magazine analysis- T.I.

there are two main features in this that the reader would first be drawn to, the writing saying 'T.I.' and the close-up photograph of his face. he is looking straight at the camera and you can see that a light has been shone on both the right and left side of his face, suggesting that artificial lighting was used. the second biggest writing is of the name of the song, 'no matter what' and underneath that it says the name of the album it is on and the realease date. there are no bright colours and although it is quite simple it works well to promote the artist. T.I. looks very smart and maybe quite thoughtful in this.
i think that this is a good way to promote a track and may do something similar for my artist.

magazine analysis- J.Cole

in this magazine article the layout is simple yet effective, it has everything that an article should have, a photograph, title, subheadings, but it is simple enough that the attention is not taken away from what it is meant to be on. in the photo although J.Cole shows off his expensive looking watch, he wears casual clothes which again follows the steroetype of a hip hop artist. there isno fancy colours or anything that would divert the readers from the text. in the sub heading under the title it meantions Jay-Z, which would help to draw in a wider audience, not just J.Cole fans but also Jay-Z's. the only bit of colour is the circle at the top left hand side of the image, which promotes the album that was going to be released.

magazine analysis- Nas

in this poster the most eyecatching thing is the writing 'Nas' which is written in an interesting font and in a light yellow/gold colour. behind that is a photo of nas looking off to the side. it is quite a simple layout for the poster which could suggest the fact that Nas has so many followers he doesn't need fancy posters to draw the audience in. the colours are again quite simple, the yellow/gold for the title and where he will be performing, highlighting the key facts. from what you can see he wears casual clothes and a hat which is a common stereotype of a hip hop artist.

Magazine analysis- Wiz Kalifa

this double page spread is presented in a way that will help to draw readers in. the big picture of the subject, Wiz Kalifa, will draw in his fans and we can tell from the fact that the title only says his initials that he is well known. another huge sign that it is Wiz Kalifa is the fact that he is smoking in the photograph which he is famous for. the coulor theme of the font is quite simple, going with just two colours (black and orange) which are the same as his hat. these colours may have been chosen to promote his song 'black and yellow' as it is mentioned in the caption. although he is wearing quite casual clothes he still looks well presented. his diamond earrings and tattoos promote the stereotype of a hip hop artist so this instantly gives a clue to what type of music he does.
i really like the layout of this page and i think i will take inspiration and do something similiar with my artist. i think that the picture is eye catching and looks very profesional.

Tyga- on the real EPK

forms and conventions: it is easy to see that a lot od editing has gone in to this, it switches between black and white and has lots of wipes, fade ins, fade outs, etc. it has lots of jump cuts from interviews to music videos from behind the scenes and the final cuts of the videos. he is also show talking to other rappers that have helped him get to where he is now and also shows photographs as well as archive footage. the sound is mainly diegetic but there are parts where background music is played.

audience: by showing a few quite famouse people from the music industry in his EPK it will draw in some of their fans as well as his own. his main fan base would be young and i think both girls and boys would like him.
representation: he is represented as quite fun yet you can tell he is very serious about his music especially when he talks about dropping out of school so he can focus specifically on his music career.

kirko bangz- H town presidentz + EPK

forms and conventions: at the start of  the EPK it shows a bit about the institiution and record label that he's signed to. at 12 seconds there is a jump cut to kirko bangz in a recording studio and in the bottom left of the screen information about what the song is called, what mix tape it's on, etc. when showing him in studio it cuts to lots of different angles suggesting that it was most likely shot with more than one camera. at approx 45 seconds there is a jump cut to the main interview with kirko bangz where his name appears on the screen in the bottom left corner. he says his name and gives a bit of information about where he's from before more jump cuts to him rapping. from then on there are lots of cuts between him rapping and the interview. at the end the writing in the left bottom corner appears again with the songs name and information followed by a transition to the institutions name again. it then finishes  off with credits. the sound id mainly diegetic but there are parts with non-diegetic.

audience: the target audience would be quite young and interested in rap music. probably more working class than upper class and most likely have a big fan base where he's from in america. i think that the main gender of his fan and audience would be quite mixed.

representation: in this EPK Kirko Bangz is shown as quite passionate about what he does and you can tell that he takes it very seriously.

Nas- illmatic EPK

forms and conventions: in this EPK a range of camera shots are used for the interviews, for example close ups, mid shots, medium close-ups. there is also  wide shots used when the whole group is being shot. both diegetic and non-diegetic sound is used as well as a voiceover at different points in the EPK. The promo starts with jump cuts of nas performing and practicing as well as a jump cut to show the crowd at a concert. a voiceover then comes in talking about the album that nas is promoting. it then jump cuts to another rapper talking about how great nas is and then again cuts to old archive footage of nas performing. at 41 seconds in, the voicover starts again, this time giving some information about the artist, saying where he's from and then another cut to show the estate he was brought up on. it then cuts to Nas himself talking about the drugs and violence that he grew up around. there is then a cut to a recoding studio where the voiceover again comes in followed by nas giving information on the album and who's on it. after that there are lots more jump-cuts to more footage of him chilling with other rappers, interviews and more footage of previous performances, as well as showing parts of music videos. at 6 mins 17 seconds the screen is wiped and replaced by a list of the songs that will feature on the album and then fades to what the album cover looks like. the screen then fades to black at the end. when a new person is being interviewed their name appears on the bottom right of the screen.

audience: the target audience for this EPK would most likely be quite young and be interested in the hip-hop/ rap scene. it would probably be people who had similar upbringings and experiences to him because they can then relate to what he's saying in his songs. although both girls and boys would listen to him i think the main gender of the audience would be male.

representation: in this EPK nas is almost represented as quite god-like by showing another rapper in an interview saying a person like him only comes along once in a lifetime. it says about him coming from one of New York's largest and toughest housing projects and then shows nas talking about all the crime like it's normal to him, suggesting he's quite street wise. when listening to his lyrics you can tell that he's both articulate and clever.

MEST 2 coursework

For our AS MEST coursework we are going to produce an EPK. It will be on a Bristol MC called Springa. He started writing bars around 10 years ago and 4 years ago became part of a music collective called SubSlags which consists of up and coming DJ’s, producers and MC’s.  As well as being a part of that he also does his own stuff.

We will film the promo in a variety of places. The main interview will be filmed in a music studio and if another interview is needed it will be filmed in an urban setting. We will also film him spitting to use alongside old archive of him performing etc.

The main interview will run throughout the film and will tell the subjects story and give information about himself.  At times we will cut to the actual video and at other times it will just be used as a voiceover over the other footage.  The other footage will be a mix of newly shot stuff, writing, performing etc.

We will also do another shoot with a range of cutaways (a shot to cut to from the main interview) which might include him walking around and will take a few pretty shots to make the film more interesting.

We intend to shoot the film on a canon DSLR and so will need to record the sound of the interview on a separate device to ensure good sound quality. We also intend to source 2-3 lights for the interview.

Production information:

Group: our group consists of Elma Sakoilsky, Alysia Easton and Nicole Hooper.

Locations:  we hope to film in various locations:

·        The main interview- music studio.

·        Pretty shots in different areas of Bristol.

·        Some shots in a urban setting.

Schedule: We haven’t yet arranged when we will do the shoot but will work out a date.

Equipment: we will use one camera, a tripod, music equipment (not decided on what yet).