Miss Georgiou - Rough cut

Audience feedback is very important for a production. This is as it allows for both positive and constructive comments to be made upon the work, so further changes can be made to improve the final version. This is why a rough cut is so essential to carry out, as if something in particular is said to be a serious flaw of the production for example, through the feedback given from viewers this can be changed, helping towards improving the final quality of the production.

We received feedback from our target audience via a number of different ways. The main one coming from the rough cut of the music video, which I uploaded to youtube, where people that watched it could leave comments on the production. As a group, we also showed the music video to classmates, friends and family, asking for any positive or constructive comments they could provide us with. Before publishing the rough cut onto youtube, as a class we showed each other everyones videos in little focus groups, where we got the chance to comment upon each others work.

This feedback benefited my production in a number of ways. It helped towards getting myself gaining a more up to date insight into what the target audience liked and disliked about the production, allowing for final amendments to be made before the release of the final version. With my group and I's production, since receiving feedback we have made a number of significant changes to the production which we believe will help towards making it more appealing for the target audience, which we wouldn't have even considered if any feedback wasn't given. Overall, I believe all the feedback my group and I have received has helped towards creating a better production, and one which is further suited towards the target audience we had in mind. As an industry as a whole, giving feedback to music video productions is important for this reason. A filmmakers objective will be to produce a video which is appealing towards their target audience, therefore receiving feedback from them and following this in theory should result in a happy audience and more popularity and sales, and improving the quality of music videos and what people want as a whole.

An example of one of the comments left on social media (youtube), on my group and I's rough cut

One positive comment we received was that the narrative was used well, and that number of different locations were present in the production. I think this was a fair comment to make, and that as I group we tried to incorporate a number of different locations which we deemed suitable for an indie music video and audience, to provide with a diverse viewing experience which we believed was done successfully.

Another positive comment my group and I received was that the portrayal of the artist was clearly evident, and that the position of struggle which he is shown as being in can be seen. I believe that my group and I did make this portrayal clear through the use of micro elements and the narrative, through the changing locations and the events which happen within the video, such as when the artist can't pay for the cab, signalling that he has reached rock bottom.

The next positive comment my group and I received was that throughout the music video, a large diversity of shots was used. Although the quality of the shots wasn't always great due to issues with the cameras focus, I do believe that the choice of shots throughout the music video were good, and helped towards showing the portrayal of the artist clearly, as well as providing with a diverse viewing experience which was engaging.

One constructive comment we received was that more filters could have been added, to make the music video look more professional and look similar to real media indie videos. I agree with this comment, and since posting the rough cut a number of changes have been made to the updated version, adding in various filters during the entirety of the video.

Another constructive comment we received on the rough cut was that some shots were filmed out of focus, and were blurry and unclear to see. My group and I appreciated this after looking back over raw footage when constructing the foundations of the music video, and is a very valid point. Going back to re film certain shots wasn't possible due to location restrictions (one example being as Liverpool street isn't close by), and as half of the shots were in focus and the other half weren't, we have worked around this and found a way to make the visuals more consistently clearer throughout the entirety of the music video.

The next constructive comment we received was that the role of certain characters and the narrative as a whole was a bit unclear, more specifically that the role of the "successful artist" who can be seen signing autographs and celebrating his success. I do agree with this comment as regardless that those things can be seen, it is clear that he is a successful individual, yet there is no clear indication that he has a relation with the music industry, or that he is a music artist. My group and I appreciated this comment after receiving it, although when going to re film some of these parts, we couldn't find a logical way which would match the previous shots we had filmed to show that he was a music artist, as we couldn't have him holding a guitar for example as it wouldn't be in any of the other shots. This was frustrating as I still believe making this representation clearer would have improved our production for the better, yet no other alternatives could be found.

In regards to the first constructive comment referring to the lack of filters, since receiving this feedback a number of changes have been made to the up to date production. This can be seen throughout the update to date production, where the "faded sun" preset filter on final cut pro has been added during any point where our artist isn't performing. We done this for the sake of making the production look more professional, and while doing so linking it towards the themes and connotations of the music video, as the filter itself has both an optimistic with changing his life for the better, and also a pessimistic vibe towards it, which shows how the artist is gradually losing hope with the lack of success he has throughout the music video.

In regards to the second constructive comment, we worked around the out of the focus shots through the use of a filter on final cut pro. The filter "focus" was used to focus the attention of the visuals to a small part of the shot, and while doing so blurring out the unselected sections. From doing this I believe the production looks more profession to the rough cut, and through the feedback given has enable my group and I to improve an important aspect of the video, as the visuals look more consistently in focus in the up to date version of the music video.

Miss Miller - Individual Digipak

Final digipak

Digipak's have a number of purposes towards them, often linking towards the portrayal of the artist towards their audience as an artists Digipak often has a lot of significance towards an artists image. This is due to a number of elements within in, one example being the personal message written by the artist towards the target audience as it shows the artists audiences that they are cared about and that every individual has significance to the artist. It also shows that they have a lot more content to create and release towards their audiences because of the Digipak additional content oppose to the standard jewel CD case. Digipaks also include extra songs as well as better picture quality compared to that of CD's. This encourages loyal fans to buy this Digipak for the extra content provided by their favourite artist. The aim of the Digipak is trying to make it appealing towards the target audience and to promote the artist. I will try to achieve this through the use of indie genre conventions throughout, shown by the use of various micro elements portraying macro meanings. Planning is very important towards creating an effective Digipak. This is as doing prior planning I can get a better idea of what I am going to include when I go to create the actual thing, so that I'm not going into the task not knowing what elements to have in it, and to what effect this will be done.

To create my Digipak I used the program adobe Photoshop. Photoshop contains a number of different tools which make editing both images and text not an issue, while allowing me to be creative with creating whatever it is I might envision. So for this reason I chose to use this software due to the number of tools which are made available to myself, and there are very few restrictions on how creative the work I created could be.

I came up with the idea for my Digipak by looking at real life examples of Digipaks by actual music artists, belonging to the indie genre. A large bulk of my inspiration coming from an artist called Gabrielle Aplin, where it gave me an insight towards what sorts of images I should have for artworks, personal message and such.

Front cover of digipak

Within my front cover slide, I included a large array of elements in the hope of appealing it towards my target audience. Firstly, the use of colours within the slide are conventional to the indie genre and help towards promoting the genre and artist. This is as the colours on the front cover are very plain, consisting of white and different shades of brown, which is commonly seen within the genre as they aren't bright and over the top, which helps towards showing more attention towards the image of the artist. For this reason it helps promote my artist as it shows him as representing the indie genre which the niche target audience of indie fans may find appealing, and also helps towards promoting the artist as the use of colours makes the main image further stand out.

I have conformed to the conventions of the genre. As mentioned previously, this is so people that view the front of the digipak will automatically identify that the artist belongs to the indie genre, which makes the artist come across in a more appealing light towards the niche target audience.

One image used within the front slide which is conventional to the indie genre is the guitar which the artist can be clearly seen holding. I decided to use this as it is a common convention within the genre and what the target audience would associate with the artist having within their content. This helps to appeal towards the target audience as the visuals will be similar to what they would expect to find within the genre and the artist, providing with visuals which look more life like to real media counterparts. This helps towards promoting the artist as it makes the artist come across in a more favorable way to the target audience, due to the use of conventions within this particular slide.

The layout of the images in the first slide is done to appeal towards the target audience and to promote my artist. This is achieved as the main focus of the slide and main image is that of the artist, which can be clearly seen placed in the middle of the frame. This makes it stand out as being the main focus of the visuals. This is appealing towards the target audience as they will be able to easily identify that the Digipak belongs to the artist at hand, as significance is drawn towards his image through having it placed in the center.

The typography use within the front slide helps towards appealing towards the target audience. Only two pieces of font can be seen on screen, one being that of the artists name "John Spencer", and the next being "Rock Bottom", the name of the album. The font used I found online on a separate website which I downloaded specifically for the use of my Digipak, which was created to resemble a Indie like font, so I thought it would be suited to be used.  This is appealing for my target audience as it adds a more indie like element towards the opening slide, making it more appealing towards the niche target audience. This helps towards promoting my artist as it makes the visuals directly catered towards what the target audience would expect and want to see from an indie artists Digipak.

CD cover of digipak

Within the CD cover of my digipak, I have used a number of different elements to help it appeal towards my target audience; mainly through the use of conventions and typography.

One indie convention can be seen within the image which is that of a brick wall; conforming to the conventions of the genre through the background used. A brick wall is an image which is commonly seen within the indie genre, and the use of this convention is appealing towards my target audience as it enables them to automatically identify that the artist creates indie content and songs, and that the artists songs will follow this also. This helps towards promoting the artist as it shows him as trying to please and cater his content towards fans of the genre of music which he creates, which helps towards drawing in a particular niche target audience and appealing the content solely towards them. 

Similar to the front slide, the typography used within the CD cover I gathered from an external source out of the program photoshop, so that the text would resemble the type of font many would expect to find an indie artist the use. The font used in the front slide is the same as the CD and is used to the same effect, which is to provide the target audience with visuals they would expect to find with an indie artist, which they might find appealing as it portrays the artist as representing the genre. This helps towards promoting the artist as it shows him as trying to cater the visuals directly towards the niche target audience of fans of the indie genre.

Artwork (1)

For the first piece of artwork in my artists Digipak, it contains a number of elements which I have included to appeal towards the target audience and to help towards promoting my artist, which I have done through the use of colours, conventions and layout/design. The colours seen within the photograph I edited while on Photoshop using a number of different gradients and filters, which provided me with a grainy like dull effect towards the colours of the image. This helps towards promoting my artist as the use of the dull colours and effects creates a more hopeless feel, alongside the image itself being of the money basket having very little money (which can be seen within the music video also) might make the viewer feel sympathy for the artist; in turn making them create a relationship with my artist. This makes him come across as being more down to earth and appealing towards the target audience, as he isnt glamorized as being better than anyone else. 

Within the artwork, a common indie convention is evident also. This can be seen with the background of the image, which is an urban setting, based in Liverpool street. This is conventional to the indie genre, and through the use of this convention it is appealing towards the target audience as it is a common everyday setting that they would be able to familiarize themselves with, making the artist come across in a more down to earth way. Because of this, it effectively promotes the artist as it makes him come across in a more ordinary and relatable light to the target audience; enabling them to be able to relate towards my groups artist, making him come across in a more favorable light. 

The layout of the photograph is also done to cater towards the target audience. This is as the money basket is made to be the main focus of the artwork; shallow focus being used upon it so that the small amount of money is made more visible amongst the background, although the urban setting is still easily visible. This is appealing for the target audience as the lack of money is made very clear as it is placed in the middle of the frame, so that a sense of sympathy can be created from this. Because of this, it promotes my groups artist as through his relatable character because of the scenery, the target audience may be able to relate towards him and become more fond of him because of this, which could improve the artists image and in turn sell more Digipaks and other forms of media. 

Tracklist of digipak

The track list within my Digipak contains a number of elements within to help towards both promoting my artist and catering towards the target audience, more specifically through the use of colours, conventions, images used and layout. Firstly, in regards to the colour use, on adobe photoshop I edited to colouring of the image to draw more attention to my groups artist, and while doing so maintaining the visibility of the track list it self. I made the artists appearance even darker, but ensured that the guitar was visible still, as well as the artists face. I believe that because of the artificial colouring, it helps towards making the artists image more appealing towards the target audience. This is as the colour black is commonly seen throughout the indie genre, so through using it it provides the target audience with more familiar visuals to what would be seen with real life media counterparts with other indie artists content. This therefore helps towards promoting the artist as the target audience which is being target is a niche one of indie fans, they would find this portrayal of the artist more appealing, as he is shown as representing the genre and following the conventions established within the genre. This would therefore make the artists image more appealing towards fans of the indie genre, and also shows other individuals which might not be familiar with the artist that he creates indie music. 

There are a number of conventions which can be seen throughout the track list, one in particular being the presence of the guitar. Guitars are common iconography seen throughout the content of indie artists, and is often associated with this genre of music. Having it present on the track list would be appealing for the target audience as it makes it clearly evident that the artists creates indie content, and that the songs within his album will mimic this, and as the target audience is fans of the indie genre making it clear the artist creates indie content is essential towards catering it towards them. This helps to promote the artist as it ensures that people see it are aware that he is an indie artist, drawing in and appealing towards a certain type of people, in the attempt of maximizing popularity and sales from within the niche target audience.

The image used is conventional to the indie genre. This is evident with the urban background of the brick wall. The use of this setting for the image is appealing towards the target audience as it is very indie like, which suits the artists portrayal, as well as the type of music he creates and is releasing. Because of this it helps towards promoting the artist as it helps towards making the track list look similar to that of other indie artists, which will provide with more familiar visuals for the target audience. 

The layout of the track list has been made so that I have made the artists dark appearance clearly visible, but while doing this maintaining that the track list is also clear and visible. I believe I have achieved this through playing the track list on the only white part of the image, creating a contrast being the visuals through the layout. This is appealing for the target audience as they can see the clear indie like portrayal of the artist, but can also clearly see the names of the tracks. This helps towards promoting the artist as it makes his content clearer and more professional looking through the contrasting colours in the layout, allowing for two main focuses for the image. 

Artwork 2

The second artwork slide within my Digipak contains a number of elements within to help towards both promoting my artist and catering towards the target audience, more specifically through the use of colours and conventions. With the colours, I edited a separate magazine advert for the broken down magazine stall, one with my artist on it, with the background of it being green and clearly visible amongst the other colours. The colour green is very conventional to the indie genre as it is a generally unused and abstract colour within the music industry, which I gathered inspiration to use through the artist Ed Sheeran, who also creates indie content and uses the colour green quite frequently. This is appealing for the target audience a it shows the artist as being an abstract and different individual through using this colour, making him stand out amongst other artists. This helps towards promoting the artist as this helps to distinguish him from others. 

A number of conventions are evident within my second piece of artwork. One of these conventions is the urban environment where the picture was taken, and another being of the image of the guitar. The presence of both conventions is appealing for the target audience as it creates a very indie like feel to the artwork of the digipak, which complements what the target audience want to see, as well as the type of music the artist creates and releases. This helps to promote the artist as it contains many indie references within the photograph, showing people what type of artist this is. As the target audience is predominantly indie fans, this will help promote the artist as it will draw attention to the right crowd, and be more appealing towards the main demographic of people which are more likely to purchase the artists content.

One connotation which I tried to convey within this image can be seen through the external image I added to the original photograph, which is of the green magazine advert of my artist. I included this as in the attempt of connoting my artist as being a struggling music artist, as the newspaper stand I took a picture of was in very bad state, so through having the artist as one of the adverts it connotes that he is also in a bad position, and in need of refinement and change. This is appealing for the target audience as they may feel sympathy for the artist because of this portrayal, and in turn may be able to create a relationship with him because of this. This helps towards promoting the artist as it makes him come across in a more down to earth light, and if a relationship is made between the target audience more sales should be made as the artist will come across as a more appealing individual. 



Personal message of digipak

The track list within my Digipak contains a large array of elements within to help towards both promoting my artist and catering towards the target audience. Firstly, a convention is evident within the shot. This is of the guitar case which can bee seen next to the artist. Guitars are frequently present piece of iconography within the indie, so its only fitting to have it placed next to the artist for the personal message. As the personal message is directly towards the fans, the use of this convention shows them that he is very fond of creating musical content, and that he is not afraid to show this, which the target audience may find appealing. This helps towards promoting the artist as the niche target audience are being aimed at with the use of conventions, so through doing this it helps towards maximizing the artists popularity through his indie like image to the niche target audience.

The colouring within the image of the personal image I purposely manipulated in the attempt of appealing towards the target audience. On adobe Photoshop I created an additional duplicate layer of the image and put them on top of each other, and then got a blurring tool and went over the front layer, lowering the visibility of certain parts of the image, and in turn highlighting the parts which I feel have more significance towards them. This blurred the background and made the text of the message and the artist even more visible. This is appealing for the target audience as there attention is drawn towards mainly the text of the message, and the direct mode of address the artist is showing towards the camera. This helps to highlight the "personal" aspects of the personal message (artist and message itself), adding a more personal feel towards it. This helps to promote the artist as it makes him look more in touch with his fan base from the personal elements highlighted within the message through the colouring use, making his image more down to earth and generally appealing, which may entice more people to purchase his content.

The use of typography within the artists personal message I changed to further promote the artist and make him appealing for the target audience. The two choice of font used for the message I found online once again, and chose to use for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they are very "indie like", and fit the artists image and who the target audience for his content is. Secondly, it resembles a handwritten type of font alongside this, which adds a more personal elements towards it. This helps towards appealing the artists image for the target audience as the use of the indie like text suits how the artists main demographic of fans will be fans of the indie genre, and through the use of the handwriting font it makes the message come across in a more personal way towards every individual fan. This helps towards promoting the artist also as the fans may be able to form a relationship between him through the personal feel of the message, creating a more down to earth image of the artist and making him come across in a generally more appealing light, which may entice more people to purchase the Digipak.

The language within the personal message is a very important element towards creating an appealing image of the artist towards the target audience. The language I chose to put into my artists personal message is very thankful and direct towards the reader/ fans, starting with "I cant thank you enough", ending with "I am forever greatful". This is appealing for the target audience as it shows how the artist cares a lot about his fan base, and that they are appreciated as individuals. This will make the artists image come across as being more humble and greatful towards the target audience, making him come across in a good light. This helps towards promoting the artist as it creates a good image for him, and as the target audience are shown appreciation for supporting the artist, it may entice new and already fans to purchase the Digipak and other forms of the artists content because of it, helping increase sales.

There are a few weaknesses I found when using Photoshop throughout this process. One issue I had was trying to crop the backgrounds out of certain images. This is as the software struggled to identify what within the image was what I wanted to keep, as when using the magic wand tool (even on a small and more precise setting) removing backgrounds was a bit of an issue as the final product would have imperfections. I overcame this issue by retaking certain pictures in different locations, so that this time round the image which I wanted to keep (which was my artist) stayed and the background was removed, which I found easier to do when finalizing the final product.

Although saying that, there were still a large number of strengths towards using the program. One aspect in particular which I liked was the large array of fonts (text tool) to choose from, ranging from a number of different styles and textures which could be used in a number of different ways. This feature I believe in particular helped towards making my Dikipak successful towards appealing to my target audience. This is as the fonts in my digipak differ slightly from each other for certain effects, one example being the use of a handwriting like font with the name of the artist. This helped towards making the artist come across in a more down to earth and likable light, due to the "personal" feel created.

I believe that the Digpak I have created conforms to the genre conventions. This is as throughout all 6 slides, the use of indie conventions is present throughout. I have done this so that the slides which I created for the individual sections look similar to that of real life counterparts, which makes the Digipak look like a real life media product. Through the use of conventions throughout, it has enabled me to appeal the visuals towards the niche target audience, as it provides with visuals they would want and expect to see from an indie artist, therefore the use of conventions helps towards catering the Digipak towards the target audience, and in turn promoting the artist as he is shown as being very indie like and representing the genre.

For this reason I do believe that my Digipak appeals towards my target audience. This is as mentioned previously it will look similar to that of real life examples through the use of conventions, overall making it look professional and appealing. Also, through the use of  showing the artist in multiple different ways within the individual slides it allows the audience to gauge a better perspective of the artist, which through doing this may enable them to form a relationship with the visuals. This is as the audience is exposed to the artists facial expression and body language; therefore receiving a more "personal" insight into them, which might enable them to relate towards the artist and make come across in a more down to earth way.

I do believe the Digipak will help ensure the artist builds a relationship with their fans. This is as throughout the multiple slides, the artist can be seen showing a direct mode of address, directing his facial expression towards the audience. This might make the fans feel as if the artist is directly them and only them, providing with a more personal feel and insight with the visuals of the Digipak. Alongside this, another way in which a relationship with the fans is achieved is through the personal message, through the use of elements such as the handwriting like font, and the use of personal language, all of which helping towards the fans seeing the artist in a more down to earth and relatable light, making for a relationship to be created.

I updated my digipak from cover due to feedback I received from my target audience. This was as the target audience felt as if visuals were not engaging enough, and that the text wasn't very clear; both of which I have amended with my updated version.

I also updated my first piece of artwork because of feedback I have received from my target audience, as once again I was told that the visuals seemed a bit plain, so I added in additional to text of lyrics within the song to show the struggle of the artist, and by also creating a link between ancillary and the music video. I also changed the strength of the filter slightly, but more noticeably blurred out the background to enable the money basket to be clearer.

I also changed my 2nd artwork piece from within my digipak due to the audience feedback, as they felt as if it would be more effective towards showing the connotation of the artists magazine being on the broken down newspaper stand clearer; evidently showing his downfall in the media and being more appealing towards the target audience due to his down to earth representation, alongside the audience potentially feeling sympathy for the artist due to this broken down portrayal.