I believe all in all i have done well within my media project, although there has been a slight concern with time management i believe i have overcome this and produced a high quality of work.
My music video is a combination of narrative and performance clips. In hindsight if i had another chance to film my video, i would of done differently with the narrative, as at points in my video it appears unclear, although it does fit in with the feel of the video. I would of had a more clear narrative, although i would of kept the same ideas as i believe my narrative does not fit in with the stereotypical music video which is very popular, the cliche of "relationship problems, break-ups and make-ups" which can be seen throughout a vast majority of videos. This is where i believe my narrative makes up for it's vauge story, as it differentiates and stops viewers watching the same clip for every band and video. My performance went well, although i had to replace a certain band member who could not be there on the day, which meant one band member did not know how to play the song, although he improvised well and did a good job of fitting in with the band and overall feel of the video, while looking as if he was comfortable with the song with few minor exceptions. In filming the performance i had a lot of footage which i could choose between of the whole band performance, individual performances multiple times, if i were to compare the amount to the narrative i produced the narrative would be outweighed, as i did not have a superior amount of narrative, which is another criticism i would have to point out, although having adequate amount to go in my video i would of liked to of had more footage to choose from. The acting from each band member fit in with the fast-tempo heavy feel of the song, as in individual and in group performances everyone moves well and does not stand-still leaving the viewer very bored and un convinced. I used the editing to coincide the audio and visual, for example in parts when the tempo quickens i used short and snappy shots, whereas in parts of the song where in audio it is a lot calmer/slower i used longer shots.
With my narrative i was attempting to the give impression that the actor is feeling anger and anguish, and that he is attempting to run away from the negative feelings being felt. And at the end of the song, when it was almost night and the sky was alot darker i got an image of the actor in what i hoped would be perceived by viewers as a place in which the actor looks more chilled, giving momentary relief from all his problems and just taking time to reflect. I filmed the actor running in multiple locations to give the impression that he was making progress in the run, and that it was not just continous narrative of a man running along the same place over and over. My narrative fits in with the song as the song talks of the 'town' having 'it's claws buried in my neck' this linie clearly shows that the lyrics are trying to connote a feeling of sadness and being trapped within in this case a 'town'. This is why i believe that the narrative fits, as it can convey a sense of trying to escape, and reaching a place in which the actor does not feel 'trapped' and a feeling of claustrophobia toward his environment. With my narrative i had to work chronoligically as i wanted to start the narrative when it was light and end with a much more dark feel, which i achieved. The last image of my video is a much more darker image than those that are seen in the beginning. And although darkness would usually be representative of sadness and negativity, i believe it does not properly portray this in my video. Also in my video their are images of the actor standing at a different location (over looking a lake) to the end image. This is trying to show that the actor is looking for a place to find comfort and does not. Clearly fitting in with my video. I believe that the actors aesthetics and dress were very relevant to the genre, as in my performance i had to ask the whole band to dress in a way which the band would be seen to dress.
With my music video i had many problems in the filming aspect with band members being hard to organise and also a location of which to film. The location was challenging because it was difficult thinking of a place which would fit in with the expected aesthetics of a Post-hardcore music video. Although i soon decided on my location and believe that it fit in with the "home-made" feel which many of the bands aim to go for in their starting days. I had all the instruments that were needed and equipment such as amplifiers etc. If i had chance to re-do my filming i would be very likely to change the location, as the negative side of my location was the limited space. It would of been much easier to film if the location were wider, so that the whole band would have a lot more space to move and be more energetic. I do believe with the space we had the band worked well, although it could of been a lot simpler with more space.
I believe my video shows the same sort of feel as the digipak and poster, while i believe it is done to a good quality the location gives off a very starting out feel, which my digipak also portrays, i took inspiration from bands that were up-and-coming, as i believed i tried to achieve a professional standard of work i would end up falling short and being disappointed with my final products.
Overall i believe that the all the tasks that were performed were done to my highest standard, and that my overall products reflect the effort put in. In hindsight there were a small amount of factors that i would of changed and done differently, but only to make slight improvements to my video.
Monday, 2 May 2011
Finished poster for media
This poster is for the single of alexisonfire, with clearly a completely unreal date. I approached making the poster with giving as little information off as possible, as i believe this a smart tactic of designing a poster.
Although i have used the same image from my digipack, i believe this poster works, it is aesthetically pelasing and also does not give any information away apart from the date of which to look out for. A lot of bands like to keep their fans enticed by giving off little information, but letting them know to expect things to come. By doing so the resonating effect is that more and more people will try to find out what is happening, and this keeps resonating until everyone is wondering what they are waiting for as the unknown is very appealing. I wanted to differentiate from using the large bold font that i used on the digipack as i did not wish for it too be completely identical. Instead i went for a font that i believe fits in with conventions of the fonts used by similar bands, and decided to go with this as it was different, but still relevant.
I have yet to upload shots of the construction process, i will upload these shortly.
Finished Digipak
Evidently, with my finished digipak it is clear that i was more drawn toward design one of my rough digipak designs, i believe that the front image is powerful and gives buyers the sense that the music and instruments are very important to the band, and that they want to show this by displaying them on the front of their single cover, i also believe the font is very bold and powerful, whereas the song title font is very smooth and fancy, and fits in with conventiosn that can be noticed throughout the Post-Hardcore genre. I also believe the lighting i used was very useful, as it shines on the guitar giving it colour, and leaves the background looking very serious and dark, giving nice contrasting colours in the image. I also used an effect that made the image lose alot of it's colour and also look darker, while keeping the guitar light and colourful.
On the back of the cover i have gone with the pciture of the microphone hanging against a plain wall behind, with no other objects being within the photo it allows the microphone to be the main subject. This i believe portrays the importance of the singing within the song, i also believe that it looks rather a lonely image, which is complimented by the effect i used to drain all c olour from the image. Also some parts of the picture where complimented by the lighting, because without the light in the picture it would be too dark and be very dull and boring. I got inspiration from this image from another digipak that i have seen in the past, although i can not remember which artist it was, only that i remember the idea and it was very eye-catching and fitting for the genre as dark imagery is a noticeable convention.
On the inside of the digipack, i could not keep the picture of the band as one of the bandmembers i used was incapacited for a week or so, and could not be in the photo, so i decided to go for an image i believe fits in with the song, as the song is called "This could Be Anywhere In the World" i believe this image of the sun (with evident effects) fits in very well, as the sun (in the day) is seen by everyone, all over the world, and can be seen as a symbol of being 'Anywhere in the world'. I used an effect that made the image look old, and in parts worn. The effect also gave the sun a brighter appearance, with the beams of light evident coming out of the sun. The image fits with the genre and can be related strongly to the song name.
Rough digipack ideas
With these first ideas i wanted to have the guitar drums and guitar all in a picture (with effects) on the front cover, displaying very bold and eye-catching font reading ALEXISONFIRE, all in capitals. The big bold font is what usually is seen with bands of this sort and also alot of the time with alexisonfire.
On the back(although i have put it in the wrong place on this picture) i wanted to have a picture of the band all wielding their instruments, looking serious and straightfaced looking straight into the camera with a clear background and nothing else in shot, but a long shot of them so that all of the body can be seen of each member.
On the inside i wanted a simple picture (with effects) of the microphone hanging with just a clear wall in the background, i believe although it has no clear meaning it is a good image and looks aesthetically pleasing. I believe that it also shows that the singing and lyrics are a very important part of this song, which they are. I believe it portrays this.
The second digipak idea i drafted was much more simple. I did not design an image on the front of the digipak but i designed it so that there would be a clear black ( or any other dark colour ) in the background with bright white bold writing stating the band name (ALEXISONFIRE) in captials, and also the song title in very fancy writing, as this is a convention noticed with many singles that are of the same genre. I beleive this also portrays a sole purpose of trying to portray just the band and having no need with "fancy imagery", just a simple easy on the eye design which is not over exaggerated and does not have too much going on.
On the inside i designed another clear background which would be black, and the lyrics of the whole song in white, so that it is very clear, and a lot of bands/artists like to have their lyrics displayed on the inside, one so that people will learn the lyrics and another reason being it will be a lot easier to relate to the song if you have the lyrics written infront of your eyes.
On the back, although i did not do a drawing on this design, i planned to have a band shot (exactly the same as in picture 1) On the back with once again the band wielding their instruments, looking serious.
Research Into Chosen Band/Genre
Alexisonfire (pronounced Alexis-on-fire) are a post-hardcore band that hail from Canada. The band contains five members - George Pettit (vocals), Dallas Green (guitar, piano, vocals), Wade MacNeil (guitar, vocals), Chris Steele (bass) and Jordan Hastings (drums). The genre Post-Hardcore mean the band play what is considered as "heavy music" and their instruments being a huge part of the band. The vocals consist of Dallas' Harmonies/clean vocals and George Pettit "screams"/dirty vocals. The band themselves have described themselves as "the sound of two Catholic high-school girls in mid-knife fight". The band had a very quick rise to success and are now touring all over the world in sell out tours. My song is called This Could Be Anywhere In the World.
Background
The origins of the genre generate from the 1980's hardcore punk genre. Although music analysists say that new bands from the post-hardcore have found a way to make their music and sound more creative rather than the old hardcore punk way of playing loud and using angry vocals. And also new bands have incorporated clean calm vocals with classical "screaming" in order to find a combined sound in which can fuse two types of genres and eventually widen the fans.
The genre Post-hardcore has been derived from Hardcore punk, and many bands are now classed as being within the genre, as the genre has grown at an accelerated pace. The genre of music, although widely popular, is stereotyped as a very specific taste, with a kind of love/hate fan base. Many of the fans are also noticeable and are considered "different" as many are covered in tattoos, with distinct piercings and long hair. There are many affiliations that coincide with the fans/genre.
The video below is of the post-hardcore genre, and shows a common type of video within the genre, where the band use a performance piece with a crowd and themselves performing, and then a narrative, although in this case the narrative is not clear but seems almost random.
This band 'Deaf Havana' are very similar to Alexisonfire in sound and style. The bands are trying to focus the fans who are viewing the video on the performance rather than any other aspect of their music.
Another type of video the genre is seen to use is the video of one/multiple gigs of the band, showing the crowd enjoying themselves and portraying the representations of the bands. i also believe this is another way to show that the band are not motivated by materialistic goods and out for the fame, rather they perform for everyone to have a good time and enjoy their music.
As seen below by a band named 'Bring Me the Horizon'
Camera Shots
Worms Eye View -
A shot from below the subject, usually giving a sense of dominance or power.
Rule of thirds - With two thirds of the shot being used and the other third unused, the rule of thirds is used for an aesthetically pleasing shot.
Over the shoulder shot - Clearly shows the view of Character A and also contains character B. This is often used during conversation etc.
Looking space shot - clearly shows the subject looking out the window, often used to portray the character thinking/reflecting.
Extreme close up -Extreme close ups are often used to represent the emotions of the character, as in this example worry/fear is shown. These shots are usually used to show anger/tension etc.
Birds eye view - Has the similar effect to the high angle shot but more exaggerated to give a stronger representation.
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