Final Music Video, Poster + CD

Music Video


Poster

CD Case

Evaluation 4

Evaluation 3

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Originally I filmed a video of four of my thirteen reviewers giving me their spoken opinion and feedback on my music video and ancillary products. However, due to a technical error, I lost the video and was left with only the survey that I got my audience to fill out.

Which genre do you think the music video fit into?
After watching my video, it is clear that my audience had a clear understanding of which genre my music video fit into. This is good because it means that I followed the conventions of my genre well and so my music video will be able to target its audience effectively. Most of the votes are within Goth and Rock which is exactly the outcome I had hoped for as this means my audience were able to clearly see that my video was a hybrid genre of Goth Rock or at least couldn't decide which genre it belonged in, therefore meaning I successfully carried out the conventions of both genres.

How appropriate do you feel the narrative, performance and costume were to the song?
For this question, I set it up as a rating and so the audience simply had to rate each aspect from 1 to 5 (one being most appropriate and five being least). While a lot of the votes lay in 1, I noticed a few were in two but none went any lower than this. Although this is a good result, it has led me to believe I could have done further research into the style of performance as this received the most twos, therefore meaning it wasn't quite perfect. Had I analysed more music videos specifically for their performance content, I might have received all ones on this question.

How clearly were the poster and album art linked to the music video?
Again on this question, I used a 1 to 5 rating. The votes were pretty even with only a few who voted two rather than one. I feel that if I had researched further into the links between these products, I might have had a better understanding of how to link my own.

What could have been improved?
I feel that this was the most important question in my survey as it gave me an understanding of why I received the previous answers.
I noticed that not only within the survey, but when filming my no longer existent video, a lot of people felt I could have included the red ball more throughout the video and the little girl more within my ancillary products. This made me realise that while I did create some links using the basic main features of my video such as the cave and lead singer/main narrative character, I could have created some more symbolic links through the use of the little girl and red ball which are both crucial parts in the beginning of the music video. In addition, it was also mentioned that I could have followed a closer colour scheme. While the Album art is slightly blue in hue, the poster is slightly orange and the music video slightly green. If I had edited the colour in all of these, I could have had a more direct link which would visually bring them all together as one.

Over all, my audience feedback has helped me to understand that had I dedicated more planning time to how I was going to link all of these rather than just how I was going to make them, I might have had a more clearly linked set of products. I have also learnt that more research could have been done into narrative and performance of my genre specifically in order to give me a better idea of the conventions. However, while there were improvements I could have made, the general opinion of my music video and ancillary products seemed to be a positive one with no disastrous opinions. This means that I have pretty much successfully portrayed my genre through these products and so my overall music video and ancillary products were a success.

Evaluation 2

Evaluation 1

Poster and Album Art Analysis

 Unbreakable by Fearless Vampire Killers
This is the artwork for the Fearless Vampire Killers album, Unbreakable Hearts. Both the album and poster share the same design so that the viewers can easily link the two. I have decided not to do this as I would like to show a variety of photography as opposed the having a series of similar promotional artworks.
The artwork was created by Cyrus Barrone, one of the guitar players within the band. I would like to do something similar to this such as perhaps creating a photoshop drawing based within the cave for my album artwork.

The artwork is dark in colour and so it is relevant to the band, had the artwork been bright and colourful, it may have been less obvious that it was for a rock band. The scene depicted is of Grandomina, the setting of the book which FVK's music is based upon. This is why I feel it would be best that I base my artwork on the story which Haunted is based upon so the video and promotional materials are easily linked. The scene depicted also seems to pull the viewer in as it is intricate and detailed and so you want to take a closer look and spot different things such as the peculiar creatures depicted. In addition, the scene appears to disappear into the distance and so the depth of the artwork also pulls you in.

Wretched and Divine by Black Veil Brides
Again, here we see that the artwork matches the poster exactly. This is a good idea as there is a clear link between both poster and artwork however, I feel that this also causes the artwork to become repetitive and so I would like to keep similarities between both my poster and album artwork but not have them as exact copies of each other.
This album artwork is also based on the story behind the album and so this suggests that graphic art of the album narrative is a convention of most rock bands. This is most likely because it is easier to draw something fictional than to take photos of it if it is something that doesn't really exist in the physical world. This therefore gives me good reasoning as to why I should create graphic art of my own album cover.

MAD by GOT7
This is the album artwork and promotional poster for Korean band Got7. Here we can see that while the album art and poster hold clear similarities. They are not the same image which shows more creativity and suggests there was an entire photoshoot dedicated to this album release, something else which will draw the audience in as there is the possibility of extra promotional material.
I will likely do something similar as this is another useful technique that will convince my audience to buy my album. The use of similar locations and models clearly link these two pieces while marketing the band as the models used are actually the members of Got7 and so it is successfully marketing them and their musical talent.
I would have to incorporate my photoshoot within my album contents rather than on the cover if I were to try and use the suggestion of a new photoshoot to market my band as I am also considering a piece of graphic art for the cover.

Heart by Kamijo
This is the promotional poster and album for Japanese artist Kamijo. Again, like the art for Got7, the poster and album are similar yet not the same. This again depicts a fantasy scene shown through the theatrical clothing of the model which has majestic connotations due to the use of gold and red. In addition, the low angle shot of both creates the idea that the model is superior. This creates the idea that like a lot of Gothic/Rock artists, the model/artist is superior which portrays him as a kingly figure, therefore evoking ideas within the audience as to what the fantasy narrative of this album may be about.
The location of both the poster and album are similar in appearance yet also appear to be different, however, both are stereotypically Gothic in appearance. This creates an obvious appearance of the Gothic genre as each building in the background has the gothic architecture of a Church which has connotations of graveyards and other stereotypical Goth 'hideouts'.
Both the album artwork and promotional poster use the same costume and similar background in order to connect them as part of one promotion. This will be an important thing I need to do in my own artwork however, in order to also promote my music video as well as the artist, I will likely use the cave and colour theme as the connection while my models vary. This will most likely be that I choose to use my artist in my poster as that is advertising the artists new album and therefore music while I use the younger model from the narrative combined with my artist in order to promote the music video. However, that's not to say I won't be advertising my music video within my poster, this will just be done on a more subtle level through the use of my music video's location.

Actors

For my music video, I will need 2-3 different actors/actresses such as someone to play the little girl in the beginning, someone similar in appearance yet older to act her ten years later and a possible ghost/stalker.

Little Girl
Due to a lacking choice in actresses of the correct age, I only have one choice of actress to play the little girl in my music video. This means I will have to choose my second actress carefully in order to find someone who looks like the younger girl.
Olivia
Ollie is an appropriate choice for a number of reasons, for example, she is pale which gives her a ghostly appearance. In addition, almost white skin can work to my advantage on the symbolism side of things due to white being symbolic of purity which is exactly the kind of image I am trying to create for the young girl. She also has large eyes which gives an appearance of being younger and more innocent than she actually is. Innocence is an important thing to portray in my younger actress because she is meant to contrast the horror movie theme of the music video. This contrast will make the frightful aspect stand out more as a whole and will also evoke a feeling of fear in the audience for the young girl.

Girl Ten Years Later
My older actress will have to look similar to Olivia due to my lack of other actors to play the young girl. For example, dark hair and pale skin will be some main features I need to match up.

Monaya
Monaya could be a good actress for my video for a multitude of reasons, for example, she does Theatre Studies, therefore meaning she will be a more talented actress than someone who has never acted before. This would be useful in giving my video a more professional feel as opposed to seeming amateurish due to a lack of talented actresses.
Although Monaya has the appropriate dark hair, there are a number of reasons she wouldn't work as the actress for the older girl. For example, her darker skin does not suggest she has been trapped in a haunted house for ten years. In addition, her facial features do match or look similar to that of Olivia and therefore she does not look like an older version of her.

Emelia
I originally began considering Millie because she is Olivia's sister and therefore I felt they should have at least a little resemblance, however, I feel that the slight resemblance is not enough. There will need to be a closer similarity between the two in order for the audience to easily assume that both are the same person.

Eleanor
Originally I wanted to avoid using myself as an actress for my video, however, due to lacking other options, I found I was the only person who looked similar to Olivia. The main points of similarity are our hair length/colour and pale skin, these are important aspects because they will be the most noticeable and therefore make us appear more like the same person to the audience.
If I use myself as an actress I will have to do a large amount of my filming on a tripod as I won't be able to hold the camera myself. This will still work to my advantage because a tripod will keep my camera still, something necessary if I am to make it look as though the younger girl is becoming (transitioning into) the older version of herself (a switch between actresses).