Evaluation

Questions:

1. In what ways does your music video use, develop or challenge the forms and conventions of a music video?

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and the two ancillary texts?

3. What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

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

Online Feedback

As well as getting feedback from questionnaires, we also put our video online on Youtube to get comments from other people. We promoted the video on such social networking sites as Facebook, Twitter and I even posted it on my Tumblr page (which allowed me to show it to Christina Perri fans specifically) and in response got 175 views which is considerably good. As you can see we got very positive feedback offline from the people who commented.

Audience Feedback

To gain feedback on our video, we created a questionnaire which we got approximatly 30 people to fill in. These people were a mixture of both genders and included both media students and non-media students providing a diverse range of readings. All participants were aged 17-18. Here is an example of our questionnaire.

Our feedback was generally positive. People were impressed with the editing we used and enjoyed the stop motion. They also commeted on the the emotions that were formed in response to the letter. The oly criticisms we were given were on the quality of the voiceover at the beginning.

Finished Digipak

Here is our final digipak design which we created on the programme, Adobe Fireworks. 

Final Product: Advert

Here is our final advert for Christina Perri's album 'Lovestrong.'

Update

We are currently in the process of creating the advert for our digipak. So far, we have began to create the collaged heart and are sticking down some photos which we have taken to form the image of the heart.

The next stage is to add the polaroid to the centre of the heart and take a photo of the heart on some grass. Then we will create the advert in Adobe Fireworks.

Final Advert Idea

Our final idea for the advert is also relatively simplistic but this version holds a lot more emotive meaning than the previous idea.

Once again, we have incorporated the use of a heart as the main focus point of the advert. However, rather than just using the symbol, we wanted to create a collage using different pictures of the couple on the heart itself, to connote the transition of their relationship and their shared love. On the heart we will have both happy pictures of the couple and more distressed pictures showing how they're relationship deteriorated. The collage also makes the advert seem extremely personal and almost like a memoir of their time together. The artistic element could coincide with the personal feel of the album, as if the protagonist has created the whole album for herself, as a coping mechanism. This ties into the research we did on Christina Perri's original album artwork and how she created the album, which is a personal documentation of her relationship with her ex-boyfriend.

Advert Idea 1

Like our digipak, we wanted the advert to relate to our video and to the song we chose. Our initial idea of the advert was to take the song in a more literal way and to illustrate the title of the song 'Jar of Hearts.' This would mean that the advert would be easily recognisable, as people would relate it to the song (which is Christina Perri's hit song).

As the picture shows, we wanted the advert to consist of a jar which holds a heart. The heart drawn would be the heart of the girl, to link to the heartbreak connoted both by the video and the song itself. To link to the digipak and disc design we would show the heart with a jigsaw-shaped piece missing. This creates similar meanings to that of our disc design with the recognisable symbol of a heart to represent the girl.

As well as a jar, we wanted to explore the relationship shown in the video between our two characters and so to display this we thought of using a string of polaroid photos as a timeline of the relationship. We decided on polaroids not only to match our digipak but because of the personal aspect it presents. Polaroid’s are not used by professionals but by amateurs and so the use of them shows the emotion behind taking pictures of themselves as a couple; it creates the effect that they have taken the photos as memories not just for the sake of an album.

We decided against using this advert as it didn't contain enough emotive meaning. Although the literal interpretation of the song would attract audiences, we didn't think it would fit the heavily emotive video and digipak we have created.

Disc Design

As well as designing our digipak we created a design for the discs we would include. The right hand disc shows the design we would use on the DVD accompanying the album (the left hand disc).

We wanted to maintain our theme of love and heartbreak and so decided upon using a heart as the main image on the disc. The heart symbol is a constant symbol of love and is recognised almost everywhere and so by including this we are creating the desired effect. To connect with the idea of heartbreak we showed one heart with a jigsaw piece missing out of it. This heart represents the heart of the girl. It is red in colour to symbolise the love she holds and the piece missing from it represents the piece of her heart that her partner stole. When comparing this disc with the other, we can see that the DVD disc represents the boy’s heart. It is black in colour to represent his lack of emotive input and to identify him as the antagonist (dark colours usually connote evil.) Also, on the DVD disc we see the piece of the girl’s heart which has been abandoned in the corner. This represents the heartbreak between the couple as he has 'broken' her heart by keeping a piece of it for himself. The use of the heart as a symbol for their relationship also links to the name of the song we did for our video: 'Jar of Hearts'. Although not a literal representation, it does link in with the concepts explained in the song, such as betrayal.


As well as the reason stated above, the colour scheme does help to connote meaning. Red and black are colours which are commonly associated with gambling and so using them on our disc creates the idea that love is always a gamble, something that you have to take risks for. The contrasting colours also help us to separate the two characters as opponents, each with a colour, and so help us to understand the conflict in their relationship.


For the font, we wanted something which could almost look handwritten, this would make the discs look personal and so rely the meanings in a much more emotive and realistic way. We want the digipak to have a feel of the protagonist, the girl, as it is her story we are telling.

Although we don't have to create these for our final digipak design, we thought having an idea of what the discs will look like would help us in creating the digipak.

Final Digipak Idea

Our final idea for the digipak stemmed from our second idea. We took the idea of a diary or a scrapbook and decided to use this style of something personal to base our digipak on. As you can see from the mock-up of the idea above, we have decided to use a line of photographs of the couple in the video as our cover. The front cover itself will show a polaroid photo of the girl with tear tracks down her face. The photo will be in black and white to express the melancholy feel of the album. We want to use the polaroid style as it is excessively more personal than a normal photo as it is a photo you would get on demand. It also adds an aspect of art to the cover and so helps to display the idea of a photo album. The photo will be clipped onto a piece of string as it floats in the centre of the frame. This string will continue onto the back cover and the inside flap. The back cover will show a progression of photos displayed in line (as you would get from a passport photo machine.) I will be of the couple together but the photos will show a distance between them indicating problems in the relationship. The inside flap will show another polaroid of the couple together, except they will be shown as being happy and in love. On the inside of our design we will have the tracklist and the design for the back of both discs. The tracklist will be situated in the centre and we have decided to use the idea of the tracklist on the letter as we believed this was effective. For the two graphics behind the disc we have decided to use a collection of the lyrics from Christina Perri's songs. We will write the lyrics on pieces of ripped up paper and then collage them together. On one of the designs will be more loving lyrics and on the other lyrics of betrayal and heartbreak. All of this together is designed to look like a journal that the protagonist would have written.

We believe that this idea is the best idea as it expresses deep emotive meaning as well as involving the ideas used in our music video which will create familiarity for the fans.

Digipak Idea 3

Our third idea for the digipak was based on a traditional fairytale. We wanted the album cover to tell a story, much like our video does. For the front cover, we wanted to maintain the concept of it looking like an old-style book. Therefore the front cover would have a thick spine on the edge and the font would be serif to connote an old-fashioned sense. The tracklist would be similar to the cover, being based on the back cover of an old book. We used roman numerals to replace numbers to show the archaic nature of the book and therefore suggest that it is traditional.

This idea would be based on fairytales. And so our plan was to make the inside of the digipak to tell a story in a book format. We would use the traditional fairytale discourse to map out a story with a plot similar to the one we used in our video.

We decided against this idea due to it's complexity. It would be extremely time consuming to create a fairytale and construct the graphics to the scale of our expectations. We also believed that this idea didn't really tie in enough with our video.

Digipak Idea 2

Our second design idea for the digipak was heavily conneced to the music video we created for 'Jar of Hearts.' This idea is based on a scrap book/diary that would be written by our anagonist, the girl in the video. As you can see, we wanted he front cover of this idea to be basic. We would have the title, 'Lovestrong' and the artists name 'Christina Perri' sylised in a font which would look like handwriting to show how personal the album is. We would then have a bow at the front acting as a lock for the book. This also shows the idea of it being personal but could suggest that everything of importance is contained in the album itself, much like a diary. We even toyed with the idea of the album actually having a bow attatched to it and not just the graphics of a bow. This would keep the album interactive and almost luxurious as it would feel more cared about and more wanted, like a diary.

The tracklist for this idea would be created onto a torn and dirty letter. This would match the letter used in our video. The letter itself is a key part of the video and expresses a lot of the emotions we wanted to convey so we believed having it on our album cover would conevy the same meaning. Having the letter in it's worn state would also create sympathy for the letter, and in turn the couple, and also express the sense of personification of the letter.

However, we thought the front cover of this album is too simple to advertise the artist as she is still relatively unknown and the design used here wouldn't attract new audiences, which is what is needed for the cover of an artists debut album. But we do love certain areas of this design such as it's personal aspect and the tracklist.

Digipak Idea 1

Our first idea for the digipak design was loosely based on the digipak for Damien Rice's album '9.' It is a collection of symbols that we found all of which connote the idea of love. As you can tell from the picture there is a wide range of symbols from Japanese letters to aboriginal artwork to display the fact that love is universal and recognised worldwide.

Damien Rice - 9

We liked the concept of using symbols in our album as they are simplistic and raw, like the emotions we are trying to convey through our video. These emotions are also heavily laced throughout Christina Perri' songs, in particular Jar of Hearts. However, we decided that a didgipak solely dedicaed to symbols would be hard to pull off as not everybody would understand the meaning behind them and so it wouldn't connote the strong emotions we'd need it to. Our teachers also pointed out to us that i would be hard to maintain the use of symbols as there is only so many symbols we could use and that may not be enough to cover the digipak. 

Digipak Research

As well as analysing various album adverts, we also need to look at digipaks to gain an understanding as to what is commonly used in them.

The first digipak I am going to look at is Paramore's 'Riot':

The album artwork for Riot is relatively simple. The background consists of the repetitive scribbling’s of the word 'Riot!' The font is designed to look like handwriting but is also quite aggressive in its appearance. The lines are made up of scribbles which could be classed as aggressive due to the repetitive action of going over the lines multiple times with force. Not only does the design look like scribbles, but it could also link to the concept of graffiti. Graffiti is illegal and does carry some criminal stigma with it as it is not always accepted in society and this idea would connect with the idea of riots and the procedure of going against the social norms. This simple design connotes the whole feel of the album and its rebellious nature.

The colour scheme used is relatively grayscale, using mainly black and white. This could represent the black and white nature of our society, everything is either right or wrong with no in between stage. Once again, this can connect to the idea of society marking what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. However, the album does use a vibrant red which could connote the idea of the band and the album going against the social norms that society presents and being different. In particular, the use of the main title being in the colour red shows how the album itself represents a difference from the norm, something different from the mainstream music which people normally listen to. The colour red tends to connote danger and is often associated with rebellion due to the use of red with the Bolsheviks in Russia and so its use here would hint at the rebellious nature of the album. It also emphasises the importance of the album title. However, the name of the band is not mentioned on the actual album cover but on the spine of the album. This could be because it is the bands second album and so there is not as much pressure on advertising the band as much as their music as they would already have an established fanbase.

However, there is a picture of the band on the front cover. The picture is edited in a way that it also looks drawn. The colours are grayscale to match the theme. It is also quite heavily contrasted which could link to the theory of societies established wrongs and rights. The band are shown in dark colours which could connote that they are on the 'dark' side of societies norms and are going against the mainstream vibe. The angle of the picture forces the audience to look down on the band which also fits the idea that they are going against the norm as they are physically being looked down on. But, the band are looking up and at the camera in a confident manner suggesting that they know they are different and accept it, making the most of being different; they do not want to be mainstream.

The tracklist uses a similar theme to the front cover. It uses the same colour scheme and also has the repeated graphics of the word 'Riot!' The tracklist itself uses the colour red to stand out, as shown on the front cover. It works specifically with the song names due to the connotations of the colour red being danger and the aggressive titles such as 'Let the flames begin.' The use of these together creates an aggressive tone to link with the concept of Riots.

The picture used on the back uses very similar editing techniques to that on the front cover with the lack of colour and almost drawn style contrast. However, the picture itself simply reinforces the fact that they want to be different and embrace the fact that they go against the norms of music in today’s society. This is shown through the confidence in their stature and how they are directly looking toward the camera.

The second digipak I am going to analyse is Good Charlotte's Good Morning Revival.

Good Charlotte's album uses a very simplistic approach to its album. This particular album could be said to be quite different from their usual music and this change is represented in the artwork design. Firstly, the font used for the album title and the name of the band is relatively simple. It is not the style used in their previous albums, which has a certain logo element to it as it is recognisable as their font. The lack of this shows that they are striving for change and to do something different to what they have already achieved. The fact that they have used such a simplistic, recognisable font suggests that they want this album to be stripped back and concentrate on just the music without the added products. However, the font is slightly distorted which could indicate that although it is stripped back, there is still an element of Good Charlotte's style of music.

Another indicator that Good Charlotte has left their older style of music behind is the faded shadow of their logo at the front. The logo is a symbol for the punk side of their music and so the fact that it is shown as almost a shadow on the white suggests that this album does not follow the conventions that they have used previously and this is a different style of their music. However, the fact that it's present states that they are still the same band and their music is still them. Therefore, this album attracts both new and older fans to their music.

The shot of the band also suggests that this album is more music based rather than striving for new fans. The picture shows the band with their equipment. The fact that they are with their equipment focuses the audience onto their music and tells us that this is the main focus of this album, not the genre or the band themselves. In the picture, the band looks calm and subdued. This is different from Good Charlotte's previous work where they embrace their punk rock genre to fit the expectations of their fans. The fact that they are calm once again focuses the audience on the music and not the band. The band are also wearing all black which makes them stand out from the white background, bringing a little of the focus onto them and stating that it is them that makes this music. However the fact that the picture shows them at a long shot suggests that they are in the background of this album, letting the music itself be the real star.

The colour scheme is similar to that used in Paramore's Riot. It is simplistic, not catching a lot of attention. This is a big difference from their previous album's design which used striking artwork. This continues the theme of simplicity and change from what they have done in the past.

The tracklist for Good Morning Revival uses a common structure for the back cover of albums. However, the song titles are not as apparent as on others. They are located on the bottom left above the copyright information; they share the same style as the copyright information and so almost blend in with it. The fact the text is so small and that it is relatively hidden suggests that the names of the songs are not important and that the audience should take the songs as they hear them and not based on their title. The design for the back of the cover is simplistic in that it shows a collection of pictures of the band stuck to a grey background. The fact that they are the main focus does bring attention to the band but as it is on the back cover not the front, it indicates that they are still not the most important part of this album.

All the photos are quite worn and the fact that they are stuck with tape suggests a lack of care. This could be a representation of the music on this album suggesting that the album is raw and stripped back. The fact that they are pictures of the band in a style that does not resemble a photo shoot also gives the album a slightly personal feel.

The final digipak I will analyse is Playing in the Shadow by Example.

This is very different from the previous two albums. The graphics on the cover are still simplistic like with the Paramore and Good Charlotte covers but this cover represents completely different meanings. The main focus of this album is Example himself. This differs from the previous two where the bands were not the main focus. As Example's music is a lot more mainstream, he will be generally more recognised and so by using him as a selling product, more fans will be attracted to buy it. The picture has been edited to be a literal interpretation of the album's title: Playing In The Shadows. We see Example half masked by a shadow. The use of the shadow suggests that a part of Example's music style is hidden. This may link to his varying style in music as much of his previous work was different to the music which made his name in the industry. The use of contrast in the editing also suggests that there are two sides to examples music and this album could be the culmination of his style of music.

In the picture, Example is looking directly at the audience in an almost menacing way. The eye contact exudes self-confidence and therefore makes the audience more confident in buying the album. It's slightly menacing look helps to establish his urban appearance which relates to his genre of music.

The colour scheme mainly relies on black and white which are used as opposite ends of the spectrum to identify the conflict present on the album. Both colours carry many connotations such as good and bad and light and dark, a reference to title of the album, which also suggests an element of conflict. Both colours are often used in games such as chess. This concept could also link to the word 'Playing' in the title. This idea could suggest that Example is taking a risk with this album after the success of his previous album, hence the use of black and white.

The only other colour shown on this album is the yellow of the logo. The logo is now synonymous with example and so the colour has also become a representation of his work. The use of this attracts his fans and maintains his relatively high status in music, due to his recent fame.

Both the artist and album name are included on the cover. Both are shown in simplistic fonts, stating what needs to be said in as rawest form as possible keeping the album objective in it's appearance. The artists name is also bigger than the album name which suggests that the artist is more important than the album and so they are using him to sell the album.

As with the front cover, the back cover is very objective and simplistic. There is no graphics just a plain black background. This connotes the raw side of he album stating that it is simple but powerful; it does what it needs to do. The logo is also present on the back maintaining the selling of the artist. The fact that it is the main focus over the track names suggests that it is Eample which is important on the album, not his songs.

The tracklist is laid out simply in the centre of the cover. This way it attracts attention but does not distract away from the logo of the artist. The font is the same as on the cover and is simply used to express the simplistic nature of the album and artist.

Album Promotional Advert Research 3

My final advert is for the rock band, 30 Seconds To Mars. It differs massively from the previous two adverts, which have adertised two pop artists.

The most noticable aspect of this is the sheer simplicity of it's design. It uses mainly monochrome colouring and is just outlines. It's plain white background contrasts against the black image and font colour nicely to create the desired effect of it standing out from the rest of the advert. This idea of standing out and being unique can connect to the fact that the band does not create mainstream music, but prefers to be unique.

The use of the black for the details is also an intresting choice. Black has many connotations which all vary, one being it's association with authority. This can relate to the army and the constant referal to war in the new album, even to the name 'This is War'. It could also connote fear, grief and power. All of these feelings could refer to the fact that this album signified a big change for the band, in which they lost a member and changed their style of music. This could suggest that black connotes the fear of starting fresh when they already have a solid fan base, the grief of their old style and the missing band member as well as the power of being able to carry on a three piece band. This factor is one of many that makes this advert different to my previous adverts which want to create an air of familiarity; 30 Seconds To Mars want to start again. The use of black and white also may suggest conflict as the two colours are known for being opposite ends of the spectrum (light and dark) and so this could link to the theme of war, like previously mentioned.

30 Seconds To Mars' previous album
before 'This is War'

The only other colour that has been used in this advert is red. Like black, red has many connotations attached to it, for instance it's association with blood. This connection would link to the theme of war and danger, expressing the tone of the album and it's underlying meaning. However, red is also associated with love. On their previous albums, red has been the colour which is most associated with the band and so this as well as the connotations of love, could be a way to lure old fans in and show them that they are the same band and are still dedicated to their fans. 

Although wanting to attract a new audience because of their change in music, the band would still want to please their old audience. So there is similaities between the new style and the old. For instance, the colour scheme is one that they have always used and so would reassure old fans that they are still the band that they like. The advert also uses the symbols for each of their previous albums (located under 'This is War'.) As well as creating familiarity, this shows a progression of what they were to what they've become, almost like telling a story of their career.

Symbols play a big part in this advert, and to the band themself. The main focus of this advert is the triad. It is the largest image on the page, taking up half a page, and is the first thing your eyes see. The triad is said to represent the 'group of three', representing the three band members Jared Leto, Shannon Leto and Tomo Milicevic. It is now hugely recognised as the logo for the band and so it's presence on this would attract fans instantly. In an interview, the band were asked the meaning of the triad for them. Lead singer, Jared Leto said:

"It's a way to communicate... when I see your triad or you know we've been in some places where we never expected to see part of the family... as soon as you see the triad necklace you kind of recognise one of your own and thats kind of a fun way to do it and I have to say it's become a bit of a phenomenom worldwide."

With this in mind, the use of the triad on the advert indicates the band communicating to their fans almost like an announcement. Other symbols used on the poster are the four small symbols located under the triad.Once again these are common on all the albums but the meaning of them is unknown. However, there is two possible meanings. The first being that they stand for Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. This comes from a possible interpretation of the symbols meanings. However, a more likely interpretation is that they represent the bands name.





The first symbol is said to be two over-lapping 3's, meaning 30. The second is said to be clock hands pointing anti-clockwise to represent seconds. The third glyphic is an inverted roman numeral for the number 2, therefore meaning to. Finally, the last glyphic represents Mars, as the planet has two orbiting moons as shown above.

The band has always maintained an abstract theme and so the lack of photography is not surprising. Before joining the band, Jared Leto was more known for his acting role in films such as American Psycho, Fight Club and Requim of A Dream. Therefore, he tries to hide his identity as an actor to allow the music to speak for itself, gaining true fans of the music. This is one explanation for the graphics. The anonymity of the advert could also be linked to the fact that war could be seen as a controversial taboo subject and so being so open about it, especially in magazines where not everybody will be aware of the band, could be risky. However, the band are known for speaking out about issues such as war and equality and this is reflected in the nature of this album and so the way that it is advertised. This theme of war and peace is also spread to their music video's, in the same way that Rihanna's was.

Album Promotional Advert Research 2

Rihanna's advert for her Album 'Loud' is very different to the one that Madonna uses. The first noticeable difference is the fact that this is obviously aimed at a much younger audience than the previous advert. Its selling an artist which is at the prime of her career and so uses quite modern techniques to show this.

This advert creates a more emotive response from the audience than the Madonna poster and has a few themes running through it. The first being isolation and the feeling of being lost. This is shown by Rihanna being centred in the advert as it enhances the fact that she is alone. The fact that she is situated in a plain field also enhances this as it shows that there is nothing else around her but the grass. It also suggests the idea of isolation as it links with the countryside, which is usually used in the media to create a sense of being lost and alone.

There is also a sense of freedom being expressed in this advert. Rihanna is naked in the photograph which shows vulnerability as she is on show to the world and has nothing to hide behind; this could be analysed in a way to suggest that this album, which is so different to Rihanna's previous work, is exposing the real Rihanna and is raw in the sense that is shows how vulnerable she is. However, she does cover herself in a red dress which may symbolise how she hides her real self from the public and so she is trying to mask her vulnerability. Rihanna is looking off into the distance in the picture rather then looking at the camera, and therefore at her audience. This could show a certain reluctance in being so exposed to her audience, which suggests realism to her audience stating that she feels no different than they would. The spread out font of the text also may connote an idea of freedom as there is a big amount of space in between each letter which could represent having the space to be free.

Pain is also being created here. Rihanna is kneeling on the floor which symbolises that she is not in control of what is happening. It could also mean that she is feeling small compared to the rest of the world which contrasts to what her fans would think of her. The way that she is clutching her stomach could also suggest pain as that movement is suggested with pain, either physical or emotional. The vibrant red of the dress could also be associated with blood and therefore wounds and pain.

The idea of creating such strong feelings from her audience would suggest that the album is aimed at a young audience, most likely to be girls. This relates to the fact that teenage girls are seen as very emotionally vulnerable and so Rihanna is showing them that she is alike to them and can relate to how they're feeling. It almost tells the audience that Rihanna is human and so she is giving a positive message out for girls to just be themselves. This is reinforced by the name of her songs, for example 'The Only Girl (In The World.'

The advert is slightly faded at the top and bottom into black. This could suggest that this album is look at what Rihanna is like but it is only a snippet and not the whole picture. Her logo 'R' is also situated on the black area which suggests that her fame persona is the black which suggests that it's mysterious and feared and also tends to hold quite negative connotations.

Similar to the techniques used in Madonna's poster, Rihanna uses familiarity to attract fans. Rihanna's logo 'R' is placed in the top left corner of the poster (where your eyes will first look) and this symbol is common on all of Rihanna's albums. However, the style of the font has changed drastically in comparison to her previous work. It is very simple and straight-forward here and is rounded, showing a aura of softness. This stripped back feeling relates to my previous point on the target audience but also creates a heavy contrast with the bold, artistic fonts that have previously been used on her albums.

The colour scheme used is also different to her previous albums. Rather than using the bright colours that Rihanna is known for, there is a constant use of red. Red has many connotations, most can be related to this album, in particular the symbolisation of love and danger.

Another similarity with Madonna's advert is the concept of selling the artist and not just the album as Rihanna is the centre of the poster. Like Madonna, Rihanna is also recognised by the majority of people and so people could see her and recognise her bringing attention to the advert. This advert also uses the name of her latest single to bring in the audience as people who know the song would possibly buy the album.

Rihanna uses similar techniques in the selling of this album as a whole. Her album cover uses photography similar to this and the theme is even spread into her music videos which once again creates familiarity.