Magazine Second Draft

We took in the feedback about our magazine cover and edited it accordingly. This is the second draft:

Interview Research

To promote our band we will film a couple of interviews with the band:

I researched interviews with popular artists and noted down ideas from these I looked at subjects they covered, how they kept the audience engaged and different interview styles.
I researched into the James Corden - Late Late Show. I looked at the interview with One Direction. I watched their interview because they are a tight knit band and their personalities and this reflects what we want in our band.
The main interview method was the band sitting on a couch with the presenter (James) and were answering questions on different subjects.
The main subjects covered were:
*Life on the road ( Travelling between tours, hotel life)
*Experiences of new places
*New songs (Promotion, inspiration, song lyrics explained)
*Stage experiences
*Fun Skits (Tattoo roulette, never have I ever, Would you rather)



Another interview method was Carpool Karaoke. This entailed the band sitting in a car and driving around in the car with the presenter (James). This interview had more of a fun, light atmosphere and it consists of the band singing their songs and answering some light hearted questions about their music. It also allows them to potentially see fans on the streets and allow them to interact.






These interview styles inspired us and what we can do within our interview.
We have decided to do a talk show with our friend Travis as the presenter and me and Lucy in character as members of the band. Within the talk show we will be going over the subjects: TUMBLEWEED our new single and everything surrounding that and background of the band.  We also decided to play the game Would You Rather. This game will bring light hearted fun to the interview and allow the fans to get to know the band better.
Another idea we had was to have Lucy (in the character of Bee) singing an acoustic version of TUMBLEWEED.

Plan for Band Bio

Magazine Cover First Draft Feedback

TEACHER FEEDBACK:

The main feedback on the magazine cover is:
*Make Lucy's image stronger - take out red eye, brighten the image, make her the main focus
*Make the background less grungy - brighten
* Make the text look more professional
*Add a bar code

Magazine Cover First Draft

This is the first completed draft of our magazine cover. I am really happy with this because it looks professional and promotes our band well.

Magazine Creation

From the research I have obtained, I felt I was ready to begin designing my own magazine cover. I begun creating the cover on Publisher. Publisher did not produce the high standard piece of work I wanted. I tried to copy and paste pictures onto the document but they kept going blurry. The background also did not carry the synergy of the band onto the magazine so I decided to look for another software to use to create my cover.

I found a website called CANVA 
This website provided a blank template and allowed me to edit it with my own photos and texts. The images did not come out blurry and it allowed me to carry out the colour synergy of our band onto the magazine cover.

Permission Letter

Lucy tweeted Black Honey asking for permission to create a music video for Spinning Wheel via her personal twitter account.

https://twitter.com/ahmayzinglucy/status/933712400506908672

Song List for Album

TUMBLEWEED
CLOWNS MAKE ME CRY
SEAGULLS
3000
SEQUINS
PINK HEARTS
CACTI
NOT TODAY SATAN

Analysis of Our Digipak

Digipak research – for our video from LucyHocart

Merchandise Feedback

This feedback was taken both from our classmates and other students:

*Lots of different types of merch - bags, t shirts, patches
* Looks good quality
*Portrays the band's image well
* Lots of design options -  t shirts with both Phoebe and Lucy

- Possibly cut the colours down to the main colour themes of the band e.g. pink,black
- Put the t shirts that are pink and black as the first options instead of white

Magazine Research

For our band we need to create a magazine cover to promote or band. To do this successfully, we researched into the recent and popular magazine covers for singers.

The most famous music magazine with some of the best, on trend singers on there is Billboard. Billboard is a really famous music magazine and is the most known with young adults. It includes the most popular artists ( eg Chance The Rapper, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, etc) and popular events (eg MTV awards, Grammy awards). The designs of the cover change according to the artist and the artists synergy. The artist is usually on the cover to promote their new album or single.

EXAMPLE:

This is the issue with Niall Horan as the main feature. The synergy of this cover is bright colours, summery themes, and a happy feel good atmosphere. This synergy reflects Niall's most recent songs and his personality to the readers.

















Another music magazine we found was offBEAT. offBEAT is a magazine that features less known artists and artists from different genres. For example they have Blues singers, Jazz singers and some less known pop bands. This magazine had a really fun and popping theme to their covers. The band's colours synergy is carried through on the covers.

EXAMPLE:

This is an example of offBEAT magazine cover. This cover features a jazz artist. The cover is simple and brings the main artist into focus. It also contains in a slightly messy way, texts stating what else will be in the magazine.


We decided that we would use offBEAT magazine covers as inspirations for our cover. We decided this because offBEAT features less known bands from all genres and has a fun and slightly chaotic feel to the covers. The magazine won't be as well known as Billboard is to our target audience, but our target audience is young adults who are fans of the indie-rock genre so will buy this brand of magazine to get information on this genre.

Prop Research

Props used:
Glass bottles - We initially thought we would have to buy some bottles solely to place them around the living room for Coco's scenes, however upon searching houses, we found enough bottles for us to use. We did buy one bottle for the glitter-bottle smashing sequence, which costed £2 from Hobbycraft. 
Glitter - We bought two pink glitter shakers from Hobbycraft, which we used for a small scene in which I blow glitter towards the camera, and another one where Phoebe smudges glitter over her face. We planned to put the rest of the glitter in the glass bottle, but could only find one shaker. However, Lucy found enough glitter and sequins in her room to use, which I think worked better as we had more colour variety. Glitter is an important part of our video, as we are aiming for it to be as colourful and fun as possible.
Magazines - We found multiple newspapers and magazines throughout my house, and for the two large stacks in the living room scenes Lucy found a collection of music magazines we could use.
Clothes - I used various items of clothing in order to make the living room appear messy and uncared for, which fitted the "bad-girl" image for Coco
Cacti - The song itself has clear Western themes, with the usage of a flanger effect on the guitar and various instruments. We decided to hint at this by incorporating cacti into the video as decoration around the living room.
Microphone - This was used during the green screen room filming, and is used by Bee.

First Draft Digipack

This is the first completed version of our digipak - it includes photos from on and off set,  taken by Lucy and myself: 

Feedback from peers was overall positive, with it being noted that it is unique and attention grabbing. One suggestion was to tint the bottom left photo pink in order to better match the other photos, but this was not a common note for others.
A classmate noted that the synergy was good and as a whole is very eye-catching, and that they liked the grainy film effect on all the images. They reminded me that I need to include the production notes, borders between photos and possibly a message to fans on one of the images.
More feedback noted the good synergy and consistent colour scheme. Additionally, many showed a liking for the bubble photo, as in my opinion it shows the artist more and is a welcome break from the kaleidoscope imagery.

Merchandise Created

I created a few merchandise products for our band that will be sold on the website:

The main merchandise created are t-shirts with various different images of the band. On the website there is the choice of different colours so I created the same t-shirt but in different colours: 

    ^^^^Available in colours: White, Black, Pink, Yellow, Blue

^^^^ Available in colours: White, Black, Pink, Yellow, Blue

^^^^ Available in colours: Black, White

^^^^ Available in colours: Black, White, Pink, Yellow, Red, Blue


I also created Bags: 

I also created Phone Cases: 

Website first draft

This is a screenshot of what the website looked like when we were first creating it. This is the first draft of the website - we wanted to carry though the synergy of the kaleidoscope onto the website.
On evaluation, it made the website look too trippy and messy.

Website Research

SLAVES WEBSITE

This is the home page of Slaves official page. The colours are simple, consisting of mainly yellow, black,red and blue. The home page design is the same as their new album's design, This is a form of promotion and instantly gets viewers interested in the band and their music. At the top of the page there is a page menu in black with white writing and red highlight over the page the viewer is on.  This is clear to see and stays the same on every page. In the top right hand corner there is a social media menu link. The social media's available are Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, YouTube, iTunes and Spotify. These links are on all pages within the website. 

On the Home page the user can scroll down and another page comes up. This page is not shown on the home screen and can only be accessed when scrolling down on the home page. On this page there re multiple little text boxes, some containing images or just text. This page shows updates on the band, for example where they are going/going to be, it has instagram posts and tweets they have made. It brings a personal touvh to the band and makes fans feel more connected with the band. 

This is the Live page of the Slaves  website. This page contains Upcoming music events and old music events the band have done. The upcoming page has a list of venues, dates and purchase options for tickets. On the Archive page, there is a list of the venues where they played previously and how many tickets they sold. 

On the Store menu button, there is a drop down option and the user can choose between Merch store or Music store. The merch store contains all the merch from the band, the main merch being promoted is the merch for the new album.  On the Music store, there is a list of all the songs they have published.


The last page on the menu within the Slaves website is Sign Up. On this page viewers are given the chance to sign up to get regular updates from the band and will get promo codes for the merch and become a part of the slaves fan base. 

Marketing research

Performance Inspiration

For our video to be successful, we need a strong performance from the characters. A strong performance makes the video entertaining and keeps the viewer interested in the video.

We did some research into some different artists, relevant to our video, and analysed how they performed in their videos. 

Social Media

Our band's main way of connecting with fans is through social media. Through research we have found out that different social medias provide different connections with fans, for example Instagram is more promotional and updates whereas Twitter and Snapchat is more personal. Our target audience is mainly teenagers and young adults. Our target audience will use social media a lot therefore this means that if we promote our band through these popular social media platforms our target audience is most likely to see it. On social media there are thousands of different types of users so by our band using these platforms it could mean that our audience is widened and different types of viewers are encouraged to listen to our band.



For our social media we decided to use Instagram and Twitter. We decided on these platforms because they are the most popular with our target audience and they create 2 different connections with fans.



INSTAGRAM -
Our Instagram account is @cantsleepband
We decided on this name because it is clear that it is our band and is simple to remember.

TWITTER -
Our Twitter account is @cantsleepband
It has this username because it is the same as our Instagram name which makes it clear to fans that this is the correct twitter page.

DigiPak genre research

Digipak genre research from LucyHocart

Social Media Research

BLACK HONEY

Social Media:

Instagram - this social media platform is mainly used for promotion of the band and updates. For example the posts mainly consist of snippets of their latest music video - only short videos to interest the fans and promote their new song. They also have photo shoot pictures which again promotes the band's new material and gives the fans a hint to what will be in the video. There are also pictures taken from tours which update and excite the fans because they know where the band is. 

Snapchat - this social media is mainly used as a personal connection with the fans. The band can personally snapchat the fans they have on snapchat. This is a really clever use of social media because it makes the fans feel special and more in touch with the band - they are not an unreachable band. It also provides a behind the scenes look in for the fans via their stories which the fans can view. 

Twitter - Again this social media platform is a way to connect with the fans. It can also be used for promotion and updates but in a more personal way. The band are able to share links and pictures of what they feel their fans would like to see. Fans also get the chance to tweet the band and ask questions or show their love for the band. The band can also reply to the fans like on snapchat but in a more public way - its not sent personal to the fan. 

Photoshoot

During the filming of our music video we had photo shoots in the various locations here we filmed. We did these so we could use the photos for our website, social media and various marketing schemes.

The first location was in the Green Room, in the pink studio. When filming here we did a mini photo shoot of the main artist Lucy. We wanted to show the trippy atmosphere so we used mainly close up shots of Lucy and the kaleidoscope effect over the camera to do this. 

The second location was Lucy's living room. We were filming Phoebe's scenes. In these photo shoots we wanted to highlight Phoebe's deranged character. We used the kaleidoscope effect  to create the synergy throughout the photos but we kept that to a minimum so we could focus on the deranged character. 

Merchandise Research

BLACK HONEY MERCHANDISE

The Black Honey merchandise consisted of T-shirts with the band's name,logo or relevant images to the band (e.g. cacti, western themes), Tote bags, Clothes Patches, Badges, CD's and Vinyl. All the merchandise includes the band logo, and images that link with the band. The synergy of the band is carried throughout the images mainly. 

SLAVES MERCHANDISE

Slaves Merchandise consists of T-Shirts with the synergy of the band continued on it through the font of the band name, T-shirts with images linked to the band and their recent songs, Tote Bags and CD's and Vinyls all with relevant images to the band. 

LITTLE MIX MERCHANDISE

Little Mix is a bigger band than Slaves and Black Honey so they have more money to spend on merchandise.Their merch consists of T-shirts with artist,tour dates, recent album pictures (mainly for promotion), Clothes such as hats, hoodies (according to the season they are selling the merch in), Key rings, Programmes, Calenders, Posters, Tote bags, wristbands/lanyards. All of their merch consists of the same colour scheme as the rest of the website and has recent images of the band. 

Overall... 

All of the bands sell t-shirts, clothing and tote bags. The smaller bands have less products to sell but they have a strong image of their band through their merch. The bigger bands have lots more merchandise due to a higher budget.

Similar Artist Research

Shooting Schedule - Glass Smashing Set

GROUP __Phoebe and Lucy

DAY / DATE	INTERIOR/EXTERIOR	SHOT NUMBER/ DESCRIPTION	LOCATION	CHARACTERS	PROPS/SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
14/11/17	Exterior	Mid shot of bottle smashing – standing height	Great Baddow High School	None	Glass bottle filled with glitter and sequins Eye goggles iPhones
14/11/17	Exterior	Close up of bottle smashing	Great Baddow High School	None	Glass bottle filled with glitter and sequins Eye goggles iPhones
14/11/17	Exterior	Close up tracking shot of broken bottle and glitter on floor	Great Baddow High School	None	Glass bottle filled with glitter and sequins Eye goggles iPhones
14/11/17	Exterior	Slow motion mid shot of bottle smashing	Great Baddow High School	None	Glass bottle filled with glitter and sequins Eye goggles iPhones

Conventions of a Digipak

Conventions of a Digipak from Lucy Hocart

Behind the scenes

FILMING FOR GLASS BOTTLE SMASHING:
For this filming session, we requested the help of 4 of our friends to help us film. We put each person with a camera at a different spot so we could get different shots of the bottle smashing. The first time we tried to smash it against the wall the glass was to thick and it would not break on the wall so we had to smash it on the ground.

Cross Media Task

Cross media research from Phoebe Hall

Location Descriptions/Evaluations

GREAT BADDOW HIGH SCHOOL,
GREEN SCREEN ROOM

This location included a pink sequin background draping round the whole room, with magazine cutouts, lyric cut outs stuck on the pink fabric. We used a big lamp for the lighting.
This location worked really well for the singing scene. The location was small enough for the camera to get in the whole backdrop and the singer with ease. Due to its small size we were able to get multiple different camera angle shots still including the whole background in it. Due to less distractions from a big location the user is able to focus on the main singer.

MEADGATE

LUCY'S LIVING ROOM

This location included normal living room furniture ( sofa, chairs, bookshelf), an old fashioned TV, plates and food waste, clothes and shoes, lighters, alcohol bottles and cacti scattered across the floor.Again this location worked really well because due to the small size of the room, the camera was able to get in the whole set and allowed for a big variety of shots to be taken.

Feedback of Halfway Evaluation

Class Feedback from Halfway Evaluation

	STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES	SUGGESTIONS
MUSIC VIDEO TEASER	Pretty, Psychedelic, good colours, unique, original look, links to colour theme of the band,trippy,suits genre, good kaleidoscope effect	Swearing, Where is it going?, long shots, too much kaleidoscope effect	Is it too trippy? Is the artist accessible? Use more variety of shots? Use less kaleidoscope,  Maybe add some other effects (i.e. Noise) to add a crackly feel.
WEBSITE	Good background image, good colour scheme, good merch, clear that it is the band ,links clearly with band image	Do you want Lucy on the homepage?, too much kaleidoscope imagery, possibly more artist information added, quite dark,	Put interviews on too, possibly add a small biography, make the links stand out more to make it easier for the user to navigate
DIGIPAK	Nice synergy, good trippy photos, clear unity, strong band image	Too much kaleidoscope, quite dark images	Think about including normal pictures as well, digitally lighten some pictures to make the digipak more colourful
BRAND IMAGE,NAME,STAGE PRESENCE	Interesting ideas for name backgrounds, well thought out, clear image, logo links well, catchy/unique name, strong female characters, recognisable	Don’t alienate too many people, are the band member images too similar?	Singer/producer is confusing, clear link between members, maybe give members more individuality
TARGET AUDIENCE	Clear TA, clear marketing for audience, influenced from similar artists, good social media for TA	Think about how to grab their interest, mainly targeting females?, could it be expanded?, how could people outside of TA be attracted?

Halfway Evaluation

Halfway evaluation from Phoebe Hall

Video Influences

This video really influenced our video due to the transition effects used and the camera angles. In the video there is a transition where a band member hits the camera and the camera spins into another scene. Since the original name of our song is Spinning Wheel, we really wanted to incorporate this effect. We also want to create a slightly trippy feel to our video and this spinning effect emphasis that. The camera angle used in the majority of the video is an angle looking down on the guy singing. We liked this camera angle and when filming our video we found that this angle allowed us to get the whole set in the shot as well as Lucy.



The Hunter by the Slaves is one of mine and Lucy's favourite songs. This heavily influenced our ideas for our video. We liked the bright neon colours, the graininess of the quality and the chaotic feel to the video. The neon colours bring an element of fun to the video and works with the chaotic theme. The graininess of the camera angles reflects that the video is not really serious and again keeps the lightheartedness of the video. We also liked the close up camera shots that really got the audience involved with what was happening in the video and heightens the chaotic feel of the video.

Similar Genre Video Research

Bee Costume Moodboard

BEE

Coco Costume Moodboard

COCO