Poster Research

Audience- For the next part of the brief, a print for the artist needs to be made in order to communicate information to the fans. I have conducted research into posters and how they are used to convey vital information to the fans to not only reinforce that they have a great understanding on the band/artist, but also how they will engage and appeal to the audience. Some examples have been placed in the document with this text, some of these examples are actually posters I have collected over the years, showing that posters are an effective way of the audience finding out that a new tour/album is being released. For example, this ‘Circa Waves’ poster explicitly indicates to the audience that the band has announced a tour, this is seen with the last of dates and venues. I chose this poster as I feel it is engaging to the audience. It is an important factor that the promotion team have actually used the bands album artwork as the backdrop, as this allows fans to instantly recognise the print as they have already seen the image somewhere before. This can appeal to the audience because, in the current state of live music, audiences like to see a link between the album and live performances, therefore by adding the album cover as the main background/colour scheme it shows that the live performances will almost replicate the album. It is also important to notice the venues mentioned in the tour poster, and through thorough research I have seen that the venues mentioned in the poster range from a capacity of 300-500. This is an important aspect as fans of indie music are often perceived to more enjoy gigs which are more ‘lowkey’ and ‘underground’ because it is less mainstream. Therefore it appeals to the audience as the venues are a reasonable size for this certain audience to enjoy.

Design- 

It is important to notice that in the example I have shown, that the main artist band name is clearly exhibited at the top of the page, which will ultimately make it instantly recognizable for avid fans. It is also to notice that the band carries the same logo throughout every promotional material, which reinforces my idea of making the print recognizable, and also it could be argued it makes the band a ‘brand’. This makes it much easier to hand out these posters to record stores/live band events/venues as the audience will inevitably visit these locations as this is what they are interested in. Because of this, I feel that we should also include the band name/logo at the centre of the poster and have a distinctive logo, as this conveys a professional image and persona of the band. This poster is a great example of how colour scheme can be used to give a slick and professional look. When producing our poster, text image cohesion is a paramount aspect to consider as it makes the poster seem much more defined and can also be perceived as satisfying by some fans. On the poster, we can see that they actually use the album artwork, this is a clever idea as it allows the tour and the album to intertwine with eachother. However when producing our poster, maybe we could use a live performance of the band as the main backdrop, as this would allow the audience to actually visualize the artist. This is shown in the poster for ‘Saint Raymond’ (see below).

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Layout- As shown in the two examples, the heading and image of the artist are the two largest elements to the pages. This is a vital aspect as it allows the public to instantly see who the artist is. Both examples have the tour dates as the main form of text, and is clearly displayed in the centre. This justifies my previous point of how effective the poster is when it comes to exhibiting information to an audience. With the venues being surrounded by a white border in the ‘Circa Waves’ poster, it almost emphasises the main information of the poster. This is a unique way of displaying the poster, because the layout is simple, however it is undeniable that it is effective and clearly distributes the main purpose of the print; to inform. The magnitude of certain parts of information is a key aspect, as it can magnify and amplify certain parts of the poster which are important. I feel that when we produce our poster, we will make the band/artist name the biggest size, as this will allow the audience to subconsciously recognise the band name, and then we will have the tour dates big, but not as big as the band name as this can almost overload the audience with information, which could ultimately disinterest and discourage the audience.

Content- The content of the poster needs to be as minimal as possible, this is because audiences will be catching the poster at a quick glance, therefore if the poster had lots of information and a lot of writing, then it would not be eye catching. For this main reason, the band name, the venues and dates of the performances and also where the audience can buy the tickets would be a reasonable amount of content to insert into the poster.

Target Audience

Target audience

Our song in the music video is ‘Sign on’ by Rat boy, it is in the genre of indie music so when creating our video we need to consider it needs to meet the needs of a person who likes indie music. The reason why we have chosen a song that fits into the ‘indie’ genre is because it targets an age range of around 14-19 so I feel that as a group we will know what is relatable. We have also used indie music because the lyrics in the music discusses topics such as; love, sex, drinking etc.. This means that our audience will relate to these lyrics as they are in that age where love, sex and drinking is a part of teenage life. Narratives are common in this genre’s music videos, which discuss relationships and life, therefore when creating the music video we need to consider that the storyline is cohesive and fits our target audience. 

Audience profiling, the age our music video is targeted towards 14-19. The gender we specifically targeting is both male and female, this widens our target audience. Any race or sexuality could appeal to this type of video, there is no aim at either. Our audience is mainly in education, therefore when releasing the video we will need to release it when they are not in education so the target market can actually see it. The audience will not be on a very stable annual income, therefore In our music video we will not show any form of luxury or wealthy, because then the target audience cannot relate to the video. For example, one of our shots is going to be of two characters in a field drinking alcohol, this has connotations of youth and misbehaviour, which suits our target audience. Our current lifestyle is teenagers, those who are still in education and are into music. Stereotypically, our culture is teenagers whom are interested in shoplifting, drinks, drugs etc..

The purpose of our music video is to explore teenage life and the troubles that teenagers go through. The main idea is for the audience to relate to the video and also take interest in the narrative and wanting to make them intrigued by what happens in the storyline.

Demographics:

Class/income – Our demographic is working class, because our target audience is teenagers, this means that they will not be able to relate to certain activities which include luxury. A main of aspect of our video is exploring youth and almost not considering the consequences of actions, therefore it is important that we portray adolescence in our video.

Age: The age range for our demographic will vary from 14 – 21 years old, this is because as said before the song and the premise of the video discusses teenage life, so it is important that we consider the age.

Gender: The gender is both male and female therefore we will try to make sure it will appeal to both genders.

Interests: Stereotypically, teenagers possess a facetious attitude and partake in illegal activites; underage drinking, shop lifting etc.. By generalising our demographic, we can deduce certain stereotypes in our video, this will mean that our target market can relate to our video and also the lyrics.

 

Psychographics

By looking at the description of each psychographic, I believe that our target audience fits into the ‘strugglers’ and ‘explorers’ category. I feel that our audience is in the strugglers because teenagers often look at things as a form of escapism, this could be music, alcohol, books etc.. With our target market being teenagers who like indie music, I feel that music would be their form of escapism and they would look at music is a sense of guidance. The description in strugglers mentions the idea of the audience buying ‘alcohol, junk food, lottery tickets’ this fits our audience very well as these objects are explored in our music video. I feel that the ‘strugglers’ category is a reasonable label for our target market’s position in society.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs

In our music video, I feel that the categories we discuss from the hierarchy are physiological, safety and belonging.  I feel that this diagram does apply to our music video in certain aspects, as we do look at friendship which then builds onto confidence.

 

UK tribes

I feel that our target audience is more based towards the ‘alternative’ side of the tribe, for those who are passionate about music and also like to be different from the rest. The music included is very unique as it is almost rap and indie combined, and we know that our demographic like unique music, so I would say that our audience would fit into the ‘Indie scenesters’, ‘Indie kids’ and ‘Hipsters’ section.

 

 

Our story:

 

The story and narrative that will support our music video, “Sign On”- Rat boy, follows the scene of two teenagers who do not have a bright future, the main concept of the video is to follow the stereotypical life of teenagers. Although the story is not explicit, it complements the lyrics by showing how teenagers react and behave, and also the lyrics discuss ‘signing on’ which shows that they are poor and do not have a motive. In the story, we will show how teenagers almost base their actions on naivety. We have also decided that rather than having the main characters in the main location of Bristol city centre, some live action shots of the band will be taken in a studio too, as this will highlight the music part. This will include various shots of the members from close up and afar, we will focus primarily on the instruments, for example we will zoom in on the drum sticks. We thought that it if we added some performance based ideas, then this would allow the film to be a lot more engaging and make it more interesting. As a group we feel it is important that we include these performance based ideas otherwise the idea would of the video would not be very clear and could leave our audience confused. It was found through research that quite a few other rock/indie genre music videos accomplished this successfully too. We have applied our story to Hollywood’s classical 5 stage narrative.

 

1.            Exposition – Setting scene and introducing characters. We will first have a shot of both main characters walking into the studio picking up their instruments; it will introduce the audience to the characters. We have also decided as a group to include a backstory before, we will show the main characters exchanging dialogue saying that they are fed up of college, which will add reason and justify their behaviour in the video.

 

2.            Development –Different location is introduced, song kicks in. Time lapse will be used to introduce setting. The main characters are introduced properly here and the audience understand that the two teenagers at this point have illegal motifs e.g. smoking, drinking etc..

 

3.            Complication – In the video we discuss the idea of the two main characters ‘Signing on’ which shows that they are having financial issues and have no real ambitions. The music then slows down at this point and I feel the lyrics at this stage explore the character’s feelings ‘All my shoes have holes in their souls, live my life in second hand clothes’.

 

4.            Climax/Resolution – Here we see the song has now picked up pace and now the pacing of the editing will get faster. Both shots of performance and location shots will be implemented more to show much more variety, as this reflects the atmosphere of the song at this moment.

 

Camera Shots in Music videos:

 

Very Wide Shot- This shot is where the location plays a vital part in the shot, this shot is mainly used in the introduction to set the scene of the video. Despite this, the main character is still the main focal point.

 

Wide Shot- This is where the location is still a huge aspect in the shot, however the character is now more visible in the frame.

 

Medium Shot- This shot allows the audience to perceive the character’s facial expressions and also their body language, it used for audiences to deduce the emotions of the characters.

 

Medium Close Up- This shot shows the character from the chest to the head.

 

Close up shot- This is a shot which just focuses entirely on the characters face, this shot is very effective and used prevalently in music videos as it is a really good way of exhibiting character’s emotions.

 

Extreme Close up- This shot shows a particular part of somebody’s face, again to show emotion and feelings. For example, the camera could just be focused on the eye and a tear running down it, this would immediately show to the audience that the character is upset. It also allows exploration with certain aspects such as tears, scars etc..

 

Over the shoulder shot- This shot is primarily used in conversation, where we see another character over another character’s shoulder. This allows for the audience to get a different view in conversation, it could also be used so that the audience actually feels like they are immersed in the  conversation.

 

Cut in- This is where the camera cuts very fast to a certain object for dramatic effect. For example, the camera could focus on an empty beer can to show the personality and motifs of a character.

 

Camera Angles:

Eye Level – This camera angle is used for the audience to almost feel like they are immersed in the shot and is often used in music videos to show a realistic perspective for the audience.

 

High Angle – This shot is where the angle is placed above the shot looking down on the event. This shot is used so that the audience can view the action from a high view point, which embellishes the drama of the narrative/performance. Also, it could be interpreted that if the camera is placed high up and looking down on something, then it could suggest superiority.

 

Low Angle – This is where the camera is placed on the floor and looking up, which is used to embellish the power and size of a certain character and could be used to intensify the mood and atmosphere of a certain event.

 

Bird’s eye view – Birds eye view is a shot where the camera is facing down on a certain object, character etc.. This shot could be used so that the audience can get a different view of a situation and see the narrative/performance in a different view.

 

Slanted – The slanted effect is when the camera is placed on a slight tilt, this is used for dramatic effect as it can almost show the mood of the video.

 

Camera Movement:

 

Pans – This camera movement is where the camera starts at one location, and pans to another location, therefore giving almost a panoramic view. This could be used by the director to set the scene of the location and allows the audience to comprehend the surroundings of the video. It is often used in performance based videos as it is a shot which has all of the band in one shot.

 

Dolly/Tracking – This is where the camera is mounted to a cart which travels along tracks for a very smooth movement. This would take place while one/two people are walking from one place to another, and the camera moves with them making it more fluent.

 

 

 

 

 

Foals - What Went Down (Music video analysis)

Immediately from the music video, the viewers gain an insight into the mood of the music video, with the first shot being a close up shot of a woman looking distressed and worried.  There is then an extreme close up shot of the lead singer of the band, singing assertively, which reinforces the idea of the music video having a dark atmosphere. Building on this, there is a wide shot of this woman swimming in the sea, with an island very far in the distance; the director has used this shot as I believe it shows the isolation of the character. Throughout the music video, there is a live performance of the band, and the setting of this performance is key to the music video. It is apparent that the band are playing in some sort of desolate and abandoned warehouse, which I believe is used by the director to highlight the negativity of the situation.

Symbolism is used in the music video, with a British bulldog being featured in at around the 2 minute mark. The idea of using a bulldog has connotations of strength and power, which compliments the song really well and also the premise of the video. Building on this, we see a wide shot of a man standing on a beach ridden of litter, this also carries connotations of corrupt behavior and ruining something as beautiful as a beach. The video suits their target audience with the use of live performance and also introducing an ambiguous yet encapsulating storyline. However, it is important to consider the contextual factors of this music video, because the band actually took a hiatus, then the director would need to consider these things to build up tension and excitement of a reunion, hence the setting and the shots used e.g. extreme close ups.

https://youtu.be/iuQQIawCqBA