Kings of Leon, Only by the Night - Magazine ad Analysis

This advert takes a different form to the Killers advertisement. It consists of an early rendition of the album cover which was later changed for the actual album. There is no evidence of blending between the album cover and the additional details which market the advert. A military style font is used which links to the brand identity of The Kings of Leon, meaning instantly people will recognise who the album is by and this also creates continuity across the brand as a whole. Kings of Leon are a more abstract band, leading towards the more rocky side of the genre they play in. The artwork of the album consists of a graphical combination of the bands faces and an owl, this links to the title of the album and creates a unique appeal to the advert. In addition the whole cover takes on a stingy green colour which is carried through by the additional text. This creates a grungy feel to the album, linking to the music style and also creates a visual poignancy to the aesthetics of the album, making it stand out from pages in the magazine due to its unique colouring. Additional details we are given includes: a link to the bands website, popular songs and the record label. This allows the reader to access the album and find out more info about purchasing the album. This magazine ad was published pre release of the album before the revised styling of the album cover so a release date is also published at the bottom of the page, giving viewers more information increasing their interest towards the album.

The Killers, Day and Age- Magazine ad analysis

This album advert is an example of a very simplistic design. The advert consists of the album cover which has been blown up to fit the page. The album cover also consists of a simplistic design which reflects on the album its self. mosaic texture has been used across the cover which creates an interesting aesthetic. The graphics themselves relate to the title of the album being based off day and age. The fonts used are san serif and very bold which relates to the artist style of music being very bold and loud. The Killers are a world renowned band. Complimentary, vibrant colours are used which create a very striking aesthetic to the piece and create a very entrancing appeal to the look of the album which reflects the songs being very easy to listen too. Being that the album cover is designed to fit a CD case it is in a square form. The use of a fade to black at the bottom of the page allows additional text to be added below the album cover. The white text on black makes the additional text stand out. A similar font is also used to the text on the album cover which creates continuity throughout. On the advert its self we are provided with additional details such as the record company the band produced the song with and the website of the band its self, where people can go to find out further details or purchase the album.  

In addition to this there is details of big hit songs that will be included within the album, this helps create attention to the album giving readers a guarantee of the level of quality that will be within the album and that they are not just buying in hope. There is no evidence of social media advertising within this advert however this is purely contextual as Instagram had not been released until 2010 and Facebook was still only a personal social media and had not evolved into the marketing tool it is today.

I really like this advert as it is very simple yet poignant and would surely captivate the viewers interest within the magazine due to its vibrant and iconic design.

Location Scouting

Storyboard

Tunnels Music Video - Storyboard

Digipak Analysis 3- Saint Model

This is an example of a more abstract digipak. There is very little detail being given within the pack and it focuses more on the graphical and aesthetic elements. This digipak also has a more uplifting and playful feel to it which reflects the mood the music within inspires. A sky photo is consistent throughout the piece creating a nice flow throughout. The blue sky has connotations with summer which invokes a very positive time. On the front cover is the band logo followed underneath by the name of the album. The logo of the band is very bold and outstanding, being a san serif font, it clearly stands out from the rest of the cover. The album title is more understated and is a serif font which differs to the previous digipaks I have looked at. The font is almost handwritten which gives a more vintage appeal to the album making it more personal and looking less professional/ commercial. I think this inspires a more humble feel to the album which the intended audience would appreciate. 

Inside the pack the photo continues seamlessly which continues the theme. In addition further characters and graphics are inserted over the top of the background photo. This further personalises the album and gives a more homemade feel, with abstract styling. Once again this would appeal to the audience being more interested in the unique style of the genre that is alternate to the general chart style music the majority of people would be interested in. Within the digipak there is no reference to the artist visually and in addition there is no text or further information regarding the band or album. This creates a more aesthetic focus towards the digipak making the buyer want to listen to the CD to reveal its contents. This Circa Waves digipak is designed to reflect on the music so ,due to the positive tone the music inspires, there is use of very vibrant colours associated commonly with happiness and summer. Retro characters are placed onto the background to help further enforce the retro feel to the bands sound, it also creates a positivity surrounding the album. 

The back of the digipak unsurprisingly is no different to the rest of the pack. It consists of the same vibrant photo of blue summer sky. The back is the only part of the digipak where we are made aware of information about the contents of the CD. The back consists of the same serif font as the front which provides continuity to the digipak. The back consists of a central list naming all the songs within the album. Overall I really like the look to this piece and think I will be able to take inspiration from it when creating my Digipak. 

Magazine Advert

Once again I did not want to steer too far away from existing conventions for my magazine advert however continued with the theme of a lack of iconography which is less common with my genre for the magazine adverts. 

Digipak Analysis 2- Arctic Monkeys

This Digipak is once again an example of a more minimalist Digipak. It consists of material all in black and white which provided continuity throughout the piece. The front cover consists of the album logo. This is the only graphic on the front cover. There is no indication of who the album is by or what genre could be contained within. This creates interest towards the product its-self which potentially would cause the potential buyer to pick it up and explore the pack. The indie rock genre is heavily music focused and often focuses on providing meaning behind each song. The graphic on the front cover is essentially a sound wave which gives the impression the album focuses heavily on sound and that the artists have put a lot of hard work into making the album its self. Inside the case is a photo of the band. This provides identity to the soundtrack and also gives a personality behind the songs. This photo is also in black and white which links to the very stylised theme to this cover. The photo consists of very harsh lighting which inflicts shadows giving a grunge look to the piece which reflects on the music within the album. The CD design is the same as the front cover which enforces further continuity throughout the piece and gives a nice flow throughout. On the back of the Digipak there is the band logo. This is essential in stamping the identity on the cover as when enticed by the cover the viewer may wish to pick it up and inspect the front and back. By providing the logo on the back it maintains that interest but also allows the viewer to instantly know who's album it is which could increase their potential to purchase the Digipak. On the back also is the songs within the album which once again provides more information for the viewer which could enhance their potential to make the purchase. The front is san-serif which allows greater ease when reading the text. The logo of the band is also san-serif so this presents a coherency between the logo and text. It also links to the minimalistic theme the Digipak maintains throughout to provide an intriguing and aesthetic product which links to the genre of music it is based in. 

Digipak Analysis 1- Alt-J

This is a more graphical based Digipak for the album Matilda by Alt-J. The Digipak consists of quite a standard layout and is based off a more minimalist concept. The front cover makes it very obvious exactly what the digital is representing and inside consists of a continuation of the graphic along with a lyrics page. The back cover consists of details about the album once again continuing with the same theme. The fonts used within are very simplistic and based off the same font as the front cover. This provides continuity throughout the digital allowing a seamless transition as you navigate through the pack it self.
The Digipak focuses on a geometric theme and this is reinforced through the use of a san-serif font which helps to add to that blocky minimalist theme to the pack. Triangles have been used within the type in order to replace the letter A. The triangle is also printed within the digipak on a separate page as it represents the logo of the band. Using the logo throughout the type helps to once again add to the theme and continuity of the piece giving a really nice flow throughout the pack and also further indicating exactly who the album is by, providing identity to the album trademarking it so the buyer will be familiar with exactly what they are buying.
 Colour is very minimal within the digipak. Black is primarily used which creates a sense of mystery and darkness which would be associated with the genre of music often connoting an emotion. Alt-j often create songs which have a solemn tone, this is reflected by the mood of the digipak. The use of an orange flame graphic creates a warm within the digiopak and also brings out the logo and font which are masked out with the fire graphic. It creates a sense of vibrancy and further enforces the mystery that the album could hold. It is used in this way to set a tone to the music and how you should feel whilst listening to this particular song. It is a very calming style of digital and this links to the tempo of the song.
The Digipak presents a mysterious element surrounding the band and creates a very exclusive and desirable feel to the product. Fire and the damaged and burnt look this product has is that similar to an old film where sometimes the reel could be burnt or catch fire. There are also imperfections graphically inserted to give the product a more weathered and vintage look which links to the genre characteristic. Alt-j are an indie band based in England so this helps link to the genre as it looks typical of an album within this genre.

Tunnels Band- Profile

The Tunnels are an Indie Rock group based in Leeds. They are an upcoming band within the music scene of Leeds and have played gigs all around the city. They do not have a huge following however I have had the opportunity to shoot a few of their concerts and the audience response has always been a lively one. They are all ages 17-18 and attend the same school at which the band was formed. They have been together for 3 years but unfortunately are having to break up in 2019 due to their transition to university so this video will be their first and only music video and thus will be a great final performance to leave their audience with.

Here is a collection of promotional material I have already provided for the band and included in the videos below is footage I will use when constructing the final video. The idea of posting the videos on my channel was to create an interest in the final video to come which will be my music video. 

Production Log Day 1

To tackle this project I split shooting into 3 sections each of which would require a different shooting style or location. The sections I divided the shooting into were : performance, internal narrative and external narrative. The first day of shooting I wanted to tackle the internal narrative is this is the main body of the narrative and would be easier to work in chronological order. For this shoot I came across a lot of problems initially which caused me to alter and change shots as we went along. Initially the first problem was underestimating the amount of light I had available. The first slow motion shot I had planned was incredibly hard to achieve as there was very little light available outside. When shooting within the garage the light was a bit more forgiving as we were able to control our lighting angles and amounts by using work lights which came in handy when shooting interior shots of the car. A third problem I came across was the space within the garage and how much the car occupied. Unfortunately within my storyboard I had greatly over estimated the space available within the garage and when getting wide shots I wanted to avoid using a really wide lens to prevent amateur looking distortion to the footage. Overcoming this problem was tricky and I am still concerned that it affects the continuity of the video as to achieve wider shots I opened the garage door and stood outside the building which I hoped would give the impression of a wider shot. I made use of a smoke machine which helped enforce the more rustic and gritty feel I was aiming for the narrative section to look like. I was really pleased with this outcome as when combined by the work light  and next to the car, the three really tied together to make some really beautiful images. Unfortunately I was not able to find another actor so being someone of the age range I was looking for for my second actor, I decided to step in.

Overall I was hugely impressed with the outcome and the footage I had captured. I felt that watching it back on a screen after shooting really brought my vision to life and gave me a new burst of creativity which I will inflict on my next shoot. For my exterior shoot I will be even less able to control lighting and will be forced to use natural street lighting only which could oppose a problem however there is no other viable option so I will have to figure this out as my next steps in production. So far I my project is exactly where I want it to be.

Shot List