RESEARCH: Analysis of Digipak Adverts

Lana Del Rey's album advert for 'Born to Die' uses the same image and font that is seen on the album cover. This makes the advert more recognisable and allows the audience to make links. The image of the artist is clear, stands out against the blue sky background and she is placed from mid torso and up. This shot is popular among-st album covers and posters as it makes the artist appear as the main subject and also so that is is noticeable from afar. The artist's name is placed above her head and it is bold, wide and white which makes it clear and striking.  The title of the album 'Born to Die' is placed and subtly underlined just below the artist's neck and is in a blue, bold and wide font; it compliments the sky seen in the background. Under the title is the album release date and the title of two other songs featured int the album which helps give a range which also helps to sell it more. The poster looks simple but it is effective as it is striking and "clean".

Rihanna's album poster fits the theme of her music within the album.It reflect's a dark and rough look and emotion as the colours are black, grey and red and the artist's pose is edgy. Due to the content of her music, there is a 'Parental Advisory' stamp on the left side. The title is bold and stands out as it is written in white against a black fill. The name of the album 'Russian Roulette' is written in a red and bold font which compliments the rest of the poster and stands out. The poster is intriguing and will attract the audience because they would question why this pop artist has turned dark and into "rock and roll".

RESEARCH: Analysis of 2 or more Digipaks

Rihanna 'Loud' Digipak: 

This digipak fits in the pop genre conventions as well as its target audience; it is girly, bright and "pretty". It features a front and back cover, two CDs and a middle page. The same image of the artist continues through the CD pages and the middle page which makes it look interesting. The background compliments the front cover by the use of colour and miss-en-scene. The image on the inside pages includes red roses which match the colour of the artists hair on the front cover as well as the slightly pink hue that is throughout the product. 

Jack Johnson 'In Between Dreams' Digipak: 

This digipak also attracts its audience and fits the music genre well; young adults/adults and chill acoustic. It features the front and back cover, the CD and a lyric & information booklet. The digipak follows a colour theme,consisting of the colours yellow,black, dark green and white, keeping it looking "Earthy' which again fits the genre of the artists music. The front cover shows a silhouette of a large tree and the artist reaching out to it whilst he holds his guitar; an insight to what instrument is used throughout the album songs. The image is continued onto the back of the cover which portrays the track list, barcode, acknowledgement and agencies. The cover of the CD compliments the front cover as it is yellow with a tree leaf. The case for the booklet is an image of the artist with his guitar but in colour (not a silhouette). This allows the consumer to feel more connected to the artist and his music. This layout is interactive, easy to use and strong. It also greatly attracts its audience.

Lyric Analysis & Scene Planning

Representation in your Video

The target audience for the music video are working class/middle class young females, majority from the United Kingdom, Australia and the USA due to the popularity of the band in those places.  The video will follow a narrative and portray the lyrics from the video in the action. The narrative will be of a girl who appears to be a "good girl" but is actually a "bad girl" ; cheeky, rebellious and has a boyfriend. Scenes will mostly be of the couple at school as this will relate to the target audience. 

How will i use camera, mise-en-scene, editing and other elements to represent stereotypes and positive/negative representations? 

There will be a few stereotypes in the video because it is a narrative video meaning that characters would be more interesting if they were exaggerated. The couple will be a boy and a girl. There will be positive and cheeky imagery portrayed by the camera shots, mise-en-scene and the editing. For example, the idea of being a good girl but actually being rebellious and hiding away love will be a comedic aspect of the video. The camera shots will be crisp and appealing.

How will these representations appeal to your audience or promote the artist?

The representations will appeal to the target audience because the scenes will be similar to real life (School, Bedroom...).

Mise en Scene

Mise-en-scene is very important within a  production; it could make a large visual difference. For the mise-en-scene to be successful, it must attract the target audience of the production, by clothing, props, make-up, location, colour and lighting.  The target audience for our production is teenage females, most likely to be 15 years and over as that is when they are in "high school" (which is also a key location within the production). 

Costume : Casual wear, Cool Wear e.g. Leather Jacket, shirts: 

The costumes within our production were picked to appeal to the teenage audience; young, cool and stylish. It's something that the audience could wear therefore they could relate to it. The costumes such as the iconic leather jacket were also picked to connote the meaning of a "bad" girl.

To represent the "good girl" and to become the opposite, the actress (myself) wears a school like shirt, buttoned to the top and a checked skirt, in able to look studious and well behaved. The prop used is a chalk board to also fit the school theme. 

To make the music video more realistic, as a group we went to a photo-booth in the fashion store 'Urban Outfitters'. As well as filming within the photo-booth, we took a shot of the strip to add to the music video to add the "result". 

Props: Bandanna, Sunglasses, Mobile Phone, Photo Frame, Fashion Magazine, Books.

We chose to use props that would appeal to the target audience and are modern, as well as items that are complimenting to the genre of the music. For example, the bandanna gives the edgy rock look. The members of the band too wear bandannas. 

Location List

School Library:



Scene between the couple- hiding behind a book, pretending to study.

I swear she lives in that library
But if you ask her she'll say,
"That's where you'll find me!"

Street:
Couple holding hands.
Meeting each other.
Messing about - Cute couple representation that will attract a female audience because that kind of romance appeals to them (Majority).

Girl's Bedroom:
Show the female studying.
Sneaking out her room.
Shows items in the girls room such as a French dictionary for the line "She can speak French".

School Toilets:
Transition from a "good girl" to a "bad girl"
Matches/Represents title of song.
Girl putting on dark lipstick. The dark colour of the lipstick connotes the "bad" attitude

Shooting Schedule

Crew List

Hana Atic                       Actor                Assistant Director            Editing            Producer
Chloe Martin                  Camera             Assistant Director            Editing
Taslima Hoque               Directing          Camera                             Editing
+Male Actor

We will have one main Director and two Assistant Directors for help and extra ideas. All three will edit in the post production. One will act with another person out of the group.  To share skill sets and work load, everyone will have input in the role of directing and filming at some point.  

Equipment and Props List

Equipment that we will need for production and post production: 

 Technology:

1. Digital Video Cameras : To record footage.
2. Tripods : To hold the cameras when we want long shots or extremely still footage.
3. Mobile Phones: To play the music during moments where we film lip syncing. 
4. Apple Mac computer: To Edit our collected footage on Final Cut Pro. 
5. Stills Cameras: To take pictures and then edit them to change quickly.  

General Planning Equipment:

1. Paper - Story Boards
2. Pens
3. Online Softwares; Blogger (Research), Photoshop (for Digi Pack and Poster), Prezi (Presentations) 

Prop List:

Costume: To create the characters.

- Leather Jacket to symbolize the "bad attitude" of the female character. 

- Casual cool wear for both actors so that the teenage audience can relate to the fashion.

-Bandanna for the male actor to give more of a "rock" look. 

- Heart Shaped glasses for the female to emphasize the romantic elements of the narrative.

School Equipment- To set location in the majority of the narrative. 

-For example, a pen and paper for when it is the scene of the girl studying in the library.

Other Mise-en-Scene: 

-Photo frame and picture in the girls bedroom in the beginning of the music video. We will need to take a photo of the actors and place it in a frame prior to filming. Adds to the realism.

- Female fashion magazine for the first few shots. It shows the conventions of a pop/girly genre. 

-A large book for the library seen when they hide their romance. "Cus in the back of the room, where nobody looks, she'll be with her boyfriend- she's not reading books."

-Photo strip of the actors (couple) to link to the photo booth scene.

-A clapperboard for the end of the video. Each member of the crew will "clap" the board with their name written on it, like credits. 

         

Creative Brief

Creative Brief

5 Seconds of Summer  - Good Girl

Product Overview

History, Heritage, Significant trend

Where are they now?

'5 Seconds of Summer' music is described as Pop Rock. Their most  recent release was of a live album called 'LIVE SOS' . 

The Album Concept

 What is it?

Good Girl is an album featuring 20 tracks. The album contains the single CD and an exciting poster themed around the music video. There will also be  code inside the CD Booklet that will give the fans a discount on the Bands Merchandise on their website. 

The cover will have an image of a female posing in a mugshot style. The colours will be bold and contrasting, such as red, white and black so that it stands out and fits the pop rock genre. 

Why are we doing it?

We are creating the brief to sell the CD and promote the music video. The poster inside the CD will attract more consumers of the young female target audience as it will make it special edition. 

 

What is the consumer reaction we want?

To be excited and intrigued about the release of the CD and the Music Video.

How will we know it worked?

The amount of money is made through the releases of the CD in stores and the amount of views made on YouTube. Two other songs from the CD will be available for download on iTunes so that it can reach a further audience. After a person downloads the song a poll will come up asking if they will buy the CD.

If people also trend the topic positively on social sites such as Facebook or Twitter then that will be a positive outcome.

Key Launch Dates:

^5th May 2015: Release sneak peek on Artists website and Youtube.

23rd May 2015: Release full Music Video onto YouTube.

^30th May 2015: Release of Music video on TV music channels; Bliss, Top of the Pops, Chart Show, MTV. As well as international Radio. 

1^st June 2015: Release of CD at HMV and Supermarkets. Also other American and Australian stores such as Walmart.  

The Album Sleeve :

Description: 
The album sleeve will be attractive to the audience and it will refer to the music video. It will feature the actress from the music video on the front cover, posing in a mugshot. The board she holds will say 'Good Girls'. 

A CD cover draft idea Example: 

Album Inspiration

(Idea 1)

The song which we have chosen to make our own music video for is 'Good Girls' by 5Seconds of Summer, this is their latest single from their album '5Seconds of Summer'. To identify our album cover within the pop genre we're going to use bright colours on the album artwork. The original album artwork for this song consist of black, white and red and we feel that it coveys a more rock look therefore we are going to make our cover more vibrant. To fit the theme of the song and the lyrics the model is going to wear edgy clothing (like the band on this album cover) and she will hold mugshot chalk board with the name of the band and the song on it. We'll also have the tape behind to make it seem more like a prison setting making it more believable.


However, bands usually have themselves on the cover so we might feature the boy and the girl on the cover.


                        Band Original Album Design:

The Original Music Video:  

Two examples of band CD's from the same genre Rock/Pop:
They are simple yet have specs of colours which contrast together. This is almost like a representation of Rock and Pop being put together.

Idea 2: A picture of the band; four males.

Idea 3: A picture of a female covering a mans eyes in a flirty manner. Black and White stripy background

Idea 4: A picture of an exam paper with the title 'Good Girls' scribbled over it in red.


Deadlines: 
Planning: January 2015
Draft 1: Start of February.
Draft 2: End of February
Complete: March
Editing: End of March.

Objective: 
The objective is to create an album sleeve that will appeal to the target audience and the genre of the music.

Tone of Voice/Brand/Image: 

• Lively
• Bold
• Exciting
• Intriguing 
• Edgy

Restrictions/Limitations: 

A budget of £0 is a limitation as we cannot afford expensive pieces for mise-en-scene. We would have to use what we can find. 

Time is crucial. We must have time to plan, film and edit. 

RESEARCH : Media Broadcast Platform

The main media broadcast platform for the music video will be YouTube. This is because YouTube has a wide audience and is easy to access. 

YouTube also lets you share the music video onto social media sites such as: 
Twitter and Facebook 

So that the audience expands and the video gains more views. It will also be on multiple platforms such as the artists website and music television channels such as 'MTV' or 'Bliss'. Multiple platforms allow the target audience to view the music video as well as be aware of it.

RESEARCH: Conventions of a Music Video

PINTEREST

Audience Questionnaires & Analysis of Results

RESEARCH: Alternative music videos - Cunningham and Gondry

Chris Cunningham:

Chris Cunningham is a British video artist. He has directed music videos for ambient music and electronica acts. Cunningham began doing music production work in the 2000s as well as designing album artwork for many musicians.

Madonna's 'Frozen' : 

Bjork - All is Full of Love

In the video for 'All is Full of Love', the visuals show a robot who also appears to be singing the lyrics. This portrayal creates an unusual atmosphere which fits the genre of the music well. Cunningham captures emotion in a non mainstream way, which makes the video different. 

His work appears to be unusual and fully concept based. 

Micheal Gondry: 

Micheal Gondry's work is concept based. He is a French film director, screenwriter and producer who is known for his imaginative visual style and use of miss-en-scene. Gondry created Daft-Punk's music video 'Around the World' in which he portrayed an innovative performance to create the concept based video.

The video uses a range of props, costume and an impressive choreography to form the visually striking effects. In the video the artists identity is not fully shown due to their costume, however, the artists themselves usually perform in the costumes as seen in the video; a part of their "look". This is similar to how artist 'Sia' almost ever shows her face and keeps her hair platinum blond, short and with a fringe.

She created multiple video's where she does not appear in the video, instead there is a young girl who has the same hair and contemporary dances. This image automatically attracts the audience and 'Sia' is easily recognised, just like 'Daft Punk'.

Health and Safety/Risk assessment discussion

In our chosen song 'Good Girls' by 5 Seconds of Summer, a line from the lyrics says 'She sneaks out the window to meet with her boyfriend'. Because our video is narrative based the lyrics would match with the action on screen. However, we could not have the actress coming out a window because she could get injured. Therefore, the scene would be of the actress sneaking out the front door instead.

We will have to check the weather for whenever we want to film because the weather also has an impact on health and safety. It is better to film on a dry, bright day as there would not be a risk of the crew falling or getting wet. If it is a wet day, there would also be a risk of the equipment getting damaged.

RESEARCH: Andrew Goodwin and Laura Mulvey Music Video Theories

Andrew Goodwin:

Laura Mulvey:

RESEARCH : Description of my Target Audience

RESEARCH : The Music Video Industry

RESEARCH : Music Album Cover: Design Brief ( Renaissance - Future Club Classics)

1) What headings are given in the brief and how do they contribute to the designer understanding the product and the brief? 

- Where are we now
-The Album Concept (What is it? Why are we doing it? Comparable Products.
-What is the CONSUMER REACTION we want?
-How will we know it worked?
- Key launch dates (Press campaign, TVC Launch, Album Release)
-Who is our consumer?
+ The Date, Project Manager, Dept, Album Title/Artist, Release Date.
-Creative Brief (Album Sleeve)
- Description, Deadlines, Objective , Proposition, Tone, Restrictions, Production Specs, Creative Edge Spectrum, Budget.

These headings help the designer keep organised with their work and have an idea of how they will be producing their design and why. It will also help the designer aim their product to a certain target audience.

2) What media language is used and what does it mean to the designer?

Significant Trends: Styles that are popular in the modern society. The designer will aim to create a design that will relate to the significant trends.

Reputation: The reputation of the design is important as it has to have a good reputation to be able to sell more.

Consumer: The people who will be buying the product. They are the designers target audience.

Sales Targets: The designer must set a sales target to try to achieve a certain amount of sales so that the sales don't lack.

Comparative Products: Products that are similar. These will be useful as similar products will have similar target audiences.

Mainstream Public: The common trend in society. What a majority of people like. The designer will try to fit their design to this so that the product will have more consumers.


What is the difference between the Product Overview and the Creative Brief (Album Sleeve) ?

The product overview gives the designer information on the album music and artist (history/heritage/significant trends). The Creative Brief gives the designer information on the look of the product, such as the description of the design, the objective, budget, tone of voice, brand image and deadlines of the production.

 Group Work 

1) What image do we want to convey to our chosen artist?

A  young, fun and romantic image.

RESEARCH : Popular Music - Adorno & Hebdige

Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969)

Theodor W.Adorno was a sociologist, musicologist and philosopher who was greatly known for his theory of society. He attended the Frankfurt School ( a group of intellects) and was a leading member.

" Adorno suggested that culture industries churn out a debased mass of unsophisticated, sentimental products which have replaced the more 'difficult' and critical art forms which might lead people to actually question social life."[1] 

Adorno opposed that capitalism lured people into a society where there were products of a "cultural" industry. The society were influenced to have an interest in one genre of music and style only. As part of his theory, Adorno separated society into two groups; 'The Masses' and 'The Bourgeoisie's'.  'The Masses' were people who were of lower class and who listened to the typical music genre that the majority listened to. On the other hand, 'The Bourgeoisie's' were people who were of upper class, who listened to music that was not typical, but a genre such as classical. Adorno was adverse towards 'The Masses' as he believed that the mainstream music that they all listened to had no real emotion, meaning , rhythm or feeling. He thought that the music was all similar and repetitive. 

Example of Mainstream Music/Artists Today:

One Direction - British Pop Boy Band that have gone world wide due to their mainstream
music and style. Their target audience are teenage girls which could be a reason to why they have become so popular as artists. The majority of young teenagers in today's society do not know about old artists who produced more "real" music. A lot of artists now produce music with digital technology and use auto tune to change their voice (improve them).

Taylor Swift - An American artist who originally started off by producing

country music and then started doing more pop music. A lot of Taylor Swift's songs sound

similar and revolve around the same theme; love. Her target audience are teenage girls, so by revolving her music around the theme of love, she will sell more as her audience can relate.

Comparison (Style of music) :

Dick Hebdige


Hebdige is a  media theorist as well as a sociologist who focused on the qualities of different subcultures. He studied how subcultures were resistant against the mainstream industry within society.
Hebdige believed that every person who listens to mainstream music has their own connection to the music; they interpret them differently due to relation, style or experience. This means that people can decide what they want to listen to and purchase. 

Which theory do I agree with? 

I agree with the majority of Hebdige's theory as it is more relevant in today's modern society. In Adorno's theory, it communicates that only the upper class listened to "good" music which at the time was a genre such as classical. The lower class only listened to repetitive, typical mainstream music, which represented them to have no knowledge with music or style. I believe that today this is not the case as you have people from all classes listening to either mainstream or classical music. However, in the past people had less access to music as technology was not as improved as it is today. Therefore, the lower class were only able to mostly access the same music along with rest of the lower class as it was what they could afford. The upper class were able to afford better technology and go to concerts where they had an insight of classical music. Money and technology created the separation between the two classes which also meant a separation with music taste. 

In Hebdige's theory, I agree with the expression that in today's society people could decide what to listen to and have an interest in. We also have access to different types of technology meaning that we can be exposed to different genres of music. Music now also links with the style of a person and their hobbies. The artist of a particular genre tries to portray a typical style so that their audience would follow them. This also creates more money for the industries.

RESEARCH : Chosen Artist: 5 Seconds of Summer

5 Seconds Of Summer

Current Members:

• Michael Clifford
• Luke Hemmings
• Calum Hood
• Ashton Irwin

'5 Seconds of Summer' are a four member Rock Pop band from Australia. The new band formed in 2011. The group used to be popular on YouTube where they posted videos of themselves covering songs from different artists. They eventually gained a small group of fans in 2012 after posting many unique versions of popular songs onto YouTube. They then became internationally famous when British Pop boy band One Direction invited them onto their Tour.

In February 2014, they released 'She Looks So Perfect' as their debut worldwide release. It became top of the charts in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the United Kingdom. 

In June 2014, their debut studio album was released and peaked #1 in 11 countries. 

5 Seconds of Summer state ,McFly, Blink-182, Green Day and Busted as their influences.

Genre: Rock Pop

RESEARCH : Youth and Subculture

Examples of subcultures: 

Greasers, 
Ravers, Preppy,
Hippies, Grunge, Rappers   

Definition: A cultural group within a larger culture.

There are different types of subcultures in society in order to have a stereotype for a particular group of people. This makes it easier for instructions to target a specific audience which then enables them to gain a larger amount of money.

Subcultures are represented by style, behaviour and interests. Music genres are usually associated with youth subculture.


An example of a youth subculture (and music video): Heavy Metal Subculture

RESEARCH : History of Music Videos - Timeline

RESEARCH : Who is Richard Dyer and what is his theory?

Who is Richard Dyer?

Richard Dyer is an English academic currently holding a professorship in the Department of Film Studies at King's College London. He Specializing in cinema (particularly Italian cinema), queer theory, and the relationship between entertainment and representations of race, sexuality, and gender.

His Theory:

Richard Dyer's "star" theory is about artists (icons and celebrities) being formed/changed into a specific look for the audience, by the institution, so that they gain a larger target audience and a larger finance.

From this the "star" starts introducing new things such as fashion trends which also helps to gain a larger audience and make money.

3 parts of the theory:

• Audience and Institutions 
• Constructions
• Hegemony (Cultural Beliefs) 

Audience and Institutions 

This is the idea that celebrities and icons are made just for the purpose of money.  They become a household name and increase sales in other media platforms that they are part of.

Constructions 

This is the idea that the institutions change the appearance of the celebrity/icon so that they attract a larger target audience which then also gains a larger amount of money.

Hegemony (Cultural Beliefs) 

Hegemony is the "Culture" that the celebrities/icons portray. If the audience can relate a feature they have with the star (appearance or behavior) they will try to imitate them.  This could have a positive or negative affect on the target audience who attempt to become like their favorite "star". If the celebrity/icon represents a negative culture, it is likely that the audience will impersonate them. For example, in the late 80s to 90s,  the band 'Nirvana'  introduced a new fashion trend , especially with their popular song "Smells like teen spirit" ; the messy look, dirty hair, lose plaid shirts and baggy sweaters. Teenagers who were into 'Nirvana' started dressing like them and behaving in a way that Kurt Cobain did; easy going and slightly reckless.

RESEARCH : Intertextuality

Saturday Night Fever & M&S Advert

The film 'Saturday Night Fever' was very popular in the 70s. There was a hit scene which starred the actor John Travolta dancing in a disco. The M&S advert uses adults (40+) in the clips, whilst the same song play 'you should be dancing'. This would automatically attract the adult audience who watched the film in the 70s as it would bring back a good feeling. The M&S advert also references the film 'Grease' and the music video for the song 'Vogue' by Madonna. Both were hits at the time when 40+ year olds were kids/teenagers.

"I've got the eye of the tiger" 

 

The song 'Eye of the Tiger' is in the 'Rocky' film which is about wrestling. The song expresses power which is also represented in Katy Perry's song 'Roar'. The song also mentions the line ' I've got the eye of the tiger' to link the two songs.

RESEARCH : Music Video Idea Board