Album Cover First Draft

 This is the first draft of our proposed album artwork. I used photoshop to edit and create this, using an image of the internet which will be replaced with my own image in for the final cover. 

First Draft:

As it;s the end of term, we have put together our first draft of the music video. We showed some class members and gained feedback from doing so and therefore we feel confident in our progress so far. This is the first draft of the video that we have produced:

Overall, we are very happy with the progress we have made so far. Over the Christmas holidays, we will be filming the remainder of our footage and so in the new year, we will be able to complete our video.

Audience Feedback:

In class, we showed to the class what we have done so far, overall we got really good feedback. Our peers especially liked the fast editing of our video as they thought it matched the song really well. To add to this, our classmates said that they liked the shot of the various road signs at the end of the video. They thought it was funny, lighthearted and cheerful. The negative feedback we got was on the shot of the cars and taxis, our class thought it was too long and needed to be made shorter. We have taken this feedback on board and  are now changing our video to make it better.

Filming Three:

We filmed the performance part of our video yesterday. At first we realised that the room that all of the equipment was in was too small and would make the performance look cramped. Therefore, we had the idea to film outside. We moved all of the equipment outside, including a drum kit, guitar, bass guitar and microphone and set it all up infront of a fog light as it was dark. The light reflecting on to the band looked really effective as it was like a spotlight on a stage and therefore made it look more realistic. We got close up shots of all of the characters, which included Boris Johnson, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Milliband. We specifically got a close up shot of Boris Johnson drumming as we wanted to use it in the video at the end of the into before the characters come out of Oxford Street station. At times, the lighting did not look right as it made the camera come out of focus but we have cut and edited the footage in order to avoid including this in our video.


It began to rain heavily during our filming and so we had to stop in order to avoid damaging not only the musical equipment, but the filming equipment too. Therefore, we didn't film as much as we hoped we would but we think that we have sufficient footage to include in the video.

Filming:

Today we are aiming to start filming the performance part of our music video. We have asked permission from the music department  to use the equipment (including drums and guitars) and we are going to film this after school today (14/12/11). However, after ordering the Boris Johnson mask on Monday and paying for delivery to get it here for today, it has not arrived. Therefore my mum has tracked down another one for us to use today. We have also had other mishaps regarding todays filming. A couple of the people that said they would help us and be in the performance part of the video have in a way let us down. One has to leave school and then come back and another who is travelling to the school at 3:30 doesn't have a suit with him and therefore will have to go home and get one first, delaying our filming significantly. However, we must film today as we need to have a rough cut of our video in for Friday (16/12/11) and therefore have no choice. As well as this, we are worried that we won't have enough time before the school closes to finish filming this, and therefore may have to continue filming it another day. This further delays our coursework as we have a fast approaching final deadline.

The White Stripes - CD Advert Analysis

This advert was featured in NME magazine in March 2010. It is immediately eye catching to the audience due to its use of the colour red. Any fan of The White Stripes will understand why the colours featured on the advert have been used. The colours red, white and black are iconic colours used by this band and feature on every album and advert that they produce.

As well as this, the two people on the advert are the two band members, Jack White and Meg. There is a strong, complicated history between the two band members with different stories being made about the relationship between the two and therefore it is important for them to feature on the advert to add to the mysterious story between the two. Also, the way that they are walking away from the camera across a crooked bridge into the night adds to the mysterious story between the two.

The block white and black writing is basic and in a basic font which is important and effective as it stands out from the quite busy with colour background.
As with many other adverts for bands and CD's, there is a main picture as the main feature of the page and then underneath it comes the writing in order of importance. Firstly, the bands name, secondly comes the album title name and then underneath that follows any other crucial details about the band/advert such as the release date, quotes that have been praising the CD as well as the record label name and production company name. This is done as extra advertisement for the record label, by naming it on the advert, it further promotes them as fans of The White Stripes may then look into the label and find other similar bands that may be of interest to them.

The advert also displays all of the nominations that the album is up for, again very important to the promotion of the album as it shows how popular it is. As well as this, out of the 11 nominations that the album is up for, some are international nominations which again shows its popularity on a world wide scale, encouraging the audience to purchase the album.

Album cover analysis: The Who

The album cover for 'Tommy' by The Who is both cryptic and enigmatic. Tommy was originally released as a two-LP set with a booklet including lyrics and images to illustrate parts of the story. The cover doesnt feature any images of the artist, as many of the punk-rock albums of the era did. It uses simple colours, black and blue, as well as small white text do not distract the audience from the cover's concept. The cover is presented as part of a triptych-style fold-out cover. All three of the outer panels of the triptych are spanned by a single pop art painting by Mike McInnerney. The cover is very ambiguous; as we are unaware of what the images are actually there, and why the band decided to feature them. The white doves flying into the image could represent Tommy, who the album is based on. the white clouds are also signs of his innocence and vulnerabilty through his life.

Album Cover Inspiration

As the concept for our album cover is relatively simple, we decided to pay great attention to the small details in order to make it look as effective as possible. One of the most important aspects of our cover is the background; which again we have decided to keep simple. For the colour we decided to keep the style quite vintage and that a light colour would comply with this idea.
 



Both of these covers, 'Rumours' by Fleetwood Mac and 'Suck It and See' by Arcitc Monkeys, use a simple light background that gives a vintage style to the cover. The background cover also compliments the simplicity of both the covers. For our cover we plan to use a similar colour as we feel this will be very effective.

Performance Idea:

We have come up with an idea that we feel will make our video more humorous and interesting. We have decided to use the music and drama facilities in school and create several performance scenes for our video. We are going to get a mask of Boris Johnson and have all our characters playing instruments, as if they are a band. As well as this, because of the competition between Johnson and Cameron and their leadership, we thought it would be funny for Boris to throw a drumstick at the back of David's head. Also, because they both went to the same school, we could also act out a sort of play/school fight between them.

The performance shots that we are going to film on Wednesday (14/12/11) are going to be filmed in the drama studio in school using the equipment (drums, microphone and guitars) from the music department.
The shots will go in crucial music parts of the song, for example at 0:20 seconds where the drumming takes place, we will have a shot of Boris Johnson on the drums.

Filming Day 3:

Today, we went to London and completed our third day of filming. We went to: St Pauls and Westminster. We went to St Pauls to capture the scene of the protests that are currently happening outside St Pauls Cathedral, reflecting the negative side of society that is portrayed in the song. At Westminster, we managed to film Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and film both Tom and Jack on London Bridge. We had planned to travel to Green Park as well to film outside Buckingham Palace, however we were unable to do this due to a heavy downfall of rain and strong winds. We therefore aim to complete our filming very soon. The shots that we did manage to complete however were very good and went as planned.
Our first draft of our music video has to be in on Friday the 16th of December, we realise that our video will not be complete but we will have a rough draft to show to our class for feedback.

Album Cover: Photoshop experiments

We have started thinking of some ideas for our album cover and I have started experimenting with them on Photoshop. I took the image of a teacup and cut the background, along with erasing some of the image and correcting it. Here is the original image:

I used the 'Lasoo' tool to cut the image from its background, and then used the eraser to delete the shadow. After I had erased the shadow, I found that some of the teacup had also been removed. I used the inkdrop tool and then the paint brush to fill in the parts that had been erased. I layered two different backgrounds onto the image; one black and one white. 

This is the image on a black background. Here you can see that there is still some work to be corrected on the bottom of the teacup, as the colour of this background highlights the imperfections. 

Whereas the white background shows the image as perfect. The shadow has been removed and the corners and edges are smooth.

Kings of Leon - CD Advert analysis

This CD advert is for Kings of Leon's 'Only By The Night' released in 2008. The advert conforms with the indie/rock genre by being unusual and eye-catching. The ad features disorted images of the band; to please fans as well as the record label. The image used on the advert is also the image on the cover of the album, making it instantly recognisable to fans who wish to purchase the album. The bizzare effects on the image also entice the audience, as well as make an iconic image for the band. The lettering and font used on the advert is recognisable to all Kings of Leon fans, as this is a signature style for them. The ad also contains vital information, such as some of the songs included on the album, when it is released and where it can be purchased. This is essential when marketing an album and hoping for it's success. The green colour used contrasted with the red and white text is another way the advert is able to stand our in a magazine. This advert may be seen as pretty simple, but this band is known for using simple yet effective artwork on both their album covers and their adverts.

The Maccabees - CD Advert Analysis

This CD advert is for The Maccabees album 'Wall of Arm's. This advert was featured on the back cover of NME magazine and therefore is suitable to the genre of music that The Maccabees make. Instead of having a photograph of the band as you would expect, the image of the band is infact made from plastic models. This is unusual and therefore effective as it stands out to it's audience. As well as this, the bright colours which feature on the clothes of the band members too stand out, again, drawing attention to the advertisement. Despite this colour, the remaining area on the advert is black and white, the background being white and the writing being black. this has been done as it is basic in comparison to the image featured on the advert and further attracts the audience because of its differences.

The lettering and font of the writing stands out as it is in bold, black, block capital letters. Also, the size of the writing has been selected depending on the importance of that bit of information. For example, the band name and album title are in the biggest font and the font size gradually decreases as it continues down the page, eventually ending with the bands website address.

The advert also advertises the songs that people viewing this advert are most likely to know or have heard and therefore will further entice them into buying this album. This is purposely chosen to be done by the record label in order to promote the album as much as possible in the most condensed way as possible.

Tour dates are another feature on the advert and this is vitally important for the success of the tour. The advert has been placed in an extremely popular weekly music magazine which music fans will buy. Many bands would opt to have a seperate tour advertisement and seperate album advertisement, however, by condensing the two, more people are likely to see it and view both aspects of the advert, promoting both the tour and album in equal ways. It also gives information as of where and when to purchase tickets which again is an important feature if the tour is to sell well.

CD Advert Analysis:

This CD advert for Rihanna's album 'Loud' focuses primarily on the artist herself, this is stereotypical of this genre as adverts for pop and r&b CD's tend to focus predominantly on the star and the glamour and sex appeal of the artist. The majority of the cover is of the star; this has been done purposely to please her fans. The cover carries the conventions of the Male Gaze, as it shows Rihanna with hardly any clothes on posing in front of the camera, this is again purposely trying to please her male fans. The cover is all red, this is resembling femininity, passion and the girly theme of the album. The red, girly theme fits well with the target audience of Rihanna's fans- young, teenage girls and also matches the genre of the album- Pop and R&B. The advert contains bold lettering, this is both eye catching and grabs attention, the date the album comes out is the main focus, this has obviously been done on purpose by the record company in order to successfully promote the CD. To add to this, the use of the sentence, 'highly anticipated album', this is used yet again to promote the album and persuade fans to buy it. The 'R' logo used on the top left hand corner is used as it stands out and is recgonised  by her fans everywhere. Overall, the advert is rather simple, this makes the album more exciting and enticing for Rihanna's fans as it is mysterious as to what is going to be on the album.

Filming problems:

During both our shoots so far we have encountered some problems that have caused us to change some of the initial ideas we had for our video. Whilst shooting our inside shots we found it difficult to syncronise our actors when switching off the lights by the side of the bed. We resolved in changing their actions in the shot and had our producer (Ellie G) on the floor by the side of the bed switching the lights on manually. We also had some problems when filimg in London, such as gaining permission to shoot in certain shops on Oxford Street. As we were unable to shoot what would have ben a lengthy section of our video we had to quickly think up another idea for a replacement shot. We all worked together to come up with extra ideas just in case this problem occured again. On observation whilst filming in London we also found that some of our locations were not as we thought they would be, e.g. the beach by the Thames. We all agreed that it would be too hard to film these shots to a good standard and have decided to replace them with better and more accesable shots. Because of this our animatic storyboard will notbe the exact same as our final music video, however we are happy with the decisions we have made and are looking forward to continuing filming.

Filming 11/12/11

We plan to film again on Sunday 11th December 2011, and hope to shoot all of our remaining footage on this day. After looking at the footage we have already shot and our animatic story board we have listed all of the outstanding shots we need to film and have planned where we are going to go/what shots to film first, in order to save time and enable us to make sure we shoot everything we need to without forgetting anything. Here is our planned shotlist for 11/12/11:

1. Woodford Station - close up of footsteps
2. Woodford Station - Platform shot
3. St. Pauls - protest shots/crowd shots
4. Oxford Street - London stall shot
5. Charing Cross/Trafalgar Square - police chase (coming towards camera)
6. Westminster - Houses of Parliament
7. Traffic shot and Bridge shot
8. Green Park - Buckingham palace
9. Woodford or Loughton Station - walking out of station/coming home shots

We also plan to get more shots of the street signs for our montage in the video, but if we are unable to get them all on this day we will go again.

Animated Storyboard:

This is an animated storyboard which we created using post-it note drawings of ideas that we want to include in our video and Final Cut editing software. We photographed the post-it notes and loaded them onto the mac computers and then used the editing software to put together the animated storyboard. This has helped us imagine our video more visually. As well as this, if we hadn't have done this task, we would have not had enough shots to go to London and film. We realised that whilst putting the shots in time to the music that we did not have anywhere near enough shots to fill up our song. Therefore, as a group we feel that this task has been vitally important in the progress of our ideas for our video.

Week 11 Meeting:

This week we have started our filming, this, so far, has gone extremely well and we have all worked well as a team to successfully begin filming. So far, we have spent two days filming and have planned one more day to try and complete filming. We have got out footage off our cameras and have now began to edit our footage using final cut, getting rid of all incorrect shots and footage that is not right and only keeping the footage we are definitely going to use! Our next day of filming is going to be Sunday 11th of December.

Filming:

Today (4/12/11) we went to London with the aim of finishing our filming for our music video. Our actors were Jack Keens and Tom Dignam.

The filming that we did went well, however, we realised that a few of the shots we had planned to do were not going to work such as the shot coming in and out of the shops. We asked permission from Topshop and they said they would not allow us to film outside their shop so we couldn't do that shot. We also thought of a few other shots which went well. However, we have not completed the filming and therefore will need to do this next weekend. This is because it got dark quickly and it was difficult to film in some places at ease because of how busy it was.

Ramones:

The CD cover does not comply with the typical punk rock characteristics of which you would expect to see on an album cover. It presents to us an image of the band, however, the writing on the cover is in pink, something you would expect to see on a female girl group album cover, not a 1970's punk bands. It is effective though as it is eye catching and unusual of the genre and would stand out in a shop. This album cover again deviates from the usual album cover as it is very basic, the background is white, the writing is pink and there is a simple image of the band. However, there is nothing else promoting the album on the front cover. This could be because the band are so iconic, that anyone familiar with the punk/rock genre will immediately know who the Ramones are and therefore their album cover does not need further explanation or promotion.

The lettering and font of the cover are typical of this genre. They aim to stand out and this album certainly supports that idea. Ramones are iconic and so do not need fancy font and lettering to sell their music, fitting with their basic and anarchic image that they displayed throughout their success. The lettering is also completely in capital letters (front and back cover) which again supports the anarchic style of the band.

The image on the cover again is basic. It is in black and white which shows the bands age as modern day bands would most likely use colour. As well as this, the way that the band are dressed was typical of Ramones and also reminds us of the bands genre. Their hairstyles and clothing clearly present to us the period of time that the photo was taken as many people dressed this way to show their identity. The way the band are standing shows their laid back personality and attitude towards music. This therefore would attract people who share these similar characteristics to the album. The front cover shows the front of the band and the back  cover cleverly shows the back of the band. Again, the back cover is in black and white which is effective as therefore the cover flows.

It is clear by looking at the front cover that they are a punk band. This is because of the perception that the cover gives off to the audience, it is clear through their clothing, hairstyles and by the way they stand that they are relaxed about their image. The type of people who would be interested in purchasing this album would most likely not be interested in the sex appeal that a Beyonce album cover for perhaps have for example. They are probably also not too bothered about the way the band looks which is why the band have opted for such a simple album cover.

Editing:

We have now began to edit the footage that we filmed on Wednesday. We are so pleased with the footage we have got so far and have had extremely positive feedback from other class members on this. This has given us a boost of confidence before filming the remainder of our video which we will hopefully do on Sunday. Last year we were only taught the basics of using the Final Cut editing software, however, this year we have been taught much more in depth and therefore know how to add special effects which we didn't know last year and so we hope that this will make our video more interesting to watch for the audience. 

Filming:

This Sunday (4/12/11) we are aiming to complete our filming. The weather however is looking quite cloudy and possibly rainy which is something we are a bit concerned about.. however, we must film so we will just have to carefully work around this. We have been let down by one of our actors and so are trying to find someone to replace them. We are really pleased with how our filming went on Wednesday and we feel that we made good use of our time and got to know the equipment better before going to London and filming. We aim to gets lots of different shots from different angles for our film footage which we are filming on Sunday as this will allow us to choose which we prefer best, giving us options. This is important in enabling us to decide which of the shots looks best in the video. 

Album Cover Analysis, 'Sex Pistols':

The Cd cover I am analysing is the Sex Pistol's album called 'Never mind the bollocks heres the...', I chose to do this particular cover as it is of the same genre as the song we have chosen to use for our music video, from the Punk/Rock genre. The cover resembles the genre very well as the swear word within the Cd name resembles the violent and controversial genre that is Punk/Rock. The album cover contains two colours; neon pink and neon yellow, the colours yet again resemble the genre of the music as Punk/Rock is very wild and 'out there' in conparison to genres such as pop for example. The lettering on the album cover is bold, this is very eye-cathing and grabs the attention of their target audience. To add to this, the lettering is very jumbled up and seems to have no order, yet again refecting the genre of music in which the album is from. The song listing on the back of the cover is also jumbled up and definitely has no order, this displays the out of control and mad characteristics of the band. This yet again fots with the Punk/Rock genre as bands from this specfic genre are stereotypically blunt, troublesome and cause controversy. Due to the fact that the album was released in the late 1970's during a time of trouble within Britain, when things such as rioting were taking place and there was controversy within government and the decisions that they were making, the songs featured on the album reflect the times. Songs such as 'Liar', 'Problems' and 'Anarchy in the UK' reflect this time period. Unlike the majority of albums, there are no images of the band on the cover of the album, this shows how the band is focused simply on thier music not focusing on star image or stereotypically focused on sex appeal or glamour similarly to other artists. Commonly on a Cd cover, the band or the artist is the main feature and takes up most of the cover with their picture, this however is not shown on this album, again displaying their controversial nature and the fact that they want to be different from other artists.
The booklet featured within the Cd cover is not very different to that shown on both the front and the back of the cover, the band have obviously deliberately done this in order to keep the same theme running throughout the album cover, with no extreme differences within the whole booklet.

Album cover analysis: The Beatles

The CD cover for The Beatles 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' is one of the most iconic album covers of all time. The cover presents an image of the band, in their signature costume, as well as many other stars (dead or alive). The digipack won a grammy for artwork and was designed by Peter Blake and Jann Haworth. I have chosen this cover as it is not only iconic but interesting and revolutionary. It features a colourful collage of life-sized cardboard models of famous people on the front of the album cover and lyrics printed on the back cover, the first time this had been done on a British pop LP. In the centre of the scene, The Beatles stand behind a drum on which are painted the words of the album's title. Bold and bright colours are used to catch the attention of the audience and make the cover stand out. The cover depicted more than 70 famous people, including actors, musicians and writers such as James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Oscar Wilde and Marlon Brando. The cover may also be seen as ironic, as it is set as a funeral scene and many of the people featured are dead. The use of funeral flowers to spell out the name of the band may also been seen as satircal. Despite many colours being used on the cover, the image of the band immediately stands out, as it is centered and uses the boldest colours. This cover is dissimilar to many other albums at the time. The Beatles stemed a new era and revolutionised music. Their cover is seen as a landmark for the artwork many artists now use on their covers, and therefore this album does not comply to any genre characteristics. The final bill for the cover was £38, 823- a staggering sum not only for the 60s but even now.

Filming Day One:

Today we began filiming for our Music Video, 'London Calling'. We shot the beginning and the end shot of the polticians waking up in the morning and lastly going to bed at night. Our actors were Harry Chick and Tom Dignam and they played David Cameron and Nick Clegg. We successful shot the two shots we needed and also added in a shot of the two politicians making one another tea in the morning. The day of filming went very well and we managed to get all the shots done that we needed to to. All three of us worked well as a team and ensured that we had all props needed in order to shoot successfully. We are planning to shoot on Sunday when we will be shooting the majority of our film in London at all the key landmarks. Here are some photographs from our first day filming:

Week 10 Meeting:

This week will complete our animatic storyboard. As well as this we are going to film the bedroom scenes at my house. We are doing this because we want to complete the filming that isn't set in London as then on Sunday we can film hopefully all of our scenes in London.

Filming Preparation:

Just to ensure that we have a back up, we have printed off the masks again from the internet (we have bought some proper cardboard ones from the internet). We did this incase we lost one or one got broken. We would not be able to successfully film our video without these masks and because they are so important, we have done this. 


Our animatic storyboard is almost complete. We have added lots more shots to it to make the pace faster and I have edited the shots into it. It has taken us quite a long time to complete it, however, we feel that it is important as it helps us to visualise how our final product will turn out. 

Filming

Tomorrow (30/11/11) we plan to film the first scenes of our video. We have arranged to shoot the inside scenes; the bedroom beginning and end shots. We hope to have these finished by the end of the day, so we can then go out and film the rest of our video in London, and can begin editing our first set of footage. 

Prop List

We will be using various props in our video, in addition to the costumes. These will be used to help exaggerate the mise-en-scene and also convey the concept and narrative of our video. The props we will be using are:

• plastic truncheons
• megaphone
• cup and saucer
• newpaper
• briefcases
• umbrellas
• fish and chips wrapped in newspaper
• various london props
• bags (topshop, river island, urban outfitters)
• masking tape

Whilst shooting in London various props may be found, e.g. telephone boxes, street lamps, street signs.

Costumes

Our music video relies somewhat on costumes to help the audience relate to the characters. We have decided to use both costumes and masks in our video, as this helps the concept of the video to be shown. Our costumes include:

• Masks- David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Milliband
• Suits- preferably different colours
• Pyjamas 
• London Tops
• Police hats

Album Cover

This is the first draft for our proposed album cover artwork. We decided to keep it simple, using block capitals and plain font on a simple yet effective background. We used the union jack because it clearly fits into the theme of the album, including the title and single, and feel like this would be appropriate. The use of the union jack is effective as it stands out, and would catch the eye of many people, and it is a universal symbol that would entice many people. The bold colours also help the cover stand out, as well as the bold block capital letters in the center of the image. 

Week 9 Meeting:

This week we are putting together out animated storyboard using Final Cut. As well as this we have created a shot list, detailing the shots we aim to use. This however is subject to change as things may not always go to plan when it comes to the day of filming. There are also bound to be more shots that we will use that we have not yet detailed on the list. We have also made a prop list which details all of the props we will need to use and take with on our filming days.

Richmix, London:

As a media group, we were all given the opportunity to go to London for the day to a place called Richmix near Brick Lane where we would experience first hand information from music video directors and producers such as Liz Kessler and Corin Hardy. As well as this, we were also given a helpful talk by Pete Fraser, Chief examiner for OCR Media Studies.


Fraser gave us an insight into the history of music videos, starting from the 1920's right through to the current day. We were taught about the invention of scopitones, which are a form of Jukebox originating from France, made during WWII and the creation of MTV. I was particularly interested after learning that features such as the female gaze and voyeurism which we commonly see in today's music videos, were also featured in videos back as far as the 1940's, in particularly in one of Nat King Cole's videos.
We were also shown videos by acts such as The Beatles which were made to support the song when the band we unable to perform on programmes such as Top of The Pops.


 

We looked at videos through the decades of acts such as Madonna and Queen as well as the famous 'Thriller' video by Michael Jackson. Music videos became increasingly important in supporting the sale of a song. Acts such as Madness would create videos that would entertain their audience and their audience would look forward to the release of their new song just to see what they had done with the video. This was the case for many artists, and as videos became increasingly popular, more and more black artists began to feature on MTV, something that only Michael Jackson was able to do for a long while. 

Black rap artists such as Jay Z and 50 cent were crucial in giving off a new type of music video. Their videos would regularly contain weapons, violence and females. Jay Z's '99 Problems' video was made using 900 cuts, a ground-breaking video achievement for the early 21st century. Despite being a rapper, Jay Z wished for the video to be shot in the way in which a rock music video would be shot and therefore roped in the help of Mark Romanek, more commonly known for directing videos by David Bowie and Michael Jackson. 50 Cent's video of 'Candy Shop' gave music video viewers a different type of video, featuring female models and dancers wearing little clothing, the video immediately featured voyeurism.
As well as this, we were also taught the importance of featuring Goodwin's Analysis in our essay and exam writing and noticing it's use in music videos. 


We then received 2 talks by Kessler and Hardly in which they presented us with some of their work, with videos by acts such as Olly Murrs, The Horrors, Britney Spears and Dry The River. This gave us a fascinating first hand insight into the direction and production of music videos, the time they take, the money spent etc. I feel that this will benefit our group as we create our own video and we can take into consideration some of the factors we were told about. 


As a media group, we had to think of an original video to the song 'No Rest' by Dry The River. The song was a slow yet powerful song to which we were only played the music of before going away to lunch to consider what we would do in our video if we were to make one to the song. Our group came up with a very complex and expensive idea which Kessler and Hardy decided would be unsuitable for the £5000 budget that the band had for the video. We were eventually shown the video which Hardy himself had directed. The video was fantastic and despite such a small budget, I believe that the video was extremely well suited to the song and was a great idea.





Overall, I believe that the day was very beneficial to us as A2 media studies students. We were given an opportunity that not many other students were given which will help us immensely in completing our coursework and doing our exam in June.

Prop list:

For our video we will need to use various props to create the ideas that we have in mind. Here is a list of all of the props we aim to use:

• Newspaper
• Mens suits
• Masks (David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Milliband)
• Cups and saucers 
• 'I love London' t shirts
• Toy truncheons 
• Megaphone
• Bags (Topshop, River Island and Urban Outfitters)
• Masking tape
• Permanent marker
• Cardboard cut out of a smiley face

Filming:

We have chosen roles to play in the production of our music video. Lucy is the editor, Ellie Scott will be filming and Ellie Glickman will be the producer. By having these roles we believe it will be easier for us all as we will know what we must do in order to smoothly and successfully create our video. We aim to start filming next Wednesday, where we will be trying out some different shots at Lucy's house. There are only 2 or 3 shots that need to be filmed in this location which are at the start and finish of the video. However, we want to make the best impression possible with these two shots as they will be the first thing that the viewer sees as well as the last, therefore they are vitally important to attracting viewers and getting them to remember our video. Next weekend we hope to go to London (providing the weather is good) and film the shots that will make up the bulk of our video. We are aware however that we may need to do more than one trip to London, however, we aim to do as much as possible on this day as if we do need to do other filming days in London, we need to be careful of the lighting (if the weather is different on this day it will spoil the video). So therefore, our aim is to get to London extremely early in the morning when it isn't as busy, and finish filming in the evening. 

RickMix Trip:

Last week, all media A-Level classes went on a trip to Liverpool Street to study music videos with a company called RichMix. The lectures taught us all about the various music videos that have been produced and how they have developed over time. We looked at videos from the 1930's, such as 'A Colour Box' by Len Lye, Nat King Cole videos from the 1940's and the development on factors that we see everyday in modern videos such as Voyeurism and the Female Gaze. We then looked into the era when music videos and artists became very popular within both Britain and America, artists such as the Beatles, Elvis and Queen were featured.
We then learnt about the 1980's and how female artists as well as black artists began to appear on the market and became very popular, we looked predominately at Madonna and then went on to look at 50 Cent and his videos. Artists and music videos were mainly becoming popular due to the introduction of MTV in 1981 in which made music videos both easy to access and watch. Along with the beginning of MTV, we also looked into the introduction of more controversial videos, examples included 50 Cents 'Candy Shop' and Jay Z's '99 Problems'.
As a group we then analysed many music videos and related them to Paul Goodwin's famous six step analysis in which we had previously learnt in class.
For our afternoon session, each school had to come up with an individual idea for a music video, the video had to be for the song 'No Rest' by 'Dry the River' and the production had to cost under £5000. Our school came up with the idea of having three main characters with a desire to fight for something they love and do not want to lose. This idea was very suitable as the lyrics of the song mentioned the want to keep something and how depressed they would be if they lost this thing, however due to the fact that the video included three people within various locations, it was too expensive to fit within the brief given to us.
Overall, the trip was both very entertaining and really helped me with the topic of music videos, to add to this, it has also given me good tips on what to include and remember when completing my coursework, just simple tips such as making sure a lot of time is taken to film the video as this is when timing problems could occur.

Mark Romanek Essay:

Mark Romanek:

Mark Romanek is an American director whose work includes: music videos, commercials and also feature films. Overall, he has been extremely successful and has won 19 MTV Video music awards and has also won 3 Grammy awards. Mark Romanek has a specific style which is present in the following five videos: ‘Hurt’ by Johnny Cash, ‘Closer’ by Nine Inch Nails, ‘Criminal’ by Fiona Apple, ‘Scream’ by Michael and Janet Jackson and ’99 Problems’ by Jay Z. His videos are particularly known for having high concept mise-en-scene and due to the fact that he has an interest in old photography, many of his music videos follow a black and white or sepia affect. To add to this, Romanek’s videos commonly include surrealism and imagery to create certain affects wanted by the artist. The fact that Romanek has various features that he commonly uses within the majority of his videos shows how Romanek, as an artist, follows the ‘Auteur theory’. The ‘Auteur theory’ explains how directors have a specific style, vision and influence in which they like to include within their different pieces of work.

The video for ‘Hurt’ by Johnny Cash was released in 2003; Romanek within the video has purposely tried to capture the essence of Cash within both his youth and his life at the time, at an older age. The video is primarily performance based as Cash is continuously seen throughout the video singing and playing the piano. To add to this, the video also contains a narrative theme as it includes several clips of Johnny’s memories when he was young and clips of his life within 2003, at the age of 71. The video has a very dark feel and is shot predominantly in black and white, a feature often used by Romanek within his work. Within this video, Johnny Cash is very closely focused on, this is due to the fact that the video itself focuses on his life and shows Cash reminiscing on both the good and bad points within his life. A feature that Romanek typically uses within his videos is the extensive use of mise-en-scene, within ‘Hurt’ the setting of the video is very distinctive with several plates of food, lots of glasses and goblets and it is set in a very traditional and Victorian style mansion. Additionally, due to the fact that the song focuses on the ups and downs within Johnny Cash’s life, the visuals closely match the lyrics as Cash is shown acting both happy and sad and various photographs from different parts of his life are shown within the video relating to the lyrics.

Another of Mark Romanek’s videos is called ‘Closer’ by a bizarre band called Nine Inch Nails, this particular video is concept based as it is simply full of very strange and disturbed images and settings throughout the whole of the video. This video, similar to Johnny Cash’s video is also has a very dark theme and has been filmed with a sepia affect, to furthermore give the video a murky and morbid feel. This video also includes a high concept of mise-en-scene; the video continuously includes several disturbing and unpleasant objects such as, a heart, bugs, animal bones and animals being tortured. Yet another feature constantly used by Romanek within his videos is the focus on the artist, almost constantly within the video the band/artist is seen constantly at both long view and close up angles.

‘Closer’ by Nine Inch Nails, closely relates to another of Romanek’s videos by Fiona Apple called ‘Criminal’. This music video also follows a very sinister theme this is due to the song being about feeling lost and being confused, these emotions are shown within the video by Fiona Apple herself. Fiona performs within the music video, making the video primarily performance based; however, she also acts within the video expressing the feelings of discomfort and bewilderment and follows a narrative. Similarly to ‘Closer’, ‘Criminal’ focuses closely, within the video on specific objects again showing Romanek’s attraction to the substantial use of mise-en-scene. The objects focused on are a camera and a teddy and also there are lots of other characters that feature within this video, again similar to ‘Closer’. Voyeurism is another factor used within this video, the artist, at various different points within the video, is seen through screens to get a different aspect and angle of the artist performing.

The penultimate video of Mark Romanek’s work that I am analysing is called ‘Scream’ by Michael and Janet Jackson, this particular video is among one of the most expensive music videos ever made, and it cost approximately $7 billion to produce. This video is concept based, as it does not follow a narrative but it does also include some performance from the two artists throughout. As the two artists perform throughout, the music video does closely focus of the brother and sister constantly within the video. The video follows a space theme and Romanek has used cinematography to create the several affects used within the video, this video, alike many of Romanek’s other creations also is black and white themed. Similarly to ‘Closer’ voyeurism is also used within ‘Scream’, in particular Michael is focused on predominately within the screens.

The last video is ’99 problems’ by Jay Z, this is one of Mark Romanek’s most famous pieces of work and both he and Jay Z worked very closely together to create the video.  The video is mainly performance based as Jay Z is continuously focused on rapping within Brooklyn in New York, where the video is set, it is also narrative based as many lyrics are acted out by Jay z and fellow characters within the video. The video has very similar cinematography affect to ‘Scream’ as it is black and white themed with very clear cut camera work used, mainly to display the grimy backdrop of Brooklyn in which Jay Z desperately wanted to include.

It is very clear from looking at several of Mark Romanek’s music videos that he does follow the ‘Auteur theory’ and does include numerous factors within every one of his videos. Certain affects such as Voyeurism, mise-en-scene, imagery, surrealism and coloured affects are always used by Mark Romanek. The fact that Romanek uses his own personal influences and creations within his work definitely makes his work differentiate from other director’s music videos and emphasise his own personal style. Romanek, as a director, will want to gain a personal style so that audiences can differentiate his work from other music video producers, making him a famous and recognisable face of the industry.

Editing:

At the moment, we are creating an animated storyboard. We are using the drawings that we made on post-it notes and have photographed them and put them on the computer. We have loaded them on to Final Cut and are putting them into order to make an animated storyboard. By doing this it will give us a clear layout of the order that our video will go in, which will help us when we have completely finished filming our video and are at the editing stage.

Location Photos:

Filming: Shot List

1. Shot of the two characters in bed, drinking tea, reading newspaper, mid shot 
2. Characters walking in to train station, mid to long shot
3. Low shot of feet walking 
4. Characters on the train, mid tracking shot
5. Walking out of Oxford Street station, long shot, then zooming in to station sign
6. Panning shot of characters in traffic, characters are stationary whilst camera is moving, mid shot
7. Mid shot of characters walking into Topshop, then walking out with a bag 
8. Mid shot of characters walking into River Island, then walking out with a bag
9. Mid shot of characters walking into Urban Outfitters, then walking out with a bag
10. Close up of characters waiting at bus stop
11. Close up shot of characters walking onto a bus
12. Close up, zooming out shot of characters walking off bus
13. Mid shot of characters sitting on wall by the river Thames, parliament in the background, drinking tea and chatting/ shot of characters in front of house of parliament
14. Mid shot of Trafalgar Square, characters sword fighting and moving from left to right across the shot
15. Shot of characters standing together, two of them motioning the other to leave, he walks off alone, close up shot
16. Shot of characters sitting on wall by the Thames, laughing and pointing at parliament
17. Close up shot of face, tape across their mouth and 'London Calling' being scribbled across it (stop motion)
18. Long shot of characters standing in front of London Eye 
19. Shot of Buckingham Palace, close up on guards and tourists
20. Mid shot of character with megaphone, shouting into it, the words 'London Calling' coming out in writing
21. Close up of face with a giant cardboard cut out smile
22. Long shot of protestors outside St Pauls, panning around the crowds
23. Nuclear power plant shot (archive.com)
24. Tracking shot of characters walking down to the beach by the Thames
25. Close up shot of characters in separate phone boxes
26. Zooming in shot of the sky/sun
27. Mid shot of characters building sandcastles
28. Long shot of cars/engines moving across the shot (left to right) 

Week 8 Meeting:

Within week 8 we completed our story boards, now we have around 25-30 shots that we are going to include within our video. After we finished our storyboard we took photographs of each shot and uploaded the onto Final Cut express in order to make the shots into an animation. This is going to be a difficult task, yet it will make our shots look realistic and give us an insight into what our final video will look like.

Week 7 Meeting:

Within week 7 our group started our storyboards, drawing every shot in detail, showing both the camera movement and the angle of the shot. So far, we have around 10-15 shots for our film. Starting a storyboard has really helped our group as it has enabled us to see how and what are end video is going to look like. To add to this, it has helped us put our shots in order as we were not entirely sure what order our shots were going to be within our video.

Director Essay: Michel Gondry

Michel Gondry is an established director; from music videos to documentaries to feature films. His directorial style focuses greatly on exaggeration and how mise-en-scene can be used to create effect. Gondry's unique style and vision are shown through his work, particularly his music videos. His creativity has stemmed a very long career and has proven him to be an 'auteur' of his craft, who  has a specific style which is included in his work. 


The video for 'The Hardest Button To Button' by The White Stripes displays Gondry's fantastic use of stop motion animation. This is used to create a specific effect which is used in many of Gondry's videos, but is most famously used in this one. The video is highly performance based, featuring heavily on the band, who are the focus of the animation. Gondry contrasts the basic backgrounds with the constantly moving band to make them stand out. In theory the concept of this video is extremely basic, but Gondry uses special effects to make it creative and enigmatic. As well as the auteur theory being clearly shown, Gondry's video also displays Andrew Goodwin's analysis and Richard Dyer's 'Star Theory' by showing many close ups and focusing on the performance of the band. 'The Hardest Button To Button' is one of the most famous music videos of all time, and the song and video concept is parodied in an episode of The Simpsons, showing how Gondry's unique vision has created an intertextual link.


Another one of Gondry's videos that uses visual effects is 'Let Forever Be' by The Chemical Brothers. The video follows a young girl as she performs her daily duties and juxtaposes between reality and her dream world. The dream world is shown through a series of choreographed sequences, another one of Gondry's directorial styles. The simple shots are transformed and multiplied to make a high level of verisimilitude. Another way this is shown is through exaggerated mise-en-scene, a technique that is featured in many of Michel Gondry's videos.  


'Everlong' By Foo Fighters also shows Gondry using imagery to contrast dreams and reality. The concept of the video follows a variety of dream sequences, again choreographed, that portray a high level of verisimilitude. As well as being conceptual, the video has a performance aspect and the band are featured heavily throughout, relating to Goodwin's and Dyer's theories. Gondry also uses black and white in contrast with colour to convey the difference between dreams and reality. He also relies heavily on exaggerated mise-en-scene, as seen in many of his other videos, to convey conceptual ideas. Many props and costumes are used in this video to amplify the concept of a dream. 


Gondry uses mise-en-scene as an art form in his videos. This can also be seen in the video for 'Mad World' by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews. Again, Gondry takes a very simple concept and makes it interesting by using exaggeration and creativity. Shot from a birds eye view, the video shows people making images from their bodies and moving to create a story. This simple yet effective art form is one of Gondry's unique ways of engaging an audience. No special shots or effects are used at all in this video. We also see brief glimpses of the artists, again complying with the Richard Dyer 'Star Theory', as well as some performance of the song. Gondry's technique of using people to create images became extremely popular, and has been recreated since, such as on adverts (talktalk phone and broadband). 


From analysing these four videos, it is clear that Michel Gondry has a very unique style. His heavy focus on mise-on-scene show how he conveys narratives in a creative way, as well as his fond use of stop motion animation and special effects. These techniques prove him to be an 'auteur' in his own right, following the 'Auteur Theory' where an artist can create their own vision and style which they adapt and use in their work. Gondry can be seen as extremely creative with a lot of artistic flare and a pioneer of animation. His reputation as an esteemed director and artist make his work immediately recognisable. 

Hype Williams:

American music video director Hype Williams is most commonly known for his work with black hip hop artists such as Kanye West, Beyonce and LL Cool J. During his career which has spanned 20 years so far, Williams has established several visual styles which feature amongst the majority of his videos.


In the video “Gold Digger” by Kanye West and Jamie Foxx, one of Williams’s typical styles which feature all of the artists performing in the video is reflected immediately. This style continues throughout the video where both Foxx and West are regularly cross cut between each other to present each artist performing. The genre of music is typically associated with women. Women are strongly glorified in many of Williams’s videos, particularly in this one. The interspersing of the footage of the classic pin up girl image and the footage show the viewer how the men see the women. Laura Mulvey’s concept of the ‘Male Gaze’ which puts the viewer in the position of the male as the camera particularly focuses on women’s curves is most definitely expressed in this video. The use of the ‘male gaze’ also aims to give off the idea that the male has power over the female being gazed at. Frequent cutting between different women puts across the idea that the performers of the song can ‘have’ any of these women that they want.


Another video that features this concept is that of Pharrell Williams’s “Angel”. This video once again frequently cuts between images of different women and the artist performing. Hype Williams’s visual style really begins to surface as we recognise the way he expresses his adoration of women through his directing work. Again, it can be mentioned that the use of the ‘male gaze’ theory is featured in the video as the women are wearing provocative or barely little clothing, similarly to West’s “Gold Digger” video. Another similar feature between the two videos is that of the use of the widescreen letterbox around the screen. Both videos are played within a frame which compresses the video, keeping the original quality but giving a different style to the video. This is effective as the audience will recognise part of Hype Williams’s style due to this small feature. The lyrics of both of these songs are contradicting each other however, West’s song criticises women for being ‘gold diggers’ whereas Williams admires women for being ‘angels’, however, the style of video remains the same. Andrew Goodwin’s analysis supports the way that these videos demonstrate genre characteristics, where the stereotypical hip hop video style is exhibited.


A style which again features amongst many of Williams’s video is the continuous close ups of the artist whilst they perform. Goodwin’s music video analysis claims that the demands from the record label will mean that there is a strong requirement for close ups of the artist in order to create a visual style as does Richard Dyer’s ‘Star Theory’. The ‘star theory’ aims to produce a relationship between the audience, industry and the star to produce a unique selling point. By doing this it is also a clever way of advertising and promoting the artist itself. Both of the above videos frequently include close up shots, as does Drakes “Forever” video. This song features other major hip hop artists including Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Eminem. The video comprises of regular close ups of each artist during their verse, however, often the shots are done from a side view to emphasise the surrounding environment (in particular in Lil Wayne’s verse at 4:01 where we see that he is quite clearly in a bar with women, again highlighting the stereotypical black hip hop lifestyle). Relating back to Goodwin’s analysis, at 3:56, the lyrics form a relationship with the visuals, “life is a rollercoaster then it drops” where the video cuts to a basketball player dropping a ball into a hoop.

Williams does not include any type of particular mise-en-scene in his works, instead uses other visual styles to become memorable to the audience. Women are dressed in little clothing in several of his videos and the men are dressed reasonably smartly, however this does not suggest a certain style of costume that Williams uses in his videos, instead it is just due to the type of lyrics used in the song. The lighting varies between each of his videos, some using key lighting and others using backlighting. However, the use of natural lighting during the clips of basketball in Drakes “Forever” video in comparison to the low key lighting used during the clips of the artists contradict each other immensely which could have been done to show reality compared with idealism.


Overall, from analysing several of Williams’s most recent videos we can see a style developing which shows hip hop stars glorify women. This can also be seen in some of his earlier work, such as the video of “No Diggity” by Blackstreet, again a hip hop song which includes the ‘male gaze’ theory at points throughout the video (0:52, 1:11 and 3:50) where the camera rolls upwards, grasping the image of a woman’s body. Another video which supports this is Montell Jordans “This Is How We Do It” where at 0:22, the male gaze theory is once again recognisable.


From looking at some of Williams older work, it is clear to see how his style has developed and changed during his career. His earlier work includes a vaster amount of choreography in both male and female videos in comparison to more recent videos which mainly feature on just the artist and images of women for male videos. This could be because in the 1990’s, videos were becoming more and more popular, and it was more exciting for the viewer to watch a video which featured dancing than just performance of the artist. But, as time has developed, the audience of music videos is getting younger and therefore the teenage population aren’t as interested in this type of video, but more interested in the sexual references made through the videos of more recent work. Another video which features heavy choreography is the TLC video “No Scrubs”. More commonly, a female group are likely to use more structured choreography than males, which is supported by the video of “Videophone” by Beyonce and Lady Gaga where choreography is used, common of Beyonce’s videos.


In conclusion, the videos that have been looked at here show the style that Williams has developed over his career. We can recognise as an audience member that Williams specifically works with black hip hop artists, mostly males in which during the video he focuses around the female body. Also, the ‘male gaze’ is more frequently than not used in his work, typical of black males who idolise women with curves. By using this commonly in his videos, it also stereotypes his work into a particular style which is easy to distinguish by the audience.