Pop Video

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

What have you learnt from audience feedback ?

As a part of my evaluation I have gathered a group of 10 people between the ages of 16-25 belonging to both genders ( target audience) asking them a range of set questions in order to see how successful my music video, digipak and advert are. Below I have presented my findings through the use of bar charts.

Question 1 : What genre does the song belong to ?

From my findings it is clear that the majority thought that the song belonged to the indie genre. However 3 assumed that it was pop, whilst 2 thought that it was rock.

As the genre of my music video is alternative rock with hints of the indie genre , I was intrigued as to why some thought that the music video belonged to the pop genre.

"Throughout the music video , there is a feel-good/ upbeat element to it similar to that of pop music videos and does not really include much of band performance except for the appearance of the main vocalist." Response from boy aged 22

Question 2: Does the music video and ancilliary texts link ?

In a group I showed them the music video along with the ancillary texts (poster and digipak ) and asked them if they thought that they all linked together .

As a result I received a pretty varied response with 7 agreeing that they were linked , whilst 3 said that it was not linked . For those that answered- No I followed up with the question - Why ? Response included below :



"Although both the ancillary texts follow the same format , what I do not understand is if The Crookes are meant to be a band , why is the second band member not included within the music video." Response from girl aged 18

Question 3: How effective are the three products in promoting the artist ?

As the sole purpose of the three media products is to promote the artists album , I viewed this as the most important question that needed to be asked.

The response overall was positive with 4/10 viewing the video as very effective, 5/10 regarding the combination as effective with an overall 9/10 viewing the combination as somewhat effective , with only 1 response of the combination as not effective.

From the feedback received on my music video and ancillary texts ,I have learnt that individuals interpret things differently despite the target audience including both girls and boys of ages between 16 and 25. Moreover , overall my three media products had the desired effect however included feedback in which mirror concerns expressed by my peers and teacher response.

How effective is the combination of you main product and ancilliary text ?

During my A2 project, I created three main products - the music video , digital and poster to promote my chosen singer Jeremy Swartz performing Afterglow by The Crookes . Alternative rock (with influences from the indie genre ) is the genre of my music video, and so I utilised the key conventions of the genre into my three products in order to conform to the brand image of the genre.

To develop the artists brand image I decided to pick monochromic colours in order to make the title , The Crookes as well as the band members the main focus . The font used 'black marker ' alongside the Polaroid frame used in both my magazine advert and digipak helps to ensure brand identity is consistent and recognisable to the consumers, as well as highlights the idea of preserving memories "faded memories" a key element of the song .

Indie music videos are known to be quite low budget , the main settings of the video are in the studios , cities , parks and in tunnels. In my music video most of the lip syncing takes place in front of graffiti backgroundd which in turn communicate the relaxed, playful aspect of the song as well as acts to attract the target indie audience who are generally artistic .

Moreover , Whilst they may not have been styling in my music video . All those participating wear casual clothing which highlights the laid back image of the music video which conforms to the indie genre whereby music videos are generally simple . Also costumes creates the character indicating their age , wealth , status and era of the music video. The clothing thus reflects the target audience .

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

My Digipack

My Magazine advert

Advert sketches

Below I have sketched out my ideas on possible designs and layouts for my advert poster. My first sketch follows the similar theme of the digipak and includes a polaroid photograph often associated with alternative / indie . Also by linking the digipak and advert the brand image of the band is easily identifiable. Additionally, as album adverts typically include release dates reviews of the album, I've too included, phrases such as 'Available in' and 'Out now'.

The vaccines-Advert analysis

Mumford and sons-Advert analysis

Conventions of a magazine advert

A magazine advert works alongside a music video and  digipak in order to promote the artist. Magazine adverts often include:

- The release date :
This is needed because the audience need to know when they able to purchase the album .

- Album/ song title :
This is important because to be able to purchase the album you would need to know the name of the album .

- Image of album cover:
The main image will usually be the same as the album cover to ensure brand identity and further promote the digipak

- Artist name:
Essential as the audience need to know who the name of the band is. This will help promote the artists and help them become more known in the music industry.

-Information about album :
This is important in an advert so that the target audience can get an idea of what will be in the album and what some of the names of the songs are in the album

-Where it is available to purchase:
On some of the magazine advert it often says ' available now on iTunes ' or ' available at HMV ' this is to show the audience how easily available the album is.

- Record label logo:
The record label that the artist belongs to will have its logo on the advert usually at the bottom and fairly small compared to everything else.

-Reviews:
On magazine adverts there will be sometimes a rating or review from different companies to show how others rate them

-QR codes:
QR codes are often used in order to direct people towards the album encouraging them to buy or watch the music video .

Digipak Sketches

I have started to note down some ideas of what I like and how to incorporate them into my digipak. Below is a few examples of my two favourite ideas gained from feedback given by my classmates.

I have created two digipaks to compare ideas and see what might work the best for my album. The top one includes a polaroid of the duo an idea in which I prefer over the second as it links with narrative of my music video.

Additionally, in regards to the inside covers I prefer the second idea however I fear it may be to simplistic and minimalist. Having said that from my research of digipaks the XX's 'Coexist'  although simplistic is very effective.

The XX- Digipak analysis

I have chosen to look into The XX digipak 'Coexist' as the band belongs to the same genre as my chosen song.

The genre of the XX is indie so as a result the artwork is quite simplistic and minimalistic. The shape of the ' X' is inspired by the iridescent oil spill ' the albums title was inspired by the colours visible in iridescent oil' the 'X' thus promotes the bands name. 

The inside mirrors the opening of the album however the colour for the cross on the front is not actually printed on , it is actually the lyric booklet on the inside and the back typical of a digipak includes the artists list of songs.

Jake Bugg- Digipak Analysis

I have chosen to look into Jake Bugg's digipak as the band belong to the same genre as my chosen song. Each side of the digipak has different elements on it:

Front- Image of the band and logo/ their name
Inside left- Name of band members and credits for album and lyric booklet
Inside right- Disc
Back- Song names

The colour scheme used on the cover is very minimal and uses the shade sepia thus contrasting with artists youth as the sepia shade is often used to signify age. Also, the album doesn't use any writing apart from the artists name, this thus makes the album look simple yet eye-catching as its a bold font used.

Additionally, the golden spiral theory suggests that the readers attention is firstly in the top left hand corner. In regards, to the album Jake Bugg is positioned in the top left hand corner. This technique instantly intrigues the audience and the star image of the new upcoming singer compliments the text.

Digipak Moodboard

By researching bands within the rock and indie genre and their album covers I have identified typical iconography in regards to the genre. Firstly, all bands within the A. Rock genre have logos such as the Arctic Monkeys and Fall Out Boy as a result makes them identifiable to consumers. Additionally, I have noted that duo bands such Hudson Taylor and Southern usually includes both of them looking in opposite directions a concept in which I will adopt into my Digipak. Also it can be noted that albums tend to have a simplistic / neutral background making the main focus the band.

Conventions of digipak form

What is a Digipak ?

A digipak is  a patened style of CD or DVD packaging , and is a registerd trademark of AGI media , a meadwestaco, etc. They normally have a gatefold like a book. The outer packaging is made of card, paper and the inner packaging is made of plastic and are normally used on special editions and albums.They became popular with artists and record labels in the early 2000s. Digipaks are designed to fold into a square CD case. They can fold many different ways and can have different amount of panels.

Front

The front of the digipaks tend to have a large eye- catching picture on them. The picture illustrated on the front panels, tend to have some relation to the songs or artist. The song / album title is also found on the front panel.

Back

Like the front is very much to draw the consumers in and often includes the track list , album, artwork , record label, barcode , extra information.


Inside 

Inside a digipak you can find the plastic holder for the actual CD itself. The inside of the digipak is used more for the information and extra bits to do with the artist/song/album.

Digipak analysis:

Nirvana 

• Society has become very child-centered with the use of the baby under the water the cover aims to communicate a political statement against capitalism
• It is a popular album cover due to being unique as a result reflects the genre of the band 
• There is no image of the band which suggests that they are more concerned with the music rather than the superficiality of the music industry 

Michael Jackson

• The cover is a closeup of the artist making the focus of the album the artist , encouraged by the monochrome palette adopted .
• His pose excuses sex appeal making him more attractive to his audience , emphasised by the lighting the almost angelic backlit glow 

Beatles 

• The cover is a collage by Peter Blake of famous icons as a result it is as if the are trying to sell themselves as icons. 
• Despite this because the composition is very busy , they are not the main focus which suggests that they are tying not to sell themselves.

Beyonce 

• The classic monochrome palette adopted makes her stand out 
• The fact that she is looking up away from the camera makes her look powerful and superior 

Word it out - based on feedback and research

Re- Filming shot sheet

When we first planned to film our music video during October half- term unfortunately none of our plans went according to plan and as a result Alicia and I had to quickly find other people participate in the filming. Due to this our initial filming session based on a group of boys has now been changed to using two girls.However, when it came to editing, it appeared that Alicia and I didn't have enough footage so we had to re-film.

Filming Issues

Throughout the filming process it has proven difficult to find reliable , trustworthy actors. On the days that we intended to film, the guy that we had initially cast to be our main lead performer for the lip sync cancelled last minute , leaving us with only footage of the two girls and no footage of the artist the most important part of the video . Out of desperation Alicia and I as a result tried to contact everyone that we know.

In addition, once we had finally gotten a suitable male lead to lip sync, we had to re-film once again as the lip - sync did not link with the narrative which is set in Camden.