Artist Research Assignment; Part Three

From looking at Kimya Dawsons album cover 'Remeber that I love you' (on which The Competition is on) we can instantly see what kind of artist she is. She has used very basic colours, with a plain white backround, black bubble writing and with the only colour on there being red; this shows us how she likes to keep everything simple and again, the focus on the music as apposed to extravagant artwork.

Having a cartoon like, hand drawn image on the cover shows how laid back she takes everything. The fact that she has chosen to use bubble writing and the cartoonised drawings tells us that the target audience would be the younger adults/teenagers rather than an older, more sophisticated audience. The cover captures Kimya Dawsons personality to life, her music and her target audience perfectly and I would hope that we as a group will also be able to do so.

Artist Research Assignment; Post Two

Kimya Dawson always performs with her acoustic guitar, automatically seen as a typical convention for her 'indie-folk' genre. From watching videos of her on youtube it is clear to see how she likes to keep the focus on her music as apposed to her peroformances, she doesn't try to make any fancy entrances, routines or extravagant outifts; she sits simply with her acoustic guitar and a mic. This tends to make her stand out as we see a lot of artists these days going overboard with special effects etc for their performances.
Kimya has big crazy hair, piercings and a few tattoos. which again makes her stand fromthe crowd as it shows us that she is proud to be who she is, and doesn't hide anything from us.

Regina Spektor is very simular to Kimya in this respect, as she too, doesn't make a huge effort in her appearance and fancy staging when she performs or in her videos; whilst performing, like Kimya, she keeps her set as her, her piano and a mic on stage, with the occasional guitar player behind her. Her videos however contrast to her performances as she uses a lot of creative techniques, such as the stop motion animation and drawing on her hands. She tends to shoot in the same locations throughout her videos which can get slightly repetitive sometimes, however the quirkyness of her editing style can mix this up a bit and it fits perfectly to the music. In her videos the editing is cut to the beat of the song and a range of camera angles (high angle shots are often used to show her playing the piano and singing into the camera. In the video 'Dance Anthem of the 80s' we see a varied amount of angles, from an establishing shot to some very 'home made movie' styled close ups. The extreme close ups of her face add to the quirkyness of her personality.

Artist Research Assignment; Post one

As Kimya Dawson isn't a very well known artist she doesn't have any official music videos and so I will have to analyse another artist in the same genre (indie-folk) as Kimya. As Regina Spektor has a lot of music videos and is also in the same genre as Kimya, I will be able to analyse her change throughout the years instead.

In each of Regina Spektors videos she makes sure she has plenty of unique elements which help to identify herself from others from a simular style. Although she does this, she is also aware of keeping certain conventions within her work, often seen playing a piano in her videos, just as Kimya always has her guitar. Many artists within this genre are seen with insturments, usually being an acoustic guitar however this can change depending on the specific music style.
Regina Spektors lyrics and videos are usually quite simple, having no deeper meaning behind them. This contrasts vastly to the lyrics of Kimya Dawson, which always tell a story and involve deeper issues. Regina Spektor also uses the quirkyness of her videos to identify herself. For example, in her music video 'Us' she uses stop motion animation at the beginning as she 'unpacks' everything in the room (the piano, lamp etc) from a box, none of which properly relates lyrically but it adds to the creativity which seh ahs and highlights her image. This is slightly simular to the way in which Kimya has portrayed herself, with the self drawn album cover.

Regina Spektor released the song 'Samson' five years ago and 'Dance Anthem of the 80s' two years ago. From watching both music videos it is clear to see that her image hasn't changed. However, in her more recent video, her quirkyness has been increased, using inventuful ideas such as the drawing of the pathway on her hands at the beginning, although still keeping it simple with her dancing around the street for the rest of the video. The fact that she hasn't changed over the years can be percieved as good thing but it can be risky, as people get bored with seeing the same things easily. Within our genre it is usual to see people mocking the seriousness of the mainstream audience/videos, we see this in Reginas videos, however Kimya tends to be a lot more serious and down to earth, singing about serious issues which have affected her own life, as well as many others.

Artist Research Assignment

'Remember That I Love You'
Kimya Dawson's Album

Post Three: Synergy and Marketing

http://www.kimyadawson.com/  - KIMYA DAWSON WEBSITE.

By looking at this CD cover (which features 'The Competition' which is our song) we can make a lot of judgment about the sort of artist Kimya Dawson is. The colour is very limited, showing that she is not an extravagant artist and likes to keep things simple, which represents her music as it also tends to be simple (Kimya and her acoustic Guitar) with no fancy instruments. The fact she has used a cartoon as her image shows she doesn't take herself too seriously, and likes to keep the whole idea of her music fun. From looking at the image, we can see it's a group of animals, a robot and a few unrecognisable creatures with Kimya facing them saying "Remember That I Love You". This idea is really cute, which highlights the audience as slightly younger than adults. The font used is very bubble like and looks like handwriting, which adds to the informality of the artist. I feel this CD cover works very well as it represents Kimya as a fun, caring yet not too complex character.


Image on homepage of Kimyadawson.com



From looking at her website, I can compare it to her CD cover and youtube videos (whether they are her performing at home, live performances or videos other people have made for her music). Her image is consistent throughout all the media, as her website is also very simple and lacking colour like her CD cover. She keeps her cuteness by adding a page on her website of her art which is very similar to the art on her CD cover. There are also some youtube videos I have seen (My Rollercoaster by Kimya Dawson) that are created by fans which really capture Kimya Dawson's image. The 'My Rollercoaster' video is also very cute and childlike similar to the other drawings that Kimya uses, like on her album. I've looked at a few fanmade video's and they are all fairly similar, all being lighthearted and quirky which is similar to the idea we are thinking of.

After researching Kimya Dawson merchandise, I have found minimal items, one of them being a t shirt saying 'Juno Sucked'. This lack of merchandise show that she is not very popular and focuses more on her music rather than promoting herself as an artist. By having her music on the Juno Soundtrack, however, helps get her music heard so this is a way of promoting herself.

Artist Research Assignment

Post Two: Visual Style and Image

Kimya Dawson is usually seen with an acoustic guitar, often covered with personal drawings to keep her style unique and quirky. From watching a few live performances on youtube, she tends to be sitting down whilst singing. I like this as it shows how relaxed she is and is not an extravagant performance. The clothes she dresses in when she performs are unusual in the fact she dresses in her casual clothes rather than making an effort like most artists. I like this as it keeps the focus on her music rather than her image unlike some artists such as Lady GaGa. It's not only her fashion that makes her stand out from the crowd, she is also pierced in a few places (two lip piercings, ears etc) and has various tattoos to add to her uniqueness.


As she doesn't currently have any music video's, I am going to analyse an artist similar to Kimya Dawson. Since we included many videos of her in our pitch and she has been compared to Kimya a few times, I will analyse Regina Spektor's music videos but still comment on our original artist. 

Regina Spektor, in similarity to Kimya Dawson, is a music artist in the genre of anti-folk. From looking at two video of hers ("Us" and "Dance Anthem of the 80's") we can analyse her visual style and compare and contrast them. Firstly, I looked at the camera use in both videos. For the DAOT80's video, the camera use is very basic, as it's always at the same angle in the same location so it can get a bit repetitive yet I like how the cuts of the shots fit in time to the music. The Us video however, it slightly different as it's a bit more creative yet the cuts are also in time to the music which I feel works really well. There is also more of a range of angles, including a high angle to show Regina playing the piano and a low angle to show her watering the plants. I also really like the close ups in this video and feel they would work well in our video when our performer is on the bicycle. Regina Spektor, being quirky and experimental, plays around with various effects in her videos and I specifically like the animation at the start of "Us" and how it fits in time to the music. The majority of Regina Spektor's effects in her music videos do not link to the lyrics but are actually used to express the creativity, genre and her uniqueness as an artist.

Though it was Kimya Dawson's music who was played on 'Juno', Regina Spektor's music videos often remind me of the film because of the theme of antifolk music on the film soundtrack. The beginning of the film where Juno is walking down the street in animation reminds me of the beginning of "Us" as the effects are very similar. As Kimya Dawson's music is on the Juno soundtrack, we could use the film for inspiration as it's also got the light humour that we are wanting in our music video.

Artist Research Assignment

Post One: Image and Genre

Kimya Dawson, being a fairly unknown artist, has no official music videos so I am going to analyse an artist similar to her and in the same genre of anti-folk, however I will still analyse Kimya Dawson in some aspects. Regina Spektor has many offical videos, therefore I can do a thorough analysis of this artist and how she has changed over her years of being famous.

Regina Spektor has elements in her videos that make her unique and help identify herself. She is often seen playing the piano in her music videos (e.g. Samson and On the Radio) which is similar to Kimya Dawson as she is always seen with her acoustic guitar. Alot of artists in the anti folk genre are seen playing an instrument, whether an acoustic guitar or something more unusual. The majority of Regina Spektor's music videos are very light hearted with no deep and complex story that needs a true understanding in order for it to be effective. Kimya Dawson's lyrics tell a story however I feel a complex narrative would not fit to the music as it's all very staccato and light nor the genre. Another element Regina Spektor uses to identify herself is the use of quirkiness. The beginning of "Samson" with the paper doves is very original and although may not relate to the lyrical content, it adds to the creativity of the video and expresses the artists imagination. I feel this is very similar to Kimya Dawson and how she is very individual (e.g. personal drawings on her guitar) and the fan made videos (such as "My Rollercoaster") also show this.

Another artist from the anti-folk genre (anti-folk being a genre that takes the politicallly charged 1960's folk genre and subverts it. A good thing about this genre is that all the artists are different yet the music is often experimental, which is a good word to decribe both Regina Spektor and Kimya Dawson, and lacks seriousness and mocks mainstream music slightly) is Kate Nash who we analysed in our pitch and commented on a few times. There are many comparisons between the three artists lyrically, as they're all very creative within their lyrics. One thing I like about Kate Nash and Kimya Dawson is that they use speech within their videos for example in the "Foundations" video (below) when Kate Nash sings 'I said 'I'd rather be with your friends mate, cause they are much fitter'. In the music videos, looking at "Samson" and "Foundations" they both use their imagination to create an unusual video thats not simply a performance. As most anti-folk music is experimental, the artists often express the creativity not only lyrically but through the music video.

Below are three music videos by Regina Spektor. "Samson" and "On the Radio" were released 5 years ago whereas "Eet" is more recent, released 2 years ago. Looking at simply these videos, not much as changed over the years. Her most recent video seems to be less complex, and repeats the typewriting action yet still has some form of unusual effect similar to her older videos. Her image has hardly change over the years which can be good as it shows what her true personality is, however sticking to the same image can be bad as people can get bored so sometimes change is good. In lyrical terms, Kimya Dawson also has songs very similar to one another and rarely has individual songs that stand out for being different to the others. A generic convention in Regina Spektor's videos is the use of musical instrument, although the acoustic guitar is much more conventional and this is what Kimya Dawson is always seen with. Another generic convention is the use of experimenting with ideas (especially in narrative lyrics) and mocking seriousness which is what Regina Spektor does, especially in "Eet" (The word eet was what Regina used to sing when she didn't know the lyrics to a song) however Kimya Dawson is slightly more serious in some of her songs, including "The Competition" as it actually deals with an issue she has had to deal with growing up, but she does interpret it lightly, for example when she talks about dressing as a princess.
EET MUSIC VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMEpaVL_WsU











Overall, I believe all anti-folk artists that I have looked at (Kate Nash, Florence and the Machine, Kimya Dawson and Regina Spektor) have stuck to their image, and are all very creative and quirky in their ideas for lyrics and music videos.

Pitch Powerpoint

This is our PowerPoint presentation we got feedback on how we did from our peers (previously on the blog). We thought our presentation went as we'd planned as we delivered all the information that was needed and each one of us had a chance to share our thoughts and ideas.

From looking at the feedback, we have taken it all on board and have decided what improvements we shall make. 

Feedback of the Pitch

Here are all the comments people have said for our pitch which we presented to the class today. Though some of them are simply positive comments, there are still some suggestions which might help improve our music video.

• Filming from the car boot might make the shot shakey. We have thought about this, however the street in which we were intending to use is very smooth with rarely any potholes so we feel it wouldn't be too shakey.
• Location/setting? Alot of people had commented saying where would we find a location where we could film the person singing, however we have found a very long road which is rarely used so it would be perfect for filming, and the houses are all very american style looking and upper class so it would fit into the mise-en-scene we wanted.
• Good Idea
• American style hard to recreate. When we said we wanted it to be kind of american looking, we didn't literally mean we wanted it to look like it was filmed in America. We have found a perfect street in Wollaton where all the houses are big, looked after and spread out.
• Interesting Ideas
• Idea was really good but vague. I feel like our idea isn't vague, as we have decided what performing we are having (girl on bicycle) and we have decided what narrative we want and on what lines.
• Good song to pick
• Original Idea
• Plain presentation but detailed. We decided to keep it quite simple to keep the focus on what we were saying. We didnt want to be repeating everything that was already written on the powerpoint.
• Difficult idea but good. We feel that the idea is actually the complete opposite to this. Our idea is simple but if we do it correctly, it will be very effective.
• Could be repetitive throwing newspapers. We thought this would be the case, which is why we are including flashbacks so it doesn't get too repetitive.
• Poor quality music. The music we decided to play in the pitch wasn't the best quality which we understand, however we do have a better quality as Becy has the soundtrack which is of high quality.
• Does she sing? Yes she does sing, whilst on her bicycle.
• I like the idea of using an artist with no videos.
• I think your main idea could do with more added to it. Maybe we should add more flashbacks and narrative however we didn't want too much incase it gets a bit too confusing.
• Good idea about the bike but is it going to cover the time? Probably not which is why we're having narrative and flashbacks.
• Really like idea and song.
• Song might be a bit short. The song length is 2:53. This does not seem too short, however to be over 3 minutes, we might add a little introduction before hand e.g. having the main character collect her newspapers and getting her bicycle out ready.
• Hope you do the chase thing, if you get it right it'll be good! Room for loads more ideas, looking forward to seeing it!

From looking at these comments, the majority of them are about it being too repetitive. To prevent this, we shall add more narrative flashbacks as it also expands on the idea to create a more creative music video.