Digipak Analysis

A Digipak is a different form of a cd cover, its a book style card case that folds out to unveil a plastic tray which can hold one or more cd's.Common conventions that are seen on digipak's include Barcodes, the same text font, same themes running throughout(either colour or background), album name or artist on the front and a song list on the back or inside.

Digipak analysis

View more presentations from cgilbert43.

DigiPak Adverts Analysis

Digipak adverts

View more presentations from cgilbert43.

Equipment List

Resources list:
Camera
Tripod
Steady cam
Dolly
Speakers/Music
Actors
Mac (Editing Software)
Location (see location list)
Copies of story boards and scripts for individual references

Conventions in Music Videos

In music videos, there are many conventions that are followed such as camera shots used and editing techniques. Firstly music videos tend to feature a lot of close up shots of the singer or band; this helps create a connection with the audience and to reflect the emotions of the song through facial expressions and the lip singing. But there are also medium shots and long shots used depending on the video, this shows the surroundings of the singer/band and lets you reflect in what is going on. Generally the camera tracks the artist/band as they perform, there also seems to be a lot of crane shots and tilts, this again breaks up the usual routine of a bland medium shot.

The editing process is also a fairly standard convention, which sees jump cuts as the main technique used, as there are many shots used and many scenes to keep the audience interested in the video. Fades are also used often as well either to end the video or to introduce a new scene. The lighting used, depending on the video is generally artificial especially when it’s in a studio setting but if they want to create a dark setting then they may use natural light.

Some generic conventions for the genre we are working in which is Rock/Indie include the scene and lighting to be black and white or set in a dark location, or even night. They also seem to be more performance based with the artist/band shown in the video throughout, and close ups and long establishing shots seem to be used often as well. The pace of the videos is generally fast, this works well with the instruments, which are usually shown such as drums and guitars.

Intertexuality

Intertexuality is the use of using or paying tribute to another text/thing and using it in your own production, either by paying respect to it or simply using it for fun. Using an intertextual reference helps make the video more enjoyable for the audience that recognise where the reference is from, also it can be enjoyable for us to use and put our own touch on it. An example of intertexuality in music videos are Robert Palmer's Addicted to love and Shania Twain's Man i feel like a women, these clearly are related and work together as the gender swaps but the background and costumes remain relatively the same, giving it a vintage effect, the homage of the mise en scene entertains the audience.

This occurs in every type of media text especially films, such parody films like Disaster Movie and Epic Movie take references from many movies, and even celebrities can be pulled into a music video such as in Eminem's We Made You, which is full of intertextual references from celebrities to television programs and even video games.





Another type of parody is when someone either alters the text or video but keeps it similar to the original, a parody or even intertexuality is usually done in comedic videos, an example is of this Katy Perry California Gurls parody. In this video the lyrics and visuals are changed to make it comedic but we still know the song it is based on as the video has the same theme such as the rapper which was Snoop Dog in the original and the use to similar costumes to the original video

For our video i like the style of The Script and The Killers, and the layering effect, also as a group we think that using text on screen in a different language may be a good idea, other movies that i have enjoyed or music videos i will use some feature of the video such as in The Script video science and faith, i like the layering and firework effect that is place upon it. Also the Snow Patrol song Chasing Cars features some camera work and actions we would like to use such as the laying on the rock outside and the bed.

A song i like is the song 'Kids' by MGMT, interestingly the music video on youtube which has 30 million+ views is actually a student music video that was created based on that song, it has more views than the official video. MGMT obviously heard about this and wanted the students to star in their next music video 'electric feel'. They star in the video wearing the same white face paint in which they war in their original student video, this way it is an intertextual reference to the bands other song 'Kids' and that specific student video.

Original student video 'Kids'

Appearance in 'electric feel'

Research into the Music Industry

How are videos made?

To make a music video they firstly have to plan for is going to happen, this can be done with storyboards and practice shots. Once the locations has been established or the green screen, depending on the video then the performer or band lip sing while the track is played through speakers so they can get a feel for the sing and know what emotions to show. Then once it is recorded the original studio recorded version is placed over the video and then they need to edit it together until it all syncs up.

Who are the main companies?

There are four main record labels that market the song and music videos; these are Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Group, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group. Also Syco company owned by Simon Cowell scout for talent and use people from television singing competitions such as the X Factor in which they win a recording contract. This produces profit for the larger companies and it is said that Syco produced 70% of the profit for Sony Music, with music talents such as Alexandra Burke and Leona Lewis.

Where can you find music videos?

Music videos are mainly found on the Internet or music television channels such as MTV, the most popular place that you can easily find music videos off all types would be YouTube where anyone can search. The popular website that has numerous channels on YouTube is VEVO, which is a joint venture with Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group and EMI licensing the content shown, there are over 45,000 videos on VEVO and they even censor language to appeal to advertisers such as McDonalds. But lately social networking sites like Facebook also have fan pages for particular bands/artists in which videos are shown there, and maybe some behind the scenes material as well.

What is the purpose of music videos?

Music videos are quite significant when a song is released, if the videos were good or unusual then people would want to watch the videos, which would gain popularity for the song and extra revenue for the singer, they use it as a promotional tool. It’s important for the audience as well as they like to see visuals when listening to the song, as some narrative or even performance videos like the lyrics to the video. Some artist spend millions on a music video, some have been known to reach up to $29 million dollars for Lady Gaga’s “You and I”, so this is proof that they are important to go with a song and to raise publicity for the song.

Categories of Music Videos

Performance based video

These are music videos, which show either the band or singer performing the song, but there sometimes can be added footage of events to break the footage up and keep the audience engaged. This video type is a low cost option as the majority of the footage is of the band and there is no need to use many locations or actors.

Killers- Somebody Told Me

Genre Rock

Narrative Based Video

This type of music video is fairly explanatory, its footage, which tries to tell a story and lets the audience follow what is going on, this can be done using either actors or the singer. The lyrics also generally link to the actions in the video and there also could be a performance based aspect of the video that breaks the sequence up, such as quick footage of the band playing, also if the song is specifically used in a movie clips of the film may also be shown such as Aerosmith’s, Don’t want to miss a thing.

Genre- Pop

Concept Based Video

Concept music videos generally do not have a storyline and center around a single idea, these videos generally are not as popular as the other two types as it, even the lyrics do not go with the idea, and is set on normally a single location involving either a person or an unusual idea.

George Harrison- When We Was Fab

Genre- Indie

Laura Mulvey's Theory and Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Laura Mulvey has proposed a theory that takes the idea of ‘sex appeal’ and puts it in the eyes of a typical heterosexual man. Such example included ‘California gurls’ by Katy Perry feat Iconic rapper Snoop Dogg, takes a concept of a board game and pictures Katy Perry as the character taking the role of a board game piece.

As the video progresses we see Katy Perry. We see her acting in two different ways. It is apparent that Katy Perry comes across as virginally innocent. This is quite clear due to the Alice in Wonderland-esque act Perry has put on. She is dressed in a sincere outfit that suggests to the audience she shows innocence. Throughout the video we learn that there could be another side to the character pictured. We quickly see a change in personality and it could become clear that the actions of the board game have changed the characters mindset.

It wouldn’t be that clear that Katy Perry is objectified. For a large amount of the time in the video, Snoop Dogg takes the place of a controller over this fantasy world we, as an audience, get sucked into. Whilst it would be critically incorrect to brand Katy Perry a ‘Whore’ in her second brash personality, there could be potential to brand Snoop Dogg a ‘Pimp’, often associated with vice and the idea that women are an object as opposed to human. This portrayal of Snoop Dogg justifies the Male Gaze theory.

Overall, this music video collates with the male gaze theory and the ‘sex appeal’ associated with the way a typical heterosexual man would view Katy Perry, accordingly. The typical attempt to perfectly present Katy Perry is shown when she is half nude surrounded by a flurry of pink colour to create a stand out effect.

In our Music video, we cannot really use the Male Gaze Theory to an extent because of the nature of our song genre, Rock. But what we can do is use extreme close ups and close ups to create a connection with the audience and maybe low angle shots as well .

Andrew Goodwin Theory

The Andrew Goodwin theory has spotted a number of key features that are used in a music video.

1. There is a connection between the lyrics sung, and the visual image, with the visual image representing the lyrics, or either amplifying them or contradicting them. For the song we used, I believe our group should be able to relate an image or sequence based upon the lyrics for example “lying on the floor”, could easily be done.

2. Also there is a relationship between the music and the visuals, the tone and atmosphere of the music reflects with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music. As most songs go the pace increases as it goes on, to represent this what we could do is steadily increase the number of cuts used or use different camera angles and shots to match the tone. In Katy Perry's video as she says 'firework' the visuals illustrate the words demonstrating this theory.

3. Numerous close up shots of the main artist/singer, this helps increase the popularity of the singer. I think this is an important feature in all music videos and that we must use it also, this is because it creates a connection with the viewer and is important to have a good actor, that can be comfortable with making eye contact with the camera. This offers escapism for our audience and makes them feel more involved, it gives the video a more professional touch as well, allowing the audience to see detail and expressions of the persons face.

4. Music videos demonstrate genre styles, bands on stage for Rock, and the materialistic nature of hip-hop, examples include the rock band The Cranberries who show their band during the music video zombie, and in the hip hop video for T.I whatever you like, showing a luxurious jet lifestyle. As our song is a Rock type song, we may have a band present, and as it’s this genre a narrative is usual to see, but whether we will use a narrative is undecided.

5. Intertextual references which I will go into further detail in a separate post on the blog to give further examples and explain how we might use this technique.

6. Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females and reference to the notion of looking, such as spying or looking at the camera or reflections. It is used to make the video look more attractive aiming mainly at males, this relates to the male Gaze theory and even Laura Mulvey’s Theory about female influence.

Focus Group

The feedback we received for the use of a narrative within our music video were well received by the audience asked. Our idea was met with some criticism but this was due to some believing that the idea may be too cheesy but this is something we will try very hard to avoid. Finally, escapism seemed to be the main reason for the participants for watching music videos and we will be using our characters in order to not only provide this, but to provide relation also. We will ultimately use what we have learnt about our audience's habits to create the best music video possible and cater to their needs and wants as close as possible too, so they are able to identify with the video.

Questionnaire and Feedback

For the first question we put to the participants of our questionnaire, the general consensus we received was that people watched music videos for the fantasy that they brought about and to escape to a fantasy world. Of course, this is one of the parts of the Uses & Gratifications Theory and therefore we will be looking to provide an element of escapism; which will make the strength of our plot and narrative imperative to the success of our music video.

Indie, Rock and R&B were the three most popular genres of music among the participants and since The Fray’s ‘You Found Me’ would be classified between Indie and Rock which means we would be tapping into a popular genre of song. Creativity, location and the mise-en-scene were the most important aspects of the participants’ favourite music videos, which will mean that our planning process will be of utmost importance and we will definitely keep these elements in mind.

The average of the scale of one to ten was exactly eight that means again our idea seems to be popular, but a more explicit gauge of this is found within the last question. As our AS Media idea was not tapping into a popular genre of film, this meant that there was a slight disadvantage before we had created our film opening but here a more popular genre may play into our hands and allow us to be more creative accordingly.

The responses to the last question were varied to say the least. The majority of respondents said that they would watch it but it would depend on the cheesiness and effect of the music video itself. In addition, two further answers questioned how they would be forced to pick a side within the depicted relationship and another answer stated it would have to be thoroughly entertaining. Therefore we will have to bear in mind its effect on the audience and to avoid clichés at all times, but the responses of our target audience have been undoubtedly positive and this data will be useful when creating the video.

Target Audience

The Target Audience for our music video, The Fray's, 'You Found Me' would be prominantly male, aged around 15-25, but also females would be able to watch it as there are both sexes in the video, therfore they would be able to relate to any one of the characters they chose and side with them. as the age group concerned would be mainly students or city workers we need to bear this in mind when making our vidoe, and reflect this in the video, maybe using a younger actor.

with the video we aim to meet some uses and gratifications such as identification, entertainment, social interaction and escapism, we cna meet these by making the video unusual and interesting so this would cause people to talk about the video and entertain them, and by making the actors the same age as the target audience and putting them in situations that are likely for the age group.

The social demographic that the video is aimed at is likely to be group E to C2 as the audience
would be mainly students or low level city workers. As the genre is Rock, other likely bands that our audience would listen to would be bands like The Script, Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Snow Patrol, Oasis and many others, therfore if we reflect similiar characterisitcs of these bands we would succesffully target our audience and they would enjoy the video.

In regards to Maslov's Hierachy of Needs, the upper four tiers will be covered, with security, as the audience will be uncertain what is going on during the video, also freindship and sexual intimacy will be a factor, as the relationship between the characters can be identified by the audience.

Three Music Videos Analysed

Franz Ferdinand- No You Girls (2009) - Independent Rock

Right from the start we see a low angle shot of a women’s legs, causing questions to who is this and then we see a close up shot of the main singer, jump cuts are used while these are shown, this dazzles the audience and causes a mystery around the video. The shots last generally less than one second; this is to satisfy the utopian theory of entertainment to keep the audience entertained. The video uses a mix of subjective and objective filming, we see many women wearing short skirts, and this reflects Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze theory, which objectifies women and sees the man as the powerful one.

The women are sexualised, they wear revealing outfits and dance or go into revealing (sexualised) positions, with some wearing large dresses which are blown up revealing their legs, this may present women as vulnerable but also appeals to the male target audience and reflects th emale gaze theory. The women are used as filming tools, holding the camera to give us a point of view shot and a subjective view to make us feel as though we are there. The costumes of the women are unusual, there is a large unusual dress as well as grey bikini like outfits with slanted triangle hats, this is to help entertain the audience and keep them engaged in the video, the unusual is interesting. Escapism is also one theory used, the unusual costumes and the POV shots help us escape reality and join the video. The majority off shots are of the women, and only one of the band members, the singer is mainly filmed, but there are wide shots that include the rest of the band and even some POV shots of them which, with the close ups help us engage with the band.

The target audience is between 17- 25 and is male dominated B, C1 and C2 social demographic. This video is a performance video rather than a narrative video so it does not tell a story the main singer is presented as an icon, with close ups and women filming him, showing he is important. The lyrics also link with the visuals which supports Andrew Goodwin’s theory, such as when “No” is repeated it is printed out also when “kiss me” is sung it turns red which has connotations with love and with the white weeding dress getting stained suggest love goes wrong which is supported by the tilted camera at the end.

The Script, We Cry (2008) Pop/Rock

At first we establish that it is set in an American city, we see an extreme close up of the side of the singer’s face, which makes us want to know who it is. The introduction uses very quick edit cuts to give us an idea of the location and who the main singer is going to be. We then see a medium shot of the lead singer as he walks down the road and then a tracking shot as the singing starts as though we are following him, using subjective filming. We then have close and medium side and front shots of the singer, which makes us feel as though we are there. After this part the rule of thirds is engaged, the singer switches to the corner left of the screen, which allows us to see what is behind him and his surroundings, maybe suggesting he is leaving things in the past.

The band do appear sometimes together, this suggest that the narrative story focuses mainly on the singer as the majority of shots are of him and the mise en scene which suggest we are all the same, such as a homeless man and a women and a child, we are all equal. The filming of close ups while the band performs helps keep the audience entertained and breaks up the footage outside. The surroundings suggest a working class society where we all struggle with images of abandoned building and graffiti, which could suggest the target audience of a lower social demographic who can identify with the song. Although women are not represented in the video, the lyrics suggest women are less superior “women in a man’s world”. The video ends with a pan over the shoulder shot of the singer as the sun is going down, maybe telling us to look into the future and to forget about the past.

Snow Patrol, Chasing Cars (2006) Alt Rock

In this video there is a narrative. The man in the video is trying to find love; he travels to many places around the city looking for her. Throughout the video, the idea of loneliness is portrayed throughout, there is always an empty space next to him, and to portray the emotion there is a lot of close ups of his face and lets the audience potentially identify with him who have been in the same situation. A technique they have used to enforce this idea is the rule of thirds such as at the start as he is sitting he is in the corner of the screen and we can see an empty seat next to him, this helps portray the loneness.

This video also supports Andrew Goodwin’s theory, the lyrics “if I lay here”, this is represented by him lying on the floor in each location. An example, which reinforces his insignificance, is when he lies near an escalator and people walk past him as though he is not there. Most shots are a mixture of close, medium and long shots with fade in and out as well quick edits. A particular shot that is effective is when the character crosses the road and he lies in the road and there is a low angle, side shot I think this is effective as it shows the cars waiting for him and it seems he does not care anymore.

He physically represents the lyrics of the chorus, ‘If I lay here’, by lying down, this represent the idea of Andrew Goodwin's theory linking the lyrics to the visuals. He changes this common motif by changing the location so the it does not become boring to the audience. The shots where he is to the far side of the screen shows how lonely he may feel. The final shot of him lying by himself emphasizes the idea of loneliness. The aerial shot of the bed makes it look as though there should be someone lying next to him; this in a way makes the audience feel sorry for the singer.