Scene
Monday, Aug. 29, 2016
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Visual albums evolving since ‘60s 4 tips to transition into NIU Northern Star file photo
Darius Parker Columnist T @sir_harlem
Adapting to college can be a bit difficult; students are at a new place with new people and have no idea how they will fit into the collegiate ecosystem. Here are four tips to ensure your college transition is a smart and memorable one.
direction Gable Hall is — small advice, follow the bridge. Be sure to ask questions during the tour and ask ‘where is a good place to go if I do get lost.’ There is a large amount of people around that are willing to help students around NIU. Don’t worry — it will all come together by this week. 3. Manage your time and plan Use these first couple of months to get comfortable with schedules and assignments; be sure to keep looking over the syllabus. Students could purchase a planner that suits their needs or pick up a free planner at the Holmes Student Center Bookstore. Then, jot down important exam and assignment dates. Make sure to plan some time during each day to study, it doesn’t even have to be long. Once students get in the habit of this, it opens up a schedule to do more social activities — however, party responsibly.
1. Be open to meeting new people Use this time to genuinely meet new people and build relationships. Getting through classes, exams and even hardships during a college career is so much more meaningful and fun to go through with someone. College is a completely different ballgame than high school, so 4. Get to know your professors choose friends wisely; negative Try to visit professors during influences are a thing. their office hours and shoot them an email if there is an issue with 2. Understand the campus understanding content in class, There’s nothing worse than be- or if you would just like suppleing late for the first day of classes mental information and end up or even missing a class because getting to know them. A formal you’re stuck in the MLK Com- “hello” never hurt anyone — just mons and have no idea which ask recording artist Adele.
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by September 2, 2016 POLICY PERIOD Fall: 8/12/16 - 12/31/16; Spring 1/1/17 - 7/31/17 COST: $990.50 per semester PLAN HIGHLIGHTS : • Aetna PPO Plan • Affordable Care Act Compliant • Prescription Drug Benefits • Low Annual Deductible: $250 • 80% Coverage after Deductible Have more questions? Call the Student Health Insurance Office: 815-753-0122
Jesse Baalman Columnist T @jessebaalman
The way music artists introduce their sounds to the world today is in a state of transformation because of the rise of visual albums. A visual album is like any other album except it provides imagery to go along with it to help tell the song’s story. These albums are usually longer than a music video but shorter than a feature film. It has taken a long time for an artist to create a successful visual album, but the ones being released today are cumulative of all the experimentation and modification in the past. Visual albums of today have a long list of artists to thank for their success, including The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson. While only lately have visual albums been released in broad formats, the albums have been around since the ‘60s when The Beatles and Elvis Presley released films to accompany their music such as “Help!,” “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Jailhouse Rock.” Things have changed since then, especially with the music video craze on MTV in the ‘80s. Now we have albums that tell a visually linear story. The visualization of music
The Associated Press
Recording artist Frank Ocean plays the piano Feb. 10, 2013, at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Ocean released a visual album Aug. 19.
Visual Album ‘60s inception: The Beatles and Elvis Presley released some of the first visual albums. ‘80s peak: Michael Jackson’s 13-minute “Thriller” was released. Today: Beyoncé dropped the hit visual album “Lemonade.”
kick-started the trend for artists to provide better context for their music through imagery that involves narrative and screenplay. Beyoncé’s visual album “Lemonade,” released April 23, is perhaps the most successful visual album in history. It had its surprise premiere on HBO, was released on Tidal, Amazon Music and iTunes and has been nominated for four Emmy’s. The film features stunning visuals, resonating lyrics and captures the zeitgeist of Black Lives Matter and modern feminism. Another popular visual album is Kanye West’s 2010 music video film, “Runaway.” It is a 35-minute compilation of songs from his album, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.”
deserves a nod towards Michael Jackson’s 13-minute short film of “Thriller,” filmed in ‘82. This video received widespread acclaim and was even shown to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is a playful, well-crafted blend of filmmaking and music that is both MTVs first world premiere Online Exclusive video and an iconic stamp on pop culture. The video is also a touch- Go to bit.ly/2bJxS1v to read more stone for visual albums today as it on Baalman’s visual album story.