Rachel Cox A2 Media Studies
Representation within my band
Media representations are the ways in which the media portrays particular groups, communities, experiences, ideas, or topics from a particular ideological or value perspective.
Within my digipak and magazine advert and other images taken of my band, the 3 individuals shown are the 3 band members. They as 3 individuals represent a rock band and this is clear from their positioning, due to them standing as a group. The boy on the left wears drum-sticks on his back to represent him as the drummer in the band. The boy is represented as the 'main band member' and is shown in the centre to portray this. All members are staring at the camera to present their seriousness towards their music. It also presents an intimidating representation towards the audience and this links well with the genre of their music - rock.
The other part of the music video is the narrative side to one of the characters feelings of isolation and loneliness. To represent this storyline I made sure all of the clips were edited in black and white. This created a downcasted mood that can be presented to the audience, as opposed to using colour. The positioning of him in the image to the right is sat down and slightly hunched over to display that he is feeling rather upset. His head also looks downwards and this echoes further to the audience that he is feeling sad. This sadness is contrasted to the band clips elsewhere in the music video and this works well to explore this idea that he is happy when practising music with his band but it is when he is alone, he is truly alone.
Foo Fighters
My digipak image takes similar qualities of this image above of the Foo Fighters. The main feature displayed in both images is the fact that all members are looking dead at the camera. This, to me, creates an imitating look in both images. This also creates a more personal approach to the audience, as they may feel more involved with the band looking straight at them. If I was to reshoot this image I would have made sure that Conor (centre) was more in front of the other two band members to ensure his importance within the band. I may have also added a guitar to Alex (Right), as he could have then represented himself as the guitarist of the group. Despite this, I believe everything else works well to represent them as a rock band.
For the representation of the 3 individuals as a band, I ensured that they looked like a 'rock band' by enforcing a relaxed and casual look from their clothing and attitude. I also wanted their age to be represented in the music video and the final products (digipak and magazine advert). They appear to be 3 young adult boys perhaps 16 to 18 who have their own band and practice in a certain space. This is shown by the lack of other instruments and props in the background, instead, it is just a black curtain. I think this works well to promote a narrative within the music video too, as the audience can create their own storylines in their heads of who the song 'Run' may be about due to the closed narrative.
