Digipak

This is the Digipak that we have created for our band. The name of the album is called "Without Fear" and it is underneath our band name "A Club". We decided to use our PhotoShop skills to make our digipak unique and that is why on the inside of the album we have all the band members as playing cards. We decided to add colour to each member to brand ourselves and create a theme of identity.

 

Editing the Music Video 2

After getting feedback from the rough cut we decided to go out and film more scenes in the band room. We used the lights more effectively and filmed some free hand shots with the camera. After all the footage was uploaded onto Premier Pro we synced all the footage in and added video transitions for effect. 

The cross dissolve transition became too repetitive so eventually we just kept the transitions to a straight cut and a few dip to whites. To do this we went to the effects section and looked through the different video transitions that we could use.

Music Video Rough Cut/Feedback

This is our Music Video rough cut that we have shown to a few classmates to receive feedback. The point that everyone raised was that it was repetitive. What they meant was that we didn't experiment or use any video transitions. Also we were told that the drama studio was a good place to film the band scene so we should use this more. 

After receiving the feedback my group and I have decided to take on these points in order to improve the video. With the use of transitions and the studio lights in the drama room hopefully we'll be able to make our music video look more professional and be more entertaining. 

AS Timeline

▼  March 2015 (10)

o   7. Looking back at your preliminary task what do y...

o   6. What have you learned about technologies from t...

o   5. How did you attract/address your audience?

o   4. Who would be the audience for your media produc...

o   3. What kind of media institution might distribute...

o   2. How does your media product represent particula...

o   1. In what ways does your media product use, devel...

o   Finished Thriller Opening

o   Screening

o   Audience Feedback

▼  February 2015 (4)

o   Editing 1

o   Treatment

o   First Draft/Evaluation

o   Designing/Making a Thriller sequence

▼  January 2015 (8)

o   The Exchange: Shooting Schedule

o   The Exchange: Risk Assessment

o   The Exchange: Costumes and Props

o   1st Day of Filming

o   Designing/Making: Ident

o   3rd Production Meeting

o   Animatic

o   Location Sheet

▼  December 2014 (10)

o   Storyboard: Shot List

o   2nd Production meeting

o   Storyboard

o   Initial Ideas

o   Preliminary Task & Evaluation

o   1st Prduction meeting

o   Thriller Titles

o   Introduction to our group

o   Modern Thriller Openings

o   "Rope"

▼  November 2014 (6)

o   How to film a Thriller

o   Studio Indents

o   "Unknown"

o   Past Student Thrillers

o   "Psycho"

o   "The Birds"

▼  October 2014 (6)

o   Film Theorists

o   Styles of Editing

o   Thriller Conventions

o   Mise-en-scene

o   Sound Filming Excercise

o   "North by Northwest"

▼  September 2014 (4)

o   Cinematography Filming Exercise

o   Genre

o   Brief

o   Welcome to my blog!

Filming Day 4 - Park

Today we filmed a little in the park. We just decided to record some random activity that had no relation with the video. The reason was to make sure that we had enough footage for when I come back to record. Also, we got this idea from looking at different music videos.

Star theory & Pop videos

Music industry creates and promotes artists within clearly defined genres. Music videos can use images to illustrate the lyrics. Amplify is when the lyrics and the video have no clear distinction, but there are hidden meanings that the artist has put in. Disjuncture is when the meaning of the song is completely ignored and the music includes random scenes that have no correlation with the lyrics.

Kanye West

Richard Dyer believes that artists are manufactured for financial gains. They are constructed through advertising, films, magazines and music videos to represent 'real people' in order to sell their brand. These artificial images are used to show the artist experiencing emotions so that the audience can relate. This gives the artists a unique selling point to make money for their record labels. Dyer claims that record labels manufacture artists to cater for different audiences knowing that they will become trend setters which leads to more financial gain. If we look at Kanye West most people will know him for his fashion. Fans of Kanye will look up to him and imitate his fashion by wearing similar footwear or clothes.

Britney Spears

Britney Spears is a well known artist. She is an actress as well as a singer and since signing with Jive Records in 1997 she has been successful in the music industry internationally. In her early days of her music career she was represented as a girly artist. She wore pink, had her hair in pigtails and wore make up. In her video "Baby One More Time" her dance routine was choreographed in a way to make the audience desire to be in her gang. Her look was branded to suit the record label.

Britney Spears is an artists that supports Dyer's theory. Her original image was changed in order for the record label to make money. For many years Britney was made to look like an artificial star so that the audience could relate. In the "Baby One more Time" we see that she is wearing a cropped blouse and this was the start of a new trend. She was made to look innocent, but the way she was dressed in some of her videos you can argue that this was just to gain a bigger audience. Laura Maulvey's male gaze relates to films, but we can relate it to Britney. The theory suggests that women are viewed as objects to men. In the music video "Oops!...I Did It Again" we see that Britney wears a full latex suit to engage the male audience. The video has not direct link with the lyrics, but people will still watch it because it catches the eye. 

Case Study - Jamie Thraves

History of Music Video

Bessie Smith
The evolution of pop videos has developed since the earliest pop music video in 1929. Bessie Smith was one of the most popular Blues singer of the 1920's - 1930's. The first example of pop music video was shown in a short film called "St Louise Blue's" where one of Bessie's songs was featured. She was starred in the film and it was shown in cinemas for around four years. 

Elvis Presley

In the 20th century Elvis Presley was one of the most significant Rock and Roll stars in the world. He was a musician and had a small acting career where he would star as one of the main characters. Presley was successful in film and music as he began his music career started in 1954 and his debut film was in 1956. He sung at many concerts, but was only able to tour in the US. An example of one of the films that Presley acted in was "Blue Huwaii". It portrays Elvis as a playboy and this helped him expand his audience as it appealed to teenage boys and girls.

The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock band formed in 1960. Their music career picked up when they were showcased on "Top of the Pops''. This music show in the UK was very popular and this allowed the band to progress in the music charts. Just like Elvis Presley the Beatles had their own film called "A Hard Days Night" and in their debut feature film it showed their personalities. The film appealed to young adults and teenagers as the film included the band causing mischief. Younger fans could relate as this looked cool and thrilling.

MTV

MTV was launched in 1981. This changed the the music industry and was seen as the golden era of music videos. MTV aired "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. MTV doesn't just show music videos and music related news, but now with their many channels they are able to give the world entertainment as well as music. On February 1st 2011 they removed all music from their channel and put it onto their other channel called "MTV Music". They have many channels such as MTV Hits and MTV Base where they are able to reach millions of people across the world. With their social media platforms they are able to promote new upcoming artists, give people the latest entertainment and celebrity news and alert their viewers on the newest music videos. This network has changed the music industry completely as news and information about artists can be accessible from almost anywhere.  

Nowadays people may watch videos for their own pleasure and not for the love of music. The quality of the music may not matter to most viewers as they are too engaged with the video. This may be down to corporate manages wanting to take advantage on exploited males and females instead of concentrating on the meaning of the lyrics. However, there are some artists that have music videos that relate to their song lyrics or express how they feel emotionally.
The music video for "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa feat Charlie Puth is in the Pop genre. If we look at the mise-en-scene used we can see that a lot of effort has gone into the setting and location. In all the shots that we see the artists singing we can see mountains and the sea in the background. The video adds effect to the song as it shows that it is a relaxed song in honor of Paul Walker. The editing used in the video also adds effect to the song. The video has a montage of Paul Walker throughout the past 7 films of Fast and Furious. This is because the song is specifically for him. 

Branding - Spice Girls

The purpose of Pop videos is to promote the artist by marketing their image. Pop videos can help create a brand for some artist and bands as it makes it easier for the public to distinguish one group from the other. It encourages people to buy into the records and into their brand.

The Spice Girls were formed in the mid 1990's by a family management team. Bob Herbert, Chris Herbert and Lindsey Casbon set out to make a girl band that would potentially become popular in a boy band dominated scene. Heart Management placed an advertisement in The Stage trade magazine for open auditions. After the girls were selected they were noticed by Simon Fuller at a showcase. He became their manager.

Often some artists or bands are sold as a brand to inspire the audience. This is a marketing method that draws people into buying the brand. The image of the artist or band is sometimes more important than the quality of the song. After their song "Wannabe" they were branded instantly. The song went straight to number three in the charts and within a couple of days went to number one. Each member of the group were given a branding image and this made them stand out from any other band. The image of The Spice Girls was creative and it was incorporated withing each video. Victoria spice wore a slinky black jumper, Emma in bunchies, Mel B wore leopard-skin trousers, Geri wore a tight dress and Mel C wore her Liverpool top with tracksuit bottoms. 

The girl band were such a success that they were even branded on television. The image was so well known that big companies such as Pepsi and Walkers took advantage of this. They used the girl brand to promote their products because they knew they would be able to reach out to a wider audience.

Location Sheet

Fournier Street

For our music video we have chosen to shoot all our outdoor shots in London. The first location that we plan to film at is on Fournier Street. We have chosen this street because it is not busy and the buildings look good for a wide shot.

As well as the outdoor scenes we have plan to shoot a band sequence. We have chosen to do this in our schools drama studio with the big film lights to make the scene look as professional as possible.

Location Visit Sheet Programme Title: Music Video Writer: Azimul Hoque Producer: Samuel Dell Director: James Chege Date: 8/10/2015

Access to location via: Public transport (TFL) Name Location: Spitlefields

Health and Safety Issues to note: ·       Traffic ·       People on Boris bikes

Potential Filming Problems: ·       During lunch hours the area can become busy ·       Cars passing by and blocking our shots

Additional Notes:  (map of area/weather forecast etc)

Fournier Street

Gun Street

Treatment

Treatment

Group Roles Cinematography: Azimul and James Mise-en-scene: Sam and Azimul  Editing: James and Sam We had some help with the filming from Jack and Destiny.

Title: Our Time Now  Tag Line: Every second counts

Synopsis: The music video is about a group of friends enjoying their youth by walking around in London and making memories with each other. This includes scenes when all the members mess around when playing football.

Key Genre Conventions: Pop punk