A2 Media Studies Advanced portfolio

First of all, this ad follows most of the conventional layouts of most other magazines ads, however, it does have some other unique ways of selling the album by what information it presents. This magazine advertisement is very similar to the album it refers to as its selling point. I think the idea of this is so that when a buyer goes to purchase the item they know exactly what it looks like so that they buy the right album. On the front, you can see the title of the album underlined with the name of the band above. At the bottom, you can see in bold exactly what they are advertising and that it is not for tickets to see her show but actually about selling the album. It clearly specifies where you can buy the album, whether it be by cd or vinyl, ect. This is great as the customer and fan can choose what form they want the album in that suits the sound system they have, or to help add to their collection, this is not something often seen these days which...

The title of the album 'smoke and mirrors' is a reference to a saying used when the truth to something is jaded or hidden. This paired with the imagery of the bird falling into the hands makes the album appear dark. This suggests that the songs and the general theme of the album is dark and possibly sad but because of the title 'smoke and mirrors', it suggests that the album cover might not be a true reflection of the songs included in it. If you look at the painting by Tim Cantor on the front you can see that the bird is in distress as it can't stop itself from falling but in actual fact, it can't see that it is about to be caught by the hands of someone trying to save it. This implies that the album could be about being saved and that it is uplifting and will catch you on the day you feel like you're falling.  Imagine Dragons have also used a lot of there cover work for there singles as more paintings by Tim Cantor which are ve...

With my ancillary products I would like to include colour similar to the advertisements below. I have looked at these as they incorporate colour in their own ways and this is something I want to look in to achieve it correctly in my own project. They way they all use monotone and dulled colours against bold colour makes them stand out and appeal to the eye. In this ancillary product they have used white text in front of the colorful background. This makes the magazine advertisement look modern. I like how they have put the release date in bold so that anyone looking at the advertisement instantly knows when they can buy the album. The great thing about this magazine advertisement is that you can see and read all the information clearly. Unlike the advertisement above they have used a simple background and bolder text to convey the information clearly whereas in the ad above the text is hidden. This ad is also better as it incorporates the artist so everyone knows exactly ...

These are what are some digipacks for albums that i like as they utilises the use of colour connotations that not only link to the themes within songs in the album but to also catch attention of potential buyers. These digipacks are aesthetically pretty and incorporate a lot of what I want to show in my own project. This album by Gnarls Barkly is a great example of this. It uses colour to catch your attention and it looks different from most albums found today making it match the unique genre of his music which is upbeat yet symbolic. This elements of fear album instantly tells you through the use of colour and imagery that this album is going to be sad or have a lot of deeper meanings. The deeper meaning of this album cover is that the music could touching themes like how it feels like to be drowning and what it feels like to metaphorically be trying to reach the surface and struggling. The blue could most likely represent depression. This cover f...

With my second filming day I when to get some more shots of the church that was more sort of cutaway shots to try to link the footage more to the song. The day went well, but because of camera issues, the shots were fuzzy, out of focus and dull looking. From this, I have decided to get the best possible grade I would have to re-film more shot of the church. On the next filming day of the church, I used a proper high definition camera that could control lighting conditions so the darker shots inside the church could be lightened up right there and then. In addition to this, I also made sure i held the camera for 10 seconds before moving it because in the past I have not held the camera long enough which has resulted in shots slowed down so much that they are jolty. I also got the opportunity to change the focus and pull certain objects into focus and then focus on the background. An example of this is when I focused on the dramatic glass window of the church and then pulled t...

For my A2 film this year I have had the opportunity to work way more with the editing of my video, this has enabled me to learn so much more editing techniques that I had previously not had the opportunity to in my As coursework. One thing I have learnt how to use that has really helped me polish up my shot is the, unsharpened mask. For this, I have been able to touch up some of my shots as they are somewhat blurry or out of focus by changing the density of the pixels by pulling them closer together making the shots look slightly more in focus. I have also learnt the simple editing trick of zooming and turning footage so it is the right way around. With some of my footage, I have struggled as I realised I had turned the camera as it was more convenient to film that way, I realised that it was filmed at a side which meant the shot was no good to use until I found out how to use this in premier pro. Another great trick I have le...

Another filming day I have had to have is with getting better shots of the younger actor. This is because originally when I filmed him I was so focused on the narrative that I completely forgot to get a wide range of shots from angles, positions and distances. In the end, a high majority of the shots where mid shots which were a problem as the audience couldn't emotionally connect enough with the young actor as they could not see him clearly enough. The types of shots that I knew would help with this were close-ups in a range of different positions so that is what I ended up getting. This time I started to play around with some of the settings on the camera instead of having it in alto as with also you can tent to get flashes when filming as the camera tries its best to adapt to the lighting conditions.

Mr Osborn, teacher feedback The feedback I got from Mr Osborn this time was that I had a lot of mid shots of my brother and none of them were particularly interesting. For instance, there was a lack of shot from angles and heights not to mention long shots and close-ups. From this, I re-filmed some shots of my younger actor from different angles and took a lot of close up shots. This was so that the audience could emotionally connect with the audience better. Sky, student feedback Sky's feedback was that I needed to vary my shot use and that I didn't repeat the same shot to close together. she also said the narrative needed to be clearer and that I may have needed to get more shots inside the car. From this, I when and got more shots in the car from the inside showing a whole new perspective to the protagonist's story. In addition to this, I have got more shots in the church, especially outside to add more variety to the types of shots in my video and to try not to...

There is footage missing in this where I haven't filled in the last shots, as I've worked on certain aspects of the editing where I have used zoom too much. I have decided that I yet again have to go back and re-film the church as the shots were blurry over camera issues. I need to get more shots of the car as the narrative of the boy getting hit by the car still isn't quite clear. In addition, I think I'm going to get more atmospheric landscape and nature shots to use to warm up to the narrative and show the location.

From the first rough cut of my film I showed my teacher and another student the first edit of my music video, take me to church. they gave me some verbal feedback as to what they thought of the video. Mr Osborn, teacher's feedback He said that I had a lot of zoom in shots where I don't hold the camera long enough and that I need to either slow down the footage so that that the zoom wasn't there or re-film. In addition to this, he said that the narrative is starting to build but it would be nice to see some backstory to the younger character or him in another setting playing with the toy car. There needs to be more shots in the church as there isn't enough to fill into the four-minute music video. Also to find a camera that will take more to the light. From this, I have filmed more shots in the church, however, due to some issues with cameras I filmed with the wrong camera and have had to film again recently. In addition to this, I have taken ...

With the second shot of the younger actor in the movie I have had to edit separately. Originally I needed it to be slow and for the shot to be stabilised however premier pro does not allow this as you can not do use speed duration and warp stabiliser at the same time. So I took the clip and made another premier video using that bit of film and I stabilised it. Then, I took the edited shot and put it back into my main video and changed the speed duration to slow it down.

For my media product, I have decided to do a digipak for the albums release and a magazine advertisement for the digipak for the album's release.                                                   What is a digipack for an album? A digipak for an album is the design for the plastic cd case that says something about the albums songs and the artist. They are there to make a statement and entice fans and potential buyers into buying the product. This design covers everything from the inside of the case to the outside and even the panel on the side. The design these days usually consists of the artist's face but can be some form of representational art. The front panel is what will also show up when you purchase the song and download it on an mp3 product such as an iPod. What is a magazine advertisement for the album's release, and what does it look like? Th...