Planning/Drafting for Album Advert

 In these drafting posts I will be presenting the ongoing progress of my album advert poster.  This is how my advert currently looks. As you can see, at the moment it is very simple and only includes the basic features of an advert. I have included the album's name as well as the artist plus the reviews and how the album can be purchased. For my advert, I used a simple layout before to help me the presentation.

Production Diary

 This week I am happy with my progress as I have managed to complete all my research tasks. I recently looked into the rock genre as well as the influence rock had over the years. It was interesting to learn about how the different styles of rock music came about, as well as the rock icons at the time and the influence it had on society. Now that I have completed these tasks on my blog, I can focus on my music video, digipak and album poster. Then the planning posts should be a lot more easier to complete as I can record my progress and planning as I go along.

 This week I also filmed using the green screen. This is one of the most important aspects that I wanted to include in my video. I generally think the filming went well and I was able to gain some good footage. I also think I took a large amount of footage so I will be able to have a wide choice when it comes down to editing. Having filmed the scenes with the green screen for my music video, means I have completed all my filming - apart from any re-shoots that I may have to do later on.

 I have now started editing in class, which has proved to be difficult already - mostly because it is very time-consuming. I have started by organising all my footage in folders on the left hand side on Adobe Premiere. Now I am going through each clip and selecting the footage I want to be at the beginning of my music video. I am also continuing with my album poster by adding more specific information such as the ratings and reviews.

Behind the scenes photos from the green screen footage: 

Audience Research

 Audience research will help me with my music video as while I am creating my video, I will constantly refer back to my research so I meet the demands of my audience. Specific research I have also discovered such as the charts about what my audience would prefer within the video and the digipak will also help me a great deal when going ahead with these tasks. I will take on their advice regarding the narrative and performance in the music video, the image based didpak etc.

Influence of Music Style

 Learning about the influences of music styles (specifically surrounding the rock genre) will help me with my music video as it has given me ideas of how to display the rock genre. I have also learnt about the history of rock and the famous rock artists during each decade.

Research into the Rock Genre

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  This post will help me with my music video as it will teach me about the rock genre which is the genre of my chosen song. I can take this extra research into account when creating my video, but I also believe this vital information will also help me with my other two ancillary tasks to create a typical rock-looking digipak and album advert.

Production Diary

 This week my main priority has been filming my music video. The other day I was fortunate enough to film in one of the drama studios at my school. Here I was able to film my artist’s performance of the song. This involved the artist singing to the camera however there was no dancing involved as my song is a slow ballad. I believe the lighting was one of the most important things as by altering the lighting I was able to create different effects. In some shots I was even able to create a silhouette of my artist however in the majority of shots, all the lighting was focused on her so the footage looked high quality and it was clear she was the main focus.

 On Friday, I also went to London to film a time lapse with Vanessa (the artist in my video). It was quite difficult due to it being winter and it getting dark very early however I am happy with the footage I got. The filming was very simple as Vanessa only needed to sit on a bench for a length of time. However, if there does appear to be huge problems with the lighting due to it being dark, I may have to go to London again to re-shoot.

 I have also started to produce my other ancillary task – my magazine advert. In class we looked at previous examples as well as what makes an effective album advert. I found this extremely helpful when I first starting to create the template of my album advert for the The Pretty Reckless album ‘Light Me Up’.he filming was very simple as Vanessa only needed to sit on a bench for a length of time. s a slow ballad. y for the audience.s

Production Diary

 This week I posted the proposal for my music video. This included the ideas behind my video such as the heartbreak story, the props and the different locations. Of course I was aware of these ideas long ago, but by posting my pitch, I can now take on board these ideas for future filming as I am yet to complete all the filming for my video.

 I also analysed the lyrics of my chosen song. I went into a lot of detail as I feel this specific song is very emotional even if the song is quite short and repetitive. By doing this, I will be able to look back at the PowerPoint I created in order to think of more ideas for my music video and to get the message of the lyrics across in a stronger way for the audience.

Analysis of Song Lyrics

Lyrical Analysis from chelseaharper

 This will help me with my music video as it will help me work out how I can present these lyrics on screen. For example, as the meaning of these lyrics are quite emotional and powerful, this presentation will help me with the type of emotions I want my artist to show when I film my video. I also believe this presentation will help me create an appropriate theme for my video if I know exactly what the lyrics mean, giving me a greater understanding of the song overall. 

Music Video Proposal

Music Video Pitch/Proposal

 I believe this is a significant piece of planning that will help me with the production of my music video as I can always refer back to this proposal while filming to make sure I have incorporated all of my ideas. It will also be interesting to look back at this proposal later on to see any differences I have made and to look back at my initial thoughts.

Production Diary

 During half term I had the time to shoot some of my music video. I was able to plan days so I could film in both my house and in a local field. Some issues I was faced with were things such as the lightning however I worked around this and tried to use as many lights as possible, especially for the footage in my house. I found out the filming was much more time consuming than I thought as I had many ideas and many things needed to be set up. For example, I had to draw the rose beforehand so my artist could then paint it after, and her painting would be included in the video.  Moreover I made sure I used a wide range of shots to make my video look as interesting as possible.  

 This week I also did some research in the band The Pretty Reckless. Some of the information I discovered was quite intriguing including their change of name, as well as other information about the lead singer Taylor Momsen.

Some photos from behind the scenes of the footage I shot over half term:

These photos show the locations where I shot, as well as the props I used and how I tackled the lighting when I was shooting at home.

Research into the Band/Artsist

    

THE PRETTY RECKLESS

The song I have chosen for my music video is called 'You' by The Pretty Reckless. They are an American rock band from New York and consist of four members: Taylor Momsen (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Ben Phillips (lead guitar and backing vocals), Mark Damon (bass) and Jamie Perkins (drums). Before joining the band, Ben Phillips used to co-write songs along with Taylor and a rock producer named Khandwala. They were originally called the Reckless however they had to change their name due to trademark problems and their first concert was on May the 5th 2009. As they have only been active since that year, they are quite current within the rock industry however they have had two albums since that date and many successful singles...




Their two albums include 'Light Me Up' from 2010 and more recently 'Going To Hell' in 2014. 'Light Me Up' included three singles, most notably 'Make Me Wanna Die' which reached number one in the UK Rock Charts and number four for the US Hot Singles Sales. Other singles from this album included 'Just Tonight' and 'Miss Nothing'.

From 'Going to Hell', the singles 'Kill Me', 'Going To Hell' and 'Heaven Knows' were released and topped the US and UK rock charts. Their most recent single to date is 'House On A Hill' which came out in September and is a slow song compared to the others similar to 'You'. As they have a mix of genres including alternative rock and post-grunge, there is quite a mix in their music styles which can be seen throughout their songs. Some are considered hard rock whereas some are slow and personal.

The band have also supported Evanescence on tour and have been nominated by the Virgin Media Music Award for 'best group' and 'best newcomer' as well as Taylor winning the award for 'hottest female' by Kerrang this year...

Clearly, Taylor Momsen is the most significant and popular member of the band - having been in the limelight her entire life. At a young age she stared as Cindy Lou Who in 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' as well as portraying the character Jenny in the popular TV Series 'Gossip Girl' before being in the 'Pretty Reckless'. As well as acting, she has also done a great deal of modelling however in interviews she expresses that she has always loved music.




Researching the band has also helped me for the creation of my music video as I know understand the style of their music more clearly. This has therefore helped to think about how I want to carry on shooting my video and what other ways I can portray and display this particular band such as the type of themes I can include in order to properly promote their music.