Deadlines/Brief

Music videos are so 80s/90s, right? They belong with the era when MTV screened wall-to-wall vids instead of 'reality' TV? Try telling that to the millions who bought Gangnam Style; were they really simply loving the music? 1.6bn (and still climbing) have viewed the video on YT, not to mention the many re-makes (school eg, eg2), viral ads + celeb link-ups (even political protest in Seoul) - and it doesn't matter how legit it is, this nightmare for daydream Beliebers is making a lot of money, even from the parodies + dislikes. All this for a simple dance track that wouldn't have sounded out of place in 1990 ... but had a fun vid. This meme itself was soon displaced by the Harlem Shake. Music vids even cause diseases it seems!
This blog explores every aspect of this most postmodern of media formats, including other print-based promo tools used by the industry, its fast-changing nature, + how fans/audiences create/interact. Posts are primarily written with Media students/educators in mind. Please acknowledge the blog author if using any resources from this blog - Mr Dave Burrowes

Monday 16 January 2012

MAG ADS: the fundamentals

We explored this in today's lesson, a few key points follow
First though: use the Links List I've provided on this blog (I've temporarily re-positioned to the top), and this post which gathers together links to some strong examples of past work on mag ads.

AVOID FOUND IMAGES
All images bar technical/record co logos should be your own
You must prove they're yours by including the original unedited shots
Remember to keep notes/screenshots of changes made as you edit/Photoshop
If you have used a found image but transformed it (sigh...) you should still produce another version which doesn't include a found image

PURPOSE OF MAG ADS
Primarily to help flog the CD+DVD digipack.
Branding or re-branding
Wider revenue raising: touring + merchandise increasingly key for today's music performers, plus official band websites (which increasingly offer subscription packages which come with exclusive releases, prior notice of tickets etc)

INITIAL RESEARCH
As always: research/denote general examples THEN genre-specific examples, in both cases listing common conventions with specific examples for each convention

3 TEXTS AS PACKAGE
In Eval you have to account for how the 3 texts work as a package
That DOESN'T mean you MUST use shots from the vid in both print texts (tho makes sense to somewhere in digipack)
You could be more abstract, creating an image/shot conceptually linked to your vid idea
You may be including a product shot of digipack

AUDIENCE, AUDIENCE, AUDIENCE
The three As...
You've got to ensure you thoroughly research which mag/s your ad/s will appear in
Most mags (or their publisher's) websites provide very specific breakdowns of their target audience - they have to as mags rely on ad revenue at least as much as cover price in most cases
Could you design a 2nd ad for use in a mag that appeals to your secondary aud? (this might help you to ensure you've shown excellence in image editing)
Or at least write about page rates - you'd pay for a full page (or even the back page) in mag/s appropriate for primary target aud but perhaps a quarter or half page in mag/s appropriate for your secondary aud
As ever, test your ideas/get aud feedback - if doing 2 versions, do you get distinct feedback from primary/2ndary auds?

CONTENT
Main image, which might not be directly from the vid but still has to show linkage to vid/digipak
Product shot? Small-ish if so
Highlight digipak and bonus DVD
List of DVD/special edition features?
Tour dates? If your act is active research any current or upcoming gig dates and use these (for defunct girl/boy bands perhaps 1 member is touring?). You could make up 'reunion tour' dates - try to find articles about a reunion tho + reflect on the phenomenon of the reunion tour (links well to your rebranding effort)
Release date? Don't necessarily need the words 'released on', just a date - that depends on your overall design
Social media + URLs: Twitter hashtag + Facebook page URL - but not MySpace!!! You don't need http:// or www. really (look at recent examples). Official fansite. Ticketmaster.com (or other) if listing tour dates. Record co URL + logo. DVD logo to stress the bonus DVD.
Tagline or descriptive text
Review puffs? (phrases from reviews)

MAIN IMAGE
Avoid found images...
Doesn't have to be directly from your vid
...but should have a conceptual link (its the exclusive new video thats the lead selling point of digipack)
Try to avoid simply replicating a digipack shot
If you've used a plain image consider a 2nd ad ... otherwise you can't be awarded high marks for image manipulation (some layering is generally a good idea)

FONTS
Many do, but think about markscheme if you intend to stick to a single font
Consider downloading a font

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