Chosen Artist

The 1975
The 1975 are an alternative/indie rock band from Cheshire. The band started in 2012 and is still ongoing as of today. The group consists of Matt Healy (vocals, guitar) Adam Hann (guitar) George Daniel (drums, backing vocals) and Ross MacDonald (bass). They have released 4 Eps and a self titled album as well as touring internationally and at the coachella festival 2014.

After research into the indie rock genre and their target audience the final decision to base our music video and digipak on has been decided to be around the band The 1975. This is because they are recently becoming more popular within the genre giving us a chance to help promote the band as is being done but the industry professionally at the moment. Not only will this give us current and constant work to evaluate and compare our own to but also the chance to create something new and unseen to this genre as the rules and conventions for it are still being written. As this band is very new to becoming a popular part of this genre it will encourage us to think of fresh ideas that have not yet been shown. Although this may hinder us within research of existing work that has been done on this band it will allow us to explore all avenues.

Chosen Song
The 1975 - Sex

'And this is how it starts
You take your shoes off in the back of my van
Yeah my shirt looks so good, when it's just hanging off your back
And she said 'Use your hands and my spare time
We've got one thing in common, it's this tongue of mine'
She said
She's got a boyfriend anyway
All we seem to do is talk about sex
She's got a boyfriend anyway
She's got a boyfriend anyway
He's got a funny face
But I like that 'cause he still looks cool
She's got a boyfriend anyway
She's got a boyfriend anyway
And I'm about to fill his shoes
But you say no
You say no
Does he take care of you
Or could I easily fill his shoes?
But you say no
You say no
And you're making your way down
She's got a boyfriend anyway
She's got a boyfriend anyway
If we're gonna do anything we might as well just fuck
She's got a boyfriend anyway
She's got a boyfriend anyway
You're in your high tops any day
You're in your skinny jeans anyway
You and your fit friends anyway
I'd take them all out any day
They've all got back-homes anyway
You've all got boyfriends anyway'
There's only minutes before I drop you off
I loved your friend when I saw his film
Now we're on the bed in my room
And now we're just outside of town
And I'm not trying to stop you love
You've got your tongue pierced anyway

We have chosen this song as we feel like we could show a vary of techniques and conventions that would keep to the feel of the song and the genre. This includes the use of a black and white filter along with a narrative as well as a performance part of the video. Whilst planning and creating this piece we will be focusing on our genre and the conventions within it to make sure that we are delivering what is expected from us by the audience.

Magazines

Magazine

A magazine is defined as a periodical publication containing articles and illustrations which is often on a particular subject or aimed at a certain readership.

Key Features

Front Cover

• Masthead
• Main image
• Cover line
• Left side third
• Date
• Barcode
• Lead article
• Main cover line
• Model credit

Inside Pages

• Images
• Text
• Editors page
• Contents

Distribution

Paid Circulation

This is when the magazine is sold to reader at a price either per issue or by a subscription where there is an annual or monthly fee to be paid and readers are sent the issues in the post. Examples of this are magazines such as Private Eye which is a fortnightly current affairs magazine.

Non-Paid Circulation

This means that there is no cover price and issues of the magazine are given away in places such as street dispensers, airlines or included within other products and publications. Examples of this are magazines such as TNT Magazine which is a weekly travellers magazine.

Controlled Circulation

This is often used by 'insider magazines' or industry based publications. They are often free examples of them are magazines such as Computing which is a weekly media and IT magazine.

Online

Since the start of the internet the interest of real life copies of magazines have become less popular and now some institutions have taken to using the internet and selling digital copies which makes the distribution easier yet keeping reader stats and figures at the same regular pace. This prevents smaller independent companies from going bust and keeping magazines alive and current with the technological movements.

Ads
Online and print magazines are a critical part of advertising for artists as they are aimed directly at a target audience all around the world helping them to branch out.

Examples
Q

Q magazine is an alternative music magazine. It is published monthly in the UK by the company Bauer Consumer media (Emap). Mark Ellen and David Hepworth founded the magazine because they felt it was a niche market as there wasn't a magazine for the older generation who still buy CD's. It was first published in 1986 and was different from other magazines due to its high quality photography and printing as well as being targeted to the older generations making it seemly more sophisticated compared to other magazines. It was originally called 'Cue' however this was changed to 'Q' due to the possible confusion of it being a snooker magazine. As well as this the use of a single letter is thought to be more prominent when displayed on a newsstand. The magazine includes a wide range of reviews on not only music but also television, films and games. however the majority of the magazine is filled with interviews and compiling lists. Promotional gifts are often given away with the magazine such as CD's and books giving smaller bands a chance to promote themselves to their specific target market as they are seen as such an individual audience. Q has a history of association with charitable organisations and launched its own radio station in June 2008 however it is only available on digital TV. They also own their own music channel called Q TV. Its circulation figures are 103,017, go which 81,240 being in the UK and its cover price ids £3.90. The target audience for the magazine are people in their 30's and 40's who are looking for a different mode of address.
They are known to publish articles on a range of different artists giving each genre to get publicity.

This front cover features indie rock band the arctic monkeys. This along with many other advertisements helped promote their comeback to music. Theres are no conventional indications that they are promoting an indie rock band on the front cover making it approachable from a wide range of people and interesting new audiences to this type of music. It is not until we go inside the magazine that we find out about the band and changes developing. Instead we are shown the lead singer to promote and advertise the band.

NME

NME magazine is published by IPC and first started in March 1952. In the 1970s it became the best selling British music magazine. The readership of this magazine is at an average age of 25 with 73% of that being male and the remaining 27% being female. It started as a music newspaper and gradually moved towards the magazine formate during the 1980s and finally changing from newsprint in 1998. NME stands for New Musical Express. They also have an online version of the magazine which was launched in 1996 and it now the worlds biggest standalone music site with over 7 million users per month.

This front cover features the band oasis. It has stuck to typical conventions of the genre as the colour scheme has been kept very basic. The issue is based on promoting the band and their music despite circulations of 'bust ups' within the band. This message would of been seen by a wide range of their target audience. The main article of this is within the magazine so to sell the story we can see well known and highly popular band members 'celebrities' to gain interest from the readership.

MOJO

Mojo magazine is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer. It is distributed monthly in the UK and was first published in November 1993. The first issue contained stars such as Bob Dylan and John Lennon to gain popularity. It has been in constant battle with competing magazine 'Q' to become the biggest circulation paid-for music magazine whilst drops in magazines such as NME and Kerrang! have been happening in the rock magazines. On average their circulation is 100,507. Its target audience is predominately male at 72% of their readership being male.

This issue of Mojo is promoting the alternative rock back radiohead. Although colourful the layout of the front cover has been kept fairly basic and discrete. The typical use of an image of the band is being used to not only promote them but also the magazine as this is what will first attract the target audience that they are wanting to reach out to.

Digipak

Digipak

A digipak is describes as a type of packaging for CDs or DVDs, typically made from cardboard with and internal plastic holder for one or more discs.

It is also defined as a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI-Shorewood, and Atlas Holdings LLC company.

Key Features

Front Cover

• Name of the artist
• Name of the album
• Price
• Details of bonus material
• Image; the artist or a logo that symbolises them

Back

• Track list
• Recording information
• Producers
• Date of recording
• External websites
• Image; the artist or a logo that symbolises them

Inside panels

• Credits
• Thanks
• Song writers
• Image; the artist or a logo that symbolises them

Digipak promotional poster

• Name of the band
• Date of album release
• Name of the album
• Where to purchase the album
• Tour date and venues
• Record company
• External links
• Prices
• Image; the artist or a logo that symbolises them

The making process

The digipak is made using cardboard and plastic. There is no conventional placement for the CD to go and it can have may fold outs attatched branching out of the regular form.

There can be many or minimal CDs included in the digipak which can include different forms of holding them such as the well know plastic holder or a slot in sleeve. They typically consist of a gatefold book style with plastic trays. They were among the first alternatives to jewel cases with them being less generic they apply more to my unconventional genre.

Trademark
IMPAC Group, Inc were the first to originally own the trademark of the digipak. This company was acquired by MeadWestvaco or MWV for short in 2000 and folded into its AGI Media division. Following this acquisition the digipak name and designs were licensed to manufactures all around the world. MWV sold AGI Media to Atlas Holdings in 2010. In 2012 Atlas purchased Shorewood Packaging from International Paper and merged the two companies to create AGI-Shorewood who currently own the digipak trademark (2014).

Examples
5 Seconds Of Summer

Front cover - On the front cover there are the conventional features such as the name of the artist and the image of the artist and the band logo. This band is described as a pop rock/pop punk band. This is not too dissimilar to the indie rock genre that I have been looking at with their only being minor difference in the conventions. They have stuck to a strict colour code using mostly black and white with some accents of red. The red could connote the danger and 'punk' like vibe to their band yet the images surrounding them seeming cartoon like brings back the young innocence of the band taking away any harsh tones that otherwise may be perceived. The fact that they are not meeting all of the conventional features required for the front of a digipak could connote the rebellious side to the band with not sticking to what everyone else does and expressing their individuality.

Inside - The inside panels typically feature pictures relating to the band again keeping to the same simplistic colour scheme. In this digipak the CD has been placed in the middle with both of the side panels to this CD being made into sleeves which feature both a flip book of the band containing credits and yet more images and a poster of the bands logo.

Back - The back of the digipak features names of songs that are on the CD, barcode, external websites and many other conventions. Some of these features are being made up from what was excluded from the front of the digipak keeping all of the conventional features on the item yet in a different placement to where we may originally expect them.

Arctic Monkeys

Front Cover - On the front cover there are conventional features such as an image that relates to the band and the name of the band. The arctic monkeys are an indie rock band and you can see this through conventions such as the use of black and white with the absence of any other colour. The fact that the front cover has been kept very simplistic with conventions that we would normally expect of a front cover could connote the individuality of the band, not keeping to what everyone else does.

Inside -  The inside panels typically feature a picture of the band again keeping to the black and white colour scheme. In this digipak the CD has been placed inside a sleeve within the pack rather than a conventional CD holder again expressing the individuality of the band. There is also a flip book of the band containing credits and yet more images as expected from the conventions of a digipak.

Back - The back of the digipak features names of songs that are on the CD, barcode, external websites and many other conventions. Some of these features are being made up from what was excluded from the front of the digipak keeping all of the conventional features on the item yet in a different placement to where we may originally expect them.

Passenger

Front Cover - On the front cover there are conventional feats such as the name of the album and the artist. This artist is described as a folk indie rock genre which has slightly different conventions to just the indie rock genre. For example a lot more colour has clearly been used which could express the difference between the two types of indie rock genres. Also the fact that a image or logo representing the artist hasn't been used and instead we see album art is important as this connotes how they are slightly more traditional compared to the common use of images of bands and logos.

Inside - The inside panels also contain album art again keeping to the multicoloured colour scheme. In this digipak there are two CD's of which have been places into two slots in either side of the digipak with the flip book slotted in the middle.

Back - The back of the digipak features names of songs that are on the CD, barcode, external websites and many other conventions. Some of these features are being made up from what was excluded on the front of the digipak keeping all of the conventional features on the item yet in a different placement to where we may originally expect them.

Video

Video
Video is described as the recording, reproaching or broadcasting of moving visual images which is filmed with a video recorder. Videos are a powerful way of presenting an opinion or idea as it can be manipulated in many ways such as colour, movement and lighting to name a few, it is able to create many different portrayals of a certain situation.

Key features

• Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics through mediums such as stage performance and dance routines.
• There is a strong relationship between lyrics and visuals that either illustrate amplify or contradict the two.
• The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist which may develop into motifs which would be a signature to their work and visual style.
• There is often intertextual reference to films, tv and other music videos sometimes creating synergy.
• The video is is either performance, narrative or concept based

Visuals

Music videos can use a set of images to illustrate the meaning of lyrics and genre it also sets the context of the song. Sometimes the meaning of the song is completely ignored, this is disjuncture as what is show on screen and the audio is asynchronous to each other. Lastly the images could amplify the meaning making it more powerful and personal to the audience.

The Making Process

Jamie Thraves

Jamie made short films at university and began by shooting three low budget music videos with an averaging cost of aroung £5,000 each. As for many other directors his livelihood and business is completely dependent of each commission that he is granted to work on. Jamie Thraves in particular submitted two treatments for his two best known videos and both were accepted. These are Radiohead - Just which is budgeted at £100,000 and shot in three days and Coldplay - The Scientist which is budgeted at £200,000 and also shot in three days. He has used music videos go get into the film business and so far he has show three features in The Low Down, The Cry of the Owl and Treacle Jr. His tips for creating a music video is to use the lyrics yet don't take them too literally but most importantly go with the emotion that the song gives naturally.
Emil Nava
Emil began as a runner for film production companies and used to work for Blink Productions, he now freelances for OB management. He has begun to make adverts which are on the higher budget and production values although this gives him a lot less creative freedom. At his peak of his career he made 24 music videos in the space of one year. When he began shooting videos for independent labels the budget at this time would be around £5,000 to £10,000. His most expensive video to date was for Jessie J and the budget was £160,000.
Both of these directors demonstrate the varies in the cost and time scale that independent and major companies expect from directors with videos being filmed and edited and completed in under a week.

Indie Rock Videos

The 1975 - Chocolate

Chocolate by the 1975 clearly resembles what we expect from a typical indie rock music video. Throughout the music video we are constantly being taken back to the band driving in a car, at night in the rain. This use of the weather and time of day gives a dark and gloomy feel to the music video which in contradictory to the vibe that the song is giving off yet connects with the lyrics themselves. The weather is also a strong indicator to the tone of the song and what it is all about as rain is usually related to sad songs. The relationship between the lyrics and visuals illustrate each other giving an understanding of how they may be feeling. The use of the band in a car rather than in their studio singing connects well with the audience as it is something that they are able to relate to making the artist more down to earth.

We are also shown the main singer of the band solitary singing whilst smoking. This activity can be seen as fashionable within the social group that this is aimed at giving more connections to the audience. There is also the sense of escapism coming from the artist and his life. The audience may also be watching the video for escapism of the daily tasks they have to go through giving a stronger connection between what would first appear as two completely different lives.

The next image is showing the band in a dim light, revealing unclear silhouettes. This gives a dramatic effect and it is ambiguous as the faces aren't clear keeping the audience wondering what is going on and if it is even them at all.

They have experimented with the angles of the different members. This shows variety and a point of perspective from the artists point of view. It also shows the singer as being alone, this brings the artist and the audience together showing that no matter who you are and what life experiences you've come from everyone has these feelings and do experience them at some point.

The narrative is  not shown as much in this music video compared to others by the 1975 yet it is still major part. It is played by a band member and a woman which is unusual as the narrative is normally played by unknown actors to create a separation between the band and the story of the song. This shows the individuality of the indie rock genre as they haven't got a strict set of codes and conventions to stick by making their music videos more flexible and original.

The indie rock genre is shown in the video with the use of effects such as the typical black and white feature. I will be using this along with the separation of the music and narrative clips merged together in my music video to keep to the codes and convention of this genre.

Arctic Monkeys - Arabella

The narrative of this video is immediately introduced with the culture of the audience being shown. This helps the audience connect with the band as they are highly popular and can seem to be on another level compared to the general public. This brings them down to life along making them more relatable. This also gives the audience something to base their actions in life on as it shows you what people of this music genre do and act making it highly influential.

There are multiple close up shots of faces and in particular the instruments being used. This gives the video an authentic look of a live performance which is known to be a conventional feature of an indie rock music video.

The locations used in the video are also conventional of the indie rock genre as the band are seen performing to a small crowd and the surrounding suburban area. The use of the handheld camera in these locations make them more personal and not as staged.

Again as expected the conventional use of the black and white filter has been used on this music video as it is a typical trait to an indie rock music video.

Radiohead

There is only one location in this music video of the band performing. Although this is a convention of an indie rock video it is unusual for it not to be given a narrative especially for such an emotive song. This represents the individuality of the genre making up the rules as they go as to their own free will.

The regular close ups of the performers and their instuments occur. Although they are placed higher than us and the live audience watching them we are reminded that they are still not too dissimilar with the use of costume as everything is kept basic and bland. The expression on the artists same is also conventionally emotionless keeping the focus onto the music.

Like the 1975 music video this one also used silhouettes. Although this is not seen to be a conventional feature we can assume that it is used to convey the individuality and mysterious side of the indie rock genre as there is no set rules there is no way of knowing what direction it is going to go in next.

The over exposure of the picture with the use of stage lights give this a more personal feel as it has clearly not been tweaked and perfected with the use of editing. This raw look to the video keeps the focus on the music rather then fancy effects making the artist the main attraction.

Unusually this music video is not in black and white. This represents the unruly side of this genre making it unconventional. This paired with the neglect of using a narrative portray this band as trying to break the codes and conventions of their own genre.