Production schedule

Here is my production schedule. It clearly shows the order in which i propose to carry out my filmimg, as well as information such as props that i will require, equipment, people involved etc.

Storyboard Improved

DVD and CD cover (Digipak)

The current plans for my DVD & CD cover have been created using Adobe Fireworks. I have shown in my plans that the background to the covers will be black and white with stars/ loveherats on, of which i designed and created myself. However, when it comes to making the final digipak, these backgrounds will be replaced with shots of the two characters involved in the video or something similar. However, the colour scheme for the digipak will still remain black and white overall as this was the colour scheme that was liked best and chosen by the target audience.

Initial Storyboard

Here is my initial storyboard. I have uploaded each shot and imported it into Windows movie Maker. By doing this, I have realised that some timings need to be altered, as well as the fact that more shots need to be added so that the length of the song is fulfilled as there is currently 40 seconds of the song that is not filled with shots. I have only realised this as a result of uploading my storyboard to Windows movie maker with my initial timings.

Recce Shots- Coppice Woods

Here are a variety of shots that I have taken of my proposed location; Coppice Woods. I have taken various photos so that as many parts of the location are shown and to see if different places within the location will be suitable for filming such as lighting etc.

CD Cover Back Improved with Spine

As part of the Digipak that I will create for one of my ancillary tasks, it must include a spine for the CD cover. Therefore, below is the back of my CD cover with the spine included.

Audience Questionnaire 2, Responses

The purpose of my second audience questionnaire was to recieve some constructive feedback from members of my target audience. The aim of this was to find out exactly what their opinions were about the first draft copies of my ancillary tasks. Below is a conclusion of the feedback that I recieved and as a result what I am now able to improve further to ensure that the final designs will be suitable for people across my target market.

Magazine Advert

Positive responses

• The text is clear to read
• I Like the use of the blue colour to make the song name stand out
• I Like the simple use of Black and White and one striking colour for the song name
• The overall design is good
• I Like the black and white colour scheme and the use of blue to make it stand out.
• The use of effects for the background and the 'glow' makes the advert interesting and appelaing

Suggested Improvements

• Put the band name "Example" in a more vibrant colour
• Change some of the fonts so that they are of a similar consistancy
• Rearrange the text to see which way works better
• Try out other colour combinations
• Consider changing 'Out April 2010' as the word 'Out' is difficult to read due to the fact it blends in with the background a little.

CD Cover

Positive Responses

• The layout is simple but effective
• I like the fact that the same font as used on the Magazine Advert has been used for the word 'Kickstarts' on the CD cover as well
• Nice and simple
• The fact that the CD cover is plain and simple is nice to the eye and makes it attractive

Suggested Improvements

• Change the font colour of the word 'Kickstarts' to blue like it is on the magazine advert
• Outline the artist name 'Example' to make it more dominant
• Try to add somemore colour to the cover to make it more interesting
• Experiment with a variety of different colour combinations to see which best catches the eye
• Try to add some more features in order to make it more appealing as a CD cover

CD Cover Back

Positive Responses

• The black and white colour scheme looks good
• I like the fact that the CD cover back is simple as this suits the back of a CD cover]
• Relates to the cover well

Suggested Improvements

• Try to experiment with some different layouts and some more designs
• Experiment by adding some different colours to the CD cover back. Will this make the cover more attractive?
• Make the theme more consistant, either use stars or hearts but possibly not both

As well as questions that specifically target each individual item, I also asked a couple of questions about the items as a whole. These questions can be seen below with a conclusion of the responses that I recieved.

What do you think about the colour scheme used for all of the items? Do you like it or would you suggest using a different colour scheme? If so, why and what colour scheme would you choose?

• The colour scheme of the items as a whole is great but I would suggest using different font colours for any text included to make it stand out more
• The colour scheme that has been used for the items is simpe but very effective
• Experiment using other colour schemes such as Red as this is a colour that very obviously catches the eye
• Use brighter colours for the items as a way of making them more attractive and eye catching
• The colour scheme is great and should definatly be used for the items as it seems to work well

Which font do you prefer for the name of the artist on the items?

• All nominees who answered the questionnaire selected the font 'Forte' rather than 'Ariel Black' As a result, the font used for the name of the artist on the CD Cover will be changed from the feedback I recieved.

Moodboard for Dance Genre

Here is a moodboard that represents all aspects of music within the dance genre. It clearly summarises the conventions of the genre that I have discovered during my research.

Audience Questionnaire 2

Here is a second audience questionnaire that will be handed out to my target market. The purpose of this questionnaire is to recieve feedback about the magazine advertisement and the CD covers, front and back. These are currently only draft copies as they are only very initial designs and will be developed further later. As a result it is useful at this stage to recieve some constructive feedback before I reach this stage so that any suggested improvements from my target market can be made, as well as any other changes.

Digipak Template

In order to produce a digipak, I have selected and downloaded a digipak template on which to design it. This is the template that I will be using.

Magazine Advert Edited

Here I have simply changed the colour scheme of the previous magazine advert to see what it loks like using the same colour scheme as the CD covers. As a result, I think that the magazine advert looks better using this colour scheme as it appears to look mor proffessional and more interesting with the use of black and white.

First Draft 'Back of CD Cover'

This is a first draft for the back of the CD. It continues on with the same theme of the front cover in order that it is consistent and is obvious that it is all one item.

Second Draft CD cover

This is the second draft of my CD cover. I have once again chosen to keep the black and white colour scheme and just produced a different design. I have chosen to include more Love hearts in this design than the last one to fit in more with the lyrics and the meaning behind the song.

First Draft CD Cover

This is the first draft of my CD cover. I have chosen to use a black and white colour scheme because while designing the cover, these colours seemed to look effective. This makes the CD cover more interseting and if produced, im sure would appeal to the audience. Furthermore, due to the fact that within the music industry today the majority of CD covers use colour, this would make my CD cover more unique and therefore successful.

Here is a list showing my conclusions following on from my magazine advertisement analysis. The text highlighted in blue shows whether or not the advertisement meets the typical conventions.

1) All bright in colour, visually appealing. Fits in with the dance genre due to the exciting and up-beat nature.Colour scheme of Purple, Blue and Pink appears to be popular within the genre.

2) Computer generated images of women, typical feature across CD covers within the genre.

3) Backgrounds to the covers usually very bright in colour, represent disco lights, strobe lights etc.

4) Many dance CD covers include examples of the artists included on the disks, gets the audience interested in buying the product

5) Simple, big bold fonts commonly used for CD titles to ensure that they stand out from any other detail on the cover.

Although the first draft of my CD cover does not appear to meet the standard conventions across the genre, I still feel that my CD cover would be suited to the artist and the genre. Conclusion number four has not been met due to the fact that my CD will be a single and therefore would only include the artist Example rather than various artists and therefore this conclusion is not applicable.

First Draft, Magazine Advertisement

This is a first draft for my magazine advertisement. It has been designed following on from what I found out during the 'analysis of existing magazine advertisements'. Therefore, I have made sure that it is bold, colourful and would easily stand out to the reader if it was to be placed in an actual music magazine.

Here is a list showing my conclusions following on from my magazine advertisement analysis. The text highlighted in blue shows whether or not the advertisement meets the typical conventions.

1) The group/artist/band name is clearly visible in order to grab the readers attention
2) A common feature throughout is to include song names that are well known on the advert, again as another way of engaging with the reader.
3) Adverts do not include a huge amount of detail. The release date etc is included but apart from essential details such as this, the adverts mainly concentrate on getting the reader interested
4) Bright colour schemes are used to make the advertisements stand out from other pages within the magazine
5) All three adverts that I have analysed have all been designed to fill a whole A4 page (A full page in a magazine) rather than being designed to fit in the corner of a page with an article on for example. This is a very easy way to attract the readers attention due to its large size.
6) Further techniques are sometimes used to persuade the audience into buying the product. The way of doing this is to include star ratings from other well known music magazines/other artists, as well as persuasive quotes about the product such as "The greatest album of all time" for example.

Audience Conclusions

To conclude on my audience research:

It is quite clear that the patterns of their music consumption remains pretty much the same. For example, as found out when researching what customers also brought, it was clear that they only brought items within the same genre more often than not, as well as if they brought singles, then they went on to buy more singles, and if they brought albums, they went on to buy more albums, usually within the same name, for example, 'Now'.

Furthermore, as discovered from my audience questionnaire, it appears as though people tend to listen to music through free downloads, rather than actually own the CD, or buy the songs on-line. There was only 10 out of 20 people who selected that they consume music by buying CD's, and it has to be noted that they could select more than one option on this question and as a result they probably only buy the CD if it is seen as being 'high quality' for example.

It appeared as though the band liked the artist Example and that the majority of them had heard music, as well as viewed videos at some point. This is a positive factor to take into account as it means that the artist and the songs produced are liked by the audience, meaning that it will be worthwhile to produce a new music video for.

Audience Research- Other musical interests

To gain more of an insight into audience consumption as a further part of my audience research, I completed some quick research using the website Amazon. Here I have simply analysed what customers also bought along with a selection of CD's within the Dance genre.

The Very Best of Now Dance
2.5 out of 5 stars
£14.95

Customers also bought:
NOW Dance 2008
3.5 out of 5 Stars
£12.99

Now Dance 2007
No customer reviews
£12.67

Now Dance 2004 Vol.1
4.5 out of 5 Stars
£15.99

Now Dance 2001 Vol.1
4.5 out of 5 stars
£9.99

Now Dance 2003 Vol.2
5 out of 5 stars
£10.82

The rest of the list carried on and were all more or less 'Now' CD's, showing that customers were continuing to purchase the same type of CD's.

Example- Kickstarts [Single]
No customer reviews
£2.49

Customers also brought:
The Club Is Alive [Single]
3.5 out of 5 stars
£2.49

Won't Go Quietly [Single]
No customer reviews
£2.49

All The Lovers [Single]
4 out of 5 stars
£2.49

I Like It [Single]
5 out of 5 stars
£3.49

All Time Low [Single]
5 out of 5 stars
£2.51

As is clearly visible from looking at what other customers brought, it is clear that customers buy the same type of CD. By this, I mean that everybody who brought the Kickstarts single, then went on to buy other singles, rather than full albums. Vis versa when customers brought full albums such as the very best of now dance, customers went on to buy other now albums instead of anything else.

Audience Research- Questionnaire Results

Here is a summary of the results to all of the questions that were asked on the questionnaire. The questionnaire was handed out to 20 people in total, and was handed to 50% Male, and 50% Female to try and get a fair and accurate set of results.









Question number five asked:

Out of the list above, which is your most common way of consuming music?

The nominees could select any of the following five answers:
CD's
Free Downloads
Paid Downloads (Itunes etc.)
Listen to it on the internet
Music Channels

The most popular answer given by all nominees was 'Free Downloads'

Audience Research- Questionnaire

Questionnaire

Gender: Male / Female
Age:
0-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
60+

1) Have you heard of the artist Example?

Yes

No

2) Have you seen any music videos from the artist Example?

Yes

No

3) If Yes, do you like the music videos?

Yes

No

Never watched a music video

If Yes, What are your reasons why?
If No, Why not?

4) How do you usually consume music? (Tick as many as apply)

CD's
Free Downloads
Paid Downloads (Itunes etc.)
Listen to it on the internet
Music Channels

5) Out of the list above, which is your most common way of consuming music?

6) If you buy CD's, where do you purchase them from?

On-line
Music Stores
Supermarket
Other (Please State)

7) When listening to music, do you ever listen to the lyrics and take in the true meaning of the song?

Yes

No

8) Do you prefer it when the music video is random and does not particularly match the lyrics to the song?

Yes

No

No Preference

Thank You for completing the questionnaire

The questionnaire was sent out to 20 people in total. There were a number of questions where the nominee could select more than one answer.

Institutional research

"In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion, and enforcement of copyright protection of sound recordings and music videos."

As part of my institutional research, I have researched some of the record labels that 'Example' have been signed with.

Below is a screen shot taken from Wikipedia. It shows the most current record label that 'Example' are signed with from 2008 to present, and the songs that they have released while with this record label.

Data Records is a fully owned subsidiary label of Ministry Of Sound.

Producer "Kickstarts"- Sub Focus

Nicholas Douwma, better known by his stage name Sub Focus, is an English drum and bass record producer.

Other labels that 'Example' have been signed with include:
All the Chats (2004–2006)
The Beats (2006–2007)

Below is a screen shot obtained also from Wikipedia to show the chart performance of the song 'Kickstarts', the song that I will be producing a new music video for.


"Kickstarts" debuted on the Irish Singles Chart at number 8 on 18 June 2010, making Example's most successful single in the country, after "Wont Go Quietly" reached a peak of number 36 in January 2010. Likewise, "Kickstarts" recieved similar success on the UK Singles chart, debuting at number 3 beating the previous single's peak of number 6, but also at number 1 on the UK Dance Chart and UK Indie Chart, marking his second consecutive number 1 on both charts. The single also managed to reach a peak of number 11 on the European Hot 100 Singles chart.

Lyric Analysis- Infinity, Guru Josh Project

Here's my key
Philosophy
A freak like me
Just needs infinity

Relax
Take your time

And take your time
To trust in me
And you will find
Infinity, infinity

And take your time
To trust in me
And you will find
Infinity, infinity

The time goes by
So naturally
Why you'll receive
Infinity

Here's my key
Philosophy
A freak like me
Just needs infinity

Relax
Take our time

And take your time
To trust in me
And you will find
Infinity, infinity, infinity, infinity, infinity, infinity, infinity

And take your time
To trust in me
And you will find

The time goes by
So naturally
Why you'll receive
Infinity

As you can see from taking a first glance at the lyrics, the versus to the song are very short. Furthermore, the song only has four versus that are just repeated again to make up the full length of the song. This is probably due tot the fact that the song is quite fast paced, hence the short lines and versus.

The word 'Infinity' means 'time without end'.

All in all, due to the fact that the song is fast paced, it has very short versus compared to the likes of 'Kickstarts' by Example.

*Lyric Analysis- Kickstarts, Example*

You want me to come over, I got an excuse
I might be holding your hand, but I'm holding it loose
Go to talk then we choke its like our necks in a noose
Avoid the obvious,we should be facing the truth

Start to think it could be fizzling out
Kinda' shocked because I never really had any doubts
Look into your eyes, imagine life without ya

And the love kick starts again
Starts again

The Love kick starts again
Starts again

Its the same old you the same old me
You get bored and I get cold feet
Get high get wandering eyes
Forget I've never ever had it so sweet
I realize what I got when I'm out of town
'Cos deep down you're my girl in a golden crown
My princess and I don't wanna let you down
No I don't wanna let you down down down down

You want me to come over, I got an excuse
I might be holding your hand, but I'm holding it loose
Go to talk then we choke it's like our necks in a noose
Avoid the obvious, we should be facing the truth

Start to think it could be fizzling out
Kinda' shocked because I never really had any doubts
Look into your eyes imagine life without ya

And the love kick starts again
Starts again

As is clearly visible when looking at the lyrics, the first noticeable factor is the fact that the lyrics are not very long at all. This is due to the fact that the song is made up of two main verses, surrounded by two main choruses that are then repeated to make the length of the whole song. It has to be noted at this point that not all songs within the dance genre are written in this way, as can be proven during the other lyric analysis. However, songs within the dance genre are mainly written in this way due to their fast pace.

The song is written in 3rd person prose. This links in with the whole romantic meaning behind the song as previously explained during the video analysis.

Furthermore, another interesting factor about the lyrics themselves is the sentence 'imagine life without ya'. This is due to the fact that the word 'you' is written 'ya' instead. This could again be linked with the fact that the song is within the dance genre and therefore is fast paced. Moreover, when listening to the song this word is slightly drawn out as it is at the end of the verse and gives a smooth, built up transition to the main chorus of the song. There are also numerous other words in the song that are also written grammatically incorrect such as kinda' and 'cos.

Videos within the Dance genre- Mood board

Just like the mood board created to summarise my findings of common features throughout various dance CD album covers, I have done exactly the same thing here, but to summarise my findings of common features used within music videos within the dance genre. Once again, it includes key words in relation to some of the features I found were used throughout the genre during my analysis of music videos.

CD's within the Dance genre- Mood board

I have created a mood board to summarise the main findings when analysing existing dance CD covers. It includes key words in relation to common features that I have found are used throughout various album covers within the dance genre.

Textual Analysis of Magazine Advertisements

When trying to find exiting magazine advertisements, this was quite difficult to do so. As a result, I have analysed magazine advertisements in general, rather than adverts that are promoting CD's purely within the dance genre.

Conclusions from magazine advertisements analysis:

1) The group/artist/band name is clearly visible in order to grab the readers attention

2) A common feature throughout is to include song names that are well known on the advert, again as another way of engaging with the reader.

3) Adverts do not include a huge amount of detail. The release date etc is included but apart from essential details such as this, the adverts mainly concentrate on getting the reader interested

4) Bright colour schemes are used to make the advertisements stand out from other pages within the magazine

5) All three adverts that I have analysed have all been designed to fill a whole A4 page (A full page in a magazine) rather than being designed to fit in the corner of a page with an article on for example. This is a very easy way to attract the readers attention due to its large size.

6) Further techniques are sometimes used to persuade the audience into buying the product. The way of doing this is to include star ratings from other well known music magazines/other artists, as well as persuasive quotes about the product such as "The greatest album of all time" for example.

Textual Analysis of CD Covers

Conclusions from CD cover analysis

1) All bright in colour, visually appealing. Fits in with the dance genre due to the exciting and up-beat nature.Colour scheme of Purple, Blue and Pink appears to be popular within the genre.

2) Computer generated images of women, typical feature across CD covers within the genre.

3) Backgrounds to the covers usually very bright in colour, represent disco lights, strobe lights etc.

4) Many dance CD covers include examples of the artists included on the disks, gets the audience interested in buying the product

5) Simple, big bold fonts commonly used for CD titles to ensure that they stand out from any other detail on the cover.

Textual Analysis of Videos Conclusion

After analysing four different music videos within the dance genre,two of which songs by the same artist, here is a summary from the analysis.

1) The video is used as a method of showing the songs message. More often than not, but not in every case, the actions within the video match or at least have some connection with the songs lyrics.

2) There is a wide range of shot types used throughout each video, but more noticeably in every video that I have analysed, there is always a number of close-up shots to show in more detail either a person (the main focus of the video) or an object.

3) As dance songs are quite fast paced, the cuts between each shot tend to be quick as well in order to keep in time with the pace of the music. However, this is not always the case as with some of the four videos I have analysed as it also seems more common to go in the opposite direction and use video footage that is in slow motion, possibly so that the meaning behind the song is clearer.

4) It appears as though the men within the music videos are most commonly dressed in casual clothing, while the women within the videos tend to be dressed in clothing that is smart-casual. This could be to do with the fact that women stereotypically care more about how they look than that of men, however it has to be noted that this is not always the case.

5) The videos often use have some sort of feature to make them more interesting and as a way to make them fit in more with the pace of the music. For example, out of the four videos that I have analysed, features such as slow motion, split screens, and other transitions were used as common features throughout the genre.

6) The videos often focus on one or two main people.(obviously other people are involved in the videos also but these are just to add a sense of realism). If two people are the main focus, this appears to be a man and a women rather than for example, two women or two men.

Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina "Stereo Love" Analysis

Once again, I chose another popular dance song within the genre. Furthermore, it is from a completely different artist and therefore once again it is interesting to see if any of the features used throughout the genre are used in this video as well and if so which ones.

One of the first noticeable features that I have picked upon throughout all four videos is the way in which it focuses on two main people, in this case a man and a women.

The song 'Stereo Love' concentrates on some of the meanings behind love. The song is sang by a women, and is put together in such a way that it appears as though she is singing about her 'perfect' man. The setting in which the video is set is a typical romantic type of setting, therefore fitting in with the whole meaning behind the song.

Furthermore, the video is also in slow motion, in complete contrast to the pace of the song itself, of which is quite fast paced. The use of slow motion fits in with the whole 'romantic' theme behind the meaning of the song and the setting in which the video is set. As with every video, there are a range of shot types used within this video, but one of the most noticeable is the use of close-up shots to give the viewer a greater insight into an object or person.

The clothing worn by the two people in this video is smart-casual. This type of clothing is quite unusual for the environment in which the video is based (the beach) where the weather is shown to be sunny and impermeably hot and therefore as a viewer would expect to see them wearing an even more casual style of clothing, especially for the man who for example you would expect to see wearing shorts instead of trousers, and just a T-shirt rather than with a cardigan. However, after analysing the other videos as well, it appears as though smart casual is the chosen style for most music videos and therefore this could well be the reason why the style has remained the same for this video.

At no point during this video do the people included mime to the lyrics of the song. This is in total contrast to the two songs by 'Example' where at some point during both songs the people within the video do mime the words to the song. This song is much slower than the previous three however and this could therefore be the reason why it was decided not to include narrative within this video, as well as to make it fit in with the whole romantic theme more possibly?