INTERNET PRESENCE
As a musician I thought it necessary that Matt Lemark had an internet presence. This would be a source of feedback for work as well as a method of generating a following. My two major sources of promotion would be Twitter and Facebook so I set about creating specific pages as I was producing my piece of work. Facebook is a useful means of interacting with fans as it has several features allowing a community to be created.
Firstly Facebook has the capability of photosharing so pictures of filming or of the new guitar can be posted to the artist's page, allowing the audience to enter into his world. In this case the adoration of guitars can be shown through the addition of a photo entitled £7000 well spent.
Another key feature that helped me develop the online profile of Matt Lemark was the poll option. Direct questions allow for audience data to be gathered whilst fans feel they are actually having an input. Here the question being posed regards the new album title.
Another feature that became incredibly useful when targeting the audience was the events and the events promotion feature of Facebook. Being able to create events for fans to attend such as autograph signings or free gigs and then being able to promote them at relatively low costs, through Facebooks built in capabilities meant that there was audience integration and also the capability to attract new fans.
facebooks basic feature of posting status updates also proved invaluable in creating the persona, it made me distill him down into simple terms. What did he like? What was he likely to say ? as well as Which status updates would occur when? Facebook proved a method of timekeeping as well as a method of creating a persona. If the artist said a preview would be available at this link at a particular time i would have to create it by then.
Much like Facebook , Twitter led to me distilling my ideas of the stars persona down into simple phrases. It also allowed me to interlink profiles, I could promote the Facebook page and events by tweeting and vice versa. However, what proved most useful was the capability of directly engaging with the audience. A simple question such as how are you today? Engaged followers and lead to conversation, which involved followers into the world of the star much more than basic interviews. Twitter gave my star an air of contact-ability and also presented him as grounded, both of which helped add to the persona being seen as a modern take on previously unrespected genres.
ACCESSORIES:
one accessory that I will use to form Matt Lemark's character with is his guitar, fortunately I have been able to borrow an authentic Gibson J-200 (pictured below) which normally retails for between $6880 and $7740 and case from one of guitarists on Betel of Britain's albums. Guitars are going to be a key theme for Matt Lemark's character and several may appear in the piece depending on the final selection of shots I choose. Ultimately the guitar will come to embody the character of the star and form his identity, conveying to the audience that he is multi- talented and has ownership over the recording and video, as it is his sound and vocals.
APPEARANCE
Having decided upon a logo, genre, song and font for my artist I needed to reconsider appearance before shooting. Appearance is all important as illustrated by star theory and artists like Slash whose top hat and long hair have come so far that they form the standard representation of guitar players in games such as Guitar hero. My previous research shown below indicated that there was no look in particular that Christian Artists favoured. However, having decided that my star was not to be defined by solely one genre I decided to reconsider costume and appearance. As stated below I thought that reflecting the style of a less well known in the UK but heard of american artist may work, in terms of creating a fresh new image for my star. I believe this to still be true and therefore emulating the style of Chris Rene seems like a good idea. However, just copying it would not create an original look for my artist. Consequently I began to create a mood board to brainstorm possible ideas.
My brainstorm highlighted how useful lighting effects will be when creating a star. Sepia creates an old time feel whilst monochrome gives a coldness, distance and seriousness. My mood board highlights certain characteristics i wish to highlight in my character. Firstly the smart casual look, many of these artists appear smart yet maintain an aspect of casualness and that the look isn't intentional. Given the spiritual nature of my song choice I searched for a way to try and emulate this when creating my star. Matisyahu pictured in a scarf and brown jacket in the middle of nowhere seems to reflect this most and this is a route I will explore when creating my star.
After careful consideration I have decided what my Star shall wear to create the feeling I wish. His clothing will include:
- Suit Jacket of a velvet colour or unusual pattern
-Low cut T shirt
-Distressed Jeans
- Coloured Shoes
- Hoodie (outside scenes)
- Cross on string (preferably simple wood design)
FONTS
As you can see below I decided to use the mistral font for my logo, I thought the font was very striking from a long distance, looking similar to handwriting but maintaining the bold, clear nature of block text. I decided that this would form the font for all of my ancillary products as well in order to create a uniform look that looked professional and having seen it being used effectively by bands such as Def Leppard and Linkin Park. Below are two pictures of early and modern Def Leppard and the same font still forms the backdrop of their image as hard, arena rockers.
LOGO
Having decided on a name, song and genre for the star I decided the next logical step would be to design a logo. This logo could then be used to form part of the ancillary products such as the digipack. I wanted something that was clean and scaleable but reflected some of the audiences roots in the Christian Genre whilst still remaining modern. Consequently I started plating with the name and a chalice (symbol of wine in christianity) on photoshop. I decided that the logo was best as a monochrome logo so that it could be placed on whatever colour I wished on my ancillary products and therefore after using the sharpening tool my logo was finished.
NAMING THE STAR
It has taken me a while to come up with a name for the star, but I think I have finally settled on one. I started thinking about what would make a good name, arriving at the decision that it has to be short and punchy, possibly have assonance (repeated sounds) and a flavour of the exotic. I Drew these conclusions by looking at artists already existing in the market in and around the same genre.
Current Stars :
Paolo Nutini
Bruno Mars
Calvin Harris
Older/Established Stars
Jon Bon Jovi
Coldplay
Kid Rock
Previous Stars
Bob Dylan
Led Zeppelin
Def Leppard
Looking at these names they all have two parts or words. The first is short and monosyllabic i.e. Bob Jon and the second is either exotic i.e Nutini, Mars relates to the first part Leppard, Zeppelin, or has assonance i.e Bon Jovi. Using these conventions i explored different names :
Jake Jones
Will King
Joe Cart
But I couldn't find any name that had an exotic feel. The first part of the name wasn't crucial so I just substituted my name Matt in for it before I began adding exotic sounding surnames. Eventually I found one with some assonance and the artist called Matt Lemark was born.
BUILDING UPON INITIAL IDEAS
Although the song stems from a Christian Rock background and has some metaphors that can be construed that way it does not mean that the star has to be overtly christian. There are many bands coming into the charts at the moment releasing music appealing to both theist and atheist denominations that come from a religious background but there background is only relevant to those it appeals to. One example of this would be RED. They had initial success in the christian music market and gained a core following prior to releasing albums to the mass audience their 2011 album Until We Have Faces had a No. 2 debut on billboard 200 and they are now widely played on radio stations in the UK, with Magic radio playing their song ' Ordinary world' a cover of the song by Duran Duran. Other cross-overs artists have included the hebrew rapper Matisyahu now featured on the FIFA 13 soundtrack and Switchfoot who began as a rock-gospel band before shooting to mainstream popularity when providing the soundtrack to films such as the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and A Walk To Remember.
Whilst researching these bands I came across an interesting quote from Switchfoot regarding genres of music which made me change my approach to the star I am creating.
'For us, these songs are for everyone. Calling us 'Christian rock' tends to be a box that closes some people out and excludes them, and that's not what we're trying to do. Music has always opened my mind—and that's what we want'
This was further emphasised by the point raised by Spin writer Andrew Beaujon, who when asked about Switchfoot replied
"their lyrics often have two different meanings, one meaning for a Christian audience and one meaning for the rest of us. They try to relate to two different groups of people at once"
Consequently, I have decided to alter my original approach, no longer will I actively seek to display the christian roots of the star. They will be present through things like clothing and logos but not defining the star. This is in order to try and make the most mass market star possible.
INITIAL IDEAS
For my video there are two routes that I could follow, creating a band as the star or creating a persona as the star. As I am unsure I have explored both routes to try and help me decide.
STAR
SINGLE PERSON
NAME: Erik Betel
- a hint to the location where the piece was filmed as well as having biblical connotations
Amos 7:13
21st Century King James Version
'But prophesy not again any more at Bethel; for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is the king’s court.'
BAND
POSSIBLE NAMES:
Survivors
Fidelis
name with biblical connections
Another alternative route would be to name the group as an entity e.g. Cliff Richard and the Shadows. This gives a more retro feel to the band but it allows me to create a separate persona for the front man.
What is certain is that I wish to evoke a certain style in my piece of work. In Christian Rock music there are no set stereotypes when styling as it would compromise the music and culture of acceptance, but that doesn't mean I cannot work to a particular look.
Top Row
David Crowder Band and Casting Crowns
Middle Row
Matt Redman
Bottom Row
Disciple and Building 429
Here are some chart topping christian billboard artists and from them we can see that there are no rules on styling, but that there are some recurring themes. One theme that recurs seems to be some form of jacket be it leather or wool. You can read this two ways the jacket being used to give a modern feel such as in Building 429's case or to convey formality as in Disciple's and Casting Crowns case. Matt Redman wears a jacket too but he appears to wear it casually almost giving him the look of an outsider whilst maintaining formality.
There is wide variance in clothing , accessories and hairstyles with the David Crowder Band proving that looks do not matter as the whole band look like a group of misfits not a million selling band. David the frontman, leader and pastor in the band has what can only be called a 'wafro' coupled with a beard the size of Noah's ark. I don't want to be that extreme but this band is a great case for showing that there are really no limits to the look of Christian Artists.
I am more likely to go down the route of looking like normal guys taken of the street with the band leader the only character who really stands out given the fact that he will probably be the lead character in the narrative. My influence for the look of the artist will be the soulful rapper come singer Chris Rene, who became famous on the first series of the US X Factor having come second after auditioning 70 days after coming out of rehab for a life crushing drug habit. His style blends the jacket of formality and obscurity with street style like hoodies and tattoos. Obviously tattoos will be hard to replicate and don't really add to the meaning of the story so it is not necessary for the star to have them.
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