The Coldplay album "Viva la Vida" digipak uses conventions of character, narrative, iconography, setting, and technical codes. The front cover depicts civilians standing on dead bodies after defeating a government battle, representing the French Revolution. The inside depicts each band member equally during a performance. The narrative is of civilians rebelling for change, mirroring the band's fight to change perceptions of their genre. Iconography includes a painted style and French flag alluding to the Revolution era. Settings are a battlefield and stage. Dark colors give the cover a vintage look tying to the historical period.

1. Tom Snaith- A2 Media Studies
Digi-pack Analysis: Coldplay

2. Tom Snaith- A2 Media Studies
Genre elements Conventions
Characters –
representations,
stereotypes,
behaviour, body
language, specific
actors/stars
Characters on front cover are civilians who have triumphed against a
battle with government, but at a price. Many of them died In the process
hence they’re standing on dead bodies.
Inside cover shows all four members of band (Chris Martin, Guy Berryman,
Johnny Buckland and Will Champion) captured during a song. This shows
them when they’re doing what they do best and what they love doing.
Shows that all members are equal and that without one they wouldn’t be a
band.
Narrative events –how
is the narrative
ordered and
structured?
The narrative is structured on the front cover of the album.
It may relate to the French revolution where the civilians rebelled
against the government in order to make a change.
This narrative could be carried over to the inside cover of the four
members of the band. Relation to them fighting to change the way
the rock- Pop genre is seen by the fans and target audience.
Iconography – props,
symbolic codes
The way the front cover has been illustrated to look like it’s been
painted is iconic to the French revolution as it was 1789- 1790’s and
there were no cameras at this time so the band wanted to create a
more realistic image that’s believable to the audience.
Setting- mise en scene
The mise en scene of the front cover appears to be a battlefield
where the fighting had taken place.
The mise en scene on the inside cover; the four images of each band
member, is on a stage where the band are preforming.
Technical and audio
codes – camera use,
editing, lighting,
diegetic/non diegetic
sound, sfx
The colours used on the front cover are quite dark which could
represent the battle was long and went through many nights.
This use of colour also makes the image look vintage and that it
would fit in with the era of this battle.
The images of the band are stills taken from a gig. It shows them mid
performance in an action shot. The back cove is printed to look like a
textured leather to keep with the old vintage theme.

3. Tom Snaith- A2 Media Studies
Digi-pack Analysis: Coldplay
The conventions of Lacey’s Repertoire of Elements apply to Coldplay’s Digi-pack of their
album ‘Viva la Vida. These elements being character, narrative, iconography, setting and
technical and audio codes.
Character can be applied to the Digi- pack through the use of the front and inside cover. The
front cover of the album displays and image of civilians standing upon dead bodies. They are
holding their arms up victoriously with whom look like an army surrounding them. The
battle come at a price as many died during it.
The inside cover shows an image of each member of the band, (Chris Martin, Guy Berryman,
Johnny Buckland and Will Champion). Each photo is the same size and the cover is split into
quarters. The images are stills from a performance they’ve done and shows them doing
what they do best and what they love. The cover represents they are all equal members of
the band and that without one on then they wouldn’t be a band.
There is a narrative shown on the Digi-pack which his seen on the front cover. It seems to be
a painting of the victory of the civilians during the French revolution where they had to fight
against the government in order to make a change. This narrative can be seen in the inside
cover which shows the four images of the band. This is because they may be trying to
change the way the pop- rock genre is viewed by their fans and target audience
Iconography can be applied to the Digi-pack in the way the front cover has been illustrated
to look like it has been painted. This is iconic to the French revolution as it took place in
1789- the early 1790’s where cameras didn’t exist. Therefore the band wanted to make the
image more realistic for the audience. The flag is an iconic French flag and the guns and
swords shown on the album cover are iconic to weapons used in this period in time.
The inside cover which shows the images of the band have some iconic features to the pop-rock
genre. These being a guitar, Drums, a microphone and a bass guitar. These instruments
are iconic to the genre and the band themselves.
The mise en scene of the front cover appears to be on a battle field where the fighting
would have taken place. Whereas the setting of the images displayed on the front cover are
on a stage where Coldplay are preforming.
The use of colour on the front cover of the album is quite dark which suggests the battle
went on for a long time through many nights. The use of dark colours makes the image look
more realistic as an old painting and achieves a vintage look which links with the time period
in which the revolution took place. Likewise the back cover has been designed to look like
black vintage leather which again would fit in with the era of the revolution. The images of
the band are stills taken from a gig. It shows them mid performance in an action shot.

4. Tom Snaith- A2 Media Studies