Production of a poster/ magazine article advertising my music video

This is a poster promoting the release of 'The Fugees' album entitled 'The score', although the date of the album's release isn't on the poster, at the time (1996) there was a lot of buzz created after the first album they had created. The poster jumps out to me as it doesn't particularly have a lot going on. The backdrop is black, with three portraits central to the poster. Beneath is a picture of the group running away. The listener is able to decipher what they are running from. It could be from police, entrapment, racial issues. The possibilities are endless. Listening to the album you can hear that the group have a deep desire to be free and not caged away. This is emphasised in the picture as it shows them 'running' not only are they running away, they may be running towards something. For example, freedom, riches.
Within the poster the listener can tell the group are signed by Columbia Records. The writing of 'The Fugees' and 'The Score' is in bold and in orange writing, the filter of the image in the centre is also slightly orange so the colours are consistent in their continuity. 

The bottom image in black and white has inspired my poster idea, as I want mine to be in black and white also. 

'Digipak'

As well as my Cd cover planning, I have decided to include an A4 poster for my music video. The poster will be in black and white in compliance with the theme. It will be set in a forest and my two models will be standing in the forefront of the picture. One model (Nadine) will be holding a candle and the other model (Sam) will be holding her hand. This is just to emphasise the level of control she has over him. She is a metaphor of the power evil can have and I have used her to portray the idea that if you are empty or easily swayed, evil or badness can be highly influential.

What will my CD look like

I want my model: Sam, to be at the front of the picture, posing some-what blankly at the camera lens, this could fit with the convention of a music video as it emphasises the practise of 'looking', I feel this engages the listener. I want one side of the face to be lightly transparent and in a grey scale to fit with the colours of my music video. I want the imagery to focus on the black and white aspects, which will emphasis 'good' and 'bad', ying and yang.

The picture in the middle is what has inspired my perspective Cd cover idea, I like the idea of the background being faded. It reinforces the message in the music video and possibly foreshadows what the song is going to be about. It is also a form of continuity and allows me to carry the theme of the sublime of nature throughout.

The forest will be my background image. 

Institutional research

Def jam Recordings: is the label frank ocean is signed to in addition to being a branch of the group OFWGKTA (odd future wolf gang kill them all). DefJam is an American record label which focuses mainly on hip hop and urban music, owned by Universal Music Group, it was founded in 1983. The label has quarters in the UK and Japan. 
Some of the Artist's include: 

• 2 Chainz
• Afrojack
•  August Alsina
• Big sean
• Common
• Fabolos
• Jeremih
• Jhene Aiko
• Kanye West 
• Nas
• Mariah Carey
• Teyana taylor to name a few. 

They are mostly African American. I feel like this institution would be suited to my Song and Music video as the 'singer/performer' is Black and the song is alternative r'n'b. 

Polydor: 
Polydor Records is a British record label that is under Universal music group. It currently operates as a front-line label under the Interscope Geffen A&M label.
Artist's include: 

• Azealia Banks
• Eminem 
• Nelly Furtado
• Nicole scherzinger
• Schoolboy Q
• Sky Ferrierra
• K'Naan

There are a mix of genres and genders within this Record label, this adds more variety and could produce a larger fan base. Some artist's such as Cheryl Cole, Duffy and Ellie Goulding are managed by this record label. therefore the label can be seen to cater to a fan base which likes pop/ upbeat music. The mass target audience is their focus. 

Sony: Sony music is a monopoly record company. They own: Columbia records, Rca Records, Epic Records, Artista Nashville, Columbia Nashville, Masterworks, Vested in Culture, Rca inspiration, Provident Music Group. 

Some of the artist's include:

• Booby Shmurda
• Carrie underwood
• Fifth harmony
• Meghan Trainor
• Michael Jackson
• Pitbull 
• One Direction
• SIA
• T.I
• Whitney Houston.

1. I feel like record label won't be right for my music video or my artist's 'profile': because of the label having so much power over the media, it will limit the creativity of the artist. My video could be seen as controversial therefore I don't think the two would mesh correctly.
2. However this label would be a platform for my artist and his music video to be debuted to the world. 

Reviewing all of the Record labels I have done research In, I feel DefJam recordings is the right record label for my music video and artist. This is because, they allow their artist's to test their artistic feelings and give them the forum to become creatives. Because of this I feel if my music video was released it would be received very well from the fan base on the basis of what type of vibe and genre has already been created.

Analysing a CD 'digipak'

Jay Z uses a bold, capital font as the title of his CD cover: THE BLUEPRINT 3. Listening to the album, the listener can tell that Jay Z is trying to bring back an old school (2001) sound back into hip hop. In interviews he mentions that he is trying to correct the mistakes so-called 'hip hop artist's have made by trying to ease the r'n'b culture back into a non auto tuned classic vibe. To me Jay Z's music in this album in particular is to the point and simple( simple in the fact that he is there to rap and convey a message: that instruments are at the main forefront of music not different avenues of technology such as auto tune). He creates a classic sound which is why he is a significant role in the hip hop movement. Because Jay Z  uses this style, the listener can therefore tell why he uses a simple, bold font. It is to show that the music he makes is powerful in its simplicity. This can also be emphasised by the album cover. The background is all white including all the instruments. Jay Z's focus was to show that hip hop is still about making music rather than focusing on the radio hits, gimmicks and money. The assortment of instruments shows the versatile nature and style of his work. 

The front and the back of the CD cover have the same plain white background, however on the back instead of bold, black writing, he uses: bold, red writing. Although the colours are different the listener can see the continuity in the album cover as the words are still simplistic. The colour of the font is red which continues with the theme of the three red stripes on the front cover. I think the writing is red to show the progression of the music production. For example the 3 lines of red represent the music that can be made by instruments and the red writing on the back cover is the final product. 

There is a CD booklet in The Blueprint 3, this allows fans to have a piece of memorabilia from the album, In it, it talks about the production and work that has gone into the album. A common theme throughout is red and white with occasional black tones, this theme is continued throughout and emphasises Jay Z's message that the instrument and classic music is the important thing when listening to his album. Red symbolises, sex, death and danger which suggests this message will be in his songs, The juxtaposition with the white also suggests purity and is considered the colour of perfection. Thus suggesting Jay Z deems his music as the perfect conveyor of classical rap and hip hop.

The CD cover is a mid-shot it is used to show the overall subject, which is the instruments. It allows the listener to see the whole picture without fully focusing on one element of the picture.