A2 Media Production: G324
Magazine Advertisements
Front Cover Advertisements
A lot of magazine advertisements to do with music are on the front or back page. The back page is a very important page because it is seen a lot when the magazine is thrown down on a surface and it lands with the back page facing up. Of course the front page is even more important as the audience immediately see it in the shop. Due to this I will consider creating a magazine advertisement for either the front or back page.
The advertisement must be on a magazine whereby the audience will be interested in this type of music. For example, rock music would be advertised in Kerrang! which is a magazine directly made for rock music, however, soul is a popular music genre that my group and I have chosen a song from, so I could make the advertisement for any popular magazine that targets the wider, mainstream audience.
Billboard and Q magazine are both music magazines which target the mainstream, popular music genres such as pop and soul, these are both magaiznes that I would be interested in creating an advertisement for to show the release of James Bay's new music video release that I am creating with my group.
A convention of music magazines is that the artist is never seen pictured relating to a recent song/music video release and so I will need to follow this convention in order to create a successful magazine advertisement. As well as this the typography is written in either black or white (or red in the case of Q magazine), this is in order for it to stand out on the page and catch the attention of the audience.
I want my magazine to draw people in, because of this I will use a simple but bold and attention-grabbing colour. The majority of the shots of the artist are medium shots, focussing fully on the artist and wasting no space on the magazine front cover to show the artist to their full; I think the image must be a close up in order for the audience to connect with the artist and gain a person relationship according to the uses and gratifications theory.
Conventions
Inside Page Advertisements
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The theme of black and white is something that I am inspired by. If the outcome of the music video is with the entirety of it being in black and white then I will definitely continue the theme onto the magazine advertisement
There is not a lot of text on this magazine advertisement which I am not inspired by as I aim to include more text than this. The larger image is inspirational as the artist fully connects with the audience and 'looks them in the eyes'
I like how the magazine is spread over two pages and it clear by having the image spread across rather than the text on one side and the image on the other
I like how this image is from James Bay playing at a gig. I will take photographs of our actor when he plays the guitar to ensure that I have options of which image to use
I like how this magazine advertisement works on one page. The size of the image hasn't suffered as the text works around it. This is definitely an idea to take into consideration
I like how it is clear that the focus of the image is on James Bay and how the other people in the image have been blurred, however, I would prefer to keep the image relatively simple
I do not like how the text does not continue to the bottom of the page as it looks unfinished
I like the angle that this photograph has been shot from - a high angle. The artist is made to look small and even smaller because he is sat down - he looks vulnerable. If I passed a message across in my photo I would link it to the text
I like how Bay's guitar is used in the photograph as is shows the readers of the magazine who do not recognise him that he is in the music industry, this could capture their attention
I have noticed that with all magazine advertisements for James Bay that they are all simple - I think this is because his music is soul/alternative. He is not an artist who aims to please everyone and conform such as a pop artist such as Olly Murs who would have bright colours and lots of text with a picture of him smiling, addressing the audience.
This image has been heavily edited in postproduction. I have not been inspired by this because the album I will be advertising in the magazine is 'earthy' and slow, an album that should be able to connect to the audience, therefore I would like continuity between the album, magazine advertisment, digipak and music video.
I like how the image fades into the block colour background at the bottom of he advertisement. However, I think this only looks successful due to the code of dress of the artist. I do not want to use this feature on my magazine advertisment but it does make the text stand out more and become a lot more eyecatching.
A contrast between the image and the background of the text which is a block colour - white - is a big contrast. The white background attracts more of the audiences' attention. The text that the audience is drawn to has information about the hit singles within the album being released. I would like to have a lot of attention upon the release of the album, however I feel uninspired by such a large colour contrast which makes the image look dull and unexciting.
The artist is not facing the camera and therefore not adderessing the audeince directly. This suggests the artist's name is able to sell teh album without the face which reinforces her fame. I would prefer a balance whereby the artist is partially focussing her attention towards the audience but I am inspired by the success of the shot.
This magazine advertisment is unconventional because it has alterating typographies. However, the typography of the name - Florence + the Machine - is her well known typography that is used throughout her own publicity.
I particually like how there is no segmentation between the image and the important information at the bottom of the advert such as the title and release date. I would like to use this magazine advertisement as inspiration due to how professional it looks without a block colour background.
I like the colour pallet of this magazine advertisement because the colours are pastel colours which makes them bright but they do not stand out too much - a subtle burst of colour.
I want my magazine advertisement to stand out but not be too offencive and therefore I will be taking inspiration from this advertisement to influence my own creation.
Conventions Of James Bay Magazine Advertisements
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Dark colours - this outlines James Bay's character and the mood he is passing across in his music as his songs can be quite emotional (dark colours connote sad emotions). I will dress the actor in dark colours to reinforce the personality of the artist he is playing, as well as this I will consider using a black and white filter on the picture
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Minimal text - the focus is on the artist rather that the text to accompany the picture. As well as this, Bay's target audience is relatively young - teenages/young adults - who do not want to read a lot of text and would rather flick through a magazine, looking at images. I will try to include a little more text than what some of the magazines have, although I will ensure that the main focus is on the artist
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A large image - this inforces personal relationships which is part of the uses and gratifications theory. It therefore allows the audience to connect with the artist and begin to know nad understand his character boyond his music (more personally). I will definitely stick to this convention as I think it is incredibly important that the artist is shown in a large picture and that the audience are able to connect with him
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Often including his guitar - this shows that he is a musician so that those who purchase the magazine but do not know of James Bay will be drawn to the article about him due to knowing he is in the music industry. I will take pictures of the actor both with and without a guitar by his side and decide upon which is the best photograph becuase I have been inspired by the magazine images with Bay holding guitar, however, I do not think that it is essential