Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

We decided to do a group video, but unfortunately I couldn't make it for George and Joe's parts. We all worked on the Andrew Goodwin analysis together anyway and I have analysed the theorists individually as well, which is further down below.

(In case you can't see the slideshow on the video, I've uploaded it here)

Evaluation powerpoint

Analysis

"Music videos work around 3 codes:

• music
• lyrics
• visuals

These codes provide pleasure to keep viewers watching and encourage repeated viewings" 

We used lots of locations and outfits to keep the audience on their toes, so that they weren't bored. Although our video may not look incredibly professional, a lot of people said that there were a great range of outfits and locations which made the video exciting. Also, the reverse footage made viewers want to rewind or watch again to see what was happening.

My Initial Music Video Treatment

My initial treatment for Lexi was based on artists such as Blondie, who had a great presence and unique style. She was a great source of inspiration and I think that we did pull off Lexi's styling quite well as a lot of people commented on this.

The reverse concept is illustrative of the lyrics we represent the "meddling" through reverse shots and lots of location. Also, as there is no clear narrative, the audience can interpret the video and come to their own conclusions.

Relating to Andrew Goodwin's theory, we can see that a lot of the time, the visuals offer a disjuncture with the lyrics:

2.42 "things that are inside" - Lexi is sitting by trees outside

1.33 "mixed up world" - we reversed, then forwarded then reversed again to the beat

0.31 "i remember..." cut from Lexi singing to her in the past as she remembers

No matter what genre of music, artists always appeal to their audience through specific shot types or styling.

For example, Pixie Lott is quite a new female British artist and to uses her sex appeal to access a male audience. She shows her legs a lot which attracts a lot of male attention, but she also has the typical close up to sell her as an artist, not just a sex symbol.

We wanted Lexi's 'thing' to be her lips as these are erogenous zones, but not too sexy as we didn't want her music to speak for her, rather than showing skin. Again, Andrew Goodwin's theory is relevant here as we used the voyeuristic treatment of Lexi to appeal to a male audience.

Our video was based on The Pharcyde 'Drop' .....

And Coldplay's 'The Scientist'

The reverse effect really made these two videos memorable with the audience, which is something that we wanted to recreate.

When getting feedback from the audience, most people liked shots such as Lexi eating the apple, putting on the jacket, jumping onto the postbox, walking forwards while other people walk backwards etc. I'm really happy with these comments because these were the things which we really thought about.

Despina and I even tested some actions which we thought would look good in the video

I'm a fan of Beyonce and when we first talked about doing a reverse video, I watched her video for Me, msyelf and I, which was reversed.I based our shot of Lexi putting her jacket on from Beyonce's video at 1.33 as I really liked this effect. Also, Coldplay and The Pharcyde's videos did not have separate the video and perfomance, but Beyonce's did and I really liked this as it gave another dimension to the her as an artist. I feel that Lexi Grace' performance also enhanced her image as it made the video more playful and allowed her to interact with the camera (and therfore audience) even more.

Beyonce - Me, Myself And I (Official Music Video)

Week 2 Task: Album covers analysis

Front:

Back:

1. What are the typical features that an album cover has? Make a list of all the elements they have in common.


FRONT:

• image of the artist(s)
• name of the artist - large, bold font
• name of the album - large, bold font
• parental advisory if there is swearing
• colour scheme

BACK:

• continued colour scheme
• track listing
• info on record company
• featured artists
• copyright
• artist website
• barcode

INSIDE BOOKLET

• continued colour scheme
• more images of artist
• info on tracks
• lyrics - sometimes
• thank you from the artist
• credits to those involved in making track

SPINES

• title of album
• name of artist

CD

• continued colour scheme
• artwork matches the cover, i.e. Lily Allen's debut album Alright, Still. 

2. How would you categorise the covers in front of you? Are there any other ways of distinguishing between them other than generically?

• The albums I used were from when I was young, ranging from 2000-2007 and the main category to distinguish the albums would be through genre. I split the albums into garage/UK hip hop, pop, hip hop/r&b and rock. 
• I also split them up into bands and single artists and immediatly could see similarities between all the band covers who used a layout of name and album title at the top, and a large group photo taking up most of the space.

3. Album covers serve many different functions. What do you think these are (ie what is their purpose?)

• I think that the main purpose of an album is to show audiences what an artist is selling, so that they can buy in to the brand. When I grouped the albums according to genre, it was clear that the pop covers were very obvious, with a simple photo of the band and the rock ones such as Avril Lavigne (right) were more understated. Audiences would see a cover and immediatly identify it with the genre. This can be useful for mainstream artists who want to sell their music but alternative artists could want to create an enigmatic feel, which relates to their music.

• There is usually a relationship between the text and images. We are drawn to the artwork as it is normally placed centrally and the text anchors this, such as the title 'Nellyville' from Nelly's album, which adds to the rustic, urban feel. We can see that this creates an image for the artist, branding or even re-branding them in a way that audiences will be able to identify and become familiar with.