Music Video Analysis

Rap Artists: Lil Wayne, Drake and Future

Song: Lil Wayne - Love Me (Explicit) ft. Drake, Future

Cinematography
The overall feel of the video is quite dark and dirty. It begins with one of the artists singing close up into the camera with a black background. This is complemented also by the black clothes and sunglasses worn by future. This really appeals to the target audience as Rap is stereotypically a 'bad' and 'gang-type' genre. As the music video progresses we begin to see more artists, also dressed in typical 'rap' clothing - which include mainly the colours black and red. From very early on in the video we are shown women who have been sexualised and almost used as props. This is a very common thing to see in rap videos, it is very rare to find a music video where women are not sexualised by the male artists. For example, in this video they are dressed in very little, tight clothing which exposes a lot of their body. Their make up is also done to make them have animalistic qualities - to be precise, snakes and cats. The women are dressed as snakes to be seen in a predatory, seductive manner throughout the video and almost bring out their dark and dirty side, which emphasises the extent at which they have been sexualised to. Furthermore there are scenes in the video which show the women in cages which further emphasises their animalistic qualities. Throughout the music video there is never a seen where there is a female standing taller than a male. This again emphasises the sexualisation given to these women and also expresses inequality and the idea that women are objects.

The lighting the whole way through the video is extremely dark, usually with just a main bright light shining on the singing artist at that moment in time. The darkness is used to again emphasise rap in a stereotypical way and to complement the theme and lyrics of the video as it has a 'dark' feel. The music video begins with majority close up shots of the artists and women but gradually, the camera widens and shows more of a scene, this could represent the vision of a person once under the influence of drugs. For example there is a scene where Lil Wayne is on a bed surrounded by women, then surrounded by water which can be seen as a sexual symbol to represent the female genitalia. The movement of the camera can have a jolting effect and this could represent the side effects of smoking marijuana - which is spoke about a lot in the lyrics.

However when the video gets to 3.00, there is a complete set change. The theme at this point in the video changes to white and there is also a drop in the beat where it decreases in speed, but the rappers remain in the dark half of the video as they still fully represent rap. Lil Wayne then begins to role his eyes which complements the new white theme as he is just displaying the white part of his eye to the viewers. There is again more sexualised females in this part of video where they get into a bath of red paint. The red paint could represent the actual genre of rap and the white background could represent society, and therefore the effect of the females wiping the paint everywhere infers that the rap genre is taking over not just the music industry, but also society.

Editing
There are so many editing techniques shown throughout the video, however the mains ones are fast cut, jerking and there is also some slow motion and double imagery. All of these techniques have been used as they would all represent the side effects of smoking marijuana and drinking; which is seen a lot in the video. Fast cutting is the most popular technique and keeps up with the fast pace of the song and the frequent scene changes. Secondly, jerking is another camera technique used a lot and it again represents side effects of drugs. It's also quite a new technique that isn't seen in many music videos representing the freshness of the song.

The camera editing in the song reflects the lyrics. For example Lil Wayne says 'and these h*es love me like Satan'. As the word Satan is said, double imagery is used to quickly flick between an image of Lil Wayne with devil horns and the actual music video. I think this is a good technique as the music video has a link with the lyrics, even though there is no obvious narrative.

Performance
There is lots of choreography in this video, mainly with the females involved. However it's not dance choreography or a script which they specifically need to follow, which helps the video look a little less forced and professional. The choreography with the females is very seductive and they are showing sexual behaviour towards the artists. There isn't much choreography with the male artists because the main focus is on the lip syncing and using hand motions to express the lyrics. The lip syncing the whole way through the video is very accurate and precise showing the budget of the video being very high as everything is very thought out with lots of props. However there's also some scenes with no lip syncing where the main focus is the choreography with the females.

Poster Analysis 2

From my analysis of this poster I have identified the typical conventions such as the name of the album, the band name and also the front image blown up. The promotional poster of The Vaccines' "What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?" has the picture of the front cover blown up and edited in a light pink filter. The light pink edit could suggest the band trying to draw in a female audience to the band and album as the genre is mainly for men. The pink filter could also be put there to put more emphasis on actual album name on the poster so that the audience will be attracted into buying the album. The reviews for this album are extremely positive from very famous [rock] music magazines such as Q and MOJO, by getting a 4/5 star rating. The star rating will increase the audience as usually the audience of these magazines rely on them to inform them with great new bands and albums, which will increase the audience of this band. There also is a review quote from NME "the return of the great British guitar band." This review will mainly intrigue an audience that is interested in guitar bands, by including the word 'great' this will attract those who want to know whether they are as great as this famous music magazine stated.

From my analysis of this poster I have identified the type conventions  such as the band name, the band and album name. The promotional poster of The Black Keys concert as well as their new album 'El Camino'. On the poster there is a picture of the band which contrasts with The Vaccines album poster. The thing that mostly draws the attention of the audience is where one of the band members is looking right into the camera. The direct look into the camera creates a connection with the audience through the use of eye contact. Another thing that attracts the audience is the other band member who is looking in the other band members direction but not directly at him. This makes the audience intrigued as they wonder what has caught his attention. Their facial expression contrasts with each other as the member in the green shirt has a warm smile which invites the audience into wanting to attend the concert and also buy their album as they are intrigued whether their music is also very warm and inviting. The other band members facial expression is less appealing for the audience as he is frowning at something/someone, but this could intrigue the audience into wanting to know why he is pulling this facial expression. Both of the members have opposing body postures. The member on the right has his shoulders lowered to indicate a more relaxing feel to him, but also has his arms together which could imply he is slightly enclosed. However, he is much more welcoming than the other member as his shoulders risen which indicates him enclosing himself, not making the audience very welcome. As well as antagonistic expressions and postures, the members are also in different costumes. The member on the right is wearing a lightly coloured shirt which gives off a very warm and engaging vibe, encouraging the audience into wanting to buy the album. The member on the right is wearing mostly dark colours which connotes the music to being possibly heavier, which would appeal to a rock audience. The lighting on the poster is very soft and bright spotlight on the band which lures the audience into wanting to know more about the band starting with their music. The background colours are red and black to emphasise the genre of the band, attracting many rock fans as usually rock is associated with the colours black and red. The font on the poster is the same font as font used on the album that they are promoting on the bottom left corner. The use of the same font lures the audience into wanting to buy the album as they have recognised the font from the poster. On the poster, they also have another famous band from the same genre. If fans from the other band see their favourite band on the poster, they will want to listen to [The Black Keys] and want to buy their album. The poster also includes information on how to buy tickets for one of their concerts, this promotion will increase the audience of The Black Keys because many people who already have the album would go to this event and invite people to go with them, and if those people enjoy the band they would want to buy the album. 

Poster Analysis

This poster is linked to my Digipak analysis of Rihanna's album 'LOUD' and is used to promote the album itself. It follows the same theme as the Digipak making it consistent and therefore the target audience are immediately able to recognise the album in which this poster is representing. The positioning and image of Rihanna is a close-up shot of just her face - similar to the image on the front of her album cover, this may have been done to establish a form of continuity. Rihanna is a very well known world wide artist and therefore doesn't need a huge, fancy poster to advertise her music and her talent. This is why this simple template works for an artist like Rihanna. Although her name is written in big letters, the font is very narrow which furthers emphasises her presence and popularity in the music industry. Furthermore, the subtitle that reads 'coming to a city near you!' is very intriguing for her target audiences and encourages them to go home and search up her tour dates. If the dates and places of her concerts were written on the poster and they didn't apply to everyone, then the poster wouldn't have as much impact and it wouldn't have as big effect on people however, this title almost compels people to do a bit of research on the concert dates themselves.


This is the official poster for Katy Perry's tour 'Prismatic'. Which is promoting her recent album 'Prism'. The album and this poster do not follow the same or similar colour scheme. However, this is a world wide tour and the bright, contrasting colours are necessary for the poster to attract attention from not only the target audience but any audience. The title is written in a font that represnts a prism which makes it very stylish and interesing to look at. The font is also relevant to the artists target audience as it's quite playful and therefore represents the younger generation who are her target audience. Secondly, the artist is positioned in the centre of the poster emphasising her importance and power in the music industry. She is also positioned inside a triangle which again represents a prism and therefore reflects the album name. The effect of using a range of colours on the poster apart from attracting attention is that the attraction can be from both genders. Although Katy Perry's fan base is mainly females, her audience is also made up of males and combining lots of colours combines the two genders and encouraging all people to come to her tour. Also, under the main title is the subtitle in slightly smaller letters saying 'World Tour'. This will be the second thing that the audience reads on the poster because it means that Katy Perry will be doing concerts wherever her fans are - which encourages them to go even more as it's close to wear they live. Furthermore, at the bottom is the list of the places where she will be performing. She has done this so that her audience don't have to go home and look up where she will be, which may put people off going as it means they have to do some research in order to find out where she will be. The ticket date at the bottom of he poster is also very important. This tells people when the tickets are available and means that they don't miss the date, it's also very important to put a ticket website at the bottom, for example ticket master so that the audience are given all the tools they need to buy their tickets and go to the concert.

Digipak Analysis 2

Digipak Analysis

A Digipak is a type of packaging used to hold a CD as well as posters and other leaflets relating to the artist. It typically has a paper back outside rather than a jewelled case. It also usually has extra special effects and sometimes even a separate CD with video footage.

History of Music Videos

 

Here, my partner and I have made a Prezi which shows the history of The Cure throughout their music career.

Statement of Intent

My name is Katie Begg and I am now studying A2 Media. My task for this year is to produce a blog with all my research and planning on Digipaks, Music posters and other similar products. Which I will be analysing in great detail, including key evaluation points like Mise en Scene, this will enable me to cover all details of the posters and digipaks I will be analysing. I also need to do research into target audience and then choose the target audience for the music video I will eventually create at the end of my coursework.

For last years coursework I created a blog based on Music Magazines. My research and planning was into different genres of music magazines, and the idea was to get a good idea of what music magazines look like so I would be prepared to make my own music magazine. I had to analyse different music magazines using codes and conventions and Mise en Scene. This was to look at where professional magazines positioned different elements of their magazines to give me some inspiration for my own. By the end of the year I had made my own music magazine in the genre of rap, and I followed all the codes and conventions which I learnt from my analysis of professional, popular music magazines. Throughout making my final product, I ended up making lots of changes to really emphasise my genre on my front cover, contents page and double page spread. I chose a complementing colour scheme of red, yellow and black to allow the magazine to express the genre of rap in a more positive way, and I also decided to use a female artist on the front as the rap industry is dominated by males and I wanted to bring females more into the mix.

If I were to alter my final product in any way I would maintain the same colour scheme as I had on the front throughout my msagazine. On my contents page and double page spread I changed my colour scheme to pink and black which matched my artist but also didn't really reflect the cover. Secondly, I would also love to be able to make my contents page more interesting and fuller. My main inspiration was 'VIBE' magazine which also had a basic but sophisticated contents page but I don't think it suited my magazine as well as it suited VIBE as the target audience for my magazine was a younger generation and was therefore represented a more fun side to rap, which I feel I could have expressed a lot more. Overall I think I managed my time relatively well, it took me a while to get started with my magazine as I wasn't very confident with photoshop, however towards the end I picked up my pace. But for this year I want to be able to time manage a lot more efficiently and not have to rush towards the end of my coursework to get everything finished. As well as managing my time better I would like to be more organised and plan the work I am going to complete for my next lessons, this way I can keep on top of my work without missing any important details out.

For the end of this year I would like to achieve a professional looking product where I am successfully promoting, I also want to develop my skills with video as it's an area of media which I don't have much experience with.