Album Cover Art Work

As our coursework is not purely based on our music video but a percentage of it also goes towards promoting and distributing the bands are work we have been looking at album covers. We decided to begin looking at this when looking at what music label is most likely to sign the band and distribute their work. We looked at the top 4 signing music labels, these are:

• Universal
• Song BMG
• EMI
• Warner

We are still in the progress of choosing a record label that would sign 'Lost In Colour,' however it did make us think about the conventions that are often associated and used with a pop-rock genre band when promoting. Whether this be a still frame from the music video it self which could be used on the album cover or an optical illusion. Here are some of the album covers from bands that we thought were a similar genre:

As you can see, the band All Time Low have used a design based on cartoons and featuring the basic information to show the public that it is their new single. Placing there title in the centre of the digi-pack immediately will catch the audiences attention, therefore when designing Lost In Colours digi-pack my partner and I will take this factor into consideration. The colour that has also been used here is fairly neutral and no outlandish colours have been used. This suggests that vibrant colours for this type of genre take a causal approach when advertising.

Boys Like Girls are possibly the band that are most similar to Lost In Colour, therefore it is considerably important to take into consideration how they designed their album covers. Immediately it is obvious that a unique approach has been taken when designing this. The use of only three fairly vibrant colours suggests that this is the soul factor for catching the audience attention. That 'BOYSLIKEGIRLS' is also the only dialogue on the album cover, shows that a simple approach has been intended. You will also notice that the name of the band has been allocated at the centre at the top of the cover.

Contrasting significantly with the two previous album covers is Metro Station's album cover. Immediately what catches your eye is the bright colours of the bands name against the black background, this creates a significant impact. It is also put in the bottom right hand corner, this suggests to me that the bands name and the single title is unimportant with regards to the placement of it. An image has also not been used suggesting that the most important aspect of this album cover is the band.

This image below shows the front and back cover for the Arctic Monkeys, you will notice that the album cover is considerably different to all three of the previous album covers that I have looked at. This one is different due to it being an edited photograph rather than hand drawn or computer animated, this particularly shows the development of technology and how a basic image can still cause a massive impact. The convention of black and white also is considerably effective as it is simple yet stand out, even when the title of the band is black and white also. The back cover is also effective as it is the same image but with the colour slightly distorted so less clear and also the man is hiding his face.

As you can see all four album covers can be categorised as using graphic design, including cartoon work to publicise the bands music.

Research Into Other Music Video's

Although previously we looked at other music videos during research we weren't looking at bands with a similar genre at all. Therefore, we have been looking at effects similar-ish bands use.


The effects in the The Killers, 'Somebody Told Me' are especially effective. The effect that I like most of all is having the band performance shots, however unusually in the background on the screen is footage of the lead singer lip synching. Therefore, you are able to see performance shots at the same time as lyrical shots, a very effective method when appealing to an audience. The colour that has been used is also very vibrant catching the audiences eye. A common convention that I have found in pop-rock genre music video's is band performance shots, almost there to ensure the public that this band creates all its own sound. This is also backed up by the close up camera shots of the instruments. The silhouettes of the band are also very attractive as they are put up against footage of the band performing. This is almost a double whiplash of the band members. At the end of the music video the contrast between night and day performance shots is also very effective as it creates what could be a conclusion, especially as a narrative has not been used.

‘Dirty Little Secrets’ by The All-American Rejects in my opinion includes very effective elements even though it is a very simple music video. The aspect of this music video that I liked best, and that I would like to incorporate in my own music video is the use of signs. This is because it incorporates a multiple assortment of narratives as well as personifying meaning, relating to the lyrics. That these signs appear in the background of the performance shots, but as a much larger scale shows the link between the narrative and the performance shots. The “dirty little secrets” that are being revealed also appeal to the audience as they are real peoples secret. This is effective as it shows realism rather than using a stereotypical narrative.  The use of signs could also be considered as an uncommon convention, as it is not often that you see the use of signs.  

Dilemma

Although Rachel and I planned to film this weekend we were unable to collect the cameras for various reasons therefore we have had to postpone filming this weekend and will reschedule for later next week.

Class Presentation On Music Video

To enable us to understand the detail that is needed when producing a music video we were set the task in our groups in class to find a music video that covers Roland Barthes Code Theory. The music video that we found was ‘A Dustland Fairytale’ by The Killers, one of their less renowned songs distributed. We chose this music video as it covers the five aspects of Barthes Code Theory, these being: Enigma, Action, Semic, Symbolic and Cultural.

It covers the code Enigma (setting up a puzzle) as the narrative leaves you in suspense as you do not know what is going to happen, what it is leasing up to and why the vent actually happened.

Action (one thing after another) can be identified through the repetition of the fight in various frames throughout the video. Irresponsible settings and events appear regularly in the footage.

Semic refers to the connotations, the narrative suggest that the characters although young are illegally doing things. This is the male characters trying to impress the girls, something that still goes on today however in a trivial manner.

The Symbolic Code is looking at the binary opposition however, this is unidentifiable when looking at which character is the protagonist in the repetition of flashbacks in the text. The connotations that can be perceived from the main character being released from prison suggest that he is the antagonist due to him stabbing someone, although in defence.

Cultural references are also a key aspect to music videos and refer to the audience’s knowledge and the ideologies. In the case of The Killers video there is cultural references to the very old films of ‘Rebel Without Cause’ distributed in 1955 and ‘The Wild One’ distributed in 1953. Both these films were very popular in the 1950’s and 1960’s. However, when first watching the music video it can be noticed that it has similar connotations and references to the popular musical ‘Grease.’ Researching this information the film ‘Grease’ was in fact developed through basing it on ‘Rebel Without Cause’ and ‘The Wild One.’  

Analysis Of Research & Planning

From looking back at the first take of our Research and Planning Analysis we found that we spent too long on responding to the criteria. Although all the information and evaluating is relevant it needs to be summed up smoother and more to the point. Therefore we have given ourselves approximately 3 minutes to discuss the research we have completed so far. This way we can cover every bullet point briefly then conclude the main information in the end evaluation.

Decision Making

In order to get all our footage done and out the way by Christmas we have decided to film this coming Saturday. This scene we plan to film at Audley End train station in a black and white ball gown. We chose to use this station rather than a London Underground Tube Station due to the problems we previously encountered. During this scene we are filming the lead female. (me) We originally wanted to use a red ball gown dress however the one tried did not fit.

Today we also contacted Lost In Colour via myspace, the purpose of doing this is to see if they would like to be in the film. It would also make our life a lot easier as they obviously know the lyrics off by heart and the beat as they made it. This would be a great accomplishment if it is a success due to the problems we encountered before.

Research & Planning

We began filming our Research and Planning Treatment Analysis today and were given 20 minutes to get this done. We found a great location in school to film the footage however, the 20 minutes we were given to film we found was not enough. Therefore, we were only able to film our analysing up until Criteria Three. Fortunately this was only a draft which we are later analysing as a class and looking at ways to improve it.

Here is the footage we took from our first take:

Script Writing

Today we spent an hour in class preparing a script for our Research and Planning Analysis Treatment which we will be filming in the next few lessons. To ensure we included all the necessary information we used the Assessment Objective Criteria which consisted of 6 headings. Rather than writing a complete script, together Rachel and I made bullet points of everything we wish to mention when filming our analysis this way our footage will not appear too planned.

Treatment of Research and Planning

Rachel and Amelia’s research and planning towards their music video of lost in colour – searching for the song in the dark.

Criteria one: Research into similar products and a potential target audience - Excellent

• We researched in similar bands with the same genre of rock pop, on the basis that they would appeal to the same target audience and therefore the conventions they use in their videos and album covers would help us think of ideas of how we could appeal to our target audience in our promo pack.
• Also Rachel researched into the current album cover of the song, compared it with other similar bands album covers, discovered they use logos, hand designed patterns rather that cinematography for their covers, I then did a few rough designs so that I could experiment myself on how we would reach our target audience.
• The Vixens previous high grade music video also influenced our music video ideas, in particular there use of a white area behind the characters and having flamboyant outfits.
• The mise-en-scene of Beyonce’s video Single Ladies also inspired us to use the a white wall or room, with the main character dancing in the foreground, we also like the idea of Beyonce’s interaction with the walls around her.
• Lazee feat Neverstone – Hold on, influenced us in terms of technical aspects, for example editing techniques of having the main character stationary with everyone sped up around her. Also shots of the female character grabbing her hair also inspired us for positions in our white room.

Criteria two: Organisation of actors, locations and costumes or props - Proficient

• We decided to use Amelia as the main character, due to convenience and availability. Also she knows what exactly what needs to be done.
• Thought of a wide variety of locations, however due to research of the terms and conditions of filming on London underground have struggled in getting permission for this as a location to film, therefore had to choose a normal train station, un-associated with the underground.
•  We both took numerous photos of potential outfits we found out of own personal items. Then we combined elements of both our outfits to create the rock chick and electrifying outfit, which would fit to the lyrics and rock feel of the song. Black holey leggings, leather jacket, heels, heavy make up, big back combed hair.
• White cloth for floor.
• Intend to contact the band, to film them performing in the video.

Criteria three: Work on shortlists, layouts, drafting, scripting or storyboarding - Basic

• Together we listened to the song repeatedly on our iPods’, and came out with many draft notes and short lists of what we wanted to include in our video and how it would be structured.
• We made a storyboard of the scenes, shots, locations and characters positions we want to include in our film, in a structured.
• Also in terms of drafting before we filmed our white room scene, we did practice runs of dressing up in the outfits at home, drafting what it would look like on the actual day.

Criteria four: Time management - Minimal

• We set out a planner of when we planned to do what in the process of making our music video, so this helps us keep to a schedule and nothing gets delayed.
• We also give ourselves mini deadlines within our group, for example, get the story board done over the weekend, film the white room seen within this week. Mini deadlines helps our work get done in manageable deadlines.

Criteria Five: Care in the presentation of research and planning - Proficient

• We take care of presenting our research in planning by using our blogs regularly, updating new research and planning measures.
• We also include videos, print screens and pictures, to try and keep our blogs as visual as possible so our blogs are ascetically pleasing, nice to look at, and will show our planning and research to its best.
• We also make sure we take a camera to every valuable session we have to produce lots of photos, and to help improve the presentation of our blogs, having personal evidence of our research and planning.
• We also keep a plastic wallet of paper notes, lyrics and images we want to include in our blog, so that we do not loose them, and remind our self of what we want to present in our blogs in terms of the research and planning.

Criteria Six: Communication skills - Excellent

• We exchanged phone numbers immediately, and immediately started texting numerous random thoughts we had on ideas for the music video content. This helped us dramatically with coming up with such a variety of ideas to include.
• When choosing the props and costumes for the first filming, we sent pictures of what we had found via email constantly through the evening.
• When we encounted a problem of charging our camera for filming after half term, we emailed each other trying to help each other and also our teachers to try and look for a possible solution.
• We very conveniently have the same free period as each other, within these we regularly meet up, update our blogs together, do further planning and research, such as looking for outfits in charity shops.
• Also at lunch time we meet up in the editing suit, evaluate our process so far, and what further planning or research needs to be done.
• We also send each other photos that we have taken to record our process, so we can put them on our blogs, we also email work and research we come across, as a way of communicating with each other.

Effect Research

In preparation of editing our footage we spent an hour researching the effects available on Final Cut Express. This way we are able to remove any effects that we will definitely not be using in our music video, whether it is because we do not like them or because it will not fit with the message we are trying to personify.

Some of the effects we experimented with and liked on our already uploaded footage are:

• Glow, Dazzle
• Glow, Light rays
• Glow, Overdrive
• Channel, invert
• Channel, Compound Arithmetic 
• Distort, Insect eye
• Distort, Wave

Footage Upload

Today we uploaded footage that Rachel filmed at the weekend. The location that was used was Rachel's living room however, she put up a black screen (which can be seen it the second photo) as it will make the singer stand out more. It also contrasts with the frames of the white background and female. We discussed this in much detail and came to the conclusion that using contrasting colours will appeal aesthetically best. The reason for filming this scene was to have an actor being the lead singer, singing the lyrics to the song which would allow us to edit in the lip syncing.

A problem that Rachel encounted is timing the lip syncing with the real recording of the track. From looking back at the footage filmed we can see that the notes weren't held for the correct timings.Therefore, we are classifying this footage as first take and will see how editing could perhaps make the synchronisation better.

To continue with the "rock" look, which was previously seen in the appearance of our lead female in a black leather jacked and ripped jeans Rachel used guyliner (eyeliner) to enhance the eyes so they stand out. She also used hair jel to enhance the natural hair making it appear messy and spiky. This relates to artists appearances that belong to a similar genre band.

Bonfire Night Filming

Tonight I filmed the bonfire as conveniently it was Saffron Walden Bonfire Night, therefore I was able to get footage of a "burning church." The inspiration of this was taken from Eminem ft. Rhianna's song called 'Love The Way You Lie' as at the end of the video they had a burning house signifying pain and the breaking down of a relationship. I filmed approximately 10 minutes of the bonfire as we plan to increase the speed during editing and also use the effect 'transparency' to overlap the main singer lip syncing and the fire.

Editing & Blogging

Today we began editing which was great fun, as you can see from the pictures below Rachel and I have our own little work station. We began by editing the 27 clips we have down to 'good' and 'bad' allowing us to delete the clips we did not want. By the end of the hour we had completed 6 seconds of our footage. I had also brought in a memory stick which had the track on 'Searching For The Sun In The Dark' By Lost In Colour, therefore we uploaded and imported this onto Final Cut Express and fitted the 6 seconds we edited, to the part of the track that was storyboarded.

Uploading

Today we finished converting our SD film clips into MP4 clips to allow us to import them to Final Cut Express and begin editing. This proved a success, therefore tomorrow we plan to begin editing of the footage we currently have. Rachel and I have also booked out a camera each for Friday 5th November. Rachel will be filming the main male character singing and I will be filming the random shots of darkness in society. As it is Bonfire night, I will be filming this and any scenarios that happen.