Planning the Music video after the change in concept

I have replanned the key themes for my piece in a simple mindmap, it is a rough outline of some of the major changes that have occured from shifting the focus of my piece.

Linkin Park Album Analysis- Living things

Linkin Park Living Things Digipack Analysis

 

 

Name of Album: Living Things

Release Date:  20/06/2012

Band: Linkin Park

Front Cover

 

 

The Front cover of the album is strangely ominous yet also very visually powerful, the sharp red colouring on the eyes and chin of the character really stand out in the centre of the piece, the crumbling effect on the character itself is also very interesting. What it could possibly signify is something akin to a personal shell or inner being. The Typography of the title is bold and stunning with its subheading slighlty smaller indicating that more importance is on the band name being seen rather than the album title, this isnt really an issue here because the front cover is quite abstract and easily definable among other albums covers in my opinion.

 

Back Cover

 

The back of the CD Cover is reminiscent of the themes and colours shown on the front cover, however the colour red is omitted, this less visually stunning image is however less concerning as some may think, it would be fair to assume that at this point the person viewing the album has already found and picked up the CD being drawn to the front. the back serves its purpose clearly and shows the songs listed on the back, I know from personal experience that the special edition of the CD comes with a live tour DVD so this could be something to think about.

 

Inside CD

 

The Inside of the CD casing contains a lyric book, this is one of the few decent pictures of it that I have managed to find, but the lyric book follows this style, its a series of beautiful paintings with the lyrics placed over it in white making it stand out on the background. I have checked and this is the actual inside, my confusion for this is that the piece inside doesnt appear to match the exterior of the CD, however, it will admit it is quite stunning. I am strongly considering using this idea for my piece by underlaying a beautiful picture, to avoid copyright infringement I will most likely take a photograph and edit it.


I have gotten some strong inspiration from this piece here, I especially like the Front Cover and Inner CD Casing.

Overhaul on Media Video Concept

After having a large number of concerns with the actual original concept I proposed I have decided to reconstruct my music video. The concept will be up shortly.

Linkin Park Castle of Glass Video Analysis

00:00 - First of all this quote is good in setting the tone of the piece as it tells the audience immediately that the story isn't going to be happy. Its also good in telling the audience that the story is feasible and relevant to them keeping them invested.

(NOTE: There is a filter it seems over the footage to give the shadows more prominence in the scene, this can be seen especially when the boy turns the handle on the door.)

00:00 - 1:08 - This scene still hits me pretty hard, The story is clear and understandably tragic in the implication, the undulated and constant tone adds to this sense of tension and slowly builds as the young boy's sadness does making a strong link.

1:28 - This piece uses slow motion well both at the start and especially here, it just gives everything a smooth tragic feel that really helps the story. 

1:29 - 1:48 - This is a brilliant concept as there is a seamless connection between the two scenes, the blank expression on the singers face also keeps the tone well and doesnt detract from the overall story.

1:49 - 1:51 - The sharp jump from the character is interesting but its good in that it helps promote this disassociation from society for the death of what I presume to be his parent.

1:52 - 2:00 - The way that the walls fade away is brilliant as it keeps the whole piece together, the narrative and the band exist as one in a sense, they occupy a similar space, it almost like a metaphor, that behind the walls of this broken home at the death of the parent these emotions (the song) truly lie.

2:04 - The music is more directly connected to the narrative, the soft beats of the boys hand for me seems similar

2:09 Good shot which gives the band a strong unity.

2:24 The way in which the band plays out the tempo is incredibly exhilarating in connection to the visual effect and they play out their most powerful notes on screen for all to see, empowering the audience.

2:42 The band continues this poweful playing of their instruments, it keeps this adrenaline flowing and the audience stays invested because of it.

3;05 - 3:15 This entire sequence is beautiful, especially the guitarist whose harsh riff shocks the scene into slow motion, and as the rain and glass fall the band all plays as one, the expressions are powerful and its incredibly exciting.

Sadly I cant comment on a large portion of this video because half of the video was used as advertising for Medal of Honor which sadly detracts from the theme quite a bit, it should also be noted that the ending of this piece notably at 4:07 is quite interesting as it shows a sort of loop in the theme, similar to the video for Nickelback's 'Savin Me'. It gives a possible interpretation to the story and it gives the piece a bit of a return to an equilibrium which is in some way similar to Todorov's Theory of Narrative.

I really like the effects used in this piece but I lack the resources to achieve something so spectacular, I am however fond of the grainy effect when the band is playing in the rain and the real power behind the way that they play, it just really gives me a strong idea of how a band is to work together in a music video. The narrative story for this piece is powerful in some aspects and it really shows me how you can visually depict personal conflictions of emotions through expression and tone.

Nickelback Savin Me Video Analysis

In order to get the desired concept style right on my video, I believe that it would certainly be worth while analysing a video in the respective genre closer to the themes I am trying to reflect. I believe that the music video for 'Savin me' by Nickelback is quite similar to what I am trying to achieve and so I have decided to break down the video into what it does well and explore possible concepts to include in my piece. The full video can be seen below with analysis following...

00:00 - 00:25 : I'm incredibly fond of the ambient opening this piece has, it quite slow yet dramatic and it gives the piece a cinematic feel which is very enjoyable

(Point of Notice: I have noticed immediately that there is a slightly dull colouring presented in the piece, it seems like the footage has been dulled and darkened slightly with colour editing to set the tone and I must say its incredibly effective in representing a dingy and lifeless city.)

00:30 - 00:35 : Aside from the brief moment of action, I've noticed that the camera is shaking slightly, it appears loose and seems to be handheld or edited somehow, the effect this gives is interesting as it connotes a shaky disposition in the original character we first see, then being passed onto the new character. In a narrative sense this would appear to be the main character inheriting a sense of unease and a troubled mind.

00:36: The band is first shown, not too much time is spent in waiting to show the band which when put immediately after the first shots seems to be indicating to the audience that the band members are trying to connote some sense of sadness of their own. A feat which could make the audience empathetic and emotionally invested, which is helped by the depressed stances in the dark building shown by the band. The shaky camera is also maintained from the previous shots which connects the band and the main character from the narrative and keeps the theme flowing.

00:50 - 1;10 - The shaky camera work here is incredibly prominent, more so than before, it really grounds in the confusion of the main character.

1:12 - A strain on the main character is evident and his clear stress is carried through well.

1;24 - First use of the timer effect, its interesting to say the least and quite a powerful concept but I'm not entirely sure how I would work any truly powerful special effect like this into my piece.

1:25 - 1:35 - The stronger lines of the chorus have a real urgency here that the band be seen singing them, they usually tend to pick up on the end of a line or the beginning of one and never seem to stick around for more than an average of 5 seconds.

1:35 - 2:00 From here we see a continuation of the main character walking around, he seems more panicked than before and his acting comes across well in presenting his panic.

2:00 - 2:05 This is a very powerful shot in my opinion, the sheer shake of the camera and the way in which the main character bolts is very powerful in showing him peak in worry.

2:14 This section features an incredibly powerful POV shot, giving the audience an intimate view of the characters panic through the rapid movement of his head.

2:19 The angle in which the camera shakes tilts is powerful and accompanies the tempo brilliantly. it really assists the strong guitar sound and powerful drum beat of the song.

(I've started to notice that this piece is dominated by the narrative more than the band, even the band doesn't have instruments, which is interesting but the piece just gets away with doing this because of the strong camera work and special effects telling an engaging and gripping story.)

2:37 about 5/8's into the song is when we really start to see the tragedy peak, from here the tone is about to change to one of acceptance and is powerful and intriguing.

2:50 - 2;54 When the old woman dies in the ambulance I've noticed that the guitar riff is perfectly in sync with her death, it stands as a marker of the tragedy and sorrow felt by the main character having witnessed that and the sharpness of the note can be said to be representative of the characters emotions reaching a 'breaking point'.

3:10 - 3:15 The smile on the characters face is the first indication of his redemption and it really brightens the mood in connection to the song changing its tone slightly to one of recovery.

3:55 - 4:06 The slow fade of the song and the switch back to the ambiance is quite powerful in explaining the characters unburdening and his return to normality. its also interesting in replicating the opening of the video as well, giving the story an ongoing approach and showing the audience that this gift keeps going from one to another.

Conclusion

What I like about this video is that there's a really strong narrative focus, its an interesting story and it has interesting twists and turns which keep it engaging. The filtering of the colours is powerful and it gives the city setting that much more of an edge in creating a dark soulless environment which represents the characters inner strife.

The camera work is superb in replicating the emotion of the character, his feelings and physical strife is reflected in the use of POV shots and shaky camera workings, where I'm questionable on this video however is in the band, between the main character and them, the band just seems too out of place, it isn't clear exactly what their purpose is and if they are a higher representation of power in the story it doesn't come across well. They work well as a simple connector for scenes but they lack any real part in the story and as a result they break up the sequencing while giving nothing to the overall story.

What I am going to take from this is the effective use of certain camera angles and filters and the general means to making a powerful and engaging story, I'm sure another video can do the band segment more engaging. all in all I think the video is still quite enjoyable and its no wonder the song is one of the bands highest grossing.

Brand Identity - Linkin Park

Linkin Park is an interesting case study for brand identity. The band itself has undergone a dramatic change in both its style and its actual music in recent years, originally designed as a rap group, the band has slowly drifted into having a strong footing in the Alt Rock genre.

 



The band originally began with intentions to rap their socks off!
 



The band itself began with the intention of joining in on the rap genre, such as with bands like Jay-Z and such which were becoming incredibly popular with their songs like 'Encore'. In moving with the trend of the time the band then moved into the Alt Rock Genre with songs like 'Numb' and 'In the End' and there was a subsequent marketing change.

In recent years The band will usually be seen with one of two logos, either a sharp texted font or a minamalistic logo featured prominently on their CD Covers

Full Title uses sparsely

Frequently used logo for CD Cover

Sometimes they are used together

 

 The use of the logo is especially effective because its so simple that its easy to remember, the logo isnt even that cryptic as the symbols spell 'L' and 'P' for the bands full title and can be easily figured out. I also think the striking edges and sharp contrast make it an excellent logo to remember.

The band itself has a interesting variety of 'characters'.

 The band itself has something of a classic Heirarchy to it, its reminiscent of the Rock/Alt Rock Genre the lead singer (Chester Bennington) is prominently shown to be the leader of the whole band. The usual style shown off by the band is a black casual look. While this band consists of 6 Members (2 Guitarists, 2 Singers a Drummer and a Bass Guitar) My band will most likely feature 3-4 members due to constraints with equipment and will most likely have a lead singer, 1/2 Guitarists and a Drummer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brand Identity - Good Charlotte

GOOD CHARLOTTE

The Bands Frequently Recurring logo

Good Charlotte is a highly prominent band in the pop punk and alternative rock genre that was formed in 1995. As for their style, they maintain there use of dark colours in both their outfits but they also frequent in either songs about life problems with a strong rhythmic pulse, examples inlcude songs like 'The River' and 'The Anthem', two of their most famous and highest grossing songs which both feature themes about depressive love.

The band uses rebellious clothing in dark colours frequently

Good Charlotte has a strong band identity that expands throughout all of their products by having them all feature depressive tones. for example...

... in a number of their albums either the colouring is dim and dingy or the concept is dark in nature. It should also be noted that the band always uses the same font, and always curves the text to a significant degree. It makes it stand out quite prominently and would give them the edge on a store shelf because of it.

This is a good example of a key flow between each album, there is a real promotion of a brand identity and the audience will likely be able to see what the songs will be like simply from the tones on the CD. the Dark tones of the bands actual appearance is easily found in their products as well