason they are put in the middle of the shot. It is again interesting as something different is still going on in the background, there are various layers to this shot also, with the picture of a man to the right hand side and then the remaining pictures of the flares and sparklers to the left.
This Is one of the last shots and is again layered, only this time the picture of the man is in our centre framing, and the flares are still in the background. This is interesting because it includes so much colour, referring to the person in the middle they have a reversed colouring effect on them, which gives the whole shot an interesting look but it doesn’t make it look too busy, the amount of colour and things going on matched with the fast paced editing matches the style of song.
In this sequence of shots they are many people stood in the centre of the shot with different masks on like the one in this shot, they are edited quickly, jumping from the next to the next. It gives it a real party rush feel, just before things usually die down. It is an unusual shot because these were most probably still images edited into the video, which appears a lot throughout it.
In this shot we see someone’s eye, with blue eyelashes etc, the colouring to the skin is very de-saturated and cold looking, giving it a very crisp and clear look. Not only that but inside the eye there is a running scroll of different images, this one for instance is of the words in the song, others that run after that are of the recording device again etc.
This is the first birdseye shot we get, of the table and the people around it, during the video the look and things around the table begin to change, in this shot for instance there are various wires, a fan and some chain around, signifying this may be the ‘setting up, getting ready’ stage of the party.
Again we see another birdseye shot of the table, this time though we see more people, which appear now to be our main focus. There is an interesting use of costume in this shot, as the people who are in the room seem to be wearing masks usually associated with breakdance, although they are wearing them on the tops of their heads giving the audience a very surreal, confused presentation, despite that it is very interesting, and does create a good look. The editing in this part is especially quick.
The editing pace at this point is at its fastest. In this shot we see the birds eye view of the table has changed again, this time we see confetti and nobody around the table the shot is mostly of a dark black colour and just the one man Dj-ing the music. This could be a pointer in the narrative of the video as this may be the peak of the party, and it’s now about to start dying down.
This next shot, is of a break dancer, again wearing a mask. However the shot is framed oddly, it appears again to be birdseye but gives the illusion that the dancer is dancing on a vertical wall, which is impressive to look at. The editing again here is very quick.
In this shot, we see how the song title and lyrics are highlighted, this is one of the only points in the video that we can salvage some sort of narrative structure. The song, I’m assuming is about the general club scene and meeting people. This therefore highlights that point. It is an interesting shot because along with the rest of the style of the video, this you would normally pick up on as not part of the same style; however it manages to work in this video, maybe because of the fast editing pace or because the lighting of the shot is still fairly low/dark.
This shot is interesting also, because it has changed from the similar shot of the birds eye with the masked people in, to a close up of this man, we see a different use of editing here as there is effect to the fact he is breathing fire. There is also an interesting use of sound stings throughout the video, there is layered sound above that of the actual music track, giving the video more depth and making it more effective, the sounds almost act as sound effects to certain things people are doing e.g. glass breaking. This becomes especially apparent towards the end of the video.
We then see the silhouette of a woman dancing, throughout this the lighting in the background changes, to a red colour to black and white, which is again unusual because it is in contrast to the rest of the video, which is in colour. However the dancing is obviously significant to the song.
In this shot we see a close up of a woman’s lips, the background is very out of focus, we understand that the use of close up on lips in music video’s is very conventially popular, I know this from the research I did on conventions of music videos.
As you can see this shot is a strong contrast to the one above, on it’s own it even looks like a picture rather than part of a video. The interesting thing about this shot is that the front layer is of the tape recording image again, yet the background is full of colour, there is an actor waving a flare light around, as this is when the end bridge of the song comes in, it matches the pace of the music really well, and the count down on the tape recorder makes it even more powerful because you are anticipating what is going to happen next.
In this shot again we see the lyrics to the song, instead this time though they are presented in the middle of the screen, this is still the breakdown part of the song so the lyrics are clearer now and this may be the reason they are put in the middle of the shot. It is again interesting as something different is still going on in the background, there are various layers to this shot also, with the picture of a man to the right hand side and then the remaining pictures of the flares and sparklers to the left.
This Is one of the last shots and is again layered, only this time the picture of the man is in our centre framing, and the flares are still in the background. This is interesting because it includes so much colour, referring to the person in the middle they have a reversed colouring effect on them, which gives the whole shot an interesting look but it doesn’t make it look too busy, the amount of colour and things going on matched with the fast paced editing matches the style of song.
In this sequence of shots they are many people stood in the centre of the shot with different masks on like the one in this shot, they are edited quickly, jumping from the next to the next. It gives it a real party rush feel, just before things usually die down. It is an unusual shot because these were most probably still images edited into the video, which appears a lot throughout it.
Swedish House Mafia ft Pharrell – One (Your Name)
How this will help me with my studies: This will help me with my music video as i can grasp the idea of how a music video looks, the editing pace and theme etc, the music of this video is of a similiar genre to that of the artist and therefore i could show parts of this type of style in my video.
Directed by Christian Larson & Henrik Hanson
Analysing NLX Video
Why: I have analysed the NLX video to get an idea of how her video looks and how i could base my video.
This is one of the first shots in the Young Love video, it is a close up, mostly has focus towards the face but mostly to the microphone suggesting this is our main focus. The close up gives intimate detail, especially focused with the lips, as we know that the artist is to be singing we know that this is an interesting focal point; it also gives the artist and video more character and a sense of the mysterious. Through the beginning shots of the video, they are all close ups of the artist, probably to establish audience interest straight off, instead of using a long shot or a shot framed with the whole of the artists face in, it is usually more interesting to frame the shots unsually, also making them seem off balance, this also links to other research I have done, especially from the conventions of music videos.
This shot is a long shot, enhanced by the darkness of the room and the two characters sat down, which are both the artist. This then reflects who the artist is, and what the song may be about. The four paintings in the background are all the same and have spotlights above them, this is an interesting shot as it is unusual, the characters proximity is far apart, leaving our main focal point blank, the use of colour is also very dark, even the clothes of the artist which may signify her relation to the song or even her character herself. Throughout this shot also, there is a strong sense of lighting, it is often strobe like throughout the video. Also, the effects in the editing show a lot of exaggerated lights and also a strong sense of repetition, and replaying of the same shots, there is also quite a bit of reversing the shots too, especially those which have a lot of movement, this may signify the meaning of the song, as it is named Young Love it may mean that the effects in love at a teenage age are very repetitive and recurrent.
The same shot again but the dancers have now moved and are beginning to use the microphone leads as a skipping rope, this could tie in with the name of the song ‘Young Love’ as skipping is something that every child goes through a phase at school in the playground, it may be emphasising the childlike feature in the songs storyline. There are also often close ups of the girls face, the body language is often angry, which also links in with the lyrics in a way “your thoughts are broken words, your heart is hurt hurt her fault.” Which then shows some narrative towards the lyrics, however this doesn’t comply to the whole video.
This is an unusual shot as it is framed as a point of view shot, as you can see there is extreme contrast to the light on the floor, which the whole video seems to have also, a very strong sense of contrast and light, mixed with dark, black undertones. This shot then progresses, the wires from the two microphones gradually move across the floor, like they are growing, the way that it is shot almost makes it look like pixilation. This may signify the idea the childish effect of love, as things grown, or maybe even the idea of when a relationship starts and grows to when people turn into couples, which would be more evident with the fact that the two microphone wires meet and plug into one an other.
This shot is again like the one we have already looked at, but because the music has picked up something new has been added, the two dancers in the middle, male and female represent the flow of the song. The video almost uses dance as it’s story teller, it’s vague yet ambiguous, a lot of assumptions can be drawn from it, like the fact that the two dancers represent the couple/Young Love. The costume of the two dancers is both coloured white, maybe symbolizing the innocence and frailtality of the fact that they are young and in love.
This shot is comparatively different to the rest of the video, this shot looks as though the camera is on the ground, or near to being there. The use of light and dark is still visually apparent, however it is different because of the use of the dancers, they are the only thing on screen, and at this point in the video this is the bridge/climax of the song, being the point in which the narrative to the video changes, in this case one of the dancers falls onto the ground, symbolizing the story of the song, and the music it could also symbolize the fact that in every relationship especially in the teenage years the couple argue and fall out, and break up regularly.
The coming together of the ideas in the video lead me to believe that the expressionist dancers in the video are representing the song title ‘young love’ basically meaning they are a couple, the dance therefore you could stretch to believe is their relationship – the ups and downs of it and the expectations of what is known to be ‘young love’.
This is an unusual shot as it is framed as a point of view shot, as you can see there is extreme contrast to the light on the floor, which the whole video seems to have also, a very strong sense of contrast and light, mixed with dark, black undertones. This shot then progresses, the wires from the two microphones gradually move across the floor, like they are growing, the way that it is shot almost makes it look like pixilation. This may signify the idea the childish effect of love, as things grown, or maybe even the idea of when a relationship starts and grows to when people turn into couples, which would be more evident with the fact that the two microphone wires meet and plug into one an other. This shot is again like the one we have already looked at, but because the music has picked up something new has been added, the two dancers in the middle, male and female represent the flow of the song. The video almost uses dance as it’s story teller, it’s vague yet ambiguous, a lot of assumptions can be drawn from it, like the fact that the two dancers represent the couple/Young Love. The costume of the two dancers is both coloured white, maybe symbolizing the innocence and frailtality of the fact that they are young and in love.
This shot is comparatively different to the rest of the video, this shot looks as though the camera is on the ground, or near to being there. The use of light and dark is still visually apparent, however it is different because of the use of the dancers, they are the only thing on screen, and at this point in the video this is the bridge/climax of the song, being the point in which the narrative to the video changes, in this case one of the dancers falls onto the ground, symbolizing the story of the song, and the music it could also symbolize the fact that in every relationship especially in the teenage years the couple argue and fall out, and break up regularly.
The coming together of the ideas in the video lead me to believe that the expressionist dancers in the video are representing the song title ‘young love’ basically meaning they are a couple, the dance therefore you could stretch to believe is their relationship – the ups and downs of it and the expectations of what is known to be ‘young love’.
How will this help with my studies: This will help with my studies because by analysing her video i can base how my video will look, being able to incorporate her style with using colour and editing.
Wednesday 29 September 2010
Analysis of NLX website
Why: I have analysed the album covers in order to see what running style she has.
The left hand menu bar is on notepaper, maybe from a library card or something similar as it reads ‘author, title, date due and borrower’s name.’ So we already know that it is an unusual almost comedic thing. There also appears to be ink splatters and fading/ageing to the background too, showing that it has a very urban/retro feel to it. The use also of carefully illustrated deigns on the page give it a strong contrast to the rest of the design, it may indicate an almost periodic motion to the design. It could also read the ‘rough’ ‘planning’ stages of writing music, indicated by the use of bulleted paper and ink splatters.
In this photo we can see that it is very creative, there are various quotes on the page some of which read ‘’be mentally and emotionally fit, be wise and confident in what it is you want and need.’’ However we get an essence of her personality throughout the use of imagery and quotations on this page. Another quotation reads “Not a weight loss program” linking to the fact that this is the photographs page and maybe showing that her personality is that of which is proud for people who are what they are. The photo that shows 2 pictures of a girl having to have her spine corrected adds more influence to the quote ‘’Not a weight loss program’’ Hence giving Natasha a very broad, strong personality. She also has a strong individualistic sense shown through the quote at the top ‘Behind every great man there stands great woman.’’ This type of design would be unusual to see on perhaps other mainstream artists pages.
This is the links page of the website, which I think is a very good explanation of things she is concerned about which you can see from the ‘Causes’ heading, also people is close to etc. From this we can gather information about her that is somewhat useful as it gives us insight to what she is inspired by etc.
How this will help with my studies: This will help with my studies because it again helps me when i come to making the album cover and poster, this way i can still show her unique sense of style.
This is the links page of the website, which I think is a very good explanation of things she is concerned about which you can see from the ‘Causes’ heading, also people is close to etc. From this we can gather information about her that is somewhat useful as it gives us insight to what she is inspired by etc.
How this will help with my studies: This will help with my studies because it again helps me when i come to making the album cover and poster, this way i can still show her unique sense of style.
Looking At NLX Interviews
Why: I have analysed various interviews with the artist because it will help with gaining knowledge about the things she likes, her character and how she works.
“The film is a fictional documentary about the life of a young Toronto man named Lucky whose life changes dramatically when he journeys to his birthplace ‘Smokey Mountain’ which is now one of the most densely populated urban landscapes In the Philippines, a vast slum surrounded by a mountain of garbage 12 stories high, the methane gases from the mass of garbage is where the place got it’s name. Lucky grapples with memories of his past in attempt to define himself, and reconcile his affluent Canadian upbringing with the hard-bitten existence of the children of Smokey Mountain Smokey Mountain
The film is Canadian which links to Natasha Alexandra was born, the film also portrays a very bold statement about poverty in less economic developed countries, which would suggest she is passionate about the situation.
When asked about her CD she replies…
CB: Is there an essential track we should be listening to off Bitch Get Fit?
Recently NLX has made a video for young love, (see analysing music videos document) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlgCzEK9ZwY
Natasha was quoted saying “I like stuff that’s a little darker, a little more guttural. I like stuff that really makes me feel. They were really heavy.” Giving a good insight to what sort of person she is, she seems to be very intone with her emotional outlets etc.
From this we can start to gather the unique-ness of Natasha Alexandra, how she enjoys people, artists, music, for it’s background, story and mostly how things developed.
Another interview with NLX is from the website spinner music. Firstly the interview begins with understanding Natasha’s gigs and performances.
”What kinds of clubs do you usually play? You could play folk or rock clubs.
I can play pretty much wherever I can get a gig, depending on the kind of sound I want to project. I prefer to play bigger venues that allow me to do a lot of the general instrumentation and have drums and a bigger sound. But living inNew York New York Rockwood Music Hall
We understand from this that the artist is not concerned with touring or doing large shows, she is merely concerned with the best outlet for her music sound is, not the money or publicity she gets from doing said gigs.
”I think sometimes music kind of gets glazed over and a little more palatable, and I really like when things are a little more raw and emotion can be felt. “ – NLX
How this will help with my studies: This will help me with my studies because by looking and analysing these interviews i can gage what kind of person the artist is, and furtheron by doing this i can also understand her values, by knowing this i can see the kind of things to incorporate with her album cover and video.
Interviews with NLX
Through researching on the internet there has been an interview with NLX on a website called culture blues.
The first thing that I have discovered is that NLX’s song ‘Find Love’ is featured in the trailer of feature film ‘Off World’ which was also winner of the reel world film festival for best picture.
The first thing that I have discovered is that NLX’s song ‘Find Love’ is featured in the trailer of feature film ‘Off World’ which was also winner of the reel world film festival for best picture.
“The film is a fictional documentary about the life of a young Toronto man named Lucky whose life changes dramatically when he journeys to his birthplace ‘Smokey Mountain’ which is now one of the most densely populated urban landscapes In the Philippines, a vast slum surrounded by a mountain of garbage 12 stories high, the methane gases from the mass of garbage is where the place got it’s name. Lucky grapples with memories of his past in attempt to define himself, and reconcile his affluent Canadian upbringing with the hard-bitten existence of the children of The film is Canadian which links to Natasha Alexandra was born, the film also portrays a very bold statement about poverty in less economic developed countries, which would suggest she is passionate about the situation.
When asked about her CD she replies…
CB: Is there an essential track we should be listening to off Bitch Get Fit?
NLX: Oh,**** Essential track? Can I look at the CD? [she looks at the CD] I’m really proud of the CD, I love it to pieces, so that’s really hard. I’d say Young Love. There’s Find Love and then there’s Young Love. Find Love is more epic and it’s the last song on the album so it’s like the light at the end of the tunnel. But the whole CD is a big, big story. I didn’t want to just put the first three amazing songs at the start, I wanted it to be like a story, something with a context. I’d say Young Love sort of sums a lot of that up.
Recently NLX has made a video for young love, (see analysing music videos document) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlgCzEK9ZwY
Natasha was quoted saying “I like stuff that’s a little darker, a little more guttural. I like stuff that really makes me feel. They were really heavy.” Giving a good insight to what sort of person she is, she seems to be very intone with her emotional outlets etc.
Later in the interview…CB: Greatest Canadian musical export: Celine Dion or Avril Lavigne?
NLX: Wow. Why those two? Well, I’ll take Celine because I’m a sucker for a story. And I’m a sucker for anybody who loves their music, and what they do, and I love to hear about people’s journeys. She came from nothing, her family was like **** poor. She was one of what? Fifteen children?
From this we can start to gather the unique-ness of Natasha Alexandra, how she enjoys people, artists, music, for it’s background, story and mostly how things developed.
Another interview with NLX is from the website spinner music. Firstly the interview begins with understanding Natasha’s gigs and performances.
”What kinds of clubs do you usually play? You could play folk or rock clubs.
I can play pretty much wherever I can get a gig, depending on the kind of sound I want to project. I prefer to play bigger venues that allow me to do a lot of the general instrumentation and have drums and a bigger sound. But living in
We understand from this that the artist is not concerned with touring or doing large shows, she is merely concerned with the best outlet for her music sound is, not the money or publicity she gets from doing said gigs.
”I think sometimes music kind of gets glazed over and a little more palatable, and I really like when things are a little more raw and emotion can be felt. “ – NLX
“How would you describe your sound?
I would describe it as dark pop. A lot of people seem to describe it as a dark pop sound. It's a lot of highs and lows. It is storytelling, but it's got a lot of heavy sound. Whether they're empty sounds or they're full, they still have that solemness to them, I think. They're definitely not three-chord pop songs. Usually people either love it or they don't get it. I think you have to be open to a lot of different music. Sometimes people just like happy happy songs, and that's not what I do.”
I would describe it as dark pop. A lot of people seem to describe it as a dark pop sound. It's a lot of highs and lows. It is storytelling, but it's got a lot of heavy sound. Whether they're empty sounds or they're full, they still have that solemness to them, I think. They're definitely not three-chord pop songs. Usually people either love it or they don't get it. I think you have to be open to a lot of different music. Sometimes people just like happy happy songs, and that's not what I do.”
Having then understood what she see’s her sound to be, and how people feel about it, it would be reasonable to suggest that this needs to be addressed when making the music video, it will have to compliment the song, not necessarily in a straight forward story telling narrative but definitely to a degree of artistic nature, as we could already say the song itself tells enough story, the video could somehow act as another artistic outlet for that, which is unusual, as its often the other way round with most artists and songs.
When asked about the reason she named herself NLX, she replied…
”I just got sick of people getting my name wrong. They kept writing "Natasha Alexander" or "Natacia Alexandira." And I always wanted to do music that was not necessarily in the singer-songwriter vein and that folky kind of lo-fi vein. I wanted to have the opportunity to branch out, like a Nine Inch Nails or like a Wilco, to have that curtain, to have that mystery. [It] kind of give myself that carte blanche to make whatever kind of album I want.”
“I like something that has a tone I can relate to or has an interesting production quality, I feel addicted to a synth line or a melody line or a beat. I'm the person who will not play the song through, I'll keep rewinding and rewinding to those three seconds or something.”-NLX
When asked about the reason she named herself NLX, she replied…
”I just got sick of people getting my name wrong. They kept writing "Natasha Alexander" or "Natacia Alexandira." And I always wanted to do music that was not necessarily in the singer-songwriter vein and that folky kind of lo-fi vein. I wanted to have the opportunity to branch out, like a Nine Inch Nails or like a Wilco, to have that curtain, to have that mystery. [It] kind of give myself that carte blanche to make whatever kind of album I want.”
“I like something that has a tone I can relate to or has an interesting production quality, I feel addicted to a synth line or a melody line or a beat. I'm the person who will not play the song through, I'll keep rewinding and rewinding to those three seconds or something.”-NLX
How this will help with my studies: This will help me with my studies because by looking and analysing these interviews i can gage what kind of person the artist is, and furtheron by doing this i can also understand her values, by knowing this i can see the kind of things to incorporate with her album cover and video.
NLX: Analysing the album covers
Why: I have analysed the album covers in order to help me with my anciliary tasks, by looking at previous NLX album artwork i can establish her style.
These are the first two albums from NLX, they come as complimentary albums, linked by the album titles.
As you can see the images of the women in the corner are of the artist herself, although manipulated to look like abstract drawings instead, the colours of these images match, as does the facial expression.
The first cover ‘in your face’ shows the face of the artist; linking with the name of the album, this may signify she is showing her face because the album is named ‘in your face’, whereas the second album shows the artist looking down and has cut off more of her face than on the other, linking again with the title of the album ‘behind your back’ maybe again to signify that she is ‘behind your back’As you can see the images of the women in the corner are of the artist herself, although manipulated to look like abstract drawings instead, the colours of these images match, as does the facial expression.
The names of these albums and looking at the tracks on some of them e.g. ‘walking in my shoes’, ‘code red’ and ‘so far apart’ show that most of the songs are aimed at a person, a past relationship/lover maybe. The in your face alum may represent the ‘in your face’ strong, independent side of the artist to the situation, and the ‘behind your back’ album then links to all the feelings and insecurities she may actually have toward the situation.
The colours of the albums also tie into how they might be represented, the ‘in your face’ album cover is black, we usually associate the colour with feelings of depression and anger and hurtful feelings, which may link with what I said earlier about the album being about a jilted relationship and the angry feelings that come with it. Whereas the ‘behind your back’ album is white, which usually shares feelings of purity, peace, sometimes sadness and glory, which again could link to what I said before about the album being about the insecurities and maybe even still feelings for the person that they once had.
The artists logo NLX is wrote in a very wispy, messy almost stencilled like pattern, it especially stands out on the ‘behind your back’ album, maybe for reasons such as that of which that may have been the album she felt most confident about – which is unusual to the expectation you gain from the ‘in your face’ album, it seems unusual that she would feel most confident with the shy-er like album. However, on the ‘in your face’ album the NLX logo is very dark, and wrote in purple which may also represent the ‘darker’ side to the artist.
The background patterns to both of the covers show detailed embroidery inspired designs, which appears very feminine.
These are the first two albums from NLX, they come as complimentary albums, linked by the album titles.
As you can see the images of the women in the corner are of the artist herself, although manipulated to look like abstract drawings instead, the colours of these images match, as does the facial expression.
The first cover ‘in your face’ shows the face of the artist; linking with the name of the album, this may signify she is showing her face because the album is named ‘in your face’, whereas the second album shows the artist looking down and has cut off more of her face than on the other, linking again with the title of the album ‘behind your back’ maybe again to signify that she is ‘behind your back’As you can see the images of the women in the corner are of the artist herself, although manipulated to look like abstract drawings instead, the colours of these images match, as does the facial expression.
The names of these albums and looking at the tracks on some of them e.g. ‘walking in my shoes’, ‘code red’ and ‘so far apart’ show that most of the songs are aimed at a person, a past relationship/lover maybe. The in your face alum may represent the ‘in your face’ strong, independent side of the artist to the situation, and the ‘behind your back’ album then links to all the feelings and insecurities she may actually have toward the situation.
The colours of the albums also tie into how they might be represented, the ‘in your face’ album cover is black, we usually associate the colour with feelings of depression and anger and hurtful feelings, which may link with what I said earlier about the album being about a jilted relationship and the angry feelings that come with it. Whereas the ‘behind your back’ album is white, which usually shares feelings of purity, peace, sometimes sadness and glory, which again could link to what I said before about the album being about the insecurities and maybe even still feelings for the person that they once had.
The artists logo NLX is wrote in a very wispy, messy almost stencilled like pattern, it especially stands out on the ‘behind your back’ album, maybe for reasons such as that of which that may have been the album she felt most confident about – which is unusual to the expectation you gain from the ‘in your face’ album, it seems unusual that she would feel most confident with the shy-er like album. However, on the ‘in your face’ album the NLX logo is very dark, and wrote in purple which may also represent the ‘darker’ side to the artist.
The background patterns to both of the covers show detailed embroidery inspired designs, which appears very feminine.
This is the latest album from NLX, as you can see the style has dramatically changed, however this album cover significantly links with the style of the website (See website analysis for more detail)
It has a very strong Greek artistic feel, with delicate drawings of statues and famous paintings almost somewhat similar to Leonardo Divinci’s painting Vitruvian Man the pictures are all layered to give it a very confusing look. The background colour is a grainy yellow colour, almost such as sand or aged paper would be, which then is a strong contrast to the style of music that NLX is, which coined pop – dark wave is. Here the NLX logo has changed, the style of writing is still similar yet the background that it is on is different, it is more defined and outlined with a symmetrical leaf like design. The album name which appears underneath the artist name is written in the same style as it is on the website, showing the link between style. The interesting thing about this album is in comparison to the two EP covers, which focus a lot more with primary colours and has a very strong ‘you either love it or hate it’ look. This one has incorporated both warm and dark elements of her music, the EP’s before had two discs for each side of her music, the dark and the warmer, whereas this one sets to approach both. The use of the brown like colours could also symbolize how her music has matured and grown, the two EP’s are mostly black and white, when you mix those colours you get an almost brown like colour, which is seen in the newest album. It also features statues of women suggesting that it is a very feminine album maybe. It also shows the woman with her face cropped, which is also what we see with the first two EP’s, this may be a confidence issue or the fact that the artist wants to remain mysterious, which she had talked about when she named herself NLX.
How this will help with my studies: This will help me with my studies as i can use what knowledge i have gained through the album covers to incorporate her style and make my album cover familiar to her style.
Profiling the Artist
Why: I have looked at profiling the artist in order to show her background and gain a wider interest of the artist.
Biography
NLX is Natasha Alexandra, who grew up in Canada Steel City New York Rockwood Music Hall
For her latest album ‘BGF’ she worked with Bryan Kent Wong who is a producer and composer.
NLX manages her own label, and started out producing and distributing her music through CD Baby, which is an online distribution service for unsigned artists, it allows artists to sell their music through such outlets as Itunes, Amazon MP3, eMusic, Rhapsody, Napster, MySpace Music, Spotify, Liquid Digital, Zune, Last Fm, and many more.
For her latest album ‘BGF’ she worked with Bryan Kent Wong who is a producer and composer.
NLX manages her own label, and started out producing and distributing her music through CD Baby, which is an online distribution service for unsigned artists, it allows artists to sell their music through such outlets as Itunes, Amazon MP3, eMusic, Rhapsody, Napster, MySpace Music, Spotify, Liquid Digital, Zune, Last Fm, and many more.
Her music is coined as “fists in the air, tears on the floor, don’t look back but close the door” kind of music. However when she plays live, she is at her best. NLX doesn’t focus too much on being in the studio, she prefers to play to crowds in bars and café’s.
This will help in my studies because it shows how i have researched the artist and that i understand her style of music and style, by doing this i will be able to make the right sort of music video for the artist.
This will help in my studies because it shows how i have researched the artist and that i understand her style of music and style, by doing this i will be able to make the right sort of music video for the artist.
Conventions of Music Videos
Conventions of Music Videos
Genre Categories
Illustration – a straight forward performance video or a simple narrative video, (or a mixture of the two) that illustrates the meaning of the lyrics and visualises the music in a straightforward way, an example of a classic mixed narrative /performance video is Pulps ‘Babies’
Amplification – the conventions demonstrated by the music video ‘auteur’ or creative director. They may use both performance and narrative, however rather than simply illustrate the lyrics or sounds the director will ‘amplify’ both with creative interpretation, unusual ideas and surrealistic approaches. There is still a direct link to the song, whether it be sound, beat or ‘connotative’ link to part of the lyrics or song title. A good example of this would be Kylie Minouge’s ‘Come into my life’ video.
Also linked to auteur style is…
Disjuncture – These videos are completely abstract and have no real link to the music, lyrics, song title or artist. A good example of this would be Daft Punks ‘Da Funk’ video.
Narrative Video – Narrative videos are not often complex because, they need to market or advertise the band and song, therefore it must feature repeatability; the narrative code must be loose or suggestive, rather than realistic or detailed. This is because audiences need to be able to watch these videos repeatedly, and a tight realist narrative would prove too boring after few watches.
Musical Synaesthesia only requires the musical or lyrical mood to latch onto to develop a narrative concept.
Performance Video – Conventions of the band performance – a degree of authenticity of the performance is sought by the band and director so we find lipsync, close up, and mimed playing of instruments, also the use of repetition of chorus shots to enhance repeatability, unusual camera shots and angles, e.g. micro camera shots attached to the neck of a guitar, sweeping crane shots to show audience reaction to the band.
Conventions of the performance of the solo artist – many of the above but rehearsed choreography of the dance routines which again would be repeated. Directly involving the audience by having the artist look into the camera.
Audio and Editing
Camera Shots – Jumping directly between long shots, to close ups and extreme close ups. Primarily close ups of the singer.
Camera Movement – Whip pans, fast dolly track shots and fast over head crane shots to follow the running, walking or dancing of performers. Fast vertical tilts and horizontal pans
Editing - jump cutting, montage editing; creating the visually decentred experience of jumping from person to instrument from location without any normal narrative continuity. Instead it is often the beat or rhythm of the track which provides the organising principle for editing movement. The editing moves so fast it creates the need for viewing ‘repeatedly’ There are however some exceptions some continuity editing used such as atmospheric ‘dissolve shots’ such as Sinead O Connor’s ‘Nothing compares to You’ video.
Production digital effects – split screen, colourisation and slow motion, these are few of things that are now conventional for music videos.
Lighting – Expressive lighting is a key feature in music videos, extreme artificial lighting to create the ‘bleaching’ effect on stars’ faces (making them seem ageless) Lighting effects such as strobes or flashing lights, this may link into the use of CGI dance videos to enhance the atmosphere.
Mise-en-scene – Look for the overall concept for the video, themes such as the historical period, or decades. The videos mise-en-scene may follow the need for authenticity by using settings such as concert halls and such. There may even be a purposely exaggerated feel to the video, to emphasis artists, this is especially common in rap videos.
Genre Categories
Illustration – a straight forward performance video or a simple narrative video, (or a mixture of the two) that illustrates the meaning of the lyrics and visualises the music in a straightforward way, an example of a classic mixed narrative /performance video is Pulps ‘Babies’
Amplification – the conventions demonstrated by the music video ‘auteur’ or creative director. They may use both performance and narrative, however rather than simply illustrate the lyrics or sounds the director will ‘amplify’ both with creative interpretation, unusual ideas and surrealistic approaches. There is still a direct link to the song, whether it be sound, beat or ‘connotative’ link to part of the lyrics or song title. A good example of this would be Kylie Minouge’s ‘Come into my life’ video.
Also linked to auteur style is…
Disjuncture – These videos are completely abstract and have no real link to the music, lyrics, song title or artist. A good example of this would be Daft Punks ‘Da Funk’ video.
Narrative Video – Narrative videos are not often complex because, they need to market or advertise the band and song, therefore it must feature repeatability; the narrative code must be loose or suggestive, rather than realistic or detailed. This is because audiences need to be able to watch these videos repeatedly, and a tight realist narrative would prove too boring after few watches.
Musical Synaesthesia only requires the musical or lyrical mood to latch onto to develop a narrative concept.
Performance Video – Conventions of the band performance – a degree of authenticity of the performance is sought by the band and director so we find lipsync, close up, and mimed playing of instruments, also the use of repetition of chorus shots to enhance repeatability, unusual camera shots and angles, e.g. micro camera shots attached to the neck of a guitar, sweeping crane shots to show audience reaction to the band.
Conventions of the performance of the solo artist – many of the above but rehearsed choreography of the dance routines which again would be repeated. Directly involving the audience by having the artist look into the camera.
Audio and Editing
Camera Shots – Jumping directly between long shots, to close ups and extreme close ups. Primarily close ups of the singer.
Camera Movement – Whip pans, fast dolly track shots and fast over head crane shots to follow the running, walking or dancing of performers. Fast vertical tilts and horizontal pans
Editing - jump cutting, montage editing; creating the visually decentred experience of jumping from person to instrument from location without any normal narrative continuity. Instead it is often the beat or rhythm of the track which provides the organising principle for editing movement. The editing moves so fast it creates the need for viewing ‘repeatedly’ There are however some exceptions some continuity editing used such as atmospheric ‘dissolve shots’ such as Sinead O Connor’s ‘Nothing compares to You’ video.
Production digital effects – split screen, colourisation and slow motion, these are few of things that are now conventional for music videos.
Lighting – Expressive lighting is a key feature in music videos, extreme artificial lighting to create the ‘bleaching’ effect on stars’ faces (making them seem ageless) Lighting effects such as strobes or flashing lights, this may link into the use of CGI dance videos to enhance the atmosphere.
Mise-en-scene – Look for the overall concept for the video, themes such as the historical period, or decades. The videos mise-en-scene may follow the need for authenticity by using settings such as concert halls and such. There may even be a purposely exaggerated feel to the video, to emphasis artists, this is especially common in rap videos.
The History of Music Videos
The History Of Music Videos
Music videos came into their own around about the 1980’s, when MTV based their format around the medium, and later with the launch of VH1.
The first music video was said to be in 1984 when sheet music publishers still ran the music business. Edward. B. Marks and Joe Stern hired electrician George Thomas and various performers to promote sales of their song ‘The Little Lost Child’ Thomas projected a series of still images a screen simultaneously with live performances, in what became a popular form of entertainment known as the illustrated song, this thereon has been coined the first music video.
In the UK long running TV show ‘Top Of The Pops’ began playing music videos in the late 1970’s although the BBC placed strict limits on the number of ‘outsourced’ videos TOTP could use.
In 1981 the
The use of the internet and music videos, the earliest purveyors of music videos on the internet were IRC based groups who recorded them as the appeared on television, then digitalised them exchanging the mpg files via IRC channels. The website IFilm which hosted short videos, including music videos launched in 1997. by the mid 2000’s MTV and many of it’s sister channels had largely abandoned showing music videos as they found reality television shows more popular with viewers. In which MTV helped pioneer the show ‘The Real World’ which premiered in 1992.
Low fi internet music clips, following the shift toward internet broadcasting and the rising popularity of video sites such as YouTube around 2006 some independent filmmakers began recording live sessions to present on the internet. It began as the only method for little-known indie music artists to present their work.
Censorship in music videos, a music video is a form of artistic expression, artists are only on occasions censored if their content is deemed offensive. What may be considered offensive differs in various countries, due to censorship laws, local customs and ethics. The first music video banned by MTV was Queen’s 1982 video for ‘Body Language’ for homoerotic undertones, etc. Michael Jackson’s music video for ‘They don’t care about us’ was banned from MTV, VH1 and BBC because of the alleged ‘Anti-Semitic’ message in the song and the visuals in the background of the ‘Prison Version’ of the video.
In 2010 Lady Gaga’s video for ‘Telephone’ was banned by MTV, claiming the content should not be shown within their programming but soon began showing the video frequently on European MTV programming.
Unofficial fan made music videos (Bootleg tapes) are typically made by synchronizing existing footage from other sources, such as television shows or films with the song. The first known fan video was created by Kandy Fong in 1975 using still images from Star Trek loaded into a side carousel and played in conjunction with a song. Fan videos made with videocassette recorders soon followed. Such videos are sometimes known as OPV’s ( Original Promotional Videos, or Other People’s Videos) In the case of Japanese anime videos the source material is drawn from anime or from American animation series’. As neither the song or visuals is typically licensed distribution of the two is technically copyright infringement on both counts. An example of a unofficial video was that of Danger Mouses illegal mash up of the ‘Encore’ song with music sampled from the Beatles’ White Album in which concert footage of the Beatles is remixed with footage of Jay Z and rap dancers.
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