Construction of Ancillary Task: Magazine Advert

This is the construction of my Magazine Advert

 

From what I have made so far I feel that it's attractive but there should be a certain unique selling point to the product. I like the colours I have used and the feeling it emits to the audience.  The black rose was a very good touch to my album advert as it looks feminine but the colour of it is black therefore balancing the roses purpose.

I personally would like to make the image a little bit lighter as I feel that it's too dark. As I am only 50% finished with this, I still have to write the release date, name of my artist and make a Korean version of the magazine using the same techniques.

I showed what my magazine advert looks like to 3 of my target audience as I wanted to see what they thought about it and here are the feedbacks.

Target Audience 1
Sam Hong 16 , male.
What do you think about it?
 I like the picture you used and it's the one I picked on your questionnaire as well! She looks really pretty and her smile is infectious.   
 Do you like the font I used for the album title for advert?
Yep! It looks really posh and elegant but you need to add the artists name too.
What should I improve on or add?
I think you should but her name on it...erm...just touch up her face a little bit more.

Target Audience  2
Lilly Wong, 18
What do you like about the advert?
I like the vintag-y look of the album and at a first glance I would instantly know that this is a Kpop album.
What can I improve on?
Hmm...I think  you should add a border of some sort or like a little border around the name of the album and artist so it'll be more elegant.

Target Audience 3
Anna-may Villegas, 21
What do you think of the advert so far?
I think it look of it, it's clean and tiny not all over the place like most Kpop albums plus it has a hint of Western touch to it.
What do you not like about the magazine advert?
There isn't something I don't necessary like but I think that you should add something to really grab our attention.

From what I have gathered I now know what my audience are looking for which I will act upon when I edit it for the second time round. I shall try to see if a border would look nice, add a feature which would grab the audience's attention and touch up a little bit more of her face as Korean artists are known to look flawless. 

 

For audience research I sent the magazine advert to my audience through WhatsApp and asked audience series of questions. 

From Kotryna's response I believe that I have hit all of the criteria for a Kpop magazine advert and she was even shocked that I put the code pin which is a new interactive way for artists to connect with their fans and audience.

 Here, Becka stated that the font at the bottom left is a little hard to read so I will redo that now.

These are my final magazine album adverts. One in English for the international fans and one in Korean for the Korean fans.

Unedited shots | Production Difficulties

  

These are two compilations of some of the shots I have take. As you can see, I have tried to take more than one shot of each scene. The reason I have done this is so that I will have a wide variety of shots to choose from when I edit my music video. This will also help me when I need filler scenes as I will have a lot of shots to have spare. I also tried to play around with the different angles and shots to see which was most effective for my Music Video. I was able to capture over 300+ shots therefore I have a big pallet to work with. 

Pre-Production - 

I went to Chinatown up in central London to meet up with my friend Sam (also the main actor) in my music video to take pictures in the photo booths for the music video. I knew that LLPS (the photo booth company) send the digital copy through email thus I will be able to put them in the music video. But this is the hard copy and it's also in a collage which is not what I need. 

 

During the shooting - 

The first day of filming was good as I was able to take a lot of shots but we had a bit of a external difficulty as the clouds were unpredictable and covered the sun. British weather is something out of my control but we learnt to adjust to it. It was also kind of difficult as I wasn't used to being so direct on people and how they should act and I could tell that Richa wasn't very comfortable. But she soon opened up and released her inner actress.

The second day, we had a little bit of struggle for one of the clips as I requested for her to cry and we tried so many ways such as putting an onion below her eyes to make her cry, watching sad videos and listening to sad songs and after an hour her eyes still wouldn't tear up. So I kindly asked my dad to run to Tesco and get eye drops as a substitute for fake tears. For the mean time I took some filler clips such as her with the frame and lip syncing to the song.

As she isn't fluent in Korean, Richa needed to memorize the whole song but at some verses she struggled with the pronunciation therefore we stopped filming so she can re-read them again on the laptop.

Audience feedback: Ancillary Task - Magazine Advert

This is a very simple and straightforward questionnaire which I gave out to my target audience. Specifically didn't say what the first set of images was for as I wanted their honest opinion. On the other hand they may link it to the sketches I have create below. I asked 10 people both genders and here are the results:

4 of the male audience chose the same image and that was the middle picture where she is looking at on the left. But one of the male audience chose the first image and when I asked him why he chose it he stated "I think she gives a powerful vibe to the audience by the way she's standing" I do agree that her posture in that image portrays his statement.
3 of the female audience chose the middle image and I all asked why and they all had a common answer of "she looks so beautiful" and this shows that the artists appeal to the audience is sometimes through beauty. The other two chose the one on the far left and they stated that she looks "very innocent and cute" but this is not what I am trying to portray so I will not be using that image.

For the layout there was almost a split decision where 9 people voted for the middle image with the title of the album on the bottom and the artists name at the top and 11 people chose the far right image. I asked the first person to choose the far right ans they said that they liked the composition of the title and name and it looks nicer than the rest but another person argued and stated that layout on the middle looks nicer and the name of the artists should always come first.

After evaluating my audience's feedback I have decided to create a simple plan of what I have gathered from the information they have given me and this is what I've made:

Photoshoot

Mise-En-Scene

Location

The location for my photoshoot will be my bedroom wall as it's plain white and that's what I want due to the fact that I want my backdrop to be clean and simple for my model to standout against. Furthermore the large wall I have has 3 large windows which will allow the natural lighting in which means that I will be able to get clearer pictures which looks nicer. Another benefit is that it will be easier to edit the background if I ever decide to add a digital pattern to it.

Costume

The reason to why I chose my artist to wear this is because firstly it looks pretty and it's very much in trend. Secondly due to the hidden symbolism for example the key necklace signifies that she holds the key to her lovers heart but the black rose will contradict this as their relationship is dying. The white dress will portray her innocence as well as purity but the black flats will show that with every step she takes she's fading away from him. The red rose is always iconic to have as a prop in many romance style pictures which is why I have added it.

This second outfit is showing more of her independent side which is shown through the use of heavy jewellery and military styled high heel boots which signifies that she has more dominance in the relationship and that she is also physically higher. But I have balanced this out with the use of black leggings as it will show how this has a negative effect on their love. The use of the blue sweater will portray her emotional feelings in a not-so obvious way. Furthermore, I have added the iconic white rose which will hopefully show continuation from the advertisement, album and music video.

These are some of the pictures which I have taken to use for the Magazine Advert and Album cover. The reason to why I had taken the pictures first is because it was quick and easy. I used my usual Canon 11100D. I set the mood to Macro to focus on her and blur the background as I want her to stand out more. I also tried different lighting for example as these photos were taken in my bedroom I had the benefit of the natural lighting from my window directly to the wall which she was standing on which led to a more natural and relaxed photo as the colors seem more subtle. 

Now with the use of the hard light I was able to capture very bright and clear pictures however parts of the image have been washed out due to her light skin tone as well as the wall reflecting of of it. This has led to harsh shadows and uneven lighting.

 

Photos which I am likely and unlikely to choose: (ALL ARE UNEDITED)

This photo is one of my absolute favourites and it was in fact a stolen shot. Her body language is very demure and the reaction on her face is relaxed which will be good for an advert or an album. She is looking directly at the camera which will speak out to my audience as a form of mode of address. Her hands are in an abnormal possition which is different from the usual poses. This will make the picture very unique.

This picture is taken from a low angle which gives the impression that the audience will have to look up to her. Her facial expression is serious but her eyes says otherwise, they show a form of pleadig request which may influence people to bus  the album to listen to her songs and explain her emotions. Again her eyes are focused on the camer however she's looking down at it making her a look down on people. This may/may not be good as my audeince will not like being looked down on.

I personally adore this picture due to her facial expression which makes her over flow with "aegyo" which in English translate as "cute" or "cuteness". The wink signifies child-like personality and the finger on the cheek may also protray her as a playful artist. This will be a good picture to use for the advert as it will attract many people on the other hand it doesn't show any continuity from the album, advert and the music video as most of the songs are serious and this image doesn't link.

This is a very cute pose which will attract the majority if the male and female population. This maybe an attractive photo but it doesn't portray the emotions behind the song or music video. Therefor making no connection. I don't think I'll be using this as a main picture but I may use it for the photobook for album.

This image shows simplicity which is what I'm thinking of going for the album. But as she's looking down she looks too sad and shy which may target audience may not like. However this image does reflect the music video which shows a connection between the two. There could be a possibility that I will use this for the back cover of the CD or a spine logo image.

 This image shows a happier and joyful side of Richa which instantly contrasts with the image above. the fact that she is smiling and looking directly at the camera will appeal to my audience. The brightness in the picture is also quite useful as this means that I won't need to change much. The rose in her hand also grabs some focus as the audience will wonder why she's holding it and why she's smiling. This will baffle them and may possibly connect the rose to the song Disturbance.








This is a really nice picture although she isn't looking at the camera, it protrays her youthful and playful personality. But at the same time the black rose counterbalance it which links with the songs in the album. I believe that this would be a great image to use for a front cover of the album.

 Here you can see that my artist is not looking at the camera  this shows less focus on her and the audience will not appreciate that. The audience however will be very interested to where she is looking and will not focus on the artist herself. In this and the following images I have her a red/pink rose instead to experiment to see if it looks nicer. It does grabs the peoples' attention very quickly as the rest of the image is very bland.

 This is an image I will most probably use this is because her face is hardly seen and the back of her head is more on focus. The audience will not like that as they would like to see the face of the artist at the first glance.







This image is where I began to play around with the camera angle and by using a low angle she portrays the innocent side of her. On the other hand some of the audience may not like this as she looks very fragile.  I am trying to portray her as an independent woman who doesn't need a man in her life.

In conclusion I believe that the photoshoot was incredibly successful and I was able to capture interesting and useful images to use for both of my ancillary tasks. I believe that by having the photos taken against a blank white wall it will be very easy to edit using photoshop. I may decide to add a texture on on the background and by having a white wall it will be easy to add.

Storyboard