Magazine advertisment

         

                                       

Magazine adverts ideas

In the magazine advert for Ciara's Body party single that was released in June last year in simple but very captivating. The filter on the image enhances the sexuality of the whole image . In name Ciara in written in her trademark style  and the image is dominating the  page keeping the audience focused on her. The date of the released is also on the page informing her fans and potential fans to keep watch for that particular album during that time. Her pose in the image is very sensual linking in with the title of the song 'Body party' and her eyes are closed which reminds the audience that this song is personal to her.


In this magazine ad Rihanna is promoting her Loud album .The first the we notice just from looking at the image is the  red  filter on both images. This is connotative  of the name of the album being loud (red is a hard loud colour)  as well as the sound of the album being in your face and honest and sexy at the same time. Both images again are dominating the ad  keeping all focus on her.The date of the  album release  
is white to separate it from the red background. Her pose is similar to Ciara's pose. The lack of clothing emphasises her own sexuality as well as expressing her own she is allowing her fans to feel free about expressing there own sexuality.
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locations& Settings

Below are the location at which I chose to film my music video. 
I wanted all my locations to be authentic so that my audience feel that the artist is just like them hence they go through the same issues in life and just trying to work through them the same way as everyone else but letting the world on the journey with her.

Richard Dyer -Star theory

                                                               Star Theory

Richard Dyers star theory focuses  on the  idea that icons and celebrities are created d by institutions for their own financial gain. He believes that stars are constructed to represent 'real people' experiencing real emotions.Stars are manufactured by the music industry for the sole purpose of of  to make money out of audience, who respond to various elements of a star’s personality by buying records and becoming fans. 

                           He splits is theory into three different subheadings 

                                                           Constitution
                                                   Audiences and Institutions

                                                           Hegemony

Constitutions

This is  the same as the audience and institution part of his theory. 

 Institutions & Audience 

'Stars' are created just to bring in revenue,and by increasing the brand identity is beneficial for the institution as they  become  popular household names through the increase in sales in all media platforms of which they are in. Institutions model their  artists based on their target audience

Hegemony  

Also know as 'culture'.
This is the idea that the audience can relate to the star because  they share a feature or they have something that they admire about the star leading some fans to even try to replicate the stars behavior ranging from what they wear to what they say and do.Although this can have  this can have some positive impact it can also have negative impact as some artist are into taking drinks and heavy drinkers . An example in the 60's and 70's  the rise in sale of cannabis  as 'The Beatles were open about their own use of the drug. As well as rappers in today's society being extremely explicit and open about their drug and alcohol use,it have now become the norm for their fan base.  Stars represent shared cultural values and attitudes, as promote a certain ideology. Audience interest in these values enhances their 'star quality', and it is through conveying beliefs, ideas and opinions outside music that performers help create their star character to their fans.

 A star may start a fashion trend, with masses of fans copying their hairstyle and clothing. Stars benefit from cultural discourse for example, via their Twitter feed.  I.e Lady Gaga  and Nicki Minaj and Rihannah








Social networking sites such as ; Facebook, instagram, twitter and tumblr give  stars the opportunity to establish their own values outside their music. Lady Gaga tweets frequently about issues, and expects her “Little Monsters” (The name of which Lady Gaga calls her fans)   As well as 'The Navy ' -Rihannah  fans. 

Richard Dyers star theory is the idea that icons and celebrities are manufactured by institutions for financial gain. He believes that stars are constructed to represent 'real people' experiencing real emotions. Stars are manufactured by the music industry to serve a purpose; to make money out of audience, who respond to various elements of a star’s personality by buying records

Analysis of Beyonce's If I Were A Boy

If i were a Boy

In the first 40 seconds of the video,the couple are seen in a shot reverse shot whilst stating what seem to be what is expected of a realtionship  Beyoncé is seen getting ready for work. Her boyfriend has lay out breakfast for her, but she dismisses him by just taking a bite of toast, throwing it back on the table and leaving, making her appear dominant, yet unfair to him. Beyonce  is then seen carrying out the role of a police officer, 
a stereotypically male-dominated occupation, where she flirts with her colleague. However, whilst her boyfriend is carrying out the stereotypical female based occupation of office work he is approached by a female who tries to flirt with him, yet he pays no attention to her but instead, looks online for some jewellery to give to his girlfriend. This idea explores an uneven balance between the commitments of both partners, a concern that's relatively male based. He then tries to call her and she doesn't pick up her phone which is contrasted heavily when Beyoncé receives the pair of earrings from her boyfriend and acts elated. The earrings are then a focal point in the shot when she is dancing with her colleague which produces a sense of irony as she is clearly ungrateful and unappreciative of her boyfriends efforts. This emasculates him and makes her appear unfaithful. When the transition in narrative occurs the audience feel sympathetic for Beyoncé, specifically when we see her cry, and subsequently identify with her representation of how men treat females. The narrative then reverts back to the beginning and her boyfriend is seen walking out of the shot, whilst she has prepared breakfast for him. He then gets into the car, exactly how Beyoncé does at the beginning of the video, and is seen flirting with his colleague. It is evident that she has been imagining if she 'were a boy' in order to try to understand why her boyfriend has been unfaithful. Throughout the video, the editing is arguably unobtrusive, which therefore creates a strong focus on the narrative of the music video for the audience, as opposed to drawing attention to overly distracting cutting. This allows the audience to emotionally connect with the music video. Similarly, the film stock is in black and white throughout the whole video which also draws more attention to the narrative structure of the video, as opposed to the audience being distracted by any colorful codes and conventions of the video. In addition, the black and white film stock creates a more exposed and stripped-back presentation of the narrative, consequently creating an emotional connection between Beyoncé and the target audience.This mid shot of Beyoncé's colleague checking her out does not show her face, just the sexual facial expression of the male. In addition to this, the camera is at a low angle which arguably represents the male as powerful and strong- but in a negative light. His influence in the disruption of Beyoncé and her boyfriends relationship is significant, which is complimented by his authoritative stance in this shot. In turn, this shot is also representative of Laura Mulvey's theory of the 'male gaze' as it causes events that normally occur to women to be contextualised to represent a man's reaction to them. This theory connects to the narrative of the music video through the use of this camera angle and the composition of the shot- which shows the male standing behind her, as Beyoncé attempts to represent male behaviour in order to ultimately sympathise with females who have been victims of unfaithfulness. In addition to this, the lighting is darker on the male, whilst he acts disrespectfully towards the female character, Beyoncé, making him appear untrustworthy and deviant to the audience. In addition, Beyoncé is wearing a police uniform as she has through many of the scenes in the video which arguably shows her performing a stereotypical males role. In this scene, she drags somebody out of a shop and arrests them in a vigorous fashion- making her appear strong and dominant as if she were a male character. This adds to the narrative structure of the video as the audience is reminded that she is playing the role of a male. The music video was directed by well known English music video and film director Jake Nava who has worked with Beyonce on previous videos 'Crazy in love' and 'Single Ladies' which was listed as one of the most influential music videos of all time . He has also work with artist such as Britney spears, Rolling stones and has done  ads for Amarni 

 The establishing shots of the music video are very plain and stripped back- featuring Beyonce and the male stock character with shots of them saying words that are typical of a successful relationship -'intimacy', 'honesty', 'commitment', 'you', 'me'.

The solid composition of this medium close up of Beyoncé creates an emotional connection between her and the audience with the use of the dialogue- 'intimacy' also allowing her and her fans to connect. The camera uses a short range in order to build 'intimacy' between the emotions of Beyoncé and the audience.This spawns an understanding between Beyoncé and the audience throughout the music video therefore allowing them to relate to the issue that she is exploring. This presentation of her as a stripped-back and emotional stock character, elaborates on the ideology that she represents of being an honest female. This is also complimented by the lighting of the shot, she is against a white wall which projects light around her face, which almost propels her innocence and arguably gives her an angelic presentation, making her character more believable. In turn, there is no use of props or complicated setting, the true emotions that are provoked with the words she is saying are presented through the plainness of this shot. In terms of costume she is seen to be wearing a white vest, whereas in the following shots of the male character, he is wearing a black vest. This choice of costume is representative of Levis-Strauss' theory that dark/bright representations, in this case through costume, creates binary oppositions and conflict which in turn propels the narrative to the audience. In addition to this, the video has been edited to show cuts between the two characters, after each word that they say. This builds on the idea of the contrast between the honesty and untrustworthy presentation of the male and Beyoncé. When the dialogue of both characters saying 'you', 'me', 'Us' the shots cut between Beyoncé and the male, which shows their unity and how they are supposedly a couple. This in turn provokes more emotion in the audience when we later understand the narrative concepts of unfaithfulness, and the loss of unity.

This medium close up shot of the male stock character appears after the shot of Beyoncé, where he says 'honesty'. The composition of the shot shows him to be on the left hand side of the camera, his face placed at acanted angle despite the camera being placed at an equal angle. As a result, it is arguable that this makes him appear to be deviating from the emotion-focus of the shot. Here, the audience do not trust his 'honesty' as much as they may have believed Beyoncé, due to the fact that this shot is not as intimate or straight-on. As a result, when compared to Beyoncé in this sense, he appears the 'villain' of the narrative, which is complimented by the use of black costume as previously explored. This in turn brands him as a stereotypical untrustworthy male, a character that Beyoncé portrays throughout the following narrative. As a result this choice of opening allows the audience to establish that Beyoncé is in fact acting as the villian in order to represent the emotions of the victim.  

This medium shot of the kitchen shows Beyoncé standing up whilst her 'boyfriend' is sitting down. Here, the composition makes her appear as the dominant character as he is looking up at her whilst she pays no attention to him. This demonstrates that she shows little regard for his feelings, as well as the sound of the lyrics in the background as she walks out of the shot- 'I'd roll out of bed in the morning, and throw on what I wanted and go', showing her disregard for his efforts.  In addition to this, the lighting focuses on Beyoncé as opposed to the male, which not only makes her the focal point of the shot, but also shows how the male is emotionally inferior to her, making the shot more one-sided. This arguably defeats the typical connotations that the hero would be lit up and the villain in the dark, however one could argue that, ironically, this is the way that it could be portrayed. Despite Beyoncé being seen as a femme fatal in the relationship, she is only doing so in order to show the audience what she would be doing if she 'were a boy', therefore her being the focal point of the lighting could still show her as an innocent heroic figure, and the male in the darkness because he is the true 'villain' in this situation. If interpreted in this sense, the lighting is representative of Levis-Strauss' theory that dark/bright lighting creates binary oppositions and conflict which in turn, propels the narrative to the audience. This theory also links to the use ofcostume, as previously explored she is wearing white, and he is wearing a darker colour; arguably this maintains her innocence throughout her portrayal of a bad character. Furthermore, because she is wearing her work clothes the idea that she chooses her job and colleague over her relationship is exaggerated  The audiences also feel more sympathy for the male through the use of the kitchen setting and the culinary props which adds to the understanding of their relationship. It is obvious that they have previously had a strong relationship, because they live together, however this has obviously been effected by Beyoncé's character and her presentation of an inconsiderate male.

 The composition of this medium close up- two shot of Beyoncé and her colleague shows them looking into each others eyes seductively, after she has been following the cliché of a male standing behind the female teaching her how to do something, i.e golf- in this case shooting, subsequently showing her in a masculine role and adding to the representation. The face-on camera angle shows the intimacy between the two characters, which causes the audience to feel sympathetic for her boyfriend and question the intentions of Beyoncé's character. The feelings of sympathy are complimented by the non diegetic sound of her singing 'and everything you had got destroyed'- these are powerful lyrics that reinforce the idea of the destruction her character is seen to be causing to her relationship. The use of the glasses as props could be interpreted by the audience as another way to represent how her vision is clouded as she cannot see how she is upsetting her partner, as well as showing how the lust between the two characters is untrue and devious. Both the glasses and the headphones also connotate with the idea that they are shooting, a dangerous activity that is representative of the turbulence of their sexual chemistry, an idea that is exaggerated with the phallic resemblance of the gun. In addition, the consistent use of blackcostume makes them both appear as villainous, which adds to the negative representation of their characters.

This mid-range shot appears in the middle of her narrative role as a 'stereotypical male' in order to re-engage the female audience with her femininity and to appeal to the male audience. As a result this shot is arguably representative of Laura Mulvey's theory of the 'male gaze' which is when the camera lingers on the curves of the female body, in order to contextualise the camera work and content of video from the point of view of a male. This in turn results in Beyoncé making a connection with the male audience, in a video which is highly driven by presenting males in a negative light. She is predominantly sympathising with the female audience through her use of sound- 'If I were a boy, I would turn off my phone, tell everyone it's broken so they'd think that I was sleeping alone'. However this is contrasted with her use of mild nudity in order to regain any male attention that may have been lost through the narrative of the video. In terms of ideology, her British fan base watch her sing this song live from Glastonbury on Youtube with close to 1,500,000 hits, and in this case, after she sings this lyric she says 'yeah right' which in turn adds a sense of explicit sarcasm to the music video. One can not only assume that people who feel completely in touch with her ideology would have watched such video's, specifically her fanbase. In turn, this adds to the ironic narrative structure of the music video and proves that she attempts to portray herself as the villian in order to sympathise with her female fanbase. 

Here, a close up shot is used in order to allow the audience to connect with the male character. It shows him phoning Beyoncé, followed by her ignoring the call. This again, provokes feelings of sympathy for the male, whilst implying that Beyoncé is almost a 'femme fatal' in this situation, a confusing concept that does not cause the audience to connect with her as they would in other music videos. 

The composition of this two shotshows Beyoncé dancing flirtaciously with her colleague, from a long range camera shot, whereas the male appears in the forefront of the shot. This makes him the focal point of the characters emotions, provoking more sympathy for him, whilst the vision of Beyoncé is somewhat obstructed, which in turn causes the audience to feel less connected with her character. Although the audience is less connected with Beyoncé in this shot, the lighting ironically focuses more on her in the background, showing her boyfriend in a darker and more shadowed light. One could argue that this is to ensure that the audience still maintain a slight connection with Beyoncé as the musician, whilst it also foreshadows the future role reversal that see's Beyoncé as the victim. Her disrespectful actions are further exagerated by the use of mise-en-scene in the shot, as the audience cannot see anybody else acting so flirtatiously which subsequently causes them to deem her actions as inapropriate towards not only her boyfriend, but the context of the party.

This is then contrasted with the progression of the narrative, which see's the camera angles change in order to cause the audience to feel sympathetic for Beyoncé's character. This close up shows her crying as she is the focal image of the shot, something that is exaggerated by the blurring of the background around her. In addition to this, the characters begin a short diegetic dialogue between the two characters in which her partner says- 'you know when you act like that, I don't think you realise how it makes me look... or feel'. She then replies 'Act like what? Why you so jealous, it's not like i'm sleeping with the guy'. Then the boyfriend repeats it; 'Why you so jealous... not like i'm sleeping with the girl'. The lyrics then change to 'but your just a boy', making the transition both lyrically and visually between Beyoncé representing the male villain and then progressing into thehero. This change in narrative causes the audience to feel sympathetic for Beyoncé, specifically when we see her cry, and subsequently identify with her representation of how men treat females. With the use of this shot, the audience begin to understand the narrative, and automatically change the direction of all their previous sympathies from the male character, to Beyoncé through her representation of females who have previously been hurt. The use of the earrings as a prop in this shot links to the previous shot in which the audience see the boyfriend buying her earrings whilst she is out flirting with her colleague. This enforces the narrative swap, this time provoking irony through the idea that she thinks he cares when he buys her a gift but instead he is being unfaithful. In addition to this one could argue that the significance of the earring still appearing throughout the change in narrative, shows how although she appeared to be the villain, she was only acting and has been sympathising with the victim throughout. 

After the change in narrative, thismedium two shot shows Beyoncé in the background whilst she is being ignored by her boyfriend. This is an explicit change-over from the shot earlier where he was in the foreground and she was dancing in the background. Although the compositionof this shot is the same in terms of positioning, the camera has focused on her in the background as opposed to him, representing how she is now thevictim and feels upset by his actions, whilst he is oblivious to her emotions. 

This transition in narrative is again supported by this extreme-close up of Beyoncé, where the audience finally truly connects with her. This connection is complimented by the shot being on an equal angle with the audience, which assists in the translation of her emotions to them. The mise-en-sceneand setting of this scene is extremely stripped back, which also mirror's the establishing shots at the beginning of the music video, therefore again re-establishing the connection that the audience previously had with her. This is complimented by the sound of her singing- 'But your just a boy'. As a result of these words, she not only connects with the female audience through her representation of their emotions, but also directly addresses the male audience in an emotional way with the intention of putting across the message of honesty and commitment. This makes this a significant shot as it subsequently rounds up the music video and brings it to a more thought-provoking close.

Throughout the video it is clear that Beyoncé is representing the stereotypical unfaithful male who takes their partner for granted. However, with the use of the song lyrics the audience can understand that she is sympathising with her female target audience of specifically young adults. Throughout her musical career Beyoncé has created the ideology of a strong, independent female leader who's up-beat music provides women with empowerment and the means to appear sexy and intriguing to the male target audience, whereas her slower ballads are more reflective of female emotion and sensitivity. This video is more representative of the latter and therefore appeals to the target audience of mostly females who have been caught up in a turbulent and mistrusting relationship. As a result, the ideology that she creates in this video is predominantly one of a sympathetic and understanding female leader who can empower females to stick up for themselves in a similar situation.