My music magazine advert for the album

Here is my finished piece

I used photoshop to create the advert because after using it for other products I have become fluent with it's use. I researched the dimensions for a magazine page and adjusted the canvas size to fit. Pages within a magazine are between 190mm to 210mm wide and 277mm to 297mm height. I decided to make mine slightly more even but still well within the tolerance.

My choice of colour for the banner is the same shade of blue as the title on the album cover. A colour scheme I am using is pink and blue, which is the iconic colour displayed on the album cover, the website for Jack and now the advert. If Jack were to become a famous celebrity it would be his signature colour scheme. I have the larger banner across the bottom with the main information, however I also decided to add a small strip along the top with the website url. I didn't want to clutter the bottom with lots of information, and I also thought the top looked slightly bare. The Jessie J advert doesn't have a banner along the top, however the Kins of Leon advert does. I assume it is entirely down to artist or editor preference.

The information I added in the bottom was somewhat inspired more by the Jessie J advert because I feel as an artist she is closer to the genre of music Jack creates. Seen as it is his first album I said his "debut album", the name of the album just to make it clearer, and also just a reminder that the album contains his new single. I didn't put the name of the single because the album is already the name of the song. I also decided to add a release date so people know when it is out, or when it came out to encourage them to get it soon.

I added an iTunes download icon and the YouTube logo because the video would be exhibited on YouTube on a channel such as Vevo. The magazine this ad would most likely be in is "We Pop" because it is aimed at young people who like pop music.

Research into music magazine adverts

In order to produce my own advert I first identified what an album advert should look like in a magazine. Some examples I found are Jessie J and Kings of Leon. Both adverts appear to be very similar with regards to layout, however they both feature different information in the lower portion. The most obvious similarity between the two is the album cover takes up around two thirds of the page, with the bottom section containing information about the release including dates, tracks and where it can be downloaded etc.

Here is the advert for Jessie J's album "Who you are"

Here is the album cover for Kings of Leon "_only_by_the_night"

I used both of these adverts for reference when I produced my own for Jack. I followed the same structure with the album cover itself being the biggest segment, and adding the information into the bottom portion.

Website homepage

I am using Wix to create my website homepage for Jack's single, as one of my ancillary products. The brief states that I only need to create a website homepage, therefore none of the other pages will link to anything. In order to avoid it looking like I never finished, any page link will link to this blog post. I have linked the Vimeo button to my Vimeo account, and the blogger link to my blog, however all other buttons will just link to this post.

I have used Carly Rae's website for ideas on how to structure a pop artist website.

As you can see the tabs along the top take you to other sections of the website including tour, music, photos, videos, store etc. I have taken this and created buttons on my website linked to similar pages where the audience and fans can find out more about Jack and other content. However seen as I only have to create the homepage there is no other content. Sorry to all of Jack's fans. 

The image above is actually the news page of the website, the first page presented when you click on the website link is just an image. I assume this image changes from time to time. I have created a page which somewhat resembles this page, however I have combined some other elements into it seen as I am only creating one page, I need to squeeze more content in. I have taken the news feed idea because I think it's a good way of keeping fans up to date. Also my target audience (insert here) is technologically literate and will want to check the latest news, making it an important feature of the website. 

I also like the large image on the screen of Carly, just to remind you that you're on her website. I have used the album cover image of Jack for the background because similarly to the way Carly's website has an image which is updated as the first thing you see, I think that the release of his new album is the most important piece of new, therefore I have made the cover the actual background of the homepage. 

Here is a screenshot of the actual website published on the internet. Wix allows you to make changes and update the website as you go, so nothing has been finalised yet. 

This is the top of the page. You can see the tabs to other pages, links to social networking because the target audience of the pop genre are usually heavy users of social networks. There is a gap on the right, at first I saw this as empty space that needed to be filled, however once I changed the background I have changed my mind. I think it makes it clearer that the background is actually a feature of the website, it's like a window really. 

Here is a view lower down the page. 

The news feed is located on the left hand side of the screen. There are numerous posts about events in Jack's celebrity career. I chose to do this because pop artists tend to be in magazines and other media in the "gossip" section. The news about pop artists isn't usually news as much as it is gossip., hence my choice to style it in that way. 

On the right hand side are some tour dates and cities, so fans can see when he will be touring. Just below the tour dates is a link to the music video. I have embedded the video also however the HD version can only be watched on Vimeo. 

I was surprised looking through Carly's website as it appears to be heavily unformatted. 

Maybe I should send her a link to my website, see if she is interested in taking some ideas. 

Here is the link to my website: http://calman117.wix.com/officialjackramsey

Satire or parody?

I have done some research on the differences between satire and parody to refine my decision on what angle I will come from regarding the original video as I don't intend to cause offence to anyone who enjoys the original, or to the original artist (not that she will ever see it).

The definition of satire according to Google is "the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues." This essentially means that satire is when you mock or joke about something which is a somewhat serious issue, however you do so by softening it with comedy.

The definition for parody is "an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect." This is different to a satire in the sense that it is more of a copy but a funnier version.

For example any of the Austin Powers movies is a parody of James Bond as it follows a similar narrative structure and even makes references to the James Bonds films. Whereas a good example of Satire is Weird Al Yankovics music videos. To select one, the video "White and Nerdy" is a comedic song about being a nerd in a neighbourhood of gangsters, and how they reject him because he's "too white and nerdy". The issue being mocked is discrimination, though it is not a laughing matter the video addresses it quite well without causing (too much) offence. However Weird Al's videos are usually also parodies, as he uses other music videos and songs as a template for his own. The song "White and nerdy" is a parody of "Ridin" by Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone.

Here is Weird Al's music video White and Nerdy


Here is Chamillioanire's music video Ridin

Target audience

This post is just to be clear about my target audience and how I will attract them with each product.

My music video is a parody of an existing video by Carly Rae Jepsen. For this reason anyone who is familiar with the song and has seen the video will know what I am parodying, and therefore hopefully notice the differences. The original video is aimed at a female audience because it is a romantic song, it is also aimed at younger people because Carly Jepsen's target audience is primarily girls of all ages up to around 25. I know lots of dudes who know the music video but can't stand it, so I am hoping that by recreating it they will have a reason to watch it and can enjoy the version I produce.

I have also extracted some more information from Pete Buckingham's audience theory, showing that music is something that appeals to men, women and young people more than film. This shows that music is something available to all genders and ages, however my product is steered towards younger people who are familiar with the original.

My target audience will be young people aged 15-25, either gender really, who appreciate that I have created a parody of a mainstream music video.

Change of plan

I have decided that I no longer want to create a digipak, I'd rather do a magazine cover advertising the digipak. The reason behind this decision change is that designing and producing a digipak is going to take time and resources, whereas I can produce a magazine cover easily on a program such as photoshop. I will need to do some research on magazine covers to identify the key features.

I will use magazines such as Q and top of the pops to Identify the features of a pop magazine which I will then use to produce my own. Because my target audience are young people, and the genre of the song is pop, my magazine will need to be suitable and appealing to that band. The original song is aimed at a female audience as love songs are far more aimed at a female audience than at males because they don't enjoy romantic media products as much as women, according to Pete Buckingham's research on audience types.

Production Planning- Main Production

My primary product I am making is a music video accompanied by a website homepage and an album digipak.

In order to meet the deadline I need to complete the following tasks;

Music video

In my music video I will need people to play the parts of the characters. I intend to use my friends as actors because I can easily contact them, and they are willing to help me. 

Website
I will create the website on my own rather than depending upon someone else to do it for me because I need to manage my time efficiently. I have some experience making websites from projects in the past where I have used website creators such as Wix.

Album digipak
To create the digipak itself I will use a template from a graphics project in my school and create my digipak using it as a guide. I have done engineering and resistant materials in the past so it shouldn't be hard for me to produce. I can even make it out of plastic using vacuum moulding.

Filming
Weather wise I have slight problem because I was hoping to keep my video quite similar to the original, however I am going to be filming between now and December to have it finished by January. This doesn't match the original video which is filmed on a sunny day in sub urban America. If it comes to it, I will add a filter to the video to make it appear to be sunnier than it really is. 

Production Planning- Audience

Over the next 2-3 months I am going to produce a music video as my main product, an album digipak for the band and a website homepage for the band as my two ancillary products. The target audience for my music video is anyone who is aware of the music video Call Me Maybe. The original song had mixed reviews, but a large proportion of people did not like the song, myself included, so I aim to put a twist on it so it can appeal to anyone who didn't enjoy the original. My version will again be dealing with the issue of homosexuality as done so in the original video, and as this is a matter children might not understand I am aiming my video at people aged roughly 15 upwards. In order to do this I am going to plan stages which will help me along the production line. I will need to get a better understanding of my audiences and find out what they are looking for in a music video, I will do this through different types of research.


Primary research

• Interviews- I will interview people who meet the criteria of my target audience to get an understanding of what they will want to see in the music video. I will most likely perform a semi formal interview, this means before we begin I will give them a quick outline of what I will be asking them so they can somewhat plan ahead for what they will be thinking about. If I did a formal interview I would have to provide a print out of the questions in advance so the recipient can plan all of their answers. 
• Focus groups- I will ask members of my media group for their opinions because they are all above the age 15 and are aware of the original song and music video. By my guessing I think a majority of my group are not fans of the original, therefore my version may seem more appealing to them. Asking my group is a better idea than asking my family because they will be able to provide me with useful feedback, whereas family would likely tell me everything I've done is brilliant and not be entirely honest. 
• Survey- I will also create a survey on survey monkey with some questions regarding my ideas for planning the content of the video to see what people think. To make sure I can use the information I will ask people who meet the criteria of my audience to take the survey. 

Secondary research

• I will use internet research to plan how I am going to distribute and exhibit my music video to my audience. Using the BBFC I will refine why I have chosen my target audience to be young people aged 15+, and I will also consider a rating for my music video due to it's content. 

What is a music video?

I have decided to analyse all of the components of a music video, hat it is, what makes it good or bad etc. to strip it to its most basic form as a product, a music video is a short moving image accompanying a song. The video will usually follow a narrative and tell a story related to the theme of the song, however some are not related at all and are purely for entertainment.

A music video can also be used as a promotional tool to promote the song itself or the band. Music videos can become more popular than the song, or at least significantly reinforce the number of consumers of the song. For example the song Call Me Maybe is a pretty basic song about love following the girl meets boy and falls in love story line. However in the video there is a twist at the end which reveals the boy to be gay, leaving the girl in a state of confusion. This comedic event is not in the actual song, therefore by watching the video as well the consumers get an extra level of entertainment.

Here is the music video for Call Me Maybe on Vimeo




Sometimes a music video can have a specific purpose, perhaps to convey a certain idea or story without mentioning it in the song, or it sometimes has a video which in no way relates to the song itself, but is there for entertainment purposes. A recent example is "Wont look back" by Duke Dumont. The song itself is somewhat about love, it is clearly a woman talking about how someone else makes her feel. However the video is three men robbing a store, wearing politician masks, with pogo sticks as weapons. They then proceed to escape on the pogo sticks as they are individually tracked down by a policeman on a segway who takes them out one by one. Personally I cannot find a link between the meaning of the song and that of the video, therefore the video is just there for entertainment.

Here is the video on Vimeo



Music videos are usually released to boost the sales of songs, this is because it just offers another way in which the song can be consumed, therefore widening the array of people that are able to consume the product. On iTunes it costs £0.99 for a song, and £1.89 for a music video, so if the song is successful then people will want to see the video for that extra level of consumption and entertainment. Most if not all music videos for songs nowadays can be found on streaming sites primarily YouTube.

Deconstruction of Call Me Maybe shot by shot

I am going to analyse the aspects of the music video Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen. In doing so I will have a better idea on how to recreate the video ensuring I keep my parody similar to the original video. Firstly I will do a shot by shot analysis of the entire music video. I will then use this almost as a structure for my version of the video in order to keep it a similar length and to keep the scenes as accurate as possible.

22/01/15
I never did this deconstruction as I found that it would've been of no use to me. I did however use the original video to construct my storyboard frame by frame. I simply watched the video pausing after every cut and drawing a new shot on my storyboard for each new shot. I added notes about effects such as slow motion or blurring, also camera angles and movements such as panning. The storyboards proved incredibly useful during the shoot as I used them as a guide for which shot I needed to film next. This kept everyone on task and helped me organise filming.

31/03/15
Oops, forgot to upload it here. I have added a new post containing an Emaze I made analysing my storyboards.

Audience types

Here are some different types of audience my products may be viewed by. I have taken into account that my main product is a parody music video and will be distributed using modern digital means rather than traditional means such as CD and radio etc. 

• Passive= The product is received by the audience, but they choose not to engage with it. 

• Active= The choice is made by the audience to consume the product, and to actively engage with it. 

• Preferred= The target audience whom the product itself is aimed at. 

• Oppositional= A potential target audience who require persuasion from the industry.

• Traditional= Stick to safety and familiarity by watching videos on TV and buying CDs. 

• Hedonist= Take risks by watching/listening to new, different and challenging conventional music videos/music. 

• Post-modern= Use new ways of watching music videos/listening to music, such as streaming and parodying etc.

Being a parody music video it will very much apply to a post modern audience because post modernism is about taking old things and putting a twist on them to make them appealing to a modern, younger audience. I am also hoping to hit the active audience because I am relying on people voluntarily getting involved to help me spread awareness of my products, because I wont be using any above the line advertising due to the scale of my products. 

My choice of Brief

For my second presentation I created a Prezi about which brief I would be choosing. I chose brief 1 which was A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with a website homepage for the band, and a cover for it's release as part of a digipak.

I had originally decided to do brief 2 which was a promotion package for a new film with the main product being a teaser trailer. I decided not to do this idea because I had a good idea and a plan for a parody music video which I wanted to do, however producing a teaser trailer would include coming up with a plot for an entire movie and compacting it down to only several scenes which I would put in the trailer. This is where I came up with the idea of a parody movie, however I preferred the idea of doing a parody music video as opposed to a teaser trailer for a parody movie.

Here is the Prezi I made:

Genre

The media type of my main product is a music video, the sub genre of the video is parody because it is a version of an existing music video (Call me maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen).
Here is a link to my prezi explaining my three products and the genres of each: