ALL - Vodcast 7 - DCRUP and MANGR

RS + SP - Ninth Podcast: Target Audiences For All Products

WS - Our Two Magazine Adverts

Magazine Advert 1 - Secondary Target Audience

Following audience feedback on our first magazine advert, it became apparent that producing two different adverts may be beneficial to our group for a couple of reasons:

Magazine Advert 2 - Primary Target Audience

1. The background image on magazine advert 1 is a screenshot from the game Mass Effect. While we thought that this looked quite appealing, it is arguably more suitable for our secondary audience as the link to the gaming aspect of our video is heavily emphasised in the background image. Apart from that, it seemed to be very positively received and therefore something that we wanted to persevere with. To allow us to keep this advert we decided to create another one that would be tagged as the "main advert" and would hopefully be more appealing to the Primary Target Audience. 
2. This wasn't the only problem with advert 1, however. Because the background is an unedited screenshot from the game 'Mass Effect' it isn't really our image and therefore in breach of copyright. The second advert is completely our own and shows an image that we created ourselves completely. 

Target Audiences

Both magazines are targeted at a specific audience, with Mag Ad 1 being targeted at our secondary target audience (25-40, predominantly males) and Mag Ad 2 being targeted at our Primary Target Audience (15-24, again predominantly males).

Mag Ad 1

When designing the first magazine our intention was that this would be aimed at our primary target audience. However following feedback from the class we found that people felt it would appeal specifically to people who enjoy gaming due to the obvious links with that part to our video. The average age of gamers in the UK is around 35-40 and is therefore part of our secondary target audience. We didn't want to get rid of this advert completely however as the feedback received was generally very positive. We also felt that this advert would still appeal to any fans of the band as it incorporates a sci-fi type theme which is very common in videos and products from Muse.

Mag Ad 2

Due to the feedback we received we decided to create another magazine advert aimed more precisely at our Primary Target Audience. For this we left many of the conventions the same and the layout very similar, with the major alteration being the change in background. We felt this reflected the different audience, our video and a theme that will appeal to our primary target audience. The themes common between our video and this image include the isolation of the protagonist and the distortion of his mind, shown here through the use of layers. We feel that this, added to the first magazine ad and the different themes shown there, we cover a whole range of themes from our video and themes that are commonly used by the Muse band, and therefore areknown to be successful in the industry and with our target audience in particular.

Similarities and Differences

Similarities

Despite the adverts having different target audiences there are still quite a lot of similarities between the two:

• A number of conventions of magazine adverts are present in both, examples including the name of the band being central and bold at the top, a picture of the digipak (the product it is advertising), tour dates, the name of the album and release dates
• The layout of the two products is very similar, with only things such as wording changed.
• Both adverts make use of a particular theme from our video (although different themes in each advert).
• Both adverts have a sci-fi type feel to them.
• Both adverts include the Facebook and Twitter logos, as well as web adresses for the band and production company.
• Both adverts include the same tagline (10 Year Anniversary Special Edition).

Differences

There are also a number of differences between the two adverts:

• The differing background image is obviously the key and glaring difference between the two. We feel and hope that this can ensure we target different audiences, advert two for our primary target audience with the first advert for our secondary audience.
• The date for release ("In Stores Now" for Advert one & "12-09-12") shows two different styles that we have seen from magazine adverts we have looked at - one worded and one numerical.
• The theme that each advert is based on is different. Advert 1 is based on the sci-fi/gaming aspect whilst Advert 2 is based more on the ideas of isolation and distortion of the protagonist's mind.

RS - Magazine Advert

SP - Feedback on Rough Cut 6

• Firstly there was flashing to black between shots in our opening and throughout our music video which was really distracting for our audience.
• Our class mates also thought that the opening dragged on abit and that we should shorten some of our original shots, use multiple layers to quicken it up and maybe cut with performance to make it more interesting. 
• They also encouraged us to only show Rob getting out of bed and pick up one peice of clothing instaed of all of them because we are doing a music video and it doesnt have to be a linear sequence.
• In our school scene someone pointed out that we could animate a zoom on the magazine that the 'Muse Nerd' is reading and use multiple layers on this shoot of all of the shots that follow it.
• One of the biggest peice of feedback on our music video was that we need to try and replicate the exact shots with the CD covers because then they will link together much better and make more sense to our audience. They also said that we should use the cross disolve transition rather than fade to black because it breaks the link between the two shots. 

•  Another peice of valuable footage is that we could try and enhance the colouring on the shots that followed the 'Fly From Here' CD cover 
• Our primary audience also told us to try and start with shots that are further away from our protagonist and then slowly get closer to close ups revealing his identity.
• With regards to performance footage someone proposed that in our next rough cut we should multiple layer footage of the band playing over some shots that have free space in the background.
• We were also told that sometimes we should allow the lower opacity shots to run on for longer and over more shots than we already have.
• Finally we should make the loner aspect more obvious by using less shots so it doesnt drag on as much and isnt as boring.

ALL - Rough Cut 6

WS - Role of Narrative in our Music Video

It is a common convention of Alternative Rock videos to combine Narrative and Performance aspects to a video. This is something that we are trying to replicate in our own video as it seems to be a key convention. 

From looking at videos in our genre, we also found that a theme of isolation and loneliness was quite common, two examples of this been Jesus of Suburbia by Green Day and Jeremy by Pearl Jam. The idea of a Narrative is also to have some link to the lyrics of the song. For these reasons we decided on a Narrative based on a person who is obsessed with Muse - the "muse nerd". Throughout the narrative we show this obsession through him listening to music by the band, the use of album covers and magazine covers (these are not all from Muse, but a number of them are) and at one point through dressing in the same way as a band member. As well as the obsession of Muse, the protagonist is also very lonely and isolated, an idea that we changed to from bullying as we felt bullying was exceptionally hard to realistically portray with the actors available to use and made for a weak storyline.


The Narrative is intercut amongst the Performance aspects of our video and is filmed in a number of locations, another thing very common in our genre. The Narrative part of our video is vital and is what would hopefully make people want to watch the video more than once.


Another key point to our Narrative is a gaming theme, where the protagonist is playing computer games because in this virtual world he can be powerful and popular, two things that he isn't in the real world. Throughout the narrative the audience should pick up on the differences here and the contrast of the two to see just how different the two 'lives' are. 


Pressure and depression builds up on the protagonist throughout the video, culminating in a  suicide scene at the end of the video. This is also the case in the video Jeremy by Pearl Jam that I referred to earlier. The reason we chose this was because we thought it was a powerful end to our Narrative and we wanted something strong at the end to try and entice people to watch the video more than once. The mixing up of game footage, real life footage and time lapses during our narrative would also hopefully achieve the same thing by being interesting, but also slightly confusing to someone watching it for the first time.


The role of Narrative in our video is very different to the original and official Bliss video by Muse. Obviously we weren't going to simply copy their video, nor would it be possible for us to  do with our budget and us not having the equipment to replicate it. The idea that we have taken on though is to re-brand the idea and song and so we have gone for a very different approach. This approach is to link the narrative to the lyrics through the overall idea. We feel like we managed that with our final idea with scenes revolving around loneliness and isolation.

ALL - Sample Footage 5

ALL - Sample Footage 4

WS- Looking at a Magazine Ad from Muse

 

"The Resistance" Magazine Ad



Because the band that we are looking at and using for our own music video are still active, it seems appropriate to look at an example of a magazine advert from this particular band. The particular example that this blog post will look at is the advert for the Muse album, The Resistance. 

One thing that is apparent immediately here is how little is on the poster. There is a large image, the band's logo in bold, the name of the item in bold as well as the date of release and the band's website noted at the bottom. The lack of 'clutter' does make the poster quite eye-catching; it is quick to look at and doesn't take up so much time as a poster with a lot of information on would which may encourage people to skip on through the magazine.


One thing that is absolutely necessary for a magazine Ad is for it to be noticeable immediately and capture it's Primary and Secondary Target Audiences. This advert is one example that will definitely be noticeable to fans of the band. Much of this is to do with the bands name and logo in the top left corner. Because it is a bold font and by itself with nothing around it, it really stands out and anchors the poster as coming from the band Muse.

  

"The Resistance" Album Cover



Something significant about this poster is that it is almost identical to the album cover, with the date of release and the Muse website information added. Whether this is a common thing in the industry I am not sure and hopefully will discover by looking at further examples. Even though I am not sure whether it is something that occurs throughout the business, I do think the idea of having the Magazine Ad the same as the album cover is good as it directly links the product and means the customer knows what they are looking for when trying to buy the product once it comes out. Though it may not work in every genre, I think it is an effective idea for this particular genre.



One thing that has to be noticed from looking at this poster is the lack of unnecessary information. The design does not include anything unnecessary and provides basic information; this both keeps some sort of mystery about the album as well as not overpowering the reader with information. For our own magazine ad this is something that we could look into, although we need to demonstrate a number of skills. This could be quite a challenge, though if done correctly could look very effective and professional.

In summary I think this is an effective magazine advert, though I could understand why other people may see it as boring and a poor advert. This emphasizes the importance of the Target Audience and how different audiences can see the same product in two different ways. Whilst I also think it is a good example to look at for our own product, the style isn't necessarily one that we want to follow as we are looking to show a number of different skills in the creation of our own magazine advert. 

WS - Magazine Ad Relationship To Video

Our Magazine Advert

In a previous blog post I have looked at the similarities and links between our digipak and our music video. They are two out of the three items that make up our overall "package" with the third product being a magazine advert. Throughout the creation of all three items we have being trying to keep similarities and links between them all to show that they make up one package. Some of these links may be obvious, while others may be deliberately more subtle so that our Target Audience may understand them, but may also keep a bit of enigma for other audiences/potential buyers.


As stated in the post regarding our digipak, there is a couple of themes that we tried to keep running throughout all three of our products to link them together. One of these themes is gaming. The background to our Magazine Ad is a screenshot from Mass Effect which is the same game that we have taken a screenshot for for our Digipak. This links in with the whole theme of gaming that is present through all three products, but is clearly shown through the video format. This is the clearest link between our magazine ad and the video.


The picture of the Digipak on our magazine ad is another link between all three products. The Digipak contains our music video and displaying it on the magazine ad links them all together.


Another key theme that we tried to get running throughout all the different parts of the package is the idea of isolation. This is a huge and key part to our music video, though it proved quite tough to transfer this to our magazine ad. We had an idea where we split a picture of the protagonist in half so that it was half real person, half avatar to show how that is a major part of his life and his desire to be like the avatar. For a number of reasons however, this wasn't possible. We still feel like the space aspect of the background for the magazine ad works in a similar way to show isolation though. Space is obviously a large open space with no known human life which signifies the loneliness and isolation aspect within our video.

WS - Digipak Relationship to Video

Digipak Front Cover

As well as a music video for our chosen song we have been tasked with creating the video but also two ancillary texts: a magazine advert and a digipak. The brief that we had at the start of this project was to create a 'package' meaning that we need to link the individual products together  in some way to make them into an overall single package.


One way that we thought we could do this is by using a theme that runs throughout all three of the products. Obviously with them been for very different media formats they are each going to have their own conventions and major differences between them all. There are, however, ways in which we have linked them together to make them into a combined package.


The theme that we eventually decided on to include in each product is the gaming aspect. The protagonist gaming is a major part and idea in our music video as it is how we really show his isolation and desire to be more popular and powerful; the gaming world is his ideal world and his escape from reality. As it is a major theme in our video it seems an appropriate way to link the three products together and this can be seen on the front cover of our digipak with the avatar and background. This is a screenshot from the game Mass Effect which most of our gaming footage is from.

Digipak Back Cover

Another way we link the digipak to the video is on the back cover with the image of our protagonist the "Muse Nerd". The image in the background is the same as on the front panel and therefore is still linking with that same theme from the game, but with the additional link through the character. The image of the protagonist is clearly edited on (because the setting is obviously not from the real world) which also links with the video where layering is important to create the feeling of space, fantasy and this ideal world which compares with the real world where the protagonist is alone and isolated.


Isolation is another theme that can be linked to both the video and the digipak. The image shows a large open space with nobody in sight except for our protagonist on the back cover and the avatar on the front. This shows the theme of isolation that is also a major part of our video, along with the gaming aspect in the Narrative.


A very different way in which the two link as a package doesn't relate to what can be seen in the video but just to the video itself. On the front cover of the digipak is a sticker advertising what can be seen inside the digipak including stating that the music video comes as part of this video. This shows a direct link between the two products on the front cover of our digipak. 

WS - Rough Cut Update

We now have a deadline for a first full rough cut of tomorrow (Friday 2nd March). By this point we need a complete cut of our music video, though we will have the chance to make alterations to this after it has been looked at.


Unfortunately by this deadline we will not have all the footage that we need for the complete video. We have previously filmed some performance footage although it was of a poor standard and we decided that we would re-film this footage. This hasn't happened yet for a number of reasons (band members pulling out, locations not available when band members were and vice versa) and we are hoping to do this as soon as possible. For the purpose of this exercise however, we are looking to include the previous performance footage that we filmed though we want to stress this won't be the footage we use in our final product.


Other problems regarding this task is the sheer amount of footage and scenes that we have and working out the best order for these clips on screen. This is much trickier than we expected and we are now having to experiment to find an order that works. During editing we have come across issues with the order of clips (for example the protagonists sudden change of clothing) and are having to work on ways to get around this. This is slowing down the editing process for us at the moment.


Any further updates will be added to this post or the blog.