Analysis of Jessie J advert...

-The design appeals to the audience  because it's simple but effective. By having a big image of the artist it draws attention to the target audience and makes them want to buy their album

- The contrast between the gold and the black works well together and stands out

- The font of the artist's name is in quite a fancy style- this could reflect the type of artist Jessie J is and it's quite feminine too

- All of the relevant information that needs to be on the advert is on there- the artist's name, album name, website address, other tracks it features, where you can buy it- the more information that's on there, the  more likely people are to buy the album because they will know what they are getting for their money

- Gold is quite a fun, party like colour so this could reflect Jessie J as an artist because she is bubbly with a lot of enthusiasm. It could also reflect her genre of music as well which is pop because most of her songs are catchy and upbeat

- Because the layout is so simple it enables it to be more memorable for the audience and for new fans they can relate to her quicker and this will help with the promotion of her album

- The use of black lipstick could resemble her and her music- the lyrics to her songs tend to be quite meaningful and she puts a lot of emotion in so the darkness of her lips could show this because black is a strong colour

Analysis of Magazine adverts

- The design is very much Lady Gaga style- even though it's something so simple that is promoting her album she has still managed to make it a little bit whacky and visually interesting

- The use of two contrasting colours, black and white  which are colours that work well together are very striking to the audience and still have an impact- they stand out and sometimes the duller colours have a bigger effect

- The artist's name which is crucial is in bold and the biggest piece of text so that is catches the audience's eye and they know what artist they are looking at an advert for

- The overall design appeals to the audience because it's almost split into three sections- there is light and shade to the advert to make it more interesting to look at and it makes it slightly more unique too

- With the black background and the name of the album being 'The Fame Monster', you could associate this with monsters being evil and they have a dark element to them so you could link the design of the advert and the album name

- This links to the artist and the genre because Lady Gaga is quite a character and always has to do something original and something that will make her different and stand out, and I think that this advert reflects her as an artist and her genre through the simple but whacky design

- Synergy is used between the magazine advert and the digipak because the same image is used on both- this shows an element of consistency and the target audience will like to see this because it shows that she is consistent as an artist and it's more memorable and easy to recognise the artist if the image is used more than once

Key information on a magazine advertisement....

We are at the stage now where we are coming to the end of the research stage and going on to the planning and we are now analysing magazine advertisements and how they appeal to an audience...

On a magazine advert there is some information that is essential in order for the artist's target audience to want to buy the album, this includes:

• The artist's name- This will be one of the most important pieces of text because without this the target audience won't know who is advertising their album
• The album name- This is slightly less important but still key because people will get an insight into what the album might be about and the types of song- sometimes there is a correlation between the album name and the song names but not always
• The album's release date- This is essential because otherwise they won't know when the album's out and so it may have sold out or they may not be aware it's out if there is no date
• Maybe a website address- This could be quite handy to have on the advert for new fans that haven't heard much of the artist's music because they may be able to find out more about them and their album so they may be more likely to support them in future- they can do this by buying their album
• Where it's available to buy- this may help the target audience with where to go to buy the album or an alternative if the shop they usually purchase from has sold out
• Maybe a rating or a quote from a magazine- This will help the artist because the magazine review will big them up so people are more likely to buy their album
• A logo for the artist- This is something that can help represent an artist- if it is used on all of their work, e.g. CD's and magazine adverts then people will be more likely to remember it and know who the artist is
• An image of the artist or something symbolic that represents the artist- Usually an image is used or something that people will know is relatable to the artist but by having an image, people can familiarise themselves with the artist more, especially if it's a new artist or a new group of fans

 

Audience Research

For our music videos we have to collect information for part of our audience research to see what our target audience like about our chosen genre and why. I asked my target audience this question below and these are some of the answers they gave:

WHAT APPEALS TO YOU ABOUT POP MUSIC?

• Party scenes
• Young people featuring in the videos
• Upbeat, catchy song
• Performance and narrative based

Then I asked them to watch the following videos and tell me what they liked about them...

 

1. 

Lady Gaga- Applause

 

2. 

Ellie Goulding- Burn

 

3. 

Miley Cyrus- Can't stop

 

For the Lady Gaga video they said they liked it because:

• It's creative
• It has artistic features
• It has elements of performance, narrative and concept
• Brings something unique to the music industryt
• It's fun

They liked the second video because:

• It has a simple storyline
• It has meaningful lyrics
• It's narrative and performance based but still effective

My target audience said they liked 'We can't stop' by Miley Cyrus because:

• It's original
• Shows a different side to her as an artist
• It's a catchy tune
• She's a young artist so my target audience can relate to her 

Digipaks

In class we have started to look at Digipaks and the key conventions of them. Also, we have explored what it is that appeals to the audience in a digipak and what they look for and the messages they portray through the design.

I looked into three Digipaks and the first one was Justin Bieber- Believe.

 

 

Key Conventions:

- The artist's face is on the front, back and inside- this creates consistency throughout, therefore people will like seeing this because they know what they're getting and the main focus is on the artist 

- The same font and colour is used throughout the CD- an element of consistency

- Contrasting colours- black and yellow

 

 

Audience Appeal:

- People can relate to him because it has a picture of him- looks are a big part of his success

- Name of album- inspiring his audience- 'Believe' is quite a strong word and it's concise so people are more likely to remember it

- Quote from the lyrics gives the audience a bit of tease- it makes them want to buy the CD, especially if they are big fans of the artist

- Clear, simple layout- this is sometimes more effective because it's straight to the point and everything that is contains is relevant

 

 

Messages:

- Shows that he is a modern artist- reflects target audience- girls- wants to attract them

- Featured with his guitar- shows he's growing up and unique

 

The next one I did was McFly- Memory Lane.

 

                                                  

Key Conventions:

- Tea stained background gives an old effect- consistent throughout- the coloured effect used on the band works well with the background- contrasting and makes them stand out and this interests people

- Fan Art on album cover- connects with target audience

- Logo is used several times- consistency- by using the logo on several occassions their target audience will remember it more and know what to look for

- Features on the front are included on the CD

 

 

Audience Appeal:

- Fan Art- can connect with their target audience

- Artist features on the front, back and inside

- Extra, unheard content- brings a new element to them as artists and so fans will enjoy listening to them more because they've put in that little bit extra for the purpose of their target audience

 

 

Messages:

- Artist has become more sophisticated and grown up (reflected in their music)

 

The final Digipak I looked at was Professor Green- At your inconvenience.

 

Key Conventions:

- His name, logo, album name are all featured- simple features like this just add to the excitement   and it's something that if it isn't used then people are less likely to be as interested because they won't think that the artist is trying to connect with their target audience

- His face is on the front so you know who he is if you're a new fan- he's an artist that could easily attract new fans- he might not be some people's first choice of genre in terms of the music he does but he has the ability to grow on people and by having his face on the front new people may start to listen to him

- Songs don't have numbers- this is something that is unique to the artist and a lot of albums do have numbers so by going against this, it just makes him a bit different

- Simple design and layout

 

 

Audience Appeal:

- Alcohol and cigarettes are used- reflects who his target audience is- Rap attracts a certain audience- they will be able to relate to him as they will have these sort of interests and he has an element of this in his music as well so he will have quite a specific target audience

- Professor Green's audience aren't bothered about him featuring on the digipak hence the simple layout

 

 

Messages:

- Alcohol all around him, he's on his own- shows the meaning behind the music

- Not touching the alcohol- shows he's more sophisticated and mature but does it for target audience's purpose



Lyrics analysis

For our chosen song we have to do a lyrics analysis and this will help us gather ideas about the style of video we could do and help us think about what to base the video around and whether we want there to be elements of the song within the video or something completely different.

 

Whenever I'm dressed cool my parents put up a fight
And if I'm hot shot, mom will cut my hair at night
And in the morning I'm short of my identity
I scream, "Mom and dad, why can't I be who I wanna be, to be?"

 

This verse is about her wanting to be the person that she is and her parents don't like it- she tries her best to look nice but her parents always start an argument. She loses confidence and feels like she has lost her identity and just wants to be herself

 

I just wanna be myself and I want you to love
Me for who I am
I just wanna be myself and I want you to know
I am my hair

 

Here, she is talking about a similar sort of thing and just wants to be loved for who she is, so far this video has quite a depressive, negative side to it so I will have to think about how I will film it to put across this mood

 

I've had enough, this is my prayer
That I'll die livin' just as free as my hair
I've had enough, this is my prayer
That I'll die livin' just as free as my hair

 

She prays for what she wants in life and that is to be herself, nothing more, and she's had enough now so she says 'this is my prayer' in the hope that what she wants to happen will happen, and in this case it's about dying as free as her hair

 

I've had enough, I'm not a freak
I just keep fightin' to stay cool on the streets
I've had enough, enough, enough
And this is my prayer, I swear

 

These lyrics are all about an argument that she has with her parents about who she is and they don't like it and she tries to explain 'she's not a freak' but it's got to the point where she's had to fight to not be judged on the streets and she can't be the person she wants to be- there is a lot of repetition to reinforce her emotion and how strongly she feels about her being fed up

 

I'm as free as my hair
I'm as free as my hair
I am my hair
I am my hair

 

She talks about her hair being free because you can let your hair loose and you feel that element of freedom like nothing can get in the way and this is how she feels- in my video I would like to use someone with long hair and use the wind effect so it looks free to emphasise the feelings in the video

 

Sometimes I want some raccoon or red highlights
Just because I want my friends to think I'm dynamite
And on Friday, Rock City High School dance
I've got my bangs to hide that I don't stand a chance, a chance

 

I interpreted this part of the lyrics like she thinks about changing her image slightly so that her mum and dad accept her more and she wants to go a bit wild and be a bit different but it sort of sounds like it could just be a saying

 

I just want to be free, I just want to be me
And I want lots of friends that invite me to their parties
Don't want to change and I don't want to be ashamed
I'm the spirit of my hair, it's all the glory that I bear

 

Here she goes back to saying 'I just want to be me' and that she doesn't really intend to change because it's who she is, but she says what she wants ideally and that is to have lots of friends and be popular

 

 

Song Choice

As mentioned in my previous post I think I am going to be doing Lady Gaga- 'Hair' for my music video. There are a variety of reasons why I have chosen to do this song, including:

• Lady Gaga is a very successful artist in music so I thought it would be good to choose an artist that has achieved a lot in her career
• She is famous and lots of people know her as an artist so it won't be hard to get lots of people to view my video- she has a mass audience so people will want to see it
• I'd like to make it original and think of creative ideas and by using an artist like Lady Gaga this enables you to do that
• I enjoy listening to her music so it was a good opportunity to make a video with my own version but with her song
• It means I can make any type of video and make it whacky
• I can relate to her and her music so it will make it easier to create a video
• My target audience will be a similar age to me and they are the kind of people who listen to Lady Gaga so I will be able to make it relatable to my target audience
• Not one of her most popular songs although people still know of it- I wanted to do a Lady Gaga song but most of them have been released as singles so have videos but it still means I can do one of her songs and make it my own

INITIAL IDEAS:

- Performance and concept based elements- some shots of my artist singing but with elements of originality too
- Not much link with the song - quite different but artistic as well
- Maybe the use of paint/arty materials on the artist to reflect Lady Gaga's usual videos which are creative, whacky and interesting to watch
- Have a dark element to it- not a particularly cheerful song so I will emphasise this through the set and the lighting of my video

 

Target audience research

Over summer, I have been thinking about my target audience for my music video. I am almost certain which song I am going to be doing and that is 'Hair' by Lady Gaga. As we have already explored her videos are all very performance based and unique to her, and the target audience for her music at the moment is generally older teenagers, more girls than boys because they can relate to her more. Lady Gaga is a very whacky inidividual with lots of character so people either really like her and her music or they don't like her because they can't connect with her.

I would say a typical Target audience for my music video will be:

• Female
• Aged between 15 & 20- there will be some outside this bracket but the majority will be within this age range
• Someone who has quite a unique personality
• Has original fashion sense and likes to look a bit different
• Not a complete girly girl, with a bit of an indie style/hipster like appearance
• Someone that has interest of art and fashion

Lady Gaga in her new music video 'Applause'. Here you can see she likes to look artistic and original but there aren't many other artists like this in the music industry so people tend to like her because she brings something different to music.

 

In Lady Gaga's video 'telephone' again she looks slightly whacky but her image fits with the lyrics of the song- in some of her songs they are more performance based but others they are completely different and not related to the lyrics at all.

 



 

In other videos of hers she tends to focus on her beauty more and she doesn't go as over the top she has a more natural appearance but still with an element of originality.

 

 

My target audience will be quite popular and keen on technology and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter because they will like to keep up to date with gossip and fit in.