Ancillary Task- Magazine Advert Analysis

Ancillary Task- Choosing our magazine institution

For our music video to marketed I created a magazine advert advertising the album that was created. For to be publicised we need to choose a magazine institution to place our advert. I have looked through a variety of different music magazines to pin point the specific audience demographics and target market. 

After thoroughly analysing almost all music magazines I have to the decision that ‘Revolver’ will be the most suitable magazine to follow the procedures of marketing our product. By using ‘Revolver’ we are targeting an audience of 14 to 18 year olds that enjoy rock music. This is the type of magazine that people buy when they are heavily interested in a certain type of music, in tis case it is hard rock and heavy metal. On a regular basis the magazine will include bands like ‘Nirvana’ which fall under the genre of grunge, like the Butthole Surfers. 

As the magazine is already aimed at the audience we have focused our media product towards we would be able to reach our intended audience very easily. It almost guaranteed that it will be viewed by rock music fans. Having this as an advantage will  benefit our product and will hopefully increase the sales of the record. In todays society it will most probably be downloaded illegally from the internet but the advert would have still worked. It would have created awareness about the band and even persuade some people to go see the band play live. This is where the money will be made, from ticket sales and merchandise. 

Before settling my decision on ‘Revolver’ I contemplated many other magazines. First I used the process of elimination to minimise the possible choices of magazines. These were: Kerrang, because they do not publish adverts for albums. Classic Rock, Mojo and Rolling Stone were all turned down because the target age of the magazine was to old. Although they feature a wide range of genres we need to use a magazine which is aimed towards a younger generation you will be most likely into the Grunge rock scene. I also thought of ‘Q’ and ‘NME’ but they focus on the wrong genre of music. Both of the magazines used to be based on a heavy rock genre but have gone very mainstream to indie rock and pop music which most rock fans do not like. 

Ancillary Task - Why do advertisers use magazines as a form of advertising?

Advertisers use magazines as a form of advertising for a variety of reasons: enhancing a products awareness, targeting a specific audience, using pictures to establish a mood, grab the readers attention and many more. 

Firstly an advantage that advertisers have when using magazines us that they can specifically aim the advert a a target group, a group of people who would be interested in the product. Using pictorial influences they can then grab there attention. This will then lead to the reader, who has been is typically targeted, now focused and engaged with the product being advertised. In the case of advertising a music, advertisers have the ability to pin point there exact audience. This would normally be assed by researchers seeing that a certain type of people read what magazine. An advantage with an advert for a music album is that it is easier to choose an institution for your advert. For example, if you were to publish an advert for a ‘Scouting for girls’ album then the advertiser would use NME magazine as they specialise in indie music. Where as if an advertiser was to advertise a Slipknot album it would be appropriate to advertise it in Metal Hammer magazine as they specialse in heavy metal. 

Advertisers also use magazines to advertise because they have a lot more freedom with pictorial marketing. As the advertisers have already selected the magazine they wish to use they may possibly have a target market. For example if you were to advertise in the ‘Metal Hammer’ magazine you would be able to use harsh, violent images to capture the attention of Heavy metal fans. This would be possible as the target market for the magazine is 16 years and on wards so the chances of a child seeing it is very thin. 

Although a specific audience can be targeted magazine averts are very costly. It costs more to advertise in a magazine than it does a news paper. The advert will be much bigger and will require more colour, which can also be seen as a benefit. On the terms of colour, advertisers can use special printing effects like UV glossing, embossing and laminating. This makes the advert more appealing and resembles quality within the product which most customers would seek to buy. In the case of a CD then the customers are seeking quality within music, in other words an album that they are going to like listening to. 

In conclusion magazine adverts are a very precise form of advertising as the reader demographics can be targeted almost perfectly. With Products like albums advertisers have a wide variety genres of music within different magazines, for example, Heavy Metal you would choose ‘Metal Hammer’. For Classic rock you would choose ‘Mojo’, ‘Rolling Stone’ or ‘Classic Rock’. If you were to advertise a new band which are considered to be ‘cool’ by teenagers you would focus on magazines like ‘Kerrang’ with a lower target market age. 

Ancillary Task - Album Covers

Ancillary Task - Final Complete Digipak Design

Ancillary Task - Second Initial Album Cover Design

Ancillary Task - First Album Cover Design

Ancillary Task - First Initial Album Cover

Ancillary Task - Initial idea album cover

Ancillary Task - Digipak Analysis

Front Cover

Inside Panels

Overlapping inside Panel/ Front and Back Panel

I am analysing a digipak of the band ‘Down’s’ album ‘Over The Under’. They are a well-established heavy metal band. Firstly the cover of the digipak if very simple. It features the bands logo in the centre top of the front panel. This is an exceptional place to put a logo as it is easily noticed when placed on shop shelves. There are only 2 colours used within the whole digipak. (excluding the booklet) The colours used are a faded black and a creamy white. These colours have been used to make it look like it is a vintage/classic album giving an old effect. Using these two colours also creates a huge contrast to other albums on the shop shelf. It also shows the bands personality and style of music. It explains to the customer what the music will be like on the album. My first impressions of the CD album cover tells me that it was going to be a very ‘heavy’ album with lots of shouting and extreme guitar solos.

The picture on the front cover is a lion eating a sun with three small stars. This implies many connations’s and gives a reason to why the bands have chosen to use this image. Firstly it shows how there music is almighty and powerful with a hard hitting heavy sound. The logo stays the same through out the whole album, and the bands whole career which has helped them in marketing. The Logo has become an established icon for the band which heavy metal fans will recognise. other than this the album cover is very simplistic. This is to foreshadow that the band are not aiming to become ‘rich’ or extremely famous. They are in the business for making music and want people to enjoy there music opposed to artists like Rhiana or 50 Cent who aim to achieve wealth and fame then most probably boast about it in there music.

On the inside of the digipak there are 3 panels. The first one hold the booklet in place. There is not much design here. From experience of using this product the booklet holder s not very user friendly. It just about s hold the booklet but if the digipak is to be rotated slightly the booklet almost always falls out.

The second panel names the songs which are on the CD. It is very unusual and i have never seen it before. There is an Eye in a spiky shape which is being covered by a cloud, with arms/tentacles coming down with the name of the song. Using an abstract image indicates and tells what the music will be like on the album before they have listened to it. When i first look at it i think, ‘wow, i don’t have a clue what it is suppose to be, but its cool’. This then made me think, i may not understand the lyrics in some of the songs, or what the lyrics mean but it may still be good to listen to.
The third panel is the jewel casing to hold the CD. Some digipaks have a sleeve to put the cd into and others using the plastic jewel case. The plastic jewel case protects the CD more and is more reliable in order of keeping the CD in the digipak during transportation.

On the back there is an image of the band. The image has been edited to make it look like the photo as taken under a black and white filter. The colours blend well together and parts of the image have been smudged in order to get the audience looking directly at the band. Phil Anselmo, the lead singer is in the middle of the picture. The photographer has chose to put him there as he is the bands song writer. He could also be an inspiration to other people in bands or interested in the music and more famous than the other band members.

The back cover, in the same style as the front cover has an image of Phil Anselmo’s face smoking. The font used for the song names os the same font used for the logo and title of the album on the front cover. On the bottom right corner there is a bar code. All albums have one in order to be scanned when being sold. Above that s the logo of the record company that published the album. Along with that are the copy right trademarks and where fans can ind out more information about the band like FaceBook and Myspace.

Ancillary Task - Introduction to Digipaks

Digipaks are a form of CD packaging. Being made from card opposed to plastic digipaks can widely advertise an artist and have more space to design album covers on. They age been established widely through out the digital revolution in order to boost record sales by identifying a unique selling point to the customer on the album cover. Digipacks were a licensed product owned by an American packaging company ‘MeadWestvaco’ in 2000. They sold there designs and trademark to manufactures worldwide.

There are many different ways a digipak can be layed out. Some digipaks may only hold 1 CD whilst others, usually` greatest hits albums, hold up to 3 CD’s` within one case. This is created by a series of folds and a long strip of card.

Here we have examples of The Beatles remastered album ‘Sgt Peppers lonely heart club band’ which has 3 panels for one CD. Lots of design work is able to be established through the space provided by the digipak.

Front panel

In the middle is the back cover, left inside picture and the front cover on the right

This is the inside design

Putting a CD in

This is another form of digipak. much smaller and more t the point. It if the album ‘Free Man’ by Burning Spear. It only has 2 panels and as you can see not much design work inside. Unlike most other digipaks it has a stapled in booklet which contains lyrics and photo’s f the band.

Front and Back Cover

Back cover

Inside booklet and CD jewel Case

Inside booklet and CD jewel case

Here I am showing you an Elvis Presley album, ‘The Essential Elvis Presley’. This is a 4 panel digipak which allows huge amounts of design to be established. This is usually used when packages have more than 1 CD. As it is shown their is room for up to 4 CD's. This digipak in particular has 3 CD’s and a booklet which all slide out of sleeves to allow maximum room for photos.

On the left is the Front cover, on the right is pat of the inside panel

Inside panels containing the CD's in Sleeves

CD Sleeves

Back Panels, the 2 middle panels are the front and back cover

Digipak’s are most commonly covered in UV Gloss which gives a shiny effect to it. Doing this creates a sense of professionalism and makes the customer feel as if it is a quality product worth buying. Different printing methods can be used on digipaks as they are made from card, which is ver flexible in terms of manufacture. Digipaks can also feature embossed fonts which look and feel as if they are 3D. they may also have shiny materials printed on them to establish an artists genre or music style.

Digipaks are also eco friendly and can be made from recycled card, or can be recycled. Unlike regular plastic CD packaging they will not produce harmful gasses once their lifespan is over and they are being thrown away.

We going to use a digipak when distributing the CD to our band as we will be able to create Unique selling points from photos of h e band and relevant pictures that fans would be interested in. As we are Using a digipak we can also use more than one CD which allows us to have more songs. From personal experience i have always wanted to purchase a CD with more songs on t rather than an album with only a few songs.

-Bradley Hart

Final Product

I have uploaded our final product twice because the video above was uploaded to 'vimeo'. It is a higher quality than the blogger video player but having never used the site before i wanted to upload the video straight to blogger as a back up. 

4th day of filming

On the 4th planned day of filming we wanted to complete a film the footage at both the train station and the car park. One issue that came about before we set off to film was which car park we was going to film at, me and Brad discussed the idea that we wanted it close and large enough for the shots that we wanted. From discussing our ideas as a team we thought the best place to film would be the car park in Brentwood behind the high street. We thought this was a good choice as it was big enough and was always busy.

When arriving at the car park around 11pm we noticed that it was very busy with nearly all spaces taken up. This was exactly what we was looking for as it created a better effect and it meant that our main character could run in and out of the cars creating the sense of panic.

We managed to produce some good shots throughout the hour we was there. We followed the storyboard creating the shots we needed. Apart from that we decided to get a few different shots from different angle's then we presumed because the layout of this car park was a little different and also the amount cars meant that we could get better less reviling shots of the character. One problem we did notice is that because the car park was so busy we had to wait a few minutes between shots for cars to drive past. This made the shooting in the car park longer then we had originally planned it to be.

After shooting in the car park we decided to get some food then go straight to Brentwood train station to film. After asking permission from the council if we could film at the station we started filming straight away. We decided to get both shots of our main character running off the train and down the platform to the exit and running up the platform and getting on the train. This allowed us to decide whether we wanted to have this after or before the car park scene.

Overall the day went well and me and Brad managed to get around 30-40 seconds worth of footage once we had edited it back in the editing suite.

3rd day of filming

The third day of filming was a great success. During our media lesson and free periods we decided to film the ending for our music video which was located at a church in Basildon. As we drove past the church to park up we noticed that the church was a great location for the video as it was located near the top of a hill which made the mise en scene perfect for the mood we was trying to create. Once we parked up and set off to the church we noticed that there was still some ice left over from the previous week where it had been snowing. This created a problem for us as we had to make the shoots fit so that we do not film any snow. This meant that we could keep the same sort of weather conditions as before so that it works well in the film.

When we arrived at the church we set up our equipment and looked at the storyboard for the ideas of which shots to film. The first shot consisted of the main character running up the hill towards the church. For us to have plenty to choose from back in the editing suite we decided that we would get a variety of each shot, this took more time but as an end result it meant that we could choose the best shot for the film, even if it doesn’t exactly match with the storyboard.

Throughout the few hours that we filmed for we noticed that the weather conditions changed slightly. This would have created a problem but we decided to do a lot of the end shots differently. In the terms of differently, this means that we shot a lot of the shots where we did not show much of the sky.

The shots came well together throughout the day and the angles that we managed to film from were better than we expected. The consistent shots of the graves and the quick shots that we filmed means that we will be able to edit to the highest standard if all goes to plan.

Overall our group thought that the day was successful as we originally did not mean to plan to film on this day as the actor in our film was meant to be busy, this enabled us to be ahead of schedule and complete the ending of our film.

2nd Day Filming

In order for us to use our chosen location for filming the band play we had to book session for using a drama studio in our school. We wanted this location because of the black curtain that you could pull around the room and the lighting that is installed for drama performances. We had to book a week in advance which gave us time to finalise all the props we usedand where we would position the drum kit.

This filming session ran more smoothly compared to our first day of filming. This was due to the fact it was inside and we did not have to put up with freezing conditions,we could also easily read our story board with out it blowing away or our hands becoming to cold to actually hold paper. We was also more focused to what we was going to be filming and not as many adjustments had to be made because their wasn't any natural events taking place such as tides rising quicker than we were filming. The fact that all the filming took place in one location and it was only the camera that changed position made it much easier and quicker because we did not have to keep changing the position of the tripod. It was quicker to film as continuity did not matter so much, as we were a band playing and going crazy it would be better to not match to add to the fast paced confusion mood of the music video.

We used a dolly cam tripod to film the sequence of the band members playing. This was a key tool to creating the mood that we wanted to be established. It enabled us to film a smooth moving shot that added pace to our film alongside professional qualities. Although having access to this equipment was a huge benefit for us it still had its floors. Firstly it is fairly old and as you would expect there was some wear and tear from where it has been used through out the years. the top of the tripod was broken and a replacement holder for the camera had been put in. As we found the dolly cam like with we could not buy a new one because it was old, this caused the camera to become loose at times and slip of.This was corrected by placing additional materials in the part that holds it together to create a firm grip on the camera. Furthermore the tilt motion on the dolly tripod had become loose, even tho it was as tight as possible it still slipped down which meant we had to hold it up at all times to stop it slipping.

Some last minutes changes were made to the actors in the band because of people letting us down at short notice. We did not want to use the character ‘Guy’ in our band because we thought it would seem a bit strange that he is being chased by a nun and then he was a nun in the band. After a much team consideration we chose as a group that our best option was to use Steve, who plays Guy as our drummer. We concluded that it would create more enigmas if he is playing in the and also get the audience thinking to them selves about what is happening more. As i was the guitarist in the band we needed another media technician to be in control of the camera. we also needed some one to control the lighting for us to make it flashy and as if we were playing to a live audience. this worked well but some times thelight contrasted with the dark to much and created very strong flash which the cameras could not handle.

-Brad Hart

Changes We Have to Make (The Hair Cut Situation)

After our first day of shooting our actor has had his haircut. Although it was only a little bit he still gives the rocker image we were looking for for our character Guy. The problem we face is continuity. we shot the 2nd from last scene first.This means our character will have short hair in the beginning up until the river scene and then after that it will be short again. The solution we have come up with is to put a hair cut scene in. We will have o organise another shooting day or make it totally random and have the nun cutting his hair in his sleep at the hospital, if not then a open isolated field. It will still effect the continuity of our video so we can make the river scene a flash back from the guy. This will wok well because he will be having flashbacks within flashbacks create even more enigmas for the audience.

As a media group we need to take the blame for this mistake because we did not warn our actor about this when he agreed to act for us. Instead of automatically assuming he was aware of the situation we should of confirmed this with him before making our filming arrangements.

I am adding to this blog post at a later date to say that this did not take place. We tested to see if you could notice the difference and it was pretty much exactly the same as before. After this out come we have decided to follow the original plans as before.

-Brad Hart

Setting and location - Train Station

In our music video we decided to include a few seconds of footage at a train station. From discussing our ideas we decided that the best train station to film at was Brentwood Station as it is an open station so we didn't have to buy a ticket and it meant we could film on the platform which would normally not be allowed. The footage that we took was good as we managed to capture our main character running up the platform and onto a train, this was a good location to film at and created a valuable footage time filler.

Editing diary

After every filming session i would upload the footage straight away to the computer so it can be check for quality and edited. The usual procedure was that i would spend my free lessons editing the footage that we had to the correct places of the song then in our media lessons we would finalise the editing as a group. We did this is 7 different installments until all of the footage was uploaded and perfect.

The software that was used to edit our video was Pinnacle studios. It is a professional software which offers many different techniques and features to create the video in. An advantage about using this software was that you could zoom in on the timeline which is very handy whilst producing a music video because you can get the footage matching the  tempo of the song almost perfectly. A disadvantage with the software is that it can be very problematic when editing clips. As our project was edited in installments we had to place clips into the timeline. this moved all the other clips either backward or forward. When clips were cut it also cut the song so we had to keep re-editing. 

Setting and locations - Car park

The idea of using a car park in our music video was one we had from the start. This was meant to be a location that came in the video straight before the train station sequence. This gave the idea that the character has ran through a car park towards the train station to get away from the nun. After a discussion with Brad we decided that it would be better if we have the car park sequence after the train station sequence because it shows that he has come from a location that no one knows. This location was ideal because of a few factors.

The first factor is the fact that the car park we are using is big and is used by a lot of car owners. This allowed us to get across the idea that the character is living in a normal life were it is busy and congested. This was a good factor because we didn’t want to make it seem like no one is around seeing as the shots we have used before and after this made it seem like there was no one else around which isn’t what we wanted throughout the whole music video. The second factor that was good about this location was the efficiency of filming in the car park because of the closeness to our school. It was about a 10 minute drive which meant that it was easy to go back and film in case we didn’t get all the shots we wanted.

Overall the location provided us with a good time space of footage. We managed to get around 20 seconds worth of film in the car park, but still managed to create a fast paced beat to the cuts.

Setting and locations - Boiler Room

During the planning stages of our project we initially wanted to use a hospital for the opening for our music video. Using a hospital will set the theme for music video and establish the song. As the title of the song is “Who was in my room last night?” a hospital seemed the perfect place for our character to be woken up by a nun. Having him in a hospital indicates that he does not know what has happened to him the previous night. 

As the first 40 seconds of the song is very slow with a small amount of sound it establishes the meaning of the song and why it has been wrote in this certain way. In the same manor we need to fit the music video into this, establishing what it is going to be like. Most importantly we need to get the audience interested and engaged with the video. Also we figured that the white walls and corridors in a hospital conveys the image of innocence and  insecurity. 

In order to use the hospital we had to arrange it through a friend who’s mother worked there. As time pushed on we were still waiting for an answer. We eventually decided to go location hunting again for the same scene using the same shots. We suggested thing like having the character waking up in the middle of a street, but we dint want to include housing estates. We also considered using an empty field for the character to wake up in but it would not have been as effective as we wanted it to be. After summing up all of our ideas I suggested using the boiler room in our school. It doesn't look like part of the school, but something unusual and ‘creepy’. Having white walls, mostly covered in heavy machinery this seemed our best bet. It was also very easy to get to as it was in school. We had to adapt some shots and improvise with the structure of the building. On top of this we also found a cart. What the site team use to transfer tables and chairs into the hall on. We thought this would make a better bed as it looks like the character has had a drunken/intoxicated night and found him self in the most ransom place he could possibly imagine. We were still able to fit in within the timing of the song and stick to the story line I had perviously planned out. 

 This is the entrance to the boiler room. We will see the nun walking from the left around the corner to the door which is on the left(opposite the lockers). The shot would be much better and more professional if the lockers were removed but I do not have the authority to move them, or ability seen as they were really heavy. 

This is the door way where we will see the nun's feet walk out from. Although is is just a step we make it look like a door way/entrance. This will be achieved by taking the shot from the left so that you cannot see around the corner in the video. It will look like the nun has just walked through a door. This shot will replace the establishing shot of the hospital alongside the opening shot establishing the character 'Guy' is asleep. 

The following two pictures are where the Nun will walk down. This will replace the nun walking down the corridor in the hospital. This has slightly changed the mood of the video. It was planned that the white hospital walls would create an innocent feeling which will be enforced y using a nun character. This location suggests a psycho, crazy persons hide out. Rather than being innocent we are using extreme controversy with the nun to confuse the audience from the very beginning. 

(The nun will be steeping out of the step)

(This is the direction the nun will be walking in)

This is the room where the character 'Guy' will be sleeping in. When we use it there will be exams on so it will be empty as the tables will be in the hall.  The mise en scene of this room really emphasises` the fact that the character 'Guy' does not know what had happened to him the night before, hence the song name 'who was in my room last night'.

Setting and locations - Church

A key location I have always thought of including in a media project is a church at Laindon, Basildon, Essex. I had always thought it had an eerie, creepy feeling to it, yet it still looked a pleasant place to be. When I first found out about the A2 coursework of making a music video the first thing that struck me was to include this church because of its appearance. It is at the top of a very steep hill and graves at the front were starting to slide down as the earth eroded. This has been touched upon now and has been corrected but the appearance of the graves still has a sinister resemblance. I was informed by a teacher that a church had already been used for a music video in previous years so I will have to be careful in order to not replicate their work.

This is a view from Google maps. From this picture we can see how big the church and graveyard is on realistic terms. This is a great place to be creative with our shots and still have the freedom to choose from a variety of angles. The fact that it is based on top of a hill it will be very effective to use a lot of low angle shots.

This photo shows the path leading to the church door. It is perfect for our character to run through as it is lower than the ground its self. All sorts of connotations can be from this, for example, the characters inability to realise what is happening can be shown from the eerie surroundings.

Again this is a great place to frame a shot. The camera could be placed on the floor within the pebbles looking up at the guitarist who is playing in the door way. This can resemble how the character is trying to be connected with the church and questioning the fact there is a nun following, which will be happening in our music video.

This is the front of the church. Once again another great place to represent the characters state of mind and uncertainness. All of the shots in this scene will consist of the same colours, a vibrant green from the grass and the grey from the stone. It cannot not be changed but I will work with lighting in post production to produce the most effective piece of work.

The next series of photos show how the ground has eroded causing the graves to collapse and move. This is ideal for our music video as it creates a unique selling point. Using this location will help us make the video as professional as possible and escape using the common locations in A-level video productions, like housing estates and bedrooms. This specific part of the church will enable me to be as creative as I possibly can, it seems ideal to have close ups on this feature with the character or guitarist in the background, especially during the solo of the song. Panning around the hill will also be very appealing to the viewer and I will be able to establish the location that I have chosen. I will have to be careful with the sign because if this is included in the video it will ruin the shot and suspensions created by intense editing.

The following pictures were taken to show a variety of options when choosing the perfect shot to establish the mood of the song. To fit in with a rock music video we will need to use shots to fit in with the expectations of the genre. Creating a ‘haunted’ and ‘eerie’ mood we can also express the humour within the genre and style of the song when the nun has followed the character every where in the video.

Bradley Hart