After creating the mock ups of the digipak and magazine advert, I asked people to give their opinions on both of them. In this part of the blog, I have recorded their opinions.
Digipak: For the mock up of the digipak, I was given a mixture of positive feedback and constructive criticism.
Positive feedback:
'I like how there are pictures in the digipak both of the artist and of things relating to the theme of the album.'
'Variety is shown because you have a range of different pictures in the digipak.'
'I like how you have a picture relating to the theme of the album on the front cover. This will tell the audience the mood of the album before they even open it.'
Constructive criticism:
'It would have been more clear of the mood of the album if you had done a quick sketch of the type of picture you wanted to go on the front.'
'It would maybe be better to have a picture of the artist on the front of the album. That way, the audience can tell whose album it is that they are buying straight away.'
'You could have listed the tracks on the back of the mock up instead of just writing track listingas it would have made the mock up look a bit more organised.'
Magazine Advert:
For the magazine advert, I was given a mixture of positive feedback and constructive criticism.
Positive feedback:
'There is a clear layout on the advert. This makes the advert look organised.'
'The name of the artist and album at the top of the advert is good as it tells the audience whose album it is.'
'The picture of the artist is clear so it makes it clear to the audience whose album they could be going out to buy.'
Constructive criticism:
'The magazine advert seems a bit bare. Maybe you should have a few more pictures of the artist on there to make it stand out a bit more.'
'You could have made the tracks available on the album stand out a bit more so it is obvious to the audience which songs are on the album.'
'You could maybe have put the name of the artist and album at the bottom of the advert so it is with the other information and so it looks a bit more organised.'
The song that I have chosen to feature in the music video - "I'm OK" by Olly Murs - is from his 2011 "In Case You Didn't Know". For a part of my coursework, I am tasked with creating a digipak for the album that my chosen track is from. This is the hand drawn mock up of what the digipak would possibly look like. The hand drawn mock up shows the measurements of the digipak and on what section of the digipak each component will go. These components of the digipak include the track listing of the album, the name of the album, the name of the artist, pictures of the artist and pictures that relate to the theme of the album.
Magazine Advert: For my coursework, I am also tasked with making a magazine advert for the album that my chosen track is from. This is the hand drawn mock up of the magazine advert for the album. It features where each of the components will go on the magazine advert. The components of the magazine advert are the name of the album, the name of the artist, a picture of the artist, the artist's official website, examples of tracks available on the album and when the album is out.
Below is a full analysis that was done of the lyrics of the track I have chosen to use in my music video. The track that I have chosen to use is 'I'm OK' by Olly Murs. Doing an analysis of the lyrics helps me as I can figure out how the lyrics will link to the visuals of the music video.
To be able to use the track for the music video, I had to ask the record label that the artist of the track is signed to for permission. Below is a screenshot of the email that I have sent.
Below is the mood board that I have created. This mood board will provide me with inspiration as I go about creating my music video. The mood board contains pictures that could inspire me for the location of the music video, the colours that could be used in the music video, the effects that could be used when it comes to the editing of the video and the emotions that could be shown throughout the music video.
I have produced a brainstorm that details the initial ideas that I could use for my music video. This brainstorm includes narratives that could possibly be used as well as camera angles and editing techniques that could be used.
For the music video, I have thought of two possible narrative ideas that I could use. I asked some members of my target audience what they thought of the storylines and in this part of the blog, I am going to record their opinions.
Below are the two main ideas that I came up with for the narrative of the video:
The first person that I asked who was in the target audience was my brother, who is 21: "I prefer the first narrative to the second narrative because the first narrative seems more interesting. I also think that the first narrative will keep the audience interested in the video for longer."
The second person I asked who was in the target audience was my close friend, who is 16: "I think the second narrative is better than the first because it is less complicated. The first narrative seems too complicated and could confuse the viewer."
The third person I asked in the target audience was my sister, who is 23. She said, "To me, the first narrative seems like it would suit the audience more. This is because there appears to be more happening in the first narrative."
The fourth and final person I asked in the target audience was my friend, who is 17-years-old. She said, "In my opinion, the second narrative seems too generic. I've seen a lot of music videos where people are just at a party dancing."
In summary, it seems that based on the feedback from my target audience, I should consider using narrative #1 for my music video.
For this section, I created a questionnaire which I then handed out to members of my target audience. (Based on the Internet research, I have put the target audience for my music video at between the ages of 14 and 24).
Below is the questionnaire that I asked people to fill out and then hand back to me.
The first question asked was if my target audience listened to music that was in the charts. Out of the 10 responses that I had, 7 people ticked the box that said 'yes' - this tells me that members of my target audience usually listen to the music in the charts, apart from the few who may not like music that is in the mainstream.
The second section of the questionnaire was asking about music videos. The first question in this section asked 'what draws your attention to a music video?'. Out of 10 responses, there were a mixture of answers.
2 people ticked the box about being drawn to a music video by costumes and make up.
3 people ticked the box about storyline.
1 person ticked the box about editing.
1 person ticked the location box.
3 people ticked the box about performance.
Based on these responses, the majority of people said that they are drawn to music videos by the storyline and the performance. This tells me that these are the two factors that I should focus on when filming my music video if I want to appeal to the target audience.
Besides Joseph Kahn, another director who has inspired me is Sophie Muller. She has inspired me because she has directed music videos by some of my favourite artists such as Maroon 5, Rihanna and OneRepublic. The videos that Sophie has directed always include different camera shots. This impresses me as it means the audience are never looking at the same shot of the artist so they do not get tired of the video. Therefore, the audience will keep watching the music video until the end.
Maroon 5 - 'She Will Be Loved'
I am impressed with this video because it has a clear narrative and a range of different camera shots are used. The narrative of this video is that the lead singer of Maroon 5 - Adam Levine - has a girlfriend but is in love with someone else and does not know how to tell his girlfriend.
The narrative of the video - both girls are on Adam's mind.
The camera shots used in this video include several close-ups, extreme close-ups and long shots.
An example of a long shot used in the music video.
OneRepublic - 'Love Runs Out'
With this video, I am impressed with the many different camera shots and the way that the mise-en-scene is used in different shots. The camera shots that appear in this video inlcude close-ups of the different band members, a number of a mid shots and many long shots.
A mid shot used in the music video.
One of the things that I am very impressed with in this video is the background lighting and how it is used in different shots. For example, in one shot the background is light blue to possibly symbolise the possibilities that are out there when it comes to love and sometimes, the background is dark blue, possibly showing the anger that love can sometimes bring.
This is the part of the blog
where I have researched about the kind of target audience that would be
interested in pop music. I am doing research into pop music because this
is the genre that I would like the music video that I make to fit into.
A number of videos have been released in the past few years that have inspired me. While some have inspired me through their use of camerawork, others have inspired me through their use of editing and mise-en-scene.
Who is a director who has inspired you?
One prominent music video director that has directed many of my favourite videos is Joseph Kahn. In recent years, Joseph Kahn has directed many videos for Taylor Swift, including 'Blank Space' and 'Wildest Dreams'. With both of these videos, a lot of emphasis is put on the narrative and the mise-en-scene. This makes the videos interesting to watch as the audience become captivated by the narrative and want to watch until the end of the video to see how the story portrayedwill end.
Taylor Swift - 'Wildest Dreams' In the video for 'Wildest Dreams', the narrative centres around an actress - played by Taylor - who is filming a movie in Africa. While in Africa, she begins secretly datingthe actor who is the co-star in the movie. Once the filming of the movie is completed, the two actors go back to America and they have stopped dating each other. From then on, it centres around the two of them still having feelings for each other but not being together. This video impressed me when I first saw it because of the use of mise-en-scene. The video is set in the era of Hollywood glamour and this is evident from the costumes, make-up etc.
The representation in the video of classic Hollywood glamour.
A range of camera shots are also used throughout the video. These camera shots include extreme close-ups and long shots.
An extreme close-up used in the video.
A final thing about this video that impresses me is the editing. I am especially impressed with the editing at the beginning of the video because the shots all dissolve into one another and this creates a sense of suspense.
The montage of shots at the beginning of the video.
