Research of advertisements within magazines

I first started looking at other advertisements within magazines and where they were placed. selecting Cosmopolitan i counted up how many pages were adverts and the found the percentage of how much of the magazine was adverts and in this case was 56% which is over half. Most of the magazines income was due to adverts and the cost of the magazine would break even on the cost to produced and distribute the magazine, the adverts are used to salaries and profit.

most music magazines would carry through a theme so the viewer can relate to the CD cover when looking for it, or use the CD cover on the advertisement. A release date is used and sponsors such as itunes, play.com and the magazine title may appear on the advert it's self.

Focus Group

I held a small focus group and selected a few people from my target audience the results were positive.

Joise - "I find this CD cover aesthetically pleasing"

Leah - "This is a very visually interesting CD cover and colours really go well with the theme of the track. I find the artist on the front good looking and stylish, a iconic figure, I feel this would help the cover sell and pull people in to getting a closer look."

Lucy - "professional looking, this was achieved by the copy write section on the back and the quality of the photographs."

My CD cover

The importance of the CD cover

This is the first thing the audience will see, it has to be inviting and interesting. Making sure my CD cover is inviting i am going to use bright colours, yet keeping to the theme of Autumn. Using a iconic figure on the front will also intrigue people into buying your CD, i am going to use the two photos i have selected which i feel will give the album cover a exciting feel.

Photo shoot

Needing pictures for my CD cover, as a photographer i was able to use a studio with lighting and my own 10.5 mega pixel camera, this was a great and will help polish off a professional looking out come. Once i had taken my photographs i had to narrow my selection down and pick an appropriate photograph to accompany my video and show off my CD cover. these are the two finial photographs i selected.

I chose these two photographs because they show excitement and energy, this is what i want to portray though this single. A key aspect of Paolo Nutini's CD covers are they show style, i feel these photographs show this, from the back and front.

CD cover - mock

I have mocked up an idea of what i shall be putting on my CD cover.

Planning Ancillary tasks

Creating a CD cover to go along side my media video i have researched into other album covers created for Paolo Nutini's albums and picked out certain aspects and key elements which follow though in each CD cover.

This was one of Paolo Nutini's first album covers, one this which is very noticeable is the coloured stripes and the powerful back and white images of Paolo Nutini. These pictures show style originality and creativity.

The latest of Paolo Nutini's albums "sunny side up" released in 2009. Again what has carried though for the pervious album is the idea of using these iconic stripes. This is something i picked up on and I am going to use when it comes to designing my CD cover.

Below was our final music video this took several weeks to piece together and the out come was successful. After finishing out music video we held another focus group to discuss the finial out come of our video, this was to a new set of people who my teacher had set up from the youngest being 16 and a few of our teachers. After our focus group has watched the video several times we discussed what they found successful and what not.

The negatives

teacher 1-" i found the fast cutting scenes to be a little confusing to start with and did not understand the need to show a clock within the video. I also noticed the in one scene the girl was wearing tights and the next she was not"

The positives

Max age 16 - I really enjoyed the video, i found it exciting and i really felt i got pulled into the story."

Teacher 2 - "i found the editing of the video was really key in creating a visually interesting video, and keeping your audience attached. I can see this video appealing to people my age and the younger generation."

How this effected out finial out come

After our focus group and questionnaire we received a mix view of how are music video was developing, most swaying to the positive side of the video and a few favored the negative approach which was helpful, it helped us find out what we where doing wrong and how we can improve this. The main problem we came across was linking the performance and narrative, we started off with shady montage techniques but through developing our skills i feel i have created a much visually interesting video, the editing fits the themes of folk with a steady swing groove.

Improving on some of the camera work, we noticed some of the shots seemed out of focus or had been cut to short, a short bit of re-filming was needed, this was helpful because we knew exactly what shots we wanted.

lip syncing, at first this seemed an impossible task, and this was picked up on. heading back to pinnacle we re adjusted and found a good technique by cutting frames to fit the visuals with the lyrics.

Questionnaire

Early rushes

After capturing some footage we decided to create a focus group who we would show the start of our music video to, this would help us determine if we are heading down the right root to creating a successful music video or heading to an epic fail. After showing our early footage to the class we received several opinions.

Ciara - "I am enjoying the start of your music video, but i am finding it difficult to understand the story line. I also feel the performance and narrative need to be shown as two different things, this could be done though editing?"

Emily - "I really like your mise-en-scene, and how you have managed to create this folk theme to your music video"

James - "i find the actor interesting he a good looking guy and confident i feel he really helps this music video shape what it is, maybe using more of him in the performance roll would be needed?"

i found the finding very dominant with a few oppositional comments, as a encoder I had to rethink my situation and put myself in the decoders position and work backwards know would messages would be taken from the video and how i can show thing from the encoders roll. From the comments received i decided to create a questionnaire for the people who have watch my video to give me stronger feed back my video was and what appeals to them in a music video.

My target Audience

I have to take into consideration how i can make my music video appeal to my target audience, this can be done by costume, setting location and camera angles. costume is a great way to get my target audience interested in my video because Paolo Nutini is seen as a stylish roll model for a lot of the younger generation, so dressing my main character in correct outfit is vital. location is key to creating a good feel within my music video, with an upbeat song and a sunny location. camera angles have to be busy and not to long to keep my audiences attention gripped to my video, the story line also created and interesting viewing due to the normality of the situation.

Filming

Filming – main actor and lyric

The song alloway grove has an autumn feel to it, so the weather and leaves were perfect for we are filming in the autumn, the only problem we had was capturing the right day to capture out filming. Most of the days we had planned to film had been poor weather apart from today. We used a local park, Danorlan, this was again ideal for our scenery as the gold leaves surrounded out main actor.

To keep out main character in sync with our chosen track we took an iPod speaker to play the track while we filmed this will be very helpful when coming to editing because we can connect the sound waves.

We used this section of filming for the base line, so we can play the story from what has been sung from out main actor. This section of filming turned out very successful we captured some interesting shots and an attractive establishing shot.

Due to our planning for this scene we managed to capture all the shots needed.

Going back

After filming our house senses we needed to go back and retouch some of our shaky shots, and capture some new ones.

The note plays a large part in the video, so we try and express this though close ups and the length of the shots. One of the best shots we captured was the to the house

Filming – bed room scene

Our first scene of filming was the bed room scene, here we have this mysterious girl and man, no showing faces so we never become attached to them in the video, giving them no character. Starting with the over the body shot, capturing red underwear symbolising danger, this help us as an audience gain the idea she is dangerous and untrusting. We want these scenes to tell the story of this girl, while we follow the story of Paolo Nutini (our main actor James).

What shots we used and why?

Over the body – similar to over the shoulder but this way we can capture the scenery and the other actor in the same shot. We aimed the shot towards the window due to capturing the morning glaze from the sun peeping though the window, reasoning for this is to give the audience the message that these to have sent the night together, this is also backed with the use of them both being in underwear and how the hold each other in the two shot.

Two shot – both the couple come together showing affection and lust.

Close ups – as we want to create pace and a since of rush we used close ups to show the clothes being thrown into a suit case, then flicking to a bird’s eye view, this has to be the most one of the most successful shots along with we put the camera into the suitcase and recorded while she zipped up.

The note is a large part in our music video as it explains why she leaves our main actor (James) and moves to London.

Tracking shots – we have this though the hall way of the house, following them as they leave.

We took great time in capturing the right shot, having an idea in my head and on paper while filming we found some angles worked better than we had down, so a few minor changes will have to be made to the story board.

Over all the shooting went well, but we may need to go back and touch up on certain parts where the shots have been cut to quickly or camera has shaken.

what i plan to show through my music video

Montage - As we are basing our music video on the folk genre, there are certain aspects which we have to carry through to our video to create this theme. Montage is a key element in creating a successful folk feel to our video. i intend to use a large around of fades to carry the music, keeping our audiences eye flowing. when coming to a up beat part of the track i will use quick cuts and jump shots.

Mise en scene - location is a large part of our music video to create the folk vibe, this links in with the idea of paradigmatic contrasts between the music and visuals. when considering the for our performance side of the video we intended to use a local park due to the has lots of trees and help contribute to the folk and autumn feel. The Narrative side to our story we are hoping to go in the direction of a modern locations, using a town house, scenes of trains, views of town centre and taxi views (views from inside a cab).

Costume - Our main character James has to be styled in a unique and interesting folk themed way. I intend to dress him with checked shirts, skinny jeans with turn ups, deck shoes, low cut t-shirt and a trilby (iconic to symbolize Paolo Nutini).

Mystery Woman - dressing her smart pencil skirt, shirt, jacket, a london looking woman. When in the bed room scenes red underwear will be used to create a sign of danger, the girls face will not be shown because this helps build up the feel of mystery. we also will use a red bag, this is to really get the message across that there is a lot more to this woman than meets the eye.

Mystery man - very similar to the Woman we have a smartly dress man, suit and tie, black and white, showing dull colours just like every other guy, this also created the idea of these to having a very simple relationship.

when looking at the syntagmatic approach we first start of with the relationship between the customs and location, working with location and using appropriate customs to help create the folk vibe.

then we move on to how we work the performance roll and narrative side to the music video together, this will be bound together with clever editing which is soon to come.

Cast

James Madgwick - Paolo Nutini

Ciara McEwen - Mystery girl

Robert Teague - Mystery man

Storyboard & Lyrics

Alloway Groove

Coming home again
To see a girl thats prettier than a diamond shining in the sun
Oh what fun!
I wonder if she's been naked in her room since I've been gone
I wonder if she's said to them as she said to me before

However much you use me baby, come on use me more
However much you use me baby, come on use me more

Getting off the train
To see a girl thats sweeter than an apple picked from Adam's tree
Oh glory be!
And I wonder if she's been pressed against an unfamiliar wall
And said to all those men as she said to me before

However much you want me, I swear I'll make you want me more
However much you want me, I swear I'll make you want me more and more and more and more

La-la-la, la la la la

Arriving at the door
Just to be told that the girl I'm missing has been in London for a while
No more northern skies for her
They say she's left a letter up the stair for everyone
It's pinned against her bedroom door for all the world to see and she says

However much I love you, you will always love me more
However much I love you, you will always love me more
And I guess it's true
However much she loves me I will always love her more

La-la-la la la la la

I'll love you more and more, I'll love you more
I'll love you more and more, I'll love you more
I'll love you more and more, I'll love you more
I'll love you more and more, I'll love you more and more and more....

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Planning - Approach with reference to research

Research planning

After researching Steve Archer and Andrew Goodwin I have decided to highlight some of the points which I would like to show through my video.

Narrative and Performance based videos was a key element of Steve Archers research, this was highly influential on creating our music video. Having our performance as our main section of video footage and playing the story line from lyrics and music and cutting footage in to create the story.

Links between lyrics and visuals is playing a large part in our music video, the idea we have come to for our video is to create a performance roll for the lead singing and then play a narrative story line against what he is singing about, trying to amplify the meaning of the song.

Due to Nutini's unique dress sense we are having to use a lot of close up shots and really show off his fashion, another item which is important is his hat, this appears in several of Nutini's Videos.

Conventions of Paolo Nutini's Music Videos

After looking at Paolo Nutini's music videos I took certain conventions which were used though out his videos and have taken the ideas into account when it comes to creating my music video. this such as

- dress, clothing, style, iconic hat

- setting, location (autumn feel)

- lip sinking techniques

- editing

Target Audience

a target audience, or target group is the primary group of people that something, usually an advertising campaign, is aimed at appealing to. A target audience can be people of a certain age group, gender, marital status, etc. (ex: teenagers, females, single people, etc.) A certain combination, like men from twenty to thirty is often a target audience.

My Target audience is from 16 - 40 reasoning why we have such a large audience, after doing primary research asking and noting people around school would they buy a Paolo Nutini album because they enjoy listening to them and why do they enjoy listening to his tracks? I then asked the older generations teachers, parents, parents friends and work associates. Both the younger and older generation had similar answers,

James age 16 "i enjoy listening to his music because it plays off a happy vibe"

Jessica age 22 "his songs have a summer feel to them, always make me smile"

Alex age 40 "After hearing him on the radio in 2006 i have alway purchased his new albums each one contains so much excitement"

Creating a video to cater for this large age rage would seem to be difficult but as all of the feed back has been about the positive happy vibes, we have aimed to film on a summer like day, with autumn leaves but throw in a sensitive story line to keep our audience interested and attached to the video.

Semiotics understandings

There are three main types of signs:

- Iconic signs: The signifier is connected to the signified through the principle of resemblance. Iconic signs are obviously important for images, since many images resemble what they refer to – but not always. Consider image on a male/female toilet.

- Indexical signs: The signifier makes you think of the signified because the two are frequently physically connected in the real world (the principle of contiguity). Cause-and-effect links are good examples of indexical signs: smoke is caused by fire and contiguous with it, and therefore the smell of smoke (signifier) makes you think of fire (signified).

- Symbolic signs: [purely artificial] the signifier is linked to the signified only by an arbitrary, human-imposed convention. There is no physical connection or natural resemblance between the English word “dog” and the concept *dog*. Any other signifier could just as plausibly be used to convey that concept, provided a group of people agree to do so, and indeed in German, “Hund” ➞ *dog*; in Spanish, “perro” ➞ *dog*; in French, “chien” ➞ *dog*, and so on.


Useful vocab:

Semiotics The study of Signs
Sign A sign is anything that conveys meaning. A sign is made up of two parts; the signifier and the signified.

Signifier Is the sign itself. A picture, words, music whatever.
Signified Is the meaning taken from the sign.
Denotation Is the first order meaning – the obvious meaning of the sign.
Connotation Is a deeper less obvious meaning – often implied through convention.
IntertextualityRefers to the relationship between texts, where texts reference one another. For example all texts from one particular genre are intertextually linked. A Music Magazine will be intertextually linked to a song that the magazine reviews/features.
Polysemic Literally means many meanings. All signs have multiple meanings. This might refer more to connotative meaning more than denotative meaning. The meaning we take from a sign might be influenced by our, age, gender, ethnicity or the context of viewing amongst other things.
Didactic Didactic texts are more likely to have denotative obvious meaning and are less open to interpretation.
Syntagmatic Syntagmatic connotation refers to the meaning signs make when they work together. For example a caption under a photograph.
Anchorage Media Producers use anchorage to prevent signs from being polysemic. They anchor the meaning of a text by using a supporting to sign. There fore signs work together syntagmatically to anchor the meaning and prevent polysemic readings.

Stuart Hall - encoding and decoding model

1.The media industry tend to focus on three main areas:

- Institution: The people who produce texts and their reasons for it, the endcoders. Factors considered might be the encoders social background, i.e. religion, race etc, and their available budget for the production. These all contribute to the overall media product.

- The Content: The actual content of the media text itself. Exploring the genre, codes and conventions, narrative and representation.

- Audience: The media industry looks at who the audience are, the impact the text may have on them and their reactions to the media text.


2. Those who create media texts are known as encoders. The encoders create meaning and connotations for their text, keeping in mind an assumption of how the text will be understood and how the targeted audience will receive the text.

3. The audience, also referred to as decoders, will all take a meaning out of the text. This may vary from person to person as they try to understand the encoders intended meaning.

4. All signs and symbols are polysemic and thus all media texts are polysemic. Each individual will decode media texts in a different way. Hall suggest there are 4 key ways in which media texts are decoded:
•Dominant reading: the reader fully shares the text’s code and accepts and reproduces the preferred reading.
•Negotiated reading: the reader partly shares the text’s code and broadly accepts the dominant reading, but sometimes resists and modifies it in a way that reflects their own position, experiences, and interests.
•Oppositional reading: the reader is in a social situation that places him or her in direct opposition to the dominant code. The reader understands the dominant reading but does not share the text’s code and rejects the reading, bringing to bear an alternative frame of reference.
•Aberrant reading: the reader is unable to take the meaning that the encoder put into the text. There is a gap (dissonance) between the cultural assumptions of the encoder and the cultural context of the decoder. They just don’t get it.

5.When creating a media text, all encoders often wants their audience to take a dominant reading approach. To ensure their texts are received in such as way by the audience, the encoder may try and make the text less polysemic and not as open to multiple meanings.

6. Encoders will try to speak to their audience in an appropriate way so that they will understand and relate to the text. This is known as the mode of address. Usually the encoders will make assumptions about the decoders knowledge, interests and perception of the world, encoding their texts accordingly.[Take girl's magazines for example.] These are assumptions are cultural and can have an impact on the way the decoder receives the text.

7. The assumed language and points of reference an encoder uses to connect with an assumed target audience is known as the ‘Public Idiom.’