Ancillary Task 2 - Looking at existing album advertisements

Today whilst browsing through music magazines I looked at how other artist's promote their albums. I found that most advertisements feature the name of the artist, name of the album, the date it is released, the artist's website, websites you can buy it off, ratings and quotes about the album. Advertisements don't usually contain all of these elements so when it comes to making my own I won't be including everything listed.

Ancillary Task 2 - Finding a magazine to advertise my digipack

Today I browsed through several music magazines such as NME, Kerrang and Q to see which type of music they generally advertised. I found that Q promotes the most diverse range of music so I will be using Q magazine to advertise my album. The music advertised in NME and Kerrang is quite 'grungy' and Israel's music does not fit into this genre.

Ancillary Task 2 - Choosing an image for my magazine article

After much thought I decided to use an image from the same holiday as the album image for my magazine advertisement. This is because they will then link together which is key for magazine advertisments and the albums o that the audience recognises whose advertisement it is. I will now create my magazine advertisement when I return to school.

Ancillary Task 1 - Finished Digipack

Today I completed my digipack. I added the copyright quote to the back and moved around the track list so it fits round the image better. I chose not to add a colour to the inside as it made it look cartoon like; it looks more like a real digipack with a plain inside.

Ancillary Task 1 - Finishing The Inside Of My Digipack

Today I completed the inside of my digipack. I added an 'IZ' to the image as I felt it was a bit empty. Also the 'IZ' is very important to Israel's albums I kept the font and the colourings the same so that the front, back and inside all link together.

All I need to do now is add a colour around the cd part and add the record company name to the back of my album.

Ancillary Task 1 - Starting The Inside Of My Digipack

Today I chose another image from my family holiday to use in the inside of my digipack. However, I did not want to use all of the image so using Adobe Photoshop Elements I cut out the part I wanted to use. This program also enabled me to put a sky blue background behind the part of the image I kept. I will now put this into my digipack.

Ancillary Task 1 - Finishing The Back Cover Of My Digipack

Today I completed the back of my digipack. I kept the font the same as the font on the front cover so that the two sides link together. I chose to write the track list horizontally rather than the traditional vertically as I feel this gave it a laid back feel which is typical of Israel's style of music. I made sure that I included a bar code as bar codes are generally always found on the back.

I will now move on to the inside of my digipack.

Ancillary Task 1 - Starting Work On My Digipack

Today I created the front cover of my digipack and also started work on the back of my digipack.

On the front cover is the image from my family holiday. I then have the album title and Israel Kamakawiwo'ole typed across the top. The font this is written in is called 'Herculanum' I chose this font because I believe it has an ethnic, native feel to it which links in to Israel's strong Hawaiian roots. The font is white as I believe it gives the album a tranquil feel which once again is typical of Israel and his music. The front cover also features the trademark 'IZ'. This is in the same font as the album name but is in red as I wanted it to stand out.

The back cover is not yet complete but I did start on it today. I copied part of the front cover image on to the back so that the front and back cover links together. The rest of the back cover is a sky blue which ties in with the nature theme of Israel's album covers. Next time I will add the song list to the back of my digipack.

Ancillary Task 1 - Finding An Image For My Digipack

Today I decided on the image for my digipack. I chose a picture I had taken on a family holiday in the previous year. I chose this image because the seaside location and the warm weather looks typical of the Israel Kamakawiwo'ole album cover style. The colours in the image are also vibrant which is another key feature of Israel's albums.

Ancillary Task 1 - Israel Kamakawiwoʻole Previous Album Covers

Today I researched Isael Kamakawiwo'ole's previous album covers. I chose to do this as I believe it will help me with the creation of my digipack as I can base it on the style of his previous covers.
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's album covers have a strong sense of nature imagery. Furthermore, mostly all of them feature bright colours. Therefore when I take a picture for the front of my digipack I will make sure it features an aspect of nature and also that it involves vibrant colours.Each album cover also features the letters 'IZ'. I will make sure my album cover features these letters as they are obviously a trademark of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.
Israel himself is always in the picture on the front of his albums. However, as he has such a distinctive look he will be very hard for me to represent. Therefore my album cover will not be able to feature a person acting as Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.

Ancillary Task 1 - CD Digipack

Digipacks are a type of CD packaging made out of card or other heavy paper/cardboard material. Digipacks can open like a book, or it can have three parts, so that one flap of the packaging opens to the right and one to the left, with the CD in the middle. Usually, the part of the digipack that holds the CD is made of plastic like a traditional jewel case CD. The plastic part is just attached to the paper background.

MeadWestvaco first created digipacks and their product 'Digi-Pak', is trademarked. However, as the idea became more popular and began to be used by more manufacturers, the term "digipack" came to be used to describe all soft CD packaging.

Pros of digipacks

They look attractive which is why many bands and labels like to use them. The three section digipack sleeves opens up more design options because there is more room.

Digipacks don't crack like jewel cases do.

Digipacks can be more environmentally friendly than jewel cases because they can be made of recycled paper.

Cons of Digipacks
If the teeth of the tray breaks in a digipack the CD will fall out as unlike jewel cases there is nothing to hold it in.

Whilst they don't crack like jewel cases they will rip and eventually the paper will peel apart and separate.

There is not much protection in digipacks as the outer layer is made out of paper so the teeth that hold the CD in place crack and fall out easily.

Lyrical Analysis

Brief Analysis of an Israel Kamakawiwo'ole Music Video

Today I decided to analyse the video of Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole so I could then see if they were any key aspects of the video I should apply to my own.



The first thing I noticed about the music video was how there is a strong sense of nature imagery throughout. There are many clips of the ocean or the beach or even rainbows throughout. Obviously nature was very important to Israel Kamakawiwo'ole and his videos and I shall try and include some in my own video.


Another key part of the video was how Israel himself was in it, miming along to the lyrics whilst playing the ukulele. There was a strong relationship between the artist and the video and I hope to reconstruct this in my own. However, due to having such a distinctive look I will not be able to cast anyone who looks like Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.


There was also a strong sense of people enjoying themselves throughout the video, it is very much a feel good video. I hope to capture this positivity in my own video.



Finally, one of the last things I noticed in the video was how there was a wide variety of age groups in the video. I believe this is because Israel is liked by such a wide age group of people and I will try my best to include a range of ages in my own music video.

Audience Research

Today I thought about the type of audience Israel Kamakawiwo'ole would appeal to. After much consideration I have decided that he appeals to anyone over the age of 16. I have decided that generally he will not appeal to anyone below 16 as he is simply not mainstream enough and when you are that age, generally mainstream music is what appeals the most. However, I believe that Israel Kamakawiwo'ole appeals to a wide range of people which is why the target audience I have settled on is so broad.

Genre Research

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's genre of music is generally described as pop/easy listening.

History of Easy Listening

The name "Easy Listening" was coined in 1965 by Claude Hall, radio-tv editor of Billboard Magazine to describe the sound of WPIX-FM.

Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1960s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR (middle-of-the-road) music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music and space age pop genres.

Easy listening is broad and may include instrumental arrangements of popular music designed for playing in shopping centers, department stores, telephone systems (while the caller is on hold) cruise ships, airports, doctors' and dentists' offices, and elevators. The term is also frequently applied as a generic (and often derogatory) term for any form of easy listening smooth jazz, or middle of the road music.

History of Pop

Pop Music is a type of music genre. Pop music was developed in the mid 1950s as a softer option to Rock and Roll. The focal point of Pop Music was the Youth Market, through short and basic Love songs. Whilst these simple features of the genre have stayed constant, pop music started to emerge influences from different forms of popular music.
Mostly borrowing the development of Rock music and using the key technological conventions to produce new Variations of present Themes.

Detailed Artist Research

Israel "IZ" Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole (May 20, 1959 – June 26, 1997) was a Hawaiian musician.
He became famous outside Hawaii when his album Facing Future was released in 1993. His medley of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World" was subsequently featured in several films, television programs, and commercials.
Through his ukulele playing and incorporation of other genres (such as jazz and reggae), Kamakawiwoʻole remains one of the major influences in Hawaiian music over the course of 15 years.

Kamakawiwoʻole's musical career began when he formed the musical group Makaha Sons of Niʻihau with brother Skippy plus Louis "Moon" Kauakahi, Sam Gray and Jerome Koko. They recorded No Kristo in 1976 and released four more albums, including Kahea O Keale, Keala, Makaha Sons Of Niʻihau and Mahalo Ke Akua, before Skippy died of a heart attack in 1982. The group became Hawaii's most popular traditional group with breakout albums 1984's Puana Hou Me Ke Aloha and its follow-up, 1986's Hoʻola. Kamakawiwoʻole's last recorded album with the group was 1991's Hoʻoluana. It remains the group's top-selling CD.

In 1990, Kamakawiwoʻole released his first solo album Ka Ano, which won awards for Contemporary Album of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year from the Hawaiʻi Academy of Recording Arts (HARA). Facing Future was released in 1993 by The Mountain Apple Company. It featured his most popular song, the medley "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World", along with "Hawaiʻi 78", "White Sandy Beach of Hawaiʻi", "Maui Hawaiian Sup'pa Man", and "Kaulana Kawaihae". Facing Future debuted at #25 on Billboard Magazine's Top Pop Catalogue chart. On October 26, 2005, "Facing Future" became Hawaii's first certified platinum album, selling more than a million CDs in the United States. On July 21, 2006, BBC Radio 1 announced that "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World(True Dreams)" would be released as a single in America.

Kamakawiwoʻole was known for promoting Hawaiian rights and Hawaiian Independence, both through his lyrics, which often stated the case for independence directly, and his life.

In 1997, Kamakawiwoʻole was again honored by HARA at the Annual Nā Hōkū Hanohano awards for Male Vocalist of the Year, Favorite Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year, and Island Contemporary Album of the Year. He watched the awards ceremony from a hospital room.

Alone in Iz World (2001) debuted at #1 on Billboard's World Chart and #135 on Billboard's Top 200, #13 on the Top Independent Albums Chart, and #15 on the Top Internet Album Sales charts

Throughout his life, Kamakawiwoʻole was obese and at one point carried 757 pounds (343 kg; 54.1 st) on his 6-foot-2-inch (1.88 m) frame. He endured several hospitalizations because of problems caused by his weight. At age 38, he died of weight-related respiratory illnesson June 26, 1997.




Discography
Albums
Ka ʻAnoʻi (1990)
Facing Future (1993)
E Ala E (1995)
N Dis Life (1996)
Iz in Concert: The Man and His Music (1998)
Alone in Iz World (2001)
Wonderful World (2007)
Over the Rainbow (2010)

The song 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World' is off the album 'Facing Future'.

Changing My Song Choice

After much careful consideration I have decided to change my song choice. This is because 'Just The Way You Are' has had a surge in popularity which means the video is well recognised. A well known video is a con as it means people will compare my video to the original as it is engraved in their minds.

New Song Choice

Artist - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Song Title - Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World
Running Time - 4:38

I have chosen this song because it is timeless so I will not tire of it and not many people are aware of the video or if there even is one.

Expectations of a Bruno Mars music video

Genre
Bruno Mars songs generally fit into the pop/r'n'b genre. Some aspects which are expected in a pop video include lip synching, musical instruments, expensive/ glamerous setting or mise en scene, narrative storyline and obvious visuals.
Expectations of a r'n'b music video include scantily clad, attractive women and luxurious setting/mise en scene.

Previous Videos
Bruno Mars previous videos have been typical of the pop/r'n'b genre. Both 'Billionaire' and 'Just The Way You Are' include some lip synching which is typical of the pop genre. Also in both videos Bruno Mars is playing instruments which is another stereotypical aspect of a pop video. In 'Just The Way You Are' there is an attractive woman who is wearing quite short shorts which conveys how r'n'b videos feature pretty women who are scantily clad.

Fan based expectations
When I surveyed Bruno Mars fans on what they expect to see in a Bruno Mars video I found they expected the following:
- a "fit" girl
- Bruno Mars in his trilby hat
- Bruno Mars playing his guitar.

Bruno Mars - A detailed artist research

Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), better known by his stage name Bruno Mars, is an American singer-songwriter and music producer. He is known for lending his vocals and co-writing the hooks for the songs "Nothin' on You" by B.o.B, and "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy, as well as his own international number-one single "Just the Way You Are". He also co-wrote the international hits "Right Round" by Flo Rida featuring Kesha, "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan, and "Fuck You!" by Cee Lo Green. On October 4, 2010, he released his debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans.

Peter Hernandez was born and raised in the Waikiki neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii by parents Pete and Bernadette "Bernie" Hernandez, of Puerto Rican and Filipino descent.At the age of two he was nicknamed 'Bruno' by his father, due to him being a chubby baby and there being a famous chubby wrestler at the time called Bruno Sammartino.Hernandez was one of six children and came from a musical family giving him a diverse mix of reggae, rock, hip hop, and R&B.From a young age, he was impersonating and performing songs by artists such as Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, The Isley Brothers, and The Temptations.In 1990, Hernandez was featured in MidWeek as "Little Elvis", going on to have a cameo in the film Honeymoon in Vegas in 1992."I watch the best. I'm a big fan of Elvis. I'm a big fan of 1950s Elvis when he would go on stage and scare people because he was a force and girls would go nuts! You can say the same thing for Prince or The Police. It's just guys who know that people are here to see a show, so I watch those guys and I love studying them because I'm a fan," he stated.In 2010 he said, "Growing up in Hawaii made me the man I am. I used to do a lot of shows in Hawaii with my father's band. Everybody in my family sings, everyone plays instruments. My uncle's an incredible guitar player, my dad's an incredible percussionist, my brother's a great drummer, he actually plays in our band. I've just been surrounded by it." He attended President Theodore Roosevelt High School, graduating in 2003 at the age of seventeen, and shortly after moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a musical career.

Before becoming a successful solo artist, Hernandez was an acknowledged music producer, writing songs for Alexandra Burke, Travie McCoy, Adam Levine, Brandy, and Sean Kingston, as well as Flo Rida's international hit "Right Round".He also co-wrote the Sugababes' hit song "Get Sexy" and provided backing vocals on their album Sweet 7.His first musical appearance as a singer was in Far East Movement's second studio album Animal, featured on the track "3D".He reached prominence as a solo artist after being featured on and co-writing B.o.B's "Nothin' on You" and Travie McCoy's "Billionaire"; both songs peaked within the top ten of many charts worldwide. He said of them, "I think those songs weren't meant to be full-sung songs. If I'd sung all of "Nothin' on You", it might've sounded like some '90s R&B." Following this success, Mars released his debut extended play, titled It's Better If You Don't Understand, on May 11, 2010.The EP peaked at the ninety-ninth position on the Billboard 200 and produced one single: "The Other Side", featuring rappers Cee Lo Green and B.o.B.Mars collaborated with Cee Lo Green once more in August 2010 by co-writing his single "F*ck You!". He performed a medley of "Nothin' on You" and "Airplanes" with B.o.B and Hayley Williams at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.
Mars' debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, was released digitally on October 4, and saw its physical release on October 5, 2010.The lead single, "Just the Way You Are", was released on July 19, 2010,and has reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100.The music video was released on September 8, 2010.Two songs from the album, "Liquor Store Blues" featuring Damian Marley and "Grenade" were released to the iTunes Store as promotional singles.He will open for Maroon 5 on the fall leg of the Hands All Over Tour starting October 6, 2010. Mars will also co-headline with Travie McCoy on a European tour starting October 18, 2010.

Although Mars has been referenced as "soft" because of his light falsetto voice, his co-producer says, "What people don't know is there's a darker underbelly to Bruno Mars." Mars himself says, "I blame that on me singing to girls back in high school." Jon Caramanica of The New York Times called him "one of the most versatile and accessible singers in pop, with a light, soul-influenced voice that’s an easy fit in a range of styles, a universal donor."Mars cites Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Prince, and Tupac Shakur as his influences.


Discography

Discography Singles
Title Label Release
Nothin' On You (B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars) Atlantic 29.03.2010
Billionaire (Travie McCoy feat. Bruno Mars) Warner 24.05.2010
Just The Way You Are Elektra 20.09.2010

Discography Albums - Studio
Title Label Release
Doo-Wops & Hooligans Elektra 15.10.2010

Final Decisions

Today I made the decision to work on my own for my advanced portfolio. I decided to work on my own because it meant I could choose what song I wanted and it also gives me the chance to achieve my best. The song I have chosen to make my video for is Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are.

Textual Analysis Of A Music Video

B.O.B.. featuring Bruno Mars - Nothin' On You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PTDv_szmL0

Genre Characteristics
The genre for this song is r'n'b/hiphop. When associating videos with the hip hop/ r'n'b music genre, in particular videos from a male r'n'b/hip hop singer, I expect one characteristic to be pretty women in the video. This video conforms to this characteristic as there are many pretty girls in the video. Another characteristic I would expect to see in a hiphop/ r'n'b video would be a certain way of dressing, i.e trainers, hooded jackets and chunky jewellerey. This characteristic is shown in this video when the artist B.O.B is walking down the street in a hooded jacket, trainers and chunky jewellery.

What is the relationship between music and visuals?
The video corresponds with the lyrics quite a lot. At the beginning of the video the lyrics are "beautiful girls all over the world". During these lyrics the video shows a wide variety of girls, all who look different, which could represent they come from different places in the world. Another moment when the lyrics corresponds with the video can be seen when the words "I've been to London, I've been to Paris" are sung. Whilst these lyrics are sung images of the Eiffel tower and Big Ben appear in the background which is a clear link to the lyrics.

Are the close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?

During the video, there are close-ups of the artists B.O.B and Bruno Mars. The one especially effective close up of these artists can be seen at the beginning when the song first begins. There is a close up of Bruno Mars singing "they got nothing on you" and then a close up of B.O.B singing "nothing, nothing". This close up at the beginning is effective as it pulls the audience in straight away as it is almost as if the artists are singing directly to you.

Is there any reference to the notion of looking?
As I mentioned above, there is a reference to the notion of looking because the close up shows the artists to be looking straight into the camera which feels almost like they are looking directly at the audience.

My Three Possible Song Choices

Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are -(Doo Wops and Hooligans)
This song is one of my three choices. I chose this song because I felt I could make a good story based video to go along with the lyrics, as the meaning behind the song is quite simple.

Daniel Merriweather - Red - (Love and War)
This song is one of my choices because I love the song. I thought choosing a song I love would be a good idea as I will have to listen to the song over and over again once I begin filming. I also chose this song because it is a much more serious song than my first choice and I thought having a diverse range of choices would be a good idea.

Enrique Iglesias feat. Nicole Scherzinger - Heartbeat - (Euphoria)
This song is one my choices because I like the song and also the video is quite basic so I won't be competing against an iconic video if I choose to make a video for this song.

The Gadget Show

Today we watched an episode from channel five's 'The Gadget Show' which was based on the production of music videos. The presenters Suzi and Jason were set the task of making a music video. Suzi had to make a video for the band Fightstar whilst Jason had to make a video for Har Mar Superstar. Suzi had an unlimited budget whereas Jason had to make his music video with a small budget. They were told that a music video was generally either a performance based video, a story based video or a gimmick based video. Jason opted to make a story based video whilst Suzi chose to make a performance based video.
As Suzi had an unlimited budget she chose to use all of the latest and most advanced technology to shoot her video. Whilst there is no way we will have such technology to film our own music videos it was nice to see how and what equipment the professionals use when making music videos.
Jason, on the other hand, used 'off the shelf' equipment i.e. more affordable and less advanced. Some of the equipment he used is actually some of the equipment we are going to use when it comes to filming our own video so we got the chance to see what we could do with the equipment we have.
Overall then, this episode of 'The Gadget Show' taught us the three main types of music videos there is, the equipment you can use if you have an unlimited budget and the equipment you can use if you're strapped for cash.

My Musical Taste

As I like a diverse range of music it is quite hard to narrow it down to certain genres that I like. Therefore I have chosen just to share some of my favourite songs. Generally though I like songs which I can have a good ol' sing along too.

1) The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition


2) Daniel Merriweather - Red


3)Snow Patrol - Crack The Shutters


4)Abba - Dancing Queen


5) Michael Buble - Lost


6) Pulp - Disco 2000


7) Freda Payne - Band Of Gold


8) Amy Winehouse - Me and Mr Jones


9) George Michael - Careless Whisper



10)Darlene Love - All Alone On Christmas

The history of music - 1950s - 2000s

Music through the ages

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A2 Advanced Portfolio Requirements

1) A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:
a website homepage for the band
a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package)
a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package)