Music Video CW - Ancillary Tasks (30/10/14)

Audiostar Magazine Cover  

I have begun the intial stages of my post production work for the project. After finishing filming and our first draft of our edit both myself and Cliffords attentions have turned to the post production assignment which involve the creation of a digipack, a advert whether that would be a billboard, magazine front cover etc and a documentary prefably 10 - 15 minutes long highlighting and analyzing using the evaluation questions as a template for the answers and also by the feedback given by other people through social media and questionarre's.

We concluded our filming on the 15th of October, and then instantly proceeding to editing our first draft our video. Both myself and Clifford rotated around the editing suite using final cut pro a upgrade from last years IMOVIE. Whilst we both gave input to the editing and also to the digipacks we both focused on two different things myself which was the advertsing and Clifford the questionarre. Deligating two seperate roles helps to think more creatively first and then source feedback from one anouther. So whilst Clifford was busy doing the questionarre I used photoshop to create a front cover to a magazine labelled 'Audiostar Magazine.' The front cover bares the brunt of different media outlets having drawn influences from music magazines covering music such as VIBE, WordUp and NME. Both magazines allowed me to construct a image of what I was going to do in photoshop. Seeing as a magazine cover like NME imbeds so much colour and imagery this is something that I definately wanted to adhere to. 

For the front cover I used photoshop CS6. It's advanced piece of technology especially for those who have never used it before. I have prior knowledge about the programme and I have used it before. This is anouther development factor from last year seeing as how we didn't do any form of advertsing that allowed us to push our creative boundries. For the page it's important to include a lot of colour and make it as vibrant as possible to appeal to the consumer buying the magazine. Immediately what stands out is the visiability of the title 'Audiostar' located at the top left hand corner of the page. Below the red stripe shows that it is a magazine and gives a brief description at the type of genre that it is "NO.1 Place for urban music" with the lettering standing out in a kaki green colouring. 

Adittional iconography is just put in place for conventional purposes. Like in most magazines such as NME it shows the features of that issue with bands in a smaller font usually on the sides which helps to keep the reader updated this can be seen by my circular  I used a image that I took of Clifford during a non purpose photoshoot for a alternative reason. I thought that the shot was quite fitting with a urban backdrop associating with the genre of music that we are promoting. Using a variety of different fonts from 'league gothic' to 'chlorinar' were all sourced from DAFONT. These fonts proved pivitol in the creation of the cover with 'chlorinar' font standing out through the beveled and embossed edit of the name "Fab Soares" across the upper body of Clifford. 

The large beveled and embossed edit draws to attention the name of the artist that is being promoted. Greater attention can also be observed to what is said underneath labelled in a baby blue for "underdog music" and in gold for "a UK rap renaissance." This is quite a dramatic title yet it draws the readers attention as they want to find out more about Fab Soares. It may also indicate that he his some part of new and emerging scene that people may want to become altered to. The small lettering abouve it highlighted in a salmon pink font emphasises the artists ambition to succeed by the saying "that survival instinct is what keeps me going day after day." This formulates a perception about Fab and forces the reader to question him with regards to his social background and whether this can be a link to what 
The advertising aspect is emphasised further by the amount of visual space given to the artist. We can also identify the use of social media where I have labelled "audio star.co.uk/fabsoares." I am giving the reader information on where to access the music video for Fab Soares.  

Fab Soares Underdog Music Poster 

Using my aquired skills on photoshop I also designed a music poster for the artist. This is a good form of promotion and is a required part of the ancillary for the task. Creating the poster I used a image from a photoshoot that took involving Clifford. This served as the foreground and basis for the project. For this side of the ancilliary I followed the conventional patterns of what artists incorperate in the design of the posters. Usually from the research I have taken out looking at artists posters from a variety of genre's such as Eminem to Ellie Golding, the poster takes quite a simplistic form implementing a repetitve form of a singular font. My creative vision entitled me to make something quite different to my magazine front cover and also styles of poster take for example the band YBS poster who both promote there own album and also there American.

Drawing influence from the Sin City film posters I thought the tones of red, black and white enfused well. Using the image I took I embedded the threshold edit to change the photo to a black and white picture obscuring Cliffords face. The colour schemes are very concise and continious standing out against the black background making the in order to make the font readable. To promote my music production compay I imbedded my logo 'Prodigal' and I also created a fictional record label called Chiefs records and such ident's of music companies are seen on posters. All fonts used were sourced from internet website Dafont which helped me to develop my vision of what my product wanted to look like. Given that the font is quite graffitish it was significant in portraying this idea of a street narrative, whilst the use of league gothic ties in with corperate imagery of the music industry.  

Whats very important to highlight on the poster is the centralization of the name of the album 'Underdog music' and also at the top the name of the artist 'Fab Soares.' Using the same font was purposeful as I tried to maintain continuit and establish a link which viewers can identify with. Given that the poster frequents with the colours of black and white it emphasizes and associates with the ideals and message that the artist imbeds as the theme of his album. Ideally I wanted to represent through the colours that what the albums subject matter is black and white and it does occur and portray a accurate message of the street. Also I am conforming to typical iconography that can be seen often in the genre. The "parental guideance" informs the viewer that this album does contain some explicit language and themes which are not suitable for young children. This can help to market the image of the rapper more positively and it intergrates a ethical measure. 

Studying what I learnt last year at AS regarding visual representation in the media this allowed for me to include things that are synomous with the image of rap therefore not only putting myself in the shoes from a creative stand point but also looking at what different types of the market want to look for. The message presented at the top where it says "with his DEBUT ALBUM," 'debut album' labelled as in a 68 sized font, coupled with the images of the 4 star reviews from credible sources such as Pitchfork and XXL Magazine and also of the 8/10 review from Audiostar linking with my magazine front cover shows can be something which viewers can pick up on and thus influence others to listen to and to buy his album Fab Soares. Adittionally the date that I have put in underneath '14/10/14' creates a sense of anticipation for the consumer this can all be seen in my first draft of the poster. 


After feedback from my teacher I gathered that the poster looked familiar to a concert poster, it did not have information regarding where you can purchase the ep or where the artist can be contacted. Taking in this feedback my re edited version incorperates his suggestions. In the poster I have reduced the panal of reviews to just one. Using the Wretch 32 album poster i have taken in idea's regarding re structuring the poster. My first draft below didn't have any information about social media or of where the album could be purchased. Underneath the Pitchfork review shows clear the logo's of twitter, soundcloud and facebook. This is important to have as it promotes the artist and improves his profile especially with the prominence of social media allowing for more access to Fab Soares. On the right contains a panel identifying with the hip hop iconography with the parental guidence sign and also with the name of the record and production company this has been kept. Above it i have also included the front cover of the artists EP to further promote the sale. The panal to the left contains information of where you can purchase the cd whether that would be digitally via itunes or in store at HMV. Given that i have stated that it's avalible at major retailers further emphasises and promotes the image of the artist and that his work is something to be anticipated. 

Digipack

Digi-pack Research & Influence 

I have decided to conduct my own research into the contsruction of a digipack. Using the conventions of digipacks from the hip hop genre I can use this as a basis to create a successful and effective one. Conventionally digipacks consists of a small paper book containing promotional pictures and information on the tracks, the album and the production of the tracks. Digipacks also contain one or two plastic trays that will hold a CD/DVD. In the early 2000's digipacks grew in popularity and emerged as a new form of technology as a result of the rise of walkman and cd players. I wanted a style of digi-pack that conformed to the conventions of Hip Hop and also the gritty and social realistic portrayal of street life in the artists lyricism. Using Jay Z's Kingdom Come cd, Kanye West's The college Drop and Nas Illmatic, they helped to give me a idea of what to include in the digi-pack. In Jay Z and Nas's CD contains image's of the artists on the street depicted through a black and white edit. As seen in the digi-pack that I have designed I have found some resonation with the use of photographs. The four images used all of which are screen grabs from the first draft are edited in a black and white style conforming to the representations of urban setting. A particularly striking image which I think is quite effective is the use of the low angle shot looking upwards at this brooding tower block with the graffiti in the background creates a menacing backdrop to the album. Single shots of just the artist were influenced by Jay Z's Kingdom Come album booklet. Given that all the images are done in black and white I felt that they added a dark and eerie vibe to the presentation and were integrated also for continuity purposes. 

The Design 

For the design I was required to use a a six squared template for the digi-pack. Using photoshop I acquired the images from screen grabs from our music video. The divi-pack covers a album cover and back. The cover was initially designed for the music poster. For the digi-pack the design experienced some alterations in order for it to look like a album cover it only has the name and album title of the artist and of course the trademarked parental guidance sign that many Hip Hop albums have due to the explicit content. The back cover is more detailed giving information about the track list. Going across the cover is a feature of Hip Hop album. To stick with continuity I also used the same text and font in red.  The typical representations and conventions of the producer and the trademark and copyright titles are also presented underneath this to give the impression that this is a proper CD. 

The Final Product