Analysis of magazine adverts (Jason Mraz, Live U2)

I am looking at Jason Mraz's concert advert which he used for 'the meadow, gardens by the bay'. The advert uses a range of techniques and styles which appeal to the target audience. The advertisement uses colour, wording and positioning to make the promotion attract audience and increase sales of tickets.

The artist is represented in the style of being at a concert which suggests that the audience will be able to see this physically and not just on an advertisement if they attend. Also, the picture includes a stereotypical mise-en-scene of a guitar which suggests to the person looking at the advert that he is a mainstream artist. Additionally, the background image illustrates an outline of the United States of America of which is where the concert is located. This implies that Jason is a artist which appeals to a large population in a number of geographical areas which are different. Finally, the artist uses a similar positioning of his body as the leading singer in the U2 concert, of which they are both alternative artists which have become mainstream in the music industry internationally.

Typography which is used with minimal amount with only the selected important wording used. The top of the poster includes 'tour is a four letter word' this is affective because it also links the album 'LOVE' due to it also being used and is 4 letters long. The wording all using the same style of font this is because it makes it simple for the audience to read the advertisement rapidly, with the importance of the lettering being due to the size with the price of the tickets being of the smallest amount because this might reduce the amount of the target audience which might want to go and see the artist. The artists name is in red and is of the biggest font to imply that it attracts the audience to the artist. Style of language which is used is very simple english which are used to make it easy for the audience to read the advertisement easily. This illustrates that the wording can easily read by all people speaking the language and not just of highly educated people of society.

The colours of the advertisement is very dull and plain but is very affective because it is an alternative poster which connotes the music genre, with the 4 different primary colours to stand out. This means that the audience read the writing in red 'jason mraz' and  look at the image due to the border being in two colours which stand out to the audience. The colours link in the poster with the album of which the artist will be singing songs to build a strong link and fan bases to both to potentially increase sales of the concert tickets and album sales. This is especially as he uses cross promotion synergy of having an image of the album art on the poster. The image is in black and white dullness due to the alternative music video genre typically using this technique which increasing the relationship between the two types of media forms promotion.

The design and layout of the poster is very basic and successful; because it only includes the essential information of the name of the artist and the details of the event which he will be attending. The images which are used are links to both other media forms (music video and CD Album)  to show that the artist will be the same mainstream artist in personal then just the media forms. This image is used to draw instantly the attention of the  viewer to the artist to show that he is popular and successful artist. The second image if of the CD album art of which shows the audience that if they like to listen to the artist then they will like his concert music. The advert promotes the artist as a very alternative and mainstream artist, which is very successful to potential increase sales. This implies that to the artists that the artist is very popular in America which promotes the music genre because it is very alternative and unique compared to other music genre artists such as Calvin Harris. This attracts to the target audience because it is of the same style as Jason Mraz's CD album. Overall, this concert poster is very simple and affective to the success of the design and high sales of tour tickets. This means that the artist is included with all the typical techniques which the alternative music genre use to appeal to the target audience.

T
he second concert poster from the alternative music genre of which I have decided to analysis was U2 at Wembley Stadium at the peak of their success as a music genre artist and as a mainstream international music industry success. The representation of the music artist is of a dark punk rock alternative music genre artists, this is due to the black image of the artists to show depression and anger. This is also suggested by the facial expression of the members with the way that they are standing. This illustrates the way that they are united as a strong unit which support each other through life events and in their music. The colours in the concert poster is very few similar to the Jason Mraz because the U2 poster only includes 3 colours. Firstly, the main colour is black used as the background for the whole poster and the image, this suggests that the artists are punk alternative artists due to the black conveying that the artists sing songs about their lifestyle or events in their personal life which have caused they to be depressed or angry.

The design and layout of the U2 poster is similiar to Jason Mraz's advertisement because the artists name is at the top being a different colour. Also, the image of the artist being in the middle with the other less important information being at the bottom. This implies that the layout and structure of the poster is a sterotype of the alternative music genre. This also implies that if the artist is mainstream then they will use this structure to increase sales in the concert tickets. However, the design of the poster is different to Jason Mraz because it appeals to the target audience of punk rock alternative music genre due to the black and white, suggesting the music is of anger and depression.


The choice of image is important in the concert poster because it is the only single image of the advertisement, this means that it has to be appealing to the target audience of rebellion and individuality. This was important when the band advertised this event due to the target audience of the 1987 Wembley Stadium concert being very rebellions and against the ideas and traditions of their previous generation from the old traditions of the 'status quo' and classicial music which was strongly dominate in the 1950's and 'Rock n' Roll' music of the 1960's. This was in comparison to the very aggressive and violent punk rock alternative music of the 1970's-1990's.

The typography of the advertisement is very complex but makes the poster unique compared to other alternative posters. Firstly, the bottom half of the poster is very different compared to Jason Mraz's poster due to it having a large number of different types of font with a large list of not essential information of ticket agents for the 21st Century. However, due to the lack of technolgy and the internet it was harder to gain international and domestic sales without having the world wide web. This means that we will not need to include this in our groups poster. Additionally, the 'WEMBLEY STADIUM' title of where the concert is located is a small font size, this is different compared to the previously viewed advertisement. This suggests that due to the different sub genre of the alternative genre and decade of the advertisemtn that concert posters can rapidly chnage so they need to appeal to the modern target audience and not be out of date.


The style of langauge is very simple but affective because the band want to appeal their music to all types of people therefore they use simple and basic English so that all people can understand and dont use interlectural grammer which might decrease ticket sales. This suggests that our advertisement needs to be simple and basic English so that all ages can understand the poster and make it effective.


The advertisement promotes the artist as a very rebellious band of the late 1980's because they appeal to the punk rock sub genre of anger and violence which was very popular in the music industry mainly Europe and the United States of America during this time. The poster promotes the music genre as a very alternative and different band to the sterotypical mainstream outlay of the artists. This attracts to the target audience because they are appealed to the darkness and anger which is portray in the poster. Overall, this makes the msuic genre advertistment sucessful because it can appeal to the correct target audience to the alternative audience of the 1980's.


The two magazine advertisements will assit me with planning my own advert because it has given me a good understanding of the genre characteristics and essential information and colours to appeal to the correct target audience of the alternative music genre and the style of Jason Mraz's music. Also, the anaylsis has given me a better understanding to appeal to the target audience which means its will be more likely to be successful in the music industry and increase sales for the CD and views for the music video.

 

History of Music Videos

Music videos are short films which integrate a song and imagery which is produced for promotional or artistic purposes only. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as marketing technique intended to promote and increase sales of music recordings. The origins of music videos date back to much further than the 1980’s but rapidly expanded in demand and music channels appeared. 1926 was when many musical short films appeared which were called ‘Talkies’. The vitaphone produced by Warner Bros featured many bands, vocalists and dancers which lead to the first true musical video series being Spooney Melodies in 1930. In 1950 the Scopitone a visual jukebox was invented in France and short films were produced by  French artists such as Serge Gainsbourg and Jacques Dutronc to accompany their songs. The monochrome 1966 clip for Bob Dylan’s ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ filmed by D.A. Pennebaker was featured in Pennebaker’s Dylan film documentary ‘Don’t Look Back’. Eschewing any attempted to simulate performance or present a narrative, the clip shows Dylan standing in a city back alley, silently shuffling a series of large A3 cue cards which included key words from the songs narrative.
 

 

 

In 1964 the Beatles starred in their first feature film ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ which was shot in black and white as a mock documentary. This was the start of loosely structured musical fantasia which was similar to musical sequences with used a basic template on which countless subsequently music videos were modelled on to be successful in the music industry for films such as the US TV Series ‘The Monkees from 1966 to 1968 which consisted of film segments that were accompanied by various Monkees songs. ‘The Who’ featured in a number of promotional clips from this period bring with ‘Can’ Explain’ in 1965 and ‘Happy Jack’ in 1966 which shows them acting like a gang of thieves.
 

 

 

The world famous British TV show ‘Top of the Pops’ began in the late 1970’s playing music videos but the BBC placed strict limits on the number of ‘outsourced’ music video from outside the UK music industry artists. Therefore, a good popular music video would increase song’s sales massively as viewers hoped to see it again the next week. This make a British Rock music show ‘The Old Grey Whistle Test’ produced some pioneering videos during the 1970’s ad early 1980’s such as Frank Zappa’s ‘City of Tiny Lights’. The 1981 was when the US music channel MTV was launched with ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’  and the first 24 hour music video channel. This would led to the new music outlet for material paying in the middle of the 1980’s a central role in popular music marketing. The music videos were starting to increase popular of mainstream artists rapidly with Duran Duran, Adam and the Ants and Madonna. This was owned by mainly MTV and the construction of which appealed of their music videos.

 

 

 

In 1983 the most successful, influential and iconic music videos of all time was released with the 14 minute video by Michael Jackson called ‘Thriller’. The video set new standards from production having cost $500,000; this was instrumental in getting music videos by African American artists played on MTV. Another important development in music videos was he launch of the Chart Show on channel 4 in 1986 which showed a whole programme dedicated to music videos on mainstream television without presenters.

 

 

1999 was the start of peer-to-peer file sharing with the software Napster run between 199 and 2001, enabling users to share video files including those from music videos. 2005 saw the launch of the website YouTube, which made the viewing of online video much faster and easier; Google Videos, Yahoo! Video, Facebook and MySpace’s video functionally which uses similar technology. Websites had a profounder effect on the viewing of music videos with some artists beginning to see success as the result of videos seen mostly online. VEVO is a music website launched by a number of music publishers in December 2009. These videos are syndicated to YouTube, Google and VEVO sharing advertising revenue.

Planning of Cinematography

I will describe and explain four of the main possible camera shots our group plan on including in our music video and explain why will might need to include them. The first shot is close ups which are one of the most famously widely used camera shots in music video, it is used a lot in many music videos as it is used in order to show detail and object importance, this means that it will be used in our music video to show the iconography of objects which represent the alternative music genre to the target audience such as a Guitar and Trilby hat. This can help the audience connect with the music genre throughout and listen to the narrative of the artist compared to looking at the genre characteristics. Another example could be a close up of the artist to show his emotions in a selected scene of the production to convey the meaning of the song or convey a stereotype of which shows the genre.
 

Tracking shots are used to follow objects which can be used in order to show our artist and his location in one shot such as in London it can be used to emphasis a selected monument which is an international iconic symbol to represent the British artist. It’s clear within tracking shots that whoever is being tracked is the main character in the music video, in our case it will be Justin Oakley because this can show him on a journey without changing shots. Tracking shots help create levels of realism as we can use this affect with the notion of looking to suggest that they are alone or that the artist is going on the journey with them. Tracking shots are great shots to use when creating a narrative as they are easy and effective to use, they also allow us to use a verity of shots. Tracking shots can be used when he walks into the party for example, another example when he leaves his house to express his emotions, this can be used to suggest in Hyde Park that the audience are following him on his jorney to see where he goes and that he ends it with happiness and not upset. Tracking shots are distorted and can help convey a self destructive representation which is conventional to our genre, these shots will be used when following the artist for example when he is walking around London or in Hyde Park.

The medium shot is widely used it can be used in order to show what the subjects are wearing alongside their emotions in the video such as when he is on the Beach this will show the audience his emotions of happiness and that he has found the place where he feels a sense of belonging. The shot helps the audience understand the narrative with areas of the background in view of the shot, this shot attempts to show the top half of a subject therefore if there was a mid shot of a person it will be shot from the waist upwards, it allows the audience to read body language and understand there appearance for the alternative music genre. Also, the target audience will be able to see any objects the artist is wearing such as a guitar with shows the music genre. The type of shot can be used when at Buckingham Palace singing the lyrics so the audience is looking at the artist and not the surrounding events around him which builds the tension and connection between them. This builds a relationship between the artist and the target audience with them conveying the scenes atmosphere in the music video when they are walking through London they will be emotionally depressed to emphasis sadness.

The Point of View shot technique allows the audience to see exactly what the artist is seeing; this allows the audience to see ahead and also allows the audience to understand the narrative which can be represented by what they look at without speech needed. These shots can allow the audience to build a relationship with the subject as the audience are put in their shoes for a few seconds during the shot which can change the opinion of the artist. Point of view shots can be widely used throughout our narrative, again they are quite distorted which can convey the confused and depressed convention of the way the narrative is represented and can be shown in the alternative music genre. This shot can be used for example in the Hyde Park scenes when he is looking at the animals to build a relationship between the visuals and soundtrack of the song because it will suggest that the audience are going on the journey with the artist in the narrative.

Planning the location

The location of the music video will be important in reprsenting not just the visuals of the artist but also his emotions of which can be emphasised by the urban or country locations. This is important for out song due to the powerful emotion narrative this means that without the correct locations it will make the video unprofessional and not effective compared to other music videos from the alternative music genre such as Ed Sheerans 'The A-Team' which can be used to show how successful and budget production can make an artist mainstream in the music industry aswell as the music genre itself.


The locations of our song will be selected in two different types of places, which include London which is the capital of Great Britain and a urbanised city which has hundreds of building. Additionally, the second location we will use is Brighton or Southend Pier this is due to the location of the place being in contrast with London and can represent happiness and jo compared to the dark and trapping building.


The London location will use a number of key iconic locations but only in the background of each shot, this is because the target audience will recognise the places and know where it is immediately based. This suggests that we can use these indirectly so that the target audience don't look at the visuals but listen to the lyrics. The locations are in various places such as Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park and London Underground. This limits what we can do with the amount of costumes in the music video and areas we can only use selected techniques because if we don't then the music video will look unrealistic and professional for the songs narrative and can make it unsucessful and ineffective. The purpose of these locations in the music video are to show that he is a mainstream British artist which will appeal to an international audience and London over recent years has become more popular due to events such as the Olympics 2012, Royal Wedding and Diamond Jubilee which suggests that the audience will recognize the background which will appeal to the viewer. Also, we are using these areas to suggest that he is going on a journey and due to him living in London we can use these locations to show realism and emotions through the representation of the areas.


The Health and Safety risks of this location is limited due to the shots being in pubic places with very simple but affective style shots which means that their is health and safety risks but are not dangerous because its the same as walking down a street. The weather can effect our filming massively due to all the shots in this sequence being outside and is a risk due to the location must be dry but not very sunny. This is because this can represent the music video has happiness and joyful compared to us needing to have a depressing image suggested to the target audience.

The Second location is of brighton or Southend beach which includes the sea-side Pier, therefore this location is good because the scene is of a nice popular location. This means that the resort will be recognised by the target audience. The location is limited due to the only iconic place to film most shots at is the pier and surrounding area of the beach because you can use this to reflect on any major feeling which is due to the location but as well as the weather which can emphasis what the artist is feeling. However, the location is very important due to it being about to use the limited shots to suggest the way that the narrative is trying to be shown for example playing a guitar looking out to sea suggests the enjoyment and peaceful enviorment of which we will plan to show to the target audience. The purpose of this location is due to the beach being suggested as a happy location and can be seen as the end of the journey ending is somewhere where he believes he is happy watching the sunset, which will build an emotion between the audience and artist through-out the visuals.


The health and safety risk of filming at this location means that due to the shots being filmed outside with no dangerous items it doesn't have any health and safety risks during recording the music video. Therefore, when filming we will not have to check the surrounding areas for any dangers in the enviorment because it is unlucky that we will have any issues when getting the shots. The weather can play a very important  in filimg our production because it is all filmed outside and the end of the music video is to represent happiness in a peaceful location. This suggests that we must get the fiming on the correct day because otherwise the video production will not emphasis our narrative representation of the meanings of the song.

When making our music video production we decided not to go to Bright or Southend due to the duration of time it would need to take to get there, therefore, we decided to use a location of Hyde Park as our peaceful and happy place in the visuals. This means that we could film most of the footage in one area which made it effective. This means that we split the locations in London from the busy streets and major landmarks compared to the quite Park and lakes in the sun. Also, we included an additional location of a house to build a strong link between the visuals and lyrics which would be effective to the narrative and performance of the artist in the video. All of this considered, I think that the locations used in the music video were very effective to build a story-line and narrative style music video compared to just 100% performance.

Planning Artists Image

The planning of the artists image is important in building a successful music video due to us needing to do so because the audience will not be connected to the music video. This is due to the way the artist is represented due to the way our target audience builds a relationship with our artist  and the costumes he wears whether they a typical of the music genre and are a symbol of fashion. The clothing that the artist wears will be typical of the alternative music sub genre because without this the mise-en-scene will not match the style of filming production and could cause major problems with the affectiveness of the music video.

The main item of clothing I will use is a plain or simple designed t-shirt this is a sterotypical item of the genre with artists such as Ed Sheeran and U2 using it to connect with their own target audience compared to being different. The colour is normally a bright or unsual design to imply the indivuality of the artist compared to the formatted music artists in the mainstream and music industry as a whole. This relates to the artist because we are trying to make him realistic to the sterotype of the music genre and we can match it with the visuals of him having a average normal fashion dress. The cost will be cheap due to the price of simple clothes is very good for the budget of our music video production.

The item of clothing might be seen under a hoodie which has become popular with many different type of music genres but started in the alternative music genre because they were seen as different and not commonly bought, but due to the popularity of artists in the alternative genre the hoodie has rapidly increased in sales and reached into new music genres such as Pop, Rap and R&B so that they connect and build relationships with their target audience. This can relate to the artist because the music video will look effective just like the video visuals with the main characters having an arguement and therefore he must be wearing average clothes. Even though the hoodie is very fashionable they are very cheap for us to buy our products.

The footwear that our artist will wear is of a stylist and fashionable Van's which are as important as all the other items of clothing because the music video must include everything that is typical of the mise-en-scene. Therefore, even though the shoes are not seen in every shot it is important that we continue with the correct statue quo of the music video. The trousers/jeans that the music video will include are important because most alternative music genre artists inlcude a pair of normal jeans or cargo chinos which are very professional for the target audience.

In our music video were used all the of products listed above to match the alternative music genre with due to the large amount of costumes used we included a Gillet and Ralph Lauren Rugby Shirt which emphasised a change of the artists images and feeling of which he is trying to imply through the colours and style of which he is wearing in the shot.

Lighting & Colour In Our Music Video

Lighting and colour is essential is essential in music videos but especially the alternative music genre. Lighting and colour represents emotions and the mood of the music video of which the artist wants to represent to the target audience such as bright lighting and brightness to make the mood represent happiness with only back lighting suggesting evil and darkness.

The music video will include natural lighting due to the locations of the we are filming which include Brighton Beach and places in London. This means that we can use this to affect an emotion of happiness or that we is happy to be on this journey from walking through London with Justin Oakley going on different locations and what he sees to build the connection between the artist and the audience. This is conventual to the music genre due to Ed Sheeran using this technique in most of his music videos because it makes it easier to film whilst conveying an emotion. Also, this is conventual to Jason Mraz's music videos because in 'I'm Yours' he includes  all natural lighting because similar to our ideas he is on a journey but of adventure and exploring of the unknowing.

Secondly, the music video will include the natural colour due to the shots of the artist walking in Hyde Park and walking down the paths, this suggests that the music video we will be trying to make it as realistic as possible due to this building a connection between the audience with the lifestyle of the artist of which they possibly can relate to in sections of the visuals. Also, the video will use mainly natural light due to the locations of the music video being used with the shots of Justin Oakley and surrounding area/animal shots which will match the area and the alternative music genre. This is convention of most alternative music genre material because the artist appeals to the audiences life in an event or life situation. 

The music video will also include Back and white or syperia colours due to the representing past compared to present with angry emotions being represented such as an argument. Also, the colours suggest depression of which could imply a decline in the relationship. This is conventual in the alternative music genre and can be used in the flashback to show that it is from the past because both music videos which I have studied; U2 'With or Without You' and Ed Sheeran 'The A-Team' both include black and white has a affect of which causes a change in emotions of the artist which builds pain for the target audience due to them also feeling this emotion.

Overall, theses techniques will be used in our music video to attract the target audience of both the music industry and the alternative music genre, this is because it will use conventual techniques and ideas which are typically used in Jason Mraz an other mainstream alternative artists. Our music video used all the light and colour outlined above because we believe it was important to use these effects in our music video because it would make it a typical video which would match the alternative music genre.

Props In Our Music Video

Our media group have looked at the alternative music genre videos and judged which props are used in large amounts and symbol the genre. I have also looked at my comparison of alternative and Jason Mraz music videos, which use a number of stereotypical props to emphasis, the genre.

The guitar is a major props which is used in most/all alternative genre material with the artist normal using the instrument in the song, this emphasis that he is extraordinary and part of Dyer’s theory. This connects the audience so they can build similarities from other alternative songs from other artists and Jason Mraz. Additionally, the guitar will be used because in Goodwin’s theory it builds a connection between both the visuals and music of which attracts the audience to listen to the song which makes the song successful and affect with the music video compared to visuals and music which aren't connected with each-other. This means that we will include it in a majority of the songs with him playing it or just being present in the shots. I have selected this item because then the audience can relate to the artist due to it being a common instrument in music videos. This supports the style of music because it is used by artists in mainstream music international such as Ed Sheeran and U2 which have become Number 1 in a number of music Charts around the world.

Jason Mraz in all of this music videos which we have studied all have Jason wearing the only designer props of Ray-Ban Sun glasses. These are essential in 'I Won't Give up' because we are trying to match the music video with all the other material which he has produced. We decided to select this item because it emphasis that he is a mainstream artist in the music genre and that he follows the fashion of which is the way he is trying to be represented to the target audience so he could be seen as a role model to teenagers or music role models. Finally, this prop supports the artist and how they want to be represented to their audience and appeal to the selected age and gender, but isn't supported by other alternative music videos using designer clothes to show the artist.

Firstly, the alternative music genre includes artists costumes which include 'surfer style' items which show a iconic feature to an artist such as Leather wristbands and wooden necklaces which implies that they don't follow the not sterotype of mainstream artists but is fashionable which appeals to many of the target audience. This is essential because it shows the style of clothes the artists wears in all his music videos and that the artist has an iconic image of which can be represented if he is a role model. This is essential in supporting the style of music video because it emphasises the way and emotions that Jason Mraz is going to represent in his narrative compared to eggressive in rock music genre or depression in R&B music videos.

The iPhone 4S will be used due to it being essential in music videos because the item has become a symbol of all mainstream artists. This also shows that the artist is connected with technnology and therefore his targeta udience. We have selected this item because they have become an icon in may music videos which appeal to a mass market and doen't slected a Niche Market. The iPhone 4S supports our style of material because we can use it to represent communication between characters or to emphasis an event which has happened which the audience need to be notified.

The music video's of the alternative music genre artists us a tirlby hat in the costume of their main character is is due to the prop being an international fashion image of style. This means that our artist is appealing to the target audience by being a symbol of fashion with major businesses of Topman and H&M selling simliar hats in the music video. This implies that the artist is also wearing high street clothes compared to all designer clothes which builds a stronger bond with the audience. Also, mainstream artists not just in the alternative music genre wear trilby hats such as Burno Mars (Pop genre artist). This conveys that their is many music videos and artist which include this prop very popular for both the audience and artist. The prop supports the style of music video which we are trying to create, however, the prop isn't used as a selected prop in all alternative music video. When we produced our music video we decided not to include this product in our visuals due to it being to controlled in shots because it meant that with RayBan glasses it would look to demanding on the artist.

Overall, the majority of the products outlined above were used in our music video which made the visuals effective to the target audience. Therefore, this gave our music video the stereotypical looks of the alternative music genre and would match what the target audience would appeal to in the market. This suggests that our planning for the props being used was affective because it gave us the chance to match the portfolio of the genre.