Diary 20/12/12

Coming up to the holidays I have made a list of everything I have left to complete. I intend to get all the grunt work done by the end of the holidays including the majority of my filming so that upon return all I need to do is tie up the loose ends and start my evaluation.

Digipak Front Cover Draft 2

I decided the plain textured background wasn't effective enough so I re-thought my initial ideas and tied my draft in more closely with the band's style.

Analysis of Music Video

I chose to analyse the music video "Waking The Demon" by Bullet For My Valentine as it clearly lays out the narrative but also shows the band playing as it's their song and that's what the fans want.
The opening long shot sets the scene of an american high school and introduces the main character.
A cut is then used by the director in order to show the band and put a face to the global name of 'Bullet For My Valentine'. Unlike a TV show this is a regular convention, cutting between the story and the band and often helps pull the audience out of the story and allow them to relate it to their own lives. The video then outlines the underlying issue that the main character is up against, in this case, bullying.
The use of this issue and also showing the band suggests that some or all of the band members were bullied when they were in school.
The video shows the boy crossing days off a calendar throughout, this is significant as it shows you the progression of time and the corresponding bullying and its severity on that day. The video aims to make the audience empathise with this main character. The use of costume also helps this, by dressing him in a metal style it means that the intended audience; metal-heads, will respond to this and view the boy as their peer.
Towards the end of the video we see the boy getting ready to fight back. Distracting the bully's girlfriend so that he's alone in the woods. The video is cut to the calendar once again showing the words "FULL MOON" circled in red. This gives connotations of werewolves and blood, alluding to the eventual death of the bully by the boy who turned in to a werewolf on the last day of the month.
In the last part of the video we see a "Missing" sign with the bully's face on it and the main character walking towards his locker again. Another boy nudges the main character and proceeds to push him against the lockers. This time, instead of feeling sympathy for the main character, we see a close-up him cross the first day off the calendar and a short range walk past the camera smiling. The audience is now firmly rooting for this main character despite the terrible act he's committed.

Digipak Front Cover Draft

This is my first draft of my Digipak front cover but I am not completely happy with it, I feel that a simple textured background doesn't fit with the genre of music I have chosen. I am re-doing the front cover with a better picture as the background with simple text over the top instead, as I feel it will be much more effective.

Diary 04/12/12

Today our teacher has chosen to use the carrot rather than the stick. He has urged us to have either '1st shoot + mag ad', '1st shoot + Digipak' or 'mag ad + digipak' ready by the beginning of Thursdays lesson and if we do we will be awarded with a cake. I dont feel I will be able to meet this deadline due to other subject exams but I'm sure I will make significant progress.

Magazine Advert Draft 2

I did some more work on my Mag-Ad and made it better.

Diary 26/11/12

I found this video for the effect I'll be using in my magazine advert.

Magazine Advert Draft 1

I have given some thought to my magazine advert and I've decided to go with powerful simplicity. this is a preliminary design I have made. Obviously I will be using my acxtors rather than the actual band but essentially I'll be creating this type of advert.

Schedule

I have been considering the limited amount of time we have left to film and I've decided to set myself mini deadlines to ensure I am ready to film as SOON as possible.

21^st November – Storyboard, Signed Actor Release Forms

25^th November – Filming plan (Location details and time sheet plan)

2^nd December - Filming Location 1

Research into Digipaks

Researching on Google I found many digipaks, of all sizes (how many CD's it can hold) and colours.

I looked primarily at this digipak for SteelWing. They use a futuristic font to emphasise their Progressive Metal style. Their track listings are very eyecatching as the letters are predominantly Russian but if focused on can still be interpreted as English quite easily.

The front cover boasts a futuristic robot/soldier next to an alien. On the back it’s a zoomed image of this alien face. This could be a reference to the problems this band has had to overcome in their fight for fame and recognition and is very aesthetically pleasing for their intended audience and fans.

I also looked at this Oasis digipak.

The image of the guitar is artistic because it doesn't show all of it and it is suitable for the title of the cover because it says 'Acoustic'. The back is simple enough, and follows the colour scheme (sticking to 3 or 4 so it does not get too crowded) and it lists all the songs on the CD; this will be useful for a listener to choose which song they want to listen to first. Unfortunately, due to the camera angle I cannot see what it says on the inside, but I presume it includes either lyrics or band information.

This digipak layout is simple and calming due to its natural colours of brown, green, white and yellow. Even the CD itself is decorated, which shows they were thoughtful about the design, as it added additional information or just summarised in case you lost your cardboard digipak sleeve. The information on the left is I assume band information, however what is missing I think is a picture of the band to make it feel more personal, however they could have one on the back.

The front is very simple, because it only uses two colours however, it is very abstract which could highlight the bands individuality or type of music. It has an image of the band members which is good as it makes the digipak more personal to their fans.

From this analysis I understand to have a colour scheme that has a maximum of 3-4 colours and to have a good balance of text and images, as I do not want to crowd the small amount of space available in a digipak. Often less is more. 

Research into Music Videos that I admire

"Riot" by Bullet for My Valentine is the first music video I have chosen. This music video is good because of the way it sets the scene and shows the narrative but also includes performance. I chose to do this in my video as well. The camera settings used make the video look better because it shows a greater contrast between the white and black making the black more prominent and thus showing the true metal style, deriving from emo/gothic and biker fashion.

For these same reasons I also admire the following music video; "Waking the Demon" also by Bullet for My Valentine.

Diary 15/11/12

I have been working on my digipak for the past couple of lessons and I am finding it quite difficult as every time I feel I'm getting close to my preferred design I get a comment that shows that my digipak isn't giving off the right impression. I need to work on it more but keep in mind my deadlines.

Track Listing Possibilities

These are a few different ideas as to how I could layout the back cover of my Digipak where my CD track listings will be written. 

Tracks

Diary 08/11/12

I realise that I will need a few choice pictures of a band for my Digipak and Magazine advert but the ONLY band in our school is already being used by 2 other students and they're very difficult to get together because one member goes to another school and the others all have jobs. I feel that they may be unwilling to be in my magazine also so I am considering a few different options to fix this problem.
1. I form a band with the right look for my music video even if they don't play the instruments
2. I use other musicians from the year and form a band which probably won't suit the style.
3. I try and find a local band from another school or older and convince them to help me out.

Analysis of CD magazine adverts

I thought it would be beneficial to research CD magazine adverts in order to get an idea of how to design mine. I noticed in each one that the artists name are always big and bold, some ratings from music magazines and lists of the albums top songs.

kings of Leon album advert

This advert for the kings of Leon album only by the night is very well informed as well as containing a memorable image of the band that will stick with anyone who sees it in a publication. The information included is useful and relevant such as the news that it has been released "OUT NOW" where it can be bought "PLAY.COM" and what songs are included "SEX ON FIRE, CRAWL AND USE SOMEBODY". The four band members faces split up and reconnected as a single face mixedwith that of an eagle is a very memorable image which doubtless also tells fans something about the style as well as being very eye capturing.

Dethklok cd advert

This magazine advert was published in several black metal magazines to advertise the release of the first metalocalypse dethklok cd. The name of the band and album is clearly visible at the top and some of the songs are listed at the bottom. This advert is instantly recognisable as an advertisement for dethklok as it makes use of the bands logo and mascot facebones a giant skull with several large horns.

As magazine adverts go this one is lax in design as it contains very little information such as critics reviews or a release date or even information about where to obtain the album. This could of course be intentional as it causes the audience of the advert to think about and remember it due to both it’s simplicity and lack of detail and it’s shock value. This type of advert would need to be carefully aimed at the target audience of metal fans presumably a lot of thought was put into what magazines it went into and where it was published.

Diary 06/11/12

I was looking today at all that remains to be done in order to get my music video planned, researched and then finally filmed before I can edit my final product and I need to speed up. I am adressing this issue by planning to stay behind in school with some other friends to get feedback instantly and churning out post after post of quality material in order to be able to shoot in the next 2 weeks.

Tripod Zoom/Vertigo Effect

This video effectively demonstrates just one of the many effects I wish to use in my music video. This effect is very powerful at creating a certain altered sense of depth when seen by the naked eye and I beleive the audience will be taken aback by seeing this in my music video.

Research into equipment choices

For taking pictures of the band for my digipak and magazine advertisement, I will be using a Canon 550D. This is because with the equipment in school I can attach remote flash lights to it and use a softbox, so the light isn't too bright or too dim.

When I record my music video I will be using the same Canon 550D camera and using a tripod to get steady shots. I feel this would be appropriate as then I can maintain the same quality images throughout for continuity purposes.

My post production equipment will be Adobe Photoshop CS3 for editing photographs and creating the magazine advertisement. However, for the footage of the music video I will be using a combination of Adobe Premiere Pro CS3, Sony Vegas Pro 11 and Adobe After Effects CS3. 

These high tech programmes will aid me in creating the best product available.

My only issue will be the cross compatibility between all these programs.

Research into music labels

Research into existing music labels on Prezi

Call Sheet

Call Sheet

Filming/Editing Schedule

Filming/Editing Schedule

Raw Footage of Location 1

Billboard Advert

I worked on Photoshop for a bit and came up with a rough idea of what my billboard advertisment would look like. There are elements in this which could be altered slightly but I'm happy with it for the time being.

Diary 18/10/12

I have realised today that my music video is not very prop heavy as it relies on the context and song to convey the storyline. Unlike a short film a music video generally doesn't need alot of props.
However I would like to include props to show that I have considered every eventuality and covered all possible potholes in my storyline, ensuring that it flows effectively.

Artist styling/Costume planning

The costume my male lead will be wearing will be representative of the music style. This is dark/black clothes with 2 or 3 accesories usually metal or black also. I am also trying to find a temporary stick on tatto for my main actor to convey even further his links with the heavy metal style of music.

My actor will have either long hair or at least a fringe in order to seem in touch with the community of heavy metal fans.

The shoes, as I have already discussed, will be big, black and bulky in coherance with the style and furthermore I have already bought the addidas shoes as I felt the white sole better emphasised the shoe and would not blend in if my set was dark. (below, right)

My female lead will be a stereotypical dressed girl not belonging to any particular style especially not metal as in my music video I have an underlying message that metal is trying to reach out to the world and is being disregarded as "dark" and "depressing" when really heavy metal bands scream to convey the pure passion they have for different topics and just want their opinions to be voiced to the fans.

Initial Planning Ideas

In my music video I intend for there to be a romantic background story. The main character (boy) will be lusting after a girl that perhaps he used to be with but can no longer have her. I will be using the songs mood to help convey the mood of my character as the story progresses; getting angrier and more obsessed as the music gets harder, faster and louder. I will condition the audience to feel empathetic towards the main character and will him to succeed in his endeavours.

I will have a prelude to my music video introducing the character, setting the scene and getting the audiences attention before the music begins. These are all essential elements used in the creation of music videos.
There will be a significant turning point where the man has practically given up and then when the music suddenly he increases there will be an iconic eference as he opens his eyes angrily and realises he needs to be determined and try hard for this to work.
I think I will be ending my music video on a cliffhanger as he is offering her everything he's got and the music cuts out so will the video before her response. Although I may leave the audience with a glimmer of hope for the main character by perhaps getting her to show the faintest smile as the video fades out.

Actor research 1

For my actor I have chosen 4 potential people. These are two potential candidates as they are both interested in that area of music however I am worried they are not stereotypical enough to portray the character I need in my music video. For example I want someone with longer hair with a fringe who looks 'Darker'.

Actress Research 1

For my music video I will require a woman for my opening shot as the music starts playing. Hopefully this will happen just after my prelude.
The Actresses I have my eye on are: Ruby Spires, Pamela Ngo and Lauren Abbott.

I am still unsure about which I will use as they all have their unique qualities and flaws.

Diary 11/10/12

Today our teacher posted an evaluation of our blogs so far telling us what we have and haven't done. This is indicated by a green 'y' or a red 'n'. I took a picture so I can refer back and see what I need to work on next.

Diary 10/10/12

Today I applied my newly created production logo and updated all my planning documents. I have saved them as templates so I can create multiple copies with small changes without losing the work I've done so far.

Diary 2 09/10/12

I have found out a way to overcome all the aforementioned technical difficulties I've had at school on the past. KiesAir is one fix which I found but the schools wi-fi often has issues which stunts me from doing my work. I linked my blog and phone to my google+ account which updates automatically every hour from my phone uploading all pictures and videos I take and download. This means I can click upload a picture on a post and select "From my phone" and everything shows up with no issues.

Production Logo

This was the logo I've made for my Production Company. it helps to personalise my Planning documentsfor everything to do with my music video. Including my actor release forms, floor plan. location contract etc.

Diary 09/10/12

Camera Settings

My media teacher showed me the exact camera settings I would need to shoot my ideal intro for my music video.

Link 1

Link 2

Prelude Ideas 1

As I mentioned earlier I was thinking about preludes to music video's.
This video that I've found (Hypnotize - The Notorious B.I.G.) had both a prelude and various interludes which made the video more effective causing the audience to focus all their attention on the music video and nothing else. I am now considering haveing a possible interlude during my music video to explain some more about my background story.

Camera ideas 1

I was thinking about incorporating some accurately in time moves or transitions and I've found that breakdancing in the style of popping and locking does this brilliantly.
Also, I thought it would be better to look at a movie of breakdancing because not only do I get to view a flawless routine I can also focus on the way it's shot looking at the different power lines and depth of field that they have considered to help me decide more about my camera shot, angles and movement for an effective music video.



Diary 04/10/12

I have decided recently that I will definitely be incorporating a prelude to my music video. A story that might give the audience some idea of the story before the actual song kicks in.
I've been brainstorming ideas and I think that the prelude will tell the story of how the main character is in love with the girl inmy music video but can't have her for some reason.

Model + Actor release forms

Actor Release Form DAN

Actor Release Form MATT

Actor Release Form NICK

Actor Release Form RUBY

Camera Settings Research

I asked my teacher to explain to me some various camera settings in order to have light behind my main actress obscuring most of her from shot.

INS. VIDEO HERE.

Diary-2 27/09/12

Today I am thinking about how I can develop my research into the target audience for my music video. I feel that the audience is the most important element when creating a media product as they are the ones spending their hard earned money on it. In this case, with music, the audience can be very specific. I am going to create a questionaire, asking lots of different people within my target audience, what they like, who they like, where they go in their spare time and so on. I will also record their responses on camera so I can refer back to it whenever I need to. I feel this will give me more of an insight on how to effectively encode my music video in a way that will be successful with the target audience.

Resources

What I currently have in order to film my music video:

• Cameras
• Lighting equipment
• Actor & Actress to star in my music video
• Editing software
• A warehouse to film in
• Camera crew to film behind the scenes action
• House to film around

Diary 27/09/12

I've been having even more problems with the school computers. As this is where I do most of the uploading side of my work, and organise it all on my blog, I expect that I should be able to access what I need to in order to do everything time efficiently and not waste my time faffing around trying to copy files to my computer.
I've had to resort to using something called Kies Air. It's a program on my phone that connects to a computer or even another smartphone through wi-fi connection. You simply copy a URL address which the phone tells you and it connects to your phone allowing you to access all information from E-mail adresses to pictures and videos. It's helped me greatly however it's very slow and time consuming to set it all up.

Costume 1: Shoes

I was looking for shoes yesterday for the main character in my music video and I've already bought these shoes as they are perfect.

I looked at a couple of others too but I didn't feel they quite fitted the style of character I'm going for in my music video.

Diary 26/09/12

I just got home from shopping in Central London where I was looking for 2 things.
One; possible locations or landmarks to use to signify different things in my music video.
and Two; Any possible props or costume to use in my music video.
I stumbled across a perfect pair of shoes for my genre of music video; heavy metal.
I bought them as they were not very expensive and they are just what I need.

Diary 25/09/2012

Today I took a video of a possible location that I wanted to use in my school to accurately show a camera movement that I envisioned while on location.
However, I've found that Blogger does not allow people to upload videos via mobile, only pictures.
This is very frustrating as I will have to wait until I get home to upload the rest of my Location search.

Possible location shooting 4

This is the last of the locations i shot around school today and i like it because its a wide open area of concrete. Should I set up a backdrop it could be the main recording location for the majority of my music video.

Possible location shooting 3: Alleyway

I need dark alleyways in my music video and this one; just outside my school, is one of the contenders.

Possible location shooting 2

In these shots i like the plain blue background but its corregated which adds texture.

Possible location shooting 1

I wanted to try and see if there were any possible locations around school that were feesable to use in my music video. I am happy with a few of them as they convey the necessary 'dark, dank and creepy' feel in the shot.

Planning for Digipak

These are a few of the preliminary pictures that helped toward the creation of my final digipak cover. They show the planning and progression of my thoughts that I had about the digipak.

Diary 20/09/12

I have discovered today that due to a bad internet connection at my school various differtent blog posts have been corrupted and subsequently I have lost the work that I had done.
These include:

Diary 02/07/12
and
Storyboard

I am trying my best to locate them however I will have to do a more thorough search when I am at home as the schools' computers do not allow students to use the Microsoft 'Search' feature.

Mood Board

I made a quick mood board to help me invision the kind of images and colours I want to be most dominant in my music video. However I still have not decided wether to film these colours or to add a filter to certain scenes when editing afterwards.

Mood Board - Colour Connotations

Sony Music Request Form

I wrote an E-Mail to Sony Music who represent Bullet for My Valentine.
This is merely a courtesy E-Mail as the school have a license that allows the media students to use any song we desire for our coursework.

Recording Sound

Recording detailed high quality sound is key for success in my music video. In order to make sure I understand fully the best ways to pull this off I have done some research into what I need to do while filming with the DSLR camera in order to get the best sound quality possible. Below is a video I have found that really helps with this.

http://player.vimeo.com/video/17863627

Codes and Conventions of a Music Video

Codes and Conventions of a Music Video

History Of Music Video

History of Music Video

Crew Selection

In order to get decent shots, good angles and a clear sound in my short film I have enlisted the help of two of my peers to help me out and work as crew for my music video. having the both of filming at once will enable me to get a wide variety of shots and angles. Also It also allows me to film behind the scenes of the short film which helps me to easily demonstrate its production effectively. The two people I have selected to be in my crew are Matt Thomas (left) and Corey Mason-Seifet (right)