Digipak Analysis - Green Screen

The genre of Florence and the Machine is indie/pop.  Conventions of the pop genre include a significant focus on the artist, to promote and sell their image to fans.  The Florence and the Machine digipak follows this convention as the lead singer, Florence Welch, is the sole focus of the images.  However, the photographs of her are not a typical pop style.  They have a vintage look, showing the indie influence.  If I were to create an indie artist or solo artist that is not just of the pop genre, I would definitely consider using the vintage effect to convey this.

The lighting in the images is quite dramatic.  The images vary from Florence in flowy clothing standing in a doorway with light behind her, making her appear almost angelic.  Other images have harsher lighting with more shadows, suggesting darker themes within her music and making the image seem more obscure.

The colourisation of the back cover and the CDs within the digipak are very neutral, which again makes Florence the focus of the digipak.  However, the digipak includes two CDs instead of only one, giving additional features and making it a unique selling point.

Cross-Media Case Study

Music Video Director

Postmodernism

There are three genre cycles which effect music videos significantly.  These are:

• Experimental, which establishes trends
• Postmodern, which takes elements of past texts but also adds something new in, often mocking
• Cannon, which is fixed to cultural understanding

I researched further into postmodernism, looking at examples and some theorists.

Culture Industry

In today's lesson we were introduced to Adorno and Horkeimer's theory of the Culture Industry.  To help us understand this, we were put into groups and assigned to be an X Factor judge.  My group were given Cheryl Cole, therefore had to decide what types of artists is she associated with.  We had to watch various X Factor auditions and give hypothetical feedback of what we would say to the singer's face, while also considering to ourselves what we would do to change this artist so that they would sell.

As we were Cheryl, we initially wanted to focus on the younger singers, particularly boys, as they would appeal to the target audience of young girls.  We also thought a sob story would make people empathise with them, therefore also increasing their chances of selling.  Most of the time we decided we would change their appearance and target them to a specific audience.



There are three stages of Adorno and Horkeimer's theory:

Standardization

All products produced by the culture industry exhibit standardised features, therefore there is nothing spontaneous about the process.  The class decided that people just go through a 'Celebrity Making Machine', as it is repetitive and routine.



Pseudo Individuality

This suggests that products created by the culture industry make a claim to be original, but they only contain minor superficial differences.  Baudrillard suggested that 'nothing is original, everything is the same'.


Capitalism

An artist is seen as a commodity, with the aim to sell them, in the way how industries manufacture things on a mass scale, usually with an assembly line.  This results in a standardised and passive consumption by audiences.

The Culture Industry

Today we officially decided our groups as we had to work with them for the task set in lesson.  Lauren and I had already chosen to work together, so we were a group.  The aim of the lesson was to learn about Adorno and Horkheimer's 'Culture Industry' through the example of The X-Factor.  Each group was assigned a judge to act as, and we were given Cheryl Cole.  Our group decided Cheryl would like to find a unique sellable artist, most likely a boy, who would be targeted to a young female audience.  We also had to describe The X-Factor, and we thought that it was a celebrity making machine where dreams come true for everyday people, but also produce one hit wonders.

We were shown performances from this years X-Factor, and had to consider the feedback Cheryl would give live to the artists' faces and the thoughts as an industry professional on how to improve them, which we would keep to ourself.

Even the performances that were good had feedback to change them, mostly to make them appeal to particular or a broader audience.  This demonstrates the music industry's view that artists are not people, they are commodities to sell and make money.



Adorno and Horkheimer's theory on the Culture Industry suggests that it is analogous to how consumer goods are produced, like an assembly-line of artists that are fitted with the same components for quick and successful results, for example boy bands.  As culture production is standardised and has a routine, consumption is also standardised.  This means that the audience are passive and have expectations on what they are going to receive.  The mass taste is typically homogenic and vulgar, used solely to make money, otherwise known as industrial capitalism.