Evaluation

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

My partner and I initially chose rock music from Escape the Fate as we both listened to the band and other bands from he same genre. This was helpful because we already had a deep insight on the music the band make. My research including my Star image analysis, Video analysis and artist summary helped me understand the main elements that make a rock music video the way it is. I analysed Numb by Linkin Park and watched I'm not Okay by My Chemical Romance as a secondary video. Both videos were narrative and performance based allowing one or more members from the performance to intervene within the narrative. In Linkin Park the band tell a story using first person as if they are in the protagonists shoes. In Im not Okay by My Chemical Romance, the performers (band) are the protagonists within the narrative also. However, I thought it would be more accurate if we used a female protagonist with the lead singer intervening within the narrative as the song is about Make-up (typically used by females). The song I chose is Make-up by Escape the Fate. I believed that having narrator intervention would be useful as the lyrics use the pronouns 'you' and 'we' whilst talking directly to the protagonist. Unlike, other videos that stick to the rigid border between performance and narrative, we challenged the typical convention by merging the two creating greater meaning to the music video. We put focus on the singer from the band as the vocalist is the most convincing and interacting member of a band who sings the lyrics. This meant there was more emotion attached to the video and having the vocalist within the video emphasized upon this as he played the role of a witness and spectator rather than a distant narrator. Although we challenged a convention as certain rock videos do not consist of narrator intervention, we also stuck to some conventions. For example, we used live performance within our video to remain with the traditional rock music video concept making the audience aware that the genre is rock. The benefit of the conventions and challenging a convention helped the audience familiarize themselves with the protagonist and the lead singer who could also been seen as a secondary protagonist. As rock music is generally aimed at teenagers as they tend to rebel at those stages, our music video was based on high school bullying- a popular problem amongst teenagers. The video encourages viewers to open their eyes to the consequences of bullying encouraging them to avoid it. We felt the lyrics suited the theme of bullying mentioning typical teenage things such as a girls 'dress', 'make-up' etc. Within the Linkin Park video -Numb I saw that the protagonist was also lonely and was undergoing a different indirect form of bullying where she felt pressure to fit in and belonged no where. We decided to take this theme a step further making the bullying direct to have a greater empathetical impact upon the audience. Furthermore, we used typical conventions reinforcing the idea of a rock band by keeping all the performers as males. The four piece band typically consists of lead guitarist, bassist, drummer and lead singer.We focused on aspects of the mise-en-scene so the video reflects its genre. This included the mise-en-scene such as the black outfits, rebellious hairstyles, band t-shirts, boots, converses, wrist bands and the particular use of instruments that make it a particular genre (For example electric guitars). Other aspects such as the lighting, shot type, angle type and lyrics contributed to the genre of the music. For example, the bright spotlight allowed the performance to seem more polished and professional making the band look like rock stars. The performance mainly consisted of long shots to distance the band from the audience allowing them to appear as distant idols/rockstars in a typical band. The fact that we used more shots consisting of the whole band reinforced the idea of them being a band that work together and make music contributing to the genre. Lastly, we also challenged the typical beginning to end structure of a music video as our video was cyclical building suspense at the beginning and ending the video via the same method.

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

I believe that the combination of my main product and ancillary texts is very effective for many reasons. My ancillary texts' design helped promote and advertise my music video. The album name was also the song title Makeup. Therefore, For my main cover I used the image of the protagonist. The protagonist is looking away from the camera and the shot is taken from a high angle making the character appear as vulnerable. The fact that the character looks down suggests that they're being intimidated or bullied. This tied in with the theme of our video on bullying immediately being very effective. The use of runny mascara also helped create an impression of the protagonist being bullied reflecting the music video. Also the black blotches of blood in the background represent the themes of bleeding and suicide at the beginning and end of the video. I believe the hand gesture on the front cover is very effective as it attempts to push people away but ironically attracts more people and encourages them to watch and find out more about the protagonist. I have also, placed the name of the song and artist on the protagonists hand as it is the most eye catching and largest feature of the album cover, allowing me to advertise and promote the video. Also, the protagonists hand is a form of interaction with the audience as she placed it right before the camera, as if she is aware of the audience. This creates a sense of realism amongst the audience making the music video seem convincing. For the back cover of the CD I have used an image of the lead singer. This perfectly matches the music video as the audience are more familiar with him than the rest of the band. Because the story, is personal based on the lead singers first hand experiences I thought it would be best to put the lead singer on the back cover. The lead singer stares right at the camera sitting in a careless manner, reinforcing the image of rock portrayed within the video. The chair he sits on, appears to be royal suggesting that he is a rock star- matching his image within the performance scenes. Within this image, Vinny's facial expressions also portray attitude creating a sense of rebelliousness, which is also visible within the performance scenes of the video via the Mise-en-scene. I edited the image of the lead singer (Vinny) to make it look as if he is glowing giving him a rock star look. (I did this via Adobe Photoshop). Moreover, the inner page of my Digipak is mainly of an image without other additional details. This is so the audience are able to focus clearly on the image. The image is of the protagonist leaning against a cracked mirror, appearing different from her reflection. This links in with the theme of image orientation within the video as the reflection represents someone she aspires to be- flawless. The cracked mirror represents the harshness of reality portrayed in the video and reminding both us and the protagonist about the unreal image one desires to have. The use of the mirror for my Digipak was effective because the protagonist is often seen in front of a mirror within the video and this linked with the video. I also used a line from the lyrics 'Found that you are lost again' as it is part of the chorus and is therefore often repeated. I believe the line had significance as the video is based on not belonging anywhere. Lastly, I decided to leave the CD compartment + CD more simple looking with animation blood rather than an image. The CD directly represents Emo subculture with the use of blood. This links in with my video due to the suicidal theme. If i could improve my Digipak I would add text on my CD so even if it was without the case, the target market would be aware of the contents within it.

Additionally, my magazine advert was also, something that combined well with my music video. This was because the protagonist was visible on the advert with sad facial expressions reinforcing the video's negative themes. The black and white hues of my magazine advert allows my target market to believe that the protagonist is from the past and may no longer exist. The fact that the protagonist is standing under a tunnel with light at the side metaphorically suggests that theres a light in the tunnel. However, withing the video, from the beginning we are aware that the ending will be negative. My magazine advert encourages the audience to feel that theres hope for the protagonist, so they are encouraged to watch the video. Through out my ancillary texts the font style I used from www.dafont.com remained consistent. This helped my ancillary texts flow. The images of my ancillary texts helped my video link in with them very well.

Evaluation continued

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Feedback for First draft

Firstly, for our first draft my partner made a survey via survey monkey asking members of the target market about their opinions. (See survey after first draft of video).One of the most important comments someone made was on the initial bathroom scene where the protagonist writes on the bathroom mirror with lipstick. Many members of the audience were unaware of what she was writing and needed us to clearly show it. We made this improvement by slowing the scene down. Another important comment was on the locker scene...'the locker scene looks a bit dodgey so fix it up'. After receiving these comments my partner and I revisited our video and made changes if we felt they were necessary. The locker scene was a combination of two clips with a seconds pause in between. We changed this by cutting out 0.8 seconds of that clip.

Feedback for Final draft

1.) Feedback via Video

I asked an unsigned American Hip hop musician that makes You tube commentaries to give his opinion on our music video. I am aware that his views on our final piece differed to the views of other commentators. This may be because he did not fill the criteria of our target audience as he is 30 years old and a Hip hop musician. I did not acknowledge the commentators video as he did not fit the criteria of my Target Market and his response for my final draft was an anomalous result.

2.) More Feedback via Video

I asked a member of my target audience (an 18 year old girl that listens to rock) to give me feedback for my video. The main thing she pointed out was the fact that the drums were not in sync with the music. If I was to do the video again I would play the music whilst filming in order to get the drums in sync with the music

3.) You tube feedback (comments)

We also recieved some Youtube comments and all four comments were positive. This meant that after making our changes members of our target market preferred our final draft to the first.

4.) Feed back via Facebook (comments)

Social networking sites such as Facebook were very helpful when receiving comments. The person above mentions that our band shots were unenthusiastic and there were a lack of multi angular shots. Although we deliberately stuck to long shots, during the day we filmed our camera battery died so we made do with the shots we had. We did not have time to improve the performance shots as one of the lead singer was abroad. Therefore, we used editing on I movie as well as effects such as black outs and contrast changes to make the performance visually interesting. If I could film the performance scene again, I would make sure the band practiced numerous times before hand without reading lyrics off paper, and also would've booked the dance studio for a longer period of time. I would also come with a prepared emergency camera because with a low camera battery, we had to keep the camera plugged in. This meant we couldn't make use of equipment such as the dolly.

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

Construction: For the construction stage I used different types of technology including software and hardware. The hardware included the Camcorder, Microphone+ Amplifier, Electric guitars. For my music video I used the camcorder to film the events within the video. This was simple to use and the clips were visible whilst we were filming on the screen. We used other equipment such as the dolly, tripod and steady cam to accompany the cam corder. The tripod allowed us to use the camcorder in a steady manner, where we were able to adjust the heights of the shot including angles. The dolly allowed us to circulate round, or take shots from behinds something as it was easy to move. The steady cam allowed us to take steady shots while having the camera hand held preferably for closeup shots going around someone. We also used other devices such as the microphone and Electric guitar so the band could play the instruments whilst performing to make timing easier. (Besides the drummer). The amplifier was used to amplify the sound of both the Mic and guitars & adjust volume. For our music video we also used software such as Imovie to edit the clips and add effects. Lastly we used sites such as YouTube; to upload the video, blogger to present our video and Facebook to receive feedback for our video.

During the design process of my work (ancillary texts) I mainly used a digital camera to take images of the band and protagonist. I didn't need to use a mode on the camera as I was able to aid the hardware i used with software such as Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop enabled me to edit pictures giving them a professional look. I used tools such as cropping tools, slicing tools, cloning tools, shadowing, darkening and also used the filter tab in order to change the hues, colours or saturation of an object. This was helpful because I wouldn't have to put makeup on the model before taking the image as i could simply do it via Photoshop.

Research: During the research stage I mainly used software although I did use one hardware device. I found a scanner to be more accurate and convenient, when it came to capturing Digipak research images over a digital camera. I used software such as search engines (Google) and other websites to gain information on the artist. I also used you tube videos to watch videos that i could analyse as well as paint to print screen clips from my video. Again I used blogger to upload my research.

Planning: I used a digital camera to plan my work when it came to taking images of locations. For my story board i used a camcorder to film the clips, i movie to edit them and YouTube to post my story board. This was a brief task which enabled me to visualize my story board as if it was a video due to YouTube. It also helped me familiarize myself with the tools within I movie making it easy when it came to editing my actual video. Otherwise, i mainly used software. I used MS word to annotate and highlight the lyrics of my music video. I also used electronic mail to get permission to use the music for my video as well as for booking the dance studio. When it came to artist research I used the internet to access the artists biography from their website and screen dumps of YouTube videos for my star image analysis.

Evaluation: For my evaluation I used the internet to confirm the names of key terms for my coursework. I also wrote it out on MS word before uploading it on blogger. Overall, I feel that the internet including YouTube & Blogger have played a huge roll and have contributed greatly towards my coursework. If I could do my evaluation again, I would film so, each time id reference my coursework and certain aspects of it id be able to put the images up for show directly whilst speaking.

Final Magazine Advert

Rather than using the previous image I prefer the image above for many reasons. Firstly, the mid-shot allows my target audience to meet protagonist but doesn't allow them to familiarize themselves with the protagonist, encouraging them to purchase the CD and watch the video. Secondly the use of Black and white hues suggests the protagonist is from the past and allows the audience to consider where she may be. Additionally, I have changed the font from rigid formal font to font that is more curlier and wavier. This is because it represents the informality of the music giving it a Gothic touch. I have added logos of HMV, Target and Itunes as they are memorable and Ive also put the date on the advert so people begin purchasing it, as soon as it is released. I think the image used above, matches the theme of bullying as the protagonist isn't making eye contact with the viewers. The target market are encouraged to find out why the protagonist has negative facial expressions. Lastly, I have enlarged the title of the album and song as Escape the Fate is an established band. The advert isn't an introductory advert and is a song promoting advert. Therefore, I think the target market should already know that the song belongs to Escape the Fate by looking at the trademark font.

Final Digipak

Bottom right : Firstly, I have improved the cover of my Digipak in many ways. I believe this image is more suitable than the previous one as the protagonists hand gesture suggests she is defending herself from something. The fact that her hand is pressing against the lenses creates mild voyeurism as we feel we are watching her. I have used black and white font and blotches of fake blood stains to foreshadow that something negative may happen to her. This also reinforces the genre of the band. I have kept the importance text on the protagonists hand as if she is advertising the band and the song. The title of the song is larger than the band name because I feel the established band does not need to be very visible as fans will already be able to tell due to the style of the Digipak.

Bottom Left: I believe I have made major improvements to my first draft of the back cover. Firstly, the mid-shot image I have used allows the audience to familiarize themselves with the lead singer rather than the entire band as the lead singer has an important role within the narrative as well as the performance giving the Digipak and music a personal feel. Moreover, the lead singer is staring directly at the camera whilst rebelliously posing. This gives the us a laid back rebellious impression of the band and the lead singer seems confident, contrasting the protagonist of the video. Rather than having the track list at the bottom I prefer it to one side because it is clearer and more eye catching against a dark matte background. I have put up the Epitaph record label logo, the website of the band, as well as production and mixing details. This helps promote the producers, mixers, the label and the band itself. Lastly, I have put an Escape the Fate banner above the lead singers head to reinforce and remind the target audience of the bands name. I have used the same font through out my Digipak and for my magazine as it will be the bands trademark font and will enable the Digipak theme to flow.

Top Right: Via Photoshop, I have been able to merge an image of cracked glass with the perfect looking half of the protagonists reflection. This indicates that perfection of image is something she aspires to have but is unable to. I have edited the imperfect looking half of the image emphasizing on the smudged makeup, heavy eye bags and dry lips. This allows the audience to compare both the reflection against reality already indicating that the music video may be about the dilemma of image orientation. I also put a line from the lyrics underneath the image as it seemed to fit perfectly as a caption for the image. I prefer the improved version compared to my first draft as the image tells more of a story.

Top Left: The image above is of the CD + compartment and I have only changed the background blotches of blood from Red to grey. This separates the background from the CD and the colour red is more attractive therefore, directly draws attention to the CD unlike my first draft, which consisted of too much red, making it uneasy for the human eye to visualize.

Magazine Advert Draft

I believe the magazine advert image has been edited well. However, it does not fulfill the purpose of an advertisement for a music video. Although the image gives one a gloomy feeling, associated with certain genres within rock, rather than looking like the victim the protagonist comes across as intimidating. The colour purple suits the genre however, adds a sense of unrealism to the poster indicating that the poster may be a horror film poster (misleading).

I have mentioned where the track is available, but rather than writing out the names of each place I will directly use the logos that represent each company. This is better because logos are short symbols that are more memorable and universal, and therefore can be read by many. So, even if my target market are unable to read English they will still easily be able to access the music as they may recognize the logos. I will change the font for my magazine advert as it doesn't reflect the genre of the music it promotes well. I will also have to put a release date so, the audience can start purchasing the music as soon as it is released.

Digipak Draft

I feel that my Digipak front has a suitable image as it has been edited well via Photoshop. The original picture I took was more naturalistic however, here I have made changes with the contrast and brightness as well as adding drastic artistic make-up on Kim to make her look like a doll or an abstract image.

However, I feel that there is plenty of room for improvements.

I will improve the front of my Digipak in many ways;

1. The photo quality should be better as it looks rough
2. The band name should use a unique font that may be their trademark font so the target audience recognise them easily
3. The title is directly underneath and is too dark against the background
4. Both fonts look unprofessional as they are just plain white or red consisting of simple formal text. This is unaesthetic as the band and genre should be associated with a more exciting font style and format.
5. The parental advisory logo is disproportionate against the size of the cover

My CD design suits my target audience and the theme of the song however I need to improve many aspects;

1. Firstly, I will change the background from the CD image as both designs blend in

making it uninteresting for my target market.

2. Furthermore, I will improve my font for my Digipak and magazine advert as it does not reflect my genre or artist well.

3. Lastly I will arrange the text differently on the CD with varied sizes to place

importance upon some information.

The other side (back) of my Digipak should consist of tracks, according to my research.

However, The improvements I would like to make are many;

1. I must change the image as the quality isn't clear enough and because the track is based on the lead singers experiences and is personal I believe I should take an image based on a one-shot.

2. Although, the font is clear to read, i believe it should be one that represents that band or the genre.

3. Other than the bar code, I need to add the record label, website, and CD production information.

This is a mid page within my Digipak with a simple image giving the viewer more information on and a greater insight on the music video.

1. Although, this is well edited and grey hues represent the past, i believe I can provide a more meaningful picture within the Digipak with more advanced editing.

2. Furthermore, the font used above is clear to read but does not reflect the genre of music.

3. Because this page consists of just an image and simple text, I will need a more interesting image so it can speak for the music it promotes.

Developed Digipak/Magazine advert Images

Digipak/Magazine Advert Images

Original images for Digipak and magazine advert

Still shots from music video

Shots from Digital camera

Analysis of Digipak 2 - Three cheers for sweet revenge by My Chemical Romance

The Digipak I am currently analysing is Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge by artist My Chemical Romance. The band are Alternative Rock artists and this is made clear through their Digipak. The band name My Chemical Romance connotes ones addiction to drugs and romance. The use of the word 'my' adds a personal touch to the band allowing us to have a personal relationship with the band. This already invites a particular target audience such as rebels. By looking at the band name, we are immediately able to recognise that it is a band rather than a solo artist. The album name generates ideas associated with moral evil and corrupt human nature. From this, I can gather that the content of the album will based on the themes connoted from the album name. From both Digipak analysis' Ive learnt that albums that belong to the rock genre are usually named after strange & mysterious themes keeping most people from comprehending the content. The dark themes that root from the band name and album name are reflected and reinforced via the aesthetic appearance of the Digipak.

Rather than focusing on the bands personal image, the Digipak artist chooses to focus on an animation as the central dominant image, indicating that the album is based on stories that may have a distant unrealistic story behind them. The animation is a closeup of a couple with jet black hair, pale faces and blood on their faces. The jet black hair, pale faces and blood could link in with the Emo-subculture again inviting a certain group of people. The rough black background reinforces darkness, emptiness and hopelessness. As an audience we have a distant relationship with the band. The band member images are present at the back of the album booklet as well as cover. The album booklet consists of individual boxes per band member and the lead singer is at the centre. The fact that every band member is wearing black could indicate that they are mourning or trying to blend in with the background representing emoes. Lastly, the back cover of the album consists of a full image of the band with a white background. The white background represents peace, and innocence and the black outfits contrast this suggesting there is a lack of innocence within the album. The midshot of the band is at a normal angle, creating a sense of distance and the band members are posing with their legs apart whilst staring at the camera. This indicates a sense of unmoving firmness possibly representing character types of the band.

The album's over all appearance is mainly dependent on the colour scheme of the digipak. The digipak is mainly, black, white and red. Again the the three colour, colour scheme highlights and attracts an older target audience (14+) particularly, members of the emo subculture as these colours are mainly work by them, and will therefore appeal to them. The cd compartment is in the form of a comic book strip again reflecting the comical dramatic theme of the album. Towards the back of the booklet the sentence 'A story of a man, a woman and the corpses of a thousand evil men' also, reinforces the mythical theme of the album.

Here, i've noticed that the font of the band name is different to the other font on Digipak with other details. The bands name is written in a mixture of capital and lower case letters in white font. Each letter is of a different size giving it a rough informal look. The fact that the band are represented with informal font reflects and represents the band on the whole and attracts a similar target audience. The use of the bold white font for the front of the Digipak allows the bands name to stand out, as it is the largest form of the font on the page. This suggests that the bands name is the best method to draw attention and promote their music. On the CD, the band name is in red with a red dagger icon near it. The red name+ logo stands against the white background keeping the CD simple and easy to spot but also simply conveying the message related to blood, death and evil. The rest of the font is formal but not as eye catching as it is just about clear to read. This again indicates that the Digipak is dependent on the band name rather than the album name like most Digipaks and the font representing the band also indicates the genre of their music.

The CD is produced by engineer and producer Howard Benson. This appeals to the audience because Benson has produced music for other rock bands previously. This could attract fans of those bands and My Chemical Romance fans may be interested in other music produced by Benson. The band is part of Reprise records, founded by Frank Sinatra. This suggests that the record label isn't only one that signs rock musicians but a mixture, as it was founded by a Jazz singer. This may also encourage other fans that may listen to musicians signed to Reprise records, to listen to My Chemical Romance.

The band image is reinforced through the aesthetics including colour scheme, images, font style and also, the content of the text. These aspects attract a particular target audience 15-20-mainly teenagers. The comical look to the CD may invite comic book fans as well as alternative rock fans. The Digipak artist has insured that the parental advisory logo is visible at the front of the Digipak and the bar code is visible at the back. This clearly highlights the fact that there is be explicit content and violent references.

Analysis of Digipak - Fallen by Evanescence

The digipak I am currently analysing is the Evanescence album; Fallen. The band name ‘Evanescence’ means to disappear already indicating that the genre is associated with darkness. The bands create alternative rock music and their digipak reflects this.

Through the images the artists are represented as cold and distant although the dominant image of the lead singer on the front cover is a close-up. Although, the lead singer is staring right at the audience through the image, there is a sense of isolation. This is presented through the tinted hues of Icy blue. This is consistent throughout the digipak maintaining this theme that reinforces the genre. Furthermore, the lead singer dominates the main front cover of the album indicating that she is most important. However, we are still aware that it is a band as the name of the band is not the name of a person (something bands often do not keep). The artists Jet black hair reinforce the Emo/Gothic subculture as well as other aspects of the mise-en-scene such as her dark shade of lipstick, rough braided hairstyle, eyebrow piercings and heavy dark eye makeup. Also, the artist’s facial expression is stern and this also adds a tone of seriousness to their digipak reflecting their music style. The close-up shot allows us to familiarise ourselves with the artist but also feel intimidated. Additionally, the back of the digipak consists of the remaining members of the band drawing attention away from them in many different ways. Firstly the fact that the artists are at the back of the album suggests that they do not represent the band on the whole but contribute to the music they produce. Secondly, the fact that all three members are looking down and the image is taken at a mid-shot from a high angle, does not allow us to develop a personal relationship or be intimidated by them. In fact this allows us to feel like we have power over them as they seem vulnerable. One of the band members hand is closely pressed against the lenses suggesting he is trying to draw attention away from the band. Lastly, this image is blurry unlike the album front cover that uses a sharp defined focus. This also enables us to place importance to the lead singer that represents the band. In contrast to this, the inner pages of the digipak allow us to visualise the band together although, the lead singer is at the front. This reinforces the fact that they are a band that work together however, as expected the lead singer is typically selling image of the band. The fact that the band are in a blue room which is blurry and plain, allows us to focus on the band creating a sense of isolation as they are the only things we can focus on within a dull setting.

The album name is Fallen. This connotes down fall or could also relate to the concept of Satan being a fallen angel. The fact that the band already use religious elements within their lyrics ties in with the album name. Fallen represents negativity and imperfection within us as humans and the cold band image reinforces this. The font used is formal with straight edges making the album and band name clear to read however the band name is in bold as it is more important and therefore should be eye catching. The font however, has a personal touch to it, with sharp point curves near the edge representing thorns or a knife edge giving the band a rough edge. The use of white font enables it to stand out as well as connote angelic attributes such as purity, linking in with the idea of a fallen angel consequently subverting the stereotype.

The CD is co-produced by Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody and Ugly Kid Joe guitarist Dave Fortman. This enables the band to gain a wider audience as Ugly Kid Joe fans may be interested in listening to the album as well as current Evanescence fans.The band are signed to Wind-up records and this is visible in small print on the CD. Not only does this promote the record company but vice versa. The fact that wind up records promotes different sub genres within rock, having the record company name on the CD helps invite fans of other bands signed to the record label. This invites a larger group of fans. Also, the same way, an Evanescence fan may introduced to similar music from the same label as the band also helps promote the record label.

The band image is reinforced through the mise-en-scene, colour scheme, artist & album name. These aspects also attract a specific target audience; those who listen to rock music/belong with the emo/gothic subculture (usually teenagers from 14 to adults up to 38). The CD cover appeals to the target audience as it sticks to the basic colour combination of white, blue and grey making it suitable for and older target market (above 13). Also, the rough edged font suggests rebelliousness inviting teenagers. Lastly, the appearance of the lead singer invites people with similar appearances (often those who belong in the same sub-culture).

The plain black CD with a small logo representing the band allows us to place importance on the Digipak when it comes to observation and appearance. The Digipak artist has made sure that the bar code is at the back of the Digipak

Analysis of music advert 2

The music poster above is advertising musician Gwen Stefani’s album; ‘Love. Angel. Music. Baby’. By looking at advert we can immediately assume that she is a pop or pop rock artist. This is because of different aspects of the mise-en-scene including her appearance, font style and the colours used on the poster. As well as the central image, the album name suggests the different themes that the album will consist of.

The central image of the magazine advert is Gwen Stefani. The artist herself represents her music and we can assume her music is based on herself. The artist seems to be sitting on her throne and leaning in a relaxed manner. This could suggest that she has the position of a queen and connotes power and wealth. Furthermore, the crown leaning against her right shoulder and the jewelled staff on her left symbolises power, wealth and glamour. This reinforces her femininity as a musician and represents every female’s desire for glamour and beauty. The artist’s appearance also reinforces this factor as she looks polished and perfect. Her short and curly platinum blonde hair gives her a British queen like look. Her smooth complexion suggests perfection and her red lipstick could be seen as seductive as well as the position in which she is seated. Her white gown could connote purity and innocence which could contrast with her red lipstick. The background consists of various shades of gold and red which are rich and luxurious colours. The fact that the back ground is blurry makes the image look fanciful as if having this status is an illusion or a desire for the audience. The image of the artist is defined and clear however, the edges blend in with the blurry background creating a contrast amongst reality and fantasy.

The golden Victorian font blends in well with the adverts’ theme giving the artist a queen like position. The largest text on the advert is the artist's name. This is so the audience draw their attention immedietly towards the artist. The font is clear to read in lower case letters but has curly designs around the outline of each letter to make it look royal. Gwen Stefani was already an established musician when this album was being advertised and released. released. Therefore, using the artists name as the main heading of the advert will attract fans of the artist. The second largest text on the font is the album name to give the audience a clear implication of what the poster is aiming to advertise. Other details such as songs included are also stated as the audience may be familiar with particular popular songs that belong to the artist. The advert also states the artist's Gwen Stefani works with including Dr Dre and Eve. Both Dr Dre and Eve belong to Hiphop & Rap (different to the genre Gwen Stefani belongs to). This helps attract a wider target audience as Eve and Dr Dre fans will be encouraged to listen and possibly purchase the album. Information such as the website, album availability date, and who the album is produced by are all ways of promoting the album and encouraging the audience to buy it. The 'Target' brand mark is visible as it is the brand where the album will be available.

The album name; 'Love.Angel.Music.Baby' could be four different themes that the album may cover. The words 'love' & 'baby' both signify aspects of a relationship and Gwen Stefani's seductive look matches this. The word 'Angel' could also add to the fantasy based theme of unrealism. The advert is both a mixture of reality, modern day glamour and old fashioned fantasy.

On the bottom left of the advert the music album cover is fully visible and it is a zoomed out version of the advert. We are able to see that our expectations of the albums theme drift from being more power based to sexual. The full view of the central image allows us to view the artist is a sexual icon as her legs are open and she wears denim hotpants with transparent tights. The red lipstick works well with this and we are able to see her from a different perspective as a more seductive artist. This changes our ideas of the songs that the album will consist of from not just power based but the power of femininity aswell as a female's desire for glamour and wealth.
The album cover uses a long shot of the artist, creating distance between the audience and the artist and the advert uses a zoomed in image to make the relationship more personal therefore, promoting the album. The two Japanese girls on each side of the artist reinforce her image as royalty aswell as the artists passion towards 'Harajuku fashion'- something that many Gwen Stefani fans are already aware of.
Lastly, the advert uses a golden thin border matching the font, which addes to the fantasy based image as if it is a portrait with a frame rather than a realistic image.

Analysis of advert

The music advert above portrays the musician ‘Wretch 32’. Already we can estimate the type of artist he is by looking at the definition of his stage name. ‘Wretch’ means someone that is miserable, unhappy or despicable. It is easier for us to understand what type of genre he belongs to if either of these definitions is applied to him.

The central image of the magazine advert is ‘Wretch 32’. Therefore, the artist himself represents his music and we can assume that his music is personal and could possibly be based on his experiences. The fact that the artist is alone could also suggest that he contributes to every aspect of his music from producing to rapping as he was an unsigned artist when his ‘Wretchropsective’ mix tape was released. Therefore, his image represents his independence as an artist.

Furthermore, the mise-en-scene reflects the album content and the artist's style as well as personality. The artist seems relaxed as his hands are resting by his side near his pockets. His simple casual clothing including denim jeans and a white t-shirt could represent his lifestyle and reflect who he is as a person; laid back, relaxed, simple. The crucifix chain on his left hanging off his jeans represents his faith which could suggest that his faith and moral values may affect the content of his music. However, this is controversial as crucifix ornaments are associated with image today within urban music regardless of the artist’s faith - (fashion statement). The animated black ink spurting out of the artist’s neck contrasts against his white t-shirt. White represents cleanliness, purity and peace. The animated black connotes artificiality as well as impurity potentially threatening the artist foreshadowing the growth of negativity within the content of his music. The fact that the artist is gazing towards his right hand side shows his lack of interest towards the mass media. He seems to be focusing on something else, we as the audience are unable to see which builds up our curiosity and makes us wonder about what it is he is gazing it. We are therefore, encouraged to purchase Wretch 32’s album so we may be able to learn of what it is that he sees from his perspective. This ties in with the album name ‘Wretchrospective’ which is a word combining the artist’s name and the word prospective suggesting that the Album is on something from the perspective of Wretch 32. The central image of Wretch looking at something from his prospective reinforces the album name. The artist's face is focused as if he is focusing on something towards his right and we as the audience are curious about what it is hes looking at from his perspective. The medium shot allows us to become comfortable with the artist almost as if we are getting to know him. This helps develop a relationship that is close to becoming a personal relationship harmonising with the fact that it is a music album cover so we are encouraged to know the artist properly by listening to his music.

The use of the urban graffiti based background visually informs the audience on the genre of Wretch 32’s music; Grime. In many grime videos, the use of graffiti is evident therefore; having graffiti on the album cover suggests Wretch 32 is a Grime artist. In addition to this, the use of animated buildings with ink bleeding from them could represent the corruption of urbanisation and how it’s taking over an individual such as Wretch 32 himself. The fact that the black ink is spreading over the artist’s body suggests that he is undergoing change. The black ink suggests that the artist is bleeding black animated blood adding to the unrealism of the album and his life. The idea of darkness taking over him could suggest he has a dark side he hides or he has undergone many negative events. The use of line paper usually signifies a scrap book, diary or a young student’s notebook which is often personal suggesting that Wretch 32 is revealing personal events via his music. The lined paper bottom could also suggest that the contents of his mix tape are fictional, as paper could be used to note a series of unrealistic events. The fact that the background is animated suggests that the album may consist of fictional course of events or the artists life may seem like a cartoon; unrealistic. The black bird in the background subverses the stereotypes and connotations of peace and freedom attatched to a white dove. The use of black suggests that negativity has overpowered peace and freedom.

The formal font used for the album name and details on the album is White. This is so it stands out against the black background representing black ink. The use of capital letters makes the font look formal and clear to read contrasting against the background images. The first half of the Album name ‘WRETCH’ is in bold and the ‘ROSPECTIVE’ isn’t. This enables the audience to pay more attention to the first half of the album name as it is the artist’s name and a separate word. The artist’s name ‘Wretch 32’ sits well with the background picture making it look as if it’s part of the background graffiti. Rather than a formal name standing out against the background the artists name looks like his signature as it is going across diagonally and is informal. The overall font is not as powerful as the background & central image suggesting that the artist’s fan base will be able to pay attention to the magazine via the power of the images rather than text. The sizes of the text vary depending on the relevance of the information. For example, the album name is one of the largest forms of text on the advert drawing more attention to it so the audience are able to remember the album name over everything else.

The colour scheme consists of eyecatching colours that draw the attention towards the advert.
The most popular colour is blue. Blue represents masculinity and reinforces the fact that the artist is a male. Black represents negativity and white represents positiviy. This contrasts with the positive colours such as blue and white implying that the album reflects on the artist’s personal life which may consist of both negativity and positivity. The colours black and white oppose each other and create a contrast.

The genre the artist belongs to and the genre of the artist himself are both evident via the advert. The fact that the artist is black could imply that the music is most likely hip-hop, RnB or Grime. This is because of the stereotypes attached to black musicians as many black musicians are often excelling within the Grime, Hip-hop & RnB industry. So, it is more likely for a black musician to be associated with those genres as it is expected. As well as the background graffiti image, and the musician himself, the Artist’s name also contributes to the genre enabling the audience to forecast what genre the album will be without listening to a track on the album. ‘Wretch 32’ consists of a number and the word Wretch which means despicable. It is obvious that this isn’t his real name and is his tag name or street name. These names are often used within the Hip-hop, RnB or Grime music by artists suggesting that the artist belongs to one of these genres.

• On the left hand corner the album cover itself is visible so the target audience know what they should be looking for when they are going to purchase the album. The album cover is almost identical to the advert reinforcing the image within

• Furthermore, the advert consists of a list of featuring artists such as 'Ghetto' and 'Chipmunk' who are popular artists mainly within the 'Grime scene'. This helps promote Wretch 32's music as it may attract fans of other artists aswell as increase his level of popularity.The advert also consists of other promotion methods including logos of shops where the album is available such as HMV, UKrecordshop and 7Digital. The artist's myspace site is also available so fans or new listeners are able to access his music. Lastly, the release date is also available on the advert so, the target audience remember when they will be able to access the album.

Final Draft: Make-up by Escape the Fate

Survey results analysis

Overall the results from my survey for our draft video were generally positive and supportive; however we did receive some criticism which we are willing to act upon as improvements to our music video for the final draft.

The main concern from our results were the result from the question ‘What do you think more of should be included in the final draft of the music video?’ This is where the results were tied between the options of band shots and bullying shots with both 41.2%. After watching the video I fully understand there statements as I also believe there a lack of these shots. Here I am willing to make these improvements in my final draft of the music video.
100% of the audience answered yes that the music video was well suited to the genre. Alongside this was the positive result with 88.9% supporting that the music and visuals were linked together well. This is very important as the video has to clear in what it represents in the modern day.

94.4% of the audience felt that the performing/acting was realistic. This is important as music video’s have to show a level of professional and believable portray able characters. Also it supports that I am a good casting director.

In the final question the survey asked people generally overall responses which were majority positive however some did offer some advice on how to improve my music video. For example ‘the locker shot, when it slams shut looks a bit dodgy so fix it upother than that loved it’. I can fully understand this as I have also noticed that the section which the locker is slammed shot needs to be improved as firstly the sound has not been taken out and secondly the cut from the shot to the next shot is not smooth enough. Overall I am willing to make changes to make my music video professional and accurate.

By Archie Leigh

Survey results

Archie produced a survey, via 'Survey Monkey' to find out what worked well and what didn't for our target audience. He put the link up on his page so our target audience could access the survey and respond to it. Below are the results

Here I have included the responses that we feel are relevant to the development of our final music video

By Archie Leigh