Tuesday 14th December 2010

EVALUATION 2

How effective is the main product and the ancillary texts?

I'll firstly explain why I chose to create the album cover the way I did and the reasons behind those choices:

The Front Cover

I chose to show Imogen - the artist - as quite vulnerable and alone, her looking at the rose symbolises her longing for the boy she likes to finally tell her if he likes her too, hence the title "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not" - which also links back to how Harleigh feels about Will in the music video. The colour scheme is black and white with the rose and the album title in red. This is because I wanted to connote the colour red as the love she feels for the boy and deepens the meanings of the other songs on the album. Love is the overall theme throughout the album and the video, so I wanted to incorporate this in both ancillary texts to suggest the meaning further and also make it easier for the audience to understand. The font for the artists name is bold and in capitals to make her name really stand out because it's her first album and I wanted it to be noticed. The album title "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not" is in the style of handwriting and italicized, as I wanted to make it seem like she has doodled her thoughts out onto a page, which is a huge contrast to the artists name and the album title itself.

The Back Cover

This shows Imogen walking away from the rose, I did this because I want the audience to really think of distinction of the front and back, asking questions like "why has she walked away? Is it because she's given up on waiting". A real sense of ambiguity is being thrown out to the audience here, as I really want them to use their own interpretation, letting their imaginations run free. Again it goes back to the colour scheme of red, black and white, this is because I wanted to keep it consistent and not look too mis-matchy, otherwise the overall theme would not really have a purpose.

The Left Inside Cover

This cover has the acknowledgements on it because I wanted to show the audience who the artist was grateful too. I wrote it as if it was the artist herself as I did have a few thanks to share also. The image shows Imogen looking up, I did this because I wanted it to look as if she was looking up at her thoughts in her head, and the smile on her face represents her thanks. The colour scheme is black and white, however Imogen and her thanks are in colour signifiying she is happy and 'loving life'. Again the font is in the style of handwriting to portray that she is memorising what she wrote down, and the colour is pink to connote love again.

The Right Inside Cover 

Finally, the last part of the digipak! The right inside cover of the album cover, is where I have put the CD. I showed hands holding the flower - the background is a black and white version and the CD is a really colourful version to distinguish the good and bad times of relationships. The black and white version symbolises the bad moments, although the CD (colourful version) shows how exciting it can be. Two very contrasting moments. This again relates to reality and how people live through bad and good relationships. The album cover is basically representing the video in still image form, we see Harleigh's love life in moving image and how misleading relationships can be and because of this, I have incorporated the flower as the overall decider in the album cover. The album cover was designed in Photoshop, this way was a much easier solution to being really creative and it really helped to make the images stand out.


I changed my idea from the planning process because I thought it would be better to link the whole project with the theme, love, so the Hummingbird idea wouldn't work because it connotes nature, whereas a red rose symbolises love. I thought this idea of incorporating the red rose would work better with the theme of love/relationship towards the audience as it would be easily distinguishable if they were searching for the artist in a shop or online.

The magazine advert.

What I did here was to show the flower in snow and I made the colour deep red to entice readers to look at the picture of the flower. The flower is in the advert as it corresponds with the album - the theme of love, with the red flower symbolising love. Also any flower is a major contributor to saying "I'm sorry" or "I love you", so I thought it would be good if I put the flower as the main focus on the magazine article as it focuses love. The colour scheme is yet again black, white and red, however black is not the main colour this time. White is the overall colour as a it is a bright colour which would catch readers attention in a magazine, also I didn't want to stray away from the running theme, as then it wouldn't really have a purpose, which is what I intended to do in the planning process. The font is more suitable for girls, just because it looks more appealing to their eyes and they were my target audience as I believe they would prefer the songs on the album. As you can see there are some comments from The Guardian Music Review and Radio 1, I decided on these two as they have a dramatic input into the way we listen to music, so I thought why don't they make a comment about the album?

Finally the albums front cover is on the bottom right hand corner, as I want the readers to be able to recognise the album if they were to see them in any HMV stores - indicated on the advert. I decided on HMV stores because that is the place where most people buy albums they are interested in.

The magazine advert was created on publisher as it was an easier format to use to make everything work together and I could also grab all the elements and place them where I wanted. I designed the background on Photoshop; which is the flower in the snow, for the reason that I could change the contrast and brightness to suit the magazine advert.

New Magazine Advert

The new magazine advert is completely different to the other because I wanted to focus more on the new season and Imogen the artist herself. As the song has the lyrics ‘Just like the seasons he’ll come around’ I thought it would be suitable to have a new season to relate back to the song which links to the video that I created for this coursework. What I did to create this magazine advert was to take a picture of Imogen in her everyday clothes to show her as someone my target audience can relate too – as she is dressed appropriately she would be a suitable role model to young teenagers/young girls. After doing so, I used Photoshop to incorporate all the images I wanted to use together, so by doing so I contrasted and saturated the image of the flowers and used the overlay tool and applied it onto the background of Imogen sitting on the floor underneath the balcony in the Sixth Form building. I then took the image of the flowers again and used the overlay tool to apply it onto the side of Imogen sitting on the floor and changed the opacity of this image so that the audience would be able to distinguish who Imogen is. The flowers together link back to the music video as the theme is of relationships/love and flowers do connote this theme and the vibrant colours represent how you can have exciting moments in your relationships. I kept the font for ‘Whitney Wiatt He Loves Me He Loves Me Not’ because it is the font on the album and would be recognisable for the audience to buy in shops/download. I chose iTunes for the distributing of the album because audiences are more liable to download songs than buy them in shops because it is easier for them to do so. I also chose her record label ‘Big Machine Records’ because they are a Folk, Indie and Acoustic label who strive to support their artists with these genre’s and I put the logo on the advert as again it shows who represent Imogen the singer and why Imogen identifies herself in the way she does.

So there you have it, hopefully you now have a knowledge of why I created the ancillary texts the way I did and the reasons behind them. Thanks for listening!

x

Thursday 9th December 2010

EVALUATION PART 1

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










Frame 1: shows the relationship between the lyrics to the visuals, I wanted to incorporate the seasons in the video and I did this by adding pictures of the different seasons - relatig to the lyrics 'Just like the seasons he'll come around' So adding the pictures deepens the meaning of the song and video.


Frame 2: shows Harleigh dancing. The way she swings her arms, compliments the beat, I did this to make it seem she is hitting the beat as she is frustrated that Will (The boy) isn't giving her an answer or the attention she wants/needs to realise that he likes her too. Throughout the music video the shots compliment the lyrics and the overall sound such as 'just like the leaves, he's changing me' sees leaves falling to Harleigh and Will laughing and joking around. This also resembles how teenage romance's are ambiguous, teenagers often refer to couples as 'seeing each other', 'getting together' or 'actually together' and I wanted to convey this to the audience and leave them to interpret Harleigh and Will's relationship for themselves, so they are an active audience.


Frame 3: shows the singer -Imogen - standing alone, being independent and this goes towards Big Machine Records expectations - the record label that Taylor Swift is signed to and have gained 6 Country Music Association Awards, 6 American Music Awards, 4 Academy of Country Music Awards, 4 CMT Music Awards, 3 Teen Choice Awards, 1 MTV Video Music Award as well as 13 GRAMMY Nominations and 5 People’s Choice Award Nominations. As the genre of music is folk, I thought that the best thing to do was dress her to this style of music - like how Taylor Swift represents herself; which is country, so because of this it was important to keep the record label's expectations in hindsight and also to show Imogen as a lover of nature hence why she is walking alone in the heath.


Frame 4: represents the genre as the image is soft and it has a folk location and because of the genre, I wanted to create a country/soft image to really emphasise the meaning behind the song and the artist, also towards the record labels expectations :) so it all links together in the end!


Frame 5: shows the setting/location for the artist. I chose to shoot the music video here as it intensifies the lyrics and really captures the audiences attention on the artist- it's like a one-one conversation, just you and her, she is describing her emotions which involves everyone watching. Also because of the fact she is alone on the heath during sunset it connotes the feeling of sadness - the day is coming to an end which may heighten the heartbreak Harleigh (the main protagonist) feels about her romance with Will, is their romance coming to an end? The audience soon realise that it is just a new beginning with the end of the music video shows them make up, walking hand in hand away from the school.


Frame 6: shows a transition I used to create the video which was additive fade to colour dissolve. I chose dissolves and fades as it compliments the softness on the song and makes it look more proffessional than the other transitions which I could have used. I like my final piece as I think it compels audiences to realise how teenagers act in society today - how they are vulnerable within the society they live in.



Frame 7: shows the natural lighting I have used throughout the video, I did this because I wanted to relate it to reality, thus not changing the lighting. The sunset agaisnt Imogen's face portrays romanticism - linking to the theme of the album itself. Most of the songs on here album are about love itself.


Frame 8: shows the range of costumes used. The first picture - Sarah and Will, and the other with Will and Harleigh, shows how teenagers usually dress for college and how the proxemics/gestures can become intimate and misinterepreted. i chose to keep them dressed relatively casual as Taylor Swifts' video 'Be Mine' shows a normal couple - no hyped up celebrities all glammed up as some other artists portray people. Harleigh's wearing her dancing outfit to show she is dancing, and the colour black also connotes her mood, she doesn't know what it going on with her and Will. Imogen's make up is quite soft yet bright to bring forth how girls will change to be noticed, again relating to society and youth. Also because she is the artist I wanted to show the contrast between the 'real life people' and the 'celebrity' Imogen, I wanted her to look a tad like Swift as she uses her make up to express the moods in her songs.


Frame 9: shows the intertexuality of Taylor Swift's video 'Be Mine'. I was inspired by her video as it also has male - female relationships in jeopardy and gave me ideas on how to show an argument through facial expressions and gestures, which can go with a soft/mellow song.


x

Tuesday 23rd November 2010

More research into my digipak (CD album)

Planning the album covers has been quite hard as again, I can't bounce off anyone's ideas. But I think its finally coming together. The front cover will still be Imogen although she will be on a field instead of in the woods, but I do want to show her as alternative so I will have to think of ways of doing so in a later time. For the back cover, I'm going to paint it and still have the hummingbird idea, but I will paint it instead and make it look really pretty. The inside cover will be acknowledgements and the right inside cover for the CD will have the different seasons in the corners. I want to base my album cover on KT Tunstall's Eye to the Telescope, as hers is really creative!

x

Thursday 18th November 2010

MAGAZINE ADVERTS FOR ALBUMS

Louise Aubrie - her name and the album name are shown twice as she wants to be recognised by people. Once she has been recognised she may not feel the need to show her name twice. The use of sans serif font stands out as it is also bold showing again that she wants to be noticed. The picture looks as if she is about to perform on stage, however, she is in a hallway so it doesn't really make any sense why she is set up for a performance when she is standing in a hallway so it loses creative points there for me. Also her eyes are focused on the right hand side with a nervous facial expression; is she looking out towards the audience and is nervous? The colours are pink and black so it looks girly, maybe linking back to her music? The advert has her producers name on it however not a label company, and also has her myspace, so it still shows that she is new to the music industry.



The Verve - The name of the band catches your eye with the black/boldness which contrasts with the gold looking sky/sepia tones in the background - the light shining through the clouds looks like Gods love is shining through for the people. Also the central placing of it looks like a film poster or a book so does not really look like an advert for an album. The font is quite strange, they seem like they are in italics and the album name is in capital letters, suggesting that the album is more important than the band itself. 'The Single' is not in the spotlight so people may think it is an advert for a film because it isn't stated on what it is, although because they know who the band is they may not even think that.

Gwen Stefani - This is a painting of her as a Queen looking serious even though she is slouching in the chair. It has the picture of her album in the right hand bottom corner and this shows her messing around and maybe misusing her royal status? The colours in this advert connote royalty such as the gold and red and also the font. She uses features such as songs, websites, company label etc.

x

Thursday 18th November 2010

ALBUM COVERS!

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

Here you can see that the album cover has no font, so you could interpret that they believe they're so famous that everyone will know who it is. The idea of the colour scheme of the prism spectrum suggests that the band are intellectual and their music is very smart - the prism reflects the bands intellect on how well written the music is. I believe that the album cover is a piece of art in its own right, due to the fact it would be recognisable in the shops and it would catch your eye.

Nirvana - Nevermind

On this album cover, I don't think the font relates to the music at all - just the image of the baby underwater, the album name seems to look as if it is in the water and the bands name is old fashioned in a serif font which doesn't relate to the music they play. They may be suggesting that their bands music of an old fashioned quality, although I don't think they have achieved this as their music doesn't suggest old fashioned morals. The colour scheme suggests melancholy mood and the graduated colour may connote good and evil? The image on the front is shocking in itself as the thought of a baby losing it's innocence to try and grab the filthy ideal of money - money is the one thing in this world that anyone would do for and lives ruin because of this factor. So the idea of the baby actually diving in to grab it, is shocking and makes us think - are we really deprived from luxuries at such a young age? The band haven't used a picture of themselves as the picture of the baby is shocking enough to show that it is the band anyway and because of this the album cover is a piece of art in its own right as it is symbolic and memorable.



Coldplay - X & Y

Again this cover has no font maybe suggesting that because they have had 9 albums before it, their fans will already know who's album it is, so they don't have to write the bands name on it, that could also be said about the band not being pictured also. The picture on the front is obscure, you can't really describe what it is but the use of primary colours makes it stand out which catches your eyes, however the picture is meaningless, it doesn't tell you a story that you can really relate to and doesn't say anything about the music in any sense. We could interpret that this cover is too clever for its own good; even though its simple, it is still intriguing to look at; your left looking at it thinking what the hell is this??

The Killers - Sam's Town
The neon sign looking name of the band has been their iconic font since they started and gives the album cover a modern feel. The calligraphy of 'Sam's Town' shows a major contrast of the two and makes it seem like The Killers is more modern and hyped up than Sam's town which seems old and run down. The black and white colour scheme suggests memories, reliving what's past, so maybe the Beauty Queen used to live in Sam's town and now she is famous and has moved away? Also the beauty queen and the goat symbolise feminism, Beauty Queen = Pageants and the Goat = sacrifice and because of these pictures representing feminism, it gives off a mysterious feel. Again the band aren't pictured, but because of the huge The Killers on the cover, fans can see who they are. I wouldn't say that this is a piece of art however it is creative in a sense. We just have to keep wondering why there is a Beauty Queen and a goat on the front cover :/

Queen

The use of the word Queen in a royal style font suits the band as they are indeed royalty to the music industry - most creative men we have ever seen hit our screens, so the medieval font suits the high standards of their music. The band are focused in the middle of the album cover surrounded by darkness with a strong light focused on them and the faces are looking down on us - the fans - which suggest they believe they are royalty, in a sense they are looking down on us like snobs. There is a suggestion of religion with Freddie Mercury crossing his arms over his chest - making the sign of peace? And the men are placed as if in a cross? The bands picture also seems to be like a still from the video 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and this is because it was an iconic video for the band, so they could have incorporated this as the album cover as it was so iconic. The cover isn't a piece of art however Freddie's eyes are the only one's being shown suggesting he is the king?


x

Monday 15th November 2010

More research into Ancillary Products......

So far, we have been learning about the conventions of an album cover and how we should apply this to our own cover for our own album. I wanted to have the seasons and the singer incorporated in it, so I firstly thought; how about putting the different seasons on the 4 pages - front cover, left inside, right inside and the back cover. Then I had the idea of having the hummingbird as the main focus for the album, with Imogen the singer on the front and then maybe the Hummingbird on the back with the track listing going down the feathers. Inside I will have the eye of the bird where the CD is with Imogen either lying in the eye or just the eye itself, I don't want it to be creepy, as the songs are more beautiful then horrific...if you get me?! And to show off my lexical talent, I would pefer to have acknowledgements and dedications to show how Imogen (the singer) has got that far to make a single.


Here's a picture of the planning of the album cover, which are the ideas above :)

x

Friday 12th November 2010

HMV LESSON!

On Wednesday 10th November 2010, my class went to HMV to look at album covers to gain inspiration on what would look good for our own album cover. Here is the conclusion of what we found out when we went:

1. What CD catches your eye when you stand in front of a stand?
Scissor Sisters - shows a transition of walking from a peaceful meadow setting, then going through a tunner into the city.

2. Where are the music DVD's located in the store?

3/4 of the way in of the store

3. How are they arranged? eg. by genre/artist?

Alpabetical order by artist

4. Look at the range of DVD's. What percentage of the following do they mainly showcase?

- Performance - 80%

- Documentaries - 10%

- Complications - 5%

- Other - 5%

5. What is the purpose of the DVD?

To show the artist/band performing on the stage, and for the audience to see how good they are live.

6. Where are the CD's located in the store?

The centre

7. How are they arranged?

In rows by genre and alphabetical order.

8. What does this tell you about the relative importance of CD's compared with DVD's?

As CD's are individually organised by genre and alphabetical order they will sell more than DVD's as there is more of a variety

9. What is being played at the listening posts?

There was nothing being played, technical fault.

10. Does this give you any indication of HMV's customer base?

There is a wide range of genres.

A few questions we had to ask a member of staff!

1. What is your customer base at HMV?

Around Guildford Centre

2. Why do you arrange the store in the way you do?

For sales - mass merchandise at front to draw attention to the customer

3. How do DVD sales compare to CD sales? Why is this?

DVD's sale more than CD's as we get DVD's in bulk.

4. How do you encourage people into your store?

Offering excellent customer service, and advertising.

5. What strategies do you use to compete against internet downloads?

2 for £10 and rewards cards

And the guy was very lovely indeed, excellent customer service.

x