Primary Research for poster Ancillary task - Joshua Manley 9645

After creating my mock up designs for my ancillary task of a poster I decided to gain primary research which allowed me to have an insight into the opinions of our target audience. The main motif of this research is to gain an understanding to what our audiences preferences. This provides us with qualitative which allows us see the perspective and opinion of our target audience. Qualitative data is typically descriptive dataand as such is harder to analyze than quantitative data. Qualitative research is useful for studies at the individual level, and to find out, in depth, the ways in which people think or feel.

Feedback:

Ellie Burrell Bicker/Female/18 Years Old- The fourth one is the most relevant to your music video. The drums being the focal point on this poster will correspond with the close ups and attention to detail that you will be filming in the actual music video, as I know that drums play a very important role in your media product. The shadows and dark blue tones are effective in the photograph, and the text being featured at the top and bottom of the frame works well, rather than having text in the middle of the frame interrupting the composition of the image. 

James Bell/Male/40 Years Old

I like the 2nd one as it is counter stereotypical that an old man should be associated with a rock band, the misenscene of the smoke evokes a spirit of relaxation and rebellion as does the pose. I like the low key appearance of the shot.The next preferred image is the 4th one, option three is ruled out as it is a cliche, band members looking as if they are not interested in the camera and relaxed amongst each other. 

Danielle Fletcher/Female/17 Years Old

The first poster design is very successful, and in particular portrays the artist and the cryptic style of music that they create. The simplicity adds to the bands image, and works well in attracting audiences to the poster as it does not overload the audience with information or large images of the band members. Despite this simplicity the important information, such as the bands website and the album name, is included and conveyed to the audience. The only criticism of the poster is that the ABC Records logo could be moved to the bottom left of the poster in order to make it more visually pleasing to the audience. However, this is a minor detail and I think that overall the poster is very successful at attracting the correct target audience and also informing the audience of the important information.

George Ring/Male/17 Years Old

When looking at these four advert designs, my favourite by far is the first one. The reason I like this, is due to the simplistic nature of the poster. The blue colour used is bold, yet it also has a rustic feel about it due to the grains in the colour. I like the contrast between this and the text, which is white and stands out among the background. It also feels much cleaner and more professional compared to the other posters here. If I had to choose a least favourite, it would be the second one. This is because I feel like it doesn't stand out as the image of the male is much stronger and therefore takes away the artist. I also do not like the positioning of the text in the second design.

Beth Pannifer/Female/17 Years Old

I feel that the most successful mock up poster design is the first one because I feel that the simplistic approach is very effective in presenting the information both clearly and effectively.  The text stands out clearly from the background and the use of the bands logo is very effective as it would instantly attract the audience. The texture of the background provides a retro feel to the poster which can relate very effectively to the genre of the band. As a suggestion you could use a different colour as the background which has a certain connotation which is relevant to your project or which could compliment the music video. Also you could include a review on the poster or even one of the most successful songs in the album (your chosen song) to provide the audience with a further insight to the product and therefore intriguing them more.

Conclusion from feedback

The feedback above clearly shows that the preference of the respondents was the first mock up poster due to its simplicity and retro feel which is relevant to the genre of music which the band works in. Also I will take into account the points of improvement suggested by the respondents as their opinions are extremely relevant as they lay in the target audience of my product. I also got feedback from James who is considered to be out of our target audience categorisation but it was also interesting to gain his opinion.

Budgeting - Joshua Manley 9645 and Kieran Panchal 9652

Above, we have outlined the budget for the our shoot. Although this is only an estimate using average costs, we have accounted for variations in cost by leaving a remaining budget for unforeseen circumstances (£35). This should be enough to cover any fluctuations in price. We are well within the budget that we proposed, as shown. We raised the budget from our initial figure of £150, as we felt that the hiring of equipment would significantly enhancing the production value of our product.

Location Scouting - Joshua Manley 9645 and Kieran Panchal 9652

Location 1:

Locations 2&3

After contacting the owners of these two locations and requesting the possible hire, I learned that it would be very difficult to hire a location similar to the ones above due to their specifications and size, therefore making them very expensive and ultimately out of our budget.

Drive Two, Bethnal Green, E1

Shootfactory.co.uk

This warehouse suited the theme of our narrative as it was large enough to allow us to create a sense of space and atmosphere in the setting. In addition, the industrial nature of the location and run-down feel also would be ideal for creating the context and establishing the genre around the narrative. We also contacted several agencies that provided a hiring service for this location but unfortunately this location was over budget and therefore had to be ruled out.

Grange Barn, Coggeshall

nationaltrust.org.uk/grange-barn

The Grange Barn in Coggeshall would have also been a suitable location for our shoot, as the barn would have created an effective rural aesthetic. We figured that because this was a national trust site, the hiring of this space may be discounted or easily accessible. After getting in contact with the site to ask about availability of the location, we were unfortunately sent a response denying us access as live music is not permitted within the site, but is necessary in our plot. The email below shows the response.

Copped Hall, Epping

http://www.coppedhalltrust.org.uk

This Georgian mansion overlooking a landscaped parkland in rural Epping would have been idyllic, as logistically it would have been due suitable to its location close to where we are based, meaning that the transport of equipment and travel would have been more manageable. The aesthetic of the location was particularly fitting, as the rural setting and antique feel would have been suitable for the genre of our piece. Unfortunately, after contacting Copped Hall, we found that the building was closed during the period that we wished to film in, as evidenced below.

Template & Mock Up - Magazine advert - Joshua Manley 9645

Template

Here is a template that I have designed which illustrates the basic stereotypical magazine advert poster. I have created this one the basis of researching existing advert posters and collating an understanding of what is included and also where. Below are my experimentations with very rough ideas of a poster for my product. I have used similar template above as well as experimenting and changing the structure and layout. I used Photoshop to create these, by taking photographs from the internet for inspiration and then placing the text and stereotypical information over the top. I have include the Sigur Ros band logo which is included on all their products by downloading a vector and placing it on top of the background image. By creating these mock ups it allows me to get a better understanding on potential ideas for my product poster, providing me with different ideas for layouts, texts/font, images, colours and information included.

Potential Ideas

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Magazine advert conventions - Joshua Manley 9645

An Magazine music album advert is mainly used to promote/sell the product (e.g the album or single track). It also promotes the artist through the use of recognisable logos and names.

General Conventions:

• Name of Artist - This is a key selling point to the advert as the name of the artist lets the audience know who the seller is off the product. These tend to be big and bold which allow them to stand out and In doing so, people could potentially recognise the name of the artist and therefore be more interested. 

• Album Title - This can provide and insight to the content of the album and can possible suggest certain themes and have certain connotations. Prior to the release this would be the talking point which would allow audiences to reference and speculate over the album. Album titles also tend to be bold and stand out.

• Background Image - The background image is another key attraction of the advertising. Background images tend to attract the audiences and grab their attention which will therefore cause them to read the content on the poster. So therefore the background image is vital as it is the first thing which the audiences see.
• The Release Date - The release date is very important to the advertisement of the product. It provides the viewers with the knowledge of when they will be able to buy the product and will create a buzz and excitement in relate to the release. This ale tends to be bold which will make it clear to the audience and intrigue them. Without this the audience could perhaps lose interest. 
• Website - A website can provide the audience with a source to potentially research and gain further information on the album/track or even the artist. This tends to be much smaller on the advert as it isn't vital information which will attract the audience,it is more or less included for proactive viewers.

• Record Label Logo - This would provide the audience with a better understanding of the genre of the product and could associate the product with others produced by the record label.

Overall all of these aspects work together in order to attract the viewers and also to provide a slight insight to the product in regards to the content and themes.

Magazine poster advert textual analysis - Joshua Manley 9645

Ancillary task - Magazine Poster analysis from joshmanley98

Digipak conventions / Template - Joshua Manley 9645

Digipak Template

A jewel CD case is a compact disc case that has been used since the compact disc was first released in 1982. It is a three-piece plastic case, measuring 142 mm × 125 mm × 10 mm, a volume of 177.5 cm³, which usually contains a compact disc along with the liner notes and a back card. Two opposing transparent halves are hinged together to form the casing, the back half holding a media tray that grips the disc by its hole. Digipaks are a particular type of CD case, which essentially consists of a plastic CD tray glued inside a folding cardboard cover. Though it once referred specifically to the patented digipak packaging, the term has since become a genericized trademark generally used in reference to any cardboard-based CD package. Despite being made of paper, they were once considered an environmentally more friendly alternative to jewel boxes.

Conventions

Front Cover
The front cover is inevitably the most important part of the digipak as it is the first thing which the viewers see in stores. Therefore the front cover has to be attractive and interesting in order to intrigue to buyers and also can provide them with a sense of themes included in the album. The front cover of a digipak tends to consist of the artist's and album's name which are normally placed over a background image.

Back Cover
The back cover is also relatively important as it provides the audience with a further insight to the album. This is due to the stereotypical inclusion of a track listing where the names of the tracks on the album would be numbered numerically. This can be placed over another background image which tends to be in coherence with the rest of the album digipak. Also on the back cover there is conventional information included such as the artist's website, copyright notice, the record label's name and logo as well as a bar code. 

Spine
The spine consists of the title of the album and also the name of the artists. This spine is also a considerably important aspect of the digipak as when organised different on shelves or in stacks as this would be the only part of the digipak which is visible. Therefore the size, colour, boldness and type of font need to allow the spine to stand out.

Inside Right Panel
In this section of the product the CD is placed securely. The CD itself tends to contain text, colour or images in order to continue to particular theme and overall feel of the digipak. They are usually seemingly simplistic and usually include the name of the project or artist. There are some variations of a CD where the track listing can also be included, stereotypically around the circumference of the disc.

Inside Cover
The cover is designed to carry a booklet, as well as to have panel inserts. These may be used to display album artwork, lyrics, credits, copyright information, photos, thank-yous, messages, biography, etc. I found that in fact Sigur Ros include a blank booklet here in order to allow for the listeners to write down their own interpretations to the audio.

Throughout all the different aspects and components which accumulate together to form a digipak the same colour schemes, fonts and images are used in order to provide a sense of continuity and coherence. This allows for a certain theme and atmosphere to be created which can relate to the artists' work. This works well when advertising the product as the posters and other advertisement would also consists of the same aspects.

throughout, colour, font, image, continuity 

Ancillary Task - Digipak Analysis - Joshua Manley 9645

Ancillary task - media - Josh Manley from joshmanley98

Detailed Research - Joshua Manley 9645

Detailed research - Media - Josh Manley from joshmanley98

Research Report - Joshua Manley 9645

When researching the media product options in which I could produce there was a part of me which found the prospect of producing a film trailer rather appealing, as they don't have to actually contain a consistent plot, they can include various clips which can appear somewhat disconnected. Also film trailers can be very dramatic and full of action which I also found interesting. However, eventually I chose not to proceed with creating a film trailer. This is because want to make an emotional connection with the audience and make them connect with the characters, and a lot of trailers are just dramatic and exciting in order to attract the audience. Also I want to produce a product which has a sense of structure, plot, meaning/message and a concept. Also in regards to adverts, despite them having the potential to be very successful as they can come across mysterious to the audience and make the audience think about the matter and engages them. I feel that I prefer to provide a more direct approach, supplying the audience with a certain feel to the product rather than letting them decide the meaning behind it. I eventually chose not to advance with advertising as I felt that out of all the briefs, it was hardest to create deep, emotional and intellectual content. Adverts do create messages but they have to be very well produced to make strong connections with the audience, at least with the ideas that i have come up with.

When constructing this primary research I took into consideration the quantity of people that I should gather research from. I decided to gain 40 respondents who answered 14 questions, allowing me to produce both qualitative and quantitive data. Asking a large amount of people ensured that we got a varied response from male and females and also people from a variety of ages. I decided to gain feedback from respondents which fell between 16-25 years old the most as they are my targeted audience. It was evident that a lot of our respondents found that their favourite music genre was Indie/Alternative. This finding was very encouraging as our soundtrack comes under this genre. Due to the fact that 82% of my respondents deemed that listening to music is an immersive experience. Therefore implying that the majority of the sample believe that song itself and video work accordingly together. This cooperated with the fact that 95% of the respondents also felt that music videos enhance the overall experience, suggesting that the audio and video are equally important. Therefore I will ensure that we produce a product which compliments the audio as much as possible. Additionally I discovered that the respondents felt that a hybrid video type is more compelling with 21 votes. This was very intriguing for me as it was very helping in aiding me when deciding what type of video I shall create, as now I know what the people want. After finding that the respondents felt that a hybrid is the best music video type I felt that I had to know their opinion on what would make the best hybrid. 35/40 of the respondents felt that narrative was an important aspect of a music video and also 60% of the respondents also felt that the performance element was also important. After discovering this and taking it into account, i have decided to attempt to create a hybrid of a performance and narrative type. The fact that the most popular rating of the importance of the story line being 9/10, closely followed by 8 and 10/10, corresponds to the respondents showing a lot of preference in the narrative video type. Therefore when planning the production of my product I will ensure that the story line is interesting and entertaining as I now know that that is what the audiences are looking for.  Our feedback suggests that the sample in which I asked  felt that the location of a music video is seemingly important as no one voted for anything below 6/10. The most popular rating was 8/10 which enhances the importance of  location, therefore we will put a lot of research and planning into the location of our product. As 75% of the feedback favouring the importance of intellectual content in a music video I will ensure that when creating my product, I illustrate a meaning and purpose and also perhaps contain a message. It was a very relevant to ask the respondents how they felt towards nudity as some of our initial ideas contain explicit content, including nudity. Due to our thought that nudity could perhaps connote themes of freedom and purity, it was important to see what others thought. As the results show, the majority of the respondents stated that they felt comfortable with viewing nudity. However, due to a few people feeling uncomfortable with experiencing this we will ensure that we keep the explicit content minimal.

Music Video History Timeline. - Joshua Manley 9645

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings.

In 1894, sheet music publishers Edward B. Marks and Joe Stern hired an electrician various performers to promote sales of their song "The Little Lost Child".  A series of still images were projected on a screen simultaneous to live performances. This was the first step toward music videos to as they are known today.This would become a popular form of entertainment known as the illustrated song.

In 1926, with the arrival of "talkies" many musical short films were produced.

Early 1930s cartoons featured popular musicians performing their hit songs on-camera in live-action segments during the cartoons. The early animated films by Walt Disney, such as the Silly Symphonies shorts and especially Fantasia, which featured several interpretations of classical pieces, were built around music. 

In the mid-1940s, musician Louis Jordan made short films for his songs, some of which were spliced together into a feature film Lookout Sister. These films were, according to music historian Donald Clarke, the "ancestors" of music video.



Musical films were another important precursor to music video, and several well-known music videos have imitated the style of classic Hollywood musicals from the 1930s to the 1950s. One of the best-known examples is Madonna's 1985 video for "Material Girl" which was closely modelled on Jack Cole's staging of "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.


In his autobiography, Tony Bennett claims to have created "...the first music video". The clip was sent to UK and US television stations and aired on shows including Dick Clark's American Bandstand.

In 1961, for the Canadian show Singalong Jubilee, Manny Pittson began pre-recording the music audio, went on-location and taped various visuals with the musicians lip-synching, then edited the audio and video together.

In 1964, the Beatles starred in their first feature film A Hard Day's Night. It was shot in black-and-white and presented as a mock documentary, it interspersed comedic and dialogue sequences with musical tones. 

The Beatles' second feature Help! (1965) was filmed in colour in London and on international locations. The title track sequence is arguably one of the prime archetypes of the modern performance-style music video. This is through employing rhythmic cross-cutting, contrasting long shots and close-ups, and unusual shots and camera angles.

In 1965, the Beatles began making promotional clips for distribution and broadcast in other countries so they could promote their record releases without having to make in-person appearances. 

The colour promotional clips for "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane", made in early 1967 and directed by Peter Goldman took the promotional film format to a new level. They used techniques borrowed from underground and avant garde film, including reversed film and slow motion, dramatic lighting, unusual camera angles and color filtering added in post-production.

Concert films were being released in the mid-1960s, at least as early as 1964.

The monochrome 1966 clip for Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" was featured in Pennebaker's Dylan film documentary Dont Look Back. Avoiding any attempt to simulate performance or present a narrative

The Australian TV shows Countdown and Sounds, both of which premiered in 1974, were significant in developing and popularizing the music video genre in Australia and other countries

The long-running British TV show Top of the Pops began playing music videos in the late 1970s

In 1980, David Bowie scored his first UK number one in nearly a decade thanks to director David Mallet's eye catching promo for "Ashes to Ashes"

In 1981, the U.S. video channel MTV launched, airing "Video Killed the Radio Star" and beginning an era of 24-hour-a-day music on television. With this new outlet for material, the music video would, by the mid-1980s, grow to play a central role in popular music marketing.


Two key innovations in the development of the modern music video were the development of relatively inexpensive and easy-to-use video recording and editing equipment, and the development of visual effects created with techniques such as image compositing. In this period, directors and the acts they worked with began to explore and expand the form and style of the genre, using more sophisticated effects in their videos, mixing film and video, and adding a storyline or plot to the music video.

In 1983, the most successful, influential and iconic music video of all time was released: the nearly 14-minute-long video for Michael Jackson's song "Thriller". The video set new standards for production, having cost US$800,000 to film.

Prior to Jackson's success, videos by African-American artists were rarely played on MTV

In 1984, MTV also launched the MTV Video Music Awards, an annual awards event that would come to underscore MTV's importance in the music industry.

In 1985, MTV launched the channel VH1, featuring softer music, and meant to cater to an older demographic than MTV. MTV Europe was launched in 1987, and MTV Asia in 1991. 

A lyric video is one in which the words to the song are the main element of the video. In 1987, Prince released a video for his song "Sign o' the Times". The video featured the song's words pulsing to the music presented along with abstract geometric shapes

In 1988, the MTV show Yo! MTV Raps debuted; the show helped to bring hip hop music to a mass audience for the first time.

Around the 1990's lyric videos were introduced which the words of the song are the main element of the video. A lyric video may be released separately by a music label prior to the more usual video featuring the artist.

MTV launched channels around the world to show music videos produced in each local market: MTV Latin Americain 1993, MTV India in 1996, and MTV Mandarin in 1997, among others. 

2005 saw the launch of the website YouTube, which made the viewing of online video much faster and easier; Google Videos, Yahoo! Video, Facebook and Myspace's video functionality use similar technology.

Vevo is a music video website launched by several major music publishers in December 2009. The videos on VEVO are syndicated to YouTube, with Google and VEVO sharing the advertising revenue.

Nudity - Joshua Manley 9645

Nudity in film is any presentation in films that involves people who are naked or wearing less clothing than contemporary norms consider modest". In some cases nudity is itself the object of a film or is used in the development of the character of the subject. In some cases, nudity has been criticized as excessive or being without apparent reason, cause, or justification to the plot, and some film producers have been accused of including nudity in a film to appeal to certain audiences. Many actors and actresses have appeared nude, or exposing parts of their bodies or dressed in ways considered provocative by contemporary standards at some point in their careers. American actress Adah Isaacs Menken created controversy in 1861 when she wore a flesh-colored bodystocking in the play Mazeppa, based on Byron's "Mazeppa", in which she played a Polish man who was tied nude to the back of a wild horse by his enemies. She also posed nude for photographs.

The appearance of nudity in music videos has caused controversy since the late 1970s, and several explicit videos have been censored or banned. Nudity has gained wider acceptance on European television, where audiences often view nudity and sexuality as less objectionable than the depiction of violence. In contrast, MTV, VH1 and other North American music-related television channels usually censor what they think is inappropriate and might be considered offensive to their viewers. In 1981, Soft Cell's music video Sex Dwarf, directed by Tim Pope, sparked controversy in the music industry due to Fully nude women tortured on table and covered in meat. Also being threatened by chain-saw wielding midgets while Marc Almond runs around wearing a jockstrap. This video was confiscated by the police, illustrating the shock and inappropriateness caused during this time period.

Censorship of music is the practice of restricting free access to musical works. This censorship may stem from a wide variety of motivations, including moral, political, military or religious reasons. Censorship can range from the complete government-enforced legal prohibition of a musical work, to private, voluntary removal of content when a musical work appears in a certain context. An example of this latter form of censorship is the radio edit. In terms of music videos, the moving images can be censored in various ways such a blurring or black, white or colour bars are used to covered the nude areas to make it more appropriate for the viewers. Censorship tends to be carried out by companies such as MTV, the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., has come under criticism for being too politically correct and sensitive, censoring too much of their programming. MTV altered or removed shows from the channel's schedule and music videos were censored, moved to late-night rotation, or banned entirely from the channel.

The acceptability of nudity in society differs in relation to the gender of the subject.From its early days the presence of nudity in a film has been controversial and even today its presence is invariably noted by critics and censors. Until the 1980s, male nudity was rarely shown on screen. Though female nudity was routinely treated with respect and solemnity, male nudity, when it finally found its way onto the screen, was generally treated humorously and mockingly. Today, though nudity in film is much more common, its presence in dramas is still expected to be justified on artistic grounds. This perhaps provides a sense of reasoning due to the fact that the media industry is in fact dominated by males, implying and understanding to why females are often used as an object or in a sexual manner much more in comparison to males. The platforms of acceptability differ between males and females. The general concurrence would be that it is deemed more acceptable for a man to be used as a form of nudity rather than a women as there is a tendency for them to be objectified. 

Despite the fact that nudity is generally more accepted in the modern day, within film and video controversy still remains. Most arguments revolving around the acceptability of nudity relate the standards of societies morality and modesty. However, the standard of controversy, disapproval and offence depends on several factors. This can be due to the actual content in which the nudity is used in and the nature to how it is displayed. This could perhaps relate to the actions, body language and acting used as well as the duration in which the explicit content is shown for. Also the parts of the body exposed and who is exposed can also cause the level of controversy to vary.