Rough Cut

This is a sample of some of my video. It is not edited or transformed, just simply the footage of my main parts of the song. In this rough cut there is the chorus and the bridge of the song which will be repeated throughout but edited and cut differently each time to make it effective. The footage of the three girls with the cards will hopefully be cut so there is a different girl for alternative lines of the chorus and the bridge of the song will be edited using the close ups of the girls as well as the two shot clip.

Video Update...

Today im recording the main part of my video and hopefully will be able to edit and put together my video as soon as possible.

Above is a video I recorded at a Lily Allen Concert in Nottingham on 10.12.2009. It is not the best of videos as I recorded it using my own digital camera however I think I may be able to use a short clip out of it in my own video if edited slightly. It is not the song I am using but another song off her old album but that will not be apparent in my music video. The video also does not look as pixelated when using other players.

Results from Survey

I asked an audience of 20 people which product they would find more effective and found that people liked the second drafts of both the CD case and Poster. 14 people chose the second draft where as the remaining 6 thought the first draft was better. The second draft of both the products will now be the two copies I use for my final choice. I agree that these will be effective as they have more in them and the fonts and colours fit in with items in my video as well.

What Happens Next....

I am now going to ask my target audience which drafts they would find more effective. I will then choose a final copy and use them along with my video for my product.

Poster Draft Two

Above is a copy of the second draft of the poster. It is effective because of the images and how they are edited and also because of the unconventional font and colours which are used which relate to the other products. Also included are logos for places that the single would be available which is sometimes shown on advertisements for singles.

Poster Draft One Evaluation

Again like the CD cover I believe that the poster would look better with a black solid background and should include more. I am going to re-do my poster with this in mind and use the images I used on the second draft of my CD cover.

CD Cover Second Draft

This is a copy of my second draft for a CD cover. I think this is more effective and lively and would be more appealing to an audience. It also includes a title of the side of the case which the first draft did not. The image of the hands "taking" is still included and two more of the artist which have been edited.

CD Cover First Draft Evaluation

I have evaluated my first draft of my CD cover and think that it could be made better by adding other images and changing certain things. I think that if the cover was just one solid colour it would be more effective as images and fonts would be able to stand out more. Although this is not unconventional like the style and genre I was originally going for, it still has the colours and manipulated images that stand out. Images of Lily Allen herself are used on the cover and back of the cover which are images I photographed myself recently. They have been edited using the programme Macromedia Fireworks and I think this looks more effective and has more to it than the original idea.

The original Lily Allen Images can be seen below and the second draft of my CD cover will follow.

Poster First Draft

Above are all copies of the development of my poster for the Lily Allen single I am making a music video too. The image I have used is a photo I took myself whilst recently at a Lily Allen concert in Nottingham. I have again maniplated the image using the programme Macromedia Fireworks and used the fonts and colours used throughout my project. It is quite simple and could be more effective and I am going to try and improve this however I believe, like the CD cover, that the colours and print fits in with the genre of the song and artist.

CD Cover First Draft

I am in the process of creating my first draft of my CD cover. I used images which I photographed myself and manipulated it to make it effective. I have used this on my cover along with features of the programme Macromedia Fireworks. It is a pretty simple cover but has been edited a lot and fits the genre of my song and artist. Lily Allen is known to be unconventional in the way she dresses and acts, she is different but popular because of this.
The use of many different colours gives the impression of a bubbly person and the song I have used also fits with this. Also I have used different colours in my chorus on the cards and again it all fits in along with the font used. The pattern on the CD cover will fit with that of the poster and so will the font and colours.

Planning: Video Scenes

Above are pictures of a few shots I shall be using and filming at. More may be added.

What I'm Up Too...

At the moment I am making and preparing props that I need in my video. I am choosing locations and sorting out the last details so that I can begin my filming to my best ability. Photos of this preparation can be seen below.

The purpose of the large cards and the papers which say "say what" on them is that they are going to be cut out and stuck on to the big cards so that I can do the chorus of the song in the same style Bob Dylan did his whole song Subterranean Homesick Blues. This can be seen below.

Planning Video

Below is a video planning what I may do in my video. It is only basic and has a few ideas but sets and idea for what I will include.

Lyrics Analysis

In this post is a picture of the lyrics to my chosen song. They are my initial ideas on what I could perhaps do to them in my video. As it is not very clear on the picture a powerpoint presentation is also available in this post to make it more clear what my plans are.

Lyrics Analysis

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Final Chosen Song!

Over thoughts and analysis of some other songs I chose to use the song Take What You Take by Lily Allen. This song is off her last album called Alright Still. I have chose this song as I managed to find some ideas that I could use for a video. It is lively and upbeat and I think that I could make an effective video for this song.

The analysis and ideas of the lyrics and video are to follow this post.

Permission for using this song has been sent out and I await reply, however this has been done using the MySpace page of the record label as no email address could be found on their website.

Chosen Song

I am currently thinking about my choice of song and that I should use something more upbeat and lively tahat will make the making of my video more easier and effective. I am currently analysing a few Lily Allen songs I have come across to see what ideas I could use to one of them.

Question

I posted a question on Yahoo Answers to see if I had any response that would help me with my project. I only received one answer that was not really useful but did give me some idea of what I should and should not do.

Current Work

I am currently working on planning my music video, however at the moment I am trying to gather ideas to make this successful. More will follow shortly on this!

Advantages and Disadvantages of Songs To Use.

I created a powerpoint to help me choose a song that I should use noting down advantages and disadvantages of each one. This has helped me to come to a final decision that the song I will use will be Jet-Are You Gonna Be My Girl.

Advantages And Disadvantages To Song Ideas

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Useful Link

Whilst researching for ideas on a making a music video of my own I have come across a website which gives tips on how to make a music video. I found this very usefull and will post the link on here for future reference.

http://musicians.about.com/od/musicindustrybasics/ss/makeavideo.htm

Ideas of Songs to Use

I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight- U2

Sing When Your in Love- The Enemy

Hard To Beat- Hard Fi

Nintendo- One Night Only

Fast Fuse- Kasabian

Are You Gonna Be My Girl?- Jet

These were songs that stood out to me when listening to my iPod when working the other day. The lyrics or the tune of the song made me more interested to it so I noted them down. I do not know which song from the list, if any, I would use, these were just merely an idea from what I was listening too.

Music Directors

Music Video Directors

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Video Analysis- Get On Your Boots U2

This video is one of my favourites. Similar to the Oasis one below it involves the band in the background of other colourful imagery. This video has a lot of different imagery in it that again links to the lyrics of the song and the deeper meaning of it. It is a very effective video with the cuts fitting the pace and beat of the song. The colours used in the video make it catchy also.


At 20 seconds the imagery relates to the lyrics in the song . “The future needs a big kiss, winds blow with a twist, never seen a moon like this can you see it too?” It is effective how everything is brought together in one image and this is the general theme throughout the video. “I don’t want to drown.” (2 minutes 40 seconds) fits with how the screen has the effective that it is underwater.

All the lyrics in the song have a deeper meaning as can be shown by the comments found from a website forum about the song, therefore all the imagery that may not make sense to someone first looking at the video would make sense to those who look deeper into it. With this I found the video even more effective.

A lot of the imagery in the video is related to wars and different cultures in the world. This is part of the hidden meanings in the lyrics which fit with the video very well.

From 2 minutes 20 seconds the video imagery, colours and cuts fit well with the song and beat. This is again effective and makes an audience want to carry on watching and listening. The sudden smashing of the glass/screen also fits with the beat of the song.

I think this video is a very successful one, it is busy and has a lot going on but all fits together with the song an is very effective.

Below is feedback from a forum about the lyrics of the song.

Video Analysis- The Shock of The Lightning

This video is very effective right from the beginning. The colours that are used are catching and imagery is different from other videos that I have seen. At the start it looks as though clouds are covering the singers head, this fits in with the aspect of lightning from the song title.

There are some moments where the band is singing or playing the guitar but this is covered by different effects and colours which make it more interesting and appealing.

Throughout there is this effect of clouds in the background which sometimes fits in with the lyrics along with other imagery in the video. Quick cuts and sudden imagery fit together with the beat of the song.
“I fall into the blinding light.” These are lyrics that fit in at around 44 seconds with the imagery of the glasses being clouded. “Love is a time machine” fits in at around 1 minute 7 seconds as the door and train that comes through it could represent a time machine and the red rose representing the love. At 3 minutes 41 seconds the flash in singers eye relates to lightning however I believe the word lightning is a metaphor for other things.

There is a lot of imagery relating to many things, the majority of them being soldiers or the world. The drums in the background sound like them of a troop of soldiers and the imagery of them fits with that slightly.

Video Analysis- Not Fair Lily Allen

The country style tune of the song fits with the mis en scene. Trees, chickens, country accents. The clothes of the band in the background and backing singers also fit with the theme.

None of video links with the lyrics of the song.


The video is shaped as if it was on an old television set as it is performed as if it was on a television programme “The Wagon House.”

At the beginning there are shadows in the background of people playing instruments, their shadows represent a stereotypical country western person which matches the tune. When the beat picks up it gets lighter and more lively.

This video is quite simple but at the same time effective. Although it is just Lily Allen and the band on screen singing and dancing there are other aspects to the video that make it appealing. However, no matter how the camera is positioned you can always see an aspect of the country theme that fits with the tune of the song.

Video Analysis- Club Foot Kasabian

The video its self refers to Czech student Jan Palach, who committed suicide in political protest by self-immolation. The video also references to the Soviet government's intervention in Hungarian Revolution of 1956 in a transparency showing Hungarian text (Szabad Európa Rádió) which translates as "Free European Radiostation". (Taken from Wikipedia)

The cut at the beginning of the video are slow to fit with the slow music. They also fit with the beats of the song, most of them being sudden.

The boy and surroundings gives the impression something is going on. This follows on to a quick cut where the beat and tempo picks up in the song. This video fits this as there is a person running fast to match the changed tempo and the tank that was not moving fast at all before is now moving at pace.


The video is black and white and could suggest an old scene or something strange occurring. Empty derelict building and surroundings suggests boy is alone and by the camera angle perhaps being watched.

The mis en scene fits together to give a dark and cold atmosphere, from the surroundings, to the clothes of the people in it.

It all ends still and silent suggesting an end to what was happening.

Existing Digipacks

Existing Digipacks

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Posts to Follow...

I am currently trying to upload some PowerPoint presentations however struggling to do so. These should be up in the next day or two.

Introduction

My name is Sophie Barber and I am a student at Biddulph Sixth Form. I am currently studying Media Studies at A2 level and intend to produce a music video, album cover and poster for my coursework.

I am, at the moment, unsure on what genre I will be focusing on and what style I wish to use. Therefore I am going to research a range of music videos to get an idea of what i'd like to do.