Digipak Analysis 2

The artist is represented through the images in the digipak, there are various images of the artist including long shots and close ups this is because Britney Spears's star image is important as this is what she uses to sell  and promote her music. On the front cover we see a close up of the artist she looks confident and alluring, the picture on the back she is put on sexual display, she isn't showing and cleavage but she is still baring a lot of flesh making the image rather sexual, the image inside of the digipak is a long shot she is once again baring a lot of flesh, her legs are highlighted by the lighting, she is sitting so not only are her legs highlighted but her butt is sticking out slightly. The rest of the image is quite dark but the lighting makes her stand out from the background. The colour gold is used throughout the digipak which connotes wealth and its also used alongside the colour black which connotes power and elegance as well as mysteriousness the black  is only used on the inside which contradicts the colours used on the outside, this could be suggesting that Britney only looks innocent but on the inside is. The front cover is a close up of the artist is alluring as it gives a direct mode of address, this links with the title of the album 'femme fatale' which means an alluring or seductive woman, throughout the digipak Britney spears is presented as being 'alluring', through direct mode of address, bare flesh and highlighted assets. Her initials and name can be seen throughout the digipak because her name is very well known and is what

Digipak Analysis

She is wearing very natural looking make up giving her a 'girl next door' look, the theme of the whole digipak is 'candy'  we can see this as the CD looks like popular 'confectionary' and you could say that the artist is supposed to look as appetising and desirable to the purchaser as confectionary. A cotton candy pink is used on the front cover to slightly cover a nude Katy Perry,  this makes the artist look pure and alluring. Other colours used are bright pinks blues and red, fitting with the confectionary theme of the digipak, the colours used are mainly feminine, making us believe the digipak is from the 'pop' genre. The colours also lead us to believe even though the artist is put on  sexual display the colours appeal more to a female target audience. The colours lead us to believe the design is rather 'girly' which is similar to the artist, as she is almost always very feminine music artist. The title of the album is 'teenage dream' and this can be linked to the front cover image as most teenage boys have lustful dreams/fantasies of 'girl next door' type,
The packaging promotes the artist through various camera shots including close up and a long shot
the artist.
The digipak has a gateway opening and various shots of the artist including close up shots and this also promotes the artist

Rough Draft

I filmed this rough draft to get to grips with my equipment (Camera, tripod) and also to practice using the editing software progamme's i-Movie and Final Cut. The Lip Syncing is very bad in this video and it's definitely something I hope to improve upon.

Animatic

This is an animated version of my storyboard. I used my handheld camera, and a tripod to film my Storyboard and edited it on iMovie. I chose to do an animatic storyboard over a hand drawn one because I thought it was more accurate as I could edit my animatic in iMovie so the scenes cut to the beat of the music

Planning of My Music Video

                     




Synopsis – The Narrative

Muted Scene before the music starts of couple having an argument then the man, walks out. Second/third verse is montages of their life together, he writes a note saying meet me if you still want to be together (or something similar) and the last line of the final verse he is waiting alone. My synopsis relates to the song because the song is about a man who wants a steady relationship and wants another chance this time no ups and downs and he is hoping this time round if he gets another chance the relationship could be steadier, so he looks back on his relationship (shown through the montages) deciding even though she isn’t the absolute perfect girl, but she’s perfect for him.

Performance

A lot of music from the indie pop genre includes performance, so for my performance I’m going to have the lead singer in a very plain and basic room,on a stool playing the guitar in the corner.

Target Audience Research - Results

Question 4 part 2  'Other' replies

Looking at my results I can see that a majority of my target audience are male, so I will try and aim my music videos towards a male audience. Indie Rock isn't a particular feminine music genre so this shouldn't be to challenging. I can also see that most of them are aged 16-18 so I should remember this whilst filming and try not to include any issues not relevant to teenagers. I should try and make sure my music video has  a guitar and/or other instruments being played, indie rock style clothing as well as a male lead singer, 'a set of drums' and bleak setting. My video should also heavily performance based and slightly concept based. 

Target Audience Research

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FMWG25H

Other Artists and Ideas

Scott Pilgrim vs The World - Black Sheep (cover)


In the 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs The World, they cover a song by Metric called black sheep. I Liked it because it was different to the original song. I decided not to do it because it was hard to find a good quality mp3 of this song.

Chase and Status - Take Me Away 


This song was released in 2008 and has no music video, I wanted to do it because it is one of my favourite songs. I decided not to do it because the song has very little singing and has heavy drum and bass, and I thought it would be harder to find a narrative or concept to this song as it is so fast and upbeat. I also wanted my main singer to be male and not female, and the main singer in this song is female.

Artist Profile

This is some background on the artist i've chosen.

Bright eyes is an American Indie Folk/Rock band
from Omaha Nebraska, the band consists of Singer/songwriter and guitarist Conor Oberst and Producer, trumpet and piano player Mike Mogis. Bright Eyes have been active since 1998 and have since released 8 albums, their album Fevers and Mirrors (2000) placed 170 on Pitchfork Media's best 200 albums of the decade, whilst their 2002 album Lifted sold over 250,000 copies a
breakthrough for the bands record label, Saddle Creek Records (at said time) The band released their first album 'A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995–1997' in 1998. The band was active for 13 years and released their final album in February 2011.


Why I chose this song


When I was trying to decide what song I wanted to do for my coursework I didn't know what genre I wanted to do, but I did know that I wanted it to be a slow song and I also want the protagonist to be male. When I listened to this song a narrative came to mind, and it fit my criteria so I decided to do it.

My Song of Choice

Lyrics


This is the first day of my life
I swear I was born right in the doorway
I went out in the rain suddenly everything changed
They're spreading blankets on the beach

Yours is the first face that I saw
I think I was blind before I met you
Now I don't know where I am
I don't know where I've been
But I know where I want to go

And so I thought I'd let you know
That these things take forever
I especially am slow
But I realize that I need you
And I wondered if I could come home

Remember the time you drove all night
Just to meet me in the morning
And I thought it was strange you said everything changed
You felt as if you'd just woke up
And you said "this is the first day of my life
I'm glad I didn't die before I met you
But now I don't care I could go anywhere with you
And I'd probably be happy"

So if you want to be with me
With these things there's no telling
We just have to wait and see
But I'd rather be working for a paycheck
Than waiting to win the lottery
Besides maybe this time is different
I mean I really think you like me

Analysis of Music Videos - Textual Analysis 2

I am analysing the 'in da club' music video by american rapper 50 cent. The single peaked at number one on the Billboard top 100 which was a success as it was the his first single. The video was directed by record producer Dr. Dre and Mike Elizondo. This song belongs to the hip hop music genre. Similarly to most music videos from the hip hop music genre this video displays extravagant gestures of wealth such as expensive cars and jewelry, the artist rapping to the camera, scantily clad women, men's superiority over women and a 'thug' like exterior with the main artist.  There is a very strong relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, the lyrics are heavily based on the music video he raps about how 'you can find me in the club' and a majority of the music video is based in the club.
As with most music videos from the 'Rap' genre solo instruments are not illustrated in the music video however the artist is seen rapping whilst directly addressing the audience. The song is quite upbeat and fast paced with the video matching this with scenes briskly alternating between the artist working out in the gym, parting in the club and rapping in the studio
The artist is seen in various camera angles and camera shots including close up shots, as he is a new artist it is important for the record company to sell his image as well as the song he artist is given a 'thug like' and 'invincible' image in the video we see the artist being examined by scientists, when they open him up we see wires showing he is stronger and superior to the regular man he's like nothing no one has ever seen before
this is the first video from the artist but this video does relate to other videos the artists has produced since then, the videos follow a pattern in all his videos he's shown surrounded by women who are portrayed as inferior to him, misogyny is also a common theme in his video's, he is also seen wearing expensive clothing such as fur and expensive jewelry/driving an expensive car.
All the women employees in the lab scenes of this music video although not all scantily clad all have inferior jobs such as 'nurses', 'bar maids' and 'water girls' in all of these roles the women has to cater to the 'man's' (50 cent) need's in some way. You get the idea that the women in the club are put on sexual display as when they are dancing slow motion editing is used, slowing down the scene emphasizes their dance moves therefore emphasizing their bodies, this is a typical feature in Rap music videos. It could be argued that the artist is on sexual display as in some scenes he is shirtless and oiled up, the light him highlighting his muscular and toned body, as this was 50 cent's first music video, image was tremendously important because he needs to market and endorse himself and his music. There are references in this video, in the beginning of the video we can see 'Eminem's - Without Me' music video - playing on televisions in the background, another common feature of Rap music videos is for the main artist to endorse fellow artists from the same record company and this is what's happening in this music video. The music video is mainly narrative and performance based. Overall the 50 Cent - in da club video is more or less a typical 'rap' music video

Analysis of Music Videos - Textual Analysis

I am analysing the Gold Guns and Girls video by Indie Rock band Metric, the video was directed by John O'Mahony. The music video is heavily performance based and often cuts to shots of the band playing their instruments around New York City, the lead singer and the other members of the band appear to be dressed and styled in a very ‘indie’ way wearing tight jeans with messy hair these are typical features are typical of indie rock music videos. There is no connection between the lyrics and the visuals:

‘I remember when we were gambling to win everybody else said better luck next time. I don’t wanna bend let the bad girls bend. I just wanna be your friend, Is it ever gonna be enough?’

The lyrics here are talking about how she just wants to stay friends, and how other people around here can see the relationship will not work, at the end of the verse she says ‘Is it ever gonna be enough?’ meaning she is wondering if a friendship with him will ever be enough. Whilst these lyrics are playing we can see the band racing around trying to find their assigned instruments, so the lyrics here have nothing to do with the visuals.

The lyrics also have intertextual references to 1980 movie Scarface, the lead singer Emily Haines is talking through the eyes of Michelle Pfeiffer ‘I don’t wanna bend let the bad girls bend.’ This could be talking about how Michelle Pfeiffer didn’t want to give up her morals and leave her husband for Tony.

The music and the visuals have a connection, there is heavy drums playing a consistent beat throughout the entire song and the scenes in the music video cut to this beat, the music video also changes pace with the music, the band is seen racing around in pace to the music . There is also a drum solo, the main singer stops singing and the main instrument you can hear is the drums, this is shown through the visual where we see a medium shot of the drummer playing. 

Throughout the music video there are close ups and extreme close ups of the leader singer and various other members of the band. As there is no narrative it seems the record company is attempting to sell the track through the song it self and not so much through the music video. The band are shown as strong and independent, throughout the music video they are shown through low angle shots making them seem superior and strong. Also they are running quite fast and aggressively which also gives strong image. Other metric music videos are heavily performance based, always showing the band playing there assigned instruments and they always centre around the lead singer Emily Haines, they never have a heavy narrative the gold guns music video also follows this pattern.  There are no particular distinctive motifs or trademarks that can be seen from each video just the general things i have mentioned above. When the camera is focused on the woman, the camera is has a handheld feel also the camera is following the woman as she runs in a POV style, putting the artist on sexual display. Although camerawork implies sexual display costume and dance do not, and there are sloe no references to notion of looking.  

This music video has  no intertextual references to other music videos by this band or to any separate texts.

This videos is very heavily performance based and slightly concept based, it is not in any way narrative based. 

Star Image Analysis

I decided to analyse how a popular star's image has progressed over time in their music videos to gain a better understanding of how i could construct my artists image in my music video.

For my star image analysis I am analysing Michael Jackson ‘The King of Pop’, he entered the music industry in the 70s as part of the group Jackson 5. Michael Jackson is well known for his contribution to the Pop music genre.

Ben was released in 1972 and is Michael Jacksons first music video, his image in this video is that ‘angelic’ and ‘sweet’ the video is solely on performance and there is no flashy set or complicated narrative so the music company have solely used Michael Jacksons voice to sell the song.

In his later career Michael’s image has developed significantly, his videos have more substance with a balance between narrative and concept bases in the 1982 Thriller video we see Michael in character, comparing this to the Ben video you can tell Thriller had a much larger budget as it has much more Special Effects, Expensive Costumes and also more people starring in it. His image has changed and he is using different techniques and more money to sell his music.  It Is in this time era that Michael started to develop the motifs he is still well known for to this very day, one of his motifs is plain black loafer shoes and white socks which he is seen wearing in this video, another motif Michael was famous for was his dance moves, the ‘crotch grabbing’ move can be seen in several videos other popular motifs of Michael Jackson was well known for include the moonwalk dance move, him screeching ‘ow!’ in his songs and also his primate companion bubbles the chimp.


Throughout Michael Jacksons work close ups can be seen of him in his many music videos, this is to enhance his visual image, his image had changed drastically since his previous album release, his skin has drastically lightened and it was of great media interest. Hairstyle and costume are also used to support the star's image Michael Jackson was famous for his 'wet jerry curl' hairstyle, his leather jacket with zippers/studs/buckles and tight fitted trousers his music videos always had a really realistic aura and the Bad music video was shot in a car park all of these things are used to support the star image. 

Editing can also be used to enhance Michael Jackson's Image, slow motion editing is used to emphasize Michael Jackson's dance moves, this can be seen in the Billie Jean music video. His dance moves are emphasized because this is what Michael was well known for, and what he commonly uses to sell his music. His music videos usually cut to the beat which also enhances his dance moves. Camerawork is also used to reinforce Michael's image, in the Bad video low angels are used to give him a sense of superiority which also relates to his song and lyrics, close ups are also used in this Bad video to reinforce the star image. 


Michael Jackson shows his wider cultural significance through his music, he had great concern with the poor state of third world countries, we see this in earth song (1995)  he uses his music and his famous image to open the worlds eyes to issues such as poaching for ivory, deforestation, pollution and the effects of war.