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.
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