This video was created in order to promote the 'Flash Workout' that Beyonce is part of promoting. It surrounds the idea of a flash mob taking place in the middle of a school canteen at lunch time. It starts off with two young boys, then beyonce joins them and the numbers gradually grow throughout the video.
XELLE - Party Girl (2011)
While this video isn't the best, it was shot on the subway in new york in one take and they did so without permission. I think we can draw some inspiration from it because in order for them to complete it in one take it must have been simple to follow but also rehearsed extremely well. This would be extremely helpful for our project if we are going to utilise our time on the shoot(s). I think it also brings to light, the fact we need to consider the space we want everything to occur in and plan the dance to fit in that space.
Glee Cast - Barbra Streisand (2011)
Click HERE for the music video clip.
This flash mob was featured in an episode of Glee where they performed Barbra Streisand by Duck Sauce.
While animal costumes aren't the focus of the video to begin with, nearer the end there is a dance battle between people and animals. This then turns into a group dance session. However, the difference between this video and our proposal is that you see the faces of those wearing costumes at some point in the video, whereas the identities of the people in our video wearing costumes will not necessarily be revealed.
Grandaddy - Nature Anthem
I have posted this video because it contains two types of animal costumes, one type is a complete body suit and the other is where you can see the person's face. From this video I think that when we decide on the animals in our video, the costumes should conceal the person's face because it does not have the same effect when everything but their face is covered.
This video includes a group dance scene where 'members of the public' gradually join in with the main dancer and by the end it is a massive group dance. It would be useful for us to watch this to inspire the idea of our group dance as it is similar to what we wish to achieve.
The music video does not feature Michael Jackson because it was produced after his death, therefore the video follows a girl wishing to make it big in Hollywood. When she gets her dream part, she slips into the trap of going out and getting involved in drugs, gets too drunk and loses everything that was important to her. She then resorts to the walk of fame where she starts to dance like her idol. She starts off dancing by herself but then people in the background who are supposed to be passers-by start to join in and follow the same routine, the numbers gradually get bigger, until the end of the dance when everyone but her returns back to normal life.
The most important section to pay attention to in the video for us, starts at 2:50, as this is when she walks on to the walk of fame where Michael Jackson's star is and starts dancing.
Up until this week our ideas have changed quite a lot as we have gone back and forth between two ideas and now we have settled and decided on a completely new idea. The first idea we were discussing was for 'Fast Fuse' by the band Kasabian (2007) and the second was for Craig David's cover of the Stevie Wonder classic 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)' (2010).
Fast Fuse by Kasabian
The initial ideas for this track involved having a band perform the track, with the video being a dual narrative. The performance would take place in a studio, with black and white being the only colours of that scene. The narrative section caused some problems in terms of making it interesting but simple, some of the ideas that were suggested included: a girl and boy bumping into each other, a destructive guy (the lead singer) smashing up the city and a guy sitting in a bare cell (almost like a solitary prison cell) going insane.
After a meeting with Miss Blackborow, the biggest issue with the idea was that it was too generic and sidelined us into producing a copy cat version of an indie band like Kasabian. To get around this we came up with the idea of having a female drummer in order to widen the appeal to girls. However, the narrative idea for the video was still proving difficult to make entertaining.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered by Craig David
The concept behind this idea was modernising motown (previously posted on my blog) and consisted of the visuals being very bright and colourful, with the artist performing for most of the video. The narrative ideas we came up with for this one all gravitated around the idea of the artist pursuing a love interest. Most of the video would be in a studio where the artist would be giving a performance by himself.
After the meeting, there were quite a few issues with this idea because it would mean that we had to heavily rely on someone outside of the group and casting would be difficult. The video would also be very demanding, as the performer would have to be able to dance well, lip sync well and look the part.
Where we are at now
In many ways the new proposal is completely different to the ones described above, but in some ways it is almost a combination of them as well as it involves the idea of an outdoor environment and involves the retro theme through the props needed.
The idea involves a dance off between a Panda and another animal (still to be decided) which would then turn into a Flash Mob with members of the public joining in and then the Panda would return to the zoo. It would take place in an open space in a park and potential tracks so far have been songs such as Run DMC's 'It's Like That' and Salt N Pepa's 'Push It'. The brand image would be for a duo (most likely Sam and Alex) that are very 'nerdy' and computer geniuses, but they are never seen in their own videos, unless in costume.
I have found that in music videos today, women fall into three categories: Sexual Objects, Victims or Strong and Independent.
Portraying women as sexual objects
This is seen so often across many different genres and in videos by both male and female artists. In the case of male artists, women surrounding them will be seen wearing very little clothing and lots of make up, 'serving' the guys in the video. For example, in Timbaland and Justin Timberlake's video for 'Carry Out' (2009) there are various girls dressed provocatively and are seen performing for them. This is also seen in the video for 'Ayo Technology' by 50 cent and Timberlake.
But this is also seen in videos by female artists and bands such as Britney Spears and The Pussycat Dolls. They are often seen wearing hardly anything and/or playing stereotypical roles such as a waitress and air hostess. Which in many ways could be seen as derogative to many women as it goes against of the movement of feminism.
Portraying women as victims
This can be done in many different ways, females are either victims of physical abuse (domestic violence) or emotional abuse (which could be through something as small as a break up). Ashanti's music video for 'Rain on Me' (2003) and Eminem's video for 'Love the Way you Lie' (2010) are good examples of domestic violence, where the women are seen as the victims of their partners.
Portraying women as strong and independent
However, it is becoming increasingly more common to see women portrayed as strong individuals and the sense of female power/pride is growing. The women are still shown wearing sexy outfits and looking good, but they are not serving anyone else, they are running the relationships and are portraying confidence rather than being sexualised. Some good examples of this can be seen in Beyonce's videos such as 'Best Thing I Never Had' (2011) and 'Run the World' (2011).
This is Rihanna's second album cover, meaning it was released very near the start of her career which explains the innocent brand they created for her at the time. They cleverly constructed this through the use of colour, images and mise-en-scene, which in my opinion was very successful in not only appealing to her target audience, but at the same time widening her appeal as it is slightly more suggestive than her first album 'Music of the Sun'.
Visuals of the Cover
The images of Rihanna are both innocent due to the soft lighting, natural make up and wavy hair, connoting that she is just an average girl. However, the framing of the CU and the way in which the sun has hit her skin makes her seem very radiant and sun kissed, therefore constructing the concept of true beauty. In many ways it is very safe for an album cover because she is properly dressed and is not being sexualised in a major way. Although her gesture and facial expression is suggestive and therefore it could attract the male audience by being seen as a temptation. The way she is positioned and acting in the back image is portraying her as elegant but playful and could be seen as another symbol of temptation because this is often seen during dances such as the tango and salsa. But the white dress ensures that this is only suggested and that the cover stays innocent for her younger fans.
The colour scheme is orange and white which adds to the theme of the sunlight and the beach themes that had run through both the current campaign and the previous, due to her Caribbean background. It creates a very summery atmosphere for the album.
Institutional Information
The front does not contain any institutional information apart from the artist name and album name. However on the back there is:
A Barcode
Label Logos
Website information
Credits (for the executive producer, etc.)
Target Audience
At the time Rihanna's primary target audience was teenage girls aged from 10-18 due to the innocence that was portrayed. She was also marketed towards the male audience through the use of her outfits in the music videos and album covers. This cover as I mentioned before appeals to her primary audience by portraying the idea of innocent and natural beauty. Whereas it appeals to the male audience through the suggestive expressions and gestures, as well as her beauty.
Comparisons to now?
In comparison to Rihanna's image now, this was much safer and extremely innocent, which is most probably due to the fact that she was still making a name for herself in the industry. From this I have learnt that when producing the final album cover for the project, you should be able to see the artist because people need to be able to identify them and it is probably much easier to play safer with the images/concept while establishing a brand. But even if you did want to break the conventions of début marketing campaigns, it is essential that the image is consistent.
What are the typical features that an album cover has?
After looking at a number of different album covers, I found that most of them follow certain conventions (listed below) but they twisted them in order to offer the audience something unique and to stand out on the shelves.
Image(s)
Album Name
Artist/Band Name
Track Listings
Institutional Information - Barcode, Label Information and Logos
These are typical features of album covers but there have been cases that choose to exclude factors such as the artist name or album name on the front cover usually due to the band's image and target audience.
How would you categorise the covers in front of you?
The main ways you could categorise album covers is by:
Genre
Target Audience
Artwork vs Advertisement
Record Label?
What functions do album covers have?
The prime function of an album cover is to sell and promote the music and its artist, because this is what people pick up in the store and it creates the brand/image of the artist. As we have been discussing in class, this is crucial because the marketing campaign must work in synergy together with everything produced by the artist during that time.
However, I think there is a movement towards covers becoming more of an interesting art piece for someone to own because that is the only way that it really stands out from the other generic covers on sale as most markets, especially the pop genre is over-saturated. This could also be due to the revolution of digital downloads as people are becoming less likely to purchase a hard copy of an album.
Why research this website?
One Direction has recently released their debut album, which makes them a good example to look at because our brief is effectively to brand a debut music artist. It is a perfect example of how the marketing campaign is constructed in order to get music consumers to follow a new artist/band, especially as pictures of the band are plastered all over the website, so you can't forget their faces.
Interactive Opportunities
The site is unquestionably interactive with social media options, fan experiences, insights into the band members as individuals. They utilise the ability to publish content through various media platforms such as Video, Podcast and Pictures. They have ensured that it is easy to navigate and continuously offering the audience with the most up to date information. Some of the ways they give the audience the opportunity to interact with the site are:
Twitter, Fb and Youtube links everywhere
Various videos - behind the scenes, music videos, etc.
Newsletter
Individual band member diaries
Link to SyCo website
Continuosly updated news feeds, tour dates, etc.
Picture galleries
Purchasing Opportunities
The site is abundent with opportunities to purchase some sort of product from the site, whether it is clothing, wrapping paper or the album itself. Combining the interactivity of the site with purchasing options has meant that it is incredibly easy for the audience to buy something and it strengthens the ability of the label to push the audience towards buying the products.
Eminem's music video for 'We Made You' (2009) raised alot of controversy due to the number of intertextual references and the way in which they were portrayed. I chose to use this video because of the various references to celebrities, political figures and films/tv shows.
Female Celebrities
The video references many major female stars such as, Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson and Kim Kardashian. There is alot of irony in the video because they have chosen to have the girls dressed in outfits seen on the real singers but then have them look completely different in terms of what they truly think the girls look like. For example instead of being slim and toned, they have portrayed Jessica Simpson eating a burger and being overweight while wearing her famous Dukes of Hazzard outfit. They also used a Britney Spears impersonator from America's Got Talent - Derrick Barry, to portray Spears in her 'Gimme More' video outfit. One of the most controversial characters portrayed in the video is Sarah Palin because they refer to her being more of a sexual object than a respected politician.
Films/TV Shows
The narrative of the video acts as a parody of the american reality tv program Rock of Love, where Eminem acts as Bret Michaels (the bachelor in the real show) with all of the girls they are mocking surrounding him and almost worshipping him. They make it look very pathetic by over emphasising their desperation for 'love'. Also featured in the video is references to the films: Star Trek and Rain Man. The star trek narrative adds comedic value as well as conforming to the conventions of Eminem's videos which star Dr. Dre because he is ultimately the one with the power/the most knowledgeable one out of the two.
Guitar Hero Reference
The only scenario where Eminem is miming by himself with no other extras in shot is in front of a Guitar Hero backdrop, which would easily be identified by the majority of the audience watching the video. It acts as if he has been dropped on top of the game itself.
Impact on the Audience?
For the majority of the audience, the video will be viewed as comedic because so much of it seems to be Eminem poking fun at the latest celebrity news and it almost seems as though they didn't attempt to hold back from visually representing that, which is not done very often.
The video would also appeal to the fan base of Eminem because he is known for his comedic videos involving poking fun at other stars at the time of production, therefore by following the successes of the previous videos he has made, for example, 'Just Lose It', it will target his fans.
This is one of the most effective videos I have seen that uses intertextual references because it manages to draw upon so many different aspects in the industry and not only make the audience laugh and cause controversy, but at the same time it manages to subtly include thoughtful messages about the way that female celebrities are perceived and the fakeness of reality tv.
Hi, I'm Narishma and I am studying for my A-levels at the Latymer School. I decided to take media, economics, maths and politics. I love watching films and I found media really fun at GCSE and AS level so I chose to carry it on at A2. This year we will be making our own music videos, which I'm really looking forward to. I hope you enjoy my blog :)
