This is the artwork of their new album cover. As you can see it is a kaleidoscope of clours with a gateway at which stands a silhouetted man. I am given the impression that the title The Resistance has connotations of rebelling against authority and the world which could indicate that the ball of colours represents the world and highlights its many differing cultures and aspects. The fact that the man is very small against the backdrop suggests that he is overwhelmed with the vastness of this world and the band may be attempting to attract an audience who similarly feels overwhelmed by the world and feels an urge to fight against it. The ball of colurs also appears to be engulfing the man which emplies that his time is running out. Also the fact that the man is silhouetted means that the man or possibly woman has no identity which tells the audience that the album is aimed at everyone. Also the path on which the figure stands is yelloe and looks gold which could refer to The Wizard of Oz which dealt with themes of trying to find your identity in a frightening world. Finally both the names of the band and album are written in fairly small lettering which may indicate that advertisers do not think the band yet has a commercial enough reputation.
It is interesting to note that the titles aren't particularly prominent and that the faces of the lead singer and band aren't used either - this suggests that the motif is the main selling point of the package. Often artists are the most eye catching factor in these packages so this absence means that the motif will have to be massively marketed so as to ingrain it into the public consciousness. I would have thought it possible that there would be a risk that a lot of potential consumers will not make the connection between the motif and the band unless they are huge fans who follow the band with obsessive precision.
This is a press advert for their new album. What is immediately noticeable is the lack of bright vibrant colurs which are visible on the album artwork. With the glowing ball underneath the title it almost looks like a poster for a science fiction film which may be relavent as a lot of science fiction films deal with themes of loneliness which is what I believe the album artwork implied. Part of the text seems to be emitting a glow which gives the title an almost mystical quality almost as if the album transcends our plane of existence. The name of the band is fairly small compared to that of the album name which suggests that the advertisers do not think that the band's reputation is strong enough to be the main selling point, it is almost as if the band is using the album to be a rebirth of their career. The starry black space could be the band's past with the shining orb being their new beginning. It could also be intertextuality to the 'Star child' from 2001: A Space Oddyssey.
It is quite unusual for a print advert to be as different as this one to its album cover and this suggests to me that the marketers are attempting to attract different areas of consumers. Whilst the album cover is brighter with connotations of joy to appeal to a more mainstream audience, the print advert is appealing to an audience more interested in darker themes (young adults and teenagers).
YouTube: Muse Uprising
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8KQmps-Sog
The pop promo is heavily performance based with the band dressed in black driving around in the back of a pick up truck through a town playing their song. However what is interesting to note is that the town appears to be a toy town with plastic cars and plastic dolls lining the gloomy streets. A connotation of this is that they are talking about a world that is materialistic, I say this rather than the idea of the toy town representing childhood innocence because of the tone of the music and the intensity of the faces of the band which suggests that this is a serious song about issues that relate to them. The band also has a history of pained melancholic anger in their performances.
At the beginning of the promo, fire is seen inflaming the streets which suggests that the song will be about rebellion and possibly condone violence as a solution although it could also mean that they believe that oppression by authority evokes violence itself. This style ties in neatly with the codes and conventions of many rock music pop promos as the theme of rebellion runs through most of this genre. Furthermore I would suggest that the target audience is probably young men if not teenage boys who are typically attracted to the theme of oppression and of being an outcast as well as rock being a typically more male orientated genre.
There does not appear to be much of a narrative as it is just the band driving around the toy town however towards the end there is a glaring use of intertextuality. A giant teddy bear emerges from the rubble and this instantly reminded me of the puff monster from Ghostbusters which in contrast to the rest of the promo provokes humour and may indicate that the band are attempting to show that they don't take themselves too seriously as well as evoking childhood innocence. On the other hand the bear could be more evokotive of Godzilla which would continue the theme of anger and the desire to fight against oppression as well as playing on the famous loneliness of that monster.
Throughout the promo the cinematography focuses a lot on the lead singer featuring him as the main selling point of the band which is typical of most bands in any genre. It also shows the toy town from a ground perspective rather than a birds eye view in order to create the illusion that it is human sized. Also the mise-en-scene maintains largely abonded desolate darkened streets and creates the feeling of some post apocolyptic horror films. The editing is relatively slow compared to some other chaotic pop promos as it instead chooses to focus on the action and fully utilize the intense performance level of the band indicating that in actuality the band are the main selling point of this production. There is also slow motion employed in scenes where the band commit rebellious acts (such as breaking 'what we assume are' shop windows) thus displaying them in a paradoxically powerful way.
What's striking is how the album cover's colourful image is so vastly differing to the darker image of the other two factors.
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