Evaluation of Digipack

Overall our digipack was not as successful as we had hoped. This is because when we presented it to the class the overall concensus was tthat we focused on the wrong conventions of pop princess and we slipped down the route of country and western. This was the one thing that we tried not to do, even though we thought it would be a good idea to use natural surroundings we made them pink, which didn't have the affect that we wanted.

Also it appears that we should have made the background seem more artificial rather than natural. This would mean that we shouldn't have had grass, pink or not, and should have maybe just had a blank white or black screen.

This would have been more like the conventions of other artists in this genre.

Our Digipack Images

So far we have picture for the inlay and the back cover of our Pop princess digipack.

We have decided as group to go with a natural, flowery image for our pop princess but to be careful not to go down the Country style so we'll edit our images to make them look more like a Pop Princess' theme.


Inlay

 

Back Cover

We will be using photoshop to change the main colour of these images to pink so that it is more like what a Pop Princess' album cover would be like.

Pop Princess Conventions

Pop Princesses are normally blonde which implies a sense of innocence. A pop princess' look is idealised on a Cinderella  sort of style with blonde hair, blue eyes and red lips.

A pop Princesses is typically fashionable , wearing the latest designs and a lot of make up to create an image of beauty.

As Pop Princesses are idolised by children they usually use fairytale themes.

Pop Princesses' music is mainly about love and finding their "Prince Charming" . School and their lifestyle are also common themes in this genre.

Examples of Pop Princesses' Album Covers

Britney Spears













Miley Cirus













Selena Gomez

Cheryl Cole

Our Digipack: Pop Princess

As part of my course, our group must create a digipack from a specific genre, POP PRINCESS.

This will be a challenge as there are only 3 males in our group and Pop Princess is not a genre that we listen to. But it actually is a simple genre to do as there are many artists that fit this category. I will be doing research into these artists and the coventions involved in being a pop princess.

Richard Dyer's Star Theory

Richard Dyer wrote a book about how artists and celebrities are media texts, whose images have been formed out of the use of signs.

He looked at how stras are contructions and how they have been made for the audience. They are made to seem as though they are actually like that but most the time they are not. They are constructed through media by advertising, interviews, make-up and how they look in music videos, the lyrics in their songs etc. People associate stars with a certain image that they are known for.

For example, "50 Cent" in his baseball cap. He wears one all of the time and the audience expect to see him wearing one when they see him.









Record companies create their artist by what they know the audience expect to see. Stars also represent different cultures and values and conventions are used to create a persona.

Filming

LOCATIONS

For filming our "Where is the Love?" video we must decide on the locations that we will use. We will need to consider the genre of the song and the image that the artists are trying to portray.

For example, in this video the Black Eyed Peas are in an urban setting where there are many signs and buildings. This is what we will try to have in our shots too.

Our Digipack: Pop Princess

My group and I have discussed and decided what our digipack cover for our Pop Princess will look like. This includes deciding the pictures, fonts, layout and positioning.

FONT

We looked at many different fonts on the website "dafont.com" and we have decided that the 'airplanes in the night sky font' will be the font that we will use.


ALBUM NAME 

For this we have chosen 'Heaven'. This is due to the genre and we feel that it works well with the angelic atmosphere that we are trying to portray. Reaserching we found that it was common for album names in this genre to be one word that tells a story to the audience.

ARTIST NAME

We have decided that the Pop Princesses name will be Lexia Parker as it seems to be a name that would be expected in this genre. Many artists of other genres create a name for themselves to represent their image, but Pop Princesses generally use their real names in order to make themselves more personal and true to life.

TRACK LIST

For our tracklist we tried to make the names of her songs relevent to the themes without them being too corny. Here are the ones that we have decided on:

1. Another day

2. Ticking of a Clock

3. Bella Heaven

4. Too Young

5. Morals

6. Royale

7. Out of This World

8. Deepen Perception

9. Cinderella Dreamin'

10. Silence

Props needed for "Where Is The Love?"

For preperation for our recreation of the Black Eyed Peas' music video "Where Is The Love?" we need to prepare a list of props.

• We will need ten posters ready to stick on walls/signs

• We will need a black hoody

• We will need a street to run down and some pavement

• We will need a van to film

Black Eyed Peas- "Where Is the Love?"

For my goups preliminary music video, we will be recreating the first 20 seconds of the music video of The Black Eyed Peas- "Wher is The Love?".Tod do this we need to study the coventions involved in this video.

Camera: In the first 20 seconds there are close-ups of the poster that they are sticking on to walls. There is also a tracking shot used to follow the poster whilst the artist is running with it in their hand. There are mid-shots used to show the posters stuck on signs, low-angles used to show the poster being stuck on a wall, long-shots of the poster being stuck on the wall, a panning shot of two men running stopping when they stick the poster on the wall, and a profile shot of a man in a car.

Editing: There is no singing involved in this part of the video so lip-syncing is not a convention used. Howver, the timing of cuts is in time with the beat of the muscic which is something that we will have to do. There are no special transitions used in this short part of the video, only straight cuts.

Mise-en-scene: The poster is a an example of a prop used, also the people running are all wearing black hoodies with the hoods up, public signs are used to stick the posters on as well as walls of buildings. Streets are used for the men to run on and also the pavement.

Sound: All oof the sound used in this clip is non-diagetic and therefor no extra sound will need to be added.

CD Digipack Analyses

Album Digipack-           N-Dubz- "Love. Live. Life"

Conventions of Digipack

Front Cover: The graffiti style logo is shown representing the artists' urban roots, whereas the font of the "Love. Live. Life" is iin capital letters and seems like statements on how to live life.The three artists are all fashionably dressed witht the artist known as Dappy wearing his stereotypical style of hat which has given the group an identity. As well as this tattoos are visable on the arm of this artist which is a stereotyoical convention used in this genre of music. There is a lot of jewelry on show which shows that they have 'bling' which is what people expect to see on this type of artist. The 'bling' combined with the background of the paradise styled high street implies that the artists are rich and successful. The poses that the three are making are commonly used on their album covers, with Fazer looking away from the camera with an attitude that suggests he is not interested; Dappy looking like he is in motion and is portrayed as if he is always moving; and Tulisa providing the female glamour and she is always in the centre of the picture. As well as this none of the artists are looking directly at the camera suggesting that they are 'too good for it'.

Back Cover: On the back cover the high street is shown again implying that they are living in the fast lane. Also you can see skyscrapers iin the background which shows the urban side that N-Dubz are from. Also, the song names are all of the same theme of having fun and enjoying life, with names such as: "Living for the Moment", "So Alive" and "Love Live Life". Also, the graffiti style logo is shown representing the artists' urban roots. As well as this, there is a logo of a record group known as Island Record Group, yet again giving their album that paradise feel to it.

Disc Cover: The disc cover has the same picture as the front cover of the artists. Yet againg the Island Record Group logo is on show and the "Love. Live. Life" name too, showing that paradise feel that isn't always associated with their genre. As well as this, a phrase is used "all around the world" which yet again touches on the theme of success which is what a lot of artists of this genre try to show.

Pop Princess Conventions

We now need to look at the conventions that are on a pop princess album cover.

Pop Princesses are always the centre of attention on their album cover and they are normally looking directly at the camera.

They are usually blonde but sometimes they change their hair colour when they are trying to change their image.

Normally there is a colorful background, with typically 'girly' colors, like pink or light blue. Or the background is black to emphasize the princess.

They normally emphasize their lips for example in Britney Spears' album cover she is covering up her lips which emphasizes them more.

Also in Selena Gomez's she is also emphasizing her lips using make-up.

Examples of 'Pop Princesses'

Taylor Swift is a prime example of an innocent pop princess displaying themes that we will try to use when planning our album cover.

At the start of the career of Britney Spears she acted innocent on her covers displayed the typical themes. However, there are signs of her not being so innocent, for example the messy hair over her eye and the covering of her lips.

Nowadays, with her greatest hits albums she shows a sexy image and seems like she is showing the 'good girl gone bad' theme.

POP PRINCESS!!!

There are more than one type of pop princess, with some being innocent and others promote 'sex' appeal. A lot of the artists portray a 'good girl gone bad' theme and as we will be designing an album cover of a new 'pop princess' she will seem innocent and girly.