Similarities

In Taylor Swift's new music video, there is a scene where she paints her boyfriend. I found that this was extremely similiar to our theme and the main aspect of our video. This fits in with the style of our artist and how it is mainstream. This was very inspirational for our video, and is very similiar to how we wanted to percive the artist.

Despite the similiarites, there are a few differences. For example, our video is more focused on male gaze and how it is extremely evident in the music video. However, our artist's star image fits with Taylor Swift's and portrays how our audience can be very diverse.

Audience Feedback

We printed out numerous copies of this questionnaire and ask a large group of teenagers to fill it in for us so that we would gain a better understanding of how teenagers (our target audience) view music videos and what they would like to see in a music video so that we can compare their thoughts and opinions to our music video to see if we have what they are looking for and if there are areas we need to rethink or add more to.

 

From this we learnt that we needed to cast someone who had the right look for our teenage market. In addition we needed to make sure that our narrative merged seemlesly with our lip syncing because it was all going to be continuous and if it didn't work it wouldn't look proffessional. Therefore our targets are to make sure that our casting is perfect, that we work on how we want our main actor to sing and which shots he will sing, we rehearse with him and make sure we have the correct amount of shots to avoid it being dull because if it is dull it will not appeal to our target audience.

Analysis of album cover

The name of the artist is One Direction
This connotes that the artist a one body, and that they are part of a wider group. Also they are moving in only one direction which is presumably up meaning that there fan base is increasing, and their global connectivity is ever expanding.

The font/lettering is best described as being painted, but is also in capital letters, this is the typical logo of the band, which is iconic on their albums and merchandise. However the actual album title is fairly mundane.
This connotes that the band is particularly creative and have their own style. However as the title is plain it connotes the artist is still serious about making music.

The physical appearance of the star is masculine, part of a group and they have a sultry pose looking at the camera, the camera angle is Eye Level, which allows the audience to feel as though they know the artist, clothing is fairly casual, however each have their own style that each of them wear, such as Harry with his hat, Niall wearing his iconic denim gilet, Zayne in a typical black/dark looking outfit. This allows the audience to judge each individual, point them out and choose their favorite. Their facial expressions are different in either shot, one where they are almost serious, whilst the other shot shows their funny side.
This connotes that this artist is just like any other boy band sold to teenage girls based on their looks.

The dominant image within the front cover is the artist itself
This suggests that the artist is sold on their looks, which is an indication that the artist is synthetic.

The title of the album is ' Four'
This signifies that the band is releasing their fourth official studio album, Beyonce also named her album '4' which indicated her fourth studio album release. This again signifies that the band is growing, and shows that they have produced 3 albums before and so they have a long history of music ahead of them.

Dominant colours include brown, black and blue
These connotes that the artist is trying to be serious and give off a professional vibe, this is compared to their first album release which used bright colours to emphasise their youthfulness and fun they can have.

The record label is Columbia and Syco
This connotes that the artist is fairly synthetic since most Organic artists like to be signed to small indie record labels which Syco isn't since it has Joint deals with the music corporation, Columbia Records. This appeals to the audience because Simon Cowell own Syco Music, he is the creator of the talent show X Factor where the group, One Direction was formed and made famous. Also on this label, Simon has also signed other acts from the show X Factor, and Britain's Got Talent. this is so those who watched this talent show will want to hear what happened to the artist after the competition ended.

The artist fits into the genre of Pop Rock/Teen Pop
This is signified by the bands use of dark colours and clothing style they have in the album cover image. Also it appeals to the pop genre since the artists face is in the album image, and the use of collage technique of having 2 similar images put together, adds a sense of sophistication and finesse.

Attitudes and values associated with this genre include a slight rocky edge while also appealing to young girl target audience.

The target audience for this CD cover is predominantly Teenage girls
The cover is appealing to this audience because it contains each individual band members face, and shows that they are a group that seem to get along together.

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The name of the artist is 5 Seconds of Summer
This connotes that the artist is fun, and energetic, and enjoys the perks of being a teenager.

The font/lettering is best described as grunge-y typewriter-esque
This connotes that the band wants to break away from the norms of society and the mundaneness of reality and just live life to the fullest #YOLO

The physical appearance of the star is a childish and reckless group of friends, their pose is almost like they are in a police line-up, their full body is shown so that the viewer, of teenage girls, can see the artist completely. the camera angle is Eye Level, which allows for the audience to feel as though they are with the band themselves, their facial expressions show their cheeky side and their character traits. All of this allows for the viewer to feel like they know the artists life.
This connotes that the band is not just sold on innocent sex appeal but also their cheeky nature.

The dominant image within the front cover is the band itself
This suggests that the artist is in fact synthetic since most synthetic artists are sold on their looks

The title of the album is '5 Seconds of Summer'
This signifies that the artist is debuting themselves, this is to entice the audience in and show them what they have to offer. The album is self titled to get their name out there, examples of other artists who have released an eponymous album include: ABBA, Aerosmith, Christina Aguilera, The Beatles, Beyonce, Blink-182, Jake Bugg, Bon Jovi, Blur, Foo Fighters, Jonas Brothers, Kasabian, Of Mice and Men, Elvis Presley, Paramore, Taylor Swift and Queen are but a few artist who have marketed their albums based on their artists name. It also doesn't just occur in the pop genre as shown from the examples but can be seen in Rock, R&B, Metal and even Country.
Some artists use it as a debut album title to sell themselves and put their name out, however there are other artist such as Beyonce who have self titled their album as they are fully aware of their popularity and fame and just use it as a marketing technique.

Dominant colours include Grey, Red and Black
These connotes that the artist is trying to portray their rock/punk side. While also focusing on their teenage audience with the colour red which has connotations of love and passion but also danger.

The CD is produced by :

Louis Biancaniello,

Michael Biancaniello,

Joel Chapman,

John Feldmann,

Red Triangle,

Dan Lancaster,

Steve Robson,

Louis Schoorl,

Jake Sinclair, and

Eric Valentine

.

This appeals to the audience because all these producers are fairly young and thus know what the consumers want from a boy band.

The record label is Capitol
This connotes that the band is a most probably a synthetic artist since many organic artists like to be signed by Indie Record Labels.

The artist fits into the genre of Pop Punk/Pop rock
This is signified by the use of dark colours and imagery of doodling in black ink marker, showing that the artist is fairly on the 'wild side' ,the use of the word 'dropout' above one of the band members head indicates that the artist doesn't care for mainstream education. They are also spray painted with an X showing that the band is fairly dangerous and rebellious.

Attitudes and values associated with this genre include wrecking things and just being a typical rebellious band that doesn't care about mainstream society.

The target audience for this CD cover is Teenage Girls
The cover is appealing to this audience because it displays each member of the band in full view, and shows their 'bad boy' image which may attract female audience members

Iconogrophy of album covers

The art of the album cover is a curious one, part packaging, part advertising, often an insight into an artist's worldwide view and usually the happy result of a successful collaboration between creative minds, the best album cover art illustrates and accompanies the music in a way that creates the whole package. Julian House who is a creative partner at London creative agency, the Intro Partnership, speaks about how most of the direction for the album must be taken from the artists and this usually involves sit down discussions where the artist gives ideas, then the creative people go off and do several sets of visuals and present them, then hone it down from there. House also explains how the album sleeve is an entry point into the universe that the music is in, its a window into the themes of ideas of the artists and that there is defiantly a need for a visual accompaniment for the music and there is a resurgence of vinyl; special packaging sells quite well to a select audience. There are a lot of people still who need a tactile product, something to pore on.

De-constructing album cover art
Album cove art can be extremely varied utilising photos, graphics, typography, or any combination of these. As a type of media text, it can be de-constructed like any other. When analysing it we can use the same tools we'd use to analyse and understand any visual media text.

Who made it, why how, for whom, and for what purpose?
It is visual to take into account who and why that person constructed a media texts, but it is also important to think about who the audience is for any given text and how they may respond to it. Album covers are made to essentially promote the album, to be eye-catching and intriguing, and to tell us something about the musicians and the music contained in the album. While the immediate target audience is likely to be those who frequently buy music, especially those who are fans or specific bands, artists or genres, the artwork may be designed to attract a wider audience.

Associations & Connotations
Detonation is identifying the elements in the image and connotation is examining what meanings and associations the image may link to. Eg, an image that denotes a powerful looking car may have connotations of speed or power, but in conjunction with other elements making up the art it might also have connotations of escape or thrill-seeking. On a pop or rap cover, there may be connotations of conspicuous wealth and extravagance, given that genres conventions.

Signs, symbols and Codes
A sign is a representation that refers to something else and has meaning, such as the car. a code means the structure of how signs are organised into systems to make meaning. They are usually divided into the technical and the symbolic, there are also written codes that included the use of language and text layout.

Composition & Framing
This focuses on the construction of the album cover, like how do light, shadow and colour play a part. We refer to conventions as established ways of doing things, in this case, established forms of presenting and image. It can be helpful to examine how closely any given image tracks the conventions you's associate with it, for example a death metal album might conventionally use a gothic or medieval looking typeface, horror or occult based imagery, and a lot of black. Album cover cart can be self-referential, adding an extra layer of meaning to the image.

website

One Direction are a British band that were founded on the X Factor in 2010. Since then they have taken the world by storm, with being world wide superstars. Their target audience is predominately teeange girls.

This is evident on their website by the choice of colours and font by using eye catching colours such as black, purple and white.

Merchandise
Their official merchandise include:

• T-shirts
• Hoodies
  
  
  
  
  
• Headbands
• Calenders
• Wirstbands
  
  
  
  
  
• Beanie hats
• Tote Bags
• Keyring
• Duvet covers
• Pillows
• shoes
• perfume

Alongside this, you can also purchase bundles which includes limited edition t shirts, posters and Deluxe editions of their album.

The bulk of the merchandise fall below £25 however Hoodies, and Deluxe Bundles can cost as much as £50.

As there are 5 members in the band it means that the fans have the option to purchase each individual band members own item, or they can purchase a pack which costs less than it would to purchase each one individually, this is a strategy to gain even more revenue from merchandise.

Official merchandise can go up to £50 for a duvet set. This means that 1D's target audience is very diverse, and can range from prepubescent teens to young adults who may have the money to purchase these expensive items

The 1D store is owned and run by Son. This means that the record label would presumably receive a large percentage of the profits made from selling these products. This is just another reason an indie record label would be unable to compete against the record label giants.

Social Media
Their social media communication includes:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube
• Instgram
• Email
• SoundCloud
• Google+
• Pinterest

These allow the artist to communicate with their fans, they are also able to advertise themselves on a global scale, Which means even larger sales. This creates an even larger amount of revenue for both the band and the record label. This also outlines their star image as being interactive with their fans.

One Direction, have been reported saying that when they have time off from working, they stalk their own fans. Which means that they can find out what they like and create new media around their advice.

Fonts Colours & Images
The font they use as part of their star image is 'Plastique' it is a font that is based on a type writer and only uses capital letters. This allows for the band to stand out from the other boy bands out there.



The background colours they use on their website and album is black and white, and to highlight options they use White, Purple and different patterns which is used to attract viewers attention. Purple is stereotypically a 'girly' colour, as to attract to the typical target audience.

The images on the website only consist of the band itself, which adds to the synthetic nature of the band. Some of the photos are personal amateur shots, which adds to the relatablility of the artist.

Target Audience
All of this attributes point to the target audience of teenage girls. From the merchandise, colours and social media they use are all targeted to a young audience.

Star Image
The star image of this band, is that they are trying to be a pop band which is extremely current. This means their music is extremely catchy, and can not only be liked by girls but also boys of all ages. The website reflects this, as the colours are not predominately girly colours, and are more unisex portraying that they are a band for any gender. 

Organic VS Synthetic
The artist that would have a website like this would be a synthetic artist just because they have sections for Photos, also the social media they use means that they're the face of their music and the audience this website is directed to is pubescent girls. This highlights that they are selling themselves and their merchandise rather than their music. They are the face of their music, which is seen on their album covers where they always feature on it, and it is not of a picture or something edited.

We can compare their website to a organic artist such as Mumford and Sons.

 

 

 

As we can see, the Mumford & Sons website does not feature any pictures of the band themselves. This reiterates my point of them being a organic band, and their sole focus is their music, and not themselves or their merchandise. Furthermore, they do not have any merchandise, portraying their revenue is predominately coming from music sales.