Lana Dey Ray - Video Games - Analysis Of Music Video

The video begins with a mid-shot of Lana Del Rey then cuts a hand held shot of two couples on bikes which immediately portrays to the viewer that the song is going to be about love/ a lost love. It then cuts to a shot of people jumping into a swimming pool and then to a shot of a cartoon Disney character highlighting the playfulness of the song and conveying with the title 'Video Games'

This random shot of a rose is shown in between shots of Lana singing, it flows the the music as it opens up and expands, roses also suggests love accompanied by the subtle pink colour. This has inspired us when we do our music video to have small clips of things they may accompany the footage nicely and that don't make the video too boring conveying the the conventions of a music video which is to also have the location and shots changing.

The video also uses a lot of Black and White to portray a memory or old time filming. This, we found very inspiring as we thought that looking back on a memory or reminiscing could really be emphasised and made clear to the viewer by showing a clear contrast using black and white or perhaps sepia/old film.

This mid-shot of a couple is something else that we really liked. It also (like the b/w shots) portrays a memory and represents the running theme in the long which is love. For our music video, we thought that we could use images of a couple to also convey the meaning of the song.

The music video also uses random shots of America, it shows yellow taxi's, Hollywood, the American flag, stars on the floor and the streets. This we felt was inspiring for our music video so we thought that when took a trip to New York, we could film some footage there and then use the recycled footage from London to show a variety of locations without making it look totally random because of the narrative.

In between all of the shots above they show close ups of Lana Del Ray singing. She is shown wearing different costumes and not always in the same location although some are repeated which conveys with the conventions of a music video. This is great for the viewer as they can see who the narrative of the song is relating back to along with her being the USP of the song for her fans.

The video uses literal imagery. This shot of a boy falling off of his skate board is shown when the lyrics 'watching all our friends fall' is sung. We found this very interesting as it gives a different take on what a music video is about and takes on a more controversial role of being unique. We thought we could use this in our video and make it a running theme throughout for example, a shot of a church when we hear the church bells at the beginning.

The shots of the car journeys we thought could be interesting for our music video as it gives a sense of reality, making the lyrics seam more real and meaningful rather then fake and completely edited.

The video displays shots of Paz de la Huerta (an American film star) falling over whilst intoxicated. We thought that the paparazzi footage worked well for the randomness in the video but didn't feel we could use it in our music video due to the fact that we would like to be original.

Purpose of the music video: Lana Del Ray filmed the music video using her web cam. She was inspired by a quote that her ex boyfriend had said,  "I think we came together because we were both outsiders. It was perfect. But I think with that contentment also comes sadness. There was something heavenly about that life – we'd go to work and he'd play his video games – but also it was maybe too regular."

Lana Del Rey - Video Games - Lyrics analysed

CHANGE OF SONG

When we filmed our footage for our Nero video we used a HD camera, but then when we came to edit at school the software couldn't cope with the higher resolution. By the time the school had installed new software the deadline for both the video and blog was too close for us to possibly make a quality piece of work so we instead have entered our coursework for June 2012.
 We have used this setback to our advantage, and decided to use a different song. 'Promies' by Nero is very fast paced and we thought it would be in our best interests to use a slower song, which would make things like lip synching a lot easier. The song we have chosen to now use is 'Video Games' by Lana Del Rey. Video Games is a love song and is in the 'Pop/Indie Pop' genre.

Advertising - Facebook

Advertising is a very important part of marketing in the music industry because it gives people the chance to get exclusive photos, interviews, previews and film paraphernalia. Facebook is a very good way to advertise our music video because basically everyone who is our target audience has a facebook account. It is modern and it is a successful way to market a music video.

Britney Spears 'Toxic' Music Video Analysis

Lyrics
Baby, can't you see
I'm calling
A guy like you
Should wear a warning
It's dangerous
I'm fallin'

There's no escape
I can't wait
I need a hit
Baby, give me it
You're dangerous
I'm lovin' it

Too high
Can't come down
Losing my head
Spinning 'round and 'round
Do you feel me now

With a taste of your lips
I'm on a ride
You're toxic
I'm slipping under
With a taste of poison paradise
I'm addicted to you
Don't you know that you're toxic
And I love what you do
Don't you know that you're toxic

It's getting late
To give you up
I took a sip
From my devil cup
Slowly
It's taking over me

Too high
Can't come down
It's in the air
And it's all around
Can you feel me now

With a taste of your lips
I'm on a ride
You're toxic
I'm slipping under
With a taste of poison paradise
I'm addicted to you
Don't you know that you're toxic
And I love what you do
Don't you know that you're toxic

Don't you know that you're toxic
Taste of my lips and having fun
With a taste of your lips
I'm on a ride
You're toxic
I'm slipping under
With a taste of poison paradise
I'm addicted to you
Don't you know that you're toxic
And I love what you do
Don't you know that you're toxic

With a taste of your lips
I'm on a ride
You're toxic
I'm slipping under
With a taste of poison paradise
I'm addicted to you
Don't you know that you're toxic
And I love what you do
Don't you know that you're toxic

I'm intoxicated now
I think you'll love it now
I think I'm ready now
I think I'm ready now
I'm intoxicated now
I think you'll love it now
I think I'm ready now

Music
The music of toxic is the kind of fast-paced dance track that made Britney famous, which is reflected in the rapid editing of the video. The lyrics are more sexual than her previous music videos and have drug implications to them, for example "I'm addicted to you" and the word "Toxic" this could suggest that because she is getting older, she wants to try new things that are dangerous.

Mise en Scene
Being a pop song, the music video for Toxic is based around choreography and dance routines. The dancing is mostly simple, which appeals to the target audience of young girls and 'tweens' because they can learn the dances themselves with their friends. However, the dance routines are more sexual which could suggest that she is trying to expand her target audience to young women and young men. There are many props that she is using during the music video.

The plane is the one of the first props that the audience will see, this prop connects together with the first character that she is portraying which is an air hostess. This helps the fact that she is in that costume make sense and also gives a feel of luxury and difference to other music videos that were around at the time the music video was released.

Here the prop is a motor bike, like the picture above, this prop connects with her goth rock costume that she is wearing whilst on the motor bike. The bike is new for the time that the music video was set and its clearly expensive. Also its shows materialism and how she can have expensive things, furthermore there is colour coding again of red which suggests danger and passion.

 Here the characters are portraying 'hookers' in a shop window. This is again establishing the sexual theme and almost shows women as sexual objects that can be purchased.

 Here is the prop of a key to get into the place where she can get the "Toxic" that she wants. It is important to show that she has the key to what she wants in the palm of her hands. This prop shows danger because she is breaking into a volt to get the item that she needs.

Here is shows a close up of here collecting the prop that she needs. The prop is a small bottle is filled with a green liquid. The colour green is commonly associated with poison and it is green so the audience can identify that this is the poison that she needs.

 Here the black leather gloves are used to kill which stereotypically criminals use to kill their victims. This is the same for Britney as shows danger and power. She uses her sexuality to seduce her victim then uses the prop of the toxic bottle to kill him.












 Narrative

The song "Toxic" illustrates to the audience how Britney is changing into a woman and how her interests are changing as she gets older. There are more lyrics with sexual references than before and lyrics that have drug/sex/danger connotations to them. She is breaking out from her "hit me baby one more time" days and is showing how she has matured. Also it could be said that she is showing, through the characters within this music video, how she wants to escape and become different people and also how she has a split personality.

 Here Britney starts the music video as a air hostess but the costume that she is wearing is more "sexed" up than you would expect a real life air hostess to wear. When she walks down the isle in this costume the audience gets a glance of her underwear which shows how she is breaking out from a cute teenager to a mature woman. When the audience sees her underwear, the action is purposely there, despite the fact its subtle, and to force the audience into seeing her in a different way than they had before and this action carries sexual connotations.

 Here her costume has more of a goth rock feel to it, this suggests that she has many different styles and she even has red hair which could be colour coding and red symbolises danger or passion. In this particular scene she is on the back of a motor bike which stereotypically ties in with her costume.

 One of the last scenes in the music video is Britney climbing a huge building to seduce and poison the man inside. Here she has dark brown/black hair and has her stomach exposed and has black leather gloves on. This costume, again, has sexual connotations to them and is more of a dark and dangerous character that she is portraying.

In all of these photos, the audience will clearly see that Britney is playing women in different roles which all are powerful and use their sex to get what they want. Furthermore it could suggest that she has many personalities and likes to portray them in her music videos, additionally, she uses the theme of playing different types of women in music videos that she does after "Toxic". All of these character changes have a close up so the audience can identify that Britney is playing all the women within the music video.

Camera Shots
The Camera work that is used show many shots such as close ups, establishing shots, two shots, medium length shots, extreme close ups, long shots and montage.

Here we have an establishing shot, this shows the audience that Britney is on a plane and also shows that the plane doesn't look like regular planes that you would see in day to day life. This shows that the music video has mixes of reality and fantasy.

 Here is a med-length shot that shows Britney on the phone dressed as a air hostess which is the first character that the audience will see and also the last. The med-length shots helps the audience realise who the character is and what she is portraying.

 Here is a med shot of a character that also is playing a air hostess like Britney, also they are almost dancing whilst attending to the people who are on the plane. These characters only have a small part within the music video as the most part of the video is focused on Britney and the storyline which these characters help to illustrate.

Here is an extreme close up of Britney's face which shows how she has her make-up and also the look that she has in her eye which is important for the following scene when she sets her eyes on the man that has the key to the volt. This shot also helps the audience identify that the character is Britney and keeps the focus on her.

 Here there is a two shot of Britney and the man that she is seducing to get the key to the volt. This scene is electrified with sexual movements and actions which keeps the theme of sex.

Here is a long shot of Britney which shows what she is wearing and a character change. Also it shows the Eiffel Tower in the background which is a establishing shot because the Eiffel Tower is a famous land mark in Paris. This shows the viewer that she is now a different women and shows the look that she is going for within this particular scene.








Editing

There is rapid editing throughout the music video which keeps up with the fast pace of the song. The editing is in sync with the song lyrics, for example the first lyric is "baby can't you see I'm calling" and she is on the telephone whilst she is singing this lyric. This helps the audience understand the story that she is telling and makes the music video easier and more pleasurable to watch.

Analysing A Magazine Advert

This magazine advert for Beyonce's perfume 'Heat' is completely based around the picture of her. She is the unique selling point for this product -- you do not need anything else to sell the product because she is so highly looked at.

The fact that Beyonce is wearing red accentuates her sexual nature and creates a desirable attraction for both male and female; even though it is for the female sex to use, when males look at this advert they will automatically remember it and therefore think of it when buying a gift for a female.

The perfume bottle is highlighted. This draws attention to the product being sold. However, because it is smaller than Beyonce is portrays that they are not only trying to sell the purfume but are selling Beyonce as well.

The tag line 'Catch The Fever' emphasises the sentual feel of the advert and displays the main selling point of the purfume which is all about heat and catching on to the new trends.

Examples of Magazine Adverts

What is a Magazine Advert?

This is an example of a Magazine advert. Here it is showing the Artist, (Florence and the Machine), its showing the album cover so people who are looking at the advert know what album to buy. It shows what forms the album comes in, (CD, Deluxe, Vinyl and Digital), its shows the release date and also the extra bonus tracks that are on the album.
This is a effective and an efficient way into advertising a artist, furthermore, it also keeps the fans up to date with their artist and also gives them a sneak preview at what the album cover looks like. The better the advert, the better the sales will be. This advert is particularly good because the artwork is suited well to the artist, its unique like the artist and also has symmetry in the sense the album is called lungs and there is a picture of the artist with her lungs exposed. There's not too much going on which helps the viewer of the advert identify the most important information within the advert, which would be, the albums name, the artist and when it is released.
Even though the primary reason is for advertising, the magazine advert can also serve the purpose of marketing. If the advert is in a music magazine such as NME, viewers will look through the magazine and could come across the advert, they might like the look of the picture on the advert and then research the artist and listen to their tracks which could result in a purchase of the album. If the advert is put in the right magazines then it will reach the target audience and also will ensure sales of the album.

What Is A Digipack?

Digipaks is what comes with a CD when your purchase it.
They are made up of;
                          A front cover which is usually a picture of the artist or of the artists name.

                   The back of the digipak usually has the track's order and track names on it.

Inside the digipak there are most likely to be pictures of the artist (for a band usually each band member has their own page with either a bio or a collection of pictures of that particular member).

Also inside, many artists have their lyrics so their fans can follow along and sing every word, sometimes there are information of their next album release, tours, or signings and also there is information about where the artists recorded their album.

                           The CD either has a picture of the artist on it or of the band/artists name.

Furthermore most albums will have a sneak preview of a track that they will be releasing either on their next album or in a few weeks time. Also the CD usually has a bonus track that doesn't get released like the rest of the singles on the album, this can be benificial to the artist because if many people enjoy the track (which can be found out through facebook, twitter e.g. fans tweeting the artist) the artist then can release it. This is important to the fans because they feel like they're being allowed to get a preview that no one else will know about until the release date.

Digipaks are very important to the artist and the fans.
 The artist has an opportunity to give the fans what they want in the sense of pictures, a message to them and information which will keep their fans happy and loyal. They also have a chance to express their creative side by designing a digipak that represents them as a band or artist and also to illustrate their difference from other artists. This is very important for the marketing of a band.
 The fans have an opportunity to receive pictures of their artist that they can only find once they have purchased the CD, they also can learn things about the artist or band members that they might not have known before. They can also read the lyrics to the songs that they love and feel closer to their artist by knowing the songs that they sing and reading either bio's or a personal message that the artist may have included in the digipak.


                                                                       Nero Digipak

As you can see the front cover of the digipak has the band's name on it which helps the fans identify what CD they're buying. On the back of the digipak is a list of the tracks that the CD has on it. The CD also has the band's name which again reinforces who the fans are listening to and it is a form of branding for the band. 

Digipaks

Here are several example's of what a digipak looks like. There are many different styles with different types of images that are shown, some are mainly of the artist such as Rihanna, Britney and Katy Perry, whilst others are images that are represent the genre of music such as the dubstep digipak. This digipak is what you would expect of a club type CD and digipak. Dubstep is mostly played in clubs, the ministry of sound logo is on the digipak which is commonly associated with night clubs.