Creating a magazine advert

Today I started work on creating a magazine advert for the band I am creating the music video for. I started by looking for previous examples of bands magazine adverts to see what conventions the use which I will try to follow.

Like the digipak, I used the program Adobe Photoshop to create the advert. to make the advert I used the front cover image of the digipak so that people will recognise the album after seeing the digipak. I then added copyright information to give the advert institutional context. I also added reviews to the advert because from my research about magazine adverts I found that most of them have reviews so that people can see what other people think of the album which can make them want to buy the album if it has been highly rated by others.

After making the advert I found people from my target audience and I asked them what they thought of the advert. They said that they liked the picture but they thought that there was too much editing which made the advert look weird. After the redesign of my digipak I felt that I had to change the image to keep the convention of linking the image of the digipak with the advert. I also added tour dates to the advert as from further research I found that the artist usually tours after releasing a new album.

Magazine advert research

Before making my magazine advert to advertise the album of the artist, I decided to research existing magazine adverts for bands.

I made a comparison of the Foo Fighters ‘Greatest Hits’ album and the advert to promote the album. They both had their similarities and their differences but I found that magazine adverts use the same image of the front of the digipak.

advert and digipak comparison

 

Digipack designs

After researching existing digipacks I started to design my own digipack to go with my music video. To do this I will use relevant photos and compile them on the different sides. To get the dimensions for the digipack I will use a template. This will help me to design the digipack as it will allow me to know the dimensions.

Digipack Template

I then started to collect photos from either taking them at a separate photo shoot or by using screen shots.

One of the photos I collected from a separate photo shoot is the back cover image. After taking the photo I then edited it using Adobe Photoshop.

I then put them on the templateand added information like the barcode and copyright information will also add the barcode and the copyright information from the actual single so that it will meet with the digipack requirements.

Album Artwork Artists

As part of my research of digipak I also decided to take and auter approach to researching  album artwork which is looking at works by artist rather than genre. One of the main artists I looked at was Storm Thorgerson

The album cover for Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’. One of Thorgersons most recognisable album covers

This is the album cover of the album ‘Immersion’ by Pendulum which was designed by Thorgerson

Thorgerson is a British designer and artist responsible for album artwork for artists such as Pink Floyd and Muse. During his exhibition in 2010 Thorgerson highlighted the process of designing album artwork

The Brief

First of all the designer gets inspiration by listening to demos of the music, reads the lyrics and has conversations with the artist. By doing this it creates what Thorgerson calls a ‘Brain Soup’ from which he could draw ideas from. 

Roughs

After several conversations with the artist Thorgerson would try to decide on a main theme or ideas. From these several ideas or ‘Roughs’ would be made.

Tests

Once a rough  and a budget has been agreed, prototypes are created to make sure the idea works.

Shoot 

A location is researched and booked, which can take a long-time if outdoors and in uncertain weather. Models are erected and positioned, with help from volunteers if the shoot is big and complex. A wide range of photographs are then taken, under varying light/weather conditions and filters

Editing

This could be called ‘selection’, where the best shot from the shoot is chosen. This can take several days, if hundreds of similar shots need to be compared.

Artwork

Finally, having chosen the perfect shot, any cleaning-up or final computer editing is performed, before handing over the final product

Digipack research

From doing research on Digpacks I have found that:

Digipacks are a type of CD packaging made out of card stock or other heavy paper/cardboard material. Digipacks can flip open like a book, or it can have three parts, so that one portion of the packaging opens to the right and one to the left, with the CD in the center portion

I have also found that the album artwork is very important to the sales of an album. This is evident by this quote from the website ‘Designbump’

A powerful photograph could be all it takes to increase an albums amount of sales

From doing some more research I have found that albums can be distinguished into five types depending on their art work. The source I found this from is http://www.denisdesigns.com/blog/2010/04/amazing-album-cover-art/

The five types are:

Illustration/Painting

In these album covers there are no photos, they are made with illustrations or paintings.

Minimal

These album covers use photos and illustrations, but what makes them different is the large amount of space and the minimal visual elements. Many of these covers use their logos for the main visual artwork.

Photo

The main visual element for these album covers is a photo, usually either showing the band or having some connection to the title of the album.

Photomanipulation

These album covers use edited and manipulated photos as their artwork.

Found Objects

This group of album covers feature art that looks like found objects with the band name and album name on it.

New Risk Assesment

Before I started filming conducted a risk assesment around the locations of where I will film to make sure anyone helping with the filming of the music video will be safe.

Risk Assessment

New Location report

For my new idea I will have new locations. I did this because the mood of the new song has changed so took the creative decision to change the location.

The locations I will use are:

• William Law School/ Emmanuel Church
• Paths around William Law School/ Emmanuel Church

I have chosen Emmanuel church because it is a good backdrop for the video. This location will be the main location for the video as it will be seen in the chorus and parts of the verses.

I have chosen the paths around William Law School/ Emmanuel Church  for the verses because creatively the trees around the path fit in with the mood of the song about the characters walking without God.

Risk Assesment

After completing a location report about where I will film I conducted a risk assesment. I did this to make sure that the locations in which I wanted to film were safe so that when I film my music video there would be no health and safety issues. After looking at all these safety issues I will be able to adress them accordingly makiong everyone who is in the video safe.

Filming at the house
Possible Hazards	Level of risk
1. Wires lying about	Medium
2. Moving Furniture	Medium
3. Moving heavy props	Medium
Precautions
1. Move wires so they are out of the   way or stick them down to the floor so people don’t trip over them
2. Bend your knees when moving furniture so to not hurt your back
3. Bend your knees when moving heavy props so to not hurt your back

Location Report

Before I started filming I assessed different locations of where I will film my music video. After looking at my plan for my video I decided on a guys bedroom. I have used this location as I think that for the first bit of the song because I think that it will give a good feel of authenticity and also cut the risk of inconvenience.

I will also use another location because when the girldfriends bit comes in there is a change in location

Location Shot 5

Location Shot 7

Storyboarding my Music Video

Today I created a storyboard of my music video. I did this so that it will give me a rough idea of what is going on in the scene

Before I started to draw my story board I did some research to find an example of a storyboard for a music video. I did this to see how professional music video producers make products for different artists.The storyboard has the planned scene drawn in and the lyrics and directions for the actors to follow.

Another way of planning the shots of a music video is by making a shot list. A shot list is the lyrics of the song with directions for the actors to follow. I have done this so that the actors can follow what I want to be happening in the scene.

Somebody that I used to know shot list