Cross Media Case Study

Awolnation

Background

• Awolnation is formed by the frontman Aaron

Bruno. The artist was approached by a

record label (Red Bull Records) asking if he

wanted free use of the studio. Eventually,

he signed with the label. Bruno writes the

songs himself; he had been with a number

of bands before the creation of Awolnation.

Website

The layout is basic, clean and simple. The homepage is dominated by the repetitive images of the band (more specifically the front man)The bright colours suggest they’re a fun band from a sunny American state, the black and white photos of the band suggest a dramatic atmosphere or a sense of realism. The main image is of the band; which promotes them as a brand rather than their music. The Typography is simple and easy to read. The tabs along the top don’t distract the audience from the images.

Album Artwork AnalysisThere are no images of the band on the front cover which suggests that the band isn’t dependent on their image to sell records. It follows the conventions of a rock album as they use an arty image. The dark colour pallette is also a convention of the rock genre.

Goodwin Analysis

• The video is of the front man in

court that destroys and changes

everyone, which results in the bands

performance at the courthouse.

• Burn it Down - AWOLNATION

• The music and visuals are synchronous to the beats of

the music and the pace of the edits.

• The lyrics and visuals are synchronous ‘Burn it down’

the front man drops down, on a separate occasion, he

drops the microphone.

• Close ups of the lead singer are also used

• Intertextual references; Mannequin (film),

Marilyn Manson – Sweet Dreams pillow

fight, Judge Judy/ filmed courtroom tv

shows.

Conclusion

Overall, the band adhere to the rock genre with use

of a dark colour palette throughout the music video

and album cover. With the use of images of the

band from the website and close ups of the lead

singers face in the video; the audience are able to

tell that AWOLNATION is a niche band and that with

repeating images of the band, would enable

potential audiences to recognize them.