Magazine Advertisement/Poster ideas

I researched into some existing posters to gather research and ideas for my own poster/magazine advert which I will be creating in the future. I found that the country genre as a whole uses a wide variety of designs and the only similarity is that the poster design is often based around the design of the album cover. Often the designs are extremely bright and focal which is done to attract the attention of their target audience, this is effective. They also feature the common conventions for adverts/posters which is the artist's logo/name, a picture (or two) of them, the album (or tour) name and a small picture of the album cover in the corner.  Looking at this existing work has given me inspiration for my own ancillary texts, displaying the ideal style and design for the genre. I also discovered the conventional form of texts, i.e. the type of information that would appear on a poster and what is more likely to be eye catching, making a reader take interest in the artist. I think a still shot for the poster of the artist works effectively as well as placing the album artwork larger on a poster. I also think it's appropriate use the artist's signature colour scheme for that album, i.e. Taylor Swift's RED album emphasises the use of the colour red while the rest of the poster contains minimal colour (sepia or black and white), this shows recognition to the fans and audience. 

Conventions of Ancillary Texts - Magazine Advertisement (CD/DVD package)

I have found an existing music magazine advert for an album from Miranda Lambert, an artist that features in my chosen music genre, country. The advert features the artist as the focal point, with a picture of her that embosses many country music conventions. This picture is framed and the background of the poster contains a very rural and natural design. Below it includes the artist's logo/name and the album name how it appears on the album. In the bottom left corner there is an image of the album cover itself, this makes it recognizable to the target audience and fan base of the artist. The added text, 'featuring the hit single "Me and Charlie Talking"'' and 'available at K-mart' (a supermarket) are conventional features on a magazine advert, keeping to what people expect to see from a magazine advert.

Ancillary photographs 1

Here is a slideshare of all of the pictures I took during the first filming session. I intend to use some of these for my ancillary texts in the future (album cover etc). Please be aware that the quality has been reduced due to the sheer size of the files. But when I use them in the future, they will be in high quality.

Weather forecast (2nd filming day)

As the second filming session had to be re-scheduled due to my actress's sickness, I have researched the weather forecast for the new date. I did this to ensure there wouldn't be any rainfall or snow that would prevent us from filming that day. As you can see it is predicted to be cold on these dates and I will work around this by giving my actress breaks inside my house or the car (on location) so she doesn't get too cold.

Filming Reschedule: Session 2

Due to complications, we've had to reschedule the second filming session. I texted my actress the night before we were planning to film with all the information. She replied telling me that she had the flu and wasn't well enough to film on Friday. Obviously my actress's health is the priority and its important that we only film when she feels well enough. We've now set a date to film the following Saturday on the 30th from 12 until 4.  On the bright side, now we aren't filming for another week it gives me the opportunity to do more planning for the session, that way I'll be more organised on the day.

Conventions of Ancillary Texts - Digipaks (CD/DVD package)

Focusing on Taylor Swift's self-titled debut album, I will discuss the conventions used in the front and back cover and the disc itself. This research will benefit me later on in the process when I will begin to create my ancillary texts. 

The typical conventions start with the use of the artist's logo or distinctive presentation of their name, it is present on the front, back and on the disc. Its important that the artist has a unique way of presenting their name as this makes it easier for the audience to distinguish it, it also validates it as official merchandise from the artist. The artist shown above, Taylor Swift, has used this unique logo of her name on 3 out of her 4 albums, the only album not to feature it is her latest release, RED. Besides albums, Taylor Swift has her logo imprinted on memorabilia too in order for her audience to recognise it easily, which enables them to purchase it. The next convention is using images that reflect the album's genre. In this case, Taylor Swift is of the country genre, so it was important that the images showed this. They have in the sense that it is heavily associated with nature and Swift is wearing a white dress, these conventions are stereotypical of a country album which presents it as a country album to the audience. Another convention of an ancillary text is that it needs to be consistent, in the sense that both covers and the disc have to be in sync with each other. So if you saw one of the covers or the disc, you'd know what album it was from. Taylor Swift has maintained consistency through the colours (light blue), the fonts and the logos, which include the artist's and the record label's. One final convention which is small but important is the bar code on the back cover. This is used for scanning when someone buys the album, each bar code is different for every product, and it is used as another way to distinguish albums. Today, there are programmes and applications that can scan the barcodes to help you recognise the product.

Ancillary Text Ideas

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options: 

- a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package)

- a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package)

To delve further into the ancillary texts of my music genre, country. I embarked on some research into existing album covers for country music, in order to learn the conventions and to give me some ideas for when I will be creating my own in the future. In the prezi, I have analysed 5 album covers in detail, talking about inspiration, conventions, stereotypes and theories that relate to them.

Filming Diary: Session 1

I texted my actress, Ellie, a few days prior to make sure she was okay with the arrangement. The plan was for her to come on the bus with me and then walk back to my house straight after college. We got to my house roughly around 5:30pm.

Once we got to my house we spent about 30 minutes getting Ellie ready. Not much was required as she had done her own hair and makeup like I  requested previously (natural looking). She put on the white Dorothy Perkins dress that I had bought especially for the shoot, tights and her own lace up boots. I provided her with a meal at 6pm so she had time to rest and gain energy before the filming began.

We began filming at 6:30pm and all of the filming took place in my garden. As I had purchased burning garden lanterns, it was very important that they were lit and spaced correctly to avoid any hazards. One of my parents supervised me with this to ensure both mine and my actress's safety. Before we started filming I placed some duct tape on the ground to act as barriers for my actress so she wouldn't go to close to the burning lanterns. Once the lanterns were lit and the camera was set up, I took some pictures that I can use in the future for my ancillary texts. We spent about 15 mins taking pictures and then roughly 1 hour and 45 mins filming.

Unfortunately we were on a tight schedule so I wasn't able to take any behind the scenes photographs. But I did take lots of pictures for the ancillary texts so I will insert one here so you can get an idea of how my filming setup looked. The rest of the ancillary pictures will be featured in a separate post.

As the majority of the filming done in this session required the actress lipsyncing, I printed out a copy of the lyrics for her to look over if she forgot. Also, I played the song on my IPhone while we were filming to ensure her timing was precise. I thought this method would be much easier and more portable than bringing my laptop or IPad outside for the shoot. This way I was able to keep it in my pocket so the sound was loud enough for my artist to hear, while being in a safe place.

We wrapped up this session of filming at about 8:30pm and I would regard this as being a very successful video shoot. We kept on schedule and everything we planned to film was filmed. Which means its unlikely we'll have to re-shoot. Me and my actress will be filming again on Friday the 22nd in the afternoon in some woods and a graveyard in my village. We both have a free afternoon after college so we took advantage of this time.

Equipment used for filming

The Tripod I used was provided by college and it is VELBON DF-61. This tripod proved to be very useful as its big structure matched the balance of my heavy camera very well. It was easy to use as I could make smooth pans without any difficulty and it was a good substitute for a steadicam.

I had an opportunity to borrow a camcorder from college which was the SONY HANDYCAM HDR-CX250E. But after deliberating, I decided to use my personal camera instead. This camera is the CANON EOS 600D. I decided to use my DSLR for a number of reasons. Firstly, the camera is takes videos in the correct aspect ratio of 16:9. Secondly, it has a manual focus which enables me to create things like depth of field with the focus which cannot be done on a camcorder. Thirdly, it performs well in all lighting, even dark, which the SONY camcorder doesn't. Additionally, it has a complex lens which lets you zoom in and out more extensively than a camcorder can. Finally, and most importantly, it is renowned for taking not only high quality photos but also HD videos. As I'm a perfectionist and someone who pays attention to detail, I felt it appropriate to use my camera so I could have footage in the highest resolution possible so it will look more like a professional music video when completed.

I plan to use this same equipment for my second filming session as it worked extremely well and there were no faults. Plus, as the camera belongs to me I am not depriving other people from using the college cameras for their coursework. Its also much easier for me to use in comparison to the camcorder as I've had it for six months, so I've had plenty of time to learn how to use it.

Health & Safety Production Assessment

I would consider health and safety to be one of the most important aspects of making my music video. Especially when going out to film on location without the supervision of medics or qualified first aiders. It is also important to know where the filming will take place and get any needed permission before hand to use that area (unless they're open to public). It is also highly important to tell multiple people, including responsible adults, where the filming is is taking place. So if anything does go wrong, there are responsible and trustworthy people who will help me in case of an emergency. It is also helpful if everyone within the production team is sensible during filming and takes responsibility when using equipment, filming in areas which could be dangerous and generally acting safely. 

"High standards of health and safety in production can only be achieved and 

maintained by everyone involved in the industry playing their part. This 
means recognising and accepting the different obligations and 
responsibilities that health and safety legislation places upon individuals or 
organisations. 
Under health and safety legislation, the ultimate responsibility for health 
and safety rests with the employers involved and the organisations in 
control of premises and facilities. On a day-to-day basis, the producer has 
overall responsibility for ensuring that appropriate standards of health and 
safety are achieved and maintained throughout the production process. 
The underlying need is for the production company to establish appropriate 
organisational structures that support risk control and place health and 
safety alongside editorial and/or dramatic considerations. There should 
also be good planning, communication, co-operation and co-ordination by 
and between all parties involved throughout a production."

- http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg360.pdf

Other important points:

• Wear appropriate clothing on location and take weather and other people's views into consideration.
• Let people know (preferably parents) where you will be in case of an emergency.
• If possible, bring an adult to act as a chaperone to keep a look out and spot any dangerous hazards.
• Get any required permission (costume, location, technology, transport etc).
• Health checkup on production team (possible allegies etc).
• Make a filming schedule so the whole team knows what they are doing at all times.
• Don't take any unnecessary risks that may cause danger.

Weather forecast (1st and 2nd filming days)

Before I filmed I decided to check the weather forecast for my two filming days to ensure there wouldn't be any rainfall or snow that would prevent us from filming that day. As you can see it is predicted to be cold on these dates and I will work around this by giving my actress breaks inside my house or the car (on location) so she doesn't get too cold.

Filming Plan & Schedule

This is the plan and schedule for the filming of my music video. Fortunately, my production team only consists of three people with one of them driving so transport will not be an issue. It consists of me, Ellie (the actress) and one of my parents. They have over 30 years of driving experience which eliminates any possible hazards. My parent will also act as a chaperone, he/she will take pictures of the production and supervise by watching at all times for any potential hazards.

As my filming will take place over three separate days, I have decided to put them into three different categories, referring to them into "sessions".

Session 1: Friday 15th November - 6-8pm - Filming of artist by the burning torches in the garden.

Session 2: Friday 21nd November - 1-4pm - Mass filming of artist in South Cave wood and cemetery.

Session 1:

I plan for the first session of my filming to take place in my garden in South Cave. In my location ideas I mentioned how I wanted to have a bonfire for the backdrop of the video, but attempting to put this vision into reality proved difficult. I realised that the size of my garden would decrease the size of the bonfire to the point where it wouldn't be effective for my music video. There was also a chance of it setting fire to some bushes in the garden and spreading through into neighbour's gardens. Because of this, I decided to go in a different direction with the bonfire. My dad came up with the idea of instead buying 5-6 garden lamps or "torches", setting them alight and filming with them as the backdrop. I decided to use this idea and I purchased 6 bamboo torches. I plan to set them out in a semicircle in my garden and my artist/actress will stand in front of this. I feel they will provide a very effective backdrop for my music video and they fit in perfectly with its ideology.

                               

Shots I plan to film in this session:

• Close up of feet walking
• Close up of lighting match
• Close up on lit candle
• Close up of her lighting candle
• Medium shot of girl walking through lamps
• Medium close up of girl blowing out candle ("are you?")
• Bridge - "Girl On Fire" - Medium long shot - lifts arms up, tilts head back
• Medium close up - stares at camera
• Tilt up to night sky

Session 2:

The second session of filming for my music video will take place in a group of woods and fields in South Cave, called Mount Airy. This was one of my main locations ideas and I intend to stick with this as it is only a 5-10 minute walk from my house, this makes it very accessible and reliable. This location is also extremely versatile as the woods are very vast and there are also a number of empty fields around it. This way I can make it look like it was filmed in a different location even though it wasn't. I plan to film here for a good 3 hours as this is the most important location in my music video out of the three. There will be a good chance that it will be cold when we film this so I plan for one of my parents to drive me and my actress up there in the car and they can keep the heating on in there so if the actress gets cold she can take a break in the car.

   

Also in this session I plan to film in the local cemetery as it will provide my music video with a much darker tone. The cemetery is only a 2 minute drive from my house so it is easy to access. The cemetery is of a medium size so it is versatile when it comes to filming. I plan to film here after filming in the woods as it is on the way back. I plan to only film here for about 30 minutes as I have a clear idea of what I want to film. Plus, the graveyard footage will only be used in the end section of my music video so less footage is needed. My parents will drop me and my actress at this location and wait in the car while we film , this way they are close to us if any accident occurs.

Shots I plan to film in this session:

• Extreme long shot of artist stood in field/hill
• Medium shot of artist turning around
• Long shots of walking
• Close up of feet walking
• Variety of shots of artist lip-syncing song in field
• Artist lip syncing while walking
• Artist lip syncing while walking - from side angle
• Artist walking in graveyard
• Close ups of artists face
• Over the shoulder shot of artist picking up matches
• Long shots of artist running

Casting

Ellie Hutchinson - Lead

I only needed one actress for my music video to play the artist as the lack of other characters linked to the themes of isolation in the song. It made sense for me to pick Ellie as I really needed someone who could act extremely well as the tragic theme of the song demands some very strong acting. Ellie has been performing most of her life as her parents own a theatre company and she has acted, sang and danced in local musicals in the area. I wanted someone who could sing too as I felt it would be easier for them to lip-sync the lyrics as they're familiar with using the vocal chords. I know for a fact Ellie can sing as we shared a singing teacher a few years back and we've sang together in concerts.  Ellie is also studying Drama and theatre studies at A-Level at college which emphasises that she takes her acting seriously. I also felt Ellie's appearance matched what I was looking for as she has long red hair. This will fit with the title of the song ("Girl On Fire"), as well as the fire imagery I'll be creating in the video. Me and Ellie have known each other for a long time so I feel we'll have a good working relationships. Her talent along with her appearance is what makes me believe she is perfect for this role.

Audience Profile

Using the results that helped me declare my target audience, I created an audience profile that represents my typical target audience's personality and interests.

Target Audience Declaration

From my audience research which I conducted through the use of a poll and a questionnaire, I have decided on my target audience and I will explain it in detail in the paragraph below. 

The primary gender of my target audience is female, as my results showed that 86% of the people who answered the questions were female, while only 14% were male. This is typical of a country music audience in real life which makes my results very true to life and valid. The age of my target audience will be between 16 and 19 as my results show that 95% of the people who answered the questions were aged between 16 and 19. This is also typical of a country music audience as they are usually teens to young adults. My results also found that Indie and Country were the most popular genres with this gender and age group, while I have already chosen the country genre for my music video, these validates the fact that country is most popular with female teens. Finally, my results showed that my audience watch music videos on YouTube (82%), the easy access to music videos also establishes my audience as in the ABC demographic or "middle class." Plus, some country songs have mainstream appeal.

With these results, I have fulfilled all of the predictions I made earlier about my target audience, which makes my questionnaire/poll successful in establishing my target audience.

Audience Feedback/Results

From my previous posts, you can see that I conducted three different types of audience research. Two of these are quantitative data and one of these is qualitative data, I thought this was important to use both in my research as it gives it variety and makes it more credible and reliable.

First was a poll that I put on my blog and emailed to all Media Studies students, asking them to fill it out. Over 30 people did it, which was a good number for my study to be successful. This and my questionnaire was collected as quantitative data which provides information which is easy to analyse statistically and fairly reliable.

The second type of audience research I did was in the form of a questionnaire. I created this using similar questions as the blog poll, but this time I handed it out to people who weren't Media studies student, as I feel Media students emboss some bias towards music videos as they have been studying it, whereas the people who don't only watch music videos for enjoyment. I managed to get 15 people who weren't Media students to fill in this questionnaire.

The final piece of audience research I did was in the form of a filmed focus group. I got three people I knew from Media Studies to answer some questions for me while being filmed. These questions were completely different to the ones used for my poll and questionnaire, as they required more of the people's opinions and their answers were the deciding factor for some important decisions I needed to make for my music video. There will be a separate post on the answers that the focus group gave in more detailed analysis. Unlike the other parts of my audience research, this one is in qualitative data which which is concerned with describing meaning, rather than with drawing statistical inferences. They provide a more in depth and rich description.

The questions were:

1. What do you think is the most important element of a music video and why?

2. Do you prefer a narrative music video without lip-sync or an abstract video with lip-sync? Why?

3. Give an example of how a music video has grabbed your attention and influenced you to buy the album. How did it do this?

4. Do you prefer music videos shot inside, outside, or a combination of both? Why do you prefer this?

5. How many different settings/filming locations should a video have in your opinion? Why?

6. Do you prefer a more cinematic and smooth style of cinematography or a more unsteady and documentary feel? Why?

7. What conventions would you associate with the country genre of music? Mise-en scene, cinematography, editing etc.

Results:

For the main results for my audience research, I put together the results of both the poll and the questionnaire. I have presented them below in pie charts so the information and quantitative data is much easier to interpret and analyse. There is a pie chart for each question asked.

What is the most important convention in a music video?

What type of music video do you prefer?

Where do you go to watch music videos?

Conclusion:

Overall, these results will help me clarify my target audience in full. The results tell me that my primary audience is female, they are aged between 16 and 19, they like indie, country and pop music, they watch music videos on YouTube, they prefer abstract and narrative music videos and they think mise-en-scene is the most important element of a music videos.

These results possess some characteristics of a middle class audience, due to the fact that this audience have access to YouTube etc.

These results also seem very similar to the classical country music audience, which makes my target audience conventional and appropriate.

My target audience will be clarified in a follow up blog post.

Genre Conventions