Group magazine advert analysis

This first draft was created by Sam, It is typical of the dance genre as follows many of the conventions within the genre. For example the colours used are all bright and full of life, some of the typography resembles the digital side of this genre. These aspects that have been included in this draft are all conventional of the genre which backs up the idea that our artist belongs to the dance music genre and not any others. I like the added interaction option features such as the website available. This gives the poster and the artist credibility and helps create some amount of franchise around the artist which also make him appear more real. I would possibly change the background as I think it may be a little too busy and therefore might distract the audience from the more important information on the poster.   

This draft has been created by Spencer, like Sam's draft for our artist's poster it contains plenty of bright and contrasting colours to represent the dance genre which is seen as being full of energy and bright colors, lasers and lights and is also to attract the audiences attention towards the poster to create awareness for our artist. It features a large image of the artist which helps to make it clear who the artist is and what he looks like. I think that the lights in the artists eyes could possibly connote that dance music is a part of him as the lights represent the music genre and his eyes are obviously a part of him. This again reenforces the idea that this artist belongs to the dance genre. The only thing that I might consider changing is the very bottom of the poster which repeats an image numerous amount of times. This makes the font harder to read and also may be wasting valuable space that could be used to include various information.    

This final draft was done by Frazer, I like a majority of the content in this draft as like the previous two drafts it conforms to many of the conventions associated with the dance genre. This is key as we our selling our artist as a dance artist and therefore he should bear similar characteristics and motifs to well established artists in this genre such as Calvin Harris and David Guetta. If this draft had to be changed in any way I would say that the top section is slightly dull compared to other advertisements in this genre which are full of colour and chaos. However the bottom section is typical of the dance scene as it contains lots of patterns and bright colours that contrast in ways to achieve the effect of the words standing out. this is to grab the audiences attention. This will contribute towards increasing awareness of our artist, theoretically boosting sales.    

Group digipak analysis Frazer

This is another digipak draft produced by another group member, this time it is Frazer's digipak. The general theme of this digipak is upbeat and energetic, it also contains strong technological references. I like these aspects as the energetic and upbeat feel is typical of this genre of music as it is associated with dancing and fun. The digital side of this digipak represents the roots from which this genre of music came from and also conforms to the conventions of this genre as most other dance artists include evidence of technology and digital images in their digipak. I like the colours used in this digipak as they are a bright pink and a luminous green which are opposite colours which make them stand out against each other which is useful in attracting the audiences attention. I would maybe change one of the slides as it features green font on top of a green background which make the words harder to read and may not transfer information over to the audience as easy.            

Magazine drafts

These are my drafts for our group magazine advert for our artist. Both of my drafts contain a large image of my artist as this is to show who the artist is to the audience to create awareness but also it is a technique used very often within the genre by other music artists. This is done to reenforce the fact that this is an advert for a dance artist. Both images of my artist have been edited to give them a digital feel as this fits in with the dance genre and again has been used by artists such as David Guetta who is a well established dance music artist. On both of my posters I have incorporated a relatively dull background. This is done to avoid drawing attention away from the brightly coloured font which has been designed to attract the attention of the audience as it is all vital information about the artist and his music. The bright colours I have used for the text on both posters are a range of energetic and luminous colours that represent youth and fun which are two attributes commonly associated with this genre of music. The colours will appeal to our demographic as they are likely to listen to other dance music and artists who use similar colour schemes therefore they will associate already established dance artists with our artist. The language used is colloquial and is therefore easy and quick to read by its audience who may just be browsing through the magazine that this poster is placed in. My group have also designed drafts for our magazine advert and we will pick the best one for our final design.           

Group Digipak Analysis Spencer

Spencer's Digipak draft.

This digipak draft was done by another group member, Spencer. I like this digipak as it comfortably meets all of the criteria of other digipaks in this music genre. It also conforms to all of the conventions within this genre of music from the images of the artist to the font, but first there are the colours used which are mainly a bright pink and a luminous green which are on opposite ends of the colour spectrum which helps them stand out against each other. Both of these colours connote an energetic and euphoric feel which fits in with the dance stereotypes. I like the effects used on the image of the artist for the front cover and the actual disc as it gives the artist a digital representation which is common within this genre and will help to attract the audience. If anything could be improved within this digipak it would be the 'Thank you' slide as I feel the font could be made a bit clearer and easier to read but I like the idea that has been used on this slide.     

What do you like about the digipak?

How is the digipak conventional to your music genre?

How can the digipak be improved?

Group Digipak Analysis Sam

Sam's Digipak Draft.

This digipak draft is by Sam who is one of the group members. I like this digipak as it consistently uses a black background which helps his brightly colored fonts stand out against it. I also like the special brush tools that have been used as its creates the impression of being in a night club as it is full of flashes and colours. Use of bright colours is conventional to the dance music genre as it replicates clubs which is where this genre of music is mainly played, in terms of colours used this digipak conforms to the convention of the dance genre when it comes to the digipaks. If anything could be changed about this digipak it would be to change the background on the 'Thank you' slide from white to white and the font from black to white. This is to keep the colour scheme completely consistent within the digipak.

Digipak draft analysis.

After this digipak I decided to make another draft of a digipak, this time I thought about the conventions of the dance genre and attempted to conform to them within my digipak.

Overall I think that my digipak drafts are conventional to the dance genre as I have attempted to replicate a similar colour scheme, layout and even the images used. I think that our demographic will be able to build a relationship with our artist as he is of a similar age and has a persona that is considered attractive by our target audience.

My first slide is the front cover of my digipak which has a bright yellow background so it would be bright and stand out. This follows the conventions of the dance genre as it is a colour that represents an up beat nature full of fun and euphoria. I have used a font called 'Synchro LET' for the title as it has a digital appearance which is commonly linked with the dance genre as it is how most of the music is made. I have also used a large image of the artist on the front cover to make it clear who the artist is to the audience. This also follows the conventions of the dance genre as similar artists such as Calvin Harris and David Guetta have used a similar technique. If I changed this slide I would maybe put an effect or border around the image of the artist.
   

Again I have used a bright shade of yellow for the background to keep the theme of the digipak consistent. Also it would help to give the digipak an overall happy and energetic feeling as it would be a happy colour running throughout the digipak. This is also a common technique used in the dance genre by artists such as David Guetta's 'One more love' album. I have used a black font on this slide to stand out against the bright yellow and also quite a bold font. This font is commonly used in posters advertising dance artists so this helps my digipak conform to the conventions of the dance music genre. If I were to change this slide I would move the positioning of the text from the center to the left of the page.     




For this page I decided to use a mixture of the two previous fonts to give the page a busier feel to perhaps replicate the chaos within a club which is where this genre of music is played. I have given the artists names included in the text a different font to help them stand out. This is two emphasize the use of other artists in the creation to the album as most other dance artists use this technique as a form of synergy. If I were to change this slide I would again change the positioning of the text from the center of the slide to the left.





This slide from the digipak contains the actual disc, as the template and case holding the disc is dark grey I decided to use a strong pink colour as the base for the disc and a bright yellow for most of the font on the disc. This conforms to the dance genre as it is incorporating lots of bright colours that symbolize energy and euphoria which are things commonly associated with dance music. I have used a special brush tool to add a lighter pink pattern on top of the base colour to make the disc appear busier to replicate the chaos usually found in night clubs which is where this genre of music is mainly played. If I were to change anything on slide I would include an image of the artist on the disc.  



This slide is just a heavily edited image of the artist to include in the digipak. I have chosen a luminous pink for the background to show that the artist is surrounded by this energetic colour that represents dance. This is a technique that is often used in the dance genre as it is an effective way to represent an artist as fun, youthful and energetic which are all attributes connected with the dance genre. I have added a outer glow effect on the artist to make him stand out and added a gradient effect that makes him hard to see as he is just a silhouette, this links in with Dyer's theory that an artist should be present and absent at the same time, this is because there is an image of him but it is hard to make out who it is.  




This slide is another distorted image of the artist to help support Dyer's theory within the digipak. If I had to change this post I would reverse the colours used on the artist face so that the white side of his head is against the black background and the black side of his head is against the white background. This is purely to make the image of the artist stand out against the background. I have made one side darker in this slide to represent the darker urban side of dance music and the night life associated with the dance genre.
 

Filming Schedule

A filming schedule is important as we want to become as efficient as possible when filming to make the best out of the time we are given. It was important as it enabled us to know almost exactly where, when and how we were going to film are scenes for our video. Also now we know when we are filming and where we know when to bring certain props and different costumes out with us and also we will be able to ensure we get our chosen locations for our video. 

Risk Assessment

Before filming me and my group made a chart of risks that we will encounter during the filming process, next to the problems that we may encounter we came up with solutions to the problems by sitting together and discussing how to solve them. In doing so we were able to come up with a solution or alternative. Therefore this process proved to be very effective and important as we were able to over come any future problems we might come up against. It was very important to consider any risks during filming because if we did not we may of wasted a large amount of time in the future when we go out filming. This risk assessment will help us when filming as we should now no longer encounter any problems when filming which will allow us to focus all of our efforts and attention on the quality of our filming rather than overcoming any obstacles whilst we our out filming.      

Photoshoot

During the research and planning stage of our project we decided to carry out a photo shoot of one of our group members to use for images of our chosen artist. This activity was essential to our group as we needed photos in order to carry on with producing our digipak drafts and our magazine advert drafts which required photos of a human subject to be included as an artist as we could not use an existing artist. Because of this a photo shoot was vital otherwise we would not be able to continue with our future posts. It was also a good learning experience for me as I was the photographer and had to learn how the camera works.

This photo was taken at a short distance to create a close up shot, this is because the advert  needs to be clear who it is advertising therefore we needed to make the image of the artist clear who is wis and it needed to be a big picture to fill most of the advert. This picture was used for our magazine adverts but also featured in our digipaks.   

This photo was taken at a larger distance away to show more of the artist and what he is wearing, this tells the audience more about he artist therefore we decided to use this image in our digipak drafts. In this picture the artist is wearing white so there are no clear connotations of his personality which may intrigue the audience to listen to the music to discover more about him.

Once I had uploaded the pictures I opened them into photoshop and began editing them and incorporating them into my advert and digipak drafts.

Before Photoshop editing                                                                  


 

After Photoshop editing

     

Digipak analysis

In this digipak the artist David Guetta is represented as leading a rich and famous lifestyle as he is wearing large sunglasses that cover up a large portion of his face, sunglasses symbolize success and fame particularly in the music industry. These sunglasses connote the power and authority that comes with the famous lifestyle. Also the sunglasses are black and translucent so they do not allow the audience to see a lot of the artists face, this could represent the artist as being secretive as he is famous people want to know what, where and when he is going somewhere or doing something. Also the shot of the artist is taken on a canted angle and quite close to his face which could show that this is similar to a picture by a paparazzi photographer who only target famous people therefore backing up the point that he is famous. This artist artist could also be represented as a slightly urban styled artist as the picture of the artist is done in black and white which gives the picture a dull and grittier theme which is often associated with urban locations. Another reason why this particular picture of the artist appears urban like is that there is graffiti on top of the image in the corner, graffiti being an iconic of urban built up but run down areas. 

However the rest of the digipak is based around a white canvas that is covered in a range of bright and luminous colours that connote happiness and energy which are both things that are associated with dance and the music that goes with it. The picture of the artist is predominantly done in black which connotes authority which backs up the fact that this artist is famous and successful and maybe powerful.
    
The design and layout of this digipak further enhances the importance of the artist. This is done by the artist being featured on the most important face of the digipak which is the front cover, also his face is the largest image on this particular slide and covers a big proportion of the image. The images used in this digipak are a variety of shapes and patterns produced in a wide range of bright colours, the bright colours represent the dance genre as fun and energetic as the colours connote youth which also attracts the target audience as these colours are popular within the age group that consume this artist's music. Also there are some prints that resemble graffiti on the front cover placed on top of the artist, this could represent the distant urban routes in which the dance genre derived from. This links in with the typography used which is again taking into consideration the persona of the artist. It is done in a white font to stand out against the black and grey background, the artist's name has been done in a specialist font unique to him so that his audience can recognize it and therefore acts as a kind of signature and is the largest font size within the digipak to again reiterate the importance of the artist.         

Analysis of a magazine advert.

This is an advert for Calvin Harris from inside a magazine. This artist is represented as a colorful character but also has a private and secretive side to him as he is wearing sunglasses. The sunglasses also connote a celebrity lifestyle so he is represented as a famous music artist and DJ. The background colour used in his advert is black which could represent the darkness of the night clubs that play his music and the location of his performance being advertised. The picture of Calvin Harris' head in this advert is bright yellow, this is to make him stand out against the dark black background but also connotes the fact that he is a star as stars are bright against the dark night sky and further emphasizes his fame. All of the colours used in this advert are bright and luminous colours which stand out against the black background but are also colours popular within the dance scene as these colours are shone out through lasers and spotlights and help to create a dance and clubbing atmosphere within the advert. These bright and contrasting colours also contribute to connoting the upbeat and energetic feel that comes with the dance genre.

The design and layout in this advert represents Calvin Harris as an important person as his face is the largest image on the advert and is positioned in the center of the advert, this shows that he is the most important persona in the advert and possibly at the event being advertised in the magazine. Also his name is right next to his face which makes it clear that it is him, because the advert is in a magazine the reader will only be flicking through the pages so the important information has to be easy to read, therefore the date and location of the event are at the top of the page so it is read first in order for the audience to know about the event. The typography used in this advert represents the night club scene as  the font is brightly colored and glowing which replicates the neon lighting used within clubs, the font is also digital like in appearance with could connote the style of the music being electronic as it is dance music.

The style of the language in this advert is very straight forward, colloquial and instrumental. This has been done as the text has to be easy to read and easy to remember as it will only be viewed by the reader for a short period of time. This advert promotes the artist as a definite dance music artist as the theme of the advert is based around clubbing and dance night life. This advert promotes the artist as a successful musician with a rich and famous persona as he is wearing sunglasses which symbolize wealth and success within the music industry. This advert also promotes the whole of the dance music genre, it shows the genre to be modern and upbeat. The modern feel comes from the typography as it is digital and connotes the modern times and digital things. The upbeat feel comes from the fact that the colours are all bright and contrasting which represents an energetic and euphoric feel. These things are commonly associated with the dance genre. Because of this it is more appealing the target audience as it is representing the dance scene within clubs which is where our target audience will be spending a lot of their free time at night. Because our audience is still relatively young they will probably have an interest in modern technology and gadgets which is another thing shown in the advert.

style of language 

how does the advert promote the artist

how does it promote the music genre

how does it attract the target audience

In this advert from a magazine of David Guetta there is an image of the artist standing alone above a small grouping of words. This artist is represented as a colorful character but also has a private and secretive side to him as he is almost looking away from the camera or whoever is looking at the advert which might suggest that he does not want to be seen. He is represented as a celebrity and a fashion icon as the image shows that he is wearing stylish and up to date clothing which is popular within the artists demographic which is mainly young adults and teenagers. The artist is represented as a fun and energetic character as he is surrounded by a bright and luminous pink which connotes fun and euphoria which are two traits commonly associated with dance artists and the dance genre. This shade of pink is also linked with youth which is attractive to our audience who are relatively young. Also the actual artist in this image is in black and white, this could help to connote the urban routes that dance was influenced by as the many shades of grey used could represent the inner city and all the buildings and concrete within it.

The artist is shown to be a success because he is the biggest and therefore most important image and feature of the advert, also his name is directly underneath him to make it clear that the image is of him. The artists name is done using the largest typography in the advert, this again is emphasizing the authority of the artist and showing him as a well known and successful artist. the rest of the text is done in a spray paint effect font which could connote the dance and club life as it is commonly used to advertise clubs as it is sprayed on walls in the surrounding area of the club or bar. Also this font style is representative of and bears resemblance to graffiti which again backs up the consistent urban feel to the advert.

This adverts style of language is very basic and colloquial, this is done to make the advert as easy to read as possible as the advert is in a magazine which the audience will most likely be 'flicking through' or browsing at and therefore will not be likely to stop and analyse the advert in any great detail. This results in the advert only containing the vital information in it, this contains the artists name which is the biggest selling point of the advert and relies on the artists persona, the song name is also included which is very important as the audience need to know the name of the song otherwise they may not listen to it as they cannot find it. Finally at the bottom there is the release date so the audience know when the song is available to them. The urban styled font attracts the audience because it is associated with youth which makes up a large proportion of this artists demographic. 

  

Artist's image within planning

how is artist going to be represented  nihilistic
costumes?
how can your audience build relationship with artist - characters

In our production of our music video we will be representing our artist as the protagonist in our narrative. This character will be followed on a journey, at first he will be shown as a slightly lazy and nihilistic character with a self destructive personality with no drive. This character will be rebellious but will develop into  a successful person that will emerge at the end of the narrative.

Our artist will be dressed in very ordinary and casual clothes, he will be wearing a plain and dull coloured t-shirt to represent him as a boring and a very ordinary person. this item of clothing is also popular among our target audience. He will also be wearing tracksuit bottoms as these are also a popular item of clothing within our demographic and is often stereotypically associated with poverty.

Because our artist will be represented as a typical young adult the target audience of our video will be able to build a relationship    

Lighting and colour within planning

styles of lighting?
conventional to genre?
main colours connotations?

In our video we will be aiming to incorporate a wide variety of lighting techniques and colour schemes. First of all we will be looking to use high key lighting, this is when the overall shot or scene contains lots of light and it is easier to see everything in the frame, in most of our shots as this will give us the best possible quality picture for our video. This high key lightning will also be used as we will be filming in the day time and using natural lighting which means using the sunlight as the main source of light. High key lighting is typical of the dance genre as it is meant to be in keeping with the upbeat theme that is associated with the dance music genre. Natural lighting is also conventional to the genre as the videos are usually set in exotic locations in which there is a lot of sunshine to be used by whoever the artist is for lighting in their video.

Colors used in our video will be predominantly dull and contain a variety of mundane shades and colours. This will be done by using a grey or antique fashioned filter over the top of our filming when we reach the editing stage of our production. We have done this to emphasize the lack of emotion and excitement in the world around our character when he is feeling down as it helps convey his sadness as his surroundings reflect how he is feeling inside. This will be used to create contrast as when our protagonist reaches a happy stage in the video and the eviroment around him changes to a world full of colour and happy emotions. This will again help the audience see how the character is feeling in the video therefore helping them to build a relationship between them.          

Cinematography within planning

There are going to be many different styles of cinematography in our video but there are four main shots that we want to focus on.

Close up shot

The first that will be used is a traditional close up shot, this is a key shot for us as it will clearly show facial expressions of our characters which will help show emotions of the characters and therefore maximize the relationship between our protagonist and the audience as they will be able to emotionally involved with the characters as they can see what they are feeling and thinking. This may make the audience want to watch the video again. The conforms to the conventions of the music genre as there are usually a lot of close ups of the artist to help improve awareness of the artist and boost their popularity.


Dolly/Track shot

The second shot we are going to be including is the dolly/tracking shot, this is an important shot to use in our video as our video is narrative based and will be telling a story. In order to do this we will need to follow the characters, this can be done through the use of tracking and dolly shots as they literally follow a subject rather than having to keep cutting to another shot which might not suit the mood of the video at particular times in the song. This does not conform to the typical conventions of dance as videos in this genre contain a limited amount of tracking/dolly shots and focus mainly on establishing and close up shots.



Point of view shot (P.O.V)

Another shot that we will be using is the P.O.V shot, this will used to help the audience empathize with our main character and therefore become more involved with the narrative which will encourage them to watch the video all the way through as they will be more curious to discover what happens in the end of the story. This shot is used a lot in this genre of music for putting the audience in the clubs and parties, therefore it conforms to the conventions of the dance genre.


 Mid shot

One more shot that will be used in our video is the mid shot in which the shot usually focuses on one character but is wide enough to show what they are doing. This will be used to show what our protagonist in the narrative is doing when he is important scenes in the story as this will be important to know. These shots are commonly found in the dance genre as they are a good shot for showing the artists expressions but also to show them doing various activities, usually dancing in this genre.