EVALUATION TASK 4WEBSITE

FINAL WEBSITE DESIGNhttps://ashenpage.wixsite.com/cigarettesaftersex

FINAL PRODUCT

FINAL PRODUCT

FINAL PRODUCT

FINAL PRODUCT

FINAL PRODUCT

FINAL PRODUCT

RESEARCH AND PLANNING

I found from my research that I did using Google, that it wasn’t consistent whether the band was on the website or not. It tended to vary. However, the photos were not sexualizing or selling the band which would mean the bands were synthetic according to Negus. The bands that were on the front of their websites tended to have blurry photos or they resembled a sense of brotherhood and friends rather than selling their products. I found that on the most part the band were not featuring on the front of the website but were present further down. We used this idea when creating our website.

RESEARCH

I did some research into why bands actually use websites. I found that it was mainly to sell their products whether that be an album, single or merchandise and concerts. It all seemed to be the same. However, I also found that the websites were similar to the music videos and digipak. I found this was so their audiences could relate to each of the products and be able to recognize them. With all the bands I used to help me on this post. For example One Direction, I found that Negus’ theory was the same for each of the three products. One Direction is of synthetic ideology in all three of their products : website, digipak and music video. I posted my findings on Blogger so that the rest of my group could see the work I had done and we could all share resources, in order to make the planning and research progress time efficient

RESEARCH AND PLANNINGIn order to be absolutely confident when it came to creating our website for the band. I did a test run for which I created a website for the hip-hop artist Drake, without previously looking at his website (NEXT SLIDE HAS PHOTOS OF WEBSITE). The software I used to create both the practice website and the band’s website was WIX. WIX is an easy to use website creator software in which has templates which can be selected depending of the genre of your artist. This makes it a lot easier to fit everything that needs to be on the website on there. However certain things do need to be changed. I think that using WIX before really helped to find my bearings when it came to the real thing.

PRACTICE WEBSITE I CREATED

PLANNINGIn order to make sure that the band arrived on time and knew the location of the photo-shoot. I created a Facebook group in which we could all communicate. This meant that everyone responded quickly due to everyone having the app on their phones as well as finding a good time for everyone involved.

We knew that we wanted the band to feature somewhere on the website. As according to Dyers’ theory the band needed to come across as being present yet simultaneously absent. We took the paradox on board and didn’t use the band’s faces on the front of the website as the band according to Negus’ theory are of organic ideology. However, we used them in a gallery of photos further down the website showing that they are present, as well as creating a sense of closeness with the band and the target audience which helps to build a strong fan base.

PRODUCTIONWe used a Cannon DSLR to shoot the band. On the next slide are some behind the scenes photos from the photo shoot. We decided to use as natural light as possible to help convey the right star image of them being ordinary with their appearance on the website yet their music is extraordinary. Coco (an A-level photography student) helped us to set the band up in the right way as well as helping us to work the shutter speed and use the focusing wheel on the lens of the camera. This meant that are photos are of a better quality than if we were on our own having to work out how to use the camera. We also used a set of red headlights which gave a red tint to the photos. Red has been used in all three of our products, therefore this helped to link the website with the other two products.

PRODUCTION

We started by taking some wide shots of each member of the band. We then did close-ups on each band members face. Then finally did a few group shots. We found this particularly difficult as the boys kept joking around with each other. However, we did manage to get a few usable ones (as can be seen in the next slide)

GROUP SHOT FROM THE GALLERY ON THE WEBSITE

PRODUCTIONWe also used the software WIX to create the website

Due to having already created a tester website using WIX. I found that I knew my way around the software far better and so used my time far more effectively. Below is a link to the production of our website using Photoshop and WIX

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdYTg0XOjbk

PRODUCTION

We used Adobe Photoshop to edit the photos. However, we created a GIF that was used on the first page of the website, this is an interactive way of visually attracting an audience. This made the band appear modern and up to date with technology, therefore appealing to the 25-30 year old target audience.

As well as appealing to their target audience. The band also come across as being of organic ideology which we found when doing our primary research. This idea runs throughout our website as their faces aren’t directly shown on the front of the web page. Therefore we used our knowledge of star theory and Negus’ theory to help create our product successfully.

PRODUCTIONThe colours we created on the website our very relevant to our band. The band are Indie Rock and so we went for a very minimalist style in order to highlight this.

We used a white background for the website, this is to highlight the band are of organic ideology as they aren’t displaying their faces or merchandise, only their album. We agreed as a group that the website should be solely about their music rather than trying to create their image. That is why on the photo shoot as previously mentioned the band are wearing relaxed clothing, which helps to convey this idea.

POST PRODUCTIONWe also used Adobe Photoshop. This was in order to get the photos the grainy pink/red colour that is seen on our website and album cover. The red theme also runs throughout the music video. We thought this idea of colour really helped to tie our campaign together. We found through our research as mentioned previously that red was a convention of the Indie Rock genre. For example, seen in Bastille’s music video “Good Greif”. This meant that an audience would be able to recognize the products as being from an Indie Rock genre due to the connotations behind the colour- that being individuality and anti conformity which is what are artists fundamentally believe in according to their star theory.

POST PRODUCTIONIn order to give the band an appearance of being as realistic as possible. In the post production stage of the website, we created social media links. These included: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (SEE NEXT SLIDE). We thought that it would be realistic for the band to have Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as this would be the main way of letting their audiences know what they are up to and what they are doing, this according to Dyers’ theory would add to the present yet absent paradox. The band will give their audiences constant updates making them stay relevant in their daily lives (assuming they check their social media everyday) this means that their fans feel they are present in their everyday. However, the band are only posting what they want to post- meaning that parts of their lives are missing- also adding an element of mystery to their image (Negus)

POST PRODUCTION