SIA – CROSS MEDIA CASE STUDY

BACKGROUND• Sia Kate Isobelle Furler was born on 18 December 1975 in

Adelaide, South Australia. She attended Adelaide High School, graduating in 1994. Her father, Phil Colson, is a musician, and her mother, Loene Furler, is an art lecturer. Furler said as a child, she would imitate the performing style of Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Sting, who she counted as her early influences In the mid-1990s, Sia started a career as a singer in the local acid jazz band Crisp. Sia collaborated with the band and contributed vocals to their two albums: Word and the Deal (1996) and Delerium (1997). Once the band disbanded in 1997, Sia released her debut studio album entitled OnlySee on Flavoured Records in Australia. The album sold 1,200 copies. She then chose to move to London where she performed as a background vocalist for a British band called ‘Jamiroquai’.

BACKGROUND • After the release of her fifth studio album ‘We Are Born’ June

2010 , Furler decided to retire from being a recording artist and began start a career as a songwriter. She wrote the song ‘Titanium’ for singer, Alicia Keys. However, the song was sent to David Guetta who included Sia’s original demo vocals on the song, it was released in 2011 and received commercial success worldwide. Although Sia was not happy with the success of the single stating she ‘never even knew it was going to happen’.In 2013, Sia released, ‘Elastic Heart 'featuring The Weeknd and

Diplo for the Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack in 2013. In July 2014, Sia returned with her sixth studio album, ‘100 Forms of Fear’- the album was incredibly successful debuting at number 1 on the US Billboard 200 with the first week of sales of 52,000 copies.

WEBSITE ANALYSIS

The website immediately pops up with a sign in page.This allows for fans to

be interactive with the website.

The sign in feature allows fans to access perks like special ticket offers and news

WEBSITE ANALYSISSia’s trademark blonde wig is the centre of the

homepage

Homepage image is from her most recent album

Tabs are located at the bottom of the screen- this allows the audience to focus on the main image in the centre

Dark blue background- could reflect the title of her recent album ‘100 Forms of Fear’. Dark blue could connote a dark, solemn atmosphere

Her name is not on the homepage- by looking at the wig the audience is automatically able to tell who the artist is

• On each tab the page remains the same as only the left column changes

• The typography used throughout the website is jagged and almost child like- which could reflect Sia’s use of young dancer Maddie in her music videos.

• The background image is of two girls in Sia’s wig- could possibly suggest her fans are interactive with the website.

• Access to purchase her music is noticeable for the audience once they visit the tabs

• Fans are able to buy or listen to Sia’s album by clicking on the images which will take them to music services such as Google Play, iTunes or Spotify. This could also suggest Sia’s target audience are teenagers and young adults.

• The store takes the user to another page where the header is- again- Sia’s wig with her name written in a chalk like font which could resemble a child’s type of writing.

• Sia’s 2015 solo version of ‘Elastic Heart’ features child dancer Maddie Ziegler- who was also previously in Sia’s last music video ‘Chandlier’ – and actor Shia LeBeouf who perform an interpretive dance confined in a cage for the duration of the music video. Dressed in nude coloured tattered clothing the two performers, it is said the video represents the struggle of over coming your inner demons.

MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS- ELASTIC HEART

• It can be suggested the video to ‘Elastic Heart’is similar to the tone of her previous music video ‘Chandlier’, the colour scheme is melancholic, keeping to the colours of different shades of dark greys and creams, mimicking an industrial vibe.

• The artist of the song, Sia, is once again not the video instead she uses the same dancer from ‘Chandlier’.

• There are a lack of close ups of the artist as she does not appear in the video. It can be suggested her use of Maddie in her music videos is her USP.

• The characters are wearing the flesh coloured clothing with the child dancer sporting Sia’s well known blonde bob wig- which could suggest the child represents Sia.

• The main element of dance is constant throughout the video.

• Long camera shots are use to reflect the emotions of the dancers in both video.

• The music video highlights the dancing as the main feature, which helps emphasis the song as it is a reflection of the lyrics, through  the link that the dance made with the visuals. 

• The relationship between the lyrics and the visuals is evident throughout the video. For example, when Sia sings ‘won’t close my eyes’ the visual on screen shows a high angle of Maddie closing and opening her eyes as she lays wearily on the floor.

• The video is not edited to the most prominent beat, which is clear to audience- this is consistent through the video. Yet, this does not look out of place as it adds to the emotion of the dancers.

• The main element of dance is constant throughout the video.

• Long camera shots are use to reflect the emotions of the dancers in both video.

• Towards the end of the video, the audience can suggest LeBeouf’s character struggles to escape his confinement in the cage due to his older age however, the child easily escapes as she still has her youth- she is able to overcome her struggles yet Lebeouf cannot.

CROSS MEDIA CONCLUSION• To conclude, the record company for Sia focuses on

an audience ranging from teenagers to young adults. This can be seen through her website as she incorporates social media sites such as Spotify, iTunes and Google Play.

• Throughout her presence in the music industry, Sia does not show her face. Instead images of her trademark blonde wig is shown and images of her fans in her blonde wig is shown.

• This is further shown in her music videos where Sia uses dancer, Maddie Ziegler, to possibly represent her.