The album cover to a great single/ep is very important. It is the
first point of view from the audience’s eyes, thus it needs to be captivating
and catch their interest instantly. It is more than a marketing device, it
creates the music visually. The Sex Pistols Iconic album – Nevermind the Bollocks, was a very
popular album. The publicity that the sex pistols already held didn’t make it necessary
to include their faces within the cover. The design of the album was supposed
to be made to look “easy and fun”. Reid the designer called the art “cheap hype”.
The ransom note lettering that he used was increasingly imitated by other bands
of a similar genre.
Another popular band was – The Clash. They performed their album “London
Calling” on September 21st 1979 at New York’s palladium. Simonon was
seen smashing his bass guitar up at the concert due to him thinking that the
show wasn’t going as well as he planned. They took a photo of him doing this
and put it onto the front cover of their album, interpreting a more performance
base display of the band rather than considering art form like The Sex Pistols.
However the most famous album cover of all time would have to be
Nirvana’s Nevermind. The album cover displays a young boy in a swimming pool,
with a dollar floating beside him. The boy in the photo never received anything
from Nirvana for being in the cover, at the time of being photographed, Nirvana
weren’t that popular. However now Spencer Elden has recreated the cover to
celebrate the 20th anniversary of “Nevermind” - Elden was interviewed at this celebration and he was asked his
opinion on the album and the band, his response was “I like Nirvana a lot and
there are no songs that I don’t like — they all have a special place for people”.
The reason for the album cover was because Kurt
cobain had seen a T.V. program on water births and thought it was an
interesting image. After the picture was taken he thought it would be cool to
add the dollar on a fish hook.
A Day To Remember – What separates me from you?
The album cover illustrates the name of the album. The man trapped
illustrates his separation from the crowd that surrounds him. The glass between
him and the rest of the audience acts as a barrier, in that they belong
together and he is isolated. The band were interviewed and they were asked what
made them choose the album cover – “We've had a different person do almost
every record. I go with the person I'm feeling for the project. I wanted the
artwork for What Separates Me from you to be a little more serious. It has the
vibe of a painting.” The image connotes a message across to the audience of the
album. It might attract an audience that feel the same way as what is displayed
in the image – a subculture that feel isolated from others. Also the fact that
A Day To Remember are of rock genre, which tries to isolate itself from
mainstream culture also could be linked to the album cover. The singer Jeremy
McKinnon said “It's
like you're separated from everybody else. It was definitely important and I'm
always conscious of stuff like that.” Reaching out to that audience, creating
another subculture almost, that feels isolated from the rest of society.
As you can see, most of these album covers have a similiar style. Most have used a computerised/cartoon effect to create the photo. This is what I plan to do for my digipack for "Stay Young"
Fish Tank (2009) is an independent film produced by the BBC – Andrea Arnold. It shows a 15 year old girl struggling to cope with living in an estate in Essex. Katie Jarvis, who plays Mia, had never acted before this film. A casting director spotted her having a fight with her boyfriend at a train station and offered her the role.
The main purpose of Fish Tank is to see Mia’s development of her identity within this setting and to see whether she acquires the same pathway that her mother took. Throughout Fish Tank, Mia has little hope of escaping and the representation of the horse (held in a gypsy camp) could signify that she is trying to be free, however near the end of the film the horse is then shot (to save it more pain) thus Mia could be linked to the horse, that although she will spend her life trying to escape her path, she will never truly win.
Fish Tank is a strong and unpredictable film because Mia is a resilient (but not perfect) character who refuses to allow her miserable circumstances to decide her pathway in life and growing up.
The ending of the film suggests freedom within the shot of the balloon floating away in a vast space.However this is only within Mia’s character and not her sisters. Mia has escaped her mother’s pathway and that environment but consequently left her sister to go through the same lifestyle Mia has and we as the audience are left to wonder whether she too will escape once she turns 16.Mia’s escape isn’t perfect in the sense that she is running away with someone of the same lifestyle and class as her, but it’s a better lifestyle than she has been used to. We are left wondering whether they will make it together and start a better life.
The film is hopeful in youth in a way that it suggests although Mia is stuck in this rut of lower class and poverty, she can create a way to handle them and even though it may not be the most direct route to handle the cause she is getting by. It suggests that youth hold more responsibility than adults as most of the time Mia is displayed as the more motherly person in the family compared to her actual mother who spends most of her time with her boyfriend (Connor) or drinking. This rubs off on Mia but only slightly as we see her stealing the bottle of vodka at her mother’s party. Thus suggesting to the audience that Mia is holds somewhat the same traits as her mum but also wants to change the way people perceive her. It shows that youth hold ambition in her dancing audition, and that they have goals whilst we see her mother slowly ruining what is left of her life.
At the ending of the film there is a scene in which all 3 family members dance in a line together, connoting that they are all similar in some aspects, but this is right before Mia runs away, therefore maybe suggesting that they will always be family but Mia doesn’t want to belong to them anymore.
While She Sleeps are a British hard-core band from Sheffield, England. They formed in 2006 and are now a very popular group in their genre of music. The band consists of Lawrence Taylor (Frontman), Sean Long and Mat Welsh (Guitarists), Aaran Mackensie (Bassist) and Adam Savage (Drummer). While She Sleeps are signed to Search and Destroy records (UK), The End Records (US) and Shock Records (Australia).On 7th June 2012, While She Sleeps won an award for Best British Newcomer at the Kerrang! Awards 2012. They have recently toured around the UK, support coming from Bury Tomorrow. The two bands are closely linked in genre and style, thus by touring together they appealed to the same audience, gaining more popularity from one another.
Their song Crows is one of the most popular songs they’ve recorded. The song comes from the album “The North Stands for Nothing” which was their first debut “mini” album.
This is While She Sleeps live at the Impericon Fesitval.
This is While She Sleeps live at the 02 academy in Sheffield.
Goodwin’s Theory is based on 8 principles to analyse a music video, therefore I am going to discuss each factor for the video to the song “Crows”.
The name of the song itself has a symbol/meaning. The word “Crow” means death. Many multi-cultural myths have included the crow and related it to being mischievous, cunny and also linked with the goddess of war and death –Morrigan. By illustrating that the song is called Crows straight away connotes to the audience that this song has a negative vibe. The lyrics “This is the end” backs up my point. Goodwin suggests that there is a link between the lyrics and the visuals and I think this is true for the music video, as the lyrics mainly illustrate how they’re trying to escape their death and “rise against it”; the background of the music video suggests corruption and a broken life. It could signify that everything has been crushed and creates the atmosphere of impending doom. The lyrics “I’m reaching out to you” could link to the open spaces that they are performing in, suggesting to the audience that they are isolated from everyone else.
The building they are standing in front of has been knocked down and destroyed, however if you look in this shot you can see in the background that the other buildings are still standing, but they are far away from the performance. Suggesting to me that they are stuck in a rut of being unstable and out of reach from them is the chance to escape and become established again.
As the music begins at the start of the music video, the main vocalist (Lawrence) jumps to synchronise himself with the beginning of the song. I think this is quite effective as it’s an interesting way to start the music video and connects him more with the music. The quick edits right from the beginning again compliments the music as it is fast and hard edged. It creates chaos which links with the space in which they are performing in and the sound that they are trying to create.
The slow motion effect that takes place at 0.26 combined with the blurred camera shot disconnects with the music, as this creates a more calming effect rather than a chaotic one. I think this is to contrast the two different types of shots that are continually in the music video.
The black out at 0.29-0.30 goes along with the song as there is a very short break and then the music begins again, this is to signify a break before the vocals come into the song. This is effective as it co-insides with the music and creates the song visually rather than just hearing the lyrics.
At 1.03-1.04 the visuals on the music video amplifies the song as the guitar builds up and the camera shot creates a confused effect, making the visuals look blurred.
The genre characteristics of “Crows” have to link with the hard-core category. Flannel shirts were always linked with the rock/hard-core genre and the drummer in While She Sleeps wears a flannel shirt to connote that he is within that specific genre and displays the right characteristics. For example if you look at other hard-core bands, you will see they wear the same type of clothing.
You can also see that many band members of this genre are covered in tattoos. In the 1960’s, these were associated with thugs and skin heads; they were a sign of rebellion. To have a tattoo was to go against the mainstream culture, thus as rock/hard-core tries to avoid being a “sell out” (associated with mainstream), tattoos signify that they are breaking the normality.As the pictures I stated above linked with clothing, they also linked with the idea that most hard-core bands will have a member with a lot of tattoos to show the audience that they are not connected with mainstream music.
The skinny black trousers that all of the band members are wearing in the video is largely linked with the punk/rock scene, even though now in modern times they are more commonly found within indie genres etc. However in the 80’s “drainpipes” as they were called were only worn by popular rock groups. Again most hard-core bands will have the same fashion style so that they can all be compared to one another, to show that they belong to the same type of genre.
Along with the fashion elements in the video connoting their genre, the way the music video is set out also goes along with the punk/hard-core style of things. Many bands that are associated with this genre will focus their music video mainly on their performance, some may include footage of them performing live at a venue, and others like While She Sleeps will have them performing in a different location to get a message across to the audience. For example if you look at these music videos, you will see that they too include a lot of performance shots. (Bury Tomorrow and Architects)
A lot of the bands base their music video in wide open locations, mainly outside, to signify that they are separated from other genres, in a sense that they are in their own music category, away from everything else.
In both music videos (While She Sleeps and Bury Tomorrow), they have their action responding to the music.
The genre of this music has most commonly been linked with sex and drugs. It is said that the rock and roll lifestyle revolves around these two factors. Many stars of this genre are hard edged and reckless. Punk has often been illustrated on the streets through vandalism (spray paint) to get across their political views and beliefs. They’re often controversial opinions, focusing upon individualism and free thought. Some may wear certain clothing (second hand) or have a particular tattoo to put across their belief. The Clash was the first obviously political punk rock band, introducing socialism to the punk scene.
In religion terms there isn’t a wide variety within Punk/Rock. Atheist or agnostic are the most common religions within this subculture, however certain bands have broken out from this norm and promoted Christianity, Islam etc.
Rock fans often try to escape the paradox of “selling out” (that rock music is mainstream) they would rather prefer to be in their own small subculture and not involved in the commercial world.
Jon Sabave described this subculture as “bricolage of almost every previous youth culture that existed in the West since the Second World War”
Visual art was an important aspect of punk lifestyle. It is characterised by considered violation, for example using cut out letters from newspapers and magazines, (previously associated with kidnap and ransom notes)
