Evaluation 4

  How have i developed from AS to A2?  

I have developed as a media student as i have become more confident and accustomed to using particular media techs. 

My skills for example on final cut have become more advanced and gone from just cutting clips and putting a fade to black screen (as) to cutting clips, lip-syncing, filtering and transitioning. i have become more quicker and effect at editing on final cut but also creative buy using thing like transitions to get rid of camera jolts etc.

My research and  planning stages have also had become more creative and more breathe in depth knowledge. for example As i just looking into film genres A2 i looked at different music genre other then my own, the history of my specified genre, existing MV analysis and from that the genre forms and conventions. My storyboarding has chanced and become more creative with the way i present it as in AS i used a digital storyboard  but A2 i used post in app to take photos of the storyboard and used the images from there to create a clear table of the shots to be used with a brief annotation. I feel this s more creative and better suited to my preferences as such a document can be printed and thus giving it a multifunction so its my story board and shot sheet as i could number the in which i shoot in down the side. This was useful on location as i was able to clearly se that shots i had to do. 

My prevention of my work on blogger has made drastic improvements from my AS year. This is because my As course lay me the fountain on how to us blogger and found i hard to use at first but as i've been using it for over a year its apparent that I'm confident at using it. Im creative in the way i present my work as i feel visuals are just as important as content. It for this reason i spent long amounts of time creating fun and innovate documents which i screen shot and placed as a picture on blogger.

Evaluation 3

Evaluation 2

Q2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? 

Evaluation 1

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop orh    challenge forms and conventions of real media products?  

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Digipak & Album Advert

Below is feedback given by my teacher on my digipak

Explaining Advert Components

Further Advert Development

I used SketchBook Express to create the template background for my advert as i find this program simple, effective and useful. I often use it therefore I am very familiar and well informed on how to used it. 

Below is the annotated template background for my advert but also the original which will be used on my advert.

Once this was done i was able to start to put all my images on the advert once i opened the template background in photoshop. I chose a simple text to used on the advert as it's there to inform the audience and doesn't need to attract them as the artist image, name and album name should do this as they are the main focal point of the advert. 

Development of Advert Ideas

What needs to go on my advert: (from looking at my research) 
Image of artist
Artist & Album name
Where Available to buy (iTunes as this is where my artist sells her music as seen in previous posts)
Image of Album
'Release date' or 'Out Now' text
Recorde Label 
Legal Information (i will not write this but must consider/leave space for this as digipaks will include this)

I then decided to use the same image that is one my digipak with the same black background. The image below was my initial poster:

I liked how it looked by realised there wasn't much space to put the image of the album, Release date or out now and other things. 

I then used the same format but decide to make the fact that this was a new single stand out more. After looking at it i still felt it wasn't presenting well and that there isn't enough space for the other things i wanted to add. 

After looking and reflecting on these album adverts i decided to make a template background for the advert as i wanted it to be clear where different items will be placed. I felt this would be best as i wanted my advert to have clear structure and for all the components to be clear to the audience.

Initial Advert Ideas

After i finished my music video and before i started my digipak and advert research i took images from my music video to use on my advert. The images were blurry and they didn't look like they were a advert promoting an album. I scrapped them and decided it was probably best to start by creating the digipak and then move onto the advert.

Back of the Album

I decided the back of the digipak should have the same background as the front because i wanted the album to flow and have the same themes throughout. I then had to collect the necessary components to put on the back which included:
Tracklist
Barcode
An image which related to digipak
Record label 
I found this out through my research of different posters.

I then decided to creating the tracklist & started by looking at the artist existing songs.

I decided to use the 2 song titles highlighted in red as i felt they fit in with my album.

 &  

I changed the other 2 names highlighted in Pink slightly.

From 'Red Paper Wrapping' to 'Paper Wrapping' - this was done as i felt it wasn't necessary to have the colour but also i think it sounds better without it.

From 'Final Bow' to 'Final Blow' - I changed this as most her songs are about heartbreak i felt final blow fitted better with album but also had a better ring to it.

I had 5 songs altogether so far:

It Is

Paper Wrapping

Final Blow

Across the Sea 

If Only (music video name)

I decided I would have 10 songs on my tracklist as it's clear from my research mainstream artist have maximum of 16 songs. This is because new/unknown artist tend to have less songs on there albums (around 4-10 tracks) then big time artist. As my artist is widely unknown which is why i have chosen a maximum of 10 songs. 
2 Examples of new/widely unknown artist tracklists:

I needed to come up with another 5 names and decided i would make them up but had to make sure they fitted with the album theme. 

Below is what i came up with:

As it's written (was one of my initial album ideas)

Already Gone (was one of Kaity Rae songs on Soundcloud)

White Knight (based on Taylor Swift-White Horse)

Lipstick Stain (related album title & was one of my initial ideas)

In the beginning (song is the beginning of her love story the happier times, before the heartbreak)

Once i had my tracklist I then needed to decide on a record label. I decided to use the same record label as one of my artist which i analysed. I chose Ed Sheeran as he is extremely popular at the moment and he is signed under Atlantic Record Label. I  went onto there site to see what other artist were signed to them and found a few other singer/songwriters highlighted below.

I then google image searched for there logo and decided i would use it on my digipak & Album Advert. I also google image search a barcode and took an image from there to also put on my digipak.

Once the tracklist was decided i then put a black background on the back of the digipak and typed in the tracklist. I then changed the font so it was the same one i used for my artist name. I decided that it should have the same 3D effect as the 'Lyric Book' did and the same colours should be used, this is so there is clear distinction between the artist name and the other text within my digipak. I made sure the leave space at the bottom so that i could place my barcode in the bottom left hand corner and the record label and space on the right hand side for an image.

I place the writing on the left side of the album but thought this looked a bit plain so i decided to add in numbers. This is still following convention as it's clear from my research that other digipaks also did this. I decided that the numbers font should be same font as the rest of the writing on the digipak but red in colour so it stand out from the tracklist. 

After looking at it i felt there needed to be a barrier between the numbers and the tracklist so i place a white line between them and was happy with the way it turned out. Once i was pleased with the tracklist i then place the barcode & record label accordingly. 

I then had to decide what image to put on the back and since i had an acoustic guitar featured inside i thought i would have one on the back so this was a constant theme. I used an image of my guitar and got rid the the background and used the rubber tool to get rid of excess and then manipulated it onto the digipak.

After looking at the guitar i decided i needed to put the album name on it as i did this on the 'Lyric Book'. I would make the album cover have better synergy as the common theme of the lipstick kiss with the 'xx' appearing on the guitar will be apparent to the audience making them recognises this as part of the artist brand identity. 

The image below was my final complete digipak back.

Feedback on Digipak so far

Feedback given by Teacher

CD & Lyric Book

I decided to start with the CD as i had the perfect image in mind to use on it.

Once i put it onto Photoshop and place it in the right position i decided to look at filter to see if they might add/ improve the image. The cd looked good but i felt lacked & needed stand out more and hoped at looking at different filter might help.

After i found a filter i was most happy with i applied it and was ecstatic with the out come. The cd looked really good and all that was left to do was make the grey cd more transparent.

 

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To do the lyric book i first chose one of the images from my photo shoot with my guitar.

I decided to chose the image below as i really liked it and the way the guitar looks like it

has been abandoned on the sofa. The colours also give it a homely warm

feel but also natural with the wood of the sofa and green pillows.

Once i put it the image onto Photoshop i then thought it would be a good idea to put the album name on the guitar. This would make the name more memorable if it was featured throughout the digipak. I dragged the image from the album cover and place it in the album insert, then i made the image smaller and rotated it look like it belonged on the guitar. After i was happy with the album name placement i then had to put the text 'Lyric Book' on it. I wasn't sure if it should be Red or White so i tested. I couldn't use black as it wouldn't stand out therefore it had to be one of my other colours, red or white.

 After looking at the plain white i didn't even look at the red because i decided that the title needed more depth to it and i wanted it to be 3D. I still wanted to use the red and white colours but i now had to decide whether the white would go on top with a red shadow or if the red would be on top with a white shadow.

After looking at both i decided the white colour looked better on top as it made the writing more clear and easier to read. The underling red is subtle but noticeable giving it a 3D look making the writing eye catching. 

I was happy with my image but it didn't match the CD as that had a filter on it so i decided to see how the filter would look on this image. Once applied the filter looked really nice and i was happy as there was now more consistency to the inside of the digipak.

Album Cover - Placing Artist Name

I used the Text tool to put the text on the album cover and moved it so her first name 'Kaity' was on top of her last name 'Rae" but also so they connected as it made the name look more unique then just being next to one another. This makes her name stand out more to the audience as her name is part of her brand identity because the public will remember the style in which her name is as its not common but different and unique. Once i had the text positioned i then changed the size making it bigger & its angle.

Typography

After doing the rough cut for my album cover i then had to decide on the artist name typography. This was important as the text has to be clear so that the audience can read it but at the same time has to stand out and look different from a simple Arial text. It's important that the same font used for my artist name is also used on the other text with the album. This is so the album is consistent and makes the audience relate that font to the artist. 

I started by going onto Powerpoint and typing the artist name into a text box. I then looked at many different fonts but chose 3 of my favourites (below).

  Font 1  

I loved how big the first letter and how fancy it looked but i was looking for a more personal feel to the artist name. The font below almost looks like writing that would be used on wedding invites which is why i decide not to use this particular font.

  Font 2  

I liked how the font looks handwritten and gives a more personal authentic feel to it. This font is closer to what i was looking for. I wanted it to look like the artist had signed her name on the album. I decided not to use this font has i don't like how the K&R weren't connected to the rest of the writing but i also didn't like the look of the letters.

  Font 3  

I chose the last font as it was perfect for my artist. The font is clear and all the letters are connected making it look like it's handwritten. It's boldness makes it stand out but more importantly i could imagine the way it would look on the cover. Keeping in mind that i had to use this font on the rest of the album i thought i was simple but recognisable. This would mean that the audience would be able to recognise this font as part of the artist brand identity.