Finished Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8-LtmK32S8

I Have further edited this into a full finished video at home using windows movie maker, but am unable to convert the file into an appropriate one to use on youtube or google docs. It is however on a memmory stick that i will hand in on Tuesday.

The link above is footage used for the final video. If my submission of the video is considered too late, i hope that this counts towards something.

Story Board and animatic

An animatic of my storyboard can be found at: https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B5nD0aagNZIuN2M5MDVmZmYtZmE5Ni00MWU1LTkyZGEtNTBjNDBmZGZhNWM4&hl=en

Shooting Schedual/Diary

I Originally planned to film my group's video in our college's Performing Arts studio in order to create a set that resembled a night club. I booked the studio with written permission and set the date for the 2nd of February. The actors that i requested to appear in the video however were unavailable on that date. It became increasingly obvious as time went on that i would be unable to film in this location as discussed dates were conflicting with those in the actors' personal and professional calenders. We changed the storyboard of the video accordingly to fit our remaining options. The concept we then agreed on was to film at one of the actor's houses to show them getting ready for a night out whilst singing about their obsession over boys. This fit the theme of the song just as (if not not better than) the original premise for the video. Later down the line our group ran into problems, in the way of difference of opinion, after which we disbanded. I had to come up with a new idea and so, learning from my prior mistakes, i decided to use one actor in order to reduce the possibility of anyone being unavailable. The date now set to film was set for the 13th of March. This was planned a week in advance. The location was a woodland area in Bishopstone. Because of rain, i didn't manage to complete my filming; i have arranged to film the remaining shots on the 20th of March. As i did the first time i will be using a camera, a tripod and an external microphone.

Health and Safety

Where we intend to film is a studio riddled with lights and as such certain precautions must be taken. The first thing we will need to is get someone qualified to check the security of the lighting fixtures. In conjunction with this we would have to locate the fire exits and make ourselves familiar with the fire procedures in the event of a fire. We have a certified first aider in our filming crew so we are covered in the case of an accident. When considering equipment safety we have gone over the correct way in which to set up the camera and tripod as to avoid incidents. Also, no one is to handle equipment they are not familiar with.

Advert

This advert campaign is for a greatest hits compilation so the close up shot of Madonna's face is effective in grasping people's attention. It is successful in this because her face is iconic and instantly recognisable world-wide. Primary colours are used on the advert in order to add to its simplicity. The poster is sparse of colour, and as such the clear colour scheme used is exaggerated to appear more vibrant. The ad relies on its audience already being aware of the artist, and so doesn't try to hint towards the genre apart from in its glamorous appearance and its use of running paint (hinting at modern and vibrant colour freshly coating the otherwise old fashioned black and white picture). This is backed up by the use of newspaper headline style font for the artist name followed by the word celebration in a paint splattered border. This advert is for an album called The Sweet Escape by Gwen Stefani and is a cropped version of the album art. This would have been chosen so that anyone interested by the poster could make an easy association with the album. It also gives us a better view of the artist, thereby quickly enabling passers by to recognise her without having to read the advert. The album art has connotations of Royalty, Wealth and elegance. The latter is opposed through the poster and body language of the singer. She slouches into what appears to be a throne; signifying her laid back attitude towards her wealth and status. She is also loosely holding the crown which would mean that it is insignificant to her. These devices would lead me to believe that her genre of music borders on glam rock/pop. My advert: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B5nD0aagNZIuMTBkM2E0MjgtZjg0Yy00Yjc2LThlMDMtNGI4NGMzMTQ1MWUx&hl=en My advert, like the one seen above uses an edited version of the image used for the digipack. I did so in order to capture the same effect that the album does without copying it completely. The effect was decided upon due to its unrealistic approach to the viewing of the photo. The blend of colours creates a low releif effect that makes it appear as if she is sinking inside herself in thought. The font has connotaions of showbiz and so it adds a sense of glamor to the advert. Underneath i wrote a little tagline and then some information on when the album is available to purchase. This was just to show some form of practicality as it is vital info for the reader of the magazine.

DigiPacks

A promo pack is an assortment of a band/artist's songs spread across a few CDs which are made for the purpose of sending them to record labels in hopes that they will sign them. A good promo pack includes artwork relating to the theme or moral of the song. This is important with a promo pack and a digipack (used by established artists) as it sets the mood and feel of the entire set of CDs. It can also represent something to do with the artist themselves or their genre. It is popular for a digipack cover of a single to refer or relate directly to the corresponding video as it makes it easy for the consumer to recognise and thereby purchase.

Digipaks are usually made from paperboard or card stock and are in a booklet style with plastic trays designed to hold disks on the inside. They are typically used to package DVDs and CDs. Digipacks were among the first alternatives to "jewel cases" and were used widely in the industry, with a high level of popularity in the 00s. Today they are mainly used as packaging for special edition CDs and DVD boxsets. One of the most recent albums having a digipak-only release in the US is Teenage Dream by Katy Perry. It is seen as a luxury choice, but is also prone to show signs of wear and tear sooner than it's alternatives.

This is an example of a digipack found on the internet. The band's name is in large print and is sprawled across the cover. This is as the CD it contains is a greatest hits compilation. As such, the digipack is not required to include a title. This thereby makes it easier to recognise that this is the works of the band "Tokio Hotel" as their name can be displayed in a larger font. This is a popular sales ploy for greatest hits CDs (which are often sold in digipacks for the reasons listed above). There is a symbol in the bottom right corner of the cover which, through research, i believe to be the band's logo. Located on the opposing corner seems to be their record company's logo and above this is a list of their "hit singles". This would be used in order to remind any listeners of the songs that the band had won them over with and that they have enjoyed, but also to entice any who know a few of the songs into purchasing the digipack in order to hear more. Going back to the title, the font style is worn and rough, which implies that the genre of the music is rock-orientated through it's rebellious nature. The paint splodges back this implication by adding to the sense of attitude and lack of discipline.

I chose this digipack cover as my second subject for analysis because it is that of the artist that i will be creating my own one for. The aesthetic quality that is most apparent on this cover is the fact that it is in black and white. Wether photographed this way or edited at a later stage this feature gives the cover a classical feel that is reminisent of old hollywood movies. If this is the intention then it ties in with the themes of fame in her CD titles (including this one). The way that the letter T is presented as a cross in the title hints towards a possible religious reference in her songs. The fact that she is crying(or has been crying) in this image gives me the impression that the album contains songs that express heartfelt emotions. What appears to be running mascara could also be blood, which presents the same kind of connotations. Although blood would lead me to believe in the passionate expression of emtions moreso as it carries the implied assosiations of passion and love.

This was my first initial concept art for the cover of the digipack. The model would be laid on her back on a bed with a vacant expression on her face as if to show that she is unmoved by the hands on her body. As implied by the title, the hands belong to males. The high heel on the other page has connotations of a night on the town and the fact that it has been left on its own shows not only solitude (if we are to assume that "the shoe is her") but that someone has removed it in a hurry or lost it (could be linked to sex).

I designed this cover after i first came up with the name for my digipack albumn "Spotlight". I then created the image around the name. I did this by thinking of what came to mind when i said the word spotlight. A solo singer imediately jumped out and i went from there. I thought it might be quite powerful to have just the singer on the front cover with a microphone in order to have the effect of a spotlight implied by the image. As for the back, when i was drawing the microphone lead i realised the potential for an intuitive link between front and back cover (which i personally enjoy seeing on albumn cases).

This design, as it may appear obvious, was not so successful in the transition between thought process to paper. However I thought it was a good thing to include because of this as even though i didn't manage to draw it out efficiantly, this was the design i chose to use. I kept the name of the albumn and its message of solitude, i kept the use of a bed and i kept a means of connecting the back and front covers. In doing so i like to think that i learnt from each design and was able to make progress with my ideas.

My finished digipack can be found at the web address: https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B5nD0aagNZIuYzc1N2ZjOWMtMGJjMy00NTZiLWE1YWEtZjFjYjllZDcxZjA0&hl=en

...and also at: https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B5nD0aagNZIuZmZmMmYxOTctNTgzNy00OTRmLWJlZTUtNDE3MGNlZGQ1YTk2&hl=en

I am pleased with the digipack i have created as it conveys the theme of the album that it has been created for. The image is one of a girl (posing as the lead singer) laying on her back on a bed with her hands lying loosely either side of her head. I chose to have the mise en scene in the picture set up in this way as i felt that it carried connotations of peace and quiet thought, which works well when it is juxtuposed with the loud pink coloured glamorous font i chose for the cover. this is also why i decided to take the photo in black and white. The image is spread across the front and back cover of the digipack for aesthetic reasons only, during enitial planning it striked me as an idea that would make the digipack appear interesting.

Mise-en-scene

Before we brainstormed or discussed any ideas for mise-en-scene for our video we decided to conduct some research on the individual components of the video. For example, in order to gain knowledge on what area we should be looking at for costume designs, we observed some of our act's previous costumes in music videos. This gave us the impression that she likes to express herself through her extravagant use of bazaar clothing. In terms of our own application of this, we felt that we would have to consider the literal implications and connotations of the lyrics in Lady Gaga's song Boys Boys Boys with the aim of achieving a similar style to her eccentricity. To get a better idea of which direction to take, we also studied a few live performances of the song we are covering. In this part of the research, we discovered that she wears a tight red leather-looking suit perhaps symbolising lust. This made me think that the lead character in our video should be wearing the same sort of attire, but with our own adaptation that includes other themes based on our understanding of the song.

The back-up dancers (who are male) would idealy have matching outfits in order to show their connection in their goal to obtain a woman (the singer) but would be contrasting to the lead. Our initial idea for the colour of their outfits was white, as this would increase the impact of the vibrant red costume of the lead.

When it comes to Lady Gaga's use of make-up, it seems as though she only uses it when she feels the need to emphasise a certain characteristic of her character. When it is used, it is very exaggerated. I don't really see the need to use much make-up in the video, as it may detract attention away from the busy scenes that we plan to include in the location of a club. If it appears as though it is neccessary however, then we would have to follow the same trends as Gaga has set and use it for a purpose to bring across a point (much like with her costumes). The lead actor would nearly always have her group of girls with her (whether dancing or not) and these would be in medium/heavy make-up as appropriate for a night out to a club looking for boys. They would also be wearing clothes for the occasion.



As i mentioned before, the setting is going to be in a club in order to match the generic convention of the genre of dance/electro and to accomadate the large amount of boys we hoped to include in the video.