Research and Planning - Advert: Drafts of Advert

As a group, we created drafts for our advert in order to get a rough idea on what we want to create for our final idea. We also asked for feedback so we could look at the positives and negatives of our draft. With this feedback, we was able to then create the next draft after this to improve.

This is our first draft:

This is some of my feedback:

Positive:

• Clear information on the album availability etc.
• Consistency in theme colours etc with the digipak.
• Ratio and the framing of the picture is perfectly executed.

Negative:

• Easier to know who is the artist in the image.
• Better typography needs to be included and remove the white areas around logo.
• Make the artist name stand out more.

This is our second draft:

This is some of my feedback:


Positive:

• Typography unique 
• Main focus is artist

Negative:

• Abit dull
• Picture should look more meaningful

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 - 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

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.