CHOSEN FONT FOR MY ADVERTISEMENT

Although I originally wanted a much thicker font for my text, after feedback I found the most popular font was the one pictured above. I too like this text and will use this for both my advertisement and digipak.

FONT IDEAS FOR MY ADVERTISEMENT

After analyising existing magazine advertisement and identifying the conventions and features I thought were effective and ineffective, I then decided to find some sample fonts I could use on my poster. From my research I knew the text had to be big, bold and noticeable and had to look as close to a real life media text as possible. Here are a few examples of some sample fonts of text I have found. All of the texts I have chosen are bold and make a statement and reflect well on the name of the song which is 'Breezeblocks'. I chose to have all the text in capital letter to make it stand out more and aim to have the text on a white background or vise verse. I dislike the thin text the most and the comic sans as I don't think they really fit with my chosen genre of indie rock and do not look as effective as the others. 

FIRST ATTEMPT AT EDITING TOGETHER THE FIRST 38 SECONDS

This is the first attempt of me putting together the footage I have gathered of the male lead. Not all of my footage has been taken as of yet due to the female lead having other commitments. Also due to some lost footage where there should be footage within the sequence there is blank spaces. Putting together the first 30 seconds has enabled me to develop my skills on iMovie and has enabled me to figure out how to put effects on my footage as well as putting some clips into slow motion and detaching the volume. From looking at my footage I am now more aware of what angles look effective and what parts of my footage may need a re shoot.

PRACTISING SLOW MOTION

Here I have shown the original footage and after, the edited footage with the effect and slow motion. This was so I could see the difference in the shots and the effectiveness. The 50% slow motion is very effective and enables the audience to see the force of the hit on the table as everything on it jumps. This is what I was trying to achieve and by testing it out I have found the slow motion setting I want to use.

EXISTING PRODUCTS ANALYSIS - PLAN B

Plan B's advertisement for his album 'Ill manors' follows all the conventions I have identified in advertisements within music magazines. The advertisement contains an image that makes a statement and allows the audience and allows the audience to understand who the artist is simply through imagery. The same image is used for the advertisement as well as the album cover for audience recognition which is also a convention used in existing products. Plan B's name and album title is also centre page, bold and clearly visible to allow the audience to identify the media clearly.  Information on the success of the album is also visible which make the audience want to buy the album as they are aware of the success it has already had. The bold 'OUT NOW' is more effective on this advertisement than the 'OUT MONDAY' on the XX poster as it tells the audience that they can buy the media material straight away. However, like The XX advertisement, this advertisement does not contain information on how to access other material from Plan B such as his web address.
I really like this advertisement and it is very effective in the way it uses the same image for both the advertisement and album cover, this is a convention I would like to carry over into my own media products. However, from analysing several other existing products I think my media material should either have a release date visible and have direction to other media such as the artists web address. The use of the white text against the black background is also very effective as is the red text against the black background. The artists name and when the media material is released is in red suggesting importance and urgency.

EXISTING PRODUCT ANALYSIS - PINK FLOYD

This advertisement for the immersion edition of Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' is different to other existing products in the media as it cover a double page spread. This is because it is a special edition of an album release and there is more than one media product being promoted. However, I chose to analyse this existing product as I like the contrast of the red coloured text against the white background as I think it really stands out and is effective. Additionally, this advertisement contains all the information on Pink Floyd's other on line media such as their website, twitter, facebook and their youtube account. I think this is a really good feature to use as it gives the audience options in how they want to keep up to date with the audience and how they can consume the media.

EXISTING PRODUCTS - THE XX

This XX advertisement promoting their new album Coexist is simplistic yet very effective as the main image strikes the audiences attention and is very intriguing. Like other advertisements it follows some of the conventions by featuring the band name and album name, also with a main image however it breaks conventions as it does not use any well known songs to promote the album. Also, unlike other advertisements in music magazines, its brief release date doesn't give enough information for the audience on when the album is released. 'Out Monday' doesn't allow the audience to know the exact date of release and leaves them wondering whether the album can be consumed or not. The bands additional types of media is also not displayed on the advertisement such as web address' which are usually featured on other existing advertisements in the industry. Although I do like this advertisement and think it is very effective in the sense that simplistic is more, I do not think it contains enough information on the album for the audience. The contrast of colours is a feature I do like and I think the black text against a white background allows an easy read and grabs the attention of the audience.

EXISTING PRODUCT ANALYSIS - NOEL GALLAGHER

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds poster is catchy in the sense that his name and album title is bold in contrast to the black and green on the page. An image of Noel Gallagher himself is pictured in the centre for audience recognition and to promote his album. This advertisement follows conventions as it uses well known popular songs that may be well known by a mass audience to promote the album. The advertisement also uses the web address on the advert to promote other media in relation to his as an artist. A feature that isn't used on many existing products is what the media have already said about the product, for example this advertisement shows what the newspapers and magazines have rated the album and quoted what they have said about the product. I like this feature as it gives an insight into what the elite already think about the product and influences the audience to buy the product. The colour choices of the white text against a black background is a common feature used on advertisements and is very effective in standing out and gaining the audiences attention.

ANCILLARY TEXTS - CONVENTIONS ANALYSIS

TWO STEP FLOW THEORY - AUDIENCE THEORY

THE ORIGINS OF THE THEORY AND SOCIAL INFLUENCES

The theory originated from Lazarsfeld in 1940 who looked at at how, during an election, how effective the campainings were. These finding were publsihed in 1944 in The Peoples Choice. Their research was based on the simplistic Hypodermic Needle Theory which has said the media injects a message from the mass media to a mass audience in order to produce a desired response. On findings Lazasfeld foundthat the media effects were minimal and that it wasnt the effect of the campaign that made the public vote but the influence of a person they knew or an opinion leader.  The conception of a mass audience was inadequet and misguided due to individuals having opinions towards the message. Therefore ruling that SOCIAL INFLUENCES have more of an effect and limits the effect of the media as the researched proved we are more likely to be influenced by somebody we know and trust.

LIMITED EFFECTSThe study concluded that only 5% of people changed their voting behaviour due to the effects of the media messages.Audiences exposure to election broadcasts turned behaviour out to be a relativley poor predictor of their voting behaviour particularly when compared to other factors such as interpersonal communication with friends and others. Other findings also confirmed that we are more likely to consume soemthing if it has been recommended by family or friends. For example what we watch or what we listen to can be influenced by people close to us.

Spotify is a popular music site which enables you and your friends to listen to music and view each others playlists. It is because of sites such as spotify that we can view what our friends are listening to in relation to music and we can be influenced by their music choice. Spotify use social netowrking sites such as Facebook to allow their Facebook friends also see what they have been listening to, in addition this could also influence an individual to seek the material their friend is listening to.

                                   

TWO STEP FLOW GENERAL CONCLUSIONS

According to Lazarsfeld Opinion Leaders play a vitally important role in the media, the conclusions are as followed:

Our responses to media messages will be mediated through our social relationships, the effects of our media messages being limited by interpersonal relationships and group membership.
It is misleading to think of receivers as members of a 'mass audience' since that implies that they are all equal in their recption of media messgaes, whereas in fact some play a more active role than others.
Receiving a message does not imply responding to it; nor does non-reception imple non-response because we may still recieve the message via interpersonal communication.
There are some people amongst the media audience who act as opinion leaders, they are seen by themselves and others that they are having an influence on others.
WHY ARE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS MORE INFLUENTIAL THAN THE MEDIA?

The content and development of a conversation are less predictable than mass media message, because of this the reciever can not be as selective in advance he/she is able to be when choosing which media messages to attend to.
By direct questioning of the partner in the conversation, the assumptions underlying the conversation can be rapidly and accuratly established, which is not so in mass communication. In face to face interaction the communicator can rapidly adjust to the recievers personality. She/he has direct feedback as to the success of the communication, can correct misunderstandings and counter challanges.

This theory applies to real life and how you may be influenced to buy, listen to or persuaded to what you watch and listen to.


HOW THIS THEORY APPLIES TO MY WORK AND AN EXMAPLE OF THE THEORY IN USE

If I was to promote my music video via a tv advertisement or magazine advertisement the reciever may take an interest in my media and choose to view it via YouTube. From here they may like my music video and during a conversation with a friend or member of their family they may bring up the topic of my media influencing them to view it themselves if they havnt already seen it. Therefore It wasnt the magazine advertisement or the television advertisement that influenced the second participant in the conversation to view my media but the social influence of his/hers friend or family member - the opinion leader.

 

 

 

 

 

HYPODERMIC NEEDLE THEORY - AUDIENCE THEORY

The Hypodermic Needle Theory was created in the 1930's and is an audience theory based on a mass audience, that audience being passive. The idea of the hypodermic needle theory is that the mass audience recieve the same message that is 'injected' in to their minds and they all beleive the same message, this messgae is powerful, direct and immediate. The injected message is an appropriate message 'injected' in order to produce a desired response. This theory expresses the view that the media is powerful and the audience are powerless to resist the impact of the message. The audience are reffered to as a 'Sitting Duck' and end up believing the message simply because there is no other information. An example of this is the propoganda in the 1st world war. The only souce of information was the radio therefore what the radio aired is what the public was lead to believe. It could be argued that the Hypodermic Needle theory is still in place today within the media through 'reality' TV shows such as TOWIE.

The hypodermic needle theory is criticed for being simplisitic and not taking into account individual differences. The theory is deterministic and it did not allow the freedom of choice, in addition the theory is not based on empirical findings.

The influence of the media on a mass audience largely effects those who are vunerable and those who may follow celebrities in reality shows such as TOWIE. The way in which the woman of TOWIE dress and act influences the likes of young teenagers and young adults who aspire to looks and be like the media role models they see on screen. Being exposed to the lives of these celebrities and seeing them find love and fortune makes the audience believe that this is how you have to look and act in order to find love, success and fortune.

All of these woman from the TOWIE cast are thin, big busted, tanned and have a full face of make up every day, they wear false eyelashes and are all beautiful in the eyes of the media. The influence of TOWIE on the media has increased saled in false tan, false eyelashes, extensions and the famous essex origin of the 'vajazzle'. This shows the hypodermic needle theory in action today, the mass media are reciving the message that this is what you have to look like in order to find love and fortune and young girls, teenagers and adults are responding by buying products that will make them look this way.

 


HOW THE THEORY RELATES TO MY WORK

The Hypodermic needle theory may come into action when an audience watch my music video as they may understand the message behind my music video of acting without thinking has consequences that may be irreversible influencing them to always think before acting. However, it could also go the opposite way and the audience may decode the wrong message and think that violence is the answer to a situation that you do not like. This is not what is intended from my music video and to avoid this mass assumption I shall make sure the message is captioned in my finished music video when uploaded to YouTube.

SELECTIVE FILTER MODEL - KLAPPER 1960 - AUDIENCE THEORY

Klapper states that media only has an effect if it has under takne 3 stages. The selective flow model ensures that the audience have an active role in how they choose to apprehend or understand the message give and what, if any, effect it has on them.

The three stages are:

1. Exposure
2. Perception
3. Retention

SELECTIVE EXPOSURE:
 The audience have a chocie to engage with the media and what types of media they are exposed too. An audience must choose to listen, view or read the content of the selective media, the media will have no effect if no one sees or hears the media.

PERCEPTION:

Audiences choose whtehr they wish to accept the message being conveyed, however, they may not accept the message. Some audiences may choos eot accpet some of the message but not all of it. For Example: a havey smoker who watches a documentary on the relationhsip between smoking and lung cancer may choose to ignore the message given during the documentary and focus solely on what he wishes the obtain.

RETENTION:
The audience have to remember the message form the media tetx in order for it to have an effect or for the message to 'stick' in the mind of those who have accessed the content.

In conclusion the theory states that if you -as an audience- have actively responded to the media in these three ways the media has been successful.

HOW DOES THE THEORY APPLY TO MY WORKIf the audience choose to engage with my music video then they have exposed themselves to my media. From the exposure if the audience understand my message of acting without thinking has consequences that may be irreversible, then they have percieved my media in the preferred way. However, an audience may choose to disagree with my message and may not understand my message at all, their perception of my media material may be different. If the audience remember the message in my music video and retain the message then they have successfully retained the information. However the audience may choose to reject the message due to the violent acts being displayed. If the audience has actively responded to my media in this way then my media product has been successful.

HOW USES AND GRATIFICATION APPLIES TO MY WORK

The uses and gratification applies to my work in relation to Personal Identity as it is possible for an audience to view my music video and be able to relate to the event happening such as a young male regretting quick action and reacting without thinking. Also it can also make the audience respond in an opposite way and make them aware that they do not want to ever imitate the actions showed in my music video. In addition the theory also applies to my music video in term of divergence. An audience may view my music videe in order to forget about their own probelms and focus upon the problems of the young male and female on screen. They may use my music vidoe as a way of diverging from their reality.

USES AND GRATIFICATION - BULMLER & KATZ - AUDIENCE THEORY

 

The uses and gratification model represented a change in thinking, as researchers began to describe the effects of the media from the point on view of the audience. The model looks at why people watch the television programs that they do, why they bother to read newspapers and why we find ourselves so compelled to keep up to date with out favourite soap.

Bulmler & Katz argued that an audience needs to have social and psychological origins which generate certain expectations about the mass media, leading to differential patterns of media exposure which result in both the gratification of needs and in other consequences.This does assume an active audience making motivated choices.

The underlying idea behind the model is that people are motivated by a desire to fulfil, or gratify certain needs. So rather than asking how the media uses us, the model asks how we use the media. The model is broken down into four different needs:

Survelliance
Personal Identity
Personal Relationships
Diversion

 SURVELIANCE
 
Surveillance is all about awareness and the need to know what is going on around you in the world to make the individual to feel better. This idea of being aware of the world’s happenings provides gratification of desire for knowledge and security. We can associate to the dominant messages of conforming via the dominant ideologies given in media texts such as music videos. An example of Surveillance is Lilly Allen 'taking the mick' out of Miley Cyrus in her new music video for her representation of herself e.g twerking. This is a current topic of discussion in the media and in the music industry around the world.

                                                           Lilly Allen - Hard out Here


Here Lilly Allen is presenting a current topic of discussion in the form of her music video and her message is that she does not need to act like that in order to get attention from her fan base and a mass audience. From watching Lilly Allens music video the audience understand what she is trying to do and makes them aware of the current topics and feel more knowlegable in knowning Lilly Allen is presenting this topic and them understanding her idea behind it.
PERSONAL IDENTITY

Personal Identity need explains how being a subject of media allows us to reaffirm the identity and positioning within society. The use of personal Identity can be seen in music videos and films, for example pop stars can become big media roles inspiring young children everywhere. This then explains why there is such an outcry when a celebrity is seen to be doing something wrong. People use the media to identify with the happenings on screen and can relate to the narratives. Examples of Personal Identity is Katy Perry's music video - 'The one that got away".

                                                   Katy Perry - The one that got away

The narrative of this music video allows the audience, no matter what age, to be able to relate to a certain point of the music video and look back on past relationships or relate with current relationships. It allows us to identify with Katy Perry as we as an audience may have experienced the same event in ourlives or may relate in the sense that we hope our life events dont turn out like the ones in the media.

 

                                                      Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball

This music video is an example of an outcry. The audience know the influence of the song, a relationship break up, an can either relate to the break up or can identify that they do not wish to react like that in the future.

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

2 parts:
Personal Relationships
Using the media within relationships
We can form a relationship with the media, and also use the media to form a relationship with others. Many people use the media as a form of companionship - especailly television. This may seem sad but when an individual thinks of how many times they have watched the Tv by themselves or with other but sitting in silence, this becomes apparent. The television is quite an intimate experience and by watching the smae people on a regular basis we feel very close to them, as if we even know them. For example when presenters or charcters in a soap die those who have watched them a lot often grieve for the characters as if they have lost a friend.
Pink is a popular artist in the music industry and she uses her media material to create a relationship with her fan base. Her first album released expressed events in her younger life and as her career has developed her music has reflected her personal issues, form getting divorced from her husband to them getting back together and having a child. As Pink even chooses to have her husband and child in her music vidoes we feel apart of her life and feel as if we know her personally as we know sections of her private life.

 

Family Portrait 2002 

 

                                                                      So What 2008

                                                                  True Love 2013

 

The more we watch the same personality the more we feel we get to know them. Reality Tv shows such as Big Brother give us such a feeling of intimacy with the participants that they can become part of our lives. Even though the relationships are completly one sided it is easy to see how we can fall in love with TV personalities.

USING THE MEDIA WITHIN RELATIONSHIPS

We can sometimes use the media as a springboard to form and build upon relationships with real people. Having a favourite TV show in common with someone can often be the start of a conversation and can even make talking to strangers a little bit easier. Some studies suggest that families use the televison as a stimulus for conversation, talking about the programme when its on or issues realting to the programme. An example of a springboard for conversation could be certain performance on a popular tv show such as X factor. X factor is a very popular tv show and features existing artists performing live, some of their performances however, can cause controversy in the media because of the content of the performance. Lady Gaga is a very popular artist and is known for her outrageous dress sense and performances so when she appeared on the Xfactor to do a live performance the audience were not expecting an average, normal performance.

                 Lady Gaga's X factor performance 2013 - Venus.

This performance caused a lot of people to be outraged by the performance and was a
popular talking point the following days after the performance. This is an exmaple of the media being used within relationships to build upon real life relationships and the media used as a springboard for a common talking point with strangers.

DIVERSION

Diversion is commonly known as escapism - the need to watch the media to forget about our own life and problems for a while and watch something else. Watching music videos is a way to do this, we want to distract ourselves from the problems we are facing. We want to see that people experience the same problems as we do and want to forget our own problems and focus on someone elses. Examples of music videos that do this are 'Happy' by Leona Lewis and 'Best thing I never had' by Beyonce.

                                                                 Happy - Leona Lewis

 

 

Best thing I never Had - Beyonce

 

Both of these music videos have address a real life situation such as a relationship break up, an issue that the audience can relate too. If the audience watching the music video was experiencing a break up at the time of watching, their focuses diverges from their own problems to those of the artist in the music video. Although the problems may be similar it makes the audience realise that everyone my experience the same problem in their life time and make them focus upon the artists lyric subject rather than their own real life problems.

 

 

 

CRITICISMS OF THE THEORY: IAN ANG

The uses and gratification theory is criticised by Ian Ang in three ascpects.
He said the theory is highly individualistic, taking into account only the individual psychological gratification derived from individual media use, ignoring the social use of the context of media. This overlooks the fact that some media use may have nothing to do with the pursuit of gratification that the media may have been forced upon us, for example. Ang said there is relatively little attention paid to media content, in relation to researchers attending to why people use the media but less to what meanings they actually get out of their media us. In addition, the appraoch starts from the view that the media are always functional to people and may thus implicity offer a justification for the way the media are currently organized.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDITING MY FOOTAGE - EFFECTS

ORIGINAL COLOUR

This is the original colour of my footage, due to the low lighting on set the image doesn't look as effective as I think it could look. I want the image to look quite dark to reflect the mood of the character and to do this I sampled different effects on IMovie.

DAY TO NIGHT

The 'Day to Night' effect proved to look the best in creating the dark and dingy look and reflecting the mood of my character. I really like this effect and will most definitely use it throughout my movie. 

VIGNETTE

The vignette effect does make the footage a little bit darker, however, I dont really like the effect. What I do like about it is that it makes the character centre staged and all focus on him, yet it doesn't reflect the mood in which I want to create.

BLACK AND WHITE

Initially I had plans to use the black and white effect yet I didn't realise how harsh it actually was. It reduces the quality of the image and I do not like it at all, It enhances the lighting in the background and doesn't look effective at all. 

SEPIA

The sepia effect doesn't really make the footage stand out it looks dull and like the black and white, it enhances the lighting in the background. I dont like this effect either. 

PRODUCTION UPDATE

Filming went to plan and several shots were taken of the male lead. As I wanted to create a dark and dingy look a kept only one light on and I'm not sure whether this affected the quality of the shots. I plan to view and edit the existing shots on the 5th and 6th of December or before that date if possible.

PROBLEM CAT!!!

It appears that when filming cats like to be in on the action! Lucky, Lee's cat, decided he wanted to be center stage when filming and appear in shots as an extra! The cat wouldnt go outside no matter how many times we tried to lur him outside with food so we had to trick him into the living room and close the door!

NOTE TO SELF: CATS LIKE CAMERAS

BEHIND THE SCENES FIRST SHOOT