Final Magazine Advertisement

This is my final magazine advertisement to promote my chosen artist Daniel Cope. This advertisement would be included in magazines such as 'Acoustic Magazine', 'Q Magazine' and 'NME Magazine'.

Final Digipak Design

This is my final digipak design

Panel 1 - Front Cover:

Panel 2 - Inside Front:

Panel 3 - Inside Middle:

Panel 4 - Inside Back:

View of Inner Panels together:

Panel 5 - Back Panel:

Question 2

Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product with ancillary texts?

Question 2

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Question 4

Question 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

For my media product I used a variety of techniques involving media technologies. Through my stages of searching for an artist to promote, I used the social networking website ‘Myspace’ to search for unsigned acts as it is a website designed for artists to display their music. There were a number of different acts, so I searched for the ‘alternative’ genre as I personally like that genre and I know it appeals to others in my age range.

This is a close up of the print screen above. It highlights where to click to get the desired genres. After you've chosen your preference it comes up with a list of artists of that specific genre.

To get in contact with the artist I used another networking website called Facebook. I sent an email to the artist asking permission to use his track 'I'll Show You New York' for my media product.

This is the message I sent him:

Hi Daniel,

I'm a media student from City of Norwich School and was wondering if my media group could make a music video for your song 'I'll show you New York'? When we heard your songs on myspace we were really impressed and had to contact you at once to see whether it would be possible to promote your song in this way. We will show you the video and put it on YouTube as we realised that way more people can view it and experience your talent the way we did.

Hope to hear from you,

Emily King, Jenna Bolingbroke and Thomas Block

This is his reply:

Hey Emily, yeah that sounds great! thanks :) What sort of video would it be?? x

This is a print screen of the message I sent to Daniel and the reply he gave. However, it is not very good quality hence why I copied and pasted the exact words we both used.

Another technology through using the Internet is the blogger website. It is a simple webpage designed in order for individuals to set up their own personal blog, displaying their ideas, photos and work for the public to view. For example, this blog has been easy to use to write and post pieces of Media work. As people can comment on individual posts, it has been helpful to gain feedback from a teacher as they can give opinions and advice on how to develop ideas.

To shoot my production I used a hand held digital camera which was easy to use because it allowed me to play back footage that I had filmed. This was a good aspect as I could view shots that had just be recorded, making it easier to see if the shot, acting and camera angle was as desired. It was useful to film on this type of camera as it could be easily transferred to the editing programme I used called Adobe Premiere. I also used an SLR camera to take photos of location and costume so I could use them for my planning, deciding on which locations worked better than others. The stills camera takes photos in a high quality which makes them appear professional.

This is an example of the image quality of the photos taken on an SLR camera:

This is an image taken on an SLR camera. It demonstrates the sharpness and quality of photos that have been taken with it. This photo was taken in the bedroom windowsill location and shows how effective the costume of the red checked shirt is.

I also used this type of camera to take photos for my digipak design. I used the programme Adobe Photoshop to edit the image in order for it to stand out. I have used this programme before to edit images for my Thriller poster last year so found it simple, yet effective to use. I went on my artist Daniel Cope's Myspace website to see his ideas for album covers.

This is Daniel Cope's own CD cover idea:

The album cover is dramatic as the image is upside down which is eyecatching and will intrigue audiences.

This is the original image for my digipak design:

As you can see this image isn't as appealing as it is really basic so I edited it to become interesting.

I rotated this image 180 degrees and edited it by adjusting the brightness and contrast. I also lowered the saturation levels so the skin would be a similar colour to the background making the red of the checked shirt stand out as this is a main signifier of the artist.

This is a print screen of me editing this photo on Adobe Photoshop. It displays the tools you can use to edit and make the photo more interesting. 

To edit my music video I used the programme Adobe Premiere. I have used it to edit my Thriller film before so found it easy to include smooth transitions such as cross dissolve. This particular transition was used a number of times as it implied the sense of illusion and gave a dream-like feel. This was important as the plot of the music video is ambiguous so it reinforced that his day-dream could just be a fantasy.

Finally, to display my music video to the public, I uploaded it to the website YouTube so it can be easily viewed and assessed. I sent the final product to the artist who was impressed and gave positive feedback.

This is my music video being viewed online through YouTube:

Question 1

Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My music video ‘I’ll Show You New York’ uses the genre specific conventions of other media products through the mise en scene, costume, props and editing. For example, my artist singer/songwriter Daniel Cope’s genre is acoustic, alternative pop. Therefore, I have included connotations from other band’s music videos of the same genre such as Daniel Cope playing guitar. This is a main signifier in ‘The Plain White T’s’ music video ‘Hey There Delilah’ and ‘James Morrison’s’ ‘Wonderful World’.

James Morrison - 'You Make It Real'

In this music video there is a live performance of the lead singer playing acoustic guitar which is similar to the scenes of Daniel Cope (played by Tom Block) where he is playing the guitar out of the window. It uses a variety of different shots including close ups of the guitar which is also present in my music video, making it a main signifier of the artist. Andrew Goodwin’s theory suggests there are particular aspects present in music videos. One demonstrated through my music video is ‘there is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting)’. As the soundtrack is being played, I have edited the guitar playing to be in time with it, which is illustrative as what is seen and heard is connected. This has been included as it is typical of the genre.

Another vital aspect of this genre is costume. I have chosen a checked shirt because it specifically represents the fashion of young people today so is appealing to the mainstream target audience. Similar artists such as the bands ‘Vampire Weekend’, ‘Mumford and Sons’ and ‘Noah and the Whale’ all feature one or more members of the band in a checked shirt who represent their target audience. In my music video the checked shirt is a reflection of the artist’s youth and naivety. The artist wears the shirt in every shot and in the photos on my digipak and magazine advert. This is so audiences identify with the artist and associate the red checked shirt with him as it is a part of his iconic image.

  

In some ways ‘I’ll Show You New York’ challenges typical genre conventions as the music video is laid out in a split-screen format. This is not a stereotypical aspect of the alternative, acoustic pop genre as not many of these music videos include spilt screens. However, audiences will still be able to identify this with some other media products as audiences view media texts intertextually. For example, a music video which features the split screen is Daniel Powter’s music video ‘Bad Day.

Daniel Powter - 'Bad Day'

In this particular music video the split screen merges into one which compares to my music video. In ‘I’ll Show You New York’ the narrative is displayed through one image as it is important and can be understood accordingly.

Question 3

Question 3: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

The research method I used to obtain my audience feedback was a quantitive questionnaire, designed to get general rather than detailed feedback. I used 10 participants (5 males and 5 females) of the age range 15-25 which is the target audience for my music video.

These are the questions I included in my general feedback:

1) How much did you enjoy the music video?
I chose this particular question to get a sense of it's appeal to my target audience.

2) Did it hold your attention?
This was an important question because it determines whether the audience would want to continue watching it. If it was boring and did not hold their attention then revisions would be needed.

3) How do you rate the camera work and editing?
This question was designed to see whether participants thought my camera work and editing was appropiate and above amateur level.

4) How do you rate the standard of mise en scene?
This is an interesting question as the mise en scene is important. It will be interesting to see whether my target audience will rate it highly.

5) Was the music video the correct length, too short, too long or don't know?
If my music video was said to be too long or too short I would have to change the length to suit my audience.

6) Would you watch the music video again, yes, no or undecided?
I chose this question because I want the target audience to enjoy my production and watch it again.

7) Can you suggest anything that could improve the appeal?
This question is vital because I could improve anything they said that needed to be improved.

8) Were there any aspects that you find offensive, i.e. representation of race, gender, age, culture?
This question is important as I don't want to offend anyone through this music video.

9) Was there any part you found confusing or hard to understand?

10) What is the best part of the production?

11) Does the video reflect the style of the music, yes, no or undecided?

12) Does the video sucessfully promote the artist/band/group, yes, no or undesided?

13) On a scale of 1 - 5, how do you rank the music video?

This is an example of the questionnaire and feedback I recieved.

To obtain detailed feedback I emailed the artist Daniel Cope on a social networking website called Facebook. From there he could view my music video on YouTube and made appropriate comments on what he likes and how to improve it.

This is a print screen of our conversation on Facebook. It displays Daniel's own personal opinion of the music video and what I could do to improve it.

Aspects he likes:

'I like how the video reflects what's happening in the lyrics, I like Photography/shot set ups (nicely framed)'

Suggestions for improvement:

'Maybe using a tripod or some sort of stabling device to give the shots a smoother feel,
maybe removing the interlace in a program like final cut pro so the horizontal interlace lines dont show up. Perhaps quicker shot transitions so each clip length is kept to around 2 or 4 seconds.
Maybe if the video was in HD?'

These suggestions were really helpful as quicker shot transitions would be more effective and using a tripod would have helped the shakiness of the shots.

Shooting Schedule

As I am not acting I will be filming every scene of the music video and it is vital to have all members of the group on every day we film.

Actors:
Thomas Block as the singer Daniel Cope
Jenna Bolingbroke as love interest Paige Block

Director/Camera Person:
Myself (Emily King)

Shooting Schedule:
1st Shoot: instrumental only
Saturday 17th September
All day

2nd Shoot: train station, train, beach shots
Monday 26th September
9am-3pm

3rd Shoot: city centre shots
(Undecided) 27th September
9am- 11.20pm

4th Shoot: city centre shots
(Undecided) 1st or 2nd October
All day/ 4pm

Plot Ideas

Our video will have only 2 characters, main character Dan (played by Tom Block) and a female stranger (played by Jenna Bolingbroke). It'll open in a train station where Dan is waiting for his train. He gets on the train alone, and sitting across the train from him is a young girl. He sees this girl, stares out the window as the train pulls away to start the journey, and begins daydreaming.

In this daydream, he imagines himself with the girl. They are a couple and are very much obsessed with the relationship. It is apparent in the daydream that the couple think of nothing but each other. They act happy, content, and have fun as a couple in various locations: city centre, parks, plays parks, and the beach.

The video will be a split-screen, such as that in Aloe Blacc's "I Need A Dollar". Whilst the daydream is happening, the audience will see Dan playing the guitar to the song in the other side of the split-screen. He will be sitting alone by the window of his room. This gives the impression that Dan wrote the song after seeing the girl on the train and dreaming about her. This side of the split-screen will also be in black & white or decreased saturation, as this emphasizes and distinguishes that the two sides are taking place at different times.

Locations

For this particular genre (alternative, acoustic pop) it was important to pick natural locations to reflect the lyrics, such as the beach, forest and river bank. These locations connote a romantic feel which was crucial for the music video.

The Beach:
We chose the location of Great Yarmouth beach as it is the closest which was more convenient for us to film.

This is a screen shot from my music video. The beach location was important as it gives the feel of the two being alone with each other. This creates a romantic effect as the scenery was picturesque.

The Forest:
We chose the location of Cringleford as the Autumn leaves were stunning and the trees lined the path.

This photo was taken during filming. The leaves are scattered across the pathway which gives a romantic feel. 

The Bedroom Window:
We chose this location of a bedroom window as it gives a sense of longing as singer Dan just wants to be with Paige but has only just met her.

This photo was taken in fellow group member, Jenna's bedroom. It was easily accessible and low enough for 'Dan' (Tom Block) to look out of. Tom will be playing the guitar and miming the lyrics in this scene to create a more realistic effect. The miming and playing will be in time with the soundtrack.

The Train Station:
We chose the location of Great Yarmouth's train station because Dan is trying to escape his old life and go somewhere new and far away.

This is a screen shot from my music video. It is of Dan waiting on a bench for the train to arrive, however, he is not sure where he will be going.

This is another screen shot of my music video. It is of the train arriving in the station, which is dramatic. My music video will have the diegetic sound of the train which is more effective. The soundtrack will play faintly from Dan's headphones.

Confirmation Email from Daniel Cope

This is our email that I wrote on behalf of my media group and sent to our chosen artist Daniel Cope. It illustrates our intentions of using his song for our music video. I added him as a friend on the social networking site 'Facebook' which was the easiest way to get in contact with him.  

Hi Daniel,

I'm a media student from City of Norwich School and was wondering if my media group could make a music video for your song 'I'll show you New York'? When we heard your songs on myspace we were really impressed and had to contact you at once to see whether it would be possible to promote your song in this way. We will show you the video and put it on YouTube as we realised that way more people can view it and experience your talent the way we did.

Hope to hear from you,

Emily King, Jenna Bolingbroke and Thomas Block

Here is his reply:

Hey Emily, yeah that sounds great! thanks :) What sort of video would it be?? x

This is a print screen of the message I sent to Daniel and the reply he gave. However, it is not very good quality hence why I copied and pasted the exact words we both used.

Final Digipak Ideas

Panal 1:

Panal 2:

Panal 3:

Panal 4:

Ideas for Digipak

A digipak is CD cover booklet which promotes the artist in order to attract their target audience and make them buy the album. To design my own digipak I have used other CD covers from the same music genre to inspire me and give me ideas to create my own digipak. I want to explore the ways in which different artists use their digipaks to appeal to their specific target audience.

ED SHEERAN

This is a CD cover for Paolo Nutini's album called 'Sunny side up'. It is an artistic

This is the CD cover image for singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran’s album called ‘+’. It shows a close up of the artist which is slightly distorted suggesting that not everything is as it seems. This is demonstrated through the sinister truth in his lyrics in his seemly sweet songs. For example, ‘lights gone, days end, struggling to pay rent, long nights, strange men’ suggests that the girl he is singing about is a prostitute. The colour orange dominates the album as he is famous for his ginger hair. This is a motif for the artist and will appeal to the target audience.

JOAN BAEZ

This is an image from Joan Baez's album called 'How sweet the sound'. It is a body shot of the artist with a guitar which is similar to my music video as the guitar is a signifier of my artist. She is an American folk singer which is similar to the accoustic pop/folk genre of my artist Daniel Cope. The way it is has been edited in black and white suggests a seriousness which is reflected through her songs. Her dramatic pose also reinforces this which would appeal to her type of audience.

PAOLO NUTINI


This is Paolo Nutini's cover art for his album 'Sunny side up'  

Daniel Cope - I'll show you New York

This is my final music video.