CD Example Three- Daryl Hall and John Oats

I  found this CD cover when I was looking through Google at 'Unique CD designs' Its really eye catching and is in the same style that I imagined for my CD cover. Its almost a Pop Art effect with a posterized look. Although the faces look white from a distance they are actually made up of tiny black dots which I think give the picture texture and almost a diamond look. I don't like the style of typography on this cover though. I think the pink and the white main title doesn't compliment the style of the picture and the pink looks quite tacky, but most of all the pink and yellow do not compliment each other at all I think if they just used a yellow, red or a bright green would be a good contrast against the black and white theme. My main reason for selecting this design is I think the way the faces have been edited together. like The Human League the main features of the the face have been highlighted so its easy to work out it is a face but has an edgy design. I like the way the faces have been merged and different angles its definitely something I think is worth including in my CD design.

CD Example Two- The Human League

I decided to have a look through my family's CD Tower at home and see if anything caught my eye. I found one of my Dads Human League albums. Seeing as I'm focusing on the use of lighting in my music video to tie in with the title of the song. I thought that this album cover was a good example of how use of lighting can be used to create a dramatic effect. I love the shadowing and how the light just highlights their main features. Its a simple just eye catching design which is easily recognisable. With the 'Octopus' typography bellow I thought was an in textual reference to the film 'Alien' which also uses the same typography style. I spotted this straight away as the Alien text is quite unique as it is a stretched font using the lime green is also a give away that The Human League are trying to convey a sci-fi look to their album. Another giveaway is the space themed background with the stars. Because I think this is a fantastic effect I will use something like this for my CD design. If not my main character I will certainly use this effect on my three dancers. As they are all wearing fascinators I think by creating this effect would really highlight the net covering their eyes which would be quite effective.

CD Example One -Duran Duran

I chose this CD design to show everything I don't want in my CD design. The problem with this design is that the lead singer is in the background and off centre. He looks like he has been awkwardly placed there as the band mates are at a different angle.The main singer should be in the foreground. I really dislike the grey text on the grey background as it is hardly visible and just blends. The 'D' and the 'U' are really hard to make out and should really be outlined with a subtle white or black so the lettering is easy to distinguish. The colour of the red text is an off red more of a vermilion than a bright red which I think doesn't stand out enough. By just having a plain background, preferably black opposed to the stormy sky would make the band members stand out more as the sky seems to blend into their faces. I thought it would be a good idea to look at an CD design like this as I am also planning on using a photo like picture for my cover. Rather than using something over edited I would prefer something simple that could be easily recognised but I think this cover is a bit too simple and plain.

Digi Pack- Exisiting Products

I thought It would be a good idea to looks at some of the Hurts existing products so I could see how their Album art expresses their work. To the left is the CD cover for Hurts song Better than love. Its a single track CD. They have used a still picture from the music video as the picture. This could be because they wanted the cover to be recognisable as it is associated from the music video. The picture has been edited as the music video was filmed in colour the still has been edited with a tint of dark brown and the saturation of the picture has been increased as the girls on the left faces are far more grainy and where the light hits the girl on the right the saturation changes have made her face less defined and more white. I really like this cover its is so simple yet very unique. Its interesting how they haven't decided to use the Hurts themselves and how they have chosen to use their actors instead you would think a band less well known would show their faces on their merchandising but they have clearly taken a risk and used the girls for the cover instead. I quite like the little suggestions in the picture about intelligence for example the girls are all pulling intrigued poses and there is an apple on the table which you could signify with intelligence the girl in the far background has an tutor (Shakespeare) collar around her neck and is reading a book. Also I spotted one of the girls on the left is clutching some glasses

This is the actual album cover for their album called Happiness which is a bit of a pun considering as they look rather miserable. Personally I hate their original album cover I think its dull and very plain and not necessarily what I envisage their CD cover to look like. Although the text is evenly spaces between the letters and about the right size its being white on a grey background it sort of fades in.There is a tiny black outline around the lettering but it doesn't give the text very much impact and the 'Happiness' titling bellow is not only too small but I personally think it looks to bunched.
They are wearing their trademark uniform of suits and slick side parted hair so I found it quite easy to recognise them when I looked at the cover from afar which I think it is important to be recognisable. The one thing that absolutely hate is their hand placement Theo's is on the table and Adams is placed in his lap. Its either suggesting the Theo is more forward and confident than Adam but it look awful. Looking at some of their other pictures and press shots I don't think its the best picture that could have been selected. It doesn't make enough of a statement.

This the album cover for the Illuminated, which was the song that I focused on for my music video. The cover is a painting of an eye and a man looking right into the pupil. When looking closely the painting is quite grainy almost like it was painted on canvas or linen and scanned in. I do like the abstract artwork but I don't think it suits the genre or the song itself. The text is quite small and yet again the name of the song is bunched up. I do like the use of colour, the blues and pinks compliment each other and its quite nice to look at. I'm was convinced it was an eye that the man was staring into but as the 'pupil' is so small I wondered if it was like a gateway or some sort of portal.

This is the back cover to the Illuminated CD which is a bit disappointing its completely plain dark grey with tiny text showing the two songs on the CD and the Legal text at the bottom I wanted my back cover to be just as interesting as the front so they compliment each other. The back of this cover looks like it was done to quickly which is a a shame as the front is quite a nice design.

Production-Filming Results

I am very pleased with the results of my last filming session. The Bradley and the dancers were really helpful as they did exactly what I asked them to do.
I finally got every shot on my tick list.
I have uploaded to all onto the Mac and have started cutting and editing right away.
Today I have completed 3/4 of my film in one day!
Funnily enough lip syncing hasn't been to much of a problem so far as Bradley really learnt the words and he really emphasizes the lyrics so its very easier to match up compared to the last footage. I have included so many more shots which is making to look ten times better already.
I'm most pleased about finally getting the sunglasses shot in. As the last film I had of Bradley in his sunglasses wasn't very good quality the first time round with filming it.

Production- Last time of filming

Tonight I have booked the pit from 3.20 till 5.00 and its my last chance to film.
I the start of my film is fine and now just need to re-film and add the areas that I think need improving for example there are a few bits of footage that there is movement of the camera (wobbling) so tonight I am going to make sure that the tripod arms and clips are tight.

I have got 4 SD cards in total with 22GBs worth together so I wont be running out this time round!

I am really interested in the following
-More variety of shots from different areas of the pit
-Synchronised and accurate dancing
-Bradley singing more slowly
-1.48 secs onwards worth of filming to do and the song is 3.26 secs long

I havent forgotten
-Their thank you gifts.
-Costumes
-My own ipod speakers and charger!
-My camera to take still pictures possibly for digi-pack

Editing- Film length

My rough cut is almost complete but unfortunately I have have just under a minute of film because the slot that I last filmed in I didn't have a lot of time.
So although I have only got a small amount of film I have tried to use as many different filters as I can to see what sort of effects that I can get.

I am going to have to re film alot as there are alot of things that I am not happy with, I did try and stick to the storyboard but it was too much of a rush as I didn't have the pit for very long.

Editing- Rough Cut

Today on my rough cut I added in the mp3 track of Hurts Illuminated to add the edited footage as I felt that I was happy with what I have created so far.

Although it took a long time to render, I am trying to find a solution for this but unfortunately I have to wait along time even if I separate the rendering tasks

But I now have learnt a lesson that I really need to add the audio first as this is the main guideline when editing as without it you are lost at not knowing were it starts, finished and instrumental or change in temp and its quite hard to judge even if you know the song well.

Even considering this I have been quite luck as fortunately my footage matches up with the audio. I have aimed for the lip syncing to be perfect and I’m very pleased with the out come but I know it could be improve by making sure that my actor can really emphasise his lip movement as he did tend to not move his lips as well as he good do. But this is a problem that can easily be corrected when it comes to re-filming next week.

I have tried to highlight areas in the song where there is a change of tempo or a highlight on a specific instrument. I have noted these seconds down and have aimed to highlight them with an area of movement or focus.

I want to do this because it shows the audience that the dancers are part of the music and are involved. I don’t want it to look like they are dancing and the music is just overplaying.

By looking at the song in more depth has made it easier to come up with ideas for example at 0.12 seconds there is a single high not played on the piano. I could have not emphasised on it but I thought it was quite a dramatic note to play, when one of the dancers looks at another in the frozen pose. This has been seen before in the Hurts music video wonderful life. The dancers strike very ridged poses with sharp movement and expressionless faces.

I am going to try to make the most of the music. I want the music video to be designed to the song. No just an accompaniment I was the movement and shots to compliment the music. To make the audience feel more connected with the sounds.

Production- So Far

After filming my rough cut before Christmas I have now got at least 2 minutes worth of footage.
Footage that I have uploaded and started editing. Using the programme Final cut express, the programme I used for my AS production. The fact that I have used this before speeds up my editing and completion time as I can use it freely and productively.
Camera movement
When filming the rough cut I have found a problem with the framing of my shots.

When I go and film again I will rectify this.
Camera movement
I'm pleased I have spotted it when editing my rough cut not actual footage.
The shots are ever so slightly shaky.

I want to avoid this as it's something that I keep doing. Even when playing back on the camera it is very difficult to see.
Its something that was evident in my AS production and I'm determined for it to not be in my  A2 video.
I think the best things I could do is to make sure...
-That the tripod is at the correct height and each leg is at and equal height
-The tripod is not on an uneven surface
-To leave extra film over actual filming time to make sure it's already recording before the performance
-To stay away from the tripod when filming static shots
- When using the dolly take more time and move slowly and make sure I have good control over the movement.
As I am focusing on Synth pop genre I do not need to allow for a lot of editing as the majority of Synth pop music videos are very basic with little use of editing.
Although this is the case I still plan to include transitions such as, blurring, slow-motion and cross fades.
By doing this I'm keeping to the simplicity of synth pop videos but showing my skills.
Not only that but I want to keep the audience interested in the video. Split screens and use of lighting will add a different element of the standard synth pop look but I will be keeping to the Hurts lack of colour look and will keep the film black and White to allow the audience to still understand the genre and show all the conventions of a synth pop video
Although I have an hour media lesson tomorrow to make changes on the rough cut an possibly get some teachers feedback.

I have decided to refine my story board as I think there are areas that I could make changes too.
I have planned to film next Tuesday in the pit and will be using two cameras this time. I have a friend to help me with the lighting and another to use the other camera.
My target is to be more clear on my dancers and actors instructions and try to get the best results I can by brig clear when communicating making sure they understand exactly what they need to do and improve particular areas like framing, shot movement and dance timings.

Production- Communication

Throughout this production I have to say the communication between the dancers, Bradley and I has been excellent because I have them on Facebook and have their numbers it has been really easy to stay in contact and up date them about whats going on.

I have bought them all little presents over Christmas to say thank you for their help so far.. because I have been taking their time to help me and they have been very reliable.