Dimensions - Get Ahead OCR Analysis - The Vixens

• This is an example of a digipak taken from a students past project for media a level. I found this example by searching get ahead OCR in the google search engine. It then came up with a website then had several examples of digipak's. I chose this one as I felt it clearly demonstrates the typical codes and conventions of a Digipak. 
• This digipak highlights several key factors that are normally included within this CD pack. This example uses a colour scheme to keep the consistency and flow between each section of the digipak.
• The images of the artists on the front and back cover is composed very well and looks professional. I feel costume plays an important role in there appeal to their audience, young girls.
• They have included the information of each song on the back cover and have positioned high heels mixed in with the text. I feel this works very well as it looks professional and original.
• The drawing aspect of the front cover is very good as it relates to a younger audience and plays with the young girl band era.

Analysis of Digipak

This is an example of a digipak from an artist called Myth. this digipak incorporates many typical digipak conventions, these conventions both conform and subvert to the genre of music he operates in.

• As you can see the price is labelled on the front of cover, this goes against normal conventions which normally position this on the back of the cover.

• The information of the artist is positioned in the middle of the digipak, next to a picture of the artist near the mouth insinuating that he is speaking the text.

• The song list is divided into its own section in the middle of the digipak where titles of songs are highlighted in orange colour, underneath this is a block of text describing the song.

• the use of colour is very effective as it highlights the name of the artist and represents the abstract nature of the genre he works within. The use of black and white used to dress the artist enables the title to stand out. 

• This abstract nature of 'Myth' continues by the way in which he is impicted in photo of the middle of the digipak where he is giving the illusion that he is not sitting on anything.

Digipak Conventions

-The color scheme runs throughout this digipak. This creates a flow of order and is relevant to the pack of information. The contrast of the bright colors against the black creates a powerful image.

-The barcode is clearly evident within the package highlighting a typical convention of a digipak.

-They have included an image of performance which is in black white. I feel this image is powerful due to the comparison against the color scheme running throughout the pack.

- They have also continued a circular structure throughout each piece of the package. This shows consistency.

-They include visual imagery in terms of the designs on the front cover. It is more art based compared to a photograph due to the ideas and colors. 

Animatic Storyboard -End Credits: Plan B

Research- The True Plan B

Benjamin Paul Ballance Drew was born 22nd October 1983, little did he know that in 2010 he would be releasing an album called the Defamation of Strickland Banks which would reach number 1 in the UK album charts. Plan B grew up in Forest Gate with his mother and brother, growing up Plan B felt outcast from the rest of school pupils, Plan B taught himself how to play the guitar at 14, he had an interest in R&B and wrote and sang music of this genre but never felt comfortable to sing so he decided to launch in the direction of rap and hip-hop. B featured in songs by Roll Deep but finally released his his first album in 2006 'Who Needs Actions When You've Got Words'. The next year he featured with talents such Professor Green. Over the next couple of years he transitioned through the ranks of the UK charts with various releases but finally lead and meet his potential in 2010 with the release of Strickland Banks which completed his transition from hip-hop to R&B/ soul. Plan B was interviewed by USA Today and said "The whole reason for calling myself Plan B was that I was doing this sweet-boy Justin Timberlake [stuff], but I never felt comfortable... When I started rapping, it was easier for me to feel comfortable." The target audience for Plan B is R&B.

Presentation- The Vision

Within this video we present and explored our idea with our class, giving a short extract from the original video for End credits by Plan B ft Chase & Status. As stated in our presentation we picked this song as it offered us the opportunity to use the transitional nature of the song in both the lyrics and beat of the song. We conveyed our ideas and gave the sense of direction we want to go in with the song and narrative, incorporating the influences from the original video.

Music Video Analysis

Mrs Officer - Lil Wayne





Mrs. Officer, a song by popular hip hop artist Lil Wayne is about a man meeting a very sexy woman that happens to be a cop and all of the things that this man does to this woman in a sexual way. The man and woman are playing a cop and robber type of game, but the woman is actually a cop. Lil Wayne is a long standing hip hop artist that is now starting to take over the hip hop charts, having many songs at number one. Hip hop is a type of music developed in the Bronx, in New York City in the 1970’s predominately among African Americans and Latinos (Wikipedia). It started off very popular in the urban and street lives of people all over.
This hip hop song is “rapped” by Lil Wayne and has a rhythm and blues section sung by Bobby Valentino. Rap stems from poetry and is a way that artists do not sing, but poetically state what they are trying to get out in the song. It is said as if someone is reciting poetry with a beat in the background that usually speeds up the words and provides a catchy tune for the audience. Bobby Valentino sings the chorus and adds flow to the song that catches people’s attention. The beat in the background slows to a more soulful beat, and speeds back up with harder and faster beats when Lil Wayne comes back in to rap. The video of this song is depicting an officer that pulls a man over for speeding. This officer is played by sex symbol type of woman. She is dressed in provocative cop clothing and proceeds to be sexual and flirtatious with this suspect.

Music \video Analysis

99 Problems - Jay Z




Both Jay-Z’s third single album “99 Problems” and its corresponding music video were released in 2004.   Although Jay-Z is known today as a famous rapper and a producer of Roc-A-Fella record label, he did not start off with the most fortunate setting.   The music video portrays the ghetto of Brooklyn, New York in the 1990s and illustrates the struggles that Jay-Z had to go through during his career in order to reach the top of the music industry.   This hip-hop music video won “three MVPA awards in 2005, MTV Video Music Awards, Video of the Year, and the Best Male Video” (Wikipedia).  
  Primary Audience
The primary audience for this music video is African American males.   The second verse of the music video shows Jay-Z getting pulled over by a Caucasian policeman for something coming out from a discriminating heart—he gets pulled over for driving fifty-five miles per hour in a fifty-four mph zone. 

Feeling discriminated, Jay-Z raps aboutwhat happened and shows that this incident is just one of the many incidents of which him and his race deal with in their daily lives.   Driving one mile over the speed limit is something that police would believe is not worth wasting time or effort to pull one over. However, because Jay-Z is from African decent, it is implied that Caucasians do not feel safe about African Americans driving around the streets—Caucasians may believe that African Americans are dangerous, criminals, and/or a possible threat to the community.  

I Love The Way You Lie- Eminem ft Rihanna

 Music videos generally always tend to feature the artist or band, it is common and expected to see an appearance of the artist/band in their own video and this is a way of promoting the song and themselves. This convention is used in this music video showing both Eminem and Rihanna. 

Eminem

Rihanna

The use of lip syncing is used when a crucial aspect of the video's narrative is shown in the case below shown below she is leaving him "Wait where you going?" "I'm leaving you" "No you ain't".

The use of narrative is effective as it justifies the lyrics and portrays the song in the viewpoint wanted by the artist in effect reinforcing the genre. The narrative has been used to explore the title of the song 'I love the way you lie', and shows a relationship between Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan and the effects which lieing has on them. 

The use of celebrities draws the attention of a wider spread audience expanding them from just a specific audience. In this video the use of Megan Fox a current actress and the feature of Dominic Monaghan bring a sense of quality to music video and makes the portrayal of narrative cinematic.

Megan Fox

Dominic Monaghan

The use of colour a common feature of music videos is effective as it reinforces the mood of the music video. Rihanna's hair is the colour red showing the danger in the narrative.

The use of props used in the music videos can be used to support the lyrics and signify something  related to the artist/band such as Jay-z uses the hand sign of a triangle. The use of fire is used to show the  danger of love and how it can impact you and your relationship.

Practice Task- Sunny Afternoon

Music Video Evaluations

We researched existing music videos that were uploaded onto youtube to gain an understanding of what was expected. We understood from the videos that were uploaded for the A2 practical coursework that variety of shot was vital and a key aspect towards a successful music video. Researching existing music videos helped us out considerably as we viewed successful productions and unsuccessful productions, from this experience, we knew the level expected and required to gain a high grade within this coursework. We took on good aspects from the videos in order to incorporate within our own music video.  

We viewed a DVD supplied by the examining board with a range of examples from previous years. This was helpful as it was realistic for us, as viewing the productions you could gain the understanding of how certain effects were completed compared to an actual music video where effects could simply not be completed due to the technology and settings available. We went through several videos giving it a mark and explaining our reasons for the mark given.

We viewed an A level group that chose to create a music video for the soundtrack ‘You can’t Hurry Love’ by Dianna Ross. This was a very poor example as the production only incorporated 5 different shots. This was clearly not enough to portray any sort of excitement or progression. As a group we gave this a miserable level 1 as there was clearly lack of organisation and effort. The main problem within the production was the lip synching, it was off from the very start of the video. The character within the production did not know all of the words to the song, so once again this showed the lack of organisation. The background setting and costumes were poor. The production was not believable and I feel that is an important factor to any production, you must sell your video to the audience and make it believable. The music video was unsuccessful and unprofessional.

  

We also viewed an A level group that chose the song ‘Streets On fire’ by Lupe Fiasco. This was a major improvement compared to the previous video. We gave it a level 4 as it contained everything in order to fulfil high grades. It used a variety of shot and had large amounts of footage which helped the production considerably. The editing also played an important role as the clips were cut to the beats of the song. This helped the video to progress. The setting was well thought out and was suitable and appropriate for the image being portrayed. There were several effects incorporated within the video. Footage found from the internet and so on which added to the success of the video. It was a shutter of clips of historical events. This made the video look very professional and real. Establishing shots of London were also used adding to realism and clearly related to the lyrics. The performance of the characters within the video always played an important role. The characters costumes were appropriate and looked the part. It was believable in several different ways because of the dress and the lip synching was on point everything flowed well together. This music video was a clear success and you could see the effort put into the production by the final outcome.

Production Tips

We watched previous year’s videos; we conversed in our group and with the class and took notes about the use of conventions by the groups, and assessed the groups from level 1-4. For a group to score the highest mark and level they must have used a number of different conventions commonly used by the music industry:

Multiple angle shots

The groups that scored the highest marks used a range of different shots in their production, unlike the ones that used as few as 5 and scored the lowest mark.

The use of location

The use of location and setting is crucial, as this reinforces the genre, artist/band and the image which is trying to be conveyed whether it is the video being politically incorrect or unique.

Costume              

The use of costume is extremely influential in the connection between the audience to the artist to the band as the appeal is likely to be greater if the band/artist is wearing clothing in line with the genre or of the genre’s origins, an example of this is Lady Gaga who uses looks from previous successors such as Elton John and Madonna as guidelines to what she wears.

Use of editing

The use of editing is a vital aspect to the success of a music video as it leads the way in influencing the quality of a music video; there are many techniques which are the central to this possible success.

Performance

Every performance is unique to the artist/band in reinforcing the image which is trying to be conveyed, many artists/bands use previous star’s features in performances to enhance their own for example Ne Yo in 2009 did a Michael Jackson tribute mimicking and using all his choreography and stage set ups to his display his own talent.

Music Video Conventions

Music video conventions takes into consideration every minor and major aspect which would be expected to be featured in a music video and in the process they can used to both reinforce the image being presented by the band/artist and can also support the genre of music.

The performance in the music video of the artist or band tends to include such things:   

·         Lip syncing - This is a crucial aspect of the performance as it conveys what seems the artist or band to be singing. If this is not done correctly then this can lower the quality of performance.

·         Narrative- By a music video having a narrative this enables the artist/band to connect and engage with the audience; also this makes the music video more rememberable and opens up the video to movie conventions, lastly this can both reinforce the genre of music and reinforce the image presented by the band/artist.

·         Setting- The setting which is featured in a music video tends to be reminiscent of the genre for example Heavy Metal is always set in a dark place or room. The setting can also share a relationship with the artist/band for example, in a house or on a boat owned by the artist/band.

·         Music videos generally always tend to feature the artist or band, it is common and expected to see an appearance of the artist/band in their own video and this is a way of promoting the song and themselves. Music videos tend to feature other artists who are at the same record label, this enables the artist/band to be supported either in a way of image or social recognition.

·         Music videos question and unsettle the sexual conventions within society. Certain genres are likely to make extreme subversions of these conventions for example Crazy Love where Beyonce presents herself in many clips of sexual dancing for example she bursts a fire hydrant and lets the water run down her body. 

·         Music videos are likely to use certain features to enhance the image or reputation of the artist/band for example Hip Hop's videos are known to feature the exploitation of women, which contributes to the reputation of artist or band being womanisers for example 50 cent uses naked women in his videos to insinuate that he is a loved by all women, in effect making him desirable to both men and women.

The History of Music Videos

Music videos are a vital part of the music industry. The video can determine the artist’s success as it is not always about the vocals, it’s also about how the artist presents themselves to the media.

MTV changed the revolution of music as it was the first program to broadcast music videos. In 1981 in the USA, a new era of music videos started, soon to take over the music industry. The first ever video played on MTV was 'Video Killed the Radio Star'.

Once music videos were introduced many artists realized the importance of the production within the careers. MTV enabled artists to become more established, introduced in Britain in 1984 the first video 'Money for Nothing' by Piano Straights. Arguably the music video is as important as the song itself; to an extent it determines the success of the song.

Bohemian Rhapsody revolutionized music videos and founded the conventions for music videos in the 1930's. In the 1940's television was made common in most clubs and households. The music industry was on a decline, they countered by making a soundie (made to show artists lip synching).

In the 1960's films were made with featuring artists, beaming the earliest form of music videos. In the 1960's the growth of rock n pop was present. The target market were teenage girls. Teenagers were shown as rebellious and as ungrateful for the older generation. The Rolling Stones released a movie called 'Stones in the Park' in the 1970's where fans can watch them perform on video.

An 'American Werewolf in London' was directed by John Landis, he took this onto Michael Jacksons Thriller, the ideas within the film influenced the music idea. The music video of 'Thriller' by Michael Jackson subverted the conventions of a typical music video. The video lasted for fourteen minutes and portrayed a horror theme. It was like a short movie, instead of the vocals being the main focus of the artist; Michael Jackson's performance dominated the production. The 'Thriller' music video was introduced in 1983; the whole concept was way ahead of its time and that why it proved to be such a success. Many artists then realized how important the video was as well as the song. 

'Smack my Bitch Up' was an x rated song and music video produced by the Prodigy. It was never released due to the explicit lyrics and performance within the video. it was politically incorrect and objectified women. It promoted the life of sex and drugs.