Tuesday, 26 November 2013

Final Fonts Choices

I have finalised my decisions of the fonts I will use on the digipak and magazine ad designs:


Orator Std: I chose to use this to represent the artist's name across the board as it is a very simplistic and blunt font but the use of all capitals and the clarity of the font allows the audience to easily recall and relate it back to the artist's name, hopefully making it memorable. Additionally, it contrasts the album title's text very nicely and both together illustrate a 1990's tone that reflects the album and artist's style well.

Rage Italic: I wanted the album title to mean something, as it does to the artist, and the term 'With Love' is typically used to end a love letter or some other. This gave me the idea to make the title appear as a gift to the target audience, choosing a font that gave off an air of personality and sincerity in the products. So the use of this font worked nicely with the album's overall theme of love and portrayed a lovely tone of intimacy between the artist, the album and the consumer.

I am aware that neither of these fonts were original choices but, after further research and testing into the image design of the product, it was clear to me that it was far more beneficial for the products as it properly reflected the underlining meaning and inspiration of the album: the artist's basic but bold image alongside the deep lyrics within the songs that revolve solely around a personal love.

Monday, 25 November 2013

Initial Ideas for Magazine Advertisement

I have decided upon doing a magazine as part of the ancillary tasks to help promote the music video plus the artist and her album. I have done a substantial amount of research into the different kinds of magazine adverts created and how the artists use it to their advantage, which will be shown through the research phase.



I have chosen to focus upon placing the advertisement on the back of the magazine because, although it is at the back; the amount of space available is enough to get an effective, eye-catching ad that appeals to its target audience and I find that the consumer tends to look at the front and back of the magazine before sifting through the inside so it will be extra useful to merge these two together for successful promotion. I will continue to use the colour scheme but may add one or two colours to add more colour to the image (and keep it linked in with the digipak) although the main colours (blue and black) will be made clear throughout the products. Additionally, I will be using the front cover of the digipak to promote the artist's image and continue the flow of the artist's representation and album.

Friday, 22 November 2013

Initial Ideas for Digipak

I have decided upon doing a digipak as part of my ancillary tasks to help promote the music video I have made and I have done a substantial amount of research into the different kinds of digipaks used and how each artist uses it to their advantage, which will be shown throughout the research phase.

This is the template I will be using for my digipak:

I have chosen a 6 Panel design simply because I am able to do more creatively with it and truly bring out a strong, bold image for the artist. Additionally, this would be beneficial for the artist's genre as it would allow me to create a certain classic, elegant image that fits in alongside the genre's conventions. I plan on keeping to the colour scheme of blue and black but I may add one or two more colours to add more colour into the image as the chosen colours are already dark and the design will need some brighter colours involved to help make the artist stand out. Additionally, I will be planning a photo shoot with the artist to produce a good collection of photos for the design and to illustrate her clearly into the image itself. More will be written individually about this specifically.

Tuesday, 19 November 2013

The Script: Science and Faith (Analysis)


Front Cover
The image of two hands held in a strong hold is the first indicator of the CD's theme and takes up a substantial amount of space, done this way so that it is instantly noticed and grabs the consumer's immediate attention. The Script is an alternative rock band, not solely focused upon their image but on the quality of their music and how its perceived, so giving no face to the band's name conforms to the conventions of their group's genre. The main text illustrating the band's name and the title of the album is placed directly above the hands; each letter compact together 

Back Cover
Another image of hands is presented that link to the album's design but the touch is far more gentle than the front cover, and this contrast suggests a visual representation of the title 'Science and Faith' in which each image suggesting two separate ideas about faith; the front cover appears more stronger and together (Faith) whereas the back cover indicates a more compassionate tone to the album's aesthetics, having the immense detail on the bone structure of the hand shown emphasising this (Science). 

CD Design
There is a fire-like symbol that portrays a 3D shape that encircles the CD itself; arguably suggesting that its purpose is to create an enigma of the album and its contents, especially when relating it to the title 'Science and Faith' since each topic are, in their own rights, have a sense of mystery themselves. Additionally, this links back to the band's representation as, being an alternative rock band, they rely on an ambiguous image which encourages the audience to think about its concept and how it links in to the album's title.

CD Sleeve
This stands out from the rest particularly due to the band's faces being shown as part of the CD package. The photograph of the ambiguous band, being the first image the consumers see before the music and inside design, portrays a suggestive subversion of the alternative rock band conventions who appear develop their star image in relation to the album's theme. However, the faces of each band member aren't every clear with shadows streaking across vocalist, obscuring half of his face, whilst the other band members are kept further away from the camera's view and look away from the lens. Arguably, it successfully amps up the enigma of the band member's identity by providing the faces and image but obscuring and distancing them away from the target audience.

Monday, 18 November 2013

Katy Perry: Teenage Dream (Digipak Analysis)

Front Cover
The main text illustrating the artist's name and the album title is placed near enough the top and bottom of the cover, done this way so that the image of the artist is kept in a sandwich layout and, therefore, portrays her as the most significant icon within the design. This is a good style to use as its layout encourages the audience to look from top-to-bottom and ultimately provides a recurring theme for the album, the idea of Katy's "teenage dream" having nudity, candy floss clouds and sweet-related items. The font additionally emphasises this, having been made of a decorative sweet pattern such as candy canes and liquorice. After researching the album, it's made clear that this theme is a recurrence through her music video's such as California Gurls - the first single from the album.  The image of the artist provides a new alternative to the meaning of "teenage dream", the artist suggesting that a modern teenager's desires involve nudity, however, the use of the colour pink does connote sweetness and innocence to the title; encouraging the audience to take a further look within the digipak. The background of the cover is the artist seductively laying upon pink clouds - likely to be candy floss - which mostly focuses upon the artist's image and how she's portraying herself to her audience, being her first hit album and her breakthrough into the music industry as a worldwide artist. It's made clear that the album contains some suggestions of sexuality intertwined with the idea of a teenager's dreams of love, further indicating that she is using this theme to appeal to her young audience to help boost her career.

Back Cover
This continues to follow through with the sweet theme, although kept clear of the artist's image, as shown through the font used to name the track titles. The font is the bold colour red which allows to keep the consistency of the candy cane theme and helps the text stand out against the fluffy, pink clouds. Additionally, the text is stocky and has a sweet-related connotation that continuously connects with the overall theme. A small portion of the text is presented very differently against the red text in a bright blue (a similiar colour to the sky pictured in the top third of the design) and is positioned differently so it is eye-catching to the audience. Its importance is that is promotes the extra CD as part of the packaging that provides extra tracks for the audience, something that will appeal to them as consumers.

CD Design
The design is a continuation of the sweet theme, although is far more visually plain; kept as the designs of a doughnut and candy cane. However, the candy cane design is a clear repetition throughout the digipak's design so this makes it clear which is the main CD and which is the bonus CD. The design's do merge within the overall scheme of the digipak and continues to broaden a strong image of a "teenage dream" thoroughly.

Inside Design
Again, the sweet theme thrives as a main factor to the album's design although does involve the artist's image more; following Goodwin's Principles of keeping the artist's face in full view of the audience. In one image, there is a closer shot of the artist laying on her back on the pink candy floss cloud. She is still visibly naked and this emphasises the idea of sexuality playing a significant role alongside innocence and sweet things within her music; also portraying the artist's confidence with herself which will encourage consumers to further look at the digipak. Additionally, the leaflet left inside sees her wearing clothing but in a more princess-like manner which presents a contrast with the artist's vision for the album. Wearing a sweet tiara and pink puffed-up dress and surrounded by sweet things further presents the album's theme and suggests the artist wants to emphasise that she is portraying her version of a "teenage dream".

Rihanna: Loud (Digipak Analysis)

Front Cover
The main text revealing the artist's name and the title of the album is placed on the top and bottom in capitals, done specifically so the first thing the target audience see is the most important information needed for the design. This is formally known as the Z layout where the artist's name is presented above, the image is presented in the middle to put a name to a face and the title is presented below. This is a great style to use as its layout forces the audience to look at everything on the cover and follows Goodwin's Principles in keeping the artist's face in full view of the audience. The image works well with the title as it links in with this idea of a 'LOUD' image, the use of the colour red merged with the artist's style reflecting this and encourages the audience to look further into the digipak to find out more. The background for the album cover is the artist herself, linking in to Goodwin's Principles of the record label demands, that mostly focuses upon her bold hairstyle that was perceived as outrageous and eccentric when she adopted it. It's made clear that her hair has impacted a majority of her change in image as the colour red is being made a distinctive colour throughout the scheme of the artist's work and, therefore, emphasises the creative impact a slight change of image has made on her career.

CD Design
This is a little different from the front cover design where the artist is in focus; bold and fierce, whereas this design represents something completely opposite with softer pale colours although still following in with a theme of roses which signify gentility. This links in to the inside design in which holds the CD. The strength of the colours clash quite strongly, perhaps suggesting that Rihanna has following through with this image of gentility and love but on varying different levels: the dark red which she lays upon in a seductive manner has a sensual connotation whereas the lighter shade of the disc suggests innocent love. This portrays an amount of different suggestions to the target audience that illustrate how Rihanna is experimenting with her sound within this album.

Inside Design
This creates a better link between the front cover and the CD design seeing as the bold colours are still strong within the design but the way the artist is portrayed - caressed by the rose bush - is far more romanticised. Looking at the design on its own, it portrays a confliction on the artist's own accord as she is dressed in white (a symbol of purity and innocence) whilst she is passionately resting her hand on the roses; indicating there is a contrast between purity and sexuality in the album. This links in with the title of her album 'LOUD', visually portraying her distress between love/lust and the images are presented loud and clear to the audience.

Sunday, 17 November 2013

Digipak and Magazine

Whilst I begin editing the music video, I will continue my work on here by beginning my research and planning for the digipak cover and magazine advertisement. Additionally, I will continue to use the same artist whose song inspired my music video as it is more convenient to do so.

For the digipak, I will be looking at analysing the artist's marketing campaign for her most recent release by sifting through the choice of colour, font, her image, etc. and what they suggest about her personality, her style of music within the genre and, ultimately, the brand that is created for her. For the magazine advertisement, I will be looking at analysing the conventions used to promote the artist and her album, its print make and how well it links back into the artist's brand.

Friday, 15 November 2013

Behind-The-Scenes Take 1 (2.0)!

Today, I began filming with my artist and everything managed to work out well this time! We managed to flm all of the shots I needed plus extras in about an hour-and-a-half so I'm hoping I won't have to re-film anything as that will be a hassle due to location availability. This was the performance scenes which I felt needed to be kept raw and basic so that the most focus would be upon the artist and her style and it would create a stronger and, most importantly, recognisable image for her target audience. I've uploaded a few pieces of footage to show how the time panned out:



Wednesday, 13 November 2013

Re-Arranging Filming Schedule

Again, I am unable to meet with the artist to film her scenes today as she mistakenly made plans with me when she had other commitments so we have arranged a date to film them on Friday 15th November in the school drama room. This is the last time I am able to record her scenes as I have to begin editing the footage and piece the shots together and, due to my lack of knowledge on editing, I want to give myself plenty of time to learn and edit the film myself before December 6th, the release date for the music video and, ultimately, the time where I begin my evaluation tasks.

Tuesday, 12 November 2013

Plans for Teaser Trailer

I have been debating on this for about a couple of weeks now as I wasn't sure how time consuming this was going to be, alongside editing the actual video and beginning the research and planning of the digipak. I have decided to give creating a teaser trailer a go seeing as it would be beneficial for my work and, hopefully, makes it look much more professional.

I'm going to keep it as simple as possible by adding in one/two clips from each narrative alongside an instrumental of the song, not giving away too much about the video and allowing me to create it in about 2-4 hours so I have time to edit the official clip.

Improvement #2 to Music Video

I have decided against having three different narratives (performance, main narrative and flashback) for the following reasons:

  • I don't have enough time to film and edit all this footage
  • I felt the music video will have too much narrative to keep up with
  • the actors involved aren't readily available to film
  • keeping it basic and raw may compliment and amplify the song and its lyrics further
I believe this is for the best for my music video and I will have more time to work on the artist and actor's scenes. I have changed the Cast and Crew List in accordance to this also.

Saturday, 9 November 2013

Behind-The-Scenes Take 2!

Today, I began filming with the main actor! It went very well and we managed to complete filming in about 3 hours so I'm hoping that I won't need to re-film anything as that may be a hassle to re-create everything in the scene. This was the main narrative scenes which I consider to be rather significant in reflecting the lyrics of the song into something real and alive so I wanted to keep everything in the shots as realistic as humanly possible. I've uploaded a few pieces of footage to show how the day panned out below:



Friday, 8 November 2013

Behind-The-Scenes Take 1!

Today, I began filming with my artist! It didn't go as planned, however, as a couple of things didn't follow through.

To being with, I had been handed a brand new camera that most probably hadn't been used beforehand and, therefore, didn't have much battery life to start us off and left us charging it the majority of the time.

I then realised that my SD card wasn't compatible to the camera's fitting (Micro SD) so we had to go and find one that did which, at that time after school, wasn't too easy. However, we did and I managed to get one full shot of her throughout the whole song.

I don't regret this even if it was time considerably wasted doing other things as I am now able to overlook the piece of footage I did film and evaluate how well it went and if there was anything I could do to better the footage for next time.

We have rearranged another date to film, Monday 11th November at the same time, where I will have charged the camera and have the correct equipment with me.

Equipment Collected

I collected the necessary equipment needed to begin the production process today. Not much can be said on how everything will go but the equipment is brand new so I expect good quality and a great outcome for the project!

Thursday, 7 November 2013

Cast and Crew!

Here is the list of the cast and crew for the music video:

Director: Aria Archer
Screenplay Writer: Aria Archer
Producer: Aria Archer
Editor: Aria Archer
Costume Design: Aria Archer
Visual Effects: Aria Archer
Camerawoman: Aria Archer

Artist: Basheba Baptiste
Main Actor: Chantal Neckles
Sub-Actor #1: Adela Davis
Sub-Actor #2: Daniela Stempinska

Props Ready!

The actors have their outfits chosen, the make-up is accounted for and the on set props are ready! I have just completed the final act of printing out images as the last important prop for the music video so all that needs doing now is the filming. I have high hopes for the video and my actors are motivated to getting it right too.

Tuesday, 5 November 2013

Costume Change

Although this is a minor change, it does affect the overall image of the artist and is important to document. There is a change to the shoes being used due to lack of funds and availability to the prop. I had originally wanted to dress the artist in black wedges as it made her overall image appear more elegant but I am unable to find a pair to use and I cannot afford to purchase a pair so I have decided to make an ultimatum for her image by having her elegance modernised slightly by merging casual and elegance to provide the artist with her own image. This works best overall as it allows me to reintroduce the Soul genre to the audience with a twist that the audience is familiar with. Below is the swap I made to fulfill the image and I will be including this change throughout the rest of my work i.e. CD and Magazine cover, so there will be consistency throughout the works.



Monday, 4 November 2013

Shot List

Here is a list of ideas I have for each particular camera shot I am considering using for different scenes. I have drafted this up alongside my storyboard here (<-- link to be embedded)  so I have a clear idea of how I want the music video to go.

Extreme Close-Up shot

Although I don't want to use too many extreme close-ups, I felt that it was necessary to involve them within the video as there will be slight indications of the actor's emotions through them i.e. tugging a sweatshirt over her hands signifies a need of emotional comfort. Additionally, it highlights every little thing going on within the scene and provides, yet again, this stripped down clip of something real and modern audiences find that more valuable now as it's a way for them to feel connected to the actor/artist in some way.

Close-Up shot

I plan on using a lot of close-ups in the music video as it involves a lot of focus on particularly strong emotions throughout the course of the song and is a clear signifier for the audience on the progression of the actor's feelings through the duration of the video. Also, with the actor's and/or artist's face so close to the camera almost forces the audience to look them in the eye and take them in completely.

Medium Close-Up shot

This will most likely be the most popular camera shot to use during the performance scenes as I want the artist (costume and all) to be seen clearly but I also want her face to be the main focus as she will mimic the lyrics. Additionally, having her outfit seen will once again make her style and colour scheme somewhat recognisable for the target audience. I want to be able to have a fair amount of the background to be seen as having the setting appear realistic (kind of like behind-the-scenes set up), then I believe it will emphasise an image of having everything stripped down to its bare.

Medium Long shot

This shot is very similar to the medium close up but only shows a slightly larger amount of background which will, again, be used during the performance scenes frequently for similar reasons. It will perhaps be used for the main narrative shots also as there will be times where the actor will become more active so a use of this shot will help to gain a better understanding of what she's doing and her surroundings.

Wide shot

This shot will only be used a couple of times to assert a setting/location and to single out the figure in view of the camera. It will be used with the performance shots when the song becomes much more upbeat and the artist will, in turn, start using her body language more and then in the flashback narrative so the audience will know what is occurring.

Over The Shoulder shot

This will only be used during the main narrative to give another perspective to watch the narrative from as I don't plan on repeatedly re-using the same shots. It also gives the audience insight into what she is possibly doing as she goes about the narrative flow. It gives the video a more personal tone too as having the camera placed behind them so closely makes the audience feel as though they are actually in the same room as the actor which would create an interesting perspective for them, especially since a connection between the artist and her fans are significant.

High Angle shot

This shot is significant for the main actor's scenes as, to being with, the actor will be seen in a rather depressive-like state and this shot is most likely used to portray a character whom is powerless so this seems like the best shot to use. I really want the audience to feel pity for the actor as she lies on the bed at her most vulnerable.

Deep shot

This will briefly be used in the flashback narrative as the camera doesn't have complete focus on one specific thing and will be used in a handheld fashion to recreate a memory of the actor and her loved ones.

Friday, 1 November 2013

Shooting Schedule

This is the official shooting schedule for the production of the video for the next few days.

Friday 8th November 2013:
collection of the borrowed equipment at 9:30am
filming of performance takes place with Basheba Baptiste
timings from 3:30pm to 5:00pm, with designated breaks

Saturday 9th November 2013:
filming of main narrative takes place with Chantal Neckles
timings from 10am to 4pm, with designated breaks

Monday 11th November 2013:
filming of flashback narrative takes place with Adela Davis and Daniela Stempinska
timings from 9am to 3pm, with designated breaks
return of the borrowed equipment at 3:30pm

This has been kept small, divided and simple in order to allow me time at a later date to refilm any bits, if necessary.