Logo

Music artists use logos to create an iconic and recognisable brand image which is then used to build synergy between various media products such as websites, albums, and merchandise that all correlate to that artist. The logo will be the most discernible feature of the overall branding, second only to the actual face of the artist. As such it has to be able to be read easily by a mass audience and indicative to new potential listeners what genre of music they can expect.

logo for frankie carter

This is the logo I have created for my fictional artist, frankie carter (stylised lowercase).

I wanted the logo to be simple and uncomplicated to reflect the artist’s age and aesthetic. She’s young and fun-loving and stylises her name in lowercase letters to represent an understated rejection of mainstream media and set her apart from other artists within her pop/alternative pop genre. The balloon is a fun design element that could provide a sense of nostalgia to audiences, but can also represent her rebellious attitude with how she undercuts the almost childlike connotations with the content of her songs to further reinforce the idea of going against societal expectations.

Statement Of Intent – bellyache

The brief is to create a narrative music video, distributed by Sony, that will appeal to a universal mainstream audience aged 16-25 who are fun-loving. My music video will be for an alternative pop artist and will be linked with a supporting website that promote the fictitious artist and single.

The message of the song is at a stark contrast to the tone and vibrancy of the musical element and I want to play up that contrast throughout using costuming and framing. My video will be a hybrid between narrative and performance and will tell the story of a young woman who has done something she regrets and is struggling with guilt in the aftermath. I want to amplify the original message of the song that is about doing terrible things and not knowing why, feeling like you’re losing yourself during it, and then being left with the decision you’ve made.

It’s going to be implied that the character has committed murder but the motive won’t become clear until nearer the end as a way to put the audience in the character’s mindset that is entirely consumed with action rather than reason. Her look is going to be contrasted with the tone of the music; I will costume her predominately in yellow stereotypically feminine clothes as well as putting flowers in her hair, likely styling it in pigtails to present her as an innocent before we learn what she has done. In the beginning she will be sat on the pavement facing into the road on a plain suburban street, knees pulled up with her arms keeping her closed in, looking down and away from the camera to show secrecy or shyness using non verbal communication, but also a sense of aloofness or a carefree nature. To emphasise that she is different from the rest of society she will only ever be shown in isolated shots with no other characters present, and at the beginning we won’t see a clear shot of her face until during the first verse to show a sinister or unknowable nature.

I want to create a strong sense of internal conflict throughout the narrative to represent the light and dark aspects of the character. To do this I’m going to shoot particular shots in both the daytime and nighttime to flicker between them in the final edit, showing the duality of the artist. Additionally, the filming that is done at night is going to become a device to tell the story through the use of flashbacks that imply a motive as well as the actions of the character in greater clarity.

So that I include more than one social group and better fit the requirements of appealing to a universal mainstream audience I am going to include a male character within the narrative who she will reference continually throughout. I will cross cut between shots of the two together vs her alone to present them as binary opposites (Levi-Strauss), additionally, he will be in plain clothes rather than appearing as colourfully as she does to separate the two and give the idea that even though they were a couple they were not meant to be, which will contribute to the overall narrative and is supported by Barthes idea of semiotics.

To achieve the brief I also have to create a website for the artist. I aim to show consistent branding across the two mediums by taking photographs while filming to promote the artist and provide some depth across the website, linking the two products, as well as hosting the video on the site to create synergy between the two. The aesthetic of the video will be represented in the web design and there will be a strong colour scheme reflected between the two also.

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Lyric Sheet

Genre Convention – Alternative Pop

Summertime Sadness – Lana Del Rey

I Lost A Friend – FINNEAS

when the party’s over – billie eilish

The genre I’m looking at for my music video is singer songwriter combined with elements of alternative or ‘angst’ pop as it is sometimes referred to. Typically this shows the artist in both performance and narrative capacities as they are the face of their own brand, and the aesthetics in the videos and other promotional material is usually directed by the artist and therefore reflected in the personal appearance and their social media accounts creating a greater and more identifiable synergy across all mediums.

The music videos above I have chosen because they all represent these ideas. Each artist is the main focus of their music video and they play a role in both the narrative and performance within the video, showcasing a strong theme in accordance to the lyrics of the song (amplification). Additionally, the use of filters or effects created in post production are often used across the genre to make the videos seem more artistic and elaborate in comparison to other genres, therefore elevating the star and aiding in the creation of their personal brand image. This is also supported by frequent use of close ups to designate who the main focus is within the narrative/performance.

The setting is usually limited to between 1 and 3 places with dramatic or high key lighting (such as in when the party’s over) once again to glorify the artist and their artistic vision as the implication is that they are the ones in control of their style. For all of the above videos there is comparatively little elaborate costuming and makeup when viewed in conjunction with typical pop videos that have often very colourful and detailed sets/hair/makeup/outfits; this distinction between the two is likely done to set apart the singer songwriters from the more mainstream and commercialised brands of pop stars in a bid to maintain artistic integrity. Movement or dance elements are also included in the videos with a view to pick out small details within the music itself that add to the perception of the artist as having an individual style, more ‘organic’, that is unique from other artists.

Music Video coursework song ideas

Mate by Airways

This one is a potentially good choice because it’s of a very secure genre with many emulate-able conventions, as well as the lyrics giving good indications of the narrative

https://youtu.be/gh4UwtfOOpE

End of Time by The Pale White

This was the song I originally had an idea for and was prepared to do and I still think it could be a worthy choice and the idea is rework-able

Rhythm Doesn’t Make You A Dancer by Jon Fratelli

This song immediately sparked an idea and I think the vibe/attitude of the song fits well with the brief

Representation in Music Video

Representation is the way different groups in society are re-presented by the media. Different people interpret these re-presentations in different ways

Generic signifiers give indications of genre and can be: settings, props, and the representation of men and women

In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly

This is Laura Mulvey’s theory, 1992

Music Video Formats

Music videos can be either narrative based, performance based, or a mixture of the two which is seen most frequently

Narrative based music videos tell a story that relates to the lyrics, for example, The Lumineers released a trilogy of semi-connected narrative music videos in 2016, the most famous which being ‘Sleep On The Floor’

Performance based music videos are the same as narrative videos, except that it is entirely focused on the artist instead of telling a story. A great example of this (old as it may be now in music years) is Arctic Monkeys ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor’

Lastly then, is the type of music video that is a combination of both narrative and performance, and the majority of music videos subscribe to this format. Billie Eilish’ ‘Bellyache’ shows the relationship between both narrative and performance

Some Of My Favourite Music Videos

I have chosen ‘Movement’ by Hozier for the simple fact that I find the dancer magnetic to watch, and the struggle between the versions of himself moving (pun not intended) to see. It feels very raw, particularly with the free-hand camera work and harried way everything seems to move.

All of Son Lux’s music videos are artistic, all of them dealing with controversial and/or extreme themes that are relevant in today’s world. Mostly with this group the song and the video seem discordant, but ‘Lost It To Trying’ I think matches up with the visuals we are given. I like the video because of the cinematography and the deeper artistic meaning.

I like this video because it’s a humorous take on the backlash Eminem experienced for the music he created, the comic book feel is ironic because comics are normally for children and here they’re used to stop a child listening to Eminem’s music in a song definitely not meant for children (as pointed out by the parental advisory sticker).