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Kiana Khansmith
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roma★
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taylor price
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@ellielathammedia
Research - http://ellielathammedia.tumblr.com/tagged/research
Planning - http://ellielathammedia.tumblr.com/tagged/planning
Production - http://ellielathammedia.tumblr.com/tagged/production
Final Product - http://ellielathammedia.tumblr.com/tagged/finalproduct
Evaluation - http://ellielathammedia.tumblr.com/tagged/evaluation
Completed Magazine Advert
Evaluation Question 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
There are different types of music video: performance based, concept based, narrative based and even combined styles. A performance based video tends to show the artist/band performance throughout the song and can sometimes be seen for the whole of a video. A concept based video is created around a particular style or idea, concept based videos are usually very unique and use a particular filming or editing technique in order to make it its own. A narrative based video will contain footage that attempts to tell a story through moving footage. Narrative music videos usually have a story line which is conveyed through the relationship of the lyrics to the visuals, these types of videos are usually found incorporated in films to add more meaning. Sometimes all of these different types of music videos are crossed creating a combined style music video. There are many different music videos today which combine a mixture of the different types of music video which are listed above.
From my research, I have found that all different genres of music have completely different conventions and characteristics which make them unique. I heavily focused my research around the typical conventions of pop videos so that I was able to pinpoint exactly what was needed to make my music video not only fit perfectly into its genre but to stand out at the same time. I found that most pop music videos the artists are females, a lot of the time the female artist looking vulnerable through the choice of her clothing and through the camera angles (male gaze theory). I didn’t realise until after my research how popular this was for pop music videos and therefore chose to subvert this idea through the video I created. I thought carefully about the clothing my artist wore in the video so that instead of her being sexualised, we portrayed her as a role model to our young audience and someone who follows fashion. We also found in our research that common conventions of pop music videos were that they included lots of people, and most of the time had aspects of dancing. We were inspired by the original video of Jess Glynne - Ain’t Got Far To Go with the including of lots of different people. However, after watching the original video it seems as if there is a direct message about culture and equality, which is not the theme we wanted to portray through our music video. We had the idea of friendship and wanted to subtly relate the lyrics to the visuals, we achieved this by having our main artist and her best friend as the performance parts of the video where they were singing and dancing - making that the points of focus within the video. The other parts of the video were clips of disjuncture which was where we used our inspiration from Jess Glynne’s video, these were our shots of other random people doing different activities.
You can see from the comparison of our video to the original, that we have been inspired by the typical dancing conventions but have portrayed it in a unique way according to the themes of our video and the message we were trying to get across.
When carrying out research on the conventions of pop music videos, we found that they always include lots of colour and typically are filmed in open spaces where the mise-en-scene is interesting and busy. When planning our music video, we had a focus on which locations we were going to choose making sure that they would be liked by our target audience. We chose city locations, the bear pit in Bristol and some tunnels which we knew had graffiti over them. We felt like these locations would cover this convention of the use of bright colours and the fact that these places were busy added realism to our video. As one of our themes was youth culture, these locations went perfectly as they were places where young people would typically hang out. Another location we used was the top of Cabot Circus car park, the view was looking out over Bristol which made the shot extremely presentable. We were lucky on this filming day that it was sunny in Bristol as all of our shots were bright with a blue sky, accidentally adding to the happy vibe that we wanted to create throughout our video. If we’d chosen to film these shots on an over-cast day, it would have given a completely different mood.
Our music video also included different editing techniques which are popular conventions for the pop genre. As the song that we chose was fast paced, we had to make sure the video complimented the fast pace and we did this by including lots of quick cuts. We made sure that the quick cuts we edited together were of different locations so that its more interesting for the audience to watch.
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Completed Digipak
Digipak Planning
Front and Back Covers (Outside Panels)
When drafting my digipak, I decided I would focus on the front and back covers first and then match the inside panels to an occurring theme. The front cover of my album will feature a close up of the artist along with her name and the album title which I have named ‘Ain’t Got Far To Go’. I have planned for the text to be slightly over the top of the artists forehead but not so much that it takes the attention away from her face. I hope to achieve this look by using photoshop to make the text transparent.
The back cover of my digipak will feature the track names for the album down the middle on top of an image of one of the locations we have filmed our video in. To follow traditional digipak conventions, I have decided to include a barcode and legal information at the bottom of this panel.
Inside Panels
I planned to use the same photo throughout the 3 inside panels of my digipak, where the photo would literally stretch as if it was one big picture. I had this idea as I wanted the front of my digipak to focus on the artist and the extra panel to focus on the ‘extra’ artist, so I only chose to feature people on these two panels. I decided I wanted to use shots from the same location as the picture on the back, of graffiti, carefully tieing together a theme.
Our final music video.
Production Days Ellie Latham
Digipak Advert Analysis 2
The colours which make up this advert are very minimal although there is a clear recurring theme of grey, white, black and a hint of red. The grey background gives a vintage look, contrasting with the images of modern technology and instruments displayed in the image. The colour of the background helps the text on the advert stand out as its coloured black. The simple colour use hints that Jay-Z has a simplistic personality and isn’t one to give much away.
The artists name appears in a different font to the rest of the writing on the advert and is placed at the very top, drawing attention to the wording on the advert almost immediately. Towards the bottom, a song which is in the album is advertised - this being effective as it was a very popular song in the time that the album was released. Overall the wording for this advert is quite minimal, just like everything else about this advert. Although the wording is simplistic, the advert still reaches out to the audience by providing vital information.
Many R&B or rap adverts are usually made up of a picture of the artist to give their name and image a reputation. In this case, Jay-Z has used the exact artwork of his album in the advert to promote the album. This is clever as when the album is released, it will be easier for audiences to identify the album as they have seen the artwork already in the advert. Another feature of this advert is that it goes against typical stereotypes of R&B/rap adverts which usually features the artist surrounded by lots of expensive things like jewellery or expensive cars. Because Jay-Z already has a huge fan base, he is able to get away with not featuring himself on the advert, his name itself has created a star image for him.
Digipak Advert Analysis 1
Colours
There is an obvious theme regarding colour on this album. Its very neutral and conveys a sense of tranquility, which is complimented by the posture of the artist displayed on the advert.
The background of the advert is a bright blue sky, with white text featured over it. What’s effective here is the text of the albums name is in a blue font similar to the sky, and is featured on the artists shirt which is white - as if its opposite. This keeps the advert looking fresh and neat as the colours used are very natural. The white colour could suggest purity and therefore reinforces the theme of being natural.
Wording
The first thing to notice is the artists name displayed in bold at the very top of the advert. It draws our attention to it as it is the largest visual element of the advert; taking up the entire top. It’s shown in capital letters for emphasis, and so that if the advert were to be displayed on the back of an advert or any other media platform, the artists name would be noticeable and furthermore remembered.
The wording used at the bottom of the advert is all informative. It features the release date, what tracks the album includes and the artists own website. All of these elements are to inform the audience of something.
Font
This advert only features two different fonts, one italic and the other capital letter. The italic font used suggests that the artist is setting herself aside from all others in her genre, being away from mainstream music. The bold, uppercase font is used on this advert for branding reasons. The words displayed in this font are for audiences to recognise the artists name and the album which is trying to sell.
Choice of Images
The image we see for this advert is the exact same of that on the actual digipak, creating a direct link for audiences to recognise. Even though the same image has been used for both, the advert version is slightly elongated as the advert is typically A5 size, having to extend the image longer and therefore showing shoulder downwards so that it fits.
Representation In Music Videos
Representation is the way in which aspects of society, such as gender, age or ethnicity, are presented to audiences.
Women
Women are very often sexualised in the media where in music videos sometimes we see them acting hyper-sexually. They can often be seen touching themselves provocatively which creates a huge debate. It is okay for women to touch themselves in this way but it would be different for a male to do the same and be offensive and male chauvinistic.
However, in the media today, there are artists challenging this idea. For example, Adele and Lorde focus on their stunning vocals and the actual song with lyrics instead of how their physical look appeals to the audience.
Our Music Video
Our video is targeted mainly towards females of the age 15-25, but definitely could be enjoyed by males of this age group also. Even though we are targeting the video at teenagers, it will still be appropriate for younger people to watch.
The video we create will be to serve for all, never mind what class, social or ethnic group they are labelled.
Our main character in the video - who will be displayed as the artist of the song, Ceara, is female. She is going to be seen as a bubbly, positive and pro-active individual. We’ve chosen to represent her personality through our disjuncture elements of our music video. We will have visuals of activities like bike riding and dancing, activities which younger people can relate to. We feel as though these realistic aspects will appeal to our young audience and keep them interested in watching our music video.
Digipak Analysis 2
For my second digipak analysis, I have chosen the Arctic Monkey’s album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. Below is an image of the front cover of the digipak.
Front Cover
The front of this album is very simplistic, showing the bands name and an image of a man smoking a cigarette. The overall image of the digipak ties in with the indie/alternative genre as they tend to not be so bothered about their image and more about their actual music. The black and white filter conforms to the rock genre as its quite dark and limits colour.
The band name is written in black font against a bright white shape, the extreme difference in shades here make the name stand out. How their logo is placed slightly off angle could suggest how they are ‘wreckless’ or have some kind of attitude. Although the name of the band features on the front of the album, the name of the album doesn’t - which is unusual. The thought of not knowing the name to the album adds to their image of being unique and therefore causes the audience to be intrigued.
The man featuring on the front cover is displayed smoking a cigarette - a typical indie convention, complimented by the fact he is a male and is of a young age, around 20. Smoking is seen as rebellious and this is clearly the image this indie/rock band has gone for and this cover proves successful. He has a rough-looking beard which compliments the idea of being a laid back teen/young man who is a little rough on the edges, this part of his image also has a link to the name of the album ‘Whatever’. His eyes are looking directly into the camera which engages the audience as they feel as if they are in front of him or speaking to him.
Disk
The disk for this album ties in exactly with the front cover as the man was smoking a cigarette, and you could say the disk acts as an ash tray for the cigarettes. The black and white filter is continued here creating the simplistic yet gives you a lot of recognition of the rock/indie genre. The fact that there are multiple cigarettes shoved into this little space could represent the feelings of the man on the front - maybe he is stressed and therefore smoking out of habit.
The disk doesn’t feature the name of the album or the bands name, just like the front cover.
Back and Spine
Again, the recurring theme of simplicity is displayed on the back panel of this digipak. The name of each track which features on the album is displayed in the top left hand corner with no indication to what number corresponds with each track. The track names are written in white font against the dark background to make sure they are seen clearly.
The same man who featured on the front page appears for the second time, although this time he is posing differently and effectively ‘hiding away’ from the camera. On the front cover, the cigarette he is smoking looked as if he had only just got it out of the packet and lit it. However, this image shows the cigarette to be a lot smaller in size with ash gathering at the end of it, this gives the idea that as he has smoked the cigarette he has realised his addiction and is now trying to hide his emotion and therefore does so with his body language. The idea of his feelings being so dull and depressing fit in with the colour scheme on the back panel of the digipak - greys and blacks.
Finally, we are shown the album name on the spine of the digipak.
‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’
The fact that the name of the album only features on the spine shows that the band are trying to conform with their laid back, not-in-your-face attitude as they feel they don’t need to write it all over the digipak.
Conventions of a Music Video
Social Commentary:
Many artists have taken to creating music videos with reference to events which are happening in the world today, be it positive or negative. For example; Sia’s music video for her song The Greatest was created as a tribute to the victims recently involved in the Orlando shooting. The children featuring in the video are there to represent the victims killed in the ‘deadliest mass shooting in America’s history’.
A variety of camera angles and shots:
This feature is included with music videos because rather than just using the same angles and shots, an artist can add a new layer of quality to their videos by making use of the variety of shots used in filming, which can in turn also make their work more creative and interesting to watch.
Cutting to the beat:
By doing this, the artist can set more of a mood and effect their audience in different ways. More cuts suggest a faster paced song and could get the audience up and dancing or put them on edge. Less cuts suggests a slower pace and could mean that the video is more emotional and heavier on perhaps the message of the song.