Final Website

http://mediastudiesbms.wix.com/media

Final Music Video

Final Digipak

We have now finalised our digipak. We have made some minor changes to this including removing our artists name from the back cover and removing the picture on the inside cover that is seen on the message side. This was because we realised we did not need our artists name on the back and the image on the inside cover made the cover too crowded and distracted attention away from the writing.

 

Evaluation Task 4

In order to create our artist through the cohesive package of a music video, website and digipak, I used a range of digital technologies during the planning and research as well as the creation of the promotional products.

THE MUSIC VIDEO
     During my initial research into music videos, I used YouTube to watch music videos for different artists, looking at several different artists such as Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Enrique Iglesias and Neon Trees. This allowed me to see the different conventions of music videos as well as understand how music videos conformed to conventions and theories set out by Goodwin, Stewart and Mulvey. It was clear from this that when I came to creating my own music video, I would need to consider all of these conventions and use them. It was also clear that each music videos have differing structures, some solely narrative, some only performance and some with a mix of the two. From this, we decided that in the video we would create, we wanted there to be a mix of performance and narrative. From looking at a range of different videos, we concluded that we wanted to create an indie music video.
  

    Using my mobile phone, I was able to conduct audience research by recording interviews with different people. I asked these people about their music and music video consumption, asking questions like what music do you liked and why, what artists you listen to, what makes a good music video. This allowed us to tailor our idea to the interests of a specific audience to create an artist who would appeal to them. The interviews revealed that this audience liked videos with love stories and as a result of this, we decided that we would include a relationship within our music video. The audience also stated that they listened to artists like Hozier and James Bay and because of this, we went on to conduct further, more genre specific research using similar artists as a source of inspiration.

     I used the internet to research into how the star image of artists like George Ezra, Tom Odell and Hozier had been constructed against Dyer and Negus's theories because by looking at indie artist who our target audience liked, we would hopefully be able to construct an artist who would also appeal to them. I used Google to look at pictures of these artist to see how they dressed and saw that they dressed in a very casual manner which connoted that they were just average people and nothing special. As a group, we decided that we would therefore dress our artist, Jay Harper, in a casual shirt, black jeans and brogues, similar to the pictures we had found of Hozier. To further my understanding of the way in which that organic artists construct a natural and organic image, I watch some music videos for artists like Ben Howard, Paolo Nutini and George Ezra who are two organic, indie artists. These videos showed the use of instruments which the artist played in order
to connote that they are organic musicians who use their musical talents in their music production. This was something that we felt would be very important in signifying that Jay is an organic artist, so we chose to feature the use of a guitar in the music video as it highlighted that he has multi-talented and has spent the time learning to play the guitar and then uses this skill in his music, furthering the idea that he is an organic artist.

     From watching YouTube videos for indie artists, I realised that the use of locations was key in creating an organic, indie star image. Some of Ben Howard and Tom Odell's videos featured the use of outdoors locations which we found were very effective in creating their organic image. For this reason, we decided that we would use a forest as while by simply surrounding him with nature, we were making Jay seem like more of an organic artist, we were also constructing an indie image by demonstrating that he doesn't do things that other artists, such as pop artists would do. This makes him seem more natural and intriguing by showing that he has an interest in nature. We then went out on a location scout, using a digital camera to take pictures of different open spaces that we could use in the video. This was important because it allowed us to see if the location was practical as well as have pictures to use to help us visualise what would happen in each location.
     The YouTube videos also highlighted the importance of the performance space in the connotation of an indie star image. In his 'Someone New' video, Hozier uses an actual stage to perform in front of a small audience while in Paolo Nutini's video for 'Let Me Down Easy' uses a rehearsal space. Both of these locations were very effective, however, because our artist is new, we felt it would be more appropriate to place him in a rehearsal studio as it is unlikely he will have done any proper performances yet. In order to ensure that our choice of location would be suitable, we used a camera to record a shot practise performance. This allowed us to see how the footage would look in our chosen location and gave us an idea of the kind of shots that we could take here.

     We sent out a survey through the website Survey Monkey which asked audiences their opinions on our preliminary ideas and from this we were able to conclude that they would like the narrative concept we had chosen and would definitely be interested in watching the video. Further to this, I used the UK Tribes website to find out which tribe our artist's fans would belong to, discovering they would be indie scensters and creatives so adding a performance element, with Jay rehearsing with the guitar would appeal to these groups. I also used Google to research teen psychographics from which I concluded that our target audience would be innovators and therefore interested in making their mark, so we should make Jay appeal to them and show through this authentic star image how he wants to make his mark in music.



     Following this, we finalised our ideas and drew out a storyboard. We then took photos of each frame and used iMovie to edit this to the music using our timeline as a guide to the length of each shot in order to construct and animatic. This was very useful in helping us see if were were going to be able to cut to the beat, if we needed to take more shots, make shots longer or even make them shorter as well as helping us to see if our narrative concept flowed. This was something that we did not do at AS and was very helpful in aiding our ability to visualise out music video. Once we had done this we were then able to make the necessary changes to the storyboard so that we would be prepared when filming.

      We were now ready to film and decided that we would use 2 cameras as opposed using one at AS, during our shoot days.This allowed us to make more efficient use of our time at each location as we were able to take shots from 2 different angles at one time instead of having to set up one camera in every single angle. We therefore had a wider range of shots to choose from during our editing and so we had the ability to be more creative. We also decided to document our shoot days by using our phone to make vlogs in which we showed where we were and spoke about what we were doing. This was very helpful when it came to our evaluation of the shoot days. It also helped us when we needed to refilm as we could see where we went wrong easily and therefore what we needed to do differently.
   After we had filmed, we needed to edit the footage using Adobe Premiere Pro. We started by editing in line with our storyboard, and used non-linear editing through the use of cross-cutting. We very quickly realised that the narrative concept we wanted to use was not going work, so we developed a new one, filming more footage in the same way as before. Once we had finished editing, we took a rough cut to an AS class and recorded feedback they gave us. From this, we were able to see that our narrative confused the audience and so we decided to create yet another narrative concept, however, this time instead of filming more, we decided that we would use the footage we already had and simply remove the part of the narrative that was confusing the audience.
     When editing, we noticed that some clips were too bright and some were too grainy. As a result we used the colour correction tools and the curves tool on Photoshop to make the footage darker and remove the grain. We also put a vignette on in order to try to remove the grain but this did not work and actually enhanced the grain already there.
Furthermore, we used the colour correction tools to change the colours to give a more organic, vintage appearance to the footage in order to emphasise Jay's organic image and make him appeal to our target audience. To do this, we first looked at some videos on YouTube in which this effect was used as inspiration and then we looked for some tutorials on blogs and YouTube to show us how to do this. In his video for the song 'Photograph', Ed Sheeran uses old footage which already has a vintage look to it, however, this does make him seem more organic and natural. Another example of a music video which uses the vintage effect is Ben Howard's 'Old Pine'. This makes the video look older and makes Howard seem like a more organic artist as it highlights the natural colours and therefore makes him seem natural.

We decided that the sepia look didn't look quite right as the memories we were trying to represent were in the past but not that far into the past so we removed it and then used the colour correction tools to experiment ourselves and find the right colour as well as give it a cinematic effect.

     Following this, the final thing we did was add a postbox to our video. This was done to make it look more like a professional video. We did this by finding a picture (PNG) of a postbox on google before inserting this PNG onto our footage and the using the framing tools on the editing software to make it an appropriate size and ensure it fitted our video. When we did this, we had to drag our footage down a bit to ensure that Jay's head was not cut off. 

THE DIGIPAK
Our research into digipaks using Google was very important in helping our understanding of how images can be manipulate and to help us create our own digipak creatively and make it genre specific. We looked at the digipaks for Tom Odell, Hozier, Paolo Nutini and George Ezra. From Paolo Nutini and George Ezra's covers, we noticed that the feature of the guitar contributed to the connotation that they were musicians rather than just singers and so enhanced their organic star image. We too were taking an organic approach to Jay Harper and so we decided that on the digipak, we would include an image of Jay with the guitar. Tom Odell and Hozier's album covers gave us inspiration for the type of and location of the shot we should use on the cover as both of which were unconventional. Tom Odell's was outside on a cobbled street, highlighting his organic nature by placing him outside, while Hozier's looks like a painting of the inside of a house. The image of Hozier in the centre of the album cover does not show his face which signifies that as an organic, indie artist, he doesn't want his success to be based upon his looks, but rather his music. All of this influenced us to use a shot which demonstrated our artist's organic qualities.
      We held a photoshoot so that we could take photos of Jay that could be used on the digipak, taking the photos on a digital camera that had an anti-motion blur setting to enable us to take clear, blur-free pictures as well as professional lighting so that the photos were bright. We decided to use a profile shot of Jay in the studio for the front cover of our digipak, to connote that like Hozier whose face was hidden, looks should not be the basis for an indie artists success. The use of the studio further added to the construction of an organic image as it appeared that Jay was rehearsing for a performance. The images on the inside and back covers show Jay with the guitar to connote that he has organic, natural talents and the ability to play the guitar.

    We also looked at the types of font used on these album covers, using the internet to help us find one that was similar to these. These album covers all had simple, but bold fonts, and due to the fact that we wanted to appeal to a similar audience, we wanted to find one that was similar. Once we had found one which was basic but had a vintage aspect to it in order to further the idea that Jay is organic, we used Photoshop to place this onto the images of the digipak, placing it in the top left corner, just like George Ezra as we found that this did not distract from the image of Jay on the front.


     We then used Photoshop to edit the picture we had chosen of the front and added a layer so that we could insert the text onto the image. Using the clone tool, we copied the background colouring for this image and used this on all of the other sides of the digipak. Using Photoshop, we then faded another picture onto the back and inside covers of the digipak which featured the guitar to further Jay's organic appeal. We wanted the image and effect of this to be similar to that of the background for the website, but we wanted the colours to be different. To change the colour, we used the curves tool and the temperature tool to make the backdrop have a more red colour for the digipak as opposed to purple for the website. We also used the liquify tool so that we could slim down our artist and make him easier to sell.



     Once we had sorted the images that we were going to use, we used the internet to find a digipak template. From this, we were able to see the dimensions needed for each cover as well as what image should appear on which side and corner.

   
THE WEBSITE

To go on the social media pages shown on the wesbite, I also used Photoshop to create a magazine cover as a form of promotion. Firstly, I looked at a series of different magazine covers for indie artists using Google images and then analysed the way in which they presented the artist. 

Following this, I went onto Photoshop and created a red rectangle for the background. On a different window, I used Photoshop and the colur range selector tool to remove the green screen on the image around the artist and then the crop tool to make the edges neater and cleaner. Following this, I used the temperature tools and curves to make the image darker and more cinematic. I then added this as a separate layer to the background and then merged the two. After this, I added a vignette to make the edges of the cover darker and make the cover frame Jay. I then inserted different layers to add all of the text and barcode.  

FACEBOOK PAGE AND INSTAGRAM

Mike Masnic speaks about the importance of an artist connecting with fans. Social media is a good way to connect with like-minded people as well as spread the word, so, I created a Facebook page for Jay Harper. Through this, Jay Harper can post updates and other Facebook users can share his page to help build his fanbase, because, as Henry Jenkins states 'if it doesn't spread it's dead' signifying the importance of creating something which can easily spread.
     The cover photo for the page is the image from the front of the digipak as this will re-enforce the image and therefore encourage people to buy the album. It is also something that the target audience may recognise. Additionally, to create the profile picture, I edited a picture of Jay with his guitar to put it onto a wooden background. This was important because the guitar connotes that he is an organic indie artist as well as the use of the wood in the background.
     On the page, there is an 'about' tab which has a biography for Jay, details of his management and bookings as well as a link to the official website. The link to the website is very important because it encourages the audience to connect and interact with Jay using a different site which they can use to explore what he does in more detail as well as sign up for newsletters.

     We then linked this FaceBook and the instagram account to the website through the use of a blog page as well as by featuring small icons for each of these social media sites at the bottom of every page.


GROUP COMMUNICATION

Although we discussed our project as a group at school, we needed to find a way to communicate outside of school and chose to do this using Facebook and in some cases iMessage. This was done so that we could carry on conversations that we had been having in person as well as talk about any concerns we had, changes we wanted to make and to arrange and confirm when to meet and where. We found that this was a successful way of communicating as it was very quick and easy.

    Further to this, we also used Facebook chat to organise our cast, making sure they knew where to be and when to be there as well as what to wear or bring with. This helped us to maximise our time as everyone came prepared and knew exactly what they were doing. Using this method of communication, we were also able to share pictures of what they needed to bring as well as send links which was helpful in avoiding confusion about what we meant.

GROUP TASK

Online research into target audience, narrative and star image:

To determine who the target audience for our artist, Jay Harper, would be we created survey using the online service Survey Monkey. On the survey, we asked questions to determine which demographic the respondent would fall into as well as more psychographic questions to find out their interests and their opinions on our narrative. From this, we found that Jay’s target audience was both men and women aged 15-30 as indie music appeals to a wider range of ages than other genre might. As a result of asking about their interests, we were then able to tailor our narrative to something that they would want to see and so it would appeal to them.

     We wanted to be able to sell Jay to his audience through more than just the music video. To achieve this, we used the internet to research into similar indie artists to Jay such as George Ezra, Tom Odell and Hozier and looking at their star images. From this, it was clear that the use of the guitar or other musical instrument and its presence in all of their products was key to the connotation that they are organic and authentic artists. From looking at YouTube videos and photos, we saw that these artists wear very casual clothing which signifies that they want to be seen as an average person who keeping up with the latest fashion isn’t vital to. The music videos for these artists have simple performances almost always relying on only their musical talents in order to connote their authenticity as an artist. When creating Jay’s star image, we conformed to the conventions we had found from conducting this research in order to present him as an organic, authentic, indie musician.

Filming your animatic – what you learnt from this:

Firstly, the storyboard was drawn out carefully using our initial ideas from our group discussions. From this, we used a digital camera to take photos of each frame of the storyboard and then edited this with the song in order to create our animatic. This helped us to see how the music video would potentially pan out and look after we had filmed and edited the real thing.

     After having completed the animatic, we saw that we would need to cut to the beat more and in order to do this, we would need more shots. The animatic consisted of about 40 shots and we realised that this was not enough because some were too long and we didn’t have enough to fill the whole song. We concluded that we would need to take at least triple this amount when we were filming in order to edit successfully and create an entertaining video which would prevent people from getting bored.

     The animatic helped us to visualise our video by illustrating how we would cut between locations and different strands of the video. This gave us a much clearer idea of what our video would look like before we had even filmed.

Filming your music video – how you used the camera more creatively than at AS:

At A2, we used 2 cameras while filming as opposed to one at AS. This was more creative as it allowed us to take a wider range of angles and therefore more shots which could be used when editing.

    At A2, we needed to take a wider range of shots than at AS. This is because at AS, we had to conform to Hollywood style continuity editing while at A2, we had the creative freedom use non-linear editing. The shots that we took therefore could look less alike and show very different locations to connote that they were all of separate memories in the video. We also took a wider range of shots to help us sell our artist as being organic. This was done through the use of close-ups of the guitar and of Jay playing it and wide angle shots showing the forest behind him.

Editing – how you edited more creatively than AS:

Our editing at A2 was more creative than at AS because we were no longer restricted by Hollywood style continuity editing. When editing the music video, we used non-linear editing which allowed us to jump between locations and speed up time, showing several days in the space of about 3 minutes. Further to this, we cut to the beat of the song so that the audience would not become disorientated when watching the video. As well as this, we also had to pay close attention to Jay’s mouth in order to match the lip-syncing to the audio. This was much more advanced than at AS because we were reliant on the music for the placing of shots and cutting between then while at AS, we only had to make sure that our shots followed in a coherent order.

     Our editing was also more professional as we inserted a post box around the frame by inserting a PNG image. We then readjusted this to ensure that none of our footage was cropped off. This was done to make our video seem like a professional music video rather than simply an A2 project.

     Another way in which our editing was more advanced and creative than AS was due to the fact that we used the colour correction tools on Adobe Premiere Pro to give a more cinematic effect to the footage and give it a more vintage and retro image to enhance the representation of Jay as an organic and authentic artist. This also made it clearer that the relationship was in the past though the slightly vintage appearance. We also changed the colour of the studio shots as they were too bright. To do this, we decreased the brightness using Photoshop and playing around with curves to make Jay stand out against the black backdrop.

Digipak and Website – how you created a cohesive package that ran along 3 different technologies:

We created a cohesive package by using a similar background on the digipak and website. The colouring on the digipak is red while the colouring of the website is a blue-purple both of which have a similar blob effect. This choice in colour and effect help to bring together the 2 products and make them easily identifiable as Jay Harper products.

     The star image is created via these products through the clothing that Jay wears. In these 2 products, Jay wears similar clothing to that seen in the music video which helps to make him recognisable. Harpers guitar is also key in these products to help present Jay’s authentic image. Jay is seen with the guitar in pictures for both of these products to enforce this idea and therefore make him appeal to his audience. On the digipak, we used Photoshop to fade an image with Jay and a guitar so that it blended in with the background, while on the website that we created using Wix, we added a gallery page where we uploaded images of Jay with his guitar.

     Social media was also shown on the website where we linked Spotify, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. These social media sites give additional attention to the product and to Jay by helping him connect with his fans and reach a wider audience. These sites allow Jay to connect with fans on a personal level by sending messages directly to them, a key aspect of the way in which he connects with the fans and keeps them interested in what he is doing. 

Evaluation Task 3

HOW DID WE GET AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?
To help us conduct our research and get feedback on our product, we used a focus groups as well as online surveys. This was very useful in understanding what our target audience likes as well as understanding whether our product would appeal to them and how they felt about it.We made sure to get some form of audience feedback throughout every stage of our product development, from the initial ideas to the final product.
A focus group is a group of people assembled to take part in a discussion about a product before it is launched, or to provide feedback on a campaign, TV programme, advert, etc. This type of research has both positives and negatives.

We also conducted an online survey using Survey Monkey. We sent this out to a range of people who we believed to be in our target audience as well as some people who aren't part of this group in order to understand whether this appealed to them. This also has many pros and cons.

Further to this, we also went round personally and asked individuals a set of questions about our product and ideas. This was a good way of receiving feedback because it enabled us to personally engage with the audience and ask personal follow up questions. It was also limited because we could only receive feedback from one person at a time. 

QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Qualitative research gathers information in a non-numerical form, using words and longer answered questions and is typically descriptive data which is harder to analyse, while quantitative research gathers information in a numerical form which can then be categorised and used to construct graphs and tables of raw data and is typically easier to analyse.
     We used both of these research techniques when conducting our audience feedback so that we could receive descriptive response that enabled the respondent to express their opinions in their own words and numerical data from tick boxes.

DESIGNING THE QUESTIONS
When it came to creating the questions we would ask during focus groups and for online surveys, there were certain things we had to keep in mind.

• That the indicators are correct - we had to make sure that it asks the right questions in order to get exactly the information we wanted
• That there is clarity - the questions need to be short, clear and simple so that the respondents can understand the question and can therefore answer it
• That it is concise - the respondents wont want to spend a long time answering our questions
• That is is unbiased - the respondents wont be led to a particular answer or take a certain viewpoint

CONSTRUCTING A FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEW
Interviews and focus groups fall between two extremes: structured and unstructured

• Structured interviews can be tightly organized, with the interviewer simply reading our questions from a prepared questionnaire
• Unstructured interviews are more like a conversation, where the interviewer simply has a basic area for discussion and asks any quesions that seem relevant
• Semi-structured interviews are where the interviewer has a series of set questions but may also explore various avenues that emerge by probing the respondent for more information

We adopted the semi-structured idea, having set questions but also asking questions based on what the group had said in order to get a more in depth understanding of what they meant or why they though a specific thing.


 We also conducted an  online survey when developing our idea. From this we were able to see that our target audience should be 15-30 as well as see what they liked in a music video such as a good narrative. This was important as it highlighted to us the importance of having a strong narrative in our video.

Analysing the results of our survey from SamMullerMedia

YOUTUBE STATISTICS

We used YouTube statistics for our video to help us see who has been watching it, how they've watched it, what device they used, where they are from and how long they watched for. This is another way of receiving feedback as from this we can evaluate whether people have been engaged in the video as well as how it has spread, elements which can help us judge the success of the video.

     Looking at the places that the video has been watched, it is immediately obvious that it is people in the UK that are watching, however, it has been seen by a few people in Egypt. This suggests that it has not really started to spread yet.

     When looking at how people got hold of the video, it can be seen that the majority found it directly on YouTube after having searched for it, while others found it was a suggested video. It may have been suggested to them as they have watched similar videos for other indie artists. This was something that we hoped to achieve as we wanted Jay to be group with artists like Tom Odell and George Ezra and we wanted to appeal to similar target audiences. 

The majority of those who watched the video on the computer. 

The average viewing time of the video was 1:27. This suggests that our video may not have engaged people in the way that we had hoped and therefore they got bored of it. This was something that had come up in our Survey Monkey too as some said another narrative thread would have made it more engaging. However, this does show that people are watching a fair amount of the video.

CONCLUSION

From all of this feedback, I can conclude that we successfully created and promoted an organic, indie artist through the cohesive package of a music video, website and digipak. However, while it is clear that we had created an organic star image, there were still areas in which we could improve. For example, after having looked at all of our quantitative and qualitative feedback, it is clear that may be we should have included a second narrative thread in our video as a few people said that they would have liked this and our YouTube statistics suggest that people are not watching the entire video and are therefore not that engaged in it.

     Overall, it is clear from our feedback that we created a genre specific music video and successfully created an organic, indie star image.

Evaluation Task 2

CONNECTING OUR PRODUCTS
For an artist, logos, fonts and images can become used as a form of identification and as a way to brand products as being from a particular artist. For the audience, this makes the products easily identifiable as they are looking for a particular image or font. This can also be used to link products and promote them.

George Ezra's website, digipaks and Facebook all feature the same font which creates a sense of continuity and easy identification for the audience. His Facebook and album digipak also feature the same image which acts as cross-media promotion for the album as well as further helping the identification of the products.
     A member of the audience may see the font and know who the artist is as well as possibly some of their songs and the use of the same image allows the audience to become familiar with that product and what George Ezra looks like, therefore aiding their identification of his products.

We decided that like George Ezra, and many other artists. we would use the font and an image to connect our products.
     We chose to use the font that appears on the digipak as the font that would appear on the website and other products, just like Ezra did. This was because it would connect the products to ensure that the audience would be able to identify that they were from the same artist and not someone else.
     We did not feel as though creating a logo for our artist would work as for indie artists, this is not often done as they would use the font as we have done to identify the artist.
     However, we did feel that using the same image on the digipak and Facebook would help connect the products and help as a form of promotion. This was something that we have seen with other artists. By using the cover of the digipak on the Facebook page, we are ensuring that the audience is aware of its release and therefore encouraging them to buy it. We used a similar image on the website, changing the colour scheme as this worked better for our website, The image we used is very similar and therefore still allows the audience to connect the products and recognise Harper.

GROUP TASK

1.       What does your artist, Jay Harper, stand for?

Jay is one of those people who is a reformer. He’s isn’t materialistic. He cares about good music and he represents it well. Unfortunately the world has become very mainstream, where money and status is valued over individualism. Basically, Jay stands for all of those who have taste.

Jay Harper is about commitment as he committed to learning to play the guitar and becoming good at it. He tried to make it in the music industry as an indie artist which today in the music industry is something that is very difficult to do.

He also stands to being yourself and expressing yourself in a way that suits you. Jay’s appearance is not what is important to him, and instead of expressing himself through fashion, he expresses himself in song. Jay Harper is always himself, if you like his personality and his music, that’s great but he won’t change just to fit in with mainstream culture.

2.       What other artists are similar to your artist and how have you influenced from them?

We’ve noticed similarities between Jay and artists like Hozier, Tom Odell and George Ezra. Their popularity and representation of the indie genre has proven that we needed to showcase Jay’s musical talent by displaying his guitar abilities as often as possible.

Jay Harper is similar to other indie artists like Tom Odell, Hozier and Jack Garratt. Like these artists, we saw that the use of musical instruments was key to creating an authentic indie artist. As a result, we made it so that the guitar was present in all of the products we created to emphasise the natural talent of our artist.

We were also inspired by the style of these artists, shaping Harper’s fashion style in a similar way. We looked at how these artists created a laid back, relaxed image through the clothes they wore. They also presented a casual image, suggesting to us that their image and appearance is not the most important thing in their success. We wanted to create an image true to the indie genre which meant conforming to this style and the way that these artists dressed in order to help create an effective star image.

3.       What are the key aspects of Jay’s star image and what do these stand for?

Well, Jay relies on authenticity which is the main connotation of his star image. As has already been said, he plays his guitar as much as he can, showing that he is so much more organic than others in the industry.

We also don’t style him. He chooses his own clothes and decides what to do with his hair and I think that’s important as the audience can see him for him. It’s casual, but Jay’s got a good sense of style. 

Jay is someone who truly cares about the music he produces, wanting to make it about real life problems and first hand experiences. His music is what’s really important, he wants to be successful on the merit of his music, not the image that has been created for him.

The thing about Jay is that it’s not all about image with him. He’s got natural talent. He doesn’t need anything to hide behind. Jay is just Jay, that’s all there is to him, he doesn’t hide anything.

4.       In relation to Jay’s target audience, what would you say the genre of his music is and how does it appeal to his target audience?

Jay’s target audience is probably around the young adult mark. Maybe 15 to 30? They’d be students or casual workers so they could possibly be seeking independence. Jay’s indie style of music gives us something that people can relate to without being over-crowded with common pop devices like autotune. We know that he’s real and not constructed, so he can help people be independent through his music as he’s being completely honest.

5.       What is it about your artist that makes him unique?

Our artist is unique; this is because Jay shows his own personality and also has a narrative based and performance which is different to other artists. Jay is indie yet also has a rock twist which makes him different. Jay is organic and has a unique selling point. This unique selling point is shown through his voice and guitar and story line. The artists dress sense is simple which again makes him stand out because he is an ordinary person who is looking for love and also an aspiring artist.

Our artist is unique because unlike artists like George Ezra, Hozier and Ben Howard, he is fairly young. This means that he is able to attract and appeal to a younger target audience. This is unusual for indie artists who often find it very difficult to sign to a label and become successful, performing in pubs and busking instead. The fact that he is young means that he can produce indie music which appeals to the younger audience and it about life as a young person.

6.       What is the meaning of Jay’s star image and how does it appeal to his target audience?

The star image does appeal to the target audience, this is because the target audience when doing our survey monkey discussed whether our artist liked the concept.  From this the star image clearly appealed to the target audience of teenagers roughly 15-30. This age range discussed how they like artist who are unique and also liked the indie style and artists such as James Bay, Tom Odell and George Ezra. 

The people in the survey monkey in our target audience liked the songs which come from a similar genre and style image. The target audience also liked the organic aspect of Jay Harper and therefore the deep planning to help make the artist stand out.

Jay’s image stands for authenticity, honesty , being true to yourself and working hard which would appeal to our target audience as it would encourage them to try their best and work hard while staying true to who they are by being honest and open. This is something that young people in today’s society struggle to do and something that Jay’s image hopefully encourages in young people by showing them what hard work and not changing because society wants you to can achieve.

7.       How did you show the on screen chemistry in the music video for ‘Best Fake Smile’?

The on screen chemistry in the music video is shown through camera angles. This was shown by having angles such as close up of the couple’s face together smiling. Other shots include wide angle shots of them on logs together and close ups of them holding hands. 

The music video also shows the chivalry between the couple by close ups of the couple jumping over a gate and high angle shots of them having a picnic. This on screen chemistry is important for the music video and the planning of location helped compliment the camera angles to look more realistic on a date and interesting.

We also used shots of the couple which seemed the most natural and were also often caught by chance and where we had given directions but the outcome was unplanned which helped us to show natural chemistry, making it more believable and less contrived.

8.       How does Jay’s website, digipak and music video work together to reinforce his star’s image and sell your artist?

The authenticity is shown throughout the products through the use of the guitar and idea of performance. This is a very important aspect of Jay’s star image and is something that we felt needed to be addressed and enforced in all aspects of Jay’s promotion. If this was not done, Jay’s image would not be used effectively to sell him as an artist.

The website and digipak and music vid
eo all have a similar theme. This is because in the music video within the performance element the artist is in the studio singing. This camera shot is reflected in the digipak with the studio and lighting, the studio lighting image is also on the Website and social media sites. This similar style colouring and studio is shown throughout Jay Harpers image and style. This is important when selling Jay harpers image to the target audience and public. This is because the colour purpley/reddish is a colour that is shown across the 3 platforms. This is important for recognition for the artist overall which allows the artist to be successful!

In all of the images, Jay wears similar clothing; this is done to reinforce his casual style. The clothing worn is important in creating the idea that he is an average person. By having similar clothing worn throughout, Jay gives the impression that he really does dress like this and didn’t dress up particularly for one aspect of his promotion.

Evaluation Task 1

WHAT ARE CODES AND CONVENTIONS?
Codes and conventions are the predictable and familiar forms and techniques used by media to communicate certain ideas or convey a desired impression.
In order to understand how codes are used, it is important to understand the signs systems and their conventions or rules. The reading of signs is therefore essential in analysis and this way of interpreting the signs is called semiotics and is applied to reading visual imagery. Signs can offer denotations and connotations to the audience.
Conventions are generally established ways of doing something. They are an unspoken rule that we have learnt to accept and identify. Conventions become so familiar and natural that they become something that as audiences, we expect to see. They can be used, supported or reiterated as well as subverted. Different conventions can be applied to different media concepts such as narrative and genre.
Both codes and conventions are used to create meaning and as a method of communication. They make it easier to create a product for a specific genre as you only need to repeat the conventions. This is very useful for producers as they can easily target their audience. It can be safer to stick to conventions rather than challenge them.

TYPES OF CODES:
These are used as signs to convey and meaning and are divided into 3 categories; technical, symbolic and written.
Technical - this includes the camera angles, sound and lighting, the framing, juxtaposition and composition, the depth of field (including the rule of thirds)
Symbolic - this includes the mise-en-scene; the clothing, body language, actions of characters (including lip syncing), the locations
Written - this includes the headlines, captions, style of font and graphic design

KEITH NEGUS' CODES AND CONVENTIONS

Organic Artists

• Develop career initially independently of to the music industry
• Tend to write and play most of the instruments on their songs
• Develop through playing live venues before signing with a record label
• Have more freedom initially to chose their image and songs for release
• May starts their career independently
• A 'naturalistic' approach to artists 
• The image of the artist is 'enhanced' by the record company
• The artist is given time to evolve and progress through their career

Synthetic Artists

• Manufactured by the record labels and TV demands
• Generally have an image that is directed towards a tailor made audience
• Begin their careers recording songs either written for  them or chosen by record companies
• Limited freedom of choice

ANDREW GOODWIN'S CODES AND CONVENTIONS FOR MUSIC VIDEOS

• There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals
• There is a relationship between the music and the visuals
• Particular genres have their own video style and iconography
• Artists develop their own star iconography in and out of their videos 
• There are lots of close-ups of the main artist
• There is reference to voyeurism
• There are inter-textual references 

JOHN STEWART'S CODES AND CONVENTIONS FOR MUSIC VIDEOS

• Music videos have the aesthetics of a TV commercial, with lots of close-ups and lighting being used to focus on the star's face
• Visual reference comes from a range of sources, although the most frequent are cinema, fashion and art photography
• Inter-textual references are used to create nostalgia and new meanings for the audience
• Video allows more access to the performer than a stage performance can. The mise-en-scene in particular is used to emphasise an asprirational lifestyle

THE CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF AN INDIE MUSIC VIDEO

• Low budget
• Common settings include things like studios which are easily accessible 
• Simple setting to allow the audience to focus on the artist
• Often include a live performance
• Embedded narrative into performance to add interest
• Editing is fairly basic

To further my understand the conventions of the indie genre, I looked at the star images of indie artists such as Hozier as well as looking at various indie music artist websites and digipaks.

THE DIGIPAK

THE MUSIC VIDEO



We also applied Carol Vernallis's theories to our music video.

• The use of jump cuts to speed up time
• Narrative is not complete but is suggestive of an idea
• Camera movement can give the illusion of an edit even if there isn't one
• The fourth wall is broken

We applied these theories to our video in a number of ways.

• There are several jump cuts both between narrative stands and within them.This allowed us to show a variety of different activities quickly and helped us maximize the length of the song. Within the length of the song, this meant that we had more time to show more footage and connote the narrative to the audience.
• All of the narrative threads in the video are not complete as this leaves it open for the audience to interpret what they have seen. Despite this, the narrative is clear enough to give the audience an indication to what is going on and therefore, they can understand it.
• Sometimes, we moved the camera which gave the illusion that we had cut between shots, when in reality, we had continued filming in a different place.

THE WEBSITE

http://mediastudiesbms.wix.com/media

FONT
Like all websites for artists, we used the same font for all the headings on our website, including for the hyperlinks as well as a different font used for all bodies of text. This was important in the continuity for our website and making the audience recognise the font for our artist. This is similar to the way in which two different fonts are used, one which is used for the artists name and is the same on all the Jack Garratt products and a slightly different, more basic one for the hyperlinks on the website

LAYOUT
Like many websites, we kept the hyperlink bar at the top of all the pages as this makes it easier to locate and therefore use. This is important for ease of use for the audience.
Like Jack Garratt and Ben Howard's website, we positioned the artists name in the top left corner as this was easy for the audience to see and identify.
We also saw that social media links were either positioned at the top, like they are on Jack Garratt's website or on the bottom as seen in Ben Howard's. We decided to put ours at the bottom as this is out of the way of the other links on the page so does not distract from these other aspects. Additionally, we felt that the top of our website was already crowded with the hyperlinks and artist name so would get lost and may be missed by the audience. This conforms to what we have seen on other websites as the social media links are often placed on their own.

HYPERLINKS
We included a hyperlink bar at the top of our website with various links such as 'Gallery', 'Live' and 'Store' because when looking at websites for similar artists these were common links which came up. Additionally, we have a hyperlink for a biography which is significant as our artist is still establishing himself and therefore needs to provide the audience with information about him in order to create a connection with them and then as Masnic says 'give them a reason to buy'. This was different to most the websites for similar artists as they didn't have an 'about' or 'biography' page as they are not all new artists still establishing themselves.
We also featured hyperlinks to social media such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter as well as to Spotify as this was something that we had seen that other artists had done. We felt that this was very important as it would enable our target audience to connect with the artist in a different way.

IMAGES OF OUR ARTIST
For the background image of our website, we decided to use the same image as that on the digipak but chose to change the colour scheme of it. This was done in order to create a recognizable product and allow the audience to connect the album with the website. Ben Howard's background for his homepage is his latest music video which also helps the audience to connect the two products. We also chose to have an image of our artist on the front page to make his face more recognizable to the audience.
The image we used also shows the guitar which is effective in creating an authentic and organic indie star image as it re-enforces the idea that our artist plays the  instrument and uses this skill when making music and in his performances. The grain on this image creates a vintage feel and contributes to the organic image we wanted to present.
The images on the photo page of George Ezra's album included some of performances with a guitar as well as some from photo shoots. This helped to emphasize his organic, indie-folk images. The images we chose to appear on the gallery page were inspired by this and also feature the guitar which further adds to our artists organic image. We also included some with out the guitar and close-ups of the artist which use direct address as this is something that we didn't do on the album cover and is important to create a connection with the audience who would feel as though the artist is looking directly at them.

MERCHANDISE
We looked at the merchandise of artists like George Ezra, Hozier and Tom Odell from which we saw that they all sold very simple items such as t-shirts, jumpers, mugs, posters and sometimes guitar picks and wristbands as well as CDs and vinyl. We also noticed that these all had either a logo or the artists name on to make the products recognizable. This was something that we also did when creating our merchandise. We took particular note of the vinyl and the guitar picks as these keep in line with the indie and organic image as the vinyl signifies a vintage aspect and the guitar pick encourages audiences to play guitar like the artist as well as emphasises that this is something that the artist can do.

NEWSLETTER

Much like on the website for every music artist, we created a page for fans to sign up to receive email newsletters. An example of this is Hozier's newsletter from which we could see that the newsletter tat indie artists send out is very simple, just like everything else. It has his name in big in the header with all the text under this, something that we also did. Additionally, we conformed to the idea of having social media links on the email which further promotes fans to connect with Jay on social media.