The Hoosiers Music Video with linking Album Cover and Tour Poster

The Hoosiers Music Video - 'Worried About Ray'
Here's the link for the music video as I can't get the html to embed it;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCm6YHU76q0

• The lyrics are very repetitive which make them catchy and memorable. Repetitiveness in lyrics can divide an audience into two - people who love the song and people who hate it. The only meaning I can gather from it really is that this guy is worried about a friend and his future.
  
• The tempo of the music is quite fast paced. It isn't all edited to the beat but there is some editing on the beat.
  
• The genre of the music video is abstract and performance. The mise-en-scene of the performance sequences is the lighting is quite bright so three-point lighting had probably been used, the colours used for the band members clothing, the room and props are bold and bright - this suggests that the band members are quite confident with performing and are individual - it also gives the band a unique image. The mise-en-scene of the shots of the character, Ray (when he's in his room) are that low-key lighting has been used so that it is quite dark, there are a lot of shadows and the clothing he wears is quite dark - this contrasts with the brightly coloured image the band is presenting to the audience - also this shows the audience that they are worried about him because he's different to them but the low-key lighting also suggests something bad may happen. The music video is abstract because it involves the use of animation/plasticine creature which comes to life and tries to kill people. There is also a point where someone dresses up as a crocodile and there is a scary looking model in the bands fridge - these are implied to be Rays work and why they are 'worried about Ray'. When the plasticine monster comes to life they may have used a green screen to edit those shots and the shots of the band/Ray together - especially when it grows in size to be as big as the building. The movement of the camera is mostly panning throughout the music video apart from a few shots which are still shots. Also mostly cuts have been used as a transition between shots apart from the occasional wipe across the screen or fade to black/fade in from black.

Camerawork and Editing;

• Fast fade from black to a close up of the bass drum whic hhas the bands name on it.
• Cut to a close up of a side-on view of a guitar and a band member's hand altering volume on it.
• Cut to a close up of the guitars neck and fret pad and of a band members hand taping it to the beat.
• Cut back to a close up of a side-on view of a guitar and a band member's hand - this time flicking a switch in time to the beat.
• Cut to a long shot of the whole band when the band's music kicks in.
• Cut in to a mid shot of a band members torso and him playing a guitar - he is on the left and in the background (to the right) there is band equitment for example amps and another guitar establishing further that this is a band.
• Cut to a medium shot of the drummer drumming.
• Cut to a mid shot of another band members torso and the guitar they are playing - positioned in the centre of the shot so the audiences attention will be on them.
• Cut in to a close up of the same band member playing the guitar - showing he is musically talented and isn't just faking it.
• Cut to a shot which is positioned as a rule of thirds shot - the lead singer is in the middle in the foreground which makes the audiences attention be focused on him - to the left is the other guitarist and the right is the drums and the drummers shoulder. Also narrow depth of field has been used so the foreground stands out more than the background and the attention is drawn to the lead singer even more.
• Jump cut backwards to a medium long shot of the whole band - rule of thirds is used again in exactly the same way - however it may just be that this is how bands are positioned normally when performing?
• Cut in to a close up of a band member playing a guitar.
• Cut to a medium panning shot of the drummer.
• Cut to a close up of a band member playing a guitar.
• Cut to a medium shot of the whole band - rule of thirds used again.
• Cut in to a medium close up of the singer - rule of thrids used again.
• Cut to a very quick medium shot of the guitar the singer is playing.
• Cut to a medium shot of the drummer.
• Cut to a medium clsoe up of the singer as he starts to sing.
• Jump cut outwards to a medium shot (zooming in) - rule of thirds used again.
• Cut to a medium panning shot (downwards) of the drummer.
• Cut to a medium shot of the singer and the band in the background - zooming in on the singer as he sings the verse - he looks to the right when he sings the lyrics "Ray" and the camera quickly pans to the right to a medium-long shot of who we assume to be "Ray" - the camera pans quickly to the left to a medium close up of the lead singer - camera zooming out
• Jump cut backwards to a long shot of the whole band in the same sort of arrangement as they have been in previous shots.
• Cut to a medium close up of the lead singer.
• Cut to a medium-long shot of Ray.
• Cut to a medium shot of the lead singer - the camera is panning to the right (it may be on a dolly) - showing Ray and ending the take at the amp or speaker (which is black).
• The transition used is a wipe effect from right to left to reveal the next shot which is a medium shot of the three band members and Ray - it suggests a connection between what we are seeing visually and what we are hearing lyrically. The lead singer is lip-syncing within this shot -the camera zooms in towards Ray who looks at his watch which suggests he has got somewhere to be or doesn't want to stay any longer.
• Cut to a medium close up of the lead singer in the performance setting.
• Jump cut backwards to a medium-long shot of the lead singer and the band as they perform.
• Cut to a close up of a TV screen with a plasticine dinosaur on it.
• Cut to an upwards panning shot from behind the TV to a medium shot of the three band members sitting on a sofa watching the TV - the lead singer is waving his arm to try and get someone to join them.
• Cut to a medium shot of Ray who is making a gesture suggesting he doesn't want to join them or he has something to do and he closes the door - camera zooms in on the 'Keep Out' sign on the door suggesting he doesn't want to be disturbed. Fade to black.
• Fade in from black to a medium-long shot of Ray's back as he is sat in a chair at a desk - camera is zooming in on him.
• Cut to a medium-close up of Ray and a model of somesort which he seems to be making/brushing.
• Cut to a medium shot of the lead singer sat down 'talking' with his guitar on his knee - which shows a contrast between the two characters played as the lead singer is in bright colours and his background is bright etc and Ray has dull colours and a dull/dark background - binary oppositions.

I have only researched up to 1 minute of the camerawork and editing within this music video however the rest of my research has been based on the whole music video.

Application of Andrew Goodwin's theories to the music video for 'Worried about Ray';

• One of Andrew Goodwin's theories is that within music videos there are visual parallels with the tempo of the music which are directly represented in music video clips. The speed can be represented in the clips by the movement of the camera, fast editing, post production and any effect edited in by the computer. In the music video for 'Worried about Ray' the tempo of the music is quite fast and there are parallels to this by there being some fast paced editing due to there being some takes which are short however there are some takes which are longer due to slow paced editing (that's mainly in the abstract narrative).
• Andrew Goodwin suggests that the voice, the rhythm and the backing which supports them are three central elements of the arrangement of pop music videos. 'Worried about Ray' isn't always edited to the beat however it does display some edits to the beat, it also displays evidence of editing to the lyrics as well. Most of the shots when the lyrics are heard are of the lead singer lip-syncing - even when he's in a narrative setting. This puts a lot of emphasis on the lyrics.
• He also borrowed a theory, of conflict being resolved from a narrative theory - it is relevant to the visual images, the lyrics sung and the music played. 'Worried about Ray' has elements of a conflict being restored due to... the monster being killed by a drumstick being fired at it's eye, the words "The future's out to get you" are repeated, also there is a closing drum beat and guitar riff.
  
  
  The Hoosiers debut Album Cover - The Trick Of Life;

The Hoosiers album cover comes in four different colours - yellow, green, blue and red - three of which are primary colours and stand out due to their boldness - releasing an album which is available in different colours appeals to a wider audience range. Also there has been a special version of the album released on itunes - this has a purple cover and comes with two bonus tracks. In the centre of the album cover is the name of the band: "The Hoosiers" - which is in a bold red colour which stands out on the white background - the letters are in different sizes and all in the same font. Underneath the bands name there is an "&" sign, then underneath that there is the album title "The trick of life" - all in the bold red colour however the name of the album and the "&" sign are all in a different less eye-catching font to the bands name. The layout of the bands name and album title makes it seem like they are going to tell you a story which features them - "The Hoosiers & the trick of life" - it suggests that the band is more involved with the album than people may think - also it gives a postmodern feel to it suggesting life isn't as it seems - there may be more than one reality.

There is a lot of detail going on around the bands name and album title. The background is in yellow and the images are in an orangey colour. There are a pair of eyes at the bottom of the cover - suggesting that there is someone looking up to the bands name and title of the album - giving a subtle suggestion that the audience should look up to the band. Working upwards - above the eyes it seems like there are buildings along what looks like the eyebrows which go with the eyes and in the centre of the buildings is the shadow of a rabbit. Working upwards - there are various patterns along the sides and going into the centre are hands curled up into a fist - looking like they are going to punch the centre. Working upwards - two bird shaped shadows then there are various shapes of bushes etc. On the left hand-side there seems to be quite soft shapes and a space shuttle which is quite rounded, whereas on the right hand-side there are quite pointy and quite sharp looking shapes and an old-style looking plane. At the top of the front cover in the centre there is a heart shaped image with crosses in the centre as if it had been stitched up from being broken into two peices. It appears to be in the centre of clouds on either side and there appears to rain drops coming from these clouds - it could also be interpreted as being blood drops from the broken heart as a darker side to the image. There has also been a shadow effect edited into the front cover twice but getting fainter the closer it gets to the centre. The rabbit at the bottom of the cover could symbolise the rabbit in Alice and Wonderland - this is because the centre seems to be like a hole because of the fade effect of the shadows - also the albums name "the trick of life" links with that theory because when Alice followed the rabbit down the rabbit hole there was a completely different world. Also the left side seems to be slightly different to the right side (in the imagery) however from a distance it seems the same - this links to "the trick of life" as well.

The Back cover;

The back cover uses the exact same imagery as the front cover does - apart from the faded shadows which go in the direction of the centre - they aren't there. Also the imagery is in a bold white which stands out a lot from the yellow background, along with this in white the track list, which is in the centre of the imagery - making it stand out quite a bit - this makes it eye-catching to the audience so they would see what tracks will be on the album so it may attract them to buy the album. At the bottom on the left is a list of who worked on the album with the hoosiers in the form of producers, writers, directors etc and at the bottom on the right is the barcode so that shops can scan it in order to sell it to the customers. On the far left and far right are the sides of the CD covers which join it to make it 3D - The name of the band and the album title is in the exact same font, colours and arrangement as on the front cover to carry on the theme of the album.


The Actual CD;
The actual CD is quite simple really - it follows the themes of the whole look of the album cover nicely - the background is a yellow colour which is the same as the background on the front and back covers. Also the bands name and title of the album is in the exact same font, colour and arrangement as on the front cover - carrying on the overall theme of the album.

The Hoosiers Tour poster;

About 1/5 parts of the tour poster is the bands name and also it states that there will be special guests. Both are black against a white background which makes it very eye-catching for the audience - it establishes who the band is which may appeal to a wide range of people. For the border at the top of the list of venues and date there are a variety of images which are similar to those images on the CD front and back covers. The left could be percieved as the 'evil' side because it has a lot of pointy objects, there is a lot of black used and an 'evil' looking face is in the pointy bushes. On the right there are buildings which are a red colour, a smily face which has a rain-cloud above it - this could suggest that this is the opposite to the other side (the 'good' side) the rain-cloud could be linked to the other side however the face is still smiling which could suggest that if you go to one of the gigs you can go and forget all of your worries and go out smiling. There is also a bird like figure like on the CD cover and there are images which I can't quite make out. Towards the bottom on the right hand side there is a semi-circular shape in black - this looks like it could be a different planet to the one presented towards to the top of the page - that is suggested by space shuttles coming away and towards it. There is also a bug on the top of the 'planet' which is exactley the same as the one ontop of the bands name - which could link the 'planet' and the band together - suggesting you will be transported to the 'planet' of The Hoosiers if you go to a show. In the centre of the poster are two strips of dates (in black) of gigs and venues (in red) - this draws the audiences attention to the venues first - this is important so they can see where the nearest gig is to them - then they will look at the date of the gig - underneath in a smaller print is a phone number so they can book tickets if they wish. At the bottom of the page it has a small advertisement for the album 'The Trick of Life' and the website address for the official and myspace websites. This encourages fans and other people in the audience to either buy their album or look at other types of promoting media.

All three media products have one distinct feature which links them together. This is 'The Hoosiers' logo because it is present on the face of the bass drum in the music video, the very same logo is on the CD cover and tour poster to present the bands name to the audience. This means the audience will be able to associate all three media products together from just the name of the band. Also the CD cover and tour poster seems to have abstract images on them, this links to the music video as there are abstract models for example dinosaurs within it. This can also make the audience link the media products together subconsciously which would make them more likely to buy tickets for a concert/buy the CD/watch the media product if they had already done one of those things.