Rihanna - Unapologetic
GENRE
How is the genre of the track/artist evident?
Rihanna follows a variety of genres, pop and R&B being her most prominent. It is clear to see this is a pop album cover because of the generic features included: the female artist being the centrepiece with a plain and basic background behind her. This is because the typical aim of the pop genre is to use the artist's image to sell their music. The fact that she isn't wearing any clothes isn't uncommon either because the vast majority of female pop artists use their sexual image to sell their music as that tempts in a larger audience of males who may not usually listen to pop music of that kind. We can tell that she is also prone to R&B by this as well as the fact that she has a tattoo, suggesting street culture.
MEDIA LANGUAGE
What visual techniques are used? (rule of thirds, texture, colour, tone, mise-en-scene).
The framing of the shot is placing Rihanna directly in the centre to bring her to the main focus. The plain, empty, white background emphasises this. The only colours visible is the warm tones of her skin in contrast to her black hair, portraying her to be beautiful but cold. We can also tell this from the mise-en-scene used, the focused, defiant facial expression and the seductive pose she holds through her body language. The slightly low camera angle shows reinforces her position of being strong because she appears to be looking down on the audience.
How is meaning generated through these techniques? (semiotics)
The fact that she is the centrepiece represents a feminist attitude that she can stand strong and independent as a woman and the low angle shot reinforces this. The warm tones portray her passion while the scrawled writing over her body implies her many emotions that she may be trying to show through the music on this album, both features usually linked with femininity. The seductive position she stands in reinforces a dominant belief that women sell themselves through sex appeal.
What linguistic devices have been used? (look at emotive language, use of quotations, connotations of song/album title)
Unusually, more writing than just the title is used on this album cover. Her naked body is covered with very scrawled words like "side effects", "faith" and "victory", that don't make any sense together, but suggest individual deep meanings. The messy style of the writing, as if it was handwritten suggests a lot of emotions and suggests an view into the artist's mind. This makes her audiences strive to know the deeper meaning to these and do this by continued consumption of her work. The word "love" is scrawled over her face so that although she is breaking the fourth wall by looking straight into the camera, it's indirect because it blocks most of her face. It also implies that this is the most important word written on the front.
Is there any intertextuality/references to popular culture? How does this create meaning for the audience? Think about postmodernism here, use of parody, pastiche.
One of the words on the album cover is "#Navy". This is a reference to the popular social network Twitter by the use of the hash tag, meaning a trending topic. Twitter is where she connects with her fans which she called "the Navy" as a way of forming a stronger connection with them so that they feel like they know her. This portrays her as very present but also absent as they almost feel like they are her friend but they are not quite within touching distance of her, this follows Dyer's theory of the "star image" where artists portray themselves as simultaneously present and absent so that their audience strive to complete their image by consistent consumption of their work.
REPRESENTATION
How are the band/artist represented? Does this add to their 'meta-narrative' in any way? How does it help sell their product?
Rihanna is primarily represented as a sexual object through the lack of clothes she is wearing, further emphasising her meta-narrative of being wild and out of control by being a sex symbol. But she is also represented as being strong by her defiant facial expression and the way she stands alone, independent. This sells her product because her desirability is seen as something to aspire to, placing her as a role model.
INSTITUTION AND AUDIENCE
How might this print text be consumed? How is this evident in the way it is constructed?
This print text would be consumed in a place where people are likely to buy the album for example a CD shop, iTunes or adverts promoting the album. The artwork is there to give an accurate representation of the style of music in the album.
BACK COVER
How is the genre of the track/artist evident?
Rihanna follows a variety of genres, pop and R&B being her most prominent. It is clear to see this is a pop album cover because of the generic features included: the female artist being the centrepiece with a plain and basic background behind her. This is because the typical aim of the pop genre is to use the artist's image to sell their music. The fact that she isn't wearing any clothes isn't uncommon either because the vast majority of female pop artists use their sexual image to sell their music as that tempts in a larger audience of males who may not usually listen to pop music of that kind. We can tell that she is also prone to R&B by this as well as the fact that she has a tattoo, suggesting street culture.
MEDIA LANGUAGE
What visual techniques are used? (rule of thirds, texture, colour, tone, mise-en-scene).
The framing of the shot is placing Rihanna directly in the centre to bring her to the main focus. The plain, empty, white background emphasises this. The only colours visible is the warm tones of her skin in contrast to her black hair, portraying her to be beautiful but cold. We can also tell this from the mise-en-scene used, the focused, defiant facial expression and the seductive pose she holds through her body language. The slightly low camera angle shows reinforces her position of being strong because she appears to be looking down on the audience.
How is meaning generated through these techniques? (semiotics)
The fact that she is the centrepiece represents a feminist attitude that she can stand strong and independent as a woman and the low angle shot reinforces this. The warm tones portray her passion while the scrawled writing over her body implies her many emotions that she may be trying to show through the music on this album, both features usually linked with femininity. The seductive position she stands in reinforces a dominant belief that women sell themselves through sex appeal.
What linguistic devices have been used? (look at emotive language, use of quotations, connotations of song/album title)
Unusually, more writing than just the title is used on this album cover. Her naked body is covered with very scrawled words like "side effects", "faith" and "victory", that don't make any sense together, but suggest individual deep meanings. The messy style of the writing, as if it was handwritten suggests a lot of emotions and suggests an view into the artist's mind. This makes her audiences strive to know the deeper meaning to these and do this by continued consumption of her work. The word "love" is scrawled over her face so that although she is breaking the fourth wall by looking straight into the camera, it's indirect because it blocks most of her face. It also implies that this is the most important word written on the front.
Is there any intertextuality/references to popular culture? How does this create meaning for the audience? Think about postmodernism here, use of parody, pastiche.
One of the words on the album cover is "#Navy". This is a reference to the popular social network Twitter by the use of the hash tag, meaning a trending topic. Twitter is where she connects with her fans which she called "the Navy" as a way of forming a stronger connection with them so that they feel like they know her. This portrays her as very present but also absent as they almost feel like they are her friend but they are not quite within touching distance of her, this follows Dyer's theory of the "star image" where artists portray themselves as simultaneously present and absent so that their audience strive to complete their image by consistent consumption of their work.
REPRESENTATION
How are the band/artist represented? Does this add to their 'meta-narrative' in any way? How does it help sell their product?
Rihanna is primarily represented as a sexual object through the lack of clothes she is wearing, further emphasising her meta-narrative of being wild and out of control by being a sex symbol. But she is also represented as being strong by her defiant facial expression and the way she stands alone, independent. This sells her product because her desirability is seen as something to aspire to, placing her as a role model.
INSTITUTION AND AUDIENCE
How might this print text be consumed? How is this evident in the way it is constructed?
This print text would be consumed in a place where people are likely to buy the album for example a CD shop, iTunes or adverts promoting the album. The artwork is there to give an accurate representation of the style of music in the album.
BACK COVER
The back cover for Unapologetic has a very edgy design in black and white, contrasting with the front cover's simple but colourful design. The writing for the track names is in the same scrawled font as on the front cover for continuity. A photo of Rihanna is also used but here she is clothed and looking away from the camera, setting a different scene and environment. It also includes the barcode and key names of who has been involved in the production of this album including Def Jam.
Well done Emma Louise, this is excellent perceptive work, well laid out and interesting choice of text to deconstruct. However you will need to analyse at back pane as well as ultimately this analysis is about understanding conventions, leading to your own production. Therefore it is not essential to choose a back cover which is the same album cover, either within the genre or of a particular style you would like to emulate.
ReplyDelete