G324 - Evaluation Question 4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

G324 - Evaluation Question 3: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

G324 - Evaluation Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

G324 - Evaluation Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our music video tends to use forms and conventions of real folk music videos rather than challenging them as we believed that this would help to establish the genre of the video in a much simpler way. This is because there are not very many conventions of folk music videos and therefore it would have been difficult to portray the genre suitably if we were to challenge too many of the conventions. Not only this, but we felt that due to Frank Turner’s honest reflection of the folk genre within his own music videos, we should employ this same approach in order to reflect his style.

One of the key conventions of folk music videos that we have employed is the use of casual clothing for the artist. This is done to place an emphasis on the lyrics of the song and the narrative of the video and prevents the artist from being presented as some kind of star. This relates to the down-to-earth nature of folk musicians. We found that this technique was used by Frank Turner in many of his videos including “The Way I Tend to Be” and his own video for "Polaroid Picture". This technique is also used by other folk artists such as George Ezra in his “Blame It on Me” video and Mumford & Sons in their “Babel” video.

Frank Turner - The Way I Tend To Be

Mumford & Sons - Babel

Frank Turner - Polaroid Picture

George Ezra - Blame It On Me

Our music video

We also followed the convention of including isolated locations, such as the abandoned castle ruins, to reflect the loneliness that the artist feels now that his friend is gone. Much like with the costume ideas, this is a technique that we have mirrored from Frank Turner’s “The Way I Tend to Be” video. We decided to do this in order to help convey the genre but also because it was a location that we felt worked well with the idea of a ruined friendship.

Frank Turner - The Way I Tend To Be

Our music video

Acoustic guitars are another common convention of folk music videos as indicated by Frank Turner, Tracey Chapman and Laura Mullins. We picked up on the frequency of this convention and therefore ensured that we contained the acoustic guitar in all three of our products. This also allowed us to create a strong connection between the three products with the recurring image of the guitar.

Frank Turner - Recovery

Laura Mullins - Devorah's Song

Tracy Chapman - Performance of Fast Car

Our music video

We incorporated the use of simple shots within our music video, including many mid shots and close ups. One of the close-up shots that we used was directly taken from Frank Turner's original video for "Polaroid Picture". We did this as we believed that it would create a strong connection between our video and the real artist and would indicate the way in which we were attempting to reflect his style. Not only this but we also thought that the shot was well constructed and worked well with the narrative. 

Frank Turner - Polaroid Picture

Our music video

We developed the folk convention of constructing a narrative that reflects the lyrics of the music video in order to create a powerful video that emanated the emotion behind the song. We believe that this allowed us to present Frank Turner as a down-to-earth musician which is extremely important in terms of folk music as it allows the audience to relate to the artist.

Due to the ways in which we have used and developed conventions of folk music videos, I believe that the video we created is highly effective in reflecting the genre and creating a star image of our artist as being down-to-earth and relatable.

G324 - Final Magazine Advertisment

G324 - Music Video Final Cut

To see the final cut of our music video, please refer to the DVD provided. We were unable to upload our final cut to YouTube due to technical issues which arose.

G324 - Final Digipak

G324 - Magazine Advertisement Plans

Plan 1:

I decided that for my first magazine advert I would ensure that it mirrored the front cover of my first digipak design. This would enable the two products to be clearly linked to one other and would aid in a successful promotional package.

Plan 2:

For my second magazine advertisement design, I decided to make it link to the second digipak design by using the image of the polaroid camera spewing paint within the advertisement. However, I also decided to further develop the idea of polaroid pictures to reflect both Frank Turner's style and the genre within the other images, using the Mumford & Sons poster as inspiration.

G324 - Analysing A Folk Magazine Advertisement; Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More

This magazine advert was for the most recent Mumford & Sons album - Sigh No More. It appears to target middle class males and females between the ages of 18 and 30 due to the simple yet highly effective design. This broad target audience lead to an attractive and informative design which enabled the band to gain new listeners and therefore, as a result, raised sales figures.

The band name, album name and key information are all displayed in white typography which allows these aspects to be brought to the foreground of the poster due to their contrast with the black background. This indicates the importance of the information and immediately gains
attention from the audience which allows them to easily access this key information. The record label is also included within this information which helps to promote them as well as the artist. This means that people who are familiar with the record label but are unfamiliar with the artist is more likely to buy the album as each record company is most commonly connected with specific genres and styles of music.

The photographs used have been colour corrected to raise brightness and slightly adjust the saturation in order to make the photographs appear to emanate a positive vibe to readers. This reflects the style of the band's music and fits with their folk genre. By including single shots of each of the band members separately, the poster indicates their individual importance to the band whilst the faded overlay of the band photo over the bottom right hand picture indicates that whilst the band perform together, their combined efforts to create music are only as effective as they are due to the combined talent of each individual.

This will help me when it comes to creating my own magazine advertisement as it has enabled me to gain an idea of how colour corrections can be used to enhance photographs and to make them more suitable for their purpose. This is important as it has helped me to understand the way in which a high quality photograph can be manipulated to achieve the desired effect, rather than attempting to take the perfect photograph.

G324 - Analysing A Magazine Advertisement; Jessie J - Who You Are

This magazine advert for Jessie J's début album - Who You Are - appears to be attempting to establish Jessie as an artist and therefore targeting as many people as possible. This is evident through the simplistic colour scheme which is used to allow the artist to become the focal point of the advertisement.

The artist name is written in an elegant golden font which presents the artist as sophisticated and important. This would cause the audience to become more intrigued by the artist and therefore more likely to buy the album. Other aspects of the typography are also in gold to allow them to stand out from the black background whilst also allowing the white text to stand out more. The white font against the
black background indicates the most important information in regards to the album, including the album name and the name of the single which was most successful from the album, in an attempt to gain the recognition and interest of audience members who may have heard her previous single. The white typography stands out against the black background and pale golden font around it.

The inclusion of the artist's record label and website gives the audience an opportunity to find out more information about the artist and album before purchase and by having the majority of these printed in white against the black background, they become easy to read. This insinuates their importance in the making of the album. However, interestingly, in the website address, the artist name has been written in gold again. This allows for an extremely clear connection between the artist and their website and re-establishes her importance.

The image of the artist used is simple and yet incredibly effective. Her black hair, outfit and make-up directly correlates with the black background of the advertisement whilst her pale skin tone is reflected in the white backdrop of the photograph. Her stance and facial expression combine to present Jessie J as feminine yet powerful, making her appear to be a beneficial role model for teenage girls. This would intrigue both young girls themselves and their parents as they could be willing to discover whether her music reflects this trait. In addition, her beauty and femininity would attract many teenage males. This allows the artist's magazine advertisement to interest a wide range of potential audiences.

This will help me when it comes to creating my own magazine advertisement as it has shown me how a simple design is still able to entice and intrigue an audience which hasn't previously been established. In addition, it has helped to highlight the importance of creating a clear connection between the album and the artist.

G324 - Analysing A Magazine Advertisement; The Verve - Love Is Noise

This magazine advert for The Verve's album - Love Is Noise -appears to target existing fans of the band due to it's simplistic design and the absence of the artists. This creates an air of mystery which is unlikely to appeal to many people who have not already heard of The Verve. Due to this, the target audience of the advert appears to be males between the ages of 20 and 40. This prevents the band from attract newer audiences as the images used are not vibrant enough to intrigue new potential listeners.

The band name and album name are bold and dark which allows them to stand out from the pale background to draw in the attention of readers. The white text at the bottom of the poster appears to blend in slightly with the background, indicating that the information displayed there is of less importance to the band than the title etc. This could be because the band are aware that anybody who would like their album would happily research about it elsewhere or it could simply be due to poor design work. This prevents the reader from being able to pick out key information such as the release date and the formats the album will be available on.


The naturalistic yet dark colour scheme of the advertisement mirrors exactly the front cover of the album, creating a clear and definitive link between the two. This will allow the audience to easily recognise the album in stores and therefore makes it an extremely successful advertisement.







The inclusion of the record label and the band's website gives the audience an opportunity to find out more information about the band and album before purchase whilst the breakdown of the two parts to the vinyl release helps to allow the audience to establish which format they would rather buy the album in.

The image of the clouds can both symbolise the "noise" aspect of the album's title or be juxtaposed with it which is an interesting effect. For example, it could be seen the images of the clouds are used to connote serenity and calm which would be juxtaposed with the idea of noise. However, it could also be seen, due to the colours used, that the clouds are storm clouds and are therefore creating this "noise". The aesthetic of the shot is, overall, very calming and insinuates that the album and music itself will reflect this. This is misleading as The Verve are a rock band and therefore there music will not match this serene tone.

This will help me when it comes to creating my own magazine advertisement as it has shown me how a minimalistic design is more likely to entice current fans whilst a more exotic advertisement will intrigue new listeners. In addition, it has helped to highlight the importance of ensuring that the magazine advertisement correctly reflects the genre of music as well as the artist's style. 

G324 - Digipak Plans

I have planned two potential digipaks to accompany our music video and magazine advert. Both of the designs are reflective of Frank Turner's genre and style of album. This makes them relevant for the task and has also allowed me to experiment with the design software available in order to ensure that when creating our real digipak, we have some idea of what photographs to get and how we would be able to manipulate them effectively for their purpose.

Plan 1:

For my first plan, I decided to make the front and rear panels look like polaroid pictures in order to reflect the content of the album. However, I also wanted to reflect the traditional folk genre, hence the close ups of the guitar and the train tracks. These are common themes within folk albums and therefore allow my digipak to fit in with this genre. I also wanted the digipak to reflect Frank Turner's own style which was why I decided to combine the use of photographs with graphics. I then chose photographs which reflected Frank Turner's personality and the feel of the song.

Plan 2:
For my second plan, I decided to stray away from Turner's style slightly more. By using more broad imagery, the digipak would attract a wider audience and I felt like the front panel of this digipak did a better job at promoting the mysterious edge that Frank Turner seems to possess. Not only this, but I felt that the first plan had too much to it and that I would benefit from creating a simpler design in order to contrast the two to see which would be more effective.

G324 - Analysing A Folk Digipak; Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams

This 4 panelled digipak created for Jack Johnson's In Between Dreams album uses a relatively minimalistic approach with a main focus on graphic designs as oppose to photographs, despite these still being present in the design. It appears that the juxtaposition between the vibrant yellow and the contrasting black has been used to indicate the theme of the album which juxtaposes the ideas of happiness (the yellow) and sadness (the black) throughout. The use of white and other pale tones on the inside of the digipak connotes the innocence of dreams and happiness as well as the purity of both Jack Johnson's music and personality. This links to the album title itself which also conveys an idea of this innocence due to its reference towards reality breaking up dreams rather than dreams breaking up reality.

The small typography on the front of the album allows the graphic to become the focal point of the digipak. This allows the idea of contrasting ideas to become the most evident aspect of the album and is repeated throughout. By using a graphic design rather than a photograph, the album cover appears to be representative of a dream rather than the reality which is reflected by the photography on the inside of the digipak.

The photograph used on the inside cover of the digipak has been constructed to continue the theme of innocence that is so evident with the album. The pained expression on Johnson's face indicates the sadness shown in the album whilst the guitar being placed in front of him becomes symbolic of a shield. This indicates the way in which Jack Johnson uses his music as a form of protection by using it as a release for his emotions, whilst disguising his true self behind it. This therefore adds to the presentation of his innocence.

This will help me when it comes to creating my own digipak as it has allowed me to see how the use of graphics and photographs can be used to complement each other as well as reflecting the tone of the album subtly and effectively.

G324 - Analysing A Digipak; Ryan Schmidt - Black Sheep Run

Initially, I was going to analyse a digipak from the same genre as my artist. However, this became an issue as I was unable to find any digipaks for a folk artist that were suitable. Therefore, I decided to analyse a digipak for an artist whose album cover looked as if they could be a folk artist; Ryan Schmidt.

This 4 panelled digipak created for Ryan Schmidt's Black Sheep Run album uses a dynamic approach to enhance it's appearance. The use of earth colours makes the album appear to be a folk album which is misleading as Ryan Schmidt is a pop artist. Despite this, the artists name stands out through the cleverly created contrast between the dark brown and the pale background. The use of the earthy tones allows Ryan Schmidt's album to appear relatable and calming for a relatively young audience, most probably between the ages of 15 and 25. The white typography used helps to connote the innocence of the artist as well as the expected innocence of the audience.

The selling point of this digipak is the professionally styled use of photography within the design. This is made clear by the way in which the photographs used have been accentuated by being bordered and therefore made to stand out from the background image used on the album cover. The theme of innocence is continued throughout the photographs used to create the digipak. This is effective as it creates an ongoing style for the artist. Due to his lack of fame, this is important as it helps to begin to create the star image that he will be recognised for throughout the remainder of his career in the music industry.

The image used on the front of the digipak shows Ryan Schmidt stood next to a busy road which indicates his lack of fame whilst also reflecting his innocence through the calm and humble look upon his face. The image used on the back of the digipak shows Ryan to be avoiding the gaze of the camera. This is effective as it insinuates that he is uncomfortable within the public eye which reflects his innocence in terms of being a part of the music industry. This also presents him as being down-to-earth and relatable to the audience. The other images do not include Ryan yet still mirror the tones of the other photographs, creating a link which is not otherwise obvious. The printed information on the CD itself helps to connote Ryan Schmidt's lack of fame also as it insinuates that the most important aspect of the album is the artist himself, what is music is titled and which record company gave him the opportunity to succeed.

This analysis will help me when it comes to creating my own digipak as it has helped to highlight the importance of ensuring that the digipak reflects both the music genre and and the artist. It has also shown me that a more complicated design can work extremely effectively if it is considered completely. Finally, it has shown that the digipak created for an artist helps to reflect their star image and maintains a style throughout.

G324 - Analysing A Digipak; Twenty One Pilots - Blurryface

This digipak created for Twenty One Pilots' Blurryface album uses a distinctly alternative approach to design with a main focus on graphic patterns and symbolism. The recurrent use of the colour black within all the panels is used to reflect the theme of depression that emanates throughout the album whilst the white indicates the relief from this combined with innocence. The red aspects of the design  therefore stand out from the other colours greatly and is used to indicate both pain and love which is mirrored in the band's music. 

Tyler Joseph, lead singer of the band, once stated in an interview that the album title itself comes from the name of a character that the band created which "represents all the things that [he] as an individual...is insecure about". This insecure nature is evident within the design of the digipak due to the the disconnected lines on the back of the digipak connoting confusion and a disjointed thoughts.

The small typography on the front of the album allows the graphic to become the focal point of the digipak. This allows the alternative representation of disjointed emotion to become the most evident aspect of the album and is repeated throughout. By using a graphic design rather than a photograph, the album cover allows for the band's identity to be removed and thus indicates that a higher importance has been placed upon the music, rather than the creators. 

The print of the band's logo on the disc in altered colours helps to establish a connection between the band and the album whilst also indicating change.This could be indicative of a change in emotional state or a change in music style, both of which apply to this album. This therefore reinforces the theme of Blurryface and and insecurity. 

This will help me when it comes to creating my own digipak as it has allowed me to see how the use of graphics can be used to effectively indicate genre and theme.