Thursday, 19 November 2009
Conventions of Magazine Ads and Digipak
Conventions of digipaks
Digipaks are collectors items fans can purchase containing items such as posters, bonus tracks and limited edition content. They also often contain behind the scenes and a 'making of' feature. The digipaks are slightly more expensive however fans can own more than just an album. The digipaks can give fans more information on the band, they sometimes contain small documentaries of the bands rise to fame. This way the fans can get to know the band more personally.
There are also more common conventions. Demands require the record labels logo on the digipak also ratings and running time are included.
Conventions of magazine Ad's
The magazine ad is mainly to promote the artist and song. It is to be as eye catching as possible with striking images and wording. It has to attract as much attention as possible. It contains the song title or album title, the artist name, release date, where it will be available on release and the bands website. The main feature of a magazine ad is the image used. It needs to attract attention while containing as much intertextual reference to the band as it can.
Some bands use celebrities ratings to promote themselves, this way the public will be more likely to read the ratings instead of glance over them.
Suede-Lost in tv digipak
The digipak Suede created for there album Lost in tv doesnt follow many visual coventions for digipaks. It contains a large image and the bands title with a list of songs. It does however contain, an exclusive new track, band commentary and a small film by a band member. This does follow convention. It is a large album containing 19 songs, this may be why there arent as many extra features contained in other digipaks.
The artist is represented in a dark way. The image is a strong distorted close up of a microphone. The image on the back is also a distorted picture showing the instruments. The intention of a digipak is to bring the fans closer to the band however the images used make the band seem uninterested.
It may appeal to the audience as it contains special content and never before seen footage. The fans may be interested in seeing the band in an enviroment other then performing.
Milwaukee At Last- Rufus Wainwright magazine ad
This magazine ad follows convention for most magazine ads. It contains the record labels logo, artist website, release date and where the album and digipak will be available on release. Instead of a eye catching image the font of the album name is used to attract attention. It is bold and covers half the ad, with a different color for every letter. This is very striking and attracts attention after a glance. There is also an image of the artist.
Possible
I think this could be a good contender for our magazine advert or the digipack as it is a clear shot of the artist himself, from a shot of the actual music video.
This gives it a strong visual link to the video, and at the same time promoting the artist himself.
This image gives a good representation of genre, the outfit the artist is wearing is a typical 'indie' look, and the guitar he is holding gives a representation of the style of music the audience can expect.
This image could apeal to many audiences, the female audience if they find the artist attractive, along with indie music fans.
Overall i think the simplicity of the image and the idea it givees to the audience would make this image a good contender for the advertisement or digipack.
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Possible frames for central image of digipack
In my opinion this would be a good contender for the central image of a digipak, as although it is quite simplistic, and by having just an instrument is a very common idea for this genre, I think it has more attention to detail as we were fortunate enough to find quite a tattered guitar, which adds quite a laidback, unglamourous, indie feel. I also think it would be a good image, as it is easy to see the artist is sat down in a field, which again creates a very relaxed atmosphere, showing the spectator the tone of the video, and the music. I think that it follows the conventions of other music videos of this genre as many are also quite simplistic, and usually include the artist with an instrument, without having really striking and bright, eye-catching mise-en-scene e.g. a big stage performance. I believe this image would attract an audience as it looks quite natural and tranquil and clearly represents the soft indie style of the artist and his music e.g through the loose shirt and relaxed hand positions on the guitar.
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Background research-David ford
David ford was born in Dartmore in kent on 16th may 1978. His first big break in indie music came with his indie rock group Easyworld. They released one album then dismembered in 2004.
David Ford then branched into being a solo artist known for the emotion he puts into his songs.
He started playing solo concerts almost straight away after his band split up, fan favourite State of the Union was his biggest known song at the time.
David Ford then branched into being a solo artist known for the emotion he puts into his songs.
He started playing solo concerts almost straight away after his band split up, fan favourite State of the Union was his biggest known song at the time.
He toured america supporting acts such as KT tunstall untill his debut was released in america in 2006. Then after supporting Suzanne Vega on her UK tour, he released his 2nd solo album 'Songs for the road' in august 2007, he toured extensively to promote his album throughout the UK in october 2007 and toured the US in may 2008. His new album entitled 'Let the bad times roll' is to be released early 2010.
Initial ideas for the song
The song is an acoustic based song, most videos for songs of this type feature the artist playing. Oasis- Wonderwall is a song based on the acoustic guitar, it features the artist playing the guitar and is also edited into black and white. We could edit parts of our song to be in black and white as i think it adds emotion to the artist playing.
This would mean our video would be a performance, we could make our story a narrative and keep it a performance. We could do this by following the lyrics of the song to make a story, and have actors play out the story maybe with the male character playing the song.
We could also use split screen affects, other music videos that use this affect use it to display two stories at one time, in sugar water-Cibo Matto stories of two girls are played out on either side of the screen.
The location of our video, if done in a split screen could be broken into urban and rural landscapes, we could have a story taking place in each landscape. The woman in the song could be having a normal day in the city as the man plays the song in a more rural area, landscapes like this could be used in our video.
Using these techniques would add to the emotion of the video. Most of the techniques are steriotypical of the song type however some may challenge the normal conventions.
This would mean our video would be a performance, we could make our story a narrative and keep it a performance. We could do this by following the lyrics of the song to make a story, and have actors play out the story maybe with the male character playing the song.
We could also use split screen affects, other music videos that use this affect use it to display two stories at one time, in sugar water-Cibo Matto stories of two girls are played out on either side of the screen.
The location of our video, if done in a split screen could be broken into urban and rural landscapes, we could have a story taking place in each landscape. The woman in the song could be having a normal day in the city as the man plays the song in a more rural area, landscapes like this could be used in our video.
Using these techniques would add to the emotion of the video. Most of the techniques are steriotypical of the song type however some may challenge the normal conventions.
Monday, 2 November 2009
Group response to peer feedback
We are satisfied with the feedback received from our peers. Taking into account the stage we are at with our filming and editing it is understandable the constructive criticism we received. We feel that it is essential for us to create a shooting plan that will allow us to fulfill the potential of our initial idea. As we have the majority of the song completed and planned to shoot tomorow, it will allow us plenty of time to edit and perfect our music video which will hopefully conclude with a high quality finish.
Teacher Rough Cut Feedback
General Feedback:
There are significant gaps in your rough cut, these must be filled with high quality footage. I would advise you to reflect on the feedback you've received and plan carefully what footage you need to get in order to fill these gaps. You definitely need more cutaways.
Feedback on Representation of Artist:
The selection of your mise-en-scene is strong, your choice of costume and filters is very strong.
Your star image is almost too strong because there are no other visuals other than your artist, this is why cutaways are so important. It almost strengthens the shots of the artist if you use effective cutaways.
This has the potential to be very good, but it is essential that you plan the next stage of your filming carefully. Keep up the good work.
There are significant gaps in your rough cut, these must be filled with high quality footage. I would advise you to reflect on the feedback you've received and plan carefully what footage you need to get in order to fill these gaps. You definitely need more cutaways.
Feedback on Representation of Artist:
The selection of your mise-en-scene is strong, your choice of costume and filters is very strong.
Your star image is almost too strong because there are no other visuals other than your artist, this is why cutaways are so important. It almost strengthens the shots of the artist if you use effective cutaways.
This has the potential to be very good, but it is essential that you plan the next stage of your filming carefully. Keep up the good work.
Peer feedback
Q1-11: Intertextuality
- Very similar to a song by the weepies called the world spins madly on. In this video there is a male and female character. This video is similar to that because of the shots and characters and the genre portrayed
- It is also similar to a film called Babel due to the shots due to the multiple storylines.
- Another film would be love actually, due to the multiple storylines again and the romantic aspect.
Other feedback: We think that the shots containing the male character, he should either play the guitar or look like he is playing the guitar.
- Very similar to a song by the weepies called the world spins madly on. In this video there is a male and female character. This video is similar to that because of the shots and characters and the genre portrayed
- It is also similar to a film called Babel due to the shots due to the multiple storylines.
- Another film would be love actually, due to the multiple storylines again and the romantic aspect.
Other feedback: We think that the shots containing the male character, he should either play the guitar or look like he is playing the guitar.
Peer Feedback
Q1-12 - Lyrics and Visuals
- The lead singer sings the lyrics directly into the camera encouraging the audience to relate to him and his emotions.
- Complementary lyrics and visuals for example when the singer sings about a girl near the cigarette machine you see a girl near a cigarette machine
- The lead singer sings the lyrics directly into the camera encouraging the audience to relate to him and his emotions.
- Complementary lyrics and visuals for example when the singer sings about a girl near the cigarette machine you see a girl near a cigarette machine
Peer Feedback
Music and Visuals(Mr A Winter and Mr T Halkyard)
The music has quite a slow tempo and the footage used and the way it has been edited compliments this well and really enhances the mood of the song. The use of the guitar in the music video also allows the viewer to see the instrument played in the song which is commonly used to give the performance aspect of the video. The singing mostly has been edited so that the lip syncing works well. this is also the case with the guitar playing where, mostly, the guitar plucking has been used well to compliment the music being played.
The music has quite a slow tempo and the footage used and the way it has been edited compliments this well and really enhances the mood of the song. The use of the guitar in the music video also allows the viewer to see the instrument played in the song which is commonly used to give the performance aspect of the video. The singing mostly has been edited so that the lip syncing works well. this is also the case with the guitar playing where, mostly, the guitar plucking has been used well to compliment the music being played.
Q1 08 Feedback
Genre Characteristics
The music genre that was used in this music video was indie, so we feel in terms of costume and props and location it did represent the indie style. However, we feel as in a lot of indie videos there is always a strong narrative reflecting the lyrics of the song and in this video we felt the narrative wasn't obvious enough - so maybe more shots of the girl and boy together would help. The lyrics did relate to the video and there was good shots used to help make this obvious.
Naomi, Sian and Marianne.
The music genre that was used in this music video was indie, so we feel in terms of costume and props and location it did represent the indie style. However, we feel as in a lot of indie videos there is always a strong narrative reflecting the lyrics of the song and in this video we felt the narrative wasn't obvious enough - so maybe more shots of the girl and boy together would help. The lyrics did relate to the video and there was good shots used to help make this obvious.
Naomi, Sian and Marianne.
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
Goodwin's theory
Q1-10 Goodwin Analysis
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Thursday, 8 October 2009
Daniel Powter 'Bad day'
When researching other videos that used split screen techniques, we found the music video 'Bad day' (2005) by Daniel Powter and directed by Marc Webb, which suprised us as it uses a lot of mise-en-scene ideas, camera shots and editing techniques which resemble those of our final video. In my opinion these similarities have a lot to do with the style and tone of the music, as both are soft instrumental songs narrating a storyline, and therefore these elements help execute the same laidback feel.
Split screens show separation of couple, sleeping in different beds, and walking different paths.
Similar mise en scene ideas of characters looking in a mirror surrounded with photos, getting ready and a three way split screen
A shot from the character's window of them panning down to the other person of the relationship, emphasising the distance between them.
Both videos use a lot of close ups of the songs main instrument.
We found these panning shots suprisingly very similar, as both show the artist in the main location of the song, playing there instruments from a behind angle.
As the song ends, both shots show couple coming together at the end, by one appearing into the frame and end with the couple just looking at each other.
Magazine Advert Research
Magazine Advert Initial Ideas and Current Research
We analyzed two current magazine adverts that we felt were effective in promoting themselves. We used a Jay-Z advert and a Friendly Fires advert, two very contrasting adverts visually but both effective in promoting their respective album. We noticed that these magazines had essential conventions to promote themselves and their album. Friendly Fires had quite a conventional magazine advert, having a striking background and images of the band. Where as Jay-Z is not initially bold and striking but because of this, it tells the reader that he does not need to promote himself with an image or striking background because he is so well established. Almost making it more effective than the Friendly Fires advert. The crucial
We analyzed two current magazine adverts that we felt were effective in promoting themselves. We used a Jay-Z advert and a Friendly Fires advert, two very contrasting adverts visually but both effective in promoting their respective album. We noticed that these magazines had essential conventions to promote themselves and their album. Friendly Fires had quite a conventional magazine advert, having a striking background and images of the band. Where as Jay-Z is not initially bold and striking but because of this, it tells the reader that he does not need to promote himself with an image or striking background because he is so well established. Almost making it more effective than the Friendly Fires advert. The crucial
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Digipak
CD COVER
Our CD cover will mainly focus on the visual style of David Ford that we will try try to create in the music video, it will be a close up of his face with indie generics in the background. It will again have intertextual references to Jack Johnson.
Examples of David Fords other album covers and an example of Jack Johnsons:
An example of a cd cover that we have created is :
Our CD cover will mainly focus on the visual style of David Ford that we will try try to create in the music video, it will be a close up of his face with indie generics in the background. It will again have intertextual references to Jack Johnson.
Examples of David Fords other album covers and an example of Jack Johnsons:
An example of a cd cover that we have created is :
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Teacher Feedback on Pitch and Blog
Your pitch document on the blog looks very good but the content is a little vague, as a result your pitch was unconvincing, you need to outline clearly what is going to be happening for each line of the song. The work you are doing on storyboarding and putting together a timeline will assist with determining and communicating a more fixed idea of your video.
You need to publish the posts that you currently have in draft as they fill in a lot of the gaps that your blog appears to have. You must also label your posts with the names of the people who contributed to the post, it is essential that you do this consistently. Currently there are other vital components missing from your blog, including your Goodwin presentations and your Auteur presentations. These must be embedded and contextualised i.e. explain what the task was. I would also recommend that you embed other music videos both real and student videos, which influence you or are similar stylistically to your ideas.
You also need to do some research into digipaks and magazine ads, discuss the conventions of these two forms, and make your own ideas for these two products very clear. The current sketch you have mocked-up is not clearly labeled as your own work.
As we discussed this morning it is essential that your storyboard illustrates your concrete ideas as your pitch is rather vague, only then will I confirm you have this track.
Keep up the good work.
You need to publish the posts that you currently have in draft as they fill in a lot of the gaps that your blog appears to have. You must also label your posts with the names of the people who contributed to the post, it is essential that you do this consistently. Currently there are other vital components missing from your blog, including your Goodwin presentations and your Auteur presentations. These must be embedded and contextualised i.e. explain what the task was. I would also recommend that you embed other music videos both real and student videos, which influence you or are similar stylistically to your ideas.
You also need to do some research into digipaks and magazine ads, discuss the conventions of these two forms, and make your own ideas for these two products very clear. The current sketch you have mocked-up is not clearly labeled as your own work.
As we discussed this morning it is essential that your storyboard illustrates your concrete ideas as your pitch is rather vague, only then will I confirm you have this track.
Keep up the good work.
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Animatic
Making our animatic was a very helpfull process, it gave us the opportunity to analyse our idea for the music video. It helped us fit the video in perfectly with the music itself. When we added the music against our storyboard on final cut we realised that we had to change the length of some of the shots that was different to our original plan. Our first shot is of moving clouds, we original planned for this to be a short opening to the beginning of the video where there is an instrumental, but when we added the music against it we realised it would have to be longer than we first anticipated. Likewise we discovered that some shots would have to be a lot shorter than we thought they could be, as our music video is going to be a narrative video. The majority of the video is of the artist singing the lyrics aswell as the narrative going on at the same time, it helped us work out timing for the individual shots.
Friday, 25 September 2009
Final Track Choice
Our chosen track choice is - DAVID FORD 'A LONG TIME AGO'
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Track Choices And Initial Ideas 3
Track 3- Killer - Boy Kill Boy
For our third initial idea, for a video called 'Boy kill boy' by Killer, we thought the most successful way to record a video for this song was to include typical conventions of an indie/rock band, and use the idea of recording a band performance.
Ideally it would be nice to film a band performance with a live audience, but thinking realistically we would film a band performance without an audience.
For our third initial idea, for a video called 'Boy kill boy' by Killer, we thought the most successful way to record a video for this song was to include typical conventions of an indie/rock band, and use the idea of recording a band performance.
Ideally it would be nice to film a band performance with a live audience, but thinking realistically we would film a band performance without an audience.
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Track Choices And Intitial Ideas 2
Track 06 - The Hush Sound
For our second idea, a video for the song 'Sweet tangerine' by band The Hush sound, we decided to include some typical conventions of an alternative/ indie rock video, however usually videos of this genre focus of stage performance which we decided wouldn't be as effective for this particular song, alternatively we decided to focus on a storyline of a separated couple, with the singer showing his heartbreak using lyrics relating to mise-en-scene (such as 'scruffy' costume of boy, and well-kept appearance of the girl) Editing (such as split screens showing the constrast of both girl and boy) etc. The opening lyrics 'Rain outside window' will show him in his bedroom as he wakes up and has flashbacks of him drunklenly knocking on the door at girl and shouting the lyrics at her, and in the morning finding texts of what he sent her.
We may also use the technique of flashbacks of the couple looking happy together, e.g at a park together, and use point of view shots, from his perspective looking and remembering her. Other possible elements we could use in our video are techniques such as split screen, showing them both looking into mirror, he looks depressed and messy haired and scruffy and she looks pretty, happy and well, showing another man coming into the split screen of the girl with the lyrics 'You're all his and I'm all yours, like it or not'
Other media products we used to inspire this idea included music videos from Panic! At the Disco, Newton Faulkner, Jack Johnson and The Kooks. The screen shots below were taken from the music video from the Kooks 'She moves in her own way' which include some of the visual charecteristics we wanted to demonstrate in our project, as costume e.g straw hats, scruffy clothing which help create a relaxed/ laid-back feel, stereotypical of indie/alternative rock band videos)
Another video that inspired this second idea was the music video 'Next in line' by Meese, as this was also an alternative rock indie band which included split screens and looked very effective in helping the singer narrate the lyrics of songs storyline better to the viewer.
For our second idea, a video for the song 'Sweet tangerine' by band The Hush sound, we decided to include some typical conventions of an alternative/ indie rock video, however usually videos of this genre focus of stage performance which we decided wouldn't be as effective for this particular song, alternatively we decided to focus on a storyline of a separated couple, with the singer showing his heartbreak using lyrics relating to mise-en-scene (such as 'scruffy' costume of boy, and well-kept appearance of the girl) Editing (such as split screens showing the constrast of both girl and boy) etc. The opening lyrics 'Rain outside window' will show him in his bedroom as he wakes up and has flashbacks of him drunklenly knocking on the door at girl and shouting the lyrics at her, and in the morning finding texts of what he sent her.
We may also use the technique of flashbacks of the couple looking happy together, e.g at a park together, and use point of view shots, from his perspective looking and remembering her. Other possible elements we could use in our video are techniques such as split screen, showing them both looking into mirror, he looks depressed and messy haired and scruffy and she looks pretty, happy and well, showing another man coming into the split screen of the girl with the lyrics 'You're all his and I'm all yours, like it or not'
Other media products we used to inspire this idea included music videos from Panic! At the Disco, Newton Faulkner, Jack Johnson and The Kooks. The screen shots below were taken from the music video from the Kooks 'She moves in her own way' which include some of the visual charecteristics we wanted to demonstrate in our project, as costume e.g straw hats, scruffy clothing which help create a relaxed/ laid-back feel, stereotypical of indie/alternative rock band videos)
Another video that inspired this second idea was the music video 'Next in line' by Meese, as this was also an alternative rock indie band which included split screens and looked very effective in helping the singer narrate the lyrics of songs storyline better to the viewer.
Monday, 21 September 2009
Track Choices and Initial Ideas 1
Track 11 - David Ford - A Long Time Ago
Stories/Narrative
Our main concept for our music video is to produce two screens in our video, one is of the artist singing in a rural area with nothing surrounding him whilst a couple are in there own storyline playing out the lyrics of the song. The main goal is to produce a flowing smooth video with high quality transitions. We would also try to add our own touch to the video by adding intelligent clips that accompany the instrumentals of the song, a video signature that we have discovered in the opening of David Ford - Go to Hell.
Look and Feel - Costumes/Props
The style of the video would be quite indie/country where the costumes would correlate with conventions of the indie genre. We have chosen to use Paolo Nutini as inspiration for our music video, his style and genre highly correlates with our chosen song, therefore we have decided to dress our chosen actor in a chequered shirt, jeans, trainers and a hat, a very casual look.
Goodwin's Theory
To meet the needs of the record label, there would be constant close ups of the artist singing towards the camera on a split screen. This would create a visual image of David Ford that can run throughout his work, this could then be replicated on his cover for the music video and magazine advert. The visual image is a casual, down to earth guy, an image that has intertextual references to Jack Johnson and Paolo Nutini, artists that are already well established in the field.
Stories/Narrative Our initial ideas are that, it would be set in the countryside where the artist would sing alone in golden fields singing towards the camera on a picturesque day whilst there are cuts to the man and woman in the city. The song is about a man and a woman who used to be a couple but then broke up, now the man still has feelings for her and waits for her at her house just to see her. 'Clouds on the moon,It was a hollywood sky, I sat on the wall, 'til your parents drove by.' In our video we would film a man waiting at the womans house trying to recover what they had 'a long time ago' looking up at the skies above whilst the clouds go by for only the woman to be getting on with her life totally oblivious to the man. At the end of our video the man and woman's paths would finally 'converge' , in which the tone and pace also goes into slow motion in which it would end on that as the last lyrics are 'It was all such a long time ago.Now was it though?'
Location
We have chosen the countryside/rural area for the artist and the city scenario for the man and woman. Through this contrast, the audience will be more engaged to the video.
Stories/Narrative
Our initial ideas are that, it would be set in the countryside where the artist would sing alone in golden fields singing towards the camera on a picturesque day whilst there are cuts to the man and woman in the city. The song is about a man and a woman who used to be a couple but then broke up, now the man still has feelings for her and waits for her at her house just to see her. 'Clouds on the moon,It was a hollywood sky, I sat on the wall, 'til your parents drove by.' In our video we would film a man waiting at the woman's house trying to recover what they had 'a long time ago' looking up at the skies above whilst the clouds go by for only the woman to be getting on with her life totally oblivious to the man. At the end of our video the man and woman's paths would finally 'converge' , in which the tone and pace also goes into slow motion in which it would end on that as the last lyrics are 'It was all such a long time ago.Now was it though?'
Situation
Our main concept for our music video is to produce two screens in our video, one is of the artist singing in a rural area with nothing surrounding him whilst a couple are in there own storyline playing out the lyrics of the song. The main goal is to produce a flowing smooth video with high quality transitions. We would also try to add our own touch to the video by adding intelligent clips that accompany the instrumentals of the song, a video signature that we have discovered in the opening of David Ford - Go to Hell. Look and Feel - Costumes/Props
The style of the video would be quite indie/country where the costumes would correlate with conventions of the indie genre. We have chosen to use Paolo Nutini as inspiration for our music video, his style and genre highly correlates with our chosen song, therefore we have decided to dress our chosen actor in a chequered shirt, jeans, trainers and a hat, a very casual look.
Goodwin's TheoryTo meet the needs of the record label, there would be constant close ups of the artist singing towards the camera on a split screen. This would create a visual image of David Ford that can run throughout his work, this could then be replicated on his cover for the music video and magazine advert. The visual image is a casual, down to earth guy, an image that has intertextual references to Jack Johnson and Paolo Nutini, artists that are already well established in the field.
Overall, the concept that we have created is realistic in what can be achieved in the time that we have been allocated, through having simplistic foundations, it will lay the basis for an overall high quality video. A video that will focus and concentrate on portraying the conventions of our genre, producing a visual image of David Ford that can be distinctively identified throughout all his future work and also have our own touch that will make our video stand out in comparison to other videos of the Indie genre.
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Auteur Slideshow - Chris Cunningham
Q1 Auteur Presentation - Chris Cunningham
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