Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts

Friday, 5 December 2014

Digipak Journey Nat




1. My idea started with the hand written signature from Gabrielle Aplin's album

2. This lead me on to looking at particular artist's image I could replicate for my cover, which resulted in me researching into Birdy

3. A black and white theme was something I decided to incorporate into my design a I came across this theme significantly when on Tumblr

4. I researched into lyric booklets and panels to see if they would look good in my design, however I used the idea of having text and tiled this across my three inside panels instead

5. The idea of femenising this digipak played to mind which is why I researched into flower patterns (I ditched this idea after creating my below average draft version)

6. The Jessie Ware album began to make me think about the graphology features of the digipak and where I was going to place everything

7. The idea of an old styled record came into mind when planning my final digipak,as the vintage aesthetic was something which played on my mind from the beginning

8. The piano was something I debated on photographing with my artist for my cover, however I believed it would be too complex for the simplistic edge I wanted

9. Originally we had one female dancer in our video, and I tried to incorporate this in the album, as our single was the major song, however this idea wouldn't have created the correct image

10. After changing from one female dancer to a male and a female, I thought due to the album being emotional filled I could try to use this image to symbolise love. Unfortunately I didn't feel in the end this was necessary

11. I grabbed inspiration for lipstick from this image, as I believed this look would work for my artist, and make her more bold.

12. I used the large back combed hair look from this photo on my artist in the photoshoot, as the pop genre usually contains either big focal points of the eyes or hair to attract the male gaze

13. From this album it inspired me into looking at experimenting with fonts to create a smart aesthetic

14. This image from tumblr inspired me to have a white thick border on my cover, as it creates a neat simple aesthetic

15. The Taylor Swift album cover gave me the idea to thicken the bottom white blocked border to have the artist name. The image used also inspired me, as it was different to normal pop photo conventions

16. The photoshoot allowed me to play around with different camera angles and artist poses to see which worked. I decided to incorporate the Taylor Swift idea, and challenge the conventions of the male gaze

17. I finalised my font to Perpetua Titling which I also happened to use in my music magazine coursework at AS. This was because of its tidy aesthetic

18. I settled on a colour scheme of orange and brown because it was different, but I decided to focus on using colour for my final design as pop albums are mainly vibrantly marketed

19. I researched into autumn leaves as I decided to change my album name to this. It also made me think of how Gabrielle Aplin used the English countryside in her 'English Rain' album

20. I then decided to look into camera angle of leaves (e.g close ups) which would be effective to pan across my three inside panels, as this still created a simple aesthetic

21. My final digipak challenged conventions and met many conventions. I found it a long process of research to come up with my final design, because in my opinion the pop genre is difficult to replicate with a limited budget as it solely revolves around 'the perfect image', because how an artist looks will sell their music

Thursday, 4 December 2014

Evaluation Of Final Filming

During out final filming session for out music video both Nat and I found that there where many issues that needed to be resolved before the video could be filmed.


  • Before filming we had issues of costume for our female dancer. Our male dancer was asked to bring a leotard to ensure that there where no limitations in terms of the routine; with a heavy focus on lifts and turns that helped the music video stand out. The main issue was having the having the bottom half of the female dancer covered modestly. With no leotard we had to improvise, shorts where made by cutting full length leggings (with car keys) to make sure that the appearance of the dancer appeared professional without limiting the routine.

  • Our second issue, was that the connecting part of our tripod was not attached. This means that we where unable to film using the piece of equipment. Initially the filming quality for the music video was poor as both Nat and I had experience with only a tripod to use. Unsteady angles and shadows meant that we were unable to get the professional aesthetic that we needed. However, this was resolved via experimentation and the image on camera. From this we where able to gather sufficient footage and ensured that what we had created a good video.

Tuesday, 18 November 2014

Draft Music Video Feedback - Sanj

Some nice shots:
  •  Most shots that we have created, need work. During feedback stages most have been described as static (no movement). This will be changed during the final music video stages, as both I and Nat will be encouraged to move the camera more and experiment much more with the shots and angles that we use. Before filming our next video, we will compile a more detailed storyboard along with details of the camera and how we wish to use it. This will then be discussed with peers and staff in a hope to gain approval for we film our final music video.
Costume is a real issue:
  •  This is something that we have been made aware of prior to our draft music video feedback. Our new design would feature a more classy, sophisticated mise en scene. All participants involved,feature a black tie theme that will give us the atmosphere that is needed.
  • Our male dancer, will be wearing formal attire. Featuring black trousers, a smart white shirt and waistcoat. This will add both class and age for our dancer, in a attempt to give us the correct atmosphere that is required as well as making a professional impression for the viewers watching.
  • All females involved will have a re-evaluated style of clothing, rather than dance equipment and t-shirt and jeans. During the stages of our current research, we have decided upon our female dancer wearing a lyrical dress. This can be sourced from most online shopping websites, meaning we are not restricted with the style that we need. Our main issue will be the colour, we will need to decide upon a suitable style that will work with the studio that we are attempting to hire as well as working in conjunction with the other participants costumes.
  • Our singer/ Katie will be wearing clothes used during the second photoshoot/ final digipak. The choice of clothing here worked better for our needs. It made the artist fit the music genre that we needed as well as attracting a male gaze audience, something that is a heavy component of the pop/ indie music genre,
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp-EO5I60KA


More lip sync required, especially the title sequence where the dance is overlaying with the singer:
  • This was an issue, as Katie (our model/ singer) had little knowledge of the music and lyrics, which became evident that the stages during the stages of our filming and is something that has been reproduced in our video. Our filming skills have also been questioned, as we limited ourselves to certain lyrics that were being filmed. This can be easily resolved, as Katie will be made aware that of our filming date with enough time for her to learn them, in addition - checking with Katie that she has learnt the words before the filming date will give us confidence that our video will be more successful than the draft.
Make up needs attention, this needs work:
  • This can be done via researching tutorials that can be used to achieve the desired look at we are attempting to recreate. Birdy fan made videos and blogs (tumblr's) will have been created, providing visual aid towards the work that we are attempting to emulate. 
  • Either Nat or I will focus on how to make the artists make up better, and will attempt to reproduce a style that works for the video and genre that we need.
  • Particular attention to eye make up is crucial. As it allows us to have the desired strong, emotionally manipulating effect that we need. Focusing on the artists cheekbones, will be another primary focus. 
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm5_2bTQwUc Using make up shading, will allow us to make the cheekbones become more defined, attracting the audiences attention towards the artists face, it will also make the model look similar to Birdy in a strong sense of appearance. 
  • Smaller things such as foundation, concealer and eyebrow work will be applied to all those involved. This will allow use to achieve a flawless look for the participants, helping to make sure that the overall appearance appears professional. 
Full marks will be very very challenging:
  • We have been made aware of this because of our chosen music genre and the style of video that we wish to produce. Creating a contemporary dance music video has meant that there is little room for mistakes, as these will be picked up in either the singing or the dance between our male and female partner. To secure as many marks as possible both Nat and I will put the work in to acheive the best standard possible. Making others aware of the importance of the video and how it will effect us as students will also put into prospective how professional the video must be. However, we are prepared to put the work and effort in to achieve the best.
Websites to support improvements:

Birdy inspired/ fan blogs: 
  • birdystyle.tumblr.com/
  • daily-birdy.tumblr.com
  • i-love-birdy.tumblr.com/
Source: www.tumblr.com

Make-up tutorials:
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x86Hc2LCjQg
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtQjYP4VE1A
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R7Q7s1lpEc
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfBp8GXF0gg
Source: www.youtube.com