draft of Promotional poster

This was our first attempt at creating an advertisement poster promoting our artists' new single. After first glance, we were proud with our achievement; the colours schemes, iconography and general appearance, we felt, held to the codes and conventions of the pop/rock genre.
However after a few sessions of research into advertisement posters from professional artists which we browsed for via google, we came to recognise that is was too plain and simple, it needed to attain the audience's attention by paying interest into the detail. As you can see in the progression from our mock up to our end product, although simple changes were made, it had become affective and materialised as a expert looking advertisement.

Shooting schedule

Samantha And April

Our Schedule

Cast:

Main: April, Sam, Ashley

Extras: People at the party, people at the restaurant.

Setting for the party:

Gambole bar, selly oak

Friday 26^th November 10:

Start to shoot the party scene at the above locations.

Monday 22^nd November 10:

Start to shoot Sam’ scene when she returns upset from the party.

Tuesday 23^rd November 10:

Start to shoot April’s scene when she returns upset from the party.

Saturday 27^th November /Monday 22^nd November :

shoot the restaurant scene

Sunday 28^th November : shoot scenes in Stirchley Park, Rowhwath park

1^st December : shoot for the green screen

Synopsis and Pitch

Using xtranormal.com we created a video pitching our idea and the synopsis

>

Storyboard

We made a storyboard using a programme on The Mac called Celtix and this helped us a lot when planning our music video using the shots and so on. It was an easy programme to use as we took images and imported them.

script for our pitch

Script for our pitch.
Sam - The song we have chosen is Without Reason. The dominant themes to our music video are anger, relationships and matriarchy. This is because the genre itself challenges male dominance through stereotypical costumes, camera shots and angles, this we have concluded through analysis of music videos we did prior to the creation of our storyline. From this we have been able to conjure up our own ideas of what we could do to challenge and conform to the conventions of the pop/rock genre.

April - In our interpretation of the song we thought it conveyed the idea of a dysfunctional relationship due to the aggressiveness portrayed within the lyrics. Therefore we want to communicate and express this through placing a male character in the position of a villain by playing two girlfriends off at once and this conforms to the stereotype of a male player.

Sam - Our main plot to our music video consists of a male character who is romantically involved with two woman at the same time. Our main female character discovers this at the beginning of the video where she finds him kissing another girl at a party. As the video progresses the audience will come to realize he has another love interest on the scene. This will be shown through a split screen shot as we uncover the upset and hurt they each display after they both learn this. This plot is single-stranded as we would like to focus of the aspect of love within the theme of relationships.

April - We will be following a non-linear narrative in this case as it will contain flashbacks of both the couples being happy together previously that day. This is to ensure the that the audience receives the preferred message about the storyline we are attempting to create. The plot will then continue on as if we follow both couples throughout the day before the end scene reoccurs same as before when they each realize he has been two-timing.
This creates a code of enigma for the audience, this narrative device will tease the audience by presenting a problem or disruption that needs to be solved. This delays the narrative therefore building an enigma until it is solved. We will use the concepts of Barthe’s codes for the purpose of structuralism: Bathes said ‘we work on the principle that media is a structure made up of different codes and semiotics’. Another code we will use is the code of opposition, where gender will be involved. We will use the concept of man VS woman.

Sam- The female character will come out on top, which is conventional in female pop/rock artists and also challenging ideas of male dominance. The non linear narrative won’t be conventional nor chronological as we decided this would create a more interesting dimension in the narrative.
We chose this type of narrative structure as we found in our research into pop/rock that it is less common, however one video which has this narrative is the Kelly Clarkson video, my life would suck without you. We found that it was more interesting to watch in comparison to others, therefore we wanted to differentiate our video in this way too.

April – Also in our narrative, the structure it will conform to is Propp’s morphology. Which consists of , the preparation, complication, transference, struggle, return and recognition. Due to psychographic research, we have found that our audience value their social life and friends as extremely important factors in their lives. Therefore we decided to use one setting being at a bar. Then after the disruption is resolved the audience see the main character with the other girl in the narrative to signify their friendship the renewed happiness and a new equilibrium. This also supports the idea of female power which we wanted to convey at the end, as the two girls in the video are united and come out on top after experiencing a bad relationship with a male, and male dominance at the start. This supports more conventional ideologies of pop rock female artists as we have found that with our researched female artists the theme of matriarchy is most dominant throughout their videos.
Sam – In addition, from our audience research we have determined that our target audience find clothing and fashion imperative in their lives as it is a way of expressing their personality. Therefore we have made the decision of styling our artists in a bold and outrageous way to convey their individuality.
This is how we want our artists to look ideally, inspired by two of the most well-known and major artists around to take a lead in this genre of music.

April - This is how we want our artists to look ideally, inspired by two of the most well-known and major artists around to take a lead in this genre of music.
We want our duo to look conventional to the stereotype associated with Pop/Rock. Dark and bold colours, displaying a sense of attitude and ruthless manner about themselves.

Sam - We would like to challenge ideologies of pop/rock artists by representing youth positively.
Certain scenes In our video such as shots in the characters’ houses depicts times where the characters are cracking under the pressure due to the dysfunctional relationship and also portrays them as a normal everyday person therefore the demographic could easily relate. However this means that it conforms to the ideologies of female stereotypes, being vulnerable and weak. A concrete example we have found which conforms to this idea in our research into videos is the Kelly Clarkson video where she is portrayed as vulnerable due to heartbreak.
These types of artists also have a rebellious side which we would like to convey, by the other artist in the duo.
Although we want to represent youth in a positive way we will also be conforming to the conventions of the genre through the iconography that we use, whereby there is alcohol and smoking involved, this will only be included at the party setting scripted at the beginning and end of our music video, again this is to relate to our demographic of teenagers and young adults.

April - Setting is vital when is comes to portraying a certain emotion or mood when an audience is watching. Our research furthermore examines the type of settings that would be conventional to use within our video.

Documentary of the Pop/Rock genre

Institutional Research

Physcographic Questionaire Results

From these results we have found that we are going to be aiming out promotional package at the age range 13- 17 and because the majority of people that answered our questionnaire hold their household newspaper as The Sun they are averagely educated, they are more the common people because they shop on the highstreet and therefore represent the majority of the nation. As the people that answered consider their appearance to be a big aspect within their lives we are going to make sure our characters appearances are immaculate to relate to our audience. as the majority of the people that answered are middle class this gives us an idea of what type of clothing to wear and how to dress, this also backed via the answers we got about what the people that answered this shop. Also, as the people that answered appear to like to have status and control, and, more importantly the majority answered that they like self esteem we shall make our characters in our music video individuals would people aspire to be but also making our viewers feel good about themselves.

1.How old are you?
13- 17 18-21 22+
20 8 2

2.What is your household newspaper?
The sun 14 Independent 5
Daily mail 3 Daily express 2
The times 4 The Star 2

3. What is your favourite type of clothing to buy?
Designer labels 8 High street brands 13 bargain/low cost clothing 5
Alternative clothing 4
4.Do you prefer to buy clothes which are designer labels or high street clothing?
Designer labels 8 High street 22

5. Would you consider your appearance to be an important aspect in your life?
Yes 17 No 13
6. Would you say music artists who are instrumentally talented appealing to you?
Yes 25 No 5
7. Is the appearance and attractiveness of an artist a vital aspect to whether he/she appeals to you?
Yes 20 No 10
8. Which social group/ clique would you class yourself in or what group would you fit in the most with?
Goth 1 chav 3 indie 10 sporty 5 rocker 9
Emo 0 other 2


9. What social class would you say your family is?
Working class 13 Middle class 17 upper middle class

10. Do one of your parents or both parents have degree?
Mother 7 Father 10 Both 5 none 8
11. Which the highest paid parent in your family and what type of job does that parent have?
Mother 11 Father 19
A - Top management: e.g bankers, lawyers, doctors, other professionals 6
B - Middle Management: e.g. teachers, many ‘creative’ for example graphic designers etc. 11
C1- office supervisors, junior managers, nurses, specialist clerical staff etc. 5
C2- Skilled workers, tradespersons (white collar) 5
D – Semi skilled and unskilled manual workers (blue collar) 2
E – unemployed, students, pensioners, casual workers 1


12. Out of the following, what are you more like?: Pick one psychographic term
Mainstreamers: like security and belonging to a group 10
Aspirers : want status and esteem of others. Like status symbols, designer labels ect. Aspire to have status and control 6
Succeeders :People who already have status and control. Satisfied 0
Reformers: Define themselves by their self-esteem and self-fufillment14

Physcographic Questionaire

1.How old are you?
13- 17 18-21 22+


2.What is your household newspaper?
The sun Independent
Daily mail Daily express
The times The Star

3. What is your favourite type of clothing to buy?
Designer labels High street brands bargain/low cost clothing
Alternative clothing
4.Do you prefer to buy clothes which are designer labels or high street clothing?
Designer labels High street

5. Would you consider your appearance to be an important aspect in your life?
Yes No
6. Would you say music artists who are instrumentally talented appealing to you?
Yes No
7. Is the appearance and attractiveness of an artist a vital aspect to whether he/she appeals to you?
Yes No
8. Which social group/ clique would you class yourself in or what group would you fit in the most with?
Goth chav indie sporty rocker 9
Emo other


9. What social class would you say your family is?
Working class Middle class upper middle class

10. Do one of your parents or both parents have degree?
Mother Father Both none
11. Which the highest paid parent in your family and what type of job does that parent have?
Mother Father
A - Top management: e.g bankers, lawyers, doctors, other professionals
B - Middle Management: e.g. teachers, many ‘creative’ for example graphic designers etc.
C1- office supervisors, junior managers, nurses, specialist clerical staff etc.
C2- Skilled workers, tradespersons (white collar)
D – Semi skilled and unskilled manual workers (blue collar)
E – unemployed, students, pensioners, casual workers


12. Out of the following, what are you more like?: Pick one psychographic term
Mainstreamers: like security and belonging to a group
Aspirers : want status and esteem of others. Like status symbols, designer labels ect. Aspire to have status and control
Succeeders :People who already have status and control. Satisfied
Reformers: Define themselves by their self-esteem and self-fufillment

Audience Questionnaire Results

From our results we found that we handed the majority of our questionnaire to females, so we got a better idea of them. The majority of people that answered were between the ages od 13-17 so it shows that we are aiming for a younger audience and pretty much they like the Pop/Rock genre and know about it so we will get good enough feedback on what they think should be in it. Furthermore all the people that answered listen to music everyday so they are all into music showing that we can aim and promote our new artist to them; they all think that females should be in the Pop/Rock genre, in a band so we shall consider this carefully when thinking about our artists. VIVA was the most watched music channel, indicating that we should promote our artist on VIVA, and the people that answered our questionnaire think that our artist/artists should wear dark clothing, heels, leggings or anything that was leather, linking to our research into the Pop/Rock genre. Even more so, black, white and red came across as the most popular colours within the genre, a relationship problem was what people thought was the underlying theme in the narrative, telling us that this is maybe what we should focus on in our storyline, which was also an occurring theme in the research into the music videos of the genre, and the narrative was also the main thing which kept our audience interested, for they thought that a simple storyline was much more effective than a extravagant one.
Audience Questionnaire

1. Are you male/ female?
Male: 13
Female: 17

2. How old are you?
13-17: 20
18-21: 8
22+: 2

3. DO you like the Pop/Rock music genre?
Yes: 27
No: 3

4. How often do you listen to music?
Never: 0
Daily: 30
Weekly: 0
Monthly: 0
Couple of times a year: 0

5. Do you prefer solo artists or bands within the Pop/Rock genre?
Bands: 1
Solo Artists: 2
Both: 27

6. Do you prefer male or female artists in the Pop/Rock genre?
Male: 2
Female: 23
Both: 5

7. Out of the three main music channels, which ones do you watch?
MTV: 15
4music: 13
Viva: 22

8. Do you listen to the Pop/Rock Genre?
Yes: 22
No: 8

9: If not, why not?
Not my type of music: 7
Hasn’t ever appealed to me or been sold to me: 1

10. Within the Pop/Rock genre, what do you expect a typical artist’s costume to be like?
Leggings: 12
Heels: 6
Leather items: 17
T-Shirts: 3
Dark clothing: 9
Bright clothing: 2

11. As music helps to express feelings, what kind of feelings do you expect the genre of Pop/Rock to convey to you? E.G Angry/Sad. Why?
Happy: 26
Sad: 1
Moody: 24
Angry: 22

12. What colours do you expect to associate with Pop/Rock?
Black: 27
Yellow: 0
Silver: 0
Red: 18
Green: 2
White: 12
Blue: 4
Brown: 10
Gold: 3
Pink: 0
Orange: 0
Purple: 0

13. What kind of storylines do you expect to see in a Pop/Rock video?
Relationships: 24
Problems within life: 10
None: 3

14. Do you prefer music videos to be more extravagant or simple-planned?
Extravagant: 12
Simple: 18

15. Why?
Simplicity is better: 15
Too much going on puts me off: 3
The more extravagant shows more thought has been put into it: 7
Extravagent shows it is better produced: 5

16. What preserves your attention, what key elements keep you intrigued to continue to watch a music video? Why?
Narrative: 18
Artists: 6
Costume: 2
The song: 3
The pace of the editing: 1

Research Questionnaire

Research Questionnaire

Are you?

Male Female

How old are you?

5-10 11-14 15-18 19-24 25-35

36-50 51-70 71+


What music genre do you like?

Rock Indie Pop

Hip Hop Bassline Rock/Pop

Heavy Metal RnB Rap

Garage Dance Country

Jazz Electro Blues

Classical Soul Punk

Reggae Gospel Folk

Drum and Bass Disco Techno

Other?
....................................................................................................................................................................


Why is your chosen genre, your favourite type of music?

.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................


How often do you listen to music?

All the time Fairly often Sometimes Hardly Never


Do you prefer solo artists or bands?

Bands Solo Artists Either


Do you prefer male or female artists?

Male Female Either


What music channels do you watch, if any?

MTV ONE
MTV TWO
MTV DANCE
MTV BASE
MTV ROCKS
MTV HITS
KISS TV
4MUSIC
MAGICBOX
SMASH HITS!
FLAVA
CHART SHOW
KERRANG
FUSE
NME
CLUBLAND
VIVA
TMF
THE BOX
MUSIC CHOICE
BRIT HITS
CLASSICS
VH1

other?
......................................................................................................................................


Are you interested in Pop/Rock? Why?

...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................


Within the Pop/rock genre, what do you expect an artist's costume to be like?

...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................


As music helps to express feelings, what kind of emotions do you feel when you listen to music of the Pop/Rock genre? Why?

.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................


What colours would you associate with the Pop/Rock genre?


...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................



What kind fo storylines do you expect to see in this genre's music video? E.g Boy meets girl etc.

................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................


Do you prefer music videos to be more extravagant or simple-planned? Why? E.g Lady Gaga (paparazzi) or The Drums (Best Friend)

............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................



What preserves your attention, what key elements keep you intrigued to continue to watch the music video? Why? E.g Dramatic Narrative/Attractive artist

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

mock up of promotional poster

This is the general idea of our promotional poster. we will include a picture of the album on it, and also touring dates.

shooting script

First shot we will be using a medium shot. (Slow motion)
Walking into the party using a tracking shot.
Eye level shot whilst panning movement of everybody dancing within the room.
Still image, fast zoom in on April and Jason.
Close up of Sams facial expression which then straight cuts to a medium shot of outside the house.
(Music kicks in)
Tracking shot following Sam running towards the car and getting inside.
Slow pan movement around the car from the side to the front widescreen of the car, enabling to see sams annoyed facial expression. Possible singing gestures of Sam when inside the car.
High angle watching the car drive away.

Chorus – Sam and April singing together, possible green screen.
Camera shots : High angle/Low angle/longs shots and close ups.

(Split Screen)
Sam –
Long shot zooming in on the front door from inside, Sam enters the house, throws her keys on the side, annoyed with herself.
Throws something in anger, slams the door, roughs up her hair a little.
Tracking shot following Sam into the Kitchen and she grabs for a bottle of wine.
Over shoulder shot as she opens the bottle. Close up and the wine glass and Sam pours it into the glass.
Low angle shot of Sam downing the wine and another tracking shot is used to follow her into the lounge as she jumps on the sofa.
April –
Long shot zooming in on the front door from inside, April enters the house throws off her heels, she starts to run upstairs. During this the camera straight cuts to a low angle medium shot enabling the audience to see April’s legs as she runs upstairs.
Tracking shot from behind April following her off the staircase and into the bathroom.
A shot reverse shot is used as she walks through the bathroom door from behind and then it flips to a shot her entering the bathroom door from the front.
High angle shots and over shoulder shots reflecting through the mirror showing her un-pinning her hair and starting to remove her make-up.
(These shots most liking going to be shot in town)
Tracking shot from the front watching Sam and Jason walk towards the camera holding hands looking happy. Over shoulder looking at Sam, then over shoulder looking at Jason.
Medium shot as Sam and Jason intimidated kiss. Sam slowing lets go of his hand and walks out of frame. Low angle shot of Jason smiling as he turns around.
Long shot of April walking in slow motion towards the camera. Over shoulder showing April hug Jason. High angle shot watching April and Jason walk together.

mock up of CD cover

This is a first mock up of our cd cover, we have labeled the costume and background. one artist will wear trousers to portray masculinity and one artist will wear a dress to portray femininity. together this will convey dualism of both aspects, to present our artists as strong females to relate to our pop rock genre.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers- By The Way Music Video Analysis

Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Camera shot/movement/ Editing

The opening shot consists of a close up of a street sign in a city in America, this sets the scene and as it is very specific in the display i the name of the exact street, this may suggest to the audience that it will be a complicated and precise video. There is then a closeup of a man who is the lead singer of the Red hot chilli peppers band, to maybe emphasise that he will be an important character throughout the video as he is the first person shown in a closeup. The close up of the moving taxi approaching the man and then a long shot of the taxi stopping with the man entering it exhibits to the audience that the taxi journey will be the following narrative in the video. Following these shots, the scene drastically changes when the lyrics begin to a unknown setting as the lighting of the background is so dark for the purpose of focusing on the band playing and singing alone. There are various closeups and medium shots of the different band memebers playing guitars and the lead singer singing, however the camera movement is never still, there are panning shots horizontally and tilt movement up and down and at a moderate pace. This fastens the pace of the video as the audience can only focus on one person for a small amount of time before there is a different shot. There are may transitions of scenes throughout and following this the scene reverts back to the taxi narrative as there is tracking movement of the taxi, then various closeups of the taxi driver which suggests that he is another main character in the narrative. While the taxi is getting faster the closeups of the taxi driver and the man's concerned facial expressions, the editing of straight cuts get alot faster too, in order to make the audience on edge and to fasten the pace of the video which compares to the hectic and worrying mood of the scenario. Furthermore, when the man in the taxi realises that he id being kidnapped by the taxi driver, the camera movement becomes very shaky and unstable, also the mise en scene becomes blurred which connotes the panic and worry at this point in the video and consequently will make the audience tense and the same emotion of panic will be conveyed through this.

Costume, mise en scene and props

Within the costume of the man who is kidnapped, he wears a white jacket casual jeans, the white jacket connotes his innocense, therfore emphasisng that he is essentially a victim and suggests that he is a conventionally 'good' charcter in the narrative, if applied to Propp's theory. However, the taxi driver who is the kidnapper wears an unuasual and extavagant outfit. It consists of army print combats, and a cropped tank top. This outfit suggests a rebelloius and volatile nature and it wll remind the audience of an army uniform. His hair is also long and unruly which further emphasises these conotations, as it also makes him seem careless, which corresponds with his actions in the video. In terms of Propp's character theory, the taxi driver man falls into the category of the villain, not only from his costume but his role in the video, as he is the cause of the disruption in the narrative, in terms of Todorov's theory. Furthermore, this charcter supports his role in the narrative by the way he acts, for example he uses the prop of fire flares in an abandoned dark tunnel and dances with them, he looks very intimidating as he is unpredictable and this part would be tense for the audience.

Lighting

In the equillibrium where a man is catching a taxi, there is natural lighting and throughout the taxi kidanapping scenes while in open daylight to create a sense of realsim. During the scenes of the band playing which is not part if the narrative, the is no background lighting, but some underlighting on the band mamebers to create a eerie and tense atmosphere. There is no background lighing or other distractions as it wants the audience to focus on the narrative more.

Textual analysis into comparable texts- CD COVER 1

Avril Lavingne-The best damn thing

Image

• Within the mise en scene, there is a medium shot of Avril Lavigne , she takes up most of the CD cover, which indicates she is the most important focus for the audience.
• In the camera shot, she is not centre of the frame, but is positioned on the right hand side this makes it more interesting and edgy which coincides with her unconventional look she is portraying . Also, as part of her arm is cut off the frame, shows that it is not necessary for her full self to be in the frame as her character still stands out, making her character have a bigger impact on the audience subconsciously.
• Furthermore the camera is straight on and this is more influential on the audience as it makes it more personal to audience individuals through the eye contact that Avril is showing, this also makes her stand out more.
• In terms of colour, the artist is standing against a grey concrete wall outside, connotes that is outgoing, real and down to earth as she is not in an expensive set, showing she is not the typical 'diva' type popstar. The audience will be more likely to relate with her this way. Furthermore the grey wall contrasts with the other colours in the CD cover, such as pink, black and white, making her eye catching to the audience.
• Within the text including the artist's name and the title of the album, the font is sans serif and seems conventional and classic font which contrasts with her outrageous and unconventional style , which may connote that she is an unpredictable character.
• The colour is mainly black and pink, which are two contrasting colours and also fit in with her genre and fashion sense, which is clearly rocker style. The pink portrays her in a feminine way, which all girls can connect with. However as i is a hot pink, it connotes a fun, sexy and flirtatious mood to the cover.
• The title is embedded upon a heart style skull and bones cross, which immediately has connotations of the punk/rock part of her genre and can be seen as a semiotic image for her rebellious personality. Young people, which will mostly be our audience will be able to relate to her personality as teenagers tend to be the most rebellious age group in society, although this may be a stereotype, there is some truth behind it
• Her image goes against the stereotypical views of feminisim, as her body language and image as a whole looks strong, independant and not typically girly.
• In relation to the Prop's narrative theory, her image portrays her as a villlainous character as her facial expression is stern and the illustration of te skull and bones motif symbol represents her as a rebelllious character. Although the villain character in Prop's theory is a negative character, the rebellious attitude she has will be seen as 'cool' to a modern day audience and teenagers will relate.

Copy

The font of the artist's name is in capital letters, making her name the most important focus out of the text on the cd cover. It is also larger than the the title of the album, which matches her outgoing and bold image and personality which comes through in her image.

The title of the album 'The best damn thing' shows the continuity of her image she is trying to portray. The language conveys a laidback and careless tone as it is informal. The word 'damn' is a cursing word which matches her strong image she trying to translate across to the audience. The title is like a tag-line under the artist's name, which ultimately is saying that she is 'the best damn thing'. This shows she is not modest , but is very confident in herself and her music which is attractive and persuasive to the audience to but her music as it is so blunt.

Blondie- Heart of Glass Music Video Analysis

Camera shot/movement

The first shot of the video consists with a high angle shot/birdseye view overlooking a city in America and a tracking movement of the camera is also used. The purpose of this shot is used to establish the setting in America where she is. It also makes the video look more expensive and high budget as it is similar to how the scenes are set in films. The tracking shot is then continued, however on the ground through the streets of the city. It gives the impression of a viewpoint out of a moving car, which makes the audience feel more involoved in the video as they can view the sights from the eye level camera shots provided. Within the tracking shots, there are closeups of nightclubs and bars along the streets to make the audience gain an impression of the lively nightlife and mood of which the video will portray. Furthermore, before the artist is introduced there is a zoom in and a low angle shot going into the club/gig venue and the low angle shot provides a shot which looks up at the disco ball, which sets a vivacious party mood. After, the artist is then introduced with a quick fade in to fasten the pace of the video when the lyrics begin and then with a close up of her face. This provides a sense of closeness between the artist and the audience.

The artist is mostly centre framed and is dominant in screen shots as she has the majority of screen time. This heightens her importance in the video and shows the audience she is the focus of their attention. Furthermore, Blondie is the only female featured in the video, therefore it makes her stand out more and forces attention from the audience upon her.

Costume

Blondie is portrayed as a conventionally attractive. Her blonde hair, fair skin and red lips make her attractive to male audiences as it is a stereotypical depiction of a female, therefore sexualizing her to males. She is wearing fashionable clothing for the 70's, however the outfit does not present her in a sexual manner as most of her body is covered up. The grey colour of her dress connotes a relaxed and laid -back personality. This will be interpreted as 'cool' to the audience. Other band mates in her video are wearing costumes which mildly coordinate with her outfit. This makes her video look professional, however it still has the relaxed tone as it is casual and fashionable wear.

Props involved are objects such as guitars, keyboards, headphones and other musical equipment in general. This provides suggestions that Blondie's band is talented and musically orientated. Also, the fact that her music is not too extravagant, but just a her and her band performing at a gig makes her seem more down to earth and more interested in the music alone without all the special effects and narratives that artist's seem to have in their videos.

Lighting

From the opening shots, the audience are aware that the video is set at night, due to the birds-eye view of the city and also the tracking shots through the city streets to display the nightlife. As the club/gig venue has dark lighting as you would expect, key lighting is used on the artist to enhance her features, especially within the close up shot and to make her facial expressions more clear. The filler light is used around her and her other band members, which is typical of a gig set performance. This provides a sense of reality and 'being there' for the demographic, ultimately making a bigger impact for them and heighten the sense of entertainment.

The Strokes - Last Night Music Video Analysis

The Strokes - Last Nite on MUZU.
Camera shot/movement

The beggining of the music video begins with a long shot of the band in sillhouettes because of the dark setting apart from a few lights in the background, and with this lack of of the band for the audience, it provides a tone of mystery and holds the audience in suspense for a short while. After, when the drumming begins, the lights are turned on and the camera zooms into a meduim shot of the the drummer membr of the band, to emphasise that the band are talented musicians. There is then a pan movement of the camera across to the the guitarists whilst still remaining within the medium shot for the same reason as the first medium shot. Shortly after, there is a long shot of the whole and when the lead singer enters the stage in order to provide a viewpoint of the band together and to mark the start of the song when the lyrics kick in. Following this there are a number of close ups of the lead to move the audiences' focus towards him.Throughout the video there are a number of instances where the camera zooms in and out, as this makes it more interesting for the audinece to watch, and also provides a more similar portrayal to what a gig would be like,and being there.

Costume/ mise en scene
The costume of each member of the band differs, as this shows their laidback approach to their music and careless attitude, which will be interpreted as 'cool' to the demograhic. The majority of the bands' clothes are dull and dark colours which can reflect them as 'moody' artists and the fact that they are all wearing jeans reitterates their careless attitude. However, it also maks the audinence feel more comfortable as they are very casual, which sets a realaxed tone throughout.
Additionally, the lead singer in particualar reflects the stereotypical ideologies of 'rockers' and bands to be troublesome and alcohol and drug influenced as when there are guitar solos, the lead singer stumble into the guitarists and raches for his bottle of beer. Therfore this action supports these ideologies. Furthermore, the lead singer does not make eye contact with the camera, neither do the other members and when there is a close up of hios face he looks lost and distant which will also support assumptions that he is under the influence of alcohol therefore supporting further stereotypes.

Lighting

At the beggining if the video there is no general lighting apart form some backlighting, and this creates sillhouettes of the band, as it creates a sense of suspense. The lighting then remains low key lighting for a small amount time until the lead singer begins to sing. This represents that the song has commenced. Furhthermore, when the chorus begins, bright studio lighting such as key lighting and fliller lighting is used to brighten the mood and make the chorus have more of a lively impact and contrast to the verses for the audience. In parts of the verses, the lighting is more dimmed and some low key lighting is used to contrast to the verse and the mood of the lyrics, however the back lighting is constantly there and remains the same throughout.

Gwen Stefani- Wind It Up CD Cover Analysis

Within the mise en scene, there is an extreme closeup of the artist, Gwen Stefani. The shot only allows the audience to see her shoulder, hair and lips. This may indicate that a statement is being made that it is not nessecary for her to show her whole profile as her fans will be able to recognise her by her name and brand symbol ( on the key) as she is a well known and successful artist. Therefore the reason for the camera shot is used for the purpose to show the key, which is the symbol of her brand which is obviously important to her. Although her physical identity is hidden, it provokes sexual connotations as her shoulder is bare and sunkissed, and it gives the illusion that she is naked. This especially attracts the male audience mostly, whist also creating and enigma towards the female audience.
The artist is not making eye contact with the audience which is rare in the pop/rock c.d covers i have researched, however the audience will still have a sense of closeness towards the artist as is is an extreme closeup and it is only depicting her without distractions from the background.
Her image as a whole is the typical prortrayal of an attractive female. For example her blonde hair, red lips and fair skin builds up a similar imagery in the audience's mind of a barbie doll. Feminists would be aginst this depiction as she is suggested as a figure of sexuality which supports stereotypical ideologies.
The one object on the c.d cover that draws attention away form Gwen Stefani is the key of her brand ( L.A.M.B). The key is golden with diamonds in it which symbolises her success and wealth, which makes her seem experienced in her profession as she has grown to be a success. This creates an enigma towards the audienece as the wealth and luxury this key represents provides an idea of what her life is like which interests the audience. The key can also have a hidden meaning of secrecy and the way that it is clear in the audience's view, it is almost like she is welcoming her audence into her world and music with this key.
The copy of the text is golden, which again represents her luxurious lifestyle of fame. Although the connotations to these colours make her seem like a 'diva', it contrasts with the style of the font of her name which seems very laid-back and relaxed because of the missing capital letters in her name. Both contrasting traits make her interesting as it means that her personality will come across as being very open and a mixture.
There main lighting is the key light used form the back and top her, which lightens the whole image and makes everything on the cover more exaggerated and clear. Also the fill light is used to excentuate this. The lighting almost makes her look 'heavenly' and pure with connotations of an angel, as there is a slight background of pastel blue and her platinum blonde hair and fair skin exaggerated with light promotes her innocence and portrays her as a pure person.

Katy Perry- I Kissed a girl CD Cover Analysis

Within the mise en scene there is a medium shot of the artist, Katy Perry. It is made apparent that she is the main focus on the cover as she takes up the majority of the space. Although she is not positioned centre framed, it parallels with the kooky look she is trying to portray, and it connotes that she still stands out without having to be in the centre. Furthermore, the eye contact the artist shows has a larger impact on the demographic as there is a connection and the cover will grasp their attention.

The background is white, and this can connote innocence and also modesty as it does not seem extravagant, which is appealing as it makes her seem down to earth. The main colours used on the cover are blue and pink which contrast each other are symbolic towards the male and female genders. The way the two colour are used together suggests sexuality of the two meeting together. Also, the colours link with the title of the song,' I kissed a girl' as it goes against conventions and stereotypes of a male and female relationship, however this suggests the nature of homosexuality, and maybe the combination of both blue and pink represents this and confusion of sexuality.

Miley Cyrus- Can't Be Tamed CD Cover Analysis

Within the mise en scene, there is a medium shot of the artist Miley Cyrus. She takes up the majority if the frame as she is the main focal point on the cover. As she is a typically attractive artist which is also appealing ot the audience, the camera shot allows the audience see the majority of her.
In the camera shot she is centre framed in order to draw the audience, along with her eye contact towards the audience make her seem confident and allures the audience to focus on her in the centre.
The background is plain to make the artist stand out, however the use of shadowing and lighting makes it more interesting. For example, there is key lighting on the artist to exaggerate her features and highlight her image, however shadow is created by using lighting such as back lighting and areas of low key lighting. The shadowing conveys her in a mysterious way which is consequently intruiging to the audience.

In terms of appearance and costume, the artist is conventionally attractive for a pop-star which will be appealing to both genders as males will be attracted to her and female audiences will look up to her and her style. Also, her red hair connotes possible traits in her personality such as confidence and a fiery, fearless nature. Within her costume, she is styled in black leather. This look conforms with the pop/rock genre, especially rock. The elements in the costume signify her genre of pop/rock as the leather has connotations to 'bikers' who are seen as tough and rebellious, and the black portrays her as a mysterious and dark person, who is not the typical 'good girl' character. Furthermore, the costume as a whole also allows the artist to be represented in a sexual way as her skin is exposed on the upper half of her body. This supports the stereotypical assumptions of how females are represented in society through media and also supports feminist theories, as males have dominance in media and therefore women are represented in a sexual way, which feminists find degrading and stereotypical for women.

The artist's facial expression is piercing for the audience as she looks angry and serious through her sultry stare and pout, which conforms with the nature of rock in her audience, however it can also be seen as 'sexy' especially towards the male audiences as her eyes as squinted and not wide open, making her appear the opposite of innocent but instead more mysterious and therefore interesting.

Furthermore, her gesture and body language is open, which signifies again that she is fearless and her stance makes her appear careless which would be seen as 'cool' and 'edgy' to a younger audience. From her gesture altogether she support the stereotypical views of a teenager as they are seen as careless and that they have moody attitudes. Teenagers can also relate to some of these traits Miley Cyrus portrays through this cd cover.

In relation to Propp's character theory, she typically appears as a villain as her costume is black which has the connotations of darkness and negativity and also her expression is not friendly, she looks serious and in a way threatening towards the audience. However, the audience will interpret her image as 'cool' and it clearly helps represents her genre as pop/rock.

Through the copy of the c.d. cover, the genre continues to be represented. The artist's name is presented taking up a third of the c.d cover and is central positioned showing her importance. The style of the font looks worn away disheveled which links in with the type of edgy image she is trying to portray through her genre. The colour of the font is and earthy beige, which connotes a relaxed and down to earth element to her image. The title of her album 'Can't be tamed', continues to describe her image and genre. It shows her as a rebellious person who does not conform to rules, which supports Propp's character theory she portrays as a villainous character. This also does not support feminist stereotypes of women being shown as helpless and a weak gender through the media.

Music video - Avril Lavigne : Girlfriend

Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend found on YouClubVideo

At the beginning there is a fade in of a long shot of a fun golf course to set the scene. Bold colours in this setting are used which emphasises the mood of a happy environment. There is a clear equilibrium at the start of a couple on a date at this golf course. A straight cut is used to show the transition to the inside of the golf course, which presents a new environment, however the theme of bold colours is still used throughout no matter of the changing setting. There is then tracking shot of the couple holding hands, which reiterates the equilibrium. Im terms of the girlfriend's costume, she is dressed in pink which connotes her femininity and she is conforming with the codes and conventions of a girly girl. Her style also connotes her to be a 'geeky' teenager because of her conservative outfit, for example her knee length skirt and long socks, this contrasts with opposing girl who wants to win over her boyfriend. In terms of Todorov's narrative theory, there is a disruption shortyly after when the music kicks in. The audience is introduced to a new character of a girl played by Avril. Her main aim is to break the couple up so she can be his new girlfriend. She takes takes the role of the 'villain' according to prop's theory as she is the cause of the disruption in the narrative of the video. Her costume is mainly black, along with her black hair, which connotes a dark and 'bad' character. Her outfit also conforms with the rock part of her genre as it fits in with the certain style of 'rockers', as it depicts a rebellious nature. It is also noticable that the 'bad' female charcter is wearing nearly exactly the same costume as the boy which she is trying to win over, furthermore they both have black hair. This suggests to the audience that she is a better match for the boy rather than the girl he is dating, which sways the audiences opinions of which girl he should choose as the 'rocker' girl clearly has more in common with the boy. Also, although the 'rocker' girl is acting deviously towards the other girl, she is still instantly the more likeable charcter as she looks more fun and down to earth, and she acts in quite a comical way, for example when she mocks her . Furthermore, she is more easily relatabe to the audience in this way as she looks like a stereotypcal teenager, whereas, the other girl looks more uptight and unrelatable to a younger audience, especially pop/rock fans.

There is a new eqilibrium at the end where the rocker girl wins over the boyfriend. She wins him over in a comical way as the girlfriend falls into a portable tiolet and is locked in so the boy and the other girl come together. Although, it is not a conventional new equilibrum and a solution of the disruption as the girl who was the cause of the disruption wins him over, the end is still likeable and what the audienece would want beacuse of the way the charcters are protrayed, as a result of the genre.

camera shot/movement:

Twist and Shout- The Beatles Music Video Annalysis

Camera shot/movement


The start of the video consists of a fade in movement medium shot of what appears to be a how host introducing the beatles, which makes it apparent to the demographic that they are headlining a gig, most likely for television. Consequently this has connotations of their fame and success which makes them more appealable to the audience. After there is a fade out from the host to a long shot of the band so the whole band is visible to the audience within the mise en scene. Within this shot the camera zooms in to provide a sense of closeness to band, and also to focus on the the lead singer more-so.
Furthermore there are interchanging shots where there are close-ups of females in the audience dancing to their song. The close-ups are used on these females to show that they are dominant males in the band who have loyal and excited fans, especially females and the audience can see this though their ecstatic facial expressions in these close-ups. Also, there is a further variety of camera shots of the band, for example a many medium shots from different angles such as a side view. This shot from the side allows a bigger focus to be made towards the lead singer. There backing singers and guitarists in the band are behind the lead in this shot, also shown sharing a microphone stand. This connotes that they possess less dominance and focus in the video compared to the lead singer. Also supporting stereotypes that there is more focus upon one band member than the other, and maybe the most popular member that it is. Furthermore, supporting this there are more close-up shots on the lead singer to emphasize his importance in the band.

Costume/ mise en scene

The band members are wearing identical outfits, such as black suits and tie. Although this makes the band look smart and professionally styled, it also suggests that they are conforming to a certain style to present their genre of music. Also, this would lead to the demographic and their fans following their style and fashion, as they are idolised. This is a way fashion is brrought forward and certian styles made popular. This also applies to the bands' hairstyles are they are all nearly identical.

The props within this video are musical instruments alone to exaggerate their musical talents. Also, as their music video is based on a performance in a gig atmosphere it shows that they can still make an effective video without there being a narrative, and a higher budget production. Within thios video, as it is a simple performance, the theory Todorov's or Prop's does not apply, for the fact their main purpose is to entertain in a realistic way, and not crafting a unreal scenario. Also, they are not taking a role of a character such as villians, heros for example as by being themselves it conveys a sense of trust and realtionship to the audience as they can see them for who they are, also making them more relative towards the younger demographic.

Lighting

The ligting throughout the video remains the same, to give a sense of realism of a gig performance to the audience. Studio lighting such as key lighting and filler lighting is used on the band, as would be conventional to enhance the focus on them and make them more clear to the audience watching and also for the benefit of the audience watching in the studio at the time. Only bright lighting is used and low key lighting for example is not used as the mood and atmosphere of the song and video is aimed to be cheerful and lively, hence the excess lighting.

Pink- U + Ur Hand CD Cover Analysis

The artist pink is positioned centre frame in the mise en scene which makes her the main focus on the CD cover. Her stance is relaxed and careless as she is leaning on a gas pump, this connotes her rebellious attitude, as her position could be seen intimidating in a way but the demographic will interpret this a 'cool'.

The artists costume is black which encodes the artist as a dark character, and also shows that she is conforming with the stereotypical colour of black.

The feminist Laura Mulvey argues her theory of 'The male gaze'. She says women are objectified and are continuously portrayed in a sexual way. The artist does conform to this theory as her costume is provocative due to her lack of clothes. However this does convey that she is a bold and outrageous character which can reflect her music through her image. The dirt on her body tells the audience that this character isn't a typical feminine girl.

Her image combined with the setting of a garage challenges the male dominance and gender of females as the setting is a associated with males. The fact that she is portrayed in a masculine environment matches the genre of the female pop/ rock genre as the artists in this genre are known stereotypically as unconventional characters.

Genre of Pop/Rock

The simple way to describe genre is the word 'category'. There are many genres involved in music and film. Audiences understand it to be used as a way of identifying where a media text is categorised according to its content.
Pop/Rock is a genre, a type or category of music we audiences identify with to determine which style of music it is.

Defining what Pop/Rock is?

Pop/Rock is easy to classify by its codes and conventions. The stereotypical codes and conventions of Pop/Rock are attitude, use of alcohol, rebellions, bold colours, loud statements etc. These are codes and conventions of Pop/Rock because they are the things that are expected to be seen by audiences. In affect they are the scenes/costumes/iconography that has been used on a number of occasions through this genre and has built itself a reputation.

Looking into further detail, for example alot of Pop/Rock artists tend to wear bold or dark colours such as pink or black, these colours connote two different things. Black connotes death, misery and negativity whereas pink conveys girly connotations, youth and perhaps immaturity as it can be associated with Barbie. These contrasting colours together have created its own style, its own category. For these artist's who encode themselves via their costumes using these colours, it indicates a deeper meaning for their character, displaying that they are rebellious and they are conveying attitude. However they aren't completely challanging female ideologies of being feminine or girly by wearing pink.

In respect of institutions, the concept of genre is imperative as it enables them to generate a media piece that can be categorised into that specific genre. In addition genre helps them decide whether it will appeal to their target audience or not by looking into and making use of the codes and conventions of that genre.

Overall genre is important for both institutions and especially audiences, as it allows them to recognise their individual interests, inevitably an audience will form an emotional attachment to that specific genre through experiences they may have, peers influence or simply because they enjoy it. Producers have to make sure they meet the expectations of a genre they imitate as the audience they wish to target towards will only search for the genre of their preference.