Sunday, 10 April 2011
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Reflection on the process of making album art work
The creating of my album cover was a real learning curve as I used Photoshop properly for the first time. This elongated the process of creation but gave me much more of an insight into how to use many of the tools. I have learnt many tricks such as how to download/install fonts, alter an image and turn it into something completely different, use different blending options, effects, gradient backgrounds, use different layers, colour correct/change images etc.
If I could have done anything differently it would have been to watch more tutorials, ask others more questions about shortcuts/effects etc and perhaps would have done a preliminary task of creating my album art so that I could fiddle around with different effects/brushes/tools and find out more. All of these features could have helped me to speed up the process of creating my album art.
Editing - 6th April 2011
Today I edited and filled in the numerous gaps we had in our video towards the end. We were going to film in our drama studio at school ourselves pretending to be at the gig s we could have used the lighting and 'extra's for the crowd, however the drama dep. is very busy at the moment too and booking a 'perfect' time where all extra's/characters were free was near enough impossible in the time we had and so we used the shots we had already attained at the gig where i filmed Bradley and Michael in the crowd. This shots weren't perfect and so we worried if we could use them but by zooming in to certain shots on final cut and with some clever editing, I managed to edit some useful shots, with discussion and input from Bradley and Michael, into the end which allow the audience to realise that the narrative characters have ended up at the gig. A lot of the footage we used was recorded during other songs and so this was also a struggle in order to make sure certain aspects fitted in and were correct continuity wise. Overall, I am happy with the result of the editing!
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
The Skints - magazine advert
I really wanted my magazine advert to be an extension of the album art, so that the audience receiving this text will associate the two, however i did want too differentiate both slightly as they are two separate texts. I done this by zooming in on what i believe to be the most eye-catching/interesting part of the album cover (the body/money) I have also changed the colour of the font, in order to make it match the body but kept the same font so that it is instantly recognisable. I have also put all the relevant information that is conventionally found on a magazine album advert such as date of release/name of record label (MLB video) and the main track included on the album. As well as this I have used the same barcode font for the name of the album cover to tie the album in with the advert once more, but i edited this in order for it to stand out once again by making it glow.
I believe this would be effective and appropriate in a music magazine such as Kerrang as i believe the main demographic/target audience will most likely read this magazine and see this advert.
Monday, 4 April 2011
Editing - Monday, 4th March 2011
Today i edited more establishing shots and shots of us in the park playground having fun, as i really want the audience to realise that the characters are having a fun day bunking up in London, which creates that juxtaposition between school (trapped atmosphere) and London/Camden/Playground (freedom) I felt like we had a lot of jump cuts but not a lot of other effects in our music video and felt that it was becoming quite samey, so i sped up the footage of the playground to highlight the playful nature on the see-saw/rocking horse and to link these shots together as a sort of montage. The other members of the group did fear that this would create too much of a 'gimmicky' effect and did not like a rewinded shot of someone walking, that i had added and so i replaced this with another sped up shot of a 'pirate-fight' on a barge on camden lock canal. We all agreed that this worked quite well as it fitted in with the light-hearted 'montage' and was a 'London attraction' which once again reinforced the location.
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Editing/Showcase - 31st March 2011
Today, with regards to the feedback from our showcase yesterday, we filmed our narrative characters walking down some stairs to the gig as our teacher mentioned it is somewhat confusing towards the end (of our rough cut of the music video) as the characters from the narrative are not seen a lot in the gig at the end. We did originally film Bradley walking down the stairs in the actual venue, however there was a non-continuity error as he was wearing a hoody that i wear throughout the video. Also at the time of the gig, the other people who act as the narrative characters were not yet established as their roles at the time of the gig and were therefore not with us. We filmed in our drama studio in the dark staircase as we felt this created an appropriate setting and fitted in with what the gig venue could look like. This highlighted the fact that we were in fact in the gig.
Yesterday our group showed the class a rough version of our music video. This allowed us to attain feedback and see things from a fresh perspective so that we could realise the things that may be good or bad about the video such as non-continuity features and narrative errors. Here is the feedback we attained from our teacher...
Our teacher suggested that we include more footage of us ending up at the gig. We did have some shots of this but we thought we may have needed to film in our drama studio and imitate the lights to make sure that this is clear to the audience, however due to a lack of time and paticular members not having free lessons or time after school to do so we have had to make do with the shots we had. We have however edited these successfully and believe that they look effective.
Here are evaluation sheets from other members of the class...
It was clear from these evaluations that our music video seemed to confuse some as the narrative was not finished. As well as this, the sound of this video was incredibly bad quality and so some people may have marked us down on this aspect. Also there were some clips in the gig where I (Louise) could be seen to have been filming but we have edited that out now.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Shot List
For our narrative filming we also created a shot list which allowed us to drag and drop clips into final cut easily and find, to the exact second, the shot we wanted to u
Editing - 30th March 2011
Today I edited more narrative into the music video, mainly involving Bradley (the character having a bad day) From the filming we attained last week i created a sequence where this character receives a text telling him he is dumped. I made this fall exactly on the beat to the lyric 'He told me ten, ten, ten, ten, ten time.' and believed this was effective. I also incorporated two other shots of Bradley looking upset which effectively cut up a large chunk of gig footage which seemed to last too long.
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Editing - 29th March 2011
Today I stayed after school to edit. I had not edited by myself before and this helped a lot as i became much quicker and more confident with the programme. I added large parts to the video such as establishing shots of camden. As well as this i edited other parts of already existing footage in order to make them fall on the beat and ensure shots did not carry on for too long and bore the audience.
Thursday, 24 March 2011
Update on editing
We are currently editing our music video and are incorporating many conventional features of this genre.
For example...
Camera shots
We've incorporated:
For example...
Camera shots
We've incorporated:
- Long shots
- Establishing shots
- Medium shots
- Medium close-ups
- Close-ups
- Low angle shots
- High angle shots
- Static/motionless shots
- Tracking shots
- Shaky camera shots (often used in gig/characters waking up at beginning- effective - forces the audience to concentrate)
- Out of focus shots
And we hope to achieve more Extreme close-ups when we re-film some parts of our narrative this Saturday.
We will re-film in order to fill some empty spaces on the timeline of our editing. At the moment we have a method of editing in which we have lined up all of the gig footage so that the audio fits in with the band playing the song and so when we incorporate more narrative footage we can easily revert back to the gig. This also gives us more ideas of what shots of the gig we really want to keep and which shots can be replaced by narrative.
In terms of editing we are using many conventional features of music video (and especially so of the British Ska genre) such as jump cuts, speed alterations, editing on the beat, short crisp cuts and soon we will colour correct our video in order to highlight different atmospheres and create connotations about the two different categories of characters in the music video and also the messages we aim to convey.
In order to help us edit the gig we created a shot list so that we could refer back to this whenever we needed a certain shot (almost like a glossary) and now we will do this for our narrative filming.
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
My Final Album cover - The Skints
CODES
· The use of the money falling from the human body trouser pocket and out onto the floor through the skeleton = Overall money is fleeting. You get it, you spend it. Not a constant factor.
· Use of skeleton = Money can change you for the worse. Scary connotations = Remove you from reality, dehumanising, makes you powerful and at the same time makes people fear you. Can’t take it with you when you’re dead and thus people should enjoy their lives – not ‘work themselves into an early grave’
· Skeleton stands alone = Loneliness. Money does not necessarily equal company/good company.
· Industrial/urban background & smoke = Not particularly pleasant. Money doesn’t equal happiness. Money’s creating these buildings and ruining the environment. Making things look dull/bleak and depressing. Money = sinister.
· Colours: Green = X-ray, MONEY, environment
· Black = Death, ruining of the environment. Draining of colour and life due to obsession with money. Colours within the skeleton/body symbolises unhealthy lifestyle or how obsession with money = unhealthy as red = danger/blood and purple = hazy and unclear.
· Inverted X-ray machine (i.e. body = X-ray) = Holding up a mirror to the fact that money is ephemeral. Body = surface/face value/ glamorous lifestyle - what others see of people that have money. Skeleton & background = reality of money. Sinister, loneliness etc.
· Hat/suit on skeleton = suggest material things that money buys. Connotes perhaps ‘gangster’ lifestyle. Suggesting how money can be acquired unlawfully. Ominous.
· Brick Wall = Self-referential to their single ‘Up against the wall’
· Title – ‘Ephemeral style’ = Barcode again referencing money. Alludes to ‘Gorillaz’ ‘Feel good inc.’ This band could be seen to be quite alternative/edgy and with this reference audiences may realise this and link the two together and therefore think that ‘The Skints’ may have a similar style or attitude. Also Ephemeral by definition means: Lasting for a markedly brief time. Which can, again be linked back to money.
· Graffiti of the words ‘The Skints’ – Suggests ‘The Skints’ are the pole opposite to the everything connoted in the album cover. Juxtaposition. Depiction of East London (where
· The use of the money falling from the human body trouser pocket and out onto the floor through the skeleton = Overall money is fleeting. You get it, you spend it. Not a constant factor.
· Use of skeleton = Money can change you for the worse. Scary connotations = Remove you from reality, dehumanising, makes you powerful and at the same time makes people fear you. Can’t take it with you when you’re dead and thus people should enjoy their lives – not ‘work themselves into an early grave’
· Skeleton stands alone = Loneliness. Money does not necessarily equal company/good company.
· Industrial/urban background & smoke = Not particularly pleasant. Money doesn’t equal happiness. Money’s creating these buildings and ruining the environment. Making things look dull/bleak and depressing. Money = sinister.
· Colours: Green = X-ray, MONEY, environment
· Black = Death, ruining of the environment. Draining of colour and life due to obsession with money. Colours within the skeleton/body symbolises unhealthy lifestyle or how obsession with money = unhealthy as red = danger/blood and purple = hazy and unclear.
· Inverted X-ray machine (i.e. body = X-ray) = Holding up a mirror to the fact that money is ephemeral. Body = surface/face value/ glamorous lifestyle - what others see of people that have money. Skeleton & background = reality of money. Sinister, loneliness etc.
· Hat/suit on skeleton = suggest material things that money buys. Connotes perhaps ‘gangster’ lifestyle. Suggesting how money can be acquired unlawfully. Ominous.
· Brick Wall = Self-referential to their single ‘Up against the wall’
· Title – ‘Ephemeral style’ = Barcode again referencing money. Alludes to ‘Gorillaz’ ‘Feel good inc.’ This band could be seen to be quite alternative/edgy and with this reference audiences may realise this and link the two together and therefore think that ‘The Skints’ may have a similar style or attitude. Also Ephemeral by definition means: Lasting for a markedly brief time. Which can, again be linked back to money.
· Graffiti of the words ‘The Skints’ – Suggests ‘The Skints’ are the pole opposite to the everything connoted in the album cover. Juxtaposition. Depiction of East London (where
'The Skints’ are from)
Conventions:
- Barcode
- Band Name
- Album title
- Image
- Song names/length (on the back)
- Small print/record name (i.e. us michael, louise, bradley = mlb)
- Spine
Who would this album cover appeal to?
- The Skints fans may understand that the skeleton is synonymous with other Skints album covers and so may be attracted to this album cover.
- Teenagers may also be attracted due to the use of cartoon imagery and colour. The album cover itself appears to seem quite 'grungey' and therefore this demographic may be interested due to this.
Where would this album/album cover be distributed?
- Due to the nature of the band (i.e. not overly famous but have a loyal fan base/gathering and being closer to audience) this album could be sold at gigs, on itunes, individual record stores and perhaps in HMV as they are still quite well known. This band are likely to promote themselves through free merchandise etc. and therefore could sell their single 'up against the wall' for free. The album art will therefore be downloaded automatically as well.
Back Cover
Back/front
Sunday, 20 March 2011
Update/Album art
Unfortunately yesterday, when we had planned to film, a member of the group and a friend who played a character in the narrative both could not make the filming day and so we could not get any more footage. We hope to re-arrange for another day but until then we will carry on editing as hopefully this will give us a greater insight into what shots we need to attain. We will also watch more music video's in lessons to give us more idea's. In the meantime i have been creating my album cover.
__________________________________________________________________________________
I have been familiarising myself with photoshop as i have previously used photoimpression5 (a less advanced programme) In order to create my album cover i have altered many other images and attained a photo of Bradley (other group member)...
Originally i made the skeleton (from my idea) look like this...
The skeleton/skull is a combination of two different images. Originally the skull had a black background and was not inverted. I inverted this as well as the body but they were still not the same colour and so i edited the hue/saturation and brightness/contrast in order to make them appear to fit together. However this image seemed to be bare and i felt the body/head still did not fit together.
I then inverted the image once more as this appeared to make the skeleton look more realistic. I cropped the skeletons arm and pasted it into word and rotated it/pasted back to MS paint so that it fitted in with the image of Bradley (who is supposedly in the xray machine)...
I then tried to fit in some other idea's i had had such as a hat to insinuate wealth, as well as the falling money. I also experimented with the filter effect of clouds on photoshop (on the left) none of these appeared to look professional or effective...
I experimented with many features on photoshop such as the artistic-neon glow option in order to create the effect on the skeleton. I done the same with the hat. At the moment i have rough idea's for the final album cover. I have downloaded some fonts and hope to make these glow by altering the blending options on photoshop. So far i have also been experimenting with different brushes on photoshop which also give me more idea's for the content of the album cover...
I altered Bradley's body shape constantly and used tools such as rubber/magic rubber to remove backgrounds. I have also created this on many different layers in order to be able to move objects around and get more idea's. I edited Bradley's body by posterising it/increasing the hue/saturation and brightness/contrast so that it stood out when i reduced the opacity, and made it so that people could still see the bones of the skeleton. In order to ensure the arms were in the right position i once again rotated them on word and pasted them back to paint. I made the background of these pasted images transparent in order to be able to reposition them against the skeleton body once more. I am slightly disappointed with the positioning of the photo against the body due to the skeleton seemingly being too long but i hope to correct this in the future somehow. I selected money from images using the quick selection tool and edited the hue/saturation and brightness/contrast in order to make them stand out.
These two covers are just an experiment with different brushes. I have watched tutorials on many things to do with photoshop that i previously could not do such as radial gradient backgrounds and making my own glowing shape using the pen tool. I hope to further my knowledge and improve/add to my album cover whilst still maintaining what i believe 'The skints' is about.
__________________________________________________________________________________
I have been familiarising myself with photoshop as i have previously used photoimpression5 (a less advanced programme) In order to create my album cover i have altered many other images and attained a photo of Bradley (other group member)...
Originally i made the skeleton (from my idea) look like this...
The skeleton/skull is a combination of two different images. Originally the skull had a black background and was not inverted. I inverted this as well as the body but they were still not the same colour and so i edited the hue/saturation and brightness/contrast in order to make them appear to fit together. However this image seemed to be bare and i felt the body/head still did not fit together.
I then inverted the image once more as this appeared to make the skeleton look more realistic. I cropped the skeletons arm and pasted it into word and rotated it/pasted back to MS paint so that it fitted in with the image of Bradley (who is supposedly in the xray machine)...
I inserted the image then and altered the size of the skeleton so that it'd fit in with Bradley's body. I don't think this worked very well...
I experimented with many features on photoshop such as the artistic-neon glow option in order to create the effect on the skeleton. I done the same with the hat. At the moment i have rough idea's for the final album cover. I have downloaded some fonts and hope to make these glow by altering the blending options on photoshop. So far i have also been experimenting with different brushes on photoshop which also give me more idea's for the content of the album cover...
I altered Bradley's body shape constantly and used tools such as rubber/magic rubber to remove backgrounds. I have also created this on many different layers in order to be able to move objects around and get more idea's. I edited Bradley's body by posterising it/increasing the hue/saturation and brightness/contrast so that it stood out when i reduced the opacity, and made it so that people could still see the bones of the skeleton. In order to ensure the arms were in the right position i once again rotated them on word and pasted them back to paint. I made the background of these pasted images transparent in order to be able to reposition them against the skeleton body once more. I am slightly disappointed with the positioning of the photo against the body due to the skeleton seemingly being too long but i hope to correct this in the future somehow. I selected money from images using the quick selection tool and edited the hue/saturation and brightness/contrast in order to make them stand out.
These two covers are just an experiment with different brushes. I have watched tutorials on many things to do with photoshop that i previously could not do such as radial gradient backgrounds and making my own glowing shape using the pen tool. I hope to further my knowledge and improve/add to my album cover whilst still maintaining what i believe 'The skints' is about.
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Filming - Mise en scene & update
In order to establish our characters as reflecting the 'east london ska' genre we used mise en scene greatly in order to highlight the lifestyle of the characters in our narrative. At the beginning of our music video, when all characters are waking up, we decided that mise en scene should be a key feature to allow the audience to understand and recognise this stereotype.
In this clip (filmed in my brothers bedroom) i have incorporated objects which i feel can represent the 'rebellious' and 'youthful' lifestyle that we wished to create. For example, rebellion is highlighted through the condoms, alcohol and 'sheesha' smoking pipe. I also believe that the 'virginia' roll up cigarettes and 'own brand' cider defines these teenagers as being more laid back or typical 'broke' students who are not too concerned about material things and only have the money for inexpensive cigarettes and alcohol anyway. Messy and cluttered mise en scene has been created in order to highlight the 'rebellious' characters devil-may care attitude. This also fits in with the storyline of the narrative, as the rebellious characters 'bunk' school to have a fun day out and do what they want to do, yet the good character follows rules and does what people want him to do and yet has a very bad day because he isn't pleasing himself, but everybody else.
In terms of incorporating this into the music video, we have currently sped up this footage in order to fit in with the fast pace of the song and the introduction however when doing this the footage has become noticeably more shaky. We are undecided as to whether to keep this speed or not, as although it allows for less time and more footage at the beginning it may not look as effective. A possible suggestion would be to cut this clip in between others during the introduction but this may also not look as effective. We will try this tomorrow and decide.
Update
We are re-filming in Camden on Saturday in order to get some better quality shots. I believe we should use the tripod a lot more often and we will need to direct better and be more tough. Originally we did not wish to tell people how to act on camera constantly as we thought this would create a less naturalistic atmosphere e.g. if we told people to laugh and be jolly it would be noticeable in the video that they were uncomfortable or being false. However the right mix of direction and naturalism should work best. Another thing that we definitely need to do is to review all footage that we record immediately after and not let one person take singular responsibility.
At the moment we are editing and have one minute of rough footage put together which we will gradually add to and improve. We have decided to include lots of jump cuts which fall on the beat of the music and sped up footage which will make the audience aware of the production process. We feel any graphic features or fonts in the music video will not fit into the genre very effectively as although we wish to make it post-modern we still want to create realism.
In this clip (filmed in my brothers bedroom) i have incorporated objects which i feel can represent the 'rebellious' and 'youthful' lifestyle that we wished to create. For example, rebellion is highlighted through the condoms, alcohol and 'sheesha' smoking pipe. I also believe that the 'virginia' roll up cigarettes and 'own brand' cider defines these teenagers as being more laid back or typical 'broke' students who are not too concerned about material things and only have the money for inexpensive cigarettes and alcohol anyway. Messy and cluttered mise en scene has been created in order to highlight the 'rebellious' characters devil-may care attitude. This also fits in with the storyline of the narrative, as the rebellious characters 'bunk' school to have a fun day out and do what they want to do, yet the good character follows rules and does what people want him to do and yet has a very bad day because he isn't pleasing himself, but everybody else.
In terms of incorporating this into the music video, we have currently sped up this footage in order to fit in with the fast pace of the song and the introduction however when doing this the footage has become noticeably more shaky. We are undecided as to whether to keep this speed or not, as although it allows for less time and more footage at the beginning it may not look as effective. A possible suggestion would be to cut this clip in between others during the introduction but this may also not look as effective. We will try this tomorrow and decide.
Update
We are re-filming in Camden on Saturday in order to get some better quality shots. I believe we should use the tripod a lot more often and we will need to direct better and be more tough. Originally we did not wish to tell people how to act on camera constantly as we thought this would create a less naturalistic atmosphere e.g. if we told people to laugh and be jolly it would be noticeable in the video that they were uncomfortable or being false. However the right mix of direction and naturalism should work best. Another thing that we definitely need to do is to review all footage that we record immediately after and not let one person take singular responsibility.
At the moment we are editing and have one minute of rough footage put together which we will gradually add to and improve. We have decided to include lots of jump cuts which fall on the beat of the music and sped up footage which will make the audience aware of the production process. We feel any graphic features or fonts in the music video will not fit into the genre very effectively as although we wish to make it post-modern we still want to create realism.
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Update
Our group are having a great deal of problems with regards to technology. Our footage has been converted but appears to be lagging, perhaps meaning we need to convert it to higher definition. As well as this there was administrative errors on the mac that we edit on so that we could not delete or upload anything. This was sorted out but lost us a quarter of our lesson. Everything is going very slowly and at the same time i am still carrying on with my album art and forming idea's about the magazine advertisement for the digipak by brainstorming and doing rough graphology sketches.
Monday, 7 March 2011
Update
At the moment our group are in the long process of converting our footage in order to edit. We aim to film the main part of the narrative with the 'good character' this coming wednesday the 9th (today is the 7th) In the meantime we are working on our album art etc.
Friday, 4 March 2011
Links
LINK TO MAIN BLOG:
http://yr13musicvideo.blogspot.com/
LINK TO OUR GROUP BLOG:
www.mlbvideo.blogspot.com
http://yr13musicvideo.blogspot.com/
LINK TO OUR GROUP BLOG:
www.mlbvideo.blogspot.com
Star Image - Florence & The Machine
Florence Welch i.e. Florence & The Machine is a singer songwriter. She is a passionate and soulful folk singer. There are mystical themes incorporated into her songs which translates greatly into her dramatic image. She is very unique and is constantly astounding people with her powerful voice. She uses her image as a factor with which to establish herself. Clearly her less common fiery red mane separates her from other artists and her dramatic wardrobe depicts her nature.
Changes in the music industry
Technology is ever changing and proliferating. It eases communication and makes information available to a large amount of people across the globe. People can access a number of different media forms through the means of technology, causing media convergence whereby media genres and styles combine to form a whole new media form. For example, music video is a combination of both the music media format and a short film like sequence, yet this media form establishes itself through slight differences such as using lighting, mise en scene, editing and camera work to shock the audience or make them aware of the fact that this is a music video and that they are the viewer.
Technology is a used largely as a platform for music artists in particular today in order to establish themselves and directly target their demographic or viewer, thereby disposing of/reducing the part of the middle man (i.e. the record company/label) This is now a vital part of any artists marketing strategy.
An artist may do this through the means of:
Social networking sites:
Technology is a used largely as a platform for music artists in particular today in order to establish themselves and directly target their demographic or viewer, thereby disposing of/reducing the part of the middle man (i.e. the record company/label) This is now a vital part of any artists marketing strategy.
An artist may do this through the means of:
Social networking sites:
- Facebook:- an artist can create a 'fan group' that people can join and listen to music/find out information about gigs/tours look at photos and read a brief bio of the artist/band.
- Myspace:- an artist can create a page featuring their music/gig/tour info, post pictures and brief bio which can be attained by a fan by 'adding' the artist/band to their friends list.
- Twitter:- an artist or band can create a personal account where they can post a brief bit of information such as their thoughts/feelings or just commercial information such as about gig dates/launches of albums etc. This can help this artist build a larger fan base as people may be able to relate to them more.
Other websites:
- Magazine/newspaper websites:- Artists/Bands could be interviewed and read about by fans and heard about through the means of official articles.
- Official artist/band website:- A fan can gain information directly from the band/bands manager/record label.
- Last fm:- A fan can listen to a range of acts signed/unsigned on an online playlist and read info about them/look at photo's etc.
- Spotify:- A band/artist can allow fans/people to listen to their music on a music programme/playlist which cannot be downloaded but just listened to through a computer/laptop/phone etc.
- Youtube:- Anyone from the public can create an account and post video's. Artists/bands can post original/cover songs and can build a strong fan base sometimes leading to bigger things.
- Itunes:- Fans can download signed/unsigned artists/bands songs for a small amount of money per single. Can establish a fan base. People can be promoted and allow free downloads of their songs (e.g. radiohead)
Other forms:
- Music Channels:- Such as MTV, TMF etc. used to display an artist/bands music video.
- Music shows:- E.G. Top of the pops, freshly squeezed and competitions such as x-factor/orange rock corps. where potential but unsigned bands/artists receive the opportunity to build their own fan base via national tv, often with the result of winning a recording deal/contract.
- Radio:- Music played directly to the public of mainly signed bands. Often organise events such as gigs/festivals etc.
Technology in the production process:-
Autotune (a genre): Creation of music to enhance the sound of the voice.
Digital Recording (music programmes such as fruit loops)
Many other changes have occured in the music industry, not just in technological terms
The causes of all of these features have bought about a big change in the importance of image. At the same time changes in the music industry have made things progressively easier for a band or artist to establishing themselves without relying totally on a manager/record label etc.
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Editing
We have begun to edit the footage we have filmed of the gig on Final Cut Express. As well as this, we also filmed another part of the narrative on sunday, from which we obtained the beginning sequence of our video. However, we still have a lot more to do in terms of filming the main bulk of footage in london and also some more footage in school.
Our to do list includes
Sitting on the Lion in Camden market
Having fun on the bike seats in Camden (where food is eaten)
Trying on funny hats/clothes in vintage shops
Messing around in a playground - smoking etc.
Losing wallet on the bus
Receiving a text (being dumped)
Breaking phone
Paper thrown at him in lesson
etc.
With regards to editing we have:
Our to do list includes
- Filming two other characters from the narrative waking up at the beginning of the song.
- Characters meeting and going on the train. Establishing shots of the underground.
- Filming around Camden - establishing shots and action:
Sitting on the Lion in Camden market
Having fun on the bike seats in Camden (where food is eaten)
Trying on funny hats/clothes in vintage shops
Messing around in a playground - smoking etc.
- Filming Other character having more unfortunate events occur in his school day:
Losing wallet on the bus
Receiving a text (being dumped)
Breaking phone
Paper thrown at him in lesson
etc.
With regards to editing we have:
- Uploaded one of the 3 pieces of main footage we have for the song (Bradley's long shot footage)
- However, we have encountered problems with this as it appears the footage is out of time in relation to the pre-recorded version of the song.
- In order to overcome this we have had to create a new sequence and then render/re-render small parts of our footage many times in order to modify and adjust the speed in a bid to make the two fit together. We are still in the process of doing this and when we have done so we will continue to render the whole piece of footage. If we were to have done this to begin with we would have wasted a lot of time as we would have to re-render once we had obtained the correct speed anyway. The process takes hours due to the waiting process of rendering and then adjusting the music to whats appropriate, then repeating the process.
Monday, 14 February 2011
My own album cover art work
THE SKINTS
I have drawn this idea and will scan this onto my laptop soon. So far I have created this drawing on MS paint.
- The idea for the album cover I am creating portrays a skeleton (the skeleton is previously seen on another Skints Album Cover and is thus self referential) in a top hat and a gold chain as well as other materialistic expensive accessories.
This is an actual album cover for the skints:
- There is an xray machine infront of the skeletons middle that shows - however instead of the body being portrayed in xray- a human body is portrayed of the skeleton putting a wod of money into his pocket with a human hand. On this money/coins The Skints name will be printed (as there are other logos and album covers of The Skints depicting a penny coin with their name printed on - again self referential)
- Beneath this xray machine the skeletons leg will be shown as well as the money falling to the ground as the pocket is non existent.
I have drawn this idea and will scan this onto my laptop soon. So far I have created this drawing on MS paint.
Thursday, 27 January 2011
Ideas for the skints album cover
- As the band aren't particularly image consumed and seem to focus on their music more than their overall style perhaps the album cover should not consist of them as a band.
- The album cover could include ambiguous statements that represent the bands ideologies and opinions.
- There are various logos used by the band which could be incorporated into the cover
- Perhaps some statements about mainstream music being overrated or too image based.
- Perhaps some statements about easy living and making the best of things
- Self referential: perhaps referencing their lyrics to up against the wall
I began by creating a mind map based on The Skints and what they are conventionally associated with in terms of genre/demographics and anything i could think of to do with them. I then created my idea and drew this up however i cannot find this rough copy and so my idea is in the blog above this one.
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Album Cover Analysis - Jessie J
Codes
- Gold Shiny font - iconic of the r&b genre. Italic - perhaps referencing her autograph and thus symbolising her fame?
- Gold jewelry - again iconic - represents money, luxury. Again symbolising wealth and fame.
- Make-up and clothing = black. Perhaps sinister.
- Black/White - Straightforward - could represent her as a person or her music.
- Flower on the lips = decorative/creative
- Action shot - as if she is singing/holding hands up and dancing - perhaps represents how she is constantly engrossed in singing and music.
- Face shot - very much about the artist but not so much about sex appeal or sexually objectifying women due to the shot and the fact that she appears to be quite covered up clothes what.
- Her facial expression/nails seem quite fierce - perhaps insinuating she takes her music seriously and won't let anything stand in her way.
- String vest - iconic of R&B genre - somewhat male.
- Hairstyle - sharp/structured - perhaps depicts her music/herself.
Conventions
- Album name
- Album title
- Photo of artist
- Right shape
Album Art Analysis
Codes
- Lungs - could represent how music to Florence is akin to the importance of breathing.
- Insides on the outside = baring all her emotions 'wearing her heart on her sleeve.' or in this case, lungs on her chest.
- See through top - baring all, her music is honest and transparent.
- The fact that she is looking away with a slightly sad expression could suggest her music is serious and soulful.
- Arms splayed - distressed perhaps the music reflects the stressful situation in which she wrote.
- Flowers/birds/natural hair - natural peaceful connotations perhaps suggesting her music is similar. Also is self referential as Florence has a song entitled birdsong.
- There is a green tint or hue to the album cover perhaps connoting nature as well as mystical elements, which are a foremost topic in her songs.
- Colourful makeup = colourful music.
- Framing almost like a polaroid frame - the album and music captures a moment in time of her life.
- LUNGS - in White and italic with framing above and below placed on the lungs. Old type font - suggesting original/classic or that the album touches on old elements of music. Italic - perhaps arty and flamboyant representing her as a person. FLORENCE & THE MACHINE also swirly/italic and more akin to handwriting = again reflects her music or her as a person.
Conventions
- Album name
- Album title
- Photo of artist
- Right shape
Thursday, 20 January 2011
Post Modernism - Grand narratives
Grand Narratives (represents optimism)
Pre-World Wars
People believed in ...
Pre-World Wars
People believed in ...
- Nationalism - pride in your country
- Technology - the new 'frontier'
- Power structures - established and autocratic
- Religion
- Moral improvement
However...
people began to question these factors during and after the wars. In the 20's and 30's the great depression also made people question this as well. Thus grand narratives and optimism in films ended and...
Post modernism was created in films following...
- Feminism
- Racial groups
- Multiculturalism
- Break down of power structures
- Breakdown in religion
Post-modernism reflected the reality of life and was the complete opposite of the grand narratives in older films. It depicts the rebellion and free-thinking following these events.
Case study - pulp fiction
- pulp fiction represents post modernism in its fragmented nature/structure, irony/humour - graphic scenes are made humorous.
Tarantino states that 'I always hope that if one million people see my movie, they see a million different movies.' this depicts how post-modernism promotes free-thinking and greatly underlines the nature of it.
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Filming of narrative part 2 (19/01/11)
We have filmed part of the narrative which involves the 'good' character receiving a badly graded essay. This will contribute to his overall bad day to juxtapose the good day being had by others who have skipped school.
We included a range of shots such as...
We included a range of shots such as...
- A long shot of the teacher handing out essays to other students - this served well as a long shot as it was not significant but built up to the main situation
- A range of mid shots portraying the essay being chucked on the desk by the huffy teacher.
- A close up/low angle shot of the 'good character's unhappy facial expression. We believed the low angle shot worked well as it symbolised his bad grade and general bad atmosphere.
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