The devil wears prada

Album Advertisement

Images - The triangle is the logo of the band which is also used on the CD cover it has a dark texture to it with foil like paper fluttering which gives a kind of eerie tone. The white lines convey the border of the album cover, hence there is no text on the CD cover so the brand must be known very well in order to not even have the bands name on the cover.

Colour - Black and white connoting death and purity.  The white text is used so that it text stands out against the black background.

Layout the artists name  "Devil wears Prada" is at the top and centre of the add but aligned in the left column of the page. the albums name 8:18  is aligned in the centre of the advert at the top of the information about the album. the record label is in the bottom right hand corner whereas the shop "HMV" is in the left hand corner this Juxtaposition creates symmetry through the advert which is appealing to the customers eye. Additionally the fact that the tour dates are put in a centred alignment  show that they have more importance than the record label and shop but not that important because of the font.

Font The albums title creates a contrast as "the devil" is outlined and the "wears Prada" is filled in which draws in audiences and interests their attention.  There are also dates for when the band is on tour in small font conveying that it is not as important as the bands or albums name and when its coming into stores "Now".

Language The "incredible new" album is so brilliant that everyone should buy it because its so incredible. also many people like to buy the new products because its fresh and coo and because they want to be seen as innovators. It is all quite brief and to the point which is what adverts need to be in order to engage the audience long enough for them to at least notice the article. This is because even though we do not consciously read media we still take it in.

Sound - Like most music videos this uses non diegetic music as they are lip syncing the words and acting as though they are playing then when it has been in fact pre recorded. However, I am not sure if I could tell if the music was on screen or been edited on later. I think the sound wouldn't be as clear if it was live. Hence this is the reason they edit it on in post production to make the music clearer for the audience to hear. Another reason is if they are playing instruments or doing physical activity such as dance at the same time it is easier to breath without multi tasking. In this case it is because they are playing instruments but if you ask me the lip syncing does not help the clarity of the words or notes. I think this may be due to some editing on the sound as they could make the screamo lower and louder in post production.

Editing - there is a large amount of cuts in this video due to the fast pace of the music it cuts from the narrative to the band a range of times. Unfortunately I do not understand what the song is saying as the screamo is really tricky to decipher. thus I looked up the meaning of the song to get to grips with the narrative. The lyrics apparently have a number of interpretations about idol-ism, learning from our mistakes and negativity about war. Apparently the band is all about religion which is very clear from the logo. see CD cover below.

Camera The extra close up of the lips kissing the metal creates a disorientation of mystery this is reinforced by the woman's hand which is repeatedly seen. This could lead to the negative representation of women as they are not important enough to show their features bodies or whole faces. This is the basis of most religions as women cannot be priests in the Catholic religion and cannot be seen in the Muslim faith as they have to wear Hijabs which are garments where only their eyes are seen. Also the camera angles of mid shots pan across silhouettes of the band which enhances the mystery of both the CD advert and CD cover as we do not actually know what the artists look like. There are also a large amount of close ups of blood and the singer to convey the detail. Lastly when they go to the narrative instead of pan shots with the band the camera zooms in to the logo and the fruit on the floor which is rotten to the core and could be interpret as the sacrificing of children is not acceptable in society.

Mise En scene:
Costumes the male protagonist the only one in white connoting purity and thus the protagonist as they are usually the hero. Also has his or her face covered the combination of a baby and the bands name the Devil Wears Prada creates the notion that the baby is a sacrifice just like Jesus but instead of for the people for the devil. The fact that all their faces are covered reinforces this idea as it is almost as though they are in a cult or the sacrificer does not want his identity on display like a villain.

The artists body language and facial expressions are quite passionate about the music but also quite aggressive about the lyrics and how people do not learn from their mistakes about death from war. This relates to religion because I reckon most war is about religion (either that or oil) e.g. the first and second world war were about the desire to have an Aryan master race, so systematically began by killing Jews

The props of the fruit symbolise the fruit that Adam and eve at in the old testament of both the catholic faith and also the Jewish faith. The dark red fluid dripping symbolises blood when its probably just ink or a prop. There are a lot of American dollars on the floor connoting two interpretations of a  negative and positive representation for ethnicity. This is because positively it denotes wealth but negatively the camera angle is a high to low shot of the prop which could infer that they are greedy as the audience is looking down on it in shame. Moreover, another prop uses was a noose which is a weapon so connotes power thus emphasises the stereotypical dominating male. Additionally, the noose makes the tone and mood even eerier. The last shot is of ashes this could be identical to fire which relates to hell. I do not know if I am letting my imagination fly with this one but the ashes are placed exactly where the money fruit and baby were put so these could have been burnt to create the ashes and be the sacrifices the religious people made to the devil.

CD cover

The logo is in the centre (conveys importance); a triangle with two short lines and one long line going through the top line of the triangle I think it is trying to symbolise Jesus' death as two other criminals were crucified with him but his cross was the biggest in paintings to emphasises his importance. The bands brand all they have - as there is no text reinforces mystery - who is the band? What is the album called?

black and white connotes death and purity Heaven from purity and Death from the black synergy as this is the same as the album advert.

Kings of leon

 

In order to analyse this CD advert and reveal how synergy has been created I will have to analyse a music video CD cover and this advert. This is because I have now understood the connotations of the genre Pop punk. Therefore as King of Leon is of a rock genre it will also be interesting to contrast these genres as Pop punk evolved from Rock. Moreover, I will be able to understand CD promotion further in magazines as I will have to get to grips with the conventions of CD adverts as quick as possible because I am behind and should be doing my planning by now.

This CD advert is basically a copy of the CD cover from the digipak. Nevertheless there is a shop name HMV and the Music producers logo in the bottom corner of the advert.

Colour - Black background connotes death and the white font connotes purity. It is  used to give the details about the band, the date of the album will be released the website where the album is sold and the music producers. The logo of the place where you buy the album is in pink so that it stands out and follows the brand of the shop thus using synergy to promote this shop and complies with registered trade mark legislation as HMV is a registered company.

Font: the info of the new album is is big bold and all the same size except the music producer and the shops website. Therefore the attention is drawn to the product. This is because the artists name is quite big but the album name is even bigger.

Layout the CD covers layout is in a rectangle portrait with the shops logo aligned to the right hand corner and the music producers logo aligned to the left hand corner. This gives a symmetrical effect as everything else is in a centre alignment.

Language - Mechanical Bull is the name of the album therefore it is short and sweet and follows the brand of the CD cover. Also a bull is quite a vicious animal therefore making it mechanical like a robot or computer makes it even more smarter and stronger. It also made me think of the rodeo bull which are ridden until people are thrown off by real bulls  which is a very dangerous sport or the ones which are electronically operated called Bucking Broncos. Kings of Leon denotes royalty. One interpretation of Leon rhymes with neon which is what the album cover and CD advert is like. However the real interpretation according to the following website http://guycodeblog.mtv.com/2011/08/23/band-name-meanings-2/ is that "Band members and brothers Caleb, Jared and Nathan Followill named the group after their father and grandfather, both named Leon."

However this is the same as the image on the analysis which is below:

The fact that they are so similar shows synergy as it promotes both the magazine as people that like the band will recognise the brand and if there is information about the band then they would want to know all the gossip. Also people who like the magazines genre may want to buy the album as they are familiar with it.

Image The arrow and the albums name is like a clubs sign which is iconic to the genre of rock. The genre is reinforced by the black background. The arrow emphasizes the importance of the sign by pointing at it and adding a graphical effect.

Colour red connotes blood, blue connotes masculinity and yellow connotes brightness which is why they are like neon lights.

Font the mechanical word is joined up like humans handwriting whereas bull is bold and printed suggesting that they are already strong and big.

Layout - it is all centred except the bands name which is centred at the top of the cover.

Mise en scene

Body language Facial Expression - quite relaxed and happy with the male protagonist and antagonists. whereas the female antagonist is happy and sassy (almost a sex symbol - legs crossed with good posture sitting on the car bonnet.) Thus, I think the representation of this video is a stereotype of gender both male as they like cars and female and females as they like males.

Costume This follows the same fashion style as the 1950s with the denim and is iconic for teenagers then which is probably why it says "teenage head" in the latter part of the video. This also reinforces the stereotypes as all teenage boys think about is cars and teenage girls think about is boys. When the girl cuts of one of her buttons with scissors it emphasizes that they are sassy and confident on one hand but then sex symbols on another. It depends on how you interpret it.

Make up the above is reinforced by the girls lipstick and nail varnish. However I also feel the males are wearing fake tan either that or the editing effect darkens their skin tones.

Props - The milkshakes or icecreams at the beginning are classic and iconic to the 1950s. The fact that the girl is pouring it conveyed through both the close up shot and diegetic sound portrays the stereotype of women in kitchens doing cooking and cleaning. The advert in the background is also iconic to the time.

Lighting - is high key as it resembles the 1950s films that were viewed with projectors and shown in the cinema.

Sound

Diegetic - at the very beginning there is a car motor heard reinforcing the male stereotype

Non Diegetic - They are once again lips syncing even though it wasn't invented until 1960

Editing - This video uses cool effects that are kind of negative black and white parts of the frame and I am assuming the rest of it is a tribute to the 1950s (guessing) as there is a real tinted tone of the colour that livens the music up. This video is more of a performative based video which cuts away to

Camera Angles - there is a close up of an African American girl chewing and blowing up chewing gum expressing a seductive facial expression. This could also be a representation of ethnicity as in the 1950s when it seems to be set racial segregation was happening in the USA.

Summary of cd digipaks

Obviously without this background and not with the nail varnish as it's too feminine and this background happened to be here. Therefore I thought about combining this with the My Chemical Romance CD cover and using a skeleton or X-ray hand instead of stencil like Green Day. This it will have a negative effect on the image as the bones will be black to connote death.

I thought about using the Green Day CD cover so I could challenge and develop it I was thinking using the above so instead of connoting war I would connote peace then I got to thinking of other international hand gestures and came up with the above: OK

Moreover, the background will be white to combine and transfer my previous ideas the Blink 182 cover and connote purity as my positive representation is of age which could be interpreted as innocent like The Get Up Kids albums name. However, I will use different colours for the splattered paint instead of pink and black I want to make it more masculine by using bright green (like Weezer) and and light blue (like the Starting Line) I was thinking to include red splatters as well but I think that will be too much. Also the splatters could suggest that kids painted them as they are free of responsibility.

Therefore, I will try and challenge the conventions by having the artists name in red as none of the Cd's covers I have analyzed have this they only have the albums name in this colour for example Green Days and Taking Back Sunday is in white.

In addition, like The Get Up Kids has robots, hence I will have a lens in the middle of the OK sign to suggest that everyone is being watched by robots.

Furthermore, I will use the Motion City soundtrack and put the artists name in the same position and use the same a mixture of this font like the Green Day and Avril Lavigne. I will also transfer the same colour of Paramour's albums name for my album name Lets Hear it for the Vague Blur but use the scruffy kind of font from Motion City soundtrack and The Get up Kids. I thought about turning it 90 degrees anti-clockwise but thought it way not be clear what the sign is then.

In order to engage and interact the audience I have to produce a product that is familiar to my target market thus I have to combine transfer and develop my ideas. However, I will have to challenge these patterns of genre in order to interest broader audiences, be creative and appeal to people that like bands of the same genre but not by copying parts of their work. Usually if I look at a range of different designs I can use them as inspiration for my on choice of design.

I also had another idea which was to have a tea stained CD cover and keep it quite plain. This was it would once again relate to history. I would like this because my bands name is "Conquer of the Decade". My other idea relates to this because in the battle of Agincourt 1415 the hundred year war the French threatened to cut of the first two fingers of the English longbowmen to stop them firing arrows and permanently disarm them. When the English soldiers won they waved their fingers definately. This is where swearing with our index finger came from  Swearing with the middle finger originated in 423 when it was used in a play to represent a man's penis and testicles by socrates. Having research these hand gestures I feel that they may not be appropriate to my target audience of 10-25 year olds as most are reliant on parents to purchase the product

I did consider the two finger gesture which symbolizes peace which was used in the war to indicate victory. This got me thinking about other nation wide symbols such as the OK sign which is often used in diving because everyone knows it. Hence, this is a safety tip as when someone signals to go to the surface of the water for oxygen the other person replies with the above symbol.

The codes and conventions of CD covers is that they usually have an album name artists name and image. Digipaks have a booklet with the lyrics inside, and on the front of the booklet is the CD cover. Behind where the CD is placed is the image used on the front cover with less detail on it and the back cover usually have the acknowledgements and song list which which is quite plain and simple. I will not use any codes and conventions from the devil wears Prada or  Kings of Leon because I only analysed these because I felt that I needed to research synergy between the CD covers and the album adverts. This is because they are of different genres to the pop punk sub-genre.

The get up kids

Images an animated drawing of two metal robots because one is leaning on the other it is as though the smaller one is younger and possibly a child which links to the title The Get the Kids Up. Hence this could be a positive stereotype of age with innocents. I was thinking of having a lens in the centre of my album cover to imply that due to the development of technology everyones being watched by cameras but I don't know if that would make it too busy. Nevertheless, this could challenge the conventions of this bands CD cover which is quite simple.

Colour two different purples have been used  both connoting royalty so if you supposedly buy this album you are royal. They are all once again quite mellow colours possibly connoting the music is quite calm with the beige and the grey. This black album name against the beige slightly stands out but the write definitely stands out against the purple and connotes purity perhaps the kids are pure and innocent more than robots

Font the album names writing is handwritten whereas the artists name is printed thus they are slightly different but are still quite scribbly and thin which I think I will develop by using this as just my album name and use a thicker font for my artists name. Nevertheless they follow the codes and conventions find in CD covers I think in general even if they are different genres the artists name is larger than the albums name if it has an albums name (unlike Weezer).

Layout the album name is aligned to the left in the bottom corner whereas the the arts name is aligned to the right in the top corner. This creates contrast and juxtaposes each other. Its quite calm as it isn't busy thus it reinforces that the CDs music will be the same.

Language - Something to write home about is almost labeling the album as the say the music inside is something to write about to tell others family about the amazing music - directing the audience to write home about it. The Get Up Kids reinforces the positive representation of youths because the name infers that kids are enthusiastic and energetic. I also looked this name up and found it was named after The Cure's "Suburban Get Up Kids" in http://www.bittersuiteband.com/music_band-name-origins.htm#t.

Weezer

Image - The band demonstrate mise en scene  through their costume - They are  wearing similar funkie styles with brightish colours like the orange and purple trainers with red and green tops however they are generally dressed in black this is probably to make the prop of the guitar stand out as that is quite bright with the lighting bolt of the strap. It is quite a simple idea for a cover.

Body Language they are all posed as if to say i am ready to make some music with eye contact with the audience especially the one furthest to the right with his heads behind his back as if to say we've been waiting for you - bit creepy but not as creepy as the facial expressions which are quite stern especially the one closest to the left he looks almost angry with his scrunched down eye brows and screwed up face.  These poses are use to show that the band are serious about their music.

Colour - lime green connotes jealousy but is probably just there to attract attention because it is so vibrant or the video perfect situation the guy purposefully got rid of the girl in order to take her place as lead singer. Thus he was jealous of her in that song from the album. I think the colours I will spatter on my CD cover will be red (connotes death/blood) this green (stands out) and light blue (masculinity) with a white (purity) background and black (connotes death) font and logo. The white font is pure and stands out against the green.

Font - clear wide and lowercase with very little text it is difficult to analyse.

Layout - all aligned centre almost symmetrical which is appealing to the eye. However, the band is kind of clustered to show that they are a group - a force.

Language - "weezer" according to the perfect situation video it was called weeze when the girl was in the band but then changed to weezer when the guy took the lead of the singer.There is  no album name which provides mystery and intrigues the listener to question  what is the album about. Additionally, the lead singer Rivers Cuomo had the nickname Weezer in school because of a breathing problem according to http://library.thinkquest.org/4626/rock.htm which states rock band name origans from his health problem. The glasses in the image reinforces the dorkiness of the band because they are wearing glasses which is a negative stereotype against disability.

I feel that even though I found that these bands were on this link http://www.fuse.tv/galleries/2013/07/20-iconic-pop-punk-album-covers saying that they are pop punk I think this one is more popie because it reminds me of LND (above) and everyones on it by Lilly Allen. Unfortunately the original and official video has been taken off the Internet and I can't seem to find it so you won't be able to look it up. Moving on the CD cover follows the bright pop iconic genre, but the music is quite punkie.

Mise en scene body language and facial expressions - all of the people that lip sync to the chorus and lyrics "on drugs" have really spaced out expressions and are almost like human robots with no emotion. Whereas the male protagonist is muddled this makes the audience slightly confused as they follow his perspective conveying his importance.

Props - this is the third pop punk video I have watched that has started with someone waking up in bed. when the male protagonist gets this hair cut it is obvious that it isn't a very trust worth company because it only has a few cans of hairspray and scissors it is quite dull and dodgy. the male antagonist digging with a drill in the wrong place reveals the erratic behaviour.

Costumes - these follow the same brand as the front cover with the vibrant colours. except the other character e.g. the male antagonist wearing an american police uniform which creates a worry for the audience as he is guiding the traffic badly, also a female antagonist was driving a car was wearing mainstream clothes with her  daughter in the back reinforces this emotion of worry. Both the daughter, the paper boy the older woman who crashes into the male protagonist and the young girl on the tire swing were also wearing mainstream clothes which infers even normal people take drugs not just celebrities. The priests costume connotes that even the people you are supposed to trust are not worthy. this is emphasised with the nurses and fireman's costumes all connoting their authority as these are iconic costumes. Hence the people that are supposed to be running the world like the president or a bus driver who are not doing it safely because they could have taken drugs.

Editing -  the director has decided to select some of the costume change and cut out the costume changes to quicken the pace as the music is very rapid as well. the cutaways to the wet band playing foresees the fireman being on drugs and spraying fire on the opposite house as the house on the other side of the road is on fire. cutting back and forth to the band also makes the pace of the video quicker and brakes the fourth wall reminding the audience of reality like all music videos. When the male protagonist get hit with a piece of wood it is obvious that we are following his narrative because it blacks out and gives an upside down close up of him in a ambulance bed this is obvious from the mise en scene. The fact that he is upside down also disorientates the audience therefore they understand his emotions.

Sound -There are no non diegetic sound at all e.g. knock at the door, the crash of the car or spraying the fire out. Even though people are lip synced to the lyrics there is no added sound thus lacks in continuity and gives a sense of disorientation.  The guitar solo kicks in when the hairdresser was about to shave all of the male protagonists hair this creates tension and a climatic point it demonstrates that we trust people who could be on drugs and doing their jobs on a high.

Camera- There are a range of camera shots and angles most of them when introducing characters and settings are long and mid shots. from the middle to end the band is shot mostly in close up. when the male protagonist is walking down the road tracking is used. Close ups are used when the characters are driving on  objects such as scissors and the two carts crashing to show detail.. Zoom out is used when the policeman is directing the traffic in the wrong direction .  This is used to portray a wide shot of all the traffic and the chaos it would have caused if the cars had crashed as the policeman appears to be high on drugs

green Day Digipak + wake me up when september ends

CD cover
Image - This is a graphically designed logo of a grenade in a heart shape almost bleeding; as the red paint ie dripping down the the hand that is clutching the grenade. The fact that the grenade is shaped as a heart is symbolising the saying "pulling on heart strings" maybe some of the songs are love songs in the album. Or another interpretation is that the representation is portrayed as negative to American ethnicity because they are too powerful with a great deal of money and weapons. Nevertheless I like the stencil effect and may try to achieve this with a peace or OK sign with hand gestures. As Conquer the Decade could relate to history and I think in the album there are war songs so it could work well.

Colour - Red connotes death most certainly even though the grenade is in a heart shape - white connotes purity almost as though the hand is innocent and shouldn't deserve to bleed or die. The colours could also convey a positive stereotype of English or American ethnicity as the white hand is brave enough to touch the grenade even though the person bleeds from it. However this could also be classed as negative because they could be foolish enough to pick up the grenade thats about to blow up.

Font - The album name is once again bigger than the artists name again, and the artist name is in capitals and the album name is in lowercase putting more emphasis on the bands name. Once again there is a sketchy font being used for both names. This is except the "presents" which emphasizes the importance of the words.

Layout -"presents" is right next to the i's dot in american kind of signifying a bullet point in war stating the soldiers mission. Also the hand and grenade is almost like a stencil - this is iconic to the band as many recognise the grenade as a fashion symbol.

Language - Green connotes jealousy thus one interpretation of the bands name is a jealous day. I looked it up and Green day is one of the [seven plagues] that will change the course of all "green life" as well as the third part of all humanity. or it could also be a day for smoking Marijuana according to http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071026084110AA3a4bP. American idiot is similar to Bleed America with the derogatory stereotype that Americans are not very smart. This is reinforced by one of the bands songs in this album the lyrics say "I don't wanna be an American Idiot" inferring that all americans are idiots which of course they are not. Therefore, the album cover could represent a negative stereotype of ethnicity.

 This video reminds me of Avril Lavigne's when your gone because its about a woman's husband going to war and had unfortunately passed away just like this one. Thus, the narrative must be a convention of this genre and both videos are performative and narrative based. This is reinforced by the actor in the video as she looks like Lavigne. This is either a coincidence or this is what girls should look like in this genre "blonde hair blue eyes, and confident". Nevertheless, it would be too difficult to find a war location and do explosions with fake guns and stuff. The CD cover is linked quite closely with the theme of war.

Editing -Then again I like how this is edited with band playing and singing separately. Most of the professional music videos have very good lip sync editing. This is probably because the band wrote the song but as I am using actors it could be proven as a bit trickier as they will need to learn the lyrics and the rhythm to act it out and mouth the words. However, like most videos it cuts between the story and the band which is what I plan to achieve. I think it was effective how the story was happening in different locations as both characters and actors were thinking of each other. The slow motion effect is used a variety of times especially at the end which makes a contrast with the pace of the music. I think music just tends to increase in pace at the end because it spends most of the beginning building up in this case building up the tension and then releasing in music

 

Mise en scene - the beginning the facial expressions and body language is relaxed and happy as the male protagonist laughs when the female protagonist says "don't ever leave me" as we replies "I won't" this is ironic as it girders the future as he leaves her to go to war. When the girl finds this out she gets angry and starts to cry as he broke his promise this is when body language and facial expressions all change as she slams the door and storms out to him and falls to the floor with sadness after his facial expressions change to anger. Thus the tone and mood of the song changes as the audience feels sympathy for the couple.
The location and lighting is really bright and sunny in a field of yellow flowers which is a huge difference to the next location through an extra close up if the singer in the band with black make up over his eyes. This is very rockish and pop punk developed from rock thus has elements of the genres conventions running though it. The lighting also changes just before the female protagonist finds out that the male protagonist is going to war; there is a silhouette of the singer with a red background which connotes blood and death. The location changes again as it goes to a performative based set as its a stage with bright lights and then the percussion comes in.
The people in the story are wearing pretty mainstream clothes e.g. patchwork shirt and black top and then after 7 years passed they have changed clothes off screen their new costumes is a white top and a beige top with denim jeans which follows the codes of the pop genre. However, when the guy goes to the army he wears the iconic camouflaged clothes.

Sound - Diegetic the couple talking - I personally feel the dialogue is fractured and it has the feeling of  a documentary so I believe it makes it have a cheesy tone especially when they start talking in the middle of the song. The comments on YouTube about this prove that familiarity is essential as audience don't like change but like creativity. Hence it's a matter of having a balance between the two, not too much creativity like this video or my first AS level idea. Then the non diegetic score kicks in and the band starts lip syncing. The rage is emphasis in the sound as the male protagonist says "I thought of all people you would understand". I think it was effective when there was non diegetic score of gun shots over the top of the fast passed chorus of the song. Moreover at the end of the song the girls voice saying "I will always be there for you" from the beginning is used as non diegetic sound.

Camera angles - The first long shot is establishing the setting and the characters.  The close up shots show the intimacy between the couple and creates sympathy for them and as the singer almost knows what's going to happen there are extra close ups of his mouth and eyes to reveal that it is him telling us as he's seen it, but I find it as a viewer slightly disorientating. Therefore, there is mostly close ups and long shots to show the location and emotions with facial expressions and body language the. Next there were more mid shots and long mid shots so that the audience could follow the story from a certain distance. The first shot of the stage is a long shot. Then it is mainly close ups again e.g. the wedding ring the female protagonist was hold symbolizing love or possibly doubt of love. After that there were mid shots of the male protagonist and other male antagonists having their hair cut it connotes their change in personality so the males may not be the same when they go back. Plus they are committing themselves to the army instead of his marriage. There were server pans at the beginning of the music video but when the male protagonist is in the war zone hand held camera is used more. zoom shots are used when the band is in the frame.

Motion City SoundTrack

Image - it is a Photoshop edited image of a man with hair in the shape of buildings and an old night landscape shadow or silhouette with birds almost falling out or flying away because the guy is not portrait but kind of facing downwards. This gives an edgy effect. Moreover, there are two interpretations from the picture either the yellow and pink ribbon is a blindfold and his is reaching out his hand to feel his way around the woods which is connoted by the black lines which look like trees or it is his memory of seeing someone and waving at them.

A completely different and clever interpretation is that he is blind to the real world because of media and could be in a  simulation like the matrix but the media is making us commit to memory the simulation. Or maybe it's my imagination and I'm reading too much into it because it sounds a bit far fetched.

Font- Black, slanted to the right, bold, big, thick and slightly sketchy with a grey background. The albums name is in small scribbled handwriting. I in fact missed this at first glance hence it was good that the artists name was big enough to read from far distances so that the customers will know the brand. The orange and pink is also vibrant and so stands out.

Colour - peach pink + grey I think its almost a cracked wall and the graphics are supposed to be graffiti or it is supposed to symbolise a storm and the grey is lightning causing the birds to fly off. This is reinforced by the saying red sky in the morning shepherds warning - with the pink red sky warning the shepherds to get their sheep in because there may be a storm. The black and white connotes an old antiquated feeling like news paper so maybe the lyrics are related to the news. or it could be connoting death and purity again but that is unlikely with the grey.

Language - it could infer that "Motion City Soundtrack" is quite loud because the city is quite loud. However motion sounds quite slow - from slow motion but then sound track makes it sound like a pop  song as it is upbeat so I will have to look it up on youtube to figure out what the tone of the music is it seems quite catchy with the album name "Commit to memory". Or another interpretation is that the lyrics are so fast that it is difficult to hear them thus it is ironic and near on to memorise lots of word all at once. or the lyrics in one of the songs is called that - usually the best song of the album is what the album is named.

Layout - the layout is quite interesting because it is almost as if it was designed to rotate once to the left - i could challenge this convention design the whole CD cover and rotate it 90 degrees right. the album name ifs shaped to follow the ribbon to almost flow. The land scape slightly seen behind the male protagonist also ends slanted a bit. 

Jimmy eat world album cover

Image: it is a digital image of a photograph of a cd cover with old trophies from sport competitions. This conveys the artist is both good at sport iconic and mysterious because there isn't a photo of an artist so it intrigued the audience to find out more. However I am not sure what is below the trophies - it looks kind of like a game or something you have to put 40 cents into or may be a recording console desk. I'll have to look it up and see what it means. - I tried to look it up but it just went to Wikipedia which doesn't say much only that Jesse LeDoux – designed the album cover I looked him up and he's done a great deal of  animation  but not so much photography which is surprising.

Colour: the trophies are gold and silver which denotes wealth possibly a wealth of talent more than money. The blue back wall connotes masculinity again. The white writing connotes purity and stands out against the background

Font: Compared to all the other CD covers this has the smallest font so far. Also for the first time both The album name and artists name is the same size. However, it is quite wide and thanks to the colour easily viable to audiences,especially young customer because there eye site is probably better.

Layout: The album name and artists name is high and centre. This is divided by a thin small red line and the trophies are all jagged around the platform or shelf in roughly height order so they can be seen.

Language: Jimmy eat the world - it is impossible for one person to eat the planet earth thus it must be a literary meaning which I am in the process of looking up- "The younger brothers of Tom Linton, a guitarist of the band, had two brothers named Jim and Ed. When his brothers were children, they often fought, and Jim would often win. To have his revenge, Ed created a crayon drawing of Jim eating the world, and called this drawing "Jimmy Eat World."" http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090605184726AANoig6 the story behind the bands name is in fact quite interesting. I then looked up the meaning of the albums name "Bleed America" and found that after 9/11 they changed its name to "salt sweat sugar" with risk of offending anyone Thus this is an old album and the band has probably moved on since.

Avril Lavigne album cover and Video

The Only Exception videos reminded me of the structure and editing of Avril Lavigne's Music video called What the hell because it starts off and ends with the female protagonist in bed with the male antagonist. Nevertheless, I prefer the other one because there were no costume changes as they had a lack of importance. For example, I like how Avril came out of the apartment changed as it saved time. However, this probably saved time as it needed less lip syncing when she was in the changing room as all music videos have non diegetic music overlapping onto the footage. Nevertheless, fashion isn't a key part of a man's life so if I use costume I do choose to have them in my video I will edit the change out. Thinking about it the male protagonist will probably have a different outfit for different location like" The Only Exception".

Mise-en-scene - It is strange how "The Only Exception" have such similar settings; waking up in living room/bedroom doing make up and changing clothes or perfume, to the band and club and then back to the living room/bedroom with their male antagonists. This is because it has been adapted from the same genre therefore it follows the post-modern theory that everything is a remix. Therefore I want to design a post modern video but I think I will have a majority of the musicians to be male. This is partly because the singer in my music is male but also because this is a key convention throughout the pop punk genre. I feel that the costumes used sum up the pop punk genre because it is slightly mainstream with the denim shorts and leather leggings for pop but also has an edgy black punk tops connoting death. Also I like the idea of having the lyrics printed on the tops as it enhances the brand by expanding the company and using synergy, which this promo is blatantly doing. This is revealed when Avril puts on her own brands of perfume advertising both the music and her perfume.The female protagonists facial expressions and body language is happy and relaxed and the male protagonist is angry and annoyed because the female keeps on messing him about keeping him on his toes by having fun.

Camera: She is able to have fun because of how wealthy she is and because she has a rock star rebel lifestyle. for example just as she wakes up she looks around the room that is shown through an eye line shot and smiles through a close up conveying that she is proud of her success. Through the long shots the location is established with the aid of props which I should have mentioned in the mise en scene section (Clothes, a bed caupboards ect). Anyway back to camera there are mostly mid and close up shots throughout the music video it is only when people or places are introduced that there are long shots. For example the band has a couple the audience of the band the basket ball players the fashion shop and designer.

Editing - Not only are her costume changes brilliant at the beginning but the away she exited from the shop (wasn't the way she went in technically  this bad continuity) but she ended up in the entrance to the club. However the lip syncing in this is not very good at all as she starts singing with her band and then stops when she meets up with her boyfriend on the dance floor therefore the verisimilitude in the video is very low which means that it is unrealistic..

Sound: There was no diegetic or foley sounds just the non diegetic score over the music trying to be and acting diegetic.

Image - is a photo of the artist the mise en scene such as facial expression and body language is relaxed but almost aggressive. in a way its the blank stare demonstrates she can't even be bothered to pose, that's how much she doesn't care and how much confidence she has. The texture around the edges of the CD cover is reinforcing this idea that she is aggressive and angry. The confidence is emphasised with mise en scene - costume. She is wearing quite a smart sophisticated blazer and she is also wearing a black see through top to which coveys her confidence as it shows her bra on full display. individually these are quite mainstream but the fact they are all black and worn together makes it more niche to the genre it is conveying. 

Colour - "What the Hell" is in red which connotes blood or another interpretation would symbolise love. However, in this context I think it mean blood because of the language that is written. The black costume connotes death symbolising the pop-punkness.

Fonts: Artists name is  bold but sketchy. the Album name is once again smaller than the artists but it is in capitals like the album name. The drink me necklace is in quite a funky font reinforcing the importance of fashion in the genre because it almost emphasises the brand that is signified.

Language "What the Hell" with no question mark this conveys the freedom and care free spirit of genre and the general quote is rebelling against society. She is wearing a necklace that has "Drink me" on it. this is probably referring to music video called Alice in the album relating to the potion that makes Alice in wonderland bigger.

Layout - The layout of the artists name is following the pattern of the fact that she doesn't care as the Avril is on a slant. this is also jagged with the album title which makes it edgy and  visually effective.

Survey!

This questionnaire will give me a clearer understanding of my target audience and give me market research to  help inspire some ideas. It will most importantly give me some Primary research.

Paramores album cover and music video

I like how the video as been edited by cross cutting between the performance and narrative. Furthermore I like the idea of having just the singer more than the band so I am thinking of having more of a narrative like this video. The high key lighting connotes she is happier when she's with people she loves. I also Love the set as the female protagonist exists through one door and straight away enters another as it makes it flow more. like most of the videos I've watched the endings have a faster pace than the beginning. The beginning of the video is adjacent to the end as she goes back through the same doors to get back to the first living room was as he is her only exception.

There is non diegetic sound throughout the whole song as even when it seems that the music is being made on screen it is being played in sync and time with the lyrics and instruments. This technique is used a great deal in music videos and is called lip-syncing. However most of the narrative sections have none of this which I like as it takes incredible skill to edit the recorded music in time with the footage.

Mise - en - Scene has been used as in the living rooms used, it is like an ordinary middle class house which means its pretty easy for the audience to relate to.  This is one of the only music videos with a female lead singer in this genre I think this has something to do with the target audience although I am not quite sure what yet.

The prop of the photo of her mother and father links to the narrative and creates sympathy for the female protagonist. When she's lying down on the love letters it suggests that despite all of the guys sending her all of them he is the only exception putting the video into an almost romcom genre. The protagonist wrote the note to the antagonist "I'm sorry" the signs were in English therefore the target audience was most likely intended for the English speaking people.

The costume of the army green jacket brown shoes and cream dress is very fashionable at the moment suggesting the video is trying to target the younger audience. However, the orange died hair and black clothes emphasises what pop punk bands stand for rebellion and freedom.  The romcom kind of genre is reinforced when she is wearing black at someone else's wedding. This is comical because  her costume juxtaposes all the others wearing white in the congregation. However, there could be another interpretation as the protagonist is being rude at the other persons wedding because its almost as though she is at a funeral. This is as a result of the colour of  black which connotes death she is being rebellious and negative about marriage as she "will never sing of love if it does not exist". Running back down the aisle dismisses that because he is the only exception.

 This dismissal and confusion between loving or not loving is shown through facial expression when she sings "I've got a tight grip on reality..." as she's almost frightened because she's saw what heart break did to her dad and was scared of it happening to her. Or it could be interpreted that she is passionate about her music.

The body language is relaxed and calm but also sad especially in the scene with the band, but then happy when she's in the club with antagonist she's a lot happier.

Camera Angles - There are a variety of shots I like the wide shot of her reflection in the mirror with the photo of her mother and farther the most. There are also several zoom ins and outs to show detail. It breaks the fourth wall like most music videos when the music becomes almost diegetic. Mostly long wide shots of the band and close ups in the narrative to show detail of emotion through facial expressions. 

Images - a butterfly, I think this slightly contrasts the punk element of the music possibly trying to reach out to other audiences. I do not know why there are light blue dots but they could represent fairies, or magic dust. Also quite a few of their music videos are related to fairy tales for example "Brick by Boring Brick" has butterflies in it as shown in the print screens above. This is reinforced with the lyrics of the song as it says "detaching the butterfly from its wings". Another song in the album "Still in to" also has they lyrics "I thought I'd be over all the butterflies" which once again links to the album cover possibly trying to design a brand. Moreover, butterflies connote being reborn, freedom of the soul and seen through brand new eyes.

Colour - Yellow creates a lively kind of atmosphere and black connotes death. hence it could mean the yellow is pop and black punk. The beige background suggests that the music is quite emotional and neutral. The blue dots could symbolise a clear sky reinforcing the idea of freedom and liberty.

Fonts "Brand new eyes" is in a kind of old handwriting font which reinforces the idea of fairy tales. it has changed a great deal since the last album cover Riot. Paramore is quite simple bold and black which stands out against the beige

Language - This reinforces that the band has developed since their last album as it as though they are seeing through "Brand New Eyes". Or it could be interpreted that Their brand is changing and has different eyes. Paramour means secret love so the name was changed to Paramore to Americanise it.

Layout - The wings are also fragmented from the body and the the body almost looks like a silhouette of a person making it slightly sinister as to say that life is weird and twisted. The line kind of separates the text and image. the It is almost developed from Alice in wonderland the movie. This shows the postmodern theory as once again Paramore has reminded me of Avril Lavigne as her music video Alice has a fairy tale edge to it:

 

This shows that the genre has adapted to Paramore as Avril wrote this song first.

I do not think I will make my CD cover like this as it seems to go against the conventions of the other Digipacks. Also I think it will be difficult to obtain footage of butterflies in my music video. Moreover it would be difficult to design a wonderland like the ones above.

Taking back sunday album cover analysis

Images - Is a photo of a highway suggesting freedom which I feel is what the genre stands for so is very pop punky. one of the cars is blurred which could mean that the music is fast. Its quite realistic so its probably indie rock (hybrid).

Language - "Tell all your friends" - direct address almost advertising the Music. In a way that is what CD covers do because it enhances the brand because they could use the same colours and ideas in this as in their music review or advertisement. "152 Victory Records" is a record label company. In addition according to Wikipedia (as unreliable source as it is) the bands name came from "A song by Long Island band The Waiting Process who were inspired by their grandmother, Tina, that they should take back Sunday from the Christian people in Long Island." which is quite interesting. I will have to find out how my band came up with their name "Conquer of the Decades".

The colours are quite mellow with a turquoise blue background which connotes the music will be emotional and having meaning. Nevertheless, the white texts stands out against this. The artists and albums name is white which conotes purity which implies that the music is emotional.

This leads me to fonts which are more or less is the same throughout the medium as they are quite narrow. The only difference is the size in fact the artists name is always bigger than the albums name. Hence this is probably a convention of Digipacks.

Layout - this is quite restricted compared to other CD covers as the text is all aligned to the left. I like the band across it with a white border and may use this in my own project, with more of a rustic feel to it like My Chemical Romance and Avril Lavigne.

My Action Plan!

Date	Task	Date completed/monitoring
09/09	Finish analysing the 4 music videos that have been started and finish analysing the first album cover	completed little late 11/09
10/09	Do further reading  on narrative representation and genre (is there such thing?) and work out the representation of my music video and create a summary post for research received	Media magazine website I have the articles ready but have not read them yet 20/10
12/09	Do further reading on music videos and analysing them	Media magazine website – completed need to annotate it but the article that I thought would help wasn’t what I thought so probably not necessary.
14-19/09	Analyse 10 music advertisements – music reviews and create a summary post for research received	Analysed 3 music adverts because there is only one per magazine and they are quite expensive but I have found three different types which 18/09
19-23/09	Analyse 9 album covers and create a summary post for research received	I have completed 12 digipak analysis’ and have posted a summary of my ideas I need to include the conventions that I found out about – 22/09
22-24/09	Analyse 7 more music videos of the pop punk genre and create a summary post for research received	Have analysed 9 music videos and have a really good idea which I hope people will like because it’s the only idea I have.
26/09	Write a summary post analysing the data from the survey Research deadline!	Quite behind difficult to obtain survey results should print loads off and give then directly to people but it will probably take even longer typing in results 20/10
27/09	Decide on location and actors	Decided on Chalfonts Community college need to ask for rooms and ask actors 27/9
27/09-2/10	Story board
3-5/10	animatic
17/10	Pitch deadline!	deadline changed to 14/11 have to redo animatic
14/11	Pitch extension
19/12	Ancillary Test check music ect	idea changed from skeleton hand to photo of the band with photoshopped skull heads
4/01	Shooting schedule	need to reschedual
23/01	Rough cut	changed to 10/2 main text completed 3/3
13/02	Final blog before evaluation
27/02	Draft of evaluation	24/3 project complete.

These are all my deadlines it is obviously more detailed the more closer the dates because I haven't been briefed in enough detail to know what to plan yet. The text in bold are deadlines set by my teacher to make sure I am on the right track. I have a great deal to do.

My chemical romance CD cover analysis

Images - Skeleton styled soldier this is signified by the mise en scene as the cartoon is wearing a costume of conductor at a parade. The reason most CD covers do not have the members of the band on the front is to create a sense of mystery behind the artists intriguing the audience which I will definitely use in my cd cover.

Colour - Black and white connotes death but purity so it could suggest that the music is more punk than pop as it has a rusted texture. This conveys a possible aggressive mood and tone in the texture. so stands out against the background

Fonts- The artists name is sketchy, care free, bold rustic and harsh because it wants to come across as edgy and non conformist It reminds me of graffiti carved into desks . Furthermore, I feel the font that is used has made their name the logo. Thus, the fact that the title has no spaces means their audience should know the band well enough to be able to read it and buy.

Language this band is called My Chemical Romance which could mean that love is a drug I think there is a song with that name to by Roxy Music from the 70's and one by Eskimo Joe 2011. There is another song called l Love you to Death by Pixie Lott so it's following that theme. Additionally, The Black Parade reinforces that the conductor of the parade or perhaps a leader of a party or group.

Layout - it is quite centred which suggests they are try to engage the audience. this is all except the bands name which is jagged so conveys an edgy attitude. However, I would have to check this against their music videos.

Mise en scene: The title page costumes - they are all wearing black with white accessories connoting death because there is so much black it wipes out the white connotation.The lead singer is slightly smarter than the rest of them as he is wearing a blazer and tie whereas the others are wearing jackets and hoodies except the one to the left of the lead singer. perhaps he is the back up singer conveying their importance in the band. 

Make up - all except the lead singer is wearing red face paint in a shape of a rectangle over their eyes which connotes blood, but the lead singer has zombie kind of eyes which connote death or possibly life after death.

However when the music video starts the band is all wearing black blazers, trousers and red ties whereas the rest of the actors and dancers are wearing mainly black with white accessories reinforcing the connotation of death blood and not much purity. The setting of a church for a funeral service is another emphasise on death as the plot is quite Gothic. The audience infers that the location is a church because the props of candles, coffin flowers benches aisle and the alter. on one hand both the setting and dancers mean suggest a celebration of life of Helena. On the other the body language both in the dancers of the video and title page is quite sinister as they look relaxed but as the same time scary with an edgy aggression. (For example when I went to this lecture a couple of years ago about speaking in front of an audience the lecturer said if someone was reading a newspaper on a train and slowly put it down and calmly whispered to you "I'm going to kill you now" it would be much more creepy and scary than if they screamed it at you. I think this is the calm body language that is conveyed through the dancers and the title page) Whereas I feel that the band is much more passionate all most angry about the death of Helena whereas there was one member of the congregation crying. Hence, the video is portraying the different emotions of a cultural English Funeral. Either this or the reason they are dancing at the funeral is because Helena was a dancer as an occupation during her life.this is implied by the director as she comes back to life (out of the coffin and starts doing ballet).

Sound: The fact that the pace of the non diegetic score is quite fast reinforce the possible interpretation of a celebration of life. Once again in this video they singers are lip-syncing very well I only hope mine will be the same, but I feel it will take several shots to get it right.

Camera:  most shots are still and are not moving. Close ups are used to express the multiple emotions revealed in a funeral through facial expressions and body language and long shots of the dancers so we can see all of their moments. when "Helena" wakes up she holds onto the camera which is quite disorientating as the band singer and dancers break the fourth wall as well but not this much. However this could suggest that this is dramatic irony as everyone but the audience have their heads bowed and hands together which denoted that they are praying. thus, only the audience knows she could be alive.

Editing: The editing is pretty fast throughout especially the footage of the dancing as it has only a couple of seconds for a long shot then close up and then an overhead shot which is all just one dance move e.g. cherrie turns. This cuts regularly back to the lead singer and or the band. I love how when she falls back she falls from the aisle to the pillow of the coffin which is quite clever. Therefore there is a supernatural and mysterious element which intrigues the viewers to carry on watching.