Analysis Of Album Covers In The Same Genre

Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against the Machine

  

           This album cover consists of a picture from a very famous polititcal protest, a Vietnamese Buddhist burning himself alive. This could be considered a controversial image for the cover which reflects the band themselves as RATM are considered a rather controversial band. The cover does reflect this representation of the band. Most album art reflects the content of the album such as the meaning of the lyrics. I think this is apparaent here as RATM are well known to have quite extreme views and extreme lyrics.

          I think this cover would appeal mainly to the band's more hardcore fan base. The lack of colour and the small font for the band name means that it wouldn't be too eye catching for people who haven't heard much from the band. On the other hand the startling picture may act as an eye catching tool. All of this gives the band their own style as there a very few, if any, band that are similar in style to RATM.


Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures

          This cover features a human body with a vultures head in front of a bright red background with many vultures also flying around . The vulture itself is unique to the band which again brings across the fact that most alternative bands try to have their own image and style. I think this a convention of the genre as all of the bands, especially muse, are very unique in their style.

          The red background I think would be very eye catching, intending to make people pick up the album and buy it. Along with the vulture i think this would work quite well. The only difference between this and most albums is that this cover does not really reflect the content of the lyrics for the album. This may be because the band, again, want to appear uniquie and individual.



Analysis Of Muse Album Covers.

Muse have released 5 Studio albums and one album full of B-side tracks and live recordings from a gig they played in Paris. Here is the album artwork...

Muse - Showbiz

          Here we can see a woman who is dressed up like a celebrity, dancing on a different planet, we can see the earth in the background. With an album title like showbiz, this suggests a bold statement about celebrities and the world of showbiz.

Muse - Origin Of Symmetry

          For this album cover Muse asked several different artists to create a piece of artwork with the title 'Origin Of Symmetry' they then chose the one they preferred for the cover and the rest make up the inside booklet in the CD.

Muse - Hullabaloo

          This is the B-sides album and the only cover that Muse themselves feature on.

Muse - Absolution

          This cover depicts 'Judgement Day' the band said that they liked the idea of everyone being taken to be judged but the one man left behind looking up to the sky left behind, looking like he wonders why he has been left behind. This suggests conspiracy.

Muse - Black Holes & Revelations

          This cover depicts 4 men on the surface of mars sat around a table with 4 horses on. The band have said they liked the theme of 'men are from mars.' This also suggests conspiracy.

Muse - Resistance

         The artwork for the resistance is based upon 3 songs in the album. A 3 part symphony named 'Exogenisis.' The songs are about humanity destroying earth and sending an astronaught into space to inherit another planet.

          Two themes that runs thoughout all of the album art is the 'space' theme and the 'conspiracy' theme. They all seem to have some sort of relation to these certain themes. The artwork is all very colourful and striking which not only reflects the band as a personality (being very extravagant) but it also helps lure fans in as it is all very easy on the eye. It also helps them distance themselves from other bands with a similar genre.

         

          As Matt Bellamy, lead guitaris and vocals of Muse is an avid conspiracy theorist, there is bound to be some conspiracy based themes in the album art. This is a reflection of what the songs that make up the album may be about or a reflection of the bands personality too.

Codes And Conventions Of Music Videos In The Genre Of Our Song

          A big part of music videos of the 'Alternate Rock' Genre is a band performance. In the majority of alternate rock music videos there is a strong band performance which usually is in keeping with the tone of the song. For example, a upbeat pacy song would have a enegetic band performance whereas on the contrary a slow paced song would have a more relaxed or condensed performance.

         

         These music videos also feature a storyline that intercuts with the bands performance. This storyline is usually very distinct depending on the band. In Muse's case they have very crazy storylines, often space themed or conspiracy based. All these elements halp make the band and the videos themselves very memorable and appealing to the fans of the band and others interested in the genre. Usually they wear their own clothes, there aren't many of muse's videos where they wear unusual clothing. Other bands also follow this convention, it's only in rare cases where vey abstract and unusual costumes are used, such as the 'spaceman' video i analysed. So this is one of the conventions we will stick to with our video, the band members will wear normal clothing that they would ususally wear.

         Alot of the time bands use popular culture and cinematic references. These can be included in the lyrics of the song or the video, in some cases both. For example with Muse, they have the 'Dr Strangelove' theme in 'Time Is Running Out' or the fact that the video 'Knights Of Cydonia' runs out like a film. Other bands do this aswell, for example the band Weezer's video for the song 'Buddy Holly' Features the set and characters from the television show 'Happy Days'. We may consider using some of these references providing they fit in with the storyline for our video.

Link To Buddy Holly Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kemivUKb4f4

Time Is Running Out Lyrics

I think I'm drowning,
Asphixiated,
I wanna break this spell,
That you've created,
You're somehting beautiful,
A contradiction,
I wanna play the game,
I want the friction.

You will be the death of me,
Yeah, you will be the death of me.

Bury it,
I won't let you,
Bury it,
I won't let you,
Smother it,
I won't let you,
Murder it.

Our time is running out,
Our time is running out,
You can't push it underground,
You can't stop it screaming out.

I wanted freedom,
Bound and restricted,
I tried to give you up,
But I'm addicted,
Now that you know i'm trapped,
Sense of elation,
You'd never dream of breaking this fixation.

You will suck the life out of me.

Bury it,
I won't let you,
Bury it,
I won't let you,
Smother it,
I won't let you,
Murder it.

Our time is running out,
Our time is running out,
You can't push it underground,
You can't stop it screaming out.

How did it come to this.

Oooh Oooh Yeah Yeah,
Yeah Yeah Yeah,
Oooh Oooh Yeah Yeah,
Yeah Yeah Yeah.

Yeah, you will suck the life out of me.

Bury it,
I won't let you,
Bury it,
I won't let you,
Smother it,
I won't let you,
Murder it.

Our time is running out,
Our time is running out,
You can't push it underground,
You can't stop it screaming out.

How did it come to this.

Oooh Oooh Yeah Yeah,
Yeah Yeah Yeah,
Oooh Oooh Yeah Yeah,
Yeah Yeah Yeah.

Analysis Of Music Videos From Bands Of A Similar Genre

The Killers - Spaceman


          This is a very abstract and 'out there' video. The camera follows the lead singer of the band around what seems like a party from something out of this world. It has a big space age feel about it. The lead singer of the band stated that the song and the video is about aliens. This links heavily to alot of Muse videos and could possibly be taken that space is a convention of the genre.
          There are many bright lights and colours throughout the video and the costumes suggest strong space themes.



Some Bands have a compilation of live performances and behind the scenes shoots as their videos. I think these are done to help the fans gain insight as to what goes on when the band aren't performing and its helps bring the fans closer to the band themselves.

Editors - Bones




Arctic Monkeys - Fake Tales Of San Fransisco

Collective Analysis Of Muse Videos

          After viewing some of Muse's videos and analysing some, I have come to the conclusion that whilst they do stick to many codes and conventions of music videos, they also try and make each unique with their own style. They seem to have continuous themes running throughout their videos and in certain videos they have very similar images that are almost iconic to muse.

Shot From Muse's Video 'Uprising'

 Shot From Muse's Video 'Invincible'

They are a very conspiracy/ politically based band and this shows throughout all of their songs and videos.

Analysis Of 'Knights Of Cydonia' Video By Muse

This video is set in a western style town and plays out like a western film. There are credits at the beginning and the end which makes the whole thing seem very cinematic. There are three main characters in the video, The Protagonist, The Antagonist and ’The Love Interest’. They go about the video like a typical western film with many fights and card games etc… Yet throughout the video there are holograms of the band performing the song that appear to be projected from a robot. This does not fit with the western style and suggests a sci-fi theme that ties in well with the song title, Knights of Cydonia. Cydonia being a region on mars that conspiracy theorists believe there used to be life and how the pyramids were built to mirror this region. This now suggests that the town in the video is set on mars. The futuristic police car, laser guns and futuristic technology throughout the video also suggest this. The characters in the video also shout out some of the lyrics such as, "No-one's gonna take me alive" and "You and I muse fight for our rights", this could suggest a political theme considering the nature of the lyrics. The costumes on the main characters and extras are stereotypical western outfits. The band themselves are also wearing western outfits and one of the band members wore a fake moustache for the video.

Analysis Of 'Invincible' Video By Muse

This video is set on a ‘theme park ride’ which is designed very much like Disney’s ‘It’s A small World’. The band is on the ride themselves and go through what seems like the story of evolution and how humans have built and shaped the world. There’s a very relaxed sense about the video at first but towards the end speeds up and becomes very chaotic. As the video progresses the lyrics start to come into meaning more clearly as disastrous moments in history are portrayed by the tiny characters. Events such as roman battles, 9/11 etc... Now the lyrics ‘Please, please lets use this chance to turn things around’ are clear and as the chaos mounts everything seems to turn ‘evil’ before eventually being restored to order. It is all done in a comical way yet there is a clear serious side to the meaning of the song and the video itself.

Analysis Of 'Time Is Running Out' Existing Video.

                The existing video for Time Is Running Out is set in a dark room with a large circular table in the centre. The room is so dark, it gives us the impression that it is underground as there are no windows and the only lighting is that of circular lights above the table. We also get the impression that the room is a secret militarised bunker as the people sitting around the table are all in military uniform. The whole setup gives the video a style not unlike the film ‘Dr Strangelove’. This could help portray the story of the video as the title of the song, ‘Time is running Out’ could relate to the counting down of a bomb, this is further enhanced by all the military uniform and adds to conspiracy. In contrast to the film however, this video has a serious theme whereas the film is a dark comedy. The band has taken influence from something and given it their own style and edge.

Shot From Time Is Running Out Video

Shot From The Film 'Dr Strangelove'

As the video goes along, the people all begin to get up and move around the table, they have very robotic movements. This could suggest a political theme which could help our group when trying to search for ideas for our own video. On top of the table is the band. They are giving a performance which is part of the code and conventions of a rock video, there is usually a performance or an appearance from a band. There is a colour scheme throughout the video as the room is very dark, the uniforms are dark and the band themselves are all wearing black yet there are also many flashing lights all the way through. All of these are codes and conventions of a rock music video.

Chosen Song

After being put into groups and having a look at different ideas for a band and a song to choose for the project we ended up with Time Is Running Out By Muse. As a big Muse fan I was pleased with the choice of song and therefore think I can help put more input into the creativity of the project. The Genre of the band is alternate rock. This type of music is mainly listened to by a young adult audience ranging from 13 – 30.

Picking a song by Muse I think was an excellent choice due to many reasons. They have been around for just over 10 years and in that time they have gained a huge fan base. They have been influenced by bands such as Radiohead, Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine and whilst the band have a clear individual style, these influences will be key to our audience research. Therefore I think our audience research will benefit from this.

Muse are a very influential themselves and are an extremely cinematic band and as a result I think we can have very open opportunities and potential for our creativity but unfortunately due to the time scale given we will have to be limited with our ideas and keep our feet firmly on the ground and not run away with our ideas.

Statement Of Intent

I am Sam Carter, An A level student at York College. I am currently in my second year of A levels studying, Media, Film and Critical Thinking. For my media coursework I will be researching and making a music video complete with advertising poster and digipack for the song that is chosen. We will be put into groups and will have to come up with a song, band and genre of music in which to base the video on.

I am doing this as it would be a great way to gain experience in an area of media that I enjoy and would seek to make a career out of. I would very much like to go into a film making career and this will help improve my skills in this certain area.

I have chosen this blogging site as it is easy to use and has great layout features so as to help the followers of the blog have an easier time navigating around it. I expect to be finished with the project around Christmas time hopefully sooner so I can check everything over fully and make sure it is the best it can be.

I will use many resources to help me with the project such as:

·         Youtube

·         Band Websites

·         Music Videos (From the band we have chosen and their videos to other videos made by other A level students from around the country)

To find actors/ actresses for the videos I will ask around the drama departments of the college to see who would be interested. I will also ask my friends but will only pick those who are enthusiastic about helping and do not mind being in front of a camera. I may even seek to play a part in the video myself if required.

For location scouting I shall go around with the other members of my group and record any possible locations that we find may be best. We shall use a variety of methods to make sure we remember the locations such as:

·         Photographs of the locations

·         Behind the scenes video footage of us finding and marking down the locations

Once the video is finished the best way to get it ‘out there’ would be to post it on social networking sites such as “youtube” and “facebook” so friends and family can see the video and hopefully pass it on to others.

I hope the project will go well and we will end up with a product to be pleased of. To ensure the projects finishes on time we will have to be very careful with our time management and make sure we use the time that we have well.