Research and Planning - Digipak: Drafts of digipak

As a group, we created drafts for our digipak 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:

Positives:

• Images are good.
• Clear theme.
• Consistency in overall style.

Negatives:

• Artist name bigger.
• Try and arrange faces a little better.
• Typography on the back.
• Information missing.

This is our second draft:

This is some of my feedback:

Positives:
- Colours are consistent
-Clear artist image

Negatives:
-Put same effect from the front on the back.

-Tracklist typography clearer

-So much cloud, what is the purpose of this? 

-Doesn't look like the same campaign, top two to the bottom two.

Planning: Editing

Editing is the different techniques used to put a clip together which attach different scenes to one another. By using different edits, the audience will stay engaged with the music video. Editing is one of the most important elements when creating a music video as without this the video will be boring and not effective disengaging the audience from it. These are some of the edits my group plan to use. 

Kaleidoscope editing:

Using kaleidoscope editing will allow us to give our music video an abstract side to it. By placing more than one frame of the same footage, it will capture the audiences attention, making them want to see even more. This edit will also be beneficial to us because it will allow us to create suspense and confusion within the narrative of our music video which is much needed in order for it to be successful. This type of edit is unique which will add an element of excitement to our music video. 

Slow motion:

Slow motion editing will be used within our music video to emphasise key parts of our narrative that we would like to stand out for our target audience. Making these key elements from the narrative stand out using the slow motion edits will allow the audience to grasp a better understanding of the narrative we have created and the type of message we are trying to put across. 

Projection:

When thinking about creating our product we decided to bring two worlds into one by using the idea of projection. As we display our artist’s star image we will run a projection of extra footage of them lip syncing as the narrative unfolds amongst them. This is a really intriguing way for the artist and audience to connect as they are both seeing the same story. It also shows a clearer side to the artists morals and the message behind the music. 

Fast editing:

Fast editing will be used in my music video when the pace of the music picks up. The fast the music plays the faster our edits will be. Also, on a beat drop the edits will also be fast to create a 'hype' around the song for the audience. Fast editing also creates suspense making the audience more engaged and willing to watch the rest of the music video. 

Jump Cut:

Jump cuts will be used in my music video in order to keep a constant change of edit rather than one long shot. By jump cutting the shots, will draw attention to the process of filmmaking. This can be used in a strategic and creative way when making the music video. This can also focus the audience on the narrative of the story by using this edit as it draws immediate attraction. 

Overall, these are some of the edits we believe should be used as they would be the most effective in making our music video. This will also ensure us success and publicity when the music video is released.

Evaluation: Question 4) How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Research and Planning - Digipak: Creative brief

Date: 11/12/2015

Album Title/artist: ‘Tribulations’ by Lamarr Carter

Project Manager: Emine Ibrahim and Katie Yiacoumi

Release Date: 5^th February 2015

Product Overview:

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 to doing everything he can to make it in the music industry. Along with his new born passion for music, Lamarr came out with 2 mix tapes within a year which went viral all over the internet. This captured the attention of representatives at the record label Roc Nation and also led to him being signed and releasing his first album. The album did just as well as both of his 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 can’t wait to hear what he has to say.

The Album Concept:

What is it?

We want to create an album cover which is quite simplistic but intricate. We will show his star image in a way which is not over dramatic but still distinctive. Our goal is to please our loyal audience that we already have and also attract new people to the artist’s music. We want the theme of our album to match with the theme of our music video we will be making for ‘No Role Modelz’. The album will be very honest and reflect real life situations that Lamarr has been through, so really just letting his fans witness his life story through music. The concept of the album aims to engage listeners into knowing the ins and outs of our artists climb to success.

Why are we doing it?

Our goal with Lamarr Carter is to bring him to a new forefront of international success. As an artist with quite a niche audience we would like to make sure that this campaign brings him a new type of audience and also helps people outside of his target audience understand him more as a person. So a main purpose of ours will be to attract our audience with the type of colours, images and typography we use within our campaign. As a team working on this campaign it is important that the themes of the artist and their music run throughout the digipak as this plays a vital role on the audiences reaction and opinion. Themes such as love, envy, struggle, crime and poverty will run through the album, this is important to point out because the audience we are trying to reach for may be able to relate to them which will then entice them to endure in the products we are creating. 

Audience demographics:

• Target Audience: 16-25 as we have found from previous research such as the questionnaires that this is the most popular ages to listen to Hip-Hop/Rap .
• Gender: Both genders appeal to our genre as the themes in Hip-Hop/Rap appeal to both genders e.g. love/struggle.
• Social Category: C-E as our genre relates to the lower class as the categories above C tend to listen to more classical music. 

Comparable Products:
Both these digipaks can compare to what I plan to create as my final digipak. This is because the artist is the main focus on both digipaks. The colours are dark and there is low-key lighting which set the mysterious atmosphere for the album. On both digipaks the only information on there is the album title. This suggests that this is the only important factor, and the name of the artist is not displayed suggesting that the artist is already powerful enough.

How will we know it worked?

We will know it worked 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: 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