Semiotics- We live in a world of signs and communicate through them. We learn to decode visual images by becoming familiar with the rules that govern how component parts work together. The study of signs and their meanings is called semiotics.
According to Roland Barthes, 'An image is denoted. It has connotations; these may differ according to culture.'
After taking this into consideration, we watched four very contrasting music videos all by different artists taking note of the denoted images and the connotations being represented.
Fabolous-Body Ya
- The lyric "RIP to the competition" represents the arrogance and cockiness being portrayed in the video, suggesting that any other person/artist attempting to do what he's doing should just give up because they will never be as good as him, therefore they may as well be dead.
- Continuing on from this, the dominant colour is black, representing his wealth, as well as symbolising the death mentioned in the previous point.
- The video makes a point of the artist showing off his possessions; cars, jewellery, money and women, therefore again highlighting his arrogance.
- The street setting of the video shows the audience that he rules it all, because of who he is. This is emphasised with lots of close ups on his facial expressions and hand gestures.
Dance Hall Crashers-Enough
- This video is very easy going and fun, this being portrayed through the use of bright, bold colours.
- We see the band performing to an audience in which the audience are care-free and appear to be enjoying themselves, therefore enhancing the idea of it being fun.
- However, throughout the video, quite violent images are flashed onto the screen, contrasting with the whole light-hearted feel to the rest of the video.
Dixie Chicks-Not Ready To Make Nice
- The main colours used in this video are black and white, portraying simplicity.
- The random shapes shown in the background represent the confusion and anger the singer appears to be feeling.
- A lot of close ups are used in order for the audience to see the emotions of the singer.
- It appears to the audience that the singer feels they are being punished for their childhood. We see this through the simple colour scheme. The singer is wearing a white dress which is being ruined by black paint, with white representing innocence and purity; the black paint therefore ruining it.
Josh Wink-Higher State of Consciousness
- This is set at a festival, therefore allowing the audience to join in with the sense of freedom and fun.
- The bright colours and high contrast enhance this feeling.
- A lot of random shapes and colours are used in order for the audience to 'let loose' and enjoy themselves.
After watching all four videos, we were given the task of creating a CD cover for one of the songs. I found the Dixie Chicks video the most visually interesting and therefore chose this to do a CD cover on.
This is the video I chose and below is the CD cover which I created.
I think the CD cover was successful as I included elements of the video within the images. It involves a close up of a young girl, a mid shot in which black paint is being smeared down a white dress, with black ink splattered in the background. I decreased the opacity of the close up in order to keep the main focus on the other image. I feel my CD cover is a good representation of the music video.
