Choosing a format : CD Designs

rounded clear cd case

This is simple minimalistic cd case design and is similar to how I would have my design for the cd case, however there are certain issues with this case compared with a generic cd case; for instance, there isn't alot possibility to have a booklet with the album art cover on it, because there would be nowhere to slip it and in order to draw attention to the case, there would have to be bright obvious artwork on the front of the cd.

conventional plastic cd case

This cd case is more of a conventional design; it is more practical design, and compared with the previous cd design displaying album artwork and including a booklet will be easier. In order to make the cd case interesting and appeal to audiences, the album artwork will have to be eye-catching. However, the case is fairly conventional, and although the most practical, I don't believe it looks as professional as the other cd cases. Millions of these cd cases are sold every year, and therefore I don't think they express 'Blighters' individuality.

3 panelled CD case

One of the more practical designs for designs for cd cases is the three-panelled case, as there is enough room for artwork on the front and within the inside of the case, also there is enough room for a booklet to be placed inside as well, or to have the information on the insides panels instead of having a booklet. I like this design as it's more professional, however if this was on sale it would normally have more than one cd inside it, because of the amount of space created by the panels.

Cardboard cd case with inside pocket

Although, this is a digipak, if it could be made into cd case size it would be appropriate, because there is the practical aspect in the plastic holding for the cd - so it doesn't slip out. The inside pocket of the case is practical and convenient as slipping the booklet inside it is easier than in a plastic cd case, however because there isn't anything holding a booklet into place when opening the cd case it could slip out.

Male Gaze Theory : Laura Mulvey

The 'male gaze theory' is an idea that feminists believe draws attention to the imbalance between male and females, due to living in a predominately patriarchal society and has analysed how women are viewed by men, and because of the what the men believe: how women view themselves.

"Mulvey identifies three "looks" or perspectives that occur in film which serve to sexually objectify women"

1. how the male characters view the female characters

2. how the spectators view the female characters

3. the male spectator taking on the perspective of the male character; this is essentially joining 'look one' and 'look two'.

The third way of viewing ('look three') enables the male spectator to become the male character within the film, and therefore allows him to have the female character as his personal sex object, because he is viewing her in the way that the male character is.

"Mulvey is best known for her essay, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema", written in 1973 and published in 1975 in the influential British film theory journal Screen. It later appeared in a collection of her essays entitled Visual and Other Pleasures, and numerous other anthologies. Her article was one of the first major essays that helped shift the orientation of film theory towards a psychoanalytic framework, influenced by the theories of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan. Prior to Mulvey, film theorists such as Jean-Louis Baudry and Christian Metz had attempted to use psychoanalytic ideas in their theoretical accounts of the cinema, but Mulvey's contribution was to inaugurate the intersection of film theory, psychoanalysis, and feminism.

Mulvey's article engaged in no empirical research on film audiences. She instead stated that she intended to make a "political use" of Freud and Lacan, and then used some of their concepts to argue that the cinematic apparatus of classical Hollywood cinema inevitably put the spectator in a masculine subject position, with the figure of the woman on screen as the object of desire. In the era of classical Hollywood cinema, viewers were encouraged to identify with the protagonist of the film, who tended to be a man. Meanwhile, Hollywood female characters of the 1950s and 60s were, according to Mulvey, coded with "to-be-looked-at-ness." Mulvey suggests that there were two distinct modes of the male gaze of this era: "voyeuristic" (i.e. seeing women as 'whores') and "fetishistic" (i.e. seeing women as 'madonnas').

Mulvey argued that the only way to annihilate the "patriarchal" Hollywood system was to radically challenge and re-shape the filmic strategies of classical Hollywood with alternative feminist methods. She called for a new feminist avant-garde filmmaking that would rupture the magic and pleasure of classical Hollywood filmmaking. She wrote, "It is said that analysing pleasure or beauty annihilates it. That is the intention of this article."

Some feminists criticized "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema," claiming that, while Mulvey believed that classical Hollywood cinema reflected and shaped the "patriarchal order," the perspective of her writing actually remained within that very heterosexual order. The article was thus said to have contradicted its "radical" claims, by actually being a covert perpetuation of heterosexual patriarchal order. This was because, in her article, Mulvey presupposes the spectator to be a heterosexual man. She was thus felt to be denying the existence of lesbian women, gay men, heterosexual women, and those outside of these identities.

"Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" was the subject of much interdisciplinary discussion among film theorists that continued into the mid 1980s. Critics of the article objected to the fact that her argument implied the impossibility of genuine 'feminine' enjoyment of the classical Hollywood cinema, and to the fact that her argument did not seem to take into account spectatorships that were not organised along the normative lines of gender. For example, a metaphoric 'transvestism' might be possible when viewing a film – a male viewer might enjoy a 'feminine' point-of-view provided by a film, or vice versa; gay, lesbian and bisexual spectatorships might also be different. Her article also did not take into account the findings of the later wave of media audience studies on the complex nature of fan cultures and their interaction with stars. Gay male film theorists such as Richard Dyer have used Mulvey's work as a starting point to explore the complex projections that many gay men fix onto certain female stars (e.g. Liza Minnelli, Greta Garbo, Judy Garland).

Feminist critic Gaylyn Studlar wrote extensively to contradict Mulvey's central thesis that the spectator is male and derives visual pleasure from a dominant, sadistic perspective. Studlar suggested rather that visual pleasure for all audiences is derived from a passive, masochistic perspective, where the audience seeks to be powerless and overwhelmed by the cinematic image.

Mulvey later wrote that her article was meant to be a provocation or a manifesto, rather than a reasoned academic article that took all objections into account. She addressed many of her critics, and changed some of her opinions, in a follow-up article, "Afterthoughts on 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema'" (which also appears in the Visual and Other Pleasures collection)." Source : www.wikipedia.com

Representation in Music Videos: Kanye West & Marilyn Manson

Impressions of Kanye West:
*Arrogant
*Rude - insulted Taylor Swift

Impressions of Marilyn Manson:
*weird - 'rib surgery rumour'
*disturbed - music is blamed for high school massacres'
*iconoclast ---> takes iconic symbols and twists them

"Gold Digger" Kanye West ft. Jamie Foxx

women are represented as:
*sex objects
*gold-diggers
*slags

Throughout the music video irony is used in order to excuse the depiction of women as the artist's says he loves the girl, so it's okay if she's a gold-digger.

SEX OBJECTS
___________

*Sexualised; close up of the girls.
*Binary opposites.
*Voyeuristic camera angles.
*Animated pornographic magazine.

VAIN
____

*Close-ups of the woman putting lipstick on - sensual part of the body.
*Lack of clothing; sexy underwear.

SELFISH
_______

*One girl in the mise-en-scene; main focus of the shot, attention seeking.
*"Gold-digger" - just want's the man's money, lack of emotion.
*Eye contact; sirens, draws the male audience in - makes the audience members feel important.

MANIPULATIVE
_____________

*Dancing close to Kanye, attempting to win him over? Keep his attention.
*Figures of entrapment; half dressed, sexualised dancing.

MUTE PASSIVE
____________

*Strip club; have to please the men.
*Pin-ups; normally 2D, vacant expressions - the women are 3D, yet still have vacant expressions, animated pin-ups.
*Cheap women; link them to the price on the magazines.
*Vulnerable - lack of clothing, have no control.

DANGEROUS
__________

*"Vixen" - take on the magazine title's as their personality.
*Aggressive; black costume and black background and fire.

"Tainted Love" Marilyn Manson

Women are representated as:
*Aggressive - apart from the cheerleader and stripper.
*Sex objects; sexualised dancing, lack of clothing.
*Bedroom toys; dressed as rabbits, childhood stuffed animals.
*Powerful; female leads the 'alternative' group in.

'Alternatives' are represented as:
*Fierce
*Powerful; take over/control over the party.
*More controlling; inverted stereotypes, influencing people.

_____________________________________

Both "Gold-digger" and "Tainted Love" both have representations of women, however in Kanye West's video, it is a more negative view and it suggests that there is only one type of woman - they're all gold~diggers, manipulative, and are sex objects; whereas in Marilyn Manson's video it shows different types of women, and inverts the stereotypes because the women are shown as more powerful and in control; there is a sense of, both, stereotype conformation and opposition, because the cheerleader is seen as dumb, annoying and 'easy' but the 'alternatives' are in control of the party and a level of influence as they change some of the party goers into 'alternatives'.

other video images linked to "The Fear"

bright colours, generic of the poprock genre, as shown in Mcfly's video "five colours in her hair"



one of five/six locations within Pink's video, "lets get this party started"

The Fear, Lily Allen

Name of music video: The Fear

Artist: Lily Allen

Release Date: January 26th 2009

The imagery used juxtapose each other throughout the video as in the start she is in a caravan which suggests a lower income situation compared with the end of the video where she is in mansion which gives the impression of a higher income situation. The contrast between these two locations implies a split in society and that there is a vast, ever growing, gap between higher income families and lower income family. In the beginning of the video, the lyrics are saying "I want to be rich, and I want lots of money" which gives the impression that the artist is representing someone who thinks that being rich will solve all their problems, this reflects how society is at the moment, and how there is a celebrity culture and that's what people to aspire to. The celebrity culture could be perceived to be directly mentioned within the song, as she sings “now everything is cool as long as I’m getting thinner” because there has been controversy in the news about celebrity women becoming dangerously thin and thinking that it’s okay. However, at 1.27 in the video she sings “but it doesn’t matter ‘cuz I’m packing plastic and that’s what makes my life so fucking fantastic” the lyrics suggests that it being rich and famous doesn’t necessarily bring happiness, this is represented through the language used “fucking.” Throughout the entire video, however, the same colour scheme is used which suggests that the rich and poor are closer than society thinks, not necessarily in monetary value but in the sense they are each poor in one way; for instance, the rich are perceived as lacking in happiness and the poor lacking money.

The imagery within “The Fear” suggests that the pop/pop rock genre. The bright colours and the light feel to the location conform to the pop genre, however the lyrics contrast the normal bubbly feel that pop songs have giving it a darker edge. “I'll take my clothes off and it will be shameless, 'Cuz everyone knows that's how you get famous”, this suggests that even in the ‘happier’ situations there is always a darker edge to peoples’ lives. The location is represented as a childlike and surreal place, which could be an implication as to how the public may perceive celebrities and their lifestyles to be like – childish and surreal, as they appear to get/have everything they want and their lives aren’t average and ‘normal’, the sense of surrealism and celebrities lives diverting from the norm is strengthened by the lyrics “I don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore,” also the use of moving presents/gifts are surreal and childlike and strengthen the thought that celebrities get everything they want. The use of a large house as one of the main locations, appeals to the aspirational demographic as it is something that they can aspire to that portrays wealth and success; it may also appeal to a wider range of audiences as because many audiences will aspire to wealth and success, not only the aspirational demographic.

The artist is also represented and promoted throughout the video, due to the close ups and tracking shots of the artist; also the lack of other people within the video strengthens the artists’ profile as it is only her that is portrayed on camera, although there is one point in the video where there are male dancers because the camera is tracking the artist, the attention is still on her, and the only other point within the video where there are people they are portrayed dressed as presents/gifts which, again, because the artist is the only realistic person within the mise-en-scene, she becomes the main focus. Many of Lily Allen’s previous videos have her as the main focus within the mise-en-scene, and similar motifs are used – tracking shots in particular are used throughout many of her videos as are close-up shots; for instance in her video “LND” the camera tracks all the way through the video and in “Smile” there is a strong use of close-ups, both tracking shots and close-ups are used with “The Fear.” Due to being the focus of many of her videos, this has made her relatable to the audiences as her music has a face and people can not only name her music but can also name her. It also boosts her public profile and helps her when she introduces other aspects to her career, such as a clothing range or is in a TV show, because the audiences will recognize her from her videos and because of her music and if they like her, they may just watch the show or buy her clothing ranges because they are created by her or she is making an appearance.

The target audience for the Lily Allen appears to be within the 16-25 age range and the artists is aimed mainly at the female sectors of the audience, according to my research of Lily Allen’s music page on www.myspace.co.uk; however there are a large sector of her fan base who are male. The main attraction to Lily Allen is the themes within her songs are relatable., for instance in “littlest things” she talks about having broken up with her boyfriend and how the smallest thing reminds her of him “the littlest things that take me there” the majority of the audience, both male and female, would be able to relate to the song. However, this can also dissatisfy members of the audience if the general themes within her songs are about relationship break-ups, then people – although sectors of the audience may be experience this, and may be part of her fan base - could, perhaps, feel uncomfortable when listening to the songs as it is too close to their hearts. Nevertheless the motifs throughout Lily Allen’s songs satisfy the poprock genre through the general themes of heartbreak and life experiences, also the locations and bright colourful [and use of many] props suggest the poprock genre similar to “McFly, 5 colours in her hair” and “P!nk, Get this party started.”

www.myspace.co.uk was mainly used as Lily Allen’s forum for distributing her music [especially her demos] and appears to be the appropriate outlet as she was struggling to promote her music through her record company, Regal Recordings, and by using www.myspace.co.uk she was able promote her music herself; however Regal Recordings were “slow on responding” to the demand for reports on her, as not many people outside her A&R department knew who she was. Through using www.myspace.co.uk, Lily Allen was able to promote her music, almost independently as she had a lack of support from her record label, as they were focusing on their bigger artists; the rise of new technologies have made it able for Lily Allen to do this as she has been able to build up a solid fan base. Having a solid fan base helped her create a reputation and influence within the music industry, because with more fans and more demand for her music, she could start to become an asset and promote her label.