Evaluation 2

How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of "branding"?

Evaluation 1d Website

Website Comparison

This first website is our website that we have create for our Artist. I have compared our website with Demi Lovato's website. This is because she is a pop singer and is quite similar to our Star. 

Home page 

The homepage is very significant because it needs to give a good first impression of the Star and the website. If this doesn't appeal to the majority of the audiences, the Star may fail to promote herself and her songs as well. 
For our website, we have used white as our background color for the Home Page. We also used a moving background so the page becomes more lively and interesting. 

On the other hand, Demi's page used still image. The still image is based on her new album as well.

The similarities between the two is they both have white plain backgrounds to convey simplicity and goodness. Also, on the top of their pages, they have links to other pages that illustrate more about the Artists. Also, both has social media links to their own private accounts or fan accounts that the audiences can follow on other updates or know more about the Artist in other areas. 

About me!/ Bio

This is the biography page or "About me". It tells the highlight of her and her becoming famous. 
This is to attract more audiences as well because this would let them know more about her personally and her interests. 

This is Demi's biography. It is quite similar as it starts off with what their interests or jobs are. It follows through with social media accounts and how many followers they have to illustrate that they are popular and are well-known by many. 
The difference between the two is Abby is still in high school therefore in her bio, it based more on her hobbies and interests. But also just a little paragraph on how she became famous in such a young age. 

On the other hand, Demi based her bio more on her awards and top hits as she stayed in the music industry for many years and therefore she wants to portray herself as a more successful and independent.

Gallery

This page is filled with pictures of Abby (Star). As people usually say, "A picture can mean a thousand words" therefore I feel that these images can portray so many traits of Abby and can attract many audiences just by looking at her images in her normal daily life activities. 
These images are before her fame and now. These photos show that even though she is now a "Star" she doesn't change her routines or her love for her interests. 

For Demi's photos, these where based on her tours and award shows therefore it doesn't convey a lot about her personal life. Moreover, the pictures that are posted looks strong and powerful therefore she wants to portray to her audiences that she has a lot of "sas" and a different perspective to her old self or another self that she does not want to portray in currently.

Shop

This is open to everyone. However, the products are mostly targeted at female audiences as the designed are made similarly to the Star's fashion or clothing. 
The shirts are and most products are simple as they can be worn daily and the price should be appropriate and affordable by majority of the customer, because the target audience are based on teenagers or young adults.

However for Demi, there are diverse range of products available to her audiences. It is opened to both male and female as well. The difference here, is that the products also vary when a new album releases so it matched the theme or the color. Also, her target audiences are both genders so her products have more variety. 

Evaluation 1c. - Digipak

Digipaks Evaluation

I have annotated the digipaks on Thinglink. I evaluated each point using features such as fonts, genres, representation of the star and imagery. 

Front Cover

Inside Cover

Back Cover 

With this digipaks, I have compared this to Selena Gomez's album "For You". I have chosen this album because the colors of the digipaks are very bright and vibrant. Also, the color schemes are very similar and appeals mostly to female. Moreover, the genres of the songs are quite similar so it could appeal to similar type of audiences.

Evaluation 1b

Conventions associated with your sub-genre

--> How are social groups or issues represented - think about what my video is about: love, partying, youth, fun, heartache - how did I present it?

• love
• fun/ enjoying life
• youth
• true identity

Love 

via GIPHY
The first scene is Abby (Artist) and her boyfriend (Rute) on a sofa bed just waking up. The mid, side-shot of the couple sleeping next to each other shows clearly the setting, and the status of the performers. The way she puts her hand on her boyfriend's chest, the way she positioned her body to face her boyfriend conveys that she is deeply in love and focuses just only on him. This scene is one of the most significant scenes in the music video because it shows clearly that the Artist is in love and is loved. However, after the first few scenes of the music video she becomes more opened to other genders and giving her a sense of confusion. After Abby wakes up, the male performer/ boyfriend also wakes up and stops Abby from walking away by grabbing her hand gently and dragging her back giving an impression of hanging on and shows that they both care and need each other. 

The use of Goodwin's theory also supports this music video. The principle of the links between the lyrics and visuals. This is supported by the lyrics "something inside me's change, I was so much younger yesterday". This conveys that the couple has changed because they fell in love with each other and they became something that they have not experience before. This can also be seen in the following giphy as well.


via GIPHY
Later on in the music video, the Star (Abby) found herself falling in love with her girl-friend. The scene was shot on a sports field where they spend a lot of time there. It is also where most feelings and emotions developed, because as Moji slowly moved her hands towards Abby's hand it conveys that Moji has feelings towards Abby and wants to be more than just "friends". 



via GIPHY
As the shot moves on, the star and her "friend" sat together in a living room where Moji makes another move again to show her true feelings. As they were having a fun time, they had a slight eye contact and Moji gently moved Abby's hair back to show her care. Therefore, this shows that there was something going on between them and it may be more than just "FRIENDS".


Fun/ enjoying life

via GIPHY
This is one of the middle scenes in the music video. The rhythm of the song here becomes more upbeat as Abby skips through and sliding her hands across the wall. Her bounces conveys that she has a care-free attitude while her motion of her hands and arms shows that she is feeling the vibe and having a time of her life. 

This is intertextual from the music video Boom Clap by Charli XCX. The scenes from the Boom Clap music video is very similar because of how she moves along through different locations. 

via GIPHY

via GIPHY
This is also another shot that portrays her enjoying life. The vibrant background colours and the bright graffiti wall suggests that the location is for "young, active teenage" and is an urban space to hang out casually. The long shot here shows the environment surrounding Abby as well as Abby. Conveying that she is not only having fun because she is, but also the atmosphere gives the impression of positivity and enjoyment. 

Youth/ Adulthood

via GIPHY


via GIPHY
As seen in these two scenes, both the Artist and her "special" friend (Moji) are having fun and this is usually portray in 'Youth'. The setting also supports the concept of youth as the greenness of the sports field shows that they are still at a student but are having fun on the fields as it gives more freedom than classrooms or rooms. 
The first gif of the girls dancing shows that they are having their moment and the upbeat rhythm of the song conveys the activeness of the performers. It also shows that youth is endless if anyone believe that they are young!
The lyrics "Till I tasted you" was also sung through the scene where Abby gets on Moji's back. It symbolize that throughout her time with Moji, she felt a connection with her and because of youth, she expresses herself by jumping onto Moji's back to give her a feeling of love and happiness. Their facial expressions also portray that they were having fun and is feeling the moment.


Identity

via GIPHY
"something inside me's changed, I was so much younger yesterday...". As you can see, Abby is sat between her boyfriend and her "special" friend. The focus here is on Abby's body positioning and her facial expressions. As she is about to sit down on the sofa next to her boyfriend, the lyrics "something inside me's changed" conveys that she is hesitated about who she really is. Her facial expressions are not as clear to what she really felt about both of them. The way she positioned her body against her boyfriend shows that she loves him more. On the other hand, her face is facing her friend and looking nervous and unsure. 
However, in the start of the music video when the same lyrics was sung, it was a different atmosphere and feeling because as she changed in the first place, she found her happiness which was her boyfriend. She believed that she really knew her real identity but she became uncertain because of her feelings towards her girl-friend later in the music video. 
This issue is a representation of what many teenagers are facing right now, which is their "true identity". This artist therefore portray this issue in her music video because to show that it is a normal thing to be unsure of your real identity and it may take time to realize your own self. 

Evaluation 1 - Codes and Conventions

Evaluation 1 - How do your products use or challenge conventions?

Conventions: the accepted/ expected ways of doing things

Conventions of music video....
--> following Andrew Goodwin's theory, my music video

: illustrate the relationship between lyrics and visual
because the lyrics is about a a girl "starving" for love, which in my music video it portrays that the girl is loving her life as a couple with her boyfriend but also there's a little plot twist where she has another feeling for another girl. But overall, I would say that it amplify because she is finding love and she loves it when her lovers (both her boyfriend and her female friend) with her. also, it emphasize that she is starving for more and is not as innocent as she was before.

This giphy below also shows how the visual link with the lyrics. "Something inside me has changed" was sung here and the visual illustrate how the Star realized that she is very in love with her boyfriend. As her boyfriend drags her back, there was a smile on her face conveying that she is enjoying the time and couldn't let him go. Portraying the Star has grown up and is experiencing a new phase in her life with her boyfriend. And something inside her has changed!

via GIPHY

:illustrate the relationship between music and visual
I believe that it illustrate because the positive, cheerful actions of the performers and co-performers. Also the when we edited the music video, the scenes are cut in sync with the beat of the song. However, we tried to make the scenes slow motion except the performance shot, but the music is mostly upbeat throughout the song and therefore I feel that the visual doesn't really follow the music. But overall, the visual illustrate the music because the song is happy and upbeat while the scenes are mostly happy and vibrant.

: use intertextuality
I have use intertextuality from many music videos. I have firstly used some of the couple parts from the music video"Rock Bottom" by Hailee Steinfeld. Nowadays, the music videos are montages of love stories



I have also snip some parts from the music video "Prefect Strangers" by Jonas Blue. The parts where the female actor is walking around in the colorful, vibrant market. I felt that the bright colors would make my music video more lively and more attractive, and also it can be used in my music video as well as the song is quite positive and upbeat.



Moreover, we have used intertextuality from the music video "Girls like Girls" by Hayley Kiyoko. Because we kind of change our plot a little bit in the end where the performer is not only into boys but also girls. Therefore, I have used this music video to show how the actress is also in a situation where she also has a feeling for another girl even though she has a boyfriend.
The part where the female friend (who likes the actress) looks at the actress with her boyfriend, is one of the main parts where I have intertextual into my music video.


via GIPHY


: Voyeurism
There was many voyeurism in this music video. There were many shots of the couple together and also scenes of the actresses having an intimate time together. Also, the actors (female) have apart of their body revealed. If their body were all covered, the music video would not look as appealing because the performer and actor may not look as attractive as a teenage girl. Moreover, the song is quite fun and therefore the feeling should be like people having fun and should have exposure. 

: Objectification 
As we target audiences most to the teenage female audiences, therefore I felt that the performer doesn't have a lot of objectification. However, there are some objectifications because in this modern era, females should appear to be "ideal" for the audiences. Because of this, most shots of the performer should appear to be appealing and even though they are natural shots, the scenes should be edited to get the most captivating part for the music video. The shots that were taken were mostly of the performer having fun naturally and her actions are not fixed to the plot. Because we have made the scenes more slow motion, the performer and the actors appear to have been more objectified as it emphasizes more on the performer's movements.
However, for the actor (male main) is not as objectified because he isn't the main focus. 

via GIPHY

: Some expression of the demands of the record label - How is my star represented?

My star is shown at a different perspective to famous stars such as Beyonce or Rihanna. These stars are portrayed as untouchable, queens and powerful in the music industry. However, for Abby, the record label have represented her as more ordinary and touchable. Also, she is symbolized as a "girl next door" because the record label wants her to be represented as a girl who has an ordinary life as a teenage girl who just loves to sing so the artist would be relatable to audiences life or teenage life. 

With boyfriend issues, shopping with friends, hanging out with friends in the music video this becomes even more relatable to teenage life and gives the audiences a feel of youthfulness and enjoy-fullness of the artist herself as well. 
On the other hand, the star herself is open to all genders, this is shown in the music video as well that she is not only restricted to one gender but to every. This is to say that the era has change and she is representing equality for every gender as everyone is the same. 
The music video may show that the star is confused about her sexuality but this was to show that this may happen to teenage life and its not wrong to choose any sexuality as long as you are happy about who you are. 

The band "t.A.t.u" also tried to show in their music video that everyone is the same and loving the same gender is alright. However, they have shown in a different way where it may have offended many. Many audiences felt that the band have promoted too much on lesbianism and pedophilia therefore the band did not send the right message through and got many critics. 

via GIPHY

Magazine

Hellooooo, 

For evaluation 3, I have to write up the steps to portray the artist and her new album. 
One of them was to promote the Star (Abby) on a teen magazine. 
Moji decided to help me photoshop the photo and produce a cover photo for Teen Magazine.

We firstly decided on what kind of magazine we want our Star to be in. 
I have suggested some such as Cosmopolitan,Seventeen, Nylon etc.
I want our magazine to be both readable by young teenagers and young adults. 

When I had some idea of the magazine in mind, Moji and I we took some time to choose the best photo. Because we had limited amount of photos that we shot, we decided to use the photo of Abby and Moji together to promote the music video. Also, our music video has a hidden symbol of self-realization and gender equality therefore using both girls attracts a wider audience base. 

It taken sometime to photoshop but Moji managed to edit it using the scene that I have taken at the Graffiti location.
We decided to call our Magazine "Teen Magazine" and Moji also used some of the phrases (intertextual) used to make it more realistic and more attractive as a magazine for young audiences to read. 

Evaluation 2 (Group task) - Plan

How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?

Explain how you developed your artist and music as brand - so all three products are easily identifiable as being connected.

Representation of the Star
My representation of the star is most likely to direct to 20-21st century audiences as the artist is open to all genders and ages without restrictions or discriminations. 

Therefore these are the main representation of the star which includes:

--> open to all genders (not restricted)

--> open minded to new ideas

--> friendly and generous, kind 

--> naive

--> artistic (digipaks and graffiti place)

Design Choices

• Font:                                                                                                                    Logo --> simple and clear but meaningful to the artist herself. The looped and rounded handwriting show artistry and creativeness which is also portrayed in all the three products.                                                               

I have researched the writing styles on the dailymail.co.uk website to get more insight of what the handwriting should be like if our artist have positive attitude, cheerful, openminded etc. 

Digipaks --> For the digipaks, the front cover page, we have decided to use curvy fonts. The design came from many sources which have different but positive meanings, such as the the rounded letters signifies creativity and artistry. The right slanted letters represents friendliness and values family and friends. The close connections of the letters symbolizes the carefulness of making decisions.

Website -->

• Color:                                                                                                                Website --> on the cover page, there is a lot of basic tone colors such as black, grey and white to show that the artist is a simple and basic person. However, throughout the website there is a lot of colors which appears mostly on the artist's clothing. The bright colorful colors that she wears also suggest that the artist herself is not restricted to just one color, and she can wear any color. Therefore this can entice more audiences as the artist is open to many styles and colors.                                                     Digipaks -->  the color is more intense and bright as it gives a sense of friendly and artistry way. Also it makes sure that the artist is different and stands out from other artists in the industry. Also the pink, purplish and blue colors represents a feminine color therefore can attract more on the female audiences as well as many target audiences from different age groups due to the variety of poses. The pastel colors also convey that she is a soft and kind person. Therefore the songs are not seen as "hard rock" or "punk". Also it suggests feminism as the colors are more girly-like. 

Music video: the artist is wearing white as this signifies equality as the color can be worn by all genders comfortably. Therefore this can convey that the artist is open to all genders and both male and female audiences. Also as I have mentioned, she is a simple person and therefore her basic clothing shows that comfort comes before anything else which can entice more audiences which are simple and doesn't like as much bling or accessories. However, in the background, there is a lot of color going on, this suggests that the mood is positive and conveys to audiences that the artist herself is enjoying herself and the audiences should do as well. 

• Imagery:                                                                                                          Digipaks --> The images on the digipaks are mostly "unintentional" poses and they look more natural than purpose shots. Each picture here signifies a different side to Abby and portrays what types of songs are included in this digipaks as well.                                                                                                                Music video --> the imagery here also show some "unintentional" shots as well because its mostly the artist having her moment therefore it tends to not look like she is looking at the camera. Also, the shots look more soft and not as aggressive as the artist is in love and the scenes are mostly positive therefore they appear smooth.                                                                                                                   Website --> the imagery here on the first page of the website appears to be more dreamy. This is to show a more relax side and to make the audiences not rush through the website. 

• Language:                                                                                                             Music video --> the language here is informal and can be heard throughout many age groups as it can relate to many audiences. However, the older age groups may not understand as it is kind of like "modern" style words or phrases.                         Website --> the language here is not as formal as well because it can attract more audiences as the language will sound more chill and not as formal. Therefore audiences will feel more close to the artist herself. 

Music video - bloopers

Hi,

During the shoot, some of the scene has so many takes therefore I want to share some parts because it is one of the funniest moments and experience.

Also, this shows that the scenes are not as easily made and it needs time to produce a great music video with a limited amount of time:)

I have appeared in 2 scenes in this blooper as well, because Abby tried to help me improve my shooting skills therefore she took shots of me to illustrate the shot that should be taken. It actually made clear to me of what I should do and what can I do further to extend the scenes and make it more meaningful.

Plan for evaluation 3 part 2

How would your work be distributed as a real media product?

As I have discussed with Mr. Harrison, we talked about how to link the website, digipaks and music video together. 
We believed that these things are all linked through social media and sometimes it is quite hard to understand how audiences are gain. Because it is hard to know where the start of these audiences are as the artists may not be their first thing to watch on social media.

Therefore now I have to think about how I can portray my artist to the audiences and how am I going to reach all of them.
Before and after the launch we are going to carefully drip feed our audiences little by little so the audiences will get more entice because they want to know more.

1. For the first launch, I am thinking of giving clues to the audiences on social media such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr.
2. The day after that, the artist will post a picture or video doing covers as a another clue that she is making a new track or album.
3. After a few days, the press will write some news on their website about a new artist doing an album and will be out during the summer!
4. Artists and actors start a trend on social media by using #youngeryesterday which is a part of the lyrics - Artists and actors also start posting pictures of themselves when younger with the hashtag. Other people join it, making it more "VIRAL"
5. Artist also join in to post (drip feed) on her social media such as Instagram, Facebook, twitter
6. Seasonal photoshot e.g. Christmas

Where will you find our music?

--> Spotify: this is one of the most well-known website for music industry, also all age groups are using it nowadays therefore it gives a wider range of age group for the target audience.

Spotify is also included or tagged along with many social media websites and therefore this makes the exposure of the song easier.

I believe that by posting our music and/or our music video on Spotify will make people find our song easier as it can be found on both social media easily and on Spotify itself.

Where will you find our music video?

--> Vevo: Vevo is a multi-national video hosting service which host music videos from song music entertainment, and universal musical group. It is also posted on Youtube as well to reach more audiences. 

= This is a great advantage because it can be posted on different sources, giving a broader range of audiences.

How to get people to our site?

--> Social Media such as Instagram, twitter, Facebook, Youtube

--> Merchandise e.g. hats, sweaters

--> official posters

--> News article (teen mag)

How do you use your merchandise effectively? 
--> artist wears sweaters, shirts, hats occasionally and sometimes post on social media to promote the product. 
Mostly, when the artist wears the merchandise in style, audiences will often buy the product as they may also be in style like the artist. Audiences may buy it as they are crazy about the artist already so anything that is related to the artist the fans will also buy as collection.


How do you get people to use your social media?
--> other Artists or actors or famous people promote the artists on their own social media. Such as posting the hash tags, taking photos with the artist, post the artist herself producing the song. 
--> teen articles = articles which include the artists Instagram page, Facebook page etc. so the audiences who are interested can continue to research her after reading the article. Also write about the artist briefly (drip feed) so the audiences want to know more.
Start trend on social media!
--> Snapchat = new popular app! people can track/ follow what the artists are doing each day or hour and therefore the audiences are more up to date.