Saturday, September 19, 2009

Blog 9.19.09

Saving Abel’s intent for the song “18 Days” was to honor the soldiers fighting overseas for our country. The title itself presents a symbol. Eighteen days is duration of time. Although it is not the correct time that soldiers are deployed for, it still represents time. This symbol can mean different things to each individual listener; however this representation can show present the idea of the time that wears down on soldiers and their loved ones.
In conjunction, the order of the visual components used in the formation of logos presents an adequate way to draw in the attention of their intended audience. It is necessary to present the visual components in a proper order as though to get the initial message or purpose established. There is a three step order in creating a successful visual composition, and thus a successful logo.
Saving Abel is able to keep from confusing the audience by their decision to limit the number of elements in their video. Their first step in this process is how they start the video with a basic background that focuses the audience’s attention to the vocalist. Although the band creates about seven different scenes, the colors are basic and simple for each brief glimpse. They still fit in with the rest of the simplistic visual stimuli. There is little, or no, overwhelming moments. The band’s idea for simple background color and scenes, not only in the introduction of the video, draw viewers to the important portions of the video. This first step also gets the audience to think about the purpose and message of the video.
The vocal point of each scene brings about a different point or feeling. With the video’s attraction to the people in each scene, the band is allowing for main focus and thought to be about each soldier. Without the focus on the solider it is hard to figure out the purpose and main idea of each scene and inevitably the whole video. It was important for them to start the focus in on the soldiers and vocalists, and later span out to a slightly more complex scene, so that it was easier to focus on what was important. For example when the chorus of the song is reached, the camera focuses in on the vocalist and the each member of the band. This can cause the lyrics to have more meaning. These are the lines that are repeated over and over in the song. They hold importance to the song this lets these lyrics to be focused on more thoroughly.
Each element of this video is placed together in an order that the artists felt would bring about the desired response. The transitions to each scene fit together due to the similarities of each soldiers need for their loved ones. Thus the argument of the pain and hardship those overseas must endure is established for the audience. Each element’s simplicity, order, and unification is a important part of establishing the argument.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Context 9.15.09






Through aesthetics, Saving Abel attempts to evoke feelings on their audiences. The setting of the video takes place on an aircraft carrier and shows different scenes and soldiers. This helps give listeners an idea of the conditions on board. The colors in the background are all the same tone and give of a somber feeling and the scenes are very generic. So it tries to simplify their grief and show that however different the soldiers are, they have similar grief and problems. Each one of them has a family and loved ones that they are separated from while on deployment. Compared to the colors and background, the band wears black and is more or less the opposite from the military men. They stand out more as they display their point.
The lyrics present the listener with a person struggling to overcome as sense of hopelessness and division between conflicting interests. This person needs to fight, both in a war and for their relationship, to the very end and to whatever outcome results from the struggle this person is willing to put forward towards his/her personal cause. Saving Abel makes these points and emotions accessible by the listening audience, and therefore relatable by the audience.
When a combination of thought provoking lyrics is coupled with an emotion evoking video and presented to the audience, the audience has the chance to relate easily and definitely with what the artist is presenting, and incorporate it into their own life. When the audience is able to connect emotionally with the presented idea, the ethos and pathos both are enhanced in the mind of the audience. The audience hears and gets the message that is presented to them, and a firm and positive ethos has been established in the mind of the audience, and when the pathos is also developed through their emotional connection, the audience will not only understand what is being said to them, but they will take it to heart and act upon what they took from the message.