finished digipac

This is our finished digipac. The Photographs of the woods and trees were all captured by me. i decided to take the images at night to create an almost spooky atmosphere, however used the flash to insure that the image was clearly readable . The branches on either side of the clearing frames the track list well, drawing your eyes to the middle of the image and the white track names, which stand out.


I also used my photography skills to take the picture of the band. I wanted the image to be quite dark so i chose to close the aperture in order to let less light in, making the image darker. I printed the image in the dark room so i could manipulate the light and dark contrast and then scanned it into my computer. while printing in the darkroom i used a filter 5 to insure a high contrast between black and white and exposed my paper for 20 seconds on a aperture of 5.6.


When i got my scanned image onto my computer i used photoshop to layer the image of the trees and the band together, to create the allusion of the band preforming in the tree clearing.


The font i used was called Mistral, i chose this font because it looks quite messy and almost like small graffiti which goes with our theme of urban settings.

Music Video version one

Here is our music video so far. There is still room for improvement.

Narrative theory

The narrative theory that would best suite our A2 music video production is Todorov 's theory that the narrative is broken down into five stages:
Equilibrium- (The boy and girl together)
Disruption of equilibrium by an event – (the girl moves away)
A realisation that the disruption has happened – (The boy is sad)
An attempt to repair damage. - (boy looks for girl)
A restoration to equilibrium, may be a new equilibrium.- (boy finds girl)

Our storyline for our music video was fragmented because it kept jumping between the narrative and the shots of the band. It also has flash back sequences.

The conventions we followed within our music video was having the band shots because that is typically seen in most rock/Indi music videos.

Analysis of Digipaks

Jack Johnson - In between Dreams

The front cover of Jack Johnson's album "In between dreams"

has a very simple main image which only uses two colours of

black and yellow. The silhouette of Jack Johnson is carrying a

acoustic guitar which suggests that acoustic guitar is the genre

of this CD.

The album title and artist name are written in the same font

which is a quite simple, thin San serif. The artist name is

written in black which stands out against the contrasting yellow background. This is bigger than the album

title which is written in white. The effect of the white is that it also contrasts with the yellow background,

however also makes a distinction between the artist and album.

The image fills the whole cover making the tree the main focal point. The only the silhouette of the artist

is shown on the cover, suggesting that the main selling point is the music rather than the artist. The tree

connotates ideas of nature. Jack Johnson looks quite relaxed in the image which is reflected by the album

title "In Between Dreams" which is a relaxed and carefree title.

The back cover is also very simple with the track names the main focal point because they are written in black

which contrasts with the yellow background. There is a bar code at the bottom with a list of the record companies

which shows that the artist and record companies are promoting each other. the colour scheme is the same which

shows consistency throughout the digipak.

The inside of the digipak is a lot busier than the album cover.

The side sleeve shows the artist holding the guitar, which again draws

the viewers attention back to the music rather than selling the artists

image. The colour green is introduced which connotates ideas of nature

as seen in the front cover.

Analysis of magazine advert

Keep Calm and Carry On by the Stereophonics

This magazine advert is advertising the album "Keep Calm and Carry On" by the Stereophonics.


The advert is an example of intertexuality because the title of the Album refers to an old, well-known war poster, saying that in emergencies you need to "keep calm and carry on." The image links to the title of the album, for the band is sitting at a breakfast table being surrounding by the sea, which would normally be an emergence, however the band looks calm and unconcerned. This could also imply that the band are brave not afraid of danger.

The title at the top is in black, drawing your eyes to the band name and album name. The font is a simple and classic sans serif which would be used in war posters, making the viewer focus on the text and message rather than distracting their eyes by fancy font. The text at the bottom is white, standing out from the sea behind it, however not as clear as the black title. This text informs the viewer of the release date, what form of media the music can be bought in (eg download, CD, DVD ect.) and it also has a website for more information.



The background is of only one image, making the viewer focus on that single photograph and in particular the band members, for they are dressed in black or dark colours and standing out from the white sky.


The layout of the piece is also very simple, which only relevent information. The advert is trying to sell the band and not the CD for there are no imformation about the price or what what tracks the CD contains, but focuses on the image of the band.

Designs for our album cover

Here are some of my designs for the album and magazine cover.



We wanted to incorporate the ideas of nature into our cover so i layered a photograph of the band performing with a photograph that i took of nature.






The background photograph here is of a forest. I think the composition of the image works here for the branches look like the nature is closing in on the band and frame the photograph well.


The theme is was aiming for in this image was under the sea. I think the colours work well, however it is not obvious as to where it is set and doesn't have a strong enough link to nature.

I really like moon being in line with the micro phone in this image. I took the background photograph at a beach in Dorset which works with the theme of nature, however the white backdrop behind the drummer looks out of place and doesn't fit in with the sky.

I like the idea of the band performing in the clouds, however the white backdrop dosen't fit in with the background.

A possible list of album name ideas are:

• the Forest of the city
• The Face of the Forest
• Forest of lights
• 
  

Planning for filming

Location, Location, Location

we listed all the different settings that we will need for our music video, which included:

• A park or a patch of green


• Roads and urban looking settings


• A house with a green door

We then went on a location scout around Tooting, for Tooting has a green common but also an urban looking high street which would be perfect for our film. we decided to shoot the park scenes in Furzedown park for there we will have access to swings and a grassy patch to shoot on. The high street will also perfect for our urban shots, for we will be able to shoot a busy road and people in the street.

After we planned the settings we needed and where our film is going to be shot, we then made a list of the shots which we would have to shoot individually and in a public building or a separate location. These included:

• The shot of the Sky moving
• The band shot.

For the sky we will need a space where we can film for a long length of time and just before night. We have decided that one of our group members will film this shot either in their gardens at night or a location of their chose. I shall be doing the film and have chosen to film the scene at Green Park for it is a big park so it wont be too hard to find a secluded area where i can sit with the camera until i have captured the perfect spot.


We decided that the shot of the band would look the best if we were filming the band doing a live set. luckily Butch & Femme are performing a gig at Furzedown youth centre which Richard, Melissa and Myself have all bought tickets so we can film the band whilst performing. Richard also talked to the owner of the youth centre and arranged for the three of us to have a back stage pass which will allow us to film the band beyond the barrier of the crowd, in order to only get footage of the band members, without having fans in front of the camera.

Preparing for filming
We drew up a schedule for which days we would be able to shoot each shot in. Have decided to shoot the shots in this order:

• band shots
• Cloud shits at green park
• Park shots
• urban shots
  

We have decided to shoot the urban shots last because we have to wait for a wet and rainy day, however if their is a rainy day earlier in our schedule we will swap the filming around.

I also need to bring my costume which is a green T-shirt during the park filming, for i am working as the main girl actor and Ben is the main boy, so he also needs to bring a black hoodie. We planned for the girl to wear a green T-shirt because that is our motif and it relates to our theme of nature. Ben is dressed in a black hoodie because black is quite a bleak and dull colour which represents the lifeless and loneliness of the boy.

Script


First draft of the Script:

1. Panning shot of trees and sky (about 5 seconds)
2. Extreme close-up of eyes (about 3 seconds)
3. Magpies flying away
4. Establishing shot of field and Ben lying down
5. Hands in / out of focus on the grass
6. Tracking shot of flowers
7. fade black into pan of feet to mouth then Ben mouthing
8. Medium shot of me sitting up
9. Medium shot of Me sitting up in transition
10. Long shot of me walking towards busy road
11. close-up of legs and feet
12. the band shot
13. under bench feet walking
14. the band shot
15. walking past train
    
    This is a photograph of our group planning our script and deciding where to shoot our music video.

Animatic

Lyrics

Summer by Butch and Femme:


Summers back, she's here again
The girl I've loved since i was 10
we used to sit by the river
Mississippi too

We signed songs and hold hands
That's why i wrote this song for you

Down south in Louisiana
Going south in Summer
We can plough the fields till dawn
We could get it on

We've always lived next to each other
never knew nothing other
my daddy was a porter farmer
her daddy too

We used to sit out on the long plains
talking bout all things knew

Down south in Louisiana
down south in Summer
We can plough the fields till dawn
We could get it on

Down south in Louisiana
going south in Summer
We can plough the fields till dawn
We could get it on

We could get it on
We could get it on
We could get it on

As you can see from the lyrics the song is about a girl coming back to a boy. Summer is a metaphor for the girl, showing the happiness she brings when she comes back to the boy, like a summer day. My first thoughts for our music video is to have a love story about a girl returning to the boy, however this may be a bit too cliche .

Permisson E-mail

I Emailed one of the band members of Butch and Femme and asked for their permission to use thier song Summer in our music video.

research of potential target audience

while we are still on the planning stages of our music video we need to research into potential
target audiences. I have done this by talking to one of the band member. He told me that the

average age of people who attend their gigs range between 13 to 20. This tells us that teenagers are the age group we need to attract in our music video.

Godwin's Theory & analysis of music videos

I used Goodwin's theory when analysing my music videos. The main asspects of his theory are:

1) The video will show a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals
2) The video will have relevant references between the music and the visuals
3) It will demonstrate characteristics of the genre
4) The artist may develop distinctive motifs that may reoccur throughout their videos
5) There is often intertextual reference whether it is to films, tv programs or other music videos
6) There is often sexual references towards the female body.

I have quickly analysed Cheryl Cole's music video "Fight for this love" and found all the asspects of Goodwin's Theory clearly shown in this video:

1) The video will show a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals - The lyrics of the song are about fighting which is backed up by the artist in a military uniform and dancing in the style of someone boxing.

2) The video will have relevant references between the music and the visuals - During the middle of the song the beat slows down, this is reflected in the cutting rhymth of the visuals which also slows and then quickens with the beat returns to a fast rhyme.

3) It will demonstrate characteristics of the genre - The genre of this music video is pop. The characteristics of a pop video are performances from the artist, useually a number of different setting and outfits and often if it is an upbeat number there are dancers or the artist is dancing along to the song. All this is seen in this video. There are 8 different outfits and settings in this video, a number of dancers performing a routeen and many shots of Cheryl Cole looking glamerous and selling her image.

4) The artist may develop distinctive motifs that may reoccur throughout their videos - The reoccuring motif in this video is the colour red. This is becasue red holds connotations with blood and war which fits in with the theme of fighting. The colour is seen in the outfits, the lighting and the backgrounds.

5) There is often intertextual reference whether it is to films, tv programs or other music videos - The intertextual reference in this video is to fighting and war which is shown through the costumes (milutary outfit), the dance moves and the colour red (connotating ideas of anger, blood and fighting)

6) There is often sexual references towards the female body - some of the outfits Cheryl Cole is dressed in are very provokative and reveling, making her look very sexy and desirable.

The Killers - Mr Brightside

The video seems to have been inspired or made in the style of the 2001 film "Moulin Rouge", Directed by Baz Luhrmann. This is due to the costumes and basic story line of the video.


The video starts with a establishing shot of what looks like a theater. The costumes ad make up of are all very exaggerated and extravagant. There is a medium close up shot of a girl with very big white hair. The is a high cutting frequency with shots that do not last longer than about 5 seconds. The shots keep jumping from the girl with white hair, a man and the band, though they all seem to be in the same room. With in the first minuet of the video misen en scene is used to show a recurring motif of a red apple. Red apples are usually represented with ideas of temptation due to the biblical story of Adam and Eve. The man throws the girl a red apple throughout the video which tells her to go off with many different men.


During the chorus of the song the pase picks up which is echoed by a more frequent use of cutting and ranging from close ups and medium shots. the narrative of the video is of the man singer of the band wanted to be with the white haired girl and sneaking around with her, it seems as though the girl is a prostitue due to her being told to be with different men and beacuse of the film Moulin Rouge, which this is based on.


The audience for this video is most likely teenagers, for they are the most likely age group to listen to The Killers.

Daniel Powter - Bad Day

The video is follows the day of a boy and a girl. The song is called bad day which is reflected in the video for the days which the boy and girls have are both quite bad. The genre of the video is pop which is shown by the structure which is a mixture of narrative and the main story line of the boy and the girl and the shots of the singer.


The video starts with the screen split in two so you can see two images at once of a boy and girl both sleeping. There is then a cut to a shot of two different alarm clocks and the boy and girl getting out of bed, again with the two shots shown side by side. The shot then changes to a long shot of the singer playing the piano outside on the street. The narrative follows a boy and a girl and shows you through their day. The most common technique which is used in the editing is split screen editing for example when the girl is getting dressed you can see her dressing for three different days at once. Though the story is mostly of the boy and girl there are also cut backs to the singer

There medium shots of the boy and girls looking at different couples which then suggests to the viewer that this is a romantic story line. after the shot of the couples there is then a shot back to the boy and girl showing them looking sad and lonely.

The singer appears in the same setting as the boy and girl, though non of them notice the others. For example they are all on the tube and it seems although the singer is not really real but watching over the boy and girl.

There is a medium shot of a water tank which then keeps cutting between a close up of a calender showing the change of days. The idea of the water tank not moving until the third shot suggests that every day goes by the same why.

To show that the boy and girl are having a bad day there is a medium shot of the boy in a meeting with him in focus and the other people out of focus. This suggests that he doesn't notice the other people around him. The other people all laugh and he says staring into space, which suggests that he is unhappy.

One of the motifs of this music video is the bill board of a woman sitting on a bench. the boy and girl both pass this bill boars and they draw a picture on it, eg the girl draws a rain cloud over the womens head, the boy draws an umbrella in the womens hand, the girl draws a car splashing water on the girl, the boy draws a man sitting next to the girl blocking the water with a question mark between them and the girl turns the question mark into a heart. This is also used to set up the ending of the video for the picture turns out to be true and the girl is standing in the rain with the boy holding an umbrella over her.

Plain White T's - 1,2,3,4

The video starts in black and white with a handi cam camera which gives the effect of a home made video. There is no music at this point, just the main singer of the band walking. The shots jump to clips of Chicago and people walking on the street. A heading appears on the screen, telling the viewer that this video is set in Chicago , IL, december 28, 2008.


The shots then changes to many different shots of the main singer, from long shots to medium shots with a high cutting rate. A popular choice of camera techniques within this video is zoom.


The most obvious motif within this video is firstly the black and white effect and also the captions telling the viewer about the people in the shots, For example "Michael and Susan, Married 27 years." This suggests that this song is about love and relationships. This is shown in the song for the lyrics are "(I love you) I love you There's only one way to say..."


The Narrative of the video is the main singer singing on the street and shots of lots of different couples with captions saying who there are and details about them.


There doesn't seem to be a set audience group, for the different couples are of all different ages and the main singer seems to be in his late 20s. However it has been suggested that girls like more romantic things than boys do, so therefore this music video may be aimed at girls of all different ages.
Katy Perry - Thinking of you

The Video starts with a close up of Katy Perry's

face. The video is set in the 30s in America during the war. The narrative is about a women being with another man but thinking of the man she loves who i fighting in the war. The narrative jumps from four main stages.



The First is the Katy Perry getting ready and sitting at her dressing table. There is a close up clip of her looking at a photograph of the man she is i love with, telling the viewer that she s still thinking of him. There is then a shot of a man lying in her bed.

The second main narrative is of her and the man together in her bed room. These scenes fit in with the lyrics for the song says "When I'm with him I'm thinking of you"

The third is flash back sequences of her and the man she loves together. This is clear to be flash back for the lighting is a lot warmer making the scene feel brighter and happier. The Video seems to have been inspired by the film The Notebook for some of the flash back scenes are similar to scenes in that film.

The forth narrative is of the man she loves in the war in combat.