Adjustments to Digipak (Third Draft)

In preparation for my focus group I printed my ancillary products. I then analysed how they appeared in print. I found that the advert to be successful but the digipak needed some adjustments.

The first adjustment needed was the height of the two sides. One was higher than the other which meant that when folded there would be evidence of the other side. The bar-code also stood out as it was too far from the side so I moved it closer to the edge. Finally I felt the cover image didn't have a very good quality so I edited and made the titles stand out a lot more by spacing them apart.

I now feel that this draft is the one I can present to the focus group.

Specified Focus Group Planning

I will aim for my focus group to be a maximum of 15 minutes in total.

Structure:

1. I will hand out a copy of the ancillary product to each participant first and let them organise and explore the products. (2 minutes)
2. Ask questions relevant to ancillary products. (5 minutes)

• What genre do you associate with the ancillary products? Why do you pick up this genre? (If the answer isn't singer/songwriter) How could I make it clear that these products belong to this genre?
• Would you purchase the digipak from seeing the ancillary products? Why?
• Looking at the digipak would you feel like they go well together? Do you sense a brand identity? Despite the difference in images can you connect the two products? Why?
• So you've paid £10 for the digipak, this includes; a CD of 12 tracks, thank you letter from the artist, booklet of lyrics and extra images. Do you feel like you would be getting your money's worth? Why?
• How would you improve these products? Are you drawn to them?  

3. Present Music Video (3 minutes)

4. Ask questions relevant to music video. (5 minutes)

• Do you feel that the music video flows well? Is there anything I could improve on?
• Do you enjoy the music video?
• Does the lip syncing appear to be synced to you?
• Is there a connection between the music video and the ancillary products?
• Is there a connection between the music video, ancillary products and the song?

I have added time estimations on each question. This is a rough idea on how much time I should spend on each question, but I will not interrupt if I have a discussion developed. I won't take notes during the session. This will hold up the process and add a formality. Instead I will have two camera's recording and one voice recorder so I will have three sources of the audience feedback to refer back to. I want to keep the conversation informal and relaxed so the participants feel at ease and give information. I also want there to be a formal element so the responses are sensible and make sense.

Location

I have booked the Alpha Room in the Start Up Lounge. This features a projector to show my music video on, a group of tables to allow the participants to lean on while writing and sit together as a collaboration (to encourage feedback and discussion among them) and a flip camera to record on. I have booked this room for Wednesday 11th March 2015 at 1pm but I don't intend the focus group to start until 1:10 to allow set up and preparation (setting out pens, paper and ancillary products).

I will also inform the participants to write notes which I will collect in at the end to read and analyse.

Below is the booking reference for the alpha room in the start up lounge.

Brainstorm of Focus Group Planning

To ensure I cover all necessary points and conduct a fluent focus group I have had a brainstorm of possible facilities, questions and set up. I will plan more precisely after this and finding participants who can attend.

What is in a Thank You letter?

Looking at the overall results I have considered some factors that I know to be true. I kept the note broad so I wouldn't imply anything untrue about the artist. Subjects such as make-up and songwriters are unlikely whereas family, friends and fans are paramount. I used colloquial language to enhance the chilled approach of the artist and to embrace the fans. Making them feel like they are the artists best friend who they have known all their life. Below is the thank you letter.

Well honestly I don’t know where to start. There are so many people to thank and I wouldn’t be here releasing an album. So I will firstly thank everyone at YDNA Records who laboured with me to produce this record. Especially my band who we’ve shared many early mornings and many cups of tea. They are truly the inspiration of every string plucked.

My family have been behind me every step of the way and I’m forever grateful of my parents taking me to every gig and introducing me to the guitar. Thanks to my friends for the late nights on the beach and making memories. You kept me going when it looked like I wasn’t going anywhere.

Finally thank you to my fans. Thank you for your support in buying and sharing my music. You have all pushed me forward to the best that I am and I look forward to sharing many life changing experiences with you.

Let long straight lines guide you to paradise.

Love,

Matthew

Reviews of Matthew P

As part of my advert I would like to include review quotes, information and stars so I will be exploring different reviews (from professional critics to listener reviews) to see the general feedback and how I can present the track in the best light to increase fans and sales.

Alt Sounds

http://hangout.altsounds.com/reviews/149310-review-matthew-p-long-straight-lines-album.html

Star Rating: 3 Stars (out of 5 stars)

Best Quote: "A pleasant enough debut album that people of all ages can enjoy.

Overall: The review doesn't depict the album in the best light and I would only generally consider a 

rating of 4-5 stars. The best quote appears hesitant and this might rub off on the viewer when looking

at the advert, which isn't the desired effect.

Clean Slate of Music

http://cleanslatemusic.org/2012/07/13/album-review-matthew-p-long-straight-lines/

Rating: 8.5/10Best quote: "An album worthy of your time. An artist worthy of more than a passing glance."Overall: This review presents Matthew P in a decent light and the quote certainly suggests that the viewer should listen to the artist and investigate more. The repetition of  "worth of your" suggests wealth and that the viewer will gain from the small amount of money that it would cost them to purchase the album. The rating is also a decent one and although it isn't a perfect 10 it still encourages and promises the viewer value for money. I will investigate the feeling of whether ratings affect whether a viewer becomes a consumer and how low can the rating be before they are put off from purchasing the album.

IndieLondon

http://www.indielondon.co.uk/Music-Review/matthew-p-long-straight-lines-review

Star Rating: 4 Stars (out of 5 stars)

Best Quote: "Debut album Long Straight Lines is a beautifully crafted listen"

Overall: The review really accentuates the positives of Matthew P's compositions which is reflected

in the rating but also a few imperfections. The quote isn't the strongest but the star rating justifies the

purchase and would still encourage the viewer to make the purchase. Maybe I will consider just

having the rating/collective of ratings and one quote to demonstrate the positives and not to crowd the

advert too much and to convey my point as quickly as possible. I will probably present the ratings as

starts due to the association within our cultural capital of this sign.

Manchester Scene Wipe

http://www.manchesterscenewipe.co.uk/reviews/matthew-p-long-straight-lines-review/

Star Rating: N/A

Best Quote: "There is no doubt that with the sun shining and beers flowing this album would make a

perfect soundtrack."

Overall: The review doesn't really state the emotions towards the album and whether it's approach is

positive or negative. I really like the informal quote which reflects the singer/songwriter genre but it

might not be appropriate for my audience due to them being teenagers and the legal drinking age

being 18 (despite the strong associations of under age drinking). It might also suggest an explicit

nature to the album and might mean that parents would prevent the purchase. Overall I feel that the

quote isn't appropriate for the magazine advert as it would probably do more harm than good.

Amazon User Comicasa Dude

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Straight-Lines-Matthew-P/dp/B007YX6BRC

Star Rating: 5 stars (out of 5 stars)

Best Quote: "Solid song writing and some very slick guitar licks makes this one of the finest albums

of the last couple of years"

Overall: The review is very positive and would be worthy of appearing on my magazine advert but I

worry about the fact that it was written by a user on Amazon which would remove it's credibility and

could be biased. For this reason I wouldn't include this on my magazine advert due to unreliable

source as it could be written by anyone, thus losing the trust between the viewer and the persuasive

advert.

To conclude I will use the quote from Clean Slate of Music "An album worthy of your time. An artist worthy of more than a passing glance" due to the high positivity and the encouragement of the viewer to purchase the digipak. I will use the rating from IndieLondon as it was 4 out of 5 stars which is still acceptable and wouldn't necessarily put the viewer off  from purchasing. I will only include these two as I really like the use of space and wouldn't want my advert to be too cluttered.

Sketch of Magazine Advert

Advert Vision

Above is the vision of what I want my advert to look like. This is only a collage from current images I have. The beach hut is a cropped screenshot which is obvious through the quality of the image appearing slightly blurry and there's less of a crisp outline. Yet I really like the use of the singular beach hut against the detailed blue sky which was taken from a current image. I really like this layout and when planning my photo shoot I will remember this design and take photos to improve quality. The only disadvantage of this design is that there is no feature of the artist which I think should be paramount taking into account he is trying the raise his profile. The advert includes the minimal amount of information of the artist, album title, leading track and website. I feel that more information needs to be added such as reviews, social networking and record label details.

Instax Research

To correspond with my demographic and the chilled atmosphere of the song I am considering using an Instax camera to take images with.

I will have to scan them in and they will be harder to manipulate on Photoshop but their becoming trendier due to their authenticity and no two images can be the same. Their popularity is being assisted by Taylor Swift's 1989 album which contains Polaroids. Taylor Swift is big in the genre singer/songwriter and therefore it is important that I keep up with trends to keep Matthew P current.

Below are some tutorials that I will be using to learn how to use the camera:

  

Different exposures:

I used different exposure levels on the same subject in a naturally light room. Below is how they turned out.

Instax 1: Inside Instax 2: Cloudy Instax 3: Sunny Instax 4: Very Sunny Instax 5: Hi-Key

I think the one that worked best was the Hi-Key, I really like the vibrant colours and I think this suits the nostalgic style. Although it does slightly overexpose certain areas but this 'bad quality' is quite fashionable as instant photos  The images 3 and 4 were too dark but this was more to do with light conditions rather than any other factor.

For these images to get on the blog I had to scan them which reduces the quality a little but the darker the image the more the bad quality shows up. Scanning is an effective way to reproduce them digitally.

 

Above I experimented with a scattered effect and I think this works really well. It would be improved if each of the images were of something different. It implies that more is there than what actually is therefore implying that the consumer is getting more for their money.

Above I also tried writing in the white spaces. This is done a lot on instant photos but here I feel it doesn't work. It distracts too much away from the image and there isn't enough room. For this reason I will exclude it from my ancillary products.

Matthew P - Long Straight Lines Research

On Top is from Matthew P's album Long Straight Lines. I will use this album for the basic information such as track list, record company and title. 

Artist Name: Matthew P (presented in the form of his logo)

Title: Long Straight Lines

Price: £7.99 (correct at time of February 2015)

Track List and Number: 

1. On Top

2. Long Straight Lines

3. Hey Lady

4. Little You Little Me

5. Feet on the Ground

6. Long Way Home

7. Without the Sun

8. Gilly

9. I Miss You

10. Patti

11. End of the World

12. Wedding Song (acoustic demo [demo track])

Original Release Date: 1st May 2012

Record Label: YDNA Records

Record Label Logo: I currently can't find a logo for the record label so I will need to either contact the company or design my own.

Copyright: 2012 YDNA Records

Total Length: 40:53

Photoshoot Planning

Prototype of Digipak

Digipak Flatplan

Above is my digipak flat plan. I have included lots of images to make it more visual and aesthetically pleasing. I have also stuck to certain conventions such as having the artist logo and title on the cover and track list on the back. I have also designed for the digipak to depict more information. For example I have added a pocket for a booklet that could contain more information such as lyrics or a commentary of what each song means from the artist.

Magazine Advert Flatplan

I have gone for a simple design with as much information as possible due to my artist being an upcoming artist. I have highlighted quality, the release date, websites, social networking and all the necessary information so the viewer doesn't have to research anything. Due to the artist being unknown I can't rely on the viewer going to research on further details on the product.

Typography for Digipak

Above is 5 different fonts that I could possibly use for my ancillary products. I wanted the typography to match the title and contain 'long straight lines'. I find 1 and 4 are too overpowering which doesn't match the genre of soothing and soft. Number 2 is a default font and I find that the overproduction of this in other everyday media products means that it doesn't appear to be very professional. Number three is too much like a typewriter font and to me this has connotations of old and war-like whereas Matthew P is a new upcoming artist and the music gentle and relaxing. Font number five fits the description perfectly and I really like how it's spaced out making it clear and easy to read.

Motif's in my Music Video

For my ancillary products there needs to be a brand identity, so I investigated motif's in my music video that I could possibly bring into the ancillary products.

Hair, Make Up and Costume

Below are Flickr albums illustrating possible costume ideas. To see my descriptions click on the images.

Hair

https://www.flickr.com/photos/128539217@N04/sets/72157651226400360/

Make Up

https://www.flickr.com/photos/128539217@N04/sets/72157651624504352/

Costume

https://www.flickr.com/photos/128539217@N04/sets/72157651571523776/

Overall the look I am going for is:

Weather Forecasts and Tidal Times

Although I am not reliant on the weather and neither need sunny or rainy weather, I will keep an eye on the weather to know what to expect and to be able to prepare.

15th October 2014

Here was a forecast from 29th October and is a summery of the weather. It goes up to the 12th November, which is three days before I start filming, but this gives me a general idea for the weather.

Below is the calender for November's weather, although it isn't as accurate as getting it nearer the date I will check back closer to the filming date. 

Friday 14th 2014

I have checked back a day before the main film date and looked at various different forecasts. This has given me an idea of what to expect tomorrow. I plan to arrive at 8am while it's meant to be misty. I will still arrive at this time and could maybe film in the town where it will be less misty or take some establishing shots of the mist. The mist is meant to rise at 9am so according to the schedule I will only miss out for 30 mins after the equipment set up. I also gathered more weather forecasts for the next upcoming month in case I need to film again.

I plan to film over the following weekend (22nd and 23rd November) to add more footage of the 'finding the bottle scenes' and 'lip syncing at Southwold' so I looked at the future outlooks. Although I don't intend to film any more I have looked at the later forecast in case I need to organise more shoots.

Above are tomorrow's tidal times, although the beach is large enough so there will always be places to film present, I will need to be aware on when to position myself close to the sea so that the sea doesn't invade on my filming. 

20th November 2014

Above is the weather for Sunday 23rd November for filming, it isn't as accurate as it could be so I will check back closer to the time. At the moment is looks like filming can go ahead between 8am and 12pm which is enough time to complete.

Above are the tidal times for Sunday 23rd November. I am happy with these times as according to the current predicted weather my filming will take place between 8am and 12pm, so the majority of the time the tide will be going out and then for a short amount of time the sea will be coming in, but this is unlikely to affect my filming.

Above is the weather for Friday 21st November. I will be using this time to film lip syncing within locations in Norwich when the lights will be on creating different effects. It will start to get dark at 15:54 but I will check when it will reach the right kind of light to film in, I will check the times tomorrow but I have a film slot of from 3:30 - 6pm. 

21st November 2014

Above is the light chart for tonight. It will probably be the best if I take advantage of Nautical Twilight, which is probably dark enough that it won't get picked up by the camera sensor and give the appearance that it is dark, it will also mean that the street lights will be on and I can take advantage of this. Overall my filming slot will last around 43 minutes between 16:33 and 17:15.

To ensure accurate weather I have checked back to see if there are any changes, the forecast is rain but the description suggests a drier outlook later in the day, this suggests that maybe I should move my filming time to later during the day. I will keep checking back to keep an accurate forecast and plan of times.

Here I have checked the tidal times again for Sunday 22nd November. They have changed by about an hour meaning that the high tide is going to be more obtrusive. I will only have an hour until the tide comes in, for this reason I will position myself further back to buy some time and so the sea doesn't intrude.

22nd November 2014

Above is the weather for tomorrow for where I plan to film. The weather is outlined to be rain and a yellow weather warning has been issued for this. For this reason I have regrettably had to cancel filming, but to reschedule for Monday 24th November. 

Above is the weather for Monday 24th November. I will be able to have a film slot from 8am to 3:50pm so the weather will alter but this will be alright if the weather alters as we will have enough time to get shelter and wait for the bad weather to pass. Filming will go ahead if there is no forecast of rain.

In preparation for filming I have looked at the tidal times. The tide will slowly be coming in during the filming slot of 8am to 11:23am, for this reason I will shoot the scenes away from the beach during these times and after 11:23 I will film the parts that take place on the beach due to the tide being less obtrusive and won't intrude filming spaces.

 

Sunday 23rd November

 

Above is the weather for tomorrows filming, I plan to film between 8am to 3:50pm where the weather is meant to be fine and dry. For this reason filming will take place on Monday 24th November and will go ahead.

 

Above are the tidal times for Monday 24th November. To ensure that the tide won't get in the way I will film the scenes away from the beach from 8am - 11am and then film on the beach between 11am - 3:50pm while the tide is going out, therefore not being an impediment.



Moodboard for Music Video Styling

Follow Charlotte Barnard's board Matthew P - On Top; Music Video Styling on Pinterest.
Here is a mood board for certain aspects and styling of my music video, to see the full board click the widget and all annotations are my own.

Call Sheets

I produced call sheets to give to my cast members, this would ensure that they would understand the process of the day and where to be at what time. Overall this will assist in a fluent day of filming where all shots will be recorded.

Things Needed for Filming Music Video/Props