Rick Altman's Theory

Rick Altman argues that genres in music videos are made up of 2 elements;

Semantic Elements:

- Rick Altman states that within music videos there are elements which visually signify the genre of the video

- This includes the colours, locations, props, costume and makeup

- An example of this would be features of a pop video, which include bright colours, dance routines, and the artists performing the song in some way

- This is shown in One Direction's music videos, including One Thing and History where they are performing the song to the camera with a few dance moves, the group are also wear some bright colours and the video for One Thing in particular is in a bright and exciting location






Syntactic Elements:

- These elements of the genre aren't visual

- They are often themes of the video or the overall mood or emotion throughout the video

- In most hip hop videos theres a theme of love or lust, this can be shown through the lighting or camera shots and also the location and outfit choices

- In Beyonce and Jay-Z's song Drunk In Love the main emotion is love and this is shown through the black and white effect, and also through the close up shots of them together, portraying their love as being strong and showing their affection when they're together

Gender Representation Theories: Angela McRobbie

Angela McRobbie

- Her theory surrounds the way gender roles are represented within the media

- She believes women and men are 'socialised' into gender roles by the media

- She states that the way the media portrays the genders has a major influence on us as humans and dictates what we should and shouldn't do in society

- Men in the media are portrayed as being masculine, aggressive and powerful and she believes this is why men in society feel the need to be like this

- Whereas women in the media are the opposite and are portrayed as being weak, submissive to men and are known for being traditional home wives and mothers which is an extreme stereotype for the gender

- However she does accept that in some cases in media texts women are more powerful than men which whereas some feminists argue is demeaning to women, McRobbie think
s its a good thing and that it can empower women as sexually powerful and represent them as being able to be dominant

Gender Representation Theories: Laura Mulvey

Laura Mulvey

- Women in the media don't have a human identity and are only referred to as objects to be admired

- Mostly all music videos are from a heterosexual mans perspective as they all show women in a sexual way



- In some media texts the woman doesn't matter, she only exists in relation to the male she's with which Suggests that men are more superior to women


- Camera angles are used that only show the female in a sexual way, for example only filming certain body parts

- She states that even songs that are clearly aimed at women still have a video that portray the perspective of a heterosexual man meaning women also have to view other women as objects





Another part of the theory suggests that there are two different ways women are identified:

1) A virginal innocent character
Common features of this include a woman that is distant from the camera, dimmer lighting and the character not being shown in any revealing clothing and no camera angles that only show particular body parts




2) The "sexy whore"
This includes images of females in an explicit way, the character performing in a sexual way and close ups of the female herself and her assets



This theory has been particularly relevant in recent years as it has been noticed that this is what gets the most views and publicity. For example Miley Cyrus has release many controversial videos that show her as a "sexy whore" and because of the controversy and publicity she received she has millions of views on Youtube and millions of album sells. The main artists that represent women in this way are males who include these women in their videos but also young female artists like to represent them in this way in order to stand out. However older artists are less likely to have young women in their video in a seductive way and also artists such as Adele who have in the past received comments about her body image haven't been known in this way and finally some artists such as Taylor Swift choose not to portray themselves in this way as they're likely to be considered as a role model for young girls and whereas Miley Cyrus went against this most artists want to keep that representation up.

Top 10 Music Videos of 00's

(Billboard.com)

10.

Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliott

(2001)

9.

Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers

(2000)








8.

Firework - Katy Perry
(2010)





7.

The Real Slim Shady - Eminem
(2000)








6.

Disturbia - Rihanna
(2008)




5.
Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) - Beyonce
(2008)

4.

You Rock My World - Michael Jackson
(2001)








3.

I Write Sins Not Tragedies - Panic! At The Disco
(2006)






2.
Toxic - Britney Spears
(2004)






1.

Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
(2009)

Analysis of Digipaks

Lorde - Pure Heroine

The album cover for Lorde's Pure Heroine album is quite non conventional as the artist herself is not shown, in some ways this allows the audience to focus on the music that has been produced rather than being all about the artist herself. The colour choice helps symbolise the genre of the music as the songs are more alternative than they are mainstream and most have a dark undertone to the meaning, which is projected through the use of black and white in the digipak. The cover itself is very simple, only the name of the artist, the name of the album and the titles of the songs themselves are written which is a conventional feature of a digipak, usually it would be strange to find any big pieces of writing on the front or back. The font choice is simple to continue the simplistic theme of the album and has a classy effect for the artist. No photographs are used on the cover, the only image is a diagram of a woman which is assumed represents Lorde. Overall the design itself is just simple in order to match with the genre of Lorde's music.

Halsey - Badlands

The digipak for Halsey's album Badlands its quite conventional for an electropop album, the cover includes a picture of he artist and the name of both the artist and the album which is likely to be found on most digipaks. The colours are bright to reflect the electro feeling of the music and are also used to attract the audience to the album. Just like most digipaks the wording isn't of great importance, therefore the only wording on the cover is the artist name, album name and the tracklist. The font choice is simple, easy to read and keeps the whole cover more focused on the colours and imagery rather than the text. The image used is a prominent feature of the album, it projects the alternative style of the album and also the artist through the bold coloured hair and clothing which would appeal to people that have an interest in this style. The overall design of the album is there to represent the artist as being an alternative musician, it is however kept quite simple by having no image on the back which allows the consumer to concentrate on the music itself rather than the artist.

Troye Sivan - Trxye 

 



The colour choice of this album cover is gripping and bold to stand out to audiences and consumers, the colours blue and red are chosen as they complement each other as well as being a statement. The artist himself is on the front cover however his eyes are covered by the title of the album, perhaps creating mystery as this was the artists debut album or perhaps to show that the artist wants audience to focus on the music rather than him. As this is an EP it only features 5 of the artists songs which keeps the design and wording simple. Another way the album is designed to stand out is through the use of capitals on the front and back. The design over all is chosen to focus on the music, representing the artist as being passionate about what he does and showing his dedication to his music career.

Analysis of adverts for digipaks

Lady Gaga - Fame Monster

This digipak advert differs from the digipak itself as it features pieces of texts that aim to sell the album or inform audiences of the album or artist. This includes the review from the Rolling Stone magazine and information about the album itself and about the release date. These pieces of information work to persuade audiences to listen to the album or buy the album. The advert features an image from each of the albums to show the versatility of the artist in order to appeal to a wide range of people. Colour choice is kept simple to go with the style of music as its more alternative than pop/mainstream. The design is used to make the correct things stand out, including a photo of the artist and the artist name so they're the parts that get remembered.









Marina and the Diamonds - The Family Jewels

The main feature of this digipak advert is the image of the artist herself, this could be used to stand out to someone that may be looking through this magazine as they may be more likely to recognise what she looks like rather than her name. The colouring is kept with blacks, white and nudes however there is a pop of pink which complements with the neutral colours well and adds a bit of excitement to the advert. The writing on the advert aims to sell the album to the consumers by including some well known singles that are featured on the album and by also having the new single in bigger font to emphasise it as being a special part of the album. The text is also in capitals and parts are in bold in order to stand out to audiences.

Conventions and purpose of digipaks

A digipak is the packaging of an artists/bands album. The digipak usually consists of the title of the artist, the title of the album and a listing of songs on the back. The front cover usually includes a picture of the artist/band and can be use to portray a theme of the album, for example Taylor Swift's album Red includes an image of her with red lipstick on, relating to the name of the album. At times, the digipak includes a booklet in the front of the case which can include pages of lyrics of the songs in the album.


Front:
The front of the digipak tends to include the title of the album and the artists name, there may also be an image of the artist/band. The front also portrays a theme of the album or genre that the artist is associated with. This is in order to stand out to certain people that may enjoy that genre to increase popularity and attention for the artist and their album. It is also used to hint at what the audience can expect from the album, e.g. an image of a couple kissing will hint that the album is full of love songs.

Back:
The back will also portray a theme or genre that relates to the artist and album, as the colours and images on the front will continue through to the back to continue the overall theme. The main purpose of the back is to illustrate the track names and what number track they are in relation to the album, at times the length of the song is also included next to the song name. The bottom of the back cover will include copyright details, including a bar code and information about the record companies and also the CD identification number. Additionally information about the artist/band will be shown including their website and perhaps social media sites to increase their popularity further.

Inside:

The theme continues through the inside through the use of images and colours. In some cases, the inside of the digipak includes a little booklet of lyrics of the tracks on the album. Within the booklet there are also likely to be images of the artist or band that are specific to the album, details about the recording company and a message from the artist or members of the band to dedicated certain songs or the album to someone and also to say thank you to people of their choice.

Benefits:
The design of the digipak could be a selling point for the artists as it could draw someone to buy it purely judging on how the digipaks been put together. It can also prove loyalty for some people in the artists and can create awareness of their music.