I created the above slideshow using Photobucket - an easy-to-use website of which I hadn't used previously. I intend to use Photobucket more to present my work.
Alleyways
Final Constructions
I created the above slideshow using Photobucket - an easy-to-use website of which I hadn't used previously. I intend to use Photobucket more to present my work.
Kerrang! Article - Final Draft
I improved Ellie's Kerrang! Article in order to make it look more legitimate. I consulted 'Introducing' articles that Kerrang! have published in the past to help me get the layout as correct as possible.
I took elements from original articles and edited them using Paint and Photoshop. I then overlaid these elements onto our new portrait photograph.
I erased the original text from the sub header using the colour picker tool on Paint.
I used the colour picker tool again to remove the original information from the 'Vital Stats' box.
I placed the components above the photograph as shown above.
I then copied the 'Best New Band' badge from an original article and pasted it onto my article page. I copied Ellie's original text from her article and rephrased a little of it in order to fit the confinements of the layout. These two processes then completed the Kerrang! article page.
I am very happy with the final article and believe that it looks incredibly legitimate. Straight after the photograph was taken, we all agreed that it could easily be featured in Kerrang! so I'm glad that we got the opportunity to create our own 'Introducing' page.
Website Peer Feedback
We received generally positive feedback regarding our artist website. Our peers think that our website is informative, professional, fun and quirky. However, we need to improve on changing the currency of our products from dollars to pounds, erasing the names of images and changing some of the text colours.
I changed the currency of our products from dollars to pounds.
There is no longer the original file name below the images.
I changed the colour of the line underneath the headers from orange to white which fits our image and overall look of the website better.
Final Digipak Design
(Top left - front cover, top-middle - back of booklet, top-right - left page of booklet, bottom-left - CD, bottom-middle - back cover & bottom-right - right page of booklet.)
I added the final two panels - a lyric sheet and a full-band photo accompanied with all of our names. I am very happy with the final product and believe that it fully presents our band image and genre.
I created the final digipak using Paint and Photoshop. I also used the apps PicsArt and VSCOCam on my smart phone to frame the panels correctly and edit some of the final six chosen photographs with filters.
We all like the minimalistic approach with our front cover and CD design. We like how the members of the band can only be seen through silhouette until the digipak is purchased and the full-band photo page can be viewed. Our EP will only be available to buy through our website and our merch stand on tour.
I created the final digipak using Paint and Photoshop. I also used the apps PicsArt and VSCOCam on my smart phone to frame the panels correctly and edit some of the final six chosen photographs with filters.
We all like the minimalistic approach with our front cover and CD design. We like how the members of the band can only be seen through silhouette until the digipak is purchased and the full-band photo page can be viewed. Our EP will only be available to buy through our website and our merch stand on tour.
Digipak - So Far...
Me and Ellie were inspired by digipaks from labelmates The 1975 and Universal's Lorde. Next I will have to add the last two panels to the digipak which will be a lyrics sheet and a full-band photo.
GoPro Car Test Shots
On our way to shoot at Dom's house, we decided to use our time wisely in the car to shoot some test shots with the GoPro. We all think that the footage came out lovely and some of the shots used will be replicated in the final music video. We all like the fish-eye look that the lense creates.
Recce Shots
We successfully obtained all of our bonfire shots on the 19th of November. We now only need to re-shoot our 'Pick Up' shots and interior car shots.
Analysis of Other Artists' Websites
Grace Starr:
WWW - I love the overall girly look of the website and the layout is really cool. I strongly believe that the website fits the artist's image and genre.
EBI - Spelling errors should be checked on the 'About Grace' page. Other than that, the website is flawless.
Nicholas Alexander:
WWW - The colour scheme and look fits the artist's genre. I love the pictures of Nick used and his bio is very in-depth.
EBI - Grammatical errors need to be fixed on the homepage. Pictures of other artists should be removed from the 'Tour Dates' page.
Encoded:
WWW - I love the countdown widget and the colours fit the genre. The pictures featured are really good and the tour dates are believable.
EBI - Spelling mistakes on 'Band' page need to be fixed.
COSMO:
WWW - The giant photo looks really good on the homepage. The 'wipe' into the next page looks really cool. The gallery layout is awesome. Very professional and fits the artists' image and genre.
EBI - Spelling mistake on the 'Gallery' page needs to be fixed.
Hybrid Beauty:
WWW - The big black and white picture looks really good when overlapped with pink text. Merchandise is really cool (Polaroid photo shirt) and animations too. The website fits the genre and style of the artist well.
EBI - More photos, maybe?
Alex Echo:
WWW - I love the homepage and way that the photos wipe to the next looks really professional. The website fits well for a solo artist and the genre of their music.
EBI - More merchandise (and better quality photos on that page) are needed. URL needs to be changed also.
James Couleur:
WWW - The big photo on the homepage looks really cool and I love the integration with Twitter. Gallery includes lots of photos which is really good! Merchandise is cool too. The website fits the artists' genre and style.
EBI - Tour dates need to be added.
http://onlyjaya.wix.com/jaya
Jaya:
WWW - The site looks very professional and fits the artists's image and genre. The gallery is filled with lovely pictures and I'm sure the site will look great when it is finished.
EBI - Update the 'Videos' and 'Store' page.
Jaya:
WWW - The site looks very professional and fits the artists's image and genre. The gallery is filled with lovely pictures and I'm sure the site will look great when it is finished.
EBI - Update the 'Videos' and 'Store' page.
Photoshoot
Today we conducted a brief photo-shoot to boost our band image and increase the amount of photos on our website. The dress-code was smart but messy - hence the untucked shirts and bright yellow boots. We had lots of fun during this photo-shoot as it was something new and different. We think that the photos look very professional and could easily be featured in a magazine like Kerrang!.
Audience
Ellie created an amazing presentation on Alleyways' audience. The presentation can be accessed from the link below.
Adobe Photoshop
Ellie used Photoshop for the first time to create an official EP poster that is inspired by CHVRCHES' posters and album artwork. As it is a tricky programme to get the hang of, she seeked the help of online tutorials.
Poster
Ellie used Photoshop for the first time to create a minimalistic poster for Alleyways' EP release. She took inspiration from CHVRCHES' posters after she researched their cross-media consistency.
She added a filter to the updated poster above in hopes to erase the grainy look of the photograph.
I love this poster as it fits our band image and musical genre in its simplicity and lack of colour.
Evaluation Questions - Planning
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
- Jump cuts is one of the main conventions of a music video. In response, we will be using a lot of these in order to make ours look legitimate.
- Close-ups are often used to put emphasis on the artist, musician or band. Wide shots are typically used in music videos of a band to fit all of the members in. We will also be using these shots.
- Artificial lighting is used when doing performance shots, particularly inside. We will use artificial lighting in our performance shots - studio lights and fairy-lights being the primary form.
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
- Linking our music video to our digipak, magazine articles and website
- Similar colour schemes
- Putting our record label (dirty hit records) on everything
- Linking the location (of our performance shots) with the design of the website and digipak
- Our signature font will be on everything.
3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
- As I have not yet received audience feedback, I can't plan my answer to this question.
- To gain audience feedback I will show my music video to as many people as possible and ask them questions about the video to determine the general view of it.
- I will pay close attention particularly to our target audience.
4. How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?
- During planning and research i am using a wide variety of technologies, such as microsoft word, youtube, blogger, slideshare, prezi, powtoon and emaze.
- Phone, laptop, desktop computer, imac, tablet in order to gather research.
- During construction, I am using a HD video camera and a tripod to shoot, adobe premiere pro to edit footage, wix to create our website, paint to create posters and digipak ideas. i will hopefully be learning to use adobe photoshop in order to create a flawless digipak.
- Jump cuts is one of the main conventions of a music video. In response, we will be using a lot of these in order to make ours look legitimate.
- Close-ups are often used to put emphasis on the artist, musician or band. Wide shots are typically used in music videos of a band to fit all of the members in. We will also be using these shots.
- Artificial lighting is used when doing performance shots, particularly inside. We will use artificial lighting in our performance shots - studio lights and fairy-lights being the primary form.
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
- Linking our music video to our digipak, magazine articles and website
- Similar colour schemes
- Putting our record label (dirty hit records) on everything
- Linking the location (of our performance shots) with the design of the website and digipak
- Our signature font will be on everything.
3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
- As I have not yet received audience feedback, I can't plan my answer to this question.
- To gain audience feedback I will show my music video to as many people as possible and ask them questions about the video to determine the general view of it.
- I will pay close attention particularly to our target audience.
4. How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?
- During planning and research i am using a wide variety of technologies, such as microsoft word, youtube, blogger, slideshare, prezi, powtoon and emaze.
- Phone, laptop, desktop computer, imac, tablet in order to gather research.
- During construction, I am using a HD video camera and a tripod to shoot, adobe premiere pro to edit footage, wix to create our website, paint to create posters and digipak ideas. i will hopefully be learning to use adobe photoshop in order to create a flawless digipak.
Editing Practice
Above is footage that we shot a while back. It has been edited with a black and white filter and slow-motion. All of the above footage will not be included in the final video. Instead we will cut and add it to the music video wherever appropriate to create and visually pleasing sequence.
Further Cross-Media Consistency - CHVRCHES
Ellie conducted some more cross-media consistency research that relates more to Alleyways' genre and image. She explored the links between the artists' media constructions such as album covers, EP covers, single covers and gig posters. Their approach to marketing is something that we would like to emulate - simplicity and mystery within their products.
NME Radar Article - Final Draft
I improved my previous article page with a picture that represents our band image better. I also fixed the formatting of the text and cropped the 'About To Break' box better.
I prefer this version a lot more to our first draft.
Shooting - Weather Forecast
We had planned to shoot more footage on Wednesday 12th November however due to circumstances out of our control we couldn't go forth with filming. We already have enough complications as it is with work commitments but the weather has started to play a big part in whether we can film or not as we are aiming to make our outside footage look summery and fun as opposed to dreary and dull. Looking at the weather forecast for next week, we can see that our possible days for shooting are Sunday and Thursday of which the latter is the only one where we could all potentially be available.
Institution
What do record companies look for when signing new artists?
Talent:
Major record labels spend hundreds of thousands promoting both new and old artist in hopes of selling them to the public so understandably they want some security on the talent they are signing. Due to this fact they insurance themselves by finding new and original talent who's music appeals to large audience. Many labels will simply skip through demos spending under a dozen seconds per CD so these few seconds must be filled with fast paced and catchy music this is good for our band as our music is very quick with catchy rifts and lyrics which will hopefully be noticed by music executives.
Product:
Don't waste a load of money on expensive studio sessions when first starting out as an artist there are numerous other ways to record and distribute music nowadays. By using equipment like a non-expensive microphone, a compressor, a pre-amp, some basic software and any form of computer a song could easily be made and shared. Saving money this way is vital for a new and struggling artist and defiantly something to remember for our bands as we try to break into the industry.
Placement:
After making our product, the next challenge is trying to distribute our song and where we are going to place our record. To be able to get the most publicity and attention for our song we will have to cover several base's and areas as talent agents periodically scan for the latest talent online. These include SoundCloud, YouTube, Band Camp and OurStage fortunately these can all synchronize with each other so we can keep our social media up to date and fresh.
Promotion:
Before trying to get signed on a record label a starting fan base is vital. By starting small with friends from Facebook and twitter and through social media and word of mouth our band can become more well know and popular. As well as this by passing out several CD's of our song it would help secure our fan base as more people will hear our band and music. By using a SoundCloud or BandCamp link when submitting our demo to a record label it increase the chances of us become signed as they can see we have a healthy back catalog of music.
Transition:
At first you don't succeed try and try again is motto our band will go with as if we don't find success the first time around we will keep contacting record labels and keep working on gaining a substantial fan base.
The above information was paraphrased from the following article written by Ruan De Lange:
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-5-Pillars---A-Success-Blueprint-for-Unsigned-Artists&id=7437243
We found this article very informative and it gave me a further understanding of the way that the music industry treats unsigned artists. We will need to make sure that we are ticking all of the boxes to build a fanbase and gain success through Alleyways.
Talent:
Major record labels spend hundreds of thousands promoting both new and old artist in hopes of selling them to the public so understandably they want some security on the talent they are signing. Due to this fact they insurance themselves by finding new and original talent who's music appeals to large audience. Many labels will simply skip through demos spending under a dozen seconds per CD so these few seconds must be filled with fast paced and catchy music this is good for our band as our music is very quick with catchy rifts and lyrics which will hopefully be noticed by music executives.
Product:
Don't waste a load of money on expensive studio sessions when first starting out as an artist there are numerous other ways to record and distribute music nowadays. By using equipment like a non-expensive microphone, a compressor, a pre-amp, some basic software and any form of computer a song could easily be made and shared. Saving money this way is vital for a new and struggling artist and defiantly something to remember for our bands as we try to break into the industry.
Placement:
After making our product, the next challenge is trying to distribute our song and where we are going to place our record. To be able to get the most publicity and attention for our song we will have to cover several base's and areas as talent agents periodically scan for the latest talent online. These include SoundCloud, YouTube, Band Camp and OurStage fortunately these can all synchronize with each other so we can keep our social media up to date and fresh.
Promotion:
Before trying to get signed on a record label a starting fan base is vital. By starting small with friends from Facebook and twitter and through social media and word of mouth our band can become more well know and popular. As well as this by passing out several CD's of our song it would help secure our fan base as more people will hear our band and music. By using a SoundCloud or BandCamp link when submitting our demo to a record label it increase the chances of us become signed as they can see we have a healthy back catalog of music.
Transition:
At first you don't succeed try and try again is motto our band will go with as if we don't find success the first time around we will keep contacting record labels and keep working on gaining a substantial fan base.
The above information was paraphrased from the following article written by Ruan De Lange:
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-5-Pillars---A-Success-Blueprint-for-Unsigned-Artists&id=7437243
We found this article very informative and it gave me a further understanding of the way that the music industry treats unsigned artists. We will need to make sure that we are ticking all of the boxes to build a fanbase and gain success through Alleyways.
Alleyways - Kerrang! interview
Ellie created a Kerrang! 'Introducing' page using a template from an original article and Paint. The article acts as a short page telling readers who we are. It also aims to gain further interest in the featured bands' music. Ellie included outtakes from our most recent photo-shoot to put across our fun, playful side.
Inspiration - Kerrang! Interview
Above are a few interviews conducted by Kerrang! Magazine who are currently the best-selling British music magazine. They focus solely on Rock music and have featured bands such as Tonight Alive in the past who are similar to us in style and look. We feel that Kerrang! would feature and interview Alleyways.
We would probably first appear in Kerrang! through their 'Introducing' page where they showcase a "best new band" every week.
Teaser Trailer - Updated
Ellie updated our Teaser Trailer in an attempt to enhance the overall quality of it. She added light effects and ambiance to all of the shots and replaced the grainiest footage with footage that is slightly less grainy.
Fast In My Car - Editing Practice
Above is an idea of a sequence during our music video. We filmed the footage and edited it to give us an idea of what it will look like. The final sequence will be a lot smoother than this. We need to improve on the timings of the individual clips which can easily be achieved through Premiere Pro.
Potential Magazine Advert
I made a potential magazine advert using Paint. I aimed to retain our band image through only using our signature font of 'Agency Fb'. The black and white elements of our aesthetic have developed naturally over time with the use of our silhouette photographs.
Zahra also created a similar looking advert. She stuck to the black and white theme to compliment the photograph chosen. We'll choose whichever is most appropriate when the time comes.
Zahra also created a similar looking advert. She stuck to the black and white theme to compliment the photograph chosen. We'll choose whichever is most appropriate when the time comes.
Website - UK Tour
We have added another tour to our website that will take place before Alleyways set off to America to play all dates of Warped Tour 2015.
The page that follows has the same layout as the Warped Tour page however it shows which venues Alleyways will be performing at.
Website - Store
Above is a screenshot of our newly updated store on Alleyways' website. Through this page, viewers can browse and purchase official merchandise from the band such as clothing. Our self-titled EP is also up for pre-order.
Website - Further Updates
Ellie updated our websites' URL from "www.ellierobsonmedia.wix.com/wearealleyways" to "www.alleywaysband.wix.com/wearealleyways". The previous URL was unprofessional and unrealistic. We feel that our new URL is much more professional within the limitations of Wix.
Ellie also added the mp3 of 'Fast In My Car' to the website which can be accessed via a 'play' button.
Ellie changed the design of the website so the colours fit better with the overall design.
She linked all of the social media icons to their appropriate account:
She updated each pages title so instead of a worded title, there are appropriate icons depending on the particular page.
She also added a 'tour dates' page which can be visited by clicking the link on the header or a button on the home page.
The page includes a big header announcing that Alleyways are officially booked to play Warped Tour 2015 in America. The link directs the viewer to a sub-page. There are links to several sites where tickets can be purchased when they are unavailable.
Below is the sub-page showing all of the dates that Alleyways will be playing on Warped Tour. The venues are all TBA as none of them have been announced yet. The page will updated when they are published publicly.
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