Rough Cut

Rough Cut

Having audience feedback on our music video is important to our production as it allows us to make the necessary changes and improvements we can make. Whether the feedback on the music video is positive or negative, they are both just as important as each other in knowing what needs to be changed or kept the same and how I van go about making the changes to improve my music video and make it look more professional. Feedback is given from the audiences POV and the music video is created in order to appeal to the audience and for there entertainment so therefore, receiving feedback from the audience on their reactions to the video allows us to make it more relatable and conventional to them or if the feedback was positive then what to keep and we then know what we have done well with so we can use it for future reference or for when we make final changes. This will then allow us to adapt our changes to our audiences needs and have a clear idea of what our target audience wants to see. Creating a rough cut before finalising the complete music video is also essential to carry out as if we have made any mistakes or included anything that isn't relevant or our audience doesn't like then we can go and change them at a later date and start planning what we can now include, in what order so it still looks conventional and professional. Audience feedback comments and a rough cut therefore correlate with each other as we can make our video better from this. Creating a rough cut and having these audience feedback comments also gives us a better understanding into the elements that go into the music video such as the camera and editing techniques, mis en scene etc and the comments will show us what particular elements are relevant to the indie genre and how we can change them on final cut and camera work. 

We received audience feedback on a number of different platforms and in a number of different ways both pre production and post production, to give us both an indication as to what our audiences want to see and expect so we could go out and film it and include it and also the feedback of our rough cut and the necessary changes we need to make based on their opinions. We firstly created a questionnaire for our audience with a series of questions that related to what techniques they will expect to see in terms of camera, editing, mis en scene etc and also what styles of musk do they like and want to see and how we can interpret their views and ideas on the indie genre into our video. The purpose of this questionnaire feedback is that when a media product is being planned or created, one of the most important questions the creators have to consider is 'who are our target audience' and 'dos this have an target audience we can make the product best suited for. If not their is no target market or audience that will buy the songs or listen to the artist and the artist will not be a success with no real direction therefore their will be no point in making our music video and we won't know what conventions and content to include. These questionnaires also included creating vox pops and forming a focus group in order to ask these questions we have planned out to create our music video and have the answers in different formats so that we have lots of different feedback we can work with and not just plain and biased answers. The purpose of the vox pops are to record what the audience say and then to be able to analyse what they say at any time because I can watch it back and understand different parts of their answer. Also It gives me a more detailed answer to my questions because they are speaking instead of having to write down an answer so it is on the spot and what their initial ideas are, therefore making it easier for me to include their feedback into the music video. Focus groups are also helpful and useful for benefiting my production as i would have a number of different opinions and answers from an audience who we are targeting at who know what they are talking about in terms of creating a successful music video and interpreting this into my own video. Vox pops and focus groups also benefit major record label companies and are used frequently within the music industry as ways of keeping up with modern trends and and expectations of the public so those creating the music video have a good understanding and platform of what can be included into the video. Another way we took audience feedback, post production was youtube comments. We uploaded our rough cut of the music video on to YouTube and had an audience comment on the video with a positive comment and negative comment so we knew what we had done well and what we could improve. This helped us and also benefited our production as we knew what changes to make when creating the final product and allowed us to go and film anything we needed to include and add specific editing techniques and transitions in order to make it more professional and look conventional to the indie genre and the concept we were hoping to achieve. YouTube is not only a platform for fans to comment on their favourite videos and watch their favourite artists music videos but it is a way of expressing their opinions and allowing them to interact with the artist and music industry so it is used as a good form of feedback for them and a way to keep fans happy and interact with them and allow them to voice their opinion. As well as all of these forms of audience feedback, we also had a screening of our music video rough cut to two professional artists who come to watch the video and give their opinion and feedback on it. This was very beneficial to our music video as by having a professionals opinion, no matter what genre they belong to, we know it will benefit the video and make it look more successful and they have a good knowledge and understanding on what needs to be included in a music video to make it look realistic and know a lot about the elements included such as cinematography and editing techniques. We also took on board any criticism they had and they showed us specifically what we could change so having them present and having a screening showed us how to make the changes if we didn't already know how to or if we didn't know how to improve it. 

YouTube Comments

Three positive comments I had on my rough cut were from YouTube and they gave me an idea on what I done well, what they specifically liked about it. One thing we have to remember however when reading the comments and applying them to our video is if they come from our target audience, if they are relevant and they do not give the opinion of the majority and just that specific person. The fist positive comment I received was how the person 'loved the narrative that is clearly evident', 'the editing is effective matching the emotions of the artist'. Reflecting on the comment, this allowed me to go back and look at my rough cut and highlight how the editing myself and my group done on the video was effective and successful and changes to the narrative in terms of editing won't be necessary to make as it had a clear positive impact on my target audience. It also shows that we have shown a clear and good understanding of our artist and achieved the representation we wanted and had an relatable impact on the audience as this aspect of the video appeals to them. Another positive comment I had on the was that there was a 'good use of effects'. This shows that the effects we applied to the video on final cut when editing the video were successful and we used a good series of relevant and conventional transitions, filters etc that we had planned to create and that our planning had paid off. This therefore means we no longer have to make any changes too the effects or add anymore as it already has had an impact on our audience. The other positive comment I had on my music video was that it has a 'good use on cinematography and a good use of fast paced editing to add to the suspense of the narrative'. This shows how not only our my editing techniques successful and conventional but so are my camera techniques and that what we planned and wanted to achieve in terms of this effect paid off. 


The three constructive comments I received on my rough cut music video from YouTube were all primarily based on the editing of the video that could be changed easily on final cut. The first constructive comment I received was to include the name of the artist and song in my video at one point to make the video have the familiarisation between the song and the artist. Having received this comment, I included a text title of the artists name and name of the song 'panic cord' at the beginning of the video during the transition of the clouds and made the typography and font conventional to the indie genre whilst making sure it looked professional with the background. The other two constructive comments I received was to add a transition at the end of the video after the filler memories and to fade out the final shot and also to include more performance based shots. I was able to input these comments into my work as we already had a number of different performance based shots filmed already and I found parts of the video they could go into and I faded out the song and final shot as a effective transition to end the video. Other ways I received constructive criticism was by receiving audience feedback from my class in a focus group. Some of the comments I received from them was that my video lacked professionalism at times and the camera shots and techniques were blurry or shaky. To improve this I added stabilisation to some shots when editing the video and also added features such more transitions and editing techniques to give it that professional and realistic look. This improved my video as by making it look more realistic, it made it more conventional to the indie genre and something that would be expected of a high standard and level and something indie artists could create. My audience would also be able to appeal to my video more if it looks more realistic as then it will become more relatable and have more conventions to that audiences want to see and demand in order for it to receive more views and give my artist a bigger profile. Record labels and the big names in the music Industry apply audience feedback and constructive comments in the same ways and improve their videos by doing this as they give the audience what they want and what they expect to see.

I took on constructive feedback in a number of ways depending on the importance and nature of the comment. For example, if my comment was on my editing techniques or how i could improve my editing then I went away on final cut pro X and added more editing techniques and styles to make it more conventional to the indie genre and appealing to my target audience. For example I received a comment mentioning how I should include more transitions so I added more flash transitions on the end of the montage scene and fade transitions on the end of the slower and more relaxed scenes that showed the couple in happier times. This will improve my production specifically as it makes it have more complex and detailed editing techniques that improves the flow of my video and how realistic it is. Despite the comments we received being from some of our classmates making similar music videos and having the same production, we also had a classroom feedback session were we all watched each others music videos and gave our reviews and opinions on them. From this feedback lesson I received both positive and negative feedback, one of the comments I received being that I used a good variety of camera techniques. From this i then learnt that I had a suitable variety of shots and did not need to film anymore or edit any more in. I also learnt from this classroom feedback that my music video did not have enough content and that it needed to look more professional and realistic so I done more research and planning of other indie music videos to take more inspirations such as the slow and transitions of birdys music video for 'wings' and filmed more scenes for our narrative such as the bonfire scene and London filler memories. These changes I made based on my classroom feedback helped to make my video more successful as it allowed me to include more conventions of the indie genre and have people with a good media and indie knowledge have an impact and say on my production so It is now more appealing to them and the people in my class belong to my target audience. The music industry and professional record label companies and artists use audience feedback to also improve their music videos and music from similar platforms such as youtube and feedback sessions and ultimately make changes based on the most popular opinions and demands from the millions who watch and listen to their productions. This allows them to keep up with modern trends and demands from their audiences and stay in touch with the public and ever-changing music industry. 

In conclusion, the overall benefit of receiving audience feedback is that allows me and people making music video productions to constantly stay in demand and popular to keep in tack with their target audience and constantly create conventional and successful videos and music. It allows me to brand and publicise my artist more and better as I know what the general public and my target audience are looking for, keep up to date with the conventions of my genre and stay one step ahead on my competitors. 

Indivudal Digipak Analysis

Individual Digipak Analysis

I created my own Digipak album for my artist 'Kerry Boyne' as part of the process of creating my own artist profile and music video. A Digipak is an advanced and bigger CD that artists produce for fans which contains more content and 6 sides rather then an standard 2 side CD. For my Digipak, I created 6 sides for the Digipak including a album cover, back cover, CD, message to fans and to sides of artist pictures. I have created my own individual Digipak for my own artist in order to make my artist look more professional and realistic. This is because Digipak's are created by major mainstream indie artists and in order to give my artist the same representation and take inspiration from them, I created a conventional indie Digipak. I also created the Digipak as it gives audiences and fans a more in depth and further representation of my artists character and music as by having 6 pictures and edited sides, I am able to give them an insight into the album and what to expect from my artist and the emotions she is expressing. Before creating my Digipak I looked at and took inspiration from other indie artists Digipak's that have a similar representation style to my artist. These include Ed Sheeran, Birdy and Lana Del Ray and I looked at the colour schemes, conventions of the genre and layout and structure of the Digipak's and took inspiration into creating a Digipak which looked similar and still conventional to the indie genre. Some of these inspirations included similar images and fonts to Lana Del Ray's Digipak and a similar colour scheme and artist representation to Birdy. By taking inspiration from these artists and implementing these ideas into my own Digipak, I was able to create a more successful and realistic Digipak which audiences will be able to relate to and appeal to more.

For the first slide of my digipak, my digipak and album front cover, I have used a close up image of my artist as the main focus and feature my cover. The photo shows my artist Kerry pulling a natural, simple facial expression which represents her as a suspicious and natural artist. She is wearing a purple jumper which matches the colour of the fonts and titles I have used across my whole digipak and it correlates with my colour scheme well and blends in to the background. The photo has been cropped out and enlarged for dramatic and editorial purposes and is conventional to the indie genre as it shows the artist as her natural self and she is not putting on a fake expression or making her look like something she's not, something Indie artists are known for as they are more focused on sharing their talents and creativity. As well as this I have also used faded photos of memories of the artist and her boyfriend as a connotation of 'memories' and to give the audience an insight into the album and the more personal side of the artist. The audience will also be able to relate to my artist through this picture as they will see the artist as a normal person who is just like them and is not afraid to open up or be herself. The colour scheme I have used for my front cover remains the same throughout the whole 6 sides to show it has a similar link and to make it all look realistic and professional. the first colour I have used is purple and this is to match the artists jumper in the photo and is used to fill in the title and names of my songs etc. The colour purple is a connotation of wisdom and passion, two traits my artist represents in her character and throughout the album so it therefore matches the concepts of my digipak and the indie genre. It also blends well with the clouds in the background and the glow around the main title is helps to make the purple title burst out and make it look more professional and appealing to the audience. As well as this I have used the colour grey as a background colour by darkening the clouds as it represents darkness which is a connotation of herself and some of her music. For my typography I used a bold and sharp font to make the titles stand out and as a connotation that the artist is bold and strong and its a stand out digipak. This is conventional to the indie genre as indie artists often like to remind audiences of the names of their songs/albums by having them bold and indie looking to add extra emphasis and dramatic effect on the audience. The artists name is shown as the largest feature by being shown expressively as the top of the digipak with 'memory lane' shown underneath it as a reminder on the album name and a hint into music. As well as this it features a 'LR' logo which is the initials for my record label company 'Lanyard Records', to give it that professional and realistic feature and to ensure audiences of their work and that it is the real deal. I have used all of these features noted on the front cover of my digipak on the actual CD side and CD for my digipak in order to give it the same realistic and conventional aspect as my front cover and so it has similar connotations and correlates with the rest of my album. The differences between this side and my front cover album is that the CD has copyright detailed information of the bottom of the CD as every other CD has this in the industry in order to show its professionalism and to make sure no one copies or takes the music for themselves. The name of the artist and album name have also been compacted to fit the layout and size of the CD and are instead shown across the artists face. For my back cover which displays the song names I have used a photo of my artist Kerry sitting alone in a field on a wooden tree swing with the tree branches appearing onto the cover helping to create an mysterious and in a way eerie feel as to where the location is and what the digipak's music is all about. It helps to represent the artist as natural and someone who wants to get away from everything and be herself and therefore shows how it is conventional to the indie genre as indie artists are often in their own worlds and minds and like to keep themselves to themselves. The fonts and typography of my back cover are different to the front cover in that the name of the album is displayed in a lighter and more friendly, innocent font to shed light on the fact it is a innocent and pure picture which therefore correlates with the concepts of the music and artist. The song names and the main focus and feature of the side and are in the same bold font as the album name and artist on the front cover to help them stand out and have that same dark, meaningful portrayal that makes the audiences think about what the songs will be about and creates that conventional indie feel towards it. There is a barcode displayed in the bottom corner to give it that professional and realistic feature as well as the pictures background with the clouds and hill correlating and matching the rest of the digipak. This is conventional to the indie genre as many indie artists tend to have deep and effective settings which aren't always glamorous or high end but more to give it a dramatic feel. The audience will be able to relate to this more as they will be more drawn into the emotional side of my artist, her music and digipak rather then the settings and features that don't support my concept. For my fans message side, the main feature I focused on was my fans message. The photo I used for this side was a picture of my artist Kerry sitting on a fence in an open field, gazing into the sky with the fan message surrounding it. I used this photo as it correlates with the theme and setting of the field that I used in all of my other side pictures so it creates the same dramatic feel for the audience. It also matches the concept of the 'fan message' well as her facial expressions look like she is thinking and in deep thought creating further emotional impact on the audience. This is conventional to the indie genre as indie artists often portray deep thoughts and convey a lot of emotion. For the typography and language of the fan message, I put it inside a thought bubble to show it as a clear representation of the artists thoughts and used a happy and light-hearted font to match the style of the language and so the audience and fans reading it take it in more and it means more to them. Other features I included in this fan message side include the name of the album which is seen in the back cover of the digipak, however I have faded it behind the artist and at the top of the side. This allows the audience to focus on the fan message more and get drawn in to the emotional concept of the digipak. One of the picture sides of the digipak is a picture of my artist Kerry standing alone in a field with her foot resting on a tree with the sun beaming down on her creating a reflecting shadow on the tree. She is also wearing a conventional indie costume of trainers, tights and a denim jacket and t-shirt. I chose this as I feel that the setting and background of the image creates a good backdrop for picture that primarily focuses on the artist, allowing the audience to witness a conventional and relevant indie setting that is seen in my music video and in other aspects of the digipak. I feel this picture is conventional to the indie genre as her expression of being unsure, thoughtful and deep and emotional is often common with indie artists and they often potray expressions and themes of deep and meaningful thoughts in their work, whether it is about love like mine or another deep moment.

In conclusion, I feel that my Digipak conforms to the conventions of the indie genre as I took inspiration from many mainstream indie Digipak's. I also focused in detail of many aspects of my Digipak including using indie colour schemes and pictures by choosing settings for the pictures that indie audiences would relate with. I also used settings and conventional iconography etc. that can be seen in my music video and applied them into my Digipak in order for it to look more realistic and have that artist and genre link towards it. I also feel that my Digipak appeals to my target audience as it features a number of different images of my artist portraying different emotions so they can relate to her in a number od different ways and appeal to her as she is an open artist who has many different sides towards her. I also feel that my Digipak appeals to my audience as it looks professional and realistic so the audience would be more likely to pick it up and buy it if they saw it and not just fans of the artist so it appeals to a wide audience.



Meetings and discussion

Meetings and Discussion

It is important to meet with our group regularly and have constant discussion during the whole process of creating our music video so that everyone in the group is up to date with what we are doing and no one is falling behind. It is important that this doesn't happen as this can effect the process and production of our music video as if one member of the group disrupts filming then certain parts may not be able to be filmed or some aspects of our video may be effected. For example, if one member of the group had a item of iconography on them that was needed for our video but could not make filming then we wouldn't be able to film that particular scene or if everyone was not present or discussing proceedings with each-other then everything won't run as smoothly or go to plan.

In order to make sure that we were organised, discussing ideas with each other and ensure we were all able to film, we planned a meetings schedule and organised times and dates that we could all make. We had to make sure everyone would be present, organise who was needed for each scene and what their job role would be so we could have a clear understanding of what was needed and what was being filmed that day so everything was organised and not rushed when we began to film and make sure that what we was filming would suit our deadlines and that we could put it into our music video edit straight away and move on to other meetings and filming. To support this, we made a 'to be done by' table in our meeting schedule so that we could be flexible with dates but still maintain our organisation and be on top of things to get everything done correctly. We had to list everything we done during the process of creating our music video on this schedule including posts, applying for copyright agreements, filming and creating our risk assessments and filming schedules so that everything we done was in order.

Overall, I feel that my group worked well together as we followed our schedule well and was able to film everything correctly and have a clear structure throughout whilst staying organised. This is because most of the time, everyone was present for filming and everyone contributed to the whole process in different ways but each way benefitted the production of our music video. Although at times we didn't film when we were supposed to from the date that was on our schedule, we always met the deadline and completed all of the additional stuff such as our posts, editing and schedules well and to plan. Having a meetings schedule was highly beneficial for us when filming because we was able to make sure we knew what we were filming and where we was going each time and what date rather then randomly going to film a scene on a random day where there may have been complications with settings, risks and the people in my group not being at filming. Having a meetings schedule also meant that if there was problems with filming or people not being there which did happen on a couple of occasions then we were able to work, plan and film around it and stick to our filming dates and what he had originally discussed.



Photoshoot

Photoshoot

In order to create a digipak and magazine advert, we will have needed to take pictures to include and work on to show that we have created it ourselves and that it is digipak and magazine advert for our own artist. We therefore need to take pictures of our artist to have as the centre of attention and the main purpose of the digipak and advert as well as pictures of backgrounds, settings and any other necessary features that will be included into our work to make it look more realistic and conventional. It is also important to take a variety of pictures so that we have more to work with and we don't have to use the same picture over and over again for different bits of work meaning that we will lose marks for creativity and everything won't look as realistic and will look basic. It is also important that our variety of pictures all have a similar relevance to the representation we want our character to have, the backgrounds, settings and iconography, for example if my front cover of my digipak has clouds in the back, my back cover will have to as well. Other features that will have to be taken into context when taking the pictures our the colours, costumes and expressions and these are all important for making a conventional piece of work and its purpose is that is has a greater effect on the person viewing it and it makes it look more professional. 

For this image, I have taken a photo of my artist Kerry sitting on a fence wearing a conventional indie outfit of denim clothing and tights, with a natural expression where she appears to be thinking about her relationship and is set in a forest during the day. I took this image as all of the connotations of the image are included in my music video such as the outfit she is wearing is seen during a particular scene and some of it is filmed in the forest. As well as this, the digipak and magazine advert promote her new album 'memory lane' which has a strong theme about love and this picture shows how Kerry is looking unsure and 'on the fence' about what way she should go with her relationship, and it opens the audiences eyes into what the artist is all about and when they see the digipak, what her style of music. For this picture, I intend to use it as one of the images at the back of my digipak that is seen towards the final two sides as it has a similar relevance and setting to the rest of my digipak and does not require as music editing allowing it to share the same conventions and realistic feel as the others but it can be left on its own. I feel this picture is conventional to the indie genre as her expression of being unsure and deep and emotional is something family with indie artists and they often pot ray expressions and themes of deep and meaningful thoughts in their work, whether it is about love like mine or another deep moment. It is also conventional as the setting of the forest is low key and not over the top or extravagant and has connotations of there artist and digipak being pure and natural, much like theme of nature. I think that the artists costume and iconography is a good feature of this image as the denim clothing, necklace and wristband are familiar items with popular indie artists and her clothing is deemed as natural and innocent, something that is also a connotation and representation of her character and music. I feel that the audience will be able to build a relationship with my artist through this picture as they can clearly see her how she is feeling emotional and the picture has a deep meaning and purpose which relates to the music in the digipak which they are familiar with and can relate back to. 

This image shows my artist Kerry sitting on a swing in an open field, gazing into the distance whilst tree branches appear at the top of the image. I have taken this particular image as I feel that it gives a good and pure representation of my artist and it shows her looking happy and free on her own, away from troubles she has faced that are portrayed in her music. This image is intended to be used as the back cover of my digipak which displays the names of her songs on the album 'memory lane'. I am using it here because the large open space on the right of the image and the conventional and realistic image gives me a good structure and template to create a successful back digipak picture. After I edited the image on photoshop, I added filters to it, brought out the focus on kerry on the swing alone more and added various fonts and effects to it to make it look like a back cover. This picture is conventional to the indie genre as the iconography of the tree branches and wooden swing shows how the picture is pure and natural and she is not glamorous or living in luxury and using luxury items like pop artists and the purpose of the picture is to bring out the connotations of the deeper, love felt meaning that indie artists tend to use in their work. What I like about this image is the setting of the field and how the clouds are grey as clouds are usually a representation of innocence and purity however now they are grey, it shows her maybe their is a darker side to the artist or she has experienced trouble in her life, giving the audience something to look forward to hearing about in her music and allowing them to relate to her more. 

This picture is a still image and close up of my artist Kerry wearing a purple jumper and necklace and standing in front of fence and leaves, pulling a standard and simple expression. I have taken this picture in order to have a wider variety of images and this one is simply a shot to help highlight the representation of the character and use as the main image of my magazine advert in order to give the audience an insight into her and her digipak but at the same time, not giving to much away until they listen to her music. This picture is conventional to the indie genre as it helps to highlight the innocence and purity of the artist, as well as her simple clothing and necklace is a connotation of her quirky style and the colour of the jumper is one of the main colours of my digipak and fonts so it therefore is similar and relevant to the other main features of my digipak. This is conventional as indie artists work is often very organised and precise and is kept fairly simple to help deliver a clearer message about themselves or the purpose of their work. What I like about this image is the leaves in the background as they help to add a connotation of innocence and purity. I also feel that the audience are able to relate to this image as they see the artist as her usual and simple self giving them a clear idea of her character. 

My final picture is of my artist Kerry standing alone in a field with her foot resting on a tree with the sun beaming down on her creating a reflecting shadow on the tree. She is also wearing a conventional indie costume of trainers, tights and a denim jacket and t-shirt. I took this particular image as I feel that the setting and background of the image creates a good backdrop for picture that primarily focuses on the artist, allowing the audience to witness a conventional and relevant background that is seen in my music video and in other aspects of the magazine advert and digipak, as well as the artist is showing a lot of emotion and representation of her character. I intend to use this picture in my digipak as when i create the artists personal message as I feel it looks as if the artist is thinking about something personel and the audience will be able to relate to the image showing so that the message will mean more to them then with this rather then any other image. I also feel that the background with the sky and clouds will suit the speech bubble making it look more realistic and professional. This image is conventional to the indie genre as many indie photoshoots are taken in ordinary and simple areas such as an open field as they create a natural and pure representation of the character. What I also like about this image is the characters expression and body language as it helps to create a curious feel for the audience and that the artist has two sides to her character. 


I felt that taking the images for my photoshoot went fairly well once we took the photos and had a clear idea of what we wanted and where we wanted to take them as this then gave us a clearer idea as to how they would look and where we could use them in terms of creating the digipak and advert. However myself and my group found it hard at times to take them and organise times to take them as we were unsure as to what we wanted and the representation of the character we wanted to create. Overall, these images helped to create a innocent, pure and natural representation of my artist but at the same time how she has a mysterious side towards her and had clearly faced troubles and problems which become clear to the audience in my music video and the digipak 

Individual magazine advert analysis

Individual magazine advert analysis 

For the creation of my music video, I made a individual magazine advert for our own artist that was designed to be published in a music magazine related to our chosen genre and style of our artist. We created this magazine advert in order to increase our artists portfolio and as a way of advertising and marketing the artist to the public and our intended audiences. We also created it for the purposes of our own understanding of our chosen music genre, in my case Indie, and what needs to go into a indie magazine advert to make it conventional and successful. To help us with this I took inspiration from other magazine adverts such as artists like Ed Sheeran, Birdy and Gabrille Aplin and this allowed me to gather an understanding as to what codes and conventions I could include, what colours and other micro elements in order to create a particular image and representation of my artist. Creating a magazine advert was also a good form of promotion for my artist as magazines are popular amongst music fans and my intended audience and there are lots of examples to choose from such as Q, the rolling stones and billboard which are good platforms for both mainstream and independent artists to sell and promote their work through advertisements. Advertising a music video or album through an advertisement in a magazine is also seen as a form of cross media. This is a way of promoting our video and artist on a different media platform and therefore expanding our artists popularity and reputation amongst audiences who will read the magazine advert and taking a interest and liking into my artist. 

There are many elements I had to take into mind when planning my magazine advert and make them look realistic and conventional to the indie genre and thew representation of my artist I wanted to create. These included the codes and conventions of the magazine advert, the colours, images used, layout/design, typography and language, as well as looking at the connotations that come with each of these. The main colours I have used for this magazine advert are blue and white for my backgrounds with a grainy, dark effect on them so they appear more grey. I have used this as the colours for my background as the clouds are a good representation of the indie genre and a common theme which show purity and this is also the same representation of the colours as blue and white are connotations of innocence and purity. However, the grey, grainy effect is also conventional as it shows a darker and more deep meaningful side to the artist and video and what they album and video is going to be about. It also supports the dark, grainy effect of the picture of my artist which shows her as mysterious and she has a lot of emotions attached to her. These colours are also conventional to the indie genre as the colour grey is a connotation of a strength of character and maturity which indie artists are often portrayed as. The conventions of the indie genre I have included in my advert are the heartbeats which turn into love-hearts across the bottom of the advert and top, surrounding the artists surname 'Boyne'. The purpose of this is that it is a connotation of the artists heartbeat of how her relationships is having ups and downs and she is all over the place with her emotions and  can't control her love. It is conventional to the indie genre as indie artists often portray a lot of emotions and ups and downs with love. The audience will also be able to relate to this as they can see the clears concept of the advert and the representations of the artist that come with it. The image I have used is a still shot of Kerry. This picture is conventional to the indie genre as it helps to highlight the innocence and purity of the artist, as well as her simple clothing and necklace is a connotation of her quirky style and the colour of the jumper is one of the main colours of my digipak and fonts so it therefore is similar and relevant to the other main features of my digipak. This is conventional as indie artists work is often very organised and precise and is kept fairly simple to help deliver a clearer message about themselves or the purpose of their work. What I like about this image is the leaves in the background as they help to add a connotation of innocence and purity. I also feel that the audience are able to relate to this image as they see the artist as her usual and simple self giving them a clear idea of her character. The typography and language of my magazine advert shows that I have included the name of my artist, the name of my record label followed by 'presents', the name of my album and the name of the hit song of the album and the release date. This gives my audience a clear understanding of the information about the album I am promoting and an insight into my artist. 

My weaknesses when using photoshop was that I did not anticipate how hard it would be to crop out images that we have already taken and place them onto other backgrounds whilst still making it look realistic and professional. Another weakness of mine when using photoshop was that I opted to use a different structure, fonts and background to the magazine advert I originally planned to create and therefore had to make changes when creating my real one whilst still making it look conventional. This included picking a suitable font which I struggled to download and use due to complications with photoshop and also changing the colours and gradient of my main image of my artist and the background. However, I overcome these problems and weaknesses as i become more familiar and experienced with photoshop and learnt how to use each tool correctly. I also spent extra time and was more careful with my image which I had to make look smooth around the edges and realistic by using the rubber tool rather then crop it out. My strengths when using photoshop were that I was to find conventional background images and fonts and structure them in a way that many magazine adverts are structured and it was similar to the adverts I took inspiration from. This is because I felt familiar with photoshop and the layering of my content, as well as changing the colours of everything to make it look more conventional. I feel this helped me to create a successful magazine advert as it gives a clear artist representation and the magazine advert looks realistic and has many codes and conventions of the indie genre. 

In conclusion, I feel that my magazine advert conforms to the indie genre as I followed a clear structure when creating my magazine advert that looked similar to magazine adverts I took inspiration from, from other indie artists. These included using colour schemes, codes and conventions and many other micro elements that go towards making a conventional indie magazine advert. For example, one particular inspiration I took which I already knew was conventional to the indie genre was the same font as the Lana Del Ray magazine advert, therefore making mine on a similar level and having a good convention in my own work. I also feel the audience will be able to relate to my magazine advert and feel drawn in by it as it has a lot of artist representation in it. For example, the image of the artist highlights her emotions and leaves the audience curious as to why she is looking and feeling this way and engaging them to take notice of the information of the advert. This is also done with my background and other micro elements which are suited and designed to specific audiences and magazines so therefore the people witnessing the magazine advert will be immediately drawn into it and will take further notice, as well as who my artist is and what she is all about in terms of her music and representation.

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment 

A risk assessment is an examination and analysis of ay risks or hazards that may occur, in our instance of creating a music video, I have taken all of the risks that may occur and what may interfere with our filming and found out who they could harm, the impact of them, the risk management and what could be done to prevent them along with a back up plan if our original risk management doesn't go to plan. Identifying the significant hazards and risks allows us to plan ahead if they were to happen so we know what to do and know any changes we may need to make to our filming, our shots or our narrative. The purpose of each column had a huge impact on helping me plan the filming of my music video and how I was going to structure each piece of filming and how I would film it and what precautions I would need to take. The purpose of the first column, the 'risk', was to identify what the main point and risk was and the main thing we need to look out for and highlight when filming, without any of the details and content into it. It gave us an idea as how we could prevent this from being a risk to us and whether we prevent it before filming so we were way ahead of ourselves and organised if necessary rather then making changes on the day. The purpose of the 'who could be harmed' column was to identify who may have been affected so they knew about the risks at their own alarm in case the risk affected them or our filming. It also gave us an idea on what equipment and iconography could be harmed so we had time to have a plan B if the risk proved harmful to it. The impact column and risk management allowed us to highlight how dangerous and effective the risk and could be and the exact details of the risk and what the exact dangers and harms were. The back up plan column was also to be planned and ahead of ourselves is worse came to worse so we could carry on with filming to the best standard we could to create our content and not waste anytime.

When filming our music video, we followed our risk assessment thoroughly and had it with us at all times in case any of the risks were to happen. One of the risks which came up was the slippery grass and mud which we had to film around and deal with for many of our shots as our chosen settings were filmed out on open fields or gardens where at times, the weather was against us and the rain and cold winter weather meant most of our settings were muddy and we had to be careful we didn't slip over or ruin any of our equipment. In order to prevent this, we followed the structure of our risk assessment and made sure we we're extra cautious when filming and wore shoes that still looked conventional but were safe for the weather conditions. Other then one or two of the ones already identified in our risk assessment, we did not encounter any other risks when filming. I have learnt about the role of risk assessments and how they are vitally important when filming to make sure everything runs smoothly and we do not encounter any problems and if we do, we know how to prevent them. Creating this also helped with our filming and overall production as it meant that no matter if the risks affected us on the day of filming, we were planned and ahead of ourselves to still create our content to a good and conventional standard rather then having to wing it on the day and create something that wasn't realistic or unprofessional. 

Filming Schedule

Filming Schedule

A filming schedule is important to have as it allows myself and my group to follow a structure and plan for all of our camera shots. A filming schedule is a list of shots that are listed out in order that include all of the different micro elements that go into them so we know exactly what we have to film and what goes into every single shots. These details of the filming schedule include the date and time of the shot so we know where and when we are filming it and what time we want it to be during the shot to help support our setting and other micro elements whilst making it look realistic. Other micro elements that are mentioned within the filming schedule that are shown in each shot include the mise en scene with location so we know where exactly we are filming, the content, e.g the narrative we are filming the and action so we know what to film and what we are trying to achieve from the shot in terms of visuals for the audience. It also includes the shot type and duration in terms of cinematography, the costume/hair and make up of the artists and iconography and equipment that is required for each shot allowing us to get organised and ready for our filming and bring any props, etc. that are necessary. This therefore means a filming schedule keeps us planning ahead occupied for filming and allows us to go back and make any changes that are needed if something was to go wrong or if we wanted to change something that didn't go to plan. It also means that we don't have to waste time when filming planning what shots to do next and thinking about what we include because we have it all ready for us in our schedule and can follow that list of shots. We also don't need to worry about making each shot conventional or detailed as everything is planned out and ready for us and with the filming schedule, all we need to do is put everything in place and create the paper plan version into a visual for our audience and music video. filming schedules are therefore important to have in order to create a conventional and successful music video.

When filming our music video, we did not follow the structure of out filming schedule or film our shots in order sue to changes we had to make with filming and changes we had to make to our shots. This was done multiple times and was due to complications with many of our micro elements that went into every shot, including the date and time, setting, type of shot and duration and the personnel. Firstly, we had to change the order of shots for our pub scene as we did not have our filming schedule or storyboard on us so we therefore had to film on what we knew and the shots we remembered. This held us back when filming as we didn't have the exact shot list on us so we didn't know the shot lengths or shot types so we had to improvise with the narrative we had and what we knew yet still make it conventional. For example, we did not film in the correct lighting or at the right time so we had people walking in the background and it didn't look as professional or realistic as we hoped, despite us using the correct shot type and other micro elements. Therefore, the changes we made were that we had to come up with a new shot type so we didn't have any random extras or interferences in the background and we had to change the lighting and filter when editing as the shots we filmed didn't match up with the filming schedule. As well as this, someone in our group didn't turn up to filming the scene and they were needed to work the camera so we had to cut someone out of our music video who was supposed to be in the background of the shots and they had to be our cameraman. To make up for this and because we couldn't include our pub scene that we filmed, we filmed an alternative scene of the couple alone with each other during christmas where they are opening presents for the artist Kerry to find her boyfriend has bought her alcohol as a present, demonstrating how he has an alcohol problem. We included this so our narrative has a clear structure and breakdown of the relationship so it makes sense for our target audience and its done in a professional manner but we still had to ensure that it was conventional to the indie genre. Other complications we had during filming and altercations we had to make to our filming schedule were that we had to change the editing and camera techniques as we didn't film some of our shots correctly. Some of the additional shots we filmed were we introduced a lot more filler memories into our narrative and filmed a series of them to tie in with the breakdown of the relationship and to be played during the end of the song when it is at a higher tempo and a more dramatic moment as these filler memories will be fast paced and meant for dramatic and emotional purposes. Some of the filler memories we introduced were mis shots of the couple having fun, playing around and joking with each other at our chosen settings and also darker ones of glass alcohol bottles being smashed, pills being laid out across the floor and the boy in a dark place. We filmed these additional shots in order to have more content in case we needed it or to give our video a more dramatic effect. Some of our filming also didn't go to plan or wasn't as long as expected so we therefore made up for it with these filler memories. From this, I have learnt the role of a filming schedule is vitally important in planning the structure and ideas of a music video and is needed in order to stay on task and organised when filming. It is also not going to turn out exactly the same as we expect or had planned on our filming schedule so we will therefore need to film precisely and use our filming schedule wisely and correctly at all times. To make up for this, we went out and filmed some of the same shots twice so we had the option between the two to pick whichever one looks the most professional and better, as well as filming each scene we had to do still after this problem twice and at different camera techniques so we again had the option of the two.