Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Question One

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A code and convention that Andrew Goodwin states is present in real music videos is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, for instance in Beyonce’s If I Were a Boy video there is a strong relationship present. As Beyonce is portraying this idea of her being the man by showing herself illustrating typically male characteristics for example ignoring a call from someone they love. Similarly in Chris Brown’s Yeah x3 video Chris Brown portrays Andrew Goodwin’s idea of a relationship between the lyrics and visuals by having the people in his video stand up when he sings the lines ‘get on the floor’. I have followed this convention by having shots of my artist singing the song for example when the lyrics say I am the one that you can depend on, I have different shots showing my artist singing this line.

The theorist David Buckingham believes that genre is not simply given that it is in a constant process of negotiation and change. I have carried forth this idea in my own music video, as clearly I have challenged the code and conventions of the R&B genre thus changing the genre. In my earlier research I found that a dominant code and convention of the R&B genre was expensive mise-en-scenes. The locations of the R&B genre specifically I found are very expensive and flashy, for example in Trey Songz and Chipmunk’s video ‘Take Off’ the location is exotic as there is palm trees, sand and sunshine and mixed in with this is the costume of expensive looking sunglasses and jeans. My music video challenges this modern day convention as the locations aren’t exotic or expensive, as they are natural and simplistic orientated. For example I have part of my narrative out in a bandstand, to connote to the audience how natural the relationship between my artist and the girl could be if she only gave him a chance. However this does fit into the codes and conventions of the R&B genre in the late 1980’s early 1990’s whereby the artist is mostly if not soley based in the outside for example R Kelly’s I Believe I Can Fly music video. Whereby he spends most of the music video outside in a field to make a connection of how natural and simplistic his music video and song were. I have incorporated this idea in my own music video through having all of my narrative scenes outside and having my performance being majority based outside, for example having my artist against a brick wall singing.

Theorist Steve Neale states that genres are not systems and that some conventions have to be kept whereas others have to developed to keep audiences entertained. I have taken this theory and incorporated it into my own music video, for example I have taken conventions from the 1990’s whereby the artist is up against a coloured background and I have placed my own artist against several coloured background’s. I have developed conventions also by instead of just having one coloured background which is typically found in music videos I have four (red, green, pink and orange). The way that I have edited my music video fits in with Neale’s idea of using certain conventions, as a typical convention of an R&B video is to have slow paced editing, I have used this editing technique in my music video by editing my music video in such a way that the change between scenes is slow. 






  How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Question two

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I have represented my artist through the use of mise-en-scene and in particular costume as being a very down to earth and normal guy. Using the costume of either checked shirts or plain shirts in my music video I carried forth this representation by having my artist wear clothes that are in trend and popular at the minute. By having my artist wear up to the minute clothing I represented him as being down to earth as he follows the common trend therefore connoting a sense of normality to the audience. I then transferred this representation through to my digipak and magazine advert by having my artist wear a checked colour shirt underneath a plain jumper. As my artist naturally has the tall dark and handsome look because he is 6 ft with dark features I wanted to build on this natural image of him, through my cinematography. In my music video I have mostly used close up shots and extreme close up shots to illustrate the natural stereotype that my artist has going for him The representation of my artist that I created in my ancillary texts is different to that of the one that I created in my music video. As the images I have used are black and white it connotes a sense of two different people to my artist as there are two different colours. Furthermore as white is linked to a sense of purity and graciousness and the colour black has a feel of darkness and a sense of power to it. I wanted these two combinations to be entwined into the representation of my artist to hint at a sense of mystic about who my artist is. I wanted to link this to the representation of my artists. This whole idea of black and white also connotes a sense of two different people and the representation that to be able to know one side of my artist you have to know the other. I purposely created a different representation from my music video through to my ancillary texts, as I wanted to show that my artist has many different sides to him. Hence why I have represented him as being a down to earth, naive young romeo in my music video but when it came to my ancillary texts I have represented him as a more vivid and powerful character. In my music video I have portrayed my artist as being a more submissive whereas in my ancillary texts I have represented my artist as a more dominating character. However I have carried through some of the same representations of my artist through from my music videos to my ancillary texts.In both I have represented my artist as being romantic, in my anciliary texts I created this effect by having a black and white affect which can be associated with old black and white movies which were mostly in the romantic genre. In my actual music video I created this affect by having my artist play the guitar, which is typically associated with a romantic gesture towards a girl. From the use of the colour fonts in my ancillary I carried forth the representation of romance as I used a handwritten font, which can be linked to writing a romantic letter (love letter) which builds on the representation of my artist being romantic. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Question three

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Constantly throughout the production of my music video and ancillary texts I have learned, used and adapted my audience feedback. I used audience feedback right from the beginning of my production, when I was looking into my target audience and what they expected to see in a R&B music video. I learned from my audience feedback that my audienc would like the artist and anyone else in the video to be covered up as in typical R&B videos there is a lot of nudity. IHaving learnt this I made sure that in my music video and my ancillary texts that there was not any nudity whether it be from my artist or the girl in my music video. Furthermore from the survey that I created for my music video draft I learnt that the flashbacks were not clear enough for the audience. When it came to improving my music video to make the flashbacks more clear I added a black and white effect to the flashbacks to illustrate that this was the past and that they were flashbacks. Additionally I found out from the same survey that only 9 out of the 15 people who took my survey felt that they understood the romance genre, once I learned this I improved my music video by adding a romance effect both at the start and end of my music video to highlight that this music video was indeed part of the romance genre. From the survey that I created for my digipak draft I found that people thought the music video fitted in the Indie genre as well as the R&B genre, to improve this I included more R&B genre conventions. Such as a slow pace in the editing, close up’s and coloured backgrounds. When it came to my magazine draft I learnt from my feedback that the music genre of R&B wasn’t the most dominant in the magazine despite it having the majority of votes. I reacted to this by looking at other R&B genre magazine adverts and then making improvements to my own that made it look like it fitted into the R&B genre. From the survey that I created for my digipak draft I found that people thought the music video fitted in the Indie genre as well as the R&B genre, to improve this I included more R&B genre conventions. Such as a slow pace in the editing, close up’s and coloured backgrounds R&B genre more than it did before.



 How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Overall the media technologies that I have used in my productions, include iMovie, Photoshop, Illustrator, Paint, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Web 2.0 in the form of Blogger, Survey Monkey, Slide Share, YouTube, a Sony video camera and tripod, a Cannon HD video camera and tripod, a Nikon camera and a Samsung camera. When it came to the recording of my music video I used both a HD and a non HD camera to do the filming. I used the HD camera to record the performance bit of my music video, I did this to create the effect of my artist having clarity and conviction in what he was singing about. As the HD camera is more clear and focused I hoped this would reflect the clarity and determination that the lyrics reflect and my artist sings with.

For the construction of my digipak and magazine advert I used both Illustrator and Photoshop. For the first drafts of my digipak and magazine advert I used only Photoshop to construct these. I did this because I had more experience using Photoshop and I felt not only more confident using it but I also felt that I knew the capabilities of using Photoshop and what could and couldn’t be done on Photoshop. However after I had done the first drafts of my digipak and magazine advert I decided to switch to Illustrator as I felt that the image that I was trying to portray of my artist wasn’t being achieved by solely using Photoshop. When I did use Photoshop I used a range of technologies such as cropping the image, distorting the colour, erasing the background (using the magic wand tool) and getting rid of the red eye of my artist. On Illustrator I used technologies such as feathering the image of my artist, having an effect of inner glow and outer glow on my artist and changing the greyscale of the image. For the design of my final digipak and final advertisement I found the middle ground and used both Photoshop and Illustrator, I did this because I liked different aspects of each technology for instance I liked the effect of feathering the edges around my artist on Illustrator and on Photoshop I liked the easiness the quickness but more importantly I liked the preciseness that I got from using Photoshop to erase the background of my image. Also in the creation of my ancillary texts I used a mixture of both technologies to create my titles, similarly to how I used both these technologies on my images I used Photoshop to edit the background and then I also used Photoshop to change the colour of my font and then I placed my title onto Illustrator where I was constructing my digipak and magazine advertisement.

However when I was filming the narrative for my music video I decided not to use a HD camera because the quality of the camera that I did use wasn’t as defined and clear as the HD camera was and I wanted to transfer this into the idea of uncertainty and the future not having defined or set in stone onto my narrative. I had already decided that I wanted my narrative to be flashbacks and the quality of the camera helped to create this feel of flashbacks as it set a tone and look of memories being revisited. I used I-movie for my animatic, my rough cut and my final draft of my music video, I did this because I knew the technologies that I wanted to use and I –movie had those technologies so I decided to stick to I-movie instead of switching to Final Express.

On I-movie I created effects such as making my narrative black and white. I did this by right clicking the clip I wanted until I was presented with a menu of three options: video, audio and clip. I then clicked on clip and went to effect where I was given a range of effect options and I clicked on the black and white effect. I used the black and white effect because I wanted to highlight that the narrative is flashbacks which sum up the relationship that my artist and the girl has. Also on I-Movie I used the romantic effect, to highlight that there is a romantic relationship between the artist and the girl. Furthermore I used this effect to illustrate the general romantic genre of my music video. To create this effect I right clicked the clip I wanted until I was presented with a menu of three options: video, audio and clip. I then clicked on clip and went to effect where I was given a range of effect options and I clicked on the romantic effect. I also used I-movie to pick specific bits and periods out of what I filmed to create my music video. For instance the performance where my artist is against the green background in total is 5 minutes and 25 seconds however using I-movie I was able to select and use just 9 seconds in my opening lyric.

Presenting my work on Blogger has been useful not only because it is on the internet so therefore I could easily access it anywhere e.g. at home or school as well as when I was on the go via on my mobile phone. Blogger also helped me to edit my work easily as it was computerised so I could easily delete and rewrite mistakes that I had made and place pictures. Furthermore using blogger has helped me develop my own skills in posting work on the internet, for instance I have learned how to post survey’s that people will be able to do on my blog for example the survey I created to get feedback on my draft magazine draft. Which I did by creating the survey on Survey Monkey embedding the code onto my blog and clicking upload.

Using Survey Monkey to get my feedback was very beneficial as it was not only quick and easy to use, in terms of designing the questionnaire and placing it onto my blog but also to see the results the clearly. As Survey Monkey not only analyses the results for you but it also lets you see what a person answered to all the questions. This makes it beneficial in terms of clarity i.e. the presentation of the results and the understanding of the results.

The use of YouTube has been very high in my production featuring in my research, planning and evaluation stages. I used YouTube firstly in the research stage to look at and analyse different R&B videos such as J-Lo’s Im Glad video and Usher’s U Got It Bad video. In my planning stage I used YouTube to research how an artist’s image is developed and changed through their music videos, this I did through my star image analyse of Usher. Lastly in the evaluation of my music video I used You Tube as the prosumer to post my music video as the producer and also to get feedback on my music video. Additionally You Tube has been a very useful tool that I have used when I have been stuck in how to post something on my blog. For example when I first started posting videos on my blog that I had watched in relation to my research, planning and evaluation I had no idea how to post those videos on my blog. So I watched YouTube tutorials to help me understand how to post videos onto my blog.

Music Video Final

Below is the final draft of my music video.

Digipak Final

I have placed below my final digipak.

Magazine Advert Final

Below is my final magazine draft.

Digipak Draft Graphs and Analysis

After I had enough people had taken my survey, I collected my results, analyses them and put the analysis in a presentation along with the graphs that Survey Monkey designed of my results. The presentation that I made is placed below.

Digipak Draft Graphs and Analysis

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Magazine Advert Draft Presententation

Once enough people had taken my questionnaire on my magazine advert draft I looked at the results that I got. I then analysed the results and put the analysis and the graphs that Survey Monkey produced onto a presentation. I have placed the presentation below.

Magazine Advert Draft Graphs and Analysis

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Magazine Advert Draft Questionnaire

To get feedback on my magazine advert draft I created this questionnaire below.

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Magazine Advert Draft

I have placed my magazine advert draft below.

Digipak Draft Questionnaire

To get feedback on my digipak draft I created this survey on SurveyMonkey.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Draft Digipak

I have posted below my draft digipak.

Photos

Below I have posted all the photos that I have taken for my digipak/magazine advert.

Photo Shoot One

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Photo Shoot Two

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Effects for my Music Advertisment

Before I got started on editing and adding effects to my actual photo for my music advertisement I decided that I should first play around with the different effects that photoshop has. The results of my experiments are below.

The Fresco Effect 

I used the effect of Fresco which can be found in the artist section. I think this effect makes my artist look more rugged as it brings out the artists thick black eyelashes and enhances his hair.

The Watercolour Effect 

The watercolour effect can also be found in the artist section, I really like this effect as I think that it makes my artist look like a picture.

The Sumi-e Effect 

The Sumi-e effect I found in the Brush Strokes section i like this effect as it makes my artist seem blurred and blended. 

The Chalk and Charcoal Effect 

I like this effect because it makes my artist black and grey and I think that kind of effect would fit in really well with the R&B genre. 

Magazine Adverts

I have placed below other magazine adverts that I looked at as research into my own magazine advert.

Plan B Magazine Advert

The name of the artist is Plan B, this instantly connotes different questions in the audiences mind. For example what reason does he have for hiding his name? Moreover a sense of mystery is placed around the artist; as they have not told the audience his name it makes the audience think who is he? Why will he not tell us his name? As a result an air of mystery surrounds the artist. Furthermore as the name of the artist isn’t an actual name like Joe or Bob but rather a saying this stops the audience having a personal relationship with the artist; as we the audience do not know the artists name. Additionally having the name of the artist as a saying indicates to the audience that this artist is wise as they use sayings and metaphors. The actual colours and font size not only increases the sense of mysteriousness around the artist but also gives a sense of boldness and arrogance to the artist.   The colour red has connotations of anger and violence; by having the name of the artist in red symbolises that the artist himself is quite an angry person and this can be reflected in his music.

The title of Plan B’s album is The Defamation Of Strickland Banks. As the word defamation connotes to something wrong being done to a person this leads the audience to believe that Strickland Banks is someone’s name. This idea of something wrong being done to Strickland Banks lets the audience know that the album is not only going to be focused around a person called Strickland Banks but also about what wrong was done against him. The colours used are black, white and red, these colours not only clash but they also compliment each other and show different sides of each other. The colour red has connotations to violence and anger, the colour black has connotations to darkness but the colour white has connotations to purity and honesty. Such contrasting colours give a sense of the different sides off Plan B and how much of a variety he is.

There are two images present on this magazine advert one is of the artist himself and the other is of his album. The one of Plan B is not as dominant as one might expect; as it is located in the bottom right hand corner. In his hand Plan B is holding an old fashioned mic, this connotes a number of things firstly that Plan B is a person who has old fashioned values. Moreover it could also point towards the genre that Plan B is in, some sort of soul or jazz.  Additionally it can connote that music is important to Plan B and that he cannot bare to let go of the mic. The image itself is black, grey and white and this could have been done for a number of reasons. Firstly to illustrate that there are many different sides of Plan B, but having the image in three different colours fits into the three different colours for the writing. Clearly a theme of three is occurring which could indicate that his music could be about a three way love triangle. Furthermore as it is only a side shot of Plan B this connotes to the audience that Plan B isn’t someone you would pay attention , someone that you would only catch’s glimpse of from the side as you walk past him. However the fact that Plan B is holding the mic in his hand it can connote that Plan B is either singing or getting ready to sing.

Jessie J Magazine Advert

I can instantly tell that the name of the artist is Jessie J, as the name is in gold letters, its bold and italic and furthermore it is in handwritten font style. This all indicates to me that the name of the artist is Jessie J, this is built on by the position of her name. As the name is placed directly below the only image on the magazine advert this makes it even more concrete that the name of the artist is Jessie J. The actual name Jessie J connotes to the viewer a sense of familiarity, as the name gives a sense of being a shortened version of her actual name-sort of like a nick name. This connotation instantly brings a sense of connection between the artist and the audience as we feel that we are close enough to her to be told her nickname.. Additionally the name Jessie J connotes a feel of Jessie J having a personal security in herself, a sense bravery that they can share this intimate detail about themselves with the rest of the world and not really caring what any one has to say about it.

It is best to describe the font of the name as bold, daring and special. This is being connoted to the audience as the font is big, it is bold and it is placed in the centre of the magazine advert. The audience gets a sense of boldness as the font is big enough that it gives a sense of drawing the audience in, a sense of wanting to be looked and not caring about being judged. The boldness that is connoted through the font fits in with the actual name of the artist as the name already connotes a sense of self-assurance and confidence. Furthermore as the name of the artist is in italics it draws the attention of the audience even further into the magazine advert. As constant attention is being brought onto the artist through her name it could under the surface connote a sense of the artist being an attention seeker. Furthermore as the colour that her name is in is gold this could connote that Jessie J is a star, as the colour gold has connotations to treasure, stardom and brightness.

The title of the album is Who You Are, this fits into the image that has already been built up for the audience. This connotes that not only is Jessie J is confident in who she is but that she wants other to be comfortable with who they are. The fact that the title of the album is directly below Jessie J’s name signifies to the audience that being who you are is something very important to the artist, this helps to build a strong relationship between the audience and the artist. The colour of the title is white and this connotes to the audience that Jessie J is very pure and trustworthy in her ‘motto’ of being who you are and that she just wants people to be happy in their own skin. Moreover this connotes to the audience a very down to earth person who just wants the best for everyone. Additionally as the title is in italics just like the name of the artist tells the audience that Jessie J is trying to make herself and her message of being who you are stand out.

There is only one image on the magazine advert and not only is it off the artist herself but kit is also a dominant image. Firstly this image is dominant in case a person didn’t know who the artist was and by having such a dominant image on the advert shows that this is the artist. Secondly this image is dominant for the purpose of letting the audience have an instant idea of what the artist is like; this dominant image connotes a sense of being larger than life. The overall mise-en-scene of the artist gives a sense of fierceness about them. In particular the costume of Jessie J is black, as her top is black and this instantly connotes to the audience a sense of danger, darkness and fierceness as the colour black has connotations to this. Moreover as Jessie J’s top has holes in it this could connote armour, as Jessie J’s pose is one fierceness and preparing for a battle and the holes on Jessie J’s top give credit to this connotation.  Furthermore the theme of the colour black is carried through to the artist’s nails, which are not only black but long and pointed. A persons nails is a characteristic of a person, the fact that they are black carries through the theme of danger, the fact that the nails are pointed connotes to the audience that Jessie J is preparing herself for a fight. This is because nails can be used as a weapon and the fact that Jessie J has them out and showing tells the audience that Jessie J is preparing for a fight as she has got her ‘weapons’ out in the open. Jessie J’s eyes are made to stand out, with the black eye makeup and the paleness of them; this has been done to connote to the audience that Jessie J can and does stand out. Eyes are said to be the windows to a person’s sole and as Jessie J’s eyes instantly draws the audience’s attention to them it gives a sense of looking into her sole and learning personal things about the artist. Jessie J’s hair is straight, styled and has a certain gloss to it, this connotes to the audience a variety of things. The straightness of her gives her an air of strictness and determination as it frames her face and makes her looks like she has got a purpose and she has enough willpower and strength to reach her purpose. The glossiness of Jessie J’s hair connotes a sense of professionalism but moreover it represents that Jessie J will shine. Additionally the facial expression of Jessie J connotes a lot to the audience; a sense of determination, fierceness and also a sense of vulnerability are portrayed.  

There are only three colours used in this magazine advert and they are black, white and gold, I think these colours have been chosen to symbolise three different sides or personalities of the artist. The colour white symbolises the purity and honesty of Jessie J, the colour black connotes to the audience the darkness of Jessie J. Lastly the colour gold shows the audience the star and brightness of Jessie J. There is three different colours to symbolise that there are different sides of Jessie J, some which may be liked and some which may not be liked. But as Jessie J is confident in who she is, she isn’t afraid of people seeing the goodness and the badness in her. Once again linking into the confidence and boldness that Jessie J has, which is built up with the tittle, of the artist and the album, font and colours. Furthermore three different colours has been chosen to show that there are conflicts in Jessie J just like any normal person, for example the white battles black as not only are they opposite colours but they have opposite connotations. Furthermore as these three different contrasting colours work well and blend in together it symbolises it shows that the conflicting sides of Jessie J work well together and enable her to not only produce the best music that she can but to also be the best that she can.

We the audience are not told who the target audience is, however this in itself does connote something interesting to the audience. The first thing that is connotes to the audience is that Jessie J sells her own music and not the record company. As the use of putting record company names and symbols on the magazine advert is to appeal to people who like a certain record label. For example a person who likes Sony music is more likely to buy a Song music album over a Death Jam records album. Furthermore the target audience for Jessie J and her album is a range of people, based on the image of Jessie J first appearances would indicate that the audience is goth. However based on the title of the song Price Tag and the name of the album Who You Are the target audience appears to be people who like more mellow and inspirational music/songs.

Music Video Draft Questionnaire

To get feedback on my music video draft, I created this survey in SurveyMonkey.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Music Video Draft

Below is the first draft of my music video.

Further Research for my Digipak

In my research for how I want my digipak to look I decided to concentrate on what type of font I want, below are digipaks that I think fit nicely into the R&B genre and also fonts that I would consider using for my digipak.

Example One

Example Two  

Example Three

Example Four 

Usher Digipak Analysis

The name of the artist is Usher and this connotes a very personal relationship between the artist and the audience as the name Usher gives the impression of a first name. The fact that a first name basis is established between the audience and the artist indicates what type of music Usher might produce. It seems that the music that Usher produces is personal as the first name basis is produced, it further seems like the music that will be on this album is going to be very honest and out in the open for the audience to interpret as they wish to. Furthermore the name Usher instantly connotes to the audience a Usher in a wedding this can be interpreted by the audience as the artist ushering the audience in to listen to his music. Once again building on this idea that the type of music which makes this album up is very open, personal and honest. The title of this album is 8701, having numbers as solely then title of the album is very unusual for an artist to do. Indicating to the audience that Usher is not similar to other artists; that he is trying to distinguish himself from other type of artists.  Additionally the numbers are not an obvious reference to anything and can be interpreted in many different ways by the audience. This in turn further indicates that Usher’s music whilst being very open and honest can be interpreted in many different ways.

The front cover of the digipak consists of only one image and that is of the artist himself and whilst the image isn’t in the middle of the front cover it does manage to take up the whole front cover. The position of Usher is strange for an R&B artist as most R&B artists look out of the cd out to the audience but Usher isn’t looking out at the audience in fact he is looking to the left. This could symbolise many things for instance that he is looking to the left as that is where his future is. It is additionally connoted that Usher is looking at his future as he right arm is pointing to the right, it could mean that whatever to the right is holding him back and he is holding his arm out to stop them, to warn them off from ruining his future. Another way Usher’s image could be connoted is that Usher is looking out at the horizon at things to come, the fact that Usher is standing under a sun makes this the most likely explanation. Usher’s facial expression looks very stern like he is preparing for something that is making he feel the need to not let his emotions get in the way of what he has got to do. The mise-en-scene of Usher is very stereotypical in the sense that it fits the 2000/2001 R&B scene perfectly. Usher’s shirt is opened in the middle and shows quite a bit of his chest this has been done deliberately as Usher’s image at this time was very sexually orientated. Usher was all about showing of his ‘six pack’ and appealing to women in general from early teens to the older generation of women and the lack of clothing that Usher has on fits into and builds on his image. However Usher’s lack of shirt also helps to build on the idea about his music being open as it not only symbolises but also sends out the message that he is getting things off his chest. The shirt could represent what was holding him back and the fact that the shirt looks like it is in the process of coming of could symbolise that Usher is in the process of getting rid of the past. Usher’s belt looks like some sort of animal skin for instance a snake skin, this firstly connotes to the audience wealth as snake skin belts are expensive. However it could also have a deeper meaning as snakes shed their skin so Usher could be trying to send out the message that he is shedding his old skin and letting go of the past. This certainly fits in with the idea that the idea of Usher letting go of the past which is built on with Usher’s top half. Usher wearing jeans is typical of an R&B artist and this could be a way in which Usher is identifying himself as a certain genre of artist. Identifying himself with the R&B genre gives another clue to the audience as to what type of music Usher sings and that idea is love/romance songs.

The front colours on the front cover of the digipak connote a lot to the audience; the main colour is orange and this looks like this colour is washing over the artist and the cover. This orange colour could be from the sun that is above Usher and the main connotation that this brings to the artists mind is one of pressure that Usher is under some sort of pressure. Moreover as the sun and orange effect connotes to the audience a sense of heat, as the artists shirt is undone, his wearing glasses and there is a sheen of sweet over Usher in the sense that he is hot. This image of heat could be related to his music, it could be denoting that Usher is under a lot of heat, a lot of pressure to get whatever is on his mind off of his chest.  The font of the title 8701 is in big letters and bold font, I think this has been done to connote what type of artist Usher is. That he has a lot of presence and is very bold, this links into earlier connotations that the artist has been given that Usher is very honest in his music. The position of the title dominates the top half of the front cover, this has been done as it means that the title is in the clouds that are present on the front cover. This has been deliberately to connote a sense of being sky high-up in the clouds, as the title has no obvious meaning it can only be something personal to the artist and therefore the positioning could reflect something of the artist.

Similarly to the front cover there is only one image on the back cover and that is once again of the artist Usher. The long shot is positioned exactly in the middle so that the back cover is dominated by this image. Usher’s back being shown to the audience is unusual for R&B artists however when put into the context with the rest of the back cover it makes perfect sense. Usher is positioned looking over a city factor in Usher’s fist raised in the air triumphantly suggests that Usher is on top of the world. Moreover as the colour of the background is that of a sunset it could also be connoted that the sun is setting on an old age and that Usher is seeing it out triumphantly glad that he has made it.The mise-en-scene is entirely different from that of the front cover, the white t-shirt and baggy jeans that Usher is wearing are a typical R&B convention.

The audience can easily tell what genre this artist is even if they are not a fan of Usher; that this alum fits into R&B for a numerous amount of reasons. Firstly the title of the songs for example ‘U Got It Bad’ ‘How Do I Say’ and ‘I Can’t Let You Go’ all connote love and romance and the R&B genre is closely linked to this type of song. The main type of song in the R&B genre is where the guy tries to win over the girl with emotional and romantic lyrics. Secondly the front cover connotes the R&B genre is Usher’s mise-en-scene, wearing one diamond earring is a strong connotation to the R&B scene furthermore Usher wearing a ring is also another connection the R&B genre. Generally Usher fits into this genre as he has the image of an R&B male singer e.g. the earring, the clothes and the dance routines. The main conventions of this genre include a dance routine, minimal clothing, flashy jewellery and expensive locations and cars. On the front cover of this digipak nearly all the boxes are ticked, there is minimal clothing, flashy jewellery, expensive location and a dance routine is implicated from the position of Usher.

Ne-Yo Digipak Analysis

Name of Artist- Ne-Yo

Title of CD- because of you

Executive Producer- The Carter Administration

Record Label- The Island Def Jam Music Group

Date Recorded and Released- 2007

There is only one image on the front cover and that image is an extreme close-up of Ne-Yo. Although you can only see the one side of his face there is a lot of emotion to be seen. The fact that his head is bowed gives a number of impressions to the audience- it looks like he id hiding his face from the world or he is too afraid to face the world. This view is further proven as it can be seen that Ne-Yo is wearing a hats if to shield himself from the world. Ne-Yo’s facial expression comes across as sad, his eyes looking down give the impression that he id trying to hide his emotion from the world; it’s almost as if he is too afraid to let the world see his sadness. Half the front cover is blank and grey with Ne-Yo’s image being faded in approximately about half way in. This affect give’s Ne-Yo a ghost like appearance. This links into the impression if Ne-Yo being sad, it seems like Ne-Yo is trying not to be too dominant or in your face like some other artists do. The ghost like effect furthers this idea that even though Ne-Yo isn’t always at the forefront he is always there even if you don’t notice him at first. The ghost like effect also implies that something has happened to make him start to fade away to become a ghost; it is almost like he is dying inside. This ties in with the title of the album which is ‘because of you’. The title is very simple however it captures the audience as it makes the audience question the title as there are hundreds of possibilities and connotations to this. Is it a positive thing? Is it a negative thing? What actually happened because of the person?  Who is this person? Friend? Family? These are just some of the questions raised by the title.  The title ‘because of you’ is a very simple title just like the photo on the front cover and just like the front cover image it brings hundreds of questions to mind. This is very telling about the artist that although on the surface Ne-Yo may seem simple or easily figured out however if you take the time he will show you that he isn’t easily figured out and that he will intrigue you. The font and size of the title helps to build on this idea that simplicity is more intriguing than complicated. Having the title in lower case letters as well as it being black builds on the image of simplicity even the font is very simple. Very interestingly though Ne-Yo’s name is in the colour gold; the colour gold brings instance connotations bright, star and rich. Ne-Yo’s name being in gold instantly associates himself with these gold connotations and this builds on the connotations which have already been built up about Ne-Yo: that he is a star. Furthermore that he doesn’t have to do anything fancy because he is naturally a star and that is why his name is in the lower case and in the top left hand corner.

Similarly to the front cover there is only one picture of Ne-yo on the back cover, however unlike the front cover this image goes from Ne-Yo’s head down to three quarters of his body and a tree can be seen behind him. Having three quarters of Ne-Yo’s body is like the opposite of n iceberg whereas instead of most of the burg being under water most of the ice burg is above water. So in this case most of Ne-Yo is above the water, meaning that he is very easy to read (this fits in well with the front cover image). Moreover the body language and facial expression of Ne-Yo is a very relaxed one with him leaning against something, this further builds on the image of Ne-Yo being very relaxed, the fact that he is leaning against something shows that it was a very relaxed and easily flowing album to make. However on the other hand the casual stance could indicate something else, it could indicate that this album was a very stressful album to make (which would tie in with the title of something big happening) and now that he has got everything off his chest he can just relax (hence the casual stance) and breath. A tree instantly connotes nature and this tree being behind Ne-Yo gives off the impression that the music that Ne-Yo produces and the lyrics that he writes comes naturally to him, that he doesn’t get other people to write or produce his music for him. Furthermore nature also connotes tranquility and calmness this could indicate that the cd is a very calming and relaxing one. All of the image is see through just like the image on the front cover, having the same effect on the back cover as on the front carry’s through the same connotations that Ne-Yo is a goat and is fading away or is just starting to come back to life. The font colours on the back cover are black and gold, with number of the track and the featuring artist (if there is one) being in black and the name of the song is in gold. This is the opposite of the colour scheme which is on the front cover where he artist is in gold and the title is in black. The colour black is a colour which is associated with professionalism and work so having the featuring artists name in the colour black symbolizes that whilst Ne-Yo is casual and relaxed about his music he can be professional. Moreover having the featuring artists name in a different colour to that of the title of the song makes the name stand out more, especially when the background is white. Ne-Yo has a big name on his cd in the form of JAY-Z and making it stand out more will appeal to people who are a fan of Jay-Z as Jay-Z is a massive artist. Furthermore Ne-Yo has Jennifer Hudson featuring on his album and at this time Jennifer Hudson was an up and coming singer and Ne-Yo having her on his album shows that he supports new singers. The titles of the songs are in the colour gold and this connotes to the audience that Ne-Yo’s music is magical its gold. Moreover underneath the titles of the songs there are three symbols, one is for Mercury Records, the second is for Def Jam recordings, and the last one is for Compound Entertainment. These record labels are well known record labels and having them on the back cover shows that he has massive support behind him as well as that he must be a good artist to have three record labels backing him.

Ne-Yo is one hundred percent an R&B artist and this is signified by the front image. A typical convention of an R&B artist album is that there is a dominating image of the artists face for example Alicia Key’s album ‘As I Am’. Ne-Yo fits into this as there is an image of Ne-Yo’s face which dominates the front cover. Moreover the font that is traditionally used is very simple and bold using in the colours black, red and white. Once again Ne-Yo fits into this convention as the font is very plain and simple as well as being black and gold.

Why did I carry out digipak analyses?

After I looked into different digipak’s and creating a mood board to represent these ideas, I decided that I need to investigate further into digipak’s before I could create my own. To do this I decided that I had to do a detailed analysis of digipak’s exploring things such as the dominance of the image/images, font style, colour and themes. I wanted to find out how the image of an artist is portrayed in different genres for example in the rock genre a rock digipak is more likely to have an image of the band playing and have dominant colours which are dark. In relation to my genre of R&B though the image of the artist is likely to be of a calm, romantic one. The two digipak’s that I have chosen to analysis both fit into the genre of R&B, I chose two digipak’s that fit into this genre because my music video fits into this genre therefore I wanted to know what the codes and conventions were for an R&B genre digipak. Ne-Yo’s Because of You digipak was the first digipak that I analysed, I chose this digipak as it was one that I felt reflected how I wanted my own digipak to be so in analysing it I hoped to gain an idea on how to adapt and develop this digipak to suit not only my artists image but also imagination and idea for my own digipak. I chose Usher’s 8701 digipak as my second analysis as I had already analysed Usher videos in my star image and covered how his image had changed. I wanted to carry on this analysis of Usher into the digipak area to get an idea of how the image of a star is carried through from their video to their digipak. This research hopefully will mean that I will then be able to do this with my music video and digipak.

Production Diary: Day Four

Production Diary: Day Three

Animatic StoryBoard Alternative Beginning Two Presentation of Results

I have posted below a presentation showing the graphs that I made to illustrate the results that I found from my questionnaire; I designed these graphs to make it easier for myself to see what the results were from my questionnaire. On the whole I found out that it was felt overall that the genre was Pop, that the majority of people felt that the beginning did not fit in with the rest of the animatic and that on average this beginning was scored an eight. 

Beginning Two

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Animatic StoryBoard Alternative Beginning One Graphs of Results

I have posted below a presentation showing the graphs that I made to illustrate the results that I found from my questionnaire; I designed these graphs to make it easier for myself to see what the results were from my questionnaire. On the whole I found out that it was felt overall that the genre was R&B, that the majority of people felt that the beginning did fit in with the rest of the animatic and that on average this beginning was scored a nine.

Presentation1

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Production Diary: Day Two

Production Diary: Day One

Picture Locations

Below I have placed pictures of the locations where I wish to film.

Shooting Schedule

To help me not fall behind in my filming and to make sure I knew what shots I wanted, what props and costumes I would use for what scenes I created the below table.

Booking the school theatre

As the theatre at my school is very busy I had to email Mr Nugent to find out a time and place that I would be able to use the theatre and below are the emails for this.

Star Image Analysis

What is a Star?

In its simplest form a star in the music industry is someone that is liked, idolized and very well known. Not only for their music but also for other things such as a fashion line, a shoe line, as an actor/actress and through having their own perfume line. A perfect example of a star is Beyoncé who is very well known and idolized not only for her music but also for her acting ability, fashion sense and through her knew perfume lines Heat.

What is a Star Image and how is it constructed?
A star image is the image that the star has or brand, how they sell themselves not only to their audience but to people in general. For instance using Beyoncé as an example again her star image is one of a sexual, feminine and dominating woman.

‘A star is an image constructed from a range of materials’ (Richard Dyer, 1979)

As Richard Dyer states a star image is constructed through a range of materials for instance music videos, posters, television appearances are just a few ways in which an image is constructed. However it must be pointed out that the most prominent way in which a star’s image is constructed and portrayed is through the star’s music videos. Beyonce for instance image is a sexualized one and this portrayed in her music videos through the fact that she shows her legs a lot and wear very few items of clothing which are usually very figure hugging to emphasise her body.

Why did I decide to carry out a star image analysis?

Richard Dyer’s idea is a factor in why I decided to do a star image analysis, to help me be able to see how a star’s image is constructed through a number of ways. I also wanted to find out about how a star’s image is carried through, changed and developed through a star’s music videos. As I wanted for my star in my music video to have a particular image for my artist that the audience could see how that image could and would be developed and changed. To make sure that the audience is interactive not only with my music video but also with my artist on more than one level.

Why did I choose Usher to base my star image analysis?

I decided to base my star image analysis on Usher as I have chosen to use an Usher song for my music video. I felt that I needed to know what Usher’s image is and how it has change; as Usher is a R&B artist so I wanted to see what makes an Usher video a R&B video. In the hope that I would be able to carry the codes and conventions that I found in the music videos that I looked at through too my own video. Furthermore I wanted to explore how the R&B genre has changed over time; in the hopes that this would influence in whether I fit the codes and conventions of the R&B genre in 2000 or the codes and conventions of the R&B genre in the present day or even have the codes and conventions of somewhere in the middle.

Usher Videos that I looked at: Think of You, You make me wanna, U dont have to call, Confessions II, Love in This Club, OMG and There Goes My Baby

A bit of brief background information about Usher

Usher is an American R&B singer/dancer/entrepeneur who is renowned throughout the world as a singer and dancer appealing mainly to the female audience. Usher is considered the new R Kelly of R&B as his been singing since 1994 with the release of his first album Usher. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee (United States) on October 14 1978 Usher is currently 33 and rose to fame in 2001 with his third album 8701 which gave him two number one hits ‘U Got It Bad’ and ‘U Remind Me’. However his second album that was released in 1997 and is called My Way did give him a number one hit called ‘Nice and Slow’. His fourth album which broke the record for R&B first week sells by selling a massive 20million copies not only gave him four number ones ‘My Boo’ ‘Confessions Part II’ ‘Yeah’ and ‘Burn’ but also certified him as the new R&B king.  Usher’s fifth album Here I Stand gave him the number ‘Love In This Club’ followed by his sixth album Raymond vs Raymond gave him the number one hit ‘OMG’. Lastly Usher’s seventh album Versus gave him the number one hot ‘DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love’. Usher is further more an actor and has stared in movies such as ‘Light It Up’, ‘In the Mix’ and the ‘The Faculty’. Usher is crowned as one of the best R&B artist’s of all time and it is much debated if he is the best R&B artist of all time. The genres that Usher fits into are obviously R&B but he also fits into genres such as pop. At the start of Usher’s career he was undoubtedly an R&B star but with the progression of time Usher has evolved into a mixture of an R&B, Pop and Soul artist.

Usher’s earliest image

The image of Usher when he first started in the music business was that of a naïve, innocent, young Romeo. Usher’s first few videos e.g. Think of You (1994) and You Make Me Wanna (2007) build up this image of Usher through things like the mise-en-scene consisting of baggy leather jackets and Usher having a mini afro which makes Usher seem very young. The leather jacket is commonly connoted with young people as the leather jacket is a fashion statement of cool. Right at the beginning of  Usher’s career props were hardly used however by the time it got to about 1997 props were introduced into Usher’s videos. In You Make Me Wanna props such as guitars, gold fish balls and chairs were introduced, this builds in with the idea that there is more to Usher than meets the eye. The guitar is a typical romantic instrument as it represents serenading and romance, the fact that Usher implies that he is playing the guitar shows the slight shift in his image. From one of a more passive romantic (i.e. just singing the song) to a more active one where he plays the guitar to her and tries to prove his feelings for her. Moreover Usher’s earlier videos are a mixture of narrative and performance, as Usher doesn’t ‘typically’ perform like he does in his later video’s e.g. Burn but Usher does mostly stand in front of the camera and sing. This could be taken as Usher performing to the girl that he is singing to, this connotes to the audience an edge of seriousness to the song. This adds another layer to Usher’s earlier image; whilst Usher’s image was one of innocence this seriousness gives him a sense of determination. The lyrics play a huge role in this image being established as they portray this sense of innocence as Usher can only see love as straightforward with no grey areas and no difficulties. Moreover the lack of dance routine that dominated Usher’s earlier video’s built on this image of innocence, connoting to the audience that Usher is too young and too new to the music industry too partake in dance routines. This heightened by the fact that behind Usher was female dancers with the mid shot showing Usher just looking into the camera singing.  Once again building on the idea of Usher being an innocent young Romeo. A range of shots were used in his earliest video’s from long shots to mid shots and this implies that there were a wide range of aspects to Usher’s image and personality. Additionally the fact that there are a range of shots suggests that Usher is indecisive as the shots change, such as in Usher’s video You Make Me Wanna the shots change constantly from close-up’s to mid shots to high angles to long shots. This adds another dimension to Usher’s earlier image as it points towards the idea that there are many different layers of Usher’s image which have to be thought about and dissected. The editing of the video’s also built on the image of Usher as no fancy editing for example eye-line-match or cutaways was used in Usher’s earliest videos. For example in Usher’s video Think of You the editing was one of Continuity Editing which creates the

The development of Usher’s image

The image of Usher is developed in his later videos to a more personal one with a close relationship with his audience and challenges his previous image by changing the aspect of his innocence to heartbreaker. The mise-en-scene is the first indication of this change in image, in his earlier videos the clothes that Usher wore were innocent and young yet in Usher’s later videos Usher is wearing tight fitted shirts, fitted jeans and shirtless in most of his videos. For instance in Usher’s You Don’t Have To Call video Usher begins the video by being naked from the waist up (only wearing his boxers) which fits into Usher’s image of openness and intimacy as it shows that he is comfortable enough to be semi naked in his videos. The props in his later videos also show this development in his image as they get more flashy and expensive looking, for instance in Usher’s Confession II video Usher has a piano as a prop. Pianos are typically associated with wealth as they are expensive, the fact that Usher has this as a prop shows that Usher’s image has changed in the sense that he is fitting into the convention of R&B where expensive props are used. What’s more though the use of the piano links back into earlier videos e.g. You Make Me Wanna whereby Usher is linking and tying himself to his earlier music videos which indicates that in a way Usher is still as innocent as he was in his first music videos. The shots that are used in his later videos portrays his development and change in his image, instead of having a wide range of shots like in his earlier videos the shot shifted to close-up’s, extreme close-up’s and mid shots. These shots tie in nicely with the more personal image that Usher had established with his audience as the close up shots helped to illustrate the emotion which Usher was showing in his more personal songs and videos.  Usher’s video Confessions II illustrates this perfectly for instance the close up shot at the beginning of the video highlights the pain that Usher felt at being told that he girl he slept with behind his girlfriend’s back is pregnant and keeping the baby.The editing of the Usher’s later videos has also developed along with his image, as more advanced editing is used for instance flashbacks were used in Usher’s U Got It Bad video and match on action in Usher’s 2008 video Love In This Club. This type of editing gives off a sense of maturity to Usher that wasn’t in his earlier videos which tells the audience that he has matured which is already established through his lyrics which aren’t as innocent as perhaps they were previously. The lyrics in Usher’s videos no longer talk about the innocence and beauty of love but of the complications and heartbreaks of love.

When Usher first started out there was a certain naivety to him which is illustrated by the youth if somewhat baggy costumes in the mise-en-scene the simple props and the innocence in the lyrics. Through the development of Usher’s music videos Usher’s image has changed to a more mature, open eyed and sexualized star. This has all been create by the loss of the innocence in the mise-en-scene i.e. having his shirt off all the time, the lyrics being sexualized and show the battles that he has been through in love.