Analysing Judas Priest - Breaking the Law music video

0:00-0:30

The music video opens with  a variety of shots of establishment locations such as banks and police stations. Once the lyrics begin the singer is shown riding in a car with the band. The car is open top showing the freedom they have. The lighting is very moody creating a miserable look.

0:30-1:00

In the next 30 seconds the band enter a bank and begin the chorus line 'Breaking the law' As they play the song the people begin covering their ears and dropping to the floor. One mans glasses smash. This represents the views on rock music at the time as the older generation cannot understand it. The next shot shows them 'robbing' the bank holding their guitars as guns towards the crowd.

1:00-1:30

The shots occasionally cut to a police officer who is inept at solving the situation shown earlier as asleep. They then walk across tables showing their dominance over the establishment and open the safe with their music.

1:30-2:00

The next shot is of the band prying open metal bars and removing their gold record. This suggest the band may feel that they are being held back from success. The lead singer then holds it up towards the camera creating a symbolic gesture towards the audience that nothing can stop them before running to their getaway car as police sirens play.

2:00-2:37

After the escape the shots cut between the car, live clips with inverted color and the police officer who is playing a guitar. However the guitar is an inverted version of the iconic v shape many rock guitarists use suggesting that the older generations will never get it.

Genre Choice

Our groups chosen genre is rock.

Genre is a way of categorizing texts. There are many genres of music and Barry Keith Grant states that all genres have a repertoire - a set of forms and conventions. Andrew Goodwin states that all music videos exhibit genre characteristics - ultimately the forms and conventions of the genre make them instantly recognizable to the audience.

Beatles Album Covers

Beatles Album Covers

The Beatles are one of the most inflectional bands of all time and many modern bands follow in their footsteps however their album covers have been almost as influential.

1. Please Please Me

In the debut Beatles album, Please Please Me, the cover shows the Beatles looking down from a stair well smiling towards the camera. This makes them appear friendly and inviting to the audience. This can be seen in modern pop album covers. Such as One Direction.

2. With The Beatles

In comparison to the first album cover this picture shows all members of the band in black and with whilst not smiling. Only John Lennon has his full face visible while Ringo Starr is placed at the bottom to fit the band into the image. This foreshadows a darker tone in the Beatles album covers.

3. A Hard Days Night

For the Beatles first movie soundtrack lp they used pictures of the band each pulling different expressions to create a photo reel effect that is copied in the film. This style has been used and parodied in many bands since.

4. Beatles For Sale

This album cover directly contrasts their debut cover. In this photo the Beatles are in a line however they are shown looking very sad. When the lp title is considered, Beatles For Sale, then the nature of this album becomes clear as it is the last of the pop oriented sound of the Beatles and the penultimate before they stop touring. 

5. Help!

Despite being their second soundtrack album Helps message is clear in the title as it shows the Beatles calling for help out of the commercial cycle they are stuck in.

6.Rubber Soul

In the last of the Beatles touring albums Rubber Soul shows the Beatles psychedelic influences they were taking on board during the start of the 60s revolution. Furthermore the album use a distorted image to counter their previous approach. This is the first Beatles album cover to not feature their name on the cover.

7.Revolver

Revolver is the most creative album cover in the Beatles repertoire and shows a stark difference from the touring years to the album years. The image changed the face of the Beatles and album covers forever.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

In possibly the most iconic album cover of all time Sgt Pepper shows a new form of album cover design in the shift towards progressive music and concept albums. This album cover is very imaginative as it create a theme and design that expands from the songs and onto the album cover. The Sgt Pepper design is very effective as it draws in an audience simply wanting to understand the album cover. The many faces appearing makes the image interesting to listeners to try and name as many as they can. Notable faces include Bob Dylan, H.G. Wells and Oscar Wilde. Lennon requested Jesus and Hitler to appear on the cover but they were rejected. The album cover cost £3000 whereas a standard album cover would cost £50. This shows how the Beatles made the album cover into a world of it's own. Furthermore this is the first album to come with the lyrics on the cover.

Magical Mystery Tour

In the Magical Mystery Tour the Beatles show a completely different prospective of 60s psychedelic culture as they are dressed in animal costumes over a bright background. The album was only intended to coincide with their Christmas movie of the same name. When compered to the early Beatles albums this shows a massive progression of album covers.

The Beatles

The Beatles 1968 self titled album shows the Beatles unique approach to album covers. They followed up the colorful imagery of Magical Mystery Tour with simply a blank background. This experimental approach reflects the music that is the Beatles most experimental.

Abbey Road

In one of the most popular and recognisable album covers of all time the Beatles make their first unconsumed appearance on a cover since Rubber Soul. This emphasizes the changes of music within the Beatles as they have changed drastically. The album cover also shows how successful the Beatles were as it did not feature the Beatles name of album title on the cover. The album cover has been one of the most parodied of all time.

Let It Be

On the Beatles final album, Let It Be, the band appear in photos taken from their historical abbey road rooftop concert. The photos are placed in boxes and is their first conventional album cover since Help! This artwork has been very influential in the history of album covers and has had influence over a variety of bands.

Other influential album covers

Many other album covers before, during and after the Beatles have been influential.

Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd

The most recognizable album cover by art design team Hipgnosis shows how a powerful image can establish a band. The design does not feature the then relatively unknown name of Pink Floyd but also does not feature the album name. This is a risky move for an unknown band.

Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley

Elvis's debut albums cover has been used as a basis of many albums to follow and helped establish the biggest name in the music industry. Furthermore the Clash parodied the album cover on their critically acclaimed London Calling.

The Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones self titled debut was the first album to have no band name and a cover to cover image not disrupted by the label and product information.

Fragile - Yes

Fragile by Yes is the first major album with a cover by Roger Dean. Roger Dean's style became symbolic of the 1970s progressive rock movement.

How will I put this into my own album cover?

When making my own album cover I will need to focus on what makes an album cover interesting. Most notable the use of effects on any person in the image to create an interesting image and to make the band look iconic. To create a successful album the cover most be instantly recognizable therefore giving it instant staying power.

All of these album covers are instantly recognizable and to make a successful digi-pak I will try to make a recognizable album cover.

Last Nite - The Strokes

Lyrics
Last night she said, "Oh, baby, I feel so down. Oh it turns me off, When I feel left out." So I, I turn 'round, "Oh, baby, don't care no more. I know this for sure, I'm walkin' out that door." Well, I've been in town for just about fifteen minutes now And baby, I feel so down And I don't know why I keep walkin' for miles See, people they don't understand No, girlfriends, they can't understand Your grandsons, they won't understand On top of this, I ain't ever gonna understand... Last night she said, "Oh, baby, don't feel so down. Oh, it turns me off, When I feel left out." So I, I turn 'round: "Oh, baby, gonna be alright." It was a great big lie 'Cause I left that night, yeah Oh, people they don't understand No, girlfriends, they don't understand In spaceships, they won't understand And me, I ain't ever gonna understand... Last night she said, "Oh, baby, I feel so down. See, it turns me off, When I feel left out." So I, I turn 'round: "Oh, little girl, I don't care no more. I know this for sure, I'm walking out that door," yeah

When creating our own video for Last Nite we were able to learn basic skill in filming, directing and preforming. We were able to use a variety of cameras such as handheld and on rails. Furthermore as a performer I was able to work in the filming as attempt to re-create what was shown on the film.

Tips For Music Video

• Evidence all work done during production.
• Analise real music videos and videos within my chosen genre.
• Blog videos that have influenced me.
• Create test shots for props, costumes and locations.
• Analise real album covers and create test shots.
• Analise band websites and show inspiration in blog.
• Analise other student videos and gain feedback on my own creations.

Golden Rules
Blog all evidence
Analise third party creations
Blog all shoots

Album Covers

In the Tom Petty album cover the main focus is on Tom Petty as he is placed on the left of the shot. He blends into the background making his face and guitar standout emphasizing the album as rock.

In the Yes Album the band are centralized with a mannequin head. This makes the image have a sense of mystery reflecting the music. Furthermore there is a empty chair suggesting that there is more to the image than first shown. The image also appears in a film reel making the cover more eye catching.

In Jethro Tull's Songs From The Wood Ian Anderson is shot centrally in a campsite scene. Anderson is dressed smartly making him look out of place in the hermit-style forest location. The name matches the imagery making the albums folk-rock genre clear to a potential listener.

Random Album Cover

Random Album

I created an album cover by taking images and phrases from various random sources such as Wikipedia. I edited them together in photoshop to create an album cover and exported it as a JPG. I used a canvas that was H 12 cm x W24 cm.

I used the copy and paste and the re-size to place the image onto the canvas and then split the image with the guide at 12 cm down the centre. I then used text to overlay the album with the track listing and name.

When making my digipak I must make sure that:

• All the text uses the same font.
• Have the main part of the image fit onto the front of the album cover.
• Make the text have it's own layer for later editing.

Album Promoting

Jeff Lynne's ELO - Alone In The Universe - Nov 2015

Use Of Promotion

Tour - Alone In The Universe Tour - Sold Out.
Live Appearances - Radio 2 Live - Jimmy Kimmel - Glastonbury - Royal Variety
Singles - When I Was A Boy - When The Night Comes - One Step At A Time
Music Videos - Music Videos

A music video for When I Was A Boy was released on September the 24th with a social media build up of excerpts and a release date. Following the video was a behind the scenes showing the creation of the video. To promote the tour the Facebook page showed photos of each venue with the iconic spaceship above the location.

Charts[edit] Chart (2015) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[39] 15 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[40] 14 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[41] 8 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[42] 24 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[43] 34 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[44] 38 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[45] 5 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[46] 22 French Albums (SNEP)[47] 127 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[48] 7 Irish Albums (IRMA)[49] 6 Italian Albums (FIMI)[50] 70 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[51] 24 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[52] 9 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[53] 23 Scottish Albums (OCC)[54] 4 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[55] 26 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[56] 5 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[57] 7 UK Albums (OCC)[58] 4 UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[59] 1 US Billboard Top Rock Albums[16] 2 US Billboard 200[17] 23

Inspirational videos 1

Here are some music videos that I would like to take inspiration from.

In Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel the whole video uses stop motion to allow more experimental imagery and themes. However this would be very time consuming and not possible in my time limit therefore any ideas taken from this video would have to be used minimally
In Heat Of The Moment by Asia the boxes used on the screen give the video a stylized look making the video recognizable and more interesting.
In the Scientist by Coldplay the whole video is revered making the lead singer walk towards the camera whilst the world behind him reverses. This trick is used in other videos below.
2:50

1:42

Skills Development Evaluation

Skills developed using technology and post-production

During A2 fortnight I used various devices. When filming the video's I used lights to create the right lighting as in the original videos. This made the videos more accurate and made the work look more professional. Furthermore I used the studio to have a colorful backdrop. During the editing I used various editing techniques such as fading different videos over the top of each other such as in send my love.
 When creating some videos we synced up footage with the song such as in Reptillia we made the instruments line up with the footage and lip synced in the Little Mix and the Meghan Trainer songs.
These skills will be incredibly useful during the main production as they will allow me to create the foundations of a good music video. I have learned how to edit a music video into a song whilst maintaining synchronization and quality of footage.

Skills developed in research and planning

During this task I have been able to manage time to create more than the minimum amount of videos. Furthermore with more planning and preparation we could find better locations and set up more easily. Moreover with the main project we would have access to more instruments and sets. I now know that when planning a shoot finding the right location is important for creating a good video.

Skills developed using real media conventions?

For my main production I need to make sure that locations and lighting are well though through and effectively used to enhance the video and avoid obvious mistakes. I need to improve lip sinking skills and make sure the video is edited more effectively to the song.

Andrew Goodwin's Theory - Lyrics And Video

Lyrics And Video

In Jesus He Knows Me by Genesis Phil Collins sings about Evangelical TV hosts and the shady business side of the profession. Throughout the video Collins is shown as a preacher both on air and in rich wealthy locations. The lyrics of the song match the visuals as the billboard and magazine appear as the lines are sung. Furthermore the more critical lines are reflected with shots of Collins in exotic locations and black and white photos strengthening the link to alternative motives. The chorus shots of the main stage show Collins as a stereotypical preacher family with the shots becoming more hectic towards the end. During the final chorus money is shown falling down alongside fast cutting with a sign showing money increase. This video emphasizes the message of the song through the mise-en-scene.

Andrew Goodwin's Theory - Label Demands

Label Demands

Label demands vary based on the performer and what was expected from them.
In Mike Oldfield's cover of the William Tell Overture the emphasis is placed on musician ship and the performer abilities of Mike Oldfield. This is also used as he is playing an instrumental and therefore no lead singer to focus on.
 
In Mike Oldfield's Moonlight Shadow the focus is taken from Oldfield and placed Maggie Reilly as she is singing the song. Therefore the label advertises the sing as a standard music video. This is reflected in his other collaborations with Jon Anderson and Bonnie Tyler. However in a instrumental music video the focus is placed on the musicians rather than the singer.

Andrew Goodwin's Theory - The Male Gaze

Male Gaze

 In Sheryl Crow's If It Makes You Happy is an example of the male gaze in a music video as it emphasizes on making the viewer look at Sheryl Crow. This is Clear when compared to a live performance of the song. However the video suggests that it make be using the male gaze in a critical way as Sheryl Crow is in a museum exhibit - therefore is supposed to be looked at in a cage. Furthermore at 1:41 she is seen next to tally chart as if she were counting the days and along with the shot at 1:54 that appears to represent prison suggests that she is trapped in the male gaze. The live performance below shows how the actual appearance of Sheryl Crow is considerably different to the music video.

Andrew Goodwin's Theory - Genre Characteristics

Genre Characteristics

Procol Harum's Whiter Shade Of Pale shows clear genre characteristics. Most notably the video uses a colour filter to make the image seem unnatural. This fits with the psychedelic elements of the song. During the video there are various shots that frame the members of the band in odd ways such as 0:44 where the lead singer is blocked by other members of the band. This contrasts with the shot at 1:10 where two hands point towards the lead singer making him the center of attention.
Country Rock sound The End Of The Line by super group Traveling Wilburys shows many country visual elements to build upon the theme of travel and country origins. Most notably the use of the train fits with the rhythm of the song and how the train is heavily used in country songs. The dress of the members of the band is made to reflect a 1940s western image. During the pre-chorus 1:21 the close up of Tom Petty fades in and out with shots of the country side. However the music video varies from this standard theme at 1:41 for Roy Orbison's verse. The train becomes dark and there is a close up of a photo of him showing his death before the video was created.
 In Kraftwerk's synth pop standard We Are The Robot the mise-en-scene is designed to reflect the robotic sounds of the song. The band members have minimal movements throughout ti make them appear as robots. The location of the video is very futuristic to make the themes of the song standout. The colours are mostly red making the band blend into the background making their faces standout as they have blank faces to add to the robotic look.

Initial Genre Research

Music genre classifies all areas of music from Baroque to Reggie. Each genre has conventions and standards. For example Jazz has conventions such as brass sections, walking bass and large solo sections whereas a Jazz standard would be a song that defines the genre such as Frank Sinatra's Fly Me To The Moon.