Magazine Advert Ancillary Task

This is the back cover of my CD Album cover.



This is the reverse cover for my CD Album.

This is the reverse front cover for my CD Album.

This is the front cover for my CD Album.

Editing and final touches

After we had uploaded all our orignal footage to the Mac's and produced most of our music video, it came up that if we could get more footage than we already had our music video could look so better, so we took a camera out to film a bit more however both battery packs failed on us and must have been flat so we could not film, and only managed to get still images. We went back to the editing room and added the still images into our music video and it gave us a little more body and footage to work with. However we still wanted to get some more footage, this was on the deadline day, so we were told we could take a camera out over the weekend, however our actress (who we need to be in the footage we film) was working all weekend so it would not be possible to get the footage we need.

Cd Album Cover Photos

Target Audience

Our target audience are generally females ranging from the ages 13-25 this is because we have a young fashionable artist who is slightly different to most young artists these days. We would like the younger part of our audience to see our artist as a role model. She has a really good self image to use to sell her music. Also her clothes and dress sense fit in really well with our star image motif - leaves which are browns and dark reds this also matches our house colours.

Magazine Advert

1. What is the purpose of a magazine advert?
- It reaches a target audience directly through a magazine: it gives the audience an element of control and choice.
- It needs to be striking to catch attention.
- The advert must be appealing to the target audience in alternative ways (visuals) because they cant hear the music like they can in a TV advert or viral marketing.

2. What techniques might a designer use to achieve this purpose?
- Simple design with eye catching image in the middle which then encourages the target audiences' eye to continue looking over the rest of the page.
- Interesting colour and image choice: house colours, complex or original images, star image motif.
- Decide whether to use direct or indirect address.
- Digital manipulation.
- The correct use of white space.
- Subtle use of humour to interact and engage with the target audience.
- Use contrasting colours.

3. What information does the magazine advert need to include?
- Logo/name of record label.
- Artists name.
- Release date.
- Album name.
- Any awards won.
- Where you can buy it from.
- Reviews.
- Tour dates.
- Names of singles.

Shooting Schedule

12th October: We went out and filmed the majority of our music video as we had a couple of hours to work with the location and fiddle around with shots and angles etc.

19th October: Our camera worked in school, and then we got to our location and the camera would not work, so we could not film.

22nd October: We went out and filmed the rest of our music video, however due to lack of school resources we could not use a tripod so our only option was to use a stool and balance the camera on a stool. I think we achieved what we wanted to though and the camera worked well on the stool.

CD Design

This is the design of our CD cover. As our song and music video are narrative based we had the idea to have a picture of the artist walking towards the camera in our set location as the front cover and her walking away on the back cover to give the feeling of a beginning and an end. Inside the cover we are going to have a pull out picture collage which we designed and you can see on the top right of the uploaded picture.
Our artist will be walking along a wood track with leaves everywhere when we photo her for the CD covers. This also fits in with our star image motif for her which is leaves and autumnal colours.

Location

We were going to film in a field but we couldnt do that due to weather conditions and the field has also been ploughed, so we changed to another local woodland where we filmed our music video and this is what the pictures are of.

Location Shots: Hitchwood

How did we find our artist?

Claudia and I have chosen our artist because she is one of our friends, she will be convenient as she is local and is willing to work with us, she is an unsigned artist who has written her own songs. She performs in pubs and clubs locally and has done some gigs so she has performed her song to an audience before. Her music also fits the genre and style that we were looking for to make a music video to.

Audience feedback from film pitch

Overall our feedback told us that everyone in the class likes the fact our song is narrative based and we will be doing alot of work to fit our lyrics to visuals to help narrate the song. However suggestions that we have had are to make our star image motiff more obvious and related to our artist and song, so therefore this is what we shall work on.

Lyrics

In your world everything’s cosy; in your world everything’s rosy.
In your world the sun always shines,
In my world doubt just fills me,In my world nothing thrills me,
In my world the sun never seems to shine.I want to be where the sky is brighter,
I want to be where my heart feels lighter,
I want to be lying in your arms.I want you in my life,
I want you to be part of my world,
I want to be in your life,
I want to be a part of your world.Your name is all over my note book,
Turn around and give me just one look,
I feel invisible but I’m right before your eyes.I want to be where the sky is brighter,
I want to be where my heart feels lighter,
I want to be lying in your arms.
I want you in my life,
I want you to be part of my world,
I want to be in your life,
I want to be a part of your world.
(Repeat x 1)

Idea for location

We are planning and storyboarding for our music video to mainly be filmed in the countryside and in the open. This is because it fits in with the gentle sound of our artists voice and the genre of our music. We also plan on using the natural lighting of outside to our advantage as we need some daylight shots and some dusk shots. However we understand this could not work as well as we hope so we are also experimenting with the lighting effects available on our editing software.

Initial ideas for editing

- slow paced soft transitions

- fast cut montage

- digital effects: split screens, colourisation

Our music is fairly slow paced so we will not need fast editing to relate to music and visuals, we will have softer transitions, yet still alot of editing such as blurring one image to another and have 2 images merge into one.

Initial ideas for camera work

- Dynamic camera work: using still images will help create a sense of intimacy and also provide close ups. We will use this in our music video in a fast cut montage. Becauseour music video is narrative based, our initial idea is to help narrate the story of our music video using still images.

- Close ups predominates: music video played on small screen so audience feel very close and involved. We will do this in our music video by using extreme close ups and close ups of the artist as we want her to be recognised for her image and look.

- Create a sense of intimacy for the viewer: selling the music aswell as the artist. Our song lyrics will have meaning to our audience and we will make it so that the artist is performing the lyrics in a way that the audience can relate to the music and the artist.

Intertextuality

Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can refer to an artists borrowing and transformation of a previous text or to a audiences referencing of one text in viewing another. Intertextuality is used alot in music videos and used very cleverly to produce another unique music video.

Analysing CD Covers

Sex Appeal is used very much on this CD cover as a selling point. The title of the album is 'Sexed Up' which is also the number one track on the album. The font of the album cover and artists name are both the same but the album name is in a larger font size than the artists name. This will grab the audiences eye before anything else especially because the font is white, on a black background so it stands out. The image first seen on the cover is a female who is posed in a 'sexy' way dressed in stereotypical clothes, using her body as a sex image. However as you look into the image more you can also see a close up of Robbie Williams face, this shows he is still using his own image as well as sex appeal to sell his album. There is quite alot of white space on this album cover so therefore it comes across as a simplistic idea with the one image and white space, however where there is an image the editing and effects are very complex as the two images are over lapped.
The colours used on this album are black, white and neutral colours this connotes the idea of life being just 'normal' life, and living naturally, however the costume of the female on the cover contradicts this message therefore representing the way different genders reveal themselves in society and how genders should behave or react.

The rope used signifies a pole, as the female is shown as a 'striper' type character and the rope is her 'prop' to define the nature of her costume.

This album cover has brown, grey and black for its three house colours. There is alot of white space on the cover and the image used is a very basic yet effective image. The image used is an old fashioned type of image showing a male character carrying a brief case and guitar through a rainy field. The guitar in the picture connotes the musical theme of the product, the image also gives the audience a feel of lonliness and perhaps insecurity. The band/artists name is in the top right in a larger font than the name of the album. The writing is dark on a lighter background therefore standing out and waiting to catch the audiences eye. The album name is their number one song. The album cover is very simple, this is good because the title attracts the audiences eye but because its not too busy so the audience are not too over whelmed, which is a more inviting feeling and therefore could sell quite easily.

Niche

Creating a niche is creating something new that the band/artisit can offer the audience. This can be used as a unique selling point for the audience and ensure individuality. Having a niche can also be known as brand identity. A good example of having a niche is a artisit such as Lady Gaga, the outfits she wears and her image is used as her niche. She wears very unigue clothes that no other artist does, and this is now what she is nationally and globally known for. However she always brings something new to every video she makes, this keeps the audience interested and wanting to watch her videos. The unpredictable clothes are a very clever way of raising her popularity because it keeps the eye of the audience busy and therefore has won the attention of her audience. This is why her niche works so well for her and the sales of her music.

Analysing Websites

Star image motifs

The record label which represents the artist create a unique selling point for the artists music. This can be done by using the artists own image to sell the music. Artists who do this are artists such as Lady GaGa, Robbie Williams, Rhianna, Fergie, Amy Winehouse, Britney Spears, Black Eyed Peas and Madonna, these artists faces appear continuously throughout their music videos. Close-up camera shots are often used in this type of star image motif.
It can also be done by creating a motif which will occur across the artists video and CD covers/adverts etc. Motifs can be found on the drum, floor, wall or other places on set. The motif is specific to them and is known as brand identity. Artists with specific motifs are artists such as Green Day, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Guns and Roses, Gorillaz and Blink 182.

The notion of looking

Notions of lookingNotions of looking plays on the idea of gaze and the way someone in particular is seen. For example, in a lot of music video’s women are often presented according to Goodwin as objects which alot of the time is a sexual nature which also coinsides with the idea of voyeurism. Notions of looking however is not just restricted to women, it may also represent men in a particular way such as controlling or violent as cheats etc as well as in a sexual way like Robbie Williams did in his 'Rock DJ' music video. The notion of looking is based around direct and indirect eye contact between the artisits/characters and the camera.

Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin developed a theory about all music videos in which he has identified a number of key features in music videos.

They are:
- A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, the visuals will illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics .

- A relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music.

- Specific genre characteristics.

- Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist.

- Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females.

- Intertextual references to other media texts may be present.He says that music videos are often constructed by the link between the visuals and the song plus the artist.

- Record label demands: the record labels can control the music videos and have control over how the artists are represented.

Relationships are built between these in the video, and the close-ups of the artists gives them the representation and publicity they require. Voyeurism is used to increase the video’s attractiveness, particularly to males, whilst intertextuality is often employed in humorous videos.Many of these features are present in all music videos, depending on the genre of the song and the aim of the record company/artist.

3 types of music video

There are three types of music video, these are narrative based, performance based and concept based videos.

Narrative based music videos are videos that tell a story, an example of a narrative based music video is Lady Gaga's - Bad Romance.

Performance based music videos are videos where you see the entire band on screen all the time and you watch them perform. And example of this type of video is Green Day's - American Idiot.

Concept based music videos are videos which have no lip sinking and don't follow a specific storyline. The video is a abstract but simplistic idea and there are generally no cuts to different scenes and in OKGo's video the camera did not move throughout the video, it remained still and in the same place. An example of this type of video is OKGo's - Here it goes again.

Introduction

I will be using this blog to record all the research and planning of my A2 Advanced Production. The Advanced Production consists of the main task which is creating a music video and then alongside it two ancillary tasks which are to produce a CD cover and a magazine advert. This production is a promotional package for the release of a bands music. In this task we will be using advertising skills alongside our production skills. I will be working with Claudia Bartlett throughout the duration of this task.