In the first three weeks of his final major project, Antony Sibanda considered ideas, chose to create an original song with accompanying music video, album cover, and promotional poster. He researched existing examples of these media, focusing on album covers, marketing strategies, and styles/techniques used in music videos. He conducted a survey of friends to understand his target audience and researched Drake's audience appeal strategies. In weeks 4-5, he created style guides, layout concepts, and shot lists. He wrote song lyrics, recorded a raw version, and planned production. In week 6, he began working on the album cover design but realized the background obscured the text, so he added effects to make the text stand out more

1. FMP Reflections
Antony Sibanda

2. Week 1
In the first week of my project, I spent time thinking about 3 ideas of what I wanted to do for my final major
project. I wanted to make sure that it was about something which I was specifically passionate about which is
the idea of diversity in youth culture in the modern day and how toxic it can be between people about what
people listen too or wear. One of my ideas were that I could produce a song with a music video, album cover
and a promotional poster. I wanted to do this because I really enjoyed the music video project from before and
making my own song has been something which Ive always wanted to always try. Another one of my ideas was
to do a documentary on youth culture which would involve a factual film about the differences in young
people's cultures, how they form and interviews with a variety of different people. My third idea was different
to the youth culture concept and was a podcast about football and the general premier league. I liked this idea
because football is something I'm quite interested and passionate about. In the end I decided on doing my first
idea in a song, music video, album cover and promotional poster. I then made a mind map winding up all my
ideas on what I'd be making and different styles, techniques and conventions I could include when making my
project. I also created a mood board of inspirations of existing products of what I want to produce then
analysed them as to what was similar between them all and what I would like to take inspiration from when
making my products.

3. Week 2
This week I started my research by looking at 3 existing products like mine and analysed them. I looked at a
music video, an album cover and a promotional poster. Doing this allowed me to understand the things you
need to make those products successful. I wanted to go into more research on album covers as I wanted to find
out why I can't just take a photo of anything and turn it into an album cover. Researching the importance of a
good album cover taught me how artists use album covers to hint ideas on the story behind them which lies
within the song. I then did some research on marketing strategies used for the different products which I want
to make. This is important for me to understand so I can include things in my products which can make them
appealing to larger audiences and for example, would make them listen to my song more. I then did some
research on different styles, techniques and conventions used in music videos so that I could gain a unique Idea
of what I could do for my music video involving things from different styles. Researching this also gave me
inspiration on the techniques and styles I could use when I make my music video. I then did a case study on
artists who have good examples of music video, an album cover and promotional poster. Doing this involves
some research on the artist specifically and why they involves certain things in their products which gave me
ideas as to what I could do in my music video and how I could make my album cover and poster look
depending on the message I want to send through my song.

4. Week 3
This week I did some primary research in the form of a Questionnaire to my friends to get an idea of my target
audience and what my project will need to require for my products to appeal to them. I then did some
secondary research by researching rap artist Drake's target audience and the things he includes In his music
videos and music to appeal to them. Doing this formed ideas of my own as to how I could engage and appeal
to my audience. I then did a bibliography involving all the sources which I used to research and inspire me for
my project.

5. Week 4
During this week I created a style sheet and wrote a description as to why I chose the colours I chose. Doing
this made me think about the different things which I want to display in my music video, CD cover and poster
to create a brand which my target audience recognises throughout all of the products. I then made two
examples of potential layouts which I may use when making my poster. This helped me to weigh out the pros
and cons of each layout and which one would be best suited for my target audience. I then created a shot list
which included lots of shots which I want to film when I go out and film. Doing this is useful because it helps
me have an idea of the general structure of my music video. I made a work plan for all the weeks up to my
evaluation. This is important because it was a plan which involved everything which I want to include to my
project to the best ability I can. As it is also half term I decided to get an early start on production and write all
of lyrics for my song. When doing this I was re-writing verses multiple times so I can deliver it correctly when I
record my vocals and begin mixing them

6. Week 5
This week I started by completing my pre-production document and planning what resources and locations I
needed for filming. Putting this down in the document helped as when I planned my days filming I had a list of
what I needed to bring with me and where. I then made a contingency plan where I could evaluate the
potential issues which could occur during production and how I can avoid it. This was Important for things such
as camera batteries because I knew to bring spares on the day. I also made a healthy and safety plan which
stated potential issues which could happen which helped me to avoid me or my actors to be at risk when
filming. I also recorded a raw version of my song over the beat as I tested out some different effects using
audacity to make my voice sound more appealing to my target audience.

7. Week 6
This week I wanted to begin production and as I hadn't already filmed everything I worked on my CD cover.
One thing which worked well was that I managed to stick withing my original colour scheme plan. On the other
hand, because the background image is so bright and vibrant it meant that my title 'diversity' didn’t stand out
as well over the background. This meant I needed to add a vignette and a drop shadow behind the text to
darken the image without taking too much of the viberance and colour from it. This made the text come out
more from the background and have more emphasis to the audience.

8. Week 7

9. Week 8

10. Week 9

11. Week 10