A2 Media Studies Evaluation

A2 Media Studies: Music Video Audience Response Survey

This is the survey I have created to collect feedback in order to inform my evaluation of my products via audience feedback.

Please take a few moments to fill this out to contribute to my audience feedback:

Final Video

This is the final cut of my video, I have made a plethora of changes since my first cut including the way in which I have generally just collated more footage and made use of this footage far more effectively, I needed to incorporate far more close ups which I feel I have done as it has allowed me to capture more expression/emotion of the protagonist. There is a great difference in quality from my first draft, as for a start I learnt how important the use of rendering is in Premiere Pro in order to get the smoothest playback possible, I learnt that clips with a red bar above the work area was a signal that the footage definitely needed rendering, whereas yellow was a sign that the footage did not need rendering but it would help if the clip was rendered.

The premise of the song is that relationships can be psychologically abusive and emotionally stressful, however, I have chosen to present this more through the use of a child and outlining how many young people are still subjected to bullying and psychological violence is still a problem within our society at all ages. It also shows that children should not be made to suffer in silence and should open up about their problems.

The video postulates that young people should maintain happiness and youthfulness for as long as possible, and bullying/psychological violence should not be tolerated in a healthy and diplomatic society. It manifests how a girl who really should be enjoying the best years of her life (stress free and in good health) has become a subverted stereotype due to those around her psychologically abusing her quite possibly due to the influence of the new media poisoning the minds of younger citizens, it also makes use of high angle shots to fulfil these connotations and some shots that seem as if the girl is being watched unbeknown to her, almost like a kind of 'Big Brother' method of filming. Essentially using a male gaze to make her look even more inferior and insignificant in conjunction with costume.

In essence, it is a girl who is psychologically tortured for no other reason than that some people genuinely find hedonism from belittling others, and it shows how the innocent girl should receive sympathy as she finds happiness in the simplest of ways such as nature and the environment around her rather than engaging in media such as video games all day like other children do. It should give the audience catharsis and elicit/evoke a sense of sympathy from the audience.

Digipak: Final Edit of Digipak

Below is the final edit of my digipak, the changes needed were minimal as all I needed to do was adjust the levels of opacity in the typography on the posterior panel of the digipak to make the track listings easier to decipher and make the name of the album and the band name on the anterior panel (front cover) clearer for the same reason.

As you can see, I have adjusted the level of opacity in the typography on the front of the digipak and also on the disc itself as well as the track listings on the back. This has ensured that the text remains striking against the (now) more black and white, monochrome background. This is the final edit of my digipak which me and my teacher both agree has seen significant development since my first draft. and is now a marketable product suitable for promoting a musical entity. The final draft of the digipak was (as I have alluded to) strongly inspired by U2's album "War" (1983). This is something that intrigued me: the album I have based the digipak on was released in 1983, a very similar time to which Guns N' Roses (who the band cite as a major influence on their music and image) formed (they formed in 1985). This correlation reassured me slightly that this is (despite the fact I have subverted many conventions) quite a viable digipak to use as a means of marketing the band and promoting their brand identity.

Moreover, I am happy with the latest design for this digipak and do not intend to make any changes as this may overdo the look which would oppose the minimalist approach I am striving for, which me and my teacher (upon comprehensive feedback) agree, is a good idea.

Magazine Advert: Final Advert

This is the final design for my magazine advert and I have made all the suggested improvements that my teacher has asked me to make.

I have adjusted the opacity of the typography so that it appears clearer against the background which makes the typography more striking against the monochrome. I have also reduced the size of the stars to draw more attention to the quotes reading "Breathtaking - NME" and "Album of the Year - Q". I have also (as with the digipak) adjusted the darkness of the poster to make it more indie/rock and less dull and grey as it was before. Apart from that I had no further changes to make and my teacher approved of the final poster as I had applied all the new changes I needed with ease as I have become far more proficient with the editing software - this was produced using Adobe Photoshop CS3.

Digipak Developments: Third Draft

This is the third draft of my digipak which I have made adaptations to subject to recommendations from my teacher, who upon evaluating/reviewing my second draft digipak informed me that he disliked the typography and felt it was not suitable for a hard rock/indie band. He also brought my attention to the use of levels in photoshop: he told me that the album cover appeared to be more grey than black and white - which were the colours I originally wanted to use in order to achieve the monochrome, minimalist effect I wanted to represent the band's brand image. In addition to this we discussed how the idea of adding a spine to the digipak to give it more of a professional look - ensuring it looks like a product that could actualy appear on the shelf in HMV or another popular music outlet.

As recommended by my teacher during feedback, I have adapted the levels in the photos to make the images more black and white through adapting the chiaroscuro elements of the image to give it that 'indie/rock' edge. The effect of the black and white shades rather than the more dull/vague grey colour is that it subsequently makes the red typography far more striking and visible to see - however, my teacher did point out that the opacity of the typography on the anterior panel, posterior panel, spines and CD itself needed to be reduced to make the typography far more striking and clearer against the back ground. It is clear that on the anterior panel (front cover) that the text ("The Fight") appears quite faint as it is against a very white background - this is a change I will have to implement for my final draft of the product.

Overall, the digipak is essentially finished as my ability using the editing software (Photoshop CS3) has developed significantly throughout the production process, whereas I made the images more of a grey in the previous draft of the digipak, I discovered that by selecting Menu > Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Black and White I could achieve the effect that I wanted to achieve. Following this, I would then select Levels > Chiaroscuro and tweak the sliders to get the black and white monochrome effect I have set out to achieve since the inaugural stages of my planning. My ability to use the editing software has begun to burgeon recently, which has directly affected the way in which I am able to either adhere or subvert conventions which will effect the way in which my product is perceived.



Depicted above is the second draft of my digipak, and this displays the significant changes my product has gone through over the course of the production process - notice the more dull grey tone to this digipak - the text appears less striking against it and the colour contrast between the light and dark shades is far less pronounced - compare the top left hand panel of each digipak and the difference is clear, the light reflected of the coat is bright whilst shadowed areas appear far more dark i.e. the inside of the hood and certain strands of fur round the periphery of the hood. On the other hand, in the digipak depicted above, the image in the top left hand panel appears as one very bland, insipid shade of grey. Also noticeable is the difference in typography between the two products: the second draft uses a far less suitable typography: it seems very basic and quite unsophisticated, almost like a comic sans type of font which is not suitable for a rock band.

Despite the changes I have made to the digipak, my teacher has advised that I adjust the opacity of the typography in my final edit - he told me that is does not make as much of an impact and that the text would appear far more striking against the monochrome background - he informed me that this is the only change required to get my product to a high level.

Digipak Second Draft

I decided to put into practice new skills I have acquired from tinkering with my chosen software by re-designing my digipak in a more suitable manner to better adhere to the codes and conventions of rock/indie digipaks and creating something closer to the final product that will be put out to market/promote the band.

After researching digipaks/album covers and artwork I have finally put together a first draft of how I would like my digipak to look. It is composed of six photos that have been thoroughly edited on Adobe Photoshop CS3 in order to achieve the monochrome effect I wanted. I feel the cover is somewhat analogous to "The A Team" single cover by Ed Sheeran which has essentially brought a sense of bricolage to my work, whilst also incorporating elements of pastiche into the production process which (arguably) makes the digipak in itself postmodern. I have made a the changes I wanted to make - these were discussed in the review of the first draft of my digipak that I made without having conducted sufficient research into other products of a similar genre/archetype.

Firstly and more fundamentally, I needed to include track listings on the back of my product as the product needs to be informative as well as aesthetically pleasing - it is also logical that when browsing through CD's in music outlets, potential consumers will inevitably flip the digipak round to analyse the posterior of the product to see whether or not their favorite tracks are featured on the album. I also had to edit the photo on the posterior so that I could arrange the text around the photo of the girl, although this was very basic editing that required re-positioning the layer. On the other hand, the 'sketch' effect on the front of the digipak required significantly more time and effort to achieve using more advanced editing techniques - which I feel documents how my capabilities to use the editing software has in turn given me more creative freedom. I feel my ability to use editing software has allowed me to create a more appropriate product, although this is only my second draft I feel it has developed incredibly well in retrospect of the first draft of the digipak.

I have allowed my research/analysis of other digipaks to inform the production process of this digipak, for example, approaching the cover of the digipak with far more of a minimalist approach than when designing/producing the last product. This idea was derived from Ed Sheeran's album cover, and the typography (simple, bold, very minimalist) and positioning of the text was influenced heavily by both Sheeran and The Killers' album covers, positioning the name of the artist in the top left hand corner of the cover and placing the name of the album in the bottom right hand corner of the cover.

With regards to the actual production of the image on the front of the digipak, I encountered a large learning curve but after researching the techniques/editing tools required I was able to create some rather interesting textures/effects - by developing a more eclectic knowledge of Photoshop CS3, it allowed me to expand creatively and get my ideas across more easily - an example of how the technology itself plays an integral role in allowing the user to make the product postmodern/poststructuralist etc. in essence, technology is a tool that allows us to create postmodernism.

The cover was created through a number of processes of which I was previously unaware: firstly I had to change the blending mode of the layer to "colour dodge" before I right clicked the layer and selected "luminosity". I then clicked "filter" followed by "blur" and then "gaussian blur" - this gave the image the slightly distorted and contrasted look that I wanted to achieve. However, I still had to make certain adaptations in order to give the cover a more complete edge.

I then clicked on the layer settings and reduced the opacity of the image, which added to this 'penciled' effect that I wanted my cover to have in order to bear a slight resemblance to "The A Team" cover. Obviously I did not want the image to be completely transparent, this would be ludicrous, so I reduced the opacity until the image was at a point were outlines in the photograph were still clear but other elements of the image had a tarnished effect to give it an eroded 'indie' effect similar to the effect seen in my ancillary research.

I then selected "create a new fill or adjustment layer" followed by "hue/saturation". This allowed me to adjust the saturation of the image to give it either a more full or more tarnished effect - I opted for the latter for the more minimalist option/aesthetic.The 'tarnished' and indie quality to the cover came as a result of reducing the saturation as depicted below, whilst hue remained neutral. Upon research, I found out that the terms "hue" and "saturation" refer to the colour and purity of the image respectively.

The main reason my digipak has improved is not my ability to think up abstract ideas of how I want the image to look: I have always had quite a vivid idea of how I want my digipak to look as collating my ideas manually has never been a problem for me; it is more the fact that I have developed a stronger understanding of the software which has allowed me to actually apply my ideas and start producing them in tangible format. This shpows that there is certainly a correlation between proficiency with using software and also creative freedom - it allows you to be slightly more expressive in your ideas even if (like me) the individual is aiming for a minimalist approach.

However, upon teacher feedback, I was informed that the digipak needs the levels adjusted to make the covers more black and white than the dull grey it currently is - meaning I can use my development in technology skills to help me adhere more closely to conventions. The covers also needed to be flipped as well as some of the cover(notably the top row of panels) would appear upside down on the real product if I do not flip them which will lose the artist credibility and make the overall product look more professional. In addition to this my teacher recommended that I add a spine into the digipak to make it look professional as well as original and allow it to be picked out more clearly from a shelf were it to be sold in a record shop.

Magazine Advert

This is the first draft of my magazine advert, I again made it using Adobe Photoshop CS3 editing software which I have made significant improvements on, I am now able to express myself with more creative freedom due to my advances using the software over a number of weeks. I used the same image as I had used for the cover of my digipak in order to retain a sense of continuity and brand identity, so that the band are identifiable to the target demographic. The image was inspired by the cover of Ed Sheeran's "The A Team" - which I have referenced throughout my project and I cite Sheeran's minimalist approach to his work as a huge inspiration to my own. I liked the idea of the girl walking away from the camera alone encompassed in a large environment to make her look all the more isolated.
Although it seems incredibly peculiar and breaks all conventions of my products, I had always had the idea in the back of my mind (ever since I knew I would be using my younger sister as the lone protagonist in my video) that the digipak would bear some resemblance to Eminem's 2010 album "recovery" - it shows the artist walking into the distance within an environment of incredible magnitude in terms of size in order to connote isolation, in the case of Eminem's album it serves as an extended metaphor for the lonely journey he has taken  from drug addiction to sobriety which, although isn't the case in my video, still remains valid for my poster/advert/digipak. The metaphor in my product speaks much more about bullying towards young people and how the youth of today can often be made to feel alienated due to intense pressure thrust upon them by the media forcing them to fit into trends and keep up with the burgeoning developments in fashion, technology, media, social trends etc.

Despite the fact the genre completely contradicts that of the artist I am producing for I felt the image was suitable for my own product, which has meant me risking breaking some conventions by allowing a hip-hop/rap album to inform some of my product research and design it brings a sense of diversity and a more eclectic dimension to my product. I have also framed the protagonist in a similar fashion by deliberately not placing them directly in the centre of the screen, this connotes somewhat a lack of importance and also allows for a more central view of the vanishing point.

However, upon feedback from my teacher (who also analysed and helped me formulate a revised plan for my digipak) noticed that the poster (like my digipak) is actually more of a grey colour rather than black and white - which is the look that I intended to acheive. This meant that I would have to adjust levels and contrast on photoshop to make the image darker and more striking and less dull. it also meant me adapting the elements of chiaroscuro in the image to make it more iconic. Chiaroscuro is merely a photography term that refers to the composition/treatment of light and shade in a picture. I feel that I want the girl to become somewhat of an icon in my video and recognised for certain characteristics so that she literally becomes an icon. I want the protagonist to become a symbol through the way I portray her in the video and the way in which I use certain photos and editing techniques in my ancillary texts - which is why I have chosen to frame her on her own throughout my video and ancillary texts. This makes the girl a sign - a symbol almost which then goes someway to making her indexical: you see the girl and this signifies isolation, that isolation is a theme. This is the approach I've taken to supplement my editing and use semiotics to help convey ideas/codes and conventions to the audience. This may seem quite far fetched, but I believe with the right editing and by further developing my magazine poster I can create a very well improved, revised second draft for my magazine advert.

Another piece of teacher feedback I have to take into account is that he feels the stars on the poster are too big and over elaborate - he said that they draw the viewers attention away from the words "breathtaking" and "album of the year" which are important for the viewer to read when analysing the poster - this is the final change I will have to make for my magazine poster in order to get it to a respectable standard.

The Case - "The Fight": Second Draft (Second Shoot)

Above is the second cut of my video, I have made significant changes to it since my first cut and mainly just included a lot more footage than I had previously so that I can get a rough idea as to what my video is looking like. I have also included a time lapse in the video (02:04 - 02:10) which was inspired by the time lapse from the video "Sweet Child O' Mine" - I want to create a graphic match that will be recognisable to my target audience who (upon analysis of survey results) manifest a keen interest in this style of music and so will be able to relate to this intertextuality in the video and will hopefully gratify them as an audience. In order to film this time lapse, I had to stand in the field for fifteen minutes using a high angled shot in order to capture the sky and also include some of the field within the confines of the frame to capture the dramatic effect of the shadows (projected from the clouds) moving along the surface of the field to create a sense of pathetic fallacy within the video. I then had to import this footage into Premiere Pro and cut/trim the clip as I encountered some adversities when filming such as dog walkers and general pedestrians being included in the shot which was not what I wanted as this would ruin the dramatic effect I intended for my video. In addition to this, it was important that I retained the monochrome effect to maintain synergy between all the scenes in the video, as I originally wanted to include this as the only shot in the video to include colour, however, my teacher advised against this strongly and said that it would break the continuity of the video. After applying the monochrome effect to the clip I right clicked the footage and selected (Speed/Duration...) and then slowed the pace at which the clip is played - this is another way that my development on new media software/technologies allowed me more creative freedom in the constructive process of creating my product, meaning that I can be more incisive in the decisions I make and more direct when creating the video, rather than having to compromise due to a lack of proficiency on the software.

Depicted above is the process by which I was able to apply the effect of a 'time lapse' in my video, this gave the effect of the girl being insignificant, giving the impression that even as time moves on and the world advances, she is left behind and almost forgotten. Following this I then adjusted the pace/speed of the video accordingly as depicted below.

After I had applied this effect, I noticed that upon playback of the video the time lapse appeared very jumpy and lagged significantly (to my frustration) and I could not work out why. However, I then conducted some research into Premiere Pro and realised that my video needed to be rendered in order to give it a smoother playback.

By selecting "Render Entire Work Area" I was able to render the entire video which meant a green bar appeared above all the clips I had selected to be rendered in the Premiere work area, and this allowed for smoother transitions between shots and sequences and a smoother playback for my time lapse which now appears far more professional. I later found out that as a short cut, simply pressing the enter key on the MacBook allowed me to render the entire video.

Depicted above: the green bar that indicated that the footage had been rendered. This was important to check before exporting the footage as I wanted to make sure the quality of my second cut was good - this is also something I will have to pay close attention to before exporting my final cut as I will have to ensure that it is of the highest quality before it is moderated, ironing out any creases that may be present in the video.

The majority of my filming in the second shoot was done without the use of a tripod, as this is something I noticed was a commonality among some of the videos I have analysed ("Sweet Child O' Mine" being the most notable example) and it allowed me to capture the video with connotations that it was more of a 'documentary' than a music video, which certainly added to the verisimilitude of the second cut of the video. I have added almost a montage at the end of the video, a sequence of shots inter-cut with other more dramatic shots (girl ripping the paper and crying etc.) and I have done this in a way so that the cuts have been done in time with the beat of the drum or the guitar riff - this will help me establish a good relationship between the audio and the visuals (another convention I unearthed upon researching the subject) which will make the text easier to decode for the audience. In addition to this I have also included a shot that matches the audio: at 02:24, when the vocalist screams "I've got to run away" I have matched the audio and visuals together by including a rather dramatic shot of the girl running away (embodying the songs lyrics) in slow motion. I believe this coupled with some of the binary oppositions I have included in the video, such as the concept of the girl playing in the playground and swinging on the swing whilst manifesting a very pensive, depressed expression have allowed me to encode genuine meaning into my video in order to help me get more marks.

This is how I applied the black and white or 'monochrome' effect in the video, which has been used throughout the video to maintain a certain level of synergy in the video that will work well in conjunction with my ancillary texts.

Now it is merely a case of filling in the gaps, thinking of an effective ending (this is all teacher feedback) and making small tweaks to lighting and colour correcting the video before conducting a comprehensive and meticulous evaluation of the product.

Digipak Ideas

In order to further inform research for my digipak drafts, I have further analysed more digipaks/album covers from bands of a similar genre/similar design to what I would like to achieve. Note that the video was filmed in black and white when released to the UK, much like the digipak/album cover. This album cover is black with a shade of white that is almost beige, a sort of dark cream/ivory colour.

Ivory is considered quite a sophisticated colour that connotes a calmness and dignity, which my reflect what the band feel they would like to be considered as. Cream/Ivory essentially signify/connote purity and innocence - which for a start is a binary opposition because the meaning behind the song essentially "depicts the jealousy and paranoia of a man who suspects his significant other is cheating on him" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Brightside

This therefore establishes a clear binary opposition - using colours associated with purity and innocence, arguably warmth to represent a song about an unfaithful lover is done essentially to present two concepts with entirely different meanings that conflict each other in every way. This gives the artwork a sense of irony but also evokes an intriguing interest from consumers - it would be expected that a picture of a man and a woman who share an intimate relationship with each tother would be printed to maintain some relativity, however The Killers and/or their marketing team had clearly chosen to subvert this convention.

Another commonality between this and the other digipak i have analysed (Ed Sheeran's "The A Team") is that the name of the track is positioned very low in the bottom right hand corner of the cover in very basic (but still sophisticated) typography. Again, this can be attributed to the desire of achieving minimalism and to demonstrate a work ethic that focuses entirely on the production of the music. This is because many of the fans will never actually get to meet the band, but the artwork on album covers and promo videos resonates through to the fans and they subconsciously form an opinion of the band based on these factors. The image itself is actually quite difficult to decipher which renders it with some ambiguity: it seems that it is an archetypical American highway which could be symbolic for a number of things. It could be symbolic of life's complications and how it is an emotional roller coaster, especially in the context of the narrative and that we all face ramifications in life. However, it could also be to target an American demographic who will immediately recognise this style of road/highway and so it may be to grab the attention of their target audience.

Digipak Ideas

In order to help me construct an effective digipak I have researched into bands/songs that have produced similar videos to the type of video I would like to produce, therefore, I feel it is important to blog this progress to help me collate ideas and get a more vivid idea of what I would like my digipak to look like. Having composed a very rough first draft of my video, I understand that there has to be a clear correlation between my digipak and my video to give the artist credibility and to maintain continuity. I will be analyzing digipaks for texts that were either filmed or produced in black and white and that are somewhat similar musical styles to the artist I am producing for. I have produced a first draft of my digipak, however upon analyzing it more meticulously it seems there are some discrepancies between the content in the video and the pictures on the digipak.

Ed Sheeran - "The A Team" Artwork

The cover depicts the protagonist of the video walking with her back to the camera, which connotes a lack of identity, insignificance and hints at ambiguity. The composition of the cover also maintains relevance to the text: the black and white effect that the text was filmed in has been retained and making the the project as a whole more 'neat' which gives the artist more credibility but also gives the work itself an identity, a way in which it can be recognised - using more bright colours on the digipak may have confused fans as it would have been difficult to associate the digipak and the video. This is one of the early problems I encountered in my work - there was a clear discrepancy between what I had filmed and the artwork on the digipak - my first draft featured no photos of the protagonist and all photos of the locations in which I filmed were in colour. Also, the main feature of this digipak is the protagonist who takes up a large portion of space within the confines of the photo and has been sketched in a very dark shade of black - another interesting feature of the digipak and also the artist Ed Sheeran himself. Album covers that feature drawings/sketches have become somewhat of a trademark for Sheeran, as his album "+" features similar textures that look like very detailed sketches.

Depicted above is another example of Sheeran's album artwork, which feature photos that have been cleverly converted into pencil sketches via meticulous editing. The immediate effect of these detailed drawings is that it gives the artist an identity, a trademark by which he can be recognised - an artist or band must be recognised as a brand therefore my ancillary texts (digipak and poster) must be of a very similar style maintaining some distinct features to help get the band recognised. But back to the original cover for the A Team, it features small lettering rather than larger, lavish print which goes a long way in  reinforcing the artists intentions of focusing solely on making music rather than the more lucrative side of the industry, and promotes a healthy image for the artist with connotations that he is leaning towards a minimalist approach to his music. The small text coupled with simple typography goes even further to establish the artist's intentions to focus on the music itself rather than the lavish and luxurious production tools they have at their disposal which is another feature which denotes that Sheeran is a proponent of minimalism. The sketch effect that has been put on the A Team cover also bears similarities to other minimalist art:

The textures used in this sketch feature the bare essentials of the facial features and shading where appropriate, no water colours have been used and the sketch encapsulates the modern day minimalist sketch, this sketch is analogous with Sheeran's album cover which supports the argument that the artist (Sheeran) is striving for minimalism to gain respect from fans and other artists. Another notable feature of Sheeran's work is his logo; his name in typography that features a slightly 'fuzzy' rough-around-the-edges look coupled with a paw print - a symbol that has come to define him and his work in recent years. The paw print has become somewhat synonymous for Sheeran's work since his rise to success - stemming from a sticker used to adorn his acoustic guitar from way back to some of his first gigs that has remained with him today and allowed him to become a marketing machine - it is probably this that the fans respect him for, despite Sheeran's success he remembers where he came from and has remained down to earth still using what looks like a neglected acoustic guitar to perform at gigs with.

Above is Sheeran's acoustic guitar with the famous paw print that now serves as a symbol/representation of his work, used to decorate a seemingly neglected guitar which contributes to his indie image - as I have alluded to previously, many things in the indie genre are 'rough-around-the-edges" such as the camera work used in music videos and also clothing (ripped jeans etc.) and Sheeran has kept this trend going however he embodies this through his instruments. It may seem pedantic, but small it seems small details like this go a long way in producing a successful digipak that gives the artist a brand identity.

Depicted above is another example of how the logo has become a trademark of Ed Sheeran's work, it is one of the first things featured in bright white and bold on the famous 'Carry On' memes which have experienced exponential growth in recent years. In essence, the point is that a digipak needs a number of different features to give it credibility depending on the genre and the target audience/demographic, and a logo that the band can be recognised by is just as important as the digipak it is printed on, it gives the band/artist recognition. This meme has also been done in orange which is, again, synonymous for Sheeran's work.

The fact that the album cover is merely a sketch almost 'simplifies' it, as if it has taken merely pencil and paper to produce the cover (despite the fact it would have taken photos and adequate editing software to produce this look)- another reference to minimalism and also the typography in which the title has been produced - "The A Team" is written in a font that looks very basic and eroded, broken. This embodies many of the themes in the song/video: a sex worker who has very limited resources and has been broken by society, who is relying on bare essentials to get by and earn a living.

Logo Design and Developments/Drafts

I felt it is imperative in order to market the band as a brand to design possible logos in order to promote the band on my ancilliary texts and give them a brand identity, trying to keep the design somewhat simple and maybe adhere to conventions to prevent being ostentatious/pretentious which would give the band bad publicity. It is also important for me to bear in mind that the logo must be effective aesthetically, incorporate some conventions, include a bold typography that clearly signifies they are a rock band, and the logo must be of a size that means it will easily fot within the confines/dimensions of profile pictures on social media - as this is now how bands go about promoting their music. It is famously documented that Arctic Monkeys promoted the entirety of their music through the use of MySpace, through fans sharing their music online rather than the band promoting it, which is why aspects of promoting the band on social media should not be overlooked.

These are the provisional designs for my logos, I feel I have designed them in a way that makes them reflective of the band (taking into account their brand image and the music itself). This is why I have chosen to place the band name in clear, bold and simple typography across the head stock of a Gibson Les Paul guitar - this form of iconography works well is it is reminiscent of the type of image Guns N Roses represented. It also happens to be the model of guitar played by the lead guitarist of the band which would find favour with the artist, but it also signifies that the band are a hard rock band as it is clear through the logo that they utilise such instruments to create their music. This makes the logo incisive, almost concise - it expresses the essential features of the band through one logo which will give them identity. 

In terms of semiotics, this logo seeks to reach its audience through the use of iconography as it is essentially an icon: it bears a real picture of a guitar that has been adapted to display the band's name. This is why I chose to use a guitar for the band's logo - I wanted to make use of iconography in the band's work and therefore I have used something real (qualifying it as an icon) but edited it to make it slightly more abstract. This logo will probably find favour with a niche audience who play guitar themselves and so will recognise the importance of the logo and it's suitability which will entice them immediately if they enjoy hard rock/indie rock music i.e. this logo would bear significant discrepancies if it was used to represent/promote an R'n'B artist.Therefore, it is immediately decoded and given meaning by those who recognise what it is.

This logo is a variation on the first one, it is slightly more detailed, however it compromises boldness and size of the typography which could make it easy to be overlooked and difficult to decipher the name of the band on posters/adverts/digipaks etc. This is why I will probably not opt for this logo to promote my ancillary texts as it does not have enough of an impact and it is not clear enough that it is a band logo it looks more like an image with not enough meaning - this is why I am either going to opt for a good aesthetically pleasing typography or use the first 

First Draft of Digipak

This is the first draft of my digipak. Despite the fact that it features locations that feature in my video the digipak as a whole as lots of room for improvements. For a start, there are clear discrepancies between the first draft of my video and the first draft of my digipak - this is not a binary opposition in anyway, this is just a poor first attempt at a digipak whilst becoming accustomed to software (Adobe Photoshop CS3) and also a lack of album cover research has led me to make a fairly lax, uninformed first draft of my digipak. The front of my digipak features a very bare, and meaningless picture accompanied by a typography that is incredibly basic and no logo. I felt at the time that putting pictures of locations with the omission of the protagonist would create ambiguity, however it just makes the digipak seem irrelevant in comparison to the video - this is a point that my teacher alluded to: just as there must be continuity in the video itself, there must be an element of continuity in the video and the ancillary texts produced with it - like many products, they must match in some way in order to be identified as the same brand. This is the most important improvement I need to make to my digipak, I need more relevant photos (featuring the protagonist) and these need to be adapted on Photoshop CS3 so that there is a monochrome effect applied to the photos to match my video and overall desire to achieve that raw undisguised 'indie' effect in my work. I also intend to put other effects on the cover of my digipak however I am undecided as to what at this point.

It is also notable that the back cover looks out of place and should not be featured on the album cover, since this shot never actually features at any point in my video it was merely me trying to be adventurous with the cover, however, as I have found out in my research, minimalism is the key to creating effective artwork on a digipak for bands of my style (indie rock/hard rock). Therein, I will be making a plethora of changes to my digipak.

Another thing that I need to include which I have not done are track listings on the back cover of the digipak - this is a key component to the digipak as when potential consumers pick up an album and ponder over buying it, they will instinctively flip the album over and analyse the back of the album to see other songs that will feature on the album and also examine the artwork featured on the back cover. In essence, I would say that the digipak has no definitive meaning and it does not give the band an identity by which they can be recognised. This has lead to a change in my planning, I realise now that I should develop an appropriate logo to help construct a brand identity and open up further marketing oppurtunitites for the artist.

The changes should be as follows:

- Take new photos featuring the protagonist
- Use a monochrome effect on the photos and adapt contrast to suit
- Feature track listings on the back of the digipak including all other songs that the artist intends for the album
- Use more fitting typography to suit the artist
- Develop an appropriate logo to accompany this typography and gain the band recognition also using semiotics.

First Cut/First Shoot

The shots in the video are the result of my first shoot and are an incredibly vague insight into how my video will end up - I still need to take into consideration narrative theories and adaptations such as colour correct and lighting in order for the video to be completely finished and seen as a marketable product that will represent the band's brand identity in a positive way.

This is the (unfinished) first draft of my video and upon review it is clear that it needs a significant amount of changes in order for it to gain top marks and give the artist any credibility. The video is unfinished and so needs enough footage to fill the entire song, this is probably the first problem that needs to be addressed. Secondly, in certain parts of the video (notably 00:40 - 01:20) the video clearly lacks continuity as a result of lax directing and poor editing - these are problems that will have to be rectified in my second shoot.

It is also apparent that many of my shots are very prolonged which is a direct result of poor editing - I should have cut these to make them shorter so that I could intercut with a plethora of other shots to keep the video interesting, as upon feedback from my teacher I found out that despite the fact the footage fit well in time with the music (cutting took place in time with the guitar riffs and the drum loops) the video dragged on and was quite slow and predictable which made it boring to watch. My teacher, however, did comment on how he liked the mise en scene (locations and the way the girl is presented as isolated through the fields) and also the props such as the coat she wears - which as I said I wanted to use to make the video somewhat comparable (analogous) to "The A Team" by Ed Sheeran. It was also brought to my attention that when the typography is displayed on the screen during the opening sequence (reading "The Fight by The Case: Edited, Directed and Produced by Joe Grogan") it should be displayed in the same typography as the typography used on the digipak and magazine poster/advert to make the video more authentic.

My main priority is collating enough footage on premier to be able to fill the song - my teacher said (as I suspected) is better to have surplus footage than a lack of footage as it gives me more creative freedom if I have more footage to work with. We decided it would be a good idea to film the subject scrunching the note (which she is seen reading at 00:15 seconds onwards) and throwing it in anger using a combination of ECUs close-ups and mid shots (I pondered the idea of a canted angle) to work concurrently with when the song culminates - when the guitars get louder and become more distorted and the vocals become more aggressive. My teacher also informed me that I may need to use Premier Pro software or After Effects in order to tweak the lighting in some scenes as at times the lighting of the video makes the video appear dull.

Locations

In terms of locations, they must adhere to the themes/codes and conventions I am employing in my video, so I have chosen to use a plethora of locations scattered around where I live, in Iver/Iver Heath. These areas comprise of very open landscapes that will only reinforce the insignificance of the protagonist in my narrative, which is a theme in the song which I intend to emphasise as much as possible. I am also going to film in a series of cul de sacs to obtain footage. This is essentially an extended metaphor for what the protagonist is enduring throughout the narrative. By using residential areas and fields open to the public I am being sure to avoid incurring extra costs, for example, London Underground have the right to charge £300 for a two hour permit, which would have adverse effects on other areas of my music video i.e. the mise en scene and props etc. Therein, I have taken a more frugal approach to my film making, not only because it will save me money but because the locations I am using seem more suitable for the content of my narrative.

This is a shot of the front of the house that will be used to film the opening/end scenes and also used for the establishing shots, it also sets the scene and gives a brief insight into the life of the young girl - it is set in a cul de sac in a suburban area in a house that connotes that she is a fairly ordinary middle class young girl. This goes someway to describe the socioeconomic background of the girl and gives the audience a concise insight into her everyday life. I will adapt this by adding a series of effects such as low key lighting to place an emphasis on the melancholy theme of the video through the use of some editing software (Adobe Photoshop).

This shot emphasises the fact that the next shot is likely to take place inside the house which causes the viewer to invest interest. It also gives the reader an insight into the socioeconomic background/class - indicating that she is a young middle class girl who lives in a suburban area. This also sets the scene for the beginning of the video preventing confusion - it also effectively discloses roughly what time of day it is (morning/afternoon) and that it is not late in the evening. However, despite the fact it is not late in the evening I will be using after effects to tweak the lighting making it more low-key, giving the video a slightly more sinister effect.

This location/shot emphasises the distance of the walk and gives a very good perspective, this effect will only make the subject/actor appear more diminutive and more isolated, which is an effect that I am aiming to achieve as in my video one of the main themes is isolation and melancholy. By using low-key lighting and more open areas (in less industrial locations) the locations will seem somewhat more bleak and bare which, again, is an effect I am striving to achieve as I believe it is relative to the ideologies in the song. This shot in conjunction with a high angle shot will reinforce

Likewise, the use of a cul de sac to play on the notion of perspective will help emphasise the lonely connotations in the video and create the illusion of making the subject more diminutive than they actually are, constructing meaning through the use of lonely, frail and weak/insignificant connotations. The fact that the girl walks through these seemingly obscure and secluded locations reinforces the idea that she is dealing with rejection from a lover or a friend, and feels she has been ostracised as a result.

These locations are going to be made more gloomy by utilising specific tools on Premiere during the post production process, most notably a black and white effect and using the colour correct tools. The field itself also looks quite sinister and due to the magnitude of the environment, it will help me achieve the effect I want of making the girl appear smaller and more isolated, lonely.

I certainly intend to include various close ups and ECUs in order to capture the expression of the girl in order to convey the girls emotions more clearly, allowing the audience to empathize with her - ambiguity is a feature of my video, but this principle cannot be stretched too far or else it will lead to confusion and I will not be able to build meaning through my camera work.

This alleyway plays a key part in my narrative: it serves as a means of escapism for the girl (and hopefully for the audience when taking into account the uses and gratifications theory) and shows her stumbling upon a large open field in which she feels she can run which serves as a means of catharsis and hedonism she hasn't had. This, again, will represent the importance of binary opposites in my video showing the contrast in the girl's mood. The heavy foliage in the alleyway is another reason I chose it to shoot this particular scene - there is certainly something very mysterious about the alleyway and it comes across as obscure, it will also look far more intriguing when adding contrast on Premiere Pro and also colour correcting it - this will show it in a more low-key manner which is another feature I am aiming to emphasize in the video. By filming in more accessible, realistic locations it renders the video with a sense of verisimilitude/realism which is exactly what I want - similar to the music video "Robbers" by The 1975 directed by Tim Mattia - it is this rawness, this strong and completely undisguised method of production that interests me and so I will be referring to such videos as an archetype, almost as a basis to my music video. This could be seen as a sort of intertextuality,: the meaning of my text is being shaped by elements of another, a notion introduced and advocated by Julia Kristeva.

This bleak field will work fantastically well in conjunction with after effects such as higher levels of contrast and possibly low key lighting. The field signifies negative connotations and embodies some of the metaphors in the song such as pain, misery and dulness/lack of youth - this field severely lacks vegetation and is exposed to the elements.

Animatic

This is the animatic for my video in order to give me a rough guideline as to cuts and timings and also as to whether the song fits with my narrative/codes and conventions/ideologies. I will have to synchronise the cutting in conjunction with the beat of the drum and guitar riff - thus establishing smooth transitions between the visuals and audio to make more sense of the video and make it somewhat more aesthetic and easier to watch.

I am content with the content/narrative of the video and feel it is analogous with Ed Sheeran's video for the A Team (which I feel has a slightly similar narrative to my video in terms of isolation etc. and monochrome visual effects) which is arguably subverting a convention as Sheeran is an indie artist, however, other artists of a similar genre such as Guns N' Roses have also produced videos using this monochrome effect such as "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise City", although these are both performance videos, and so it could be argued that I am subverting conventions which I will go into depth about when producing my evaluation. This is essentially collating footage over the audio without having to actually film or do any production work which gives me a head start in producing my video.

Despite the fact that in my actual video I will ensure cuts are conducted over drum beats and guitar riffs to maintain smooth transitions and establish a relationship between the audio and the visuals, the transitions are not quite as smooth as there will be far more shots used in my actual video as this is just a rough guideline for me - many of the different segments of the storyboard represent two or maybe three different shots that will be used.

Prelimenary Script

As it has been discussed in the lyrical analysis, the song is based on the idea of a failed relationship that has left the protagonist with a shattered psyche. This is why the editing of the video must feature some common codes and conventions featured in music videos that share some of these ideas. The Camera, Mise en Scene, Editing and Sound (which will obviously be the recorded soundtrack) all have to work in conjunction to create a slightly melancholy effect. It will incorporate the codes and conventions of narrative videos that not only are based on love but also ones that feature young actors and how this affects the camera and editing, and also the effect it has on the audience and how it builds meaning.

Narrative 

The narrative must be relevant, which means I must ensure there are no discrepancies between what is on screen and the soundtrack. I intend to produce a narrative video featuring a young girl who has received a note in her schoolbag, however, the audience are left questioning what was written on the piece of paper - we can only assume she has received some bad news that has caused her to become very upset. This in turn causes her to leave the house and roam aimlessly, but introspectively around cul de sacs, high streets and fields (large landscapes) that when encompassing a young girl, cause her to look even more isolated, vulnerable and insignificant. The girl will then be filmed roaming through a playground/park, in which she will still manifest a facial expression that connotes melancholy with a hint of vacancy, creating a binary opposition between the playground - synonymous for lighthearted fun and joy - and the young girls mood, who is subdued and somewhat gloomy. I want the narrative to bear similarities to the promo for "The A Team" by Ed Sheeran, as this video employs the kind of techniques, codes and conventions I wish to use in my video, whilst he also omits himself from as much on screen action as is possible, making some appearances playing insignificant characters sporadically. This is the sort of approach I want to take towards my music video: I want people to view the artists as having a minimalist mindset towards music that focuses exclusively on making music through making a video that is direct and incisive. When the song eventually reaches the pre- chorus/chorus (and when the lyrics "I've got to run away and get me back my rights" and also "Fight for my rights, fight for my youth" are sung) I will have a sequence of shots that show the girl running across the fields/past the playground in slow motion to make the video more cinematic, artistic and intensify the action that is happening on screen. Below I will be documenting a rough copy of my provisional script complete with timings in chronological order. The following has been tailored to adhere to my storyboard as much as is practically possible, my storyboard has given me a solid foundation as to how my product will pan out after my first draft/rough cut.

Script

 00:00-00:10 - ECU on protagonists eyes, capturing the lateral movement of the eyes creating a sense of ambiguity/foreboding

00:10 - 00:18 - Band logo in original typography to be displayed on screen over black background

00:18 - 26:00 - Revert to ECU of eyes

00:26 - 00:30 - Establishing Shot of house to establish location and time of day

00:30 - 00:35 - Match on Action to show girl arriving home from school

00:35 - 00:38 - Mid Shot of girl discovering note in schoolbag - mid shot allows audience to examine mise en scene/costume (school uniform) which connotes youth and innocence, and also naivety and vulnerability.

00:38 - 00:41 - Close Up to capture facial expression whilst reading the note

00:41 - 00:46 - Jump Cut to ECU of eyes (the same as the shot featured in the inaugural scene of the video) and emphasise lateral eye movement to show that she is reading the note.

00:46- 00:54 - Close Up of face to capture facial expression (upset, slightly vacant)

00:54 - 01:00 - Mid Shot of girl exiting kitchen

01:00 - 01:08 - ECU of coat on coat hanger, before seeing the girls arm reach out and unhook the coat.

01:08 - 01:12 - ECU of door handle and then girls hand/arm opening the door

01:12 - 01:17 - Long Shot of girl leaving house walking down the drive - by employing a long shot it will create connotations of isolation, coupled with the use of a High Angle to further emphasise the protagonists insignificance, which will evoke empathy in the audience/viewer

01:17 - 01:22 - Mid Shot of girl walking away from camera with hood up, engulfed in a parka - style jacket - the use of a seemingly oversized coat with the hood placed over the head of the protagonist is insipration I have drawn from Ed Sheeran's "The A Team" ; the use of these techniques contributed to the effect of the protagonists loss of identity

01:22 - 01:29 - POV shot (shot from a low angle), this will be a handheld shot to create the effect of an eye line match of the girl whilst she is walking, a pan will also be used (still handheld to create verisimilitude) to give the audience an insight into the environment

01:29 - 01:38 - Wide Shot of girl walking down the pavement - the camera will not pan, she will merely walk from one end of the frame to the other without being tracked, which connotes a lack of importance and further reinforces the idea of her insignificance, as the camera does not follow her

01:38 - 01:48 - Close Up of facial expression through the use of a handheld shot, this will create the effect of audience involvement and help them feel closer to the protagonist and give them a sense of empathy. In addition to this, the use of a handheld shot will go against the conventions of modern day videos whereby all camera work is neat and tidy, and this will help contribute to the minimalist image that the band are trying to convey to the audience. It is this 'rough around the edges' look that encapsulates the idea that the band are focused exclusively on music rather than fame and lavish/ materialistic possessions/resources.

01:48 - 02:00 - A series of Long Shots taken at a High Angle to emphasise the diminutive figure of the girl and how the environment that encompasses her makes her appear isolated, this will feature a plethora of shots to speed the tempo of the video as the song becomes more frenetic, almost creating a visual crescendo.

02:00 - 02:10 - Close Up of girl's face who stumbles across something intriguing. Showing two angles - two from either side of her face through the use of a Jump Cut.

02:00 - 02:30 - Low Angle Shot that Pans around the girls face as she looks apprehensive whilst also bemused.

02:30 - 02:45 - Canted Angle taken from alleyway (which audience are not yet aware of) which captures her facial expression and also causes the audience to invest interest, the canted angle almost creates the illusion that another living creature is lurking in the alleyway.

02:45 - 02:58 - The camera remains at a Canted Angle, the girl walks towards the camera but focuses her attention on something beyond the camera and so does not make direct eye contact with the camera, which is essentially breaking the fourth wall.

02:58 - 03:45 - Montage of footage of the girl walking through the alleyway before discovering that she is being encompassed by a huge field that makes her look isolated/insignificant - a theme that is repeated throughout the text. This montage will comprise of Mid Shots, Long Shots/'Wide Shots, Close Ups and ECUs. 

03:45 - 04:14 - In this segment of the video the girl will come across a playground (hopefully the playground will be vacant, however, this is subject to change as it may be in use by other members of the public) she will be sat on a number of playground apparatus with a miserable expression, looking somewhat pensively into the distance. This creates a binary opposition between a playground/park - synonymous for children having fun - and the look of apprehension and anxiety on the young girls face which creates a character that subverts the usual stereotype of a child (happy, carefree, innocent etc.)  I intend (if possible) to Intercut a montage of the band into this comprising of some performance footage obtained from a gig, as this will allow for an image of the band to stick in the consumer's mind as well as the video/narrative itself.

04:14 - 4:30 - In this scene I want to include Match on Action similar to that included in the beginning of my feature - showing her entering the house again and going back to the note and re-reading it. A Jump Cut will be used to revert back to an ECU of the protagonists eyes and lateral movement of the pupils to denote that the girl is reading the note.

04:30 - 4:54 - To retain some ambiguity within the narrative, the girl will stare angrily at the note before scrunching it up (meaning the audience will still not know what was written on the note) - switching to an ECU of the girls curled fist as this is symbolic for strength, power and defiance. She will then drop the note into the bin - an ECU of her fist will be used to intensify the scene and, again, symbolize strength and resilience - a trait the girl lacked in the beginning of the video and so the ending features some extent of semiotics to serve as a barometer of how the protagonist/narrative has developed throughout the video.

Magazine Advert Analysis: U2

This advert/poster is an old advert that was used to promote famous rock band U2's album "War" - which was incredibly political and one of their first album that documented the atrocities of war and invasion. Before I go into any major detail about the album, one thing that immediately amazed me was that throughout the digipaks and adverts I have analysed there has certainly been one commonality that unites them all: the concept of minimalism. This album takes that notion to a whole new level and actually compels me with how basic yet impactful the cover is: the rich red against the black and white/monochrome background appears incredibly pleasing on the eye and does the main thing that the advert is meant to do - sell the album. This album does that incredibly well with no fancy editing techniques, the red typography connotes blood due to the name of the album (War) and it is in bold font with no serifs or fancy text which as I said previously, encapsulates a minimalist approach to a digipak/advert so well. I find this advert so truly captivating that I am genuinely considering experimenting with black and white backgrounds and striking red, bold, basic fonts myself.

Also, the boy featured on the front manifests a very dissatisfied expression and consumes the majority of the frame to denote importance. To reinforce the importance of the boy the background has clearly been more blurred in order to make it more difficult to decipher and draw more attention to the boys facial expression and ensure people are able to recognise his youth. The album also encourages sympathy from the audience as there is a visible cut on the boys lip which connotes that he is a victim of war, corruption and the injustice that haunted the world at the time and the band clearly wanted to convey this message to people buying the album - a prime example of how people can set an agenda and get people to buy into an ideology: the consumers may just happen to like the music itself and be completely passive to the ideas and agendas in the album but by marketing/promoting the album successfully through magazine adverts the band can get people who are unaware of what they are buying to buy something solely on the aesthetics and audio thus allowing the band to bombard them with their ideologies that the audience will subconsciously consume - which makes reference to the hypodermic needle theory.

The text is placed further to the right of the frame in order to give the boy the majority of the frame when taking into account the rule of thirds as the boy takes up roughly two thirds of the frame. In addition to this, the band's name and the album name are the only text featured on the advert, which again contributes to the band'd idea of minimalism but the very rich red makes it stand out incredibly well over the background. I also feel that having an advert that uses the same image as the album cover is a huge benefit to the band as it gives them an identity and it gives the album as a whole and as a project a feel of cohesion and organisation that allows the band to market it as an actual brand, something that will be recognised on an advert or a digipak which opens up opportunities for other merchandise e.g. t shirts.

Also, the pose in which the boy finds himself reveals his slight, diminutive figure which connotes weakness and evokes sympathy from the audience especially when taking into account the social historical context of the album (war and invasion). All in all I was incredibly impressed with the advert and will look to incorporate many of it's ideas into my own products (ancillary texts) for the band I am producing for who are also a rock band. This will bring elements of "Pastiche" and "Bricolage"into the production process of my ancillary texts and I will look to gain extra marks as a result.

Magazine Advert Analysis: Arctic Monkeys

The following magazine advert is an old magazine advert used to promote Arctic Monkey's then up-and-coming album "Humbug".  The advert uses many minimalist features such as it's colour scheme: it uses simple colours such as black and white which connotes that the band are focused on making music rather than producing lavish marketing materials. The bold, white typography against the jet black background makes the band name appear striking and unmissable, it is in fact the first thing the audience see when viewing it. In addition to this it has included reviews from reputable music magazine  companies such as NME and Q which gives the band some credibility. It is also important to not the positioning of the bands text/typography: It is in incredibly large font and is centralised in relation to the confines of the frame, making it the focal point of the advert. This is different from some other adverts/digipaks I have analysed, as some have chosen to put the bands name in either the top left/top right hand corner. Interestingly, the image featured on the digipak has not been featured on this particular magazine advert which could be seen as subverting a convention in some way as normally the magazine advert is expected to feature the same image as the digipak (album cover) which is depicted below:

As you can see, the "Humbug" album itself features a very different image on the front which is quite peculiar and probably something I will avoid doing with my own magazine advert as I believe it builds an identity for that particular album and just generally prefer the digipaks and adverts to be synchronous.

Also noticeable is the stars that are featured above both the magazine companies respectively - it is clear that they are not too big but also not too small and are a good size, otherwise it would risk the advert looking ostentatious which would completely subvert the minimalist approach the band are trying to convey. Something that I also fin bemusing is the fact that the band have used two different fonts in both their digipak and magazine advert - this makes the album artwork overall less iconic in my opinion. As is common with many rock bands and their typography, the band have used serifs in some of the letters in their magazine advert which is something I should consider.

The image on the advert uses a white border to distinguish it from the rest of the advert and draw attention to it - the use of white over black helps to ensure that certain details are noticed and that they appear clear and easy to decipher. Also, at the bottom of the advert in smaller but still bold typography are the words "New Album" to catch the audiences attention and entice them to read the reviews for the album which (as previously mentioned) have been published by some very credible and respectable music magazines.

Progress Update

As I have changed my idea from a performance video to a pure narrative video, I have decided to analyse some music videos that contain features similar to my intended narrative: music videos that feature children and identify what some of the codes and conventions of these videos are. I will also be analysing the way in which these singles/bands were marketed as research to inform my ancillary texts, therein, I will be analysing merchandise produced for bands such as Blind Melon, Ugly Kid Joe and even artists who do not target the same demographic as my chosen band such as Kanye West because despite the fact the genre of music and target demographic differs, it will still allow me to gain an insight into how the use of camera, sound, mise en scene and editing change when featuring young actors and how these work in tandem with Andrew Goodwin's ideologies. This research will certainly inform the way I design my ancillary texts and how I structure my music video when producing my rough cuts. It will also allow me to come to a decision as to whether I want the video to be an open or closed structure in terms of it's narrative.

I will take inspiration from Andrew Goodwin's theories of how a music video can link back directly to the narrative. One of his theories postulates that the three elements that enable the song to correlate with the video:

Amplification
Illustration 
Disjuncture

Illustration

Illustration is frequently used in music videos so that the visuals work in conjunction with the song lyrics, and it is one of the most important concepts in a music video as the literal meaning in a song can be translated directly onto the screen to help people further comprehend the meaning of the song. This will certainly inform the production my video and the narrative will encapsulate the essential meaning in the song. This will mean that the video generally will follow the narrative in the song closely. For example when the lyrics "I've got to run away" are sung I intend to use shots of a young actor running through a field or a playground

Amplification

This is essentially repeatability, exaggeration to ensure that the concepts/conventions elicited through the camera, sound, editing and mise en scene are made clear to the audience. For example, in the Arctic Monkeys' "When the Sun Goes Down" the narrative in the video amplifies the theme of prostitution and this is made clear through the way in which the video is constructed i.e. camera, sound, editing and mise en scene. The girl in question is shown to be wearing very lackluster clothing when seeking clients, and is shown to be manipulated by sordid men in secluded locations after agreeing a deal when she is scantily clad.

Disjuncture

This is when there is a clear discrepancy between what is being presented on screen and the narrative in the song - these videos often make very little sense but create meaning through adapting the codes and conventions and using abstract imagery to convey ideologies. Disjuncture often means that a completely different meaning to what is featured in the narrative is conveyed and the video is often steeped in irony. These videos can give the song more exposure and make the artist more reputable.This subversion in the narrative is entirely intentional and is a method that has been employed by a number of artists to attract attention to their work.