MUSIC VIDEO

07. Hasan Mahmood, Syeda Sabrina Ali, Miran Mohtashami from 283goswell on Vimeo.

FINISHED

Finally done with the blogging!!!

Q4. Evaluation

Q3. Evaluation

Q2 .Evaluation

Q1. Evaluation

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Music videos are created to promote the release of a new track and to also promote the artist. The music videos are shown on popular music channels such as MTV, VH1 and Kerrang it is a platform for the artist to stay in the public eye for a longer time after the track is released. Our artist is a local student who was looking to make a music video to promote his music and having a music video helped him to reach out to his niche audience by uploading the video onto YouTube.

Carol Vernallis pointed out that the majority of music videos are edited to a rhythmic basis which is when the shots change in time with the beat, the edits become more obvious. When we started the process of editing we listened to the track and made markers at every beat to help us determine when each shot should changed.

Here you can see the green bar is the whole song on the time line, and the red dots are the marker to show when we should change to the next track.  

Vernallis also commented on how music video makers defy the concept of continuity regarding the artists costume, setting and movement. This is don to create excitement and to interest the audience. However in our music challenges Veernallis’ view on continuity and we keep to in terms of transitioning to a new location and the artists costume. He wore the same jacket/hoody and backpack but changed his shirts.  

Most music video makers film base tracks which is a clip of the whole track lip sung by the artist to make sure the they are in time with the music and it is and easier process when editing. We shot lots of base tracks and synchronised them to the song with more markers and layered them on top of each other and cut to the markers.

Links

Music video I researched on from the same genre Lecs Luther – Dia Dhuit who has influenced they we way we have shot our music video. This artist is from the same genre of alternative urban rap, and Lecs Luther’s music video has influenced me when preparing for the making of our music video because we liked the style editing and shots. The video is disjunctured where the video has little or no relation to the lyrics of the song. Like this video we created a music video that does not depict a story to the lyrics of song. We had a sequence of base tracks filmed in different locations such as Brick Lane, Camden Town and Hampstead Heath Park. They were all shot with a variation of angles and shot types.

We also really liked that the director of this video used fish eye on some shots, which emphasised the genre and style of the artist.  But unfortunately we did not use this concept because we did not have the correct lens to film in fish eye. Instead we used a special effect. We also used lots of close up shots to establish the artists, one of our base tracks is a extreme close up of the artists lips rapping to the song.  

extreme close up

not fish eye effect but blur tool

example of fish eye used 

In our music video our main motif is street art and scene shots of greenery at Hampstead Heath Park. Like Kings of Leon’s music video of Use Somebody they had a motif of shots of city sky scrapers shot from a very high angle maybe by a helicopter, they also slowed down some footage and you could see the streaks of the fast lighting in the traffic which is really effective and unusual against the dark scene.

These are scene shots of the motifs for my music video. 

We also considered Goodwin’s theory on making the costume and setting relevant to the video as the artist is both the narrator and the character in the music video and had to plan and build the video considering how our ideas may be relevant to the music and genre. The theme of our chosen song was mellow and poetic and lyrically the track was abstract and required thinking as he mentioned a lot of political points. So we thought about how we could blend his image to match the locations. The artist is urban and British based, and so we chose to film at Camden Town, Brick Lane and Hampstead heath.

All locations that his niche audience would be familiar with and could relate to.

Interestingly our music video does not follow Goodwin’s view on music video building to a climax and then fades at the end. Our video did not need a climax and so we kept it in time with the steady beat of the song. 

How conventional is my digipak and advert?

outer panels

My design has followed a lot of the conventional rules in terms of positioning. My front cover has an establishing shot of the artist and a gradient fade from the bottom to the top. The name of the artist is placed at the top so it stands out and is the first thing some will look at the artists name. The back has followed the convention of placing the bar code at the right hand corner and the copyright and record label information next to it in small print. I have included the logo for the independent record label and placed the track list on the top left hand corner. Th font size for the track list is unusually large but I have done this on purpose to make the text stand out against the busy background.

inner panels 

I have kept with the whole theme of shadow and darkness and kept the background plain black and made the CD more of an statement against the simplicity of the background. I used black for the background and the filter effect on the picture on the CD to create continuity and to show that my inner panels where reflecting the theme on the outside.

Advert

With this advert I followed most of the conventions of having the album big and bold that stands out the most. But what I have failed to do as project the artists name in that same way so we could establish the artist better.

To sum up in many ways I beleive that I have followed most of theconventions based around the production of a music video, however I have followed the conventions of the way real media designers position titles and information for the digipak but I hsve not used promotional stickers, messages or note on the album cover. 

Shortlist of Photos for my digipak

All of these chosen shots are all from the music video which provide continuity and familiarity between the music video and the artist. The song is mellow and poetic and I thought that my shortlist reflects the genre of alternative rap and the mood of the track.

long shot of the artist in serene background of greenery and a lake

long shot of artist - potentaial front shot

potential inner panel photo



interesting shot and background



low angle shot, outline of artists face



scene shot where we filmed some of the basetracks

scene shot



shot of branches

this is a really interesting shot because like the name the artist is wandering and you could bearly see him which provides ambiguity and interest the audience

JPG of completed advert

JPG of completed digipak

FRONT

INSIDE

MOCK -UP digipak

analysis of adverts

These are the artists I have chosen for my advert research. Most are British based urban artist/bands who are similar to the Annoying Wanderer. All have bold font that jumps out of the posters to establish the artist's name and the name is placed at the top of the poster. The designers choose a common theme of black in these posters to show the name and a striking unusual font which is graffiti – esque style. The background is bright and follows a colour scheme of 2-3 colours always, many have also included the band or artists photo but this aspect is optional. Jay Z’s poster does not include a photo but the image he has used on his album cover. Many posters consists of the artists tour dates and date of release.

analysis of digipaks

Adverts

Advertisement may include:

• tour dates
• release date
• review quotes
• record label logo
• website of the artist
• prominent size of artists album name
• need to think about positioning of images and other items on the A4 sized frame

CD Cover

advert cover

The Advert and the Cd cover both stuck with the concept of continuity, keeping with the colour scheme of white and grey. They even used the same picture in the advert so the audience and fans can instantly recognise and identify the audience.

Do's and Don'ts

When we were discussing and learning on how to create our digipak we were given tips on do's and don'ts that we will need to consider when planning our ancillary products so that we have an end product that looks professional and realistic in order to achieve high marks.

Do's

• use clear and an appropriate sized font
• use photos that are in focus because if you don't the end product will look childlike and un-professional.
• follow genre and make sure that it is reflected on the digipak
• make sure that you use appropriate logos

Don'ts

• use effects only to enhance images and use them appropriately. if you do use them make sure they too reflect the artists style and genre of music.
• do  not overlap text with photo images of the artist face because if they are on the cover it is important for the audience to clearly see the artists face in order to identify them. 

What does a digipak looks like?

The inside of a Digipak



inside of a digipak

A digipak is made out of cardboard with either 2-4 panels on the inside with may be separate pictureson each panel or a background spread across all of the panels, and they may or may not include messages or special thank you notes. Like the one show above Katy Perry's difipak also includes a booklet which gives fans access to more information about the artist. A digipak encourages people to buy albums as it adds value to music and a personal relationship between the audience and the artist.

The outside of a Digipak

• the artists name
• name or title of the album
• production stamp or promotional sticker (thisis optional)
• may also inlude notes
• track list on the back
• barcode
• website address
• price (optional)
• product info
• copyright year
• logo of the record label and name

The example shown of The Scripts digipak below shows most of the things listed above.

 

Conventions for Digipaks

• use a up to 2-3 fonts
• has a consistant colour scheme which maybe 3-4 colours
• graphic design
• visual style continues in the inner panels

importance of digipaks

The next process was to create a digipak and advertisement for the release of the new track.  CD covers allow the artist a platform to project their image and creativity visually. The CD covers tell the audience a bit more about the artist’s style and could hint at the genre of music.  For instance Rihanna’s new album CD cover ‘Unapologetic’ shows a topless image of the artist bearing all with tattoos and graffiti all over the picture. She uses a minimum of 3-4 colours and we see that maybe she is promiscuous and boisterous and simply doesn’t care bearing for all to see. She is revealing herself stripping off to reach the audience in a different way. The CD cover will be featured in adverts; iTunes cover flow, and as the actual cover of the CD.

Collectors may buy deluxe versions of an album which may include more on the CD and reveal more photos or messages on the inside of the Digipak. Digipaks allows the artist to reach out to their audience in a closer way where they may reveal messages inside etc. For example Katy Perry had her CD’s scented with her perfume as marketing strategy to boost her sales it is also done so her fans may  also purchase the perfume as well.

Skills Development

This year’s editing process was much more controlled and difficult compared to the level of filming and preparing we have done for last year’s thriller film opening. Firstly we had to plan a shot by shot to pick one artist and working in a team we had to make compromises and work together in order for us to make the whole pre-production process a lot easier. One of the group members suggested that we should work with a student at the college who is a rapper and we thought it would be convenient and original to help him create a music video. There was a lot of work that went into the planning we had to think of locations and establish a style that matches with the themes of the chosen track or song our storey board was in detail explaining the shot type the location and how long it will be until it cuts to the next shot.

We also had to shoot in longer lengths as we had to film base tracks were the artist had to lip sing to the whole song in one shot in order for us to edit and match the footage to the track of the song correctly and effectively. Communication was another key aspect as my group has decided to film in various locations we had to pre-plan days and hours when and where to film.

During the process of our editing we constantly asked for people advice and thoughts of the clip and from what we have edited so far our teacher has advised us to use more overlapping and dissolves if we want to establish a common style to our music video. We were also discussing and trying out different types of special effects we could use on our footage such as solarizing or colouring adjustment making certain locations such as the forest base tracks brighter and intensified to match with the artist image. The Annoying Wanderer wears a lot of statement shirts and is attracted to rather bright and vibrant colour and we thought that we could incorporate this into our video.

digipak Group Design Ideas

We have decided that all our individual designs should have a colour scheme of black, white ,green and colours that are dominant in the music video so we could establish a link between the video and the digipack. As a group we have decided to call the album IVXX. We have also decided to make a 4 panelled digipak.

The fonts we will be using are:

Urban Jungle

Bright young things 

starting on Digipaks

Today we used Photoshop to start learning how to use all the tools so we can create a digipak to a professional standard.

here I am experimenting with different effects or filters that I can use on images 

I have added a filter on the image and have included the track list at the panel which is the back of the digipak and also used an image of the street.

Now I have enlarged the photo of the artist to an appropriate size and included the name of the album as well as the name of the artist. It is important to use two fonts which make it look a lot more professional and simplistic. I also have stuck to a common colour scheme which is black, grey, white and lilac which are all subtle colours which I think fits well with the Artists image and genre of music.

This is the completed version of my Digipak task. I have used a barcode and the name of the record label.

what I have not done is included the name on the spine of the digipak, and the copyright information which is written at the back of the cover.

Editing