Planning: t-shirt merchandise designs

Planning: Digipak drafts 2

Planning: our company logo- Sasha Sounds

Planning: Advert drafts- group post

Planning: Digipak drafts

Planning: possible photograph for digipak

Emily Music video rough cut 3

Research: Digipak codes and conventions

My digipak must follow the codes and conventions so it has a better appeal to an audience. The main reason they are used is to advertise and show their work to the chosen target audience, so they need to follow a certain set of rules so it can sell the the consumer and make the band/ artist more well known. Digipaks can be sold at gigs, festivals and shows, where ever they perform there are always their digipak sold. 

All digipak includes the following information:

• Visual image/key to the production
• Band/artist name - allow audience to identify band/artist
• Album title - on main cover and along the spine
• Track list
• Basic background information of the band/artist
• (occasions reviews from companies e.g. NME, News Of The World etc...)

Front Panel - Main image, usually of the artist/band or something that iconic/symbolic of them. Name of artist and album (in big font, to catch audiences' attention).

Spine(s) - Names of artist/band and album, institution.

Back Panel - Usually track list, and printed on in contrasting colours so its readable.

Fold in Panel - Often a image of artist/band, however if its a long fold out, the fold in panel would be a continued from the Front and Back Panel.

Inside Panels - CD, maybe even a booklet. Often images of artist/band or something symbolic/iconic printed inside, behind the discs. There may also be information about the album and quotes by the artist/band written inside the digipak.

Colour Scheme - Usually reflects the mood of album or the genre of the tracks on the disc.

Planning: Editing on Final Cut Pro X

Planning: digipaks

 This is an example I have chosen which is very interesting and I feel it could help me when it comes to making my own. There is a wide range of colours and I feel that the black background used will be good for any genre of music and the style of it. 

Emily Music video rough cut 2

Target audience research- qualitative Focus group

We started creating our music video on Final Cut Pro X, by adding, synchronising and cutting the clips we filmed. The video is not fully finished, however we wanted to gain some feedback before carry on, about what would improve the music video. So we got a group of teenagers aged between 16 and 17, to help with us developing it further.

The questions we asked to the group were:

What do you think of the shots used?
Is there anything that you think we can improve on?

There responses were:

17 year old female: Likes the night shots and how we used the car headlights as lights and how they were some of the most effective shots.

16 year old male: Likes the cut aways to the group and giving it an actual story(narrative) and how he liked the beginning with one of the band members waking up and pressing the alarm because it worked well with the lyrics and how he was singing as he was waking up.

This comment was mentioned by another person in the group, along with the night shots being affective as well.

Research: Kerrang and Bauer media

Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music, currently published by Hamburg based Bauer Media Group. It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper. Named after the onomatopoeic word that derives from the sound made when playing a power chord on a distorted electric guitar,Kerrang! was initially devoted to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and the rise of hard rock acts. In the early 2000s it became the best-selling British music newspaper.

I feel this magazine would be a great choice to distribute our advert and digipak, this is because it already has such a large audience base and will be seen by people in our target audience and by people who enjoy and like this genre. With Kerrang being on multiple platforms, for example Kerrang magazine, Kerrang radio, Kerrang.com and Kerrang TV, this means it gives a wide range of opportunities of it being advertised and with it being on so many digital platforms it appeals to the younger target audience. This is what we are trying to cater for and try and grab their attention when making our own advert and digipak. 

Planning: Storyboards for 2nd of November

Storyboard for filming on the 2nd of November.

Planning & Organisation: 2nd November- film schedule

This film schedule is for the 2nd of November, this shoot is to gain filming for performance shots.

Organisation

Travel - walked

Make up: Courtney

Location - Brigg

Costumes: provided own

Contact: via mobile

Times were agreed and we collected the equipment the day before. 

Planning: Storyboard for 29th October

This is a storyboard for filming on the 29th of October. 

Planning: filming 29th october film schedule

These are our filming schedules for the 29th of October. This is what we are hoping to film for our music video. The first one will be filmed earlier on in the day so the lighting is much brighter and natural(high-key), hopefully the weather will be okay on the day and not rain. Only two of the actors are wanted for this filming, Courtney and Chris.

The second schedule is for later on in the day, this time it's the band that is needed for the filming, the film time has been set later on, because we wanted to try and use one of the band members headlights from his car to create our own lighting, we feel that this will make it more effective and different.

Additional research: Adele - Hello music video analysis

I am analysing the music video of Adele's Hello, this video is a different genre to the one I am choosing, however I feel it could give me some inspiration on what to include in my own. This song is full of emotion and about a breakup, this is shown in the video, with its use of extreme close ups of the artists face and her expressions. Using these close ups you can see the love, the hate and the upset she has gone through, there are also extreme close ups of different objects, such as her turning the stove on and putting hot water and a tea bag in a cup, these are everyday tasks, however due to the narrative behind it, it adds more drama and emotion to it. The establishing shot is very interesting, because it starts of as a pull focus on the window frame them slowly focuses on the outside, where it becomes more of a wide shot. It shows the location to where the music video is set and the colours that are being used. It shows that the colour has been saturated, to make it more old style and dull, the saturation still keeps a little colour however it just makes it seems more grey and green. Using saturation makes it more emotional and dramatic, giving it a sense of mystery a bit. Other shots include point of view shots, these are very effective and are used in the memory scenes, when she is thinking back to when her and her partner were together. These show the interaction between the two and it includes the audience to make them see what it was like for her being in that situation. It also shows the other actors anger and happiness in his expressions. This idea could be conveyed into my own music video, the use of the close ups showing the actor or musician performing and them expressing their emotions to the audience or other actor/ musician. Other shots include a wide shot of her singing beside a lake, the uses of effects, such as the wind, makes this shot really effective and shows the pain and loss so much more. It gives a great view of the location, this would be great idea to take into consideration for my own music video. The use of the panning round and in works really well, it makes the video more interesting and would be a great idea to take in for my own music video, it adds drama but can also work if that is not wanted.

The mise en scene is both modern with a hint of old style, because of the run down house and the furniture(set design) combining with the costumes used.This shows that the house has been there for a while along with the furniture, this helps out and works with the narrative of the story. The costumes used are not out there compared to many other female artists, she still keeps her same style, however it seems more mature and works with the song. She breaks conventions and doesn't make herself out to be voyeuristic and make herself sexually appealing to the male audience, she keeps that mature style and breaks what convention is followed when making a music video. The use of the abandoned house could be a metaphor about the artists and her ex lovers relationship, she is the only one who goes back to it, however he left it and isn't going to return.

Blumler and Katz talk about personal relationships as being a way of engaging an audience and what they want to hear more. This can help people relate to it as well, bringing in an audience and those who have gone through the same hurt and pain she has. Using this idea, it has helped the artist herself reinvent herself after being out of the music business for so long and showing the audience and the music business her new self. She has become a more mature woman and still wants to show the hurt and pain from a break up, however also the regret of it.

Planning: filming-friday 16th october

On Friday 16th, me and my group filmed more of the band playing, which meant we got more shots at different angles, giving us more to work with and add to the ones we did at the last filming. We also got new shots of our actors, Courtney and Chris. We quickly focused on the band to get the extras shot then we went straight to the actors, which we filmed most of that shoot. The part we filmed was were Courtney walks out of her house and down the road towards Chris while the band were playing.

What we've filmed so far is the first verse of the song:

Alarm clock rings another day in hell begins (clip of a band member turning off their alarm and getting out of bed)
I'm going out of my mind, until she walks in (close up of the lead singers face, then the camera cuts to courtney walking past the band towards Chris) 
They say love is blind, but my vision is fine (close up of Connors face)
Angels sing when I look in her eyes.. (close up of the lead singers face which cuts to a extreme close up of courtney face)

The overall filming went well and we got what we wanted, however it was cut short due to the weather, so it was a little rushed to get it done. 

Planning: Filming location

This is our first chosen location to shoot at, for this shoot we will need both the actors(Courtney and Chris) and the band(Liam,Connor, Tom and Matt), we will need to organise these people to meet here at the wanted time. For the people who live in Brigg, they will be able to walk to this location, however for the ones who don't they have decided to take the bus,get a lift or drive. The location we have chosen is easy to get to and has a lay by next to it, so the people who drive can park up easily. We will need to book out the equipment for this shoot, which includes two cameras and two tripods, so we can get the shots for the music video and even some bloopers and behind the scenes with the other. The band themselves have there own instruments and we have organised with them to bring it along with what they are wearing, the same goes with the actors who we are using, we have asked them to bring their own costumes, which we have chosen for them and the make-up is natural so nothing too extreme is wanted. We don't have a finishing time, however we are hoping to take between and hour to two hours for this. We are hoping to gain the first few shots for the first section of the video, however we will be getting more, so it gives us a variety. We will also be using and trying different shots and angles, so it gives us, again, a variety and more to work with.

Rough Cut of Emily Music video

Planning: Locations

 Although i like this location, it is too classist for our music video. We do want to use external shots however we may use a street instead. 

 This tunnel provides a natural frame for our artist. It fits with the grungy look. 

This location is possible as it is close buy, easy to get to and allows access for our equipment. 

This woodland will add a romantic feel to the video. We want to imply that there are possible multiple romances. 

This is a great natural frame for our female artist. 

Again i like this location as it has the connotations of romantic walks and will appeal to the female TA. 

This location will be ideal for the dark scenes as we want to use the car ehadlights. 

These are the different possible locations we are going to use for our music video.

Star image and development-group post

TA Research and digital technology

According to McQuail it is difficult to define a digital audience. We have to ensure that our Music video and promotion package reached our TA.

One survey recorded youtube, radio and itunes as the most common way teens consume music video.


There was an interesting Guardian article:one concern is the reluctance to pay for  music. few buy cd's yet we are making a digipak for which, there seems to be a limited audience.
"They are very reluctant to pay for it (most never having bought a CD) and a large majority (8/10) downloading it illegally from file sharing sites."

The Guardian agree itunes is popular however there are still financial issues. 
"A number of people use the music service iTunes (usually in conjunction with iPods) to acquire their music (legally) but again this is unpopular with many teenagers because of the 'high price' (79p per song). Some teenagers use a combination of sources to obtain music, because sometimes the sound quality is better on streaming sites but they cannot use these sites whilst offline, so they would download a song then listen to it on music streaming sites (separate from the file)."
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/jul/13/teenage-media-habits-morgan-stanley

We need to consider the use of amazon and youtube. Most people have a playlist on youtube.

Planning: First breakdown script- group post

TA Profile and research

Our audience is:

1. Gender: males and females
2. Age: 16 - 24
3. Sexuality: hetrosexual
4. Regionality: Rural - there is a sense of nature and most shots are to be outside. 
5. Lifestyle: relationships, college, friends, socialising
6. Religion & Ethnicity: any however the MV will largely appeal to only those in the Western culture
7. Digital audience with apps, mobile devices

Institutional research: online

YouTube

YouTube is a video sharing website, with the slogan 'Broadcast Yourself', this gives the general public a free option to show themselves and even make a career out of it. In 2005, YouTube was born, new to the world, giving people an opportunity to share, watch and upload new videos every day. The available content on the website consists of video clips, TV clips, music videos and other content such as video blogging, short original videos and educational videos. Large companies even use the site to show clips and full videos of their programmes, which include CBS, the BBC, Vevo and Hulu, these are part of the YouTube partnership programme. YouTube has helped people gain a career, from gamers to vloggers and musicians to presenters, meaning this would be a great site to use to advertise our new band, it's free to use and billions of people visit the site every day.

Itunes

Itunes is a media player, media library, online radio broadcaster and mobile device management application developed by Apple inc. It is used to play, download and organise digital audio and videos. Through the itunes store, users can purchase and download music, music videos, audiobooks, television shows, podcast, movies and movie rentals. Itunes is available on all digital products, such as phones, tablets and PC, this means it is easy to access and comes in the form of an app or website. This is another way artists get their music across to their target audience.

Amazon. com

Amazon.com inc. is an American electronic commence and cloud computing company. Amazon started as an online bookstore, then went on to sell more, such as DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, video downloads/ streaming, clothing, video games, toys, etc. This can be found on all different platforms, from apple to android and pc too it is available on any digital product, they have even created their own electronic tablets, amazon kindle and amazon fire tablet. This means it is easy access to the consumer, however it is easy access to people without the tablet, for example its both an app and a website, just like itunes and youtube. Due to its easy access, artists and publishers can easily sell there own work to the public.

Blumler and Katz



Blumler and Katz research

Research: Lower than Atlantis

Research lower than atlantis from HannahMcMinn

Institutional research: music video channels

MTV is a 24 hour entertainment channel, available in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel was launched as part of MTV Networks Europe localisation strategy in 1997. The channel was set up to provide audiences with local artists and more relevant content. This meant artists could showcase themselves and their music, marketing themselves to the public and bring in a target audience. However, from 1997 to the present the amount of music videos on the channel have declined, due to the increase in different entertainment shows, including Jackass, Catfish: the TV show and 16 and pregnant, so now they have removed all music and now have launched a new channel, MTV Music, this means that they just show music videos and interviews with artists. 

Vevo is a multinational video hosting service, launched in 2009, it hosts videos syndicated across the web, with Google and Vevo sharing the advertising revenue. 

4Music is a music and entertainment channel in the United Kingdom. The channel launched in 2008, replacing 'the Hits'. It is the only Channel-4 branded channel within 'The Box Plus Network'. The channel launched with an on-screen countdown counting down from ten minutes down to zero. During the countdown, clips from popular music videos were faded through the screen including clips from promotions for the channel.The channel then launched at 7pm with a promotional advert for the channel then fading into "Davina and Steve's 20 Big Ones"; the first song at number 20 being "The pretender" by The Foo Fighters and Kylie Minogue's "Cant get you out of my head" at number 1.

Lyric analysis-group post

Group post. This is a poster me and my group produced during lesson to show our initial ideas. We analysed the lyrics of our chosen song, discussed what it made us visualise and then wrote down either a couple, or just the best ideas. I enjoyed working with my group as it gave us a good opportunity to talk too each other properly and discuss ideas thoroughly.