Focus Group Analysis

Magazine Advert Planning

Conventions of a Music Advert:

• Image of the artist or band
• Name of the artist or band
• Tour dates and locations
• Colour scheme relating to the genre
• Logos of companies involved
• Websites
• Supporting acts
• Album/tour name
• Sponsorships and record labels in small text
• Box office numbers
• Record labels
• Variety of typography reflecting genre
• Mise-en-scene appropriate for genre
• Layout
• Rule-of-thirds
• Release date
• Reviews
• Age certificate
• Pug

How is genre reflected within each poster?
Pop:

• Saturated colours
• Airbrushed - perfection
• Reflects theme (love, happiness, relationships)
• Mainstream trends
• Make up
• Teenagers
• Colour coordinated

Rock:

• Aggressive
• Dark colour scheme
• Attitude
• Loud
• Leather
• Electric instruments

Indie:

• Earthy colour scheme
• Quirky
• Casual
• Hipster
• Everyday locations
• Quirky expressions
• Down-to-earth

What do you need to plan for?

• Advert composition
• Photo-shoot
• Imagery
• Themes
• Location
• Colour scheme
• Typography
• Mise-en-scene
• Synergy

Our Pitch

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment by Megan Williams on Scribd

Location Analysis

As a group we are thinking filming at several locations in order to get a wide variety of shots and settings to provide us with more options and leniency in our editing. These locations consist of:

• Grimsthorpe Castle
• A swimming pool
• The old Rippingale Train Tracks; and
• A dark room where images from a projector may be projected onto the wall.

We thought Grimsthorpe Castle's gardens would be perfect to film shots that just contain the female actor as we want to portray her as being quite pure and dainty so the array of flowers and perfectly manicured greenery was able to accentuate that idea. We managed to get permission to film in the kitchen, flower and topiary garden which gave us a wide range of different shots we could take.


We took the theme of the relationship drowning and decided to interpret this with a swimming pool, one of our group members has access to one and we have a lifeguard on hand to take care of any incidents that may happen.


The old Rippingale train tracks are quite an edgy location as they have an abandoned look to them, we thought this would be a location to film shots containing the couple as it is representing the forbidden love they have for each other and how they have to meet up in deserted locations. It is a contrast to Grimsthorpe Castle as it is symbolising that he is a bad influence on her and that the purer location is where she's really herself and not putting on an act to seem admirable and spontaneous.


The dark room will be used for lip-syncing along to the song and a projection will be shot over the female actor of a rose blooming and dying to illustrate what is happening within the relationship as the song goes on.

 

 

 

Focus Group Feedback

Stabilisation Test

After Effects enables the editor to use a plugin that assesses the video footage and stabilises it frame by frame. Simply apply the plugin to the footage and the program will analysis the clip and apply the effect.

Depending on the movement of the original footage, the outcome varies. However, it is evident that it can create a blurry and distorted look to it and this can be used to our advantage to create a motion blurred appearance. There is also the issue that the video becomes cropped post rendering. This will need to be a factor we need to consider before we film shots and adjust the settings to fit each clip. It is very apparent that different shot types can drastically change the outcome of the clip.

Story Board

Story Board by Megan Williams on Scribd

Contact with the Artist

We chose to contact our chosen artists, Natalie Lungley by Facebook messenger as she does not have  valid email address that we could use other than her social media.

We addressed our message formally as she is a well known unsigned artists within social media. we contacted her on Facebook, explaining why we wanted to use her song and what we were using it for, e.g. for educational purposes only.
Unfortunately Lungley did not get back to our message however took time to read it which we appreciated.

Location Scouting

Deconstruction of Lyrics

Deconstruction of 'Secrets'

Digipak Analysis - Lana Del Rey

This digipak has been designed for Lana Del Rey's indie-pop album 'Born To Die' released in January 2012. Through the use of imagery it can be seen that there is a retro theme throughout this album through the simplicity of costume, make-up, setting focusing on Lana's vintage appeal she is pictured to be standing outdoors in minimal surroundings so that the attention is drawn to her. She is shot with a medium close-up in the centre of the frame, this says that she is the focus and exaggerates her air brushed beauty, her gaze falls directly into the camera and almost communicates to potential buyers, it is a very direct mode of address and brings it to a more personal level. However there is a contrast in the use of colours with the dominant colours being blue and white on the outer covers of the digipak and changing to just the red and white of the roses on the CD, this is effective as it may be perceived to be patriotic to her nationality, American. Her name is written in large, informal sans-serif font making it stand out and bring attention to the fact that the album is by 'Lana Del Rey' who is a well known and liked artist, the colour of the typography changes to contrast the background; against white it is sky blue and against sky blue it is white so it still keeps the continuity of the colour scheme.

The CD itself only has images present on it, red roses, these link to the title as roses are sometimes found at funerals. Roses are symbolic of love and connote lust and passion, these themes can be heard throughout the lyrics of the album.

The back cover continues with the blue and white colour scheme found on the front and also uses the same typography. It informs the buyer of what songs are being featured on the album, it also gives a website address for the official homepage of Lana Del Rey where fans and those interested can keep up with upcoming events and news, it also contains record labels and companies supportive of the artist. The overall look of this album has no specific connection to the title but from the features presented it has been made clear that this album is of the pop-indie genre.

Digipak Conventions

Digipaks are the casings for CDs and are used to effectively promote an artists image this is done with images related to the genre and style of the artist or the songs found on the album, there is quite often an image of the artist or band so that fans can recognise them and it will appeal to their loyalty to the singer/band. They are usually a clear plastic with panels of printed paper folded within to add to the visual aesthetic, these visuals tend to have a theme running through them that links to the theme found throughout the album to keep continuity between the product and packaging. Within the digipak there is a CD holder for one or more CDs and some may feature a small booklet containing lyrics and band or artist information so that listeners can also learn more about the artist and possibly create more of a personal connection to the music as they feel closer to them. A track list is presented on the back of the case to let purchasers know the contents of the product and to make it easy to find what track is being listened to, also on the back a record label may be seen to recognise the companies contributing to the album and to create a link between a successful artist or company. Digipaks give fans of the singer/band the feeling of being closer to their idols and give them a sense of loyalty as well as owning a hard copy collection of the songs rather than predominantly owning digital downloads.

Vox Pop - Music Videos

Vox Pops for Music Videos

Media Summer Work

Created with Padlet

Genre

Using Genre:

Using familiar generic conventions would pose both positives and negatives when it comes to audience feed back. It could be seen as predictable as it has been done many times before however it is easy and ready made so there is no need for a long planning process to come up with ideas. Some may argue that it lacks innovation and originality but some may like the familiarity and they like to know what they are investing in.


Subverting generic conventions means coming up with an original idea that hasn't been done before, it is a very risky process which could lead to alienating the audience but the development could be seen as clever or edgy and fascinate viewers rather than turn them away.

 

The genre that my group is looking at is 'Pop' however it is performed by an 'RnB' artist. Pop music originated in Britain in the 1950s/1960s. The word 'pop' is derived from 'popular' meaning that this genre is made up of favourites chosen by the people and can actually consist of any style. It is mostly aimed at the younger generations and is a more tame approach to the rock-and-roll genre. The first mention of 'pop' music was in 1926 referring to music with a popular attraction to the public this then became a well known reference ten years later. It has a mixture of conventions from many, if not all, genres being heavily influenced by advances in technology.

The main themes that run throughout the songs are love, breakups and inspiration, themes that many people can relate to on a worldwide scale. Because of the general target audience there aren't many pop songs that include frequent bad language to avoid controversy with the younger age demographic.


Pop songs are usually composed of a few verses, a repeated chorus and sometimes a bridge. A bridge is a mutated part of the song possibly set in a different key that mixes the song up a bit more and the contrasting sounds can make it more entertaining. The songs are usually between 2 and 5 minutes in length so as not to underprovide for the audience or bore them with repetition, with the most common instruments present in them are vocals, guitars, pianos, percussive instruments and electronically made sounds.

Rihanna - Diamonds

Preliminary Task - Diamonds by Rihanna