Hi, welcome to my media coursework blog. My name is Audrey King Lassman (0397) and I am working in Group 3 with Chrystal Li (0470), Brandon Poonwasie (0660) and Juliette Wileman (0875). You can navigate my blog by clicking on the labels at the right hand side.
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Tuesday 16 September 2014

Initial research, influences and ideas: Inspirational styles/movements/periods

When trying to think of ideas, I am influenced by certain photographers and artists. One example is work by the photographer Mike Bailey Gates:

Mike Bailey Gates photo 
Mike Bailey Gates photo
I like the way he uses props in his photographs to create a fun and vibrant look. It's almost like these photos tell stories about the people in them. To do what he does for props and setting might be a fun idea for a music video and album cover. 

For album covers in particular, I also like the work of a photographer called Dan Mountford. The way he combines photographs of people and settings makes it seem like there's a world inside the people:


Below are photographs by Fabienne Rivory, which could also be an inspiration when we create our own work:
I like the way colour is used on black and white images, and the combination of both art and photography. Combining photographs and illustration is an appealing idea, especially when thinking about the album cover. That's why I like these photographs, too, by Johan Thornqvist:


Artists and illustrators are influential, too, mostly just because of the style of their work - while we could use illustrations for the album cover and maybe the website, this would be much harder and not such a good idea for the actual music video, but we could still incorporate into it the general style of these drawings:

Matthieu Bessudo
Matthieu Bessudo
Matthieu Bessudo
Lei Melendres
Lei Melendres
Kerby Rosanes
Kerby Rosanes
Kerby Rosanes
I also am interested in the Mods and Rockers of the 1960s. Their style could be a possible influence, and could provide an interesting cultural setting to the video, even alongside a contemporary track, which could provide an interesting juxtaposition:







Another idea I like (but doubt other people would like) is modernised or adapted versions of historical fashion. For example, imagine Vikings:


(these characters are from DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon 2)
… but modernised, e.g. a cross between an indie/alternative rock look (see inspirational artists/bands post) and Vikings. Or they could just be Vikings like the ones shown above. Or maybe this wouldn't necessarily be about historical fashion but instead have a fantasy world feel to it. 

Initial research, influences and ideas: Inspirational album covers and websites

I like the idea of using an illustration or graphic for the album cover rather than just photographs of the artist. Here are some examples of album covers like this:
My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
Arctic Monkeys - AM
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
The Antlers - Hospice
Ed Sheeran - You Need Me EP
It might not necessarily be the best idea in practice because we would have to draw the cover, but I can draw sometimes and it could end up being an interesting idea when edited digitally.

Matching with the illustration theme, some inspirational websites are:

Ed Sheeran's website
His theme of illustrated/sketched logos and album artwork, that has gone on from his earliest EPs (see the You Need Me EP shown above) to his latest bestselling album, X, which you can see on the website in the top right hand corner, is used on his website too. One part that I like especially is how his links to his accounts on social media sites are "sketched" logos:
Also, to the left of this, there is a music player that enables anyone using the website to play 90 seconds of most of the songs on his first album, +. A link to buy the song pops up next to it:
This is a good idea because it gives people browsing his website an opportunity to hear his music, and then they are more likely to buy it because they can do so by clicking a button straight away. People are often too lazy to buy music on iTunes, on a CD etc. just because there is comment telling them to. This approach is less time-consuming for consumers and therefore allows for more sales. 

I also like how when you scroll down on the homepage, his latest tweet is displayed, so fans or anyone on the website can keep in touch with what he's doing in his career. Links to news about Ed Sheeran - new tour dates and an update of his tour diary, which he releases in separate parts on his YouTube channel, so the fans can get an inside look at his career and touring experiences - are also displayed. There is also a link to the store.

Panic! At the Disco's website

Panic! At the Disco's website is linked to a tumblr account, evident when you scroll down and see their posts, which show how many notes they have and a reblog button:





This is a good idea because it means that anyone following them on tumblr would see everything they post on their website, because their website is a tumblr. That means more people see their content, which markets their music and gives information about what the band are doing, and also promotes other similar artists (see the Fall Out Boy promotion in the screenshot above) than they otherwise would if you could only see it by deciding to visit their website, which people would not do so often, and usually only would if they had a specific reason to.

I also like the simplicity of Panic! At the Disco's website. It is easy to read and navigate. The design is simple and so not distracting, which makes it nicer to use. 

Here is the header on the website:

The links shown are clearly seen and are immediately visible when entering the website, so people can find what they're looking for straight away. I also like the style of the font and it could be an inspiration for my own website later. 

Initial research, influences and ideas: Inspirational artists/bands

In terms of their look and image, bands that inspire my ideas include:

My Chemical Romance
 
Panic! At the Disco
Paramore
These bands all have a distinct look that represents their genre yet stays individual to them at the same time. I like their emo/punk rock type hairstyles, outfits and use of make-up. I especially like Panic! At the Disco's look because it is more obviously unique to that band.

These bands are of the indie/punk/alternative rock genre. An influential band in terms of image not within that genre is Mumford & Sons, a folk rock/indie folk band:



Like with the previous bands, I like how their look reflects their genre, and with all of these examples I like how the look is consistent - all band members present themselves in similar ways, while having some features specific to them, e.g. one Panic! At the Disco member's black eye make-up on one eye, so individuality is still a feature of the bands but they're unified in general style. This style is consistent in their album covers and music videos, too:

This video for Mumford & Sons' "Hopeless Wanderer" is meant to be comical and uses actors in place of the real band members, but their folk style is maintained…

… as well as on the album cover for "Babel" on which this song is featured:

In terms of the actual music of the bands, the first three in particular are also influential. I definitely want the music video, album cover and website I make to be for a band, not a solo artist or pop group, and the indie/alternative rock genres are appealing.