Magazine Advert

Final Music Video

Digipak

Draft of My Music Video

Evaluation - Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Evaluation - Question 1 from 2403Lucy

Evaluation - Question 2

How effective is the combination of your main product and your ancillary texts?

Through researching and planning for all three of my productions I found out and decided that there would have to be strong link between the magazine advert, digipak and music video because of brand identity and the new artist entering the market. This meant that I could plan photoshoots for my magazine advert and digipak at the same time. There were times when I didn't have enough time to finish the shoots which meant I had to ensure the model was wearing exactly the same clothing and her hair looked the same for continuity. I also made sure the artist wore similar clothing for the music video for recognition and keep with the brand identity of the artist. I also shot in the same locations for my music video and photoshoots for the ancillary tasks which created another link within the productions.

I think the link between my digipak and magazine advert isn't as strong as many artist's existing on the market, but the brand identity has been kept the same to establish the artist in the right way.
Similarities of my products:

- Same font and colour text on the digipak and magazine advert

- Locations in the music video and magazine advert are similar and in the same area

- The model is kept the same for continuity and recognition

- In the magazine advert and digipak front and back cover the model uses direct address to connect with the audience
- The logo is kept the same on both my digipak and my magazine advert

Differences of my products:

- The location of the digipak cover and the magazine advert

- The format of each production

- The coffee shop scene doesn't have a link to the magazine advert or digipak

I wanted to use a completely different image on my digipak front cover compared to the magazine advert image because I knew I had planned to put the digipak front cover on the magazine advert for recognition and I didn't want the front cover image to blend in with the image on the magazine advert. 

Evaluation - Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

In late November, we presented a 'crit' to eachother in our class to gain feedback on how our project was developing so far, the feedback I gained from this was;

What Went Well

‘Creative ideas’

‘Well thought out, colours black and white’

Even Better If

‘Need clearer narrative’

‘Make sure the narrative doesn’t go off track and still goes with the narrative of the lyrics’

When preparing for the questionnaires I decided to ask 10 people because throughout this project I have always asked 10 people when it came to questionnaires and wanted to keep a fair and measureable result. The questions I asked are shown below;

1. Do you think the products look professional?

(pie chart)

"The lip syncing is really good"

"Yes, you can tell there has been editing done on the photos to get that professional effect"

"I think the products do look professional considering the equipment that you used"

2. When you first watched my music video, what were your initial ideas?
(pie chart)

"I thought the continuity of the video worked really well"

"The clips with the coffee shop don't add up because in one she has cream on the drink and in another clip she doesn't"

"The direct address works really well"

4. If you could change anything about my either of my three productions, what would you change and why?

"The scenes where your model is walking around a churchyard - I don't think it reflects the genre"

"Maybe film in another setting outside where the model is interacting with other people"

5. Do you think there is a link between my three products? 
(pie chart)

"The outfits are kept similar between all three of the productions"

"Using the same model and using direct address in the majority of your music video and in the digipak and advert worked really well together and creates a nice link"


From this feedback I have learnt that my audience feel the connection between the three products link in well with eachother, that they would only change small things. I am happy with the feedback I have received and if 
I was to do this task again, I would know how to improve and expand on my ideas from the feedback I have gained after completing the tasks.

Evaluation - Question 4

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Deciding on a digipak back cover

After having the dilemma I had with the front cover of my digipak I decided to re-think my back cover as well and had another look at all of my potential images.

I originally chose this as my back cover: (I decided on the font after designing this)

The positioning of the model works well but the frame had to be cropped to fit the dimensions of a digipak and this image was portrait:

The composition and strength of the image doesn't come across in the same way when it's cropped. 

This is the image I decided to use for my back cover. The model is positioned in the same third as the previous image. I know the lighting isn't as strong as the above image but I added a pastel coloured filter to the image for a softer image. The model also looks more fairytale like which fits into the genre of my music.

Out takes

Here are the out takes and explanation of what things went wrong in the filming process.

Editing my digipak

This screen shot of the front cover of my digipak shows how I used the clone stamp tool on photoshop to get rid of the shadow on the arm of my model. I like the effect the lighting and shadows on the model's face but the shadow on her arm makes it look a bit distorted and unprofessional which is why I chose to change it.

This screen shot of the inside cover of my digipak shows how I used the magnetic lasso tool to select just the dress the model is wearing to make it appear brighter against the dull background. I then increased the brightness and contrast of the whole image as well as adjusting the curves to make the model stand out more and seem dominant in the frame. I also cropped this frame to use the rule of thirds because the model positioning makes the composition of the frame much stronger.

This screen shot shows how I edited the font type and size on my digipak. When thinking about the arm of my digipak I decided to use a colour from the front cover. I used the eyedropper tool to pick out a colour and decided on a darker colour from the ivy in the background. This meant I could stick with my house colours and use white for the text. I kept the font the same as the front cover, back cover and also the magazine advert for the continuity; 'Snell Roundhand'. 

Deciding on a digipak front cover

 

This is the image I originally wanted to use for the front cover of my digipak. Here I used 2 different fonts and asked a few people both from my media class as well as friends what their opinions were on the fonts in order to get both a media perspective as well as a target audience perspective. I also asked the people interviewed to listen to the song so they could get a feel of the genre and how the font would reflect this.

The majority (8/10) chose the more classical font below because "it fitted in with the genre more" and was "more feminine". People also said that "the font also went well with the stone wall on the background". For these reasons I chose this font.

At this stage of my production I thought I had decided on my front cover, but looking through my other photos the one of the front cover below caught my eye. I did the editing on Photoshop and put the artist and album name on in the same positioning as the cover above and thought the white worked much better on the green background and has connections with the model's dress colour. I also think the posture and body positioning of the model works better than the above image. I asked the same group of people on their opinions of this album cover compared to the above one and the majority (9/10) said they preferred the one below. 

Draft of music video

This is the draft of my music video. 

The reason for it being a draft is because I originally put it together as my final video, but was unhappy with certain parts of it.

For example at 1.32 where scenes of the green screen in the background are used, the model's miming doesn't match up with the lyrics. All three scenes which are used and put together end at 1.53. This is a section I want to re shoot.

Also, at 2.06 the model is seen laughing at the beginning of the scene so I am going to re shoot that part as well because it doesn't match with the continuity. 

Madonna magazine advert

Similar to Adele's magazine advert, there isn't much text used. The artist name and album name is clearly displayed at the top of the advert.

Vibrant colours are used to attract the audience's attention and a link is made from the colour of the text and the make up worn by the artist. 

A close up shot is used for the image of the artist and we immediately recognise her because of her successful career. 'Ultimate hits collection' tells us the artist is very popular in the music industry.

Direct address is used to make a strong connection with the audience and entices us in to see what the advert is about. Interestingly, the album cover isn't featured on the advert.

Adele magazine advert

Here is the magazine advert for Adele's album '21'. From just the images shown on the advert we are able to recognise that the artist is Adele because of the facial recognition but also because of the strong contrasting colour scheme used which is often adopted in Adele's album artwork and music videos.

The colour and font is the same as the one used on the front of the album cover which creates a link between the two. Also, the album cover is featured in the bottom corner so the audience know what to look for when they go to buy it. This creates a strong brand identity of the artist.

In both the advert and album cover images indirect address is used by the artist which reflects the mood in her music and the genre. 

 

Editing my music video

Here is a screen shot taken when editing my music video. At this point in editing my video I had finished putting all my scenes together and all the miming matched with the track. For each scene I had to mute the background noise to ensure there were no sounds of wind or the track playing in the background for the model to mime along to.

Editing photos

These screen shots show how I edited some of the photos I selected out of my shoots. I used Photoshop CS6 to edit my photos.

Here I adjusted the exposure of the foreground wall by selecting it using the magnetic lasso tool.

Here I adjusted the curves of the whole frame. 

Here I adjusted both the brightness and contrast of the frame to make it lighter and emphasise the contrast between the darker and lighter colours.

Here I cropped the photo but also adjusted the curves.

Here I created new layers for the text so I could move them and adjust the font and size of the text.

I have chosen to edit all of my photos to make them brighter or enhance the contrast because the stronger colours in the majority of album covers and magazine adverts always stand out to catch the audience's attention. Especially when a new artist is entering the industry because they want their music to become more popular amongst the audience.

Behind the scenes of shooting my music video

These were photos I took to show the set up of the shooting of some of the scenes in my music video. I used my Canon 60d and a tripod to shoot and studio lights to light the background and the model evenly.

Photo shoot 5

The natural lighting from the sun is too powerful in some of these frames, and creates unwanted shadows. However, some of these images are quite strong and reflect the theme I wanted to represent my artist in so I'm going to try editing some shadows out of the frames and see how this affects the composition. The medium and medium close up frames work much better than the long shots in this shoot.

Photo shoot 4

The frames which are distant from the model didn't work as well as I hoped, but the medium frames, close up and medium close up frames work really well and may be considered for either my digipak or magazine advert. Some of these frames were taken when the model was talking or laughing but I have chosen to include these as well to show how it affects the frames and the complete shoot I took at the time. 

Photo shoot 3

I don't like the composition of any of these frames because the camera angle doesn't fit the theme I wanted to create of my artist. I think the angle of the camera and the way these photos are framed is very poor compared to the other photos I have taken. For example the background isn't very appealing and looks quite rough and the tree branches come into shot on the right which ruins the composition of the frames. 

Photo shoot 2

In this photo shoot I chose to have the model crouching down against a strong dark coloured background. I love the contrast between the pale colour of the model's dress and skin against the dark colours in the background.
I think the direct address comes across with a very strong effect because of the contrast in colours and I think this effect works well when trying to connect with the audience.

Editing my music video

These screen shots show the editing of my music video. I used iMovie to edit the clips. The image above shows how I cropped the frame because a back clip showing on the background screen.

Photo shoot 1

This is the first photo shoot I took of my model for my digipak and magazine advert. I chose this location because I liked how the models hair colour stood out against the stone background. I tried out different body positions and facial expressions of the model so I had a range of photos to choose from when editing and reviewing the photos I had taken.
I also used a mix of both direct and indirect address so I could decide in the later stages of my production how I wanted my artist to come across to the audience. This is because in some artists album covers they use direct address to connect with the audience and in others indirect address is used to reflect the mood and genre of the music.

Shooting schedule for music video and photoshoots

This is the shooting schedule for both my magazine advert and digipak photoshoots as well as my music video. As you can see I had to re-arrnage a few of the dates and tried to do more than one shoot on the same day to save time. I did go back to some locations on days after I had scheduled to re-shoot a few scenes which when it came to the editing stage, I wasn't happy with.