PREP Explain how music videos use media language to promote their artists. Refer to the pair of music videos you have studied from the list below in your answer.

Our music videos are Wheatus Teenage Dirtbag Avril Lavigne Sk8ter Boi

HOW TO ANSWER: Media language points to consider:

the prioritising of the star / the group; the privileging of the star / the groups in the frame

authenticating the star's performance / the band's performance to show their skills

the use of close ups; lip syncing to camera; eye contact with the audience

Music videos can promote artists by privileging of the star. For example in the Sk8ter boi music video, the camera follows Avril Lavigne around and she tends the main focus of the video. In Wheatus video, the camera focuses on each member of the band. In both Sk8ter boi and Teenage dirtbag, the artists are presented to be singing along to the words of the songs thus authenticating the artists' performances. Audiences like to know that the artists are talented and are really singing their songs. Wheatus use their facial expressions to show the emotions they feel and the emotions the lyrics express. this is good it tells the audience that the song is relatable. In sk8ter boi Avril Lavigne is often crouching above the camera and this displays her punk attitude, which reflects her music.

 

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MUSIC MAGAZINES: MEDIA LANGUAGE

 

MUSIC MAGAZINES: MEDIA LANGUAGE

Look carefully at the front covers of MOJO and RNR magazines. 

QUESTION: How far do MOJO and RNR use different media language to create different connotations? (CONNOTATION meaning: an idea or quality that a word makes you think about in addition to its meaning.)

Answer on your blog. This is a high-value question and should take all lesson to answer. You can use the class blog search engine for more examples of how to analyse music magazines.

In your answer you should have 2 paragraphs:

• analyse the media language in MOJO and RNR magazine. 'Media language' includes the placement of the main image, the type of photography, lighting, colours, fonts, how busy or restrained the cover is, the layout (such as alignment to the margins), how serious or playful 
• make judgements and draw conclusions about how far the media language is used differently in both extracts to create different connotations. Are there similarities in both covers? What sorts of audiences are they targeting? You could think about MOJO's rock aesthetic of living loud and dangerously compared to RNR's folk, rock, blues vibe. 

Mojo's magazine cover includes a large name title for the 'FOO FIGHTERS'. the text is in all capitals, which emphasises that the Foo Fighters are aggressive, loud and powerful rock stars. the Red in the text has connotations to hell. The mojo front cover is filled with pictures and text, leaving little to no space, this is because the magazine represents rock stars and the chaos of the cover reflects the rock of the magazine. The text in the margins mention hellish words such as 'death' this shows that the magazine is not soft and nice and is rather bold and daring. This could be appealing to the magazine's audience. The man on the cover is making an angry face, to reflect his bands music. On the cover mount, the text says 'THIS IS A CALL!' the use of an exclamation mark tells the reader the the music is shouting at them. The magazine displays a perfect example of a rockstar and therefore their rock audience would love the magazine.

The RnR magazine has a more simplistic design. Then name 'Christy Moore' is written in a white san serif font. All the font is the same white san serif, which gives a softer tone to the magazine. The background is an earthy green and matches the cover mount. Christy more is using a gentle face expression, showing his music will be more gentle. RnR is displayed as a more serious magazine, due to the soft colour theme and simplistic text. It is not shouting at you like the MOJO magazine. This could be appealing to a folk, rock, blues fan base as it matches the aesthetic of the music more. In both of the magazines, the main person on the cover blocks the title of the magazines, displaying that they are already well established magazine businesses.

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