James Bolton - Artist Research

Activity 1: Music Video Analysis

            Our band is The Futureheads. They have released 5 studio albums entitled:

·         The Futureheads (2004)

·         News and Tributes (2006)

·         This is Not the World (2008)

·         The Chaos (2010)

·         Rant (2011)

Over this time, The Futureheads haven’t gone through a major change of image. They wear pretty plain, dark clothing, typical of the indie genre. Indie bands tend to be split in two in terms of image, the more indie pop bands wear brighter colours, whereas the indie rock bands, including The Futureheads, tend to wear darker colours.

Unlike some bands, The Futureheads dont do anything particularly special to identify themselves in their videos. One thing that they do is to highlight the fact that they play their own instruments. This is very important as an indie band, as fans aren't interested in bands that don't play or write their own songs. It adds an authenticity to the band and encourages fans to attend gigs, because there is a heavy focus on playing live music. An example of this is in The Futureheads video for 'Beginning of the Twist' (Below).

If you look at the image of the band in this video in terms of their clothing, it is very similar to other bands in the indie rock genre, such as Kasabian, they too have a similar image, with a focus on playing live. A good example of this is their music video for their song 'Underdog'. (Below)

These videos fit the conventions of the indie genre. There is very little in the way of 'flashy' or extravagant effects. There are some, but they're rather more modest. In indie music, it is very much about the band and the music, and that is often the focus of music videos, because that is what is important to the fans. There is usually an honesty to indie videos and in many cases are often memorable, with bands willing to do querky ideas and make fools of themselves, because that is a good way to 'sell your band.' For example, in The Futureheads video for 'Heartbeat Song', they create a game show, like Family Fortunes or The Generation Game and below in a screenshot from that video.

These conventions are something that we will aim to recreate in our video for The Futureheads. We will have performance elements, with the band in appropriate clothing, to conform with conventions and appeal to the target audience. However, our dark narrative may call for a more serious tone, atmosphere and style, which is different to the lighthearted indie video that is often seen. We will though, attempt to make it memorable and effective in creating the dark atmosphere, which too will help sell the band while still fitting with the feel of the song.

Activity 2: CD Covers

As well as producing a music video, we too must create the bands album artwork in a digipack format. This includes a front and back cover as well as the inside sleeve and CD design. Below is 4 examples of The Futureheads' album artworks:

As you can see from the designs, the fonts are simple block texts that is clear and easy to read. In keeping with the band's image of being fairly plain and dull, these greys, blacks and reds are reflected and used in their CD covers as well as their clothing. This is something we will have to conform with when we select our CD cover designs. The covers that do feature the band don't actually show all of their faces, they are hidden or replaced in some way, this is something we will have to match if we choose to feature the band on our artwork. However, our CD cover is likely to relate our video, so the two go hand in hand and are recognisable. To do this, we'll take relevant photos while on shoot and use Photoshop and its relevant tools and effects to create the look we desire. Below are some ideas I have drawn for a possible artwork idea.