Evaluation Q4)

Below is the link to my Glogster for Question 4 for Evaluation:-

http://sapg09.edu.glogster.com/evaluaiton-q4

Evaluation Q3)

Below is the Evaluation video for Question 3 :-

Evaluation Q2)

Q2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

The ancillary texts relate to the main product in many ways; firstly the genre is R&B, hip-hop and urban, with the combination of the three genres i looked at many album arts in these genres, my results concluded, that the album art has to be different unique, needs to stand out and be bold. In similar ways the album art created does exactly this, covering all three genres which are our target audience and also covering the ages 12-25 that it is targeted towards. The album has a very urban feel and gritty, something that the audience are very much interested into, which would than interest them into our work. As our song is with a featuring artist we thought it would be best to publicise both of the artists' by including the featuring artist in the main cover shot as well.

A very good example is the collaboration album with Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa- Mac and Devin Go to High School. The cover art shows the two artist bold and judging by the clothing you can judge the artists' character in the videos and the song. With the bold picture in the centre as the artist image is shown straight away and text is put aside on top, where it is visible but not the main headline.

Angle album cover

Similarly we have put the artist in the centre as they are still growing they need to be seen and known, so are the centre of attraction on the side you see the text which is side by side and is also pretty bold and attractive this is due to them still be at the lower end of chain and their names could still not be known as much, so the title of the song and the artists' names are also bold, as they do not yet have the same star image as the two artists' above in the picture. (On the left is my cover-art)                                                       You can see the resemblance, although the one i created has more editing, in terms of the actual picture, where Ive added shading and filters, in the other one you can tell the photo is a crisp, high quality picture that has been smoothly sharpened and a bit of brush use. Also the posing of the artists' in our picture is done to signify that the lead artist is the one in front who is the major artist i shown and more recognised.
Throughout the different aspects and pieces in the DigiPack i have kept consistency in the front style to make it recognisable by any fan or buyer of the album.
 

 With all of the above features, relations and combinations, this have not just been used in DigiPack but, also the website. The website is another key element to the whole package, on the website we have tried to keep a new colour scheme but consistent of that on the websites, with the pages i produced in particular. Also like the cover of the album, the idea was to keep it sharp, clean but mainly bold, attracting the audience to many different pages and aspects of the website, with the albums, bright and bold buttons to buy the albums, the picture on one of the dedicated pages, this was to interact with the artist, giving them that extra room with the artist, a boundary they can cross to see the artist closer. As you enter the website the first thing that strikes you is the huge background picture placed, with Angle posing in a unique way, this is a very bold statement, helping for the name and face to be known but also making ti very attractive for the user to keep digging into the website, than to realise the concerts, merchandise and eh albums up for sale, this will keep them utilised and happy.
Looking at the front page you can see it is very active and a lot is going on, the most important is our YouTube embedded music video, where it informs the audience, and publicises the video further. There is one consistent theme and variety of colours used throughout; Grey, Yellow, Black and White. These colours are general colours and will appeal to a wide range of people so not just male or just female, something that is often wanting to be achieved by the top level, famous artists. In addition similar colours have been used in the other ancillary texts, showing the similarity's and making it easier for someone to relate that these two are pieces are from the same person, one artist.

Moving onto narrative, in term of the classic narrative is conformed in our music video as well, due to our genre and audience the tastes are towards a more conventional narrative and music video, and this is exactly what we have done. Looking at Tzvetan Todorov theory that in every music video there are three phases, to begin with an equilibrium(The girl being an attraction towards the main bullied guy); then something happens to create a disequilibrium(the guy approaching with the girl is bullied, De-motivated in other aspects such as the music); which is then resolved in some way to create a new equilibrium(the girl motivates the main guy, bully finally respects the guy for his music and the main guys gets the girl in the end. The protagonist in this video is the life of Angle, being represented by another character(Ashad) and also respectfully the Antagonist is the bully(Fahad).
So our Music video is working in a linear fashion, with all the clips of the narrative and plot in line one after the other simultaneously. Although if we had broken  the rule and the general conventions than we would have produced a non-linear sequence, with random pieces, the plot and narrative not in line, not sequence after sequence often with techniques such as; Cross cutting, Flashbacks, Parallel and Enigma Codes.    
As spoken about before the Star image is important for the audience as seen in the video, he seems to start low and than slowly rises within fame and the people who he struggles with, he finally is clear and has fixed his issues wit. Similarly the meta-narrative is very important, although this is the life overall, the video we have created in a way gives a glimpse of the brim of of his life and how his life has improved and what he has gone through, the battles faced and reached where he is now.
Finally the editing and Camera work, this combines with the other tasks as there are lot of conventions followed from the general music video that, do relate to our music video. They relate through conventions set by Goodwin and Vernallis, such as the pace of the movement, in our genre the movement needs to be quick, a lot of shots and clips in a short period of time , with generous time given to the narrative to show and explain properly to the viewer what is going. Also not all conventions were fully conformed some have been broken slightly, due to the nature of the song and genre, such as there being be a certain pace to editing usually in line with the beat, but fro us we did follow this but  now always, keeping the narrative the focus and finally like said before there is the fast cutting to keep it moving and, this helps our audience keep their interest in the video, possibly helping to watch it again, watching it more detail the next time.

Evaluation Q1)

Below is the Evaluation Prezi for Question 1 :-

Our Final Video

((Ms, we weren't aware of this as a problem but, the reason that you may realise our main artist(Harris as Angle), does not fully look directly look in the camera this is due to him having an eye problem, with one of  his eyes looking in another direction naturally)).

FInal Album

Below you will find the inside and the outside of the album, i have designed the album and just placed the other images as the cover on the album. You will neded to imagine that each one is folded back, as in real life, so the album sides are seen, so the album has been folded back, for the front and the back to be seen.

Creating the Digipack 2

Creating the back cover on the album, i will show below, step by step.

This was the first step, taking the picture, with him directing to the fans.audience, if you look closely the picture taken was done on purpose, so that the fingers are in focus and the face up to the body is a bit out of focus.

Here the blur is added ot the whole picture, gaussian blur and this is so that the list of songs are signified as they are the more important thing, but the artist is still recognisable and is known.

Than i added all the necessary little features, such as barcode and the label, also the pirate and copyright issues in small.

This is with the title and the actual list added, on the title a little effect has been added, shown on the screenshot below, also the list has a bit of an effect shown to stand out the list.



Here are the appropriate effects added, with the blends and shading.






Here are all final layers, in the correct order.

Creating the Digipack 1

We started off by taking the pictures of the artist, around the appropriate location which was the college. We got them to either pose, keep it natural, or do something in a certain manner.

The first cd album cover, has steps shown below accordingly.

This was the first picture, taken and what was the basis to the album.

It was than up to me to add the appropriate effects. 

Than after i added the appropriate text and had to edit it accordingly, something that suits the colour within the original picture.

These are the two layers, i added both text separately.

You can see the font edited and the addition of the production company, on the bottom left, this is in a basic font.

Poster + T- Shirt

Below i used, the very well know keep calm, logo and edited into 'keep calm and listen to angel'. This will  be very effective on both a Poster and a T- Shirt.

Poster

A possible poster style, with it being out with a bang, telling people about the concert day in London for Angle to be performing.

Official 'Angle' Website- url

Below you will find the link for our Official website, we have split the pages between the group.

Official Website -- http://sapg09.wix.com/lifeofangle -- Official Website

Shehryar: Home, Gallery and Album
Shaquille: About and Tour Dates
Ashad: Merchandise and Contact

Editing Update 16/03/13

Our editing was on track, it was looking good, we had to just put a few more minor touches and add a few more text and editing touches and we would of had a good result, but due to the robbery incident we are i think behind, we do need to put in some more effort and hopefully should have it finished with a good end product. At the moment we are at a point where we are struggling to get all the video and audio in sync, also a lot of our clips have been misplaced, so we are struggling to get the right clips into the video.
In general, editing is not that difficult, i personally feel very confident when editing, being able to grasp the shortcuts and to know the additional features, that will help to do editing quickly and hopefully prove our work to be at a good standard. Our editing on a the whole is not one with a lot of sequences, but due to their being rapping and some other issues with clips it is hard to find the right clip let alone get to the editing or cutting stage.
We do have a plan for the end product to have  filter on throughout, showing the video to be significantly brighter than usual, with some special coloured schemes, in the end product this filter should help for the end product too look professional.

Digipack analysis: Adele

Website analysis: Adele

This is the Adele's official website, when you frist enter the website you are shown a few tiles, these are the maintiles across the screen before you scoll down. There is consistency in  the font, she has kept the same font in her website, as it is in her new album, this could be ofr people to understadn its the same person, being able to relate to an artist from just the font, so in future there could be an album without having the picture of an artist, so it is not needed. The colour scheme agian is blackand white mainly, and the other scheme which used a bit less is green and grey. There is promotion on the top right, showing her album agian there are success stories in the enws section, this will be to keep the fans upto date with what is happening in her career, this helps towards thr connection of the artist and her fans, leading to a strong bond and giving tha sense of closeness to  the artist, from the fans perspective.
To make it seem even more personal and, giving somehting bakc to the fans in a way, as well as the news, there is blog, this is something that agian connects close and personal stuff of the artist with the fans, alhtough this could be something written personally by the artist, whihc would be good for the fans, increasing the vies on the site significantly, they could be there jus ton the site to cathc up on what Adele has recently blogged about, definately attracting more audiences. For her to target and meet demand of a larger market, Adele has included some social media integrations and even a mialing list feature.
Overall the colours featured throughout could be there to follow that visual theme of the darkness connoting sadness, this could be the theme followed in form her album, whihc indlude some very upsetting/emotional lyrics to some.
Another main featuere recognised, is that of hte font size and the recognision of the artist, with their being less pictures of her, and more texts saying her anme in bold striking fonts, a possible reson behind this could be taht, she is a much more recognised perosn and instead of the picture being at the formefront, it is not necessary due to her huge success as an artist, being so popular now the face does not need to be shown an recognised, jsut by looking at the font style you can say who it is and link the two.

Unexpected Set back

Around mid February, whilst heading to the crucial stages and working in the crucial stages, there was a robbery at our school, the main equipment were using throughout our project had got stolen, all the macs and the camera were taken. This put us all in very difficult circumstances, for us personally we had lost a lot of our artwork, clips, some of my digipack stuff but, the main most annoying part was that our final video was coming along nicely, now we are very behind due to a lot of stuff fro editing being lost. Although more than  we expected was backed up which was very lucky. The loss of cameras and computers was not just difficult for us at that point but for a week or so, until new equipment arrived, this was a very frustrating wait, as we could not edit or use any software, we had put in a lot of time and effort and it had been lost. We are now under a lot of pressure and stress to meet deadlines not just for our video but our digipacks, we will have to put in a lot more time, which could affect the quality of our work, as it does get tiring.
On a positive note we now have, more faster computers and this could be alearning curve in the media industry, to expect the unexpected.
below is the picture of the old mac- where me and Shaquille are working on some diting and also the arctlicle in a local newspaper with the headteacher.

T-Shirt Idea

The above design is something that can be printed on to t-shirts as part of the merchandise for sale, i personally designed this, creating the overall layout and the text, also adjusting the lighting on the heart. For the additional touch, i added our production companies name at the bottom right with a copyright logo, which adds to the professional effect. The programme used was Adobe Photoshop.

Digipack analysis: 50 Cent- Before I Destruct Myself

 

The album is by 50 Cent called- Before I Self Destruct. Upfront it looks like a plain layout with not much going on, with just 50 Cent at the centre of this album. Looking in further you can see that the main face is destructed and this resembles the name of the album as the name of the album is self destruct and he looking like he is about to destruct. The actual convention used is the face expression, taken stereotypically, the general faces in the rap videos are sad, down and usually angry/annoyed. This is see with the expression of his eyebrow, raised and he is frowning hinting to an aggressive mood.

This is the back cover of the album. the both work really well together, not only the front but the back, you can have a scene set in your mind just by looking at the back of the album, something that is really attractive, is that the back part seems to be on fire, the lighting again another issue, as the darkeness sets a very hostile mood for anyone viewing the album, also this is backed p by smoke and of course giving the impression of a broken up city, making it very interesting and impeccible for someone not to buy, getting very attracted.

Website analysis- Rihanna

Below is the official Rihanna website, this is an interesting website, laid out in manner that is easily readable. The structure is all one in column and there is a media gallery on the front that strikes you at first. The colour scheme is mainly based around black and white, this is something i have seen on another artist website, this seems to be a fashionable colour schemem at the moment.
The font used throughout n the website is sans serif.
Main feature so for the site is that it is heavily focused and connected with social media, this is due to the fact that most of her fans are socially active, keeping up to date made available by Rihanna personally, as she is also very socially active.
The pictures used, bold and attractive, they are good as they entice the user, it also is a big factor towards the fans getting exclusive pictures.
In addition as well as giving to the fans, she is also getting back from them, as she is advertising a lot of her dates and at the same time as making them happy by having concerts and tours, she is obviously making money form advertising so casually. Also other advertisement is her new clothing range, being sold at river island, she is captivating the market in the UK as she has a lot of fans and is making it viable for the fans to be interested as it is a big issue, a massive artist creating her own clothing range, with a big clothing retailer; River Island.

In addition you can calculate that all the interesting features that keep a person following and looking through the website is shown at the beginning, keeping them hooked onto the website for the constant viewing, helping them to come back again as they are interested with some of the stuff i have included above. There is a lot of media and information that connects the fan to Rihanna, making it seem as if they are closely connected to her, seeing and finding out exclusive content.
At the top you will find some very interesting tabs, which describe a lot about her, in one tab it is her biography, this is something that will connect the audience very well, getting to know her personally as she speaks to you about her life, towards becoming an artist, talking about every year and what she did and where she is know.
There is also another major section, where you can see a whole list of articles and other press forms, which are related to her career, this engages the audience as she has put some major stepping stones, alerting and notifying her fans of some of the major stuff she has achieved, this will be informing them all in one place. So for fans who follow her through press, this area just makes it easier for them, allowing them to do the normal press media reading but all in one place, with the main areas on the page. The main last points of the website is fistly the R logo, on  the left hand side, which is the new logo associated with Rihanna and the other purpose of it being for rated. The other feature is the shop tab on the top of the page, this is for all her merchandise, helping towards her sales but also interaction with the fans, as they will be able to own goods of their artist's official pages clothing and merchandise.
Overall, there is a lot of content on her website, mostly being very interactive and needs the suer to surf around as their is a lot of content available and the reason fro this is the close contact of the artist and the fans, leading to a successful fan and artist relationship, both being satisfied and achieving and earning from the other. Artist getting popular, earning money and fans, maybe fulfilling a passion and the fan being entertained, becoming close to an artist and being able to know them.

Photoshoot with Artist's

We did our photoshoot for our artist's, the photos will be used throughout the campaign for the artist, places such as album covers, websites, posters and many other places. The photoshoot eveoleved around the college/university, this was due to them being in a college/university level of study in the artist's life. I personally looked at Angel's previous albums and saw what kind of photos were in use, there is a related post on my blog. In addtition i looked at poses from Angel's other pictures jsut around on google, this would give an idea of what style he shoes and than we can similarly bring a style to our artist, but of course keeping our artist original in their own way.
Some of the phots that we got are below: