Evaluation 3 - What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Evaluation 3 from kjr84

Evaluation 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

https://rkieran41.wixsite.com/evaluationquestion2

Evaluation 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Evaluation 1. by Kieran Reynolds

Website inspiration

For my website I used inspiration from the 'Sik World' website on my news page.

The way the news page is laid out is a lot better than what I had so I took inspiration and laid mine out in the same way. 

Back Cover for Digipak

This is my finished back cover for my digipak.

Digipak Font

This is the font I will be using for the title of the songs on my digipak. This is because it fits into the style of the digipak and the way I want to portray my artist as someone who rebels against society.

Digipak Progress

 I have designed a basic back cover for my digipak using a picture of the artist in front of a wall with graffiti on which is also used in my music video. I used this song titles because they can fit into the stereotype of rebelling against society.

Started Editing

After filming for the first time Ive started editing the footage that I got. I will have to go out and get more footage for the music video.This is because I showed the footage that I had captured to my teachers and they told me that I wouldn't be enough.

Actor Documentation

For my music video I will only be using one actor who will be playing the artist in my music video.


The artist in my music video will be played by Adam Pritchard. This is because he was the only willing to be in my music video. Adam looks like he could match the voice of the artist in the song so he was a good fit for the music video.

Website Progress

For my website I have kept the style really simple to try make it easier to navigate around. The image of the the album cover is the first thing the viewer sees so that it catches their attention straight away, and if someone clicks on the image they will be taken to the music page.

The music page isn't finished yet but I have the album cover again and a preview of the song.

I have tour dates at some small venues and if someone was to click on the 'buy tickets' tab they will be taken to the seetickets website.

The news page is also unfinished but has some links to social media pages I have made for the artist.

Record Label Website

I edited a shot of the BBE website, the independent record label that I am using for my artist, to make it look like the album for my artist is available to buy on their website. 

Independent Record Label

My artist will be selling their music from the independent record label Barely Breaking Even (BBE)

BBE is a British record label founded by Pete Adarkwah and Ben Jolly in 1996. BBE is located in London and produces music from the Hip-hop genre as well as Neo-soul and breakbeat. 

Artist Social Media

 I have set up a social media account for my artist to try and add more realism so when someone clicks on the twitter button on the artists website they will be taken to this account. I also need to create a Facebook and Instagram account for the artist. I will need to edit these accounts to look professional and realistic.

Music Video Locations - Final

 

Location 1) Sneinton Market. This location is full of street art and is currently under redevelopment so there are a little amount of people and no cars so it is a good place to get a lot of shooting done.

 Location 2) Woolpack Lane Carpark. Has more street art and is a nice little area to get some nice urban shots.

Location 3) Train Bridge in Sandiacre. Dark, Grimey and graffitied up. Also has a good view for panaramic shots.

First Album Cover Designs

This is my first design for the front cover of the album. I got a picture of some graffiti on a wall, that I took, and I added a simple title to it using Adobe Photoshop. The font I used for the title was Trajan Pro and then edited the font to try and make it look like it is also graffitied on the wall. 

Then I added some retro processing on top to try and add an old feel to it.

Website Design

I started to design my website for my artist, which I created using Wix. The background and music included is none of mine (it was there by default) and I have only changed certain things like the titles on the website. I will need to change the background and get my music video embedded on the site when it is finished.

Inspiration - Tinie Tempah

The Tinie Tempah - Holy Moly music video is possibly my biggest inspiration for my music video. This is because despite the music video being completely performance based, the video grabs the viewers' attention the whole time through the editing, camerawork and the interesting locations used. The camera is moving all the time in the music video and the editing is very heavy as there are a lot of effects and sudden cuts throughout. I can achieve this by getting better at editing by researching how to add heavy effects and getting a lot of footage when I shoot my music video to be able to add a lot of cuts in the video. I need to find a location with interest architecture to be able to gain the viewers attention more.

Album Name And Digipak Ideas

As I found out in my research the front cover of a digipak usually includes the artist them self in some way, for example Stormzy was on the front of his with his 'crew', so for my digipak I will be including the artist on the front. My initial thoughts would be that the artist would be in front of a cool looking background for the front cover, maybe stood in front of a concrete wall that has some nice graffiti on it. On the other hand I had the idea that I could make the album cover more abstract to try and make people wonder both what the front cover is and the meaning behind it. The Kendrick Lamar album cover 'DAMN' is an example of an abstract album cover.


Possible Album Names

• ROAM
• The Beginning
• Entertainer
• Conspiracies

Performance Planning

For my music video I am going to be having a completely performance based music video, so there will be no narrative within the video. I decided to do this because in most of the music videos I have researched there has been little to no narrative in any of the music videos. Some music videos that I like that are completely performance based are, Tinie Tempah - Holy Moly; Stormzy - Big For Your Boots and Skepta - Shutdown. I like these 3 in particular because they are simple but they keep the viewer interested with the editing and the aesthetics.

Possible Artist Names

 I have created a small mind map of possible artist names I could use for my artist. 

Some of these names were just random ideas that popped into my head and some of them I got from the lyrics in the song.

Planning - Costumes

In my music video I will only be having one person, the artist throughout so planning the costumes for the shoot will be quite simple. As I have seen in many of the videos that I have researched, especially Stormzy and Tinchy Stryder which I have taken my greatest inspiration from, the most common costume I have seen is tracksuit trousers and a T-shirt, these are usually branded as well to try and show that these items of clothing are expensive. Therefore in my music video I will try to get my artist to wear a branded tracksuit.

Lyric Sheet

Lyric Sheet - Runs In The Veins
VERSE 1
Don't try to work me out, Cuz I'm confused myself, I thought I knew me but the person that I knew has left, the newer me is born and the pressure is on, the world is in the palm of my hand and I'm feeling strong, you thought id never make it, but you were wrong, I even had the nerve to get this message to you in a song, the things you put me through made me what I am, made me see the world for what it is took it like a man, rearrange my whole life and now I understand, sometimes I get flashbacks of the days when nobody gave a damn, thats all it is, nothing more, nothing less, I'm never going back again to the land of the stressed where its, survival of the fittest of man and all of this because i had a mic a pad and a pen and I was blessed with a gift and I swear I'll let the world know it, never quit, keep on coming at you till i'm done with it, 20 years lurking in the shadows with my cap on, hood on, waiting for my moment to get put on, stage with the biggest of names so I can shine, conquer the universe with a beat and a rhyme.
CHORUS
I'm a, entertainer, I live to entertain, at night I keep performing, it helps to keep me sane, eighty thousand fans yelling out my name, it ain't about the fame, it runs in the veins,
VERSE 2
I see the way you're looking, wondering what i'm cooking, whats the LP gonna be called? storms are brewing, maybe, maybe not, regardless the albums hot, touch and you will burn your fingers the same way I blew the spot, i'm not the type to stand in front of an audience, turn my back and perform to the floor, whats the point in this, I drive on the energy, I am who I claim to be, I remember when I used to see the whole world as my enemy, I was paranoid, but now the paranoia is null and void, had a fight with the negative side of my mind and left it destroyed, now i'm a different man, to elevate, I had to be, I wasn't built in a factory, I was born and bred naturally, i'm a human, an individual, nonetheless, I talk through the music just to get stuff of my chest, cuz i'm like that, sometimes fictional but most fact, i'm deadly when I rap so you might as well compare me to anthrax, I strike when you least expect, come correct?, leave you standing with you out to show crack like your an easter egg, break a leg, you want more get on your knees and beg, i'm hungry like I ain't eaten for years what you expect,
CHORUS
I'm a, entertainer, I live to entertain, at night I keep performing, it helps to keep me sane, eighty thousand fans yelling out my name, it ain't about the fame, it runs in the veins,
VERSE 3
i'm far from an eccentric, protecting the world that I invented, when i'm dead and buried my aim is to be remembered like i'm Hendricks, i'm stubborn, I didn't quite catch what you said, PARDON, if rhyming is a crime then i'm a criminal thats been hardened, forget about it, you ain't ever gonna match me i'm like an athlete, running the 100 meters in 6 seconds flat you'll never catch me, move on or be blessed with the kiss of death, I came to the place with nothing but words and took away your breath, now you can't breathe, been notin since the day you tried to starve me, its absolutely no use trying to calm me cuz i'm barmy, ordinary human being turned into a lunatic, a product of the environment, no way, thats not me a hundred and eighty three thousand steps ahead of the competition, listen, thats the ignition, I mean business, if I died i'd come back to life again so I could finish what I started make you say 'damn', cuz i'm the type who never quits, rip the mic to bits, so you can see whats going on inside the construction of sick, so you can handle what i'm feeding it, every level exceeding it, you don't believe me just wait till you're seeing it,
CHORUS X3
I'm a, entertainer, I live to entertain, at night I keep performing, it helps to keep me sane, eighty thousand fans yelling out my name, it ain't about the fame, it runs in the veins,
I'm a, entertainer.

Planning - Equipment

This is a documentation of the equipment I will need whilst shooting my music video.

Equipment Documentation from kjr84

Possible Locations - Initial Ideas

1 - Stage/Hall

One idea I had was similar to the music video I had used in my research, Tinchy Stryder - Game Over, and to have my artist stand in a big room and have the camera circle them.

2. - Urban Street

Most rap music videos I have researched have had some kind of urban street setting during the music video so I thought it would be good for me to follow the stereotypes and also film some of my music video in a street setting.

Camerawork in Rap/Hip-hop

Usually in rap music videos there are often a lot of close/very close ups on the main artist in the song. This is to show that the artist is the most important as well as to help sell the artist, which links to Goodwin's theory. An example of this is this very close up of Professor Green in his 'Jungle' music video.


The camera also looks up at the artist a lot as well as shown in the Youngen music video, because it makes it look like the artist has power over the audience and they are trying to intimidate anyone watching the music video.

Research - Website - Mac Miller

Mac Miller Website from kjr84

Research - Website - Luke Christopher

On the front page of Luke Christopher's website there is instant promotion of his new album. The picture of him is also used on the cover of his album. There is also a embedded playlist of the full album audio from YouTube to try and get the audience to listen to his album. There are also links to be able to purchase the album and links to the artists social media. These are here so the artist can gain a larger audience. If someone was to listen to the album on YouTube for free and enjoy it they could then buy it to support the artist and if it is directly underneath the embedded clips it makes it a lot easier for the person.
Underneath there is a little tab to show where the artist is playing next at live venues. With the artist promoting their new album so much above, if someone wanted to go and see them live after listening to it above, it makes it easier for them as they can see where they are playing and the links to buy tickets are right there.

Narrative Analysis In A Rap Music Video

Locations in Rap/Hip-hop

Locations from kjr84

Costumes in Rap/Hip-hop

Costumes in hip-hop/rap music videos from kjr84

Stormzy DigiPak

The colour scheme for the entire cover is black. The cover just shows Stormzy and his 'crew' who are all dressed in black to match the colour scheme. Stormzy is paced in the centre and is the only one without a mask, this is showing that he is the most important and has more power.  The title of the album is in a white font in the top right corner and is not very big. This means the focus is more on the artist.

The back cover shows the tracklist as well as the length of each song. The background is just a blank black piece to continue the dark theme. The text is in white so that it stands out from the background and is easy for the consumer to read. There is also a link on the back to Stormzy's website, making it so the consumer knows where to go if they want more information about the artist. There is also a parental advisory warning in the corner to warn people of explicit content. This is because the Stormzy probably expresses himself and tells his story in a mature way and it might not be suitable for some people like children or those who are more sensitive to some of the things he says. The logo of the record label is also placed at the back of the album to try and promote the record label.

Brockhampton - DigiPak

The digipak for Brockhampton, a hip-hop group, is a very unique digipak within the genre of hip-hop so I decided to research and analyse it to try and understand it and maybe gain ideas for my own digipak.

The white background is very simple and quickly ensures that the audiences eyes are drawn to the man on the front cover who is covered in what looks like blue paint. This leaves the audience thinking about why he is like this and what it means. The man also looks intimidating and is placed centrally so this could suggest he is a powerful person. The name of the group is placed underneath the title which is shown in a pyramid for and only the outline of the letters are shown. 

The back cover shows the track list in a colour scheme and font that suggests the artists' are trying to show that they are different to everyone else, as the style is not typically used. We also see the man in a red jumper and it leaves the audience wondering who he is and why he is there. Compared to the other man that was on the front cover he looks a lot less intimidating. He is also place on the right hand side. at the bottom is the text showing the record label and executive producer, giving them credit. There are also little emblems that are assigned to the group to make the album more personal to them.

Research - Websites - Tinie Tempah

I looked at the Tinie Tempah website to get a better knowledge on how a UK rappers' website looked and how I could take influence in my course work.

When you first enter the website the front page instantly shows the artist and promotes his latest album right off the bat. There are little tabs that show where to go and purchase his album and another tab to take you to the merchandise shop. The colour scheme of the website seems to be quite dark and it is hard to make out what the small black text that is used on the background.

There is another tab that says 'new live dates' and when you click on it a menu scrolls down and shows the dates of the artists shows and links to be able to go and buy a ticket. Again this section is of a dark colour scheme however with white text.

If you scroll down we can see that the artists music is advertised even further through an embedded music video of their latest single. There is also a lot of links to social media pages and streaming sites, to try and get the audience to listen to the artists music.

Research - Website - G-Eazy

G-Eazy is a rapper so I decided to take a look at his website so that I can get an idea about how a rappers' website might look like.

When you first enter the site you are greeted with a slide show of images of the rapper, immediately trying promote the artist as much as possible. We can also see that there 4 tabs at the top of the page in the centre showing us what we can see on the website, and indicating that there are 4 pages on the website.


The first page is the home page which you arrive on, the one with the slideshow, and it also has some information about the artist, social media links and how to get in contact with the artists management for bookings. There is also a latest news section further down the page showing articles about G-Eazy and all stories he has been involved with or what he has been doing lately.

Altogether, the home page is very simple in terms of colour, font and navigation.

The music page is also very simple as it just shows the playlist for a few of G-Eazy's albums. They are placed just left of the centre of the page and the album cover just right, as well as they are enlarged to show clearly what each album is and the names of the songs, again adding to the simplicity.

The shop tab takes us to a different page not on the actual G-Eazy website, it takes us to the official merchandise shop.

Eminem - Recovery Digipak

Skepta - Konnichiwa digipak

Record Label - Boy Better Know

One of the biggest UK record labels in the rap scene is BBK (Boy Better Know). It is an independent record label started by 2 UK artists and only has about 7 members connected to the label.

However even though the record label is so small, its a very well known and followed record label. BBK uses social media, merchandise and its few artists to promote the record label.

The record label itself doesn't have an official twitter page but all of the artists under the label has the acronym BBK at the end of their twitter name. So whenever the artists tweet, the audience can see the link to the record label leading to it being promoted.

There is also Boy Better Know merchandise that all the artists wear again helping to promote the record label.

All this promotion will help the artists grow in popularity and allow them to gain a larger target audience which in turn grows the record label.

Music Industry Research

A big part of the music industry is music television where the main focus of the programme is to show music videos on dedicated television channels.

3 of the big and most well known of these television channels are: MTV (Music Television) VIVA and Kerrang! TV

Music videos can also be accessed easily online on websites like YouTube and VEVO so you can watch music videos on any device like your mobile phone and tablet.

The purpose of a music video is to promote the artist and expand their target audience. This can lead more people to purchase/download the song and enjoy it because they enjoyed the music video. Then when or if the artist later releases an album the song can be included on there to try and get more people to purchase the album. Therefore the more popular the music video is the more popular the artist becomes and the more money the artist and their record label make.

Questionnaire

I have created a questionnaire on survey monkey to be able to get a better understanding on why my target audience watches music videos. This can hopefully help me get a good knowledge of what my own music video should look like.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/Z369SXB

Intertextuality in Music Videos

Intertextuality is where one media text references another media text, so in music videos, intertexutality would be where the music video references other media texts such as films and TV shows.

In rap there are usually a lot of references in the lyrics artists use to films or TV shows, and then they will maybe use a prop to show this in their music video. For example in 'Man Don't Care' by JME, the aritst says "Expelliarmus couldn't stop me", which is a reference to one of the spells used in the famous book/film series Harry Potter, and the music video shows a wand to signify this.




Another example of this is from 'Know Me From' by Stormzy. He references the popular TV show EastEnders when he says "I'm a badman like Shirley" and then shows two people wearing masks of two different EastEnders' characters.

Both of these examples are from British artists and they both reference British media texts to try and make a bigger British audience, therefore in my music video, if I use intertextuality I should reference a British media text to try and gain a bigger British audience.

Target Audience

The general target audience for rap/hip-hop music is mostly of a male demographic, with some females, aged around 14- 25. Also most of the target audience may be of a working class social background as the lyrics in many rap songs relate to life as a working class member of society and this can help the artist relate to their audience.

For my song the target audience should also be mainly British people as the song I have chosen is British.