A2 MEDIA STUDIES - GRACE SUITER
Magazine Advert Research
Magazine Adverts are popular methods of advertising for an artist because thousands of people buy magazines and if the advert is put in the correct magazine for its niche or mass audience, the potential audience will defintely see the artists new album. The information provided in the advert is typically quite minimalistic, however only the necessary information is provided to ensure that the audience pick up the most important detail because they do not usually spend masses of time looking at the adverts. Audiences generally flick over the adverts and that's why bold typography is generally used and a large image of the artists face is normally used. Additionally release dates are also normally broadcasted to ensure that the audience is aware of when the CD goes on sale.
LANA DEL REY
31ST OCTOBER 2015
Lana Del Rey's magazine advert is advertising her upcoming album 'Born to Die.' The mid shot of the artist begins just above her waist and shows the rest of the top of her body. The mid shot of the artist also consumes around half of the magazine advert and this allows the audience to quickly identify whether they want to scan the advert or whether to just skip along. The artist is also directly addressing her audience because she is directly looking down the camera and this creates a personal relationship between the audience and the artist; making the audience feel as though they personally know Lana. The mid shot is also on a slightly low angle and this makes the artist look taller, creating a superiority of herself. This makes the audience respect her because she seems authorative and they therefore feel obliged to buy her new album. The background of the midshot looks like a natural, scenic shot with tree tops and the sky, as though she is in the sky. This amplifies the album title, Born to Die, because when you die, it is believed by Christians that you go up into the sky into heaven and this shot is a tenuous link to that belief. It is very effective because it is very peaceful and relaxing and is atypical to many representations of death. The background is also blurred and out of focus and this automatically shifts the focus of the advert to the artist, instead of what is going on around her. The line of vision is very clear for this particular magazine advert; the artists name 'LANA DEL REY' is in a white, upper case, sans serif font at the top of the magazine advert and occupies around 1/3 of the advert. This makes it clear to the audience that the advert is for Lana Del Rey and if they are a fan of her music, they are more than likely to look. The mid shot of the artist is the second element that the audience looks at and they then look at the bottom of the magazine advert. 'Born to Die' is in a blue, upper case, sans serif font and this stands out against the white
background that the typography is positioned in front of. Just below this, there is a thin blue line, which sperates the sans serif font font from the serif font. Below the thin blue line, there is a thinner, blue, serif, lower case font and this typography is telling the audience the release date of the album and other songs, which will be included on the album. Additionally there is a blue, sans serif piece of text which is in upper case and is the website address for the artist. This typography is considerably smaller than the remainder of text and this highlights it isn't that important, but is an internet forum whereby the audience can find any other information out. thinner, blue, serif, lower case font and this typography is telling the audience the release date of the album and other songs, which will be included on the album. Additionally there is a a blue, sans serif pieve of text which is in upper case and is the website address for the artist. This typography is considerably smaller than the remainder of text and this highlights it isn't that important, but is an internet forum whereby the audience can find any other information out. In the two bottom corners, there are two logos and one is for the forum you can purchase the album and the other is the record label that Lana Del Rey is signed to.
The house style for the magazine advert is blue and white and these two colours are very pure. White has the connotations of innocence, purity and perfection. Similarly, light blue has the connotations of understanding, softness and health. Both of these colours have connotations, which amplify the meaning and name of the album. The connotation of purity and innocence denotes to the audience that they are personal qualities that the artist has and these are likeable qualities that will make the audience like her. Similarly, the connotations of understanding and softness suggests that the artist has developed her understanding of life and death and has a calming and relaxed demeanour towards her beliefs. There is dead space surrounding the left and right side of her head and shoulders and this makes her look strong, independent and superior, especially with the use of the slight low angle shot. The NVC of the artist is very serious and the low key lighting around her eyes creates a darkness, which is implicit for the audience and hides the emotion which the audience can normally identify from the eyes. This makes the artist seem mysterious and the audience therefore want to listen to her album to discover her emotions and feelings.
Lana Del Rey also supports Richard Dyer's star theory because she is presented as both ordinary and extraordinary like Dyer's paradox suggests. She is seen as ordinary in the way she dresses for the magazine advert; she looks casual yet sophisticated and this is how many women aim to dress. On the other hand she is seen as extraordinary because her 'Album is out 30th January' and this isn't something ordinary people experience. However, the audience accept that she is successful for her musical talent and appreciate her for dressing like an ordinary person because this allows them to find personal identity within the artist. This creates likability for the audience because they are not seen as untouchable or superior, eventhough they are celebrities. Additionally, Lana also supports a few of Dyer's common values and they are youthfulness, rebellion and anti-authoritarian attitude. By having these common values, she is seen as ordinary as well as role model for the younger generation because they are values embedded in many people. Lana Del Rey also has particular iconic features, which make her stand out and recognisable to the audience. She has winged eyeliner, bold lips, blushed cheeks and big hair, but all four of these features are styles together and have been created to make Lana's iconography sophisticated but slightly 70's chic.
LORDE
2ND NOVEMBER 2015
Lorde's magazine advert is mainly a grey/black, grainy background with text and one main image in the centre. The grainy background has quite a sophisticated yet dull appearance and these two connotations of the colour equal each other out, so it's just casual. However the background also exaggerates the name of the tour 'Pure Heroine' as though it is an after effect of taking drugs, blacking out. This is effective and supports Dyer's common values because she is now presented as having values including rebellion, consumption of drugs and sex and an anti-authoritarian attitude and these values make her look ruthless and rebellious. Right in the centre of the advert there is a close up of the artist and eventhough the close up doesn't take up half of the advert like Lana Del Rey's, it still has an eye catching element to it due to the paleness of her skin, which looks as white as a sheet, against the dark background. The two contrasting colours allows the close up to look effective and stand out without occupying the majority of the advert and this suggests to the audience that Lorde isn't as confident as some other artists. This would explain the smaller image of herself, which is shown on the advert. Contrastingly, she wears a fish-net looking top, which allows her skin to show through and this is seen as slightly sexualised, however she still has the top right up to her kneck and this means that only her kneck and face is fully on show. This highlights the fact that Lorde is only an 18 year old who is new to the music industry and doesn't want her appearance to be the reason people come and see her, she wants her music to be priority. The editing technique of putting the spotlight on Lorde prioritises her but makes her look vulnerable at the same time due to the implicit view of her surroundings. This suggests to the audience that she is a quiet and shy
person but when the spotlights on her, she becomes a confident musician. She therefore slightly supports Dyers common value of sexual magnetism because she hinting at being sexualised but it still covered up, this makes her seem mature for her age even though she still has youthfulness, which is another of Dyer's common values. There is dead space either side of the artists head and this exaggerates her independence and power she has as a solo female artist and that's an important message to portray in the 21st century. Her NVC is quite serious but also looks moody and emotional. This shows that she takes her musical career seriously but still has her youthful qualities and the audience find personal identity in these qualities and it's therefore important for them to be portrayed. By personal identity being recognised, the audience feel as though they can relate to the artists music and therefore want to go and see the artist live so see the person they've seen on posters. The line of vision is stereotypical for this magazine advert because the artists name and tour name is located at the top, the close up is located in the centre and the numerous tour dates are located at the bottom. The line of vision is effective because it is proven that an audience looks at something on a page in a 'Z' formation, therefore by prioritising information in reality to this formation is effective. Lorde is a fairly recent artist and is up and coming but she has already established some inconography; she always has really dark lips, whether it be deep reds or purples or black and against her really pale skin, this makes her lips stand out. This makes her easy to identify in the music world. The low key lighting used allows the dark lips and pale skin to be emphasised and her features look very defined, making her look like a natural beauty. There is also a firey looking light coming from behind Lorde's head but it is hardly visible and this makes her look as though she is keeping the fire behind her.
The artists name and name of the tour is located at the top of the magazine advert and is in an upper case, blod, sans serif font and the white lettering stands out against the dark background. Both the white and black are slightly grainy and this gives the advert a washed out sort of look, suggesting her music is slightly older themed. Just above this writing in a gold, sans serif, upper case typography, the presenters of the concert are shown and the major difference is size between the two seperate pieces of text highlights the importance of Lorde. As you go down the advert, there is then the close up of Lorde and just below this there is another piece of gold, upper case, sans serif typography, which stands out against the remaining white lettering. This makes the fact that it is the Australian Tour stand out and emphasises its importance. Below this, the white upper case, sans serif typing tells the audience the dates and location for the particular tour date and the kerning for this particular text is quite spacious and there is a fair bit of space between the different nights. This makes each date stand out and easy for the audience to identify which date they could make. I quite like the look of the spacious kerning because it makes each line stand out and easy to identify instead of all the text being squished together.
THE KILLERS
5TH NOVEMBER
MUMFORD AND SONS
19TH NOVEMBER 2015
KATE NASH
NOVEMBER 26TH 2015
The Mumford and Sons magazine advert is quite simplistic due to the use of darker colours and a lack of camera angles, but it is one of my favourite magazine adverts. I love the four individual mid-shots of the artists because it is giving them all equal importance by the blocking being equal and all the artists getting the same publicity. All of the individual images have a sepia looking filter over them and this gives the old-fashioned effect, which supports the indie and folk style music that Mumford and Sons produce. The low key lighting combined with the slight over-lapping images creates quite an implict image because we can see the artists all individually, but not really clearly and so there is still an element of mystery and enigma to the band. I think this is a convention that we should use when creating our magazine advert because it creates mystery and intrigues the audience because they want to know what the album will sound like and what the songs will be written about. The low key lighting and dark colours are also used in Lorde's magazine advert. The black background is very professional for magazine adverts because it is quite a universal colour that will go with anything and this is the same with the colours white and grey. This can also be seen on Lorde's, Florence and the Machines and The Killers. I think we should use this stereotypical convention because it looks effective and eye catching due to its simplistic
but professional look and other successful artists use this house style. The typography is all an off-white, upper case, serif font and this again looks professional because everything fits the house style and no text looks out of place. When we create our magazine advert I think we need to establish out house style and then keep to all of the colours we use, instead of just using any. Currently, the most popular colour for the typography is white because most of the backgrounds are either black or quite bright and therefore the white stands out against them all. However, if we use quite high key lighting, we may need to re-consider the text colour we use because white and high key lighting will just mix into one and neither will be clear. 'MUMFORD & SONS' is the largest piece of text and is directly at the top of the magazine advert in a bold font style, with 'SIGH NO MORE' directly below it, without the bold font style added. This places emphasis on the artists name and this may be for promotional purposes because it was their first album they were releasing and therefore they needed to advertise themselves as well as the album itself because they were new and up-coming. The four individual mid shots are next in order on the advert and then below this is a quote from NME who are widely respected in the music world and would therefore have major influence over potential customers and their inclination to purchase the album. The only text on the whole album that isn't upper case or in the same font style is 'including' which looks like french script and as though someone has written it personally. This creates a personal relationship between the audience and the artist because hand-writing something is a skill that most people can do and therefore creates a friendly and approachable feel for the album. Tripling is used below 'including' because three songs from the album are below and these are songs that the audience may know, creating familiarity and suggesting that if they like those songs, they'll like the rest of the album. I think the idea of tripling is really effective because it is creating an inference that the audience will like the whole album based on the three songs and I therefore think, when we create our advert we should do this because it looks really effective and professional whilst advertising songs at the same time.
The Killers magazine advert is really original compared to many other indie genre adverts. The house style is mainly whites and blacks with the background using colours including purples and oranges as well as the house style colours. The only other creative advert I have seen is the Coldplay, Myloxyloto advert, which I am going to analyse next. The creativity allows them to stand out and catch the audiences attention because they are original and intrigue customers. There is also no camera shot and this is atypical but is quite effective because it highlights that the artists want their music to be at the forefront of their career, as opposed to their good looks, which is quite a rarity in todays music industry. I think this is really effective, especially for singer/songwriters who write their own music and play their own musical instruments because the adverts and digipacks are generally really creative too and it all adds to their originality. I would like to use this style for our magazine advert, however I think that using an actual photgraphed image would suit our genre better because if we use the right costume, setting and NVC, we could create personal relationships between the audience and the artist due to the nature of the artists music. Nonetheless, the desert landscape is the background to the magazine advert and is quite enigmatic due to the vulnerability of a
desert location. The top of the advert is quite bright and the bottom is quite dark and the use of contrasting lighting suggests that the album has both uplifting and sad songs. The Killers Logo is a stereotypical convention of all their advertising mediums because it creates familiarity for the audience and we therefore need to keep our artists logo the same on both the digipack and the magazine advert. setting and NVC, we could create personal relationships between the audience and the artist due to the nature of the artists music. Nonetheless, the desert landscape is the background to the magazine advert and is quite enigmatic due to the vulnerability of a desert location. The top of the advert is quite bright and the bottom is quite dark and the use of contrasting lighting suggests that the album has both uplifting and sad songs. The Killers Logo is a stereotypical convention of all their advertising mediums because it creates familiarity for the audience and we therefore need to keep our artists logo the same on both the digipack and the magazine advert. Overall, from analysing this magazine advert I have decided that if we create a logo for the artists name, it needs to be universal in order for it to easily be transferred amongst different adverts and digipacks for the audiences familiarity. Additionally, the house style needs to remain the same throughout in order for the advertisement to look professional.
Kate Nash's magazine advert is very unusual but eye catching, but on the other hand is my least favourite advert I've analysed. I think it looks really childish and immature and doesn't really target an older audience. Nonetheless, all of the text is gramatically correct with capital letters to start the words and none of the text is all upper case or lower case. The serif font is for the artists name and the albums name and this is all white, along with the remainder of text, keeping the house style continuous throughout the advert. 'Kate Nash' is the largest piece of text and this was necessary for the artist because she was up and coming and needed to market herself, as well as her album. In terms of blocking, the album name is directly at the top of the advert but in a smaller font size. I think it looks quite immature due to the title saying 'by' because it reminds me of a childs school project; therefore as a group we should not use that terminology. The remainder of the text is in a sans serif font and this includes; the release date, popular song Foundations which is featured on the album and a NME review and this is all more important information that requires an easy font style to read. This is quite a sensible idea, however it adds to the
blandness of the advert. The background is a dark blue with a yellow house and unicorn bushes which has the intention of looking perfect and magical when in actual fact it looks quite immature and childish. But the house itself links to the song 'foundations' which is featured on the album. There is also an extreme long shot of the artist which makes it quite implicit and creates mystery for the audience because she is unknown and this is similar to the Mumford and Sons album that I also analysed. Overall, I don't really like this advert because it is a combination of many different styles and all looks quite untidy and unprofessional and therefore I want to ensure our advert doesn't look anything like this.
MARINA & THE DIAMONDS
THE FAMILY JEWELS
NOVEMBER 27TH 2015
Marina and the Diamonds and The Family Jewels is all written in a serif font and the text type looks as though it has been painted on and looks quite freehand, highlighting the indie genre. The house style is baby pink and cream and these are typically female and girly colours and suggests to the audience that the abum is targeted at a female audience and not really male. There is a close up of the artist looking down the camera with her head laying down and this camera angle/shot is atypical because normally the close up is straight on to the audience. I think when we make our magazine advert we should defintely have the close up, mid shot or long shot directly facing the audience on a straight angle because I think it looks really professional and less audacious because our artist is quite admirable and innocent as opposed to being sexualised like many other artists. Her NVC is also quite sexual and seductive and these are not qualities that our artist promotes and it would therefore be atypical for us to create a magazine advert with provogative characteristics. The bottom of the advert is promoting three songs that
the audience may already know as well as promoting a new one and this suggests to the audience that its a song never heard before, which is very intriguing and may encourage customers to buy the album. The convention of promoting a few songs that audiences may know is quite popular and has also been done by Kate Nash, Mumford and Sons and Coldplay and is therefore a convention that we should abide by. i think it would be really effective, especially because Lauren Aquilina is a relatively new and up and coming artist, promoting herself as well as her music would be really important. The advert itself looks quite old fashioned and reminds me of a 1950's/1960's/1970's style magazine advert, which is really original because it suggests that her music may appeal to an older audience even-though at first glance it seems appealing to a niche audience of young females. The lighting seems fairly natural even-though it is quite low key and this again adds to the minorly sexualised NVC of the artist because she isn't revealing anything, but she's laying on her back and looks seductive. I don't think this NVC would be appropriate for our audience because our artist isn't sexualised and is more about her music and creativty than her sexual appeal. After looking at this advert, I would like the lighting on our magazine advert to be high key and for her NVC to be quite calm and approachable to make her appealing and relatable to younger women who are her main target audience.
ARCTIC MONKEYS
AM
27TH NOVEMBER 2015
The magazine itself is extremely simple but is really eye catching due to the appealing and professional looking house style of white and black. The plain black background allows the white typography and image across the middle to be projected and easily viewed. Arctic Monkeys is directly at the top of the magazine advert in a white, sans serif font, which is their stereotypical band logo and this creates familiarity for the audience they are appealing to. If Lauren Aquilina's EP's that have previously been released have a certain typography style, we could definitely consider using this if it looks appropriate and as a group we like it, otherwise we will choose something that we think would look appealing and fit the genre conventions of a stereotypical indie-pop magazine advert. There is then some blank space and directly in the middle of the advert is an equally distributed beat visual which is really symmetrical and links to the song, Do I wanna know, where the video is prodominantly the visual beat changing depending on the beat of the song. This looks quite effective because at first the symmetrical beat looks like
eyes which are quite explicit because we cannot see eye balls or any emotion and this creates mystery and enigma for the audience. There is then again blank space and then more text, which is considerably smaller than the 'Arctic Monkeys.' The album name 'AM' is inbetween 'New Album' and the release date which are even smaller pieces of text and so we can clearly identify the importance of the advert; which is promoting the band itself. All of the text is a white, sans serif font and this keeps the advert looking clear and tidy as well as professional. Therefore when we create our advert we need to identify a font style and colour we want to use throughout in order to keep our advert organised and eye-catching because otherwise it will look unprofessional. Coldplay and The Killers both had no image of the band either and this suggests that they want their music to be the main focus instead of their personal appearance.
ELLIE GOULDING
LIGHTS
27TH NOVEMBER 2015
Overall, I think that our magazine advert should include the artists name in a slightly larger font compared to the album name because in theory it would be her first released album because she generally releases EP's instead. This is a stereotypical convention for many first-release albums including Mumford and Sons and Ellie Goulding. Therefore if we do this we will be using stereotypical codes and conventions of a indie magazine advert. Similarly, we should establish a house style, which we will use throughout our magazine advert, but also attempt to use on our digipak to ensure our synergy is effective and professional. I also think a close up is required and 'Lovers or Liars' needs to be the song on the front to be promoted because then we can use our idea of having one side of the models face bruised and cut, and the other happy and smiling to amplify the song 'Lovers or Liars.' We believe this should look quite effective, especially if we use low key lighting on the sad side of the face and high key lighting on the happy side.