Digipak cover - Analysis

Ke$ha is an artist of the pop/dance genre, which is highlighted in her digipak cover for 'Animal'. The close up of Ke$ha takes up most of the cover, and links to the theory of E. A Kaplan and Laura Mulvey's theory of scopophilia - imploring people to look. Close ups are very typical in the pop genre. The plain black background makes the titles stand out, and the glitter that they are written in links to Ke$ha's personality as she usually covers herself in glitter for live performances. Her glittery makeup is a way of portraying her party girl image and shows that she is all about having fun and being crazy, but her serious expression shows that she is feisty. 

The font is also very edgy and links with Ke$ha's rebellious nature as well as it also being fun. Apart from the colours and font, the layout of the digipak cover is pretty simple (artist name, picture, album title). But the gold colour font suggests glamour. 

This cover has given me a lot to think about for when I create my digipak cover. Where will the titles go? Will I want them to be as eye-catching as Ke$ha's or more discreet? As we have not used "the band" in our music video we cannot use the artist for the main picture, so what will I use?

Music Videos of Today

It is very clear that music videos released nowadays have very typical conventions. For example most music videos feature:

• close ups of the artist - whether they are doing a dance routine or following a narrative themselves - E. A. Kaplan's theory
• scopophilia - this Laura Mulvey's theory that women and men are portrayed in music videos as sexual objects and the artists themselves implore the audience to look at them in this way
• edits that match the beat/speed of the song
• close ups, long shots and mid shots used to emphasise artist, location and emotions
• camera tracking to follow artist
• colours that set the mood of the song

Here are a few examples that follow these conventions

Rihanna - Only Girl In The World


In this video there are definitely close up's of Rihanna, there is use of Rihanna being seen as a sexual object and luring men and women to look at her in that light. Recently being provocative in her music and videos has been Rihanna's trademark. There are cuts throughout that are in time with the beat and the speed of the music. The closeups of Rihanna are used to show her emotions which convey that she is happy therefore the song is a feel good song, the long shots and mid shots also show her surroundings and the colours of the location. The location is flowery which may symbolise being girly and the colours are reds, pinks and yellows, which symbolise lust, love and happiness. There is also use of camera tracking throughout and it follows Rihanna everywhere.

JLS - One Shot



Obviously this is a boy band so of course there are going to be close ups. However boy band video close ups tend to focus on the most popular boy band member. In this case it is the member who starts the song, he is usually the main focus in most of their videos and he also gets the most solos in their songs. This video is an example of how scopophilia can be used to show men as sexual objects in their music video and JLS are known for showing off their bodies. The close ups are also effective in showing off more of JLS' trademarks, such as low cut tops, fashionable clothing and dance routines. Cuts and also the transition of dance moves are in time with the beat and speed of the song, as well as lighting and the special effects that were added post-production. The colours are bluish and grey which sets a sombre and serious tone to the music video however the sparks and the lights, as well as some of the burgundy colour clothing JLS are wearing, makes the video have a slightly warm feel to it.

Chris Brown - Don't Wake Me Up


When this video first came out people noticed the intertextuality of the film 'Inception'. Having abnormal dreams and the special effects of this video match how it was done in the film. Transitions, which are also leading to a close up of Chris Brown, are in time with the beat and speed of the music. And the long shot at the beginning shows the location and also the mood of the song because the sunrise and warm colours are completely contrast with the cold colours that are in the video later. His dreams have warm colours which show that it is where he wants to be, but the shots of him sleeping have cold colours showing that he is trying to escape his reality and live in his dreams. However Chris Brown's trademark is highly choreographed dance routines which this video does not have, this was Chris Brown's way of showing that he can do "ballads" and simple songs/videos.

Synaesthesia Task

For my first music video analysis I used Andrew Goodwin's concept of synaesthesia. He states that listeners 'see' images when music is heard.
So first I listened to Madonna's song Frozen without watching the video and noted down a few images that I 'saw' when I listened to the song.

The notes I made whilst listening to the song

I then watched the video and saw that many of my images had been correct although they had been intensified to suit Madonna.
Through research about the video I found out that this was filmed in a desert in California and was directed by Chris Cunningham. The bluish colours and appearance of Madonna make her look like a witch in my opinion. Especially with the patterns on her hands and wrists. The colours also create an atmosphere of cold and ice which relates to the lyrics and title of the song. The low key lighting also creates this effect by producing a lot of shadows. The shadows are very important in this video as they link Madonna with the other animals (dog, horse, birds). There is also use of scopophilia which is the concept of a male or female artist inviting people to look at her. With all the hand movements and close up shots of Madonna this is very apparent but it is also obvious that this is done because it is Madonna and she is such a big star. It is also related to E. A. Kaplan's theory that the return to the close up of the singer's face acts as a key anchoring motif - a visual hook.