In the lesson our prep was set that we had to use a software called Wordpress. This is a site where you can create a website/blog.
Our task was to create a homepage for a band or musician using wordpress.
At the start trying to use wordpress was a challenge because I had only used it once before but a long time ago so the whole layout and style of it had changed.
First what I had to do was choose a name for my home page, I decided to do a artist called Bon Iver. I decided to do him because he is a fairly unknown artist so it would be easy to make a homepage for him.
I decided to do a fairly graphic style of site because it would grab peoples attention.
I then had to make it my own and customise different tiles. To do this I had to add a blog and "stick it" to the front page.
I added lots of tabs such as; music, tour, merchandise, videos, etc. This makes the page more interactive for the audience.
I think that if I had more time and when I become more comfortable with Wordpress I would be able to produce a much better website layout that looks more professional.
This video is a narrative music video, it is about a couple
who are almost Bonnie and Clyde like because they plan to rob a store to get
money and have a very toxic relationship. Within this the audience see them
take drugs and smoke which isn’t what your average couple would do together and
sets up a bad representation of the band and their star image.
The video is done by using flash backs and flash forwards,
you see moments of the couple being happy together, then you see him by himself
and then when they aren’t as happy together.
The song is non-dietetic sound but at certain points (when
he is singing into a microphone to his girlfriend) he lip syncs the words to
the song. This helps the audience to see that the music isn’t just in the
background all the time and it makes it very interesting to watch and helps
link the songs/lyrics with the video.
Around a two thirds into the music video the music stops as
we see the couple run into the store wearing balaclavas, the audience then her
swearing and a voice saying “get on the ground”. The audience then hear a
couple of gun shots and then the use of silence to build up the tension of the
moment. As soon as the door of the store opens the music starts up again and
the audience see the main man has been shot and his girlfriend is helping him.
Before this scene happens the camera goes to the faces of
the other men in the van (where the man and girlfriend will get out of) which
are the other band member, but Matty Healy (the main character) is the most
famous out of the band so he has the bigger part and the rest of the band are
just their as “extras”. This also shows that Matty is going to help set up the image the band want to
portray and because he is the main character in this video people will assume
that he is the front man.
The music video has very dark lighting to it, apart from
when they are outside, so this may connote that their relationship isn’t a
happy one. However, when they show intimate moments there is always some sort
of light coming through a window to show the intimate moment.
Throughout the flash backs and cross cuts the audience can
see a flash forward to them walking towards the store that they are going to
rob.
These set up questions for the audience that the band will
hopefully answer in the music video
The camera movement in this video is mainly hand held,
because we can see the shaky ness of it, however at the beginning of the video we can see the slow camera
movement zoomed in on details of Matty and the girl which gives us a sense
intimacy of but once the music kicks in the we get more faced paced clips.
Near the end of the video when Matty is shot the audience
can see a cross cut to him being in pain to the couple being intimate, this really
contrasts but it works well because they link.
There is direct correlation with the music and the movement,
for example when we first see Matty’s bloody hand on the side of the building
the beat of the drums kicks in and gives it a more dramatic effect.
The shots we see really contest each other because they show
the bad parts of the relationship, the fighting, and the good part of the
relationship, the laughs and love.
The meaning behind the song is that it is a toxic
relationship and the couple are too focused on each other to notice the
destruction they cause to each other, we see this when the camera does close
ups of their faces and bodies, and then when they are smoking and taking drugs.
The title “Robbers” refers to how the couple are robbing each
other of happiness and chances in this world, such as when Matty points the gun
at her head as a “joke” and when they go and rob a bank. The video shows how
they are stuck in this type of relationship because they are so caught up in
their toxic relationship.
I think that the band wants to be represented as people who
care more about the story their music is trying to tell. If people base their
opinions of the band on this video and think that this represents them as a
whole then this gives them a bad representation. However, I think the way the
video was done people can see they the band want people to focus on the deeper
meaning and listen to the lyrics and link it with the video.
This video is number one on my list because I love the way it is shot and the story behind the music video. I also like the way the band is portrayed in this music video because they aren't trying to make themselves look good or give themselves a good reputation but they are focusing on trying to tell a story.
2) Carried Away by Passion Pit
I like this video because it is really fun to watch. I really like the concept of the video as it shows the couple arguing but then trying to make it up to each other. I really like the characters in this video and the way it is filmed because it is very cleverly done.
3) Blank Space by Taylor Swift
I like this music video because of the stylised look to it. Everything looks perfect and all her outfits and settings are extravagant. I also really like how the music video is linked in witht he song and the way she uses her lyrics in some sections of it.
4) Forgive & Forget by The Kooks
This is number four because I really like how simple the concept is but how well it works. I like the idea of the band playing in the middle and the dancers dancing around the outside to the beat of the music, I think it has a really good effect.
5) Don't Save Me by Haim
I like this video because of the cross cuts between them playing guitar and a basketball scene. I also really like the lightin effect in the video and how they go from them playing guitars, to them playing basketball to them in a room singing. It feels like a very natural video that hasn't tried to be to impressive but still manages to look really good and have a good effect.
What are the ingrediants?
I think that the ingredients for a successful music video is to make it something that people would want to watch and to reach out to your target audience by doing something they would enjoy. I also think having the stars in the videos is a good ingredient for a video because the viewer can then engage more with the stars. I also think having a good story line or a concept in music videos make them more interesting and enjoyable to watch. Overall I think you need a wide range of ingrediants to make the perfect music video for people to enjoy.
James Bay's website is a campaign because it is getting people to buy the album. It is trying to use different way to get people to buy the album.
This is an online marketing campaign which is interactive so it gets the audience to be part of the experience of his music.
On his website there aren't very many Key Performance Indicators because we don't know how many albums have sold or how famous he actually is, however we can estimate how popular the single is because of the number of views on the music video which is around 35million.
He has also made lots of music videos to go with the album which will help promote it.
On his youtube channel you can also see live performances he has done to help promote the album:
Overall I think that James Bay has a good campaign to help him get well known and help to promote his album. There are multiple factors that play in order to help market the album which all add up to make a successful campaign.
The first thing you see on Carly Rae Jepsens site is advertisement for her new single "I Really Like You"
On her front page you can also see tabs that lead to other pages, this makes the website more interactive.
Carly Rae Jepson also uses social networks sites to help her fans stay connected, this makes the campaign more interactive.
She has links that go to her new music video which comes as a promotional tool and helps promote the album. In her video she uses Tom Hanks and Justin Bieber to bring in different audiences and to become the unique selling point of her video.
When she performs her song at a concert this is synergy and it promotes the rest of her album.
Her record label is a subsidiary of Sony so therefore they have lots of cross media convergence and lots of money to help promote her album and tour.
