Shots of Mind Map Ideas

This is the mind map for the initial ideas that I had for the music video of We Can't Dance - 'You Don't Know'. The mind map details ideas for different sections of the music.

This section of the mind map shows information of the band, We Can't Dance. Here, it shows an image of the band members and an image of their first EP release.

This section of the mind map showed the idea I had for the camera angles I would present the music video with. The image shows an example of an ideal camera angle to use, being labelled with text saying "The image below could also go with lighting and costume. It fits the genre of the song and band."

This section of the mind map shows the costume ideas, being separated into different sections for males and females. The costume ideas highlight the current conventional fashion trend, this would help to relate to the audience and signify the genre of the music. The use of costume is important, with the target audience copying their favourite band's clothes. Artists are also judged on the type of clothes they wear, helping to make a good first impression with new fans.


This is the mind map that I made when I was still undecided on what artist that I was making a music video for. The mind map details the ideas that I had for the music video of Microchip and his song 'Violence'.

Research on Advertisement Posters

Many artists, especially those who are unsigned or fairly unknown, use advertisement posters to inform the public of their new EP and advertise their music to a wider audience. How advertisements are designed and used depends on the genre of the music and of the views of the target audience, with the band wanting to appeal to them with something that they like. For example when researching I found various adverts of different genres. The background colours and added images represent the genre, even though many are in conventional ways which may not represent how the band seen their music.

These adverts show the front image of the EP/album being used on the posters. This helps to make the viewer famliar with the album cover, making the viewer more likely to buy the album if they saw it in a shop on the highstreet. The adverts also have quotes, from critics reviewing the album in at the most ten words, or rating (Out of 5 stars or out of 10); these quotes are also positive if not no one would buy the album. These adverts are not only to advertise the band's new music, but to advertise the band themselves. The posters include the band's websites, the band's logo, and the record company's logo to help promote them as well. Some bands also set up album launch parties if they are a band that are still relatively unknown, using the party to gain more fans and spread their name.

Print Productions

On thinking and sketching out ideas for what I could do for the print productions on all areas of the digipack (front cover, back cover, and inside) I discovered an issue with trying to link the name of the song to designs that I could do. After looking at other album covers, which I have detailed how I could adapt them into my own ideas below, I discovered that many artists have album artwork that has nothing to do with the name of the album or of any of the songs that is on the album. I have decided that I have to install this idea into my own work, with the song title 'You Don't Know' giving very limited options at which I could use.

I drew out a sketch of my first idea, with all four covers. This fits in with my video where I used stop motion by having text on paper. This time I have people, maybe the band members, holding up the pieces of paper with the information about the name of the artist, name of the song, and the information of the songs on the E.P including the length.

On the second panel I have used a question mark, the only link with the name of the song symbolizing the idea of not knowing something or asking a question. This would be inter-textual reference with the album cover of British indie band 'The XX'. They have used an bold 'X' to link with the name of their band, while symbolizes the sub-genre of their music with the dark atmosphere that music creates. The dark background makes the white bold text stand out, drawing the attention of people looking through CD racks while shopping; this makes the front cover of the their album successful. I would adapt this with my idea of the question mark, yet include some of the lyrics from the chorus. I could also use this image to go on the back of a booklet included in the digipack.

The use of a female in the music is evident throughout, and is seen as main metaphor in the song, with the male either not knowing the feelings that the female has or not knowing that the female has cheated on him. In the current mainstream music scene there is a healthy number of female artists around, for example Ellie Goulding and Florence and The Machine who are both pictured. Both females have been shown in a artistic way, fitting in with the genre of their music. Looking through the images I believe that an image of the female character would be more suited inside the digipack on the 2nd panel, with the male character maybe being on the other side on the 3rd panel. (More information about the male character in the paragraph below.)

The male character is seen as the main character in the music video, with him seen playing the guitar while a male voice sings the lyrics making the narrative structure is being told by himself. As with the female character an image could be inputted into the inside of the digipack, next to the female as stated in the previous paragraph. The image of David Vertesi on his album cover Cardiography is similar to a shot of the male character in the music video as he plays the guitar as sunlight beams down upon him. Looking at the costumes on album cover and in the music video they look very similar, while both fitting into the same genre. Again, as with the female character the album cover may not work successful with just one of the two characters from the music video used on the front. The type of photography shot that is used for David Vertesi album artwork is something that I would like recreate for my own print productions.

With the idea of using the female and male characters for the digipack in the ideas above the next idea would work with those. While the images of the female and male, separately, are inside the cover the image of both characters together could be used on the front. This would link to the music video where both characters stand opposite each other with the tree separating them. The image to the right, the album cover of White Apple Tree - Velvet Mustache, is an example of how the idea of two characters being seen together, but questioned if they are actually together, could be used. While the colours used show of the genre, similar to the genre of We Can't Dance.

Many artists use images for their digipacks that have no relevance to the album title, and are used to grab the attention of a passing shopper. For example the album cover for Everything Everything's Man Alive, image to the right, uses an image of a fox, with bright colours and static effects. I have an idea for a way of adapting this into my own idea, with an artistic photo of a cat that I have. This may be best to use as an 'Plan B', as it would be very difficult to produce, while also time consuming.

The Use of Stop Motion.

In my music video I used stop motion for the first play of the chorus, with the lyrics of the chorus shown in the mise-en-scene. While I was watching other music videos the other day I came across a music video which was fully based on the idea of lyrics of the song being shown along the music throughout the whole video, although was of a different genre of music to the song that used. With the song being being produced and performed by two well known artists, Rihanna and David Guetta, the music video is well funded. Instead of using still images which are then merged together, the music video uses animation and special effects. It is used very effectively with the genre of the song, which is Dance, using bright colours to represent the use of flashing lights in nightclubs, with the chorus of song being used especially with quick changes of bright colours on a black background making the audience feel like that they are actually in a pub; while the song would have heavy involvement in night clubs. The fast pace of the text symbolizes with the fast pace of the song and the busiest of nightculbs in modern society.

Analysis of the audiences of three other similar artists

The Drums

The Drums are an American indie pop band from Brooklyn, New York, forming in 2006. The members of the band stem from the short-lived band Elkland, before becoming bored with electronic music. The members of The Drums are Jonathan Pierce (vocals), Jacob Graham (guitar), Connor Hanwick (drums); while Tom Haslow currently is playing the guitar during the band’s tour after the departure of former guitarist Adam Kessler left the band a few months ago. The band is currently on the Moshi Moshi/Island in the UK.

The Drums are fairly new to the mainstream music scene breaking onto the scene in 2010, and were tipped by many music journalists as a band to watch out for. The band were one of 15 artists that were shortlisted in the BBC Sound of 2010, appearing at number 5. This list complies of the best up and coming bands of that year. They were also topped NME’s top tips for year in 2010. The band are yet to have a song in the top 40 though, with their highest entry their most known song ‘Let’s go Surfing’ at number 63. Being a new band in the limelight of the mainstream audience however they are expected to move up higher up the charts with years to come.

The Drums are far more energetic live than on record, with Jonathan Pierce and Jacob Graham’s interacting with the crowd with their now infamous dancing and theatrics on stage. While the band keep to the music side of things mainly, rarely stopping to chat in-between songs. This makes their set more easier for the crowd to continually dance to, something which the target audience are known for, while small mosh-pits are made. Mosh-pits are mainly associated with Metal or Rock bands, yet the indie audience also ‘mosh’ these are just less violent and more dance-y than other genres.

The majority of the band's audience are the youth, mainly students. They are the type to spend their time going to gigs, listening to music with their friends, and trying to find out their latest favourite band. The audience are drawn to The Drums by the similarity to bands of the old 'indie' era, bands like The Smiths and Joy Division, along with the fast beat of some of their songs.

The Pigeon Detectives

The Pigeon Detectives are an English indie band from Rothwell, West Yorkshire, forming in 2002. The members of the band are Matt Bowman (vocals), Oliver Main (guitar), Ryan Wilson (guitar), Dave Best (bass), and Jimmi Naylor (drums). The band is signed up by the independent record label Dance to the Radio, whom helped to release their debut album.

2006 was a big year for the band, touring throughout the year and playing many festivals, building up a bigger fan base and slowly getting noticed. They performed at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2006, where they were tagged "the band most likely to leap to the main stage in 2007" in an NME review, although the year later they did still play the NME stage. They had supported the band Dirty Pretty Things who toured around the UK in spring 2006. Then in early November 2006 they again went on the road, this time supporting the band Kaiser Chiefs on a number of occasions around Europe. By 8^th July 2007 they had released their debut album Wait For Me, which has sold up to 227,000 copies. On this date they played on the Radio 1 NME Stage in front of thousands at T in the Park with the performance being televised and shown later that day on BBC3. In September 2007, it was announced that the band had been nominated for ‘Best New Act’ at the Q Awards, but they lost out to The Enemy. They went on to perform their biggest show ever at Oxegen in 2008, the year in which their second album Emergency was released, which was beamed around Europe on the world famous music channel MTV. Up to the end of 2008 the band sold over 500,000 copies of both albums together in the UK.

The target audience of The Pigeon Detectives consists of late teens and early 20somethings, yet they don’t really have distinctive dress code that many other target audiences of indie bands do. They would fit into the dress code of not noticing the difference as they dress like many other people and stick with the current fashion trend that is hitting the high streets. The way that The Pigeon Detectives appeal to their audience is with the catchy songs which include lyrics that the audience can relate to, while they also sing along to after listening to the song a few times. The lyrics may not be anything clever which will stand out in 10 or so years, but there is a kind of universal appeal that the audience can warm to and link their personal experiences to creating a link between the band and their fans, showing that they are not too different to one another. This relates to the theory of different ‘tribes’ of people and trying to find others that are the similar to themselves to feel ‘wanted’ and not different.

Black Kids

Black Kids are an American indie pop band from Jacksonville, Florida; forming in 2006. The band consists of siblings Reggie Youngblood (lead vocals and guitar) and Ali Youngblood (keyboards), Owen Holmes (bass guitar), Kevin Snow (drums), and Dawn Watley (keyboards). They are on the record label Almost Gold Recordings in the UK, while on Columbia Records in America. They only currently have released one album, yet are writing their second album at this current time.

Black Kids first came to the attention of the music press in August 2007, in both America and the UK, after a performance at the Athens Popfest in Athens. This led to a sudden interest from the music press, including such newspapers and magazines as NME, and The Guardian. In the very same month the band released their first demo EP, Wizard of Ahhhs; which in October received a review of 8.4 out of 10. In December the band then travelled to London for a small tour. The Rolling Stone magazine labelled them as one of ten "Artists to Watch" for 2008^, as well as the band being included in the BBC Sound of 2008 shortlist. The band played the summer festival circuit the next year, in both America and the UK, including Radio 1's Big Weekend, Glastonbury Festival, and T in the Park and Camp Bestival. Black Kids were then the headline in an international tour in America and around Europe from June to November. While on tour in the UK in early 2008, the band recorded their debut album, Partie Traumatic. The album was much more successful in the UK than in America, getting to number 5 in the charts compared to in America where it only managed to get to number 127.

As with the other two artists the target audience are aged around late teens and early 20 year olds, although Black Kids may have a few more younger fans than the others with a reviewer of a live show that they did having a “excessive number of 14 year old girls running to the front barrier”. With Black Kids rise to fame happening within 9 months after they were formed they do not really have a ‘hard-core’ set of fans that have been following them for 4 or 5 years before they are slowly noticed by music critics. This means that the audience is rather ‘mainstream’, with the exception of a few of course. The band members dress with the indie geek fashion; a majority of their fans however dress, like The Pigeon Detectives, with the current fashion that has captured the ideology of the youth. The lyrics are mainly to do with girls and relationships, relating with the worries of teenagers about the other gender. While for the older members of the audience they can relate to the experiences that are expressed from the, relating with the worries of teenagers about the other gender. While for the older members of the audience they can relate to the experiences that are expressed from the lyrics with experiences of their own.

What can be learnt about appealing to audiences from the audiences of these three artists?

From all three artists I can learn that the main way to appeal to the audience by making a catchy song which the audience can sing and dance along to. While at a young age teenagers want to be accepted by their peers and use music as a way of doing this; whether it is the way the band members dress that influences the dress sense of said person or the genre of music that the artist makes, these represent how they want people to see them and making friends with others that are the same as themselves.

Similair Music Videos.

These two music videos that have used superheroes in their music videos, but with two different meanings. Both have hidden meanings regarding life, like the way I am representing the relationship between a make and female in my music video.



Goodbye Mr A - The Hoosiers



Without Me - Eminem

Analyse of Africa Shox - Leftfield

Afrika Shox - Leftfield
Release Date - 6th September 1999
Genre - Electronica, Progressive House, Drum 'n' Bass, Reggae, and Intelligent Dance.

'Afrika Shox' is a song by Leftfield, the first single released from their album Rhythm and Stealth. The song featured vocals by Afrika Bambaataa, linking in with the name of the song. It was written by Neil Barnes, Paul Daley, Afrika Bambaataa and Nick Rapaccioli, while is produced by Leftfield and Nick Rapaccioli. The song reached 7th in the UK Singles Chart which was the highest position out of all Leftfield singles. The music video was directed by Chris Cunningham.

From an old alleyway comes a black skinned male, maybe a slave but is shown to be like some kind of space alien, who's apperance is skinny and weak making him look very vulnerable. He walks through crowded streets, bewildered and confused. He seems desperate, and no one seems to pay enough attention to assist the man as he looks and feels around for help. As the man bumbs into things, portions of his body start to break off and/or shatter like porcelain. This happens over and over again till he has lost both hands and a foot. Another black skinned man walks over, wearing tribial clothing and is the only other character in the music video that is not of white culture. The man ironically asks if the former needs a hand, giving off the vulnerable state that black people were in America during the slave period, up to the late 1970's and even to the present date. The unitity that they had with each other during these times is shown when the main character is helped by another black skinned male, while no white skinned person helps him when he desparate looked for it. The idea that white people have taken away the lifes of black people, for example taking them away from their families during the slave period, is shown in the music video with white people break-dancing, something which was invented by the black community before white people took it as their own just like everything else that the black people had.

The genre of the music video is mostly shown through the visuals, helping the video to be suitable with the music and with the targetauidence. The establishing shots show a police car driving down a busy street in New York flashing it's lights, this links to the Dance genre side of the music track. Location shots of New York in the USA are also used in the establishing shots. The USA/New York is where the House and Drum 'n' Bass music genres firstly orginated from. The lyrics also link to the music video to suggest the genre of music to the audience. When the main character walks past a wire fence the lyric 'Let's get electrified' is played impling the fence is an electric fence and towards the electronica genre of the song. While also representing New York as dystopic, while also being a futuristic city. The main character then walks in to an underground car park which connates the nature of the roots of the genres of the song, with the genres at the time of the song being made not mainstream with lower interest from

Background History Of The Indie Pop Genre

Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s. While the term 'indie' had been used for some time to describe artists on independent labels (and the labels themselves), the key moment in the naming of the genre was the release of NME's C86 tape in 1986. Musically its key characteristics were jangling guitars, a love of sixties pop and often fey, innocent lyrics. It was also inspired by the DIY scene of punk and there was a thriving fanzine, label and club and gig circuit. Scenes later developed in the United States particularly around labels such as K Records. Genres such as riot grrrl and bands as diverse as Nirvana and Manic Street Preachers have acknowledged its influence. In the mid to late 80s, indie pop was criticized for its tweeness and underachievement, but many now argue that C86 and the birth of the genre was a pivotal moment for independent music in the UK. It continues to have a strong following and inspire musicians, not just in the UK but around the world with new labels, clubs and bands devoted to the sound.

In 2004 the indie pop genre had an resurgence. The UK focused Rough Trade Shops compilation Indiepop Vol 1 effectively documented the history of the sound acknowledging that it pre- and post-dated 1986. London clubs such as How Does it Feel to be Loved? continue to air tracks from the tape. In the mid-2000s, Sweden became a major exporter of indie pop with the such as Labrador Records and the success of indie pop artists from that country, notably Peter Bjorn and John, Shout Out Louds and Jens Lekman. Other indie pop acts which became popular during the late 2000s include British septet Los Campesinos!, Australian group Architecture in Helsinki, Scottish group Camera Obscura, and American groups such as The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Drums and Au Revoir Simone.

Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend are an 4 piece American band from New York City being formed in 2006. They are in the indie rock/pop genre making them similar to We Can't Dance. Most of the music videos that have been released, to me, very successful making them the perfect example to follow for deciding how to create a music video for We Can't Dance. The official page for the band is http://www.vampireweekend.com/.



This is the video for the first track that was released from Vampire Weekend's second studio album, 'Cousins'. This video is extremely simple, yet very effective, being entertaining for the audience and keeping their attention. The video only took one day to film, and a street in New York was used for the location. Though just two-and-a-half minutes in length, the clips features quite a bit of looping, driving, and outfit and face changing. The video manages to link the music to the visuals. With the song being fast paced and lively the video shows this and keeps up with the demanding nature of the song.



This is the music video for 'A-Punk' that is included on the band's first self-titled studio album, 'Vampire Weekend'. The music video was directed by Garth Jennings, who said to convey the song's "spiky energy," used footage of the band performing as sped up stop-motion figures, simulating winter and underwater scenes during the performance. The sped-up action was effective being used to conotate with the fast beat that is used in the song. The costume that is used is linked to the genre of the band, whilst creating a link with the target audience as the band and thier fans are dressed the same.



This is the music video for 'Oxford Comma' which is from the band's first self-titled studio album, 'Vampire Weekend'. The video was directed by comedian Richard Ayoade. The concept behind the video was for it to be filmed in one long take — similar to the band's video for previous single 'A-Punk' — with unified visual and musical aspects. The video drew heavily on impressions of the works of American filmmaker Wes Anderson.

I like these videos a lot as there is an comic/fun factor to them. This helps to make it more watchable to the audience helping to advertise the song to a wider audience with people wanting to wanting to watch the video which in turn introduces them to the song. All of the videos above are very effective at doing this.

Hello again...

It's now time for a new blog ready for A2 media! This will show all the work that I will do for the A2 section of A Level Media. Let the fun begin...