Thursday 26 January 2012

Research and planning - Colbie Calliat biography analysis

Armed simply with her dusky vocals and acoustic guitar, Colbie Caillat and her homespun music continue to resonate with listeners and win new fans. Little more than a year after the release of her nearly double platinum debut album “CoCo,” Caillat has so quickly made such an enduring impact that USA Today declared the California girl a vital part of “a new wave of troubadours luring fans of all ages into a peaceful, easy feeling.” The national newspaper puts her in the company of other platinum plus artists like Sara Bareilles, Caillat’s musical hero Jack Johnson, and her good friend and duet partner, Jason Mraz.
As Caillat told USA Today, “[my] songs are optimistic and bright. I grew up in southern California and Hawaii. The lifestyle was laid back and I listened to mellow, positive music, like Bob Marley and Jack Johnson. So I think that’s all inside me. I’m happy, and that gets expressed in my music.”
Now, fans of Caillat’s Universal Republic debut have another reason to be happy, too: on October 21, Caillat returns with “CoCo - Deluxe Edition.”
On “CoCo-Deluxe Edition,” fans are treated not only to the 12 tracks originally featured on “CoCo,” but nine additional recordings. Highlights include three new Caillat tunes, “Older,” “Circles” and “Something Special”; alternate takes on her massive breakthrough hit “Bubbly” and “Magic,” and live versions of a pair of songs originally performed by two of Caillat’s favorite artists: Lauryn Hill’s lovely “Tell Him” and Bob Marley’s sultry “Turn Your Lights Down Low.”
Plus, “CoCo –Deluxe Edition” features two very special collaborations: Marley’s legendary backing band, The Wailers, duet with Caillat on a lilting, reggae remake of the Dusty Springfield classic “Brand New Me,” and Colombian superstar Juanes joins Caillat on her remake of his gorgeous “Hoy Me Voy.” For Caillat, a lifelong Marley fan, recording the Dusty Springfield song “Brand New Me” with The Wailers was a dream come true.
For the three new songs, she once again teamed with co-writer/producer Mikal Blue, who helmedCoCo.” Writing happens organically for Caillat, usually after a small gestation period. “I just let stuff build up inside of me and I’ll write three songs in a weekend. It’s like this release,” she says. “I don’t pick something to write about. When I’m playing guitar, a melody comes out and whatever words come out, I go along with that.”
Fans who already own “CoCo” can download the new material on iTunes.
At the core of Caillat’s appeal are her honesty and lack of pretense. And her intense desire to create a body of work that resonates from the first note to the last. “I hate having to change an album because you don’t like that song or you want to go to the next,” she says. “I want someone to just be able to put the album on and listen all the way through.”
She is one of the brightest new artists to emerge in the last few years and the first true myspace.com discovery.
With no marketing push and only the power of the music behind her, Caillat became a sensation on the social networking site starting in 2006 when, upon the advice of friends, she began uploading her songs to her page.
By then, her talent had been developing for years. Caillat started singing around the house as a small girl, but a pivotal moment came when she was 11 after she heard the Fugees’ Hill sing “Killing Me Softly.” “It made me want to start singing,” Caillat recalls, “so I sang one of her songs at a talent show in sixth grade.”
As she focusing on songwriting in her late teens, Caillat discovered an innate talent for observing and capturing significant moments, such as that first blush of love or passage into adulthood. She also found two great collaborators in producer/songwriter Blue and singer/songwriter Jason Reeves. Together, they crafted the songs on “Coco.”
CoCo” debuted at No. 5 on Billboard’s Top 200 albums chart and remained in the top 20 of the chart more than half a year after the CD’s release. “Bubbly” spent a staggering 14 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Top 40 chart and four weeks atop the Adult Contemporary chart. “Bubbly” has also been certified platinum; signaling sales of more than 2.6 million downloads. Second single “Realize,” about a friend, who was secretly in love with Caillat, was also a huge hit. And the third is proving to be the charm as “Little Things” is following the path of its predecessors.
Since the album’s debut, Caillat has been a constant fixture on the road in the U.S., Europe, Australia and Asia. She’s alternated between headlining her own sold-out concerts and opening for such artists as John Mayer, one of her major influences.
Fans’ stories of how her music has touched them make her smile. “People tell me ‘Bubbly’ made them realize that they weren’t in love with their boyfriend because their boyfriend doesn’t give them those feelings in the song,” she says. “I was like ‘Oh my gosh! Wow! That wasn’t my intention, but at least that’s helped you.”
While such moments with individual fans mean so much, one collective experience stands out brightly in Caillat’s mind: playing New York’s legendary Madison Square Garden. As she concluded “Bubbly,” “everyone took their cell phones out. It was completely dark and all you could see from the top to the bottom of the place was cell phones. That was a trip.”
When she’s not on stage, she usually can be found with guitar in hand, writing. “That’s what I do for fun. I [get] together with Jason Reeves and Mikal Blue, and we put songs down on tape.”
She already has a number of songs ready for her next full length album and she promises they will reflect the amazing journey she continues to take as a young woman and an increasingly accomplished artist—mistakes and joys included—or as she laughingly put it: “I’m [23] and I’m still learning.
This is Colbie Calliat's Biography from her website, it has been written in third person this gives the impression you are being told about her not reading her own words. By the biography being in third person it doesnt give as good effect for her fans and they don't feel close to her. This biography is very much about the music, this can be considered as a good thing as it shows Colbie is passionate about her music, but for fans it could be a bad thing as many fans want to know the real Colbie her likes, dislikes etc. It does include captions Colbie has said to USA today for example "My songs are optimistic and bright. I grew up in southern California and Hawaii. The lifestyle was laid back and i listened to mellow, positive music, like Bob Marley and Jack Johnson. So i think that's all inside me. I'm happy and that gets expressed in my music" This is a good thing as it gives the reader an idea of Colbie, but not in depth which could be good or bad depending on what the reader wants to find out.
Layout
The layout of the biography is very clear and includes a picture of Colbie , this gives the reader an idea of who they are reading about.

Research and planning - Taylor swift biography analysis

About

Hi, I'm Taylor. I've been alive for 22 years now, and I finally have my own kitchen. I'm very excited about this, and generally excited by anything else that falls into the "cute" or "cozy" categories. I learned to play guitar when I was twelve from this guy named Ronnie who came over to fix my parents' computer. I like quilts. But that's probably because I'm always freezing cold. I LOVE Nashville. That's where I live, when I'm lucky enough to be there. I love the town so much, I sometimes feel like I should just roll the windows down in my car (nicknamed the Toyoat. Because it's a Toyota) and scream "I LOVE THIS TOWN" loudly out the windows. That wouldn't be weird, right? Every time I try and wink at someone, I mess it up and end up scaring people. My lucky number always has been and always will be 13. It pops up in front of me in the most obvious and undeniable ways, but only when something good is about to happen. I'm a Sagittarius. I think that means I'm always looking for something new. It also means I have a Christmas-themed birthday party every year. I love bright colors and things that make reality seem more whimsical than it is. I have a collection of ribbons and headbands, and I love them all the same. I over-think and over-plan and over-organize. I've been like this since I was a baby, before I was gigantically tall and over-talkative.

These days, I've been trying to classify my thoughts into two categories: "Things I can change," and "Things I can't." It seems to help me sort through what to really stress about. But there I go again, over-planning and over-organizing my over-thinking! I write songs about my adventures and misadventures, most of which concern love. Love is a tricky business. But if it wasn't, I wouldn't be so enthralled with it. Lately I've come to a wonderful realization that makes me even more fascinated by it: I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to love. No one does! There's no pattern to it, except that it happens to all of us, of course. I can't plan for it. I can't predict how it'll end up. Because love is unpredictable and it's frustrating and it's tragic and it's beautiful. And even though there's no way to feel like I'm an expert at it, it's worth writing songs about -- more than anything else I've ever experienced in my life.

I've apparently been the victim of growing up, which apparently happens to all of us at one point or another. It's been going on for quite some time now, without me knowing it. I've found that growing up can mean a lot of things. For me, it doesn't mean I should become somebody completely new and stop loving the things I used to love. It means I've just added more things to my list. Like for example, I'm still beyond obsessed with the winter season and I still start putting up strings of lights in September. I still love sparkles and grocery shopping and really old cats that are only nice to you half the time. I still love writing in my journal and wearing dresses all the time and staring at chandeliers. But some new things I've fallen in love with -- mismatched everything. Mismatched chairs, mismatched colors, mismatched personalities. I love spraying perfumes I used to wear when I was in high school. It brings me back to the days of trying to get a close parking spot at school, trying to get noticed by soccer players, and trying to figure out how to avoid doing or saying anything uncool, and wishing every minute of every day that one day maybe I'd get a chance to win a Grammy. Or something crazy and out of reach like that. ;) I love old buildings with the paint chipping off the walls and my dad's stories about college. I love the freedom of living alone, but I also love things that make me feel seven again. Back then naivety was the norm and skepticism was a foreign language, and I just think every once in a while you need fries and a chocolate milkshake and your mom. I love picking up a cookbook and closing my eyes and opening it to a random page, then attempting to make that recipe. I've loved my fans from the very first day, but they've said things and done things recently that make me feel like they're my friends -- more now than ever before. I'll never go a day without thinking about our memories together.

For the last two years, I've been writing and recording an album called Speak Now. I only have the option of writing about things that happen in my life, so thankfully a LOT has happened in my life in the last two years. I know I don't always say the right thing at the right time or speak up when I should, but I write it all down. I get my guitar and a pen and all of a sudden, I have a chance to say exactly what I meant to say in real life. Some of the things I wrote about are things everyone saw me go through. Some of the things I wrote about are things nobody ever knew about. I'm beyond excited for you to hear these stories and confessions.

I think it's important that you know that I will never change. But I'll never stay the same either. Must be a Sagittarius thing.

I'm pretty stoked that you read this whole thing. I commend you for that. This was ridiculously long, and you probably have other stuff you could've done in the last four minutes. So to you, or anyone else who has spent four minutes on me in some way-- listening to just one song, or watching one of my videos….Thank you. I love you like I love sparkles and having the last word. And that's real love.
This is Taylor Swifts official biography on her website. It is written in first person so the audience get the feel that Taylor is taking to them, this is a good way of making fans feel closer to the artist. Taylor lets her personality shine through in her biography for example " generally excited by anything else that falls into the "cute" or "cosy" categories by doing this it can relate fans to her and show what she is really like, rather than the media mixing the truth. Taylor first talks about her likes and dislikes and about how she got into music and playing the guitar. This is something fans want to know. By adding humor for example "every time i try wink at someone, i mess it up and end up scaring people." shows the fans she is a normal person and does like to joke and have fun. "Love" is brought up in this biography and tells Taylor's thoughts about love this is because her songs are mainly about love and a lot of fans will want to understand the reason for this and her opinion because every girl can't resist a love story. Taylor also talks about growing up and this may relate to her fans as alot of them will be at the age where they feel they need to grow up or their parents are saying they are too grown up or not enough, she can also relate when talking about high school and trying to be noticed as mant high school girls feel they are not noticed. Knowing their idol went through the same thing it helps them understand things do get better after high school. Taylor finishes the biography by saying what she has been doing for the last two years, this give a brief outline of her life at the moment making it easy to read. She then thanks you for reading the whole biography this makes you feel she notices people are actually reading it and cares about her fans, something vital for an artist.

Layout


The layout of Taylors biography is very clear with "Taylor Swift" as a large heading and "about" as a subheading. It also includes a picture of Taylor swift, this is good as people reading the biography will want to put the words to a face.

Monday 23 January 2012

Research and planning - Taylor Swift- Album cover analysis


Main Image
The main image on this cover is typical of the genre Pop. The artist Taylor swift is looking straight at you to draw you in, and to add a subtle sexy aspect to it. Head and shoulder shots are frequently found on Pop CD covers, this is to make the cover more personal and being for a target audience of teenage girls it concentrates on who the artist is rather than therelook.



Colour
Both the background colour and the image colour arevery subtle and naturalcolours this indicates it is promoting naturalbeauty, something many teenagers find difficult to see in themselves. As many fans aspire to be like their idols and try to achieve the same look and by Taylorshowing natural beauty in encourages teenagers to show theirnatural beauty.


Font
The font type for the artists name Taylor Swift is very girly and would indicate that hertarget audience is teenage girls as many stereotypical views on girls is that they love girly swirly patterns and fonts. “FEARLESS” the album title suggests that the image they want to come across is Taylor is fearless and it does this even more by only using one word as the title to get the image across. This will appeal to teenage girls as they are at the age where they are trying to fit in and find themselves. The opposite font from the artists name “Taylor Swift”to the title “Fearless” suggest the album had a girly side to it but the artist is not afraid about what she has to day.

Research and planning - Colbie Caillat- Album cover analysis





Main Image



The main image shows a head and shoulder shot that is typical for a Pop album cover, but the artist Colbie is looking away this isn't very stereotypical of how Pop album covers are they usually have eye contact with the audience that draws your attention this suggests the artists isn't about how many people buy her album she is all about the music, For example she is singing in the image and playing a guitar. The positioning of the artist is also unusual of a Pop album as she is half off the album, this gives the impression that she is quite shy and doesn't show her true self but her music tells her story this links to the title of the album "bubbly" because you don't get she is bubbly from the image but her music must show the reason. Shyness and focusing on the music targets her audience of teenage girls as many teenagers find it hard to express themselves and show who they really are, so fans can relate to artist Colbie.






Colour


The colour scheme is very calm with natural colours but contradicts the title of the album "bubbly" this suggests that the artists is quite shy and herself is shown through her music. Faded flowers in the background show she is not just a blank canvas she does have a personality but you have to make an effort to find out. This can target a teenage girl audience as people are judged on first impressions and teenagers can relate to this artist.




Font


Both the artist name font and the album title is quite calm and give the impression of a beach or Hawaiian look. This shows the music and artist is calming could relate to teenagers as they are in a stressful time of their lives.








Ideas gained from research

I have gained many ideas of how music videos and album covers present artist and the way they are layed out. I can use these ideas when creating my own products. From my analysis on music videos i found that both Taylor swift - back to December and Colbie Callaits music videos show a lot of close ups of the artist through out the video. This shows the artist is the main focus i would like to show this in my own music video as i feel the Pop genre is very focused on their artist being the main icon.

I have also found that a love story or a break up is frequently shown in music videos and they feature a boy in both Taylor Swifts music video and Colbie Callaits. I will use this idea of a love story and use a boy as they character my artists is singing about.

From my research i would like to achieve a stereotypical Pop music video showing close ups of my artist and love as the main story line i feel this will fit the genre perfectly and will appeal to the target audience.

Analysis of music video: You belong with me - Taylor Swift

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw&ob=av2e


The music video is called "You belong with me" it is by Pop artist Taylor swift. The notion of looking is at the very start of the video where the viewer see's what Taylor is looking at, looking through one window into another it give the impression on looking but trying not to be seen. While the notion of looking is shown the video also includes a relationship between the lyrics and visuals, for example "your on the phone to your girlfriend" and the boy she is looking at is on the phone.


Relationship between the lyrics and visuals is shown again in a very obvious way when Taylor sings "she's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers" the visual shows the cheer captain and then Taylor on the bleachers.




The video has alot of intertextual referances to steriotypical teenage love films and TV programmes, with a geek who is in love with a boy who is dating the head cheerleader, this is a typical feature to an american teenage romance film. This is also shown when Taylor sings into the mirror , with a micrphone and jumping on the bed all of these are references to the film "13 going on 30" this part in the film shows a women acting like a typical teenage girl.






clip from film "13 going on 30"























Another intertextual reference is the costuming of the characters and the main one is bad girl in the film wearing a red dress and the good innocent gitl wearing a white dress this is costuming that is used alot in films to identify the good from the bad.




While Taylor is dancing on the bed the music gets louder and faster as her dancing gets faster this is a relationship between the music and the visuals. Close ups are another feature in this music video and there is a close up of Taylor's face every time she says "you belong to me" this is telling the audience that its about this character and the main focus of the song belonging to someone is about her.







"You belong to me" is a narrative based video and tells a story throughout it is very similar to a teenage romance film and shows the end with a stereotypical happy ending where she ends up with the guy she loves and he loves her back.





Sunday 22 January 2012

Analysis of music video: The little things - Colbie Caillat



This video is for The little things by Colbie Caillat the genre is Pop and this is indicated by the up beat feel to it and the mise-en-scene for example the use of a beach is featured a lot in pop music videos and the use of a boy/man to give a romance to the video a main characteristic to pop videos.
Relationships between the lyrics and visuals is shown towards the very beginning of the video for example when Colbie is riding a bike along the pavement the lyrics say "i feel stuck here against the pavement". This gives a relationship between the lyrics and visuals straight away and shows she feels stuck in one place as she is growing older.
Another example of a relationship between the lyrics and visuals is "better of slipping by myself in one direction" and you see Colbie in a boat steering through the water and then it cuts to her face and it then dissolves into water, this gives the impression of her slipping away in her own direction linking to the lyrics.
Close ups are shown a lot in this video to show Colbie is the main focus and there is a close up every time the lyrics say "I'm better off" this shows the song is about her and what she feels.
The notion of looking is also featured in this video for example in the image below it shows whatColbie is looking at gives the feeling you are looking but hiding at the same time showing you how Colbie is feeling and what she is seeing. This also tells the audience she wants to see something but feels she cant make it obvious and is trying to move on.
This music video tells and story of a girl who is trying to discover new things and find who she is while going through a journey but feels she is stuck and has to move on from a relationship to move forward. Therefore it is narrative based.

Thursday 19 January 2012

Analysis Of Music Video : Back to december- Taylor Swift


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUwxKWT6m7U&ob=av3e
The first video I have chosen to analyse is “back to December” by Taylor Swift which is directed by Yoann Lemoine. The genre that Taylor Swifts music belongs to is Pop/Country Pop this is indicated by the stereotypical story line of a love story with a heartbreak.
The video starts with a relationship between the music and the visuals for example a boy walking slowly and alone, this links to the music as the music is very slow and gives the feeling of walking or being alone.
Another relationship between the music and visuals is the speed of the cut and the beats as the beat increases so does the length of the cuts.
as well as the increase in cut lengths the movement of the characters increases this is shown when Taylor swift rips a page from a book, it then cuts to a boy slamming his hand on the steering wheel and then cuts to Taylor sliding to the floor all quick movements and quick cut to each one.
besides showing a relationship between the music and the visuals the video shows a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. The image below is an example of a visual shown when Taylor's sings "the last time you saw me, its burned in the back of your mind" this shows an automatic link as his eyes show he is the person Taylor is singing about.
There are a lot of close ups of the artist Taylor and the boy who is the main focus of the song, there are also close ups of Taylor's mouth this is showing everything she is saying is a huge part of the song and by there then being close ups of the boy it shows everything she is saying is to him, this also links the the lyrics as they say "i go back to December all the time" this being part of the title of the song and having a close up when it is said shows going back to December is what the song is about.
The music video is narrative based and tells a story of a heart break through the use of visuals,lyrics and music.