Friday 25 March 2011

Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?



Deadmau5 - I Remember Music Video


Deadmau5 & Kaskade - I Remember (Edit)


Deadmau5 - I Remember ( Full Length) Music Video


Deadmau5 & Kaskade - I Remember (Full Length)


Queen - Another One Bites The Dust Music Video

Queen - Another One Bites The Dust



Queen vs. The Miami Project - Another One Bites The Dust Music Video


Queen vs The Miami Project - Another One Bites The Dust



How does my Digipak use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 



The common conventions of a digipak, similar to an album, will include
  • Artist/band name, on the front cover and spine
  • Photography or graphic imagery, of the band or design - visually attract their audience.
  • Recurring theme of colours and imagery throughout the digipak.
  • Track listing on the back panel.
  • Disc in tray, or a slot between panels.
  • Barcode and logos on the back cover.
  • Possibly a 'Special Edition' sticker.




Our design, in comparison to real media digipaks, follows the conventions through:

  • Digitally designed imagery - Sticking with the cartoon style of Gorillaz, we chose a graphic design as opposed to photographic. 
  • Using imagery separate to the music video. - By not using imagery of our central protagonist, or including similar themes, it is clear that it is an album release not just a single.
  • Including the band name and album title on the front cover and spine, in a font that links to the theme. - We also chose to have it across the inside panel in which the CD and DVD will slot into.
  • Back panel includes the track listing, bonus DVD listing, logos, copyright, and barcode.
  • 'Special Edition' sticker

How does my Magazine Advert use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 

Common conventions of magazine adverts include matching imagery to the band/artists digipak. A reason for this could be so that it is easy for consumers to see the advert and then find the album by the matching covers. The adverts will also, obviously, include
  •  the band/artist name
  • album title
  • release date
  • available formats
  • where the album can be bought
  • website address
  • songs - usually high chart toppers or special editions.

We aimed to cover the majority of conventions of magazine adverts, to create an effective and realistic magazine advert, which we thought would be published in magazines like Q and NME, to reach the target audience for the band.
The main way which we have contrasted against the conventions, is by using different imagery for the advert and digipak. This was to create a bold image that stands out of a magazine advert, and be able to incorporate different ideas that we had for our ancillary texts. Although in doing this, we developed on the convention by including imagery of the digipak design in the bottom right corner, so that fans would be able to know what the album imagery looked like.
Recently, there has been an increased popularity of vinyl, which has been covered in our format of release. 
'Featuring 19/2000 soulchild remix' was advertised as we believe this is one of the most well known songs on the album, and is also the track that has a music video for. 

Evaluation Question 2

How Effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?




Evaluation Question 2 from Beth Cooper on Vimeo.





Modestep - Feel Good [band-made music video]

Evaluation Question 3

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?


Evaluation Question 3 from Beth Cooper on Vimeo.

Evaluation Question 4

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?


Tuesday 15 March 2011

Final Rough Cut

Final rough cut, with annotations about what we still need to improve for our final cut, and trying to prompt audience feedback.

Monday 14 March 2011

Digipak Design

Our first draft of our digipak:
After audience feedback, giving areas to improve on, such as more colour themes to link it with our magazine advert, we have produced our final digipak.

There are some obvious changes we have made, such as flipping the bottom half design, as the previous had the speaker as the back cover, and the track listing was on the inside. We have also added more of the colour theme and shading on the lettering to be  more similar to the magazine advert and continue the theme. The text has changed on the back of the digipak, making it easier to read, 'stencil' font, to link in with the graffiti style. The conventional details are also added to the back of the digipak, such as record company logos, copyright information and barcode, to create verisimilitude of it being a real digipak.
The addition of the spray cans was an idea from audience feedback, and was place on the side which would be the spread in the middle of the digipak where the CD and DVDs will be, to include some imagery on that side aswell.
Overall I am happy with this design, as I think it is suitable for our brand image, and is eye catching and different to the common digipak design.

We have designed a sticker to go on the digipak, promoting the special edition and 'featuring 19/2000 soulchild remix music video'.
The design background was taken from the original digipak design, from the speaker, and text added. This creates a sticker that matches with the theme of the digipak, but also stands out with the text, which also links in with the colour theme of the digipak and magazine advert.





Here is our final digipak design.

Sunday 6 March 2011

EG - Our Magazine Advert & Audience Feedback

Our Magazine Advert

We decided to stick with the theme of using cartoons which beth and I drew ourselves, for the album advert and the digipak cover. This means that our digipak and magazine advert tie together as a package.
As the album is for a compilation of Gorillaz remixes, we chose to draw a picture of a DJ at a mixing table, which ties the theme of remixes and the imagery of the advert together.

After researching the existing examples of magazine adverts from Q magazine, we narrowed down what need to be on the adverts. This included:
  • The band or artists name  
  • The album title
  • A release date
  • Available formats
  • A web address
  • Advertises songs it includes
  • Advertises where to buy album
Here is our first draft of the magazine advert:




The audience feedback we gained from this was that the theme of remixes and the DJ imagery works well, but it was also suggested that we definately need to add some colour.
Also that the date shouldn't be larger than the album title.
An advert or link to a place where you can purchase this album such as iTunes, Amazon, HMV etc.
It was suggested we could add some information on what the special edition digipak includes.
It was also suggested that festival season would be a better date to advertise the release date.
And due to the increase in popularity recently of vinyl, we could add that as another available format of the album.
Here is our second draft:

I have added to this, colour which matches the digipak, as it is a common convention of magazine album adverts for the imagery to match the album artwork, although we have challenged this convention as our album artwork doesn't match the advert I have also added an image of the album, so that an audience would know what to look for when purchasing the digipak.
I added the small image link to iTunes, beacause after a quick survey of asking people if they owned an iPod, most of which did and also wether they use iTunes to download music or listen to their music files on their computers, again most said that they had and did. Therefore iTunes seemed like the most popular choice. It also adds some authenticity to the advert.
Finally i added the small section on what the digipak contains, for which I took inspiration from existing examples of bonus features.
I hope to upload this and our digipak to facebook in order to get some audience feedback from a variety of age ranges but mostly our target audience, and find out whether they think our digipak and magazine advert work well and are effective in drawing in the target audience.

The feedback we gained on this 2nd draft was that the colour of pink/purple on the text is "perfect".
The combination of only 3 colours are "simple yet effective".
It looks professional
They like the graffitti style of writing on the Gorillaz
The advert is in keeping with the 'youthful' style of the digipak
They also suggested that we should:
  • Use the same pink text on more of the white text
  • Make the text on the digipak features stand out more, for example: in shape of a record.
  • Re-order the writing as it is a little squished up
  • Compress 'THE REMIXES' so that the edges of the letters arent lost
Here is our third draft:


Here we have edited the sections which we were told needed some work from our audience feedback.
However Beth and I have decided we dislike the text in the shape of a record, we don't think this works well so with our next draft we will straighten that back out again. Other than that we are happy with this design.

Here is our final design:


The audience feedback we gained from this deisgn helped us decide that this was the one we would use as it wasn't suggested anything needed changing and also that it looks proffesional.

    Friday 4 March 2011

    EG - Magazine Album Advert Research


    As Gorillaz are a well known band worldwide, we wouldn't need to focus on smaller budget, or less well known music magazines.







    Though as the bands creator, Murdoc Niccals is British, the bands largest fan base is most likely to be British as well.







    For this reason we think that main stream British music magazines such as Q or NME would be the best to look into for our music magazine research.







    As well as this both Q and NME have their own radio stations and also music channels which ties in nicely with the production of our music video for the track. This is an example of globalisation and how companies are expanding from their original sources, out into other aspects of the media and entertainment industry.

    Both these magazines don't specialise into one specific genre of music either which makes them ideal as our dance remix of a Hip Hop track is harder to specify as one set genre, and therefore focus our attention on one type of magazine.

    Existing Examples of Album Adverts:


    We scanned some full page album adverts from a 2009 copy of Q magazine.






    • A single full page album advert for the band Lightning Seeds
    • Basic information included - Album title, band name, available formats 'CD/DOWNLOAD', release date, web address, record label.
    • Band name and Album title are equal in size
    • Photographic imagery - the same as album cover






    • A single full page album advert for the band Manic Street Preachers
    • Information included - Band name, album title, release date, Names of band members and other + their job roles, available formats 'CD / DELUXE 2CD / LP/ DOWNLOAD, wed address, record label, advertises amazon.co.uk as a way to purchase the album.
    • Band name is larger than Album title
    • Imagery is of a professional painting by an artist- the same as album cover






    • A single full page advert for the band Maximo Park
    • Information included - Band name, album title, release date, available limited edition CD including performance footage, wed address.
    • Also advertises new single release, and available formats of that
    • Album title is larger than band name
    • Font of band name is recognisable of their image/brand
    • Imagery is computer generated - the same as album cover






    • A single full page advert for the band The Enemy
    • Baic information included - Band name, album title, featuring - 'song title', available formats 'CD/Special Edition/Digital, already released, wed address
    • Band name and album title are the same size
    • Imagery is computer generated - the same as album cover






    • A single full page advert for the band Green Day
    • Basic information included - Band name, album title, available format, release date, includes - 'song title', web address.
    • Advertises what their website has to offer
    • Has an introductory sentence 'The wait is finally over...'
    • Band name is larger than album title
    • Font of band name is recognisable of their image/brand
    • Imagery is of graffiti art - the same as album cover.






    • A single full page advert for the band Depeche Mode
    • Information included - Band name, album title, already released, available formats - 'CD / CD+DVD / VINYL+CD / BOXSET / DOWNLOAD', tour dates and venues, web address.
    • This advert is also promoting the bands tour and advertises where to purchase tickets
    • Font of band name is a recognisable link to their recent comeback and 'tour of the universe' tour in 2009
    • Imagery is computer generated - the same as album cover
    • Also includes smaller images of album cover.






    • A single full page advert for the artist Bob Dylan
    • Information included - Artist name, album title, album description 'studio album', release date, available formats - 'CD / DELUXE CD / VINYL / DOWNLOAD', wed address, record label.
    • Advertises HMV as a place to purchase the album.
    • Artist name is larger than album title
    • Photographic imagery - the same as album cover



    General Codes and Conventions of Magazine Album Adverts :


    • include band / Artist name
    • include album title
    • give a release date
    • inform of available formats
    • include a web address
    • advertise songs it includes
    • advertise where to buy album
    • match imagery to album cover or use photographs of album cover on advert



    Some less well know bands had smaller half, or quarter page album adverts in the magazine such as:
















    As these bands are less well known, they probably are unable to afford a full page spread which in Q magazine costs £9,156 [statistics from www.bauermedia.co.uk/ratecard]







    However, as Gorillaz are equally as well known as some of the larger bands such as 'The Enemy' or  'Green Day' they would be able to afford a full page spread in a more popular British music magazine.



    Thursday 3 March 2011

    Role of Audience Feedback

     Audience feedback has been an important part in developing our production.
    When watching our first rough cut to our final rough cut, it is clear that we have been influenced by some of our audience feedback.
    Whilst editing, it is difficult to have a refreshed look on the production, therefore it is helpful for an outsiders views on how the video works on the whole, and help influence new ideas, whether it be editing or re-shoots.
    We've received feedback through our classmates and other sixth form students, as well as some feedback through facebook.


    From our rough cuts on YouTube
    \

    Target audience discussion on our Magazine advert and Digipak
    The other students in our media class, who had not previously been shown our axillery texts, were shown the rough drafts and we had a discussion on their effectiveness as promoting the band, and how they could be improved.

    Audience Feedback on Magazine Advert and Digipak from Beth Cooper on Vimeo.



    Target audience watching our final cut
    We gathered some media students from our class, as well as other sixth form students who don't take media, and majority who have not seen, or been involved in the making of our production, to get their feedback on our final cut.


    Audience Feedback on our Final Cut from Beth Cooper on Vimeo.


    Behind the Scenes


    Behind the Scenes from Beth Cooper on Vimeo.

    Rough cut 3

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1s6De8hHQQ



    Rough Cut 3 from Beth Cooper on Vimeo.

    Wednesday 2 March 2011

    Gorillaz Album Art

    Formed in 1998, Gorillaz' first album came out in 2001. Named Gorillaz, their first album consisted of some of there most well known tracks.

    Their first album is a graphic image of the band in the same 'geep' as featured in the 19/2000 music video. The album art is simple, with just the car on the white background and the band name tagged in graffiti, and the parent advisory.

    The back cover
    features graffiti, one of the band members and the album tracks.
    This emphasises the street
    style of Gorillaz.


    Special Digipak edition:








    In 2002, Gorillaz released the compilation G-Sides.
    As a  'B-Sides' Collection to their first album, featuring the additional tracks from their first three singles and the Tomorrow Comes Today EP.
    This is the album in which 19/2000 SoulChild Remix first came out on, as the first song on the album.
    All versions have the same cover, featuring Noodle with a skeleton doll in her hand, except for the Canadian, Japanese and Australian versions.   [Wiki]


    There is similar aspects between this album cover and their previous, such as the graffiti style writing on Gorillaz, and the cover featuring all the band members, even though there is the one that is in the foreground.

    The back cover has a similar style, featuring the band, city buildings and graffiti.



    Laika Come Home is another compilation released in 2002.
    It isn't a typical remix album, and instead of having variety of artists remixing the songs, is done by just one group, Spacemokeyz.
    The album contains most of the songs from Gorillaz' first album, but remixed in a dub and reggae style.

    In 2004, the album was packaged with 2001 Gorillaz in a limited edition box set as part of EMI's "2CDs Originals" collection.

    The album cover is different to the usual artwork of Gorillaz, the imagery is of a space monkey, on the background of a map of the stars, edited with text such as 'Spacemoney versus Gorillaz'.
    There is also a sticker added on to this version, in which some images of the album art work don't have. The sticker gives an insight into the album, with the band, remixers, a brief description and other artists that it features.


    Demon Days is the second studio album, released in 2005.
    The album cover is reference to Let it Be by The Beatles.
    Featuring all 4 members, and moving away from the graffiti band title, but staying quite simple in the imagery.


    A little bit different to the front cover, not so simplistic. There is the element of graffiti that is recurring in their album art, as well as the band members. 






    Like G-Sides to Gorillaz; D-Sides is the B-side album to Demon Days.
    Released in 2007, D-Sides contains remixes and B-side tracks.



















    'Have a look at this exclusive image of the contents of the D-Sides deluxe package below! In one of Gorillaz most spectacular packages yet, there are plenty of goodies to be had with this 2-disc set. In addition to fantastic new images from longtime Gorillaz friend and collaborator Jamie Hewlett, the amazing box also features a patch and more new stickers! Also note that the release date of D-Sides has been amended to 19th November in the UK and 20th November in the USA.' [Gorillaz fan blog]


    The third studio album, released in 2010 is their most recent album, Plastic Beach.
    Comparing to their first album cover, Plastic Beach seems a more graphically animated image as opposed to the simple graphics of the band members.
    They also have used different text type to the graffiti style.






    The Fall was released on the 25th December 2010, as a free download on the Gorillaz website, exclusively to fans in the band's Sub-Division fan club.
    The entire album was recorded on Damon Albarn's Apple Ipad, during part of their World Tour. Plans have been announced for the album to get a physical release, scheduled for April 2011.

    Contacting the Rights Holders

    Tuesday 1 March 2011

    Second Rough Cut


    Rough cut 2 from Beth Cooper on Vimeo.


    With all our footage put together, there is the final touches in editing that needs to be done.