Owl City - Website Analysis

Owl City

Owl City is an American electronica musical project by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young formed in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. Young created the project while experimenting with music in his parents' basement.

Images & Logo
The only picture of the lead on the website is shown through an advertisement. The image is a shot from a live show, giving the impression of focusing on music not style.

Genre
The artist is shown to be indie/pop. The bright colours of the website reflect the electronica pop style of owl city's music, while Adam Youngs image gives an indie vibe.

New Technology & Links
The majority of the website is links to the social networking sites the bad it on. The dark blue boxes are things the band has posted from facebook, while the light blue, from twitter.

Colour & Style
The style of the website is very "fun". Bright colours are used. The background image is the album cover, also bright, also fun. It  says that the music is probably quite upbeat, and that the artist isn't too serious.

Written Content
On the main page, the written content mainly consists of tweets and facebook posts. This gives a friendly, relatable feel to the artist. 

Font & Layout
The font used on the website is called Quicksand. It's rather rounded, and gives a non-formal atmosphere. The layout of the website, such as the stacking of the social network posts, is rather quirky and perhaps adds to the indie vibe.

Target Audience
The website targets the audience through use of bright colours. The primary audience would be teenagers, so using twitter and facebook combined with bright colours is a good way to keep them engaged in the website.

Advertisements 
The advertisements on the site are all to do with the band and so are suitable for the audience. One advertisement is for a game, again promoting owl city. This is definitely aimed toward teenagers.

Website Analysis & Research For Cover Drive

 

 Cover Drive are a four-piece band from Barbados consisting of the members: lead singer and lone female, Amanda Reifer (21), drummer “T-Ray” Armstrong (18), guitarist Barry “Bar-Man” Hill (22) and bassist Jamar Harding (18) all from Barbados.

 

Images & Logo

The band Cover Drive are represented to be very fashionable, sexualised and represent young, wild and free spirit of youths. This is shown by the way they are shown in photographs for example they always have the latest fashion and have very flawless, perfect appearances to match. This is much the opposite of bands in our chosen genre who are represented as being normal, average and middle class. The lead singer, Amanda, is mostly shown as being very sexualised to exaggerate the fact that she is the only female in the group so they accentuate it more.
 

Genre
Cover Drive are from the pop genre. This is rehiterated through the website by the use of bold colour which indie websites lack and so it's more exciting and loud.

New Technology & Links

Like the majority of artists with websites, Cover Drive's latest single can be found on the web page as one of the first things you can click on. This is a direct way of advertising their song and marketing themselves to new and previous fans. 
 

Colour & Style
The overall colour and style of this website for this particular band is deep, rich, royal reds depicting they, as a band, are strong headed and sure of what they want and of their music. It could also represent rawness and relate to their roots as they are all from Barbados. The style unlike those of the indie bands is a more filled web page, it's far from simplistic like Theme Park website which was practically bare.

 

Written Content

There is a side bar with the heading 'News' where viewers can see the latest news about the band which keeps fans updated. There is also a 'Facts' section where you can find out any fact about any one of the band members or as the band as a while, this makes the fans feel more closer to the band as they will get to know them better.
 

Font & Layout
Fonts for the different sections on the website are the same as the bands signature writing for their band name which keeps everything linked together and coherent. The font is exciting and not simplistic.

Target Audience 
Cover Drive's target audience is young people and teenagers from around 12-20 so they target them by choosing a colourful background to draw the eye in and accompanied with a large picture of the band also adds to the effect of this as it feels asthough they are all looking directly at you inticing you to look further onto the page. Also there is a link to the side of the video which displays more of their songs, unlike the indie bands, so you have more option of choice and variety. There is also a lot of different sections for you to click on so hardcore fans would love this as you get to know more information about the band.

Advertisements

The displayed adverts are suitable for the target audience because they are relevant to the band and give out information about upcoming events and also information about new songs and opportunities to win things.

Website Analysis & Research For Mystery Jets

 

"Mystery Jets are an indie rock band which formed in Eel Pie Island, London, England in 2005. The band consists of Blaine Harrison (lead vocals, keyboards), his father Henry Harrison (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), William Rees (lead guitar, vocals), Peter Cochrane (bass) and Kapil Trivedi (drums)."

Images & Logo
The first image you see on the main page is of the whole band with the lead singer in the for front which makes him seem the most imoirtant and then the rest of the band are shown gradually further distances away from the camera. There are no instruments involved suggesting they are more focussed on their image than performance and music also the flag in the background is American which can be quite confusing for new fans as they are from London perhaps suggesting they are trying to be percieved as something they are not.

Genre
The blank expressions and poses of the band suggest they are of the indie genre and the bland colours of the background and text back this up.

New Technology & Links
There isn't any links to social sites which is unusual as their target audience is teenagers. The only link to new technology is a Youtube video of their latest single.

Colour & Style
The main colours used are white, black and red. This supports the indie band stereotype of being simplistic and not over-crowding or busying a page.

Written Content
On the main page you are bombarded with tour dates and venues and the band have written messages to the fans about how excited they are for the tour and how they cannot wait to see their fans there. This makes the audience feel involved and more likely to purchase tickets or follow the band as they won't want to let them down.

Font & Layout
Of course the most important information is shown in bold text but the font is not too unformal and not too casual showing the band want almost every aspect of their website/information to be taken attention for,

Target Audience
Mystery Jets target audience is young people/ students as their music is very expressive and up tempoed. This can be seen through the website because of how they dress and through the places suggested to purchase their material.

Advertisements
The advertisements are very suitable for the target audience of young people because at the top of the screen it says where the bands new album is available from. The suggested places like iTunes and HMV are very much for the majority of young people. 

Website Analysis & Research For Theme Park

Theme Park are one of the most exciting new songwriting forces in our midst today, managing to attain that rare balance of feeling comfortingly familiar and yet not sounding like anyone else.

 

 

Images & Logo
Theme Park are an Indie band so therefore their website correlates with this because they have a blog and not a website so this could be them adhering to the niche of blogging to keep up the 'hip' appearance; the band are represented to be just that. 

Genre
The genre this band belongs to is indie. This is because of the image they portray themselves; the style of clothing, hair etc and also because of their style of music as evident from the music video shown on their website. 

New Technology & Links
The only thing that can be updated through the use of technology is the pictures however regularly and of course the links to the social sites are also available.

Colour & Style
This blog has a very basic and simplistic layout and colour scheme. Yet again one would guess this is because they are of the indie genre and these are typical conventions. 

Written Content
There isn't any bulk of text on the main page probably because it is a blog so instead the band have inserted images from their activities together which still does the job of text as it gives the fans an insight into what the band do and it gives it a relaxed feel.

Font & Layout
The font used on the website is quite informal looking which adds to the laid back feel and perhaps also contributes to the indie vibe.

Target Audience
Theme Park's target audience is teenagers and they have included social sites used excessively by teenagers such as Facebook, Twitter and Soundcloud. This will all aid the band in becomming more well known by sharing things through the use of these sites.

Advertisements
There aren't many advertisements on this site perhaps because it is a blog but also perhaps because the band is not well known so other bigger companies haven't tried to advertise things because not many people will visit. The only adverts are for the social sites and iTunes which are aimed at teenagers and youth.

Website Analysis & Research For Bombay Bicycle Club

 

Bombay Bicycle Club are an indie rock band which formed in North London, United Kingdom in 2006. The Favourite Day Songfacts reports that they were formed by Jack Steadman (vocals, guitar, bass), Jamie MacColl (bass, guitar, banjo, vocals), Suren De Saram (drums) under the name of The Canals when they were 15.

Images & Logo
The band Bombay Bicycle Club is represented as being mystical urban indie band becasue the background is black and your eyes are immediately greeted by the still of the music video link where once you press play their latest single plays. The still shows an odd looking surreal character seemingly climbin up a ladder and there is an octopus in the background. Immediately marketing their product. Also he bands name is written in bold large white font, at the top of the page-making it extremely clear which bands website this is.

Genre
The generic conventions of the indie music genre that this band have made use of are the use of black and white because as i have said he back ground is completely black with monotone colours such as black, white and various shades of blue are used throughout. 

New Technology & Links
This artist uses media technology for promotion such as the video link i have already mentioned which is played through Youtube and also there is an option to login to the site using Facebook and links to Amazon and iTunes where you can purchase their material. This all makes it easier for fans to consume their music without hassle and by the simple click of a button. 

Colour & Style

The overall colour and style of the site suggests that they are not from the pop genre and are the complete opposite because of the monotone colours and simplistic layout of it all.

Written Content

There isn't much written on this website in terms of information however this reinforces the generic conventions of an indie band of being simplistic and somewhat laid back and lazy.

 

Font & Layout

By not presenting the viewer with a picture of the band anywhere on the front page, they construct the artist's image by the art work from their latest album 'A Different Kind Of Fix' where the album art work is on display at the very top of the screen. It looks to be very abstract which goes with the generic conventions of an indie bands album where they don't usually have images of themselves. 

 

Target Audience 

Techniques that are used to target the audience are the use of monotone colours. The main target audience would be 'indie' late teens/ early adults as it gives it a moody, grown up feel to the page. 

Advertisements

The advertisements are suitable for the target audience because mostly young people use social sites such as Facebook on a regular and the majority also purchase their songs from iTunes because the majority posses an Apple music player such as an iPod.

NVC

Costume:
Band- Conventional indie clothes e.g skinny jeans, polo shirts, possibly brands such as Fred Perry and Doc Martens. Showing a working class background.

Party guests (pre dress up)- Really dull clothes, standard top and jeans. Brown, grey and blacks. 

Party guests (post dress up)- Silly outfits and make up e.g onesies, hats, glasses, exaggerated make up, wigs

Posture and gestures: 

Band- Confident, close ups of lead singer, energetic e.g jumping around, coming right up to the camera, walking backwards, eye contact, dancing 

For example, Johnny Pierce from The Drums dances around and is very confident around the camera.

Party guests- Frozen for the majority of the video, lifeless, expressionless until the end where they come to life e.g jumping around, dancing

Facial expressions:

Band- Happy, smiling but not overly cheesy (an indie band is to look cool) 

Party guests- Expressionless until post make over where they become happy-exaggerated happiness

Space:

Band- Lots of close ups, in the face of the camera, range of shots to establish whole band e.g pan and long shot, lead singer moves with camera

For example Justin Young from The Vaccines is shown here in a close up shot as he is the lead singer of the band. 

Party guests- Pan to establish all guests, close ups on actions towards them, camera moves to them not vice versa due to them being frozen, dynamic use of camera to give atmosphere have movement despite their stillness

Voice:

When the vocalist sings the chorus he often goes high pitched and shouts therefore at these points in the song we must accompany them with different images to the rest of the song. This is also the most upbeat point in the song so the band would have to be very energetic. 

The Beat Of Our Song

We can hear a prominent beat throughout the song, however, at 1:34 to 1:45 the vocals of the song stop allowing the beat to be strongly heard. During this time, we will have our most creative idea in which we make over one person solely using close ups contrasting with the rest of the video which consists of long shots of the majority of the cast being made over. The make up will be still shots cutting to the beat so the beat needs to be strong in order for this to be achieved successfully.
In addition at 2:14 to the end of the song (2:30) the drum beat reaches it's climax and then fades outwards, until this point we have not heard a beat change as dramatic as this one giving us the opportunity to either put a creative idea alongside this point or go the complete opposite, giving a contrapuntal finish (e.g a calm ending) to surprise the audience and also give a definitive ending to the song, following conventions in which an indie song usually ends calmly.

Previous Students Digipak And Website Examples

We analysed previous students digipaks and websites and critiqued them. This will help us when we create our own website and digipak as we will have good examples to fall back on and to get us started as a rough template. 

Album Cover Research

  

In Search of Elusive- Little Comets

   We have decided to do some research on the artist we have chosen to do a music video by: Little Comets. By analysing their existing album, we can get a great sense of what the band are like and the image they try to portray without having to even see the band. This research will also help us later on when we create a digipak based on them.

   We like this album cover as we believe it fits in with the Little Comets' indie image very well due to the album cover looking slightly D.I.Y, not like a proffessional or graphic designer has done it, it is just down to earth and in that sense: relatable, as not everyone has fancy image software, such as up and coming musicians or aspiring ones. The album artwork is almost slightly abstract, and without knowing that the band are called Little Comets, it would almost be impossible to tell what the orange dots in the middle of the cover are, but again, it adds to the feel of being home drawn and quickly sketched out by one of the band members. This idea also shows the band to not take themselves too seriously as they're not flashy or ones to show off. They may also appeal to a younger audience of 16 to 25 because of this iconography as it's quite fun and fairly colourful, with a messy, almost handwritten style font and unusual drawing.

Meet Up

On Tuesday 2nd of October, we scheduled our first proper meet up at Lee Rosy's Tea cafe to discuss where to start with our ideas. We were brainstorming ideas of different bands and at one point were thinking of choosing songs from the 60s but we changed our minds because we realised we wouldn't be able to modernise the song for the video.So instead we went with the idea of choosing an indie type band. Some of the bands we thought of 

• The Drums
• Grouplove - Tongue Tied
• Foals - Total Life Forever
• Mumford & Sons

In the end we finalised our idea to two songs; The Bravery - Ours and Little Comets - Dancing Song. We decided to use Little Comets because it has a more upbeat tempo and it suited our basic video idea better than the other.

Pitch Video Footage

Pitch Feedback

Group 1
We really like the song and the idea but the actions of putting party hats on etc might be too repetitive, so make sure you have lots of different ideas.

Group 2
Good idea, theres a risk of making it seem like a childrens party by using generic party items e.g balloons etc. Maybe you could swap soft drinks in peoples hands for alcoholic drinks to show its a more grown up party? Could be difficult to get people to stay perfectly still.

Group 3
Our main concern was when you said you may be using the slow motion effect, only as it may be hard to sync, and may need re-shoots after. But other than that we think it was a good idea.

Group 4
Loved the song and artists! Do you have enough idea to fill the whole song?

Group 5
We thought it was a good idea however if you want to make it humourous, you would have to think of an "outside-the-box" idea to make it funny, which we think you haven't thought of yet. The freezing idea is good however for the rest of the video, it doesn't sound like you have enough to interest the audience & fill the time. Maybe adding a step-outline could have been better? But overall, we think it can work.


Our response:
After reading the feedback from the other groups after watching our pitch, we have taken into consideration that our idea may become repetitive and may not fill the 3 minute gap. To ensure that this doesn't happen we will have to:

• Use a range of props
• Don't just dress people up
• Come up with an "outside-the-box" idea to differentiate between the majority of the video
• Lots of camera angles 

Teacher Feedback:

Our teacher suggested that we add a performance at the end in which the frozen people come alive this will ensure that our video hits the 3 minute time limit set and doesn't fall behind. It also adds a bit more variety to the video. We will definitely take this notes into consideration.

Textual Analysis

Official video for 'Worry'. The lead track taken from the 'Worry EP' released on December 12th 2011.
Shot & Cut By James Booth


I have chosen to analyse one of our chosen artists' previously made music videos for research to gain some insight into what typical things they want the fans to see and how they go about marketing themselves through their music videos. Little Comets are now an indie rock trio from Jarrow and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. I have noted that music videos by Little Comets such as Joanna, Adultery and Isles, are usually strongly performance themed videos or entirely narrative with no screen time of the band at all.

In this particular music video it is for the most part performance. It entails lots of amateur looking footage shots to give it a more home made feel so the fans feel as though the band made it especially for them. The concept behind this video is just to let the audience/fans see what the band gets up to behind the scenes; when they travel between venues, performing and also just messing around backstage. Close ups are used on the drum cymbal at 0:15 in the video, but no other obvious efforts have been made to include performance on the instruments alone, just long and mid shot of them on stage. The long shots of the band are shot differently so not to bore the viewer from watching it from the same angle; there are some shots where you watch the band performing through the heads, hands and arms of the crowd which almost makes you feel as though you were there because that is the type of view point an audience member would have. Throughout the 3:11 minute video, it cuts between the band performing to a crowd and clips of the band hanging out, backstage, behind the scenes at rehersals and on the road in a tour van. All of this is included to let the viewer see what goes on behind the scenes and they can then again feel more involved; it's almost like being let into a secret.

The music video 'Worry' is in black and white with no colour at all which gives it a gritty stripped back effect. Usually shot changes on a beat of the song for example when the chords change. at the end theres a build up to the end of the song, to indicate this the stage lights flicker and flash quickly, this keeps the audiences attention right up until the end of the video as it feels like something major is going to happen. Smooth transisitions are used. no use of CGI. average shot duration

There's no specific costume change they are in norm clothes stick to conventions of being working class/cool, normal people. Sticks to indie representation indie things like writing on the tamborigne or on the inside of the car - the bands 'thing' as it is the kind of writing that is seen on the album cover. ends with a shot of swinging guitar which also includees the bands signiture symbolic writing/font written all over it.  (ADD SCREEN SHOT OF GUIT FROM LE END OF VID)

Describe the recognisable aspects of style and content expected to be found in an example of a music video of this genre.
Performance is expected a lot, specially of the lead signer however this one contrasts in that it shows everyone playing equally. more shots of the main singer are shown when they're travelling between venues.

 

 

Emmy Brown Summer Homework: Music Video Analysis

    

I have chosen the artist: Jake Bugg and his music video for the single Taste It (2012) to analyse.  Jake Bugg is of the folk genre and this comes through strongly in this music video as it follows many of the conventions used in other folk artists videos such as Laura Marling or Lucy Rose where it’s just the artist and their band. They often like to keep their videos very simple so you focus purely on the music itself and not the content of the video.

  The camera is focused mainly on Jake and his fingers as he strums the guitar but occasionally on his supporting band, this ensures that the attention is on him and it is easily established that he is the main focus of the video. 

The high angled shot of Jake Bugg right at the beginning of the video immediately shows a dominance and almost power like feel over the video and an instant knowledge that not only is he the one to watch in the video, but also the music industry himself as he stands between two men yet he is the only you are focused on. The fast paced shots of his band playing instruments display what is being played and also that this is raw and real music with no computer beats added. 

 

There are a lot of close up, split screen shots, as seen above, where we can see Jake at two different angles, but still close up giving us a real insight into what is happening but also how Jake performs his track. The lighting is dark, setting a moody tone which reflects the song and its lyrics-although upbeat not necessarily positive showing Jake to be quite a serious performer and he wears a casual outfit of a jacket and jeans reflecting his young age of only 18 but also the cool side of him-he doesn’t need to dress up.  The brand Fred Perry is recognised, a common brand worn by the artist, and a much worn brand by fans of indie or folk music which is also shown often on members of The Arctic Monkeys and The Horrors. The brand has a very cool, indie feel portraying that Jake is the same and if you listen to his music and follow his style, you can be too.

  A lot of generic conventions are shown in this video, such as lip syncing. Jake lip syncs along to his song so we know that he is the singer but also that a story is not being told in this video, it is just him performing his track. Also the arrangement of the band is a key convention as Jake stands right at the front with the band behind him, just like all other artists do, to allow full attention on them as the viewer has come to see the artist perform not the rest of the band who they do not know.

  Jake Bugg has not been in the music industry for long so it has to give a clear answer over whether his music videos have changed significantly but this video does vary slightly from the previous, in which he moves around Nottingham instead of being static in one location. However, the song in the previous video is named Troubled Town; the name highlights the need for the video to be on location from ‘Town’ whereas Taste It is perfectly suited to be shot in just the one room. It shows that Jake has a varied style and likes to match his music videos to the meaning of his songs.