Brainwave!!

Because so many people from my focus group liked the other picture in black and white, i thought it would be a great idea to use the two very similar pictures for both products, the advert and the digipak. I have put the idea forward to my focus group to see what they think.
Here is the new advert so far.

 And here is the new digipak so far, linked in with this advert.

So far, the focus group still seem to like the other advert more, but hopefully now that they have seen this digipak, they will see the reasoning. 

Feedback for picture

 I have had some response from my focus group telling me what they think of the picture above in black and white, and over all they seem to like it more, they say that it makes the picture seem more dramatic and it fits in better with the black and white theme.  The picture below is roughly the same just from a bit further away, and personally i think that I like this picture more because it has a nicer feel to it as apposed to the one above which I feel is a little bit too close and the black and white makes it feel pixelated. However, I will ask the focus group what they think.

Edited advert.

Feedback about the advert.

As you can see here, one member of my focus group has said that they like the simple design, which is what I was aiming for, but he thinks that it would be good if there was something that stood out a little bit more and grabbed their attention, for example some colour. 

Therefore I have thought about this advise and will try to add a little bit of colour to the advert, one idea I have is to use the same blue that I have running throughout my blog for just one small part of the advert.

One thing I have learnt as a producer of music advertisements, music videos and other products, is that it must be very difficult for these companies to make a product that suits their whole audience, because I have realised in this short task, that where as some of the audience think that a bit of colour in the pictures, doesnt look right as the video is black and white, however they believe there is not enough colour in the advert. 

If i were to do this for a living I would find it quite frustrating, however in this case, I quite enjoy editing my products so that people like them more and the feedback is excellent.

Advert draft 1

This is my first draft of the advertisement, as you can see I have only included, the artists name, the album name, and the release date. I will ask my focus group what they think about this and return to the drawing board.

Release date advertisements

I have looked into some advertisements that other companies have created to show the release of albums/singles. I wanted to get a clearer idea of how to create my poster. I didnt want to make it feel too busy, but then I also didnt want to not put enough information in it.  Here are some of my favourite ones I found.

As you can see, three of the four posters use a pictrue of the artist to advertise the album, which I think is the best thing to do and something that I will definately do with my poster, as I want the public to see who is being advertised, not just their name. 

All of the posters show the artists name and the name of the song/album/single, which are the 2 things I will have to make sure I include in my own poster. They dont all say when they have been released, which I think makes the posters look better and simpler, but I may have to do it to my own so that the audience can see when its being released. Some small symbols such as the itunes logo are rather effective because they advertise where to get the songs from online, as many people do these days. That is something that I may consider putting on my poster. 

Looking back

I thought it would be useful to go back and look at the questions I initially asked my audience to find out what they liked in a music video, and see if  I have managed to use any of the things that they said. After all the audience is the most important part as they are the people who will be viewing the video and buying  CD's, if they don't like what a music company creates then there would be no point in creating it.



"Outdoor, indoor lighting can look false and outdoor has a nice atmosphere and is suited to almost any song
Depends on the genre of the music, however an entire video in black and white/sepia might be less interesting than one in colour
I think that a story line going on at the same time is something for the viewer to follow and enjoy; gives you something to actually watch."


"Outdoors, indoors is boring.
Bright Colours
Story line, just watching them sing is boring, much like the x factor"


"Prefer a story as watching someone just signing is boring 
Loved aha take on me from 80s this helped to change the way videos were done plus I loved the lead singer, and wanted to be the girl in the video"


"I think that at least having two storylines is very important and even if there isnt two stories as such there is two strands.
I wouls say that at the moment my favourite music video is by Benjamin Francis Leftwich - Atlas Hands. I would say it is because it is simplistic and yet has its own style and is rather edgy.
I don't really have a prefference however all of the options are effetive for certainthings, by using only one however it could be boring.
Bit of both two strands would work with this."


"Unusual videos where they have a storyline that you can follow as you get gripped and want to watch till the end. These stand out to me far more than simple ones with no storyline as you tend not to watch them for any other reason than for the song.No preference on colour or location as its dependant on the song that the video is for; as long as it suits. I think a mixture is good as I like to see the band but i also like a storyline to make it interesting."


"What do you think of music videos with more than one story line? I think they are interesting, but might be a bit unclear of confusing
Favourite ever music video? Why? Lazy song, I like the simplicity... and the chimps."


"Outdoor or indoor videos? Why? I like a bit of variation, but if had to choose, outdoor, the lighting is usually a bit brighter
Bright colours, black and white, sepia, other? Bright colours FTW- just more fun and attractive.
Being able to see the artists singing the whole time or a story line of other people? Why? I think seeing a story line is more interesting."


"I enjoy something i can follow so i prefer to watch a hero or a couple, something romantic with a twist, gripping and compelling at the same time; otherwise the story is boring. I prefer to watch female artists as the idea of male gaze is relevant to me.The colour is never usually something i look at, but if i had a preference it would be Black and White, the video has more of an impact on the viewer and can sometimes come across more emotional and therefore i get more attached to it.
I prefer to have the singer being the person involved in the story line for example Drunk by Ed Sheeran."

As you can see, my focus group have outlined that they enjoy mainly videos that are filmed outdoors, this is one thing that my video is full of, every piece of footage I filmed was done outside as I felt it went well with the feel of the song.

Nearly all of them said that they enjoyed music videos with more than one strand or with a story to follow is they find it gripping. This is definately something I have managed to do as i have two strands going the my entire video and one thing I think will make viewers want to watch the video more. 

My focus group have also sad that they liked simple videos, in some ways I think that my video may have a bit too much going on at times, but then I think that is balanced out by the calmness of the video and the way there is a lot of peaceful footage of the artist singing. However over all I think I have stuck well to what my focus group like to see in music videos, and I hope that they enjoy the video. 

To link my video with videos that the focus group said they liked, here are a couple of their favourites.  

Transitions

As a bit of last minute research I asked my focus group what they thought of the transitions in my video, because I realised that they are not the usual transitions that a music video would use. The usual transitions would be a cut or a direct transition which jumps immediately from one clip to another. However I have used alot of fade and blur transitions which are slower and a bit gentler. Personally I felt that they suited the video well.
Here is what someone from my focus group said:

"I thought the fading was really good, you could see parts of it were meant to be sort of flash backs or memories which worked well. The shot between 1:30 and 1:50 confused me a bit as I couldnt really see the overlap shot, the faded one behind it. But i'm guessing it was some sort of memory. The transitions fading out to black then in from black worked well."

 This has reassured me that the transitions throughout the video work well together and it makes the video flow well. I am glad the my focus group are able to see the point of the fading and the shots in the background are suppose to be memories.

Is the picture right?

A few people from my focus group mentioned that they felt that the picture above was very nice, but as it was in colour it did not fit right with the rest of the video as that is in black and white. I wanted to get their opinion on it if it were in black and white instead.
Personally I dont like the picture as much in black and white because I dont feel like I can see the same emotions and I think the colour gives it an edgier feel. However I should wait and see what the focus group think.

Finished video with final editing

This is the finished version so far, however i will put it up on my focus group and see if there is any final feedback from them.

Someone like you

This is the opening picture for my music video, although it has no real importance to the video itself, it is simply important to inform you as the examiner who I am, and my important numbers, I wanted to show that I have taken every part of the project seriously and tried to use a consistent feeling throughout the entire project in all parts where possible. The black and white of this picture goes well with the rest of the video as it follows everything else I have done. I used a tree silhouette as I have used a lot of nature in the video and wanted this to also be shown. It works well because I feel that it lets you know a bit about the video, before you have actually seen it.

Digipak draft 1

Here is some feedback that I received from my focus group, I asked them to tell me what they liked, what they didnt like and things that they think I could change to make it better and more appealing. 

1) "I like the photos because they are natural and represent the sad song"

2) "The photos really capture the emotions of the song, however the sun is exposed in two of the pictures and may have a greater effect if pathetic fallacy was taken into consideration and the weather was a bit more dull. "

3) "I love the extra diagetic gaze as it makes me really feel the emotions, the black and white makes you feel sad because of its dull colours, I also like how the font on the digipak matches the font on the opening scene on the video- however one thing I dont like is the hair band around her wrist"

Having taken all of this advise into consideration I have decided a few things that I should change and will get working on them again.

Edited pictrues

Here are the edited pictures that I uploaded earlier. I think that they are all very effective and all have a statement to make. They also all follow the genre of the music and the naturist feel that the video has. Thanks to facebook I was able to ask my focus group which ones they liked the most. and here are the order they liked them in.

 

Focus group feedback for pictures

Here is a print screen of my facebook focus group, as you can see I have uploaded the edited pictures and asked the focus group to tell me which ones are their favourite.

Without facebook a lot of my research would not be possible and I would not be able to find the right information. 

Photos for digipak/poster

Here is a sample of pictures that I have taken to use in my digipak or poster. I asked a few people which ones were their favorite, and this was them. I will not edit these pictures in order to make them fit in with the more professional look that a professional digipak would have. To do this I will use Adobe photoshop Elements. I am going to try to stick to the same style that my video has. For example, using black and white, light and shadows to enhance the pictures, because these are the main elements and effects used within the video.

As you can see these pictures have all been taken in an outside environment which was also done to stay with the theme of the video, because 90% of the video is filmed outside I wanted to take the pictures for the digipak and poster outside, because after all these products would be used to advertise the video, therefore it needs to have the same feel.

Whilst doing some research I came across the www.virginmedia.com website which had an entire section all about music. One tab went to music videos and there was an option to see 'Most viewed' music videos, which I thought would be a good way to see what videos people are enjoying to watch the most. From this I could get some ideas of what to have in my own video to please my audience. Here is the top 3 videos from virginmedia.com.

Focus Group analysis

Here is part of my class focus group watching one of the final versions of my music video, I felt like the video was almost finished so I wanted their input too see if they had any constructive criticism for me on how I could make my video better. Here is what they said.
1) Over all they liked the video and thought that the lip syncing had been done well.
2) They liked the ghosting effect of having the boy (Matt) in the background in parts.
3) They liked the way it ended, with the same grassy area as the beginning.
4) They did not like that it had been filmed on two different pianos, made the continuity seem poor.
5) Their main problem with the video was the windchimes, they did not understand the purpose and relevance of them, and said they were not very clear. They suggested either making them more of a subject, by making them clearer, or removing them all together.

I have taken these comments on board and intend to fix the suggested areas.

1st draft of my video

Poor footage means....

Over the past few weeks I have spent my time filming and working out what I need to have in order to create my video. At first I was using a friend to be my Adele in the video. Here are some clips of the footage I got from videoing with Harriet.

As you can see this footage is not very appropriate. She seems to be scratching her face and playing with her hair a lot, although I wanted it to look natural, it is a bit too natural and relaxed.
I tried to do some more filming with her but it was the same again.
So after thinking about it for a long time, trying to decide what to do to make it better I decided that I should change my artist to someone else.

This is Polly, I knew that she would be a much more appropriate artist because she has more natural emotion and as it is a very emotional song, it is essential.
Here is some footage that I have got from filming with Polly.
As you can see it is far more natural and appropriate to the song. I really feel as though I can see the emotions from the song coming out in Polly's acting and she seems much mroe comfortable.

picture editing...

I have edited some of the pictures here, I have done this mainly so that I can get in some practice for when I create my actual digipak.

Here are a selection of pictures that I have taken of Harriet as practice for my digipak pictures. For the actual thing I will use stills taken from filming, or a specifically set up photo shoot with harriet looking appropriately dresses and in an appropriate location.

I know that these pictures are not very creative and they are not in a great location so the mise en scene is poor, but these are just a rough example to show angles and ideas.

Story board

This is my story board, so far these are all of the ideas that I have come up with, and this is how I think it will flow. I have more than 2 strands going through the storyboard, and a number of ideas. I will see how it goes.

Digipak research

 Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside.

As you can see a digipak consists of the CD itself, usually some form of picture of the artist, the name of the single/album and other information to do with the CD.

As you can see here, this is one of Adeles digipaks and she, as well as many other artists use a large picture of themselves to advertise the CD. I think that I too will use a large picture of the artist, that is alluring for the audience.

Laura Mulvey came up with the idea of the Male Gaze Theory. She claims that the media makes women seem sexual and more appeling to men by dressing them down and doing their make-up up. She says that people will be more likely to be interested in something if there is a picture that gets them excited.
I may use this idea for my digipak because I think that it will come across more appealing to my audience.

Crew List

Me- Laura- My role will be to plan, film and stage the entire video. I will video the whole thing myself and have decided on where to do the filming.

Harriet- the singer. Harriet will be the main person in the video, she is the person who is singing so most of the video will contain her.

***- The ex-boyfriend. This person will be the ex boyfriend and he will appear in a small part of the video, mainly in the flash backs and the flashes to see him and his new girlfriend.

***- The new girlfriend- This person will only be in the video for a tiny part, where I film her with harriets ex-boyfriend.

Prop List

To film my video I will require the following things:

Video Camera
Digital camera (stills)
Artist
Outside location
Suitable clothing

Indoors scene
Kitchen location
Dining room table (dinner set-up)
Piano

Filming

I need to start filming soon however the weather has meant that I have had to postpone it, due to the snow I decided to wait until it has gone, mainly because if the footage is not good enough then I would have to film more, and it will look really bad if there is snow in some parts but not in others.

My artist...

Adele.. XL Recordings Ltd

http://www.xlrecordings.com/adele
This is a link to Adeles recording company's website. She appears to be very popular within the company and they have a large amount of information about her on their website.
Someone like you falls into the genre of Pop music and was released into the UK on the 24th January 2011.
Adele wrote this song with Dan Wilson for her second studio album 21. She claims that the inspiration for the song came from a broken relationship and heart-ache she went through.

Permission letter for Adele- Someone like you

Dear Copyright Holder,

I am an A-level media student and I am writing to you to request your permission to use the track 'Someone like you' by Adele.

With your permission the track would be used in my current A-level Media studies project in which I have to create my own music video as well as creating a digi-pack and poster for the artist.

If I received your permission the track would only be used for educational purposes and would only be viewed by my media class, teacher and the exam board moderator.

The artist and your company would of course be fully recognized throughout production and the final video itself. If you wish for there to be a copyright notice to be included in the video I would need any information sent to me so that it could be included in the project. If this is wanted please inform me with further details.

Many thanks.

Laura Wood- Media A2 student

Audience questionnaire

Age?
Gender?
Location?
...
What do you prefer:
Funny videos, Love videos, unusual videos, simple videos? Why?
Male or female artists?
What do you think of music videos with more than one story line?
Favourite ever music video? Why?

Outdoor or indoor videos? Why?
Bright colours, black and white, sepia, other? Why?
Being able to see the artists singing the whole time or a story line of other people? Why?

Answers
Polly Jopling-
‎17
Female
Cornwall

Unusual videos, things which are inventive and original.
No preference as to gender.
I think its a good idea, very unique and if done well, it'll be really interesting.
"Settle Down" by Kimbra has a really original video which I love.

Outdoor, indoor lighting can look false and outdoor has a nice atmosphere and is suited to almost any song
Depends on the genre of the music, however an entire video in black and white/sepia might be less interesting than one in colour
I think that a story line going on at the same time is something for the viewer to follow and enjoy; gives you something to actually watch.

Dan Furse-
‎18
Male
Devon
Funny Videos
both
Urm, they are okay, they can work well with some types of songs but on others they ruin it!
The Lazy song, because its funny!
Outdoors, indoors is boring.
Bright Colours
Story line, just watching them sing is boring, much like the x factor

Louise Wood- ‎
40
Female
Cyprus
Like most types but helps if I like the song
Prefer a story as watching someone just signing is boring
Loved aha take on me from 80s this helped to change the way videos were done plus I loved the lead singer, and wanted to be the girl in the video

Focus group questionnaire

What is your favourite genre of music and why?
Is there anything that you hate to see in music videos and why?
Where do you think would be a good location to film such a music video?
Do you prefer solo artist or band's music videos?

Answers
Polly Jopling-
Favourite genre is Acoustic as it's chilled out and easy to listen to
Nothing really.
Perhaps a beach or forest location, and for the singer perhaps on a stage
I prefer solo artist's videos.

Louise Wood-
 Soft rock and pop, grew up listening to it, music changed alot while I was growing up
Hate Blood and violence Cant watch it on films either, there is no need to show it on videos
Depending on the song and how it is being portrayed, love a video tat tells a story
Both am an all rounder

New Focus Group

Today I created a new focus group. I have got this group together by selecting a range of people from aged 16-40, male and female. I would like to use my focus group to get their opinions on what they think about my ideas, and whether or not they like them.
My first questions to them was:
What are your initial thought on this video?
What do you think its about?
Do you have any preferences for my own video?

Location 1

This is one location that I am going to use to do some filming, I will probably try to do it at dusk. I like this location because there is alot of places within it that I can film different parts, it looks gentle and calm, like the feeling I want to portray in my video.

Location 2

As you can see, there is a bridge in this shot surrounded by some lakes. I am going to do some filiming here because I think that if I pick a right day with quite dull weather I will be able to portray the right sort of feeling of the artist in part of the video. I may hope for some rain, because I think that rain will make it feel more miserable which is the sort of mood she portrays in the song.

Story board so far..

Lyrics for Adele Someone Like You

I heard that you're settled down
That you found a girl and you're married now
I heard that your dreams came true
Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you
Old friend, why are you so shy?
Ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light
I hate to turn up out of the blue, uninvited
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it
I had hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded
That for me, it isn't over
Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you, too
Don't forget me, I begged, I remember you said
Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead
Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead
You know how the time flies
Only yesterday was the time of our lives
We were born and raised in a summer haze
Bound by the surprise of our glory days
I hate to turn up out of the blue, uninvited
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it
I had hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded
That for me, it isn't over yet
Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you, tooD
on't forget me, I begged, I remember you said
Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead, yeah
Nothing compares, no worries or cares
Regrets and mistakes, they're memories made
Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?
Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you
Don't forget me, I begged,
I remember you said
Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead
Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you, too
Don't forget me, I begged, I remember you said
Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead
Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead

Changed my song... AGAIN!!

Adele- Someone Like You

I have changed my song because I was finding it very hard to create a narrative story to go with the video, and I did not want to make things any harder. Therefore I changed my song, initially I considered doing Under the bridge-red hot chilli peppers, but I finally decided on Someone Like you by Adele. It is a good song to create a narrative story to, as soon as I listened to it, ideas started flooding in and so I have started storyboarding for it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il-NdjTtUAI

Storyboarding

Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motiongraphic or interactive media sequence.

A storyboard for a Taco Bell television campaign.

The storyboarding process, in the form it is known today, was developed at the Walt Disney Studio during the early 1930s, after several years of similar processes being in use at Walt Disney and other animation  studios.