Lana Del Rey Cross Media Presentation

1. Cross Media Case Study

2. Background
• Lana Del Rey is an American
singer and songwriter whose real name is Elizabeth
Woolridge Grant. She has many influneces such as
Elvis , Eminem and the sounds of Jazz. She began
writing songs at age 18 and was signed in 2007 to 5
Point Records. Del Rey bought her self out of her
contract in 2010 and signed a joint contract with
bigger labels Interscope, Polydor and Stranger
Records.

3. Rising to Fame
In 2012 she released her first major studio album Born To
Die. The album was a success, reaching the number one
album slot in 11 countries. However critics were divided,
especially after a performance on she received very
negative reviews.
Born To Die performed so well in charts that later on in the
year (November), The Paradise edition of Born To Die was
released. This was technically a deluxe version of the
album, although Del Rey has called it an “E.P”. With eight
extra songs added on to the original fifteen.
Del Rey continued to win awards for Born To Die through
till 2013, when she released Ultraviolence in 2014. Which
too performed well in the charts and won awards.

4. Website
Analysis

5. Lana Del Reys website
features the cover art of her
latest album Honeymoon, it
is going to be released
September 18th 2015.
Her logo is at the top and is
the biggest and boldest in
a bright red. This is so it’s
the first thing you notice
on the home page.
Opening page of the website
The album name and
release date are bold
and the next biggest
things after her logo.
This is clear promotion
for the new album.
She then has links to
where you can preorder
the album from major
sites
Links to the video
and where to buy
the latest single of
the album

6. The video for Del Reys latest video “High By
The Beach”, starts playing immediately. This is
promotion for the album as a whole and a
single. There's no way to stop or pause the
video so you have to watch it.
There are links to all of
Del Rey’s social medias
The same as the enter
page, there are links to
pre order the album,
which stay there for the
whole video
There isn't much colour to the main page as the background
is white. However the writing and links on the page are red
and blue, this connote the patriotism that Del Rey features in
many songs and corresponding videos.

7. Lana Del Rey’s website is all one
page, the links at the top take you
to further down the original page
The website has a stylistic/ cinematic/ retro feel to it,
this is because it features Del Rey’s work in every
section. This makes the website interesting to look at,
especially if you are a fan as pictures of Del Rey are
everywhere
The website is interactive, clicking on item will take you to a page with a
small article about the item. These are sometimes written by Del Rey which
gives it a personal touch for her fans.

8. This theme of pictures of
Del Rey and screen caps of
her videos continues down
the page into the sections
of music, videos and gallery.
Overall the website is quite
simplistic with a re
occurring theme which
brings all together. However
apart from the opening
page and top of the actual
website there isn't any
more obvious promotion of
the latest album
Honeymoon. Which
suggests that Del Rey
mainly uses the website to
update her fans.

9. Album Artwork (deluxe digital pack)
The album art reflects
the name of the album
Honeymoon, through
the pictures and the
way they have been
edited. As they all
feature a light blue (sea
+ sky) and other bright
colours.
True to Del Rey’s previous
albums and style, this
artwork has a cinematic
feel. Which is reminiscent
to the 1970s. This is also
shown through her
costume, e.g. floppy hats.
One of Del Rey’s albums
has a Paradise Edition,
this suggests that she
wants her albums to take
listeners “somewhere”
Included in the pack are
a set of photos of Del
Rey, which appear to be
from the same photo
shoot. Del Rey included
the photos as she
knows fans who would
buy this pack like her
looks.
Although Del Rey sells herself on her looks, on the
front cover of the CD she is small in comparison to
the space and font around her. Whereas in the past
she has been the sole image in the foreground of her
album covers. This suggests that she is trying a
different selling point as her name/ logo takes up the
most space
The CD design
an American
flag. Patriotism
is a subject
that Del Rey
has previously
focused on

10. Music Video – High By The Beach
• The music video is the first to be released from the up coming album
Honeymoon. Del Rey is in a beach house and is hiding from the
paparazzi that are circling it in a helicopter. The press is referenced
further in the video, as magazines with headlines about Del Rey on
them, that are lying around.
• The video appears to simply be illustrating the song as Del Rey sings
she “never bought into your bullshit”, the person she is addressing is
the press and media as a whole.
Its directed by
Jake Nava and
was released
in august of
2015

11. The video is mostly a wide one take shot that follows
Del Rey around her house. This is to make the veiwer
feel as if they are the paparazzi, constantly following
her. This is continued from the opening shot as it is from
the POV of the helicopter. This shot zooms in and out, as
the camera the paparazzi is using would when trying to
get a good photo.
The long take is shot on a handheld camera, this is so
the shakiness builds up tension as Del Rey becomes
more frantic from “watched” all the time. This is paired
with Del Rey’s performance as she begins to run.
The house has barely any furniture, with plain white
walls. This could be as the director wants the audience
to focus on the conflict and the aesthetics. However the
bed covers are blue, as is Del Rey’s robe, this could be to
show that she is connected with the nature around her,
and perhaps she wants to live a simple life.

12. • The video then takes a turn for the fantasy
element, as Del Rey gets a sci-fi looking
grenade shooter from beach and succeeds
to blow up helicopter. This symbolises
how much she hates her privacy being
intruded on. as the house looks like a
holiday home, somewhere she would go to
be away from everyone.

13. Cross Media Conlclusion
• The cinematic and summer feel of the music video are consistent
with the theme of the website. Also with the album cover art, with
the main colour in the video and on the cover being blue; it ties it
together. Also on the website the tabs and socila media links are
blue.
• The image Del Rey has created through this video and album is like
a retro summer, this is an image she will most likely carry through
the album. Like she has done with previous albums in the past.
• Lana Del Rey being on the album cover and the star of the video
shows that she likes her work to feature herself, maybe as it is one
of her main selling points. Her brand is her and her retro/ hipster
style.