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.

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

Codes and Conventions of Album Magazine Adverts

To prepare me to make informed decisions during the creation of my advert I have explored the codes and conventions of  albums magazine adverts.

Conventions of a Digipak

Mind Map created by Charlotte Barnard with ExamTime

Magazine Advert Analysis

Digipak Analysis

Before designing my own digipak I explored different digipaks within the singer/songwriter genre to see the industry standard and to extend my knowledge of the product.

The Purposes of a Digipak

Above is a mind map of a digipak, I must ensure that I follow these to produce a successful digipak that's fit for its purpose.

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.

Mood Board for Costumes

Female

Above I have planned the styling of the my female protagonist. I want the viewer to see that the girl looks out of place and doesn't belong to the seaside town but also doesn't belong to the homeless stereotype of ripped clothes and being dirty. I want the viewers to question her reason of being there without actually giving anything away in the music video, thus making the viewer intrigued of looking so elegant (even though her hair will be messy and make- up slightly smudged). The handbag is a vital prop as it will contain other props such as the pen and scrap of paper for the bottle and will also contain the loose change for the chips, as well as identifying herself as a female as this is a common accessory for a female, hence conforming the the viewers and societies expectations. The girl will also fit the societies standards by wearing a feminine dress and will also wear jewelry, the way she takes pride in her looks, which fits to the stereotypes of being female but doesn't fit to the expectations of being homeless, thus causing the viewer to rule out this kind of lifestyle for the protagonist.

Male 

Above is the styling I want for my male busker in my music video. Overall I will be conforming to the audiences expectations of a typical busker of one around the age of 18, the outfit I have chosen is also quite casual and stylish for males of this age, while remaining true to the artist, Matthew P's relaxed fashion, as the busker will perform a short amount of the song, which will mean the viewer will refer to the busker as the artist Matthew P, thus meaning that there will have to be some similarities between the performer in the video and the real artist. 

Location Scout

With all pictures just click on the desired one to see a full view. For some galleries there are more than the photos on the first display, to see more click the arrow that comes up when hovering the mouse over the galleries.

Lowestoft

 Above are the images I took for my first location at Lowestoft. The beach was sandy and shingle but the only part I could access was shingle as a lot of the beach was shut off due to damage and repairs which could restrict our use and create a little bit of an eyesore in the background, it also narrows down places for the public to go, meaning that it is more likely that people will walk past, which could ruin the effect. Another part that could ruin the video is the wind turbine, although pretty it could distract and mean that I could only film from one side of the person, therefore limiting different shots. There is also a lack of seagulls which could be a problem for the frames that involve the character running to the seagulls. The promenade was very effective and would be very effective for the busker and the backdrop, but along this walk there is a cycle path in the centre of the walkway which could not just be dangerous for us but for the people on the bikes, as well as putting my footage in danger of poor quality. For this reason I conclude that Lowestoft will not be used for neither parts of the video due to being unsuitable surroundings, repairs and lack of seagulls.

Southwold


 Above are the images I took for Southwold. I found that the fish and chip location and set out were ideal and I could video the protagonist walking in and out of the chip shot effectively, although the camera would have to be positioned on the other side of the road which could mean that uncontrollably cars could drive through and interfere with the shot. Southwold also is home to narrow streets and paths, making it hard to film and navigate around public while filming is something that could reduce the quality of filming as well as being dangerous to the public. The beach is mixed shingle and sand but home to a low amount of seagulls, meaning it would be difficult to film the seagull scene. While on my location scout I really liked the texture of the sand and the waves, I started to appreciate the shapes and curves, giving me inspiration for not just shots during the music video but for the digi-pak.  Beach huts are very scenic and picturesque, giving the video positive connotations, yet this could all depend on the light, gradient or filter that is added in post-production, overall these huts are huge connotations of the beach and are possibly considered convention so it would be an effective subject for an establishing shot. The lighthouse is also a nice landmark strongly associated with the seaside but shots would be harder to include down to a built up area not allowing me to get a distance that would create an effective shot. Other considerations for establishing shots are the street art, the view from the pier and the novelty clock. After investigating the pier I find that there is a whole groups of plaques with different inscriptions, this would add a whole new emotional depth and create a new atmosphere. The high amount of cars ruins the high street and overall I feel that Southwold would be inappropriate for the first main part of the music video, but it would be very suitable for the second part, yet during this section I desire to keep the location as anonymous as possible so therefore the distinctive body of the pier couldn't be seen but I could use the end and even film towards the horizon to create the mysterious and give the audience the feel that they are 'looking at infinity'.

Aldeburgh


 Aldeburgh has a long shoreline, shingle beach with varying heights which could be difficult due to uneven ground but the spirit level on the tripod should keep my shots even as well as could create interesting shots where I could experiment with my height compared to the subject I'm filming. There are a high amount of seagulls making it ideal for the first section of the video. Again, I found the steps and tall houses interesting and could be used to create establishing shots allowing me to capture the atmosphere of the town and the texture of the sea/beach allowing me to capture the true style of the beach. There are two chip shops, one has a increasingly high amount of rubbish by the side and ruins the professional style of the shot but at the other shop there are lots of cars which also ruins the style and professional tone of the shots, so I will have to revise the angle I take or position my camera at. There are wide paths which gives me a good opportunity to get angles of the protagonist from all sides without becoming an obstruction to the public. The art sculpture 'The Scallop' is also good for establishing shots as well as good to explore with the camera to give the audience a feel of the sense of adventure. Overall I will use Aldeburgh for the first part of the video.

Green Screen Experiments

I hired the TV studio to experiment with different possibilities for my music video. I really liked the formal setting and I picked up lots of techniques (i.e camera work and chroma key). Despite this I disliked the effect it had and felt like it looked too fake. In some places the proportions were wrong. I feel it would be more successful to film on location as you don't get the authenticity that you would on location. My genre singer/songwriter is an honest genre and I should set this tone with my demographic.

Recce Checklist

I plan to use only two locations but I have completed a Recce Checklist for three locations. I also plan to complete a location scout to conclude on the most convenient and effective location for my music video. 

How to Compress Time and Space of One Clip

To produce a music video there must be a compression of time and space. I shot one clip of a person walking from outside to inside and imported it into Premiere Pro to experiment with different ways that I could edit it.




So the first section is the original clip.

Jump Cuts:  I felt that the jump cuts worked really well and that this was the best out of all of them. I felt that there was a rhythm to the edit. This would go really well with Matthew P's track due to the pace of the song and the emphasis of note every time the bar changes.

Speeded Up: Despite being effective I disliked this edit due to the comical approach that it has and reminds me of Benny Hill. For this reason I will not speed up any clips as drastically (x400) as this, but I may use this slightly and subtly to shorten shots and progress the narrative.

Cutaways:  I only had one shot so I had to use the crop and zoom tool on Premiere Pro so the quality isn't at what it is desired so this informs me if I want to use cutaways then I will have to combine two different shots, one being a long shot and the other being a close-up. Although I found this effective I don't think it would suit the pace of the song as much as the jump cuts.

Time Lapse Experiments

Above I experimented with Time Lapse. I set up a JVC camera in the corner of the kitchen and filmed for 13 minutes. I then proceeded to upload this to Adobe Premier Pro and then sped it up to around 2500%, which was similar to the technique I used during the Door sequence, where I altered the speed through the speed/duration tool.

I really like this technique of time passing as in the video it depicts 13 minutes within thirty seconds and if I want to show any major time movements as I only have two minutes and to truly be able to depict a narrative some elements might have to be time-lapsed to depict progression, especially if I want to fit a day within such a short period of time. As this time depiction is quite vital within being able to fit the narrative in I will explore other techniques which could emphasise a day or hour passing more obviously, as the use of a kitchen doesn't give the viewer any clues in the amount of time that has passed, only sped up an action.

I really like the style of the 'jolty' movement as little movements are abandoned meaning that things move randomly and are considered unimportant to the process, in some ways I like this but overall I feel for my music video that I want to pay more attention to detail so I could slow this down so the movements are there, but I still think that there should be a meaning to every detail to produce an effective composition.

Above is another time lapse taken on my phone. It records for 1 hour and 15 minutes and documents a bus journey. I definitely feel that this needed a tripod and even though I used the stabilizing tool on YouTube there is still movement of the camera which really effects the image. This reminds me of the importance of a tripod. 

Above is a time lapse more conventional of one in a music video. I really like this but feel that I got the balance between night sections and day sections wrong. (The original video was around 8 hours).

Matthew P - Artist Consent

Below is my request and reply for the artist consent for Matthew P's track On Top, which will allow me to use it for my music video and post it onto YouTube.

 

My contingency track Fragile Meadow is copyright free, which means that I am also free to put it on YouTube without the need for permission.

Casting

Here I have looked at a range of possible people to cast within my music video. I need a boy and a girl.

After looking at these candidates I have decided on using Molly Taylor and Travis Lurkins.

Audience Profile

Above is the kind of belongings I'd expect my typical female audience to have. I would expect my audience to typically be creative and arty with a hobby like photography or art but also around the age of 17 so are taking their A-Levels and looking at different universities to study a creative subject to pursue their hobby into a profession. I would also expect my target audience to own singer/songwriter CD's such as Lucy Rose, Ben Howard and would even go as far as to queue up for three hours to meet and get a signed copy of Ed Sheeran and Nina Nesbitt. I would also expect that they would follow the trend of owning vinyl's which has become more popular recently after more and more artists are releasing their content onto the medium. The viewer would also belong to the social cliques which would be the fandom of their favourite artist, for example Nesbians are for Nina Nesbitt and Sheerios are Ed Sheeran fans, this title is totally exclusive and allows people to be accepted within certain areas of society, being part of this fandom means that they go and interact with the artist such as going to their gig's and meet and greets, as portrayed through the gig tickets and the polaroid's of the artist performing and being with the artist. My typical female target audience would be fashionable and pay attention to recent styles through online shopping apps, such as H&M due to the cheap, fashionable approach which appeals to the student budget, but will also treat herself to something from TopShop every so often, recently crop tops, mid-length skirts and scrunchies have been in fashion so therefore I have paired these accessories as this would be what she would wear to college, although she's into fashion she also likes to look after herself by moisturising and putting effort into her appearance by straightening her hair and often using face masks from her favourite shop Lush, this won't be the only way she looks after herself as during her frees at sixth form she will go to the gym to keep on top of her health and then read literary classics brought from a charity shop on the hour bus journey home, while listening to her favourite Singer/Songwriter track Hozier -Take Me to Church and George Ezra's new album Wanted on a Voyage. Although she doesn't have an iPhone due to her student budget she keeps social with her friends which she keeps photos of hung up in her room and messages them on different accounts such as Facebook or Tumblr. Even though she's stuck on a student budget her parents take her to places like New York, Marrakech and China but she also enjoys smaller college trips to are galleries such as the Tate Modern and Tate Britain.

For my other audience profile which focus' on my male target audience I have created a tumblr page to convey the typical life and interests of my male audience.

http://anotherguywithaguitar.tumblr.com/

Above is the URL for the audience profile blog. I called the blog Another Boy with a Guitar as male singer/songwriters are very popular at the moment meaning that often, due to the generic nature, teens often feel like they're part of a stereotype and this title emphasises and depicts his feelings towards this situation. A lot of posts are music and video links but also images of his favourite artists which are singer/songwriter such as Ben Howard and Ed Sheeran and also reblogged images that I find that my typical male viewer would find visually interesting such as graphic design as even though he would be creative he would be more interested in graphic design than art. Also there are 'gif's' from gigs and festivals that although he wouldn't be able to afford to go to all of them he would try and go to a local one at least once a month.

Looking at tumblr some of the moving images are from music videos such as George Ezra's 'Cassy-O' I would like to create a music video that could be made into a 'gif set' and fit into this style of blog, so it would fit in and look as professional as the other music video 'gif's'.

Due to my demographic being teenagers they will fit into the social class E which long term unemployed (which includes students).

Todorov's Narrative Theory in Singer/Songwriter Music Videos

I am interested in using a narrative structure within my music video. For this reason I investigated Todorov's narrative theory and how they were developed in singer/songwriter music videos.