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Final Products...

Music Video-

Digi-Pak-

Magazine Advert-

Evaluation question 1...

Evaluation question 2...

Evaluation question 3...

Evaluation question 4...

Intertextuality...

Intertextuality is the name given when one media text refers to another media text within it, this can be in a film, music video or even in lyrics. Andrew Goodwin discusses this in just one of his theories, he says that there is often an intertextual reference in music videos and audiences enjoy knowing the 'in joke'. Below are some examples of intertextuality:

Above is a screen shot from Iggy Azalea's 2014 hit song 'Fancy'. The video features intertextuality of the 1995 hit chick flick 'clueless' (as shown below).

We used intertextuality in our music video with regards to our narrative, we based our narrative around the Literature story of Virgina Wolf. We used pebbles to symbolise the stones and we chose to illustrate our artists suicide through her walking into the lake with the pebbles in her pocket, just like Virgina Wolf's story.

Final magazine advert...

                      This is my final magazine advert for my EP Static by our band Dysphoria. 

- I used a black and white filter for my magazine advert to link it to my Digi-pak and my music video as they also contained a black and white filter. Also after researching into the indie rock genre one of the conventions was the use of a filter, usually black and white, therefore this magazine advert illustrates how I have conformed to the conventions of the indie rock genre. 

- I decided to put the text in capitals as I felt that it helped the text stand out on the advert as well as linking to our song name on our digi-pak and music video as the song title 'static' was written in capital letters.

- I chose the image of our artist in the field because I felt that it was very simple which is necessary for a background as I didn't want it to take the focus away form the text. Also by including an image of the artist it promotes their star image and viewers will be able to recognise her from the music video. This conforms to Richard Dyers Star theory,as dyer states 'a star is constructed out of a range of materials' therefore the image of our artist or 'star' on the magazine advert and in the music video illustrates 2 platforms (materials) that she will feature on, thus improving her star image. 

- The font I chose throughout the magazine advert was 'Raleway', although this is not the same font as what is on my digi-pak or music video I felt that the italic writing would not fit in with the very structured design of my digi-pak. 

- For the colour of my font, I chose to use white for the band name, song title, and for 'new album to 2015' this was because this was the most vital and significant piece of information and I wanted to make it memorable to audiences. For the rest of the writing I used a black colour font to conform to my black and white filter and to contrast with the bold white text of the song name and band name.

Record label research...

The next step was for me to research into record labels to determine the type of record label my band may be signed to. I began by researching into the big name record labels such as 'Universal Music Group', 'Sony BMG' and 'Warner Music group', to distinguish the exsisting types of bands and artists they have singed. This way I could see if there were any bands or artists for my genre of Indie Rock which would determine the like ability of them signing a band like mine.

   

I found that the big name labels such as 'Universal Music Group' tend to sign a lot of pop or R&B artists, although they do have some jazz and rock bands/artists there were not as many as the amount of pop and R&B. This lead me onto researching lower key labels who are more likely to sign small independent bands. 

I was then lead to the record label 'Fantasy' through a music video and after analysing their website I knew this would be the best record label for my band. Fantasy are not too high profile, however they are not unknown and do have good connections, also the artists and bends they have already signed seem to be from a similar genre to the Indie Rock genre.

Magazine advert draft...

I was unsure weather to use a white text box across the centre of my magazine advert or a red text box the white text box blended in with the black and white filter theme however form looking at existing Indie Rock products some of them use a black and white filter and include a hint of red to add an interesting feature. I decided to ask 2 girls at ages 17-18 as they fit into my target audience bracket and I chose to ask them on social media site 'SnapChat' because it allows me to send a photo and text in a quick efficient way and receive an answer instantly.

                                    

Above are the two different snapchats I sent to both participants on 'SnapChat'. 

Below are the answers I received.

From looking at my feedback it was clear that my audiences preferred the white text box, therefore in my final magazine advert i will use a white text box on my magazine advert.

Font type...

 

When considering the font type for our video we knew we wanted it to be bold considering when we had researched into other Indie Rock videos the fonts they used were quite bold and good out. We also had to take into consideration that our video was in black and white which can sometimes make reading the writing difficult, so we knew the best option was to make the text colour white.

After browsing through the wide, wide, range of font types we established that we wanted our band name, Dysphoria, to be in italic and our song and album title 'Static' to be in very bold clear capitals. In the end we decided to use 'SimHei' for Static and 'Humana Serif' for Dysphoria and we are extremely happy with the results.

Magazine advert analysis...

- The artist is in the centre of the frame, this implies his significance and importance and focuses the views attention on him.
- The band name 'Arctic Monkeys' is in the same font type as what is on their 'AM' album cover. This links in their products and makes their name almost like a logo, because it appears on different platforms it will become a recognised sign.
- The grey scale adds a dull and dark atmosphere to the advert, it also labels it to the Indie Rock genre as it is a typical convention that Indie Rock bands use filters such as black and white or grey scale.
- The picture of the artist on the stage with a microphone suggests to audiences that they are a band who are more into the music and performing element than the fame that comes with it, this is also portrayed in the positioning of the artist with his back turned to the crowd.
- By having the writing in white it makes it clear and stands out, this will benefit audiences as the important information that the advert is advertising is in a slightly larger white font size and will catch audiences eye.

Magazine advert analysis...

- Bold bright colours immediately stands out to audiences, creates a bright warm atmosphere.
- No image of the band, this is quite uncommon for the Indie Rock genre as they usual will include an image of the band or the artist to promote their image, this could suggest that The Killers wanted people to focus on the album realise rather than their image.
- Their band name is in the same font as what is used on  their album cover, this links in the products and can act as a logo for the band. Also the bands name are in an extremely large font, this is because they want the band name to stand out the most when people see the advert so that they can remember them which will boots their star quality.
- The tiled mosaic design on the background image adds texture and a feature to the advert, rather than having a large bold high quality image this provides a more rustic approach.

Magazine advert analysis...

- Very prominent image in the centre and the background of the magazine advert of a Rolls Royce half under water in a summing pool.
- They have used a mid-long shot of the car and the car itself is just slightly lower than the centre of the frame, this could be because above the car is the bands name and logo 'Oasis' and if the car was in the centre of the frame it may take the focus away from the band name.
- The band name is the same font and style as what appears on their albums and has become a recognised logo in the comity.
- Although the colours that are used are bright colours from analysing the advert it seems that the colour has been altered slightly to have a more washed out colour effect rather than the bright bold original colours. The washed out colours create a very calm mood which could be a reflection of the music or how the band want audiences to feel about their music.
- The bold, large font that reads 'BE HERE NOW' is used to draw in audiences to read the smaller print writing directly underneath, the capital letters will grab readers attention and will imply for them to read on where they will find that the advert is advertising the bands new album.

Final Digi-Pak...

                                                    CD                                        Inside Cover

                                            Front Cover                                     Back Cover

- For my final finished digi-pak I used a photography I took on location at one of the lakes for my front cover, I felt that this shot was very simplistic however the feature of the birds adds an eerie effect which can link into the genre of music. Also the inclusion of the trees represents the theme of nature in our video and the lake is used to represent the lake our artist commits suicide in at the end of our video.
- I used a black and white filter for my digi-pak because from researching the conventions of the Indie Rock genre one of the conventions was that filters are often used, particularly the black and white filter as it sets the tone of the album.
- For the font type on the front cover I used the same font as what was used on my final music video titles, this is so that the audiences would recognise the font type and it could possibly become a logo for our band.
- To add some interest to the front cover I decided to create a reflection of the title in the lake, I felt that this created a professional finish and shows attention to detail.
- For the back cover I selected an image from one of our camera shots of our artists' legs and feet on the decking before she jumped into the water. I knew from my audience feedback that the feet shot in our video was very popular with audiences and so I thought by using a different foot shot it would have the same effect on audiences.
- I used the same font for my track list as what the word 'Static' was in in my final video and on the front cover of my digi-pak.
- I chose the shot of the lake for my CD image as I knew I needed something quite neutral, and not overly fussy or complicated because you only see a small area of the image on the disc, therefore this shot of the lake was ideal.
- Finally I decided to use the shot of the boots for my inside cover because this was one of the shots that has always stood out to me the most particularly because of the way the camera has captured the worn, leathered texture to the boots.
- I have included a barcode at the bottom left of my back cover and a QR code at the bottom right so that audiences can scan it with their smartphone and it will take them straight to the website to download the track.
- I have also included the record label and a link to an online website on he inside cover, this is because from analysing existing Indie Rock digi-paks I found that the majority of them included this on their digi-paks.

Digi-Pak draft

When creating my Digi-Pak I experimented with different features on photoshop to see what made my digi-pak look the most appealing and eye catching to audiences. Once I and arranged each of my photos and the texts I wanted to see what elements I could change using photoshop software, I used photoshop online for this as I did not have the software on my computer at home however the online version gave me a wide selection of choices for things to change and play around with.

First of all I experimented with the 'tint' tool, although my magazine advert and music video had a black and white / grey scale filter I decided to see if a dull sepia colour may add more warmth to the digi-pak and would make it stand out in comparison to my music video and magazine advert. 

This is my Digi-pak with the black and white filter. This will link better to my magazine advert and my music video as they too have a black and white filter and it conforms to the convention of an Indie Rock digi-pak, however,the full colours make some of the images look faded and washed out which takes away the beauty of each photograph.

                           

From my comments above I decided to experiment with the 'sharpness' tool on photoshop whilst in the black and white filter. This made a drastic difference in the quality of the photographs and it made them more prominent in the digi-pak. However on reflection the sharp tool also made the writing sharp which made it look false and didn't blend in with the background image.

Overall I chose to pick the digi-pak with the black and white filter, without the sharp tool. I chose the black and white filter over the sepia tint as I felt that with the combination of my magazine advert and music video the black and white filter will bland in better as well as creating a specific image for our band. As well as this, by choosing the black and white filter illustrates that we have conformed to the conventions on an Indie Rock digi-pak. I decide to not include the sharp tool because i felt it created an 'artificial' look to my digi-pak and separated the images and text which made it look less professional and finished.

Digi-pak ideas...

Below is a selection of screenshots and photos that I have chosen as possibilities for my final digi-pak.

 I took this photo while we were filming at Forty Hall and I feel that the landscape image of the picituresque lake would be a great idea for the front cover of my digi-pak.  

        

The two photos of the boots are a possibility for the inside of the digi-pak. I loved the shots we had of our artist taking off her boots, the worn deflated leather contributed to creating a dull sombre mood and I feel the detail would be ideal inside the digi-pak. 

I thought that this wide shot o the lake would work beautifully for the image on the CD itself. This picture of the decking and the lake is extremely significant in our video and would fit well on the circle shape of the CD.

These final 2 images are possibilities for the back cover of the digi-pak. The pebbles make the link to the Virginia Wolf story in our narrative and are very significant however the shot of pour artist's feet next to the boots makes the link to just before she jumps. Both shots are equally significant and would work well as a back cover. 

Fish eye lens...

In our AS production we used a fish eye lens for some of our shots and we found from our feedback that this was very effective and added something different to our production, so we decided to try and incorporate it into our A2 music video. We decided to use the fish eye lens to illustrate a point of view shot and make our audiences see what our main artist sees. We found that the most effective place to use this was when our artist was at the edge of the decking about to jump into the water, this was not only one of our favourite shots but has also been very popular with our audience.

  

Finished music video...

We have finally finished our music video and are immensely proud of all our hard work.

Digi-pak research 3...

The final digi-pak I analysed was The Killers - ' Sam's Town'. This album had similar features to the Arctic Monkeys album with the use of abstract images and dull colours however on The Killers album it does feature an image of the band. This promotes their star image and will make the band more recognisable to audiences, increasing their fame. 

Digi-pak research 2...

The second digi-pak I analysed was Arctic Monkeys - 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'. I decided to analyse the Arctic Monkeys as they are also from the indie rock genre, therefore they will have the same conventions and will provide me with a good example and possibly inspiration for my own digi-pak.  

The band decided to only use black and white colours on their album, this isn't unusual for the indie rock genre and is a style the majority of bands choose to follow. The black and white colours create a very dull, lifeless mood which reflects some of the music on the album and the image the band wants to create.

Showcase night...

Now that our music video is complete we held a Media Showcase evening at our school to present our classes final music videos to our friends, family and fellow media students. We were immencly proud of our final product and couldn't wait to see it on the big screen! On each chair we put a pack with 4 pages, 1 for each A2 video with the same 5 questions on each:

1. What do you think is the intended demographic for this music video?
2. Does the track fit the editing style? - please give reasons why/why not
3. What did you understand to be the narrative of this music video?
4. Are there any specific camera angles/shots that stood out?
5. Any suggestions for improvements if we were to shoot this again?

Before showing our music video we asked the audience to fill out the sheet as best they could as it would be extremely beneficial for our audience feedback. We also found that compared to last year, by using sheets instead of filming the audience one by one, this was an easier and quicker way for us to gather feedback.

We are currently in the process of going through our feedback sheets and so far the audiences comments have been extremely positive with a few suggestions for improvements.

Audience feedback...

I created a questionnaire with 12 questions to gather feedback from audiences on our music video and on music videos in general. I gave some of the questionnaires out in person and some through social media sites such as twitter so that I could reach larger audiences. 

Audience feedback questionnaire...

Th images above are screen shots form the questionnaire I created which I collected feedback from on platforms such as Twitter, Whatsapp, iMessage and in person.