evaluation

7. I analysed the Pretty Reckless magazine within the Alternative Rock genre, in my AS blog I analysed Indie
magazines, this is still useful for comparing conventions in regards to still images as I can look at the
contrasts within the genres, and also the similarities. It also helped me develop my knowledge in how to
analyse still images, and what makes something look effective. For example, NME includes a broad
range of genres, not only Indie but also alternative Rock.

8. Bright yellow colour as found from previous research is a
common colour found within the Alternative Rock genre, artists
that use this are Nirvana, Wolf Alice. I used a bold font, similar
to the one I used for my artist name, but different, following a
similar style. Though, I used a red colour also on the ‘now’ in
order to make it look more exciting and stand out catching the
audiences attention. I included an ITunes and Spotify logo to
show where my product would be distributed on. I also
included a rating from KERRANG! As this is where it would be
published, thought it could also be published by NME. Featuring
the KERRANG! Rating also addresses my target audience as
KERRANG! Would never give a POP song/album a rating as they
have contrasting ideologies. At first I was unsure whether to put
4 stars in order to make it look more realistic and less cliché, but
as I am trying to advertise and sell the product, I realised putting
4 stars was not a good way of selling it. I put the artists name in
an alternative colour to the name of the album in order to
differentiate them so it stands out more at a first glance.

9. The dark shadow over her eyes breaks
conventions as on a front cover it is usual to
show the artist maintaining direct eye contact,
as a way of engaging the audience with the
artist wanting them to consume their music as
they can emphasise with them on a more
personal level. However, this is a loosely
motivated sign to represent how she is blind to
what she is doing and how there are people out
there dying while she is purposely destroying
her self. She does not see the bigger picture;
she does not care.

10. When analysisng Nirvana advertisements, I acknowledged how there is not much of a consistent theme. This inspired
me to be more creative, how I do not have to have all of my products the same, however, I wanted to create continuity
throughout my work. For example, I wanted the same font used for ‘DAISY’ in order to represent her acting almost like
her signature or logo something which is unique to her and what the audience can easily identity her with. Likewise, in
the Nirvana advertisements a bold font is used for the band name with a very similar font on each in order to make
them stand out, furthermore, quite a large space of the page is taken up. They also seem to have quite an abstract
theme to them, attracting a younger audience. As it is an advertisement not much information is wanted to be
included, Nirvana have effectively included information in a aesthetically pleasing way as they have changed the text
sizes, colours and font in order to make it more interesting to read.
Main image The text ”new album out now” is not necessarily
big, the main focus is the band name and image
Logo’s
Advertising
tickets available
for gigs
suggesting how
it is not
specifically a
mainstream
band
Bright colours attracting young audience

11. Name of band, this font is used for all of their products
including their merchandise as it is representative of
them and acts as a logo. It is the same as the album’s
font however is not consistent throughout their whole
career. The black and gold is also often used
representing them again to their audience.
Main image, not necessarily recogniseable, no direct
eye contact, it is of one of the band members; is quite
abstract. However, it fits within the gold colour scheme
creating continuity throughout their products.
The poster fits within the Indie Rock genre and fits all of
the conventions within that genre, it is alternative. The
band tour dates can also target their audience as people
who enjoy themselves and like going to gigs, preferably
young people as they might have more time, and enjoy
being hot and sweaty surrounded by a large group of
people their age engaging in mosh pits. (Likewise, to
the Nirvana advertisements suggesting they have a
similar target audience.)
Although the band’s album and website are both
advertised at the bottom of the page, they are in a
smaller font than everything else on the page and
therefore are less noticeable and look less important

12. I used rectangles on Photoshop in order to
create a ‘chunky’ bar look going in the same
direction of the lines within the image. On
Nirvana’s, the text is black and white, similar
to mine. Though, as my genre is Alternative
I decided to challenge this convention by
experimenting with different colours,
brighter ones in fact which I thought worked
in an effective way. Text is chunky like mine
also, in my previous research I have shown a
focus group where Jowan supports how this
is conventional within the genre. I also did
research within my audience asking them
which text they would associate with the
‘Alternative Rock genre’ in which they chose
the one I went with also supporting how
there is are universal conventions within the
genre rather than a matter of opinion.

13. There are even certain connotations of fonts within genres,
for example, acoustic genre may have handwritten writing,
that looks 'cute' and 'soft'. In contrast, the rock genre has
'spikey' writing, in capitals and using bold letters.
This statement is supported by the following audience
research, done over Facebook which targets a range of
different ages and genders.

14. This is my focus focus which can
be found within my Research and
planning

15. As you can see in the Kings of Leon advertisement, the page is split up; this influenced me
into choosing the design I did where my Artists face is slightly unclear with lines going
through it. I researched into other alternative rock advertisements through YouTube, in
which I found a lot of contrast results, but most had quite a lot of text included. My ancillary
text 1 (advertisement) challenges this convention as I thought less was more, I thought the
image itself was already very capturing, I did not want to over do it and draw attention away
from the main text ‘DAISY JESSOP – MY MEDICINE’ which is in essence, what I am
advertising.

17. For my digi-pak album cover, I first decided to look at CD's I had within the
house. Due to the development of web 2.0 and digitalisation buying CD's is no
longer necessary as everything in regards to music is accessible
online. Therefore, I only had CD's of artists which I listened to when I was
younger such as Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran. Although, these artists do not fit
within my specific genre of Alternative rock, it is still useful to look at real media
products in general, despite the genre. Taylor Swift's album 'RED' initially gave
me influence as I was a bit nervous about using such a bold colour red on my
digi-pak album cover as I thought it may look tacky, however it does look
effective on hers, it also links with the album name. I liked the style so I tried to
develop this adding text such as songs in my album which I would add to my
product. It made me think about spacing, how each space between the songs
had to be equally distributed or it looked strange. All of the text is left aligned
which also made me think about the alignment of text and design and
layout. The relevance between the album title and colour influenced me to
make some relation in mine, therefore, I developed this and used a photograph
of spirit bottles on the back of the digi-pak. The album title "my medicine"
refers to the alcohol, along with other substances such as drugs, and anything
toxic for that matter. The word "medicine" and "alcohol" have juxtaposing
connotations, as "medicine" is something which connotes a healthy lifestyle,
where "alcohol" relates to a substance which often makes things worse, linked
with connotations such as "regret". The song titles displayed on the back is
conventional of a product as the front usually consists of the artist, or something
which represents the album as a whole. The barcode is also conventional of not
only just an album cover, but most products as this is how you purchase, and
consume the product.
On the front cover is a close up photograph of
her face, with the album title “RED” and artist
name. She is wearing red lipstick to suit the
colour scheme of red, red is also connotes love
and passion in which she is selling the product
by her looks also. Or, her love and passion in
her music. Bold fonts are used in capital letters
in order to stand out. She uses alternative
colours such as red and white making her name
stand out against the album title, in which I
used this technique in my magazine
advertisement using black and white. A dark
shadow is shown over her eyes covering up
some of her face making her look mysterious,
making you want to read more and look further
into the product where a full picture of her is
displayed inside.

18. The Arctic Monkeys are very simplistic in their design and layout on their digi-paks.
This mysterious aspect, leads the audience in in wanting to find out more; the first
song title “Do I Wanna Know?” could potentially reinforce this mysterious aspect. A
constant colour scheme of black and white is used, such colours contrast highly with
each other reinforcing the conventions within the Alt/Rock genre, but also keeps the
style bold and recognisable. Their designs are simple but very effective as their
album artwork is often easily recognised within an audience which is their desire
outcome. They do this through the use of a consistently used fonts, continuity with
their colour scheme and over use of the artwork on the front cover. The barcode in
the bottom right corner is conventional of an album and also in a very typical, simple
place, in comparison to Taylor Swift’s ‘RED’. Though, this font used and artwork is
only really used on the merchandise for this album, the desired audience still
recognise it.

19. Barcode and logo

21. I incorporated this editing wrapping my text around
the circle as I thought it looked more professional
and interesting.

22. On the left is a screenshot from The Pretty Reckless
where one of the cast maintains eye contact, I tried
to recreate this as I thought it looked quite effective
and mysterious.
Again, I used Photo booth on my Apple Mac. I did
not use Daisy as I did not think it really mattered as
you can not see much of my face anyway. I used
this image on the background where my CD would
go if this was a real product. This was extremely
time consuming as I had to fill the area with a large
quantity of the same image and zooming in to
make sure they were aligned and neat.

23. Taylor wears a necklace, specifically called a chocker. I developed this by taking a
photograph of me being chocked, but rather, to represent the reflection of self hate and self-
destruction. This is supposed to represent how my artist craves pain, and is the one
damaging her self purposely. I did not use Daisy in the pictures as I thought it did not really
matter, as you can not see the face anyway only the top of the body, mouth, and blonde hair
which she has. I did this on photo booth on my Apple Mac and hanged the effects, partly
opening my mouth to it stands out more for example, on the inverted colours x-ray effect.
My initial idea was to change my jacket as shown in order to represent somebody else
chocking me.

24. I researched into current logos within the Alternative Rock genre, and found
an occurring theme for example, the use of black and white. They are quite
simple, but this is what makes them effective. I created my own to go into my
digi-pak in order to create verisimilitude representing a real product.
Although, I use the conventional dark colours such as black, grey and the
design is quite simple. It is in the shape of a crown, which breaks the
conventions of the Rock genre. I did this with intention of creating something
new and exciting, which is mocking the concept that this is unconventional
within my chosen genre.

26. When I looked at the actual product of the The Pretty Reckless CD I noticed the use
of the X symbol used cohesively throughout. I then tried to develop this using
photographs from a gig that I went to (Wolf Alice in fact, within my genre) where all
of the pictures and edits can be found in my planning and researching. I thought
these photographs could be useful as there were a lot of bright lights, as not
everything on my Digi-pak had to be photographs of Daisy’s face. I did not use the
same colour, size but incorporated this X in to my own style of work. I created this X
on Photoshop. I ended up not using this in my actual final product as I thought it
looked rather unprofessional and boring.

31. Also
advertising
their own
products

32. Artic Monkeys - Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?
Initially on the picture we are presented with a medium close up, this shot is
specially chosen so we can see his outfit however the main focus is him. The close
up makes us feel more of a personal relationship with the character in which through
out the video one of the main aims is using camera movements/edited effects to
help us see what he is experiencing.
Shallow depth of field is used blurring out the background so he is the main focus
however we still pay attention to it because there's a lot of bright lights suggesting
what setting he is in, he is in a city at late night. He isn't looking directly towards the
camera (in fact, he doesn't once throughout the whole music video) suggesting how
he is 'spaced out' throughout the whole night (video) a side effect of the drugs. As
he is wearing all black he doesn't exactly stand out in this frame, however high key
lighting is used on half of his face in order to make him more significant within the
frame.
The background is blurred as although during the music video the surroundings
around him are an important factor, the main focus is him; he feels isolated as no-
one else can see what he is seeing. However, this is ironic how the audience do
due to mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound.

45. Daisy has a fake
nose piercing in
mine, and is
silver matching
the conventional
jewelry within
the genre

50. Previously, I looked at the conventions of form and alternative rock genre and did a textual
analysis of alternative rock band Arctic Monkey's 'Why'd You Only Call Me When You're
High?'. In my blog I have taken shots from Arctic Monkeys and tried to incorporate them into
my own.
I analysed each shot carefully, thinking about why they used certain angles, or different
effects. I acknowledged the dark lighting, and dark moods within the mis-en-scence,
whether it was the location or clothing, there was a cohesive pattern which I could identify as
the universal stereotype of Rock. I liked this shot of Alex, how you could see his reflection
and how he makes stern eye contact with himself in the mirror.

51. Of course, my video had to be different and unique, but I could still incorporate certain
aspects; such as this shot. I thought it was effective in representing how she is self
reflecting, perhaps, seeing her self as disgusting and hating on her self, resulting in the urge
to harm herself by over dosing and taking excessive amounts of drugs/alcohol.
I also like how it is postmodern, she is analysing her self, as we are analysing her. This is shot
in a pub toilet, likewise to the shot of Alex. White bricks are used, and a plain mirror, you
can not see anything else in the shot, it is plain in order to emphasise the focus on the
protagonist; how they are on their own, excluded in fact, as the high is personal something
which you can only feel your self. Yes, other's may have experienced similar feelings, but no-
one else will have felt the EXACT feelings - they are isolated.
Another small aspect I had to consider was the way her hair was parting, it had to be in the
direction it is in the photo so the media audience can see her face - as she has lots of hair,
and thick too. Dark eye makeup, black leather jacket and messy hair are all conventions of
the Alternative Rock aesthetic.

52. Alex is positioned to the left of the frame, with his reflection being within the
central-right frame. Every aspect of Artic Monkey’s shot is featured in mine to the
right, from his shoulder being cut off in the mirror to the door being shown in the
reflection.
Though, I did not end up using this footage and the still images within my video I
evaluated other media products trying to represent similar, if not the same
ideologies within the genre.

54. Exaggerating the use of heavy eye
makeup to highlight convention

55. Daisy follows the same style by wearing dark eye makeup, a leather jacket, and having
her hair down and messy. In the picture to the right that is not how she usually had
her makeup in the video, only in a few shots where it is not really that noticeable. I
took pictures of her with this makeup in order to experiment with the makeup itself,
and which eye-shadow I preferred in regards to what black eye shadow came out
darker, and which was easy to smudge etc.

56. During pre-production I planned featuring Daisy
smoking, making sure she had a lighter on her. I
also planned to use a BnB room at the Windmill
Inn Pub in Beverley at the initiation of my video,
similar to this door. The colours were the same,
and it had a number ‘9’ on. During production, I
took many takes of the door using panning shot,
tilts, even using a light in many different angles as
it was shot late during the night the lighting was
very low key, but I did not use this footage in my
final video as I thought the footage of her
smoking was more effective and was in sync to
the music also.

57. Shallow depth of field
Laid down
Direct eye contact
Overlay

58. Daisy, my artists breaks all of the conventions of a typical female. Females are
associated with being neat, pretty and innocent. The concept that females are
“lady-like”, respectful and self-conscious about their image is completely ignored as
Daisy violates those descriptions as she is messy, not classy, has no self worth, wears
dark clothing and does not care about her appearance. Her character could not
contradict the stereotype anymore. She is the conventional attractive female
appearance wise, with long curly blonde hair, sliming figure and blue eyes.

59. I like this shot as she looks really disinterested, her hand is on the bar as she is eager
for a drink; her hand gesture represents how she is impatient and bored of waiting. I
got a video, where I directed her to tap her fingers on the bar, as the rest of her body
is still and her fingers are the only thing moving, this then draws your attention to
where her hand is (next to the Coors Light drip trays) in which the drip again,
emphasise the connotations of a pub. The people in the background creates
verisimilitude as they are customers, a connotation of a pub. They are all middle
aged, and men, which fit the customer profile within a pub; the setting looks natural.
This natural effect is also created as no-one is looking at the camera, they are
engaging in conversation within their own groups. Although, the man to the left looks
at Daisy, the artist, another stereotype within the customer profile is that men are
"sleazy", this conforms to both Laura Mulvey's 'Maze Gaze’ theory as Daisy is seen
as objectified, and Tesser Perkins stereotype theory as I just labelled men as having
the stereotype “sleazy”.

60. Tesser Perkin’s stereotype theory can also be applied to Artic Monkey’s video, as woman are
stereotyped to be promiscuous, and the colloquial term “slaggy”; doing this to a man in public
whilst he is driving is for one, dangerous, and two, shows how she does not have the most
self-respect.
You can see the takeaway signs in the background on the still shot previously shown
from my video, similar to how you can in the Arctic Monkey's video.
I acknowledged the dark lighting within the Arctic Monkey's video, especially within this
still wide shot as the natural lighting was off the bandit/jukebox (can not work out from
image). Therefore, I wanted to use natural lighting within my video, not focusing on
using any other lights. Pubs are usually dark places, and there is a dark atmosphere
to the song "Medicine" along with the rock genre anyway.
Takeaways in the
background of my
music video

61. Black and red are conventional colours within the Rock genre. A red lights shines on Daisy’s face, this is a
subtle but effective way of reminding the audience of the genre. There is predominantly more red in the
artic monkeys video, the subtle amount of red in mine represents how the Alternative Rock genre
features Rock aspects, but is not Rock completely.
Mine follows the same conventions in regards to the lighting as dark lighting is used cohesively
throughout, only really using natural light and not artificial.

62. At the start of the music video Daisy shows many moody and angry facial expressions,
representing how she feels negative in her own body and not happy; this is also
represented from the dark low key lighting. As the video progresses, we see her
smiling and laughing excessively showing crazy and psychopathic tendencies.

64. I originally looked at the forms and conventions within
Taking Back Sunday - Cute Without The "E" but
found it quite boring to analyse as it was roughly the
same throughout. It consisted of performance but
was also over layered with narrative which was quite
effective through the use of fast pace cuts to create a
flashing effect.
Though, the analysis of the video did not go to waste
as I incorporated this flashing effect into my own
work.

65. In my textual analysis I also went on to look at
Radiohead - Creep which I also found mainly consisted
of performance and was quite dull to analyse in
comparison to Arctic monkey's - Why'd You Only Call
Me When You're High? With this, I went onto looking at
Rise Against - Savior which I found ALSO mainly
consisted of performance. I came to the conclusion
that this is typical within the Alternative Rock genre,
though I looked at the dates and Arctic Monkey's is a
lot more recently dated in comparison to the others
and the quality of the other videos are quite low,
there's a lot more narrative and structural focus into
Arctic Monkey's.
My music video challenges this convention as there is
not much performance included, although there is, the
video is abstract with the main focus being Daisy
progressively damaging herself, and enjoying it for that
matter.

66. The same style of shoe is used in my music video that is
featured in Nirvana’s, this was an intentional decision.
However, I decided to develop mine differently as high key
lighting is used and white converse, where as very low key
lighting is used and black converse feature in Nirvana’s.
Close up of
shoes taken
from The Pretty
Reckless video

67. Previously, I analysed the full music video for Artic Monkey’s “Why’d You Only Call Me
When You’re High?” where as I only analysed a small section of Bring Me The Horizons. I
did this as I had already grasped a lot of conventions within the genre, which Bring Me
The Horizons also displayed. I thought there was a lot more narrative in Artic Monkey’s so
it would be more interesting to analyse. Something which I really incorporated from Bring
Me The Horizon’s is the use of low key lighting throughout, lighting is something which
caught my attention cohesively throughout this video. Below, I have cropped an example
of how I tried to incorporate this into my own work. (Bring Me The Horizon’s displayed to
the left)