Extended audience feedback

I uploaded my video to the social networking site Facebook in order to receive more constructive feedback although this method did not prove very effective it was still interesting to have some feedback from a different source which I see as a positive. 

development of digipak final

Development of digipak

Nicki Minaj response - female Alz Southerington

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eb5tUBqn1JE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

watching Nicki Minaj - male response Mark Clifford

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/q8PhH_NcJs4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

feedback - Danny Mail

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmHHMfcLB_0

Feedback - Alx Southerington

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EYk39LNugA

feedback - Robert Gibbs

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eMF4J9DLfnU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Final Edit

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aP31cWRB4Oc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Question four

Question four- how did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? 

Media technologies have made this project possible to achieve, I have used so many throughout this project including my mobile phone, for playing back the song for my characters to dance to, for taking and collecting images of my chosen female character, for researching using youtube, and taking videos for ideas of what I wanted for my final draft. I have used my iPhone and iPad for the latest updates on iTunes and the youtube channel, I have also used them to monitor my blog, monitor my audience feedback on Facebook, upload videos from my mobile device to my blog, upload photos of the theatre i used for filming to my blog. I have used my mobile phone and laptop devices to benefit from using the Internet to research and plan my music video, researching my chosen genre, artist and audience and existing products to give me inspiration for my final product. I have used Microsoft both on the computers in college and my laptop and iPad at home to type up work and upload to my blog for example my planning, and evaluation and any other key information I felt I wanted to include for myself to refer to and to gain marks for my coursework. I used go animate for changing my hand written story board into an animation to save time when viewing it and to refer to the planning I had originally created for my video and also to evaluate against when my video had been created. I used photoshop for my ancillary texts, for editing, cropping and improving the ages I had collected and adding text to them for my magazine advert, track list and digipak. This proved very useful providing me with endless tools and effects making my ancillary texts look more professional. I then used  a program named adobe premier probe CS6, to edit, crop, and render my music video, this was very time consuming however the footage was easy to upload, but lip syncing the video with the mp3 track proved difficult, if I and the chance to do this project again I would attempt to find another way of recording footage already linked to the mp3 track ski could dedicate more time to the editing of my video as opposed to adjusting the timing of the mp3 track to the video. By experimenting with the edits on the adobe premier probe program, I was able to improve my video by overlapping shots between close ups, mid shots and long shots, I have also included dissolves and fades to increase how professional the video looked, and experimenting and improving my knowledge of the program, for example reversing sequences so the video plays backwards and increasing or decreasing the speed of the video and adjusting the opacity of the shots. My research showed that videos currently in the charts are very performative and often heavily edited to keep the audiences eyes busy. From my feedback, the videos with less narrative structure and more performative, flashing shots seemed to please my target audience. The use of confusing narratives in Nicki Minaj's video but strong editing and performance makes her videos eccentric and exciting, I wanted to do this for my music video therefore the editing I used was vital. I was able to edit the video by booking a time slot pro actively with the other peers in my class in the college editing suite. This proved challenging towards deadlines finding a time when another member of the class did not need access to the editing machine, but the program was easy and effective to use. 

Question three

Question three - what have you learned from your audience feedback?

I collected feedback from members from my media class as they are familiar with the codes and conventions from their own assignments and therefore their constructive feedback enabled me to make the appropriate improvements to my video. Members in my media class, both male and female also comply with my teenage target audience with the majority of them being within the age group of 16-19 years. By playing the video to my peers and recording their feedback and posting it on my blog I was able to watch their response as many times as I needed and apply and consider their advice to my video. It's was originally how I began the project when I filmed audience feedback on the viewings of existing videos by my chosen artist, Nicki Minaj. The feedback enlightened me to what audiences liked and disliked about her unique distinct style and also the genre of her music, I chose both a male and female peer in order to achieve an opinion from both genders. I did this again when evaluating my own video however this time I had the ability to adapt and edit my video to suit my target audience. I saw this as a positive, as opposed to criticism of my video. By creating a youtube account and uploading my video I could also gain feedback from other youtube users using the website almost like a social networking site, I identified that people who use the site must enjoy making videos and watching them and therefore by asking people to subscribe to my youtube page increased the number of views on the video. However I still wasn't satisfied and wanted to improve my video further and get more feedback so I could tweak and adjust my video to suit my audiences needs further, so I posted the video onto the social networking site 'Facebook' for my friends to view and post comments on how it could be improved, I asked them to look on my profile and write comments of what they thought to the video and any improvements they could suggest for me. This was helpful and people were complimentary of the video, the characters were also able to view the video for the first time which was positive. 

In terms of genre, the overall opinion from teenage audiences is positive on the RNB/Hip-hop genre with both male and female, however perhaps some of the lyrics seem controversial and inappropriate to the more mature audience. I also personally feel that the younger audiences should perhaps not be so exposed to the lyrics from the genre with most of them referring to materialistic items, sex and drinking. Research has shown that RNB artists tend to use one another as an example as opposed to competition also by many album tracks being featured by perhaps another RNB artist. The genre appears to be very current appearing online in charts everywhere including iTunes, you are able to search the RNB genre for a list of songs that comply with the genre. Filming in Pozition nightclub hull also enabled me to see that there is an entire floor dedicated to RNB music, this proves very popular with the teenage target audience that my video is aimed at, therefore confirming the popularity of this genre of music. 

Question two

Question two - how effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? 

The impact my main product and ancillary text has on my target audience has been a prominent factor throughout my project, I wanted my video to appeal to young teenage audiences both male and female and to be of the RNB genre. The impact on the audience could be argued to be catharsis as it creates and encourages a desire of the lifestyle the stars lead from the audience. My video features money, drinking, outfits, a nightclub which all significantly connote wealth and pleasurable activities. Therefore for my ancillary texts I firstly collected lots of images of the female character Nicki Minaj, however some of the images were unclear having been captured on a mobile device. I decided to retake some more images in my spare time and uploaded them onto the computer so I could view them properly. I then chose an image from my personal preference and gathered some audience feedback to compare. I adapted the images and backgrounds in photoshop, a program on the college computer which enables you to crop and edit your image. From researching various examples of magazine adverts by other RNB artists and including them on my blog also, I could compare the images I had collected with them in order to create a professional outcome. I used a cropping tool to cut around the image I had chosen in order to create a track lost by placing the image on a black background so the writing could stand out with the artist as opposed to the image. I realised this was more successful that my first attempt which was to adjust the size of my image and then add text onto the existing image, this made the image and text appear unclear, research showed that it is more acceptable for the magazine front cover and the digipak to look edited, therefore this was not a concern. I originally looked at the 'roman reloaded' album by the artist I have studied Nicki Minaj, however it was difficult to make something so abstract and busy look effective and professional, I decided to keep it plain and simple but including all the information needed. The colours for the RNB genre are stereotypically reds and blacks and other deep colours, with images of jewellery and nice cars behind the artists on them, this was my original idea as I chose a picture of my artist with a bracelet, ring and revealing clothing being obvious from the image. However when I researched the RNB/hip-hop genre further I found that this was not the case with Nicki Minaj instead she bases her covers around bright colours and abstract images, I decided to use a mixture of this in my magazine front cover. By creating a rough hand drawn example of the layout for my front cover and digipak and then an ICT draft I was able to refer to these to see of my magazine advert complied with them, this also made it easier when it came to editing as I could transfer the layout outline onto photoshop and fill each section from there. This made the ancillary texts quite straight forward as I had already identified the conventions I wanted to include and their positioning. 

For my second ancillary text, I created a digipak, i used screenshots from my music video as this gave me a variety of images I could include, I made sure I took plenty of screen shots so I had an adequate amount to choose from. This improved the continuity of my digipak as it created a link between my ancillary texts and my video. I wanted to keep continuity between each of my ancillary texts and a continuing themes, I did this by using similar colours between each of my ancillary texts and reoccurring images of the same artist. I adapted the layout from my hand drawn draft and ICT draft to the finished product slightly however this improved the overall outcome and the conventions remained the same and were still included, this helped me to create a digipak suitable to my genre. By researching several other digipaks that are already existing gave me inspiration for creating my overall outcome. 

Question one

Question one- in what ways does your media product use,develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 

For my music video, I have chosen the popular, established song 'Beez In The Trap' by mainstream artist Nicki Minaj who has a well established career in the RNB\hip-hop genre. Her successful career has produced and contributed many singles to the industry. Her unique image, portrayed through many of her music videos has made a lasting impression upon fans. I personally enjoy her unique sense of style and distinct ability as a female rapper. I admire her creativity and also her ability to perform with the other artists involved in the huge record label 'YMCMB'. She appeals to teenage/young audiences with many of her videos featuring nice cars, money, drinking and partying. The track I have chosen is performative, as are many of her videos as I have researched and gained audience feedback upon my chosen track. 

Research also suggests the lyrics to my chosen track 'Beez In The Trap', 'In The Trap' relates to a quote from Nicki Minaj herself of 'anywhere you get your money' which is a prominent convention and prop used in a lot of her videos. From researching examples of other performative, abstract videos she has done, I decided my video needed to be focused on the artist and lyrics perhaps using lip sync as opposed to narrative structure. I used a series of close ups, mid shots and long shots of my chosen characters to achieve this. This encouraged promoting the artists and drew attention to the lyrics, ultimately resulting in a professional, performative video. 

I began researching codes and conventions of the RNB/hip-hop genre that frequently occurred in various videos by Nicki Minaj. By doing this I found that a dominant convention was being materialistic with various images and shots of money, cars, jewellery and drinking being most frequently used and evident in nearly all the videos not just by American RNB star Nicki Minaj but other RNB artists such as Lil-Wayne and Chris Brown. I included examples of their videos and other videos from the RNB genre on my blog. Lil-Wayne and Chris Brown also share the same record label as Nicki Minaj, she is the only female artist on the label however, which was founded by Lil-Wayne and follows the motto of 'money over everything' which confirms money is a significant convention of the RNB genre. Research also confirmed the setting of most of the videos appears to be in a nightclub or featuring an atmosphere which would be appropriate for drinking and dancing. I decided I wanted to include and recreate this in my music video. Following are some examples of screen shots from my video and the video of Nicki Minaj-Beez InThe Trap:



 

Using the video enabled me to decide on the ideas and images I wanted to include in my video the most and how I was going to shoot and recreate them. Myself and my partner decided on the location of 'pozition nightclub' Hull as the location in which we would shoot the video, I contacted the owner via text message asking for permission to use the nightclub for filming, you are able to take mobile phones and other photographic devices into the nightclub when visiting but filming for a college assignment meant we needed to be granted permission. I have included this on my blog. This was granted but only during the clubs usual opening hours, this meant we could only film between 10.30pm and 3.30am and would have to work around members of the public that were also visiting the club during that time, this made filming slightly more challenging for our characters. We chose to film on the least popular night for the club with the aim there wouldn't be as many people for shooting. All the footage was used to create draft one. However when editing and reviewing the footage we found that it was too dark, and some of the shots were unclear. After receiving some audience feedback we reached the conclusion to reshoot in the college theatre. Booking a time in which myself and my partner were available, the actors and the theatre for a long enough period of time proved challenging. I had to get in touch with my college tutor in the first instance so. Could be directed to the individual in charge of booking time slots in the theatre, this was Andy Feetom, a drama teacher within the college. I emailed him to begin with but then decided to visit his office to arrange more efficiently. I wanted a dark room preferably with a black background which is why I did not use the college 'green room' a room designed for filming and editing as you can adjust and edit the background on the editing suite, I really didn't want the video to look overly edited. I have uploaded images of the college theatre filming space to my blog.

The black curtain meant we could adjust the setting ourselves and props and lighting were no longer an issue. Timing still remained a problem however so after enquiring for other available spaces we were lead to a slightly smaller college theatre filming space, however it still included mirrors and a black curtain which was what we needed but more importantly provided us with extended filming time which was more flexible for our actors and ideas. Using a bright light and varied camera angles, we were able to create a similar effect of a strobe light. It was important to collect an adequate amount of filming as our chosen song is 4 minutes 41 seconds long. The length of the song and the amount of times the chorus is repeated did make it seem very repetitive and I feel given the chance to complete this project again I would of considered this. 

When editing for the second draft of the video, we included footage mostly from the reshooting of the video, however upon reflection of the first shoot we found some of the shots were able to include by overlapping shots and adjusting the editing of some of the existing shots created by strong mise en scene for the video. Audience feedback suggested that the video was a lot more effective, the lighting proved to have more positive feedback and a peer also quoted ' I thought the theatre was a section of position nightclub ' which complimented the lighting and adjustment of our location. Our aim was to create a well lit nightclub setting. When I created my storyboard and animatic for the video, I wanted it to comply exactly with that, so when writing my evaluation I could almost screenshot my video against my animatic, similarly like I did to the original music video, however when I began filming and experimenting with the camera, I found I wanted to improvise and include shots I hadn't previously planned to such as close ups, mid shots and long shots for example lip syncing an extreme close up of the female character's lips. By creating the animatic and gaining some audience feedback, filming and analysing the conventions I wanted to include in the video, including mise en scene and cinematography, I found I could work from the storyboard and animatic as opposed to towards them. 

Major Record Labels

   

This is a major record label in the RnB genre, it includes mega artists such as Nicki Minaj, Drake, Lil wayne and Chris Brown, collectively this group of people have made a huge impact to the RnB genre. From researching this label and the artists it features you are able to achieve an idea of the codes and conventions included in the RnB genre, and therefore our music video.

The Lyrics

"Beez In The Trap"(feat. 2 Chainz)

[Hook: x2]
Bitches ain't shit, and they ain't sayin' nuthin'
A hundred muthafuckas can't tell me nuthin'
I beez in the trap, bee, beez in the trap
I beez in the trap, bee, beez in the trap

[Verse 1: Nicki Minaj]
Man, I been did that
Man, I been popped off
And if she ain't tryna give it up, she get dropped off
Let me bust that U-ie
Bitch, bust that open
Might spend a couple thou' just to bust that open
Rip it off, no jokin'
Like your name Hulk Hogan
Niggas move weight in the South, but live in Hoboken
Bitch, I spit that crack
Like I'm in that trap
So if you need a hit, then I'm with that bat

[Hook: x2]
Bitches ain't shit, and they ain't sayin' nuthin'
A hundred muthafuckas can't tell me nuthin'
I beez in the trap, bee, beez in the trap
I beez in the trap, bee, beez in the trap

[Verse 2: 2 Chainz]
Okay now Nicki Nicki Nicki, put it in your kidney
Got a new LS 450, ain't no keys in this do-hicky
If I weren't rappin' I be trappin'
If I weren't trappin' I be pimpin'
If weren't pimpin' I be gettin' it, period
I don't smoke no bobby, but my denim be from Ricky
Got your girl on molly and we smokin' loud and drinkin'
Got my top back so you can see what I been thinkin'
If you know me then you know I've been thinking Franklin
Money, thousands, True Religion trousers
Got a private home, started from the public houses
Hair weave killer, causing her arousal
Audi A8, told them Audi 5000, uh

[Hook: x2]
Bitches ain't shit, and they ain't sayin' nuthin'
A hundred muthafuckas can't tell me nuthin'
I beez in the trap, bee, beez in the trap
I beez in the trap, bee, beez in the trap

[Bridge: x2]
Damn, damn what they say about me?
I don't know man, fuck is on your biscuit?
If I get hits, swinging on a big bitch
I don't know man, I'm shittin' on your whole life

[Hook:]
Bitches ain't shit, and they ain't sayin' nuthin'
A hundred muthafuckas can't tell me nuthin'
I beez in the trap, bee, beez in the trap
I beez in the trap, bee, beez in the trap

[Verse 3: Nicki Minaj]
Man I'm out in Texas, man I'm out in A-town
Then I'm up in Chi-town or Miami shuttin' it down
It's that New Orleans, it's LA or The Bay
It's New York, Philly, and the whole DMV
I'm a Detroit Player, man it's North/South Kat
Ohio, Pittsburgh, got St. Louis on deck
It's Delaware, Connecticut, it's New Jersey got hella bricks
It's Queens Brooklyn and yea they're wildin'
The Bronx Harlem and Staten Island

[Hook:]
Bitches ain't shit, and they ain't sayin' nuthin'
A hundred muthafuckas can't tell me nuthin'
I beez in the trap, bee, beez in the trap
I beez in the trap, bee, beez in the trap

[Bridge: x2]
Damn, damn what they say about me?
I don't know man, fuck is on your biscuit?
If I get hits, swinging on a big bitch
I don't know man, I'm shittin' on your whole life

The artist uses the lyrics of her song to interpret a message to her audience, whether this uses a hidden or obvious meaning. Our characters portray these lyrics in the video.

Draft One Digipak Idea

Example of Track list For a DigiPak

Second Draft Magazine Advert

Images For Ancillary Texts

Magazine advert handwritten example

Digipak Handwritten example

Evaluation of Draft One against Draft Two

 

Our first attempt of filming was at Pozition Nightclub, this proved to be unsuccessful due to the lighting of the club, the footage we achieved was perfect for our video as it fitted with the genre codes and conventions of RnB and our original idea to film in a nightclub was be to add to the realism of the atmosphere of the video. The filming was too dark and unclear to include, however after revising the video and creating a second draft some of the footage from the first draft can be included. However by using the theatre in college we can now create clear, accurately lip-synced footage and include this in our video to make it of a higher quality and better standard, some of the footage where the lighting is slightly brighter can be used and we have included that in our second draft to keep the video interesting and to show examples of different locations and also to reference to the nightclub which is fitting with our genre and teenage target audience. The clearer brighter footage gives the video a much more professional look.

By playing the music while filming we would able to get an accurate idea as to how much of the song we had filming footage for and how long each clip lasted and what we were missing, however what we did not identify which we later realised when editing was that we needed to film the whole song through so any footage we were missing we were able to fill in the gaps when editing. To do this, we filmed the shots in the theatre that we needed and incorporated the ideas that we had then following this, we filmed our characters, Laura and Kabi dancing and singing solidly for the whole track we then worked of this as a base and could use however much of this clip that we needed. It also meant that we could use them dancing as a couple throughout the whole music video like a motif throughout. It also enabled us to make the shots and ideas we had put in place stand out more and editing meant that we could change and edit some of the dancing shots by adding flashing lights, fades etc.

We decided to keep the same characters as they are fitting with the genre we have chosen and they played the roles really well in the first edit, it was frustrating that the lighting was too dark as some of the shots were really great and we are disappointed we couldn’t use them but with them being so unclear it meant that it made our music video look so much more unprofessional. By completing our first draft of the video for the deadline it meant that we were able to look over the video and identify the improvements and clips that needed reshooting. This gave us time to do so for the second draft.

The first draft proved to be really helpful for improving the second draft and our knowledge of using the editing suite has greatly improved and being able to change clips from the original video has been a really positive change, I am happy with the improvements we have made.

Filming at Location One

Pozition Nightclub.








The lighting proved too dark for us to be able to continue filming at this location, we decided to recreate our original idea in the college theatre, which was dark and included dark curtains and flooring, however we were able to customise the lighting to our needs so the video could consist of a higher quality.

Audience feedback - genre and audience 2

Audience feedback - genre and artist 1

Draft two - Beez in the trap

Draft One - Beez in the Trap

Conventions of a digipak

include:

• Main image of artist
• Name of artist
• Name of the album
• Warning of parent consent (if necessary)
• Image for the CD
• List of songs on the back cover

ICT draft digipak

ICT draft front cover

Change of Camera

The poor quality of the photographs I have taken is due to the use of a smart phone, this will require me to book out a digital camera from the college and take some more photographs as then they will be of a higher quality and more appropriate for my magazine advert. I need an image of the similar quality as the adverts I have shown as examples.

The Conventions of a magazine advert

 

• Image of the artist
• The name of the album
• A Realse date of the album
• Star rating of the album
• Image of the /logo/band symbol/record label
• Artist’s name
• Genre of the band reflected in text/colour/font/images
• Use of new media Persuasive/Eye Catching Text/Images
• Parent advisory label
• The title of the maagazine
• The date of the magazine

Improvements

I have identified that I need to take some additional photographs of my chosen character as the images I currently have are not clear enough or focused enough for my magazine advert. The images I currently have do not comply with magazine advert conventions in the way that i would like them to. I will take some more appropriate images and upload them before creating a second draft for my magazine advert.

Development of my music advertisement

Development of Magazine advert

I have chosen to use this image for my magazine advert, this is a medium close up of my chosen artist that i have used in my music video. Her clothing is revealing and the use of rings and bracelets fits in to the convention of including 'bling' to comply with the codes and coventions of the RnB genre. Her hair is blonde which is similar to the artist i have studied Nicki Minaj. Her stance is confident with her hands on her hips, she is also smiling.

Digi-pak research - Nicki Minaj Roman Reload

This is the digipak research for Nicki Minaj- Roman Reload, it includes the disc for the album and also the tarck names to the tracks on the album.

Magazine Advert Research 3

This is another example of an album cover from Nicki Minaj, the theme consists mostly of pink, the album anme being 'pink friday' is not suprising, he name is smaller and in white as opposed to pink and situated right at the top of the page suggesting she no longer relies on her artist name to be recognised, the image is large, dominating most of the advert and therefore this shows her image is iconic and people can recognise it without seeing her name. Her pink outfit and pink hair also suggests her image of 'barbie' but also links her to the album. This magazine advert is the most strongly linked to mine as it includes the artist i have chosen to make my music video on.

Magazine advert research 2

When researching different adverts for magazines i found this example of a recent album from rhianna, i chose to include it as she is from the same genre as Nicki Minaj and features mostly RnB music, her style is also excentric and unique however the use of balck and white on this advert almost illimiates that. However the use of red writing to help the album name stands out is useful to her target audeince. This breaks audiences expectations of what they expect to see for an advert for Rhianna's new CD album, however the iconic image showing vivid make up and lots of jewellery and her short iconic hairstyle agrees with audience expectations. This is a good example of how artists from the same genre can differ so much from one another.

Magazine advert research

Similar to the CD covers, the magazine advert includes the artist name, the album name and an example of tow of the track names included on the album. The advert also includes an image of the artist and a theme colour throughout the advert, in this example the colour is yellow/gold. the use of the crown and white gown suggest royalty and this is emphasised by the colour gold for the writing. In the bottom left hand corner you are given a picture of the album in full, this is so the album can be easily identified by the target audience in shops for example. The text is simple but effective creating a proffessional overall image.

Medium Close Up of artist

Pop Artist CD cover

This is an example of a pop artist CD cover, the use of colours such as yellow and bright blue and neon pink is similar to Nicki Minaj, the use of balck for the artist's name is also simialr to Nicki Minaj and the close up of the artists face is also very much like the artists i have included for the album covers of Nicki Minaj. This suggests her genre is slightly mixed between RnB and pop and therefore I am going to keep this in mind when creating my CD cover.

possible images for my CD cover

Here are a few example of the images I am considering using for my CDcover. the include images of my main artist, the images are close up featuring facial features similar to the artist Nicki Minaj. Some of the images include revealing clothing also which is reflective of Nicki Minaj and the RnB genre, i can incorporate colour and backgrounds into the album cover later using photoshop.

CD cover five

 




This is an example of a more traditional RnB album cover, it complies with the codes and coventions of this genre completely. The album cover is simlar to the first CD cover i have included an example of the model here is also stood with her legs apart suggesting sexual connotations, this is the same as Nicki Minaj in the first cover, The use of Red writing is bold and also connotes love and lust which are evident in the lyrics for a lot of RnB hits. the use of an expensive, white limo suggests fame and fortune and the use of cars is very prominant in RnB music video as it suggest wealth and fame. the use of a bracelt and ring suggest wealth also and is also portrayed in music videos as 'bling', this is also evident in a lot of Nicki Minaj's videos. The model is wearing a small white dress which does not cover much of her which is also simialrly done in the first Cd cover example I have included of Nicki Minaj. Nicki Minaj differs from this as a lot of her album covers include a close image of her facial features and expressions to appeal to her target audience. This album cover does not focus on one artist imparticular, i chose to analyse it as it follows the codes and conventions of the RnB genre. The cover also includes a stamp that says 'parental advisory' in the bottom left hand corner this is to suggest that the album may not be suitable for younger audiences.

CD cover four

This is Nicki Minaj's most recent CD cover example. Similar to my lasat example, shown in CD cover three this shows a close up of nicki minaj placed on a fuschia pink background. The use of yellow in the background to state her name helps it stand out to her target audience. Her hair is no longer bright blonde, however the style and volume is still iconic reflecting her excentric personality. her facial features include a curled lip which suggest attitiude but could also be seen as a reference to another sex icon which was Elvis Presley, who was known for this particular pose. This gives her an impression of power and dominance and also reflects her successful career. Pink is the main theme and colour included in this cover and many of her other album covers which i will consider when designing my own front cover. She is a well established artist and therefore her name does not need to be as bold as the album name as her face can be recognised without her name, i will keep this in mind for my CD cover also.

CD cover three

this example of an album cover of Nicki Minaj is very similar to the second example of her album artwork that i have shown in my previous post. The way she is posed with her mouth open and eyes closed is very sexual and through her music and photographs she is not afraid of showing this, this shows confidence. The use of bright colours again and the continuing idea of paint being splashed across the covers suggests a mess of bright ideas and her excentric personality, this time she is also covered in the paint making this even more obvious, more colours have been introduced, overlapping one another, and her name has been printed in black to emphasise her as the artist, this helps it to stand out from the background image and the song name. her blonde hair also still stands out and does not have any paint in which is keeping her iconic image as 'barbie'. Even though this image doesn't patricularly follow any of the conventions of the genre of RnB, it is still refelctive of her own unique style and ecentric image which i will keep in my mind when creating my CD cover.

CD cover two

This is another front cover of one of Nicki Minaj's albums. The image is again more dominant tahtn the text and this time the image focuses solely on her face, instead now her hair is blonde and her inspiration is barbie, the use of bright colours such as pink, orange and yellow suggest fantasy and i think this album would perhaps target a slightly more female based audience. The use of the effect of paint being splattered across the white background behind the image of her could connote her putting her own stamp on the album or adding colour, which generally her songs are upbeat and interesting so this could be the idea she was hoping to achieve. It could also connote her expressing her perosnality with the bright colours as often her outfits and music videos are quite excentric and they way she is portrayed is definitely unique from other examples of female artists. The text 'roman reloaded' is written in the effect of a paint brush which keeps a theme making the cover look professional. I will keep the idea of her style and genre of music in mind when creating the front cover as i want to ake sure i can include the bright colours and iconic image of Nicki Minaj visible when creating my own CD cover.

CD cover one

This is the CD cover of the single i have used for my music video, the image is the most dominant part of the cover consuming the majority of the space, the artists name are set in neon pink and orange to stand out. The colour is dark, showing navy and blues, her costume is an all in one animal print which is suggestive of her suxuality and also the lack of coverage suggests confidence and the outfit almost becomes iconic. The rrack is shared with 2 chainz, we can see him slightly on the cover however by dressing him in black this means Nicki Minaj is the figure our eyes are immediately drawn to and what we focus on. Nicki Minaj is quite a unique and abstarct atrist and soemtimes quite outrageous with her choice of outfits and song lyrics, here her outfit is revealing once again but also her stance is confident, standing tall but could also be percieved as slightly inappropriate by standing with her legs open wearing tight colthing around her bottom. Her bottom is quite iconic and therefore the lighting has been focused on this, this has been done purposefully. this is also emphasised by the fact we cannnot see her face this is suggesting that she is so well known by her image and her bottom that we dont need to see her face to know it is her.

Id like to use an idea like this for my subsidiary texts as it is not overcrowded, the image is refelctive of the artist and the writing is easy to clear, the song title is in bold and the artists are clearly stated.

The target audience is most probably young females that enjoy her music however by featuring 2 chainz on this track she expands her target audience to perhpas young males also. This particular cover could appeal to males also as Nicki Minaj is also seen by audiences as a sex icon.

essay one - society and culture - postmodernism

Alicia Baldwin – essay one

Postmodern media- ‘society and culture has changed radically since 1945 but how far have the changes in technology and the rise of mass media affected peoples understanding and experience of the world around them’

Society is arguably unrecogniseable from the 1940s, the significant rise in mass media has meant that our culture has become completely consumed by the media, to the point of hyper reality, we can no longer interpret what is real and what is not because the public have become so subdued to believing what they read in the media. This has been taken to such a point that innocent people have been accused of crimes in papers such as news of the world and the sun and had rubbish thrown at them in the streets despite being completely innocent and not even under arrest from police forces. The idea of postmodernism is unavoidable in our culture due to rises in mass media and technology, society is obsessed with the idea of being individual and different due to the media trying to form us into something identical to one another. However cultures are so different and there are so many different religions and choices in life people make that there will never be one successful ‘objective’ truth, because unlike in the 1940s freedom of speech and actions is accepted and not only that is encouraged at the present time. This has meant people can experience what they wish and gain a better understanding for culture if they wish to do so. The public can no longer avoid being subjected to the media as it is everywhere we go and we cannot guarantee we are being given the truth, televisions, internet, mobile phones, and communication has improved so drastically that it has become almost impossible not to hear about the latest scandal in the news, whether you want to or not, it is impossible not to be affected by what you read on the internet or in magazines and because it has become such a big part of everyday life it almost seems unnatural if you are not involved. Particularly, with the younger generation of today, from using mobile phones from the minute of waking up to going to sleep, using social networking sites such as facebook, twitter, instagram, you are never able to miss what is going on. This has been proven to be unhealthy for society and the immense pressure the media has put on society in the past century is truly shocking. However, there are definitely positive outcomes from technology as people are now able to communicate better meaning people can keep in touch with one another despite long distance, security has improved with people being able to ring you to see where you are or use their mobile phone to track your mobile phone, CCTV has rapidly reduced crime as people are less likely to commit a crime if they know there is a chance they are being filmed and could get caught, however rises in technology and media influencing everyone to have the latest gadget and this undeniable competitiveness to be the ‘best’ has lead to an increase in crime as people are stealing what they do not have, and breaching privacy rights for example paying the police forces to gain storylines to publish in their papers or hacking celebrities phones in order to receive information to sell stories that the public so desperately want to read, I struggle to believe their need was this intense in 1945. Arguably now we live in a society filled with freedom of speech but have we become a little too exposed to this and resulted in there being too much freedom of speech and if so where do we draw the line and where should this stop? This has definitely had a growing affect on society and how we interpret and understand the world around us due to mass media and technology and this has now become irreversible, it is now a way of life as opposed to a factor in society. Privacy rights are being breached every single day in newspapers making certain members of the public feel embarrassed and ashamed which does make us question the positivity or progress in technology and what is published in the media. The progress in technology for medicine and health care is undoubtedly a positive and something that has made so many positive changes for the NHS system and the nation’s health, perhaps he should be giving more of our money towards findings for medical health as opposed to the latest phone or even just the pound we pay for our morning newspaper. The difference between  positive changes in technology and negative changes is what they bring to society and how that influences our culture, ultimately positive changes will influence it positively and negative changes will influence it negatively, but is our culture to blame for the changes made to society and culture since 1945, possibly so as we are the consumers.