Meetings

Meetings

Meetings with all members of our group are essential throughout the filming process. The reason for this is so that every member of the group knows what is happening during the production process. It also allows our group to discuss ideas based around the task we have been given. Examples of discussions which have been based on during group meetings are deciding on the artist and the song, aswell as planning aspects of our music video such as mise-en-scene and cinematography elements. In which we recorded a list of every meeting we encountered alongside what the group have discussed and decided on so that we could refer back to our notes to see what we had decided or wanted to include in a certain aspect of the video. Furthermore, group meetings allowed individuals to express their ideas for our music video which may not have been thought of and could enhance our product. Additionally to this, it allowed other members of the group to expand and broaden the idea further, to create ideas which were more intriguing for the audience, or beneficial for the group. To organise our time efficiently, we made sure that we planned every aspect of our production to the best of our ability so that this would save time. This included which members of the group had a certain role in the task to help, so when individuals had done specific tasks they could continue with the next one. This saved alot of wasted time as different roles were completed efficient, with not every member of the group completing the same task which did not necessarily need all 4 members help.

Overall, I think that our group did work well together. This is because I felt as though we corp-orated with a strategy of completing different tasks either as individuals, and as a whole group which enabled us to use our time efficiently depending on what we needed to do. Our group showed good communication skills through taking on board each others individual ideas and suggesting ways in which we could incorporate this into our music video or planning. This was also showed us working well together as we could take into consideration others ideas, but also expand and broaden the idea to help out the individual but also benefit the group. It was beneficial of our group to keep a record of what was discussed in our group meetings as we could refer back to our notes if we had forgotten any elements which we may have wanted to include or expand on. This also gave us a plan of what we were hoping to create, or important notes on how to move forward in our next phase of the production. Meetings helped the entire group to stay on a similar page with everybody knowing what needed to be done next in order to develop the product, and see which role they needed to undergo in order to achieve this.

Photoshoot

Photoshoot

The purpose of taking pictures throughout our filming process, is so that we can include these images in other tasks of the course. It makes sense to take pictures at the time of filming so that we do not need to go back and take the pictures another time which can be time consuming. Instead, the artist will already be in the correct costume and location which helps to create the desired effect. The images that we took throughout the filming process have been included in our linked tasks to our music video, such as the digipak and our individual magazine advert. It is essential that we take multiple pictures which are varied. This is so that our group members can use different pictures to make the products individual, however all have a similar theme. Additionally to this, varied pictures are engaging for the audience as they do not want to be looking at something too similar throughout every side of the digipak for example. The varied pictures also help to represent the artist and convey different emotions, which may engage the audience as this gives them an insight as to what the albums content may contain. 

One image which I have taken is an image of the artist overlooking scenery of London, more specifically overlooking Tower Bridge. I intend to use this photo on my Digipak. This is because I do not feel as though the image is engaging enough for the audience to use as the main image on my individual magazine advert. However, this is a good image to use on one of the multiple sides of the digipak as this is conventional to the soul genre and allows the audience an insight to what the album may be based on. I think this specific image works well as it helps to build a relationship with the audience through the use of facial expressions and representations of the artist. Within this shot the audience can see the emotionless expression that the artist has, which could suggest how low and vulnerable she is feeling, almost as though she has given up. The audience may be able to relate to this as they may have been in a similar situation at some point, and can sympathise for the artist. The overlooking of the London scenery could suggest that the content could be a mix based on the surroundings, and the artists emotion, which is our aim as our music video to "Hometown Glory" is based on the artists low emotion, and reminiscing on her hometown and past life which is based in London. When I came to the editing phase of this specific picture, I decided to use multiple layers to keep some of the picture remaining in colour, whilst the rest remains in black and white. This suggests to the audience a contrast between positive and negative thoughts which could further suggest that the artist is reminiscing on memories. This also gives a unique edge to the photo as the audience are engaged, questioning why the photo is styled like this. 

The next image is similar to the previous which I have used, as this is overlooking London standing on a bride, however is surrounded by different scenery. I have taken this particular image as the scenery is simplistic, allowing the audiences attention to be focused mainly on the image and not diverted elsewhere. It also allows the audience to focus on the artists facial expression. I intend to use this picture on my digipak on a side where this just has one image on. This is because the image is not suited to the main cover of the digipak/advert as it needs to be mainly focused on the artist. I think that this image is conventional to the soul genre as it captures the emotion of the artist. It almost seems as though she is day dreaming, making the audience sympathize for her as this suggests the artist is trying to escape her surroundings for a short space of time. This could suggest a theme of guilt or unhappiness throughout the album and content of the lyrics, which may in turn build a relationship with the audience as it may seem as though the artist is singing for them, and they can relate as they may have been in this situation themselves. The image presents the artist as down to earth and humble as she is willing to express her natural emotion for the benefit of the audience, to empower them and make them feel as though they are not alone.

Another image that I have used is of the artist standing on a bridge, looking downward. I intend to use this specific picture on my digipak on the track list side. As again as previously mentioned I think that the image I want to use for the main side of the digipak will be a close up shot which represents the artist and the album in a unique way. I have taken this particular image as it has several typical aspects which represent the artist conventionally. The artist is looking downwards, this suggests that the artist could be day dreaming, possibly wanting to escape her thoughts and emotions which she is feeling at the current time or situation that she is in. This can be inferred to the audience that the artist is feeling guilty, possibly based around the subject of love and family. Not only does this make the audience sympathise for the artist, they could possibly relate as they may have been in this situation before and are looking for comfort in music to show that they are not alone. Additionally, the audience may admire the artist as she is willing to show her raw and natural emotion for every body to see in order to comfort others, this enables the audience and artist to begin to build a relationship as they feel as though the artist is humble and down to earth.

I have taken an image throughout the filming process of a candle holder, which has many different warm tone colours, which I intend to use on my digipak, more specifically on the message to the audience. I have taken this image as I feel as though this is a unique image to use on my digipak. Most of the sides on my digipak include some picture of the artist mainly a close up or her looking somewhere else as though she is day dreaming. I feel as though this image is both conventional and subversive to the soul music genre. It is subversive due to the fact that not many artists have chosen to do something like this before, because as previously mentioned most digipak are kept quite simple with a black, or dark background or with a picture of the artist to show the emotion and passion in the lyrics. However, I do believe that this is conventional to the genre due to the colours that are used. Pinks and red symbolize love and romance which is what the album is based upon, giving the audience an insight to what they can expect. Furthermore, the orange tones used throughout suggest positivity, which gives an insight to the artists personality as even though she is clearly in a depressive state and feeling low, she is still trying to remain positive in hope for the "light at the end of the tunnel". This shows the artist as strong willed, which the audience may begin to build a relationship with the artist as this is something that they admire her for.

Another image which I have included on my digipak is shown on the main, front slide. This is of the artist looking downwards. I have chosen this image as it again represents the artist stereotypically. It seems as though the artist is upset and down about a particular subject, which could suggest the themes which run throughout the album. This may interest and engage the audience as they may gain an insight to the humbleness and how down to earth the artist is. Additionally, may make the audience build a relationship with the artist as they feel as though they are not going through the situation alone, as though they have someone else who is also going through the similar situation. of the artist trying to forget about something she feels guilty about, by staring into space. Furthermore the picture is conventional to the soul genre through the representation of the artist. It could be portrayed to the audience that the artist is staring into space. This is where it is known to have "zoned out" of the current time not being intact and forgetting about their inner emotion. Inferring guilt which could be a possible insight to a theme which occurs throughout the album.

Lastly, I have taken this particular image to be the main image for my individual magazine advert. This particular image is conventional to my chosen genre of soul due to a number of conventional aspects. Firstly, the use of colour is conventional to my individual magazine advert through the main use of the colour black and white as this is the effect of the whole advert. The effect helps to represent the artist stereotypically. Black suggests the artists depressive state and emotions swell as the colour white contrasting this with connotations of innocence and vulnerability. The two colours combined allow the audience to sympathise for the artist as feeling both vulnerable and depressed must be difficult to cope with. Allowing the audience to build a relationship with the artist as they can empathise with her, or may have been in this particular situation themselves. This presents the artist as down to earth and ordinary which the audience can relate to as she is similar to the audience, just like a regular person. The use of black and white could also suggest to the audience how the artist is reflecting on her past life and reminiscing on happier times before she found fame, which could lead to an insight of what the audience can expect from the album. Another conventional aspect of the image i have chosen for my individual magazine advert is the positioning and facial expressions of the artist. The artist is seen to be looking down in the image, with an expression which makes her look fed up and upset. It appears as though the artist is day dreaming, which she is possibly trying to escape her current thoughts of guilt and inner emotion. This could be family or love based which makes this more relatable for the audience. In turn, this could begin to build a relationship between the artist and audience as it seems as though the artist is able to trust them with how she is feeling, this also may feel to the audience that they have somebody to talk to about a situation almost like the artist is the audiences friend, which may be comforting to them. 

In conclusion, I found taking pictures for the photo shoot an enjoyable and easy task to complete. This is because all we had to do was take several photographs of the artist in which she was already in the clothing from filming previous to this. We had taken photos even in natural states and random places to capture what may work well on our digipak. The more images that we had taken, the more chance we had of finding an image which would work well with our theme. We felt that the shots that we took worked well as we took images that helped to portray to the audience what our music video was based upon, this could be seen through scenery and facial expression of the artist which gives an insight to themes which occur. One problem which our group encountered with picture taking is that the majority of our group liked the same picture in which one would want to have for a specific reason. Looking back, we could have taken even more shots to avoid this problem and have planned out specific images we needed to take rather than the artist posing naturally as we had multiple shots which looked similar. 

Individual Magazine Advert Analysis

Individual Magazine Advert

Alongside creating our music video we also created our individual magazine advert. The aim of creating my own individual magazine advert is to promote the artists album to the target audience. The magazine advert includes many conventional aspects to the artists genre which will engage the audience as this is something they are wanting and expecting to see. Additionally to this, the aspects included in the magazine advert allow the audience to think about certain connotations which may suggest what the content of the album may contain, allowing the audience to decide whether or not they may be interesting in purchasing the album.

Within my individual magazine advert I have included certain elements which I have aimed to engage my target audience to promote my artist effectively. An element which I have included in my individual magazine advert is the use of colour. The predominant use of colour in my individual magazine advert is black and white. This helps to ensure that other aspects of the advert are bold and stand out to engage the audience, an example of this is the artists lips, and the first letter of the title 'Amy' and the second part of the title '18' which is not obvious but can be seen if you look into the advert in depth. The colours black and white are a typical convention of most soul magazine adverts, as this helps to convey the artists emotions. The black used within the effect helps to suggest the artists depressive state and sadness. This allows the audience to sympathize as they may be able to relate in some way, additionally the artist is allowing the audience to see her true and natural emotion which shows her as down to earth. The white contrasts this and suggests innocence and vulnerability of the artist which could again make the audience sympathize for the artist as the combination of both vulnerability, sadness and depression can be a mix that leaves the artist feeling very low, in which the audience may be able to relate or realise this is not a state of mind which any person should be in. Furthermore, both colours combined help to suggest positivity and negativity which may infer events which have occurred in her life. This could help to show to the audience that the artist is reminiscing on memories in which she was most happy before she found fame. Additionally, another colour which I have included in my individual magazine advert is red which is subversive to the music genre. As apposed to the colours which are usually conventional, red is not the stereotypical connotation of a soul music genre as this suggests that the artist has a lot of self confidence, whereas stereo typically the artist may be perceived as shy. However, this suggests to the audience that the artist is a down to earth person who has determination to reach the 'light at the end of the tunnel' which may gain admiration from the audience as they then can believe in themselves to have the same motivation as the artist to get through a particular situation they may be in. Furthermore, the colour red represents the artist stereo typically because the topic in which the artist is singing about is based on love, passion and emotion which are connotations of the colour red. This allows the audience to have an insight of what the album may contain and whether this would interest them or not. 

A conventional aspect of my individual magazine advert is the image that I have used. It can be seen that the artist is looking down in the image, which has several typical connotations. The image which we have used is a close up shot of the artist which helps to convey her facial expressions and body language. This helps to show the artists eyes looking down, this could be seen as the artist is almost day dreaming, which is where it is as though you are not in the moment as you are thinking about something deeply for a short space of time and are not involved in your surroundings, inferring to the audience that the artist would like to forget about the current situation she is in. This pose also has connotations of guilt, which the artist may be feeling. Additionally, this could suggest not only guilt, but possibly regret as she is channeling her inner emotions which could relate to love or family. Not only does this represent the artist, it also enables a relationship to build due to the audience believing that the artist almost feels as though she can trust her audience by exposing her feelings and personal situations in a raw and natural state which the audience may admire as they see the artist in a different light, as a down to earth and ordinary person. This also helps the audience to gain and insight into what the artists music may be based on and consist of, as they may be able to relate in some way. Furthermore, the layout of my individual magazine advert is conventional to the genre. This is because although my image that I have used isn't central to the advert is is the most predominate feature which the audience will focus their attention on most. The reason for this positioning of the image is that the attention that the audience is focusing on the advert is mainly on the artist and isn't diverted away to secondary information such as the title or release date that may not be important as the recognition of the artist which will remind the audience to look at the album. This again allows the audience to focus on the emotion of the artist which reiterates how vulnerable she is again making the audience sympathising for her. Additionally, allows the audience to have an insight into what the album may contain. 

Furthermore, the font which I have included for my main title of "Amy 18" is in a bold, yet simple font which has also been written in capitals to capture the audiences attention immediately. The simplicity of the font ties in with conventional aspects of the soul genre as this relates to the music of the artist with the lyrics explaining simply how the artist is feeling, presenting her as down to earth and allows the audience to begin to build a relationship as they gain an insight to the artists personality. The black and white shades used in the title help to reiterate how the artist is mainly reflecting on her past throughout her album, as well as the subtle red shade behind specific letters enabling the audience to realise the album contains topics surrounding love and heartbreak, which engages the audience as they sympathize for her. This may also draw the audience in as they can relate to these situations and are looking for comfort in somebody who can relate to them. Additionally to this the secondary piece of information and the language used stating the artist "presents her new album" which engages the audience immediately as this could be a raw talent which is not discovered for many which they could possibly enjoy due to being able to listen about different voices and opinions on a subject that they can relate to. In relation to the typography used, the style in which I have made this font is similar to hand writing, which is conventional also as this again does not divert the audiences attention but is enough to engage the target audience due to the simplicity. The font style helps to give a personal approach and touch to the advert, as though it has been signed to the audience and written for the audience. This helps the audience to feel empowered as they feel as though the artist may be in a similar situation and have someone to relate to. This also represents the artist as humble and down to earth as it shows they have not let fame get to them, and showing that she wants to still keep in contact with her audience and show them that she is grateful for all support, in which the audience admire. 

To create my individual magazine advert I used Photoshop, in which I encountered problems with using specific tools on the software. Firstly I struggled with the concept of using different layers on the advert in order to place different effects or titles which I wanted on my advert. The reason for this is so that it is easier to move and change the different layers instead of creating a confusion with what needs to go where. I did however quickly get used to this aspect of the software as I realized the concept which made sense and was easier as then multiple effects and layers would not interrupt the use of another. Additionally to this, another concept in which I struggled with was creating the desired effect which I wanted to include. For example, I wanted to create a vignette effect which is a darker, shadowed border surrounding the image which changes the feel of the image as it creates a focus on the main image. I did not know originally how I was going to create this effect as I had not used the software much previously to this task, and the multiple tools seemed very confusing. To overcome this problem, I researched what I wanted to add to my advert on the internet and came across a YouTube video which gave a step by step guide of instructions which I paused during every step and ended up with the result that I wanted. Aside from this, I did have some strengths in regards to using Photoshop software. As I came to grips with using the software it became clearer of how I would achieve my main aspect of the advert, which is the removal of the black and white filter to leave out the parts of red such as the lips. This was created by using the eraser tool on top of the black and white filter which left the original colour of the image, I feel as though this helped with creating a successful advert as it allowed the audience to think of the connotations of this colour and gave them an insight of what they can expect from the album.

In conclusion, I believe that by individual magazine advert conforms with the soul genres stereotypical conventions, as I have included aspects which are included in similar artists adverts to appeal to my target audience. An example could be the image used, which helps to represent the artists emotions, this may engage the audience as they can relate to the artist and feel as they may not be alone in a situation. Additionally, the handwriting style again makes it feel as though there is a personal approach to the advert almost as though the artist is signing the album over to them, or has written it for them, this engages the audience as this is an admirable touch which the audience may feel thought of during the process of making the album.