Practice of DigiPak

Practice of our Digipak 

After researching and analysing different digipack we decided to start practising on the one we wanted to create. 
In our first attempt (which shows belows) we decided to choose a photo we took 

during the shooting process of us in the forest. This photo we choose has Hannah at the top of the 
table being her rapper part with the rest of the crew around the table with there animal masks on.  We then wanted to make it creative and not have it sitting in the scene it was. As our theme for rap and bright colours we decided to get a black and white photo of an alley way which was covered in graffiti work. We then cut the table and characters out of the photo and inserted into the alley way. We choose to keep the bright colours of the table and keep the background black and white to enable the characters stand out. We also tried out the name of the artist at the top on the front and matched the colour with the table cloth. We done this because it was a bright colour and standed out with the theme we were going with. The Back of the practise digipak we decided to go with the same theme of the same back ground but a different photo and we choose to use a photo of Hannah from the same scene but made is close up and half of her face. This character is one of the main rappers and singers so it fitted well with the digipak. We also added a few Tracks onto the back to give us a rough idea what it would look like. We kept to the same colour scheme as the front because we didnt want to change it because it didnt look right and didnt fit.  

Practice Magazine ad

This was our first attempt at a magazine ad, we knew we wanted to use this photograph but didnt know how we wanted to show it. We tried out different fonts and colours, also adding in the digi pak cover but we didnt add enough information, from doing this we knew what we needed to do and change. We knew we wanted to colouring to change because we didnt like what had happened because it had got darker on the faces and it didnt go with the theme we were looking for because it was too dark.

Ed Sheeran- Advert Analysis

Ed Sheeran- +Album Analysis

Ed Sheeran is a mixed genre singer, and his album does come under hip hop so we have choose to analyis it.  We have looked at the following aspects and analsyed them.

Name of band/ artist and album

On this advert you see 'Ed Sheeran' at the top of the writing because this advert it not one to stand out, it is very simply with the same you see when it relates to him. The same font is used because it is well known and people recongise its for him. Beside his name you see regular logo of a paw print which is normally everywhere. This logo has come from his tattoo he has and now his fans like to use when attending concerts. It also has the name of the album, but seeing as Ed's album is just a + sign, it is just placed under his name. 

Date of album release

This Advert does not have the date of release because it is an advert promoting it furthur because it has already been released. We know it has already been released becasue it says it is the No.1 Album

Photography or artwork as main image and Set Colour scheme

The whole advert a whole picture of him with text added, The photograph is of Ed Sheeran similing and looking down. Ed sheeran is ginger and normally sticks to the colour scheme of orange, browns and white. It also shows the album cover at the bottom of the advert to show the audience what to look out for when buying.

Featuring songs

On this advert it shows the two songs which have been released and are well known because they have made no.1s in the singles charts. They are The A Team which was his first released which made the fans like him because it was such a hit. Lego house is also mentioned because it was his second hit. 'Features the singles The A Team and Lego House' writing this allows the audience know who he is and what his hits are already. 

Form of release (CD, download)

There is no sign of what release it is because it has already been released and people know it is out on both.

Bands website – myspace /official page

At the bottom of the advert there is a strip of orange and in very small writing is his website which is www.edsheeran.com and this directs straight to the homepage. Also @edsheeran is also shown which leads to his very own twitter page. 

Critical quotes, ratings

'What really sets sheeran apart is his skills at painting pictures with his words' is written at the bottom of the text and is quote from a critic which shows that Ed Sheeran is a good singer and is liked by the public, This is done by Q because underneath the quote is 4 stars and Q. 

Digipak Analysis 2

Nicki Minaj- Pink Friday

The text that is used on the Digipak is Nicki Minaj (her name), Pink Friday (the album name), the name of her songs, she has the FBI Anti Piracy Warning (which is where you cannot then copy the music as your own) it also has the record label name on it.

Nicki Minaj album costs £5 and it comes with sixteen songs which are the following:

I’m the best

Romans revenge

Did It On’em

Right Thru Me

Fly

Save me

Moment 4 life

Check It Out

Blazin

Here I am

Dear Old Nicki

Your Love

Last Chance

Super Base

Blow your Mind

Muny

And bonus tracks- Wave Your Hand and Catch Me.

 On the back of the album cover she has also got the record label on it which is cashmoney.records.com. However she does not have her website on the back which Digipak’s usually have. Nicki does not write any of her songs, she gets different people each time to write a new song for an example track one ‘I’m the best’ is written by Onika Maraj and Daniel Johnson and then track two ‘Romans Revenge’ is written by Maraj, Kaseem Dean, Marshall Mathers.

This Digipak is extremely pink so it attracts the audience and then when they look at it more closely you see Nicki Minaj but she is a Barbie, this is stereotyped as her being ‘fake’. This Digipak is advertised to older teenagers, you can tell this by the colour of the album and how she portrays it to the audience.

This Digipak folds in to two, however inside it has an extra leaflet and you can take it out and on it, it has the lyrics to every song on the album.

Digipak Analysis 1

No Doubt

We have decided to analys the digipak by the band No Doubt, specifically for the album Rock Steady. We knew we should look at the different elements of the digipak and started with the text section. This included;

Name of the band/ artist.

Name of the album

Track listing

Price

Bonus Material

Website

Credits

Recording information, producer, where it was recorded and when.

Who wrote the songs.

Name of the band/artist and Name of the album.

For this digipak they decided to make it very eye catching and it stands out the audience. They have decided to use the name of the band which is No doubt and the album name which is Rock steady and printed these two all over the front in white and then one copy of No Doubt and Rock steady put in red. This is to make the audience see what the writing in white says because the red stands out the most. 

Track Listing

The track list is placed on the back like many digipacs and is printed in white with small red writing underneath they have used these colours to match the colour scheme on the front. They haven't used huge font, it is small and simple to the side to not take any attention away from the photo. The track list is as follows:

1.

"Intro"  

 2.

"Hella Good"  

3.

"Hey Baby" (featuring Bounty Killer)

4.

"Making Out"  

5.

"Underneath It All" (featuring Lady Saw)

6.

"Detective"  

7.

"Don't Let Me Down"  

8.

"Start the Fire"  

9.

"Running"  

10.

"In My Head"  

11.

"Platinum Blonde Life"  

12.

"Waiting Room" (featuring Prince)

13."Rock Steady"

Price

This digipak which includes bonus tracks is averagely sold at £7.

Bonus Material 

feFor this digipac they have indicated a note at the bottom of the track listing stating that there is additional production on tracks 3,5,7,11 and 12. There are also bonus videos for these songs and other atured artists including Prince and Bounty Killer

Website, Credits, Recording information, Producer, where it was recorded and when, Who wrote the songs.

For this digipak they included on the back the form of text is the bands website which would have been http://www.nodoubt.com/lookinghot/#!/latest. It also gives you the producers who were moslty No doubt but others included such as Prince, stent and Sly and Robbie helped. The writers on the songs are also added in this digipak and was mostly members of the group such as Stafani, Kanal and Durmot. Including these others were involved which was Prince, Pharrel Williams, Chad Hugo and Rodney Price. It Lastly included there recording Company and there label which was Interscope. 

The Next section of analysing was the Pictorial, the elements to look at were:

Pictures of the band/ artist.

Logo

Barcode

DVD logo

Cd logo

Website banner

Pictures of the Band/Artist

On this digipac you only see the one photograph because it is mostly taken up with text. This photograph is of the singer in the band Gwen Stefani's torso which is placed on the back next to the tracklist. The picture also includes her hands and she is wearing two rings which are whole hand rings and they read 'ROCK STEADY' also she is wearing a belt which say 'No Doubt'. Also it has 'ROCK STEADY' and 'NO DOUBT' placed on the rim of the boxer pants. Doing this allows them to show the audience what the album is called and the Bands name in a different way then just text. 

Barcode

The barcode is placed on the back of the digipac like many and is in the corner so it does not take anything away from the photo and track list, because it is small and plain. 

CD/DVD Logo and Website Banner

This digipac includes a CD logo and webistie banner which is placed undernearth the track listing. The only thing which isnt included is the Bands Logo.

The next section is the design of the digipak and the different elements include;

Colour and style to fit

Artists genre.

Unfolds

Cardboard sleeve/

Adverts

DVD or cd

Booklet

dvd/ cd case

The colour and style of the digipak is rock/punk and they have used simular colours which are reds and whites for the front and dark reds and black for the backs texts and then the colours of the jewellery which is gold. All these colours fit with the theme and style. The bands genre is Pop/Punk Rock/ Alternative pop and more, this album shows the fun and rough side of the but the only photo graph and the text. They portray them selves as a band to stand out and are individual. Which they do by making there digipak fun and full. 

The digipak is a Cd and Dvd and holds a disk inside. This digipak folds out in 3. 

Magazine Advert Analysis

Rihanna's Talk that Talk Album Magazine Advert

This magazine cover is very simple and does not consist of a lot of writting and photos.

On this blog I am going to analysis the different codes of a magazine advert.

1. Name of band/ artist and album
2. Date of album release
3. Band/artist image/ style
4. Featuring songs
5. Form of release (CD, download)
6. Either photograph or artwork as main image
7. Record company
8. Bands website – myspace /official page
9. Critical quotes, ratings
10. Set colour scheme

In this advert we see the text of the band and album at the top of the advert, this stands out because it is the only piece of writing on it and at the top, they have done this so the audience looks at this first. The album is released n the 11.21.11 and because this is an american advert the date is different to how we normally see it. The month is the first set of numbers and and the date it is released is the second set. This has been put on the advert in the middle just above the logo where you can get the song. This advert is very small and doesnt include a lot of the codes of a magazine advert, but the imagery they have used is very simply put portrays the artist to her normall lifestyle and how the audience normally sees her in her music videos. Which is she looks quite dark and twisted with her tongue sticking out licking her lips. The other imagery used is another picture of her smoking and the smoke coming out of her mouth. This is how she is portraying herself in the music videos she has produced, 'We found love' is all about drugs and vibrante and this is how she has portrayed her advert. In this magazine advert it does not show the featuring songs but a lot of the songs she has produced have music videos and have been released for the public so they know what songs they will be listening to when buying the album. This advert is promoting fans to download the song through itunes by the big logo underneath the release the date, because itunes is very popular, this is the easiest way to download to ipods nd mp3s. The rest of the magazine advert does not show much more information, the photography only shows one photo of rihanna as a whole and a miniture which is the album cover, tyhe photo of Rihanna shows her as rough and quite scary this actually reflects on her personality and the songs on the album. This album does not show critics response or ratings. The colour scheme is very white, the clothing is white and background too, the only things that stand out are her red lips and coloured hair. Also the writting.

Textual Analysis 2

 

For my music video analysis i have choose to look at 'love the way you lie' by Eminem ft Rihanna. this song is in the same genre as the song we have choose to create for; which is rap and hip-hop. This music video premiered on august 5th 2010. American film maker Joseph kahn directed it.

 

This music video consists of Eminem and Rihanna singing and rapping in different locations. There are also two actors Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan who act throughout as a couple who are living together. This video explores the highs and lows of the relationship. It also shows how he is a controlling and possessive boyfriend. 

Throughout this music video there is many parts when the relationship between Lyrics and Visuals becomes visible. It seems like the chorus where Rihanna sings standing outside a burning house to match the lyrics “Just going to stand here and watch you burn, well that’s alright because I like the way it hurts.” Throughout the music video it is the same for Rihanna but on each of her chorus’s there are cutaways to either flashbacks of the main characters. But for the rapping parts which Eminem raps; the video shows more Lyrics and Visuals relationships- The main one which stands out the most to me is when Eminem raps “Wait; where you going? Im leaving you, No you ain’t come back” the video shows Eminem rapping in a hay field but it in this music video it has the two actors portraying a couple and this shows them acting what Eminem just rapped but they are also saying those words aswell. Followed by this there is another moment when Eminem raps “I laid hands on her! I never stoop so low again. I guess I don’t know my own strengths!” This is when Dominic pushes Megan up to the wall and is about to hit her. In the next rap Eminem is expressing about loving someone so much it hurts and you will do anything for him or her. This scene shows Dominic hurting from Megan’s departure and him missing her. From the second rap till the end it goes from different raps and chorus’s about the relationship burning and getting back together. The visuals show this through the actors again because they are acting out the making up and getting back into a relationship.

The two artists in this song are very different because one is a rapper and one is a hip-hop singer. This effects the relationship between Music and visuals. In the opening scene with Rihanna singing the music is very calm and so are the visuals; which is of the actors sleeping in the same bed until Megan sees a woman’s number on her boyfriends hand which makes the visuals become very angry with fighting. But this is also when Eminem starts his first rap, which is quite aggressive, and this means the music and visuals are matching. The music video does stay quiet aggressive because the couple are arguing and splitting up but this only happens with the raps but when Rihanna sings her parts it does make the atmosphere mellow and calmer; during her parts there are mostly flashbacks of the couple meeting and friendlier moments.

This track looks into abusive behaviour by a man to a woman. I think the record company was trying to help relate this song to some people who have been in the same situation. This also was to relate to Rihanna’s recent attack from Chris Brown. Rihanna sings in front of a burning house throughout this video and she is much more relaxed and content, a lot of close ups are used to show her emotions on her face. She looks calm but also scared at the same time. But for Eminem there isn’t a lot of close ups but instead long shots are used to show where he is but this also shows his body language while he raps which show he is angry and quiet aggressive. Rihanna’s previous tracks with music videos are ‘rude boy’ and ‘Te amo.’ These two songs are very different because Rude Boy is a more upbeat and aggressive song but Te amo is a slow and tense song. It doesn’t seem like these two songs relate through there music videos but if she had written them about the same person. Eminem’s link between his music videos is not visible because he raps about different things. With his raps he always relates it to something that’s happened to him or he has seen. Everyone knows Eminem’s image hasn’t changed since he has started because he shows he is quiet a secretive person in the public eye because of his life style. Rihanna’s image has changed over the years; when she started out as a singer she was a pop singer and attracted a younger audience but she has changed in to an idol to some people. Being nominated as sexiest women she is shown a lot to the public. Her hair colour is something the audience loves to see change because it a sort of trend girls likes to follow. Her red hair was something people were very fond of this is something that has obviously changed between her previous two tracks because she had brown/black in those and bright red in this one.

When looking into notions of looking is it obvious the man in this video which is portrayed by Dominic is the dominant character and in charge of his woman. This is shown because he is very abusive behaviour towards her. His role is shown to be dark and mysterious and she is shown to be scared but she is also a strong character because she does fight back, she is also shows her sex appeal towards the audience because she is known for her beauty. She has used this towards her advantage.

Eminem used intertexual reference in his first rap; when he makes reference to superman and Lois lane, this is from the superman comics. Eminem raps “Im superman with the wind on my back, she Lois lane” in this part he means because things are going so well he feels like superman. This is for Dominic as superman and Megan as Lois lane; who is superman’s love interest. But when Eminem raps this part it shows the couple arguing after, this just emphasises the fact they do have good times and it isn’t always fighting. Another intertexual reference is the main actress being used is Megan Fox who is known for her acting in Transformers. Even though she isn’t mentioned in the song she is used to produce a better impact on the audience because she is also very popular and known worldwide.

This music video is narrative based but with a concept element. The narrative is about the couple breaking and making up but it is concept because it shining a light on abusive partners in relationships.

Even though this video shows a couple fighting it may mean nothing to some people like some music videos but in fact it has meaning throughout the entire song. Eminem’s raps actually about his ex wife Kim and how his life has changed since his marriage. Even though the video doesn’t show how his life was exactly it shows some. This song meant something to Rihanna because it was relating to her too because of her relationship with Chris Brown and how it changed drastically with the attack she received from him. The shot of the couple at the start is used at the end, this is to either confuse the audience by maybe thinking it was a dream but in reality it could mean if you keep forgiving it will just start all over again and nothing will get better.

Final Music Video

Editing, Software, and Effects used

Below are some screen prints of our editing in progress and effects that we used:

This photo illustrates one of the effects we used early on in our video (when the tune first 'drops'). It is a way of keeping the moving video of our splash visible, but also introduce a 'washed out' close up of a character lip syncing. As this is used early on, it engages the audience, making them want to watch it to see what other eyecatching visuals show.


In this part of the video we used both reverse editing and slow motion. These two editing techniques were used mainly to fit the beat of the song but to also add to the visual element. The same techniques were used for the picture illustration below.











Below is an sceen print of the editing software we used: Final Cut Pro. This is a professional software, providing us with hundreds of effects, tools etc. For example: colour correction, reversing footage, changing its speed, split screening, application of text onto a video, and many more, all used within or music video.

 





Above is an image of our timeline. This was used to edit the lengths of each clip, position them correctly so they were shown at the right time, and also to match lip syncing. The timeline allowed us to select individual clips so we could see what the effects were doing to our video.
Below is our imported videos and audios section. This is a box where we can capture and import all of our footage, to then select and edit each one.

We used plenty of editing techniques and effects, and the software was perfect to help us achieve and eye-catching and memorable music video.

Rough Cut

Above is our Rough cut of You Oughta Know by Das Racist. We have taken 40 seconds from our music video we have created. Uploading this will allow fellow students to see our work and give us feedback on what they liked and what they didn't. With the feedback we can change anything that needs to be before we have completely finished.

The Feedback we received:
The Likes:
-Colourful (Eye Catching)
- Entertaining
-Good use Of Props
-Lip Syncing is on Point
-Visuals match lyrics really well
-Editing is in time with beat of the music
-Engaging - Want to keep watching
- Shot duration fits with the short snappy tone of the song
- Colours match the colourful and fun mood
-The editing technique of the swimming pool scene is done professional with the reverse fitting with the song.

Constructive Criticism
- Make sure thats the video doesn't lose the flow
- Continue the good use of the camera shots and angles
-Maybe colour correct outside scenes
- Make sure the fast editing is continuous throughout
- There is an extra 'mind' at the start of the song.

Representations Within Our Chosen Genre

To reiterate, our chosen genre is alternative rap hip hop. A video that we found within this genre is Rainbow in the Dark by Das Racist.

Who or what is being represented?
From watching the whole video we can clearly see that gender/gender differences is represented through the video. It shows the divide between males and females, the females being actors, and the males being the artists.

Is this a stereotypical representation?
Well to answer this we first looked at how each gender is being represented, to then find that the males seem to have the power/the attraction from everyone in the music video. This shows them to be dominant, and prehaps ruling over the women. We then realised that the women act as something for the men to look at, like and ornament. The women in this video look like they are easy to take advantage of and are being dragged into negative things by the 'leading' men/artists. From research we can conclude that in a lot of alternative rap hip hop songs, womeen are 'below' men and dont have as much power compared to the males featured in a majority of videos, so yes, this representation is stereotypical.

Is it a positive or negative representation?
Although the song's lyrics aren't downgrading women at all, the representation is still negative as the women are shown as lacking in power, and an object for the men to treat how they want.

What representation are you planning to conform or challenge in your music video?
Through story boarding and pitching our ideas to the rest of our media class, we have decided not to onform to this stereotypical gender representation. The one reason being that we plan on using only one gender (females) to take part in our video, often with masks on. So it would extremely difficult to represent a gender in a certain way, without using both genders in our music video. This also means our video would challenge the idea of using gender representation in an alternative rap hip hop music video.