Evaluation question 2

I chose to answer evaluation question 3 'How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?' through a power-point presentation, which I narrated over.

Evaluation question 3

http://www.fastswf.com/W2EUmus
This is my flash animated answer to evaluation question 3 -

'What have you learned from your audience feedback?'

As the programming language Actionscript 3 (which I had to use) is completely new to me, there may be slight issues within the animation and it is fairly limited in interactions - but it is a good start.

Evaluation question 4

One aspect of the advanced portfolio course is using new media technologies in the research and production. It's worth evaluating how I used them and what their strengths and weaknesses are so that I can make even better use of technology in future projects. 

Evaluation question 1

https://prezi.com/rjbwm-jkvubz/question-1/#

All physical production work (digipak and magazine advert) in FULL SIZE

Note: These are the full sizes of my magazine advert and digipak covers, they are unlikely to fit very well onto the screen but if you want a more detailed version of the work, this is where it is.

All production work in one post (video included)

Music video

Digipak front cover

Digipak inside cover

Digipak back cover

Magazine advert for album

Last editing update and final music video

Although I was happy with my music video already - I decided that I wanted to see if I could improve it even further with the feedback on small details from my media studies teacher. A form of audience feedback.

Minor improvements I have made here include removing a clip of footage at 1:36-7 and replacing it with a longer door-peep-hole shot. Before, there was another cut back to the very quick bathroom scene - but it didn't contribute much and instead seemed to make the quick cutting a little too repetitive and uncomfortable. 

The second change I made was replacing footage of the actress walking up a hill at 2:39, with more still footage of a close-up on the actress' face. Following the climax of the argument between her and the male character, I was advised that people might want to see more of her emotion and less of her just walking. I therefore used a close-up shot so that you can relate to how drained she feels through her expression, which combines with the skeleton make-up to a great effect. 

The final change I made was uploading my video in 720p HD and this time without letterbox bezels on all sides of the video. 

Last digipak update

I decided that the spine on my digipak was a little off. The elements on it were positioned slightly randomly and having examined more digipak designs

A choice of two - results and final magazine advert

Having asked twenty friends across social media platforms, I received a strong favouring for one of the designs. 16/20 of those asked said that they preferred the second design (ie. the one with the abstract shapes added to the mix). Here - I will explain and evaluate the decisions I have made with my magazine advert.

Magazine advert - a choice of two

I have started my magazine advert, and so far have come up with two designs - each minimally different, but with extremely different feels.

Magazine advert - Synergy

Throughout my research on magazine adverts I have noticed the synergies that often exist between album covers and the magazine adverts. It is definitely worthwhile to have a recognisable brand image behind your products, and that's exactly what artists and distributors do. Taking that on board, I have decided that my own magazine advert will continue the synergy from my digipak elements, seen below:

Perhaps the most noticeable design choice in my digipak is the simplistic colours and abstract imagery.  If I am to create an effective synergy between my physical promotional products, this is a must have characteristic. 

As far as which of the elements I should implement into my advert, I believe that there is potential for both the barrel overflowing motif as well as the abstract shapes - but it will be difficult to implement in a cohesive, effective fashion. 

Secondly, I believe that the colours and typography should remain consistent so that it is recognisable for consumers. If you have seen the magazine advert, they should be able to recognise the album if they were to see if anywhere. 

Magazine advert research 4: Kasabian

AND ANOTHER:

A band this time, rather than a single individual artist. Kasabian's advert is also the only advert on this list which doesn't show the artists themselves as the core imagery, and instead opts for simplistic abstract imagery.

The imagery appears to show a hooded/ partially masked man - centralised, staring at the consumer. You could take several connotations from this, each radically different. One could be of violence and intimidation. Kasabian is a rock band who some might consider to be heavy and blunt - which could match in with the aggressive intimidating outlook of the artwork. However, others might view the artwork to represent vigilantism - these (and superheroes) often disguise their real identities. It could be representing Kasabian as freedom fighters.

But even if Kasbian aren't in the slightest my cup of tea, I appreciate minimalist design and simple colours - which can often be more effective than convoluted, confused designs.

Almost needless to say, but Kasabian once again demonstrates several conventions of magazine adverts. Artist name (which is also the album name...). Reference to famed singles within the album. Website link. ETC.

Magazine advert research 3: Olly Murs

But my artist is a male, so I should also look for male artist magazine adverts:

With his name and album name standing out boldly with contrasting colours against the pastel blue background, Olly Murs album and its message is clear. Nothing too serious, sad or edgy - his music is designed to be bubbly, easy listening and catchy to consumers - hence the bright, colourful and none too symmetrical or orderly advert.

The font design on this advert is fairly child-like, as if drawn carelessly onto the paper - connoting exactly the care-free nature of Olly Murs' music.

His costume is casual smart - quirky but cool, while he poses in a relaxed fashion in a medium-long shot. You're meant to see that Olly Murs is a fun, careless character - which is seen in his music and music videos.

Again (growing tired of this!) - conventions are easily spotted:

Website link (check!)
Out now (check!)
Reference to a hit in the album (check!)
Big, bold album name and artist name (check!)
Artist featured in the cover? (check!)
Record labels? (che- ... nope!)

Record labels and their logos appearing on magazine adverts certainly appears to be a convention - but a hit or miss one. It's definitely not always there!

Magazine advert research 2: Jessie J

Next, we have Jessie J's advert:

This time, it doesn't really seem as though the male gaze is at work. Jessie J's stare back at those viewing the advert and her energetic posing and individualistic black look affirms that she is not an 'object'. The contrasting blacks, white and gold colours give distinguishing meanings. The black colour could be connoting Jessie J's individuality and confident status as she stands firmly out against the white background. The gold colours are great for establishing the feeling of prestige, as 'Jessie.J' is a shining bright gold colour - often used to denote wealth and power. 

The message could be that by purchasing Jessie J's album, you are purchasing power and prestige - her illustriousness. Alternatively, the message could be that 'you should buy the album because Jessie J IS of a high standing'. 

Again, we see familiar conventions on show in this advert. A link to the artist's website and two lines bringing audience attention to an extremely famous single by Jessie J, heightening audience expectations of the album itself. We also see the record labels to which Jessie J is signed to - LAVA and Universal Republic. 

The bottom third of the advert is turned solely to a black background, perhaps enabling the text upon it to be more readable.

The digipak so far in its entirety

The front cover:

The inside covers:

The back cover:

Digipak back cover

Having completed my designs for the front and inside covers, I made a stab at the back cover - to which end I am already happy with. 

Digipak inside cover 2

When using social media for audience feedback, I asked some friends which genre they believed my inside cover (below) was representing. To my disappointment, neither one guessed that it had any electronic connection, which is James Blake's main thing - really. Although they were able to work out that it was alternative music.

Digipak inside cover 1

Below is my work on an inside cover thus far:

I chose to try and denote disorganised thoughts and feelings through use of abstract, sprawled shapes on my canvas. It makes an attempt to carry consistency across from my front cover, below:

For example, I have kept the simplistic imagery from my front cover, as well as the motif of the dripping liquid. 

The motif of the dripping liquid and James Blake losing himself (finding himself dripping away) is continued into the shapes, developing into his identity being lost in muddled emotions and thoughts - represented by the shapes.

I wanted to give my disk holder side a stark design, something different. I chose an incredibly simple design of a gradient from light grey to dark grey - which could be interpreted as 'good to bad' or 'bad to good'. 

I wanted to give the sense of interactivity between the different elements of my digipak design, so the dripping liquid actually interacts with the shapes by dripping into them, and following their 3D shapes for continued movements. 

Digipak new front cover design

As per usual, working on a design over the course of days or weeks means that you become your own biggest critic. It was difficult to stick to a front cover design that I was 100% comfortable with - especially when I had my step father offering feedback whenever I asked for help to learn Adobe's tools.

Digipak inside cover research

Just like the back cover, the inside of a digipak and its design and colour scheme is usually dictated by the consistency it needs to have with the front cover design. A widescale change from the colours and imagery on the front cover would look out of place - odd - jarring.

Magazine advert research 1 Marina & the diamonds

In addition to using digipak or album covers and music videos as promotional marketing for new album releases, distributers and artists may delve into creating posters for use on newspapers or magazines. My second ancillary task is to create a magazine advert to go alongside my music video and digipak. 

So firstly, like any other project, I set about researching existing album adverts within magazines. 

Luckily, there is an abundance of existing adverts to look through, analyse and appreciate. Marina & the diamonds is an electropop artist who has had a few popular hits in the charts over the last few years.

This poster seems to use Laura Mulvey's 'Male gaze' ideas to its advantage. It could draw an audience's intrigue by it's glamorisation of the artist through zeroing in on her face, posed in a seductive, visually appealing way. Adding to this, the description 'the family jewels' further distances the artist from the audience by objectifying her as a 'jewel' - one that should be admired. This could make the voyeurism of staring at the artist more acceptable.

The background canvas to which Marina is laid onto is made up of a flowery fabric or wallpaper - perhaps connoting that the album's music is feminised and geared towards women - who are associated and socially geared towards liking flowers - probably moreso than men.

The advert makes a point of exaggerating the message of successful singles that are featured within the album. 'Hollywood', 'I Am Not a Robot' and to some extent 'Oh No!' are all fairly recognisable songs, which would lead consumers to believe that the album contains other great songs.

The advert also previews the album cover. The effect of this is that people will recognise the cover quicker if they see it on-line or in stores, which could lead to more sales.

Other conventions we have on display is text to state when the album is out - 'OUT NOW ON ITUNES', Marina's website, and finally the name of the actual artist. Brand, brand, brand.

Editing update 5

I said I was most likely completely finished, but you can always improve.

I decided that there were too many shots - such as bathroom mirror shots, and when my actor puts on her coat - where the colours are too bright and vibrant and don't necessarily match with the cuts before and after.

I therefore made very minor changes throughout my entire product using a colour adjustment filter on various cuts on my timeline so that they didn't look out of place or too vibrant for James Blake's fairly dark brand.