middle cover of digipak....

Front cover design...

This is a draft of the front cover of my digipak. I don't think this one is very good, so therefore I will be producing some more drafts with different designs on them to see what looks best, then i will choose which one i prefer and use that one.

front cover ideas....

I got the idea from this image to have something similar on my cd cover, as it s pretty simple but at the same time effective to the audience and shows them that it is a band. so this is something that i am going to think about for my cover.

My cd template...

This is the cd template that i have designed on photoshop. this is just an idea of what i want my final product to look like. I have chosen the colour blue as i think it fits in well with my R&B theme. The name of my band will be placed on the cd where i have the text now. Iam considering putting on a design on the cd also to make it look more appealing to my target audience.

This is a template for a 6 panel digipak. This will be the same template that i will be using for my digipak design. On the front i will have the main image of my band and the text of my band's name will also appear on the front along with the image.

Analysis of existing texts...

Madonna: Greatest Hits Digipak...

This is the digipak that was created for madonna's greatest hits album. There is a consistent colour scheme and theme that has been used throughout the digipak. The colours that have been used are white, browns and golds. The connotations of these colours are old and classy and thats the feeling that maddona is trying to portray on her digipak. The font that has been used is very bold and clear for the viewer to read, and the artist name is very large so that it stands out. the rest of the text is fairly average size and is placed on the back of the digipak as it is the track names and track numbers. The images that have been used are very effective.

Story boards...

These are my storyboards that i created to help me produce the video that i am going to make.

Rihanna's digipak...

This is Rihanna's digipak. This image shows the inside of the digipak, were rihanna's cd is and the text about the album. There is a consistent colour shceme throughout this digipak, the colours used are very dark but at the same time make the images of rihanna stand out. On the third panel on the inside there is a medium close up shot of her which fills the whole panel. in this image rihanna is wearing very little clothing, this is very stereotypical of R&B artists, it also shows to the audience the genre of her music. On the first panel there is a long shot of her posing in the same outfit as the third one, there is also three small images at the bottom of her other albums and singles. This panel has mainly been used for the text, which is very small but still appealing to the audience as there isn't loads. The middle panel is where the cd has been placed, like the cd i have designed the design is very simple but at the same time stands out because the colours that haave been used are very bold, and you can still see her name on the cd and the record company label. Behind the cd there is another image of rihanna but it isn't clear to see untill you take the cd out, but it is still effective. The design of the digipak overall is very similar to most others but the images, font etc.. still stand out and show the audience that this is Rihannas digipak.

Black Eyed Peas digipak...

This is the black eyed peas digipak for their most recent album. This is probably one of the more simplistic digipaks that i have found throughout my research of the ancillary texts. The colours used on the first panel are very bland but together with long shots of some of the members of the band and abit of text about the band, it is effective as it is easy and clear for the audience to see and read. On the second and third panels, they have been used for the cd and dvd, this is what i'll be doing for my digipak. Again on this digipak they have put images behind the cd and dvd so that you can see them when you take the disks out. There has been a very clever idea used for the design of the discs, as they have ben designed to look like records, they are very simplistic but at the same time very effective, which also make the company look professional and sophisticated.

Codes and conventions of R&B

Rhythm and blues, also known as R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a heavy, insistent beat" was becoming more popular. British rhythm and blues developed in the early 1960s, largely as a response to the recordings of American artists, often brought over by African American servicemen stationed in Britain during the Cold War, or merchant seamen visiting ports such as London, Liverpool, Newcastle on Tyne and Belfast. Many bands, particularly in the developing London club scene, tried to emulate black rhythm and blues performers, resulting in a "rawer" or "grittier" sound than the more popular "beat groups". In the early 1980’s a newer style of R&B developed, known as contemporary R&B. This is the type of R&B style that I am going to be incorporating into my idea for my chosen medium, which is a music video. Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, R&B, and soul music. R&B originated in the 1940’s as a popular African American music, and the term R&B was often used as an abbreviation for rhythm & blues. A style of music developed by African Americans that combines blues and jazz, characterized by a strong backbeat and repeated variations on syncopated instrumental phrases. R&B has elements from funk, soul, pop, blues and hip-hop. Most R&B videos are narrative and performance based. They tend to represent wealth by showing off expensive possessions such as cars, designer clothing and lavish homes etc. A lot of the focus in a R&B music video is generally on the artists physical appearance and on the others in the video. There are many famous R&B artists in today’s society such as Beyonce, Kanye West, Rihanna, Usher etc… all of these artists have a similar look that lets the audience understand that R&B is their genre of music. All these are artists are mainly African American, and this is where this genre was founded, this to most people is a stereotype of this genre. In most R&B videos there is a great amount of dancing and performance. This can include anything from hip hop, break dancing and contemporary dance. The video's conventions are often focused on the physical looks of the artist or the extras, in most R&B music videos the men are usually dressed in either designer clothes or smart clothes and usually wearing lots of big gold jewellery, this is to symbolise their wealth and show their importance. Women in this genre of video are usually dressed in very little clothing as they tend to like showing of their body’s but they do usually have their hair and make-up quite extravagant looking to make them stand out as they try to have the main focus on them throughout the music video. In most R&B music videos they regularly use tracking shots, close-ups and mid-shots to show the emotions and body language of the artist and for the viewer to see the setting as R&B videos are usually located in pretty wealthy places and settings. One of the main themes in R&B music videos is romance. The artist tends to try and portray either a theme of love, fighting or breaking-up in their video. This is one of the codes and conventions that help make the genre of the video recognizable to the audience.

Critical perspectives in media and research into genre...

Genre basically means type or classification. Industries use genre to sell products to audiences. In terms of genre, there are narrative and performance, some combine both - based videos are very often purely intertextual. They often pastiche/parody films or offer commentary on social events. Others include themes which may fit around the lyrics of the song or society, this is a medium known for being experimental and controversial. Genre examines the structural elements that combine in the telling of a story and finds patterns in collections of stories. When these elements begin to carry inherent information, a genre is emerging.
Any theme may appear in any genre, some music videos have themes for a more youthful audience such as:
-teen angst
-rebelion
-romance
-sex/losing your virginity
-nostalgia: for the innocence of youth
-nihilism: the belief that there is no future.
Other themes that you may find in music videos could be war, crime, poverty, capitalism and racism etc...!

Jason Mittel argues that genres are cultural categories surpouss the boundaries of media texts and operate within industry audience and cultural practices as well.

Kristen H. Perry’s argues that genres are social constructions that represent specific purposes for reading and writing within different social activities, created by social groups who need them to perform certain things. They change over time, reflecting essential shifts in social function performed by that text. Genres also represent constellations of textual attributes: some attributes are necessary and other attributes are optional.

Conventions of genre:
Conventions of a genre: Conventions are phrases, themes, quotes, or explanations that we expect to find in a certain genre. They could be considered 'stereotypes' of that genre.

Theorist Rick Altman (1999) argues that genre offers audiences 'a setof pleasures':

• Emotional pleasures: the emotional pleasures offered to audiences of genre films and music videos are particularly significant when they generate a strong audience response.
• Visceral pleasures: are 'gut' responses. This can be a feeling of revulsion, kinetic speed or a 'roller coaster ride'.
• Intellectual puzzles: genre such as thriller or the 'who dunnit' offer pleasure to unravel a mystery, solving a murder 'midsomer murder'.

Strengths of genre theory: there are many strengths of genre theory such as that everybody uses it and understands it, also it helps the media industry to decide what texts to consume.

It's also the potential for the same concept to be understood by producers, audiences and scholars which makes genre useful as a critical tool. It's accessibility as a concept also means that it can be applied across a wide range of texts.

Andrew Goodwin (1992) & Micheal Shore (1984)

Andrew Goodwin (1992) argues that in music videos 'narrative relations are highly complex' and meaningcan be created from the individual audio viewers musical taste to sophisticated intertextuality that use multidiscursive phenomina of western culture. He suggests that they are mainly dominated by advertising references, film, pastiche and reinforce the postmodern 're-use' tradition.

Music Video - audio visual poetry
Micheal Shore (1984)argues that music videos are:
Recycled styles... surface without substance... simulated experience... information overload... image and style scavengers... ambivalence... decadence... immediate gratification... vanity and the moment... image assults and outre folks.

Madonna: Strike a Pose

This music video by Madonna is very classy and sophisticated, this is shown through the use of mis-en-scene within the video. In the video the props used such as statues and large photo frames etc. Represent wealth, also the clothes that Madonna and her cast members are wearing represent this as the waiters and maids (models) are dressed very smartly and in suits, whilst at the same time Madonna looks very elegant dressed like Marilyn Monroe, She looks like this throughout her video. The video is shot in black and white, which recalls the look of films and photography, and the style is mainly 40’s, 50’s glamour, from the Golden age of Hollywood.
The Golden age of Hollywood: The start of the Golden Age was arguably when The Jazz Singer was released in 1927 and increased box-office profits for films as sound was introduced to feature films. Most Hollywood pictures adhered closely to a genre—Western, slapstick comedy, musical, animated cartoon, biopic —and the same creative teams often worked on films made by the same studio. The cultural references made in the video e.g. Marilyn Monroe, it’s almost like Madonna is trying to say she is as famous as them. This is shown by the close-up shots of Madonna ‘striking a pose’. These shots show Madonna presenting herself to her audience, giving her performance and showing her gratification. Also there were many other famous stars of this era that were name-checked in the song’s lyrics, such as Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn and Jean Harlow.

The cinematography used in the video is very effective at representing what the video is trying to portray. Throughout Madonnas'video there has been many different shots used to interest the audience and give them a clear view and undertanding of the narrative behind the music video. These include shots such as mid shots, medium close ups, close ups and long shots with the occasional wide shot of the whole cast and visual imagery in the video. In the opening scene of the video the first shot is a medium close up of some feathers, this is really effective in the opening of the video as it shows, to the audience, the theme of the video and it also shows that itis classy and targeted at the upper class, as you would usually find big, elegant feathers in big shows in places like and in the video this is what madonnais trying to recreate is 'The Golden Age of Hollywood'. moving into the second shot, it is of the models that have been casted for her video. These shots of them are mainly mid shots and medium close ups, which is good because is another way of how the audience can nderstand the video. the models are dressed very smartly and elegant, which gives a good representation of whta they are tryin to do in video. The first shot of madonna in the video is of her back although the viewer, in this scene, can't see her face this shot is still very effetive. The shot used is a mid shot. the clothes that madonna is wearing in this scene/shot are very classy to fit with the rest of the video.

Cast list:

For my cast i intend to use four people to create a band, these will include:
Lucy Coggin
Adam Waslin
Adam Wilson
Rosie Bryan
All my cast members are very reliable and will fit in great with the idea for my video. I intend to have one of my cast as the lead in the band as this is very stereotypical of bands, to have a lead singer that stands out. The others will also stand out and they will all look unique but will still fit in together to look like a band and to fit in with the genre of my video.

Music Video - Swedish house mafia Vs Tinie Tempah: Miami 2 Ibiza

Music video: Swedish house Mafia Vs Tinie Tempah - Miama 2 Ibiza

Music Video - Rihanna: Only Girl

Music Video - Rihanna: Only Girl
This music video is by rihanna, a famous artist all over the world.

Analysis of lyrics :)

According to Cruz "The song 'Dynamite' itself is about when you go to the club and when you go to a party and when you're just going out ... you got to feel like, 'I'm just gonna explode.

Although the lyrics of the song are ment to represent going out to partys and having a great time, his video for the song only shows this slightly. i think the lyrics of the song are really suited to my target audience as it would appeal to them, alot of younger people go out with friends patrtying and this song fits in perfectly with the idea i have for my music video.

I came to dance, dance, dance, dance
I hit the floor'
Cause that's my, plans, plans, plans, plans
I'm wearing all my favoriteBrands, brands, brands, brands
Give me space for both my hands, hands, hands, hands
You, you
Cause it goes on and on and on
And it goes on and on and on

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes
Saying AYO
Gotta let go
I wanna celebrate and live my life
Saying AYO
Baby, let's go'

Cause we gon' rock this club
We gon' go all night
We gon' light it upLike it's dynamite
Cause I told you once
Now I told you twice
We gon' light it up
Like it's dynamite

I came to move, move, move, move
Get out the way me and my crew, crew, crew, crew
I'm in the club so I'm gonna do, do, do, do
Just drop the phone, came here to do, do, do, do
Yeah, yeah

Cause it goes on and on and on
And it goes on and on and on

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes
Saying AYO
Gotta let go
I wanna celebrate and live my life
Saying AYO
Baby, let's go

'Cause we gon' rock this club
We gon' go all night
We gon' light it upLike it's dynamite
Cause I told you once
Now I told you twice
We gon' light it upLike it's dynamite

I'm gonna take it all out
I'm gonna be the last one standing
I'm alone and all I
I'm gonna be the last one landing
'Cause I, I, Believe it
And I, I, I
I just want it all
I'm gonna put my hands in the air
Hands in the airPut your hands in the air

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes
Saying AYO
Gotta let go
I wanna celebrate and live my life
Saying AYO Baby, let's go

'Cause we gon' rock this club
We gon' go all night
We gon' light it up
Like it's dynamite
Cause I told you once
Now I told you twice
We gon' light it up
Like it's dynamite

Music video - Usher feat. Pitbull: Dj got us fallin in love again

Music video: Usher feat. Pitbull - DJ Got us fallin in love again.

The genre of this music video by Usher is a mix between hip hop and R&B. The mis-en-scene within the music video is very stereotypical of the type of genre that is protrayed in the video because of the use of characters, location, costumes, and props. These have been used to attract the target audience. The location, in a nightclub, that has been used will automatically appeal to the audience as they can relate to it as people of this age group tend to be out most weekends at nightclubs. In the beggining it is mainly long shots of the artist (usher) and it is also very dark, i think this keeps the audience in suspense about what is about to happen and makes them think about the narrative behind the music video. As the music video progresses and the music starts to play the artist is revealed more, doing this by having close ups of ushers face. The props/costumes and characters that have been used symbolize the social class of them, which is quite wealthy. This could make the viewer idolize usher.

Audience Research

The target audience for my music video is teenagers and young adults, between the ages of 16 and 24, both boys and girls. I have chosen an age group of 16-24 for my target audience as i feel that this is the age group when people mostly go out at the weekends with friends to night clubs and partys, and i feel that the narrative behind my music video will attract most ,to girls and boys, of this age and they will be able to identify with it. The socio-economic class that would be attracted to my video would both working class and middle class as people from these classes would most likely be able to identify with story behind my video.

History of chosen medium!!

A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a piece of music/song. Music videos represent a crucial part of the music industry. Not only do music videos help to sell millions of records but they're produced to give a performance and to impress their audience. It helps to find out the main audience watching and listening to the band/artists music videos.
MTV (music television) was launched in the early 1980's. mtv was started and based around the medium of music videos. Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques, including animation, live action, filming, documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation and live action. Many music videos do not interpret images from the song's lyrics, making it less literal than expected.
In the last few decades the importance of music videos has dramatically changed, as nowadays the music video is almost as important as the song. Music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. The term "music video" first became popular in the early 1980s. before then, these works were described in various terms; "filmed insert", "promotional film", "promotional clip" or "film clip". In the entertainment industry, music videos were simply known as MTVs, as this was the channel that was responsible for bringing music videos to popularity.

Music videos- medium with many sub-genres/ postmodern styles?
Music video is a medium intended to appeal directly to youth subculture by reinforcing generic elements of musical genres.
They are called pop-promos as they are used to promote a band or artist.
Music videos are postmodern texts whose main purpose is to promote a star persona.
they don't have to be literal representation of the song or lyrics.

Visual innovation:
in the 1960's era, in france, the scoptine a.k.a a visual jukebox was invented. this is when many short films were produced by many french artists to accompany their songs, these were created by artists such as serge gainsbourg, francoise hardy, jacques brel and jaques dutronc. after then it spread to other countries and similar machines such as the Cinebox in Italy and Color-Sonic in the USA were patented. In 1961 Ozzie Nelson directed and edited the video of "Travelin' Man" by his son Ricky Nelson. It featured images of various parts of the world mentioned in the Jerry Fuller song along with Nelson's vocals. In 1964, Kenneth Anger's experimentalshort film, Scorpio Rising used popular songs instead of dialog.

Most music tracks were taped in-studio on stage, and the location shoot "videos" were to add variety. One of the earliest performance clips was The Animals's 1964 hit "House Of The Rising Sun". This high-quality color clip was filmed in a studio on a specially-built set; with the group lip-synching.
Here is a the music video produced by the Animal's in 1964:



The Beatles were also one of the very first bands/artists to produce a music video to accompany their song. This was produced in 1964, their song was A Hard Day's Night, directed by Richard Lester, and this was the first of many that they intended to shoot. The feature film was Shot in black-and-white and presented as a mock documentary, it was a loosely structured musical fantasia interspersing comedic and dialogue with musical sequences. The musical sequences furnished basic templates on which countless subsequent music videos were modeled.
Here is the very first music video produced by the Beatles:


The Beatles then moved on to produce another great music video to promote thmeselves and their song. this track was called HELP! and was produced in 1965. although their first video was good this one was alot more lavish as it was filmed in colour in london and on international locations.
in the same year (1965) the Beatles began making promotional clips a.k.a filmed inserts, for distribution and broadcast in other countries—primarily the USA, this was so they could promote their record releases without having to make in-person appearances. At Twickenham Film Studios, The Beatles videotaped 10 black & white promo films, all produced by a British production company Intertel. Many clips were aired on "Top of the Pops" in the UK, and two were aired on "Thank Your Lucky Stars."
At the same time the Beatles were doing this another well-known band called The Byrds began using the same strategy to promote their singles in the United Kingdom, starting with the 1965 single "Set You Free This Time". By the time The Beatles stopped touring in late 1966, their promotional films, like their recordings, had become highly sophisticated.
In May 1966 they filmed two sets of colour promotional clips for their current single "Rain" / Paperback Writer" all directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who went on to direct The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus and The Beatles final film Let It Be. The studio clips were straightforward performance films shot at Abbey Road Studios, especially for broadcast on The Ed Sullivan Show and prefaced by a spoken introduction from Ringo.
The location clips are considerably more elaborate and use vibrant colour footage shot on location. Both clips are notable for their use of hand-held camera work, rhythmic editing, slow motion shots and reversed film. The "Paperback Writer" clip is more conventional, with Lennon, McCartney and Harrison lip-synching and miming playing their instruments. The "Rain" clip marked a major advance in stylistic terms; it uses some colour shots common to both clips but is also intercut with monochrome reductions of the Abbey Road studio footage, making it one of the first examples of this device in music video. Most notably, apart from a few brief shots the "Rain" clip virtually abandons any pretense of performance and has no obvious narrative structure.

The beggining of music television:
In the United Kingdom music television really started in the late 70's when the bbc aired a show called 'Top of the pops' they began playing music videos to increase a song's sales as viewers hoped to see it again the following week. this was the show that helped music legend David Bowie get his first UK number one in a decade due to the work of director David Mallets eye catching promo for 'Ashes to Ashes'and this was aired ont the show.

WHO INVENTED THE MUSIC VIDEO?
Top of the pops, a show created by the BBC, was considered to be the first to have brought the music video to advertisment. This was because 'Queen' a popular rock band were unable to appear on the show so therefore there music video was created for bohemian rhapsody, so it could be broadcasted on the show instead.

alot of this information was from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_video
http://a2timmedia2010.blogspot.com

My planning...

I have decide to choose to make a music video as i have lots of different ideas to go with this brief. Together with producing my music video, i am going to produce a cover for it's release as part of a digipak and a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).
My plan:
September /October 2010 - i plan to use these months for my planning on my blog. Doing research on the history of music videos and a few analysis of music videos.
I will also create my storyboards, and anamatics that will help me to create my final piece.
November 2010 - this is the month when all the filming will take place and i will also start my editing in this month so that it gives me time to create my digi-pak CD/DVD pack and the magazine advertisement for it's release.
December 2010 - this month i will be finishing the editing for my music video and finishing creating the digi-pak. i will also do my evaluation then aswell.

Brief :)

1. A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

• a website homepage for the band;
• a cover for it's release as partof a digipak (CD/DVD package);
• a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).