Music Video First Draft

As a first draft I think our music video is looking really good. The performance shots look a lot better than our test shots as we shot it in a different room at the rehearsal studios which is a lot bigger than the other room and had much better lighting which helped with the shots and made them look better. Also the narrative is looking good with some good shots and a good storyline. However I feel like some shots could be made better and the storyline can be made stronger as an audience member may not understand what's going on so we may have to rethink some ideas but as a first draft it's defiantly a good place to start and we have some really good stuff to build on.

Some specific shots I would change would be at 0:19 in this shot it is a pan from right to left. However it is quite a slow pan and seems to slow the action of the video down as it doesn't keep to the fast pace of the song. However I think it can work as it is getting across the theme of  isolation as it is a point of view shot from the protagonist. From 0:58 - 1:19 it is all performance shots without any narrative this is because we couldn't shoot part of our narrative due to the weather so we had to fill these shots with other things we had which ended up being all performance shots. So we shall re shoot this part of the video to make sure the storyline of the narrative is much stronger and the overall video isn't dominated by the performance shots and will then run side by side.

Shots at 2:41, 2:49 and 2:50 which are all of the antagonist would need to be re shot. They are all still shots which don't work with the shots around them as the other shots are the protagonist walking towards her so there is plenty of movement in the shot. However when we cut to the shots of the antagonists they are still long and mid shots which completely stops the action dead and really slow the video down so we'll re shoot that with some kin of movement whether it be her walking or the camera moving to her.

Digipak First Draft

With my first draft of my album cover as park of my digipak I tried to stick to very simple texts and a simple image which I think I did very well. The main image is very calm and and peaceful so I didn't want my text to be very abstract and crazy to draw attention away from the album artwork although I did want my text to stand out. With my text being big and bold and in contrast with the main image with the text being black and the main image being full of clour I think it really does stand out. I think I will improve my Photoshop skills in the next few weeks as I haven't used it for some time and I completely forgot some of the skills I used really well in my AS portfolio.

With my digipak I used a similar colour style on the back of my album with the tracklistings using the gradient tool. I have tried my very best to stick to the colours used on my main image such as and orange style and blue to represent the sunset and the sky of my main image. I have used an image of the band on the inside cover of the digipak which is used by several bands on their digipak such as the You Me At Six album "Sinners Never Sleep" which uses two images of the band on the inside cover and Biffy Clyro's album "Only Revolutions" which also has an image of the band on the inside cover. 

I feel this is a good thing to do as then the people buying the album will immediately know who the band are and what they look like if they didn't before. Also I have included a page were the band thanks certain people around. On my product I didn't put an actual disc were the CD would be this is because lots of CD cases now have a sleeve where the CD is in much like on a LP.I personally can't think of any album which doesn't have this. Some of them have them in the lyric booklet, others have them in the digipak themselves which is what I have done. This creates a a bond between the band and their audience/fans as it gets across the message that the band really do appreciate their fans support.

Shooting Schedule

Shooting schedule w/ costume/props (23/2/14)

11am to 1pm (Wold Road)

Finished the narrative filming with actors Niall Foot.

Niall is wearing a typical outfit for the type of person associated with our style of music. Imagaine going to a rock or pop-punk gig and Niall would defiantly fit in. His skinny jeans, converse t-shirt and parka are all key to the mise en scene of my video as you would not expect to see an extra wearing tracky bottoms and trainers. As this is a rock video you would expect 'cool' clothes and Niall here is fitting into this genre very well.

4pm to 5pm (Rehersal rooms)

Reshot and finished the performance with Myself, Rob Pipes, Jack Coates and Jordan Mudd. Within a performance scene of a rock video you would expect to see the band to be dressed in cool clothes such as, skinny jeans, converse and band t-shirts. As for the mise en scene you would expect to see musical equipment such as guitars, amps, drums and microphones. 

Rob here is the guitarist of the band in the performance scene. He is clearly fitting in well to the conventions of a rock video by his clothes (A checked shirt, skinny jeans and converse) which are all stereo typically cool clothes. Also the guitar, amps and pedals in the mise en scene keep to the conventions of a rock performance as these are things you would expect to see.

Jack here who plays the bass player in the performance scenes. Clearly his attire is sticking to conventions of a rock video with his band t-shirt, skinny jeans, suede shoes and his devilish good looks. Within the mise en scene of the performance jack has his trusty red and black bass and his amp which is something you would expect to see in a rock video.

Holding things down at the back behind the drum kit is Mr Jordan Mudd. His clothing of red polo shirt and skinny jeans are a key convention of a rock video and does not look out of place at all. His set up of his drums is 99% of time found in a rock music performance scene as all bands have a drummer.

Text number one which is November Sky is one of my favourite texts I have found on www.dafont.com. For me it is very simple and effective and resembles the style of text used on the new You Me At Six album "Cavalier Youth" which I have analysed recently. I think this text would work well on my front cover and magazine poster as it is quite clean cut being straight and thin which will work well against the rather plain, quiet and peaceful setting off the main image. Text number two could also work on my album cover as it is much bolder than the first and would stand out more. However I feel it is too much of a contrast between the low key main image and this big bold text but the opposite kind of style could work well.

Text three which is Amplify already has a strong link to my genre of music in my song as it is very similar to the font used on the Marshall amps used by many many bands out there now. Because of this I feel there is a link between using it and the genre I have chosen for my song. However I feel like it could be too heavy and abstract for my front cover I only really want something simple and bold to work with the main image of my album which as I've said is very still and relaxed.Text four which is Lost Saloon is a text that I found and thought it looked very different to the other I had picked. It has a sort of old western vibe to it which I liked a lot, however I feel like it probably won't work with my album covers text but it was something different compared to my other texts which I thought was interesting.

Text five and six are both Moon Flower Font which are very simple and look very much like someone could of drawn them which keeps it simple which is something I want on my album cover as the main image is very simple as i've already said. I think this text could work well on my front cover but it could be a little bit childish as it looks very very informal which might not work on what would be a serious album.

Music Avert Planning

Having looked at several music adverts in magazines or just online I have found several key conventions. The album artwork should be the main image as that is what you're advertising and the artwork must stand out as that is what's going to draw the audience to look at it. Some adverts have small quotes which are reviews such as "Most anticipated album of the year" which mine will have on it. This can entice someone who is looking at the advert who might not usually be interested in the band  to go and listen to the album as there must be some big hype behind the band and they might want to see what it's all about. Obviously you should have the band name and release date on there as if you didn't there would be no point in advertising the album if no one knows any information about it.

An interesting feature I have put on my poster is a QR Code which allows you to scan the code with your phone and it will take you straight to a website to buy or listen to the album which is a relatively new feature but one that shows the postmodern society that we live in. You don't even have to go out to buy the album or log onto your laptop to buy it, just scan a small code and then straight to a website on your phone to download it.

Also I have included what's included for example what formats you can purchase thing album on. At this moment in time downloads are dominating the music industry with us being in the 21st century that is pretty obvious why. The CD is a dying art as less people want a physical copy and with downloads you have the album straight away and you don't have to leave your house for any reason. However in recent years vinyl has made a big comeback with younger people getting interested in records more and more so bands have started to notice this movement and have started releasing their albums on vinyl. This way they are catering to all their fans' needs.

I have included the bands website as now in the postmodern society we live in people want to know where they can get updates and news from the band which is mainly with Web 2.0. I have played it safe and just gone with the website rather than putting their Twitter or Facebook on there as if people go straight to their website there will almost certainly be links to their other social network sites.

Single/Album Poster Examples

Having looked at these three examples I can see that some key conventions are to have the main image be the artwork for the album which makes creating the poster a lot easier once I've created my digipak. Also to have plain yet bold text to make it stand out and easy for the audience to read. Always put the name of the band and album on their with a release date as if you don't then what is the point of having an advertising poster at all and maybe also put a quote on there something like a mini review for example "Most anticipated album of the year" to make it sound amazing and for the people looking at it who may not know the band to look at it and maybe want to listen to the song or band.

Music Video - First Edit

Most of the shots look really good and seem to be coming along nicely. However some of the performance shots will have to be redone due to slightly bad lighting and having to work with the room we have to make the shots look great. Some of the shot within the video could be a bit shorter for example the last shot of the singer goes on just a little bit too long which is something we can change when it comes to editing next time around. Most of the performance shots lack energy and movement. Because the camera is still in most of the shots in makes the shots look really boring and dull so when we re-shoot we will have more energy and movement in the performance scenes.

Shooting Schedule

9th February 2014

Shooting at my house for some narrative shots.
2PM - 5PM

Filmed a lot of shots for the narrative however we came across some shots with difficult lighting such as outside shots were the sun reflected really badly on the camera causing the shots to look poor. Although most of the shots looked really good and I am confident that this music video can look really good and professional once it's edited and completed.