Magazine Advert - Ideas

Based on my research into the codes and conventions of magazine ads for albums, I know that the magazine ad is essentially a variation on the album/DigiPak cover.
As I intend for my advert to follow these conventions, I will be basing my magazine advert off of whatever my final DigiPak cover looks like.

In all likelihood, I will be using my own design of the Capricorn icon - as it appears on the front of the DigiPak.

Keeping in form with the DigiPak, I plan to also use the same parchment paper background (of course I will need to see how it looks in actuality before I finalise any decisions.) 

I reckon that I'll probably stick with the layout of my draft magazine advert (pictured below), as it contains all the necessary information and clearly identifies what the advert is about, without losing the striking simplicity.

As I've already considered with the DigiPak, I plan to explore using one of the fonts below for all the typography featured in the advert (with the exclusion of the record label logo, the artists website address, and the iTunes logo/website.) The font I ultimately choose will of course be the same font that I use for the final DigiPak.

This font is the most similar to the brush with which I created the Capricorn drawing. I'm inclined to use it, save for the possibly juvenile feeling it creates. I will be showing three edits - one with each font - to members of my target audience to gain feedback and opinions to help me make a final decision.  

This font has the same uneven edges, but in a slightly more toned down version making it less juvenile looking. However, I'm not sure if the thinness makes it feels too clean/simple. 

  

I think this one is my personal favourite. It's style makes it feel as if it's been carefully handwritten, and it looks good in lower-case and upper-case letters.

At this stage I can't decide anything else, but I am now ready to begin bringing my ideas to life with Photoshop and Illustrator.

DigiPak - Ideas

During my initial exploration of creating a Digipak I managed to create a rough draft for a DigiPak that I intend to use as a starting point to work with as I develop my ideas further.

I'm very fond of having the Capricorn image on the front of the album, especially as it's the key piece of iconography I've decided to associate with my artist. The simplicity is also bold and eye-catching, which is useful in making sure it's memorable and distinctive to fans. 

However, the extreme simplicity of it doesn't link to the style of the music video I have created, nor does it feel appropriate to Briggs' alternative genre music. 

Given this, one idea that i've had to make it more appropriate is to use photoshop to create some sort of combination of the Capricorn logo mixed with a photograph - possibly one of the river - to have the effect of the Capricorn being filled in by this 'memory' (as this video does.) 

Another idea that I toyed with was drawing my own original Capricorn logo. 

To create this image I used the Sketches app on my iPad. I googled images of the Capricorn symbol and had a go sketching it out, experimenting with the different tools on offer. The above drawing was the most pleasing result. 

The softness of the design - an effect created through the uneven looking edges of the drawing - is more appropriate to the genre than the vector Capricorn I originally used. The soft curves of the lines and the slightly heart shaped tail also connote a femininity to the design, which fits with the fact that the singer is female and the video is supposed to be from her point of view. 

I also had the idea of incorporating polaroid shots into the DigiPak.

One way of formatting this could be to have a picture of a range of polaroids spread over a plain background (e.g. a wooden desk), possibly lit with candle light, maybe spread around a diary featuring the above sketch. 

I'm considering using this idea as the image for the inside covers of the Digipak.

An example of a polaroid I'd use. I think I'd play with the focus so that the polaroid's were out of focus, with the drawing of the Capricorn perhaps out of focus as well. I quite like the idea of handwriting some of the lyrics of the song on the open page, next to the drawing, and having the focus on them.

I think I'd still leave the back panel of the DigiPak to be a plain, solid colour, featuring only track listings and legal info, but obviously with the colour matching that of what's on the front.

I think I may go for a light coloured background instead, as this brings a softer feel to the product as a whole. I'm going to explore have a pale background that looks like fancy, cream-coloured paper, as this can be linked to the idea of memories. 

In regards to font, given the my ideas about drawing the Capricorn icon and handwriting the lyrics, I intend to use a font that looks (maybe even is) handwritten, in a dark colour so as to stand out against the pale background. 

Using the iMac app font book, I discovered the above three fonts - all of which I will experiment with during the creation of the DigPak.
The style of all these fonts feels congruous with my Capricorn icon drawing, so it will simply be a matter of deciding which one looks best.

I'm hoping that the overall effect of these ideas will be that I am able to produce a DigiPak that is much more fitting to the music and the music video, and that conveys a very personal feeling to the audience - like looking at a scrap book.

Magazine Advert - First Stages

As part of my A2 coursework, I have been tasked with creating a Magazine Advert for my chosen artist.
To do this, I'm again going to be using the programme Adobe Illustrator CS6.

As I've done my research and analysis into the codes and conventions of magazine adverts, and as I've already begun to dabble with album cover ideas for DigiPak, I had a enough of an idea for my own advert to begin an initial exploration. 

So, the first thing I did was to open a new document in Adobe Illustrator CS6, and place a black rectangle shape over the page. This gave me a base to work off of, and matched the choice I made for the black background on the front and back covers of the DigiPak.

As I'd already worked with Illustrator, I conveniently had all the vectors I'd previously used readily available me, so when I decided to recreate the appearance of the album cover, all I had to do was select the previously downloaded images, such as the capricorn vector and the island records logo vector. 

Due to the importance of making the magazine advert congruous with the the DigiPak, I chose to use the same font - Lucida Blackletter - that I used on the DigiPak on the advert. I created a text box using the text box tool, and then I placed the artists name, "Bishop Briggs" in large at the top centre of the page, in line with the horns of the capricorn vector I placed below. 

At an equal distance of spacing beneath the capricorn, I decided to place a review/rating of the album (taken from a real review). I created another text box and then chose a smaller size for this, as people will be more intrigued as to what the smaller writing says and will therefore pay attention when reading it. 

Like I did with the DigiPak - and as I've noticed it as a convention of numerous other album magazine adverts - I placed the record company logo in the bottom right hand corner. I'd already downloaded it as a vector before, so all I had to do was open it as new and then change its colour to white (so that it would show up against the black background.) 

At this point it still felt rather lacking as a magazine advert, so I looked at my list of magazine advert conventions and decided to add a release date, information about where the album is available, and Bishop Briggs' website address.

To get the right look for the website address I tried placing a screenshot of the actual address so that I could have the fancy "B" symbol it uses at the start. However, I was dissatisfied with how this look, so I instead typed out the web address using Lucida Blackletter for the "B" (the closest font I could find) and Arial for the address. This provided me with a similar enough look and avoided me having to use a screenshot. 

This is the screenshot of the actual website address

This is my recreated version of the website address

To advertise where the album is available I decided to download the vector for iTunes (granted, it's not the most recent logo, but it'll do for this practice run.) 

I then opened it in Illustrator and placed it in the bottom left hand corner of the advert, opposite and aligned with the Island Records logo.

I wasn't quite finished yet though, as the iTunes logo by itself - while the message would've been clear enough - felt a bit unfinished.
So I typed "Available at" and "iTunes.com" and placed them above and to the right of the logo.

Admittedly, this looks odd. But for now in this trial it'll do.

Overall, by this point the advert was definitely looking more appropriate.

Still very simplistic in terms of the visual design, but as I'd included enough of the codes and conventions to make it clear what I was advertising, I decided to conclude my trial here.

*************
In conclusion, as a first attempt I am satisfied with the results. I like the simplicity of the capricorn logo and definitely intend to keep using it; however, I do think the design may be too clean for the genre. I'm planning to try working with photoshop to incorporate some photography in the design, possibly using the frame of the capricorn...
But we shall see!

My Music Video - Rough Cut 2 Audience Feedback

While my video isn't fully completed as yet, I did take the opportunity to begin getting some initial audience feedback.
I asked my friend if she wouldn't mind watching the video (as it currently is) and having her response recorded. She was more than happy to oblige, and after the watching the video I was able to have a brief discussion with her to gain her thoughts and feedback.


Overall, she was very enthusiastic and supportive of the video, but she was also honest, and I'm going to take into account some of the points raised during our discussion.

My Music Video - Test Footage 5

During the shoot in which the subject gets ready for the concert, I took several practice runs of the sequence of event with my actress, so as to familiarise her with the routine and so that I could test angles, lighting, and depth of field/focus.
The footage above is the example of some of the test footage that I took before we filmed properly.

The test footage was very helpful for allowing me to smooth at the wrinkles, allowing me to avoid a situation where I would review the footage only to realise I'd need to call my actress back to film more, (something of which I have been guilty of in the past.)

My Music Video - Test Footage 4

The footage that I'm gathering in Cayman is a combination of GoPro and iPhone gootage. I have personally filmed all of it, with the exception of the underwater GoPro footage in which I am featured with my sister; this was filmed by my brother, but I liked the footage so much that I asked for his permission to use it within the video.

There is still some footage that I'm yet to obtain, but thus far I am happy with what I'm producing. The unedited test footage above is an example of what I so far have.

My Music Video - Test Footage 3

The above footage was taken as test footage during yesterday's shoot in the projection room and at school. 

Whereas the footage taken at school was relatively straightforward to film, although I will have to film more projection scenes as I've not yet got all the projection footage (some of it is yet to be filmed as it's planned for when I return to Cayman in December).

The river filming was considerably more tricky to set up. There were several challenges, such as finding an even surface on which to place the camera, and a part of the river at which to set the boat adrift. 

However, despite these few difficulties, I am satisfied with the result of the majority of the footage.

My Music Video - Test Footage 2

Below is some sample footage taken from yesterday's shoot, in which I used a GoPro to capture the subject's point of view shots.

This footage was taken before the GoPro died, which resulted in me having to use my iPhone to film with instead.

It was actually as a very good thing that this happened, as when I reviewed this GoPro footage later, I found that the angle was wrong (meaning my hands had been almost completely missed in every shot) and that the footage was uncomfortably shaky and unsteady. 

In contrast to this, the iPhone footage was by far superior,  so I will be using that in the video instead. 

My Music Video - Locations

Due to the subject of my music video being an abstract exploration of memories, its needless to say that the range of locations is going to be vast.

Already, I have filmed the scenes needed for the concert, which of course was done at the location of the actual concert, the O2 Academy in Leeds.

Another location that will be featured heavily within the music video is Ilkley river. I very much planned the opening and closing sections with the river in mind, although I did have to spend an hour or so walking up and down to find an appropriate spot of the river at which to film.

The left image was a point I had considered filming from, but when it came down to practicality I found it would not have been possible to obtain the shots that I required. The above image is at a point slightly further down the river, and on the opposite bank; this part of the river (at low tide) proved far more appropriate for filming.

For the scenes in which the subject gets ready for the concert, I chose to film in my own bedroom, as the mise-en-scene was already conveniently set up to connote a teenaged/young adult female's living space.

While the majority of my room was left alone, I did rearrange the set up of this corner (which usually has a bean bag chair in it) so as to be able to display the record player and the collage of personal affects on the wall.

To film the projections I intend to use one of the school photography rooms, as it has blackout blinds and a white background onto which I want to project the 'memories'.

In regards to the memories footage itself, it's going to have to be acquired throughout a range of locations within the Ilkley/Addingham area and from places in Grand Cayman (I've made the decision to include footage from Cayman so as to give the video a unique twist, in the way of mixing two significantly different landscapes). I have a few ideas on where/what I will shoot, such as in my own back garden, but I'm planning that the majority of the footage will end up being spontaneous. 

My back garden in Grand Cayman (home). 

My Music Video - Test Footage 1

Last night I attended the Billy Talent concert, at which I decided to film parts of the concert so that I can use it within the memory montage.

The footage uploaded below is unedited, uncut sample footage of what I filmed last night. While in parts it appears shaky, this is not a problem as it was a deliberate decision on my part. The footage is meant to be the subject's point of view, so while filming I moved the camera in such a way as to create this effect.

I will be going through the rest of the footage carefully to see which parts will be best for my music video, but overall I am very pleased with the results. 

I had a particularly nice surprise when it came to how the concert was lit; I have a feeling that the flashing red and purpley-blue lights will fit very well within the video's aesthetic.