magazine article

Java's new album has succeeded our initial expectations for the album Indulgence. If you have not heard the album yet, it would be best described as a mixture of electronic and house music. We at Anomalous' could see it as an anthem while you are getting ready for a night out or even dancing at the club.

We have been lucky to interview the main singer Abby as she tells us about the journey on how her and the rest of the group created the album.

"The album started off with the song Satisfy, which is my favourite song out of the album. The song satisfy was probably the best part of 'Indulgence'. Even though our intentions were not in creating a psychotic character obsessed with a guy she has never met, I'm so grateful it was. However, when my boyfriend saw the music video he did look slightly worried!"

"The rest of the group and I were absolutely eccentric when we heard that Satisfy was number 1 on the UK top 40 chart. We couldn't believe it, and we definitely had to celebrate by partying until dawn!"

Since the release of Indulgence, life for Java has been crazy, we get stopped in our day to day lives, which is crazy as only a couple of months ago we were almost unknown. We have grown so much since the beginning of our journey, and we are so thankful for all of the support we have been given from our fans and our producers, MTA records”

magazine analysis

Most 'Dazed' magazine covers have a mid shot/close up shot of a famous actor or singer. They are quite natural pictures with high key lighting. They are giving a direct mode of address which is popular with a lot of front cover pictures.


From looking at the website, the magazine keeps in tune with what is in fashion, and what is important to the audience. For example over the past two decades the LGBTQ+ community have had a huge impact on how we see the community itself. As there is less controversy towards the community many people have come out. Moreover this, many want them to be seen as an equal, instead of below them or even as an 'other'.  This can show the magazine has a younger audience maybe between 18-30. Therefore they may want to look at current affairs which would be more likely to impact or help someone.




Potential ideas for my own front cover:
 I think this magazine front cover would be similar to what I would potentially want to do. This is because it will be able to show the dual personality of the actor in the  music video.

Dazed target audience is 18-30 year olds, predominantly females within the B-C2 bracket. this means that they are old enough to understand the topics talked about and are on the wealthier side , so they will be able to buy items shown through advertisements.

The magazine "i-D" is a British bimonthly magazine dedicated to fashion, music, art and youth culture. "i-D" was founded by designer and former Vogue art director Terry Jones in 1980. 

The Magazine shows coverage on a range of different topics, which are aimed at their target audience. 

 

This shows that their audience is predominantly female, aged between 18-34 and is in the bracket of ABC1. This shows that the magazine have well informed, and a some what wealthy audience. The topics they choose are the ones that they believe will be most read and most intriguing for their audiences. 

From this screenshot from the website, it is clear that there is a genre of topics in which they like to cover. Almost all topics cover some sort of celebrity gossip, which can be seen through the articles on Rita Ora, Munroe Bergdorf and Anna Collins.

NEA- powerpoint

NEA- research and planning powerpoint- simmi

More presentations from simmi ravi

NEA- research and planning

AUDIENCE PROFILE
The audience profile is between 16 and 30 year olds. This genre of music is electronic/ hip hop. This appeal to the 'aspirant' audience. more specifically the 'Hype beast' who are urban/skater inspired they love hip hop and electronic music, and they tend to wear luxury sportswear. they are a new breed of hipster.They thrive on online culture and obsessed with an 'urban lifestyle'. They use slang which has created a whole new language for them.  They may also listen to artists like Chainsmokers  (even though they are a lot more mainstream in what they may like),DJ Snake, Skrillex and newer artists like J Hus and Travis Scott. 

The song Satisfy by Nero or  is a song produced by MTA records (more than a lot records) which was founded by music group and Chase and Status. They are a independent record label
which produces drum and bass ,rap, grime, soul, dubstep, deep house, UK garage. Since its beginning in 2009, MTA Records has tried to release music from all genres.  They are one of the highest achieving independent record labels whilst letting their artists complete their vision. I chose this song as I believe that it appeals to the target audience of 16-30. The electro/hip hop beat appeals to the audience as it would be most likely heard at a club, or a party which would most likely be attended by 16-30 year olds. 

LYRIC ANALYSIS

Original Artist

 Nero is a British electronic music group. The members of the band are, Daniel Stephans, Joseph Ray and Alana Watson.in 2011 they released their debut studio album, 'Welcome /reality' which reached number one in the UK album charts. Their second studio album, "Between II world" was released in September 2015 which was the album that 'Satisfy' was in. Nero have had some fame as they won a Grammy award in 2013 with their collaboration with Skrillex (another artists who creates similar music) with the song "Promises".

Conventions of the genre
House music is a style of  electronic music, which is sued in the song satisfy by Nero. It originated in Chicago in the early 1980's. House music at the time was untempo music, however over the year sit has adapted to the tastes of society and is now generally a mid tempo upbeat piece of music with few vocals.  Most House/Electronic music videos and lyrics tend to have messages of love, sex, drugs and dancing. in many music videos there are also a group of women wearing provocative clothing, dancing in a sexual way, which appeals to the audience as this kind of music's audience is dominated by males. The music videos of this genre usually have a group of people in a club/party in a circle dancing with a talented dancer come in to the middle and showcases their talent. This is used a sit makes the audience feel as if they want to be dancing. Even though in most music videos of this genre the DJ is not physically within the music video, there may be little clips of the DJ performing the song at a concert, or in a club. If there are vocals within the song it tends to be done by a female artists and she is most likely going to be the main character within the music video.

 MUSIC VIDEO FROM THR SAME GENRE ANALYSIS:

Nero- Promises

Performance element- close up shot of singer.

Show a women going against norms of everyone following each other. Breaking from society’s norms and values. It then shows a male joining her, which is interrupted as they are separated by society.

Nero-Guilt

Special effects cgi- almost like beats of the song- could also be blurred out lights

Pole dancer

Performance of a lady

Close up of lips

Special lights, lighting up according to the beat

Nero- Me and You

Starts with a male playing in an arcade and losing.

He’s on a journey, walks through mysterious door.

Special effects which use a blue and red version on him on top of the original picture to make it look 3D

The climax of the song is him playing a video game he found with 2/3 of the members of Nero as the characters.

Mid shots frequently used

Swedish house mafia- Don’t you worry child

Starts with news reports about the band

Shows videos from their concerts, people dancing and jumping to the music

Shows members of the band on a boat “not worrying”

Shows fans singing and dancing to their music

Performance of the group.

Short and quick clips using jump cuts which match the beat of the music.

Use of strobe lights and brightly coulor lights.

David Guetta ft. Akon- Sexy chick

Mid/close up shots of girl

Fast jump cuts

Using voyeurism to show off the females bodies, in skimpy clothing and in bikinis

Pool party ‘typical partying’-lots of drinking

INITIAL IDEAS
I imagined the music video to start off with  the main actress standing in a line with a group of girls around her. The background will either be a black wall. They will all be in different positions ranging from some girls being in a crouched position on the floor and some in a middle position. However the main actress will  be standing straight giving direct mode of address to the camera. The narrative will be the main female character finding a girl at a party and trying to pursue  her in a sexual way.

This image shows what the audience will first see. the 5 girls will be in a line with an all black back ground (use the stage classroom with the performance lights), this will correlate to the brief as there must be some sort of performance within the music video. The camera will start on a pan of the girls, which will then go into the main girl in the middle. This will be happening while the girls around her are dancing. This movement will be shown by a tracking shot starting on the left hand side shooting at a high angle towards the floor, and then moving to a low angle on the right hand side, where the camera is above the ehads of the girls. There will be a close up of the main girl singing the song, with an extreme close up when the lyrics "Let me, Let me satisfy".

song titles- from indpendant labels

thinking of you- stadium x, spinnin records


Bump & Grind (Bassline Riddim) (ft. Scrufizzer)


You're free (feat. JEX)
Florence and the machine -Delilah


The song Satisfy by Nero or  is a song produced by MTA records (more than a lot records) which was founded by music group and Chase and Status. They are a independent record label
which produces drum and bass ,rap, grime, soul, dubstep, deep house, UK garage.Since its beginning in 2009, MTA Records has tried to release music from all genres.  They are one of the highest achieving independent record labels whilst letting their artists complete their vision.

https://www.youtube.com/watchv=RSX2o7EhtcE&list=PLn3DTvpKre7DBGSzSnN7I7nMnYIAearcj&index=6

As well as the song chase and status- Blind faith

formation- representation

Describe and analyse the ideologies conveyed through the representations in this music video (Formation). In your answer, you must:- consider how representations convey ideologies (gender and race/ethnicity)
- make judgements and draw conclusions about how far social and cultural contexts affect the representations.

  The music video 'Formation' by Beyoncé represents gender and race/ethnicity strongly within the music video. The music video is based upon the struggle of the black Americans in New Orleans during the time Hurricane Katrina. As well as looking at racism and slavery.


Within the music video we see women have a strong presence. There are big group of girls surrounding Beyoncé throughout the music video dancing with her. This can represent unity within the group. this can also convey how even though Beyoncé is the person holding the star image, all the girls are all on the same level, showing that her stardom doesn't make her any different in being a victim of racial discrimination faced by a large percentage of the black population. From a Feminist point of view the video explores a strong message of gender. This can be connoted by the references to male genitalia, " Paparazzi, catch my fly and my cocky fresh". This refers to how men achieve dominance within a relationship due to his genitalia. This can demonstrate how Beyoncé is opposed the oppression she feels within this patriarchal society, however as the main reason for the video is more to spread awareness of racial discrimination, rather than gender discrimination. Her views may
contradict a difference feminist perspective, like Bell Hooks. The idea of difference feminism is they prefer to live in a patriarchal society, where their families offer a safe haven from the racial discrimination which they may be attacked with outside the house. Therefore this is opposed to what Beyoncé may be talking about.


Throughout the music video we see a difference in the way Caucasian and African American  people
 are portrayed within the music video. The only real clip we see of any Caucasian people I the police officers raising their hands to a small boy. This could represent police brutality, which has been an issue within America for years. As well as this it is also showing binary opposites within the music video. This can demonstrate how the racial discrimination which is received through the police, is through Caucasian police officers. This can be shown in a real life example by the countless police brutality cases by Caucasian officers hurting, injuring and even killing African American people,. During the music video we see the  unity of the African American people, as they are stood up together as if they were a unit within the army. This can be reinforced by the lyric, " okay ladies now let get into formation". This can represent how communities can work together to make a stand and to make the government understand the hardships in which the African American community have faced over the past two decades.

The idea that colonial discourse informs contemporary attitudes towards race and ethnicity within the modern era is an idea from post colonial theory, by Paul Gilroy. This can be shown as slavery has been referenced heavily throughout the song. This can be represented by the use of Beyoncé overthrowing the typical white, patriarchal power. This is connoted through the fact that in one of the scenes, Beyoncé is the main figure, with men around her, acting as if they are her bodyguards, making it look as if she is a important figure within the narrative. This juxtaposes the typical Caucasian patriarchal power as she is a woman and is of African American heritage

FORMATION ANALYSIS

The song "Formation" written by Beyoncé was the lead single for the album "Lemonade". It was released the day before Beyoncé performed it at the super bowl final in February 2016. Along with the song, the music video was also released on the same day, which was directed by Melina Matsoukas.The video is based upon the victims of the flooding in New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina. As well as the racism that is very prominent within America, and America's history, regarding slavery and different protests for equality.

When looking at Goodwin's conventions of a music video, we see that  there are intertextual references within the song. The costume within the video shows the heritage of Beyoncé as well as her cause that she is singing about. The use of costumes such as Antebellum dresses can relate to slavery as women within higher classes who had slaves, often wore extravagant dresses like this. Therefore the fact that a black women, Beyoncé is wearing a similar type of dress could show how she wants her and her community to be treated equally, and wants to be able to have that kind of superiority. This type of dress is also worn, with a 'Pop culture' mix as it is low cut and is worn like a bodysuit. This allows the audience to still be gratified through voyeurism, as the audience can still see Beyoncé's figure, including her cleavage and legs. This can also be seen when there are a group of girls facing away from the camera, and are twerking, which ensures the audience can only see their bums moving.

There are parts within the song where the lyrics are amplified through the visuals. This is most visible when Beyoncé sings the lyric "okay now ladies lets get into formation." This is amplified through a group of women and Beyoncé lining up. This is effective as it shows unity between the community while fighting for a cause dear to them and one that Beyoncé is singing about to spread awareness on it. However in contradiction to this Beyoncé could be singing about the topic as she knows that there would be a lot of sales and promotion for the album thus extending her audience and promoting her star image as someone who understands the struggles of those who don't have a cushioned life.

There are demands by record companies for the singers face to be a predominantly within the music video through the use of close up/ mid shots, and the "Formation" music video is no different. The music video shows Beyoncé within different settings, which can show how she relates to everyone who has been a victim of racial discrimination, as well as being more down to earth, and more relatable hence making more sales.