Brainstormed Ideas

Here are my ideas for my music video, which I have brainstormed. I was picturing my bad girl having an argument with her parents and storming upstairs to pack her bags to leave home. I will film her packing and also leaving the house. She may then either get on a bus or treck up to the woods and set up camp there, however I think she needs to have a journey before she gets to the woods. I kind of pictured her walking through a nightclub scene with the drunk men crowding around and intimidating her, kind of telling her that she is out of her depth and she needs to reach out and give up and just go home to her family, however she will carry on and end up in the woods where she will be slumped down at the bottom of a tree trunk, feeling sorry for herself and feeling a sense of despair. There will also be cutaways shown of her phone ringing on her bed from her family, ringing to see where she is because they are clueless and she has left without any kind of warning.

Titanium Video

I like the overal tone of the Titanium video and I think it shows an example of how I would like my bad girl to pack her bags and then run away. I love the use of the camera work and how technical it is when he is walking out of the school and the camera follows him from the side and tracks him through doors etc, which would obviously be difficult to recreate, however it was really interesting and clever how they did it.

I loved the part when the boy was in the woods and the different shots that're used to capture his panic and need to escape:

Alot of the post-production work must have worked on the slow motion pace of the boy when he is moving to connote the suspense and the worry that he boy is feeling as he is escaping his home town and planning to run away.

The mise en scene has also been though carefully about as the boy is wearing a red hat, which is unusual as he is trying not to be found, yet the red hat stands out the most. I thought a lot about my mise en scene when filming my rough version, as I chose to use boots, a rock ACDC top and a denin jacket with dark eye liner, to create a raggered look and also to make my actor look 'rebelish'. For my final piece I will take inspiration from the Titanium video, as this is an influencial video for my project.

The moving images link well with the beat of the song because when the boy places his foot down on the twigs and a close up is shown, there is a beat/bang on the track, which works really well together.

When the boy comes out of the woods, it kind of looks like it jumps to a different location with the stone statues, however it works really well and this was one of the things that I was worried about as I was wondering how I would create a smooth transition between the different locations that I want to use.

My Pitch For My Dreams Album

My Dreams Pitch

Magazine Advert Research

Taylor Swift
I wasn't able to find a specific magazine article advertising Taylor's Fearless Album, however I have found some promotional material.

I found this poster for the Fearless Tour, which promotes her album well also. This image does feature in her digipak, so that means that the same variety of images are used to promote her as an artist, allowing me to use similar images to promote my album. 

 

I also found this magazine front cover which is promoting Taylor's album as the album cover image has been used for the cover of the magazine, which is a great way to promote effective material. 

KT Tunstall
I have managed to find a magazine article for KT's album, Invisible Empire/Cresent Moon, which is interesting and allows me to understand how to structure a magazine advertisement for my digipak/CD:

The article discuss's the themes and subjects within KT's new album and how she has developed as an artist with a "more mature sound". At the end of the article, there is a summary of the opinion of the writer, which is nice and summarises the article well.

I also found this website, which involves a scripted conversation between KT and one of the magazine workers, which is great as the audience will engage with this as they like to know about the artists personal life and get more involved in specific details:

http://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/kt-tunstall

Colbie Caillat
I have found a piece of advertising for the album:
Colbie Adverts

This is a great summary and a great piece of advertising for Colbie's album, Coco, as it also includes some of her top tracks that have been recommended.

I have find a type of magazine advert for Colbie's newest album, "All Of You", which is all I can find because Coco is an old album and there won't be many articles left.

Sara Bareilles

The Blessed Unrest by Sara Bareilles

by Robert Laurella

After releasing her first full length studio album, Careful Confessions, in 2004, Sara Bareilles has toured around the world, released three other albums, and has had several chart-topping singles. After listening to any of her songs, it isn’t hard to see why.
If her first three studio albums were any indication of how talented she is, her latest album The Blessed Unrest, is her greatest accomplishment so far. The first single off the album, Brave, was released in April 2013, and packs a punch both lyrically and musically, for which the 33 year-old songstress is infamous. While other pop stars are releasing songs left and right about love, falling in love, breaking up, and/or partying (no complaints here – I love ke$ha as much as the rest of the world does), Bareilles has released a self-esteem boosting buoy of a song amidst a sea of cotton candy lyrics, bubblegum vocals and overly produced drum beats; a life vest to which we, the innocent public, can cling during a storm of awkward rap verses, dubstep interludes, and Pitbull collaborations.
Bareilles is known for her powerhouse vocals and aptitude at the piano. However, this has not stopped her from pushing her own boundaries, including songs that don’t rely heavily on her piano playing, as well as songs that take a step away from her usual slow ballads, and demonstrate a more upbeat, songs-to-get-ready-to in the morning side of her musical talent. Little Black Dress is my favourite of the upbeat songs on the album, and I’ve listened to it on several occasions while getting ready to go out – although, for obvious reasons, I’ve had to change little black dress to little black sweater/shirt/hat while singing into my canister of hairspray.
If the upbeat songs on the album are a jar of cookies, then her slow ballads are the whole damn Pillsbury factory. I’m not entirely convinced that Bareilles is not, in fact, a siren. Her voice is like a brilliantly glowing sunset; an endless infinity of constellations; a cascade of maple syrup atop a precarious tower of pancakes. Her slower songs convey a vulnerability that most pop princesses are much happier ignoring, as well as intelligence, understanding, sensibility, and strength. Manhattan is my favourite of the slow songs, as it is the most reminiscent of her early albums – just Bareilles and a piano. However, this is like picking a favourite flavour of ice cream – while I’ve decided on a song I like more than the rest, I won’t say no to a jar (or six or seven) of the rest.
Overall, The Blessed Unrest is a masterpiece of an album. Mixing energetic yet wise upbeat songs with golden, silky lullabies, Bareilles has once again earned her spot on VH1’s Top 100 Greatest Women in Music.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Sony Music Canada

Above is an magazine advertisement for The Blessed Unrest album. It has been given 5/5 star rating, which is an advertisement in itself.

Here is another article:

Sara Bareilles: The Blessed Unrest

08 July 2013 by MarySandra Do in Blog Culture Culture Music- No Comments

A gifted vocalist, songwriter, and musician; Sara Bareilles is about to unveil her latest piece of work. July 16th is marked as the release date for her latest: The Blessed Unrest. This is Sara’s first full-length album since 2010. The album is comprised of thirteen songs with “Brave” as the lead single (released on April 23rd). She recently finished her “Brave Enough” tour having covered 18 cities while promoting her single. “Brave” was received very well and was hailed as one her most “anthemic” songs to date. Hopefully The Blessed Unrest garners equally positive reviews.
For those who are unfamiliar with Ms. Bareilles, here are a few words. Considered a legend/icon by Pandora.com, Sara cites her earliest musical influences as Billy Joel, Elton John, and Fiona Apple (among others). During an interview, she once mentioned, “I’ve always gravitated towards storytellers…”. She clearly has her own voice as an artist, demonstrating unique songwriting skills and vocal ability-combining jazz, soul, and pop.
Bareilles first appeared on the music scene in 2007 with her debut hit single, “Love Song”, garnering tons of fans in the process. She followed up a few years later with a refined album titled Kaleidoscope Heart. Despite the slight gaps between releases, she has never failed to create beautiful music for her loyal fans to enjoy. Known for her smooth soulful voice and benevolent demeanor, Sara is sure to captivate even more fans on her upcoming tour with One Republic. She is scheduled to embark on the tour next month which ends in mid-September.

Gabrielle Aplin
I can mainly just find reviews of the albums, which I don't really want but that is advertising in itself. Here is an example: Magazine Review

So overall, I have gathered some research on some magazine articles, however there isn't many online, so I that has put me at a slight disadvantage.

Taylor Swift - Fearless Digipak

I have found some examples of the Fearless digipak, which is interesting and will relate to my digipak:

As you can see, the majority of the digipak is made up of images of Taylor with lyrics across the top. The colours change in relation to the songs and the mood of the song/lyrics. The double pages mainly interlink, like the song White Horse and You Belong With me. If you look above, the picture which relates to You Belong With Me, carries onto the White Horse page, which is nice, as they link together, however I think i'd prefer to have my songs seperate, along with the images.

Great Response

I have just received a survey answer from another person and this is really what I wanted to hear:

They say that they would retain the artist singing in the chorus and use an actor for the remainder of the video, which is what I have actually decided to do.

I am going to use Jessica Hay to play my 'bad girl', as people may become confused and think that the actress used to be a rebel and mess up the whole portrayal of the video.

Survey Answers

I have gathered some responses from Survey Monkey after sending out an email to a range of different people. It hasn't gone as well as I expected as people aren't as detailed as i'd hoped.

 

I have now changed Question 6, so that they have to answer it, as that is my main question. I am still trying to gather information on what I can film. I have got a suggestion of showing the 'music box' at the end, which is interesting and I did contemplate this when I was editing my rough music video.

 

After speaking to others, I have got a few ideas:

- showing the 'bad girl' in the woods, as if she has been camping out and has ran away from home

- don't like the lyrics explicitly to the video, have it more like Ed Sheeran's A Team video, which is interesting.

- re-shoot the 'bad girl' black and white parts

- have cutaways and choppy editing as the song builds up

 

I am going to gather some more surveys together and see if any ideas spring from them, however I am going to brainstorm some ideas myself now. 

 

Survey Responses:

 

Pitching My Album

 

 

 

 

Survey - Audience Feedback

After I created my rough music video, it was suggested that I include more narrative within my music video to ensure that there was more of an ongoing storyline within it. As a result, I wasn't sure what I could add in. So, I have decided to gather some audience feedback to get their opinions on what I could do to add in this extra narrative.

I have sent out an email with my rough music video link and my survey link, which looks like this:

I created my survey on Survey Monkey and this is what I have produced:
Survey

Hopefully this will generate a wide range of audience feedback, enabling me to get some great ideas of what to film for my final product.

Institutions and Genre

Taylor Swift
Taylor is signed to Big Machine Records, which is a major record label as they do have Taylor signed to them. They're an independent American record label, specialising in country music.

Distributor:

- Republic Records (USA)

- Universal Music Group (international)

Gabrielle Aplin

Gabrielle is signed to Parlophone, which is a major record label, who also has Lily Allen signed to them. They are based in the UK, however originated in Germany.

Distributor:

- Warner Music Group

Sara Bareilles

Sara is signed to Epic Records, which is an major American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment.

Distibutors:

- Self distributed (US)

- Sony Music (International)

- Epic Label Group (UK)

Colbie Caillat

Colbie is signed to Universal Republic Records, which is a major record label.

Distributors:

- Self distributed (US)

- Virgin EMI Records (UK)

- Universal Music Group (Worldwide)

KT Tunstall

KT is signed to Relentless Records, which is a semi-independent record label. At present, the label is part of Sony Music in the UK.

Distributor:

- Capitol Music Group



As you can see, all of the artists that I have looked at are signed by major record labels, therefore I need to choose my record label in relation to this genre and in this case it will be a major record label.

I am going to go with Relentless Records as I believe that I am most like KT Tunstall and my music is also similar. So that is my chosen institution.  

Mock Up CD Designs

In preparation for my presentation next week, I am just mocking up some CD designs of what might be a possibility as a result of what my research has shown. 

CD Artwork and Digipack's of Analysed Artists

I have found the CD artwork of the artists that I have previously analysed and I am now going to look at the way they're:

- Branded
- Imagery used
- Logo used
- Relevent Context

And as a result of this, I will create my presentation of how I plan to have my album artwork.

You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift

I have always loved this album, as it is designed like a fairy tale and even the music video that I analysed is. The way that the 'prince' meets the 'princess', it's just so lovely. Taylor Swift doesn't really have much of logo, however during her concerts and on her platinum edition album of Fearless, she makes a heart with both hands: 

The name is extremely similar to Sara Bareilles', as they both connote the inability to be yourself and do what you want to and not to be scared of other people's thoughts. The colour of this album is very fairytale like, with the creaminess of the corset that Taylor is wearing on the back cover and there is a hint of browns within the album cover. The writing on most of the albums that i've chosen is mainly white on the front of it, so I think that's what i'll use for my text colour and then on the back of Taylor's album, the text is brown on a light cream background, which complements the picture of Taylor on the back next to the song names. This is what I could do for my album - choose the back colour scheme to fit with the image. 

The text seems to be the opposite to what the rest are: the artist name is in handwritten style text, yet the actual album title in clear and in capitals, which is strange as the rest of the albums that i've analysed are mainly the other way round, so I guess during the designing of my piece, I can choose.

The overall mood of this album is happy and positive, due to the warm colour scheme with the browns and creams. I like this effect, however I think I will go for more the colours of the forest that I filmed in, as it fits in with my video

Invisible Empire - KT Tunstall

KT Tunstall's Invisible Empire album is much different to her other albums, however she has grown as an artist and has made the album based on the passing of her father. I wouldn't say that she particular has a logo to brand herself, however on this album the main feature would be the colour and the environment, with the red and white stripes featuring in between her text and also on the actual CD, keeping a fluent, flowing range of colours throughout. I think the stripes link in with the whole 'warrior feeling' of the album, which is also shown in her music video, with links both the CD and the music video together, meaning that I could do that for my piece. The white and black is also apparent within her clothing that she has on, which again draws up another link.

The text that has been used is extremely simplistic and again, white. I think this is extremely ironic because the topic which she is singing about and basing her album around is very deep and complex, yet the front cover of the album and the text is rather simple. This may link to how laid back and well she is coping with the whole passing of her father and how this album will outline her thoughts and feelings clearly. The whole background of the album cover is really nice, as the front and back link together. This is much like a previous album that i've already made. The colour scheme and idea links together. I think KT's images that she's used show the nature of her reflection of events and how there is rather a lot of thoughts going on during her life. The text is also shown at a slight slant, much like it is done it italics. This is interesting, as I wouldn't have normally gone for the italic look for both the title and the sub title of the album, however it really works for this one. On the back cover, all of the song titles are shown at the bottom centre in quite a small font, bringing the main focus to KT's image. I really like the way this album has been done, as it's very simple and in a way, the simplicity does brand KT as a laid back artist would enjoys making music and isn't afraid to do so.

The sign/symbol that is branding this album would the stripes, however this isn't apparent through all of her albums, just this one. This shows that KT doesn't have a particlar sign to brand her music, however she has the ability to change the style of her artwork, depending on the style of her album which is a really nice idea. This would be a nice way to create my piece.

The tone of the album is quite 'breezy'. I don't know why I have described it like this, it just feels very laid back and reflective, which gives a lovely feel to the album. This is done through the use of the colours and the imagery that has been used on the album cover. The CD is also very simplistic, which allows the audience to just listen to the music and really take in what she has to say and the message that she is trying to get across.

Colbie Caillat - Bubbly

In Colbie's album 'Coco' there is a clear logo which is the flower. Colbie uses the flower on most of her album covers, which brands her as an artist. There are a range of different colours, however the front of the album seems to be very cooler, bright colours, yet the back and the CD seems to very warm colours. The whole album works very well together, with the the main colour being white on the front cover, with a range of teals, browns and yellows coming through from the text and the flower and also her skin tone and hair colour. The back cover is more browny colours, with hints of yellow coming through in the text (times of the songs). The white colour has been repeated within the song titles and the text which is on the spine. The flower is also apparent on the back of the album and also the CD. The CD however, is a completely different colour to the rest of the album colours, as it's red. There isn't red shown anywhere else. I think this really connotes the warmness of the album and the humble feel in which the songs create towards the target audience.

The text seems to be very personal, as it's more like handwriting with it being slightly curly and uneven. I do like this text, however I don't think i'd personally choose this. Although the rest of the songs that feature on my album will be very much love based, I think Colbie's songs are more acoustic and soft, which allows the text to complement the song style. My songs however are more rock/pop, probably linking in more with KT's text style.

The main background of the front and back cover is taken up by an image of Colbie and I think this add's to the innocent and humble feel to the album. I think I would like my album to have an image of me on the front and back, however I would like it to link together like the KT Tunstall album, much like an image of me on the front facing the camera in the woods and the back cover an image of me facing away and walking away like I do in the end of my video.

The overal mood of the album is very 'warm' and inviting, leading to her fan base and target audience wanting to buy the album.

I think the front cover links more to the music video that I analysed, so there is a link shown between one of the songs on the album and the whole album.

The Blessed Unrest - Sara Bareilles



This album links directly to the video I think, as Sara is shown being 'Brave' in her album, linking in with the music video that I analysed. This shows that almost all of the albums that I have analysed show a link between the album and the music video. There isn't a clear logo that is shown on this album, or in any of her other albums, so I guess her logo is just herself, as she appears on the front of every one of her albums. The colour of the album links very well with my product, as some of my music video is in black and white, linking my research in with my product. 'The Blessed Unrest' is a really nice name for this album, as it connotes that people shouldn't rest and they should go out and conquer their dreams, much like my album is like as I call it 'My New Dreams' and also it links in very well with the video that I analysed 'Brave'. The imagery that is used is very similar to the KT and Colbie album because all of the artists have featured on the front and the back cover, which I think is particularly nice. Sara's album however links in more with KT's, as the front and back do have a link, as the net that is shown on the front cover is also shown on the back cover. I like the idea that the both sides should link.

The text is really a mixture between straight forward and handwritten, much like a mix between KT and Colbie's albums texts. I like this, as her target audience is able to be clear that it is her music, however the personal feel is brought into it through the use of the handwritten typography style. Now that I see a link between them both and not just one or the other, I like the way they work together and I think this could be an option for my album.

Although the colours of the album are quite dark and mysterious, with the use of the black and white and the contrast, I think the overall tone and mood of the album is particularly positive, as Sara is shown smiling on the album front cover and an expression of reflection is shown on her face on the back cover, which is quite nice. The bottom picture shows part of the digipack and there is an image of Sara walking along a tightrope  possibly trying to imply to her target audience that they should be 'Brave' and go out and be who they want to be. 

Please Don't Say You Love Me - Gabrielle Aplin

I absolutely love this album the most. I think it is beautiful. There isn't a clear logo that can be identified from this album, as it is her first album, however I think her 'brand' is basically herself and her songwriting skills. I love the connotations that come of the album, as it is named 'English Rain' and Gabrielle is shown on a beach in black and white, however the only thing in colour is her umbrella. This highlights that although the English weather is bleak where she lives, it is her hometown and there are bright aspects to the 'English Rain'. This is the most artistic album that i've analysed so far, with the imagery of herself and then the colourful umbrella and the back of the album cover just showing an arrangement of colourful flowers, which is very unique and unusual. The use of the black and white really links in well with my work, as my narrative scenes appear in black and white, which is good as there is a link between her album and my work. On the other hand, her album is different to the previous 4 albums that i've analysed, as she doesn't appear on the front and back cover, which is unusual for this genre, however I think I will be going for the look that I appear on both covers and they link together, as that what the majority of this genre and research has shown and I love the idea of it. 

The text is extremely similar to Sara's album as title and the artist name is shown in exactly the same way and a similar text. I do like this idea as it brings a sense of personality into the album, as the album title does look hand written, which I think is unique to this genre as most of the artists within it do write their own music and lyrics, so it all links in great with my piece.

As I mentioned previously, the use of the black and white and then the colourful umbrella does bring out a happy side to the bleak weather and I think that the overall tone of this album is cheery and unique. I think this because Gabrielle isn't shown to be unhappy on the front cover and also not in the digipak. I really do like the digipak and it was a similar idea to what I had in mind for my album, to show images of me doing gigs and playing my guitar. The Taylor Swift album also includes lyrics within her digipak like Gabrielle does.