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

Research and Planning

The majority of the media technology used in the research and planning stage of the task was based around Blogger. Using Blogger was incredibly useful, as it meant that all of my personal research was available to me at an instant as it was all saved online. For example, when filming the music video, I was able to instantly access my storyboard as I had it saved onto Blogger, saving me from carrying around a paper storyboard which could easily be damaged or lost. In addition to this, it made posting multimedia content a lot more efficient, as I could easily integrate video, pictures, graphs and text. However, a weakness of Blogger is the lack of ability to back up any work which is saved on it - this means that everything I had researched was at risk of being lost if the system was to fail. When analysing various music videos in order to spot the features which make them effective and popular, I primarily used YouTube, as this integrates well with Blogger in order to allow videos to be embedded to analyse them. In addition to this, I used websites such as SlideShare and MediaKnowAll in order to research the various theories and ideas which I would need to use in my work, such as the reception theory and Andrew Goodwin's theory about the seven features which all music videos contain. When researching the history of music video, I primarily used Wikipedia, as this contained a large amount of encyclopaedic information about which videos were the most popular over time, and about the transition from MTV to YouTube as the primary website on which music videos are viewed. In addition to this, I was able to use YouTube to watch music videos over time so I could see how various traits have changed within them. Overall, using various websites within the research and planning stage of the production of my music video helped me to formulate ideas about what to include in our own music video when we made it.

During the research and planning stage, we were required to make a lip-syncing video, in order to gain some vital practise using the filming and editing equipment. We used new media technology in the editing stage of this video, using iMovie in order to piece the shots together. This is when we discovered that it is difficult to piece footage together in order to produce a convincing lip-sync, leading us to practise with the technology a lot more. This was a useful task as it showed us the pros and cons of using iMovie, and led us to make the decision to split the editing between iMovie and Final Cut for the final film. In terms of my ancillary products, I used Adobe imaging software such as Photoshop and Fireworks in order to experiment with different ways to manipulate both images and text, as these skills would be essential in order to design an effective magazine advert and digipak. I had no By using new media technology to experiment with designing, I was able to come up with some initial ideas of how I wanted the ancillary products to look, which meant that this part of the research also helped greatly with my planning for the construction of the products. New media technology was incredibly important in both researching and planning all of my products as it allowed me to find out a heap of new information, and to practise and perfect the skills which I began to develop during the construction of my foundation portfolio last year.

Construction 

During the construction stage of both our music video and ancillary products, I used a great amount of both new technologies, and technologies which I already had some experience with. For the music video, the most important piece of technology which we used was the camera, a Canon HD CMOS Pro. The camera had an excellent assisted focus control, which made it easy to create a strong depth of field within certain shots of our video. This is because it automatically zoomed in to allow the shot to be perfectly focused, then was able to be zoomed out in order to film the shot. As a lot of our video was filmed in the dark, it was important to be able to capture a crisp shot which picked our subject out from the darkness - our camera was excellent at this. However, the camera also had some weaknesses which slightly hindered the production of our video, as the battery life was fairly weak with a maximum capacity of around 80 minutes. This meant that we had to vastly limit the length of time which we could shoot for in a single evening, although the limited battery life did help in the respect that it forced us to be more concise when choosing what material to shoot. In addition to this, the camera filmed onto a built in flash drive rather than SD card, meaning that we had  to wait until we got back to school to upload the footage and begin editing - an SD card would have meant we could have begun editing at home immediately. It also would have been desirable if the camera had its own built in light, as it would have made illuminating the tracking shots much easier.

Along with the camera, we had to incorporate a tripod and a dolly into the production process of our video, as these meant that we could film stable shots, greatly adding to the professionalism of our video. The tripod was used for all of the lip syncing shots within the music video, as a moving camera would have made these shots disorientating for the viewer. We used the dolly sparsely during the music video, as shots which featured too much movement suffered from a slight motion blur on the camera, although a few short tracking shots where we used the dolly are visible within the video.



This screenshot shows the new version of iMovie, which
borrows many of the features and layout from Final Cut X

Another important piece of hardware used for the construction stage of our music video was the iMac which we used as a workstation for our editing. This computer was chosen because it has 8gb of flash memory RAM, a huge 1tb hard drive and a larger screen than most computers have (27 inches). This made it perfect for running both iMovie and Final Cut Express, which were the two software packages we used during the production of our video. I chose to use two different software technologies to edit, as iMovie has a more simplistic layout which made piecing the video together a lot easier, whilst Final Cut was used for recolouring footage and performing more complex editing techniques such as embedding. We chose not to use Final Cut for all of the editing as I only know how to use Final Cut X to the degree which would be required to edit a music video, whereas Final Cut Express is more complex and thus would have hindered rather than helped the production process of the video. Specific features which we used from the software include iMovie's precision editor in order to assist with our lip syncing, and Final Cut's colour editing which allowed us to separate the mid-tones, shadows and brightness of each clip in order to make our character and setting appear to be as naturalistic as possible. It was important that we used a Mac to edit our footage on, as using a Windows PC would severely hinder the quality of editing software which we had available to us. 



We used YouTube heavily during the construction aspect of the music video, as it allowed us to upload parts of our video which we could send to members of our target audience to immediately gain feedback. This was incredibly useful as it meant we could make changes on the fly, as without having a facility such as YouTube then we would have had to send our rough cuts to our audience on DVD and wait for them to respond - a much more costly and timely process.

In addition to the construction of the music video, I also used a variety of hardware and software in the construction of my digipak and magazine advert. We used a Canon 600D in order to take the pictures for our products. This worked well as it has an 18 megapixel sensor, allowing us to take professional quality pictures. In addition to this, it had interchangeable lenses, meaning that we could use a macro lens to take close up pictures of our character, and then switch to a wide angled lens to take an establishing shot of the woods as a setting within our video. We edited the images using Adobe Photoshop, an industry standard photo editing suite. It was excellent to have access to this software as it allowed us to produce our products with a surprising amount of ease, although I do believe that we should have spent even more time learning how to use the software during the research and planning stage in order to yield the best result possible for our products. This means that we made full use of photographic hardware and software during the construction stage of our product, although we should have considered spending more time on Photoshop in order to create a more professional product, and to ensure that our ancillary products had more coherence with our music video.

Overall, I believe that we used new media technologies relatively well during the construction process of our music video, although our one shortcoming was that we didn't experiment enough with the equipment, which could have allowed us to produce an even more imaginative and memorable music video.

Evaluation

When putting together my evaluation, I used a variety of multimedia technologies to present my conclusion in an exciting and invigorating way. Similar to the research and planning stage, I used Blogger in order to present my findings using multimedia, for example in this post, where I have been able to seamlessly integrate text and images to back up my points. Using Blogger also means that I have been able to edit my evaluation as many times as necessary, whereas if I had been evaluating the task on paper, I would have had to continually redraft until I had a document which I was happy with the standard of. Another media technology which I used within my evaluation is Prezi, an online presentation creation software. It allowed me to answer question three in a much more imaginative way, as I could place the feedback we had received alongside my videos, meaning that anybody who wished to view it could view them side by side rather than having to keep flicking between the two. In addition to this, many find Prezi to be a more engaging way of displaying information than just pure text, as like Blogger it has capabilities for the user to embed a wide range of multimedia.

In addition to this, I used Final Cut X in order to construct and edit the video which I used to answer  question one. This involved a variety of media skills which I had learned from the production of our video, as I had to import our video and lay a directors commentary over the top, speaking about how our product had been influenced by other music videos and media, such as film and television. When recording the audio for this part of the project, I used Logic as it made it a lot easier to cut different strands of speech together and make them sound fluid as if they had been said in one flow. In addition to this, I had to embed clips from the other music videos into this evaluation product, which helped to make my evaluation much more effective as it showed the viewer exactly which part of each music video ours has taken influence from.

To conclude, I believe that I used new media technologies to their full extent during the research, planning, construction and evaluation stages of producing my product.

Evaluation Question 3 - What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Evaluation Question 2: How effective is the combination of the main product (your music videos) and ancillary tasks?

Script: Overall, there is an evident link between the music video and the ancillary products which we have designed as part of our advanced portfolio coursework. The photographs which makes up the basis of the digipack and magazine advert are not scenes from our video, as we photographed the subjects and the background separately in order to give us as many opportunities to change things up during the editing stage. 

In terms of the music video and the magazine advert, there is a clear coherence in the way that Connar, as the protagonist, is featured rather than Tom, who is playing the role of the antagonist. By not including an image of Tom, we are hoping that this will make it clearer that Connar is the main character and that Tom is not, and that Connar will be the more recognisable one within the video. In addition to this, the products both have the subject and background lit by an extremely bright light. By including this feature of our music video within our magazine advert we are able to continue the themes of fear and regret, as the high key lighting means that there are evident shadows on the characters. A third point of similtarity between the two products is the focus on the title of the song - the video features the character lip syncing the word "past", which makes the use of the title of the song on the poster more effective. However, we could have created even more coherence between these two products by featuring the two characters in a position which they are actually seen in the video, for example the last shot where Tom is seen with his hands around Connar's neck.

When considering the music video and digipack, there are a few noticable similarities which allow the potential audience to make the link. For starters, the product features an image of both of the characters from the video, making there a double chance that they will recognise at least one of the characters in one of the products. For example, the background image which runs throughout the digipack is made up of the woods seen within the music video, which we hope will be recognisable. However, there is a limitation to the effectiveness of this, as there is nothing distinctive about the woods which mean that they will be immediately recognisable to the audience. We could have made this more effective by placing something distinctive within both products, for example the name of the song scratched into one of the trees. In addition to this, there is a link between the two products in the respect that there is a variety of locations within the woods used as we shot the pictures in many different woods in order to ensure that there are distinct locations used within the video.

Most of our draft ideas for the digipack featured just the one protagonist, which we had to change fairly late on for the final product, as the feedback for our second rough cut suggested that we should feature two different characters in order to make our narrative stronger.

The combination of the digipack and the magazine advert is the most effective and easiest to spot. This is because they are both based around the same image which we have created, whereas this is not immediately recognisable from the video as it is not taken directly from it. In addition to this, they both use the same font and colouring, which is fairly distinctive in itself. We could have created coherence across all three products by including some text within the video, such as having the lyrics appearing on screen. Both of the products also contain very similar text, such as the website for the artist and record label. This information is important as a marketing tool, as both of the products are designed to catch the eye of a potential fan, with the small-print on the products being the next port of call in order to find out more about the artist. 

Overall, I believe that there generally a high level of coherence within the combination of our three products, as it is clear that the three products have been designed as part of a single marketing campaign. 

Evaluation Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Accompanying Notes: I believe that we use, develop and challenge forms and conventions in many ways throughout our music video. These nods are evident in both the theoretical and stylistic elements of our video. An example of where we have used a convention of real media products is through the primary setting of the video - the woods. Two existing media products which use this setting are Dog Days Are Over by Florence & The Machine, and Gust of Wind by Pharrell. However, we also developed this setting, as both of these videos have been filmed in the daytime, with our use of a nighttime setting giving our video an eerie feel. Our music video has used the dark and confusing themes which are seen within many of SBTRKT’s other music videos, such as NEW DORP. NEW YORK and Hold On. We chose to extend this convention of his work to encompass our video as the themes of his videos perfectly evoke the emotions within his songs, meaning that our video would not have been as effective had we taken a difference stance to it. Another convention which we have used within our music video is the mixture of colour and black & white shots, which was influenced by films such as Kill Bill, with the black and white added in order to give it a further sense of mystery. 

In addition to this, our music video takes a lot of influence from Donnie Darko, as the majority of the shots are incredibly dark with only the subject being illuminated. This was difficult to achieve, as we had to keep adjusting the ISO on the camera to ensure that it only let in enough light for the subject to be visible. 

In terms of challenging forms and conventions, our video challenges the often seen convention of teenagers being seen as partying and having little to care about, as seen in videos such as We Can't Stop by Miley Cyrus. On the contrary, the close up shots used within our video show that our character is clearly deeply troubled about something, meaning that our video challenges the stereotypical representation of a teenager within music videos. In addition to this, our video also challenges genre conventions of existing media products. In other deep house/electro videos, one of the largest conventions is to include the artist performing as a DJ - for example F For You by Disclosure. However, our video doesn't include anything like this, as we believe that it would distract from the narrative and would make the story seem less realistic to the viewer.   

Trials of the Past: Final Cut

This is our final cut of our music video. We have added in various different things based on personal opinions and also based on feedback received from our target audience.

The first noticeable difference between our final version and the initial two cuts, is that the use of black and white is more purposeful, we changed this based on audience feedback. Prior to this, the effects had been used very sporadically and that meant that the audience did not really understand why it was being used. The main reason for the black and white is to distinguish between reality and dreams. The black and white connote this to the audience and as a result the audience can understand what is happening.

Also in this version we have a lot more location shots, again this was based on audience feedback from the first two versions that we had done. The audience wanted to see more of the location, this was beneficial to us and the audience because it meant by doing this we could build on strengthening the narrative to make it obvious what was happening throughout, all the way until the end of the music video. The location shots also meant that we could show off our camera skills, we have used a range of shots, long shots, close ups and even establishing shots of the moon with the trees in the way.

Another difference is that we have added another character. This was quite a large change that we considered late on. The reason for adding the second character is that we had to add more depth to our narrative rather than just having one character who may be lost and can't find his way home. Adding a second character really aided our narrative and made our whole video more interesting and captivating to watch. We did away with the fatal ending which we thought was too severe and not shot properly and incorporated the idea of a recurring dream instead. We are pleased with our final cut and like the way it has come out.

Final Magazine Advert

 

I believe that our final magazine advert is largely effective because it takes many conventions from the other two products which it is paired with.

Final Digipack

This is our completed digipack. It was designed by taking inspirations from all of the different draft digipacks which were designed as a group, for example the setting of the woods was taken from mine and Calum's ideas, and the font and artist logo was taken from Rhys' ideas. I believe that the digipack is incredibly effective and will work as a good promotional tool for our video.

 

 

Trials of the Past: Rough Cut 2

This is our second rough cut. After receiving feedback from our first rough cut we amended some of the things that were wrong in our music video. However, there are still some things which need to be changed and we need to film more footage to add to the narrative of the music video, to make it clearer.

Feedback 

 Teachers

Concept and narrative aren't clear - doesn't show an "excellence in shooting material" 

Needs to include more location shots to emphasise where he is throughout the video 

Needs to show a closer attention to Mise-en-scene

More continuity - needs to be either walking or laying 

Include the concept of the recurring dream

Students

I like the mixture between black & white and colour shots, although there could be even more black and white

The ending could do with improving as being hit by a car seems unrealistic

Some unwanted audio is still there - you can hear somebody say "do it slowly yeah"

It may be a bit far fetched but you could include another character to make the narrative clearer

The feedback from students, paired with our feedback from teachers has given us more detail to work on.

Trials of the Past: Rough Cut 1

This is our first rough cut of our music video. As our first attempt there are some things which need rectifying however I am pleased with how much footage we have managed to include and our use of lip sync footage. There are some things which need to be addressed which have been notified to us buy our feedback representatives.

Feedback

The video needs to be longer as it suddenly cuts off during the song.

Some of the lip syncing is slightly out of time, making it unbelievable that the character is the artist.

The black gaps in between clips need to be filled in.

It would be easier to understand if there was a clearer narrative - is there a defined ending or is the video just going to end ambiguously?

There is a shot early in the video where a car can be seen passing in the background - this makes it seem unrealistic as why else would he spend the rest of the video trying to make it out of the woods.

There needs to be greater continuity in the colouring of clips, as the actors skin appears to be darker in some shots than others.

We are going to take on this feedback and amend the things which have been suggested.

Magazine Advert 2



This is my second idea for my magazine advert ancillary task. I believe that it is still effective, although is not as effective as my initial poster, as it does not contain as many eye catching colours. However, with this said, I do believe that this poster fits the theme of the video well, as it is dark and monochrome with an emphasis on shadows with very little colour. In addition to this, it has a level of correspondence to the album cover, as the forest on the front matches the dark theme, along with the font being similar. The only use of colour is for the text which reads "debut album out now", as in terms of marketing, this is the most important part. It is important as the music video and its ancillary products will be used in the real world in order to market an album. Finally, I have included links to websites, as these will help any potential fans to hear music by the artist quickly, and will then be able to purchase this music.

Magazine Advert 1



This is my main idea for the magazine advert. It is recognisable in some aspects from our album cover, as the font, colours and 'Young Turks' logo are all recognisable. However, I have decided to break away from the album cover with the actual image, as it is of a different section of woods which are to be featured in our music video shoot. However, I believe that as an idea which we can work upon, this magazine advertisement works well, as it encompasses many parts of our digipack and music video, whilst still bringing a fresh and original idea in order to invigorate the potential fan of the music.

Analysis of a magazine advert by an artist in our genre: "XX" and "Coexist"

These two magazine adverts are for two albums by The XX, their debut album The XX (right advertisement) and their sophomore, Coexist. They both share very similar album artwork with nothing more notable than a large X in the middle of the cover, although the colour scheme is completely reversed for Coexist when compared to the first album.

Both the album cover and magazine advertisement for The XX have a monochrome colour scheme, which shows how the bands minimalistic style isn't just limited to the simplistic, hushed tones of their music. As this is a poster which was designed for their debut album, it gives a bold and distinct style which they then embellished for their second album. The large white X dominates the poster, with the only other part of it that breaks up the black background being the bands/album name underneath it.

Coexist has a magazine advertisement which is made up of a plain white background, and adheres to a simple aesthetic, which suits the uncomplicated, laid back feel of the music. As aforementioned, the focal point of the poster is the large X, which appears to be coloured in the same way which oil looks when the sun is shining on it. As this poster is for an album which came out three years after their debut, the large X has become iconography which many will immediately associate with the XX, which is why it is a good marketing tool to keep this as the focal point of the album cover. Beneath this focal point, there is the bands name and the album title, both of which are in the same font. This helps to keep the poster simplistic as it doesn't overload the brain of the person who is looking at it.

Interestingly, neither of the album covers contains any information such as a release date or website for the band, which shows that they believe that the design alone will contain enough artistic merit in order to interest potential fans into further research. Both of the posters are almost identical to each other, which gives the band a recognisable theme, and suggests that there is also lot of continuity between their albums in terms of musical styles. There is no picture of the band featured on either advertisement, which I believe is a good change from the norm, as it allows the potential buyer to focus on the artistry of the band rather than their image. I plan on taking a lot of inspiration from the minimalistic feel of this magazine advertisement when designing my own one.

Ideas for Digipack 2

Front Cover

Interior

Back Cover

Front Cover: The front cover has a different theme to the magazine advert and rest of the digipack, in the respect that I have branched away from the theme of darkness and forests to include more colours. Whilst the forest which is featured on the magazine advert design (and consequently in the music video) is still visible, I have put a layer of paint over the top, in order to make the album cover stand out more to potential customers. I chose such a mix of colours to paint over the top as I believe they signify the confusion which the narrative of the music video. 

Interior: For the interior design of this digipack, I have decided to go with an idea which is usually seen on the inside of gatefold-sleeve vinyl records. By placing the lyrics all over the inside of the digipack, the person who has purchased it will be able to connect on a deeper level with the song by reading through them. This will help them to access the video in a different light, which will then hopefully lead to them encouraging others to watch the video or buy the digipack, thus further marketing the artist.

In terms of style, the interior carries on the black, white and red theme which is seen on the magazine advert, along with continuing the use of the font which is on the advert. I have placed a semi-opaque CD as part of the design, in order to demonstrate where the CD would be placed if I was to construct this part of the digipack. The red writing is to emphasise the last line of each paragraph of lyrics, as the line forms an integral part of our music video, which I hope somebody reading the lyrics will pick up on. 

Back Cover: The back cover is instantly recognisable from both the music video and accompanying magazine advert. However, I have designed it using Andy Warhol style "pop art", as shown by the posterised feel of the image. I have also recoloured the image of the woods from the front cover and magazine advert using a sepia-based filter. This was so that I can make it seem more nostalgic and like an old photo, to represent the element of the "past" within the song and video. Another modification which I made to the image using photoshop is a pull focus, which means that the edge of the image becomes blurry with the focus on the middle - this blurriness signifies the confusing and fast paced nature of our video.

Ideas for Digipack 1

Front Cover

Inside



Back Cover

Front Cover: The idea which I have incorporated here is one of a forest, which is made to seem spooky and uninviting by the grainy, noisy effect I have added too it. In addition to this, part of our video is going to be shot in black and white, so this is shown by the lack of colour within the album sleeve. In terms of the colour within the album cover, the colours of blue and yellow are emphasised as these are included within SBTRKT's logo. In addition to this, I have included the record labels logo on the front cover, as being an independent label it is important for them that they build up a large amount of exposure. I also believe that their logo adds to the overall aesthetic, as the song which we have made the music video for has a theme of ghosts and horror, so a logo of a skull fits well with this. 

Inside: The inside of the digipak is very similar to the aesthetic shown on the front cover, although it shows a much larger scene. This idea was influenced through my analysis of digipacks for albums such as Talk That Talk by Rihanna, which had a very similar theme on the front cover as it did on the interior parts. I have made the CD semi-opaque in this visual representation of my digipack idea, as behind it is a picture of the character who appears within our music video. This helps to link the theme of the digipack together with the music video and magazine advert, as those who have seen one product will hopefully be able to recognise the other products in the collection from this. I opted to make a six panel digipack in order to demonstrate how the CD could be placed over the part where the character is, in order to connote that he is usually hidden from view, which again links well with the idea that he is a ghostly spirit within the video. This would not have looked nearly as effective with a four panel digipack. 

Back Cover: I decided to opt for a plain black back cover in order to reflect the dark ending which our video is going to have. However, I have broken this up by including a sepia picture of SBTRKT performing, in order to create further promotion for the artist as there are no other images of him within the digipack. In terms of text on the back cover, I have included the names of both of the songs on the EP and their running times, along with SBTRKT's website and the necessary copyright information which is found on the back of all digipacks. Finally, I have included the record companies logo for a second time, as I believe that they would want to promote their company a lot more than an already established "big 4" company such as EMI or Universal would.

Filming Diary

Shoot one 14/11/14

This shoot was filmed at the side of the road in Great Leighs, and is where we captured the majority of the lip syncing footage. It was filmed at night, like the rest of our video, in order to get The Blair Witch Project influenced spotlight effect on the subject of the shots. It was a dry night, which meant that we could film a lot more freely as we didn't have to worry about the camera becoming water damaged. We also filmed some footage of the road which the protagonist is going to find his way onto, as the road was quiet allowing us to film on it.

Shoot two 18/11/14

We filmed the majority of the narrative and scenic shots during this shoot, as we realised that we needed to incorporate a lot more narrative around our lip syncing in order to make the video more effective. We had to ensure that the actor was wearing the exact same costume as he was the previous night of filming, as otherwise there would be no continuity within the video. In addition to this, we filmed the shot of our actor getting run over, although this may not make the final cut in order to make our video look as professional as possible.

Shoot three 04/12/14

We had to re-film a lot of the video on this night in order to get it to as high a level as possible - this meant that we had to organise for another actor, Tom, to come down in order to build in a larger element to the narrative. 

As we had the shots, locations, props and actors well organised, we were able to get the majority of the filming done on these three nights.

Analysis of a digipack by our chosen artist: SBTRKT - "SBTRKT"

This image shows the exterior of the digipack, and the CD which is packaged within it. The most striking part of the album cover is the contrast between the bright yellow of the mask, and the nulled blue and black tones which are around it. By surrounding a bright colour with dark colours, the CD will stand out to potential listeners a lot more in record stores, as an album which has a sleeve that contains only bright colours is likely to blend in with the other albums which are available. In terms of the actual image which is on the front of the album, this has connotations of tribes, as it appears to be inspired by tribal headwear of some description. This hints at the simplistic music which makes up the album, as a lot of the music in the album is part of the 'post-dubstep' genre, which is based around simple repeated patterns which are usually dark in nature.

In terms of the back of the digipack, it is very simplistic and minimalistic, much like the front cover. It contains the track listing, although interesting also contains the length of each of the songs, as this is fairly uncommon information to be included as part of a digipack. It also contains SBTRKT written in the stylised font which is the artist's logo - by making this a different font from the rest of the writing on the back, it makes it more memorable for people looking at it, and increases the chances of them picking out the logo again when looking at other media which SBTRKT is featured in.

In terms of the actual CD, it continues the simplistic theme which is on the outside of the digipack. However, it is white, in contrast to the black of the album cover, which provides an interesting dynamic of dark on the outside and light on the inside. In terms of the actual CD, it contains the logo for Young Turks, the record label on which the album was released, which shows that the label is clearly important within the production of the album.

Overall, studying the digipack for the album from which our song comes from is incredibly helpful, as it gives us an idea of the vibe which the actual artist believes fits with the songs, which helps in the respect that we can take influence from this digipack, although the overall idea will be based on the feel of our music video, which I believe has a fairly different vibe to the digipack for this album. 

Pitch idea based on lyrics

Full Lyrics:

So young, so how were you to know
You're a carrier, a carrier, of the light inside of you?

Glows green in the pitch black night
Can't tell anyone, it's hurting you
So hold it in, cover up, pull up your sheets
A torpedo cruising in the ocean, and soon it's due

So I got to sit up, sit up
For my heart to come down

The ghoulish entities, they come floating through the walls
Ghostly enemies, they come floating through your door

And the ghoulish entities, they come floating through the walls
From the past, from the past
And they're somewhere right before you like the ghost of Christmas past

I was always floating around the city
Go with the flow without ever knowing where I wanna be
So I got into crazy situations
A loyal soldier who acts, but never asks:

"Why am I flying on my back?
With the moon looking down?
Where's my band? Where's anything at all?
And why's the ceiling going to black?"

The ghoulish entities, they come floating through the walls
Ghostly enemies, they come floating through your door
And the ghoulish entities, they come floating through the wall
From the past, from the past
And they're somewhere right before you like the ghost of Christmas past

Don't, that hurts, and anything's coming unless you go,
And you can't break the chasing ghosts
So much so, when they come back but never ask
At your side, at your soul
When they come back but never ask

The ghoulish entities, they come floating through the walls
Ghostly enemies, they come floating through your door
And the ghoulish entities, they come floating through the wall
From the past, from the past

And they're somewhere right before you like the ghost of Christmas past

The majority of our music video is going to be based around the overall ghostly theme of the lyrics. This is established by lines such as "the ghoulish entities, they come floating through the walls", which show that the song is clearly a reflection of the lyricist being haunted. This is why we plan on showing our protagonist as being haunted within the video, as during his journey through the woods he will experience flashbacks to various things in the past. 

Another lyric from the song which will hold particular importance during our video is "you're a carrier, a carrier, of the light inside of you?", as this explains our lighting and setting choices. The light upon our actor is going to be a single floodlight which is going to be extremely bright, in a pitch black woods. This will create large shadows and will make him stand out better, along with linking to the only part of the lyrics which reflect on lightness amongst the dark - this is why the rest of the setting around the light will still be incredibly dark. 

The line "So hold it in, cover up, pull up your sheets" is another lyric which a lot of the video is based upon - the character is going to either begin or end the video asleep in bed, so the idea of "pulling up the sheets" suggests that he is in bed and is trying to hide from the stuff that is haunting him. This makes such an important lyric as one of the main props within our video is going to be a bed, and we wouldn't be including this without this lyric. 

A final lyric which is going to be important within our music video is the line "so I got into crazy situations". The question which the viewer will think almost immediately upon watching our video is how our protagonist woke up in the woods, which is the "crazy situation" described in the lyrics. In addition to this, it works throughout the video because the flashbacks which are haunting him are going to become of increasingly stranger nature. 

By examining certain lyrics and thinking about how they will be applicable to my video, I have also given myself a better idea of which lyrics I should get the character to lip sync for effect, and which lyrics should see him acting something out. 

Lyric analysis and their importance

The song we will be making our video for, Trials of the Past by SBTRKT, contains lyrics which don't necessarily contain a narrative, but still conjour up a lot of imagery, most of which being about ghosts and the supernatural. By studying and analysing the lyrics for our song, I have decided that our video is most likely to be set in a haunted wood. I have embedded my analysis below.

Trials of the Past Lyric Analysis

Magazine Advert Analysis: The Smiths

The most immediately striking feature of this magazine advertisement is the close up picture of the band. This has been used because not only is it the cover of the album which is being advertised, but it also grabs the attention of a potential fan of the album because it is a close up shot. The positioning of each of the band members within this picture has to be considered as well, because as Morrissey is at the front, it is evident that he is the lead singer and is the main one who is being marketed - this is also shown through the expression which is on his face, as he is the only one who is smiling with his teeth out. If we were to use a picture of a band within the magazine advert which we will be creating, then we would have to consider a similar way of spacing the band out so that the lead singer is the focal point, as it is likely that the music video is going to revolve around him as well. 

Another important feature of this magazine advertisement is that the entire picture is in monochrome. Whilst this arguably makes the picture stand out less to the reader than if it were in colour, it helps to emphasise the text, which is just as important as the picture for an advertisement for an album. In addition to this, monochrome works well on this picture because each band member can still be seen clearly. This can be a problem when not including a wide range of colours within the image, as it can sometimes emphasise shadows which can obscure certain things within the picture. In addition to this the monochrome colour scheme has connotations of the lo-fi, DIY aesthetic which is associated with indie music, which could be a big reason as to why the artist chose to design the image in such a way. 

The choice of light blue for the name of the artist and album has been done for two reasons, as it not only stands out well against the monochrome background, but also has connotations of tranquility, which is a way in which the music of The Smiths can be described. In addition to this, the album title actually appears twice within the advert, once at the top in two different colours, and then below the middle of the page in just light blue - this is to emphasise the title of the album, as it was a greatest hits release so wouldn't have received as much promotion as a new studio album would have done. 

The poster lists all of the hit singles which feature on the album - it is important that we do this with the poster that we produce as casual fans may not be able to recognise the artist based on just their name, and will need to recognise the name of their single in order to know who they are and to fully appreciate the advert.

The release date is emphasised both through using capital letters and a larger font than the rest of the writing at the bottom of the advert. This is because it is arguably the most important piece of information in the advert apart from the title, because fans will want to know when they can purchase the album. By making it stand out by typesetting in this way, it is the first thing most people will notice when they glance away from the image, meaning that it is likely to leave a longer lasting impression on the person than the rest of the information on the poster. 

A closer up image in order to show the large amount of detail at the bottom of the advertisement.

The advert contains a website link, but doesn't contain any links to social networks. We would need to ensure that we include links to social networks in our magazine advert, as these are often the first port of call for a listener who wants to make a decision whether to purchase the album or not. 

Finally, the one part of the poster which breaks the monochrome/light blue colour scheme is the small logo for Rhino Entertainment in the bottom right hand corner, as it is red. This is important because the designer of the advert has intended for it to stand out, as it is incredibly important for the institution who released the album to have a large part within the advert poster, because it is arguably an advert for the record company as much as it is an advert for the album which it is advertising. 

Magazine Advert Analysis: The Drums

This magazine advert is a lot more simple than the one which I previously analysed, as it is made up of the album cover and a list of ratings from several reputable music magazines. However, it is arguably just as effective as the one for The Smiths album, because the visual designer has employed many of the same ideas and methods in order to make it as attention grabbing.

It is unsurprising that the largest and boldest font is the name of the band, but is also the title of the album - this is a good marketing technique as it means the reader has far less to remember when researching about the album/band later on. It also means that the title can be accompanied by the subheading "the album", which encourages the reader to think of the band as being one who have an album worth buying, and aren't basing their success off the back of one single.

The use of the album cover in the background is mainly subliminal marketing, as it means the readers brain with subliminally notice the album cover and remember the advert next time they see it, for example on Amazon, iTunes or in a shop such as HMV. This is likely to encourage them to purchase, as whilst they may have not heard any music from it, they will have an urge to purchase or consider purchasing the album.

Finally, the use of ratings from magazines and newspapers as the main 'body' of text within the advert is the most persuasive part of the advert when it comes to attracting the reader into purchasing the album. This is because the ratings are all four stars, and are all from publications which the reader would have heard of - this allows them to make the connection that the album is widely critically acclaimed, which makes them more likely to sustain an interest in the album. 



Magazine Advert Analysis: The Defamation of Strickland Banks

 

Like many of the other magazine advertisements which I have analysed, the largest text, and thus the focal point of the advertisement, is the name of the artist. This appears at the top of the advert, connoting that he is more important than the music himself, and that people are more likely to respond to his name than they are the name of the album. This is an interesting move, especially as the album isn't self titled, as it would be assumed that the poster would be more promotion for the album, and the music video would be more promotional for the artist.

The other text on the advertisement is the name of the album it is promoting, and interestingly a piece of text declaring it "the multi-platinum album of the year". This is hugely effective in building promotion for the album, as it shows that not only is it commercially acclaimed ("multi-platinum"), but by declaring it the "album of the year" then it must also be critically acclaimed. This, when coupled with a number of positive ratings from magazines such as Q and Mojo, proves to the reader that the album is popular and is worth researching further.
 

In terms of colours, a monochrome colour scheme is used, with a splash of red in order to break it up and make it stand out more to the potential fan of the album. The black and white colour scheme shows that there is likely to be a dark subject matter on the album, which will help it to appeal to those who enjoy listening to music of this nature. These match the colours on the album cover, which is included on the poster in the bottom left hand corner.

 

The use of images is completely different to the other posters which I have analysed, as the main image is the artist himself rather than the album cover, against suggesting that the artist is more important than the album he has released. This is because by placing the album cover as the foreground image, the reader will subliminally pick up on it and is more likely to recognise it upon seeing it on iTunes or in a record store. However, it is still effective, as the reader of the magazine is probably more likely to recognise Plan B from his music videos than they are too recognise his album cover. Additionally, this poster was released months after the album, by which time Plan B was held in a much higher regard within the public eye, so it shows that he is aware of his self evolution.

Finally, the bottom right hand corner of the poster contains a link to his website, which gives the reader a first port of call in order to find out more about the artist and album, rather than leaving them in the blue and having to research it themselves. This means that overall, the poster is hugely effective in terms of creating a new fan base, as it plays excellently on the theme of the album cover and describes the albums success in order to take its audience even further.

Analysis of 2 digipacks

Gorillaz - Demon Days

The digipak for this album is very unique in the way it has been constructed, as it is presented in a folded up piece of cardboard rather than in a conventional CD sleeve. This is likely to be of further interest to CD collectors who weren't previously fans of the band, as they will look to collect this unique album sleeve.

In terms of the graphic design, each of the sides of the digipak shows a different "member" of the virtual band. This is commonly used on the interior of digipaks in order to promote more of a star image for each of the band members, especially if the record label believes they are a band who's attractiveness will help them to promote the record. In addition to this, each of the four unfoldable parts of the digipak represent a quarter of the album cover, as these are the pictures which they are made up from. This also keeps the design of the digipak very uncomplicated, as there is no writing or other imagery, allowing the person looking at it to focus more on the album cover itself.

By using white as the predominant background colour of the inside of the digipak, the album sleeve has connotations of openness. This relates well to the music of the album, as it takes influences from all sorts of genres including hip-hop, indie and dance. The dark blue colour background colour of the album sleeve connotes power and seriousness, so has perhaps been used ironically considering the band is actually a project made up of cartoons.

Rihanna - Talk That Talk

The most immediately striking thing about this digipak is the use of an almost completely black and white colour scheme, with only a tiny bit of red text being used in order to make it stand out amongst the monochrome of the rest of the album. The use of black and white doesn't particularly make the album stand out to potential purchasers, meaning that the record company will have to rely on other promotion such as music videos and magazine adverts in order to promote the album.

In terms of design, the interior of the album and the CD are both designed to reflect the look of a newspaper - this is probably a reference to the name of the album being "Talk That Talk". The "talk" in question could be rumours about the artist which have been published in newspapers, so this design is probably trying to reflect that. It is also well matched, as the CD is the only part which is explicitly clear as being designed like a newspaper than the rest of the digipak, which makes it stand out from the rest.

There are 4 separate images of the artist within the digipak, which shows that a lot of the albums marketing is being based around the 'attractiveness' of Rihanna, as in all four of the parts of the digipak, there is no image other than that of Rihanna herself. This is probably due to the fact that she is young and female, which means that her music is likely to sell a lot better if it is marketed around her face.

By studying these two vastly different digipaks, I have found that it is best to stick to one theme throughout the entire digipak, in the interest of creating continuity throughout it. This continuity will then extend to the magazine advert and music video, in order to create a promotional package which looks like everything has been designed by the same team with the same resources.

What are a digipak and magazine advert, and why are they important?

Digipak

 

An example of a digipak which continues the theme established
by the album artwork.

A digipak is a gatefold style CD/DVD packaging, which were first introduced around the year 2000. By packaging a CD within a digipak, a lot more visual content is able to be included around it than would be available in the usual booklet which is provided with CDs when they are purchased. The content included on a digipak is usually made up of song lyrics, exclusive pictures/graphics which correspond to the album cover, and a space for one or multiple CDs to be stored. While they are slightly dated now, with the majority of music now being purchased online, they are still an important product within the realms of physically released music, as they are often now sold for a higher price than the standard release CD as a special or deluxe edition. It is important to properly research how the best digipaks look before designing the one we will be producing for our coursework, as otherwise we will not have a target to stride towards.

 

Magazine advertisement

 

Magazine advertisements are still incredibly important within the world of music, as they are one of the most prominent non-digital ways of promoting an upcoming tour or album by a band, who are either well established or relatively unknown. Whilst many bands promote largely online, this can only really be targeted to those who are already aware of the band, whereas a magazine advert can open a band up to a whole new audience. If the advert is for an upcoming album, then it will usually contain many of the same features as any other advertisment. These include a picture of the album, its title, the bands name, the release date, the name of one or two successful singles which have already been released from the album, reviews and ratings about the album from well known music publications and newspapers, and information about how the band can be followed on social media such as Facebook and Twitter. In addition to this, the advertisement will almost always follow the same graphical scheme as the album cover and, if relevant, its digipak. Below are some examples of posters advertising albums, and it is clear that they all contain similar features.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cultural Effects Model

The Cultural Effects Model argues that an audience member's ideology is gradually built up over a longer time period from seeing various different media texts. This is why it is often nicknamed the "drip" effect. An example of how it is employed in the mass media is with perceptions of women, as representations of 'beautiful' women are shown to the audience as having similar traits across various media texts, which allegedly builds up an idea within the audience member's minds about what defines a woman as being beautiful. It also suggests that if multiple forms of mass media carry the same message, then the majority of the audience will accept this message as being true, for example the impression given that the working class shouldn't be entitled to the same amount of social security, as expressed through newspapers such as the Daily Mail and Channel 4.  

 

This relates to music videos very prominently, as there are many similar traits across music videos which are employed in order to use this theory. An example of this is the idea that "sex sells" in terms of music videos, which sees stars (usually female) donning as few clothes as possible in a video in order to attract an audience. The audience will soon grow to expect and demand this from music videos, as the cultural effects model will argue that their tolerance will grow from seeing similar images across different media texts. An oft-used example of this is Miley Cyrus' video for "We Can't Stop", in which she is scantily clad throughout the majority of the video. The audience take this message from this video, and then relate it to other videos which also show women who are wearing little, for example Anaconda by Nicki Minaj and Gold by Chet Faker. This embeds the view further in the minds of the audience that women are happy to degrade themselves, as the trend for them to dress like this in videos is likely to keep on going further.

 

 

Lip syncing - what it is and it's importance

Lip syncing is the technical term for pairing visual mouth movements with sung or spoken vocals. Whilst its live application has proved controversial as it allows artists to get away with a completely pre-recorded performance, it is part of the post-production phase which is used in the production of almost all music videos. It can often be the downfall of a live performance, as seen below. However, lip-syncing also adds a great deal when it is used in a music video, for example the music video for Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus.

It is important that we practise lip syncing before filming our actual music video, as it is one of the hardest parts to do. This means that if we are not sufficiently practised in how to perform a lip sync, then our video could end up looking very unprofessional. The best way to achieve a good lip syncing performance is to ensure that the actor within the video knows exactly how the song goes, and knows when to change their intonation etc.

In addition to this, it is advisable to play the song out loud whilst recording the lip syncing, as otherwise the actor will not be able to time their lip movements properly.

Finally, the most important thing about lip syncing is the person doing it has to be doing it realistically - if there is a man doing a women's part, then whilst it may be a source of comedy, it is likely to lower the overall production value of our video.

Analysis of videos within our genre: The XX - Islands

 

The genre which I would say our chosen song fits best into is indie-electro/post-dubstep, so the XX are a very similar artist in this respect. In addition to this, both of them released their debut albums on Young Turks, meaning they would have been given a similar budget and recording space in which to make their albums.

The image in the backdrop of each of the
shots matches the bands album cover and
logo.

In terms of iconography, there is a huge "X" in the background of each of the shots, along with many other smaller X's, which serves as promotion for the album which the song was released on (as it was the album cover of their debut). This works as subliminal advertising, but also shows that the director is establishing the band as stars, as such references to album artwork are seen much more in pop music videos than they are for more left-field music. However, this could also be mocking the repetitive nature of popular music, as the whole video is the exact same repeated sequence, which everybody grows more and more tired of until the point where it is abandoned, in order to connote how one thing is promoted to the masses, and when the masses grow tired of it, a new bandwagon is jumped upon.

 

The most prominent technical code which is used in the video is the single repeated shot throughout it, which is a close up shot of two people kissing, which eventually tracks back until it is an establishing shot which shows the entire scene. This shot is repeated throughout the video, but has been filmed slightly differently each time, with the characters growing more and more tired as it progresses. In addition to this, the band are seen as growing more and more frustrated, which connotes that bands are manipulated by record labels into producing whatever the label wants.

This could have been done by the director in order to connote the repetive and lifeless nature of making a music video, or could have been done in order to make a larger point about how the entire music industry keeps on repeating itself. Another noticeable technical code is how each of the shots have been framed - each of them has been positioned to show band in the dead centre, again making them seem the most important thing happening in the video, and helping to build more star quality for the artists. The use of low-key lighting throughout the video matches the dark and sinister undertones which the song has, and makes the whole video seem a lot more serious than it would do otherwise.

The song fits into many genres, although the video is clearly a video which has been inspired by the indie genre the most. This is because it is very simple, which means it matches the DIY aesthetic which most indie music video directors try to achieve through their work, as it is a way of reflecting the low budget on which the video would have been produced. Another way in which it fits into the indie genre well is the clear references which distant the band from the mainstream music society, as the majority of the video is actively mocking mainstream music. Finally, the overall aesthetic of the video fits well into the genre, as all of the characters are dressed in black in a dark setting, which is commonly associated with indie as it allows the band to "blend-in" to the background to a certain extent, and to let the music speak for itself.

 

The record company, Young Turks, are an independent record label, meaning it would be assumed that the band and director would be given a relatively small budget to make it with. However, the XX had already reached huge success in the UK by this point, so it is likely that they would have been offered a larger budget, although this has clearly been rejected in order to stay true to their independent roots. The record company are also responsible for the distribution of the video, which in this case comes mainly from putting the video on YouTube and then securing a TV deal afterwards, which is the opposite to how a mainstream company are likely to release the video, as they will wish to make as much profit from the video as they can by releasing it on the most profitable platform first.

The audience age wise for this video is likely to be very mixed, as the music is relatively calm with nothing shocking happening, meaning it is likely to appeal to a more mature audience, although it still is marketed to appeal to a younger audience, as the band were only 19 themselves when they released this album. The video is also most likely to appeal to people within the B, C1 and C2 demographics, as it is fairly reflective music which is likely to appeal more to middle class and upper working class audience members more than anybody else.

Finally, the video has strong represents gender as something which should be equal, as there are seemingly equal numbers of men and women within ththe nauseous, and each of the dancers is facing their opposite character. The video also connotes that conformity is something which should be avoided, as it is what causes the destruction of the wet within the video.