Friday 30 September 2011
Wednesday 28 September 2011
Animatic Practice
I have not done a full length animatic, as I didn't think it was vital to spend hours on putting our stop start animation into an animatic when I alredy know and understand the skills to put one together. I produced the first bit of the video by putting the images from our story board in time with our chosen song.
I think it has worked quite well as we carefully planned our storyboard with timings so it made it easier to put it into a video.
The picture quality isn't brilliant due to time issues.
Stop/Start Animation Test
Here's a very small sample of some stop/start animation that I made using images I produced on paint and then put together on Movie Maker. This was a small test to see how 'doable' it would be but overall I think it's not too bad and should be successful as even with this very short clip I think it can look quite creative and with our actual story-boarded idea which is more thought over, relevant and precise I think it will look really good. Obviously with our actual video we won't be using images from paint but photos of our actors (Sam and Ellie for these shots) on drawings of a beach. It also confirms that two shots per second is effective so this is the right route for us to take in our video.
Shooting List
Shooting List
Here is the shooting list I created to show which order we will film our shots. I have decided that filming the shots with the least actors will be easiest first and then as the shot list progresses more actors are required. The shots have also been grouped according to location so we won't be going from one place to another for every shot. Shot '183' occurs twice due to an error in the numbering of the storyboard however it is easy for us to differentiate between the two as they have different locations/actors etc. Some shot numbers are also not there due to reasons I explained in the last post on the storyboard.
Hopefully this list should allow for smooth filming as it is ordered therefore preventing unnecessary hassle, confusion and time. We will carry it around and use it when we are filming.
Here is the shooting list I created to show which order we will film our shots. I have decided that filming the shots with the least actors will be easiest first and then as the shot list progresses more actors are required. The shots have also been grouped according to location so we won't be going from one place to another for every shot. Shot '183' occurs twice due to an error in the numbering of the storyboard however it is easy for us to differentiate between the two as they have different locations/actors etc. Some shot numbers are also not there due to reasons I explained in the last post on the storyboard.
Hopefully this list should allow for smooth filming as it is ordered therefore preventing unnecessary hassle, confusion and time. We will carry it around and use it when we are filming.
Storyboard
Storyboard
View more presentations from Lydia Bedford.
This is the storyboard that me and Izzy made together. It outlines our general idea and gives an impression of what our final video will look like. There are a few errors, in that we accidentally missed a few numbers out in the 'shot number' column, however this is going to be most easily ignored as correcting it will cause further confusion due to many crossings out. Therefore in our shooting schedule/list a few numbers may be missing but not because they have been forgotten but because they don't exist.
This is the storyboard that me and Izzy made together. It outlines our general idea and gives an impression of what our final video will look like. There are a few errors, in that we accidentally missed a few numbers out in the 'shot number' column, however this is going to be most easily ignored as correcting it will cause further confusion due to many crossings out. Therefore in our shooting schedule/list a few numbers may be missing but not because they have been forgotten but because they don't exist.
Tuesday 27 September 2011
Risk Assesment
Despite not doing much filming, it is still neccesary that we do a risk assesment.
Potential Hazards1. Falls?
2. Temporary structures?
3. Tripping Hazards?
4. Vehicles?
5. Special Effects?
6. Weapons?
7. Burns from lighting?
The only potential hazards relevant are point number one
Hazard- jumping and falling
Answer- yes
Severity- medium
Likelihood- medium
Persons at risk- all actors + crew
Precautions- tape down wires, make sure all equipment is stable, make sure band members dont jump un-neccisarily.
Potential Hazards1. Falls?
2. Temporary structures?
3. Tripping Hazards?
4. Vehicles?
5. Special Effects?
6. Weapons?
7. Burns from lighting?
The only potential hazards relevant are point number one
Hazard- jumping and falling
Answer- yes
Severity- medium
Likelihood- medium
Persons at risk- all actors + crew
Precautions- tape down wires, make sure all equipment is stable, make sure band members dont jump un-neccisarily.
Represations in our music video
Who; The storyline of our video follows Sam (the main band member) and his love interest Ellie (an extra). Jake (guitar) and Harry (drums) will be in the background of the band formation scenes but Sam will predominantly be in our video. The main storyline is Sam asking Ellie to go to the 'plage' (beach) with him. It follows their love story in time with the lyrics, in an amplification and illistrutive style.
What; The video we have storyboarded includes stop-start animation, band performance and the story. We felt that by cleverly mixing these elements we could make a video that amplifies the lyrics and matches with our chosen song. We have repeated the letter style 'Do you want to go to the plage with me' on everytime that is sung throughout, we felt this ties it together and makes good transitions. We have used the band playing on the verses and the stop start animation on the chorus'. The stop start animation progresses throughout.
Where; As we are predominantly doing stop start animation it isn't vital that we have too many different locations. We are having the band shots infront of a white background (at Lydias house) as we think that can be effective yet not confusing to the audience. We also chose this as the band will be the main focus, which is the desired effect. The only storyline that we are doing is at the beginning where you see Sam sitting down to write a letter and him walking to the post box as that sets the scene and gives an enigma code.
Why; We chose to do stop start animation as we felt it represented our bands style and (if produced well) can have a very good effect. We chose these band members as they look good together, fit the criteria of 'indie' and are all of similar build/height. If you look at existing bands all of the members are a similar height, the idea that they look like a 'gang'.
These Bands ( The Killers, The Kooks, Vampire Weekend, The Zutons) are all of similar height and all dress similarly, it keeps the bands style consistent and makes the band more likeable (in my opinion)
When; we have decided to film the band scenes and the pictures of Ellie and Sam on the week commencing the 17th of October, as it is half term. Weather is not an issues as only a minimal amount of our shots are outside so we can always pick a sunny/ not rainy day for this. There isn't a set time on which we will start the stop start animation as we dont need any of the band for this, and as we have a lot to do it is best we start sooner than later.
How; We will use a video camera to film all of the moving clips, however we will only need a camera to take pictures of the stop start animation.
What; The video we have storyboarded includes stop-start animation, band performance and the story. We felt that by cleverly mixing these elements we could make a video that amplifies the lyrics and matches with our chosen song. We have repeated the letter style 'Do you want to go to the plage with me' on everytime that is sung throughout, we felt this ties it together and makes good transitions. We have used the band playing on the verses and the stop start animation on the chorus'. The stop start animation progresses throughout.
Where; As we are predominantly doing stop start animation it isn't vital that we have too many different locations. We are having the band shots infront of a white background (at Lydias house) as we think that can be effective yet not confusing to the audience. We also chose this as the band will be the main focus, which is the desired effect. The only storyline that we are doing is at the beginning where you see Sam sitting down to write a letter and him walking to the post box as that sets the scene and gives an enigma code.
Why; We chose to do stop start animation as we felt it represented our bands style and (if produced well) can have a very good effect. We chose these band members as they look good together, fit the criteria of 'indie' and are all of similar build/height. If you look at existing bands all of the members are a similar height, the idea that they look like a 'gang'.
When; we have decided to film the band scenes and the pictures of Ellie and Sam on the week commencing the 17th of October, as it is half term. Weather is not an issues as only a minimal amount of our shots are outside so we can always pick a sunny/ not rainy day for this. There isn't a set time on which we will start the stop start animation as we dont need any of the band for this, and as we have a lot to do it is best we start sooner than later.
How; We will use a video camera to film all of the moving clips, however we will only need a camera to take pictures of the stop start animation.
Tuesday 20 September 2011
Basic idea of video; annotation
We felt it was best to do this as it gave us a basic idea of what we wanted to do before we started storyboarding our ideas. It will help to give us clarification and a basic draft so we dont rush into it when we storyboard.
Refining ideas: Band Members
Band Members:
These are our band members from our band 'Cheap Kicks' they are (from left to right) Sam, Harry & Jacob. These are just pictures we have found of them to give an idea of appearence as we have not yet took any band photos. Therefore the mise-en-scene and styling of these photos is not how we plan to do it and was not influenced by our preferences.
Extras:
We only require one extra to demonstrate our lyrics and allow the chorus to be illustrative, these are 'the most beautiful girl I've ever seen' so we needed to include a girl. The girl we have chosen is Ellie, shown here.
As we haven't yet storyboarded we are not 100% sure that there will be no other extras, however, as it stands we only forsee the need for one.
These are our band members from our band 'Cheap Kicks' they are (from left to right) Sam, Harry & Jacob. These are just pictures we have found of them to give an idea of appearence as we have not yet took any band photos. Therefore the mise-en-scene and styling of these photos is not how we plan to do it and was not influenced by our preferences.
Extras: We only require one extra to demonstrate our lyrics and allow the chorus to be illustrative, these are 'the most beautiful girl I've ever seen' so we needed to include a girl. The girl we have chosen is Ellie, shown here.
As we haven't yet storyboarded we are not 100% sure that there will be no other extras, however, as it stands we only forsee the need for one.
Refining ideas; mise en scene
We decided to basically plan what we would like in our music video incase it didnt work or if we changed our mind later on.
We asked our band members to bring a variety of their own clothes to the shoots with them so we could chose what we liked best and what would make the mise en scene look as good as possible.
Instruments; We will use two guitars and a full drum set for the instruments in our video. This was inevitable as we knew we would be doing band performance shots and we couldnt do them without instruments.
Other props; We have to think about how the table will be set out as we don't want it to look ' staged ', we will use cups and have a plate on the table to show that they are just sitting down for an informal chat.
Costume;
We wanted our band wearing 'indie' clothes such as the ones seen wearing by The Kooks, Arctic Monkeys and Two Door Cinema Club; as below.
We wanted our band wearing 'indie' clothes such as the ones seen wearing by The Kooks, Arctic Monkeys and Two Door Cinema Club; as below.
Instruments; We will use two guitars and a full drum set for the instruments in our video. This was inevitable as we knew we would be doing band performance shots and we couldnt do them without instruments.
Other props; We have to think about how the table will be set out as we don't want it to look ' staged ', we will use cups and have a plate on the table to show that they are just sitting down for an informal chat.
Sunday 18 September 2011
Refining Ideas: Location
We have decided to have a contrast in our video between a narrative whereby an illustrative story will be going on and an amplification idea whereby the band will be seen playing. The two will run throughout the video and we will use jump cuts to flip between them.
For the band playing we will need a 'studio' like setting. For this we will use a plain backdrop (in white/grey/cream) as this is the closest replication we are able to create without actually having a studio.
The narrative however needs more thought in terms of location as the story will not be just in one place. As we have chosen to be illustrative for this section we need locations that are relevant to the lyrics. The song sings about the 'Plage' so we need a beach... however this is not really possible as we live in the Midlands hours away from any coastline so we have to consider other ideas for location.
Possibilities include either using a lot of sand or a lake to create an illusion of a beach like scene, this might not look very realistic though so we have thought about a different approach. This includes using stop start animation like we spoke about in our pitch and would use the idea of a drawing moving/coming to life through lots of cuts which would allow us to draw a beach and therefore use a more arty approach to create our desired location.
For the narrative we also would need easily accessible locations such as a bedroom and a street as our story line begins as the main singer writes a letter in his bedroom reading 'do you want to come to the plage with me?' (the lyrics appearing on screen as they are sung- again like we talked about in our pitch) and also a street whereby we would see him walking to post his letter. These locations are much easier to access though as we can use one of our own houses and consider mise-en-scene to make it plausible to the character.
Original mindmap of ideas:
For the band playing we will need a 'studio' like setting. For this we will use a plain backdrop (in white/grey/cream) as this is the closest replication we are able to create without actually having a studio.
The narrative however needs more thought in terms of location as the story will not be just in one place. As we have chosen to be illustrative for this section we need locations that are relevant to the lyrics. The song sings about the 'Plage' so we need a beach... however this is not really possible as we live in the Midlands hours away from any coastline so we have to consider other ideas for location.
Possibilities include either using a lot of sand or a lake to create an illusion of a beach like scene, this might not look very realistic though so we have thought about a different approach. This includes using stop start animation like we spoke about in our pitch and would use the idea of a drawing moving/coming to life through lots of cuts which would allow us to draw a beach and therefore use a more arty approach to create our desired location.
For the narrative we also would need easily accessible locations such as a bedroom and a street as our story line begins as the main singer writes a letter in his bedroom reading 'do you want to come to the plage with me?' (the lyrics appearing on screen as they are sung- again like we talked about in our pitch) and also a street whereby we would see him walking to post his letter. These locations are much easier to access though as we can use one of our own houses and consider mise-en-scene to make it plausible to the character.
Original mindmap of ideas:
Friday 16 September 2011
Refining ideas: Styling
Band:
As you can see we are going to take a strong influence from 'Two Door Cinema Club' for the styling of our three band members. This is because their alternative/indie nicely fits the alternative genre of music from which our song belongs. The obvious traits of Two Door's styling include:
Extras:
As we have decided to have a storyline running throughout the video we require a female to match the lyrics 'most beautiful girl I have ever seen' (demonstrating an illustrative video). Therefore we also need to consider styling for her. We have decided that her clothing should also be similar (yet a female take) to the bands styling. Someone to base this on I think would be Fearne Cotton.
As you can see we are going to take a strong influence from 'Two Door Cinema Club' for the styling of our three band members. This is because their alternative/indie nicely fits the alternative genre of music from which our song belongs. The obvious traits of Two Door's styling include:
- Denim shirts
- Checked shirts
- Skinny jeans
- Wooly cardigans
- Chinos
- Boat shoes
- Brogues
Extras:
As we have decided to have a storyline running throughout the video we require a female to match the lyrics 'most beautiful girl I have ever seen' (demonstrating an illustrative video). Therefore we also need to consider styling for her. We have decided that her clothing should also be similar (yet a female take) to the bands styling. Someone to base this on I think would be Fearne Cotton.
Obvious trates from Fearne's clothing include:
- Lace
- Black tights
- Skinny jeans
- Leather jacket
- Oversized coat/jacket
- Brogues
- Converse
Therefore these are what we should aim to dress our female extra in to make her fit in with the styling of the band as well as the genre.
Original mindmap of ideas:
Tuesday 13 September 2011
Pitch Feedback
Our pitch went down very well as we gave a clear idea of what we are aiming for and working towards. The only potential issues that arose were: we want a three man band, but we only yet have recruited two, so we need to find our final member soon. Also we need to refine our ideas as we have the inspiration but not ideas set in stone; so things such as setting/costume/mise-en-scene all need to be strongly considered in the next few posts.
Thursday 8 September 2011
Our Pitch
We decided to use animoto for our pitch as we felt it was the most visually stimulating and interesting media that we could use. It allows us to put our pictures and music in the most aesthetically pleasing way possible. We have both used it previously and we feel that we are confident that our presentation will look good.
25 Word Pitch
For our 25 Word pitch we decided to put these 25 words into an animoto PowerPoint. We know that 25 words is literally a few sentences so we thought it was best just to get our key points into the presentation then let the audience ask any questions they have afterwards.
As this is our first pitch it was inevitable that we had to introduce our band name, and the chosen song we are doing. We tried to keep the words as simple as possible and only getting the bare necessities in as we are tight on words.
We also decided that it would be best to emphasise our points by using pictures, such as album artwork and videos that we are inspired by.
The album artwork that we find most attractive is the bright, vivid, abstract album covers which predominantly come from indie/alternative bands; which is the genre we are doing. We learnt from looking at album covers that it can completely be disjunctive yet still be appealing to the target audience.
The music videos we looked at had a wide variety of elements that we could have took inspiration from. The ones we instantly wanted to use in our video was visual lyrics, and stop start animation. Videos that include the visual lyrics that we liked were Coldplay - Every Teardrop is a Waterfall and Kanye West- All of the Lights. Although both of those videos are completely different we feel that we could take inspiration from both.
We obviously couldnt put all this into the pitch so we decided to print-screen the videos that we liked the most so we could demonstrate to our audience where we got our inspiration from.
Here are our 25 words that we put into our pitch;
Introducing Cheap Kicks. Chosen song - Plage. Inspiring album covers. Genre; indie /alternative. Inspiring videos. Visual lyrics. Stop Start Animation. Colourful. Indie Style. Our basic ideas.
As this is our first pitch it was inevitable that we had to introduce our band name, and the chosen song we are doing. We tried to keep the words as simple as possible and only getting the bare necessities in as we are tight on words.
We also decided that it would be best to emphasise our points by using pictures, such as album artwork and videos that we are inspired by.
The album artwork that we find most attractive is the bright, vivid, abstract album covers which predominantly come from indie/alternative bands; which is the genre we are doing. We learnt from looking at album covers that it can completely be disjunctive yet still be appealing to the target audience.
The music videos we looked at had a wide variety of elements that we could have took inspiration from. The ones we instantly wanted to use in our video was visual lyrics, and stop start animation. Videos that include the visual lyrics that we liked were Coldplay - Every Teardrop is a Waterfall and Kanye West- All of the Lights. Although both of those videos are completely different we feel that we could take inspiration from both.
We obviously couldnt put all this into the pitch so we decided to print-screen the videos that we liked the most so we could demonstrate to our audience where we got our inspiration from.
Here are our 25 words that we put into our pitch;
Introducing Cheap Kicks. Chosen song - Plage. Inspiring album covers. Genre; indie /alternative. Inspiring videos. Visual lyrics. Stop Start Animation. Colourful. Indie Style. Our basic ideas.
Further Market Research
As stated by Billboard this song is the top of the 'Alternative' chart. Therefore I think the video accompanying it again is invaluable to help us with inspiration and research for our music video.
Things I particularly like that I believe we can achieve is the constant use of zoom (both in and out) and the transition between in and out of focus. This video uses both a lot and it allows both to see the main focus of the frame but also adds to the pace of the video and allows the editing to keep up to speed with the beat of the song.
I also really like how they are playing on a roof as it is an iconic scene to set and refers back to The Beatles. However this would one, be really hard to find an available roof that we were allowed to use and two, mean that risk assessments and potential hazards would shoot up. The idea of them above the crowd below however would be possible through other means such as high angles for a crowd and low angles for the band as this allows the significance of the band to be represented; although actually finding that amount of people to be available and cooperate at the same time would be virtually impossible for us.
I also like the simplicity of the video as it is just literally the band doing what they do best- performing. This idea I do think works well and I believe we should strongly consider something similar or at least include certain aspects. I believe it sets the image and context of the band and allows fans/viewers to feel more personally connected to the band.
Further Market Research
Although this song quite clearly is not like anything we would want to do it is, according to 'Billboard', the most played and therefore watched video on YouTube (for music anyway) this week. Because of this I believe it is very important to see if there is any inspiration or conventions that we could take away from this popular video.
Something that does strike me about this video, and something that we could easily incorporate, is the colour. Everything is bright, fun and striking. This I feel is a good feature as it makes it more visually pleasing, in my opinion anyway, and the visuals is potentially the most important thing that we need to consider.
Another thing that we could take from this video is some of the angles as I feel the closeups and panning at the beginning of the video are particularly effective as they give clues to set the scene but only further on in the song is the context properly set with longer length shots to establish the setting. This is a good technique that could be considered using as it adds intrigue and makes you want to continue viewing the video.
Other things that I think are effective in this video but would not be able to be done by us (as as amateurs we lack the skills, money and equipment required) is the glow in the dark scenes as it gives alternative lighting where would you least expect it which I think is very creative and interesting offering an alternative take on typical lighting conventions. Also the studio setting and the props all add to the high quality and successful video however we have no studio area and no money to fund props such as ice sculptures and cars featured in this! We can however take ideas about the simplistic surroundings (such as we could use a plain white wall as a backdrop) and props to give context (we could use smaller and more easily available props which would be relevant to our band e.g. guitars).
Wednesday 7 September 2011
Market Research
Figures taken from 'Billboard.com' correct to the week of 10/9/11.
Hot 100 Songs Top Ten (sample of the top ten from the top 100)
Hot 100 Songs Top Ten (sample of the top ten from the top 100)
- Moves Like Jagger- Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera
- Party Rock Anthem- LMFAO
- Pumped Up Kicks- Foster The People
- Lighters- Bad Meets Evil feat. Bruno Mars
- Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F)- Katy Perry
- Super Bass- Nicki Minaj
- How To Love- Lil Wayne
- Good Life- One Republic
- Give Me Everything- Pitbull feat. NeYo, Afrojack & Nayer
- Stereo Hearts- Gym Class Heroes feat. Adam Levine
- Red Hot Chili Peppers- The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie
- Walk- Foo Fighters
- Up All Night- Blink 182
- Pumped Up Kicks- Foster The People
- Sail- AWOLNATION
- The Sound of Winter- Bush
- Make It Stop- Rise Against
- Whirring- The Joy Formidable
- Sunset in July- 311
- Every Tear Drop is a Waterfall- Coldplay
YouTube Songs Chart Top Ten
- Super Bass- Nicki Minaj
- Party Rock Anthem- LMFAO feat. Lauren Bennet & GoonRock
- Danza Kuduro- Don Omar & Lucenzo
- Rain Over Me- Pitbull feat. Marc Anthony
- Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F)- Katy Perry
- The Lazy Song- Bruno Mars
- On The Floor- Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull
- Rolling in the Deep- Adele
- You And I- Lady Gaga
- Give Me Everything Tonight- Pitbull feat. NeYo, Alfrojack & Nayer
Billboard has many different charts varying from overall top 100 to top 10 folk albums, they are kept up to date weekly so has the current stats. Because of the variation of charts I could choose from I decided to take what I feel to be the relevant to our music genre, these were 'Hot 100' which are the overall top songs in the world today, I then homed in and decided to look at the top ten for the musical category that our band/ song choice fits into which was 'Alternative' (they were many other genre categories but this one seemed the most fitting) and then finally I decided that the YouTube top ten chart had to be included. The YouTube chart I feel is the most relevant to our research as to listen to songs on YouTube you also are often experiencing the visuals of the music video- therefore the top ten for the YouTube chart are also the top ten most watched music videos on the web (so they must be doing something right!) and therefore should be invaluable to take tips and inspiration from despite not necessarily being the most relevant song choices.
Something that is noticeable in the broader categories (Hot 100 & YouTube Chart) is that the songs featured are much more mainstream and 'pop' than the songs/genre that we are interested in to create a music video for. This suggests that what we are doing is more likely to be for a niche audience and would more appear in the 'Alternative' Chart.
Examples of other texts; Album Covers
Here I have compiled a list of some of the album artwork that I find particularly inspiring.
Coldplay- X&Y. I find this cover really interesting at it doesn't have any obvious connection to the album and the songs it contains. I enjoy how simplistic yet interesting it is.
Ellie Goulding - Your Song EP. I like the colour scheme of this and the light spots, it gives it a warm feel and reflects the song.
Feist - The reminder. I like the silhouette of the front woman, and the stripes that look like ribbon are really interesting.
Kanye West- Graduation. The vivid colours and the abstract design make this a really interesting cover. I will take inspiration from the bright and eye catching colours.
Kanye West & Jay-Z - Watch the Throne. The design of this is very intricate yet it has no relation to the title of the album or the artists. I like how different and eye catching it is.
Laura Marling - Laura Marling. I like the drawn effect of this album artwork as it makes it have a more homemade feeling. This reflects her music as it is very acoustic. I think an album that reflects a bands style is clever.
Florence and the Machine - I like the colour scheme and the unusual setting. It reflects florence's style.
Rihanna - Loud. The colour scheme and mise en scene is really attractive to look at. The fact the album title is ' Loud' matches with the vibrant, vivid, bright colours.
Kanye West - Runaway. This album cover matches with the video, the ballerina gives it an abstract feel as you don't often find ballerina's in warehouses. The contrast of the green warehouse and the Red 'Runaway' Is aesthetically pleasing.
Passion Pit - Chunk of Change. I like the eye-catchy graphics on the front of this cover, as it gives it quite a unique and interesting feel. The name of the band and album is obvious which is inspiriation we wil take when desiging our album cover.
Arctic Monkeys - Favourite worst nightmare. I like the contrast between the dark council houses and the bright abstract graphics inside the house.
Beyonce -4. I like the colour feel that this has to it. I also like how the predominant focus is on Beyonce.
Hot Chip - Made in the Dark. I like the contrasting colours and the abstract patten on this cover. I like how the circle could represent a CD inside.
Kate Nash- Made of Bricks. The picture of the house relates to the 'Made of Bricks' title, as houses are made of bricks. I like how the four primary colours are used as it gives it a simplistic, almost childish feel.
The Killers - Day and Age. I like the mosaic pattern used, and how the sky gets darker the further it goes up. I also like the dramatic colours used, as it makes it really eye catching.
La Roux - La Roux. I like the red colour scheme, as Roux almost sounds like rouge which is french for red. The focus on the main artist on the cover is an element I like, however it would take a lot of photo shopping if I took a photo of my main artist this close up as La Roux has flawless skin.
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend. This is my favorite album cover that I have analysed. I really like the Chandelier and the heads, which impies the picture was taken at a party.This could imply their music is played at parties.
Tuesday 6 September 2011
Band Profile
'Cheap Kicks' is a new up & coming band. They formed in the past 6 months and have had an evergrowing fanbase ever since.
They met at Uni in Brighton when they were 18 and originally played with five, where they would meet up in their spare time to play as a social activity. When they were 21 and graduated, each with a degree in Music they decided to take things more seriously. This is when the band refined to the three members we are left with today, consisting of two guitarists and a drummer.
They are now committed to breaking into the music industry and are working hard on their debut album 'Young Lions' where their first single 'The Plage' is set for release in early January. When they aren't working on their album they are normally sociallising with friends and families or out in local bars in central Brighton.
Image is very important to them. They like to experiment with the latest fashions to help establish a unique style which will help to promote their band image. They shop in vintage/charity shops to get original peices but also are happy to be seen in highstreet labels.
They met at Uni in Brighton when they were 18 and originally played with five, where they would meet up in their spare time to play as a social activity. When they were 21 and graduated, each with a degree in Music they decided to take things more seriously. This is when the band refined to the three members we are left with today, consisting of two guitarists and a drummer.
They are now committed to breaking into the music industry and are working hard on their debut album 'Young Lions' where their first single 'The Plage' is set for release in early January. When they aren't working on their album they are normally sociallising with friends and families or out in local bars in central Brighton.
Image is very important to them. They like to experiment with the latest fashions to help establish a unique style which will help to promote their band image. They shop in vintage/charity shops to get original peices but also are happy to be seen in highstreet labels.
Song Choice
Songs that we considered for use were:
I thought it would be important to show the lyrics to the song as it adds context and is useful for when making our video particularly if we choose to create an illustrative music video where the video should visually be telling the lyrics story.
Lyrics to The Plage :
- The Fratellis - Flathead
- The Wombats - Techno Fan
- The Vaccines - All in White
- Crystal Fighters - The Plage
- Radical Face - Welcome Home
- The Maccabees - Toothpaste Kisses
- The Courteeners - Aftershow
- The Rumble Strips - Alarm Clock
- The XX - Basic Space
I thought it would be important to show the lyrics to the song as it adds context and is useful for when making our video particularly if we choose to create an illustrative music video where the video should visually be telling the lyrics story.
Lyrics to The Plage :
"Do you want to go
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling.
Do you want to go
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling.
Come over here with your heart
And I will love your heart with mine.
Do you want to go
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling.
It's half-past the moonlight.
Nobody would see us go.
(And I wonder) If....
Maybe you will look into my eyes
and you will see just what you done to me.
Time is short. You know you live one life.
It was love at first sight.
And being by your side is the only thing on my mind
Do you want to go
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling.
Come over here with your heart
And I will love your heart with mine.
So do you want to go
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling.
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling.
Do you want to go
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling.
Come over here with your heart
And I will love your heart with mine.
Do you want to go
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling.
It's half-past the moonlight.
Nobody would see us go.
(And I wonder) If....
Maybe you will look into my eyes
and you will see just what you done to me.
Time is short. You know you live one life.
It was love at first sight.
And being by your side is the only thing on my mind
Do you want to go
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling.
Come over here with your heart
And I will love your heart with mine.
So do you want to go
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling.
Do you want to go
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling.
Do you want to go
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling.
Come over here with your heart
And I will love your heart with mine.
Do you want to go
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling.
It's half-past the moonlight.
Nobody would see us go.
(And I wonder) If....
Maybe you will look into my eyes
and you will see just what you done to me.
Time is short. You know you live one life.
It was love at first sight.
And being by your side is the only thing on my mind
Do you want to go
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling.
Come over here with your heart
And I will love your heart with mine.
So do you want to go
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling."
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling.
Do you want to go
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling.
Come over here with your heart
And I will love your heart with mine.
Do you want to go
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling.
It's half-past the moonlight.
Nobody would see us go.
(And I wonder) If....
Maybe you will look into my eyes
and you will see just what you done to me.
Time is short. You know you live one life.
It was love at first sight.
And being by your side is the only thing on my mind
Do you want to go
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling.
Come over here with your heart
And I will love your heart with mine.
So do you want to go
to the plage with me?
I'm going down-down-down
there for the morning,
most beautiful girl I've ever seen.
Calm down-down-down,
my love is calling."
Deciding on a band name
We asked the selected members from our target audience over different varieties of media such as facebook, text, email, phone and the results are present on the right. It is vital to get audience feedback for as much as possible as it is their musical needs we are trying to satisfy.
We thought it was best to present this outcome in a pie chart as you can visually see which name got the most votes and how popular each of the other names was.
We were happy with the outcome of 'Cheap Kicks' as it was our personal favorite and we think it reflects the genre of the band and how we want our band to be portrayed. It also was popular among people who enjoy 'indie/alternative' style music.
New Twitter Feed
http://twitter.com/#!/cheapkicks1
This is our new twitter feed to keep fans upto date and to help form a fanbase. We have therefore followed lots of relevant people such as bands that fit into our category 'indie' such as Two Door Cinema Club and Noah & the Whale and also other people in our media class who can also help us to up our followers.
This is our new twitter feed to keep fans upto date and to help form a fanbase. We have therefore followed lots of relevant people such as bands that fit into our category 'indie' such as Two Door Cinema Club and Noah & the Whale and also other people in our media class who can also help us to up our followers.
Monday 5 September 2011
Audience Profile
I have chosen to base the female audience profile on Sara. She studies Creative Media at Leicester College where she eventually wants to persue the career path and work for a magazine. She is 17 so fits comfortably into where I believe our TA would lie.
What makes Sara perfect for use as a typical audience member is her love for music; this makes her opinions valid and releavant. Her favourite bands include The Wombats, Coldplay and Mumford & Sons. She regularly attends concerts to get the full experience and music 'vibe' but during summer time she perticular loves to attend festivals. She has recently attended Summer Sundae and Glastonbury where she claimed Mumford & Sons were without a doubt the best live performers. She feels live performance is the most important thing to make or break a band as a great performance triggers an atmosphere which multiplies the enjoyment factor of listening to music greatly. Therefore a disspointing performance would have the reverse effect and the enjoyment that comes from listening to their music is somewhat lost.
I thought it would be an important factor to ask Saras opinions on music videos, album inserts and magazine adverts as this is the route me and Izzy will be taking with our work and audience feedback is vital for sucessful peices.
When asked Sara labelled her perfect music video as 'A-Punk' by Vampire Weekend (which I actually featured as inspiration earlier in the blog which is pretty convienant and makes me think we're heading down the right path) as she likes the arty influence in it and also the fun and creative feel and the 'not taking things too serious' vibe. She generally watches music videos on music channels and so the visuals are very important as anything not aesthetically pleasing runs the risk of being turned off. She believes a music video can also make or break a song as even if the song is great, a poor video attached can then be linked in your mind triggering the 'poor video' to be remembered as the song plays actually putting a negative on the enjoyment of the song.
When I asked Sara about CD inserts she described her favourites as the album covers for 'Tourist History' and 'The Wombats Proudly Present This Modern Glitch' as she says they are both original designs which originally strike her but also the colour draws her in. These are both things we need to consider when making our CD insert as by being colourful and original we will have an eye catching peice which therefore should be successful.
Sunday 4 September 2011
Audience Profile
Sam is a huge music fan, he is particularly influenced by Kanye West and Jay-Z as he predominantly listens to their music. He went to Glastonbury and was on the front row for Coldplay, which he thoroughly enjoyed. He also watched Elbow, Beyonce, Crystal Fighters, Radiohead, Paolo Nutini, Mumford and Sons, Jessie J and enjoyed spending his nights in the dance tents. His favorite bands to listen to are Kasabian, Foals, Maccabees, Delphic and White Lies which he has seen all live. Sam tends to like bands which are good live as it makes it a better experience when he goes to see them, rather than being dissapointed that they are better recording artists. He has also seen bombay bycicle club, The Vaccines, Two door cinema club, The Prodigy, Dizzee Rascal, Passion Pit and Ellie goulding. It is obvious Sam is very intereted in music. He tries to listen to bands that are good yet aren't as popular, he is into new music.
Sam has a keen interest in media. He often reads the daily mail online and other similar websites, he has a subscription to Esquire and GQ as he likes that style of magazine.
Sam's hobbies would include driving (he has his own mini), playing snooker, playing football and swimming. He also enjoys going to the gym and keeping fit as he regularly goes for cross country runs. He feels that keeping fit is important to everyone, but esecially important to him feeling good about himself. Sam also enjoys going out with his friends, whether its going to parties, cinema, driving, bowling, ice skating Sam enjoys it. He is a very sociable person.
As you can see Sam is an ideal member of the target audience as he is into a wide variety of bands yet most of them would fall under the indie category. It gives us a focus point when looking at our target audience and gives us an idea on what to create.
Thoughts on Band Name
Since the dilemma on band names arose we have brainstormed more options the most successful being:
- Young Lions
- Cheap Kicks
- Wisemen
- Carnival Kids
- Processed Beats
We will ask for audience feedback on these five band names to make a more educated choice of name this time around therefore meaning it will be final and will satisfy its target audience. This decision will be made in the very near future.
Inspiration
As I discussed in my last post, I think that the 'arty' and 'creative' feel of 'Always Like This' really adds to the video and also is more doable by me and Izzy rather so than the squeaky clean edited videos by more mainstream artists such as Rihanna, Lady Gaga etc. I decided to further gain inspiration and insight I should search for music videos that also used similar techniques to give a more personal take on music videos. These are the videos that I found which I think can offer ideas to us to give us a starting point and a way to do things which isn't impossible but is good quality and potentially achievable.
Inspiration for Music Video; Always Like This by Bombay Bicycle Club
I
I have chosen to analyse ‘Always Like This’ by Bombay Bicycle Club as I feel it is an interesting music video as it chooses creative and arty ways to present what could be squeaky clean and studio made, making it actually have more appeal for me and also allowing me to gain inspiration that successful music videos can have a ‘home made’ feel if it is used correctly and to an advantage. This is particularly useful information as for us to make a music video to a professional standard, something more studio based (take for example, Cheryl Cole’s or Rihanna’s videos) would be really hard to achieve with such limited equipment available to us however this more creative arty take on things is equally as effective but would be much more realistic for us to make.
The video starts with what looks like an old video tape flickering and the noise of a working video player. This initiates the feeling of ‘home made’ as it makes us reminiscent of old family videos and so actually can draw us into the video as it feels familiar and non-threatening. We then see the controls of the video player and see the fast-forward button being used which confirms suspicions of a video player and tape. The video shows us various settings on fast-forward all which again seem familiar and reminiscent of family like tapes, we see a roundabout, garage doors and a drum kit outside what we assume to be a house; these all set the scene as again they are familiar and therefore comforting and we are allowed to gain context as these settings all are seen throughout the video again.
We then see the lead singer walk into the scene with a guitar so we are allowed to assume that this is the frontman and whom the focus of this ‘home video’ is going to be on. Once the singing begins with ‘oh she can wait for what I can give’ the video player noise continues to make the ‘home made’ feel seem more believable, however it is hardly noticeable above the singing so doesn’t take away from the music. The rest of the band is then filmed in other various locations and finally they all come together outside a house when the beat kicks in, which allows us to see that together they work best as the beat climaxes with them all in harmony.
The pause, play and fast-forward buttons are made apparent throughout the video and used frequently to speed up the video which allows condensing of time but also an ‘arty’ feel as to see things in fast-forward adds interest to the video. There is also a constant altering of quality throughout the video constantly reminding us that this is supposed to have a home tape feel. It also adds to the appeal as it gives different perspectives and allows us to focus on certain aspects as the focus literally improves to allow us to take this hint.
The homemade and arty feel is furthered by certain angles such as the close-up angle of a guitarists hands strumming to the beat which adds to the arty feel as it offers an alternative and creative angle but also gives musical context as the guitar is present in the mise-en-scene. The alternating and fast changing colours of the garage doors also adds to the feeling of creativeness and goes along to the beat, this is an example of quick jump shots which are edited accordingly to the music and I believe is incredibly effective and adds appeal and is something I would like to consider when making our own video. Further uses of being creative yet abiding to the beat is the shot of the band on the swings as it adds a fun feel but they swing to the tune making it relevant and not completely disjunctive.
The locations shot include a play area, a park, a car park, a high street, an outside of a house, outside flats, outside shops etc. These all are familiar and generally accessible to the general public all which add to the believable ‘home tape’ and all which could be considered for similar use when making our music videos.
The video finishes with the old video tape flickering before turning completely black as the sound ceases. This brings the video full circle and shows the video has stuck to the same feel throughout the entire music video showing consistency and professionalism. Despite the whole video being done to look alike a home tape it is obviously professionally done using special effects and editing to get the good resemblance. However the whole feel of being creative and arty is down to the producer and you don’t need specialist equipment but good ideas to make that a reality- this is something that needs to be seriously considered when making our video as we can use some aspects of this to allow for a successful and professional yet slightly homemade feeling video.
This video has aspects of illustration and disjuncture however I feel it is mostly amplification as it uses creative scenes, angles, mise-en-scene, editing etc in a new and interesting way allowing for a successful video. However aspects of illustrative references include much of the action being in beat to the music and aspects of disjuncture include the video not really referencing the lyrics in anyway as the general feel of the lyrics ‘I’m not whole’ being repeated and ‘try to look proud but you’re not in the slightest’ gives an ‘I’m not good enough’ feel which the on screen action doesn’t demonstrate.
Saturday 3 September 2011
Band Name Problems
Even though we thought we had came up with a band name 'Personal Preference', after asking for peoples opinions on it the feedback was mainly negative. Comments ranged from 'too long', 'sounds a bit odd' and 'just doesn't sound like a band'. As audience feedback is obviously very important this does mean that we cannot pursue this name and we now must rethink and brainstorm new ideas. Something that was suggested by the audience and had already been considered by myself and Izzy is to use 'The' to introduce the band name such as many memorable and legendary preexisting bands such as 'The Beatles', 'The Eagles', 'The Cure', 'The Killers', 'The Kooks', 'The Wanted' etc etc. We should hopefully have came up with a new band name shortly to overcome this first problem.
Friday 2 September 2011
Band Name
To help decide a band name we did a mindmap using bubbl.us which allowed us to display all our ideas and inspirations easily. Together we decided that 'Personal Preference' was our best option as it is catchy because of alliteration use, which will mean it is more likely to be remembered by fans etc.
We decided on calling our band 'personal preference' which we thought was the most catchy name, that we would remember.
Here is the twitter that we will use predominantly to get audience feedback
www.twitter.com/p_preference.
Here is the twitter that we will use predominantly to get audience feedback
www.twitter.com/p_preference.
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