Creativity

What is Creativity?

Word Associations:

• Imaginative 
• Design
• Original
• Unique
• Artistic
• Non-Conventional 
• Fascinating
• Motivation 

Definition: 

'Relating to or involving the use of the imagination or original ideas to create something.'

How can you be more creative?

• If you're not prepared to be wrong you'll never come up with anything original 
• Trial and error - have a go and if something doesn't work out, try again 
• By making mistakes

Where does it come from?

• Intelligence is interactive and dynamic
• We are born like it...the only problem is remaining creative 
• We think visually, by sounds and kinaesthetically 
• From different disciplinary ways of seeing things
• Corpus Callosum is larger in women 

What role does it play in creating a media production?

• A more interesting final product that will entice more people
• The more creative a product, the more it will stand out 
• Media is surrounded by creativity - without it, it wouldn't work 

"If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original"

Creativity depends upon taking chances, making mistakes or coming up with an unique idea that others may not like or agree with...

Moodboard for Comfort Me - Erick Baker

The images I chose for my moodboard reflect the lyrics to my chosen artist's song. The chain illustrates the lyrics 'broken' whilst the camera and photographs illustrate the memories that he sings about. This supports Goodwin's Theory. I chose a predominant black and white theme as it denotes sadness, loss and I wanted to portray his song in a past tense as he talks about the memories and someone who he loved. 

The use of the colour red creates a bold juxtaposition with the black and white - I did this in order to contrast the loss and sadness. Red connotes love and femininity as well as danger. 

Most of the images I have chosen are redundant as they are very illustrative of the song. The audience, for example would picture someone crying when the lyrics say 'I can hear you crying tonight". The images are what the audience would expect to visualise. 

Lyrics to Erick Baker's Song: Comfort You

Broken whisper I can hear you crying tonight
Empty words and arms can't make it alright
You've run out of questions without answers to hold
For the cold caress of helplessness inside you

But let me comfort you
Comfort you

You're losing hope in little memories everyday
The red hairs on the floor are being swept away
Well I can't fix what's broken but I'll hold the pieces in place
Just let me put my loving arms around you

And let me comfort you
Comfort you

We'll load your gun with silver bullets
To kill the monsters in your room
A kiss to wash the ashes from your mouth
Your bleeding knees of prayer
Pressed lips against your heart
Dance with your shadow in the open doorway lights

I'll protect you as you lay there helpless in sleep
From the heartbreaking flowers in the Magnolia trees
Don't let your life forget to forgive what it has done
Don't let it take the love left inside you

And let me comfort you
Comfort you

Obtaining Permission to use an Artist's Song

We asked Erick Baker's permission via his YouTube Channel

Screenshot showing the message 

Screenshot showing the message has sent

Time Management Update

Last week, I had to do an analysis on The Lumineers 'Hey Ho' music video, which I have now completed. I have also completed my work on exploring entropy and redundancy in four music videos. By the end of this week I need to complete my Theory analysis and post it onto my blog, otherwise I will be behind.

Exploring Entropy and Redundancy in Music Videos: 4

 

 

Redundancy:

The use of mise-en-scene helps to establish the genre of the music. By looking at what the artist is wearing we can immediately tell that the genre is country/alternative because of the skirt, belt and boots. It's predictable for the audience to associate the clothes with the genre.



A redundancy feature is the use of close ups in this genre of  music. As a lot of music videos of this genre are performance based, there are usually many close ups of the artists/bands performing. However, there is a slight entropic feature as the artist is not looking directly into the camera in order to engage with the audience.

There is an illustrative example here as the lyrics are talking about love and the artist is walking shyly past a man who the audience would assume that she is singing about.

It is common in this genre to see the instruments being a part of the music video. For example, in The Lumineers video 'Hey Ho' we see a tambourine and here we can see guitars and drums. This is a common feature as it suggests that the music is thought more about than the content of the video.

There appears to be a few hand held shots throughout the video. The hand held shots create realism and perhaps suggest that the videos have a lower budget due to them not being a mainstream genre of  music.

Entropy:

 

An entropic feature is that at the end of the video the men who are playing the instruments create a juxtaposition with what they are wearing. Beulah is seen to be wearing country/alternative clothing, whilst the others look like they're dressed in everyday casual clothing.

 

 

 

 

Exploring Redundancy and Entropy in Music Videos: 3

 

David Gray: This Years Love

 

 

Redundancy

The music denotes a sad and lonely feeling at the start of the video; therefore, the audience would expect to visualise something that amplified the meaning being conveyed. Although there are no lyrics yet, this scene supports Goodwin's Theory as the image illustrates the music.

• The video also shows a lot of performance footage which is common for this genre of music.

Entropy

 

The image of the cloud looks fake which is unusual for a genre of music like this - usually this genre would connote realism; however, there is an element of concept material in this part. It also creates a juxtaposition with the background as the sky looks like a perfect blue, whereas there is just one rain cloud hovering over a man. It is not something that we would expect.

 

There is disjuncture as the lyrics "Won't you kiss me" don't correspond with the visual imagery. The image is of a man looking at paper - if we just read the lyrics we would imagine a woman to be in the picture, but their isn't.

There is an entropic element of the artist playing a very small piano in public. We would not predict that the artist would be playing a small piano, nor the fact that he is playing it outside in the rain. The lyrics illustrate other scenes as it seems the artist is acting as a narrator to a story, however, there is disjuncture here as it doesn't make sense for him to be isolated if he is telling the story of others.

 



Exploring Redundancy and Entropy in Music Videos 2

Colbie Caillat: Bubbly 

 

Redundancy

The performance base supports the narrative base as the story is being told whilst the artist is singing. There is an illustrative theme when the lyrics say "you make me smile" a visual is then shown of her smiling. 

Music videos often feature a performative and narrative base; for an alternative genre it is common for the artist to be shown performing during the music video. This screenshot shows Colbie performing whilst narrative elements are also shown.

A redundancy feature is the use of hand held shots that have been used throughout parts of the music video. It is effective for this music video as it looks like home video footage which resembles her looking back into the past. Hand held shots are often common in this genre of music as it creates authenticity.

Entropy

There's an element of disjuncture when the lyrics say 'The rain is falling on my window pane'. There's a juxtaposition as the mise-en-scene shows that she is wearing clothes for warm, dry weather and there is also an element of high key lighting on the right from the sun. We would expect to see rain if the visuals were to illustrate the lyrics.

For an alternative/country genre of music audience's would expect to see a location that was perhaps more stereotypical within the genre. For example, a ranch or country bar. A beach house would be less predictable.

Exploring Redundancy and Entropy in Music Videos

James Blunt: Bonfire Heart

Redundancy:

  

The location of the music video is fairly redundant due to the genre of music. The genre is alternative and slightly offset/unusual. The use of tis redundancy causes the audience to feel comfortable with the music video they are watching because it is what they expect of that genre.

The music video features elements of Goodwin's Theory. The video illustrates this image to convey the meaning of the lyrics to the song. For example, the lyrics say "Strangers passing by" and in this screenshot, we can see he has just passed a stranger on a bike who he is now waving to.

Here I have chosen a screenshot that shows how the visuals have amplified the meaning of the song. The lyrics say "No one offers you a shoulder, non one looks you in the eye" The fact that the singer is shown throughout on a bike by himself, emphasises his feelings of isolation - it can also be shown by the location as it is desolate.

The use of mise-en-scene also illustrates the lyrics as they are wearing glasses and are looking away from the camera - which resembles the lyrics of 'No one looks you in the eye'. 

The police officer is an example of redundancy as we can tell that he is an officer by what he is wearing. The badge, car and uniform are all predictable factors.

Entropy:

There is a theme of disjuncture here as the pace of the visuals have sped up considerably. The lyrics 'Bonfire heart' aren't conveyed by the visuals. We would expect to see an element of fire - but we don't.

The singer challenges the genre of the music as bikers are usually associated with heavier music, such as: Rock and Heavy Metal. The music is also fairly upbeat, the black clothing connotes power, sadness and contrasts to the light locations behind him.

Defining Entropy and Redundancy

Redundancy: is a message that is predictable and conventional. It is what we as an audience can expect to see; for example, greeting someone with 'hello' is predictable, as it is what we would expect. However, greeting someone with 'goodbye' is not. 

Entropy: is described as the opposite of redundancy, it is unpredictable; meaning that a text can be entropic if it contains unpredictable elements. 

• Most texts will portray and blend both of the elements

The image on the left is not redundant (it is entropic) as it is not what we would expect to see. We would expect to see the image on the right, which is off a scary looking shark with jagged teeth. 

Goodwin's Theory

Analysis of The Lumineers: Hey Ho

Mood Board: The Functions of a Music Video

Research of a Signed Artist

Ben Howard

 

 

The album cover focuses on simplicity which is common with this music genre. Pop album covers are often bright and busy in order to fit in with their genre. The blue connotes peace, tranquillity and has a soothing element which resembles the music. The brightness of the light helps to highlight the title which makes it stand out to the audience more. The silhouette of the person in the water adds mystery as you don't know who it is or what it means.

 

The font size is also large and easy to read. It appears to be bold as the white stands out on the blue background. It also suggests that the singer is trying to promote their name more than anything as they are not as well know as other artists - this can be seen by the album name appearing in a small font to his name.

 

 

 The back cover is simplistic too, the colour is fairly dull and of a neutral tone. This suggests that the artist is more interested in their music than the advertising stage. The song titles are listed centrally and are in upper case which symbolises that they're important. The record company's logo, website and barcode is also found on the back of the digipak. The font size of this information is a lot smaller and the barcode looks as though it is being hidden from sight.

 

On the insert of the digipak, there are lyrics to the songs and images that have been featured. By featuring lyrics in a digipak it entices the audience to take more interest in the lyrics and sing along. Therefore, the artist would hope that it would gain a larger fan base for future album releases and tours.

 

 

 Similar to the Album cover, the artists name has been styled in a larger font in order to promote the artist's name. The date of the tour has been highlighted in bold so that it attracts the audience's eye. Again it is simplistic which differentiates it from other genres. There are only two colours; blue and black. Black connotes a dominance, whereas blue is more peaceful. A balance is seen between the two. A website it also featured at the bottom of the poster.

 

The imagery in this poster could be compared to the album cover above as it features a silhouette of an unknown person. Ben Howard seems to have a constant theme of simplicity and mystery. The image is unusual and has a certain artistic theme to it. Often this is found within a folk genre as they are not found to feature themselves on the cover of advertising products.



Initial Ideas

For my project, I am working in a group of 4 and we have chosen to create a music video featuring the music of an American Folk unsigned singer: Erick Baker. 

We came to this decision by sharing our Summer work findings, where we all chose to write about a similar music genre. The lyrics of this music video connotes a sadness which we thought would be more challenging and interesting to work with. We have chosen to use the song: Comfort You. 

Erick Baker sounds similar to other signed artists, such as: Ben Howard, David Grey and Damien Rice. They each have an Alternative and Folk feel about them.

I have chosen to focus on Ben Howard as a signed artist. Ben Howard's music is of a similar style and forte to Erick Baker's. The lyrics tell a deep story and have a heavy narrative, which often include themes of love and sadness. Pop music on the other hand may tell a story; however, the lyrics are often repetitive and are minimal compared to this genre of music. By choosing a song with more lyrics, it will enable me to create and develop more ideas for my music video. Therefore, it will be easier to develop a narrative base, as well as a performative one.

Summer 2013 Research of an Unsigned Artist

Project Brief

For my A2 Media coursework I have to create a promotional package for the release of an album, this must include: 

• A music promo video 
• A cover for the album's release on Digipak 
• A magazine advertisement for the Digipak