My Promotional Package

Music Video

This is the compressed version of my final video, as the pixels have been made smaller the quality has been reduced.

Front Cover of Digipak

























Back Cover of Digipak

Inside Panels of Digipak

Magazine Advertisement

Overall Evaluation

The assignment for the ‘Advanced Portfolio in Media’ was to create a promotional package for the release of an album. This was to include the main task of creating a promo video and two subsidiary texts of my choice out of; a website for the homepage for the band, a cover for its release on digipak or a magazine advertisement for the digipak. I opted to produce a cover for its release on digipak and the magazine advertisement for the digipak. My reason for choosing these was because I felt I have more knowledge and understanding of these sorts of texts as I have done thorough research into similar products in my AS coursework. If I had of chosen to create a website this would have given me the opportunity to challenge and develop my creative skills further, however in the time given I felt it would be in my best interest to chose the two subsidiary texts which I would be able to create to the best of my ability and more effectively.

For this task I chose to work in a group of two this consisted of myself and Ellen Townend. We decided to work together because we feel we are similar people with high expectations and we are ambitious in our work. This way we were able to put our creative skills together for example, if my partner or I had any ideas that we put forward the other was able to give their feedback on it and also adapt or adjust it to make it even better. We knew we would be able to work well and effectively together because we have near enough identical timetables and live within a short distance of each other. This allows for more flexibility within the project as we are not restricted as to when we can meet.

When working in a group I think it is important to assign roles and make sure everyone plays an equal part because this was you can get things done more efficiently. My partner and I carried out our researching and planning individually as this allows us to each bring what we have learnt together and then we have more knowledge and ideas to play around with. We talked in detail about our ideas for the video and we wrote out the plan for the storyboard together. We though it would be useful to draw the storyboards to our own interpretations so that we can combine them.

When conducting our music promo video we opted to assign Ellen to the role of acting, myself as the video camera operator and we equally shared the role of editing our footage. We chose to have Ellen star as the music artist because we knew it would be too risky relying on other actors to have the same flexibility as us in terms of free time. Moreover she knew exactly how we had each scene planned and it is often difficult to get others to understand the way in which you want them to do something.

Music videos represent a crucial part of the music industry. Artists owe their careers to music videos as they are being given the chance of impressing the public not just with their vocal talent, but also with their looks or moves. It was therefore important that I carried out thorough research in order to gain knowledge and understanding of what will be expected of my products. I began by researching the general history of music videos; this showed me how the developments in technology lead to music videos that transformed the music industry. I constructed mind maps, analysed existing music videos from different genres and annotated and evaluated my song lyrics. From this research I learnt the codes and conventions of music video’s which I could then adapt into my planning stages.

When putting our film together using the editing software in some sequences we have used cut to the beat editing. This is a common transition form in music videos as it gives it flow, continuity and a sense of rhythm/beat which is important within a song. We have used a wide variety of numerous locations in our video. We were able to use having a car to our advantage to take us to different destinations such as; Hornsea beach, Chanterlands Avenue graveyard, and the Minster Church in Beverley along with others. In existing music videos there is generally more than one location and we wanted to incorporate this into our own. Changes in location offer different viewing for the audience to keep them entertained and also location may be key in representing a particular verse in the song. However the chorus is always in the same place as it is repeated several times throughout the song, this allows the audience to differentiate between a new verse and the chorus. We have used a variety of angles and shots such as low angle to make the artist appear superior perhaps in the most powerful bit of the song and tracking shots to follow energetic dance movements. Again this follows the conventions of existing texts as the way in which a scene is shot helps the viewer’s interpretation of the song.

Some things in our video challenge the ‘norm’ expectations of music videos and also challenge our own creative skills. In one sequence we have created a split screen effect where three of the artist appear on screen one by one, all dancing simultaneously. Due to the fact that we made the dance moves up and were not professionally choreographed we chose to have the split screen effect so that not all the attention is focused upon the dancing itself but everything else that is going on. In addition to this, in another scene there is a shot whereby the artist appears inside a glass ball and using the blue room to shoot and video effects on the editing suites were able to conduct it so that she actually moved inside the ball. How we created these effects are explained in earlier posts. Through creating scenes like this adds variety for the viewer and also gives our video production a professional outlook and high standards.

There are many reasons my partner I chose to follow and adapt the forms and conventions of real media products instead of defying them. Usually if the song is trying to send out a controversial message or if the music genre is stereotypically rebellious such as rock or heavy metal, these characteristics can be seen by the likes of artists such as Beth Ditto, then defiance of forms and conventions are often apparent. We didn’t want our artist to be seen as different, as she is not portraying a rebellious attitude and generally within the genre of R&B music videos tend to stay within the boundaries of the ideologies associated with that genre. We want our artist to have a good, positive impression on the audience.

Our target audience is aimed at females aged 18-25 whose favourite genre of music is predominantly pop and watches music channels on a regular basis. As this age range will generally already have their own values and ideologies we did not have to be as conscious as to how representations within our media texts could influence them in contrast to a younger audience whose values and ideologies are still more impressionable. Within the R&B genre artists tend to have sex appeal and certain attractiveness about them, but they do not make it the main focus of the video as opposed to hip-hop or dance. They make it more about the lyrics and the message it is conveying whilst still being conscious of image. Our video takes on this attitude in respect of giving the artist sex appeal whilst retaining her dignity, this maintains the audiences respect for the artist and therefore they will continue to purchase her content in the future.

I would argue that my video is based on both narrative and performance. This challenges the conventions of real music videos because it is general is dominantly one or the other. My video fulfils this in the way that narrative is shown in sequences through lyrical representations through visuals and performance is shown in the form of ‘Mickey Mousing’ a term other wise known as miming and energetic dance routines. Mixing the two in this way creates maximum voyristic pleasure for the viewer as it gratifies their needs for both narrative and performance. It also fulfils my aims as video producer to get the audience to focus and listen to what the lyrics are telling the audience.

Textual Analysis of Video

My partner and I have created this music video as part of a promotional package in order to promote the release of our artist’s new album. The music video is to the song ‘Sweet Dreams’, originally sung by Beyonce. In order to make it our own and thrive in originality we have taken a completely new perspective on the song and created a new narrative. We have ultimately based the narrative of our perception of the key song lyrics; “Sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare”.

The video depicts one girl’s story of love and lust over a boy who is out of her reach. The boy is forbidden to her and in that sense it makes him her ‘guilty pleasure’ which is also a key lyric within the song. The video poses the question of whether she is in reality or is it all a dream world, this reflects the idea of getting caught up between fiction and fantasy. This boy is constantly on her mind, portraying him as her ‘sweet dream’, but the constant heart ache and uncontrollable lust can just as easily turn him into her ‘beautiful nightmare.

The video begins with a still shot of a New York skyline. We chose to start the video with this establishing shot because New York in known as ‘the city that never sleeps’ this can be seen to represent her disturbed sleep pattern. The bottom left hand corner of the screen displays the song title and the name of the artist which fades in and back out lasting for duration of six seconds, this gives our video authentic and verisimilitude qualities in relation to real life media texts as they would be shown on a music channel.

This fades into a long shot that reveals Elle Rose in a dimly lit bedroom lying asleep on her bed. Within the mise-en-scene we opted to have dim lighting created by two bedside lamps, this creates a candle lit effect and sets a romantic tone. The careful use of lighting has been depicted to convey a particular atmosphere and mood for the song. The bedding is black silk and there are array of black, white and silver pillows propping her up. To make Elle Rose stand out from the setting she is wearing a red, silk dressing gown with black hold ups. This gives her sex appeal and represents her as attractive and stylish. In the R&B genre female artists are conventionally portrayed in this way. In the background the diegetic sound of a heartbeat can be heard which creates a tense atmosphere.

Using the timeline marker we were able to use cut to the beat editing as begins to twitch and the shot changes to a close-up of her face to convey the emotions portrayed in her facial expressions. A straight cut takes us to an extreme close-up of her eyes, this is so that you can clearly see the movement underneath the eye-lid to show that she is having a distressing sleep.

As the music continues to get louder a straight cut takes us into the dream sequence that she is having. A panning shot of a beach skyline introduces the audience to new location. It appears empty and the sunlight appearing through the clouds sets up an ominous and unearthly atmosphere which adds a dream style element to the sequence.

To maintain the idea of a dream each the sequence appears as short snapshots which fade into each other. The dream helps the audience to understand the narrative, in that she thinks she is with the boy she loves but in actual fact she is alone. In order to depict this we used a close-up of her feet with an imprint of a males footprint embedded in the sand. This fades into a close-up of giant love heart drawn into the sand. To make it easier for the audience to pick up on the narrative that she is dreaming we have included a cut-in of an extreme close-up of her hand gripping the bed covers to show her distress, this has been cut to the beat to maintain rhythm within the song.

To make it appear as though Elle Rose is spinning around with her lover we filmed it using a handheld camera, this way the camera appears through the perspective of the boy. The sunlight is piercing in the background giving it an unearthly tone. The camera zooms out to reveal her spinning by herself and the footage begins to speed up as the backing music grows louder and more menacing.

As the music comes to its climax point, the loudest and most dramatic part she falls to the floor and a zoom takes us into a close-up of her face. Although zooming is unusual because of the possible disorientated effects, it has been purposely chosen to represent disorientation and the zoom in represents that she is coming closer to waking up. To bring the video back into the present time a piercing scream signifies the end of her dream. She awakes back into reality and her eyes are wide with fear, she is looking directly at the audience which makes a connection with the viewer before the actual song is about to start.

There is fifteen seconds of backing music before she actually starts singing. We opted to use a dance sequence within this scene as we found through research of existing texts that the majority of R&B music videos feature an energetic dance. As we are not equipped with professional choreographers we found it hard to make the dance seem professional and entertaining, however the dance movements fit perfectly to the beat of the music. To keep the audiences attention we have tried to draw away from the sole focus of the dance and use a split screen effect so that three of her appear all dancing simultaneously.

We were able to create this using effects on the editing suite. Firstly we copied and pasted three versions of the dance sequence and situated them on three different video lines. We then cut them in place where we wanted them to start from, we made it so that each clip comes in after five seconds. We then used the crop tool to enable us to scale the images into place. As we shot against the blue background we were able to make the background transparent using ‘matrox chroma key’ tool. In effects control we eliminated the background. By creating a new title sequence we were able to make a plain white background and then we simply dragged this underneath all the clips. As we did not have blue flooring we were left with a grey area around the feet which is also present in the chorus. As we did not have a professional studio to film in we had to make the best out of what we had and unfortunately this meant that we had to keep the grey area around the feet.

As the lyrics begin she appears back in the bedroom location. In this scene she appears to be miming in line with the words, this is what is known in the music industry as ‘mickey mousing’ and is a conventional feature of music videos. It is extremely difficult to get the miming to fit with the actual song. In some scenes we found that the first part of the verse would fit perfectly but the second half a little bit out. We were able to get past this problem by using the razor tool to cut the shots in half so that they could be treated separately. Then using the speed and duration icon we were able to speed up or slow down shots to make them fit with the words. If it we found that we had a problem with lip syncing we tried to use video effects to disguise it, this can be seen in the verse ‘you’re the perfect lullablby’.

We used a matrox video effect that gives a ripple effect, the screen appears to fade in and out in a wave motion, this also represents the idea of going into a dream, as the connotations associated with a lullaby are sleep and dreams.

We opted to use lyrical representation in a variety of the scenes. It is apparent in the first verse as the words are ‘every night I rush to my bed’ and she is seen to be crawling provocatively toward the camera. She sheds the red silk dressing gown to reveal a red corset, this particular look is sexy and attractive which is how we want Elle Rose to be represented as do most R&B singers. The camera is still and she moves towards it keeping firm eye contact with the audience, this entices the viewer and maintains their attention.

To interpret the lyrics ‘lost in a fairytale’ we had the idea of Elle Rose appearing inside a glass ball which would be iconic of the fairytale scene. Originally we thought about putting a picture inside but we wanted the standards of our video to be higher than that and to challenge our level of skill. We began by videoing a still shot of the glass ball, as it has artificial snowflakes we made sure that it had been shook up.

Next we filmed Ellen against the blue background and she pretended to banging on something as this would appear as though she was banging on the globe. On the editing suite we once again made the background transparent using the same steps as before and cropped the shot containing the globe to eliminate the wall it was shot against. Placing the two shots appropriately on the time line we ended up with the finished version that appears in the video. Her distressed facial expressions and banging on the wall convey a sense of entrapment, representing that she is trapped between reality and fiction. Although there is movement inside the globe the shot itself is still which proves to be quite boring to watch, however we wanted this clip to last for a certain duration of time. To make this clip appear not as long we opted to use a different transition than the usual fades that we always use. To introduce the viewer into the new location we used a rotation effect, this conveys her disorientated state of mind.
The lyrics ‘what kind of dream is this’ are performed before every chorus, we decided that she should use the same movements each time which is shrugging her shoulders as this indicates that she doesn’t know what kind of dream it is. By keeping the movements the same the audience can recognise when a chorus is a about to start. As there is a lot of repetition within the song lyrics the video appears to look very repeated. However when analysing existing music videos I picked up on this feature as a conventional feature of music videos. In order to make it appear varied we have made slight adaptations to some of the repeated verses. For example in the first verse of the chorus she appears through a long shot standing up dancing but in the second verse although she is singing the same words she appears in slower motion and through a mid shot so that only her face and upper body is visible.
Within our video we have adapted on this idea and incorporated the idea of binary oppositions in relation to the ‘Sweet Dream’ and ‘Beautiful Nightmare’ as it triggered connotations of good and evil, love and hate. To portray this meaning in our video we have chosen to represent it through outfit and make-up choices within the mise-en-scene in the chorus sequences. We have used black, water based face paint to cover the right hand side of her face, this is to represent her ‘bad side’ and we used gold body paint on the right hand side of her face to portray the ‘good side’. We based this idea on the saying ‘left for love and right for spite’. Within the mise-en-scene of chorus we chose to have a plain white background as the costume and make-up are very bold and eye-catching and we didn’t want a busy background to draw away from this. As she is the sole focus it gives the chorus more impact. Within the chorus the majority of shots appear still from either a long or mid shot point of view, and there is not much movement within the shot. As most chorus’ in other media texts are energetic we placed a fan underneath her face and this gave it a more dramatic and dynamic outlook. This gives a professional effect to the video and gives the scene added motion.

Where the vocals become more powerful we have used low angle shots to make her appear dominant and in control. In one particular scene she appears to be walking with an umbrella that poses as kind of dance cane, this depicts her as powerful and dominant as the connotations that reflect from a cane are that of authoritive figure.

We opted to use a church location within the particular verse that features lyrics of religious lexis such as ‘prayers’. To introduce the viewer to this location the camera pans across the roof of the church and features a 360 degree turn in the centre piece. As the camera tilts down Elle Rose appears at the end of the isle. Originally the pan ended at the opposite end of the church but we thought it would be more effective if she could be in the same place where the pan ends as it will be less confusing for the viewer and easier to follow the narrative. For maximum authenticity the costume used is an actual wedding dress. The scene features short snapshots of her in various places within the church such as in front of a cross , a set of candles and a bouquet of flowers all of which are iconic of the church setting.

The narrative is supposed to read that she is fantasising about getting married to the man she loves in her dreams but this is of course a fantasy and she then appears alone, looking down to the ground in a very somber mood, this sets up a serious tone. The lighting is dull and sinister to represent the emotional and tense atmosphere.

We used a similar reasoning for the graveyard location as the lyrics refer to death. To centralise Elle Rose in the frame we made sure that she was in the middle of two gravestones so that the attention is focused around her. To visually represent the lyrics ‘tattoo your name’ we used black marker pens to write names all over her body and tried to make them look as though they had been etched on to her skin. A medium close-up of her stomach area allows the audience to clearly see the writing. As the camera tracks her walking through the gravestones an ominous double of her appears to coming out of her body, this is to give a ghostly effect and also represent her two states of mind. A close-up of her chest reveals the words ‘till death do us part’ in line with when she sings it. For the costume we opted for an all black approach as this colour is associated with sinister subject matter such as death.

We decided to go for a ‘bad girl’ look by dressing her in all leathers as this is the stereotypical material that represents the ‘bad girl/biker chic’. To entice the audience she unzips her leather jacket in time to the beat of the music to add rhythm style, with her hand that is displaying a fishnet glove, this reveals her wearing a black crop top showing her chest and stomach. All these things give her added sex appeal which we were aiming for in our video as we found it to be a conventional aspect within female R&B videos.

For a memorable ending we decided it would be effective to use snapshots of a still shot, with Elle Rose posing, from each location we have used throughout the video.

We placed each clip strategically in chronological order of when they appear in the video. She appears to be posing against something that is iconic to the location in every clip, for example on the bed, in front of the cross, in the tree, against a statute in the graveyard and ending in the white room where the chorus takes place. The song is brought to an end by her say ‘turn the lights off’ and she acts as if she is flicking a light switch. At this point the background goes black to signal the lights being killed and as the music grows quieter the camera slowly pans down her body ending with her feet.

A straight cut for dramatic effect takes us to the final clip which is a mid-shot of Elle Rose, and she looks very vibrant and vivid against the pitch black background in contrast. She is staring directly at the camera and ending the video in this way keeps that connection with the audience, shows them that she is present right up until the end. The ending is sharp and dramatic which will leave a lasting impression on the viewer and make it all the more memorable.

When we planned to shoot our video we had a check list of all the different types of shots that we should try to include within our video. There is a wide range of shots and angles used to help the audience view and follow the narrative such as establishing shots to introduce locations, close-ups to reveal emotion in the face and gives attention to detail, low angles to portray her as dominant and a whole range of other cinematography.

The editing used throughout is match on action. We opted to use this style editing to make it easy for the audience to view and follow the narrative because the deep and meaningful concept behind the video is already very intense. Moreover this style editing is the conventional approach to editing within the film / video / television industry. The cuts are also so well integrated to the beat of the music, this known as cut to the beat editing and this is the conventional editing style used particularly within music video’s as it gives a sense of rhythm. In order to maintain continuity we had to make sure that if we re-shot anything the hair, make-up and costume was exactly the same as before. To overcome this we opted to re-shoot entire scenes so that we would not have any issues with continuity. The software allowed me to use non-linear editing, so that we did not have to edit the video in chronological order. This meant that we were able to edit any section as when we wanted and were not restricted by not having a piece of footage at the beginning as we could effectively start at the end if we wanted.

There are a total of eight outfit changes. Costume is important within music videos as they play a key role in representing genre, change in location, tone and character stereotype. Each outfit was a conscious decision for e.g. the black and gold dress in the chorus to tie in with the black and gold themed face that all reinforce the idea of dreams and nightmares. Another example can be seen in the wedding dress in the church setting as this outfit is iconic of the location.

We opted to have Ellen as the singer ‘Elle Rose’ as she has the stereotypical R&B/pop artist look, this is a tall, slender physique, long flowing hair which is versatile in respect to creating different styles, an elegant posture and she boasts attractiveness as a whole. Stereotypes are a controversial issue within society, however we wanted our music video to fit in within our chosen music genre.

Overall I believe that the music video for ‘Sweet Dreams’ boasts realism and authenticity in relation to other existing media texts and I think it will work well as part of the promotional package alongside the two ancillary texts.

............................

The front, back and inside panels that I have produced for my digipak uses and develops upon existing conventions of digipaks for instance the front cover has a dominating picture of the artist her name, the digipak title and a sticker that gives a special mention to aspects of the digipak. The layout was suitable in the way that it separated all the texts, the text was based around the image and the image dominated the cover, this uses conventions of existing CD front covers. In order to make the back look as realistic as possible I made sure to display all the conventional information that you would find on a real product, this included track listing with song durations, a different image to the front cover, the same font as the front cover, copyright information, record label logo, barcode, the artists website address and other symbols such as recycling and compact disc. The inside panels showed full length images of the artist to add variety and in my designs I have put graphics on the actual disk as this is what you would generally see on a real CD. By carrying out my covers in this form it adds authenticity and realism, therefore it will be more readily accepted by the consumer as a quality and legitimate purchase.

Textual Analysis of Digipak

The new and upcoming artist ‘Elle Rose’ is predominantly an R&B singer with pop characteristics of a pop style genre, as does similar female artists such as Rihanna and Beyonce. The album cover must reflect the music genre and represent the artist in such a way as she would wish to be perceived and this is what I have tried to adapt into my cover through use of colours, visual images and font.

The research and planning which I have conducted has helped me to understand the codes and conventions of album covers and through this knowledge I now know what is expected of an album cover for different music genres.

As my music artist fits into the mainstream category of R&B it is not like she is trying to be different or make herself be noticed as been out of the ‘norm’ such as singer Beth Ditto for instance. It is for this reason that I have created my digipak cover so that it abides by and follows the codes and conventions of album covers in general rather than defying them. I have done this by keeping to a minimum of three dominant colours, which are continued throughout the digipak both within the inside panels and back cover. These are; black, gold and white. The cover includes all the conventional information such as album title, artist name, a dominating image of the artist at hand and a sticker that gives special mention to particular aspects of the digipak. Moreover I have used one font type for most of the text that runs throughout the digipak and I have used a more basic font within the sticker for eligibility reasons.

The font which I have used is what is known as a calligraphy style of writing. It is a very artistic style of writing and is visually attractive. It looks sophisticated and professional whilst at the same time the flicks and swirls add an element of beauty which portrays the elements I want my artist to be associated with. The text that states the album title and artists name are bold and enlarged in comparison to the other text that features, as this is the most important. It must be clear to read ands recognisable in order to attract consumers attention as it must stand out on the shelf next to all the other CD’s as hers.

I have opted to call my artists album ‘Sweet Dreams’ and this is also a track that features within the CD and it is also the track that is included on the bonus DVD. Through research I have found that a high number of artists choose to name their album after a song within their actual CD and this tends to be the most recognisable for example one of their most recent track releases such as Cheryl Coles new album ‘3 Words’ follows this idea.

I made the decision to have a white background for the cover as I didn’t want to many visuals drawing away the attention of the artist and assisting text. Although it may look and sound plain having an all white background it was important that everything else that went onto the cover was bright, eye-catching and contrasting. In addition to this because the main image of the artist includes bold colours and is rather an abstract image where the contrasting black and gold face is concerned it I didn’t want is to look too busy or over the top by adding a colourful background as it would be too much to take in all at once.

So that it didn’t look too empty I placed three gold stars that have small white stars inside them in the top left hand corner. I created these using the shapes tool on Microsoft publisher and using the effects that are included I was able to change the patterns and colours to how it looks now. The reason I have chosen to include stars is because dreams are associated with night time and stars come out at night. The visual interpretation of stars have a mystical presence adding a spiritual sense with deep meaning and this portrays the content within the album.

When taking my pictures for the cover I was conscious in my mind about where I had planned to place the other text. Previously I was just going to have a medium close-up of ‘Elle Rose’ poising looking over her shoulder to reveal her ‘good’ side however when I began creating the cover it looked rather empty and plain. I started to look at other pictures I had taken to see how I could make them work. The image that I have opted to use still fulfils my original idea but adds more style and sex appeal as she is sweeping her hair back with her hand, open body language welcomes the audience more and gives off a warmer and more inviting vibe. The sweeping back of her hair looks elegant, attractive and together with the parting of her lips as she pouts makes her look sensual and gives added sex appeal to entice the audience. This may also help to attract a wider male audience as primarily her target audience is females aged 18-25. Now that her elbow is in the air it makes the cover appear fuller. In an attempt to create an initial connection between artist and consumer she is looking directly at the audience. This grabs the attention of the reader and draws them in to look at the product further.

The main image is of the artist herself ‘Elle Rose’. As the song ‘Sweet Dreams’ involves representations of binary opposition such as love and hate good and bad I have tried to represent this through the two different sides of her face. My partner and I opted to colour her face in black and gold as this follows with the colour of her dress which is intertwined black and gold. The black is to represent her darker side the illusion of night time, as this is when dreams and nightmares occur. We still wanted our artist to maintain an image of beauty and we have done this by applying jewels to her face under and above the eyes. Although they are not symmetrical there is a still a sense of unity as they are the same just opposite way round, again illustrating the idea of opposites. Within the mise-on-scene the make-up and costume play an important part within the cover. I have used the back and front to portray the different sides and seen as the title is ‘Sweet Dreams’ it seemed logical that it was the gold side I wanted to be portrayed on the cover. Her dress is also black and gold which follows within the conventions of keeping to similar colours. Although you cannot see the dress in full on the front or back I am able to use the panels inside the digipak to display her full body image.

The white rose in her hair not only adds detail and beauty to the idea of a sweet dream it also visually represents the artists name ‘Elle Rose’ The rose acts as a symbolism as her, a trademark almost. This helps to make the CD instantly recognisable as fans can begin to associate her with the rose and will be able to easily pick it out.

Something which I had not planned to include when I drafted my front cover was the sticker which appears in the bottom left hand corner. I noticed when carrying out my research that the majority of album covers feature a sticker of some sort, whether it be a parental advisory sticker or a sticker that points out the best features of album. As an advisory sticker would not be suitable for the nature and content of this album I opted to create a small sticker that would engage the consumer by telling them the best features. This is usually done by stating ‘Includes’ and then follows as to the content. As this particular album is actually a digipak edition that also comes with a DVD I have given special mention to this. I have used enthusiastic language such as ‘bonus’ and ‘exclusive’ to make it sound irresistible to buy or that they would be missing out if they didn’t own it. Potential buyers like to think that they are getting more than their moneys worth and the purpose of the sticker does that. I have placed in this position as it is would look out of place anywhere else and I have found that generally appear at the bottom. It is directly opposite to the album title and people generally read form left to right and so therefore are sure not to miss it.

The spine is similar to other CD’s. It includes the artists name at the top and the actual digipak title ‘Sweet Dreams’ more central. I also noticed that some spines include reference to the record label of which the artist belongs to, so I have taken this into consideration and adapted it onto my spine by including the ‘Elle Rose Records’ logo. It is important to include the main information, artist and title, to be able to recognise what album/digipak it is when on the shelf.

The back cover also follows the codes and conventions of the ordinary CD. I have made sure to include all the conventional information such as; track list (along with time duration of the tracks), an image of the artist, the barcode, the artists website address, the record label logo, additional logos/symbols and the legal info such as copyright.

The text is conventionally the same as what is used on the front. I have positioned the tracking list to follow the outline of the main image as this gives it a stylistic elements and shows that I am conscious of layout. The tracking list has number ordering to show when it will appear on the CD and I also noticed that some CD’s also tell the consumer how long each track plays for. I opted to include this feature into my back cover as it gives it more of a professional outlook and adds realistic qualities.

The main image is of the artist portraying her ‘bad’ side. I found that usually if an album cover uses a close-up shot of the face on the cover there will usually be a full length image on the back. However as I am creating a digipak I am able to take advantage of the inside panels to feature this style photograph. Again she is looking straight at the audience to maintain the connection between audience and artist.

With the forever fighting battle against global warming and climate change people are now more aware about environmental factors. I therefore decided to show that my packaging is environmentally friendly by designing my own recycling symbols which I created using the arrow tools on Microsoft Office. Although this is not a major influential factor on whether someone will buy the product or not it may be to some people and if this means encourage one or two more people to buy it than it’s better than none. I also noticed that the compact disc logo appears on the majority of CD's to establish the product, to maintain verisimilitude within my product compared to existing product I decided to create my own logo that looks as similar as possible to that you would find on other CD covers .

The barcode is a basic conventional feature that is always displayed on the back cover of albums/CD’s/digipaks. I have placed it in the bottom right hand corner as you would usually find it at the bottom somewhere as it is not a selling point but merely just for the sales persons use.

Legal information is a must and you will find it contained on the back of all audio productions. It is there to protect the artist and content form being illegitimately copied and therefore loosing profits and it also informs the consumer who has the legal rights to various content to do with the production. It usually appears in really small font along the side or at the bottom of the back cover, again it isn’t a selling point of the digipak but it is vital that this information is displayed.

I found that one of the conventions of the back cover is to display the artist’s website address. Fans like to know this information and it could influence further purchases of her music in the future. The website provides a link to everything else that the artist is doing and promoting, if people visit the website then they are more likely to buy other things of the artist and they not have known about this until they saw it on the back of the album.

The record label I designed myself. I have opted to create a completely new record label belonging to my artist called ‘Elle Rose Records’. I have made it look like a logo by using a circular image to bring it to together and finished it off with a black square in order for it to stand out from the white background. The rose visually represents the name and is a symbol that buyers are able to recognise and establishes the product as Elle Rose’s.

The original background of the images that I have designed to appear on the inside panels were blue as I shot them in the blue room. A blue background allows for a wider range of editing options as it provides me with the ability to make the entire background transparent and then I can make it anything I like. Due to time issues and haste I have not eliminated the blue as neatly and as precise as would have had liked. However I think it works quite well as it creates an electrifying and mystical blue illusion that frames her, almost as though she has just stepped out of a dream. This works effectively as it represents the title and content within the digipak such as the song ‘Sweet Dream that is also included on special DVD edition.

Overall I think that my front and back cover of my digipak looks as realistic as possible in comparison to CD’s that are already on the market through following existing codes and conventions.

.......................

Thanks to the developments in digital technology everything that has gone into this advanced portfolio has been made possible. I have been able to use internet search engines to help me in my research into the background of music videos and I have been able to use sites such as youtube to post content that I am able to analyse. It also enabled me to download my required font that appears in the two ancillary texts which I got from1001 free fonts.

My blog has allowed me to display my work from beginning to end. It acts as online jotter almost, every idea and bit of research I have conducted I have been able to post up to show how my skills and ideas are developing. In my first year of media I was new to the whole blogging system and I never really fully understood it. Now I am confident in using it, uploading pictures and videos and I can use the other tools embedded in the program to create my own online poll for extra audience feedback. To make each of my posts interesting for the reader I try to include visuals that will assist the text. As a long piece of writing can often seem daunting and then people aren’t that keen to read them. I also think visuals help people to remember what they are reading because they can associate the information with the images.

In my planning stages I used the software contained in the editing program ‘adobe premiere pro’ to create my animatic (moving storyboard). I took pictures using a digital camera of each shot in my storyboard, uploaded them onto the editing suite and dragged them onto the time line at the correct point and cut them according to how long I wanted each one to last. I didn’t put any transition effects in at this point but it still allowed me to see how my music video would flow and form together and this way it was easier to spot where things would need improving.

Although we got a little experience at using the editing machines last summer when we returned to produce some amateur video to get a feel for what it was going to be like this year, it felt like I was completely new at the whole thing. My partner and I have spent the last two-three months editing footage, the reason it has taken so long is because each candidate is assigned to a machine and that is theirs for the duration of their video construction and these are on a first come first serve basis. We chose to upload each bit of footage as soon as we had shot it and then begin editing on it, instead of waiting until we had shot it all, this way we could manage our time more effectively.

My partner and I learnt how to use a wide variety of transitions and effects on the editing suite. In order to produce the white background in the chorus we used the chroma key. You simply drag it over the clip and then go into video effects and use the auto key and this makes it transparent. You then make a new title and make the entire background white. Place this underneath the transparent footage and adjust it to the correct length. This is a new skill I have now learnt.

I am now confident at using a video recorder. How well our footage turned out was reliant upon my camera work and framing. I learnt the correct framing for head shots and I was able to use the tripod for swift and smooth movement such as tilts and panning.

Last year in my foundation portfolio I attempted to use adobe photoshop to create my magazine front cover and edit images so I could use them in my production. I had no clue as to how it worked and resorted to using ‘paint’ to make basic adjustments such as erasing the background to white and they appeared untidy and unprofessional. In my second year I decided it was vital that I developed my skills and learnt how to use professional editing software such as photoshop. After a few trial and errors and doing things the long way instead of using a tool I didn’t quite understand I am able to confidently use photophop to at least erase my full background neatly and carefully around the main image and then change it to whatever I want. I did this through creating different layers and managing them effectively.
I could have used this program to create all my ancillary texts from strat to finish but I decided that I wanted to use Microsoft Publisher to fulfill this task. The reason for this being I use it constantly and even used it for last years media coursework therefore I feel confident in using it effectively to create a professional and well made final product. By using this software I knew I would be able to produce something of a high standard more independently as I didn’t have to keep asking for help. And I could transfer the images that I had edited on photoshop into my production piece created within Microsoft Publisher.

In order to relate my music video and ancillary texts I have combined a number of elements within all three. The artist has the same outfit and make-up on all the ancillary texts so that the audience can recognise and relate what products are hers. I chose to represent Elle Rose in this way because this is a key costume in the music video. She appears dressed and made up this way in the chorus to her music video for Sweet Deams. In research I found that it is conventional to use something on the album cover that is perhaps featured in the content for example the DVD cover for ‘Take That’s’ live performance has the mechanical elephant on the cover which makes an on stage appearance during their performance. Through using the same costume that appears in the chorus numerous times throughout the video it is likely to stick in their heads and this way when they see the poster or digipak cover they will instantly recognise her.

Textual Analysis of Magazine Advertisement

To create my magazine advertisement I used the software contained in Microsoft publisher as I have had experience in using this program when I created my magazine front cover and double page spread last year in the foundation portfolio.

I have made the advertisement according to the conventions of existing magazine advertisements for album releases. Each magazine advertisement that I analysed contained the album title, the artist’s name (usually at the top of ad), the release date and what the album included. Others that I looked at also featured the different formats the content could be purchased on e.g cd and download and some even mentioned a specific store, some featured the artists web address and in all the ads the image was taken from the front cover of the album or displayed the front in one area of the ad. I chose to combine all these features into my magazine article to ensure I enclosed as much information as possible about the release for maximum profit opportunity. I have laid all the information out spacially so that it does not look crammed as it can put people off reading the information if it looks too lengthy and compact.

I stuck to the conventional idea of only using three dominant colours and these are the same that dominate the other ancillary text; black, white and gold to maintain continuity. The contrast of black text on white and white text on black makes the information clearly legible and stands out to grab the readers attention because if the writing is hard to see then people generally will not bother to try and readit. The album title is easily recognisable as the same font is used in the front cover, again a conventional aspect of advertisements.

The image of the top half of her face focuses around the eye area. It is a very powerful and engaging image that will grab the readers attention as she is staring directly toward the audience making a connection that will make the ad irresistible to read. I have manipulated the image so that you can still see the rose in her hair emerging at the side as this makes her instantly recognisable. I have put her name at the top of the page as generally it will be the first thing the audience will see and it is important to establish who she is straight away.The important bits of information are in bold such as the release date itself, which is positioned in the centre of the advertisement because this is the most important piece of information the magazine advertisement is trying to publicise.

In order to make the digipak sound more appealing I have used exaggerative language such as ‘chart toppers’ and ‘exclusive’, this is a persuasive selling technique to enhance the product and make it seem like an excellent buy.

I have made sure to include all the ways in which this content can be purchased such as on download etc because this way it will attract a wider range of people as not everyone likes to listen to their music the same way, I found this out when I conducted my audience research. I have also designed my own HMV logo to look like the actual one so that people know exactly where to go if they are in any doubt about where they can buy it from. Next to this is the artists web address, as the HMV logo establishes their website it is an option for them to view the artists website at the same time and this may lead to other sales.Just in case people are not that familiar with the artist or they have heard the song but don’t know what to look out for in the shop I have put a minimised version of the digipak front cover so people know exactly what they are looking for and cannot miss it.

Overall I think that this magazine advertisement works well in combination with the digipak and the music video as they have the same theme running throughout representing the promotional package as a whole and this is what I aimed to achieve in my advanced portfolio task.

..................................

Before I conducted my audience feedback on my final video and ancillary texts I thought about what I wanted to get out of it and how I would use it in the future. The main thing I want to know is if they think it is effective in terms of meeting the needs of the target audience and if they think it is suited to its specific genre. I would also like to know if my partner and I have produced video and ancillary texts that have professional and realistic qualities in comparison to existing media texts. Below is the questionairre that I handed out...

All of the respondants to my questionnairre fall within my target audience as I thought the information that I gather would be most useful coming from people whom my promotional package is targeted at.

From my audience feedback that on the whole all viewers enjoyed watching the video which proves my video provides voyristic pleasure for the audience and all agreed that the content is suitable for the specific age range of 18-25 year olds. In reference to camera angles and shots they picked up on lack of tracking and panning shots and the high number of still shots. Although there is movement within all the still frames it could be more entertaining if the viewer was taken through the narrative through use of more moving shots. On average the score for how effectively the ancillary texts work alongside the video as a whole package proved to be at the high end of the scale. People commented that the digipak as a whole was very realistic and professional. The advert people said was eye-catching and different but wasn't quite sure if the formating of it all would be something that you would expect to see in real life. In terms of sex appeal the general response appeare to be (c) sexy and attractive but not so that it is the sole focus and everyone who answered in this way commented that it was a posotive aspect. This means that I have achieved the representation I wanted for Elle Rose which means that her fans will respect her and she can be role model for young adult females.

In conclusion I think that my video production and ancillary texts work well and effectively in creating a promotional package for the release of a new album and I have learnt and used many new skills in order to create this. In the way it has been created and how it is in the final stage I would hope to see this be successful if it were to be a real life media text.

Final Video

Magazine Advertisement for Release date of Digipak

Advertisement Plan

This is my A4 sized plan for my advertisement to publicise the release dat of my artists digipak,that will appear in a magazine. I have tried to follow the codes and conventions of existing album advertisements that I have understood form thorough research into existing media texts in this field.

Analysis of Existing Album Release Magazine Ad's

Magazine advertisements are a key marketing area for any product and they are perfect for marketing the release of a new album or in my case a digipak. In the post I am going to analyse some existing album release advertisements from different music genres to help me establish the conventions of magazine adverts in order to create my own advert for my artist’s new album/digipak.

Mika is a true pop artist in the best sense of the word. His songs are often self-reflective and deal with difficult topics however he has the ability to infuse joy and happiness into all his music and this joyfulness is represented through the bright, vibrant and busy visuals. This album cover is unique in terms of visuals in comparison to other pop albums. The busy mixes of graphic images are inspired by a pop art style which represents the music genre at large. In what appears to be a distorted passport size photo there is an image of the artist, this is unconventional as to the majority of album covers and advertisements which would normally incorporate a full blown image of them selves or an iconic image that represents them that would dominate the cover or advertisement.

The images are bright and vibrant and instantly eye-catching and attractive to the consumer. Mika’s debut album also contained animated images and by continuing this theme on in his second album it enable the consumer to more easily recognise the album as his. The pictures that feature are illustrated interpretations of each of his songs that feature on his album. The album name 'the boy who knew too much' may be a reflection of him and his album suggesting that he perhaps knows too much and everything is confusing and mystifying and thrown onto the cover.

The advertisement is basically an enlarged version of the actual album cover itself. Therefore people can link it back to perhaps an advertisement for the CD that they have seen on television and instantly recognise it. The dominating image of his CD cover will attract the attention of the audience. They have made the advert appear more 3D, almost as if you are going to fall into it, this will make people want to stop and read it. I think another reason they have chosen to use the album cover to advertise the CD is because the artists name and album title are bold and eye-catching and placed in a perfect place to incorporate the rest of the information and still maintaining distance to separate the two.

The information the advertisement contains is that it establishes that this is Mika’s ‘new album’ this will persuade more people to buy it as potential buyers like to try out new things and especially if you are a big Mika fan you will want to know when the new album is out. The key piece of information is the actual release date it will be available to buy, this is displayed in number format rather written in letters as it is easier to read and stands out form the rest of the text. It also informs the viewer of the most popular songs that are contained in the album this is indicated where it says ‘includes…’, people are more likely to buy something if they know it will contain their favourite songs, this way it draws peoples attention closer. Other information that is also included within the advertisement is all the places it available to buy and in what format for example deluxe edition or available on download.

In very small print at the bottom of the ad is the artist’s website, all though this ad is not marketing the website it is useful to have on because fans will appreciate this information and also it enable people who have not heard of him to perhaps use this source to find out moiré about him and then possibly buy the album. All the important information is situated in the bottom right hand corner away form all the distracting visuals, so people are able to give it their full attention. The text used is blue and white to contrast and stand out form the black background and also to continue with the colour theme of the whole ad, because although there are a variety of bright colours the dominating three colours are black, white and blue and these colours are incorporated into all of the text displayed on the advert.

In conclusion I think this album release advertisement works well because it is visually attractive, instantly attracts the attention of the audience with its unique qualities and still contains all the key information that is needed to successfully market the product.

Gwen Stefani is a pop artist and this magazine advertisement is marketing the release of her first solo album ‘Love Angel Music Baby’ otherwise known as l.a.m.b which is also her clothes line label. The album is full of extremely catchy music and is overall a well crafted piece of pop culture. The content within the album represents women as attractive and sexy but not in an objectification or sexualised way and this is displayed in the advertisement. Gwen Stefani is represented in the stereotypical light of platinum blonde bombshell, showing off her envious midriff for added sex appeal and attraction. Her lips are a distinctive red and they are slightly open which indicates lust, seduction and look inviting and enticing. Moreover her hair is covering one eye which adds a height of mystery to the album, making people want to find out and the one eye which is visible is directly looking at the audience making them feel more involved and respect as a fan or potential buyer.

The release of Stefani's first solo album brought attention to her entourage of four Harajuku Girls, four back-up dancers who dress in Gwen’s interpretation of the Harajuku Station of Tokyo, Japan, known as a popular shopping destination and fashion center for teenagers. They were featured in her music videos, press coverage and on the album cover for Love. Angel. Music. Baby., and have a song dedicated to them on the album. This indicates that her target audience is teenagers and young adults. As she opts to feature these girls in most press events it is unusual that they are not central to the advertisement, this could be the reason she has chosen to feature an image of the actual album in the bottom left hand corner because they feature the china doll looking figures at either side of her. Fans will recognise these models as being exclusive to Stefani and make her album more easily recognisable.
Again this advertisement features a dominating image taken from a section of the actual album cover the advert is marketing and enlarging it. For this advert they have chosen to display the centre of the cover which is the artist herself ‘Gwen Stefani’ slouched provocatively, representing herself as quite literally a ‘pop princess’ as she is sat on what appears to be a thrown. In the advertisement and album cover she is represented as royalty through the use of props such as a crown, a cane with a jeweled crown on the top, and the dominating red an gold colours that are incorporated throughout the ad to reinforce the idea of royalty as these are the associated colours. She has a presence of dominance, superior and power and this is reflected in her use of the cane.

There are four dominant colours within the advertisement and these are gold, red, black and white. The gold and reds are stereotypically associated with royalty, high social class and wealth. The text is in gold, this represents wealth and power and this reinforces the idea about her being royalty illustrated in the visuals. The font used is very grand, it looks proud, professional and is visually attractive and artistic representing her as having many high /superior qualities. .

There is a picture of the album that is being advertised in the bottom left hand corner, this gives the audience something to relate to and also makes it more recognizable for consumers when they go out to buy it. Similar to Mika’s album advert the visuals are bright, vibrant and eye-catching not only attracting attention but representing the music genre which will directly appeal to the target audience.

It also informs the audience what the album will include the most popular songs, these are likely to have been number one singles or high in the charts, a technique used to persuade people to want to go out and but it. In addition to this the advert also tells the audience that one of her songs also features another high profile singer ‘Eve’, this is like telling the consumer they are getting the delights of two of their favourite singers for the price of one, enticing them even further. The difference between this advertisement and Mika’s is that ‘Love Angel Music Baby’ is already out for sale, this ad is reinforcing that the album is already out, we are told this at the bottom of the advert as it is not as important to stress the release date, instead they can focus on emphasizing the artist and album itself. We know it is currently on sale because it says ‘Album in store now’ below this is a logo from the online music store ‘target.com’. This extra information may help increase sales if fans and potential consumers know where they are able to buy it from, it also helps give publicity to the music store itself. In addition to this the advert also publicises the artists websites, which seem to be a common feature on advertisements.


In terms of the real world the sales figures of albums can be largely influenced by how much publicity they have and whether it is good, effective publicity. Advertisements must be designed in such a way that it attracts the target audience for that specific product. So for example an advert for an album of the rock genre would not attract potential buyers by having images of flowers or bright, bubbly colours. It is therefore important that everything that goes into the advert from colours to visual images and to fonts represent the the genre of the album and the potential buyer.

What I have learnt about the codes and conventions of magazine advertisements for album releases; the advert usually has some sort of image or visuals that dominate the majority of the space. These visuals are often representations of the content or graphic images taken from the actual album at hand and adapting it to fit in the text that has all the required information. There are usually three or four colours that are dominant and I have found that this is a conventional aspect of not only advertisements but a range of media texts such as front covers and that the same colours continue throughout the whole of the product.

The information that is supplied is usually grouped together in bold font and a contrasting colour to the background to make it stand out, clear to read and easy to spot. The information that is usually supplied is; The artist, the album title, the release date, special mention to the most recognisable/popular songs and possibly a particular artists that may also feature in one of the songs, which is usually indicated by ‘includes’, a dominating image of the artist/visual representations of content/an enlarged version of the album cover itself adapted to look like a magazine advert and creates space for the information to be supplied, more often then not it will display the artists website address and also where it is available to buy for example in store or downloading online and also in what different formats in comes in whether it be CD deluxe edition or digipak or DVD. Occasionally there will also be specific reference to what shop or website you can buy the product from by including the companies logo.

Now that I am able to recognise and understand thoroughly the codes and conventions of what needs to go into a magazine advertisement for album release. Through conducting this research I have supplied myself with the knowledge to make my own advertisement for the release of my artist’s new album to the best of my ability and make it as effective and realistic as possible.

Alterations to the Chorus

As we started to edit the chorus the footage which we had captures did not fulfill our expecations. It was too slow and their was not enough movement, enthusiasm or flow. We were not entirely happy with the make-up and out fit choice we chose either. We decided that instead of having smaller more detailed make-up to portray the 'good' and 'bad' side we should go for a more bolder and stronger look.

We did this thorugh painting one side of her face black and the other side gold. To continue the theme we opt for our artist to wear a black and gold dress to maintain the unique look. We shot the scene in the blue room which allows us to be able to make the background transparent and use any background we wish, the image directly below has also been taken in the blue room. To further increase the idea of movement and bring still images to life we used a fan that acted as a wind machine. When editing the film the fan effect will make the video more dynamic and create the sense of movement even when she's not.

In order to create this look we used water based face and body paint to coat either side of the face, we used fine brushes to make the distinct line down the middle.

To add a touch of elegance, beauty and attractiveness to the face we applied self adhesive jewels under the good eye and above the bad eye in a simultaneous fashion to create continuity and a sense of symmetry whilst still being noticably different.

In order to make her eyelashes stand out from the total blackness of her skin create by the paint we have used silver glitter mascara to help define the eye, make it stand out and find the beuaty of the eyelashes.