Magazine Advert Editing

<-- 1. I firstly put the selected image, that we used on the back of our Digi Pack.



2. I then added a blue filter and a cream filter onto it to make it have a vintage effect. -->

<-- 3. After placing the filter over the top, I increased the contrast and brightness of the image and created two orange/red gradients. One coming from the corner and the other a line down the center.

4. I then created a soft tones border and placed the Digi Pack Front Cover in it.-->

<-- 5. I then added the text, 'Mike Dignam' is in the same font as the song list on the back of the Album; 'Debut Album' and 'Out Now' is also but it has been put in a linear light. 'i'll lie here' is in the same font as the same title that is on the album cover.

6. An iTunes logo has been added but faded slightly and a new border created.-->

 <-- 7. Inside the border, star ratings have been added in the linear light again.





8. To finish the Music Magazine ratings have been added to the stars, creating an attraction. Mike Dignam's website and Twitter has also be written underneath.

Magazine Advert

For our magazine advert to look as professional and authentic as it could be our group decided that we need to incorporate the following into it; the title of the album, the image of the album, reviews, the Artists website, a design similar to the Album, links to purchases places, ratings, an image of the artist, CD logo and a selection of cross media platforms. These are the common features of all magazine adverts.

The common conventions of Indie Adverts are normally that they have the appearance of being designed with a vintage feel and artistically which overall tends to be quite simple but creative. I believe that an image such as a photo of the artist with a vintage tint would really show that it is from this genre, which is used mostly in Indie. There is often a link to the Artists website or their twitter accounts so they can be easily connected with the artist.

The two types of magazine advert are either artist or album focused adverts; meaning as our artist is still not hugely well known and is still very independently run, our advert will be artist focused. Our advert must link with the Digi pack and relate to each other, at best they can.When choosing the right image, font and content for our magazine advert, it is important I include and take into account the content above.

Music Video Changes

During our filming we have used our storyboard as a guideline although through some reconsideration, we discovered more professional ideas for some of the scenes. This occurred when editing as we found that the footage we filmed was not enough, therefore we had to rearrange scenes in order to fit the music successfully and follow a realistic story-line.

 - We have not included the scenes at the train station, instead we have added in some POV shots (http://aimeekmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/camera-techniques-pov.html ) and more scenes of the singer (Danny) singing with the guitar. I believe by doing this it will introduce the female to the audience well, and early enough in time for the chorus, and to understand the music video.
- The photo of the couple is also included in the video, although we have used a print out in which we can show it burning later on in the video, which is different to our first idea of it in a photo in the frame. Danny takes the print out from the bin instead from under the bed where the audience will see that the photo has been scrunched up out of anger and sorrow.
- Although we filmed Danny putting his coat on and tying his shoes up, we decided to not include these scenes as they took too long, wasted time and we didn't think they were necessarily needed.
- We were thinking of ending the video with Danny burning the photo of him and the girl, but we put this clip further back as we thought ending with sun shining through would be more appropriate.
-Another change that we made was the actress playing the girl. As we were running out of time and it was hard to get hold of our original actress, we all decided that it would be more ideal to use a member of the group, therefore I, myself am playing the role of the female.
- We also decided not to do the compilation of images at the end as we felt there was enough of the couple happy in the music video so give the audience the impression that their relationship was loving and strong.

Props List

In relation to our genre we need to make sure we have the appropriate props to fit in to the scenes and make it seem as if it is the artist environment, these will consist of props with a vintage or retro feel. Additionally we need to incorporate the main props that can link into the lyrics and narrative of our Music Video, therefore putting an image to the words to make it clearer to the audience.

The props that we will need relating to our narrative...
+ A lounger or bed in which the Artist can lay on.. "So I'll Lie Here"
+ A pillow.. "With your eyes closed, and me as your Pillow"
+ Bed Sheets and accessories.. "I know i've found contentment in these sheets"


Other props...

+ Acoustic Guitar... This is one of the main props that will appear more than once. This will feature as an important piece due to the guitar being a typical convention to indie acoustic genre, and will additionally help the narrator and artist be identified by the audience. This will act as the narrator's master shot which will include shots of him and the acoustic guitar in various different locations.

-Here is an image of Ben Howard with an acoustic guitar








+ Bench... We will need to use a bench near the end of the video to add a climax to the storyline; the artist will see his lover (the one he has been singing about) and see she has moved on. This bench and scene will symbolise the end of the relationship.

+ Bag... For the female scene's a handbag will be an obvious and reoccurring item in the music video, this is as it is an everyday item, and will show the age of the girl. This will represent her as an everyday female.

We also had an idea of the male carrying a male bag in some scenes as this will add to the male carrying his own 'weight' and troubles now he is no longer with her.


+ Sofa... In addition to the bed we needed a place in which the artist and his lover could be together, indoors to show the warmth and comfort of their old relationship. We will then contrast this to the male being alone.

+ Stereo Player for the opening scene...

+ Clock
+ Photo Table
+ Coffee
+ Leaves
+ Swings
+ Photo Booth/ Photos

Digi Pack Font Research

Through research I can see that a lot of Indie and Indie/Acoustic album font consists of various amount of capital letters, or none at all, or have a very artistic approach to the font, or a very simple font. This just shows that Indie Artists vary from one extreme to another but are never in the middle. The importance of the right font for our Digi Pack is very high, so we need to think about the pro's and con's of each, if they match the Genre and if they represent the personality of the Artist. These fonts need to be simple to read, whilst still attracting the audience by being pleasing to the eye; below are some potential font, which I have found that I feel fit into those criteria's. 

Analysis of Digi Packs 2

Artist: Arcade Fire
Album: The Suburbs
Location: In a neighbourhood by a house, possibly in a driveway or outside on the street; also the link to the title gives us the impression that the location is in the 'suburbs'.
Colours: The colours in this image seem to be light; the focus is blues and greens and browns, which links with the nature convention that Indie Artists use a lot.
Font: The font used for the Artist is a contrasting bright white colour, all in capital letters, the second word is slightly behind the first. Although the font is obvious it does not really take over the image as it is still quite small.
Editing: The editing on this image has giving the effect that it is a vintage image, with slightly brighter enhanced areas, which slightly look like a splodge in the image. This is done by changing the saturation.
Symbolism: The loneliness on the suburbs seems to be portrayed in this image as it has a lonely car on its own, with a typical suburban house.
Composition: The camera is just a straight forward shot looking through the car window, to the fence, and you can slightly see the house above it.
Lighting: Natural lighting seems to be used for this image, again giving a vintage image.
Props: The props used are a car and a house and fence, which links to the title and location more.

Artist: Nick Drake
Album: Byter Layter
Location: Empty room with the Artist centered in the middle with his guitar.
Colours: The image colours are slightly muted again but are darker, focusing on blues, black and browns. Then the frame, is in a contrasting bright blue, orange and red.
Font: The use of the font in the image;s frame creates a feeling of the frame showing and introducing the artist. The font is all in lowercase letter, but it has a slight retro feel to it.
Editing: The editing is an overlay of the frame, but also the image has a slight hue over it.
Symbolism: The frame shows that this is him, the artist and possibly the lighter frame in contrast with the darker image shows that the idea of him was more exciting than the reality.
Lighting: Dark and mysterious
Props: Chair and guitar are the only props present in this image. Again the natural wood, and the symbolism of indie with the guitar.
Mise-En-Scene: The artist seems to be wearing the classic indie clothes, which represents his genre very well.

Artist: James Vincent McMorrow
Album: Early in the Morning
Location: The location seems to be an English beach, which is empty.
Colours: The colours seem to be light natural colours, with the sand being a light cream and the hills and grass banks consisting of greens and browns. Font: The title and Artist is both fully in capital letters, the font is also the same size, although the artists name looks slightly bigger as it is elongated over the title. The Artist name is in black and the title in a light grey, which may suggest the artist is more important.
Editing: The overall image has a vintage feel over it, which is done by changing the saturation  of the overall image. The sides of the photograph have a black fade in, which also makes the image look slightly burnt at the edges, but helps to focus on the image and the individual in the middle.
Symbolism: Loneliness possibly.
Lighting: The lighting in this image is natural and bright, with fresh and soft aspects.
Mise-En-Scene: The costume is unclear in this image but the colours the man is wearing seem to be browns and blacks.

Analysis of Digi Packs 1... An Artistic Approach

Artist: Bon Iver
Album: Bon Iver
Location: Outdoors by a lake, and possibly a mountainous area. Nature is forming around a small lake house centered in the 'watercolour' type painting of this scene. It seems silent and relaxing, with no sign of urban life.
Colours: The colours are slightly washed out due to the 'watercolour' feel. The image has natural, blue, green and browns; the neutral colours are contrasted slightly with a strong red colour, which creates a feeling the painting has peeled back slightly.
Font: No font features on the front cover, this lets the image be appreciated, like the nature and beauty is in this secluded place.
Editing: The use of the 'watercolour' has enhanced the creative and unique feel of Indie Artists Digi Packs and is a great example of an arty approach to it.
Symbolism: This reflects Bon Iver's music and soft voice perfectly.
Lighting: The lighting is natural and has a sense of the sun reflecting off the lake, which brightens the whole image and makes it look fresh.
Props/Mise-En-Scene: The only sign of life in this painting, is the small lake house.

Artist: Angus and Julia Stone
Album: A book like this
Location: Again the cover has an artistic feel to it due to the image of the three children in the outskirts of a town/village have been created in a pencil, or chalk and charcoal style. I find this image interesting as the choice the children can make is linked to the name of the album as it is like a story, should they explore life by going into the village or the forest; they have different pathways.
Colours: The colours are a monochrome, black & white, giving the impression that you create your own story and colour in your life.
Font: The font for the Title and Artist is the same but the artist is more prominent on the digi-pack as it is spread over the top of the cover, and the title is smaller but closer to the children, showing it links to them. The font is a fairy tale style, again in black.
Editing: No editing is really used, but the use of a piece of art as the cover is a typical indie convention.
Symbolism: The symbolism of Angus and Julia Stone's album cover seems to be that you write your own story and novel and you can pick and choose how you live your life, and how your book progresses.
Lighting: The whole image is slightly dark and mysterious, again giving the implication that you create your own colour.
Props: A sign is used to show the different ways in which your path can take you, and the kids toys enhances there age.
Mise-En-Scene: The costume seems to be fairy tale/storybook like, which links very well.

Artist: Benjamin Francis Leftwich
Album: Last smoke before the snow storm
Subject: The subject of this image is not clear although i can pick apart the parts and see that in the centre it is an image of the world, around it is illustrations of natural wonders of the world. Such as, flowers, waves, wood, shells and many more. The contrast of the image to the title is also visible.
Colours: The colours in this image are a mix match of muted colours, there seem to be pinks, blues, blacks, whites and creams, the mixture may represent the different areas or the world.
Font: The font of the Artists name seems to be in a basic font centered at the top. The title is in a smaller font again, all lowercase.
Editing: The editing is the about of different artistic illustrations overlay onto each other creating a collage type image.
Symbolism: The symbolism seems to be that the artist is singing about all the natural happenings of the world.
Lighting: The lighting is all produced by the colours used in the illustrations.
Props/Mise-En-Scene: There are not really props or mise-en-scene present in the whole image but there would be in the inspiration of the individual illustrated images.

 

Similar Music Video's and their Conventions

In this post I will talk about the Conventions we have decided to use in our Music Video, and similar Music Videos and Artists that have also used them. Most of the examples I will use are a good representation of the Indie Genre, although they all may have their individual sub-genre's.

Narrative within the Indie Genre
In many Indie Music Videos there are a combination of performance and narrative; the narrative is mostly filmed in a contrasting and dissimilar location the where the performance footage is based; an example of this is in One Night Only's 'Say you don't want it', where the narrative is in the city and is busy, and the performance is on the roof of the building, just outside the city, where it is free and empty.

To complete and apply this Convention of narrative theory to the music videos, I have found a narrative in the Indie Genre in which I can analyse and make sure we can attract the audience in the same way.

In Kate Nash's Music Video for 'Foundations' I found that the lyrics link to the action is the scene, such as when the lyrics ' and I know that I should let go, but I can't...' are sung the couple are holding hands until the words 'let go' are sung. This links to an aspect we were interested in applying as in our lyrics when the singer says 'go to sleep my love...' the female character of the relationship in the video will be laying on the bed and a close up of her eyes closing will be filmed. The narrative is represented as a casual, average day, in which our scene will be as firstly the average day of when they were together, and now when they are apart; the Artist 'Kate Nash' is singing to the camera, whilst getting on with her everyday life.

Editing Technique- Overlay
As we have decided to create an overlay of scene's in the middle of our Music Video to show the Artist
singing alone, and the overlay of a previous time when the characters spent their time together there happy.


Olly Murs song 'Dear Darlin' is a perfect example of when this is used, as he uses an identical location but overlays him and his ex-girlfriends past times and fun they have shared in that location whilst he is singing alone of the bed about losing her. From this video you can tell that this Music Video is effective as the similar narrative and love story can be represented by this technique and help the audience understand the emotions involved in the song, which links to the Artist himself. To complete this in the most professional way possible we would have to film twice in the same location, with the camera running throughout; after we would have to edit it on final cut pro, by cutting, overlaying and tweaking the opacity of the image to make it subtle and appear a memory.

Editing Technique- Filter/ Camera use
The effect we want to portray in our music video is that of a warm and comforting video, despise the narrative behind it. The hue we want to create it that alike the colours and hues in Ben Howard's video, 'Keep Your Head Up'.

The filter of this video creates a more exciting feel to the Music Video and draws the audience in to watch for the rest of the song.

Another convention of the music video we are using are the different Camera shots we will use, in which will make, what could be, a boring love story into something more eye-catching and emotional. This is used in the Music Video on the left when the character is sliding down the water slide, the worm view perspective, the handheld showing shots of the reaction shots whilst sliding down the hill, and the birds-eye view assist the video in having a more exciting aspect and captures the listeners attention.





Lip- Syncing
The use of lip-syncing was important for us as the narrative will be happening around the Artist through an overlay and the 'average day' happening around him; the song in which is being used diagetically.

The Artist Daughter uses this is their song 'Still' this was influential and a linking convention to our Music video as the use of the artists image being presented on the T.V and the narrative working around it reminded me of our Artist sitting and having the narrative around him. This is effective due to the creativity but the unhappy narrative explains and shows the audience the details.







Binary Opposition Urban and Nature
The use of the Binary Opposition will be used due to the contrast we will use of the Urban and natural setting. This convention is used in Ben Howard's 'Only Love' video.

We firstly see Howard riding his bike, at a low angle capturing the power and the sunlight through the tree's. A jump cut is then used to show an urban setting in which the cuts are in time to the beat of the song, this adds interest and the audience want to know where the character will end up, why and for what? This is a convention that we are going to use.

Music Video- Final Idea

The ideas that have been brought up throughout the process for our Music Video, would all have been very effective and create an interesting aspect to a typical 'love story'. The idea of the Omniscience we decided was not suitable for our Music Video, but instead we made the Artist the main character in which was involved in the break up himself, such as Olly Murs in the video ' Dear Darlin'. This will work well with our narrative as it will show the singer in the past and the present, and the audience will hopefully relate to the Artist.

Artist (Danny) in Test Costumes

Through our research as posted previously we decided to create the different looks ourselves, on our Artist and come to a conclusion of what works and what does not. These are Danny's own clothes which are useful as we did not have to purchase any ourselves, although the outfits may not be to his taste, he has styled his different items to create the Indie look. I believe all these looks have an Indie vibe about them, but linking to our real Artist, Mike Dignam, we need to find the appropriate one for his look.

























The skinny jeans in all of the images seem to work for the Indie look, and the plain black brogue/desert boot type shoes really suit and fit the style we are trying to recreate. The buttoned up shirt works, although I feel that the t-shirt under the shirt, may not work as well as just buttoned up, for example the Denim looking ombre Style on the right, which with the denim has an aspect of Mike Dignam's style. The Green Parka was something we found was popular in our research, although I do not feel Danny should wear this throughout the whole video, possibly just in some sections.

Mise En Scene... Male/Artist Costume Ideas

Danny is playing the role of the main character and the Artist, Mike Dignam. His image throughout will be important in our music video and photo's for our Digi Pack.

In order for him to look authentic our group has started to look into different clothing ideas' for our chosen Indie Artist, with this in mind, the clothes he wears are an important factor of this image. Indie/ Indie Acoustic artists wear a laid-back and effortless look which may have come from a selection of vintage shops, such as Rokit and Beyond Retro. Our group decided to look at ASOS, Urban Outfitters Renewal section and the international fashion social site, LookBook. Below is a selection of looks our group has found to express and present the style in which our Artist will be dressed.

Danny will definitely be wearing the typical Indie Style such as this outfit establishes on the left. The dark jeans such as these are a brilliant base trouser to work with and style; the black vans are also a casual aspect of the typical indie style. The buttoned up shirt is a stereotypical item of clothing for and Indie artist to wear, so we will be sure to use this. We used the different items on the clothing website, such as ASOS, to create the perfect look for our Artist; due to the full outfit not being right or working for our Genre.


We have decided to stick with the colour palette as being quite earthy with clothes that represents the natural and casual of aspect of Indie, such as: navy's, dark green, grey, black and blue's.





Another outfit my group put together is the one on the left, again this establishes the colour palette that we believed was appropriate for the Genre. As you can see layering is a big part of the Indie image, through the use of tee-shirts, shirts, jumpers and coats; a specific and very popular item that is worn is the Parka Jacket. The skinny jean and baggy top look is also worn quite a lot in the indie scene, along with brogues or desert boots for the footwear.

Due to us using the Artist, Mike Dignam, we wanted to make sure we kept his personal style as this is very important for his look, and his fans. Through the research I see that he wears a lot of denim, a short sleeved t-shirt or rolled up sleeved, buttoned up shirt. A guitar is also going to feature in the Music Video so we want the style of the outfit to match the style of the music, and acoustic feel of the Indie Genre.

Magazine Advert

Along with a music video and a digi pack our group need to create a Magazine Advert to promote our Artist ( Mike Dignam) and his music. As a group we have started researching into similar genres and artists to our Artist, and their adverts, we will look into more depth at this when we start planning and designing our advert. We want it to portray the personality and music of the Artist, whilst giving the information that is needed to help promote Dignam.

Digi Pack

To assist our music video our group must create a Digi Pack for our Artist as well, which should not be much of a challenge as the Indie Genre as we have seen so far has a slightly Artistic and interesting style to it, which will be exciting to do but we can be very create about it also. The Digi Pack is an important platform for the Artist to use as it connects them with the audience further. This will need to include: a front cover, a back cover, spine, a disc cover, inlays and all the necessary legal words.

Audience Survey Results

Our group conducted an online survey on survey monkey in order to gather responses from the public via the internet as it seems that Web 2.0 is widely used by all ages these days. Due to the majority of our friends also using social networking sites, we had an advantage as we can post our survey onto Facebook or 'tweet' it on Twitter, which then our friends ,as our desired average age, can hopefully respond to our questionnaire.

1. What is your age?

2. What type of music do you listen to?

3. If Indie, what is your favourite sub-genre?












4. If you don't like Indie music, why?
- Production-wise, it's too basic. I prefer my music more mechanical, and more computerised- and I prefer it not to make pretenses about being "real".
- Boring
- I find it boring.

5.How often do you listen to music?

6. How often do you attend gigs?













7. How often do you stream music online?













8. Where do you get your music from?

















From looking at the results, it is clear that the average ages of people who listen to general music is from 15-24, in which the majority of this sample enjoy listening to the Indie genre. The age range of people that generally listen to music also correlates to the demographic research, therefore meaning that this is our target audience, especially as our demographics explain for Mike and similar artists that the target range is mainly teenage girls and young adults. Considering that the majority of people that we asked download and buy their music from Itunes or CD's, we will have to make sure our digipak will be worth buying therefore providing some bonus features such as a concert live song or a music video on the album might be a good idea.

Indie Digi Pack... Front Cover