Ideology

Ideology is a set of attitudes and beliefs which an individual or group value and see as important. The media is seen as a dominant ideology; this means it reflects certian views for example; in action films such as Die Hard solving problems with force and violence is seen as acceptable. It also includes the way people are represented and this can become very influential to the target audience, as it presents an opinion that people tend to share. Ideologies can also be presented by certian social groups such as the church, law, education and government; these are also known as dominant ideologies.

Ideological Discourse
These are ideas that are debated over in the media. The views taken on these subjects form the basis of our 'social rules'; topics include:
- environment
- sexuality
- racism
- gender
- crime and punishment
- political groups

Research into Digipaks

What is a Digipak?
A digipak is a style of CD, DVD or BD packaging. It folds out like a book and contains things such as lyrics, images of the band or images of scenery. It is mostly used on special addition packaging, for example limited addition, and can be modified to fit a number of discs. This makes the digipak ideal for editions that are special and have multiple discs, for example a 'Greatest Hits' album. The design is trademarked to 'AGI' who originally created it. The weaknesses of a digipak is that the plastic trays that hold the disc are quite brittle and break easily. The 'softer' parts of the digipak are much more breakble, they can be torn easily, the binding can come loose and colours can fade in sunlight (they can be protected by UV coverings).

Breif History of Digipaks
IMPAC Group, Inc. originally owned the Digipak trademark. That company was acquired by MeadWestvaco (MWV) in 2000 and folded into its AGI Media division. Following this, the Digipak name and designs were licensed to manufacturers around the world. MWV sold AGI Media to Atlas Holdings in 2010. In 2012, Atlas purchased Shorewood Packaging from International Paper and merged the two companies to create AGI-Shorewood.

Research into Magazine Adverts for Digipaks, Albums and Singles

I have researched some music magazine adverts, advertising a new album/single for a particular artist. I have analysed some convensions of these adverts and there are a few things I plan to follow in order to make my product professional and appealing.
This is the first image I found. The artist 'Jessie J' is quite disimilar to the artist I am using for my music video. But I think in terms of target audience they are quite a like. Like Marina and the Diamonds, I think Jessie J is an artist that is able to a wide audience in terms of age and lifestyle, but may be slightly more appealing to females rather then males. On the other hand, this advert does carry some less convensional features and the main one being that is doesn't tell the audience where the album is avaliable from. The other adverts below a show that the product is avaliable from places such as hmv.com or play.com. There is also use of the company logo so the audience are able to identify the website and find some familiarity with it. Although there are some features that are less convensional on this advert, there are some other parts which are very common amongst adverts.
These are:
- there is always an 'image' on the advert, whether this be a photograph of the artist
- the advert seems to carry a particular colour scheme
- there is usually reference to the record label the artist is signed to
- the audience are told were the product is avaliable from
- there is a release date
- some of the most famous tracks are advertised
- the advert takes into account any awards the product has got (eg. #1 album)
- the image on the advert is usually the same as the one that is on the front of the CD

 Every artist has thier own genre and the genre of the music is often represented in the adverts and CD packaging. In this case, the artist 'Kings of Leon' have been put under the genres of southern rock alternative rock and garage rock. I think this advert for the bands new album definatly shows the genre of their music. The first thing I noticed was that the advert looked very 'digital'. I think this can represent the intruments used in the band (eg electric guitars). However I think that the main image does look quite 'old fashioned' by the way its edited. This in my opinion could represent the southern and garage part of the genre. Also the idea that the eagle has been edited into the image of the band members could again represent the southern roots. The use of contrasting block colours to make key information stand out, such as the album name and the 'OUT NOW'. Unlike other adverts, this doesn't seem to follow a colour scheme particularly. I does use the 3 primary colours which could show the band isn't artificial and their music is 'real' and 'raw'.


I think that, like I have mentioned, every artist has a genre and genres can massively vary, but they all seem to carry the same convensions. However, I think that without these convensions the adverts produced could be possibly unsuccessful.  By this I mean, I think the audience needs to be provided with key information about the new product; for example, when the CD is released, the name of the band, an image etc...

I have decided to analyse this advert because I wasn't too keen on it and I want to look a bit deeper into it so I can see what convensions this one follows. Firstly I noticed the font used isn't particularly clear and this combind with the colour used is nearly unreadable. Although, I think the chosen colour is used in order to follow the colour scheme and the colous from photgraph. This advert shows the image twice which I think is unnessacry. I think were they 'TARGET' logo has been put looks very out of place and messy. This advert was created after the album was released, I know this because it days 'album in stores now' at the bottom of the page. However this again was a very small and unreadable font and made me question whether this was done deliberatly, prehaps to make people think the album is brand new and up to date; but this advert could of been made a while after the CD was released. This could of been due to poor sales or it being unsuccessful. Overall I think the image doesn't present the artist in a posative way. The props used in the photo are of a royal theme and this could represent the artist in a way that is 'princessy' and 'over the top'. Also, her facial expression looks quite vacant and unimpressed.

After studying this advert, I am going to take great care in assuring my advert is clear and the right information is presented well. I would like it to be bold and eye catching and tell the audience that the album is out now. I want to use one image, similar to the Jessie J and Kings of Leon magazine advert.

 

Photoshoot for Digipak

I plan to take my photos for my digipak before the October half term. I would like to free up as much time as possible for filming during the holiday. I aim to have my photos taken, edited and my digipak complete before then.

Initial Ideas for Digipak

Normally the artist is the main focus in a digipak, and seeing as I will be the one staring in my video, I will also be in my digipak. I think simple mid shots can be effective in a digipak, most of the digipaks I have seen have long shots or mid shots. However I have seen others with one large image folded onto seperate pages. 'Rhianna' did a digipak her album 'Loud'.
Marina and the Diamonds (my artist) hasn't got a digipak for any of her albums so this leaves me with a blank canvas and free to think of my own ideas. I think I am going to create a digipak similar to the one on the left. I will only need 1 image to do the internal part of the digipak and another for the external.







Most of Marina and the Diamonds covers seem to be one of 2 types, one is like this:

 

And the other is like this:

 
Overall I think these 2 groups are very different to eachother. The 1st group of images are newer than the other and look extremly similar, almost as if they have been shot on the same day. The font used on both the images is very similar. The facial expression is very similar and it looks as if they have been edited in the same way. I don't really know why these 2 images have been produced very similarly, it may simply come down to the lack of money. The main differenec in the first 2 images is the fact one is a album and the other is a single. I haven't seen any other artist producing their album/single covers in a way that is so similar to eachother.
The second group of images are again very similar. Alike, the first group, the use of font is the same and the image of the artist looks as if it has been taken from the same photoshoot. In contrast ot the first group,the image of the artist is quite different and the use of colours has a definate contrast.
After studying these album/single covers I think I should create something that is different to these and try to present the message of the music video in my digipak. I need 2 images and I don't want these images to be really similar like the current covers here. I plan to do 2 seperate photoshoots, with costume changes. I want to use www.dafont.com to use a font that is edgy and uncommon. I think it would be easy to choose a current font from a word processer, but I think it could make my digipak look amature and uninteresting. I want my digipak to carry a lot of representations, for example I think I should use colours like red, white and blue, to connote Americanisation, but also British heretige.

Digipak Templates and Designs

     
This is a 6 panelled digipak. This is the design I am most likely to use because it has quite a lot of panels. This means that I will need 6 different photos for each individual panel. On this template the CD plate is in the middle, but this can be moved around and will only affect the way the digipak folds. I have also thought about taking a photo that could be spread across 3 internal panels and took this idea from the Rhianna digipak above. This design does widen my potential, by this I mean I can choose to use sets of large photos, one per panel or a mixture. I will only need to place one CD plate in the digipak so I need to choose an image that would be appropriate to place under the CD plate as the image can be slightly magnified or unclear. This means I will need a variety of images to try, because if I only took one image and it didn't work, it could mess up the rest of the digipak. I think the images need to be related in someway, for example all black and white. I think if lots of different images are used (like very different locations), it can look unproffesional and look as if no effort was made.

Another 2 Panel Design

  This is another design for a digipak. This has one more panel than the first design and this means it will require 2 more images to fill them. It also has 2 CD panels so would more likely to be used prehaps for a  special addiction album, such as greatest hits or all the artosts songs; or a DVD, for example a blu-ray and DVD edition or a 2 part DVD. I think this layout is less likely to be used for a CD due to the 2 CD panels. After doing some research on the internet I haven't be able to find any digipaks with 2 CD panels, so I think this is likely to be a less convensional method.

Digital Technology

Digital technology is crutial to producing my music video. I will be using a variety of technologies to produce my coursework. Overall, I think out of all the things I will use to create my video, the majority of them will be digital. I think that using digital technology can make a product look professional; it can also take a lot less time. You can have more choice on things like fonts, colours and designs.

Some Media Theories

- Hypodermic Needle - the media 'injects' the passive audience with a message they are powerless to resist (discredited). The phrasing "hypodermic needle" is meant to give a mental image of the direct, strategic, and planned infusion of a message into an individual. But as research methodology became more highly developed, it became apparent that the media had selective influences on people.

- Drip, drip, drip effect, cultivation effect - the repetition of messages does have some effect on the audience. For instance, reporting of crime heightens our fear of crime (cultivation differential). Cultivation theory in its most basic form, then, suggests that exposure to television, over time, subtly "cultivates" viewers' perceptions of reality. Gerbner and Gross say "television is a medium of the socialization of most people into standardized roles and behaviors.

- Two-Step Flow - the media introduces us to ideas (step one), we discuss these ideas with others and reach an opinion (step two). a 1940s study on social influence that states that media effects are indirectly established through the personal influence of opinion leaders. The majority of people receive much of their information and are influenced by the media secondhand, through the personal influence of opinion leaders.

- Limited Effect - the media doesn't affect us as much as we are media literate, sophisticated readers of texts. Suggests that not everything is taken onboard and believed.
- Media Dependency - the belief that we come to need the media (and is this an addition or a choice?) People rely on the media for knowledge of the world around them.

Uses and Gratifications - This theory is about "what people do with media" rather than "what media does to people" (Katz, 1959). It assumes that members of the audience are not passive but take an active role in interpreting and intergrating media into their own lives. The theory also holds that audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their needs. The approach suggests that people use the media to fulfill specific gratifications.

Blumler and Brown 1982 - Four primary factors for which one may use the media:

- Diversion - something to do, escaping from reality and problems.

- Personal Realtionships - using media to discuss with friends afterwards (last night's EastEnders), media as a substitute for 'real contact' (more complex in age of Facebook?) Does this fit with 'Two Step Flow'?

- Personal Identity and Individual Psychology - defining yourself by your media texts, building your sense of self.

- Surveillance - finding out about the world, finding out info.

Gratification of Media

McQuail (1983) classified the following common reasons for media use:

Information
- finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings
society and the world
- seeking advice on practial matter or opinion and decision choices
- satisfying curiosity and general interest
- learning; self education
- gaining a sense of security though knowledge

Personal Indentity
- finding reinforcement for personal values
- finding models of behaviour (to some extent)
- identifying with valued others in the media (in this case a music artist)
- gaining insight into oneself

Intergration and Social
- gaining insight into the circumstances of others; social empathy
- identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging
- finding a basis for conversation and social interaction
- having a sunstitute for real-life companionship
- helping to carry out social roles
- enabling one to connect with family, friends and society (mainly friends)

Entertainment
- escaping, or being diverted, from problems
- relaxing
- getting intrinsic cultural ar aesthetic enjoyment
- filling time
- emotional release
- erotic/sexual arousal
How is this releavent to my music video?
I think my video presents an opinion of the Americanisation of other cultures. I am going to present my ideas and opinions on this topic using characters and prossibly the use of reverse editing. I think that I also cover the 'self education' aspect of this title. I will try to educate my audience about the negative parts of Americaisation.
I think this is the category that my music video will link to my video most out of all the others. The narrative in my music video is all about personal identity and people changing to fit in with others. As my video gives a more negative portrayal of Americanisation, I think the audience will definatly gain insight to themselves and identify with other people in the media. I think this is a strong category because I think that people are influenced by idols; I don't know if it will find reinforcement in personal values, because it depends on the individuals opinion before the viewing. I think it could be quite reinforcing, posative and appealing if they agree with the opinion.
I think my video could provide (to some extent) cultural insight and insight into social roles.
I don't think my video contains some of the aspects like escaping or diverting from problems.

Specific Target Audience

My specific target audience in terms of:

Age
I think my audience can vary in this category. I think that the music alone could appeal to people aging from early teenage years to middle age. However in terms of the music video I think the original video appeals to a smaller market of younger people as party atmosphere created in the video is normally associated with young people. In my video I would like to try to appeal to a slightly wider audience. I think that making a music video to appeal to all people would be difficult and not every genre of music appeals to everyone. My video is going to carry more of a 'story' to it rather than just a theme. In my opinion this is going to appeal to a slightly older market such as late teens onwards. Videos have been created and aimed at a younger audience that has a story line, but I think they don't carry a particularly meaningful narrative. This is one reason why my video is aimed at an older audience.

Gender
I think the original song and video would appeal more to females. I think that I will have to create a video to appeal more to females because of the song. I think the narrative in my video will stereotypically appeal to women more as it is about wanting to become an idol and becoming Americanised. I am not going to make my video particularly girly, by this I mean I don't want to appeal strictly to women. I think Americanisation effects both genders but I think my narrative containing more females than males will appeal more to women, because I think it is easier to relate to someone of your own gender. 

Lifestyle
I think that this category is very broad. I think it would be difficult to appeal to appeal to a target audience with one specific lifestyle. I think that I will appeal more to people with certian interests. As I have said I am aiming to appeal to females more than males, and this is the main thing that effects the lifestyle of my audience.

Interests
I think my audience are going to have to be interested in certian things such as American idols. I don't think my audience have to have really specific interests such as make up or Americanisation. But, I think they will need to be able to relate to the idea of American traditions and other things spreading throughout the world.

Socio-Economic Group
I think my video, like the original could appeal to a large selection of the socio-economic groups. I think that everyone, despite thier class is able to relate in some way to Americanisation. For example, most students attend their senior school prom and upper class people can buy American brands in terms of cars, clothes, furniture etc.. I think its hard to avoid no matter what class you are in as things change very gradually throughout socio-economic groups. 

Why have I chosen this target auidence?
I am keeping my target audience fairly similar to the audience of the original video. I have chosen a fairly wide audience, the one big matter being the fact it will be prodominatly a female audience. I think that the song has appealed to a large audience and therefore should have a video that represents this. I want to create a video that appeals to all of the audience, because as I have mentioned the current video in my opinion appeals to a smaller market than the song itself.

Are they convensional?
I think there are many videos that appeal to either just females or just males. I think my audience are in some aspects convensional and in others not. The convensional part of my audience is the 'all female' aspect and that it doesn't nessacarily appeal to one socio-economic group. Personally, I think that videos become liked because of the persons taste in music (leading them to a particular lifestyle), rather than what class they are from. Some people argue that your lifestyle is determind by your class, whereas I believe that people are able to live a certian lifestyle despite their class. For example, students are from a lower class but this doesn't stop some leading lavish lifestyles. Students can be people working full time with good pay and be students aswell. 

Is there a gap in the market? Is my market niche or mass?
I think there is a gap in the market for my video as I hope it will appeal to a wide audience. I believe that the majority music videos appeal to a small market, in terms of age, gender and lifestyle. I think there are less videos appealing to a mass market as the genre of the music normally appeals to a certian type of person. For example, someone quite gothic would probably prefer rock music to pop music. I think my video is going to appeal to people that don't nessacerily fall into a category such as goth, indie, etc... and this I think is the largest market there is.

Audience, Genre, Narrative and Representations

I want my video to be about ‘me’ living in an American obsessed world and about how everybody is become more and more Americanised and lean towards more American stereotypes. I want to do this by filming myself as ‘non american’ and filming addition talent becoming increasingly more American; I was also thinking about doing this in reverse, in terms of people becoming more of themselves. For example, I want one person to idolised Marilyn Monroe and her journey to becoming more and more like her. I chose this because I want the video to be obviously about America, I’ve also chosen additional stereotypes like; prom queens, drag queens, and ‘perfect looking’ men. I want the video to have no partying scenes in like the original. I think that the original video is more about people wanting to be American and follow their footsteps, and simply presenting this change in a positive way. On the other hand, I would like mine to portray this change in a more negative way and how ‘I think’ this change is unnecessary and irreversible, and how I feel on my own in this opinion, but can’t stop myself becoming more Americanised. However, I also want to present the idea in way that shows that the ‘change’ is happening gradually and people do it without noticing. I can do this in a fairly discrete way, for example on shots of me making very small changes, so at the end I am one of the stereotypes. I am making very sure that I make the opinion obvious to give my video a different message to the one in the original video.

Another idea that I have had is just focusing on one characters journey. For example idolising the American icon and their journey to become or undo being thier idol. I still want to give out this message of Americanisation of other cultures is a bad thing. Again, I believe the music video for this song doesn't represent the message from the song and I would like my video to be a lot more obvious in it's representations and narrative. 

The genre of the song is 'indie pop' and 'new wave'. I think my video should match the genre of music in a 'pop' sort of way. By this I mean using convensions such as bright colours and upbeat videos. However the genre is also represented as 'new wave'. This is a subgenre of rock music and I think this means that I can use some less convensional ideas because the genre of rock as a whole is quite diverse and videos can be similar or extremly different. Most of the Marina and the Diamonds songs carry certian themes like the 'vintage' theme I have talked about in previous posts. I think this is something that is quite unconvensionsal in terms of the genre. Indie pop is stereotypically acoustic songs and the artists don't particularly have a striking image. Also, I was surprised when I found out that her songs fall under the 'new wave' genre as I don't think I would associate rock with Marina and the Diamonds, and I mean both her music and music videos. 

I think this artist has a fairly wide spread target audience and doesn't nessacarily appeal to one 'type' of person. The one thing I would say is that I think it mainly appeals to females rather than males. Apart from this, I think that it could appeal to anyone from very girly young girls to older women.