Filming

Yesterday I was able to film more of my music video. I filmed more areas of my video including shots of photographs for the introduction to the song, the lip syncing, a scene of the artist and the girl together,  and another shot that I believe will work well in my music video.


I got a range of different shots to make it easier to edit together, and so it looks better in the final video. I was pleased with the footage I filmed, and am planning to arrange another date when more of my casting will go out to film.

Practicing Using Photoshop

In today's lesson, we got taught the basics of using Photoshop Elements on the Macs. We learned how to  open the application bridge, so we can upload pictures onto the project. We learnt how to cut pictures, use tools, such as inserting images, and also learnt how to arrange our pictures into different layers, such as background, picture one, picture two, text, to make it look more effective. This are my first attempts at using photoshop, and the images are based on my chosen artist, The Script.

This will be very useful to help with my music advertisement and c.d. digipak, as I will be able to apply more practice in using photoshop, and so I will be able to use it for my work to make it look more professional.

CD Digipak

What is the history of the CD Digipak?

CD were originally only seen as limited edition, however improvements in CD production and CD packaging printing techniques has meant that this sleek CD packaging solution is now available at much higher quantities and at much lower prices. These were the first alternatives to the jewel case to be used by major record companies. They give the music a professional look and feel,  compared to jewel cases. 

What different forms can they take?

These are some examples of commonly used Digipak designs;

This is a 4 panel 1 tray template.

                                                 This type is generally used for a single.

This is a 6 panel 1 tray template.

This is a 6 panel 3 tray template.

       This is an 8 panel 4 tray template.

   

What are the conventions of a CD Digipack?

They are made from cardboard, and can sometimes be made from recycled cardboard, which can give the view that they are more economically friendly, and the disk is held in a thin plastic tray inside the digipak. They fold out like a book rather than the usual  case of a plastic jewel case. However the plastic trays that hold the disk break easily. Although the covers will not crack they are likely to rip and tear in time.  The measurements in length are 139 mm, height 125.5 mm and the spine would be 8.5 mm. 

The conventions of a digipak cover are;

• Artists name and the name of the album on the cover.
• An image on the cover - could be the artists themselves, or an image that relates to the album content.
• The side (spine) will have the name of the artist and album name.
• The back of the case would be expected to have track listings, perhaps with track lengths. 
• Basic background information on the artist can be found sometimes in an insert.
• Reviews of the album.
• Barcode on the back of the cover.
• Production credits.
• The design of the cover will usually run through the inside.

Textual Analysis of Digipak's

1. This Oasis digipak has 6 pannels, and from looking at the cover it's clear from the guitar that the genre is Indie-rock, even if you are unsure what the genre is, and the use of the brown colours also promotes the indie genre. The font for the artist is bold black and white and the name of the album is colours similar to the rest of the digipack.

The use of the guitar shows that the artist Oasis is keen on promoting the image of their music and the genre of their music, rather than the artists themselves as there is no picture of the artists on the cover. This is similar to other Indie album covers, and is similar to my artist, The Script. The design of the digipak is quite simple, which is similar to other arists digipaks that I have looked at.

The cover includes the conventions of a digipak, such as the artist, band name, and an image on the cover, as well as the artist and the name of the album on the spine. The track listings are listed on the back of the cover, in colours alike to the cover, and these colours run throughout the digipack.



2.  The album from snow patrol also uses the conventional aspects of a digipak cover, with the artist name and the album name on the cover, as well as having the song listings on the back of the cover.

It is similar to the other digipak in the use of an image on the cover, rather than the artists themselves, and they both represent an aspect of the band. In this one, as snowflake is used to manipulate the name of the band 'Snow Patrol'. This overall design of the digipak is simple but sends the message out that the band is successfull in promoting their music, rather than the bands image. I can connote that the Indie genre digipaks are generally simple, from looking at other Indie digipaks.

The vibrant colours that are used are not always associated with the genre of Indie music, but however the use of the black, whites and reds are still conventonal and stand out to the target audience. The writing is simple, and not over-the-top, but is neverless effective because it stands out.

Starting To Film

Over the half term week, I will be beginning to film my music video. I have arranged a date with two of my main cast members and we have decided to begin filming on Wednesday 26th October. I will begin with the lip syncing aspect of the video, and I will get a range of different shots and angles, and hopefully by the end of the day I will have the introduction, some middle footage and the footage for the end of my music video.


I will then arrange another date where I begin to film the other scenes in my music video.

Review Of Blog Posts

I looked at my posts in todays lesson, to make sure that each post is correctly named, so I can easily tell what each post contained. I wrote what each post was called, and what date I posted it onto a record sheet, so I could see if any blog titles needed changing. I was pleased to see that I had appropriately named all of my posts.

Ancilliary Task: Music Magazine Advertisment

Today we started to look at music magazines and we were all given a separate magazine to look at and research. We had 'PowerPlay' rock and metal magazine - issue 136. We had to answer questions such as;
-Who is the publisher
-What are the latest ABC figures for the magazine
-Who is the target audience from just looking at the cover?

We struggled to find some of the information and were unable to find any sales figures for the magazine, but we know that the magazine is generally aimed for people who like rock and metal music, and we guessed that the magazine is aimed at the younger generation, due to the slang that is used on the cover, and the featured artist.


I have started to look at what music magazines my chosen song and artist would appear in. I would have to consider the categories of the magazines would fall under (such as Rock magazines) and whether my chosen band would fit under this type of magazine, considering the psychographics and demographics of 'The Script'. I have looked at three different 'Pop Rock' themed magazines, as my artist relates to this particular genre of music.


NME magazine - has been published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved a magazine format in the 1980's. It was the first magazine to include a single's chart. An online version on NME (nme.com) was launched in 1986, which has 5 million users per month. The ABC figures from January - June 2010 were 33, 875.

Q Magazine - this magazine is published weekly in the UK, and the first issue was published in October 1986. It's total circulation is 88, 240. It was first meant to be called 'Cue' like the cueing of a record ready to play, but the name was then changed to 'Q' so it wasn't confused with a snooker magazine.


Rolling Stone Magazine - This is a US based magazine, devoted mainly to rock music, but sometimes features items of pop music, as pop writers work with the magazine. The first issue was published on November 9, 1969 and it's current circulation is 1.4 million.


After looking at these different music magazine's I have decided that NME is the music magazine that is suited to my particualar artist, also because The Script have actually featured in NME before. It features similar artists such as The Killers, but also has a wide variety of artists in each issue. As well as a magazine it also has a website (http://www.nme.com/), a radio station and holds awards (the nme awards). The magazine and website has a target audience of teenagers and the younger generation, and this links well into my artist as they have the same target audience.








Everything Everything - Man Alive

The band 'Everything Everything' is labelled as an indie genre, and this advertisment connotes this to the reader. There is a large picture of a fox that dominates the music advertisment, which is portraying the bands image, rather than a picture of the artists themselves. This connotes that the band don't want to promote their image and that they just want to promote their music. This is similar to The Scripts album cover, as they have a picture rather than an image of the band. The fox on this advertisment relates to one of the songs that is on the album, further connoting that the band is promoting their songs, rather than their own image.


The text makes a statement to the band, being capital and typed, and primiarily simple, which could suggest that the band are 'down-to-earth', more about their music rather than the bands image. The colours that are used on the advertisment have a contrast between black and pink which makes the advertisment eye catching for the audience, but the actual picture is quite simple.


The use of the image of the fox and the sharp contrast of colours can be seen as quirky, therefore connoting that the music from the band is different and quirky, and that the music is generally aimed at a younger generation.


The bands website is also featured on the advertisment, which may make their music more popular, as the audience may then buy more of their music, which can help their fan base and enable them to make more money.


There is then ratings in the corner of the advertisment from different magazines and newspapers, in different colours to contrast against the black background. The overall layout of this album advertisment is not too over the top, so its easy on the eye and simple, as well as being edgy.


The Verve - Love Is Noise

This advertisment is very simple but effective. The name of the song and the artist is the most prominent feature on the advertisment, along with the background of a sky that looks stormy. There is a strong contrast however between the name of the song and the picture in the background. While the picture is of a photograph that looks quiet and peaceful, the title is called 'Love Is Noise', and this may connote to the audience that the song is more about a search for love as there is no noise in the picture.

The writing in the picture is simple, with large lower case for the name of the artists and small capitals below it for the name of the song. The writings effective in promoting the name of the song and band, and is similar to my artist as they dont have a picture of the artist, therefore connoting again to the audience that the band is more interested in promoting the song rather than their image. The text also makes a statement by being the most prominent part of the advertisement, being straight to the point, and letting the audience know that they want the song release date to be clear to the audience.

There is also white writing at the bottom of the advertisment, which tells the reader that they can download it now from iTunes, and saying 'CD OUT MONDAY'. The capitals make it more eye catching to the audience, and may be more likely to buy the single, or CD.

Album: The Best of The Vines

Like the other music advertisments I have chosen, this one also doesn't feature an image of the band. This is similar to other pop rock music advertisments, because a lot of them, like the script, focus on promoting their song/album through other images, rather than pictures of the artists.

The most prominent feature in this advertisment is drawings of vines and leaves, which relates to the artist because of their name (The Vines).

The colour scheme is simple and not over-the-top. The vines are bold greens and blacks, which strongly contrasts with the white plain background, which makes it eye catching, slightly edgy and effective to the audience. The text style is also similar to the artist because the style looks like vines too.

The writing below 'OUT NOW' stands out straight away to the audience, which encourages the audience to buy the single, because the writing appears to be demanding. There is also seperate writing with includes 'bonus track available' and information that the audience can buy the cd or download, and this may make the album sell more as the audience has more options.

Shot List

Shot 1 Establishing shot of the atist in the bedroom
Shot 2 Long shot of the artist sitting on their bed
Shot 3 Switch to mid shot of the artist on their bed
Shot 4 Change to close up of the artist on their bed
Shot 5 Mid shot of the artist holding a photograph
Shot 6 Close up of the photograph that the artist has
Shot 7 Switch to another photograph on the bed
Shot 8 Then switch to another photograph
Shot 9 Close up of the artists face
Shot 10 Lip Syncing to first chorus
Shot 11 Long shot of the artist looking out the window
Shot 12 Close up of the artists face
Shot 13 Cut to a close up of the female's face
Shot 14 Lip Syncing to another two lines
Shot 15 Long shot of the artist watching the female walking with another boy
Shot 16 Cut to a point of view shot of the artist watching the couple
Shot 17 Then change back to a close up of the artist watching them
Shot 18 Mid shot of the artist laying awake in bed
Shot 19 Jump to a shot of the female asleep in her bed
Shot 20 Lip syncing
Shot 21 Shot of the artist and the female walking through a park
Shot 22 Lip syncing
Shot 23 Then jump to a mid shot in a kitchen with the artist and one of his friends talking
Shot 24 Lip syncing
Shot 25 Close up of the artists face
Shot 26 Lip syncing to the chorus
Shot 27 Close up of a glass heart being dropped
Shot 28 Close up of the heart smashing on the floor (slow motion)
Shot 29 Close up of the artists face
Shot 30 Close up of the female with the other male
Shot 31 Close up of the female with the artist
Shot 32 Split screen of the two shots
Shot 33 Close up of the females face
Shot 34 Establishing shot of the artist and the female in his bedroom
Shot 35 Switch to a tracking shot of the female packing a bag to leave
Shot 36 Cut to a shot of the female running down the stairs and out the front door
Shot 37 Cut to a mid shot of the other male standing outside
Shot 38 Swich to a close up of the male smiling
Shot 39 Cut to a close up of the artists face watching them leave
Shot 40 Close up of the artists face sitting on his bed
Shot 41 Lip syncing
Shot 42 Switch back to the artist in his room looking at the photographs
Shot 43 Cut to a close up of the photograph in his hand
Shot 44 Cut to a mid shot of the artist throwing the photograph off the bed onto floor
Shot 45 High angle shot of another photograph being dropped onto the floor
Shot 46 Low angle shot of the photograph falling (slow motion)
Shot 47 Mid shot of the photographs on the floor
Shot 48 Lip syncing to the final line