FINAL POST

THIS BLOG IS NOW CLOSED.

Just a little goodbye

Here is our last vlog and picture as group after being together for the past two years. They have been great, enjoy! :)

...... and little extra for entertainment

EVALUATION QUESTION 4

Here is my prezi to evaluation question 4:

EVALUATION QUESTION 3

Here is my iMovie video to evaluation question 3:

EVALUATION QUESTION 2

Here is a prezi on evaluation question 2:

EVALUATION QUESTION 1

Here is a prezi on question 1 of the evaluation:

Audience Feedback

Here is the audience feedback on our music video which we managed to get during our showcase:

We then went on to create an online survey via: survey monkey to allow i wider range of feedback. This is targeted at our target audience too as we posted the link on face book: which is a large networking site used by a lot of people. This allowed us to see the real opinions of people as it was anonymous giving us various feedback. Click the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-63QLVKS/

Evaluation Questions

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

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

3.  What have you learn't from your audience feedback?

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

Epilepsy Warning

 When uploading our final video onto youtube we decided to put on an epilepsy warning for anyone with light sensitive eyes a=who may go into a fit after or during their viewing of the video. Our video contains a lot of flashing images and strobe lights especially in the bedroom scenes and the montage of clips at the end of the clip. 

Here is our warning on the youtube clip to warn others that if they have epilepsy they may not have to watch this. It gives them a warning so if they do have a reaction to the video then they have been pre warned.

Here is a screenshot of Kanye West who has put up a warning on one of his songs saying it could cause an epileptic fit if you have light sensitive eyes.

Magazine Advert

I have now completed my magazine advert. I feel this accompanies the music video and digipak extremely well. It is promoting the album not giving too much detail so the audience can identify the main information for when the album is released. The main image is used in both the music video and features on the album so interlinks each feature. Here it is:

Here is the magazine article I created using pic monkey (an editing software). The biggest writing is of the band name so people can identify what the poster is about. I then included the album name directly under this so they are aware it is an album that is being promoted an the name of it so the audience and fans are able to look for 'Reckless' the latest album from the band genetics. Then I included the release date in a lower shade to defer from the album name and band name - I also outline it is available online and in stores as many people don't like hard copies of CD;s anymore as they can use newer technology like downloading from iTunes onto their iPod.Moreover at the bottom of the poster stating the bands website and the production company so if the audience or fans wanted they could look for further information on the band. The last detail I added was the rating of the album from both music magazines 'Q' and 'NME' giving high ratings as a promotional tool too boost sales as people could be convinced to buy the music. It follows quite a dull theme as it is mysterious with the tree as the predominant picture as it is reoccurring throughout the band like the album cover and music video. I do feel it is quite an effective poster as it is bold and states the relevant information moreover looks quite aesthetically pleasing. 

Magasine Advert Examples

For the second part of the ancillary task we have been advised to create a magazine advert which coincides with the music video further more promoting the album. I have been looking at familiar artists and how they have used there magazine advert to promote a record or album. The first artist i looked at at was the Kings of Lean advert:

This is the 'Kings of Leon' album 'Only by the night'. Under the name of the album indicates there top songs including "sex on fire", "crawl" and "use somebody" which is very effective as they are very well known and would convince people to buy the hit album. Another item indicated on the advert is the release date of the album which in their case is 'Out Now'. I feel this advert is very simple but effective as it shows the bands symbol along with each of their faces in the quarters. People know the band by their name so fans will be drawn to the advert as it stands out and is very bold. It contains little colour however enough for us to identify the key features so this use of colour is very effective for the audience. 

I then looked at the Biffy Clyro advert:

This is 'Biffy Clyro' album "Mountains'. Roughly half there advert is taken up with bold block writing  stating the bands name and album name along with the release date of the album. They are very bright and bold font therefore the audience can recognise who and when the album is out so it is more effective than the Kings of Leon as it is more eye catchy. Furthermore it is not dull using bright colours like blue therefore for eye catchy. The abstract picture is very intriguing too of two lions fighting under water so could help with advert sales as people may buy the poster especially fans due to its originality.
 

Then I went on too look at the Arctic Monkeys advert:

This is the 'Arctic Monkeys' album 'The Jeweller s Hands'.  The theme her is black and white. We can see the bands name in bold at the top with the whole album underneath although it is quite hard to distinguish the name of the album . It is effective in the fact they have in bold NEW ALBUM so people understand it is new and a must buy. Furthermore I like the idea that they have ratings from the magazines 'Q' and 'NME; which are the predominant music magazines therefore people especially there fan base are given the idea it is a great album. Underneath the album it says it features an 'unheard song' therefore convincing people to buy it as its the only way they will hear the unheard music and if they are a die hard fan they will have no other option but to buy the album.

The last album I looked at was The Killers advert:

This is 'The Killers' album 'Day & Age'. I feel this is one of the most effective adverts I have looked at as  it is the most colourful therefore most eye catchy so great promotional tool. They have used a mosaic pattern for the picture where we can see in bold the band name 'The Killers' and there album name which is 'Day&Age'. Then in a bright white colour we see it is their brand new album which features there hit single 'Human'. This is a great advertising tool as it attracts more people to buy their album outside of their fan base therefore getting more sales.

Final Digipak

Here is my final Digipak album cover put together.

Here is the album on a smaller scale with the production company added on the bottom left panel.

Digipak Panels - Images

Here are the final edited pictures I will be using for each panel on my digipak:

This is the forth panel in the digipak. I chose yo use an image from the video as it is a very intriguing image and I feel it is perfect for the panel in my album. It is also a separation and contradicts the front case as it shows a darker side to the singer. Moreover shows a dark side more edgy to the album. 

This is Back cover of the album which features a track list of 10 songs. These are the songs from the band which are popular. Moreover includes a barcode so the CD can be scanned. I chose to use the colour font as it is similar to the protagonists hair in the front panel image so it links them all together. Also chose to write the font in bold capital letters so it can be read more clearly. Also has the production company which I have copyrighted

Here is the CD our of its case. I decided against writing on the CD as  it is already quite busy so i feel the writing would look out of place.

Here is the CD panel where the CD will be. I chose to make the design the same as the panel as I feel it looks more aesthetically pleasing rather than a plane black CD.

Here is the spine of  my digipak. I chose the orange colour so it correlates with the font colour of the track list. I added the band name and hit song from the front case as it is the most important writing on the case. Moreover if it was in a stand the buyer can easily locate it and put the CD on to play.

Here is the front cover for my album. The bigger bolder writing is of the hit song hence why it is the biggest thing on the from of the cover. It then has the band name in a smaller font underneath so people acknowledge the artist too however I feel it more important for the song name to be bigger as people are more familiar with it in the lyrics. It also includes ann image of the female singer in the band looking like she is having fun portraying the fun this album will bring to people who buy it. Moreover in the bottom right corner has a warning saying the explicit songs will be featured to let any buyer now especially parents.

Digipak Panels

So as I have stated I am creating a four panel digipak as I feel it is best suited. For this I need:

• The Front Cover
• The Song Title List
• CD place
• Extra Image

For the front cover I added the band name: GENETICS and a song title from my track list: RECKLESS.

I then created a track list of 10 song titles including:

RECKLESS
LEYTON
BRANDI
THE BIRDS
CAN’T HIDE
MARCHING BAND
DO YOU BELIEVE
SIX KIDS
TROUBLESOME ROAD
MY FRIEND AGAIN

I then created the CD using photoshop and the CD panel and extra picture along with the spine. Pictures to follow in the next post.

Responses

Earlier in the year we sent an email to Rudimental asking for permission to use their song to create a music video took. As we have now finished we took it upon ourself to email the final product to rudimental so they could have a look and give us any feedback both positive and negative moreover see what we have done to their song and how it defers from their music video ft foxes.

We were lucky enough to get a response acknowledging they took a look although they gave no feedback:

As the response was very minimal we then thought we would go straight to rudimental via twitter to see if we got any response from the artist themselves:

Photoshop

I have now chosen my four pictures to use for my digipak. I have decided to use the four panel digipak as I feel it is more suitable for my chosen genre of dance as I feel the artist wouldn't have enough music for a size or eight panel. Here are my chosen pictures:

After I chose these images I then went on to use the photoshop tool so I was able to change the brightness and saturation of some images to make it appear brighter and overall look more aesthetically pleasing. Here are the images followed up by some screenshots of when I used the photoshop tool:

I have chosen this picture as it shows the protagonist in the music video therefore links perfectly between the two. It is a very uplifting image as she is laughing so will bring joy to the buyer therefore I feel it appropriate for the front case. I edited it using photoshop (which can be seen in a follow up image) so I could enhance the brightness of the image. It adds emphasis on Hannah's hair which becomes fire like giving the impression it is a fierce album. Moreover drawing attention solely to her as she is more dominant in the image. I feel the image looks much more appealing like this and more eye catchy on the shelf therefore attracting more buyers. Furthermore as her arms are out wide and hair blowing in the wind it shows she is a free spirit and signifies her breaking free there becoming a connotation to the hit single 'Cant Hide' as she is now free and not needing to hide from any worries.

Here I have also edited the image to enhance the brightness of the grass so it is a more powerful and effective image.  I have chosen to use an establishing shot too of a location which we filmed at so there is not too much going on in my album an it would also be fitting for the track list. I chose to enhance the brightness because in the original picture it seems a bit dull due to the weather on the day it was taken so here it look a lot brighter so is more uplifting and nicer to look at - especially with English weather where it is more overcast and rainy than other areas. It also links with the front cover as it is the area in which she is standing so we get a feel of where she is letting go.

Here is the image of me editing the image in Photo Shop. As you can see I am changing the brightness of the image to enhance the colour of her hair and make her skin look glowing as I feel it looks more aesthetically pleasing. I also edited the image of the grass as stated above although the other two images I have decided not to change just more defined as they are black and white which I want to keep so by changing the brightness or adding a filtration the image will not look right so I will leave it the natural colour.

Here is another screenshot of me editing this image in photoshop to enhance the colours of the green for the grass to make it more defined and also look more aesthetically pleasing. 

Here is the CD where I have used photoshop to get the circular shape of a CD in order to look profesional.

Now what i need to do is put these images together in the four panel and create a spine for my CD. I have screenshotted a rough guess of what my digipak will look like when all the images are put together so here it is:

I quite like the contrast of the bright colours and the black and white. This is just a rough image of what my digipak will look like without the writing on or the spine. I will work on creating them now using other sorces like word and photoshop again.

Digipak Posibilities

After finishing the editing side of our coursework i am now able to take some screenshots which I feel are appropriate for the album cover. We have an official band name too being: GENETICS and a song name to accompany this which is CAN'T HIDE. Here are the screen shots for a possibility for the digipak:

Once I have decided on a final design I will then edit the pictures using photoshop therefore changing the saturation of the images and adding text to the pictures of the album name band name ad song list.

GENETICS

After finishing the editing of our music video we finally decided on a band name and song title.

         BAND NAME: GENETICS
         SONG TITLE: CAN'T HIDE

Detailed digipak description

Rihanna - Load digipak

Here we are taking  look at Rihannas digipak. It is her newest album to date which was very successful in sales. I found this analysis online but it shows great detail i feel it helpful to put on my blog. As we can see it is a six-fold digipak which means it'll extend outwards when opening it. The colours on the album are Red which is a very blog colour. The colour red can also be a connotation to something sexual so along with this we have an image of her looking promiscuous and attractive which could help with a boost in sales. Moreover on the inside of the digipak we see her laying in a bed of red roses which coincides with the red hair and continuous red theme throughout the album. With her being the centre of the album it suggests she is the main forefront of the album dominating the album so we see her importance.

Katy Perry - Teenage Dreams digipak

Here is another digipak analysis I found online. As we can see this is a very quirky album cover which contrasts with her music of being very upbeat and bubbly. Again we can see Katy Perry as the forefront of the album as she is very dominant in her performance moreover laying in a bed of candy floss to conform to the running sweet theme. Along with this we see her  akin a doughnut out of the CD disk which is very amusing and would appeal with her target audience. I really like this album as it is not very dull also unique within the industry and a great digipak to have.

Other artists digipak designs

As I have finished my music video I am now looking to design my own so in order to do this I will be looking at how other artists along the 'electronic pop/dance' genre have created there digipak in order to conform to these conventions.

Here is foxes album cover. It shows the singer as the main forefront of the album. There seems to be a trent in  dance albums where it shows people as the cover rather than objects or other things. It uses quite bright colours so gives a sense of calmness about it. It is a very simplistic cover with minimal writting similar to those album covers seen below. I do like it however therefore would like to have hannah - the protagonist in our music video as the main image for my digipak.

Calvin Harris is another artist in the genre of dance. Again it is an image of him whilst there is things around in the background. The writing again is bold but white and very plain and very simplistic. After exploring other artists it is very common for there to be a person in the image and for very simplistic writing. The colours of this album are quite bright avoiding the use of block colours which is good for an upbeat alum.

Here we can see the band disclosure have chosen to use two little boy and highlight their face for the front cover of there album. It is quite an intriguing album cover as you wander why the boys faces are outlined - moreover whether this contrasts with the words 'settle' in the tittle as it is also written in white. It could portray the settled boys. 

Here is the AlunaGeorge album over. Again here it has two main protagonists as the front image. It is quite a bare image with just he two people and also follows a back and white scheme. As it is very restricted with the people having very stern faces we get the impression the music may be edgy. Again this digipak is very restricted and plain which breaks the conventions of a dance album as they tend to use bright colours for the up beat tracks.



 

Genetics - Can't Hide

So after months of vigorous filming and editing we have finally completed the task set. We finished the music video - now naming it Genetics - Cant Hide to show it is our piece of work for the coursework. Here it is:

Idea Development

The following video is of our first ever idea when we wanted to create a boxing video, with a montage of different shots to the song 'Save the World - Swedish House Mafia'. We decided against this idea after watching the footage feeling to looked more like a promotional video then a music video.

After a period of time we finally settled on the idea of psychotic theme which Hannah portrays. The video underneath is a footage of our initial editing together of clips - which has completely changes. This footage was just us messing around however we have made huge progress with clips entering on each beat and citing with the song more so. We now only have around 30 seconds left to edit out of 3:23 minute song. 

The only similarity throughout our transition is that we have kept the footage Black and White as the footage looks much better.

Digipak Research

For the ancillary task we have been asked to create a digipak for our A2 media coursework. After reseaching into this I fond that a digipak was 'a type of packaging for CDs or DVDs typically made from cardboard with an internal plasric holder
 for one or more discs. Digipac-style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums, which is what I am hoping to create. Furthermore digipaks were created by MeadWestVaco and their product called 'Digipak' whih had been tradmarked, becoming very popular in todays industry. The standard size of a digipak is 139mm x 6mm x 125.5mm for a standard 4pp digipak. There are also differebt amounts of panels ranging from 4, 6 or 8.

The front of a digepak usually identifies the artists and seperates them withn genres. It most likely embodies a message and theme about an artists image helping to emphasize the artists brand image which will help with the sales and popularity. An example is if the lyrics in the artists song convey a certain meaning which may be obscure the front album cover wouldnt be very contempory but more abstract. A digipak is a promotional aspect of the music industry helping bring awareness to an artist encouraginf the consumer to buy and listen to their music. Some argue how buying the artists digipak establishes your loyalty to an artist.

Elements of a Digipak:

-Images of the band or artist
-Images relating to their song
-Images relating the genre of music
-CD logo
-An explicit warning logo, when neccessary
-The record companies logo
-Record companies name
-A barcode for scanning
-Artists name or title
-Credits and Thanks
-Artists and record companies web adress
-Alist of bonus material
-Song Lyrics
-A booklet or poster
-Offers on future purchases
-Information on the artists back catalogue
-A bonus CD

Behind The Scenes

Here are a few clips put together of when we have been out filming. We are needing to get a few more shots as we didnt get enough which we will be doing tonight. The editing is going great and we are very pleased at how our music video is forming, so at a later date we will be adding a sneak peak.

Paparazi

As mentioned in a previous post we went out and got our final footage for filming. We have began to start editing the footage together and you will get a preview soon. Here are a few pictures to archive our days filming: