What happened to my Music Video!
Throughout this coursework I have experienced multiple problems, but the one that I encountered on the last hurdle was the biggest so far as parts of my music video were corrupted as the servers crashed around the time they were going to be moderated. This was so frustrating as I spent so much time and effort on this video (as did everyone else) however my video from my class seemed to have been the only one to be corrupt, with three media files going offline.
My teachers and I decided it would be best if I re-entered this coursework so I could get the grade I deserved, so I looked at the music video and finished on time for it to be moderated. Hoping that this would be the best version.
x
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Wednesday, 5 January 2011
EVALUATION 4
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
1. I used purevolume.com to search for my chosen artist, this was to see if there were any artists who were unsigned and that I was able to use, luckily I found Whitney Wiatt. You could easily tell if they were unsigned or not as they had the word pro next to their name, which was to distinguish who were the professionals. This all goes to the research and planning stages!
2. I used twitter on my phone to get in contact with the artist and I was really happy that she replied straight away. Using twitter shows how it is so easy to contact people; they can see the update on their own Twitter and reply straight away! This aspect is part of the researching stage.
3. I used Google Blogger to update my blog for when I had done something new because we used these last year as well, I am now a whizz at being a blogger and it is actually quite fun! This was used to basically show my progress throughout the making of the video and to show the research throughout the planning and development, so you could say that managing my blog covers all stages.
4. I used a video camera (and a tripod) similar to the one in this picture, to shoot the music video, this was to capture the making of the video, it also shows you how compact and easy to use it is, for people like me who are by themselves making a music video - it is easy to hold and no fuss will This is again an aspect of the development stage yet construction stage also.
5. I used the Apple Mac to edit my video into the final product, using Final Cut Express to create the music video.We used this format because it has a range of transitions and effects which are used in the media industry, so it is helping us learn the techniques you need if you want to have a job in the editing field and it also helped to give my video a professional look. This was all for the construction and development stages!
6. I used Adobe Photoshop to create my ancillary text digipak and the background for the Magazine Advert, this is because it was an easier way to do it because I have the experience of using it, again it gives it a more professional feel to the pictures. This is part of the construction stage.
7. I used Microsoft Publisher to create my ancillary text - the Magazine Advert, this was because it was again easier to construct an advert as you can simply place the pieces where you wanted them; like a jigsaw puzzle, again this is part of the construction stage.
8. I used Hotmail to send my products to my school account so I can hand in both ancillary texts so they could be evaluated and for the Magazine Advert (to be put together on Publisher on my school user), this is part of planning and construction.
x
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
1. I used purevolume.com to search for my chosen artist, this was to see if there were any artists who were unsigned and that I was able to use, luckily I found Whitney Wiatt. You could easily tell if they were unsigned or not as they had the word pro next to their name, which was to distinguish who were the professionals. This all goes to the research and planning stages!
2. I used twitter on my phone to get in contact with the artist and I was really happy that she replied straight away. Using twitter shows how it is so easy to contact people; they can see the update on their own Twitter and reply straight away! This aspect is part of the researching stage.
3. I used Google Blogger to update my blog for when I had done something new because we used these last year as well, I am now a whizz at being a blogger and it is actually quite fun! This was used to basically show my progress throughout the making of the video and to show the research throughout the planning and development, so you could say that managing my blog covers all stages.4. I used a video camera (and a tripod) similar to the one in this picture, to shoot the music video, this was to capture the making of the video, it also shows you how compact and easy to use it is, for people like me who are by themselves making a music video - it is easy to hold and no fuss will This is again an aspect of the development stage yet construction stage also.
5. I used the Apple Mac to edit my video into the final product, using Final Cut Express to create the music video.We used this format because it has a range of transitions and effects which are used in the media industry, so it is helping us learn the techniques you need if you want to have a job in the editing field and it also helped to give my video a professional look. This was all for the construction and development stages!
6. I used Adobe Photoshop to create my ancillary text digipak and the background for the Magazine Advert, this is because it was an easier way to do it because I have the experience of using it, again it gives it a more professional feel to the pictures. This is part of the construction stage.7. I used Microsoft Publisher to create my ancillary text - the Magazine Advert, this was because it was again easier to construct an advert as you can simply place the pieces where you wanted them; like a jigsaw puzzle, again this is part of the construction stage.
8. I used Hotmail to send my products to my school account so I can hand in both ancillary texts so they could be evaluated and for the Magazine Advert (to be put together on Publisher on my school user), this is part of planning and construction.
x
EVALUATION 3
What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
The audience feedback I received from my peers gave me a push to finish my final music video. They were honest and gave me constructive criticism which consisted of me tightening up my lip syncing because it was lagging at the time. Also partly because I had not finished my music video (a few parts were missing - such as a few transitions and the odd shot) I knew I had to work hard as they each told me to work on the blanks. I was pleased to see/hear that they thought the lighting looked amazing -especially how it glowed upon Imogen's pretty face/frame - because that was what I wanted to achieve, Imogen as a country singer - looking happy in her surroundings. They also agreed with each other that the framing and shots were nice and steady, and worked well with the overall video and made the story make more sense, with the help of the transitions also. The transitions they said worked with the video as it flowed more to tell the story and the setting and characters were appropriate for the video. They also thought that the shots made the narrative make sense; seeing Harleigh and Will's argument being easily distinguished through facial expressions and gestures by the close up shots and mid shots, which also showed the progression of their relationship, an aspect that I wanted to get across to the audience.
So because of their feedback throughout the process of making a music video, I think they have really helped me on my growing knowledge and made it what it is as they pushed me to work harder, which I am grateful for!
x
What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
The audience feedback I received from my peers gave me a push to finish my final music video. They were honest and gave me constructive criticism which consisted of me tightening up my lip syncing because it was lagging at the time. Also partly because I had not finished my music video (a few parts were missing - such as a few transitions and the odd shot) I knew I had to work hard as they each told me to work on the blanks. I was pleased to see/hear that they thought the lighting looked amazing -especially how it glowed upon Imogen's pretty face/frame - because that was what I wanted to achieve, Imogen as a country singer - looking happy in her surroundings. They also agreed with each other that the framing and shots were nice and steady, and worked well with the overall video and made the story make more sense, with the help of the transitions also. The transitions they said worked with the video as it flowed more to tell the story and the setting and characters were appropriate for the video. They also thought that the shots made the narrative make sense; seeing Harleigh and Will's argument being easily distinguished through facial expressions and gestures by the close up shots and mid shots, which also showed the progression of their relationship, an aspect that I wanted to get across to the audience.
With the ancillary texts they thought the ideas that came across were really good and the colours linked with the overall theme of the whole package - love/romance - so because of this I was really happy as it was what I intended to do from the beginning, everything needed to link together. They thought it was imaginative and well thought out, however Nick thought it would have been clever to have the petals of the flower on the ground for the back cover of the album, like Imogen had picked them off herself while saying 'He loves me, he loves me not' the idea was really good but sadly the rose I used was fake, so this could not have been achieved.
So because of their feedback throughout the process of making a music video, I think they have really helped me on my growing knowledge and made it what it is as they pushed me to work harder, which I am grateful for!
x
Thursday, 16 December 2010
Tuesday 14th December 2010
EVALUATION 2
I'll firstly explain why I chose to create the album cover the way I did and the reasons behind those choices:
I chose to show Imogen - the artist - as quite vulnerable and alone, her looking at the rose symbolises her longing for the boy she likes to finally tell her if he likes her too, hence the title "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not" - which also links back to how Harleigh feels about Will in the music video. The colour scheme is black and white with the rose and the album title in red. This is because I wanted to connote the colour red as the love she feels for the boy and deepens the meanings of the other songs on the album. Love is the overall theme throughout the album and the video, so I wanted to incorporate this in both ancillary texts to suggest the meaning further and also make it easier for the audience to understand. The font for the artists name is bold and in capitals to make her name really stand out because it's her first album and I wanted it to be noticed. The album title "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not" is in the style of handwriting and italicized, as I wanted to make it seem like she has doodled her thoughts out onto a page, which is a huge contrast to the artists name and the album title itself.
This shows Imogen walking away from the rose, I did this because I want the audience to really think of distinction of the front and back, asking questions like "why has she walked away? Is it because she's given up on waiting". A real sense of ambiguity is being thrown out to the audience here, as I really want them to use their own interpretation, letting their imaginations run free. Again it goes back to the colour scheme of red, black and white, this is because I wanted to keep it consistent and not look too mis-matchy, otherwise the overall theme would not really have a purpose.
This cover has the acknowledgements on it because I wanted to show the audience who the artist was grateful too. I wrote it as if it was the artist herself as I did have a few thanks to share also. The image shows Imogen looking up, I did this because I wanted it to look as if she was looking up at her thoughts in her head, and the smile on her face represents her thanks. The colour scheme is black and white, however Imogen and her thanks are in colour signifiying she is happy and 'loving life'. Again the font is in the style of handwriting to portray that she is memorising what she wrote down, and the colour is pink to connote love again.
Finally, the last part of the digipak! The right inside cover of the album cover, is where I have put the CD. I showed hands holding the flower - the background is a black and white version and the CD is a really colourful version to distinguish the good and bad times of relationships. The black and white version symbolises the bad moments, although the CD (colourful version) shows how exciting it can be. Two very contrasting moments. This again relates to reality and how people live through bad and good relationships. The album cover is basically representing the video in still image form, we see Harleigh's love life in moving image and how misleading relationships can be and because of this, I have incorporated the flower as the overall decider in the album cover. The album cover was designed in Photoshop, this way was a much easier solution to being really creative and it really helped to make the images stand out.
I changed my idea from the planning process because I thought it would be better to link the whole project with the theme, love, so the Hummingbird idea wouldn't work because it connotes nature, whereas a red rose symbolises love. I thought this idea of incorporating the red rose would work better with the theme of love/relationship towards the audience as it would be easily distinguishable if they were searching for the artist in a shop or online.
The magazine advert.
What I did here was to show the flower in snow and I made the colour deep red to entice readers to look at the picture of the flower. The flower is in the advert as it corresponds with the album - the theme of love, with the red flower symbolising love. Also any flower is a major contributor to saying "I'm sorry" or "I love you", so I thought it would be good if I put the flower as the main focus on the magazine article as it focuses love. The colour scheme is yet again black, white and red, however black is not the main colour this time. White is the overall colour as a it is a bright colour which would catch readers attention in a magazine, also I didn't want to stray away from the running theme, as then it wouldn't really have a purpose, which is what I intended to do in the planning process. The font is more suitable for girls, just because it looks more appealing to their eyes and they were my target audience as I believe they would prefer the songs on the album. As you can see there are some comments from The Guardian Music Review and Radio 1, I decided on these two as they have a dramatic input into the way we listen to music, so I thought why don't they make a comment about the album?
How effective is the main product and the ancillary texts?
I'll firstly explain why I chose to create the album cover the way I did and the reasons behind those choices:
 |
| The Front Cover |
 |
| The Back Cover |
This shows Imogen walking away from the rose, I did this because I want the audience to really think of distinction of the front and back, asking questions like "why has she walked away? Is it because she's given up on waiting". A real sense of ambiguity is being thrown out to the audience here, as I really want them to use their own interpretation, letting their imaginations run free. Again it goes back to the colour scheme of red, black and white, this is because I wanted to keep it consistent and not look too mis-matchy, otherwise the overall theme would not really have a purpose.
 |
| The Left Inside Cover |
 |
| The Right Inside Cover |
I changed my idea from the planning process because I thought it would be better to link the whole project with the theme, love, so the Hummingbird idea wouldn't work because it connotes nature, whereas a red rose symbolises love. I thought this idea of incorporating the red rose would work better with the theme of love/relationship towards the audience as it would be easily distinguishable if they were searching for the artist in a shop or online.
The magazine advert.
What I did here was to show the flower in snow and I made the colour deep red to entice readers to look at the picture of the flower. The flower is in the advert as it corresponds with the album - the theme of love, with the red flower symbolising love. Also any flower is a major contributor to saying "I'm sorry" or "I love you", so I thought it would be good if I put the flower as the main focus on the magazine article as it focuses love. The colour scheme is yet again black, white and red, however black is not the main colour this time. White is the overall colour as a it is a bright colour which would catch readers attention in a magazine, also I didn't want to stray away from the running theme, as then it wouldn't really have a purpose, which is what I intended to do in the planning process. The font is more suitable for girls, just because it looks more appealing to their eyes and they were my target audience as I believe they would prefer the songs on the album. As you can see there are some comments from The Guardian Music Review and Radio 1, I decided on these two as they have a dramatic input into the way we listen to music, so I thought why don't they make a comment about the album?Finally the albums front cover is on the bottom right hand corner, as I want the readers to be able to recognise the album if they were to see them in any HMV stores - indicated on the advert. I decided on HMV stores because that is the place where most people buy albums they are interested in.
The magazine advert was created on publisher as it was an easier format to use to make everything work together and I could also grab all the elements and place them where I wanted. I designed the background on Photoshop; which is the flower in the snow, for the reason that I could change the contrast and brightness to suit the magazine advert.
New Magazine Advert
New Magazine AdvertThe new magazine advert is completely different to the other because I wanted to focus more on the new season and Imogen the artist herself. As the song has the lyrics ‘Just like the seasons he’ll come around’ I thought it would be suitable to have a new season to relate back to the song which links to the video that I created for this coursework. What I did to create this magazine advert was to take a picture of Imogen in her everyday clothes to show her as someone my target audience can relate too – as she is dressed appropriately she would be a suitable role model to young teenagers/young girls. After doing so, I used Photoshop to incorporate all the images I wanted to use together, so by doing so I contrasted and saturated the image of the flowers and used the overlay tool and applied it onto the background of Imogen sitting on the floor underneath the balcony in the Sixth Form building. I then took the image of the flowers again and used the overlay tool to apply it onto the side of Imogen sitting on the floor and changed the opacity of this image so that the audience would be able to distinguish who Imogen is. The flowers together link back to the music video as the theme is of relationships/love and flowers do connote this theme and the vibrant colours represent how you can have exciting moments in your relationships. I kept the font for ‘Whitney Wiatt He Loves Me He Loves Me Not’ because it is the font on the album and would be recognisable for the audience to buy in shops/download. I chose iTunes for the distributing of the album because audiences are more liable to download songs than buy them in shops because it is easier for them to do so. I also chose her record label ‘Big Machine Records’ because they are a Folk, Indie and Acoustic label who strive to support their artists with these genre’s and I put the logo on the advert as again it shows who represent Imogen the singer and why Imogen identifies herself in the way she does.
So there you have it, hopefully you now have a knowledge of why I created the ancillary texts the way I did and the reasons behind them. Thanks for listening!
x
Thursday, 9 December 2010
Thursday 9th December 2010
EVALUATION PART 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop of challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Frame 1: shows the relationship between the lyrics to the visuals, I wanted to incorporate the seasons in the video and I did this by adding pictures of the different seasons - relatig to the lyrics 'Just like the seasons he'll come around' So adding the pictures deepens the meaning of the song and video.
Frame 2: shows Harleigh dancing. The way she swings her arms, compliments the beat, I did this to make it seem she is hitting the beat as she is frustrated that Will (The boy) isn't giving her an answer or the attention she wants/needs to realise that he likes her too. Throughout the music video the shots compliment the lyrics and the overall sound such as 'just like the leaves, he's changing me' sees leaves falling to Harleigh and Will laughing and joking around. This also resembles how teenage romance's are ambiguous, teenagers often refer to couples as 'seeing each other', 'getting together' or 'actually together' and I wanted to convey this to the audience and leave them to interpret Harleigh and Will's relationship for themselves, so they are an active audience.
Frame 3: shows the singer -Imogen - standing alone, being independent and this goes towards Big Machine Records expectations - the record label that Taylor Swift is signed to and have gained 6 Country Music Association Awards, 6 American Music Awards, 4 Academy of Country Music Awards, 4 CMT Music Awards, 3 Teen Choice Awards, 1 MTV Video Music Award as well as 13 GRAMMY Nominations and 5 People’s Choice Award Nominations. As the genre of music is folk, I thought that the best thing to do was dress her to this style of music - like how Taylor Swift represents herself; which is country, so because of this it was important to keep the record label's expectations in hindsight and also to show Imogen as a lover of nature hence why she is walking alone in the heath.
Frame 4: represents the genre as the image is soft and it has a folk location and because of the genre, I wanted to create a country/soft image to really emphasise the meaning behind the song and the artist, also towards the record labels expectations :) so it all links together in the end!
Frame 5: shows the setting/location for the artist. I chose to shoot the music video here as it intensifies the lyrics and really captures the audiences attention on the artist- it's like a one-one conversation, just you and her, she is describing her emotions which involves everyone watching. Also because of the fact she is alone on the heath during sunset it connotes the feeling of sadness - the day is coming to an end which may heighten the heartbreak Harleigh (the main protagonist) feels about her romance with Will, is their romance coming to an end? The audience soon realise that it is just a new beginning with the end of the music video shows them make up, walking hand in hand away from the school.
Frame 6: shows a transition I used to create the video which was additive fade to colour dissolve. I chose dissolves and fades as it compliments the softness on the song and makes it look more proffessional than the other transitions which I could have used. I like my final piece as I think it compels audiences to realise how teenagers act in society today - how they are vulnerable within the society they live in.
Frame 7: shows the natural lighting I have used throughout the video, I did this because I wanted to relate it to reality, thus not changing the lighting. The sunset agaisnt Imogen's face portrays romanticism - linking to the theme of the album itself. Most of the songs on here album are about love itself.
Frame 8: shows the range of costumes used. The first picture - Sarah and Will, and the other with Will and Harleigh, shows how teenagers usually dress for college and how the proxemics/gestures can become intimate and misinterepreted. i chose to keep them dressed relatively casual as Taylor Swifts' video 'Be Mine' shows a normal couple - no hyped up celebrities all glammed up as some other artists portray people. Harleigh's wearing her dancing outfit to show she is dancing, and the colour black also connotes her mood, she doesn't know what it going on with her and Will. Imogen's make up is quite soft yet bright to bring forth how girls will change to be noticed, again relating to society and youth. Also because she is the artist I wanted to show the contrast between the 'real life people' and the 'celebrity' Imogen, I wanted her to look a tad like Swift as she uses her make up to express the moods in her songs.
Frame 9: shows the intertexuality of Taylor Swift's video 'Be Mine'. I was inspired by her video as it also has male - female relationships in jeopardy and gave me ideas on how to show an argument through facial expressions and gestures, which can go with a soft/mellow song.
x
In what ways does your media product use, develop of challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Frame 1: shows the relationship between the lyrics to the visuals, I wanted to incorporate the seasons in the video and I did this by adding pictures of the different seasons - relatig to the lyrics 'Just like the seasons he'll come around' So adding the pictures deepens the meaning of the song and video.
Frame 2: shows Harleigh dancing. The way she swings her arms, compliments the beat, I did this to make it seem she is hitting the beat as she is frustrated that Will (The boy) isn't giving her an answer or the attention she wants/needs to realise that he likes her too. Throughout the music video the shots compliment the lyrics and the overall sound such as 'just like the leaves, he's changing me' sees leaves falling to Harleigh and Will laughing and joking around. This also resembles how teenage romance's are ambiguous, teenagers often refer to couples as 'seeing each other', 'getting together' or 'actually together' and I wanted to convey this to the audience and leave them to interpret Harleigh and Will's relationship for themselves, so they are an active audience.
Frame 3: shows the singer -Imogen - standing alone, being independent and this goes towards Big Machine Records expectations - the record label that Taylor Swift is signed to and have gained 6 Country Music Association Awards, 6 American Music Awards, 4 Academy of Country Music Awards, 4 CMT Music Awards, 3 Teen Choice Awards, 1 MTV Video Music Award as well as 13 GRAMMY Nominations and 5 People’s Choice Award Nominations. As the genre of music is folk, I thought that the best thing to do was dress her to this style of music - like how Taylor Swift represents herself; which is country, so because of this it was important to keep the record label's expectations in hindsight and also to show Imogen as a lover of nature hence why she is walking alone in the heath.
Frame 4: represents the genre as the image is soft and it has a folk location and because of the genre, I wanted to create a country/soft image to really emphasise the meaning behind the song and the artist, also towards the record labels expectations :) so it all links together in the end!
Frame 5: shows the setting/location for the artist. I chose to shoot the music video here as it intensifies the lyrics and really captures the audiences attention on the artist- it's like a one-one conversation, just you and her, she is describing her emotions which involves everyone watching. Also because of the fact she is alone on the heath during sunset it connotes the feeling of sadness - the day is coming to an end which may heighten the heartbreak Harleigh (the main protagonist) feels about her romance with Will, is their romance coming to an end? The audience soon realise that it is just a new beginning with the end of the music video shows them make up, walking hand in hand away from the school.
Frame 6: shows a transition I used to create the video which was additive fade to colour dissolve. I chose dissolves and fades as it compliments the softness on the song and makes it look more proffessional than the other transitions which I could have used. I like my final piece as I think it compels audiences to realise how teenagers act in society today - how they are vulnerable within the society they live in.
Frame 7: shows the natural lighting I have used throughout the video, I did this because I wanted to relate it to reality, thus not changing the lighting. The sunset agaisnt Imogen's face portrays romanticism - linking to the theme of the album itself. Most of the songs on here album are about love itself.
Frame 8: shows the range of costumes used. The first picture - Sarah and Will, and the other with Will and Harleigh, shows how teenagers usually dress for college and how the proxemics/gestures can become intimate and misinterepreted. i chose to keep them dressed relatively casual as Taylor Swifts' video 'Be Mine' shows a normal couple - no hyped up celebrities all glammed up as some other artists portray people. Harleigh's wearing her dancing outfit to show she is dancing, and the colour black also connotes her mood, she doesn't know what it going on with her and Will. Imogen's make up is quite soft yet bright to bring forth how girls will change to be noticed, again relating to society and youth. Also because she is the artist I wanted to show the contrast between the 'real life people' and the 'celebrity' Imogen, I wanted her to look a tad like Swift as she uses her make up to express the moods in her songs.
Frame 9: shows the intertexuality of Taylor Swift's video 'Be Mine'. I was inspired by her video as it also has male - female relationships in jeopardy and gave me ideas on how to show an argument through facial expressions and gestures, which can go with a soft/mellow song.
x
Tuesday, 23 November 2010
Tuesday 23rd November 2010
More research into my digipak (CD album)
Planning the album covers has been quite hard as again, I can't bounce off anyone's ideas. But I think its finally coming together. The front cover will still be Imogen although sh
e will be on a field instead of in the woods, but I do want to show her as alternative so I will have to think 
of ways of doing so in a later time. For the back cover, I'm going to paint it and still have the hummingbird idea, but I will paint it instead and make it look really pretty. The inside cover will be acknowledgements and the right inside cover for the CD will have the different seasons in the corners. I want to base my album cover on KT Tunstall's Eye to the Telescope, as hers is really creative!
e will be on a field instead of in the woods, but I do want to show her as alternative so I will have to think 
of ways of doing so in a later time. For the back cover, I'm going to paint it and still have the hummingbird idea, but I will paint it instead and make it look really pretty. The inside cover will be acknowledgements and the right inside cover for the CD will have the different seasons in the corners. I want to base my album cover on KT Tunstall's Eye to the Telescope, as hers is really creative!x
Thursday, 18 November 2010
Thursday 18th November 2010
MAGAZINE ADVERTS FOR ALBUMS
Louise Aubrie - her name and the album name are shown twice as she wants to be recognised by people. Once she has been recognised she may not feel the need to show her name twice. The use of sans serif font stands out as it is also bold showing again that she wants to be noticed. The picture looks as if she is about to perform on stage, however, she is in a hallway so it doesn't really make any sense why she is set up for a performance when she is standing in a hallway so it loses creative points there for me. Also her eyes are focused on the right hand side with a nervous facial expression; is she looking out towards the audience and is nervous? The colours are pink and black so it looks girly, maybe linking back to her music? The advert has her producers name on it however not a label company, and also has her myspace, so it still shows that she is new to the music industry.
The Verve - The name of the band catches your eye with the black/boldness which contrasts with the gold looking sky/sepia tones in the background - the light shining through the clouds looks like Gods love is shining through for the people. Also the central placing of it looks like a film poster or a book so does not really look like an advert for an album. The font is quite strange, they seem like they are in italics and the album name is in capital letters, suggesting that the album is more important than the band itself. 'The Single' is not in the spotlight so people may think it is an advert for a film because it isn't stated on what it is, although because they know who the band is they may not even think that.
Gwen Stefani - This is a painting of her as a Queen looking serious even though she is slouching in the chair. It has the picture of her album in the right hand bottom corner and this shows her messing around and maybe misusing her royal status? The colours in this advert connote royalty such as the gold and red and also the font. She uses features such as songs, websites, company label etc.
x
Louise Aubrie - her name and the album name are shown twice as she wants to be recognised by people. Once she has been recognised she may not feel the need to show her name twice. The use of sans serif font stands out as it is also bold showing again that she wants to be noticed. The picture looks as if she is about to perform on stage, however, she is in a hallway so it doesn't really make any sense why she is set up for a performance when she is standing in a hallway so it loses creative points there for me. Also her eyes are focused on the right hand side with a nervous facial expression; is she looking out towards the audience and is nervous? The colours are pink and black so it looks girly, maybe linking back to her music? The advert has her producers name on it however not a label company, and also has her myspace, so it still shows that she is new to the music industry.
The Verve - The name of the band catches your eye with the black/boldness which contrasts with the gold looking sky/sepia tones in the background - the light shining through the clouds looks like Gods love is shining through for the people. Also the central placing of it looks like a film poster or a book so does not really look like an advert for an album. The font is quite strange, they seem like they are in italics and the album name is in capital letters, suggesting that the album is more important than the band itself. 'The Single' is not in the spotlight so people may think it is an advert for a film because it isn't stated on what it is, although because they know who the band is they may not even think that.
Gwen Stefani - This is a painting of her as a Queen looking serious even though she is slouching in the chair. It has the picture of her album in the right hand bottom corner and this shows her messing around and maybe misusing her royal status? The colours in this advert connote royalty such as the gold and red and also the font. She uses features such as songs, websites, company label etc.
x
Thursday 18th November 2010
ALBUM COVERS!
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Nirvana - Nevermind
On this album cover, I don't think the font relates to the music at all - just the image of the baby underwater, the album name seems to look as if it is in the water and the bands name is old fashioned in a serif font which doesn't relate to the music they play. They may be suggesting that their bands music of an old fashioned quality, although I don't think they have achieved this as their music doesn't suggest old fashioned morals. The colour scheme suggests melancholy mood and the graduated colour may connote good and evil? The image on the front is shocking in itself as the thought of a baby losing it's innocence to try and grab the filthy ideal of money - money is the one thing in this world that anyone would do for and lives ruin because of this factor. So the idea of the baby actually diving in to grab it, is shocking and makes us think - are we really deprived from luxuries at such a young age? The band haven't used a picture of themselves as the picture of the baby is shocking enough to show that it is the band anyway and because of this the album cover is a piece of art in its own right as it is symbolic and memorable.
Coldplay - X & Y
Again this cover has no font maybe suggesting that because they have had 9 albums before it, their fans will already know who's album it is, so they don't have to write the bands name on it, that could also be said about the band not being pictured also. The picture on the front is obscure, you can't really describe what it is but the use of primary colours makes it stand out which catches your eyes, however the picture is meaningless, it doesn't tell you a story that you can really relate to and doesn't say anything about the music in any sense. We could interpret that this cover is too clever for its own good; even though its simple, it is still intriguing to look at; your left looking at it thinking what the hell is this??
The Killers - Sam's Town
The neon sign looking name of the band has been their iconic font since they started and gives the album cover a modern feel. The calligraphy of 'Sam's Town' shows a major contrast of the two and makes it seem like The Killers is more modern and hyped up than Sam's town which seems old and run down. The black and white colour scheme suggests memories, reliving what's past, so maybe the Beauty Queen used to live in Sam's town and now she is famous and has moved away? Also the beauty queen and the goat symbolise feminism, Beauty Queen = Pageants and the Goat = sacrifice and because of these pictures representing feminism, it gives off a mysterious feel. Again the band aren't pictured, but because of the huge The Killers on the cover, fans can see who they are. I wouldn't say that this is a piece of art however it is creative in a sense. We just have to keep wondering why there is a Beauty Queen and a goat on the front cover :/
Queen
The use of the word Queen in a royal style font suits the band as they are indeed royalty to the music industry - most creative men we have ever seen hit our screens, so the medieval font suits the high standards of their music. The band are focused in the middle of the album cover surrounded by darkness with a strong light focused on them and the faces are looking down on us - the fans - which suggest they believe they are royalty, in a sense they are looking down on us like snobs. There is a suggestion of religion with Freddie Mercury crossing his arms over his chest - making the sign of peace? And the men are placed as if in a cross? The bands picture also seems to be like a still from the video 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and this is because it was an iconic video for the band, so they could have incorporated this as the album cover as it was so iconic. The cover isn't a piece of art however Freddie's eyes are the only one's being shown suggesting he is the king?
x
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the MoonHere you can see that the album cover has no font, so you could interpret that they believe they're so famous that everyone will know who it is. The idea of the colour scheme of the prism spectrum suggests that the band are intellectual and their music is very smart - the prism reflects the bands intellect on how well written the music is. I believe that the album cover is a piece of art in its own right, due to the fact it would be recognisable in the shops and it would catch your eye.
Nirvana - Nevermind
On this album cover, I don't think the font relates to the music at all - just the image of the baby underwater, the album name seems to look as if it is in the water and the bands name is old fashioned in a serif font which doesn't relate to the music they play. They may be suggesting that their bands music of an old fashioned quality, although I don't think they have achieved this as their music doesn't suggest old fashioned morals. The colour scheme suggests melancholy mood and the graduated colour may connote good and evil? The image on the front is shocking in itself as the thought of a baby losing it's innocence to try and grab the filthy ideal of money - money is the one thing in this world that anyone would do for and lives ruin because of this factor. So the idea of the baby actually diving in to grab it, is shocking and makes us think - are we really deprived from luxuries at such a young age? The band haven't used a picture of themselves as the picture of the baby is shocking enough to show that it is the band anyway and because of this the album cover is a piece of art in its own right as it is symbolic and memorable.
Coldplay - X & YAgain this cover has no font maybe suggesting that because they have had 9 albums before it, their fans will already know who's album it is, so they don't have to write the bands name on it, that could also be said about the band not being pictured also. The picture on the front is obscure, you can't really describe what it is but the use of primary colours makes it stand out which catches your eyes, however the picture is meaningless, it doesn't tell you a story that you can really relate to and doesn't say anything about the music in any sense. We could interpret that this cover is too clever for its own good; even though its simple, it is still intriguing to look at; your left looking at it thinking what the hell is this??
The Killers - Sam's Town
The neon sign looking name of the band has been their iconic font since they started and gives the album cover a modern feel. The calligraphy of 'Sam's Town' shows a major contrast of the two and makes it seem like The Killers is more modern and hyped up than Sam's town which seems old and run down. The black and white colour scheme suggests memories, reliving what's past, so maybe the Beauty Queen used to live in Sam's town and now she is famous and has moved away? Also the beauty queen and the goat symbolise feminism, Beauty Queen = Pageants and the Goat = sacrifice and because of these pictures representing feminism, it gives off a mysterious feel. Again the band aren't pictured, but because of the huge The Killers on the cover, fans can see who they are. I wouldn't say that this is a piece of art however it is creative in a sense. We just have to keep wondering why there is a Beauty Queen and a goat on the front cover :/
Queen
The use of the word Queen in a royal style font suits the band as they are indeed royalty to the music industry - most creative men we have ever seen hit our screens, so the medieval font suits the high standards of their music. The band are focused in the middle of the album cover surrounded by darkness with a strong light focused on them and the faces are looking down on us - the fans - which suggest they believe they are royalty, in a sense they are looking down on us like snobs. There is a suggestion of religion with Freddie Mercury crossing his arms over his chest - making the sign of peace? And the men are placed as if in a cross? The bands picture also seems to be like a still from the video 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and this is because it was an iconic video for the band, so they could have incorporated this as the album cover as it was so iconic. The cover isn't a piece of art however Freddie's eyes are the only one's being shown suggesting he is the king?x
Monday, 15 November 2010
Monday 15th November 2010
More research into Ancillary Products......
So far, we have been learning about the conventions of an album cover and how we should 
apply this to our own cover for our own album. I wanted to have the seasons and the singer incorporated in it, so I firstly thought; how about putting the different seasons on the 4 pages - front cover, left inside, right inside and the back cover. Then I had the idea of having the 
hummingbird as the main focus for the album, with Imogen the singer on the front and then maybe the Hummingbird on the back with the track listing going down the feathers. Inside I will have the eye of the bird where the CD is with Imogen either lying in the eye or just the eye itself, I don't want it to be creepy, as the songs are more beautiful then horrific...if you get me?! And to show off my lexical talent, I would pefer to have acknowledgements and dedications to show how Imogen (the singer) has got that far to make a single.
Here's a picture of the planning of the album cover, which are the ideas above :)
apply this to our own cover for our own album. I wanted to have the seasons and the singer incorporated in it, so I firstly thought; how about putting the different seasons on the 4 pages - front cover, left inside, right inside and the back cover. Then I had the idea of having the 
hummingbird as the main focus for the album, with Imogen the singer on the front and then maybe the Hummingbird on the back with the track listing going down the feathers. Inside I will have the eye of the bird where the CD is with Imogen either lying in the eye or just the eye itself, I don't want it to be creepy, as the songs are more beautiful then horrific...if you get me?! And to show off my lexical talent, I would pefer to have acknowledgements and dedications to show how Imogen (the singer) has got that far to make a single.
Here's a picture of the planning of the album cover, which are the ideas above :)
x
Friday, 12 November 2010
Friday 12th November 2010
HMV LESSON!
On Wednesday 10th November 2010, my class went to HMV to look at album covers to gain inspiration on what would look good for our own album cover. Here is the conclusion of what we found out when we went:
1. What CD catches your eye when you stand in front of a stand?
Scissor Sisters - shows a transition of walking from a peaceful meadow setting, then going through a tunner into the city.
2. Where are the music DVD's located in the store?
3/4 of the way in of the store
3. How are they arranged? eg. by genre/artist?
Alpabetical order by artist
4. Look at the range of DVD's. What percentage of the following do they mainly showcase?
- Performance - 80%
- Documentaries - 10%
- Complications - 5%
- Other - 5%
5. What is the purpose of the DVD?
To show the artist/band performing on the stage, and for the audience to see how good they are live.
6. Where are the CD's located in the store?
The centre
7. How are they arranged?
In rows by genre and alphabetical order.
8. What does this tell you about the relative importance of CD's compared with DVD's?
As CD's are individually organised by genre and alphabetical order they will sell more than DVD's as there is more of a variety
9. What is being played at the listening posts?
There was nothing being played, technical fault.
10. Does this give you any indication of HMV's customer base?
There is a wide range of genres.
A few questions we had to ask a member of staff!
1. What is your customer base at HMV?
Around Guildford Centre
2. Why do you arrange the store in the way you do?
For sales - mass merchandise at front to draw attention to the customer
3. How do DVD sales compare to CD sales? Why is this?
DVD's sale more than CD's as we get DVD's in bulk.
4. How do you encourage people into your store?
Offering excellent customer service, and advertising.
5. What strategies do you use to compete against internet downloads?
2 for £10 and rewards cards
And the guy was very lovely indeed, excellent customer service.
x
Friday 12th November
ALBUM COVER ANALYSIS
The album cover i have chose to analyse, and think can give me an idea on what I could use for my own album cover is: dunn dun dunnnnnnnnnnn: CORINNE BAIL
EY RAE'S THE SEA! The album cover relates to the music as the picture on it is soft and gentle like the music on the album. The picture expresses change - the autumn leaves in the background and her facial expression looks like she is thinking or looking in the distance, for hope maybe? I believe that the cover is a piece of art in its own self, it's creative and gives a sense of isolation and loneliness and her song Are You Here shows this factor. Her songs are upbeat yet they are still soft so in some way the cover does tell you what you will expect on the album and the textures in the picture are also soft as well. So the album cover really works with the songs and I feel a lot of work has been put in it to sell the songs as they work well with each other. I think this cover is different to others, as there is a variety of colours and the font of the album also works well. So I think, if I saw this I would buy it, and it has given me inspiration for my own album cover.
x
The album cover i have chose to analyse, and think can give me an idea on what I could use for my own album cover is: dunn dun dunnnnnnnnnnn: CORINNE BAIL
EY RAE'S THE SEA! The album cover relates to the music as the picture on it is soft and gentle like the music on the album. The picture expresses change - the autumn leaves in the background and her facial expression looks like she is thinking or looking in the distance, for hope maybe? I believe that the cover is a piece of art in its own self, it's creative and gives a sense of isolation and loneliness and her song Are You Here shows this factor. Her songs are upbeat yet they are still soft so in some way the cover does tell you what you will expect on the album and the textures in the picture are also soft as well. So the album cover really works with the songs and I feel a lot of work has been put in it to sell the songs as they work well with each other. I think this cover is different to others, as there is a variety of colours and the font of the album also works well. So I think, if I saw this I would buy it, and it has given me inspiration for my own album cover.x
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Thursday 21st October 2010
TODAY WAS THE MOST EVENTFUL DAY!!!!
I had the busiest day of filming and editing today, to hopefully be done for tomorrow. But here is what happened full scale on my most eventful day so far!
- In the morning I had to find a location for Harleigh to dance. I originally wanted to do it in the old gym - a place where the younger years of the school have P.E. In form I went to find one of the teachers who use the gym, and she said to me 'sorry but the gym is all booked up for today' GREAT I thought. So my second option was to use a room in the Sixth Form block, which I think turned out perfectly. So what Harleigh, Will and I did was push all the tables and chairs back to the front to give Harleigh a reasonable amount of space to dance.
- Will had one more little scene to do, wondering if he should go to Harleigh or not and in the end he goes up to her and hugs her. And I am really proud of him, as he really worked hard on to get the perfect shot and we did. This was also done in the same room as Harleigh's dancing scenes, as I want to make out that he's purposely gone to find her and make up with her.
- Harleigh's dancing scenes were amazing. I know she is an awesome dancer but for her to do it for my music video, made me so happy. She looked fantastic doing it and I think the outcome looked great. So that was another scene that I had to film during the day.
- My last two scenes I had to film, were taking off the make up scene, and the leaves falling. Harleigh was again very helpful in this, and it was done in one take, although it was hard to try and find a suitable place as to where I would stand to show her looking through the mirror taking off her make up, but we got it done. Thank God! The leaves were pretty simple to shoot. I lay on the floor to get the leaves falling like they would from trees, (as I am holding the camera, I was basically representing the pavement) and Mercedes and Sarah helped to throw the leaves up in the air so I could get what I wanted, and fingers crossed it looks good!
- I then went up to the media room to start to piece together my video. When we had to show what we had so far, I knew that I was so far behind at this stage. I was panicking like mad. However, the others in the class were very understanding, and could see this. So most of their comments about my video were to work more on it and fill in the blanks. I knew how hard I had to work to complete these goals; that's what I did.
- I stayed in over lunch and my two frees to at least try and complete the music video. I am quite proud of my progress at that stage, as all I need to do now is just add in a few more bits and then its done - the rest I will do tomorrow.
I do blame myself for all the glitches that have happened throughout my progress of the music video. However, I do believe that as I am by myself, I have no one else to help me or give me any ideas. First I was confident in being by myself, but the problems I have encountered, I wish I had someone else to save me. But hey at least it's nearly over, what a roller-coaster it has been!
x
Wednesday 20th October 2010
SOME MORE FILMING!!
Well, the filming I did today was short lived as the tape went all funny on me; saying that there was nothing recorded, even when I fast - forwarded or rewound it claimed that I had nothing recorded, so it decided to record over what I had, so I became very, very annoyed. Then it decided to to jolt all over the place and put a funny pixelated picture on the screen, so I gave up and did a bit of editing, so today was eventful...just hope tomorrow will be more successful!
x
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Wednesday 13th October 2010
SECOND DAY OF FILMINGGGG!
x
Today, I filmed Harleigh and Will's scene, and Will and Sarah's scene (Sarah being the 'other girl') This went really well as it was depicting teenagers in their natural school habitat; relationships being one of the main aspects that we live through school - we either gain or lose 'love' relationships. What worked well was how Harleigh was with Will and they were being all happy, Harleigh liking the fact she is spending time with Will. However when she saw that he was with Sarah in 'their spot' she was upset, as she thought that they were together, but was Will just talking to Sarah? That's what I want to show the audience, ambiguity of the meaning - does he like Harleigh too and just playing hard to get?
x
Tuesday 12th October 2010
FILMING HAS TAKEN OFFFF!
Today was the start of the filming. My good friend Imogen became the singer for the evening, and we went to Whitmoor Common to shoot the singers scene. The idea before was to have her with a guitar, but I had a good idea that she could be portrayed as a fairy type figure; she was dressed in a floral dress with earthy/summer make up to relate to the lyrics 'just like the seasons' - so I thought the use of a guitar was unnecessary.
X
Friday, 8 October 2010
Thursday 7th October 2010
FILMING SCHEDULE!!
Scenes that need to be shot:
Taking off make up - Tuesday 12th October 2010
Singers scene - in a field - after school - Tuesday 12th October 2010
Will and Harleigh scenes - Monday 11th October 2010
Sun, leaves and picture shots - Thursday 7th October 2010 - completed
I have a lot of work to do!!
x
Scenes that need to be shot:
Taking off make up - Tuesday 12th October 2010
Singers scene - in a field - after school - Tuesday 12th October 2010
Will and Harleigh scenes - Monday 11th October 2010
Sun, leaves and picture shots - Thursday 7th October 2010 - completed
I have a lot of work to do!!
x
Thursday, 7 October 2010
Thursday 7th October 2010
YOUTH SUB CULTURES!!
Here are a few of the youth sub cultures in society today:
*Chav's
*Emo's
*Prep's
*Goth's
*Indie's
*Skater's
In my video, I am not branding any of these, as I am not focusing on the image of the characters, its the narrative and performance I am focusing on.
*Clothing: what they would usually wear to college
*Make up: naturalistic, again how they would look in college
*Hang out: college, focusing on youth and 'young love'
*Respect for society: they will be focusing on each other, so there won't be any littering and loitering.
*Respect for self: Harleigh will be changing for Will, so she won't have a lot of respect for herself as she will be changing for someone else.
x
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Wednesday 6th October 2010
PROPS, ACTORS AND ALL THAT JAZZ!!
My main actor is Harleigh Hobbs, she will be dancing in the video and acting as the main girl in the video, I chose her to play the main protagonist as she is a good actress (she is doing A Level Drama and Theatre Studies) she also represents a lot of girls her age (17) - girls who present themselves in a classy, sophisticated way and aren't provocative - a typical role model who girls would look up too.
Imogen, will be the singer. I chose her because she has the Taylor Swift look, natural beauty with amazing blonde hair and again she presents herself well and would also be a good role model to young girls.
My main actor is Harleigh Hobbs, she will be dancing in the video and acting as the main girl in the video, I chose her to play the main protagonist as she is a good actress (she is doing A Level Drama and Theatre Studies) she also represents a lot of girls her age (17) - girls who present themselves in a classy, sophisticated way and aren't provocative - a typical role model who girls would look up too.
My other actor is William McOnie, who will be acting as the guy who is seeing Harleigh, but she thinks throughout that he is messing her around. I chose him because I have worked with him in my AS video and because he did so well in that video, I think he will pull the big A level video off. Plus he looks like the average boy you see around school and around town. Sarah Waterman would be the girl who talks to Will on the bench (which is Harleigh and Will's place) I chose Sarah as I know she is a good worker and also again represents herself in a respectful way.
Imogen, will be the singer. I chose her because she has the Taylor Swift look, natural beauty with amazing blonde hair and again she presents herself well and would also be a good role model to young girls.
Props:
Make up wipes - this is to show how Harleigh changes for Will to be more interested in her.
Dancing shoes for Harleigh - to put on when she finishes dancing
Bags - bags such as school bags would be use for the shots which are set in the school as they are a realistic portrayal of what students of schools everywhere use to hold onto work etc.
Bags - bags such as school bags would be use for the shots which are set in the school as they are a realistic portrayal of what students of schools everywhere use to hold onto work etc.
Locations
Mainly on school grounds - this links to my target audience as it is a familiar setting for them.
Field for singer - Whitmoor Common, a beautiful setting heightened by the heather growing in the area which is complimented by the grey sand - this is to show Imogen as a lover of nature as she is a country singer who loves everything country.
Bathroom for Harleigh - to take of her make up and the place where the audience see Harleigh's transformation taking place.
x
The bench where Harleigh and Will sit (like its their special spot, she's hurt when Will has another girl sitting there too)
Monday, 27 September 2010
Tuesday 27th September 2010
Potential Target Audience For Music Video
The image is a tad small.
From these findings, I will now have to work hard to represent the music genre (acoustic) to the best of my ability as only 8% like the acoustic genre.
These findings show that I have a lot of work on my hands because my inspiration for my music video is Taylor Swift, with my themes and ideas from this inspiration, I need to work hard on creating a music video that will change their view on Taylor Swifts music and the acoustic/folk sound entirely.
This question was to see how often my target audience watch music videos and I found that most of them watch music videos every day, this was helpful as I need the aim of making a video that won't get boring if it is over played.
Here you can see that the audience prefer to have a simple storyline, this is because they want to be able to follow the action taking place on the screen and because of this I will have a simple storyline throughout, showing the protagonist's relationship.
Here is the simple question of the audience expectations; and you can see that the audience do expect to see the band/artist performing in the video, simply because they should be selling their work so should present themselves.
Here, these results show how the audience believe that the band/artist and themes are the most important element in any music video. So because of this, I will show the theme of love throughout the video with Imogen the singer, singing the lyrics to compliment the action taking place.
I found that most of the audience re-watch music videos to understand what it is about, however because I decided to have my video following a simple storyline, I will make the video so that people will want to watch the video simply for enjoyment.
I found out that most of the audience would mostly download songs because they saw a video first, so I have to make a video that would make the audience want to buy/download the song, if I was competing in the music industry.
With these findings I found that narrative, performance and intertextuality are the main genre's that the audience prefer. I will include these in my video by have the artist singing the lyrics, a narrative that is easy to understand by the actors facial expressions and intertextuality; using other artists ideas for their videos, such as Taylor Swift.
With these findings, I will use both options as I need to represent a school society, so I could use classrooms and a playground. For the artist I will use a scenic setting to represent the artist throughout.
Here is the questionnaire for my research on my chosen genre of video and song :)
The image is a tad small.
Here you can see that the audience prefer to have a simple storyline, this is because they want to be able to follow the action taking place on the screen and because of this I will have a simple storyline throughout, showing the protagonist's relationship.
With these findings I found that narrative, performance and intertextuality are the main genre's that the audience prefer. I will include these in my video by have the artist singing the lyrics, a narrative that is easy to understand by the actors facial expressions and intertextuality; using other artists ideas for their videos, such as Taylor Swift.
With these findings, I will use both options as I need to represent a school society, so I could use classrooms and a playground. For the artist I will use a scenic setting to represent the artist throughout.
Friday, 24 September 2010
Friday 24th September 2010
GOODWINS RULES OF MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS! - which I need to have evidence of these throughout my video.
1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics(e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).
1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics(e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).
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