Magazine Improvements

I am much happier with this advertisement, as I think it has a much greater impact as there's more a picture to look at. Hopefully this will attract an audience more as there's more of a story and the picture is more interesting rather than a blank wall.

I chose this shot, as it features the train station stairs which also feature in my video, so my products are still linked together and hopefully audiences will recognise this are in the video. I like this shot of her leaning over the stairs, as I still think it shows attitude, therefore still contributing to the identity that she is a young girl that has a large character. I shot this using the fish eye lens, so therefore the main focus of the picture is her. Also the outside stairs have been warped due the lens, so it fits in with my warped text, that is too wavy and bends around her body. Using the lines of the stairs, I was able to warp my text so follows the same shapes. I placed the 'Out 17 April' text on one of the steps, and warped it to follow the same bend, so it seems as if the text has been painted onto the stair.

I still included the newspaper review and release date as these are common conventions of magazine advertisements. However, I have also included a twitter link that was mentioned in the feedback session. Some magazine adverts have used this idea, but instead used the social networking site - Myspace.

 

However, I decided on twitter as this is the most recent site and the one that most people seem to use nowadays.
I invented a twitter page - @crystalwattsmusic, and used the famous and recognisable logo from this social networking site, so when my target audience, young adults, see this logo they are drawn to it and know it. This is because at that age twitter and is very important and a big part of their life that they use most days. I changed the logo from the orginal blue, to sepia to fit in with my nineties house style, as all my products have that sepia/vintage tone.



















Another feature I added was the famous and recognisable lyrics 'La Da De La Da Da', however changed the transparency to very faint and placed them behind my model and moulded to the shape of the ceiling and lights. I didn't want this feature very noticable, as it is not important information, however it is the lyric that will help people recognise the song if they don't know it already.

By using the same location as one in my video, the same sepia look, the same styling, poses and the same wavy font moulded to her body as on the digipak, the magazine still links within my nineties house style and attitude identity that I have included in my digipak and video. Therefore when audiences see this advertisement that immediately associate it with Crystal Watts - Gypsy Woman, as they know this is the overall image.

Magazine Advertisement - Stage Two

After using InDesign for a while, I decided that I much preferred to use the program Serif PagePlus, as I can edit pictures using Serif PhotoPlus without leaving the program. However, when using InDesign, I would have to open the picture in Photoshop and then insert it back into InDesign. I am comfortable using Serif as I have used it before in previous coursework. There is a wide range of filters to choose from, warp effects, and options where you can subtly tweak your picture.

I inserted the same picture of my performer against the wall, and edited the colour to a sepia tone. I still wanted to use the most recognisable lyrics 'La Da De La Da Da' however changed the transparency of these so they are very faint in the background.

 

I changed the picture to more of a brown sepia, by opening the picture is PagePlus and then PhotoFix and choose the sepia option. I wanted the sepia tone, as I thought this was very vintage and retro, rather than black and white, which could look old fashioned. I was then able to tweak the brightness and saturation to make it more defined. After this I opened it in the filter gallery, and choose the Lens Vignette and increased the intensity, which gives the picture its darker edges.

 

For the font, I chose Accent SF, which is big and bubbly. I then warped these words, using the warp tool so it fits around the shape of her body. Also I recived inspiration from the orginal Crytsal Waters Album cover, which is very wavy and bubbly. I used the colour picker tool to colour my font the same as the flooring, and the 'Gyspy Woman' text to the same colour as the wall.

 

After loking at many existing magazine advertisements, I noticed they all feature a release date, with 'Out.....' so I included this convention too, so it looks professional.

A big solution that I discovered when using PagePlus is that they had a star shape, so instead of making stars, I could now just insert them, which is much neater. I decided that I would say that the Daily Mail Newspaper reviewed this single, as it's a well known and respectable newspaper. I wanted the phrase ' A timeless Classic' as it's an old song but brought into present times.

Name Change

As I cannot use the original name 'Crystal Waters' I have to change it to something new and unique. As my performers name is Vicky Watts, I decided to use the name 'Crystal Watts' which I think works well, as it isn't a big change.

This name will be displayed on my magazine advertisement and digipack.

Magazine Advertisement - Stage One

While I was waiting to re-shoot my footage, I worked on my advertisement using the pictures I took on my day of filming. Luckily, I am much happier with these than my shots. 

For my background picture, I chose a whole body shot of my performer leaning up against the wall with a sultry expression and attitude. I wanted my photo to have the same vintage colour as my video, so I opened up the picture using Adobe InDesign and then photofixed the picture with the 'Old Movie' effect, which has a sepia tone. I then adjusted the contrast to darker, and changed the Saturation so my picture isn't as 'yellow'.

I wanted to use the most recognisable lyrics 'La Da De La Da Da' as hopefully if people don't know the song from the title, they will recognise it from these lyrics. I chose the other font to one that looks handwritten, as I wanted that rough, edgy and scruffy look. I think white is one of the best colours to have my font as it stands out against the background.

I wanted to include the text 'A timeless classic' and then give four stars, as if a paper has reviewed the single and given it four stars. However, InDesign doesn't have a star shape so I would of had to draw these freehand using a graphics tablet, or make them using lines.

Existing Magazine Advertisements

As well as making a music video, I will also make a magazine advertisement to promote the digipack. Before I started to design this, I looked at existing advertisements used in magazines to gain some inspiration and see what advertisements work well.

Madonna

I found this advertisements for Madonna's greatest hits album - Celebration which features all of her hits from her years in the music industry.

I like the comparison of using Madonna to Marylin Monroe, as this will catch people's eye, as Marylin Monroe was such an iconic figure. The image of her face is similar to the work of Andy Warhol who famously painted four of Marylin Monroe's faces, only changing the colour in each one. By using inspiration from his work, it draws people's attention to the advertisement as it is a well known piece of art. This also lets the audience know, that this album doesn't just feature Madonna's current hits, by using the old style picture, it shows that the album has some of her older music too.

The colours yellow, bright blue and pink are similar to the primary colours - yellow, blue and red, so by using these it is again a link to art. The whole image is very artistic, and looks as if it is sprayed onto a brick wall, which I think is different and much more interesting that a photograph. The whole look of the advertisement is very Pop Art.

Ellie Goulding

Another music advert I found was Ellie Goulding's album Lights. This is a striking advertisement as the bold picture of her face lit up against the black background makes it stand out. This is effective as the album is called 'Lights' and she is lit up in the dark by many little lights. These blend in with the texture of her hair, which makes her look almost magical.

By choosing to have the lettering white, it makes it very vivid and prominent against the background, which makes it easy for the audience to read so all the information is clearly visible.

I think it's a very simple advertisement. It has simple lettering, a simple picture with little editoral changes, and a  plain layout, yet this all makes it very eye catching. It could also give out the impression that this CD doesn't need any dressing up to make it better than what it is, it just offers good music.

One thing that both of these magazines have in common is that they are close up camera shots of the artists face. This is very eyecatching, as they are both artists that are recognisable, so the audience will see these in a magazine, and if they know them, will recognise their face and want to find out about the page is advertising.

Target Audience

There are two potential target audiences for my music video.

One of these would be the mid generation who were in their teenage/ young adult years in 1991 when this song was first released. As it is house/dance song, it would most likely of been played a lot in clubs and bars, and was in the charts which teenagers love to keep up to date with.

The second potential audience would be teenagers nowdays. Most teenagers know songs from previous years as well as current hits. Also it is very common now for artists to remix old songs and put a modern twist to them. An example of this would be Flo Rida's I Cry, which uses Brenda Russel's song Piano in the Dark which was orginally released in 1988. This song has proven very popular among the younger audience and reach number one.

I would want all my products to appeal more to the younger generation, and I will do this by using a young female performer so young girls can relate to her and look up to her. They would want to be like her and copy her style and movements. Young boys would develop a star crush on her, so would watch her video and be attracted to pictures of her so they can admire her.