Final Digipack

Final Advert

Digipack Draft.

I have created a digipack design which I hope to use for my final piece. The images are found images off the internet because I have been unable to take any pictures yet, however the pictures I am going to take are going resemble these ones. I created the record label logo myself on Photoshop. The overall effect I went for was relaxed because I feel that this is the way in which indie artists want their music to be portrayed.

Post-Pitch.

The comments we received from our peers were very useful because they gave us a deeper understanding of what we need to improve on our pitch. The resounding opinion from the peers was that we researched well into our target audience and therefore got a clear understanding of the kind of thing they want to listen to and see on screen. Most of the comments said that the idea was reasonably generic because it has been done before, but they all said that it works every time and it always relaxed and good to watch and works well for the target audience. We are currently unsure of the actors and locations we are going to use for our digipack, advert and video so we were unable to give sufficient information regarding this element. The comments from the pitch say that it will be quite easy to bring together however we do need to think about weather conditions if we are wanting to film outside. Looking at the technical aspect of filming video, it seems very achievable that we will be able to carry it all out with the college equipment. The video will be low budget so will not need any special equipment. It was brought to our attention that we need to think about the types of shots and angles that we are going to use in the video and write/draw a detailed shot list. It is of resounding opinion that the video sounds realistic and like an idea for an actual music video. It was suggested that we do more research into the narrative aspect of the video and even look at Supergrass 'Alright and The Beatles 'Hard Days Night' and 'Help'. The overall verdict for whether the idea sounds exciting and achievable was yes, but our peers feel that we need to look through everything and add a bit more detail for the idea to be completely successful. It was also suggested that we do more planning.

Research and Planning: Artist Permission.

When considering the song we would like to use when doing our music video, we came across an unsigned band called The 99s on a website called unsigned.com. We listened to some of their music and thought the song Rooftop sounded like the right kind of thing for us. We then emailed the artist for permission to use the song:

From: abiyorke@hotmail.co.uk
To: jamesloughlin@hotmail.co.uk
Subject: Music Video.
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2010

Hello. We would like to say that we are big fans of your music and have been for a while now. We have been set an A Level Media project where we have to create a music video for an unsigned band; considering we really enjoy your music, we would love to use your song 'Rooftop'. It will never be used for profit and will only be viewed by the rest of my class and my teacher. There is also a possibility that the exam board will use it for training purposes but it will not be used for commercial use. I would like to make it clear that we only need permission to use your song and do not need your involvement.

Thank you.

Abi.

From: James Loughlin (jamesloughlin@hotmail.co.uk)
Sent: 07 October 2010 22:55:42
To: abiyorke@hotmail.co.uk

Hi Abi,

Firstly, thanks for getting in touch....

You're ok to use Rooftop if you like that's fine with us. Try and make it tasteful, not like the guys who did "oh me oh my" who filmed some dodgy bedroom scene with a bloke tied up. Turned out to be terrible and its on youtube now too without our permission!!

Keep us posted!

Good luck!
Jimmy

Research and Planning: Analysis of 3 musicians.

1. The Kooks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6-QM0_Prp0&playnext=1&videos=Koz3wn4lDKM&feature=artistob
The music video for The Kooks - She Moves In Her Own Way is a very good example of how a indie video conventionally looks. It is lo-fi and the only purpose of the video is to show the tour of The Kooks and to show the fun, laid back nature of the band. This type of video would appeal to the audience of the indie genre because it does not take itself to seriously, which is classically the nature of the indie audience. The theorist, Andrew Goodwin said that there was a link between the visuals and the lyrics in every music video made. I feel that this video challenges this notion because the visuals on screen do not have any relevance to the song being played behind them. I think the band The Kooks did this because they did not want to be mainstream in their approach to music/music videos.

This is the CD cover for the single of The Kooks - She Moves In Her Own Way. It is fairly simple and does not relate to the nature of the video, although does have relevance to the song. This suits the indie genre because it shows the relaxed nature of the approach to music, with the band not wanting to be too mainstream. The way the black and white is used with the contrast of the blue writing of the title shows the significance of the song name to the band. This exemplifies the point that music is the most important element of the band, and not the band image which is the case with most mainstream bands/artists. This makes the band more individual in the industry, with their main concern being able to make really good music that their target audience will love.

The advertisement for The Kooks - She Moves In Her Own Way follows the same colour scheme as the digipack. The band have done this on purpose so that it is recognisable to be the same song and to make it stand out amongst the other indie music.




This is a music video for a different type of genre from the indie theme we are hoping to use. The dance genre uses the video to promote the emotional side to the music, showing people partying and doing what they love. This is typical of the dance music scene and is what people want to see when watching a video from this genre. The laid back style of video which mainly concentrates on showing off the music is brilliant for the dance/dubstep type of music. This is because the audience tend to want to focus on the music as opposed to a big production which would be more typical of a pop music video/song.



The CD cover is the same as the advert that has been used in magazines and on the television. The overall simplicity of the image shows us that the artist is very focussed on the music and not about the image of singer. This shows that the artist is very serious about their music and wants the audience to know that they are in the music industry for that reason, not to get famous or money. Even though this is a different genre to the one I am going to be using, I feel it is useful to look at several different artists and how they represent themselves in the music industry.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W_hEdt1Xes&feature=fvw
The video for Arctic Monkeys - When the sun comes down is hard hitting on the audience is several different ways. Firstly, the lyrics are very graphic and do not leave anything to the imagination. This is the type of song that the indie audience like and listen to which is why artists aim to shock. The video then mirrors the graphic imagery of the song and shows scenes of violence and inhumane activity.

The CD cover for this song is again in direct relation to the lyrics and the overall hard hitting nature of the single. It shows and grotty old street which appears to be in a rough neighbourhood with no money. The Arctic Monkeys are trying to give their audience real life and not sugar coat any situation, which they rightfully succeed in. The simplicity of the CD cover shows the band have got a well established name for themselves in the industry and do not need to show off and have loads of publicity. The fact that the cover is in black and white gives the audience a good idea that the band are in the indie genre because they tend to have little colour. This is a regular trait in indie products. The CD cover and the advertisement which would appear in magazines and on television are exactly the same which shows the uncomplicated nature of the band and how they want to keep the marketing simple so as to not confuse the audience. This stratergy is used regularly in the music industry by a different artists and genres.

Research and Planning: Music Video History.

Before MTV, the music video didn't have any real importance in the music industry. It is thought that MTV was the phenomenon that really gave birth to the music video. The early 1980s first saw videos representing music, with the first video to be played being 'Video killed the radio star' by The Buggles:

Considering the channel was being played 24 hours a day 7 days a week, there was a large demand for videos to be made for every song that was released by artists. They therefore became an important role in a recording artists career. There then developed different genre's of music, including narrative, sexy and indie. The most successful music video of all time is said to be Michael Jackson 'Thriller':

Music video's have been developing into 'works of art' since the word go. With Thriller being a very high-tech complicated video, you then have the other end of spectrum with Feeder 'Just a day'; being lo-fi and using videos their fans had sent in, lip sinking to the song and making it into a video:

In 2005, YouTube, a large domain of videos, was created. This is where many bands, such as ErinPaulaa found fame. In conclusion, although music video's fans have tried to elevate this form of entertainment to the title of an art form, the music video is eventually just a work of commerce, destined to sell a product: the song.

Research and Planning: Spike Jonze.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0eQGJh-rkU MIA - Paper Planes.







All of Spike Jonze's music videos are random. They're low budget and have a quirky nature to them. The recurring theme appears to be aiming to shock the audience and give a memorable video to help the artist sell. When looking at these videos in comparison to the idea we have for our video, they are very different. We are hoping to do a reasonably conventional indie style video which appears to the masses who listen to the indie genre. This is because we feel that this will be the most effective when dealing with the indie genre because the audience do not tend to appreciate too much change from what they already know and love. When looking at exisiting indie videos, they all appear to follow the same rules.

Research and Planning: Narrative: Propp.

the hero in this video is a white good looking male who does have a point of view shot.
the princess is an attractive white female who shows her body in representation of reward for the hero.

This video is very mainstream showing a clear love story to the audience.

We feel that this video is linked to the dominant representation of a typical male hero because he is an attractive white male. Therefore it is very stereotypical.
The princess in the video is also pretty and therefore is a good reward for the hero and does not challenge dominant representation. It follows the mainstream thang.

Research and Planning: Narrative - Todorov.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEukS2YN9B8

Guy walking down the street - Equilibrium.

Lady jumping off roof - Disruption.

He finds her shoe and looks up to see her - Recognition.

They have coffee - Reparation.

She chases him and he kicks off - Reparation.

Guy walks off - New Equilibrium.

She runs on to the roof and does the same again - New Equilibrium.

Who causes disruption? The girl on the roof.

Who resolves narrative? The guy by walking off.

Can you link to representation? Stereotypical that a young, white, good looking man has the resolution of the narrative.

Research and Planning

this song related the lyrics to the music through movements and images on screen. it also has multiple close ups of the artist and the video relates to the genre of music. there is no voyeurism present in the video because it is by a female artist.


this video uses a lot of voyeurism and the camera is mostly focused on the artist at a close up position. There is a lot of relation between the lyrics and the video for example they write what they sing on the video. this video is genre related as it is a rap video and the video has stereotypical features such as women dancing in limited clothing.

Research and Planning: Exploration of exisiting videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-L7Cadb-c0&feature=featured

Sheila by Jamie T. The video is quirky and unusual. It is likely to appeal to a younger more rebellious audience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyHVQT8aIBM

Beyonce - Single Ladies. This video is mainstream and attempting to appeal to the mass audience. It will appeal to young teenage girls.

Drake - Forever. This video takes itself quite seriously because it has 4 major artists of their genre. It appeals to many people, mainly teenagers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWhairF_DS8&ob=av2e

Kings of Leon - Use Somebody. This video has a element of seriousness to delivering the music and it feels very authentic. It is likely to appeal to a wide range of audiences.

Eminem - Love the way you lie. This video is a narrative and tells a story all the way through. It appeals to a wide range of audiences.

Akon - Beautiful. This video had a sexy element to it by the presence of all the ladies. It would appeal to a wide range of audiences.

First Video Production Skills Audit.

1. Lighting.

2. Wider use of computer technologies.

3. Better use of the sound system.

4. Make better use of different audiences when doing research.

5. Learn what Reconnaissance is.

Post-Production: Digital Technology.

The editing of the video was the most difficult part of the whole process because, with the Busted video, there are so many different shot changes in such a short time that you have to move it on so fast AND match up the music. We faced some problems when completing the editing; such as some of the music was cut so it was all in the wrong place, and one frame being put somewhere that it was not supposed to be so we had to move it and then change everything else as well. I think we should have had a clear storyboard in front of us to show us where each shot was and how long it lasted, which we should have thought of and planned before beginning the editing. I felt like the tool which outs a dot on a specific point (?) was very helpful because it helped us match up the different words that are said to what the music is saying. Also, the cutting tool was useful because we were able to get rid of long pieces of unwanted material with ease.

Production.

During this production task, I learnt that you have to be very well organised for everything to go well. You also need to have a reliable group of people who will always turn up to every shoot and on time with costumes ready. For our task, some people who played extras did not turn up so we had to ask a random person to step in and play a role for us. This is not to be expected by class mates but when faced with a problem we have to over come it. Also, some people did not bring costumes so we put them at the back on the shoot so it looked like there were still there but you could not see there outfits. I feel that the shoot went very well and we overcame our problems because we worked well together as a team. Next time we do a shoot, I intend to work with reliable people who are definitely going to attend every lesson.

Production: Digital Technology.

When I began the AS Media course, I did not have extensive knowledge of different technologies that are used in video production. I learnt how to use Adobe Premiere which made it possible for us to complete the editing upon the video. I feel that this programme was difficult to use to begin with, but got easier and I can more familiar with the tools. We used the video cameras when filming the video which are straight forward to use and produce good quality film. We also used YouTube to put our final video on which has been used throughout the AS Course.

During the task, I learnt that getting the lip syncing completely in time was very difficult and took a lot of practice to make perfect. I also discovered that for a video to look professional you have to work at the shot changes for a lot of time which we simply did not have because of the limiting time frame of college.

In my A2 Course, I would hope to develop my use of Adobe Premiere because I feel that it is a programme which becomes easier to use with practise. I would also like to become a lot better at matching up lip syncing to music because the finished product looks great!

Research and Planning.

To begin the task we had to do some research into which video we were going to create and then plan how we would carry out the making of the piece. We chose to do 'Busted - That's what i go to school for' because it does not have too many characters and is set in a school environment which we were in. We watched a remake of the video to give us an idea of what the final piece would look like and then completed story boards to make the process easy and flowing. I found that story boards made the task easier because it was clearly outlined what we needed to do and we were able to follow the plan.

I feel that we should have planned all the invidual shots more clearly because we were having to refer back to the original video to decided what shot to do next.

I feel that in the A2 course we should we be doing more planning with shot types and different camera angles because this is where we struggled to replicate the exact video. The storyboard method proved very effective because we could see the different scenes in which different characters were going to be in clearly outlined. For this reason, I would use the method again.

Introduction.

For the beginning of our A2 Media Studies Course, we were asked to remake a well known pop video and then complete the editing on the final piece. This is because in the A2 course we are having to do this and this is used as practise for the following tasks.