Myspace

As we need to do a website as part of our project we decided to make a band Myspace. I haven't used Myspace in quite a while and especially not band websites so i decided to look up a couple that are most relevant to our artist and look at the style and layout of their sites.

Two that I tended to get quite a lot of inspiration from where Katy Perry and Lily Allen :)

• http://www.myspace.com/katyperry
• http://www.myspace.com/lilymusic

Common things:
* black background
*banner to promote album
*numerous MV streamed
*bright colours from pictures
*blog entries

Bearing that in mind, we tried to incorporate as many of these conventions as possible because our artist is too a female solo artist.

Audience Feedback

After looking through all 19 questionnaires (14 girls&5 boys) we wrote up what we got from them and how they helped us. The range of question we asked were good because it allowed us to know straight up who liked it and who didn't, and why they had their reasons.

(1) Everybody we asked said the video looked proffessional.
Many of the reasons for this were:

• The changing clothes
• effects
• the fact there was so much going on
• it was eye catching
• quirky
• fun
• bright colours

(3) Strangely, in reference to question 3, two music videos that came up were Kesha- Tik Tok and Duffy- Warwick Avenue. This was good because these were definitely two references that we had considered when choosing effects (black&white) and deciding on our narrative (taxi).

(4) The majority of our audience seemed to understand that our music video was performance and concept based.  People identified the themes of our video being; lost love- break up, London, femininity and youth, independance and fun.
    
(5) It was really good that they got the genre. Some even specified retro pop/alternative pop. This is good it meant we successfully put our genre across.

(6) words that came up frequently when talking about Skye's identity were quirky, likeable, young, pretty, individual, appealing, fun to watch, original, fashionable, flirty/sexy

(7) They listed a lot of mainstream music channels that it would be shown on such as 4music, MTV, The Box, TMF, The Hits, MTV hits, NME, Q

(8) They listed a lot of mainstream magazines that it would be reviewed in such as Time Out, Smash hits, mainstream music, NME, Glamour

(9) When asked if they wanted to watch it several times over 74% said yes, 10% said no, 16% said maybe – which I think are pretty good results.

(10) About half of our audience said they would spend money to download the single

(11) Some of our audiences favourite moments included the clothes changing, the split screens, the end shots, a lot of people liked the reaction shots, and loads of people loved it when Skye danced with the random guy.

(12) When asked for criticisms people noticed that some of it was out of sync, they thought the change from b&w to colour was too sudden, they wanted more retro clothes, more random people in the video and one person didn’t like Sian’s green lips on the album cover.

(13) Everyone said they liked the album cover and MySpace and that it fitted well with the video. They said it fits perfectly. It glamorous, it looks very professional and the SKYE cover is great.


I think our audience feedback session was a great success, we got some really good comments back, and the criticisms were things we were either aware of already or weren't too hard to change.

Audience Feedback

Now our main product and ancillary texts are completed, the final thing we need to do is get our target audience in for a screening and get their views on all 3 products :)

In order to know what our audience really think, we decided to make a questionnaire, this way we could work out the common comments/criticisms that occured and know what needs changing.

1) Does the video look like a music video - if so in what way



2) Does it entertain you - if so how


3) What other music videos would you compare it to


4) Can you describe the narrative, theme or concept of the video


5) What is the genre of this music video


6) Can you tell us anything about the identity of the artist AND do you find her appealing…if so, why


7) Which music channel would you expect to see this playing on


8) Which music magazine might it be reviewed in


9) Would you want to watch it several times over


10) Would you be willing to spend money to download this single


11) What was your favourite moment in the video


12) Do you have any criticisms – (be honest)


13) Do you like the look of the Album cover and Myspace – do they fit with the video

We booked our screening with the teacher yesterday lunchtime, and it was a great success as we managed to get 19 questionnaires filled in which was a sufficient amount of people because it meant we have more data to work with.

Question 2 planning

It was one of my tasks to plan for question 2 and so I did some research back into all three products.

Ok so for our project we had to produce a main product (music video) along side a website (Myspace) and an album cover (digipak). Having finished all three products it is evident that work very well together, from the colour schemes to the way Skye is presented in all three.
From looking over the video I realised the constant bright colours in the costumes and graffiti around Bricklane, we thought it would be ideal to incorporate both aspects in the ancillary texts. This way Skye has a constant image and branding, which fans will remember and associate with her.

The video, shows Skye as a fun, young, quirky female who enjoys being independent, and by dancing round London shows she is able to move on from things and enjoy herself. They will see it and think if she can do it then so can we, this image of Skye really helps when trying to appeal to or female target audience. Additionally, although we didn't try and put across a voyeuristic image, we managed to anyway because she is an attractive female.
Myspace, again has all the bright colours and artwork from the album cover, this is working alongside the album cover because both products include this image. The pictures uploaded onto her page work with the promotion of her new single because people with see the images from the shoot, see how exciting it looks and therefore go and download her single.
The album cover has numerous images of Vinyl records on it which promotes the genre of the song.

Overall, I think our combination is very effective because they all portray a strong brand and image of Skye. The Myspace gives a bit more depth into her personal life, however has the artwork from the album and has the music video streamed onto it. The album cover shows an image of her on her shoot as well as 4 completely different images of her on the front cover, which show many different components of her personality to the audience. Finally, the music video portrays her as a young female who is outgoing and wants to go out and have fun. Swinging round lampposts and dancing down Bricklane, isn't a usual activity for people to do and so people like watching it because it makes them laugh and some part of them wishes they had the confidence to do it too. One part of our video that our target audience seemed to really enjoy was when she starts singing with the guy in the road; this was completely spontaneous which is why it works so much better.

Skye's branding

Unlike most music videos of solo female artists, we decided we didn't want to make our video scopophilic. Mainly because we see Skye as a young outgoing person who doesn't need to be voyeuristic in order to draw in her audiences. We liked the idea of keeping Skye's image innocent and give the impression of young girl who likes to go out and have fun.
Even though we drifted from this image, looking back on our feedback people said they would watch it again because she was good looking and that interested them in the video.

I think leaning away from the sexy, voyeuristic image is a much more effective way of getting peoples attentions because from experience, watching Mariah Carey's videos, i become disinterested almost immediately. I think this is purely because although she has an incredible voice, the majority of her videos are of her in skimpy dresses whilst looking into the camera at all times, and yes this may appeal to the boys much more, but therefore if the girls dislike it then she is still losing a major target audience.

Even from the image above, it is sexy, where as with Skye we tried to spur away from that and use images that were her casual self and showed of her kooky side without her having to flaunt herself.

This definitely works much better because all three products bounce off each other and all three shows off the same impersonation of her as an audience we view her. None of the products show her as anything but a young female who just wants to have fun, and that image is much more innocent and is what is drawing in our main target audiences.

Artist name

We were having slight trouble when trying to think of an artist name for Sian.

We came up with a few:

Sapphire
Skye
Sparky

we really couldn't think of whether we wanted either only a first name or a second name too.
It was so hard trying to find a name, we were just thinking of perhaps keeping her name.

We decided on doing a vote, and asking numerous people what they thought would best suit her image/style!

The results came back that 60% really liked SKYE and a close 40% liked Sapphire, however noone seemed to like the idea of Sparky.
We tried to ask as many of our target audience what they thought too, as this is essentially who we are trying to attract and so their opinion is valued.

Inspiration

For our music video we got a lot of inspiration from the 'Next' Autumn advert, we found this advert and as soon as we watched it we realised it is exactly the effect we wanted for our own video. We really liked the transitions between black and white, and how her costumes change too, just as either a bus passes or she walks past a lamppost. This was the general effect we were trying to create for ours.

At 0.06, where the shot moves from colour to white&black, this is the look we were going for, we also wanted to get footage of some of the signs arounds London so we could do a cut away to them allowing the audience to easily understand the location. At 0.08, I really like this shot where she changes from a dress to a coat this it what we were trying to create when we made our lamppost change. Additionally, we did try to do this with a revolving door, however it didn't work well because the speed didn't seem right.


Above is Kesha- Tik Tok video was also a good video that we took inspiration from, again because of the nice quick transitions between black&white and colour. At 1.34, while she is in the car with the guy there are some really nice tight changes between the colours. I like this very much because the transitions are very subtle and the fact that there are lots but quick, it has more of an effect.

Album covers

What are the typical features of an album cover?

• Album name
• Band name
• Main image- generally of the band/artist
• Colour scheme that follows both back & front
• Institutional logos/name
  
• Track listings
• Bar codes
• Parental Advisory
• Price labels
• Top chart stickers
• No.1 notifications
• Names of all producers and people in the making
• Interlinking images on both front and back
  

How would you categorize album covers?

• Genre
• Release date
• Style
• Image type
• Audience
• Year of band
• Artist
• Band
• Number of albums
  

What are the purposes of album covers?

• Show genre
• Allow information of the track
• Promote the artist
• Word of mouth
• Create and identity for the band/artist
• Inform audience

Album cover analysis

Razorlight 'Up all night'

Again I do not know much about this band however, i was drawn to it. I think I'm drawn to the covers where the artists/bands aren't shown. i think it is more of a cover when you should know which band it is without having to see a visual of them.
This album cover is very retro and i like it, there is so much going on in a very simple way it makes you want to look at it carefully just so you can actually see whats there.


Front Cover:

• 'Razorlight Up all night' black bold font
• old fashioned TV top right of cover
• many different images and objects scattered across cover
• white background image of razorlight top
• vinyls
• keys to room at fowley Cornwall
• postcards
• swipe card
• paper with notes on

Spine:

• black background
• white text writing
• Razorlight in caps and large font
• 'up all night' in white print
• reference code
  
• hand written notes in black
  
• white background

Back Cover:

• white margin
• rest is white with black dots on it
• two strips of paper: white and red
• white has song titles:
• black bold font, different letters are different fonts and sizes
• left of is quotes 'to be played at maximum volume'
• red strip has the information of production/recording companies
• bar code underneath white piece of paper
• logo at bottom

Again, this album cover really appealed to me, i seem to like the ones that are different and with no artist on the cover.
The back cover on this is very different to any i have seen, in that the information and bar code are usually printed across the bottom in small print, however here it has been printed next to the song titles. Therefore neither are domination, and expressing both are just as important.

Album cover analysis

The Lemonheads 'All of these things sank'

I've decided to analyse this album cover, to be fair i do not know anything about this band but found the cover lurking my house and it really caught my eye.
A slight description of who they actually are, well, they are an American alternatice rockband formed in 1986 formed by singer/guitarist Evan Dando, who has been the bands only constant member.

I chose this band purely because out of the majority of them it was the most different and has something obviously strange about it that draws you to want to pick it up- which i think is needed in an Album cover.

The front:

• A childish looking cover
• background of a roughly coloured in piece of paper
• tatty white piece of paper stuck over
• dead space between images and writing
  
• 4 random images drawn like a toddler would've drawn them; car, button, 2p & cloth
• ^ car, button, cloth is the name of the album
  
• name of band written in red at the very bottom
• a brown 2p
• blue car
• yellow cloth with dots in
• red button
• all writing exc. name of band is black
• Name of band is in red

Spine:

• inside has alternating drawings of a van and a spikey dog thing
• lemonheads in pink
• car button cloth in white
• black background
• TAG recordings
• reference code

Back cover:

• 13 songs in black
• very small song titles left of side
• 3 cut out pictures of car cloth and button stuck acros the back
• big bold cartoon dog dominating the cover
• rough brown background
• bar code bottom left
• bottom right the information of production of the cover
• bottom centre logos
• 'produced by Bryce Goggin' small bottom of cover
  

Overall, the album cover follows the majority of the conventions and to me is a very well thought cover. It is different, easy and moreover very simplistic.
As they say 'little is more'

The 4 p's

a) What band/artist related products can the audiences buy?
Cd's (albums/singles), artists products (merchandise)

b) Where can audiences buy/listen to music/merchandise/hardware?
Band sites, gigs, festivals, radio, television, their myspace/facebook pages, downloading sites, internet.

c) give 2 or 3 examples of paid-for/subscription based and free products.
Examples of paid-for products are CD's bought on the net or in store, merchandise from sites or stores and magazines which specialise for music.
Examples of free products are music downloads, free concert tickets/gigs.

d) list between 5 and 10 examples of creative music marketing strategies.
Mika- he has a loyalty scheme on his main website and he has a trade points system for whenever you download, therefore to encourage audiences to download more.
Muse- they released a new single that was about the world emerging and world unity and so the listeners had to find different pieces of the dong around the world.
Numerous bands- They send out messages inviting viewers and fans to go and be in their music video, this way they are really satisfying their fans as a major fan of a band would love to go and start in one of their favorite bands videos. They also send out messages and bulletins to their fans.

e) who is frukt uk and what is their mission statement/company ethos?
They are a music marketing agency who use music to market products. For instance on their site they are selling merchandise like Lady Gaga headphones. They only deal with music and use both online and offline ways to market their products.

Costume

This image is one of my favorite out of all of them just because it looks really good and i like the idea of keeping some colour constant through the video even if we do decide to do some shots in black and white, then portraying the difference between being overally bright and bold to being black and white.

The picture was done for one of my friends art projects, it was very well thought through because she looks like an upper class girl in a posh red frock posing on a park bench in the middle of Edmonton green. And I like the contrasting storyline to the picture, it really makes you want to look at it.

Which is why i really think it will be good for our video because of course what we want to do its keep the audience engaged.

Actress

Ok so I recently asked our choice of actress whether she is willing to star in our music video, and at first she wasn't too happy about it but once i played her the song and she heard about our treatment she was beginning to really like the idea of it.

Actress- Sian Parkinson
She is a blonde female aged 17, who is very petite and quirky.
I think she is perfect for the part because although she may not be an amazing performer she is very stylish and so will feel comfortable wearing the outfits we have for her. Sian has her own unique style, and doesn't always tend to follow the new modern 'it' fashion trends- this is absolutely perfect for our video and we too are looking for the 1960's fashion and she is very much so into that era!

Above are just a few pictures I have found that not only best explain her but also give the group a sense of her style and what best suits her!

Initial Ideas

A major video that has inspired me has been the 'Next advert- from September 2009'.
There are many different still shots within the video that have really helped me when thinking up our treatment. Firstly there are the split screens which i am really keen about, i find the normal 2 split scene quite boring and think a split screen with about 3 or 4 different screens will have a much better effect. Imagining each shot is something different; either our actress dancing around london streets, london phone boxes, lamposts and just the general environment.


Additionally, after our feedback session with Miss.Blackborow she also thought a cut away to many different signs around London would look effective, Mainly of the most popular signs around London. E.g. Fashion centrals, Bricklane, Bond Street, Notting Hill and perhaps Carnaby Street.
Images of the shop fronts would be good.

Below is the Youtube link to the advert.
At 0.07- the reference for signs.
From 0.12-0.17 is the reference for the split scenes
From 0.20- is our group idea of a studio set except we would like ours to be without colour, & a plain white background.



Also thorughout the video it changes in and out from colour to black and white, I think this, if done well, can look really good.

Final song idea

hang up the chick habit
hang it up, daddy,
or you'll be alone in a quick
hang up the chick habit
hang it up, daddy,
or you'll never get another fix

i'm telling you it's not a trick
pay attention, don't be thick
or you're liable to get licked

you're gonna see the reason why
when they're spitting in your eye
they'll be spitting in your eye

hang up the chick habit
hang it up, daddy,
a girl's not a tonic or a pill
hang up the chick habit
hang it up, daddy,
you're just jonesing for a spill

oh, how your bubble's gonna burst
when you meet another nurse
she'll be driving in a hearse

you're gonna need a heap of glue
when they all catch up with you
and they cut you up in two

now your ears are ringing
the birds have stopped their singing
everything is turning grey

no candy in your till
no cutie left to thrill
you're alone on a tuesday

hang up the chick habit
hang it up, daddy,
or you'll be alone in a quick
hang up the chick habit
hang it up, daddy,
or you'll never get another fix

i'm telling you it's not a trick
pay attention, don't be thick
or you're liable to get licked

you're gonna see the reason why
when they're spitting in your eye
they'll be spitting in your eye

Brainstorms

Before our meeting with the teacher, Hannah and I decided to jot a few ideas down in the form of a brainstorm.
I think this is the easiest way to get lots of ideas because once we started writing things down more ideas start to come to mind. When i start my treatment im going to try and draw as mant brainstorms as possible because they are a rough but yet a really good way to remember things you may have thought about hours ago.



Above is one just on our overall ideas, we jotted down anything we liked the sound on.
Then below, we decided to specify a bit more on things such as location and costume.
We still haven't completely thought things through, just suggestions.

Initial song ideas

Above is 'One A' by Ill Scarlett.
I really like this song because right from the very beginning it starts off on an upbeat and you can tell the mood of the song will be happy:]
Because the lyrics are quite repetative it means a narrative isn't needed but instead we could incorporate the idea of fast cut shots between a band playing to people going mad on streets/or dancing.
At 2.54 the pace begins to quicken even more with a clear drum roll, here you can really feel a build up to louder and stronger playing on the instruments.
I could really picture doing a video to a track just like this, although like i said the lyrics are very repetative, it just seems to be a great tune to be able to dance to. This is a song that not many people listen to and dont shake to the beat. Additionally, i dont think people would get very bored by it. Its too upbeat, which is very contrasting because the song is about wanting to get away from himself and taking drugs is the first way to do it, but yet the music would incinuate that the song would be happy.
However, this song's lyrics do involve a lot on the subject of drugs, therefore probably isn't the best choice of songs. But i just wanted to give my group an idea of what sort of tempo/tune and style of track i would love to do a music video to.

Marketing Strategies

We were given a list of bands/artists to choose from and analyse 5 questions on them.

Me and Arti chose Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, a 24 year old singer, formerly known as Katy Perry:

1/ Summarise the changing image of the band/artist as it has developed over time. It might also be useful to summarise the music genre also.
Katy perry started off much more casually dressed but over time she has turned into a new fashion icon with her uniqueness and her confidence to wear extravagant clothing. When she released her first single 'Ur so gay' in 2003 her outfits still being quite over the top where still not as extrvagent as her styler to this day. It seems nowadays that Katy Perry, Lilly Allen and Lady GaGa seem to be competing in what they choose to wear. Their ourfits are unique and stylized, they tend to be outfits you would wear only if you had the confidence to pull them off. People are now beginning to watch their music videos alot more not only for their music but also to see what new and wild costumes they are wearing. Katy Perry also started of blonde, but over the years began to change her hair colour until now finally stopping at brunette. The new dyed hair makes her look much more sophisticated and more of a pop idol.

2. Who are the fans? Do you have any sense of how the music companies have segmented the audiences? To what extent has the branding of a band been linked to target audience?
I would suggest that her fans base and dominately teenage girls, based on what her official website looks like. Her website has a lot of pink images and some of the links to it are very girly such as 'dear diary'. Also doing along her unique fashion and style we would assume she is trying to target the females. Her website also has a 'store' link which is online shopping of her merchandise- they sell girls tops and underwear- again suggesting her fans are female.
She also draws in all pop music fans in general, her secodnary audience: Gay & lesbian. We can think this from a couple of her singles, 'ur so gay' and 'i kissed a girl'.

Her album covers:
Ur so gay- this could target both boys and girls because she is doing a cheek pose and isn't dressed up in either really girly or boyish clothing.
one of the boys- where as this album cover is much more girlier, with her nice outfits and lots of pink.

3. What marketing strategies can you identify? What kinds of stategies can you list?(above/below-the line? unexpected promo stunts? etc). List any examples of the use of synergy with other industries to promote other media/products in connection with a band/artist.

• Katy Perry has her own official myspace page and official website(http://www.katyperry.com/)
• She was the female vicalist for The Matrix which is promoting her widely.
• She made cameo appearances in Gym Class Heroes single, along with starring in the ABC family tv serios 'wildfire'- episode 'Life's too short'
• She had reviews on magazines uch as NME and newspapers.
• Her tour starting in January also promoted her as an artist.
  

Her marketing and advertising is above the line strategies because they are things that have to be budgeted, however her below the line strategies are the cameo appearances and reviews in the press, all things in which she doesn't have to pay for.

A quote made by Katy Perry herself, 'some songs are meant to make you cry, but there are others to make youd ance and sing'- This could be focused at girls because they're much more emotinal than boys.

Carol Vernallis

She suggests that the jumping camera focus is like the camera in place of our eyes, doing what we do when we lsiten. However, this is predefined for us by the Director- we have even less choice to look away/outside of the Director's choice than we do in film- do you agree?
I do agree with what she suggests, because during a film it is much easier to ose focus on a certain feature purely because the shots are much longer. Where as contrastingly in a music video the shots are much quicker paced and tight cut, which means there is less time for the audience to focus on anything but what is being shown during the music video. The tight cut shots and unusual imagery used is put in deliberately in order for them toe nsure the audience are enticed. it is much easier to realise earlier on in a film whether or not you are enjoying it, than it is on a music video.

She says music video is more like listening than viewing- do you agree?
I disagree with this comment. i think that the point of a music video is to see the attitudes of the bands and whether or not how they've decided to show their song would be the same understanding as yourself. i mainly disagree because us, as an audience, are given two choices in the first place, whether you just want to listen to the song or whether you want the visual plaesure of it too. if you didn't want to see it then you would easily just choose to listen to the track.

"we compensate imaginatively for what we do not see in the frame"- agreed?
I agree, because what we fail to see in a shot we will interpret our own way and imagine what we want to see. with the information missing, our minds will fill in the blanks by connecting together the information we already know.

"The constant motion in a music video and the variances it shows mean that a strong CU is a stable point. The music video "brings us towards these peaks, holds us against them, and then releases us" - do you agree?
yes, i agree. A strong CU is a stable point because it is this still shot in which we begin to feel at ease and more familiar to the artist. Because here we are being brought in closer to the performers face, we feel much more confortable watching them. Because we feel like they are drawing in the audience a lot more.

Is the viewer "sutured (stitched) into the diegesis of the film world through the editing"?
Yes i agree, because the editing is one of the main features of the music video. I think they are sutured into the diegesis through the editing because it is how the shots are positioned and paced that allows us to create the variety of stories. The editing of a sequence can really make a difference to the meaning of the film.

Music video is freer in terms of viewr identification and perspective- agreed?
I don't agree completely with this. Because although a music video is more flexible and viewers can be more lenient with their views, it is still quite a short time to have many shots and what you see is exactly what the director wants you to see. Adapting on the short time, there is not enough time during the quick shots to allow different viewer identification. What you see is what you get essentially. There is not enough time for us to create a different image from what we have seen.

Carol Vernallis believes the image along cannot tell the story- do you agree?
Yes i agree. An image does tell the story slightly, but alone a story cannot be portrayed. Imagine a video without the music, all you would see are the frames, but without the pace/tune of the song you would have no idead what the story was saying. Music is essential, it's what tells us how to feel, a faster paced song may be known as a happier song than a much slower paced one. So, although the images are constant, you cannot tell the mood of the story without the music.

Ideas for songs

Ok, so we are now back from a lovely hot summer away.
Therefore meaning ive had a lot of time away to think up a list of songs.

I have a couple in mind that i will pitch to my group at out next meeting, but some factors i have considered when considering the right choice of song are written below.

I dont think a narrative will look very effective in our music video, I think using a narrative can either make or break it.
I would like to produce a fast paced video, as i think this will keep the audience's concentration.
I also think we need something unique in our music video in order to keep the audience hooked and want to view it over and over again!

A few songs i have in mind are:
OneA, NTF, Pacino <-- all by Ill Scarlett (a canadian band)
The unconfortable truth<--- by Nneka


I am really into Ill Scarlett and think their songs could work really well as one of our music videos. They are a band introduced to me a while ago by a friend, a band which i would never listened to myself.


I will post each song through another post and write what i do and do not like about it.
Then during our next group meeting i will pitch my song choices to them.