Music Video Hits

I am very happy to announce my music video has almost 5000 views in less than three days! This is a great accomplishment as I had little fan base or followers to share the video with.

Thank you to everyone that helped share the video and made it to be what it is!

The Editing Process

Today I finished off the editing process, I spent several hours in the suit last night and this morning. I have finished and cleaned up the video, the narrative was added on top and I cut it so each shot was in order and made sense. The card game gets really tense and meets the original objective to have a strong narrative within the video.

The process was very long and took a few weeks, especially as we were late on filming. It was also a hard song to edit because it is made up of lots of shorts shots and it needed a lot of cutting on the strong beat of the track.

I used Premiere Pro and finally finished it. I am used to working with Final Cut Pro so this was a newer experience. I am very happy it is finished and should be uploaded on Monday.

Digipak

We are still deciding what to do with our Digipak. We have considered using a still from one of the shots we didn't use in our music video. This is a possibility but it might be our of focus so we will use it for the website.

We use a brick wall in our music video and this simple idea was also attractive. Jamie looked at editing a picture.

First Draft

After working on our video for a while, we have a first draft of our band performance. There are also some photos of Kristina editing.

Band logo

I have worked on a band logo, we have deiced to call our band The Maynes because 'manes' are sould of the deceased in Greek mythology.  I have chosen black and white as I would like to keep the website and digipak minimalist and simple. This should appeal to our older target audience.

 I used the free website logomakr.com to create my logo. It was simple to use and the possibilities were endless, I used overlapping techniques and layering to create my desired logo.

Here is a tutorial of how to use the website!

Editing our music video

We are using Adobe Premiere Pro to edit our Music Video: How you like me now?

It is a software much like final cut pro used to cut and sync and edit the shots we took on wednesday the 25th.

Firstly we uploaded the shots and synced them to the music so the lip sync was in time and looked realistic.

Without complicating matters too much, as a group we decided to make a whole music video of just the band performance, and then slot the narrative in the meat locker and then the card game into the main performance later.

Because the track has such  heavy beat there is a lot of room for cutting and it is made of lots of short cuts. This is taking us quite a long time to edit purely because of the amount of shot we have and how often we are cutting.

We used the video, Grounds for divorce as a guideline for the cutting. We want our band performance to be as enticing as it is in that video.

Review of our Videoshoot

Yesterday we shot our music video for 'How you like me now' it went really well overall all everything went to plan almost.

The boxes for our band and narrative shoot never arrived, so we filled the space with other things and it looked fine. Here is a photo of the camera on set. We are using Matt and looking at how to position the band.

Our second location is the butchers, Rawlings Of Cranleigh. It was a great meat locker and they let us use the hanging meat to film. We also looked at the meat in the locker, and it was perfect for our theme.

Ashen was made up to look frozen, this was really effective as he had just got out of the meat freezer.

Our third location was back in the studio and we changed the set around so we made a table out of pallets and added an armchair. This is where they played poker and the perspex was placed over the pallets to create a suitable surface for the cards.

To show the narrative of who won, Mike then drove off with Ashen, who was the frozen boy. 

The overall shoot was a success, everyone had a great time and the rushes look fab.

Email to Make-up Artist

Here is the email i sent to Sophie our special effects artist.

Website Draft

Jamie also created a website draft that looks really good. 

We would change the logo and background for the final idea.

DRAFT WEBSITE Two

here is the link tot he website!

Basic Website

This is are basic sketch for the website. It is the home page.

I made a draft

http://editor.wix.com/html/editor/web/renderer/edit/6f0174a3-c7a9-4254-a455-d901039557af?metaSiteId=90ad9eaa-855d-4557-a16c-e4ec98af0530&editorSessionId=A4BE1957-7E38-4487-8718-E1FD82009A13

Factors contained on a website

There are ingredients to building a website, most contain these and here's why:

Headings: used throughout some web pages to split the content into manageable sections. They may also be sub-headings, which can further direct the user to a particular piece of info.

Copy: The font and text in the boxes under the headings. These contains the information and detailed stuff.

Hyperlinks: there are links which can take the viewer to another page and can be linked to any word or sentence.

code to simple scrolling text

Scrolling text: the user can scroll through these areas of text, often used to fit a large amount of text in a small box.

Images: Almost all websites have images, they are really important because they look professional and they set the tone for the bands genre and themes.

Sound: A lot of artists use sound on their websites. Soundcloud is a common example.

How the visual style of the homepage represents the artist

Looking at Muse's homepage I have found a very strong theme throughout. All the pages have the same block font which is sans serif so It looks modern and casual. All the titles are in capitals, with bold black on white or white on black text.

Their products and music page shows all the album and it's art work. There is a continuous theme throughout the album artwork. Each one has used a lot of colour on a black or whiter background.  The artist name is always the same. It is MUSE with and underline and an overline.

The forum where people can debate things about the band and talk about the music is also in a similar theme to the webpage. 

The forum is important for a band with such a high profile. It brings the fans together and has a strong sense of community.

Analyzing the conventions of homepages

As a task my group have looked at different bands and their websites to see what shall differ or match when we create ours. I have linked the other blogs to the bands.
Charlotte is looking at Arctic Monkeys
Jamie is looking at Blur
Kristina is looking at Bob Marley

I have looked at Muse and their website, It is obviously a rock band. I can see this from the theme of dark colours, block writing and it is laid out like a blog.
There are several features on the home page such as 'News' 'TourDates' 'Images' and 'Shop' I think these tabs have been selected and chosen as they are the most important. They take you to other pages and these 'ingredients' or features can usually promote the band. They are the sections which will make money for the band.

The use of having the tour dates and the new albums as the biggest feature on the home page is important. It lets the audiences see when the latest album or single is going to be released, it might even include a photograph from the music videos which will give the viewer a feel for the song. The tour dates are important because it will encourage people to buy and secure tickets early, before they all sell out.

There is a feature at the bottom of the homepage which shows the stats of the page and also the bands following and how popular they are.

There is another section which shows comments from the public and tweets by the band. This is important to keep their star image and show the world who they are.

You can also sign in or sign up on the home page to become a member and receive news and updates front the band through your email. This is important to keep everyone connected and receive the latest news first.

The two styles of fonts

Originally there are only two categories of fonts. This is important to consider when thinking about a digipak. The font and titles on the cover can say a lot about the artist.

The first font type is Serif which has tails and is considered formal.
Sans Serif is a more plain text without tails. This is considered more childish and relaxed.

Here is a youtube video about the different font types, and their history.

What is a Digipak?

A Digipak is the packaging for CD's and DVD's. It usually consists of four panels, two inside the case and one each for the front and back. It will have a photo, animation or sketch on the cover, with the artist name and the title of the album or single. The back should contain a track list and production credits. There will usually be a barcode and sale stickers on the front.

Here are some examples of a digipak

We will create are own digipak for our artist campaign to go along side our music video

Shotlist

This is the shot list we have been working on for the music video on the 25th. A shot list has all the shots written down on it, what type of shot they are and the location where they are shot.
Kristina uploaded the shots lists onto slide share where everyone can share them and use an embed code.

20151106091843405 from kristinadubrovskaya97

Artwork

This is our preliminary art work. I spent a long time researching covers of existing digipaks and decided on a skull with teds beard and moustache.

I also decided to name the band The Red Plague because I wanted to use something a long the lines of the Black Plague but red was more original. 

The names of our records are very strange. But it works with the genre of our band.

Call List

I have created a call list. So everyone knows where to be at what time. 

This is important, as if we need someone we need to contact them instantly. We also need to let everyone know when they are needed and at what time.

The Role Of The Producer

In our shoot on the 25th each crew member will take a position at the shoot. We will have a artistic director, a camera person, a director and also a producer.

I plan to take on the role of producer.

"Producers play an integral role in the television, film and video industries. A producer will oversee each project from conception to completion and may also be involved in the marketing and distribution processes. Producers work closely with the directors and other production staff on a shoot."






"Once the film is in production, Producers are responsible for the day-to-day smooth operation of the team. Producers are also in constant communication and consultation with the Director and other key creatives, on and off set. Producers approve all script changes and cost reports. They are the first point of contact for all production partners, investors and distributors. "

Narrative - Music Video

I have created a look for the narrative section of the shoot. Adam and James will be in tweed and we will rough them up a bit. I have emailed them asking to confirm if they have and what they need us to supply.

Narrative - Music Video by rebeccadaisy on Polyvore

Profile Fashion Green Check Wool Jacket
profilefashion.com

Musto Shooting Calder Technical Tweed Flat Cap
£65 - mrporter.com

River Island Beige tweed skinny suit trousers
riverisland.com

Band Outfit's Music Video

I used an app called PolyVore to create the idea's for every outfit in every scene. This is the idea for the band scene and the suggestions are not accurate to our budget but are a good guideline so we can find them!

Band Outfit's Music Video by rebeccadaisy featuring gray pants

Ted Baker vest
tedbaker.com

Gray pants
dobell.co.uk

Dsquared2 wool hat
£120 - stylebop.com

Canali Grainy Leather Oxfords
£320 - harryrosen.com

Audience Feedback on our Animatic

Kristina went on a quick mission to get some feedback for our animatic. She found some boys to watch it and tell her what she thought.
She chose boys because our music video is aimed more towards the male audience, with the violence and action genre in it.

I plan to attach the video as soon as it is published.

Album Artwork

Individually me and Jamie both worked on the artwork for our album cover. I drew out a skill with a must ache and beard to represent Ted, as the lead singer. Jamie created a colourful flowery skull. As a group we all preferred the colour idea. The skull is quite a hard symbol and the flowers are quite soft and light. It adds more to our artwork than just darkness.

Here is the skull Jamie created:

I now will add the name of the band and the album name. As a duo me and Jamie will now work on the back cover and the inside artwork.

We have some track names but they may need modifying because they are rather strange.

Jacqueline + Jack

Chapter Thirty-One

On tuesday we had a meeting with a professional set designer and lighting designer, we spoke to Jacqueline about what she could build for us and she said it should be ok. She will build us a brick wall and illegal storage space. We have arranged with Mr.Rawlings about hanging meat from the meat locker and he said he would be happy to provide this as long as we let him know the night before.

Jack helped us decide on our lighting. He has found a way to make the brick walls look very 3D and made the lighting darker and highlights the characters faces. We have looked at using dry ice to make the ice locker look very cold. 

Cardboard Boxes and Props

Chapter Thirty

Yesterday we were looking for more props and how we would budget it. We have found some boxes we will buy and the rest of the set will be provided buy our higher team.

Change of Date

We've had a change of date in our shooting. We will now shoot our film on the 25th November.

Questions we might ask an audience

1. Did you understand the narrative and what exactly have happened? 
2. What moment in particular did you enjoy and why?
3. What moment in particular did you dislike and why? How would you changed it?
4. What is your overall opinion about music video? 
5. Do you think that the cast decisions were wise? If no explain why and which member of it in particular.
6. What were your initial thoughts when the music video just have started?
7. Do you like this song and do you think music video suits it? 
8. What do you think about set designs and overall choices of locations?
9. Was the narrative believable to you? If no tell why and what part of the narrative in particular was not realistic.
10. What was the first thought that came to your mind after watching this music video?
11. Do you think we were conventional or unconventional in our music video?

The animatic is in this BLOG, these are the questions we might ask them about it!

Animatics

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Kristina has finished our Animatic and it is cut to fit our music perfectly, hopefully it should help massively when editing our final music video. It gives a visual aid to the final product.

Our Shooting Date

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Our shooting date is now set as 24th November.

We have decided to shoot the poker game in the morning, set up in the studio.

We have been granted permission to shoot in the afternoon at Rawling's butchers, in their meat locker, and the band will be shot in the afternoon.

I am currently sending out emails to the actors and band to see if they are available for the shoot. 

We are still searching for a brass section, MILES RUSSELL is a possible option.

Casting

Chapter Twenty-Seven

We have come to the stage where we will look at who is going to be in our music videos and how we will cast them. We will not audition our cast because we have already seen them work and know their background training. One of our actors is a trained actors from drama school, and the other has a background in media work. The band have musical experience and some are already members of a band.

Our first Actor is Adam Grant:

We looked for a similar looking actor as our second and we found actor James Hartman:

Our lead singer and hero Ted Jackson:

And Our Guitarist Dave Fonseka:

Writing to the Record Company

Chapter Twenty-Six

Two of the team have written a letter to the record company, asking permission to use their clients music.

Prop List

Naming the Band

Chapter Twenty-Five

I was asked to come up with a band name for the group. The BandNameMaker website is a good one because it gives you tips on what suits the band and there's even a generator which will do it for you.

Some suggestions were:

Mansion Highway
Previous Evil
Choice of Smoke
Up and Rising
The Cheated

These were all made using a generator.

Editing Animatics

Chapter Twenty-Four

Kristina is currently editing the 9 minutes we filmed on Friday. Kristina enjoys editing on Adobe pro because she finds it really interesting, we have put her in charge of the pre and post production editing. She also take music tech which allows her to hear the beats really well and make sure the piece is musically corresponding to the visual.