Comparison of Two CD Covers; The Editors vs. The Killers

The Editors and The Killers are both bands within the indie genre an target the same audience; ages 16-30. Although they are from the same genre, they are not completely the same in being effective in attracting their target audience through iconography. For example, The Editors use an image of a empty space to represent their music whereas The Killers use an image of themselves to represent their music.

Another factor which is different between the two album covers is the use of different font styles. The Editors use a simple font which is still effective as the white stand out on the plain black background. Whereas The Killers use their own style of font which is made from small circles accumulating to form the words 'The Killers'. Furthermore, the font style for the album name is different as The Editors use the same font for their album name as their band name, but The Killers use a more formal font style for their album name in comparison to their band name which is unique to them.

I believe that The Editors album cover is more effective in engaging the target audience as it leaves more to the imagination of what their music might be like and what genre they may be part of. Furthermore, The Killers album cover is more representative of the band rather than what their music is like whereas The Editors album cover is simple like their music choice.

Overall, from this comparison and the previous analysis of these album covers I have learnt that by sticking to the conventions of a CD cover you can be effective even if your design is simple.

CD Cover Analysis

1) What is the genre of music?

The genre of music for this band 'The Killers' is indie, much like my chosen band 'The Courteeners' as well as the other bands I've chosen to use for CD cover analysis.

2) Who is the target audience? How are they targeted?

The target audience for 'The Killers' is generally ages 16 - 25. They are targeted through the use of the colour scheme and images to attract their attention.

3) How successful is iconography used to promote the artist?

This album cover is much like most other indie band album covers by being simplistic and the use of iconography is individualistic to the band and is easily recognised by the audience. Furthermore, the band is shown on the cover and so are easily recognised as being represented by their music as well as their image.

CD Cover Analysis

1) What is the genre of music?

The genre of music for this band 'The Courteeners' is indie.

2) Who is the target audience? How are they targeted?

The target audience for 'The Courteeners' is generally ages 18 - 25. This age range is closer as the use of lyrics is sometimes explicit and not suitable for people under the age of 18. They are targeted through the use of the colour scheme and images to attract their attention.

3) How successful is iconography used to promote the artist?

This album cover is much like most other indie band album covers by being simplistic and the use of iconography is individualistic to the band and is easily recognised by the audience.

CD Cover Analysis

1) What is the genre of music?

The genre of music for this band 'The Editors' is indie, much like my chosen band 'The Courteeners'.

2) Who is the target audience? How are they targeted?

The target audience for 'The Editors' is generally ages 16 - 25, and they are targeted through the use of the colour scheme, iconography and simplicity of the album cover.

3) How successful is iconography used to promote the artist?

The iconography of this album cover is used effectively to promote the artist as it is simple, yet still attracts the attention of the audience through the use of a captivating image.

First day of editing - 24/11/10

Today only two members of the group were in so we decided to edit. The two group members were Beccy McTaggart and myself. We used final cut to edit our raw footage. We decided to look at all our raw footage first to see which clips we needed and which we could delete. Once this was decided we then realised that some of our clips were too dark so we added an effect to make them brighter. We then tried to put them in chronological order from our first shot to our last, but since making a few clips brighter took some extra time we did not get round to putting all our clips in chronological order. For one of our clips we added a CCTV effect which gave the shot a night vision effect; this was helpful as it showed the shot from a different persepctive. Overall, our first day of editing was time consuming as expected but a good experience as we now know what we can do to give our music video a different feel to it.

Blog update - 18/11/2010

How have you used web page conventions to create brand identity?

For my webpage I have used web page conventions by embedding a video of my chosen band, made the navigation bar easy to use and everything entirely visible, including the text, pictures, and layout. For example, I have put my video at the top of my web page to attract the audience to this and it is situated next to my text so whilst they listen to my song they can read information on the band. To do this I went on the widgets section in iWeb, dragged a youtube link and then embedded my chosen video. The use of web page conventions reinforces the iconography of the band as the colour scheme is relevant to the indie genre and the layout is simple yet effective by making you look at everything when on the web page.

Filming the Stage Scene - 15/11/10

Today we filmed Mackenzie walking onto the stage from behind a curtain. We did this shot approximately 6 times, all from different angles. We did it this many times because we needed different angles to see which would be best, and then conjoin them in editing to make it obvious he was on his own. The first few shots were straight on of Mackenzie walking from behind the curtain to behind the mic. The next few were of a side view of Mackenzie doing the exact same thing. We decided to then do a steadycam shot going around Mackenzie. We did this twice but the footage showed it was too shaky when looking back at it, so we decided to forget this shot and stay with what we have. We then moved onto doing a shot of Mackenzie walking down some stairs, unfortunately the camera was not charged and so the battery went flat before we could film this part. We aim to do this another day with a fully charged camera.

Filming the Park Scene - 16/11/10

Today we filmed the scene where Mackenzie is being followed by a big group of people through a park. When we got to the park it was quite dark, but the park was lit so we could still see what we were filming. We started by filming Mackenzie and some other people walking from behind the camera to in front of it and then away in to the distance. We did this shot once as it was done well first time. We then moved on to doing the same thing but from a different angle. This shot took two takes as the first did not go as well as planned. After this we moved onto the same shot but from another different angle. This shot also took one take as it went well first time. After this we moved onto a a different angle which we stood on top of a skate ramp to film from a high distant angle. This shot was good as it gave the scene a different perspective even though they did the same thing as before. We did this take twice as the first was not how we wanted but the second went well. We then moved onto a front view shot, so Mackenzie and the people following would walking towards the camera. This shot took one take as it went well and looked good when looking back at it. Our penultimate shot was of Mackenzie and the group walking down an alley. This took two takes as the first shot was not what we wanted, yet the second was. Our final shot was a high angle which we would edit into a CCTV looking shot. This took three takes as the first was ruined by smoke, the second a dog ran out in front of the scene and the last was the best take.

Jake Wynne Workshop

As a treat our media class had the opportunity of working with Jake Wynne, a music video editor and director. During the first hour or so Jake spoke to us about all the opportunities he has had and he also gave us advice on how to film our own music videos. For example, to film full takes of the song so that when it came to editing it would be easier to take out pieces from full takes then taking small takes and having to match them up. After a break we then moved on to preparing for our own music video to cover Robbie WIlliams' "let me entertain you' which Jake did direct himself. I was in charge of makeup along with Fran Batt, all the makeup turned out great and was linked well to the original video. We then set up the cameras so that we had different angles, and each camera was focused on one specific part of the stage. Each person in our class had a go at something, i.e camera, playing, singing, etc. Overall, the day was a great success and everyone really enjoyed themselves as well as learned a lot from Jake's advice.

Final Video Idea

We finally decided on a complete video idea. The idea is that we start of with having Mackenzie (our lead singer) sitting on a bed alone, singing to himself. We thought about using different angles for this shot as it may be useful to show different sides to him. After this Mackenzie would then leave his house and walk through a park on his way to a concert. On the way he would be followed by a large group of people who would appear a few at a time from different places. When it came to part way through the following we would cut back to Mackenzie sitting on the bed on his own, and then back to the park scene. Mackenzie would then enter a staging area, where the 'concert' would be, by himself and walk through some passages, up and down some stairs and then on to the stage where he would walk up to the mic to get ready to perform. Just before he starts to sing we then rewind everything that was just seen by the viewer so that it ends up with Mackenzie sitting back on the bed by himself. On the last section of the song it slows down and then on the last few seconds Mackenzie lifts up his head to notice that he is still on his own. The idea of the rewind came around as we thought about a way to end it instead of just having him on the stage and then panning round to show that he would be on his own with no audience.

First day of filming

During Wednesday's lesson we told Mr Lawes we were ready to film and explained to him our concept, storyboard and how we were going to film. Once we were given the go ahead we organised to take the HDV camera out in order to produce a high quality music video. We then left to film at our first location, my house. When we got there we decided to look at another of our locations which was near by. After this we got back to my house, set up the camera and began to film. We took Jake Wynn's advice and did all our shots in one go, beginning of song to the end. Whilst setting up we gave Mackenzie a chance to learn the words of the song. At first Mackenzie felt uncomfortable singing with all of us in the room, and so me and Beccy left Josh to operate all the equipment (camera, music). On mine and Beccy's return they had finished their first take and we decided to look through it and see what the angles were like. We then decided to do a few more takes so it would be almost perfect. Once we decided that the angles were fine we moved on to our next shot (a close up). We did this take once as it was fine the first time we tried. After this we moved on to a side angle and filmed this shot once. We then moved on to filming an alarm clock where the time changed for the singer to get up. This took one take as it was simple to perform. Once all the filming was done we looked through all the footage to make sure the angles were fine.

iWeb, Completion of homepage

Today we started to complete our webpages for our chosen band. After looking at the conventions of a webpage in a previous lesson I applied them to my homepage. I stuck with similar colour schemes the whole way through (purples, greeny blues and grey/white) and made sure the colours corresponded with my genre of indie. I also included a video of my band which was the centre of my webpage. Next to this was a section dedicated to band information which included where the band are from, who is in the band and what chart positions their music has held. Underneath the music video I placed two pictures of the band, one posed and another them playing live. Due to copyright issues I edited the pictures so they looked original. At the bottom of my homepage I linked three icons of social networking site (facebook, twitter and myspace) to their sites so it was easy to follow the band if they had a specific site linked to these social networking sites. One of my original ideas was to have a section which showed merchandise from the bands website, so I included a poster which had tour information on it which may be useful to the audience. Underneath the image I included a sentence which said 'Click here to buy The Courteeners merchandise', the word 'here' was linked to the store page of The Courteeners own homepage. After making my title banner I placed it at the top of my homepage and then placed my logo on top of that so it was overlapping the title banner and the navigation bar. Finally, my navigation bar linked to all my webpages so it was easy to navigate around my webpage.

Title Banner

Today's lesson was all about creating our title banners using a software called GIMP. In a previous lesson we had designed our banners and decided on a final one which would go on the web page. To create my title banner I first made a box and filled it in, then applied another box on top which was filled with another colour. The first colour was to help the title banner stand out and draw in the audience. I used a simple yet effective font in an indie colour so it related to my band 'The Courteeners'. After I created the title banner I flattened the image, saved it and uploaded it to my web page. The idea behind my title banner was to engage the audience and still relate to the band.

3/11/10 - Blog post, final idea for song

Today in Media we decided on our final idea for our song choice by The Courteeners called 'Cross my heart and hope to fly'. We decided that our singer would be the main character in our video and he would be walking through a park. He would start off being followed by lots of people who would eventually all disappear when caught up in their on problems. For example; a couple arguing, a breakdown from bad news, etc. Once all the followers have disappeared the singer would finish by himself on stage as the song fades out. The idea of the singer finishing on his own came about when one of our group mentioned that one of the last lines was 'a minute on my own' and so he would finally have that minute on his own like he wanted.

Mood board for our song choice

Here is the link to my mood board for The Courteeners 'Cross my heart and hope to fly'.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/40830116/Mood-Board-for-Song

Unfortunately it is incomplete for now.

How have you used web page conventions to create brand identity?

During the production of my logo I thought about what would engage my audience and make my logo memorable. Using web page conventions I looked at colour schemes, design, and iconography of other indie logos for influence. For example, my logo creates brand identity as the colour are related to indie bands (purple) and make the logo stand out making me different. Also, the design of my logo is different as the play/pause button and the headphones together are different as well as innovative. Finally, I believe that my logo helps create brand identity as it represents my chosen band and it's genre through the design, colour schemes and iconography.