Digipak Mock Ups

Here are three digital mock ups of front and back covers which a constructed around what my ideas are for my own Digipak. I have used three pop artists, Selena Gomez, Katy Perry and Beyonce, to represent the girl who is going to be on my front cover. 


 Mock Up 1: 

Mock Up 2:

Mock Up 3:

Digipak Template

Digipak Research

Storyboard Images

Location

My whole video is going to be set in a studio using green screen to acheive the effect of the colour changing background.

Costume, Make-Up and Hair Ideas

Where my Music Video Would Feature

Music Video Narrative Structure

Tzvetan Todorov:

This theory is about the structure of how a narrative should be. It includes four stages to complete the narrative which are:

1.   The Equilibrium

2.   The Disruption

3.   The Recognition of the disruption

4.   The re-equilibrium

The Equilibrium of this music video is Beyoncé, the singer, in the process of preparation for the beauty pageant with a montage edit of her and the other contestants preparing themselves. In the montage also includes shots were Beyoncé is, what looks like, he home with her awards. To the girls in the pageant, this is normal to them.

The disruption in the video is hard to identify but I think it is when she is seen getting weighed and measured and is when we start to see Beyoncé trying to change that by taking drugs and exercising.

The recognition of the disruption is when the presenter of the pageant asks her what her aspirations in life are. Beyoncé repeats “my aspiration in life” a number of times when she answers with “my inspiration in life is to be happy” and then we see her destroying all her trophies which represents that all she has done is torture herself for trophies. 

The re-equilibrium is the ending where it relates to the lyrics when she is singing "are you happy with yourself?  ” The last shot is her as before the 'home video' is on is a close up shot of Beyonce where she has short hair which is un-styled and minimal make-up. This represents that she is finished with the torturing of herself to win awards. Then the last clip is of her when she was a child and she won an award. This reinforces that you win sometimes but not always.

This music video does use the Todorov Theory to create a meaningful video and shows the journey of what the girls have to go through.

 

Kate Domaille, 2001:

Kate Domaille’s theory states that every story can be fitted into one of eight narrative categories, which are:

1.   Archilles

2.   Candide

3.   Cinderella

4.   Circe

5.   Faust

6.   Opheus

7.   Romeo and Juliet

8.   Tristan and Iseult

The video Pretty Hurts fits into the category of Candide which is the indomitable hero who cannot be put down. The reason I think this is because the audience see Beyoncé in front of her awards which shows she will keep trying and not be put down. Although at the end of the video, she makes herself look natural with un-styled hair, make-up and fancy outfits. This could be seen in two ways, she is either finished with the beauty pageants and it is time to call it a day or she is starting again and going through the beauty pageant process again.

Bordwell and Thompson, 1997:

The fabula story, which is the Bordwell and Thompson theory, is defined as the chronological series of events that are represented or implied. This video uses this to show the different things that are happening within the video put in an order which represents the journey of what the girls go through.   

Laura Mulvey – Male Gaze theory:

I have included this theory even though it’s not a narrative theory because it fits in with the video and helps explain the narrative a little bit more.

The Laura Mulvey Male Gaze theory reinforces how the women are portrayed in this video. The contestants in the beauty pageant want to make themselves look ‘perfect’ and therefore taking drastic actions to maintain what the perfect woman should look like. The women are seen wearing clothes which are very revealing which are used to show their boobs and other body parts such as the ribs of a extremely skinny girl. This puts into perspective would girls do to look a certain way.

 

 

LIIAR ANALYSIS

Music Video Moodboard

This is my moodboard to represent the mood that I want to represent in my music video. There are a few images of girls smiling and looking happy because that is what I want the girls in the video to be but also the viewers. The girl covering her face represents how the girls will feel at the start of the music video; unconfident and shy. The colours of the balloons and the origarmi stars show the colours that I want to include in my video in elements like the costume and background.The ballons and stars also represent feeling happy and having no weight on your shoulders due to stress about how you look and feel. The quote, I think, sums up my messages and values that are going into my music video.

Treatment

The song I have chosen for music video is Sexy Lady by Jessie J. The aim of this video is to represent the progression of confidence of the women in the video. This video will be shot in the studio on a green screen which will enable me to change the colour of the background.

Music Video Ideas

Please can you take the quick survey below to choose which idea you think is the best. Thank You

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Audience Research

                  Here are the results from my 'Music Video Audience research' survey which I created on survey monkey:

                     

Audience Survey

I created this survey on SurveyMonkey which will help me to see what people like and dislike about music videos.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Skills Development Essay

This essay is about by development of my skills through my first year which will be developed even more through the duration of my second year. I will talk about my developing skills in different situations from Photoshop to my creativity.

Digital Technology:

Digital Technology includes different aspects such as Photoshop and using the camera. I have developed so far through the past year using Photoshop, only starting the course with basic knowledge. I did Media Studies at GCSE and the coursework was to make a Magazine, I used Photoshop to edit images and to create the template for the front cover, contents page and double page spread. Whereas in AS, I created everything on Photoshop using tools such as levels, magic wand, spot healing tool and more. The levels helped to improve the colour in the images and made them look more realistic and appealing. I used them to improve the colour quality of my models skin and also to make the background more of a clean shade of white.  Also on Photoshop I used the spot healing tool which helped remove things other than spots such as nose piercings, stains on clothing and moles. I wanted to keep the images as raw and real as I could, but I thought by removing these makes the image smoother.

Also part of digital technology, I had to use a camera to capture the images I needed. I was fairly good at using the camera as I also take Photography, so I am familiar on aspects such as framing and composition. Although the camera I used for my media work was different to the ones in Photography, therefore I had to change the ways I positioned the lighting. But after help from piers, I successfully captured images that looked good.

Creativity:

I would definitely say that my creativity developed over the year. I had basic ideas on what I wanted to do but I always felt something was missing from my work. From my teachers showing existing products of magazines and evaluations I began to develop my own ideas in a much better way than before.

For example, for my music magazine I knew what I wanted my own magazine to look like, what colours to include, I just didn’t know how to pull it together. Although, from seeing different examples I was able to see my visions come together.

During the evaluation task, I tried to be creative in the way I presented it. I used different ways to present each questions like creating a slideshow, GoAnimate and Prezi. These were all ways that, I thought, looked professional and smart. For example I used Prezi to present who would be my audience and my distributions research.

I also had to be creative whilst planning as I had to draw out what I wanted my magazine front cover, contents page and double paged spread would look like and the colours that I would use. This helped me see my ideas more clearly.

Research and Planning:

Research and planning was essential for the whole process, without this I would not have got the results I got. I would say that, because of my teachers and peers, I learnt different ways to research and plan rather than going on the internet and copying and pasting.  I learnt how to adapt the information I found about different topics and adapt them to create my own form of research.

I did a lot of research and planning during this project and I developed a different way in how I did this instead of copying and pasting. I learnt that it was best to pick a topic subject, such as Genre, then go and research anything that is relevant to this topic. Then I would go through that and pick out the key points about the topic and there I would form a greater understanding of it. Another example of research development was with the use of mood boards which I thought was a great way to display ideas and see how people react.

When it came to planning, I already knew what I needed to do as I did Media at GCSE, but only the basics. After looking at existing blogs and how they contained a variety of topics of research and I soon learned that it is best to research everything to do with the magazine industry as the information would be useful one way or another.

Post-Production:

I would say that my skills in the technical part of things developed a great deal over the AS year. I learnt different techniques in post production which I mentioned when I was talking about digital technology. In post-production I had to create the feature stories which appeared on the contents page and the main article. I knew roughly what my article was going to be based on but, again, I was not sure how to word it. I decided to look at existing magazine articles and adapted certain sections.

In post-production, I did two drafts of my final product which gave me more choice in what my final magazine would look like. I designed the two drafts weeks apart, my final product being my first draft, although I picked up different layout techniques from existing magazines.

Using conventions from real media texts

Looking at my preliminary task, I would definitely say that I have progressed in how I make a magazine. For example I did not include a barcode and a plug on my preliminary task but on my final product I included all the conventions of a music magazine. I found it quite easy to include conventions of a magazine within my own product for many reasons. One reason is because I have done a similar piece of work to this and for other reasons like because I read magazines regularly. But as I progressed through the year I understood why these conventions are essential to creating a successful magazine which allowed my magazine to look like a real magazine.

Overall I think I have developed a lot within the past year and I have learnt a lot of different techniques and strategies that will help me progress even further in my second year when creating my music video.

History of the Medium

Here is a group called the Pentatonix with a video which is of the evolution of music which relates to the history of the medium because it shows how music has progressed through time.

Richard Dyer - Star Theory

Tessa Perkins - Stereotypes

Laura Mulvey - The Male Gaze Theory

Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory in Films

Trailer No.1 - Lucy 

• The actress in this film is Scarlett Johansson and is first see in her underwear on a bed, which instantly reinforces Laura Mulveys Theory. 
• She is getting beaten up; she is seen as a weak and vulnerable damsel in distress.
• Her 'damsel in distress' look soon switches to a powerful, strong woman; roles reversed.
• She has control on people, this breaks the stereotype of a women and challenges the Male Gaze theory.

Trailer No.2 - Before I Go To Sleep

• The main character is a female, played by Nicole Kidman. 
• She is seen as weak and vulnerable
• There is a shot of her from behind and she is naked, The Male Gaze theory is implied.
• Kissing, close up emphasized.

Trailer No.3 - Lets Be Cops 

• The first girl in the trailer is a waitress, short black dress, hair down, boobs are emphasized.
• Group of girls on the street, linking arms, dressed up to go to a party
• Girls fighting; 'cat fight', typical girl fighting
• Laura Mulvey's theory is evident

Trailer No.4 - Inbetweeners 2

• First sight of girls are in bikinis on a beach and one of the characters smacks their bums, no respect for women?
• Naked women; seen as sex objects to the boys.
• Their car has a topless woman; continued theme of no respect for women
• Speaking to one of the characters mother and her boobs are emphasized
• The trailer reinforces The Male Gaze Theory because the women are seen as sexual objects and not people.

Textual Analysis

Here is my textual analysis for three music video of the genre Pop. Within this textual analysis I talk about how the three chosen music videos uses Cinematography, Editing, Sound and Mise-en-scene. This will help me to know what I could include in my own music videos.

  

Here are the three music videos that I have used for my textual analysis:

Mcfly - Love is on the radio

G.R.L - Vacation

Beyonce - Countdown

Lyric Timings

"Sexy Lady"

[Verse 1:]

You're feeling nervous, having your doubts 0:07 – 0:10

Don't be embarrassed if you don't fit in the crowd 0:11 – 0:14

Keep standing tall and hold your ground 0:15 – 0:18

Show 'em it's not okay to let them kick you down 0:19 – 0:21

[Pre-Chorus:]

Oh oh oh oh 0:22 – 0:23

Don't let em ruin your time 0:24 – 0:25

It's now or never, never 0:26 – 0:29

Oh oh oh oh 0:30 – 0:31

Just let em know it's your life 0:32 – 0:33

So do it, use it, flaunt it, own it 0:34 – 0:36

Ahuh, that's right 0:37 – 0:38

[Chorus 1:]

Yea, you'd better give it everything you got 0:39 – 0:41

Just show em you're a sexy lady 0:42 – 0:45

Yea, you'd better work it til it's burning hot 0:46 – 0:49

Just show em you're a sexy lady 0:50 – 0:52

[Chorus 2:]

Time is now baby 0:53 – 0:54

Look around baby 0:55 – 0:56

Just be proud, you're a sexy lady 0:57 – 1:00

Work it out baby, play it loud baby 1:01 – 1:04

Just be proud, all my sexy ladies 1:05 – 1:07

[Verse 2:]

So admit it, it's feeling good 1:08 – 1:10

You're hips are rolling and you love it like you should 1:11 – 1:13               

Work up a sweats, enjoy the ride 1:14 – 1:17

Good girl, go get it wear your confidence tonight 1:18 – 1:22

[Pre-Chorus:]

Oh oh oh oh 1:23 – 1:24

Don't let em ruin your touch 1:24 – 1:25

It's now or never, never 1:26 – 1:29

Oh oh oh oh 1:30 – 1:31

Just let em know it's your life 1:32 – 1:33

So do it, use it, frown and own it 1:34 – 1:35

Ahuh, that's right 1:36 – 1:37

[Chorus 1:]

Yea, you'd better give it everything you got 1:38 – 1:41

Just show em you're a sexy lady 1:42 – 1:44

Yea, you'd better work it til it's burning hot 1:45 - 1:49

Just show em you're a sexy lady 1:50 – 1:52

[Chorus 2:]

Time is now baby 1:53 – 1:54

Look around baby 1:55 – 1:56

Just be proud, you're a sexy lady 1:57 – 1:59

Work it out baby, play it loud baby 2:00 – 2:03

Just be proud, all my sexy ladies 2:04 – 2:07

[Bridge:]

Oh oh oh oh 2:22 – 2:23

Oh oh oh oh 2:26 – 2:27

Oh oh oh oh 2:30 – 2:31

Oh oh oh oh 2:33 – 2:34

[Chorus 1:]

Yea, you'd better give it everything you got 2:38 – 2:41

Just show em you're a sexy lady 2:42 – 2:44

Yea, you'd better work it til it's burning hot 2:45 – 2:49

Just show em you're a sexy lady 2:50 – 2:52

[Chorus 2:]

Time is now baby 2:53 – 2:54

Look around baby 2:55 – 2:56

Just be proud, you're a sexy lady 2:57 – 3:00       

Work it out baby, play it loud baby 3:01 – 3:03

Just be proud, all my sexy ladies 3:04 – 3:07

You're sexy! 3:07 – 3:08

Lyric Analysis

Chosen Song

Jessie J - Sexy Lady

This song does not have a music video which I see as an advantage because there are no expectations to live up to as oposed to others. It is about feeling good about yourself and not letting anyone bring you down.

Analylis Part 2

The next three music videos were picked at random which were chosen by each person in the class. 

Video No.1: Crystal Fighters - Follow (alternative electro)

Narrative of the Video: It is an abstract video but the story seems to be the a woman that follows the scarecrow into a different place which looks unusual. This reminds me of Alice in Wonderland were Alice follows the rabbit to Wonderland.

Techniques and Conventions:

• Lip syncing 
• The editing has an effect were it looks like it stops and starts really quickly, looking like something out of a flip book
• Costume changes keeps the video fun and interesting
• Coloured lights on the characters surrounded by darkness
• Establishing shot of the hop that the woman is sat in front of which shows the audience the location of the video.
• Rhythmic editing

Video No.2: 5 Seconds of Summer - Amnesia (pop)

Narrative of the Video: The story is about looking back on the memories they all had with their ex-girlfriends and remembering all the good times they had together.

Techniques and Conventions: 

• Lip Syncing
• Slow motion
• Depth of field
• Warm tint
• Performance
• Music matches the pace of the song

Video No.3: Rihanna - We Found Love (pop)

Narrative of the Video: It is basically a video that represents a relationship which goes from good to bad.

Techniques and Conventions:

• Voice Over
• Slow Motion
• Heart shaped silhouette formed by the couple
• Projection
• Variety of Locations
• Fast motion
• Montage edit
• Projection -  Flowers to Fire, connotes the relationship going from good to bad
• The bedsit location reflects the 'Hopeless' relationship.

Music Video Analysis

This is my analysis of 5 music videos which was a task given in class, which I had to say what I liked and disliked about them.
 Here is my all time favourite Music Videos:

I have 3 music video's which I can't decide from which one is the best so here they are.

                            Love Is On The Radio - Mcfly

It is my favourite music video because it always makes me smile everytime I watch it, it never fails to make me smile. I love Mcfly and they are such a fun group and that always comes across in the music videos.

Eyes Wide Shut - JLS ft Tinie Tempah

This is another favourite. I am a big fan of JLS and this is my favourite video of theirs for a number of reasons. One reason is because I think they all look so smart and slick which makes the video look clean and proffesional. I also love the special effects on the video because they look so surreal and really suit the style of the song.

Crazy In Love - Beyonce` ft Jay-Z

This is my final favourite music video. I just love how she is so natural and effortless within the video which makes everyone else want to copy her. She also created at least 4 iconic outifits in this video, but the first iconic outfit that comes to mind is the denim shorts, white tank top and red heels.