Artist Brand Image Mind Map

In class we all watched each other's music video's and from this we were able to give each other feedback of ideas and words of how we would imagine the brand image of our artists to be. From this I was able to create a mind map which includes some of the ideas which we brainstormed for my own music video. I have gathered that from everyone's feedback they feel that a naturalistic approach is key, along with the use of light colours and incorporating her folk/pop genre by possible use of the guitar.

Artist Research - Taylor Swift

 Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift would typically fit in to the country pop genre within music which is also very similar to my artist. Taylor Swift's first album 'Sounds of the Season', was released in October 2007. The album cover used uses a very soft, flowy font, which suggests her younger, fun and more creative side, which is visually appealing to her teenage target audience. The lighting and colour which she uses
in both her first album and her EP, titled 'Beautiful Eyes' which was released in July 2008 are both related in the aesthetics of the album covers. The natural yellowy colours are clearly intended to make her stand out. The first album cover uses a particular close up shot which helps to establish her as an artist and to appeal to her target audience for the very first time. The red flower and the flowery design compliment each other whilst also relating to the idea of beauty, in the title.

Her second album 'Fearless' suggests a strong, independent woman, and although she is facing away from the camera which suggests a slightly timid character, her bright, bouncy curls add to the effect of the branding of her as an artist, and suggest the idea of growing as an artist as half of the font is in bold, which is the album title 'Fearless'. 'Speak Now' also suggests similar characteristics, the bright colours and soft, flowy font are conventions of previous album art work.

Taylor Swift's newest album 'RED' suggests a vivid change of character. The font used has gone from a previous soft, swirly, flowy nature to big bold lettering, and the use of colour is also used playing to its strengths as the album title is written in the colour of the word used, with the red colour also used as her lipstick. The shadowing used suggests a possible darker or more detailed aspect to her life and does not resemble what we have seen before. Her hair is straight, when we previously have only seen curly, although she is still looking away from the camera but not as a strong way like we previously saw on the 'Fearless' album cover.

Digipak Research: Form and Conventions

A Digipak is a design which is found in a plastic hard case, this also contains the CD which is attached inside. A Digipak differs to an album cover as a digipak allows the user to gain access to not only the music, but also added extras, such as music videos, pictures, outtakes etc.

A digipak usually consists of a 4 face net although it may also contain more if appropriate. It is a square shape which resembles that of an album cover.

On the front cover face of a digipak the visuals usually consists of an image of the artist, especially if it is their debut, this helps get the artist noticed more and helps to create the required attention that a debut artist would need to make good profit. It also has the title name and the artists name which also helps to give the artist's product maximised advertisement. The conventions of the back cover of a digipak typically have the the title name along with the track list of what the CD contains with an image behind it which compliments the image of the front cover whether it be through colours, text etc. Also on the back cover of the digipak you will find the barcode, this is so that it can be scanned when people go to buy the CD. On the inside cover of the digipak you will find another image which relates to the front and back covers but it usually has less happening in the image, the lyric book is also found in this section with the same text and similar colours used within the rest of the digipak. On the CD tray, you will find an image which also compliments the other three, although this will be a pretty empty image, it may be an image of a motif, this is because the CD will be covering the majority of the image and therefore it would be pointless to fill it with a big bold image of something that you want to stand out.

Editing - what went right and what needed changing

1. Describe how you have tackled the editing process?

The editing process has been pretty smooth as I have grasped the concept of using final cut express from last year well. To refresh my editing skills, before I began editing my own music video piece I tried lip syncing on a previous students work which meant that when it came to doing my own piece I understood how to do it correctly. Once I had completed all editing I realised I had another problem which was that I had begun editing my shots along with my track over 30 seconds through the timeline, this was simply fixed by highlighting all of my work and dragging it back to the beginning.

2. What are the three most important decisions you have made whilst editing?

Whilst editing I have made various important decisions, however the ones that stand out to me most would be the lip syncing, the narrative perspective and also the visual metaphors. I needed to make sure I had a good clear visual metaphor for the audience, so I decided to use shots such as the boy texting the girl whilst they were clearly separated from eachother, I also wanted to show that the girl was having fun on holiday but at the same time always thinking about her boyfriend so I edited an image of him so that he appears in the sky when the sun shines through which I was happy with.I think the narrative perspective worked quite well with my track, the song is called 'Im Yours' which suggests to me a couple in love, so my narrative was a couple who were separated due to a holiday, but who were constantly on eachothers minds.The lip syncing was extremely important for me as I felt it is a key concept of a music video, there were certan shots I had filmed which iI as unable to use due to inaccuracy or a object/person in the shot which broke the mise en scene which I was trying to create. I decided that I needed to shoot the shot I really wanted to use again but also because I filmed with various angles I was able to use these aswell.

3. What went well whilst editing?

The thing that went best whilst I was editing would have to be editing specifc shots to the exact length I wanted them to be, I was able to use the razor tool to achieve this and it meant that I was also easily able to move about and place different pieces in different places on my timeline to create my music video narrative.

4. What was your biggest hurdle whilst editing?

The biggest problem I had whilst editing was probably making sure the whole narrative flowed properly, my original storyboard was the base of my music video but throughout my filming I changed certain aspects of it because I had a better idea or was no longer able to use a certain location, which meant I was running on an adjusted narrative, although I knew which shots were being replaced with new ones.

Editing completed

I completed all of my editing and added in a few effects and transitions which I thought would complement my music video well. I added a fade to black at the end to represent the fact that it is a love song, I also used a fade out and fade in from the shot of the girl leaving with her suitcase to the shot of her being on holiday, these fades represented time passing. I also used a split screen at a certain point within my music video to show the couple separated and the distance between them. I also created the effect of an image of the boy fading in when the gir is looking into the distance and also when the sun shines through the sky.