Target Audience Research question Justifications

Target Audience Research

1. Do you prefer narrative music videos or performance music videos?

Narrative

Performance

2. On the front of your album cover, do you prefer it when the singer songwriter is on the front or do you prefer a picture?

Image

                                                 Singer songwriter

3. Would you prefer us to make a video for a slow song or an up tempo song?

Digipak Deconstruction: Paolo Nutini - These Streets

These streets is the first studio album released by Paolo Nutini. This is why the album cover is of Paolo himself in different poses and in different coloured backgrounds, it is trying to show the different sides of Paolo on a personal and musical level. The colours could be seen as trying to show that this first album is the start of a journey which is symbolised by the fresh white background on the left and then changing towards the right.
The colours could also be seen as all the different genres and sounds that Paolo has been influenced by and are heard in the album. The lighter colours like white and yellow showing the happier songs like "new shoes" and the darker colours like orange and red standing for the darker songs like "Rewind".

The back cover is very simple and is very plain. This used to symbolise the metaphorical blank canvas that he is working on due to this being his debut album. The plain background also confirms the start of his journey message that is shown on the front cover.
The back cover is also very relaxed which is something that he is trying to achieve in this album. So the theme of the back cover is trying to tie in with the actual theme of the music on the record.

Digipak Deconstruction: Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA

Born in the USA is an iconic album from Bruce Springsteen. This was an album that came at a tough time as many of his fans were not liking the changes he had made to his music in past albums and this digipack shows that he is sticking to his roots and has not changed. This is implied by the American flag that is repeated all over the digipack along with the classic image of american denim jeans. The imagery used is showing that he has not changed in the sense that he was born an American and will stay that in the same way as the music he writes is. Especially due to the name of the Album "Born in the USA" This backs up the American message that the album and digipack is trying to send out to the consumer. Throughout the digipack,  the same image of the American flag and man in American denim is used for the background. This simple yet affective use of imagery backs up the message of his music not changing from when he first started and even from birth. The way that the background image doesn't change is also another way of showing that he hasn't changed this album while it has changed melodically and sonically, he hasn't turned his back on his roots which come from growing up in the USA.

The close up of the man implies that the album is simply written but it is something he is proud of as its something that he wants the listener to have a closer look at and really go in to depth when listening to the album.

The background of an image with his back turned is trying to show the consumer that the man could be anyone due to the lack of distinctive identity and anyone can relate to this album.

Music Video deconstruction

Ed Sheeran - A Team

According to Andrew Goodwin's theory, this music video is a narrative video. This means that the video tells the viewer a story that fits in with the song. After doing research i can see that this video is about a homeless person called Angel, she is in desperate need of money and turns to things such as prostitution and drugs. This video is meant to give a brief insight into her life.

The opening shot is a lady with dirty clothes and quilts over her, we can also hear birds singing which shows us it is the morning and she had obviously slept there. The singing birds could also show repetition as birds always sing every morning, this could indicate that she sleeps on the streets every night. She then goes to a tree with no leafs on it, this could show that she is almost dead inside. The next line "burnt lungs sour taste" reaffirms this as we now know that she is killing her body with drugs. In the first chorus the video shows references to the word "Angel". 

           e.g. the station "Angel Station"

This is trying to show the viewer that this sort of thing is happening everywhere and is a very real problem. The viewer can see that she involves herself in prostitution as well as taking drugs. This gives the viewer the impression that things just keep on getting worse will lead up to a big finale. It does lead to a big finale as the the lady dies with the line "angel to die" This shows an irony because Angels are meant to be perfect and the manner that she dies is in no where near perfect. 

Music Video deconstruction

Adele - Rolling In The Deep

According to Andrew Goodwin's music video theory, this music video is a narrative performance video. This means that the video will show the artist performing the song with on beat editing and miming but may fail to show complete narrative. This means that the audience only get the gist of the story and are left to fill in the blanks themselves.

I started by researching the meaning of this song on the internet and now i know that it telling the story of a break up between Adele and an ex partner. The song opens with a mid shot of Adele sitting in a room on her own which shows she is alone and that something is missing. She is also sitting in a civilised manner which implies maturity and perfection. This shows that she felt she was the adult of the situation and she did everything she could to keep everything together. The mis en scene around her is furniture kept under wraps but also looking very old. This could show that there is things left unsaid and things that they should have done but instead were kept bottled up inside. This is backed up by the line "there's a fire burning in my heart" This shows that all these things were on the verge of bursting out. Also in the room is an empty chair next to her. This reaffirms the fact that they are no longer together but also shows that she has left the chair free for another person. Later on in the video there is someone with a sword seeming to be fighting. This shows that although she is lonely she is fighting back. The final scene of the video is the finale where the song hits a climax where it is louder than the start. In this scene the paper city gets set on fire, this refers back to the "fire burning in my heart line" and implies that at end  of the relationship she said all these things and destroyed what they had. 

The use of on beat editing is very prominent during the video with the close up shots of the bass drum, glasses smashing against the wall and the glasses of water shaking. 

Genre Research

The genre that me, David Wardle, Charlie Davies and Chris Day have chosen for to create our final Digipak and Music video is Singer song writer. To fall in the genre of singer song writer the artist must compose and perform their own original songs.


Examples of singer songwriters are Ed Sheeran, Jack Johnson,
Bob Dylan, Adele and Robbie Williams.


Paolo Nutini is an example of an artist who writes and performs his own songs. Paolo was brought up in Paisely, Scotland by his Italian parents who moved to Scotland before deciding to settle down there. Throughout 2006, Paolo played a number of sold out shows around the U.K. before getting a record deal from Atlantic Records. Through this record deal he received the financial backing to release his first album "these streets" whcih included singles such as Jenny don't be hasty, last request and the song we chose for our preliminary New shoes. "These Streets" reached an impressive number 3 in the album charts.
After touring his debut album he then released "sunny side up" in 2009. This peaked at number 1 in the album chart and then received "best international album" at  the 2010 meteor awards.

Another example is Jack Johnson, Jack was born in Oahu, Hawaii and a lot of his music is considered to be influenced by the Hawaii life and growing up there. Jack Johnson debut album "Bushfire Fairytales" was released in 2001 and has moved from strength to strength since then while he's released a further 4 albums more. "On and on, in between dreams, Sleep through the static and To the sea"
Notable tracks from Jack Johnson's back catalogue are Sitting waiting wishing, Better together, Upside down and Taylor.




The concept of a singer-songwriter can actually be traced to ancient Bardic culture, which has existed in various forms throughout the world. Poems would be performed as chant or song, sometimes accompanied by a harp or other similar instrument. After the invention of printing, songs would be written and performed by ballad sellers. Usually these would be versions of existing tunes and lyrics, which were constantly evolving. This developed into the singer-songwriting traditions of folk culture.

Preliminary Task