DVD EP Album release

'Can't Pretend'

This is the front of my CD cover which i designed using one of the photographs i took, of stills from the footage i was going to use in my music video.
I think that by using an image of the character on the front cover it emphasises what the narrative of the music video is going to be. I also like the use of black and white for the image as i think it gives the image a much more interesting look and feel. The colour and font of the writing fits in with this perfectly, however as a first ever single from the band i am not sure it promotes them as much as i would like.
However i think that using an image of the actual band on stage on the back of the CD cover would make it look more like a new single release. I think keeping with the black and white colour scheme and also the same font would make this a really successful first CD cover. I think that writing the song name, band members etc. over the image of the band will make it look really professional and will still promote the band even though it also has an image of the storyline of the actual song on the front.



What i like about this image is the fact it is a still image of one of Kakuzi's live performances. The front of the CD will attract the audience as i find it quite a captivating image. The back will show the audience they are not just a small time band and have had plenty of performance experience meaning they already have a large fan base, attracting buyers as they will want to know why this band are so popular.

I also added the "preview of music video 'can't pretend'" because this is often something that is included in single releases, and this can also be used to promote the band and make their faces known to their audience and within the music industry.

Relating Andrew Goodwin's theory to Bon Jovi's music video 'Always'

Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics:
Bon Jovi is a rock band and therefore their videos contain the characteristics for a rock video. These notoriously contain live performance of the band, which as you can see in this video, the live performance is constantly shown.
Throughout the video there is also a narrative, and in this particular video it is representing the relationship between a couple, which is later destroyed by cheating. Alot of 'soft rock' songs are based on love, and this is why the narrative is usually used in order to amplify the message coming through the song from the lyrics.
There are several close-ups, are again a key characteristic of rock music videos. There are several close-ups of the lead singer, and also the lead guitarist which you can recognise is a characteristic of this genre.

There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals:
The lyrics that are constantly repeated at the beginning of each chorus are 'i, will love you, baby. Always' the lyrics and the visuals clearly have a relationship with eachother, as from the way the video is set out you can see what the lead singer is singing about. This illustrates the lyrics with the storyline running through, of the woman and man in love and in conflict. This amplifies the message through the chorus. However it does not contradict against the lyrics, as you can clearly see that the lyrics and the video work extremely well together.

There is a relationship between music and visuals:
For the rhythm of a music video to flow well it is necessary that the music and the visuals fit well together. When songs have a strong, fast beat throughout the editing is usually quick paced and the shots are of a short length.
However this song doesn't have a fast beat throughout and therefore to fit with the slow, rock ballad feel the shots are generally quite long and the video is slow paced. This illustrates the intense, deep meaning the song is representing. It is also amplifying the intense feel that the actual band are meant to be giving out.

The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist:
In all of Bon Jovi's music videos there are constant recurring clips of close-ups of the lead singer and also of the instruments used within the band. This and there use of live performance will be recognised as a characteristic of their work as band, which will also be recognised as their particular visual style.

There is frequently reference to the notion of looking:
In this video there is alot of references to the notion of looking, mainly using technical objects to show this. There is a part right at the start where they have the male charatcer in the story taking a photograph of his lover which can refer to this. There are also several references to looking when they use the television and you can see what is happening in the other room through it. This is shown when the room mate type character sees the couple together. It then later is used when the girlfriend sees her lover cheating. This is an obvious reference to voyeurism as wherever the camera is placed, it is looking into the room.

There is often intertextual reference:
This video is not specifially referencing towards any particular music video, or film. However it is referencing to a common theme within many films based on romance, and the idea of a lover being unfaithful with someone who is close to you.