An analysis of Lady Gaga's CD 'The Fame Monster'

This is a CD Digipak cover for Lady Gaga's debute album 'The Fame Monster,' which is a re-release album from her 2009 success 'The Fame' however, re-vamped with 8 brand new tracks and released just before a world tour, The Fame Monster has been a world wide hit, together with the 2009 version of The Fame, has sold over 10,000,000 copies.

The main focus point on this CD cover is of Gaga dressed in a PVC jacket with the collar covering her mouth. There is strong contrast between her dark jacket and her hair, which establishes the colour pallet of the album to be white, black and gray.

Her hair seems to be very frizzy and un-kept which could suggest and reflect the idea her personality and music are 'out of controll' and can't be 'controlled.' However, her jacked seems to be very layered and repressing Gaga as she isn't revealed to the audience, it looks like she's hiding herself, mainly a secret or she's repressing her real personality from the first look of her. The collar over her mouth does suggest she's holding something back from the audience, therefore a mysterious, secretive and odd looking 'Gaga' uses direct mode of address which is used to connect with the audience. The way she is holding the collar over her mouth, it looks as if she is about to rip off the collar therefore she becomes a strong, independent and rebellious lady, perhaps this could link in with her background of being grown up in a strict catholic school therefore her personality of a performing artist could have been smothered therefore, there is a strong sense of liberation from the way she is posed in this shoot. Speaking from religious terms, the whole outfit does look like Habit, which is a catholic uniform worn by Nuns and Sisters, this links in with her personal background and the crucifix symbol in the CD title, however nuns are known for being repressed and strict religion therefore, i love the idea of her being rebellious and liberated as she looks like she's about to rip the collar off and inform the world who she is and what she stands for/ what she does.

I like the idea of her hand and arm being the only body part apart from her face on show, i feel this suggests liberation, however i also feel it represents a mystery and also some sex elements, also with the entire outfit being made from PVC i feel also demonstrates this point, with PVC being an erotic material.

I feel the shoulder pads within the outfit suggest the idea of fashion, which is in fact a convention in Pop music artists, so is sex. The pop artist has to identify themselves with an image in which people will feel they can connect with them by, and it makes it obvious to people in music stores which genre of music, artists have on their CD.

I feel the soft, dark makeup around Gaga's eyes represent the fact she has a darker side to her and her music, she may be dressed in sexy PVC and have blonde hair, however a theory is the eyes are the gateway to a persons soul, therefore the dark make-up surrounding her eyes suggest the idea of her having a darker twist to her. It also creates mystery surrounding who the artist is, which eventually convinces you into wanting to get to know, and listen to what the artist has got to say.

The entire backdrop which she is stood in front of i feel is also an important element to Gaga, as it represents the idea of a dark 'background' possibly to her life, she's eventually brought that dark background with her to tell you about it within this CD. This is reinstated by the idea of her just about to rip off her collar, guarding her mouth, as she's about to become strong and tell you about it. She's about to identify herself and tell you her story, she's about to tell the audience everything... you just have to buy the CD first.

The font is strictly in white, which i feel represents her identity as once being a repressed, smothered catholic school girl which are seen as being completely innocent and naive, however this is strongly contrasted with what she is wearing: a black, long, PVC outfit. The title and artists name are both in capitals Serif-font, which suggests the idea shes a strong and bold character, this i also feel helps stand out in particular against the black background.

In replacement of the 'T' in the word 'Monster,' she has used a crucifix which i feels is a rebellion to her catholic upbringing, in particular as she's placing the crucifix in a negative word 'Monster' which is usually linked and connected with the idea of nightmares and evilness. I feel this gives us some clues into what Gaga really believes in, and it leaves the audience wanted to know more about her, her views, opinions which is her music. The text is also the same bright white, which is also the colour her hair is, this suggests she's created this album, this is her album and it's come straight out from her head.

In conclusion, this is a very strong, creative front cover for a CD. This has influenced me in what i want my CD cover to include, and also how you dont have to use all of the conventions of that genre of music, and how they represent their artist. As long as it shows the artist in a creative light, and suggests the idea they are different you everyother artist in the music shop, you're guarenteed for it to get noticed. I in paticulaly like the idea of her giving clues to the audience about what her views, ideas therefore: her music, is actually about. That element of mystery gives the artist attention and with the suggestions she is giving the audience back, may just result in a sale of that album.

Britney Spears Circus CD Cover Analysis

This is an album cover for Britney Spears' most recent album: Circus. An album consist of conventionally 10-12 music tracks, however can include bonus tracks to intrigue the audience more.

The main image is always the main focus point, it seems albums have to include an interesting, attractive looking picture of the artist as this is one of the selling points as it exploits the genre and creates expectations for the genre of music and for the artist. The image is of the artist sat down looking at the camera. The camera angle is eye level, which like the magazines gives the audience the idea of being able to connect with the artist as there is no social status division between the two: this would be different if it was a low angle shot making the artist appear more dominant and powerful, this however, makes it hard for the audience to connect with the artist as there is a clear social division between them. The eye level theory can also make their music seem from their heart, and how they are feeling: it's personally from them. Her face seems to be very bare and has lack of make-up, i feel this enables the audience to see her as they haven't before, and by being viewed with no make-up it's almost like an exclusive look into her life and who she actually is as a person, rather how then the media perceive her to be. Her pose seems shy, perhaps with Britney Spears record of having a very public meltdown this shows a softer side to her, her vulnerability to the world, this connects well with the idea of the media twisting and making up lies about her life, how she can only tell the truth through her music: this is reinstated by the eye level camera angle. Her hair looks soft and long, this creates the idea of the femininity she has, and shows her in a good light, photograph wise, the hair is blonde which can connect with the idea her being young and of course she is vulnerable as there seems nothing more to be vulnerable then a young woman. Her costume consists of a pink dress, the colour is baby pink which again reinstates the idea of her vulnerability she has as a young woman. The dress isn't a revealing one which exploits her dignity and respect for herself which is seen as a good role model possibly in the eyes of the audience, this allows the target audience to be widened from the older audiences to the younger audiences as well. The photograph seems really intimate and allows the audience to see a side of Britney Spears which the media possibly wouldn't let you see: however, this is what an album is supposed to consist of, the idea of the audience seeing the artist for who they are through the music which they produce.

The text and font is seems to be used, all to add effect to the CD cover. The largest text on the cover states the artists name 'BRITNEY SPEARS' it stands out as it's in capital letters, this is eye catching and someone browsing in a music store would possibly see this CD first then others. The colour of the text is red, this could connotate to the idea of being 'Brand new and Red Hot Album!' It reflects excitement from the album, and creates excited within the buyers. It's also typical for a circus tent to include two expected colours: Yellow and Red, as circus tents include these colours in strips on their tents. The text is shaped as a tent, the 'Y' and 'S' in her name is the peak and the name follows up from 'Britney' and then follows down with the name 'Spears.' It's a stereotype of a circus being held in a tent, however with a circus theme being such a strong theme, the circus stereotype will be noticed and expected world wide, and this shaping of the font meets the audiences expectations therefore don't confuse the potential audiences. The font they've used for the artists name, is a quite show girl font, and is very circus themed: it's connotations include circus and performance.

The title of her album 'circus' is printed underneath her name, the text is smaller which is understandable as the name of the artist is a main focus point as if people are looking for an artists music, they search for the artist's name; rather then the title of the album. The text is in the colour mustard yellow which connects with the idea of the circus tent, with the tents expected to be striped with two basic colours: Red and Yellow. By using Yellow, it creates a variation within the album cover by including other colours as the album has to eye catching and interesting and by only placing one basic colour pallet, it isn't attracting the audiences attention as it could be. At the side of the album title 'Circus' there are two signs, these i feel help introduce the title as they are pointing towards it from each sides so it feels like an introductory feel. There are stars all the way around the album cover i feel this flatters the artist, saying to the audience how she is star quality, it also centres the artist making her the most noticeable thing in that album cover. The stars are a baby blue, which i feel reflects the vulnerably of the artist, however i also feel this reflects the idea of her being an 'out of this world' artist, as stars could connoted space, and out of this world.

In terms of representation: i feel this artist is being represented as clean, young and fresh. This is perfect for targeting the younger audiences as parents view the image she is portrayed in, and if they like the clean image they trust the artist for the music they produce: this is presenting Britney Spears in a clean, trustworthy light. Hip Hop artists are often photographed with all their jewelry and big expensive cars which have a negative effect upon a parents decision whether their children should listen to their music. By representing the artist in an honest light, it's widening the target audience. I feel every time an artist releases a new album, they should always represent themselves in a positive light for audience, who don't originally know the artist could feel they could potentially like their music through the representation of the artist.
The audience i feel who would buy this CD would be teenage girls, and all time fans who have been appreciating her music since she started out in the music business. Her clean, pretty image appeals to teenagers as they are bound to support some idolisation towards the artist. Her music is focused on dance-pop: people who buy this i feel will be more interested in the idea of escapism they can receive from the album, it's ideal to listen to from escapism from the stress when you're getting ready for a night out, dance-pop music builds up the excitement you feel for the night ahead.

Introducing...

For the second part of my A2 Media coursework I have to create a Digipack CD and DVD case for my media product.
A digipak includes space for the audio CD as well as room for the DVD which will hold my music video. Many artists have used these including Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and The Killers. It allows more depth of elements into what the audience are buying, as it includes their up-to-date audio CD as well as a DVD containing either their music videos.
To start brainstorming on the design of my digipak for the CD and DVD which will both be contained, i will start by analysing CD covers and brainstorming on paper. I also think by watching through my promo-video, it will create ideas and make me remember the key themes, issues and the overall story which i wanted to tell the audience whilst they where watching it.

Cast List, Prop List, Costume And Locations

These are my finished idea of last minute planning before i start to film my music promo video, I'm going to explain my Cast, Prop list, Costume and the locations in which i will shoot my music video.

Cast List
I'm going to have quite a few extras in my video and one main star. The main star will be the main character within the story and the extras will be the random characters holding up their 'secrets' on the A3 card looking towards the camera

Main Star: Victoria Kelly, 21 from Leeds (My Sister)

Extras: Jemilla Pir, Emily Potter, Beth Mcbride, Krystina Cole, Jack Waller, Danni Mcgarry, Charlotte Armstrong, Jade Adam, Frances Ellis, Cat Boal, Sean Hickman, Sophie Scudder, Ashleigh Jarvis, Gemma Bradford, Emma Metcalf and Maureen Lennon, Stephanie Kelly, Tracey Kelly and Dermot Kelly.

There are a lot of extras and i don't defiantly know if i will be able to get them to film their scenes on the day, however i like the idea of spontaneous filming, having a random selected extra to film on the day is what i want to really do, as it's the idea of everyone having 'problems' and 'secrets' no matter how random they are, they are probably going through the same problems are the main character therefore i feel it will be so much more successful if i was to use random friends where where at the right place at the right time. Therefore i might end up using more males then females, or vice versa it's totally unpredictable therefore i feel i will be getting more realism from the randomness in which is taking place. However, I'm defiantly having a set main character as my sister, i feel will act the part brilliantly and as a director i am positive she will act the way i want her to.

The final three names Stephanie Kelly, Tracey Kelly and Dermot Kelly are the family in which will be totally ignoring Victoria as a character as she's trying to search for someone or something, i chose my real family to do it as the age suggests the idea of parents and little sister. It creates realism to the video and i feel it's nicer to include your family is projects like this.



Prop List
There aren't many props which i plan to use within my music video, the obvious props are:
-A3 Card, which are the secrets which will be written on the card with a black permanent marker, also the main star has a collection of these in which she is constantly carrying around
- Cup and Saucer, which will be used by my family during the shot of when she is searching around her home, and when her parents are totally ignoring her
- Tea Lights in Glasses, which will be used in the final scenes when they are in the garden and hanging from the tree

There aren't many props used within my music video as i want to keep the music video, very natural and i feel if we include too many props it seems very product based which is not my concept. I feel by lacking props you are creating realism and making the video easier to digest as, as an audience member you're not constantly shown all of these props in which all of the characters are using.

Costume
The costume in which i would like my cast to wear varies:

Main Character- For Vicki, i would like her to wear a long floaty white dress. I like the colour white due to the connotations in which the colour suggests, i want to the audience to see her as a pure, fragile, angelic soul. I want her to remain as natural as possible in terms of make-up, as i feel she's supposed to suggest she's 'naked' and completely 'natural' to the audience, who are seeing the lost and vulnerable side to the character, however i would like the character to be wearing bright Red lipstick, as i feel this suggests with the idea of her 'sewing' her mouth up, the idea she can't talk or mention any of her problems or secrets to everyone. I like the idea of her having stained lips, these secrets are stained on her lips as cruel and murderous, and she can't brush these problems and secrets off... they're stained on her.

Extras- For the extras in terms of the characters holding up the secrets on the A3 card, i only want them wearing what they are at the time, i feel this adds realism and reinstates the original idea of the story: you are not alone. I want to push the idea of the fact all of these 'normal' people have problems and secrets too and are also trapped and through the use of everyday clothing, i feel this suggests they are 'everyday' and 'normal' people, which adds strong realism to the video. In terms of my parents, i wish for them to seem completely repressed, therefore i would like them sternly dressed in either suits or just boring harsh clothing, the females with their hair brushed back and in a bobble, and for my dad i want his hair gelled to his head. I feel this represents the idea that the parents are ignoring their child's problems when she needs her family most, therefore what she is searching for is not seen in her parents.

Locations
For the locations i have listed some main areas in which i will film certain sections:

My house- I will film quite a few shots in my house and my surrounding area, such as the main character waking up, her searching a carved tree, searching around her family, walking down the street and also the final last scenes in the garden.

College- I will also film a lot of shots around college, especially all of the shots in which my peers are holding up 'secrets' and 'personal problems' upon the white card. I will use the back field, for there is a green gate which i could film behind my peers suggesting they are trapped. I will also film my sister searching through nature, such as grass and trees as i feel the college has a large enough green space and i will also film my character walking through the Crampton Room which is a social area in the college when she's searching around pupils who are sat down and possibly eating or talking as they ignore her.

Finished Synopsis

My music video I feel has a very interesting story in which I've created. It follows a female character, who as soon as she wakes up seems to be searching for something or someone, she looks through college, through her home and through fields and nature. She carries around A3 cards with her which has marked with permanent marker her 'secrets,' which link in with ambiguous idea of who or what she is looking for. As soon as the operatic bridge within the song enters she then looks directly at the camera and realises where to find what she has been looking for, she returns home to find the garden totally alit with candle lights in jars and glasses, both on the floor and hanging from a tree, she runs to the main focus point in the garden (the tree), and she finally feels complete, she's happy and free. As the song finishes we are left with the chilling final shot of her sleeping which is strongly contrasted with the shot before being totally energetic and exciting. It leaves the ambiguous idea of her either dreaming or the more extreme possibility of suicide or death, the shot of her sleeping fades out and the audience experience closure in the idea of her being in another place, be it heaven or just the dream world, she's finally happy and free.

Audience Research Results

This is the graph to the results in which i found out by handing out my questionnaire. I ended up handing out 18 questionnaires in total, however i tried to make it as fair as possible by handing nine out to males, and nice out to females. I based the questionnaire around the mainstream 16 - 18 target audience male and female as that is the audience in which I'm hoping to attract. In the graph to the left, the conclusion to the results in which i found was the idea of the majority of people voted 'pop music' as their favorite genre of music, whereas 'gospel and soul' remained un- ticked which concludes to the idea of perhaps neither boys or girls particularly like this genre of music. Indie rock and RnB remain the second most popular whereas the third most popular was in fact rock. This is interesting in terms of audience research as i targeted the questionnaire at people from the 16- 18 aged category, who i also want to aim my promo video at.


This is a graph to show what elements in a music video appeal to the audience, the most popular was actually 'the music' which is interesting as it reinstates the idea that the music is still the most important concept of the music video, however it also creates the question surrounding the idea of can an amazing music video make a rubbish song buy able? The second most popular was the choreography factor within a music video and the joint third was the costume and the artists/ dancers with sex appeal. These are interesting results from the mainstream audience in which participated within this survey as, if i want to target this audience, perhaps i should use some of these elements in which they seem to prefer and like to view within a music video.

This is a graph to show how often my target audience watch music videos, with the majority of participants stating 'quite often' whereas the joint second are 'Sometimes, when I'm bored' and 'A lot of the time.' It's interesting to note that none of my target audience 'never' watch music videos nor are they all they watch either. It just proves perhaps music videos need that media attention to really get my mainstream audience to want to watch my music video, or it just needs to be interesting. The musical artist always allows the song to receive a lot of radio play before the promo video is released, this is an important idea as with the majority of my participants confessing the most important factor of a music video is in fact the 'music,' it allows the audience to become familiar with the song then excitement starts to brew waiting for the artist to complete their music video for the song.

This is the last quantitative data in which i received, which asked the participating audience which music channel is their favorite. The majority of my participants chose MTV which interestingly enough is more well known now-a-days for playing reality shows on repeat, such as 'The Hills, Sweet Sixteen' and 'Laguna Beach' rather than music videos in which it was created for back in the 1980s. Other favorite music channels include Smash Hits, Kiss and Q which all play music videos for completely different genres, such as Smash hits plays music videos for Pop and chart music, Kiss plays music from the genre of Hip-Hop and RnB and Q plays music from the genre of Indie and Rock. If MTV does play music videos which, once in a while it does, it plays music based in the mainstream pop genre such as Lady gaga, Lily Allen and Britney Spears.

I included some open questions at the end of my questionnaire asking the audience for their favorite music videos, and which artists they think bring out the most interesting music videos. A shocking 12/18 participants included Lady gaga in either of these open questions, reasons from the costume, to the choreography to the story line. It seems she is very popular amongst my target audience from 16- 18 year olds. This audience research has been fully worthwhile as it allows me to see what my target audience really want to see within a music video, and basically they just want something entertaining, they don't wont watch anything rubbish and boring. They want to view something tense, exhilarating and exciting, joined together with a good song, looking from this research it seems impossible to make sales out of song which have an amazing music video, yet at the end of the day if the song is absolutely rubbish, the audience isn't going to want to purchase and listen to it on their Ipod.

Information on my chosen Artist- Damien Rice

Damien Rice was born in Ireland on 7th December 1973. As an musician he plays the guitar, piano and violin. He creates music for the singer-songwriting genre which is a branch off from the genre of Folk.

He was originally in a band called Juniper however apparently due to the record company interference with the music they originally wanted to produce, he decided to pursue a solo musical career. During this time of self-reflection about what he really wanted to write about, he travelled the world, reportedly working as a farmer in Tuscany, busking his way around Europe and eventually moving back to Ireland to where he got into contact with a music producer and began to write his first album O, which was available in shops from Februally 2002.

In an interview about why he split from his original band he replied with the statement '“They were asking, "Can we just make it a little bit more radio-friendly?" And there was that sort of guilt feeling….”' (Yahoo music). This is strongly understandable as Damien Rice was an artist and musician who wanted to create songs in the singer-songwriter genre, therefore his music should conventionally be about what he personally wants to say to his audience, rather then having to edit it to make it target a more mainstream audience.

He also stated whilst busking around Europe, he felt an element of 'freedom' which he realised he craved this 'freedom' with creating his own music, rather then being in control my a record company.

As he came back from his traveling exploration, his grandmother informed him about his cousin, David Arnold who was a music producer and through the money Damien had earned from busking around Europe, he used to create a demo, to which David Arnold heard and immediately brought a mobile studio in which Damien Rice recorded his debut album 'O' (released 2002). Following the success of his first complete album as a soloist, he then followed onto recording his second studio album '9' (released 2005).

Since then his music has been a hit being played constantly within films and hit television shows such as 'I Am David' (2003), the series 'The L Word,' 'One Tree Hill,' 'Grey's Anatomy' and also 'The Inbetweeners.' On these programmes and films songs such as, 'The Blowers Daughter,' 'Cannonball,' and '9 Crimes' have been used. However when his songs aren't played in full on television shows and in films, instrumentals from his songs '9 crimes' and 'cold water' i have personally heard on such documentary shows such as 'Comic Relief,' 'Children In Need,' and 'Around The World In 80 Days.'

Damien Rice - Discography

With Damien Rice not being that well known when his 'singles' go on sales, his albums have made a strong impact on the UK and Ireland's chart, with 'O' reaching number 8 in the album charts, the album reaching number 2 in the Irish charts and also number 6 in the Norway album charts. With the album also reaching triple platinum in the UK, whilst in Ireland it received ten times Platinum whereas in USA it received a disappointing Gold disk awarded.

His second album '9' was received more welcoming in the album charts whist reaching number 86 in the French album charts, overall it received in the chart top 100 across Australia, Ireland, Switzerland, France, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, UK and America. Reaching the top 20 in 4 out of ten of them countries, as well as receiving a gold disk from America.

His single Cannonball is the most successful single sold in the UK of his, which reached number 19 in the singles chart and in UK and Ireland he's had 6 singles in the top 40 chart.