Magazine Analysis

Advert 1

The main image/ focal point of the advertisement for Taylor Swifts album 'RED' has a black and white background colour with a birds cage handind at the back of her. The balck and white colour effect shows that the album could be vintage as the hat she is wearing has connotations to a image that woman would have worn in the 19s rather than now. In my opinion having the cage in the background is an important part of the advertisement as birds have relation to natural, freedom and purity. Her target audience are girls aged from 7years older and in order for them to get tickets to her concert they would need approval of their parents do it's not only targeting young girls but also middle aged parents. Having put object that relate to purity and natural would allow parents to think Taylor Swift would be a good role model for their young girls. The only colour seen in this advert is the colour red used for the title 'RED' which is mostly related to feminism and sexuality, specifically written in red in the her single 'we never ever getting back together' this could have been done to highlight that it's her no1 single but also because it's a love song and red is the colour that love is known for. This advert also contains a pack shot, I personally think this was specifically done for the target audience as they are young girls and when they go into a shop they need to know how the album is called and how it looks like so they can recognise it quicker and be able to buy it. Similarly to the same way that the release date is put on the album so the audience can know when they can purchase the product. Having synergy with Target benefits both Taylor and Target as selling it exclusively there would increase and boots sales of her album as target is a well-known store.

Advert 2:

Firstly, from the focal point we know that this advertisement is targeting 11 to 29 year old girls and woman. I say this as from the image of him being naked portrays a good example of the female gaze as he has a seductive look in his eyes and his exotic body which draws female audience to looking at the advert. The red written title on the name of the album, the nails on the female hands and the lipstick scribe behind "new album available now" also would attract the female audience as they can relate to the femininity used in the advert. The title 'Talk Dirty' is unique to Jason Derulos album as I haven't seen this any where else before which makes me want to listen to it even more as i can already relate to the title as it looks to be drawn in red lipstick. The colour red is seen as a sexual colour again having connotations to women as it symbolises love similarly to the lipstick scribbles. As stars targeted their audiences from a low age range a pack-shot alongside a body copy which is there to inform customers about Jasons top songs. The pack-shot is inserted in the advert to allow them to find the album in store or online easier. Having inserted the name of his top album hits known as body copy would allow the customers to identify who he is quicker and convince them to buy the album because the songs they know are good showing that the rest of the album would be as good as them. Having his name being in a dark almost silver colour reflects him as he is a dark colour but can also be pure and beautiful like a diamond in terms of attitude and personality. The price is also included on the foot of the page as well as the date it is released as an action line to show the audience that the album is  cheap so it can be afforded by everyone and is inserted in the advert as well to allow customers to buy it for the simple fact that it's cheap and to show other important information such as released dates.

Advert 3:

Rita Ora is known for being one of the most sexy and most beautiful artists in the R&B music genre. Her blond hair which also looks gold and her perfect curls reminds me of one of the sexiest woman's ever known being Marilyn Monroe. Looking sexy in her cover album magazine advert would attract the attention of all the male audiences, of all ages because of the simple fact she is attractive. Thanks to Laura Malvys 'Male Gaze Theory' I can say that I truly believe her theory is correct and that it apples in this situation of Rita Ora. The strong red lipstick she is wearing suggests love and danger. This is good as her male audiences can fall in love with her as well as knowing she is a dangerous woman that doesn't play games and is all business. This shows she is a good role model for woman aged 25 and over as it gives them advise on how to look more seductive. She has ensured to add that she has a special guest which allows audiences to look forward to the mysterious person who she is on tour with as well and due to the fact she has young audiences, they are sure to be more excited about a special guest. Rita Oras advertisement also has an action line where it allows her audiences to know where and when she is performing making them aware of when she would be close to them. She also has an action line at the bottom of the advert allowing the audiences to know where the product can be found. I don;t believe to have found any reviews on any of the adverts above however, a lot of starting up artist put reviews so it encourages the target audience to buy the album if they see 4-5 stars on it. I will be using this in my own magazine cover.

Production Log 3

After doing a large amount of research on MP3 Unsigned, unsigned and Youtube looking for an artist which I could rebrand was the trickiest thing as I wanted a song with a narrative which could also be performed. I also had to think about the kind of audience I wanted to target through the music video I would pick which reflected on the song genre. I knew for sure I didn't want a rock or punk music however I did want a calm, happy and danceable song to use as my final product. 

Having searched and searched I came across a young American girl called Amanda Kaletsky who's passionate about writinging her songs and using different instruments to show her interests in the song was plays. The song 'everything lies' had been featured in the MTV's series 3 The Hills which targets people around the age of 16 to 27. It is also an uplifting song of a pop genre which is what I was looking for and decided to use it for my chosen music video. 

After deciding on the artist we had to analyse their lyrics and make a power point presentation which we had to them present to the class and decide as groups what song we canted to pick.

Weekly Production Log 2

The Richard Dyers stars as a theory was introduced to us. I learnt about the different types of stars and how their personalised to sell products. Taking the Example of the One Direction band and their form of clothing style and their merchandise. This is all based upon who they want their target audience to be and its also a way of selling their selves as a brand. 

We also done our Thrift Shop music video parody story board with our groups. This was a fun and exiting task due to the fact that we could mess around with costumes and camera techniques to make out music video a success. We had the chance to all use the camera and perform in the music video. 

Thrift Shop Mash Up Video Evaulation

When creating the Thrift Shop Mash Up Video we decided to use an interpretive Style and conventions of a music video. I thought it was a good idea to use interpretive music video style this is because i thought that when communicating to the audience our mash up video it would be easy for them to undertand as it was easy to understand that it was a recreation of the Thrift Shop. Doing an interpretive music video style allows the audience to see and hear both the lyrics and the images shown on screen simultaneously. In our pre-production out main aim was to make fun it for the audience to see a surreal or conceptual music video style to record our music video but as we continued our planning it didn't seem to work out as our story board images didn't match the music video style we was going for. After having decided which music video style we was going to use in our planning and actual video recording it was easier for us to finish up the storyboard as it helped us decide on what type of images to record for our interpretive music video style. 

The music video conventions that were  incorporated in our Thrift Shop mash video was lyrics, music, camerawork and editing. For our lyrics we used the same from the original Thrift Shop music video this was done so the audience can relate to our music video more as they already know the lyrics and would find a different music video with the same lyrics funny to watch. For the music we also used the same song which included the same beat and tempo of the song, Thrift Shop. Due to the fact that the music had a fast tempo the editing also needed to be quick and used often so it matches the song, we therefore decided to use various fast/jump-cuts. For our camera work we used a variety of shots for example long shots, medium and close up shots so that it can be more appealing for the audience as it would grab their eye attention quick. 

It might be possible that these styles and conventions could be used in my final production in year 13. I say this because it all depends on the type of music genre it is. If it's a country song using these conventions that were used in the Thrift Shop mash up video it wouldn't match due to the fact that the tempo of the song would be slower and therefore fast cuts cannot be used. If the style i was using in my final production for year 13 was a country song genre the music video style might be suitable as i can interpret the slow song lyrics into a a story interpreted through what I understand of the song lyrics. Generally I think it all depends on the music video genre that I decide to pick to create and do in year 13 as my final product. 

When talking about problems during pr-prodcution our filming locations were limited meaning we didn't have much places to film our thrift shop mash up video. This was due to the fact we had a limited budget to rent a set and we couldn't go off-site meaning can't leave the school. With this being said we decided to film in the playground while two other groups were filming giving us even more limited space. However, we overcame this by using what we had such as the plain brick wall, the lamppost and peddle board instead of a Tesco trolly. When we actually filmed the hot weather also was a problem as I had to wear a furry coat which made it hard to concentrate as the only thing i could think of was getting out of the coat. Despite this it was also a motivation to get it done as soon as possible. I also missed the editing as I was on a summer uni event for the whole week. I did have to upload the video to youtube so I did add a part that I definitely wanted to be shown on the video.                      


Despite all the problem we faced i thought that it was a really good way to test ourselves lip syncing as it wasn't easy to do.  I thought that the scenes were entertaining and would keep the audience watching because its something different that wouldn't be expected to be seen in different music videos. We didn't stick to the story board we created due to the locations however, i thought we improved in a good way and the fact that we used what we had to make it suitable for mush up video.

Richards Dyer Stars as enbodiements Theory

Richard Dyer stars as embodiments theory describes how a pop star's image or star persona is construed. It explains the the media convergence through things such as interviews and gossip through tabloids and social media. It also includes the artists songs meaning the genre of the music they sing and the lyrics behind their songs and what type of audience they are trying to aim at through their performances.  There are three parts to this theory being:

• Stars as constructions:
  This is when a artists changes their profile so they can be coveted and moulded into a different person. Taking the example of the famous boys Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previous member Zayn Malik. The boy band was born in Xfactor and were signed by Simon Cowell who formed them to become the famous boy band 1Direction. Due to disagreements on how to act and how to portray themselves to the audience Zayn decided to leave the group and be a solo artist. 

• Stars as personalities:
  when talking about the the stars as personalities. It's all about how the artist connects to their target audience. In Nicki Minaj's case her target would be  16+ year old girls and as she has big features this would attract male audiences. In addition to this due to the fact that she  comes from a black background she would also target black people as they can relate to some of the things she signs about and her accent. Girls would also be interested in her as they might want to be like her in the future, could like the way she dresses and could simply just relate the the music she sings.

• Star as products:
  In Richard Dyer's starts as embodiments theory he also says that stars can be used as products. What is meant by this is that artists make extra money on merchandise. Nicki Minaj has collections of perfumes named after her. The images and packaging on her products symbolise her as the perfume bottle is formed in her shape and face which allow her audience to relate to her and think that by buying the perfume the can be like her. We can see that his theory is correct in term of artists having merchandise to increase their profits and a way of selling themselves.  

• Starts as embodiments of culture:
  Lastly, Stars as embodiments of culture is that artists are formed under the type of music they sing. Taking the example of Tupac he is seen as an embodiment of the rap culture. Its true that artist are seen as type of cultural music rather than themselves as an individual. I say this because when someone says rap the first person I think of Tupac as he is one of the world's rap legends. I also think of him because his videos contain gold chains and baggy clothes which is what is usually seen in rap videos and because of his powerful lyrics.

Weekly production Log 1

This week was we had our first classes of A2 Media Studies. We have stated by looking at all 7
 different styles of music videos and their 7 conventions.

Styles of music videos	Conventions of music videos
Performance	Lyrics
Narrative	Music
Conceptual	Genre
Interpretative	Camerawork
Animation	Editing
Surreal	Intersexuality
Cameo	Exhibition

I learn that there are several ways that music videos can be represented to the audience and that music videos are not only narratives. It is a way that artists can express and portray themselves through their music video interpretation. 

The conventions are the things that are usually identified in music videos. These conventions help the artist express him or herself more in term of what their emotions and feelings. Taking the example of the 'Do I Wanna Know?' music video by the arctic monkeys. From this music video they have focused more on the lyrics of the song rather than the music video as it is very plain and simple. The lyrics of the song says 'Do i wanna know? if this feeling flows both ways sad to see you go' showing that the artist had feelings for a girl but doesn't know if she loves him back. I think they have used the simple background to enhance their the meaning of their lyrics to their audience. They want they audience to understand their feelings through their deep words thats the reason for their simple music video. 

Representation Theorys

'Reception Theory'

Stuart Hall came up with the reception theory in 1970 and said that 'media is encoded my by the creators of a media text and then decoded by the audience' as the audience have a variety of ways of looking at a certain media text.  Audience 

This music video has caused major controversy of the image and reputation of Miley Cyrus. In this video Miley Cyrus, who was once before the face of Disney channel known as Hanna Montannah, is seen swinging almost naked on a wrecking ball, from side to side.  The reception theory comes into play, because it's seen that her producers no longer want her to be known as Hannah Montannah but as herself Miley Cyrus. Her producers have now allowed her to come out her shell, by doing this they have allowed her to build a new profile as Miley Cyrus by being more flexible in what she portrays to her audience through her music videos and lyrics. Her previous audience being around the age of 10 and 11 who have grown up with her watching her be a calm young teenager on Disney channel might not agree with her producers, as allowing her to be more flexible she has come to be seen as rebellious for the music videos she has released like Wrecking Ball. This can be decoded as oppositional reading by the audience as they might not agree at all with the music video that has been produced. However, not everyone sees this as a negative view as it can also be a preferred reading by some audiences that believe artist should let their record labels control everything they do. way, As she can now be who she wants to be by making sexual music videos, styling her clothes in a different way and by deciding of the lyrics she wants rather than following orders and being the teenager that was once known as Hannah Montannah. By being Miley Cyrus she has shown her ability of having confidence of what she does and no matter what is said about her on the press she finds a way to continue and be strong about what's said about her.  Lastly, some audiences like myself who are in between see this as a negotiated reading. This means I am stuck between both and believe that it is ok for artist not to follow their record labels wants however, the form in which they portray their rebellious forms  to the younger target audience should be taken inconsideration.

'The Male Gaze'

The theorist Laura Mulvey's came up with this theory. She believed that woman are used in different types of media such as films and music videos only for their bodies, as sexual objects to apply to the needs of the male ego. In the start of the music video of blurred lines, where the name of the artist is shown while in the background images from 0.01 to 0.06 he lays beside one of the almost naked female models. Having done this has connotations to the male gaze theory as shows that he is confident in himself and that he has a large male ego by being next to the woman shows that she is part of that ego. I believe that her theory is true; I say this because without the woman in the music video it wouldn't allow the song lyrics to match the video if it only had men. The lyrics also say 'he don't smack that ass and pull your hair like that' which has references to sexual terms and makes it seem like he is better than other man and better than woman .By saying this it also, makes him look like he's using woman as a sexual object as from the lyrics he is referring to sex and makes sexual movements in the video. The red lipstick and the outfits of the woman also show that they are like another prop for the music video as they are just seen walking and dancing in the background to just fit in with the song lyrics.

'Voyeurism Theory'

Similarly to Laura Mulvey's 'The Male Gaze Theory', Andrew Goodwins 'Voyeurism Theory' mostly includes men only watching media for the sake of woman being in the music and he believes this is done through the camera shot types, images displayed on mirrors and other screens. From the lady gaga music video Paparazzi in the introduction of the song from 1.37 to 1.56 we see her wearing a white dress, making out with a male model who decides to take advantage of her and throw her down the balcony while someone takes images of them. In my opinion I think this is a perfect example of the voyeurism theory I believe this because the male model acts like he is superior to her as he feels he can do whatever he wants with her, as he doesn't respect lady gaga and just throws her down the balcony. The close ups of them being too close together and kissing shows his sexual movements also apply to the theory as he is forcing her to kiss him. Through the images being taken shows that the voyeurism theory is correct in the treatment of females by allowing us to see the images being taken from a camera. I believe that producers do use woman as a way of attracting male audiences to watch their productions. In the lyrics she also sings 'this photo of us it don't have a price ready for those flashing lights' showing that the images of her doesn't mean anything to the male model. adding on to this the images of  her red lips at 4.16 shows her feminism relating both to the theory and  to the lyrics of the song. 

Ways of seeing 

The ways of seeing theory was invented by John Berger's. His theory included how the audiences see and interpret a certain media text. He believes that their interpretation of a media text all depends on the precision, believes, past history and interpretation of a series of events such as 'men act and woman appear' or 'fat girls are ugly'. From Meghan Trainors son 'all about that base' she signs about being all types of sizes as she says 'every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top’. Her target audience being girls are the ones who are insecure about their bodies and could relate to this music video as a famous singer is saying it's ok to be fat. However, some young healthy girls , possibly studying Sport at collage might disagree and think that being healthy includes having a perfect summer body and that Meghan Trainor is encouraging obesity and that it is not acceptable. I do agree with the ways of seeing theory because everyone has their own opinion on things.