Wednesday 30 March 2011

Music Video COMPLETE!... (first draft)



It is done! All the edits in place and everything running smoothly. Now we have to see what people say about it and then make final adjusts.

Album Back cover update


This is my next attempt at the back cover and i think i've made good progress. I've put more arrows in and think i have them n suitable places which is the key to making this artwork successful. Now i think it's time to get some more feedback and see what people say.

Tuesday 29 March 2011

Editing Update

It is done! ... Sort of. We have completed it all and everything is in place but obviously this is just a first draft. Next I think we should get feedback from other people and see what they say about it and we find anything that keeps coming up or someone comes up with a better idea then we will have another crack at it, but as it stands we are quite happy with it despite the song driving us insane after countless times of hearing it! Also we will need to look at a mark scheme to see how it will be marked and we can make sure we have everything in there that we can to achieve the top grade.

Friday 18 March 2011

Editing

So we've started our editing now and we are making good prgoress. We have some intersting shots coupled with intersting transisitions between them. We just have to make sure we get the right ratio between band shots and shots of the rabbits.

Friday 11 March 2011

Conventions of my album art.

This is the analysis for my album artwork in terms of conventions seen in album covers in general and of our genre. My album cover looks like this.
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Much like most album covers seen today, I have included the band name and the album title clearly displayed on the front. The only factor that varies throughout album artworks is that some have the alubm title bigger than the band name, and others have the sizes the other way around. Also i have bent the text around the curves on the page which i think is quite unique and quite unconventional.


My artwork is similar to to that of Arctic Monkeys "Favourite Worst Nightmare"...



They have included the Artist name and album name with the artists name bigger. They have also warped the text which is what i have done. Not only this but the text itself is quite unusual. Also i have used the effect of having a very dark background with a burst of colour for the audience to be drawn to. I have chosen to compare my artowork to this one because Acrtic Monkeys are in the same music genre as my band.

Thursday 10 March 2011

The Libertines - Album Cover analysis


This is the album cover for "The Libertines" album released by The Libertines (strangly). The album was released in 2004 as the second and last album from the band. This album cover pretty much demonstrates them as purely as possible; that was what they was all about.
At first glance we can see 2 men looking pretty wasted showing off their tatoos. The tatoos do actually say "Libertines" and this shot was taking after a drunken night out. The 2 men shown are the two front men of the group; Pete Doherty and Carl Barat. The album is actually based on the relationship that they had which was very much a rollercoaster ride. They were clearly close enough friends to start a band, tour, nd release two albums however after a dispute, Pete broke into Carl's house while on drugs and was charged shortly after pleading guilting in court. Yet here in this album cover they are looking quite friendly. They were renound for the drink and drugs use and here in this image we can see dialated eyes, a ciggerette in one of their hands and a plastic cup (probably full of beer) in the oter hand. This connotes everyting that the band is about, they enjoy the partying, having a good time no matter how dangerous; it really reflects their ruthlessness.
It may have actually been this image that they were putting forward that made them as popular as they are; they weren't following what the industry was controlling everyone else to do, they did their own thing and didn't care about the rest.
However this album cover has been in he firing line of several music critics saying that it is a bad influence on younger generations and not a true portrayal of what rockstars should be like. You would expect that like most bands they would change their cover to please critics, but being The Libertines, they kept it and didn't care about the critics which actually earned them alot of respect from a lot of people but at the same time made them lose the respect of others.
Also the colours are a bit uneasy and it is probably not a natural picture and has more than likel undergone some hue and saturation changes and i believe that this has been done to maybe create the effect of being under the influence of something that effects your perception of colour or vision.

Filming update

It is done! We had a stroke of luck with the weather and we managed to get all of our inteneded footage plus extra to go with the rest it. Now we have to take a lot of time editing it thoroughly and making it look professional. We may have looked stupid dancing around a city dressed as rabbits but sacrifices have to be made!

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Conventions of music videos




I have decided to analyse 30 Seconds To Mars' "From Yesterday" music video; specifically focussing on the conventions that are seen in music videos as a whole. This is rumoured to be the most expensive music video ever made.

From the off there is what's known an "establishing" shot. This sets the scene so that the audience knows where the rest of the video is taking place. Most music videos will have this type of shot if the place of which is set is important. In this case it is set in ancient China and this is obvious from the very first shot.


Next, we see a wide shot of all the band walking. This allows the audience to know who the are watching, they now know what the band looks like. In this image they re all dressed in uniform black with heavy eye makeup making them look quite mysterious.


Soon after we see a high angle shot looking down a long road bordered by ancient chinese martial artists. They are pulling the audiences eye into the centre of the screen; this is an artistic technique called vanishing point. Music videos will use techniques like this is they want to draw attention tom something specific or give a vision of perspective or depth.

Then we get a mid range shot which is a combination of the 2 previously mentioned shots. The shot of the band are now within the path which was in the perspective shot. This now draws maximum attention to the band which is obviously the main source behind any music video so it makes sense to make them the centre of attention.



When the singing finally kicks in the singer turns to the camera to make the audience feel like they are being sung to personally. This also gives the artists a personality which is a convention most music videos of this genre use. Also he has red tip in his hair which connotes danger.


The next convention used in the music video is the first full band long shot which shows everything in full action. We can see all of the members, what they play and how they perform; this gives the band a very strong personality, they are full of energy and passion which is a huge selling point and music videos are all about selling yourself.

Another feature seen in a lot of music videos takes places when the song hits a "double time" point; this is where the main solid beats come in twice as quick and it feels as if the tempo has doubled. In this case it is done with close ups of various people in chinese costumes. The face changes every beat and then when the beats double the cutting rates double to match the music and there is a great sense of intensity.



Then we see something that is only typical of music videos with the genre of this music because it only works with what could be called an "epic" chorus where the audience needs to feel a sense of power and uprising. Here we see a huge long shot of the band performing in front of an impressive Chinese pyramid with fireworks exploding over their heads and various pyrotechnics around them. This gives off the impression that the band are powerful and can make something spectacular happen. It is a very effective way of selling themselves, giving the audience something that is typical eye candy.



Overall the band has use many codes and conventions of music videos in its genre however they have also tried to create some new ones because they were trying to create a short film as opposed to a traditional music video. I think they have pulled this very well and they have clearly gone to a lot of effort to achieve their desired affect.