Band And Amp Mock Up

I have created this mock up using four images, the amp, the ash tray, an image of an indie style band and the typography. I feel the typography over a black and white style imagery works really effectively. I also like the imperfection of the image of the band.

CD Covers similar to those of my idea

After discussing cd covers with Mr Ford of which i can draw inspiration from to develop my ideas, i have created this short animoto showing the covers that i have found inspiring.

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Stiff Little Fingers Artwork

Stiff Little Fingers are the same style of genre as our band. They were signed to the same record label and give off the same image that they are rebellious and outside the norm. The albums below are of black and white iconic images with the same contrasting red text. Even though the band are from the 80's Punk Era they represent similar ideologies to the band.

CD Front Cover Mock-Up

I started off by taking a photograph of the scrabble letters laid out on my desk. However once I started trying to edit, I realised that the colour of the desk made it incredible difficult to cut around the letters easily. I then decided to put the letters onto yellow paper to photograph...






I found this method much easier due to the difference in the colour of the letters and the paper. I used the magic lasso tool, eraser, and smudge tool. However the edges still weren't perfect, this is something I would spend more time on if I decided to use this idea for my final product. Here is a printscreen of me editing on Photoshop:



With a photograph of a Union Jack from google I put this together:




I will try another version where I will simply lay out the letters on a flag, however I quite like this version. It's simple but still shows my skills on photoshop well and portrays the band in a way that I like. I have a few more ideas that I would like to mock up and try out but at the minute I'm very pleased with this. I would also make sure that the lighting was the same on each piece as the current lighting makes it look less smooth and professional.

Mock Up Union Jack

This is a photoshop mock up of my union jack idea. I have cut out pictures of The Libertines heads instead of those of The Likely Lads for this mock up. I have used the same typography that i have created, that i intend to use for my final piece on a different background. I don't feel the text works well on the band dates as it does contrast with the main typography but doesn't suit the band style.

Plan for Photoshoot

As Joe (Lead singer of the Likely Lads) has a busy schedule, my designs are limited to not feature close ups of the band or just the singer. My favourite design is of the band playing a warm up set in a bedroom style location. What i plan to do is to use my friends wearing suitable attire but facing away from the camera which is what i planned to do anyway. I am going to look around my college today for suitable locations and then try and do the photoshoot on Monday.

What To Do Now

Now that our final music video is finished, we are now working on our ancillary products which include a Digi-Pak and a Poster which advertises a gig/album/tour. Myself and Maz are working seperately on this task as our music video has shown that we have differing views and that our ideas are not expressed equally when we work together.

Gig Posters

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I have compiled this animoto to show various gig posters from our chosen genre and others. From analysing these posters i can see the main features are to:

Use the Album Cover (Guns n Roses)
Keep the same typography of the band(Morrisey)
Keep the same colour scheme is promoting an album (The Smiths)
Many use bold fonts
Always use contrasting colours to stand out
An iconic image usually takes up the top two thirds.

Likely Lads Typography

I have created this typography separately to the cd cover as i can easily change this around and implement this into my other ancillary products. This design is similar to that of the Libertines and was achieved by using Times New Roman in bold and in various sizes. I then placed this font over various sized black boxes using the shape tool.

I am going to edit this design later on so that the edges look worn. I will try and do this by using my graphics tablet and the subract tool.

Next...

Now that my video is done (or should be) I intend to move on to my ancillary products. I have firstly mocked up some sketches of my digipak which I have posted on the blog. Today I also put together a photoshop of the union jack/scrabble idea which I really like and think could work really well. I intend to analyse some CD covers and band posters, look into font and typography, take my photographs, photoshop more mock ups and just get on with it! I haven't done as much work on this so far as I'd like to as I've been struggling to get the filming/editing for the video done but now I look forward to really getting on with it as providing I can get the band or at least Joe back for some photos, I have some really good ideas. Dan and I have decided to do the ancillary tasks seperately as we both have quite different ideas and it would be nice to work alone as we didn't work very well together on the main task. I will post the video as well as my photoshopped front cover later on.

Final Draft!

What I am hoping will be the final draft of the music video is now rendering! When this is finished I am going to post it on youtube, get any last bits of feedback, then restoryboard the video and make a new shot list to include the newer shots and footage. I have tried to make sure everything is the same colour, the performance is faster, bathroom scenes drag out less etc. I have also included some new footage so hopefully this will look really good when it's finished. Hopefully I won't have to change anything else before tomorrow! I am quite pleased with the final draft and proud that I managed to get it done this evening on my own.

Filming Tuesday

BOWIE


Me and Owain filmed ourselves dancing to make it look as though we were at the gig and when I edited this it worked really well.


Filming shots of the union jack flags.


We set up the beer cans/bottles to film to make it look like it was part of the gig scenes.

Filming on Tuesday went really well. I've now edited the drum stop motion, the new footage into the verse, and the ending. This means that the final draft is very near completion! I believe it is much better than the first draft and it will be successful. The narrative makes much more sense now, the bathroom scenes are faster, and the performance is also faster and more interesting. The shots of people having fun also makes it look more convincing.

Filming Thursday

Filming on Thursday went very well. Firstly I made sure that the attic looked exactly as it did on the day that we first filmed - Mattress bare, clothes rail away etc. I then filmed a series of clips in which each drum sets up, the flag appears at the back, and then Bale appears at the drums to start drumming to the beat at the beginning. As Aidan filmed on Thursday this was all I managed to get done other than some drum close ups, however I believe I was successful and that I can incorporate the drum into part of Joe's bathroom scene as a stop motion. This will make Joe's scene shorter and therefore it will drag out much less.

Mock-Up Sketches

This design would go behind the CD. It would be a photograph of an ashtray - preferably a Union Jack ashtray - with a smoking cigarette in it. I like this idea because it is simple and straightforward but also represents the band and lifestyle well.



This would be a photograph of the band either playing or rehearsing with their instruments. The
song names would go underneath the photograph in a simple font, making the band the most important part of this section.


This would go on the front cover. It's a simple design with the band title spelt out in scrabble pieces on a union jack with two cigarettes at the side. Again it is simple but represents the band well. Rather than setting up a flag, scrabble pieces and cigarettes I think I would photograph each part seperately then photoshop them together.



This would be a photograph of the four band members in front of a union jack. It is again very simple and would perhaps go on the back cover of the CD insert.

This design would go on the front cover of the digipak. I believe that I would either draw this design and go over the details on the computer, or take a photo of someone's mouth smoking and then photoshop the words into the smoke. This could be difficult but if I did it well it would show my skills.

Mike Klay

Mike Klay, born in Seattle. He has created Gig Posters for the likes of Ladytron, Camera Obscura and Death Cab For Cutie. His designs feature a child like and anime style to them. He draws inspiration from nature in his designs.



I love how small the image is in this artwork. It has used very contrasting colours to emphasise the importance of the fumes from the nuclear factory. He matches these colours with the name of the band, to draw a significance to the importance of the two objects. On the negative side this could suggest that the band is the cause of the fumes and would create negative tension. I also like how Mike Klay has a sophisticated layout of the dates but keeps a more relaxed approach by using a middle style of font instead of using a box style.



This is my most favourite design as it confuses the mind. The illusion works by trying to figure out the position of the band name in the centre. On the text there is the band members standing on the top in different positions to confuse the audience even more. I like the idea of only using two colours which contrast well and how there is a contrasting watermark background.



In this design i love the different patterns use to colour the objects. As their are only 2 colours used, this makes a way of differing the objects without the image appearing to complex. I dont like how the information at the bottom is not central as it ruins the sophistication of the piece.



I love the rural aspect of this artwork. The picture tells a story and is in a great depth of detail. The colours blend well are suitable for this style of band. I also like how the image is over the whole page but differs in intensity. I love how the artwork has a border relating to the imagery aswell.

Emek

Emek is a famous artist in the poster designing world, he has worked for the likes of The Mars Volta, The Pixies and Coheed and Cambria. His designs have depth, focused typography and vibrance. He is known for reforming the rock music poster scene. His work is so well known and detailed that it is shown in galleries across the world.




Having this image centrally works well and how the typopgrahy is at different sizes to highlight the more important information. I also like how the image covers the whole height of the picture. What would work better is if the dates of the concert were in a different colour to the name of the band as it is hard to differentiate at a quick glance.



I like how different this artwork is, it is formed like a comic book, telling a very short story. I also like how the typography matches the imagery and how the colour's used are basic but the red highlights the significant information in the image.



What i like about this artwork is how centralised the image is, this works really well and forms a more sophisticated image. I also like how detailed the buildings are and how the colour scheme works accordingly.



From this image i really like the typography used and how it is formed into the art work. What i dont think works well is how there is no conclusive information in a clear font, as the typography although creative. is quite difficult to read.

Posters

Typically posters include both text and visual elements although entirely visual or entirely text pieces do exist. In designing posters the main focus is to be eye catching and to put across information. The general use of posters is to appeal to a young audience as they are mainly found in teenagers bedrooms. Or the more confined and selective pieces in a modern home.

Main Aspects to consider are:
Typography
Colour
Imagery
Layout
Relations to the Genre

Contacting Rough Trade Records

I have also emailed Emma Lomas, who is in charge of issuing permission to use tracks from the Rough Trade Archive.

Request to use Can't Stand Me Now

Cant Stand Me Now

I have completed the official form from Rough Trade Records website for use of their songs for a school project.

Band Poster Research

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This is my research into band posters produced on animoto, i have researched a wide variety of posters that will inspire me as my band isn't confined to one particular genre.

Likely Lads Drum Vinyl

I have created a band vinyl to place onto front drum skin. I have used 2D design to create the outline which is sent to CAM-1, which i operated in the schools D.T block. The Vinyl has a sticky back so can be easily placed and removed from the drum skin. As it was late notice they only had limited colours of vinyl, from yellow, blue, red and white, i chose red as it was the best representation of the band.

Discussion into Digipak

Discussing with Mr.Ford, myself and maz, we have come up with different ways we could portray our band. We are trying not to include an image of the whole band on the front cover but an individual member is a possibility. The most probable option so far is a layout that i thought up of a guitar amp in the bottom left hand corner in focus with an ash tray. Then on the right hand side we see the band out of focus but in a practise session. This can work really well as the editing can be arranged in a set order and the band could easily create these positionings.

Shot List

Midshot - Argument
Over the Shoulder - Joe's face
Over the Shoulder - Georgy's face
Midshot - Argument
Over the Shoulder - Joe's face
Midshot - Argument
Over the Shoulder - Joe's face
Over the Shoulder - Georgy's face
Over the Shoulder - Joe's face
Midshot - Argument
High Angle - Joe's head in hands
Side/Mid Shot - Joe's head in hands
High Angle - Joe looking down
Midshot - Putting hands to feet
Close Up - Putting shoes on
Midshot - From side, putting shoes on
Long Shot - Getting up
Mid/high Angle - Going down stairs
Mid shot - Looking in mirror
Close up - Joe's face
Mid shot - Hands in sink
Close up - cigarettes
Mid shot - grabs cigarettes
Midshot - Puts cigarette in his mouth
Mid shot - Smoking in mirror
Mid/close up - His face
Mid shot - Joe in the mirror
Close up - Drum
Left side - Band
Right side - band
Close up - Joe
Left side - Band
Long shot - Crowd and band
Close up - Bass
Right side - Band
Close up - Joe
Left side - Band
Long shot - Band and crowd
Left side - Band
Mid shot - Guitarist
Close up - Joe
Close up - Photo frame
Midshot - Georgy's face
Close up - Frame, hand grabs it
Mid shot - Georgy
Mid shot - Georgy in the mirror
Mid/side shot - Putting mascara on
Mid shot - In the mirror
Close up - Putting lipstick on
Close up - Putting boots on
Mid shot - Stands up
Pan as she leaves the room
Close up - Drum
Close up - Joe
Left - Band
Close up - Joe
Left side - Band
Long shot - Band and crowd
Long shot - Georgy comes in
Mid shot - Georgy and Joe
Long shot - Band and crowd
Close up - Joe and Georgy
Long shot - Joe and Georgy
Close up - Joe and Georgy
Mid shot - Harmonica
Close up - Harmonica
Mid shot - Joe playing
Close up - Harmonica playing
Mid shot - Playing
Mid shot - Band. Song ends.

Digipak Research and Ideas

The most that is usually featured in a digipak is:

Front
Usually an image of the band, famous artwork, connotations of the band.

Spine
The name of the album, the bands logo, matching colour scheme

Back
Sometimes the front cover but at a different perspective.

Membership postcard/flier
Doesn't have to match the colour scheme but will feature the band logo/name and photo of the band.

Lyric section
Matching colour scheme, usually detailed background like stained paper, clip board e.t.c. Depending on the style of the case the lyrics can be printed on the back of the cd indent, if the case is cardboard and is only one unit.

Disk impression
Doesn't have to match colour scheme, sometimes is the image from the front cover. The image shouldn't be that important as the image can be covered by the smaller circle in the middle of the disk impression.

Band info section/booklet
This is usually following the same theme and colours as the front cover, it usually features previous albums, singles, the early life of the band, influences and sometimes a "we would like to thank" section.

Free image/poster
This can be either the front cover image (Paramore, Brand New Eyes), a picture of the band in the style of the cd fron cover (My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade) or it can be of the band in a totally different situation (Biffy Clyro, Puzzle).

From researching into Digipaks and CD covers, i have found that the majority of Digipaks are in a cardboard style case with a injection moulded polystyrene cd insert.

Filming

On Thursday I got a couple of the band members back to film some scenes. Firstly I filmed what will become the stop motion of the room setting itself up - each part of the drum appears, then the flag behind the drums, and then the drummer appears to drum on the beat. I might have this at the start of the performance or mix it into the bathroom scene to make it faster and more interesting, however I'll see what works best when I edit the footage. We had intended to have a vinyl sticker with the band name on the drum to make it look more like a real band, however Dan didn't make this so I had to make do and just have the plain drums. On Sunday I will also film close ups of the band playing the instruments, the flags, set lists, beer bottles etc to mix up the band footage. The new narrative when the editing has been done will be simply that Joe and Georgy argue, he wakes up afterwards and goes out to party. This represents the image and the rock and roll lifestyle we are trying to show. I will put up filming photos later.

Inspiration

I found this video of a selection of album covers on YouTube. I chose to put this on my blog as it gives a different perspective than mine on what makes a good album cover. Some of the covers used such as Nirvana i have also analysed.

Books of Albion

For my first album cover mock-up I took inspiration from the cover of Pete Doherty's book. The cover is simplistic with a simple hand drawn sketch in the centre - I have tried to emulate this with my sketch of Joe which we could eventually use for our album art. Although it is a book rather than a CD cover I think this artwork could work really well on a CD. However I was thinking that the sketch itself could be simplistic and rough but the font would be simpler and sharper on a colourful background - the union jack flag, for example. I think this idea could also create enigma as the audience would wonder what the album was about and what the picture meant or who it was of. However by highlighting and detailing certain aspects of the picture - Joe's cigarette, hair and shirt - hopefully our audience would be able to realise straight away who the picture was of.

A mock-up...

On paper I sketched two potential CD cover ideas. We'd discussed having a sketch of Joe or somebody else on our cover as this is similar to the front cover of Pete Doherty's book Books of Albion (I will blog about this seperately) and after mocking it up I've come to like the idea. Obviously if we chose to use this as a final idea or a draft we would scan in the sketch and add the writing (and maybe the flag) on with photoshop. This is because I don't think we can achieve the same sort of impact if everything looks sketchy. The way I've written the letters here could work well on our front cover as they are all over the place, however I like the idea of small simple lettering in a corner - making the artwork the focal point of the cover. I sketched Joe with both a pencil and pen and decided pencil works better as it looks rougher. I could however use a darker pencil for the final product as this would make it stand out more. Some things I like about the way I have sketched Joe is firstly the way that I have paid more attention to the 'important' parts of him. You cannot see his face but there is detailing to his hair, shirt, and the cigarette in his mouth. This paints an image of him without you seeing who he is which is perhaps what our lead singer (and Pete Doherty) would like to achieve in their life. I will redraft this properly soon and consult with Dan, peers and teachers to see if this would work well as a final draft.

CD Cover Thoughts

I think that in the next couple of weeks we will aim to get the rest of the band together for some photo shoots. I'm also going to get some photographs of Joe alone as I believe this could work better on a front cover than the entire band. If neither of these ideas work we will either go in the direction of a more abstract, arty, unrelated front cover, or something extremely simple - just the band name and album title on a plain background or a union jack, for example.

BAND COVER IDEAS:
Sat around, rehearsing. Relaxed atmosphere.
More posed, with instruments.

JOE COVER IDEAS:
Head down, smoking.

ABSTRACT IDEAS:
Band name spelt out on beer bottles.
Taking drugs.
Name and album title on a flag.
Rough sketch of the band or Joe.
Old photographs.
Scrabble letters.

At home tonight I can start work on mock-ups of the sketch idea, scrabble, writing on a flag etc. This should be quite easy to mock up and then if we choose an idea we can polish it.

Plans for Improvements

Firstly I have created another draft of the video. I kept the argument, getting ready and bathroom scene the same but then cut out Georgy from the band and cut out her narrative part. This means that the rest of the video is band for 2 minutes which could be boring, but I cut shots of the band and long shots of the crowd with close ups of Joe, side shots of the band, and close ups of the band and instruments to mix it up and make it more visually exciting. I also have more footage planned to film on Thursday with 2 of the band members. For the very start of the first chorus I plan on filming shots of the room setting up. This will include fast stop motion of the flags appearing one by one, the parts of the drums appearing, and the other instruments appearing. This will make it more interesting, create a better atmosphere and show more of our skills. I also intend to make set lists and include close ups of these, beer bottles, cigarettes etc - just items in the room in order to create a more gig style atmosphere.I'm also going to attempt to film girls dancing to mix in with the footage to show people having fun at the gig.

Teacher Feedback

Its hard to get beyond the fact that the song is a duet between two men and thats theres frequent references to drugs like heroin (the brown). With only one character singing both lines of the song the vocals doesn't make sense, until the girl joins in but this doesn't work well with the sounds of two men.

Main Character fits in with the genre. Styling is good
Shots in bedroom are framed well
Blurred shot is used well (the stair shot is not really needed)
Bathroom shots are too long, needs some sort of pace
Cigarettes are "cheap" not very rock n roll to smoke Mayfair
Band elements work reasonably well, shots framed quite well, Lighting is an issue, seems too dark
Drummer needs to hit the drums harder
Would have made sense to have the song about two mates

Elements need to be re-filmed or its very hard to improve further.

Level 2/3. 23 marks. Basic/Proficient.


Acting upon this feedback, we need to re-film the live band shots but some existing shots like the close ups can still be used. We can get away filming most of the shots with only the band as the shots we need are mainly close ups. We should use footage of the drummer in the daytime so noise is not an issue. We also need more ideas for the start of the song which can then be used at a balanced pace to shorten the bathroom shots.

Feedback.

In our lesson on Tuesday we watched our music video back and the class wrote down feedback and things for us to improve on. Overall there were things that stuck out in everybody's feedback, such as the fact that it was slow in parts and Georgy's lip syncing isn't as good as Joe's. I have compiled 2 lists including the good and bad points from everybody:

THINGS THAT WERE GOOD:
Joe's lip syncing and acting.
Good mise-en-scene.
Fast argument scene at start.
Location is right - and good changing it and adding things to the background to fit the song.
Band work well together, realistic.
Lighting is good for argument/Joe's scenes.
The way Georgy and Joe's scenes are similar works well.
Harmonica at the end fits really well.

THINGS TO CHANGE:
Edit to make the whole thing lighter and to have the same level of light throughout.
Speed up the pace or make the editing faster to fit the song.
Georgy's acting and lip syncing is stiff - change, edit differently, or refilm without her.
Actors need to interact with the camera?
Make Joe's scenes faster or shorter.

To overcome our problems and in order to get a higher level, I am firstly attempting to re-edit the footage, to make it lighter, faster, and to work around Georgy's issues. However I have also sent a message to the 'band' to find out when they are free and hopefully to arrange to refilm some footage. If I can't get them all together then we're stuck but can hopefully find a way around it. I will also take photos of the band if we get them together in order to use in the ancillary tasks.

Typography

Star Face Font
This font represents our genre as it looks worn and rough, it shows a rebellious attitude but is still readable. On the other hand i feel that the text looks very multi-genre and could be seen as gangster-rap or techno, this is not the look i am trying to go for as i want the text to be bold, recogniseable and very distinct.





Newton Hand
Typography representing the indie genre is easily portrayed using this text. It can be commonly found on the more civilised indie band appealing to an adult target market. This font can easily be used for the name of the album but would not consistently resemble our bands style.





Herman Decanus
This gothic style font suffers from the same problem as the star face font in that it could work to fit the genre but is not defiable. It is not perfect for our genre but could work in collaboration with the font of the band.





Boston Traffic
I love this font as it shows a true urban feel, it reminds me of a strong american link. This could suit the style of our band as we want to appeal to an urban audience but we want our band to appear relatively brittish. This would work well over a destroyed sign or a city style backdrop.





Art Nouveau Caps
I like how this font has a double layer as it gives a different perspective enhancing the audience to see the detail of the font. What i don't like is how old fashioned the font looks, it would work with the aims of the band but it doesnt suit the nature of the band as it gives a smart and respectable look which is not what the band looks like.





Abuso
I think this is the best option to use for our font, it looks rough and harsh and features a mistaken but identifiable underline, this draws emphasis to this lettering which would be important for an album cover. The only negative element is that the background would need to be a plain white or a aged white to emphasise the style of the font.





Abiscuos
This font fits perfectly with our genre as it covers a rough edge to the indie style of music. Although it can easily be mistaken for a Heavy Metal / Screamo style. I also like how this style of font is still easily readable while still looking rough.





A Font For The Computer People
This font is an even mix between looking presentable and indie but still looking rough and rebellious. Like previous fonts, this one has to be especially careful about the backdrop as especially the "F"s looks very thin which would not contrast well against a dark coloured background. But if the background suited the font then this would be the ideal font to use. It is better to choose the album artwork over the font as this is the more visual element that would make the most impact.





A Drink For All Ages
This is my least favourite font, it doesn't really fit the band but fits the indie genre perfectly. This shows how our band isn't conventional to a particular style, which needs to be considered when choosing styles and font. What i like about this font though is that it varies in rotation so that it doesn't follow a set pattern, meaning the image can work being distorted.





3 Grammes 5
This is my favourite font, it has a nice balance between sophistication, aged and gothic. I feel this works well as it would suit the rebellious style of our genre but have a sense of class which represents Pete Doherty who although takes alot of drugs and has a rough lifestyle, he still dresses smart. I especially like how the text varies in size and rotation as it gives a sense of urgency which suits the genre and the audience would question the meaning behind the text.