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.