Music Analysis... Lady Gaga- Telephone

The next music video I am going to analyse is Telephone by Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce. This video has got a huge amount of references to other texts, especially with the film ‘Kill Bill’. This is obvious as the opening sequence is the same font as the film’s and also the plot of both texts is a woman seeking revenge on a man. Also the truck driven in the music video is the same as in kill bill. This allows the audience to relate to the music video and the storyline. Also this music video is very sexual as it shows women dancing around the jail in their underwear. This is done to attract a larger male audience. Also there are many shots of lady Gaga in bizarre outfits which is a common feature as her style is very eccentric helping her to become unique and have a unique selling point. There are also links to her previous songs such as 'paper gangsters' which is playing in the excercise yard which will help attract her existing fans.

Music Analysis.. Paramore- Hallelujah

Video Analysis




The genre of this music video can be identified by the hard beat at the start and the band is also immediately notifiable to the audience from the abstract style and the artistic way in which the video is constructed. The way in which the music video cuts from shot to shot using a collage with moving photographs gives it a scrap-book type effect which makes the video seem more personal. It also provides a voyeristic aspect which is a common feature among music videos according to Andrew Goodwin. However the style of the collage helps the band to produce an artistic unique selling point through this music video. There are many connotations that identify this song as a Paramore song, firstly the writing on the collage has phrases that give Paramore denotations such as lyrics from their songs, their album name 'riot' and also the first piece of footage we see shows the lead singer Hayley Williams on stage as well as the rest of the band performing to a live audience, which also performs a gratification for the viewer as they get to experience a sort of mini concert in the comfort of their own home and experience band life up close and personal. This will help Paramore fans relate to the images on screen and will also tell people who like the indie rock genre that this may be a song they may like and may make them want to watch the music video
Many of the shots of the band are a POV shots looking at the band performing on stage.The opening sequence of shots show quick cuts of the band which accompanied by the music tell the audience that this will be an up tempo song. The way the images are played using a faded photo effect and the camera zooms in and out of a photo album shows that all this footage is part of the past and allows the audience to reminisce with the band which gratifies the audience as it gives them a connection with the band. This effect would be a good tool to use in my music video.

Poster Design Brief

Here is a list of common themes I have noticed in my analysis of music posters:
• The artists often have trademark poses, characteristics and symbolic imagery integrated into the poster to uphold their image and hold the interest of existing fans.
• A colour scheme, either some bright colours to attract instant attention, or black and white to advertise the artist in a refined manner.

Poster analysis- Arctic Monkeys

This poster by the Arctic Monkey has a cartoon as its main image which relates to the band name and is a common feature throughout their posters and digipaks. The cloths that the monkey is wearing denote star wars as those are the clothes worn by Luke Skywalker. This will attract a wider audience as the star wars films are very popular films with a wide fan base. The main colour in the poster is an ‘ice’ blue which again relates to the name of the band. The poster also names the producers of the band above their name, this helps to promote the producers as well as the band.

Poster analysis- Lady Gaga

This poster is an advertisement for the singer/song writer Lady Gaga and as such is very effective as it is designed to make it extremely obvious that she is the focal point of the poster. The poster is incredibly simple; it is a mid shot of Lady Gaga along with her name above her. The main colours in this poster are black and white. The minimalistic use of colours pulls attention towards Lady Gaga whilst still maintaining a colour scheme. The title is a plain white font written on a black background which makes it easy to read and therefore makes it clearly identifiable who the poster is advertising without taking attention away from Lady Gaga herself. This poster uses sexuality to advertise the artist as she is wearing a tight cat-suit and is a beautiful woman who uses her physical presence to attract a larger male audience. Her pose is typical of her style and genre and is the kind of pose her audience would expect her to be in. Her extravagant eye make-up as well as the renowned sparkly sunglasses and eccentric props all denote Lady Gaga and are trademarks of her unique style. All elements of this poster are designed to publicize Lady Gaga by drawing attention to her.

Other musicians

Before researching different albums, posters and music videos, I looked at different types of musicians. I looked on the internet and got some examples of different types of bands, groups and solo artists.

First of all we looked at differant types of groups. We started by looking at girl bands and the connotations that the girl bands come with. Girl bands are an idolistic view of girls and are seen as sex symbols. Girl bands have a voyeuristic appeal and are always promoted towards a male audience which can be seen in the sexy poses and little amount of clothes.

Next we looked at boy bands and compared them to girl bands. Boy bands are also an idolised image of men. Boy bands are very stereotypical in their appearance and all have simular images to other boy bands, same hair, clothes and body language.

Finally we looked at other bands. These artists usually have mid shots or close ups to promote their image. This would mainly be down to the record label as they would want their artist to appeal to the target audience. This can be seen clearly in the album and posters of Paulo Nutini, the artists image is put on the poster multiple times which really promotes his image to the audience.

In conclusion, I need to find an artist whom has a good image that i can promote to my target audience with ease. The aim will be to try and make the artist look like an icon and try to make them seem like one of a kind so that they will have a unique selling point.

Spider Diagram

I created a spider diagram to show the basic things i will need to create my own products and the kinds of places they can be viewed.

Music Industries

Before researching and planning my own products I thought it would be a good idea to have a look at music producers such as Sony, Universal, EMI and Warner. These companies are considered to be the top four industries in the music production business. However there are many smaller independent industries that have done very well in the music industry such as rough trade and CD baby. This is largely due to the technological convergence, such as the Internet and smart phones, which has made advertising and selling music much easier for companies with less money compete against the big four. In fact it could be said that the big companies are losing their power as many artists have jumped from their big labels and joined, if not created their own like Jay Z, other independent industries.

Practice Photoshoot

We took a lot of practice photos to see the effect that different angles and lenses would have on the picture and what sort of pictures would make an effective poster and what would make an effective album picture. This picture is a great high angle shot of the band. I thought that the flooring would be a great backround and the arrangement of people is good as it fills most of the frame. With a bit of photoshop I believe that this sort of image will make a fantastic poster for a band

Photo shoot

On friday me and ryan did a photo shoot of our band and we can now use these photos for the rest of our coursework. We also finished our powerpoint presentation advertising them and our music production company and we are ready to present it in our next class

Music Video

For my A2 media coursework I am going to research, design and create my own album artwork, band poster and music video. I hope that through research and thorough planing my products that my products will look authentic and of good quality