Evaluation Question Four

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Group Question

How Did We Use The Internet?

The Internet was a vital piece of technology that has helped us throughout the whole process of the development of our coursework for both the main and ancillary task. The first use of the internet was for the research in to music videos and then more deeply into the music genre our group was going to focus on. Global site YouTube has helped our group massively as we were able to load up specific videos that related to our genre and analyse them and take key conventions out of them. If we did not have access to a video site that shows music videos, then we would have had to have sat in front of a TV and analyse the videos that we were given, something that may not have even been beneficial to our genre of music. As well as this, the internet meant that our research in to our ancillary tasks was genre appropriate and that we carefully analysed the images that were on the screen. For example, from looking at adverts for Rihanna we realised that the artist is always in the forefront of the advert. We were also able to look at the house style between album artwork and magazine adverts, thus keeping our brand identity. Using the internet enhanced our knowledge into the music industry, and if we did not have access to this, then our research stages would have been heavily delayed. As well as researching just in to music videos themselves, we also were able to use the internet to aid us in how to construct one ourselves. Before the project was tasked to us, none of us knew how to operate Final Cut to a standard that was required, and the internet had many videos and forums that we were able to locate and heighten our knowledge. Without the internet in the research stages of our coursework, we would never have been able to identify how to professionally construct an appropriate media package that has a consistency with the music video. The internet was also used in the planning stages of our coursework. Before we set off and started to film anything, we had to plan where we were going to go and the use of google maps enabled us to easily identify where it was we were going to film Another key website that was fully taken advantage of was Blogger. The website allowed us to ‘blog’ our stages of our work in a neat and professional manner where we have access to other peers studying the same course, which is ideal for product feedback. This use of communication helped us to identify weaknesses and improve the quality of our video and ancillary tasks. The website allowed us to exhibit all of our work which is a fantastic way to place work as the media is becoming more and more dependent on the internet. If we did not have use to blogger, then we would have had to written the whole of the coursework by hand, which would have been time consuming and messy. Other internet sites such as prezi and viemo were used. Prezie, which was useful in our planning stages was effectively used as it displays a presentation style piece of work in an aesthetic way, and vimeo was used to upload our final cut and showcase our video as it was of a higher quality than uploading it to YouTube or as an mp4 format. Without the internet and the sites that are available we would not have been able to produce such a media rich portfolio throughout all of the stages of the coursework.

Evaluation Question Three

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Gaining feedback from the target audience was a vital aspect of creating our music video, this was because it enabled us to see what people thought of the video. Once we had a range of feedback from the other year 13 groups, our teacher and friends from our rough cuts we knew what had to be changed in order for the video to be more entertaining, professional and more appealing to our target audience, which are key components in creating an effective music video.

Year 13 Media Students Viewing

From the feedback gained during a viewing session with the other year 13 media students we gained valuable knowledge of how other editors feel about the video. As each person in the room would have at some stage edited their own video, thus having their own opinions on what makes an effective video for a specific song. This also gave us ways to improve our video through actual ways to improve, for example cutting some shots as they were too long or adding a different type of transition. This helped us in the production of our video as having feedback from people who know how to use the software meant if we needed help they could show us how to make such amendments. This differs to the opinions we gained from friends as they watched the music video differently, as they would not know what types of transitions to add or type of angle to shoot from. This helped as their feedback was more steered towards how entertaining the video was, which gave us points to improve on to make the video more enjoyable for other audiences.

Here are some images of the feedback gained from the year 13 media students.

To further the range of feedback gained for our music video I also asked two of my friends to write down what they thought. Once they had watched the video I asked them to read our their opinions so that I could record it, the opinions are shown below as mp3 bars. 

 Here is a short mp3 of one my friends Ollie Hookway giving his opinion on the music video. Gaining this type of feedback is useful as it shows us what a potential fan of the band would think of the music video if it was on the MTV music channels. Having this feedback also gave us a valuable insight into what aspects of the video are liked and disliked, thus improving our own knowledge of what makes an exciting music video.

This short mp3 is another one of my friend James Naziri's opinions on the video. Again this is the opinion of a fan of Noel Gallagher, therefore it is vital that in future we could use this feedback to create a product which is more effective at entertaining the audience.

I furthered the range of feedback by creating a small questionnaire for a small group of friends and family so that the group and I could get a broader range of opinion. I kept the questions simple, with the person asked having to rate their opinion on a scale from 1 to 5. This was a simple yet effective method to find out a general opinion on our work, as the average scores produced shows a trend of how good people think our work is, with higher average scores being positive and vice versa. (full screen for clearer view of text and graphs) 

Graphs

Evaluation Question Two

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Having similarities between our main task of the music video and the ancillary tasks of the digipak and magazine advertisement is a vital component we had to make sure was completed. This is because in order to create a brand identity or certain iconography for Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds the target audience need to be able to recognize products from the band in order to buy them. As a group we feel the ancillary tasks match with the music video in a variation of ways, as we make many intertextual links between the 3 tasks through using the same location shots and the guitar Glenn used in the video within the digipak and magazine advertisement, as well as having Glenn present in all 3 media platforms created. We also made sure the same styled fonts and colours were used through-out the ancillary tasks, so that when together they can easily be resembled to each other.  

Advert, Digipak and Video Shot

Research

UK Tribes Information and Glenn

During the researching stages of our coursework the group and I all agreed to base our video on a music genre we all enjoyed listening to, this came to be Alternative Rock. This meant bands such as Oasis, Coldplay, Beady Eye and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds were in our interest. The Alt Rock genre has a wide target audience range, with people similar to our age of 18 and 19 up to late 20's and 30's. We then visited websites such as UK Tribes to find out what hobbies and interests our target audience has, so that when creating our video, digipak and advert we could try and relate to them so they will enjoy using the media platforms we create. Whilst researching Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds we also noticed how a colour gradient of turquoise and orange were used on many of the singles, we opted to follow this convention on the digipak and the advert so that our work can relate to the bands, as well as help the target audience notice that they match, which will enhance the band's promotion. During the research and planning stages we noticed how most digipaks and advertisements have scenes or a shot from the music video they are promoting, this helps the audience recognize who the digipak or advert is for as they will compare it to the music video, we therefore followed this convention so that our video can be linked with the advert and digipak easily by the audience.

Narrative

Script Below

We wanted to create a narrative across the three media platforms so that our target audience will be able recognize they promote the band. The main narrative we used was our character being in the same location, as Glenn is filmed in London and the printed media show Glenn by Tower Bridge, which is a famous landmark of London. Using this type of narrative will also hopefully connect with the target audience, as they are mainly British and using London will therefore be a familiar place to them. This will therefore add exclusivity as our target audience may have been to the locations we used.

Image, Font and Colours

There is a clear link between our digipak and advertisement through the image used, this is simply because it is the same one used. We chose to use the same photograph for the both because it is an effective, and easy way to portray to the audience that they are attatched to the same musician or band. We did considor adding a smaller image of the digipak within the advertisement, however we felt this was not needed as the gradient and photo used in both easily connotes that they are from Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. The image used for both is also linked to the video, as the location used is by Tower Bridge, and for parts of our video Glenn is singing here so hopefully the audience will also be able to relate this location to the ancillary tasks and therefore the band. The font chosen for the digipak was also used for the advertisement, this was called bitume and downloaded from dafont.com. We felt we had to use this font for the band name on both, as using this font would therefore illustrate a branding for the band, thus improving the iconography of the band as this font and writing would therefore immediately relate to Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. We were thinking of adding a gradient effect to the video itself to present a common component within our digipak, advertisement and music video. After group discussion however, we opted not to do so as this may have looked too bold for a music video, and we wanted to keep the natural lighting of London as this is what our target audience would be familiar with. The gradient of turquoise and orange was used for our print media though, this was added to make the original photo less bland and to make an immediate similarity between the two ancillary tasks. I believe the main factor in linking our video, digipak and advertisement is the fact we featured the same location of the walkway by Tower Bridge in all three, as well as having Glenn present in them which is a fundamental part to linking them all together.

Above shows the link between the digipak (plain white) and advertisement (white and turquoise) text. Although the advertisement text is half white with an orange background and turquoise without any background, they are both the same font which is bitume, this we feel makes the ancillary tasks match even though they differ slightly. Most digipak and advertisement texts are exactly the same, we wanted to challenge this convention so that the advertisement is more memorable to the audience, as well more attractive as there is more colour present. We did however, want to keep some of the same style between them so using the same font and having one part in white on the advertisement meant some similarity can be made.

What Would We Improve?

If the group and I had another chance to create a music video, digipak and advertisement there would be many adjustments in what and how we complete the three media platforms. There are as follows:

• Music Video - The first thing we would do would be much more planning and scheduling for our filming, as during the filming process we lost our first character, and sometimes not all of the group could attend filming. Although this did not harm our ability to film to full extent, it would be much easier to film if everyone could attend, as there would be more ideas and options for filming the video. If we planned more efficiently we could have had more time in London, and therefore a wider range of shots which could have helped form some sort of narrative, I feel this was not covered enough as we had limited time to travel to London due to Glenn's work commitments. Personally, I would also choose a different song, mainly because it was rather difficult to think of a storyline as the song itself is rather repeatitive. I would go on from this to also choose to create a performance based video, as these can be much more exciting as they involve fast editing and more close ups of instruments and the band singing.

• Digipak - Overall, I am relatively pleased with the final outcome of the digipak. I would however, change the photo used slightly as I feel a shot showing Glenn's face would be more effective as would create eye contact with the audience, and therefore add more exclusivity to the digipak. The cover photo used is rather bland without the gradient and large font, therefore a closer shot of Glenn facing the camera in my opinion would look more effective for a digipak.

• Advertisement - If I could change the advertisement I would use a different image, which still linked to the music video and digipak. This would enlarge the brand's image and could still be matched with the digipak and music video if a small image of the digipak was present, and maybe a shot of the character used so it links with the video. I feel the text used on the advert was appropriate as the majority of it was used on Noel Gallagher's poster, it therefore connoted a professional response to the album from well known establishments. The font used was also effective as the title related to the font on the digipak, thus linking the digipak and advert together and therefore to Noel, they were all easy to read too which helps as the reader does not need to focus to read it, which may bore some people if so and this will lose any potential audience for the band.

Evaluation Question One

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Script 3

Finished Magazine Advert

Slideshow Of Construction

Each slide lasts for 8 seconds, otherwise pages can be controlled by the arrows to the right of the slideshow. (next to the full screen tab)

Magazine Advert Construction

To begin the advertisement we had to edit the photo so that it looks sharper, and more professional. To help do this we increased the contrast to +53 and the brightness to +7.  We edited the image so that it would have a brighter and clearer outcome, as the original photo has little colour due to the overcast weather and concrete of the London surroundings. The vibrance of the image was also adjusted, with it being increased to +15, this again makes the image look clearer, and also adds a deeper colour to the photo. The group feels that making these adjustments will in the long run improve the image’s outcome, as the colour is an important part to our ancillary tasks as they need to match so that the bands iconography is evident which will help promote the band.

Due to the fact of having the same photo for both the advert and digipak cover as a group we decided to use the same effects on this photo, which was to add a gradient of turquoise and orange, in the direction of top left to bottom right. This was completed by creating the gradient on the gradient options, and then dragging the tool line across the image. Once this was done the gradient wasn't that noticeable, so we decided to repeat this process to make the gradient visible enough to match this with the digipak.

We then added the title of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds to the top of the advert, to start we had plain white text. This however, looked rather bland so Jay added two rectangle shapes behind it, with one being orange, and the slightly larger layer beneath turquoise, this helps follow the style as the same colours are used for the gradients. We opted to use the same font too which is bitume, this was to build on the house style and help it match the digipak. Once this was done Jay changed the colour of ‘High Flying Birds’ to turquoise and removed the layers behind, this was to make the title more unique and the group feel it works well for the advert. We then re-sized the text so that it was bold on the page, so that if the advert was printed the title would stand out and be easy for the audience to notice it advertises Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. 

 

Whilst researching magazine adverts we saw that the majority of adverts have some pull quotes from well established companies giving feedback on the album. We looked at the real Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds advert and copied the same quote Q magazine gave to the band’s album, this was done to make it more genuine. We used a similar, yet different font style which was called Hobo Std. We believe this font is suitable for the advert as it is easy to read, and has a similar style to Noel’s advert, which the group believes makes our own advert more professional.

The bottom of the advert looked very plain without text, so we decided to add some ratings from other companies to show what they thought of the album, this is seen in many other adverts as the audience may be persuaded to buy it if they see large corporations have listened to it and liked what they heard. We decided to follow the convention of Noel’s advert with the ratings from The Sun, Mojo, The Daily Mail and The Times. We chose to use these companies too as they are all reliable, and reach a huge range of people as different people read different media types from tabloid to quality newspapers. We then inserted more text, naming a few songs from the album, this would offer an incentive to our target audience as the included songs are already well known, which hopefully entices people to purchase the album. We then added a rectangle layer beneath the text, and reduced the opacity so that the text would be more attractive over the original photo.

The bottom of the page still had a whitish area, which looked really out of place on the advert. There we added a small black rectangle with around 90% opacity so that it blended with the current rectangle shape at the bottom. On this bar we decide to keep it simple as we did not want to over-crowd the page, we added the record company Sour Mash and a website fans can visit, we used these on the digipak so that the target audience can find where to go for more information on the band, and who produced the song. We then had the colours orange and turquoise so that the bottom text matched the title, as we had the gradient colours used previously. This makes the text slightly more visible but still subtle and not too bold, which we feel makes the advert more original as we do not want to have too much text which may bore the reader.

 

Idea One

Here is the first idea of the advertisement we intend to create to promote Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds album.

We chose to use the same image for this as the digipak in order to create a link between the two promotional tools, however regarding the text colour and image we have opted to change these aspects in order to make the advert slightly different to the digipak, thus hopefully making them more interesting whilst still being easily matched.

During the construction of this design, Jay decided to use the eye dropper tool to use the same colour of Glenn's guitar case for the band's title name. As a group we thought this was unique, however the whole image looked rather bland and we felt it would not capture the audiences attention and therefore would not be the most effective design to promote the band.

We also felt that the advert would need much more text to entice the audience to read on and possibly want to buy the album, due to a range of problem we decided to not use this design and start again in order to make the advert more vibrant and easily recognizable to the digipak.

Initial Design

Above is an initial design for our digipak advert, we wanted to capture Glenn's face so that he would connect to the audience thus promoting the band. 

I started by choosing this photo, and selecting the wall background with the quick selection tool. I then de-saturated this area so that the background would be black and white, and Glenn in full colour, this therefore makes him stand out from the background. As a group we opted to use the purple coloured text with white, this was so it was bold and easy to read whilst in-front of the darker background. I chose the fonts 'Plane Crash', 'Arial' and 'Mistral' as they are all easily read, and also help connote a brand for Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.

We then continued by adding a smart-phone scanning image, Glenn's twitter and where the album can be bought from by the target audience. These elements are seen on many modern music adverts, as social networks such as twitter are used by many musicians so that they can contact their fans easily. We chose to add these elements so that the advert looks more professional and realistic, which will hopefully aid in connecting the band to the alternative rock fan base.

MISTAKE!

Once looking back on the advertisement we noticed how we used 'Glenn Rice' instead of the band's name, this was a major mistake and had to be changed to avoid any copyright infringement. We therefore chose to not use this image, as we did not want to show a clear image of Glenn as he is not part of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. This essentially means we need to use a different photo which promotes the band but does not show the audience a crystal clear image of Glenn.

Feedback For Final Cut

Finalising The Video

 

Changing It To MP4

Once our final cut was complete, we had to save our video as a 'Quick Time Movie'. To upload it to the blog the file (.mov) then had to be opened in a program called MPEG Streamclip. The video was then converted to a MP4 so that blogger would enable it to be played. To do this once the video was open in MPEG we clicked on 'Export To MP4' which converted the .mov file into a compatible MP4. After converting the video to an MP4 we then uploaded it to vimeo.com so we could broadcast our video to our target audience.




Video On Vimeo

Here is the video once it has been uploaded to the video sharing website vimeo. We opted to share our video on vimeo then embed it to the blog as this way offers higher image quality than uploading it straight to Blogger.

Final Stages Of Editing

Once the video was near completion we decided to add a MTV Rocks logo to make the video seem more genuine. We opted to use this logo as we felt it suits the song, as the song is part of the Alt Rock genre. We also had to choose a design with a transparent background as this is what the channel uses, Matt found an image from Wikipedia for our logo (here). The image was then opened in Final Cut and it was then seen in the browser box, it was then dragged onto the timeline. Once the image was in Final Cut Matt then made the image smaller so it was placed in the top left corner of the screen, we chose this as other videos also have the logo on the top left, this gives our video a more professional look as it follows others. However changing the size of the image also changed the size of the footage, to fix this Matt had to key frame the image. This meant the image could be selected, re-sized and moved to fit the screen without affecting the footage.

Screen Grab From MTV

 

We also wanted to add a small rectangle which indicated to the audience which song was being played and by whom. Matt began by going onto the MTV Rocks section of the website, and screen grabbing a rectangle area of the green used. As a group we thought green was appropriate as the colour is seen on all of MTV Rocks logos. The image was then opened on Final Cut and dragged onto the timeline. The rectange was then key framed and re-sized so that it would appear over the footage in the bottom left of the screen when the video played.

Adding Text

Finished Song Caption

We then had to add some text to go above the green rectangle which showed the artist name and song title. To do this the user has to select effects, there was then a folder called video generators which had the text option within. Once this screen was up we simply added the text Noel Gallagher - What A Life using a simple font called Lucida Grande. Once the text was created it was re-sized to fit the rectangle and then placed over it on the tracks. Matt then decided to add a fade to the song caption, this was so that it appeared and disappeared subtley, and did not just pop up on the screen. To do this the images were selected, then a fade was added to the highlighted images; these being the rectangle and text.

Further Editing

Fades

During our video we wanted to add a number of fades so a noticeable time difference is evident. This is so that when our location changes during different shots the audience can see how the artist is traveling the city. We added a fade by selecting the clip, then 'effects', 'video transitions', 'dissolve' and finally 'fade in fade out dissolve' as shown in the image to the right. We also wanted to have fades at the beginning and end of video as the music slowly builds up and decreases at the end, this we believe fit into the video effectively, as the audio and visual both gradually build up at the start and fade out towards the end of the video. 

Speed

During our video we have a small amount of shots that will be faster and slower than normal time. We wanted to have these shots under-cranked so that it will show time passing by, as our artist is traveling across London through-out the day. We began by selecting the desired clip, then chose "modify" on the top tool bar, and then the option "speed...", this enables the user to either speed up (under-crank) or slow down (over-crank) the piece of footage chosen. In order to speed up we had to change the percentage speed of the clip, the usual time makes it 100%, and to speed up the  footage we changed the percentage to more than 100%. To finish the video we also over-cranked a shot of Glenn walking out of the tunnel, as the audio also slows down as does the visual of Glenn leaving his performance location; which is the tunnel.

During the editing stages of the video the group found that when a certain piece of footage is dragged into the timeline any footage on it already will move and cause the video to be out of sync with the lyrics. This problem was solved by locking the footage, this essentially holds the selected track in place so that when another piece of footage is added it does not move the whole track. Locking the track however, means that when the track is locked the user cannot edit it, unless it is then unlocked. To lock a track the user has to select the padlock symbol which is on the left hand side, or start of the track. 

We also had footage on numerous tracks, this meant we could have more than one image or piece of footage showing at a time. This came in usefel when we wanted to use transitions such as dissolves and when we would eventually add a song title and artist label to the video. If we had the footage on one single track we wouldn't be able use any text over the footage, as it would play one shot after the other; this would therefore effect the continuity of the song as it would be very basic and bland if it was just one shot at a time. 

Changing The CD

Whilst looking at the panels which create the digipak we decided a plain black background behind the CD looked rather bland. So we opted to put a background of the tunnel's wall behind the CD, this was done to continue the image of the other inside panel which is the wall of the tunnel and guitar Glenn used. Therefore the panel aids in connoting a house style as the digipak shows a range of locations used as well the character which therefore promotes the band.

Finished Digipak

Top Left: Back Panel

Top Right: Front Cover

Bottom Left: Inside Panel

Bottom Right: CD With Disc Tray

Our digipak Compared To Others

Once the front cover for the digipak was complete I decided to place it next to a few other digipaks to see how it compares. 

The digipak seen in the middle of them is our own, and we feel it has a professional yet unique style compared to the others shown. The colours stand out clearly from the rest of the other digipaks,  this we feel will make the digipak stand out whilst on a shop shelf, thus attracting more people to buy it from the band.  

I then proceeded to print out the inside panel and CD design so that the group could see what it would look like in real life.

Layout of Digipak

This is the finalised digipak for Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds music album. We feel as a whole the digipak has a house style, as the same colour theme and fonts should make it a simple task for the audience to recognize how they fit together. The top images are the back panel (left) and front cover (right). We then have the disc and an inside panel on the bottom two panels.

The three photos for the front, back and inside panels are all featured in the video at some point. The group and I chose to include these locations so that the digipak can be linked to the music video and therefore promote the band.

3D Layout of Digipak

The above design was created by opening a plain digipak template to Photoshop, then adding our own digipak designs. To make the 3D effect work efficiently however, the designs for the front cover, CD and disc panel had to be 'distorted' so that the design would fit the template. This gives an insight to how the digipak would look when opened by a possible buyer. 

Final Cover

During the construction stages of the digipak advertisement Jay said how he thought the font used for the band title was rather bland. The group discussed and agreed to change the font as a more rugged text will make the whole cover more exciting, even though it is a different style to what the band use. Jay searched the website dafont.com to find a new and improved style, and found this font which is called 'bitume'. Overall the group and I believe the cover is much more effective as the rough style of the text fits more to the Alt Rock genre which Noel Gallagher is part of. This is because Alt Rock is known for its unique characters and styles, therefore the rough styled font we feel is more suitable.

Inside Panel

After looking at some other inside panels in digipaks from Plan B, Professor Green and Oasis the group and I noticed how all of them had very simple inside panels. We thought it would be best if we followed this idea, and decided to have a single image on the panel which would represent the band and music video. I remembered when filming I took some photos of the guitar in a tunnel we filmed in, and began looking through for any photos which could be used. 

Once I chosen a photo; which was of the main body of the guitar, I decided to edit the image to make it look clearer and more vibrant. I began by once again adding the linear burn gradient which has been used through-out. I then changed the brightness (+4) and contrast (+15), which made the guitar stand out from the wall, as the yellow from the guitar became brighter and deeper in colour.

Once the image was edited to the groups liking, we then had to decide on whether to use any text or not on for the inside panel. Whilst looking at other examples we found varied styles, with one from Olly Murs showing tour dates, and Plan B having a photo of himself and nothing else. I then opted to simply add a website for the band on the panel, this gives the design something other than the instrument he used, as it allows the user to see where they can go online to find out more about the band. For this I used the same font used on the back panel for the legal content, which is calibri in white with a black stroke of 2, this hopefully aids the style created through-out the digipak as matching text will be more recognizable. 

Finished Inside Panel

CD Design

I began by finding a template of a CD on the internet, saving it and then opening it on Photoshop. I wanted to use a basic design as I knew a gradient would more than likely be added so that the disc follows the style created on the panels of the digipak. 

Template

 I then added the gradient we used on the rest of the panels to the disc, this was completed by using the magic wand tool and selected the inside of the disc template. I then dragged the gradient line from the top left to bottom right (shown below). The outcome shows how the CD goes from a turquoise to orange which is used on all of the panels on the digipak.

Adding the Gradient

 Once the gradient was in place on the CD I then added the text of the band name, song title, record company and Noel's website. I followed the style of the real Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds disc design with the text layout, this is because the layout is simple and yet professional as the band has used this layout too. The difference between our CD and the bands is that we have used the gradient, where as the band have a plain white disc with black text.  

Choosing the band font (Coaster)

Here is the finished design for the CD, the group and I are pleased with the outcome as we believe it can be easily recognized when it's with the digipak. This means we have followed the convention of using a house style across the digipak, this will hopefully make it easy for people to match our digipak to the advertisement and the music video with the images we have used. 

CD With New Text

Advert Conventions

Above are a few digipak adverts for well known artists such as Wretch 32, Kings of Leon and Kasabian. The adverts all have similarities and differences in the colour themes, style, fonts and images used. They all however, are effective at promoting the artist or band in a number of ways. 

A common convention is to have the digipak style or image incorporated in the advert, this is evident in all of the above as they either use the same photo on the digipak for the advert, or have the digipak itself evident on the advert; this is evident on Wretch 32's advert as the album is featured on the bottom left. Having the album artwork incorporated with the advert allows the record company to promote the album easily, as the audience will see what the album looks like so will be able to recognize it when shopping in music stores such as HMV or iTunes. Due to popularity of adverts having the same image or similar artwork on the digipak our advert must also include either a small image of the front panel of the digipak, or use the same image. This will hopefully make the advert have a more professional look and will allow the audience to easily recognize the advert and digipak as they should look similar.

The adverts from Wretch 32 and Kings of Leon both have promotional text such as 'Out Now' or 'Available At...', these are often a larger size than the majority of the text. This therefore makes the text stand out and will essentially cause the audience to go and buy the album from a shop such as HMV or iTunes, as the information saying where to buy it will let them know easily where they need to go to get the music. I think our advert will incorporate some sort of promotional text such as Out Now as it can help promote the band's music, and will entice the fans to go and buy the album as it is available to them.

Having text which shows quotes from well known companies such as NME, Q and quality newspapers like The Daily Mail and Telegraph can also promote the band to the public and current fans. The Noel Gallagher advert is an example of this as it has a quote from the Telegraph saying 'the best collection of Noel Gallagher tunes since...', this shines a positive light on the album as a well known and trusted newspaper is saying how good the music is in the album. This will also persuade people to buy the bands music, as having feedback from the likes of NME, Q or The Telegraph will offer a stable judgement of the music for possible buyers. These quotes may be part of our advert, as having an opinion of the music will show the audience how someone already likes the content, so this may persuade people to also buy the album.

Noel's Own Digipak Advert

Whilst researching the conventions and typical styles used for adverts in music magazines Jay came across this advert for Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. This will give the group a helpful advantage when creating our own music magazine advert, as we can follow and contrast ideas from this advert with the one we shall create. 

The two main parts of this advert is the image of Noel, and the text saying the bands name. This is because the image of Noel is the same one used for one of the bands digipaks, this is the same with the font used for the bands name too. Having these components of the advert being the same to the digipak aids the band in promotion and advertising, as the audience can recognize the imagery used from the digipak of the band.  Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds iconography of the image and especially the band font will therefore be considered when creating our advert, as we too will use the same font used on the digipak and the same photo used to try and make it look professional. 

The advert obviously promotes the bands album, however it is also an effective method for advertising any tour dates, upcoming singles and ways to contact or read up on the bands activity. The advert has clearly stated 'UK Arena Tour 2012' in white font, which is also slightly larger than the surrounding text, this may have been done to attract viewers to notice there will be a tour; which will generate large amounts of income for the band. The text showing the website for the band (link) has been added to show fans where they can go online to see the latest news on the band and any other promotional media such as videos of the band rehearsing or giving interviews. This method of advertising adds to the exclusivity of the band as when fans visit their website and watch videos of them it can create loyalties from fans to the band as the fans are finding out more about their favourite musicians. 

Idea One (Back) Improvements

Here is the back panel of our digipak which has been re-edited. After group discussion we thought that the whole image should have the same gradient used for the cover to keep a house style for the digipak. Matt then said how the legal content may look more effective at the bottom of the panel, myself and Jay agreed with this once I had placed the text there and changed it to white, as well as adding a black stroke.I then underlined the song titles, this was purely experimental as it was not planned, but is also used on Noel's album, overall the group think it looks more original with the underlined text, as it helps to separate the text from the rest of the image. 

Below shows a comparison of the previous back panel and the new and improved design.

Idea Two (Front) Improvements

After some group discussion and opinions from classmates the group and I decided that we should use a gradient of turquoise and orange on our digipak front panel. The reason behind this change is that the original cover is rather bland, with little colour which reduces the boldness which we feel a cover should have; so that it attracts the audience to buy it when it's on a shop shelf etc. Although we already have a design with a gradient used, that design was far too strong, as classmates and ourselves thought it was 'a bit too much' as the strong colours took away from the actual photo.

Here is the improved cover, the gradient used has a lower opacity and the lighting option of the gradient was changed from 'colour burn' to 'linear burn', this toned the whole gradient down so it wasn't as bold as before.  We all agreed that this cover was much more effective for our digipak, as we feel it has a balance of colour so that the photo is still recognizable as Glenn looking out to the life of London. I also added an underline to the song title AKA...What A Life, so that it stands out from the dark background is on, and because it gives the text a more handwritten style, which is evoked on Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds album and single digipaks.