Reflections

I think our project went well. Angelie & I worked well as a pair and our final MySpace, album cover & music video are well made. During the editing process we split our time across all three products, however we began the process by having me working on the performance bed whilst Angelie concentrated on the narrative which saved us time and used our skills.
The reception of our video was generally good, which was reflected in the feedback from our screening.
Overall this was a successful project which I have very much enjoyed.
So this is goodbye,
Emma
x

Finished Music Video

Here's our finished music video:

Finished Album Cover and MySpace

MySpace URL: http://www.myspace.com/avaalexisofficial

Applying Theory To My Video

Andrew Goodwin's Theory (Dancing in the Distraction Factory, 1992)

- Music videos contain genre signifies e.g. dance routines for a boy band e.g. Take That's 'Shine' Video
In my video:
--Performance based

- Record labels demand 'visual hooks' (close ups of the star) which may be developed into the star's 'visual style' e.g. the 'Busted jump' or 'money shots' of the star's/band's face(s)
In my video:
-- "I need a hero" action of turning to look to the camera

- Frequent inter textual references (to film, TV, other music videos, celebrities etc.) e.g. Eminem's 'Just Loose It' Video
In my video:
-- Wonder Woman

- Visuals either illustrate, amplify or contradict the song's lyrics
In my video:
-- Two actions illustrate whilst most contradicts

- References to voyeurism particularly of the female body (although increasingly the male body too) e.g. Jennifer Lopez's 'Jenny From The Block' video
In my video:
-- Not as such in my video

Last day of shooting

Last Friday (26th I think?) we had our last shoot and despite having to hear the song TWELVE times I think it went okay. We've captured the footage today (well Angelie did, I had to do a Politics essay) but it looks much better than our previous two performance shoots. We also followed Jake's advice and filmed some self-help scenes to make it more obvious what we were trying to portray.

Tonight I stayed for p7 and started t o create our performance bed, so hopefully that'll be done soon!

Yesterday's Shoot

Last night after school we went with Melissa to Enfield Chase station to finish shooting her footage. It was a bit difficult because of the different lighting conditions but we got it all done and it looks good on the edit suit now =]

More shooting reflections

On Friday we did a bit of shooting, by the time everyone had arrived and changed we really only had an hour and we were still pretty unsure about the location (in the end we opted for a train station and just hoped no one would notice and kick us out). I think we should have been more organised than that, but we did get a lot of what we wanted to get done finished, we only have one or two shots we'd like to shoot again which I think Melissa & Angelie are going to do on Tuesday (I'm in Bristol for the day so can't help, but will make up for it sometime!).

Today (Sunday) we had our big shoot where we did almost every shot except 2 which we can do at any time really. We were far more organised today in terms of knowing what we wanted, and Jazmin & Melissa were making good suggestions that we tried out (for example using my brother to knock the bag). However I feel that I was probably a bit lazy in terms of shooting today because I'm so burnt out from spending every spare moment doing Media (however much I love it) as well as juggling everything else and making sure my house is ready to use for shoots. I will rectify this in future, I believe the next shoot I will be on is Wednesday afternoon.

Also, after discussions with Jazmin & Melly we've decided to avoid shooting next weekend if we can, we'd all rather do it during the week because it's easier and we seem to mess around less then =]

Second day of shooting

Today we were a bit pressed for time, Jazmin had to be back at school, but in the 40 minutes we had we got a good 20 minutes footage. We're planning on capturing as much as we can tomorrow before our next shoot tomorrow night.
We had better lighting today which cast far less shadows so hopefully the footage will be better than yesterday's.

BLK feedback

nice work emma, I have left you some feedback on the main blog as well.

thanks for your help today!

First day of shooting

Today we had our first shoot and it wasn't too bad after the lighting/camera issues. We got some good footage but we do need to get a lot more shots of Jazmin moving, being more animated and CUs. We're shooting again tomorrow so hopefully we can get all the stuff we need then.

We also began to edit the performance bed (as Jake Wyn said to do) tonight and seem to have quite a lot of snippets we like from today, but as I said we still need a lot more

Test shoot weekend

This weekend Angelie & I used Sunday to decorate the room we're gonna use in my house for the performance (see group blog for photos) and changing my room around to be suitable for us to use. We shot some rough footage so that we could see if we needed to change anything but so far everything's okay.
Overall we were pretty organised and did everything we needed to quickly and didn't have any issues to contend with.

What I've learnt from theory lessons

From our lessons on music video theory I learnt these five top things:

1. Music videos don't follow the rules of classic Hollywood cinema (CHC), continuity editing is almost totally forgotten in most cases. This is something that will probably be vital for my own video as our scenarios aren't going to be shot to make continual sense, we will be breaking them up and moving them around.

2. Shots can be put in for no apparent reason for example the shot of the work in Marilyn Manson’s 'Beautiful People' isn't explained or repeated throughout the video. We may use this in the video we make as we could use shots of Wonderwoman and Ava together posing randomly in the video

3. The illusion of an edit can be created through the movement of the camera, something which we will try out on our own shoot.

4. Music videos don't have to complete actions or make chronological sense, shots can also be used without explanation as well as revealing space slowly.

5. MVs showcase the star, ALWAYS!

THR Feedback on Individual Blog Progress

Hey Emma
This is going spectacularly well! I think this is the best blog, certainly in 12c! A very good effort.
You seem to have covered most aspects so all I can say on that is make sure you continue to post as you should, reflectively and analytically, labelling and making sure each post is clear in its purpose.
You do need to add links to external sites and resources that have helped you, are related or are useful resources in themselves. Make sure you link your individual posts and group posts together so if you post on one, there is a reflection or response on the other.
You could also try upping your game a bit now and responding to some theory. You could use some of what we begain the other day from Carol Vernallis OR you could add some of your own. Mike C has done this bit quite well in his most recent posts.

Overall a very good piece of blogging - well done grl!

Mrs T ;-)

Enter Shikari Website

www.entershikari.com/

"Give us a sec..." is the greeting you first see on the page as the percentage of the page loading increases. The page is very simple, a black background and white rectangle in the centre that is positioned to look like it has just been place there haphazardly. There's a drawing that appears over the top of the stopwatch like object in a hand drawn style. The top of the page has links to contact the band, the ES forum, ES Merch, ES on YouTube and ES on MySpace.

There are five further links surrounding the stopwatch which produce fall-down feature. These links are: "go home" (updates), "you nosey git" (studio blog), "you look parched" (forum), "you want the latest" (mailing list) and "you miss the bastards?" (tour dates). These are all written in an informal style using language that will appeal to fans. It all seems to be semi-home-made which is a theme that a lot of their image portrays (including MySpace blog posts/bulletins) and merch.

The page is free of clutter and is easy to navigate around. It's a page for the fans rather than to impress people. the band's sense of humour is shown through the small piece of text on the page:

http://www.heritage-history.com/maps/gardiner/gard001.jpg

This is something that fans will recognise as ES are from St Albans which is referred to in the address and will know that the album is being recorded in a house rather than a big recording studio (as the band have turned down all major record deals to date, instead creating their own label).

NME vs Kerrang! Cover Comparison

Similarities
- Both feature one main image t hat is of a band who their readership would (generally) like
- Both have mentions of festivals on the cover; NME has the "festival poll 2008" whilst K! has "Reading & Leeds 8 Page Special"
- Both have all the expected institutional information (bar code, banner, headline, issue number, price, date)
- Both have smaller images of other bands inside the magazine; K! has Rage Against The Machine & Metallica live plus two fan photos. NME has Mighty Boosh, Late Of The Pier, Crystal Castles, Foals, Gallows, Ting Tings, MGMT & Black Kids
- Some bands feature in can both publications e.g Gallows or Fall Out Boy
- Both have similar colour schemes (black, white, yellow/gold & red)

Differences
- NME features a quote on the cover (K! usually does, but it is a special K! Awards edition)
- NME's masthead isn't covered over by any images
- K! cover is a montage of different band members from awards, NME's is a professionally shot image from a studio
- K! is far more direct in it's language ("the new album") comapred to NME's informative style ("Arctic Monkeys plan record with Josh Homme")
- K! has a traditionally harder fanbase whereas NME is seen as more of an 'Indie' publication

DJ Research

Zane Lowe
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/zanelowe/
http://www.home-taping.co.uk/

- Currently hosts Radio 1's flagship evening show from 7:30 to 9pm
- Also hosts 'Gonzo' on MTV2
- Began as a video jockey (VJ) on MTV presenting 'Brand:New' and 'Up 4 It'
- Member of the New Zealand band 'Breaks Co-Op'
- Previously worked at XFM before Radio 1
- Also works as a DJ, often DJing at festivals (opened for Foo Fighters at Wembley, 7th June 2008)
- Monday nights on his show features 'Fresh Meat' where three new bands' songs are played and rated with the winning song being played for the rest of the week. Past winning bands have been: Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, The Wombats, Bloc Party, Kasabian, Editors.
- Also plays new tracks in 'The Hottest Record In The World Today' from new bands/albums (was the first to play 'Crazy' by Gnarles Barkley live on air)
- Features live performances and interviews with celebrity guests
- His shows demonstrate a high level of enthusiasm for the music he's playing
- Won several awards for TV and radio shows, including one for each at the 2006 NME awards as well as two Sony Radio Academy Awards

This would be the sort of DJ that I think would play our song as he's very into new music and promoting new bands as well as having a wide appeal and is well respected in the industry.

Room Decoration

Here's a moodboard for some styles/ideas about how I see our performance room looking

Reflections on last week

Last week Angelie & I became a pair as Jennifer dropped Media. This has helped us immensely because we are now able to make decisions faster and there's less people to try to arrange. We have also decided not to use Jennifer as our hero, instead we are using our friend Melissa who we feel is more reliable and is better friends with Jazmin.
As well as this we've changed our location for the performance so that it is easier for just the two of us to shoot and we can leave it set up for as long as we like.
We also had a mega day of planning and got all our storyboarding done as well as making some decisions we'd been putting off so we're almost ready to shoot now!

Location address business

Hi hi :)
Hope your summer's been going well!
I'm not doing anything on Sunday so I'd be okay to come with you... just let me know! :)

Angelie xxxx

Interesting Advertising

Over the past few days I've seen some interesting/different advertising methods used by bands.
Bands including Slipknot & Trivium had banners being flown by planes above Reading festival (and Leeds I'd assume) with details of their tours (there were other bands too that I can't remember) and numbers to call to get tickets.
Fall Out Boy have released a free EP for download that features several artists signed to FBR Records which had a link sent to every person signed up to all of the artists' mailing lists.
A local Catalan band used the bull burning in the town to advertise themselves, they painted the bulls with information (singles, albums, band name etc.) before they were set loose to run through the streets where about 2,000 people would get to see them. (Totally agianst the priciple of the event but interesting way of advertising).

When I see more I'll add them =]

BLK FEEDBACK

plenty of progress demonstrated recently, well done Emma

Location idea

If we wanted a semi-gothic location, the library at King's Collage in London has teh perfect exterior. I was there today for the open day and from what I could see there would be no restrictions for shooting, however I'm still more inclined to use the previous locations we found because they are easier and visually more interesting.

Fall Out Boy's UK Marketing

Website
http://www.falloutboyrock.com/
- Merch shop
- fan list emails
- Q&A
- Photos
- Journal
- Competitions

Friends Or Enimies
http://www.friendsorenemies.com/
- Photos
- Journal

Buzznet
www.buzznet.com/tags/falloutboy/
- Photos
- Community
-

MySpace
http://www.myspace.com/falloutboy
- Music
- Bulletins
- Blog posts
- Add as a friend
- Fan codes

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fall-Out-Boy/
- Become a fan
- Videos
- Wall posts
- Photos
- Song clips

Clandestine Industries (Pete Wentz's clothing company)
http://www.clandestineindustries.com/

Magazines
- Frequently in Kerrang! - posters, interviews, reviews
- Had an NME cover
- Rock Sound cover and pull outs
- Teen girl magazines eg Sugar

TV
- Interviews on several Channel 4 shows eg Popworld, Transmission
- Performances on above shows
- Prize giveaways

Live shows
- Tours at least once a year
- Summer festivals eg Reading & Leeds (usually)
- 2007 Decaydance festival

Other stuff
- Free online EP for limited time with release of 3rd album
- Radio interviews
- Online adverts eg MySpace

Everything online aims to create a sense of community for fans and with adverts places on popular web pages they are able to attract new fans.

Reflections on this weekend

I think this weekend was a great success. The locations Angelie & I found on Sunday were amazing (some of them) and we walked 5 miles according to Google Maps (shows some serious dedication seeing as it was like 28c outside or something like that)
Then today (Monday) we took a lot of shots for our storyboard and some photos for us to practice changing to comic book style and it only took us a couple of hours.
But anyways I think this weekend was really good, we had fun as a group and got a lot of work done. We plan on being able to shoot asap when we get back to school so will be doing our storyboard on the 1st September to allow that

Also, there hasn't been any new posts on my blog because I've been completing old ones and I go away tomorrow night so won't be posting for another 2 weeks =]

Toodle pip!

Layout

Heyyy same as james. I missed a media lesson and copied the way you set out one of the marketing pieces of work. Is that ok? =P
-Cat

Pendulum's MySpace

http://www.myspace.com/pendulum

The top of Pendulum's MySpace has three rotating images that portray images of the band in a professional photography studio, performing at Reading and a picture taken from their album art. Beside this is another image of the band set as their profile picture. Beneath this are the usual links seen on MySpace pages; send message, add to friends, IM, add to group, block user, add to favourites, forward to friend and rank user. Under this information are links to Pendulum's pictures and videos, the URL for the MySpace and Pendulum's genre of music (Drum & Bass/Rock/Electronica). Above the main section of the profile is a banner advertising their "tour of the Americas" being on sale now.
The main profile is split into two columns. On the left is a video of them performing 'Granite' at Reading which visitors to the page can watch. Under this is the "general info" section which contains the following information:

Band Website - Pendulum.com
Fan Website & Forum - Pendulumlive.com
Pendulum TV - Pendulum TV - You Tube
Sounds Like - A Wall of Sound
Band Members:
- Rob Swire (vocals/synth/producer)
- Gareth McGrillen (bass guitar/DJ)
- Perry ap Gwynedd (guitar)
- Paul 'El Hornet' Harding (DJ)
- Kodish (drums)
- Ben Mount (MC)
Record Label - Ear Storm
Management - Jho Oakley
Agents :
- Solomon Parker (Live)
- Obi Asika (DJ)
Webmaster - Ollie Martin

Below this information is another link to buy tickets for the tour of the Americas, followed by a poster advertising the tour dates and locations with numbers to call for tickets. Following this is a link to buy tickets to the 'In Silico' tour 2008 in the UK which is accompanied by the tour promotion poster which again contains the dates and locations of the tour as well as the relevant information to call for tickets.
The remaining section of the left hand column under general info contains a link to the Band's merch store with moving images of products available followed by the logos of all the festivals Pendulum are appearing at in 2008.
This section is followed by a box where fans can sign up to the mailing list or read the band's biography which may be of interest to many visitors to the page.
The right hand column starts with the mini player which has 5 songs in it; 'Radio 1 Mini Mix', 'Violet Hill Cover', 'Other Side', 'Propane Nightmares' and 'The Tempest'. THese tracks cannot be downloaded from the page which forces fans to use legal services and pay for downloads (although some may use Limewire). Below this is a comprehensive list of events which includes times, dates and locations of gigs as well as the venue of the gig which fans can use to identify any near them. This is followed by a blog box which contains links to and titles of the latest three posts. Pendulum's "top 8" friends are below this (which appear to be written by one of their PR team as opposed to the band themselves), showing links to all band members' personal MySpaces as well as a Pendulum community MySpace.
The final section of the page is the comments left by fans and spammers. These have been set to the left to fall in line with the left hand column of the page.
The page itself is very impersonal, none of the band have revealed anything a bout themselves and the images used are all professionally shot. Interestingly, there are no links to sell stuff for the band except the merch. Usually there are links to iTunes for downloading, YouTbe for viewing videos and press quotes about bands, however none of this is present on pendulum's page.

Here's your group work on Marketing!

Hi Emma, do you mind if i use your layout for your album cover analysis. When i first saw them i thought that the your group were given a sheet so i did them the same as you. If you dotn want me to use your layout i will change it.

Thanks

James

BLK feedback

good postings recently Emma; try and get some of your analysis work completed soon

Reflections on our feedback

In last night's feedback session there were several issues raised (see group blog).
One of these was an issue concerning having a black indie singer despite saying we were aiming at a predominantly white audience, which I can see is a valid point yet caused issues within the group as a result. I personally feel that it would be most beneficial to the group if Jennfier was to play the hero because it suits her personality. I also have concerns over using Jennifer's friends as the other actors because there is a chance the filming may turn into disarray with nothing being done. This would also then lead to the whole issue becomming even more of a "race row" as having all actors not being white would be racist towards them, so either way we lose. If we were able to get Jazmin to be our performer I think it would work well as she looks the part and we would be able to work with her. In light of this I think that we need to rethink our choices of actors and reach a new agreement before the summer.
However I am glad that there was positive feedback regarding the idea of comic books and the idea as a whole, I just hope we can resolve the issues.

Video Analysis 2

Christina Aguilera - Beautiful



Performance & concept based
Concept of others finding beauty, developing throughout the video (relateable to our own idea)
Focus on facial expression - CUs
Quite a dark mise-en-scene
ELS show isolation within room (eg 24 seconds)
Not necessarily singing to camera
Slow paced - fits to music
An everyday kinda look - no high budget sets/locations
Message of being proud of yourself
Editing changes pace as music does
Frames within frames eg mirrors
Idea of people watiching & judging either themselves of being watched/judged
Lyrics kinda illustrated by visuals, people aren't letting themselves be brought down by the end
Typical focus on performance

Video Analysis 1

My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade



Performance
Concept of "The Patient"
Establishing shot
Frames within frames (TV at start)
Notion of looking - TV screen, nurses around bed etc - continues album's concept of "The Patient" watching the world
Focus on lips
Changes pace
Focus on facial expressions
Black Parade enters on lyric
Lyrics usually contradict visuals
Black & white & red
Money shots of the band, focus on Gerard Way
Band playing instruments - sticks with image
Typical OTT actions of Gerard - poses etc
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a major influence
Totally different from previous videos in terms of concept but still performance based

Our new idea

I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really like the new idea we have. I think it's much simpler and easier to shot but would have a better end result. I'm really, really, really, really, really, really, really excited by the idea (which tbh I wasn't really by teh other one, more just kinda liking it).

One of my friend's outside of schoool said he would be willing to be our Superman. He's about 5'7, has brown hair and is a swimmer so quite muscular. I'll post a picture of him up later =]

See the group blog for a post about the new idea!
http://musicvideogroup32008.blogspot.com/search/label/idea

BLK feedback

good work Emma.

I know you're posting like mad to the group blog, but try and post up your own responses to whatever is happening in the group so you keep a (brief) running commentary on this blog.

also some independent music video analysis using the framework we've done in class would be good when you get the chance.

The Chemical Brothers - Elektrobank

EDITING
Cuts
Cut away to coach/father/judge/crowd/other athlete
Footage slows to fit with music
Fades between girl & coach – 5min
Cross dissolve at last jump

LIGHTING
Natural appearance

CAMERA FRAMING & MOVEMENT
Establishing shot
Doors frame a lot of shots
POV of first girl
Hand held footage of father/guy with thumbs up – idea of watching
High angle – shows scale of location
Tracking girl’s movement – shows distance travelled
Focus on girl’s face
A lot of long shots

SFX
Slowed down footage to emphasise action

MISE-EN-SCENE/COLOUR/COSTUME
Blue & white costumes – can differentiate between her & competition
Red ribbon – stands out
Gymnastic competition – blank surroundings, small crowd make it realistic

NARRATIVE
About 1:30 of a plot before the song
Story of girl trying to win

GENRE
Electro dance

AUDIENCE
Over 20 to maybe 30ish?
Male

“OTHER STUFF”
Concept based – gymnastic competition
No obvious lyrics therefore not illustrative/amplifying/contradictory
Band isn’t featured
Idea of gymnast being watched by crowd & other competitors but not sexually

Eminem - Stan

EDITING
Straight cuts
Shots from various angles – Stan writing letters to Eminem
Fades at the start before anger kicks in – cuts signify Stan’s anger
Lots of lingering shots on Stan
Shorter shots on Dido
Fades between storylines
Cut to beat & lightning on the beat
Quite long shots – writing letter

LIGHTING
No obvious studio lighting for Stan – Lightning effect
Dim light in basement

CAMERA FRAMING & MOVEMENT
Focus on images of Eminem
Camera placed inside the car when it breaks through barriers - POV
High angles – surveillance effect
Movement gives idea of surveillance cameras watching the room
Camera still when focusing on Eminem replying
Pans around Stan’s room to show volume of Eminem images
Tracking shots of Stan & Dido walking
First shot of movement in through a window creates the idea of entering into someone’s life without them knowing
A lot of shots framed by mirrors or doors – notion of looking

SFX
Lightning
Warped vision of them meeting/reflections
Mirror image (1:53)
Snow machine/rain machine?
Car plunging into water
Stan watching through window at the end

MISE-EN-SCENE/COLOUR/COSTUME
Dark, only brighter colour is red – relates to the album it came off, The Eminem Show has a red cover
Colours also reflects Stan's social situation - not rich surroundings to contrast to Eminem's plush surroundings
White t-shirt for both Eminem & Stan
Posters - shows obsession
Wooden floorboards, flaking paint, dirty tiles - reflects wealth

REPRESENTATION
The song creates a less violent image for Eminem. The lyrics (on his part) are less about violence and more about helping his fans in a way. It also presents an idea bout how his life is as a celebrity.
Highlights the problems with celebrities being seen as idols & fans becoming obsessive
Shows helplessness of girlfriend who can't cope with Stan's obsession

NARRATIVE
Relationship between Eminem & Stan - informal - "Dear Slim" & talking like they were good friends at times
Stan’s life & death/funeral
Eminem replying
Relationship between Stan & Dido
Story of obsession
Each verse builds up to an explosive ending

GENRE
Rap

AUDIENCE
Eminem & Dido fans
Younger people – young teen to mid 20s?
Mainly males?

“OTHER STUFF”
Visuals illustrate lyrics – meeting brother after show, writing letters etc.
Visuals amplify – make the situation and anger real
References to other Eminem songs - 'My Name Is' & ''97 Bonnie and Clyde'
References to other songs - 'In The Air Tonight'
References to Eminem's life - Uncle Ronnie & killing Kim & father walking out
Stan's a reoccurring character in Eminem songs - 'Guilty Conscience'
Idea of looking e.g. watching TV, being in the crowd, surveillance like shots etc.
Performance & narrative

Possible Location

The surrounding park bit:

The view down the river:
Bridges:

A Discussion...

Basically, today Angelie & I were talking in class (with Cat) and well we realised that our idea might not work. Miss B suggested that we have Jennifer as the main star of the video in which case we'd need a song to match her, which I think could be the song that Angelie's found (Holding Out For A Hero?).
If we were to do that song I have an idea of using a rose garden (there's one at Forty Hall and also where my dad works, and I can drive us to both...I can't think of anywhere else like that) or alternatively using Ally Pally. But her being in there being chased by her "hero" who is unable to catch up with her until the end when the girl is revealed to be imaginary. We'd also have a performance by Jennifer which I thought we could do in a plain walled room where we could hang fairy lights and have a nice backdrop.
I know a couple of people who would like to play the guy, although one might not be here for the shoots, and I'll have to double check with the other to make sure he's still interested.

New Song Idea

An idea for our new song could be Johnny Sniper by Enter Shikari

http://www.mediafire.com/?1mwhmftk9ln

However, it is 4 minutes long, and has already got a video (although it is very different to our idea and isn't a mainstream video)

Alternatively, The Firework by Cajun Dance Party might also work

http://www.mediafire.com/?iw4p9mxmzlq

It is 3:36 long but has not been released as a single therfeore having no video (nor are there plans to release it)

Or, Totem On The Timeline by Klaxons might work.
It's 2:42 long and has no video

Orrrrr, Blood Sugar by Pendulum?

First Proper Meeting

In our first proper meeting we didn't like any of the songs that we pitched however we did create a video idea that we are all happy with.
This idea includes having multiple superheroes that all atempt to complete the same mission but 5 fail with only 1 succeeding (I think?). We'd use split screen to show the different outcomes

Someone else in my group has probably explained this better, so I'll edit this post when I've clarified it all again so it makes more sense and is better written!! However our aim for the next meeting was to try and find a song that we think would work with the idea

BLK feedback

Fantastic work to date Emma - great progress on album covers, marketing end especially track ideas - I can see the direction you're going in!

Marketing Strategy Reflection

What did I miss out/what would I change?

1 - Below the line marketing, we could have used more
2 - Better TV shows for the band to be featured on (not Jonathon Ross!)
3 - Marketing campaigns that would be more accessible to a wider section of our audience
4 - Would use stranger PR stunts, not 'generic' ones that everyone does
5 - Wouldn't use typical associations such as Girls Aloud, I'd pick lesser known people

What have I learnt?

1 - USPs help to promote a band & is needed to stand out
2 - Merch can be produced cheaply at home
3 - You can break conventions and still have a successful marketing campaign
4 - It isn't as straightforward to get onto the radio as I first thought
5 - You can be clever when you release material eg the day after people get paid
6 - Space is an asset rather than something that has to be filled
7 - An image for a band has to e carefully constructed, it doesn't just come together on its own
8 - Artists do not automatically play big venues, they can choose to remain in smaller venues
9 - Carefully constructed line-ups are aimed at several ethnicities
10 - Timing is everything

List of song ideas

My list of possible songs with reasons why/why not and ideas

Avril Lavigne - One Of Those Girls
http://www.mediafire.com/?yvdjhcndl1l
- Fast paced & fun
- Almost exactly 3 minutes long
Focus on one girl and follow the storyline of the song about the actions she has and her attitude. We could use a lot of different locations or stick to a few simple ones

Shiny Toy Guns - Don't Cry Out
http://www.mediafire.com/?kljs1zvj2jb
- Strong beat
- Different sounds
- Almost 4 minutes long
Start with footsteps in split screen of two people doing synchronised steps. This would then split further and further from 2 to 3 to 4 etc all the way to 9 splits with everyone doing the same actions, or at least similar actions. At a certain point, the screens would begin to change in the number of splits back down to just two again. It could also be that the split screens have some people mouthing words and others doing everyday actions or just sights from around London

30 Seconds To mars - Year Zero
http://www.mediafire.com/?yxp3xqv3pq4
- Almost 5 minutes long, but there is a natural break in the song at 2:54 where it ends before restarting
- Would lend itself to split screens and the idea of superheroes
Could have a guy singing the lyrics as he walked down the street where we could then have split screen to show other people's reactions to him or could show an alternative storyline such as a guy and a girl and the interactions between them, maybe a date.

Pendulum - Granite
http://www.mediafire.com/?cxjz0hgbytj
- Over 4 minutes long
- Already been released with a video (not widely known and was a UFO based video)
- Fast paced with a definitive beat
Abstract imagery of London at night (and day maybe) that contains clips of people doing everyday things and the use of split screen with shots cut to the music

Pendulum - Blood Sugar
http://www.mediafire.com/?mttjjsoui2i
- Just under 3 minutes long
- Most versions have speaking over start (although there are 'clean' versions)
- Too fast paced?
Idea of working backwards through a story with a message, for example someone was shot and you'd see them in hospital at the start hooked up to machines before flashing back to the start where you see how they ended up injured

The Academy Is... - Everything We Had
http://www.mediafire.com/?agzmjmloiwl
- Just under 4 minutes
- Quite a slow song, but speeds up after about 30 seconds with other changes of pace
Could follow the story of two people reflecting on their past relationship with what they're doing now/looking at old pictures maybe comparing them with split screen

Videos that used split screen

I quite like the idea of using split screen in my music video.

Blink 182 - Always
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqHbLdoYZ2E
I like the way this has three strips that tell the same story with the three band members each playing the same role. I also like the way that each strip is slightly skewed out of line with the others to create a disjointed effect. The screen is still split in this way when each band member is on their own on the screen playing their instrument, yet split into three again.
The way that the camera follows the girl around the room is something I would consider using in our own video but maybe in a different way. I personally wouldn't like to use split screen throughout the whole video in my own project.

Alphabeat - 10,000 Nights Of Thunder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVx3qBiXkaM
I like the way that the split screen isn't continuous and also contains blocks of bright colour or other actions. There is also a variety of how many splits there is in the screen, which I think makes the video more interesting. The mix of split screen and a complete screen is something I would definitely like to use.

NERD - Everyone Nose
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA1HB_yJii4
This video uses 9 splits to start off with to show the same place at different times as well as a credit style showcase of the images used at the start. Again there is a mix between split screen and complete screen, which I like. The fast movement in the splits works well with the song but I wouldn't personally use.

Daniel Powter - Bad Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBziW9qQvsc
The split screen works for this video because it is telling the story between the two characters, which is something I feel we should do within our idea. The splits in this video are sometimes diagonal as well as being in pairs, threes, fours as well as pairs that don't fill the entire screen.

Madonna - Give It 2 Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQRLSBUNupg
The split screen in this video uses different colours between the screens yet the same images. the split screen is only used in the chorus, which is something that would work with our idea. There is also split screen with Madonna in the middle but with several mini Pharrell's around the outside of her, which I think looks good.

Sneaky Sound System - Pictures
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWVDRMGkkMc
This video has quite an abstract take on split screen with it being most noticeable through the use of a picture held by the singer. I really like this use of split screen as it is different and stands out although I don't feel it would be something possible to incorporate into our own idea.

Jay Z - Show Me What You Got
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyqZ73XSvbo
This video uses split screen to show off the cars and race to add more to the features being used. I really like the layout of the split screen, it isn't seen like that in many videos. It is possible that we could use something similar for our own video.

Nelly Furtado - Promiscuous
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIM4DCn7AlE

Madonna Cover

Images used

- Madonna
- Not showing her face --> audience know who she is
- Infrequent facial expressions --> those shown show control
- Predominantly pink --> disco theme
- Air brushed
- Reinvention --> her latest image showcased in booklet
- Sparkly heels --> disco, but not designed to dance in
- Gold mirror ball
- Image to the right (on front cover)
- Disco ball effect background & disk
- Background predominantly black --> night --> disco
- Kaballah bracelet made to stand out by pose --> exclusive to her --> press coverage
- Focus on legs & bum
- Mirrors
- Only one image with direct eye contact --> shows she's incharge?
- Pink sticker --> feminine
- 80s dress style --> dance & flexibility
- Very pale skin -->youthful looking
- Posed --> attempts to look younger --> flixible

Text

- Neon lights effect --> disco
- Disco ball as 'o'
- Title written in elegant font and to the bottom left in white --> not very important
- Same font is used throughout the inlay and back cover -->feminimity, like handwriting -->more personal?
- 'Madonna' is main text, capitalised, large font, central --> sells the cover
- Track listing on back to the right --> doesn't stand out
- Track listing inside central --> more important
- "Non stop, all dance tour de force" sticker on the cover further supports the disco/dance theme
- "Explicit lyrics" --> style of lyrics & poses --> sexually explicit

Anchorage

- Disco theme runs throughout
- Disco ball
- Colours used
- Album title

Iconography

- Kaballah bracelet --> widely publicised about her
- Poses show off flexibility --> known for her working out & attempts to be youthful
- Disco/pop/dance --> imagery
- Colours (pink) --> femininity

Institutional

- Mainstream --> nothing niche, a conventional cover
- High budget --> air brushing
- Well known label --> obviously invested heavily
- Had several albums before --> not using image to sell, expectation of name being enough

Audience

- Female --> colour, genre
- Familiar with Madonna
- Mainstream
- Gay market

The front's function is to attract attention and sell the CD to consumers
The back's function is to contain all the required information (track listing, bar code, producers etc.)

Album Covers Research

1 - Peudulum - In Silico

2 - Madonna - Confessions On A Dancefloor

3 - Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time

4 - My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade

5 - Pink Floyd - The Wall

6 - Michael Jackson - Bad

7 - Usher - 8701

8 - Artic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

9 - Foo Fighters - In Your Honour

10 - Destiny's Child - Survivor

1 - What are the typical features each cover has?

Artist/band name - all

CD name - all but 8

Main image or focus point - all

Background - all

Centralise image - all but 2, 3, 6, 7 & 10

Colour - all but 4, 5 & 8

Image construction for the artist/band - all

2 - How can the covers be catagorised?

Those with the star on them - 2, 3, 6, 7, 10

Those with other images on them - 1, 4, 5, 8, 9

Those using colour 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9 & 10

Those with the image as the main focus - 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10

Those with text as the main focus - 2, 4, 5

3 - What are the purposes of these covers?

To sell the CD

To stand out from other CDs

To promote the image of the artist/band

Advertising the genre

Appealing to specific audiences