A2 Media Studies Advanced Portfolio Jess Mann

My brief was to create a promotional package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following
- A website homepage for the band
- A CD cover for its release as part of a digipak(CD/DVD package)
- A magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).

I chose to do a CD cover for its release and a magazine advertisement. To gather ideas first of all I looked into the history of music videos.(posted on blog on Monday, 6 September 2010). I then started researching this further were I looked at different music videos, magazine advertisements and CD covers across all genres to pick a genre I wanted to create my promotional package around. I also looked at the forms and conventions of music videos and whether they used narrative or performance and what style and form they took. I also researched into promotional packages on a whole and how they portrayed the genre and how institutions sold the package to the audience by creating a similar theme throughout the Digi Pak advertisement and video in order for it to become recognisable as all aspects of each one have to carry the same colours, the same characters have to be used and icons have to be added to elements of each for it create verisimilitude allowing the audience to believe its a real media text.

After analysing different music videos from different genres such as “history” by rock group funeral for a friend. “thinking of you” by pop artist Katy Perry and “make you feel my love” by soul artist Adele I found out that each of these videos used different and similar techniques to attract their target audience, for example funeral for a friend used a strong narrative structure which included lots of violence, it also gave the message to the audience to stand up for themselves this is a regular message and convention throughout rock music, it also included a performance element to the video similar to both Adele’s and Katy Perry’s both of them used performance and narrative these two both carried the same sort of theme as they both were very melancholy and showed signs of heartbreak this was shown through various close up shots and imagery throughout.

I decided on the song “in sleep” by country folk rock artist “Lissie” to create a music video to. This song has a theme of dreams and loss. The lyrics link to a particular part of the artists life and something that has happened in the past, the lyrics are about a male figure all of this need to come across in the video I am going to create. The genre of this song is country folk rock you can tell this by the iconology and style of the video as it uses specific features such as performance paying particular attention to the instruments played by the artists. The stylistics of the video need to link to the particular genre, I researched into the genre and picked out the iconic features of the particular genre also how the mise en scene was represented along with the artist. My target audience is aimed at people from the age of 16-25 as I believe these are age of the people who listen to this music and would be attracted by the features of he genre. I needed to make sure that the video was targeted at that specific audience and social group, therefore the artist I used in my video was 18 this included her in my target group making the audience be able to relate to her as musicians become role models so what is been represented in their work is important so that it attracts the right social group.

The person I used in my video needed to represent the particular genre so I dressed her in way that wasn’t necessarily “top fashion” but that was a clear convention of country folk music, chequered shirts, long wavy hair along with flat make up. My video starts of with a candle light this is to set the scene as it eerie and sincere, it then cuts to a close up of the artists eye, close ups are conventions of a performance video as it captures the emotion It also creates a graphic match as the circular shape of the candle fades into the circular shape of the artists eye. Graphic matches can be found in various forms of music videos. It then cuts to a close up of her face were she is singing although she is not performing in a studio or live she is still performing in a certain setting. I have also included in my video not only the artist just singing into the camera, I have included narrative as well. The mise en scene was chosen deliberately as I didn’t want the streets to look clean and tidy I wanted them to come across run down and dirty as this then fit with the emotion of the song, as the song and the lyrics are about the loss of someone therefore needs to create a mood and atmosphere of loss, so the mise en scene fits with the theme of the song this also creates Verisimilitude as if reflects society today. The colours the artists is dressed in matches the colours of the birds creating continuity but also represents that she wants to break free. The song is about how the artist longs for somebody and how they only see them in their sleep. The lyrics link to icons I have used in my video, the candles and low lighting is to represent the dreams and the sleep theme of the song contrasted to the birds and bright lighting I have used in other parts of the video to show how the artists wants to break free from these thoughts.

I made sure the Digi Pak and the magazine advertisement fitted together with the theme of the music video I had created. On the front cover of the CD I included a close up picture of the artist, who I named daisy on this promotional package as I felt that name was more appropriate for the whole look and feel of it. The picture has been photo shopped as the original image didn’t look professional, the lighting had floors therefore I changed the colours to oranges and sepias and changed the brightness and contrast in order to fit with the theme of the whole album cover this also linked with the rest of my work this created continuity throughout making sure they all looked like they were from the same promotion. I named the album “Mississippi dreams” I chose this name as the fictional character Daisy was from Mississippi, this was also her debut album therefore the album was all about her dreams and ambitions of making it in the music world very similar to many debut albums as usually the albums are about there own life experiences in order for the audience to relate. This created an ideology for the project as we got see her own views on goals and expectations. I chose the certain colours along with the script writing text to create a theme which linked with the genre of the artist as its un even and not structured. It doesn’t look particularly fashionable and links with the idea of dreams rather than been a bold text its light and wavy. The back of the album is a sunset this again supports the genre as it represents the outside world, unlike music such as pop music would use Images of the artists dressed up in the latest fashion, I have included the Mississippi sunset as an idea of reaching for your goals something that the artist I have created would sing about. The inside of the album are pictures of the artist Daisy this allows it to be direct again connecting it to the audience I have included the same colours within these images and including a flock of birds sweeping across the image this is because I have used birds in video as an expression of freedom this would become a recognisable icon within the whole of my project. Also including that its a DVD package lets the audience know that they are getting more than they thought making them certain to buy it.

The magazine advertisement again includes a close up picture of Daisy, it has the same text as the CD cover in order to carry through the same theme. I then used a quote “a lyrical masterpiece” from NME magazine as this is what sort of magazine would feature “daisy” this acts as a selling point as the audience then become passive believing what they see making them want to buy it. My whole promotion needed to make sure it used conventions of a real media product as everything that you can see needs to attract the right audience. In My video, digi pak and magazine advertisement they all include a strong main focus point being the artist as this is who the audience are attracted to, although the mise en scene, colours and images are also all part of it that is why I have kept the theme the same throughout in order for it to become recognisable. The idea of dreams and freedom is carried out throughout the song choice, the album name and pictures and the use of the iconic birds all add to supporting the genre of the music allowing it to be seen as a real media text.

My music video uses various forms, although the majority of the video is performance as real media texts using this form would include the vocalists singing in various settings, the artists usually is singing while walking down the street my video uses both these conventions therefore develops the performance form of a real media text. My video could also be seen as a narrative form as it develops conventions of narrative, as I have used images and performance to allow the audience to understand what the song is about through a narrative, the audience get to see that the lyrics tell a story by watching the video therefore people can relate to the song. The video also includes an abstract/art form by the use of candles as the candles are not used to help with the narrative or the performance its to set the scene and to allow the audience to feel the emotion and theme of the video therefore my video challenges the use of a conventional narrative structure used in real media texts as it includes elements of various forms. In a real country folk rock music video narrative along with performance are conventions of the video therefore I have developed form by using the conventions that a real media text does. The genre of my song is country folk rock music, the codes and conventions of the genre are specific, the mise en scene is usually portrayed as having a very innocent feel to this I have used this in my music video the way I got the artist to sing directly to the camera making the audience have sympathy for her, another convention of this genre is to represent that the music is very important therefore I have developed this by using instruments which show another talent of the artists this links with rock music as this is regularly used In real rock music videos. Iconography is another convention as instruments, candles, Lights, open spaces are also used within this genre as they are used regularly in real media texts therefore my video develops conventions of a real media text.

My video, Digi Pak and Magazine advertisement work successfully together, As the same theme of “Mississippi dreams” is carried throughout all of them, they all mainly include the artist this fits with genre but also allows the audience to relate to her as she becomes a role model which is successful as then they are tempted to buy it. All of them follow conventions, the music video includes different shots such as medium shots, longs shots but particularly close up shots. It includes mise en scene that supports the genre representing what is needed and also includes and the video is in the form of narrative, performance and art. The Digi Pak includes a main image to attract the audience it includes text that fits with the theme along with the colour theme. The magazine advertisement uses a picture to become recognisable, a quote from a top magazine to persuade the audience to by it, it also includes information about the album to give the audience more information. They also follow conventions of the genre as they use elements used in the particular genre in order for them to look convincing as a promotional campaign. I have evidence of this as after doing a video blog (posted on my blog, Thursday 3 march 2011) I asked people whether they thought my worked looked successful as a promotional campaign, even though some of the other answers were negative this question brought positive feedback as both people said they look successful together. I believe this to be true as I have also used the same imagery throughout all of them therefore it becomes recognisable allowing the audience to believe they are part of the same campaign. The mise en scene also supports each other as the same setting is used therefore they all link together to become successful. My work combined together attract the same social group being my target audience therefore I feel they work successful together as a real media product would.

I did a questionnaire and also a video blog to ask an audience their opinions on my work in order to get feedback I ask various amount of questions (posted on blog Thursday 3 march 2011) the audience I asked was deliberate as I asked people who would be interested in the genre of the music so that I could see what they thought about my work as they would be more familiar with the genre, but I also asked people who weren’t interested in the genre so the outcome would not be biased. The two people I asked on my video blog varied in interest, the first person wasn’t interested in the genre of music I had used, they liked music from the pop genre, the answers I retrieved from her were interesting as some of the answers were negative but most of it was positive. The second person was open to all genres of music and had a lot to comment on which was sufficient as I could get a lot of feedback on my work.

I asked the questions I did to get the most feedback I could. I asked what genre they believed it was, the results I got were pop, rock, country. These results showed me that the genre I tried to represent in my work was successful as most people could recognise it. The second question I asked was in order to see what age they were to identify whether they were included in my target audience if they were their answers would be vital to see if my work attracted the audience I was targeting it at. Most people I asked were in the region of my target group and the feedback I got back was positive, this showed me that also the target audience I was aiming at liked it. Some of my target audience said they wouldn’t watch this showed me that maybe I wasn’t attracting all my audience therefore thing could be improved, and from my feedback I learnt that some of the mise en scene in my video wasn’t successful something I could take into consideration next time. I learnt a lot from question 4 as I asked the audience whether it was convincing as a real media text this was important as even if they wasn’t fond of it, it still look convincing and real. Most of the feedback people stated that it did convince them and that all my work together linked and worked well together as part of the same promotional campaign. Question 6 and 7 were asked in order to ask people if they could see my products been sold in shops and published in magazines some people were unsure about this, but others said they could. The video blogs I did were very helpful to tell me what people thought about my work and taught me what I needed to improve. I found that I got more out of people when I asked them rather than got them to write on a questionnaire. On the whole my audience feedback taught me that my work on the whole could be seen as a real media text.

I used Wikipedia and Google internet sites to do my planning and research, I found them very sufficient and helpful to gather ideas for my work as they were adequate with all the information I needed, I then uploaded my work onto blogger, I really like this way of presenting my work as it was a easier way of getting your thoughts down daily rather then writing it down on paper it also combined media in order to be able to upload images and videos. I also like the way you could save posts as drafts if you couldn’t post them straight away allowing you to work on them when you needed to. I was able to upload stages of all my media texts for other people to see but also to make it clear in my head what needed to be done next. Also In my work I used various new media technologies, such as Photoshop were I had to edit pictures as well as create whole new images. I used crop tools, text tools and colour tools to create my digi pak and magazine advertisement the image editing tools very helpful as it allowed me to create effects on an image that was difficult to do with a camera. At first I found Photoshop challenging but after practise it became easier and was a good way to create images and CD covers. To shoot my video I used the video camera called canon MD 205 these were sufficient as they were small therefore can be carried to the location you needed. Although the quality wasn’t the best and the zoom was unsuccessful once the cameras were steady and on a tri pod you could get some successful shots. To edit my video I used adobe premier pro 1.5 an edit suite which was very good to use. I uploaded my video and created a compressed timeline were I learned to edit and cut my video to the way I wanted it. I used dissolves as edit transactions between each cut to look more professional, I also added a soundtrack to my video to create my music video “in sleep” by Daisy.