Saturday 28 November 2009
Friday 27 November 2009
Final CD cover and poster...
Ater looking at our print products we realised that we didn't have a copyright symbol on it therefore we amended this to ensure that we conformed to codes and conventions.
Monday 23 November 2009
Friday 20 November 2009
Inlays...
(origional images)
We chose to feature our full photograph of the selfridges building here as we had only used sections of it on both the front and back cover, this will ensure that the audience can tell what it is as soon as they open the cover.
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With this image we chose to contrast completley with our front cover, we used a deliberate direct mode of address to display this stark contrast and to engage our audience once they have opened the cover, setting up an identity for our artist.
We chose to feature our full photograph of the selfridges building here as we had only used sections of it on both the front and back cover, this will ensure that the audience can tell what it is as soon as they open the cover.
.jpg)
With this image we chose to contrast completley with our front cover, we used a deliberate direct mode of address to display this stark contrast and to engage our audience once they have opened the cover, setting up an identity for our artist.
Monday 16 November 2009
Another Advertisment...
We have found another advertisment, we know it's for the wrong genre however it's useful to look at in order to see typical layouts and codes and conventions even if it is for other genres.
Sunday 15 November 2009
CD cover mock ups...
From our very original mock up, we changed the exclamation mark we used in the name 'SYD MARIE' it's too big a trademark of PINK and we wanted something more individual. The copy also does not stand out enough, we must ensure that we change this. We shall move the artist up on the cover and perhaps enlarge the image and also edit the heart clipart as this doesn't fit appropriately. We have tried too hard to stick to the colour scheme of red and black and this hasn't worked as well as we hoped that it would. We had tried to follow the codes and conventions of previously analysed CD covers, we wanted to conform to the codes and conventions and therefore need to edit our CD covers with this in mind. The urban background was successful as it engages the audience and is a suitable setting for our target audience.
We also highly considered a direct mode of address, to conform to conventions we knew that we must use this, which we did originally on one of the mock ups, we spoke to various people about this and whether to use it. Finally we decided it was also appropriate to stay with not using the direct mode of address as we had done to fit in with the theme of 'PRETENCE',our song name.
Friday 13 November 2009
Filming...
Beginning filming:
Currently we are filming, we're now about half way through our storyboard, on the whole everything has gone to plan, the only major problem we had was the setting for the shop scene and the social surrounding scene as we could find no where would allow us to film, we have tweaked our storyboard slightly to fit this and everything is currently going to plan.
Filming updates:
Update 1:
We have filmed a good half of the storyboard, looking at our product at the moment, there is not enough performance in it, we have also had the problem of filming in shops therefore must change the location for this scene. The fact that there is not much performance in our video will be a major problem as this is one of the main codes and conventions of our genre, We need to go back over the storyboard and look at our performance scenes and improve these as they aren't working and the video is becoming more of a storyline than what we need to be doing with it.
Update 2:
We tried to film tonight but it was just too dark, we need to film tuesday day time for all of the exterior shots and monday night for the shots of the artist to fit with the new ideas for our storyboard.
Update 3:
We got all our interior shots tonight, we filmed in the drama studio, the shots have worked well and we got all our performance scenes for the artist. We looked through our storyboard critically, looking at it and considering the social scenes we have had trouble filming, we decided to fill these with performance scenes, this will ensure that we conform to the codes and conventions and also solve our problem of not having enough performance in our video. We also edited our storyboard for the shop scene, we have changed it for convenience and so that our filming will go to plan. So far it is going well and we are sticking to our plan and our current storyboard. We have filmed our performance scenes this evening and our updated part of the storyboard is as follows:
We finished our filming today, everything went to plan and all our shots were as planned. We editing filming that we had previously filmed on the mac book.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBpC5iIKcUU
We looked at this paramore video, we would really like to take some inspiration from this video.
We began editing our music video alongside our storyboard, it soon became clear that our narrative wasn't effective, it wasn't clear enough and there would have been a misunderstanding for the audience, with asking a few people to watch this, including media teachers, this was confirmed. We needed a lot more performance in it, strong effective peformance as our scenes were quite short and 'choppy', it wasn't making sense. What we have now done is refilmed the performance parts from the artist, the shots like the shots of the couple and the shots of the lip syncing from the side are effective and we will more than likely shorten these to fit in with the codes and conventions of our genre as this will allow us to fit in more performance from the artist. We are happy with our new filming that we have done and will continue editing, we will also get audience feedback in the upcoming week which will help us to consider changes and edit any small parts which may not work as well.
Currently we are filming, we're now about half way through our storyboard, on the whole everything has gone to plan, the only major problem we had was the setting for the shop scene and the social surrounding scene as we could find no where would allow us to film, we have tweaked our storyboard slightly to fit this and everything is currently going to plan.
Filming updates:
Update 1:
We have filmed a good half of the storyboard, looking at our product at the moment, there is not enough performance in it, we have also had the problem of filming in shops therefore must change the location for this scene. The fact that there is not much performance in our video will be a major problem as this is one of the main codes and conventions of our genre, We need to go back over the storyboard and look at our performance scenes and improve these as they aren't working and the video is becoming more of a storyline than what we need to be doing with it.
Update 2:
We tried to film tonight but it was just too dark, we need to film tuesday day time for all of the exterior shots and monday night for the shots of the artist to fit with the new ideas for our storyboard.
Update 3:
We got all our interior shots tonight, we filmed in the drama studio, the shots have worked well and we got all our performance scenes for the artist. We looked through our storyboard critically, looking at it and considering the social scenes we have had trouble filming, we decided to fill these with performance scenes, this will ensure that we conform to the codes and conventions and also solve our problem of not having enough performance in our video. We also edited our storyboard for the shop scene, we have changed it for convenience and so that our filming will go to plan. So far it is going well and we are sticking to our plan and our current storyboard. We have filmed our performance scenes this evening and our updated part of the storyboard is as follows:
We finished our filming today, everything went to plan and all our shots were as planned. We editing filming that we had previously filmed on the mac book.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBpC5iIKcUU
We looked at this paramore video, we would really like to take some inspiration from this video.
We began editing our music video alongside our storyboard, it soon became clear that our narrative wasn't effective, it wasn't clear enough and there would have been a misunderstanding for the audience, with asking a few people to watch this, including media teachers, this was confirmed. We needed a lot more performance in it, strong effective peformance as our scenes were quite short and 'choppy', it wasn't making sense. What we have now done is refilmed the performance parts from the artist, the shots like the shots of the couple and the shots of the lip syncing from the side are effective and we will more than likely shorten these to fit in with the codes and conventions of our genre as this will allow us to fit in more performance from the artist. We are happy with our new filming that we have done and will continue editing, we will also get audience feedback in the upcoming week which will help us to consider changes and edit any small parts which may not work as well.
Thursday 29 October 2009
Developing our product...
After looking at this mock up idea we realised that the copy didn't stand out enough, we used all the relevant codes and conventions as we wanted to conform to these rather than challenge them, we also needed an image of the artist with a direct mode of address, this was important within our genre so this is a must.
Wednesday 21 October 2009
Assesment essays...
Identity of artist...
How we created an identity for our artist through factors such as gender, youth etc and how we challenged or subverted to these...
For both our print products we constructed a strong identity for our artist. To conform to the codes and conventions of our genre we decided to challenge gender stereotypes. All of the CD covers that we analysed that used women such as 'Avril Lavinge' or 'Pink' challenged gender stereoypes by giving the women status and power, in contrast to the stereotypical ideologies of the gender role of a woman being a housewife and being subservient to men.
With women often being represented as being part of a context such as family,friends and colleagues,and working as part of a team we really considered the way that women are represented when thinking about ideas for creating our products. We seek to challenge stereotypical ideas about women.
We also challenged gender stereotypes within the artists name, we thought about Pink and how she challenges the connotations of her name, it's quite ironic which perhaps also links to post feminism. We wanted to do the same with our artist name but as we are determined to challenge gender stereotypes to conform with our genre we want to use male connotations and make this 'edgy' like Lady Gaga.
We decided on our artist name, as before we thought about a name with male connotations, with a 'feminine edge', we almost don't want the artist to fit the connotations of the 'artist name'. We chose the name 'Syd Marie', the name Syd immediately connotes a male persona however the name Marie feminises it.
We also considered gender and gender equality and how women are represented, all of the CD covers that we analysed for Pop Rock had a strong, independent woman, who was usually in some way involved with a male however ended up not needing him, she realised that she didn't need this figure in her life. We challenged ideas within the feminist theory, we thought about how women are constructed in a text and thought about analysing gender equlality and the promotion of womens rights, interests and issues.
The whole idea of the woman shutting the man out, literally with the door reinforces her getting her life back. By the fade out shot at the end of our video we create a very strong identity for our artist,we are showing this emotional male who has had to walk away, his world has crumbled apart and there's a strong sense of a male in crisis, he is suffering and has lost his 'mojo'. A proppian analysis would highlight the artist as the hero and the male as the villain, a strong role reversal. We're almost giving a message or a guide to young women on how to be empowered and how to get out of these sort of relationships, saying that you don't need this male figure.
The female on our CD cover is represented as a strong, independent woman through a direct mode of address, and strong poise, central to the frame. The direct mode of address especially links to the uses and gratifications theory and the audiences need to relate. We chose for the artist to dominate the frame purely to reinforce this challenge of gender stereotypes.
We have encoded our CD cover to say to these women that they can be this strong female figure, we are living in a post feminist age and can be anything that we want to be. We are challenging ideas about gender and getting away from these ideologies of women only being good for having kids, staying in the home and that we are too emotional and irrational to be an independent woman. We are emancipating all of these women from their relationships, subverting to narrative structure with a woman in control.
This woman on the front cover has fallen out of this domestic sphere that women are placed in, we are conforming to the codes and conventions of our CD covers that we analysed as the women challenge gender stereotypes, they seem out of control, they aren't these timid, subservient characters we expect them to be as women.
We have especially engaged our target demographic through the attitude that our CD cover gives across, it shows a strong independent character who is unique and doesn't need to depend on others. We have also engaged our target demographic through costume, the red and black colour scheme on the clothing suggests a rebellious side to the artist, the red especially connoting a dangerous edge. The central framing ensures that all attention is focused on the artist.
How we created an identity for our artist through factors such as gender, youth etc and how we challenged or subverted to these...
For both our print products we constructed a strong identity for our artist. To conform to the codes and conventions of our genre we decided to challenge gender stereotypes. All of the CD covers that we analysed that used women such as 'Avril Lavinge' or 'Pink' challenged gender stereoypes by giving the women status and power, in contrast to the stereotypical ideologies of the gender role of a woman being a housewife and being subservient to men.
With women often being represented as being part of a context such as family,friends and colleagues,and working as part of a team we really considered the way that women are represented when thinking about ideas for creating our products. We seek to challenge stereotypical ideas about women.
We also challenged gender stereotypes within the artists name, we thought about Pink and how she challenges the connotations of her name, it's quite ironic which perhaps also links to post feminism. We wanted to do the same with our artist name but as we are determined to challenge gender stereotypes to conform with our genre we want to use male connotations and make this 'edgy' like Lady Gaga.
We decided on our artist name, as before we thought about a name with male connotations, with a 'feminine edge', we almost don't want the artist to fit the connotations of the 'artist name'. We chose the name 'Syd Marie', the name Syd immediately connotes a male persona however the name Marie feminises it.
We also considered gender and gender equality and how women are represented, all of the CD covers that we analysed for Pop Rock had a strong, independent woman, who was usually in some way involved with a male however ended up not needing him, she realised that she didn't need this figure in her life. We challenged ideas within the feminist theory, we thought about how women are constructed in a text and thought about analysing gender equlality and the promotion of womens rights, interests and issues.
The whole idea of the woman shutting the man out, literally with the door reinforces her getting her life back. By the fade out shot at the end of our video we create a very strong identity for our artist,we are showing this emotional male who has had to walk away, his world has crumbled apart and there's a strong sense of a male in crisis, he is suffering and has lost his 'mojo'. A proppian analysis would highlight the artist as the hero and the male as the villain, a strong role reversal. We're almost giving a message or a guide to young women on how to be empowered and how to get out of these sort of relationships, saying that you don't need this male figure.
The female on our CD cover is represented as a strong, independent woman through a direct mode of address, and strong poise, central to the frame. The direct mode of address especially links to the uses and gratifications theory and the audiences need to relate. We chose for the artist to dominate the frame purely to reinforce this challenge of gender stereotypes.
We have encoded our CD cover to say to these women that they can be this strong female figure, we are living in a post feminist age and can be anything that we want to be. We are challenging ideas about gender and getting away from these ideologies of women only being good for having kids, staying in the home and that we are too emotional and irrational to be an independent woman. We are emancipating all of these women from their relationships, subverting to narrative structure with a woman in control.
This woman on the front cover has fallen out of this domestic sphere that women are placed in, we are conforming to the codes and conventions of our CD covers that we analysed as the women challenge gender stereotypes, they seem out of control, they aren't these timid, subservient characters we expect them to be as women.
We have especially engaged our target demographic through the attitude that our CD cover gives across, it shows a strong independent character who is unique and doesn't need to depend on others. We have also engaged our target demographic through costume, the red and black colour scheme on the clothing suggests a rebellious side to the artist, the red especially connoting a dangerous edge. The central framing ensures that all attention is focused on the artist.
Friday 16 October 2009
Song name...
we've decided on the song name 'PRETENCE', we know that we can't use the name 'PRESSURE' for the song title so have picked another commonly featuring word in the song lyrics, this also connotes the pretence of the relationship.
Thursday 15 October 2009
Inlays...
As a guideline for creating our inlays we decided to have a look at a few inlays from various genres for ideas:
-All five of these inlays feature the artist
-Very similar to the front covers of their CD's
-Varied between use of direct mode of address and looking away
-Colours linked to their CD covers
-Copy is very minimalistic
-The colour scheme from the front cover of the CD is carried onto the inlay
-Clothing mimics the style of music
-Challenge of gender stereotypes is still present
-Representation of ethnicity- Dizzee Rascal
-All five of these inlays feature the artist
-Very similar to the front covers of their CD's
-Varied between use of direct mode of address and looking away
-Colours linked to their CD covers
-Copy is very minimalistic
-The colour scheme from the front cover of the CD is carried onto the inlay
-Clothing mimics the style of music
-Challenge of gender stereotypes is still present
-Representation of ethnicity- Dizzee Rascal
Wednesday 14 October 2009
Artist name and sypnopsis...
Artist name:
We were thinking about our artist name, we thought about Pink challenging the connotations of her 'name' as she does not fit the connotations of the word 'Pink'. We want to do the same with our artist name but as we are determined to challenge gender stereotypes to conform with our genre we want to use male connotations and make this 'edgy' like Lady Gaga.
We've decided on our artist name, as before we thought about a name with male connotations, with a 'feminine edge', we almost don't want the artist to fit the connotations of the 'artist name'. We chose the name 'Syd Marie', the name Syd immediately connotes a male persona however the name Marie feminises it.
Synopsis:
Originally we were thinking along the lines of Bass Hunter's clear linear narrative, following Todorovs narrative conventions from when we had previously analysed the dance genre. With our Pop Rock genre we are going to use a clear linear narrative and follow Todorovs narrative conventions.
We are choosing to challenge gender stereotypes by a woman having full status and telling a story. We want to conform to gender representation of our genre but challenge gender stereotypes.
The setting for our video will be inside a house, outside on the street and in various settings for the male character such as a pub or out with his friends.
The whole video will be from the artists point of view, the only time she will be featured in the video is when she will sing at the male character and when this happens you will only see her lips not her full face, this is partly why we have decided to feature her on the front cover along with the other two characters; the couple. From the artists point of view she will see a couple and the whole narrative will be from her point of view.
The video will start with the couple in a house scene. The male will leave the house and next be seen in a pub or other surrounding chatting to some friends, meanwhile the female is shown sitting at home either texting or watching TV. So the audience will get the whole male going out scene whilst the female is at home.
The artist will be lip singing the song at the male, only her lips will be shown. From her point of view she will be watching how the couple interact. She will also sing all the 'CAN'T TAKE THE PRESSURE' lines except the last one, to make it stand out.
There will be a main shot to establish that the couple are together, we need to make this very clear for the audience from the onset, we will use lots of intercuts and cross cuts to make this connection. The artist will always be singing the verse.
The end of the video will show the male again but the female has power and is leaving the male. There will be shots of her throwing items in a bag or a suitcase or a substantial shot of her throwing a ring on the floor whilst leaving him. The last shot will be of the female walking away; this image will fade as the music fades out.
CD cover
The CD cover will feature the artist and in order to link the song to the cover, the couple from the song will be featured too. The artist will be central to the frame with a direct mode of address, this conforms to the codes and conventions of our genre.
We were thinking about our artist name, we thought about Pink challenging the connotations of her 'name' as she does not fit the connotations of the word 'Pink'. We want to do the same with our artist name but as we are determined to challenge gender stereotypes to conform with our genre we want to use male connotations and make this 'edgy' like Lady Gaga.
We've decided on our artist name, as before we thought about a name with male connotations, with a 'feminine edge', we almost don't want the artist to fit the connotations of the 'artist name'. We chose the name 'Syd Marie', the name Syd immediately connotes a male persona however the name Marie feminises it.
Synopsis:
Originally we were thinking along the lines of Bass Hunter's clear linear narrative, following Todorovs narrative conventions from when we had previously analysed the dance genre. With our Pop Rock genre we are going to use a clear linear narrative and follow Todorovs narrative conventions.
We are choosing to challenge gender stereotypes by a woman having full status and telling a story. We want to conform to gender representation of our genre but challenge gender stereotypes.
The setting for our video will be inside a house, outside on the street and in various settings for the male character such as a pub or out with his friends.
The whole video will be from the artists point of view, the only time she will be featured in the video is when she will sing at the male character and when this happens you will only see her lips not her full face, this is partly why we have decided to feature her on the front cover along with the other two characters; the couple. From the artists point of view she will see a couple and the whole narrative will be from her point of view.
The video will start with the couple in a house scene. The male will leave the house and next be seen in a pub or other surrounding chatting to some friends, meanwhile the female is shown sitting at home either texting or watching TV. So the audience will get the whole male going out scene whilst the female is at home.
The artist will be lip singing the song at the male, only her lips will be shown. From her point of view she will be watching how the couple interact. She will also sing all the 'CAN'T TAKE THE PRESSURE' lines except the last one, to make it stand out.
There will be a main shot to establish that the couple are together, we need to make this very clear for the audience from the onset, we will use lots of intercuts and cross cuts to make this connection. The artist will always be singing the verse.
The end of the video will show the male again but the female has power and is leaving the male. There will be shots of her throwing items in a bag or a suitcase or a substantial shot of her throwing a ring on the floor whilst leaving him. The last shot will be of the female walking away; this image will fade as the music fades out.
CD cover
The CD cover will feature the artist and in order to link the song to the cover, the couple from the song will be featured too. The artist will be central to the frame with a direct mode of address, this conforms to the codes and conventions of our genre.
Justification of print products including storyboard and deconstructing my products...
For our music video we decided to construct the video almost from the artists point of view, we are choosing to challenge gender stereotypes by a woman having full status and telling a story. There is a clear narrative structure and Todorovs' theory of narrative can be applied. The video will be from the artists point of view and she will be watching how the couple interact. We have created meaning through moving image language by using several cross cuts between the female and male to establish them as a couple with cross cuts to the artist in altogether very different situations, we can clearly apply Todorovs' narrative theory to our video and this will be extremely appropriate with connoting the narrative to the audience.
At various intervals the artist will be lip singing the song at the male, only her lips will be shown. She will also sing the 'CAN'T TAKE THE PRESSURE' lines, this will make this line stand out and show the build up to the ending of the music video. The artist will also always be singing the verse, this will make a clear difference between the artist and the couple and also link to the music videos that we analysed as it has the few performance scenes in it.
The cross cuts between the male and the female will ensure that it is established for the audience that they are a couple, this will be clear from the onset, as we are using lots of intercuts we can easily make this connection establishing them as a collective identity.
The setting for our video will be in the house, outside on the street and in various settings for the male character such as a pub or out with his friends, this means that we can use various settings and vary the shots in the video to make sure that we keep the audience engaged and interested and also keeps the editing very quick which links to the conventions of our genre and the music videos that we have previously analysed.
For the beginning of our storyboard we decided to start off with a mid shot of the artist with a direct mode of address, with the artist central to the frame, this will establish the artist and engage the audience.
The next shot we decided on was a mid shot of the male going out of the door, this is followed by a mid shot of the woman sat on a bed, while another mid shot shows the male out in his social surroundings having a good time, the audience will link these two characters together and see both sides of the male going out while the female is in the house.
The long shot of the couple entering the shop is just a general social situation, where there is a mid shot of the female looking at the magazine, a mid shot shows the females facial expression and shows that she is unhappy, the next mid close up shot displays why, as the female is oppressing the male by putting his arms around her. A close up on the magazine cover shows the woman putting the magazine back down followed by a mid shot of the male holding the females waist. This is followed by a long tracking shot of the female walking out of the shot away from the male. A sudden intercut shows the artist, hands over her face singing 'CAN'T TAKE THE PRESSURE' as she lowers to the ground, this displays the feelings that the female is feeling.
There is then a close up of the female, who is covering her eyes, this does link to the lyrics 'cover my eyes so I can't see you', this is followed by a mid shot which zooms in to a close up showing a bottle being put into a bin, this connotes the males ongoing social life, this is also followed by a mid shot of the male with friends which reinforces this.
The several close up medium shots help the audience to identify with the characters and the artist herself which is reinforced by the use of direct mode of address, by the artist looking at the audience she is engaging them.
A high angle shot of the female in bed shows the female, she is tossing and turning in bed and can't sleep, dissolving images of the male keep coming into her head stopping her from sleeping. These are still images dissolving in and out showing that she cannot get the male off of her mind. A high angle shot of the female putting her pillow over her head shows that she is trying to block these images out, they are inconvenient as is the male to her. We then see a mid close up on the female as she is finally able to sleep.
We then have a close up, in the style of 'PINK, SO WHAT' of the artist, with clenched fists, this is accompanied by the line 'CAN'T TAKE THE PRESSURE' which is followed by an extreme close up on the artists lips intercut with images of the couple, especially the male. By using several close ups of the artist singing this line, the audience can identify with the artist, creating a link between them, they can escape into a world of fantasy, engaging with the text.
The audience is then drawn to the female by a mid shot, she is stood at the door and is happy, this is shown by a close up onto her facial expression. The audience soon finds out why this is, as close ups of her putting the males things into bags or suitcases are show, this then is followed by a mid shot of the artist singing 'CAN'T TAKE THE PRESSURE' as the storyline builds up for the couple.
There is then a mid shot of the female shutting the door on the male, she's getting her life back, this is then followed by a long shot to a very long shot of the male walking away followed by a fade out of the male as the music fades out. This last shot of the male walking away shows the status the female has, as the image fades out the music does too. By this fade away at the end we are showing this emotional male who has had to walk away, his world has crumbled apart and there's a strong sense of a male in crisis, he is suffering and has lost his 'mojo'.A proppian analysis would highlight the artist as the hero and the male as the villain, a strong role reversal.Were almost giving a message or a guide to young women on how to be empowered and how to get out of these sort of relationships, saying that you don't need this male figure.
CD covers:
The female on our CD cover is represented as a strong, independent woman through a direct mode of address, and strong poise and is at the forefront of the frame. The direct mode of address especially links to the uses and gratifications theory and the audiences need to relate. We chose for the artist to dominate the frame purely to reinforce this challenge of gender stereotypes.
The capital lettering copy ensures that this strong, affirmative attitude is reinforced, it gives more of a harsh, determined tone and shows the audience that her music isn't just 'girly', it's got an edgy feel to it, she's different and unique. This would attract our target demographic, our artist would almost play a role model to our target age range.
We have encoded our CD cover to say to these women that they can be this strong female figure, we are living in a post feminist age and can be anything that we want to be. We are challenging ideas about gender and getting away from these ideologies of women only being good for having kids, staying in the home and that we are too emotional and irrational to be an independent woman. We are emancipating all of these women from their relationships, subverting to narrative structure with a woman in control.
This woman on the front cover has fallen out of this domestic sphere that women are placed in, we are conforming to the codes and conventions of our CD covers that we analysed as the women challenge gender stereotypes, they seem out of control, they aren't these timid, subservient characters we expect them to be as women.
We have especially engaged our target demographic through the attitude that our CD cover gives across, it shows a strong independent character who is unique and doesn't need to depend on others. We have also engaged our target demographic through costume, the red and black colour scheme on the clothing suggests a rebellious side to the artist, the red especially connoting a dangerous edge. The central framing ensures that all attention is focused on the artist.
The copy used is minimalistic, it gives all that the audience needs to know, the artist name and the song name. The capital lettering and bright copy makes it stand out from the background.
We have communicated the genre of Pop Rock through our image and copy, both are edgy and the black and red colour scheme particularly on the costume reinforces this, we are challenging dominant ideologies of a woman.
The selfridges building gives a futuristic and edgy look for our CD cover, this fits in with the codes and conventions of the CD covers for Pop Rock that we have analysed.
The copy of the artists name 'SYD MARIE' would engage the audience, firstly the copy is in capitals, it has quite a harsh tone to it, it's a name with male connotations however has a feminine edge to it, it almost doesn't fit the connotations of the artist name, 'Syd' immediately connotes a male persona whereas the name 'Marie' feminises it.
The audience are active consumers of the media and can see themselves and place themselves within this text, identifying with the artist.
Our print advert will be extremely similar to our CD cover, it will feature the same style of image and same style of copy, yet say 'OUT NOW' as an added text.
At various intervals the artist will be lip singing the song at the male, only her lips will be shown. She will also sing the 'CAN'T TAKE THE PRESSURE' lines, this will make this line stand out and show the build up to the ending of the music video. The artist will also always be singing the verse, this will make a clear difference between the artist and the couple and also link to the music videos that we analysed as it has the few performance scenes in it.
The cross cuts between the male and the female will ensure that it is established for the audience that they are a couple, this will be clear from the onset, as we are using lots of intercuts we can easily make this connection establishing them as a collective identity.
The setting for our video will be in the house, outside on the street and in various settings for the male character such as a pub or out with his friends, this means that we can use various settings and vary the shots in the video to make sure that we keep the audience engaged and interested and also keeps the editing very quick which links to the conventions of our genre and the music videos that we have previously analysed.
For the beginning of our storyboard we decided to start off with a mid shot of the artist with a direct mode of address, with the artist central to the frame, this will establish the artist and engage the audience.
The next shot we decided on was a mid shot of the male going out of the door, this is followed by a mid shot of the woman sat on a bed, while another mid shot shows the male out in his social surroundings having a good time, the audience will link these two characters together and see both sides of the male going out while the female is in the house.
The long shot of the couple entering the shop is just a general social situation, where there is a mid shot of the female looking at the magazine, a mid shot shows the females facial expression and shows that she is unhappy, the next mid close up shot displays why, as the female is oppressing the male by putting his arms around her. A close up on the magazine cover shows the woman putting the magazine back down followed by a mid shot of the male holding the females waist. This is followed by a long tracking shot of the female walking out of the shot away from the male. A sudden intercut shows the artist, hands over her face singing 'CAN'T TAKE THE PRESSURE' as she lowers to the ground, this displays the feelings that the female is feeling.
There is then a close up of the female, who is covering her eyes, this does link to the lyrics 'cover my eyes so I can't see you', this is followed by a mid shot which zooms in to a close up showing a bottle being put into a bin, this connotes the males ongoing social life, this is also followed by a mid shot of the male with friends which reinforces this.
The several close up medium shots help the audience to identify with the characters and the artist herself which is reinforced by the use of direct mode of address, by the artist looking at the audience she is engaging them.
A high angle shot of the female in bed shows the female, she is tossing and turning in bed and can't sleep, dissolving images of the male keep coming into her head stopping her from sleeping. These are still images dissolving in and out showing that she cannot get the male off of her mind. A high angle shot of the female putting her pillow over her head shows that she is trying to block these images out, they are inconvenient as is the male to her. We then see a mid close up on the female as she is finally able to sleep.
We then have a close up, in the style of 'PINK, SO WHAT' of the artist, with clenched fists, this is accompanied by the line 'CAN'T TAKE THE PRESSURE' which is followed by an extreme close up on the artists lips intercut with images of the couple, especially the male. By using several close ups of the artist singing this line, the audience can identify with the artist, creating a link between them, they can escape into a world of fantasy, engaging with the text.
The audience is then drawn to the female by a mid shot, she is stood at the door and is happy, this is shown by a close up onto her facial expression. The audience soon finds out why this is, as close ups of her putting the males things into bags or suitcases are show, this then is followed by a mid shot of the artist singing 'CAN'T TAKE THE PRESSURE' as the storyline builds up for the couple.
There is then a mid shot of the female shutting the door on the male, she's getting her life back, this is then followed by a long shot to a very long shot of the male walking away followed by a fade out of the male as the music fades out. This last shot of the male walking away shows the status the female has, as the image fades out the music does too. By this fade away at the end we are showing this emotional male who has had to walk away, his world has crumbled apart and there's a strong sense of a male in crisis, he is suffering and has lost his 'mojo'.A proppian analysis would highlight the artist as the hero and the male as the villain, a strong role reversal.Were almost giving a message or a guide to young women on how to be empowered and how to get out of these sort of relationships, saying that you don't need this male figure.
CD covers:
The female on our CD cover is represented as a strong, independent woman through a direct mode of address, and strong poise and is at the forefront of the frame. The direct mode of address especially links to the uses and gratifications theory and the audiences need to relate. We chose for the artist to dominate the frame purely to reinforce this challenge of gender stereotypes.
The capital lettering copy ensures that this strong, affirmative attitude is reinforced, it gives more of a harsh, determined tone and shows the audience that her music isn't just 'girly', it's got an edgy feel to it, she's different and unique. This would attract our target demographic, our artist would almost play a role model to our target age range.
We have encoded our CD cover to say to these women that they can be this strong female figure, we are living in a post feminist age and can be anything that we want to be. We are challenging ideas about gender and getting away from these ideologies of women only being good for having kids, staying in the home and that we are too emotional and irrational to be an independent woman. We are emancipating all of these women from their relationships, subverting to narrative structure with a woman in control.
This woman on the front cover has fallen out of this domestic sphere that women are placed in, we are conforming to the codes and conventions of our CD covers that we analysed as the women challenge gender stereotypes, they seem out of control, they aren't these timid, subservient characters we expect them to be as women.
We have especially engaged our target demographic through the attitude that our CD cover gives across, it shows a strong independent character who is unique and doesn't need to depend on others. We have also engaged our target demographic through costume, the red and black colour scheme on the clothing suggests a rebellious side to the artist, the red especially connoting a dangerous edge. The central framing ensures that all attention is focused on the artist.
The copy used is minimalistic, it gives all that the audience needs to know, the artist name and the song name. The capital lettering and bright copy makes it stand out from the background.
We have communicated the genre of Pop Rock through our image and copy, both are edgy and the black and red colour scheme particularly on the costume reinforces this, we are challenging dominant ideologies of a woman.
The selfridges building gives a futuristic and edgy look for our CD cover, this fits in with the codes and conventions of the CD covers for Pop Rock that we have analysed.
The copy of the artists name 'SYD MARIE' would engage the audience, firstly the copy is in capitals, it has quite a harsh tone to it, it's a name with male connotations however has a feminine edge to it, it almost doesn't fit the connotations of the artist name, 'Syd' immediately connotes a male persona whereas the name 'Marie' feminises it.
The audience are active consumers of the media and can see themselves and place themselves within this text, identifying with the artist.
Our print advert will be extremely similar to our CD cover, it will feature the same style of image and same style of copy, yet say 'OUT NOW' as an added text.
Timeline for video...
Song name- PRETENCE
0-4 Introduction
Mid shot of the artist, central to the frame with a direct mode of address. 4 seconds to establish the artist.
(5-18 seconds is establishing the couple are together)
5-6 I’m stuck inside
Male going out of the door
7-10 I’m trapped I’m crying
Mid shot of female in the house sat on bed
11-12 I’m torn apart
male in a social surroundings
13-14 Inside I’m dying
male is in social situation
15-18 And I can’t breathe I can’t think but I’m willing to do anything
flash back female is sat at home
19-22
In a shop
23-25 Not to put your heart in pretence
female is looking at magazine
25-27 Every time I breathe
heavy sigh of female
27-31 Not to think about you every time I want to fall asleep
male puts his arm around the female
31-35 You beg the life you took away
puts down magazine and moves away
36-39 You suck the life right out of me
he comes up behind her, opressive
40-45 Return my heart to its respected place
walks out of shop ad
end flash back
46-47 Cant take the pressure
artist sings, hands in front of face, falls to ground
47-52 Cover my eyes so I cant see you
female covers eyes
53-54 Hiding the truth
close up of bottle being put in the bin
54-56 Consuming the booze
male still out having a good time
57-1:01 I cant be the best of me
female trying to sleep
1:02-1:04 So I’m willing to do anything
tossing and turning in bed
1:05-1:08 Not to put your heart in pretence every time I breathe
thinking about the male
1:09-1:12 Not to think about you when I want to fall asleep
dissolving images of him, can't get him out of her thoughts
1:13-1:17 you beg the life you took away
blocking out images
1:17-1:20 You sucked the life right out of me
blocking out images
1:21-1:28 Return my heart back to its respected place
sleeping
1:29-1:30 Can’t take the pressure
artist sings, close up shot, Pink 'So What' cover style, clenched fists
ARTIST SINGS: can only see the artists lips
1:31-1:34 He can’t seem to face himself
artists lips
1:34-1:37 He turns away crying for help
he turns his head away, in the street, evening but not dark
1:38-1:42 He’s changing more and more everyday
close up on artists lips
1:42-1:43 She loves him
two shot, the males in it and the artists lips are in it
1:44-1:46 But it wants to go away
close up on lips
1:46-1:50 You beg the life you took away
female stood at the door
1:51-1:54 You sucked the life right out of me
getting her life back, happy
1:55-2:01 Return my heart back to its respected place
throwing his things together
2:01-2:03 Can’t take the pressure
ARTIST SINGS
2:03-2:07 Give back the life you took away
female grabs males bags
2:08-2:11 You sucked the life right out of me
female (shutting) slamming door after pushing him out
2:12-2:17 Return my heart to its respected place
male slowly walking away- status/ power
2:18-2:19 Can’t take the pressure
fade out as music fades out
0-4 Introduction
Mid shot of the artist, central to the frame with a direct mode of address. 4 seconds to establish the artist.
(5-18 seconds is establishing the couple are together)
5-6 I’m stuck inside
Male going out of the door
7-10 I’m trapped I’m crying
Mid shot of female in the house sat on bed
11-12 I’m torn apart
male in a social surroundings
13-14 Inside I’m dying
male is in social situation
15-18 And I can’t breathe I can’t think but I’m willing to do anything
flash back female is sat at home
19-22
In a shop
23-25 Not to put your heart in pretence
female is looking at magazine
25-27 Every time I breathe
heavy sigh of female
27-31 Not to think about you every time I want to fall asleep
male puts his arm around the female
31-35 You beg the life you took away
puts down magazine and moves away
36-39 You suck the life right out of me
he comes up behind her, opressive
40-45 Return my heart to its respected place
walks out of shop ad
end flash back
46-47 Cant take the pressure
artist sings, hands in front of face, falls to ground
47-52 Cover my eyes so I cant see you
female covers eyes
53-54 Hiding the truth
close up of bottle being put in the bin
54-56 Consuming the booze
male still out having a good time
57-1:01 I cant be the best of me
female trying to sleep
1:02-1:04 So I’m willing to do anything
tossing and turning in bed
1:05-1:08 Not to put your heart in pretence every time I breathe
thinking about the male
1:09-1:12 Not to think about you when I want to fall asleep
dissolving images of him, can't get him out of her thoughts
1:13-1:17 you beg the life you took away
blocking out images
1:17-1:20 You sucked the life right out of me
blocking out images
1:21-1:28 Return my heart back to its respected place
sleeping
1:29-1:30 Can’t take the pressure
artist sings, close up shot, Pink 'So What' cover style, clenched fists
ARTIST SINGS: can only see the artists lips
1:31-1:34 He can’t seem to face himself
artists lips
1:34-1:37 He turns away crying for help
he turns his head away, in the street, evening but not dark
1:38-1:42 He’s changing more and more everyday
close up on artists lips
1:42-1:43 She loves him
two shot, the males in it and the artists lips are in it
1:44-1:46 But it wants to go away
close up on lips
1:46-1:50 You beg the life you took away
female stood at the door
1:51-1:54 You sucked the life right out of me
getting her life back, happy
1:55-2:01 Return my heart back to its respected place
throwing his things together
2:01-2:03 Can’t take the pressure
ARTIST SINGS
2:03-2:07 Give back the life you took away
female grabs males bags
2:08-2:11 You sucked the life right out of me
female (shutting) slamming door after pushing him out
2:12-2:17 Return my heart to its respected place
male slowly walking away- status/ power
2:18-2:19 Can’t take the pressure
fade out as music fades out
Tuesday 13 October 2009
Lyrics from song/script...
Pressure...
www.unsigned.com/casondrakay
I'm stuck inside,
i'm trapped,
i'm crying,
i'm torn apart, inside i'm dying,
and i can't breathe,
i can't think,
but i'm willing to do anything,
not to put your heart in pretence,
everytime I breathe,
I want to fall asleep,
You beg the life you took away,
You sucked the life right out of me,
return my heart to it's respected place,
can't take the pressure,
cover my eyes so I can't see you,
hiding the truth,
consuming the booze,
I can't be the best of me,
so I'm willing to do anything,
not to put your heart in pretence,
everytime I breathe,
not to think about you everytime,
I want to fall asleep,
but you beg the life you took away,
you sucked the life right out of me,
return my heard back to its respected place.
Can't take the pressure.
He can't seem to face himself,
he turns away crying for help,
he's changing more and more everday,
she loves him,
but it wants to go away,
you beg the life you took away,
you sucked the life right out of me,
reutrn my heart back to its respected place,
can't take the pressure,
give back the life you took away,
you sucked the life right out of me,
return my heart back to its respected place,
can't take the pressure.
www.unsigned.com/casondrakay
I'm stuck inside,
i'm trapped,
i'm crying,
i'm torn apart, inside i'm dying,
and i can't breathe,
i can't think,
but i'm willing to do anything,
not to put your heart in pretence,
everytime I breathe,
I want to fall asleep,
You beg the life you took away,
You sucked the life right out of me,
return my heart to it's respected place,
can't take the pressure,
cover my eyes so I can't see you,
hiding the truth,
consuming the booze,
I can't be the best of me,
so I'm willing to do anything,
not to put your heart in pretence,
everytime I breathe,
not to think about you everytime,
I want to fall asleep,
but you beg the life you took away,
you sucked the life right out of me,
return my heard back to its respected place.
Can't take the pressure.
He can't seem to face himself,
he turns away crying for help,
he's changing more and more everday,
she loves him,
but it wants to go away,
you beg the life you took away,
you sucked the life right out of me,
reutrn my heart back to its respected place,
can't take the pressure,
give back the life you took away,
you sucked the life right out of me,
return my heart back to its respected place,
can't take the pressure.
Mock ups...
(origional images) we took these image as an example of the location for our final print products and also our video, we will use an image similar to the image of the selfridges bulding for the front cover of our CD, only with the artist in also. We've decided on this as we want to go for a futuristic and edgy look for our CD front cover, which fits in with the codes and conventions of the CD covers for Pop Rock that we have analysed.
Monday 28 September 2009
A written justification for the choices our group has made...
- In terms of 'mise en scene' for our artefacts we have decided to use the artist herself, with a direct mode of address to engage the audience with the city behind connoting night life, this will conform to the codes and conventions of our genre.
- We have represented gender by challenging gender stereotypes, we are using a female artist who throughly is in power.
- We have conformed to convention of our genre, we know that the codes and conventions are sucessful with our target audience especially through our questionnaire.
- We think that our final idea in selling the artist and appealing to the target demographic
- The copy that we will use is capital lettering, this will stand out and show dominance with the artists name, we know that this information is important and using lower case would challenge our conventions.
We created this questionnaire so that we had further information regarding CD covers:
Questionnaire
1) What colours appeal to you on the front cover of a CD?
2) What images do you expect to see on the front cover?
3) What images do you expect to see on the back cover?
4) Do you expect to see the artist on the front cover?
Yes
No
5) Do you prefer capital lettering or lower case styles? Which stands our to you more?
Preference:
Capital
Lower
Stands out more:
Capital
Lower
6) Do you prefer a plain cover or a busy cover?
Plain
Busy
7) What copy do you expect on the front cover? Ie artist name…
From this questionnaire we found that the conventions we wanted to conform to such as using capital lettering is appropriate, the majority of people preferred a busy cover and said that they expected to see relatively bright colours on the front of the CD cover. They said that they expected to see the artist on the front cover and also that they expected to see some kind of reverse of the front on the back or an image relating to the front.
Friday 28 August 2009
Artist profile and Pitch reflection...
We have now completed our pitch, it went well, we justified our ideas and developed our ideas well. We've decided on our song from unsigned.com and will stick to the genre of electro dance, like 'La Roux'.
We will try to challenge gender through costume and framing, we will position the artist central to the frame with a direct mode of address and she will take a very strong pose.
Artist profile:
She's been singing since the age of 8, when she would entertain her friends with her musical talents. The message of her music is to be your own person and follow your own mind.
Now, she is a singer and songwriter, who is committed to her passion for singing. The artist's main drive is her potential, she wants to set an example to stand out from the crowd. She's a versatile musician who admits to a variety of genres; electro dance, dance, techno and pop.
We will try to challenge gender through costume and framing, we will position the artist central to the frame with a direct mode of address and she will take a very strong pose.
Artist profile:
She's been singing since the age of 8, when she would entertain her friends with her musical talents. The message of her music is to be your own person and follow your own mind.
Now, she is a singer and songwriter, who is committed to her passion for singing. The artist's main drive is her potential, she wants to set an example to stand out from the crowd. She's a versatile musician who admits to a variety of genres; electro dance, dance, techno and pop.
Pitch and pitch powerpoint including pictures from pitch...
Currently we are working on our pitch, we must include institutions such as labels to sign our record to, ideas for our video, poster and CD cover. We need to include a synopsis, the song in which we would like to use, the artist and samples of our storyboard(s). We must consider audiences and institutions as well as narrative and audience theories, we need to consider the genre, codes and conventions (basing this on research). Instead of print adverts we can consider new media such as myspace, the ways that our target audience would access the song and ideas of where we are going to put it.
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