Digipak Draft

Magazine Advert

Indie magazine advert conventions

Our artist is a solo male indie artist. Here is a list of conventions that magazine adverts representing similar artist to our artist show.

• For solo indie artists it is typical to see the artist being the main focus of magazine ad. This promotes them as well as their album because their individuality is the main selling point of their music. The artist takes up the majority of the space in the photo, a medium shot is most common.
• The artists name is the largest text on the page to advertise the artist.
• Distribution outlets are listed at the bottom of the advert.
• Information about the album - the date it's released.
• Album name is obvious to see, generally being the 2nd largest text, after the artists name, to help consumers purchase the album
• The image on the advert is usually very similar to the image on the front of the album. Sometimes if the image is different on the magazine advert  small image of the album will appear on the advert. This is to help the consumer recognise the album, making it easier to purchase.
• Quotes from critics will be printed on the advert. Sometimes these are accompanied with star to show the rating.
• The mise-en-scene of the advert is used to reflect the lifestyle of the artist. In indie adverts, the background of the artist is shown or a representation of what their life is like now.

Analysis of album art - Jake Bugg

This is the album art of Jake Buggs album, Two Fingers. He is a young solo indie artist and similar to the artist we are trying to create. The image features the artist and his figure dominates image. It is a medium shot with a slight angle which creates a low shot. The mise en scene used shows the artists lifestyle and cultural background to create an identity. The narrow, empty street with terraced housing in the background creates a working class feel. the use of black and white ad to this theme. This helps him attract a working class audience by appealing to them. The guitar in he shot shows his attachment to music. This is common for many indie artists as they believe that the music should come above everything else that comes with being a musician. The text is relatively simple. The bold, block capitals clearly show the name of the artist and the album title. The black and white colours of the text fits with the black and white image to maintain consistency. The simple costume, black jeans and black jacket again keep the colour scheme consistent. The costume stays away from brands and mainstream fashion codes to help establish the indie nature of the artist. The simplistic editing of the image adheres to indie conventions. There I a link with this album art and some of the music videos. the song which shares the same name as the album has a video is which the mise en scene is similar. The streets and costume feature in the video. This consistency helps create the artists identity and makes him more recognisable to the audience. The shot has been arranged so that we can see all the way down the street. This makes the image more interesting to look at because the image has depth.

Problems involving actors

Our main actor has been enthusiastic for the project ever since we have asked him if he wanted to play the role however, finding other actors has proved to be a challenge. When we thought we had an actress ready and we had organised a time and location to shoot, it turned out that our actress was no longer willing to act. We eventually found an actress willing to play the role but her availability was limited. This required me, as director, to fill the cinematography role as at the only time when both actors were available, it was only me who could film. By adapting to the situation we have managed to film all the shots needed in the park location.