Representation of men in alternative music

Below are a few pictures of prominent male figures in alternative music. You can clearly see one similarity between them all; body modification. Each one of them is covered in various tattoos of sorts, and lots of them boast piercings too. Appearance is vital in the genre, and 'what's in' tends to be the same three things - tattoos, piercings, and beards. These three are the golden ingredients to make the ultimate band member. There is a very strong female gaze in alternative music; girls (or boys for that matter) idolize the band members and often worship them, creating a sort of god-like persona to them, which is heavily focused on their appearance and the sound of their voice. It's widely acknowledged that first appearances give the best impression, and it seems in this form of music that appearance makes the man. (or woman, usually a male dominated genre)
The male gaze can be extended to a form of brotherhood, and respect or admiration for that particular frontman, with many aspiring to look like, or be like them in order to gain the affections of others or admiration of others.

Huge chest-piece tattoos aren't uncommon, and often displayed as often as possible. Jason Butler is an example of a front man who is often eager to show off his ink.

 Knuckle tattoos are just as popular, and more associated towards the heavily-tattooed, or musically dedicated. Frankie Palmeri has heavily tattooed hands, and is frequently photographed gripping the microphone to show them off.

Then, there is the beard. Jeremy McKinnon is always bearded; beards have always been a part of heavier music, and now they have become mainstream fashion. Another point is the piercing culture: stretched ears are common in alternative living. Jeremy has stretched ears in this picture. It is not uncommon to see ears stretched beyond 10mm - 30mm.

The next type is the raw, all in black, unkempt image that front mean like Laurence Taylor might keep. His tattoos are random, mismatched and not usually thematic -block, black colours usually. Long, unbrushed hair isn't an unknown feature, but it tends to be the case that hair is very well refined, and kept neat and particular.

There are also the icons. The front men that younger generations have been looking up to all throughout their childhood years. The ones that are covered head to toe in tattoos that people want, or dress just how they want to dress, or sing and say just what they want to say. (excluding the attire of the picture). Oli Sykes has been at the forefront of 'emo' and now is at the forefront of the 'mainstream' alternative image.

Then, there is the simple 'pretty boy' image. The front men that don't stand out for anything more than their looks, and don't receive much recognition to the quality of their music or the quality of their vocals, but instead are usually judged for their appearance at their latest festival, or how they look in their poster/interview in this weeks Kerrang! magazine. Daniel Winter-Bates is often judged in such a manner, and his actual musical career has suffered as a result. He is the victim of the female gaze, and the visual idolisation in music. 

Issues I have faced over my coursework & brief evaluation

Issues during planning production:

I faced many issues during planning my music video. Every time I organised to meet the band and discuss, I could not get to them, due to their inflexible work schedules and unpredictable nature of their shifts or plans. Therefore, I was unable to plan my music video with the band. This eradicated the potential for a story line or a more creative narrative, but in my research into the genre, I discovered that a narrative structure is less important, and the focus could be put into a grand narrative, such as the perception of the band (musicians as a profession) or gender representation. This research led me to realise that my music video could be far more effective in a mere documentary structure. Simply filming the band in practice would allow me to show the band off so to speak. It would introduce the band both as a band, and just as four guys who play music together. In pop punk there is huge potential to be 'silly' or boast a strong sense of humour which tends to dehumanise the band in a way; to display them in their musical talent returns them to their true nature: Four friends with shared musical interest. This is one issue I found that I could easily overcome, and I feel the lack of story line or any form of plot (outside to playing their single) made sure my music video was just easily accessible, not visually engaging - but not musically uninteresting.

Issues during production:

As stated previously, the band proved themselves difficult to meet up with. I had intentions to film on two locations: A studio of their choice, and to create a city/country mix (Pop Punk is a very inner-city themed genre) I intended to film in an empty farm building, a huge corrugated iron warehouse with nothing but hay bales for the band to use as props when playing. This was to create a reflection between practising playing a song, as bands have to do religiously (and often forgotten: Music is both an art and talent that has to be perfected) and to show them performing, in their element. Unfortunately, due to circumstances such as band location, band scheduling and generally being busy the warehouse option became impossible to accomplish.

Initially, I had intended to film the studio shots in Plug Studios, in Norwich. A studio I was very familiar with from playing there myself on occasion. I had allotted 4 hours studio time with them and had confirmed with the band that this was the plan. Plug Studios wasn't too far a walk from the city centre, and as I was carrying a camera, tripod and lighting equipment, it was plausible. Unfortunately, the band told me that they were unable to attend to play the 4 hours, as many had to work later, and I was to be given 2 hours and 30 minutes. I was then told that they would no longer play at Plug Studios, and it would now be at Earth Studios, which is way out of the city centre. This meant I had to try and find transport, and ended up having to ask around very politely for a lift there. I then discovered I was only to be given an hour and a half film time, which I felt was not enough.
Furthermore, I was informed they were practising in general, and would not have the opportunity to film the song for my music video in the extent that I wanted to. This meant that about 85% of my footage is 'stock footage' of them playing other songs. This meant that I was to struggle in the editing process later.

When actually filming, it became apparent to me that my tripod was useless, as I had forgotten to bring the part to actually mount the camera. This meant my entire project was to be handheld.
I had initially intend to use my uncles camera. It was an HD camera that films beautifully and would have been ideal to film the band. It also captures sound perfectly, so I would have potentially been able to use a live track of them in studio. Unfortunately, during testing, it became apparent that the file type that it uses wasn't recognised by the software and rendered useless. Fortunately, my media teacher and I discovered this before filming. Unfortunately, it was on the day. Fortunately, he allowed me to use one of the cameras that the media department had. Unfortunately, when filming, I actually discovered the battery power was less than enough for the time that they had whittled me down to, and after an hour, the battery died, leaving me with 30 minutes to do very little. A few videos on my phone proved poor, so I had to settle for the hour of footage I had. This would have been okay, but the last half hour, they offered to play through 'Sword of Damocles' in more detail so I could get all the minute details or the intricate shots I wanted. Unfortunately I had to settle for the shorter clips, but, I had 2 full song recordings of it, in which I had filmed all instruments, all from very different angles. They played the song very well, Andrew offering input on what he'd like to do or how he'd like to be filmed, and Tom offering to sing in a certain way helped incredibly. However, he had forgotten the first verse to the song, and I had to prompt him.

Issues during editing:

I quickly discovered that I could only rely on the two full length recordings for the vocals. If I wanted a shot of  Tom singing, I would have to find a section of that song I hadn't used yet. Often I was able to replace him with a shot of Johnny playing Bass or Joel on drums, or Andrew doing backing vocals (even if they weren't in the line). This meant it looked scrambled, or fragmented, and made no chronological sense and took unpredictable turns. with regard to genre conventions, Goodwin outlines that the audience know what they want to see, and what they expect. As the singer begins the first line of a verse, you expect to see him sing it. As the drummer makes a fill, or the guitarist plays a solo or the bassist plays a bass hook that stands out, you expect to see them play. This takes the focus away from the parts you're trying to focus on. The aim of my music video was to focus on the musicians and their talent, and showing all the intricacies of how and what they're playing is vital, so not being able to show off the lead singer proved a bit problematic.

I also discovered, that I could only use shots of other songs if it was purely instrumental, and brief, as often
it was visually obvious that they weren't playing what you can hear. So plenty of filler shots made up the bulk of my music video. Another problem, is that in studio, the band play at a different tempo, or sing in a different way to the track, creating a divide between the original, and them playing the original. This compromised the synchronicity of my music video.

Another issue I faced, was simply spending hours on my project, and forgetting to save. Usually, not an extreme issue until your computer freezes. Simply overcome, by learning my lesson of not to be foolish and save regularly.

Issues post editing/pre-print production

I faced few issues at this stage. Photoshop is a programme I am familiar with, and have (limited) knowledge on how to use it, so learning the processes was not an issue. I got good feedback from my classmates about my music video, and the planning process for my print production was easy enough due to the fact I had already planned it when I got the single.

One issue though, which is rather major, is that the band broke up. The lead singer moved away to London, so I was unable to get any photos of them as a collective, which was tailored to my needs for my print production. Nevertheless though, I already knew my project was going to be photoshop based so I continued as I was.

Issues during print production:

The only issues I have found in this section of my coursework was keeping my work appropriate to the theme. For example, the original album art was cartoon animals, so I recreated the animal idea on the band as humans with photoshopped animal faces. Another idea I had was to have a 'Sailor Jerry' tattoo style album art, with tattoo themed writing of 'Dying Breeds' and 'Sword of Damocles' which would be relevant due to Pop Punk's strong relation with tattoos and piercings. However, I have had to whittle this idea down to a poster in my print design. A small problem, that has now given my final product an original idea and an extra element that would be aesthetically pleasing to the audience, which is vital.

Print designs

Front cover:



















Back cover:

Magazine cover:

Inside sleeve:
Inside poster:

 

Behind disk:
Disk design:

Print designs

 

 

 

Single cover ideas (FONT)

Playing around with some designs for my cover for the single.

 

 

Album Covers

Print Development.

 

Similar album covers

So, to create an album cover in a genre, you have to assess the genre and various principles involved in preparing an album art for the track.

Firstly, great graphic pieces are often successful. The sort of image that would make a great poster, or phone background. Usually these cross the border between trad-tattoo style drawing or obscene, macabre or obscure cartoon drawing. Something weird that stands out as visually impressive, essentially.
         

Secondly, artwork that involves a symbol is always effective, as people often memorise or idolise it. Again, it may become a background, or something that someone will draw over and over again, or enjoy wearing on a t-shirt, or a tattoo.

Some bands merely use their name, against a backdrop. Simplistic but artistic, without all the graphic work involved. This is most effective if the album is self-titled, as it needn't use a second heading (album name, etc) So, featuring just the album art is more detailed and perhaps says more.

The band may also have an established fan base already, so they merely have to throw out their logo or a recognisable feature for people to buy it. This links back to the symbolic element.

However, some albums go for the all-out random or irrelevant in terms of their album art. Something that has no literal meaning, but may be pragmatic, relying on the audience to dwell upon it. It may have no implied meaning through their songs or album, or even name, but  is either provocative or controversial in someway.

Of course, sometimes its simpler to just show the band, be it them, or them glorified in someway. Often strong or contrasting lights or colours make for a great cover.

However, sometimes the most simplistic but irrelevant are the most effective. Less is more is often a rule that can apply to album art.

Often, the most bizarre ones can end up confusing the consumer, and creating an over-crowded cover photo can ruin the credibility or appeal of the entire album. Going out of the ordinary with something visual can draw the attention away from the audible.

Going back to the 'random' or 'irrelevant' or 'provocative' element, often an album art can become the most famous or memorable element of the production. Nirvana's Nevermind album art is instantly recognisable for example.