Links with Books

As well as taking influence from films and television, it was essentially that we used books as part of our research. We needed to understand the genre of Music Videos in general, as well as gaining a deep knowledge of the band we were creating the video for - Joy Division.

Money for Nothing [Saul Austerlitz]
This book became essential to developing our understand of music videos. Austerlitz analyses the history of music videos in great detail, and covering a wide range of genres and bands.
  He had a specific section on post-punk bands such as Joy Division and Echo & The Bunnymen, as well as discussing the work of Anton Corbijn and his work with New Order, Depeche Mode and U2.
  This book gave us the information needed to springboard our production to being relevant to the genre and directors. It also discusses modern exhibition of music videos such as the internet and their relevance. Basically it was great in every aspect, and perfect for our coursework.




Touching From A Distance [Deborah Curtis]

Written by Ian Curtis' wife, this book helped us gain a great insight into the life of the Joy Division frontman. She was seemingly the closest person to Curtis, so the book is deeply personal and emotional. It also helped us get an idea for the sort of lifestyle people had in the late seventies.
  Because we were signifying similarities between our central protagonist and Ian Curtis, this book was great for helping be a true tribute to him. The iconic characteristics such as the coat and cigarette became a part of our concept and visuals.
The book also features pictures of Ian inside so this was also very helpful in making it an accurate portrayal of the singer. The gritty style is something we could incorporate.
Anton Corbijn's Ian Curtis biopic Control was also based upon this book.


Joy Division [Kevin Cummins]

The book is a great collection of over 200 photographs of Joy Division. Though Corbijn took some photos of the band, Kevin Cummins was their main photographer and did a lot of their most iconic images.
It features pictures of the band offstage, so again the book is a very personal insight into the band. It also features concert flyers and other artwork which will help inspire our ancillary texts.
Again there is a distinct use of black and white imagery, so this further anchored the need for us to do the same.





Though the internet is often a very good, quick source for research, books very often provide us with a much more deep insight into the topic. Internet sites are often a page of useful information, but books can be hundreds of pages of very deep analysis. The writers are often very close to the subject matter, as shown here.