Music Video Analysis

The music video is shot in black and white connote to the way in which the artists are re-doubting their lifestyles which to them has become mundane and repetitive to them. The black and white illustrates the dullness and boredom so that audiences are able to relate to the artist, showing that anybody can get bored of a mundane lifestyle even if they are stars and celebrities. The black and white helps the lighting which focuses on the artist illustrate that they are constantly in the spotlight and they have become so used to it that it's just like black and white to the artists with the repetitive lines "gon be the death of me.' The music video also has several women fighting over the artist and being excessively pushy to show that their life may have plenty of pros but it also comes with the cons of never being left alone to their own business. The music video ends with the artist aiming a remote at the camera and an effect of a television being turned off to denote that once the audience turn off the television that's the end of their involvement in our lives, which is through the t.v. 

Kendrick Lammar's I is the only song in his How To Pimp A Butterfly album that is entirely positive, the original suicidal lyrics have also been removed. Kendrick says that he wrote the song for friends in the penitentiary and suicidal teenagers that come to Kendrick to inspire them to love themselves and appreciate themselves more to send a deeper message to his audience.  "Lucy" (satan) wanted to put Kendrick into a bowtie but Kendrick says that he was saved by god so this opens the audience to religious people also as it has sub references of God defeating Satan. The dark lighting in contrast with bright colours and ambient lighting help create a euphoric feel for the audience as the contrasts also denote the contrast of damning yourself with things like suicide in comparison to loving yourself and staying alive. Kendrick says the word "n*gger" in order to reclaim for black people who were so cruelly treated during slavery and the reconstruction period. Just like many other black rappers, they want the word to no longer be used as a reference of hate or prejudice but to normalise it

Ice Cube's Today Was A Good Day, is another example of rap, albeit an older example. Ice Cube's star persona as the embodiment of gang culture is prevalent throughout the music video. Ice Cube goes about his business and driving around town in an expensive car and gambling to give audiences an view into the daily life of Ice Cube to gain a better understanding of him.Ice Cube also raps about having sex which is a common feature of a lot of rap music videos. However the end of the music video Ice Cube is surrounded by the police aiming his weapons at him to again show how much of a gangster he is to his audiences. Audiences are also supposed to be entertained by the appearance of the police as a lot of emphasis is placed on it and it gives the music video action and intensity as to what might happen to ice Cube after this.

Production Log week 6

This week we have been constructing Flat Pans for our artist in order to get a better idea of how we could try and "sell" him to his audience. We thought the best way to do this was by hiding his face to create a feeling of mystery and suspense so that audiences would feel more inclined to find out about our artist and listen to his music to generate interest and popularity for him because popularity is an important aspect for artists. We also designed the cover for the digi-pack so we could see how we were going to sell his actual music. An attractive flat plan is necessary to properly sell our artist swell while the digi-pack is rubbing shoulder with thousands of other artists' music we needed our to be able to stand out so we used thunder and a raging storm to send a message of our artists thunder.

Flat Pans

Production Log 5

We have each prepared and presented a power-point detailing why we have chose our own individual artist and the type of music video we will create for them, what style, angles and genre in order to compete with our other group members to narrow down our choice of music video.

My group decided to use Chris' music video because it  has the most potential especially as Chris personally knows the artist so we can directly go to him for help with any thing that we need. Also mine and Fabio's ideas were too similar and wanted to go for something different. Chris' artist's music also appealed to me and Fabio and we thought it would be more enjoyable to do a song that we liked the most. We thought that we could all incorporate our ideas into Chris' music video of choice through one way or another though such as my idea of the main character being highly distinguishable compared to other rappers in the industry to quicker create a brand image for him.

Production Log 4

this week we analysed magazine adverts from various different artists and the way in which it generates popularity for the artist and the impact it has on the audience, ranging from the fonts, colours and images used to send a certain, particular messages to the audience. We will use the research we conducted for our own music video advert which will advertise our artist and the right kind of message we will want to send our own audiences.

This will be effective because we will be able to personalise our music video to the audience that we're trying to reach through examples of other magazine adverts. This is important because soon we will have to create our own ancillary products like magazine adverts and posters and we need to take in as much inspiration as we can from successful examples of this.

Call List

Music Magazine Advert Analysis

This album advert is advertising The Killers, the focal point is the band's name written boldly and in bright white that contrasts with the dark background to draw even more attention to the focal point as an album advert would obviously want audiences to know who is being advertised. Below the band's name is the album's name so audiences now know what is being advertised to the, which is the album. This advert lacks some traditional features of album advertisement such as an action line, body copy, review and pack shot which could make it difficult for audiences to obtain the album with this limited information. 

Above the album's name is the moon illuminating the rest of the advert and bears close imagery to a disco ball which could represent the band's pop-ish music is only more reinforced by the design of the advert using collage to make it unique. Also the typography used for the band's name is written like its being shown in theatre or stage lights to show that their music is something people want to hear. This gives a hint as to what kind of music this band produces and people who enjoy that genre of music may be more tempted to listen to this band as a result of that. The use of collage also gives an suggestion that the band is also quite indie as its that unique yet soft and subtle at the same time.

The imagery also used for the advert is a bonfire lit and behind it is mountains and trees to give an indie feel to the album and those who are also interested in indie music may also want to listen to this music because it appeals to them and therefor listen to the band.

The audience that this advert may be trying to attract is listeners from 17-25 and those who enjoy spending nights and days alone or with other friends under the stars. The kind of message that this gives to the audience is that this music is meant for calm listening with friends at a night out under the stars which may appeal to people's nostalgic and adventurist wants in life.

There also isn't too much information given, making audiences more likely to read it because they have less to read and the advert is short and simple, making it easy to read in a busy, quick environment.

The artists name is clearly and largely capitalised on both sides of the artists face making it quick and clear for audiences to identify the artist, especially when the focal point is not a normal picture of the artist and is unique. This also  gives light to the fact that he is a solo artist and is known for his name which fits with the focal point of just one face instead of several. The artist's face is also in strong contrast to the yellow background so that it instantly draws attention before anything else is read. Also the strong yellow is eye catching to the audience is more likely to draw their attention than a bland advert with morose colours. In addition the yellow can connotes happiness which creates a cheerful vibe which can make the audience feel good which may be enough the make the audience consider if they should buy the album.

The typography used is like an alarm clock which can be used to say "wake up" to the audience and listen to Calvin Harris and the fact that he creates EDM which is played at late night parties and wakes up surrounding neighbours.

On the right hand side is a promotional aspect which encourages the audience to buy the music from this distributor. The distributor will also likely promote the artist and uses synergy to benefit both the artist and distributor in becoming better advertised.

The text on the bottom says "I created disco" to seem like the god of music because he is the "creator" and is probably the name of the album and shows when the album comes out ensuring that the audience can buy the album at that certain date. It also says "including singles" this denotes what single tracks are used in the album so that if the audience recognises one and likes it they may be enticed to also buy the rest of the album.

This magazine advert is very in the audience's face. The black and white background for this advert would ironically draw in audience because it would contrast with the environment around the magazine reader. The black and white style has connotations of action and danger which would entertain audience and make them want to know more about the artist in question. The person in the middle is designed to be the focal point of the magazine advert and this is why intertextuality is used as the person in the middle is a 90's supermodel whom certain audiences may recognise  and feel personal satisfaction for recognising. The costume used also connotes danger and action because it is a black latex suit that is often seen in action-spy movies and the audience can notice certain mis-en-scene such as the two katana swords.

Again action is connoted through the typography of the magazine advert as it is bold, red, slanted and has slash marks through several parts of it. This would attract audiences as action is a widely received genre in all mediums of media. The red has denotations of blood which again inspire action which is nearly over-emphasised.

Production Log 3

We have learnt about the meaning of artists' choice of lyrics and began to analyse them and their meanings and we have found that meanings can differ from different artist to different artist and this is what makes each artist unique and draw in a certain type of audiences over other certain audiences and is part of the defining features which decides an artists' style or genre. We have also discovered that the lyrics do not have to follow the tempo of the music or follow the music video at all, and these music videos are usually considered to be conceptual music videos.

V-Dogg Lyrics Analysis