1. Laura slater CD cover analysis- Beyoncé
Characters- The main cover has no
characters. Beyoncé is shown on inside
front cover. You do not see her face just her
body. This is stereotypical of the genre of
R’n’B as a lot of female artist show their
bodies and show a lot of sexuality. The
behaviour is stereotypical as Beyoncé is
seen as a sexual figure. It is also
stereotypical for the genre of R’n’B to have
the main star on the cd cover. She is
holding her back which could be seen as
sexual. This is also stereotypical of a female
R’n’B artist.
Iconography- The only props that are used on
this cd cover are chains that are wrapped
around Beyoncé’s body. This is
stereotypical of the genre R’n’B as money is
heavily associated with this genre of music
and I think this is what Beyoncé is trying to
represent and this also fits in well with her
style of music. The main icon is Beyoncé
and this is made clear by just having an
image of her on the cd cover. This is
stereotypical of this genre.
Narrative events- The picture of Beyoncé is
enigmatic. The image makes the audience
want to find out more about the story behind
it and why she is posing like that. It makes the
audience question, who it is for? If it is for a
loving relationship or to get other people’s
attention, which also has connotations of the
sex industry. In contrast to this the cover over
the picture is very different. The whole black
cover with light pink writing is a contrast
between good and bad. The cover is also made
to look classy and elegant, which is used to
cover a very sexual image. This shows that the
cover has been used to hide this image.
Beyoncé may have done this so that the only
people that see this image of her are the
people that buy her album, her ‘true fans’.
Setting- In the mise en scene of the image
all you can see is the back of Beyoncé’s
back. This is making a statement as that is
all that she wants to be seen. In the mise
en scene we can also see chains which is
iconic of the genre of R’n’B. As well as this
the provocative image is iconic of females
in this genre of music
Mise en scene- The camera shot used is a
close up of Beyoncé. A close up has been
used to show the detail of the chains
around Beyoncé’s back. They have done
this to highlight that she is not wearing
many clothes but she is wearing jewellery
which may have been done to highlight her
wealth.
Technical/ audio codes- As the Cd digi pak has a cover over it shows that the inside image
is deliberately provocative. The nudity is hidden inside of the cover. This is so that many
more Cd’s may be sold due to being able to see Beyoncé semi naked. This is a promotional
stunt.