Saturday, 21 April 2012
Evaluation question 4
Question 4 - How did you use media technologies in the construction and
research, planning and evaluation stages?
There is a startling difference between my technological capabilities of this A2 year, and that of my AS year in my Media Studies coursework. These capabilities were this year shown not only through my confidence in using familiar programs, but also in how I managed to use unfamiliar programs/software. Whereas in my AS year, I felt restricted in my technological capabilities - residing to mainly using familiar, simpler programs such as Microsoft Publisher and other Microsoft programs - in this A2 year, I found a new confidence in my capabilities, branching out my skills and using more complex software such as Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 (64 bit), Prezi and Slideshare.
As the products produced in this years coursework differed from AS, I had to use different programs as well. I used, in abundance, Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 (64 bit) for the development of my ancillary products - a site of which I had never used before in my personal time or in college work. Using this program allowed a greater range of editing options, of which programs like Publisher can not give. Options such as; Picture brightness, shadowing, highlighting, cropping tools, smooth edges, refined edges, an array of different paint brush stroke styles and colours and so on. Though the program was complex to use, it was extremely helpful during developmental stages of my ancillary products - without it, the quality of my products would not of been quite the same standard.
I used Web 2.0 technology such as YouTube in the planning part of my coursework. In particular, for looking at music videos by similar artists to add genre specifics to our video. It was also very helpful for my creativity post, as I found a very helpful video on which I could base my writing for that blog post. Asides from this, it was also useful for researching theories such as Propp's and Goodwin's. Obviously, I used Facebook during the construction stages of my work. It was especially helpful for the development of my ancillary products as a large sector of Facebook users were of my target audience category. I could gather accurate criticisms on my products - displaying images on a private group wall with specially selected members - to improve my products, whilst all the time knowing that they still appealed to the target audience.
Though I had little difficulty in using various equipment and technology, the Apple IMac's, of which we used in class for editing etc., proved to be an annoyance. Navigating myself around the computer took time, as I am used to Windows, and the mouse was far too sensitive and would often select things I didn't wish to. Even using the internet was made a laborious task. It required having to log in with user name and password every few pages, even if I clicked on the "Remember me" box. Because of this, I decided to use my very own Acer Aspire 5532 to do the majority of blog posts and the ancillary product development. Having had the laptop for over a year now, I was used to It's features and saved a considerable amount of time. It also meant that if I needed to, I could take my laptop into college - which proved highly convenient.
I wanted to avoid using "overused" programs during my coursework, such as Microsoft PowerPoint. To make my blog posts more engaging and visually interesting I used a website called 'Prezi'. This was new to me, but I quickly found it was a great way to add lots of information to a post, without it being boring. It's unique and interesting layout and presentation style made information easily "digestable". What other people particularly enjoyed about this website, as I was not alone in using it, was the way big chunks of information could be separated into smaller chunks with the addition of images, shapes or videos - both YouTube and uploaded. This was one of my favourite programs to use during the coursework, as it was incredibly easy to use, fun, easy to upload onto Blogger, and best of all - free!
For the editing of the video, we used Final Cut Express - a program of which I was familiar with, having used it in last years mock music video. I found that I had greatly improved my capabilities on this program, navigation was simple, identifying icons was easier and I quickly learnt how to use them too. I played a major role in the editing of the main product, one example would be the changes I made involving sound. Unlike last year, I was able to render an independently downloaded soundtrack (Sierra Planes - George Barnett - Itunes) with the video action - captured on a Sony Mini DV, then uploaded onto a seperate file using a firewire cable - mute and lock the sound on the video footage and add a gentle fade effect to the soundtrack at the end of the video. These changes greatly show my improvement in ability using this software, last year I struggled to do any of these things without assistance. This time around, minimal assistance was needed.
There is a startling difference between my technological capabilities of this A2 year, and that of my AS year in my Media Studies coursework. These capabilities were this year shown not only through my confidence in using familiar programs, but also in how I managed to use unfamiliar programs/software. Whereas in my AS year, I felt restricted in my technological capabilities - residing to mainly using familiar, simpler programs such as Microsoft Publisher and other Microsoft programs - in this A2 year, I found a new confidence in my capabilities, branching out my skills and using more complex software such as Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 (64 bit), Prezi and Slideshare. As the products produced in this years coursework differed from AS, I had to use different programs as well. I used, in abundance, Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 (64 bit) for the development of my ancillary products - a site of which I had never used before in my personal time or in college work. Using this program allowed a greater range of editing options, of which programs like Publisher can not give. Options such as; Picture brightness, shadowing, highlighting, cropping tools, smooth edges, refined edges, an array of different paint brush stroke styles and colours and so on. Though the program was complex to use, it was extremely helpful during developmental stages of my ancillary products - without it, the quality of my products would not of been quite the same standard.
I used Web 2.0 technology such as YouTube in the planning part of my coursework. In particular, for looking at music videos by similar artists to add genre specifics to our video. It was also very helpful for my creativity post, as I found a very helpful video on which I could base my writing for that blog post. Asides from this, it was also useful for researching theories such as Propp's and Goodwin's. Obviously, I used Facebook during the construction stages of my work. It was especially helpful for the development of my ancillary products as a large sector of Facebook users were of my target audience category. I could gather accurate criticisms on my products - displaying images on a private group wall with specially selected members - to improve my products, whilst all the time knowing that they still appealed to the target audience.
Though I had little difficulty in using various equipment and technology, the Apple IMac's, of which we used in class for editing etc., proved to be an annoyance. Navigating myself around the computer took time, as I am used to Windows, and the mouse was far too sensitive and would often select things I didn't wish to. Even using the internet was made a laborious task. It required having to log in with user name and password every few pages, even if I clicked on the "Remember me" box. Because of this, I decided to use my very own Acer Aspire 5532 to do the majority of blog posts and the ancillary product development. Having had the laptop for over a year now, I was used to It's features and saved a considerable amount of time. It also meant that if I needed to, I could take my laptop into college - which proved highly convenient.
I wanted to avoid using "overused" programs during my coursework, such as Microsoft PowerPoint. To make my blog posts more engaging and visually interesting I used a website called 'Prezi'. This was new to me, but I quickly found it was a great way to add lots of information to a post, without it being boring. It's unique and interesting layout and presentation style made information easily "digestable". What other people particularly enjoyed about this website, as I was not alone in using it, was the way big chunks of information could be separated into smaller chunks with the addition of images, shapes or videos - both YouTube and uploaded. This was one of my favourite programs to use during the coursework, as it was incredibly easy to use, fun, easy to upload onto Blogger, and best of all - free!
For the editing of the video, we used Final Cut Express - a program of which I was familiar with, having used it in last years mock music video. I found that I had greatly improved my capabilities on this program, navigation was simple, identifying icons was easier and I quickly learnt how to use them too. I played a major role in the editing of the main product, one example would be the changes I made involving sound. Unlike last year, I was able to render an independently downloaded soundtrack (Sierra Planes - George Barnett - Itunes) with the video action - captured on a Sony Mini DV, then uploaded onto a seperate file using a firewire cable - mute and lock the sound on the video footage and add a gentle fade effect to the soundtrack at the end of the video. These changes greatly show my improvement in ability using this software, last year I struggled to do any of these things without assistance. This time around, minimal assistance was needed.
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Evaluation question 3
In order to gain audience feedback on my digipak and advertisement designs I decided first to create a facebook group. This was most certainly a good idea of mine as I could control what group members I had and therefore only receive feedback from my target audience, 16-25 year old students. The feedback was therefore reliable, changes that I then made to my designs would still appeal to my target audience. Aside from this, Facebook was not only an easy means of displaying design ideas, videos and digipak/advertisement drafts, but it proved a remarkably easy way for discussion about my work to blossom and develop - revealing more and more truths about my works as it progressed. It was easy for more and more people to join in and access information, partly down to how easy the group page was to navigate ones-self around but also because every group member was of the 16-25 age range, and typically being of that generation, had a firm grasp of how to use most technologies - particularly Web 2.0 based.
Other than gaining feedback by face-to-face conversation and group comments/discussion, I also asked my group members head-on with an online poll, only accessible to group members, thus producing accurate results. I asked questions such as "Did you understand it?" - referring to the music video - and "Did it remind you of anything else?" - in terms of intertextual referencing.
Naturally, for questions such as "Did you sympathise for the onscreen character?" a simple yes or no answer is not sufficient feedback. For this I resorted back to a regular group post, to encourage more in-depth conversation between many people, not just one or two. I gained a deeper insight into what effects my work was having on the audience. If these effects were desired, I could leave my work as it was. If not, appropriate editing could easily be made.
Continuing on the idea of effects, I hoped that the collaboration of both my main product and ancillary products would effect the audience in specific ways. I wanted to provoke thought. The idea of mystery about the central character, I hoped, would engage with the audience. I hoped for the audience to make a connection with the character, and find similarities within themselves. The idea of the video was that creativity can be crushed easily by a routinic lifestyle that lacked spontaneity - the kind of which many people, not just students, are faced with. I hoped for the audience to question themselves - "Am I really living my life to the fullest? Using my skills to their full potential?". Every person is creative and unique. I like the thought that everyone can contribute something of their own, whatever that may be, to society and the people around them.
Through audience feedback, it became increasingly apparent that my products contained elements of encoding, codes and decoding. I asked the group members of my Facebook feedback group the questions pictured. That is just one persons opinion on the main product, but not all comments by group members were the same. This is clearly an element of decoding shown through audience feedback - as this particular member of the target audience has derived different meaning from the codes of the products (codes being the culturaly agreed upon "signs" in a given creation) than that of other members of the target audience. Examples of encoding - placing meaning within specific objects - would be the artwork, symbolising creativity, and the burnt-out candle which symbolised the spark in the charcacters life having gone.
From audience feedback, I gathered quickly that on my ancillary products, my target audience doesn't stop to read the text. The only effective ways to draw their attention are through brand awareness and a visually interesting product - usually done through the use of a good colour scheme. The problem faced with my artist - George Barnett - was that he is an unknown artist. Advertisements by well-known artists/bands usually heavily feature the artist or their name. An example, being Rihanna - featured on the right of the screen. She is instantly recognisable to most and therefore people will be drawn into seeking more information - or, in terms of my target audience, they make the assumption that the artist is releasing another album or song. It was therefore not suitable to use the artists image to attract attention - as he is not recognisable. This is where my ancillary texts and other texts - such as Rihanna's advert on the right - differ in one key aspect - pleasure. The audience gain pleasure from the artist name and image, where as in my texts the audience pleasure comes from the use of branding and visual attractions such as the colour scheme.
Alterations to my work have been suggested by the facebook group members. These suggestions tend to focus around the narrative of the video. Some did not follow the storyline of the music video. And although this view was shared by a few people of the target audience, I am not sure I would change it. It was my original idea to have a complex, in-depth and mysterious/unusual narrative, and am apprehensive as any change to the narrative could alter the effect the video has on the audience - which I am satisfied with.
No changes to my ancillary products have been suggested by the target audience, they are highly impressed with the products and again, I am pleased with them in terms of pleasure and the effect they give to the audience. They seem to compliment the main product greatly. Personally, I see no need for change with the ancillary products.
Other than gaining feedback by face-to-face conversation and group comments/discussion, I also asked my group members head-on with an online poll, only accessible to group members, thus producing accurate results. I asked questions such as "Did you understand it?" - referring to the music video - and "Did it remind you of anything else?" - in terms of intertextual referencing.
Naturally, for questions such as "Did you sympathise for the onscreen character?" a simple yes or no answer is not sufficient feedback. For this I resorted back to a regular group post, to encourage more in-depth conversation between many people, not just one or two. I gained a deeper insight into what effects my work was having on the audience. If these effects were desired, I could leave my work as it was. If not, appropriate editing could easily be made.
Continuing on the idea of effects, I hoped that the collaboration of both my main product and ancillary products would effect the audience in specific ways. I wanted to provoke thought. The idea of mystery about the central character, I hoped, would engage with the audience. I hoped for the audience to make a connection with the character, and find similarities within themselves. The idea of the video was that creativity can be crushed easily by a routinic lifestyle that lacked spontaneity - the kind of which many people, not just students, are faced with. I hoped for the audience to question themselves - "Am I really living my life to the fullest? Using my skills to their full potential?". Every person is creative and unique. I like the thought that everyone can contribute something of their own, whatever that may be, to society and the people around them.
From audience feedback, I gathered quickly that on my ancillary products, my target audience doesn't stop to read the text. The only effective ways to draw their attention are through brand awareness and a visually interesting product - usually done through the use of a good colour scheme. The problem faced with my artist - George Barnett - was that he is an unknown artist. Advertisements by well-known artists/bands usually heavily feature the artist or their name. An example, being Rihanna - featured on the right of the screen. She is instantly recognisable to most and therefore people will be drawn into seeking more information - or, in terms of my target audience, they make the assumption that the artist is releasing another album or song. It was therefore not suitable to use the artists image to attract attention - as he is not recognisable. This is where my ancillary texts and other texts - such as Rihanna's advert on the right - differ in one key aspect - pleasure. The audience gain pleasure from the artist name and image, where as in my texts the audience pleasure comes from the use of branding and visual attractions such as the colour scheme. 
Alterations to my work have been suggested by the facebook group members. These suggestions tend to focus around the narrative of the video. Some did not follow the storyline of the music video. And although this view was shared by a few people of the target audience, I am not sure I would change it. It was my original idea to have a complex, in-depth and mysterious/unusual narrative, and am apprehensive as any change to the narrative could alter the effect the video has on the audience - which I am satisfied with.No changes to my ancillary products have been suggested by the target audience, they are highly impressed with the products and again, I am pleased with them in terms of pleasure and the effect they give to the audience. They seem to compliment the main product greatly. Personally, I see no need for change with the ancillary products.
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Evaluation question 2
How
effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
The target audience we have selected, 16-25 year olds, are very aware of brands. Therefore, it was important not only to select the right ones, but to also make sure the brand names/logo's used were used to their maximum effect, on the advert more than the digipak. As the artist, George Barnett, is relatively unknown by most, the artist name is not the main feature of neither the digipak, nor the advertisement. Priority, it terms of positioning, size and colour was given to the brand names/logo's to draw maximum attention. When I asked people, of which fell into the audience profile, what they tended to concentrate on when looking at an advert or digipak, the majority said ratings and artist/s name. When also asked what name/logo demanded the most respect, they said "Q" and "NME". These were the views of both male and females. I decided to use both 'NME' and 'Q' logo's for this reason. Also, they gave the advert a professional look and didn't upset the delicate colour scheme. Becuase the logo's and stars featured some of the only colour in the advertisement, they drew maximum attention and brand awareness from the audience.
Although I wanted the brands etc. to stand out more so than any other feature, I did not want them to distract attention completely from the central image. This was important, as the central image was the house style which brought together all products - the digipak, advert and music video. I chose the stick figure as it is instantly recognisable from the video and inner-panels of the digipak, and it carries forward some of the key themes of the music video and all other products. Themes of individuality, mystery and iscolation. Iscolation clearly highlighted through the use of spacing between images and texts. Mystery is highlighted in a different way: the audience find themselves looking at this blank, expressionless figure - it's almost as if the figure is wearing a mask, which adds to the mystery, the audience want to know about the stick figure - what he knows. Audience members have commented in person how the stick figure gives off an oddly intense feel. This was the exact effect I wished for. In this respect, I am happy with the advertisement.
I used sans-serif text as it looked more creative, closer to the genre, more appealing to the target audience and less serious. It worked great for the artists name as it was still visable, yet not distracting from the more important aspects of the advertisement. A sans-serif type text was also used for the masthead (although it wasn't featured at the top of the advertisement) for the same reasons. The font was one of four drafts, each shown in various edits to audience members. It was selected by them on the basis that it was scruffy, yet readable, which fitted nicely with the themes of the video. It showed artistic flair, that of which is shown clearly in the character on the video. It also works with the text meaning "No Idea". It looks like it is written by someone who is tired of life as he knows it, and is searching for change - the title works in this respect as the character in the video has "no idea" what this change is, as he continues for something to give his life meaning.
The bottom-left icons - Facebook, Itunes - are very important features of the advertisement. The blue of the Facebook logo is instantly recognisable and our target audience will acknowledge it and the Itunes logo. It also fills a space of the advert that might otherwise of been blank and boring. This extra colour brought to the advert provides the audience with a more visually interesting image/information, which is vital amongst this target audience, as they have short attention spans and seem to have no time to waste taking in boring, colourless text. Adding these instantly recognisable icons meant that less information in text form had to be placed on the advert. Because they are a generation having been brought up with the use of technology, especially Web 2.0 technology, coming second nature to them, they will know how to access the information on this artist. The added benefit of Web 2.0 technology also being that publicity for the artist can grow with ease, and be cost/time-effective also. The QR code on the opposite side of the advert brings in even more widely used technology. This means that information relating to the artist and his products is even more accessable.
Unlike the music video, I took little inspiration from other texts in creating these ancillary texts. Although, I did take ideas from the video, which themselves were taken as inspiration from other texts. Oddly enough, I took inspiration from the movie 'I Robot'. From the image below I gained ideas of how to convey key themes, such as independance and iscolation.
In early development and storyboarding, we had the idea of these themes being symbolised by a red scarf, which would of been carried around by the character (the scarf actually having belonged to his girlfriend). Through audience feedback and further drafting this idea was replaced by the stickman idea.
Because our music video changes quite dramatically throughout the video (in terms of location, actor, timeline etc.), there were many recognisable aspects of the video that I was able to capture on my ancillary products. For the digipak, I decided to capture a different moment of the music video, and focus more strongly on themes of depression, as well as iscolation and mystery - so all the products were still linked by theme. This added another dimension to the video, it appeared more entropic and less generic and therefore unique.
As previously mentioned, i took inspiration from the movie 'IRobot' for design of the inner digipak panels (top left & right). Iscolation clearly highlighted though the spacing between images and the placing of the larger, iscolated figure - undeneath the CD itself. This design is instantly recognisable from parts of the video and advertisement. The spine of the CD even carries the same blank, iscolated effect of these panels.
The two texts - "No I.DEA" and "no escape" - were both created by use of the brush tool. This gave for a fitting distressed look, adding to the desperation of the image, almost making a mockery of the character - as they say "It's written all over your face". Again, linking the text to the video, were the characters mysterious problem is at the heart of the engaging action. I used this aspect of the character for my digipak cover design in the hope that the audience will again be intruiged by the character, and what he might be clueless about. The images themselves are headshots - the same that feature within the music video. The character is wearing the same facial expression and hair style. This is another link that the audience can make with the video. But it also gives the audience a further insight into the mind of this character. The dark shadow effect highlights the theme of depression, perhaps even loss, circling this character. No clothes can be seen being worn by the character. My idea was that it symbolised innocence and made for a more raw and intense look, but like the video, the audience is left to fill in aspects about the character for themselves.
Overall, through a combination of audience feedback and my personal reaction, I have produced an effective combination of main product and ancillary texts. All share recognisable features, whilst bringing new aspects to the main product, in particular to the character and storyline. I have been careful to make it generic, yet not so much so as to lose it's uniqueness and originality. It remains an entropic piece, which is designed to convey messages to it's audience, of which it I am satisfied it has succeeded in doing.
The target audience we have selected, 16-25 year olds, are very aware of brands. Therefore, it was important not only to select the right ones, but to also make sure the brand names/logo's used were used to their maximum effect, on the advert more than the digipak. As the artist, George Barnett, is relatively unknown by most, the artist name is not the main feature of neither the digipak, nor the advertisement. Priority, it terms of positioning, size and colour was given to the brand names/logo's to draw maximum attention. When I asked people, of which fell into the audience profile, what they tended to concentrate on when looking at an advert or digipak, the majority said ratings and artist/s name. When also asked what name/logo demanded the most respect, they said "Q" and "NME". These were the views of both male and females. I decided to use both 'NME' and 'Q' logo's for this reason. Also, they gave the advert a professional look and didn't upset the delicate colour scheme. Becuase the logo's and stars featured some of the only colour in the advertisement, they drew maximum attention and brand awareness from the audience.
Although I wanted the brands etc. to stand out more so than any other feature, I did not want them to distract attention completely from the central image. This was important, as the central image was the house style which brought together all products - the digipak, advert and music video. I chose the stick figure as it is instantly recognisable from the video and inner-panels of the digipak, and it carries forward some of the key themes of the music video and all other products. Themes of individuality, mystery and iscolation. Iscolation clearly highlighted through the use of spacing between images and texts. Mystery is highlighted in a different way: the audience find themselves looking at this blank, expressionless figure - it's almost as if the figure is wearing a mask, which adds to the mystery, the audience want to know about the stick figure - what he knows. Audience members have commented in person how the stick figure gives off an oddly intense feel. This was the exact effect I wished for. In this respect, I am happy with the advertisement.
I used sans-serif text as it looked more creative, closer to the genre, more appealing to the target audience and less serious. It worked great for the artists name as it was still visable, yet not distracting from the more important aspects of the advertisement. A sans-serif type text was also used for the masthead (although it wasn't featured at the top of the advertisement) for the same reasons. The font was one of four drafts, each shown in various edits to audience members. It was selected by them on the basis that it was scruffy, yet readable, which fitted nicely with the themes of the video. It showed artistic flair, that of which is shown clearly in the character on the video. It also works with the text meaning "No Idea". It looks like it is written by someone who is tired of life as he knows it, and is searching for change - the title works in this respect as the character in the video has "no idea" what this change is, as he continues for something to give his life meaning.
The bottom-left icons - Facebook, Itunes - are very important features of the advertisement. The blue of the Facebook logo is instantly recognisable and our target audience will acknowledge it and the Itunes logo. It also fills a space of the advert that might otherwise of been blank and boring. This extra colour brought to the advert provides the audience with a more visually interesting image/information, which is vital amongst this target audience, as they have short attention spans and seem to have no time to waste taking in boring, colourless text. Adding these instantly recognisable icons meant that less information in text form had to be placed on the advert. Because they are a generation having been brought up with the use of technology, especially Web 2.0 technology, coming second nature to them, they will know how to access the information on this artist. The added benefit of Web 2.0 technology also being that publicity for the artist can grow with ease, and be cost/time-effective also. The QR code on the opposite side of the advert brings in even more widely used technology. This means that information relating to the artist and his products is even more accessable.
Unlike the music video, I took little inspiration from other texts in creating these ancillary texts. Although, I did take ideas from the video, which themselves were taken as inspiration from other texts. Oddly enough, I took inspiration from the movie 'I Robot'. From the image below I gained ideas of how to convey key themes, such as independance and iscolation.
In early development and storyboarding, we had the idea of these themes being symbolised by a red scarf, which would of been carried around by the character (the scarf actually having belonged to his girlfriend). Through audience feedback and further drafting this idea was replaced by the stickman idea.
Because our music video changes quite dramatically throughout the video (in terms of location, actor, timeline etc.), there were many recognisable aspects of the video that I was able to capture on my ancillary products. For the digipak, I decided to capture a different moment of the music video, and focus more strongly on themes of depression, as well as iscolation and mystery - so all the products were still linked by theme. This added another dimension to the video, it appeared more entropic and less generic and therefore unique.
As previously mentioned, i took inspiration from the movie 'IRobot' for design of the inner digipak panels (top left & right). Iscolation clearly highlighted though the spacing between images and the placing of the larger, iscolated figure - undeneath the CD itself. This design is instantly recognisable from parts of the video and advertisement. The spine of the CD even carries the same blank, iscolated effect of these panels.
The two texts - "No I.DEA" and "no escape" - were both created by use of the brush tool. This gave for a fitting distressed look, adding to the desperation of the image, almost making a mockery of the character - as they say "It's written all over your face". Again, linking the text to the video, were the characters mysterious problem is at the heart of the engaging action. I used this aspect of the character for my digipak cover design in the hope that the audience will again be intruiged by the character, and what he might be clueless about. The images themselves are headshots - the same that feature within the music video. The character is wearing the same facial expression and hair style. This is another link that the audience can make with the video. But it also gives the audience a further insight into the mind of this character. The dark shadow effect highlights the theme of depression, perhaps even loss, circling this character. No clothes can be seen being worn by the character. My idea was that it symbolised innocence and made for a more raw and intense look, but like the video, the audience is left to fill in aspects about the character for themselves.
Overall, through a combination of audience feedback and my personal reaction, I have produced an effective combination of main product and ancillary texts. All share recognisable features, whilst bringing new aspects to the main product, in particular to the character and storyline. I have been careful to make it generic, yet not so much so as to lose it's uniqueness and originality. It remains an entropic piece, which is designed to convey messages to it's audience, of which it I am satisfied it has succeeded in doing.
Final digipak CD design
Monday, 16 April 2012
Advertisement idea 2 draft 1
I decided to create another design for my advert that shared more features of the digipak. I have analysed many digipaks where they share an almost identical design as the advertisement - these include The Killers 'Day and age' and Coldplay's 'Viva La Vida'. Having the digipak carry a close design to the advertisement would make finding the album in stores or online easier for buyers, as the digipak design becomes instantly recognisable. My concern was that having a different design from the advertisement altogether would make the product itself harder to find, a problem for an unknown/unsigned artist.
I kept the original artwork from the digipak design and used it as a background. To avoid too much text, I opted for bigger, bolder stars and leave out the critics comments altogether, as I felt the stars would suffice in placing the artist in a favourable light. I decided not to use the magic wand tool to rid of the background white around the stars, as it gave a more scruffy, informal look - closer to the genre - and helped the stars stand out, yet not come across as brash.
The "Out now" text, bottom-right, was an important piece to add. I didn't want it to distract too much from the main image - yet not go unnoticed. I placed it all over the image before putting it were it is now as the white text on a black background effect is inkeeping with the central colour scheme and becomes highly visable, yet subtle. The scruffy, child-like way in which the text id drawn (yet again using the paint tool) takes away the seriousness of the text, yet it still sends it's clear message to anyone looking at the advertisement.
Like my other advertisment designs, I added various icons such as Itunes and Facebook. The reason remains that further information can be found on these well-known and highly used sites/programs, without having to overload the ad with blocks of text and information - which does not appeal to our target audience of 16-25 year olds. The Q and NME, as explored in previous drafts, are instantly recognisable branding amongst this audience and show, to them, that this artist/album is of a high standard - star ratings are often proof enough for the target audience that they should buy the product featured - that is why the star ratings are probably the most important aspect of the advert, hence why they needed to be highly visable.
The QR code is a great addition, bringing in even more forms of technology and making the product/artist even more accessable and known.
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Advertisement idea 1 draft 5
With the addition of the QR code, this is quite possibly the complete draft. The QR code involves another way of using technology that is known and used frequently by the target audience, allowing information about the artist/album to become more accessable to more people. If someone can't get it off itunes, they will see an icon for something else, say facebook, of which they can get it. The artists name, in my opinion, is one of the least important aspects of the ad. The artist is, as I have said numerous times before, quite unknown and therefore his name alone won't sell, wheras the band name "Coldplay", being instantly recognisable and popular - would. I changed the font and colour for this as well, to avois boring the audience with the same font's and having too many black colours - which would become repetitive and visually uniteresting. It is vital to keep the ad visually interesting, as the target audience don't seem to have time to read through big amounts of text, especially if it is in the same colour/font.
Advertisement idea 1 draft 4
As promised, I have added a few icons to help the audience gather more information on the artist/album advertised. This is key as the artist is relatively unknown and needs to gain publicity. As many millions are familiar with, or indeed have a facebook account, the facebook icon is instantly recognisable and remains a simple way to find out about the artist, as most people of our target audience spend at least an hour on facebook every day. Itunes is another instantly recognisable icon, becuase of this, the icons do not need to be overly large. Thankfully, this meant that the original image does not lose the key themes of isolatio etc. It carries the same effect, looks very simple, visually interesting and now thanks to feedback highly informative!
One member of the facebook group suggested that I "put a QR code in the corner". This, being the only criticism now, could be the final edit before a complete draft.
Advertisement idea 1 draft 3
Just a quick edit on a criticism gathered from members of my facebook feedback group, some people felt that a tad more colour was needed somewhere. I decided to draw attention to the stars/ratings area of the advertisement, as that is essentially what the people looking at the ad will make there decision on whether to buy it or not upon. Colour was added using the paint tool - the stars are not completely filled in, just scruffily filled like a child - similar to the font and reflecting upon the creativity of the artist/album and typical of the genre of music.
Advertisement idea 1 draft 2
One slight criticism of the last draft was that, although it looked great, professional and made them want to find out more about the artist/album, there was no indication on the advert on where they could recieve more information. The addition of it's release date is the bare minimmum needed - I will add more. Some suggested things like 'find us on facebook icons' ect.
Digipak draft 4
This is the tail-end of drafting on my digipak now. There was one comment - "you should add a barcode onto the back cover to make it look more generic" - which I have done. It has given a more professional look to the digipak. I wonder however, if the top two panels are a little too blank. I will question my audience on how to go about editing it - if it is needed at all.
Digipak draft 3
Further comments on my facebook group included "Looks very good", "The fonts look really good and I like the images - the image of you in shadows is really good!" and "I like the lone stickman quarter". Comments are good and people are recieving the impact from images that I had hoped for. They are approving of the editing made and requests for change are becoming less as the audience is becoming more satisfied with the digipak drafts.
One suggestion from someone, when talking face-to-face with them, was that I should make the top left hand panel stick figures smaller, and add more, bunching them up closer together. I think this edit has worked very well. It, again, fits the group work theme of individuality and conformity and works better at singling out the figure on the opposite panel.
Digipak draft 2
I created a facebook group - Jack P's Media group thingy - to gather feedback on my work, of which I can post up on there. All group members, of which I invited to join the private group, are of the 16-25 year old age range and fall under the characteristics mentioned earlier in my Audience Profile presentaion. Now that I have a reliable audience of both genders, I can use the constructive criticisms to change and improve my work.
The first impressions on my second draft were mainly positive. However, as I thought would happen, a few suggested that something needed to fill the top left panel. I decided, to further strengthen the key themes explored in the music video - loneliness, isolation etc. - to add more stick figures. These I copied and pasted on photoshop, from one stick figure created by the brush tool, to create many. It also gives the figure on the opposite panel a sense of individualism, which is another key theme of the music video and CD.
Saturday, 14 April 2012
Digipak draft 1
Just playing around with photoshop software, general dark mood communicated through images. By no means the finished piece, just fishing for ideas and criticisms, which are generally positive. Template seems to be of a poor quality - will need to get another to use for future drafts. Personally, I am pleased with my first effort - I am wondering if it is rather bland at this point. Something needs to go on the top left panel, of course.
The bottom right panel is the Digipak front cover, the bottom left panel is the outside rear cover of the digipak, the top right panel is the inside CD holding area, and the panel on the left to that is the inside left cover.
Some of the key themes featuring in the music video, song and lyrics were of isolation, loneliness and escape came through on the front cover, particularly through the use of shadow and greyscaling the image using Adobe Photoshop. The text "No I.DEA" was done in a scribbly type font, giving the character in the image a lack of status - and of course, appearing isolated and different.
The artist George Barnett is not very well known at all so his name isn't of high importance - hence why I put it in an uninteresting font and smaller size to the rest of the text. However, the simplicity of the artist text is highly visable - without being overpowering - as it is a white text against a black background. It also doesn't distract from the overall "blank" feel of the cover - while the dark, intense stare of the character keeps the audience/buyers interest and prevents the cover from becoming boring.
For the back cover panel image I did the same thing as on the front panel image - experimenting with Shadowing and highlighting. This image is at the opposite scale to the other image in terms of shadow/highlighting. Simplicity is kept through the use of the same image, but altered slightly to remain interesting, intense and keep the key themes of isolation etc. The text "no escape" again brings in some of the key themes and links front and back covers in terms of text style.
The red text on the bottom left panel is subtle, yet easily visable. Red works well as it keeps an intense look without being too bold and distracting from the image - the font, "Segoe Script", helps here too. Hence why I also used it for the CD spine text and "George Barnett" text. Will need to add items to the back panel at some point; barcode, record company label etc.
I am unsure of what to do with the top left panel, but I think the lone stick figure on the top right panel works very well. Again, in terms of keeping the key themes in place and simplicity -the figure being under the CD highlights these themes, remaining also within the Indie/rock/alternative genre the artists falls under.
Advertisement idea 1 draft 1
I went into editing with the idea that simplicity speaks volumes. I also needed to keep it close to key aspects of the digipak design and possibly use some of the same imagery, colours ect. so that you can identify both pieces as having been about the same artist/album.
Like the editing for the digipak, I used Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 (64 bit) program for my advertisement editing. The program takes a bit of getting used to but after some trial practices on random pictures I got the hang of it.
The stick figure was easily created using the brush tool, the head, using the circle shape tool was filled in black. The stick figure completely in black fits in with the blank look of the advert, whilst holding the audiences interest - it almost acts like a mask, they find themselves wondering what is behind it. The stick figure holds a great sense of mystery, amplified by it seeming far away in relation to the rest of the advertisement. Again, it carries a common theme in our work of isolation.
Out of four font drafts I selected this "NO I.DEA" font for the advertisement on the basis that it gave the right impact without being too serious and it looks visualy interesting. It keeps the simplistic, informal and blank look of the advertisement. Others agree that a scruffy, hand-drawn looking font looks like it could have been written by someone who has no idea. One comment said this style of font is typical of the genre and stereotypically aimed at the 16-25 year old audience, in particular, males.
I am impressed with the ratings in the top two corners. I decided to have colour in the magazine brand names "NME" and "Q" for a few reasons. For one, they are both red, bringing in some colour without spoiling the simplicity and colour scheme. Another reason being that they are two massive music magazines - a good rating from either one of them could influence the success of an artist, especially a relative unknown, hugely. They are also instantly recognisable logo's. The red colour allows them to stand out and grab the attention of the audience - who, in our audience profile, read these types of magazine. They are simple logo's but visually interesting and will direct the audience into reading the comments below - as they will ultimately decide whether to buy it or not depending on the views of a major magazine. The stars at the top also grab attention, and keep to a mainly black and white theme. They are some of the first things that our audience will look for on an advert so these need to be visable, which they are.
Overall, I am very happy with the quality of this first draft. I am particularly impressed with early face-to-face feedback from people fitting into the target audience catagory that it looks above all, interesting, professional and worth finding more about!
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Font styles/ideas for Digipak/magazine advert 1
Just some ideas for fonts found off Defont.com - a site I am familiar with, having used it in last years AS coursework. My early thoughts for fonts were of something casual, almost distressed, possibly faded. I am thinking about keeping a black and white colour scheme for the front and back cover of the digipak album and for the magazine advert. I think the simplistic aspect of my idea will work, whilst also maintaining interesting and eye-catching for the target audience.
Thursday, 29 March 2012
Filming photos
These are some phot's taken of the filming taking place, to show location, equipment and of course, the group acting like goons.
Editing has finished
On Monday 26th March our group finished editing. When we gain audience feedback, from a focus group of people we are pulling together, we can tweak little aspects of the video, if the audience feel the need to.
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Tuesday, 13 March 2012
Editing 2: Monday 12th March
Continued today with editing our video. Very near completion now and possibly ready for some audience feedback, before the finished product. The editing equipment on Mac is fairly easy to use, we have yet to use any fading effects ect. which we plan on doing on Wednesday. The quality of the uploaded Sierra Planes track however is not a good enough quality- another must be uploaded. There were fears of a lack of footage (for the part were the main character is walking through the willderness/town), but soon put to rest. The idea of the character looking through some bushes and then transforming into a stick figure has been altered slightly. Instead, he will transform from from an extreeme long range shot whilst walking, giving the character a sense of isolation and mystery. This works well with the scenery too. The fade from a snowy white, forest background to an almost blank piece of A4 paper should work very well.
The clips of footage, although mostly still shots, have been timed with the beat of the music, only a minutes worth of stick figure images need to be uploaded. We aim to finish the video on Wednesday.
The clips of footage, although mostly still shots, have been timed with the beat of the music, only a minutes worth of stick figure images need to be uploaded. We aim to finish the video on Wednesday.
Editing 1: Wednesday 7th March
Today the group began the editing work for our music video. With all the footage successfully uploaded, and only a little bit of stick figure action still to shoot, we started experimenting with the placements of clips. We are beginning to feel more confident about the video now, we hope to have it complete by next Wednesday.
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
The various Narrative theories
One of the first things we did during early group discussion was to look at the different narrative theories around and which would suit our proposed video idea;
Propp
A theory developed by Propp after analyzing folk tales. The theory is that there are stock characters which re-appear in every story-line.
These roles include;
Propp
A theory developed by Propp after analyzing folk tales. The theory is that there are stock characters which re-appear in every story-line.
These roles include;
- Hero - Person on the quest
- Princess - Prize for the hero
- Helper - Helps the hero on his quest
- False hero - Somebody who believes they are the hero
- Dispatcher - Sends the hero on their quest
- Father - Rewards the hero
- Villain - Attempts to stop the hero on his quest
- Donor - Provides objects to help the hero on his quest
This theory of Propp's is not compatible with advanced ideas for our video. Although the original idea featured Hero and Princess figures, we decided to go against this idea and just feature one character/actor throughout the entire video. His role is not clear - It is almost clouded - hence, disposing of the 'quest' idea. For all the audience know, the character in our video could be a villain - his past is unknown. Also, the action is not resolved like in fairy-tales, it is on going. In fact, who's to say that the action ever really happened at all?
Levi-Strauss
This theory dictated that there are binary opposites in every media text, or a conflict between two opposites. The audience are therefore aware of who they should side with; this technique can create a political theme within a text. For example:
- Good & Bad
- Rich & Poor
- Eastern & Western World
- Love & Hate
The only binary opposite featured in our video is Light & Dark, represented through costuming, scenery/environment, the music & lyrics and general character mood. This is as far as our video relates to the Levi-Strauss theory however, as only one character is featured in the video but an we present the idea that routinic society can drain the creativity and life out of people.
Barthes
A french semiologist who identified 5 different codes by which a narrative engages the attention of the audience. In order of importance, these are;
- The enigma code - The audience is intrigued by the need to solve a problem
- The action code - The audience is excited by the need to solve a problem
- The semantic code - The audience is directed to an additional meaning by way of connotation
- The symbolic code - The audience assumes that character dressed in black is evil or menacing and from their behavior, forms certain expectations.
- The cultural code - The audience derives meaning in a text from shared cultural knowledge about the way the world works
Barthes theory is one that could easily applied to our music video idea. There is no clear problem presented in our video, but the audience will certainly be intruiged (The enigma code) by the need to find out what is troubling the male character. Additional meaning will be gained (The semantic code) by the lyrics, which - when adding the acting and music into the mix - will give the audience an insight to the characters problem. The costume also plays a role - a black hoody worn by the character doesn't neccessarily mean that he is a bad person, although for all we know he could be, it gives the audience the impression of negativity and darkness looming in the mind of that character: adding an air of mystery.
Monday, 5 March 2012
Music video risk assessment
| Potential danger | Potential outcomes | Actions to avoid potential outcomes | Further outcomes |
| Tripping over roots/brambles | Serious injury Cuts/bruising | Film away from thick undergrowth | |
| Risk of tripping over power cables | Electrocution Serious injury | All cables to be kept above ground level and taped down | Sam will be supplying generator if we cannot get battery powered lights |
| Falling/tripping while filming running sequence | Broken limbs Cuts/bruising Concussion | Film in an open are with few obstructions | |
| Falling from high stonework | Broken bones Concussion Bruising | Sensible foot wear Extreme caution taken Only film on easily accessible areas. | |
| Slipping down banks etc. in the woods | Grazing Bruising Minor cuts | Do not film in wet conditions, this reduces risk of slippery ground |
Music video risk assessment
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Filming session 4, 28th/29th February
28th
Out of college; the focus today was to get the footage of the character sitting at home. For this, we needed to travel 10 miles to a group members house. Filming took around an hour: shots included close up's of the character and his "telling" facial expressions, stills of various artwork and ornaments scattered around the house and long shots of the character from across the room - not centred in the shot - giving him an air of mystery and to the audience, out of place with the rest of the world.
29th
Final session of filming outdoors today, the majority of footage already collected is of a good enough quality for the video although some shots need to be done again - mainly due to an unstable/shaky camera. Filming should take no longer than 20 minutes.
Filming was successful, some shots re-done, additional shots taken - all that remains is the picture taking/filming of the stick sequence.
Out of college; the focus today was to get the footage of the character sitting at home. For this, we needed to travel 10 miles to a group members house. Filming took around an hour: shots included close up's of the character and his "telling" facial expressions, stills of various artwork and ornaments scattered around the house and long shots of the character from across the room - not centred in the shot - giving him an air of mystery and to the audience, out of place with the rest of the world.
29th
Final session of filming outdoors today, the majority of footage already collected is of a good enough quality for the video although some shots need to be done again - mainly due to an unstable/shaky camera. Filming should take no longer than 20 minutes.
Filming was successful, some shots re-done, additional shots taken - all that remains is the picture taking/filming of the stick sequence.
Filming 27th Feb
Out filming for about an hour this morning. Footage consists of several tracking shots, still shots and panning shots at various locations, including the Ludlow castle ruins and wooded areas in the town. First footage filmed was of the actor running through the castle ruins and wooded areas of Ludlow - these were taken as long shots, some zoomed in, others not. The character now has a look of purpose! Other shots taken were of the actor sitting on benches or posing in front or on things such as stone walls and grassy banks. These were taken at a variety of different angles such as Over-the-shoulder, POV and bird's eye view (more or less). The footage will most likely be edited into straight cuts.
Monday, 27 February 2012
Filming session 2 - 20th Feb
Second filming session aim was to begin filming significant parts of the video, planed beforehand using storyboards and group talks. Our location for filming was Whitcliffe, on the outskirts of Ludlow, a five minute walk from the college. Various long shots and close ups of me, sitting on a bench, walking through the forest etc. Snow has thawed, may not be able to use the first session footage.
Filming/picture session no.1
Day consisted of location scouting and first attempts at filming. Long shots, Over-the-shoulder etc. Locations were all in Ludlow; such locations included Whitcliffe forest, the weir and the the town streets. Costume of character consisted of a black hoodie, brown trainers, white shirt, green chinos. One problem we could face is that the shots and footage show the areas covered with snow - which could thaw out before shooting is completed. An area was found for the band performance section of the video. The space may be a bit small but if a generator is located for the lights etc. then it will be very effective.
Monday, 20 February 2012
Costume/colour ideas
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