Directors Commentary

Front and inside panels and poster done

With the deadline vastly approaching, we have pushed ourselves to get all the cd panels and poster done. We believe that they look professional and fit with the song; 'foundations', that we are promoting. This being that we have used images from our music video and they link back to each other. We can now concentrate on the blog and make sure that it is up to standard, answering all the evaluation questions.




















This is our front cover. It shows both the performers and clearly states the artist and album title. We thought this was a good image for the front because it is bright in colour yet shows the on going contrast between the two characters. We have therefore carried through the red from the bench to the text to help hold together all the items together to create a full cd cover that works well. The cover is very simple, keeping with all cd covers that are published today. However, even thoguh it is simple, the image we have chosen is powerful and strongly promotes the main song on the album; 'Foundations'. We have also put a little detail on the front cover this being 'Award winning Album 2010' this helps to show that it is the album cover and states that the album won awards.

For the inside covers we decided to use the lego figures as they were not used much in the video as they were fidly to stand up and move about. We therefore took the images we had taken for what we were meant to use for our stop motion and cut out the individual figures to put together on a screen like we had photographed them together, even though we only had one lego figure of each. More so, because we have quoted they lyrics of the song across both inside pannels we thought that having similar backgrounds but different colours to show the opposing characters would again promote the conflict shown between the two characters.

The poster again uses an image from our music video. We thoguht that this image was contriversal yet mellow, making it suitable for the poster. It still supports the on going conflict between the characters, but its not as bright as the front cover. It is also from the end scene so technically helps show the ending to something, in this case the relationship. More so pole in the centre of the image makes it look like a split screen, so when people look at the poster, they do a 'double take' on the poster to see the clever photography we have used. It then makes people notice the poster more and see what it is promoting and notice the cd image and the artist Kate Nash and her album; Made of Bricks. It also holds simple details of where the song can be downloaded from and when it is available to download.

CD Cover Progress

After choosing a freeze frame image from our music video we managed to come up with a final design. We thought as we are doing the song 'foundations' it would be good if we had both performers feature on the front cover to help promote the song.

To help us decide what we should put on the front cover we looked up Kate Nash's original cd cover:

We realised that not much is put upon the front cd covers and that most of the information is on the back.

4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

During the construction phase of our music video, we used multiple forms of technology that we are new too. The first was the studio, this introduced a new form of technology for us which enabled us to take multiple shots from multiple angles from behind a computerised system to manage what we recorded and when. This worked by switching from one camera to another from a control board. We used this ability to our advantage in the beginning of the video so that we could cut in time, with the beat of the song. In the studio we also had access to specialist lighting equipment which we utilized to get the low key light we intended to use in the piano scenes, this help significantly with the construction of the music video, as otherwise it would be very difficult to get the correct lighting, camera angles and transitions that we wanted in a normal room environment. The dark lights help to add the sad, drab effect we wanted to create, to show the difference in Caroline’s personality when she is without the male character. In addition to the construction side of this, it also came in helpful for completing are Audience Feedback as we used the studio as the filming area. The reasoning for this was due to the fact that the studio was quieter than the class room, and we were able to set it up to work effectively without much difficulty.

















During the construction stage we also used a digital cam recorder and tripod, perhaps the most important piece of equipment used, it allowed us to record a majority of scenes that are used in the video. Since it used digital as the method in which to record, the quality of the video itself was improved slightly over the more traditional method of tapes. The tripod allowed us to ensure that the shots we filmed were steady and straight. This is a clear benefit over using a cam hand held, as it ensures their are no distractions in the actual video due to shakey movements. Similiarly unlike tape recorders, digital cameras are capable of taking still images, this was especially helpful when preforming stop motion in the 'Lemon' & 'Help' sequences
















During the research stage, we used websites such as YouTube and Muze, to look at songs we could choose to do a video to. We also used them to find a video to do a detailed analysis in an attempt to discover what makes a pop music video good, this was particularly helpful as we were not required to purchase or bring in any music videos from home in order to analyse.














During the construction stage of the print based work, we used Photoshop as the main provided some benefits, using the guidelines feature we were able to place images and mark locations for barcodes, logos, and dimensions before actually beginning the creation stages of making our CD case and magazine advertisement. We used different effects and layers to create images that looked professional and attractive.















Final cut pro was a very important tool during the construction and evaluation stages. We used it to edit our music video and add effects to make it look more like a pop video. It also allowed us to edit the most complicated areas like stop motion to help with the continuity of the video. As seen in this screenshot, using final cut pro allowed us to do very fine cuts for the stop motion so that the images were not displayed for too long. This stopped the stop motion from looking jumpy.











We also used Motion to add different lighting effects to the footage taken in the studio so that the shots did not look too plain. Motion was very useful because the lighting effects we used could be applied in 3D. This allowed us to cast shadows on different parts of the screen and add to the characters mood, and the contrast between the studio footage and the rest of the video.

















Search engines such as, Google played a very useful part in the research stage of our project. It allowed us to look up CD covers and research lyrics and song lists so we could put them on our CD cover. We also saved images for the CD case such as the iTunes logo.











Blogger has allowed us to make posts explaining what we are doing. We have therefore been able to upload videos, sometimes using the medium Youtube to host videos and images to give visual feedback on the work that we are producing and how its progressing. This also has allowed us to evaluate work and analyse the features we wish to use in our music video, poster and CD.

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

From the audience feedback, we have learnt that sometimes we have to look at our own work through other people's eyes. We say this because we are so used to seeing our own work and watching it develop every lesson. We therefore, get used to seeing the video and some parts may not stand out to us as much as it would to someone else whose looking at it with 'fresh eyes'. As a result, we learnt that asking for audience feedback helps pick up any changes that need to be made before finalising it, to ensure things work well for the video piece.

In balance we have received both positive and negative feedback, however we feel the positives outweigh the negatives as it stands.
The overall impression we got for our music video was that it was professional and had an outstanding performance that told the story of the song well.
This shows that our video is to a standard of work has the potential to match the work seen in professional music videos.


From the three positives given about our video, we have questioned ourselves why in particular these three points stood out and why they were chosen as opposed to anything else in the video. Keeping this in mind, we realised that yes, these are the three strongest points of the video, and we did enjoy doing these areas the most, especially the stop motion. It was a lot more fun and didn't require any acting. More so, it was easy to take a series of photos and place them together to fit in with the song. We have therefore, learnt that maybe if we had used a lot more stop motion, it would of boosted the video and would have emphasised the pop element to fit within the song.

Mover over, being able to portray the story of the song was fun to play, as Caroline and Lilian had to get into character. Through out all the filming, both performers had to make sure they had the right facial expressions, body language and mannerisms. It was hard sometimes and there was a lot of laughing in scenes. However, we managed to capture the essence of the characters and this clearly showed in the scenes of the video as supported by our audience feedback.

However, not only did we ask for positives, we asked what could be improved of our video if we could go back and make it better. This in theory, should enable us to pick out the weaknesses and improve on them, should we get additional time to make the necessary modifications.

Consequently, we thought that the bold use of colour saturation in some scenes helped emphasise the contrasting conflict between the two characters, however, our audience feedback taught us that it was very detracting from the video and didn't seem like it had fit in well with the video. We were advised that maybe it would be better if we didn't include this effect and left the colours as they were or used a completely different effect. In light of this we have been unable to change the video effect, as we felt it made the video more 'poppy' making it fit in with the specification better.
Moreover, we were told that having quicker editing to fit the pace of the song would have been better and making the video brighter and more eye catching.


We have therefore learnt that for next time we should play to our strengths and include a lot more stop motion and things like this to add to the pop elements of the song we had chosen as well as speeding up the cut rate so that it is more fitting the the beat and tune of the song.


Here is a video of some audience feedback we got:

2. How effective is your combination of your main product and ancillary texts (the magazine advert and CD digipak)?

We feel that the combination of our main product and ancillary texts work well together. This being that we have chosen to use images taken from the actual video to be our front and back cover of the CD case. This ensures that viewers can see the link created between the different products and that they reflect each other.

Also, we think that the images used are very powerful as they help tell the story of the song; 'foundations'. We decided to take a literal response on the cover showing the performers together but annoyed with one another on the front and then when you turn over to the back, its like you're literally turning over to reveal how the female protagonist is really feeling, which is alone and unhappy, the mise en scene of the image helps promote the feeling of isolation.

We therefore thought that we would have a more humorous take on the inside covers and use the lego figures to help do this as they represent the characters Caroline and Lilian play in the video. We also put the lyrics of the chorus across the left and right panel so that they link together. We also found that most cds have the lyrics of the songs inside so instead we thought to have a new take and use one line instead, this being; ' My finger tips are holding on to the cracks in our foundation'. By having this across the inside it helps support the song throughout the whole of the album cover and makes it a main feature of the album.

The products are also held together well through the theme of conflict. This is illustrated throughout the whole of the song as the female performer tells us all the things she dislikes about the male performer. It is also shown through the images we have chosen for our ancillary texts, as they are taken from our video. It's portrayed through the fact that they are always separated in the images taken from the video or any scenes in the video where they both appear. Specifically on the front cover as the characters are sat away from each other and although they are together in the same image, you can tell they are not happy to be there with one another. The front cover and poster show direct links to the video as they are literally taken from scenes of our video. More so, the image on the poster is from the end scene of our video so this again links back to the video.

We have also injected the theme of conflict on the inside covers as well. Even though these are not images from our video we have made sure that conflict is still portrayed in the image we have used as we have photographed the lego figures separately and have placed them on separate panels. This helps to support the on going conflict between the two characters, even in lego form. The colours used for the backgrounds are also conflicting as pink and blue usually represent the opposing genders.

1. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

As our music video is narrative, we chose to make it more original and interesting for the audience by making our own performance original though we were also strongly influenced by the performances of other videos that deal with the break down of a relationship. We were particularly influenced by 'Smile' by Lily Allen, as it contained a revealing messages of relationship failure, through a simple and hilarious performance.

We liked how the chosen colours that were evoked through the costume and landscape, coordinated with the upbeat theme of the song, but also contrasted with the seriousness of the actual lyrics. This is much like the ideas we used to create a juxtapostion between the visual and auditory aspects.

To differ our product from its original version we used our characters' costume to reveal the different moods created in different scenes. Whereas in the original version of the video, Kate Nash wears the same dress throughout the video and the characters feelings are expressed through different mediums such as the props and actions.

We decided that our female character would wear a dark green dress when she was alone, to present a feeling of loneliness and distress. However when she is in the company of the male character, who is presented in the song as the antagonist, she wears a colourful dress to highlight the way she feels around him, and to contrast her characteristics to the male character who is wearing darker clothes to show how he is not interested in the relationship between him and Caroline. We have used more mid shots than any other shots, as we believed this was the suitable shot for our product to reveal our character's body language.

This screen shot was taken from 'Smile' by Lily Allen, another song that is about the breakdown of an relationship. This video, similarly to ours has scenes in a cafe, with the couple sitting opposite each other. This shows that some of our choices of what to include as our locations would fit in with what is chosen for other pop videos.

Our music video is different to other pop music videos as we used a significant ammount of low-key lighting, specifically in the studio scenes. This is different to usual pop videos as they are usually bright and cheerful to express the upbeat mood of the songs. However we chose to downplay this typical music video view to highlight the difference between the characters attitudes towards and around each other.

Also we used other ways to highlight the humour in our video by using techniques such as stop motion. This is different to many other music videos because they dont usually have both performance and stop motion in the ways we have used them. For example this video for "It's Only Love" by The Maccabees is fully concetrated on the use of stop motion to tell the story.

Audience feedback

Overall impression

"The music video looked convincing and professional, by having an outstanding performance which revealed the story behind it. we thought that it was surely presented as a commercialised video".

3 Positive techniques

"We certainly, liked the black and white effect at the end to present a dull mood and the location in which it was performed. Secondly we thought that the stop motions was well used and made it a lot more interesting". The performance was also well done, as it explained and told the story.

What to improve

• Perhaps leave out the different colours used.


• Quick editing to fit the pace


• Make it bright and eye catching

Technical area analysis

"The editing technique through stop motions on the lemon with the writing, and on the table was well used and worked perfectly, revealing a conflicting mood between the two characters. "

Back cover done!

We have sorted the back cd cover. We believe that it looks professional and works well with the image we have chosen to base it on.
There were a few problems we came across when making it, but we overcame them. For example, the image wasn't the right size and we didn't want to stretch it because it would have made the image pix-elated. We therefore chose to find similar colours to the background and merge it in with the image. This worked very well as we had photoshop to help blur and fuse the 2 seperate layers together to create one.
To help make the cover professional we got logos of music companies, like Universal and Sony Music Entertainment and also included a bar code.

We thought that this would be a nice image for the back cover as it was off centre and looked as though the song list would fit perfectly on the left side. We also thought that having the keyboard there suggests her making music; that music being those on the song list. This therefore creates a good atmosphere on the back cover and because it is black it gives us almost a blank canvas to work from. Allowing us to add all the text in one colour making it stand out from the background. We also thought it would be nice to use this image as it is the total opposite from the front cover. It shows the other side to the characters feelings and how she really feels when she is alone. The back cover acts as though her true self is hiding behind the front cover; the outer image that she puts on and pretends that she is bright and happy.

back cover reseach

By looking at back covers we realised that most of the information is placed on the back of the cd. We also found that the most common things found on the back cover are:
-Song list
-Bar code

-Music companies

We therefore looked up the song list for Kate Nash - Made of bricks and put this on the back cover. However, we left out the inappropriate songs.

Another change of plan

We had orignally planned to do the photoshoot on Tuesday 30th November; the first lesson back after the music video deadline. However, it had snowed meaning that everything in the park will be covered in snow. This meant that we wouldn't have the nice background and scenery that we were looking for and with the deadline being next week we couldn't afford to waste time. We therefore chose to take a screen shot of the filming we already have in the park and make this our cd cover. Although it isn't the image we would of originally wanted we still managed to find a nice freeze frame which is nice and colourful, yet shows the coldness between the two characters.

Cover Inspiration

After looking on the internet at cd covers and what they commonly hold, we came across a cd cover for Oasis, which used lego figures. We have therefore looked at this and it has influenced how we are to use the lego figures on our inside covers.
We have also decided that it will have the lyrics of 'Foundations' across the inside.

Video, done and finished!

Now with the video done and finished we have 2 weeks to focus on the rest of the work that needs doing. This being the digipack and the blog. We have rescheduled the photo shoot to Tuesday 30th November. Hopefully the weather will be nice, even though its that time of year, where it is absolutely freezing!

Seeing as we already know what we want in the shot, it shouldn't take too long to get and we can be done in about 30 minutes tops.

This is our finished final piece. We believe that it shows creativity and promotes the narrative of the song well; this being the on going conflict and hatred between the two characters. We have been able to promote this image through the characters and through colour. This is reflected on the surrounding of the scene; the chosen locations, and through the choice of clothes as the female character has the two different costumes. One being brightly coloured and the other being dark and mute. The male character also wears dark clothes throughout, to show that he is the main problem between the two characters.

We have also used a variety of effects to help darken locations like in the performance room when the female character is alone. There are also locations that we have lightened to show a more upbeat and cheerful mood when both the characters are together.

This helps promote the contrasting effects throughout the whole of the video and supports the conflict with the characters.

Brainwave with regards to lego figures!

Due to not using the lego figures in the video, we had the idea of using them on our cd cover. That way it shows slight comedy on the cd cover and links in with the single scene that they are used in, during the video.
We hope to take photos of these and use them on the inside covers. We will be able to portray the personalities of the characters by editing the backgrounds and the colours to make the female figure bright and colourful, while the male figure will be dark and gloomy.

Last minute filming

After being told to refilm some of our scenes to make sure that they are up to scratch, we decided to come in on our free periods on Thursday to do the last bit of filming. We managed to get Lilians window scene re-filmed easily. We also had to film the 'friends' bit again because we were told it would look better if Caroline was in the shot as well. We therefore had to look for some boys to act as the friends. This took a bit of time, because people were reluctant to participate. But in the end, we roped in some boys to help with the scene. We have uploaded the clips on to the Mac and hope to finish editing in our frees and tomorrows lesson. Especially with it being the deadline!

Tuesday 23rd November

Today we were shown a programme called motion, where it allows you to change the effects used on the clip that you are editing. We have therefore used the piano scenes to make them look darker and give a more 'alone' effect. We have also added colour effects on certain scenes, such as the park, to make it look brighter than it was originally. Hopefully this should give the video a nice finish.

We also made a start on the cd cover. As we have already got the image of Caroline at the piano for the back cover, we have used this to work on.
We used photoshop to help edit the picture and this will allow us to include all the parts of the cd cover on top of the image, such as a barcode, stores that the cd is sold in and the song list that is usually on the back of the cover.

Thursday 18th November

Due to the long weekend, we will be missing Fridays lesson and the frees after to come back and work on our music video. We therefore made the time today to come back in our free and make up for the time we will lose.
We managed to get the stop motion of the lemons done today and fix up the rest of the music video. We had a few problems with carving into the lemon and therefore opted to write on the lemon instead. This was a lot easier for us to do without having to move the lemon much inbetween each photograph, to make the stop motion as effective as possible.
As of now we think that we have a solid piece of work and will look for any other things that we could do to make the video even better. With a week left till the deadline, we will carry on asking for peoples opinions and make sure that the video is at its best.

Today we have improved the video with effects and making changes to some parts of it. We asked for advice from peers as well as teachers to see what could be improved. Some of the things that were said was that some of the clips were on for too long. We were therefore advised to cut these clips down and use some other footage in places to help follow the tune of the song. Consequently, we went through all of our captured footage and use parts of it that we haven't already used to help add more depth to the video. We also filmed quick rushes of the performers around college, to fit in specifically with the lyrics of the song. For example, we made Lilian look as though he was 'wasted' on the stairs of college, this was a literal reflect of the lyrics; 'Your face is pasty, cause you've gone and got so wasted..' We also did some close ups of the performers faces to show the real emotions of the characters. This was quick and easy to do and very effective as it could be used anywhere in the video.

Finally, we decided to develop on the stop motion used within our video. Due to the fact that the lego people we not used in our video, we thought it'd be a good idea to use more stop motion but make it more easy for ourselves and in fitting with the tune of the song. We therefore decided that seeing as using lettering or words is the most easiest and effective way of using stop motion, it would be best if we stuck with this. In doing this we thought it would be nice to play around with the lyrics in a certain verse; this verse being verse 2 where she mentions lemons. We thought it would be a nice touch to the video.

At first we thought it would be simple if we were to just cut up the lemon in wedges and have them appear on a plate wedge by wedge, creating a pattern of some sort but we thought it would be much more effective to have the lemon written on or carved into with the word 'bitter' on it to relate to the song.

Change of Plans

We were meant to go out to the park to take pictures for the cd cover and poster but we decided with the deadline for the music video vastly approaching, it would be better off to spend this time making the video as good as it could be. More so, with the fact that the cd cover and poster deadline being a few weeks after, it is more important that we use the time that we have left to concentrate on the video and making sure we don't waste this time doing other things we can do later on, after the video is done and out of the way.

CD Cover Plans

We have decided that we would have a photo shoot on Tuesday 16th, this will allow us to get pictures of the characters for the cover of our CD. As mentioned before, we are inspired by one of the scenes in the video and would like to develop the idea through to the cd cover. This would mean going back to the location; this being the park, and taking photos of the characters till we have the right shot.

As you can see, the weather for Tuesday will be misty and foggy. However, this will work well with the cover as it will help show the feelings of the performer. This relates to pathetic fallacy, being that the weather and surroundings help illustrate the feelings of the character. It will set a nice mood to the scene against the autumnal leaves that will sit brightly in the background, behind the characters.

Finally have a filled timeline!

We have finally filled our timeline. We will now edit the areas that need it and make sure that all the transitions and lip syncing is on point. We will also add some effects that will fit to the beat of the tune to make the video more exciting.

Poster ideas

As we are all aware that our music video needs a poster as a technique to attract the audience and combine with the CD cover, we have all come up with several ideas in order to make our poster as affective as possible and hopefully portray the message we are trying to reveal through out video and CD cover.

The most obvious and most relevant technique we are looking to use is both of our characters as an element to illustrate the theme of the video, which in this case is the conflict in happening in their relationship. Although not decided yet, we are assuming to make it this "relationship conflict" as obvious as possible through their facial expression, body language and mise en scene features such as costume and location. What these elements will then leed us to do next is decide what colour will correspond well with theme of our sound track and the image of our two characters. One other of the idea considered is having both of our characters standing next to each other but having a line in between them reinforced by colours to show their personality depending on the side their standing e.g right bright lighting for the female and darker lighting for the male character.

Basic information also has to be implied on the poster e.g name of the song, when it came out, logo of the production company, people who took part in the formation of the product etc. What would be considered as a challenging task as we are making this poster is how we decide to make it appear in order to make it appealing enough to gain attention from a wide audience and our main target audience which are more likely to be teenagers and young adults from from the age of 16 to 25. What has inspired us to come up with what we have come up with is the background used whilst filming in the park. Here we see fallen tree leafs and other factors such as murky weather, which all sums up to present a desolate and lonely image, which once again corresponds with the theme.

Other than that we have also been researching how we can make this poster. Heres where we have been looking as a resource ;

http://www.blogger.com/www.ehow.co.uk/how_6670136_make-a3-poster.html

CD Cover and Poster Ideas

Due to the fact that the narrative of the song is mainly focused on the two characters and their differences, we thought it might be a good idea to show this through the cd cover and poster.

Some ideas that we have come up with are to have the front of the cd cover showing both the characters together and having the female singer alone in the back. This would help portray the 2 sides of the female performers feelings and reflects how she feels in the different situations.

We were inspired by the freeze frame of our rushes that we had filmed. We liked the lighting used and how the main focus of the image wasn't specifically in the center. This would allow room for the song list at the back. The keyboard also suggests music, as though the artist has played all these songs on her keyboard and the her being alone also suggests that she has played them for herself.

We also liked the background and the way this picture is framed. We decided that we would take a picture of both the characters in this location either stood next to each other, or having them part from each other but having the female singer as the main focus.

For example, the female character could be stood at the front and there could be images of the male character stood in hte background by the trees.

This would help show that even though he is not the main focus of the album, he is still there and in it.

Unfortunate for the lego figures

Unfortunately we have not used any of the lego figure stop motion. The reason for this being is that the lego figures jump too much from each photograph. For this to work well, we need to photograph them moving very little amount each time. Therefore with this being very time consuming, tricky to get done and only needing it for a few seconds of the video, we have decided to scrap this idea. However, we have still used one of the pictures in the video and haven't dismissed the lego figures as a whole.

Developing Further Ideas of Stop Motion

We have thought to use more stop motion in the video as it is very effective and in fitting with the song. We have decided that it would be nice to have a couple of dolls or figures that represent the 2 characters in the video. This will help portray the emotions and actions of the characters in a more comedic way and will help give another dimension to the video.

After having a rummage around our homes, Caroline had found some lego figures which were very fitting with the characters; clothes wise. We thought that they would be easy to work with as they are small enough to photograph and are easily manipulated to show the figures walking or sitting etc. Caroline therefore went to take a series of photo's of the lego figures slowly moving away from each other and showing negativity towards each other. However, once they were uploaded and put on a time line, they didn't work well as the frame wasn't the same in every photo taken, meaning that as it showed the next picture, not only were the lego figures moving, but so were the backgrounds. Caroline had to go and take the pictures again, using the tripod this time to make sure they stayed in the same frame and only the lego figure were to move.

Tuesday 9th November

Today we have done some more filming to fill in some of the gaps and to make sure we have enough to work with. We spent this time filming in various places around college, simple yet affective rushes. These will only be used every now and again throughout the video, so that they aren't too obvious about being on college grounds.

We therefore took a quick argument scene between the 2 characters on the stairs of college. It was hard to get a quiet few minutes for filming as the stairs are commonly used to students around college, however, we put up with it and made use of the stairs during lesson time, which meant they weren't as busy as they would be during frees and lunch hours.

Caroline's Piano Practice

We have edited a video of Caroline practicing the opening sequence of the foundations video on the piano.

Friday 5th November

Today we captured the previous filming we had done and edited it into our video. We made sure that the lip syncing was on point and that the parts of the filming we used fit in with the lyrics and tune of the song. We feel as though we are working at a steady pace and with only a few areas left to fill on the time line we will soon be making adjustments and changes to make it a better music video.

Tuesday 2nd November

We had booked the performance room in advance so that we could re film some of the scenes of Caroline preforming on the keyboard. We made sure we had all the different shots; long shot, mid-long shot and close up. We made sure that the lighting and positioning of the keyboard were exactly the same as the previous time we filmed in here to make sure that you couldn't tell the difference from the separate times and so there isn't a noticeable jump between the 2 different clips, if they are to be used next to each other.

We also thought it would be good to use this time in here to film some 'lonely' shots of the performers. We took quick rushes of the characters sat in the middle of the empty room with nothing but the black walls behind to surround them. This helped emphasise the loneliness the characters were feeling and allowed them to sit, stand and walk around nothing but a chair and the black walls to keep them company.

CD Cover Research

Today we have researced into Kate Nash's style of CD covers and other covers in the same and similiar genres of music. Kate Nash's previous covers seem to be simple hand-drawn themed drawings against a white or cream coloured background, the song title often is in the bottom right corner and follows a similair style as the artwork. As shown in the CD Cover for the Kate Nash "Foundations" CD Case.

This style of artwork for CD covers is very unique to Kate Nash in the music industry as no other Artists use such simple artwork in their covers making it stand out signifcantly.


Another CD cover I found was very simple and had little artwork used on it, but the colour scheme made it appear very attractive and eye catching, but basic design. The white text clearly stands out against the transiting background of turquoise to black, making it much more noticeable and readable even at far distances. The design appears to use little material and designed not to use the traditional plastic CD cases that most artists commonly use.

Other types of CD covers that are often used for pop music tend to be a close up picture of the singers face with a simple background. This is a more modern type of CD cover, and is easily recognised by potential buyers because of the picture of the singer. We have decided for the back cover of our CD case will be a picture of Caroline sat at the piano. The picture will be separated by the rule of thirds, with Caroline sat on the far right. Along the left side of the case will state the names of the songs on the CD. The colours on this part of the case will be quite minimal as it is a picture taken during the performance part of our video, which is when all the colours are quite dull to reflect Caroline's real feelings.

Costumes

For the female performer we have put her in a floral dress to show happiness and joy. This is to show the different emotion while she is with the male character while she hides her real feelings of sadness to herself and when she is alone.

We have put the male character in dark mute colours. This reflects the personality of the character and is the total opposite of the female character. It also helps promote the on going conflict between the two performers and makes it obvious through costume to the audience that they don't get along.

Update - Filming

Today, we filmed some additional scenes in a local café near college, the scenes included a mid-shot of the preformer and a over the shoulder shot. In addition, to this we also took some photographic images to be used for 'Stop Motion' and filmed some hand held scenes to help the people watching the music video empathise with the performers and their emotions.

Before hand, we requested permission on Tuesday and booked a time slot during the Friday lesson, in doing this we had to speak with the manager to make sure we could go ahead and use the cafe area this resulted in receiving permission to do so.

Stop Motion

We found this video on YouTube and thought it was put together really well. We enjoyed the stop motion used in the areas of this video and felt really inspired to use it similarly in our own music video. The smooth transitions of each frame shows no distinct or obvious jumps throughout the video and holds well together to relate to the song. Hopefully the stop motion we use in our video works just as well as this.

Research on Stop Motion Animation

As a group we came up with the idea to use Stop Motion in order to increase realism in our music video. Influenced by one of the videos from the previous year, we decided that our music should also have Stop Motion in order to portray certain attitudes and emotions of our characters.

This is what we found, when researching Stop Motion with Final Cut Pro, this is the site we found the information regarding the Stop Motion Animation on:

http://www.geniusdv.com/news_and_tutorials/2010/09/stop_motion_animation_with_final_cut_pro.php

We therefore found that in using stop motion, we would have to take a number of photographic images of what we wanted the stop motion to be of and that each photograph would show the objects moving slightly. This would result into a 'flip book' of photographs, effectively working like a flip book to create stop motion.

Filming Room Scenes

Over the weekend, Caroline took home the video camera and filmed some scenes around the home. The tripod allowed her to film independently as she could set it up and film the scenes needed. A variety of shots where filmed, from long shot to close ups, this of which will accommodate the numerous shots needed in the music video. The scenes around the home help portray the emotions of the performer as she is alone in all these scenes and therefore show that the male performer is no where to be seen.

Hair and Make up

Having that we are doing a music video for Kate Nash's song Foundations, we thought that it would only make sense to have the performer to relate back to her. We have therefore kept the hair and make up in relevance to Kate Nash meaning that even though we are making a new take on her video we are still keeping the element of Kate Nash through the hair and make up of the performer. Consequently, we have looked at images of Kate and have found that her make up is very simple, she doesn't over use make up or apply it outrageously and doesn't use it as a trademark. For example, Lady Gaga, who would use make up to do herself up and is known for her outrageous style.

The hair again, is very simple, however, we found that she often wears her hair down in its natural waves. We have therefore made sure that Caroline curls her hair before recording as she has naturally straight hair.

Costume For Opening Sequence

This is the costume for the opening sequence. We decided that as it would be a performance of the character playing on the keyboard, it would be nice for her to dress smart casual, as if she were performing to a watching audience. We also thought that by keeping the colours dark, helped portray the characters feelings when she is alone, as opposed to the contrasting dresses she will be wearing when she is out with the male character. This gives the idea that the brightly coloured clothes hide her true feelings. The clothes do this by making a statement through colour which gives no reference to the opposing emotion, of which she really feels.

Tuesday 12th October

For the first sequence of our music video, we have decided to use the performance room so that we can control the lighting to create an alone atmosphere. By having the black walls as the background makes it more dramatic and adds more depth to the emotion of the character we are trying to portray. This of which being lonely and sad.

Also, the performance room has enabled us to use 3 cameras at one time. Allowing us to film at 3 different angles and shots in one take. We therefore saved a bit of time whilst doing this, as we didn't need to film all the different shots separately.