The back of Katy Perry’s album is very much like the front however it shows a different time of day. On the front the sky is a lighter shade of blue than the back cover, this suggests that the shot was taken at a different time of day. 50’s connotations such as the picket fence and Katy Perry’s style of clothing (high waisted shorts and a short crop top) are still incorporated in the back of the album which shows a recurring theme. Although her clothing has changed in this shot, the clothing is still similar to the albums front cover this highlights the 50’s retro fashion style Katy Perry is trying to convey. It could be suggested that the back album cover is representing a funfair theme as there is a paddling pool with rubber ducks in the background. This could represent the duck hooking game played at funfairs. Katy Perry also is holding a candy lollipop in her hand, another feature associated with going to the fair. A long shot of Katy Perry is used this complements Katy Perry’s figure as it highlights feminine features such as her legs. The back album cover is also very feministic as there are hand drawn hearts breaking down the featured songs in Katy Perry’s album. The fact that Katy Perry is also wearing red lipstick also connotes feminism. Katy Perry’s posture and pose could also attract the male gaze as she is dressed revealingly which show off her womanly features.

One of the Boys is Katy Perry’s first album. The setting of the album cover represents a typical British 1950’s garden. This is shown through typical features such as the sun bed, the flowers and the old fashioned radio player. Katie Perry is posing alluringly on the sun bed with the end of her sunglasses in her mouth which promotes the male gaze as she is posed provocatively. Katie Perry also wears revealing clothes which emphasise her womanly attributes another feature that promotes the male gaze. The typography used for the Katy Perry’s name is Candy Pop. The font is red with a white border which makes her name stand out amongst the rest of the album cover. The bright red colour used in the title is associated with Pop culture; this suggests that her album is in the Pop genre therefore appealing to a target audience who listen to Pop music. The colours used in the album cover are Pop related colours such as pinks, blues and red. This also tells the audience that Katy Perry’s album is based on Pop music. The conventions used (colour, typography and props) are quite playful in that there is no specific colour theme, although the colour pink is emphasised. This shows Katy Perry to be a girly girl as femininity is highly emphasised. Girls are therefore able to relate to her as a person whereas boys relate to her image. This feature may be used to target a young audience. On the other hand the album name ‘One of the boys’, shows that Katy Perry has a tomboy personality which portrays her character as fun and easy going. Her personality portrayed in the album cover could also appeal to heterosexuals because she blends in male and female concepts. (The colour pink is associated with femininity, the album name and cover is associated with males). The mise en scene in this picture gives off an ideology of the 50's however is contemporary in that it has retro chick elements. This is shown through the props such as the use of the old record player, her blue 50's style straw hat, the white picket fence, and the old style garden lounger with the blanket. Katy Perry clothing’s also portrays a vintage style, which establishes her fashion statement as an upcoming artist. Her pink crop top with blue high waisted shorts, red wedges and blue sunhat are all retro fashion but it has been modernised in order to fit in with today’s modern society, young girls would envy and want to emulate her stylish clothing.  This theme could have been used in order for the album to also appeal to older audiences who would be able to identify with the 50’s theme. The shot used, is a medium shot .Her pose is also very dramatic and glamorous looking, this appeals to higher-class audiences, as they are more likely to identity and relate to her.

Cd cover layout

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Production Log

Today I will start analysing music album covers as I have finished analysing Nicki Minaj through the years. I aim to finish this by Saturday so that I can create my own music album cover.

Nicki Minaj - Super Bass - May 2011

Super Bass is Nicki Minaj’s 8^th solo video from her album Pink Friday. The video was released in May 2011 where it reached number 8 on the UK’s singles chart. The video was digitally distributed on TV channels such as MTV and KISS, as well on air which therefore reached a mainstream audience. Super Bass draws from Hip Hop and Pop genres which are a feature that again attracts a mainstream artist who listens to Hip Hop and Pop music. In this video Nicki is suggestively seductive. This is shown through her choice of clothing which is a skin tight leather pink jumpsuit. The costume highlights and emphasises her womanly features such as her bum and breasts. The way she is dressed leaves her open to the male gaze as she dances erotically and wears revealing clothing thus appealing to a male audience. The lyrics also tell us that she is talking about a boy she has a crush on which could suggests the reason she is dressed in a promiscuous way. In comparison to Nicki’s previous video’s sexuality is especially highlighted in this video which suggests that she still coverts to typical Hip Hop rnb conventions despite exploring different identities in her previous video’s. The use of sex appeal also is a convention Nicki uses to keep her audience keen and intrigued. This is because Nicki uses the ‘Barbie’ identity she conveys in all her video’s, but uses the Barbie image in order to portray herself sexually. From her first video there is a clear transition in the style of music video’s Nicki sings/raps in, in that the themes, narratives and costume all show different persona’s. Through this different persona method Nicki has successfully been able to establish herself as an artist in a non typical way, the typical way being each music artist has their own unique identity whereas Nicki has multiple identities never quite revealing her true self and presenting her feelings and attitudes through different characters which inevitably is a way Nicki has been able to sustain a large mainstream audience.

Moment 4 Life was rapped/sung by Nicki Minaj and Drake. It is the third single from Nicki’s debut album Pink Friday (2010). The song was produced by T-Minus and written by both artists. The song is inspired by a story Minaj created, in which two kids grow up together sharing the same dream of becoming famous rappers, and create this song while living out their dreams together. It peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping Billboard's Hot Rap Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. It also saw success internationally, becoming a top 40 hit in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, as well as charting in Belgium and France. The music video was digitally distributed on music channels such as MTV and through YouTube where is got more that 43 million hits. This shows that that the video appealed to a young mainstream audience as it was very successful. This video took on a narrative based concept where Nicki recreated a children’s classic ‘Cinderella’, creating a fairy-tale fantasy where the theme of love is explored between her and Drake. Again in this video as like her previous videos Nicki explores a different persona, the audience therefore never quite know who Nicki really is as she hides behinds different characters. In comparison to her last video Check It Out, Nicki is presented a shy love struck person in this video whereas in the last one she was represented as bold and ambitious. Through this, as an audience we can see that there is no consistency in Nicki’s video’s as she displays a different character and different themes in each of her videos.In each video Nicki creates, she displays a new creative element which she explores through themes and narratives. This helps her to predominantly establish herself as a contemporary artist.

Nicki Minaj - Check It Out - October 2010

Check It Out is a song performed by American rapper Will.i.am and Nicki Minaj. The video was released in October 2010 where it debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 78 and number 48 on the Canadian Hot 100. Check It Out appears on Nicki’s debut album, Pink Friday, though it was not released in promotion of the album. The song, written by Will.i.am and Nicki, samples the 1979 hit single, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. The video was distributed on mainstream music channels such as MTV and KISS therefore attracting young contemporary audience. The concept of this film incorporates a Japanese theme and an ode to Japanese culture and Japanese anime, which suggests that as a contemporary artist Nicki  explores different cultures. The video starts on a simple soundstage. A gentleman introduces Nicki and Will.i.am to an audience of women similarly dressed in black and sporting boxy sunglasses. As the song begins playing from a boom box, Nicki  wearing a creatively shaped teal, cream and mauve hat, blond wig and tan outfit raps to the camera that she's a  “savage/ Haters you can kill yourself”. In comparison to ‘Your Love’, Nicki shows a feisty side of her personality which young female audiences can relate and emulate to as Nicki is presented as an ambitious bold young women. Then two dancers, in futuristic clothing and goggles, begin grooving and suddenly multiply into five more clones all executing the same moves. The scene flips back to the camera featuring Nicki, and there's now only one will.i.am and two Nicky’s. When the beat slows down for the song's bridge, Nicki is in a new outfit, a pink and white bodysuit with a black wig. Then Will.i.am becomes a black and white cartoon, whose face is white but hair is black, as he rhymes "step up to my level need to grow a little taller." The video ends with Minaj and Will striking poses. In comparison to Nicki’s previous videos Check it Out is a performance based video as opposed to theme based. The video is also is cartoonist another feature that highlights Nicki’s creativity. Through Nicki’s previous video’s and this video Nicki has shown her creativity through a number of different media’s which highlight her progress in her music career as well as exploring Nicki’s different personas. Although her style in her music videos became sexier she was not entirely made to look promiscuous. The locations and style differed in every music video keeping her audience entertained by providing something new every time.

Production Log

Had a busy weekend so havent been able to upload anything. Hopefully by this evening there should be some more things uploaded.

Production Log

Tommorow I will carry on with analysing Nicki Minaj through the years and hopefully upload more analysis on my blog. Myself and the rest of my group have also nearly finished filming our video . Within the next couple of weeks we should hopefully begin to edit and put our final music video together.

Nicki Minaj - Your Love - June 2010

Your Love’ was Nicki Minaj’s second solo video. It was written by Minaj with Joseph Hughes, David Freedman, and Andrew "Pop" Wansel.The song serves as the first single from her debut studio album, Pink Friday. Minaj was preparing to release another single after the intended lead single from the album, "Massive Attack, which failed to make a worldwide. A version of "Your Love" appeared on the Barbie World mix tape in January 2010, another version appeared online after it was stolen and leaked. After the song was endorsed by radio, the song was mixed and a few lyrics were changes before it was made the new single from the album, first released on June 1, 2010."Your Love" samples the pop song "No More I Love You's" (1994) by Scottish recording artist Annie Lennox, with additional bass, hip-hop backbeats and drum loops. Described as a "rap-ballad", the song is a change of tempo compared to Minaj's previous work; the song contains a "new brand of hood majesty in that Nicki establishes herself as a sexy, confident woman from the ‘hood’. The video also highlights her musical talent as it shows her singing and rapping flexibility. Nicki became the first female artist to lead the chart since 2003 . Additionally, the song charted at number twenty-two on the US Pop Songs chart. The song also appeared on other charts worldwide, notably reaching number forty-three in Canada, and number twelve on the UK R&B Chart. The music video again was distributed digitally on television music channels such as MTV and KISS which attracts and appeals to a worldwide mainstream audience. The song's music video was directed by Lil X, and American actor Michael Jai White, who portrays Minaj's love interest. The storyline revolves around a love story in which Minaj is a samurai-in-training who falls for her martial arts teacher, and duels for his affection with a jealous classmate. The video therefore is considered to be narrative based. The video pays homage to films Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and Kill Bill (2003) as it uses the concept of martial arts.                                                                                                                             In comparison to her first video Massive Attack, Nicki is portrayed as a young, innocent looking love struck young women, which shows a different side of her personality. Young female audiences can relate to the video as it explores the theme of love. The video in itself is very simplistic as it uses basic conventional concepts and themes whereas Massive Attack used a range of concepts and themes. The simplicity of the video adds to the ‘innocentness’ Nicki is trying to convey. The outfits and costumes Nicki wears in this video are completely different to what she wore in Massive Attack for example Nicki wears a Martial Arts costume when she is training and a long black robe when she is dueling with her opponent. These outfits show less of her flesh which presents her in this video to be quite down to earth and less promiscuous as opposed to Massive Attack where she is portrayed as bold, eccentric and promiscuous. However on the other hand during the scenes whilst she is singing Nicki wears a leotard with a suit jacket. On one hand she is trying to look sophisticated whereas on the other hand she still creates sex appeal as her legs and bum are emphasised. Therefore whilst this video connotes innocence it still attracts the male gaze as Nicki is dressed seductively. From this video the audiences are able to see the transition from her first solo video. Massive Attack and Your Love highlight Nicki’s personality and creativity in that she creates bold themes for her video whilst reflecting her personality and establishing herself as an artist.

Nicki Minaj - Massive Attack - April 2010

Massive Attack was released in April 2010. This was Nicki’s first music single video with her as the solo performer. This video emphasises on the colour pink. This is because Nicki has established herself to be a ‘Human Barbie’, an identity which she has created to reflect her personality and to establish herself as an upcoming new music artist. The Massive Attack video was distributed through mainstream television channels such as MTV and Kiss therefore widely consumed by a mainstream audience of which reached a high number in the singles charts. The video did particularly well as Nicki is signed to Young Money and Cash Money records which other well known artists such as Lil Wayne and Drake are part of. Before releasing her own solo video Nicki also featured in Cash Money and Young Money record video’s such as, Bedrock which helped to establish her as a music artist.

The colour pink is suggested to be a stereotypical female colour which is associated with the plastic Barbie Doll toy. Nicki heavily uses the colour pink in her videos as it reflects the Barbie image she is creating. This theme of pink is used concurrently throughout all of her solo videos. In this video for example Nicki drives a pink Lamborghini and wears a pink wig which connotes the Barbie image. In this video Nicki makes bold statements which suggests to the audience even though she is a new artist she is niche in that she has a very strong personal identity for herself. An example of this is the eccentric clothing garments Nicki wears. In the desert scene she wears a pink leotard with belt straps wrapped around herself. This type of clothing she wears is not every day conventional clothes therefore suggests she is trying to make her own fashion statement and that she has a creative mind. The way in which she dresses also links in with the locations of where the music video is shot. For example in the scene where she is rapping about the jungle, Nicki is dressed in a skimpy one piece green swimming costume. The location of this scene is in the jungle therefore the colour green is predominant in that both Nicki and the jungle blend in. This feature is also seen in some of her more recent music video’s where she is dressed as a Geisha. The location where she is dressed as a Geisha is a martial arts studio. In another video Nicki is dressed as a mermaid and the location is a swimming pool. The location and her costume blend in as they are associated together.  The way in which Nicki dresses i.e. showing off her womanly assets, suggests that she is trying to create sex appeal which leaves her open to the male gaze therefore attracting a male audience as well as attracting a female audience.

Nicki minaj through the years

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Production Log

Finally uploading some more research up on my blog as i spent the whole of last week organising and filming parts of my music video .

Distribution channels for my music video

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Storyboard

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Production Log

Finally able to access my blog after a week and a half on not being able to due to a technical fault. I can now upload the work that I have done!

Production skills

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Rehersal Schedule

Park Scene:

Date: Sunday 23^rd of October.

Performers: Anita, Derik and Najim

Time: 1:00 - 3:00

Place: Barnhill Park

Message Scene:

Date: Wednesday 26^th of October

Performers: Najim and Anita

Time: 1:00 – 3:00

Place: Rovena’s House

School Corridor Scene:

Date: Wednesday 2^nd of November

Performers: Anita, Derik and Najim

Time: 3:15 – 4:30           

Place: Preston Manor School

Band Rehearsing Scene:

Date: Friday 4^th November

Performers: Najim, Ankit, Jordan and Mathew

Time: 3:15 – 4:00

Place: Preston Manor School

Bad Performing Scene:

Date: Monday 7^th November

Performers: Ankit, Jordan and Mathew

Time: 3:15 – 4:00

Place: CLC

Getting Ready and Party Scene:

Date: Wednesday 9^th November

Performers: Najim, Anita, Derik and extras

Time: 1:00 – 2:00 (Najim and Anita only) 2:00 – 3:00 (Anita, Najim, Derik and extras)

Place: Rovena’s House

Running Away and Crying Scene:

Date: Saturday 13^th November

Performers: Najim

Time: 1:00 – 4:00

Place: Rovena’s House

New Look Revealed Scene:

Date: Monday 14^th November

Performers: Najim, Anita and extras

Time: 3:00 – 4:00

Place: Preston Manor School

I uploaded my vox pox on Serif Movie Plus. I then used the editing tools to edit my vox pox . For example I used the cropping tool to get rid of noise interference that was obstructing those that were giving there feedback in the interview. I also used the cropping tool to shorten the length of the vox pox so that only the main parts are featured. I then used the text tool to add in text ie the questions I asked in the interview so that when watching the vox pox the interview questions and responses are able to be clearly understood.