CD Cover Analysis

Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams

The cover includes a picture of the artist, but it is a silhouette, showing that he is not worried too much about his appearance and doesn't try to use it to sell his music. More than showing his appearance, the image of him is included to have a human in it who is interacting with nature (the tree). The fact that the cover is very uncluttered and uses natural, simple images shows that the music will probably quite simple and relaxing and that the artist is concerned with the nature and the environment.

The colours are extremely simple, with just yellow, black and white used in the cover. This reflects the simple nature of the music, and the warm yellow shows that the music will probably be upbeat and happy because it has connotations to sunshine and happiness. The yellow and the black in combination give the idea of it being evening, as the sun is setting and creating silhouettes of the tree and the artist. This also relates to the title of the album - 'In Between Dreams', because sunset is an 'in between state' between day and night.

The typography is very simple and unobtrusive, with a basic sans serif font in black and white and fairly small. It is in the top right corner so it doesn't draw attention too much, keeping the image simple and effective for attracting the kind of listeners who enjoy simple, peaceful music. The two lines are also slightly unaligned, which seems to be a convention of album covers.




Melody Gardot - My One And Only Thrill

The main feature of this cover is the image of the artist, showing that her appearance is an important part of her image and how she markets her music. It is also not obscured like the Jack Johnson cover, but made to stand out by muting the colours of the background to make the bright blond of her hair stand out and draw the listener's attention to her face.

The colours used in the cover are predominantly dark and grey, especially around her face, showing that the music will probably not be upbeat, but will be darker and more focused lyrically on her personal troubles. The fact that her name is in blue, a rare point of colour, also emphasises how she uses herself to market her music, by drawing attention to her name and face.

The image shows an old and empty looking place, filled with columns, which is a fairly unusual image and adds to the idea of the music being less happy and more about conflict.

The typography is very simple, with both the album and artist name right next to each other, differentiated by colour. A strip of dark grey is used along the top of the cover to put the artist and album name on, clearly showing them and drawing your attention to them.

Belleruche - The Express

This cover is very simple, with a lot of white space. This fits with the simple, laid-back image that the band has. The images are mainly abstract when you first look at it, since the abstract, floral designs are in bright red. This gives the impression of music with an abstract, experimental or different feel, which the music has. The only other image used is a piece of sheet music. This signifies how Belleruche's music takes aspects of traditional jazz music, which uses sheet music, and mixes it with experimental or different types of music.

The main colour used is white, with most of the cover white or light grey. The splashes of red in abstract shapes make the creative and experimental theme stand out, while the blue and red (traditional, primary colours) bands at the top are less abstract shapes, showing the traditional influences.

Only one font is used, and it is simple, sans serif and bold. The main text is also in white, contributing to the overall stripped-back, simple feel. A lot of the music has a slower, quieter tone to it than lots of modern music, so this helps to give a sense of the simplicity of the music.

Outkast -ATLiens

This cover is very cluttered and action-packed, showing that the music won't focus on simplicity like Belleruche's music. It is in the style of a comic book, showing that it will probably be aimed at a younger target audience. The images of aliens link to the name of the album, which is itself a portmanteau of 'aliens' and 'ATL' (Atlanta). These work together to give potential listeners the idea that it might deal with themes of alienation, and with life in Atlanta. The cartoon images of the members of the duo show them dressed in clothes that are typical of rap and hip hop music, instantly showing what genre of music it is.

There are lots of different colours and shades used in the cover, but the main ones are blue, green and a splash of red. The blue and green give the cover a calmer feel, despite how cluttered it is. This represents the more laid-back feel of the album compared to Outkast's previous album. The splash of red indicates emotions like anger that are explored in the music.

The fonts used both have a 3d effect to make the text stand out. 'Outkast' is in a very bold and clear font so that it is easy to see, and fans can recognise the artist's name immediately. This helps to sell the music on the artist's image and reputation. The font used for 'ATLiens' is the kind of font normally used for horror films, reinforcing the idea of the aliens on the cover being a theme.

The Duhks - The Duhks

The cover is very simple, with only one image and the band's name. The image shows the band members, which shows that they might sell themselves partly on their image. They are mostly smiling or laughing, showing that the music will probably be simple, light and happy. The bright sunlight behind them also reinforces this.

There is a large range of colours used, although the bright sunlight makes them all look fairly muted. The main colours that stand out are red, blue and yellow. This helps to give it a bright and simple feel, as they are primary colours.

Only one font is used, and it is a smooth, curved but serif font. It mixes the upbeat and modern nature of a rounded font with the traditional feel of a serif script - similarly to how the music incorporates traditional folk but tries to be upbeat and modern. The font itself is multi-coloured, adding to the bright feel.

Music Video Analysis

T.I.A - K'naan



This video's purpose is clearly more than just to entertain or attract the attention of viewers. The artist himself states at the start of the video that he is aiming to show the violent nature of the culture of his native Africa through the video. Throughout the video there are references to African culture, but every positive aspect is contrasted with a negative, violent aspect.

Guns, explosions, death and violence are all present throughout the video, as well as the music itself having a loud, 'violent' feel to it, with the chorus being shouted. But despite the presence of these aspects, the people in the video are all singing, dancing and cheering, showing that it has become such a part of everyday life that they can put up with it and even be happy amidst it.

The colours used go in phases, with objects of one colour floating onto the screen gradually until it is predominantly filled with that colour. These colours are usually warm colours like red and orange to show the blood, anger and violence, but the artist's clothes are pale blue - associated with calm, and the peace that he says 'drives his art' at the start of the video.

The whole video is based on lots of different images and videos on top of each other, as if they are paper cut outs, which often multiply, merge or do other unexpected things. This, coupled with lots of fast movement and colour change, gives the video a strange, frantic feel.

The video generally follows the content of the lyrics, with some of the lyrics even being incorporated into the video, such as the words 'holly days' being painted on a wall, then replaced with 'hell days' as the artist uses these lyrics. There are also times when the video portrays what the lyrics are talking about, for example when he says 'this is Africa', things traditionally associated with Africa like lions are shown, and when he talks about death, he appears to kill himself and carries on rapping as a ghost.

Lazy Eye – The Silversun Pickups



Although the video is performance-based, with the band performing the song in a bar, it also has lots of aspects of a narrative music video. It is filmed using continuity editing and eyeline matches, making it look exactly like a clip from a film or a TV show. Following Goodwin’s theory, the music fits with the emotions and mood of the video: when the boy in the crowd smiles at the girl and she doesn’t smile back, he becomes angry and storms out, with the music suddenly becoming much louder and the vocals closer to screaming.

All of the characters, the setting, and the lighting have been used to give the video an old-fashioned punk feel to it, which fits the style of music and the image the band is trying to present. The lighting also changes throughout the video, starting dim and red during the song’s intro, and then becoming brighter throughout, until the girl goes outside at the end and it is in daylight.

The lyrics also relate to the content of the video: “I’ve been waiting for this moment all my life, but it's not quite right” relates to when the boy sees the girl and smiles at her but she doesn’t smile back. Many of the lyrics are about looking at or for people, which is a theme throughout the video, with all the characters looking around or staring at one another. This is expressed through lyrics like “blind”, “the same ol’ decent lazy eye, fixed to rest on you” and “straight through your gaze”.

There are also lots of close ups of the lead singer of the band, as per Goodwin’s theory, and some of the other band members. This helps to promote the band’s image, which is obviously something they use to sell themselves, and to help the viewers identify with the band.

Tightrope – Janelle Monae



This video is a very unusual narrative-based video. It starts with text on the screen as an introduction, setting the scene as the futuristic ‘Palace of the Dogs’, inhabited by androids, where dancing has been forbidden. It then shows the dreary everyday life of the inhabitants during the intro, where the music is quiet. The artist then comes into the video and begins dancing in secret as she starts singing and the music picks up. As the video progresses, the story unfolds and the number of people dancing goes up and up as the music becomes fuller and louder. In the end, however, as the music is slowing down, we see the artist being taken to her room in between fades to everyone dancing, and she lies down, it having all been a dream.

The mise-en-scene, specifically the costumes, is important in establishing the strange, science fiction factor of the video – the artist and almost all of the other characters wear very old-fashioned black and white outfits like waiters or bartenders wear, and the two figures trying to stop them dancing are wearing long black robes with hoods, and have mirrors for faces.

The music seems slightly unusual in the video, because it is most similar to modern soul or R&B. Videos for this style of music are usually not narrative, but performance based. They typically focus purely on the artist singing or rapping, and having effects and dancers in the background. Janelle Monae has subverted this convention to give herself an alternative feel and attract a different audience to typical R&B.

The lyrics relate to the video in a number of ways, including talking about ‘doing the tightrope’, referring to the dance they are doing. The lyrics also talk about the dancing being suppressed, saying “they love it or they hate it, you dance up on them haters , keep getting funky on the scene”, which is the main character encouraging the others to dance.

The camera angles and editing are also used to tell the story, with low angle shots up at the nurse who tells on the dancers and the mysterious figures. Match on action is used when doors are opened and other actions that would normally cause a pause in the movement happen, in order to keep the video moving with the flow of the song. While the artist is dancing, there are points where the camera actually follows her movements, such as doing a slight wiggle when she wiggles her leg. As the music builds up, there are lots of fast cuts to different dancers and different body parts, particularly the feet and face of the main artist. This video has a lot of jump cuts, making it look much more like a typical music video than Lazy Eye.

Introduction

This blog is a record of all the planning and research done in preparation for my A2 Media Studies coursework.

The specification is a music video, along with a choice of two ancillary tasks (to be chosen from a website, a cd cover and a magazine advert).

I will use the blog to collect all of the research I do into music videos and the theory behind them, as well as analysis of existing music videos, website and CD covers.

The blog will also contain all the ideas I have for possible music videos.