Other generic artists

Looking into other artist's advertisments I was interested in Florence and The Machine. In the advertisment the colours used are red, black and white; this binary opposition makes the advertisment stand out to the audience. The thing that makes the advert stand out is the generic slogan for the artist which can be identified by the audience even if the advertisement didn't convey the normal characteristics of the artists individual genre of music.

James McNeill Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket

To fit the genre of acoustic, I would like to make the advertisement for Tom Sutcliffe to be abstract, artistic, and visually stand out from adverts in the "Acoustic magazine". The magazine is the only magazine in the UK which is dedicated solely on acoustic music. I think the advert would fit well if it was slotted a page in the magazine. Hopefully it would result in Sutcliffe getting recognised as primarily an acoustic artist and after the release of the first CD, after recieving positive acclaim from the acoustic magazine and being rated then the CD can then be advertised in other music magazines like NME.

I think this shot represents the genre of acoustic perfectly with the guitar and the country location. The reflection of the sunlight over the singer portrays the atmosphere of the music and also conveys the narrative in the music video.

The expression on the singer is not directed at the audience, making another theme in the folk genre, as it is not a posed position, and focuses attention more on where he is sitting, and the image as a whole. As his body is faced towards the audience, it still draws the audience into the shot, however, it is not personal with eye contact. I think the still image sums up the music video, which is split between a narrative, and a performance. It shows the performance part of the video, but I believe this is important as the narrative of the music video can be now made- up by the audience. By this I mean the audience can make- up their own storyline, to the track list, making it more personal. If I used a shot from "The Playhouse", or a shot with more than the main character,- Craig, then the audience may not understand what the shot represents, unless prior to seeing the digipak they had watched the music video.

DIGIPAK designs

The first design conveys the folk acoustic genre through the colours of nature. The chicken is placed centre of the cover, which makes the cover unique and resembles the themes of peace through looking hand-made. The font of the title "Birdcage" is handwritten which adds to the theme of nature. The idea behind the name "Birdcage" has come from the connotations of the indie genre. Florence and the Machine often uses birdcages in marketing the genre and birds in general such as swallows have become a fashion statement of the genre. The cover also disengages the audience from the artist as he isn't being shown or emphasised on the cover but the genre of music is. However contradictory to this the artists' personal attitudes are being conveyed through the countryside themes, such as the chicken and the green grass.

The bright colours on the cover display hippy themes and the generic object of the guitar conveys the acousic genre. It also represents a carefree positive attitude through the odd colouring which emphasises not conforming to the norm of generic music CD covers.

For the inside of the digipakI will use photos of the main character from the music video. This directly makes him centre of attention and links the lyrics to evolve around him.

Analysis of 3 CD covers:

Looking at Eva Cassidy "eva by heart" the genre of music can be immediately acknowledged through Cassidy holding a guitar. This object symbolises the acoustic genre and adds depth to the cover of the CD; through Eva looking outside and disengaging herself from the audience. This is due to not having eye contact with the camera. However the position in which she is sitting and facing is intriguing to the audience and displays a carefree attitude. It shows Cassidy’s view of conforming to the norm and shows how she might represent the opposite view to the superficial life and may represent world peace and individuality. The position is also a calm and natural position which matches the soft ambient colours of the background. The atmosphere which is created portrays the soft melodies by Eva. The texture looks like oil paint which adds an authentic edge to the CD cover and perhaps represents the 194Os folk lore in America (which of course was before Cassidy was alive) however the scenery and architecture in the picture conveys the picture to be up to date with Cassidy’s time period. However the style of painting could be due to the CD being made after her death thus the audience being perhaps younger or newer to Cassidy’s music. However it could also portray a classic theme through the oil painting- preserving her life and her music for her original audiences.

Similarly to Eva Cassidy, the picture on Jeff Buckley’s album “white boy” depicts the acoustic genre through the generic object- a guitar. This displays Buckley’s music as soft rock; through the position of Buckley which is stereotypical for rock stars. The pose could refer to the title of the cd, "mystery white boy"as there is more to him than meets the eye. Buckley's facial expression displays him to have his eyes closed facing upwards which make him seem deep in thought or emotionally wrapped in his music. The low angle shot makes him seem godly and an icon. The shot makes the audience feel like they are part of the crowd at the gig. The colours on the cover, immediately draws attention from the audience through the binary opposition of red, black and white. The colour white emphasises the title of the CD, “white boy” and the black background highlights Buckley and the sub headings which are both red. Through Buckley being red it displays the layout to be artistic. The layout is also quite simple which makes Buckley stand out and displays his calm attitude and the soft rock genre. The sub-heading “live 95/96” conveys the picture of Buckley to be of him live in performance. The font is quirky and stylised- as hand-written making it individual. The binary colours make the cover bold and powerful.

Like both album covers by Eva Cassidy and Jeff Buckley the generic colours of green and yellows in Damien Rice’s CD cover illustrates the acoustic folk genre which convey nature; demonstrating themes of peace and freedom. The earthy colours also express his beliefs, values and attitudes such as travelling around the world and busking. The cover is artistic through a painted picture of a field, which displays Rice’s possible character. Centre of the cover is a drawing of a head which is tilted forward. This unique drawing makes the cover distinctive to the specific audience and represents the folk genre. The handwritten font makes the cover authentic and through the picture not being perfectly symmetrical gives the impression that it was handmade not mass produced.

CD COVERS

I have looked into several artists and their cd cover and art work. The cd cover can convey the genre of music and the conventions that go with it.

1) The foals- The album cover is of the band swimming under water, the blue colours represent the soft tranquil melodies and happy lyrics. The bold title is a binary opposition of black and blues. The genre of band= indie rock, dance punk and math rock.

2) Eva Cassidy- The album cover is of Eva playing the guitar which represents the genre of music she performs and would be similar to that of my artist. The background is very personal as it is possibly her bedroom and engages the audience. Genre- folk, acoustic.

3) The XX- The bold colours of black and white used on the album work is a statement for the band showing how the intend to make a stamp on the music charts. Genre=math rock, indie rock.

4) Jamie T- The art work is supposed to confuse the audience and shows a carefree attitude of soft rock and indie math. Genre-indie rock, uk gatage

5) The kooks- The cd cover displays the band arranged around a room with a guiter showing the genre and the colours convey a calm atmosphere and a carefree but strong attitude. Genre- indie pop.

6) Noah and the whale- The cd cover is of the band in a field showing the conventions of the acoustic genre, the telescope gives direct engagement with the audience. Genre- indie folk.

7)Florence and the machine- the album art work shows the feminity of music and lyrics. It also conveys the genre through the floral background and quirky elements such as the lungs to emphasise the album name. genre- indie pop

Ideas for the magazine production.

For my magazine promo ideas, I have used a shot from the music video. The shot is of Craig playing guitar on a bench, the shot engages the audience due to being a life like picture and not just a posed set picture. It also shows the genre of music- acoustic due to the clothing he is wearing (scarfs, blue shirt over a t-shirt, old leather watch) and the guitar is a signifier for the genre.

The background is important in showing the mood of the music that he plays as light and soft hearted. If the background was darker with black colours, it would be typically be grunge and rock. But the warm lighting and soft light clothing suggests a natural wellbeing and lifestyle and calming music, not loud music to perhaps dance to.

The name of the magazine was inspired by a pub called the Birdcage which is quirky with pictures of birdcages inside and oil paintings with acoustic and folk music. The name is also inspired by the genre of music i have chosen. Florence and the machine is typically folk, acoustic, indie and has pictures of birdcages in her album and on the stage design when performing live and also in her music video "Dog Days", this makes the birdcage a signifier for this musical and fashiable genre.

shots from the production of the music video

The above shot has naturalistic lighting and is of the main character in the midst of singing. What strikes me about the shot is the facial expression of Craig. It makes him stand out from the photo as the non-direct eye contact doesnt immediately attract the audience but it displays him to be in mid-thought. This makes the shot more realistic to the audience. It also displays characteristic of the genre and could be made into the front cover the digipak. The front cover of Eva Cassidy's CD cover "Eva by heart" present her facially turning away but her body language is facing fowards this is similar to the shot of Craig.

The second shot shows the time reference through the bright lighting. Craig's facial expression conveys the happy tones in the song and also make the audience feel relaxed. He is turing towards the camera but not fully and the position he is sitting in draws the audience in and is non-aggressive.

Jeff Buckley in art work:

I have found art peices of Jeff Buckley showing the unbeatable force he brought into peoples lives, and the affect he had on people from emotional to decision making. There is no question asked when looking at how Jeff Buckley changed music in the past ten years and whilst many bands were starting a new rock grunge era he brought a soft stamp that has had a ripple effect ever since.

In class we looked at how audience often make their own media texts, such as "muppets pulp fiction" which transforms, muppets and pulp fiction creating newer audiences. "Pulp fiction's target audience is adults due to having a adult certification, whereas, The Muppets's target audience is children and has been made into multiple films and children's television programmes. This displays how audiences are in constant deman for newer material creativity is seen in such developments.

I also looked at Jeff Buckley as his music is similar to my chosen artist for the production of the music video. Through looking at the artistic pieces I have decided that the print production will look artistic and hand-made which is a characteristic of the folk genre.