Vickii's A2 Blog - ThroughMyEyesAndEars

Wednesday, 23 November 2011

Overall Profile

Target Audience Overall Profile

View more presentations from Vickii Randell.

Tuesday, 1 November 2011

After planning my idea I had quite a large problem. The actors I was going to use couldnt help me, so it left me with no-one available to help me film. This meant that I had to completely rethink my idea and try and come up with an idea that didn't involve actors. I decided that I would make a montage of Autumnal shots and fireworks cut together to the beat of the music. This was achieveable for me becasue it didn't involove other people. The main location I used, the woods, still referenced Paramore's video Decode like in the original planning. This was a music video that was set in the woods and used lots of camera angles and editing techniques to make it interesting to watch. When out shoting on location I tried to replicate some of the shots, such as shots of the sky and low angle shots of the trees.

Some of these photos formed part of my music videos but they were the first photos I took for my new idea. The most important thing was close ups and colour otherwise the shots were flat and uninteresting.

Here is Paramore's video Decode that I used for inspiration when re-planning my idea:

Concept

The concept for my new idea has taken most of the original ideas but just removed the actors. In the song a sense of loneliness is shown so I have replicated that by showing a sense of isolation and aloneness in the video through various photos. The photos which will be turned into a montage also reflect what the world is like this time of year with leaves falling off trees, etc. When the song goes into the chorus I will use some fireworks footage which will reflect the kind of release that happens during the chorus.

Shooting Schedule

I am going out to Dunston Common on 1^st November to capture the bulk of my images and then on 5^th November I am going to film some fireworks from Sparks in the Park as the rest of my footage. I will take with me my bridge camera to capture the photos and footage.

Location

The location I have chosen, Dunston Common, is quite close to where I live so it is easily accessible also it was one of my original locations which I was going to use before I had a casting problem. Just like I stated in my original planning, the woods are desolate and barren giving a sense of isolation and also are similar to the location used for Paramore’s music video Decode. The use of fireworks also relates to one of my other locations slightly, the room filled with coloured lights, which also gives a sense of being alone. Also, the fireworks are there and gone within a matter of seconds just like relationships in life which we need to value and understand.

Monday, 10 October 2011

Musical Profile - Festivals and Similar Bands

Analysis of Reading Festival's Poster and Website

I have chosen to analyse the Reading Festival poster and website as I think that it is the most likely festival for my band, The Hype Theory, to perform at. I came to this conclusion after looking at all aspects of the poster and website, such as the bands playing at the festival, the colours used, the imagery, etc.

The first thing that stands out is the contrast between the dark colour of the background and the bright colours also used. The bright colours are primary colours – red and yellow – and are very shouty and loud which makes it stand out against the rest of the page, it could also be described as ‘punky’ and alternative. The colour is also mainly in blocks, and shapes such as triangles and ellipses. The ellipses could have a connotation of the festival wristband as it is around the name of the festival and is also similar to how Kerrang!’s logo has been designed. The triangles around the edge of the ellipses are poppy and punky which connects back to the genre of pop/punk.

The background is made up of a photo of the crowds from a previous Reading Festival, the way the image has been used is to get people to look because to start with you don’t realise the background is made up of a photo. The fonts used are, again, very shouty and bold which stand out from the dark background but they are modern so appeal to an audience the same age as my target market.

The photos shown on the homepage are fairly simple. There is one of the merchandise available from the festival, these reflect the type of clothes that my target market wears, for example printed, coloured t-shirts. Also, the image of the crowd at the top connotes the energy you feel when you are at the festival but also shows a snapshot of the experience you will have.

Finally on the homepage, there are various companies’ logos. Just above the links at the bottom of the page there are some sponsors which have sponsored the festival, these are companies like NME, Relentless Energy Drink, Tuborg and HMVtickets, etc, which are all companies my target market would be interested in. Also, at the top of the page there are the Facebook and Twitter logos, along with an artist search symbol and a forums symbol. These are there so the festival is accessible on social media for fans, it also connotes that the audience is fairly youthful as they are more likely to use Facebook and Twitter.

The festival’s poster is quite different from that of the website. It is much more in your face because of the background colour of bright yellow but it still uses certain imagery such as the festival’s logo which could connote a festival wristband and the logos of well-known companies along the bottom of the poster. The font is still modern, shouty and bold which makes the names of the bands stand out from the vibrant background. The use of red as a highlight along with yellow background and black accents makes the overall poster very contrasted, colourful and it stands out from other posters.

Reading Festival Website Homepage

Reading Festival Line-Up Poster

Analysis of Similar Artists to The Hype Theory

View more presentations from Vickii Randell.

What Can You Learn From This?

After looking at this information about similar bands and the festival The Hype Theory would I attend I have learnt a few things that will influence me when I make my music video and plan my digipak. Firstly, I learnt that colours, font and imagery are very important on products, such as festival posters and CD covers. This means when I create my digipak I will have to use bright colours, like orange, purple and green, fonts that stand out and are bold, and the imagery must connote music, like the circle on the Reading festival posted connoted a wristband. Secondly, the way in which technologies is combined with real-life products, like the Twitter, Facebook, etc logos on the festival website. So again when I am designing the digipak I will have to include website addresses on the cover for the band’s Twitter, Facebook, etc. Also, in the music video I could include technologies such as a phone or a laptop as this will mean that the audience will be able to identify with the content of the music video. Thirdly, the use of images of the band is very important throughout the products related to the band. Whether it is on the digipak or in the music video the connection back to the band is vital, this is because the band and their music are at the forefront to the fans. Finally, the theme from the digipak/album cover must continue throughout the whole range of products as it makes it easy for fans to identify with their whole range of products. This even extends to merchandise ranges on tour, to stage designs and website design.

Wednesday, 5 October 2011

Storyboard

Initial Ideas and Planning

Wednesday, 21 September 2011

UK Tribes and Find Your Tribe - Me and My Target Audience

About UK Tribes and Find Your Tribe

UK Tribes was created by Crowd DNA for Channel 4 to discover more about young people in Britain. Nowadays, tribes are much more varied than they once were. For brands and companies it is very important that they know who their target markets are. To get the information, young people across the country were questioned about different aspects of their lives; for media, to aspirations, to their brand preferences. The information was honest and uncensored to create a data bank full of information.
The company UK Tribes was created in 2005 to run a project named TV Glue. The project focused on how TV was part of society. A smaller part of the project focused on how ‘social glues’ affected youth culture, based on music, sport, fashion, technology, etc. This information was regarded as very important by marketing and media people. The research continued and extended its depth, it became more genuine and ‘close-up’ to avoid generalisation. All the information is from young people about themselves.
The research was conducted using two types of questions, qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative research included online forums, in-depth interviews, vlogs, etc. The quantitative research was made up of an online survey called ‘Find Your Tribe’. The first version, which ran in 2006, gathered data from over 50,000 people and version two, which ran in 2008, gathered 38,000+ people’s data.
The output created from the research was priceless; it allowed media and marketing people to find out about youth culture and what was happening in young people’s worlds.
Since the project started the data has changed, they started off with 23 tribes but gained 4 and lost 2), and it will continue to change as young people and their culture develops. While UK Tribes are recording this information they are building up an invaluable archive of young Britain.

My Tribe was an Indie Kid

My Target Audience's Tribe was Indie Scenestar

Alternative and Leading Edge Tribes

What Will Marketers Find Useful From The Information?

The information that has been made available by this project is very useful for the media and marketers. Before the survey there wasn’t really any ‘real’ information about the youth of Britain that was constantly evolving. Now if the information is used it is up to date as possible because as more data comes in from ‘Find Your Tribe’ the data is updated. The breakdown of the segments and tribes allow the information to be specifically tailored to which audience the media and marketers are looking at. The media information will allow marketers and media personnel to promote their products to their target audience through the right social networks, magazines, TV channels and online sites. For example, if a marketer wanted to promote a new magazine they put adverts on Channel 4 and Channel 5, as they are the channels the target market have said they most watch. The media consumption section shows how much the certain tribe spends on each type of media, again in the case of the tribe for my target market; there would be no point me trying to promote my band using the TV as overall not many people from the target market watch the TV, instead I would use most likely the internet as it is most heavily used by my target market. The section on brands allow the media and marketers to find out what sort of other products the target market likes, for example, the tribe I looked at did lots of online shopping so to create a wider brand for my product I could set up an online shop to sell merchandise. Much like Josh Franchessi from You Me At Six and Jack Barakat from All Time Low has done who have their own or are part of a clothing line, (Down But Not Out and Glamour Kills).

Links to the Websites:

http://www.findyourtribe.co.uk/

http://www.uktribes.com/

Monday, 5 September 2011

Women in The Music Industry

Even now in the 21^st century, the music industry is still male dominated, whether this is on stage or behind the scenes, it has never been seen as a place of work for women.

This is clearly shown in the results of a survey conducted in 2009, 66% of workers behind the scenes in the UK are male, and only 30% of backstage workers in London are female. Another statistic is that 47% of women actually involved in the music industry earn less than £10,000 per year which compared to 35% of men probably explains why there are so few women behind the scenes. The statistics show that there isn’t just a lack of females backstage but also in executive and managerial roles too. Jon Webster, chief executive of the Music Managers Forum has been quoted saying that only around 15% of their members are women and that only 6% of women in the music business earn more than £29,000, where as 22% of men earn more than £29,000.

In the past there have been very few well-known female rock artists. The Runaways, Lee Aaron, Debbie Harry, Evanescence, Janis Joplin, Madonna, Avril Lavigne, Annie Lennox and Heart are all bands with females in them or leading them who have achieved success.

One of the first ever well known female rock artists was Janis Joplin, she was born in Texas in 1943, and her music career started in 1962. Probably her most famous song is “Me and Bobby McGee”. Her albums, including “Cheap Thrill” and “Pearl” were multi-platinum. She helped bring females in the music industry in front of the public eye and in 2004 Janis was ranked 46^th in Rolling Stone Magazine’s 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

A band who became very popular in the 70s and 80s was Heart; they combined the genres of rock and folk to create a unique sound. Over the decades the band has split and reformed a few times but sisters Anne and Nancy Wilson have always been part of the band. They have released 12 studio albums, some have gone platinum, and sold more than 30 million albums across the globe.

Debbie Harry is well known in the music industry now but when Blondie first formed they didn’t have many fans, possibly because of being a female fronted band. Critics at the time said they would never be famous or find much success but when they released the album “Parallel Lines” in 1978 they took off and became very famous. Today, when you look back at the 70s and 80s Blondie is one of the bands that stand out the most and their music has stood the test of time.

Joan Jett has probably done the most for females in the rock music industry, since she was 15 she has been an active part of the business. Her first band The Runaways weren’t very popular but has since become known for breaking into the male dominated rock music scene. In 2010 a film was released about the band and it showed just how hard it was for females in the music industry during the 70s and 80s. After leaving The Runaways Joan has had 9 top 40 hits, 9 platinum and gold albums and set up her own record label: Blackheart Records. Some of her most famous songs include “I Hate Myself for Loving You” and “Crimson and Clover”, they both show her edgy, rock style. Rolling Stone Magazine has listed her one of the 100 Greatest Guitar Players of All Time, on this list there is only one other female guitarist.

Another famous female from the 80s was Lee Aaron; she is Canadian and was born in 1962. When she released her album “Metal Queen” she was put under the spotlight. After this she has since released multi-platinum albums, nominated for various prestigious awards and became known as ‘The Metal Queen’. Her songs such as “Whatcha Do to My Body” and “Sex with Love” are today metal anthems that are still well known. Although today she still performs some of her rock hits, she is working on her Jazz music.

Evanescence are one of the best female fronted rock bands of today even though they have only released 2 albums, which have sold over 20 million copies across the globe. Amy Lee, the front woman, formed the band in 1994. In 2003 they released their debut album “Fallen”. It spent 43 weeks in the top 10 in the US and sold more than 15 million copies. They were one of the first female fronted rock bands to use music videos as a way of promoting their music. The way Amy Lee is portrayed and the ideas used within the video have shown the potential effect that a female fronted rock band could have on the music industry.

Like Lee Aaron, Avril Lavigne was a big female rock star to come from Canada. When she was 17, her debut album “Let It Go” sold over 16 million copies. Her song “Sk8er Boi” from the album “Let It Go” catapulted her into the spotlight. She has in total sold over 30 million copies of her albums and has also appeared on TV, as well as in films such as “The Flock”. Although her music is a mixture of pop and rock they also have a punk/grunge twist. As one of the youngest females to be signed to a record label, she will stay in the spotlight for a while to come.

All of these female artists mentioned above have already broken through the male-based music business which is why they are better known. The Hype Theory are today, facing just as tough a battle as bands such as The Runaways, as the rock chart is still dominated by male bands, even though there are rock bands with females in them, such as Scarlet's Wake and Rhode Island Red, trying to achieve success. This is shown when you look at the number of female to males in the ‘iTunes Top 10 Rock Albums’ chart. Only one of the bands featured in the chart, Mazzy Star, actually feature a female. All the others are completely male bands. You Me at Six who are 2^nd in the chart are a band that have been an influence for The Hype Theory and are a similar band with similar audiences.