Analysing our Magazine Advert

We decided that we wanted to have our Magazine advert black and white, this then started off our inspiration, we had then decided that as the song contained lyrics about 'Airplanes' we should have either a photo or a symbol to represent this. I had recently been to an RAF base to watch an air display, this gave us the perfect opportunity to gain photo's for this purpose. I took several photo's and we finally decided upon one. This contained 9 Red Arrows. We had an idea to change the significant smoke that represents the Red Arrows to Yellow which would appear on top of the black and white background. This was to signify the shooting stars that went along with the Airplanes lyrics. 'Can we pretend that Airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars'. 


We wanted to keep the font consistent throughout the other ancillary task, the digipak. This was acheived by using one type of font for one text, Airplanes part ii, and B.O.B featuring Hayley Williams & Eminem. (as seen below). This helps the audience to be able to recognise all the products as one, often known as Brand Identity. 


As we had decided that the background should be black and white we wanted to keep this regular throughout. Therefore we had no colour within the performers clothing. This was more of a trend take on it all. This gave us the inspiration to the next part that we had decided. This being the banner that goes at the bottom of the poster. This contains all the important parts of the poster that haven't already been mentioned. Things such as the release date, the record label, a website and also the iTunes logo. All of this information needed to stand out from the rest of the poster so we decided to keep the black and white theme by choosing a black border to go along the bottom. The only colour that can be seen on this poster is the Yellow, wherever text can be found it is yellow, whether it is the titles, the website or the release date. 

Analysis of Magazine Advert - Kings of Leon

The Kings of Leon Magazine Advert has a lot of the conventions that you would expect to see contained within a magazine advert that was promoting a album by a high flying artists such as themselves.


They are as follows; 

• Websites
• Record labels
• Name of Artists
• Name of the Song/ Album
• Buy it now website
• Release Date

This magazine advert has used the following conventions as listed above. This gives the audience a sense of achievement that the artists are trying to portray, they are wanting the audience to be able to identify the artists/ album, without having to look at the name. This will not only make their digipak/ magazine advert stand out but it will also make the band themselves more memorable. This then enables the audience to be able to describe the album/ band effectively without thinking about it. Therefore the magazine advert has done its job, this magazine advert is very unique, it does not show a picture of the band, this is a very strange way of approaching a magazine advert that is promoting your band, but it is also very effective, making a statement such as this gives the audience a view that they can tell the album/ band apart from any ordinary magazine adverts.

Analysis of Magazine Adverts - Promoting NEW Music Videos

The generic conventions of magazine adverts are as follows;

• Websites
• Record labels
• Pictures of Artists
• Name of Artists
• Name of the Song/ Album
• Itunes/ Spotify logo
• Release Date

The first magazine advert in which i am going to be analysing is the magazine advert in which promotes 'The Verve'. This magazine advert contains all of the above conventions in which you would expect to see within an advert such as this. 

It contains a dull looking background, this has been put into place to represent the genre in which the band belong in. This genre being alternative rock. The colours in which have been used are very dull, browns, whites, greys and blacks, this represents the genre alternative rock very well, many people interpret rock has a heavy type of music in which would be symbolised with dark colours, where as this is alternative rock this therefore has to have a twist on it, the twist in this being a lighter coloured background. Another convention in which has been used on this magazine advert is the Album name, this is in a different font to the Artists as it needs to be distinguishable, although it is seen underneath the artists name, it has to be used in a different text so that the audience do not get mixed up. Which brings me onto the name of the band. This is in a recognisable text, it is recognisable as the verve have always used this font during their career as a band. Towards the bottom of the advert there is a block of writing, which within this contains the following;

• website
• release date for both, part 1 and part 2 
• record label logo
• where the single is taken from, which album

The colour of the text is a good choice to make as it contrasts with the colour of the name of the artists and also the name of the single, although it isn't a good choice to make when it comes to the background, you can't read it properly and really have to really stare at it in order to see what it says. If it was to be put into a different colour or even moved to a different position within the poster then it may be easier to read, this is a bad thing because posters are for glancing at, people don't want to be sat there staring at a poster for a long time just too read what it says, they have better things to do.

The background is a good decision as it symbolises the meaning of verve. The definition of verve is spirit this gives the representation more of a meaning, it symbolises heaven and that the spirits go up into heaven and that is why they have done it.

Analysis of our Digipak

The group in which i am working in have completed our Digipak for our Music Video.
We have tried to include all the generic conventions in which you would find within a RAP video, these are as follows:

• A dark coloured background
• A picture of the artists who are within the song
• The name(s) of the artists within the song
• A barcode included on the back of the Digipak
• The record label in which they have a contract with
• Copyright

Within our Digipak, the above are included in which you can see with the image below.

Within our Digipak you can see that we have included the general look of a typical digipak which entails everything in which you would expect a to be included within a RAP digipak.

We chose this design because of the title of the song in which we chose to do - Airplanes. This gave us the basis of the digipak, we then worked with what we got, we have tried to include everything in which a typical digipak contains. We chose this particular image as it gave us something to work with, we changed the colour of the picture to black and white and then changed the colour of the smoke that the aircraft give off, we decided on Yellow as the general conception of shooting stars is Yellow. We have chosen two different images for the front and the bag, even though they are the same type of aircraft we have decided upon this as it keeps the continuity throughout. The inside covers however have not been given this background as we believed that if we were to do the same inside as well as out, not only would it be too busy but it may confuse some of our audience as to which is inside and which is out. We have included a picture of each of the artists who perform in the video. This is a way in which the audience can recall who sang the song, some people have trouble remembering names but not faces, this is another fact in to why we decided to put the artists on the digipak. The last reasoning behind the artists being on the digipak is the brand identity. This has been followed all the way through the digipak, the poster and the music video. Another thing in which we have included is the name of the song. This has the same reasoning behind it as the picture of the artists. The name of the artists who perform within the song has also been included, we have included this as we believe that it is an important recognition method, if people remember names and not artists faces then they can easily find the album/ single. A bar-code has been included along with the record label and the copyright paragraph as on any album/ single/ digipak, these are all included, they are a general convention of which to include on the digipak. We have decided to lay out the track listing in this way as it is a very memorable way in which to have them, it also goes along with the lyrics within the song, 'can we pretend that Airplanes, in the night sky, are like shooting stars..' this symbolises the shooting stars as well as the aircraft pictured on the background.

The spine has been designed in this way as we believe that we needed to be able to keep the same font throughout the digipak. We have also included the record label logo on the spine as we thought that it was an important feature of our digipak.

The inside of our digipak has been designed in this way so that we have all three of the artists contained within our digipak twice, the main artist is positioned on the left so the attention is on him when the digipak is opened. This is the most important way to have the layout of the digipak, the reason being is that it is promoting mainly the artist on the left, as it is his song. We have kept the background the same colour and the same image just without the aircraft on it. n the right side of the digipak we have included a picture of the other two artists so that it has the continuity throughout. They are on a smaller scale to the main artist as they are the featuring acts. This song is not their song, it is B.O.B's aka Bobby Ray. We have decided to position them within a circle shaped frame in the centre of the right hand side as this is a typical view of a photo, to be in the centre. We have decided to surround this picture with lyrics from the song, this is et another way in which brand identity can be portrayed. We have only surrounded it with the lyrics of the two performers in the middle as it wouldn't fit if they were lyrics from B.O.B.

Third Analysis of a Digipak - Lil Wayne

This digipak contrasts the conventions of the RAP genre very well. The following list contains the conventions in which are included within the diipak.

• The dull coloured background
• A picture of the artist
• The artists name

• Tracklisting
• Dull coloured back ground
• Picture of the artist

This digipak is very limited to what conventions are included. It still promotes the artist and gives the audience an idea that it is a rap album by the convention in which it does portray.

Second Digipak Analysis - Dr. Dre

This digipak has the same generic conventions of in which you would expect to find on a RAP genre digipak. The generic conventions are as follows; 

• Colours - on this digipak the colours are very dull and dark. This is a good way of recognising that it is a RAP genre digipak.
• Setting - the setting of this digipak is on a background of green cannabis leaves, this is a typical convention of what the RAP genre involves and that within their songs they will be talking about their experiences Etc.
• Pose - the pose of the artist Dr. Dre is very mysterious looking, it is also a very thoughtful way in which has been portrayed in this way, whether he is thinking about his past or about the future in which will occur.
• Composition - the composition of Dr. Dre is with him in the middle but with his head slightly to the right. This is a good way a to have him portraying the RAP genre, this is symbolising him as taking a step back from the world that he could be involved within.
• Expression - the expression of Dr. Dre is that he is concerned for the well being of the people he has left behind in the past but also that he is glad he is out of that life and into a new one.
• Props - there are no props involved within this digipak, this suggests to us that he is not having to rely on anything to lead his life any more and that he is making it through life on his own, with no hep from anyone or anything.
• Font - the font that is used within this is digipak is very scientific looking, this goes well with  the name Dr. Dre and that he is very formal and dedicated to his work.
• Image - the image on the digipak is very original and not many artists would use that type of image. With Dr. Dre in the middle on top of the cannabis background, this is very unique  image to portray but yet very effective on the fact that it represents the RAP genre very well.

The back cover consists of the same generic conventions as the front cover does. Both of the front and back covers consist of the digipak conventions these are as follows; 

• Barcode
• Parental Advisory
• Copyright
• Tracklisting
• Picture of Artist
• Name of Artist
• Album Name
• Image for Background

First Digipak Analysis - Eminem Encore.

The first digipak i am going to analyse is Eminem's album 'Encore' this is from the same genre as the music video I am creating, RAP.

This digipak consists of the typical generic conventions of RAP. The colours of the above digipak are very dull and dark, the font is very big and in a style of what you would class to be in a RAP digipak.

The images in which are used are very contemporary and are often used to symbolise that it does fall into the RAP genre. With Eminem in the centre performing to an audience is a good way in which to portray his album.

There are many different digipak conventions held within this digipak on both front and back covers. on the front in which is shown above it contains the following;

• The album title - Encore
• An image of the arist - Eminem
• The composition is correct - Eminem is in the middle
• Parental Advisory notice - bottom right hand corner

On the back the digipak conventions are also held. They are as follows;

• The album name is repeated 3 times - at the top and down both the sides
• A barcode - bottom left hand side
• Tracklisting - a little off centre
• Copyright - along the bottom
• another image of the artist - Eminem to the right
• Produced by - on the spine at the bottom

All the above conventions are often found within the digipak.

Generic Convention

The conventions of a stereotypical music video are as follows;

Pose, Composition, Image, Font, Props, Settings, Colours, Expression.

Having researched and analysed a number of Rap/HipHop videos, I would consider the following as conventions of the genre;

• Bling
• Money
• Fast cars
• Girls
• Black rappers

These are all conventions of the RAP genre music videos, i have included some of these conventions, but not all. The reasoning behind this being that i didn't want a stereotypical music video, i wanted a video that stood out from the rest, the song is definitely one that follows the crowd, but the video is different.

Digipak Conventions

Conventions of digipak designs are generally as follows;