Successful Idea

This is a screenshot of my video in Final Cut Pro. In the top right corner you can see the scene where the artist is on a magazine cover. This is an intertextual reference to Vogue Magazine. This is one of my favourite ideas of the video so far, although it took some time to enter the Vogue text as a title, and the barcode as an image but I eventually got there. The 'Vogue' font looks very effective and a lot like the actual font that Vogue uses. I couldn't get the actual Vogue font as it's not available on websites like www.dafont.com as it has been protected from copyright.

As you can see on the timeline (where the marker is) is where I added the layers of text, for example 'Queen of Pop Returns' and '50 Fashion Must Haves' - Like what you'd expect to see on a magazine cover. I used the knowledge of the layout of a magazine from my AS course last year where I had made a Music magazine. I didn't use all of this knowledge to make this scene exactly like a magazine and the layouts they have... I just wanted it to be basic and effective enough for the audience to understand the 'Vogue' concept. 

It was hard to get every clip synced with each other and had to make sure they all started and ended at the same time. 

A Few of the text layers shown above

Here is a screenshot of the 'Vogue' text. It shows What the name of the font is and what the size is ect. It is easy to change these and I had to adjust the sizing and position many times before it looked perfect. I also played about with the colour but I decided that black looked bold, effective and linked with the image more. 

First draft digipak

This is a rough draft of my digipak.. I used images from the video as I haven't took the images of my artist yet. I've noticed that the layout of the digipak doesn't really have a lot of space for photo's of the artist like other artists have that I have looked at, for example Katy Perry and Rihanna have at least 6 pages of images. As I like this simple layout I will think of a way to show the artist effectively in 4 images rather than 6 pages...

Next I will take appropriate images of my artist for the CD Cover, Digipak and Poster... then work out what text is usually used and what text would fit, rather than plan boring text. 

Production Diary

Day 1 On Wednesday the 23rd I planned to film a lot of the scenes that included the white backdrop. This would have been done at home. Thankfully the media department in my college had studio lights that I could borrow to make my 'modelling' scenes more effective. I took these home and set them up. Unfortunatly the artist I was using couldn't make it because of travel problems. Therefore I thought of the things that I could film without her...
I filmed £20 notes on the floor building up and up. I then did the same with 10 pound coins going up and down, one after the other. These could be used as spare shots - if i need them when it comes to the final editing process. Tomorrow I plan to film at canary wharf in the shopping mall for the shopping scenes :)

Day 2 We went to film the shopping centre scenes on Sunday the 27th but because it was a weekend it was extremely busy and I found it hard to even find an appropriate place to film. Instead I will film the shopping mall scenes on a weekday as originally planned, to reassure that it will not be so packed. I then decided to get more montage shots filmed, so went home and filmed the 'Vogue' scenes and the money ones. The original plan was to use stacks of photocopied money and it would build up around her at the sides. After photocopying 10 sheets and cutting them out... it didn't look right, so had to think of a back up plan. In the end I decided to use real money and blue tack and stuck the money on a wall that she was against. The outcome was successful and looked much better than I expected. Today was very productive and I got a range of shots done using the backdrop.

Day 3) I had asked some shops if we could use their changing rooms for the changing room scene because I really had to get this done! This couldn't be arranged as a member of the department would need to be supervising us...Instead, the alternate was to use my own props ect to make my own (what would look like) a changing room. I did this using a clothes rail and a curtain - like the ones used in normal changing rooms. I used different outfits and props to show different 'characters' that the artist was acting out in the changing rooms... One being a 'geek' and a 'weather woman' - using glasses a raincoat and an umbrella to create the different costumes. I thought of these certain characters because they are bubbly and fun. 
I hope that when this footage is uploaded it will look as effective as using an actual changing room. 
Next I will upload this footage and work out what needs to be done next.

Day 4) I uploaded the footage onto the computer and watched it back. The shots were dull and the changing room effect wasnt as effective as I thought it would be, so I was very disapointted.

Day 5) Ive had many complications with filming the 'shopping' scenes for my music video. I found it hard to get certain permission for places that were my original ideas. Firstly I emailed the places where I wanted to film (shopping centres), however I didn't receive a reply ... so resulted into actually going to the shopping centres with a letter from my college proving that I was a student.  After going there and setting up we got told we wasn't aloud to film without a permit. After this I tried to film in a high street. The shop managers of every shop wouldn't let me even film outside the shop even though I wouldn't have the shop name in the shots. These complications made me think that I couldn't film the specific scenes that I needed... But I finally got what I needed to be filmed weeks after by using a Canon SLR instead of a video camera, so it wasn't so obvious that we were filming. This was a successful idea and I really like the outcome.

It took me almost a week to edit the rest of my footage into FinalCut. I wanted the shots to be really fast paced to link with the beat of the song. This was a successful week as I finally finished my Final Music Video. I am really pleased with the outcome and can't wait for feedback. Now I will post my video on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter and see what everyone thinks. I will then create a survey on SurveyMonkey for more of in depth feedback.

draft cd cover

Wanted the cd to link with the theme of the video.. Therefore I my idea is to link the digi pak and poster to look similar to a magazine as this was featured in my video. 

I will look at fonts and will try not to make it overly look like a magazine. Through the final image that I take, I will show the artists genre and it will also reflect the personality of the artist.

Digipak layouts

Existing Music Posters

This is the poster to advertise Katy Perry's album 'One of the Boys' which was released on the 22nd September 2008. The mise en scene is almost like a typical British garden. The setting and her costume is very 1950's - and high waisted shorts and cropped pink top with cherry's on reinforces vintage fashion and the ideology of a 'pinup' girl. From the mise en scene of the poster we can tell that this is an on going theme from the picture of the album which is situated in the middle (slightly to the right) on the poster. 

The same text that is on the album cover is used on the poster. The balloon/ bubble gum like writing is bubblegum pink with a think white outline which immediately catches the audiences attention. The colour pink is a dominant colour on the poster as its used in the title, costume and setting ( also on album cover). Pink is a very feminine colour, which shows us as an audience that she has a girly appearance. The album name 'One of the Boys' contradicts that and suggests that she also has a fun side of her personality that fits in with the boys. The fact that this specific writing is blue also links with this reason - although the writing is still bubblegum like and girly. The rest of the font used is just bold white writing which says the releasing date of the album and the number 1 single that the album includes. This is shown in a bold writing because this is the most important information (other than the artists name). This is what will sell and promote the album as audiences will know when to buy it , and will have a good idea of what the album is about.

This poster really shows Beyonce's diva attitude. The colour silver comes across as very sophisticated and sexy. The crystals that act as a top almost remind me of a chandelier  which are usually portrayed as classy - which seems to be how she is being represented. She has her arms stretched above her head to the right. The position she is in really shows off her curves which I think was meaningful. Although she is quite revealed, it isn't done in a way that people would think she was 'slutty' or look at this advert and think that it is inappropriate. The dominant colours of the advertisement are silver and greys. These colours have emphasis on the elegance of the overall image. The text used to display her name is the same font that her name is displayed on her adverts, Cd's, and at the beginning of her music videos, so it's the font that we recognise her name. The font of the date that the CD is coming out is very bold and bigger than the rest of the text. This is so it is the first thing the audience see, other than her picture (so it sticks in the audiences mind when to buy the cd). 

Fonts

I needed a font that would represent the artist. For example most artists now have assigned styles of writing that their names are always written in so people can remember (previous post). I thought that I could use a 'serif' font, with most looking like typical magazine titles. I thought this would be a good idea because it ties in with the idea and theme of my music video (which is also what's done for real artists). 

This font is called 'edition' on the website 'dafont' where I found all of my fonts. I find that this website is very useful and easy to find a perfect font. This font really stood out to me as it reminds me of the font for Vogue magazine. I like how it's quite dramatic but elegant and bold at the same time... a font that I think would be effective for a CD cover AND Poster. 

I also really like this font... but it doesnt stand out as much as the edition font but I do still like the way the lettering is more spaced out, which makes it easier to notice. I like the thinness of the writing - but will try to look for an effective bold font...

This font caught my eye as it was bolder than the others but very girly and 'pop'. I think the font looks a bit like someones hand writing which is ideal for my artist, as she's quite quirky.  

This font is very similar to the second font I used.  Once again I like the spacious lettering .. but think it looks like type writer font or text that a hospital will use. I will not use this font but will test the others to see how they look against a rough idea of what my CD cover and Poster will look like. 

Existing fonts artists/bands use

A lot of existing artists and bands use the same font for their albums ect.. because people tend to notice it more and tend to link the specific font with the artist. For example if that font is used but says something else other than the artists name fans will still notice that its 'their' font. 

For example Beyonce and Katy Perry are two very good examples. When magazines and websites talk about these artists are have interviews, they include this text - or similar text. 

Album Covers

Here are a few album covers that grabbed my attention and that will influence me in producing my own cover. 

I really like the action caught in Ellie Goulding's photograph for the cover of 'Bright Lights'. I also like the warm, autumn colours used - especially the overlaid lights that look like glitter. The album cover links to what type of artist she is and also links in with the genre of music the album includes also the album title. 

I really like the layout and idea of Cher Lloyd's album cover. I specifically like the font used for the artists name as it is simple but effective. I think the style of this album cover has been thought out really well as it links with the artists style of her and her recent music videos. The bold black lines used on this album cover almost look like tattoo's - which Cher Lloyd is known to have bold and vibrant ones. 

Cheryl Cole's album cover is very elegant and lady like and looks almost like a piece of artwork/painting. I think this because of the old fashioned fascinator hat she is wearing, also the black and white colours. The main reason why I thought this was because of the painted background. If you look closely they have used a background that has been painted with grey and white. You can clearly see who the artist is... so the artist name and album name is discretely positioned on her shoulder/neck again, like a tattoo which kinda defeats the ladylike effect of the album cover photo. 

I have noticed that the majority of female album covers have a close up of the artists face... I will take this into consideration when taking my album cover photographs.