Research: Principle photography of stars

For this photo, I really like how warm the atmosphere is created through the two models smiling and holding hands. There is a great use of the rule of thirds with the models' eyes resting on 2/3 of the way of the photograph. Great symmetry is used here as well creating a balanced photo as well as creating an equal presence in both models. The white background allows them to really pop and the lighting is perfect. The mise-en-scene of both models compliments the A/B 16-25-year-old target audience with the girl on the left wearing classy clothes while the girl on the right wears more of a free expressive outfit. However, if I was to re-shoot this I would make sure there is more lighting on the girl on the left as well as to try different angles of this pose, such as a ground perspective to create more of a grand personality for the models.

The comment I received from Flickr complimented the photo implying they liked the photo and the warm atmosphere it portrays. 

I loved this photo as the models pose is strong and sultry which portrays the upper-class demographic very well. Her makeup is minimal for the day and her outfit represents intelligence and wealth with the classy look of the loose shirt paired with the checkered trousers. Again the models' eyes rest on the 2/3 line which follows the rule of thirds and makes for a more pleasing photo to view. I also really love the relaxed facial expression of the model and the way she looks into the camera creates the convention of models looking into the camera to connect with the audience. If I was to re-shoot this I would make sure to not crop the bottom of her foot as well as to position the model towards the middle.

The comments I received from Flickr are very positive commenting on how they love the position of the model and the mise-en-scene. This is helpful as it tells me that I should continue to do further photos like this and that the target audience enjoys it.

I really liked this photo as the soft background complimented the white top and the natural makeup look. Her pose is strong with her hands on her hips implying shes more praised than the normal person and that she may have more wealth on her side. The convention of the eyes looking into the camera alongside the confident facial expression adds to this 'higher power' attitude of the model. I also really like the addition of the hair being tucked behind her ears as it frames the face well and also adds to this 'wealthy' stereotype almost like she is ready to work and handle businesses. The way the model is posed slightly at an angle also adds some dimension to the photo which is more pleasing to the eye than someone standing straight towards the camera with no movement. If I was to re-take this photo I would like to frame more of her body into it to get at least her hands into the photo. 

The comment on Flickr suggests to me that the target audience likes the photo and that I should continue to take more photos like this for my project.

I liked this photo due to the movement it offers which pleases the human eye. The way her hair flows along with the skirt offers a more 3D experience for the audience compared to a still shot of a model. I love how the model is wearing primarily dark colours with some flower details which suggest an 'alternative' feminine personality for the model. If I was to re-shoot this, however, I would take the photo as the models face comes to view and would smooth out the white background as the creases are slightly distracting and don't allow for a coherent photo.

The comments from this photo from the target audience were again positive and commented on how they loved the movement in the picture. This suggests to me that I should continue to take more pictures with 'movement' in them to add more life to the photo.

Research: Target Audience

                           

The demographic set for me in my brief is an A/B audience of 16 - 25. This age range is usually referred to as the 'technologically advanced' generation seeing as most of this age use social media and the internet every day of their lives. Middle-classed to upper-classed teenagers typically are interested in branded items such as designer made fashion and cars. The bigger the brand the more they want it to be perceived as 'cool' and 'trendy' as well as to make it seem like they own a lot of money compared to others their age. The appeal of famous 'designer' brands fascinates the majority of the world yet as teenagers have a mindset that they have to be seen as perfect they are more likely in need of possessing these overpriced objects. Social media plays a very big part in this as if you don't have any social media accounts in today's world as a teenager you are seen as weird and not up to date. Social media also consumes teenagers by promoting these designer items which makes it seem more trendy than it already is. Following celebrities on these social media platforms also influences teenagers as they share their new expensive buys. Overall I believe in order to make my music video seem believable in portraying an upper-class female I would need to show a possession of expensive objects including an iPhone and some designer clothes. 

Research: Websites of Artists - Dua Lipa

Dua Lipa

This is a website for fans of Dua Lipa so they can see all her merchandise, tour dates, music video updates and what her newest singles are. The main page has a black banner along the very top of the page including Dua Lipa's name in her 'logo' on the left and a built-in navigation bar including 'music', 'live', 'VIP', 'news', 'videos', 'store', 'merch', and white social media icons including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Spotify, Apple Music, and her own newsletter. A picture of Dua Lipa looking into the camera with a pink background covers most of the website underneath the black banner. She is positioned seductively with a big flower in her mouth which suggests femininity and power. The black and pink works well as a colour palette and helps to promote the new single 'IDGAF' to the audience. Her black and pink dress also creates great synergy for the artist and also promotes her unique style.

The colour palette then completely changes to purple and black with hints of blues which create a nice contrast with the subdued pink. Her name is displayed across the page to remind the audience of her presence and that you are on her website. The purple tones also create synergy for her previous music videos and singles. You could say its symbolic how the first pink feminine picture we see of her is how people first perceive her but then she is a completely different person and strays away from the stereotype of female artists. The purple and blue colour scheme continues and there is then a visual link to see her new music video on Youtube for 'IDGAF' which also has a navigation bar at the top to view her other videos and playlists from her channel. Synergy is again created by using the red and white 'subscribe' link from Youtube to link the two together.

continuing down the page the colour scheme then changes from purple to a mint green with the same forest image background. This colour scheme creates an interesting visual for the audience and also promotes the artist as fun and interesting, definitely targeting a teenage audience. There are then boxes containing some of her news related articles including coverage on The Brits, Live lounge and her US tour. These catching headlines create interest in the audience to see what Dua Lipa has been doing and promotes her tour dates by doing so. The use of emojis again solidifies the target audience to be young adults who use social media. Underneath there is a tweet from Dua lipa's Twitter praising her audience to uplift her star image. The Twitter icon is used at the beginning to again create synergy.

There is then some of her Instagram photos promoted with a small icon to create synergy and to promote the artist among many social media platforms. By doing so it is promoting her success in Elle magazine and her hit single with Calvin Harris 'one kiss'. Underneath this, there is a banner with a 2-second looped video of Dua Lipa dancing taken from one of her music videos to promote her other songs as well as to create intertextuality for the fans who have seen the video. This further establishes her star image alongside her name being plastered everywhere on the website. The colour scheme slowly changes to blue to again keep the audience interested and to create synergy with her previous music video.

Research: Websites of Artists - Calvin Harris

Calvin Harris

This is a website for fans of Calvin Harris so they can see all his merchandise, new hit singles, tour dates and music videos. The main page has a dark blue holographic background with a black navigation bar and white font. The simplicity of the white sans-serif font on the black banner helps the audience to navigate around the website with ease as if it was in bright distracting colours it would be harder to use. Calvin Harris' signature 'logo' of his name in white is displayed on the left corner of the main 'see through' banner with 4 white box puffs to the right of it displaying the most recent tour dates and locations in a black and turquoise sans-serif font. The navigation bar contains 'home', 'news', 'shows', 'releases', 'videos', 'vegas', 'store', 'subscribe', and 'contact' with white social media icons to the right including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Google Plus, Instagram, and Soundcloud. The first picture you see is of Dua Lipa, an artist who worked with Calvin to create their new hit track 'one kiss'. She is posed in a subdued sultry way with her arms above her head signifying that she is dancing which links into the genre of music. Her makeup looks quite natural despite it being a full face and the orange background contrasts nicely with the dark blue chromed background of the website. The picture is in a banner form which suggests other images could have been promoted here before but as this is a number 1 hit the advertisement for the single is the main focus.

Further down the home page, there is then a search bar to search the website faster and to make the audiences experience as great as it can be. A twitter link is placed to the right promoting Calvin Harris's Twitter account by showcasing some of his recent tweets. The black and blue colour scheme also creates a great synergy between Twitter and the website and flows nicely with the theme of the webpage. There is then a big poster promoting the next show he will be playing at Pacha Ibiza with a link to buy tickets underneath. The colour scheme of purple, green and cream doesn't really go with the website however it does provide a contrast so it is more noticeable to the audience.

The home page then continues with a link to his newest music video for 'one kiss' and then a picture of the album cover for 'one kiss'. The synergy is created here with the orange background of the music video and the dark blue chromed cover of the album with the website. These links are simplistic yet effective and help to establish cross media convergence and a brand identity for the artist.

Research: Websites of Artists - Troye Sivan

Troye Sivan

This is a website for fans of Troye Sivan so they can see all his merchandise, tour dates and advertisement for him. The main page has a black and purple colour scheme which creates a mysterious atmosphere for the artist. This makes new audiences want to research more into him and his music. The purple colour scheme also symbolises luxury and wealth so this further creates a successful image for the artist and the record label. The simplicity of the white sans-serif text 'Bloom the new album' pops against the dark background and links the photo of Troye Sivan to create a coherent page. The text promotes his new album coming out with direct links to 'pre-order' or 'pre-save' the album if the audience is interested. These are in lilac purple boxes with a white sans-serif font, these create puffs to grab the audience's attention. Along the top where the navigation bar is there is Troye Sivan's name enlarged in white sans-serif font with 'home', 'tours', 'watch', 'music', and 'app' which turn purple when clicked on to further create cohesion among the website. The links are useful and help to promote his merchandise, tour dates, music videos, music and his very own app with exclusive content regarding the artist. To the left of the page, there are iconic symbols of social media links to again promote the artist widely with such links as Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Spotify.

Further down the home page, the simplicity continues with two pictures containing his newest merchandise including an 'exclusive white vinyl' and the 'ultimate bloom collection'. The use of the buzzwords 'exclusive' and 'ultimate' suggest to the audience that there is nothing like this product out there and to a fan, this is a must have purchase. The purple and black synergy carries on to the merch with its black, white and purple colour scheme in the vinyl. The verb 'pre-order' and the imperative verb 'order now' almost commands the audience to buy his merchandise, the bright purple puff is again used to highlight the verbs to showcase their importance.

On the tour page the theme of black, white and purple continues with the same sans serif font promoting his new tour 'Bloom' which links into his new album also called 'Bloom' which creates great synergy for the artist. Buzzwords such as 'Exclusive' are repeated to further promote the tour and the app. There is even an offer to buy general tour dates which includes a CD copy of Bloom. The offers and the buzzword all create a semantic field of great offers worth the audiences money. The acronym 'RSVP' and the noun 'Tickets' is again displayed inside a purple puffs. The 'RVSP' takes you to a page with more information about the venue and who is supporting him in the concert. Behind the main page with the basic information for the tour, there is a picture of Troye Sivan in black and white looking off to the side seductively to promote his star image to the audience.

The final promotion at the bottom of the home page is for his new music video for his hit single with Ariana Grande. The black, white and purple colour scheme continues with a black and white photo of Troye and Ariana looking into camera which is a convention to grab the audiences attention. The 'watch now' is again in a purple box which is big enough and easily accessable to the audience.

Research: Institutions/ distribution channels research

Universal Music Group (UMG)

Universal Music Group is an American global music corporation which was founded in September 1934, 83 years ago. Their headquarters are in Santa Monica, California, US and they are known to be one of the "Big Three" record labels alongside Warner Music Group and Sony Music. Universal pictures were formally both Universal Studios - a film-making industry - and Universal Music Group but they only were split apart after a Japanese multinational conglomerate agreed to possess the company for $6.59 billion. The chairman and CEO of UMG is called Lucian Grainge who was born on the 29 September 1960 and became chairman in 2005. The CFO of Universal Media Group is called Boyd Muir came into the position in 2010 and together they have maintained a revenue of $1.552 billion. There is no way to be found easily by a record label, they are often quite picky and they are in a position to demand for more these days due to their billion dollar net worth. They want something that can sell to a mass audience so the creator has to be unique and mold-able in order for the company to create a star. Usually if you have a semi-large following through such things as social media (YouTube) they are more likely to offer you a label as you have already proved you are well loved and have talent.

YouTube

YouTube is a video sharing social media site which was founded in February 14 2005 by Steve Chen (born August 18, 1978), Chad Hurley (born January 24, 1977) and Jawed Karim (born October 28, 1979). Its headquarters can be found in San Bruno, California, US with its CEO Susan Wojcicki (born July 5, 1968 and came into the position in February 2014) who has a net worth of $410 million. Its parent site is Google from 2006 till present day which is a mass search engine for the internet with a net worth of $527 billion. Many musicians or creators can make videos of them performing and post them to you tube for free creating their own marketing and advertising for themselves. Stars such as Justin Bieber and Troye Sivan started off through posting videos to YouTube and then later got record labels with companies such as EMI and Island Records (which is child to Universal Music Group). YouTube also offers advertising revenue to the bigger creators which is based on the number of views they achieve on a video, the higher the number the higher the revenue so this allows them to become self employed. Although this is an issue as the advertising revenue has been heavily constricted so some creators are finding it hard on YouTube to create profit and to market themselves to the audience. For instance a smaller creator with only 100 subscribers wont get much attention now as YouTube gives most of its attention to the 'big money makers'.

My Initial Response to The Briefs

I have chosen to do brief 4 which is Music video and online. I am thinking of applying to a film course at university so this practical can help to prepare me for higher education. I also believe my imaginative and creative talents can feed into creating a music video which is suitable for an AB audience.

My Idea for my music video is to incorporate a love story of a gay couple where one is from wealth and the other is more from a middle classed background into a dance party scenario. The shots will include lots of partying with friends to convey conventions of dance music. There will also be intertextuality incorporated into my music video either giving a nod to some popular TV shows, such as stranger things, or some outfit choices inspired by classic films. The song I am thinking of using has lyrics targeted towards someone craving for the person they love to be with them so I believe I can link the lyrics with the shots through editing.

My initial idea also includes some futuristic inspired outfits with even some vintage styles to create interesting visuals or the AB target audience. One of the main characters will also have a high end style of fashion to further target the sophisticated AB target audience the brief has set me. As for the website to promote the artist I will maybe use colourful synergy to relate to the music video and some creative photos of the actors and ‘artists’.

Overall I do really believe that I can create an interesting and professional music video and website with the use of my creative instincts.