www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWLcN4YX0Uw&feature=gp-n-y
Here is some audience feedback I received on YouTube from fans of Kings of Leon, I was looking for constructive feedback which was both positive and negative:
Friday, 6 December 2013
Thursday, 5 December 2013
Learning how to use iMovie
Throughout watching the iMovie tutorial videos I have managed to pick up some well needed skills and technique from the videos. I have implemented what I learnt from the videos onto my rough cut video and will also start implementing what I have learnt for the proper video when I create it this month. The iMovie tutorials have taught me many different skills such as the precision tool, allowing me to precisely edit the clips I have in my video to start and stop the clip when I exactly need it to.
I have also learnt from the iMovie tutorials how to stabilise footage so the video is much more stable and clearer without any sudden shakes or movements that would make it look unprofessional. The stabilisation tool takes a long time to implement as it has to go through all the clips but it is well worth it once it is complete. I have learnt how to trim down clips to the precise size I want them, I have also learnt how to add text and effects into the video. The most important tool and skill I have used is the clip, video and audio adjustments, allowing me to change the volume, clip length and video effects, meaning I can create the exact video I want.
I have learnt how to add audio tracks in and learnt how to put video footage on to iMovie. I have learnt how to add colour effects in and also how to add transitions such as the ripple, zoom and cross dissolve which I used on my rough cut.
Friday, 29 November 2013
Mise-En-Scene & Planning
Camera angles: Throughout the music video we will be looking to have a variety of different camera shots such as close ups to props, facial expression, clothing, location etc. We will also have establishing shots, long shots, POV shots and medium shots that will all compliment the location, costume and lighting. The POV shots will be to show the view of the character when he is walking around, the medium shots will show a blend of the character at the location either still or walking. The long shots will show the character from a distance walking around and the establishing shots will locate the scene and give the audience an idea of where the scene is being filmed.
Lighting: Some of the scenes will be dark, others will be light. We want a contrasted mix of dark and light in the music video. The scenes in the woods and the deserted country lane and fields will be filmed in a more mysterious darkness but we will still allow enough natural light for clear visualisation. Some scenes will be located in a garage and bar which will be dark but have lamps on to add effect.
Costume: The costume for the music video will keep a consistent base just like Kings of Leon music videos do, we will have the main character dressed in skinny jeans and a smart colourful shirt with brown boots or trainers on. Other characters will wear similar clothes but there will be some exceptions. The reason for the character standing alone is to create an isolation over him that he is alone and is feeling down, the character will be in blue jeans to create a casual look, as they are always relaxed. It will be a very cold setting that we film at. We want the character to dress accordingly to the weather conditions that will be featured in the music video. The shoes will be either brown or blue. There is also a second plan to have the character wearing smart clothes such as a shirt, waistcoat, braces, black jeans and smart shoes.
After flicking through many Kings of Leon videos, I was able to come up with a very consistent costume setting for our character: White vest like tops due to the heat and sun in the Southern States of the USA; also there are a lot of buttoned thin lined shirts with white vest tops underneath them. Chequered and pattern shirts are also very popular throughout the music videos by Kings of Leon. The characters throughout the video are wearing skinny black jeans and skinny black blue jeans. Some characters throughout the videos are wearing country hats that are connoted with the Southern American states such as Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Louisiana. The characters are also wearing country boots, again connoting the Southern States of the USA.
After looking through several videos by the band I have decided that the characters in my music video will be wearing either skinny black or blue jeans, a white vest top with a chequered pattern shirt along with country boots, a country hat and a leather jacket.
Props: A bin filled up with items that will be burned, a lighter and book of matches that we will use to drop into this bin to set fire to items. A shovel which will be used to show the burial of more personal and meaningful items. We will also be using a car and musical instruments such as a microphone, electric guitar, base guitar and drum kit. The reason we will be using fire in our video is to relate to the fact the song is called Pyro which is short for pyromaniac which means an obsession with burning things and setting things on fire. We want to use props that we can set on fire, safely of course. The colour of fire will also stand out beautifully at night and in an isolated place in the winter, we really think it will make the video look nice.
Setting: The video will be set in three different locations, a house, a woodland/field and deserted road, the purpose of this is to create an alone and isolated feeling for our character. We have chosen to set our video in a field because it's a very isolated place, its mysterious and it's where someone would go to bury items and to get fresh air and clear their mind. The house will be where the bar scene will be filmed along with the band planning in the garage which will be at my house.
Colour schemes: Colour schemes will be the whole band wearing white with the main characther wearing more distinctive clothing to make him stand out. The character will stand out at all of the settings. As we are using natural light and surroundings to create this video we aren't looking for any specific colour schemes that have to be perfect and stick to the scheme, we are looking for the character to wear clothes and colours that aren't green, brown, or any shade of natural surroundings like trees, plants, grass and etc. When we film in a group for the band scenes at the bar and garage location the costumes will be all very similar, smart clothing, braces, black trousers, as if they are ready for a big social event. The lead singer however will wear something that is different to make him stand out, we want the band all following the same colour schemes!
Costume: The costume for the music video will keep a consistent base just like Kings of Leon music videos do, we will have the main character dressed in skinny jeans and a smart colourful shirt with brown boots or trainers on. Other characters will wear similar clothes but there will be some exceptions. The reason for the character standing alone is to create an isolation over him that he is alone and is feeling down, the character will be in blue jeans to create a casual look, as they are always relaxed. It will be a very cold setting that we film at. We want the character to dress accordingly to the weather conditions that will be featured in the music video. The shoes will be either brown or blue. There is also a second plan to have the character wearing smart clothes such as a shirt, waistcoat, braces, black jeans and smart shoes.
After flicking through many Kings of Leon videos, I was able to come up with a very consistent costume setting for our character: White vest like tops due to the heat and sun in the Southern States of the USA; also there are a lot of buttoned thin lined shirts with white vest tops underneath them. Chequered and pattern shirts are also very popular throughout the music videos by Kings of Leon. The characters throughout the video are wearing skinny black jeans and skinny black blue jeans. Some characters throughout the videos are wearing country hats that are connoted with the Southern American states such as Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Louisiana. The characters are also wearing country boots, again connoting the Southern States of the USA.
After looking through several videos by the band I have decided that the characters in my music video will be wearing either skinny black or blue jeans, a white vest top with a chequered pattern shirt along with country boots, a country hat and a leather jacket.
Props: A bin filled up with items that will be burned, a lighter and book of matches that we will use to drop into this bin to set fire to items. A shovel which will be used to show the burial of more personal and meaningful items. We will also be using a car and musical instruments such as a microphone, electric guitar, base guitar and drum kit. The reason we will be using fire in our video is to relate to the fact the song is called Pyro which is short for pyromaniac which means an obsession with burning things and setting things on fire. We want to use props that we can set on fire, safely of course. The colour of fire will also stand out beautifully at night and in an isolated place in the winter, we really think it will make the video look nice.
Setting: The video will be set in three different locations, a house, a woodland/field and deserted road, the purpose of this is to create an alone and isolated feeling for our character. We have chosen to set our video in a field because it's a very isolated place, its mysterious and it's where someone would go to bury items and to get fresh air and clear their mind. The house will be where the bar scene will be filmed along with the band planning in the garage which will be at my house.
Colour schemes: Colour schemes will be the whole band wearing white with the main characther wearing more distinctive clothing to make him stand out. The character will stand out at all of the settings. As we are using natural light and surroundings to create this video we aren't looking for any specific colour schemes that have to be perfect and stick to the scheme, we are looking for the character to wear clothes and colours that aren't green, brown, or any shade of natural surroundings like trees, plants, grass and etc. When we film in a group for the band scenes at the bar and garage location the costumes will be all very similar, smart clothing, braces, black trousers, as if they are ready for a big social event. The lead singer however will wear something that is different to make him stand out, we want the band all following the same colour schemes!
Monday, 25 November 2013
Location and Setting
Here are some images of the locations and settings we are going to be filming at:
- Field
This location is where the beginning scenes of the video will take place, this is where our character will go when he is upset to burn the clothing and bury the pictures and items that mean a lot to him. I have chosen this location because it away from the city and away from a big population of people, this location is very isolated which is perfect for the character who is feeling alone and empty inside, so the location links to him. The location is on a hill side which makes it have great views, again good for the video.
- Bar
This location is where the character will go to drown his sorrows, after burying all the pictures and items and burning other items he will come here to drink himself to insanity. The character will walk into the bar and have drunken people all around him, which will then make him feel even more alone.
- Woods
We will see the character walking through woodland from the car to the deserted field area, and then back through the woods to the road where his car is. Woodland is lonely area, its connoted with mysteriousness.
- Country Lane
We will see the car driving down a country lane which will contain the character with his belongings going to a field and woodland area ready to bury and set fire to them. The country lane will connote peace and be the calm before the storm in terms of the setting fire of the items.
- Garage
The garage is where will have a band playing, the drums, guitar and microphone will all be featured. The reason for this is due to Kings of Leon having themselves playing in every music video they have created we felt the need to keep the tradition and pattern of this consistent.
- Field
This location is where the beginning scenes of the video will take place, this is where our character will go when he is upset to burn the clothing and bury the pictures and items that mean a lot to him. I have chosen this location because it away from the city and away from a big population of people, this location is very isolated which is perfect for the character who is feeling alone and empty inside, so the location links to him. The location is on a hill side which makes it have great views, again good for the video.
This location is where the character will go to drown his sorrows, after burying all the pictures and items and burning other items he will come here to drink himself to insanity. The character will walk into the bar and have drunken people all around him, which will then make him feel even more alone.
- Woods
We will see the character walking through woodland from the car to the deserted field area, and then back through the woods to the road where his car is. Woodland is lonely area, its connoted with mysteriousness.
We will see the car driving down a country lane which will contain the character with his belongings going to a field and woodland area ready to bury and set fire to them. The country lane will connote peace and be the calm before the storm in terms of the setting fire of the items.
- Garage
The garage is where will have a band playing, the drums, guitar and microphone will all be featured. The reason for this is due to Kings of Leon having themselves playing in every music video they have created we felt the need to keep the tradition and pattern of this consistent.
Monday, 4 November 2013
Directors Previous Music Videos
Phil Griffin
As well as directing Notion by Kings of Leon, Phil Griffin directed some other very popular songs and music videos by Amy Winehouse, including songs Rehab and Back to Black. He specialises in directing documentary's of artists such as Rihanna, Paul McCartney, Britney Spears and Madonna. He hasn't directed too many music videos but he is obviously a great director as these videos are all very popular ones.
Rehab - Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Analytical
Back to Black - Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Song
Analytical
This video is in a black and white format, it is to depict the song name Back to Black and show a representation of darkness and death. Black is connoted with dark, death, pain, funerals etc. Amy herself is dressed in black with a low cut dress, she is looking revealing and sexualised compared to the others attending the funeral. The camera shots really focus on the emotion of Amy singing, they close up on her eyes, mouth and facial expressions. The camera is also looking down at her at some points, to show that she is low and feeling down. The setting is very spooky and mysterious, in an old church in the countryside.
As well as directing Notion by Kings of Leon, Phil Griffin directed some other very popular songs and music videos by Amy Winehouse, including songs Rehab and Back to Black. He specialises in directing documentary's of artists such as Rihanna, Paul McCartney, Britney Spears and Madonna. He hasn't directed too many music videos but he is obviously a great director as these videos are all very popular ones.
Rehab - Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Song
Rehab was written by Amy Winehouse herself and was released as a single in 2006, although it was later part of her 2007 album Back to Black. It was produced by Mark Ronson, the song is about dealing with her drug and alcohol addiction and how she refused going to rehab to sort it out. The song made it to number 7 in the UK charts and number 9 in the US charts.
Music Video
The music video was directed by Phil Griffin and released in 2006, the video is more performance based as she is singing into a camera whilst her band play their instruments. The video was nominated for video of the year by MTV but lost to Rihanna's song Umbrella.
Analytical
Amy is laying on a bed at the beginning of the video as she starts to sing, she is dressed very colourfully as he band sit at the back of the room playing instruments and she focuses on the camera. The music video features her band playing everywhere she goes as if she if following them and that she can't go to rehab because her band rely on her too much. She is in different locations throughout the video, one is a bedroom, the other is a hallway, the other is outside, she seems to move around alot. The camera is always focusing on her with the band in the background, middle close up shots and close ups on her face to show her emotion.
Song
Back to Black was written by Amy Winehouse herself and was released in 2007 as part of her album Back to Black. It received "universal acclaim", the lyrics are about her addiction to alcohol and drugs, claiming that back to black basically means going back to doing these things. Mark Ronson helped produce and write the song.
Music Video
Phil Griffin directed the music video and it features a headstone that reads R.I.P the headstone of Amy Winehouse, this was removed after her death in 2011 as it was deemed disrespectful. The music video was nominated for music video of the year in 2007 but lost out to Kanye West and his song Stronger.
Analytical
Sophie Muller
As well as directing Radioactive and Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon, Sophie Muller has directed hundreds of music videos all from big popular artists such as Rihanna, Beyonce, Coldplay, Maroon 5, Kings of Leon, Alicia Keys and The Killers. She is one of the best music video directors out there in today's music industry, she is a very popular and well liked director, alot of artists seem to like her and have her directing alot of their music videos, just like Kings of Leon have done with two of their most popular songs.
Stay - Rihanna - Unapologetic
As well as directing Radioactive and Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon, Sophie Muller has directed hundreds of music videos all from big popular artists such as Rihanna, Beyonce, Coldplay, Maroon 5, Kings of Leon, Alicia Keys and The Killers. She is one of the best music video directors out there in today's music industry, she is a very popular and well liked director, alot of artists seem to like her and have her directing alot of their music videos, just like Kings of Leon have done with two of their most popular songs.
Stay - Rihanna - Unapologetic
Song
The song Stay was written by Mikky Ekko who also features in the song, it was from Rihanna's 2012 album Unapologetic. The song is about always going back to the one you love and not being able to resist it. The song received positive and worldwide acclaim and made it to number 3 in both the US and UK charts.
Music Video
The video was released in February 2013, it features Rihanna and Mikky Ekko in the video. The video was of course directed by Sophie Muller, the video was one of the most watched videos on YouTube in 2013 and gained major acclaim. The video was a success and it has over 200 million views on YouTube!
Analytical
The video opens with a shot of running water. Rihanna is then presented undressing and climbing into a bathtub. Throughout the rest of the video, the singer is presented nude in the tub full of cloudy green water; subtle camera angles protect her modesty. She is wearing little make up and the camera is always focusing on her emotions, it is a very emotional and passionate song so the camera is being used to full effect in terms of representing her feelings. Some parts of the video are in slow motion to show greater effect. Rihanna is naked, again showing the tension she has with this man.
The video opens with a shot of running water. Rihanna is then presented undressing and climbing into a bathtub. Throughout the rest of the video, the singer is presented nude in the tub full of cloudy green water; subtle camera angles protect her modesty. She is wearing little make up and the camera is always focusing on her emotions, it is a very emotional and passionate song so the camera is being used to full effect in terms of representing her feelings. Some parts of the video are in slow motion to show greater effect. Rihanna is naked, again showing the tension she has with this man.
That's Not My Name - The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing
Song
The song was released in 2009 from their album We Started Nothing. The song was written by the group and received high acclaim, it got to number 1 in the UK chart. It made it to platinum in the United States and the United Kingdom. The song is about the lead singer in the group expressing her anger and disappointment in the record industry.
Music Video
The song has three different music videos which is very strange for a song. I have decided to obviously concentrate on the one that was directed by Sophie Muller.
Analytical
The video starts with a still image of the band which is moving around, the drum kit with the bands name is on there and the lead singer (female) is holding a microphone. The male in the band starts playing the drum while the female starts to dance. The camera then focuses on the female as she starts to sing, the camera is always moving around to make the song seem very jumpy and fun, which it is. The video is very boring with its white background, the band are dressed up in bright colours to make them stand out more. The background then changes to multiple colours such as blue and then red.Friday, 18 October 2013
Initial Ideas
Pyro
Initial Ideas
My initial ideas for the music video were that at the start of the music video we would have the character that will be portrayed having an argument with his girlfriend/wife and then storming out with all of his personal belongings. We had an idea of when the beat comes in for the song to drop a match on a load of old pictures and personal belongings as watch them burn, we came up this idea due to two reasons; one being the song is called pyro which is short for pyromaniac which is an obsession with setting fire to things, the other reason was because the song lyrics are "single book of matches gonna burn what's standing in the way".
We also had ideas for the next part which is when the lyrics are "bury all the pictures and tell the kids I'm ok". We thought that the character digging a hole up in the middle of a field or woods and burying his most important and meaningful belongings like photos of his children etc.
When the line "drunkards and babies seem to all agree" we had ideas to place this scene at a bar, with alcohol being consumed. For the line "I won't be your cornerstone" we pictured someone holding onto a wall but being dragged off of it.
Other ideas were from looking at previous Kings of Leon videos which always have instruments being played, so for the chorus of the song we would have instruments being played as if we were the band playing the instruments.
When the line "drunkards and babies seem to all agree" we had ideas to place this scene at a bar, with alcohol being consumed. For the line "I won't be your cornerstone" we pictured someone holding onto a wall but being dragged off of it.
Other ideas were from looking at previous Kings of Leon videos which always have instruments being played, so for the chorus of the song we would have instruments being played as if we were the band playing the instruments.
Feelings/Visual ideas
Visual ideas we had for our music video once listening to the song and lyrics became apparent more or less straight away. Pyro is short for pyromaniac which means having an obsession with setting things on fire, the lyrics link to this with "single book of matches gonna burn what's standing in the way" straight away we thought about basing the story around a man who was upset with his current life and wanted to leave his current situation with his girlfriend and kids. We thought about having the character driving off with lots of his shared belongings and burning them in a big bonfire and dropping a match on all the belongings as the beat kicks into the song. We want to base the video around fire and anguish; we have other for the video when the lyrics "little shaken babies and drunkards seem to all agree" we are thinking of setting this part of the song in a bar with a few characters laying around smashed out of their skull, we want the main character to walk into the bar and suck up the atmosphere.
Obviously more and more ideas will come into our head when we start creating our storyboard and going through the production process of the video.
Obviously more and more ideas will come into our head when we start creating our storyboard and going through the production process of the video.
Record company and label
RCA (Radio Corporation of America) Records signed Kings of Leon in 2002. They are owned by its parent company Sony Music Entertainment who have now taken full ownership of the record company and label.
Wednesday, 16 October 2013
Artist's Target Audience (Kings of Leon)
Due to Kings of Leon being such a popular and well known worldwide band, they have a mass market audience with their music appealing to all generations and ages. Obviously there are certain age groups that will be into Kings of Leon more than another age group. Tracks such as Sex on Fire and Use Somebody got Kings of Leon to become well known, the album Only By The Night got them establishment in the music world, they were seen as the next big thing. Before the worldwide popularity, Kings of Leon were in a more niche type of market, there music was being listened to by fans mostly between the ages of 16-35; the target audience was more for people who were younger, liked the indie and alternative rock genre and could relate to being in a band. Ever since there real worldwide mass audience came into their marketing they have been aiming there music between the ages of 10 to 50 years old. My mum loves Kings of Leon, my friends mum loves them, my dad likes them, lots of people seem to love them although they have been aiming there music at a much more younger generation.
The methods used by Kings of Leon to target their audience can be refereed to social networking sites and social media, examples are the Kings of Leon YouTube channel which is connected to Vevo; all of their music gets uploaded, from advertisements, songs, interviews and extra content, all for their fan base and supporters to look at. The reason they have targeted YouTube is that they know millions of people use it; they have over 70 million views for their Sex of Fire video, this just proves their popularity. YouTube, social networking sites and the internet in particular are more suited to the younger generation of people, this is a big reason behind Kings of Leon targeting their audience at the age group between 16 to 30. They also use Twitter and Facebook to promote their music and target their fans, they have verified accounts on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Social media sites are connoted with youth and the younger generation, Kings of Leon are aiming most of there music here at a young generation who use the internet and are into the modern day society.
When I create my music video and two ancillary tasks, I will be targeting the age group of 16 to 30 years old, the music is very modern alternative and indie rock. Kings of Leon are known for playing at festivals, again another prime example of their connection and connotation with the new generation, they stay in the modern times.
When I create my music video and two ancillary tasks, I will be targeting the age group of 16 to 30 years old, the music is very modern alternative and indie rock. Kings of Leon are known for playing at festivals, again another prime example of their connection and connotation with the new generation, they stay in the modern times.
Monday, 14 October 2013
Artist Star Image (Kings of Leon)
Three Music Videos
Song
Radioactive was released in September 2010 by the alternative rock band Kings of Leon from the album Come Around Sundown. The song made it to number 1 in the US alternative billboard charts. It made it to number 7 in the UK charts, so it was deemed as success and the most popular song from the album. Kings of Leon wrote the song and it was produced by Angelo Petragila and Jacquire King.
Music Video
The music video was directed by Phil Griffin and has over 10 million views on YouTube. The video came under fire and received at lot of criticism; especially from NME, they voted it the second worst music video of all time saying "the music industry gasped in disbelief as the Oklahoma boys leapt into a muddled mise-en-scene of questionable racial subtext."
Analytical
The video was made in a sepia tone format to refer the bands southern sunny origins. The video is half performance based half narrative, with the band playing in some parts and a narrative story of the the lead singer Caleb running with African children and singing along with them. The video has a party BBQ type look to it with the band celebrating with these children. The video zooms in and out of them and the events that are taking place such as football, eating etc. The message of the video is to try and make people see that the money they raise for these children, orphans and those struggling in Africa do pay off and allow these children to have some sort of luxury and fun. The video keeps the sepia tone throughout, it makes the video look old fashioned and retro like. The camera shots are quick, moving from one to the other consecutively.
The extras in the video are singing the chorus along with the band, it has a choir like feel to it, all the extras and children are dressed up smartly in what could be seen as church clothes. There are lots of group shots in this music video to symbolise and connote a togetherness which is the point of the video. The lyrics "It's in the water, it's in the story, it's where you came from. The sons and daughters in all their glory" refers back to ancestors, giving a sense of togetherness and feel good, celebrating their heritage. Kings of Leon remain in their typical southern outfits with skinny jeans and a chequered pattern top. At the beginning the lead singer Caleb is in a more smart outfit to what the audience are usually used to, he is wearing suspenders, a shirt and some smart trousers, along with the children who are wearing smart clothes too, it symbolises a party and celebration.
Similarities (Music Videos)
In all three videos and numerous of other Kings of Leon videos, they are always mostly half performance based, half narrative based with the band performing and a story going on in the background featuring either themselves or somebody else. In all three videos they keep the same sort of clothing throughout, always in black jeans and a chequered colourful top. They keep the same clothing to symbolise who they are, always a very similar to style to represent themselves. In the first two videos the lead singer Caleb is in a black vest top, this is because both videos are very tense, the first being very sexual and the second being surrounded by heat and a building imploding on itself with rubble and debris everywhere. All the videos link to the lyrics and song title, for example Sex on Fire was a very sexual and tense video, in some ways it looked quite disturbing with the way Caleb was laying on the bed in some sort of trance. Notion links well to the video because notion means "a vague awareness or understanding of the nature of something" showing that in the video when the building is imploding, he knows about it but he is slightly ignoring it and keeps on performing. For Radioactive, the lyrics link to heritage and the past, to always remember your family and where you come from.
The mise en scene for all three videos always fits the environment, for clothing, lighting etc, Sex on Fire was very tense and the sexual, the lighting was bright on Caleb laying in the bed, dark everywhere else to concentrate and have more emphasis on Caleb whilst making a dramatic effect. The camera shots in all the videos are also consistent, always have close up to the face of the artist to show emotion. The camera shots always have the band performing, quickly moving from shot to shot of the band playing the instruments in all three videos.
Differences (Music Videos)
Of course every music video has differences, otherwise it would be pointless creating a music video for each song. The whole point of a music video is to reference the song in a way that can make the viewer understand the song more, just like a story. Things that stand out as big differences compared to other music videos that Kings of Leon can be seen in Radioactive especially, they usually perform on their own but in this music video they performed with African kids who offered a back up choir to the main chorus for the song. This hasn't been done on previous videos. When it comes to my own video I need to make sure I am looking at similarities in their videos and using the similarities as examples to put into my own music video, the differences between the music videos will allow me to add my own ideas as each music video is individual and has something that makes it stand out.
Notion is individual in terms of its imploding room and destruction it contains, lots of fire and damage being done, connoting a very evil, sinister and dark situation. Radioactive is a more charitable type of video with Kings of Leon providing food, entertainment and fun for kids in Africa. Sex on Fire is a more serious and sexual video that connotes weirdness and a craziness we haven't seen in previous Kings of Leon videos.
Three Album Covers
Come Around Sundown
Only By The Night
Because Of The Times
The Night, they also mix each band members face into 1/4 of the album to create a face linked with parts of their face and the owl. The final album cover which is for Because Of The Times is very hard to annotate, it doesn't link to the album artwork as simply as the others but the story behind the artwork is that the I mean that the shattering light-bulb is almost a metaphor for the Kings of Leon discography: the music hasn't just evolved – it’s moving in a whole new direction.
Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
Song
Sex on Fire was released in September 2008 by the alternative rock band Kings of Leon from the album Only By The Night. The song is seen and labelled as the best Kings of Leon song to date with over 80 million YouTube views for its music video. The song made it to platinum and number 1 across countries including the United Kingdom and Australia. The band openly admitted they never intended for the song to be called and feature Sex on Fire, it just randomly came about and they kept with it. Kings of Leon wrote the song and it was produced by Angelo Petragila and Jacquire King.
Music Video
Directed by Sophie Muller, Sex on Fire has an amazing 70 million views on YouTube showing how popular the song and the band are.
Analytical
The video is very sexual and tense, the beginning of the video has extreme close ups to the face of the lead singer Caleb; the reason behind the extreme close up shot is to show the tension in his face. The video is editing in to the beat so that the shot changes every 2 seconds to make it seem as if is moving with the beat. The location is very dark and mysterious connoting something sinister and evil, we see Caleb laying on a bed, he seems agitated and confused. The lighting is set out to concentrate on Caleb on the bed with the rest of the room very dark, focusing more on Caleb, the light again is to show the tension and to focus on him. Caleb is singing to himself as he is lying on the bed, we see other band members faces appear in shots throughout, we also see a black bird. The camera is very disoriented and blurry, as if the viewer is looking at it from Caleb's point of view, he almost seems drugged up or drunk.
We then see Caleb standing up with the band in some type of warehouse, the lighting again is very similar to the last location we saw Caleb. He is with the band and again it looks slightly performance based as the band are performing with all their instruments, Caleb with his microphone. The camera then focuses back on to Caleb who is back on the bed, he is now sat up slightly, this happens as the song reaches its chorus with the lyrics "your sex is on fire". The next verse Caleb is singing from two different locations, one being the bed and one being in this warehouse with the band. Caleb keeps holding his face and starts to become more agitated. As the song teaches its half way point Caleb is now being held down by his other band mates (brothers, cousin) onto the bed, he is trying to rise up but they are keeping him down. It's as if he wants to go and do something stupid but his band members (family) are holding onto him and help him through this moment, this is connoting his frustration and anger. The other band members are then shown, they appear to be watching the lead singer when he is lying down they seem to be discussing something about him. This links in with the line "lay where you’re laying" and "I know they're watching".
At the end of the song we see Caleb rise up and breath smoke out of himself, it is black and looks like some sort of toxic waste. It's as if he has released all of this pain and anger throughout the song and he did this by singing. He then takes a shower and he seems relieved, as if he has gotten out of this trance. It was some kind of sexual trance that had taken over his body, and the song helped him get through it.
Notion - Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
Song
Notion was released in June 2009 by the alternative rock band Kings of Leon from the album Only By The Night. The song wasn't as successful in the charts like other Kings of Leon songs but it did make it to number 1 in the US alternative billboard charts. Kings of Leon wrote the song and it was produced by Angelo Petragila and Jacquire King.
Music Video
The video was directed by Phil Griffin. The main reason a music video was created for this song was to give it a promotional push as it wasn't doing as successful as first thought. It currently has over 10 million views on YouTube which can be deemed a big success.
Analytical
The video is located in a lowly lit room with debris falling around, the room seems to be imploding on itself. The debris is falling onto the instruments as the band are playing them, it creates a very distinct look, the dust rebounding off the instruments into the bright lights. The lead singer Caleb is looking into a brick wall and seems to be singing to it, its as if he has nowhere to go. He talks into wall and says "Give me a sign" and this is when the room starts to implode and self destruct as the band are playing in there. The camera shots are very shaky and distorted to connote a rush and destruction, it never settles or focuses, it always stays on the move. The video again is combined by a performance based and narrative based video, we see the band performing, but we also see another story throughout the video of Caleb walking into a direct traffic of people who are going the other way and knocking him unbalanced.
Radioactive - Kings of Leon - Come Around Sundown
Song
Radioactive was released in September 2010 by the alternative rock band Kings of Leon from the album Come Around Sundown. The song made it to number 1 in the US alternative billboard charts. It made it to number 7 in the UK charts, so it was deemed as success and the most popular song from the album. Kings of Leon wrote the song and it was produced by Angelo Petragila and Jacquire King.
Music Video
The music video was directed by Phil Griffin and has over 10 million views on YouTube. The video came under fire and received at lot of criticism; especially from NME, they voted it the second worst music video of all time saying "the music industry gasped in disbelief as the Oklahoma boys leapt into a muddled mise-en-scene of questionable racial subtext."
Analytical
The video was made in a sepia tone format to refer the bands southern sunny origins. The video is half performance based half narrative, with the band playing in some parts and a narrative story of the the lead singer Caleb running with African children and singing along with them. The video has a party BBQ type look to it with the band celebrating with these children. The video zooms in and out of them and the events that are taking place such as football, eating etc. The message of the video is to try and make people see that the money they raise for these children, orphans and those struggling in Africa do pay off and allow these children to have some sort of luxury and fun. The video keeps the sepia tone throughout, it makes the video look old fashioned and retro like. The camera shots are quick, moving from one to the other consecutively.
The extras in the video are singing the chorus along with the band, it has a choir like feel to it, all the extras and children are dressed up smartly in what could be seen as church clothes. There are lots of group shots in this music video to symbolise and connote a togetherness which is the point of the video. The lyrics "It's in the water, it's in the story, it's where you came from. The sons and daughters in all their glory" refers back to ancestors, giving a sense of togetherness and feel good, celebrating their heritage. Kings of Leon remain in their typical southern outfits with skinny jeans and a chequered pattern top. At the beginning the lead singer Caleb is in a more smart outfit to what the audience are usually used to, he is wearing suspenders, a shirt and some smart trousers, along with the children who are wearing smart clothes too, it symbolises a party and celebration.
Similarities (Music Videos)
In all three videos and numerous of other Kings of Leon videos, they are always mostly half performance based, half narrative based with the band performing and a story going on in the background featuring either themselves or somebody else. In all three videos they keep the same sort of clothing throughout, always in black jeans and a chequered colourful top. They keep the same clothing to symbolise who they are, always a very similar to style to represent themselves. In the first two videos the lead singer Caleb is in a black vest top, this is because both videos are very tense, the first being very sexual and the second being surrounded by heat and a building imploding on itself with rubble and debris everywhere. All the videos link to the lyrics and song title, for example Sex on Fire was a very sexual and tense video, in some ways it looked quite disturbing with the way Caleb was laying on the bed in some sort of trance. Notion links well to the video because notion means "a vague awareness or understanding of the nature of something" showing that in the video when the building is imploding, he knows about it but he is slightly ignoring it and keeps on performing. For Radioactive, the lyrics link to heritage and the past, to always remember your family and where you come from.
The mise en scene for all three videos always fits the environment, for clothing, lighting etc, Sex on Fire was very tense and the sexual, the lighting was bright on Caleb laying in the bed, dark everywhere else to concentrate and have more emphasis on Caleb whilst making a dramatic effect. The camera shots in all the videos are also consistent, always have close up to the face of the artist to show emotion. The camera shots always have the band performing, quickly moving from shot to shot of the band playing the instruments in all three videos.
Differences (Music Videos)
Of course every music video has differences, otherwise it would be pointless creating a music video for each song. The whole point of a music video is to reference the song in a way that can make the viewer understand the song more, just like a story. Things that stand out as big differences compared to other music videos that Kings of Leon can be seen in Radioactive especially, they usually perform on their own but in this music video they performed with African kids who offered a back up choir to the main chorus for the song. This hasn't been done on previous videos. When it comes to my own video I need to make sure I am looking at similarities in their videos and using the similarities as examples to put into my own music video, the differences between the music videos will allow me to add my own ideas as each music video is individual and has something that makes it stand out.
Notion is individual in terms of its imploding room and destruction it contains, lots of fire and damage being done, connoting a very evil, sinister and dark situation. Radioactive is a more charitable type of video with Kings of Leon providing food, entertainment and fun for kids in Africa. Sex on Fire is a more serious and sexual video that connotes weirdness and a craziness we haven't seen in previous Kings of Leon videos.
Three Album Covers
Come Around Sundown
Released in 2010, this album cover links to the album name nicely, Come Around Sundown, with a sunset in the background over two palm trees and some kind of lake. Connotes a peaceful and calmness, the music in the album is also very relaxing and chilled. Its a soft album, not as hardcore as previous KOL albums. The artist name is at the top of the album, in a white text, and the album name is at the bottom of the cover, both in the same font and colour. The text does not stand out at all, it is very dim and blends into the album as well, it doesn't stand out, but the thing is with album covers, the artist name and album name are not as important as the actual image on the front of the album, that is the thing that attractive the viewers to it, how it looks and how it comes across, people can distinguish albums from the image on the front and not the text on the front. The image is the most important as it is on this.
Only By The Night
Released in 2008, again like the previous album, the album cover links to album name: Only by the Night, with all four band members faces featuring creating one whole face with an owl in the centre separating all four faces from connecting. An owl connotes the night time, linking to the album name Only By The Night, as owls are only known for being out at night. The album name and artist name is situated at the top of the album cover; in the top left corner it says KINGS_OF_LEON with the underscore symbols on, it makes it looks very advanced and computer like. In the top right corner it says >ONLY_BY_THE_NIGHT> again using the underscore and greater than symbol, I think they used to this to to make the album name and artist name stand out more. When it comes to creating my own album cover for this band I will be taking this into consideration, but none of the albums really keep a consistent basis to work on. This album cover is personally one of my favourites, it is very distinctive, and looks very creative, I love the blend of the four band members faces with the owl, it is really one of a kind and stands out from most other album covers in todays music.
Because Of The Times
Released in 2007, this album cover is a lot more plain and basic when comparing it to the previous two album covers that I have just annotated. This album cover has a pitch black background with a white skull that looks as if it was taken from an x-ray. There is also a smashed light bulb that is more smaller above the album name and the artist album. The album name doesn't reflect the album cover, unlike the past two album covers where the album name is refereed to well in album cover; maybe the album name and cover link to the current modern time we are with the x-rayed skull and smashed light bulb symbolises technology. The artist name is in a bold white font and stands out very well over the black background. The album name is in a more lighter font in lower-case with a light brown colour.
Similarities
The three album covers and designs all link the album name well enough to see a pattern and relationship developing into Kings of Leon's album artwork. Come Around Sundown links very will with the artwork by having the sun-setting in the background over a really nice picturess lake with two palm trees, it connotes warmth and summer which is reflected into the songs that are all really mellow and peaceful. The second album cover Only By The Night is also similar to Come Around Sundown in the sense of linking the album name to the album artwork, an owl connotes the night time, which is seen only in the night, hence Only By
The Night, they also mix each band members face into 1/4 of the album to create a face linked with parts of their face and the owl. The final album cover which is for Because Of The Times is very hard to annotate, it doesn't link to the album artwork as simply as the others but the story behind the artwork is that the I mean that the shattering light-bulb is almost a metaphor for the Kings of Leon discography: the music hasn't just evolved – it’s moving in a whole new direction.
Differences
Each one of the artworks for the albums are all very different, they have to be as the audience needs to establish which album is which easily. Artwork isn't just about how fancy it looks, its about how it registers into the mind of the audience, it has to be a attractive, but it has to be distinctive to stand out and to make people remember it. Also the layout is different in all three albums, Come Around Sundown has the artist name at the top and the album name at the bottom. Only By The Night has both the album and artist name at the top. However, Because Of The Times has the album name and artist name in the centre of the artwork, all very different. This is good news for me as when I come to making the album artwork I can put the album and artist name in any of these places.
Three Magazine Posters
Come Around Sundown Poster
For this poster, the worldwide album artwork was not used, instead they used the UK album artwork, mainly because this advert was in British newspaper and was being advertised by music selling chain HMV. It is near enough the same in terms of design and its colour/text scheme, we see the band name going back to its familiar position on the actual album cover, along with the album name which has the date of release, website address and logo of HMV underneath, all this key information gives the reader everything they to know from the band name, album name, date of release and location of the product, the whole point is to make it as easy as possible for the audience to see the album which is A4 size. Again the colour used is very similar to the orginal album artwork, a very warm and friendly bright sun set colour connoting happiness, peace and relaxation, which links to their album as the music replicates this.
Aha Shake Heartbreak Poster
This poster is literally a replicate of the album cover put onto the poster, everything from the colour, layout and text is exactly the same apart from the website address and the date of the albums release. The font is kept consistent, all the styles and colours are also kept the same throughout the poster, creating a professional finish. The fowler in the centre which is blossoming is meant to represent the career of Kings of Leon who have just started at this point to gather momentum and fame.
Talihina Sky (Story of Kings of Leon Documentary)
This poster is advertising a documentary on Kings of Leon that was about their career and how they started up and their rise to fame. This was released on DVD and this was promoting the sale of the DVD to help gain recognition. This looks very similar to Come Around Sundown in terms of the colour scheme, black and a sunset image, connotes the Southern America environment that Kings of Leon come from. We also see two horses with two people sat on them with cowboy hats, this again connotes the Southern American tradition. The text is kept consistent with black writing over the yellow sunset and a golden colour over the blackness underneath, it all looks very professional.
Saturday, 12 October 2013
Pyro - Kings of Leon (Song for Music Video)
Track: Pyro
Artist: Kings of Leon
Album: Come Around Sundown
Released: December 2010
Length: 4.10
Label: RCA Records
In the end we decided to go for Pyro as we felt we could reference the lyrics well into the music video. The song is really nice length too, not too long or short, it has a time of 4 minutes and 11 seconds. Pyro is from the album Come Around Sundown which was released by Kings of Leon in 2010. Angleo Petragila helped produce the song alongside Jacquire King. It got to number 69 in the UK charts, which is considered very good for a alternative rock song which doesn't come under the mainstream category. All four members of Kings of Leon were involved in the writing of the lyrics.
Artist: Kings of Leon
Album: Come Around Sundown
Released: December 2010
Length: 4.10
Label: RCA Records
In the end we decided to go for Pyro as we felt we could reference the lyrics well into the music video. The song is really nice length too, not too long or short, it has a time of 4 minutes and 11 seconds. Pyro is from the album Come Around Sundown which was released by Kings of Leon in 2010. Angleo Petragila helped produce the song alongside Jacquire King. It got to number 69 in the UK charts, which is considered very good for a alternative rock song which doesn't come under the mainstream category. All four members of Kings of Leon were involved in the writing of the lyrics.
Lyrics:
Single book of matches, gonna
burn what’s standing in the way
Roaring down the mountain, Now their calling on the fire brigade
Bury all the pictures and tell the kids that I'm ok
if I'm forgotten you'll remember me for a day
I, I won't ever be your cornerstone, I
All the black inside me is slowly seeping from the bone
Everything I cherished is slowly dying or its gone
Little shaking babies and drunkards seem to all agree
Once the show gets started its bound to be a sight to see
I, I won't ever be your cornerstone
I, I don't wanna be here holding on
I, I won't ever be your cornerstone, I
Watch Her Roll, can you feel it? (4x)
I, I won't ever be your cornerstone
I, I don't wanna be here holding on
I, I won't ever be your cornerstone
I, I don't wanna be holding on, I
Roaring down the mountain, Now their calling on the fire brigade
Bury all the pictures and tell the kids that I'm ok
if I'm forgotten you'll remember me for a day
I, I won't ever be your cornerstone, I
All the black inside me is slowly seeping from the bone
Everything I cherished is slowly dying or its gone
Little shaking babies and drunkards seem to all agree
Once the show gets started its bound to be a sight to see
I, I won't ever be your cornerstone
I, I don't wanna be here holding on
I, I won't ever be your cornerstone, I
Watch Her Roll, can you feel it? (4x)
I, I won't ever be your cornerstone
I, I don't wanna be here holding on
I, I won't ever be your cornerstone
I, I don't wanna be holding on, I
Friday, 11 October 2013
Considering Songs For Music Video
Myself and Nathan selected 4 songs that we thought would suit a music video, the songs we selected we both really liked and had listened to several times. We went with Kings of Leon as our chosen artist to create this music video and ancillary tasks for.
The songs we chose were:
Beautiful War - Kings of Leon
Radioactive - Kings of Leon
Pyro - Kings of Leon
Birthday - Kings of Leon
Beautiful War, Radioactive and Pyro are more emotional and meaningful songs. Birthday is a more happier and feel good song. We wanted to make sure we had a mixture of different songs from the same artist so we could have a good contrast of the music they create.
We liked Beautiful War alot, it had some great lyrics that we felt we could implement really well onto a music video, we were going to have a love story about a couple who are at war with each other but always seem to end up together no matter what they go through. We wanted to have some sort of war going on behind them as the video concentrated on them. We also were thinking of doing a video about a solider who leaves his girlfriend behind as he goes to fight in Afghanistan and were going to feature letters to and from.
The second song we looked at was Radioactive by Kings of Leon. This song again is a very emotional and heart felt song, the lyrics link to going back to where it all started from with "It's in the water, it's in the story,
it's where you came from. The sons and daughters in all their glory it's gonna shape them". We were going to refer the lyrics into the music video by implementing a sense of belonging and youth, all starting where we came from but we found that hard to mind map into ideas, we would need people to our background and Kings of Leon's background but since they are from America and live a very different life it would be too hard to do that.
Birthday was a song we really liked, it had a really exciting and party sound to it, we had good ideas for this. We were thinking of having a group of friends all together getting drunk, messing around. We wanted to make it have a happy upbeat feel just like the lyrics and the music does. In the end we decided we wouldn't go for this for or the other two songs that I just spoke about.
We decided in the end to go with Pyro by Kings of Leon, we had broke down and listened to all four songs numerous times and mind mapped all the songs into what ideas we could have and create for the music video.
Pyro is a song we both really liked and as soon as were listening to it ideas kept popping up to how we can create a video for it. We had ideas about fire, running away, which all coincide with the lyrics. We will speak more about the ideas for the music video as this is the song we went for so there is a lot more to come in terms of what we have planned and how we are going to create a music video and two ancillary tasks for this fantastic song.
The songs we chose were:
Beautiful War - Kings of Leon
Radioactive - Kings of Leon
Pyro - Kings of Leon
Birthday - Kings of Leon
Beautiful War, Radioactive and Pyro are more emotional and meaningful songs. Birthday is a more happier and feel good song. We wanted to make sure we had a mixture of different songs from the same artist so we could have a good contrast of the music they create.
We liked Beautiful War alot, it had some great lyrics that we felt we could implement really well onto a music video, we were going to have a love story about a couple who are at war with each other but always seem to end up together no matter what they go through. We wanted to have some sort of war going on behind them as the video concentrated on them. We also were thinking of doing a video about a solider who leaves his girlfriend behind as he goes to fight in Afghanistan and were going to feature letters to and from.
The second song we looked at was Radioactive by Kings of Leon. This song again is a very emotional and heart felt song, the lyrics link to going back to where it all started from with "It's in the water, it's in the story,
it's where you came from. The sons and daughters in all their glory it's gonna shape them". We were going to refer the lyrics into the music video by implementing a sense of belonging and youth, all starting where we came from but we found that hard to mind map into ideas, we would need people to our background and Kings of Leon's background but since they are from America and live a very different life it would be too hard to do that.
Birthday was a song we really liked, it had a really exciting and party sound to it, we had good ideas for this. We were thinking of having a group of friends all together getting drunk, messing around. We wanted to make it have a happy upbeat feel just like the lyrics and the music does. In the end we decided we wouldn't go for this for or the other two songs that I just spoke about.
We decided in the end to go with Pyro by Kings of Leon, we had broke down and listened to all four songs numerous times and mind mapped all the songs into what ideas we could have and create for the music video.
Pyro is a song we both really liked and as soon as were listening to it ideas kept popping up to how we can create a video for it. We had ideas about fire, running away, which all coincide with the lyrics. We will speak more about the ideas for the music video as this is the song we went for so there is a lot more to come in terms of what we have planned and how we are going to create a music video and two ancillary tasks for this fantastic song.
Saturday, 5 October 2013
Class Notes
Demi Lovato Music Videos
- Changing throughout videos in different year periods. Growing a lot more mature and becoming more of a women instead of a girl
- Bad girl gone good, opposite of Miley Cyrus.
- Outfits are different in all three videos, starts off very young and then becomes more smart/mature.
Adele Music Videos
- Depressing sad videos, with car crash scene. Links to her life, a bit like a car crash in her past relationships.
- Chasing Pavements links between two people. 'Chasing something you can never find'.
- Someone Like You is in black and white, depressing sad, no acceptance.
- Roling In The Deep is very upbeat, strong willed, about her past relationship... AGAIN! Long-shots, pyrotechnics.
Bruno Mars Videos
- The Lazy Song is directed by himself, very humorous and young. Having fun.
- Locked Out Of Heaven is very ecstatic, lots of dancing and jumping to the beat, more serious performance based, some random stories of other people going on in the background.
- Treasure is very retro and features a lot of editing effects, old looks style performance based.
BMTH
- Originally death core style of metal
- Crazy videos, jerky camera, head banging, moving with the beat, cold, snowy icy, reflect the songs, cold, heartless loud angry etc.
- Sleepwalking, snow again, girl wakes up, lyrics and song link very well together.
- Blessed With A Curse, girl sat alone, manor house with maids, very sad and depressing, reflecting the lyrics and song title well.
- Changing throughout videos in different year periods. Growing a lot more mature and becoming more of a women instead of a girl
- Bad girl gone good, opposite of Miley Cyrus.
- Outfits are different in all three videos, starts off very young and then becomes more smart/mature.
Adele Music Videos
- Depressing sad videos, with car crash scene. Links to her life, a bit like a car crash in her past relationships.
- Chasing Pavements links between two people. 'Chasing something you can never find'.
- Someone Like You is in black and white, depressing sad, no acceptance.
- Roling In The Deep is very upbeat, strong willed, about her past relationship... AGAIN! Long-shots, pyrotechnics.
Bruno Mars Videos
- The Lazy Song is directed by himself, very humorous and young. Having fun.
- Locked Out Of Heaven is very ecstatic, lots of dancing and jumping to the beat, more serious performance based, some random stories of other people going on in the background.
- Treasure is very retro and features a lot of editing effects, old looks style performance based.
BMTH
- Originally death core style of metal
- Crazy videos, jerky camera, head banging, moving with the beat, cold, snowy icy, reflect the songs, cold, heartless loud angry etc.
- Sleepwalking, snow again, girl wakes up, lyrics and song link very well together.
- Blessed With A Curse, girl sat alone, manor house with maids, very sad and depressing, reflecting the lyrics and song title well.
Friday, 4 October 2013
Kings of Leon: Researching The Band (Chosen Band)
Kings of Leon
We decided to go with Kings of Leon as our artist for our music video, they have a great selection of songs and we really liked their albums. They are meaningful in their song writing which is another reason we went for them, they have great lyrics which make it very easy to come up with ideas for a music video for them.
Early Days
Founded in 1999 by the three Followill brothers and their cousin all from Nashville Tennessee in the United States. They loved the rock music and lifestyle after watching their favourite bands and were influenced by bands such as Thin Lizzy, The Rolling Stones and The Clash. They played at gigs across the south of the United States and gradually started to become well known and very popular. They were signed by RCA Records, but the record company only wanted two of the brothers, but they insisted they would be stick together and so they did and became Kings of Leon.
Band Members
Caleb Followill – lead vocals, rhythm guitar.
Matthew Followill – lead guitar, keyboards, piano, backing vocals.
Jared Followill – bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, backing vocals.
Nathan Followill – drums and percussion, backing vocals.
Albums
Youth & Young Manhood (2003)
1. Red Morning Light
2. Happy Alone
3. Wasted Time
4. Joe's Head
5. Trani
6. California Waiting
7. Spiral Suitcase
8. Molly's Chambers
9. Genius
10. Dusty
11. Holy Roller Novocaine
Aha Shake Heartbreak (2004)
1. Slow Night, Slow Song 11. Velvet Show
2. King Of The Rodeo 12. Rememo
3. Taper Jean Girl 13. Where Nobody Knows
4. Pistol Of Fire
5. Milk
6. The Bucket
7. Soft
8. Razz
9. Day Old Blues
10. Four Kicks
Because Of The Times (2007)
1. Knocked Up 11. Trunk
2. Charmer 12. Camaro
3. On Call 13. Arizona
4. McFearless
5. Black Thumbnail
6. My Party
7. True Love Way
8. Ragoo
9. Fans
10. The Runner
Only By The Night (2008)
1. Closer 11. Cold Desert
2. Crawl
3. Sex On Fire
4. Use Somebody
5. Manhattan
6. Revelry
7. 17
8. Notion
9. I Want You
10. Be Somebody
Come Around Sundown (2010)
1. The End 11. Birthday
2. Radioactive 12. Mi Amigo
3. Pyro 13. Pickup Truck
4. Mary
5. The Face
6. The Immortals
7. Back Down South
8. Beach Side
9. No Money
10. Pony Up
Mechanical Bull (2013)
1. Supersoaker 11. On The Chin
2. Rock City 12. Work On Me
3. Don't Matter 13. Last Mile Home
4. Beautiful War
5. Temple
6. Wait For Me
7. Family Tree
8. Comeback Story
9. Tonight
10. Coming Back Again
As you can see, all six of the albums do not really keep a consistency in the artwork. They all have one thing in common and that is the band name being at the top of the album artwork. I think it is good that every album cover is different and doesn't hold too many similarities so it is easier to distinguish which album is which so they all have a piece of individuality about them. Notice how the album name also links with the album artwork; for example Come Around Sundown has two tall palm trees with the sun-setting in the background. Mechanical Bull has a picture of a sign saying Mechanical Bull and a race track finish logo printed on the wall. Only By The Night has a picture of the lead signer with an owl blended and mixed into his face, owls are connoted with the night time, again linking the artwork and album cover.
For my artwork I am going to make sure the album name is linked and has a key relationship with the album artwork. I want to do this so I can keep a consistency just like Kings of Leon have.
We decided to go with Kings of Leon as our artist for our music video, they have a great selection of songs and we really liked their albums. They are meaningful in their song writing which is another reason we went for them, they have great lyrics which make it very easy to come up with ideas for a music video for them.
Early Days
Founded in 1999 by the three Followill brothers and their cousin all from Nashville Tennessee in the United States. They loved the rock music and lifestyle after watching their favourite bands and were influenced by bands such as Thin Lizzy, The Rolling Stones and The Clash. They played at gigs across the south of the United States and gradually started to become well known and very popular. They were signed by RCA Records, but the record company only wanted two of the brothers, but they insisted they would be stick together and so they did and became Kings of Leon.
Band Members
Caleb Followill – lead vocals, rhythm guitar.
Matthew Followill – lead guitar, keyboards, piano, backing vocals.
Jared Followill – bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, backing vocals.
Nathan Followill – drums and percussion, backing vocals.
Albums
Youth & Young Manhood (2003)
2. Happy Alone
3. Wasted Time
4. Joe's Head
5. Trani
6. California Waiting
7. Spiral Suitcase
8. Molly's Chambers
9. Genius
10. Dusty
11. Holy Roller Novocaine
Aha Shake Heartbreak (2004)
2. King Of The Rodeo 12. Rememo
3. Taper Jean Girl 13. Where Nobody Knows
4. Pistol Of Fire
5. Milk
6. The Bucket
7. Soft
8. Razz
9. Day Old Blues
10. Four Kicks
Because Of The Times (2007)
2. Charmer 12. Camaro
3. On Call 13. Arizona
4. McFearless
5. Black Thumbnail
6. My Party
7. True Love Way
8. Ragoo
9. Fans
10. The Runner
Only By The Night (2008)
2. Crawl
3. Sex On Fire
4. Use Somebody
5. Manhattan
6. Revelry
7. 17
8. Notion
9. I Want You
10. Be Somebody
Come Around Sundown (2010)
2. Radioactive 12. Mi Amigo
3. Pyro 13. Pickup Truck
4. Mary
5. The Face
6. The Immortals
7. Back Down South
8. Beach Side
9. No Money
10. Pony Up
Mechanical Bull (2013)
2. Rock City 12. Work On Me
3. Don't Matter 13. Last Mile Home
4. Beautiful War
5. Temple
6. Wait For Me
7. Family Tree
8. Comeback Story
9. Tonight
10. Coming Back Again
As you can see, all six of the albums do not really keep a consistency in the artwork. They all have one thing in common and that is the band name being at the top of the album artwork. I think it is good that every album cover is different and doesn't hold too many similarities so it is easier to distinguish which album is which so they all have a piece of individuality about them. Notice how the album name also links with the album artwork; for example Come Around Sundown has two tall palm trees with the sun-setting in the background. Mechanical Bull has a picture of a sign saying Mechanical Bull and a race track finish logo printed on the wall. Only By The Night has a picture of the lead signer with an owl blended and mixed into his face, owls are connoted with the night time, again linking the artwork and album cover.
For my artwork I am going to make sure the album name is linked and has a key relationship with the album artwork. I want to do this so I can keep a consistency just like Kings of Leon have.
Performance and Narrative Based Music Videos (Homework)
Don't Mug Yourself - The Streets (Narrative)
The song is converted into a conversation, instead of a performance based video, it is narrative. It works well with references in the lyrics shown in the music video clearly. A really British type of music video with the clothing, language, vocabulary, pub, cafe, English fry up etc. Video features a variety of different people talking into the camera the lyrics of the song, as if they are addressing the audience and telling us "Don't Mug Yourself". The location of the video changes consistently in a clever way as it automatically changes with a clever switch.
Rock DJ - Robbie Williams (Narrative)
Very weird video, He is surrounded by women, trying to grab their attention as they go around on roller skates.He begins stripping down, to then stripping his skin, muscles and organs until he is only left with bones. It is very messed up and has been censored by major music video companies due to this. The women around him are eating his flesh on the floor, it is very disturbing. I am not sure how the lyrics and song title even link the video, it all seems very different. Maybe that was the point? To be diverse and different to everyone else, so people would remember the music video and it would grab more spotlight?
Notorious B.I.G. - Sky's The Limit (Performance)
Beginning of the video reflects his wealth and stature: mansion, cameras, big gates, expensive cars, nice suit etc. The song name is Sky's The Limit, this reflects how far he can go, meaning he can reach anything now he is famous, he has the money and has the fame/spotlight. The video has children featuring as Biggie, maybe to show that it doesn't matter who you are or how young you are you can have the world at your feet. All dressed up in jewellery and suits, sunglasses, all representing power and money. I think the video has something to do with children growing up to quickly, the kids both boy and girl are all in expensive maturer clothes.
Daft Punk - Around The World (Performance)
The song is converted into a conversation, instead of a performance based video, it is narrative. It works well with references in the lyrics shown in the music video clearly. A really British type of music video with the clothing, language, vocabulary, pub, cafe, English fry up etc. Video features a variety of different people talking into the camera the lyrics of the song, as if they are addressing the audience and telling us "Don't Mug Yourself". The location of the video changes consistently in a clever way as it automatically changes with a clever switch.Rock DJ - Robbie Williams (Narrative)
Very weird video, He is surrounded by women, trying to grab their attention as they go around on roller skates.He begins stripping down, to then stripping his skin, muscles and organs until he is only left with bones. It is very messed up and has been censored by major music video companies due to this. The women around him are eating his flesh on the floor, it is very disturbing. I am not sure how the lyrics and song title even link the video, it all seems very different. Maybe that was the point? To be diverse and different to everyone else, so people would remember the music video and it would grab more spotlight?Notorious B.I.G. - Sky's The Limit (Performance)
Beginning of the video reflects his wealth and stature: mansion, cameras, big gates, expensive cars, nice suit etc. The song name is Sky's The Limit, this reflects how far he can go, meaning he can reach anything now he is famous, he has the money and has the fame/spotlight. The video has children featuring as Biggie, maybe to show that it doesn't matter who you are or how young you are you can have the world at your feet. All dressed up in jewellery and suits, sunglasses, all representing power and money. I think the video has something to do with children growing up to quickly, the kids both boy and girl are all in expensive maturer clothes.
Daft Punk - Around The World (Performance)
Performance is staged around a world which links to the title of the song. 4 or 5 different sets of people such as gymnasts, skeletons, jocks, mummies, robots etc. All the people link to the song with the robots being at the top and the skeletons at the bottom. The camera stays in the same place throughout as the dancers move around, they move to the beat which looks really professional and goes well with the video. The video represents different cultures, death, life etc with mummies and skeletons representing death, gymnasts and jocks representing life and robots representing the future. Lots of panning and zooming in and out shots of the dancers going up and down the steps, following them back and forth.
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