LO1:Comparison of how different promos create their meanings

In analysing 5 different promotional videos, I can confidently identify and compare elements and encoded media that are used specifically placed dependant on the aspect being advertised.
 In this music video created by the pop band Little Mix we are shown all the members in a male gaze perspective, e.g small silky pyjamas/bralets showing underneath.
This is specifically encoded into the music video promo due to the girls being shown as ideal selves to their audience, by showing them in such revealing clothes it conforms to pop music video conventions and creates a very clear star persona for the band as their representation is another key thing being advertised throughout the video.
This being a huge contrast to how Sainsbury's represented their protagonists throughout the video as their key promotion was on the food being shown, due to the narrative being set in the trenches of WW1 we are shown the actors very heavily wrapped up in coats and hats and their appearances aren't over-sexualised in anyway unlike Little Mix, instead the advert focuses on the storyline of them sharing food at Christmas, with insert close up shots of vintage chocolate bars that would be seen in the period its set in.
The two separate videos have very different target audiences that are aimed at throughout the advert, the Little Mix video is aimed at a very feminine and teenage audience this being denoted by activities the girls are doing e.g having a sleepover with pizza and dressing up, this being a very age appropriate night rather than showing the Little Mix going to a night club with alcoholic drinks. The target audience for Sainsburys is very contrasting to this young female audience Little Mix are appealing to, by having such an emotionally provocative advert in a historical set narrative this appeals to a much older older audience due to a very patriotic advert that would really resonate with an older generation who were much more affected by conflict or have a deeper understanding of the time its set in.
As well as this the shop Sainsbury's is a supermarket therefore its primary audience is adults who do weekly food shops therefore suggesting them having a medium to large disposable income, therefore a more sophisticated and historical advert would appeal to this demographic rather than a price mentioning advert on their cheap products like more C2DE supermarkets such as Aldi do.

Rihanna's Diamonds music video is another contrasting example of how promotional videos are encoded to promote certain products and aspects. Throughout Rihanna's video we see her in a very sultry perspective this being a similarity between both music videos including female artists. Unlike the Little Mix music video however Rihanna's video is more performance rather than narration with scenes involving diamond props, fire and violence, by her linking her song to this more adult themes e.g she has included a scene where she is rolling diamonds into a cigarette, it attracts an older audience that she is targeting in comparison to Little Mix's video.
In comparing the music video to a trailer, the clearest contrast is the strong narrative that the trailer constructs throughout due to it being a promotion for a film the trailer has included the best scenes and quick jump-cutting to demonstrate in this instance the action genre however it still has a clear narrative as a trailer as it needs to entice the audience to want to see the full story shown in the film. The music video however is trying to promote the song and the artist this is done by specific iconography and a large proportion of the video being the artist singing the lyrics of the song to demonstrate star persona, unlike this the trailer is trying to entice you into further being invested in the story and watch the film on release because of this it needs to have a big impact on the audience to make them excited for the release, this being achieved by the mise-en-scene, shot types and audio. As you can see above certain shots are shown through a sniper eye piece this demonstrating the danger the protagonist and well known character James Bond is in, this increasing the tension in the trailer making it more enticing for audience members due to the escapism it creates.

Similarly promotional videos for video games are very narrative driven as they show the audience the basic gameplay and storyline of the game, as you can see both Skyfall trailer and Red Dead Redemption trailer are both mainly based at men, this being shown by the hyper masculine representation of protagonists and the violence we are shown immediately, this is a key convention used to aim for a male based audience as this represents a very generic stereotype of how men are portrayed in media.
We see all women in the video game trailer as hyper sexualised and very useless in terms of game play, this is once again to attract that male audience that are known for playing violent video games.
Additionally both the video game and the Sainsbury's adverts are set in a period setting however the difference in demonstration of this shows the age and demographic they are separately targeting, in the Sainsbury's advert we see the soldiers being shown in a very realistic and period true setting however the cowboys that are shown in Red Dead Redemption are very exaggerated and not factual to the time era they're placed in however convincing enough to make the game enjoyable for the male teenage audience.
The biggest determinable factor in how a promotional video is created is what is being promoted and the primary target audience. In Rihanna's diamond music video she is targeting 16-25 females, this is shown by the ideal self she is portraying and the visuals e.g piles of diamonds, you can see its an older audience due to the violence included that is surrounding Rihanna in many scenes. The violence is a common theme between the Rihanna video, Skyfall trailer and Red Dead Redemption trailer this all being due to the common age of the audience and in terms of the trailers the male audience, the contrast between the 3 different promo is clear when violence is present in Rihanna's video she is not contributing to the confrontation but a witness this being a very conventional standpoint for females to take when violence is present due to them being inadvertently shown as a weaker gender.

LO1: Music Video Theory - Andrew Goodwin

Elements that make music videos successful 


1. A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals which illustrate/amplify or contradict the lyrics 
e.g Price Tag where the lyric is "its not about the money" where shes stood next to a tree growing money

2. A relationship between the music/beat and visuals which illustrate/amplify or contradict the lyrics 

3. A genre related style and iconography 
e.g little mix are always in bright colours with heavy makeup and are all very attractive this reflecting the pop genre

4. Multiple close ups of the main artist or vocalist, the creation of a star image to promote recognisable brand image 
This is often done more to women in music videos to make them appear as sex objects (Laura Mulvey), often using high angles and low angles to emphasis female body parts

5. Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females
voyeurism is the pleasure of looking at something
Goodwin recognised that music videos include voyeuristic angles of women in order to entice male audiences, this is used to sexualise the artist.

6. Voyeurism often plays a part in terms of looking trhough mirrors, screens, binoculars, glasses 

7. Intertextual references to other media texts may be present, especially in humorous videos 
e.g Arianna Grande thank-you next song




Success of music videos 

Narrative and Perfomance 
Goodwin stated that music videos should avoid narrative without the artists however if the artist is a character in the narrative its very conventional



The Star image 
the star image is another key aspect in music videos, he believes that a star persona can make the more recognisable and gain more awareness around their music

Excellent use of media language 
Mise-en-Scene can make a huge difference e.g Britney in toxic
Editing can also add elements to a video e.g split screens in same girl by R.Kelly

LO1: Report analysis of Audio-Visual Promos

Tv Advert Promotional Video

In this advertising video its purpose is to promote products shown and generate profit for Saisnburys , The video itself features an iconic historic moment to sell and advertise the food sold by the shop, the fact that the major brand has partnershipped with The Royal British Legion demonstrates how Sainsbury is trying to appear a more ethical brand and showing the endorsement of the charity as a non profitable act of kindness this technique trying to induce customers on the basis of the brand being kinder and more considerate than other major corporate brands e.g Morrisons or Tesco 

Another advert technique that the video includes is the creation of buzz that flows throughout the video for example the Christmas carols sang in the beginning of the advert by both opposing countries shows unity in humanity even though two countries were at war this scene creates a sense of Christmas spirit that is continued throughout the video and therefore creates a buzz and sense of friendship and unity throughout the video the use here of sound is placed to create effect and create emotion for the audience.

The use of text used throughout the video is subtle but very classy and sophisticated for example the only use of text throughout the video is at the end to notify the audience that the moral of the story was that ‘Christmas is for giving’ the fact that its shown minimal text results in the video connoting that the brand cares more about the historic event than selling product, once creating an ethos of amiability for the brand.​

The event used to base the advert around was chosen to appeal to the target audience as the event being a very heartwarming and inspiring, this would then create admiration in the audience for the brand and henceforth them holding the company in a higher regard. The mode of address in this advert is teacher to pupil as the knowledge of the vent is being shared, its also very constrictive as this will therefore let the powerful movements tell the story more than huge chunks of speech that would drown out the powerful movements and performance.​

This video can be seen on platforms such as YouTube this meaning that its meant to be a national advert and to appeal to a mass audience, The purpose of the product originally being to sell the shop Sainsbury's however as the advert continues you see that another main purpose is to educate the audience of the formidable conditions that the soldiers were living in and creating pride for the soldiers that fought in the war this also being clear due to the partnership with The Royal British Legion. ​

The target audience was an older demographic (25-50) , even though the product advertised was a chocolate bar and this having denotations of younger demographics the scenario that the advert was placed in was to remind the audience of a strong patriotic sense and value and therefore this targets older audiences.​

Personally I feel like males were more targeted in this video due to the context of the video being in a warlike scenario this being stereotypically more appealing for boys. 
However the advert does have notions of Earp & Katz theory of men being controlling and violent as the scene is suggesting that the men are in conflict with each other and are very violent.
Production techniques used in this advert are used to create emotion for the audience, for example the editing of the video is done to create sympathy for the soldiers, snow has been added in post-production the snow placed is done so the audience can imagine more vividly the freezing cold conditions the soldiers where permanently in. Due to this it makes the idea of one of the soldiers sharing a giving away his Christmas present of a chocolate bar that much more heartwarming.
This promotional advert has major contrast to film trailers, due to different purposes of the promotional content this outlines clear contrasts, for example in the promotional advert the plot of the advert has a strong narrative closure this leaves the audience happy and comforted to know the ending which is conventionally happy, this being a huge difference to a movie trailer as the purpose of a film trailer is to entice and engage the audience enough for them to be compelled to go see the movie to find out what the fuller story is due to this film trailers are normally tense and end with cliff hangers especially if the film genre is action.


Promotional music video 

Rihannas infamous pop video ‘Diamonds’ has a specific meaning created to engage and entertain the audience due to its purpose of entertain and advertise, The codes and conventions that are used to create specific meanings are things such as shot types ; In Rihanna’s video she's very successful at including a numerous amount of shot types throughout the video this normally denotes that the video is in the pop genre as a common feature of pop videos are their diverse shot types this is usually used to keep the audience engaged and to make sure that the footage isn't repetitive as it might've been if shot all in the same shot type. Rihanna manages to fit in all 7 generic shot types: Extreme close up Shot, Close up Shot, Medium close up Shot, Establishing shot, Aerial Shot, Medium Shot and Long Shot. She uses these in a non-sequential order. The aerial shot that she uses to show her position and surroundings whilst she's floating in the water creates a beautiful silhouette of Rihanna however once again conforming to pop video stereotypes in this scene it is very obvious that Rihanna is not dressed appropriately and is noticeably showing off her famous sternum tattoo this in my opinion as a teenage girl and the target audience for Rihanna's videos, It shows the  male influenced society we live in to see that Rihanna can't have a successful video  or scene without revealing her body and in this scene its very clear that even in a setting that’s meaning to connote peacefulness and serenity she can't be peaceful with her own body and her talent in singing therefore has to create this seductive view of herself that in my opinion is forced upon the audience in scenes like this.​

The mise-en-scene used in this video is also used to produce meaning for example For example, in Rihanna’s video "Diamonds" in the performance sections of the video where she is singing its very apparent she's topless this corresponds to her very glammed face and the backdrop is plain black this denotes that Rihanna feels that she has to be sexualised and viewed in the male gaze i.e. topless to be successful and be seen as an equal artist opposed to men. The black backdrop also connotes that’s she is wanting the audience to solely focus on her making the costume more noticeable and obvious this once again solidifying stereotypes of women being objects. Throughout the video it changes to both performance and narrative content however clothing worn by Rihanna still remains skimpy and revealing at one point the audience are shown Rihanna floating in water her body submerged however its very visible that her thin sheer white top is showing her famous sternum tattoo this creating the impression that if you’re a female artist you need to show skin and seem like a sex object to be viewed as important, even though this meaning is not positive its still created to make sure that the video fits into the pop conventions. One last factor of conventions that is massively important to creating meaning is editing of the music video as a whole for example the video has been edited to show scenes of visual representative to the lyrics that she's singing, the fact that this is organised to be so synced is to create a visual idea of what she's singing about, this being a theory created by Andrew Goodwin, It allows the audience to relate to her more as they can have an insight of the reasons of her lyrics, this editing feature seen when she sings the lyrics ‘Shine bright like a diamond’ closely following is a close up of a hand spreading out a pile of diamonds ensuring the camera captures their shimmering.​
In looking at comparison and contrast between promotional videos, music videos unlike film and game trailers don't have to have a plot line, for example in Diamonds we see multiple scenes which convey separate emotions however the audience don't perceive a clear plot line, this difference allows music videos to be more expressive and demonstrate the emotions that have gone into making the song.
Music videos are probably the promotional video most connected to the purpose of entertainment this being due to the video being made after the release of the song and therefore  in many cases the audience who like the song then later on go to watch the music video when released to understand more behind the lyrics, it does still act as a promotional video as it creates hype around the song.

Promotional music video 

This moving image product is a music video, A music video’s purpose is to entertain the audience and to add to the artists star persona its also to advertise and promote the artists new song .The platforms it can be accessed on are limitless as long as the product has access to the internet/youtubte e.g. mobile phones ,tablets ,computers ,smart TV. The purpose of the product is to sell the artists star personas and the music being performed, the fact that the objective of the video is to gain beneficially means that the video is made to promote the song, showcasing their best appearances and making sure that they create ideal self's for the audience this is a crucial tactic to use for teenage girls being the target of the demographic as they are impressionable and normally viewing peers as ideal selves.​

In the pop video “Hair”, the mise-en-scene is done very carefully to ensure the right appeal to right audience for example the outfits that Little mix are costumed in are very sexualized e.g. bras and silky robes this is to create an ideal self (Carl Rodgers, 1980) in the younger target audience that they're aiming at, the props also used are objects such as hair styling tools, makeup and cocktails all these props are once again mature and creating an atmosphere of maturity adding to the ideal life that these women are portraying that they have, however I believe this is mostly star persona and in everyday life they dont drink cocktails and have sleepovers.

The editing used is very opposing to the mise-en-scene however and create a younger effect by increasing the saturation of all colours and using techniques such as split scenes to show different locations a technique known to be used on television programmes that are aimed at younger audiences, In the video the girl group include Andrew Goodwin's theory  of matching visuals to lyrics this they do by playing with their hair whilst singing the chorus which includes a lot about removing men from their “hair”, therefore creates a strong link between the video and the soundtrack allowing the audience to associate a storyline with the song more easily consequently allowing them to connect and associate with the song more.​

The camera angles are very varying throughout this video for example to finish the video an aerial shot is used to showcase the girls ability to have fun and to create an almost traditional sleepover scenario that have ben featured in films and music videos since the early 90’s, the aerial shot also creates once again a younger atmosphere due to it connoting them as being more adolescent than women as a result of the low angle they're viewed from. ​

The narrative used in the video is focused around the girls rallying together and giving moral support to one of the band members after finding out her boyfriend is cheating on her this is a very effective story line as it is a narrative a lot of their audience can associate with this creating a bond with the audience and the band as they have both gone through the same scenarios creating connection between them, this is a very stereotypical pop narrative as pop genre usually links in with the theme of love and friendship.​

The demographic for this video is teenage girls this is very clear to connote due to factors in the video such as the mise-en-scene created.
Unlike Diamonds, the music video for hair is structured with a very strong narrative, this i believe was done due to the younger audience targeted therefore it would create more appeal as its stereotypical that younger children aren't as bothered about the emotions the song was written with and want to see a bigger picture in relation.

Promotional Video Game trailer 

This promotional video has the purpose to advertise and to entertain, due to the it being produced with these purposes in mind we see many codes and conventions which correlate.
Due to this promotional video advertising a game the trailer creates the narrative of the game into almost a short film this being entertaining for the audience. The video allows the target audience to see what the game would be roughly about and what gameplay would be involved. Immediately we see that the target audience is aimed at men this being due to only men featuring throughout the video and the only time we do see women they are wearing exposing dresses and are seen through the male gaze, this demonstrating that women are only being placed in the trailer for sex appeal (Laura Mulvey) alongside this its conventional that video game target audiences are majority male.
We see that the game is a period game and takes place in the 1850's-1900's this was demonstrated with mise-en-scene elements such as costumes consisting of stetson hats and riffles this allows the audience to understand roughly what time period the game is set in and the expectations of danger as every character seen is armed, this then allows the audience to understand that the game will contain violence.
Another mise-en-scene that is seen frequently in the trailer is lighting, in the majority of scenes we see the light source is fire, the continual use of fire creates ideology of survival but also destruction and hate.
Throughout the film we hear lots of diegetic sound effects that confirms the ideas of violence in the game e.g explosions and high pitched train breaks this creates a lot of dramatic effect in the video and allows the audience to understand that the game will be fast paced and tense at times.
Overall the promotional video demonstrates what the plot of the game will be whilst introducing characters you will meet and demonstrating the type of action that will take place, in doing so this video creates comparisons and contrast to to other promotional videos for example this video is completely different to a TV advert such as Sainsburys as this promotional video is actually giving the audience an idea of what the product will be like whereas TV adverts cant really use this device as Sainsbury's cant demonstrate the experiences of food.
The most similar promotional product to a video game trailer is a film trailer however a film trailer is teasing the audience more than a videogame trailer where it gives the audience a better understanding of the plot which the game will be centered around. 

Promotional Film Trailer 

In this film trailer we see it being an advertising promotional video, in the video we are enticed by very common codes that allow this video to fit into the trailer genre.

We see immediately that the trailer is building tension from the opening scene, the incidental music played on the opening scene is 4 quick drum beats, to accompany the dramatic drum beats are scenes of violence and on the last drum beat every-time we see examples of the motion of falling e.g cars off bridges, James Bond jumping off trains, all of these clips are cut on action to hype up tension and make the audience eager to know why violence is needed this creating the notion of interest for the audience. It is important for the video to catch the audiences attention and make them enticed in the action unfolding this is due to the purpose of the promotional video being to make the audience feel like they have to continue the story by seeing it in the cinemas.
In the advert we see the target audience for the film is mainly male this being due to the use of extreme violence (Earp & Katz), alongside this the heroic protagonist is also male reinforcing the target audience. As Bond films are a huge franchise the target audience will be very mass and will include older generations who are fa,ns of the film series along with younger viewers who like the genre. 
In terms of mise-en-scene the advert using lighting to demonstrate danger and emotions, e.g when bond is shot and has fallen into the water the lighting is very harsh and blue, this lighting is placed to demonstrate sadness alongside this a lot of scenes are shot in night time e.g when James returns to London we see him appear as a shadow at night, the continuous use of darkness connotes danger and secrecy.
We see many editing techniques throughout the trailer, we see continuous eye-line shots which demonstrate on what Bond see's for example when he looks down we are then shown a clip of his gun recognising his fingerprint this is done to show the audience his train of thought so therefore the audience feels more connected to James this once again helps overall as if the audience feels connected enough to the story line and characters they will watch the movie in cinemas.
Along with eye-line shots we also see many establishing shots used, this is used to show how Bond is constantly travelling due to his job in espionage and this adds a level of interest and spectacle to the trailer. 
Overall the trailer demonstrates its purpose and throughout the trailer you gain a clear idea of who the target audience is, this film trailer varies greatest to a tv advert promoting a product, however does have clear similarities to a video game trailer, these being that they both preview the product that is advertised and they both try and create a compelling advert that makes the audience keen to watch/play the full content due to this both promotional videos contain the most thrilling or shocking scenes.