f1 Kirsten, Taylor, Sam and Sarah: Taylor

Although we liked elements of our old digipak cover, the colours and design did not work. Therefore we decided to start again with our front cover, but keep elements of our old one, such as the green tape and font which we felt fit our brand image. We are very happy with the the new design for our front cover as we feel it fits our brand image and links well with our music video, through colour and character.

Friday, 7 January 2011

'Oh No' Taylor and the Rubies

Wednesday, 5 January 2011

Edited Pictures

I edited these photographs for our ancillary task on Photo Impact 10 on my laptop. I changed the contrast, softened the skin, changed the dynamics of the brightness, added golden tone lighting and also brightened the white back ground. These edited images are not finalized they are simply a platform for a final ancillary tasks.

Wednesday, 15 December 2010

Practice Edits on PhotoImpact 10 For Ancillary Task

Here are some sample photo’s that I have found on the internet which I have edited using, Photo Impact 10 for practice editing for the real ancillary task.

This is the original photo that I found, I chose this because it incorporates a white background (which we used), plus the model has brown hair (the same as our artist).

Here I lightened the picture, decreased the contrast and softened her features. I also increased the intensity of the white background.

For this picture I; luminated and softened her skin tone using the skin touch up tool. This makes her makeup more refined and contrasts from the white background.

For the final edit I; dimed the brightness on the model, increased the contrast up to 70% and increased the mid tones, e.g. the blond in the hair. This defines her features more so than the last picture and has more use of colours than the original shot.

In practice editing these pictures, I know have a wider range of ideas to bring to the ancillary task and also I feel more comfortable with the Photo editing equipment.

Friday, 10 December 2010

Ancillary Task Original Photos

From looking at our choice of photos, we decided to chose a variety of the best ones we managed to capture. With our choice we will begin to practise editing and experiment what kind of images will link well with our music video.

Monday, 6 December 2010

Week Update

This week we have edited footage for the first section of the song (first verse and first chorus). We have kept to the storyboard quite well, but we have decided to adapt some ideas. We asked an audience member to look at our footage so far and they gave some interesting feedback. The audience member and the group recognised that because we have a variety of shots of the artist in the video the audience may get sidetracked and lose focus or interest on the artist and video. So through this we have decided to keep a 'home' image of the artist running throughout the music video so that the audience have something to hook onto and be familiarised with. We have chosen the performance scene as are familiar image of the artist because it is when the artist looks most natural and less characterised like the 'job' images. In making this decision we have brought an identity back to the artist making the music video more believable and entertaining for its audience.

Monday, 8 November 2010

Experimental Green Screen

Sunday, 31 October 2010

Outline synopsis of the Music Video

In the song there are references to being successful and independent. So we have come up with respectable ‘Job’ ideas for our artist such as;

• News Reader

• Weather Reporter

• Makeup Artist

• Teacher

• Celebrity (brings a comic element)

To contrast with these jobs we thought of jobs/situations that the artist would find unpleasant and would want to steer clear from;

• Cleaner

• Cook

• Walking through mud in willies

We also want a performance element into our video with the artist being surrounded by frames and netting.

We want to try and correlate the lyrics of the song as best we can with the visuals so this is why we have come up with a lot of interesting scenarios for our artist to portray.

Outline equiptment/technologies to be used in production

- Canon MD235 Video Camera
- Lighting
- Photoshop Software
- Indesign Software
- Final Cut Express
- Green Screen
- Lumix 12 megapixels DC Vario - Elmarit Still Camera
- Photoshoot studio
- Tri-pod
- Apple Mac Computer

Tuesday, 19 October 2010

Analysis of Magazine Adverts - 'Florence and the Machine - LUNGS'

The typical conventions of a magazine advert are;

• Artist/ Band Name
• Record label
• Album title
• Place of purchase of album/ single
• Persuasive/ Eye catching - colours/ text/ images
• Genre of the artist reflected through use of – colours/ font/ images
• Prominent image of the band or artist to make them recognisable

Here I am going to analysis the magazine advert for Florence and the Machine and their album ‘LUNGS’. In relation to the typical codes and conventions of a typical magazine advert I shall see how they are portrayed here and how this will influence our ancillary task for a magazine advert.

Most of the typical characteristics of a magazine advert are included; for instance there is a clear view of the band name and album title as well as the record label in the bottom right of the advert. There is also inclusion of the place and time of purchase of the album; this is all basic essentials for the selling of the product, however the advert also includes persuasive techniques to gain a wider selling point.

The use of the black back ground makes the text and images stand out more. The white text with different use of font is eye catching for the audience and helps to draw attention to the important information such as the artist name and album title. The black back ground also helps the pink flowers and the artist stand out which is a persuasive technique as the audience are drawn to all the important parts of the poster.

The genre of the artist is easily recognisable as ‘Indie’ through this poster. This is conveyed through the use of dark colours and unique illustrations and images. For example the image of the artist against the flowers makes her appear somewhat angelic and brings a theme of nature to Florence and the Machines image. This can then give an indication that the music is quite folk and acoustic, and not mainstream pop.

The style of the artist herself also appeals to her audience. She is wearing a green sheered top and a set of lungs; this relates to the album and also gives a prominent image to the band and artist which makes her recognisable to the target audience that this band are aiming for.

Through analysing this magazine advert for the album ‘LUNGS’ by Florence and the Machine, I can now see how the typical codes and conventions of eye catching and persuasive techniques will help in the making of our ancillary task. I now understand that it is very important to clearly state the genre of your product so that it meets the demands of the target audience, and also the making of a recognisable artist e.g. though use of individual style; which will help expand the selling point of the album.

Analysis into C.D Covers - 'Come Around Sundown - Kings Of Leon'

Here I am going to analysis the Kings of Leon front and back cover of their new album; ‘Come Around Sundown’.

The colour scheme on this front cover is quite simplistic ‘sunset colours’. Red, Pink, Orange, Yellow and White make up the combination of this cover; it appears quite mellow, warm and relaxed. The design is also simplistic with the only text being the artist name and the album title. The image of the palm trees along with the colours makes the album genre seem chilled out/ rock this is through the dusky colours and the hazy image of a sunset.

Here is the back cover to ‘Come Around Sundown’. There is the typical convention of the song titles listed on the back as well as the name of the record company and owner of the copyright material. The back still has the running theme of the sunset colours; however the image has now changed to the band stood on the beach. This gives the band their individual style iconography of chilled out and relaxed.

Through looking into detail at this album cover, I can see elements that could influence our ancillary task. For example that the colour scheme is very important as this reflects the tone and genre of the album, and also the images used reflect the artist personality and individual style.

Lyrics of Song 'Oh No!'

'Oh No!'

Don't do love, don't do friends
I'm only after success
Don't need a relationship
I'll never soften my grip

Don't want cash, don't want car
Want it fast, want it hard
Don't need money, don't need fame
I just want to make a change
I just wanna change (x4)

I know exactly what I want and who I want to be
I know exactly why I walk and talk like a machine
I'm now becoming my own self-fulfilled prophecy
Oh, oh no, oh no, oh no

One track mind, one track heart
If I fail, I'll fall apart
Maybe it is all a test
Cause I feel like I'm the worst
So I always act like I'm the best

If you are not very careful
Your possessions will possess you
TV taught me how to feel
Now real life has no appeal
It has no appeal (x4)

(Chorus x2)

I'm gonna live, I'm gonna fly,
I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna die,
I'm gonna live, I'm gonna fly
I'm gonna fail, gonna die, die, die, die

(Chorus x2)

Da-da-dum...
Oh, oh no, oh no, oh no

Here are the lyrics of our song choice 'Oh No!' originally sung by Indie Pop band - Marina and the Diamonds. I have colour coded the lyrics; red - verse, blue - chorus and green - bridge. This makes it clear of the different sections of the song. As we cannot ask the band what the lyrics represent to them or what emotions should be expressed in the song, I have gathered some ideas of what I think the lyrics mean.

In the first two verses, there seem to be references to being successful and independent. Also there is a repeated line ‘I just wanna change’ which suggests that whoever is singing this song wants to change their life regardless of whether they have love, friends or money. They just want to be successful for them self.

In the chorus, the lyrics look much more reassured. The artist knows what they want in life and why they want it. As well as this there is the repeated lyric ‘Oh No’ at the end of each chorus. This made me think that because the artist is so confident about the reach of their success, that they need to calm down and not turn into a completely different person altogether.

The third and forth verse carries on from the chorus. The lyrics here imply that the artist has gained all their wanted success but is starting to understand that there are also affects that come attached. For example the lyric, ‘If I fail, I’ll fall apart’ which makes me feel like because the artist has all their success if they lose it all again, they won’t know what to do. There is also a line which says ‘TV taught me how to feel Now real life has no appeal’ which indicates that the artist has become so familiarised with their life of success that she has no interest in ‘real’ ‘normal’ life.

The lyrics in this song have given us a lot of things to work with, and a variety of ideas for our music video. I was inspired by the ongoing theme of needing or wanting success throughout this song, and I believe this can really help characterise our artist and give her personality and individuality.

Questionnaire

1. What type of genre do you listen to the most?
Indie- Pop
Dance
Soft Rock
Pop
Indie
R N B

2. Who's your favourite artist?

3. Do the artists music videos interest you?

4. What do look for in a music video?

5. What's your favourite music video?

6. What do you associate with an indie pop music video?

7. What artists do you associate with indie pop?

8. What age of people do you consider to listen to indie pop and what's your age?

9. What do you associate with Marina and the Diamonds?

10. Do you like this artist, if yes/no why?

Indie Pop Music Video Research: Two Door Cinema Club 'Undercover Martyn'

As we now know that the genre for our music video is going to be Indie Pop, I have chosen to analysis Indie Pop/Rock group ‘Two Door Cinema Club - Undercover Martyn’. I will do this by following the Andrew Goodwin’s typical music video features whilst also looking at typical codes and conventions of the Indie Pop genre.

The first of Goodwin’s features is the clear link between lyrics and visuals. In this particular video there is little association between lyrics and visuals apart from the use of placards when they say the word ‘basement’ leading up to the chorus. This is probably because of the genre; Indie Pop can mostly be about the performance of the artist rather than a narrative in the video.

Another of Goodwin’s music video features is the relationship between the music and the visuals. I believe that in this video the visuals and the music have the biggest part to play throughout the whole of the video. The pace of the music changes repeatedly throughout from slow to fast, and so the visuals keep up with this through use of editing. For example; at the instrumental at the very beginning of the video, the band are moving and playing their guitars very fast and lively. Then as soon as the music alters and becomes slower they stop moving, this makes the audience ‘feel’ the music so to speak and understand the genre. Towards the end of the video, there is another instrumental part and the band is shown in UV lighting. The pace of this is very upbeat and the jump cuts between UV and normal lighting fit perfectly in time with the music, this fits in the with Indie Pop genre as it is experimental and lively. The images shown in the music video correlate to the music. When the music picks up and becomes more energetic the video becomes more animated with images of bright coloured ribbons, circles, balloons and the fact that they are being held up by people dressed in black becomes more apparent. The bright colours stand out from the black back ground making the video fun and individual which is was an Indie Pop video usually delivers to its audience.

The band in this video has managed to also create their individual star iconography through the video being more about the performance than a narrative. This is another of Goodwin’s music video factors. I think that they appear to be fun, energetic lively, down to earth people who enjoy their music. They also include a comedic element to their video which is typical of the Indie Pop video conventions, this is shown just by the fact that they are being held up and moved around by people dressed in black.

Aside from the Goodwin Model, the music video does include its own individual features, such as there is no narrative that links with the song it is purely the band portraying themselves as artists and performing their music. This is highlighted by the fact that they are playing their guitars throughout the video.

Through analysing this music video ‘Two Door Cinema Club - Undercover Martyn’ using Andrew Goodwin’s Model and typical conventions of the Indie Pop genre, I now have a clearer understanding as to what elements will be necessary in our music video. For example how editing matching the images can create entertainment for the audience, and how important it is to find the artist original style and use that to influence the making of the music video.

Mood Board of Indie-Pop Genre

Here I have created a Mood Board of the Indie-Pop Genre which has varies Indie-Pop artists including Marina and the Diamonds (whose song we are using for our music video).

From these varies artist featured in this mood board I have noticed that the indie pop genre is very animated. This is portrayed through the use of bright colours and also personality. Colours that stand out the most seem to be bright blues, reds, greens, oranges, pinks and yellows; which suggested a fun and energetic atmosphere to indie pop. I have also realised how much the artist individual style iconography as to play in this genre. Each artist seems to have a very different and quirky style, some appear quite humorous in their style for example some bands are dressed up in superhero costumes and footballer kits. The genre also allows artists to be more experimental and individual with their look, everything down to their hairstyle is unique. As the indie pop genre allows artist to be individual and upbeat, they also come across quite relaxed and down to earth, unlike other genres such as R’n’B where they have a swagger to their attitude.

Collecting images of the indie pop genre has give me inspiration for our music video, such as attention to detail with the artist style and also what type of personality the artist for the video should have to correlate with the indie pop genre.

Indie Pop Genre

Where it all began:

Indie Pop is a sub-genre of Alternative Rock, and is also similar to the Post Punk genre. It originated in the United Kingdom in the 1980’s. The most dominant alternative rock/indie pop band of the 80’s was The Smiths, who recorded their debut album ‘The Smiths’ in 1984.

From this music video, ‘This Charming Man’ it is clear of the traditional (and modern day) characteristics of the indie pop genre. The musical and instrumental components of the indie pop genre are strongly highlighted in this video. There are several close ups of the instruments that the band uses; guitars, drums and lead vocals. Their style seems very cool, collected and individual. This was the birth of the Indie Pop genre.

21st Century:

Most Indie Pop bands today are; young, fresh and more experimental than the 80’s. But this doesn’t mean to say that they have completely changed from the traditional conventions of 80’s indie pop. The general image of indie pop today is; bold, bright, individual, colourful and very experimental.

This music video ‘The Kooks - She moves in her own way’ is a prime example of the indie pop genre, plus how it has adapted from the 80’s. The band looks very individual with their style, and there are several shots of the instruments used in the band; guitars, drums, vocals. Very similar to the instruments that The Smiths used, which shows how influential they were for the genre. The Kooks also follow the typical conventions of the indie pop genre of being playful, youthful, fun and quite innocent.

From this research I have learnt the different elements of indie pop such as; individual style has a big part to play in this genre, and that their attitudes like being playful and energetic are also influential. This is something to focus on when producing our own music video as it will help us to understand certain aspects to the indie pop genre which we will need to include in our video.

Thursday, 14 October 2010

Music Video Analysis/Research: Adele - 'Cold Shoulder'

In order to help us understand what is expected of a typical music video; and to see how codes and conventions are operated. I have chosen to analysis ‘Adele - Cold Shoulder’. The genre of this music video is Soul/Pop and as she is a female artist I thought it might bring inspiration to our music video as we also star a female artist.

Through analysing this music video, I will see how it fits in with Goodwin’s features of a music video. One of Goodwin’s features of a music video is the typical characteristics that run throughout. In Adele’s video I noticed that she is mostly shot from her upper torso and face; and that her voice in the song has a very powerful quality throughout, apart from when she admits how she feels for this man and her voice appears weaker. ‘Cold Shoulder’ is obviously a very emotional song, and it seems to me like it is about her revealing her all feelings to this guy that has hurt her.

Another one of Goodwin’s music video features is the correlation between the visuals, lyrics and music. I believe that in this case, the lyrics are amplified through the visuals of the video. The message in this song is about a girl who is realising how her partner has treated her and standing up for herself. The main reference to ‘Cold Shoulder’ is visualised in this video as there are two ice sculptures that are regularly filmed throughout the video in close ups and long shots. The visuals here are heightening the lyrics because it is literally referring to someone’s emotion of being ‘cold’ to another person. The ice sculptures are generally shown when Adele sings, ‘You grace me with your cold shoulder’, which corresponds with the lyrics. There is also an interesting relationship between the visuals and the actual music. It helps the audience to identify the genre of the video, I can see that this there is a Pop element to the video as there is just the artist singing with no shots of a band playing instruments; it is simply Adele and the narrative which relates to her song. However I spotted the Soul genre through the visuals of the artist in one outfit, same hair and makeup which is common in the Soul genre.

This music video represents the star through use of iconography; her style appears very elegant and mature with clean cut hair and makeup. I believe this helps the audience to focus on her music and represents her as a credited artist that young girls will aspire to.

One final feature of Goodwin’s is voyeurism of the artist. This occurs in the video as there is several extreme close ups of the artist showing emotion when not signing, this makes the audience feel like they are involved in how the artist is feeling and so will feel closer to her. There are also shots of a house environment; kitchen, living room and bedroom. This can make the audience feel like they are looking in at Adele’s home and gaining a taste of her life by being in that place with her. This is commonly used in most music videos so that the artist can keep the audience’s attention.

Aside from Goodwin’s Model, I have also noticed that lighting places a crucial part in this music video. It highlights the emotion of the song and the style of the artist, so she stands out from the background. Throughout the lighting is dark and looks as though it is edited with a blue filter, it continuingly changes as if blacking out the screen and the picking up on main images and artist. I believe that lighting is a very important aspect to the video as it helps to set the atmosphere and makes the video look professional.

In analysing this music video ‘Adele - Cold Shoulder’, through looking at Goodwin’s Model and aspects of Mise en Scene it has helped me to think about what we would consider in our music video project. For example I know realise how important the artist is to their audience members and how different shots can influence emotion of the song. I can also see how strongly genre needs to be represented in a music video so that the expectations of the target audience can be met.

f1 Kirsten, Taylor, Sam and Sarah

Thursday, 20 January 2011

Taylor's Evaluation

Feedback on Ancillary Task

Friday, 14 January 2011

Audience Feedback : Final Video

Tuesday, 11 January 2011

The change from our old Digipak Cover design to the new one