Digipack Research: Eliza Doolittle

Eliza Doolittle's

Self-titled Album

Eliza Doolittle is a British singer-songwriter from Westminster, London. Most of her songs are indie pop, but also include sounds from soul and reggae music, something she associates with her childhood. Her star image is a young and carefree playful girl, even though she is also an enthusiastic activist. Her music doesn't show the intellectual, serious side to her, which shows in her self-titled album cover.

There is lots going on in the cover for this album, most noticeably the way that she is on an island with famous structures known for being in England, for example the 'Gherkin', Big Ben, Stonehenge and the colourful houses. She is showing that she has a strong sense of identity or national pride. She is presenting herself as a typical British girl.

The paint splashes around the image signify the phrase 'paint the town', which means going out and having fun. This emphasises her young and fun personality, which is something that I want to replicate for my digipack. Other objects in the image like the dice, the jukebox, the upturned ice cream etc. all say different things about her, like that she's playful, she has a love for music, and she's young.

I like the font used for the song titles, because it looks like something that was doodled or drawn in a notebook at school. The red shoes and shorts give her a boho/retro look. This mis-matched style replicates clothes you wear as a child. It emphasises her 'cutesy' image.

I like the font from this album and how they are placed in relation to her body, so that the full frame looks crowded and chaotic. I also like the use of colour and the themes of the paint splatters across the digipack. I think I might use that idea of a main theme to use through the whole digipack, but want to use more of the serious photos of Matilda rather than ones that make her look young and innocent.

Digipack Research: Meghan Trainor

Meghan Trainor's Album

'Title'

Meghan Trainor's Album 'Title' is her debut album. She became a success after her first single 'All About That Bass' took off over the summer.

The music she performs is a combination of genres like Caribbean, doo-wop, hip hop, soca and pop, among others.

These genres are generally up beat and made to be danced to; a common feature of pop music.

This is reflected in her album cover with the use of the tessellating triangular design. This design is common in relation to dance music, with the triangles representing a kaleidoscope kind of effect that can be found in many dance videos.

The triangles all contain a different view of the same picture, the same way that kaleidoscopes see many different views of the same thing. This might have been used to connote that in this album she is going to show many different sides of herself.

Her hairstyle for this cover mirrors her style and image. She usually wears typically 'girly' clothes like floral dresses and pastel-coloured cardigans. Her image of the 'cute, mousy' girl is a complete contrast to the songs she writes and the way she presents herself through her lyrics. She writes mainly break-up songs, and songs about how she is empowered by her body even though she isn't skinny.

Her album cover is bright and vibrant with lots of colour, promoting fun, which juxtaposes with her original photo where her hair is braided and her make-up is understated so that she looks gentle. We would like to be able to replicate this clear contrast between sweet and innocent and fun and crazy with our own music product.

Its also clear that the artist's image on the album cover is important in pop music, since the artist is a kind of brand to be marketed. I would definitely use a picture of Matilda for the album cover, as it is a convention of the pop genre.

Influential Text: Cher Lloyd 'Want U Back'

Influential Text: 

Cher Lloyd - Want U Back

Goodwin's Theory of Music Videos

Goodwin Music Video Analysis

Voyeurism & Objectification of Men: LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It"

Objectification of Men: LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It"

Generally speaking, it can't be said that male objectification is used in this video because the men in the video have an identity and are shown to be empowered by wearing nearly nothing, rather than being in the shots just to fill up space and act as sexual objects. However, this video does incorporate the idea of voyeurism in the sense that it has been purposefully edited to present the male body in a way that is pleasing to the female gaze. 

The first example of this is when the main singer 'Redfoo' rips of his trousers to reveal a shiny light blue speedo. The shot is a close up and zooms in slowly for a second to emphasise the action as well as being slowed down. He then starts to thrust in slow motion while the camera stays focused on the close up of his groin area. His face and the faces of all of his friends/backup dancers have been cut off as well for attention to stay there.

He stands centre-frame while his friends stand symmetrical on either side doing the same pose. He continues his hip thrusting dance until suddenly his friends rip off their trousers and start dancing in tiny metallic speedos as well. The group of men on the screen are dancing in next-to-nothing which some women might find appealing, like male strippers.

When they are all on the beach laying on the sand it might be enticing to the female gaze because they are laid out displaying their bodies from overhead (so the female viewer is in a more powerful position than the men on screen) and also from behind so that Redfoo's bum is visible in the frame.

The camera whip pans to a couple of body-builders in tight short shorts, which gives female viewers a bit of eye candy, because the mid shot is close enough to see all of their biceps and abdominal muscles while still being able to see a bit of their huge thighs. Even the slightly low angle helps to dramatize the size of them and their masculinity.

When they are in a bar and having a catwalk/ dance competition the first guy skateboarding through in his underwear (Skyblu is his performer name) gets groped by a woman in the crowd. This makes it seem like some kind of male strip club where middle aged women come to enjoy themselves and that she playfully touched his spiked underwear like he's performing for money.
It might give females a sense of thrill because a guy performing in his underwear is thrilling and not something that middle aged women are known to watch.

Voyeurism & Objectification of Women: 50 Cent's Candy Shop

Objectification of Women:

50 Cent's "Candy Shop"

50 Cents videos are often reprimanded as being sexist and openly objectifying women. This video is no different, with the entire song and the video's narrative illustrating that women are all just sweets that he can buy for his own pleasure.

The first shot when the music starts has a door opening to a wide shot of a house full of half-dressed women and then cuts back to 50 Cent in the middle of a long shot to show that he is alone with all these women and he has so many girls to pick from.

Even when it cuts to a mid-shot of the woman in black there are still women walking past in the background with their hands on their hips and even just posing on a chair or leaning against the staircase railing. The women are constantly presenting themselves like they are items that need to look good to be bought.

After she welcomes him to the "Candy Shop" the camera tilts upwards to display a girls body as she walks down the stairs from thighs to head showing that she's wearing underwear and exhibits her body in slow motion to please male viewers and give them a full spectacle.

There are then close-ups of the girls' faces, all turning to look at him like they all want him. This video is essentially recreating male fantasies of having a crowd of girls lusting after them.

A wide shot shows him appreciating all of the women that are displaying themselves on the chairs and sprawled over the banisters (like furniture/ possessions).

Then he walks into a room and a wide shot shows a girl laying seductively on the bed with a live projection of her framed up on the wall behind her. This demonstrates the idea of voyeurism and watching someone for pleasure.










After a few seconds of 50 Cent rapping on his own he says "I'm the love doctor" and the scene changes to a mid shot of his face next to a woman in a pink leather nurse's outfit where only her boobs are visible before it slowly zooms out to show the rest of her. Not only is it objectifying her body but it dehumanises her as just a pair of boobs and a bum.

In between all of the shots of the women draped over him, there are shots of him rapping with a woman behind him, dancing and singing the female parts of the chorus. In a lot of parts where she doesn't sing she can still be seen in the shot with him just for show and in her black lingerie.

During the dance sequence with all the girls still half dressed there are a lot of wide shots that are mainly only used when they do something sexual like shake their butts or touch their crotches.

The girl in the next scene is dressed in more pink leather that shows her cleavage. She is introduced with a close up but it cuts to a long shot to show the rest of her outfit and that she is holding a whip. After the first few seconds where she takes off his shirt, she is only in the shot so that she can stand behind him and dance a bit, because she's just there to be a decoration in the frame.

Generally the music video portrays women as sexual objects, possessions or nothing more than decorations in the frame.