Album Cover Analysis: Example - Playing in the shadows

Example – Playing in the shadows

This album cover is used to contrast the protagonist’s character hence the brighter side of the stars face and the contradictive dark side. This particular design would merge well with the music video we plan to do due to the fact there is two sides to the performer. We will take an inter-textual approach and adopt ideas from different album covers but also apply our own original twist to it.

Album Cover Analysis: J.Cole - The sideline story

J.Cole - Cole world the sideline story

The protagonist ‘ J.Cole ‘ is the main focus of this hip hop album and this is connoted through the use of dimmed backlights and a spotlight like effect on the stars whole body. The particular style of clothing being worn by the performer is one of which the modern day hip hop artist tend to adapt and we will try to implement this style in our video to create an essence of realism in our adaptation video.

Album Cover Analysis: Take That -Progress

Take That - Progress

This particular album cover advocates an essence of change and directional 'Progress' (as shown on the front cover) for the the world renowned boy band,Take That. This unique technique will grant as with the opportunity of accumulating images of the main Performer of our our music video, Jacob, and assemble them accordingly as he moves 'On to the next one'. This would conjuct well with the narrative of our music video due to the fact that the peformer is progressing onto bigger and better things.

We as a group will construct mock copies of the album cover and attain feedback about which one would be best suited for our specific genre of music. To attain the feed back we will produce a question-ere which will be distributed to 16 to 21 year old's with am aim of attaining thier opinions.

Friday 21st October - 2nd Day of Filming

Today was the second day of filming and we did in fact encounted a problem. One memeber of the group was ill and not able to attend college. However, as a group we discussed this and found a way around the problem. Our intentions on this day was to film at the bridge, but because the person whom was ill was at their house, we used their house to film the scene in which we needed a bedroom. So overall we made the best out of a bad situation which was due to team work, communicated and organization.

Tuesday 18th October - Day 1 Filming

This is the first day in which we have began filming. We all met at college, at the allocated time in which we planned to meet. We collected the camera and tripod and knew where we were going to film as planned in our initial planning. We will spend the same amount of time filming as we would have spent in our media lesson. If needs be we will film more within our free time. The weather today isn't very predictable as it keeps raining yet only for a few minutes. This could be a neagtive aspect to filming today as we require the weather to be dry. Once we have filmed I will record the events and how it went.

The filming for today was very sucessfull, we got a lot of filming done and did sucessfully film what we set out to film. We also obtained footage that could be considered extra footage that we may decide to use later on in the process.

Album Cover Analysis'

Rihanna Album Cover Analysis:
Rihanna is a Barbadian pop recording artist, subsequently signing a contract with Def Jam Recordings after auditioning for then-label head Jay-Z. Analysing and researching about this specific artist has proved to be beneficial as she is somewhat associated with the artist we have based our music video upon. Her latest album, “Loud” is her 5th upcoming album.



The title has connotations that her music is something to be heard and expressed; not something to be taken lightly. The main cover features Rihanna, being the star image and all focus is upon her. She features with red vibrant hair and bright lipstick which gives the feeling of fun and vitality. This is of great contrast to her previous album “Rated R” which contained a more up beat, up tempo and ballad oriented genre as opposed to “Loud” being of more pop.

The cover of "Rated R" again features Rihanna yet this time in a different 'light', so to speak. Her image is significantly different which is clear for anyone to see. It is in black and white as opposed to the vibrant colours seen in "Loud." The black and white imagery could represent good and bad, love and evil: all the opposites in life. The dark black is quite dominant over the white which could signify a mysterious approach in which not too much is revealed. The image of Rihanna shows her looking quite evil, covering one eye, while facing downwards; looking down. By only expressing half of her face could suggest she has something to hide.



The title to this ablum supports the notion that Rihanna wants to create the idea there is something to hide. For instiance, the definiton of "rated r" is restriction from any person under the age of 17 unless you have parental guidance. A R-rated motion picture potentially contains some adult material. A R-rated picture for example may include adult themes, adult activity, hard language, intense or persistent violence, sexually-oriented nudity, drug abuse or other elements

Hustle Hard

Hustle hard, which is a hip hop video created to narrate ones elevation into ‘the big time’, is an illustrative narrative, which contains unique editing techniques to instigate the story the performer, ‘Ace Hood’ (Antoine McColister) is trying to tell.

The opening sequences of the video constitutes of an establishing shot of a street which sets the scene for the performance and also connotes the performers characteristics to ‘Hustle Hard’.

This establishing shot is accompanied by titles, which introduces the name of the video its self and also the main performer/artists.

This long shot is used to make the viewers aware of the environment the star image/protagonist is living in and enduring on a daily basis.

Examples of the unique editing skills demonstrated on this video are the intricate cuts from right to left and vice versa.

This editing style has been implemented to conjunct the artists lyrics, as they tell a story in itself.

Further examples of the unique editing skills employed are seen through the use of the distinctive orange umbrella, which is used as transitional tool. The use of this prop is particularly clever as it is employed instead of the traditional transitional fade or the use of subtle dissolves. It’s also used to connote the performers change in lifestyle as he is ‘On to the next one’ you may say.

The medium close up is one of the most common camera shots used during this music video. It’s used so the audience can witness the artist’s emotions and facial expressions as he performs. attraction.

The whole transformation phase involving the umbrella is crucial because it acts in conjunction with lyrics of the song and this in a way justifies modern hip-hop. This for me balances the narrative and performance aspects of the music video due to the synchronized tandem between the lyrics and the performance.

The main artist of the video is always kept in perspective to elaborate his importance due to fact of him being the main attraction.

Overall, I personally think the video is highly effective due to the justifications of the video it self. The story the artist narrates is well depicted by the performances in the background. These are elevated by the use of mid shots and incisive editing skills employed to keep the narrative style of video smooth and consistent.

As seen in the majority of Lady Gaga’s other videos such as: Bad Romance, Poker Face etc. we see all her videos tend to follow a disjuncture narrative or amplification narrative. By disjuncture narrative it is meant the video follows no resemblance to the actual song itself. However, amplification narrative means the song and video has a slight resemblance. This is the case with ‘Telephone’ because even though the video and song lyrics do not thoroughly relate they have certain associations. For example, many different telephones are shown throughout the video. However, the majority of the video consists of the star image, Lady Gaga performing a dance routine that has no comparison to the title ‘Telephone.’

















Furthermore,the performance in the actual video begins in a women’s jail. As the video proceeds, we see a various number of scenes, example being: a car scene featuring another star image, Beyoncé, who is highly considered in the video

At the start of the video, while in the jail, Lady Gaga is focuses upon in a medium shot. We see her walking down past over inmates, with two transvestites on either side of her. By doing this, it implies she is the center attraction and the one that stands out. The mise en scene also supports this as she is dressed in glamorous and smart clothes as opposed to the transvestites who are dressed in provocative and inappropriate clothes









Further on in the video, Beyonce the second star image is added. Both Beyonce and Lady Gaga are merged together in a car however both characters seem to contrast due to their make-up and clothing. Lady Gaga is seen to be wearing Red lipstick, which in my opinion connotes the devil, as being in prison is an inadequate sentence and started from bad actions. However Beyonce is wearing Black lipstick, which leaves pondering a dark, mysterious atmosphere as black dress is worn as well. Throughout the video many colours are presented. Whilst in the jail a dull theme is characterized. This shows an opaque atmosphere due to the black walls and metal. On the other hand, when not in jail bright Illuminous colours are imputed This allows a sense of freedom to be found yet despite these bright colours both star images remain in dark clothing. To some people this video could reflect the goodness and badness of life. In summary, the black and negativity of the jail reflects the dusky tone and the brightness reflects the admirable people.











As both performers are star images the lip-syncing has to be on point. This is portrayed as it is to perfection. Due to the video being mostly performance yet narrative there are many close ups. Firstly one being when Lady Gaga is in the kitchen a close up is portrayed, to show the effectiveness of her lips and facial expression when singing.

There are many locations that are being filmed in the video. One being in a café. In the café many bizarre ideas are exposed for instance, poisoning characters and killing them. This could link back to both star characters having power over every status and wanting to retain their capacity. There are close ups of the toxic substance yet also when the poison has taken effect. Beyoncé poured it in his drink due to the fact he was acting sly and being flirtatious with other women.

In conclusion, the video turns out to be extremely intriguing and interesting in my opinion. There are many different shots used which allow the video to be seen as performance. Furthermore, there are various locations conveyed as well as if it is a story yet it still contains aspects of being narrative. I enjoyed watching the video hugely.

Shotlist

As a group we thouroughly planned the shots we are going to use in our production and assigned them to a specific scene. After studying media at A Level we are aware that all shots are used for a reason, whether they are used for special effect, to represent something or to give something meaning.

Extreme Wide Shot
Extreme wide shots are often used as an establishing shot. The view is extremely far from the actual object that it is not really visible. We plan to use extreme wide shots to show views of the city Jacob is in and surrounding by. The reason why we have chose to use an extreme wide shot to present the buildings is to represent the large buildings over towering Jacob and making him seem ever so minute.

Very Wide Shot
In this shot the object is now rather visible as opposed to an extreme wide shot, yet the emphasis is still on the surronding atmosphere and enviroment. This shot will be used while Jacob is sat at the bus stop, you will be able to view Jacob but the surrounding not well kept enviroment will be apparant in order to associate Jacob with working class and enduring a struggle.

Wide Shot/Long Shot/Full Shot
The subject is now extremely visible and takes up the whole frame. We will use this shot quite a lot, especially while Jacob is performing. The reason for using this is to focus on Jacob as the star image.

Mid Shot
This shot shows some part of the object in more detail while still presenting everything around them. We hope to use this shot a lot during our production as we can use this shot to present a certain aspect of juxtapoisition, surrounding Jacobs current life and his new life. Also, we will use this to present Jacob in things he aspires and dreams of, for example: we hope to use an over the shoulder shot of Jacob; within the same shot will show a rolex sign. Thus, juxtaposing rich and working class.

Medium Close Up
Half way between a Mid S and a Close Up.


Close Up
A certain part of the object takes up the whole frame. For example, we will use this to show Jacobs shoes or watch.


Extreme Close Up
The Extreme Close Up shows extreme expression.

Cut-In
Shows some other part of the object in detail after a close up.

Cutaway
A shot of something other than the object, from being based upon the object.


Two-Shot
A shot of two people, framed similarly to a mid shot.


Over-the-Shoulder Shot
Looking from behind a person at what you wish to look at.


Point-of-View Shot
Shows a view from the subject's perspective.


Weather Shot
The subject is the weather. Can be used for other purposes, e.g. background for graphics.

Production Treatment

Song: Jay-Z - On To The Next One
Duration: 04:16
Audience: On to the next one is a video based upon a series of specific images that hold great meaning and require a lot of thought. For this reason the target audience will generally be of young males of around 16-21. The reason behind the gender specification of males is that Jay Z generally raps which evidently appeals more so towards males. Jay Z also tends to use expletive attributives (bad language) in many of his songs thus, not being suitable for a younger audience.

Resume: The video itself doesn't contain a deep story line. It consists of the star image, Jay Z giving a performance agaisnt a black screen whilst cutting to shots showing different images. It is evident Jay Z is the star image as he is lip syncing the whole song. The different images represent the actual meaning of the song "On To The Next One" meaning Jay Z is always one step ahead in achieving bigger and better things.

Suggested Elements:

• Costume:- In the video we are creating, there are various different costumes which represent specific things. The star performer Jacob, will be dressed in a tracksuit as soon as the video begins. This could arguably appeal to the target audience. Jacobs outfit however will drastically change as the video progresses; as the rich side is shown. Thus meaning, Jacob will be wearing a black smart efficient suit with sophisticated shoes which connotes power and authority.
  
  Another costume aspect is that Lucy and Rebecca will be in all black to suggest sophiscation.

• Performance:- In our re-make of the video, Jacob will play the role of Jay Z; fufilling the star image, lip syncing the whole song and actually performing in the video. Our performance video will differ slightly to the original as ours will contain more of a storyline based theme, telling more of a story, especially at the start. The original is based upon shots of symbolic images as well as the star image performing whereas ours will follow a more so narrative as it evidently tells a story.
  

• Key Locations:- As our video follows a somewhat storyline we will use a series of different locations to get a realistic effect: Hulme bridge, A local bus stop, A roof top and A city apartment.

• SFX:- To achieve a certain shot we will be using the studio inside the college to create a certain effect. We will also use certain effects such as fast forwarding and colour changes to name a few.
  

Recording Days: We intend on spending approximately 4days filming; as a group we agreed this is a reasonable amount of time because we dont have to travel much to our locations. However, we are aware that the weather is not predictable so we have to take this into consideration. There are some scenes that we actually require rainy weather, which reflect the poor aspects of Jacobs life and his struggle but we are uncertain of using this as the equipment and rain are not compatible.

We will use the rest of our time to edit the footage once we have retrieved it. Our media lessons fall on a Tuesday Morning and Friday afternoon so we will obviously use this time to film. In order to get the filming finished so we can also focus editing and the blog, we will use our free time to also film. Other time will be spent completing the CD cover and poster. This will all take us to our deadline date which lies in Decemeber.

: Tuesday 18th October 9:00am - 11:40am
: Friday 21st October 2:00pm - 4:00pm
: Sunday 23rd October 6:00pm - 7:00pm
: Tuesday 25th October 9:00am - 1:40pm
: Friday 28th October 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Ed Sheeran – The A Team Analysis

The video to ‘A Team’ by Ed Sheeran follows both an illustrative and disjuncture narrative. The reason for this being the video has slight relevance to song itself but more so when you actually consider the lyrics and follow the video at the same time. In some aspects of the video we are presented with direct illustration, one example being the mention of “angels” while showing “angel station” in the video. Also the fact that it says, “improving the angel” and not just “angel station” indicates a sense of improvement needs to be made to the girl featured in the video. To support this, in the same shot the girls face is lit up which emphasis and brings attention to her face. This is ambiguous to the viewer as it can either connote her as a somewhat angel or could simply be used to focus upon her.



The video follows a young girl going about her daily life; what she endures day in day out while the song is playing in the background acting as a narrative. There is no actual performance by the singer himself in the video; he is very rarely, if not ever seen, meaning there is no star image in the video.This is therefore also lack of performance leaving the whole video based upon a narrative form. The video follows a narrative in that the song describes negative lifestyle aspects such as drug taking, prostitution and homelessness, which reflect the girls life in the video.

It is apparent that the song is about these certain things as the specific lyrics suggest as well as these things actually being shown in the video. The drug taking can be

associated with the lyrics “class A team” as well as “mad for a couple grams.” A direct link can also be made to the title of the song, being in different type of drug classes. The prostitution comes from the fact that she “sells love to another man.” Overall the video shows a woman who is living a life she wouldn’t necessarily choose to live.

Throughout the video different camera shots and editing are used to create a specific effect, which can be associated with the way in which you’re supposed to feel by listening to the song. As mentioned previously, the medium shot of the girl within the “angel station” shot uses a certain effect on the girls face. The use of this medium shot allows everything to be seen, such as what the girl is wearing which instantly connotes her unwell being and homelessness.

The video starts with one woman looking over another, while looking extremely upset. The girl being looked over looks lifeless as if she’s endured a lot; and has a lot on her mind. Her eyes are open and a bird’s eye view shot is shown so the audience is level and able to look into her eyes, as if we have the opportunity to look

into her mind and feel what she is feeling. A blurry editing effect is used over her, which makes the audience feel that they are in fact about to experience what she’s been through, as if we merge into her as a person.

The whole video is in black and white, which in my opinion represents the straight forwardness of life being either good or bad. The clothing of the main person in the video shows she’s been through a struggle since her tights are ripped and her makeup is smudged, leaving her not very presentable and doesn’t look rather happy. A close up on her face shows her unhappiness seen as it shows her crying and looking extremely distressed but in a way keeping it to herself

A worms eye shot and mid shot from the waist down are used to focus on the girl, these shots could be connected to the girls low feeling about life. It could also be interpreted in a way that even though her life is low, she aspires to have better and achieve better in her life. A shot shortly after is shown of her looking up to the sky, this supports the face she wishes to achieve better and is "looking up" for things to get better.

Certain footage of other people around the girl is speeded up, while the girl remains of normal speed. This could suggest the girls life is stood still as she isn’t really moving forward in life nor achieving better, she is just simply enduring the same thing day in day out while other people get on with a life they chose to live.

The video follows a hand held shot throughout which adds a more personal feel as if we are following the person’s daily life. Before the video ends, the same close up shot of the girl shown at the start is shown again. This is as if her life is a constant cycle and never ending. The ending of the video however, shows a translucent effect picture of the girl, over a set of rooftops. This most definitely could suggest that her lifestyle has eventually killed her, but she is now looking over the life she used to live instead of her looking up while enduring it.

Overall, personally I think the video is highly effective and has been thoroughly thought about before production. The way in which it has been so cleverly put together, as if it is following one individuals personal struggle which life. As well as syncing exactly with the lyrics even though slight thought is required.