I have created a Prezi presentation in order to answer my media evaluation questions, I hope you enjoy it!
Thursday 29 March 2012
Audience Feedback.
To gain an insight into how my target audience felt about my finalized music video, and ancillary products I asked 20 participants, 10 female and 10 male from my target audience range of 16-35. I showed them my finalized music video and then gave them this questionnaire to complete in order to gain their opinions on my project.
1. Do you feel this music video contains the typical elements of a rock music video?
2. Do you feel this music video appeals to ages 16-35? If so in what ways does it appeal to these ages?
3. Where would you expect to see this music video?
4. Is there anything you do not like about this music video?
5. Do the ancillary products relate to the music video? If so, in what ways do they relate to the music video.
6. Are the ancillary products typical of a Digipak and magazine advert?
7. Do you feel the ancillary products appeal to ages 16-35?
With regards to question 1, 17/20 people thought the music video contained the typical rock music video elements such as guitars, performance and dark clothing
being the main examples given.
In question 2, 15/20 people thought that the music video appealed to ages 16-35 and the main reasons given were; that the band members were young so the audience found them relateable, the graffiti scenes relate to young adults as those are the people who often use it to express themselves and some young people even make a career out of it as graffiti artists, finally another reason given was that the audience were shown two relateable paths of life that they could choose, to be successful or to be unsuccessful and homeless etc, so the audience found the narrative appealing as either could happen to them.
In question 3, the most common answers given were on Youtube as most music videos are uploaded onto there today especially if its aimed at young adults and MTV as it looks like a typical rock video that they would show as it shows urban industrial places and themes of rebellion.
In question 4, there weren't many answers to this question, but some answers that were give were that there were too many landscape shots and some people found that the editing in places was abit slow so shots lingered for too long.
In question 5, 18/20 people said that the ancillary products relate to my main music video and the most popular reasons given were that the music video and digipak included images of the band so people could easily see that the products were interconnected, another reason given was that all of the products had a similar style, as there was images of money on the ancillary products and the businessman in the music video which all link together and the ancillary products contained rough, neglected backgrounds which relates to some of the images I included in the city such as the neglected area in which the homeless character drinks.
In question 6, 14/20 people said that the ancillary products are typical of a digipak and a magazine advert. The main reasons given were that they had the typical features that people noticed such as bar codes, album titles and band names which everyone would expect to see on most products. Some of the reasons given against it was that the digipak should've included another disk in some peoples opinions and perhaps the magazine advert should've had more information about the product on it.
Finally in question 7, 13/20 people said that the ancillary products appealed to ages 16-35. The main reasons given were that; the bonus features on the digipak relate to young adults as there is a use of the internet by the website given and the exclusive band interviews and footage available online, the places listed on the magazine advertisement to buy the digipak were places that the target audience often shop such as iTunes or HMV and finally that the ancillary products have a minimalist style especially in the digipak cover artwork and the artwork on the magazine advertisement, which is very popular amongst CD's owned by the target audience such as Biffy Clyros album "Only Revolutions". Reasons against it appealing to the target audience was that there weren't a lot of bonus features attract the audiences attention and that the magazine advertisement doesn't attract the audiences attention as the colours aren't very bright and the artwork doesn't stand out to the audience.
To conclude, I think my products appealed to my target audience ages in a variety of ways, there were some reasons for people not to like my products but because of the overall results, the negative comments do not represent what the overall group thought of my products and when creating products like this, negative comments are unavoidable.
1. Do you feel this music video contains the typical elements of a rock music video?
2. Do you feel this music video appeals to ages 16-35? If so in what ways does it appeal to these ages?
3. Where would you expect to see this music video?
4. Is there anything you do not like about this music video?
5. Do the ancillary products relate to the music video? If so, in what ways do they relate to the music video.
6. Are the ancillary products typical of a Digipak and magazine advert?
7. Do you feel the ancillary products appeal to ages 16-35?
With regards to question 1, 17/20 people thought the music video contained the typical rock music video elements such as guitars, performance and dark clothing
being the main examples given.
In question 2, 15/20 people thought that the music video appealed to ages 16-35 and the main reasons given were; that the band members were young so the audience found them relateable, the graffiti scenes relate to young adults as those are the people who often use it to express themselves and some young people even make a career out of it as graffiti artists, finally another reason given was that the audience were shown two relateable paths of life that they could choose, to be successful or to be unsuccessful and homeless etc, so the audience found the narrative appealing as either could happen to them.
In question 3, the most common answers given were on Youtube as most music videos are uploaded onto there today especially if its aimed at young adults and MTV as it looks like a typical rock video that they would show as it shows urban industrial places and themes of rebellion.
In question 4, there weren't many answers to this question, but some answers that were give were that there were too many landscape shots and some people found that the editing in places was abit slow so shots lingered for too long.
In question 5, 18/20 people said that the ancillary products relate to my main music video and the most popular reasons given were that the music video and digipak included images of the band so people could easily see that the products were interconnected, another reason given was that all of the products had a similar style, as there was images of money on the ancillary products and the businessman in the music video which all link together and the ancillary products contained rough, neglected backgrounds which relates to some of the images I included in the city such as the neglected area in which the homeless character drinks.
In question 6, 14/20 people said that the ancillary products are typical of a digipak and a magazine advert. The main reasons given were that they had the typical features that people noticed such as bar codes, album titles and band names which everyone would expect to see on most products. Some of the reasons given against it was that the digipak should've included another disk in some peoples opinions and perhaps the magazine advert should've had more information about the product on it.
Finally in question 7, 13/20 people said that the ancillary products appealed to ages 16-35. The main reasons given were that; the bonus features on the digipak relate to young adults as there is a use of the internet by the website given and the exclusive band interviews and footage available online, the places listed on the magazine advertisement to buy the digipak were places that the target audience often shop such as iTunes or HMV and finally that the ancillary products have a minimalist style especially in the digipak cover artwork and the artwork on the magazine advertisement, which is very popular amongst CD's owned by the target audience such as Biffy Clyros album "Only Revolutions". Reasons against it appealing to the target audience was that there weren't a lot of bonus features attract the audiences attention and that the magazine advertisement doesn't attract the audiences attention as the colours aren't very bright and the artwork doesn't stand out to the audience.
To conclude, I think my products appealed to my target audience ages in a variety of ways, there were some reasons for people not to like my products but because of the overall results, the negative comments do not represent what the overall group thought of my products and when creating products like this, negative comments are unavoidable.
Tuesday 27 March 2012
Complete Digipak Design.
This is an image of my completed Digipak design to give you an idea of what the finalized product looks like. I began creating this Digipak on Photoshop by importing the 1st and 6th panel (the front and back cover) from Pages, which I originally created them in. I created the front and back cover by importing an rusty, grungy background that I had found and changed the hue to give it more of a burnt, rusty colour. I then changed the contrast to darken the shadows in the image. I then imported images of the band that I had taken from a previous photoshoot and screen grabs from my music video. I then changed the hue and the contrast of these images to make them match the colours used in the background themselves as I wanted the product to have an overall minimalist look. I then placed images of £50 notes onto the front cover and gave them a shadowing effect. With the font I had imported I created the band name, album title and band name on the spine on the front cover and added a tracklist onto the back cover. I then added a barcode that I had imported from my memory stick onto the back cover to fulfill another convention. I decided to create the CD label in Pages also as I found the £50 note images, easier to rotate. I used a similar grunge background on the label and placed the £50 images over the background, in a circle pattern. I then imported these covers and the CD label into Photoshop. When creating the other 3 panels in Photoshop I used the same background throughout once the editing had been done to it. Using the same text I wrote out the lyric sheet to the song "Come As You Are" which was the song used in my music video. I also imported another image from a previous band photoshoot I had conducted as the A5 poster, I also changed the hue of the photo to make it fit the colour scheme of the digipak better, but did not eradicate all of the colours in the original photo as I feel that I would have made the poster a bit boring to the audience.
Here is an image of the final two panels in my digipak. As you can see, the back cover is how I have previously described it above this image, including a barcode, band images, a tracklist and the album title, which are all typical conventions of a digipak. The other panel here is that of the bonus features, which is very important in this digipak. Using the same background and fonts as earlier, I wrote on this panel that by using the mobile phone scanner image I had previously imported from my memory stick that is now in the corner, the audience can download exclusive band MP3 files onto their phone. Finally I added the bonus feature of a website, that people can enter their barcode number (on the back cover) into and then download exclusive band interviews and footage. Hopefully this would attract my target audience as it's aimed at younger people who often use this form of digital technology and it would give them more content which is what a digipak is all about and separates it from a normal album. Hopefully all of these features and conventions have helped me create a finalized, polished digipak design.
Complete Magazine Advertisement Design.
This is a photograph of my completed magazine advertisement that is open in Photoshop. This is to give you an idea of the overall completed design. I began creating this in Photoshop by importing a grunge background that I had found onto a blank canvas, I then edited the hue to make the colours more rusty and edited the contrast to make the shadows in the background darker. I then imported the front cover image from my digipak which I have placed in the middle of the advertisement, this will be to grab the audiences attention as the colours contrast and jump out from the background, making it eye-catching. I used the same font on the advertisement as I have on the digipak. I have included the band title and digipak title for obvious reasons as they are common conventions of a magazine advertisement. I have also included images (logos) of the places where the digipak will be available for sale which I imported from my memory stick, these include Amazon.com, iTunes and HMV, which all relate to my target audience as age ranges 16-25 often shop at these places and this will attract their attention. The minimalist style of the advertisement sets it apart from busy advertisements such as A Day To Remembers which I previously looked at in another blog post, hopefully attracting the audiences attention and making them stop on this magazine page. The grungy, neglected textures used in both the digipak and the advertisement, let the audience know that the two products are connected with each other, forming a complete package.
Here is an image of the bottom half of the magazine advertisement. Here I have included the same font used on the digipak to keep a consistent style throughout.This also shows you that I have included the digipaks release date, which is a convention of a magazine advertisement. I have also included a website on which the audience can go and find out more information about the digipak and I have also included some information on the bonus features of the digipak to hopefully attract the audiences attention and make them interested in buying the digipak as it will be different from a normal album. To complete the magazine advertisement I have included the logos that I mentioned earlier, and the record label logo so people can recognise what music the digipak includes just by recognising the record label logo and thinking about what music the record label makes. All of these conventions and features have helped me to create a complete magazine advertisement which appeals to my target audience and gives the illusion that the products are really for sale.
Sunday 25 March 2012
Magazine Advertisement Elements.
Here I have created a plan for my magazine advert based on my earlier research into magazine advertisements for CDs / Albums / Digipaks. This plan provides me with the features I am going to include on my magazine advert as all of them have specific meanings and some of them are typical conventions of a magazine advert which contribute to them being successful in attracting the audiences attention and persuades them to buy the product. Here I will explain why I am including these features in my magazine advertisement and what meanings they have.
Band name and Digipak Title; The band name is to tell the audience whose product the advertisement is referring to. The digipak title also tells the audience what to look out for if they want to purchase it and tells the audience that it is different from previous releases as all albums / digipaks do not tend to share the same names. These will be in large sized font to immediately attract the audiences attention to the advertisement.
Release Date; This is a crucial piece of information in magazine advertisements as the audience needs to know when the product is available to buy and this is a common convention of magazine advertisements. This will also be in large font as it's key information the audience will probably be looking for, if its hidden in the corner of the advert, people may miss it.
Background; This will be to give the advertisement a professional theme and to add to the advertisement visually, as just a white blank space could seem boring to some audiences and won't catch their attention like a detailed background would. Backgrounds can also be the digipak's artwork but I have decided against this as I wanted to give the audience more to look at as my digipak artwork is simple but has a strong meaning.
Digipak cover; This is to show the audience what the digipak actually looks like so they can recognise it when they see it or know what it looks like if they want to purchase it. The artwork on my digipak cover also relates to the music inside so it can give the audience an idea of what music will be on the album and themes in the music. For example the £50 notes relate to the issue of the world being made of "human capital".
Features of the digipak; This is to inform the audience of what bonus material is available on the digipak and what separates it from a normal album. It also may attract an audience as some people may be looking for exclusive digipak content for collectors items etc. In these features I have also chosen to include a website address in which the audience can learn more about the digipak, its contents and purchase it online, connecting with the younger generation who are more technology immersed.
Possible retailers; I will include simple logos of retailers as this is a typical convention of a magazine advertisement as it quickly shows the audience where they can buy the product without it being online.
Record label; I have chosen to include this as the audience can see by the record label what type of music will be on the digipaks as record labels usually produce specific genres of music.
Digipak Elements.
This is the plan that I have created in order to create my complete digipak. I have chosen the 6 panel layout of a digipak as I felt that it complied with typical digipak conventions. Each panel in the digipak is different and contains different components to create a set which would cater to needs of fans who are buying the digipak.
In this entry I will dissect each panel in my digipak and explain why I included it.
Panel 1; This is the front cover, which would be included on all digipak's and is a typical convention. This is to grab the audiences attention and to let them know what they're buying and who it is made by etc. Mine features things such as the artwork consisting of 3, £50 notes, the digipak title and the band name. I have looked at the front cover of this digipak in detail in an earlier blog entry.
Panel 2; This panel will feature the actual album disk, which includes all of the music typical of the Nevermind album and will comply with the track-list featured on panel 6. Over the CD will feature the CD label, which consists of more artwork featuring £50 notes, linking with the hidden meanings in my music video and the artwork on the front cover of the digipak.
Panel 3; In the following panels, this is where digipaks tend to vary, as some will include bonus features whereas others won't and will just spread the albums music over a series of disks. I decided that with Nirvana's broad age range (based on my target audience research), I had to create a digipak that was useful to all age ranges. So in this panel I have provided a lyrics sheet to "Come As You Are", which is also the song used in my music video, so it all links together into one package. I decided on a lyric sheet as they're often very useful to committed fans (who might range from ages 16 - 50) who want to learn the lyrics and very useful to collectors as these are often featured in collectors items.
Panel 4; In this panel I have decided to include an exclusive A5 poster that wouldn't be sold in stores. To begin, the A5 size would fit nicely in the digipak instead of having to fold and possibly ruin an A4 sized one. Secondly, the fact that its exclusive and not being sold elsewhere would attract fans as they would want to have one and be unique to all the other fans and it is also an attractive collectors item, especially if it is exclusive to this digipak alone. Some people might be attracted by the poster alone and buy the digipak for that reason. Posters are versatile and have been around for generations, so it appeals to Nirvana's widely age ranged audience.
Panel 5; In this panel I have decided to include bonus features that appeal to today's generation and today's fans who are often immersed in the technological age. There are multiple bonus features as I felt it would add more to the digipak and give the audience more for their money.
The first feature is a mobile phone scanner which are extremely popular today, especially with the 16-30 age ranges as it makes downloading content easier. This scanner allows the audience to download band MP3 files straight to their phone, this gives them more content and combines with technology and as the MP3 files aren't on a separate disk in the digipak, it creates more room in the digipak.
The second bonus feature is for the audience to enter their specific barcode number into the following website www.nirvanabonus.co.uk so they can download or just watch exclusive band interviews and footage that won't be released onto a DVD or in a documentary. This combines typical media of video footage with online media of the website, which will again attract a younger audience. Also the fact that the footage is exclusive will attract committed fans and people looking for collectible items.
Panel 6; This is the final panel in my digipak which will be the back cover to the digipak itself. I have explored the contents of this back cover in more detail in an earlier blog entry. This back cover will keep with album/digipak back cover conventions, such as having a barcode for purchasing reasons, a track-list to let the audience know what songs are included on the CD itself, the album title for the audience to recognise what album this is and pictures of the band to further remind the audience whose album it is.
Thursday 1 March 2012
Digipak inspiration.
In this post I have conducted research into Digipak's that're currently available on the market, what their features are and what each individual design consists of in order to give me inspiration when creating my own Digipak.
This is a digipak for Green Day who are of the rock/punk genre and this is their Greatest Hits Digipak. The format they have used is 6 panels, 3 on the inside and 3 on the outside of the Digipak. They have included 2 disks full of songs by the band, keeping with the connotations of a 'greatest hits album' as usually more than one disk is needed as all the content required would not fit onto one disk alone. The band logo, of a man being electrocuted is featured on the first inside panel, to reinforce whose digipak it is, to contrast with the logo is a bright green background, which follows onto the two disks to keep a consistent theme throughout the digipak. On the first panel they include a short summary of the background of the band and also feature images of their previous albums to remind the audience of what they've released and that songs from these albums will feature on the current digipak. Behind the disks are images of the band from photoshoots which have been edited and given a green hue to correlate with the colour scheme of the digipak, these images can be removed from the packaging.
This is a digipak for the band The Killers and this is their Greatest hits album, they are of the rock/indie genre. They have also used a 6 panel design but only include one CD as they have created a specific playlist of what they believe to be their best songs and not included too much content like the Green Day digipak. In all 3 panels we can see black and white images of the band in various places in photoshoots, this is to reinforce the bands image and remind the audience of who the band are, their clothing and the mise en scene also relates to their genre of the Indie music being really minimalist and relaxed compared to angry punk music. On the first panel they have included a short summary of the bands career in red font to contrast with the background and images of their previous albums to show the audience what they produced before this. The CD itself is quite basic but holds the iconic Killers font on the CD label, which is instantly recognizable and things such as record company logos to correlate with digipak conventions.
This digipak is for Metallica's Death Magnetic album, who are of the rock/heavy metal genre. They have used the standard 6 panel design sticking with digipak conventions. In the first panel there is black and white imagery of a crashed car relating to the macabre music that Metallica produce and the album title featuring the word 'death'; over this image is the album cover logo, which is of a coffin, relating to the death associated with the picture of a car crash. In white font over these images are the band members names and credits such as producer names and the photographer names instead of a track-list or a band summary. This digipak uses 2 disks due to the amount of content included much like Green Days digipak. One disk is white and one disk is black perhaps to symbolize the 'Ying and Yang' symbols of life and death and how they contrast from each other but make a full circle much like life and death. Behind the disks are black and white images of the band members to reinforce the bands identity.
This is a digipak for My Chemical Romance who are of the rock genre and this is their Greatest Hits album. This digipak also consists of the typical 6 panel design and in the first panel the background is black with red spattler effects over the top, almost representing blood which featured on 2 of My Chemical Romance albums and is a consistent design feature throughout this digipak, it also links to their macabre music which is often concerned with death or murder. On the first panel is a summary of the bands history in yellow font to contrast with the dark background and images of the bands previous albums to remind the audience of their previous releases and due to tracks usually being featured on the digipak from all of their albums. Only one disk is needed for this digipak and the CD label is a black background with lots of red spatter effects again representing blood linking to their music etc. Behind the disk are small black and white images of the band and band equipment, their clothes and the mise en scene relate to the emotional music inside as there are no bright colours and busy scenery, only the band dressed in black and empty spaces. On the final panel is another black and white image of the band which can be removed from the digipak, it reinforces the bands image and the way the band look in this image tell us that they're of the rock genre due to their dark clothing which is often a convention and their confident poses relate to the confidence usually found in rock music and possible angst that's also found in their genre of music and many of their songs.
This is a digipak for Green Day who are of the rock/punk genre and this is their Greatest Hits Digipak. The format they have used is 6 panels, 3 on the inside and 3 on the outside of the Digipak. They have included 2 disks full of songs by the band, keeping with the connotations of a 'greatest hits album' as usually more than one disk is needed as all the content required would not fit onto one disk alone. The band logo, of a man being electrocuted is featured on the first inside panel, to reinforce whose digipak it is, to contrast with the logo is a bright green background, which follows onto the two disks to keep a consistent theme throughout the digipak. On the first panel they include a short summary of the background of the band and also feature images of their previous albums to remind the audience of what they've released and that songs from these albums will feature on the current digipak. Behind the disks are images of the band from photoshoots which have been edited and given a green hue to correlate with the colour scheme of the digipak, these images can be removed from the packaging.
This is a digipak for the band The Killers and this is their Greatest hits album, they are of the rock/indie genre. They have also used a 6 panel design but only include one CD as they have created a specific playlist of what they believe to be their best songs and not included too much content like the Green Day digipak. In all 3 panels we can see black and white images of the band in various places in photoshoots, this is to reinforce the bands image and remind the audience of who the band are, their clothing and the mise en scene also relates to their genre of the Indie music being really minimalist and relaxed compared to angry punk music. On the first panel they have included a short summary of the bands career in red font to contrast with the background and images of their previous albums to show the audience what they produced before this. The CD itself is quite basic but holds the iconic Killers font on the CD label, which is instantly recognizable and things such as record company logos to correlate with digipak conventions.
This digipak is for Metallica's Death Magnetic album, who are of the rock/heavy metal genre. They have used the standard 6 panel design sticking with digipak conventions. In the first panel there is black and white imagery of a crashed car relating to the macabre music that Metallica produce and the album title featuring the word 'death'; over this image is the album cover logo, which is of a coffin, relating to the death associated with the picture of a car crash. In white font over these images are the band members names and credits such as producer names and the photographer names instead of a track-list or a band summary. This digipak uses 2 disks due to the amount of content included much like Green Days digipak. One disk is white and one disk is black perhaps to symbolize the 'Ying and Yang' symbols of life and death and how they contrast from each other but make a full circle much like life and death. Behind the disks are black and white images of the band members to reinforce the bands identity.
This is a digipak for My Chemical Romance who are of the rock genre and this is their Greatest Hits album. This digipak also consists of the typical 6 panel design and in the first panel the background is black with red spattler effects over the top, almost representing blood which featured on 2 of My Chemical Romance albums and is a consistent design feature throughout this digipak, it also links to their macabre music which is often concerned with death or murder. On the first panel is a summary of the bands history in yellow font to contrast with the dark background and images of the bands previous albums to remind the audience of their previous releases and due to tracks usually being featured on the digipak from all of their albums. Only one disk is needed for this digipak and the CD label is a black background with lots of red spatter effects again representing blood linking to their music etc. Behind the disk are small black and white images of the band and band equipment, their clothes and the mise en scene relate to the emotional music inside as there are no bright colours and busy scenery, only the band dressed in black and empty spaces. On the final panel is another black and white image of the band which can be removed from the digipak, it reinforces the bands image and the way the band look in this image tell us that they're of the rock genre due to their dark clothing which is often a convention and their confident poses relate to the confidence usually found in rock music and possible angst that's also found in their genre of music and many of their songs.
CD Label Inspiration.
In this post I will show you some of the research I have conducted into what Rock/Grunge CD Labels usually consist of and how they have influenced me in the creation of my own CD label for my Digipak.
This is a CD label for the band Iron Maiden who are part of the heavy metal / rock genre. This CD label I found interesting due to the background, which seems to be a splattered/stained texture and sometimes covers the band name, suggesting the CD itself and the music on it may be more important than the bands name and they want you to focus on the CD itself. The background seems to be some sort of blood texture, which often related to their music such as "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter" and Iron Maidens songs often had angry or morbid meanings, connotating in their CD label as blood could suggest anger or murder etc.
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