Research: Magazine Advert

Research: Digipak analyses

• A digipak does not just include a CD and its case, its essentially a marketing campaign, every part of the digipak is there for a reason and is there to try and catch your eye. The end goal is for it to make you buy the CD by standing out to you on the shelf.

Two Different Types of Digipaks:

1. A 6 Panel right-tray clear gloss UV digipak.

• A 6 panel right-tray digipack would usually be used for CD singles or a special edition of the CD.
• The inside panel can shatter easily and is prone to breaking.
   2. Digipak with recycled tray made from sugarcane.
• inside the Digipak there can be one or more trays which in this case are made from recycled sugarcane which is a positive for the environment.
• Due to trays being made out of recycled sugarcane they are not brittle and not prone to breaking with ease.

     J Cole - Forest Hills Drive (2014) 

Genre?

• The genre of J cole's digipak is very conventional and modern day looking, it ties is perfectly with his genre of music being hip-pop / rap. The front on the digipak is very conventional in the way that the artist J Cole takes center stage, by putting himself center stage on the front of his digipak it allows people instantly to know what they looking at. 

Font size, lettering and font styles?

• When looking at J coles digipak its very easy to look at in the sense that nothing stands out dramatically, you dont have massive red writing that you eyes are instantly drawn to but a very basic but effective front cover. The colour scheme is also very basic but effective, he has only used colours like blue,white and green. 

Image?

• The image on the front cover is of himself ( J cole ) and is a photograph of him sitting on top of a house. the Angle of the picture in looking upwards towards J cole which may symbolize his power, the name of his album is called " Forest Hill Drive" which ties in with the trees that are in the background behind his head.

Representations ?

•  The representation of the digipack is very good compared to the everyday hip-pop/rap albums that are being made these days. Many hip-pop/raps albums these days are heavily criticized by the media for giving off the wrong image of guns, alcohol and violence.

Audience?

•  Its a very specific group of people that will buy this album in terms of age, someone aged 40+ will not walk into a shop, see his album and go and buy it, unlike artists like Eminem who has a huge following and doesn't need to put his face on the album for people to buy it J cole has to put his face on it as identity of who he is.  

Research: Seminal Video's

Detail analysis on a Seminal Video

Detail analysis on a Seminal Video

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen (1975)
 What genre is the music and how is it reflectd in the video?
The Genre of music is a mix between oprah and hard rock which at the time was a totally new concept of music which attracted audiences of all ages. At the start of the video we have the four band members faces singing in an operatic fasion and nly halfway through the song the rock section kicks in.
 How do the images relate to the lyrics?
There is no relatin between the lyrics to the images since this was the main song that put queen into the spotlight of a new generation of music.
 How do the images relate to the music?
During the music video, the facial expressions and the way they are singing relates to the genre of oprah, aswell as when the rock section starts, it shows them playing their instruments on a stage with flashing lights in very ostentatious outfits. 
 How is the artist presented to 'sell' them? How important are close ups?
The constant close ups of their faces during the start of the video and when the rock section stats clearly shows who they are as a band and how they perform. Since there had been nothing like this before in that generation of music, it made them extremly famous for the song itself and who they are.
 Is there any reference to 'looking'? Are female presented voyeuristically?
When the rock section starts, there is a constant looking at each of the band members in their outfis and playing their instruments while the lights shine upon them also tries to convey to the audience who they are.
 Can you spot any intertextual references? What are they? 
None
 Is there a narrative? 
The narrative is about a person who has been put into prison for a murder and he confesses to his mother that he has actually killed someone, he feels regret but he knows its too late. After being convicted and locked up, the narrator becomes angry and sings out his sufferings in a rage. He demands to be freed rather than executed. The narrator has accepted his fate, probably a fate of execution. He returns to his original state of remorse and sings out his troubles quietly.

Learn to Fly - Foo Fighters (1999)
 What genre is the music and how is it reflected in the video?
The genre is post-grunge or alternative rock and it is refleted in the video by the relation to drugs and what the band members are wearing. We  also see on the tv screen them playing in a massive festival with fans screaming and jumping around which portrys the genre aswell.
 How do the images relate to the lyrics?
The images are conveying the effects of drugs and hallusinations since the band members play almost all the key people in the video. Also the name of the song links to the video since at the end the actual band members on the plane have to learn to fly since the pilots and everyone else on board has taken drugs by accident.
 How do the images relate to the music?
On the tv we can see the band at a performance which relates their rock music to the video, also them being rockstars we have the flight attendants and a girl who is actually the lead singer as fans of the band ho are trying to get autographs of them.
 How is the artist presented to 'sell' them? How important are close ups?
They have sold themselves in this video y playing as almost every actor so that audiences constantly see them even though they are playing a different character. There ar constant close ups of the band since they look at the faces so we can see who is playing who for example we have the close up of the lead singer while he is playing as the pilot as he drinks his coffee which has the drug inside it.   
 Is there any reference to 'looking'? Are female presented voyeuristically?
We have the male flight attendant staring at the female one while he is filling up the coffee even though the female attendant is played by the drummer. As this happens we see that he doesnt check the coffee machine since drugs were stashed inside the machine and obviously results into coffee that has been drugged accidentally.
 Can you spot any intertextual references? What are they? Is there a narrative?  
The music video for the song takes place on an commercial airliner, parodying the movie Airplane!, and by extension, the films Airport 1975 and its sequel Airport '77. Two airline mechanics (played by Jack Black and Kyle Gass from Tenacious D) smuggle and hide their narcotic known as "World Domination brand 'Erotic' Sleeping Powder^" in the coffee-maker. This ends up incapacitating everyone who drinks the coffee. The take off sequence, in addition to the crew members hiding ulterior criminal motives, are a near shot-by-shot homage to the film Airport '77. The band, having avoided the coffee, mirroring Karen Black's role in Airport 1975, find themselves forced to land the plane. For the video, each band member  portrays himself as well as several other roles, including an FBI agent who arrests the two mechanics.

Route 94 - My Love
 What genre is the music and how is it reflected in the video?
The genre of music is house, we can see it reflected in the video since its in a club with people dancing and getting close to eachother. we can also tell its house because of he dj set and the simple 4/4 beat.
 How do the images relate to the lyrics?
The lyrics talk about touching eachother and the subject of love, in the video we can see people dancing and grinding together with people making out and it also talks about getting high which relates to us seeing people taking drugs.
 How do the images relate to the music?
We can see all the people in the club dancing to the music and we can see the main person following this girl since they both find themselves attractive. It could be referring to them trying to find love.
 How is the artist presented to 'sell' them? How important are close ups?
We can only slightly see the artist being the dj at the start but this music is more attracted to teenagers so i tries to seduce and intice teenagers to go to clubs like that and listen to their music.
 Is there any reference to 'looking'? Are female presented voyeuristically?
Throughout the whole video we have the camera looking at everyone dacing exotically and kissing. This intices younger audiences since the females are alwys being stared up and down wherreas the men are not because this tries to atttract more males to the music.
 Can you spot any intertextual references? What are they? Is there a narrative?
It follows a young man (Jon Fleming) as he enters a club, dances with a young woman (Lorena Fain), leaves with her, they embrace in the rain and later at her house it is implied that they have sex. She then showers and he leaves. Just before the video ends, it turns back to normal colour and the young man is shown walking out in the rain.

Research: Magazine Advert Analysis

 Research: Magazine Advert Analysis

Digipacks

Digipacks

A digipak is a book-style type of CD packaging with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD attached to the inside. Digipaks are visually appealing and allow the artist to creatively convey the artist's song and image

What is included in a Digipak?

• Photographs - usually of the artist, however creative images that reflect the artist, and or the music's message can be used. 
• A track list - often including writing credits
• One box with a disk impression, in which the disk will be placed in front of 
• Information about the music label, musicians, a message from the artist, copyright and year of release
• Barcode and QR and a logo for the record company

Digipack Layout

This is a simple 6 page layout of a digipak, this is the type of layout I will be using for my digipak. I plan on using this design since a 6 panel digipak provides a larger canvas for CD artwork and information about the band. It also includes a stem to print the name of the band and album so it looks professional and can achieve full marks.

Example 1: Duran Duran

My first example of a digipak is this digipack for the remastered version of Duran Duran's album Rio. The original was released on the 10th of May 1982 and this remastered version was released on the 7th of  September 2009 as a Special Edition digipak.

The main purpose of this new digipack was to obviously remind people of the album. Since it was originally released in 1982 and was remastered in 2009, they are obviously still around as a band and so there is no need to put that actual band on the cover as everyone already knows them and they already have a star image motif.

The original can be seen on the left and the remastered digipak can be seen on the right. Both versions have kept along the more animated style in terms of the lady featured within both of them. However there is a lack of colour in the remastered version in comparison to the old; the new being predominately black whereas the older was red. The point in this could be to suggest how the band has changed within the 27 year gap between the digipaks. The band have matured more and are more official and so have gone for a more sophisticated black colour to represent this rather than the red they had before. It also brings a big contrast to the two albums and so people are more inclined to buy it if they are fans of Duran Duran as it's a different piece more merchandise (especially as it was labelled as a limited edition remastered digipak).

Example 2: The 1975

The main image on the front cover is a black rectangle with white lights around it creating a white glow, this simplistic album cover is quite appealing to it’s target audience, as they are a alternative/indie rock band, the dark greys and blacks are colours commonly associated with rock. The album cover doesn't’ contain any images of the band, just their logo of a black rectangle, this could be in order to attract a certain audience – their core fans who know them and respect them purely for their music and to attract people who are mainly interested into the music opposed to the bands looks which is stereotypical for boy bands- they gain a fanbase according to their visual appeal. This album cover is fairly simple , although it does not scream rock, there are some definite connotations to it.  

The text used is consistent throughout the album, the use of the light to make the bandname/album glow as well as the lighttend rectangle follows the theme of a contrast between light and dark which is consistent throughout the album design. The fact that the album is self-titled could be to show that because the band are fairly new they want to broadcast and advertise themselves as much as possible, so when people think of their music they think of the band and vice versa. The boldness of the album title shouts rock, with rock being a loud genre of music, the loud font is a definite representation of the genre. Never the less, sterotypically rock albums are quite bold and have a wide use of colours and bold images where as this album only has a stand-out name, the rest of it is visually lacking in colour.

The album follows a simple grayscale colour scheme, this is a huge juxtaposition to their music which is a mixture of synth pop and alternative rock. 

This colour scheme is consistent throughout all of the bands released material, EP’s etc. 

The CD is matte black which follows their rock style, alike the album cover the CD is simplistic but lacks vidsual beauty, there’s no text which is unlike a typical album. 

The back of the album contains a track listening and company acknoledgements, this is very typical of the back of an album, once again the grayscle colour scheme is used. 

The inside album booklet contains pictures of the band members, this helps appeal to a female audience who will find them attractive and will listen to their music because of this, this also reinforces their original fanbase who know who they are, this imagery can be seen as something of sentimental value to fans.

Research: Magazine advert analysis

Research: Digipak analysis

Research: Seminal Music Videos

Research Post - 3 Point Lighting

INTRO:
The 'Three Point Lighting Technique' is a standard method used in visual media such as video, film, still photography and computer-generated imagery. It is a simple but versatile system which forms the basis of most lighting. The technique uses three lights called the KEY LIGHT, FILL LIGHT AND BACK LIGHT. We used 3 Point Lighting when making our magazine advert as the lighting in the pictures we took specifically for our digipak and magazine advert varied in terms of lighting, this was because the lighting wasn't good at the time and so we improvised, and it turned out to have a really good effect linking our products together.

KEY LIGHT

This is the main light. It is usually the strongest and has the most influence on the look of the scene. It is placed to one side of the camera/subject so that this side is well lit and the other side has some shadow.




FILL LIGHT

This is the secondary light and is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is used to fill the shadows created by the key. The fill will usually be softer and less bright than the key. To achieve this, you could move the light further away. Another option is to set the fill light to more of a flood than the key.





BACK LIGHT

The back light is placed behind the subject and lights it from the rear. Rather than providing direct lighting (like the key and fill), its purpose is to provide definition and subtle highlights around the subject's outlines. This helps separate the subject from the background and provide a three-dimensional look.

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