Magazine Adverts

I completely changed my idea from the original plan of my magazine advert. I changed the photography and added a motif that runs throughout the whole product, in the music video, on the magazine advert and the digipak.

However, I decided to keep the idea of subverting the typical conventions of the singer/songwriter genre, such as not having the artist on the magazine advert to show the main focus is on the lyrics and music, and to give a sense of ambiguity for the audience to keep their interest.

I created two magazine advert ideas as I thought it would be a better to get audience feedback to see which one my target audience prefer.


Here are my two ideas:

This magazine advert I feel is effective as it has the ragdoll on the front, relating to the music video and title. There is more colour in this advert compared to my second idea, as this conforms more the the conventions of a narrative music video, and other real media products. It includes a picture of the digipak in the bottom left corner and other important information needed to let the audience know the date it's released, where it is available and reviews from other magazines.




This magazine advert conforms and subverts typical conventions of the singer/songwriter genre. For example, the advert is in monochrome which is expected but there is no picture used of the artist. I wanted to create a sense of ambiguity to my product for the audience to keep them interested in my product. For each magazine advert, I have used the same font for the artist which will be her signifier and associated with her, as this conforms with typical music videos and also done the same for the title of the album. I have used the cartoon of the ragdoll for both to create a motif for the album, and this will run across each media product.










Both of the magazine adverts include the artists website and the record label. Through researching, I chose Bell Jar Records as they are associated with the singer/songwriter genre and have other singer/songwriter genre artists singed with them, because of this I felt this was the appropriate record label to use.

I decided to use iTunes, Amazon and Spotify as these technologies are popular at the moment with my target audience.

Filming and Editing Progress -- Week 1

As I am filming round my cousin's house for the setting of the child's bedroom, I have had to create my filming schedule around her as I she has agreed to be in my music video. I have been going round on Sundays, as I have the whole day free and she is not at school, to film my music video. At times, it has been difficult to film as I have not been able to go round in the week before it gets dark because I need to film during the day, and the filming has taken a bit longer than I hoped . However, it is not too much of a hinderence as I have quite a lot of footage already to use and edit at the moment.

After uploading my footage onto Final Cut Pro, I looked through all of the clips to see which ones to use and what would work best in my music video. As I have a lot of footage, it is easier to decide what footage I am going to use and what footage to discard. While filming, I tried out many different techniques with camera movement, such as panning from left to right and up and down, as well as different angles, such as moving the camera from a high angle to a lower angle, and using a range of different shot sizes from close ups to long shots to show variety in my shots and to keep the audience interested. Here is an example of this:

Photography:
While in the process of filming, I have done my own photography to use for my ancillary projects. I have also tried experimenting with different angles and shot sizes. Here is an example:


















 Both of these pictures I will consider for my ancillary products.









I have also started experimenting with stop motion, which had an unsuccessful start but I have become more familiar with it by experimenting with it more.

Last minute changes

I have decided to work with another individual on my project, as he will help me with ideas, filming and editing.

Also, I have changed my initial ideas from what I proposed in my treatment. For example, there will be mostly performance shots with stop motion of the ragdoll as I feel this conforms more with the codes and conventions of the singer/songwriter genre. Some of the performance shots will be quite ambiguous, such as just shots of the piano, not the artist to give the sense that the music and lyrics are more important than the actual artist. The narrative will still be a part of the video but will take place through stop motion, creating an effective, eye-catching music video, as stop motion is a little bit different and not used as much in music videos.

Magazine Advert Research

 
Example 3:


This is a magazine advert for Ben Howard's album 'Every Kingdom'. Similar to Adele's and Birdy's, it is quite simple but still effective. The main focus of the advert is the photography of the person underwater. This is effective because it's ambiguous and makes people want to know more. Even though the genre of the artist is singer/songwriter, it does not follow the convention of having the main photography of the artist and using a monochrome effect. Subverting these typical conventions of the singer/songwriter genre makes this different and draws audiences in as people like change and difference. The bold, white writing catches the attention of readers, and the text of the artist is bigger as audience will recognise the artist more than the album name, as he is the main selling point. The colours also draw attention to the advert, as the blue is quite vivid, but still quite subtle, and makes the white writing stand out as well against the blue. The advert includes information of when the album will be out, but not where it is available. The font is quite basic, which is effective as it doesn't take away from the photography but is still bold and noticeable.
The record label which he is signed to is not present on the advert, which may suggest he is an independent artist and maybe so it doesn't take away from the advert itself and what it is promoting.

Again, I feel this is a good example of a magazine advert as it subverts some of the typical conventions of the singer/songwriter genre to show difference and draw attention. I will consider to use this subversion in my magazine advert as I want the advert to reflect how the main focus is on the narrative of the song I am using.

Magazine Advert Idea (unfinished)

This is a very rough, unfinished draft of my magazine advert. I've used original photography and used a unique font for the title of the single, which will be used on the digipak, as well as the artist's name, which will also be the same on the digipak. The image I have used for this advert has been zoomed in on the ragdoll to show the main focus of the song. Stereotypically the image on the advert for the genre I am doing a music video for would be of the artist, but for my advert I decided to subvert this stereotypical convention for the singer/songwriter genre, showing that the main focus is on the narrative and more about the song and lyrics. The font I have used for the title of the single resembles building blocks that children play with, I felt that using this font is quite effective as it is quite childlike which is what I want to convey with my promotion. The font I have used for the artist's name is elegant and quite contrasting to the title of the song. I have done this to represent the artist as a serious musician, and also to contrast with the title of the song so both of the texts stand out. I have taken inspiration from other magazine adverts, such as using a quote from another magazine about the single/artist, and I intend to use a rating, I have included information about when the single is out and where it will be available, which most adverts do.

To improve:

• I have decided that the image needs to be in colour, as it will stand out more, so I will retake the shot in colour
• The text underneath the artist's name, the quote, needs to be the same font as the artist's name
• Rearrange the text so it does not obstruct the image too much but also so it will stand out

Final Ideas for Music Video (Instead of storyboard)

Song: Ragdoll by Jennifer Rafferty

• Narrative based music video with some performance shots
• Lyrics of the song shown literally, a ragdoll being symbolic for the actual meaning of the lyrics
• Use of stop-motion: Some stop motion to show the ragdoll getting up after being thrown around by the girl. Also stop-motion at certain points as the girl grows up... Stop-motion shows the ragdoll as more animated and childlike

Narrative:

• A mother/grandmother buys a ragdoll for her daughter/grandaughter and at first she plays with it nicely and gently, which contradicts the lyrics
• After having it for a few weeks, the girl starts abusing and mistreating the ragdoll, showing her not caring, reflecting the lyrics of the song. This continues as she grows older.
• Flashbacks using monochrome effect will happen every so often between the girl growing up to highlight the contrast is the ragdoll's treatment
• End: mother/grandmother sees the ragdoll on the floor and puts it in a box labelled 'charity'/'carboot'/'for sale'...
• Another girl gets the ragdoll and is shown to love it instantly even though it is damaged and torn

Idea:

• Lyrics: "'Cause you want me to be who I'm not", as this line is in the middle 8, use a monochrome flashback of the girl cuting the ragdoll's hair or defacing it, wanting it to look different, mirroring the lyrics of the song
• Calendar to show passing of time, stop motion?
• Shots of posters/toys changing and disappearing to emphasise the change in the girl's bedroom and in her life as she matures.

Setting:

• In the girl's house, in her bedroom -- Most of the narrative shots will be set in the girl's bedroom as she plays with the ragdoll. As she grows older, her bedroom will change to signify the changes she is going through
• End of music video: setting will be a charity shop/garden/carboot sale where the ragdoll gets sold to the other girl
• Performance shots will be set in a well-lit room, (e.g.: conservatory) with a piano as the song only consists of vocals and piano.

Performance shots: Inserted into the video to showcase the artist and associate them with the song. CUs, MCUs and wide shots to show the artist playing the piano and lip-syncing. Panning camera work and zooming in and out to create variety in my camera shots

Transitions: Mostly consist of cross-fades in and out between every shot, performance and narrative. Unfocused to focused shots as well.

Stop motion: Use of stop motion of the ragdoll and calendar to give a more animated and childlike effect to the ragdoll. Mostly live action shots will be used though to make the audience really understand the narrative

Lighting: High-key lighting throughout as it is typical of the singer/songwriter genre, but will become a nit dimmer as ragdoll gets abused. Reflects the mood of the narrative and song, and also to manipulate the audience's feelings into how I want to make them feel. Will become lighter when ragdoll gets bought by the other girl, again to show how the audience should feel. Natural lighting.

List of shots:
Most of the shots will be quite long in length to show the narrative and give the audience more time to watch and interpret the story. Approx. 5-10 seconds long, but may very. Difficult to tell with the stop motion and how long that will take up...
Length of shots may vary, approx. timings...
Length of song: 3:09

• At very start, title of song and artist. Length: 0:00-0:05
• Performance shot, artist as piano. Type: Long shot to medium shot, zoom in slowly. Unfocused to focused. Length: 0:06-0:13
• Mother/grandmother giving ragdoll to her daughter/grandaughter, then child hugs them. Type: medium shot. Length: 0:14-0:21
• Girl plays with ragdoll instantly, very gently and carefully, drops other toys. Type: medium close up/medium shot. Length:0:22-0:30
• Performance shot, artist at piano. Type: medium close up or panning shot. Length: 0:31-0:39
• A few shots of the girl playing with ragdoll nicely again, showing how over time she still loves it for a while, building up a 'relationship', building up something to ruin. Type: Panning, medium close ups, medium shots, tracking. Length: 0:40-0:49, 0:50-1:00, 1:01-1:10
• Performance shot. Type: wide shot/long shot. Length: 1:11-1:17
• Back to girl and ragdoll, first time she throws the ragdoll as she gets annoyed, leaving it on the floor. Type: medium shot to tracking the ragdoll being thrown, slow motion effect? Length: 1:18-1:29
• Stop motion to show ragdoll getting up after being thrown, face changes slightly? Unsure length of shot(s), roughly 1:30-1:45? May be longer/shorter
• Performance shot. Type: panning medium shot. Length: 1:46-1:50
• More stop motion, calendar this time, signifying passing of time, circled dates for birthdays and other events. Live action shots of birthdays or events overlayed or separate? Type: Live action -- zooming in and out, medium, medium close ups, close ups. Length: stop motion -- approx. 1:51-2:15? Live action -- about 5-10 senconds each
• Back to live action shots, showing ragdoll getting more and more abused over time. Various shots. Length: 2:16-2:20, 2:21-2:30, 2:31-2:39
• Flashbacks included in between shots of the girl mistreating the ragdoll to show the contradiction. Length: about 5-10 seconds each
• Mother/grandmother finding ragdoll of floor one day and putting it in a box labelled 'charity'/'carboot'/'for sale'. Type: wide shot, then zoom in on word on box as she walks out the room. Length: about 10 seconds
• Another girls gets the ragdoll and hugs it, walks away clutching it to her chest/ragdoll of her shoulders/holding its hand...Type: medium/medium close up to close up of ragdoll
• Final performance shot, ending the music video. Type: medium close up/close up, focused to unfocused, like the beginning of the music video but reversed.

Magazine Advert Research

Example Two: Birdy

This magazine advert does not include as much information as the Ed Sheeran magazine advert, which is less helpful to potential buyers. For example, the advert does not include information about where it will be available and there are no ratings or quotes from other magazines or newspapers. However, it does display typical conventions of the singer/songwriter genre which the artist, Birdy, falls under. Such as the sepia effect used, showing simplicity and professionalism, and a font which could be recognised as the artist's personal signifier, associated with the artist whenever she is mentioned on a visual media product, such as on television and on posters.

Furthermore, the photography on the advert is of the artist herself, showing she is the main focus of the album and it is more about her and her music. Also, her expression is quite serious, showing she is to be taken seriously and so is her music. This is also very typical of the singer/songwriter genre, where the artist is promoted and shown professionally and seriously. 

The text is quite big at the top of the advert to grab the readers attention and show clearly who or what is being promoted. The artist's names uses a bigger font than the album title, maybe showing what the artist's name is and what the album title is.
At the bottom left corner, there is a small font which shows which formats the album is available on and, in the bottom right corner, there are the record labels which the artist is signed with.
Overall, this is quite a simple but effective magazine advert as it displays basic information of the album and shows conventions of the genre of which the artist is, giving potential buyers an idea of what genre to expect from the artist and album. However, it could be more informative with more details of where the album would be available and some reviews of the album, but still a good example.