Digipak research - Album Covers

As part of my task alongside the music video I will create, I must also create a digipak. I will research this by looking into the components of a digipak, such as CD covers and booklets, the posters used to promote new albums and the websites of other artists and groups. Moreover, I will research digipaks of the genre of song I have chosen, and outside of this genre to ensure variety in my work. I should be influenced by the designs and styles of all of these digipacks that I will research, which will hopefully give me a clear idea of what I wish to use for my own digipak.

  Components of an album cover

Front Covers

The front cover of a CD is usually very straight forward. The front cover will contain only three features in most cases; the photography, the artists' name, and the name of the album. As can be seen from the image to the left, lots of artists use a simple, close-up, 'headshot' style image so as to remain the focus of the cover. Most albums tend also to have the artists' name in large, bold print to stand out and the album title is either the same size, or placed centrally if slightly smaller. Adele on the other hand, has chosen to have both her name and album title in the bottom right hand corner, although the contrast in colours draws the audiences' eye to the title of the album.

Other artists however, such as popular band Coldplay prefer to use art for their cover instead of typical shots of the band/ artist. For their album 'Mylo Xyloto', the band have used a background of vibrant, colourful graffiti and the album cover title takes centre stage, with unusually no mention of the bands name either. This trend of cover art being used for CD covers has been used by artists such as Mika, Green Day, Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera among others. The non conformist nature of this album cover and others like it, convey that the artist does not want to be typecast, but wants to stay different and unique within the music industry.

Back Covers

The back covers of CDs all tend to have certain features. These are shown in the image to the left of Taylor Swifts CD cover for her album, '1989'. The back cover will always contain a list of the song tracks, the name of the artist and album title along the spine, a bar code, the label name and information, as well as acknowledgements of producers and a tag line prohibiting copyrighting the CD/ filesharing. Some artists such as Swift choose to have an image on the back of the CD cover, this is usually of the artist and fits the theme of the front cover. Swift has used a unique style for her album, it feels nostalgic given the faded colours and handwritten elements of the cover.

Whilst some artists choose to use photography for the back cover as well as the front, other artists such as John Legend choose a simplistic format for the back cover. The cover is minimalistic, featuring only one block colour which matches the floral photography of the front. The track names instantly draw the audience's attention given the bold font and black colour ensuring that they really stand out from the pink.The added features are emphasised by the use of red font colour for the 'Bonus Tracks' which contrasts with the the other colours. The choice of colours are important, as these colours are usually associated with romance and have romantic connotations for the audience, this is an intentional decision by Legend given the romantic theme of the songs on the album, such as 'You & I'


Booklets/ Interior

The interior of CD covers contain a booklet. The booklet has numerous pages and different functions. The booklet uses a variety of additional photography of the artist, reflecting the nature of the album. All booklets contain a page like the photograph on the left. This is taken from Rihanna's album 'Loud' and is an acknowledgements page. Rihanna thanks those important to her in the open letter, including God, her family, friends, management, studio and agents.

The rest of the booklet contains pages like these; dramatic, photographic spreads which emphasise the artist and her creativity which is expressed in the model pose, her vibrant red hair and romantic pose with red roses. The pose conforms also to the male gaze, Rihanna's stance being quite provocative, this is a common feature of Album covers which is evident in the work of artists such as Miley Cyrus and Nicole Scherzinger Many of the songs on the album focus on the topic of love, as this is reflected in the photography of the album. The actual content of the pages is song titles, and credits as to who helped write/ produce the track.

This spread also connotes Rihanna's creative/ free spirit with the emphasis of interaction with nature and her body language conveying her peace. Although Rihanna, and others dedicate this space purely to song titles and credits, other artists use this space to provide the lyrics of their songs to engage with the audience. Bonus Albums frequently add additional material in the digipak to encourage their sales. Rihanna conformed to this promotional tactic and the deluxe version of her album, contains a full Photo-book of Rihanna, a cover art lithograph and 30 minute documentary DVD featuring a behind the scenes look at the making of 'Loud'.


Album covers from my songs' genre - Classical

The album cover for classical artist/ singer Hayley Westenra's 'Hushabye' is a good example of the representation of classical artists. The CD cover conforms to the image of classical music being quite ethereal in nature, hence the clouds and 'heavenly' background lighting. The actual cover is fairly simplistic, the font is bold and the name of the album stands out. The shot of Hayley is common of most CD covers as it ensures that the artist is centre of attention, this kind of shot is however usually a close-up, but a long shot is required for this CD cover to emphasise the background. Although this is a typical classical album cover, I find it to be a bit dated and mundane. Therefore I would like to add a contemporary twist to my own digipak, with influences from other genres as well as classical to give my album cover a more modern, colourful look.

The album cover for classical singer, Josh Groban's 'Stages' is of great interest to me. The cover both conforms to, and subverts stereotypes of the genre. The cover features the artist as the main focal point, a common feature of the genre which is seen across the classical and other genres. The cover takes on a modern element that is not typically associated with classical music, through the contemporary use of streaked lighting and background photography of a building and lit sign to reinforce the modern nature of Groban's work, Groban is a classical artist who has modern influences from other genres such as pop and rock, and his album cover is designed to convey this, and  the modern nature of his work. This modern twist on a more traditional genre is what I would like to convey through my music video and digipak.


Album covers of a different genre - Pop 

Album covers of the pop genre all seem to have the same effect. The cover usually always features a close up of the artist, Selena Gomez's album is no exception to this. However, the rain effect, merging of lights in the background is a clever use of convergence which directly relates to the title of the album, 'A Year Without Rain'. This cover is fairly simplistic, I particularly like the font style and size, it has been placed well so as to just touch Gomez' shot but doesn't overpower it. The contrast of colours through the font ensures that the album title stands out, this tends to be a generic convention of the genre and most album covers use a different, vibrantly coloured font for the album name.

Miley Cyrus' cover for her hit album, 'Bangerz' is vibrant and reflects her alternative style/ persona. A suggestive long shot of Cyrus has been used as the main feature, Cyrus ensures that she is the subject of the male gaze given her provocative stance, and the bright red lipstick which draws the audience to her lips - this could be to conform to generic conventions of the music industry, or as a way of utilising stereotypes for promotional gain. The album cover is brightly coloured to grab the audiences' attention and the vibrant colours and trees in the background give the cover a tropical feel. Cyrus has used bold mutli coloured font for her name, the album title is made to stand out by being written in a fluorescent type and being bright pink so that the eye is instantly drawn to this.





Album covers of a different genre - Rap

The album cover for Eminem's 'Recovery' is not a typical representation of the rap genre. Usually a rap artists' cover will feature a close up of the artist, but will portray the artists' status and lifestyle through expensive gold jewellery and a powerful stance. Eminem's album on the other hand is a total juxtaposition of this, Eminem is not positioned centrally in the shot but the focus is on his name and album title.The album cover reflects the nature of Eminem's songs/ lyrics on the album. The album details Eminem's recovery from a drug and alcohol addiction, this is reflected in the set of the cover and Eminem's contemplative stance.    

Kanye West's album cover for 'Graduation' does conform to the rap genre. The cover is brightly coloured, the artist's name and title of the album stands out. It is unique with the representation of the bear, although this is a continued theme across Wests' work and was seen on his album 'The College Dropout' also. The typical features of a rap album, exemplified in this work of West, is the need for a disclaimer in the bottom left corner of the album. The need for this label, detailing that 'Parental Advisory,  Explicit Content' is needed for the audience, to inform that strong language, and references to sex, drugs and violence are frequently made within the rap genre - whether the artists' experience of these things or their rebuking of them, it is a safe guarding requirement for both the artist and consumer.

The Original Artist

Ludovico Einaudi

The artist whose work I will be using is Ludovico Einaudi. Einaudi is a an Italian pianist and composer who works as a mainly classical composer, but incorporates elements of different musical genres such as pop and rock into his pieces to keep his music relevant. Einaudi has a large online presence. Einaudi has a very informative, extensive website which gives his fans lots of information. The website is in Italian, given Einaudi's nationality, but this is not an issue as google automatically translates all writing to English. 

The link for Einaudi's website is below; 

http://www.ludovicoeinaudi.com/default.asp

The website is fully functional, it is well set up with clear topic headings and sub headings to take the viewer to different sections. 

Einaudi has a live feed with news of concerts, upcoming albums, tours, Television appearances and events that he will be attending which is a vastly beneficial feature. 

There is a section on the website which is entitled, 'Bio' this consists of his family background, experience in the industry and influences for his music.

The contacts section of the page allows the audience to contact his management for bookings and different concert offices. 

The music section has links to the albums available to buy, the score music which can be bought to play, the soundtracks/ scores and videos on Youtube which Einaudi has composed for, and lastly a list of Einaudi's works. 

Lastly, the media element of the website, has links to photos, a discussion forum for fans, a press section which details Einaudi's reviews/ interviews and videos of Einaudi's such as interviews and time lapses/ performances. 

The website contains informative videos such as this which give a behind- the -scenes look at the artist. The clip above contains Einaudi explaining the inspiration behind his new track, and playing exerts of it for the camera. 

Interviews with the artist

The music blog, 'The Seventh Hex' interviewed Ludovico Einaudi regarding his album, 'Elements' published in August 2015. The interview discusses the creative process which allowed Einaudi to create his newest album; how Einaudi is inspired by other artists and how, despite his massive success he tries to stay true to the simple idea of communicating emotion through his music, that he used in the beginning, and throughout his career. 

Please follow the link to the full interview below,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPIVMT9Tr6U 

Einaudi has often been interviewed in other forms of media, such as online in magazine articles and newspaper spreads. To promote his newest album 'Time Lapse', Einaudi was interviewed for the Times, whereby he was called "The inventor of 'atmospherica'". The interviewer also noted how Einaudi brings a fresh, modern twist on classical music, which makes it relevant to the music scene, Adam Sweeting noted that, "somehow Einaudi’s music manages to bridge the gap between old-fashioned melody and harmony and the teeming rootlessness of this confusing 21st century"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalmusic/9984996/Ludovico-Einaudi-The-inventor-of-atmospherica.html

Social Media Presence 

Part of Einaudi's relevance to modern society is his interaction with fans via social media. Einaudi has utilised this tool to his advantage, having various pages and accounts such as Twitter, FaceBook, Soundcloud and a YouTube account. For example, the image below is a screenshot of Einaudi's Twitter page which he uses for promotion and updating fans with the latest information about his concerts. 

Original Video

The song that I have chosen to use for my music video is 'Nuvole Bianche' (meaning 'White Clouds). The track has no official music video, given its classical nature, I feel that this is a benefit to my work as there can be no direct comparison between my video and an original. The videos for the song on YouTube which has been created by fans, often feature natural imagery. The video which is connected to the link below, is interesting as the creator has used time lapse scenes of natural settings to create a beautiful landscape which accompanies the song. Moreover given how the song I have chosen is slightly unusual in that there is no vocal accompaniment and therefore no lyrics, I have attached the sheet music to give a visual representation of the song. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcihcYEOeic

The sheet music for Nuvole Bianche

Screenshot from a fan made video 

Final Song Choice

Ludovico Einaudi - Nuvole Bianche 

After considering the songs in my short list, I have decided to do a music video for Ludovico Einaudi's 'Nuvole Bianche'. I have chosen this song for numerous reasons. Firstly it is different, it is quite unusual to do a music video for a classical song but I feel that it gives me a unique opportunity to make an interesting video, which conforms to the generic conventions of the genre and adds a modern twist to what is usually considered an old fashioned genre of music. Equally I love the song as it builds, the song allows for a change of pace in editing, and is perfect for the initial ideas that I have for my music video as it would fit a performance/ narrative based video. This song will present me with a challenge as I will have to storyboard extensively to ensure that, given the lack of lyrics it does not become repetitive or 'boring'. I am however very excited to start work on my music video and will do so next by researching the original artist behind the track.    

Song Choice

Having researched thoroughly the different elements of a music video, and what makes a successful one, I am now deciding which song to use for my own music video. I have narrowed my decision down to 4 songs which I like, and in the post below I hope to list what attracted me to these songs/ videos, and which I feel will best suit the ideas for my video.

One of the songs that I am considering using for my music video, is John Legends' 'All Of Me'. This is a ballad and features the heavy use of a piano, this is of particular interest to me given my desire to have a piano as the main feature of my video. Equally, the emotive lyrics of the song, would allow me to use a romantic narrative which I had considered alongside the performance elements of the video.  

I love James Bay's song 'Hold Back The River' as it builds and would be a great track for cutting to the beat. The song has a folk sound and I like the lyrics, as I feel that they could fit with the ideas I have initially for my music video. The only negative I have for the song is that, although there is a piano part, it is not as strong a feature which may conflict with my idea for the video. 

In contrast with the other, contemporary songs I have considered, I am also looking at music of a different genre - classical music. The song above is Ludovico Einaudi's 'I Giorni', it is a modern classical song which is extremely popular. At its time of release, the song gained recognition after Greg James played it on BBC radio 1 in 2011, it then debuted at 32 in the UK Singles Charts. I particularly like this song as it is unusual, it is not a classic pop song and I could envisage it fitting with my ideas for my music video. My only concern for this piece is that, although a beautiful piece of music, its gentle nature amy become monotonous.   

Lastly, the other classical song that I have researched is again by Ludovico Einaudi, and is entitled 'Nuvole Bianche'. The reasons behind my interest in this song are significant, unlike 'I Giorni' the song builds and is exciting, I feel that it does not become monotonous and I can imagine it keeping the audiences' attention for the allocated time. Moreover, Einaudi has composed scores for film and I feel that the song has the sound of a track that would accompany a key scene of a film. Subsequently, the lyrical melody of the song evokes a narrative quality by nature, and would therefore be perfect for what I have imagined for my music video. This includes elements focusing on nature, with a cinematic narrative and the key feature of the music video would therefore be the use of the piano. Equally, given the classical nature of the song, there is currently no music video to accompany it, this gives me greater creative control in what I can use for my music video, and means that I do not have to avoid copying the work of the original. Finally, 'Nuvole Bianche' would allow me to subvert conventions of the genre as the song would not use frequent cuts to the beat, but long takes and continuity editing, giving it more of a short film feel.  

The Andrew Goodwin Theory

The theorist Andrew Goodwin writes in his book, 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory' that there are a number of features which are seen consistently within music videos.


1. The Features
Music videos frequently display genre characteristics. For example, conforming to the stereotypes frequently associated with music videos- a girl group performing a dance routine in a pop video or a heavy metal band having a purely performance video on stage extc. 

'Firestarter' by Metal band The Prodigy is a key example of Goodwin's theory , as predicated the video is performance based throughout focusing on the band and their involvement in the song, a common  characteristic of the heavy metal genre. The video is very dark with low key lighting which conforms to the dark nature of the song and the preconceptions of what a metal band's video consists of. 

In complete contrast is pop girl group 'Little Mix''s video for 'Fly'. As expected according to Goodwin's theory the video adheres to the stereotypes/ characteristics of the genre and the result is a peppy, upbeat performance based video, focusing on the dance routine and close ups of the band.


2. Relationships - Lyrics

Goodwin also makes the connection between the lyrics and visuals of a music video, whether these be illustrative, amplifying or contradicting.

Some music videos contain an illustrative quality, whereby the lyrics of the song are illustrated to the audience visually throughout the video.

The video for Ellie Goulding's 'Starry Eyed' is a classic example of an illustrative music video. The song centres around the concept of stars, magic and being "starry eyed" - the video reflects the lyrics as the CGI of the video contains stars floating onto the screen, stars glowing on her hands and there are shots of Golding herself towards the end of the video, levitating and radiating light like a star. The overall effect is that the video flows and there is convergence across the lyrics and visual element of the video.

Equally, other types of music videos as identified by Goodwin are amplifying in nature, whereby the lyric of the song is presented in the video to an exaggerated extent to reinforce the lyrics.

The video for The Black Eyed Peas' 'Where is the love?' is an example of a video with an amplifying nature. The lyrics of the song contemplate the world, and how nobody cares for one another, "people killing, people dying". These lyrics are amplified by the visuals of the video as the artists are shown to be handing out flyers across the city of a question mark, referencing the title of the song. The video also exaggerates and focuses on crimes, and uses emotive close ups of children singing to amplify the point of the song and the video.

Another feature of this kind of relationship between lyric and visual is contradicting, this is whereby there is either no correlation between the lyrics of the song and the music video or they are deliberately different to make a point.

Maroon 5's video for 'Misery' is contradicting as the lyrics "I am in misery" are clearly contradicted within the video by Adam Levine's emotions and body language. The sequence does seem to match the lyrics initially as the actress in the video inflicts pain on Levine by punching, kicking and stabbing Levine - all conforming to the theme of misery. However, close ups of Levine's facial expressions and the close physical contact between him and his 'abuser' show him to be enjoying his apparent 'misery'.

3. Relationships - Music

Goodwin has also concluded in his theory that there is a distinct relationship between the music of a video and the visuals, again either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting. The correlation between the music and visuals is that the tone of the actual song complies with the lyrics and visuals of the music video.

The video for The Fray's 'How to Save a Life' is a perfect example of the illustrative and amplifying nature of a music video which has a strong link between music and visuals. The lyrics and melody for the song are very sad, reflecting the subject of the song and therefore the video too has an ethereal, deathly quality given the slow paced editing to reinforce the slowness of the song, and elements of mise-en-scene; such as the white background and close ups of expressions of pain on children/ adults' faces. Therefore overall there is a sense of convergence in the music and visuals of the video.

4. The requirements of the record label

Record labels often have certain demands for their artists, these may include the need for certain effects such as close -ups of the artist, and the artist may then subsequently retain a certain visual style (motif) which is carried across numerous videos/ their work.

The video for One Directions' 'What Makes You Beautiful', is an example of how the requirements of the record label are enforced. The video contains various close up sequences of individual band members as they each sing their own line, (a generic convention of boy band videos) but has a second close up sequence specifically for the band member Harry Styles - signifying his importance and leadership of the band. The distribution of close up sequences, and visual style of Harry being the most prominent member is carried across all of One Directions' music videos.

5. Voyeuristic treatment of women

Goodwin also comments on the presentation of women being 'looked' at within music videos, camera angels/ shots focusing on the female body provide the opportunity for voyeuristic treatment and the stereotypical sexualisation of women often occurs in the music industry.

Professor Green's remake of the hit 'Just Be Good To Me' (Green) is an example of the treatment of women in the music industry. The video centres around a conveyor belt of women, all wearing limited/ provocative clothing surrounding Green who is relaxing in a chair whilst the women parade around in front of him. The focus on the women and rapid sequence of close up/ mid angle shots emphasising body parts of the women such as legs, hips and bottoms dehumanises them and make them the subject of the 'male gaze'.


6. Intertextual Reference

Finally, Goodwin notices within his theory the use of intertextual reference in music videos. These intertexual references may be regarding film, Television programme, music videos and other media.

Madonna's music video for 'Material Girl' is an example of how a music video can use intertextual references. The video references the film 'Gentleman Prefer Blondes' and the song 'Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend' sang by Marilyn Monroe. In her video Madonna replicates the iconic dance routine performed by Monroe exactly and has been used, as the subject of the two songs are very similar - both discussing the importance of valuable material items. Therefore this is an example of how Goodwin's theory is used practically in the music industry.

Media Products Which Have Influenced Me/ My Video

Whilst researching artists, videos, directors and theories I have also compiled some other media products which have influenced me and that I have taken inspiration from, and would therefore like to incorporate into my music video.

 Album Covers

I have been influenced by the media product of album covers. Album covers come in a variety of forms, lots of albums use artwork or a typical shot of the artist, however I was influenced by these two album covers as they are different to the norm. I specifically liked Katy Perry's 'Prism' album cover given the combination of a usual shot of the artist and the interesting use of bleaching and colour in the background which gives the cover a creative feel. Equally, I enjoyed the creative nature of Ben Howard's 'Every Kingdom' as it is alternative to the typical album cover and the use of water and lighting give the cover an ethereal feel. Overall I was influenced by these media products as they subvert the stereotypical 'headshot' image used on an album colour and I would like to experiment with lighting and colour to make a creative album cover when it comes to making the digipack for my own music video. 

Creative Videos

I researched creative music videos and found that I was influenced especially by a certain few, the video for Naughty Boy ft Beyonce and Arrows' 'Runnin' is massively popular already for its alternative nature, the video has been live since the 17th September 2015 and already has over 12 million views on Youtube. I have enclosed below the link to the video - please watch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RNftSQj4cM

 These screenshots capture what I found so influential about this video. The video has a transfixing quality and the audience cannot look away, the unusual use of nature and the sea is mesmerising and produces a beautiful effect, in terms of the use of movement, colour and lighting which I found to be particularly effective and influenced me to want to involve nature in some way within my music video.

Moreover, alongside the spectacle nature of the video is a narrative storyline which is demonstrated in this screenshot. The video influenced me as despite being so creative it was also able to portray a strong narrative/romantic storyline which gives the video an added depth and it therefore conforms to certain generic conventions of the genre - although the slow pace of the editing and lack of frequent cuts give the overall appearance of a short film, more than a traditional music video.

I also enjoyed the alternative and creative nature of Taylor Swifts' newest single, 'Wildest Dreams'. The video has been live since the 30th August 2015 and currently has over 84 million views. I have posted the link below, please watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdneKLhsWOQ

The video for 'Wildest Dreams' is unique for its extensive narrative sequences and exotic location. The video follows a 1950's movie star theme which is carried throughout, but the parts of the video which influenced me most were images like this; the focus on lighting and filming with the setting of the sun combined with bleaching gives an interesting lighting effect which appealed to me.

The last creative music video I researched is Justin Bieber ft Skrillex's 'Where are you now'. The video was posted on the 29th of June 2015, and has over 180 million views on Youtube, the most of all the videos I have researched and the unique nature of the video is evidently why. The link is posted below - please watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nntGTK2Fhb0

The video for Bieber's 'Where are you now' is especially unique given its experimentation with animation and CGI. I particularly like the creative element of this video, in which there is an animation sequence whereby the audience can stop the video at any time and a different drawing on Bieber's image as seen in the screenshot can be viewed.

The video also focuses on lighting and using this in different ways. I especially enjoyed this sequence of the video because of the use of a projector to create a new image, like an overlay on top of the shots of Justin. The combination of projector and overlay allows for a new image to be created - an artistic outcome of paint splatters and pattern is produced which is an unusual element of a music video.

Adverts

Certain adverts, although not for music videos have influenced me also. The full advert for Chanel, 'Bleu Du Chanel' is directed by iconic movie director Martin Scorsese (who has also worked with artists such as Michael Jackson) and is interesting given its narrative theme throughout. The reason this advert, and others like it have influenced me is the use of a flashback sequence, incorporating lots of post production editing techniques such as ultra violet, bleaching, black and white filters extc. to give a nostalgic feel to the main characters' memories.

I have also enjoyed and been influenced by the narrative nature of other adverts such as the galaxy advert, which uses CGI of Audrey Hepburn to promote the product. However, what I enjoyed most was the narrative storyline within the advert, this too is what I enjoyed about the Chanel no 5 advert, combined with the high key lighting and cinematography. I have posted the links for both of these adverts below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx9eDoS76LM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8asRWe5XNw8

What I have taken from my research into the adverts that have influenced me, is that I feel a narrative storyline is particularly enjoyed by the audience, and is what I hope to incorporate in some way into my own music video, as well as experimenting with and focusing on lighting and colour.



Type of music - The genre/ sound

Within my music video, I intend to use a piano as a key part of the video - therefore although I have not yet chosen my song I know what kind of music I will be looking at to fit my vision. The kind of music that has influenced me in this project, and I feel will best fit the ideas I have my video is more classical / ballad/folk like than say a pop song. The type of artist who I envisage fitting this sound are male artists like; John legend, Ed Sheeran, Ben Howard, James Bay and George Ezra, whilst the female artists I would associate with this would be artists such as; Taylor Swift, Rachel Platten and Gabrielle Aplin. 

The Male Gaze

The male gaze is a theory put forth by Laura Mulvey in her 1975 essay entitled, 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema' within the essay Mulvey addressed the representation of women within film and how women are frequently sexualised given the dominance of men in shots and how the audience usually watches something from the perspective of a heterosexual male, but also how the woman is always the subject of the male gaze - women are positioned to please in a voyeuristic manner.

Mulvey's theory relates directly to the music industry and how women are presented in music videos as women are frequently the subject of the male gaze within a male artists video or make themselves the subject of the male gaze through the camerawork of their own music videos as 'sex sells'. Controversial music videos such as Miley Cyrus' 'Wrecking Ball' have been criticised for their conformity to the male gaze theory and sexualisation/ objectification of women.

Anaconda

WARNING - This video contains explicit content. 

Female artists such as Nicki Minaj have also utilised the male gaze theory to promote their music. Minaj parodies Sir Mix-a-Lot's track 'Baby Got Back' within the video and follows the sexual nature and provocative dancing which evokes the male gaze. The camerawork of the video focuses on shots of Minaj's body and minimal clothing, her dancers and the provocative routines are use intentionally to ensure the audience views Minaj in socophillic manner. Minaj ensures that she is the subject of the male gaze from the audience, when performing to the camera and then equally she is the subject of the male gaze by the artist 'Drake' who appears in the video. 

-Minaj becomes the object of the audiences' male gaze by the angle of the camera, her seductive stance, and the focus on her eyes and lips, typically associated as the most attractive part of a woman to the heterosexual male audience and complying with the male gaze.



- Minaj subsequently becomes the object of artist, Drake's male gaze. The positioning of this sequence is important as the male is given a chair and status/ dominance, whilst Nicki crawls along the ground instantly devaluing her and making her the subject of Drake's male gaze. This is encouraged by Minaj and her provocative stance/ clothing.

Blurred Lines 

WARNING - This video contains explicit content.

Male artists such as Robin Thicke have been criticised for objectifying women in their music videos and adhering to the male gaze theory. The video contains the artists interacting with and staring at, three models in limited clothing (topless in the original video) with plastic wrapped around them in some cases - the use of the plastic highlights the sexualisation/ objectification of the woman and shows them to be (in accordance with Mulvey's findings) present purely for the voyeuristic pleasure of the male artists and male, heterosexual audience. The models in the video are both the subject of the male artists' male gaze in which they leer at the women, blowing smoke in their faces, counting out dollars and dancing with them, however the woman are presented as enjoying this which conforms to the theory of the male gaze in which women are pleased to be the object of sexualisation.


- The positioning of this close up shot is designed to make the model the object of the male gaze. The emphasis of the shot is of the model's bright red lipstick, drawing the audiences' eyes to her lips and the subsequent seductive placement of her finger - this positioning conforms to Mulvey's theory of women being positioned in a socophillic manner to please the male audience.


- This shot is a clear indicator of how within music videos women are often the subject of the male gaze, from either the (male, heterosexual) audience or the other character in the shot. In this case it is clear that the model is the subject of Robin Thicke's male gaze as is evidenced by his stance towards her.



- Lastly, this shot conforms to Mulveys' argument that within film/ music videos women are presented in a sexual manner by camera shots which linger on the woman's body and encourage the male gaze to occur, like within this shot which precedes to have the toy car roll down the models back emphasising her curves.