Final products.

Evaluation: Question 3 and 4

Evaluation: Question 2

Evaluation: Question 1

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Final Digi-Pack

Creating my Digi-Pack.

Stage 1.

As I found from my previous analysis on both adverts and album covers (part of the digi-pack), the dominant image is the same in order for the viewer to be able to automatically draw a link between the two. Therefore, the first stage in making the front cover of my digi-pack was to convert the image to the right dimensions and then add it to my originally blank canvas.

Stage 2.

As you can see here, I have added the same text as seen on the advert in the same layout enhancing the link between the advert and the digi-pack.
Stage 3.

I then started to create the back page of my digi-pack so that I had a booklet which I then had to essentially fill. I decided on the image above as I felt that its composition lent itself to the back page of a digi-pack as I could envision the song titles going along the left hand side where the gap was. Additionally, the image tied into that on the front. Again I edited the original image to reflect the 'vintage' effect present in both the video and advert, tying the whole promotional package together.

Stage 4.

As you can see from the above image, I have added some song titles which would feature on the album- a common code and convention on the back page of an album cover. The font used is that from the other elements; providing continuity.

Stage 5.

In the next stage I added other codes and conventions of a back cover for an album. Things such as the small print about producers and copyright, the logo of the music label, a website for the artist and a barcode have all been included, therefore conforming to the correct forms and conventions.
Stage 6.

I decided that the above image would be used for one of the inner pages of my digi-pack in which I aim to create a page commonly seen in digi-packs for debut albums in which the artist introduces the audience to the album and talk about their inspiration and other elements relating to the music- allowing the audience to gain an insight into the artists life. I believed that this image would be suited to this page as the composition of the image allowed for what is essentially mass text without detracting the focus off the artist seen in the image. Like with the other images, I have edited the above one to contain the same look as the others, again providing continuity for the whole digi-pack and meaning it all links together.
Step 7.

In this stage, you can see that I have added the text to the image as mentioned in the above step. Again I kept the font the same as I feel it really reflects the image and the tone of the whole digi-pack, whilst again providing the continuity that is needed.
Stage 8.

This is the last page I am creating for my digi-pack, which is to contain the lyrics to the song 'Songbird'- linking into the video as well. Although being an album, I decided that lyrics pages are an important convention of digi-packs, especially amongst this genre. Therefore, despite the fact that the digi-pack would contain a lyrics page for each song which I am not creating, I would still include this convention as it is an important one. The image was chosen due to the fact that it does not contain much, therefore making it suitable for a page with lots of text. Also the image links into the rest of the images used, meaning the same tone is created and making the digi-pack fit together. Again I edited this image in the same style, so the nostalgic quality is still perceived.
Stage 9.

Lastly, I added the lyrics of the song onto the page. The font and colour scheme seen on all the other pages is still being used, continuing the continuity. I decided that the white text would go to the chorus of the song as it is repeated and therefore link together. Also it made the text stand out against the darker bits of the background, meaning that all the text could be seen.

Final advert.

Creating my advert.

Stage 1.

I have chosen this image if my artist to be the basis of my advert. It shows my artist in a natural and playful way yet the mise-en-scene and lighting suggest a sombre tone which would be present within the music on the album. Additionally, the image is reflective of the music video I have created which was one characteristic of adverts that I picked up on in my reflective analysis. However the image does need to be edited as it doesn't stand out in the way that I would want it to.

Stage 2.

In this stage, I have edited my original image in such a way that it contains a red tinge with a grainy quality to it that again is reflective of my music video. The well-known phrase "looking through rose-tinted glasses" is applicable here as I wanted the image to reflect the nostalgic feel that is present within the music video. In addition, the red tinge make the image stand-out more than the original image which was one reason for editing in the first place.

Stage 3.

I started to add some text to my advert, found at http://www.dafont.com/search.php?psize=m&q=the+only+exception. The reason for this particular text was I felt that it reflected the artists style of music and personality. A curvy style of font suggests a sense of respectability and maturity that is seen within 'Alice's' music, yet it also presents a natural character (especially against the natural background). However by adding the text I am able to see that 'Alice' herself does not stand out from the image as the eye is drawn to the bolder text, therefore this is an aspect I am going to have to edit.

Stage 4.

As you can see from above, I have edited the image so that my artist now stands out against both the background and the bold text. Now the viewer's eye is drawn to 'Alice' herself instead of the surroundings. In addition, I have begun to add 'critics comments' with the stars that is a typical convention with adverts that promote albums and singles.

Stage 5.

In this next stage I have more 'critics comments' as well as moving around the text of 'Alice' and 'Numb' into slightly more appropriate places, however I am still not fully satisfied with their positioning. Additionally, I have included a date for release- an important piece of information for an advert that is promoting the album's release; as well as the logo of the record label Sony BMG and a website for the artist. Most of the information that is required of an advert is present which means that it now a case of rearranging for a better composition and making sure all of the elements stand-out against the background.

Stage 6.

I have moved around the elements of the advert so that they can be considered as more aesthetically pleasing. In order to avoid confusion, I moved the title of the album down so that the viewer would not consider the artists name to be Alice Numb. By moving around the 'critics' feedback (which now includes a quote; another convention of an advert promoting an album), I have been able to put the date in a better place, whilst changing some text to white not only makes a change on the page, but also makes the certain aspects stand out against the background. In addition, I have made the image a little bit lighter to make the advert successfully catch the eye of the reader, whilst also indicating at the artists character and genre of music.

The Facebook logo, Song BMG logo and an official website for 'Alice' are also included at the bottom of the advert- again more conventions of a real advert, therefore meaning that I have included them all.

A2 Media coursework- Final video

Working on the feedback on my rough cut, here is my final music video. I have included extra shots of 'Alice' performing the song whilst writing the lyrics. I decided to stick to the idea of 'Alice' sitting in her room rather than performing a private concert that was another suggestion as I believed it fully explored the concept of a down-to-earth artist to its greatest extent. Additionally, I was able to enhance the nostalgic feel to the video as it is clear that 'Alice' is thinking back to this relationship; another reason to take the relaxed concept of writing the lyrics.

Rough Cut of Music Video

Here is my rough cut for my music video. I have attempted to stick to my shot list in regards to the shots, however there are a few that due to various reasons had to change. The video is meant to have shots with the more 'home video' elements to them. In order to do this I used the following effects:

- Fast Colour Corrector to create a reddish tinge that creates the nostalgic feeling throughout the video.
- Dust and Scratches in order to provide a grainier/ blurry effect to some of the shots.
- Roughen Edges so the video has a 'vintage' feel with a specific border around the shot.

From various feedback on my rough cut, it would seem that I need to provide more 'performance' shots to fully allow the creation of the star motif within the video. My ideas for this are focused around the concept of my artist writing the song and thinking back to this happier time. Not only does this idea provide much more 'performance', it also enhances the idea of nostalgia as 'Alice' is remembering the past.

Audience Profile

I have created a mood board in order to convey the audience that my artist of 'Alice' would most likely appeal to. The mood board gives the impression that fan's of 'Alice' are females of the same age group as the artist and also convey the same sort of style that my artist- well dressed but still casual and a down-to-earth sense of reality. Additionally, these young women would be fan's of festivals and would be able to hear 'Alice' live at these events. They would have an interest in boys, yet they would be boys of the same style as them and so chances are very high of them also being fan's of Alice.

As I have re-used my artist from my AS coursework of a music magazine (http://hannahgordonsmediaas.blogspot.com/) some of the ideas behind the audience are the same, however as the artist has grown older, so have the fans and so it is fair to suggest that interests have changed slightly to reflect an older fan. I have included my mood board from my AS year to show both the similarities and the changes to 'Alice's' fan base.



From my original mood board, the concept of the audience's appreciation and enjoyment of Pop music is still relevant, however at the time of making this mood board, my artist was new on the music scene and so was catering to a broader audience in order to have the best chance of being successful in the music world. However, my artist is now established and has altered her perspective on music slightly and with it a slight alteration in audience. It also has to be remembered that this mood board was in relation to a music magazine and so reflected what would also be present in the magazine, rather than just the audience themselves.

Shot list

In order to fully comprehend whether my music video idea will work and portray the right emotion that I wish to get across to the audience, I have created a shot list in the form of an animatic. In doing so, I can easily see my video in the formation of hand-draw images; the length of shots and whether my initial idea is workable.

By creating my shot list in this format, it would seem that my idea for the music video is workable being a simple concept presented through varying shots of both people and objects. I feel that if I am able to recreate this animatic successful in the form of moving images, then my video will fully convey the emotion behind the song whilst also presenting the artist of Alice in the correct light.

I have followed Andrew Goodwin's music video theory and so the shot list (and eventually the video itself) contains elements of the link between lyric and music to visual, a substantial amount of close-ups as well as the presence of a star persona, a sense of the voyeuristic element, an indication to the genre of the song as well as a sense of intertextual references. All of these elements mean that my overall video will have followed the codes and conventions of a music video of this genre and so making it more successful as coursework.

Copyright issues.

As the song I wish to use is held by Warner Bros Records (as this was the label they were with when the record was released), I need to ask permission from them to use the song in order to avoid having any future problems due to copyright. The only way to contact this major record label is to write them a letter which I have print screened below:






This will then be sent to the following address:

75 Rockefeller Plaza
New York,
NY 10019

Contact Sheet of potential images for album cover/ advert

To create my album cover and advert, I need to have a selection of original photography that is relevant to my artist's music and personality. I have taken images and put them into a contact sheet.

'Songbird' music video pitch board

In order to consolidate my ideas on my music video, I have created a pitch board of ideas for location, costuming and other aspects of mise-en-scene.

Above is the spider-diagram I created on the ideas for my music video and below is my ideas put into images.

Director's Pitch Activity

1. Ideas for the video- concept:

The video is meant to portray the emotion of the lyrics by having a couple walking in the countryside/ field. As my artist is considered as a down-to-earth artist, by having her and her 'boyfriend' walking in the country reinforces this idea whilst also following the same concept of the 'Your Song' video- my biggest influence. The whole video is meant to follow a home video feel, enhancing the sense of voyeurism within the video.


2. Intertextual references:

Meant to remind the audience of a home video. Will also remind the audience of other music videos of this style such as 'Your Song'..


3. Locations/ special features needed:

The video is set in the countryside/ field. In order to create the home video feel, special effects need to be added in the editing stage, such as special filters.

Lyric deconstruction

In order to start to consolidate my ideas for my video, I have deconstructed the lyrics of the song in such a way that certain images and ideas are sparked from either a word or a sentence of the song.

For you, there'll be no more crying,

For you, the sun will be shining,

And I feel that when I'm with you,

it's alright, I know it's right

To you, I'll give the world

to you, I'll never be cold

'Cause I feel that when I'm with you,

It's alright, I know it's right.

And the songbirds are singing,

Like they know the score,

And I love you, I love you, I love you,

Like never before.

And I wish you all the love in the world,

But most of all, I wish it from myself.

And the songbirds keep singing,

Like they know the score,

And I love you, I love you,I love you,

Like never before, like never before.

Above are the lyrics for the song 'Songbird' which although looks reasonably short in comparison to other songs, provides much in terms of what can be described as imagery, especially when the tone of the song is also taken into consideration. As my idea for this video is following the same tone and idea as Ellie Goulding's video 'Your Song' (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9AFMVMl9qE for a reminder) there is going to be a very natural feel to the video, with a couple walking in the countryside being my overall narrative- something which automatically emphasises the lyrics and tone of the video.

Part of Goodwin's theory in relation to the link between the lyrics and the visuals is that the visuals can either mention, enhance or contradict the lyric being sung. In regards to my idea formed around these lyrics, the lyric is either commented on or enhanced through the visual that I have decided upon. When you consider the tone and meaning of the song, it therefore makes sense to avoid contradicting the lyric with the visual as it will take away from the emotion that I want to portray throughout this video, whilst also possibly leading to confusion for the audience.

Below is my annotated copy of 'Songbird' lyrics, suggesting possible shots and ideas in relation to the words being sung. This deconstruction of the lyrics will be made in a more visual way in my animation of a shot list.

Mock- up of advert

Like with the album cover, in order to gain a full understanding of the codes and conventions of an advert, as well as practising the elements learnt from the previous analysis, it is advised to create a mock advert using found images.

This is the first stage of creating my mock advert. As noticed through the analysis, I have chosen to use the same image that was used on my album cover, however I have found a version that is more of a close-up of the artist and so fills the space better than the original image from my album cover. I have added the artist name and title of the album (as that is what I am advertising) in the same fonts and colours that I used in on the album cover, providing the person looking at it with an automatic link between the merchandise being advertised, the artist and the advert itself.

This is the next stage in my advert. I have added the star ratings that are present in most adverts of this variety to provide evidence as to why the fan should buy the album.

In this stage I have played around with the colours, especially in regards to the critics marks in order to make them stand out against the background.





This is my completed mock advert. I have added a quote at the bottom- another convention of adverts. The dominant image, fonts and colours reflect the album that this advert is promoting whilst the presence of quotes and critics ratings emphasise its adverting quality. I feel that with this mock-up, I have successfully conveyed the predominant codes and conventions of adverts, whilst also making it look aesthetically pleasing.

Reflective analysis on adverts

From analysing the adverts for both Ellie Goulding and Fleetwood Mac, it has to be concluded that it is essential that it contains certain aspects that allow the audience to make automatic connections between the advert and other merchandise from the artist. As adverts are usually for the promotion of either an album/ single or a tour, it therefore makes sense that these visual links are in the form of the dominant image, font or colour scheme from the artists merchandise as the person viewing the advert is already familiar with these aspects. With this in mind, when it comes to creating my own advert, it makes sense to include these aspects to make it look more professional.

In regards to the text that is present on an advert, it is very dependent on what the advert is promoting. If advertising an album, the advert is likely to contain information on the critical reception and the ratings that it received. However, this information is likely to be slightly biased as it has to enable the selling of the album, and so the ratings and critics comments have to positive as seen on the Ellie Goulding adverts. Yet if promoting a tour, such as the Fleetwood Mac adverts were, the information focuses more on the name of the tour and the date/ place/ time and other essential details regarding the tour itself.

With these ideas as a basis, it is therefore easier to create my own advert with the aim of making it look as professional as possible.

Ellie Goulding advert analysis

As another of my inspirations behind my artist is Ellie Goulding, I decided to analyse a couple of her adverts in order to draw comparisons from the Fleetwood Mac adverts as well as gaining ideas for my own.

The advert above is slightly different from the conventional adverts that are created as it seems to be more about promoting the artist herself rather than an album or a tour. However, the same sort of codes and conventions still apply regardless of its purpose. The font used is the same as that which is used on any other Ellie Goulding merchandise, allowing the person looking at this advert to make an automatic connection with the advert and the artist. By using the same sort of font on everything to do with Ellie means that the audience is always aware of her merchandise as she has made it her signature font. The image, like that on the Fleetwood Mac adverts, is one that has been used on album/ single covers, again allowing the audience to make that automatic connection between the advert and the artist. By having white text on the dimmer and darker background allows this text to stand out whilst also complementing the mood of the advert. In addition to this, some of the text and the borders around some of the critics reports have that glowing tone to them, like that on the 'Lights' album cover and so again providing an automatic link between the artist and the advert. Yet, unlike most adverts, the advert contains a large chunk of text at the top, introducing the artist to the person looking at the advert.

The advert above is advertising Ellie Goulding's album 'Lights' and so is more of a traditional advert compared to the other advert analysed. Like all the other adverts analysed, the dominant image is that from the album itself and so there is that automatic link between the album being advertised and the advert itself. The fonts and colours are also from the album cover. Yet in addition to this, the advert contains the ratings and the critical reception that the album received

providing the audience with some guidance as to the success of the album. However, these critical comments are biased as they would want to make the album look as good as possible, and so the viewer needs to be wary of them. Yet overall, this advert is essentially just taking the album cover and transferring it to an advert with added information.

Fleetwood Mac advert analysis

As part of the media coursework requirements, an advert is meant to be created as part of the promotion of the single being used. In order to gain the sufficient knowledge in order to create a successful advert, it is advisable to analyse adverts that relate to our artist. I have found a couple of adverts that are for the band Fleetwood Mac: one for part of the Rumours tour in 1977 and another for their 2009 tour.

This advert above is the one from 1977, advertising the Oakland Stadium leg of their Rumours tour. It has a very vibrant 70s feel to it, with the colour scheme, the font used and the image running along the border. The dominant image is in fact one of the images that was used in the Rumours album itself and so provides the audience with a automatic link with the album and the tour. The colours complement each other, with the darker colours firstly allowing the brighter colours to stand out, but also connotating the slightly more emotional side of the album itself. Even the image of the heart grenade connotates the ideas behind the album, with the idea that their love and relationship was about to explode.

In complete contrast is the advert from the 2009 tour as shown above. Being made in a far later date, it is therefore unsurprising that due to advancements in technology as well as the changes to the band itself, that is advert is significantly different to the 1977 one. The colour scheme connotates the older age of the band, with the bronze suggesting a more sophisticated level to the band. Even the fonts indicate a more sophisticated band compared to that presented in the 1977 advert. Again the image is the image that is featured on the accompanying album and so the audience have a direct link between the tour and the album.

Mock-up of album covers

In order to gain understanding first hand of what a album cover needs to include and convey, as part of the research process it was advised to create a mock version of an album cover for our song that will be also be promoted via a music video.

As I want to convey the star persona of 'Alice' as well as the emotion and natural feel to the song, my idea for an album cover would need to reflect this in order to achieve maximum profit. Due to this, for my mock, I found an image of Ellie Goulding (the current artist whose most like my artist 'Alice) sitting in a field, which is loosely based around my idea for both the video and the album cover.

As you can see, this is my starting point. I decided to use neutral colours for the text in order to compliment the neutrality of the image and colours within in, such as the white and brown/green of the grass. I also chose to use a font which shows the feminity of 'Alice' (enhanced by the use of pink as well), but also indicates the mature aspect that this artist has. However, the word 'Numb' isn't as readable in the place it is in now so it is advisable that I move it, whilst the word 'Alice' is on the wrong side of the cover for easy read purposes. In addition to this, the sizing of the cover isn't the right size and so that needs to be edited for authencitiy.

This is the next stage of my mock version of my album cover. As you can see, I have resized the image so it now looks more like an album cover. In addition to this, there is now a larger space at the top of the image, making the image itself look like it continues up into the sky, creating a more asethitc effect. I also looked at moving the text 'Numb' and 'Alice' around into a more appealing place, however the front cover still doesn't look right.

In this version, I have moved the text 'Numb' into the bottom right corner due to the fact that as a reader you read left to right. As this text wasn't as obvious in the pinker colour, I changed it into a grey, still following the netural theme but in a more eye-catching way. I also changed the font itself of the word 'Numb' in another attempt to make it stand-out against the background. On the down side, Ellie herself in not in the centre of the album cover and so makes the album cover itself look almost too heavy on one side.

This is my final mock album cover. Each bit of text is large enough to catch the eye, whilst the colours, although convey the netural theme of the image, also stand out in their various places. However, the image itself is still not central and so the front cover doesn't look right. Unfortunately the image itself is only as big as the canvas size and so wasn't able to move over into a more centralised position. In the future I need to consider this so that my final piece is much better.

Biography for Alice.

Rising to fame through a lucky chance on YouTube, Alice is already set to conquer the world with her delectable soft pop music that has taken Britain by storm. With her music being congratulated at being down-to-earth yet still managing to maintain pop roots, whilst being described as the rival to Ellie Goulding, Alice is transcending the genres to make a new wave of music reflecting emotion in a way that it hasn't been reflected before.

After being discovered by Usher on Youtube in 2011, Alice was transported into a world of fame that was enhanced by the release of her debut album 'Numb', when it charted at Number 1 in November 2011. With a mixture of both her own music and timeless classics reworked for a present day audience, the album managed to stay in the top 10 for the next two months, shooting Alice into stardom. With the release of her debut single 'Songbird', a cover of the classic Fleetwood Mac's song from the emotional album 'Rumours', it seemed certain that Alice was going for worldwide domination, as it climbed the chart to be crowned number one at the beginning of December 2011.

"It's all so overwhelming, this amount of attention that I am now recieving for something that I have always loved to do" claimed Alice after recieving the news that both her album and debut single were so successful, "but I won't let all this attention get to my head. It's all about the music, always has been and always will be." It is for this that Alice is as well know as she is in short space of time. With her down-to-earth attitude that is reflected in her music, Alice became a hit not only in the UK but also around the world, bringing with her much critical success.

Alice's love for music spanned from childhood as from a young age her talents for singing and eventually playing and writing music were encouraged not only by her family but also from friends, teachers and even local people when she performed at the local talent shows. "Music has always been there for me, it just seemed natural for me to sing and perform, and without even thinking about it I grew to be such a big part of me. I couldn't imagine a life without this talent of mine... what would I even do with myself?!"

To follow Alice on Facebook click on the link:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alice/222226441200023#!/pages/Alice/222226441200023?sk=info

Reflective analysis on biographies

From looking at both the Fleetwood Mac and Ellie Goulding biographies, it would seem that in order to gain the most from producing one, an artist would have to make them as informative as possible in order to gain the readers interest. However, as my artist is a newer one who is still producing music, the emphasis should be more on the inspiration behind the music and why they became interested in the area, rather than giving a history of the artist.

In order to make my biography as engaging as possible, it should have a more personalised feel to it, like Ellie Goulding's one has, for example by including direct quotes from the artist, and should be slightly more informal in order to appeal to the right audience.

It has to be concluded that a web presence in the form of a social networking site or music sharing is a necessity in today's society for the promotion of music. With this age being the age of technological advancement, it is therefore unsurprising that in order to become the best within the music industry any form of web presence is acceptable as this appeals to the audience, especially within the younger audiences that my artist would appeal to. Therefore, in order to make the most out of producing a music video, I would also need to make a web presence for added promotion.

Analysis of biographies: Ellie Goulding

As my artist is loosely based upon this artist, being a young female with the softer pop edge to her, makes Ellie Goulding an obvious choice of artist to analyse.


Being unable to get onto the official UK website for Ellie Goulding's about page, I instead clicked onto the USA version as it should have similar information and mode of address as the UK version would. This biography is automatically different from the Fleetwood Mac biography, as it initially talks about the music itself and the influences and emotions behind it. In addition to this, the first couple of paragraphs provide quotes from Ellie herself, making the biography have a more personalised feel on behalf of Ellie and engaging the readers more as they feel that the artist herself has had a direct impact on the biography.


As this information is in fact for an American audience, there is a sense that the information provided is more informative in regards to the reasons behind each song, then there would have been on the UK site, as this version has, due to the fact Ellie is an English import to the music world in America, and so there would be a slightly larger interest in her.


Like the Fleetwood Mac biography, there is also a mass amount of more personal information all leading up to how Ellie became involved in the music business. However as Ellie is a newer and less established act that is still creating music, there isn't the sense within this biography that it is a history of the artist, like there is within the Fleetwood Mac one. This biography focuses more on the reasons why Ellie wanted to be a singer, rather than the ups and downs during her career.

In regards to the mode of address, the is a more informal approach that makes the reader feel more included, aided for example by the direct quotes from the artist herself. Ellie is still trying to gain fans and so by making her biography more informal and friendly then there is more chance of her bringing in more fans whilst also avoiding alienating her existing ones.


Link to the US official Ellie Goulding biography: http://us.elliegoulding.com/bio/default.aspx


In addition to her official sites, Ellie also has Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Youtube pages to name but a few, showing her to have also embraced digital technology as the newest way to provide information. These pages all appeal to the audience that Ellie has and so by promoting her music through these means, would hopefully create new fans. It seems that in today's society, it is the use of technology that aids the creation of new fans, just as much as the music itself.




Link to Ellie Goulding's official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/elliegoulding
Link to Ellie Goulding's official Cherrytree Blog:http://www.cherrytreerecords.com/profiles/blog/list?user=0522kzyf5j4ux

Analysis of biographies: Fleetwood Mac

As this band is an older and more established group, the biography is written in such a way that it reflects the more sophisticated aspect of the band whilst also appealing to the true fans of the group.

The content provided is very informative, giving very specific detail as to the ins and outs of the forever evolving band, including information regarding each member’s solo attempts. This information would be sought after by the Fleetwood Mac fans, both the present day fans that like
classic rock and those who were fans from the very beginning. In this respect, the biography would have to be informative for a number of reasons. Firstly this sort of information wouldn’t have been present with the easy access that it is present nowadays with the use of Internet and other forms of media. Additionally, as the band is no longer formed, a history of the band will be desirable for those who were original fans of the group for a more nostalgic feel.

In regards to the mode of address, the language used reflects the audience that would want to read this, whilst also engaging the reader in such a way that they feel the need to continue reading. Although not creating this idea that the reader and content are in the position of 'friends', as this is a convention that is predominant in younger and different genres, the article does present this sort of established position of informative. In essence this is the reason why the article is there, it is not to gain a larger audience, but to inform the existing on the history of the band they have a passion for.

Link to the official bands biography: http://www.fleetwoodmac.com/content/band-bio

Additionally, the band also possess a Facebook, Twitter and MySpace page, embracing the age of digital technology, whilst also encouraging younger people to become fans of the band. For me, this is quite surprising as I believed that as they are no longer producing music as a band, they would not have created these pages as there was little need for them. However, it seems that in this day and age, even disbanded groups follow the digitally technological crave in order to re-promote their old music as well as their new solo stuff. Yet, in regards to these pages, it has to be considered if they are really created by the group or by fans impersonating them.

Link to the official MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/fleetwoodmacworld

Link to the official Twitter page: http://twitter.com/#!/nickslive

Link to the official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/FleetwoodMac

Reflective analysis: Analysis of music video's and album covers

After analysing both music videos linked to my initial idea and the album covers to promote this, I have established that although using a classic soft rock song as my basis, in order to achieve a video such as the 'Your Song' video, in the terms of the natural and normal feel that the video produces and the artist is promoted by, I would need to convey to some of the pop video conventions. However, my video will have to include the rock video conventions as seen in both 'Little Lies' and 'Call Me'. Realistically, the video 'Call Me' is the best one to convey this idea as the video although being classified as rock, it does include some of the conventions of a pop video, allowing it to attract an audience across a larger area, hence making more money for the artist and label. In addition to this, I chose to use an older song that could be re-established for today's audience, like that of 'Your Song' which was originally a song by Elton John, yet was re-established for current society.

In regards to the album cover, the same sort of terms would apply. However, as both the 'Rumours' and 'Your Song' album covers are relatively similar, it wouldn't be too difficult to bridge the gap between classic rock and pop. At this present moment in time, I would want an image that also reflects the music video that I would have created, like the second album cover of 'Your Song' and so I would follow that sort of line.

Home Videos

The concept of a home video is one that has been with society from the 1980s with the introduction of the Sony Betamovie BMC-100p for consumer consumption in 1982. As technology has advanced, so has the size and quality of the camcorder to eventually lead to present day where video cameras are present in mobile phones, making them more accessible for the public.

However, home videos provide a chance to record history and therefore have a strong nostalgic feel to them. The ability to record important moments and later reflect on them has to be one of the strongest reasons as to the popularity of home recording. The nostalgia that is created is therefore a major influence within my own music video.

Additionally, many videos and adverts use this concept of a 'home video' in their own work. Ellie Goulding's 'Your Song' is one example however others such as Paul Weller's 'You Do Something To Me' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM1rSTOs7Zs&ob=av2n), Lana Del Ray's 'Video Games' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE6wxDqdOV0&ob=av2e) and the advert for L'Eau de Chloe fragrance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3z-AXuB2Pg&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLCE3D3FB4892C594B) also include many shots which the feel of being part of a home video. The slightly grainy and shaky feel to these shots are indicators as to this quality, whilst it enhances the sense of voyeurism within the video.

(Examples of the concept of video within three extracts)

Your Song Album Cover analysis

As this song is the biggest influence on my video, it seems right that I analyse the album cover as well.

This was the album cover that was released with the song. It has quite a polished feel to it, that slightly contradicts with the video, however links with the cover for the album 'Lights' which this song comes from, as they are both very similar.

The use of gold and yellow within this cover, indicate this polished feel and give Ellie a more high profile image, that isn't seen particularly within the video, yet this is the image given on the 'Lights' album cover.

Many similar features are on this cover, as they are on the 'Lights' one, such as the light spots that are present and the use of almost lit font.

However, another album cover was also used, one which is more reflective of the video. This cover has the some sort of 'home' feel to it as the video does, with the same sort of colours and effects. It has a more natural feel it, something which was conveyed within the video itself. By having the colours slightly washed out as they are, also indicates this sense of natural. Even the fonts used, reflect the image Ellie created in the video.