Evaluation Question 4

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

YouTube was one of the main media platforms I used in my production, research and evaluation stages.  

I used this platform to post my edits and then to embed them into my blog.

I used Premiere Pro to edit my music video. The tools and effects I used were fairly simple. However I felt that the impact it left on my finished product/s were effective. 

This is how I used Photoshop to create the cover of my digipak: 

I used a screen recorder to document this process

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 2

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

It's important to make a clear connection between the main product, digipak and advertisement. This connection is significant in making a profit and attaining an image that is successful amongst my target audience.

I created a music video in the genre indie rock for my main product, produced a digipak and a poster to promote the band for my ancillary tasks.

My digipak and promotional poster

In order for my product to be a marketable success, I established a minimalistic theme and a monochromatic palette as the foundation of my merchandise to make them easy to identify and make connections between my music video and saleable/promotional media products. These are also conventional features within my chosen genre. In terms of font, I kept it simple and all of the letters lowercase so as not to draw attention away from the band's name or the cover of the digipak presented in the middle. This also keeps a neat and clean appearance that I wanted to continue asthe main theme running throughout my work was minimalism. As my main media product was strictly a narrative, I was not able to create an image of the band from it. The consumers are able to form an image from my digipak and my promotional poster advert.


The back cover of my digipak is a photo from one of the locations I filmed in. This makes a subtle link between my digipak and my music video. This also develops on the narrative and provokes thoughts of whether this location holds any sentiment to the character/s.

Evaluation Question 1

Poster Advert

I have chosen to present my advert in the form of a poster. I continued the theme of minimalism so that the consumers can easily make the connection with this advertisement to the album and artist. I included the band's name and website should they feel like they want to find out more upon viewing this ad. I also included a QR code so they can consume this media product on other platforms.

Ancillary Task Digipak

My digipak with and without the template

Looking into the minimalistic approach indie rock bands take to visually advertising their products led me to portray my product with a simple, monochromatic design. In my research, I have also deducted that the indie rock genre doesn't tend to present the band physically, rather, using art or their logo for loyal fans to identify them. From these particular album covers, there is nothing to shout to the consumers "this is us!" making it more about the album art and the music rather than the band themselves.   

I designed the whole digipak in Photoshop.
The girl depicted in my album cover is from my music video. This forms a connection between the video and the album. Although I challenged the conventions of the genre with depicting a face to represent the album, I recreated the visuals of white paint to obscure the subject's identity. This depersonalises the image, adding the element of a traditional artists medium to develop the conventional use of abstract art in indie rock products.  The brush tip I used was under the assortment labeled 'wet brushes'.

   
I chose a black background to highlight the contrast between the image of the girl and the jagged white paint line; this adds clarity and boldness to the image. Following another convention of the indie rock genre, I left out text from the front cover leaving only the art. There is also no indication of the identity of the artist or a recognisable logo. This opens up an opportunity to allow customers to explore new music without forming a quick and biased opinion if they were to be familiar with the band.


For the back cover I kept the monochromatic palette to maintain a sleek and simple aesthetic. I replicated the appearance of white chalk on a blackboard. This directly targets a specific demographic; teenagers/young adults. Where this reflects a classroom environment, the informality of this design also resonates a care-free, feel good attitude and the consumers can identify this with the musical content. At the bottom (from left to right) I included the copyright information, the band's website, their record label's logo and a barcode.

Inside right and left of my digipak

Music Video - First Production & Final Edit

First Production:

Final Edit:

I felt like the narrative in my final edit has more of a prominent development in comparison to my first edit. In the first video, the story was a little confusing as there was a lack of variety in the scenes. The character onscreen didn’t show any changes in emotion to signify a failing relationship. I re-edited this by reversing clips, slowing them down and replacing some of them with dimly lit scenes to convey a sombre mood.

Shooting Schedule

Location Notes

Costume & Character Notes

Test Footage

Storyboard

Digipak Analysis

An Awesome Wave

alt-J’s album artwork on An Awesome Wave is a multi-layered radar image of the Ganges river delta in Bangladesh. The layers of multiple colours represent the background radiation occurring between the three acquisition times by the European Space Agency’s Encisat Earth-observing satellite. The psychedelic array of colours is suggestive of the musical content and could represent the moods it creates. It appears abstract initially and doesn’t present any text or titles to offer any information about the band or the genre. While most artists’ products are quick to recognise due to them including their names on the cover, alt-J leave only the artwork for the consumers to interpret what kind of band they are and the type of music they produce. When familiarised with the band, people can begin to associate this unique artwork with the album. 

The back cover also doesn't present the name of the band. However, the names of the tracks in the album are provided. The style and colour theme are quite minimalistic in comparison to the complex details and vibrancy on the front cover of the album. The track is presented with no definite order with only small hearts to separate some of the titles, coming away from the conventional layout of a number ordered track list. They seem to be placed somewhat thoughtlessly on the page seeing as they couldn't fit "Tesselate" on one line. At first glance, viewing this is uncomfortable but aesthetically everything sits in place. The back includes the name of the record label, along with their logo, credits of producers and a barcode, which is conventional of any album. 




For their deluxe version they used the same artwork and inverted the colours. For the loyal followers of the band, this will be quick to recognise as they have stayed true to the original artwork of their album.

The origami version of the album features a pop-up folded disk slot. As it opens, the pocket unfolds to reveal the disk which can then be removed. This version outsold the original standard casing.

Minimalism seems to be a conventional style within the indie rock genre. "Less is more" resonates from these album covers, letting the artwork themselves speak for the artists and their music. A noticeable trend in this genre is also the absence of any text or titles on the cover, leaving only artwork which is usually fairly minimal.

From left to right: The xx - xx, Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!, Arctic Monkeys, AM

Target Audience Outline

My target audience are most likely to be:
> teenagers - young adults
> in education, most likely taking a subject revolved around the arts
> likely to play an instrument like a guitar, drums etc
> style of clothing similar to the artists in their music videos, e.g. dark clothing, skinny jeans, checked flannels, Dr Martens, Converse etc
> has music on the go available on a portable media platform, e.g. iPod, phone 
> interest in minor body modifications

They will most likely look and dress like this:  

 

As indie rock bands and artists tend to start their careers by posting their content online and building their image through social medias, teenagers who largely make up the audience that uses these platforms, would be the first to encounter their music. 

Bands and artists who refer to themselves as 'indie' are typically different from the norm/mainstream music artists in the way they present themselves and the style of their music. I feel that teens and young adults are attracted to this type of unique sound and image thus making up a majority of the indie rock genre's demographic.

Their most likely occupations tend to be in retail, a music store or a small cafe. This genre of music would be likely to play at these sites.

Obtaining Rights

Here is the email I sent the manager of the band's record label requesting the rights to the music I want to use in my video.

The Male Gaze

The male gaze (by Laura Mulvey) is the theory that a concept of a production is specially structured for the pleasure of the heterosexual male viewer. This notion is enforced by which women are objectified and sexualised in almost all forms of media. We are exposed to this type of material to the excess that society has become desensitised to it and has developed to be a part of our culture. As the entertainment industry is male dominant, we as an audience typically experience a film from a heterosexual male’s perspective. 





Indie Rock is a male-dominated genre. However, the music videos are reasonably gender neutral; a refreshing contrast to rap/hip hop/RnB. For the most part, when nudity is present in indie rock music videos it portrays itself as a form of artistic expression. 




A good example of this is Alt-J’s track, Fitzpleasure, featuring Miley Cyrus with nothing but duct tape to conceal what is considered to be sexual parts of her body. Some people view this as art but this can be challenged by how she presents herself in this video. Her movements and positions are fairly suggestive, which proposes the idea that it is adapted to meet the male gaze.