Task One

In what ways do your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions or real media products?

Well known theorist ‘Richard Dyer’ states that the star image of an artist is created from a range of materials. He has written extensively about the role of stars in film, TV and music. We constructed our star image from a pop promo, a digi-pack and an poster for a magazine. Key unique qualities of our star image were constructed using various technical codes and conventions of the genre. We chose country and western genre and we sought to construct a star who symbolized some aspects of a traditional country and western star. The term ‘star’ refers to the semi-mythological set of meaning constructed around music performers in order to sell the performer to a large and loyal audience. Furthermore, Some common values of Music stardom are Originality, Creativity/talent and Youthfulness. We have created an audience by using these common values. Through the use of the five technical areas of Camera, Editing, Mise en scene, sound and SPFX we have establish a star image. In our pop video we shot our artist often from low to high establishing a ‘hero’ shot making him important and creating an audiences aspiration to be like him. In addition through the use of diegetic gaze the audience can see and understand our artist without fully ever knowing him, making the audience want more from him but never fully getting him, drawing the audience into his world.

Fundamentally, the star image is incoherent, that is incomplete and ‘open’. Dyer says that this is because it is based upon two key paradoxes; star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer. Secondly the star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer. The incoherence of the star image ensures that audiences continually strive to ‘complete’ or to ‘make sense’ of the image. This is achieved by continued consumption of the star through their products. In the music industry, performance seems to promise the completion of the image, but it is always ultimately unsatisfying. This means that fans will go away determined to continue consuming the star in order to carry on attempting to complete their image. Our star image is furthermore created through the use of mise en scene, including prop, location, costume and lighting. Our Pop Video was shot as the location of Battersea Power Station which is derelict and without hope, due to the fact that it used to be used and important but is now alone and rotting. This is reflected in our Artists performance he was once full of life which is represented by the natural sunlight surrounding him in the video however, but is now alone due to the loss of his girlfriend, which essentially has left him without hope for the his life and therefore music, as she was his muse. This is furthermore shown by how when he finds her lying there dead the lighting is very dark and subdued. This complies with the normal country and western star image as is often involves love and despair. We have furthermore followed the star image of a country western star by using a leather jacket and a guitar on our artist. However, we have modernised this star image and thus created a new star image which country and western audience and others can relate to and enjoy. The star image can be used to position the consumer in relation to dominant social values (that is hegemony). Depending upon the artist, this may mean that the audience are positioned against the mainstream (though only to a limited degree, since they are still consumers within a capitalist system) or within the mainstream, or somewhere in between.
In order to follow and subvert these conventions we need to establish and understanding and to learn them to be able to use them within the narrative. Negus explains them…

• The explicit and unashamed promotion of the artist’s “image” as a specific product with a brand identity, ready for mass consumption.

• The featuring of the artist

• A wide and extensive use of shot types, camera angles and movement. Repetition of reoccurring thematic elements and generically specific iconography.

• A possible narrative structure.

• A possible performance element

• Use of special effects

• A carefully constructed Mise en Scene appropriate to the content and tone of the track
We have used many real life example to promote our star's image, and have complied with the new subverting country and western image in oder to establish a different yet still within the genre, brand image for our artist. However, we have not conformed to the mass audience as our target audience is a smaller well educated specific set of people. This will lead brand consumption and future following of the artists progression. The generic conventions that signify and genre and signal to audiences that their expectations will be met or reinforces their knowledge or different genres and products so that they can make a purchasing choice. Another element with are the ingredients which form a promise of expectation for the audience. The audiences expect a direct address to become closer with the singer and establish a relationship between the two. However, by having a unique direct address our audience are being drawn into his world but the USP is the fact that the world they are being drawn into is lonely and depressing. Showing that the star is promising to understand his audiences pain and therefore meeting their expectations to a certain extent. Furthermore, our extensive use of shots and jump cuts with our editing technique gives the audience a sense of excitement and keeps them entertained and watching. In addition the feel of a country and western Video is quite subverted as it is often quite straight forward and filled with a clear story of love or heartbreak. Our video does not conform to this convention. Our star is walking around battersea power station without a clear reason to, other than the fact that it represents is uncertainty of life and it is symbolic for the path around life and how it can be repetitive. This is shown by the editing technique of recurring shots coming back and furthermore clouds going forwards and backwards showing the uncertainty of time, and how lost he is. The reason for his walking and wonderment is then comes apparent at the end as his lover or love interest is dead. This theme of love and death if conforming to the normal country and western conventions as this is often a theme is this genre of music.

Our digipack allows audiences to understand the brand of the bans. it is a way of attracting those targeted audience. The back cover represents his hollow ‘Black Heart’ and how love and music is such a large part of his life as well as his broken heart. This conforms to the country stereotype of music, especially country music being interlinked with love and passion. However, this stereotype is then subverted with the Poster, as although we are trying to convey the Country and Western feel with a very stereotypical leather jacket and guitar over the shoulder, it is subverted as in the background is then a derelict abandoned power station representing his dark soul filled with loneliness. In our music video we used lighting to portray the mood our actor was in and to create an overall feel of oppressiveness. This is also known as conspicuous lighting. In faithless’s video “Insomnia” the lighting cuts from dark to light which is what our music video does. In our music video we used lighting to portray the mood our actor was in and to create an overall feel of oppressiveness. A change from light to dark lighting is evident in the video and in our video we used both black and white as well as colour. This was obtained from looking at various music videos such as the music video ‘insomnia’.

Director's commentry

Task Four

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaltuation stages?

In this commentary, we will discuss how we used technology, why we used it and ultimately how we
made it creative. Moreover we are reflecting on the change and advancements from last year’s use of
technology to this years A2 product.

Beginning with the pre production and planning of our music video, we used search engines such as youtubes official websites and fan pages to get an idea of how to generally construct a successful music video and to inspire our own music video through the use of web 2.0 technologies. Furthermore we used my space, facebook and even twitter to research and develop our bands institutional context. We also used web 2.0 to contact the record company of the song we used by Calexico to ensure that the copyright and legal matters were all sorted out, this ensured we could put our music video onto you tube and blogger after we constructed it. We looked at other music videos to not only enhance our creativity but also to get a feel for the country and western genre, moreover we used feedback from fans as we didn’t want to make the same mistakes as other music videos that we looked at did. We looked at some of dolly partons work and that also enhanced our creativity as we did not want our music video to be that stereotypical of the country and western genre where as Keith urbans work was much more diverse and took the modern outlook on country and western, his videos on youtube and his fan pages inspired our unique and slightly edgy take on the country and western genre.

We also purchased all our props online including the second hand guitar from ebay and a cowboy hat that we decided not to use as we thought it would be conforming to the stereotypes of a country and western singer, as you can see we have moved away from this dressing our star in casual, very young and up to date clothing.

Our blogs this year are very much like a creative filter, last year our research on the internet was much broader, there was no limit set to us which led to us this year summarising what was significant and useful. We now use the internet much more precicesly and carefully and we have a defined idea on what information is helpful. This year we have used our blogs as a filter, last year was much less selective as to what exactly was needed on our blogs. Therefore we use technology in a much more mature way and we are learning how to be much more selective.

Another form of technology we used in the pre production was Photoshop, we used this programme on the computers to anticipate the image of what we wanted our star to look like, we looked at how we could manipulate images in preparation for the after affects. Final cut pro is a programme that we used when we constructed our story boards and turned it into an animatic, we transferred rushes into final cut pro onto a time line this helped us cut our final product and the track helped us revise and fintune our story board ideas.

Construction promo digi pack

First of all, in constructing our promo, digi pack and poster we used final cut pro, we captured images from the shoot for our digi pack and then put these images through Photoshop to edit and improve them, we used took stills and used one of the cameras from the shoot day.

During the shoot day we were lucky enough to use a sony hd camera this camera enables us to shoot 3times more material then we could have done last year, moreover this camera was digital and in the editing stage the shots where in order and much easier to organise in comparison to last year as we used a tape. The fact that there was more film available meant that we could be more creative with our shots and be a bit more experimental, the camera has allowed us to be more free with what we want to shoot as we simply have the space and time, this enhanced our creativity as we had so much choice, from side angles to low angles to high angles we could capture and develop our star from the availability and advancement of our technologies.

Post production

In final cut pro we used markers when we were editing our music video this helped us make significant changes to the beat of our song and rhythm instrumentation, it helped create pace in our edits.

In after effects we used desaturation of colour to create a more sinister atmosphere. Moreover we used jump cuts throughout our music video to emphasise the fact that we our breaking the country and western stereotypes and the jump cuts are used to connote fast pace modern times and a urban take that we used in the country and western genre. Moreover the cuts highlight his star image, they symbolise his issues and troubled mind, the jumps relate to his unstable disturbed sociological state, for an example , Shots of our star stroking his chin further stresses the idea that he is constantly in deep thought.

We used a juxtaposition in saturating our star to make him remain glowing and warm through the use of lighting, whereas the back ground is saturated to be cold and dark , this was done to ensure our star image remained positive and dazzling.

Another media effect we used was montage, this was heavily influenced by one of Russia’s most prominent filmmakers, sergie eisenstein, he was essentially the father of montage and our mode of address.

Our artist in many ways was singing about emotional tragedy we used the same stylistic ideas as eisenstein that convey the same ideas of tragedy. The constant dramatic flashes of lights were also copied by the infamous Russian film maker in our music video, the light creates a disconcerting or unsettling atmosphere that relates back to the idea of pain, nightmares and tragedy. All these after effects add texture to the viewing experience, which is engaging and therefore interesting to watch.

The final copy of commentry

In this commentary, we will discuss how we used technology, why we used it and ultimately how we made it creative. Moreover we are reflecting on the change and advancements from last year’s use of technology to this years A2 product.

The first thing we did was use search engines such as youtubes official websites and fan pages to get an idea of how to generally construct a successful music video and to inspire our own music video through the use of web 2.0 technologies. Furthermore we used my space, facebook and even twitter to research and develop our bands institutional context. We also used web 2.0 to contact the record company of the song we used by Calexico to ensure that the copyright and legal matters were all sorted out, this ensured we could put our music video onto you tube and blogger after we constructed it. We looked at other music videos to not only enhance our creativity but also to get a feel for the country and western genre, moreover we used feedback from fans as we didn’t want to make the same mistakes as other music videos that we looked at did.

In after effects we used desaturation of colour to create a more sinister atmosphere. Moreover we used jump cuts throughout our music video to emphasise the fact that we our breaking the country and western stereotypes and the jump cuts are used to connote his emotional disturbance and supports the star image of a man in touch with his dark side, this is also shown by the discolouration of his eyes suggesting that he is exhausted from the emotional strain. It also represents the fast pace of modern times and a urban take that we used in the country and western genre. Moreover the cuts highlight his star image, they symbolise his issues and troubled mind, the jumps relate to his unstable disturbed sociological state, for an example , Shots of our star stroking his chin further stresses the idea that he is constantly in deep thought.

We used a juxtaposition in saturating our star to make him remain glowing and warm through the use of lighting, whereas the back ground is saturated to be cold and dark , this was done to ensure our star image remained positive and dazzling. Another media effect we used was montage, this was heavily influenced by one of Russia’s most prominent filmmakers, sergie eisenstein, he was essentially the father of montage and our mode of address.

In final cut pro we used markers when we were editing our music video this helped us make significant changes to the beat of our song and rhythm instrumentation, it helped create pace in our edits. We also purchased all our props online including the second hand guitar from ebay and a cowboy hat that we decided not to use as we thought it would be conforming to the stereotypes of a country and western singer, as you can see we have moved away from this dressing our star in casual, very young and up to date clothing. This desaturated guitar is used to display his emotional turmoil.

During the shoot day we were lucky enough to use a sony hd camera this camera enables us to shoot 3times more material then we could have done last year, moreover this camera was digital and in the editing stage the shots where in order and much easier to organise in comparison to last year as we used a tape. The fact that there was more film available meant that we could be more creative with our shots and be a bit more experimental, the camera has allowed us to be more free with what we want to shoot as we simply have the space and time, this enhanced our creativity as we had so much choice, allowing us to cut and cross cut our footage. 

Editing Process

Unfortunately we are unable to show our product on this blog due to copyright however the product can be accessed through the Hurtwoodhousemedia log in on youtube. During the pre-production stage we made storyboards so we could have an idea of what the final project was going to become. After months of preparation, the shoot day and weeks of editing we finished the pop video. In our editing process we used Final Cut Pro which is a time line based system. We incorporated special effects in our work such as de saturation of colour, jump cuts, blurs etc. this was done through the programme Adobe after Effects. We considered using the technique of montage in our work and it proved to be extremely effective. This idea was inspired by one of Russia’s most prominent filmmakers, Sergie eisenstein, who was also known as the father of montage and our mode of address. Einstein’s work was closely examined as a guide for our own work. His work played an important role in our own work and gave us ideas that we are now pleased with as we look at the finished product. Another programme used in the editing process was a programme called Colour to de saturate the images, making them either darker or lighter. Colour is a programme which allows you to change the appearance for the images, for example you can change the hue and saturation as well as brightness and colour of your video. Using Colour can sometimes be a very length process though because instead of being able to apply settings to the whole video you have to edit it shot by shot.

From my own personal experience I found the process of editing difficult as I knew little about how to use the programme but with the help of Matt and Luke, it become easier to use. We begun the editing process as a group yet as time progressed we took alternate turns to edit as we all had different ideas as to how our video would be constructed and, ultimately, how the finished product would look. In order to hasten the process of editing we applied the shots to the time line for the whole length of the shot and then placed smaller shots over the top of this. Though most people would have followed their storyboards, we did not due to last minute changes. For our group, it was just a case of experimenting with what worked and what didn’t. After we had finished our draft, we showed it to one of the media teacher’s mat, who gave us advice on how to improve it. Mat helped a lot as it was difficult for us to criticise our own work and we needed his aid to steer us in the right direction, giving us tips on what looks bad and what looks good. In the process of editing one can either use continuity editing or discontinuity. Continuity editing is editing that usually follows a certain pattern or a cuts on the beat. Discontinuity editing is the opposite of this, can often come across as quiet random. We chose discontinuity editing for editing our own product. We wanted to reveal the unstable and unbalanced mind that our star had. Whilst editing we also looked at theorist Negus to help us apply editing conventions. We subverted Negus's conventions of short shots; we also used a wide and extensive use of shot types, camera movements and angels which fitted nicely with our theme. From this experience I now feel more confident with using programmes such as final cut pro and feel my techniques have adapted since last year to give me a more sophisticated outlook on editing.

Account of Shoot day

The day begun promptly with a run through of how the day would proceed and alterations that may be required. As a group, we planned the various shots and the order in which they would take place. We did so by looking at the storyboard and questioning which shots we would and wouldn’t incorporate in our days filming ahead. Shortly after this we left school and headed to London, having packed all the necessities for the day such as the camera, tripod, hard wear for Battersea etc. upon arrival at Battersea we were given an induction on using the site for the day, consisting of do’s and don’ts and what to watch for whilst on the site such as hazardous objects. We then met with our artist, Alex Pointer, and were given our hard wear for the site such as helmets, safety jackets and boots. Whilst doing this we were also introduced to our guards for the day who watched us whilst we filmed. This was a requirement on behalf of Battersea to avoid injury and trespassing. We started filming at 12pm with shots of Alex walking around the station looking full of remorse and unhappiness. Luckily the day was dry and clear so we were able to get more shots than we had been expecting. This proceeded for about 3 or 4 hours, with Alex slowly moving around the building. We told our artist we wanted shots of him approaching a guitar, the guitar is important as it shows the connotations of the genre for our music video. The filming then moved to the inside of the building where Alex was told to walk slowly down the hill by the entrance towards our other cast member, Lily Resta, who lay at the bottom of the hill. Her presence is left open for our audience’s own interpretation yet she is there to represent the reason behind Alex’s misery. Inside the building we made sure, with the help of media assistants Luke and Matt, that we captured parts of the building where decay and neglect was evident. This was also important as the decay of the building acts as a metaphor for Alex’s own abandonment. The inside of the building was dark and gloomy so it was perfect for our filming as we wanted to capture the sinister atmosphere. Once finished filming in the outside we moved back outside but to the south side to get any last shots we felt we had to get before packing up to head back to Hurtwood. This didn’t take long as we had most the shots we felt necessary for editing our product. We then took all the safety equipment back to the Battersea headquarters and thanked them for their help and time and headed back towards school. Though we had little time to film during the day, we were pleased with our progress and left Battersea with enough shots to make what we hope others will view as a well produced music video.

Task Three

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

through looking at theorists such as Roland Barthes our group discovered the importance of meeting audience expectations. For instance, an audience who enjoys the country western genre will expect all the connotations that come with listening to the genre such as cowboy hats, guitars and horses. The country western genre is predominantly aimed at Americans, from a specific area in America.

Blummer and Katz

These two theorists created the theory of ‘uses and gratifications’. We used their theory to asses our audience response. This is the theory in which they argue that audience responds to media texts in four ways.

1) The audience identify with the characters on the screen
Personal Identity, the ability to compare one’s life with the characters and situations within programmes and hence explore personal problems and perspectives. No matter from where or what class any audience member we have can also compare their life to the lives of the character’s on screen. We can even identify with the pain and heartache or even confusion as many people go through thee emotions in life.

2) Diversion
Blummer and Katz say that Diversion is the ability to get away or escape mentally from everyday realities. Blummer and Katz say that in order for a media text to be diverting it has to occupy the viewer for more than 70% of the time. Our target audience could defiantly see our video as something they could relate to therefore watching it takes them away from pressures of school, university, home, emotional stress and even the pains of heartache.

3) Personal Relationship: Blummer and Katz say that personal relationship is about the ability to be able to identify themselves with the characters within the media text.
4) Surveillance: The forth is Surveillance, a supply of information about “what’s going on” in the world.

Stuart Halls theory: Hall looked at 3 ways of encoding images…

* A preferred reading
* An aberrant reading
* A negotiated reading- where feedback group may come back with something that hadn’t been considered in the finished product (An area that could have been improved on).

What have you learned from your audience feed back?

To asses audience feedback we took data from various sources. Firstly, the promo was uploaded onto YouTube so audiences all over the world could easily access our product and write comments on the same page, like you tube we also used our online blogs on the Blogger site. . We also used a Focus Group and friends to answer a questionnaire. I tried to use open questions and a thorough discussion with all members of the focus group through out and realised this was a small scale trial of our pop video and ancillary products.

In terms of our target audience we aimed our product at both males and females. Men could potentially relate themselves to the artist who is portrayed as somewhat of an enigma however he is also conveyed as someone with real charcteristics, as he is not “glammed” up, therefore reducing his chances of becoming a threat to the male sex. Females may relate to the video in the sense that although our star shows realism he also shows a lot of sexual magnetism about him, he’s young and looks attractively rebellious. We hade to concider the age of our target audience and came to the conclusion that anything from 17 to late 20s would suit as we thought any younger and they may not be able to fully understand or appreciate the emotional message we are trying to reveal through our video. In terms of Jictar, we believed that are appropriate target audience was B C D and E these people fit into a minority of classes in society, our main audience are teenagers who are disenfranchised from the adult world, who feel somewhat isolated. Our audience are able to discover their identity for the first time and may relate to the artist as they have most likely encountered relationship issues that were serious for the first time. We chose these people, as they would probably be most likely to appreciate the artistic, modern, urbanised and emotional video that we produced.

Through the use of a Focus Group, we wanted to discover whether our target audience enjoyed and understood the message we were trying to put across, the narrative, the representation of the character and if they could identify with them, how our video could be improved and even if they liked the song we had chosen. At the beginning of our Focus Group session we wanted to address some main points and get some specific answers, so we showed the video and handed out this questionnaire done through the use of the website www.surveymonkey.com

1. Age?
2. Male or female?
3. Favorite music genre?
4. What other forms of media do you use to keep up to date with music?
5. What would you expect to be in a country and western pop video?
6. From the image shown, is the genre of country and western easily recognizable?
7. What type of people do you expect to watch/listen to country and western music?

Did this video stick to or subvert stereotypes about a country and western pop video?

There were a variety of reasons as to why we used a focus group instead of any other methods. One advantage of a focus group was, that people take your questions seriously and consider their answers and get some qualitative results. Secondly, with a questionnaire you have to wait for it to be filled out and then have to read through the information on it, where as the advantage of a focus group is that after asking the questions you get instant answers in return this is quicker, it also means you get an answer that is direct and too the point you don’t have to shift through vast amount of information that is most likely not reliable anyway. Finally, when you are in a focus group it is a face to face process, this allows you to not only see their emotions and reactions to your video but also means that you can start interesting discussions that relate to our pop video.. Are focus group gave us a good insight of how others see our video.

Furthermore, we wanted to check the following with our target audience:

* That decisions we made in the construction and planning were accurate.
* That we read our audience correctly
* That the star image was commercially successful and worth investing further
* That audiences would gain considerable value from the product
* That there was no misinterpretations of the image and messages we have created

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Task Two

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Through looking at Richard dyer’s theory of star image we have conveyed how elements of the star image are sold through our creative choices in our pop video, digi pack cover and poster. In addition, our group also looked closely at how the three products have worked together to sell the artist and where there may be some contradictions in the images created. A star image is constructed from a range of materials as Richard dyer points out “a star is an image, not a real person”. Dyer has written extensively about the role of stars in film, TV and music, he furthers the ideas of stars being created to sell an therefore go against realism when he says “stars are commodities produced and consumed on the strength of their meanings”. The star we have used in our music video shares many common values of music stardom. Our male singer is young, rebellious and may be seen as a sexual magnet in the eyes of many women. The song is rather aggressive and is original, creative and our singer shows much talent. The fact that our star is alone conforms to the country and western stereotypes of solitude however there is a major element of realism and authenticity in our pop promo as it’s not the typical glossy and positive atmosphere that is constructed in many other pop videos, this is our unique selling point. We have gone against the stereotypical ways of constructing a music video and have used a “naturalistic” approach to our artist and therefore the artist is given time to evolve and progress throughout their career however at the same time we made sure our star is attractive to our audience , as our star emotionally sensitive and is portrayed to be experienced for his age, because of his life crisis and heartache this is extremely attractive to teenage girls as I am sure many can relate to his painful experience. Richard dyer believes that “fundamentally, the star image is incoherent, that is incomplete and open”. He states that this is based on two key paradoxes. Firstly the star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary from the consumer and secondly must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumers. We have followed dyers ideology and have effectively made sure that the fans of our star will go away determined to continue consuming the star in order to carry on attempting to complete their image.

Image 1 is an image of the artist looking directly at the camera and reveals the direct address used in our music video. Although we incorporated little direct address in our product, the audience can still feel a connection between themselves and the artist (star) as it is as if he was singing directly to the audience or fans, trying to include them in his misery and isolation. Moreover our stars sexual magnetism and youth shines through, thus attracting the female target audience. This next image is of the opening shot of our music video. By showing the location we immediately break away from the country and western genre as the image reveals the urban, modern and industrialized setting as opposed to the traditional location usually including hay bales, horses and a barn. The opening shot instantly sets the mode of address and signifies key aspects of the star image. The majority of our music video’s rawness and originality came from the use of the location, Battersea power station. Our chosen location created a lot of emotion, thus an emotional metaphor was created through the dark and sinister landscape that sat in the heart of British culture in central London. Many people can relate to our pop video as most people are aware of battersea power station and know it is a building that represents neglect and abandonment.

Image 3 is used as juxtaposition from the darkness and urban decay to remind the audience that there are some positive aspects of star image. Moreover the glow and brightness of light reflected on our stars face and use of close up further emphasizes our stars quality and furthers the idea that our star is an anecdote towards the troubled young people of today’s society. Moreover the bright colours used here conform to western stereotypes. Image 4 is an example of inter cutting. We used light to create juxtaposition between the dark and sinister atmosphere and the hope and despair of the artist. This particular shot is so powerful and dramatic; it really depicts the singer’s stardom and uniqueness. Moreover the jump cuts used symbolize the unstable and troubled mind of our star. These images and jump cuts paradox the positive and bright atmosphere to reinforce the disheartened and pensive star to emphasise the fact that he is an enigma, the urban decay symbolises the modern day decrepit nature of an economically oppressive society and further breaks the stereotypes of the country and western genre.Another technique we used to construct our star image was blurs, in after effects we blurred some of our shots to reinforce and dramatise the fact that our star is unbalanced and has emotional issues. Our artist is shown constantly holding his guitar with him and this emphasizes how he is clearly organic and competent musically yet he uses the guitar as a social weapon , he doesn’t play it at all in the video, this is to break away once again from the typicality’s of western genres.

Images 5 and 6 show the decaying location, which also symbolizes the abandonment felt by the artist as he feels neglected and uncared for. The image of the artist looking down is our album cover. One can see how the image does conform to the country and western stereotypes as our artist is alone. The use of the font creates a western theme however the distressed look on our artists face reveals how he is in deep thought and further emphasizes the ideas of a new modern day emotional man, thus appealing to the female young target audience as they may be able to relate to the problems he is so clearly struggling with. Furthermore the album cover reveals our artists youth and sexual magnetism which creates his star image.

The image including the artists tour dates is a poster. We used this to promote our star image. Although one can see we have tried to break away from the country and western genre we still used the typical prop of country music, the guitar. We convey a western style font and de saturation of color to ensure that we follow the country and western stereotypes. However the background of urban decay and the general atmosphere of modern day city life once again challenge the audience’s expectations, thus making our star more diverse and interesting, this gives him an edge and differentiates him from other artists.

The image of the guitar is our albums back cover. The use of sepia lighting appears to dramatise and symbolize the unstable and emotional star that we are trying to construct. Thus the guitar shows the stars genuine passion for music and we see his organic image and realism is revealed. This image shows the star to be a true musician and artist. therefore the target audience may connect to our star as they are convinced by his true authenticity of love of music, which further supports his emotional and mysterious image.