EVALUATION: Question 4 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

EVALUATION: Question 3 - What have you learned from audience feedback?

I asked 10 people (majority of whom were my target audience) to fill out a questionnaire after watching my music video and seeing the DIGIPAK and the Magazine Advert I had created. 

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I asked this question as I was concerned the narrative may not have been clear enough throughout the video. However from the results I received back I was pleasantly surprised that the majority of the questionnaire results show that the narrative was clear enough for everyone to understand it. 

Again I was please to see that the majority of the questionnaire results showed that people thought the artist belonged to the Indie and Pop genre, which is what I originally intended my audience to see. However 1 person mentioned an aspect of classical music within the artist (due to the classical instruments he played and incorporated into the video) which is interesting as the artist considers himself more of a baroque-pop artist as apposed to indie). 

Question 3's results also pleasantly surprised me as the audience questionnaire provided me with the results I wanted.  It showed that 7/10 people thought the music video was of the Indie genre all of which go with the research and branding I did to present George as an indie artist.

Yes, 9 out of 10 people said that the ancillary texts complimented the music video and when asked why some examples of replies were:

- "There is a unity in the branding, visible throughout all the three texts".

- "It was clear and the theme was carried throughout".

- "Very similar to video, clear and modern".

- "Images and colors are similar, continuing the brand through the texts".

Here are some examples of some strengths and weaknesses listed by the people filling out the questionnaires:

Overall, I am very pleased with the feedback I received, mostly because I feel like I achieved most of what I wanted to achieve. However the weaknesses listed on the grid are somethings that I noticed myself ; for example things like 'having a smoother beginning', 'too many transitions' and 'setting of performance - green screening a better option'. All of which I would like to have amended had I had more time to complete this  piece of coursework and had facilities like green screening etc within my school.

All in all I'm happy with the coursework pieces I've produced.

EVALUATION: Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Director's Commentary - Music Video

DIGIPAK 

Magazine Advert

EVALUATION: Question 1 - In what ways does you media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products

Magazine Advert - EVALUATING FINAL DESIGNS

Here is my final design for my DIGIPAK Magazine Advert. I have continued the theme of the animal masks and the balloons; using darker colours to show the more serious side to the artist, contrasting with the more playful video. The images on the advert are the same as the front and back cover of the  DIGIPAK but placed together.  I have also used the same font and background as the DIGIPAK to also continue on the theme. 

I was deliberating to show the DIGIPAK cover on the poster or not as I wasn't sure if it changed the minimalist and balanced look I was trying to achieve. In the end, I decided against using the DIGIPAK cover on the poster as a mixture of the front and back cover are the main feature of the poster and I feel like there is just too much going on. 

 Below are some examples of the original images I took for the DIGIPAK and Advert. The one at the bottom was the photo used for album cover and poster. I chose this one because I like the way George isn't looking directly into the camera but instead is looking around him, adding to the sense of surrealism that he is with a group of teenagers acting as animals while he plays violin. The bright colours also compliment the playful elements to the album cover and also the music video but in the poster I chose to dull the colours of the other characters slightly and to make George stand out as the bright part to the advert. 

PLANNING & SKETCHES - Magazine Advert

IDEA 1:

My first idea was to have a close-up of George's face with a realistic lion face placed on top; similar to the photo of George on the lyric book of the DIGIPAK. For the background I would use bright colors and balloons to contrast with the more sullen and morbid expression seen on the lions face. Although, I am not sure about using this idea as the poster (especially for a first album or EP) should really advertise the artist, showing their face and allowing their audience to connect with the musician, not just through the music.

IDEA 2:

The second idea also uses similar themes of the DIGIPAK using animal masks, balloons and the photo of George and the actors on the front cover of the album. The advert as a whole would incorporate some of the main features of the DIGIPAK continuing the idea of branding. The photo would be on the face of a black balloon again going with the idea that it contrasts with the happy and colorful themes of both the DIGIPAK and the music video, mainly so that George's audience can see a more serious side to him as a whole and his music. 

Magazine Advert - CASE STUDY RESEARCH

CASE STUDY - 1

The Vaccines - "WHAT DID YOU EXPECT FROM THE VACCINES?"

CASE STUDY - 2

Biffy Clyro - MOUNTAINS

Conventions of the Magazine Advert

1) What is a magazine advert and what is it's function? 

A magazine advert is an advert that can be seen on pages of a magazine in and amongst the magazine content. The function is to promote a product to the readers of the magazine, the demographic of which can alter depending on the magazine you advertise in. 

2) What do we usually find on an advert? Does it differ between the genres of music?

Usually on an advert for a musician, artist or band, the advert would obviously include the artists name, a photo of the artist and the album or EP title. The advert may also include the record label representing the artist, reviews of the album, a release date for the album and possible companies that may provide the music to their audiences (i.e. iTunes, Spotify, amazon) 

3) Does there need to be a connection between the DIGIPAK and the advert? 

Yes, as there needs to be a consistent branding throughout all of the advertising for the artist which will then be more recognisable to their audiences. 

Making the DIGIPAK

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been designing and making the DIGIPAK for my artist, playing around with patterns and stills of my artists and the actors. Throughout the faces of the DIGIPAK I tried to make the theme serious (on the dark patterned background) against the bright, colourful images of George.

FINAL PRODUCT 

PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL

Today I took part in a Photoshop tutorial session in preparation for making my DIGIPAK cover. I use Photoshop a lot so I used this session to refresh my memory and play around with simple tools like inserting images, changing opacity and adding text and more advanced steps like changing the hue and saturation and bevelling and embossing the main image to make it stand out. 

Here is the final product from the session: 

DIGIPAK - Design Ideas

DESIGN IDEA 1

The first design of my DIGIPAK is consistent with the design music video. The photo on the front contains a photo of George playing a violin (showcasing his talent as more than just a singer) surrounded by balloons and people in masks. I'd like to think that either the masks or the balloons would be used as a motif throughout his music videos or 'artistic work' in that sense. The back would be a photo of balloons, with the track list shown on top. The lyrics book is again a reference to the romantic scene in the video and the CD would be kept plain white. 

DESIGN IDEA 2

I wanted to retain a simple idea for both back and front with just a plain black background and a coloured balloon. The balloon on the front will also contain a faded reflection of George so it isn't as ambiguous as most indie album covers but still contains an image of him to reflect the artist. The balloon on the back will contain the track list of the album. The inside lyric book contains the reference to the music video also showing the motif of the video of George playing the violin, masks and balloons. The CD tray will be a white background and the actual CD will have coloured balloons printed on it.

Music Video: FOCUS GROUP FEEDBACK

Last week I conducted a focus group with my class asking questions like: 

1) What do you think of the artist after watching the video? 

2) What colors do you think about when watching? 

3) How are women represented in this video? 

4) What image is the artist trying to get across to his audience? 

5) Was the story of the video clear? 

I was pleasantly surprised by the reaction the video received, how they perceived the artist, his image, branding as it was exactly how I wanted it to be. They understood the narrative between George and the girl, which was one of my main worries when making the video. They also saw George's image and branding in the same way that I had branded him which was nice to hear because again I wasn't sure it was clear enough. I was surprised to hear what they then thought the the video was saying about women and falling in love; as they said things like they are presented as 'animalistic', 'two-timing' and 'cheaters'.

DIGIPAK - Research (CASE STUDIES)

EVERYTHING EVERYTHING - ARC 

FRIENDLY FIRES - PALA

FOALS - TOTAL LIFE FOREVER 

Conventions of the DIGIPAK Form

1) What is a DIGIPAK and how is it similar/different to an album cover? 
Digipacks are a type of CD packaging, that can flip open like a book, or it can have three parts, so that one portion of the packaging opens to the right and one to the left, with the CD in the center portion. It differs from an album cover as it usually includes bonus digital features such as videos or interviews of the artist and it gives the option to fit more than one CD. 

2) What does a DIGIPAK net look like and how many faces are usual?
Each digipak can be made differently by changing the net to alter how many faces it has. Usually a Digipak would contain from 4-8 panels, depending on how much content the artist would wish to include within their Digipak.

3) What do we usually find on the various faces of a DIGIPAK? 
Typically you would expect to find the name and photos of the artist throughout the faces on the DIGIPAK, as well as a list of songs that are in the album. And the depending on the type of artist, it could contain things like images that relate to their branding, a lyric book, a written interview with the artist, exclusive photos or possibly a commentary about the album creating a connection between them and the fans.

4) Does there need to be a connection between the faces of a DIGIPAK? 
There must be a strong connection running through each face of the digipak as it is important to emphasise a brand or a theme within the artists work.

Targeting my Audience

Post Production - UPDATE 3

After months of editing, I have finally finished my music video for George Petrie's song Acquaintances.  I'm really pleased with the outcome and feel like I achieved everything I wanted to during this process. 

UPDATE: RE-FILMING OVER CHRISTMAS BREAK

Following initial feedback from my coursework teacher, I have decided to get the highest possible marks, I would need to re-shoot the performance elements of my music video to add in close up shots. 

I filmed with George on the first weekend of the new year, to get it done before school started. The filming didn't go as smoothly as planned due to some technical difficulties with the camera and it only being able to film around 3-5 seconds of footage before automatically stopping the recording. After re-formatting the card multiple times, George and I decided that he would sing the whole thing in real time and then I would film whatever I could (which ended up just being lines of the song in random orders). This is then making the editing process a lot longer than it needed to be, however I am pleased with the quality and the lighting within the shots.