Schedule

After checking the Action Plan, it is apparent we are ahead of schedule which is excellent and meeting targets with our research, planning and designing stages. We are progressing well with our Digipak and on track to have our photo shoot and begin filming our music video.

I think it is important to keep checking our Action Plan so we keep this up, it also gives us a solid course to follow as we continue our project.

Digipak / Photoshoot ideas

We have been discussing ideas for our photo shoot, so that we can put our images on posters and the Digipak. For the inside covers of the CD we think it would be appropriate to use photos of us copying these poses of the three party leader, David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg, as they looked running up to the election. These pictures found by Liam, demonstrate some poses we could use while imitating the leaders. This would be relevant to our theme and song, as well as bring an element of humour and we parody these three men.

Storyboard 1

I created this storyboard to aid our planning and filming. It shows the first nine shots of our music video and is annotated to help determine between shots, focuses and angles. Having a hard copy of this will be extremely useful, so during filming we can refer to it instantly. I drew this out then scanned it onto my computer to upload it here.
    I will contiune to make these so we have every shot planned out and fully analysed for filming.

Planning to Film

As a group we looked at and discussed the mark scheme for filming and looked at the type of skills we will need to perfect. Aslways pushing ourselves, we decided to work at the highest degree, Level 4:

'Level 4

The candidate is expected to demonstrate excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:

. Holding a shot steady, where appropriate
. Framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate
. Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate
. Shooting material appropriate to the task set
. Selecting mise-en-scene including colour, figure, lighting, object and setting
. Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer
. Using varied shot transitions, captions and other effects selectively and appropriately
. Using sound with images and editing appropriately for your task

Where a candidate has worked in a group, an excellent contribution to construction is evident.'


As a group we will all contribute to all these factors and develop our skills. But to be effective we have developed a tactic and plan to stick too. As we have four members in our group and there are eight key points, we will each focus mainly on two and give 100% in our field. This way, we will gain key group skills and communication and together produce a music video of the highest standard.
     I have chosen to focus on:

. Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate
. Shooting material appropriate to the task set

This is clearly aimed at camera work as these technical skills interest me.
   Using a variety of shot distances will keep our video varied and fresh with a mix of Long Shots, Mid Shots, Close Ups and Extreame Close ups. I have already began to look at these and there is a 'Shot' section on my blog.
   'Shooting material appropriate to the task set' will have me keeping the equipment prepared and right for each scene. An example of this will be a tri-pod for a steady shot.

As well as my selected two, I will still be heavily involved in all aspects of our music video, including all eight sections of the Level 4 mark scheme.

Shot Types

We have analysied the shot types used in the original video so that we can recreate them in our own. In our group; these images were copied off the internet and cropped on Photoshop, further using our IT skills.

Shot Types:

• long shots X5

• two shots X2

• mid shot X11

• 
  
  close up X4

• Over the sholder X1

• panning X1
• tracking shot X1

• zooming in X1

• low angle shot X4

Between these there will be a focus on quick edits as they are frequently used in the video.

Back Cover Design

This is a back-cover I designed for our Digipak. I have kept it simple yet effective, with the four tracks clearly labeled. The background design is a blotched purple design that I feel represents teenagers through its abstract approach. A small image of the band is well placed and relevant while the barcode and price keep it looking realistic and professional.

As a group we have continued to develop album covers for our Digipak, using the inspiration we have received from our research into other artists and their album covers. This particular design, by Liam, has a large visual image that should grab audience attention with its bright colours. There are minimal words, but the main message is still conveyed.     

CD cover examples

This Michael Jackson cover uses a black and white contrast technique show enphasis a certain features, such as his eyes. This is achieved by making them a bright white surrounded by darker greys. The words 'Michael Jackson' are also in red, the only colour used. Again this enphasises these words and makes them stand out.

The contrasting red lion on the green background represents the bands image as 'powerful' and 'royal'. They use the 'Symbol' font in their band name to give a tribal effect. We need to deside on the fonts we'll use on our CD cover.

This Robbie Williams cover has a close-up image of Robbie to give an 'in your face' effect. It is using the syringe theory effect, by seeing large images of Robbie everywhere the public will gain interets and buy his album. The rest of the cover if black with metalic blue, this is an attractive 'cool' colour scheme.

These are CD cover examples that I have researched to help me design my own, in two out of the three examples a picture of the artist was uses and it the other, Enter Shikari uses a symbol of a lion to represent them as 'powerful' and 'royal'. They all use basic colour schemes and get their message across with minimum words.

Fist Draft Album Cover

Fist Draft Album Cover

I have designed a first draft album cover for our DigiPak, it clearly states the name of the song and band, with visual aids. The juxtaposition between clean 'metal' design edges and lively pictures in the middle will attract our target audience and boost sales. This is due to young abstract minds liking variety and designs that challenge the norm. The metalic sides were influenced from the Robbie Williams album above, that uses a metal blue in it's background.

The 'Fish-Eye' technique used for the band photo focuses the audience’s attention at the central point- the band. This is a technique we could possibly use.

Background Knowlage of 'The Midnight Beast'

Forming in London 2009, The Midnight Beast is a comedic band comprised of Stefan Abingdon (21), Dru Wakely (23) and Ashley Horne (21). Each of them have music and television experiance of their own making them perfect for the media, Ashley in particular as appaeared on various television shows such as Casualty, Eastenders and Doctor Who.
       They began to find fame after posting parody videos on Youtube, their best known of these is their parody of Ke$ha's 'Tick Tock'. It was so well recieved Ke$ha later saw the video and claimed "holy. shit. this is better than my version."
      Since this the band have written and produced their own music, with songs such as 'Booty Call' and 'Lez Be Friends'. We have decided to use one of their newer songs 'House Party'. This song was produced by BBC Comedy to humour the then up coming elections. The band are impartial, claiming to be part of the TMB party and make claims such as 'David Cam can't do the running man' (a dance move). It is a new and relevent video that got many young people interested in voting, and this is why we have decided to use the song for our project.

1st Draft Poster

I have began designing the poster earlier then scheduled in an attempt to keep momentum high. I have made a first draft on Microsoft Publisher and used photos of 'The Midnight Beast' band. These photos will be traded in for photos of my group, in character, for the final piece.
      I have used colourful 'funky' boarders to attract our target audience, young people. It gives basic infomation, our names as the band and a 'coming soon' slogan. Without writing an unappealing essay. It is eye catching yet informative.

I have used the Engravers MT font for the band name and Time New Roman for our names. This contrast puts emphasis on the band name, urging audiences to take notice and remember the name. I intend to use this poster to advertise the Digipak + Music Video and give it away within the Digipak as a collectable feature.

Digipak Research

For our coursework we are having to develop and construct a digipak to advertise our music video. This will consist of an album cover and poster. We will be using programs such as powerpoint and photoshop and our IT skills to develop this.

Our first task will be to do a photo shoot so we can capture our images and import them onto the cover/posters. 




History of the Digipack:


'Digipaks typically consist of a gatefold (book-style) paperboard or card stock outer binding, with one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD attached to the inside. Since Digipaks were among the first alternatives to jewel cases to be used by major record companies, and because there is no other common name for Digipak-style packaging made by other companies, the term digipak or Digi-Pakoften used generically, even when the media holder is a hub or "Soft Spotrather than a full plastic tray.
Digipak-style packaging is often used for CD singles or special editions of CD albums and the tall DVD Digipak (DVDigipakis used as a premium package for DVDs and DVD sets. Because such packaging is less resistant to abrasion than jewel cases, it tends to show signs of wear relatively quickly. Licensed digipak manufacturers such as domestic U.S. printer and disc replicator Oasis Disc Manufacturing recommend coating the raw printed paper with a protective UV coating, thus ensuring greater longevity.
Although less vulnerable to cracking than a jewel case, the disc tray inside the package (particularly the "teeth" of the hub which secure the disc in place) remains rather brittle and is prone to cracking if the package is crushed. Digipak-style cases grew in popularity among record labels and recording artists in the early 2000s.
Manufacturers have sought to reduce environmental impact and improve functionality by introducing recycled components into its trays; one has announced a 100% post-consumer PET tray made from recycled bottles which also eliminates the need for the brittle "teeth". Many printers use recycled or sustainable material for the board stock.

Historically, Digipak was only available in large quantities. However, AGI has recently introduced a new product called digipak i-create for the consumer market. Digipak i-create is a web-supported concept that is aimed at the download, music, photo and creative markets.'


Our Digipak will consisit of a Back, Front and Inside CD covers aswell as promotion material such as posters and/or magazine adverts. As a group we have already began our research for this, looking at examples from well known artists such as Michael Jackson. This has been performed online as well as looking at hard copies.


Examples:

 

This Digipak folds out to show pictures of the band with lyrics on top. It also includes a booklet that includes more band photos and information of their recent tours and recording sessions. I like the red/black colour scheme and have been inspired to include promotion material inside my own Digipak as I feel it offers more to the fans, and will bring in new buyers.

This second Digipak is one I didn't like as much. It has a much larger 'DVD' style case which I think makes it awkward to transport and would look out of place in a CD collection. The reason for the size is the large book it comes with it, although a good idea, I think it would be better to include a poster or fold out booklet which can fit in a CD case.

Our Chosen Song

The Midnight Beast: House Party






The key theme of this video is the parliment elections of 2010 which as we now know took Gordon Brown out of power in favour of the joint colaotion of David Cameron and Nick Clegg. Statistics show this election had more youth interest then any other in history, with a 18% increase of voters aged 18 to 24. These statistics show this recent and relevent historic landmark was a big interets of our target audience (teenagers to young adults), making it a good choice for our focus video.


Other Videos we looked at:


The Scholars: Turbulance






 Ron Pope

Action Plan

Media: Action Plan

As a group we have to create a music video and promotional advertising. Our first task was too research bands we could create a video for. Although possible to use well known bands, it is easier due to copyrights to use unsigned and/or lesser known bands. We searched the internet using google searched and websites such as Myspace.com to search bands, plus our personal knowledge of local talent.

The bands we shortlisted:

The Scholars
The Midnight Beast

Ron Pope

Week 1	Introduction to the course
2	Research/Choose band
3	Cast roles, look at shot types, complete story board
4	Complete 4 ‘reccies’ for filming / Digipak photo shoot
5	Begin filming / construct digipak
6	On location Filming /construck digipak
7	Filming / posters
8	Editing
9	Editing
10	Editing
11	Editing
12	Plan promotional (eg. DVD cover, adverts)
13	Create promotional
14	Create promotional

This is an original action plan that we will try and stick too. We had already started our research and are trying to get inspiration, to do this we have looked at classic and powerful music videos such as Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ as well as new and unknown videos such as The Midnight Beast’s ‘House Party’ to get a wide look at the music video spectrum.

Research

For initial research I read up on the recent Mercury Music Awards as it is up to date and relevent news about the music media industry. As we get a feel for our course, this will make connections between what we hope to achieve and the real world. In shock news this year, 'The XX' won the prize for the 1st time, beating favirotes Paul Weller and Dizzie Rascal.


The XX win Mercury music prize:

'Electronic band The xx have won the Mercury music prize for their debut album xx.


The south London trio fought off competition from 11 other shortlisted acts including bookies' favourite Paul Weller, Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons, Dizzee Rascal and Foals.

Their victory means they follow in the footsteps of groups such as Klaxons, Arctic Monkeys and Elbow.

The xx's intimate and sensual sound has impressed critics for the past year.

The award - called the Barclaycard Mercury Prize - is designed to reward the best album of the past 12 months and is worth £20,000.

It will also mean a huge boost in sales.

The xx had attended the same London school, the Elliott School, as previous Mercury nominees Hot Chip and Burial.

Frontman Oliver Sim was stunned by the music prize: "I don't know what we were expecting but we weren't expecting this."

Paul Weller was the bookies' favourite to win

Sim added: "We've had the most incredible year and it's just felt like every day we've woken up to something incredible we weren't expecting."

Asked what he would spend the prize money on, he said: "Haven't a clue."

But bandmate Romy Croft suggested a new studio could be on the cards.

She said: "We made this album in a converted garage the size of a bathroom."

The judges said: "Hypnotic beats and hushed voices combine in a brilliant evocation of space and time."

Head of judges Simon Frith said it was "a record of its time".

He said: "It's a very urban record, it is part of that urban soundscape when no-one has any idea what is going to happen next."'