Evaluation of Students Website

Student Web Evaluation by clwp_cloe06

Website Analysis & Explanation

Website Research from clwp_cloe06

Analysis of Genre Covers 2

The second album cover analysis which I have chosen to do is the R&B artist Rihanna’s “Unapologetic” album.

The focus of the album cover is a mid shot of the artist Rihanna posing nude with graffiti writing over the picture. The colour scheme used for this album cover is very simplistic as the background is white with the graffiti writing in either black or white over Rihanna’s brown body. By using graffiti writing it makes the album cover stand out and shows an element of creativity. The title of the album cover is covering the artist’s left breast with a scribbled black background; this helps to the audience to differentiate the fact that it is unique from the rest of the writing across her body.

Also these words which are used in the album cover are quite meaningful to how the artist may perceive herself as anyone who is a fan Rihanna would know that before the release of this album her life was very much the focus of the media (specifically social media site Twitter) as she lost her grandmother and had been rumoured to get back with her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown who had previously domestically abused her. Therefore the words which are used such as “Faith, Fearless, Love, Happy etc” could be her way of expressing her inner feelings towards all the publicity and criticism she has been receiving. This also could all refer back to the title “Unapologetic” and the fact that she is not apologetic for her actions and the choices which she has made.

Rihanna is a known celebrity for having many tattoos however the only tattoo we see in this album cover is one of the Egyptian goddess Isis kneeling with her wings spread and spanning across Rihanna's rib cage which was dedicated to her belated grandmother. This connotes to audience the importance and impact her grandmother had on her life and as Isis is the goddess of children as well as the protector of the dead could imply that she may be looking for protection for herself hence why she has writing all over her as a way of blocking the audience from seeing her as a whole.

Similar to her “Rated R” album cover, Rihanna also has one of her eyes covered in this album cover. This shows her as not wanting to be too revealed to the audience but the fact that she is nude and has her feelings written across her body goes against this idea which creates confusion and mystery about the artist.  

Analysis of Genre Covers 1

Although my music video is mainly R&B he artist which my group is using is both an R&B and Hip Hop artist and there are some elements of the song which we are using that could be seen as Hip Hop. Therefore i choose to analyse one Hip Hop album genre cover and two R&B album genre covers.

Rick Ross : God Forgives, I don't

The “God Forgives, I don’t” deluxe edition album by artist Rick Ross was released in 2012. This album cover has much more depth to it in my opinion than the normal edition album cover.

 The normal edition album cover is very simplistic as it just has a dominant background with a picture of the artist in the middle. However generic conventions can be seen with in this album cover for example the artist is wearing more than one gold chain which is a symbol of wealth and through the glasses which he is wearing we can see the skyline of a city which could represent luxury. One of the main themes which songs are based on in the hip hop industry is money and the idea that the more money you have, the higher you are in the game or in other words the more successful you are. Therefore it would only be expected that Rick Ross would want to portray this image of being wealthy and living luxuriously in his album cover.

Unlike the normal edition album cover, the deluxe edition has much more going on. Both editions include the sentence “the untouchable Maybach Music Empire presents” at the top of the album covers and the artist name and title of the album are in the same font on both editions also. The artist name instead of using “s” to spell “Rick Ross” use’s the dollar sign so it is spelt “Rick Ro$$”. Once again referring back to money and the theme that “money is everything”. However the deluxe edition differs from the normal edition as the colour scheme has dramatically changed. The deluxe edition colour scheme is predominantly gold with black fading in from the bottom. The background is of a golden church with a silhouette of the artist at the bottom of the album cover. Having a predominantly gold album cover is also another symbolic code for wealth as gold is expensive.

Roughly around the middle of the album cover there are clouds faded into the picture and at the top of the album cover is a picture of Rick Ross posing with his with his arms out looking down on the silhouette. This position which Rick Ross is posing in is a symbolic code to the way in which Jesus or God is perceived in Christian pictures as he is opening his arms in the exact same way Jesus/God is perceived to do and also he is above the clouds which could be perceived as him being in heaven. The idea of Rick Ross being in heaven could also go back to the generic theme through out hip hop of wealth and luxuries and the life he is living now because of these things could be perceived as his “heaven”. This also refers back to his title of “God Forgives, I don’t” as from the album cover he is taking the position of God and so connotes that he is in a position to make judgements like God and does not want to forgive. Intertextuality is also used within this album cover as the font used for the title “God Forgives, I don’t” is similar to the font used for the title of the films “The Godfather”. In these films decisions had to be made on who died which could be seen as these actors also acting like God and so this album cover also portrays that idea as I previously said of making serious judgements to connote the title.

 

Like in the normal edition we see he is wearing gold jewellery and his glasses have the city scenery in them. The fact that he is main focus of the album cover as his picture takes up over half of the cover is a convention which many albums covers use. By doing this it attract the audience as they are able to recognize the artist face and that it is their album before they read the name or album title.

The parental advisory symbol on the album shows a level of maturity of album and is quite stereotypical of a Hip Hop album as many lyrics included in any hip hop song will include some offensive language. 

Annotation of Album Covers

Evaluation of Students Digipak

Evaluation of Students Digipak

Digipak Explanation & Analysis

Green Screen Analysis of Inspirational Video

R&B Genre Shopping List

Selecting a Music Video

Choosing a Music Track TEMPLATE

A Level Student Music Video Evaluation

The A level media studies music video I choose to analyse was the “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa - Vampire Weekend”. I choose this video because I really enjoyed how creative the students were with use of green screen and in a way this for me is an inspiration to include some elements of green screen into my a level media music video as when it is done well it is very effective. The video starts with a close up shot of a guitar followed by a full shot of all the band members. From this the audience can instantly tell that the video is going to be performance based with some or no narrative involved. There is then a close up of a female which would indicate that she has an important role in this video. A long shot is then used to show the same female with all her painting equipment around her, this show the audience that she is an artist. We see extreme close up’s of the female’s hand painting different colours onto different parts of the body, later is becomes evident that the bodies which she was painting on was the band members as we see a full shot of all the band members with paint on them. This could be interpreted as the female seeing the band as her “work of art” as through out the video she puts up different canvases onto the plain white wall where a colourful band member would then start performing from. The contrast of colour from the canvases of the performing band members and the plain white background look visually attractive and show’s green screen being used well. It is not distracting and is very simplistic which is effective as it allows the audience to concentrate on the actual song and the band. The symbolic code of focusing on painting in this video could be a way of saying that music is a form of art and connotes creativity and the idea that creating a music video is just as expressive as creating a painting on a canvas. The video incorporates many generic conventions of a pop music video as there are close ups of the lead singer which helps to attract the fans as they would feel close to him, also synchronized fast cuts between each shot helps the video to flow with the beat of the song and adds pace to the video as well as making it more exciting and interesting for the people viewing. The band is also dressed very casual whilst performing with instruments which is very stereotypical for boy bands to do in their music videos and is another generic convention. Technical conventions of full shots of the whole band and equal division of shot upon band members are also used. It is evident that a lot of research has gone into making this a level music video as the editing techniques used and the different shot incorporated make the video look very professional.

Andrew Goodwin Music Video Theory

AG video theory from clwp_cloe06

Star Theory: To what extent does a pop stars image influence their audience?

Professor Richard Dyer

“A star is an image not a real person that is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials (e.g. advertising, magazines etc as well as films [music])”.  This quote is from English academic Richard Dyer who is a professor of film studies at Kings College London. Dyer wrote a book called “Stars” in 1979 which discusses the viewer’s perception of film and the idea that it is heavily influenced by the perception of its stars. He believed that it was not the film which attracted the audience by the idea of who famous was in it and publicity materials such as reviews, interviews etc. determine the that the audience experience the film. An example of this is the film “Mission: Impossible” which stars Tom Cruise. The DVD cover and posters of the film both have Tom Cruise’s name in the same size font as the title. From this it is evident that Tom Cruise is just as important as the actual film it self and they use this as a way of drawing in Tom Cruise fans and an audience.

Katy B

Dyer also applied this star theory to music and pop stars. The term “pop performer” and “pop star” have become interchangeable and many people can not distinguish the difference between the two. However a “pop performer” is someone strictly known for just performing pop music and a “pop star” is someone who has an identity not restricted solely to their music. Many pop stars will start off as a pop performer and build an image from there. An example of a pop performer would be British born artist Katy B who is only known for her music and an example of a pop star would be Lady Gaga who is not only known for her music but for her outfits, her video’s, her personal life and many other things. The construction process to turning a “pop performer” into a “pop star” is neither automatic nor fully understood. Shows like X Factor show the supposed construction process of how an ordinary person is groomed and coached into fulfilling expectations that are needed when becoming a pop star, however how true is this stardom? Many of the contestants seen on shows like X Factor will have their five minutes of fame before they are forgotten and unknown again.

A true pop star has a long lasting significance and brand awareness. Michael Jackson is one of the best examples for this, even after death he is known as the ‘King of Pop’ and many of his dance routines have become iconic. The moon walk was not necessarily created by Jackson; however everyone will associate it with him regardless. This shows real stardom. In the present day many stars are manufactured by the music industry to serve a purpose and make money out of their audience. Record companies, specifically their mangers will nurture and shape their stars just as X Factor shows us to appeal to the audience. A star will begin as a “real” human who possesses gender and race characteristics which exist against a socio-historic background and will transfer into the image their record companies want them to portray and the “star” the audience will see and love. However the “star” will always have a real foundation and so will be seen as not as fictional as Dyer made out but someone who is very much of their time and culture or in other words the product of their generation. This makes them easy to relate too and so essentially more appealing to their audience.

Not everyone is convinced by the hype created around these stars and so will not spend their money. However historically pop stars have been created to each have a different appeal. Some will be produce to fit a specific genre of music and some will be produce to have a long lasting appeal. U2  is an example of a established band who have a long lasting appeal and so are able to cater to their fan audiences for decades

Auteur Theory

Auteur Theory from clwp_cloe06

"Super Bass" Video Analysis

The song “Super Bass” by America female recording artist Nicki Minaj was released on the 5^th April 2011. It is from her deluxe edition of her album Pink Friday and comes under the music genre’s of R’n’B, Pop and Hip Hop. It was produced by Kane Beatz and JMIKE and is under the record labels of young money, cash money and Universal Motown.

The technical codes in this video involve camerawork where low angle shots and close ups are used. The low angle shots of Nicki Minaj near the beginning of the video accentuates the size of her cleavage which increases her appeal to the audience particularly those of the opposite sex. Close up’s of the male model’s body are also shown to sexualise him and boost his appeal to the audience.

These are not only technical codes but they conform to the genre conventions of an R’n’B/Hip Hop music video where males or females are usually dressed provocatively in order to attract the audience watching. This could also be seen as a symbolic code as the men used within a video of this genre are always either very muscular and the women are always extremely curvy with large assets.

Another genre convention of this music is the fact that money and expensive things such as cars appear. However this is also a symbolic code as the expensive car is pink and so is the hair colour of Nicki Minaj and her dancers and many other elements in her video. This connotes the idea of feminism and the specifically idea of Barbie. As Nicki Minaj also refers to herself as the “Harajuku Barbie” this could be a way of putting that across within her music video. 

The idea of feminism with in the video is also a symbolic code itself as Nicki Minaj challenges gender stereotypes in this video because she is doing things to the male like touching him and showing a more dominant side towards him. In one of the scenes she is seen to be throwing water at the male from a pink cup which is very symbolic as the pink connotes feminism however the throwing of the water shows a more aggressive female. Aggression is a personality trait which males are said to have whilst females are meant to be more motherly and caring and so this definitely goes against that.

Many common conventions of music videos are used such as fast edits, the video is the same length as the actual song and also the artist is presented as though she is singing along to the song and so performing for the audience. The genre convention used which would fit a Pop video is the fact that there is a lot of performing especially through synchronized dancing however the artist is the main dancer.

Genre Conventions

Genre Conventions on Prezi