Explain clearly what a digipack is
A Digipack is a physical product which includes: A front cover, back cover, cd, inlay there is also extras included in a digipack this helps the audience get more intouch with the artist for example An extra DVD that includes a interview with the artist and also live performances there could also be a booklet that gives more information on the artist.

Give an example of how intertextuality could be used in the marketing of your digipack
An example of intertextuality we could use in marketing our video is that our artist could use Facebook or Blackberry Messenger on his phone during the video. The audience we are targetting is in the 16-25 age bracket which means they are interested in technology.

Give an example of how intertextuality could be used in the marketing of your video
An example of intertextuality we could use in our digipack is the blackberry barcode, a large percentage of our tragte market have blackberry phones, this also attracts our target audience as they can scan the barcode using their phones and instantaneously get extra information about the artist.

What did Goodwin say were the 3 possible relationships between lyrics and visuals in a music video ?
Goodwin states that there is a relationship between lyrics and visuals these include:
Illustrating, Contradicting and Amplifying.


Give an example of how you could develop star image for your artist using star iconography
Our genre is the Indie-Acoustic genre a icon of the genre is a acoustic guitar therefore we will feature a acoustic guitar in our video as the audience expects to see this icon in our video as this is what they are used to.

What demands does the record company make on the video and why ?
The record company wants the music and genre to be categoriseable, they do not want to offend the target audience, they also want the artist to stay in the same category i.e if the artist appeals to a female audience don't give away that the artist is married or in a relationship.

What usually features in a video in addition to narrative and why ?
Features in the video that are usually usedin addition to narrative are: The performance, there are also complex fragments in a non-linear order this leaves the audience wanting to see more of the artist.

How could you use the elements of 6 and 7 in your digipack and how would it complement the video ?
6 - The artist needs to stay within the genre to maintain target audience.
7 - we need to keep the audience captivated the target audience needs to enjoy watching the video.

What 'extras' could be in the digipack in addition to video and music tracks ?
Extras we could use in the digipack are: Blackberry barcode as this links to our target audience. We could also include a mini biography so the audience gets to know the artist more.We can also include behind the scenes of the video and the artist on tour. An additional video on how the music video was made can also be included to captivate the audience.

How do your plans match to the chosen demographics and psychographic of your audience ?

Task One:

Explain the methods you used to attract your audience in your AS coursework

When we filmed the shots of the men walking we intentionally positioned the camera so that we could not see their faces this is an example of shot composition created a mystery about who these characters were and what they were doing. This entices the viewer and makes them interested in the men.

We had a fast cutting rate this emphasised the men and increased the tension on what they were doing making the viewer anxious and curious.

At the end of the sequence we had a fade to black this left the audience on the edge of their seat making them wonder what is going to happen next we combined this with a sound bridge with the dialogue “The agent is deployed, go” this makes the viewer wonder where the agent is going and what he is doing adding a extra twist to the plot.

We had the men wear black suits with white shirts and black ties this added seriousness to them as suits connotate business men/authority this makes the men seem powerful  we also used a briefcase as a prop to add to the mystery briefcases are also associated with secrecy and business like actions. The viewer will wonder why the briefcase is significant and how it links to the men.

We also used a tattoo on both of the clone’s arms the boy in the bedroom had this tattoo this linked to the man with the laptop as he had the same tattoo this implied that they were connected in some way. As well as this we also included the tattoo on the documents enclosed in the briefcase this added another layer to the complexity of the plot as the audience will wonder what the significance of the tattoo symbol and how and why the boy and the man are linked and in what way are they linked?

We used dark lightning when we filmed the man with the laptop this implies mystery and a darker side which is a strong characteristic of the thriller genre it makes the audience wonder why he is in a dark secretive location and what he is doing there.

The use of our soundtrack mimics the video and also creates tension with a ticking clock sound and the eerie music this makes the audience wonder the reason this music was used and how it links with the film.

We have character establishment we establish the boy as vulnerable by him being alone in the room this attracts our audience as it creates mystery as to what the significance to the boy.

We used matched cuts to show continuity of the men walking the audience want to find out where they are going it also gives a feeling that we are following the men.

We have included a gun in our opening, this attracts our audience as it creates a sense of danger. The audience will question what he is going to do with the gun and why he has it. We used a reaction shot combined with the lack of a motivated cut this leaves the audience wondering who is opening the door.

Task Two Artist: Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga has a wide variety of images and she is a very controversial singer due to the fact that she performs actions which are socially frowned upon.
For example she wore a dress made of raw meat to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards this caused quite an uproar and news stories as it was deemed 'unethical'.
At the start of Lady Gaga's career she was less excentric than she is at the present day she has rapidly got more bazaar over the years that she has been active. As seen on the left this is one of her less crazy album covers she is wearing a leather catsuit which is associated with being sexy this compliments the high heels.
Lady Gaga has mixed reviews in concert where she can either be fantastic or terrible as she has a very tempermental personality.
In the album cover she is looking directly at the camera but she has a masquerade type mask and a black leather hat which makes her slightly mysterious as you can not see her face.

Task Two Artist: Tinie Tempah

Tinie Tempah

Tinie Tempah's Real name is Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu, this is a common trait of rappers as they create a stage name and do not use their real name.
He is presented as cool and confident he is also desirable by women, he has built up this image over time. He even has his made his signature glasses more fasionable some people also call them the 'Tinie Tempah glasses'
The album cover design has Tinies signature glasses
it has the name disc-overy which has clever word play as inside the case is a disc. It also makes the audience feel like they are discovering something new.
He has a city in his hands which shows he is powerful or that he has discovered it.
Tinie Tempah he has collaborated with various artists such as Ellie Goulding & Labrinth which shows he has good communication skills and enjoys working with other people.
Tinie Tempah is an energetic live performer and as he has collaborations with many artists the audience get to see many of favourite artists at once.

Task Two - Artist: Ms Dynamite

Ms Dynamite

Ms Dynamite is quite a unique artist as there is not many female dubstep/drum and bass artists.

Thus being hard to compare to other artists. The way she is represented is quite natural and in touch with her music her music is heavily vocaled which takes some elements from pop while it also has a drum and bass/ dubstep beat. Most dubstep/drum and bass does not have much vocals as it is heavily focused on the beat/rhythm of the music.

Ms Dynamite is a very confident musician as she makes direct eye contact with the audience in both her videos and her Album Cover this shows she is contacting the audience directly 

Ms Dynamite has also changed her image and genre of music over time as in 2002-2004 she was a more soulful garage/rnb singer with a more innocent image where as now she has made a comeback on the dubstep/drum and bass scene, dubstep is one of the genres that has been derived from garage which makes this a good choice of music for her to go into.

She released her debut album, A Little Deeper in 2002, featuring the hit songs "It Takes More" and "Dy-na-mi-tee". In 2003, the album was released in the United States to critical acclaim. In 2002, Dynamite won the prestigious Mercury Music Prize, for A Little Deeper. She donated the £20,000 prize to the NSPCC.

Giving 20,000 to the NSPCC is quite a big deal and shows that she is not as greedy and money hungry in comparison to other artists as she has given money to charity.

In Ms Dynamites newer videos she is presented as a strong woman that can do things for herself a name of one of her songs is 'Nevasoft' which implies that she is not soft or easily beaten this is a great song choice to release on her comeback album.

The costume used is a leather jacket which shows that she is strong and dominant but she is also wearing demin shorts which emphasises her legs and shows her to be more girly she is also wearing high heels which connotate being sexy this reminds the audience that she can be a strong woman and still be girly and sexy at the same time.

Props which are used are Big Speakers this is a typical feature of dubstep/drum and bass music.

other props which are also used are guitars and drums which are more natural ways of creating music rather than with a dj deck/computer this connects to Ms Dynamites voice which is natural.

The set is in a dark room it looks to be in a basement it has dark lightning. This is linked to Garage/dubstep as some varieties of those genres is called 'underground'.

In concert Ms Dynamite usually has Dj with her to play the beat/mix the beat while she sings she does not mime, she sings live. She interacts with the crowd and gets them excited, dancing and having a good time.

Summer Work

Task One – An Essay Question

You are to spend one hour on this

Explain the methods you used to attract your audience in your AS coursework.

- Think about and describe IN DEPTH the choices you made with regards to Camera, Editing, Mise-En-Scene, Sound

- Why you made these choices

- What your audiences wanted and how you did/did not give it to them

- Audience reaction?

Ext – try to include some of the theory from your institutions and audience work.

Task Two – Research and Understanding

Research and make notes on AT LEAST THREE MUSIC ARTISTS from DIFFERENT GENRES including MUSIC VIDEOS. Look at:

- How the band/artist is being REPRESENTED (e.g. In Madonna’s later videos she is represented as young, fit and desirable whereas 50 Cent will go for dangerous, violent and independent)

- What are the reasons behind choices in SET, COSTUME AND PROPS?

- What are the album cover designs and their significance (the designs, choices of CEMS etc)

- The image the artist is trying to put across.

- Concert Sets

- Newspaper stories

Work

Task 1
Select a genre of your choice and track the conventions of it - recognise the motifs, the CEMS, the structures, the narratives etc. Update your blog with a post on these genre conventions.

Task 2
Read your yellow pack - I will be referring to these through the lessons in year 13

Task 3
Start finding your songs

Analysis of Our Digipack

Image of the artist

Our Digipack mainly includes the artist, grass and a pinecone on the back cover. These images show that our artist is not materialistic and is more associated/ in touch with nature.

We have a pink colour scheme which is a dominant feature in our digipack images as this conveys the generic pop princess style. Pink is generally seen as a feminine colour and is often used by many Female pop artists. We tried to replicate this in our own digipack.

No sightlines are used in our image as our artist is turned away from the camera, this conveys a sense of mystery around her and perhaps states that she is shy and innocent.

The dress code we used is not over the top , we went for a more casual look in order to relate to a normal teenage girl audience.

Layout of the images used in our digipack

The front cover image that we used is positioned with the artist at the side, however she still stands out on the cover as we are immediately drawn to her due to the fact that she is pink.

The image we used on the back cover is a close up of a pinecone in front of a tree, it is posistioned in the centre, so it stands out.

The audience will immediately be drawn to the artist who is coloured in pink and she stands out from the rest of the image. They will also be drawn to the fact she is looking away from the camera which will make them wonder why she is doing this.

We have deliberately framed the front image to include the grass and the upper part of her body.

We have included grass as it is a central theme to the whole digipack.

We have looked at several professional digipacks from real artists so we decided to position the logos on the back cover as those generic artists that we have seen e.g Miley Cyrus who abides by the usual conventions of 'pop princess' music albums. We also included our group logo to show which label the artist is associated with. A link for Lexia's website is available as well as a Twitter page. This allows fans to find out more about the artist and get updates

We have also included the blackberry symbol as people can scan the symbol and instantly find out more about the artist.

Adjustment of images

We have cropped the artist's legs out of the image as we felt they were not needed to convey the image which we wanted.

We have added a pink Mask using photoshop onto Lexia and to to the other images to show clearly which genre this album is and to attract the female audience who see pink as being associated with Pop Princess genre.

We used the lighting on the back cover emphasises the tree and pinecone but it also gives it a "heavenly" look with the white light. Thus effect bodes well with the album name ''Heaven''.
 

Why we used the particular text

The artist's is named Lexia Parker. We chose this name as we felt that it was an unique name for a Pop Princess.

Most pop artist's names are unique like ''Miley'' "Britney" and "Selena". This is what we have tried to replicate to stick with the genre.

The songs are typical track names that are associated with the Pop Princess genre.

The album name is Heaven and track 3 is Bella Heaven which is normal for albums to be of a similar name to a song. For example Miley Cyrus' album "Breakout" and the first song is called "Breakout".

The songs convey a typical Pop Princess theme with tracks like "Too Young", "Dreams" and "Another Day". These songs contain a story within them which is generally what Pop Princesses sing about.

We chose the font "Airplanes in the night sky" as we felt it was suitable for the artist image with the swirly writing. The size of the text varies with the artist's name a larger size to emphasises who the artist is as she is the main focus.

Overall image of the artist

The back and inlays relate as there is a pink grass naturalistic theme that is central to the whole album. 

The themes and subjects of nature, fairytale and heaven are explored in the images and text. The pictures of the grass, trees and pinecone show the nature side. The pink fill and the swirly text bring out the fairytale side whilst the white light and gold font show a sense of heaven and religion.

We have stuck to the typical conventions of the handwriting which looks like it has been written by the artist and the consistent pink theme. On the other hand we have challenged many of the Pop Princess conventions like not having the artist face the cover and her sightline looking right at the audience.

Another convention we have challenged is the materialistic theme and gone for a more innocent nature theme but have also stuck to a fairyland, out of this world theme.