Hello

Hello my name is Ruth Bound and welcome to my blog.
Here will be shown each stage to making my music video, digipak and advert.
Thank you, enjoy :)

My Music Video

Here is the link to my final music video
-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbGU0JPv7kI&feature=youtu.be

digipak

Evaluation - Question Four

Here is the answer of question four) How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

I have used the following technologies throughout my media production phase. Including software, hardware and websites.

Video Camera	DSLR camera	Adobe Photoshop
Sony Vegas	Microsoft office	Mobile phone
tripod	keyboard	laptop
mouse
Internet:
http://www.xtranormal.com/	www.facebook.com	www.youtube.com
www.google.com	www.wikipedia.com	http://www.adele.tv/home/
http://jessiejofficial.com/	www.blogger.com

Where the technology was used?

During my research part of my project I used google and Microsoft Office throughout as this is where I could brain storm ideas as well as write down all the information I had gained. This is where I used a lot of the websites such as http://www.adele.tv/home/ and http://jessiejofficial.com/  to find the biographies and know more about similar artists.

After the research part of my project I moved on to the prototypes of my digi-paks this is where some of the software I used came into place. Photoshop helped me to take images from the internet and transform them into CD front covers and adverts, promoting my artist. Shortly after this I went onto my filming of my video, for this I used my Video Camera and tripod for the actual filming of each scene. My mobile phone was also used as I played to song as my artist could sing along to help with the lip syncing. During filming I took my DSLR camera with me, this would allow me to take the images to use on the digi-pak and the advert. 

My next step was to do the editing, cutting and cropping to make all the footage add together and to  create a aesthetically pleasing products. This involves the laptop mouse and keyboard to work Sony Vegas videoing software programme, along with photoshop for the images.

Evaluation - Question Three

Here is the link to the video explaining my answer to question three) What have you learnt from audience feedback?


http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/13306938/media-evaluation-3-audience-feedback

Evaluation - Question Two

This video answers the question two) how effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Evaluation - Question One

Here is the answer to the evaluation question one) In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Contact Sheet For My Final Video

This is my updated contact sheet as I have changed the artist and location due to performance and to re make of my video. These photos are my own photography and I will be using a selection of them when it comes to making my digipak and advert.

Feedback - Video 1

After showing my initial video:

• Good lip syncing with the audio track
• Like the pure performance aspect as it displays the emotion well
• The clothing isn't quite right, as the artist shouldn't be in black as its a song about love
• Performance wise, needs to cut out laughter as artist needs to take it seriously

Advice:

• Re- shoot some scenes where the artist is laughing
• The parts where the camera work is very shaky try and edit out
• For the future, don't let the artist wear black

After I had gained this feedback I could notice what the potential audience were saying and agreed. This made me decide to re do my video as I felt I could do it do a better standard. As I have left my self enough time I will proceed to re film my video

The original video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx5g7NYf1fA&feature=youtu.be

Filming - Take Two - Music Video

After the problems with filming at the train station I went back out to film my music video, I also took a few photos to use in my digi-pak and advert. He
re is my contact sheet. I will now put together the video, editing it all together and then show it to an audience in the target range and gather feedback.

Filming - Re-Think

First Hiccup.

Having gone to the train station to film part of my video I have discovered that I am not allowed to film on the platform without having written permission. I was told this could take months so I decided to re think my anamatic and go in a different direction without using the train station.

Audience Profile

This is an image I've put together to display the type of person that would listen to my music video and like the artist I have created. By creating this image its a quicker and more visual way of getting across who I want my target audience.

The clothing: casual hoodies, shirts and jeans worn simply with ugg boots or plimpsoles. This all adds up to a very casual but appealing look. The type of girl that doesn't try to hard but still would want to look nice. She is happy with how she looks and confident in herself.

The interests: Amy Winehouse, James Morrisons, Desperate Housewives, Take Me Out. These are just some of the music interests and television shows my audience would listen to and watch. They like a unique taste in music not necessarily whats in the charts. She would have her ritual television shows that are watched every series on a weekly basis and the tv shows that are watched on a nice night in just for the sake of it but are actually quite funny.

Out and About: Hobbies, She is the type of girl who boys may be important but not as important as a night out with the girls with cocktails. Going out for dinner to nandos or TGI Fridays, strong social life but she has her feet firmly on the ground.

Anamatic

Here is where I drew a sequence of images (excuse the bad drawing) to plan out the idea of my music video and to give me a better idea of how the final product will look.

Pitch Board - Directors Pitch Part Two

To the left I have a pitch board of my ideas for my music video. These are only my initial ideas and as I go on to create my anamatic of where I will be able to draw out the camera work, the continuity, the mise en scene and the overall look of how its going to go in the real thing during this phase I'm sure i will have more ideas and inspiration on what to do. But I have a very strong start on video creation phase.

To the left I have a pitch board of my ideas for my music video. These are only my ideas and as I go on to create my anamatic of where I will be able to draw out the camera work, the continuity, the mise en scene and the overall look of how its going to go in the real thing during this phase I'm sure i will have more ideas and inspiration on what to do. But I have a very strong start on video creation phase.

To the right there is pitch board to demonstrate more of the location, to give a clearer idea of where I want to be doing my shooting.

My Video Concept - Directors Pitch Part One

The concept of my video:

The video will be simple and meaningful just like the lyrics and other Adele videos where I have got my inspiration from. I will use a lot of close ups and eye contact with the camera, making the audience feel strongly connected with the song with the singer and with the video. I will use a lot of love connotation in the video such as flowers (he loves me he loves me not), red and hearts etc. There will be a strong element of loneliness in this video as there will only be the singer in the video and she will be the focus throughout, there could be a busy mise en scene moving past her but still portraying loneliness. The visuals will link strongly with the lyrics and music for example when the line 'to make you feel my love' something on screen will be repeated each time we hear those words.

Lyric Deconstruction

These lyrics are pretty self explanatory, there aren't many hidden meanings just purely that she is in love with someone and wants to tell them how much she feels for them. It was originally written and sung by Bob Dylan but Adele does it amazingly. The lyrics are just expressing the deep and emotional feelings felt by the singer. The simple lyrics with metaphors and repetition used throughout the song are to show the true emotion which needs to be backed up with a simple music video.

It gives me the impression that she isn't in a relationship with the muse of this piece but if she were 'There is nothing that I wouldn't do, to make you feel my love'

Goodwins theory implies that the lyrics and visuals have a direct link either supporting or contrasting. These lyrics have to be supported by the visuals as it wouldn't work the other way round.

Reflective Analysis Adverts - Part Three

My Own Artist's Advert - Prototype 1

Here are my two demo ideas for my advert, these would both appear on billboards and in magazines for example 'Cosmopolitan' these are both strong ides using text. The album name 'Make Me Feel Your Love' and the artist's name 'Hanna' featuring on both. The adverts are not only there to promote the artist and raise awareness but also marketing of the album to achieve maximum sales possible. Once I have taken my own images I will use them instead of images found of the original artist.

Advert Analysis - Birdy

This advert is very different, this follows strictly the codes and conventions of a typical artist advert. With song titles, artist name and other promotion websites advertised along the bottom. This reflects the type of artist Birdy is and what you can findfrom her album. As a very new artist and a young female singer she is just trying to find her feet in the artist world, fitting in and making something of herself. Her music is easy to listen to and down to earth showed in this advert by the colours, nothing in your face and the positioning of the artist her self. The clear image with pastel colours and overall simplistic look is what the label are promoting. This advert was on social websites such as Facebook. As the target audience for Bidy and Facebook matches its obvious to advertise where the audience will be.
The girly simple font that the text is written in shows the simplicity and girlyness of her voice, the pure talent this would appeal to the audience as they want nothing but the roar talented voice. This advert is showing her innocence with lack of sex appeal or the bright colours, a strong personality trait to connotate in an advert.

Ideas I have taken from this advert:
●simplicity
●song titles
●use of other media platforms to advertise

Advert Analysis - Jessie J

In this advert for Jessie J there is a strong image with lack of text this is quite an unconventional advert. This advert was found on huge billboards that couldn't escape everyone's notice. This image was produced when Jessie J first hit the music scene and 'stomped' into our earphones, the purpose to was to promote her first album. The image screams the attitude Jessie J brings with her music. The lack of text on this advert is unusual as it doesn't necessarily state what it is advertising. The point of the missing text was to just simply raise awareness of her as an artist. And to play with human emotion as the less you know about someone but more you see them, the more likely you are to want to find out about it and want to discover more. This strategy worked very well as everyone now knows who she is.
The actual image is a powerful and strong. The overall comic feel to the image, the background is a dark night time scene in a city with the clouds connotating the villain side of the story line in a comic book. Added with the clothing of Jessie J the tight black revealing clothes with heals suggesting she isn't just a girly girl with the hair and the heals but has a 'badass' side to her personality and music. The focus put to her lower half of her body shows that she wants to be seen as sexy as well suggesting that her music isn't only aimed at females combined with the idea of a comic. Comic books are traditionally targeted at males, the fire cartoon 'WHAM!' effect this really strikes the audiences attention and allowing this image to stick into their mind. This text is a direct reference to Andy Warhol art work this intertexual factor of the advert is like having an inside joke with the audience they would recognise this artwork and take more notice to the advert as a whole.
Ideas I have taken from this advert:
●lack of text
●rebelling from codes and conventions
●photoshoped background
●strong contrast

Biography For My Own Artist - Hanna

I made a facebook profile page for my artist this is where her biography can be found for her fans. This is as she is quite new to the music scene and her target audience and facebook is directly aimed at the same audience. This is where fans can find the latest news and information on the artist including where abouts and new tracks etc.

This image is good to show where the biography will be shown you cant however read the writing, so the biography I have written is copied below.

'There is nothing cliché about me, what you see is what you get' Strong words spoken by our very popular new soloist Hanna. Recently slitting from her band 'Pluto' she goes it alone in the big music industry world. Just like any other artist music has been a strong part of her life ever since she was a teen 'I was forever being told off by teachers for rolling up to school with Amy Winehouse or Etta James blasting out my speakers, but hey I wasn't bothered' Her relaxed attitude is loved by her massive fan base.

Family being a big part of her world, it would come above the fame and fortune any day! Hanna and her mum have a special bond that is inspiring. Due to certain circumstances that happened when Hanna was little but she isn't one to duel on the past. 'I love my mum, she is just like me but older, I'm sworn to secrecy how much older!' Hanna comes from what some people would call 'common' background but this just means she appreciates everything she has and will get out of life. 'I am pretty down to earth, quite happy to get down and dirty' she winks and laughs.

As an artist she had to start somewhere and has worked her way up from the bottom of the pile, with her uncles friend offering her a record deal 'I’m not a fan of taking favours so I wasn’t overly happy but it was an opportunity I couldn’t miss out on. But and this is a big but as soon as he tried to change me, my image, my songs I was out of there quicker than 18 year old to the pub' she laughs. The record company tried to control Hanna and change what she stood for, her look, her personality and her song writing and that was the last straw! After dumping the stupid record company Hanna was soon back to singing on trains with head phones in and music loud. 'I'm not afraid to stand up for myself and no one else should be' Even though she had thought she had thrown away her only route to cheering fans, albums, number 1 single, concerts and all that jazz she stayed positive and continued to write her amazing, moving, breathtaking lyrics. ' I believe in making every situation beneficial!'

In june 2009 Hanna was given a record deal from 'OutLine Records'. 'The best thing that could possibly have happened to me.' They are a great support of her music, her song writing, her independence and her as an overall artist. Hanna then rushed from gig to gig with little time to recover in between. 'It was like a constant hangover but I enjoyed every second' One of the best parts of her career yet was when a fan recognised her in her local Tescos. The idea that someone had recognised her through the power of her voice and asked her to sign a receipt blew her mind! 'I attacked this poor girl with a bear hug, looking back on it now is a little embarrassing but never mind I WAS FAMOUS' she shouts.

Hanna's fan base is still growing as she continues to work her way up the charts and grab the public's attention with the emotional songs written and performed by this gutsy loud beautiful artist. We hope to see a lot more from Hanna! And in her words 'Laters'

Creating My Initial Album Cover - Prototype 1

I have created several different ideas for my album cover, to try different techniques to then further decide what I would like my final album cover to look like.

My first idea is this -

This album cover is based on an image of Adele her self. An idea I got from the album cover analysis of Duffy's cover is the text. I used this technique to re enforce the idea of a personal touch which I think is important for an artist the hand written name with an 'x' to give that extra girlyness showing affection to her fans. The brown of the background i thought would show off the image the best, as well as setting the tone of her songs. The variety of songs the audience will find on this album are an easy listen nothing to loud with a relaxing down to earth feel. The scribble effect I used when creating this album on photoshop is to connotate that nothing permanent. This is a saying that is used by my artist a lot and that is a strong belief On the real copy I will be using my own image that will also be a natural looking image nothing to posed as the fans will recognise she is just being herself.

My second idea -

This is my second idea for my album cover, is this strong paint image with the artist name and album name clear on the cover with a slight red tint. All factors relating straight to my artist, firstly the red tint to the cover applied after the black and white effect is showing how its striped right back but with slight tint of colour. This is connotating the songs on the album how it is resembling the heartache the sole source of the mood of the songs on the album. The paint splatter is creating the look of mess and the artist is underneath the mess. Connotating that the real person is underneath all the mess and splatter. Creating an interesting image and meaning that could intrigue the audience. The text of the album name and the artist name (which will be replaced with my artist name) clear on this image in informative font but a female and freindly font inviting the public to buy the record.

The third idea -

This image is black and white with text layer over the top in colour reading 'Hanna' the artist name even though not too clear compressed on here. The colour is the key message in the cover, the black and while showing simplicity of the artist added with the bright colour effect of the text with her name showing that her voice could bring the brightness needed in to her audience's life. The strong eye contact is crucial in this album as she is making that connection with the audience instantly persuading them to purchase. The simple and plain back ground means that the focus is immediately directed to her name, more memorable. If I wanted to make this my final album cover I would need to improve the coloured letters to make it clearer to read.

I like all these ideas when it comes to creating my final cover I will use an original image of my created artist 'Hanna'

Reflective Analysis Biographies - Part Two

After analysing two biographies, firstly Jessie J and secondly Adele her self it has equipped me with all I need to create a biography for my own artist. Both analysis's outlined different factors that i can include, whether I want a more relaxed personal touch like Adele's or a more informative approach like Jessie J's.

My artist is definitely a bubbly more chatty artist so I feel that taking the more personal informal approach would be appropriate as she is a new artist and needs to therefore establish her fan base. I will also be using the technique like both biographies of both I plan to use a lot of direct quotes from the artist and focusing on the real highlights of her career so far!

As every other successful artist out there, she will need a strong web presence using the most popular facebook, twitter and myspace. When creating my biography I will use one of these sites to base it on with other key information about 'Hanna'

Biography Analysis - Adele

Adele is the artist who's song I will be covering. My created artist is very similar to Adele so I thought it would be appropriate to analysis her biography to help me top create my own.
Adele's biography found on her own fan website is different to Jessie J's with the mode of address even more casual with the effect of a conversation the similarity is the use of quotes throughout the biography.
As I mentioned the mode of address is very different
, the first difference is the tone in which the quotes are written by Adele. They are as if we are in a conversation with her, very relaxed but comes off well to the audience because it makes it feel personal when reading it. This is good as its on the fan page directed directly at the fans this will make them feel more involved. Between each quote there is the description written by someone else which is full of compliments giving us the impression that Adele is an inspiration someone to look up to. Contrasting the tone of the quotes to the description with one serious and the other not so much, 'I’d go round and we’d jam and stuff like that' to 'it wasn’t until 2006 that labels started noticing her talent' this keeps the reader interested.
There is a lot of talk about how she became to where she is now, differently to how the previous biography was done. This comes off In her favour as this engages her fans into her whole life right from the beginning to now. As this whole biography is meant to be conveyed to the audience as inspiring. The life stories are all positiv

e parts and are just the different stages of her career, that have got her to where she is now.
Adele as an artist is represented as an inspiration who doesn't fits the usual stereotype of a 20 year old female singer. She is shown to stand up for herself and not giving up. This is great for her fans to read as with the personal touch it could give each person to achieve there goals whether it a singer or the president.

As most other artist's she too has facebook, twitter and myspace page, allowing virtually instant updates from the amazing artist.

Biography Analysis - Jessie J

Jessie J's biography is found on her official fan page, like other artists its written by someone else packed with quotes from Jessie herself. As a new artist she doesn't have a lot of experience to talk about the music industry, but this doesnt mean she spends the whole biography focused on the past. This is the only place how ever you can find out about Jessie J with her facebook, twitter and myspce pages.
The style of the writing is very much the same as when she performs with slang and very down to earth, for example 'perfect fringe slashed above the eyes' this is describing her hair a big part of jessie j's image. The whole biography homes in on what is current and her image now. The writer just touching on the bad points in Jessie J's career in the past, but overall with a very positive tone throughout. Unlike some biographies where they contain great detail in a back story of how the artist became where they are now focussing on negatives for the sympathy vote, this is just striaght to the point.
The layout consists of lots of small paragraphs this is supporting the idea that its a factual bit of writing, from a young person who is a short and snappy artist wanting to get her story across. This also reflects the audience she is targeting as they are young 15-25 year old women most likely to be fashionable student types. These aren't the type of audience that wants to read a long page of writing they want short paragraphs making it look easy to read.
The layout the mode of address and where the bio was found all reflects the audience as its for directly Jessie J's fans, its not to recruit knew fans and widen her fan base its just a little something for her fans to learn more about there idol.

Reflective Analysis So Far - Part One

I have analysed music videos, and album covers that are similar genre to the artist I will be creating and marketing, this has allowed me to look at the codes and conventions that should appear on my album cover as well as in the music video. I have talked about key points and explained the purpose of each feature. This has opened my mind up to what I should be thinking about doing for my promotional pack.

From Jessie J's simplistic performance/concept video I have taken the idea of simple shots with simple editing to create the emotional feel I want to convey in my own video.

Beyonce's If I Were A Boy, is a strong narrative based video. I love having a twist in the storyline shown in the visuals and the clear relationship between lyrics and visuals relating to the concept from goodwin's theory.

Birdy's concept/performance video is similar to Jessie J's with the code and conventions with editing but creating a completely different feel that I would like the channel into my video. The strong use of mise en scene throughout the video with clear planning made me consider this about my video and start to plan the details.

The album cover research has helped me a great deal, when looking for artist that are similar to my future artist helped me gain knowledge of what is needed on a album cover. Using two quiet different covers let me broaden my initial ides when it came to creating my own. From this task i was aware of each feature that is important when creating my own, the picture, background, text, colour scheme, layout, setting, position in frame and many more.

My next step is to start thinking about the life story of my artist which will therefore help me tune the details in which I can then go on to creating a demo album cover without using my own images but thinking about the techniques or ideas that I want to experiment with. In the next section I will also be looking at artists biographies and how I plan to write my own, thinking about the mode of address, the way I want my artist to be seen etc etc.