Textual Analysis of The Killers

Genre - The genre of this piece is hard to tell from just looking at it because the way in which the band is using old instruments and dress old as well but the performance makes it look like a kind of rock band due to the kind of lead singer and the bass, guitar and drummer which is very similar to a rock band, also the kind of fast paced shots also connote this rock band.

Narrative - The narrative is visually about a prostitute who is in love with the lead singer but is being forced to be with all these other men, this has hidden connotations to the lead singer and his relationship, this could be about how a woman cheated on him and he is trying to give her attention but she cheats on him and hurts him. However it also may have connotations to him cheating on a woman he was trying to give his attention to but the narrative is open to interpretation maybe this is why I feel it is an effective video.

Representation -  The apple represents love and danger in this piece, we can tell this because the red represents danger and the love is always given when she has the apple. The representations of the harlot prostitutes in this piece are through them being the victims of the antagonist who is the girl with the apple controlling them. The representation of the apple turning green at the end means that the danger is gone and he can't control them anymore.

Audience - The audience of this piece is clearly quite mature people as it has a lot of codes to look at which can be interpreted this kind of knowledge is entertaining for mature audiences that enjoy analysing and finding hidden codes in things. Also it could appeal to the audience of The Killers, the fans to allow them to know more about The Killers.

Institution - The record company clearly have a lot of money on this piece because the way in which it has loads of costumes, props and set which has been brought back in time which is a difficult task to do without a large budget. The probably spent quite a lot because this band is very well known and can make a larger audience and draw in more money from making the video entertaining.

What is a Magazine advert and Digipak?

A magazine advert in terms of music video is a kind of advertising upon a band, song or album inside a magazine. It is usually created to be placed upon a wall to provide remembrance and entertainment to audiences. The way in which the magazine advert is created is by colour and font in certain ways that reach their target audience, for example a hard core rock band making an advert which aim to reach at their hard-core rock fan base, they cant do this by having bright colours and soft text on the advert, they would need something a bit gritty and hard to appeal to that audience unless they are using irony which only happens if the band is extremely known. This is an example of a magazine advert:

A digipak is smilar to a magazine advert as it promotes a song, album or artist but at the same time gives a CD and bonus features usually. A digipak is usually bought by long term fans of an artist or band as they feel like a closer connection with them by getting these added features. A digipak looks similar to album case apart from it it split into three sections with a cover, back cover and a section inbetween them, this is a way in which they promote more features and other stuff by the artist to get across to their audience. A digpak is more expensive but more rewarding to an audience member. An example of a digipak would be this:

Initial Ideas on Our Music Video

These are my initial ideas upon my music video, the ones I am most interested in using will be for genre is Singer Songwriter, i really enjoy this kind of emotional music myself and the way in which certain videos are set. For characters I would like a male protagonist, a female antagonist and a female protagonist so I can have a main focus upon a relationship. In setting I would love for it to be set in a run down place like a building or abandoned warehouse. For content I would like to focus upon some pressing issue aswell as the relationship between two. In storyline I am happy with them all but I would either go for the relationship in war or happy, broken and back together.

Textual Analysis of Ed Sheeran

Genre - The genre of this piece is singer songwriter, this very clear as it has a main focus upon a clear narrative like many singer songwriter music videos. It could also be classified as pop due to the high budget gone into the music video, with her wings and effects used such as the sepia effect. However it goes against both genres in the fact that the artist is very low key in the music video whereas they usually feature quite clearly however in this he only features shortly in the diner.

Narrative - The narrative of this piece is about a girl who is essentially the God of love cupid in Greek mythology and she is running round all these places making people fall in love with each other where all she wants is love herself and the arrow stabbed in her neck connotes that she is dying without love and she needs someone and the final uplifting moment at the end where she falls in love with the police officer coming to inspect her body and she comes back alive to fall in love with him.

Representation -  As general connotations go females are definitely the more dominant characters in this piece as we see the female protagonist in most shots causing happiness to other people and her being the main character causing her to be the most dominant. Homosexuality is represented in a positive way as in the piece they connote men and women in love with each other going against the stereotype of a comical character and instead being the main love in this piece, as we see both and male and a female kissing the same sex. We also see ethnicity shown in a positive light instead of its danger stereotype and in this piece we see a black male being kissed by a white female showing that interracial relationships are normal as well.

Visual Codes -Like said before the arrow stabbed in her neck connotes she is dying of love. Her wings represent that not only is she the God of love in this piece but sometimes women are described as "angels" and this is how they are representing her due to the wings connoting she is an "angel" however she is all alone without anyone to love. Also we see people kissing in a night club connoting that love can also occur in these places.

Audience - The audience to this piece are adults, this can range in age however, as it is dominated by 20-25 year olds however we do see other array of ages such as the two 30 year olds kissing and falling in love, this is to show love is universal. However no younger children or teens are shown so this could just mean that they are not the target audience for this video.

Institution - The institution is a very high budget company, this is quite obvious because the effects and shots used are very technical and high budget and the wings must have been a lot to make and the camera itself is a very high quality camera, this is probably due to his pop genre status, so the high budget keeps it in pop and attracts passive audiences and also actives due to all the hidden codes and connotations.

Music Magazine Advertisement

This is a magazine advertisemeant for the band 'Deaf Havana' it advertises their new album 'Old Souls' we know this from the album being on the center of the page and also the name of the album being dirctly underneath the bands name. The advertisement includes information upon the albums release dates, what main songs will be included on the album such as "Boston Square" and "Mildred" which is what is stated on the page.

It also includes what kind of platforms it will be released upon which is under the "Available on"  writing. This advertisement also includes tour dates for the band and where you can buy the tickets for the tours. This means it is quite clearly trying to mainly promote the band as it includes tour dates, album, songs and the band themselves deature at the top of the page.

This advertisement uses a black and white effect on the band themselves at the top of the page, possibly to connote some mystery about the band and also to make it look more emtionaly. The page then goes into colour of the album cover which is behind the box in the center of the page which is light blue this is to again promote the album, the hue blue may connote again some emotion and light hearted music by the band. Also the child may connote some sort of innocence so it may mean the band is quite again light hearted music rather than heavy metal. The fonts used on the band and album are white possibly to again connote innocence and chilled out music. The advertisement makes you feel chilled out so possibly they may be connoting it to their music or being a complete contrast to their music.

Textual Analysis of Nirvana

Nirvana- Smells Like Teen Spirit

Niravana's song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was released in 1991

Genre- The genre for the band/artist would be a rock/grunge, this is easily known by the band having a stereotypical headbanging drummer shown at the start of the video and also by the rock sounding guitars and performance they put on. The genre for the video is also rock because of the live performance the band are putting on which is generally a convention shown in rock artists to boost their star iconography.

Narrative- The narrative of this piece is set in a school gym, where all the kids start to get more wild and turn the place into a party after listening to the band play their song.

Representation- The teenagers in this piece are represented as the dominant characters as they are the only age to be shown apart from the band and the janitor and there are many of them, so this may represent the bands fans and show what audience they are aiming for. The older generation are shown as comical and silly as we have the janitor who is older sway side to side which looks out of place, possibly to connote that the adults are stupid and not as cool as the teenagers are in the video which may be how many teenagers feel in real life.
 

Visual Codes- Visual codes in this may be the fact that there are many older teenage people in the gym so they are communicating to this audience and through the video.

Audience- The audience in this piece is quite distinctly aimed at older teens with the full audience being consisted of older teens between the ages of 16-18. This point is again backed up by the fact they are playing their music inside a american high school gym connoting the mid to older teens but the fact that the audience seems to be fully older teens, it leads me to believe that is the main target audience. However the fact they have made an older man as the janitor who is also dancing to the music may imply that the band can be enjoyed by people of all ages.
 

Institution- The institution at this stage looks very low budget independent company as the video is set in one place and not much story line has gone into it. It seems like they have gathered a bunch of teenagers and made them go nuts in a school gym over Nirvana playing their song.

Music Poster

This is a poster in the magazine 'Rock Sound' which is a magazine mainly focused upon rock bands. The poster is of the lead singer in the band of Green Day singing on what seems to be live on stage. The lead singer or Billie Joe Armstrong is iconic in the band and many times in the bands music videos will feature at the front of the band, this is good that the poster portrays himself as it will attract fans of the band. The fact he is on stage makes it seem like you are actually watching Green Day play live so it will then attract more people that enjoy going to concerts as it makes you feel like part of something just from looking at the image.

Fonts used in this image are quite bold and stand out so it makes people looking at the poster feel like the band is different or outgoing so this may attract people that enjoy something different. Also the fact that the writing is quite big also makes people think the band is quite big and well known. Yellow is quite a main colour used in this image as the guitar is yellow as well as the "Green Day" writing this again may be because the colour stands out and is quite bold possibly to connote the bands attitude to be quite outgoing. In the middle of the image you can see the iconic logo of the band this is to connote that it is still the same band and there are very big as the amount of guitar pics are many as well as the bands fans. The glowing effect in the top right hand corner makes him seem like he is centre stage and is the most important person there possibly to connote that's how the fans may feel when watching him.