Poster development

I think for our poster it needs to hold more information because at the minute it looks very plain, after researching into existing products i think that the poster needs some sort of link to a band webasite, perhaps myspace or facebook which are two great ways of promoting unsigned artists. The poster could possibly advertise the record company producing the album so we could create a record label to fit onto the poster, maybe design a logo in corel draw and then develop the poster further in this program.

poster ideas

This is our first draft of our poster idea. we made it on the design package we have available at college using simple techniques to create a retro looking casette tape. The fonts are all from the design package, we chose these fonts as an initial idea of what we would like the poster to look like. I think that we need feedback on the poster so we will create different versions, play around with colours and fonts and get audience feedback from these designs.

Poster

Here is our initial idea for the poster. This is only a brief outline for the poster as more information is needed, such as the record company and links to websites. I will create this in a design package and try to find the best colour scheme to suit the poster design. I will play around with different colours and get feedback from my target audience.

Digipack

Here is the initial design for our digipack. We will obtain the images through capturing them on a still camera, and then edited on a design package. Ideas for the digipack could change from now as this is only an initial design. The dimensions of the digipack will be 12cm x 12cm and the spine will be approximately 1cm thick.

Clothing

For clothing we need to take into account the weather because for part of the music video we are filming outside and it is winter so warm clothing is necessary. The introduction involves the female character and also the band members, the introduction is all filmed inside so casual clothing will be worn during this sequence. The first verse is part inside and outside and set in the evening so for the inside part casual clothing can be worn and when it cuts to outside the female character will wear winter clothes to keep warm. The chorus again is both inside and outside so clothing will be considered throughout this part. The second verse will all be outside so warm clothing will have to be worn here. The rest of the song mixes between inside and outside scenes, for inside scenes we will use casual clothing and outside scenes we will be wearing warm winter clothing.

Props

For our music video we will be using a range of props for the different locations and parts of the song. For the introduction we will need a radio, which the girl at the start of the music video will turn on. We will also need green screen cloth to put onto the window as we are going to green screen the next shot onto this. We are having a band performance during the introduction so we will need a drum kit, electric guitar, microphone and stand and amplifiers. For the first verse we don't need any props. During the chorus we will need a wall for the singer to sit on and all the band equipment from the introduction. For the rest of the song the only other props we will need will be the equipment for the band.

Ancillery Products

Over the past week or so i have been designing the CD digipack and the poster with my partner. I have looked into existing digipacks and found that they normally focus on the band so from this we are going to take various photos of band members in our music video and use them on the digipack. To show synergy we will use one of our settings on the back cover, linking back to the music video and also where the CD will be placed we will advertise the band name Alexis Blue. I will look at other existing songs from the band and use them as other songs on the album, to make it look more professional. The record company and a bar code will be also placed on the back of the digipack to express the authenticity of the digipack.
For the poster i am thinking about using a graphic picture as the main focus of the poster design advertising the new album for the band. From looking at existing products i have found that the band name is always big and bold at the top of the poster and the album name is generally at the bottom. I will design the poster on a design package and i want to aim to produce a retro feel to the poster, perhaps similar to the genre of music the band makes. To express the modern technology of today i am going to put a link to a website where the album can be downloaded and also a link to social networking sites where fans can follow the band.

Shooting Schedule

Here is the shooting scedule for filming. We have tried to find dates in which people are available to be in our music video, and fitted it around them.

Storyboarding

Here is the storyboard to our music video.

Shots For Music Video

We came up with a list of shots for our music video. We listened through the song and tried to work out what shots could go in each part of the song and we have came up with a skeleton of what shots we will use in the music video, give or take a few. Some of these ideas might change because we are only in the early stages of planning and some ideas might be hard to recreate.

Music Video Ideas

Me and my partner have come up with a brainstorm of ideas that we could use in our music video, we have done this to give a basic outline of the stuff we could include in our music video.

GreenScreen Test

Choosing a Song.

Choosing a song, I thought was quite difficult because of the choice that I had that band had to offer. I was given four songs to look at, all of a decent length so I listened to all of them as least 3 or 4 times so that I could grasp the lyrics and work out the beats and melodies. I wanted to pick a song that would be lively and had a kick to it, so that the music video would be more lively and interesting. This ruled out one of the songs because I found that it was too slow, and the lyrics were hard to relate to and to create ideas from. I found that another song that I listened to took over a minute to get into so I felt like that I couldn’t really express my ideas without the use of the lyrics of the song. From here I was left with two songs, both equally as good as one another. The first song was consistently good through out but I felt like I couldn’t represent the lyrics of the song with a good narrative that could accompany it. From here I was left with one song, and ideas were easy to come up with because of the context of the song.

Finding the band.

For my planning I looked through different websites to try and find an unsigned band that I could use their track for my music video. I first looked at Myspace.com but struggled to find anything that would catch my attention and that I could a music video about. I found that they had a lot of music on there, and that bands obviously use this social networking site to try and grab any attention they can. I found that the search tool was quite easy to use and the website was quite easy to navigate around, this clearly being a good way to try and distribute unsigned bands so that the public can listen to them.
After looking at Myspace.com I took my attention to Unsigned.com which is a website specialised for unsigned bands who want their music to be listened to. I found this website more useful and easier to navigate around because of the simple layout on the right hand side that made it easy to search for a band, artist or song. I looked through tons of different bands trying to find the right one for me, and I narrowed it down to a select few but finally choosing a band from Liverpool called Alexis Blue.
Obviously when choosing the band/artist for my music video I had to consider the genre of music that I was going to pick. I had to make sure that the genre of music would suit the way the person in my music video was like, so I wouldn’t pick hip hop or classical if they weren’t the right part for it. After consideration I chose to look at the indie rock genre because it can suit a wide range of people and is considered a genre that is popular amongst my age group, which is my target audience, as most teenagers listen to music more than adults.

Foo Fighters Poster and Album Synergy

This is the poster for the Foo Fighters album, Echoes Silence Patience & Grace. The poster features the band members, typical of any band poster that I have researched. The band members are all seen looking at the camera taking the picture, this also typical of band posters that I have researched. The poster has a black and white effect to it, making it look older and gives it an essence of vintage. The black and white effect is seen on not only the poster but also on the album cover showing a clear synergy. The band members are wearing casual clothing, possibly reflecting their music as being casual. The band members are seen sitting on a set of stairs, I think maybe in order of importance. The lead singer/front man is seen at the foot of the stairs, backing singer/drummer behind him and the two guitarist’s further back. The typography used in this poster, is again typical of a band promotion poster, with the band name in big bold letters and then the album name underneath. The poster is simple, as it doesn’t have much going on in it, making it easier to look at and it doesn’t take the focus off of the band members which is the main focus of the poster.



This is the album cover for the Foo Fighters album, Echoes Silence Patience & Grace. The album is in black and white just like the poster. The album seems to focus on an atom bomb in the middle of the page with some sort of mechanism in the middle like and engine. I think that the band are trying to put a message across in their music maybe about war or death as the bomb is associated to death. I cannot find the back cover for this album on the internet so I cannot analyse the back cover.

Foo Fighters- The Pretender Music Video Analysis

Foo Fighters- The Pretender
Link to the video is here: http://myplay.com/videos/foo-fighters/the-pretender
• The music video starts off black and as soon as the music kicks in, lights begin to turn on, suggesting the start of the music video. The lights turn on to the beat of the song, going along with the tempo which is quite fast clearly from the pace that the lights turn on.
• At this point of the music video editing is being done on the beat and off the beat, alternating between the two, but when the lyrics start the editing is now done by the lyrics sung.
• The song really begins to kick in after about 33 seconds and the tempo quickens and becomes a lot faster paced with the lead guitar playing the same repetitive beat.
• The main focus of the music video is the band members in the big open room, and the camera jumps from one band member to another in quick succession.
• There are different varieties of shots during the verse, mainly consisting of long shots, zooms and pans.
• There doesn’t seem to be a narrative to the music video yet, but it is only the start of the verse so we are not sure yet but as the song progresses we find that the narrative is mixed in with the performance on stage with the band members.
• The lyrics for this song could suggest different things and from what I could interpret I think that the lead singer is talking about himself and the authorities, saying he won’t back down to them and pretend to be someone who he is not just to satisfy them. He questions their authority for his rights of freedom perhaps, and rebels against them?
• At the end of the first verse, just before the chorus starts, this is where I think the narrative begins and a single police man dressed in a riot outfit stands at the opposite side of the room, maybe attempting to stop the band from what their doing.
• When the Chorus kicks in, the music becomes a lot louder and the lead singer sounds more aggressive in the way that he’s singing and the camera shots reflect this as they are short and snappy.
• The verse then comes back in after the chorus has finished and we go back to the camera focusing on the different band members and the same repetitive beat is being played again
• The verse comes to a close again and jus before the chorus sets in, the policeman starts screaming in anger and a line of policemen in riot outfits appear and they all stand in formation across the room from the band members.
• We see the lead singer facing the line of policemen and it is clear to see that he is outnumbered.
• When the chorus ends the bridge begins and the camera shots become a little slower compared to the chorus and the bridge is seen to be building up to something. As it is building up, the camera swaps between the policemen and then the band members, the policemen put down their visors on their helmets and preparing to attack.
• After bridge finishes and it climaxes, there is a major anticlimax as we are taken back to the start of the song and the intro is being played. The policemen now are beginning to run at the band members in slow motion, representative to the tempo of the song now which is quite calm and slow.
• The intro is cut shorter than before and as if we weren’t expecting it, the chorus abruptly starts again and the red screen behind the band explodes and red liquid is seen flying out towards the policemen.
• This comes as a surprise because the audience watching the music video does not expect this to happen.
• The red liquid continues to spray across the room, and the camera shows the two different groups. The policemen are all falling to the floor and the band members don’t seem to be affected and continue to play the song.
• At the end of the song there is a lot of repetition of the same three words, and the camera shots become a lot shorter than what they were, reflecting the pace of the song, only lasting a split second.
• We know the music video has finished when we see the lead singer throw his guitar to the floor and then falls to the floor himself, perhaps in an act of victory.

Camera shots and editing

• Establishing shot of big empty room, we see band member walk on, low angle shot.
• High angle shot of band member a contrast between the last shot and this one, the first shot the band member looked insignificant and in the next shot looked important and powerful
• Medium shot/Close up of lead singer wrapping a bandage around his hand, reason unknown.
• High angle shot of lead singer again.
• Long shot of across the room, we see what seem to be amps maybe?
• Zoom in on face of lead singer, lip syncing into the microphone, we see band member on left of shot walking in, in the background, rule of thirds.
• Medium shot. We see drummer walking over to his drum kit and sit down behind them
• Low angle shot, we see lead guitarist walking over to his guitar lying on the floor.
• High angled shot of guitar, only last for a brief second.
• High angle shot of guitarist picking up guitar and then cut to the bass guitarist and then he puts bass over his shoulder
• All editing up to this point has been edited on the lyrics.
• High angle shot again, obviously showing band members importance. The drummer begins to hit the snare drum to begin the verse of the song
• Shots at this point of the song become a lot faster and they continue throughout the music video.

Andrew Goodwin’s Theory:

In the video The Pretender, the tempo varies throughout the song. It is structured quite clearly into four stages, the introduction, the verse, the chorus and the bridge. In the intro the tempo is steady; it’s nice and calm and is building up to the verse. When the verse starts the tempo speeds up rapidly and this is reflected by the camera shots. The chorus then kicks in and again the tempo speeds up to the pace of the chorus again represented by the shortness of the camera shots but when the bridge starts the tempo slows down a bit and camera shots become a little slower. Andrew Goodwin says that the tempo of popular music is very clearly and directly represented in music video clips. We can see this by the use of the camera shots used in the music video, that vary when the tempo changes. Andrew Goodwin says that another thing that is important is the vocal. In the pretender the music video is revolved around the lyrics that are sung. Throughout the video we are focused on the lead singer lip syncing his views, and we know how he feels about it by the tone of his voice which becomes aggressive after the intro.

Kasabian Poster and Album Cover synergy.

This is the poster for Kasabian’s album West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum. It features the band as the main focus of the poster, all staring in what looks like a mirror. This produces some sort of synergy with the music video Fire, One of the main features of the music video being the lead singer looking into a reflective window in numerous occasions. Another thing that can link in with the music video fire is that one of the band members in the video is wearing a neck chief; this is similar to the band member in the bottom right who is also wearing a neck chief. The band members are all seen wearing old fashioned clothes. It adds effect to the poster because we wouldn’t tend to see people wearing clothes like that now a day, showing they are going against norms. The band member on the left is wearing what seems to be a colonel or lieutenant outfit maybe showing his importance, suggesting he may be the lead singer of the band. The poster is quite dark in colours maybe representing the genre of music that they play, possibly rock. The typography of the poster is quite bold and is probably the first thing you see. This is good for marketing purposes because it grabs people’s attention so they see this poster before anything else. The Artist name at the top is lot bigger than the album name at the bottom, suggesting that the band name is a lot more important in terms of advertising but the album is still advertised nonetheless. The poster is quite simple in its forms of typography this is probably because it gives a better impact if there is not too much going on in the poster therefore making it look more interesting and appealing as opposed to boring and time consuming to read.



This is the Album cover for Kasabian’s Album. The front cover is the same as the poster, so for analysis see above. The back of the album cover is what seems to be a target with an eye in the middle. It is simple in its design but effective because the eye in the middle contrasts against the deep red background. In the middle of the target are the songs listed in the shape of the target. At the bottom of the back cover is the copyright laws and where the cover was made and when. At the top is the recording company, that being Sony music. The fact that a target is in the middle suggests violence throughout their music maybe about guns? It reflects the music video fire because they use guitars as guns and this references the target at the back.

Kasabian- Fire Music Video Analysis

• The start of the music video has a repeating beat which Andrew Goodwin states to make a song more memorable to the audience listening to it.
• When the lead singer begins to sing we can tell that the sound of his voice has been edited so that there is an echo in the background, maybe setting the feel for the rest of the music video.
• The tempo of the song is steady at the start, the time signature being the standard 4,4 structure. During the verse of the song, the tempo is quite slow, with the same beat being played on a loop. Then when the chorus starts the tempo speeds up by quite a bit and the song kicks in.
• We can tell where the music video is set almost straight away because of the clothes in which are worn by the band members. The video is set in western America and this is shown by the cowboy hats, neck chiefs and other clothing which was typical to the 19th and 20th western American style.
• Towards the end of the verse, the lyrics begin to build up and we know that the chorus is approaching when the volume of the singer’s voice becomes more full and louder and elongated.
• When the chorus begins the music becomes livelier and the setting changes to a bank CCTV scene, we know that it is CCTV footage from the black and white effect shown and the time stamp at the bottom of the screen later on in the chorus.
• We later find out that it is a bank robbery that is being held, typical of the western American culture at the time.
• The band members are seen holding guitars suggesting they are to be played but they actually represent guns. This is seen as they are held as guns and bullets and gunfire are seen coming out of the neck later on in the music video
• All the editing done in this video is all edited on the beat with slower shots during the verses and more fast paced action shots during the chorus. In the chorus, there are several cameras set up in the bank, and this is shown by the different angles that are used during the chorus and the bank robbery setting.
• During the second verse, most of it is focused on the lead singer’s face and is one of the only shot for the majority of the verse. In this we see the lead singing lip syncing the lyrics and this is a typical trait seen in other music videos during the narrative.
• We then return back to the bank robbery setting when the chorus starts again but this time it cuts away to a group of policemen that are outside, maybe running to the scene of the crime.
• As soon as the chorus finishes into the bridge of the song, the colour immediately comes back and we see the band members all together in the back of the bank, one is clearly injured. The shots are still fast and are not really edited on the beat during this bit.
• The music video has now progressed into a getaway scene typical again of a western American bank robbery scene, the chorus is playing again showing a great use of repetition but this time it is in colour.
• Typical shootout is seen, Filmed in slow motion.
• Short shots of people that have been wounded and killed during combat, showing that the hero has prevailed, referring to propp’s theory.
• Band member throws bag of money, money is actually music sheets but these clearly symbolise money, shot of music sheets on floor seen at start of video but did not know the importance at the start.
• Goes back in time, to just before the robbery takes place, video shows what will happen, giving a stronger impact on the video.
Camera Shots and Editing
• Establishing shot of setting, band member entering from the left of shot
• Medium shot of band member’s reflection in window, possibly the lead singer
• Close up of other band member, panning up from tooth pick to face
• Cut back to lead singing again same shot as before
• Shot to other band member, close up of face
• High angle shot of sheets of paper sweeping across the floor, might be of importance?
• Zoom out of sheets coming from brown bag
• Cut back to lead singer in reflection, a bit closer this time though, mainly focused on reflection
• Tracking shot, coming from car, this is clear because we can see the window frames, possibly point of view shot of person in car?
• Cut to medium/close up shot of man in car, with man walking in the window reflection on the left, rule of thirds.
• Extreme close up of man in cars face, tattoo of music note under the eye
• Cut back to lead singer in the reflection of window, shot is longer this time, with man turning around
• Cut to second man seen in music video, beginning to move as chorus begins to set in
• Long shot of second man walking
• Cut back again to lead singer this time facing away from the reflection
• Medium tracking shot, panning upwards of third man holding briefcase

Andrew Goodwin’s Theory:
In the music video fire by kasabian the tempo varies throughout, the verses being quite slow and then when the chorus begins the tempo of the song speeds up my quite a margin. Andrew Goodwin says that the tempo of popular music is very clearly and directly represented in music video clips. This is shown in Fire because during the verse the tempo is slow and therefore so is the camera edits and movements. This is paralleled in the chorus though as the music is a lot more fast paced therefore making the camera shots and movements a lot faster. The editing is done by the lyrics, when one line of lyrics finishes it cuts to another shot, another thing Andrew Goodwin says, showing the importance of the vocal. The music video is shown in two contrasting ways, showing a harmonic development which is visually represented in the music video. During the verse, it features the band members walking or standing all calm and collected and then in the chorus the effects change to black and white and it becomes more action packed with a bank robbery taking place. We know when the music video is coming to an end when the music begins to fade and a spoken voice is heard over the top of the music, Andrew Goodwin says we know when a video is ending visually, musically and lyrically.

Props

For our music video, we used a range of props. Our main prop was the cowboy hat that Tom wears throughout the video. This fits in with the western culture as it is typical to see a cowboy with a cowboy hat. We also used a stool, that we all sit on during the music video. We thought that this was suitable because a plastic chair wouldn't suit as well, as we found out from our digipack design. We used 3 guitars for our music video. Tom is seen holding a guitar during the video, as we thought that this was typical to the western culture and most country/western singers played guitar. We used two other guitars for me and Sam, to give a bit of variety to the video. I used a normal acoustic guitar, also seen on the digipack and Sam used an electric bass guitar. Tom also had a broom that he used to sweep the drama studio floor. We picked this after we listened to the lyrics of the song and thought it would fit in well if part of the narrative involved Tom sweeping.

Digipack design

We created a Digipack for our music video, that also accompanies the poster. i have researched into other existing digipacks and found that the cover of the album almost always links in with the music video and poster.

The front of the digipack features a guitar leaning up against a chair. It has a spotlight shining over it, just like the spotlight shines over tom in the music video. On the back of the cover features a blue, old looking door which i think fits well with the music video and the genre of music. The blue door is seen in the music video so there is clear synergy between the music video and the digipack. The songs for the album are shown next to the blue door against a wall. I considered this when i took the photo of the blue door because it would suit well if the songs could be seen visibly against a different colour to the door.

On the inside of the digipack features a guitar hole where the CD is meant to be held. I thought this would be a good idea because the hole is round so its clear that the CD is meant to fit there. Opposite the photo of the guitar hole is a picture of Tom. Tom is wearing the same clothes as he was in the music video so this links in well in terms of synergy. This is also the same picture that we have used for the poster so this also links in. I think that this digipack fits in well with the music video because i have considered what would look good in terms of the genre.

Poster Design

We have designed a promotional poster for our music video, that will hopefully draw in people to want to buy out album. We looked into existing posters for music videos and albums and from this we put together what we thought would make a good poster.
The poster features tom leaning up against a wall and then there is relevant information to the album/song release. I chose to use Corel photo paint and Corel draw for the design of my poster. I started off in corel photo paint where i imported the picture we took using the still camera into he program. From here i cropped the photo so that it would fit the page and then i went into effects and played around with the lighting and colour. Because our music video is in the western theme, we chose a yellow tint for the photo to try and fit the genre of music. I then imported the edited version into Corel draw where i then added text. I chose to use a font that looked similar to western style writing because it would fit in with the genre.

Setting

For our music video we need a large space that can be darkened by a significant amount. We will be using a spotlight in a dark room to just lighten one spot. We also need an open space so that tom can sweep across a floor.
We have chose the drama studio for this because it has an open space and it is suitbale for what we want to do. There is a raised area which will be good to get an aerial view of whats going on and we can use this to our advantage.

initial designs- Shots

Shot#1- High angle of Tom lip syncing
Shot#2- medium shot of Tom lip syncing
Shot#3- Side view, medium shot of Tom lip syncing first line of song
Shot#4- Opposite side view, medium shot of Tom lipsyncing second line of song
Shot#5- Close up shot of dj decks found in music department, black and white
Shot#6- Start of narrative, Tom sweeps floor, low angle shot
Shot#7- Tom spins brush around and pretends to play guitar, low angle shot
Shot#8- Tom begins to walk towards doors in urgency,Tom throws broom to one side and opens door, low angle shot, close up
Shot#9- Medium shot of Tom standing outside door frame, lip syncing last two lines and then walks off.

Costume

We have carewfully considered costume for this music video. We have decided that Tom should be wearing a cowboy hat for the video because we think it will fit in with the genre well and is suitable for the video. We have also decided on Tom wearing a checkered shirt to get more of a feel for western culture and style. He will also be wearing jeans which is quite typical of the modern western culture of today. Footwear has been a bit of a problem though because we dont own a pair of boots/cowboy boots so we have had to make do with standard trainers. In future we will probably consider costume a bit more because we will have more time to do so and make it look a lot more professional.

initial ideas- Music Video

For my 1 minute music video it will feature tom as our main person. We have picked the song "hello... i'm Johnny Cash". It is a country/blues song thats quite slow paced but has a steady beat to accompany it. The song is quite western based so we will reference to the western style in our music video. At the start we will have Tom lip syncing the opening words. We will get different camera shots of Tom whilst he is lip syncing so that we have a bit of variety in shots. From here we will start a narrative that goes along with the lyrics in the music video so that it all links in and makes sense. This means carefully listening to the lyrics and understanding what message the singer is trying to put across.

Black Eyed Peas - The E.N.D

I have chose to analyse this album cover because i feel that the album and the music video synergy work really well together. When looking at the album cover, we naturally think that the music will be futuristic or techno because of the green animation on the front of the album cover. The cover is simplistic and is focused around one image. This makes the cover stand out because it doesn't look messy and unprofessional. The bright green is an eye catching colour so it would be easy to notice in a music store and would draw an audience in.
The album also works well with the music video accompanying it, Boom Boom Pow, the first single released on the album. In the music video the focus of the album cover is seen frequently throughout the video and well fits in to the genre of music that would be guessed from the front cover of the album. The frequent theme of futuristic computers are used throughout the video also backing up the suggestion of futuristic music from the album cover.