First Idea For Digi Pack Cover

In today's lesson I experimented with my initial ideas using Corel Photo Paint. My aim for today's lesson was to explore a possible idea for my album cover and also to practice further using the software. Firstly I opened the images I wanted to use and minimised them on the programme. I then opened a new page and changed the file sixe to 13mm in order to fit my CD. I then opened each image, went to image, resample and changed the width of the image to 65 and the resolution to 200. I then needed to change the image from the option of background to an object (the second option icon) so that I could move my image's into my chosen positions. I then filled the background black so that the image had a black band around it. The colour black further depicts the dark theme to our narrative in our music video. I wanted to create a tile effect for my first idea and therefore moved the images into place in order to show four different images on the cover. Lastly I added the text to my image and chose white to show innocence and purity however coloured the word 'Dead' red in order to depict this disruption of his character. Lastly I saved the image as a CPT, so that I am able to edit the image again, if I desire to.  After experimenting with this idea, I have come to the conclusion that the four images, make the album cover appear to busy and therefore I am next going to experiement with a single image to emphaise the main idea I desire to convey on my album cover. Eventhough I think this is an interesting way of building up the composition I think it is too busy and some what distracting with 4 different images.

Photo Shoot For Digi Pack and Webpage

Today I took images that I could potentially use for my digipak and website. My aim for this photo shoot was to show the duplicity of our character in our music video.  Additionally I wanted to depict his split state of mind, through his actions in the video and represent this in my photo shoot.  I therefore wanted to show the characters duplicity through the use of food.  I decided to have one side on the table laid out neat in contrast to the other side which was messily laid out. I therefore wanted to achieve a contrast between the two sides of the image thus presenting the characters two different states which are evident in the video.  Furthermore, other songs on the album contain lyrics of social concern and relationships and therefore I decided that the image could have other connotations such as the relationship of two characters shown by the two sides of the image. I tried the image with numerous meals/snacks for experimentation however my favorite is the image of the toast and ketchup, with the glass of orange juice which undoubtedly demonstrates my main objective for the photo shoot. This image of the toast shows a simple meal but the division between the two thus emphasising the split of his character but also the divisions in a relationship. Additionally I choose to shoot my images on a black background in order to contrast these objects to the background. Furthermore, the black colour is fairly neutral acting as a base for these images.  I have also used white plates and bowls for these images to contrast with the black background to further convey differences and opposites. Furthermore, I wanted to show the differences of a character by having two sperate sides of the image therefore emphasing a clear split. I also wanted show the theme of relationships and that relationships can have their differences. Lastly I took an image of the end of the meal which I consider to have on the back of the album to show the characters transition.



Cocktail/Beer. For this image I have arranged half of the image laid out with a packet of crisps poured open, along with a beer which is seen as a casual drink therefore further emphasing the division between the two sides of the image. For the other side of the image I have arranged a cocktail and nuts which are seen typical more classy compared to a beer and therefore I chose to show the division of a character through these two states. 

Neat and Messy. For this image I arranged the table with a easy, snack type meal in order to represent the division of one character. Again half of the image is neat whereas the other side has crumbs everywhere. This was just a starting for exploring ways in how to show a split of character through meals and I have later developed the idea, to have a drink involved in the image too.

For this image I used a classy cocktail glass in comparision to a beer to present difference of character in this way. The side of the image with the cocktail glass is elecgantly laid out with a neatly folded napkin and some nuts. In comparision, the crisps are displayed spilled carelessly on the table.

My Favorite Image! This image is my favourite one from the shoot as i think that it clearly represents the division of character and achieves the aims for this shoot.  I have developed my idea from just the use of toast to involving a glass of orange juice too. However the neat side has the orange juice in a wine class and has a slice of orange placed elegantly on the side of the glass. On the other side of the image the orange peels are messy and ketchup is over the table. This image therefore clearly depicts a division of character conveying a clear difference between the two sides of the image.



The Division Of Character. Again, this image depicts the division of character and the black background  contrasts with the white plates further demonstrating opposites and differences for the image.

Breakfast Differences. I used white mugs and white bowl to contrast with the black background. I choose to use cereal with honey dribbled round the bowl and milk splashed on the side. In contrast the bowl on the other side of the image is neat and has a clean surface area around the bowl and the mug.





For these two images, I wanted to present the difference in character by showing the end of the meal, one plate is finished neatly wheres the other plate is covered in crumbs. I was thinking to perhaps have this image on the back cover to demonstrate the end of the meal and the transition of the character.

Analysising A Website In My Chosen Genre: Indie

Bastille website analysis from lucybrenner19

Website Analysis

James Morrison Site

Social networking/Digital Mediums:

• Follow James Morrison’s Twitter account
• Fan club on Facebook
• YouTube Channel
• Sound cloud
• Videos  

These website links on the main homepage helps to showcase the artist’s music and promote the music.  Furthermore the website enables the viewer access to James Morrison’s YouTube channel where they can sample and purchase his music and also sure his music through blogging. All of these interactive opportunities help to promote the artists music. There is also a link to sound cloud whereby the viewer can listen to listen to samples of his songs they are only teasers making the audience want to hear more and therefore purchase his songs.  Furthermore, there is the opportunity to log into your Facebook account or Twitter account where by most of the news items on his websites are connected to these social mediums. Through this there is a chance to instantly share and promote his music on these accounts!

News:

The site contains a blog of James Morrison’s upcoming events and his involvement in the music industry, including the announcement of the date that he will be performing in Australia. This further updates fans on James Morrison’s latest updates, keeping them involved in his music.  There is also additional information about James Morrison, with photographs. Photographs of James Morrison are prevalent throughout his website, acting as an anchor to the website.

Purchasing:

Access to James Morrison's official store opens in a new tab. Fans are still able to listen to his music on the official website whilst navigating around his store in a separate tab thus helping to promote the artist’s music.

• Buy branded clothing such as Broken Strings T-shirt
• James Morrison Poster
• Slave to the Music grey hoodie
• Each product corresponds with a different song of his
• The Awakening CD
• Special Offers
• Tickets 

Overall, James Morrison's Website showcases his music particularly through digital media. The role of digital media is therefore vital in production and distribution of his music products. Socail networking  plays a huge role on the website, allowing fans, to buy and share his music through these sites, thus promoting his music further. Additonally, Fans are able to download, sample and purchase his music on the Website.

Album Covers In My Chosen Genre: Indie

I have looked at some album covers in my chosen genre of Indie, here are a few that I have explored in greater depth:

The Cover for The Killers album 'Day & Age' is made up from small circles which build up the composition. The album does not feature the artist and the color theme resembles the title of the album cover with purples to demonstrate the night sky and lighter tones to suggest the day. 

I have looked at the official album cover for my chosen band Dog is Dead to explore the way in which they convey the band through an image. The cover suggests a relationship between two characters and the black circle they are walking towards can be depicted as them walking into the future which can also be noticed by the perspective of the image as they walk into the distance together. Furthermore, the colour of the band title on the album cover is matched with the black circle which is the key focus of the image. I particularly like the way in which the image suggests a relationship between two characters and I have decided that I would like to depict this theme on my album cover. This is because the theme of relationships


Local Natives album cover features the band, with a misty color blend of blue and red in the background. The use of a colour wash suggests a certain theme for the album cover. Furthermore the bands name is written in block capitals which is extremely eye catching. In addition the band appear in 'casual' positioning making the album cover look unstaged further demonstrating the personalities of the band members. 


The Ting Tings album cover features two hands tattooed with the album covers name 'we started nothing'. The red background colour is alarming which is juxtaposed with the album cover 'we started nothing' as if they started nothing why is the colour alarming!  








Bombay Bicycle club, another indie band has a rather dramatic and interesting album cover. A man is seen flying the air with a crowd staring up at him. This could be a comparison with the band is that the band is the man in the air and everyone is looking and amazed by what he is doing. Furthermore the title of the album cover 'I had he blues but i shook them loose is in capitals and a calming light blue is used. In contrast the rest of the album cover is in black and white. I think this is real effective to have the main composition in black and white and then the album title and band name in colour. I therefore may choose to do something like this for my digipak. Furthermore, the use of black and white also adds a vintage effect to the album cover making it appear as a 'one off' album emphasising the bands uniqueness and the fact that they are an indie band.

Album Cover Analysis

Lily Allen is an English recording artist who is known for her pop, alternative style music. I have analysed her debut album cover for ‘Alright, Still’ as a starting point for how British artists portray their music in their album covers. Lily Allen’s album cover is the perfect example in demonstrating the incorporation of a British theme into her album cover. This album was released in 2006 by Regal Recordings. The track listing for this album include, ‘Smile’, Knock ‘Em Out’,LDN’, Everything’s Just Wonderful’, ‘Not Big’, ‘Friday Night’, ‘Shame For You’, ‘Littlest Things’, ‘Take What You Take’, Friend of Mine’ and ‘Alfie’. The means of British culture is demonstrated in her songs on this album and especially in her song ‘LDN’ which discusses the topic of London town. The themes of the songs on her album are therefore conveyed on her album cover. 'Alright, Still’ features her in the centre of the composition surrounded by a number of animated graphics and icons related to the British culture. Firstly Lily Allen, in the centre of the composition is riding a Raleigh Chopper. The bike became a unique British icon representing youth which is indeed what Lily Allen represents as an artist. It is important to note that by Lily Allen appearing on a Raleigh Chopper conveys her youth but also her as a part of the British culture. Furthermore Lily Allen is dressed in very casual 'everyday' wear and her style is very much urban with her 'quiffed' black her which therefore makes her more relatable to the British culture and her audience. Her style also represents the style of the time but also her style as an artist which therefore makes her appear more relatable as she is not putting on a fake persona for the album cover and is remaining how she is normally conveyed. In addition she is wearing only gold Jewellery, including large earrings and a long chain necklace. The gold jewellery could have the connotations of authority and therefore emphasises that she is the star providing the great music for the British culture. The pink tights that dangle out of the black cab window is striking to the image despite this being only a small icon on the album cover. It appears that the legs belong to a prostitute who can be interpreted as the slight corrupt behaviour which happens in the British culture and specifically in London. Another British icon that is shown on the CD cover is the British Lion which is perched on top of some speakers. The lion is a popular symbol representing Great Britain and therefore draws the relationship between British culture and Music and in particular her music. Furthermore the significance of the Lion sitting on top of the speakers represents Lily Allen’s music as important to the British culture and also a part of it. All of the icons on Lily Allen’s debut album cover for ‘Alright, Still’ convey the British culture and therefore emphasise her as a popular British recording artist. Finally, the album cover includes writing of her name and the album cover title. The writing is in block capitals and I have interpreted the writing as graffiti like therefore demonstrating another part or even a problem in the British culture which therefore further continues the main theme of her album cover, the British culture.

Reversing Footage

During editing we decided we wanted to reverse some footage. We decided we would reverse the shot of the doll knocking down the table and chairs and then reverse the footage so that the table and chairs are back in their original places. We decided that reversing the footage would further add to the two sotrylines in our music video, further emphasing the state of the boys mind as he appears angry which is reflected through the young girl's actions. We reversed the footage by firstly selecting the shot that we wanted to reverse and then left clicking the shot so that we had the options from the drop down menus. An option on the drop down menu is to speed/duration. From this option we then chose to reverse the speed and then from this we sped up the footage to about 25% in order to emphaise the increase pace in our music video and he sudden change in mood.

Wanting To Re- Shoot Some Parts

During editing we had a few concerns with our music video that we desire to change. Firstly we decided we would want to shoot some parts of our sequence. This idea stemmed from people watching our music video and telling us that the post it note scenes appeared humorous with what was written on them and the bright colored post it notes added a happier tone to the video. However when planning our music video we did think that random facts about the girl would help to create the stalker like feel for the video however maybe they were a bit too random...This was completely opposite to the dark tone we wanted to create for our music video and therefore we decided it would be vital to re-shoot the post it notes scenes at the beginning of the video.  When we re-shoot we plan to use more 'stalker-like' facts that the boy may know about the girl such as where she lives and what station she lives nearby in order to continue the same tone throughout our video. Furthermore, the story line conveys a serious tone and therefore we would like to reshoot these scenes. In addition we found that we had gaps in our music video. This could be considered faulty from the fact we stuck to our storyboard during editing and did not experiment with new shots. Despite experimenting with angles on the day, when it came to editing we have gaps to fill in our video. We therefore need to film more footage to fill in the blanks. Ultimately we definitely underestimated the amount of footage we would need to work with in order to experiment with slightly different ideas during editing.  We have also decided that we wanted to re-shoot the shot of the boy sitting by the front door waiting for his date’s arrival. This was because within the frame, you can evidently see the extension lead that we used in order to have the blue light shining outside. It wasn't vital that we re-shoot this however we wanted the frame to be clear with just the figure of the boy sitting down by the door and therefore the extension lead was a  minor distraction in the frame. Lastly we wanted to add a few more close up shots of the boy to fill in the blanks along with a shot of the boy throwing the picture of the girl into a river. We decided that this would be significant in demonstrating the boy’s change of mood in the music video as he gets rid of the image off the girl who has made him angry, attempting to erase her from his memory.

Editing Update

In Today's lesson we worked on increasing the pace of the music video narrative. We have used a jump cut in the scene of the boy laying the table, to ultimately speed up the pace of his actions. Furthermore today we edited a shot reverse shot of the boy looking at the clock and then his reaction to the time. The boys expression shown with the shot reverse shot will further demonstrate that the girl is late which can be seen by the time and his angry facial expression. For this shot we have enhanced the contrast to show this transition of anger in the narrative in contrast to the previous shots. Additionally, today we edited a shot of the boy destroying the cake, then a cut to black and then to a point of view shot of the boy destroying the cake. As the narrative increases we have sped up the shot of the young girl cutting the male doll with scissors to emphasize his transition of his state of mind. Lastly today we really tried to focus on the cross cutting between the two narratives and we therefore edited the shots today to cut frequently between the two.

Starting Editing

Today we captured our video onto Adobe Premiere and reflected back on the footage we had filmed. We began to organise the footage into three sections; the doll sequence, clocks and filming at location two with our male actor. By organising our footage into three evident sections it will be easier for us to cut down and see what we actually have in relation to our storyboard. In this editing session we used the razor tool to cut and delete sections we could not see ourselves using in the future but kept a variety of shots so that when we came to editing further our decisions would not be limited. Furthermore we deleted the audio sound from the footage and kept only the dagetic sound of the doll snapping for us to feature at the end of our music video. For the sound of the doll snapping we increased the volume by right clicking on the track, selecting 'audio gain' and increasing the decibels. This had the effect of enhancing the sound to ensure that the only diagetic sound in our music video will have a profound impact on our audience. In addition, today we uploaded our track 'Two Devil's' by Dog Is Dead to our editing software and began ordering our shots. We began to focus on the high and low points in the track. A significant feature we edited today was to a high point in the music which is matched with the shot of the young girl holding the doll. We zoomed into these shots and cut up the shots so that they would cut quickly when shown and would have a flickering light effect which would match this specific high point in the music and also create an eerie feel which the music stimulates.

Filming At Location 2

Set Designers

We filmed at our second location (Daniel's House) for 5.30PM, one the same day... little did we know we had a long night ahead as we didn’t stop filming until 10PM! Firstly we filmed the scenes with the boy admiring and looking at his 'shrine' of the girl. Originally we were going to have the shrine on a wall however on the day we decided it would be more effective to have the shrine hidden and therefore we reached the conclusion of setting up the shrine in a cupboard. We organised the image of the girl in the centre with post-it notes , that the boy has found out about her around it. A great bonus that came out of filming in a more closed area with the red head shining on our actor with the shadow of our actor! This was a great discovery that we found in demonstrating the duplicity of his character!

Trying To Create The Perfect
Point Of View shot

Next we filmed the shots of the boy baking the cake. We wanted to use apoint of view shot of the boy preparing the ingredients with only his hands in the frame. In order to this our actor had to stand around the dolly so that only his hands would be in the composition. Despite this being rather uncomfortable for our actor it appears that we got the shots that we wanted! For this shot we only needed the brightness from the kitchen lights and therefore it was not necessary for the use of the red head light.

Me Filming The Shots With The Table

I was in charge of filming some of the table shots. This part of the filming took a while as the precision of each of the boy’s actions were vital in emphasising the awkwardness to his character. We therefore wanted him to place the crockery with precision so that when it came to editing we could jump cut between these shots. Furthermore, we filmed the boy lighting a candle and placing the candle on to the table in order to set the mood. The next shots that involved the table needed the cakes and therefore we decided we would come back to these shots later once the cake had been cooked.

We then went into Daniel’s parent’s bedroom where we filmed shots of the boy shaving and also trying on different outfit options. In the room we positioned the camera away from the actor so that we could have him walking up to the camera, making it appear as a mirror as he checks out his outfit choice and decides that each one is not suitable until he reaches the suit choice. Our actor studies drama and therefore he was extremely cooperative with our directions which made the process quicker and easier as he knew exactly what we expected from him.

After filming these shots, the cake was ready and we filmed the boy back in the kitchen. Firstly we filmed the boy taking out the cake, in casual wear and placing the cake onto the table. We then asked him to change back into his suit so that we could film the shoots for the change of his progression in the music video. In order to show the boys anger we experimented with different angles in order to share in insight into the characters state. We filmed a low angle shotfrom sitting on the floor to capture the boy’s jacket falling onto the floor. Furthermore we then shot the shots of the boy looking at the clock. We knew that we wanted a shot reverse shot of the boy looking at the clock during editing so we filmed the clock filling the composition and therefore we were quite zoomed in and then we filmed the emotion of the boys face. Next was the hardest part as each shot couldonly be filmed once as once the cake was destroyed that was our last chance. It was therefore vital that we directed our actor clearly before so that he knew exactly what he was doing in each shot. A shot which proved difficult was the boy destroying the cake in his hands. We had to direct our actor to keep his hands on the cake in the exact same position as we moved the camera behind him for a point of view shot. It was vital that our actor kept his hands in the same place as we moved the camera to ensure the continuity of our music video.

Next we filmed the boy waiting anxiously in his suit for the date to arrive. We have filmed him sitting on a chair by the front door. In order to capture an eerie effect I had to stand  outside with the red hed light shining in through the closed doors. We used a blue filter over the red head light in order to create this specific mood.

We then filmed from a low angle shot of the boy throwing the cake onto the floor. This was very messy as we ended up with cake all over the floor and in the camera lens too! Finally we filmed different clock shots of the time at different times and therefore we had to change all the timings of clocks in the house so that when we come to editing we can have different shots of clocks to show the time getting later and later and his date still having not arrived. We tried a digital clock, an ove clock, an Iphone and a watch so that we will have a choice when we edited of what we think would work best. 

Conclusion Of Filming:

What went well?

We knew what we wanted to film at each location as we had storyboarded everything beforehand and therefore the day ran smoothly

Our Actor studies drama and therefore he was extremely cooperative and knew exactly what we expected him to do and took little briefing. Furthermore he was able to easily revert into his role to appear authentic.

We made preferences on the day of different angles and shot types varying slightly from what we had originally agreed on. We also experimented with the same shot from different angles so that when we come to edit our footage we will have a variety of one type of shot to choose from.

The Cake shots could only be filmed once and we achieved exactly what we wanted!

We made new discoveries on the day for example a great bonus that came out of filming the boys shrine in a cupboard was that the red head shining on our actor created a shadow. This was a great discovery that we found in demonstrating the duplicity of his character!

What could we improve on?

Experimenting with some new ideas on the day, to see if we could possibly use in editing and make sure we have a lot to work with

Underestimated the time it would take to film, the shots we wanted to film require alot of precision for example shooting the boy destroying the cake we had to shot him destroying the cake We had to direct our actor to keep his hands on the cake in the exact same position as we moved the camera behind him for a point of view shot.

Ensuring the set is exactly how we wanted it before beginning to film each shot. Once we left the camera case in the shot and therefore had to film the shot again and therefore had to re-position everything back to exactly how we wanted it.

Filming On The Day- Location 1

Positioning The Red Head

Testing A Blue Filter

We filmed our music video on the 21st of October 2012. We arrived at our first location for 2.30PM, (My House) and began filming at 2.45. We intended to use only a very small section of my room and therefore we were able to use the rest of the space to set up the lighting and equipment. The lighting was vital to ensure we would create the atmosphere that we wanted and also set up the red head light with a red filter and positioned it firstly to the right of the flat surface. In such a confided space, the room got extremely hot from the red head light and therefore to overcome this we made a point of switching the light off when we were not filming. Following my Avante Garde research I wanted to create a handheld effect during the dolls sequence to appear like 'a fly on the wall' watching the girls actions. I therefore filmed part of the doll sequence handheld resting the camera in my body to try and hold it in place, in order to try to achieve this effect. Furthermore we experimented with filters. Firstly we tried a blue filter, which although wasn’t what we wanted for the young girl sequence we decided we would use a blue filter at our second location. The use of a red filter symbolised alarming danger however intentionally we wanted the red filter to make the room appear pink and more like a young girl's bedroom however our discovery on the day was something we all preferred! The use of a red filter, therefore demonstrated the juxtaposition of a young girls room with the alarming danger that something bad may happen

Filming The Doll Sequence

Me Filming Part Of The Doll Sequence

 

Filming on the day ran smoothly as we had storyboarded what we wanted to film for each location and therefore we made little change to the storyboard on the day and also knew what we wanted to do and therefore could get on with it. However we did make preferences on the day of different angles and shot types varying slightly from what we had originally agreed on. We also experimented with the same shot from different angles so that when we come to edit our footage we will have a variety of one type of shot to choose from.



Testing How The Red Looks On Camera

Shooting at our first location involved the positioning of the doll and props and therefore we had to film the shots numerous times as it was difficult to make the Barbie doll move the objects for the tea party with Danielle (a memeber of my group who played the role of the young girl) holding the doll and moving each object with the doll. I was in charge of mise en scene and therefore, we decided that we wanted her to be braided with a pink ribbon to represent her naivety and youth and to also demonstrate that she is perusing this stereotypical role of a young girl playing with a Barbie doll. Additionally at this location, Danielle numerous times had to knock over the table and chairs with the doll and therefore each time I had to arrange the set back to exactly how it was in order to try the shot again. Furthermore, we shot the dolls sequence chronologically so that we could move objects in the process of the sequence instead of having to try and get the placing of the objects exactly how they were to begin with. This was a really good decision that we made on the day as it ensured the continuity of our video.