MUSIC VIDEO

Here is the 'Human' music video by The Killers that we filmed.

I NEED FEEDBACK ON THIS VIDEO, IT WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED AND ALSO BE REALLY HONEST! CRITICISM IS ACCEPTED!

What was good about it?

What was bad about it?

Does the video meet the desired genre (indie/alternative)?

What improvements do you suggest I should make?

Give it an honest rating out of 10!

 Enjoy! Or don't...

MAGAZINE AD- Procession

Here are the chosen magazine ads for our fictitious band The Project and the release of the album Days Out in Sepia. There are more than one example, where different changes will progressively be made. 

After the sketches, I looked again through the images we took, and eventually I came across the edited version of the Kes-sequel image of one of the band mates, Josh Hobson. The symmetry of the image attracted me greatly and it was further emphasised with the connection to the album cover; eyeless band mates, with the intention to declare music as a feast for the ears, not for the eyes. Also, Josh's eyeless face is an attempt to attract the consumer as well as express the message intended for it.

     The Braggadocio font was applied to the main title on the magazine, linking to the same font of the album, and using the large 72 size font to attract consumers. 

     The reviews used here are of course fake, but I wrote one review as though it's from NME, and one that was from a made up magazine. The inclusion of NME was intended to express the popularity of the album,bit being positively reviewed by a well-known music magazine.

I inserted a screenshot of the album cover on the advert, with a release date (my birthday) and suggested options of how to buy the album: technologically (MP3) or physically (actual album). The intention of this was to show how similar in tone to the magazine the album is so that consumers can identify with the advert when they come across the album.

Here, the added features are the social networking links with the intention of following the technological conventions of advertisements; sharing through prestigious social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Here, like the album screenshot; I've formatted the social networking icons with borders the same colour as the majority of the advert; orange. I've also included a QR code (fake) that, if I had enough time, i could use a code that takes you to the actual music video we made. It was intended to cover the empty space beside Josh's face, but also to adhere to the technological conventions of the modern day, like the social networking icons do.

Here, like the 'Pre-Order Album' notice below the album screenshot, I changed the colour of the words in the reviews to make them stand out more. Also, I decided to avoid changing the colour of the reviewers (NME & Listen Up) so that they could also stand out below the different, more peachy colour of the quotes. 

This being the final example, and the one I intend to really use as an advertisement, I added a fictional website address. It's titled 'http://www.projectsepia.co.uk' in a light green font to stand out with its colour among the advertisement, despite its small size. The use of the words 'Project' and 'Sepia' in the address were derived from the album title 'Days Out in Sepia' and the band title 'The Project.' 

           Like the QR code, I may consider turning the address into an actual link that takes you to my blog, if possible. 

Thanks for reading!

ARTWORK

The image is rather bad quality, most probably due to the screen-shotting. But here's the artwork in all its 6-sided glory!

     For the front cover, I decided to stick with a simple image of two band members standing on either side of the tree from the music video we made. The overall tone is sepia, with the intention to make the whole artwork seem old or vintage. However, the deletion of the eyes of every band member on this digi-pack was intended to imply that music isn't a feast for the eyes, but for the ears, emanating from the mouth and the instruments. This is why I shot a photo of the guitar in the tree; to direct the consumer's attention to the instrument's odd positioning to emphasise this message; It's not visual material, it's audio material. It's supposed to generate a feeling of confusion because it looks so eccentric in a normal background.

      I named the band The Project because that's what the whole media coursework is; a project. It's a monosyllabic title, like The Killers, because the band doesn't need a creative name if the music is the creative factor of the coursework as well as the artwork and the rest of the ancillary products.

   I titled it Days Out In Sepia because of the superficial reason; the sepia tone, and also the reason that every image in the digi-pack is outside, and in particular the 'Public Footpath' sign, the Ferris Wheel and the Castle being synonymous with going on a day out. The three squares of artwork that aren't there to serve any purpose other than to present and promote the album have been accompanied with lyrics from certain songs: the castle background is presented with the lyrics from the 9th track Castle; the band member without any eyes leaning against the tree is accompanied with lyrics from track 1, Sound Without Sight; and the footpath sign is shown along with lyrics from track 3 Human. 

    I named the record label Out of School Records because I had used the same title for a previous short film that I made as an extra-curricular activity, named Out of School Productions. It is intended to be sort of a running trademark with the labelling. The barcode adds a sense of authenticity to the album as well.

   The track names were all thought up on the spot as I inserted text boxes onto the back artwork. I had, the vast majority of the time, since revisiting the image that was took 2 years ago, been heavily considering this photo for the track-list background because of the space that the sky gives beside the ferris wheel. Enough to place the 10 songs of the track list in. I named a few particular songs from certain images in front of me: the song title Sound Without Sight was named that because of every band member being eyeless, with the intention to emphasise sound, not sight. Human was named that because we made the music video to the original song by The Killers, so a connection was prioritised. Lunar Park was named because of the theme park background to the track list, which is also called Lunar Park, so it suggests that this song will be made into a video, because of the visual representation of it, the same with the lyrics to songs accompanying other artwork. I also named track 5 Braggadocio because it was simply the title of the font I was using for almost the entire artwork. And finally, Castle was named that because of the inner square of artwork consisting of a castle in the distance, protruding from a post-modern, yet slightly pastoral setting.

   The vignette style of the artwork for the disc-holder was intended to match the subsequent insertion of the blank disc-holder image, eventually making it more transparent so that the background image can be seen, as well as the circular match between the background and the disc-holder.

     

    

10 Chosen Images for Album Art

Here are the images I have chosen for the artwork for the album digi-pack. They have been altered through iPhoto.

This was taken very recently. I blurred out the eyes with the intention of indirectly saying that it's not an album of pictures, but of voices, music and sound. The sepia effect, as is the same with most of the other pictures, is intended to express a sort of antique-y feel, as Gabrielle Aplin's single artwork for 'Home' has the same look; a countryside background.

This is also a new image taken recently. It's an image of me looking at the guitar in the tree (I don't know why. Viva la obscurity!!), with the intention to fill in the space left by Ryan's (the singer) departure from the project. The vignette effect is just to say that this is the image that will be the artwork for the disc-holder.

This image was chosen because, after I thought of the subtitle of 'The Project' being 'Days Out,' the photo of the coastal park was a very useful image because it was synonymous with the title. This will most likely be intended to be the back cover, where the track list will be placed over the sky to the right of the ferris wheel.

I chose this image because the words are fully conventional to the music industry. And the sepia effect gives an indie feel to it, as well as an antique look.

Again, 'Days Out' and this image connect well. Also, as I said in the previous post, the rusting of the sign  could imply idiosyncrasy, as people aren't following the directions; instead going their own ways and doing what they want. Going your own way, or 'choosing your own path' is frequently considered as a factor of life. 

This is a person finding their own way in the world after a long time of following others. They don't know what to expect, but they'll never find out until they go through the 'door' and see. This image could be symbolic of a few meanings, which is why I'm possibly choosing it as the artwork for a square.

As I said previously, this is a still of the roundabout that Nicole jumps off of in the 'Human' video. However, it is the 'Days Out' connection along with this that drives me to use this image for a square of artwork.

Connected to a song I'm thinking of calling 'Fog Lamp,' this image would fit well with it. But it's also the artistic style of it that creates an atmospheric image that makes me consider this for part of the artwork.

As mentioned previously, the castle overlooking the modern housing was a very useful image because of how out of place it seemed. But, like other images, it connects to the 'Days Out' title and the antique-y look fits well with how old the castle is. This image is also considered to be the back cover art because the track list would look well and fitting in the sky. 

This is an image I'm considering for the front cover because of how perfectly well Josh is framed, as well as the intended focus on the eccentricity of the photo: no eyes, for the same reason as mentioned in the top image. Also, the flagging and facial expressions looked rebellious, and the field background  looked nice and rustic. Apart from the goalpost...

Jack is very most likely going to be used for the artwork because he's part of the band, and also because the tree appears in every shot of the band members. I blurred out his eyes again, like I did with the other photos of the members, and the countryside look was very useful as well as the 'Days Out' connection. 

These images will be narrowed down to six for the digi-pack artwork, so I will present the 6 chosen images on a design template for the album art. 

The Whole Preparation

This blog post will be the listing of everything that we have or we need for our music video. This will be updated a few times until it's completely prepared. The first set of lists is a screenshot from 'Kayleigh H's' Music Video blog, where you can visit at:

http://www.kayleighmusicvideoblogg324.blogspot.co.uk

UPDATED LISTS:

POST-PRODUCTION SCHEDULE- May be changed if anything unexpected happens.

SCHEDULE FOR PRODUCTION- Just a tidier version and slightly updated.

EQUIPMENT BOOKING FORM- Brief Planning for requesting equipment for the days of shooting.

Note:  Some days on these lists consist of me using my own camera, so I included these into the lists to correspond with the whole filming diary.

The Cast List

The Risk Assessment

The Schedule & Shooting List

                                          UPDATE ON SCHEDULE LIST

                                                 27th JANUARY 2014

                          CAMERA, TELESCOPE AND TRIPOD NEEDED

                                                  FURTHER UPDATE

                                                14th FEBRUARY 2014

      GEAR PRO, TELESCOPE AND INSTRUMENTS (MUSIC DEPARTMENT) NEEDED

 Location Ideas    

        The rest of the lists are on here, as well as the other members of the group. The location is a vital part of preparation, as we need permission to film in certain places, but first we would need to do some location scouting. So here are the ideas.

       The band are introduced in a forest clearing through the pre-lyrical section of the song, just instrumentals, where the lead singer begins singing for a few seconds until the camera cuts to introducing the actors in their roles.

                                                                 The Band...                                                        

                    

                      Connor Faulkner, the guitarist

                          

                        Josh Hobson, the drummer

                    Ryan Brown, the lead 'singer'

Jack Charlesworth, the keyboard player (THIS IMAGE IS JUST A REPLACEMENT FOR THE ORIGINAL IMAGE THAT WAS LOST)

For the location of the room that the woman wakes up in at the beginning of the video, we have chosen to use one of our school's medical rooms to make it look untidy with the lights off as though it's abandoned, and the woman is laid on the bed (a discarded mattress).

Nicole Denman as the woman:

Leon Asgari as the man:

Preferred clothes for the woman in the beginning.

       The man is introduced on a gurney being pushed along by the orderlies in a hospital corridor.

The orderly:

Josh Hobson

The Man is...

Leon Asgari

Vague idea of the corridor, to be filmed in school.

The Model Forms

      Through the middle section of the music video, the locations included abandoned streets, a forest entrance and pathway and basically quick uses of normal background settings. The props include sticky labels with frowns drawn on them, costumes changing into more lively attire to reflect the change in mood through the video.

Sticky labels to have frowns drawn on them.

Ideas for deserted streets:

Change in costumes:

These changes in attire are to reflect the more spontaneous nature of the two main people being released.

The final act of the video will be of the man and the woman approaching two separate entrances to a forest, where they walk through until they reach a clearing with a large crowd of people and the band playing. The forest clearing will be achieved by green screen inside the school gym. The crowd of people are all idiosyncratic, wearing all different costumes and random clothing.

The Forest Entrance

The Forest Pathway

The end of the video will be an elongated shot if possible.