magazine advert conventions

Digipak conventions

Digipacks are a type of packaging which holds DVDs or CDs. They are considered a premium type of packaging as they generally have 3 or more panels, unlike ordinary CDs which only have two, making them more desirable. Digipacks also may contain more than a CD as the extra panels allow for more information such as an artist/band biography, photos, posters or lyrics. Unlike CDs didgipaks are made from card not plastic, this gives a better finish and make the product look more appealing.

Pros:
- Aesthetically pleasing
- Shatterproof unlike ordinary CD cases
- Cheaper to produce in bulk
- Environmentally friendly
- Allows for bonus disks and other extras such as posters, bios and lyrics
- Contains more information
- Extra panels allow for more design options and creativity

Cons:
- Card is prone to wear and tear
- CD holders can break
- More expensive to produce in smaller numbers
- May look tatty after use

Music Video History and MTV

key =MTV
Most music videos follow conventions such as:

-Camera shots: close-ups of the artist and instruments, angles and composition which focus the audience’s attention of the artist.

-Editing: Quick cuts are used and the clips will be edited to the rhythm of the music and are synced to the performance. Jump cuts are also very common in music videos and shots change frequently form performance to narrative.

-Effects: Fades, dissolves and CGI are often used to enhance videos and create special effects.

-Misé en scene: This is dependent on the genre however lighting will be used to create atmosphere and focus attention onto the artist/band. Instruments are a a common prop in performance videos.

-Narrative/Performance: This is also dependant on the genre of the music, although most music videos contain an element of both narrative and performance. Performances by the band are sometimes staged to look as though they are live as this gives a lively energetic feel to the video.

However conventions vary from genre and have developed and changed over time.

Bob Dylan-Subterranean home sick blues

This is a low budget music video form 1960, it was made before music videos were common yet it still follows conventions of today. The video stars the artist and is in sync to the music as the words are dropped in time to the music. The mise en scene of the video is also used to represent the artist as it is set in an urban location with low budget equipment and a very simple idea, showing that he is an ordinary down to earth guy. However unconventionally one shot was us for the entire video.

In 1967 The beatles and The monkees both produced videos which showed conventions of todays vidoes

 

 

The beatles video of strawberry fields forever showed conventions of editing and effects as it uses cut aways, fades, different angled shots, reverse effects.
The monkees video for a little bit me , a little bit you contained humour and surreal aspects as well as using plenty of shots and jump cuts.
However both videos are still lacking in the performance which is very common in todays music videos.

In 1972 Queen produced an iconic video for their song bohemian rhapsod
This was one of the first music videos to contain performance , the video also used lots of effects and lighting. As music videos were becoming increasingly common, Mike Nesmith from The Monkees set up a channel for music videos: MTV. Music videos had previously been used to replace people in absence or to promote an artist, MTV provided the videos as entertainment for people which gave royalties to the artist. Queen however decided to air their video free of charge to create as much publicity as possible.

In 1980 Duran Duran made a big budget video for their song Rio. Duran duran invested a lot into music videos as they went on to spend $1,000,00 on a music vidoe for 'wildboys'.

The video features lots of fast pace editing and performance. The main conventions the video developed was use of mise en scene as the video features money, yachts and girls to represent the glamorous lifestyle of a popstar.

In 1983 Micheal jackson made a feature length music video - thriller.

 

 

Thriller was a very controversial video on a very large budget which created a lot of publicity. The video was shown in cinemas due to the large narrative of the film. Zombies were a key feature of the film which shocked the audience and was deemed very frightening. Thriller contained one key convention of todays music videos, dance. There was a large dance number which caught on to the public, publicising it further.

In the 80's MTV was criticised for targeting a limited audience as the channel only featured white pop groups. In 1986 Run DMC and Aerosmith changed this with their video walk this way

It featured both bands using conventional close ups of instruments and action as well as having a narrative running throughout.

Finally in 1989 more controversy was created after Madonna’s video 'like a prayer' was released, it featured a narrative which contained controversial views on Jesus which instantly gave Madonna publicity.

 

 



coldplay strawberry swing analysis

Disjuncture is represented by the abstract idea of the whole video, where as amplification is used to represent some of the lyrics.



Loosing touch represented by him falling/flying/not touching the ground

Water is shown as evil/bad as the girl is trapped in it and there is a monster in the water

He is trapped inside the lines/drawings and wants to escape.

He doesnt fight back showing he is not bad/different

explains fighting and adventure

Sun and lighting shows the moring. He is in a dream as he is not actually awake

back to reality

Stop motion is used, it is all in one location, shot and frame however the drawings create their own shots and framing. The focus is always on the artist

In the beging is starts of dark to represent nighttime thne into morning

Sound & editing: no lip syncing is used as the video is all narrative and no performace. Editing is only used to put frames together.

Music Video Conventions

Music videos are mainly used to promote a song/artist/band by creating publicity around the promo they are also a key to making money for the record company.
Music promos are exhibited in a range of places such as music channels and programmes, you tube and itunes downloads. They are used in these places to advertise and promote the songs and can be used as a stand in if bands are unavailable to perform. Music channels are targeted at different genres of music, meaning some artists will be specifically aimed at one genre and will be played on specific channels to reach the right audience.

Conventions

When looking at the music video 'Oasis-cigarettes and alcohol' there were significant features and conventions which were apparent in many music videos

Camera Work:
-Canted angles and handheld shots are used to represent the effects of 'alcohol and cigarettes'. It also gives energy and realism to the shots.
-Close ups are used to focus in on important band members and make the view feel closer to a star which they admire.
-Mid shots show the use of instruments which add to the idea of authenticity as it shows the band playing realistically.
-Camera movements such as zooms, pans and handheld give energy and liveliness to the atmosphere of the video
-An upward tilting angle is used in shots of the band, this gives the impression that it is from an audience point of view and makes the viewer feel as though they are there.

Editing:
-Shots are very short (1/2 secs long) and straight cuts are used to follow the structure and tempo of the music.
-Warped/distorted effects are added onto some shots to show the effects of 'alcohol and cigarettes'
-The entire video is in black and white, this gives a timeless and retro feel to the video. It also adds to the contrast in the lighting.

Sound:
-The only sound used id the song track and is lip synced accurately to make the video believable.

Mise-en-scene:
-The video is set at a concert. The narrative and performance shots flip between each other to show contrast between the two.
-Props are used which relate back to the song such as alcohol and cigarettes. The instruments are also key in the realism of the video as it makes the band look credible and authentic.

Lighting:
-Flashes in the lighting add to the atmosphere of the gig and make the video seem lively and energetic.
-The lighting also helps to show contrasts in the band and the audience as it highlights the important people 

Prelim task

This is our preliminary task we chose the track 'salmon dance' by the chemical brothers as it is a fun and interesting song which we can experiment lots with and be very creative with our ideas.
The narrative idea we choose was a teacher who would play the character 'fat lip' in the song and teach his animal friends 'the salmon dance'. This idea allowed us to experiment with a range of shots and effects such as speeding up, slowing down and reversing clips in time to music.
costume was the most important use of mise-en-scene we used in the video as we had both 'fatlips' costume and the animal costumes. The locations we used were a classroom and a woodland area as well as a zebra crossing. These settings made the characters stand out and look colourful and fun.
The prelim was also good as it gave us a chance to practice lip syncing.

The main editing we did was on the fish face, we used final cut to edit a moving mouth onto a fist to make it appear to be talking. we thought this was really effective. however if we were to use this technique in our real promo we would keep the actor much more steady so that the mouth does not go behind the wrong layer.
On the talking fish we also faded in some fish moving in the background to give the photo more movement and flow better within the video.
Improvements could be made however. The cuts between people throughout could have been smoother which would have helped with the flow and quality of the video. Due to limited equipment available the video was not shot in high definition which would have improved the quality for the viewers. Overall I believe it was a successful first attempt and what we have learnt and the experiences we gained we will take and utilise in the final production.
We also had ago at making a digipak cover. we kept it in the theme of the salmon dance by photo-shopping 'fat lips' head onto a snorkler. the water in the background looks effective and gave us the idea to make the text font curve and flow like waves.