textual analysis music video

My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade from mervebnc on Vimeo.

The song is clearly about death. It opens with a wide shot of a man in a hospital bed. He looks as if he is on the verge of passing. The emotion of the song is emphasised not only by the dark colour of the shot, but also the slow song matched to slow editing on a long take. This all works together to create an even greater atmosphere to symbolise the emotion to a deeper level as to what they are currently feeling, in this situation it is loss. 

The use of the tv in the hospital bed with the person singing directly to him adds to give the effect as to how close they are without being there next to each other physically. This is then shown to a further extent as we see the use of the close up of the male singing suggesting that the two are constantly watching over each other wherever they may be. 

There is then the use of mise-en-scene. The band are joined among many other people dressed in a wide variety of costumes which symbolise death through the use of black, skull masks, and gas masks. Further, the band members themselves lead the 'parade' and are dressed as soldiers. This can cause the viewer to associate the band with actual soldiers in which we consider as brave and have a higher respect for. The fact that we see them leading the parade is something that gives people peace in mind that there loss is in fact being guided and always protected.

institutional research

The UK’s 4 major record labels

-       Sony Music Entertainment UK

-       The EMI Group (Electrical & Musical Industries Ltd.)

-       Warner Music Group (WMG)

-       Universal Music Group (UMG)

Sony

One of the largest record labels in the UK.

Examples of artists signed to Sony: Ke$ha, michael jackson, beyonce, britney spears

Some of the biggest names in music were signed with sony, ranging from pop with MJ, to skate punk with Avril Lavigne, jazz with F. Sinatra to contemporary R&B and even gospel music with R. Kelly.

Their audience demographic tends to change depending on the artist as there is a wide range, but that appeals to at least a minority in each kind of demographic, for example, Beyonce’s fanbase is largely female and homosexual male, this may be because her songs are written for women to empower them as she is a big feminist and equal rights promoter, and the homosexual male demographic because her music allows them to belong to a large fanbase without discrimination and remain in touch with their stereotypical “feminine” side, her audiences are also usually young 15-35, however there are many exceptions albeit a minority of the fanbase.

But then on the other end of the scale there is the artist Frank sinatra, mostly aimed at a demographic of 35-70+ with ‘fly me to the moon’. However his song New York New York could have appealed to a much younger more aspirational generation looking for fame and success in ‘The Big Apple’ trying to find anyway out of poverty which is suggested by Sinatra’s line ‘These vagabond shoes, are longing to stray’.

Sony are a major record label and therefore are able to mass produce music that will appeal to almost anyone

EMI

Fourth largest record label before its break up in 2012.

Examples of artists signed with EMI: The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Queen, iron maiden, coldplay, Tina Turner, freddie mercury, snoop dogg.

This too more of a band, rock and roll style of musicians, however with david guetta there is a range of edm music and electro house style, there is also rap with snoop dogg and some pop with Kylie Minogue.

 

WMG

It is one of the big 3 within the music industry. It is an american multinational entertainment and record label. It is worth $2.87 billion (2013 figures) and is owned by Stephen Cooper. It has many famous artists signed such as Ed Sheeran, Linkin Park, Camila Cabello. By the artists in which are included, it is very obvious that they prioritise their music towards the younger generation/young adults. 

subsidiary - less important than but related or supplementary to something

some indie record labels may be owned by one of the big 3, for example fearless records may be owned by Sony but is less recognised because it is a smaller part of that company.

Adele i signed to XL recordings which is an indie label, however, it is owned by Universal.

Independent labels

Independent labels are owned by the major labels but still operate on a separate branch. People who are signed to independent labels tend to have a niche audience (mainly affected by indie groups), or are just starting their journey. The main downside to being signed to a independent labels is money. Due to the lack of money there will be little budgets for promotions, tours, merchandise etc meaning that it may take a while to get noticed if they ever do. For example fearless records may be owned by Sony but is less recognised because it is a smaller part of that company.However, that isn't always for the case, i.e. artists like Adele is signed to XL recordings which is an indie label, however, it is owned by Universal. Adele is also known worldwide and gained chances to launch her music through big branch names like James Bond. 

360 deal

In the music industry, a 360 deal is a scheme between an artist and a record label. The label agrees to provide financial and other support for the artist, including direct advances as well as support in marketing, promotion, touring and other areas. This means that the artist can either accept a signing payment of X amount or they can receive a share from costs throughout the year earned through tours and other forms of sales. Robbie Williams was the first artists to sign up to the deal

ideas and inspirations

Below are my ideas and inspirations for the digipak. I looked into punk/rock/metal digipaks from many different artists. I wanted to focus on the theme of no identity, to creative a dark meaning to the album. I looked into many different artists from many different genres to help develop my ideas
     

The first artist i looked into was G-Easy. I choose this image not only for the photo but also the colour scheme. I want my digipak to be simple but memorable, The way in which G-Easy is presented in the picture shows a carefree personality but also rebellious, meaning that the album has a fun way of presenting dark themes. This theme is emphasises again through the colour scheme being black and greys which again is associated with darkness or some form of a bad atmosphere. 

However, the main reason I chose this image is because of the way that G-Easy becomes faded in with the background and his jacket becomes the focuses as is it is more in the light and has a quote on it. I decided to play around with the image and create my own version. I looked at the song and choose the line 'heavens full and hell wont have me' as it gives the dark edge i'm looking to create and helps give and insight into the album and hopefully portray the dark themes within the album.

     

I then looked into a band called art vs science. I liked their work as they focus on their band name, this being done through art as the main image is artistic and almost like a cartoon, but also the science aspect through the use of the galaxy in the background. I choose this image as it again follows my initial idea of the them no identity as we see the mans face being away from his body, this creating the effect of his identity being taken away or loss of identity. 

 

I chose this idea as I liked the idea of the face being destroyed. This again adds to my theme as it shows a person being torn. I also like the use of the colours. The dark colours help portray darkness, death, and can also help imply sadness/anger. I wanted to use this as a main cover picture, however, after consideration I decided that it may be best to use all 3 band members for the digipak and use this as a cd holder or insert of the album cover as it will still be one of the first images the audience will see making him a recognisable character. This will help as if the audience like the music video and spot the main character on an album it may encourage them to buy it.

synergy

What is synergy?

Synergy is when two organizations work together in order to achieve a greater effect. For example, it is common for music artists to work with famous brands in order tot gain a different audience attention. 

Britney Spears is a great example for synergy when she was promoting her Circus album. She continuously used the circus theme as part of her tour, album, and even named her fragrance after it. They layout of all the promotions remain the same alongside the colour scheme whether it be on the side of the perfume, on her album, or even the promotional poster. The link that is then created makes it not only recognisable but also rememberable which will engage with her audience.

                                                                         

Another example is Justin Bieber. He has done work with companies to present a different side of synergy. He has worked with many different companies such as Calvin Klein, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment for productions such Zoolander 2, and comedy central for the roast of Justin Bieber. He has brought the attention of many different fans. This may have been his fans watching a specific new channel or film due to him being on it, or buying a form of clothing due to his advertisement, helping bigger companies gain profit. However, it will also draw attention to himself through the use of different companies bringing their target audience to his music, whether they be fashion, comical, or film fanatic fans. 

              

How can I use this research?

In my product I have to create an album promotion poster, a digipak, and music video. From this research I can use synergy by linking costumes, typography, colour schemes etc throughout my products in order to achieve this. I should also be able to link my products to social media such as Facebook which is how I will gain the attention of different kinds of fans like Justin Bieber did through working with different companies. 

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