SC: Plan B Album Cover - Who Needs Actions

Product Analysis
Album cover: Plan B – Who Needs Actions When you’ve Got Words

The album 'Who Needs Actions When You've Got Words' is the debut album from British grime sensation, Plan B. This is one of two of his albums I will be analysing, each from completely different stages of his career.
This cover uses different systems in which to construct a representation of the artist Plan B. Through mise-en-scene, typography, language and the layout, the ideology of Plan B and his culture are presented to the audience in this cover.
The first thing that’s draws our eye is the artist himself in the middle of the cover, emphasising his importance. This is part of the layout representing the album itself, and that Plan B is the focal point of the album. The layout is also very cluttered; the props in the image are in no particular or obvious order which reflects on the character of Plan B, and our first representation of youth identity, presenting the stereotypical idea that youth are untidy and informal.
The typography of the album name goes against common conventions of album covers as it is part of the mise-en-scene itself, and in the image itself rather than added afterwards. It alone represents a large part of Plan B’s ideology, presenting a theme of youth and rebellion to the audience. The use of graffiti on the wall represents rebellion, graffiti often being used to show mutiny against common systems within society – in this case, violence and war. The language used, in particular the use of “you” as appose to “you’re” (the word used in the official title) gives the impression of youth, and “text talk”, the abbreviation of simple words often associated with youth culture and identity.
The mise-en-scene is very important in this cover, as it is with most. Firstly the guitars on show represent the importance of music in Plan B’s identity and culture. This is then emphasised by the amplifier in the background and records on the floor. The room is pretty bare bar these musical symbols; this suggests that music is a massive part of Plan B’s identity and that nothing else comes above it. The dirty walls and the layout of the mise-en-scene add to the cluttered feel. The costume side of mise-en-scene also represents his character; the lack of a right shoe again adds to the cluttered impression, and the colours use keep to the theme of the rest of the album. Overall, the grey and black clothes give a very grim feel, grey and black often representing depression. This added to the dirty walls and cluttered layout, give the audience the impression that the album will be dark and grim (which it is). However, through the mise-en-scene we understand that Plan B feels this isn’t a problem as long as he has music.