At last we finished our music video. For what seemed like an eternity, we've spent hours and hours slaving in our editing suite all for this video. I'm actually so happy that its done, its finished, its over, i could cry!!!
Its actually turned out amazingly. I never ever thought we would be able to produce a music video of such high quality. It really shows how, if you put enough time and effort into something, you can come out with something that you're really proud of and i'm extremely proud of this video!!!
We put a really high contrast on every shot which makes the video seem almost dream like. It also makes the banana and gorilla jump off the screen as if its almost fake.
We also finished the black and qhite sequence at the end with the yellow banana. Everyone who's seen the video thinks the ending scene is the best bit as they didn't see it coming, and can't believe we had to edit every single frame to get our effect. I suppose all of that effort was definatly worth it.
The black and white band shots in contrast with the colourful chase scene was a really good idea because it shows a clear contrast between the two which wasn't there before. Furthermore, the black and white doessn't take anything away from the band shots which was a worry and it looks really professional!!!!!!
Saturday, 10 November 2007
Band Shots
Below are a selection of shots we took of the band at the burnt down house in Hammersmith. We are hoping to use them for either the bands album cover or their press release. Either way, it was a good idea to take them !!!
I think these two images would make a really good front cover. They are a simple portrayal of the band and will easily show the consumer their identity as an indie band. The background is grimy yet beautifully textured which would link them even tighter to the indie genre.
I think these two images would make a really good front cover. They are a simple portrayal of the band and will easily show the consumer their identity as an indie band. The background is grimy yet beautifully textured which would link them even tighter to the indie genre.
This is a shot of the band posing infront of their instruments. It strengthens the view that they are signed to an indie label and we could use this for either their press release or the inside sleave/back cover for the album.
This final shot is the band posing through a destroyed part of a wall. If anything, it is just a really good photo, emphasising the uniqueness of their location. There are plenty of rough textures and the band look out of place - which i find strangely attractive!!!
Thursday, 8 November 2007
Colourful Banana in black and white background
Ok we've discovered how to actually do this and although it doesn't require the mose sophisticated knowledge on the edit suite, it is painstakingly long - hours and hours and hours long.
What you have to do is layer a colourful version of the shot ontop of a black and white version of it. At this point the whole thing will be in colour as the top layer is the colour layer. Now, you have to select the colour layer and add the effect 'garbage' to it. Garbage is a tool that allows you to crop a certain part of an image using either 4 points, 8 points or 16 points (16 points is for something very detailed and complicated and 4 point is for something like a window.
The worst is to come. You have to scroll through each individual frame of every shot you want to have colour and black and white in and edit them. So on the colour version of the video, whenever the banana is in the screen, you have to move the points to fit around him, effectivly cutting him out of the colour image. This way the colour image dissappears and you should only be left with the banana. But the trick is, the black and white video is underneath so the banana remains in colour and you've erased everything else colourful and are left with the black and white image.
This sound easy enough, but when you are on your 30th frame in a 4 second long piece of footage you could quite easily kill someone. We have to do this for all of the frames where the banana is in the burnt down house and unfortunatly he is in the house for about 30 seconds of footage. What is worse is that, because the banana is quite a pointy object you need to be detailed with your cropping which mean we have to use the 16 point garbage tool. Even worse, the banana is moving at high speed so every frame he has completely changed position and you need to move every point to fit with his body shape.
The hardest thing however is when the banana runs past a plank of wood. You don't want to wood to be in colour so you have to do an additional garbage for the side behind the wood and another one for the side of him infront of the wood.
HOW MADDENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What you have to do is layer a colourful version of the shot ontop of a black and white version of it. At this point the whole thing will be in colour as the top layer is the colour layer. Now, you have to select the colour layer and add the effect 'garbage' to it. Garbage is a tool that allows you to crop a certain part of an image using either 4 points, 8 points or 16 points (16 points is for something very detailed and complicated and 4 point is for something like a window.
The worst is to come. You have to scroll through each individual frame of every shot you want to have colour and black and white in and edit them. So on the colour version of the video, whenever the banana is in the screen, you have to move the points to fit around him, effectivly cutting him out of the colour image. This way the colour image dissappears and you should only be left with the banana. But the trick is, the black and white video is underneath so the banana remains in colour and you've erased everything else colourful and are left with the black and white image.
This sound easy enough, but when you are on your 30th frame in a 4 second long piece of footage you could quite easily kill someone. We have to do this for all of the frames where the banana is in the burnt down house and unfortunatly he is in the house for about 30 seconds of footage. What is worse is that, because the banana is quite a pointy object you need to be detailed with your cropping which mean we have to use the 16 point garbage tool. Even worse, the banana is moving at high speed so every frame he has completely changed position and you need to move every point to fit with his body shape.
The hardest thing however is when the banana runs past a plank of wood. You don't want to wood to be in colour so you have to do an additional garbage for the side behind the wood and another one for the side of him infront of the wood.
HOW MADDENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oxford Street
Oh god what hell that was. It was actually so difficult to shoot in Oxford Street there were SOOOOOOOO many people.
We found a cafe called 'Cafe Fred' on Argyle Street which is right next to Oxford Circus. The waiters were quite annoyed we were shooting there as we didn't really ask for permission as we were just using their outside tables. They forced us to buy something so between the 3 of us we bought 1 chocolate croissant at the reasonble price of £1.95!!!!!
We found a cafe called 'Cafe Fred' on Argyle Street which is right next to Oxford Circus. The waiters were quite annoyed we were shooting there as we didn't really ask for permission as we were just using their outside tables. They forced us to buy something so between the 3 of us we bought 1 chocolate croissant at the reasonble price of £1.95!!!!!
Anyway, here we were really frustrated because so many people wanted pictures of the gorilla. It was so annoying. Furthermore, when we were shooting there were hundreds of people walking past and it was so hard to get any shot that we could actually use without it beind ruined by passers by. These two factors ment we were at the cafe about an hour longer than we should of been.
However, we got some great footage from it. We got the entire introduction shot and followed our strict shoot list to get what we needed.
Shot List
- lots of close ups of banana and body parts walking through the crowd
- shot following the banana walking through the crowd
- shot of a concealed and hairy figure reading a menu with 'cafe fred' on the front
- banana creeping forward, obviously seeing the gorilla
- long shot of the gorilla sitting at the cafe table reading the menu
- close up of the gorilla's menu as he peers over the top
- POV shot of the gorilla seeing the banana staring at him in horrow
- close up of the banana's terrified expression
- mid shot of the gorilla closing the menu and slamming it on the table
- close up of the banana's expression again and he starts to run
- shot of the gorilla rising from the chair and persuing the gorilla through the crowds
Looking back at it on the camera, everything looks really good and when we edit it together it should look awsome. I'm excited!!!!!
However, we got some great footage from it. We got the entire introduction shot and followed our strict shoot list to get what we needed.
Shot List
- lots of close ups of banana and body parts walking through the crowd
- shot following the banana walking through the crowd
- shot of a concealed and hairy figure reading a menu with 'cafe fred' on the front
- banana creeping forward, obviously seeing the gorilla
- long shot of the gorilla sitting at the cafe table reading the menu
- close up of the gorilla's menu as he peers over the top
- POV shot of the gorilla seeing the banana staring at him in horrow
- close up of the banana's terrified expression
- mid shot of the gorilla closing the menu and slamming it on the table
- close up of the banana's expression again and he starts to run
- shot of the gorilla rising from the chair and persuing the gorilla through the crowds
Looking back at it on the camera, everything looks really good and when we edit it together it should look awsome. I'm excited!!!!!
Colourful Banana - Black And White Band - a thought
Rumble Fish starring Matt Dillon (21 October 1983 USA) is shot entirely in black and white. However, in one scene we see 2 rumble fish in a tank and they are both in colour. This is absolutely amazing and jumps right off the screen - it is immediatly noticable and brilliantly done. I was thinking that this type of effect could be very very useful in our music video.
What if we could somehow have the bright yellow banana in colour when he enteres the house wherer the band are playing. As we know, the band are performing entirely in black and white, so to have a yellow banana at the scene would be absolutely amazing and would look visually stunning. It would clearly demonstrate the differences between the energy of the chase and the performance shots. Furthermore, it would add a new level of depth to our video and clearly shows the differences between the two locations.
However, i have absolutely no idea how to do this. I was just a thought but maybe we could find some way of pulling it off. Have to do some internet research or ask someone!!!
What if we could somehow have the bright yellow banana in colour when he enteres the house wherer the band are playing. As we know, the band are performing entirely in black and white, so to have a yellow banana at the scene would be absolutely amazing and would look visually stunning. It would clearly demonstrate the differences between the energy of the chase and the performance shots. Furthermore, it would add a new level of depth to our video and clearly shows the differences between the two locations.However, i have absolutely no idea how to do this. I was just a thought but maybe we could find some way of pulling it off. Have to do some internet research or ask someone!!!
Black and White band
When editing our video, we originally had both the narrative shots and the performance shots in colour. However, sometimes the action was happening so fast in the video that when we changed from narrative to performance, the whole thing was as big blur and you didn't take everything in -often missing important performance shots.
To combat this we put a really high contrast on the banana and gorilla shots. This way, every shot was jumping off the screen as it looked as if the banana was neon yello!!! this looks amazing. Everything else is really bright and fuzzy and has an almost dream like effect - very surreal.
Furthermore, we made all of the band shots black and white. This way, there is a stark contrast between the locations and we can appreciate both locations for their clever camera-framing and movement individually. You can also actually differentiate between the scenes and this is important.
At first i didn't thik the black and white would look good, but it appears to add layers and texture to the picture. The walls are originally quite dirty and a nasty brown colour but when put in black and white, they transform and look quite stunningly quirky. To me it gives the band their own identity which is very important. Because they aren't in colour but every other shot is, is makes them appear out of the ordinary instead of the gorilla and banana. strange no.
To combat this we put a really high contrast on the banana and gorilla shots. This way, every shot was jumping off the screen as it looked as if the banana was neon yello!!! this looks amazing. Everything else is really bright and fuzzy and has an almost dream like effect - very surreal.
Furthermore, we made all of the band shots black and white. This way, there is a stark contrast between the locations and we can appreciate both locations for their clever camera-framing and movement individually. You can also actually differentiate between the scenes and this is important.
At first i didn't thik the black and white would look good, but it appears to add layers and texture to the picture. The walls are originally quite dirty and a nasty brown colour but when put in black and white, they transform and look quite stunningly quirky. To me it gives the band their own identity which is very important. Because they aren't in colour but every other shot is, is makes them appear out of the ordinary instead of the gorilla and banana. strange no.
To-Do List
Ok, we have lots to do and not much time!!!
- album cover, get it sorted and take picture
- press release - exactly the same
- get everything ready for the shoot on saturday in oxford street to get our introduction done. this includes camera-bag (2), tripod (2), gorilla and banana costume, finding a location near oxford circus.
- for our shoot on sunday we need camera-bag (2), tripod (2), gorilla and banana costume, costume for the band, all of the instruments
- need to take photos at the house in hammersmith for the album cover and press release. Get this sorted.
- start drafting the 3000 word essay :(
- album cover, get it sorted and take picture
- press release - exactly the same
- get everything ready for the shoot on saturday in oxford street to get our introduction done. this includes camera-bag (2), tripod (2), gorilla and banana costume, finding a location near oxford circus.
- for our shoot on sunday we need camera-bag (2), tripod (2), gorilla and banana costume, costume for the band, all of the instruments
- need to take photos at the house in hammersmith for the album cover and press release. Get this sorted.
- start drafting the 3000 word essay :(
The ending - climax
How the hell are we going to end our video!!! We have a few ideas but none of them have materialised into anything. Whats worse, we are close to the shooting deadline and if we don't have anything by that time then we're in big trouble!!!!!!!!!
Ideas:
- The gorill and banana have been running so hard that they are both extremely knackered. The gorilla has the banana cornered but it panting severly - as is the banana. Somehow they are both so tired from running that they collapse on the floor.
- Alternatively, the banana is trapped with the gorilla bearing down ontop of him. At the last second the banana offers the gorilla something, another banana, a massive inflatble banana, a card for a female gorilla strip club.
- Somehow the banana manages to outrun the gorilla in a final piece of trickery. He is able to escape by scaling a wall, jumping ontop of a moving car, jumping onto a bus etc. Something interesting and climactic that will make the audience laugh and feel happy that the banana got away.
- Either the gorilla or the banana could die (or both) in some road related accident, or they run into a scrap yard and get killed in the crusher. Something comical as a good way to round off our music video.
- A BRILLIANT IDEA: As our band are playing in the burnt out house in Hammersmith, it would be a really good idea to link the chase to the band somehow. We could have the gorilla and the banana make their way to the derelict house and there can be some sort of a face off. Either they can sort out their own problems infront of the band or the band themselves can go and protect the banana, fighting off the gorilla.
- Even better, the gorilla and banana can run past the band and the band can watch as the drama unfolds. As they are in the top-floor of a building, the banana could push the gorilla out of a window or something like that. Then the band could come to the window and look and that could be our final shot!!!!!
OK - so to link the chase to here, we need to shoot a shot of the banana and the gorilla reeling round a corner at top speed and then link it to them running into the house where the band are playing. Sounds like a PLAN
Ideas:
- The gorill and banana have been running so hard that they are both extremely knackered. The gorilla has the banana cornered but it panting severly - as is the banana. Somehow they are both so tired from running that they collapse on the floor.
- Alternatively, the banana is trapped with the gorilla bearing down ontop of him. At the last second the banana offers the gorilla something, another banana, a massive inflatble banana, a card for a female gorilla strip club.
- Somehow the banana manages to outrun the gorilla in a final piece of trickery. He is able to escape by scaling a wall, jumping ontop of a moving car, jumping onto a bus etc. Something interesting and climactic that will make the audience laugh and feel happy that the banana got away.
- Either the gorilla or the banana could die (or both) in some road related accident, or they run into a scrap yard and get killed in the crusher. Something comical as a good way to round off our music video.
- A BRILLIANT IDEA: As our band are playing in the burnt out house in Hammersmith, it would be a really good idea to link the chase to the band somehow. We could have the gorilla and the banana make their way to the derelict house and there can be some sort of a face off. Either they can sort out their own problems infront of the band or the band themselves can go and protect the banana, fighting off the gorilla.
- Even better, the gorilla and banana can run past the band and the band can watch as the drama unfolds. As they are in the top-floor of a building, the banana could push the gorilla out of a window or something like that. Then the band could come to the window and look and that could be our final shot!!!!!
OK - so to link the chase to here, we need to shoot a shot of the banana and the gorilla reeling round a corner at top speed and then link it to them running into the house where the band are playing. Sounds like a PLAN
How does the chase begin - the meeting
We still haven't decided how the chase is going to begin. We have all agreed it needs to be quick (within the first 15 seconds) and comical for the audience.
Possible Idea
- we see the gorilla sitting in a bench with a newspaper
- we cut to the banana walking down a busy road
- we suddenly see the banana notice the gorilla
- we get a shot from the gorillas perspective as he sees the banana looking at him
- shot of the banana's terrified expression
- the banana starts running for his life
- the gorilla dropps his paper and chases after the banana
We all really like this idea and we all contributed to it. It would be brilliant if we could get this scene done in or near oxford street because then we could easily link the chase to it. It is fast, snappy, and comical which is what we need. What would be better would be if we can explain a real reason why the gorilla is chasing the banana and not just randomly have it.
Maybe the gorilla can be at a restaurant or cafe and instead of a newspaper be reading a menu. There are plenty of cafe's on oxford street so i am sure that this wouldn't be a problem to find. The only possible let down could be permission to film from a cafe.
Possible Idea
- we see the gorilla sitting in a bench with a newspaper
- we cut to the banana walking down a busy road
- we suddenly see the banana notice the gorilla
- we get a shot from the gorillas perspective as he sees the banana looking at him
- shot of the banana's terrified expression
- the banana starts running for his life
- the gorilla dropps his paper and chases after the banana
We all really like this idea and we all contributed to it. It would be brilliant if we could get this scene done in or near oxford street because then we could easily link the chase to it. It is fast, snappy, and comical which is what we need. What would be better would be if we can explain a real reason why the gorilla is chasing the banana and not just randomly have it.
Maybe the gorilla can be at a restaurant or cafe and instead of a newspaper be reading a menu. There are plenty of cafe's on oxford street so i am sure that this wouldn't be a problem to find. The only possible let down could be permission to film from a cafe.
Note on final production
A list to myself of things we need to get done. Possible ideas:
- opening sequence - banana/guitar cross-cutting
- enigmatic close-ups of different banana body parts
- enigmatic close-ups of the gorilla
- The entire music video should be cutting between the narrative chase and the band performance throughout the entire length of the video. i suggest a 65% narrative to a 35% performance
-Important and creative shots - Gorilla paw, banana tip of head, plenty of close ups on the face, gorilla scratching his head, shots in the upstairs of the house, singers face half in half out the shots, singing through things, the band addressing the camera (more personal), arc around the band members with the camera, singer is looking away from the camera and then faces it while in mid-line.
We need to get the band sorted with clothing. Possibly can borrow the clothes from Sameer's group! This includes skinny jeans and black converse shoes X3. This means all our band can have some. I think shirts and ties for the top half of the band - a generic indie style we can promote the band with
- opening sequence - banana/guitar cross-cutting
- enigmatic close-ups of different banana body parts
- enigmatic close-ups of the gorilla
- The entire music video should be cutting between the narrative chase and the band performance throughout the entire length of the video. i suggest a 65% narrative to a 35% performance
-Important and creative shots - Gorilla paw, banana tip of head, plenty of close ups on the face, gorilla scratching his head, shots in the upstairs of the house, singers face half in half out the shots, singing through things, the band addressing the camera (more personal), arc around the band members with the camera, singer is looking away from the camera and then faces it while in mid-line.
We need to get the band sorted with clothing. Possibly can borrow the clothes from Sameer's group! This includes skinny jeans and black converse shoes X3. This means all our band can have some. I think shirts and ties for the top half of the band - a generic indie style we can promote the band with
Real Shoot 3
Basically, this is where we reshot all of our awful footage from Hammersmith. We actually knew where to find it this time, so when we arrived we were quick to set up our instruments. We had to carry all of them upstairs onto a floor that was practically rotten and at one stage, my foot went straight through the floor.
- We made sure we were tight with our camera work and got plenty of close-ups on the band members and their instruments.
-We also had wide establishing shots of the band and this really showed off the location to the camera.
- NO GREENERY IN OUR SHOTS WHAT SO EVER
- Creative filming - shooting frames within frames of the band (i.e. through a wall that was destroyed by a bomb 15 years ago)
- We made sure we were tight with our camera work and got plenty of close-ups on the band members and their instruments.
-We also had wide establishing shots of the band and this really showed off the location to the camera.
- NO GREENERY IN OUR SHOTS WHAT SO EVER
- Creative filming - shooting frames within frames of the band (i.e. through a wall that was destroyed by a bomb 15 years ago)
Friday, 28 September 2007
Real Shoot 2 - feedback and changes
Today we sat down with Mrs B to talk about our shoot at the abandoned house near Hammersmith where we'd gone for our second shoot. Although i was feeling positive about our shots, mrs blackborow wasn't.Although she really liked the location, she said our shots were awful.
- There was too much greenery in the shots which we couldn't use. We're supposed to be in an abandoned house where there's dirt and grime everywhere, not somewhere thats growing plans.
- She also thought the greenery detracted the viewer from the band.
- Some of our shots were taken from obscure angles but for no real effect. She said they confused the audience and that we could have some better shots.
- We showed her the side of the building and she was annoyed that we hadn' used the windows high up in the house.
- When she saw inside the house, she nearly flipped her lid. She said the inside of the house was absolutely awsome and had so many great textures. Not putting the band in there would be a stupid idea as the shots would look great and we could achieve so much more!!!!
- There was too much greenery in the shots which we couldn't use. We're supposed to be in an abandoned house where there's dirt and grime everywhere, not somewhere thats growing plans.
- She also thought the greenery detracted the viewer from the band.
- Some of our shots were taken from obscure angles but for no real effect. She said they confused the audience and that we could have some better shots.
- We showed her the side of the building and she was annoyed that we hadn' used the windows high up in the house.
- When she saw inside the house, she nearly flipped her lid. She said the inside of the house was absolutely awsome and had so many great textures. Not putting the band in there would be a stupid idea as the shots would look great and we could achieve so much more!!!!
Thursday, 27 September 2007
Real Shoot - Thursday 27th September
Ok last night (wednesday 26th september) i got a call from Josh who said that this mysterious burnt down house plan was going ahead. Apparantly another group who had tried to book it hadn't heard back from the owner quickly enough so moved to a different location. We however were desperate for a place to shoot our band shots and we pounced at the chance.
The plan was:
The plan was:
- Get the band and instruments
- Pick the band up at 10
- Drive to the location for about 11
What actually happened:
- Get our band - we called round frantically to all our friends to see who could be the band. Fortunatly two of my friends who are in a band with me agreed to come and play drums and bass guitar. This was brilliant because Josh could be main singer and then we're done. I managed to rustle up some instruments from them and we were due to meet them at their house to pick them up at 10.
- We get to there house at about 10:30 and leave almost immediatly after. We were making good time and although our directions were on a map which was on the screen of a digital camera, we had high hopes. However, the camera started to lose batteries and our two cars got seperated along the way, setting us back 30 minutes.
- We finally arrived in the area of the location but it was so carefully concealed behind some houses that it took us and hour and a half of driving round in circles before we finally found it. It was hidden up someones front drive and although we were in constant contact with mrs b who was feeding us directions, we were totally lost for what felt like days.
However, when we got there it was worth it (i think). The place was beautifly destroyed by fire and there was ash, brick and glass everywhere. Brilliant! Although most of the roof was destroyed and we were practically outside, this gave us natural light and we hardly had to use the light pack we were given.
We were quick to shoot and set up the instruments and leads around to make it look like the band was actually playing. I'd informed the band members who could actually play the instruments they were using to learn the song to make the stage look even more authentic. Our only set-back was that none of us had printed the lyrics sheet and we spent some time listening to the song on the i-pod speakers before we were able to shoot.
I think what we shot was quite good. We got in nice and tight on both the instruments and the lead singer's face and repeated the song over and over to get as many possible, usable shots as we could. I think we'll be able to cut them together successfully in the edit suite to make it look good. Two camera's was once again a good idea because it makes continuity editing so much easier, as we found with our first shoot on sunday. Once camera was static for most of the time and the other one was zooming around the different band members and going in close on their instruments. What helps us i think it that our actual performance shots aren't the main focus of the video and we will probably only be using little snippets in our actual thing. Therfore the footage we got doesn't have to be that great.
One problem is that we are unsure how to link the band shots to the action. Fortunatly the woman who let us use the house said we can use it anytime and we should definatly come back to finish the shooting. Our teacher suggested that we make the gorilla chase the banana into the house for a climax and we're going to discuss this option. However, today we were too frustrated from the journey and tired from shooting to continue much past the band performing and although we had the costumes, they didn't leave the boot of the car.
ALSO, THERE WAS A DEAD CAT IN THE GARDEN WHERE WE WERE SHOOTING. ROB PICKED IT UP WITH A STICK!!!!!
Real Shoot - Sunday 23rd September
This shoot went so incredibly well i was actually amazed. We all worked really well together and managed to get alot of stuff shot which we were definatly sure wouldn't need re-shooting and which we could you could use in the final edit. We went down to oxford street with a plan to get the following done:
- Many shots of the banana being chased by the gorilla. These were to be done in the locations we'd checked out in our test shoot.
- We also planned to make mini sequences in the locations we found. This means a 20-30 second long story of the gorilla looking for / chasing the banana in strange places and the banana managing to evade capture.
- Busy shots of the gorilla chasing the banana down oxford street around the oxford circus area.
We got the first two of these done to great affect with two brilliant little sequences of chasing which, when editied together in our edit suite looked fantastic. Unfortunatly we didn't get the shots at oxford circus done but we have both thursday, saturday and sunday to complete these shots for the video. The task seems more than dooable.
Still to do
We still have a lot of things to do before our video is even near ready:
- Film the band shots - we have a possible lead to a location where we could shoot the band shots. We may have got hold of an old abandoned burnt down house which could be awsome for some great band shots. We could also link these shots to the gorilla and banana (if we can somehow get them to come to the house) but we'll have to see.
- We didn't get the shots down oxford circus which is really important. This location is really busy and will be perfect for us. Farthermore it really completes the london look as it's the heart of the city so this is definatly something that needs to get done.
- We have to make the sequence where the banana and gorilla meet. At the moment our storyline makes no sense as it's all just a gorilla and a banana being chased. We need to show how they came to meet and the beginning of the chase to make the entire music video complete.
- Finally we need to actually decide on how the video is going to end. Is the gorilla going to die? or is it the banana instead? or both or none? We need to have a group discussion so we can decide on the best way to end the video.
Thursday, 20 September 2007
Test Shoot - Results
This is an account of our test shoot. Overall, we had a rather pleasing test shoot which has since given us inspiration to change our final idea.
Busy shots down oxford street - These shots went really well. As we were shooting on a sunday afternoon there were plently of people for us to use and we had no problem threading a gorilla inbetween them. What was better, we got mixed reactions from the crowd. Some of the people were terrified by the sight of a gorilla barging past them but other didn't even batter an eyelid. We had a range of different angles for this shots, some in which the camera tracked the gorilla through the crowd and other from a static high angle following the gorilla's journey.
Infact, these shots took the most part of our test shoot time. We spent ages shooting down busy oxford street and got some really great footage - some of which we'll be able to use for our final video.
Close ups of gorilla body parts - These shots we're also good. However we didn't get enough of them and this made it hard to link some shots together. For our actual shoots we need to get more of these so we can fill time in the video of we realise we're short of footage.
Problems
Although we got some awsome footage, we realised that there were some really crucial details in our filming and our actual storyline. We had a think about it in a group meeting.
Busy shots down oxford street - These shots went really well. As we were shooting on a sunday afternoon there were plently of people for us to use and we had no problem threading a gorilla inbetween them. What was better, we got mixed reactions from the crowd. Some of the people were terrified by the sight of a gorilla barging past them but other didn't even batter an eyelid. We had a range of different angles for this shots, some in which the camera tracked the gorilla through the crowd and other from a static high angle following the gorilla's journey.
Infact, these shots took the most part of our test shoot time. We spent ages shooting down busy oxford street and got some really great footage - some of which we'll be able to use for our final video.
Close ups of gorilla body parts - These shots we're also good. However we didn't get enough of them and this made it hard to link some shots together. For our actual shoots we need to get more of these so we can fill time in the video of we realise we're short of footage.
Problems
Although we got some awsome footage, we realised that there were some really crucial details in our filming and our actual storyline. We had a think about it in a group meeting.
- Our footage we're no where near tight enough and in the background in some of our shots there were other things which we didn't want, e.g. passers by, horrible buildings
- We really struggled with our match on action. We had shots of the gorilla running around a corner and then it cut to another angle. However, in one shot or gorilla was running on the inside of the corner and in the other he runs on the outside as he turns. Therfore the shots do NOT match up. To avoid this problem we've asked the media department if we can borrow a second camera which we can use and therfore not have to worry as much about matching shots for continuity.
- We realised that filming on the tube would be a tiresome, tedious and generally difficult task. Firstly there is no way of securing permissions for shooting on the tube and continuity is also a problem. We'd also be filming on one tube for a number of hours and the people on the tube. Farthermore i don't think our group has the patience to be stuck on a tube from cockfoster to heathrow filming in one go. We also need shots inside the station which will be hard to do - due to permissions again,
Thursday, 13 September 2007
Test Shoot - Shot List
- Busy shots down oxford street
- Close ups of gorilla body parts and tracking with the dolly down the street.
- Oyster card on the beeper
- Esculator shots - different angles
- Wating on the platform - out to in focus
- shot from inside train pulling into station and seeing gorilla by the near doors. (hard shot - needs practise)
- Check the lighting on the tube - see if we get a clear enough picture
- Tracking shots with car (important) - we can try this in a location thats not as busy as oxford street. If it works then on the real shoot we'll go down to oxford street.
- Check out tesco's permission
- Close ups of gorilla body parts and tracking with the dolly down the street.
- Oyster card on the beeper
- Esculator shots - different angles
- Wating on the platform - out to in focus
- shot from inside train pulling into station and seeing gorilla by the near doors. (hard shot - needs practise)
- Check the lighting on the tube - see if we get a clear enough picture
- Tracking shots with car (important) - we can try this in a location thats not as busy as oxford street. If it works then on the real shoot we'll go down to oxford street.
- Check out tesco's permission
Wednesday, 12 September 2007
Comic Value - The Crucible Moment
Thinking about our video, we thought that it would be really good if we had a crucible moment, something that the audience will remember and what to watch over and over again. When we came up with the idea of a man in a banana costume walking by the two gorillas after they'd fallen in love and the male gorilla can't resist the temptation of chasing the banana.
Although this was said jokingly, we didn't actually believe we could get it done. However, when browsing google i came across and AWSOME banana costume which we may very well purchase.
Banana Costume
Exclusive Web Price £32.99
This banana costume is made from bright yellow poly foam, shown here with models own black top and trousers. This is a one size fits most costume
http://www.fancydress.com/shop/product-view/118669
Narrative - continued
He then runs out towards the esculator, the camera scans around looking up the esculator, in the row of people going up we spot the female gorrilla, he madly runs up the stairs, but by the time he gets to the top, shes gone- there's no sign of her.
He then runs as fast as he can with desperation to find her through the busy streets of london; in and out and over obstacles, down stairs, round corners. we will use as many interesting camera angles and movements that will fit together nicely along to the fast paced music.
*As we cut in and out of the shots of the performance, the day is getting darker as the gorilla keeps running and finally he ends up at a bar - drinking himself silly. After a while he becomes very drunk and he stumbles out of the pub, a bald man barges him on his way out, as if to nearly start a fight, he stumbles along and collapses on a step..... then all of a sudden, a stroke of luck, his lady friend has returned.
*[Actually - i think that a better idea of this would be if instead of going to a bar, we cut to a shot of the automatic doors of a tesco and they beep open and the gorilla comes out holding an alcaholic beer which he can play with in ape-like fashion - purely because it would be funnier, a fight with a bald man would be hard to shoot as i've learnt from my previous media c/w, we'd have to find a bald man to use and getting permissions to shoot in a pub would be time costly.]
He jumps up, they get talking but then, a huge banana walks passed, his temptations cant resisit, he goes with the banana. (the banana possibley being scared as he doesnt want to get eaten, maybe it is as if he is being mugged, the banana maybe tries to give him money)
He then runs as fast as he can with desperation to find her through the busy streets of london; in and out and over obstacles, down stairs, round corners. we will use as many interesting camera angles and movements that will fit together nicely along to the fast paced music.
*As we cut in and out of the shots of the performance, the day is getting darker as the gorilla keeps running and finally he ends up at a bar - drinking himself silly. After a while he becomes very drunk and he stumbles out of the pub, a bald man barges him on his way out, as if to nearly start a fight, he stumbles along and collapses on a step..... then all of a sudden, a stroke of luck, his lady friend has returned.
*[Actually - i think that a better idea of this would be if instead of going to a bar, we cut to a shot of the automatic doors of a tesco and they beep open and the gorilla comes out holding an alcaholic beer which he can play with in ape-like fashion - purely because it would be funnier, a fight with a bald man would be hard to shoot as i've learnt from my previous media c/w, we'd have to find a bald man to use and getting permissions to shoot in a pub would be time costly.]
He jumps up, they get talking but then, a huge banana walks passed, his temptations cant resisit, he goes with the banana. (the banana possibley being scared as he doesnt want to get eaten, maybe it is as if he is being mugged, the banana maybe tries to give him money)
Tuesday, 11 September 2007
Test Shoot - Preparation
Ok basically there are a lot of things to get ready for the test shoot so this is just a list to myself of all the things we need to remember.
- Construct more of our narrative so we know more locations to shoot on succesfully without wasting time.
- Check out the drama block as a possibility for shooting the performance shots. I've seen it done in a previous video and although their work wasn't as tight as it needed to be, i think we can work well with the stage and lights.
- Get the gorilla costume from my friend. Make sure it's not dirty.
- Get a work suit to see if it looks good with the gorilla costume we have.
- Talk to Ms Blackborow about ordering a second gorilla costume. Although it's not vital for the test shoot, it is VITAL for our shoots the following weekends so we need to order it as soon as possible to make sure we have it.
- Again, not vital for the test shoot but talk to some actors about being in the video. We'll need some of our friends for the tube scene as well as for the band and the solo artis who special guests.
- Construct more of our narrative so we know more locations to shoot on succesfully without wasting time.
- Check out the drama block as a possibility for shooting the performance shots. I've seen it done in a previous video and although their work wasn't as tight as it needed to be, i think we can work well with the stage and lights.
- Get the gorilla costume from my friend. Make sure it's not dirty.
- Get a work suit to see if it looks good with the gorilla costume we have.
- Talk to Ms Blackborow about ordering a second gorilla costume. Although it's not vital for the test shoot, it is VITAL for our shoots the following weekends so we need to order it as soon as possible to make sure we have it.
- Again, not vital for the test shoot but talk to some actors about being in the video. We'll need some of our friends for the tube scene as well as for the band and the solo artis who special guests.
Monday, 10 September 2007
Final Narrative
Below is a basic narrative for the first minute of our video. The rest will follow when we finalise it in our meeting on thursday but for now here is what we have so far.
- Shot down a busy oxford street. People are moving either side of the camera as if it isn't there and through these crowds of people emerges a gorilla with a work suit on and a briefcase walking towards and past the camera. (this shot can be taken from a variety of different angles and places which we can string together in the edit suite)
- Shot of gorilla walking down into oxford street tube station (low angle)
- Close up of gorilla producing his oyster card from his bag
- Close up of gorilla's hand beeping the oyster card to get through the electronic panels.
- Shots of gorilla going down the esculators towards the platform (this shot can be taken from a variety of different angles and places which we can string together in the edit suite)
- A mid shot of the gorilla waiting on the busy platform
- Close up of the time board showing time until next tube.
- Long shot of train emerging from the tunnel
- Mid shot of gorilla standing on the platform from inside the approaching tube as it pulls past him into the station
- Shot of gorilla walking onto the train and the doors close
- Mid shot from the doors as we see the gorilla finding an empty seat on the train and sitting on it
- A variety of different shots of the gorilla doing ordinary things that most commuters do on the tube; listening to his i-pod, searching his briefcase, eating a banana, reading a newspaper.
- Reading the newspaper is the last show we see the gorilla for now.
A close up of another gorilla foot boarding the train.
- A similar shot but of the gorilla hand clasping onto the rails in the train.
- A close up of this gorillas eye - there is lots of makeup on it and we realise its a female gorilla.
- We then get a full on body shot of this female gorilla on the train and we see her sit diagonally opposite to the male gorilla.
- A profile shot of the male gorilla shows him reading the paper and he sniffs the air while doing so.
- We then see a shot of the gorilla poking his head over the newspaper to peek a look at the female gorilla who's sitting opposite to him.
- POV shot from the male gorilla panning up the female gorilla as if checking her out. She's applying make-up in a typical womanly fashion with a hand mirror.
- We then have different shots of them both on the tube doing various different things.
- A shot from inside the tube of it pulling into a statoin.
- The female gorilla gets up and walks off the train.
- Just as the doors are about to close, the male gorilla who has been very calm and civilised (like a regular person) bounds onto all fours and off the train in persuit of the female gorilla.
- These are just some of the ideas for what we have so far but at the moment it seems to be going well. On our test shoot we're going to experiment with these different shots on the tube to see if we can get evrything to work!
Wednesday, 5 September 2007
New idea
This idea revolves around a male gorilla falling in love with a female gorilla after seeing her on a london tube. It follows the male gorilla as he tries to impress the female gorilla and ultimately win her heart.
Shot ideas
Gorilla Costume
Shot ideas
- A male gorilla waiting on the platform. A tube pulls in and he gets onto it. There is a spare seat in the middle of two passangers and he decides to sit down. Multiple shots of the gorilla reading a newspaper, listening to an i-pod, eating a banana. The idea is that there is nothing wrong with a gorilla on the tube with other people.
- A second gorilla comes and sits down opposite him in between some passangers. The male gorilla tries a variety of ways to impress her - beats his chest, rubs his chest, swings around the carrage.
- The female gorilla gets off the tube and the male one follows her. He see's her at the top of the esculators and chases her up the middle of them in a jungle like fashion.
The rest of the video plays on different ways the male gorilla tries to impress her. Finally the video ends with the male gorilla winning the female's heart and it ends on a cheesy note.
Gorilla Costume 1
Gorilla CostumeCostume Includes : Fur body suit, mask, matching feet and gloves.
Costume Size : Standard Size Approx Height to 6ft
Price: £63.99 - http://www.lets-have-a-party.co.uk/item--Gorilla-Costume--23907.html
Gorilla costume 2
Gorilla Costume
Costume Includes : Includes: mask, jumpsuit with inset chest peice and hands.
Costume Size : Size: standard (up to 44in chest)
Price : £150 - http://www.escapade.co.uk/Animal-Costumes-sale/Gorilla-Costume-w-Rubber-Chest-1660.asp
Monday, 3 September 2007
Music Channels
Music channels were created as a way of televising music videos to everyone. It focuses predominantly on showing the most recently released music videos but also shows old classics as well. Every music video promotes the song, the artist and the record label - gaining them popularity.
There are over 25 music channels i know of and all of them target different audiences. Each music station plays different genre's of music which attract a specific audience. Music channels also broadcasta variety of self-made television programmes that aren't music - just for a change as they believe the people who like the genre of music on the channel will also like the program.
Examples of music channels are:
MTV :
MTV One - This channel mostly plays television programmes made by MTV, 'my super sweet 16' and 'jackass' for example' because they believe that it has a wide appeal to music lovers.
MTV Base -plays hip hop, R&B and rap music
MTV Dance -dedicated dance music channel playing popular dance tracks
MTV Hits- a channel which plays chart music videos
MTV Two - alternative rock music
MTV Flux -allows viewers to take "control" of the channel by sending in video clips to MTV Flux's website, and requesting music videos.
VH1 UK - Has a wider targetaudience as it plays music all the way back from the 60's.
VH1 also carries music programming and themed countdown shows from their US counterpart.
VH1 Classic UK - plays all time greats from the '60s to the '90s.
TMF UK -started as a non-stop music channel, although the channel now features more and more programming from mtv
Other channels:
The Hits,
The Chart Show,
B4,
Kerrang
The Box (pop and RNB)
Classic FM TV (Classical music)
Channel U (grime, hip hop, rap, garage)
There are over 25 music channels i know of and all of them target different audiences. Each music station plays different genre's of music which attract a specific audience. Music channels also broadcasta variety of self-made television programmes that aren't music - just for a change as they believe the people who like the genre of music on the channel will also like the program.
Examples of music channels are:
MTV :
MTV One - This channel mostly plays television programmes made by MTV, 'my super sweet 16' and 'jackass' for example' because they believe that it has a wide appeal to music lovers.
MTV Base -plays hip hop, R&B and rap music
MTV Dance -dedicated dance music channel playing popular dance tracks
MTV Hits- a channel which plays chart music videos
MTV Two - alternative rock music
MTV Flux -allows viewers to take "control" of the channel by sending in video clips to MTV Flux's website, and requesting music videos.
VH1 UK - Has a wider targetaudience as it plays music all the way back from the 60's.
VH1 also carries music programming and themed countdown shows from their US counterpart.
VH1 Classic UK - plays all time greats from the '60s to the '90s.
TMF UK -started as a non-stop music channel, although the channel now features more and more programming from mtv
Other channels:
The Hits,
The Chart Show,
B4,
Kerrang
The Box (pop and RNB)
Classic FM TV (Classical music)
Channel U (grime, hip hop, rap, garage)
Bloc Party Image
Bloc Party are a British indie/rock band who made the charts with their debut single on 2005, 'Silent Alarm'. It is clear that they draw influences from older bands sich as 'Pixies' and 'The Cure' - due to the simplistic nature of their medlodic tunes combined with their vocals. However, their upbeat drumbeats draw more from the dance/grime scene and this sound is now a common feat with all new indie bands. They've made use of the latest technology, creating superb digital effects on their instruments with sharp chord picking and a frequent use of tremelo.
Songs such as 'Helicopter', 'Like Eating Glass' and 'Two More Years' are just a few of their tracks to use these sounds and as the Arctic Monkeys are also new on the indie scene, their music sounds very similar to that of Bloc Party. Therfore by studying the image of Bloc Party we can
add to our idea of what our band should look like.
On stage appearance
It would only make sense that if in our video we are having cut-away shots to the band playing that they should naturally be performing. Here is a picture of Bloc Party playing a live show in Sydney.
Songs such as 'Helicopter', 'Like Eating Glass' and 'Two More Years' are just a few of their tracks to use these sounds and as the Arctic Monkeys are also new on the indie scene, their music sounds very similar to that of Bloc Party. Therfore by studying the image of Bloc Party we can
add to our idea of what our band should look like.
On stage appearance
It would only make sense that if in our video we are having cut-away shots to the band playing that they should naturally be performing. Here is a picture of Bloc Party playing a live show in Sydney.
- They are mostly dressed in smart-casual clothing, ie. a shirt with a v-neck jumper ontop. Similarly they are all wearing jeans that fit!
- Although there are 4 of them, they are quite spaced out on the stage which could give us a lot of camera movement and flexibility.
- The stage itself is not too fancy and although we may not be to able to get such a grand stage, we could certainly be able to find somewhere smaller but equally as good, ie. a pub stage. There don't have to be many lighting effects - it can all be simple.
- A microphone stand for the singers is crucial to make the performance seem real
Saturday, 1 September 2007
Our Band Image
Basic outline
1/2 Guitars
1 Bass Guitar
1 Drum Kit
1 Lead Singer
1 Special Guest Singer
This type of set-up is typical of most rock, punk and indie bands. Therfore it seems wise to use this in our music video. Although our song is predominantly indie/rock, our special guest is a grime artist so we need to make changes for that section of the song.
1/2 Guitars
1 Bass Guitar
1 Drum Kit
1 Lead Singer
1 Special Guest Singer
This type of set-up is typical of most rock, punk and indie bands. Therfore it seems wise to use this in our music video. Although our song is predominantly indie/rock, our special guest is a grime artist so we need to make changes for that section of the song.
Friday, 31 August 2007
Final Track - Audio and Lyrics
I don't ever want to hate you,
So don't show me your bed,
The only roads are cul-de-sacs,
The first thing that she said.
Temptation, greets you like your naughty mate,
The one that used to get you in bother,
But one you could never bring yourself to hate.
And she said we've got that spark,
That only lights a fuse,
Helps you see in the dark,
But it's a sight you'll lose when,
The temptation greets you like your naughty friend.
I don't ever want to hate you,
So don't show me your bed,
The only roads are cul-de-sacs,
The only ends are dead.
Temptation greets you like your naughty mate,
One that made you steal and set things on fire,
But one you haven't seen of late.
And I said that kind of talk,
Only adds intrigue,
To the cauldron of thought,
It's already exceeding,Temptation,
the very thing that held her back.
I don't ever want to hate you,
So don't show me your bed,
The only roads are cul-de-sacs,
The only ends are dead.
I don't ever want to hate you,
It's not part of the plan,
So keep your charm where I can't see it,
And your hands where I can.
{Dizzee Rascal}
We used to be in tight me and my naughty friends,Caused enticement[?] in the air,I mean day 'n' night,We robbed, we stole, we loved to fight,Smoking, drinking, joyriding,Drugs, thugs, not law-abiding,Reckless gangsters[?] no direction,No sign of correction,But then i switched it off,Changed my ways,What the hell!Like oh my days ,But like my naughty friends,They're not phased,Can't believe that this music pays,See no reason why we can't do,All the things we've always done,Still in my heart I know thats just what,But its hard to fight the temptation son.
{Arctic Monkeys}
The panic will fall down around you,
If you don't do what i say.
I don't ever want to hate you,
So don't show me your bed,
The only roads are cul-de-sacs,
The only ends are dead.
I don't ever want to hate you,
It's not part of the plan,
So keep your charm where I can't see it,
And your hands where I can
Final Track - Overview
VIDEO OVERVIEW
The track itself is based around a man resisting the temptation of getting together with a perticular woman. It's clear to him that starting something with her can only lead to trouble and although the temptation to be with her is great, he still resists it. This idea could lead to a number of creative possibilities.
The track itself is based around a man resisting the temptation of getting together with a perticular woman. It's clear to him that starting something with her can only lead to trouble and although the temptation to be with her is great, he still resists it. This idea could lead to a number of creative possibilities.
- We could use the lyrics to our advantage and base the video around a storyline following a mans temptations. In terms of the lyrics he is tempted by a woman but using this we could change the temptations into something, ie drugs, alcahol, stealing etc. We could also be more obscure and have wierd things as the temptations, ie stuffed animals and sofa cushions just to give the music video a completely different twist.
- It's also possible to completely go against the run of the lyrics and do something unrelated to what's actually being said. Like the 'We are Scientists' video 'Nobody Move Nobody Get Hurt', the song has nothing to do with the band being chased around the city streets by a giant bear yet it is still incredibly effective. An idea like this would be very fun because it would give us as a group as much freedom as we wanted to come up with something really original.
LOCATIONS
- Alleyway
- City street at night-time
- Someone's bedroom
- Sittingroom
- Garden
- Fast food resturant
- Outside a shop corner
- Drivers seat of car
- Bands stage
SHOTS
This is just a list of shot ideas i wrote down while listening to the song over and over again. We can use some of them when it comes to shoot the video and i'm sure we can encoperate them into whatever narrative we come up with.
- A car driving down a dark street with just the headlamps on - shot taken from inside the car behind the driver.
- Similarly a man running down a dark street with just the street lights illuminating the shot.
- A dark dingy alleywayCCTV camera catching someone breaking a temptation, ie. stealing something.
- Shots of people doing bad things in general, drugs, violence, robbery.
- A man snorting cocaine in a pub toilet.
- A man's inner concience - someone dressed in a red devil costume on his shoulder
- Flashing photo's of temptations on the beat of the chorus - drugs, food, women
Following these shots we also need cuts to the band playing their instruments, linking the music with the band and not purely with the narrative. This gives the band credibility for the song and boosts their popular image.
- Close up of fingers on the fret-board
- Close up of fingers picking the bass strings
- Close up of drum sticks hitting symbols, snare drums, toms
- Floor shot of the drummers foot tapping the floor pedal.
- Mid-shots of the band moving around on a stage
- Close-up of the singer's mouth and the microphone
ACTORS
Actors are crucial for any music video.
ALBUM COVER
Here are some ideas for out album cover art:
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
This is an analysis of the new 'Arctic Monkeys' album Favourite Worst Nightmare
Images: The cover is really captivating. It contrasts the dull and grim terraced houses of Sheffield with interesting, colourful and mad artwork. The plain grays and blacks of the building and sky offer a stark contrast to the vibrant, bright, multi-coloured animations stuck inside the house.
The actually album itself is more exciting than a
regular plastic CD case. It is a fold-out cover with many compartments to hold a lyrics list as well as photographs of the band.
The inside sleeve offers a more detailed version of the cover imagery - lots of very bright animated cartoons boxed inside a dirty house. This contained expression of colour suggests that the band (like the creatures) are ready to break free and let everything out. It offers a burst of energy, suggesting lots of noise. The manic pictures suggest distorted music and can be linked to the rock/indie genre (which is is from). It shows a band full of energy.
Text: The name of the band, 'Arctic Monkeys' it exaggerated in well stylised artistic writing. The name of the album 'Favourite Worst Nightmare' is also done in this syle. This name is a good one because it is a padadox, juxtaposing favourite with nightmare. This makes the consumer think and want to purchase the album.
The Text itself is positioned in the top left hand corner of the album which is generally where a consumer looks firs
t to identify who the artist is. By doing this we are immedialy aware of whose album it is. Similarly the bright orange contrasts with the dull grey sky and makes the writing stand out even more. This is repeated on the tracklist on the reverse of the album.
The text itself is seperated from the image which makes it stand out more. You don't confuse the artist of the album name with the album art which can be really frustrating when you are in a shop looking for a perticular CD and you can't find it.
The quality of the album cover suggests that the band is mainstream - nice glossy cardboard cover, well made and presented neatly and professionally, a high quility animated piece of artwork done with professional printing ink.
Images: The cover is really captivating. It contrasts the dull and grim terraced houses of Sheffield with interesting, colourful and mad artwork. The plain grays and blacks of the building and sky offer a stark contrast to the vibrant, bright, multi-coloured animations stuck inside the house.
The actually album itself is more exciting than a
regular plastic CD case. It is a fold-out cover with many compartments to hold a lyrics list as well as photographs of the band.The inside sleeve offers a more detailed version of the cover imagery - lots of very bright animated cartoons boxed inside a dirty house. This contained expression of colour suggests that the band (like the creatures) are ready to break free and let everything out. It offers a burst of energy, suggesting lots of noise. The manic pictures suggest distorted music and can be linked to the rock/indie genre (which is is from). It shows a band full of energy.
Text: The name of the band, 'Arctic Monkeys' it exaggerated in well stylised artistic writing. The name of the album 'Favourite Worst Nightmare' is also done in this syle. This name is a good one because it is a padadox, juxtaposing favourite with nightmare. This makes the consumer think and want to purchase the album.
The Text itself is positioned in the top left hand corner of the album which is generally where a consumer looks firs
t to identify who the artist is. By doing this we are immedialy aware of whose album it is. Similarly the bright orange contrasts with the dull grey sky and makes the writing stand out even more. This is repeated on the tracklist on the reverse of the album.The text itself is seperated from the image which makes it stand out more. You don't confuse the artist of the album name with the album art which can be really frustrating when you are in a shop looking for a perticular CD and you can't find it.
The quality of the album cover suggests that the band is mainstream - nice glossy cardboard cover, well made and presented neatly and professionally, a high quility animated piece of artwork done with professional printing ink.
Album Cover Research
Typical Features
Front
The name of the band/artist.
The name of the Album.
Album art - usually a picture of some sort (photograph/animation) representing either the artist or something about the album's name or what the songs represent.
Often a sticker on the front saying 'includes all the hits...'
Usually a 'parental advisory explicit content' logo
Back
A ordered tracklist of all the featured songs.
Often artwork, usually similar or continuing the artwork on the front cover.
The name of the record company who produced the album.
The name of the record label who promotes the band.
The year the album was released.
A bar code.
What is the point of an album cover?
Lets you know who the artist is and what the album is called.
Often artists make their covers as creative and visually excellent as possible so consumers will immediatly notice it out of a group of CD's.
It can advertise the genre of the music.
It can show characteristics of the band and make them seem appealing.
It lets you know who produced the band. If they are a new, unheard of band then if you recognise the record label you may want to hear them.
It lets you see what tracks are on the album - ones you may or may not recognise. It advertises all their hits so if you've heard a song on the radio you can buy the album if that song it on it.
Front
The name of the band/artist.
The name of the Album.
Album art - usually a picture of some sort (photograph/animation) representing either the artist or something about the album's name or what the songs represent.
Often a sticker on the front saying 'includes all the hits...'
Usually a 'parental advisory explicit content' logo
Back
A ordered tracklist of all the featured songs.
Often artwork, usually similar or continuing the artwork on the front cover.
The name of the record company who produced the album.
The name of the record label who promotes the band.
The year the album was released.
A bar code.
What is the point of an album cover?
Lets you know who the artist is and what the album is called.
Often artists make their covers as creative and visually excellent as possible so consumers will immediatly notice it out of a group of CD's.
It can advertise the genre of the music.
It can show characteristics of the band and make them seem appealing.
It lets you know who produced the band. If they are a new, unheard of band then if you recognise the record label you may want to hear them.
It lets you see what tracks are on the album - ones you may or may not recognise. It advertises all their hits so if you've heard a song on the radio you can buy the album if that song it on it.
The Maccabees music video
The Maccabees are a great new indie band who are young and vibrant. Their music has an original sound and they have cleverly marketed themselves, connoting themselves with drawn cartoon characters. Their music videos are equally as fascinating and all of them up to date has been made using stop-start animation. Like Wallace and Grommit and Chicken Run they have created a story line to go along with their video using this unique style. However, unlike wallace and grommit they don't so much specialise in claymation (using clay to make their videos) but more simply move objects around, recording and pausing, recording and pausing, recording and pausing to make a quility music video.
After seeing this music video it inspired me to make a really quick and loq budget stop-start animation video to the tune 'I don't see the attraction' by a new indie group 'Open with a Joke'.
White Stripes stop-start animation video
After seeing this music video it inspired me to make a really quick and loq budget stop-start animation video to the tune 'I don't see the attraction' by a new indie group 'Open with a Joke'.
White Stripes stop-start animation video
Friday, 22 June 2007
We Are Scientists music video
Basically this is a great idea for a music video. We are Scientists based their video for their hit single 'Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt' on a maniac in a bear costume chasing the band around city locations. It is a simple yet genius idea in that it is easy and cheap to do. The band are scared for their lives as they try and run/hide from the bear in order to escape.
The video would work really well with a fast and upbeat tune and we could have fast cuts and tracking shots to build emphasis and suspense.
We could put a twist on this video by making the action more exciting. Although the idea is good, the video itself is a bit plain as all the band do are run from the bear. Our creative minds could come up with something better.
The video would work really well with a fast and upbeat tune and we could have fast cuts and tracking shots to build emphasis and suspense.
We could put a twist on this video by making the action more exciting. Although the idea is good, the video itself is a bit plain as all the band do are run from the bear. Our creative minds could come up with something better.
Thursday, 21 June 2007
Album Ideas
Here are a few examples of possible ambum ideas. Taken from established bands, they give an insight into different but easy styles that are effective and easy mimic.
This is 'Dizzee Rascals' album cover for 'Boy In Da Corner'. It isn't perticularly difficult to create as it is merely a pholotgraph with an edited background. It is effective in its simplicity and the bold black writing stands out in contrast to the yellow. The picture also fits the genre of the music, grime.
Although this artwork isn't from 'the maccabees' album cover, it is a cover they relased for the single 'first love' which i really like. The whole thing has been done on the computer and is drawn on (as if a child has done it). Contrasting to many album covers with photographs, this cover is effective because it is original and the drawn picture is vibrant and stands out.
This is 'The Stokes' newest album cover from 'First Impressions Of Earth'. The simplicity of the cover makes it a really effective one. Not much has actually been done to the black background other than a few inserted pictures but yet it still works. The albums name is written on all 4 corners of the cover.
The Rakes album cover is good because it is prodominantly composed of a single photograph taken of city landscape. Unlike Dizzee Rascals album where a man has been cut around to fit a created background, the rakes album just puts a picture in the middle of the cover but it still works well.
The Braverys album as you can see is more complicated than any of the other because a mythical beast has been drawn which would be very hard to do, especially in such detail. However, the other picture is a simplified version of the braverys cover and i think this works just as well. Although there isn't as much intregue and detial, the bold black and blue colours contrast and make the album stand out.
This is 'Dizzee Rascals' album cover for 'Boy In Da Corner'. It isn't perticularly difficult to create as it is merely a pholotgraph with an edited background. It is effective in its simplicity and the bold black writing stands out in contrast to the yellow. The picture also fits the genre of the music, grime.
Although this artwork isn't from 'the maccabees' album cover, it is a cover they relased for the single 'first love' which i really like. The whole thing has been done on the computer and is drawn on (as if a child has done it). Contrasting to many album covers with photographs, this cover is effective because it is original and the drawn picture is vibrant and stands out.
This is 'The Stokes' newest album cover from 'First Impressions Of Earth'. The simplicity of the cover makes it a really effective one. Not much has actually been done to the black background other than a few inserted pictures but yet it still works. The albums name is written on all 4 corners of the cover.
The Rakes album cover is good because it is prodominantly composed of a single photograph taken of city landscape. Unlike Dizzee Rascals album where a man has been cut around to fit a created background, the rakes album just puts a picture in the middle of the cover but it still works well.
The Braverys album as you can see is more complicated than any of the other because a mythical beast has been drawn which would be very hard to do, especially in such detail. However, the other picture is a simplified version of the braverys cover and i think this works just as well. Although there isn't as much intregue and detial, the bold black and blue colours contrast and make the album stand out.
Posible Tracks
Possible Tracks - None of these tracks have official music videos so they would be good choices (and i think they are TUNESSSSSS). They also all belong to clear music genres.
Lethal Bizzle - Hitman
The Strokes - I Can't Win
The Killers - Change Your Mind
The Maccabees - All In Your Rows
The Rakes - Terror
The Strokes - Take It Or Leave It
The Bravery - Public Service Announcement
Lethal Bizzle - Hitman
The Strokes - I Can't Win
The Killers - Change Your Mind
The Maccabees - All In Your Rows
The Rakes - Terror
The Strokes - Take It Or Leave It
The Bravery - Public Service Announcement
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)