Evaluation Task 4 (The use of media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages)

The ethos of our music video is the regeneration of old ideals, and the recycling of them into new ones. Applying specific emphasis on todays music industry's continuous production of similar artists, favouring the concept of image and quantity rather than art and quality. We encapsulated this through the embodiment and symbolism of the junkyard, which became an increasingly essential aspect to our performance and narrative through both locational shooting and studio shooting (with the utilising of green screen technology).

Pre-production 

During our research and planning stage the use of media technology not only helped to define and chisel our video concept into a production level, but was in fact the core material we built upon. The largest technological anvil used in the process was the internet, specifically the websites Youtube, eBolgger and Wikipedia. Youtube was a fantastic insight into 'mod' world we were trying to establish, allowing us access to a variety of music deriving from the genre and era, but also film clips in relationship with the subculture such as Quadrophenia: link to clip. Wikipedia opened up a window of specifics of the culture,  where youtube was lacking slightly, in the areas of their characteristics such as: fashion, clubs, music, dancing, amphetamines, scooters, gender roles and conflicts with rockers.  Once our idea was finally formulated, we were then able to express and address the concept through eBlogger, a website allowing its members to upload and share information and opinions as frequently and as extremely as they desire. The information you can share ranges from a piece of writing to a video display, allowing a diverse exhibition of thought. Through the grounding of our storyboard animations, we were confident a potential video plot and narrative was in place, which then concluded with the decision to film our sketched sequence.

Post-production  

In the process of creating my band poster for Infernal the layering technique was employed in my utilising of the programme Photoshop. This enabled be to merge three photos, each portraying an individual band members face, into one portrait, slicing up the features to convey a single entity (furthering the thematic element of recycling). In the creation of the CD digipak photoshop enabled me to import pictures from Google, and with the burn effect and alteration of the saturation levels tarnish the image to depict an older vintage feel to the pack, as is achieved in the editing of the Union Jack flag displayed. Photoshop enabled me to crop, resize and correct colours on my imported pictures, but also allowed me to develop a font of my own, such as the tattoo calligraphy depicted as the logo draped across the front cover of the CD. The software has developed my computing skills but also my technological creativity, and proved to be a vital tool in the post-production stages.

My Own Personal Cd Digipak

My Own Personal Edit

Feedback on Evaluation Task Three Audience Feedback

So far so good you have clearly collected the data and began to formulate some comments on what the audience have said - and received criticism well.  You do need to complete the feedback and address the question set for evaluation, particularly in applying negotiated, preferred and oppositional readings.  DO consider how you would use this audience feedback and how this could be applied to develop your work further.  Can you please complete over the weekend and do you have results of any focus group or video interview?

What Have you learned from your audience feedback?

The comments provided by the various youtube members gave the group an insight into what was successful, but more importantly what was unsuccessful about our music video. It is clear that the general consensus was that "The narrative didn't work with the music", that we "maybe graining the concept/narrative footage" and "that it might have been a bit too easy to shoot Matt at the end however...", which the group is quite willing to accept. However there were more compliments then there were critcisms, such as "Like the styling of the 60s performance aspect - great clothing and the body language is spot on", "Good and Clear music video shoot in a fitting location",  "the location of the narrative was good and I like the whole James Bond theme going on. The editing was subtle and I thought the lead singer was well casted." etc.

We sent round a questionnaire regarding the video.

Here are the questions that we asked and the most common answers for each question
1.      Did you like the song, the kind of music or maybe the lyrics? Please say why
-Yes because of the peacefulness and flow of the song
-No not really but liked the video though
2.      In what way did you think the band was represented what do you think they might stand for?
-Sexual magnetism might be one part of it
-Like the kinks I guess, mood boy band
3.      If you would compare the bands and their image to similar bands what would you think of?
-The kooks- elegant but having a kind of rock style in their own way
-Boy band that goes against the mainstream can’t come up with a band though
4.      Would this be the kind of music you would normally listen to, buy CD’s and see in concerts?
-Not maybe concert but the downloading the CD, yes sure
-Yes I absolutely would love to have creative CD covers
5.      What narrative did you believe was shown and what it was all about?
-Drama, hero, victim, bad guy
-kidnapping or something similar
6.       Was the video entertaining, why or why not?
-Yes thanks to the amount of things happening and the long periods of the story
-Yes I really thought the video was tension building and also suited the location
7.      What do you think could be improved and why?
-I would have found it more intresting if there was a greater change in the time change during the narrative to see that time is passing
-Maybe casted the walking guy better, I mean he is walking slow
8.      Any other comments?
-the singer is very well casted
-I really liked that they used the theme about recycling and regeneration that is today a big issue

Other audience feedback links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDRBZ_ODfDo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi1QHm0gBy0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USKIaLZ3ESU&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klc51Dw66NY

Feedback on evaluation task two

This is a good slide rocket presentation, quite smart in places, I like the link to the You tube interview.  You assess your group product well and have a clear understanding of the branding of the band and it's campaign release.  You make very good links between the MV and the ancilliary tasks.  A good prep completed well done.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks? your main product

My slide show can be found on this site http://portal.sliderocket.com/BKHHC/Copy-of-How-effective-is-the-combination-of-your-m-(2)_3

Evaluation task 1 – poster

The third media product our group produced was the poster for the band.  Once again the main singer is in focus and looking at the camera supported by two guitarist and a drummer in the background.  This is similar to the music video which does the same thing.  The James Bond style image is also presented along with the title of the group, the recording logo and Facebook and Twitter emblems at the bottom.  Once again, paradoxically as we are promoting the song, “I’m not like everybody else” we are using common popular idioms to promote a view that runs against the norm.  

We also needed to make sure that our poster can be used in a digital format and that it is instantly recognizable and understood.  For example it can also be viewed on computer screens both large and miniature such as mobile telephones.

We also chose to make the link between the movie; “The Agent” and the music video placing it at the bottom of the poster.  Hopefully the promotion of one will complement the other and vice versa.

 

Evaluation of the Digipak

The Digipak makes the important link between the brand or persona of the artist we created and the consumer’s physical ownership of their product.  We have tried to incorporate many themes and ideas that the band is trying to promote with the conventions of a CD or album cover.  We have used the recycling logo layered over the top of many different items that can be recycled or reused.  This is beneath the heading “Infernal” which is the name of the group.  We have used the images, text and colour of the cover in an attempt make it attract people in a high impact way much the same as the video does.  

 

The back page of the cover includes a list of the songs on the artist presented in a traditional way.  Once again this is over the top of the image of a junk yard.  This helps to establish our brand as the audience will identify with the themes of the group are presenting.  From another perspective it is another method of conveying a subliminal message to a group of people who are merely attracted to the group for its music alone.

Evaluation task one – Narrative, Lyrics and Structure

 Our group was influenced by the James Bond movies when developing the structure of our narrative.  This is reflected in the clothes and costumes used.  Please see the picture below.

The group have modeled themselves on the appearance of James Bond; black suit and tie, clean shaved with oiled combed back hair.

We were also highly influenced by the film Stormbreaker that was also shot in a junk yard using the elements of the set effectively creating tension and focus to the narrative.  We also included a victim that used the conventions seen in the film; a gag, ripped clothes and high impact emotive obscure screen shots to emphasize the vulnerability of the actress, who is about to entertain the audience.  Andrew Goodwins principles of; “Smooth, efficient, structural design” were used to develop a relationship between the visuals and the music.

 
 We have also attempted to used close up miming of the lyrics in the music video in an effort to create realism.  This is an important aspect of the production as is reinforced by Goodwin “The artist acting both as narrator and participant helps to increase the authenticity however the  sync and other mimed actions remains at the heart of music video.  The audience need to believe this is real.”  

 

The chorus line, “I’m not like everybody else” was an attempt to make a statement in keeping with our projected image of going against the norm.  Ironically in order to create a platform for this message to be heard we need to do several things that are agreeable to most young people, such as the tune, rhythm and beat, and visual image of the group.  In essence, in order to get our message heard (which is contrary to popular opinion) we needed to use popular (normal) opinion. 

 

Evaluation task1 1 – In what ways do your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

 

Keith Negus identifies 11 common generic conventions of Popular Music

Ø    The explicit and unashamed promotion of the artist’s image as a specific product with a brand identity, ready for mass production.

Ø    The featuring of the artist (almost without exception)

Ø    A wide and extensive use of shot types, camera angles and movement

Ø    Repetition of reoccurring thematic elements and generically specific iconography

Ø    A possible narrative structure

Ø    A possible performance element

Ø    The flexibility to disregard Realism

Ø    Shots cut tightly to the beat of the track

Ø    Use of special effects

Ø    A carefully constructed Mise en Scene appropriate to the content and tone on the track

Ø    High impact instantly.

Our media products use, develop and challenge these forms and conventions.  I  will elaborate on how;

Ø    The explicit and unashamed promotion of the artist’s image as a specific product with a brand identity, ready for mass production.  Our group develop a video which established a pop star image.  The clothing, is simple and formal with all members of the group wearing similar clothing, giving the appearance of unity.  The posture of the group gives focus to the main vocalist with the guitarists and drummer not generally looking directly at the camera.  This presents the group in an unashamed way with a distinctive and unique identity.  

   

Ø    The featuring of the artist (almost without exception).  Our video is approximately three minutes long and feature the artists exclusively.

Ø    A wide and extensive use of shot types, camera angles and movement.  We use  a wide array of camera shots and angles to present our video in as realistic a way as possible to maximize the promotion of the artists.

Ø    Repetition of reoccurring thematic elements and generically specific iconography.  Our main themes behind the production of this video were recycling and reuse, hence the production of the video in the junk yard.  The mise en scene combines synonymously with the constant subliminal message of recycling and reusing – to create the concept of re-use and recycling using a mod culture.

Ø    A possible narrative structure.  Our music video production is presented in a narrative form with the screen shots carefully edited so as to create synergy between the music and video in order to create a narrative.  In the creation of this narrative we realized that the viewer will bring to the video their own personal experiences that are triggered by the music video and in so doing extract a narrative or meaning from the music video.

 

Ø    A possible performance element.  Our groups performance in the junk yard is the pinnacle of our production and what we are presenting to the world.  Most media packages do this – attempt to blend video image with music in a way that is both entertaining and attractive  to the viewer. Our performance entailed the use of green screen so that the narrative and performance were taking place on the same location.  We combined this with after affects using different screen shots and angles.

Ø    The flexibility to disregard Realism.  Our video was shot on a Sunday as this was the only day that the junk yard closed.  In this small way, we have disregarded the reality of an operational junk yard which paradoxically is a prime example of the themes and ideas behind the group.  In essence we have combined many of the elements above to create a realistic concept or idea, by using artificial means.  This idea is suppoted by Friske (1987) who states, "What passes of reality in any culture is the product of the culture's codes, so reality is always encoded, it is never raw." People will derive meaning from the junk yard, even though it is not open and operating as it should.

Ø    Shots cut tightly to the beat of the track.  Firstly we agreed on a production of the audio.  Then we took many video takes and shots from many different angles and views before bringing this all together with the final editing.  Certain screen shots and views were made to sync with the beat of the track.

Ø    Use of special effects.  We used the green screen as well as fading in and out to present the narrative.  It was important to get the right balance of special effects in order to present a realistic message to our viewers.

Ø    The mise en scene seeing the whole group together in a junk yard where focus is given to the singer fits together with the track to create a high class music video.

All of the above elements combine to create high impact instantly.  Upon viewing the video you are immediately develop an awareness or understanding of the brand or image that the group is presenting to the world.

 

The Poster for our band

My first step was to decide what exactly the poster for the band was going to focus upon; the forthcoming tour or album sales, or both.  We decided that our band will focus on album sales and so decided that our focus should be mainly about the promotion of our CD and new songs to be released. 

The next aspect of the poster design was to analyse the audience that we are focussing upon and look closely at what interests them.  We are focussing on a teenage and young adult audience and decided that most teenage audiences associate a band firstly with its music and secondly with itís appearance without too much written content.  So what we decided to produce was a picture of the band members along with some of the songs that they produce.  It needed to be of high quality, concise and attract attention. 

Our target audience is teenage and young adults and to this end we wanted to create a mod culture as we wanted scope to introduce new or different ideas to refer to without constraint.  We wanted the band to be going against the mainstream, and as Dyer argues the image of the star can then be used to position the consumer in relationship to dominant social values.  This can then be positioned so that it rejects or goes against the mainstream or dominant social values.  In essence we wanted to show that the band had values such as creativity and quality as their priorities which connect to Keith Negus ideology "the natural ideology of creativity".  Thereafter we made the decision that the band should focus on album sales instead of singles sales focusing more on a sophisticated audience.

We decided to focus on the image of the band to enhance their profiles and values taking the idea of creating something modern because of the influence of mod culture representing recycling, re-using and community spirit.  In this respect we targeted our audience as modern youth and young adults who are prepared to go against the mainstream in order to show care and concern for their environment and the earth on which we live.  Since the band is however mainly focused upon producing quality music they will almost certainly attract people with other values and ideas, but still in keeping with the mod culture. 


We analysed other posters produced for similar audiences and this confirmed our decisions about the content and focus of our poster.  For example, if you look at the posters below,  you can see that our poster is similar to Nickleback's promotion poster for their album, "The dark Horse."  We use band members to represent the group as a whole, along with their CD name, in essence creating a brand in the form of a poster.

The decision to use the scrap yard

Our group is promoting the band along the theme of recycling, re-using and community spirit developing out of a mod culture.  Society today has become very wasteful and often things are produced to use once or for a short period of time and then a new product is bought.  Take for example milk, most people purchase it in a carton or a plastic container which gets used once and then is thrown in the garbage where it is probably taken to landfill.  Years ago milk was purchased in milk bottles which were re-cycled and re-used.  Our group is attempting to promote the recycling and re-using going against the use once and throw it out mentality of our modern society.  

To reinforce the idea of re-using and recycling in the video we chose to set the scene scrap yard.  The cast is socializing demonstrating their community spirit and concern for recycling and uses both girls and boys representing equality to promote a message.  But, we also tried to used good looking and attractive people to appeal to young teenagers that might not appreciate the music as much as the video.

Organising out shots

We logged and quickly assessed all of our shots, from the first shot taken to the last in order to make the editing process easier and efficient. 

We looked through each shot and marked it with different colours to differentiate their quality and usability.  This was a relatively easy process each shot was marked on a scale of 1 to 3 for quality and likewise for useability.

After doing that we annotated all of the shots with a marking tool

If the zoom or the focus in the shot changed, we recorded the details of the change.   This would help us piece everything together and organize our final video as we were now able easily access the shot that we might be needing in the final editing process.  

In doing this it would help us to have ready cut shots in order to use them in our final production.  This process was well thought through and took about an hour and did enable us to be better prepared, was very useful and did save us time in the long run.

20th November - shoot in the junk yard

On the 20th of November we are taking our second shoot, which is going to be in a junk yard where they recycle and reuse car parts.  We are using the junk yard on a Sunday as this is the only day that the yard is closed to the public.  Unfortunately only one of the cast of four is able to turn up on this day so we have been forced to use other people.  We still want to convey the message of recycling, reusing and community so the shooting is going to show what the mods might do as a normal activity as a group and not be specifically about the band as we had planned. 

The cast will be

Tom Evan    -    guitarist
Wells Shaw
Niall Green
Ed Nightingale   
Nina Jakbsen

Unfortunately we are restricted by the numbers we are allowed to bring to the scrap yard and this may mean that myself and Nina may have to do some of the narrative for the video at  a later time.  We will be using people from a mod club coming especially just for us to film their bikes and to get an iconic part of mod culture into the video.

Video Shoot Part Two

During the shooting we all had different jobs that we were responsible for. Nina was annotating and recording the shots, which will be very useful when we come to editing and piecing it all together.
Charlotte was in charge of playback and checking that the scene had recorded as we had planned.  She was also responsible for taking photographs during the shoot.  Both these processes will help when it comes to the final editing and production of the video as we will quickly be able to associate the picture with the screen shot.
Teodora was head of camera and responsible for getting the best pictures with the correct lighting and exposure whilst the group determined the different shots and angles.
Our group were well organized and this seemed to affect the cast who responded well to what we wanted them to do and were most helpful.
I canít wait to start editing our video, which will be after our final shoot on the 20th of Nov at a scap yard for motor vehicles.

Shooting Day Part One

This morning we gathered in the studio to prepare the props and set up the studio.

We also got a first glimpse of how our video looked on camera and we all liked what we saw and all contributed to the design of the set which also looked really good.   About 9am the cast began to change into costume and we still had many decisions and choices to make about what would best suit a mod theme.  It is not always easy to decide which clothes to select until you have the person wearing them ñ and we also took the advice of the cast as well.   When we had finished choosing clothing at around 9.30 we did our first take starting out with a wide shot of the whole band but we then realized that the lighting had to be changed as we realized some shadows that had appeared when the cast and instruments moved.  This was a technical glitch that I guess you only learn about through experience and making videos.   So we did another take of the whole band as well as nine different shots of the band in the original set focusing on different cast members and instruments.  We explored different positions and shooting angles to make the shots appear more natural.

We finished at around 1pm and were all very satisfied with the shoot, which was at times hectic and hard work but quite rewarding.

Tuesday 8th November

This afternoon the group designed the set for our video.  There was a lot to think about from props, staging, lighting and how we would progress from one screen shot to another.  We referred to our intial plan and after a few hiccups with props we all reached an agreement and decided the drums and microphones would be among the props.  We talked about the lighting once more and then set it according to our plan.  After an hour and a half putting together everything we were happy with the result and made sure that every one was prepared for the shoot tomorrow.  Each member of our group had specific jobs to do; recording, organising props, annotating the shots for editing,  checking the playback and photographing the shoot.

Casting

Unfortunately we have encountered problems with people being ill and some cast members have not been able to make it so we were forced to make some decisions that will affect our music video. As mentioned Will Bodnar, the drummer is not well so we had to find a substitute  drummer just in case.

 We were forced to look for people to take on this role at the  last minute, but needed someone to be able to play the drums in a realistic and convincing way.  We found girl  drummer called Laura Cheese.  Laura has played the drums before is familiar with the instrument and was also one of the few people that was able to help us just a day before the shot.  She was also able to fit into the mod culture we were promoting easily.

So even though the cast didnít turn out exactly as planned I still feel that we are on track and conveying the mod them that we set out to.

Monday 7th Soundcheck

Today our group met with the cast to ensure that they know their roles and are as realistic as possible whilst playing the instruments for the video.  Whilst this did not present any real problems we have encountered another.  The scrap yard where we want to film is only available to shoot on Sundays, as it is closed to the public on this day.  Unfortunately some of the cast are not happy about shooting on the weekend and we will need to make a backup cast in case.

Feedback

A  presentation of the CD digipak design and the importance of album covers.  I feel that you could have developed research more into the conventions of Album digipak's and addressed layout and design more closely.  Excellent initial design's into CD covers for your group artist and good consideration to target audience.  Really could be developed by looking at digipak conventions.

Presentation CD research

The importance of research and planning

My opinion as to the importance on the matter of preparing ahead has shockingly evolved, to the extent I now value it to be not only necessary but in fact crucial in the construction of a creative product, whether it is writing a novel, composing a song or shooting a video. It is the time in which the artist makes room for dabbling and questioning there own philosophical opinions on what allegorical significance there creation actually possesses. The group found it rewarding in the sense that it watered the unproductive seed of our concept, giving the functioning guidance to grow upwards. It forced us to be practical and realistic however demanding upon the imagination as well. It was process of not merely criticism but solution construction to. The shooting of the concept will fundamentally run much smoother now this process of research and planning is complete.

Feedback

You have met all the targets set for prep this week. I like the way in which you have attempted to reflect upon the decision making needed in your research and planning.The work is concise at times - particularly on your aninmatice. This proficient work. Try to make more links to real media examples - for example stills from real media, on lighting. You do need to add more detail to the work on storybaording. Well Done

Cast list

This week we have been parading around school scouting for cast members, that would fit into the categories of Mod, but this inevitably prove difficult given that the subculture effectively declined towards the late 70's. However the boys we choose to be the band will equally prove to be mod, with a slight alternation of their own personal fashion, to which we would change anyway through the use of costumes.

Lead Singer – Philip von Drechsel
Bass – Merlin Talard
Guitar – Tom Evans
Drums – Will Bodnar - Horvath

Set Design

We decided to pull into discussion of set design, but in particular the lighting and colour arrangements we would choose for the shoot, baring in mind what would look attractive in the parameter of the studio. In order to depict a theatrical essence to the band, we decided we would display the dramatically effective key light which would come in from a high angle, such as the renowned spotlight, against a rather harsh mundane natural light. In order to illuminate the background we will depict behind the band, a back light would prove to be essential. The colour regime we have decided upon is metal grey against dark blue, with the purpose of captivating the thematic elements of our diesis, the Wasteland, which would be further emphasised via the broken Mini Cooper we are planning on trailing into the studio.

Our feedback from Dan, the set designer and lighting technician, consisted of the advice; going with the choice of natural lighting to formulate the delusion it is daylight in the studio. Given the essence of what the band represents, it was unnecessary to be pretentious in our choice of lighting but vital to keep it as naturalistic as possible.

Shooting Schedule

To be extra prepared we have to finishe a breif/draft shooting schedule to know how the day might look and to know how little time we have in different location;

8:30 – Meeting at the studio with crew and cast informing about the day

8:45 – Costumes and make-up

9:00 – Set up the props

9:30 – Set up cameras and lighting

10:00 – Shoot starts – live performance shots
wide shots of band
close-up on all the different band members
high angle shot of the band
low angle shot of drummer
shot of drumer from behind
mid-shot on guitar and bass both together and separate
tracking shot around the lead singer

13:00 – Lunch Time

13:30 – Depart from school to scrap yard

13:45- Arrive at scrap yard

14:00 – Shots of scooter driving outside scrap yard and arriving there
Tracking shot
mid shot
close-up on driver
from above and behind see the scooter driving away

15:00 – Scooter in the scrap yard
point of view shot on scooter arriving at the junk yard

15:30 – Narrative shots – playing cards, shots in car, playing around
close-up on all the people playing card both separate and together
mid-shot on all the band members playing card together
close-up on card and poker chips
facial reactions close-up

17:30 – Girls running towards band creating a bit of kaos
point of view seeing girls approcing both long and mid shot
see the boys band members reacting on the girls approcing
close-up on girls getting exited
mid shot girls starting to run
long shot seeing the boys standing up starting to run the other way
Both the girls and boys in the same shot, long shot seeing the girls chasing the boys

18:00 – Back at school

Costume List

When choosing our costumes, we would of course orientate our decisions around the mod fashion considering that was the subculture we are planning on depicting in the music video. This particular fashion transcends in many different forms of outfit arrangements, however what is seemingly common amongst the different style is the representation of the formal clothing necessities the upper class would wear but alternated to appear more casual as suppose to regiment and militantly tight. In essence our goal is to convey a working class revolution of the upper class norms.
Here is the list of what costumes we are using for the music video both girl and boys;

• 4 Bowler Hats
• 4 pairs of black trousers; Chinos
• 4 white collared shirts
• 4 black ties
• 4 pairs of Chelsea boots
• For the girls – mini-dress, mod style, white boots or sandals

 

Props list

During the formulation and planning of the music video, we decided to work through the scenes concisely dissecting what appropriate props would come in to play and prove necessary whilst constructing the scenery and aura of the diegesis. It commenced with the our consideration drawn towards the primary items which would hold a predominant level of importance in sustaining the Mod world and stereotypes, this being most obviously objects such as the Vesper scooters. Then our attention was instantaneously struck once again with the sheer importance of portraying the band with musical instruments, vital for the depiction of the upcoming artists.Then my own thought of consideration towards the destructive element which may commence, is to portray them with baseball bats which would further more run off the assumption that the Americanisation of Britain involves the destruction of the worn out history of the Empire, which is thereby symbolised through the motorised cars contained in the scrap yard echoing the essence that Britain's own manufacturing industry  has been over run by the United States.
Here is the list of all the props we are using in the music video;

• Scooter(s) – mod                                        ---->
• Table where they will be playing cards
• Four chairs (black ones or black stools)
• Set of cards
• Some poker chips
• Empty beer bottles
• Some cigarettes + a lighter
• 4 baseball bats
• For the studio (trash looking like the junk yard)
• Instruments – drums, guitar, bass guitar and a microphone on a stand

Finished Animatic

Above is the completion of the animatic to our song "I'm not like everybody else" by the Kinks. The animatic is not the concise creed and dogma as to how we feel we shall convey the video on the shoot day, however it does provide a rough outline to which the group may run on if lacking in guidance of imagining the general sequences we are trying to construct. In essence the animatic is effectively our attempt of portraying the imagery concocted in our heads onto paper. 

Storyboarding

After natural criticism projected towards our pitch was received, a reconciliation as to our original choice of locations was engaged. Specifically, we were forced to disperse with the opening sequence commencing in a church due to several unfortunate truths which would inevitably prove unfavourable in the course of granting for permission. 


Below is the final storyboard cut out into 140 shots and arranged in the order that will be shot on final cut pro...

the pitch

The Pitch

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Feedback

Excellent Effort - Well done.  Your response is detailed and through and you have been creative with your blogs, I particularly like the use of image/text and embedded video.

You have a secure knowledge and understanding of who you want your artist to be signed to; perhaps you could link this further by stressing the advantages that your artist has signed to the particular record label.  Your clearly identify your target audience and have profiled them well - this could be developed by adding some psychographic profiling..  Good research into CD covers and you could have a wide range of examples - this would really benefit your rersearch and planning.

The design of our own front cover and digipak

To give an idea of what influences and what our ideas are for our final CD-cover we did a flat plan of how the front and back might look like. But since we right now don't know what people we are going to use for our music video and how they look like the idea is more of a brief idea that could influences our final CD-cover.The biggest influence was to use the colours representing the mod culture but also the the UK in a way, but the sketched people on the front cover are there to represent they actual people that we are going to use in our music video.

Digipak covers used by similar artists.

To make a fair and helpful research into digipak's I looked at some similar artist before starting to plan our own cd-cover for "infernal". So I looked at similar artist such as the kinks, the who and the clash which all are from the UK and have that special mod style about them. However a good representation of Mod style album covers are established by The Sex Pistols, who inconveniently where a punk band. 


The reason I chose the two above as representatives is predominately due to their essence of possessing traditional aspects of the british society but evolving and in some cases exploiting them to suit the bands own class status or belief system, which is primarily what the Mod generation achieved through their style and fashion. 

What institution would are band "Infernal" be associated with?

“Infernal” is a representation of what the majority of the modern day music scene has slowly forgotten, being that they are artist striving to be as organic and natural as possible, never considering of concealing there style for the benefits of financial elevation, they believe in original, intricate and concise songs which have something useful to say in a poetic way, not plain and basic beats that activate your body but leave nothing for the mind to digest on. In the modern day predicament a band with such a morality can only function in independent institutions, most likely having to inevitably be fed via one of the higher ranking majors such as BMG, Warner etc. It’s unlikely that the band will achieve the stereotypical definition of success in the industry, which is predominantly a vast economic interest provided for each of the musicians, given that primarily it is the majors to which this vastness is obtained. Effectively, the band is then placed into the category of being a subsidiary. The band would most likely not draw into the fan base masses, I believe it’s fair to say, given that the masses are unfortunately not drawn into the bands outlook on there music being food for thought due to popular music today upholding a new purpose of providing food for action, essentially dance.

Notes from The Music Industry by Cath Davies

The Music Industry


The manufacture of music is based on a structure consisting of record companies that produce and distribute products via retail outlets such as high street record stores, the internet, eyc. Record labels take on the costs of producing a song/album that the company will own. The record label is responsible for making copies onto a CD/vinyl format and then distributing the artefact to retail outlets. The record company will invest in promoting the artist and track via advertising and other stratergies that will gurantee that the audience will have as much access as possible. Companies' roles are, therefore, to manufacture, distribute and promote new products in order to make a profit on their initial investment. The constant flow of production from record companies makes a sustainable buisness that is frequently producing music.


The Majors


New entries in the charts and recognisable artists in music all belong to the most successful record companies. The music indusrty is dominated by four major companies-EMI, Universal, Warner music and Sony BM, who all own a collection of smaller record labels. Each label has roll-call of artists who have signed a recording contract. The record companies are responsible for an eclectic mix of music artists and production. No company specialises in one style of music; the individual labels often fulfill this function. This synergy assists in the promotion of music within other media formats.


Characteristics of major companies' strategies 


The music industry's product is costly to intially secure, but the reproduction of the product onto CD/DVD due to new technologies, is cheap to manufacture. However, it is a precarious industry and a record company cannot always guarantee that new artists and their music will appeal to a wide-enough market to make a profit.Companies, therefore, prioritise a small group of well-established artists on their labels and invest heavily in their product-promoting new material excessively with multi-media spectacles re-releasing back catalogue 'Greatest Hits' on CD and DVD, large scale tours to promote the album and so forth. Repackaging the familiar is apparent in major companies' preoccupation with easily-identifiable genres of music. If an artist's style of music is popular, then companies will often sign a range of similar sounding artists who can then be sold on their connection to other bands. Like film and TV, a music genre allows a product to be promoted easily based on familiarity. Genres are marketed to existing audiences via 'niche' advertising strategies. The identifiable target audience are given access to artists and bands via radio, the music press and TV channels that 'Specialise' in similar genres and products. 

Research into real artists of a similar type

The Rolling stones 

An English rock band established in 1962.

Considered one of the best rock bands in the world.

Genres; Rock, Blues, Rock and Roll.

Members; Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood.

Ranked number 4 in the "Rolling Stones" magazine's "100 greatest artists of all time".

Mod Style (Mick Jagger was roommates with Peter Meaden- a prominent figure in the English Mod subculture in the 1960's). 

They are probably the most photographed bands in the world. 

We also considered the Who.

The Who's Mod genesis inspired Mod rival bands such as The Jam, as well as later bands of the Britpop wave in the mid-1990s, such as Blur and Oasis. The band has also been called "The Godfathers of Punk" due to their loud, aggressive approach to rock and the attitude evinced in songs like "My Generation". 

Task 2 Narrowing down ideas

In this blog post I am going to present our proposal for the music video and first developement ideas:

Name: Infernal

We thought of a name of the band and due to the fact that we wanted a meanigful name, which would actually symbolize something and people might have specific assiociation with it we chose the name Infernal. Since we decided that we wanted to concentrate on Mod style we thought that a modern, but also different name might be the right for us. It is a synonym of "limbo" and I suggested that it will be suitable for our concept because it would remind the audience of hell, which is concept needing further research. However, an additional meaning to it is a very intense and uncontrolled fire. I did some research on theMod subculture and found out that in the late 1970s there were some mod rivals, which would suit the name as well.

There is a link to the article in wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mod_(subculture)

 Genre: Mod

We are thinking of Mod style, which is very interesting because the modern interpretation might aspire to creative decisions within the music video we would like to shoot.

Type of act: live performance

Our initial plan was to shoot a live performance with audience and fans. However, in order to be more innovative we would like to include a narrative/abstract approach to it, which we still have to discover. Nevertheless,, my personal opinion is that we should put a message across disregarding the song we are going to choose because it is important to be clear about the influence and the impact we would like to have on the audience.

Star Image: Mod style based

The clothes will be quite important (Mod often included tailor-made suits). The concept used to be continuous reinvention - mod = modern.

The picture is the Royal Air Force roundel, a mod symbol

So, our idea which we had to shoot the video in black and white with red accessories also suits the mod symbol of that time.

Target Audience:

The target audience would be young teenagers who are interested in a different type of music, like older music and prefer this type of music rather than the conventional pop or synthetic images which are created nowadays. So, a niche audience is the target one. I think that both female and male audience would be interested because teenagers usually like to be different and rebelious which is exactly the concept we would like to approach, but still not limit ourselves.

Choice of track:

The track we chose at first was The Kinks - All of the Day and all of the Night because it was quite up-beat and we all liked it. However, we thought that the lyrics are not very long and the song was too short (under 3mins). We would not have been able to be as create as we would like to be if we cannot interpret the lyrics due to the fact that there is not enough material in them. So, we decided to do another song by the Kinks - I'm Not Like Everybody Else. We really liked the fact that it is slower at the beginning and then gets faster, which means that we could interestingly use the variation in the beat. The lyrics are also interesting and there are two important themes we would like to explore and I find engaging as well - love, identity, personality. The song also symbolizes and rises some of the important themes of the mod subculture.