Album covers - Maroon 5

This album cover has many different codes and conventions that can relate to other media products. The typical conventions of album covers are involved for example, artist name, album name and an image of the artist. The text all stands out as its in a relatively bold font, quite large and on a dark background. The text is strong, written in a 'hard' font. The large 'M' on the back wall tells you straight away who your about to listen to. From this you know this is Maroon 5's album.
The positioning of the artists is code, the lead singer is positioned centre front, with the guitarist and drummer positioned further behind. The least important band members are positioned furthest back and appear the smallest. Another way of telling the lead singer apart from the rest of the band is his personal body language, he is the only one standing upright with his arms beside him, the rest of the band members are in mid action. This suggests the importance and seriousness of him.
The mise-en-scene is unrealistic and a bit quirky which reflects the nature of the band's music and the artist's themselves. Their costume is code for sophistication, the band members are all well dressed which tells us they take themselves seriously but the body language shows they also have a fun, playful side.
Having the drum kit, sound systems and guitar in the image suggests the importance of music, this is the band's life, they live for music.

Reach for the Stars prelim

Before we could do anything with the creation of our final coursework piece we had to create a preliminary task, this helped us in so many ways. We were able to experiment with brand new cameras, software and see how we worked as a group. As we are all friends this really helped as there was no need to spend time getting to know each other, we all know how the each of us work and know we all get on well. The fact that I was the only one that chose moving image for our AS coursework I was the only one to have really used these cameras before. I showed the rest of the group how they worked,  how we attached it the the tripod and how to extend the tripod to the different heights we needed. We used a brand new programme, final cut express, to edit our video. None of us had used this before, so if it wasn't for the preliminary task I know we would really struggle with the final piece.
It was really fun and enjoyable making this video as we were able to have a lot of fun with it before having to get serious to make the final exam piece. We tried to experiment with different camera angles and found the lip syncing really interesting. As none of us had done this before it was very strange to do, luckily for me I was a huge S Club 7 fan when I was younger so did not have to learn the words were as some of the others in the group did. The first time we tried filming the lip-sync we were all a bit embarrassed but quickly overcome this and realised that it was actually a lot of fun.
When it comes to creating our final piece I hope to make a video 100 times better then this one, using a lot more angles and edits. I know we will have a lot more time to do it and have longer time available with the equipment. Having this as a practice has really helped and I think this will show in our final piece.

Song choice and storyline

Since discussing our choice of song titles yesterday, we all went home to think over night and came into school the today to decide our final choice.
We have decided on the song Shark in the Water by V.V. Brown, we all felt that it was quite an unknown song but a song we found we all liked. We felt we could work well with this and with the members of our group create a story line to suit the song and lyrics extremely well. We sat and watched her music video over and over until it was drummed in our heads. We have chosen to create a story line very similar to the one V.V. Brown followed herself.


We have decided that our band is going to involve us 3 girls; myself, madeleine and lucy. We will all be involved in the performance half of the music video as well as the narrative. Jack will also be involved in the narrative as our story line will be based around him.
V.V. Brown's version of Shark in the Water is a metaphorical record about anxiety, and was inspired by Brown's experience with infidelity by a past boyfriend. We have decided to reflect this in our own video. Jack being the 'Shark' and us three girls being the people he is messing around.

Song Choice

As a group we have been trying to chose a song to create our music video to. We had a lot of difficulty doing this as a few of the group members do have different tastes in music. We were thinking of doing a typical boy band song such as Backstreet boys or Boyzone, as we thought this would be extremely fun to make, but all agreed in the end that it would be very 'cheesy' and felt we could show our talent better using another song genre. We then thought of maybe doing an older song, a club classic but we decided that the indie genre was very 'in' at the moment and all agreed we felt we could gather lots of inspiration.

Now we had chosen our genre, we had to chose a song title. We all sat going through each others iPod's until we cut down ideas to a few song choices.

• The XX - Crytalised
• Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
• V.V. Brown - Shark in the Water
• Train - Hey, Soul Sister

Oasis album covers - Notes..

• Conventions - album name, band name, artist's images
• Living room - realistic mise-en-scene code for ordinary lives, everyday behaviour, down to earth people
• Codes - positioning, foreground (lead singer) - quirky, different, unusual, confident, arogant. Pensive - thoughtful, reflective.
• Second closest to us (guitarist) second most important - chilled, relaxed body language
• Background (rest of the band) least important - bit more rigid but going about daily activites
• Glass of wine, suits (dressed well), tidy house - code for sophistication
• they take themselves seriously
• Cigarette packet - working class guys
• Framed picture of a man city football player - tells us who they support, who they are, their identity
• Light blue tinge across the photo - Man City colours/credential
• Globe - sign of their ambition - going to take over the world
• Blue sky - hope, freedom, happiness, eternity
• Font- bold, black and white - stands out - tabloid style (band name)
• Album name - handwritten, personal

The Beatles - Sergeant Peppers Long Hearts Club - Notes..

• Created by Peter Blake
• Revolutionary - considered a work of art
• Pop art, popular culture - high art
• Flowers, bright colours - code for happiness, peace, hippies
• Drum - code for music and circus - colourful
• Lively, entertaining, fun, crazy
• Costume - circus like - ring leaders - militry band
• Established themselves by centering their position in front of legends - code for their own significance
• Blue sky - happy, sunshine, freedom, summer, hope for the future, light
• Palm tree code for exotic, tropical, breaking away from the typical english persona, an island - seperate from everyone else

Album covers..

Album covers are used to represent the artist/band and try to draw the audience in by looking creative, artistic and original. They use a persuasive element in order to sell the item. It established the credibility and artistic merit of the artist. Both codes and conventions are used to communicate ideas to the audience. An example of conventions are things such as the artist name, the album name, a picture of the artist or a logo image/symbol and a list of songs on the back cover.

Functions and meanings..

Quick cutting on the beat - Every cut or edit in a music video needs to be in sync with the music. There is a 'rhythmic basis closely connected to the song'.

Editing - Edits in the music video come far more frequently than in film. Music video editing bears a far greater responsibility for many elements than does classic hollywood film editing. There are lots of very short, quick edits in music video. These build up a montage and often tell the story of the video (progress the narrative).

Balanced - The editing in the music video works hard to ensure that no single element (the narrative, the setting, the performance, the star, the lyrics, the song) going the upper hand. The video cannot distract from the song but must also grab the audience's attention.

Graphic match - This is when editing sequences connect objects through colour and shape. It creates fluency.



Match on action - Using a series of edits where different people/objects are doing the same thing. For example, a close-up on one persons feet running and a cut to another person's feet doing the same.

180 degree rule - This is to ensure you do not disorientate the audience. The audience should maintain a position between edits in terms of orientation.



30 degree rule - When you break the 30 degree rule it is called a jump cut - a sharp, awkward edit that looks wrong and clumsy. The camera should move 30 degrees btween edits to avoid this.

Green Day - When September Ends - Notes ..

• Narrative opening - focus on the story - convention of the narrative music video
• Cinematic in it's scope - famous actors, clear plot
• Music starts - non diegetic
• Extreme close-up on singer - convention
• Video switches between the band and the actors
• Narrative is the story behind the song
• Music cuts out and dialogue advances the narrative and the song comes back
• We can see the band as if a live gig - convention of the music video
• Series of short quick edits - allows the audience to sense whats going on
• Images and footage needed to tell the story - limited dialogue
• Music mirrors the action
• Codes for happiness and love - playful moments - all build up a story of their relationship
• Contrapuntal music doesn't match what we are seeing
• Warm colours of the band, dull colours at war
• Parrallel - seeing and hearing at the same time (it all fits)
• Chronological order

Video opens with a classic, romantic mise-en-scene, two lovers holding hands.
Wide angle shot, field of flowers which is a code for young love.
Camera gets very intimate, all close-ups, no body shots, all focused on their faces to show their relationship.
Staring into eachothers eyes, young love, flowers, bright colours - summer and happiness.

Michael Jackson - Thriller.. Notes..

Codes and conventions of the genre horror - graphics, font - red, blood like, dark - night time

Cinematic conventions - tracking shot

Diegetic sounds - crickets - eerie atmosphere, emphasises realism

Close-up of their feet walking - spooky, creepy

Non-diegetic music changes - not related to the song - eerie and spooky

Cinematic effects - series of close ups conveying the changes he goes through

Setting - mise-en-scene - murky, misty forest - convention of horror

Her costume is code for her innocence, her character - convention of horror

Introduction - film within a film

His costumes - iconic

Establishing shots

Non-diegetic sound of the door slam - on the foley track

Artist directly involved in the narrative - apart of the story

Performers in the narrative are performing in the song - both worlds combined, boyond belief

Unique and original - smashing of conventions

Establishing shot of a scary haunted house - tells us where the actions about to take place - convention of horror films

Images and music have to be balanced

Cinematic - titles and credits - short film

Target Audience..

Media texts are just like a drug, they directly influence the audience using different opinions, attitudes and values. It works just like propaganda did in Nazi Germany.
This is known as the Hypodermic Needle Theory.


The Effects Debate disscusses weather media makes people act in certain ways.


In both of these the audience is known as a passive receptor. The audience decodes what the producer puts infront of them (encodes) and they can do this in more than one way:

• Preferred Reading: What the producer wants the audience to understand
• Negociated Reading: The audience agrees with elements of the text but not the whole product
• Oppositional Reading: The audience disagrees with the ideology of the text or they decode it in a way that was not intended

When researching my target audience i will as specific as I can be, I will look into the demographics and psychographics.
My target audience may live in certain areas, on their own, with a partner or with their parents, they may be on a high income or maybe a student, they may have a certain occupation.
The interests and personality of my audience is very important, they would definately have to be interested in a similar type of music as the song I chose to do and this would possibly then determine the way they represent themselves, their image. This may influence their interests and hobbies, where they shop and where they go out.

Representation/Audience..

How people or places are shown in the media is chosen and decided on by the producer and director. They use different media language aspects in order to build an ideological viewpoint.

• Codes are used to communicate ideas to the audience, they give meaning.
• Conventions are what we expect to see from something e.g. genre.

Hypodermic needle theory - implies that media texts have a direct, powerful effect on the audience (like a drug), used to trigger a desired response. This model suggests that media texts are 'injected' straight into the passive receptor which is immediately influenced by the message. This effects peoples opinions, attitudes and values.

The effects debate - Does it actually make an audience act in certain ways?

Preferred reading - What the producer wants the audience to understand

Negociated reading - Audience agree with the elements but not all of the text

Oppositional reading - The audience disagrees with the ideology  of the text or de-code it in a manner that was not intended

Uses and gratifications - In this theory the audience have an active role in chosing which texts to engage with and what aspects of these texts
For example, using this theory the target audience may chose to read my text in a means of discovering fashion, music etc.

Tupac - Ghetto Gospel analysis..

This music video is very different to others I have analyised as we do not see the artist perform the song, it is all narrative, this way the audience can purely focus on the story. The song title can be seen as oxymoronic as the words 'ghetto' and 'gospel' do not really go together. One is known to be rough and a place of crime whereas the other is holy and a place of peace. Also the two singers, Tupac and Elton John are very different people, used to working with different genres, ones a black heterosexual and the others a white homosexual, this is known as juxtaposition.
It opens with the diegetic sounds of a woman speaking, a helicoptor and we see flashing lights and a paramedic, these are all codes for crime and trauma. The rain is pouring down which adds to the mood (pathetic fallacy).
The camera is a hand held P.O.V shot which is very realistic and allows us to feel as though we are apart of the crowd. The camera then pans passing through onlooker's legs on ground level and follows a woman towards a young boy laying on the floor, when she reaches him she crouches down and begins to cry, this tells us that he is important to her. This can all be seen as an introduction before the song begins.
As the music starts the woman holds the boy in her arms as she mourns, this is code for loss and heartbreak. The camera then turns to a high angle shot looking down on the scene as though blurred, this gives the effect of crying or even distance, as though he is looking down from heaven which then turns and fades. We are then presented with a wide angle shot of the same boy laying in bed, we are told that it is 9:00am which is backed up by the following shot, the sun rising in the distance over the city, this shot is a code for freedom. We then see a series of astablishing shots of urban lanscapes telling us where he lives.
As the narrative continues we are shown an image of the local church, this is juxtaposition as it doesn't really fit in with the area, as we can already see that we are in a rough city. The shot of a close-up of the boy eating breakfast is a code for normality, to him this is just another day. The next shot we see is a close-up of his mother reading which again is juxtaposition as this shows she is well educated although living in a poor working class area, they are good people who don't belong where they are. The shot of both the young boy and his mum sitting at the table is very significant as it reflects the image on the wall behind them, Jesus and The Last Supper. He may not know it yet but this is also his last 'supper'. We then see a shot of the mother smiling towards her son which tells us that she loves him and is proud of him.


We then see a shot of a gang of boys standing outside the chuch, this is not something you would normally see together, a church is a place of worship whereas gangs are normally associated with crime and danger. Their costume, body language and bars on the church are all codes telling us that they are a gang.We are then told that the day has moved on as it is now 11:42am. After this a close-up of one male passing something to another is presented to us which continues the narrative and we can automatically tell is a drug deal. This is a stereotypical view of gangs.
We now see the boy in the cafe messing around with his friends, this shows popularity and is a code for youthfulness and a playful attitude. We are then given an element on religious iconicgraphy when we see a low angle shot looking up at a statue of angels as if to represent heaven.
After this we see the narrative move on to 4:15pm where we can tell an argument is taking place, the body language of the female is a code for this. On the television we can see Tupac, her movements mimic his. The male character is playing with a young child who we can believe is his son, he is smiling, we see close-ups of his face. These are codes for happiness.


From here the narrative continues and the producer has chosen to show us the couple laying in bed and then present us with a close-up of them holding hands. We can see they are comfortable and happy together, this is a code for love and passion.


We then see a series of images that match the lyrics of the song i.e. 'the lady living out of black bags'.
The male character is then seen to be looking over the city from a rooftop this is a code for power and responsibility. We get a close-up on his face then a long shot, from this we can see he is in deep thought. The audience then see an image of the sun behind his head which gives off the imnpression of him being holy and 'Jesus like', he raises his arms out to the side as if being crucified. These are all codes for peace, religion and hope. He doesn't want to be where he is, he wants to get out. We see a close-up of grafitti on the door as he walks back down through the building, this is a typical stereotype of teenage gangs in this kind of rundown area. We then see a series of establishing images which show a deprived rundown neighbourhood. His body language tells us that he feels trapped and wants to escape. When surrounded by the gang in the next shot, he walks away as though he doesn't want to be a part of it anymore.


As the narrative continues we can tell people are travelling in a car from the close-up of the lights in a tunnel. The images switch from this to the main male character, this gives the impression that they are looking to find him. During this we see an image of him sitting behind bars this relates back to him feeling trapped.
We see the care pull up and his gang all drop to the floor and duck, this represents violence and danger. They all know something wrong is about to happen. As we see the car pull up outside where he is we see him stand up when he notices them. A flash of light represents what is about to happen, he has seen 'his life flash before his eyes'.
After this we see an empty glass fall and its contents splash to the floor, from this we know he has been killed. This represents Jesus with the bread and wine.
The video starts and ends in the same place, with the ambulance, paramedics and a crowd around the body in the street. All this tells us that the rest of the video was a flashback of his last day.
His mother's costume in the next shot is a code for death, she is wearing all black therefore we know she is going to her son's funeral.
As she looks across the street she thinks she has seen him, he touches his hand to his heart, this is a code for love. He has been ressurected to save others which represnts Jesus and his ressurection.

Lady Gaga's telephone analysis..

There are numerous codes and conventions within this music video which can be related and linked to other media music productions.
The opening shots consist of a montage of quick, short, establishing close ups which reveal a realistic mise-en-scene. The director has used juxtaposition between the setting and costume where one represents realism and the other is very outrageous and erotic.
The opening credits allow the music video to be seen as a short film, making it very cinematic, this is a convention of film. During the narrative before the song has begun there is a lot of emphasised diegetic sounds.


At the beginning of the video we see images of CCTV which gives the element of realism as it looks as though it could be something we see on the TV News for example, which could fit in with the video. The shots of Lady Gaga walking through the prison cells are very provocative; the costumes are extremely sexualised and erotic. We are presented with a close-up of one of the inmates licking the bars of her cell which is a code for sexual behaviour. The women in the video are very butch and masculine which is a typical stereotype of female prisons.


We are then presented a close-up of a lesbian kiss which is also a stereotype. We see a close-up of a hand moving up her thigh, this is a code for sexualised behaviour.
The director has cleverly used product placement as a way of advertising, we first see this when a mobile phone is used showing the Virgin Mobile logo but we see this repeatedly throughout the video e.g. when Lady Gaga used coke cans as curlers in her hair. This creates a very post-modern feel.


When the song begins and Lady Gaga answers the phone we see quick static shots which fit with the beat of the song. We than have the dance scene where the costume and dance moves are very erotic, we get lots of close-ups on body parts, long shots and mid shots which are all edited together to fit the music. A close-up on her breasts is a code for sexuality. After this we see a series of stylised images shown in a starcarto, stalled way to mimic the song. Lady Gaga is wearing nothing but yellow police tape which is very irrate.


The video then goes back to the narrative where we see a breaking of the 180 degree rule when she gets into the car. We also see a lot of sexualised behaviour and phallac imagery i.e. Lady Gaga and Beyonce eating and sharing a sausage roll. In this scene we see an element of intertextuality as there is a relation to the film Kill Bill.
As this scene develops we see a very bright, bold colour scheme and cartoon like images suggesting a post-modern feel. Adding to this, when they enter the diner the director has chosen to use a split screen and on screen effects i.e. poison symbol which also relates back to the cinematic element.


The narrative continues with Lady Gaga and Beyonce poisoning everyone in the diner and we hear loud, exaggerated diegetic sounds of people dying and we see close-ups of the dead corpse. This is a code for death.

A2 Music Video...

For my A2 Media coursework we need to create a music video cover in a group and a album cover individually. I am going to research into different music videos and artists, analysing them and seeing how and what they do to promote themselves. I will look into the codes and conventions of music videos and how to create a product that could look real.
I will research my target audience to find out what exactly they like and what they don't, how certain aspects may be encoded and decoded and how i put across my own preferred reading. I will look into the demographics and psychographics (where they live, what type of income they have, their interests and personality and the image they portray) so i can be extremely specific when regarding who I aim my video at.