eVALUATIONS Issue no. 54
FLORENCE WELCH REVIEWS THE TOP 10
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MUSIC VIDEOS EVALUATIONS LOVESTRONG MONIQUE TODD HYDE PARK STUDIO FOOTAGE CRANE STEADYCAM LIGHTS THOUSAND YEARS CHRISTINA PERRI
BEHIND THE SCENES OF LOVESTRONG
THE INVENTION OF
LOVESTRONG
THE DEBUT ALBUM BY MONIQUE TODD
IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS? Ancillary 1 – Magazine Advert
A magazine advert promoting a new album has a main purpose of convincing the audience to buy the album. To successfully achieve this, producers must follow some key conventions when creating this advert to ensure that it is fit for purpose. The magazine advert promoting the Lovestrong album consists of the artist’s name, the title of the album, the release date and also reviews from other well respected artists of the same genre. By having all of this information, it is clear for audiences to see the purpose of the advert, as well as gaining knowledge about the album information, which is an important aspect of any media text as suggested by Levi-Straus’ Uses and Gratifications Theory. Conventionally, the reviews written on the front of the advert would be from critics or magazines; however these conventions were
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LOVESTRONG
challenged for the Lovestrong poster as it was decided that reviews and quotes from her fellow musicians such OUT O “Every melody sent as Florshivers down my spine.” Including the ence Welch - Florence Welch would be ‘A Thousan used instead to furfont stand out for being so ther emphaunique and not only does sise the authenticity of the this represent the artist and music and the respect that her style of authentic music, others have for this artist. but it also A unique THESE PATTERNS catches font called the maga‘Kg WhY YoU DEPICT THE zine readGoTtA Be So er’s eye MeAn’ was more than used for the OF THE MUSIC a standard title of the font like album and Times New the artist’s Roman would. name. This text is slightly Floral patterns outline the quirky in the way that the image of the artist in the letters are not equally centre of the page. These lined up and some parts patterns depict the auare thicker than others. thenticity of the music by This quirkiness makes the
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AUTHENTICITY
Question 1
G
The debut album by
Monique Todd
ON
e hit single
nd Years’
“Monique’s voice brought me to tears...” - Laura Marling
reminding the audience of an old portrait in a carved frame. This idea of historic beauty is continued throughout the products such as the use of the old letter in the music video. Furthermore, last minute touches such as colour correcting the images and using the text tools on InDesign to make ‘The debut album by’ wider all helped to make this poster look even more realistic and authentic. Rather than just having one portrait A4 poster, this convention was developed and
resulted in the creation of two different posters – one portrait and one landscape. The landscape poster is less detailed as it was decided that this one would be used in larger spaces such as on a billboard. As drivers or pedestrians are moving past the billboard, it is more important to have just the vital information so that it is easily recognisable by the public. For JUNE 2014
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example, on the landscape poster there is no information about the platforms that the album is available on and the release date just says ‘out now’ compared to the more detailed portrait magazine advert which has more details about the release of the album. The target audience for this project is likely to use public transport and therefore would see these billboards and the landscape poster up on the side of a bus, so it would easily attract their attention to the new album.
Ancillary 2 – Digipak
thanks all of those who were involved in the journey of creating this album. By writing the letter in first person, and thanking the fans herself, the audience is immediately able to relate more to the artist and therefore this creates another purpose for the digipak and depicts how the conventions and original purpose was developed in this product. The back page consists of an image of the artist as well as the track lists. Conventionally, the track list
A
MUSIC VIDEO’S
Typically, a digipak MAIN PURPOSE IS TO consists of four PROMOTE A SONG pages (a front cover, inside cover, CD OR ALBUM. space and back cover). The Lovestrong digipak not only conwould be written in centred forms to these conventions text using a vertical list, by having four pages, but however with the Lovesis also laid out in a typical trong digipak, this convenway i.e. having the lyrics on tion is challenged by having the back cover and the CD the tracks almost written on the third page. The conventions of a typical digipak were developed by like a paragraph. This illustailoring it to the bohemian trates the entire album to style of the artist and the be less formal and portrays authenticity of the piano the calm, authentic style of rock genre by including a the artist who uses music to letter from the artist on the express herself and make second page. The letter is others happy rather than written in first person and to just gain money through
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selling albums. Usually, if an artist is authentic, they will try to connect to their audience on a deep, personal level, therefore these conventions were followed when creating the front cover of the digipak by having a photograph of Monique covering the entire space. This image allows the audience to understand that the album has been written by Monique to express her feelings and to portray her love for music rather than to try and persuade people to buy her album purely to gain more revenue. The image is authentic and does not look overly glamorised or sexualised, conveying the subtlety of the music on the Lovestrong album.
Main product - Music Video
A music video’s main purpose is to promote a song or album. For the piano rock genre, a large amount of emphasis is placed on the artist themselves, such as in Vanessa Carlton’s ‘A Thousand Miles’ in which she plays the piano and sings the song throughout the video. Unlike in hip-hop videos, it is very likely that the actress in an authentic piano-pop song would be the artist herself. This convention has clearly been used in the ‘A Thou-
Question 1
sand Years’ music video as Monique Todd, the artist, not only sings the song throughout the video, but also acts out the narrative and is the protagonist. The reason for this is to help the audience relate to the artist and to make her lyrics more believable and authentic. However, one of the main conventions stated by Andrew Goodwin is actually challenged throughout this video. Goodwin states that the artist is likely to break the fourth wall when singing the song in a music video, however in the ‘A Thousand Years’ video, the fourth wall is only broken at crucial moments when striking lyrics are being sung, otherwise the actress only looks into the camera in the narrative scene, rather than while she is singing in the studio. Additionally, there are no intertextual references in this video like you would find in pop or hip-hop videos. The reason for challenging the conventions in this way is in
order to convey the authenticity of the artist and show how her music is just as unique as she is and therefore there is no need to pastiche other media texts in the music videos. Additionally, Sven Carlsson suggested that a music
in the park is conceptual as it tells the audience as story and is able to convey the underlying message without the artist singing anything on screen. Nevertheless, the video still conforms to some elements of Carlsson’s theory as he stated that a performer is “a materialisation of the commercial exhibitionist”. By this, Carlsson means that the artist is buying into consumerism by trying to sell their image or lifestyle. Even though this is more prominent in Rap and HipHop videos, I do video falls into one of two think that a sense of this categories: Performance aspect of the theory is seen or Conceptual. However, it throughout the ‘A Thousand seems as if this video chal- Years’ music video. Molenges yet another theory by nique Todd is indeed trying falling into both categories. to sell an image of herself It is clear to see that Moto the audience. She is not nique is performing through merely selling her voice on a CD, but is selling her as the use of the studio footage; however the narrative an artist and as a human JUNE 2014
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Monique Todd
LOVESTRONG
being, hence the emphasis on her authenticity and bohemian lifestyle. Through the use of the cinematography, binary oppositions of the artist’s personality are shown. During the studio footage, the lighting paired with the black background portray Monique as a performer who is confident about her music, however this is the complete opposite to the timid, bohemian girl walking
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through the park and trying to hold on to any memory she has of her lover. The Mise-en-scene emphasises this transition well as in the beginning, Monique is sitting still on a chair when singing the song, and however by the end of it, she is standing confidently and performing which adds a sense of visual progression. Likewise, the costumes of the dark, mysterious girl compared to the bohemian
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girl in a light, cream dress with a floral headband clearly shows how Monique is both a serious artist as well as a down-to-earth, authentic singer-songwriter. Showing the artist’s personal traits in this way develops the conventions of a music video as the audience feel they are getting to know the real Monique rather than her stage persona.
Question 2
HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?
ence to therefore suggest that the carry on music must be of a high supporting standard. The reviews are the artist by other bohemian artists throughout for a purpose – the style her career in of music is very personal the future. and authentic, therefore it Therefore, wouldn’t be as effective to the digipak is successful in have a pop magazine review its own right as it is fit for Each of the production the album. Therefore, usmarketing purposes. tasks are fit for purpose ing other acclaimed artists The purpose of the magaas they all follow convenin this piano rock genre zine advert is mainly to tions in some way. The creates a sense of respect convince potential audience purpose of the digipak is for the memVINYL SPECIAL EDITION CD DIGITAL not to merely encase a CD, album bers but to give a feel about and to buy the music and the artist builds the althemselves. The digipak it credThe debut album by bum. is more personal than just ibility, The downloading a single off of which strikiTunes as it includes things again ing like images of the artist would image and in the one produced conof a for this ‘Lovestrong’ album, vince girl the digipak even includes audilooka letter written by the artist ences ing herself, thanking all those to buy shy who have helped her along it. and this journey of creating an The OUT ON MAY 14TH quirky album and living her dream. main Including the hit single ‘A Thousand Years’ imThis allows the audience to purAs heard on medifeel as if they, like the artist, pose of “Every melody sent “Monique’s voice ately shivers down my spine.” brought me to tears...” have achieved something a music - Florence Welch - Laura Marling porProduced by: Ray Hopkins by being as supportive as video is trays fans. Additionally, by having to not the a personal letter, the artonly authenticity of the album, ist is able to send a strong sell a song, but to evoke a along with the floral patmessage of appreciation reaction from the audience terns which depict the roout to her fans. It convinces which makes them interestmantic feel to every song. the fans that the digipak ed in not only the song, but The favourable reviews help was not only made so that the artist too. This therefore to serve the purpose of the the artist could gain more would convince them to lisadvertisement as they work money, but so that her fans ten to other songs produced to convince the audience could enjoy her music. This by this artist as the target that the album has been would convince the audiaudience is psychographicritically favourable and
LOVESTRONG Monique Todd
‘THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 2’
www..moniquetodd.com / www.atlanticrecords.com
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the Twilight franchise which it was originally written for, an audience would not make as much sense out of the song due to the fact that humans, unlike vampires, do not live for a thousand years. more about an artist or musician. By wanting to lis- Therefore, by having a music video, the audience is ten to the other songs, the audiences will hopefully be able to understand that the convinced to buy the album artist is so in love with her or digipak and therefore the partner that being away from him for even a short production company gains period of time, seems like more sales. Just like any a ‘thousand years’ long. other product that accomAdditionally, it conveys the panies a song – a music strength of their relationvideo’s main goal is to aid ship as the passion that the money gained by the drives the artist to say that artist and the producers. Another purpose of a music video is to give audiences a better understanding of the meaning and narrative of the song itself. This she will love him for ‘a has been the main goal in thousand more’ is clearly the creation of this music depicted through the pasvideo in particular as it is difficult to imagine what the sionate expressions as she sings the song throughout artist is trying to convey by the video. Even key shots saying that she has been such as the feet taking a waiting for her lover for ‘a thousand years’ due to the step illustrate how the artist is getting close to seephrase being a hyperbole. ing her lover again, even When disconnected from though this may not be as cally described as ‘explorers’ and therefore are always interested in learning
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clear when listening to the song alone. Furthermore, the editing and technical aspect of the video itself is successful as the combination of narrative and performance footage creates a very emotional, authentic and honest tone and makes the artist seem more relatable and human, which is often difficult to achieve with successful artists. Lastly, another reason for the music video is to entertain. The only way that this ‘A Thousand Year’s music video will convince audiences to buy the digipak and follow the artist is if they enjoy watching the video itself in the first place. Therefore, cinematography and editing is crucial to ensure that the video not only conveys the storyline, but also looks aesthetically pleasing. I believe that the final version of this music video achieves
this very well as the crane shots and sweeping movements, along with the binary oppositions and contrast between the internal and external locations all come together to make the video authentic, heart-warming and enjoyable to watch. The audience are entertained by the story of the protagonist
Question 2
and her lover who she has lost, as well as being able to relate to her through the performance based footage. This ability to relate to her is further emphasised by not only having performance footage, but also the black and white footage which almost looks like the singer is in rehearsals and is genuinely singing with passion, rather than just as a performance for other people. I believe that the combination of both technical, aesthetic, emotional and creative aspects contribute to creating this music video successfully. There is a clear brand identity that runs throughout all three of these production tasks. The bohemian feel and authenticity of the
artist is clearly portrayed through the styling and mise-en scene of both the final product and ancillary tasks. By wearing the floral headband, Monique Todd’s identity is clearly created as this headband portrays happiness, peaceful personalities and authenticity; themes which don’t just run through the products but are even evident in the song itself. By using similar images and the same font for ‘Lovestrong’, this brand/house style is clearly identified by potential audiences and one can relate one product to another. The same theme runs through the images used on both ancillary tasks as well as the image of Monique portrayed throughout the video.
By using images in which Monique looks very bohemian and is often wearing the headband, the audience is able to easily identify that the music video, digipak and magazine advert are all part of the ‘Lovestrong’ project. Here, the brand is clearly identified through the use of synergy as all three products have a symbiotic relationship and depend on one another, therefore the products do not feel disparate, creating a well-combined and successful marketing campaign for both the artist and the album.
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digipak. Additionally, the innocence and authenticity of the artist is another reason why she would appeal more to a female audience as neither she, nor the products, have that ‘sex appeal’ that
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?
The target audience for the media products would predominantly be females aged 16-25 from the social class C2DE. This is due to the fact that the majority of the audience would either be students or workers who have time to watch music videos and pay attention to the release of a new album compared to busy professionals from higher social classes whose focus would be on their careers. The decision was made to would usually target FEEDBACK WAS attract a male these THE audience to a prodfemale artist’s ucts ALLOWED EX-work. at a AS AREAS OFTaking psychofemale ACT graphics into audiconsideration, ence TO BE IDENTIFIEDthe majority of as the audience they would fit into are the ones who are more the ‘Explorers’ category, likely to relate to a young which is defined as: “Indifemale artist who sings viduals who seek discovery. about her love life. Even An emphasis on energy, inthough older audiences and dividualism and experience. male audiences may also Values difference and adenjoy listening to the music, venture. Typically a younger a female audience of 16-25 demographic (students).” year olds are more likely to As an authentic artist, Moanticipate the release of the nique Todd is different from music video and buy the the typical, mainstream pop
EFFECTIVE
IMPROVEMENT
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star, which would appeal to an audience of ‘explorers’. They would appreciate her individuality and quirkiness which is shown throughout all of the media products and is an important part of the entire ‘Monique Todd – Lovestrong’ brand.
In order to ensure that the products met the expectations of my audience, audience feedback had to be generated once the first drafts of all of the products had been completed. It is crucial to receive audience feedback because, at the end of the day, whether the producer likes the product or not is irrelevant if the audience are not being influenced by the magazine advert, or aren’t willing to pay for the digipak or watch and download the music video. Therefore receiving this feedback allows media producers to ensure that the product is of the high standard expected by their
Question 3 The feedback for the music video was given through both interviews and a questionnaire. The interviewees were asked open ended questions such as “What do you like about this music video?” or “What do you think needs to be improved?” These types of questions allow the respondents to elaborate on their answers and produce qualitative answers. audience to ensure that interviews and resulted in The questionnaire included sales targets are met. By qualitative data such as a range of questions that gaining feedback at this suggestions for improveresulted in both qualitative stage, once the first draft ment that helped to alter has been completed, audithe magazine advert and di- and quantitative responses. ences are able to undergipak to try and make them A range of different types of stand the concept of the as professional and realistic questions were used, such as ranking the different products and the direction as possible. The questions that they are going in. Their that were asked were open aspects of the video, rating each aspect on a scale of feedback is crucial at this ended and allowed the re1-5 and picking their favourstage as it allows the prospondents to give any sugite part of the video. Addiducer to make any nectionessary changes which ally, will help to produce the qualifinal versions of the tative products that will meet recustomer expectations. sponsFeedback for the prodes ucts created as part of came this coursework was from generated using sevqueseral different media tions platforms. As soon as that the ancillary products asked were created, peers things were asked their profeslike sional opinions as Media Studies students. This gestions they thought would what needed to be improved, so that the responsfeedback was given through improve the products. es were not limited in any JUNE 2014
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way as the improvements were believed to be the most important information to retrieve from the questionnaire responses. The feedback came predominantly from 17-20 year old females (who fit into the target audience demographic). Most of these were Media Studies students however some of the respondents were family members and friends who had no knowledge of media studies and were therefore giving feedback purely from an audience member’s perspective. The questionnaire was sent out on social networking sites such as Facebook and by email to ensure that a large enough sample size was used to get a variety of responses. The quantitative data was then
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analysed and the qualitative data was dealt with using content analysis to make it easier to review the audience’s views on the video and any aspects that needed altering. Most of the comments received were positive and praised the cinematography of the entire video as well as the aesthetic look. The majority of the feedback about improvements stated that there was a lack of understanding in the narrative and what the letter represented. Some responses also suggested that the Hyde Park and studio scenes should be equally weighted to ensure that the video does not get monotonous. This feedback was very effective as it allowed exact
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issues and area of improvement to be identified. This makes it easier when editing the video as one is able to understand whether any footage needs to be shot again, and most importantly if the video and its narrative makes as much sense to the audience as it does in the producer’s head. All of these comments were taken into consideration and acted upon by choosing to re-shoot some of the studio footage using a crane to gain more sweeping shots to match the soft tone of the song. Additionally, more footage from the Hyde Park scene was used in order to convey a clear linear narrative about the lover finding clues that remind her of her past relationship.
HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH, PLANNING AND EVALUATION STAGES? For the majority of my research and planning software such as Prezi, PowerPoint and videos has been used. Prezi is an online presentation website which allows you to type information into different text boxes in a variety of styles and is presented by zooming into each text box on the page. This is a more effective way of presenting information as you can easily break up the text, rather than writing it all as an essay. PowerPoint presentations were used for a few of the planning and research tasks too, but the most effective was when it was used to show the several drafts of the ancillary products and how they had progressed. On the presentation, it was possible to line
Question 4
up the images to show the progression of each ancillary product and using a text box, an explanation of the changes that had been made could be written very easily. This year, videos seemed to be a very effective way of recording production diaries on the go. The front camera on an Apple iPhone 5S was used to record reflec-
Magazine Advert, Adobe InDesign CS6 was used. Using the page layout tool, an A4 size was chosen and the main image was placed onto the page using the File-Place action. Once the image had been inserted, the text tool was used in order to type out the name of the artist and the title of the album. Before typing this text, different fonts were downloaded using Fontspace and dragged into an application called NexusFont which allows one to
tions of the work that had been completed at different stages and this method of creating production diaries was especially useful when trying to track the thought process that went into creating these products. To create the Digipak and
open several different fonts at once and use them on different documents. Using InDesign, the correct font was chosen and ‘Monique Todd’ and ‘Lovestrong’ was written out. After placing these at the top of the page, a different font that typed JUNE 2014
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out floral borders was used to create a frame around the image. After readjusting the sizing and position, reviews were typed out and stars were created using the shape tool to show the rating of the album. To create the A3 version of this poster, the action ‘Create alternative layout’ was used and the correct page size was chosen. Once this was completed, everything that was on the A4 poster was now also on an A3 version, therefore the only thing to do was to rearrange the text and images to fit a landscape view. Creating another alternative layout to the size 120mm x 120mm created a page that was the size of an album cover or digipak and just like with the A3 poster, this action had copied everything from the first A4 page too, therefore there was no need to re-type the information or place the same images in again. Some of the information that was unnecessary on a digipak front cover was deleted and
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others repositioned. Using the ‘add another page’ tool, it was possible to create the remaining three pages of the digipak that were the exact same size. This was more efficient as having to create each page separately then to edit the size of the pages would have been time consuming. Once the other pages were created, the circular shape tool was used to create an outline of a CD. By clicking inside this outline then using the action ‘File-Place’ it was possible to fill just the CD shape with a photograph of an orchid. The opacity of this was changed using the ‘Image – Adjustments – Opacity’ action to make the orchid look more subtle. The text tool was used to type out the letter of thanks from the artist and the ‘centre text’ tool allowed for the text to be aligned in the centre of the page. Additionally, by using the floral font, a border on the side of the page was easily created by typing the correct letter, and then rotated 90 degrees
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anti-clockwise using the rotate button. Next, in Photoshop, images of Monique were edited by adding an affect that lowered the saturation of the images. These images were then placed into small squares on the second page of the digipak and one in a rectangle across the back page. The corners of these squares were rounded to soften the look of the images. Using the text tool, the track list was then typed up and aligned correctly using the ‘centre text’ tool. This list was then dragged and placed under the photograph. As the background looked slightly too plain, it was decided that the same orchid image that was used on the CD should be used on this page as a low-opacity background therefore it was placed, sent behind the text and image and the opacity was dropped to around 30%. All of the images used were taken using a 550D Canon camera and a 1.8 50mm aperture lens. This camera
Question 4 made it much easier to view and check the images as soon as they were taken to ensure that the images to be used were of the highest quality. To create the music video itself, this same camera and lens was used, along with a tripod and crane. The aperture lens focuses on anything in the foreground, placing the background in shallow focus which automatically adds a more cinematic feel to the aesthetics of the video. During the studio shoot, two freestanding studio lights were used to create that spotlight effects and to ensure full focus was on Monique. Using the 550D Canon, the ISO and shutter speed was changed as and when needed and the camera was put into manual mode, which meant that it was easy to ensure that the footage was well focused, even when the camera had moved position. When the filming took place in Hyde Park, the natural lighting could not be controlled; therefore it was helpful that the ISO could be easily altered to ensure that the footage looked as high quality as possible. The shutter speed could also be adjusted to ensure that small imperfections were not easily recognisable when watching the footage back, making the footage
look more professional. When recording the studio footage, Monique was able to read the lyrics off of a screen while a lyric version of the song played on YouTube, which made the shooting process easier and made the miming look more fluid and natural. Once all of my footage had been shot, I uploaded it to my computer from the SD card and dragged all of the shots into Adobe Premiere CS6. Using Premiere, each clip could be viewed and the ones that were of a high enough quality to use were dragged onto the timeline. The most helpful tool on Adobe Premiere CS6 was the single frame advance as it made it easier to match up the miming of the lyrics to the song itself. The ability to place footage and sound on different layers made it a lot easier to not only match the miming, but to know when to break up the studio footage by placing in a clip from Hyde Park as the length of each shot was easily visible. Therefore, if there was a clip from the studio that seemed particularly long, it was easy to place an external clip above it, on another layer. Using the effects tool on Premiere, decent shots that looked too similar could be adapted by zooming in slightly and adding a hori-
zontal flip which made the shots look like they were from various different angles and ensured that the video was not too monotonous for the audience to watch. For some shots from Hyde Park, or the ones in which Monique was twirling in the studio, the shot was slowed down by decreasing the percentage using the ‘speed/duration’ tool. This was done to add emphasis on certain parts of the video, for example when she takes a step on the line “one step closer…” Lastly, once the video was complete, in the sense that all footage and sound was correctly placed on the timeline, the colour correction tool was used to ensure that all of the Hyde Park footage looked vibrant and that the studio footage looked professional and lit up by the spotlights. The music video was rendered and exported then uploaded to a video website on the internet called Vimeo where it can easily be embedded, watched and shared.
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