Twitter Page

To make our band look more official we've decided to created a twitter account. We thought this would help the appearance of our website and make it seem more realistic. We've so far created an appropriate name, added a profile&cover picture and posted our first tweet.

I'll update you on any advances.

storyboard

Graphics tablet practice

Here is a little doodle I did on a graphics tablet. I wanted to get used to using it as I plan to have drawing on my CD cover, giving it a professional yet fun look. 

We've not yet had a CD photo shoot yet so this is an old photo.

To create this I also used Photoshop. I first created the black line to divide the piece for two different characters/scenes. 

I figured by pressing harder/softer on the tablet it changed the thickness of the lines and allowed me to create a different feel.

I first did the wings white but felt like they needed more depth so I decided to layer different colours and lessen the hardness of the brush to give it a feathered appearance. I also did this to the 'cloud' and rubbed out a few bits.

shot list

Shot list from niamhbarrett

Merchandise practice

I've had a little mess around with Adobe Photoshop to create some merchandise. I couldn't find the picture we used for the logo so I used a different one I found on google. 

To create the items I opened both the images on Photoshop, then unlocked the background. Next I changed the image size of the fox before selecting it and dragging it on to the clothing. I fiddled with the positioning of the logo and the colour to get a different feel.

Watercolour Effect

When looking through after effect tutorials I stumbled across this video. I love this effect as it combines my two favourite subjects, Art and Media. I would like to trail this effect to see if it will work in my music video; I feel like it could fit into the part of our story where the main character has a flashback.

Cinematic Effect

I've already looked at many tutorials which will help me to achieve a cinematic effect. As I was scrolling through other students work, I found this video on how to perfect the look, which explained it really well. I'm planning on using this effect in my music video, hopefully, as it fits the pop kind of genre and will make our video look professional. This means that while I'm filming I will have to consider the shutter speed and the frame rate.
I don't think I'll use the ratio of 2.35:1 though, but instead keep to 16:9, as I don't to loose the top or bottom of my footage. It will also be a faff to set up and not using it will save time.

marking past music videos

Mark past videos from niamhbarrett

website textual analysis

I've searched a few female pop singers website and here is a textual analysis of one. I'm a little disappointed by some, for example I was going to do Rita Ora but you need to sign in before going onto the website and that lost my attention straight away so I resorted to another artist. I then searched Jennifer Lopez because she was on a list of pop singers, but she appeared to have no website. So instead I've decided to do Ariana Grande.

history of music formats

development of logo

Getting consent

  

   So to actually use the music for our video we need consent from the artist. We know that it is unlikely for the artist to reply but we need proof that we've at least asked for it.

Flume didn't have a direct email on his website so we contacted him on Facebook and his record label, Future Classic, through email.

scribble effect trial

So I followed this tutorial to create a scribble effect on a video.

In the second try I added a couple more frames to see if it looked better. I'm not happy with the outcome so I think I'm going to try in again. It looks too fast, I've already slowed it down a bit but it's still quicker than I'd like. I feel like it's all over the place as well, I should have kept the frames the same but with slight differences.

creating a website

I hate how I made my website look so I've changed it. Here are a few screenshots of what it previously looked like - which was terrible. It was over the top with pink because I was going with gender stereotypes. The style I ended up with was completely different from what I wanted. So I decided to start again.

http://cliptomize.com/Clipbook/View/383433?secret=yh5q35rf75

Here's how my new website is looking. It's simplistic and not over the top like my last.

CD cover idea

So I've had a thought about the CD cover/website homepage background. Basically, I want to incorporate an image with drawing/art. I imagine a kind of symmetrical Aztec/henna kind of pattern behind a portrait. Or maybe a part of the portrait would be rubbed out and drawn back it - to show that the character was missing a part of herself but has now found it, filling the missing piece. Or even like the picture below, I could incorporate monsters behind our main character to show the harshness of the world and the effect it has on her decisions.

I found this image when scrolling through Instagram and it inspired this idea for my CD cover. 

I'd like to combined realism with fantasy. The art would relate to the song because of its message. It suggests that dreams can become reality; something that may have been thought of as fantasy before has now become a part of modern society (homosexuality). The mix of two worlds may also represent our main characters as being trapped about whether to open up about her sexuality or to conceal it.

Logo ideas

I've had a little mess about trying to create a logo/symbol for our artist's website. The name's not going to be the same in the final design, it was just a filler as I didn't know what to call our artist.
I tested some different styles but still kept the curly kind of typography to match the genre of our music, pop. I've noticed that the pop genre usually goes for this font as it is aesthetically pleasing to look at and easy to read for their mass audience.
The writing also reflects our artist's gender though the use of colours.

bandcamp study

Bandcamp from niamhbarrett

Music Pitch Video

Stuart Hall applied

Stuart hall believes that producers fill their media texts with meaning and it is the audiences job to decode it. The audience can either accept or reject the meaning.

Michael Jackson Earth song

Preferred view- It shows that humans damaged the world; Michael is trying to get across that we should look after the earth and restore peace. It urges us to get involved and do charity work to help the injustice.

Negotiated view - There are stereotypical representations in this video. Some people may be offended by the view that all of Africa is the same. However, footage may be accepted as it gets recognition for those suffering in the third world continent.

Oppositional view - Michael is the only one that's not struggling in the video. Michael suggests that he's suffering too when he sings 'what about us', which makes him seem petty because there are worst things happening in the world. He has power to raise a message but instead he puts himself center stage and focuses the video on himself rather than other unjust events. He's represented on a cross suggesting he's like God and is superior to other humans.

my reaction - I agree with the negotiated view that it is wrong to stereotype but sometimes it is necessary.
The first thing I noticed when I watched this video was that Michael is suggesting that tribal people are wrong for killing; but how are they meant to survive by not killing animals or cutting down trees for food and shelter? The way they live is similar to other animals, they have to use other creatures in the food change to survive. The video indicates that we could put everything right again but we can't fully restore the Earth, it's not as easy as he makes it look.

Others in the class thought the point was put a cross and it made them feel sad that we are causing all this havoc and chaos.

adding imagery to lyrics

Audience

It would probably appeal more to white people as the video will have an all white cast, so it would be more relatable for them.

Uses and Gratifications - Blumer and Katz

I would say our videos aim is to entertain and express personal relationships and personal identity.

Entertainment and personal relationship - The story line will be quite dramatic - with a girl in a heterosexual relationship realising she likes girls.

Personal identity - People may be influenced to open up about their sexuality in comparison to the video so that they can avoid having to fake emotions.

Intertextuality video

Intertextuality is the reference to an original source in another video/photo etc.

This music video uses intertextuality in relation to Suicide Squad. This song is off of the sound track to the film and therefore is expected to have movie footage within it.
The song helped to promote the movie and movie helped to promote the song.
They've used dark, stingy room and locations to match those of the movie.

I love the way crosscutting is used to link the song/artists to the movie.

I think the use of slow motion is really effective combined with the quick cuts. It makes the footage seem more dramatic yet still fast paced. Therefore matching to the plot of the film where drama is the main feature due to it being about criminals.

Star Theory

Star theory – richard dyer from niamhbarrett

One page pitch

Famous CD covers

I don't think this post embedded right on my last blog and I can't access it, so here's my 2nd try.

Famous CD covers

Flume - Say it analysis

Music video director research

BBHMM and regulation

Holiday vlog

I created this on movie maker so sorry for the bad editing. 

Hopefully when I'm at school I'll be able to fiddle with colour correction.

Whoops accidentally got done for copyright.

photoshop practice

Photoshoot and photoshop from niamhbarrett

Textual Analysis - On top of the world

Created with Padlet

choosing genre

Media Theories

Hartley (1994)- this theorist argues that 'genres are agents of ideological closure - they limit the meaning of a given text'. Giving the effect that genres act as a straight-jacket by limiting creative potential in artists.

Hodge and Kress (1998)- they say that genres 'control the behavior of producers of such text, and the expectation of potential consumers'. Therefore this conforms to the audiences expectations, which is necessary for them.

Fiske (1987)- genres reflect the zeitgeist (current events). Genre conventions 'embody the ideological concerns of the time in which they are popular. This suggests that genres tell us something about the way of the world. Therefore genres are important in shaping future events and how society functions today.

Rick Altman-  he argues that there is no such thing as 'pure' genre anymore. Audience become tired of the same formula as it needs to still have appeal to audiences. The reason that genres survive is through hybridization borrowing. 

One minute music task feedback

Reflection

I agree we did include a few longer takes towards the end. We kept the last shot long because we thought it was quite effective. I guess this may have lost the audiences attention with the slower pace. I'll try to avoid this in my final music video; as I'd rather intrigue the viewer rather than bore them.

 

Filming the 1 minute task

CD cover for 1 minute video

Created with Adobe Photoshop

Front cover

We had already picked this photo when filming...we liked it that much! 

I already liked the pictures colours but Rae made it even better by adding some effects; for example emphasising the brightness like you'd expect in the music industry. 

I first tried the Titling in green to match the trees in the background, however the girls didn't think it stood out enough...plus they didn't like green. Thus we changed it to a girly purple colour that was noticeable when layered on top of the pond.

I decided to do a reflection with 'Pieces' like Hyleana was reflecting on her past and wrong choices.It also ties in with the reflectiveness of the water and the mirror she sings into.

I decided to colour the two 'Pieces' in different shades. The lighter shade presents good and innocent, where as the darker shade presents bad and danger(which is later foreseen in the video).

I'd previously analysed Mika's CD cover and like his used of cartoon design. This lead me to interpret it in my own work. I drew a crown because it was the first thing that came into my head but it also shows power and strength. I drew ears and a tail on Oli, I was going for a rat look but it turned out to be more of a mouse, either way it's still a rodent. The tail started off in an 'S' shaped until I realised it went out of the CD template lines.

First attempt of the back cover

Firstly, Hyleana hated this photo so I had to change it, even though I didn't see what was bad about it. Secondly, I didn't like how plain it looked.

However, there were somethings I did like from this one that I carried across to the next design. For example, the colourful barcode. When we were searching for a barcode, we found this and really liked it because it was different, I also felt it went well with the girly purple theme. 

When I was having a little experiment with the background, I found a gradient tool at the side of the page. On my first attempt the white was at the top; this changed when I realised the barcode and labels were at the bottom, meaning it would be simpler to have the white at the bottom so I wouldn't have to delete the background to the symbols. The gradient also aloud me to have the different shades of  purple that were on the front cover.

Back cover

I decided to do a collage for the second attempt, in which I used screen grabs of all the quick cuts at the beginning of the music video. The hardest part to this cover was trying to arrange the pictures and get them straight. It took me a little longer than expected but I feel like the outcome was worth it.

I did want to try the collage in the middle like the first back cover but I felt like it would be a hassle to rearrange and get straight again.

When I was highlighting the writing to change the font, I liked the way it framed the words; therefore it inspired me to put the song titles in boxes. This gave the writing more of an edgy, urban feel.

P.S. it doesn't have a blue border that's just the way it's displayed.

1 minute task

CD cover analysis

1 minute music video storyboard

So the song we've decided to do for our one minute task is pieces by Ella Henderson.


Part 1

Part 2

Made with Storyboard That

Textual Analysis

history of music

History of music videos from niamhbarrett

californication

For this task we had to create a storyboard of how we would direct the music video to Californication by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. This is mine and Hyleana's.

It's not the best quality and camera work, sorry.

Recreation of Can't Stop the Feeling

Pre-birth music video analysis

George Michael

For this task I had to listen to the song 'A different corner' by George Michael. I wasn't allowed to look at the music video but instead I had to guess what it was like or what I would include if I were to direct it.

I imagined there to be a little boat; the background looked like a school production (when they try to recreate the sea by waving bits of material/card up and down). I also imagined the colour blue. I think my reasoning behind this was because waves and the colour blue connotate calmness and the song was very gentle. I also pictured the scene at night because there was a noise in the video that sounded like a star. It's like the sound they use in a nativity to show that it's shining.

I thought that a close up of a tear would be included to match his lyrics 

-"You are the only one to stop my tears".

In contrast, the video was completely different. It used a white washed background, well white everything to be honest. George camouflaged beautifully in his golf gear against the giant beanbag. There were many close ups at different angles, these showed him moping around and feeling sorry for himself to emphasis his relationship problems.

To be honest I think my idea would have been a lot more interesting.

 

First post

So this is my first blog of my new course. In this course I will be creating a music video that will last for about 3-4 minutes. I will also be creating a promotional package for this video, in which I will create a band website and a CD inlay. For this task I will be working with the same group I did with for my AS, Hyleana and Rae.