Today can you please do the following;
- take at screenshots of at least 3 - 5 artists Instagram pages
- write down bullet points of what you observe they use in terms of marketing themselves as a brand
- screenshot your own artist social media page you have created
- write down a rationale in the same post that explains your creative choices
This is due end of tomorrow's lesson
Create a blog post on the topic of symbolism and iconography.
Watch the video below (that received 44/50 as it's final mark) and see how they strategically used symbolism and iconography.
Embed this clip into your blog post, comment on how effective you believe their iconography was and also what you intend to do, and how, for your own music video.
Here are some links to some specific pages that could get you thinking creatively about your visual elements:
77 Unbelievable Photos Showing That Angle Is Everything
Bizarre Self-Portraits By Ben Zank
Dark And Decay: I Portray Humanity Facing A World War
Fog Aerosol Spray Lets You Create Mysterious Foggy Atmospheres Anywhere You Go
The Exploration Of Our Inner Melancholy In Surreal Imagery
My Girlfriend Convinced Me To Go Stormchasing
You Can Use A TV Screen As The Backdrop For Your Photo Shoots
2. You need to create a digital ‘PHOTO MOCK UP‘.
For this exercise you can borrow images from Google Images.
It is this version that will need feedback.
Hi guys,
Take a look at this video clip outlining some of the facts around media ownership.
Write some detailed notes on WHO OWNS THE MEDIA (write down stats, facts and figures to use in your essay).
Write some good points on why the media being controlled by so few companies, is a bad thing.
Have a look at this link and make some notes about how YouTube has changed the power balance;
The Golden Age Of The Creator: How The Power Is Shifting In Entertainment
Forbes Councils Member
Ricky Ray Butler is CEO of BEN, an entertainment AI company that places brands into influencer, streaming, TV, music, and film content.
GETTY
The old Hollywood model of entertainment is fundamentally outdated. Gone are the days when a few executives in a boardroom made all the decisions for what content received the green light. Today, the power to produce and publish content across platforms — whether it's shows and movies on streaming services, photos and short-form videos on social media, or podcasts on audio platforms — lies in the hands of independent creators.
These writers, producers, influencers and directors are becoming the next media conglomerates in their own right. With countless distribution channels at their fingertips and the agility of their small teams, there is more opportunity than ever for creatives to ideate and execute on artistic projects, without dealing with major oversight or bureaucratic red tape from studios or networks.
PROMOTED
Content creators — from small production studios, celebrities and screenwriters to podcast hosts, live streamers and social media influencers — are uniquely positioned to challenge the status quo within entertainment. In fact, we're already starting to see the evidence of their star power impacting deals with streaming services and social platforms.
Popular comedian Dave Chappelle successfully hadChappelle’s Show pulled from Netflix and HBO Max after he expressed his frustration over not being compensated by Comedy Central. Three months later, Chappelle, Comedy Central and Netflix reached an agreement on payment, and the show returned to the platform. On the influencer front, YouTube stars The Try Guys left their original parent company, Buzzfeed, in 2018. Since then, the group has launched their own media company and YouTube channel, gone on a nationwide tour, started a podcast, published a book and premiered a documentary. And the D'Amelio family, made famous by sisters Charli's and Dixie's viral TikTok accounts, is getting a reality TV show on Hulu.
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These are just a few examples. Dozens of streamers, influencers, producers and more are being courted for exclusivity in live streaming and content creation. With the entertainment business model hanging in the balance, the future of content is on a fast track to change even more dramatically than anticipated.
Audience Loyalty Is Key, and Creators Have Earned It
The pandemic has accelerated the decentralization of content. People no longer have to flock to movie theaters to catch the latest premiere or tune in to shows at the same time every week. Instead, independent creators have filled the holes left by traditional productions being put on hold and release dates for anticipated films and shows being pushed back.
The Power Of Storytellers To ShapeOur World
We're also seeing audiences become increasingly loyal to individual creators versus specific platforms. Viewers will follow stars wherever they make content, whether that's across multiple platforms or only on one, and tapping into that loyalty is key.
For example, producer and screenwriter Shonda Rhimes, whose TV shows under the Shondaland umbrella can be found on network and streaming channels, has no problem attracting viewers to whatever outlet she chooses. Her recent smash hit, Bridgerton, shattered records as the most-watched show in Netflix history, proving the impact of a truly dedicated audience.
The most successful platforms are those that treat their creators well, paving the way for them to monetize their content and create what they want, how they want. Exclusivity contracts are a surefire way for platforms to partner with creators. As a result, these creators will draw in dedicated audiences who are likely to return to a platform again and again to watch the newest content from their favorite stars. Some streaming platforms, like Twitch and YouTube, have already started to take this route, and the trend will continue as platforms look for new ways to boost or secure viewership. Most importantly, all platforms need to learn from successful mediums like YouTube, implementing long-term monetization, compensation and revenue-sharing opportunities that will allow creators to drive earnings and grow their businesses.
The Creator's Kingdom: What the Future Holds
Eventually, I believe creators with massive followings will begin to branch off from large streaming and social platforms in favor of starting their own apps, services and media companies. That way, creators can ensure that all the profits for their content go directly to them and their teams, rather than splitting it with another company that's only loosely affiliated with the creation process.
You may recall the surge in influencer-owned apps, like the Kardashians' ill-fated subscription apps that housed exclusive photos, videos and blogs. Their lack of success was due to limited engagement and reach across their fans, who may have been hesitant to pay $2.99 a month for access. Although these projects didn't succeed at the time, they were a prototype of a form of content distribution that will become more prevalent in the coming years.
Because audiences are already starting to pay creators directly through services like Patreon and Ko-fi and during live streams on platforms like Twitch, they'll be more receptive to following and paying creators on their owned apps in the near future. Brands will also be able to sponsor and support these apps as a fresh new way to get in front of audiences.
For creators who are just starting out, and for micro or mid-tier influencers, the support of platforms will still be important. Finding the best avenues for monetization will be critical for platforms and creators alike, and strategies like making live streaming as engaging as possible, enabling revenue-share opportunities and even creating channels for merch sales, will have the most impact in the future of social media.
As the entertainment space becomes ever more crowded, data collection and analysis will be key, and AI technology will help platforms, brands and creators alike make the best decisions for content distribution, exclusivity contracts, brand sponsorships and partnerships, and more. The future of entertainment will certainly be complex, but one thing is for sure: Creators have the power now, and they'll only wield more as time goes on. The rest of the entertainment industry — from brands to platforms — will need to be flexible and willing to embrace this change if they're going to keep up.
We now need to have a look at how digipaks and adverts are designed to work alongside videos to support the promotion of a new album.
Consider digipak covers. What do they have in common? What are the conventions?
Here are some exampls of past students work on conventions of a digipack
https://katiedysonmusicvideoa2.wordpress.com/2015/10/08/the-conventions-of-digipaks
https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/conventions-of-a-digipak-27146170/27146170
Find a digipak cover from the same genre as your music video and annotate it for the design conventions. This must be uploaded to your blog. Make it detailed and use the terms from the sheets below. If you can find the back of it too, that would be great for some of the technical conventions i.e. barcode, publisher logo etc.
Here is an example analysis
You should focus on: images, graphics, illustrations, font, colour, technical conventions (barcode, parental advisory, album title on spine, tracks on the back), register of copy, mise-en-scene, composition, intertextual references, how does the cover communicate meaning, denotations and connotations, image manipulation, filters, generic conventions, how can it be ‘read/interpreted’ by an audience, star image, metanarrative, representation?
This is a textual analysis – decode it! Use connectives like connote, infer, imply, represent. This is another way MEDIA LANGUAGE is used to communicate an idea, message, image etc.
In the introduction to the blog post you need to do a bullet point list of the conventional and technical features that are common to digipaks too – include the spine, inside covers and back cover – what is commonly featured? Bar code? Parental advisory? Name of the album and performer on the spine? Song list on the back? etc
Task 2: Digipak Exercise - taking it a step further
-
You are going;
- to take a look at some examples of slideshares of past students who researched digipaks
- research 3 examples of Digipak designs and make notes about what they include in terms of BRANDING for the artist/ band
- comment on and make notes on the style and branding of the bands/ artists (also in relation to genre).
- Compare your 3 digipaks to previous digipaks from those same artists to get a feel for how they brandthemselves.
- comment on your thoughts for your own Digipak ideas. How will you incorporate expected genre conventions of style and form, into your own work. Your artist / band already has a brand. How will you convey the same branding?? Think about colour, font size/ colour, layout, imagery etc. How might a Digipak 'look' of a metal band be different to that of a Katie Perry 'pop' Digipak? Is there animated imagery or do they use photos? What type of photos or artwork is included?
- Compile your research into a blog tool (including lots of photos and imagery), explaining and presenting your findings.
Example of Digipak
Types of digipaks
Digipak information
Digipack analysis example 1
https://jackmorton100.wordpress.com/2014/09/16/4-panel-digipak-analysis/
Digipack analysis example 2
https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/digipak-analysis-1-53453661/53453661
Lip Syncing practise
In this assignment, you will choose the first 30 seconds of an appropriate song (preferably in your genre of music video).
Shoot someone singing to this song in as close to the music video style as possible. Create your own edit of the footage, practising your lip-syncing techniques.
Include in this post, your Youtube tutorials and any other research you did in learning how to do this effectively.
Comment on how successful you felt your first attempt was.
Include the original music video embedded into your post.
(some examples of Youtube tutorials you can look at;
https://helpx.adobe.com/nz/premiere-pro/how-to/edit-music-video.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUYLukTCXY4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN5ROg2ljtM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BudR3R4MCmk
This week you are going to focus on BRANDING.
This is going to come in useful with your whole project, including the digipak and social media page.
I want you to Create a new blog post called 'Artist and branding research'
A.
Read this article and make notes on 7 MUSICIANS WHO NAILED THEIR BRANDING CAMPAIGNS
Read this Forbes article and make notes on BRANDING POWER of music artists and how this is relevant to your project.
B
- Look up digipaks for previous CD's from your artist. Embed them into your post
- Find other forms of branding (whether it's advertising for shows / articles in magazines or newspapers / instagram pages / facebook - get screen grabs of all of these!)
- What are your observations for how the artist brands themselves? (go in depth here! Not just surface observations. Fonts / colour / is the artist always dominant in images? Are they always in front of a crowd? Are they always power-dressed and in power positions / stances in the photos? Do they try and appeal to a certain group of people with anything they do?)
- How are they represented to their audience?
- What would their target audience be?
- How are you taking this into consideration based on your own representation of this artist's branding in your project?
SOME GREAT LINKS
Here are some branding research articles for Taylor Swift
https://bettermarketing.pub/taking-control-of-your-brand-the-taylor-swift-method-6111fa501af
Here are some branding research links for Frank Ocean;
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/marketing-magic-behind-frank-oceans-endless-blonde-scot-garcia
https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/frank-oceans-blonde-business-moves-7494773/
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1109&context=musp
https://variety.com/2019/music/features/frank-ocean-black-queer-music-1203248056/
1. Plan a reccie to get location shots and include these in this blog post. Get some footage and photos of the types of shots you envision getting at these locations. Include in this post how you feel the reccie went and what you feel will work well verses what may be an issue.
(example of reccie footage with practise shots CLICK HERE)
2. Costume
Go op-shopping / organise the costumes and wardrobe for your shoot. Document this process well as the rationale behind your choices
