Location Research (Updated)

The location plays a massive part in how succesful your music video could possibly be as the setting that you choose must coordinate well with the song and artist that you are doing that video for. For example, it is unlikely that you would do a music video for a heavy metal band on a beach.

I have decided on the song 'Maps' by Maroon 5 and have decided that I would like to get the majority of my footage from filming in London as I believe that the pace of the city will fit in nicely with the upbeat tempo of the song that I have chosen.

Editing Images

Here is the process of how I edited the picture that I used on my magazine advert. I simply just placed it in photoshop, and then went to 'Image' 'Adjustments' and then 'Black and White.' Once clicking on black and white, it gives you the option to adjust the Hue and Saturation of the image. In this process, I increased the level of yellow in the image to brighten the 'Maps' and 'Maroon 5' cards that are on the top. Below is a picture of what it looks like on the first draft of my magazine advert. 

Magazine Advert Draft

This image of my magazine advert is only a draft as I feel that it is quite plain and simplistic. When making improvements I think it will come down to changing the background as the plain white comes across as quite dull. Another aspect I might alter is the possiblility of including some institutional information, for instance, I might include the logo of the record label that they are signed to.

Overview of Progress

Production Diary #12

This term I have found that there have been alot more hurdles to get over for my coursework this year compared to that of the magazines that I had to produce last year at AS. Originally, I had decided that I was going to have the narrative following something along the lines of a treasure hunt through the streets of London and had started to think about what I wanted to do and how I would be able to film it. However, this idea did not follow through due to a few problems. One of the issues that I faced was the issue with the days getting dark quite quickly, due to school consuming a lot of my time and there only being an hour or two after school where it still stayed fairly light, the footage would not have come out as I had wished because I would have had to carry around lighting with me as well as the camera and other equipment that I would have needed to film the music video.

After, this setback I had struggled to come up with an idea so I decided that it would be a good idea to focus a bit of time and attention on the print based ancillary tasks as I feel that this is an area that I am stronger in as well as the research and planning on my blog. I knew what artist to create the products for and the name of the album so I was pretty much good to go in terms of designing them both and I am very nearly finished with the basic first drafts that I have managed to put together.

When I first started the 'creating a music video' process, my media teacher showed the class some ideas from students from previous years, but also videos from the internet to give us some inspiration. I remember their being a lyric style video which I thought that even though it was quite simple in terms of the props and costuming, it was very effective. Not too long ago my teacher showed that video again and I decided that this was the route I wanted to take with my video. I also found it was quite similar to the production of 'Vance Joy - Riptide.'

In terms of the production of my video, I have taken some test shots for my blog, but also to see how I wanted to use the camera and the various shots that I wanted to use. This has helped me think of the various ways I can show the lyric cards that I have now made on InDesign when it comes to filming over the Christmas Holidays.

Choosing Colours for the Digipak and Magazine Advert (Planning)

 

I wanted to keep the colours that I used on the small side to create that minimalistic yet quite effective and stylised look that many bands and there work seem to have. I decided that by having a maroon/deep red colour would fit in well as it is in the name of the band and will be easily relatable to them. I created the colour on InDesign (as shown above) and just adjusted the settings to get the colour that I wished to use. The colour will also feature on the magazine advert to have this idea of a brand guideline being followed. Consistency within the work is key as if the audience cannot recognise a product, it is unlikely to sell.

Digipak Planning - Draft 1

This is an image of the first draft of the front cover for my digipak. The album is called 5 or 'V' as it is in roman numerals which links to the number of albums that the band have had - five - and the number of members that are in the band. I decided to paint the black 'V' on to the models hand as this is the name of the album, but also the open palm shows five fingers which is a reference to the number of albums that the band have had, which links back to the name of the album. Overall, the design is quite simple and follows similar guidelines in terms of the heading on the magazine advert in order for it to make it recognisable, and in some ways become apart of a franchise for the band.

Similar Product Research

Raw Footage

In preparation for my video, I have been playing around with the camera to get some ideas for different shots and effects I could use.

Starting to Film

Production Diary #11

After having a chat with my media teacher, I have found the inspiration for how I wish to film my video from a lyric style video for the song 'Dirty Paws' by Of Monster and Men. It is something completely different compared to the typical music videos that you traditionally see as I plan on there not actually being a person in the footage, it will just consist of someone interacting with the lyrics of the song that are placed on cards and positioned in places which could be deemed relevant to that lyric.

In preparation for filming, I made all the cards on InDesign, cut them up and I am planning to put them on different coloured pieces of card, once complete I will be ready to start filming my music video. In terms of the cards that I have made, I got all of the lyrics off of 'Metrolyrics' and copy and pasted each lyric/sentence into a box. To add a bit of depth and meaning to the video I have put all of the lyrics onto cards which have an ordanance survey map in the background, however, to make sure you can still see the text that is placed on top, I turned the opacity down to 26% and they turned out like this:

Planning and Preparation

Production Diary #10

I have recently been trying to catch up with my Planning Tasks and have been quite successful in doing so. I have decided that as the deadline for the first drafts of my coursework are due in just under 2 weeks time and I have been struggling with the process, I am going to complete my first draft in school as I do not have the time to complete it in my chosen locations out of school in order to complete it to a high enough standard and quality. By doing this, I am able to 'audition' various models and also complete my storyboard, anamatics and not have my blog  grade capped at 11/20 which would have a massive effect on my grade as I believe that the blog posts are one of my stronger qualities when completing my coursework.

I am having my first day of filming today and I am quite apprehensive about what the result of this will be. However, as long as I get some usable footage that fits the song fairly well, I can always make any final adjustments such as re-filming and editing over the Christmas holidays and when I return to school.

In terms of the digipak, I have decided that I am keeping the original album name V. In terms of ideas for the front cover of the digipak, I think I will take a picture of an open hand with the letter V written on it in black pen to incorporate the meaning of the roman numeral V - 5 - with their being five fingers on a hand. Another idea that I have considered is for the back cover. I believe that I might have the track list of the album wrapped around the outside of the letter, rather than going with a traditional list as I feel this is quite repetitive and typical in terms of presentation.

Props List

Another Prop that I will be using is lyric cards. I made these lyric cards on InDesign and these will be the main feature of my music video as they will help tell the story of the journey that the model will go on. They will be positioned in various places that relate to that lyric in the song, for example, "oh baby why did you run away," I could have the lyric stuck to someones back and film that person as they run away.