Lyric analysis

Looking at lyrics and analysing what the lyrics mean, is a good way to inspire ideas for music videos. If I haven't seen the music video before hand it allows me to create my own interpretation of the lyrics and then compare it to the actual music video. In most cases my guesses have been wrong as the videos look to a deeper meaning in the lyrics. This has helped me as I will not just create a music video that directly follows the lyrics, I will create a music video that looks to the deeper meaning in the lyrics.

Cyanide live performance analysis

This is a video of a live performance of the band TFI performing the song Cyanide. In terms of costume, the male band members appear to wear matching dark, slim-fit suits, while the female singer is seen wearing a red dress. The suits and dress show sophistication and formality, however the red colour on the dress causes the female to stand out from the rest of the band, showing she has all the power through out the video.

As the video is all one long shot of the band performing on stage, editing and transitions are not used in this video. Even though the pace and tempo of the song is quite fast, there is only one shot used throughout which is the long shot of all of the band members. In the music video that we create we will use a variety of shots and angles which will show the band members' expressions and feelings that they have through out the song. This also fits in with the punk-rock genre as they are usually seen in clubs performing live with there are lots of close-up shots of both the band members and their instruments.

The lighting used is very basic. They are red and green lights that flicker throughout the performance. The red light connotes of anger and hatred which contrasts to the green light which connotes of envy and jealousy. These themes are the main ones that are present in the song lyrics. The lights also flicker on and off, in time with the beat of the song, creating a club-like atmosphere which is stereotypical of the punk rock genre, where people are often seen to be dancing and enjoying the music. 

Analysis of second digipack

This is a Digipack containing a CD by Celine Dion. It is called Taking Chances World Tour, and is a CD of a live concert performed in her world tour series of concerts.

The picture on the front of the Digipack is of Celine performing live at her concert as part of her world tour with a group of dancers on the stage in the background. She is very much in the forefront of the shot, which promotes her as the artist and allows the target audience to relate directly to her.

The colours are predominantly white and pink against a black background. The white of her dress and shoes is very striking and could add a tone of purity and virginity to the show, which fits with her ballad style of music. The pink accessories are very feminine and again suit Celine as an artist, as her style of music is feminine and gentle. The colours are very dynamic against the black background.

The notion of voyeurism is present on this cover. Celine appears as very sexy and attractive which appeals to the males. The male dancers are muscular and sexy which appeals to the females. This is a common feature of Digipacks.

There is a substantial amount of lettering on the Digipack. Her name is in large, bold, white font which shows her to be the star of the album. The rest of the title is in a smaller font, still fitting in with the pink and white theme. White writing on a pink background explains you are getting 2CDs in the pack which could make you think that this is extremely good value for money.

On the back the tracks are listed in quite a small font in white. There is also a paragraph of information about the world tour telling how amazingly successful it was. This promotes Celine’s star status and makes her a very powerful artist. It also itemises some of the more famous tracks on the album, which would encourage people to buy the album as they would be familiar with the tracks.

The picture on the back shows Celine in an incredibly agile pose, leaning right over backwards. This makes her appear very fit and sexy.

 
These analyses of the digipaks have helped me as they have shown me what to expect from a digipak and will allow me to create a professional looking digipak.

Analysis of Magazine advertisement

This magazine advert is promoting the artist Jay-Z.

The picture shows Jay-Z dressed all in black which is clearly defined against the white and light grey background of high rise buildings. This shows his importance as he is large and towering above the buildings. The question asks – is Jay-Z bigger than hip-hop - so the enormous size of the character emphasises this question. This is an interesting and controversial question which immediately grabs the reader’s attention. The fact that he is so prominent in the picture will promote him as an artist to his fans and to the readers of the magazine.

The only other colour used is red which is a colour of danger and intrigue which we would associate with the hip-hop style of music and with the artist Jay-Z.

His clothes are designer cut showing he is an affluent artist.

The use of blacks and greys is very common in a lot of Jay-Z’s music videos where he uses the black and white filter, so his fans would be able to relate to this.  

Next to the magazine advert of Jay-Z is a poster of his 11^th studio album, the third in The Blueprint trilogy. The cover shows a vast pile of instruments and recording tools, all piled high in the corner and all coloured in white. There are three thick red lines across the pile. This cover is unusual for Jay-Z as it would normally heavily feature the artist himself. However his name is written at the top of the album in heavy black font, so we are in no doubt who the album was recorded by. It also has large, black numbers to show the date of release. This is an intriguing design which would draw his audience in and make them want to find out more about the album.

The greys, blacks, whites and reds of the first page are carried over into this cover giving a sense of unity to the advert.

Magazine adverts are crucial to an artist as they are one of the most common types of advertising, which are accessed by a very large audience, so if an artist and record label advertise in a magazine they would potentially be advertising to an extremely large audience.

Analysis of Digipack

Erik Wennergren is an artist from Sweden. He takes his inspiration from songs from the 1960s and the 1970s. His songs usually are about life and the world we share. He covers alot of topics including love, climate change and social inequalities. His album 'Tales From the Earth' includes tracks which are very meaningful to him. He is portraying a message of caring for the world and the design of the digipack is used to portray this message.

Erik Wennegren is shown on the front of the digipack dressed in casual clothes, standing in a wide open space. He has the world under his arm. This represents the love he has for his world and how much he cares about it.



In the centre of the digipak there is a second photo which again shows him in a rural setting looking out and meditiating with his guitar on his lap. We can empathise with the character behind the music. There is also a map which tells of a journey where the aim is to reach the X and therefor yourself.

Inside the digipack there are the lyrics to the song. This gives us a visual aid to the song and can help us identify any messages or meanings in the music.The picture behind the CD holder shows two clasped hands. This represents that the CD needs to be taken care of and it also connotes that the earth is in our hands and we need to take care of it and treat it with love. The colours used are Earthly colours, Green, brown orange and blue.


On the back of the digipack there is another photo of him in the country side. This shows that he cares about the places that mean so much to him .

Analysis of second magazine advert

This is a magazine advert for the punk rock band Green Day.

The main picture is of Billy Joe Armstrong, the lead singer of the band. He is dressed in a black shirt with heavy eyeliner which makes his eyes appear large and black. This is stereotypical of the punk genre. He is portrayed singing at a microphone with an intense brooding look that we associate with this genre. He takes his music very seriously and we can feel the intensity from the picture. The record company would want this exposure of their artist in order to maximise sales.

There is a lot of text on the poster. The name of the band is written in large, clear, white font at the top of the poster which immediately catches the audience’s attention. The title of one of their songs ‘Wake Me up When September Ends’ is also written in white under the title. The font used to write this is almost as if someone has hand written it, perhaps there is the idea of writing on a mirror as there is a grey background. The hand written font catches the audience’s attention and is promoting the track on the album.

The page is split in half horizontally and the bottom half is full of information about the band’s new releases of singles and albums. It is very detailed, specifying certain tracks and release dates, and promoting free discs. This is all very good advertising for the band and would be encouraging people to go out and buy their CDs. The text is written in red and white bold font which is easy to read as it is giving out lots of informal ion. The red has connotations of anger and danger which we would associate with a punk rock band.

There is also a picture of the front of the album and the colours of black, red and white are continued on this album cover giving continuity to the page.

There are two more pictures of the lead singer which would be instantly recognisable by the public, and this is what the record producers would want.