Magazine Advert Analysis - Marina And The Diamonds

This magazine advert is for Marina And The Diamonds' album 'Electra Heart'. I like this advert as it looks grainy for an effect which the audience may enjoy. One artist i am also closely focused on for producing my own music video is Marina and the Diamonds.

Text/Font
The text on this magazine advert is very bold and noticable against the dark background of the magazine advert. The top half of the text is in all capitals, naming the artists' name and the title of the album. On the bottom of the advert, is says 'The New Album', 'includes Primadonna' and the date. I will include this idea into my own magazine advert as this is very effective. The font is easy to read and recognise which will be a good idea to use when the album goes on sale because the same font and colours may be used.

Costume

The costume within this magazine advert is very basic and minimal as we are unable to see a large amount of clothing as it is cut off the edge of the advert. However, her makeup is heavy and her face is shown as very pale but with dark red lipstick to possibly show her to be dark and mysterious. Her style also represents the 50's. The small love heart drawn on her cheek is an effect that this artist uses to suggest her alter-ego (Electra Heart). Marina (Electra) wears a heart on her cheek so she doesn't get hurt by love.

Layout

This is a portrait shot of the main artist as 'the diamonds' are actually just in the background and Marina is the only person who sings therefore she is classed as the main artist. This is very simplistic and easily laid out. I will more than likely use this idea on my own magazine advert as it is simple but very effective.

Magazine Advert Analysis - Rihanna

This is a magazine advert for Rihanna's album 'Russian Roulette'. I think that this advert will help me create my own as I am planning to work within this genre and possibly use a track by Rihanna for my music video.
Costume
The costume used in this magazine advert is very dark and strange. She is wearing a black top, including a lot of jewellry and dark makeup. This creates a mysterious look as she looks quite scary due to her makeup and clothing style however also afraid because of her position within the frame. The artist is wearing a large quantity of jewellry including a lot of rings, which may suggest she may be powerful.
Shot Type
This shot is showing the artists' face and hand which is covering half of her face. The lighting within the shot is very low key and suggests that the album is dark and mysterious which may draw a customer to buy the album as they want to know what it is like.


Font/Text
The text in this magazine advert is all in capitals and is very bold which may also represent the album to be itself. The artists' name is in bold capitals in white letters however it is inside a black box, above another box saying 'THE NEW ALBUM'. This is eyecatching and bold for the customer so it is easily noticable and recognisable.
Layout 
The layout of the magazine advert is very simplistic as it has the artists' face at the top and almost central and then all of the text is in a white 'painted' effect in front of her body. I like this layout very much as it enhances the album's atmosphere behind the advert.

Preliminary Task Final Video

This is the final video for my group's preliminary task. 

Each person in the group contributed in lip-syncing, editing and filming. I will use this video as a practice of my own music video, however I will not use this specific type of editing in my own as I found it very difficult to match the shots together as the constantly switched around.

Filming

When I was lip-syncing, I found it difficult to time each word correctly and during the editing I had to slow down/speed up the timing of some shots. Some shots were difficult to film as we weren't able to use the correct lighing, therefore some shots look out of focus/too light compared to the real music video.

Editing

While editing, my group and I found it diccicult to make the shots the correct size as in the real music video, the shots are split equally in the middle, however when we shot each clip, we were unable to make the shots square like the video. 

Also, we forgot to make some clips black and white. 

In the real music video, there are two shots we were unable to film due to the fact that there was a rocket ship taking off and a fire. 

Contribution

My contribution towards the preliminary task was helping to create the storyboard, film individual shots of both Tom and Joe and editing the video.

However, I believe that only two members of the group (Tom and myself) participated mainly in the editing and creating the story board whilst planning.

Music Video Analysis - Beyonce

 

I have chosen to analyse Beyonce's music video for her song 'XO'. I have chosen this video because I would like my own music video to be a lot like this.

 For example:

• The use of bright lights throughout the video seems lively and exciting, the flashing fun fair lights are an example of every day locations, however seem different from most days.
• The use of the location in this video is very appealing to the audience as it looks like they are enjoying themselves and it is a natural location to film.
• The shots are mixed between lengths and sizes as throughout the video, close ups, long shots, aerial shots, mid shots are all used throughout the video, and vartieies of lengths of each shot is used to create a lively and dramatic atmosphere within the video.
• The use of the artists lip-syncing 'every now and then' not just the whole way through or not at all. I also like the constant background she is lip-syncing in as it fits with the fun-fair atmosphere.
• The focus on the artist within the video is thorough and is clearly showing that this music video is about her, not just the other actors/the location.
• An idealistic view of life is shown in this video, however is is not an every day location/activity which I would also like to protray in my own video. 
• The video constantly uses handheld camera shots to give the audience the feel of what it is like to be there which I believe is a very effective way to portray an exciting event in a music video.

Genre Research

The genre of music I will likely be using for my music video is hip-hop/pop. This is because i believe that this music genre will not limit the ideas I have for creating a music video. For example, both hip hop and pop music can enable me to both fast and slow cuts throughout the video.

Artists that usually fall under these genres are:

Hip-hop:

• Rihanna
• Nicki Minaj
• Jay-Z
• Kanye West
• Iggy Azalea

Pop:

• Ed Sheeran
• Rihanna
• Lady Gaga
• Nicki Minaj
• Beyonce

Both of these genres can easily be related as the artists are able to switch between them within their music and videos which I hope I can in my own music video. 

For example, both videos can easily interpret a scene with:

• Bright lights
• Both busy and quiet scenes
• Will have a strong lead, can be either female or male
• Sexual focus
• Relationships
• Multiple locations to film in
• Can switch to black and white then back to colour throughout the video
• Fast paced

Poster Analysis - Beyonce

Lighting/colours

• The main colours used in this magazine advert is black, gold/yellow, silver and white. This may suggest the style of Beyonce is very stylish and fashionable. 
• The use of lighting in this poster gives the artist a high class atmosphere as it is slighly low key but the bright orangey light across her face.  

Mise-en-scene

• In the poster, the artist is holding a silver mask that matches her dress and hat. This may suggest that she has just taken the mask of and revealed her identity to the world before her world tour in 2014. 
• There are also lots of diamonds and jewels on the costume which connote the idea of her being of a high class. 
• This is a poster for Beyonce's world tour 2014 which I believe seems very high fashion which represents her beauty but also the fact that she is doing a world tour.

Text/Font

• The artists' website is shown at the bottom which tells people to visit the website for extra information which will also lead to her merchandise, albums, etc.
• The text on this poster for Beyonce's world tour is very bold and bright. For example, the artist's name is in bold, white capital letters on the top of the poster, and the name of the show towards the bottom. This is very efective because it is eyecatching and noticable in magazines/in public.

Magazine Advert Analysis - Beyonce

Magazine Advert

• This magazine advert for Beyonce's album  'I Am Sasha Fierce', Beyonce represents herself as two different people which shows her natural state with no visible clothing, minimal makeup and jewelry. However, in the second photo, she is shown with an excessive amount of makeup, jewelry and clothing containing sparkles and diamonds. 
• I like the style of this magazine advert as it shows both sides of the artist which should be represented in her albums.
• At the bottom of the advert, it shows her name in bold capitals, featuring songs and two other albums which she has chosen to advertise alongside this one.

Digipak Analysis - Beyonce

I have chosen to research Beyonce's marketing package to help with my own music video. The reason I have chosen to research Beyonce is due to the fact that I will more than likely use this specific genre in my own music video.

Digipak

• Beyonce's Greatest Hits digipak is simplistic, however looks aesthetically pleasing due to the colour scheme of black and gold. It also has the black and white photos of Beyonce herself on each side of the digipak. This particular colour scheme is often seen in the genre I would prefer to work in.
• The CD inside the digipack is represented to look like a record, which may suggest that the music on the CD's are classic and a good style. 
• On the back of the digipak, there is a midshot of Beyonce with the song names etc running beside her which I believe looks deluxe compared to some other digipaks. The images on the center of the look superior as she is shown to be very beautiful but also very different to most artists in this genre. This is because she is shown wearing a little amount of clothing but also looks classy at the same time.
• Also, Beyonce has printed three of her other albums onto the back of the digipak which is a very intelligent way of advertising her other albums.

The Purpose of a Music Video

I have researched into the purpose of a music video and discovered the idea of a music video is to visually entertain a specific audience. This may be due to the fact that computers now have the ability to create effects that were not used when music videos were first created.

I also discovered that the values of stardom include:

• Youth
• Rebellion
• Sexual magnetism
• Originality
• Creativity
• Conspicuous consumption of sex, drugs and material goods
• A disregard for social values relating to drugs, sex and polite behaviour

Richard Dyer (Born 1945)
Dyer is a theorist that focuses mainly on stardom, and came up with the theory that a star is only an image or text, not neccesarily a person. This is because he believes that they are constructed from 'materials' such as advertisment, television, magazines, radio etc.

• Paradox 1 - A star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer.
• Paradox 2 - A star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer.

These paradoxes suggest that this leadds to audience consumption as the artist/band is able to make the consumer feel like they are near them, however they may be on the other side of the world.


Theodor Adorno (1903 - 1969)
Adorno is a maxist who believes in the idea that the pop industry stops us all worrying about 'real' issues. 

Keith Negus  (Born 1957)
Negus had written a book called Producing Pop which is about the pop industry. It identifies two distinct ways of thinking about potential artists from within the music industry.
1. The organic ideology of creativity

• Talent
• Development
• Long Term

2.  The synthetic ideology of creativity

• Short Term
• Manufactured

Preliminary Task - Lyrics

"Knock You Down"
(feat. Kanye West, Ne-Yo)

[Keri Hilson:]
Heh... not again...
Oh... this ain't supposed to happen to me...

[Kanye West:]
Keep rockin', and keep knockin'
Whether you Louis Vuitton-ed up or Reebok-in'
You see the hate, that they're servin' on a platter
So what we gon' have - dessert or disaster?

[Keri Hilson:]
I never thought I'd... be in love like this
When I look at you my mind goes on a trip
And you came in... and knocked me on my face
Feels like I'm in a race
But I... already won first place

I never thought I'd... fall for you as hard as I did
(As hard as I did, yeah)
You got me thinkin' about our life, our house and kids (yeah)
Every morning I look at you and smile
Cause boy you came around and you knocked me down... knocked me down

[Chorus:]
Sometimes love comes around
(Love comes around)
And it knocks you down
Just get back up
When it knocks you down
(Knocks you down)
Sometimes love comes around
(Love comes around)
And it knocks you down
Just get back up
When it knocks you down
(Knocks you down)

[Ne-Yo:]
I've never thought I
Would hear myself say (ooh)
Ya'll go ahead
I think I'm gonna kick it with my girl today (Kick it with my girl today)
I used to be commander and chief
Of my pimp ship flyin' high (flyin' high)
'Til I met this pretty little missile who shot me out the sky (oh shot me out the sky)

(Hey) 'til now I'm crashing, I don't know how it happened
But I know it feels so damn good
Said if I could go back, and make it happen faster
Don't you know I would baby if I could
Miss independent (oh, to the fullest), the load never to much, she helping me pull it
She shot the bullet that ended that life
I swear to you the pimp in me just died tonight

[Chorus:]
Sometimes love comes around
(Love comes around)
And it knocks you down
Just get back up
When it knocks you down
(Knocks you down)
Sometimes love comes around
(Love comes around)
And it knocks you down
Just get back up
When it knocks you down
(Knocks you down)

[Kanye West:]
Tell me now can you make it past your caspers
So we can finally fly off into NASA
You was always the cheerleader of my dreams
To seem to only date the head of football teams
And I was the class clown that, always kept you laughin'
We, were never meant to be baby we just happened
So please, don't mess up the trick... hey young world I'm the new slick rick
They say I move too quick, but we can't let the moment pass us
Let the hourglass pass right into ashes
Let the wind blow the ash right before my glasses
So I wrote this love letter right before my classes
How could a goddess have asked someone that's only average
For advice
O.M.G, you listen to that, bitch?
Woe is me
Baby this is tragic
Cause we had it, we was magic

I was flyin', now I'm crashin'
This is bad, real bad, Michael Jackson
Now I'm mad, real mad, Joe Jackson
You should leave your boyfriend now, I'm a ask him

[Keri Hilson:]
So I gotta put the good with the bad, happy and the sad
So I'll bring a better future than I had in the past
Oh Cause, I don't wanna make the same mistakes I did
I don't wanna fall back on my face again
Whoa, whoa
I'll admit it, I I was scared to answer loves call
Whoa, whoa
And if it hits better make it worth the fall

(When it comes around)

[Chorus:]
Sometimes love comes around
(Love comes around)
And it knocks you down
Just get back up
When it knocks you down
(Knocks you down)
Sometimes love comes around
(Love comes around)
And it knocks you down
Just get back up
When it knocks you down
(Knocks you down)

Won't see it coming when it happens
But when it happens you're gonna feel it, let me tell you now
You see when love come and knocks you down (oh)

Won't see it coming when it happens
But when it happens you're gonna feel it, let me tell you now
You see when love comes and knocks you down (yeah)

Research Another Students' Work

Research: 
Strengths -

• Very detailed
• Researched every part of the coursework in depth to get the best result.
• Included photos and videos
• Showed sources
• Researched the artist a lot to gain knowledge of their music and genre
• Used quite a few of different ways to show the research (Prezi, Youtube, Slideshows, Mindmaps)
• Researched the actual artists' previous videos, adverts etc
• A practice video was included before she created her final video.
• Researched certain directors to include their ideas in her own video

Weaknesses-

• Could have included different ways to present each blog post

Planning:
Strengths -

• Whole story board was shown in depth
• Included a creative mood board
• Described the actor(s) for the video well and said why they would suit the par

Weaknesses - 

• Could include more posts about planning the final video. 
• For example, costume, set etc.

Music Video:

Strengths -

• Focused clearly
• Editing between shots are used well
• Camera angles are easily recognisable
• The lip syncing is shown very well and is in time
• There are effects used in the video which connect well with the genre of music

Weaknesses - 

• Slightly repetetive

Digipak:
Strengths -

• Very vibrant
• Says all the things that are needed within every digipak

Weaknesses - 

• Doesn't suit the video 

Magazine Advert:
Strengths -

• Bright and eyecatching
• Creative
• Shows the date, where it is sold, the band's name and album name on it.

Weaknesses -

• Doesn't suit the style of the music video that was made

Evaluation:
Strengths -

• Shows audience feedback in depth and describes both strengths and weaknesses.
• The evaluation was detailed through a Prezi to present it differently compared to most people.
• The Prezi is bright and eye catching which suits both the advert and digipak.

Weaknesses - 

• Could include more detail into the final evaluation and present in a different way.

Shot Count Analysis

Shot count analysis 

Track: ‘Stay’

Artist: Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko

Record Co: The Island Def Jam Music Group

Release date: Feb 12 - 2013

Director: Sophie Muller                              

Release Date: Jan 7^th 2013

Length of video: 4:07

Number of shots in entire video: 57

Average length of shot: (in my 30 sec) – 2 sec, (in whole video) – 8 sec.

Number of shots in 30 second segment: 12

Within the 30 second segment there are:

Number of CU: 5

Number of ECU: 6

Number of LS: 0

Number of MS: 1

Number of panning shots: 0

Number of tilts: 1

Other shots: 0

Shot number	Shot type	Shot length	description	Edit to next shot
eg	ECU	2 sec	Girl looking in mirror	dissolve
1	Extreme Close Up	2 sec	Water falling from a tap – Slow motion.	Cut
2	Extreme Close Up	2 sec	Shoulder turning – Slow motion	Cut
3	Close Up	1 sec	Back of girl as she takes her top off, hair moves – Slow motion	Cut
4	Extreme Close Up	1 sec	Water splashing – Slow motion	Cut
5	Close Up	3 sec	Girl pulling top off, showing back and hair falling down – Slow motion	Cut
6	Extreme Close Up	2 sec	Girl moving her shorts – Slow motion	Cut
7	Extreme Close Up	2 sec	Water splashing – Slow motion	Cut
8	Close Up	2 sec	Stomach with water spilling over it – Slow motion	Cut
9	Close Up	1 sec	Two hands in a bath, covering stomach – Slow motion	Cut
10	Close Up - Tilt	7 sec	Shows a girl in the bath (cloudy water) and shows sadness in her face.	Cut
11	Mid Shot	2 sec	Camera over her body, shows most of body in the water – Girl looking down with hair covering her face.	Cut
12	Extreme Close Up	7 sec	Girls’ face (shows eyes, nose and mouth) – starts lip syncing to the song.	Cut

From this process of looking at a music video i would likely use to help create my own, I believe that this style of video shows emotion very easily through the shots and pace of each shot. For example, this video is mainly using slow motion, close up shots because it is easily representing what the artist is feeling which may also relate to the person watching the video. 

Preliminary Task Update

My group and I have decided that we are going to change the Preliminary Task Music Video to be Keri Hilson ft Kanye West - Knock You Down.
This is because we struggled to get enough actors/actresses for the High School Musical Video. Therefore, we chose to do the Keri Hilson video as it contained less people which was easier for my group to produce.
The new music video is also complexed and as difficult to create, however, we will be able to get the correct amount of actors for the video.

Preliminary Task Planning (Lesson 1)

I am in a group of 3 to complete the preliminary task by recreating the first 60/70 seconds of a music video. The video we picked was 'What Time Is It' by the cast of High School Musical. This task will help my group and I become more familiar with the certain shot types used in music videos.

Here is the music video we will be recreating. 

Firstly, we went through the original music video and created a story board that we are able to follow throughout the filming of our own video. The storyboard will help show us which actors/actresses are used in one particular shot. Also, the location of the shot.