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.