lana del rey re make with original photography

lana del rey inspired cd cover:
i originally put on my draft a floral wallpaper and a Polaroid with the image displayed within it, it took a few attempts but my final image was this

 the name of the artist changed to what lana del reys real name is, i get all things similar and the large bold font was copied from other lana del rey album covers to keep an ongoing theme. the floral background gave a vintage feel and the pastel light colours participated with this also.

this is the back cover and used the same font but made the writing more important by making the image smaller.

lana del rey final cd cover and back, inspired draft before original photography (second one)

my first attempt on my second cd cover was to carry on the eyes covered theme and portray a rock style artist so i used a black and white background here:

after this i decided to stick to basing my ideas on lana del rey and just changing the angle of her, without needing to cover her eyes. i felt this was quite boring so i decided to add a poloroid picture to give the cover a more vintage feel.i then decided to create this but the background was too plain, t being just white:                            

 i then decided to add a background, which then led to me changing the picture that fit i with the vintage theme more so than the above original image, i thought the colour scheme should maybe contrast more whilst staying within the pastel kind of scheme also. i then wanted to add a border because it looked to bare, ultimately i came out with this as a final design: 

 

i then had to think about the back cover for this cd which needed to include a barcode and copyright message, i ended up with this: 

 

with the back i decided to keep it simple and relate it to the front but still have a detailed background.

cd cover progress

MY FIRST CD COVER USING PHOTOSHOP! when getting used to using photo shop I took the inspiration of "lana del rey" as planned before but after at least 3 decent attempts I decided to do my research on Robin Thicke and his "blurred lines". my source of inspiration changed due to the realistic aim of use in models and backgrounds when using my original photography. my first attempt on photo shop whilst using other images from google was this: as a first attempt i expected it to take a little longer than my future attempts, as i was getting used to it. i learnt how to rasterize a layer (lana del rey) and then set her above a background. from this attempt i decided a full image was simple but effective and the bold writing was a good way to grab someones attention. after this attempt i thought it would be a good decision to look at Lana Del Rey's previous CD covers and see what back ground she used; i noticed it was mainly fussy with palm trees but usually a different coloured filter to her body shot so i thought id take that idea and use it in my second attempt. i thought the vintage theme varied from different times with her album covers and therefore i realised i then had more ideas to create my own original cover yet still relating to my inspired cover. MY SECOND CD COVER! with this CD cover i chose to rasterize the image by cutting out the original background layer and adding the palm trees behind her. i kept the large bold lettering font of her name but also added a previous CD cover label "bad" in a sightly more vintage style font to represent the vintage-like image the artist usually goes for. in this image the usage of cutting and cropping went a bit more smoothly but i still felt the background still didnt match up to the main image of Lana. i then thought i wanted to give priority to my main image over the background so i tried a plainer background colour for my 3rd try and ended up with this... THIRD CD COVER ATTEMPT!

this was the main attempt that inspired me with my own creations and ideas. for example i decided as far as backgrounds go i wanted them so pain they didnt distract from the main image at all there for whites were the main plan. i then noticed most images on CD covers, the artist looks directly into the camera so i then came up with the idea to cover all eyes in my original photography (my most important idea) and then to have either the name of the artist or the album cover name covering the eyes of my main model.i felt props in the image were fairly important e.g the cat in this image; so i thought something quirky and fun will add character to my final piece. i then decided to try out blocking out the eyes here:

i used a previous image that was used in my first cover attempt to create this. from here on i decided my main idea would be to have the eyes covered with either the artists name or the album cover; i thought this would be quite a creative idea as the models chosen arent professional therefore the eyes which would usually be the main feature will be covered making the cover look more realistic as if it actually was a cd cover. after creating this idea i tried it out on a few different images such as these:

JW9NXbjWG8/UneFYVYk22I/AAAAAAAAAC0/wpkZnyij8q8/s1600/BLURRED+LINES+TAKE+TWO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> after creating these covers i started to think more about the background and the amount of people used in the picture, so i decided the blurred lines one would be the inspiration image i wanted to try recreate so i decided the more models used the more of a plain background i needed to use. so i ended up with this image that i made on photoshop

robin thicke cd cover and back progress,the final inspired draft (first one)

in addition to my main image of the cd cover: i now needed to create a back cover that ties in with the front that has to have copyright, barcode and cd song names added onto it, i thought id take song lyrics from my inspired cd cover design and use them as song names, i also got the barcode and copyright message of google and changed the font and size along with the colour to match my background design. i then took my "blurred lines" inspiration from Robin Thicke again and had a look at some of the shots made prior to the release of the cd itself. i noticed the women models used in the video and cd cover were used in photos just on their own therefore i selected an image that was quite quirky that tied in with my theme and placed it under/behind the songs (to not take attention from the music) and again kept a plain white black ground. and lastly i wanted to keep my idea throughout the whole cd and then added the dark block across their eyes and wrote the artist's name in the same colour as the writing i used for the songs which then created this: when re creating this idea i wanted to make sure i also used a prop as such like the red car and make sure the colour theme runs through props as well so black, red and white. when deciding my next idea i decided i could try a more interesting background as i wanted to do more of a pop style cd cover, i decided if i was to do this i would use a plainer image so the balance was right.

Lana Del Rey CD cover analysis

/Users/asmedia/Desktop/lana_del_rey___driving_in_cars_by_other_covers-d4cwi7r.png this cd cover created for the artist lana del rey is a pop genre with a vintage edge to it. the artist does pop songs yet the way she dresses is very alternative and vintage 60's style. the style of writing also ties in with the vintage theme along with the flag as its has a slight "pin up girl" edge. the artist related to the pop and alternative genre with her unique image; mostly her audience is 14 to 30 as her songs are quite mature yet her pop image relates to the younger generation. she also has an B/C audience has her fashion is high end and her music is quite mature. on her cd covers she always sticks to the vintage theme yet goes from very simple and plain images to fussy and hectic style backgrounds for example: I like the idea of her wearing the ring that is the title of her album as its a bit different and edgy. this image is very plain as it uses one headshot of the artist looking directly into the camera with a coffee stained style background which gives off a vintage feel. whereas in this album cover she uses quite a hectic background consisting of small different images with her body shot in the middle this is a more of a pop style image as the colours a vibrant which usually relates to the pop image. her image is the only thing that is creating a vintage theme as the big bow covers up the middle name "rey" which is effective as well as it shows her name is well known as she doesn't need to have the full name on display; this feature is used in magazines such as vogue as its so well known. the back of the cd cover: this background alongside her other background designs is very bold and quite plain but actually matches the style of writing that writes her name on the front cover image. the style of this background is quite effective as it doesn't take priority over the front cover and it shows a distinct attention all about the atist's names of songs. the background is also a coffee filter design just like the front cover is which matches nicely and makes the headshot and the writing look most important and draws our attention to them the most. the bold writing is effective because its very clear and precise which could mean a customer feels they can identify the songs they wanted to buy more easily as opposed to fancy twirly writhing. her front covers of cd's are also known to have a prop it in it whether it be a cigarette, a dog or a flag as shown here: using the dog which is effective as on a cd cover the artist is usually looking directly into the camera whereas in this she uses the dog to look into the camera which is quite quirky and different.the background in the cd cover uses a filter to make herself stand out more and not let the background take priority over her as then it would look to busy and hectic to suit the image properly. in this image of her in front of the american flag: relates a little bit to the cover of lana and the dog whilst smoking as shes in front of a background but the difference is that this time the prop (flag) is just as important as lana as its not filtered separate they are all black and white effected together. the writing is a bit different here and is actually abit more vintage. lana does this alot in her cds for example here she still uses the flag and the black and white theme yet shes more cut off in the image and the black and white filter is a little less strong creating a more vintage theme which ultimately makes her less preppy and the "typical american girl".

Lana Del Rey music video analysis

this is one of my two ideas for my as media coursework assessment. i like the vintage theme and the emerging of clips together to create a more interesting and 60's style video. if i was to chose to go through with this idea i would have images and short clips of one main girl (close ups mainly) and then merge it with short clips from the time period (to stick with the vintage theme). the woman would clearly be my main image therefore i would tie her in with the theme and dress her in 60's clothing for example like lana del rey. technical codes used in the video: lana Del rey music video titled "video games" is very different to other videos, this is because the video is made up of lots of different clips and images. all clips emerged together give off a vintage style to the video. even though the style of this music video is vintage the song is in fact a pop song. the clothing is very 60's style. this doesn't only cater for the middle class audience but also people who are alternative due to the way the video is laid out. i think they have chosen to have a vintage theme as its not very common and would make it stand out amongst all the other artist's and their videos which is good because it gets the artist known and recognised. the video uses alot of technical codes at emerging the clips together takes alot of editing to make the scenes run from one to the other smoothly or create an intended effect. the shots range massively throughout as they dont entirely link but the theme ties them together; i notice throughout the artist is made clear that shes important as shes always shot in an up close clip whereas other clips are quite wide and distanced from the camera, the technical codes according to the pace is relatively fast paced as it then makes an film reel effect to it. the shots are mostly full frontal they arent from a high or low angle. there are some parts to the video where there are purpose made jolts and breaks in the clips create more of an vintage theme. the lighting does tend to vary throughout as there are some animated bright coloured scenes from cartoons made in that time period; there are also some bright lighted scenes where lana is set in (like a head shot), and lastly there is a few scenes set in the dark of two people that dont really have an identity but are spaced in scenes throughout at night time. visual codes used in the video: clothing and physical appearance are not only important to this video but to all videos shes made, this is because she sticks to one main theme which is vintage (60's) therefore what she wears is very important to try stick to this. she wears various outfits within but generally her hair is big and and she comes across quite polished. her gesture and body language continue to remain the same throughout, she tends to moves closer to the camera now and then and then step away bait; she also presses herself against the wall but her eye contact is mainly on the camera looking straight into it. her facial expression do vary as she looks quite dreary throughout yet she never smiles throughout the whole video, which does portray her to be quite emotional and links with the song well which is good. the settings are difficult to analyse on a whole as the clips are all different to each other but if we analyse through time settings we can see the 60's are a big element and are mainly set in this time period. the colour are sometimes black and white, which i find important as nit ties in with the theme but goes in to filtering visual codes and techniques that link with each other. this also can be analysed through graphics because the filtering over the images also create the vintage theme. in conclusion to visual codes we can see in the video are quite extensive due to the fact of the amount of techniques used within to give it a clean finish. Audio codes used in the video: when analysing the video most of the sounds should be non-diagetic yet when lana is singing there are diegetic sounds sometimes in the background like the men taking the photos and the couple talking and laughing. it also gives an ambient sound when you here the camera film rolling which gives an authentic feel (ties in with vintage theme again). overall the audio codes are the most important within this video as its the only thing that's a contrast with the vintage theme as its a pop style song. the other diegetic sound is the sound of the broken parts in the clips to make it seem like its being played on a film reel which them fits in with the sound of the camera rolling at the start.

representation task,

Part one target audience: The very popular newspaper "the sun" targets the audience of lower class and working class citizens of the public. this mainly appeals to the working class set of people on the social economic scale, we can notice this because it uses words that as young as an 8 year old can understand so in comparison to something like the mirror we can see a drastic change in vocabulary and also the amount of pictures. it also is best fitted/related to the working class C category on the social economic scale due to the colours used in the pictures or in the writing alone e.g titles, subheadings and captions throughout. for example on the "SUN" image below we see the use of a bright red on the name/brand of the magazine which automatically grabs their targeted audience's attention, making them to want to buy and read it. the size of the title also matters when determine the audience as the large font is easy to read and the images are large which also take up space on the page therefore creates less reading. within the sun newspaper the articles and news written within are actually more of a gossip type magazine focussing on A list celebrities and sports sections; whereas in contrast to the mirror newspaper the articles written are usually about politics, issues and around the world "serious" news. the reason a lower class would pick to read the sun over something like the mirror is that its a little bit more relaxed and easy to read (quite enjoyable) whereas the mirror is not as light hearted and you have to think a little bit more therefore more of a educated or intellectual class would be more suited to it. Also the page 3 used in the sun attracts more working men to but this type of newspaper as its deemed more appropriate for this class over a higher class. Part two gender: the TV show "snog marry avoid" mainly targets the female gender. It does this by firstly being presented by a woman and the majority of people shown on the programme is in fact women, this a big factor for the tv programme as its clear women relate more to their same gender making more female viewers want to watch. saying this men also may be tempted to watch as in the programme there is a comedy element to it, as there is girls shown as objects of humour created for the audience e.g the public analysis where strangers judge the girls or boys on their looks and its usually a very humiliating process which the audience thrive off for humour elements. also the targeted gender is well suited to females mostly younger as they are the prime consumers of makeup brands and going through a stage of where beauty is important to them and their lives; therefore on the programme it has sections where they tell the way women should apply makeup and give beauty tips that are fairly natural (which most viewers will want to achieve after looking at the people shown on the show). the reason the gender is most important to this shows targets is because beauty is one of the most popular products on the market and the consumers are the majority of women, because of this the programme should achieve a high viewing rate which is their ultimate aim. Part three age targets: a film mainly targeted to the age of young children (up to 12 years of age) is "despicable me". this is because in media its known younger audiences are more prone to enjoy watching animation and fantasy style films/programmes this appeals to them for many reasons such as their low attention span keeps them focussed for a long period of time due to the fast changing scenes and story lines. the animation is key to the aim of children of this set age group because of the bright colours which fascinate young children and the very different looks to what they are used to. the characters in these animated films are usually very over the top and dramatic which keep children's attention capacity and on a high. the main reason this type of film relates and targets this age group is because of the storyline itself, the storyline is usually a very happy and energetic one that captures their attention straight away and leaves them also happy which makes more parents want to purchase the viewing of the film or DVD for their child/children as it allows them to also feel relaxed and happy. part four targeted race: the programme that appeals to all race is any sports programme such as the football games as its a worldwide sport. this is a a very rare type of media programme as due to all cultures interested age and gender, sport is the most commonly appreciated and popular. within a household its common for the boys to be interested in a football game, therefore its a time women can have a common ground with men and also in every household its likely for there to be at least one man so thats a game being watched in a wide area of houses (creating a high viewing rate). also this is a popular programme to be aired for all races as the players shown on the programme are of all races also which gives a sense of unity and coming together of cultures, wiping out social divides. its also a good programme for all races as its an activity that doesnt require a language barrier to be broken down and its something everyone can learn to play or learn how the rules work so they can watch it. an entertainment that can suit anyone, any race, any time. overal media uses a range of different audiences to target to create a popular and watched programme. uses race, which includes language, culture and background. a use of age, which ties in with mental ability, attention span and focus. gender which can actually divide them apart from the opposite sex yet caters for the targeted type of gender to try and get more viewers by relating to them.

visual codes: The trailer"LOL" featuring Miley Cyrus, shows a clear visual code of clothing and physical appearance. the main character wears quite trendy and young clothes, the purpose of this is to make her more realistic as a teenager and relate to their targeted audience; the effect of this is to make the character relate to the target audience which ultimately attracts them more meaning more viewers. there's not a lot of gestures, facial expressions and body language within the trailor just the odd few to give the audience an idea of what's to come. the settings are the school that the film is based around which also gives a setting of a teenager's life which again the effect is the attraction of the targeted audience. the colour within the trailor is still generally bright colours throughout purposely to keep to theme of youth and teenagers in effect to attract young people. the style there is a main use of connotation within the trailer and that is the social media brought in through the phone and also more importantly the diary she writes in. the diary is a connotation/symbol of her life and the story thats going to be embedded within the film; the symbol is the teenage life dramas which you find out later on in the film as it progresses. technical codes: the technical codes are very important within the film and trailor as it uses a range of shots from close ups to show the characters pain and upset to wide shots where there is a lot of friends and sets a scene of happiness. to begin the close ups are used alot within the trailer, mostly when she is alone and writing that diary or on her phone. the close ups are mostly used when shes alone to show her seperation to the other characters and make her the main one and show the audience its her that the film will be based on. the camera movement isnt used quite so often but does go from scene to scene swiftly and does slow motion when a big part is about to emerge; the good thing about this is the clear showing to the audience when importance is about to be set. the editing is used alot considering its a trailer, as it needs to keep the amount of time spent on each scene tight to try and capture all the main elements that will gain more of an audience. the pace of the text varies from slow to fast for example when swapping scenes or settings it switches very fast yet when its a close up it changes into slow motion to create a sense of pain or empathy for the character. the slow motion also creates importance which shows the audience that in this scene its important which ultimately makes us watch a bit more inattentively.

visual, technical and audio codes task. 1st one

                                                           Rihanna-Stay
 
Visual codes.
This is a music video featuring Rihanna singing her new song "stay". The song uses a vast range of visual codes throughout. Starting with the use of gesture and body language, Rihanna is mostly curled/huddled up in an enclosed embrace; this suggests hostility and upset as its a position used to calm. The facial expressions prove to be very important in this video, she's aiming to portray sadness to link in with the song therefore she doesn't smile once and constantly looks sad and looks away from the camera quite often which then creates effect when she looks at the camera. The settings and use of colours link together as its set in a bath (quite dull) and the room has no colour and has a dark touch to it as there is no objects apart from the woman set in the bath; this is a ver effective visual code as it reaches its aimed purpose of making a depressed feel to the audience and effects the consumers by changing their emotion. The connotation to this clip is a tad clique' as the title is "stay" whilst she is alone which creates an effect of loneliness and depression for the audience.

Technical codes.
The technical codes displayed within this video clip is firstly a range of shots with a purpose to make the audience feel empathy (which they ultimately do), they do this by using a series of close up shots of Rihanna's face; I think they do this to show her sadness and because its so close up it creates the audience to feel emotionally effected by this as it's just her face so we focus just on that. The camera movement varies from close, far away, side angles and moves very slowly to feature each aspect of the clip, the effect of the slow motion movement effects the audience by again feeling depression as it's low beat which links with that emotion purpose. Editing of this clip is very simple yet effective, the scenes flow very well with each other and they are in slow motion constantly. The purpose of this slow motion gives the audience a feel of the upset. Next the lighting is very dim throughout, it effects the audience's emotion from happy to quite down as bright lighting has a connotation of happiness. Lastly the mise en scene is very little, the purpose is to focus on the main character (Rihanna) therefore there is only water and the bath besides Rihanna in the clip throughout.

Audio Codes.
The scene uses all use of non-diegetic sound, this is the case because its to use all music prepared by the artist's therefore diegetic sounds (natural use of music) is not an option. From watching this clip I didn't gather any ambient noise, and as for audio codes concerning music its clear music is a huge benefactor to this as its a music video.
                             

catfish:

The intended audience for the programme "catfish" is mainly for anyone using the internet for social network purposes, it reaches a wide selection of the public as its something the vast majority can relate to, especially young people between the ages of 13 to 25. I use these ages because the age for starting to use the internet is 13 when using a social network area. It mainly aims to the younger generation because they use it mostly in an unsafe way of meeting new people on the internet whereas older people are statistically shown that older generation generally don't even use the internet. Also the actual channel that catfish is aired on (mtv) indicates the audience to be between the ages of 16 to 30 year olds. Overall it mainly aims to capture a younger age group audience as they are typically known to relate to the issues shown within this programme therefore would show more of an interest in watching.

To start with "catfish" meets the uses and gratifications of personal identity. It does this by identifying the audience through social networking and relating them to the issues displayed in the programme. It does this by realising that their audience are more likely to have come into contact with the same issue/situation as the people displayed in the programme; the audience typically like this because it helps them with their own personal problem and how to deal with it. Lastly we see the programme uses personal identity as the people shown in "catfish" are relatively young and therefore identify more with their targeted audience as they fit the same age category.

Within uses and gratification the programme also displays the use of information as its not only used for entertainment purposes it has an element of documentary purposes to spread awareness of issues in the world about the problems/dangers occurring in social networking sites. This can relate to parents, carers, or near enough everyone as there is a huge majority of social users in the world and this programme relates to all of them. It uses information to create an idea that the internet is unsafe the majority of the time, it does this by using a type of hyprodermic needle that injects an idea of danger online using certain ideas to create this interpretation, one being near enough all stories used on the programme are in fact NOT success stories which ultimately injects the idea to the audience as it's biased. This can also relate to process of selection when they have cut out success stories and selected only the ones that effects the audience in the intended way.

Uses of entertainment within uses and gratifications doesn't necessarily apply in catfish as it doesn't allow it's target audience escape from reality but to face it as it's likely the audience have either been in this situation or know someone who has. The only time this may be the case is when someone outside of the targeted audience watches it without intended purely for entertainment from watching the stories shown in the programme which allows an emotional release.

Social interegation is the last part of uses and gratification. this is used a lot as the target audience are generally in contact with each other a lot whether it be in school, college or any other educational places as they are young. This shows there is expected to be a lot of discussion within companionship about the programme and their thoughts and feelings on the show. Even further than this we could assume the teachers hearing these conversation may lead to them involving into social interegation themselves or even the first consumer to tell their parents which could intrigue them into watching catfish too.

 

The programme "catfish" is very mediated and constructed throughout. To start with the selection process that I spoke about earlier on is a key aspect of this as all success stories are left out in intention to alter out opinions and feelings towards the message brought in the programme.

After the selection process has been finished the programme is constructed to chose ultimate highlights that create a more viewable programme, it also uses elements that will try and control your thoughts of the programme to suit their intended way.

Also the focus/mediation is to follow the character in which the story is based upon, this results in us as the viewers making a particular assumption on the story or on the social networking issues raised in catfish.

An important aspect of the use of mediation and construction in catfish I think is dominant ideology. I think this because the man presenting the show is someone effected by social networking and therefore holds and ideologic change that social networking relationships are bad/dangerous from his past experience. By him having this assumption it is the point of view that is presented throughout. And because of this it creates a kind of 2 step flow because he is now the "opinion leader" therefore the audience is more likely to hold his view on social networking relationships.

 

Overall the programme "catfish" is a highly constructed or mediated show that meets a lot of uses and gratifications (even if not intended) and reaches an audience of ages 13 to 30 years of age and a majority of all social networking users.