Filming reflection

How did it go? What went well? How could it have gone better? 

As a group I think we were successful in the varied shots we took, we varied our locations which made our music video more interesting, we each played a role in the filming of our music video,  the artist, director, camera guy. This was an advantage that we each played different roles and were good at different things because it meant that we worked well as a team, sharing equal amounts of work.
We kept on top of filming and organised ourself as a group. We used group chat so that we could keep in contact with each other  and organise when we could all film together.

Filming went well. It was a different experience in comparison to filming for a film opening as we were able to be more creative with our shots, using a variety of angles, locations and settings. However something which could have gone better was one our first filming day we didn't get as many shots as we needed, we underestimated the amount of shots which would be needed in a music video. This meant that once we began editing we realised our mistake and had to go back to the location and further filming more shots. Although in the end we managed to get more shots, it was a minor inconvenience. However it is something that we learnt from.

From looking at our final product I think filming was successful, we kept the video interesting and used a varied amount of shots at different locations.

Interview Research

Interviews can take place in many forms, official and unofficial. 

James Cordan know for his show ' the late late show' also known for his casual interviews during carpool karaoke. It is important to keep interviews calm and casual so the artist is not stressed out and the audience can truly get a look at what the musician is really like.

Interview

Artist interview research

we researched some star interviews so that we coud understand what an interview entails and how to establish a star image when promoting an upcoming product.

Finished website

Below is a link to our finished website:

https://islamusic.wixsite.com/isla

Marketing

We have decided to use different strategies to market our audiences. Our main target audience is young adults, however we do not want to limit our audience to this.

Our main technique was the use of social media. We have Instagram, Twitter and YouTube accounts. This is important for gaining popularity, spreading the word of our new artist and keeping in contact with 'fans'. Social media is, most likely, the most important way to keep in contact with people in the world today and also the way that news spreads the fastest. This is why we thought that this was really important to have.
We researched many different music artists and found that very few (practically none) did not have all of the social media accounts and the majority of them were very active, posing several times a week.

we are also marketing through our merchandise. Our merchandise products include photographs of Isla as well as her logo. therefore, when fans buy and use these products, it will attract the attention of others and cause more people to learn about who Isla is.

We have also uploaded a video interview onto our website and this can increase Isla's popularity as people could come across and watch it on YouTube. We also have several magazine interviews and front cover features. This makes it impossible for anyone who buys these magazines to not know who Isla is.

Billboard magazine cover feedback

Strengths

• Good cover photo
• Isla is the main focus
• Good aspect of red (links in with website, video and digipak)
• The photo looks like something you would see on the front of a Billboard magazine

Weaknesses

• You can't read some of the text because it is too small and the colour also makes it difficult.
• Needs more red
• The black text does not stand out
• Move the circular text box down and to the right slightly so that it does not block the photo as much

Celebrity magazine cover feedback

Strengths

• You can read most of the text
• There are titles unrelated to the artist (makes the cover realistic)
• Isla is the main focus
• The layout is great

Weaknesses

• You cannot read the black text easily
• Could be better if Isla's face was clearer
• Should the date be below the title and to the right rather than in the top left corner?

Header magazine cover feedback

Strengths

• Great colours
• The large titles are easy to read

Weaknesses

• Some of the text is too dark and so cannot be read
• The photograph looks quite dark?

SOUND magazine cover feedback

Strengths

• It looks like a cover
• Very colourful and stands out
• Love the colour scheme
• The clarity of the photograph

Weaknesses

• Cannot read all of the text easily - small and colours
• Title blends into the photo

6AM- First draft feedback

To get feedback of our music video, we asked our peers in our class, the year 12 classes and our friends. We decided to ask some people that did not study media with us to get some insight into what the music video looks like to someone that does not have a biased opinion. 


This is the feedback we got:

Strengths

• The transitions and effects are interesting.
• The Mise En Scene is also excellent and well thought out.
• The varied locations and settings work well.
• The shots were steady and filmed well.
• Red theme makes synergy clear.
• Inventive and interesting
• The shots cut with the timing of the music well
• The effect where Lorna cuts around the screen is effective.
• The shots suit the song well.

Weaknesses

• The lip syncing does not always match the words sung in the song.
• Use a wider range of transitions - fast and slow.
• Use a larger variety of camera angles.
• The props and mise en scene did not always link together
• The performance when lip syncing could be more enthusiastic. This would make the performance more believable.
• The meaning wasn't clear
• There are lots of repeated shots, could theses shots be replaced?
• Could the lip syncing shots have more cuts so that they are not as long?
• Some shots are too repetitive.
• More scenery shots?
• More close ups?

Merchandise survey

We decided to conduct a survey based on our merchandise research. We listed the different kinds of merchandise and asked people what kind of merchandise they think Isla would sell and which kind they think her target audience would buy. We used this data to decide which merchandise to design and add to the website's store.

6AM- First draft

Magazine feedback sheets

Here are the sheets we gave to our peers so that we could gain some feedback on our magazine covers with what one they liked the best and why.

Shooting schedule

Website peer feedback

We collected feedback from those in our class. We then reflected on the feedback we had received and made appropriate changes to our website.

Strengths

• Good synergy
• Great merchandise
• Theme of red is really good
• Good information
• Aesthetically pleasing
• Good attention to detail
• Love the layouts - especially the opening page
• Great structure 

Weaknesses 

• Not a lot of biography
• Some pages are slightly empty
• Sometimes there are spaces between the '6' and 'PM' and sometimes there are not - needs to be consistent.
• The EPK is sometimes used with new artists but this is not common or well known.
• Could add more social media links
• Could add some more images of the merchandise
• Some spelling mistakes and typing errors were pointed out e.g. 'genres' instead of 'genre'
• Not all of the fonts are consistent
• The products detail, returns policy and shipping information boxes were not filled out on all of the merchandise pages.
• Some style inconsistency

Magazine covers

We decided that we liked several of our magazine covers and so chose to include all of the ones that we liked onto our website.

Social media interactions

social media interactions are important so that an artist can gain support from a fan base and also so that they can share news and communicate with other artists and people from around the world. Below are some of the accounts Isla follows and why social media is important to her. 

Isla merchandise

Here are some examples of the merchandise we have designed for Isla. We have created T-Shirts, pins, mugs, calendars and phone cases.

Creating the merchandise

We used the website Cafe Press to create the merchandise for Isla. This website allowed us to upload our own images onto it to make our own merch designs.

Tour dates

Below are Isla's tour dates with venues. These were decided upon so that the ticket release would be pre- music video release and the tour would be post album release, this is so that the package release would promote excitement within Isla's fan base and promote good ticket sale and revenue.

Tour destinations

Due to our large target audience, we decided that we would need to book venues that cater to different age groups. Some places that are known for their indie rock music, but also some small theaters so that younger fans can also attend and enjoy the music.

Album song list

6AM
City Lights
Illusion
Skin deep
Exiles
Alter ego
Cloud nine
Shadows
Lost and found
Eyes wide open
Matthew
To come up with some more song ideas for our album we created random ideas which we though would match our genre. this was fun because it meant we could get creative. 6am is our single which we are releasing a music video for.

Timeline of annotated lyrics

This is an annotated printout of the Corrine lyrics. Once we had ideas of the locations we wanted in our music video, we began to annotate the lyrics with what locations and shots we will have at each point in the song. This is not a set plan but a rough idea of what we want to include in the video. We treated this as a way to get our ideas flowing before making the storyboard and before we started filming.

List of merchandise

Clothing

• T-Shirt
• Jumper
• Jacket
• Hats/Caps

Accessories

• Keyring
• Phone Case
• Ring
• Necklace
• Bracelet
• Badge
• Fabric Patch
• Tote Bag

Miscellaneous

• Mugs
• Bottle
• Poster

Café Press

This website has a large variety of products that we can personalise and use to create our merchandise. 

http://www.cafepress.co.uk/

Photoshoot slideshow

Throughout filming we also took photos to go with our website and digipak, and to also promote Isla as an established artist.

Merchandise research- Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift has got a new synergy point: snakes. Snakes were incorporated in one of her most recent music videos and on some of her live performances.In her music video she is seen surrounded by snakes and also wearing rings in the shape of snakes.


Swift has now used this synergy from her music videos and live performances and it is now featured in the merchandise she is producing.

http://www.instyle.com/news/taylor-swift-snake-merchandise
This article talks about how Swift is now using snakes in her merchandise and below are some examples of her products.


We thought that this was a very good idea and an interesting way to tie together the merchandise with the media products we will be making. We noticed that most artists just use their names, album titles and song lyrics. This is something that is different and unusual and could be something we do with Isla. In her case, we would probably incorporate roses onto our merchandise products.

Keeping organised

We created a table to keep on track to ensure we were all on top of our blog posts and tasks, this helped us communicate as a group ensuring everything was getting done, and we were not going to miss anything essential.

Blog posts	Lorna	Jess	Leah	Group comments/ questions/ ideas:
Production Diary
3 track presentation
Class presentation feedback
Lip synch task
Cross media
Digipak research
Website research
Similar genre videos
Similar artist research
Similar website
Cd cover analysis
Timeline of annotated lyrics
Availability
Storyboard
Shooting schedule
Evidence of filming
Photoshoot
Group reflection
Steal-o-matic
Website progress
Digipak progress
Halfway evaluation
First draft video
Class feedback of first draft
Magazine article
Digipak advert
Final construction
Peer assessment
Risk assessment
Creating logo
Marketing research
Social media – followers, following, posts
Teaser
Interview research
Magazine research
Synergy of Isla
Album song list
Merchandise research
Merchandise ideas and evaluation
Font
Synergy ideas eg rose
Organisational skills