Evaluation

Here is our director's commentary:

“Myself and Ismael used the studio to conduct our filming for the majority of the video. We believed that using the studio will replicate the conventional location for a music video that suits the hip-hop genre and is used frequently by Drake himself. We used a range of camera shots such as close up shots to emphasize facial expressions, drake being portrayed as being sad and Nicki being portrayed being her wild yet sophisticated self. We used long shots to show the studio and scenery of where the filming is being conducted in order to show that Drake is an artist and is being filmed. We used zoom to connote Drakes depressing mood as we zoomed out. We also used a following pan, tracking (dollying) to follow Nicki as this helped to build momentum which worked well against the pace of the song.”

“We used high key lighting in the studio as we thought it worked well to make the actors and environment stand out more and made the music video look more professional. We used low key lighting to portray Drake’s depression and sadness. Text on the screen helped to maintain the fast pace of the song. This convention has effectively been used in other hip-hop music videos hence we added it in ours. The attire chosen was crucial as Ismael was representing Drake. A similar red baseball jacket is worn by Drake in his music videos hence this was ideal for Ismael to wear as it represents a street image. Tiana's outfit which she wore during the filming, the attire chosen was crucial as Tiana was representing Nicki Minaj. A low cut top and skirt is worn by Nicki in many occasions hence this was ideal attire for Tiana. A fast cutting rate was used to sync with the fast tempo of the song, this was created by placing short shots together and using various fading effects such as a jump cut to increase momentum. The fade also helped to make the cuts less abrupt.”

“Case studies came in useful as we used Drake- Take care as an influence. We used various shots of images as there are in the Take Care video. These images helped to make the music video more diverse than just shots conducted in the studio. We were influenced by the slow motion which was used in Take Care as creates suspension however we used slow motion to create a depressing mood. We were highly influenced by Take Care as the music video promoted simplicity, as it was conducted on a plain background with the central focus on the main artists, we used this concept when creating our music video as we believed less is more. Take Care consists majorly of close up and medium shots which allows the artist to be the central focus of the video. We thought this worked well therefore we decided to use these shots when creating our music video.”

“I created 4 panels, a front cover, a back cover and 2 insert pages, along with this I created an advertising poster for my music promo. On the front cover I used a medium shot of Drake and Nicki as I believed this worked well even though most digipack front covers do not consist of medium shot angles. I used long angle shots in the rest of the digipack as they stand out and catch the reader’s attention. I believe my digipack does look like one that could be found in a shop as it holds all the conventions of a professional digipack. 

Although my photoshopping skills weren’t excellent, they improved in the course of making the digipack. We decided to have two insert pages, one that has a message from the artist and one page that has information about the songs. I got this idea as when conducting research, we came across Drake – Take Care album and this album had similar inserts. This case study was my primary reflective case study when creating my digipack as I liked the layout and simplicity of the digipack as although it was simple, it was bold and stood out. I believe that our poster looks like it was professional conducted as it holds all the conventions of a promotional poster and it is consisted of the same colours as the digipack.”

“Drake has been portrayed as being depressed and down as he is no longer with Nicki. This is a fairly standard theme in music videos and contributes to Drake’s portrayal in the real world. On the other hand, Nicki is represented as being bubbly crazy and unique. We decided to make our Nicki more modest than the original Nicki Minaj as we wanted our Nicki to be more of a role model. Towards the end of the video, as the camera zooms out, Drake is shown to be on the set of a studio. This portrays Drake as having status as a producer. This also shows that that Drake is lonely as he is conducting his shots in the studio alone instead of doing them outside. As a result, this relates to the song as he is being portrayed as lonely and depressed in the song. According to Goodwin the standard themes evident are love and depression. The importance of performance is high as the video is performance based, not narrative based. Actions codes were used as when the camera was zooming out in the video, it was suggesting that time has passed by. Another action code that has been used is direct address, this creates a link between the artist and audience.”

“Feminists may argue that Nicki is being portrayed in a stereotypical manner as she is shown objectified, subject to a male gaze. Her attire may be argued to be too skimpy as Drake is fully clothed however Nicki isn’t. Also, as the central focus is on Drake it could be argued that Nicki is just there to make the video more appealing to the male audience hence contributing to the oppression of women. On the other hand, postmodernists would argue that Nicki is the perfect example of how gender stereotypes have changed. They would argue that Nicki’s actions and attire represent how women have come away from the traditional gender stereotypes and have an empowered female sexuality. Strinati would argue that my music video has an emphasis on style over content as it is a performance based music video.”

"Our three media products work as a package as they have the same theme flowing in all three products. The location used is a studio which is similar in all three products. Conducting the photography and filming in the studio allowed us to shoot the filming in the exact pose and shot we wanted. We used the same font in all our products as this helped with consistency. We decided to keep our media products simple as the artist’s reputation is the main selling point. We kept the theme of depression, fame and money continuous in all three of our print products as we used shots of Drake being depressed whilst with fame and shots of Nicki dressed glamorously."   

"As the genre of our music video was hip-hop, when analysing case studies we found that advertising within the hip-hop genre was conducted with bold lettering and colourful backgrounds that tend to be unique. To maintain this we decided to make our poster flashy and modern whilst including the basic conventions. In the real world, we would market our products in other various ways for example through a Television advert or via social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter. This would enable us to gain a larger audience as in this contemporary society social media techniques will aid us promote more efficiently."

   

"We received mixed feedback for our idea for our music video when pitching to a number of people. Overall, they were pleased with our initial concept of telling a story throughout the music video whilst including lip-synching however we did change this concept and change our music video into just a performance based one. We were given helpful criticisms, we were informed that it would be difficult to conduct many shots in a small time frame. To overcome this we decided to conduct most of the filming in the studio as this will allow us to film many shots more quickly rather than having to travel to various locations. We were also informed that our music video will be too similar to others as there will be similar shots throughout the video. To overcome this we decided to film various shots using props to make the shots look diverse."

"Overall the class enjoyed watching our music video and said it was a great attempt for the song. We were informed that the editing transitions used worked well with the song as the song was fast paced and the cutting rate we used matched this. The class agreed that with everything taken into consideration Ismael did an excellent job at performing the role of Drake and Tiana performed well too. On the other hand, the class raised a few issues, the lip-syncing was criticised for being off at some parts of the video and it was said that we used too many similar shots and should have conducted more filming outside the studio. The shot of Ismael when his back is turned to the camera was criticised for being unnecessary in the video. Overall, the class liked our music video and especially liked the end when the camera zooms out and the studio is shown in slow motion. If we were to do the video again we would include more shots outside the studio and try to get the lip-syncing more accurate. We would also have many outfits organised so both artists can be wearing different attires."

"We received some critical feedback for our print product’s design. There was a mix of good and bad feedback. The most mentioned criticism was the use of a full body image on the CD front cover. Many people saw this as 'different' to various other covers of the same genre which features close ups of the artist focusing on the upper body (this is evaluated in my research on CD albums). The reason why we initially wanted to go for a full body shot was because we wanted it to match our magazine advert which also featured a full body shot however many seemed that this would not fit in with the genre. The audience liked the idea that one of the insert will have a message from the artist, they said it was a nice touch and seemed professional. We took the feedback into consideration and changed the full body shot into a medium shot." 

"We demonstrated and learnt various technical skills when creating this music video and print products. For example when filming we used a tripod to create stability. We learnt how to balance the lighting in order to get rid of shadows that were formed on the white backdrop. We found this difficult at the start however we gained the hang of it. We attempted using the green screen however due to all the creases on the curtains, the green screen wasn’t functioning properly therefore we weren’t able to use it. We also used YouTube, to upload our music video and gain feedback on it from others not just college students. This was also used for research into similar songs from the same genre. We gained pre-production documents from moodle. We were familiar with using photoshop however when creating our print products we learnt many skills such as maintaining various layers and using the brushing tool to create a finer finish on the images we used."

"When editing the music video we came across a couple of problems, we encountered a “general error” which made our timeline disappear, consequently we had to restart our editing and all previous work was lost, this made us behind schedule. After we restarted we came across a dilemma as we had to render every clip we added onto the timeline, this was extremely time consuming however it soon became a habit. We learnt new skills whilst using final cut pro such as adding in text on the screen and adding in various transitions between shots. We used magazines such as XXL and hiphopweekly to gain an overall view on the hip-hop genre. We found that using technologies such as prezi and slideshare were easy to operate and were fun to use. Prezi allowed us to be more creative in our work and gave us freedom in how we wanted to lay our work out. Slideshare gave us a unique way of distributing our work instead of the general way conducted on Microsoft word."  

Survey Monkey Response

Here is the response we got from our survey conducted on Survey Monkey:

Survey Monkey

We have decided to compose a final survey to see what people thought about our music video. Instead of doing a focus group, we used an online survey maker to create a list of 8 questions that one can answer. this is a different way of receiving feedback, as we are not used to this kind of survey.

Here are the questions we decided to use in the survey:

·         Do you think the music video fits the genre and why?

·         Do the shots use work with the lyrics of the song?

·         What do you think worked well?

·         What do you think could have been improved on?

·         How did you find the editing?

·         How did you find the camera shots?

·         Do you think the actors were suitable for the characters?

·              Do you think the print products can be portrayed as professional print products and why?

Please complete this survey; we would appreciate your time in doing so:

Click here to take survey

Print Products

We decided to keep the first draft of the magazine advert quite simple as it still is work in progress, the image below shows our first draft. We need to add in some colour correction, sharpening of edges and need to create a more authentic look to the advert. 

For the final version we went over the outline of the artists with a white glow to differentiate the layer from the background since the actual outline of their bodies composed of sharp edges and tones that did not match. We imposed an outer glow around them to lift them up and so the sharp outlines would be hidden, albeit, not very well. The main problem we faced was with Nicki’s hair. It was difficult to go deep enough to outline every hairline and make it seem realistic. 

The first draft of the digipack front cover was rushed and not planned through. We wanted to see where we should angle the images and place them. We changed the layout of the front cover and liked the idea of having both Drake and Nicki on the front cover. We took the audience feedback into consideration and decided to place two medium shots instead of a long shot of the artists.

We decided to use the shot of Drake as we intended however changed the picture of Nicki as it was difficult to crop around the image and feather it therefore we had to use another image of her. We decided to change the layout of the title as we believed the previous layout was too simple and looked boring however the new layout would grab the viewer’s attention. The image below shows the final version of our front cover: 

While working on the back cover we came across a few ideas on how to portray Drake. We wanted the image to be similar to that used in the magazine advert but with Drake and Nicki on opposing sides and only showing half of their body. We first started with a plain background with an image of Drake which we then aligned more to the right and added in the disclaimer information.

We then added in text and aligned it to the middle as we saw that many of our case studies had done this too. We included information about the features of the album and the songs the album holds. 

To finish the back cover, we added in an image of Nicki, in the image below you can see the final edition of our back cover: 

We started the first insert by placing a message from the artist Drake which we created using answers from the real Drake from his previous interviews. We placed this writing on a background of two colours. This looked rather simple and we thought it worked well.

We decided to change the background colours and added in an image of Drake as we thought the insert looked rather dull and thought the image worked well as it looked as if Drake was looking at the message. In the image below you can see our final version of the insert 1:

The second insert focuses strictly on Nicki, as the first focused on Drake. It shows Nicki in a more relaxed mood, as compared to the extravagant lifestyle she is normally seen in. When attempting to create this second insert, we came across a dilemma as we haven’t taken many shots of Nicki therefore we were low on images we could use of her. We decided to attempt to use a still image of her from the actual music video itself and placed an image of her on the bottom of the page.

The previous image was difficult to feather as it was taken via a print screen from the actual video itself and some of Nicki’s knee was missing hence this image was not appropriate. We decided to use another shot of Nicki and sharpened the image to make it look clearer. We then added in a short message from Nicki to her fans. The image below shows our final edition of insert 2:

Print Products Pitch Feedback

Here is the feedback we received from the pitch myself and Ismael conducted on our print products drafts:


We received some critical feedback for our print product’s design. The most mentioned criticism was the use of a full body image on the CD front cover. Many people saw this as 'different' to various other covers of the same genre which features close ups of the artist focusing on the upper body (this is evaluated in my research on CD albums). The reason why we initially wanted to go for a full body shot was because we wanted it to match our magazine advert which also featured a full body shot however many seemed that this would not fit in with the genre. We were told that there was too much information in at the bottom of the A4 print for the magazine. We received criticism for it being too long and the audience did not feel it was necessary to be there.The audience liked the idea that both of the inserts will have a message from the artists, they said it was a nice touch and seemed professional. 

Print Products Pitch

This is the PowerPoint my team created and pitched to the class to get their views on our print products. We received critical feedback, we were informed that our front cover should not have a long shot of the artists as it does not suit the genre of the song. We used our casestudies to gain inspiration when creating our digipack templates. We were highly inspired by Drake – Take Care as it uses a simplistic approach to its digipack however still looks powerful and amazing. 

Below are a few of the images from the photo shoot we have taken of Drake: 

CD DigiPack Casestudies

CaseStudies

Lil Wayne – I am not a human being

I Am Not A Human Being album by Lil Wayne was released Oct 12, 2010. The CD contains a single disc with 13 songs. The CD cover has a long angle shot of Wayne standing. His youthful attire portrays that this album will be of the hip-hop genre. Selective focus has been used so Wayne is the centre attention of the cover. As he is standing with sunglasses and both his arms by his side, this shows that he is standing casually hence relaxing and posing for the camera. From his reflective sunglasses you can see buildings in the far distance which shows that Wayne has his attention on something future away. The colour contrast of black and white works well as the titles in the middle of the cover stand out and are easily visible to the audience. As the letters on the cover are spaced out slightly, this makes the title easily readable. The bold white font used on the cover, back and insert is useful in catching the audience’s attention as it stands out and works well with the low key lighting used to create a dark atmosphere.  The image of Wayne used in the insert portrays him sitting down looking at the camera. This creates the effect that Wayne is directly looking at the audience even with his sunglasses on. There is focus lighting on his tattoos which may have been done deliberately to show that there is more to Wayne that what meets the eye. The image used on the cover shows Wayne fully clothed hence his tattoos are not shown and he seems like an ordinary male however in this image the amount of tattoos he has connotes that he has another side to him. This is because it is not common to be covered in tattoos as Wayne is and to have tattoos all over your face as well, this shows that he is unique. His body language shows that he is not fazed and is just sitting down on the middle of the road without and concern. This links to the genre of hip-hop and rap as Wayne is shown to be in the streets in his album cover, the heart of where rap is located. After viewing this CD digipack I would like to use some of the elements when creating my digipack. I would like to use selective focus on Drake when creating my digipack as it is a nice effect that allows the artist to be centre of attention. I also like the font colour as it allows the writing to stand out and be easily visible hence I would like to have the font colour as white in my digipack. The fact that there isn’t much on the front cover works well I think because it intrigues the viewer to want to find out more about the album as not is given away by the front cover.

Pitbull – Global Warming

Global Warming album by Pitbull was released on 3^rd December 2012. The CD contains a single disc with 16 songs. Long angle shots have been used on both the cover and the back of the CD package. Both images are of Pitbull’s back facing the audience, this may have been done to portray an element of suspense that only his back is being shown.  Pitbull only showing his back to the audience could have been done to show that the songs in this album will be from his perspective. This may have been done to signify his high status and power as he is shown standing up with is back straight, representing his high class. A mixture of high key and low key lighting has been used. In the front cover high key lighting mixed with special effects has been used as in the background there is an image of earth. From the earth there is a significant amount of light shining which connotes that global warming is taking place. The earth is the centre attention of the front cover however Pitbull is on a stage and there is also a red curtain above him. This could represent that he is seeing the earth being destroyed whilst he is on the stage, or he will represent his views on global warming from the stage hence from his songs. The curtain opened symbolises that some sort of entertainment is taking place hence could be connoting that the album is going to be entertaining. Pitbull is going for the smart look as he is dressed in a black suit which could be to show his audience that he is maturing. The title on the cover is bold and stands out clearly as it is positioned on the middle of the cd package. The words “Global Warming” are written with an orange and yellow colour as this is represents global warming as the sun is yellow and heat is represented by the colour orange. As the letters are spaced out well, this makes the title easily readable and gives it more emphasis. Also, the title size of “Pitbull” is larger than the album title itself, this connoting Pitbull’s status and authority. The back cover has low key lighting as it is an image of Pitbull performing on stage in front of thousands of people. This may have been done to portray that the focus is on Pitbull. The album listing is written in a white font which allows the names of the songs to be easily visible to the audience. From this CD package I like the use of special effects as it makes the CD package unique and stand out amongst other CD covers. I would like to include some sort of special effects in my Digipack cover which is possible as I will be using Photoshop when creating my digipack.

Drake – Take Care

Take Care album was released by Drake in November 2011. The CD contains a single disc with 18 songs. A medium angle shot of Drake has been used for the cover of the CD package. Drake is being portrayed as being depressed, sad and lonely hence the reason why he is dressed in all black to connote his emptiness. In the background there are two large paintings which look like antiques, there is a cup made out of gold and Drake is wearing a lot of jewellery. This has been done to connote that Drake has a lot of wealth however there is something still missing from his lonely life. This links to Drake’s public representation as he is portrayed to be lonely and depressed in his career as he hasn’t been in luck when it comes to love. Low key lighting has been used to represent Drake’s feelings of being sad and depressed. Drake’s body language suggests that he is sitting down reflecting on what could have gone better as he is shown looking down into the glass staring into it as if he was in a deep thought. The title “Take Care” has been written in a stylish font and is placed on the left bottom corner of the cover. Although the title does not stand out and catch the audience’s attention, the title is easily visible after you notice it. This may have been done so there is more attention on Drake as he is the centre of attention. I like the idea that less writing on the cover has more emphasis on the artist who is on the cover therefore I would like to include this when creating my Digipack as I could have a shot of Drake just like this cover with minimal writing. The bold white font used on the insert to describe each song is useful, as it allows the reader to view the writing more easily as the background image is overpowering.

The audience can see that Drake is wealthy from his attire and the surroundings as he has a gold candle holder, gold cup and gold chains. It is clear that Drake is going through a break up which could be the reason why the album is called ‘Take Care’ as he says ‘bye’ to his girlfriend. As a result, from Drake's facial expressions and the surroundings the message that we receive is that money can buy you anything and everything apart from love, because it is priceless.

In the background we can see that there is a picture and gold figure of a bird which symbolises freedom. This connotes that he might have been trapped in a relationship as a result, himself and his girlfriend are now free to live their own lives how they want. The album ‘Take Care’ is about fighting for the person you love. In the cover we can see that Drake has lost the fight as he is sitting alone on a table. The fact that he has not shaved also suggests that he is going through severe depression. One of the main colours used in this cover is the colour gold in ‘Take Care’. The colour gold symbolises power and strength where we can see that Drake is rich and wealthy and has everything apart from his love who is Rihanna. Even though she is not in the album cover she is in the song hence he is telling her to take care of herself now that they have split up. Another colour used is black which symbolises sadness, unhappiness and wealth which is exactly what Drake is going through even though he is wealthy and capable enough to afford anything he wants.

Within the insert, the songs have been named and there is a little paragraph underneath each song which has some information about the song. I like this as the audience may want a little bit more information about each song. This shows that time and effort has been put in to the CD therefore this may attract the public into purchasing the album rather than downloading it. On one of the insert pages, there is a page in which Drake writes a message to the audience regarding his album. I think this is effective as this engages the audience even more and it gives the album more meaning as Drake explains his thoughts about the album and why he created the various songs. This results in the album being purchased not just because of the songs but because it can be considered a collectible.  When creating my insert, if possible I would like to have an insert page in which there is a message from the artist as I believe this is a USP and will increase sales of the CD.

Magazine Adverts

Blue Print

This is a magazine advert for Jay Z’s Blue Print album. This advert has the general conventions of a magazine advert such as:

·         The record label branding – RocNation

·         Name of album – Blue Print

·         Release Date – 09.11.09

·         Name of artist – Jay Z

·         Website – www.Jayz.com

The masthead of the artist is placed at the top of the advert in bold black capital letters; this is effective in catching the viewer’s attention and wanting them to continue reading the advert. The large font and space in between each letter of the title allows the title to stand out. As the Rocnation logo is made up of the colours black and red, the advert is made up of the colours black red and white. I think this colour scheme works well as although the black and white is plain the red stands out resulting in the whole advert standing out. The instruments shown in the background, all piled on each other look unusual hence attract the viewer to wonder why they are placed there. As they are placed in the corner of a white empty room this put emphasis on them and this helps the image stand out as it is the centre focus of the advert. The three lines going across the instruments in red means “is the same as” therefore this may connote that all the instruments shown all together are the same as the album itself. Therefore Jay-Z may be stating how great his album will be as he is comparing it to numerous instruments put together. All the writing on the advert is centred, making it easier for the viewer to read it. The album blue print 3 is just under the image hence the viewer is bound to read it after seeing the image hence this is a great way to get the album’s name acknowledged. Emphasis is put on the date as it is written in block bold numbers which make it stand out so the audience can easily know when the album is going to be released. I like the fact that the simple design of the advert still leaves the reader intrigued to find out more about the album, having less on the album hasn’t had an impact on the advert itself and when creating my advert I am considering having less and centring the titles.

This is a magazine advert for Wretch 32’s album Wretchprospective.  Evident on many music adverts is a prominent feature image of the star in question, in this instance it is Wretch 32. The advert is somewhat less informative than other types of media it simply informs the viewer of the artist, the work and the release date. It does however sell the album by letting the reader know of the talent that has helped produce the album. The image of Wretch 32 is a casual yet romantic one of him he could easily be seen as a role model because of his enviable style and suaveness.

You can see from the artist’s attire that he is a producer of urban music and this is given away by his choice of clothing, his race and the block of flats situated behind his shoulder denoting that he is from 'the streets'. He may not be from 'the streets' at all it could be a marketing ploy to engage viewers who are from working class backgrounds who would be interested in this artist. The animation has been used cleverly in this image as the artist’s arms are animated which blend in to look like they are his arms. The colour scheme of black and white with some elements of blue works well as the colour contrast allows him to stand out and be centre of attention. The masthead is clearly visible so the audience can clearly see the artist’s name. The handwriting effect of the font used in the masthead enables it to stand out and be different against other ones hence makes the advert more intriguing. I like the use of animation mixed in with the artist as it gives a nice effect and makes the advert seem unique. I would like to use some elements of animation mixed in with the artist when creating my advert. I would also use the same technique used in this cover by placing the artist’s image in the centre as it stands out and attracts the viewer’s attention. I like the fact the information about the music is not written in a straight line, as it is wonky this could be connoting that the album is out of the norm hence unique.

 This is a magazine advert for All time low’s Don’t panic album. This advert has the general conventions of a magazine advert such as:

·         The record label branding – HopelessUK

·         Name of album – Don’t panic

·         Release Date – 8^th October

·         Name of artist – All Time Low

·         Website of seller: hmv.com

This advert has a basic and simple design however it works well with the range of colours that are used creating the advert look colourful. The image is the USP of the advert as it is unique, the animation used puts emphasis on the genre of the song which is rock. There are many colours used and there is great detail on the characters in the animation, this makes the advert more appealing to the audience and attracts them to find out more about the album.  

The bright colours shows the band isn’t a normal band advertised in Kerrang! magazine however the animated characters in the image can draw a link to a heavy rock look as the animation is very much like the animation used in the Gorrilaz’s music video which were a band linked with a heavy music look and scene. The masthead is placed at the top of the advert and is in a large white font hence helping it to stand out amongst the image. I like the fact that the album’s name is written in a speech bubble as it makes the advert look unique and also adds a sense of humour as all the characters in the image are panicking and the album is named don’t panic. I am not going to be using animation when creating my advert however I like how the information of the album is right at the bottom of the advert as it doesn’t take the centre focus of the advert. The details on the animated characters are crucial as the audience is able to distinguish the difference between the zombies and the humans. When creating my A4 advert I will ensure that there is emphasis on the facial expressions I want to show the audience. I like the idea of having the artist’s name and the album’s name spread out in the poster as it is different and makes the poster more appealing.