CD COVER ANALYSIS

For this next section of the project I will be analysing a three different CD covers in preparation for the production of my ancillary tasks. I have decided to analyse three covers from three artists who are in similar genres of pop music.

Chris Brown - Graffiti (2009)

This is the album cover for Chris Brown's 2009 release for Graffiti. Analysing the usual mise en scene we can see that Chris is stood in black clothing, wearing sunglasses (not your usual everyday clothing) holding a guitar behind his head. He's holding a graffiti can down at the title of the album stood in front of a large window which looks out into space. What I like about this cover that it's got a very individual style using a background which looks out into space rather than a plain coloured background. The low angle shot of Chris presents him as strong and dominant, a traditional representation of men.

Justin Timberlake - Justified (2002)

This is the cover for Justin Timberlake's 2003 release of Justified. Once again the location of the album cover is in a deserted waste land, not a typical day to day location. He's wearing dark clothing which is an effective contrast to the sky and the rocks and land below him, a leather jacket is quite an average piece of clothing for a male unlike the Chris Brown cover. This sort presents him once again as a typical male. However what I find interesting about this cover is the pose that Timberlake. Stood to the side and to the right into the camera sort of gives the impression that he's quite vulnerable, what also backs this up is the way that he's staring into the camera. The mid shot of him makes him the clear focus of the cover so that the audience is very familiar with the artist.

Rihanna - Rated R (2009)

This is the cover for Rihanna's 2009 release Rated R. Possibly my favourite cover, what I really admire about this cover is the effect of the pose that Rihanna's in, the simple layout, yet the the saturation of colour and darkness of it. For a cover for a female artist I think it really breaks the typical codes and conventions of a female album cover. The way her hand is placed over one side of her face as her eye stares intensely into the camera, gives the cover a strong sense of vulnerability yet strength at the same time. The way all the colour has been sucked out of the photo and the composition of how she is positioned within the frame, give the cover a claustrophobic feeling. The way the cover works like a piece of art as the 'R' logo and album title gently sits around the photo is very effective and will be a factor that I would like to include within our album cover.