Action Plan Week 1

Monday 28th October:
Create detailed plan for our next film date, including locations, times and costumes.

Tuesday 29th October:
Carry out our first shooting for our ancillary task to produce an initial set of photos we can begin to edit to create a first draft.

Wednesday 30th October
Begin editing our images for the ancillary task (album cover). Continue research into existing products surrounding album artwork: what is successful and what fits the genre.

Thursday 31st October
Gain audience feedback on our initial draft of our ancillary task and on various fonts we have selected - producing different drafts for the audience to state which they prefer.

Friday 1st November
Following feedback adjust our drafts using

Re- Planning

Unfortunately, our male protagonist Reece Coles has broken his knee, we have therefore decided that the quality of our music video will be significantly impacted if we continue to use him due to continuity errors. Our lead role having a broken leg makes no sense to the narrative or raw footage we have previously obtained. As a result. we have chosen to re-film using a different male actor.

Plans to re-film:
We plan to re-film with the new actor on the 21st and 22nd of October. If weather conditions are poor we will film scenes indoor scenes, or scenes that having dull weather/ rain which we will use to our advantage to convey change in atmosphere.

Our new actors will be Ross Mulligan and Shannon Porter.

Ancillary task experimentation

After researching existing products, we decided to experiment with editing images on photoshop. We used an image from Gabrielle Aplin's EP cover as a template to then practice different techniques and effects.

We searched for different brushes on myphotoshopbrushes.com, we then downloaded a selection which we thought met the conventions of our chosen genre and the needs of our target audience.
Once on photoshop we experimented with layering different styles and effects on different layers of the original image.

Experimentation One

This is an example of an experimentation we created, using various effects and overlay filters. We've decided that we like the brushes and colours used because it makes the photo more symbolic and eye catching. However, we have learnt that the quality of the original photograph is extremely important because it is the basis of the entire advertisement.

Despite this not being our own photography, we have received positive feedback from our target audience members who like the use of different colours and brushes.



This is our second example of an experimentation we created, again using various effects and overlay filters. Intsead we decided de-saturating the image provided more of an impact and brings focus to the model rather than the background. In our own photography we have decided to include red as a colour theme, where the model wears red props, therefore we want the background to be dark so these stand out better. Also, the darker colours reflect themes within the music video and lyrics.

DigiPak Initial Thoughts

DigiPak Artwork Audience Research

We played this song to various members of our target audience and then showed them the three different images. We asked them which image was most likely to attract them to buying the CD having listened to the themes and genre of the music.

The first people we asked were a group of 17 year old boys. All 3 decided immediately that they preferred the photo of the model because she is attractive. They also liked having the image of the singer/songwriter on the front cover of an album because it is promoting her music and not a well taken photo.

The second person we asked was a female adult. She showed preference for the landscape option because while ambiguous the field of sunflowers has connotations of happiness and romance which reflects the themes within the lyrics.

The third person we asked was an adult male who is also a musician, because of this he had strong opinions of what he feels successful in the music industry. He said that he would not chose either of them because they were too contrived and that he prefers artwork with a more spontaneous and mysterious element rather than artwork that is designed purely to sell.

We then asked a teenage girl who preferred the silhouette of the couple because it clearly indicates the romantic genre. She says she was least likely to pick an album featuring a landscape because it is too generic.

Another girl and a boy that we asked separately said the image of the artist appealed most as it was more relevant to the music and offers more credit to the artist.

The final male respondent that we asked said he preferred the silhouette because it is the most artistic. We then asked whether this would be different if there was no featured couple and he said yes, they made it more symbolic.

..................................................................................................................................................

We have decided following feedback that we intend to use the silhouette of the couple as our main style model. Although this is not the most popular choice, we feel it relates well to the music and lyrics but also the narrative of our music video.

Action Plan week 7

Monday 30th September:
- Planning for ancillary task. Plan a name for our production company. Including locations, model, mise-en-scene, theme and style fonts.
- Develop knowledge of theories relevant to music videos.

Tuesday 1st October:
- research into different fonts, analysing different examples
- ring Wicksteed Park to receive permission to film there.

Wednesday 2nd October:
- Start working on ancillary task. Chose a font, colour theme, titles and plan shots.

Thursday 3rd October:
- Create mind map of all our ideas for the ancillary task, to then receive feedback from our target audience to help us decide which idea is the most successful.

Friday 4th October:
- Record more feedback on what our target audience feel is successful in album cover work.

DigiPak Artwork Analysis

Lenka's Digipak Cover:

This album artwork makes use of bright bold colours which reflects the bubbly, upbeat tone to her music befitting the pop genre. It features the artist centered within cartoon, hand drawn graphics almost as if a child has doodled this has connotations of innocence meaning the music is most likely to be family friendly with no explicit lyrics.

                                                 
  Emeli Sande DigiPak Cover:

                                                                                                                         This album artwork is desaturated in black and white however, the lighting is soft with a focus on the artist. The font is a similar soft and curved style symbolising the elegance and mature themes within her music. The artist is facing away from the camera, as if she is laughing at someone else rather than looking straight out at the audience. This conveys that the album is about her music and what is important than her instead of about the audience and consumers.

Tom Odell Digipak Cover:

The artist is oddly not centered in this album cover, in contrast to  many other album covers he is placed to the right in the framing of the photo. While he is posed to look straight at the camera he has his hands in his pockets  in a careless manner.   This gives the impression that he is a real person like any other  and that his music is relatable  to the audience. The artist has an almost scruffy, unkept look about him which suggests that he is not bothered about appearances and that his focus is on the messages in his lyrics. This idea is supported with the simple, basic font.

Taylor Swift Digipak Cover:

This album cover features a close-up of the artists face, there is nothing else on the cover with the exception of the title and her name. Half of her face is cast in shadow and the photo has been desaturated  in contrast to the bold connotations of the title 'Red'.  The way the artists head is lowered with her eyes down almost suggests that she is disconnected from the audience, distancing her from the consumer. This sets a more serious tone to her music than in previous albums.

Owl City Digipak Cover:

This album  cover feautures no artist or model but a landscape setting which contrasts with the name of the band - Owl City-   owls are nocturnal animals which holds connotations of nightlife, so you might expect a city scene set at night, featuring  skyscrapers lit up . Instead they have used a very natural, idealistic setting  without a single person or man-made object insight, presenting an uncorrupted world.