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

A musician tends to have an "image" they represent. Their music videos, adverts and album all have similar themes that relate to each other.

The three products I have created for my artist is; the music video, magazine advert and digipak. In order to make the artist's image thorough, I have involved similar themes in all three products.

There are many recurring themes that I have involved in all three products:

1.     The leaves: they were very obvious in the music video as they played as a backdrop for the performance part of the music video. This gives the music video very “natural” sort of display that helps emphasize the laid-back, humble attitude of the music video. Again, this would refer back to “folk” and acoustic music being “feel-good”. The leaves appear in the music video, album cover and magazine advert.

2.     Trees: Again, re-iterating nature and showing “growth”. If I look closer at the lyrics of “Pilot”, the line “I’m slowly pouring out into the room and I can’t control it…” relates to the musician unable to control her imagination, as it is a natural thing. A tree appears on the CD and in the music video but does not follow through onto the magazine advert.

The music sheets scattered at the bottom left-hand corner of the magazine advert relate back to the beginning of the music video when Amber is trying to create music but is failing. It also emphasizes that she is an “artist” and perhaps not a product of a record label because she is writing her own music.

There are constant links between creativity and nature in the music video. However, in the magazine advert, the background is hardwood flooring. Although this is artificially created by man, it is associated with “wood” and once again, directing the viewer back to nature. The earthy tones (browns, yellows, orange) that I have used on this ancillary text have enabled me to keep a very laid-back representation of the artist. Amber’s make-up is very natural in the picture, which might show female empowerment by being herself.

The colours used in the magazine advert are again, similarly to “Pilot” advert, magazine and digipak, very earthy with colours like brown, beige and hues of orange from the fields in the background.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

During my extensive research in "genre" of  artists and their music videos, there are a number of things I noticed about the folk/acoustic/alternative genre.

These hybrid genres all have one thing in common; their music videos tend to be either abstract (with hidden symbolic meaning) and/or have a very feel-good vibe to it.

I believe that the music video I created for "Pilot" by Amber Rubarth tends to conform rather than challenge the conventions of a folk/acoustic music video. Although I have added my own little creations, concepts and ideas into it, the music video is not too controversial.

I believe that the reason for this is that the folk genre cherishes the concept of positive-thinking, self-fulfillment  and warm vibes.

I decided to closely analyse the lyrics of "Pilot" by Amber Rubarth to look into the meaning of the song which I concluded as trying to find yourself and be inspired. From here, I began to think of various ways of conveying that message visually.

I looked into music videos by several artists, and here is one that I felt was closely relevant to the mood of my music video.

The music video for Neopolitan Dreams by Australian indie artist, Lisa Mitchell, has a very supernatural yet delicate vibe to her music video. There are a few frames in the music video that are similar to the music video for "Pilot".

These two frames are similar because of the floating butterflies/paper cranes. This imitates a slightly "childish" and innocent theme, which could suggest going back to childhood and experiencing things that were once simple. 

The top screenshot is from Corinne Bailey Rae's music video for "Put Your Records On". The colours are very warm, and it is shot in the summer. Usually, when the music video is set outside, the weather plays a very prominent role of displaying the mood through the weather. Although Rae has used summer in hers, I have used autumn in mine. The colours on both screenshots are significantly warm and welcoming, almost as if welcoming everyone to come and listen to the music. Traditional folk music involved many townsfolk gathering around and playing music together for entertainment; which is what I have tried to achieve with my music video.

You can see what both screenshots have in common... the bed and the acoustic guitar. This may show the dedication these artists put towards creating music for their fans and for their own artistic benefits, as they are working from home, as well as in the studio with producers.

Alternative music, and the folk genre tend to convey a lot of symbolism in their music video. The top screenshot is from Feist's music video for "I Feel It All", where it features fireworks throughout. In my music video, the fireworks at the end act as a metaphor, "I need a spark to ignore my pilot light". Folk, indie and acoustic artists always have a lot of symbolism and metaphor in their music videos.

For example, in MGMT's music video for "Kids", it features a toddler seeing monsters on the street as his unaware mother carries him around, completely oblivious to the fact that he is crying. Obviously, the monsters are not really there and represent today's society and the lack of innocence in the world today. The mother is oblivious to any of this, and the child is being scared or intimated by a society that breeds social expectations.

This has similarly been used in my own music video for "Pilot". Amber following the tinsel represents her creative journey. As she goes outside, sees the world and reacquaints herself with the natural world. This is mixed with a supernatural element (going through the door to end up at another place, the endless tinsel, the random notes), similar to the "Kids" music video with the monsters.

The supernatural elements of the video poses questions for the audience; 

"Who is placing the notes?"

"Where did the tinsel come from?"

This is the director's commentary I created for the music video, describing my choices on aspects such as costume, setting, themes and lighting.

New Edits to the Magazine

I have finally added the finishing touches to the magazine poster. These include:

• A picture of "Amber Rubarth" in the photo frame
• Old music sheets
• Record label logo
• Text with information about the album
• Where the album is available; iTunes, Play.com, etc

Here is a screenshot of what has been created so far...

However, there is one last detail that I need to do add which is the picture of the digipak next to the photo frame so the consumers know what they are looking for when they see it online.

Making the magazine on Photoshop

I have started to create my poster on Adobe Photoshop. The "atmosphere" of Rubarth's album is very homely and about self-satisfaction. The album's sound is less to be compared to "glamour" but more to do with it being "mellow" and "relaxed". This is the type of record that would be listened to at home on warm late-spring and summer days. I have decided to make the background old, wooden flooring. These were some of the choices.

Out of the three types of wooden flooring, I picked the darkest and stretched it to fit the International Paper size.

I have put on an old frame to represent "old memories" and the autumn leaves from the album cover and old lined paper from the album cover also. This makes the poster and album synchronous. It all represents a theme of nostalgia, self-belief and rebirth (the seasons).

To this, I will be adding in:

• A picture of the digipak
• A picture of "Amber Rubarth" in the photo frame
• Old music sheets
• Record label logo
• Text with information about the album
• Where the album is available; iTunes, Play.com, etc.

Sarah Blasko's magazine advert has very soft colours. The image is very interesting, as it makes the person looking at it observe it closer. The effect that makes it look like it's drawn is simple yet pretty. This sort of effect can be achieved on photoshop. The fonts used are elegant, which may reflect the sound of the album that is being promoted. It also has information on her record label and a URL for her website.

What are the conventions of magazine adverts for new album releases?

Most musicians with a record label are able to promote their new album through magazines. Magazines are a good tool to advertise this because certain magazines suit certain audiences, much like a musician's music would.

The magazine adverts for this must have these things:

1. A picture or symbol representing the artist
2. The name of the album
3. The release date
4. Where it's available
5. Certain themes that relate to the artist's sound - heavy metal would have dark colours for example
6. A picture of the album front cover
7. Details of the artist - artist's website, record label's website
8. Maybe some details of what is included in the album...

My album fits into the "folk/acoustic" category, so there are a few magazines my album could be advertising in.

NME, Q and Mojo are all British magazines that are less-focused towards mainstream music and look at slightly more alternative and unique music. The bottom left magazine, "Rolling Stone" is American. Amber Rubarth's album could be promoted in Rolling Stone as well, for it is a highly prestigious entertainment magazine that is read and sold all over the world.

Here are the following links for the websites of these magazines.

www.nme.com

www.qthemusic.com

www.mojo4music.com

www.rollingstone.com