Research into target audience

Instead of simply handing out a questionnaire to my fellow classmates, I decided to post my questions on Facebook and ask all of my facebook friends various questions which would help me fcous more upon my target audience which is young teengaers to young adults. All I had to do was post the questions onto my wall and wait for people to reply. This I found very easy to do as it provided little hassle for me and also it was easy for my friends as they didn't even have to hand back annoying bits of paper. I also liked doing my audience research this way as it was using many forms of media that is predominant in modern society - such as the internet and social networking. 

The other method of research that I did was simply handing out a questionnaire to my family, neighbours, friends and also some school staff. It consisted of the exact same questions as did my facebook poll but I did it to simply increase the amount of feedback, allowing me to gain a better understanding of what my target audience specifically wants out of a music video. The results showed from both research areas that people were much more interested in seeing the artist than having a video with a predominant storyline, they would much prefer to see the video shot in London than in a different town location, they would prefer not to see a lot of dancing, they would rather watch a more exuberant and energetic video than a more emotional and meaningful video and many other factors.

My Questionnaire:

1. What do you expect more of in a modern day music video?

The Artist                                A storyline

2. What do you think is the best location for my video?

A quiet suburban area        A park       London     In town (e.g. Radlett)

3. Do you prefer to see dancing in a music video?

Yes                  No

4. What type of music video do you prefer?

Fast tempo/energetic               Solemn/gentle             other

5. Do you prefer colour videos or black and white videos?

Yes                  No

6. Which out of these female artists is your favourite?

Beyonce     Christina Aguilera     Adele     Katy Perry     Pixie Lott

7. Why is this?

8. How do you usually interact with music?

Television                    Internet                       Radio

9. What has been you favourite music video of all time and why?

Concept Change

For the past week I have been going around London and trying to find certain locations that I can film my music video at. The main issue that I have been having with filming it in London is the fact that firstly it is quite busy and of course if I was filming in broad public then people might stare at the person in my video so therefore I think it will massively reduce the realism of my video. Secondly is that filming areas of London and incorporating those shots into my video might confuse the audience as they don't seem to have a link with the artist or the song - from doing this it has made me realise that I simply want to focus upon the artist and showcase her by using a wide variety of shots that are constantly changing. However, I have decided to keep the urban and youthful theme for the video but instead of trying to create that through the environment and backgrounds, I thought it would be clever to create it through the technical aspects of the video - such as loads of cutting, photoshop editing and the composition/layout of the footage.

My Album Advert (Prototype)

For my prototype advert I have attempted to recreate the same design that I will use for my actual advert. The grey colour theme I have carried on from my digipak as it helps create continuity between the two but also makes the advert more easily identifiable. 

Digipak - initial stages

What I have done is created the general layout of my digipak however I have not taken my photographs yet that will feature in it's design so I have used pre existing images that have been used for modern CD booklets. At the moment I really like the design of my digipak as it incorporates the rough, urban appeal that I wanted to re-create (with the brick wall image that has been used as the background for two pages). The colour scheme is in keeping with the youthful and energetic nature of the song with the contrast between dark black and grey tones against vivid hints of purple. Photoshop has had a huge impact upon the design as nearly every image that I have used has had an effect put on it. The most common effect I used was called 'Neon Glow' which allowed me to apply the purple colour to some of my landscape and profile images. The only aspect of its design that I don't quite like yet is the first double spread which contains only photographs, the layout of these I feel looks too boring and rigid so therefore this is going to be the focus of my next design stage.

Photoshop Experimentation - part 2

I have now begun to apply various effects to certain album covers of recent releases and have carried on experimenting with them.

For this image what I have done is used two effects. Firstly I changed the colour saturation and balance of the image to emphasise the white tones of her face but also to make the black shadowing around her facial features stand out more however I feel that it is slightly over empowering and I feel that it does ruin the image as it is quite a peaceful and beautiful image. What I like about this effect is that it draws all focus onto the artist with the vivid black outline that has been created.

This is my favourite effect as it has produced an image that I want exactly the same for my album cover. I love the displacement of the photograph as it gives the image a much more youthful and urban appeal but also makes the photgraph creatively more interesting as it draws the viewers attention. Another effect that i used was yet again 'Neon Glow' which added a purple tint to the image, this emphasises the femininity of the photograph but also the album. The blurring of the image is occassionally annoying as it sometimes if I look at it too long makes me feel sick.

 

This effect is called 'Exposure' and it simply allows you to create a certain 

Photoshop Experimentation - part 1

I have begun experimenting with the various effects on the software programme Photoshop. I simply adore this programme as it has allowed me to alter my quite dull and boring photographs and give them a much more contemporary and urban appeal, what I am aiming to create for my entire album. What I have done is taken some photographs of areas in London and have added certain effects to them to see which ones porudce the best result.

This is a photograph of the iconic London landmark, St. Pauls Cathedral and the effect that I have used is called Neon Glow. This is probably my favourite effect as it completely changes the colour scheme of the image, enhancing the object itslef by introducing vivid backlighting in a specific colour. I love this image as the effect has given it a much more aged and withered look which links in well with my urban theme. The yellow tint emphasises the impressive structure of the building and also the vivid contrast between the light and shadow areas of the photograph.

This effect is called 'cut out' and what it has done is given the image a graffiti like style with the segmentation of different tones of colour. What I like about this effect is that it removes the detail of the image but still leaves the general outline (which I feel makes it look like a stencil).This effect I think I shall use in the actual design of my digipak because it exudes a rough, urban appeal that I am aiming to acheive however the only issue with it is that when I was experimenting with it sometimes the images would come out too basic as I had taken away too many layers.

This effect seems to have enhanced the black tones of the image to make them more predominant within the image's composition. I love this effect as well as the others because it yet again gives the image an industrial feeling with the rough surface that has been added to the image's design. The black intensity has made the image seem much more dark and less visually attractive however for what I want to do this is exactly what I want to re-create.

My Initial Digipak Design

For the rough outline of what my Digipak is going to look like, I have included six pages with most of them incorporating unusual and intricate photographs of the female artist. I have decided that I want as little text as possible because through my research into Digipaks I have seen a general trend within more modern albums - showcasing the artist with a variety of a photographs.