Excellent your response is detailed and through and you have been creative with your blogs, I particularly like the use of headings with good layout and design - excellent exploration of logo.  You have a secure knowledge and understanding of who you want your artist to be signed to; perhaps you could link this further by stressing the advantages that your artist has signed to the particular record label. 
Your need to identify your target audience and have to profile them. Develop this with the use of VALS.  Good research into CD covers and you have a wide range of examples, and this would be developed further if you can link the real product to how it will influence your own designs.

Excellent blogging of media and online age - how does McLuhan' idea's work with your blog?

Discussions and debates of the online age

In 1964 Marshall Mcluhan says, “we shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us”. From what i understand of Mcluhan's statement, we develop technology which then in turn advances us. However the opposing argument is that we knew how to live without them when they weren’t accessible but now that we have technology nobody could fully function without it. Mcluhan is suggesting that there is a two-way relationship between the tools that we use. Our generation and the one above, where teenagers and businessmen are the top culprits of being dependent on technology, where as the older generation is happy without it. I believe that the people are beginning to let technology determine our lives. Starting with 'stay at home mums' that have a busy schedule with their children and so order their groceries online and get it delivered to their house instead of driving to the supermarket. We rely on these tools to get on with our day to day activities. The proliferation in using the internet to perform basic tasks such as this is what will set people into becoming utterly dependent on having the internet. 

Michael Wesch argument is that ‘the machine is us/ing us.’  This is a different perspective from Mcluhan who claims that technology is bettering man kind. Wesch is concerned that technology may in fact de-humanities us. Facebook is another social networking site which lets people communicate with one another. However, Facebook can get your information and send junk mail to your Hotmail account. A similar question is asked about Facebook and how if it defines our lives. The people who advocate this in the industry are advertisement companies who get profit from advertising their products through Facebook. 

Narration

The narrator tells the story of the song through the video. Our narrator in our song is the band because they are telling the story of a couples break up, keeping the story separate from themselves. The point of view is important because it is positioning the audience in taking a certain angle of vision. The message is constructed in storyboarding of whichever point of view we want the audience to associate with, which is why it should be carefully analysed. We have decided to apply narrative through the performance so that the story is separate from the band. Sometimes in music videos, the artist will narrate as well as being the story itself. An example for where this is applied is in Beyoncé’s song ‘Irreplaceable’. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EwViQxSJJQ&ob=av2e

One of our group members has informed me that the name of our band, '3s a crowd' already exists as a band. I then came up with the name 'Synergy'. I chose it because it is a typical term used in media to describe co-operation and working together. This gives a nice image for the band, in that they are a strong group. We also decided to get rid of '3s a crowd' because we have considered using more band members and so the message would no longer be relevant. 

Digipak covers of similar CD covers for our band

 

Since our band is breaking into the industry and are unknown to the world, they need to show their band members to the public so that the public can identify with them for the fist time. This contributes to the star image because they are being established in a visual sense, this is where music videos play a big factor. The target audience of the band would relate to the band because of their style and looks which would make for sales. All of these album covers were probably the first of their covers because as the artist becomes more popular, there is no need to present themselves onto the cover. They can put an image relating to their music or theme. 

Institutional context of your 'You Me at Six'

-The labels for You Me at Six are Virgin, Epitaph and Slam Dunk.
- Virgin records began as an independent, British recording company in the early 1970s. However since then it has branched worldwide and has become big in America. Virgin has produced subsidiary labels, however the success of them failed and often times were reduced to surrendering their artists to Virgin. Since Virgin made secure nests in America, their artists, unlike many British labels, can be transmitted worldwide. 

-Virgin is one of the UKs largest privet companies. There was revenue of £250m in 1986 on the stock exchange. The company became valued at £240m after the decision was made to make the company privet. The reasons for this were because the founder, Richard Brandson did not wish to conform to the rules of leading public regulated companies. He also found it time consuming and costly to report back to share holders. The share price began to fall, which is why I believe it to have been a good decision of Brandson’s to close the company to becoming privet. The shares were bought back at the same price as when they were sold and the business went back to privet ownership. The company invested in other shares in the market without the repercussions that multinational companies tend to fall under. 

- The fact that You Me at Six are represented by a company with such a large success rate, makes them a good commodity. 

-The target audience would range between fifteen and twenty-one year olds, as there music exhibits elements of a young nature. The audience can be young men as well as women because of their style that men would like to emulate.


resources: 'Exploring Corporate Strategy' esecourses.com/cfincase.pdf

My logo design ideas

Since this is a new band on the market, I chose to represent a deer in my logo displays to show the potential leap in their career. The colour scheme I went for was dark brown and cherry red because they are more or a manly colour and a woman's. I wanted to involve natural elements, so I tried out a rose, leaf, tree, and fire backdrop.

Pitch feedback

The general over view from Luke was that he liked how we were representing the narrative of the story through the dancers and having the band as narrators. He commented on how we could not use our initial location at the mansion, since there had been some previous issues with that location because of the sound. We have chosen to try and find a similar room, along the lines of a victorian style drawing room.

Tuesday 20th September- continued discussion into target audience

Continued development on the pitch and target audience

Watched an interview with Jerry Goolsby whose general message is that the music taste of a person who is 23 will be significantly different from someone who is 40. You need to have a specific audience that your targeting, or else you don’t have a product. Whilst Goolsby's theory is interesting and is certainly applicable in lots of cases, I would also argue that it does not always apply. Other artists such as Adele, Rolling Stones, for example have wide appeal across broad age groups.

We revaluated our group's target audience and came to the conclusion that the primary target is 15-21 year old boys and girls. The person would be quite involved with music as it not the kind of band you would listen to on the offchance. Someone who goes to concerts would be a keen listener of our band.

Defining an audience:

-       The audience is constructed by details. Rather than thinking of the audience as a mass you need to look at the age range and what is of interest. Segmenting the audience into mainstream or niche.  The segmentation can be achieved both psychographically and demographically.

-       Demographic segmentation is where an audience is split according to numerous significant social criteria e.g. class, race, sexuality, gender.  JICNARS scale is one of the most common demographic approaches that involve the audience.

-       The JICNARS (joint advertising committee for television advertising research) scale:

-       A- Higher management/administration/professional ( a vice president of a company,

-       B- middle management/administration/professional (teacher, store manager, journalist) largest spending power

-       C1- Supervisory/clerical/ junior management (secretary)

-       C2- skilled manual (builder, plumber)

-       D- Semi and unskilled manual (fastfood worker, shop worker)

-       E- subsistence income/ pensioners/widows/ casual labour/ unemployed

The majority of music sales come from rows C-E because

 Psychographic segmentation is an amalgamation of a consumers profile and the ideas about how they manage their life. To predict consumption of the public, various attitudes, values, beliefs and ‘lifestyle’ choices are sorted into a number of specific categories.  Successful market is premised upon who is your market.

People are broken down also into different type groups as; actualises, fulfillers, achievers, and experiencers. Our group is working with ‘experiencers’, which is the teenage category.

The broken down teenage category;

Cowboys- who want easy money

Cynics- who have to have something to complain about

Utopians- who want the world to be a better place

Traditionalists- who wants things to stay the same

Drop outs- who shun commitment of any kind

Drifters- who are not sure what they want

Groupers- who just want to be accepted

Rebels- who wish to remake the world in their own image

Innovators- who wish to make their mark

Puritans- who wish to feel virtuous

Trendies- they crave the attention and admiration of their peers

Our group category is under drifters because their music category is not completely mainstream and not completely indie or punk.  Our type of pop punk/soft rock can be enjoyed by a large spread of people because of its versatility of sound. 

Monday 19th September classnotes

The pitch and target audience

Objective: to complete the pitch to your teachers.

Aim: Developing the pitch.

In groups, create a pitch of your ideas to deliver to Luke and Jason either Thursday or Friday this week.

A successful pitch means your project will be green lighted.

Aims: knowing who your target audience is.

Band name: 3s a crowd

Genre: pop punk. Ellements of star image: Alternative fashion image, all play instruments. Not conforming to the stereotype of the typical boy band, being only three members.

Targer audience: 15-24 boys and girls

Choice of track : ‘stay with me’ by You me at six.

Overall concept of video, Performance, narrative, and thematic elements: narrative driven about a broken up relationship. Relating the band to broken hearted couples. Dance scene, reflecting the passion of the relationships. Their star persona is going to be promoted by the music video.

Ideas for key individual shots/scenes: Establishing shot, Dancers close together, main singer close ups, shots of dancers, band, slow motion smash (tiny temper video reference of him strip lights). Extreme close ups. Show off the bands style, with extreme close up of clothes, product placement?

Scenery shots: mansion and studio.

Influences: Blink 182, white stripes, paramour. Rhiana, ‘love the way you lie’-relationship between the boy and girl.  

Lyrics broken down into our shot choices

Image of whole band in intro

You've got a lot to say – shot of whole band, establishing them andlocation
for the one that walked away. – close up of lead singer
I give you take, - shot of couple looking into each others eyes
its the way it's always been

Oh how do I know - Shot of lead singer
if I should stay or just go - Shot of guitar
the bottom line is this way that I'll never know –Shot of drummer
Stay with me – run and jump passionately
stay with me – running fingers through hair aggressively
- walking away from each other

You got a lot to say
I give you take – him begging and shouting

some things they never change –shot of whole band
just change –lead singer close up

Stay with me – leap into arms again
stay with me –fighting grabbing her

Never know I could be this way – girl running from boy- he grabs her
never know that I could walk away – kiss aggressively and passionately
Him smashing a mirror
These things take time to grow – her crying, makeup down face
it's been said that time heals wounds – cut back to smashing mirror
but no – Him pulling her towards him aggressively, I won't be controlled – shot of singer
and so, this story goes – whole band shot
Boy and girl gentle walking away turn around
Stay with me – run at him screaming and crying into his arms
stay with me – kissing passionately

Never know I could be this way – mid shot of band
never know that I could walk away – boys walks leaves girl crying in the distance – close up of lead singer
for the one that pushed me away –shot of girl packing bags leaving him

Shot of whole band finishing playing

Album cover idea moodboard

Since we are promoting a new and up-coming band, we need to include all of the band members. This makes the audience aware of their style and who they are. Image is crucial in selling a band, once the image has been made and successfull, there is no need for the band to appear in the album cover anymore. Whatever the music is promoting or what the band wants to present, is what will appear on the cover of the album. Below are some examples of the album cover after the band has been established.

Feedback

There is some excellent work on the blog so far - particular the commentary on the music video and its role in the industry.  Some of the posts for prep, need better presentation, on the brief you need ensure that the text can be read.  In applying theory to your concept a bit more detail is needed to your written work in terms genre/ narrative etc - do go back and review these changes. 

Posting Lyrics

Try using http://www.lyricsmode.com/
You can then present your lyrics as an embedded tool in your blog

Our song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye5ivNkEcwo

You me at six- Stay with me

Track:

                                                             You've got a lot to say for the one that walked away

I give, you take
It's the way it's always been
Oh, how do I know if I should stay or just go?
The bottom line is this way that I'll never know

Stay with me (stay with me, stay with me)
Stay with me, oh (a-woah, a-woah, a-woah...)

You've got a lot to say for the one that pushed me away
I give, you take
Somethings, they never change
Just change

Stay with me (stay with me, stay with me)
Stay with me

I never knew that I could be this way
I never knew that I could walk away

These things take time to grow
It's been said that time heals woes
But no, I won't be controlled
And so the story goes

Stay with me (stay with me, stay with me)
Stay with me

And now I know that I can be this way
And now I know that I can walk away

further ideas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uelHwf8o7_U&ob=av3e

This is Eminem's music video 'love the way you lie', the group and myself were interested in the relationship between the couple in the video. We found that the love/hate relationship they had was similar to that of the song we chose by You me at six. We would like to transfer the passion across to our music video.

Name: You me at six

Genre: Independent soft rock, pop punk

Type of act: boy band

Star Image: You me at six are a less manufactured group than most, which is one of the reasons why we went for them. The band appealing to a niche market audience as well as numerous boys and girls.

Narrative/ Non-Narrative: The song is about a broken up relationship from the boy's point of view. He describes how it was her fault because she ended it. Through out the song is contemplating if she is worth getting back with or not. The relationship was based on only the girl receiving with no reciprocation to the man. 

The breif

A2 Media –Advanced Production (G324)

The Brief

1. A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

                       

a website homepage for the band;

a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package);

a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).

All material for all tasks to be produced by the candidates with the exception of acknowledged non-original sound or image material used in a limited way in video/radio work. Further guidance will be available in the support materials. For music video, permission should be sought from the artist for use of the audio track.

The centre will be expected to allocate marks according to four levels for each of three categories:

Research and Planning

Construction

Evaluation

In arriving at a level for each category, teachers are advised to look for evidence of ‘best fit’. It is possible both for a candidate to be placed in different levels for each of the three categories and to receive quite different marks from other members of the same group responsible for producing an artefact, according to his/her contribution. Teachers are asked to support marks with written comments under the three categories on the assessment sheet.

Star Image of some artists

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrSophie789?feature=mhsn 


Here i have uploaded a video bog that i created. 

Joined our groups

We have now joined into a group for our music videos. My group team is Jim, Hannah, Ali and myself.
After discussing that we wanted to create something unique and not pop band song we developed into what genre we wanted. We had quite a few genres in mind; pop, indie, retro. We then looked into different music videos and artists such as Paramour, White Stripes, Adel, Beyonce.
This was a productive lesson because we listened to what one another found interesting.

Research into real artists of a similar type

I am a fan of Adele's music because although it is under the soul/country soul/blues and pop genre. She is classified as mainstream, but has her own edge and isn’t as manufactured as bands such as One Direction. Her voice is considered contralto, which is a classical, deep singing female voice. The term ‘contralto’ is usually used in reference to a female classical or opera singer, but some people find that Adele’s voice sustains this definition. Adele’s voice started to become noted as different and unique at the start of 2009 and has continued to be a huge success.

http://www.adele.tv/home/ - Adele’s official website


Adele’s star image is opposite to a lot of female artists because her music and image is not sexualized in any way. Rather she has a mature, sophistacted style opposed to tight, revealing clothing. It is also such a relief to see that not all female singers have to be skin and bone. Seeing Adele as a plus size figure creates a link between her and every-day people that want to relate to an artist. Many young girls want to alter themselves because of what’s being presented in the magazines and music videos, but Adele is showing the young and impressionable girls that it’s ok to have some weight.

 

I like her song ‘rolling in the deep,’ it shows her realisation of someone she was with and how he ended up being not what she thought. The lyrics suggest that he might have cheated on her and that the relationship went through heartache and turmoil. The song is represented very well in the music video as it illustrates a great image based on the lyrics as she shows the destruction of the relationship by burning the “city” down. This can also mean that she is fed up with the world's divide and that we should be united.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYEDA3JcQqw&ob=av3e – her music video to ‘rolling in the deep’

Initial Ideas/ Treatment to potential music video MOOD BOARD

grungy abandoned building to create an interesting atmosphere

5 points about what a music video is and why it's used

I believe that music videos have become more important for our generation because it the online age where everyone accesses everything through the internet, be it TV programmes, illegal downloads, interacting with people, or even getting your groceries delivered. The public is now interested in creating a bond with the artist, not just slapping a CD into their walkman like they did a few years back. The media has recognised the peoples want to interact with the artist. A music video promotes its song to the target audience, creating a connection between the artist and the audience. Music videos have become even more of a key element in viral marketing.

There are key strategies in delivering a product to the viewer in result that the song is successful. If music videos became too alike to one another the label looses their audience because it’s been seen before. For example, if Beyonce and Britney both came out with a video where they are following to much of the same story line, wearing similar outfits and kissing similar boys, the audience becomes bored and can’t separate the two. It would be much easier for two different genre artists to do this because nobody would be comparing them since the music style would be completely different. The label’s job is to find a unique selling point within the artist and expand upon that, for example Shakira’s hip, which is universally recognised as her signature move.

The younger generation people get bored quickly and their attention span is limited. "People are genreally capable of a longer attention span when they are doing something that they find enjoyable or intrinsically motivating". This psychological term is describing how we only really pay attention to what we are interested in. Applying this to music videos, we can see that attention span can be limited if the media product does not appeal to the viewer. For example, a Beyonce fan is unlikely to be interested in a metal band video. For more on this, click on the link to the right to get onto this page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_span

Joe Saltzman from USA Today discusses music videos and says, “They now provide pictures for the songs in our heads. All kids have to do is watch and listen, stare straight ahead.” I can imagine Saltzman watching a music video and like many other people, see a montage of images with a tune playing to the sequence. In a physiological analysis, by not seeing an image your hearing senses are heightened because you’re listening NOT looking. Music videos leave no room for imagination because its story is presented to you on a screen.  

Of course the record companies would see it as a market, because they can use a clip from a big star's music video and place it as an advertisement between TV commercials. This then leads to a rise in festival and concert sales because people want a further connection to the artist. Festivals have increased in popularity and it has become almost a tradition each year for the young people to go, drink and enjoy music with their friends.

 

The major conglomerates, Universal, EMI, BMG, and Sony make up 76% of the UK music industry and 26% is made up of the independent market.  Since conglomerates finance music videos, they decide what the budget should be. Depending on the budget, recording companies manage where the money should be spent. Lady Gaga's 'telephone' sold 7.4 mil copies, which was probably pre-determined which is why the budget was exceedingly high.

There is a ridiculous amount of product placement throughout the video, racking in at least nine different brands. A telephone company that appeared in the video paid 180,000 dollars in order to be a feature in the video. Because of the current credit crunch situation, most music videos are kept below $10,000 but Gaga’s ‘telephone’ went staggeringly above that and lasted ten minuets long. I believe that Lady Gaga will remain relevant as long as she keeps dressing wacky and outrageous because that’s her star image. She is still exhibiting a wild and interesting image, which is keeping the audience tuned in, but as soon as she gets too old for that image she will most likely go off the grid.

Lady Gaga demonstrates a very high budgeted music video budgeted by a major conglomerate. In comparison to Lady Gaga, Snow Patrol’s ‘Chasing Cars’ video, for example, was fairly low-budget yet the single sold over 6mil copies worldwide in 2008. Snow Patrol is part of an independent market and so is given much less of a budget then Lady Gaga but managed to sell up to her standard of copies with that particular song.

Today in class we had different aims to achieve in the lesson.

1.) How can I develop my blogging skills?

- I accomplished this by going onto 'www.hurtwoodmedia09.blogspot' and analyse a students coursework throughout the year. I found it very helpful to see where this student was last year compared to where i am now. By looking at how different students present their work, puts my work into perspective. I can now look at my work and know if i am meeting the standards and hopefully above! 

2.) To use the assessment objectives to assess students performance.

-I chose to look at Hugo Brown, who was an A2 student last year. I am a friend of his and at the time of his music video preparation i remember talking about his location of filming and remembering how much i liked it. He chose to shoot in an old abandoned mansion near london. He used his location to relate to an 'indie' band, but i believe that it could relate to other genres of music as-well.

3.) Sign up to twitter

We ran out of time today to create a twitter account but will be pushed forward to a different lesson.

4.)Presentation on how Critical Perspectives (the exam) fits with our coursework

The exam and the coursework are 100 marks each.

The coursework:

- Advanced portfolio which will involve producing a main artefact (music video), two ancillary artefacts and accompanies blog containing my research, planning and evaluating materials.

-For the music video I will need to work in a team as a small independent production company. I will need to meet the following brief: *a cover for a release on CD *a magazine advertisement for the CD.

The Exam:

Section A: THEORETICAL EVALUATION OF PRODUCTION (50 MARKS)

Section B: CONTEMPORARY MEDIA ISSUES (50 MARKS)

Section 1) Questions 1A will involve analysing your my own product using the following concept:  Digital technology, creativity, research, planning, post production, using conventions of real media texts. My teacher Jason said i should be asking myself questions such as, 'why and what benefit did i get?'

Question 1B will involve analysing my own product using: genre, narrative, representation, audience, and media language.

Section 2) Question 2A will involve discussing a key media concept using a range of texts from A2 MEDIA. We will be looking at media in the 'online age'.

Initial brief

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:

a website homepage for the band;

a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package);

a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).


All material for all tasks to be produced by the candidates with the exception of acknowledged non-original sound or image material used in a limited way in video/radio work. Further guidance will be available in the support materials. For music video, permission should be sought from the artist for use of the audio track.

The centre will be expected to allocate marks according to four levels for each of three categories:
Research and Planning

Construction

Evaluation

In arriving at a level for each category, teachers are advised to look for evidence of ‘best fit’. It is possible both for a candidate to be placed in different levels for each of the three categories and to receive quite different marks from other members of the same group responsible for producing an artefact, according to his/her contribution. Teachers are asked to support marks with written comments under the three categories on the assessment sheet.

http://youtu.be/F57P9C4SAW4

pop prelim finished video