Carina's Feedback On My Digipak Cover & Inside My Digipak
Joel's Feedback On My Digipak
What I Have Learned Overall From The Feedback From My Ancillary Work
After looking at both my digipak and advert both Joel and Carina were able to recognise synergy I had used for example the red lips, and the font was the same font that was used in the music video. Both Carina and Joel also commented on how they were impressed with the choice of what picture I used and said it was suitable for an upcoming artist. I was glad to have this positive feeback as both Joel and Carina are the age group of my target audience, so if they are impressed with my ancillary work that means that it is highly likely my album and advert will attract my target audience.
Feedback On Our Music Video
Taija
Can
Romy
What I Have Learned Overall From The Feedback On Our Music Video.
Myself and other members of my group went to different media students who had viewed our video in the cinema and asked them for some feedback on what they thought about our video. We were pleased to hear that many liked our video and were impressed by it. The main points made were that editing was very well done and the special effects worked to make a good music video. Taija was one to point this out saying she thought our editing was very good and Romy also commented on an effect we made on the rose at the start. Both Can and Romy said that they recognised the synergy in the video with use of the colour red and especially Carina's bright red lipsticks. Romy also said she was impressed by our camera work and locations. Once again it was good to get such positive feedback from these three students as they fit our target audience, which means that our music video is likely to impressed our desired viewers.
MUSIC VID - Research, Planning, Construction & Evaluation
RESEARCH
Throughout researching I had to look at other similar artists to ours that were in our chosen genre. A few of these artists were people such as Rita Ora, Katy B, Mz Brat. We looked at their music videos for inspiration for our music video and also to see what the conventions were of our genres music videos. Throughout this process we used sites such as Youtube, also we used the website Vimeo to view previous students work. Examples of videos were R.I.P for Rita Ora and Broken Record Katy B.
PLANNING
Throughout planning our group used the Macs to record videos/vlogs where we explained what we were doing to prepare for filming. We also recorded vlogs using the flip cameras. We also used our mobile phones throughout to upload picture of possible locations that we thought of filming in.
CONSTRUCTION
For the actual making of our video we used high quality cameras to record our music video. This was a vital piece of technology in making our music video as without it there wouldn't be a way of making a professional music video. We filmed all three base tracks on the video camera and also other locations that appeared in the video. For the editing of our footage we used a programme on the Mac computers called Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Pro was also very important as we did all our editing on this. To edit the video we layered each piece of footage we had and then cut into base tracks. Without this we wouldn't have a professional look to video as there was a lot of parts that needed to be cut out. Also the change of colour from black to white on the rose wouldn't have been possible without editing. When all our base tracks were cut and we had muted the sound from our videos, we then had to sync our video with the song which was played over the footage we took. We often had to use the lock tool to keep parts of our footage in place as if they moved out of place it was not in sync with the song.
EVALUATION
We also used the flip cameras to record feedback throughout. We recorded people's opinions straight after they came out of the cinema and we also showed people from our class the video and asked them for feedback. The flip cameras were easy to use and are very convenient and they are easy to carry around and operate.
ANCILLARY- Research, Planning, Construction & Evaluation
RESEARCH
Once again for research we used the internet. I used the search engine google to search for information on similar artists to mine. I started off by researching into the artist that sings our song which is Ellie Goulding, I looked at both her album cover and any adverts promoting her album. I also looked at Rita Ora's album cover and advert for her album.
PLANNING
When planning the construction for my ancillary work I practiced making a mock up on Photoshop. This was very useful as it helped me to get familiar with the programme before using it for my real album cover and advert. I also looked and different filters and ways of sharping images. I also learnt to keep the font simple so that it was easy to read. Also I used the same font on my artist's name as the font of Karma's name when it appeared in our video. I ended up using a filter on both my album cover and advert.
CONSTRUCTION
I used Photoshop to make my album cover and advert. I found this quite easy as I had practiced with my mock up and was quite familiar with the programme. I used tools such as the eyedropper tool to make sure I used the same shade of red throughout my ancillary work. I also used the shape tool to make a circle and create the image of a CD disk. I used the quick selection tool to fill in carina's lips to red on my black and white image used inside my album. I thought the contract from the deep red colour to the black and white background worked well, and also emphasised on our synergy with Karma's red lips.
EVALUATION
For the evaluation of my ancillary work I asked my classmates what they thought of both my album (cover and inside of it) and my advert. I then recorded it using the flip cameras and uploaded them to the blog. Many people gave positive feedback saying that they recognised the synergy used throughout, a few constructive comments were also made. This was useful as I could make changes and improvements based on what people said about my ancillary work.
This is a video by the British RnB artist Rita Ora featuring Tinie Tempa. This video inspired our group when making our music video as this particular artist is in the same genre as our artist so we thought we could use some ideas represented in this video. Like Rita Ora our artist has used bright red lipstick throughout the video which works as synergy. Also our music video was set in urban locations. In the R.I.P video by Rita Ora she uses car park for her video. The locations used in our video followed the conventions of a RnB video as our video used locations which had things such as graffiti walls in the background, we also used city locations such as markets and stalls. These are usually aspects that are included in RnB videos.
High Angle Shot of Carina - Mulvey's Thoery
Carina Moves Around While The Camera Pans Down Her Body - Mulvey's Thoery
After looking back at our video I have found that we followed many of the conventions that Carol Vernaliss point out in her theory. We have obvious edits such as the special effect on the rose, we also have used a base tracks for our three locations. Also when the pace of the song increase so does the camera work, for example when it comes up to the chorus of the song and our artist slaps the camera causing it to spin. We also followed the conventions of Mulvey's theory as there are shots that are suited to a male viewer. For example when the camera pans up and down Carina's body while she moves around. She is also made to look submissive and at times vulnerable due to the use of high angle shots.
In terms of Goodwin's theory we didn't follow all his points, for example Goodwin stated that pop videos often act out a story where the artists plays narrator and character and we did not do this in our video. Our video would fall into the category of disjuncture as it does not really act out what the lyrics of the song explain. However we did follow some of his conventions as Carina looks into the camera a lot and there is repetition of locations throughout.
Along with red lipstick we also used a rose as our synergy product. This idea came from the 'Broken-Hearted Girl' video by Beyonce. The rose is featured throughout our music video and we have shots where our artist (Carina) is picking off petals which is also done in Beyonce's video. In the Broken-Hearted Girl video Beyonce has parts of the video that our rewinded to make a special effect. We also used this technique at the end of our video to put the rose back into the wall. In this particular video by Beyonce there are parts of the video which are black and white and also parts which are filmed in colour. We have used this technique in our video too as the start of our video is in black and white and then it comes into colour as the song begins to play.
Here is a video which points our the specific points in our video where conventions are followed.
CONVENTIONS FOLLOWED IN OUR ANCILLARY PRODUCTS
Before making my album cover and advert I researched other artists similar to Karma. When making my advert I placed the main picture to one side and had the text placed around it. I found that when researching album adverts this was often the set up for landscape adverts as if the picture is placed in the middle of advert the text often being over the artist's face. I also made sure that the artist's name was the biggest texts out of all other writing on the advert. My advert also stays to the colour scheme red,white and black.
Quotes from newspapers and magazines are usually put onto adverts which is what I have done with my advert. I have also added a quote from a celebrity as that could promote the artist even more and bring in fans from a different artist. In my research I found that this technique is sometimes used for new and less established artists. Carina looks the same in both pictures used in the advert and album cover so she would be easy to identify from her advert and therefore fans would know what to look for when going to buy her album.
Also with the back of my album, I have stuck to the conventions of having all the correct logos for example the record company's logo. Also when looking at other artists tracklist the usual number is just under 10 but not usually over 10 songs so I made sure there were only 10 songs listed on the album.
For my album cover I used a close up picture just like the artist Dionne Bromfield. This picture is suitable as the artist is looking straight into the camera, which means that when you look at the picture it feels like the artist is looking at you. This means that it is easy for the artist to connect with their fans., this is important as our artist would be an upcoming artist so they would not be that known and they would want fans to become familar with their face. Carina's face is on all ancillary products as she would not be an established artist yet so this would be a way of getting her face and music recognised. Also the artist name is the biggest font on the cover, followed by the album name.
As you can see my advert is coming along nicely and is nearly finished! I just need to add some quotes from critics, mags and newspapers and it will be complete!
We took our photographs in college in a classroom and then in a hallway. The classroom we first tried out had a black background and didn't work out very well as Carina was wearing all black and also her hair is quite dark so it didn't show up very well on camera. We then used a hallway we a white wall. The hallway worked well as it was an open space where we could still use a fan to blow around Carina's hair and the white background worked well with out colour scheme when teamed with Carina's black clothes and red lipstick.
The outfit for our artist wasn't massively important for my specific Digipak as I planned to use close ups or medium shots in which you wouldn't see all of Carina's body. As a group we decided to dress her in black as she wears the colour black quite a lot in our video, we used a fur scarf as a blog accessorie so that the outfit wasn't too plan. Also carina is wearing a chain which she wore in our video. Her make up has remained the same too. In our chosen genre which is RnB/Pop artists usually wear quite bold accessories, as have done with our fur scarf.
These are the photos that I am thinking of using. As you can see I have a few as I have not yet decided which ones to use for the front of my digipak. I have these photos in my shortlist as they are all close ups and are infocus making them look professional and conveying to the conventions of a normal album cover. I like the photos as she is wearing red lipstick which helps to link with our theme and synergy. I like the photographs in which she is looking away from the camera but it may be better to include a photograph where she is looking at the camera, so that she can connect better with her target audience.
I looked at a range of artists and the artist that came closest to our created artist (Karma) were Rita Ora and Katy B. Both of these artists are a mixture between RnB and Pop. I have looked at their past CD covers to get some inspiration for my own.
We have decided to use a red, white and black colour scheme. We were inspired by the RnB artist Rita Ora. We feel this colour scheme will work well to create the urban feel we want the Digipak to have and also the artist.
LAYOUT & DESIGN
For the layout of the Digipak I have decided to use a close up picture of our artist on the front with a white background, then a picture of a rose on the background to link back to our synergy.
FONT
This is the font we are using for our Digipak, it also is the font we used in our video so once again this is helping create our synergy for our audience. This font resembles graffiti and is a font that goes well with our genre.
Usually soon asfter releasing a new album artists use many different promotional material to advertise their album, in an attempt to make it become more successful. For our own artist that we have created we have to make an magazine advert, so I have researched into different artist's music adverts that are in the same genre as the artist we have created. The song we used is a song from Ellie Goulding's album so i decided to research on any album adverts that she put out for her album. Above is a poster for Ellie Goulding's album. I noticed that the picture is the same picture that is used on her actual album cover and the font is also kept the same throughout the poster and is the same one that was used on her album. These similarities help to strenghten her synergy and promote herself as an artist even more. The magazine advert also includes quotes from The Fly and Q magazine as well as quotes from The Independent and The Times. The most well know song in the album has had bold formatting to make it stand out and so people recognise some of the songs in the album. Although this is a poster for Ellie Goulding's album it was also used as a magazine advertisement.
This advert is from a magazine advertising a new album 'From The Roots Up' from the artist Delilah. The theme of this advert is pretty much the same as her album cover. The same picture is used as well as the colour of the background and the font. This means that the artist's fans will be able to recognise straight away that it is an advert connecting to her album. This advert also includes quotes from different magazines from newspaper. Delilah is an artist that genre includes RnB and Pop so she is very similar to the artist we have created.
This is a Marina & the diamonds magazine advertisement for their album 'The Family Jewels'. This image that is used of the front of the digipak is used as the main image on the magazine advertisement. The same font from the digipak is used for the name of the artist and the name of the album however they are both in different positions. This still means people can associate the two together as they will recognise the image and the font style and colour. Similarly to the Ellie Goulding magazine advertisement they have made a big feature of the singles that are already well known that are featured in the magazine. In this magazine advertisement instead of just putting the font in bold they have a picture of the single cover which may help people to recognise it more easily. The it also has a referral to itunes encouraging people to download it helping the artist to potentially get to #1 in the charts.
This is an album cover by Rita Ora. I chose this because she is a RnB artist and her colour scheme is the same as our group. This album conveys to the conventions of a album cover, as it as a close up and the font of her name is big. Rita Ora also has an audience including teenagers and young adults, just like our target audience.
KATY B
Katy B is a artist that is very similar to our artist as she has an urban feel to most of her videos and also as you can see her album cover. Her genre is also very close to our genre as her music is a mix between pop and RnB. Katy B also has an audience including teenagers and young adults, just like our target audience.
KATY PERRY
katy Perry is less of an RnB artist, she is more pop but her music has similarities to the artist we have created. She is uses quite a graffiti styled font for her album which is similar to what we have chosen. She also uses her lip colour as part of synergy as she is known for bright lipsticks, as well as her outrageous outfits and fashion sense. Katy Perry also has an audience including teenagers and young adults, just like our target audience.
During today's lesson we discussed why people still buy albums and why digipaks are important.
Today's young generation are much more into buying and downloading albums online and even though this has become more popular than the traditional way of buying an album in a way this has helped to make albums popular, people feel like having an album is part of memorabilia and a keepsake.
Digipaks also help to promote the artist to fans and the public as they contain pictures of the artist and sometimes lyrics inside to all the songs on the album.
This year I definitely think my blogging is going well. I have been more frequent in blogging and have thought of different techniques of blogging rather than just the standard written post.
I have been looking for more opportunities to blog compared to last year when I only really followed the blogging checklist rather than blog for important things my group was working on in and outside lesson.
I think our planning for our video could've gone better as we didn't consider possible setbacks we could have and if we had planned a plan B just incase anything messed up it would've have been less stressful at the time.
My personal blogging can be improved by blogging as soon as something happens rather than catching up with blogs I left with drafts as it can make things easier when publishing posts. Also I may include more vlogs and videos to add more variety to my ways of blogging.
