I have created a Prezi presentation in order to answer my media evaluation questions, I hope you enjoy it!
Thursday 29 March 2012
Audience Feedback.
To gain an insight into how my target audience felt about my finalized music video, and ancillary products I asked 20 participants, 10 female and 10 male from my target audience range of 16-35. I showed them my finalized music video and then gave them this questionnaire to complete in order to gain their opinions on my project.
1. Do you feel this music video contains the typical elements of a rock music video?
2. Do you feel this music video appeals to ages 16-35? If so in what ways does it appeal to these ages?
3. Where would you expect to see this music video?
4. Is there anything you do not like about this music video?
5. Do the ancillary products relate to the music video? If so, in what ways do they relate to the music video.
6. Are the ancillary products typical of a Digipak and magazine advert?
7. Do you feel the ancillary products appeal to ages 16-35?
With regards to question 1, 17/20 people thought the music video contained the typical rock music video elements such as guitars, performance and dark clothing
being the main examples given.
In question 2, 15/20 people thought that the music video appealed to ages 16-35 and the main reasons given were; that the band members were young so the audience found them relateable, the graffiti scenes relate to young adults as those are the people who often use it to express themselves and some young people even make a career out of it as graffiti artists, finally another reason given was that the audience were shown two relateable paths of life that they could choose, to be successful or to be unsuccessful and homeless etc, so the audience found the narrative appealing as either could happen to them.
In question 3, the most common answers given were on Youtube as most music videos are uploaded onto there today especially if its aimed at young adults and MTV as it looks like a typical rock video that they would show as it shows urban industrial places and themes of rebellion.
In question 4, there weren't many answers to this question, but some answers that were give were that there were too many landscape shots and some people found that the editing in places was abit slow so shots lingered for too long.
In question 5, 18/20 people said that the ancillary products relate to my main music video and the most popular reasons given were that the music video and digipak included images of the band so people could easily see that the products were interconnected, another reason given was that all of the products had a similar style, as there was images of money on the ancillary products and the businessman in the music video which all link together and the ancillary products contained rough, neglected backgrounds which relates to some of the images I included in the city such as the neglected area in which the homeless character drinks.
In question 6, 14/20 people said that the ancillary products are typical of a digipak and a magazine advert. The main reasons given were that they had the typical features that people noticed such as bar codes, album titles and band names which everyone would expect to see on most products. Some of the reasons given against it was that the digipak should've included another disk in some peoples opinions and perhaps the magazine advert should've had more information about the product on it.
Finally in question 7, 13/20 people said that the ancillary products appealed to ages 16-35. The main reasons given were that; the bonus features on the digipak relate to young adults as there is a use of the internet by the website given and the exclusive band interviews and footage available online, the places listed on the magazine advertisement to buy the digipak were places that the target audience often shop such as iTunes or HMV and finally that the ancillary products have a minimalist style especially in the digipak cover artwork and the artwork on the magazine advertisement, which is very popular amongst CD's owned by the target audience such as Biffy Clyros album "Only Revolutions". Reasons against it appealing to the target audience was that there weren't a lot of bonus features attract the audiences attention and that the magazine advertisement doesn't attract the audiences attention as the colours aren't very bright and the artwork doesn't stand out to the audience.
To conclude, I think my products appealed to my target audience ages in a variety of ways, there were some reasons for people not to like my products but because of the overall results, the negative comments do not represent what the overall group thought of my products and when creating products like this, negative comments are unavoidable.
1. Do you feel this music video contains the typical elements of a rock music video?
2. Do you feel this music video appeals to ages 16-35? If so in what ways does it appeal to these ages?
3. Where would you expect to see this music video?
4. Is there anything you do not like about this music video?
5. Do the ancillary products relate to the music video? If so, in what ways do they relate to the music video.
6. Are the ancillary products typical of a Digipak and magazine advert?
7. Do you feel the ancillary products appeal to ages 16-35?
With regards to question 1, 17/20 people thought the music video contained the typical rock music video elements such as guitars, performance and dark clothing
being the main examples given.
In question 2, 15/20 people thought that the music video appealed to ages 16-35 and the main reasons given were; that the band members were young so the audience found them relateable, the graffiti scenes relate to young adults as those are the people who often use it to express themselves and some young people even make a career out of it as graffiti artists, finally another reason given was that the audience were shown two relateable paths of life that they could choose, to be successful or to be unsuccessful and homeless etc, so the audience found the narrative appealing as either could happen to them.
In question 3, the most common answers given were on Youtube as most music videos are uploaded onto there today especially if its aimed at young adults and MTV as it looks like a typical rock video that they would show as it shows urban industrial places and themes of rebellion.
In question 4, there weren't many answers to this question, but some answers that were give were that there were too many landscape shots and some people found that the editing in places was abit slow so shots lingered for too long.
In question 5, 18/20 people said that the ancillary products relate to my main music video and the most popular reasons given were that the music video and digipak included images of the band so people could easily see that the products were interconnected, another reason given was that all of the products had a similar style, as there was images of money on the ancillary products and the businessman in the music video which all link together and the ancillary products contained rough, neglected backgrounds which relates to some of the images I included in the city such as the neglected area in which the homeless character drinks.
In question 6, 14/20 people said that the ancillary products are typical of a digipak and a magazine advert. The main reasons given were that they had the typical features that people noticed such as bar codes, album titles and band names which everyone would expect to see on most products. Some of the reasons given against it was that the digipak should've included another disk in some peoples opinions and perhaps the magazine advert should've had more information about the product on it.
Finally in question 7, 13/20 people said that the ancillary products appealed to ages 16-35. The main reasons given were that; the bonus features on the digipak relate to young adults as there is a use of the internet by the website given and the exclusive band interviews and footage available online, the places listed on the magazine advertisement to buy the digipak were places that the target audience often shop such as iTunes or HMV and finally that the ancillary products have a minimalist style especially in the digipak cover artwork and the artwork on the magazine advertisement, which is very popular amongst CD's owned by the target audience such as Biffy Clyros album "Only Revolutions". Reasons against it appealing to the target audience was that there weren't a lot of bonus features attract the audiences attention and that the magazine advertisement doesn't attract the audiences attention as the colours aren't very bright and the artwork doesn't stand out to the audience.
To conclude, I think my products appealed to my target audience ages in a variety of ways, there were some reasons for people not to like my products but because of the overall results, the negative comments do not represent what the overall group thought of my products and when creating products like this, negative comments are unavoidable.
Tuesday 27 March 2012
Complete Digipak Design.
This is an image of my completed Digipak design to give you an idea of what the finalized product looks like. I began creating this Digipak on Photoshop by importing the 1st and 6th panel (the front and back cover) from Pages, which I originally created them in. I created the front and back cover by importing an rusty, grungy background that I had found and changed the hue to give it more of a burnt, rusty colour. I then changed the contrast to darken the shadows in the image. I then imported images of the band that I had taken from a previous photoshoot and screen grabs from my music video. I then changed the hue and the contrast of these images to make them match the colours used in the background themselves as I wanted the product to have an overall minimalist look. I then placed images of £50 notes onto the front cover and gave them a shadowing effect. With the font I had imported I created the band name, album title and band name on the spine on the front cover and added a tracklist onto the back cover. I then added a barcode that I had imported from my memory stick onto the back cover to fulfill another convention. I decided to create the CD label in Pages also as I found the £50 note images, easier to rotate. I used a similar grunge background on the label and placed the £50 images over the background, in a circle pattern. I then imported these covers and the CD label into Photoshop. When creating the other 3 panels in Photoshop I used the same background throughout once the editing had been done to it. Using the same text I wrote out the lyric sheet to the song "Come As You Are" which was the song used in my music video. I also imported another image from a previous band photoshoot I had conducted as the A5 poster, I also changed the hue of the photo to make it fit the colour scheme of the digipak better, but did not eradicate all of the colours in the original photo as I feel that I would have made the poster a bit boring to the audience.
Here is an image of the final two panels in my digipak. As you can see, the back cover is how I have previously described it above this image, including a barcode, band images, a tracklist and the album title, which are all typical conventions of a digipak. The other panel here is that of the bonus features, which is very important in this digipak. Using the same background and fonts as earlier, I wrote on this panel that by using the mobile phone scanner image I had previously imported from my memory stick that is now in the corner, the audience can download exclusive band MP3 files onto their phone. Finally I added the bonus feature of a website, that people can enter their barcode number (on the back cover) into and then download exclusive band interviews and footage. Hopefully this would attract my target audience as it's aimed at younger people who often use this form of digital technology and it would give them more content which is what a digipak is all about and separates it from a normal album. Hopefully all of these features and conventions have helped me create a finalized, polished digipak design.
Complete Magazine Advertisement Design.
This is a photograph of my completed magazine advertisement that is open in Photoshop. This is to give you an idea of the overall completed design. I began creating this in Photoshop by importing a grunge background that I had found onto a blank canvas, I then edited the hue to make the colours more rusty and edited the contrast to make the shadows in the background darker. I then imported the front cover image from my digipak which I have placed in the middle of the advertisement, this will be to grab the audiences attention as the colours contrast and jump out from the background, making it eye-catching. I used the same font on the advertisement as I have on the digipak. I have included the band title and digipak title for obvious reasons as they are common conventions of a magazine advertisement. I have also included images (logos) of the places where the digipak will be available for sale which I imported from my memory stick, these include Amazon.com, iTunes and HMV, which all relate to my target audience as age ranges 16-25 often shop at these places and this will attract their attention. The minimalist style of the advertisement sets it apart from busy advertisements such as A Day To Remembers which I previously looked at in another blog post, hopefully attracting the audiences attention and making them stop on this magazine page. The grungy, neglected textures used in both the digipak and the advertisement, let the audience know that the two products are connected with each other, forming a complete package.
Here is an image of the bottom half of the magazine advertisement. Here I have included the same font used on the digipak to keep a consistent style throughout.This also shows you that I have included the digipaks release date, which is a convention of a magazine advertisement. I have also included a website on which the audience can go and find out more information about the digipak and I have also included some information on the bonus features of the digipak to hopefully attract the audiences attention and make them interested in buying the digipak as it will be different from a normal album. To complete the magazine advertisement I have included the logos that I mentioned earlier, and the record label logo so people can recognise what music the digipak includes just by recognising the record label logo and thinking about what music the record label makes. All of these conventions and features have helped me to create a complete magazine advertisement which appeals to my target audience and gives the illusion that the products are really for sale.
Sunday 25 March 2012
Magazine Advertisement Elements.
Here I have created a plan for my magazine advert based on my earlier research into magazine advertisements for CDs / Albums / Digipaks. This plan provides me with the features I am going to include on my magazine advert as all of them have specific meanings and some of them are typical conventions of a magazine advert which contribute to them being successful in attracting the audiences attention and persuades them to buy the product. Here I will explain why I am including these features in my magazine advertisement and what meanings they have.
Band name and Digipak Title; The band name is to tell the audience whose product the advertisement is referring to. The digipak title also tells the audience what to look out for if they want to purchase it and tells the audience that it is different from previous releases as all albums / digipaks do not tend to share the same names. These will be in large sized font to immediately attract the audiences attention to the advertisement.
Release Date; This is a crucial piece of information in magazine advertisements as the audience needs to know when the product is available to buy and this is a common convention of magazine advertisements. This will also be in large font as it's key information the audience will probably be looking for, if its hidden in the corner of the advert, people may miss it.
Background; This will be to give the advertisement a professional theme and to add to the advertisement visually, as just a white blank space could seem boring to some audiences and won't catch their attention like a detailed background would. Backgrounds can also be the digipak's artwork but I have decided against this as I wanted to give the audience more to look at as my digipak artwork is simple but has a strong meaning.
Digipak cover; This is to show the audience what the digipak actually looks like so they can recognise it when they see it or know what it looks like if they want to purchase it. The artwork on my digipak cover also relates to the music inside so it can give the audience an idea of what music will be on the album and themes in the music. For example the £50 notes relate to the issue of the world being made of "human capital".
Features of the digipak; This is to inform the audience of what bonus material is available on the digipak and what separates it from a normal album. It also may attract an audience as some people may be looking for exclusive digipak content for collectors items etc. In these features I have also chosen to include a website address in which the audience can learn more about the digipak, its contents and purchase it online, connecting with the younger generation who are more technology immersed.
Possible retailers; I will include simple logos of retailers as this is a typical convention of a magazine advertisement as it quickly shows the audience where they can buy the product without it being online.
Record label; I have chosen to include this as the audience can see by the record label what type of music will be on the digipaks as record labels usually produce specific genres of music.
Digipak Elements.
This is the plan that I have created in order to create my complete digipak. I have chosen the 6 panel layout of a digipak as I felt that it complied with typical digipak conventions. Each panel in the digipak is different and contains different components to create a set which would cater to needs of fans who are buying the digipak.
In this entry I will dissect each panel in my digipak and explain why I included it.
Panel 1; This is the front cover, which would be included on all digipak's and is a typical convention. This is to grab the audiences attention and to let them know what they're buying and who it is made by etc. Mine features things such as the artwork consisting of 3, £50 notes, the digipak title and the band name. I have looked at the front cover of this digipak in detail in an earlier blog entry.
Panel 2; This panel will feature the actual album disk, which includes all of the music typical of the Nevermind album and will comply with the track-list featured on panel 6. Over the CD will feature the CD label, which consists of more artwork featuring £50 notes, linking with the hidden meanings in my music video and the artwork on the front cover of the digipak.
Panel 3; In the following panels, this is where digipaks tend to vary, as some will include bonus features whereas others won't and will just spread the albums music over a series of disks. I decided that with Nirvana's broad age range (based on my target audience research), I had to create a digipak that was useful to all age ranges. So in this panel I have provided a lyrics sheet to "Come As You Are", which is also the song used in my music video, so it all links together into one package. I decided on a lyric sheet as they're often very useful to committed fans (who might range from ages 16 - 50) who want to learn the lyrics and very useful to collectors as these are often featured in collectors items.
Panel 4; In this panel I have decided to include an exclusive A5 poster that wouldn't be sold in stores. To begin, the A5 size would fit nicely in the digipak instead of having to fold and possibly ruin an A4 sized one. Secondly, the fact that its exclusive and not being sold elsewhere would attract fans as they would want to have one and be unique to all the other fans and it is also an attractive collectors item, especially if it is exclusive to this digipak alone. Some people might be attracted by the poster alone and buy the digipak for that reason. Posters are versatile and have been around for generations, so it appeals to Nirvana's widely age ranged audience.
Panel 5; In this panel I have decided to include bonus features that appeal to today's generation and today's fans who are often immersed in the technological age. There are multiple bonus features as I felt it would add more to the digipak and give the audience more for their money.
The first feature is a mobile phone scanner which are extremely popular today, especially with the 16-30 age ranges as it makes downloading content easier. This scanner allows the audience to download band MP3 files straight to their phone, this gives them more content and combines with technology and as the MP3 files aren't on a separate disk in the digipak, it creates more room in the digipak.
The second bonus feature is for the audience to enter their specific barcode number into the following website www.nirvanabonus.co.uk so they can download or just watch exclusive band interviews and footage that won't be released onto a DVD or in a documentary. This combines typical media of video footage with online media of the website, which will again attract a younger audience. Also the fact that the footage is exclusive will attract committed fans and people looking for collectible items.
Panel 6; This is the final panel in my digipak which will be the back cover to the digipak itself. I have explored the contents of this back cover in more detail in an earlier blog entry. This back cover will keep with album/digipak back cover conventions, such as having a barcode for purchasing reasons, a track-list to let the audience know what songs are included on the CD itself, the album title for the audience to recognise what album this is and pictures of the band to further remind the audience whose album it is.
Thursday 1 March 2012
Digipak inspiration.
In this post I have conducted research into Digipak's that're currently available on the market, what their features are and what each individual design consists of in order to give me inspiration when creating my own Digipak.
This is a digipak for Green Day who are of the rock/punk genre and this is their Greatest Hits Digipak. The format they have used is 6 panels, 3 on the inside and 3 on the outside of the Digipak. They have included 2 disks full of songs by the band, keeping with the connotations of a 'greatest hits album' as usually more than one disk is needed as all the content required would not fit onto one disk alone. The band logo, of a man being electrocuted is featured on the first inside panel, to reinforce whose digipak it is, to contrast with the logo is a bright green background, which follows onto the two disks to keep a consistent theme throughout the digipak. On the first panel they include a short summary of the background of the band and also feature images of their previous albums to remind the audience of what they've released and that songs from these albums will feature on the current digipak. Behind the disks are images of the band from photoshoots which have been edited and given a green hue to correlate with the colour scheme of the digipak, these images can be removed from the packaging.
This is a digipak for the band The Killers and this is their Greatest hits album, they are of the rock/indie genre. They have also used a 6 panel design but only include one CD as they have created a specific playlist of what they believe to be their best songs and not included too much content like the Green Day digipak. In all 3 panels we can see black and white images of the band in various places in photoshoots, this is to reinforce the bands image and remind the audience of who the band are, their clothing and the mise en scene also relates to their genre of the Indie music being really minimalist and relaxed compared to angry punk music. On the first panel they have included a short summary of the bands career in red font to contrast with the background and images of their previous albums to show the audience what they produced before this. The CD itself is quite basic but holds the iconic Killers font on the CD label, which is instantly recognizable and things such as record company logos to correlate with digipak conventions.
This digipak is for Metallica's Death Magnetic album, who are of the rock/heavy metal genre. They have used the standard 6 panel design sticking with digipak conventions. In the first panel there is black and white imagery of a crashed car relating to the macabre music that Metallica produce and the album title featuring the word 'death'; over this image is the album cover logo, which is of a coffin, relating to the death associated with the picture of a car crash. In white font over these images are the band members names and credits such as producer names and the photographer names instead of a track-list or a band summary. This digipak uses 2 disks due to the amount of content included much like Green Days digipak. One disk is white and one disk is black perhaps to symbolize the 'Ying and Yang' symbols of life and death and how they contrast from each other but make a full circle much like life and death. Behind the disks are black and white images of the band members to reinforce the bands identity.
This is a digipak for My Chemical Romance who are of the rock genre and this is their Greatest Hits album. This digipak also consists of the typical 6 panel design and in the first panel the background is black with red spattler effects over the top, almost representing blood which featured on 2 of My Chemical Romance albums and is a consistent design feature throughout this digipak, it also links to their macabre music which is often concerned with death or murder. On the first panel is a summary of the bands history in yellow font to contrast with the dark background and images of the bands previous albums to remind the audience of their previous releases and due to tracks usually being featured on the digipak from all of their albums. Only one disk is needed for this digipak and the CD label is a black background with lots of red spatter effects again representing blood linking to their music etc. Behind the disk are small black and white images of the band and band equipment, their clothes and the mise en scene relate to the emotional music inside as there are no bright colours and busy scenery, only the band dressed in black and empty spaces. On the final panel is another black and white image of the band which can be removed from the digipak, it reinforces the bands image and the way the band look in this image tell us that they're of the rock genre due to their dark clothing which is often a convention and their confident poses relate to the confidence usually found in rock music and possible angst that's also found in their genre of music and many of their songs.
This is a digipak for Green Day who are of the rock/punk genre and this is their Greatest Hits Digipak. The format they have used is 6 panels, 3 on the inside and 3 on the outside of the Digipak. They have included 2 disks full of songs by the band, keeping with the connotations of a 'greatest hits album' as usually more than one disk is needed as all the content required would not fit onto one disk alone. The band logo, of a man being electrocuted is featured on the first inside panel, to reinforce whose digipak it is, to contrast with the logo is a bright green background, which follows onto the two disks to keep a consistent theme throughout the digipak. On the first panel they include a short summary of the background of the band and also feature images of their previous albums to remind the audience of what they've released and that songs from these albums will feature on the current digipak. Behind the disks are images of the band from photoshoots which have been edited and given a green hue to correlate with the colour scheme of the digipak, these images can be removed from the packaging.
This is a digipak for the band The Killers and this is their Greatest hits album, they are of the rock/indie genre. They have also used a 6 panel design but only include one CD as they have created a specific playlist of what they believe to be their best songs and not included too much content like the Green Day digipak. In all 3 panels we can see black and white images of the band in various places in photoshoots, this is to reinforce the bands image and remind the audience of who the band are, their clothing and the mise en scene also relates to their genre of the Indie music being really minimalist and relaxed compared to angry punk music. On the first panel they have included a short summary of the bands career in red font to contrast with the background and images of their previous albums to show the audience what they produced before this. The CD itself is quite basic but holds the iconic Killers font on the CD label, which is instantly recognizable and things such as record company logos to correlate with digipak conventions.
This digipak is for Metallica's Death Magnetic album, who are of the rock/heavy metal genre. They have used the standard 6 panel design sticking with digipak conventions. In the first panel there is black and white imagery of a crashed car relating to the macabre music that Metallica produce and the album title featuring the word 'death'; over this image is the album cover logo, which is of a coffin, relating to the death associated with the picture of a car crash. In white font over these images are the band members names and credits such as producer names and the photographer names instead of a track-list or a band summary. This digipak uses 2 disks due to the amount of content included much like Green Days digipak. One disk is white and one disk is black perhaps to symbolize the 'Ying and Yang' symbols of life and death and how they contrast from each other but make a full circle much like life and death. Behind the disks are black and white images of the band members to reinforce the bands identity.
This is a digipak for My Chemical Romance who are of the rock genre and this is their Greatest Hits album. This digipak also consists of the typical 6 panel design and in the first panel the background is black with red spattler effects over the top, almost representing blood which featured on 2 of My Chemical Romance albums and is a consistent design feature throughout this digipak, it also links to their macabre music which is often concerned with death or murder. On the first panel is a summary of the bands history in yellow font to contrast with the dark background and images of the bands previous albums to remind the audience of their previous releases and due to tracks usually being featured on the digipak from all of their albums. Only one disk is needed for this digipak and the CD label is a black background with lots of red spatter effects again representing blood linking to their music etc. Behind the disk are small black and white images of the band and band equipment, their clothes and the mise en scene relate to the emotional music inside as there are no bright colours and busy scenery, only the band dressed in black and empty spaces. On the final panel is another black and white image of the band which can be removed from the digipak, it reinforces the bands image and the way the band look in this image tell us that they're of the rock genre due to their dark clothing which is often a convention and their confident poses relate to the confidence usually found in rock music and possible angst that's also found in their genre of music and many of their songs.
CD Label Inspiration.
In this post I will show you some of the research I have conducted into what Rock/Grunge CD Labels usually consist of and how they have influenced me in the creation of my own CD label for my Digipak.
This image is a Metalhead CD Label, this bands genre is also in the Rock genre like my chosen song but Metalhead are more of a heavy metal band. What I found interesting about this label was that they included the track listing for the album on the actual label, which many CD's don't tend to do as it's on the album cover for the audience to see anyway. I also liked the way they kept the background simple, using a simple grunge texture like I have included on my Digipak cover, it could have many meanings, such as the rough unkept background relates to the fact that the music is raw and rough and unpolished.
This is a CD label for the band Iron Maiden who are part of the heavy metal / rock genre. This CD label I found interesting due to the background, which seems to be a splattered/stained texture and sometimes covers the band name, suggesting the CD itself and the music on it may be more important than the bands name and they want you to focus on the CD itself. The background seems to be some sort of blood texture, which often related to their music such as "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter" and Iron Maidens songs often had angry or morbid meanings, connotating in their CD label as blood could suggest anger or murder etc.
This is a CD label for Nirvanas, In Bloom CD, who are of course of the rock/grunge genre. This CD label interested me as the bands name and single title are in bold lettering and colours which contrast with the background, like they're trying to grab the audiences attention, make a statement and remind us of what we're listening to. The background is the same as the CD cover itself, which is the inside section of a flower as it blooms, relating to the title of the song "In Bloom". The background colours are plain and dark, relating to connotations of grunge music / clothing / artwork.
This is a CD label for the band Green Day who are of the rock / punk genre. This CD label interested me as it included many features at the same time, such as the band name, the album title and the track listing all on the label and as we can tell from the previous examples, typical CD labels only provide one of these features, but this has included them all aswell as artwork. The artwork immediately draws the audiences attention to it and the way the font and the artwork has a spray painted effect relates to the album being about 21st century breakdown and rebellion shown by the girl with her face covered, suggesting she could've been the graffiti artist. I feel this relates to similar meanings in my video, about modern society breaking down and themes of rebellion.
Wednesday 29 February 2012
Filming Overview.
Locations used: Here I have provided details of where the shots from the video were collected and as you can tell, they span across Birmingham to give the video more detail and show all sides of life here. I have pin pointed the locations we used on Google Maps for a more accurate view.
Dale End car park was used for the first opening shot of Birmingham City Centre and the third verse in the song in which David sings alone and Dale End was used for the first shots of the band themselves.
Moor Street Queensway was used for the first verse in the video as it was a busy, well lit area with lots of people and traffic to make the video seem more professional instead of being filmed in a basic room and to introduce the setting of the video.
Spitfire Island was used for a big section of the traffic scenes in the video mostly to it always having a constant stream of traffic.
In Digbeth, using the High Street Deritend / Bordesley most of the graffiti was filmed here, especially the elaborate street art pieces as companies would often hire people to advertise their company using the walls by the means of street art, a car wash we used was an excellent example as they used graffiti as a means to attract a young audience. We also used this high street for the homeless shots of David as it had a very urban neglected appearance and some of the traffic scenes.
New Street Station, Queens Drive and the surrounding areas were used for Davids businessman shots such as walking past shop displays and out of the station.
The Bullring Shopping Centre was also used for Davids businessman role shots and some scenery shots of the Bullring itself and Selfridges was also used for the final shot where the two characters come face to face with each other.
Lionel Street was used to record the second verse in the canal area and the A38 surrounding was also used for some traffic scenes.
Lancaster Circus Queensway was used for the final band performance in which David sings 'I don't have a gun' and George and Josh play guitar in the back of the shot.
Colmore Row and Birmingham Cathedral were both used for Davids businessman shots, such as walking out of the building and Colmore row was also used for some building and scenery shots.
Other locations used were often for one shot purposes, such as;
Farnborough road used for the skate park signs and some graffiti.
Broad Street used for traffic and building shots.
College Road used for the security camera footage.
Props used: 1 Tripod for the performance elements to the video.
2 guitars to add to the performance element of the video.
1 guitar amplifier so the band could play the actual song to keep the miming accurate to the original record.
2 sets of costumes for the band members, one casual and typical of a rock video (such as plaid shirts, dark jeans, plain / dark t-shirts, old / grungy shoes or trainers) and the other for the second verse when things start to head towards the business theme (plain white or black work shirts for the band members combined with jeans to keep to the rock element).
4 sets of costumes for David, who acted as both the homeless man and the business man in the video, his first costume being the same as the other band members, casual, jeans, a plain t-shirt and leather jacket, his second outfit fitting with the band in a black work shirt over jeans etc. His third costume was multiple dirty shirts and hooded tops with muddy shoes and a rucksack for the homeless role and his final costume being a black work shirt with purple tie, a black blazer and black work trousers with smart leather shoes for the businessman role.
1 set of documents for David to be reading in the businessman role.
1 mobile phone for him to speak into while playing this role.
1 empty alcohol bottle for David to drink whilst playing the homeless man role.
1 bench to link to the homeless role.
1 upturned hat and different coins lying in the hat for the homeless man role.
Hours of footage: 2, both on separate 60 minute long mini DV tapes compatible to the camera.
Number of actors; 3, all male, ages 18-21.
Days of filming; 9, filming hours ranged from 10am to 11pm, to gather a range of activity, weathers and different natural light settings.
Dale End car park was used for the first opening shot of Birmingham City Centre and the third verse in the song in which David sings alone and Dale End was used for the first shots of the band themselves.
Moor Street Queensway was used for the first verse in the video as it was a busy, well lit area with lots of people and traffic to make the video seem more professional instead of being filmed in a basic room and to introduce the setting of the video.
Spitfire Island was used for a big section of the traffic scenes in the video mostly to it always having a constant stream of traffic.
In Digbeth, using the High Street Deritend / Bordesley most of the graffiti was filmed here, especially the elaborate street art pieces as companies would often hire people to advertise their company using the walls by the means of street art, a car wash we used was an excellent example as they used graffiti as a means to attract a young audience. We also used this high street for the homeless shots of David as it had a very urban neglected appearance and some of the traffic scenes.
New Street Station, Queens Drive and the surrounding areas were used for Davids businessman shots such as walking past shop displays and out of the station.
The Bullring Shopping Centre was also used for Davids businessman role shots and some scenery shots of the Bullring itself and Selfridges was also used for the final shot where the two characters come face to face with each other.
Lionel Street was used to record the second verse in the canal area and the A38 surrounding was also used for some traffic scenes.
Lancaster Circus Queensway was used for the final band performance in which David sings 'I don't have a gun' and George and Josh play guitar in the back of the shot.
Colmore Row and Birmingham Cathedral were both used for Davids businessman shots, such as walking out of the building and Colmore row was also used for some building and scenery shots.
Other locations used were often for one shot purposes, such as;
Farnborough road used for the skate park signs and some graffiti.
Broad Street used for traffic and building shots.
College Road used for the security camera footage.
Props used: 1 Tripod for the performance elements to the video.
2 guitars to add to the performance element of the video.
1 guitar amplifier so the band could play the actual song to keep the miming accurate to the original record.
2 sets of costumes for the band members, one casual and typical of a rock video (such as plaid shirts, dark jeans, plain / dark t-shirts, old / grungy shoes or trainers) and the other for the second verse when things start to head towards the business theme (plain white or black work shirts for the band members combined with jeans to keep to the rock element).
4 sets of costumes for David, who acted as both the homeless man and the business man in the video, his first costume being the same as the other band members, casual, jeans, a plain t-shirt and leather jacket, his second outfit fitting with the band in a black work shirt over jeans etc. His third costume was multiple dirty shirts and hooded tops with muddy shoes and a rucksack for the homeless role and his final costume being a black work shirt with purple tie, a black blazer and black work trousers with smart leather shoes for the businessman role.
1 set of documents for David to be reading in the businessman role.
1 mobile phone for him to speak into while playing this role.
1 empty alcohol bottle for David to drink whilst playing the homeless man role.
1 bench to link to the homeless role.
1 upturned hat and different coins lying in the hat for the homeless man role.
Hours of footage: 2, both on separate 60 minute long mini DV tapes compatible to the camera.
Number of actors; 3, all male, ages 18-21.
Days of filming; 9, filming hours ranged from 10am to 11pm, to gather a range of activity, weathers and different natural light settings.
Thursday 9 February 2012
Creating the Digipak front and back covers.
This is my final completed album cover for Nirvanas, Nevermind Album. As you can see I followed by earlier plan and included all the key elements I thought were important in creating a complete Digipak cover that would attract an audience.
When it came to the text, based on earlier research, I managed to find the same text that Nirvana albums actually used to use, I felt this gave the album a more authentic feel so I used that in white to contrast from the background and to grab the audiences attention. Of course I varied the size throughout as the album title required more attention and is more eye catching than the tracklist.
With regards to artwork on the front, I was inspired by the original Nevermind album where the child is reaching for money. I included 3, £50 notes on the front album cover, this is to represent every member of the band as being a piece of money, relating to my music video that most of the world is based on attractive human capital and everyone aspiring for economic greatness is what society expects from us. I faded the images and gave them shadows as it relates to the idea that we cannot "see the people behind the money", the money comes to the front and grabs our attention and thats whats seen as important.
I included a tracklist on the back of the cover to let the audience know what tracks are included in the digipak, this track listing has the same content as the original album, just in a different order so they weren't exactly a-like as this is my interpretation of it.
I also included photos of the band on the back of the cover as the front cover didn't contain any band photos I felt that having some would allow the audience to recognise that the people on the album are in my music video and vice versa. The first image is from a photoshoot I did with the band, the other two are actual screengrabs from my final music video. I changed the images tones, saturation and brightness to give them a damaged, "sepia" effect and make them darker to fit in with the overall look of the album cover better.
I also included a barcode to make the digipakcover seem more realistic, as if it was actually for sale as most CDs require this to be on the outside cover.
Overall, I decided to keep the cover simple, with some artwork relating to my music videos message so they all link with one another. I kept it simple as rock covers are rarely ever extravagent and Nirvanas were a clear example, I felt that the music should be the main emphasis, as thats what the audience buys the CD for.
Magazine Advertisement Inspiration.
In this blog entry I will look into what typical magazine advertisements; advertising albums / CD's and Digipaks consist of and how this will relate to my magazine advert.
This is a magazine advert for Green Days latest album, '21st Century Breakdown' which was released in 2009. The main artwork on this poster is actually the album cover for '21st Century Breakdown', so it features the album artwork, telling the audience what the album looks like without making it seem too obvious as it becomes the advertisement background.
The bright colours used in the artwork contrast against the dark background, attracting the audiences attention. All of the font featured on the advertisement is in a bold, graffiti style, (connecting with the album artwork which is a graffiti style portrait of a couple spray-painted onto a brick wall) with sizes of the text ranging in the texts importance. For example, the band name features as the biggest line of text to advertise the band and whose album it is and the release date is also large as it's meant to stand out and remind the audience when the album is on sale.
The band name, title and release date are typical conventions of a magazine advertisement. The first line of text "The wait is finally over ..." tells the audience that this is soon to be released and that its a highly anticipated album. And the line "Includes the single, Know Your Enemy" tells people a particular song that they may have heard before that'll be on the album and acts as a bonus feature to draw customers in.
The small font at the bottom of the poster is for the audience to look at the bands website for more information and competitions, acting as another bonus feature to capture interest.
This is a magazine advert for A Day To Remembers album, 'What Seperates Me From' You which was released in 2010. This magazine advertisement features the band members posing amongst the same backdrop that is in their album cover, so both pieces of artwork link with each other. The band members are all wearing fashionable clothes and look relaxed, possibly as their music aims to a younger teenage audience.
The band name is the largest piece of text, standing out in a faded purple colour which attracts attention and reminds the audience whose album it is.
This advertisement also features an image of the album cover, to show the audience what to look for when wanting to purchase the album. A blue banner at the bottom of the page features the albums release date as this is crucial information for the audience and a common convention of an advertisement and also features the website on which to order the album, contributing to their target audience of the younger generation.
Finally, there are tonnes of logos at the bottom of the advertisement, some being their record labels and others being places from which you can purchase the album such as HMV to further remind the audience of routes of purchase, this is also a typical convention of magazine advertisements.
The band and album title font remain the same as the original album to keep a consistent theme throughout that this isn't a new album, just a re-release of an old album. The advertisement also features the albums release date in large black font as it's important information to the audience.
The advertisement also mentions specific bonus material on the album, this will appeal to anyone who is looking for a reason to buy the re-release when they already own the original album and it will also attract people looking for collectors items especially if there are extra songs on the album.
Finally, the advertisement has a mobile phone scanner logo via which they can enter competitions, which appeals to a younger audience who use this technology. It also features the band website and an image of the DVD that will be released at the same time as the album, to further sell other products to the audience.
Digipak / Album Cover Elements.
This is the plan I have created in order to help me create my Digipak cover for Nirvanas Nevermind album. With this plan I decided to include all of the main key elements or conventions that are crucial for an album/digipak cover, such as the band name and title of the album itself. All of the main areas included in this plan have specific significance that make the cover complete. Album / digipak covers are essential in the music and media business as it helps to sell the artist/band and give the audience an idea or theme of what type of music is on the CD.
Band Name; Is what attracts the audience to the CD as they may recognise the artist and their music so may be persuaded to buy this digipak as it's by a group they think are talented. The band name is repeated on the spine for stores that stack CDs with the spine facing outward and helps the customer to identify whose CD it is.
Album Title; This lets the audience know which album this is, such as whether it's a new release or an old classic by the band, it also helps people who collect the specific artists albums to establish if they already have it or not.
Artwork; Can attract the audience in, especially an in-depth piece of artwork can have connotations to what the music on the CD is like, such as Mika's album, Life in Cartoon Motion, is very bright and colourful, relating to the type of fun, pop music on the CD.
Artist/band pictures; Allows the audience to see who the artist is and possibly recognise them or give new fans an idea of what the artist looks like for future reference. Pictures on the back of the cover are usually taken from footage of the band such as music videos and allows the audience to recognise them further.Track Listing; Tells the customer what tracks appear on the CD and what exact songs / music they will be listening to, as different albums often contain different songs.
Barcode; These are essential in this technological age, usually for purchase purposes.
Parental Advisory Warnings; Are usually put on album covers to warn parents that this CD has adult themes or explicit language included, as many parents would like to monitor what their children listen to for their safety.
Wednesday 8 February 2012
Print Artefacts; Digipak Cover Inspiration.
For my project I have decided to create a Digipak which icludes a CD cover for Nirvanas, "Nevermind" album, which my music video song came from, aswell as creating a magazine advert for this Digipak I have created.
To create my print artefacts to compliment my complete music video, I have conducted some background research into what a typical rock/grunge album cover look like and have decided to construct this mood board to represent what elements I plan to bring into my print artefacts and what inspiration these items have given me.
This is of course Nirvanas iconic Nevermind album cover, demonstrating a young child trying to catch money on a fishing wire. This suggests that the money is the bait to draw the young child in. This links to the idea that we are all aiming for economic greatness and even the innocence of a young child is destroyed once they grow up and head out into the economic world full of competition and "cut-throat" business. I have decided to keep this theme in my album and DVD cover, as my video does also link to the idea that people with better jobs and money are seen as better than people who don't. So on my print covers I have decided to feature money, £50 notes to be exact, to connotate the same message, that money is a key element in our society that most things function around.
This is an album cover for the band Sick Puppies who are another band in the Rock genre. I was instantly drawn into this album cover due to the distressed texture in the background, which I thought represented elements in my video perfectly, such as the neglected industrial areas and linked to the whole idea of the grunge genre, about the music being far from polished, raw and full of flaws like the texture itself. So in my album and DVD cover I have decided to use a rough, distressed texture as the background.The artwork can also have hidden meanings, typical of rock genres, this one could have a range of meanings, from having to look "past the person" to find their heart or could mean that we've constantly got our hearts on show to the world etc.
I really liked this album cover as it's simple and makes the band name and album title the focus of the cover, often in the rock genre, detailed artwork distracts from the details so it's hard to tell whose album it actually is! But this one is so simple and still gives the grunge elements such as a damaged texture, bold writing and colour and tone differences. Inspired by this album cover, I have decided to keep my album cover simple, emphasizing the bands name and album title, along with having a mixture in tones and exposure on the background to break it up and give the texture more depth.
Blink 182 are a band in the rock / punk genres of music and this is one of their most famous CD covers. This CD cover interested me as it's pretty minimalist, and doesn't have a range of colours or very detailed artwork throughout. This cover is a simple black and white scheme, featuring the band name in different size fonts that are distorted on different shaped backgrounds with different distortion effects placed onto them, this adds to the punk genre that most things contain passion and angst and this could be shown by the distortion representing parts of ripped up paper and relate to the punk feeling of rebellion. The main heart is on a creased paper texture containing little black crosses in pen, this could mean that they are kisses on something such as a love note thats being sent to the person they miss or they feel their actual heart is now limp and crumpled by the person leaving. I thougth for a simple CD cover, this provides a strong message.
To create my print artefacts to compliment my complete music video, I have conducted some background research into what a typical rock/grunge album cover look like and have decided to construct this mood board to represent what elements I plan to bring into my print artefacts and what inspiration these items have given me.
This is of course Nirvanas iconic Nevermind album cover, demonstrating a young child trying to catch money on a fishing wire. This suggests that the money is the bait to draw the young child in. This links to the idea that we are all aiming for economic greatness and even the innocence of a young child is destroyed once they grow up and head out into the economic world full of competition and "cut-throat" business. I have decided to keep this theme in my album and DVD cover, as my video does also link to the idea that people with better jobs and money are seen as better than people who don't. So on my print covers I have decided to feature money, £50 notes to be exact, to connotate the same message, that money is a key element in our society that most things function around.
This is an album cover for the band Sick Puppies who are another band in the Rock genre. I was instantly drawn into this album cover due to the distressed texture in the background, which I thought represented elements in my video perfectly, such as the neglected industrial areas and linked to the whole idea of the grunge genre, about the music being far from polished, raw and full of flaws like the texture itself. So in my album and DVD cover I have decided to use a rough, distressed texture as the background.The artwork can also have hidden meanings, typical of rock genres, this one could have a range of meanings, from having to look "past the person" to find their heart or could mean that we've constantly got our hearts on show to the world etc.
I really liked this album cover as it's simple and makes the band name and album title the focus of the cover, often in the rock genre, detailed artwork distracts from the details so it's hard to tell whose album it actually is! But this one is so simple and still gives the grunge elements such as a damaged texture, bold writing and colour and tone differences. Inspired by this album cover, I have decided to keep my album cover simple, emphasizing the bands name and album title, along with having a mixture in tones and exposure on the background to break it up and give the texture more depth.
Blink 182 are a band in the rock / punk genres of music and this is one of their most famous CD covers. This CD cover interested me as it's pretty minimalist, and doesn't have a range of colours or very detailed artwork throughout. This cover is a simple black and white scheme, featuring the band name in different size fonts that are distorted on different shaped backgrounds with different distortion effects placed onto them, this adds to the punk genre that most things contain passion and angst and this could be shown by the distortion representing parts of ripped up paper and relate to the punk feeling of rebellion. The main heart is on a creased paper texture containing little black crosses in pen, this could mean that they are kisses on something such as a love note thats being sent to the person they miss or they feel their actual heart is now limp and crumpled by the person leaving. I thougth for a simple CD cover, this provides a strong message.
Tuesday 7 February 2012
Final Production Storyboard.
Shot 1;
This is my establishing shot, which will be an extreme long shot filmed at a high angle, of Birmingham City Center, featuring Birmingham City University, many main roads and street art / graffiti, which will become a main theme throughout the video. Its filmed in natural daylight on an overcast day, adding to the mise en scene to show the video has a slightly dark and dismal mood. In editing I also placed a black opaque banner over the bottom of the screen and then placed the artist and song title in bold white font over the banner to tell the audience what the song is and introduce them to the video.
Shot 2;
This is a long shot from the same position as the first shot, which shows the main road in more detail, and features cars passing through, adding to the 'inner-city hustle and bustle' theme of the video.
Shot 3;
This is a long shot which slightly pans vertically up the main road to show an ambulance speeding with it's warning lights flashing, adding to the inner-city theme by showing that there is always something happening in the city and there is a sense of action.
Shot 4;
This is a close up shot of a sign for a council skate park, which looks old, rusted, damaged and features some graffiti. This is relevant as the sign shows neglect for the area, which grunge videos often show and the graffiti shows anti-social behaviour often featured in urban areas, and Nirvanas music often fueled teenagers to act against the local status quo, represented by their song and video, Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Shot 5;
A slow horizontal, right to left pan of a brick wall, featuring two pieces of large graffiti appears, adding to the theme of rebellion and teenage angst, this is filmed in a mid-shot.
Shot 6;
This is a long shot of a wall covered in brightly coloured graffiti in which a man is shown dressed in "ghetto" clothing, with things such like gold chains and a hooded shirt; he is grinning and surrounded by other pieces of graffiti.
Shot 7;
This is the first time the band representing Nirvana appear in the video, this is shot against a light coloured brick wall in natural daylight, showing all 3 band members stood against the wall with their instruments, looking in different directions in a mid-shot, this is to introduce the band to the audience.
Shot 8;
This is a horizontal left to right pan of the band as they slowly walk to the left of the shot, as the camera turns we can see the band walking away and down a path leading onto a road. This shot began in a mid shot but ended up as a long shot as the band moved away.
Shot 9;
This is a long shot of the band stood on a main road, standing on a strip of pavement surrounded by heavy flowing traffic either side of them. This shot is crisp and well lit as it was filmed in natural daylight. This shot slowly zooms out as the front-man (David) begins to sing as the music fades in, as he sings the whole band begin to walk forward up the path (towards the camera) and the shot continues to zoom out. Being filmed on a main road shows the audience that the city is always busy and links to the influence of Nirvana videos, even when there are things happening around them, the band always stayed calm and focused on the music.
Shot 10;
This is another long shot, further up the pavement in the last shot, so the band are now under a street sign, just as before, as David begins to sing, the whole band begin to walk closer to the camera and the shot slowly zooms out, until the last 2 lines, where the band move into a mid shot in-front of the camera as the chorus ends.
Shot 11;
This is a long shot of a busy main road and an island in the city, where cars are constantly speeding around, this is also filmed in natural daylight. This shot has been sped up during the editing process as it gives the shot a more dramatic effect as the cars are going faster than they normally could, it also gives the feeling of time passing but the same thing happening, relating to the theme of the video that in the urban city, it's mostly the same action everyday, people passing in and out without taking any notice of anything around them, a feeling of monotony is present.
Shot 12;
This is a long shot of the main Bullring Shopping centre at night, in which all of the shop displays and electronic advertisements stand out due to the light they emit. I have sped up the footage in editing to show how many people pass through this area in a small amount of time, which relates to the idea that many people who have money to spend, often spend it on material possessions.
Shot 13;
A long shot of the side of the Bullring shopping centre occurs, which is filmed in the dark, emphasizing how well lit the inside of the Bullring is, this is relevant as the video aims to show two sides to inner city life, one is of the neglected urban areas often full of graffiti and crime and the other is of the well maintained, popular areas that feature a lot of people or cars, showing that there are two sides to the city, one is condemned and edgy while the other is attractive and beloved.
Shot 15;
This is a long, low angle shot of a building at night, the building itself is well lit and the windows have a blue tint over them, showing the preferred business side of the city which attracts so many people.
Shot 16;
The next shot features the band at a long to mid shot, as they stand on a concrete path facing the camera, which is in the middle of two canal areas, one behind the band, the other in-front. The shot is well lit as it was filmed in natural daylight and most of the architecture around them tends to be white, which increases the light and gives a crisp image. Here the band remain still and play their instruments as David sings the second verse.
Shot 17;
Between the singing, cut-away shots feature of graffiti, featuring again the urban neglected side of inner city life. This shot is a close up of a piece that would be considered street art as it's more elaborate than average graffiti. The image is of a woman's face that is spray painted in green, adding an element of colour into the video from the normal industrial greys etc.
Shot 18;
This is a returning shot to shot 16, where the band are still standing in the white canal area and continuing with the song.
Shot 19;
This is another cut-away shot, which is a close up of a purple wall featuring another piece of large street art, this shot isn't as bright as the canal setting to add to the dark, underground, antisocial theme of street art and graffiti.
Shot 20;
This is a long shot of a brick wall, covered in a street art mural, featuring lots of blue tones and random imagery which engulfs the whole wall. This is provided as another example of street art and that possibly, what is considered as trash and antisocial can actually be a sign of talent and maybe it shouldn't be dismissed, because like the underground of a city, it has a reason and a story to tell.
Shot 21;
This is a returning mid shot to the band singing in the same position in the canal setting, as they continue the rest of the song.
Shot 22;
As the chorus nears to an end, this is a close up of the band in their first street setting between two streams of traffic. They are stable infront of the camera and David is singing the 'Memoria' line, as this means memories, I decided to have the video cut back to this street setting as it would be a memory, keeping a subtle truth to the song, as the band says memoria, the video returns to a memory.
Shot 23;
A mid to long shot appears of cars passing to the left of the shot and in the background we can see cars passing to the right of the screen as the two sets of traffic pass each other. This is again to demonstrate the amount of people and action in the city and to give the illusion that people in the city are always moving.
Shot 24;
This is the first time in which we meet the "homeless man" character in the video, also played by David. He is dressed in old, dirty, plain clothing and carrying some possessions in his bag. This is a long shot of David walking away from the camera, to his right is a brightly coloured wall covered in graffiti, relating to the idea that homeless people often live in neglected urban areas.
Shot 25;
This is a mid high angle shot of David as the homeless man. He is sat on a dusty, dirty floor outside and infront of him is an upturned cap with a few coins inside of it, this suggests to the audience that he is begging for money due to how bad his situation is. He looks to the floor almost in despair.
Shot 26;
This is the first time we see David playing the businessman role. He is dressed in a suit and tie, looking very confident and presentable. This is a long shot and to the right of the shot David walks towards and then past the camera, while a shop display is in the background. This carefree image contrasts with the previous image of the struggling homeless man.
Shot 27;
This is another evening long shot, this is of cafes and shops at the side of the Bullring Shopping Center, artificially lit by street lights or lighting from electronic advertisements. This again demonstrates the attractive side of the city.
Shot 28;
Another evening shot, this is a long shot of a road, (artificially lit by street lights) with the traffic moving towards the camera. This shows that even though it's evening, people are always moving from place to place, to quote the phrase, 'Theres no rest for the wicked'.
Shot 29;
Back to the band now and this is a mid to close up shot of David, who is looking over the edge of a car park wall onto the city; this is where the establishing shot was taken, suggesting maybe it was done from Davids point of view and the images from the video were viewed through the bands eyes. Here David continues to sing the lines 'I don't have a gun etc' while staring off into the distance.
Shot 30;
Switching from shot 29 being in natural daylight appears this shot, filmed in the evening so it's not bright or crisp and is only lit by artificial street, building and car lights. This is an extreme long shot of part of the Birmingham city centre cityscape, which looks upon a main area featuring a road with flowing traffic, buildings, shops and advertisements etc.
Shot 31;
A close up shot appears of David as the homeless man role. This shot focuses on his face, he has his hood up to conserve any warmth he has as he looks to the floor depressed and upset. The audience can tell by the emotion on his face that he isn't happy with the way that he's living, different to the businessman.
Shot 32;
Relating to the last shot, we see the same character again in a mid shot. He is stood against a brick wall outside in the cold. He is wearing all of the clothes that he owns and has one of his jackets over his shoulders to try and keep himself warm as he shakes and stares into the distance. This tells the audience that living on the street is not easy and you have to try and survive on your own.
Shot 33;
This long shot shows David walking away from New Street Train Station and towards the camera, he is dressed in his suit and tie and looking happy with his life (completely different from the homeless man). This suggests that he could have just got off a train as he's going to a job that he loves for example.
Shot 34;
Back to the performance element of the video, this shot is a close up of Georges hand playing his guitar to the song playing in the video.
Shot 35;
This is another close up, but this time it is of Josh's hand on his guitar, playing the guitar along to the song playing in the video to break away from the loose narrative in the video and to remind the audience that the band are still involved.
Shot 36;
This shot is a long shot of the businessman character walking out of the Bullring shopping centre, he pushes the doors open and confidently walks towards the camera and then past the camera, leaving the shot. This suggests that the shot was filmed from a point of view, as we often see people pass us everyday and once they walk past us, they leave of line of sight. This also suggests that if this is a point of view shot, that everyone notices his presence as he is confident and presentable and looks like he's doing well, so people will have a different view of this character compared to the homeless mans character.
Shot 37;
To contrast with the previous shot, we now see the homeless man walking down a stretch of pavement, with a brightly coloured wall of graffiti to the left of the shot, it links to the idea that graffiti stretches all around the city as most of it is often dejected and ignored, along with the characters in it like the homeless man. As the character walks into the distance he stares into parked cars to the right of the shot to see if any of the car doors are open so he can use the cars for warm or shelter. This tells the audience that when you live on the streets you have to do whatever you can to survive.
Shot 38;
Returning to the businessman character, we see a low angle long shot of some stairs outside of a building as David walks down them and off shot. This suggests that he is running from meeting to meeting and has important work to do.
Shot 39;
We can now see a long shot of the homeless man walking down another stretch of road and into a tunnel, to the right of the shot are windows of a building that are covered in graffiti, this blatant vandalism links to the idea of teenage rebellion that is included in the song and most of Nirvana's work.
Shot 40;
To contrast with the last shot, we now see a close up of the businessman sat on a bench in a popular park in which people move around him. He is on the phone and is laughing and looking confident. This suggests he lives a much more carefree life than the other character and perhaps has less to worry about.
Shot 41;
Returning to the homeless man, we now see a long shot of him sat on an overturned bench, on the floor in a neglected area full of graffiti and wired fences. He is lay out on the bench drinking alcohol from the bottle. This tells the audience that in his time of despair, the character is resorting to drinking and perhaps becoming dependent on it. This shows that when faced with tough situations like these, often peoples lives spiral out of control, compared to the businessman whose life is getting better.
Shot 42;
This is a mid shot of David as the businessman, stood against some wooden doors outside of a building as he flicks through work documents. This suggests that this character has a good, secure job that requires him to be attentive and involved in his work, leading to financial security in his life.
Shot 43;
A low angle close up appears now of the homeless man as he is stood against a wired fence, rubbing his hands together because of the cold and looking tormented and tired.
Shot 44;
Breaking away from the narrative now, we see a high angle shot of cars coming out of a tunnel, this has been sped up in editing to give the idea of time passing in the video.
Shot 45;
This mid shot is of the band together once again, they're sat on steps in a dark and damp area underneath an overpass wearing their casual costumes. Here they continue to play and sing the final verse of the song, which they have done throughout the video.
Shot 46;
This is a mid shot of the homeless character walking into the distance through a dark tunnel, so little can be seen apart from his silhouette at the end of the tunnel due to the light coming from the outside. This adds to the idea that the homeless man is still looking for somewhere to live or looking for resources as living on the streets can never be comfortable.
Shot 47;
This is a long to mid shot as the business man character exits a building and walks towards the camera and then past it, again suggesting that the shot is from a point of view. As he exits the building he looks positive and upbeat, suggesting that he has just come from a successful meeting.
Shot 48;
This is possibly the most dramatic of the shots in the video so far. This is a low angle close up of the businessman's face as he stares to the right of the shot.
Shot 49;
To relate to the previous shot, we now see a low angle close up of the homeless man looking to the left of the shot. This is where the two characters finally meet and face each other in shock, not knowing what to do next. This is meant to convey to the audience that there is a thin line between being successful and happy and then loosing everything in todays society, so you can't take things for granted. It also shows the audience the two paths of life that the character could live and how different their lives would be. This shot then fades to black as the song ends.
This is my establishing shot, which will be an extreme long shot filmed at a high angle, of Birmingham City Center, featuring Birmingham City University, many main roads and street art / graffiti, which will become a main theme throughout the video. Its filmed in natural daylight on an overcast day, adding to the mise en scene to show the video has a slightly dark and dismal mood. In editing I also placed a black opaque banner over the bottom of the screen and then placed the artist and song title in bold white font over the banner to tell the audience what the song is and introduce them to the video.
Shot 2;
This is a long shot from the same position as the first shot, which shows the main road in more detail, and features cars passing through, adding to the 'inner-city hustle and bustle' theme of the video.
Shot 3;
This is a long shot which slightly pans vertically up the main road to show an ambulance speeding with it's warning lights flashing, adding to the inner-city theme by showing that there is always something happening in the city and there is a sense of action.
Shot 4;
This is a close up shot of a sign for a council skate park, which looks old, rusted, damaged and features some graffiti. This is relevant as the sign shows neglect for the area, which grunge videos often show and the graffiti shows anti-social behaviour often featured in urban areas, and Nirvanas music often fueled teenagers to act against the local status quo, represented by their song and video, Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Shot 5;
A slow horizontal, right to left pan of a brick wall, featuring two pieces of large graffiti appears, adding to the theme of rebellion and teenage angst, this is filmed in a mid-shot.
Shot 6;
This is a long shot of a wall covered in brightly coloured graffiti in which a man is shown dressed in "ghetto" clothing, with things such like gold chains and a hooded shirt; he is grinning and surrounded by other pieces of graffiti.
Shot 7;
This is the first time the band representing Nirvana appear in the video, this is shot against a light coloured brick wall in natural daylight, showing all 3 band members stood against the wall with their instruments, looking in different directions in a mid-shot, this is to introduce the band to the audience.
Shot 8;
This is a horizontal left to right pan of the band as they slowly walk to the left of the shot, as the camera turns we can see the band walking away and down a path leading onto a road. This shot began in a mid shot but ended up as a long shot as the band moved away.
Shot 9;
This is a long shot of the band stood on a main road, standing on a strip of pavement surrounded by heavy flowing traffic either side of them. This shot is crisp and well lit as it was filmed in natural daylight. This shot slowly zooms out as the front-man (David) begins to sing as the music fades in, as he sings the whole band begin to walk forward up the path (towards the camera) and the shot continues to zoom out. Being filmed on a main road shows the audience that the city is always busy and links to the influence of Nirvana videos, even when there are things happening around them, the band always stayed calm and focused on the music.
Shot 10;
This is another long shot, further up the pavement in the last shot, so the band are now under a street sign, just as before, as David begins to sing, the whole band begin to walk closer to the camera and the shot slowly zooms out, until the last 2 lines, where the band move into a mid shot in-front of the camera as the chorus ends.
Shot 11;
This is a long shot of a busy main road and an island in the city, where cars are constantly speeding around, this is also filmed in natural daylight. This shot has been sped up during the editing process as it gives the shot a more dramatic effect as the cars are going faster than they normally could, it also gives the feeling of time passing but the same thing happening, relating to the theme of the video that in the urban city, it's mostly the same action everyday, people passing in and out without taking any notice of anything around them, a feeling of monotony is present.
Shot 12;
This is a long shot of the main Bullring Shopping centre at night, in which all of the shop displays and electronic advertisements stand out due to the light they emit. I have sped up the footage in editing to show how many people pass through this area in a small amount of time, which relates to the idea that many people who have money to spend, often spend it on material possessions.
Shot 13;
A long shot of the side of the Bullring shopping centre occurs, which is filmed in the dark, emphasizing how well lit the inside of the Bullring is, this is relevant as the video aims to show two sides to inner city life, one is of the neglected urban areas often full of graffiti and crime and the other is of the well maintained, popular areas that feature a lot of people or cars, showing that there are two sides to the city, one is condemned and edgy while the other is attractive and beloved.
Shot 15;
This is a long, low angle shot of a building at night, the building itself is well lit and the windows have a blue tint over them, showing the preferred business side of the city which attracts so many people.
Shot 16;
The next shot features the band at a long to mid shot, as they stand on a concrete path facing the camera, which is in the middle of two canal areas, one behind the band, the other in-front. The shot is well lit as it was filmed in natural daylight and most of the architecture around them tends to be white, which increases the light and gives a crisp image. Here the band remain still and play their instruments as David sings the second verse.
Shot 17;
Between the singing, cut-away shots feature of graffiti, featuring again the urban neglected side of inner city life. This shot is a close up of a piece that would be considered street art as it's more elaborate than average graffiti. The image is of a woman's face that is spray painted in green, adding an element of colour into the video from the normal industrial greys etc.
Shot 18;
This is a returning shot to shot 16, where the band are still standing in the white canal area and continuing with the song.
Shot 19;
This is another cut-away shot, which is a close up of a purple wall featuring another piece of large street art, this shot isn't as bright as the canal setting to add to the dark, underground, antisocial theme of street art and graffiti.
Shot 20;
This is a long shot of a brick wall, covered in a street art mural, featuring lots of blue tones and random imagery which engulfs the whole wall. This is provided as another example of street art and that possibly, what is considered as trash and antisocial can actually be a sign of talent and maybe it shouldn't be dismissed, because like the underground of a city, it has a reason and a story to tell.
Shot 21;
This is a returning mid shot to the band singing in the same position in the canal setting, as they continue the rest of the song.
Shot 22;
As the chorus nears to an end, this is a close up of the band in their first street setting between two streams of traffic. They are stable infront of the camera and David is singing the 'Memoria' line, as this means memories, I decided to have the video cut back to this street setting as it would be a memory, keeping a subtle truth to the song, as the band says memoria, the video returns to a memory.
Shot 23;
A mid to long shot appears of cars passing to the left of the shot and in the background we can see cars passing to the right of the screen as the two sets of traffic pass each other. This is again to demonstrate the amount of people and action in the city and to give the illusion that people in the city are always moving.
Shot 24;
This is the first time in which we meet the "homeless man" character in the video, also played by David. He is dressed in old, dirty, plain clothing and carrying some possessions in his bag. This is a long shot of David walking away from the camera, to his right is a brightly coloured wall covered in graffiti, relating to the idea that homeless people often live in neglected urban areas.
Shot 25;
This is a mid high angle shot of David as the homeless man. He is sat on a dusty, dirty floor outside and infront of him is an upturned cap with a few coins inside of it, this suggests to the audience that he is begging for money due to how bad his situation is. He looks to the floor almost in despair.
Shot 26;
This is the first time we see David playing the businessman role. He is dressed in a suit and tie, looking very confident and presentable. This is a long shot and to the right of the shot David walks towards and then past the camera, while a shop display is in the background. This carefree image contrasts with the previous image of the struggling homeless man.
Shot 27;
This is another evening long shot, this is of cafes and shops at the side of the Bullring Shopping Center, artificially lit by street lights or lighting from electronic advertisements. This again demonstrates the attractive side of the city.
Shot 28;
Another evening shot, this is a long shot of a road, (artificially lit by street lights) with the traffic moving towards the camera. This shows that even though it's evening, people are always moving from place to place, to quote the phrase, 'Theres no rest for the wicked'.
Shot 29;
Back to the band now and this is a mid to close up shot of David, who is looking over the edge of a car park wall onto the city; this is where the establishing shot was taken, suggesting maybe it was done from Davids point of view and the images from the video were viewed through the bands eyes. Here David continues to sing the lines 'I don't have a gun etc' while staring off into the distance.
Shot 30;
Switching from shot 29 being in natural daylight appears this shot, filmed in the evening so it's not bright or crisp and is only lit by artificial street, building and car lights. This is an extreme long shot of part of the Birmingham city centre cityscape, which looks upon a main area featuring a road with flowing traffic, buildings, shops and advertisements etc.
Shot 31;
A close up shot appears of David as the homeless man role. This shot focuses on his face, he has his hood up to conserve any warmth he has as he looks to the floor depressed and upset. The audience can tell by the emotion on his face that he isn't happy with the way that he's living, different to the businessman.
Shot 32;
Relating to the last shot, we see the same character again in a mid shot. He is stood against a brick wall outside in the cold. He is wearing all of the clothes that he owns and has one of his jackets over his shoulders to try and keep himself warm as he shakes and stares into the distance. This tells the audience that living on the street is not easy and you have to try and survive on your own.
Shot 33;
This long shot shows David walking away from New Street Train Station and towards the camera, he is dressed in his suit and tie and looking happy with his life (completely different from the homeless man). This suggests that he could have just got off a train as he's going to a job that he loves for example.
Shot 34;
Back to the performance element of the video, this shot is a close up of Georges hand playing his guitar to the song playing in the video.
Shot 35;
This is another close up, but this time it is of Josh's hand on his guitar, playing the guitar along to the song playing in the video to break away from the loose narrative in the video and to remind the audience that the band are still involved.
Shot 36;
This shot is a long shot of the businessman character walking out of the Bullring shopping centre, he pushes the doors open and confidently walks towards the camera and then past the camera, leaving the shot. This suggests that the shot was filmed from a point of view, as we often see people pass us everyday and once they walk past us, they leave of line of sight. This also suggests that if this is a point of view shot, that everyone notices his presence as he is confident and presentable and looks like he's doing well, so people will have a different view of this character compared to the homeless mans character.
Shot 37;
To contrast with the previous shot, we now see the homeless man walking down a stretch of pavement, with a brightly coloured wall of graffiti to the left of the shot, it links to the idea that graffiti stretches all around the city as most of it is often dejected and ignored, along with the characters in it like the homeless man. As the character walks into the distance he stares into parked cars to the right of the shot to see if any of the car doors are open so he can use the cars for warm or shelter. This tells the audience that when you live on the streets you have to do whatever you can to survive.
Shot 38;
Returning to the businessman character, we see a low angle long shot of some stairs outside of a building as David walks down them and off shot. This suggests that he is running from meeting to meeting and has important work to do.
Shot 39;
We can now see a long shot of the homeless man walking down another stretch of road and into a tunnel, to the right of the shot are windows of a building that are covered in graffiti, this blatant vandalism links to the idea of teenage rebellion that is included in the song and most of Nirvana's work.
Shot 40;
To contrast with the last shot, we now see a close up of the businessman sat on a bench in a popular park in which people move around him. He is on the phone and is laughing and looking confident. This suggests he lives a much more carefree life than the other character and perhaps has less to worry about.
Shot 41;
Returning to the homeless man, we now see a long shot of him sat on an overturned bench, on the floor in a neglected area full of graffiti and wired fences. He is lay out on the bench drinking alcohol from the bottle. This tells the audience that in his time of despair, the character is resorting to drinking and perhaps becoming dependent on it. This shows that when faced with tough situations like these, often peoples lives spiral out of control, compared to the businessman whose life is getting better.
Shot 42;
This is a mid shot of David as the businessman, stood against some wooden doors outside of a building as he flicks through work documents. This suggests that this character has a good, secure job that requires him to be attentive and involved in his work, leading to financial security in his life.
Shot 43;
A low angle close up appears now of the homeless man as he is stood against a wired fence, rubbing his hands together because of the cold and looking tormented and tired.
Shot 44;
Breaking away from the narrative now, we see a high angle shot of cars coming out of a tunnel, this has been sped up in editing to give the idea of time passing in the video.
Shot 45;
This mid shot is of the band together once again, they're sat on steps in a dark and damp area underneath an overpass wearing their casual costumes. Here they continue to play and sing the final verse of the song, which they have done throughout the video.
Shot 46;
This is a mid shot of the homeless character walking into the distance through a dark tunnel, so little can be seen apart from his silhouette at the end of the tunnel due to the light coming from the outside. This adds to the idea that the homeless man is still looking for somewhere to live or looking for resources as living on the streets can never be comfortable.
Shot 47;
This is a long to mid shot as the business man character exits a building and walks towards the camera and then past it, again suggesting that the shot is from a point of view. As he exits the building he looks positive and upbeat, suggesting that he has just come from a successful meeting.
Shot 48;
This is possibly the most dramatic of the shots in the video so far. This is a low angle close up of the businessman's face as he stares to the right of the shot.
Shot 49;
To relate to the previous shot, we now see a low angle close up of the homeless man looking to the left of the shot. This is where the two characters finally meet and face each other in shock, not knowing what to do next. This is meant to convey to the audience that there is a thin line between being successful and happy and then loosing everything in todays society, so you can't take things for granted. It also shows the audience the two paths of life that the character could live and how different their lives would be. This shot then fades to black as the song ends.
Monday 2 January 2012
Music Video Casting.
To stay true to the original band Nirvana, I decided to cast my music video as having 3 male band members. I chose males that I knew had an interest in rock / grunge music so they understood the mise en scene I wanted to create, such as the dark, basic clothing and the urban imagery I wanted to include such as the busy road with lots of traffic.
A bonus of chosing these specific individuals is that all of them have musical skills and knowledge of rock instruments, for instance, all of them can play guitar so I chose 2 of the individuals to play guitar during the filming of the music video; to stick to music video conventions of using musical performance.
This is how the band looked on the first day of filming.
David:
I cast David as the lead singer of the band, mining the singing of Kurt Cobain. On the first day of filming, David wore plain dark clothing, featuring typical grunge fashion items such as faded jeans, an olive green shirt and a leather jacket. To add to the rock n' roll look, Davids hair had not been styled and he wasn't clean shaven, to add to the appearance of being 'messy'.
George:
I cast George as Dave Grohl, seeing as we couldn't carry a full drum kit around many locations on multiple days, we decided that it was better that he played guitar instead, as thats one of the key instruments in the song.
On the day he wore a basic plaid shirt and blue denim jeans, typical of the grunge style, he also wore a t-shirt with some text.
Josh:
I cast Josh for the part of Krist Novoselic, Josh also played guitar that typically Novoselic would during the video. On this day of filming Josh wore acid wash jeans, a graphic prit shirt and a black hoodie.
A bonus of chosing these specific individuals is that all of them have musical skills and knowledge of rock instruments, for instance, all of them can play guitar so I chose 2 of the individuals to play guitar during the filming of the music video; to stick to music video conventions of using musical performance.
This is how the band looked on the first day of filming.
David:
I cast David as the lead singer of the band, mining the singing of Kurt Cobain. On the first day of filming, David wore plain dark clothing, featuring typical grunge fashion items such as faded jeans, an olive green shirt and a leather jacket. To add to the rock n' roll look, Davids hair had not been styled and he wasn't clean shaven, to add to the appearance of being 'messy'.
George:
I cast George as Dave Grohl, seeing as we couldn't carry a full drum kit around many locations on multiple days, we decided that it was better that he played guitar instead, as thats one of the key instruments in the song.
On the day he wore a basic plaid shirt and blue denim jeans, typical of the grunge style, he also wore a t-shirt with some text.
Josh:
I cast Josh for the part of Krist Novoselic, Josh also played guitar that typically Novoselic would during the video. On this day of filming Josh wore acid wash jeans, a graphic prit shirt and a black hoodie.
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