Statement of Aims

Statement of aims (500 words approximately)

You will be required to complete a brief outline of your aims ad intentions for the media production that must be submitted with the production. This will be assessed with the production and will enable you to explain the ways in which you will apply knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework to the production and target the intended audience. 

In my music marketing product I will be focusing on a new artist who goes by the name of Poppy Smith by creating both a music video and magazine cover and article to promote them as an artist. The label they will be working with is Columbia Records which is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment. 

In my music video I will have a variety of both narrative and performance to show not only what it’s like for an artist e.g. in the studio, but also the story of how people feel about themselves in the media – in terms of having to look and act in a certain way. The performance aspect will show of Poppy passionately singing about what she feels is relevant, such as people feeling empowered and good in their own skin. Whereas the narrative will present how different people feel about themselves compared to other people – boys, girls and women. The clothing I would like them to wear involves black and white neutral colours to symbolise who they are (white) vs who they want to be (black). The contrast in black and white colours shows the expectations vs reality in society and how people feel they have to look a certain way. This relates to my target audience of 30-49 year olds because they are likely to have children around a similar age to those being represented in the video feeling down about the way they look. As well as the pressure on the age group of the audience directly as they may find it relatable to themselves but less on looks and more about the way they live their life. During the narrative parts of the video, the artist (Poppy Smith) will be around the characters, miming the lyrics, attempting to boost their spirits and confidence by telling them to ‘love themselves’. 

The lighting I will use in the music video will be a clear difference between bright and dull lighting. The chorus where Poppy will be singing, the scenes and shots will be bright, sunny and warm lighting this will contrast to the versus where the lighting will be dull and not as bright. This symbolises the happiness and joy people can feel if you feel comfortable and confident in your own skin and if not then it can be difficult to stay positive. In terms of the shots and camera angles, I will ensure I use a variety to create a variety of effects such as when Poppy sings about ‘staying bright’ I will include a time lapse of the sun rising/setting to symbolise staying positive and happy. At the start of the song a girl will be seen playing with her hair, this will include a close up shot to see the emotion on her face of how she ‘doesn’t look like the other girls’. The mise-en-scene of the narrative aspects of the video will be in real life settings and scenarios to make it more relatable to the mainstream audience – which links to the genre of the song being pop, as it is considered a conventional genre of music. Poppy Smith’s star persona is shown in the video through general situations however you can see by her facial expressions and body language these problems are close to home and she has experienced the same as some of the characters. 

In terms of my magazine, I will create a music magazine that will help to market and promote my new artist Poppy Smith to the target audience of 30-49-year olds. I have chosen to name the magazine ‘accord’, which relates to music and also means a sound that goes together well – the word chord comes from the French word for agreement ‘accord’. The colour scheme I have chosen for my magazine uses mainly black and white with blue being the stand out colour. I chose blue as the colour connotations of the colour resemble the sky and sea which can present confidence, trust and intelligence. The black and white represents the seriousness of the subject and how the message is important – it also can be interpreted in relation to race and looking a certain way - how the colours of black and white neutralise that (this links to the lyrics in the song.) By using black and white it can be favoured by the target audience of 30-49-year olds because it is seen as sophisticated which may appeal to the ‘older’ audience. Since the masthead will be in the blue colour, to grasp the attention of the readers, to keep it looking whole and put together the cover lines will be black and relate to a variety of topics such as fashion, music etc. I put the price of the magazine at £4.99 so it is seen as affordable but not just a cheap read – this price would appeal more to my target audience as they are willing to spend a higher price. My main image will be in black and white and either a mid-shot or close-up shot of Poppy Smith. 

As well as the front cover, I will also create a double page article discussing my new artist and their lifestyle. It will consist of an interview with her, where she will answer a variety of questions from her audience and fans. The article will be a reasonable length and use the generic magazine conventions of it being in columns - on the double page spread it will also include 3 more images of different women and girls to relate to the new song. I will include pull quotes, from the interview, which are seen as motivational for her audience.