CD Packaging - Back Cover

This will be the back of the CD packaging. This was chosen because I wanted all the images used on the packaging to come from the same photo shoot, just to demonstrate consistency. The water in the River Mersey has been used to advocate the same connotations that the shots in the music video involving the river symbolise.

As the vastness of the river contrasts to the size of the artist making him seem insignificant and to suggest that he is lost amongst the crowd (with the crowd being every day life).

The black and white theme is present here once again and will benefit the success of the packaging as it will make the text on the back where the list of the songs will be, easier to read. This allows the target audience to recognise the packaging as CD packaging, because if the traditional codes of CD packaging are not present it is hard for the target audience to identify it, as such.

CD Packaging - Leaflet

This is the leaflet that will be a pull-out for the target audience inside the CD packaging. I decided to use a leaflet in the packaging to advertise the tour to the target audience, as this can be used as free advertising for the artist.

It is also something for the target audience to look at when they purchase the album, and helps to engage the consumer which may also influence their purchase if they are aware of the leaflet.

CD Packaging - Second inside cover

This is the inside cover where the CD itself will be placed upon. Once again a black and white filter has been placed on the image. I think that through making this a theme throughout all my media products then a convention of the indie rock genre can be used to associate my artist with the genre by the target audience.

However I have also integrated the same symbolisation used in the first inside CD cover with the contrast of black and white and the colour of sporadic bricks and the graffiti on the wall. This is for the same symbolic purposes.

I decided to use red, brown and orange bricks on the wall and yellow/green and brown bricks on the floor. This was just to make the page look more appealing for the target audience and gives them something to look at when they remove the CD disk from the packaging.

CD Packaging - Inside Front Cover

This is the inside front cover for my CD packaging. This is where the leaflet that I am going to create will go on this page. I have decided to stay with the black and white theme on this page, as this is something that I decided to integrate across all my products.

However I thought that just a black and white image was too bland for the packaging and wouldn't really appeal to the target audience, despite the fact that the leaflet will be on top of it. So I decided to make the locks and the chain in colour to contrast with the black and white background.

This is because I also wanted to implement some symbolism into the CD packaging. I used the contrast of the colours to symbolise hope. The music video is representing the bleak life of the artist and his internal struggles. I believe that the colour in the black and white background shows that there is hope in bleak times.

Take me to church - Research

As it currently stands Take me to church is 3rd in the UK top 40. This advocates the growing popularity of the song and shows that Hozier is making a name for himself, not just in the indie rock genre but in the music industry itself. The screenshot shows the accolades that the song has achieved in countries across the world.

This link shows the accolades the song has recieved http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Me_to_Church#Release_history.

However I couldn't help but notice that two countries where excluded from this list as well as the list that shows where the song rates in each countries charts. They are North Korea and Russia. North Korea is known for it's authoritarian government and is known for being oppresive in terms of media access. 

The narrative of the song can be decoded in many ways, with my personal opinion being the homosexuality expressed in the video is openly questioning the churches believes regarding this controversial subject. 

It is unknown North Korea's views on homosexual relationships but they are renown for being an oppressive nation. They pick and choose what forms of media they distribute to their people and this includes music, it can be suggested that North Korea have refused to release this song to the public. However it is undetermined whether the government have refused to do so due to their own beliefs on the message behind the song.

On the other hand, Russia are infamous for their views on homosexuality and are openly a homophobic nation and embrace the sanctity of opposite sex relationships. This video emphasises the extreme views of the Russian people, it is known that many of them believe that homosexuality is damaging traditional Russian values.

It is easily suggested that Russia didn't allow this song to be released in their country due to their views on homosexuality. Especially considering that the message behind the video is to challenge the views of the church on the subject, it can also challenge their views on homosexuality. 

Despite the fact that the target audience for the song is generic and can be watched by all ages, it is clear that Russia will not associate themselves with music videos like Hozier's due to their nations love of homophobia.  

CD Cover - Inspiration

One of the conventions of CD packaging in the indie rock genre is the facial expression of the artist on the cover. This is because the expression is used as an indicator to the target audience of what the mood of the album is. Considering that we have used the packaging for the Take me to church song, I needed to portray a facial expression that advocates the meaning/mood of the song.

As you can see in this CD cover, it is similar to the design of what I hope the finalised product of my version will look like. The use of the black and white theme (which I have decided to integrate across all the media products) and the facial expressions of the band.

However the shot on the front of my CD packaging will be different, as they have had to use a long shot to fit all band members into the frame. As I am the only artist I have told the camera man to zoom onto my face, this is so I am the most dominant factor in the image, and the target audience can easily see my facial expressions and interpret that their own way (Reception theory).

For this final CD cover, you can see that this is once again similar to The Killers CD cover and my own design. The black and white theme seems to be a consistent factor in this music genre, this is something that will now allow the audience to associate my media product with the genre. This was kept in mind in relation the theory that the audience is active, and perceive the media through their own opinions.

The thumbnails show how I narrowed down the images taken from the photo shoot. My decision making was conducted in mind of the facial expression convention of the genre. The image above the thumbnails is the image I decided to use, as it is the image (in my opinion) that I think helps portray the facial expressions of the artist.

Music Video First Draft - Individual Assessment

Looking back at the first draft of our music video I think that the first draft puts our group in a good position to edit it further and get a good grade. I think that the black and white effect added to the bleak atmosphere of the music video and helped make our video unique and stand out from the rest of the music videos.

Looking at other music videos it is not the best in terms of unique ideas, however I think we have managed to make a narrative music video that makes the reader want to continue to watch until the end.  I also stand by my decision to make the video ambiguous, this helps engage the target audience and makes them think about the message behind the music video as well as entertain the audience.

There are a few changes that need to be made but I think that we are in a great position to aim for the highest grades. There are some shots that I am personally not happy with and will look to see how we can either adapt them to make them better or look for a shot that will replace it.

I would class our music video as an ambiguous narrative and with these type of videos it is either a hit or miss. I think that we have balanced the music video perfectly so that the music video will want to continue to watch and engage them through individual perception. 

I think that sometimes it is hard to help the audience understand the meaning behind a music video. So through making the meaning ambiguous it makes it easier for us as the audience will be finding their own meaning. The audience will have to take what is being shown to them and create their own perception and connote their own meaning.

Inspiration behind potential CD cover and Tour poster images

 These are the three images that as a group we decided to narrow down as the images we are going to use for our CD cover and tour poster.

This is the first image that we chose. There is no influence that we have taken when we took this picture. We decided to use this image because this is a pose that is used in the music video. 

Also the River Mersey over powers the artist and this relates to the music video. As the artist is an isolated figure in the music video and the contrast between him and the river emphasises his isolation. Whilst also leaving a lot of room for text if we use this for one of our products.

This is the second image that we decided to use. This is the image that I would personally not use, I understand the concept as the look of contemplation on the artists face directly relates to theme of isolation in the music video.

However I don't think that the pose is good enough and there is too much space on the image, I don't think that using this image would benefit the group; personally.

I like this image as this has been taken in one of the main locations of the music video. In most of the CD covers and tour posters that I have researched they are (more often than not) looking at the target audience.

I also think that this is a good image because there is enough space for text to fit on and once again the loose frame around the artist emphasises his isolation.

I think this image has editing potential, and this helps us as we can manipulate this image to help us create a professional product.

My First Logo Designs

As a group we need to design a logo for our artist and use it for our CD cover and our tour poster. There is a design that I have been playing round with and have narrowed it down to two designs, as we all have to present a design.

This is the first design, I have stayed with the black and white theme that we are using for all our products.

I decided to put something in the middle of the circle to try and make it look more creative. Once I added the 'H' I decided to make the line through the middle go right across the logo.

I think that this makes the logo look better and makes it look a bit more eye catching. However I think that the logo isn't the best but is a good effort for a first attempt (due to my lack of skills in Photoshop).

This is the second of the same design. I added the line going through the centre of the logo, I am undecided which will be the one that I decide to continue to edit.

I think that the line is good for symbolic purposes as Hozier is a religious man and so is the song that we are using for our music video. So the line going through the middle makes it look like a crucifix in the centre of the logo.

However because of this the 'H' doesn't look clear enough for the audience to know and could be seen as a letter 'O'.

Record Label Responce

This is the email from Rubyworks giving my group permission to use the song "Take me to church".

He responded with "This is fine if it's for school use only" allowing my group to use the song for our music video.

Music Video First Draft - Peer Assessment

This is the feedback that my group received for our first draft of our music video. I am pleased with the feedback and are happy that they enjoyed the music video. I have read all the comments and are going to reflect on them and keep them in mind over the course of the week, as we begin to re-edit the music video.

Music Video - Feedback

In order to ensure that as a group we make the best music video that we possibly can, I asked Luke Griffiths and Joe McLean what they thought about our music video. Also what they would change about the video as this constructive criticism will help us improve.

Luke Griffiths

Q1. What did you think of the music video?

A1. I thought it was quite good. The black and white was very effective in terms of atmosphere and fit the song nicely.

Q2. What was the part you liked the most about it?

A2. The part where the guy gets beat up, because it was unexpected and memorable.

Q3. What would you change about the music video?

A3. I would work with the fight scenes and try to make it look more brutal, as it would be in that situation.

Joe McLean

Q1. What did you think of the music video?

A1. I really liked the video, it was memorable because of the narrative and the black and white suited the theme of the song.

Q2. What was the part you liked most about it?

A2.The shots in the church and the confrontation at the park had a very serious feeling about them, this combined well with the song.

Q3. What would you change about the music video?

A3. when i compare this video to other music videos that I've watched, other videos had a wider variety of acting in them, more of this would be better as it would give the video more of a storyline to accompany the track.

This feedback was helpful as both of these people are not Media students so the opinions are from a potential target audience. I will take into consideration their responses to the music video and evaluate whether I can act on the comments.

Music video - Draft 1

We have completed the first draft of our music video and we have presented this to our class. As a group we are happy with the way that the first draft has turned out.

We have received feedback from the other groups and we will review the feedback and act upon it if we feel necessary. We know that there are changes that need to be made in order to raise our grade.

We have a week to make the changes we want to the video to make it better, we are going to have a lot of work to do to ensure that the music video improves from this first draft.

Editing Process - 3

I have just completed editing the music video and it is now ready to present for tomorrow. This was the most crucial part of the video as the most important scenes are in the closing minute of the song. I worked hard on continuing to ensure that the transitions change from shot to shot in beat with the song. The music video now that it is all together looks really good, I think that we did a great job in editing the music video.

Questionnaire Results

Questionnaire

I have produced a questionnaire to help our group develop our concept for our music video or even perhaps change our idea. This is so get an identify a potential target audience and see how they respond to our current ideas and see if they match the genre of music video we are creating.

Editing Process - 2

Due to the fact that Nathan is absent as he is doing jury duty, I have taken over his part of the editing. I have just completed the middle section of the song in preparation for presenting out first draft. I think that I have done a good job in using appropriate shots and the transitions match the beat in the song. I will know have to edit my part of the music video which is the final minute of the song, I think that the music video is looking great so far as we have included relevant shots and done the best we can despite lack of equipment.

Group Communication

I have ensured that my group have been communicating frequently so that everybody is on top of their work and productivity is smooth. Personally I didn't like commenting on my group members blogs mostly because I know that they wouldn't look. 

So to resolve this problem, I decided to create a WhatsApp group and invite my group members to the chat and communicate that way. This is because I know there would be no evidence for verbal communication, which in all honesty we are doing a lot of, and we needed proof of media communication.

As you can see here we communicated via WhatsApp and used it to arrange meeting times for when we would discuss the filming of the music video. I also personally used it to send the pictures from the filming days to the other group members so they could upload them to their own personal blogs.

I think that this will be the only form of media communications that I will do and my group will do, this is because this is something that I know that  I will and my other group members will respond to.

Requesting permission from Record Label

I decided to contact the record label that represents Hozier and the song that my group have decided to use for our music video (Rubyworks).

This is the email that I sent to their label manager, Mr. Quail requesting his permission to use the song for our music video.

I will now wait for the response to see whether permission will be granted for our group to use "Take me to church".

Editing Process

We (Group 2) have started our editing process. We are now entering the final stages of production as we have finished all of our filming. I think that our group will produce a professional looking music video as we have worked efficiently and productively so far. We all have parts to play in terms of editing and have other work we need to do whilst others film. When someone is filming, one will be updating the group blog of our process and the other will be producing drafts of our CD covers and tour posters. We need to complete the editing process by 12th December so we can submit the first draft of our music video. We will then apply any changes that we need to improve the quality of the music video and present the videos again the following Friday for the video to be assessed.

Tour Poster - 1st Attempt

This is the first tour poster that I have designed. I have once again added a gradient map to the image to stay with the black and white theme.

I also then created another layer with just the subject so I could edit the background. I applied a 'cutout' filter to the background to make the subject look more dominant on the page.

I also included the 'Georgia' font which is used in the music video and in the first draft of the CD cover.

I have also included the white strips in the bottom of the page like I have done in previous attempts of tour posters (The Script poster).

At the bottom of the page I have included a website that the target audience can go to purchase tickets for the tour. I have also included social media icons in the bottom corner. This is so the target audience know updates will be posted on both Facebook and Twitter.


I think that this is a professional looking tour poster and one that my group could use for our final piece.  I don't think I could add anything else to this tour poster to improve the poster.

Photoshop Effect - Defining text as brushes

This is the final Photoshop effect we will be shown how to do as it is coming close to the time where we have to create our CD cover's and tour posters. I think that I have learnt a lot and developed my Photoshop technique over the past couple of weeks and my final products will benefit from this new found knowledge of Photoshop.

However I don't think that I will use any of the Photoshop effects in my final products as I have an idea on how my design is going to be. However the most valuable technique that I have learnt is how to use the filters, as I believe that I will use a filter on the image for my final products.

CD Cover - 1st Attempt

This is my first attempt of a CD cover using a photograph that we have taken during our filming process.

I applied a gradient map to the image to make it look black and white which is the theme for our products.

Then I applied a filter to the background of the image but not to the subject. This is how I have made the effect with the water.

Then I applied the text and that is the last thing that I did. Since I have done this we have all decided on the 'Georgia' font to use for all our products. This is because we think it is the best font that suits the genre of music we are creating products for.

I think that I will experiment with other images that we have taken and then try to use some more Photoshop effects on the images to enhance the CD cover.

Photoshop Effects - Filters

I have played around with a couple Photoshop filters so I can further familiarise myself with the filters. Filters is one of the only effects that I already know how to do and they can make the difference between a amateur and a professional looking CD cover or tour poster.

Contact Sheet

This is my contact sheet for the images that my group took whilst we was filming. The pictures are potential CD covers and tour posters, I personally circled three of the images that I think are best suited for the other products.

The first one is at Albert Docks (docks 1) and I think this is suitable for a CD cover because it has room for the text on the page. There is also a good background with the water and the pose matches one that I do during our music video.

The second one is at Everton park (park 2), I think that this would be suitable for either a CD cover or a tour poster. That is because there is a lot of room for text down the left side and I am posing so I would be looking at the text.

The final image (park 4) I think would be ideal for a tour poster, this is because on tour posters the artist generally look at the audience (apart from Hozier's). So I think that this will fit the stereotypical tour poster pose and there is a lot of room down the left for the text to fit in.

Despite the fact that I was the person in front of the camera, I played a role in the decisions behind the shots. I helped my group position me in the frame and the poses that I did. This was something that I was considering before hand and the poses in the pictures are something that I decided was genre specific.

Filming Day 4 - Review

This was the final (full) day of filming, we still need to film the scene in Michael's bedroom but this will take no longer than 10 minutes to do so we are not counting this as a film day. We got all the footage we needed from the church and filmed some of the main scenes in the music video as the church is the most important location in the music video.

We gave the woman in the church the letter of permission (shown in blog post: Film day 4 - Preparations) and then she let us into the church so we could film. We did encounter some technical difficulties because the video camera ran out of battery whilst we was filming so we had to use my phone for the rest of the footage.

I think that we dealt with this problem well and not let it damage our productivity as we went on to film the remaining scenes quickly. I think as a group we have worked very well over the past week to get all the footage we have needed for our music video, I am confident that we will keep this work rate up whilst we are editing and produce a professional music video.

Filming Day 3 - Review

Nathan

We have nearly completed all the filming required for our music video after our third day of filming, all we need to film now is in St. Andrew's church and then in Micheal's bedroom and then we will be finished. I think that this day was the most enjoyable to film but perhaps slightly less productive.

Due to the fact that we had a bigger cast because of the scenes we had to film there was a lot of laughter which resulted in more takes needed to get the shots that we wanted. However we did get the shots that was required and followed the storyboard, there was slight frustration when it was taking longer than was necessary to film a certain shot; but we managed to film everything that we needed to film.

Paul

Nathan, Adam and Paul all wore clothes that were relevant to the scene and managed to help us in terms of mise en scene. They wore clothes that a gang of lads would wear to beat up another person and looked the part. I am overall happy with this day of filming and the fact that we are getting through the filming quickly emphasises our ability to work well as a team.

Adam

Filming Day 4 - Preparations

There has been a change of plan as the churches that we previously received permission from to film are not available. Church of St. John the baptist have not returned my phone calls so we have assumed that we are no longer allowed to film in their church which is disappointing. Also the second church that we recieved permission to film in, St. Cecilias said to me that Friday is not a suitable day to film in as they have events going on in the church that makes it impossible for us to film there.

St. Andrews church

So I visited St. Andrew's church (Clubmoor) which is only a five minute walk from the other two churches that we visited. They said to us that we needed a letter from the school to confirm that we are producing an A level music video and that we could film on Friday at 2pm.

So now we are going to get the equipment together and then we are going to film today, this will be our final (full) day of filming as we have already filmed in our other locations. We also need to film in Michael's bedroom for one of the scenes but this will take no longer than 10 minutes so I am not counting it as an official filming day.

Letter for the priest

This is the letter of permission for the priest as confirmation we are filming an A level music video. This was the only condition in giving my group permission a part from the fact that the video could not be a "horror video or a video that in any way is satanic". This was what the woman said to us that the priest was concerned about and we assured her that it is just a music video that we are filming.

Filming Day 3 - Preparations

There is not much that we need to do as a group in terms of preparations for this filming day. We are returning to Everton park in order to film one of the most important scenes in the music video and we are bringing in the two actors (stated on the call sheet) in order to do so. Nathan is also going to be a temporary actor for the day in order to help us film the scenes.

We have told all the actors what to wear as the mise en scene (costumes) in this scene is crucial in order to make the scene look professionally directed. Due to the fact that we have a bigger cast for this day of filming, it is a bigger task for Michael to make sure that we can all help him get the shots and make sure that we follow the storyboard.

Filming Day 2 - Review

For our second day of filming (as mentioned on the group 2 blog) we decided to change what park we wanted to film in from Newsham to Everton park. This was a joint decision because we thought that the view you get from the park is a nice touch to add to our music video. 

This filming day went well as we managed to get a variety of different shots, we also managed to get the shot that we are going to end the video with (according to the storyboard) and a great shot that could potentially start the video.

The make up for my face was done really well and looked very realistic, this was great as it helped us do what we wanted to do with our music video. Collectively we all played our part as a group and worked well together, we are filming at a really good pace and think we will be finished filming by the end of the week.

Tour Poster - Research

Another product that my group need to produce as well as the music video and the CD cover is a tour poster. As well as the CD cover we decided that we would each produce one each and pick which one is the best as our final product. In order to help myself produce a more professional looking tour poster I decided to analyse a few tour posters in order to identify a professional looking tour poster and a poor quality one. I might also use a tour poster to take influence from.

The first tour poster is for Ellie Goulding, I think that this a tour poster that is very well designed. I admire the way that the designer has made this look professional through using a black and white filter and a gradient scale for the poster.

The colours for the gradient scale are well chosen as the pink and the dark blue do not affect the white text on the tour poster. The only time the colour of the text changes is in the middle of the poster as it is a salmon looking colour however I think this works well on the poster.


The pose that the artist is doing also works well with the tour poster as the tattoo on her left wrist matches the triangle on the top of the artists name. Another aspect of the tour poster that I like is the lines next to the text 'March 2014' this is something that I did on my second tour poster design and admire the way that it adds to the design of the tour poster.




The second tour poster is from the artist who's song my group are basing our music video around Hozier. This is the first tour poster that I have seen blend a full image (including the background) with their own design (banner on the right side). I think that the filter that the designer has put on the image helps it blend with the dark background going down the right side of the tour poster.

I like the way that the text on the right side suits the dark background and suits the dark colour scheme. It also matches the font for the masthead which is trademark for Hozier's products. The design below the final date for the tour is similar to the lines used in the Ellie Goulding tour poster.

The only negative aspect of the tour poster is that there is no information for the target audience regarding booking tickets for the tour. This means that when they see the tour poster they will not know how to book tickets, this is something that is essential for tour poster's as there is no point in advertising the tour if you don't show the target audience where they can book tickets.

The final tour poster is one that I think is the worst out of the three. I decided to pick one tour poster to be critical of so that I can be aware of how a tour poster can look unprofessional. 

I think that the font for the masthead looks amateurish as it just doesn't look like it fits on the page, my personal opinion. I think that all the text on the top of the page is all over the place and is not well placed. Also the white border around 'U.S. Tour' overlaps into '2011' and I think that it just down to poor positioning.

I also think that the image has not been manipulated well enough and it looks blurry, the black and white effect that they have used for the image is clearly not been used well. The white text going down the left of the tour poster stating the dates for the tour does not stand out as much as it does compared to the other two posters. I also think that it is too small and too hard to read which means it will be difficult for the target audience.

Finally this tour poster has made the same mistake as the Hozier tour poster, there is no information regarding where the target audience can book tickets for the tour. However looking at this tour poster it is questionable whether there is a target audience for this artist.

Filming Day 2 - Preparations

This is arguably the most important day of filming for my group because we will be filming the most important scene of the music video. This will be the scene when the actor (me) is dragged by a gang of thugs and is beaten by them for a reason we have decided to leave ambiguous, however suggested that the reason is something to do with religion.

To film such a scene I will need to look like that I have been beaten up, luckily for my group I personally know someone who can do the make-up for me and make me look like I have been beaten up.

The picture shows the make up that will be used to make me look beaten up. Firstly wax is needed (white tub) to produce the cuts on my face and the white scalpel is used to spread out the wax to make the cut look realistic. Secondly is the box with the colours inside, this is used to make the black eye that I will have and to make the red swelling that will be around my cuts.

Lastly is the black bottle which contains the fake blood and the brushes are used to apply the fake blood to my cuts and to apply the red swelling around the cuts.

The second image is how my face is going to look after the make up has been applied. As you can see the make up is very realistic and it looks like I have been beaten up. The black eye looks very good and looks like it has been done recently.

The cuts on my face are in places where we thought I would have been punched and kicked, and the blood dripping down the cut on my nose makes it look recent. When we film there will be blood dripping out of all the cuts to make it look like it has just happened.

I think that the make up is top quality and helps us make our music video the way that we want to.

CD Album Cover Practise - 1

The presentation below shows the steps I took in order to produce my first Hozier CD cover. 

This is the final product of my CD cover, I think that despite the use of any manipulations the CD cover turned out well. I wanted to see if I had the skills to create a CD cover that I am proud of without the use of manipulations.

I am quite happy with this as I think that the cover fits well with the black and white theme that my group have decided we are going to use to approach our music video, CD cover and tour poster.

This has shown me that you don't need to use Photoshop manipulations to create a professional looking CD cover. The only thing that I think I would need to change if this was my final CD cover is the edges of the image and try and smooth them out to help the image sit on the page a little better.

Filming Day 1 - Review

 I think that the first day of filming our music video went extremely well, I think this is mostly down to the group's organisational skills as we prepared well so we all know what we needed to do. We followed the storyboard and got a few shots that we already had planned out however Michael suggested that we take some more shots so that we have a bigger variety when it comes to editing the video.

Nathan filming me lip syncing the chorus

Despite the fact there were several people passing by whilst we filmed, we all performed well and not let the potential interruptions affect our filming. I believe that I performed the best to my ability when we filmed as I managed to stay in character whilst filming. We also encountered a problem when my phone died and we could not play the song, despite this we went ahead and continued filming and I managed to continue lip syncing without the use of the song.

Michael worked as a great director whilst we filmed, he helped us stay to the storyboard and to shoot additional shots to help us whilst editing. He dealt well with the conditions and positioned me and Nathan well to make sure that the sun light did not affect the quality of the footage. He also helped Nathan with the camera angles and movements in order to stick to the storyboard and to film the shots the best we can.

Me and Michael discussing the next shot

I think that Nathan worked well as the camera man for our group, he gave his opinions when we thought that a shot wouldn't look right and listened well to Michael's instructions. He also kept his composure during filming so that the camera did not shake so much during shots when he had to move the camera.

I think collectively as a group we worked very well during our first day of filming, we prepared well and got the shots we needed. I think that we will be able to finish the filming quickly and produce a top quality music video, if we continue to perform this way.

CD cover - Research

My group are close to completing the filming for our music video and we also have to produce a CD cover to compliment our music video. Myself and the rest of my group decided that we are each going to create a CD cover and then decide which one will be our final product. There are different ways in which you can create a CD cover for a single, and I am going to look at a variety of CD covers to try and gain influence from the way that it was created.

The first CD cover is from MDNA, I personally have not heard the music from this artist but the CD cover did catch my eye. I think that this CD cover is unique as I have not seen a cover like this, I think that the Photoshop effect that has been used makes the cover stand out and makes it eye catching. 

The colour scheme for the CD cover also helps make it stand out, the way that the blue, purple and pink colours reflect on the CD cover helps it stand out.

The only negative aspect of this CD cover is the text on the cover. I find it very hard to read because of the colour of the font and the font itself, I can only just about make out what it says and think if the font was a different colour it would be easier to read. However I think that this CD cover is one of the most unique CD cover's I have seen.

The next CD cover is from Jason Derulo, I personally like this CD cover because of the Photoshop effect that has been applied to the artist. The effect makes the artist look like a cartoon drawing and the white aura around him fits in with the yellow background.

I also like the way that the name of the album 'Tattoos' is one of the tattoos on his neck. I think that this is a smart way to display the title of the album and in it's own way is a pun for the target audience. The name of the artist stands out on the page effectively as the white font stands out on the yellow background.

Overall the Photoshop effect looks effective on the CD cover and combines well with the yellow background and the white font for the artists name. The title of the album too I think is smartly placed.

The final CD cover is for the artist who's song my group and I are doing for our music video, Hozier. This CD cover is unique in it's own right, the cover is very artistic. I like the way that the entire CD cover looks like it has been hand drawn. 

I admire the fact that the CD cover is very abstract, this is something that I have not seen attempted on any other CD cover. It is a nice touch that the face and skin on the right arm of the artist is also abstract as it stays true to the theme of the CD cover.

Finally I like the way that the designer has kept Hozier's trademark font for his name on the bottom left corner of the CD cover. As it would not be suitable to change the font that Hozier has decided he wants his target audience to associate him with.

Music Video - Influences

With my group just starting to film our music video, we have taken influence from other music videos and our own individual ideas in order to create a music video that is unique to our group. We decided that we was going to take influence from the original 'Take me to church' video through the use of the gang that beats up the main actor. That is because that this part of the video relates to the message that we are trying to portray.

The original video also has a black and white theme and that is the theme that my group are going to use for all our products (CD cover and tour poster) not just the music video. This is because the black and white effect makes the video look more bleak and that is what we are trying to go for as the main actor is battling his own problems.

The second influence we used was Ed Sheeran's 'Lego House' as this was our second choice for song for the music video. So to make sure that everyone in our group is happy we decided to take influence from this music video and we have included this in the storyboard.

We used the opening two shots of the music video where the main actor is walking down the road, and is shot from behind and a medium shot of the actor from the front of him. This is because it shows the main actor as an isolated person and this directly links to our music video.

Then the rest of the music video is our own individual ideas, because we want to make the music video unique to our group. Due to the fact that we have taken influence from these two music videos, we felt that we needed to use our own ideas in order to portray our message and to make our music video unique.

Filming Day 1 - Preparations

Photoshop Effects - Comparison

Image into text Effect

This is the first Photoshop manipulation that I have used, this one is different to the other two effects as I applied the effect to a tour poster instead of an CD cover. This is the worst production out of all three as I didn't feel I could use the effect to make the tour poster look professional.

The image was also pixelated and every image I tried to use I had the same problem with. I tried to lower the opacity of the image to help it fit on the page, however the image is too pixelated.

I think that the title shows that I can use the effect, but the tour poster also shows that I could not apply the technique effectively. I produced another tour poster after this one without using the effect because I was not happy with how this tour poster turned out. 

I think that the second tour poster shows that I can use Photoshop to create a successful tour poster, and overall I think that this effect is not something I will be using for my group's tour poster or DC cover.

Dispersion Effect

This is the second Photoshop effect that I attempted. Unlike the first effect. this has been applied to an album cover, however once again I could not grasp on how to make the effect look good enough. 

The image that I used was not ideal for this effect and I think it is the main factor to why the effect turned out so poorly. I copied the technique from a Youtube video and their final product looks a lot better than mine and that is because he used a different image.

I also never changed the background of the CD cover and the text is also hard to read. I did not think that I could find anyway to make this effect look professional on a CD cover as I didn't produce the effect well and the image was not ideal.

Overall I think that I will attempt this effect again soon as I am not happy at all with the outcome of this CD cover. I don't think that it reflects what I can do so I need to do myself justice and attempt this technique again, as I think if I can get it right; this will be a technique I will consider using for my CD cover.

Text on fire Effect

This is the third and the final Photoshop effect that I attempted, I think this is the effect that ended up with the best finishing product. Despite the fact that it looks nothing like it is on fire.

As well as including my effect on the text I applied a filter to the image so that the text stands out more on the CD cover.

This was the effect that I managed to complete the most effectively as I followed a step by step guide well and did not fall behind like on the other effects.

Overall I think that this CD cover is the best I have done using a Photoshop effect, however I don't think I would use this for my final piece. That is because my group have decided that we are going with a black and white theme and this effect would not suit the theme.

Comparison

I think that the order of the effects above is the order I would place them in, with the first being the worst and the last being the best. I don't think that all of the products truly show what I can do on Photoshop and that is why I am going to attempt the Dispersion effect again.

This effect in particular as it is the only effect that I believe I will be able to use for either my CD cover or tour poster whilst sticking with the black and white theme we said we would use. I have also produced another CD cover and tour poster without using Photoshop effects that look a lot better and more professional than the pieces I have created using effects.

So I think I will need to create a better looking CD cover or tour poster using a Photoshop effect, I have seen a few effects on Youtube I think would look good whilst matching our theme. I plan on attempting these techniques in preparation for producing our final CD cover and tour poster, so I know that there are a few effects I can put forward to my group to create the best products that we can.

Group Progress - Completed Documents

This Prezi shows all of the documents that my group have completed in preparation for our filming, we have had to produce:

• Storyboard
• Shooting Script
• Risk Assessment
• Call Sheets
• Final Proposal

These documents have now benefited us in terms of planning as we now know what we have to do when we are out filming and how we are going to film our music video. We are now fully prepared to film and we will do so on Saturday 22nd November.

Group Progress - Analysing a similar music video

My group have now finished all of the preparations for our music video and now can being filming the music video. Now we have decided to analyse similar music videos each as our last form of individual analysis before we being to film our music video.

The music video I decided to analyse is My Heart Will Go On - Celine Dion. This is because this video is a ballad which is the same style of the song we are using (Take me to Church). The style of music video however is different to the approach that my group are going to use to create our music video, as the video for this song is based around the artist performing the song.

If you watch the video or are familiar with the music video you can see that the video is based around an eccentric performance. However the style of the song is the same as it is a ballad, the song begins slow and then picks up volume and pace at the chorus of the song. This shows me another method in which a director has decided to approach a music video, however my group believe that going with the narrative approach the music video is the best way to portray the message that we would like to through the song.

Also due to the fact that this music video is based around Celine Dion performing the song, unlike other music videos she is actually singing the song rather than lip syncing. The edits also remain the same throughout the video even when the music picks up at the chorus, this differs to the music video we are going to produce as we have decided that the edits are going to pick up pace with the song.

Hopsin (Knock Madness) - Review

Hopsin is a rap artist that I have been listening to for about two years now. I don't usually download albums but because I like the artist I decided that I would download his most recent album (Knock Madness). The album consists of 18 songs which last a total duration of 75 minutes.

I thought that the album was not his best work, there was a few songs that I enjoyed but when I was listening through the full album; I noticed that I lost track of which song I was listening to because I lost all interest in the music. It seemed that the artist was trying too hard because Hopsin has been receiving a lot of criticism in the American media during the period after his album prior to this was released (Raw).

I was disappointed in this album and would rate it a 5/10 and that is only because there is a small selection of songs from this album that I actually liked. Hopsin has always tried to give a unique dynamic to his music to distance himself from stereotypes that surround the rap genre, however I think that he has tried too hard in this album and it has led to his music being boring and repetitive.

Preparing for Filming - Dolly for tracking shots

After my group and I completed our storyboard for our music video, I realised that we plan on using a lot of tracking shots throughout the video. Due to the lack of resources for our music video I decided to find out how we can make a dolly that we can use whilst filming for our tracking shots. There are two ways in which we can make a dolly for the camera and they are:

• Skateboards
• Prams

These are two very simple ways in which we can fashion a dolly, they are both ideal because they have wheels as there is no way that we can create a track to carry the camera along for the tracking shots. Both are very viable options however, if we decide to use skateboards for the dolly then we would need to balance a tripod on top of the skateboard to get it high enough for to make the shot.

However with a pram we would not need a tripod as the camera could lean against the end of the pram and be level enough (on an angle) to make the shot. Also with a pram we could have the camera man push the pram to follow the actor but with a skateboard we would need to find the right amount of power to push the skateboard with for it to follow the actor as long as we want the camera too.

This video shows how we can use a skateboard as a DIY dolly. We can use both methods for different types of tracking shots, using a skateboard can help us film tracking shots at a lower angle and if we can angle the shot right can also help us film low angle shots.

Group Progress - Risk Assessment & Call Sheet

This risk assessment is a procedural document that we need to fill out regarding our music video. This is essential and every company that creates music video's have to complete the same document as it will help them understand potential hazards and risks that can occur whilst filming.

We also had a discussion about the roles that each of us will be undertaking whilst we film, this was beneficial as we all now have an understanding of the individual roles that each of us will be doing.

We identified 9/20 hazards that could potentially occur whilst filming and because this is very close to being 10 we decided that we will have to identify the potential risks as 'medium'.





This is where we had to identify the details of the activity which is where we will be filming which will be:

• Church
• Albert Docks
• Park
• Bedroom

We also had to list down the equipment that we will be using and then we had to think of some potential situations that can halt filming. After this we identified how we can overcome each problem so that if any of these problems occur while we are filming we all know how to handle the situation.






This is the call sheet, this is where we had to list everyone who will be involved in our music video. We also identified the job roles of each person in the group when it comes to producing the music video. We then had to identify the cast of the video so that we know how many people we are going to be working with when we film. Finally, we had to list the equipment and the props that would affect the crew and the cast, because we already listed the equipment on the risk assessment sheet; we wrote a camera for equipment and make up for the actors. We had to cover up the contact information for obvious reasons.

Text on Fire - Photoshop Technique

Dispersion Effect - Photoshop Technique

This technique is one that I could not really get right. I found it difficult to use this effect on the picture that I chose and any other image I found was blurry and pixelated when I increased the size. I don't think this an effect I will be using for either my tour poster or CD album cover, as I couldn't seem to use the technique effectively.

The album cover that I created at the end of the slideshow is not the best either, but I know I can create better CD album covers and I think this is the best I could do; due to the fact that I could not grasp on how to use this technique to make the image look professional.

Group Progress - Storyboard

One of the things that myself and the rest of my group had to do was to produce a storyboard to illustrate the ideas we had for our music video. There are a few things that the storyboard needed to include:

• Small sketch of what is going on in the scene
• Type of shot
• Type of camera movement (if any)
• Audio (what part of the song is playing in the scene)

This helped the group decide what we wanted the video to look like and how we wanted the music video to be. We now know how the video is going to be filmed and what camera angles/movements we are going to use to help us.