Research and Planning - Advert: Identifying conventions and analysing existing adverts

Purpose:

• Includes key information - release dates
• Promotion of album for artist
• Gets the audience engaged again with the artist, not forgotten about etc.

Generic Conventions:

• Album title
• Artist name
• Release date
• Artist image
• Release date
• Where to buy
• Explicit label

I analysed an existing advert I wish to create something similar to:

Here is Emine's analysis of a second advert:

General Findings:

• Artist is always central on the advert making him the most important image. 
• Title is extremely big.
• Artist either looking directly into the camera to show importance, or away from the camera showing that he is powerful enough to not even look into the camera.
• Colours are dark, showing mystery. 

Idea's I have taken from this research activity:

By researching into adverts it has given me many ideas on what I wish to follow. By making the advert mainly focused on the artist image suggests his importance which I wish to follow. Also, the biggest text on the screen is the release date for Lil Wayne's album which is the most important thing for the audience to look at when viewing the advert. I also wish to follow this in order to make it clear to my audience that this is the only important factor on the advert.

Main image: To place our artist in the centre of the page using an medium close up.

Lighting: We will use top lighting on him to enhance his star image.

Album title and Release Date: Big and bold album title in order to show the most important factor.

Colours: Dark colours, black and white, hint of another colour e.g. gold to show power.

Costume: The artist will wear dark clothing such as blacks and greys to follow the conventions of the Hip-Hop genre. To portray a darkness within him. 

Layout: The artist will be the main focus along with a big and bold, album title underneath him and the release date. 

Language: Minimal language, quote of a newspaper's rating of the artist. 

Typography: The typography will be black, bold and in capital letters. 

Info: Explicit label, release date, where to download from. 

Research and Planning - Digipak: Identifying conventions and analysing existing digipaks

Purpose:

• Includes key information for the audience to be aware of. 
• Promotion of album for artist.
• Gets the audience engaged again with the artist, not forgotten about etc.
• Create bonds between the artist and audience. 

Generic Conventions:

• Album title
• Artist name
• Artist image
• Track List
• Explicit label

Impact of the digipak:
The impact of the digipak is that it creates a stronger bond between the fan base and the artist as well as making the audience feel more connected. Also, the digipaks creates a commodity for the artist as you are able to buy into the artist's life style.

I analysed an existing digipak similar to the one I wish to create:

From analysing this digipak it is clear that it is conventional to it's genre of Hip-Hop. This is because the artist image is in black and white suggesting power and prestige where he is portrayed as a mysterious artist. Using the colours black and white, helps build a contrast which is bold. The only colour used on this digipak is the gold 'X' which suggests a mystery within the album.It is conventional to use black and white within a Hip-Hop campaign and by using only one colour which is gold, suggests how powerful this artist is. 

Emine also analysed a digipak:

Idea's I have taken from this research:

From looking into digipaks I have taken many ideas from them. The general conventions are artist image which I wish to also add into my digipaks. I also wish to follow the convention of the simplicity of the digipak where Chris Brown only has a simple 'X' on his cover and not his artist name. This suggests he is already famous enough and does not need this. I wish to follow the convention of making the album title and the artist image the main focus of my digipak also having the artist name as my artist is not as successful as Chris Brown to not have one. 

Research and Planning - Advert: Creative brief

Date: 11/12/2015

Album Title/Artist: ‘Tribulations’ by Lamarr Carter

Project Manager: Katie Yiacoumi and Emine Ibrahim

Release Date: 5th February 2016

Product Overview: Who are they?

Lamarr Carter is a young German/African-American born rapper who was brought up in north Carolina America. His career started as a young man rapping for fun in high school. Lamarr realised that people started to enjoy listening to the music he was creating, this drove him into doing everything he could to make it in the music industry. Along with his passion new born passion for music, Lamarr came out with two mix tapes in one year which went viral all over the internet. This captured the attention of representatives at record label ‘Roc Nation’ and also led to him being signed and releasing his first album. The album did just as well as both the mix tapes and brought him a larger fan base. There is a high demand for new music from Lamarr since his success has brought new listeners who cant wait to hear what he has to say.

The magazine advert concept: What it is?

For our artist Lamarr Carter we need a magazine advert which will attract the audience immediately. With the star image being the main focus of the advert, it will help the audience to understand  who he is and what he is promoting. The simplicity of the advert will give the audience the idea that Lamarr Carter is quite transparent artist who is able to reflect his views freely. The use of cold colours will enable us to portray this image.

Why are we doing it?

Due to his first album being released over a year ago, his second album is in high demand which suggests the significance of this magazine advert. This will be an important stage in Lamar’s career as he will need to be more successful with his second album, than he was with the first. This advert will promote Lamarr Carter’s album on a large scale ensuring success. This will be the main promotion for his album and we hope to see these adverts on TV, billboards, magazines, newspapers etc. Also, through the use of synergy will make the campaign much more successful as a number of organisations are combining making it a wider campaign.

Comparable products:

Both these adverts can compare to what I plan to create for my final advert. This is because they both include dark colours and the artist is the main focus in this. The biggest writing on the advert is the artist's name, the album name and the release date. This suggests that the artist does not need to promote anything else as they already have a loyal fan base. Therefore, I hope that our advert is able to be clear and simple for our audience to understand the main focus.

Audience Reaction:

We hope that the audience will clearly understand the representation of our artist. We hope to attract a positive reaction from the audience and for our artist to gain a successful career from this. Also, we want to create a loyal fanbase who will understand this genre of music and is able to relate with the artist.

How will we know it worked?

This will be evident through the number of sales our artist gains. By looking at the figures it will be clear if our artist has been successful. Also, the media will play a huge role in this as they will be writing articles and following our artist around which will prove that our artist has become successful. Also, the number of followers our artist will gain on social media will show how much publicity our artist has gained. 

Launch dates:

Press campaign: 10th January 2016

TV Launch: 30th January 2016

Album Release: 5th February 2016

Planning: Storyboard

As a group, we created this storyboard in order to complete our planning. This will be extremely beneficial when in the filming stage as our group will have a clear understanding of what to film easily making this process much quicker. Also, by planning in advance gives us an advantage as we are able to ensure we are successful as we have a storyboard to follow.

Planning: Artist Image

Genre Ideas:
Our genre is Hip-Hop/Rap which we will tend to follow the conventions as well as challenge them. Our artist's will be reflective of artist's in the Hip-Hop genre, e.g. Kendrick Lamar, Drake and Tyga. This will ensure our artist has the right conventions to take on this genre. However, every artist has their own beliefs and opinions in which may differ to other artists even if in the same genre. This may mean our artist may challenge some of the conventions in the Hip-Hop/Rap genre.

Morals and Values:
We want our artist to portray morals and values that will influence the audience a positive way. We wants our artist to be able to have opinions and views in politics as well as the music industry. Also, our artist will be able to express themselves freely without the influence in following a certain 'image'.


Media perceptions:
Our artist will be portrayed in the media as a successful performer who is able to express originality within the mainstream genre of Hip-Hop. Due to the artist's own ideologies the media perception will express his own niche personality within Hip-Hop. The media perceptions should always stay positive for the audience to stay loyal to their artist.



Similar artists:
                                                                                                                         Tyga:

Tyga, Drake and Kendrick Lamar are all artist's similar to the one we wish to create. They have a certain image within the way they dress e.g. gold chains, sun glasses and hats/caps. This suggests the convention to the Hip-Hop industry. They portray confidence when performing and are extremely successful with their music. Tyga is a rapper which relates to my artist 'J-Cole' who is also a rapper. Tyga tends to also wear hats, sun glasses, chains and grills in his teeth which is also conventional to the Hip-Hop genre. All artist's also portray their own views on Twitter where they also engage in the problems in the world. Also, in his lyrics he states he is religious a number of times by stating 'I pray to god he forgave me' suggesting his morals and values.

Drake:                                                                          Kendrick Lamar:

My artist:

Name: Khaled Jaffer
Age: 21
Ethnicity: Mixed Race
Costume: He will be wearing a plain T-shirt (white) to portray purity and innocence. Gold chain around his neck and trainers to follow the conventions of a Hip-Hop/Rap music video.
Gender stereotype of role: He will portray the artist stereotypical to the Hip-Hop/Rap genre. He will be masculine and confident also.
Body language and facial expressions: The artist will have confident body language whilst rapping and also be confident around females. He will stand upright to portray his masculinity. The facial expressions in the music video will be quite laid back and cheeky as we want the audience to see his presence as something that is naturally effective and dominant, meaning that he is in control.
Role within music video: He will play the main artist who is interested in the female, however, she is not interested in him. He then finds another female at the end of the video.

Research and Planning - Advert: Advert Information

What info will you include in your advert? 

• Name of artist  - Lamarr Carter

We decided on this name as this is the artist's real name suggesting he has no alter ego and is just a humble innocent young rapper aiming to be successful. We believe this name suggests his true personality and characteristics by showing his true self to his fans.

• Name of album  - Tribulations

We decided on this album name as Tribulations means a cause of great trouble or suffering. In this album he will reveal the struggle he has been through to get where he is today. The album will show the audience his life story and what he has been through, therefore, building a relationship and connection with his fans.

• Date of debut  - 5th February 2016

This date was chosen as we thought it would be the right time to release an album. By picking the 5th February the artist will have a month before to prepare for the release of his album. This will also build tension for the audience eagerly waiting for the album.

• Key singles  - 'No Role Modelz', 'Loose Ends' and 'Bad For You'

We decided to use these key singles as these are the songs on the album which we believe will appeal the most to the audience. This is because the name of these songs are most enticing which will ensure the audience will be interested.

• Explicit/ parental advisory:

We have decided to add an explicit label to the album as there will be explicit language involving swearing and sexual content. This will not be suitable for the audiences younger than 18, however, will be able to purchase a clean version of the album.

• Record label - SONY MUSIC

We have chosen this record label as this is a very extremely successful company with artist's such as Chris Brown which link to ours significantly.

• Available streaming and downloads – iTunes, Spotify, Tidal 

We have picked these institutions to download from as these are the biggest companies which are the most successful internationally. Therefore, by having our songs available on these websites will ensure success in selling our music video.

• Costume, hair and make-up:

We have decided to dress our artist up in simple clothing, e.g. plain t-shirts, tracksuits. This is because we want to portray the fact that the artist is just as ordinary as any other person. Hair neat and freshly cut. No make-up as our artist is male.

• Cinematography:

We have decided that the most suitable shots are close-ups or medium shots as it is important to show the artist image. This will be more appealing for the audience and likely to guarantee more sales of the album. Therefore, we have decided to capture these images through close-ups an medium shots as this will be suitable for our advert campaign.

• Setting of image:

We have decided to capture images in low-key lighting with preferably colours like black and white as this is what tends to be shown in the Hip-Hop/Rap genre. We hope to create an image which is quite plain and against a plain wall to create this idea. 

• Lighting and colour:

We decided in using low-key lighting and using colours such as blacks, whites, greys, and browns. This will give the mysterious atmosphere that we wish to create for our audience. Although we will have low key lighting there will still be a main focus on the artist image which will be what attracts the audience the most.

Research and Planning - Digipak: Digipak information

Artist Name: Lamarr Carter
We decided on this name as this is the artist's real name suggesting he has no alter ego and is just a humble innocent young rapper aiming to be successful. We believe this name suggests his true personality and characteristics by showing his true self to his fans.

Album Name: Tribulations
We decided on this album name as Tribulations means a cause of great trouble or suffering. In this album he will reveal the struggle he has been through to get where he is today. The album will show the audience his life story and what he has been through, therefore, building a relationship and connection with his fans.

Track List:

1. No Role Modelz
2. Loose Ends
3. Blurred Lies
4. Convenient
5. Bad for you
6. Give back
7. Do it for my n*ggas
8. Holy Metaphor
9. Kaya's Interlude
10. Back Home
11. $'s
12. Morphine
13. Tale Untold

Music Institution:
We have chosen Sony Music as our media institution as this institution consists of diverse genres and have signed record labels such as Arista Records and Columbia Records. It is extremely popular music institution which are extremely successful. The benefit of having a variety of genres in this record label gives them a greater chance in being able to work with loads of different artists which is why my artist will be suitable for this institution. Chris Brown is an example of an artist I would like to follow when making my music video and he is signed to Sony Music and has become extremely successful.

Production Company: SLAY productions

Explicit Label: We have decided to add an explicit label to the album as there will be explicit language involving swearing and sexual content. This will not be suitable for the audiences younger than 18, however, will be able to purchase a clean version of the album.




Themes of the album:

• Love - Most of the songs are about love and relationships as this is the most common in Hip/Hop/Rap genres.
• Struggle - Most of the songs also talk about struggle as this is what my artist has personally experienced and would like to share it with his fanbase.
• Vulnerability - My artist is quite vulnerable as he has been through heartbreak before due to the song 'No Role Modelz'
• Fame/Fortune - This will be evident in our album as this is what he is experience in the present moment. How he is able to deal with the fame and fortune.

Planning: Pre-Production Paperwork

Location recce form:

Client release and consent agreement:

Location Release Agreement:

Risk Assessment form:

Production schedule:

Planning: Lighting and Colour

Lighting and Colour are extremely important when creating a music video because this can create a whole new atmosphere for the scene. Using certain lighting and colour can emphasise a genre which is important when following the conventions. For example, a Pop song would have bright colours along with high-key lighting, whilst a Rock song would have darker colours along with low-key lighting. This suggests that the artist has to choose carefully about which colours and what lighting is evident within the music video as it can create the genre representation.


Drake - "Marvin's Room"

Lighting:

The lighting in this music video is low-key creating a darker atmosphere where it portrays his feelings. The narrative of this music video is negative as he is feeling lost and has just been through a break up. There is also a heavy use in top lighting as this is used to only focus on the main character and his emotions.



Colour:

The colours in this music video are mostly blacks, browns and dark oranges. The lamps play a huge role in creating the orangey colour of the room where it looks like the vibe is negative. The dark colours are also conventional to a Hip-Hop/Rap music video.







Rihanna - "Disturbia"

Lighting:

The lighting in this music video is also low-key which creates the dark and spooky atmosphere. The narrative matches the low-key lighting as there is a thriller vibe to this music video. There is also lamps which give a top-lighting effect suggesting the main focus again is the artist.



Colour

The colours used in this music video are also dark, consisting of blacks, greys, and greens. The lamps also give an orangey effect giving the room a darker atmosphere. The greys and greens also suggest the uneasy atmosphere.






Overall, from looking into lighting and colour it is evident that my group will follow the convention of low-key lighting and dark colours to portray our music video in the most accurate way possible.

Planning: Shot-list

Here is my group's shotlist...

Planning: Questionnaire and Graphs