Our Mini Project

Over the next five weeks, we will be creating a Promotional Package for a music artist (non-copyright source). We will produce:

         - a CD digipak

         - a music video

         - a poster advertisement 

The music video must be approximately one minute and contain evidence of editing on the beat and lip-syncing. 


Music:

For our task we wanted to find a song that was acoustic with a female singer. We found the artist Gabrielle Aplin and listened to her EP. My group and I decided to use the song 'Panic Chord' and so emailed the manager for consent in creating promotional package which is non-profitable. (Below is the email to the manager).

Locations:

Our ideas for the setting of our music video is in a natural, open landscape with fields and a river. We found a location which we believe will create our intended look. Here are some photos:

Actress/Costume:

Once we decided on the music and location, we needed to choose an actress as one of the specifications for our music video was to include an aspect of lip-syncing. As this is only a short project, we decided upon a member of our group to be the artist. This means we will be able to spend more time on other aspects such as the camera work rather than having to instruct an actress who would not initially understand our intended outcome. Beth also fits the specification of the artist because not only does she look similar to Gabrielle Aplin and in the same age range, but she plays the guitar so we will be able to maintain the verisimilitude by her actually playing. 

Our next task was choosing an outfit for our artist to wear. We knew from our setting that the costume needed to be a dress so that it is flowing and fits in with the natural environment. Therefore, we short-listed three outfits:

We liked this first outfit because it is a natural colour. The sleeves are light and the whole dress is flowing. It is also quite short which will appeal to teenage audiences, conveying her youth. However we feel that this outfit is quite plain in colour and we may need an outfit that will make the artist stand out more prominently in colour than this dress. 

This second outfit is more sophisticated yet simple with the polka dots. The dress pulls in at the waist showing more of the artist's figure, which will also attract females in wanting to be similar. However we felt that the dress may not be appropriate for our setting as it is not 'floaty'. 

The final dress is the one which we have chosen to be in the music video. We feel that the dress is flowing and has enough detail at the top to not be too plain. The dress shows the artist's figure but also falls lower in the leg which may suggest femininity but also modesty. The dress has a natural colour and a vintage look which we think will fit in with the mise-en-scene of the setting. However we will also bear in mind the conventions of typical music videos, where numerous costume changes is very common, to maintain the audience's attention. Therefore although we have chosen this dress the other two can be possibilities for our music video. 

Storyboard:

Weather Updates:


It has been difficult to plan a day for filming as our setting is outside and thus we depend upon the weather. Therefore we are continually checking a few days in advance to see the weather forecast and we have plans to film on Friday when it is predicted to be sunny. 

Prop list:
Alice- Picnic basket, Guitar, Jewellery and trinkets, Nail vanish, Ipod

Beth- Dress, Basket, Make-up, Camera
Jess- Speakers, Trinkets

Charlie- Glitter, Card

Group- Tripod, Camera


Digipak Ideas:

Poster Ideas:

Audience Research

We have conducted some audience research into the idea of what our target audience of teenagers prefer to see from an artist. 

Questionnaire:

Questionnaire Results:

Our sample consisted of 16 students, with an equal number of both genders. We kept the sample within the age range of our target audience of between 15-19. We did this so we could see the most popular results within our target audience age range and make the promotional package best suited to our demography. 

Question 1:

We asked this question in order to see the preference of the age range. From the pie chart, we found that the most favourite genre of music is indie/rock. This suggests that an indie/rock band would be best for our video. However the genre of pop/acoustic was very closely second in the most favourite. These results suggest that the majority of our targeted age group like music with instruments in like the guitar. Therefore when looking for an artist, we will consider if they can not only sing but also play the guitar. Also this means that we need to incorporate the conventions of these two main genres into our music video which will attract audiences.

Question 2:

When looking for an artist we also had to consider if we wanted to attract a particular gender by using a singer of the opposite sex. We found that our sample preferred a male artist however there was a large number of people who preferred a female artist.

However, our sample size has to be taken into account as it was only small. Also a large quantity had no preference which enables us to use other aspects to attract audiences. Although the male artist received the highest result, we feel that for this short project it would be easier and less time consuming for us to have a female artist which would mean creating a more pop/acoustic sound. However we will consider these findings for our main project and may decide it would be more beneficial to use a male artist or even a band with a more indie/rock sound for our final project. 

Question 3:

We asked this question because we wanted to see what consumers of our age group were most influenced by in a promotional package. We asked some questions on a CD cover and poster but it seems that the music video is one, if not the most important factor. Over half of our sample felt that the music video does influence their opinion of a song. This makes us aware that there is a responsibility for the music video to represent the song in the best way possible so that it positively influences the audience. 

We asked this question to see if the consumers in our age range take into consideration the appearance of the album cover. About two thirds said that they were influenced by the album cover when buying the CD. Also, just over a quarter said that they are not influenced  by the album cover and only a small percentage said only sometimes they were influenced. So what we need to focus on is how appealing the album cover is to our target audience as to many it deeply influences their opinions and chance of buying the CD. Therefore, we need to take into consideration aspects such a colour palette and font styles and see what our target audience like.