Evaluation and Feedback

Lady Gaga is known for her original videos and the creativity behind them. It was important that we stuck closely to these conventions in order to make a realistic video for Monster. We used some of the typical conventions of a Lady Gaga video with our editing of certain shots. For example the still on the left is taken from my music video. We looked at several of Lady Gaga's videos in order to gain a good understanding of what the conventions of her videos are. The still on the right is taken from her most recent video Born this way. the shot has been mirrored back on itself. This is something that we decided would be good to use in our music video, as we had a lot of extreme close up mouth shots we wanted to keep it interesting. This then also allowed us to make direct references to Lady Gaga and her music videos.

We developed and challenged the typical conventions of a pop video by changing it into black and white and making it in the style of film noir. The reason we did this was because we wanted it to show the monster element of the video. We spent a lot of time thinking about what would be the best way to approach making this video and decided that this would be the best way to do so. We also felt that as Lady Gaga is constantly challenging conventions with her fashion, music and videos we, in a way, were staying true to her conventions by trying something different. Pop music videos often use lots of bright colour, but we went the opposite way, as we felt that the music itself expresses the genre well and we were careful to use shots that would also clearly show the genre. Though the style of the promotional pack is old horror, I feel there are clear connotations of pop in there. For example the hair and make up remain the same as that you would usually expect to find in music videos and adverts from the pop music genre.

Madonna's music video for Vogue is entirely in black and white and we drew inspiration from that. The still on the left is taken from the music video Vogue. There are a lot of close up shots in this video. Madonna is an inspiration to Lady Gaga and that is why we paid close attention to a lot of Madonna videos as well. The use of close up shot and mid inter cut with long and mid shots in this video, influenced us in our shot choices for our music video.

Though Madonna's video is entirely black and white, her video is very glamorous and ours is much darker as it had a horror theme. This is the main way in which we have challenged the conventions of a typical pop video. I am pleased with the way it turned out as I feel we managed to show the horror side, but successfully combine it with the pop genre. I feel that my promotional pack works well with my finished product, the music video. I have tried to link them all together by using similar patterns colours and fonts. For example only using red and white font in all of them, changing the photograph to black and white and keeping the font the same style in each of them. I wanted it to be clear that the Digipak, the advert and the video are all part of one thing and that the digipak and advert are promoting the music video.

I did a lot of research before creating my promotional pack as I wanted it to look professional and like a genuine media product. I looked into film noir, researched Lady Gaga and looked at lots of pop artists of a similar style for example Madonna. I did this so that I could try to create a realistic portrayal of a genuine promotional pack for Lady Gaga.

I looked at some of Lady Gaga's own promotions and saw that she has tied hers together by using the same font in the same colour and also using images that are edited into the same colour. This means that as soon as you see one of her adverts or album covers you know instantly that it is Lady Gaga without even reading it. I wanted to create this effect with my promotional pack as it is important that fans and the target audience are able to instantly connect with your design. The photos on the left and right are promotions for Lady Gaga's album the fame monster. Though the photos used are quite different she has used the same simplistic background and colouring for the photo. She has also used the exact same font and colour for both. This provides and instant link and as a member of her target audience you make an instant connection. This is what I have tried to achieve with my advert and digipak.

I think it that all the different elements of my promotional pack compliment each other well and I have tried to ensure that they all link together well. I was pleased with the way the use of colour and the shadow I used on my font worked well with the photos I chose. This was something that I learnt from the feedback. It provided the effect of an old horror film which was exactly what I had been aiming for. Overall I feel that the combination of the main product and the ancillary text work effectively together. The only thing I would change would be to make the contrast effects of the photos on my digipak more like the contrast of the advert as I feel this added a darker edge and made the text really stand out

I chose to upload my digipak, advert and video onto Facebook in order to get feedback from

my target audience. The reason for this is that Facebook is a social networking site that a large preparation of her target audience use. I know this as I have researched Lady Gaga on Facebook and she has thousands of fans listed. I felt that because of this, this would be the best place to get feedback. I created a group on Facebook and uploaded my cover, inside cover and my advert. I uploaded the video onto my home page and asked people to comment. I feel that it is an accurate reflection of Lady Gaga's audience as only the people that were interested in her music chose to comment. Those that are not interested didn't leave comments as it was not something they knew about or appealed

to them.

On the left is a print screen of feedback that i received for my digipak cover.I was pleased with the feedback I received about the cover, it was all positive feedback. I feel that people understood the old horror film theme that I was aiming for. If I could change something about the cover it would be to make the red font a slightly darker shade of red so that it looks more like a blood red. I would also use the same effect on the front picture as I used on the back. Unfortunately the software I was using to create the cover wouldn't let me put the same effect on both photo, just as it would not let me remove the effect from the back cover photo.

On the right is the feedback I received from my digipak inside cover. The feedback was all very positive. People have commented on the fact that the digipak is 'Really in the style of film noir'. Which I am pleased with as i looked at films such as psycho by Alfred Hitchcock for inspiration for this video. There were also comments on how the photograph on the inside works well and provides a nice contrast to the other photos I have used. This is because 'she looks a little less Lady Gaga/Monster and a bit more 'musician' which I think works well inside'. I was pleased with this comment as I had been worried that the photo I used on the inside didn't work as well for the very reason that she looks very nonchalant.

If I could change something about this inside cover it would be to use a slightly more Gaga style photo. By this is mean to chose a more stylised photo like I have used for the advert and the front cover. Though I am pleased with the overall look of my digipack I would like to have used a less relaxed photo and used one that is slightly more posed and using eye contact. On the left is a print screen of the feedback I received for my advert. I was pleased with the feedback as it was again all very positive. A lot of people commented on the comic book likeness of the advert. 'I really like the Gothic touch to the advert- it is very much in the style of dark comic book movies like sin city or spirit.' This is what I was aiming for with the use of font and high contrast of the photo. In looking at some old horror films I realised that they often use a comic book style of presentation. For example the writing and the often the use of animation in their adverts. This is something that I wanted to try and recreate for my Lady Gaga advert and digipak. Though I have not used an animated picture I have instead chosen a font that I feel is symbolic of old horror films.

'The word placement leads your eye around the page, encouraging you to take in the ad as a whole.' I tried hard to get the correct composition so that it would attract the audiences attention, without there being so much text that they were put off. I am pleased that the composition worked in such a way as to take the viewer around the advert and get them to see it as a whole. This is what I wanted to achieve as it is important to hold the viewers attention for long enough that they take in all of the information.

One thing I would change about my advert would be to move the Q magazine quote down a bit. The reason for this is that it is bunched up quite close to 'New and exclusive'. There is a large empty pace at the bottom right, and looking back at it now I can see that it would have been better to move it down a bit and fill that space.

On the right left is a still of some feedback I got for my music video. Though it is mostly positive feedback, there is some constructive feedback in this comment also, which is really helpful. 'You can hear the camera moving, which doesn't work so well'. This is good feedback to have as we know that this is something we should have edited out instead of choosing to keep it in. If I was to re shoot or create another video I would ensure that I took into account that this is something that I should be careful to edit out.

'At the end with the dancing the fading where they look like ghosts is REALLY cool.' This is really positive feedback as we didn't know how well this would work. I was really pleased with the effect that it had, but I am glad that a member of our target audience understood the ghost like qualities that we had tried to portray by using this technique of filming and liked it.

On the right is another print screen of our feedback from our music video. These are all really positive comments. 'The close ups of the eyes and mouth are also really eye catching and synced really well with the music.' I am pleased with this comment because we wanted to re-create the Lady Gaga style by doing extreme close ups and we wanted them to be interesting and attention grabbing shots. This is why we decided to experiment with different shot types for our video. If I could change something about this video it would be to make sure that everything is timed perfectly as the smallest out of time section can still make the video look off. I would also make sure to edit out any loud off putting sounds for example the camera movement that was commented on.

Overall I think that the Facebook feedback was a success as it enabled me to accurately find out what my target audience's thoughts and feelings were on the promotional pack i created. I was pleased to find out that the majority of them seem to like it and have commented on all the things I had hoped they would pick up on, such as the horror film effect and the use of font. I feel this is valuable knowledge to posses.

Throughout this project I have learnt a lot about different software, most of which I have never used before. I have enjoyed learning how to use this software in order to create a promotional pack. I have also learnt how to use lots of new equipment, and I would now feel confident in going on and using it again.

I used photoshop to create my digipak and advert. Though I have used photoshop before I have never used it to create anything like a digipak before, so it was a new experience for me. My knowledge of photoshop isn't great, however I do feel that it was helpful as it enabled me to experiment with effects and try out different ways of editing my photos that I might not have been able to do otherwise. I did pick up some new skills whilst using photoshop to create my advert and digipak. For example I never knew how to download and edit text on photoshop before. I knew how to use the text tool provided but I had never had the opportunity or knowledge to experiment with it in any other way before. I learnt how to manipulate the font once it was downloaded in order the make it the exact size colouring for my advert and how to layer fonts on top of one another in order to create the shadow effect I have used in my digipak and advert.

Final cut pro was the other main piece of software we used. I have used Final cut once before but only briefly and had no real knowledge of how it worked. After spending a few lessons learning how it worked, we got the chance to try using it ourselves with some test footage we had taken for the teenage dirtbag video. This was a really helpful experience as it prepared me for editing my own music video. Everything about final cut was a learning experience for me as I have never properly used it before. I learnt how to create a music video. This consists of many different parts such as cropping and cutting footage putting shots together in order on the timeline so that it runs in order adding the music track and making it fit to the video. I also learnt how to edit the footage with effects and transitions so that you get the outcome you want. I never knew how to have a window of text within the footage, this is something that I learnt while using final cut. This will be very helpful next time I wish to use this software as I now know what I am doing and I feel confident in using it again.

In terms of equipment that we used I learnt how to use the camera and tripod. This was possibly the most important lesson to learn as we would not have been able to create any of the interesting shots we have if we hadn't understood how to use the camera. The tripod was helpful as it enabled us to have perfectly steady shot, this was particularly important when tilting and panning as it held the camera steady while we were able to tilt and pan the camera up and down and from side to side.

Once we had learnt how to work the camera it made it possible for us to experiment with narrow depth of field, pull focus and try out different angles and shot types. We experimented with extreme close ups with some of our eye and mouth shots, as this is something that Lady Gaga often does. We also experimented with zoom on some of the walking shots and we tried zooms into characters faces to fit with the music and found it to be very successful. Some of the night time shots enabled us to try things such as the movement trails we managed to achieve with the small handheld camera. We were pleased with the ghost like quality that we managed to get from using the smaller camera in the dark.

These are all things that would not have been possible before but once we understood the software and equipment it helped us bring our ideas together successfully and achieve a positive outcome.

Finished Video

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PX_8Q_XivE

Print screen of me and my groups upload page on YouTube below as I was unable to upload the video straight on to blogger.

This is a link to our music video from a memeber of my groups blog incase one link doesn't work.

http://a2mediaellissstrong.blogspot.com/2010/11/finished-video.html

Creative Camera Use

As we decided to make a music video for one of Lady Gaga's songs, it was important that we tried out lots of different techniques and were creative when filming. Lady Gaga is known for her unique music videos and we didn't want our music video to be an exception to this. When we filmed some of the night shots of Lady Gaga and the wolf and Dracula we decided to use a small handheld camera. We fixed it to a tripod to film some of the dance sequences and it created a really interesting effect. It was exactly what we had hoped for, as it created slow movement trails. This meant that each movement captured on film had a trail behind it creating an eery and spooky feeling, and the use of the small hand held camera gave it the look of an old horror film.

On the left is a still taken from my music video. It is a demonstration of how we changed the whole video into black and white. We did this because we wanted it to have an old horror movie feel to it. Similar to that of film noir and Alfred Hitchcock's old movies.

On the right is a still taken from our video. This is of the shadow going across the wall. This is a high angle shot of a shadow like Nosferatu's. We wanted this shot to be spooky and so we decided to use torch light to give off a mysterious light. We took it from a high angle so that it looked as though we as the audience were sneaking up on the monster. We wanted to plant the feeling of being watched and followed into the audiences mind. We did this by filming at a high angle.

We took this extreme close up and mirrored it. We wanted to create a more visually stimulating effect as we have a few mouth shot in our video we didn't want it to be repetitive. This is why we chose to experiment with flipping the shot back on itself to get this effect.

We tried to be creative with the angles and movements and shot types in our music video. Lady Gaga often makes really unique music videos and so it was important to use to experiment with all these different ways of using the camera, in order to get the best outcome for our video.

Lady Gaga has used this mirror image effect for her most recent music video- Born this way. The still image on the left is taken from Lady Gaga's video. This is an example of how we have tried to take into account the kind of camera angles and effects that Lady Gaga would use in her own music videos.

The still on the right is taken from my music video. It is a pull focus shot in which the camera starts zoomed out and quickly zooms in to a close up of Lady Gaga's face. I liked this shot because we used a small handheld camera on a tripod for this in order to create the effect of a movement trail. It gives a ghostly effect and was really pleased with the way the zoom linked in with the timing of the music.

The still on the right is also taken from my music video. It is taken from one of the dance sequences we filmed. I we filmed it at night also on a small handheld camera we put on a tripod. We were able to get this darkened grey effect on the whole shot and combined with the movement trails, it made a really spooky dance sequence.

Throughout the time we spent filming, we tried to experiment with different ways of using the camera. We often used tracking and panning as a way to create interesting shots. This was a good way to show establishing shots and we used panning for an establishing shot in the forest. This shot worked really well and once we changed it into black and white we were really pleased with the result as it had the horror edge that we had been aiming for with the whole music video.

Rejected Footage

These are some print screens of the rejected footage that we had from making our video.

There are several shots here of Lady Gaga and the wolf that we decided not to use. The reason for this is that they were filmed at night. Though it came out okay on the camera, when we uploaded the footage it was almost entirely black. We tried to brighten some of the footage but it didn't work and so we were unable to use it.

There are a few shots of the wolf in this that we have decided not to use aswell. We decided not to use them because they are out of focus. Also they are at bad angles as they are not as high up as we would have liked them to be. we wanted some of the wolf footage to be filmed at eye level so that the wolf would appear to be looking straight out through the camera. Unfortunatley some of the footage was slightly too low and so we decided to use other footage that we had captured that was better.

Quite a few of the rejected shot in the print screen on the right were rejected because they were too dark. They are shots of lady Gaga dancing and Lady gaga and the wolf together. They were also filmed at night and we had the same problem as previously mentioned, in that it came out on the camera but not on the computer.

There are two location establishing shots in the rejected footage. The reason that they have been put in rejected footage is because the first one was much to fast and didn't give you a chance to properly see the location, so we decided not to use it. The second was very jerky and it was at a slight angle which was off putting when trying to watch the footage back. We decided that it would be best not to use eitehr of these shots as establishing shots for the video and chose to use a different one that was much better.

There are a few shots of the wolf that we have rejected aswell as a few shots of dracula. The reason for this is that they were exteme close ups of his mouth and it was important to have the lips syncing in time with the music. The shots that we discarded were shot not in time and so we re-shot them until we got them perfect and used those ones instead.

There are a few shots from the train station. This was a location that we had initially planned to use for part of our music video. However we ended up not using the majority of the footage that we shot there because our idea changed and it no longer fitted in with the rest of our video.

Advert

This is an advert for Alan Braxe's new single. The reason I have chosen to analyse this advert is because it is done in an old fashioned horror film style, just like I am doing for Lady Gaga. I like the use of colour in this advert. It is instantly clear that it is horror and the use of red instantly makes the viewer think of blood. I think that the font in this advert is very effective as it has a 3D effect. This makes it eye catching and really stand out against the black. This is something that I have tried to do in my advert as I think it is very symbolic of old fashioned horror films. Though this is a much more comic book style of advert then mine I think it would appeal to a similar target audience. The use of bright green gives it the appearance of bright clubbing lights. This suggests a similar target audience to that which I hope to attract with my Lady Gaga advert. I like that the advert uses a drawing instead of a photo, as it ties in really well with the font used. I also like the way it appears to be lit. Red and green provide a strong eye catching contrast. Though I have not used a drawing, I have tried to capture the extreme use of contrast in my advert with my photo of Lady Gaga. I feel that this adds drama to the over all look of the advert and makes you want to read the poster to find out what it is about. It adds a sense of mystery to the advert. I decided it would be a good thing to try for my advert as well as I thought it really added to the horror effect.

This is an advert for Katie Perry's new album- One of the Boys. There are lots of bright colours to capture the attention of the target audience. Similar to the digipaks I analysed in the previous blog, the main colours are pinks and purples. They are all very feminine colours, suggesting that the target audience would be mainly female. The mise-en-scene is in a 50's style. The costume, hair and white picket fence all point towards a modern take on a different era. This is links to what I have tried to do for my Lady Gaga advert. I have chosen to make my advert in the style of an old fashioned horror film.

Katy Perry is wearing the brightest colours in the advert. This is so that she is the first thing the viewers eye is drawn to. Her style is quite individual and recognisable so it will instantly catch the attention of her fans, as well as catching the attention of other members of the target audience.

She also has a certain amount of sex appeal in this advert, making women admire her and men attracted to her. This would be the way to capture the initial interest of the male target audience. Her name is the most important piece of information on the advert as it is in different font and colour, and it is the biggest text on the advert. It is very stylised writing and suggests that this is a tag of hers that her fans would instantly recognise. Thus successfully capturing the attention of her target audience. The majority of the text is in white. This is so it boldly stands out against the background. Font sizing varies dependent upon how important the information is. For example 'I Kissed A Girl' is much bigger than 'The album'. It also helps to break up the text and make it look as though there is less writing. It stops the viewer from being put off by a large block of text. I have tried to do this with my advert by using different font styles, positioning of text and font sizes. I think it is an effective way of including all the important information, but without putting of the target audience with large blocks of text.

On the right are the flat plans I drew up for my Advert. They were 3 possible ideas that I came up with. I wanted to experiment with a few ideas first before making the advert, to see which one would work best. I have experimented with different photos, fonts and layouts to see which works the most effectively.

The first flat plan at the top, I quite liked because she isn't making eye contact with the camera. Though this is slightly unusual as eye contact can be attention grabbing, I felt it worked well here as the font is bold enough to catch your attention. The next thing you see is her photo, see that she is looking down at something and wonder what she is looking at. I felt it would be a good way to catch the target audiences attention and imagination. I would have the font in red and white as I want it to link up and show a clear connection to the digipak. I would have the photo in black and white for the same reason, that I want to maintain consistency between the digipak and my advert. As she is dressed in black I would choose a lighter shade for the background, probably a shade shade of grey, as I still want it to have the dark effect of an old fashioned horror film. I want the reviews to stand out as they are important, but I would put them in a smaller font so that they catch the audiences attention after the initial first glance. I like that Lady Gaga is central in this advert, as it makes her the first thing you see when you view the advert. However I think that it looks a little bit plain for one of Lady Gaga's adverts and there appears to be a lot of empty space.

The second flat plan down- the one in the middle- I opted for a totally different shot. I chose a close up of her face. The reason I decided to use this photo was because she is giving direct eye contact to the target audience. This is the opposite to the previous flat plan, as I wanted to try out a few different ways of attracting the target audience. I think that as it is such a close up shot it works well having her give direct eye contact, as you cannot help but look straight into her eyes. As she is such a well known artist, she is a clear representation of the pop genre and so I thought that with this photo it wasn't necessary to have more than a shot of her face. I have positioned her to the left hand side as people read from left to right. The target audience will be attracted by the close up photo of Lady Gaga and then continue round to the right and read the information on the poster.

I have chosen a bold block font for this as it is eye catching and in a similar style to those used in old fashioned horror films. Again I would have the font in red and white as I want it to tie in with the digipak and people can clearly see the connection. This is also the reason why I would opt to have a black and white photo. I have again put in magazine reviews, but this time I have chosen to list only the rating they have given as opposed to comments. The reason for this is that there is already quite a lot of text on the right hand side. As I have positioned her face on the left all of the text has to fit onto the right. I don't want to put the target audience off with large volumes of text on the poster, and so I decided not to put quotes on the advert. This is one design fault with this advert, as it meant I was unable to fit all the information I would have liked to have had.

The final flat plan is the one at the bottom. This flat plan has a different overall look to the other two as it is much busier. I think the reason for this is that I chose to use a more interesting background. I have chosen to frame her in the opening of a wall. This not only creates a textured background, but also draws more attention to her as she is framed. I have once again positioned Lady Gaga in the centre of the photo. This is because she is then the main focus of the advert. I was able to split up the text so that it didn't look as though there was so much writing by placing Lady Gaga in the centre.

I would have the photo black and white and use red and white fonts for the same reason I have stated for the other two flat plans. I think it is important to show obvious links to the digipak as they are both part of the promo pack.

I have chosen to use a shadow on my writing on the left side. This is because I have used a large block font and a shadow gives it a similar effect to that of an old horror film. I have broken up the text by using different fonts and sizes. I have done this because I don't want it to look as though there is too much writing on the advert, as this could be off putting to the target audience.

I have chosen to put just one magazine review on this advert as it already has quite a crowded look to it, due to the use of the wall as part of the background. The photograph I have used for this advert is a mid shot. The reason for this is that it enabled you to see some of her outfit, as Lady Gaga's outfits are a part of her trade mark. Not only that but it reinforces that Lady Gaga is from the pop genre and this advert is advertising pop music. Once again she is maintaining eye contact with the target audience and this, I felt, was a good way to capture their attention and interest. This last flat plan is my favourite of the three. I plan to use this as a basis to create my final advert from.

This is my advert for Lady Gaga- Monster. I decided to use red and white font in my advert as I wanted it to show a clear link to my digipak. The same goes for my choice in using a black and white photograph. However I have chosen to make the photograph quite high contrast in my advert. The reason for this is that I saw the advert on

the left for Lady Gaga and I liked the high contrast effect. I thought that It would be the perfect effect to have on my advert and as it is used on a real Lady Gaga advert, it would be tying in with all her typical conventions. My photograph is much darker, more black then whites, but I like the effect it has as it looks like she is lurking in the shadows. I wanted it all to link back to the horror movie theme and the idea of monsters. This is why I decided to use this photograph for my advert as I think it conveys this well. The use of red, as well as being an attention grabbing colour, was to hint at the idea of blood. This again was so that it would link in well with the digipak and the idea of horror.

I chose to use bold fonts so that they would be instantly eye catching to the target audience. The fonts I have chosen are quite animated and just like the Alex Braxe advert, I have chosen to make my fonts have a slightly 3D effect. This is so they jump out of the page and grab the attention of the target audience. I have chosen to use white along with the red because it stands out clearly against the black. I wanted it to be clear and easy to read as well as eye catching. Through the process of creating this advert, I have been able to experiment with fonts. I tried a few different fonts to see which one looked best. I then added the 3D effect myself by overlapping the text. This is something I learnt how to do during the creation process. I researched many different adverts and looked at old fashioned horror films for inspiration. These are what ultimately gave me the idea for the composition and use of colour and font.

I have put a review from Q magazine on my advert as well as it is a magazine she has appeared in a few times in the last year and also the kind of magazine that would appeal to her target audience. I chose to put this review there as the demograpahic I am targeting with this advert are likely to believe and respect a review from a magazine such as Q. This is important, as I want the advert to encourage them to purchase the digipak.

I have deliberately broken up the text and used different fonts, and sizes so that I can get all of the necessary information on the advert without any large blocks of text. The reason for this is that large blocks of text can be off putting to viewers as they are unlikely to want to stand around reading lots of information. However, breaking it up in this way makes it appear as though there is less text, and encourages the target audience to read the advert.

On the right is a still I have taken from Facebook of the feeback I got for my advert.

The feedback that people left was very positive. Everyone understood that the theme was an old horror film and said they liked the use of contrast as and the darkness of it all as it represented the horror theme.

There was a lot of feedback about the use of font. 'The red writing is clearly symbolic of blood and gives a dangerous edge to the ad.' This was exactly what I was aiming for, I used red so that connotations of blood would come through.

'I particularly like the small font used for the quote: smaller writing forces you to look and actually read what is written.' This is again what I was aiming for. I used a smaller font to break up the text so that it didn't put off the target audience. It also encourages the target audience to come closer and read what is on the advert.

I am pleased with the feedback I have received for my advert as I now know what my target audience think of my advert. This is very helpful, as if I was to create another advert I would be more aware of what they would respond to.

Digipak

A promo pack is the final outcome of this project. It will include a DVD cover for a music album, an advert and a final music video. The digipack will be linked to the music video as it will all be done in the same style for example old fashioned horror movie. It will also feature the same actors and actress' in the video as on the photos for the digipack. This will show a clear continuation and link everything together for the final promo pack. The hair, make up and costume will also be the same, so this will provide an instant visual link to the target audience. A digipak is a patented style of compact disc or DVD packaging. It is often used for promotional or special edition albums or DVDs. They usually contain extra footage, for example small bits of film taken on tour, and including music videos not just the song like on a normal album. This is a Digipak cover for Girls Aloud- Tangled. It is also in the pop genre like Lady Gaga, so I felt it was an appropriate cover to analyse. I like the use of colour in this. The pink/ purple colouring in contrast to the grey and white of the background and font makes the singers really eye catching. The use of colour also makes the target audience and demographic clear as pink is a colour often associated with young girls and females in their early teens. They are all in short, glamorous dresses which is typical of the genre as pop stars are usually in eye catching clothing. This is something that Lady Gaga has in common as she is always in interesting, unique and eye catching clothing. The white font is very clear and easy to read against the grey background. This is something that I have tried to do with my digipak as it is important for the target audience to be able to read what is written. The white against the grey is very eye catching and helps to create a girly feeling about the cover. It works well with the other colours and none of the colours are so bold that they take away from the main photo. The use of effects also compliments the overall look of the digipak. The pink/purple smoke encases the members of the band, not only keeping them as the centre of attention but also creating almost seductive curves on the cover. The composition of the digipak makes it instantly clear what genre of music this band is playing. I have tried to take note of all of these things and apply elements of them to my own digipak. This is a digipak cover for Madonna- Music. It is a very colourful cover and everything about it fits in with the theme of cowgirl. It is clearly an cover for a digipak from the pop music genre. You can tell this instantly by looking at it from the use of colour and font. This is something that I hope to achieve when creating my digipak. Just like the Girls Aloud cover, the use of pastel colours and pinks makes the demographic abundantly clear. It is designed to catch the attention of a female audience and though the use of pink is slightly more subtle it clearly shows the target audience is female teens. This is also done through the cowgirl theme as it dressing up is often considered to be something young girls do. The cowgirl theme runs continuously throughout. The use of hay emphasises this and it is a memorable factor about the cover. This is something that the target audience will be able to remember easily and therefore are more likely to come back and buy it. I hope to achieve a similar effect with my digipak by using memorable images and composition. I want it to be memorable to my target audience and show a clear connection to what the album is about. This is one of my flat plans for my digipak. The top two sections are the front and back cover and the bottom two sections are the inside of the digipak. I plan to have all of the photos in black and white and use red and white for the font as I want it all to link together. The reason I have decided on using red for the font is because I want subtle connotations of blood as the theme of my music video is an old horror film. I have also chosen white as it will highlight the red and it stands out well against the black and white photograph. This is important as it means that the target audience will be able to read it clearly. For the front cover I have chosen a close up of Lady Gaga's face. Though she is not looking directly at the camera in this shot I like the effect it has. As it is such a close up shot of her face it catches your eye and makes you wonder what she is looking at. This then leads you round to the back cover which is a long shot of Lady Gaga staring straight into the camera. I decided to have this shot as I felt it was important that there was a shot on the cover that makes direct eye contact with the viewer to make them feel as though she is looking at them personally, and it provides a connection. I have chosen the have the font framing Lady Gaga's face on the cover as I feel it draws your attention straight to her. The inside cover I have decided to keep quite simple. It is one photo stretched across the inside cover. I didn't want to overcrowd it with information as the most important thing about the inside is the CD. This is why I chose to use just the one image. It is a mid shot of her looking away from the camera. The reason I chose this shot is because it looks as though she is peering around the wall to see what is written on it. This will in turn draw the viewers attention to what is written on the inside. I chose a simple font and I will have it in red and white to link it to the outside cover. These are the images that I plan to recreate for my final digipak.

On the right is my second flat plan for both the cover and the inside cover. The top two are the front and back cover for my digipak.

I would have all of the photos in black and white and I would have the font in red and white again. The reason for having the font in red and white is the same as before. I want there to be connotations of blood attached to the red font. The cover photo is a mid shot of Lady Gaga leaning against a wall. This cover fits in with the pop genre much more as she is in sunglasses and posing in a way that is typical for a pop cover.

I have chosen similar fonts to those of the previous flat plan as I still want the horror theme to show through. The back cover I have chosen a close up of her face. She is looking down slightly and this leads your eye to the song titles. I chose this deliberately as it encourages the viewer read the whole album rather than just pick it up and put it back. I have kept the backgrounds quite simple as I wanted the photo and the writing to stand out.

The inside cover is similar to that of the first flat plan also. It is one photo stretched across the whole inside cover. I liked the idea of having the plain wall to have the inside text on. The overall look of this digipak is much more simplistic and that is the reason I have chosen to use just the one photo. The font is the same as it is on the outside cover to keep the horror theme running through the entire digipak. In the shot of Lady Gaga she is looking slightly vulnerable. I decided to try this as I wanted her to come across as the damsel in the horror aspect of the video. I would have the inside photos in black and white as well so that everything ties together neatly.

On the left is my final digipak flat plan. The top two are the front and back cover and the bottom two are the inside cover.

This digipak cover has more romantic connotations to it. I wanted to keep the film noir and horror film effect, but also try adding in the romantic relationship between Gaga and the wolf. I have also used a more flowing font for this cover. However I would still have all of the photos in black and white and the text in red and white. I still want horror to be running as the main theme. The back cover I have kept quite simple. I have chosen a shot between a mid and long shot. She is leaning against a wall and once again looking down at the text below. This will encourage the target audience to look at what is written and to read it.

I have used two separate photos on the inside cover for this one. They are both performance photographs and again are quite simple. I didn't want the inside cover to be too full of information as I think this would distract from the CD, which is the most important thing. These photos will be in black and white and the text will all be in red and white again. This continues and links the horror theme throughout. The photo on the left side she is looking down again at the words below. This is similar to the back cover. I liked this idea as it encourages the viewer to follow her gave and read whatever she is looking at.

This is the cover that I have created for my digipak. I wanted it to clearly show the theme of an old fashioned horror film. I thought that and old fashioned horror film would be a good theme as this is the theme for the music video I have made. For this reason I have decided to have the cover in black and white. Though the font is in the style of an old fashioned horror film, it is still quite animated like the previous pop digipak covers that I have analysed. The font has a clear theme to it, just like Madonna's cowgirl theme in her digipak above. I decided to use red and white font so that it would be eye catching and capture the attention of the target audience. My digipak differs from the Girls Aloud and the Madonna digipaks I have analysed in that it is in black and white.I have researched photos and albums of Lady Gaga's and some of her more recent ones are in black and white. I also wanted it to tie in with the music I have made. I don't think however, that this makes it any less likely to attract the target audience. Lady Gaga has such a broad target audience I wanted to keep that in mind when creating my digipak. This is a part of the reason that I have opted for gender neutral colours. The photographs I have chosen for this cross over both Madonna's and Girls Aloud's digipaks. This is because I have chosen a long shot and a close up. I wanted to keep to the conventions of the pop genre and though I have chosen to use black and white I wanted the images to show that it is a pop music album. I learnt how to adapt fonts to make them the right size and colour and how to create the best composition in order to attract the most attention from the target audience. This is the inside of my digipak, where the CD will be held. I decided to keep with the theme of black and white that the outside cover has. I wanted to keep the inside simple as this is where the CD will be, which is the most important part of the digipak. I chose to put a picture of Lady Gaga behind the CD as i felt that this was something that would be done on one of her albums. Often she has a wide variety of photographs of herself decorating her albums. I decided to have her photo behind the CD so that when the CD is removed it looks as though she is peering over to the opposite side of the digipak where the lyrics of the chorus are. I decided to put the lyrics to the chorus on the inside as it links to the whole horror monster theme that I have used throughout, and I felt that this would be a good way to continue the theme inside the case. I chose to overlay the writing so that it would have an almost 3D effect. I did this because I wanted it to stand out and be one of the first things you look at when you open up the case. The still on the right is taken from the feedback I received on Facebook after posting my digipak. 'The glamorous woman and the suggestion of danger that is yet to be revealed.' This is one of the comments I received as feedback. The comments were all very positive. I was pleased with the way that comment as I wanted my cover photos to possess a subtle danger as this has been the running theme throughout. It was important to make everything link together through this theme and I am pleased that my target audience have picked up on this. 'The cover is clear and concise while remaining artistic.' I am glad that i have managed to achieve this. I didn't want to overload the cover with information but there was some information that is unavoidable. I wanted it to still be visually appealing. These comments are very helpful as it enables me to know what I did well and what should be changed. If I was to do this again I would move the word monster down slightly so it isn't overlapping her face so much. I would also make sure to have both photos have the same effect. The computer wouldn't let me put the same effect on both photos and also would not let me take the effect off once it was on. I would be more careful next time so that this didn't happen again. The still on the left is also taken from Facebook. It is feedback on the inside cover of my digipak. 'I like the effect used on the text this compliments the text'. As there isn't much text on the inside cover, I wanted it to be visually attractive. I also wanted to make sure that it was easy to read and matched the outside of the digipak and the advert. 'I think its good that you've stuck to the same theme and styling inside and out, it really ties together well.' It was important to me that everything tied together as it is all part of one promotional pack. I didn't want it to be jumbled and confusing for the target audience. I stuck to the same theme as I felt it was more visually attractive and made it clear and concise for the target audience. I didn't want to confuse people that are potential buyers. The thing that I would change about the inside cover would be the use of contrast in the photo. I would up the contrast so that it is stronger blacks and whites. Then it would tie in better with the horror film theme and have a darker edge to it.

Shooting Diaries

The first location that we shot at Lewes train station. We found a good location close to the car park on a small raised platform to shoot some of our video. We had to get permission to use the station in our video, but this was not a problem and so we were able to shoot there. One major problem that we did have whilst we were shooting was the lighting. It was dark by the station as the station cast a shadow over our location. We were able to move to different areas in order to make the most of the light that came through, however this did limit the amount of time we were able to spend shooting there. Another issue that we had while shooting at the station was the volume of people and cars coming through. We were able to overcome this by making sure that we shot away from pathways and the entrance to the station. We did get some good close up shots while we were there and it provided an ideal location for shooting a close up of Lady Gaga's feet in platforms walking towards the camera. We then went to a small forest in Lewes to shoot some of the wolf and Lady Gaga shots. We were careful to make sure that we had similar weather so that would have good continuity in the lighting of shots. As it was a large open space the lighting was good and the shadows cast by the trees created an eerie atmosphere, which was exactly what we wanted. As the ground was uneven we had some trouble leveling the tripod but this was easily overcome and the shoot was a success as we were able to get shots of Lady Gaga and the wolf for the beginning of the music video. We also did a couple of shoots at Briony's house. This was for the beginning section of the video to show her getting ready to go out and falling into the music video. We also used it to film a few of the dance sequences. A problem that arose from this was that some of the shots we did there came out much to dark. We used a different camera for this shoot and so it wasn't able to capture low level light footage as well. This will mean that we will have to edit some of the shots on final cut in order to make sure the footage can be seen. As the camera wasn't able to capture footage so well in low level light it produced a movement trail when the actors moved. However, we found that this worked really well with our video and so we decided to use the footage instead of re-shoot. There was another small forest area in Lewes that we decided would be a good location for one of our dance shoots. It was down a small hill and so enabled us to try shots form a few different angles. I shot a few sitting at the top of the hill and then re-shot at the same level as the actors to see what different effects we could create by doing this. I feel that this was a successful shoot as we didn't come across any problems and the shooting went smoothly. We also shot in a park in Eastbourne in order to get the shots of Lady Gaga and the werewolf on a date. We waited until the lighting conditions matched those of the previous shoots to ensure clear continuity. It was important to get the set up of this shot correct so that it was clear they were on a date and we needed the shot to flow smoothly. This resulted in a few takes to ensure that the shot looked how we wanted it too look. The close up shots took a while to perfect. We wanted a few different close up shots. This is because Lady Gaga often has close up shots of lips, eyes or full facial shots. We wanted to use them to intercut our video in a similar style to Lady Gaga's own videos. It was hard to get a shot that was from the right distance. We had a few that were too close or too far away, but we continued until we got the perfect shots. I contributed to the filming of the music video by helping to compose the shots and with the mise-en-scene. I also filmed and directed shots. We all took it in turn to do these jobs so that we each got a go at doing everything required to make a music video.

Shooting Schedule

This is the shooting schedule that we created for shooting our music video. On Wednesday 23rd January at 12pm, we are going to film at the first location. We plan to shoot at is Lewes train station. The equipment that we will need to take for this shoot are a camera and tripod. We will also need Lady Gaga's costume, as the shots we are planning to film are of Lady Gaga. Not much light in the area we have chosen to film, so we are meeting at 12 to ensure that we can get the most possible light while at this location. On Weds 9th February at 12pm, we are going to shoot at a small forest in Lewes. For this we will need the tripod and camera. We will also need Lady Gaga's costume, and the wolf's costume in order to film shots of Lady Gaga and the wolf. The ground is uneven and muddy so we will need to take something to stand the tripod on so it doesn't get dirty. We will also need to take into account that it may take longer to set up as this location requires more attention to detail in areas such as lighting, due to shadows cast by trees, and leveling the camera and tripod. On Wednesday 23rd February at 12pm, we plan to shoot at the small forest in Lewes again as we need shots of Lady Gaga and Dracula. The equipment that we will need is a camera and tripod. We will also need Lady Gaga and Dracula's costumes so that we are able to get the necessary shots. Once again we will need to allow more time at this location for the set up of shots as the ground is uneven and light can be effected by the surroundings. On Wednesday 9th March at 12pm, we plan to shoot in Eastbourne at Briony's house. This is so that we can get shots of Lady Gaga, Dracula and the Wolf. This location we will be able to use artificial light for filming indoors. We will have to plan the shots carefully as there is not a lot of room to manoeuvre inside. Outside we will use a natural light for most shots. However some shots we will need a torch. On Friday 18th March 6pm we will go to eastbourne to film all the night time shots we need. For example Briony and the monster returning from their date, some dance sequences and the final fight between the wolf and dracula. On Wednesday 23rd March at 12pm we shot in a park in Eastbourne. This is so we can get some shots of Lady Gaga on a date with the Wolf. The equipment needed is the camera and the tripod. We will also need Lady Gaga's costume and the Wolf's costume. This location is a large open space and has good natural lighting so it shouldn't take long to set up shots.

Health and Safety

Health and safety is very important when shooting a music video. We checked out all of the potential hazards of each location before we started filming. This was to ensure that no injuries would occur before, during or after filming. For example, any filming that took place in the dark or low level lighting conditions, we made sure that extra lighting was available to proevent cast and crew from harm. Before going out and filming we filled out a risk assessment form in which we stated wether we would be filming from heights, using animals etc. This enabled us to be aware of any possible dangers, and take precautions to ensure that the cast and crew were safe at all times.

Storyboard

These are the storyboards that me and my group created for our music video.

For this first storyboard, we have inter cut long shots with extreme close ups. We wanted to try out different angles and Lady Gaga often uses close up and extreme close ups in her music videos. We chose to have all of the shots as static. This is because we wanted the focus to be on what is happening in the shots rather than the camera movement. These shots are important as they are the establishing shots for the video and they set the scene for the rest of the storyline. Shot six is slightly different from the others as we have decided to have the camera handheld instead of on the tripod. The reason for this is that we wanted it to look as though Lady Gaga is being followed.

Aside from the extreme close up shots, we have tried to keep the shots at eye level so that Lady Gaga appears to be on a level with the viewers. We want these shots to flow well together and so we are thinking of using cross fades for transitions between these shots.

We have tried to fit in the lyrics of the song with everything that is happening in the shots. That is why we have opted for over the shoulder shots in this storyboard. Shots eight, nine and ten are all over the shoulder shots to fit the lyrics as she is saying 'look at him. Look at me' we have reaction shots as well as we felt that this was appropriate and worked well.

Shot 11 is a low angle shot looking up at the wolf. The reason we decided to do this was because it is the first time the wolf is introduced and as he is one of the monsters we wanted him to have a position of power. Looking up at him makes him seem powerful, also Lady Gaga is in love with him and we wanted the audience to look at him with the same admiration as she does.

Shot 12 is a zoom into an extreme close up of his eyes. We wanted a close up of his eyes so that the audience can find a connection with him and see his human emotions because 'he is a wolf in disguise'.

The majority of the shots on this storyboard are dance sequences. We chose to have the camera static and track Lady Gaga dancing as it was important to have a steady camera for these shots. We wanted the main focus of these shots to be Lady Gaga and we wanted it to look professional, so we thought the best thing to do would be to have these shots static. We also didn't want camera movement to distract from the dancing in the shot. We have also used zooms and close up shots to capture detail within the shot. For example shot 13 is a close up of Lady Gaga's phone so the audience can see what she is seeing. The editing we have planned for this sequence of shots is a series of rapid cuts as it is all quite fast paced dance shots.

We have used a lot of close up shots again. These shots are cut up by some mid and long shots so that it isn't too repetitive and boring for the audience to watch. The close up mouth shots such as shots twenty, twenty one and twenty three it is important to get the lip syncing right or it wont look realistic. We are planning on a series of fast cuts again so that the video plays out in time with the music. For shot nineteen we have decided to use a mid shot so that you can clearly see Lady Gaga pointing to her heart but without using a close up as we still want you to be able to see her facial expressions and her singing. We have decided to keep that camera static for these shots also.

These shots transition quite quickly between long shots and close up shots. This is because we wanted to use a variety of different shots, just as Lady Gaga does in her music videos. Also in telling a story we needed to make it clear to the audience what is happening. We have done this by using close ups to show detail. For example shots 26 and 27, she sings 'get your paws right off of me' in shot 26 she is dancing with the wolf and pushing him away. In shot 27 we have a close up of his paw to fit in with the lyrics. We have chosen to keep the camera static again for these shots as we feel that continuity is important.

These are a series of long shots and mid shots. The reason we have chosen to use long shots and mid shots is because we think it is important that the audience are able to see everything that is happening, in order to follow the story. The shots on this story board are very fast paced as the story starts to unravel. This is another reason why it was important to use long shots and mid shots, as the audience may not have been able to keep up otherwise.

Shot thirty two consists of jump cuts between Dracula in her bed and a shadow creeping across a wall in the house at night. This was inspired by Nosferatu and that is where we got out shot ideas from. Shot thirty five and thirty six will fade into eachother as it is a romantic scene between her and the wolf, so we wanted something a little more gentle.

These are a series of quick cut mid and long shots. This is the climax of the song as dracula and the wolf have a fight and dracula dies. Most of this storyboard we have decided to film as long shots so that the audience don't miss the action.

When Dracula dies we will have a mid shot looking down over his body to show that he has been defeated and to make him look powerless. It will then end shot forty two with a slow zoom into Lady Gaga's face. The transitions will be a series of quick jumpy cuts as it is fast paced.

Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene plays a huge part in our music video. Lady Gaga's video's are always very different to other music video's of the pop genre. Her costumes, hair and make up and the location are always very extravagant. It was important to us to do her justice and create our video with all of these aspects in mind. We discussed possible locations such as a manor house, but quickly realised that this would not be possible and so started thinking of realistic locations and settings for our video. As we have decided to use the theme of an old fashioned horror film, we thought of locations to correspond with that idea. As it was not possible to use a manor house we decided that a normal house had the potential to work just as well. We are going to experiment with shots inside a house and try out shadows in the style of Nosferatu for Dracula, on the wall of the staircase. We also found a small forest area in Lewes that we are going to use for some of our shooting. We decided that this would be a good location choice because it is in keeping with the horror theme, given that one of our monsters is a werewolf. We researched horror films that have monsters similar to those we plan to use for our music video. The photo on the right is a still from the film The Wolfman. We liked the mise-en-scene of this shot and hope to recreate something similar in our video. As Lady Gaga has such a wide target audience, we wanted to make sure that we stuck to the usual conventions of her music videos. Her videos often follow the storyline created by the lyrics of the song. This is something that viewers have come to expect of her. Often she will have some footage before the song actually starts, so this is something we have tried to take into consideration. This is where the first location is used. It allows the audience to see her walking down a dark alley alone and sets the horror tone for the rest of the video. All of the locations we have chosen to use are locations we feel will add to the old fashioned horror element that we want for our music video. We have looked at videos by other pop artists such as Michael Jackson's Thriller. We looked at this video for inspiration as it is in the pop genre and follows a storyline in the way that Lady Gaga often does with her music videos. It is also a horror music video and so found inspiration in this for our music video, so that we were staying within our music genre and maintaining the interest of our target audience. In terms of props for our music video, we have decided not use many. We have a phone for Lady Gaga to use, but we have not yet decided whether we will keep this idea in our final music video. We wanted to keep it simple as Lady Gaga does not often have a huge number of props in her music videos. Her videos are about the costumes and the storyline. So for this reason we decided that we wouldn't use lots of props as we didn't want to over complicate our video and we wanted it to remain similar to Lady Gaga's own music videos. We decided that we want to have the majority of our video in black and white. We want to try adding a film grain effect to it to make it seem more like an old fashioned horror film. The beginning of the video will be in colour to show her in her normal life. It will then change into black and white to show her in the horror film. We felt it could have more of a film noir effect as well if we changed it to black and white. We wanted there to be a sense of horror carried throughout the music video. Black and white enabled us to bring out the darker elements of the video and constantly remind the audience that it is a horror video. Lady Gaga has some surreal elements to her videos. We want to try and keep this up in ours as this is something that attracts the target audience and something characteristic of Lady Gaga's music videos. In Lady Gaga's video Alejandro, there are some dance sections that are filmed in black and white. though she does not use it as a way to make her video dark it works as a means of making her dance sequence look sexy. This is something else we wanted to get across in our choice of colour. Lady Gaga often uses sex appeal as a way to attract her target audience. This is why we have decided to change the video into black and white and add a film grain effect to it.

We have also looked at costume and makeup for our video. We have chosen to use a vampire costume for Dracula as we want it to be clear which monster is which. We also want it to be like an old fashioned horror film so we have decided that it will be more aesthetically pleasing to have Dracula in a costume. The werewolf, on the other hand, we have discussed having in normal clothing. The reason for this is that she sings about him being a wolf in disguise. In order to make the costume tie in with the lyrics and storyline, we have decided that it might work better to have the wolf in wolf make up but in normal clothing. We once again looked at monster horror films in order to get some good ideas for the kind of costume we could use for Lady Gaga. Her costume was the most important as her dress sense is something that she is famed for. It is also something that attracts a large majority of her target audience. The photograph on the left is a still from the film The Wolfman. Though we were unable to get a costume quite as extravagant as the one in the photo, we did like the idea of having Lady Gaga in black. We have decided to have her in a black lace dress as this is something that we thought Lady Gaga would wear and it is also appropriate for the music video we are making. As Lady Gaga's costume and make up are always very over the top, it was important to us that the other characters costume and make up told the story well. Though we want the exaggerated character that Lady Gaga provides, it is still necessary for the target audience to understand the storyline. This is why we went for very self explanatory costumes for the monsters. However, we have decided that we still want to keep Lady Gaga's make up larger than life. We have opted to have her in bright red lipstick, with dark eyes and big false lashes. The reason for this is that she often does her make up in this was and it is as much a part of her look as her costume. We want to ensure that we are still attracting the same target audience for the right reasons. This is why we have made the decision to stay true the the typical conventions of a Lady Gaga music video.