Friday, 30 November 2012

Choosing promotional posters.


These are the two promotional posters Georgia created, she also edited the photos slightly in iPhoto before uploading them too Photoshop to create a background and add the relevant details through text creating the overall look of a promotional poster. I think the color them georgia has decided to use as it stands out against the dark formal looking background and also connotes confidence and dominance compared to the black background, this is a good way to portray our artist as these are necessary characteristics or image for a artist within the dance music genre. In the first promotional poster there are two images of the artist which is good because it gives the impression of a more professional artist or album as it looks as though these images have been take in the process of creating the album making it look highlight professional. As well as this there's a mid-shot of the artist which is good as it will help build a relationship between the artist and fan base as well as making the artist easier to recognized and establishing him more in the music industry, this is also something the target audience will enjoy as the majority are obviously interested in the target audience. However in the first promotional poster one aspect i think could be altered to improve the over all poster would be the color, while the red is good as it connotes positivity and things relatable to the music genre this poster includes so much red it takes away the purpose of the poster which is for the focus to be on the details, the red takes the attention away from the purpose of the promotional poster and makes it difficult for the target audience to know where to look on the promotional poster.
In the second promotional poster the color theme used is the same as the first poster however the layout is better and makes it easier for the target audience to read the information and gets the purpose of the promotional poster across easily. The image that dominates the picture looks professional as the quality alone looks of a higher standard than the image used in the first raft this could be because of Georgia applying the black and white effect which allows the information to be taken in by the audience and really serves the purpose of the promotional poster. Tne artists name being down the side of the promotional poster was something I wasn't really fond of as it was difficult to understand who the artist was at first glance without being able to place a name with the image, as well as this a promotional poster is supposed to quickly serve its purpose and promote the artist without taking too long as the target audiences may grow bored or impatient, taking these factors into consideration I think the promotional poster would've looked better had the artists name been displayed in a different way.
I like how Georgia has put the text 'STAY AWAKE' in red capitals which is also in a larger text size than the other details, this makes it stand out to the target audience and even makes the promotional poster more memorable as it'll probably catch the readers attention, one thing Georgia could also of done was move the text more to make it clearer what each piece of writing was for example its difficult to understand the text 'no 1 single' as it clashes with the image because of the placement of this specific piece of text. Overall i prefer Georgias second draft of a promotional poster despite liking the first one too i think the second one gets the purpose across easier and makes it easier for the target audience to grasp the promotional poster.
These are two promotional posters created by the other member of our group Nicole, as you can see Nicole's promotional posters differ from Georgia's with colour themes and the overall look which is good because it gave us the chance to look at the different ways in which our artist would be represented and take our pick on what we thought was the right image for our artist overall. All of the promotional posters within our group was created using the same programmes, first of all we took the pictures of the boy inpersonating our artist then after uploading the images into iPhoto we went on to make adjustments to each image that we felt appropriate, after changing photos slightly such as contrast, saturation etc we wont on to open them in Photoshop where we could create a background, apply effects and texts as well as much more.
Nicole has using a blue/purple/navy background for both promotional posters, this is a good colour to use as it connotes luxury and is quite a rich colour which is good because it gives a good impression of our artist, it could represent the quality of the music produced within the album or the album overall as its the colour used to promote the artist. The images used for the artist are quite basic without much posing which shows the artist to the audience in a good way, it shows the artist more stripped back and personal in a plain t-shirt as opposed to all of the aspects that would make up a artist in the music industry (jewelry, sunglasses). I think the images used in these promotional pictures show the artist on a more personal level which is a positive factor here as it helps to build a connection between the artist and target audience, as the artist isn't extremely big or established in the music industry yet this is again good as the artist needs to be familiar to the target audience. The basic casual clothes give the impression of a more layed back approach of the artist which could portray how music comes easily too him and isn't too much of an effort where they adjust things similarly to the artist, the stripped back more personal look here could also show the artist on a more personal level making the target audience feel more involved.
The white glow surrounding the artist in both images is good as it connotes innocence, purity which is good as it seems as though the artist would be a good role model which isn't common within the dance music genre, this also increases the artists target audience as it may appeal to a younger audience if the artist seems to be a good role model or has a image of purity and innonence yet this also contradicts with the conventional streotypes of the dance music genre. Both of the promotional posters Nicole created are too a really high standard in my opinion and overall they look really professional, the details in the text looks good in both posters as it easily gets across the details to the target audience and isn't too much for the reader too take in and wont overwhelm them, out of the two promotional posters i think the first promotional poster created by Nicole is good as the text is more noticeable, despite both being good the second one doesnt really highlight the information of catch the readers attention. The layout in the first poster is also good as it breaks up the poster well, as the text, image and label logo is spaced out well it gets all the information across easily in the right order as it introduces the artist to the reader including an image before going on to name hit records they may be familar with whereas in the second poster all the information is put in one area it increases the chances of the reader growing bored which isn't good if the purpose is to promote the artist. Overall i prefer the first promotional poster created by Nicole as the purpose is achieved easily while creating a good image for our artist along with the dark background which is dark similarly to night time where most dance music in often played in dark atmopsheres.

Thursday, 29 November 2012

Analysis of promotional posters.


In this post I will analyze two promotional posters i've created for our artist in the dance music genre, I created these promotional posters using the photoshop software on the computer using my own images of the person impersonating our artist in our music video and editing them myself and applying certain effects to the image, the text and the background too. Before creating these promotional posters, we looked at other artists promotional artists to get an idea as to what aspects should be included on our own poster and what aspects we liked and disliked, it also gave us what details had to be included for example; hit singles (the biggest selling hits on the original album), the record label and a website for the artist too as well as being necessary these details also make the promotional poster look a lot more professional as opposed to just including an image and the album and artist name.


This is the first promotional poster I created using Adobe Photoshop, this was after editing the photo in iPhoto and increasing the saturation of the image to make it brighter, i also used used a tool to make the red-eye that was originally on the image not visible as it made the image look slightly amateur. I then used the re-touch too and clicked over the face to make the skin tone look really even. After this i then increased the saturation this was too make the artist stand out more against the background, then I uploaded the image in photoshop and used the bright tool to make the background a more clear slightly darker cream color to contrast against his t-shirt and hair color. I applied this picture to a image i got from a copyright website, the image has a galaxy color scheme to it and is similar to the night time sky. However despite the background image I got from a website there was a logo on every image so i then dragged the image and altered the size to conceal the logo. After doing this, i decided to start creating the details using the text tool as the only thing left was the details the audience needed. Firstly I created the artists name using a bold font, i went on to create this text four times and placed them behind them to give the impression of a shadow, the colors are all bright and vibrant to create a fun aspect for the promotional poster i've created. The bright colors are also similar to strobe light colors that are recognized and often present in clubs, these colors also make the poster stand out more which is good as it would get the attention of the target audience and promote the poster which is the obvious purpose.
I placed the text underneath the image to make it obvious to the audience that it was the audiences name  and give the impression of introducing the artist with his name, above the image i placed the text 'Data Record presents..' this again contributed to the impression of introducing the artist as this was at the top of the poster and was at the top of the poster and would be the first thing the target audience would read, this text was in a different font to the rest of the text as it represented something different with the record label which only significance to the promotional posted is that it may make people more interested as the label also signs other successful artists and could've built a loyal fan base through the other artists.
Underneath the artists name i used another text for the album name 'STAY AWAKE' underneath this the text reads 'INCLUDING HIT SINGLES STAY AWAKE, PLAYING IN THE SHADOWS AND KICKSTARTS' one reason for doing this is because these were some of the biggest hits amongst the album and would therefore be recognized amongst the target audience, it also may encourage people to purchase the album if they recognize the big singles that entered the charts thinking his work may be of a similar high standard. Both the name of the album name and the hit singles included font is in a white font to make it stand out and create contrast against the dark background and goes well against the galaxy them background. However the hit singles included is in a bold font whereas the album title isn't this is to distinguish between the information and what details will be relevant to the target audience, despite the album title being vital information the hit singles is in bold as its more likely to be recognized by the target audience. At the bottom of the promotional poster the artists website is in a text similar to a type writer, the text is again in one as i thought too much color differences could make it difficult for the audience to focus on the important information. The font is in the bottom corner as it's the least important bit of information on the promotional poster but is still relevant to the artist and needs to be included on the poster. At the top of the promotional poster in the left hand corner is the Data Records logo this is to make it more evident to the audience who the record label is and also makes the promotional poster seem more professional by including all the relevant information for the target audience. The majority of the font is in white to not overwhelm the target audience and compliment the dark background and image on the promotional poster.


When creating this promotional poster, I took a different approach again i decided on a black background to make the important relevant information stand out to the target audience, firstly i opened the image of the person impersonating the artist in our music video in iPhoto again i then rounded the edges and made it black and white as i wanted to create two different promotional posters and choose the one that i thought looked the most professional. When opening the image i'd altered in photoshop i decided to place the image in the bottom left corner so i could put the details around it and make it stand out and create contrast against the dark background. I decided to add text in bright colors such as red and orange this is because this colors connote positivity and good things which is a good thing to convey when creating a music video for the dance music genre. the colored writing contrasts against the dark image and black and white image which is good because without the bright colored writing my promotional poster could potentially look formal as the colors are formal and aren't really something i want to associate with our artist as the image should be fun and positive for the dance music genre.
By creating contrast the brightly colored writing against the dark background it also helps to make the writing stand out and be the first thing noticeable to the target audience which is good as the text is all the significant information, it doesn't overwhelm the target audience with too much information either while my other promotional poster is good there's more information and could be seen as though the information is competing for space. Again i put the text "Data Records Presents.." this is to introduce the artist as its above the image and makes it obvious to the audience who the artist is, underneath this piece of text is "MIKE SMITH" this is too help establish who the artist is, not a lot of information needs to be included as the purpose is to promote the artist and their new album so this is the only vital information.
Next I put "debut selling album Stay Awake" this piece of text will be of use to the target audience of this poster as it highlights the good standard of the album and shows how the album was a big hit which could interest the audience thinking they're going to purchase a high quality album. The last bit of information is "INCLUDING HIT SINGLES.. CHANGED THE WAY YOU KISSED ME, KICKSTARTS AND STAY AWAKE OUT NOW!" this was important as people may not be aware of the music industry and artists, yet people are usually aware of what songs are big hits and considered current in charts so by naming the songs that were considered the biggest hits on the album reaching a high spot in the charts may familiarize the audience with the artists work and give the impression that they'll enjoy the majority of his work if these particular three songs are recognized by them. The last text OUT NOW! is to encourage the audience to buy the album and could connote the urgency in the album as its selling first as the capitals and exclamation mark make it seem urgent that the album is selling fast, this also portrays how popular the album is and how good the album is also. This being the last piece of font on the promotional poster also leaves the target audience considering purchasing it which is the purpose of the poster therefore being the reason i put this last as if i put this piece of text first then the other details they may grow bored before processing all the information of begin to focus on the  other information and forget the purpose of the poster or get overwhelmed with too much information.
Overall i prefer the second promotional poster as i think it looks more professional as well as including all the relevant information without making it difficult for the target audience to understand and take in the information, i included colours that also apply to the dance genre in the second poster as typical conventions within music videos are a dark atmosphere with bright lines similar to a club for example, dance music connotes fun which is what i was trying to get across in my promotional poster yet with the finished outcomes i think i helped display this in the second promotional poster better.

Tuesday, 27 November 2012

Research into chosen music genre.

As a group we've decided to create a music video for Example - Stay Awake which falls into the dance music genre, everyone in the group enjoys this genre music which has its advantages as we're more likely to agree on what aspects to apply to our music video and what are stereotypical conventions within this genre and the music videos as we're familar with the genre and music videos within this catergory too. Example conforms to an artist creating dance music songs well as he is similar to the majority of artists creating dance music and quite a basic image that represents a normal man rather, his image doesnt neccessarily fall into something of a dance music genre overall but certain aspects do. We chose the song Stay Awake as its an obvious song within the dance genre so we could investigate what we'd need to include and apply to our video, by chosing this song we then decided to investigate what the target audience expected to see in a dance music video and of a dance music artist too. After deciding to do this we created questionnaires and vox pops after collecting data from both of these we processed the data by putting the questionnaire results into charts (mainly pie charts) so we could analyse the data and decide on what was key for our music video. Vox pops are basically when you find candidates willing to discuss their favourite type of music, artist and what conventions they expect in certain genre's on camera. As a group we all looked at the results of both questionnaires and the vox pops and decided on what we thought was vital to show in our music video and also how to portray our artist too.
 
 Two artists who are similar to Example are both Tinie Tempah and Flo Rida as they both produce music of the same genre with the same conventions applied, these are two artists who i will go on to discuss in this post.
 
Artist one: Tinie Tempah - Pass Out
Despite being a successful and popular video in the dance genre this song doesnt conform to the stereotype's of a dance music video overall. While other videos within this genre usually include a storyline with a exotic location and bright colours this video is stripped back and quite basic especially for a video in the dance music genre. Mise-en-scene isn't as evident in this video as it usually in dance music video's which is odd for an artist first starting out to create a music video for a certain genre yet go against the stereotypes however this could've worked in Tinie Tempah's favous as the song has gone on to be extremely successful.
 
There are no girls included throughout the whole music video which is considered strange for a dance music video, one main reason videos within the dance genre include girls in the majority of the video is to create a realistic scene making it simultaneously fun. Dance music is played in clubs, holiday locations etc. where there is always girls present, another reason for girls always being evident in these videos is because they're portrayed as sex symbols who wear minimal clothing this is too appeal to the male target audience. Tinie Tempah is however dressed in appropriate clothing, although he isn't wearing any designer labels or jewelry his clothes are in keeping with whats considered cool, he's dressed casual as this will appeal to the male audience as he's dressed similar to what the majority of males wear and is wearing nothing too risky in the video. He wears sunglasses in this video which is something associated with fame despite not being in a location where people would often wear sunglasses it gives the impression of bright vibrancy which is associated with the dance music genre. Wearing sunglasses in dark locations is also common to famous people who do it because of paparazzi or to conceal their identity, this is Tinie Tempah's way of establishing himself as an up and coming artist in the dance genre as this was his first video/appearance int he music industry.
 
Artist two: Flo Rida - Whistle.
This video is a good example of a stereotypical music video in the dance music genre, it includes a lot of things stereotyped to the fun atmopshere and vibe that comes with dance music. Mise-en-scene is a big factor contributing to the dance genre and relating it to the genre overall. Mise-en-scene is carefully contructed in this music video to create the perfect atmosphere including all the things the target audience would expect to feature in a video for dance music including dancing, girls, an exotic location and more.
The setting is a beach which looks hot and sunny, this conforms to the stereotype of an exotic location being present to make the scene look attractive to the audience, there are lots of females evident in the music video dressed in minimal clothing portraying them as sex symbols to the male target audience, despite there being many females there is only one male which would appeal to the male target audience again as lots of attractive women wearing minimal clothing giving one male attention is a dream for most boys. The overall atmosphere created is fun as everyone dances in the hot weather induldging in alcohol and just generally parying and enjoying themselves which is what expected from a dance music video especially as the purpose is to create something for the target audience to dance too.
Flo Rida contributes to the glamour associated with fame by wearing sunglasses and a chain, these accessories promote his wealth that comes from his career, as well as this the scene also contributes to the image that fame creates a glamorous lifestyle for the artists. These accessories just make it more obvious to the target audience how glamorous Flo Rida's lifestyle is as he enjoys a party which he's created for what he considers work. The second half of the music video takes place at another party yet this one is at night time and also outside, this gives the imperssion that they've been partying all day into the night as the setting changes. Despite it being nighttime in the video at the second part the scene is brightly lit with a lot of bright colours that are similar to strobe lights this creates the right atmosphere as they're evident in clubs which is where a lot of dancing takes place. The colour lights connote positivity, happiness as opposed to using all dark colours this brightens the mood as the second half of the music video is set at night time. The female's again outweigh the males in this scene as Flo Rida again is the only male however despite this he dominates the video as the focus is always on him as he is surrounded by attractive women competing for his attention. The majority of close-up shots on women in this music video are extreme close-up's so you cannot see the entire woman focusing on her lips for example, this could be to highlight Flo Rida's power in the music video as he is the main character with the focus on him throughout.
The second half of the video is similar to first half in the sense that the atmopshere is the same with girls in minimal clothing dancing happily alongside Flo Rida, this vibe is made to look positive as dance music is not played in negative formal situations for example; a funeral or conference. The casual appearance of all the people in the music video contributes to the spontenaous feel as people usually dress up to go out, it makes the atmosphere a lot more relaxed which could be a bid to involve the audience too involving them in the more personal life of Flo Rida where he's stripped back and dressed casually enjoying himself.
  

Monday, 26 November 2012

Planning The Location

In this post I will list possible locations, I will also explain and analyse the reasons for chosing these locations to film certain parts of our music video, another few factors i will discuss will be the possible drawbacks of using these locations as well as what will actually happen in the shots in each location.
 
Our music video will include a lot of random locations to keep the theme throughout of a concept based video as well as performance, the shots will take place in everyday places including houses, streets, a forest, recognised landmarks in London and more.
The house we will include in our music video will to highlight a party fun atmosphere and vibe for the audience, the house itself wont need to have any specific requirements as its the atmosphere we're going to create, the party is going to create a fun vibe for the audience which is key for the audience so the house itself wont really be significant for its appearance or actual location of the house. Using a house will be one of the easier locations as we can apply our own lighting effects and use whatever camera shots and angles are neccessary for example, because the house will be spacious and a private place we'll be able to take our time as a group in order to get the right shots for our music video. The house will be considered one of the easier shots as opposed to London which would be a harder location to film in as its not a private place and will be busy, this will effect the shots used as it may be difficult to find the space to get certain shots and the quality of the sound too, lighting effects would not be able to be adjusted either. A house will be accessible as we will use one of the group members if neccessary or ask someone we know as im sure we'll be able to film in someone's house without it being too much trouble. A house is a safe enviroment to film in without many potential hazards which is a good thing about this specific location. The party atmosphere created in the house will be reasonably easy as we will have the space to ourselves to really adjust the scene to create whatever atmosphere and scene we want, the concept based video means random elements will be key and this is all familar to the dance music genre however we also looked into the dance music genre for typical elements and stereotypical conventions that we should also apply to our music video as they're obviously common. The scene will be quite dark to make it obvious what the scene is as house partys dont happen in daylight in the afternoon, this makes it also similar a club where dance music is associated with, this also helps distinguish who our target audience is aimed as the scenes we create will be similar to ones where our music video would be actually played and in keeping with the scene. The scene needs to be quite crowded to show the social side of the house party, people need to be dancing and drinking to familarise it with a party and whats common at partys for the target audience. The scene will be quite dark and grimy however lighting will be applied in all the right places after our group has considered what we think will show the scene how we want it exactly, this scene wont be extremely hard to create as we could use one room within a house if it proves too much of a problem, as well as this the weather wont effect this scene as it will be inside and nightime anyway so the weather is expected to be only dark, there will be no health and safety hazards in this scene as the location is secure inside a house.

A forest is an extremely easy location to use as there are no restrictions when using this location, there's lots of space which means getting the shots will be easy for example a long wide shot from a low angle would be difficult on a train as opposed to in the forest where the shot could easily be achieved. There are no potential health and safety risks that could be applied to the scenes in the forest as the location is pretty minimal with only tree's in the surroundings, the forest scene will also create a fun atmosphere for our dance music video. The location being a forest will contribute to the concept theme of our music video and the random elements within it. The forest will have random aspects including a lot of people and bright lights etc. to contribute to the fun vibe that is associated with dance music, the scene in the forest will be slightly performance based to build a relationship between the audience and the artist and make the artist more familiar too. The lighting will be a big factor in this location and part of the music video depending on time the forest can be either really dark or bright, we may film at night time then apply our own lighting with hand held lights so we can create the right balance between lighting and darkness in this location as opposed to over exposing the scene in bright broad daylight.

The streets will be slightly difficult to use as a location as depending on what time we film these particular scenes they could be busy meaning the scene could be ruined by people interupting the shot and making it difficult to get the shot required. The street is important to be used as a location because it will help differentiate between locations as well as help the audience understand when the location is changing and the scene is moving too. Lighting will be key in this shot as we cant really use hand held lights or block our certain lights with screens to create the scene we want if its in the middle of a busy street and a moving scene too, this scene will also probably be filmed in the late evening/night just to be in keeping with the feel of staying up all night for the party that our dance music video will have as this is common when partying to dance music. All night partys are where dance music is played so we want to create the right scene for our music video, the weather will effect this shot massively and we're hoping the weather will be clear for the night however if its raining we'll either shedule to film another day if we feel the weather will effect the shots massively or we could carry on and film to show a realistic side to the party atmosphere and vibe we're creating. it also makes the party seem more dramatic if it continues in heavy rain for example.

London will be a good place to film for the atmosphere it has alone, London is always busy and some of the landmarks are easily recognisable so will be good to show in our media music video. Music videos for the dance genre often involve people wandering the streets (often in London) drinking alcohol or dancing to show the spontaneous side to partys and nights out where dance music is played. As well as London always being busy the city looks alot more attractive as opposed to newsagents and supermarkes in Essex, it will be quite difficult to film in this location because the risk with London is that it'll be too busy and will prevent us from getting the ride shots as long shots will be neccessary to highlight where we are in London as some landmarks will be familar to many of the target audience. Weather could also ruin this shop as rain would wash out the shot and would take the focus away from the shot as well as making it unclear whats actually going on in the music video. There aren't many potential hazards in this location as its a public area, the lighting could be effected yet i think it's important to film at various points of the day to show the different party shots at different times as opposed to the whole party atmosphere happening on one night, dance music videos usually include lots of scene with partys to highlight a glamorous fun lifestyle to the target audience and 'let the audience in' on their personal fun life.
 
 

Thursday, 15 November 2012

analysis of Digipak

A digipak is basically the packaging of an album, it's consists of all the images, the CD and the track list of an artists album. The color scheme usually common on digipak's is bright vibrant colors to make it noticeable and appealing to the target audience and fan base built by the artsist, David Guetta creates music for the dance genre so his digipak would stereotypically be bright and fun to represent the music as opposed to misleading the audience for dance music then the album consisting of opera music, the packaging has to represent the artist and their music. This digipak represents the dance genre very well as bright colours are applied which is often familar to places associated with dance, for example: clubs with strobe lights, holidays. Dance music is stereotypically about a creating a fun atmosphere and vibe with nothing too heavy or dramatic, lyrics are still included however they're minimal compared to music within the pop genre. This is because the main purpose is to create something the audience can dance to not listen to as such despite the lyrics still be learnt within the target audience. There isn't a certain image for dance genre artists to conform too unlike pop for example where the artist's are expected to connote innonce and purity. The dance genre colours are bright to carry off the image the artists and music create which is fun and nothing serious or formal.

David Guetta is shown on the front of his album, the image is in black and white which is quite professional for an artist creating music for the dance genre, however the spraypaint effect adds to the fun image of the album and artist, as well as this the relaxed casual font balances out the effect of the front cover. David Guetta is wearing sunglasses and is not the focus of the album, an image of him being included is vital so that the target audience and fan base can familiarise him with his music and also because he's quite an established artist and successful often featuring in the charts, his face may increase sales. Other than this the focus doesn't need to be on David Guetta because in the dance genre the artist isn't focused on as much as opposed to pop where the artist has a storyline based around them, a lot of live performances are included in dance music videos mainly because of the purpose to create a track people can dance to the performance video may give the impression of a good standard of work being more personal to the audience.

The rest of the album is on a white background which could be to highlight the random bright colours included on top of the white background,  the random colours could symbolise how easy going the album is. Dance genre music is often easy going with the minimal lyrics designed to make a dance atmosphere not a lot more similarly to this digipak. The random colours could portray colours associated with dance atmosphere's such as clubs where strobe lights are and holidays where bright colours are everywhere, the bright colours create a fun image that is noticeable. The colourful album will appeal to the audience because the dance genre is designed to create a certain atmosphere that the album cover upholds with the minimal design that focuses on the music produced along with the fun atmosphere in clubs where people are often happy and full of energy, the main thing in club is dancing so associating the dance genre music with clubs and typical conventions is key.

The block font used to display the artists name David Guetta could be to highlight him and make him recognised as the artist of the album to appeal to his fanbase, it also stands out against the title of the album this is key as he's a successful artist his name would contribute to selling more albums as his fanbase increases with all of his work. David Guetta is wrote in a statement way on the front of the album this may be to introduce the album to the audience and stand out because he's recognised to produce successful chart hits his name being made evident to the target audience may encourage them to pick up the album and potentially buy it as opposed to if it was a up and coming artist who hadn't really produced a successful song. The title of the album One More Love is in a scruffy casual font which could be to give the impression it's hand written, this makes it feel more personal to the audience as it's next to the audiences name it could connote he had wrote it himself personally to each fan making it seem personal and the target audience involved, another reason for the target audience thinking this is because at Album Signing the artists often sign the latest piece of work which is what effect the hand written font on the cover of the album gives.

Tuesday, 13 November 2012

Analysis of magazine advert

This poster is an advert promoting Example's latest tour in the UK, the poster is not conventional for a dance genre artist as the color scheme is quite dark in contrast to the music he produces. His upbeat dance genre tracks differ from the poster displaying his tour dates, how ever the key information is shown in bright colors like yellow and red to emphasis the important key information to the target audience. The image is also his album cover Playing In The Shadows and the dark colors are in keeping with the theme, the dark colors allow the important information such as dates, location and artist name to stand out and allows the target audience to take in the more important information before possibly getting bored trying to find out the information they require. 
The name of the album is evident in the picture and the relation between the tour and the album is obvious with the name being 'Playing In The Shadows' is literally applied to this image with half of Example's face being concealed beneath a shadow, by applying the same image and theme to both the tour and the album it makes it easier to remember and makes Example seem more professional as he is at a level where he can apply a certain theme to his reputation through his album and tour.
The black and white background theme applied to this poster makes the advertisement seem more formal and could connote Example's professional reputation as a artist now and he's able to represent his image how he wants because he's established himself in the music industry and built a fan base.
The bold font used makes it more noticeable to the audience and makes it stand out which is good for a tour advertisement poster as it grabs the attention of people and makes it easy to understand and get the message across, the 'leeds dates added' makes the tour seem more in demand and the place to be as people have obviously requested more tour dates, the reference to this makes it seem more demanding that peopel sdhould get their tickets before they sell out.

Tinie Tempah is another artist that is similar to Example in the music he produces, he also creates dance music and raps, his tour poster is also extremely similar to Example's poster, however Example uses some color making it more noticeable. Tinie Tempah's theme on both his album and this poster is the solar system/galaxy, this poster is in keeping with the theme as the poster is still dark with a source of light appearing which could represent anything. Tinie Tempah has called his tour The Discovery Tour as he's discovered fame and could be showing him on a different perspective since discovering fame and establishing himself in the music industry, he could also think his tour and concert's are different to any others before by different artists meaning the term 'discovery' literally as to discovering another standard of concerts. Tinie Tempah has also advertised his brand 'Disturbing London' on his tour poster to raise awarness as people who will probably buy tickets to his concert are more than likely fans and would be interested in looking at his brand. The poster shows Tinie Tempah in a god like way as the light is projected around him, it could represent him as being important and reaching that level of fame now, as his tour is considered 'out of this world' with the galaxy theme.
                

Planning cinematography.


We will use various long shots in our music video to help establish our setting and locating to the audience, the long shot will help make the audience aware of the location which will be in keeping with our music genre. The locations will be vital as all of the shots and locations also help establish our music genre too as well as the artist, the long shots also help create an image for the video and make it more memorable. Varying the shots and locations will make it more interesting for the audience as opposed to an artist singing in one location with a close-up shot, the long shot will also make it more obvious to the scenes to follow for example: a long shot could help establish that the scene taking place is a forest rather than skipping straight to a mid-shot of an artist with tree's in the background confusing the audience.
 
Close-up shots will also feature in our music video, partly because its performance based having a close up will help make the performance aspect look real if the character mimes the lyrics well. The close up's will also make it more personal to the audience making them feel as though they're interacting with the artist. As well as this the artists emotions and reactions to things happening in the music video will help create a certain atmosphere for the audience, the party atmosphere that will be created for our dance music video will require close-up shots to portray to the audience the mood and atmosphere in the scene/location. Certain lyrics are more important in the song to connote certain aspects of our music video so the close-up shot will also make it easier to emphasis the lyrics and make it more intense by singing towards the camera and audience, it will make our music video slightly easier to create if we use someclose-up shots as the reaction will help inform the audience what's happening in the scene and how the artist feels about it.
 
Mid-shots will also be included in our music video as it helps build a relationship between the artist and the music video, rather than just include close-up's we need to apply the artist to the lcoations and scene we're creating in our music video. The mid-shot will also help focus on the artist despite the background scene to highlight the significance of the artist, we think a mid-shot could also show the artists statusas it will show the dance genre music video revolving around the artist giving him star status. The mid-shot may make editing slightly easier too as it will be consistent to the scene's we'll display in the long shots, the mid-shot consists of both long shot but features the artist  too like in close-up shots. The mid-shot could connote a lot of things too such as the manic lifestyles of a artist surrounding them if they're present in the centre of a mid-shot.

Monday, 12 November 2012

Lyric Analysis (Stay Awake)

The song Stay Awake is basically about the generation and the mixed up views and ways in which we are, because our generation is seen as controversial for creating images that are not stereotypical and seen to do bad things, e.g. drink, drugs, underage sex. It is also about the use of drugs too and questions pretty much all the decisions made within the lyrics.

"If we don't kill ourselves we'll be the leaders of a messed-up generation"
These lines connote negativity, "if we dont kill ourselves" gives the impression this is the last option and the most logical suggestion, 'IF' being the first word makes it seem final that suicide is the option as it gives an alternative. These lyrics contradict each other because 'leaders of a messed-up generation' while the leader is usually the one enforcing rules and boundaries, whereas in this statement they're being the leader of a mess rather than correcting the issue. This could also imply where the artist went wrong and led the generation into being messed-up, the lyrics could also represent the reprecussions of the decisions they've made as they dont want to face the facts of ruining a generation and themselves.

 
"Did we chase the rabbit into wonderland?"
The reference to Alice In Wonderland here fits perfectly well with the rest of the song, in the story Alice In Wonderland the rabbit is considered one of the most practical characters, despite rushing the rabbit is the only one who knows where he's going, the term "chase the rabbit" is in relation to how urgent the rabbit is in the story. The reference to Alice In Wonderland alone could represent how messed up their minds are as the story is known for its backwards storyline, chasing the rabbit could highlight their power and presence or yet again represent their mind path as they mix up the story according to them.

"Don't need sleeping beauty"
This could be in relation to the drugs that are made evident throughout the song, drugs are known to give a buzz to the user letting them stay awake longer, it could also represent the sacrifices made for the fame industry. It could also mean that he doesnt need the necessities as drugs are his priority in this video.

"we get high on the opposite of nital"
This is the most direct reference to drugs in the lyrics, as it states they get high in the video whereas before the mention of drugs was subtle and indirect. The opposite of nital also makes people more aware as to what drugs are features in the video, it seems more heavy stuff that gives you a buzz as opposed to prescribed medication.

"We just grow, if you hate"
These lyrics shows them uniting against the haters, it could also mean that the haters are what pushes them to achieve and produce more. This line in the song challenges the 'haters' by stating that 'haters' who try to get them down actually helps them acheive more, it shows the reverse in the intetntions and the confidence in Example in the song.

 

Planning an artist image.

For our music video, the artist is going to be portrayed as confident, the artist will also be fashionable with current trends yet the outfit will also be in keeping with the music genre for example the artist wont be wearing an outfit that is a typical convention of a rock video (eyeliner, black leather, long hair). Example will be shown as a popular character within the music video too, he'll be popular and dominant the majority of the scenes within the music video. The party scene that is often shown in dance videos consists of both alcohol and drugs too yet we want to create a positive image and reputation for our artist as well as this. In previous years dance music genre artist have become more recognized and familiar in the music industry whereas before the music genre was recognized, there was no artists who was famous and considered a celebrity for producing dance music. In recent years many artists have begun to regularly appear in the media, the music industry and the charts more and more and established themselves. Example, Tinie Tempah and David Guetta are some of the biggest artists within the dance music genre to date and are all extremely successful and famous, artists within the music genre have gained more attention for both their private life as well as their music now as artists within the dance music genre have started to be recognised whereas before it was harder to establish yourself in the music industry especially for a genre like dance.
 
We've asked a boy to play the character of Example in our music video, this is so that the performance will be realistic as opposed to a girl singing with a male voice. The boy will dress quite stereotypical to the genre our music video is appealing too, the character will wear bright clothes to contribute to the dance genre and the things associated with dance, the atmosphere will be positive in our music video as we want the focus to be on the artist, the lyrics and the scene we're going to create, dance music is often played in positive situations for example; you wouldnt see dance music played at a funeral so we're going to ensure we're creating the right image in our music video.
Example will appear as a normal boy with a stereotypical image that will consist of jeans/chinos with a casual top just to appeal to a wider audience rather than a certain image that appeals to a certain genre. The dance genre means we're going to add a lot of colour and fun aspects to the artist to create the right image and make it in keeping with the video we're going to produce.

Friday, 9 November 2012

research into chosen artist.

We opted to re-create a music video for the artist Example because we thought his music style was something we could create a fun music video for as he is a music genre for dance and pop, he is an extremely popular artist with a wide fan base however due to this and his successful music and videos there is stereotypical conventions common to his videos that are expected of us to apply to our music video, we have high expectations of our music video as we think it should look as professional as possible because of his successful reputation. The fast pace of his songs means it would be easy for us to create a successful concept based video, we are going to try and balance the concept with the pace and beat of the song as we think this will make it more memorable to the target audience we're aiming for. We decided to choose Example as he's a current artist who is regularly in the charts, his album Playing In The Shadows was where the track we decided on was featured as its one of his more recent songs. Example was born June, 20th 1982 and has made it known his teachers told him his musical career was going nowhere despite his obvious talent, Example went on to create and produce tracks despite them recieving no attention this was until "I Dont Want To" was acknolwedged by Radio 1 and 4 record labels too in 2006. Example then went on to be signed by The Beats label but with nothing coming from it Example went on to pursue other career paths. Obviously not satisfied with leaving behind his passion he went on to produce more music including Watch The Sun Come Up which entered the chart and finally put Example on the map in the music industry.


Example is a rapper and singer from England, his name is Elliot John Gleave and chose the stage name Example himself which comes from his initials being E.G. He was signed to Data Records when he started recording and releasing songs that became number 1 hits, his first successfully recognized songs were Wont Go Quietly and Kickstarts that made him a name in the music industry. In 2011 Example's fan base dramatically increased with the release of his new album Playing In The Shadows, his songs continued to hit the number one spot in charts and he also collaborated with other artists making him a bigger name in the music industry too.  He's collaborated with the likes of Professor Green, Wretch 32 and Ed Sheeran who are all extremely successful too as well as many other artists, he's also famous for writing many of his own songs and other artists. Example is very current in the music industry which we think means he has a lot more potential and his image is still up and coming, Example's music genre and songs are something that appeal to me and my group because we often listen to his music which is party why we chose to create a music video for his song because we thought it would be a good idea to be interested in the song.

Example's first song to make the charts and establish him as an up coming artist for the music industry was KickStarts however towards the start of his career his videos were designed to be more of the pop genre which makes his transformation to the dance genre more noticeable with his image changing too. He wears bright colours in the song and sings directly towards the camera this may of been because he wanted to establish himself as an artist for what fanbase the video picked up, as well as this it was better for the audience to be able to familiarise themselves with him if he was going to be a feature in the music industry as it helped build a fanbase.



Stay Awake Analysis
At the beginning of the music video there are lots of long shots showing him standing next to the logo that is associated with him as an artist, this could show represent him introducing himself to the audience as he wasn't a massive star yet but up and coming. As people recognized his logo it could represent him familiarizing himself with the brand that he's creating. The logo was recognized amongst the target audience and it could show him becoming more involved with his image, because Example was just starting out it really helped establish both Example as an artist and the brand he represents which is himself, however his brand recognition includes the logo that appears in the music video.

DANCE VIDEO ANALYSIS

At the beginning of the music video, there's a long shot that help's establish the scene to the audience the scene is outside a club with two flash cars pulling up. This gives an insight as what is yet to come in the music video as some conventions of dance music videos are the glamorous lifestyle that comes with the genre including nice cars, flash jewelry as well as glamorous women too. The long shot at the beginning of the video is a good idea as it makes it obvious to the audience where the setting of the video is. the next shot is a mid-shot of Flo Rida singing which is good as the majority of the target audience will probably be fans of the artist and would prefer to see him feature in the music video, him singing at this location may also make the fans feel involved as though he's including them on the lifestyle he indulges in often.


The video then skips to inside of the club where is shows a woman avoiding a man taking pictures, this could highlight the invasion of his lifestyle as although he's enjoying a night out at a club there's still photographers following people taking images while the woman is obviously avoiding the photo's however she is doing so playfully that it could indicate the need to be polite and professional as it comes with the job. David Guetta is shown in one of the next shots entering the club and taking over as the dj although he features in the song his presence isn't acknowledged as much as Flo Rida which could highlight his professional side as Flo Rida enjoys the atmosphere and dances alongside woman, David Guetta is shown to be dj'ing yet still enjoying himself showing the joy his career and lifestyle gives him.
Flo Rida is dressed casually in a red jacket yet he has a lot of flash jewelry which is a stereotypical convention of the lifestyle artists within the genre have, by wearing a lot of jewelry and sunglasses in the club he may be helping establish what kind of genre the music video is, he then holds up his necklace to the camera which may show him enjoying the perks of being famous and having the career he does as well as there being girls in the background looking impressed focusing on the artist.
the girls in the background focus is on the artist while the parties happens around him this could be a

planning lighting and color.


What style of lighting are you using and why?

We have to sit and consider our choice of lighting as it will play an important role in the final outcome of our music video, we want a  mixture of both low and high key lighting. We want to begin with more high key lightning as we think it will relate to the lyrics and be in keeping with the shots in the video, this is also the build up to our concept video so we want to show an atmosphere that is in relation to the lyrics which supports Goodwin's Theory. As the music video progresses we want the lighting to become more low key as the focus is going to be on the lyrics, as well as this the video is concept based and will include a lot of random shots that support the lyrics and surreal things going on within the shots.
We considered what the lighting connotes as this is something vital that we need to portray in our music video, while high key lighting connotes hope and innocence too it also creates a more relaxed positive atmosphere depending on the shot whereas if drugs are involved in the shot for example it could represent the high drugs give you. A low key lighting shot connotes negativity, sinister, bad things it also creates a certain atmosphere however some ways of using low key lighting can just highlight the positive high key lighting parts, in a fast pace music video it could also be similar to something like a rave or nightclub but this shots usually also include some sort of lights, an example would be strobe lights. 

At the beginning we're going to use dull colors to show the character walking as we think this helps focus on the character and what he's wearing, we're going to have close-up shots of his eyes but then darker colors will also help contrast to when the build up begins the concept of the music video. As the music video progresses more colors will be used, mainly bright colors will feature in our music video as its of a dance genre we want a positive atmosphere to be created however the music video will include a lot of random aspects that may be shown in the beginning of the video with the darker colors to show the darker side. The bright colors will be a main factor as we want a positive music video and atmosphere to be created.