Evaluation

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

In order to make my music video as professional as possible and to make my product appeal to my target audience as well as possible, I analysed a range of existing music videos, all with the same, or a similar music genre to my own (acoustic). By taking conventions from similar products I was able to see what appeals to the audience, what is effective and what's not. When analysing the videos in detail, I discovered a range of conventions that all or most of the videos hosted. For example the speed of the song and the lyrics are both factors that highly influence the speed of the video itself, since this was a reoccurring convention throughout all of the analysed existing videos, I incorporated this into my own design. The song we had selected for the music video generally has quite a slow pace throughout so in order to reflect the tone of the song and also make video look professional by syncing the song and the video together we altered various clips so that their speed matches. For example, the beginning of the song starts off with a slow paced acoustic instrumental but 10 seconds in, the instrumental starts to pick up pace. To make the video clip and the song coincide with each other at this part, we split the scene of the girl spinning round in circles in autumn leaves so that at the start the girl is spinning in slow motion and as the instrumental gains pace, so does the clip itself. Another convention we decided to adopt was the fact that the majority of the slower slows continued to play their video clips even after their song had finished. When analysing a number of similar, slower songs we thought this was particularly effective. So when creating our music video we made sure that the last clip went on for a certain amount of time so that it ended just after the song itself. By doing this we were able to make in conform to this convention and therefore make it look quite professional. Generally, our music video conforms to stereotypes of music videos from the same acoustic music genre but there are some conventions we have eliminated in order to create a music video we thought was more effective and fitting with out song and ideas behind the music video. For example one of the conventions that I had previously discovered was the inclusion of clips of the artist performing the song live. Although we agreed this was quite effective and would allow people to recognise the artist, we decided that due to the fact the music video tells a story, we didn't want the attention of the audience to be distracted from the story or for their to be any gaps within the story so we decided to eliminate this convention and keep a range of clips with our model as well as well as clips of various nature scenes. Although we decided to use some of the conventions and eliminate others, some of them we developed and modified to fit our own video as although we have designed the video to revolved round conventions we still wanted the video to be unique enough to attract our target audience of 16+ females interested in acoustic music. For example we discovered that a common convention of the music videos was the frequent use of a change in depth of field, usually pulling between the model/artist and the background. We both agreed this was a very effective technique and would quite like to use it in our own video, however because of technology issues and because we didn't include the artist performing live in our video we twisted the convention slightly and make the sides of the scene out of focus so so that the effect was still used but in a different and more unique way.

Similarly, when producing both my magazine advertisement and my digipak, I analysed a range of professional, existing products in order to gather a range of conventions that I can apply to my own products whilst also taking inspiration from the techniques and ideas and discovering all the different information that must go on the products, from the existing products. I analysed five magazine advertisements for well known artists such as Jack Johnson, James Morrison and Newton Faulkner. One of the first and most obvious conventions I discovered when analysing the products was the staggered sizes of the text depending on their importance on the poster. Since I thought this was particularly important for audiences to read specific lines in a certain order, I applied this to my own poster. I made the release date larger than the rest of the text followed by the artist name, the title of the album and finally, the website in the smallest text. I thought that I should definitely use this convention because it was continued throughout all of the products and thought it was a good technique to guide my audience around the advert bit by bit. As well as the aesthetic features of the advertisement, I also used my analysis of existing adverts to understand what information should be presented to the audience. Typically, adverts displayed the artist name, the release date, the album name and also contact details such as a website. They also often include information such as a number of featured tracks on the album and possibly where to purchase the album. Although I agreed the majority of this information was relatively important I decided to adapt this convention to my own advert and therefore modified it by selecting the bits of information that I thought were completely necessary. Therefore I decided to include only the artist name, the name of the album and the release date. By doing this I feel I have included all the information necessary to fully inform the reader, whilst also not including too much information that could potentially discourage audiences. Other conventions of the advertisements included the presentation of the main image. Typically, the advertisements either include a computer generated picture, a photograph of the artist or a photograph of the digipak. Although I understood a photograph was important because it was the main focal point of the advert, I wanted my photograph to be slightly mysterious and to draw the attention of the audiences so took the photographs of the artist’s torso with the guitar being the focal point of the photograph. I thought this was also a good reflection of the song as well due to the fact the genre is revolved around the acoustic guitar. Overall, I generally stuck to the conventions discovered by applying them to my own product but I did develop and challenge a number of the conventions to make them suit my product and my target audience as well as possible.

As well as initial research regarding my music video and my advertisement, I also performed a detailed analysis on existing digipaks to get inspiration for my own advertisement, to discover what information and features are displayed in the digipak. When analysing the professional digipaks it was clear that a number of the digipaks hosted very similar information but all had different variations of the aesthetics. Aspects that the digipaks all contained were an area for production information, thank you notes, lyrics and photographs of the artist. I thought all of these were particularly important for the interior of my own digipak but did think I would eliminate the lyrics area because I thought it was slightly unnecessary and could be used for other purposes that may appeal to my audiences more such as more photographs of the artist, or other visual aspects. Therefore I only included production information and thank you notes and allowed the rest of my digipak to be visual so there isn't too much content that could potentially discourage users. I also used the information I gathered through the analysis of existing products to get a better understanding of the features I should include that are definitely necessary such as a bar code. Conventionally, digipaks include on the reverse of the digipak, a track list, a bar code, copyright information and website links to the artist’s page as well as the record label. Agreeing that this information is necessary to provide the audience with all the information they will need as well as to suit the requirements needed for the product to be sold in a shop, I included all of these aspects so that my audiences are fully informed and also so that the product looks fully professional. When considering the general appearance of my product one convention was very important to try and create a good aesthetic appearance and therefore make my product look unique and professional, which was to link the colour scheme and the promotional posters to the digipak to create a type of house style that would create a link between all of the products and therefore give audiences something to recognise. To conform to this convention, I decided to use quite a sinister colour scheme by using white, grey and black in images, text and borders. All of the colours I chose were derived from the photographs themselves which linked all the different aspects of my products all together. As well as this I used a stressed border throughout all of my products to create the house style which maintained a good aesthetic appearance but also went well with the appearance of my photographs being slightly vintage. Although I did use the majority of the conventions discovered in the initial research stages, there were some conventions that I chose not to use or didn't work out because of the style of my product. For example one of the conventions I had discovered was the use of the album spine to display the names of the album, the artist and the record deal. By including this, the CD can be identified properly when stored which is particularly useful, however due to the fact I wanted my album to be made of thick card to give a more natural look, when folded all together there was no space for a spine display to be presented. Therefore I only rely heavily on the rest of the album to provide direction and information to my audience.

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

Right from the beginning of my project, I knew that I had to link all of my products together in order to allow them to advertise and promote one another effectively. With this thought in mind, I designed all of my products around the idea that they all most promote each other. In order to make my products visibly linked together I planned to create a house style on all of my products that would allow my audiences to recognise the products. Since our music video was quite sinister in parts and therefore featured quite a lot of different dark scenes, I wanted this to be reflected in my ancillary tasks. To reflect this, I planned to use a black and white colour scheme throughout each of the products and the inclusion of a distressed border throughout. By continuing the distressed border throughout all my products, I automatically created a house style that was unique to my own products and therefore allow audiences to recognise the link between each of the products. Potentially, the use of a music video and the magazine advertisement is to promote the digipak and encourage audiences to go and purchase the album. Therefore the products have to represent each other and have a number of different links between one another. For example on my magazine advertisement I have created links to the music video in order to promote the video. For my advertisement I made a QR bar code and placed it in the top left hand corner of the advertisement. When scanned, the code automatically forwards people to the music video itself. Although the advertisement is effective because it lets audiences interested in Ryan Keens music as it lets audiences know when the album is available for purchase, It didn't reach out to new listeners and new fans. By having the bar code on the advertisement and therefore an obvious link between the two, but it also promotes the album in a large way, for audiences who are not familiar with Ryan Keen's music, they are able to be forwarded directly to his work and on liking the song, they would be encouraged the purchase the digipak. Similarly, the products also promoted each other in different ways, On the digipak and the advertisement I included photographs that would definitely reach out to people interested in the genre of the song which is acoustic music. To make the photographs appeal to them, I included a range of different photographs that all featured an acoustic guitar. Again, on the advertisement and the digipak, this would encourage people to research the artist and find the music video and later purchase the album. Overall I think the combination of all my products is very effective and I think each product manages to promote one another whilst also being recognisable as a range of products from the same project. Mainly, with use of a continuous colour scheme, photograph range and border to obviously link each of the products together as well as the use of a QR bar code that promotes the video and the song more than any other technique.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

When asking two different people from my target audience what they thought of each of my three products, they provided me with detailed feedback that not only allowed me to see how successful my products were but also to see whether there were aspects of the products I could change or improve to make them more successful and appealing to themselves. I asked the audiences for both positive and negative feedback so that I got accurate and reliable information. However, the feedback I received from respondents was mainly positive. Both respondents agreed that they thought each of my products hosted a high quality and professional appearance in the way they have been constructed and presented. I also learnt that it was good that I had taken into account various different conventions from existing products because they both agreed that the products looked believable as real products because of the way they have been put together and the way they include all the information and qualities that real products do such as websites, logos, bar codes and familiar layouts. Similarly, both respondents agreed that they would be attracted to the products because they each host similar aesthetics and features as products that they have bought in the past. For example one respondent said that they thought the photography and the use of a continuous colour scheme throughout the products would definitely attract them and encourage them to explore the artist which is the preliminary aim of all of the products. Although the majority of my feedback was positive and allowed me to get a clear understanding of how successful my products were and how well my audiences would respond to the product, they also did feedback some areas they thought could be improved in order to make my products much more appealing. The respondents agreed that although the front and back cover of the CD case featured quite a high quality and professional appearance, the inside of the digipak could have had a bit more thought and therefore included some unique features that would potentially encourage audiences to buy the products. For this, they said although they don't want there to be too much information on the digipak because it wouldn't make them want to approach the product, they thought that since the product was mainly visual, it could have been balanced with some more text such as the lyrics to the songs or the thoughts behind the songs themselves. On receiving feedback about the ancillary tasks, I asked the respondents to provide me with feedback on the music video. I was very happy with their feedback with them saying they thought the video was made to a very high standard and constantly referring to the video as professional. They also said they way the video had been put together such as the transitions between different clips was very good but there was one issue that arose from both volunteers was the fact that they didn’t feel they could understand what was going on all the way through the video and thought that the story line should of been made more clear so that it tells the story directly to the viewer. Overall, front the audiences feedback, I learnt that my target audience would be interested in the product and that the product they had chosen does resemble something that they would purchase because of its high quality however they did say there was room for improvement in order to make the product sell better and to make it slightly more professional and appealing.

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

The use of media technologies was the basis for my whole project. Throughout each individual stage throughout the production of my media texts I used technology in some way to aid my progress and development. Right from the beginning of the project I used technology to aid my research into each of the products which allowed my to gather inspiration and conventions to apply to my own products. In this stage I used the Internet to explore different including websites to find existing advertisements whilst also using youtube to locate and embed videos to analyse and explore different ideas and conventions that already exist. I was then able to use Blogger to display each of the products and then to look at the products in close detail. Making a summary list of all my findings at the end of this process allowed me to constantly refer to my findings which gave me support and ideas throughout the designing and production of each product. After gathering enough information and ideas I was able to begin designing my own product. Since my first designs were about exploring different layouts and features they were quite rough and therefore didn't need much detail. For this stage, I sketched the designs and scanned them into the computer and again uploaded them on blogger to explore the different designs so that I can select a design that I think will suit my purpose as well as possible. However, once I had selected the design I wanted to create, I needed to create it slightly more developed to get a better idea of spacing etc. To do this, I made a computerised version of my design to scale so I could see how everything would fit together. To do this, I used Microsoft publisher because I am quite familiar with it since I have been using it for similar things over many projects and would therefore be quick to design easily. When actually creating my products I had to use a range of different programmes in order to produce the high quality products i wanted. Although I used simple programmes such as publisher to create the digipak, I also had to use programmes that were unfamiliar with me such as photoshop, iPhoto and iMovie. Although I wasn't familiar with the programmes and had to take time to get a good understanding of the programmes and use all the individual tools within them to get the look I wanted. Due to the fact it took me a while to be able to learn how to use the different tools on the programme, it lengthened the production process, meaning I wasn't fitting the deadlines as well as possible however I don't regret learning how to use the programmes because of the high quality, professional appearance they have allowed me to produce within my products. I took my photographs to use on my products but they needed a lot of editing to make them look more professional and to give them the effects I wanted to go well with the different distressed look of my media products. Therefore I had to use photoshop to modify the picture by cropping it and using the lasso tool to cut around the images to give them a white background. After this, I moved them on to iPhoto on an Apple Mac computer to add black and white effects, brighten the images and blur the edges to give them a neater appearance. Again, this took me a very long time to understand how to use the different aspects of the programme to make them look how I wanted. Similarly when creating the music video itself, I had to use two different programmes that I wasn't familiar with and therefore had to explore the programmes and learn how to navigate around them. When filming the music video itself we used digital cameras to film the different scenes and although the cameras were high quality, we often had to change different aspects of the video and make them simpler or eliminate it completely because we couldn't create the scenes we wanted to with the time and equipment we had. I personally think we were probably slightly optimistic about certain areas of the video. When uploading the video clips from the camera itself, we found that the clips were then in the wrong format to be able to be put straight onto the iMovie. To do this we had to use a programme called Handbrake which changed the video format and then allowed them to be edited on iMovie. Although I think I managed to navigate around the programme, it did take me a while to get a good understanding of what the programme was capable of doing so some effects I wanted to include or create couldn't be done but I was able to find replacements in place of these effects to make it look as good as I had planned. Finally, when evaluating the products I had to use two different methods to be able to get reliable and real feedback from my target audience. To begin the process and to get my audiences initial thoughts about the products, I showed them the computerised versions of the products and then put the products into the correct sizes and printed them off so that my audience could get a better idea of what the products would actually look like. Although printing the products off seemed like an easy process, it was complicated to get them finished because of the size of the paper they had to be on. Since the digipak was to scale and had 4 different spaces on the page, it was very large and therefore wouldn't print on a normal printer. To overcome this I had to get them printed on an A1 printer but I was generally happy with the outcome because it produced them to the actual size and to a high quality. Overall, I think the project went well and am happy with the finish of each of the products and am happy that we were faced with some problems through the production stages of the products because it allowed me to learn how to use different programmes which not only created a higher quality product that I had imagined but also provided me with skills that will be beneficial to me when producing similar products.

Audience Feedback

My products are all designed around a specific target audience of people aged 16+ interested in acoustic music, particularly females. Without knowing what my target audience want and what they respond well to, I wouldn't be ale to produce successful products. Although I had gathered conventions from existing products of a similar genre I had modified some conventions and changed my product often so therefore needed to ask some volunteers from my target audience what they really thought of my product because it is there opinion that matters most. I asked a 21 year old girl and a 17 year old boy for their opinion on each of the products so that I got the opinions of different people in my target audience. I asked them to name a number of positive things and negative things so that the feedback was balanced and so that I could see what was successful and also what could be improved. I asked them for two sets of feedback one for the music video and the other for the ancillary tasks. I asked my volunteers to suggest what they liked about the products and what would potentially encourage them to purchase the product.

Becky (21) Said she liked the following aspects of the music video:

• The use of different nature scenes, I think they really go well with the song
• How the video and the song seem to be in time with each other all the way through which makes it look really professional
• How the scenes all merge together and don't just snap to the next one which makes it flow much better
• The fact the video is black and white because it's usually used in similar videos

When asked which aspects she thought could be improved she said:

• The only thing I feel could be improved is how clear the story is behind the music video, it's quite hard to understand what's actually going on throughout

Ryder (17) Said he liked the following aspects of the music video:

• The use of quite a different location because there isn't any signs of civilisation around which makes it quite scary but quite dreamy and professional too
• The use of the different outside spaces, the filming looks really good on all of these
• The use of the blurred effect on the outside of the clips because it gives them a high quality appearance and also makes sure your always looking in the central square

When asked which aspects he thought could be improved he said:

• It's quite hard to understand what's going on because the story line of the girl and the different dresses is quite hard to understand.
• Some of the clips could have been sorter so the people don't lose interest. For example the first clip of the girl spinning round.

Similarly, I asked the two respondents to suggest what they did and didn't like about the digipak and the advert. I got them to evaluate the two ancillary tasks together.

Becky (21) said she liked the following aspects of the two ancillary tasks:

• They both look really good and really professional because they both have loads of similar things like the black border and the lettering
• How the advertisement doesn't feature much information because it makes it much easier to quickly read and makes it more approachable
• images are really good and look really professional which makes the two more believable as real items
• The bar code on the advert is really good because it adds another dimension to the advert and also makes it easy for people to research the artist

When asked which aspects she thought could be improved she said:

• Although it's good that the advert doesn't have much text on it, I think the digipak could have more information on it because it doesn't really have much writing on it
• It would be good to be able to see the artists face so that people can identify him on other things as well as the advert (for people who don't already know who he is)

Ryder (17) said he liked the following aspects of the two ancillary tasks:

• The two are very good and I think they serve their purpose really well
• They look really believable as real products because their very professional
• The rustic effect with the border and the black and white finish off the poster and make it look like something that would be seen in a magazine or on a shop shelf

When asked which aspects he thought could be improved he said:

• Although I think the designs are really good and use similar designs and effects as similar artists, I think that they might not be very eye catching because they don't have any colour or anything
• The digipak could of had more information on it since it was primarily images, it is a little bit boring

 Overall, i am generally happy with the feedback the volunteers provided and am really happy with all of the positive things they've said about the products. I also agree a lot with the negative comments they have said and think that if I was to develop the products again, I could take into account that they have said so that my products would definitely appeal to my target audience successfully.

Finished Products

Aiming for the Sun from Kathryn Furness on Vimeo.

Magazine Advertisement

Digipak 

Ancilliary task 2 - Creating The Magazine Advertisement

With my understanding of conventions of professional and successful, discovered with the anaysis of exising products as well as well as the exploration of different designs and layouts by sketching my initial ideas, I now have enough ideas in order to start creating my actual advertisement. However, I have decided to make a rough template for my computerised version of the advertisment so that I can have a better understanding of space and layout of my chosen design. (Below)

Creating this rough template not only allowed me to develop my sketches but also allowed me to use the picture to develop into my own design by adding more detail, different fonts, different borders and photographs. In my chosen design I have decided to add a border to the advert so that it looks quite professional whilst also making sure the advertisement details and features all stand out and attract audiences when flicking through a magazine. I have decided to try and  include as little text as possible so that it's quick and easy to read whilst also providing enough text so that the audience are informed about the product. So the only information I have included a release date at the top of the page, the name of the artist, the name of the album and a website address. Due to the fact I want my advertisement to be aesthetically pleasing, I have made the photograph the focal point of the advertisement whilst also leaving a small space at the side for the facebook and twitter icons which are advertisements in them selves, encouraging people to research the artist.

I wanted to create a sketchy, distressed look because I thought it went with oth the sinister theme of the music video and the slow, sad themes of the actual track itself and the folk, acoustic genre of the music. So I added a dark, distressed border alongside a sketchy font for all of the main information on the page. However when putting in the photographs taken for the advertisement, I decided the advert didn't look as good as I wanted and therefore turned the page landscape so that it would fit half of a magazine page.

After changing the page round and the text, I added the photograph, a website and a QR code which links to the music video itself. I think the advert looks much more professional.

Ancilliary task 1 - Creating The Digipak

After creating a range of different design ideas for my digipak, I decided on a design that I thought was unique enough to attract a large audience whilst also incorporating a large number of the conventions previously discovered when annotating existing products so that my own digipak was familiar enough for audiences to enjoy and to provide all the necessary aspects such as a song list, photographs of the artist, barcodes and other.

Before adding all of the different design aspects of my digipak, I created a basic template on publisher that would allow me to experiment and develop my idea to make it look as professional and aesthetically pleasing as possible. I also created a duplicate of the design, removing the CD space, to create the back of the CD case since each of the individual squares will be double sided. (Below)

However, after beginning the production of my digipak I thought that the extra square (at the top of the digipak) not only made the digipak too complicated but was also an added unnessesary space. After removing the extra sqaure, I added the borders and any titles that needed to be in so that I was clear of what each square is going to be.

Following this, I added all the text and images to complete my digipak.
By adding more content and continuing my colour scheme throughout, I was able to create a product that I thought was of a high standard and therefore made the digipak visually appealing to audiences. The continuation of particular fonts, borders and colours allowed me to make links between all of my products, making them appear higher in quality and also enabling audiences to recognise the links between each product.

Early Planning - Digipak design ideas

Taking the conventions discovered throughout the initial research stages of my project, I have designed a range of different designs for my own digipak. I wanted the digipak to share a number of conventions with some of my analysed, existing digipaks so that it was conventional enough to serve its purpose and be recognised by audiences, but slightly unconventional so that is unique and therefore interesting and encouraging to buy.

My initial designs were just rough sketches so that I could experiment with different images, alternative text and different layouts.

For my first digipak design I have included a range of different features to make my product conform to typical conventions and stereotypes of existing digipaks whilst also being unique enough to appeal to a wide audience. Conventionally, I have placed the CD compartment in the centre of the digipak making it familiar for audiences to use. Also on the inside of the design, surrounding the CD I have included a montage of Autumn leaves to coincide with the title track music video, a production credits list to provide audiences with all the information they need about the production of the album, a thank you note section where the artist can give thanks to anyone they feel has participated in the production of the album or inspired them and a photograph of the artist performing live. On the reverse side of the digipak I have included a montage of photographs from the production of the album, a list of all the songs on the album, the artists autograph and a photograph of a lyrics sheet. The reverse side of the album also includes the front cover of the digipak where I have included a natural photograph of the artist alongside the name of the artist and the name of the album.

For my second digipak design I have included some similar features but in different ways, in different places on the layout or with different aesthetic appearances. On the inside of the digipak I have included four different squares of information around the CD, I have included production credits and production photographs (on the same square), photographs of the artist performing live, contact details including facebook, twitter and official website and a montage of live photographs. On the outside of the digipak I have included a mini autobiography of the artist, a list of songs on the album, a lyrics sheet and thank you notes as well as the front cover which would simply be grey with the artists autograph in white. Unlike the first design, most of the visual aspects of the digipak are in the inside of the digipak and the text is mainly on the outside. Although this offers a different approach, it may discourage users seeing so much information as they open up the digipak.

My third digipak design is again, made up of a number of conventional features in various ways to make it unique, professional and aesthetically pleasing. In this particular design I have included a montage of production photographs, a list of tracks, photographs from the shooting of the music video, descriptions of each songs and the actual CD compartment. On the reverse side I've included thank you notes from the artist, a mini biography about the artist, production details and signature of the artist. The reverse side also includes the front cover of the digipak, which is simply the artists guitar which has been signed alongside the title of the album and a 'featuring...' sticker. Again, this design features a number of quite conventional and typical features of a digipak but also provides the audience with more visual aspects such as the photographs from the filming of the music video which I quite like.

My last digipak design again, featured a number of conventional features but also hosts a number of different features that will increase the products aesthetic appearance and therefore attract and encourage a large audience to explore/purchase the product. On the inside of the digipak I have included features such as photographs from the filming of the title track music video, lyric sheets, photographs from the recording of the track itself, thank you notes and the actual CD compartment. By including features such as the photographs from the production of various aspects of the product, it will allow the audience to feel part of the CD and allow them to see aspects of the production that would not usually be seen. On the reverse side of the digipak I have included features such as contact details (including facebook, twitter, myspace and the actual website), production information, reasons behind the songs and the front cover which is a photograph of the artist taken at a similar location as to where the music video was shot allowing audiences to make links between the two.

Overall, I quite like a number of the different designs I have created and will take away aspects of each of my favourite designs and incorporate them together to make one design that fits all my purposes whilst also being unique and appealing to my target audience of people interested in acoustic music aged 16+, particularly the female audience.

Early Planning - Magazine advertisement designs

Using the conventions I had previously discovered when analysing exisintg products, I began creating a range of different designs ideas that I could potentially make into a proper poster. Although I want my poster to host a number of the coventions I orginally discovered such as the included information, I didn't want the whole poster to be too similar to any of the existing products so that my own is unique and interesting.

I have created a number of rough sketches so that I can explore a range of different ideas, looks and content to ensure I create a poster that is well suited to my audience and will advertise the digipak effectively.

In my first design I tried to incorporate the themes of the title tracks music video so that each of the products are linked together and therefore recognised by audiences. To do this, I have decided to use an outdoor scene with a guitar leaning against a tree and a male model (the artist) standing far in the background.The only information  I have decided to include is the date that the album is available. This way the audience can quickly read all of the information quickly, whilst flicking through a magazine. I particularly like this advert because it features all of the necessary information whilst also linking in with the music video itself.

Similarly, with this design I have also decided to use a similar scene which will again, link into the music video. In this shot, I would like to of used the same scene from the last footage on the music video. The artist will be seen from a distance standing on a path shaded by trees. The sinister and mysterious scene will draw the attention of audiences whilst also looking very professional and aesthetically pleasing. Although the advertisement is quite similar to my first design, I have included different text. I have put 'featuring...' and named two of the other tracks on the album as well as the artist name in large, the availability of the album and a website. y having little information the audience can quickly retain the information when flicking through the magazine but provides a bit more information than the other designs. The only other different feature of the magazine is the larger artist name to catch the attention of readers.

With my third advertisement design I have used a slightly more conventional design. I have included a photograph of the digipak which gives the audience something to recognise when they are going to purchase the product. Similarly, i have used little information as possible so audiences won't be put off when flicking through the magazineand have simply used the release date, the aritst name and an introducing introduction since he is a beginning artist. I have also used three logos of facebook, itunes and twitter so that audiences can research the artist is necessary. Although this design is quite conventional, I don't particularly like the design because it's quite boring and doesn't link in with the other media products.

With this adveristement, I have again used similar themes from the music video. However instead of using a male model as the artist I have used the same model as used in the music video so that audience have something to recognise whilst also creating a kind of house style between the different media products, linking them all together. Similarly, I have used little information in the advert so that audiences can quickly read the information when flicking through a magazine. I quite like this design because of it's link between the different products and the little informaiton making it look professional and aethstically pleasing. However I do prefer the thought of using a male model in the advert as the artist.

In my second last advertisement design I have decided to use a completely different approach and decided not to use any models in the advert but did link it in with the different products by photographing and cutting out four autmn leaves down the side of the page with text running all the way down the side of the other page. On the side of the page i have included the artist name, featured tracks, a release date, preorder information and a website. Although this is a lot of informaiton for an advertisement, I would like to put each different piece of information in a different font and size so that it is all broken up and therefore easy to read. For these reasons I do like this design but think that it might be a bit plain and boring for audiences to read and without an image from the music video or of the artist, people may not recognise the artist as well.

In my last advertisement design I have simply put a close up photograph of a guitat which has been signed by Ryan Keen, although this design is quite plain, it would look professional and would be efffective, attracting a large audience of people interested in acoustic music whilst also targetting people who are familiar with ryan Keen's music. Similarly to my other advertisment designs, I have included asic information such as featured tracks, the artist name, preorder details, a release date and a website. Again, I quite like this design but think audiences may not be attracted to the advert because of the lack of photograph of the artist.

Analysing The Music Video In Relation To Narrative Theory

Our media production can be analysed in relation to a number of well known media theorists. Four theorists in particular; Tzvetan Todorov, Vladimir Propp, Levi Stauss and Roland Barthes have well known narrative theories regarding the content and structure of media productions, all of which can be applied to our own production...

Tzetan Todorov

Famous theorist Tzetan Todorov thought that story had a consistent structure holding three different parts of a story. He suggested that each story features..

Equilibrium - Disequilibrium - Resolution

He believed that every story began with what he called the 'equilibrium' and what was considered to be 'normal' for all of the characters whilst everything was at peace, closely followed by what he called the 'disequilibrium' which he summed up as an event that occurs that disturbs the normality of the characters.

The last part of the story features the 'resolution', where the characters have resolved the problem and have returned to normal, however they will not be the same again.

Tzetan Todorov's theory can be applied to our own media product but in a slightly unconventional way. Our video does feature the three different stages equilibrium, disequilibrium and a resolution but in a slightly different order. At the very beginning of the video the disequilibrium is presented as the character is presented as dark, sinister and depressed. As the character is presented in this way it is expected that the audience presume this is not 'normal' and that the character has been through some trauma or something that would make her like this. The resolution is then presented as the model is able to break away from the dark and sinister frame of mind and then becomes happy and care free as though she is a free spirit. Its then that we presume she has returned to her former state before the trauma which is the equivalent to the equilibrium.

Vladimir Propp

Media theorist Vladimir Propp was also famous for his theories regarding the narrative of different media products. However Propp's theories didn't relate to the structure of the story but rather the content of the story as his theory related to the way in which each character would be classified into one of eight different character types. When an audience reads a media text it deploys its knowledge of these character types in order to decode the meaning of the text.


Again, this particular theory can be related to our music video but again, in a slightly unconventional way. This is because although our video only features one model she takes on a number of different character roles throughout. For example she begins as the villain because she allowed herself to get in that position and to feel that bad. Later on she realises she's stuck in that position and all that negativity so therefore becomes the prize/princess/damsel in distress because she needs rescued but due to the fact shes got herself in that position, she is potentially the only one who can save herself from getting worse. She then therefore becomes the hero for realising she can save herself and allow her to become the happy, care-free, free spirit that she was before. Although there is only one character featured there is actually many different characters in the production. The girl allows herself to become the villain of herself but later allows herself to become her own hero.


Levi Strauss

Levi Strauss' theory also relates to the use of characters in different media productions and had a well known theory about the binary oppositions featured in story lines. The theory relates to the well known 'good vs evil' storyline.


In our music video, there is an obvious binary opposition but instead of the opposition being between two different characters, it lies only in the one female character featured in the music video. From the beginning of the video, the character is seen very dark and sinister and is automatically presumed to be evil and sly. She continues to act like this throughout the first half of the video but soon becomes very different after coming out of the negative frame of mind that she was previously in she then becomes the opposite of what she was and is now in a more positive and happy frame of mind. Typically, the binary oppositions in characters would be between two different people and they would be against each other throughout the storyline however, in this case the oppositions are only in one person but the two different personalities and characteristics of oppositions are still clearly refined.

Roland Barthes

Like Tzetan Todorov, Roland Barthes theory relates to the way in which a story is told through the way it is structured. The way he described the structure of any story was through the use of narrative codes. The five different narrative codes were titled; action, enigma, semic, symbolic and cultural. Within each of the narrative codes, there are a number of expectations and questions formed by the audience which links various aspects of the story together and keep the story flowing. Our own music video structure can be determined using the five different narrative codes.

Action: Viewers are expected to make connections between the dark atmosphere, sinister themes, the negative behaviour of the actress and the slow/sad start to the song and to understand that its not normal and that someone has put her in that position.

Enigma: Will she find her way out of the depression and negative state? Contains quite a lot of mystery and is generally poly semic. The mystery is apparent throughout the video but it allows the audience to fill in the gaps themselves and apply their own memories and life experiences to video to make it mean whatever they want it to.

Semic: Dark dress, and pale skin, messed up hair as apposed to the floaty white dress, natural make-up and neat hair. Allows the audience to easily see the difference is not just physical but also represents an emotional change with the model.

Symbolic: Angelic personality reflected with the white, angel like, floaty dress and natural makeup whereas the evil personality is reflected in the dark clothes and pale skin. Typically, the use of light colours generally symbolises good where as black usually symbolises bad or evil.

Cultural: Video is slightly unconventional in its use of structure and character type however it does draw on stereotypes/cliches of other films with the different characters. For example, typically the connotations that go with a full white dress is usually purity, innocence and possibly vulnerability. Typically, white is a symbol of 'good' and innocence a stereotype which is used in many films. The cultural connotations taken from semiotics in our video therefore allows the audience to see the characteristics of the model that we wanted to portray.

Further Research & Planning - Locations Analysis & Ideas

As well as the audience being communicated different feelings and themes through the appearance of the characters, the mood of the scene can also be communicated through the use of the characters surroundings. In order to explore and understand various connotations of different locations I have performed an analysis into a few locations used in existing music videos and how they make the audience perceive the mood. Again, to ensure the research I gather is as accurate as possible, I selected music videos that are similar to my own, they therefore had the same or similar music genre (indie/acoustic) and also featured a female character whether that was either the singer or an actress.

Scenes from Ellie Goulding - The Writer

In the music video 'The Writer' by Ellie Goulding, the director has decided to use a number of out-door spaces and natural surroundings in order to create a scene that allows the audience to see the singer in a certain way. For example in the first featured scene (top of three images) the camera is following Ellie walking through a field, throughout this scene the tempo of the song is generally quite slow and the lyrics at this particular point in the song are quite sad which can be reflected in the dull colours of the sky. The use of dull colours, a plain and simplistic location and the pale appearance of the singer emphasises the pain of the singer that has already been presented in the lyrics. As the song goes on and the tempo picks up a bit, the locations change. Although they remain outside they are now more interesting and the weather has changed making the scenes appear much more beautiful. For example in the second featured scene (middle of three images) the singer is seen walking around the top of a lighthouse with bright blue sky behind her automatically making her appear much more happy and care-free. Similarly, in the last featured scene (bottom of the three images) the singer is seen lying in long grass with the sunset on her face. Again, this appears much more beautiful and makes the audience automatically think of her as care-free, at peace and much happier than she did at the beginning. Throughout the video clip the director has used a range of different locations and used days with different weather so that the atmosphere reflects the type of lyrics and the tempo of the song therefore communicating the feelings of the singer to the audience clearly.

Scenes from Keane - Some Where Only We Know

Similarly, in the Keane music video for the song 'Some Where Only We Know', the director has decided to use a range of different outside spaces but are each completely different from the locations used in the Ellie Goulding video 'The Writer'. Although the locations selected by the director are also very natural and open, in this case a forest, the way they are presented and the time of day they are filmed automatically make the connotation of each location completely different. Throughout the music video 'Some Where Only We Know' the band are featured in a forest location with there being lots of trees there is not much light let into the area anyways but with the music video being filmed at night, it automatically makes the video appear much more sinister. Especially in one particular scene that focuses up on a full moon with wispy clouds and thick branches, the clip looks like something off a horror film. Throughout the video, there is a frequent use of scenes that feature a number of dark spaces in the background which again, allows the audience to question what is in the background, making it appear much more scary and mysterious. Later on in the video, there is a scene that features a dark lake which again it very mysterious and sinsiter, this scene, as well as many others throughout the music video feature a number of conventions that are typical of horror films. Typical connotations of those conventions are generally quite negative, making the audience feel scared of the sinister scenes that have been before.

Summary/Conventions

• The location of a scene can change the way an audience interpret the feelings and themes of a certain clip
• The weather in the clip also goes towards the interpretation of a particular scene
• Outside spaces can have completely different connotations for example, dark forests can be quite sinister whereas brighter locations such as beach scenes generally represent a brighter and happier atmosphere.

Our music video location

After researching locations of existing, professional music videos we decided on our own location for our music video. We liked the idea of using open, natural, outside spaces because the space can be manipulated to connote very different themes. We decided to visit a particular space so that we could plan specific scenes. Due to the fact we want to project quite a sinister and cold atmosphere at the beginning of the video clip then for it to change to the complete opposite and for the location to make the scene then appear much happier, brighter and natural we have decided to use various differnt areas within one location. By doing this we can go to more sinister areas within the location for the beginning of the video and then to lighter, nicer areas of the park for the second half of the video. This will allow the atmosphere to change dramatically without the location changing as such.

We thought this scene could be used at the very start of our video. The very first scene we wanted to create is the spinning scene. This scene would be ideally set here because it has a good background, incorperates the nature side of the video and also has a lot of open path space that would make the spinning easy/safe.

Since the park is very built up with trees, we thought this would be particularly good for when we are filming the sinister scenes, the dark trees automatically connote a sinister atmosphere so this would be perfect for this scenes.

Whilst exploring the area, we decided that this specific space would be ideal for the end of our video when the model runs past the camera in slow motion. The open path means there is plenty of space and also means the model can run around the corner so the blur effect we use makes the model appear as though she has disappeared.

Throughout the video we plan on adding in a number of different 'nature' scenes. We thought that we could film a 'pan' effect with the camera so that we are filming the sinister tree line which would go very well in our video because it takes in the nature side as well as the sinister theme.

Above are some photographs we took of possible locations for various scenes in our music video. Depending on the time of day, the weather and the effects we put on the clip we can change the atmosphere that is projected to audiences. After exploring the location we have decided we will definitely use it for our music video.

Alternative location - Beach location

This scene could also be used for the nature side of the video. A scene of the waves in slow motion or possibly of the whole beach sped up. Similarly, the model could be seen standing in the shallow of the sea, looking out over the horizon.

This photograph shows the largest part of the beach which I see as a bit of a blank canvas. The wide stretch of the beach could allow us to film a variety of scenes and manipulate and edit them in order to create the effects we want.

Although we were quite set on using the park/forest location for the music video, we thought we would explore other possible locations so that we were sure we were getting the best location and so our video was the best we could create.

Alternative location - Corn fields

This photograph shows tracks made in a corn field, in one scene we wanted to create, we wanted to have the model walking through the fields, running her hand along the top of the corn. Similarly, we could also film the model running through the corn fields or lying in the corn fields.

It would also be good to take a shot of the model standing in the corn fields from far away. Making the model appear lost which connotes the naive and vunerable characteristics of the model. Having a scene similar to this also allows us to take in the nature side of the video that we want to project and bring into the video.

The video could include scenes like this with the branch blowing in the breeze which would bring in the nature aspect of the video. This could symbolise the change between the negative and the positive atmosphere in the video.

Above are some photographs taken in a corn field. Although the location seems a little plain and not a typical location for a music video, but it provides lots of space and different ideas for the music video scenes whilst also heavily bringing in the nature aspect of the video that we wanted to create. The location also provides us with the potential to make the scene sinister or not which is important for our music video.

Conclusion

Despite the fact we thought it was important to explore alternative locations to make sure our video was going to successfully connote the different atmospheres and emotions running through the song, once we had analysed the different locations, we decided that the location we had originally picked (the park/forect location) was the most suitable for out music video. It allowed us to easily project the nature side of the music video whilst also allowing our audience to detect the emotions and actions of the model easily. From this, we will build our video around the location and create a more specific plan using location photographs.

Further Research & Planning - Costume Analysis & Ideas

After carrying out a large amount of research into various aspects of the music video and into planning techniques of the music video, we were able to create a storyboard and a script that enabled us to bring all of our different ideas together and be able to plan out how we wanted each of the scenes to look like. However, there are some minor details we needed to plan and perfect regarding the character costumes and the film location. To make sure all of the details present to the audience our wanted themes and feelings throughout, I carried out some research into the costumes and make-up of existing videos so we are able to communicate well with our audience. To make sure the research is as accurate as possible, I tried to use a number of videos that are similar to my own. So the videos I annalysed had the same indie/acoustic genre and the each of the 'characters' were all female.

James Morrison - I Won't Let You Go (female actress)

The James Morrison music video is filmed around the story of one female actress and is seen wearing only one outfit throughout the video. From the very beginning of the video, the actress is introduced and is featured wearing a light pink, silky dress, with no shoes and natural make up. This simple and natural look that is presented automatically makes the actress appear very angelic whilst also symbolising purity. The fact that the actress has been presented in this way with no shoes but is stilll in a rural area, makes the audience immediately question if there is something wrong with the actress and allows them to feel empathy for the model. When the audience is presented with this angelic type of model they automatically pressume that the actress is good, pure and delicate.

Amy Winehouse - Back To Black (female singer)

In contrast to the angelic and pure charctaeristics presented with the female actress in the James Morrison video, the negative and dark personality traits and characteristics that are typical of singer Amy Winehouse, are presented in her clothes and her make-up in her music video 'Back To Black'. In the video, Amy is dressed in all dark clothes throughout, has lots of dark make up, back combed, messy hair, piercings and tattoo's. The connotations that typically go with a girl being presented this way are very negative, people will see her as a rebel. Typically, audiences perceive people to be evil if they are presented this way. As well as the presentation of the model, the connotation of the singer can also be derived from the surroundings, with the backgrounds all being dark and very sinister further promoting the evil and negative connotation of the singer.

Summary/Conventions

• Evil and negative connotations are usually derived from models dressed in dark clothing and make-up.
• Models that are considered to be 'rebels' usually have tattoo's, piercings and messy hair.

In contrast...

• Light coloured clothes, natural make-up and beauty often reflect a angelic, pure, innocent and delicate personality characteristics.

Our music video costumes

After analysing contrasting costumes from similar music videos, I have a better understanding of the representations of different characteristics presented by different costume and make-up styles and can therefore plan what we want our model to wear throughout our own music video so that we communicate our desired feelings and themes to our audience successfully.

At the beginning of our music video we want the audience to see that the actress is evil and appears to be distressed and upset that she has been caught in this frame of mind so therefore we have decided that we want her to be dressed in a black dress with messed up hair and dark eye make-up so she therefore appears disheveled and distressed that she has been stuck in this frame of mind for so long. To make it appear more like shes been struggling where she is, we want her legs to be streaked with mud. All of this dark and dishevelled aesthetics of the model make her appear evil and sort of like a dark spirit which is exactly the type of effect we want to create. Later on in the video, we want our model to appear as though she has been changed and set free from the negative hold that she had over her and in a sense, has become a free spirit. After the way she has been changed, her appearence will also change and will become the opposite of what it was. For example instead of a black dress she will be dressed in a white dress and her skin will no longer be streaked with mud but will be clean and pale making her appear much more natural and at peace. Again, instead of dark make-up, we want her to be very natural. The representation we hope to create with this very natural look is that the model is very angelic, free, delicate and beautiful.

We are hoping that with the change of costume and make up will be a big enough change to make the audience realise that her personality, characteristics have changed from being very negative, depressed and sinister to ending up pure, angelic and happy much like a free spirit.

Changes before production

Despite the fact we were very particular about the makeup used on the model in the music video, we finally decided not to have a change in makeup throughout the film. However, we still want to do a costume change so that the mood of the film and the presentation of the actress connotes different things. We felt as though it would be better to keep the makeup of the model very neutral so that she still represents a delicate, pure and slightly naive girl. Changing the makeup would also be dificult to maintain throughout the video because of time as well as continuity. We feel as though it would be difficult to make sure the model's makeup was the same all the way through the video since various scenes would be shot on different days. However, I don't feel as though this will affect the representation of the model or the messages we are presenting within the video.