Evaluation

http://www.slideshare.net/Shazmaa/evaluation-12184990

Digipack

http://www.slideshare.net/Shazmaa/my-digipack-12184064

Album Cover

Last minute touch ups

To fill in the gaps for our video, myself and the group filmed in the dark room to get the final footage we needed. What we managed to do is capture different shots of Kim singing the lyrics in different angles. Before filming, Iva did Kim's make-up which is what we decided for the intertextuality.  

Poster

For my poster, I wanted to keep it simple yet effective in order for it to reflect on our chosen song as it is calm, soft and mellow. The first thing you notice is the use of the contrasting colours of white and purple which have different connotations to it. The colour 'white' signifys peace, purity and innocence, and the colour 'purple' can signify graciousness which is what myself and my group wanted to portray the artist as.
The artist is positioned in the centre of the frame which allows the audience to immeadiately draw their attention to her. Also, the use of the medium close-up will allow the audience to focus on her facial expression which is meant to come across as being simple and soft. In my own opinion, I think the song is about the artist asking her lover to protect and comfort her and that she wants him to be there as she would be for there for him which is why I took a shot of the artist not directly looking at the audience as I wanted to convey that because what she is going through, she is not able to look directly as she is ashamed. 
For the font, I kept it curly to give it that feminine touch as we are portraying the gender roles in a video. Also, I have included the artists name, promoted the main song, where the artist is going to play it, where you can get the tickets from, and the time and date. 
To Create this poster, I took the image using my Blackberry phone and used Adobe Photoshop to edit and put it all together.        

Poster Analysis

I have decided to make my own poster which is why I looked at other posters to give me a rough idea of what one should contain. For example, one of the posters I looked at was from the band 'Nickelback' to see what convention  are typically used in the music industry so that I can use this information to help me create my own.

• Image of the artist/band 
• Artist/Band's name
• Date
• Contact Information
• Website for tickets 
• Colour
• Website for more information (nipp) 

Investigating How 'The Wanted' Market Themselves

Traditionally, music bands marketed themselves using posters and the radio. However, Due to the technology developing over the years, there are many ways in which a band can now promote themselves more and quicker. A good example would be the British band 'The wanted':

YouTube- The band has their own youtube account where people can listen to their songs and give them feedback. Their videos are not just their songs, but also interviews, back stage clips, etc where you get to know the group better. The theme on the page is also personalised which is the same as the one on their website which makes it easier for the audence to recognise them. http://www.youtube.com/user/Thewantedmusic?ob=0&feature=results_main

Twitter- On Twitter, the band is able to promote their music by sharing videos. They can also Communicate with fans which is good as it can lead on to a positive word-of-mouth from the audience. http://twitter.com/#!/thewantedmusic




Facebook- Facebook is another popular social networking site where the band have over a million followers. Fans are able to see pictures, videos, band information, events, etc. and also communicate with the band. On this site, they also promote their merchandises. http://www.facebook.com/#!/TheWanted?sk=app_186599258079630

Official Website- On the bands website, you can listen to music, watch their videos, find out when and where their tours are taking place, sell their merchandise and more in more than one language. I think this is important as the band are not limiting their target audience. Also, Merchandising is a great technique to promote the band as people buy things like t-shirts etc which creates another way of marketing through the audience as other people can see. http://thewantedmusic.com/home

Blogs- Fans themselves have created ways of promoting 'The Wanted' using blogs. Again, people are able to see pictures, videos, etc and also comment on what they think of it. Being able to communicate and give your own opnion is important as it allows the audience to engage and spread the word. http://thewantedunofficial.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Technology has allowed us to promote artists and band in ways which could not be done before. They are now easy to access and are much quicker which has a great impact not only for the audience but also for the music industry.         

Editing

After having problems with uploading all our footage, we have finally uploaded everything onto final cut express and have edited some of the video. What we have done so far is selected all the shots we need; have cut them down to where we need them and have placed them in chronological order. Sorting this out and following our storyboard, not only do we still need to include our transactions, but also what I have realised is that we still need a few more shots to fill in the gaps. What myself and the group have decided is to go to Ivas house tomorrow and film there. What we are also going to do is take pictures of Kim for our individual digipacks.

Analysis of Music Video 2: Telephone

"Telephone" is a song by Lady Gaga. This song is featuring American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles and is written by Gaga herself and Rodney Jerkins. A critical success, most contemporary critics frequently noted "Telephone" as a stand-out track from The Fame Monster and it was Grammy-nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals in 2011.
Narration:
This music video is 9 minutes and 31 seconds long where the song starts at 2 minutes 53 seconds; giving a long prequel; typical of Lady GaGa's unusual, controversial, unconventional pop videos challenging society. Listening to this song, one would first assume that this song is about Lady Gaga receiving phone calls from someone frustrating, however, this video has infused a second, deeper meaning to the song, giving it an entirely new dimension. In Paparazzi, Gaga plays the role of a mind-controlled slave who was “programmed” to poison and kill her boyfriend. Telephone is a continuation of this story, where Gaga goes to jail for her crime. The “telephone” could be  a metaphor for Gaga’s brain and the fact that she is not answering that phone (her brain) could suggest that she has “dissociated” from reality. This can be portrayed in two separate shots:
Gaga’s head is the telephone. She is not answering that phone, which is symbolic of her dissociative mind state:

The telephone receiver is shaped using her hair which covers her left eye, representing mind control:

Mise-en-scene:

The use of the mise-en-scene establishes the setting of an all female prison. Lady Gaga's costumes change throughout and each time depict something different and unique which is one of the predominant things she is known for. For example, she has coke cans in her hair, dressed in tape, wears cigarette glasses, etc. One could say that the cigarettes covering her eyes represent her blindness to her highly toxic life as a mind controlled drone. These representations defies the social norms of conventional pop video's but follow's conventions of Lady GaGa's own strange pop videos. Later, you see the artist dressed in "caution" tape whilst in her prison cell. This could symbolise the artists dangerous side which is supported by the word 'caution' and the body gestures and movements she makes. The fact that one eye is covered, highlights the trauma mind control victims must go through, her body is a crime scene.  

One could argue that this is could therefore be targeted at the modern youth audience who are scared to defy the norms of society and be themselves; this video could therefore inspire them to grow confidence and become more of an individual as suggested with the 'caution' tape in the prison. Gaga is also dressed in a formal jacket covered with jewels which is covered by the American flag; this emphasises that the artist is patriotic and loves her home country.    
Lady Gaga is constantly seen in extreme strong make up which emphasises her femininity and extenuates her sexuality throughout the video. This therefore links to voyeurism which refers to the idea of looking in order to gain sexual pleasure, suggested by Goodwin. This can also be seen through her outfits as they expose a lot of the artists body. 


Sound:
The first sound used in the video is of female prisoners talking through dialogue which is later followed by a kissing sound, exemplifying the sexuality of the video, again relating to voyeurism. A voice over is used on "intercom" which is a typical feature of a prison location. The song begins later which is use of non diegeic and digeic music as the audience can hear the song and throughout the video, the characters dance to the music, and the telephone noise. There is further dialogue in the video when the prison guards, Beyonce and Lady Gaga are talking and ambient sounds of drawers being opened and closed and keys rattling; these fixtures are all typically found in prison cells.There is further ambience of high heel footsteps which gives a sense of femininity. 
Offensive language is also used in the video as dialogue to appeal to the younger target audience as the youth have been stereotypically portrayed to use this type of language.



Camera work: 
Various types of camera work are used throughout the video. In majority of the shots, Gaga is in the centre of the frame which establishes the protagonists significance.  
There is use of a shot-reverse-shot in the car showing both Beyonce' and Lady Gaga not only allows the audience to see their facial expressions, but also emphasise their importance as the two main characters in the video. 
There is also a pan/ tracking shot following Beyonce' walking into the diner justifying her importance in the video which is followed by an over the shoulder shot from Beyonce's point of view; which allows the audience to directly see from her perspective. 


Editing:
Various editing techniques are used throughout. For example, the subtitle headings are used to entitle the name of the song and who is starring in the video which is something you do not often see in other music videos. Because you usually see titles like these in films, it prepares the audience for the narration giving a 'film' feeling to it.There is use of jump cuts to multiple different scenes which could suggest a metaphor of the teenage audience's hectic lifestyle as it is fast paced which they can therefore relate with the video. 
The CCTV style camera shots are made to look like the characters are under constant observation as they are in prison; this is typically not conventional of most pop videos which makes this video stand out as Gaga has challenged these conventions and has achieved a successful outcome. It can also suggest that the audience is watching the prisoners as well which allows us to engage with the artist.   
There is also use of a flashing camera to give the impression that photo's are being taken of Beyonce as a snapshot image which fits in with the narrative of the video. Subtitles are later used in the video during the diner scene to show the speech from Gaga to Beyonce; this editing technique is conventional of pop music videos. Also, a multiple split screen of Beyonce and Gaga enables the video what both artists are doing at the same time to conventionally send a message to the audience. Majority of the editing is fast paced when the artist sings which symbolises the hectic and chaos in the artist's mind. 
Goodwin suggested that there is a relationship between the music and visuals. Because this 'Telephone' is an extended video with a story being told in between the song, there is less need to illustrate the meaning of the song with the visuals. The director Jonas Akerlund has instead used the editing to represent the feel of the song with the use of jump cuts. For example, this is portrayed in the fast cuts during the more energetic moments of the song where the artist is in the kitchen.  

Intertextuality:
A common technique used in music videos is intercontextual reference. In this video, the director has included a car that says "pussy wagon" on it which relates to the film 'Kill Bill' (2003). Also, Beyonce puts on Mickey Mouse sunglasses, which are the same glasses worn by Gaga in Paparazzi while killing her boyfriend. 

Individual Response to the Idea

At first, myself and my group had chosen Sarah Blasko for our artist and we worked into creating the music video for her song 'We Wont Run'. During the process of our filming, my group did not feel 100% happy with what we were creating. Personally, I felt that we had good ideas which we could have developed on further, however, the group were not confident and felt that we did not have a solid enough idea in general. The outcome of this was to change the song which I felt that we are taking a big risk as this was suggested 3 weeks before the deadline which had also worried our teachers.
The idea for the music video for the song 'Moon by moon' by Bat for Lashes is that a young girl is waiting for her boyfriend or friend (this is left ambiguous) and when he does finally return they have a wonderful time. But at the end of the music video he abruptly leaves leaving her alone again. This narrative is supposed to cover the topic of gender roles and relationships, how a young girl waits on a boy while he can wonder in and out whenever he feels fit. From a different perspective this also looks at isolation and feeling alone. 
I still believe that we should have carried on with the original song, however, learning from our mistakes will hopefully help us pursue our music video forward :) 

Artist Information: Natasha Khan

Natasha Khan, also known by her stage name Bat for Lashes, is an English musician. She sings and plays the piano, bass, guitar, harpsichord and the auto harp. Khan's debut album, Fur and Gold, released in 2006, peaked at number forty-eight on the UK Album Chart and was short-listed for the 2007 Mercury Prize. In 2008, Khan received two BRIT Award nominations for Best Breakthrough Artist and Best Female Solo Artist. Khan's second album, Two Suns, released in 2009, reached number five on the UK Album Chart and number seventeen on the Irish Album Chart. It produced her first UK top forty single, "Daniel", and was short-listed for the 2009 Mercury Prize. Khan was nominated for Best Female Solo Artist at 2010 BRIT Awards.

Album Art Analysis 5: J. Cole

Cole World: The Sideline Story is the debut studio album by American rapper J.Cole with the distribution from Sony Music, and designed by Alex Haldi which consists the music genre, Hip Hop. The first thing you notice is the colour scheme of black, gold and red. These colours have opposite connotations. Black can be associated with strength, power and authority, but it is more common for being the symbol of grief. Gold represents wealth and prestige and red signifys love and passion, but can also be betrayal and hatred. All these colours helps us with the true meaning of the album itself.
J. Cole has said that the reason for the title "The Sideline Story" is because he feels that since being signed to Jay-Z, it has been like someone being on the sidelines for their favourite basketball team, and they're just waiting until the coach puts them in. This links to the image of the album as we see the artist in a locker room. One could say that his life has been about hard work just to get off the bench and be in the lime light. He’s in Cole World where he’s trying to get off the bench which is a great metaphor for his ambitions in both basketball and the rap game. 
The artist is positioned in the centre of the frame which immediately draws our attention to him and the use of the medium shot allows the audience to not only see his facial expression, but everything around the artist as well.  
The use of light is significant as it looks as if the artist is in the middle of the light which could symbolise that he has got what it takes to shine.
The artists name- J. Cole- has contrasting images of the devil horns and a halo on the letters 'O' and 'E' which could suggest that the artist is not perfect which is also reflected on his music as there are songs where he has raised issues about abortion and pregnancy for example. The colour of the  artist name and title is white which stands out to the audience as it is contrasted with the dark background. This could suggest that the colour white represents the truth which people can see, and the darkness is the hidden truth which therefore again links to him not being perfect. 
Overall, what I like about this album cover is that it has deep meaning to it as it portrays certain aspects of J.Cole's life. 

Album Art Analysis 4: Cheryl Cole

3 Words is a debut studio album from British pop singer Cheryl Cole, by Fascination Records. Cheryl Cole's album '3 Words' is a simple, feminine yet significant album cover that allows the audience to see her as a solo artist. She is portrayed as being very feminine which is shown through the headpiece she is wearing on her head that has a net covering her face. One could say that this distances her from the audience and signifys her innocence and fragility. The white flowers on her head associates with peace, purity, love and innocence, and also support and convey the femininity of the album which from the CD cover may come across as being entirely female based. 

From what we can see, the artist is not wearing any clothes which is juxtaposed to the net covering her face. This also links to voyeurism as Goodwin argues that a female performer will frequently be objectified in this fashion, often through a combination of camera work and editing with fragmented body shots emphasising a sexualised treatment of the star. 
What is noticeable is that there is no colour as it is black,white and grey scale which enables the album to stand out as it looks aesthetically pleasing. The artist herself looks calm which adds to the aesthetics brought along with the album. The background has a paint affect which makes her seem as if she is coming out of a painting, hence she is picture perfect which again links to the feminism.
With the writing being very small on this cover, it exemplifies the significance of the artist being tangled with her album which allows the audience to see that she wished to be recognised. It is written in a curly and feminine font which gives you the impression that she is basing her album on femininity, reinforcing this point of emotional fragility. The fact that it is tattooed onto her body, one could say that she wants to be permanently recognised.   
She is positioned in the centre of the frame which immediately draws our attention to her. The use of the medium close up shot allows us to focus on her facial expression which comes across as being soft and simple.
Overall, I think this album cover is signifying the dominance of women, creating a sentimental theme at the same time.

Music Website Analysis: Francesca Battistelli

This website offers many ways in which an individual can interact within every page. For example, you are able to see videos and pictures; tweet to the artist; buy items from the store that are associated with the artist; check for tour dates and timings;  share your own photos; community news; and can even connect to other social websites such as, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. This website does not only allow you to be a viewer, but also allows you to be a part of it by interacting with others and the artist. This therefore attracts a bigger audience as the world we live in today revolves around digital technology which this website offers.
Battistelli's music is a mix of several different genre labels. A reviewer once said that "Battistelli's soulful piano-pop sound resembles a blend of her music interests- jazz, rock, gospel and R&B". The colours on her new album, Hundred More Years, are being promoted through her website as the she has used the same colours. This therefore exemplifies how she is an ordinary girl who likes music and art; the fact that she is half sketched and half human conveys how she is coming out of her dream to make it reality. The cream/white background portrays connotations of purity, peace, and perfection. This colour also suggests simplicity which signifies how her music is. The use of the different colours stands out making it aesthetically pleasing for the audience and also makes it obvious that this website is for a female artist.
In my own opinion, what I like about this website is the use of different colours and interacting activities which does not limit the target audience as different age groups are able to engage on this site through the use of multiple technologies. What I also like is that her new song is played in the background on the home page which is promoting the song, as if the audience is updated.

http://www.francescamusic.com/videos

Album Art Analysis 3: Rihanna

Rated r is a studio album by the American artist Rihanna. The first thing I had noticed was the contrasting colours of black and white. This suggests that the album is darker and less commercial than her other albums such as, 'A girl like me', 'Loud', etc. Black is usually associated with strength, power and authority, however the black and white colours can also suggest that the artist is living in a black and white world of her own.
The artist has her hand covering half of her face which could signify that she is hiding something that she does not want to show the audience, creating it dark and mysterious which is supported with the stern look, engaging with the audience. 

The font of the 'R' looks as if it has been carved in by a knife or some sort of sharp object. This creates a special effect and shows off the edginess of the album. This makes the audience think why Rihanna has released an album that is juxtaposed with her other albums. This could suggest that she is reassembling her strength to comeback after being affected negatively in her personal life which portrays power, and rather than evoking the image of being erotic, here she wants to show the audience that she is powerful and has the drive to succeed.    
Rihanna is usually an R&B artist, however she has challenged this as her genre crosses over into pop and rock and also into other sub genres such as grime and drum and base which is portrayed through the darkness of the cover of this album. She stated this in an interview and also said that she wanted to experiment with different types of music as this was her fourth album. Also she said that she felt like she was at a certain stage in her career were she had to make a serious album compared to her previous three albums which were fun, upbeat, not taking herself too seriously and full of catchy pop/R&B songs. 
The artist is wearing heavy jewellery which also adds to the darkness of this album as it looks heavy which reflects on the image as she looks powerful and controlling.
The album title is written extremely small and white which blends with the background colour which does not stand out from the cover itself which makes you think that there is no significance. 
This album cover is monochrome which could have an impact on the audience as it stands out from the typical bright album covers of her previous covers. Her previous work portrays her as a erotic and vibrant artist, however this album introduces something new as it portrays feelings of darkness.   

This cover exemplifies Rihanna as a strong dominant female with an attitude which is reflected in her music in this album. 


Previous work:

Analysis of Previous Student Work: Raindrops

The video begins with a wide shot of a doll house. From there, the camera zooms in slowly towards the door where you realise it is taking the audience to have a look inside the doll house. This symbolises her feelings as she is trapped in that moment of time, the same way she is trapped within the doll house. Nine seconds into the video, you see the artist with her back towards us, playing the piano which builds on the suspension and becomes a little misleading towards the theme of the video as one would expect it to be a horror first. As soon as the piano starts playing, we are shown different shots which cut to the beat. Things we are shown are elements such as a newspaper and a dead leaf which could make the audience aware of time moving forward yet the artist is still locked in her past.
Majority of the camera shots are close-ups of the artist which allows us as an audience to connect with her supported by the fact that she looks at us every now and then. There is good use of camera angles as it looks smooth and professional. The camera angle that stood out for me was the P.O.V shots as it suggests we are looking over her giving us more power and authority over the artist and making her helpless.
Throughout the video, there is constant reference to her hand which could suggest that she is trying to reach out to the audience for help.
Majority of the transitions are fades which fits in with the song as the tempo of it is calm for half of the video. You could also say that to an extent, the artist herself is fading away from reality. This also links with the lyrics when she says, "and it all begins to fade", which therefore links to Goodwin's theory as he suggested that there is a link between the lyrics and the visuals. Goodwin also referred to barthes when talking about grain of voice, how artists have a particular 'fingerprint' to their voice when you hear them. We hear this in the song which fits in well with the artist's image. Her look is innocent which is seen through her costume and light make-up. She wears white throughout the whole video which signifys peace, purity and innocence which matches with the song. Her look also seems like she is a doll which links it back to the first shot of the doll house. The colours blend well together as everything is neutral, suggesting that life goes on. What you notice about the colours is that you have shots of the neutral colours and then shots of the bright blue water. This contrast suggests that her view of looking at life is colourless, whereas in actual fact there is colour to life which is supported with the black and white special effects. The colour blue also emphasises the title of the song 'Raindrops'.
The location used is simple yet effective as it reflects the theme, the scenario and artist's feelings well.
In this video, there are no other characters which suggests that the artist is solitary and isolated.
Overall, I think the video is good as the group have used a vast majority of camera shots and angles accurately, good location and a decent song choice. However, to improve this video, I think the narration could have been better as it was slightly confusing. Looking at the start of the video, one would assume that it has a horror theme to it as we are not shown who the artist in the first 20 seconds and have used props such as the web.