Social media feedback on magazine cover

Interviews after construction

I decided to interview a few members of my target audience after the construction of our media products. This way i could gain an insight as to whether we would successfully appeal to them and also see if we had met the demands of a rock genre. Through doing this face to face it was much more effective that using social internet sites and survey monkey as I could see their body language towards our products and see what they liked and disliked.

Audience Feedback

I have chosen to get some audience feedback on our finished ancillary products from Caitlin because she was interviewed by us before the construction of our products and told us what she would expect from the video particularly as well as other rock related products like the digipak and magazine advertisement. Therefore by interviewing her after the construction I am able to see if we have kept to those expectations and if the ancillary items would actually appeal to her.

Audience Feedback

This audience feedback is from a fellow media studies student (who falls into our target audience), by asking the opinion of a fellow student I am able to get greater analyse on the techniques we applied and if she believes they worked with our chosen genre of rock. Whereas someone else not aware of the technical side of things would perhaps give a slightly more vague opinion, furthermore I believe my fellow media students to be harsher critics when assessing my ancillary products because they now what techniques could improve it (and the harsher the remark, the more support it offers me).  

Unfinished version of our music video for audience feedback

We decided to show our nearly finished music video to our target audience to gain their feedback and use their comments to develop our product. Through this we found that they thought our use of costumes and props linked effectively to our genre, as well as the clips linking to the lyrics and beat of the music. Additionally we found that they believed our concept of linking "games" with the genre was effective and original, as well as the fact that they would watch our music video more than once. This is good as our aim was to have props, costumes and a theme that would link to our genre and be easy to decode as a rock genre by our target audience.

Album Name

These are words that we have brainstormed in relation to our song genre and artist, we hope to get an idea of an album name from these.

When brainstorming we thought about how the artist is singing about her controlling relationship and how now she is tired of her partners 'game' and how she just wants 'independence' rather than the 'mayhem' its causing her to feel. We also believed that her relationship could resemble a natural disaster hence the use of 'riptide'...

But overall we like 'independence', 'play' and 'loud' the most, therefore we hope to use these within our album name.

Analysing the success of music videos

    

From looking on the top best selling music videos on iTunes, it is clear that the pop genre dominants the sales. This is a good type of research to conduct as it allows me to see the most successful video for its visuals, rather than the song having an influence. The top best selling is Adele's 'Hello' video, which is filmed using a variety of shot angles, with the most common being a close up of the artists face. In addition the music video is slow paced and has a series of slow-motion shots, as well as being in sepia effect all the way through. 

Overall through looking at the majority in the top best selling music videos there is a common theme of dance moves, big effects and close ups of the artist. Through this research we can therefore take these themes and portray them within our music video so that it attracts our audience more into watching it.

Researching the Design of Marketed Products in HMV



Rhianna stood by the top sellers

she is telling someone to be quiet

she is biting down on a chain

HMV
As we are about to start creating products like CD covers, we felt that it would be a good idea to visit somewhere that has a diverse amount of similar products (like HMV) in order to see what we like and get an idea of what we want our own CD cover to look like. One of the most influential factors we obtained from visiting was the fact that we could see which CD's were selling the most, giving us an even better idea of what a good cover looks like. For example Adele's CD was the best seller and unlike the rest it stood out due to its desaturation and boldness with the close up on her face.
P!nk

We thought it would be a good idea to look at our main inspiration (P!nk) as an example of what our CD cover may look like. Having looked at 2 of her CD's it is obvious that she opts for a fierce independent look, something which could be a great aspect for our artist (as her lyrics are about the fact that she is independent).

this CD shouts rock to us

this CD cover shouts rock to us

this CD cover shouts rock to us

Rock Genre



When we visited HMV we thought it was imperative that we looked at rock genre CD covers, as we feel our cover also needs to display what genre we have chosen. Having looked at multiple ones we felt that the use of darker colours like reds and blues seem to be identified more with the genre (perhaps due to their intensity) - we want our song to be associated with intensity also. Furthemore rock styled CD covers seem to have quite emotive figures on them. for example Paolo Nutini has a very emoive face and Thin Lizzy has a powerful stance on his cover - these powerful and emotive poses leaves the suggestion that their music if good (as it is very moving). This could be something we incorporate in our own CD cover as we like the idea that the artist is displayed at moving and perhaps even inspirational.

    

guitars central to CD

guitars central to CD

            Guitars

We found a couple of CD's which focus purely on the music rather than the artist. For instance both these CD covers have guitars as their main feature rather than their artists. This is something really important that we have tried to incorporate from the start of our process, as we don't want our artist to be too sexualised (we want the music to be the main feature to the video and other products like the CD).

the thermal colours and geometric style

the colour scheme

          Colour
For something to stand out it usually means its got a lot of colour that makes it appealing to the corner of your eye. These 2 CD covers both have a lot of colour and the this makes them stand out well. Particularly with the use of our rubix cube theme, we feel that colour on our CD could be a significant choice. 




Positioning



the logo placement is intriguing

his placement and the background



the movement of her hair

Each of these 3 CD covers along with many others have been carefully and cleverly positioned to attract buyers and make the artists appear within their personality types and genre of their music. For instance each artist is positioned centrally as it makes them the main feature of the cover, however The Vamps are positioned in a roughly with serious expressions (in an attempt to make them appear amnly - perhaps because they dont want to be associated as a teen boyband anymore), where as Ellie Goulding is portrayed as angelic (as her hair has been positioned to mask her from others - creating an innocent look), and Bieber is positioned looking downwards with a prayer like position to make him seem almost 'holy' perhaps because he wants to be portrayed as a good person. Because positioning can change so much about the way an artist is portrayed, it is very crucial that we position are artist carefully.

  

         Other forms of marketing we saw in HMV





Record covers



 Merchandise

We saw lots of records which we could also look at as inspiration for the cover of our CD; the records that were instore also seemed to be mainly rock (this was helpful as we furthered our ideas - for example their was one record which simple had a stage light looking down onto a rock artist)! Another thing we saw in store which could relate to our music based coursework was the selling of t-shirts with different music logos on them (ACDC...).





A few things I've learnt along the way

Working on my Media Studies coursework, I have learnt various things:

1. I have learnt to blog properly - I can use plenty of external applications such as Scribd... and submit them into our group blog easily. Having the capability to do so, I feel has enabled me to broaden my knowledge on computing and given me a diverse understanding of marketing on the internet.
2. I have also been able to further my ability when it comes to editing - although having been able to edit successfully last year when producing my opening sequence to a thriller film, I feel that this year I have increased my ability to edit via the use of filters and transitions.
3. Using the camera this year, I have been able to lengthen my skill when handling it, as I now know multiple camera shots - some even more interesting then last year! For example using a tilt is something I have found intriguing.   
4. This year I have also learnt more about the audience and their desires for the video by asking them directly.  For example the responses from my Survey Monkey questionnaire and our Twitter/ Facebook accounts. Using audience feedback like this, I expect our music video to be better than if we were to just do it in our own style, as it has been analysed more and adjusted with not just our opinions but varied opinions.  

Overall there are plenty of new things I have learnt this year and there will probably be some more to come as well; learning new things will only help my progress and make my coursework a better project, as it'll benefit from these improvements.

Twitter account and audience feedback

home page

purpose of twitter

 

desaturation

Having asked some target audience members (girls aged 17-22) what they'd be interested in introducing to a rock music video, I have found out that the majority would suggest desaturation. this may be due to the stereotypical dark palette rock is usually associated with. for example you don't tend to come across a rock music video with bright colours like pink or green... Therefore the use of black and white could potentially link our music video further with the rock genre!

upbeat

After asking our target audience what connotes the genre rock, I found that it lies with the speedy music created by stereotypical rock instruments such as guitars and perhaps drums also. Therefore I believe that it is going to be imperative for my music video to include instruments as well.







eye catching





Furthermore our audience think that to produce a suitable music video we should make it eye catching in order to grab our audiences attention.







fascinating

So to make our artist stand out and become appealing I think that by using a unique prop not found in most music videos we will be able to make the video non generic and intriguing.









desaturation

Although I asked our target audience their ideas for the music video, I also asked what they expect from rock music videos! These two questions sound practically identical however what the audience wants and expects is very different (however in this case they have responded with the same answer)! The fact that the audience have mentioned desaturation twice infers that it would be a good aspect to use in our music video as it obviously connotes rock for our chosen target audience. Also, black and white will help make our chosen prop (rubix cube stand out well as we can use a Pleasantville effect to make it pop with colour. 



Audience feedback of our location

I have took to social media to ask our target audience about the location we are using for our rock genre music video. This is so I can know we are following what is stereotypical of a rock genre and so I know it is clear to the audience what genre our music video will be before hearing the lyrics. The replies showed that our location is effective for our genre, which is significant as we want our audience to view our music video more than once.

Our Animatic

This is our animatic for our music video, we have completed it so we have a visual copy of our storyboard at hand to view and is a excellent way to keep with the timings of the lyrics, in which the visuals need to match up with. It also enables us to ensure our storyboarding matches the lyrics and the shots we intend to use are decent.

Props used for filming

 

 These are the props that we have used within our music video. As you can see the majority are musical instruments, which are typically seen within the rock genre. Guitars and drums are the most common to our type of genre. Not only because it makes the music sound more dramatic and edgy, but because the genre usually has a band and focuses more on the beat and lyrics of the song, compared to pop genres who focus on the artists image more.
We have also used fairy lights to light up the back ground of our music video, so it looks like the band are performing in a gig setting to a audience, so it makes it look like stage lighting and gives more creative mise-en-scene, compared to a plain black background.

SurveyMonkey: Audience Research

https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-KDJT3JQC/ 

Analyse:

Undoubtedly having analysed these results I have established that most people in my target audience are suitable for our song choice and the music video (with the majority having a keen interest in rock genre songs and music videos)! In conclusion there is little/ if no need to adjust our target audience at all. Furthermore I have also found that all the participants would expect to see a band in a rock performance video, so it is therefore imperative that we include more than just the solo artist in order to fulfil their expectations. I think that our target audience are interested in a band rather than a solo artist as rock comprises of multiple instruments like guitars and drums, and by using just one artist we would not be able to show all of these in practise. Also, the genre of rock is very loud with lots of action and things going on, and we are best able to resemble this volume by incorporating a band to make the music video more busy. Additionally looking at my findings it is obvious that most assume there would be male performers in a rock associated music video, so its important that we include at least one male actor in our music video (so it is relatable to their stereotypical view of the rock genre - thus identifying our video with rock). Although most assume male members will be in the band we hope to counter argue this by introducing a dominantly female group, as it will make our video unique and appealing, as well as introducing a new product amongst the music video industry. -Maddy

Costume, Hair and Make-up

Edited on Pixlr

 Make Up


Eye make-up is very heavy on our artist as well as the red lipstick helping connote boldness to our audience, therefore suggesting that our performer is independent (linking directly to the lyrics of her song - which go on about how she's 'not your game'...)!

We also wanted this look consisting of heavy make-up as we felt it best suited the style genre our artist is in to. For example other rock performers with a similar target audience such as Avril Lavigne have chosen this type of look for multiple videos of their songs. And we feel our artist is similar to Lavigne in the fact that she is also portrayed as independent.

As our target audience is made up of females aged 17-22, we felt the use of make-up would grab their attention (as stereotypically it is one of their niche's largest interests.

However we didn't want to take the attention away from the music itself by sexualising the artist and we feel that although wearing heavy make-up it doesn't take too much attention to her looks (but rather complimenting the artist's style/ look).

                                                                   Costume

Edited on Pixlr

Edited on Pixlr For our artist's costume we opted for multiple outfits (all within the rock style - using tops like the one in this picture to the left which has the Rolling Stones logo on it, as well as edgy bottoms like the shorts which have crucifix's all over them with chains to accent it). However one thing we have kept constant throughout the video is the black and white pair of converse worn by our main artist. We chose to keep this section of the costume the same, as they are a stereotypical shoe for rock performers. For instance our biggest inspiration Avril Lavigne can be seen sporting them pretty much anywhere! Besides them being stereotypical we feel that as our artist is portrayed as independent through her heavy make-up connoting seriousness, her clothing connoting untraditional fashion for women, that her shoes must not be the traditional dependent women's stereotypical high heels but rather the opposite (therefore we opted for converse sneakers as they display her untraditional rebelling for independence).

Avril Lavigne wearing her converse

Choice of YouTube strategies for promotion to audience

When people post videos or vlogs on YouTube, the industry has many strategies to help promote things such as music videos. For example Vevo (the main music channel industry on YouTube)  has adverts attached to videos that relate to their business and have their logo in the bottom corner of all music videos produced by them! These strategies help the business as they make them well-known to the public audience, spreading the business name.

Other music related YouTubers who have specific strategies to gain the interest of their target audience is:

- Todrick Hall:
- A former American Idol contestant, Hall has starred in the popular music videos directed by people like Hollywood's Jon M. Chu.
- Todrick has strategically publicized himself as a music artist by joining the MTV staff with his own segment called #TodrickMTV!

- By successfully announcing himself as part of the MTV team on YouTube, Hall is able to instantly attract an audience (via fans of MTV)!

- Kurt Hugo Schneider:
- who takes advantage of the profile picture and cover photo (for advertisement of him as an artist).
- he also advertises himself via covers; where he performs over popular songs (so the audience relates him with being a popular artist)!
- but the most important way he strategically advertises himself as an artist (is by collaborating with other music related individuals to further his audience by gaining the interest of theirs.

- these strategies have obviously been successful for Schneider, as he has had millions of hits with over 6,000,000 subscribers and has made an appearance on The Oprah Show. But most successfully is the fact that he has been able to film music videos with Jason Berulo, Victoria Justice and Keke Palmer!

To make our music video well known, we can learn from these YouTube strategies and apply them to our music video. For example we could include an MTV jumper or t-shirt for one of the individual's costume within the video to advertise the industry (gaining an audience full of MTV fans).....

Magazine advert analysis

From these images I found on Google Images after searching 'music magazine advertisements', I found that each one has a unique message and the imagery they have opted for is a lrage help when trying to help portray this message. As well as this each cover is very eye-catching with unique poses. I therefore believe that in order to make our own magazine advertisement truly intriguing we must include some bold imagery that shouts out to grab the attention of listeners.

Stuart Hall's Reception Theory

Analysing music videos

I analysed Justin Bieber's music video 'Where are you now?' as it has creative editing techniques throughout the whole video and excellent use of green screening.

I would like to incorporate this into our own music video, showing the artist in low key lighting acting as a spot light, in the foreground of a plain black background. In doing this the audience's attention is focused on the lyrics and the artist alone as there is nothing else in the shot to catch the consumers eye. Additionally it would fit to our song with "Here we go again" as we would like our artist to appear alone and innocent at this point, with the lighting reflecting their mood.

Additionally from this, i would like to use a time laps within our music video, preferably in a busy location (London). This would be effective in showing our artist stood still in amongst a time laps of a busy street with lots of people, making the attention on her stood still and her feeling alone and not part of the crowd.

 Within this music video green screen is incorporated excellently with paint and drawings flashing across the screen and on the artist's body. This then has been edited so that it appears when the music gets upbeat and is cut to the base of the beat.

Analysing other students music videos

I found this music video interesting as it had a narrative genre with a comic strip theme to it. In creating a twist to the genre, it makes the audience engage in it more.
Additionally there was always a variety of camera angles that were controlled and moved smoothly through to follow on from one another. As well as this mise-en-scene was carefully thought out with the actors wearing stereotypical robber outfits and a black mask, commonly seen in comic strips rather than modern day.



This music video is not as good as the one above, however it does contain different camera angles that are well thought out. The costumes are suitable for the style of the song, for example the leather jacket, jeans and converse shoes that the original artists, The Arctic Monkeys, are known for. The video also is a narrative/rock genre, with the editing slow to fit with the pace of the lyrics being sung. However the location was set up badly, with the artist singing in to a micro phone, as you can see that they have filmed this in a house as the sofa is visible, which isn't effective.

For our music video i would like to try and include some of the ideas from the first music video, such as the comic style look. I believe that this engages the audience more than a normal narrative genre and would look interesting in ours.