Individual magazine advert - Miss Miller

Individual Magazine Advert

The purpose of a magazine advert is to promote an artist and their album that they are about to release, and to provide an audience with an article about the artist in which the artist is usually asked questions which allow the audience to find out more about the artist's life outside of the music industry. The use of a magazine advert creates exposure for the artist and makes a wider audience aware about the release of their album due to the fact that it is not just her fans who will see the advert, but also the avid readers of the magazine, which has the potential to boost the sales of the album. This is also helped by the fact that magazines are often sold in all local and major convenient stores, therefore it is likely that a larger numbers of people will see it which creates more exposure for the artist. A magazine advert promotes an artist because it provides the audience with an image of the artist, allowing them to clearly see what they look like which also means that the audience are more likely to remember the artist. The advert also promotes the music video due to the fact that if the audience listen to and like the song, they will be more likely to go onto YouTube in order to listen to the song again which is where they will be able to see the music video which usually shows the audience the deeper meaning behind the lyrics of a song. Furthermore, the use of a music video helps to make listening to a song more interesting for the audience because they are given a story to relate the lyrics to, which may help them to remember the song better. The software that we used to create the magazine advert was Photoshop CS6 due to the fact that it included different features such as a variety of fonts, colours and cropping techniques that we could use to create and improve our magazine advert, for example, we had the ability to enhance our photos easily by changing the brightness and contrast of the images, and we could also change the positioning of the photo in relation to the writing. Photoshop allowed us to create an advert that was similar to those produced by actual artists due to the fact that we could experiment with different layouts, styles of writing and change the positioning of everything within the advert. I came up with the idea for my advert through researching other magazine adverts from other indie artists such as Ed Sheeran and Gabrielle Aplin due to the fact that I wanted to see if there were any similarities between the two in order to decide which conventions of the indie genre could be used in my advert, for example, the use of a close up image implies a more personal feel to the advert due to the fact that the audience can clearly see how the artist is feeling which is conventional because indie artists often write their own songs which are based on real life experiences that the audience may be able to relate to. I also came up with my magazine advert by analysing another magazine advert for the same artist, for example, the way she used a handwritten style font for her album 'English rain' helped to give the advert more of a personal feel in the sense that indie artists are often perceived as writing their own songs that are based on real life experiences that the audience will be able to relate to and may cause the audience to feel closer to the artist in the sense that they are getting to know more about her through the lyrics of her songs. I was inspired by Ed Sheeran's magazine advert to use a close up image of my artist due to the fact that I felt a clear image of her face would help me when introducing her into the music industry and when allowing the audience to see clearly what her facial expressions are which I felt was conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie songs are often emotional because they are written by the artist and are based on real life experiences that the audience can relate to. I feel as though my individual magazine advert looks very similar to how I had planned for my advert to look, except for the use of a black and white image as opposed to a coloured one which I decided to change while I was creating the advert due to difficulties with the brightness of the image, and the use of black and white made the writing easier to read. Having said that, I feel as though the colours compliment the emotions of the album more which is made evident by including the song names "salvation" and "home" which suggest they have a deeper meaning and are relevant to the artist. I also feel as though the colours black and white are more conventional to the indie genre in the sense that the colours black and white are often associated with the past, and the indie genre is often perceived as being old fashioned and as not fitting into the mainstream.

When planning my magazine advert, I had decided I wanted to use soft colours such as pale blue and purple because I felt as though they would help to give my advert more of an emotional feel to it, which is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie artists often write their own music about real life experiences. However, after beginning to create my advert on Photoshop I realised that it would be difficult for me to use light colours like I had wanted to due to the fact that the image itself was quite dark because by the time the picture had been taken after filming, the outside lighting had become too dark, therefore I had to experiment with the brightness of the image, however, this made the image too bright and her facial features were lost which defeated the point of using a close up image of the artist due to the fact that I wanted the audience to be able to see clearly what the artist looked like and how she was feeling. I decided instead to make the image of the artist black and white, this is because I realised by using such block colours it would make it easier for the writing to stand out, but also the use of the colours black and white is arguably conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie is perceived as being old fashioned and as not fitting into the mainstream, which is often associated with bright colours such as pink. The colours black and white imply going back in time and are associated with the past, therefore I hope the audience will be able to recognise the advert and artist as being part of the indie genre of music.

I feel as though the image used in my final individual magazine advert is pretty similar to my planned magazine advert. From the beginning I had wanted to use a close up image of the artist due to the fact that I felt this would allow the audience to see clearly how the artist was feeling and what she looked like which was beneficial because I was introducing her into the music industry. Furthermore, the use of a close up is also conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie songs are often based on real life experiences that an audience can make an emotional connection to and because of this, they will want to listen to the song again. The magazine advert for Ed Sheeran also used a close up which meant that the audience could see clearly what he looked like which is beneficial due to the fact that he is known for his ginger hair, which the audience will recognise when they see his image. Furthermore, the use of a candid shot of him laughing clearly portrays him as being happy which may draw the audience in to want to listen to his music because the image implies that his music is going to make them feel happy too. Deciding how I wanted the image to look on the advert was quite challenging for me in the sense that I wanted to keep the image in colour, due to the fact that I felt this would help to make the advert appear more natural, however, by keeping the image in colour I realised it would have been difficult for the audience to read the writing because the colours of the font were similar to the background colour. Therefore, I decided to make the image black and white instead, due to the fact that I felt I could then use white writing which would stand out on a black background and the audience would have been able to read the key information from the advert. However, even after changing the colour of the image I still felt as though the writing, especially the artist name was difficult to read. I therefore had to experiment with the brightness and lighting of the image, for example, by making the image darker the writing was able to stand out even more. The use of a darker image is arguably conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie songs often have a deeper meaning behind them. I feel as though my choice of image effectively promotes my artist because she is the centre of the advert and the audience can see clearly what she looks like, therefore they are more likely to remember who she is. This will also appeal to the target audience because they will be keen to know more about the artist, and the use of a close up implies that the advert and album are personal to her.

I wanted the writing on my advert to be placed around the image of the artist due to the fact that this included the artist name, the name of the album and the names of some of the songs that feature on the album which needed to be near the image because they are all relate to and about the artist which the image will help the audience to understand. The name of the artist can be seen in the space beside her face because I wanted the audience to have no doubt that she was the artist and because I felt that this layout would help them to remember what she looks like if ever they hear her name again, or to remember her name if they see her image anywhere else in the media. Furthermore, the writing on the album all appears underneath the image of the artist, for example, the release date of the album which could imply that she is the most important aspect of the advert. The writing is laid out in the way that their eyes will move when they are reading the advert, they will start by seeing the image of her face and then the writing which I feel makes the advert easier to look at and helps to ensure that the audience take in all of the necessary information. Also, the design and layout of my magazine advert looks similar to the way you would expect the front cover of a book to look like, which is purposeful because celebrities including artists often release autobiographies or biographies about themselves in order to tell the audience more about themselves. I wanted the audience to feel as though the artist is allowing them to get to know them more because books are often used by artists to explain their life stories through the use of their music, which may entice the audience into buying the album because they will be keen to know more about the artist and learn things that they may not already know. Furthermore, this may also help an artist to come across as being more relatable due to the fact that indie artists often write their songs themselves which suggests that their songs are going to based on real life experiences that help to give their music a deeper meaning and allows the audience to make an emotional connection with the song. This design and layout will be especially beneficial to someone like my artist who is new to the music industry, and therefore had yet to build up a loyal fan base who she could target her music at and rely on to always buy her new music. It is important for an artist to establish who their target audience is, due to the fact that without them an artist will be unable to sell their music and will fail to breakthrough within the music industry. This design and layout will appeal to the target audience because they will feel as though they are going to get to know more about the artist which is beneficial to them as they will be interested to know more about their personal life. Furthermore, the design and layout helps to promote the artist effectively because it tells the audience all of the necessary and important information that they need to know about the artist and the release of the new album, which helps to make the audience aware and increases the artists chances of having their album sell.

After searching through the various fonts on the Photoshop application I felt as though they did not compliment the feminine and personal style that I was hoping to achieve with my magazine advert. In the end I had to download different fonts from a website called 'dafont' which contained hundreds of different styles within different headings, for example, the two main styles that I decided I was going to use on my magazine advert were calligraphy and handwritten due to the fact that I felt these styles would help to give my magazine advert more of a personal feel because it would look as though the artist had written it herself which is conventional to the indie genre because indie artists are known for writing their own songs that are often based on real life experiences and allow the audience to get to know more about them. I was inspired to use this style of font after analysing Gabrielle Aplin's magazine advert for her album 'English rain' due to the fact that the writing appeared more feminine because of the way it curved and looked neatly written which implied that the artist had taken the time herself to write the BLAH herself. I feel as though my choice of typography promotes my artist as being feminine and the advert and being more personal to her which will appeal to the audience who may feel as though she has written her songs herself and indie artists often base their music on real life experiences, therefore the audience will feel like they are going to get to know more about her through listening to her music.
The style of language that I have used on the advert is mainly quite informative, for example, the words 'out now' will clearly tell the audience that the album is currently available to buy which may encourage them to search for the album is shops or online if they want to buy it. The reason I decided upon 'out now' instead of making up a date was because these words imply that the audience do not have to wait any longer, which is beneficial to the artist due to the fact that in time, the audience may forget about the release of the album which could lead to a decline in sales. I also used persuasive language in order to try to encourage the audience to buy the album, for example, I have included a positive review of the album at the bottom of the advert due to the fact that an audience can sometimes be influenced by public opinion and a bad review may discourage an audience from buying an album because they will not want to feel as though they are wasting their money. This is arguably conventional to the music genre as a whole due to the fact that the industry will want to make as much money as it possibly can, which can only be done if they have an audience who wants to buy what they have to sell, which in this case is the music. A record label will feel less inclined to work with an artist who is not very successful and is less likely to make them a profit. A positive review is also conventional due to the fact that the praise of an album can act as an ego boost for an artist who is always at risk of failure in this large and ever changing industry, and they will want to show the audience what other people think about the product due to the fact that some people make decisions based on the opinions of other people. I feel as though the language that I have used on my advert promotes the artist effectively because the audience are made aware of all of the key information regarding the release of the album which has the potential to create more exposure for the artist. This will also appeal to the target audience because those who want to buy the album will know when they can and what songs are on the album, which, if they like those songs will make them more inclined to want to buy the entire album.

Overall, I feel as though my magazine advert is conventional to the indie genre which is purposeful due to the fact that I wanted the advert to be recognisable within the indie genre. I wanted the colours and image to represent the type of music that the audience can expect to hear on the album, for example, the continuous use of the colours blue and grey could imply sadness which will help me to give the album more of an emotional feel and give the audience the impression that the songs are going to have a deeper meaning to them which may cause them to feel more inclined to want to watch the music video for the song due to the fact that these videos often show the audience what the message behind the lyrics are, and they make the song more interesting for them to listen to because they have visuals that they can connect the lyrics to. Furthermore, I think that through the use of a close up image the advert is made to feel more personal to the artist due to the fact that the audience can clearly see what she looks like and how she is feeling. I also feel as though the image also looks more realistic due to the fact that she does not look staged but like she has been caught of guard. The use of the colours black and white help to represent the artist as being more of an emotional person due to the fact that they give an old fashioned feel to the advert, like she is sharing a memory with them which is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie is often perceived as being vintage and as not fitting into the mainstream. The audience will be more inclined to want to listen to her music again if they feel as though they can relate to the experiences that she is singing about.

In conclusion, I wanted my magazine advert to be easily recognisable as part of the indie genre of music, therefore I feel as though most of the conventions that I have included in my advert conform to the indie genre, for example, the use of the colours black and white are often associated with the past, which is conventional to the indie genre because it is often perceived as being old fashioned and as not fitting into the mainstream. This will also give the audience the impression that they can expect the album to include emotional and narrative based songs because indie artists usually sing about past experiences that are most memorable to them and that allow the audience to get to know more about them which the audience may prefer due to the fact that they will want to know more about their favourite artists in order to feel closer to their favourite artists and to be able to see them as more realistic.
I feel that the colour blue for the font further suggests that her songs will be emotional because the colour blue often connotes the idea of sadness and the fact that most of the font is blue implies that the lyrics of her songs will have a deeper meaning to them, which is conventional because indie artists often write their own music themselves. Also, the feminine looking styles of writing and the close up of the artist help me to make the advert feel more personal to the artist which is conventional in the sense that the indie genre is known for being realistic and relatable due to the fact that indie artists often base their music on real life experiences that they have been through. The use of a close up of the artist will appeal to the target audience because they will have a clear view of what the artist looks like and how she is feeling which is beneficial to them due to the fact that as an audience they will want to feel closer to the artist by getting to know more about her through her music, this is especially so in the indie genre which is often perceived as being more personal because indie artists write their own music which is often based on real life experiences that the audience will be able to relate to. Furthermore, by including written information on the advert, including the release date of the album that is being promoted, the audience will be made aware of when they will be able to buy the album which could appeal to them because they may begin to save up some money in order to buy the album. For example, the album can be bought for a special occasion, such as Christmas, where they can buy the album as a present for themselves or for someone else. Furthermore, my magazine advert clearly includes all of the key information regarding the artist and the release of her album, for example, the name of the artist, the name of the album and the release date of the album which I feel is the most important information that the audience will need to know in the build up to the release of the album so that they can then go and buy the album when it is being sold, which has the potential to result in more sales for the artist when the album is released because more people will have saved up the money to buy it. Furthermore, the audience may look up the individual songs mentioned on the advert on YouTube where they will be able to watch the music videos for the songs and they can decide whether or not they like her music, if they do there is the possibility that they will recommend the music to other people which may help to expose the artist and her music.
The main struggle that I faced when using Photoshop was ensuring that the written information on the advert could be seen over the image of the artist which I realised depended on the brightness of the image. After experimenting with the colours, I decided to give my advert a black and white theme to it rather than keeping the image in colour like I had planned to do due to the fact that these are more solid colours and all other colours can be seen over the top of them, therefore I had more choice of the colour font I could use. Furthermore, I also struggled with finding a font that I felt complimented the advert, however, in order to overcome this struggle I had to go onto the website 'dafont' to download different types of fonts that I felt were more conventional to the indie genre such as typewriter and handwritten which were styles that I was inspired to use after analysing Gabrielle Aplin's magazine advert for her album 'English rain' as I felt that these styles helped her advert to appear more vintage and personal which is conventional as the indie genre is often perceived as being more old fashioned, and indie artists are known for writing their own music which is based on real life experiences.

Risk assessment - Miss Georgiou

Risk assessment

The purpose of a risk assessment is to identify any potential problems that could prevent us from filming. A risk assessment will also help us to keep actors and crew members safe while filming by making them more aware of the risks that may be involved which could lead to them being more careful when filming because they know what to look out for. It is important to consider a risk assessment before filming because everybody involved in the process needs to be aware of any potential risks that they may encounter when filming in order for them to be able to prepare for them and find a way, prior to filming, to prevent the risks identified from occurring. Also, it is a filming requirement to have a risk assessment before filming because it helps to ensure that everybody involved is going to be safe while they are filming, therefore the people in charge cannot be held responsible if an accident does occur, due to the fact that they have identified the potential problems and have provided solutions for how they can be prevented. Furthermore, a risk assessment allows for a plan B to be considered for if an unforeseen problem occurs and prevents us from filming. A plan B helps us to ensure that filming is possible, and that our music video can be completed even if the original plan does not work out, for example, towards the end of our video we planned for the artist to be seen running through a forest, which coincides with visuals of the male character running, however, due to the fact that it is often raining which will make it much more muddier, we could always have the artist walking instead and then use fast pace editing to make it appear as though she is running.

In conclusion, for the majority of the filming process we did follow the risk assessment due to the fact that we knew before going into the filming process all of the things that could go wrong, therefore we made sure to be extra careful, especially when it came to filming the scenes that involved the car because we knew that they were more of a high risk and that so many things could have gone wrong, not just for us, but for other drivers on the road, however, our group and the actors involved made sure to maintain responsible driving at all times, for example, always wearing a seatbelt, and we tried to only film when there were only a few or no cars on the road, as this decreased the likelihood that a risk would occur. There were a few unforeseen risks that we encountered when we were filming, for example, while we were filming the running scene which appears towards the end of the video, the weather was windy and rainy, which caused the tripod to topple over while we were filming and therefore the tripod got in the way of the actor while she was running, which created the risk that she could trip over the tripod and injure herself, which was further made a risk due to the fact that the rain had made the ground muddy and slippery. In order to overcome this problem we had a member of the group who wasn't in charge of filming the scene to hold the tripod still which helped to ensure that the tripod and camera wouldn't fall over, and this also gave the actor a marker that they knew to avoid when running due to the fact that a person was easier to see compared to the thin tripod. After creating a risk assessment for our production, I have learnt that a risk assessment is essential for when ensuring the safety of everyone in our group during every aspect of the filming process. The role of a risk assessment is to create awareness of the potential risks that could be faced by our group while we are filming, and it helps to make us aware of who in particular is at risk which therefore causes us to be much more careful and to come up with ways to prevent these risks from occurring before we begin, for example, the actor portraying the artist was at risk while we were filming the car scenes due to the fact that she was behind the wheel of the car and had a responsibility for everyone else in the car, as well as anyone on the road or area where we were filming that had the potential of getting hurt.

Music video inspirations - Miss Georgiou

Music video inspirations

Inspirations are essential to consider when creating a music video production because they allow us to see what famous artists have done before us, and to identify some of the things that they have included that have aided the success of their music videos, and things that are conventional to the indie genre which will may be able to include in our own music video in order for us to help our audience to identify and associate our music video as being part of that specific music genre, for example, the use of performance in indie music videos helps an artist to show the audience how they are feeling at specific points throughout the video and allows them to show off any other talents that they may have such as the ability to play a musical instrument. Furthermore, inspirations will help us to identify and understand the elements that an audience wants to see in a music video due to the fact that artists will have more experience when it comes to creating music videos and appealing to a specific target audience, therefore they know what they are doing and know how to please an audience, because the audience are the ones who are making them rich and successful.

The power of love - Gabrielle Aplin

I was inspired by the use of iconography in the 'The Power of Love' music video, particularly the visuals of Gabrielle Aplin playing the piano while she is singing. The use of musical instruments is conventional to the indie genre because it helps an artist to highlight the talents that they have, which could make them more desirable to work with, both from a record label and an artists point of view. Most successful artists are able to write the lyrics for, and compose the music to their own songs Also, the use of musical instruments links in with the element of performance which is often used in an indie music video to show the audience visuals of the artist doing what they love. Some of the audience may not be able to afford to buy tickets to an actual concert, therefore the use of performances may make them feel similar to if they were at an actual concert, and they therefore do not feel like they are missing out. The use of instruments also helps the artist to show off any other talents, besides singing, that they might have. This video has inspired me to use musical instruments in my music video, specifically a piano, as it may help Amy to get into the character of Gabrielle Aplin and make the video look more realistic as the audience can see that she is producing the music that they can hear. The piano will be seen at various points throughout the video, for example, the video begins with the two characters first meeting and then continues to show them on their first date, however, we plan on using performance between these sections of narrative during an instrumental to act as a transition between the scenes to help the video flow better.

The one - Kodaline

The style of the music video that I want my video to be is a mixture of both narrative and performance, therefore I was inspired by the music video for 'The One' which incorporates both of these styles. The use of narrative can be seen at the beginning of the video when the two main characters first meet in the diner, and the use of this narrative helps to make the video more interesting to watch because it provides the audience with a mini cinematic experiences and helps them to visualise the deeper meaning of the lyrics. The use of visuals can show the audience what the artist is singing about, which is beneficial as the lyrics to indie songs can sometimes be quite ambiguous, and this may also help them to make more of an emotional connection with the song because it may feel as though it is based on a personal experience, which is conventional to the indie genre because indie artists often write their own music based on experiences that they have been through which they feel an audience may be able to relate to, which helps the audience to know that they are not alone in the things they are going through. Furthermore, the use of performance is beneficial to an artist because it allows them to show off their talents, for example, the ability to play a musical instrument and helps to suggest to the audience that the song is personal to them due to the fact that performance allows the audience to see an artists facial expressions at a particular point in the video, which shows them how they are feeling while they are singing and therefore what the song means to them, which is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie artists often write songs that are based on real life experiences. The use of performance also links into Dyer's theory and the idea than an artist must be viewed as extraordinary in order to keep an audience interested in them and as being envious of the skills and talents that an artist has, for example, the ability to write as well as perform their own music. Indie artists are also perceived as being passionate about what they do and that they enjoy performing for audiences, which is part of the reason why they are always on the road. I plan on using both narrative and performance in my own music video, for example, at the beginning of the video to introduce the two main characters into the narrative by showing the audience how they first met, and then the use of performance following that scene will allow the audience to identify who the artist is as she will be on her own, which will suggest to them that the song is about the male character and that the music video is her story.

Thinking of you - Katy Perry

I was inspired by the 'Thinking of You' music video by Katy Perry due to the fact that the narrative for the video is based on the theme of war, which is the same theme that our group decided to base our own music video on because we did not want the storyline to be too predictable and the same as most other indie narrative based videos. Also, the use of old fashioned iconography, for example, the wooden bicycle, and old fashioned looking costumes and hairstyles, for example, in the video Katy Perry's hair is curled and pulled back away from her face through the use of a headband that usually matches her outfit, and she is also seen wearing white and brown brogue type shoes, both of which help the video to be recognisable as part of the indie pop genre. It could be argued that this video was so successful because the audience were not used to Perry producing slower songs due to the fact that she is a well known pop artist who usually wears revealing outfits, colourful makeup and uses extravagant props and special effects. Furthermore, I was inspired by how the video switches between the past and present, for example, the audience see Perry sitting in front of a mirror staring at a photograph, and then the video shows the audience visuals of Perry and the character from the black and white photograph spending time together, for example, they are seen at a dance and riding a bike, however, the audience are aware that the male character is no longer alive due to the fact that at the beginning of the video Perry is seen with another male character, and then at the end of the video, the audience are shown visuals of the male character from the photograph being killed during the war. The use of the colours black and white also suggest old fashioned. The use of both the past and present will be seen in my music video at the beginning when the audience will seen an older lady sitting on a bench in her back garden, the camera will zoom into her face which will then morph into a younger character for the narrative to begin. This transition will imply that the two female characters are the same person, which we hope will make the video more interesting to watch because the audience will be curious as to know her relevance within the video. The use of old fashioned costumes, iconography and setting is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie artists are often perceived as having their own individual styles that often do not fit into the mainstream, for example, it could be argued that the 'norm' in the music industry is for female artists to be seen wearing revealing outfits and tons of makeup, however, in this music video Katy Perry can be seen wearing a baggy dress that falls to below the knee, and natural looking makeup that helps her to be viewed as more relatable with the audience because the artist is perceived as doing her own thing and as not acting in a way that helps her to fit in. Furthermore, the video may also be perceived as old fashioned due to the fact that the artist receives a letter informing her that her boyfriend was ' killed in action', we plan on including something similar in our own video, however, in order to make our music video more modern, we plan on having the artist receive a phone call rather than a letter as we hope this will help our video to reach out to our target audience because they will be able to relate to the use of mobile phones as opposed to writing letters.

Wings - Birdy

In the music video for 'Wings' by Birdy, I was particularly inspired by the carefree, emotional representation that the artist is portrayed as having, especially towards the middle of the music video when the audience can see her jumping up and down on a trampoline in her back garden which then jump cuts to her sitting on the shoulders of another character in the video, which implies that she is at a party or at a concert both of which may help the audience to relate to her because she is seen as acting her age and participating in activities that her audience may also be interested in. Furthermore, she is also represented as emotional through the use of close ups of her face due to the fact that the audience can see that she is not smiling, nor does she smile throughout most of the music video, suggesting that she is unhappy. The use of a close up is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie songs are often perceived as being based on real life experiences that the indie artist has gone through and feels that an audience will be able to relate to in order to show the audience that they are not going through these experiences alone. Furthermore, the use of a close up gives the audience a clear image of how the artist is feeling at a particular point in the music video because the camera is solely focused on their face, this therefore gives the video more of a personal feel because it appears as though the song relates to them and that the lyrics make them feel particular emotions. We have planned to use close ups in our music video during the performance sections as believe they will help us to introduce the artist to the audience so that they know who the artist is, and because it will allow us to show the audience how she is feeling.

Cool Kids - Echosmith

In the music video for 'Cool Kids' by Echosmith, I was inspired by the clear incorporation of Dyer's Star theory which is evident due to the artist being represented as being ordinary through the use of costume, for example, she is seen wearing affordable clothing such as a plain white dress, while the boys are wearing jeans which makes them appear more relatable due to the fact that not everyone will be able to afford designer brands such as Hollister, which is also conventional to the indie genre because indie is not the most popular genre of music, therefore indie artists will not make a large profit through selling their music and therefore will not have a lot of money to spend on creating their music videos. On the other hand, the artist is also represented as being extraordinary through the use of iconography and performance, in particular the visuals of a musical instruments such as the guitar and drums which helps the artist to be perceived as having other talents and skills as opposed to singing, which also helps to keep the audience interested in the artist because they are more likely to feel envious of the talents and skills that they have because not everybody has the ability to perform for thousands of people. I will use Dyer's theory in my music video where the audience will see visuals of the artist playing the piano and performing directly towards the camera, both of which will separate the different sections of narrative, similar to that seen in the Cool Kids music video. We want the transformations between the narrative to flow as smoothly as possible which we feel will make the video easy for the audience to watch, similar to that of a mini cinematic experience.

In conclusion, the three artists and songs that I am considering for my own production are 'Salvation' by Gabrielle Aplin, 'Thinking Out Loud' by Ed Sheeran and 'The head and the heart' by Another Story, all of which are indie artists and include codes in their songs and music videos that are conventional to the indie genre, for example, they all have love story based lyrics, slow pace editing to give the music videos more of an emotional feel to them, and performance sections within the video that allows them to share their talents with the audience, for example, the ability to play musical instruments and the implied idea that they have written those songs themselves. I decided to chose an artist from within the indie genre due to the fact that I am an avid listener of this genre and feel that it will be easier to create a music video with a narrative if the lyrics to the song feel more like a story being told, rather than random words that go with the beat. I will be able to share my ideas with the rest of my group through group discussions regarding the mise-en-scene that we wanted to use in our music video, for example, when discussing the setting and iconography of our video we decided that we wanted the location to be a mixture of both the countryside and inner city, therefore in our video the audience will see shots of London landmarks such as Big Ben, but they will also see visuals of the artist in the park and in the forest, which will give the video a countryside feel. Furthermore, we were also able to share our ideas through the creation of a group storyboard, which set out how we wanted our music video to look visually and helped to ensure that we all had the same vision regarding how the end result of our music video was going to look. It gave us time together to go over our group narrative and decide if we liked the way it was going to look, and what the characters we going to wear and how we were going to present them to the audience. I think that having these inspirations before producing a music video is important because not only do they help you to identify the conventions of the chosen music genre, but they help you to identify what you like within the genre and what you might want to include in your own music video.

Filming schedule - Miss Georgiou

Filming schedule

A filming schedule is important to have due to the fact that it gives every member of the group a direction to work in because it ensures that everybody in the group knows exactly what needs to be done and when and what the end result is expected to look like. The use of a filming schedule means that tasks can be delegated within the group so that we can get the whole thing filmed on time, for example, Molly took on the role of filming the opening sequence in the cow fields as well as the war scenes which are going to be filmed in Theydon, due to the fact that she lives closer to these areas. Sara has filmed the shots of well known London landmarks and the inner city such as Big Ben, and crowed London streets which will be seen towards the end of the video between shots of the artist running. I, myself, helped to film the performance sections where the audience can see the artist playing the piano as these scenes took place in my house. Molly and Sara filmed the majority of the footage due to the fact that they both owned cameras and could therefore film whenever they liked and had the time to. The filming schedule also means that we can establish when we should be finished filming by, and therefore when we can begin to edit our footage, which will be beneficial to us because the editing stage has the potential to take a long time, due to the fact that it is likely we will make several changes regarding what footage we use, its positioning within the music video, the speed of the footage and the special effects that we want to use, therefore a filming schedule will help us to ensure that we finish our music video on time.

In conclusion, for the majority of the filming process we did follow the filming schedule, we filmed in all of the locations that we had planned to film in, for example, the opening sequence of our music video was filmed in the 'cow fields' which was purposeful due to the fact that the iconography of the swing will help us to represent the artist as being carefree and childlike in the sense that she comes across as being innocent, which we wanted to achieve because she is new to the music industry therefore she is still being true to herself and has not yet been changed in order to fit into the mainstream, therefore it was arguably essential that we filmed in this location due to the fact that we would not have been able to find this iconography in another setting similar to the one needed for our video. The only real changes that we made to our filming schedule were the days on which we filmed. For example, on the day we had planned to film the running scene which appears towards the end of the video before the death of the male, the weather was worse than what we had expected it to be, therefore, due to the fact that we did not want Amy to feel uncomfortable running, nor did we want the camera to get wet, which would have required using and umbrella and would have made it much harder to film, therefore Molly ended up filming the running scene on the following day when the weather was forecasted to stay dry. Also, we filmed the piano/performance sections according to the date planned in the schedule, however when we looked back over it we realised that the footage was way too dark due to the fact that we had decided to close the blinds in the room we were filming in order to create a low key lighting, but instead we created a grainy looking effect on the footage and therefore we had to film the same sections again on the 13th of November, but this time we kept the lighting high key because we realised that it would be easier for us to add an effect to make the footage look more low key as opposed to adding an effect to low key footage in order to make it easier for the audience to see. While we were filming the piano/performance scenes at my house we decided that it would be beneficial for our group if were filmed a mid shot of the artist alone singing the entire song from beginning to end so that if we needed extra footage or performance sections while we are editing the footage, we could just crop out sections from this to use. This means that we won't have to go and film again at a later date which creates the risk that it may not flow with the footage that we already have, and takes away the time that we have to editing our music video together. Furthermore, if I were to do the production again, I would attempt to begin the filming process earlier than what we did this time due to the fact that the closer to winter it got, the darker the lighting became, therefore we had less filming time due to the fact that it became darker a lot earlier and it was difficult for our group to film everything that we needed within a specific scene with the same lighting, for example, we had to film the goodbye scene again due to the fact that the first time it was filmed, the lighting became so dark that during the editing stage we realised we couldn't see the actors in the shot very well, therefore the audience would not have been able to see what was going on. I would also consider using a member of our own group to portray the artist in our music video, rather than who we chose this time due to the fact that she had her own group and production to think about, in which she was also portraying the artist, therefore it was difficult to find a time where she was free to film with us because it usually overlapped with when she was due to film with her own group which made it difficult for us to get the footage that we needed by the date we had set, which also restricted the amount of editing we could do in lesson as we often had no footage to edit. I have learnt that the role of a filming schedule is to make everyone from within the group aware of what still needs to be filmed and when by and the locations, actors and iconography that are needed for specific scenes which also helps to ensure that our music video will be completed by the deadline set.

Planning magazine advert - Miss Miller

Planning the magazine advert

A magazine advert is an important form of advertising that an artist can use to promote themselves as part of the music industry, for example, the advert usually contains an image of the artist, either a close up of their face or a candid looking shot that shows them as being caught in the moment, both of which allow the audience to get to know what the artist looks like so that if they ever see their face again, for example, on the cover of an album or magazine advert, they will recognise who they are and if they like the music that the artist produces they may want to read more. On the other hand, a long shot image is likely to create a sense of mystery around an artist because the image does not give much away about the artist, therefore this may make the audience feel more interested and entice them to want to find out more. I am going to use a close up image for my magazine advert because my artist is new to the music industry, therefore I want the audience to be introduced to her and I want to promote her in order to aid the success of her career. Furthermore, most magazine adverts are released just before the release date of the album itself, therefore the audience are made aware of when the album is being released which may cause them to anticipate the release of the album and ensures that they know when they can buy it which increases the likelihood that the album is going to sell. It is common for albums to be released just before special holidays, for example, Christmas due to the fact that this is the ideal time because a CD is an ideal Christmas present and an artist will seek to maximise the chances of their album selling by putting it up for sale during a period where people are more likely to have the money and a reason to buy it.

I will be creating a magazine advert that promotes my chosen artist and her album which includes the song 'Salvation' that I am basing my final media project on. We had to analyse existing magazine adverts that have been created for our chosen artist and for another artist within the indie genre, as this allowed us to compare the two in order to identify any differences or similarities that they had which may have been conventional to the indie genre. We looked at what each magazine advert contained, the design and layout that they followed and the information that they included in order to ensure that I included all the necessary information when creating my own advert, due to the fact that I want the audience to be able to identify my advert as a magazine advert. It is important to plan in order to create an effective magazine advert, firstly because it will help me to ensure that my advert includes conventions of the indie genre so that the audience will be able to recognise our chosen artist as part of the indie genre. It is also important that the chosen artist is recognisable, and sometimes an artist, especially within the indie genre, will have an individual style that their fans will be able to recognise them by, for example, although she is part of the pop genre, Lady Gaga has a very individual and controversial dress sense that often creates a lot of buzz around her, and due to the fact that her outfits get a lot of people talking about her, they remain interested to see what she is going to wear next. By creating an individual image, it is more likely that an audience are going to remember who the artist is and be interested to find out more about them and their music, which could result in more sales of their music.

The colours that I have used on my magazine advert are mostly light colours including yellow, blue and green due to the fact that music from within the indie genre is often perceived as being emotional because indie artists write songs that are based on real life experiences that the audience can relate to, therefore the use of these colours may imply that the music on the album that is being promoted is going to have a deeper meaning and that it will help me to show the audience how the artist is feeling. Specific colours are often purposely used in order to help the audience understand how an artist is feeling and can sometimes foreshadow the mood of the songs from the album, for example, the use of the colour blue may cause the audience to think of the term 'feeling blue' which implies that the songs are going to make the audience feel sad. Furthermore, I have used colours that I believe will help my artists to be represented as being more natural and down to earth, in the sense that the colours are not too in your face, which could therefore imply that she does not want to be the centre of attention, which is conventional to the indie genre as indie artists are often perceived as viewing their music as more important than themselves. The use of these colours may make the artist appear more relatable and as someone who the audience can view themselves as being similar to, and they may feel closer to the artist due to the fact that they will feel as they she is sharing personal experiences with them as if they were friends. Also, the use of these colours on the magazine advert helps to promote the artist effectively because they are not too in your face, therefore it is likely that she will stand out and the audience will notice her which is beneficial to her because she is the artist and the magazine advert is promoting her music, therefore by getting to know what she looks like the audience will be more likely to recognise her in the future. Furthermore, I plan for the image of the artist to be black and white, due to the fact that I feel this will make the advert more conventional to the indie genre which is often perceived as being old fashioned, therefore the colours black and white suggest the idea of going back in time. I was inspired to use this colour scheme for my magazine advert after analysing the advert and digipak for Gabrielle Aplin's debut album 'English rain', especially through her use of more natural colours such as light blue and cream which helped to portray the artist as being more natural and as someone whom the audience were able to relate to which is conventional to the genre due to the fact that indie artists do not tend to seek to keep up with the current fashion trends that are often set by artists from within the pop genre, and there will be people within the audience who may not like or cannot afford to buy designer brands that are often associated with famous artists because of how much money they make from the music industry.

The main image that I have decided to use on my magazine advert is a close up of the artists face, due to the fact that this is conventional to the indie genre because it will give the audience a clearly view of her face which may help them to understand how she is feeling, which is conventional because the indie genre is often perceived as being an emotional genre of music, due to the fact that indie songs are often based on real life experiences that allow an audience to get to know more about an artist and help them to build an emotional connection with the song which is beneficial to the artist because if the audience feel as though they can relate to a song they will be more likely to want to listen to the song again and buy the album. In the close up image of the artist, I plan on her being dressed in plain, baggy clothing which may appear quite old fashioned, and natural looking makeup which is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie artists are often perceived as having an individual style and as doing their own thing which often goes against the mainstream. Nowadays, the 'norm' is for female artists to wear revealing outfits and tons of make up that help them to conform to the idea of what society thinks they should look like, however, I want my artist to appear relatable, due to the fact that this established 'norm' may be an image that most impressionable girls cannot live up to. I was inspired by Ed Sheeran’s magazine advert for his album ‘+’ to use a close up image of my artist for the cover of my own magazine advert because it gave the advert more of a personal feel to it due to the fact that she is completely exposed to the audience in the sense that she has nowhere to hide due to the fact that the audience can see exactly what she looks like and how she is feeling. This is conventional to the genre because indie artists are known for writing their own music based on real life experiences, therefore they are exposed in the sense that the lyrics of their songs will relate directly to their life and things that have happened to them personally, therefore the audience will feel as though the artist is telling them things about their personal life which they may not already know.

The design and layout of my magazine advert will look similar to the way you would expect the front cover of a book to look like, which is purposeful because celebrities including artists often release autobiographies or biographies about themselves in order to tell the audience more about themselves. The audience will feel as though the artist is allowing them to get to know them more because books are often used by artists to explain their life stories through the use of their music, which may entice the audience into buying the album because they will be keen to know more about the artist and learn things that they may not already know. Furthermore, this may also help an artist to come across as being more relatable due to the fact that indie artists often write their songs themselves which suggests that their songs are going to based on real life experiences that help to give their music a deeper meaning and allows the audience to make an emotional connection with the song. This design and layout will be especially beneficial to someone like Gabrielle Aplin who was recently new to the music industry, and therefore had yet to build up a loyal fan base who she could target her music at and rely on to always buy her new music. It is important for an artist to establish who their target audience is, due to the fact that without them an artist will be unable to sell their music and will fail to breakthrough within the music industry. This design and layout will appeal to the target audience because they will feel as though they are going to get to know more about the artist which is beneficial to them as they will be interested to know more about their personal life. Furthermore, the design and layout helps to promote the artist effectively because it tells the audience all of the necessary and important information that they need to know about the artist and the release of the new album, which helps to make the audience aware and increases the artists chances of having their album sell. I was inspired to use this design and layout for my advert after analysing Ed Sheeran's magazine advert for his album '+' due to the fact that I felt as though he managed to include of the necessary information in regards to the release of the album, for example, the release date and reviews, without taking any of the attention away from the close up image of his face, which allowed the audience to see clearly what he looked like and how he was feeling, therefore they will be more likely to recognise him if they see his image in other aspects of the media and will have a better understanding of what they can expect the mood of his music to be like. This is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie artists are known for writing their own music based on real life experiences, therefore the lyrics to their songs expose them to an audience similar to the way a close up image does.

The typography that I have decided to use of my magazine advert will look as though it has been handwritten as I believe this will add a personal touch to the advert because the audience will feel as though the artist has written the words herself, which relates to the perception that indie artists often write their own music based on personal experiences which further links to Dyer's theory and the idea that an artist must come across as being extraordinary by express the talents that they have, for example, the ability to play a musical instrument, as this helps to keep an audience interested in the artist and envious of the skills that they have. This may also cause the audience to look up to the artist as they are likely to respect what they capable of doing, as this suggests that they have spent a lot of time and hard work into being able to do what they do. This helps to promote the artist as being someone who writes their own music and produces their songs entirely on their own, therefore the audience may appreciate and respect how talented the artist is and feel as though their music is going to be personal to their lives, which may make them more interested in listening to the songs. I was inspired to use this style of font after analysing Gabrielle Aplin's advert for her debut album 'English rain' due to the fact that handwritten made the advert feel more personal to the artist because it looked as though she had written the information herself. This is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie artists often write their own music themselves based on real life experiences, therefore the lyrics usually relate to their lives and allow the audience to get to know more about them, which is especially beneficial to Aplin who was new to the music industry therefore not many people will have known that much about her.

The style of language that I have decided to use is mainly quite informative, for example, the words 'out now' will clearly tell the audience that the album is currently available to buy which may encourage them to search for the album is shops or on-line if they want to buy it. The reason I decided upon 'out now' instead of making up a date was because these words imply that the audience do not have to wait any longer, which is beneficial to the artist due to the fact that in time, the audience may forget about the release of the album which could lead to a decline in sales. I have also decided to use persuasive language in order to try to encourage the audience to buy the album, for example, I have include a positive review of the album at the bottom of the advert due to the fact that an audience can sometimes be influenced by public opinion and a bad review may discourage an audience from buying an album because they will not want to feel as though they are wasting their money. This is arguably conventional to the music genre as a whole due to the fact that the industry will want to make as much money as it possibly can, which can only be done if they have an audience who wants to buy what they have to sell, which in this case is the music. A record label will feel less inclined to work with an artist who is not very successful and is less likely to make them a profit. A positive review is also conventional due to the fact that the praise of an album can act as an ego boost for an artist who is always at risk of failure in this large and ever changing industry, and they will want to show the audience what other people think about the product due to the fact that some people make decisions based on the opinions of other people.

In conclusion, while we were filming the music video, we took pictures at various points of the artist in different locations wearing different costumes, this was so that we could take inspiration and use some of these pictures for the front cover when creating our magazine advert. These pictures will also ensure that the image on our magazine cover will show a relationship with the music video itself, due to the fact that the audience will see the artist wearing the same outfit and in the same location in the music video, this also means that the audience will be more likely to associate the artist and this album. Furthermore, this process prepared us for using Photoshop because we knew exactly what colours we wanted to use on our advert, and therefore what effects we could use when using Photoshop on the image of the artist in order to create the magazine advert that we had already individually planned. Due to the fact that I had a specific image of how I wanted the artist to appear on the magazine advert, which was a close up of her face, I feel like I knew exactly what pictures I needed to take when filming in order to achieve my planned magazine cover, and by deciding what colours I was going to use I knew exactly what effects I could add onto the image or how I could change the lighting, for example, because I wanted my image of the artist to be black and white, I used as little lighting as possible to make the lighting appear more low key, which itself creates a black and white feel to an image. Most of the conventions that I have included in my magazine advert conform to the indie genre, for example, the use of a close up of the artist to show the audience how she is feeling and the use of handwritten typography which gives the advert a personal touch, both of which suggest that indie music is very emotional and personal to the artist. The reason for using conventions that conform to the indie genre was because I wanted my advert to be recognisable as part of the indie genre, and something that can be associated with my chosen artist, who through the use of natural looking makeup and affordable clothing, and the use of performance in her music videos conforms to the indie genre. Furthermore, the image that I have decided to use for the front cover of the advert will also be seen in the music video itself, which therefore causes the audience to associate the advert with the music video, which may entice them into wanting to watch the music video in order to find out why she looks the way she does. Most of my inspirations for my individual magazine advert came from analysing Gabrielle Aplin's advert and digipak for her debut album 'English rain' due to the fact that I wanted my own advert to compliment her individual style and for her established audience to recognise her from my own advert. Due to the fact that she was new to the music industry, Aplin was portrayed as being more relatable and natural, for example, through the use of affordable clothing such as a plain white dress which would have appealed to the audience who would have been able to find similarities between themselves and Aplin. Most people will often associate people within the music industry as being wealthy and will be envious of their lifestyles. This representation was beneficial to Gabrielle Aplin who would have needed to be able to connect with an audience who were going to buy into her music and continue to buy her music in order to make her more well known and successful within the music industry.

Music video storyboard - Miss Georgiou

Storyboard

The purpose of a storyboard is to illustrate how a media performance is going to look before it has been produced. The order in which the visuals appear often help to tell an audience a story, therefore it is important that the structure and narrative is set out on paper before filming. A storyboard is beneficial due to the fact that it is flexible in the sense that you can make changes to it at any time according to a change of vision regarding how you want something to look, however, a storyboard does give you a direction to work in because it sets out what needs to be done and ensures that all visuals are filmed in order to complete the narrative.

As a group, we carried out several forms of primary and secondary research before beginning to create a storyboard and film for our final music video. We used our vox pops and the results from our questionnaire because they told us what the target audience wanted to see in a music video. We plan to include the most popular aspects from the results into our storyboard to ensure that our music video appeals to our target audience, for example, most of the target audience wanted the music video to be set in the city, therefore we plan to include visuals of famous London landmarks such as Big Ben and the London Eye at various points in the video to show the audience that the characters are in the city. Furthermore, due to the fact that the narrative that we created is based on a love story, we came up with the idea that the use of these landmarks could represent the places that the couple in the video have been together, which could suggest the idea of the two characters going on dates together. The love story narrative is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie artists often write songs that are based on real life experiences about love and relationships because an audience may be able to relate to these experiences which will increase the likelihood of them wanting to listen to the song again. The use of these primary forms of research will help us to include our target audience more in the planning aspects of the process because they are the most important people to consider and their opinions are what will determine the success of our music video.

We also analysed different music videos that had already been created by our chosen artist in order for us to get to know more about her individual style that we can include in our music video to make it more recognisable, for example, Gabrielle Aplin likes to wear casual clothing and natural looking make up which helps her to come across as more relatable because not everybody can afford designer clothing, and it shows her as not being materialistic which most artists are perceived as being. Furthermore, we also analysed music videos created by other indie artists including Birdy and Ed Sheeran in order for us to identify things that are conventional to the indie genre as a whole, for example, the use of performance in an indie music video is conventional due to the fact that it helps an artist to show off their talents, for example, the ability to play musical instruments such as the piano which links into Dyer’s Star theory and the idea that an artist must be extraordinary in order to keep an audience interested and envious of them, because they are seen as having lots of talents and skills that the audience may wish they had. The use of close ups of the artist is also conventional to the indie genre because they allow an artist to show the audience how they are feeling at a specific point in the video which arguably links to the idea that indie artists often write their own music and at that their songs are often based on real life experiences that allow an audience to get to know more about an artist and make an emotional connection with the song, this makes them more likely to want to buy and listen to the song again. The use of these secondary forms of research allowed us to gain ideas for what we could include in our own music video to make it recognisable as part of the indie genre, for example, the use of low key lighting to make the video feel more emotional, and the use of realistic, easily accessible settings and affordable clothing to make the video more relatable for the audience.

We started off by analysing the lyrics to our chosen song in order for us to establish a better understanding of what the lyrics could mean and therefore how we could use visuals to express the meaning of the song to the audience, for example, the lyrics “the darkest fairy tale”; the term ‘fairy tale’ connotes the idea of love and a happy ending, however, the word darkest suggests that the two characters are not going to have a happy ending, this therefore arguably foreshadows the death of the male character at the end of our music video. Furthermore, before creating a storyboard, our group came up with an idea for the narrative of the music video that we could use to inspire the way our storyboard was going to look. We decided that our narrative was going to be based on a love story between a girl and a boy, beginning with how they meet and finishing with the implied funeral of the boy after he gets sent off to war which is conventional to the indie genre due to the fact that indie songs are often based on real life experiences that an audience may be able to relate to, and we feel that this narrative will allow the audience to make an emotional connection with the song. The analysis of the lyrics and then planning a narrative was beneficial to our group because we already knew how we wanted our music video to look before creating the storyboard, and the storyboard itself is something that we can refer to back to when we are filming to make sure we are working in the right direction and to ensure that we are all clear on what needs to be filmed. Furthermore, by taking the time to put our idea onto paper helped to ensure that everybody in the group has the same vision and that we wouldn’t forget how we wanted the music video to look, which therefore allowed us to go off on our own and film specific sections from within the music video. Together as a group we planned the narrative for the storyboard which included where we wanted specific visuals to be seen according to where we felt they would most compliment the lyrics, for example, the lyrics "the darkest fairy tale" will be accompanied by the visuals of the male character being shot, which will be followed by footage of his funeral and the artist scattering his ashes, therefore these lyrics arguably foreshadow his death in the video. Together we wrote down the content of each scene, the specific camera shot we were planning to use, the editing techniques, the lyrics, the characters and the iconography that would be involved according to the narrative, and we then drew the images according to what the other group members had written which ensured that every member of our group had the same vision for how our final music was going to look.

For the majority of the filming process our group managed to follow the storyboard that we had created prior to filming, this was due to the fact that we have previously decided on specific locations that we wanted to film in, therefore we knew exactly where we needed to go when filming and what we wanted to see. However, we did experience some issues with lighting and weather that meant we had to change some aspects of our storyboard, for example, we wanted to use low key lighting during the performance sections where the audience will be able to see the artist playing the piano because we felt that the use of low key lighting would complement the emotions that we wanted her to be perceived as having, therefore, in order to create a low key lighting we closed the blinds in the room that we were filming in, however, when we played the footage back we found that the footage had a grainy looking effect because of how dark the lighting had become, we therefore decided to film the piano sections again but this time using more of a high key lighting due to the fact that we realised it would be easier for us to add a special effect to make the footage look more low key, as opposed making the footage look more high key. Furthermore, we had previously set a date to film the scene during which the artist can be seen running that appears towards the end of the video, however, it was raining on the day and we did not want Amy to feel uncomfortable when filming, therefore we decided to change the date to the next day when the weather was forecasted to remain dry.