Analysis of CD cover and Magazine poster

CD cover:

Our CD cover links into our theme of love with it displaying a painting of Jesus. Most religions have a strong relation with love and how it is important to love every person and creature and this fits into our song choice well with on of our verse and choruses being filmed within a Church. The effects used on the painting using Photo-Shop modernises it and brings it in with the urban/modern art theme that is popular today. The fonts used differ on the album with a simple font used to show the albums songs and term and conditions this is to make it easier to read. The other font used is a more classy font and links in well with the religion theme with it being a more dated style of writing. Overall, I think the album cover is well done it has all the basic features of an album cover being used and it has a link with our song.

Magazine Poster:





Our Poster links in with our album cover with a Church being used again but this time we use the stain glass effect with a silhouette of Louise at the bottom of it. We also used a Photo Shop effect on it with it being more traditional effect on it but using modern day urban colours to link it in to our song. We used the same texts as on the CD cover but positioned them slightly differently with the download information being placed in the bottom right corner and the song information being in the top left corner. We changed the colour of the text to help it stand out more on the dark background and also to make it more eye catching because this is key to advertising to make it catch the buyers eye and tempt them into buying or downloading the song or album.

we are looking to produce the digi-pack over December with it being created on Photoshop. We plan to do this over a 2 week period.

We intend to spend 5 days on filming the video, we believe this a reasonable amount as not much traveling time is required. The majority of time we will be editing as this takes up more time than actually filming. For post-production we are looking to spend roughly 10 full working days on completing the whole piece. This will include doing the blogs and completing the CD cover and posters, as members in our group will be delegated different tasks.

Our shooting schedule is:

: Thursday 14th October 2:00pm - 4:00pm
: Monday 18th October 9:00am - 11:30am
: Sunday 24th October 2:00pm - 4:00pm
: Wednesday 27th October 12:00am - 3:00pm
: Monday 1st November 9:00am - 11:40am

From November to Decemeber we plan to edit our work using FinalCut pro on the Apple Macs.

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

The music video that inspired us the most was Bon Jovi's Have a Nice Day. This video which we mentioned earlier in the blog, shows city life today at its most busiest displaying the constant urgency and speed that life moves at today. This shows that we have created a bridge between our research and our music video.

One music video which was a large inspiration for our video was 'Pass Out' by Tinie Tempah. We used a shot which represents the inspiration. This shot is located in the middle-end of the song where Bash steps back into the dark. There is a similar shot in the Tinie Tempah video. We used this shot as we felt it went well with cut rate of the 'Bonkers' song and fit the theme of our video nicely. The shot was used as the low-key lighting, which worked well in Pass Out, was also very effective at creating a mysterious and intimidating character in our video.

We also use camera angles that be significantly used in the common day music video with dark and bright lighting being used constantly like the Pass Out music video where Tinie Tempah quickly move from dark light to brighter light etc like we have with bright city shots and dark alley-way shots.

The relation between our music video and the lyrics is clearly evident through out. Bash lip syncs the words for the majority of the video as we feel this is important to maintain consumer interest, rather than just having a song playing over a video which hardly relates to the video. We also used hand actions and body language to represent the lyrics. This is done simultaneously with the miming of the lyrics. We use displays of the city to raise the question where is the love? Showing people walking through the city centre (Market street) without them stopping to notice what was going on around them. The back alleys and tunnels used show the dark side of urban living with griffati and crime hiding in between the cracks of city life. This is mainly showed in the second verse where Dale is a street beggar, who is holding a sign asking Where is the Love? and yet everyone who walks past ignores him therefore ignoring the love. Religion is symbolised as being linked to the love in our music video with a clip of Dale and Louise singing in the church is an almost preaching stance which the song is trying to do it is like a modern day hymn.

Album cover research

Many popular albums usually need to have a visual attraction as well as musical attraction. Album covers usually reflect the mood of the album or displays the artist/band. However the majority display the artist and contain within its background the theme of the album e.g. Young Money All stars album contains an Urban/City Background this could be linked to genre of Rap music. Some album covers show images related to the artist e.g in the Ndubz album we see Dappy wearing his famous hat and Frazer striking a pose which he had became famous for. However, if we go further back in time e.g Jackson 5's album we see the lack of digital effects used but you see the family together and singing and Michael at the front because he is the most famous out of the family so therefore has to be displayed to show the buyer that the artist they are looking for is in the album.

Editing

We are now using a step by step approach with our editing by taking one scene/clip at a time and editing it using the Apple Macs and FinalCut pro. This is a professional program and will help us get the best editing possible done. We our using the college's editing suites for this which have state-of-the-art technology.

Recording and Problems

On the week of the 18th October, we started shooting our production piece of 'Where is the Love?'. We managed to record most of the song over this week period and took some time out during half term to record some extra footage for our night scene in Manchester City Centre. However, when we returned to college to edit our work so far, we soon noticed that not all of our work was up to the correct standard: with it not being synced correctly with the song, the camera work being shaky etc and people disturbing the filming.

But we moved quickly to rectify and re do the work that needed to be changed and now are taking a step by step with us editing it at every opportunity we have. So, if changed need to be made we can make them swiftly rather than worrying about them and rushing them at the end.

We also feel that by redoing the work it has given us an opportunity to improve and remaster parts of the production which were at previous times was being rushed and wasn't as good as it could be.

We have re-assessed this several times using our step by step approach and are still having problems with our work. Our main problem is Lip sync because none of us espicially wanted to be in the music video and were reculantly made to. Our lip sync etc isnt brillant and has been the main problem if our work.

Shooting Schedule

We plan to start shooting Monday 18th October. The first thing we are going to shoot is the location shots of the urban city centre which will be played though out our music video in quick cut shots.
We will then shoot every Monday afternoon and every Wednesday morning.
We also plan to shoot in the half term holidays because we need to shoot in the evening when it is dark. Our shooting sessions will last approximately 2 hours, excluding the shooting during the half term.
We plan to finish shooting at the beginning of November, just after half term and then we will focus on editing all of our footage.

Location Shots

Having to decide on locations to shoot, we took time out of our days off to look at possible locations around Manchester City Centre/Arndale, with an intension to film there. Within our music video we plan to use Manchester Market Street and the alleyways in its surrounding area.

Market Street, Manchester, is a busy urban environment with street beggars and the homeless on the side streets there are also business men/women and shoppers walking up Market Street daily who completely ignore the less fortunate and this ties into our song: Where is the Love?

Manchester Rooftops/Car parks: We can use this establishing shot to show the busy city below and people acting without a care. It also shows the urban environment and how the world has changed and how technology is now leading the world.

Loreto Chapel: We have choose to use Loreto Chapel. Due to its easy location and the link it has to our song when it questions God and asks for help, 'Father, Father, Father help us,
Send some guidance from above, Cause people got me, got me questioning, Where is the love (Love)'. The church has strong links to God within it with statues of the Virgin Mary, Jesus on the cross and the teachings of Christ all on the walls etc.

Manchester's Back-alleys: The back alleys are associated with with rubbish, dirt and crime in some places. We hope we can show this in our video because its will create a good negative environment that can help set the mood of our song.

Our Initial Ideas

Before we planned our production treatment etc we had to decide and discuss our ideas. In this we listened to the song without looking at the video and imagined what are video could look like. We came up with some basic ideas from this that could feature in our final product. Some of the ideas we came up with were:

• Landscape shots of Manchester to show the urban environment
• A clip of singing in a Church in the chorus . That raises the question where actually is the love?
• Singing on the streets and nobody caring and walking past
• Different ethnicity's and types of people involved to show their by be love between all man one day
• A shot under a canal bridge to show the dark, gloomy world we live in.
• Green Screen showing clips of war with singing or acting in front.

Shot list

We will be using a wide variety of shots throughout the video, these include: aerial shots, mid-shots, long shots. We will also be using extreme close ups and close-ups during our video. During our music video there will be some use of handheld camera work, but the majority of the camera work will be used on a tripod to keep the camera steady.

The most effective camera use in our video will be the close ups and extreme close ups because we will be able to express the artists expressions and feelings using these.

Shot list:

Extreme Wide Shot
.the view is from so far that the subject isn't even visible. The point of this shot is to show the subject's surroundings.


Very Wide Shot
in this shot the subject can be seen, but the the shot still focuses on placing it in its environment.


Wide Shot
The subject takes up the full frame, or at least as much as comfortably possible.
long shot, full shot.

Medium Close Up
this is a shot which is Half way between a medium shot and a close up

Mid Shot
Shows some part of the subject in more detail while still giving an impression of the whole subject.


Extreme Close Up
The ECU gets right in and shows extreme expression

Close Up
A certain feature or part of the subject takes up the whole frame.


.


Cut-In
Shows some (other) part of the subject in detail.


Cutaway
A shot of something other than the subject.

Over-the-Shoulder Shot
Looking from behind a person at the subject.
Point-of-View Shot
Shows a view from the subject's perspective.

Two-Shot
A shot of two people, framed similarly to a mid shot.



Noddy Shot
Usually refers to a shot of the interviewer listening and reacting to the subject

Production Treatment

The music video: Where Is The Love? - Black Eyed Peas

Duration: The length of the music video is 4 minutes 17 seconds, but we plan to shorten the introduction and ending of the original video. We have the possibility of using the radio edit that is 3 minutes 51 seconds.

Audience: Our video will contain scenes of war that are not suitable for young children. Our music video is targeting adults between 18 to 30, this music video appeals to both genders because it is a mixed sex group. However our video may appeal to teenagers aged between 14-17 because the genre is R'n'B and the majority of R'n'B music aims at teenagers.

Resume: The narrative of our music video is based on the lyrics. the main story is about a man singing to the public trying to express his views on what has happened to all the 'love' in the world, but the man is getting ignored by the public. The audience can expect to see lots of different locations which represent what the lyrics are saying. for example, the chorus will take place in a church because the lyrics are directed at finding Gods help.

The genre of our music video is R'n'B therefore the costumes will need to represent this genre, also we will be showing the urban lifestyle of Manchester to express the R'n'B feel to the video.

Suggested elements:

Performance: The performance will mainly consist of the mimicking of the lyrics but will also incorporate clips of war and clips of Manchester's busy urban environment and with no one caring for the homeless and showing the flaws of capitalism with everybody ignoring the truth.

Costumes: We intend to wear casual urban clothing very much like the original video. We have decided to do this because of the genre of the music and its strong relation to urban/street music. Also, the lyrics of the song does give off the mental image of smart outfits but people in casual wear.

Any SFX: We intend to use the green screen during the chorus to show clips of war. This will show the morality of the song and the message it is trying to send: Where is the Love?. We also will use special effects during the editing to help make the music video flow with transitions being used on FinalCut Pro.

Key Locations: With the original video incorporating a inner city suburbia, we also intend to do the same by using the urban environment of Manchester within our music video. This is due to the strong relation of the lyrics to the urban lifestyle. However, we also plan to use Loreto's Chapel for the chorus because of its strong connection to the church and god.

Recording days: We plan to film within lesson hours, which should give us enough time to capture all we need because we have 4 and a half hours of lesson time a week. If we need to shoot anymore we will shoot on the weekend or free lessons. Also we have a night scene in our music video so we need to shoot when it is dark outside to get the full effect. This Monday afternoon from 1:50 till 5 we will be in the town centre to start our filming.

Chosen genre- Contemporary R'n'B

Contemporary Rhythm and Blues (R'n'B) is music genre that combines Pop, R'n'B and Hip hop music.

R'n'B originally was created in the 1980's of the fall of disco music with musicians such as Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey and Stevie Wonder all having great success from it. But however with the shift to more 'urban' music developing a new form of R'n'B had to be created....the birth of contemporary R'n'B.

Contemporary R'n'B had one main difference from the original. The incorporation of Rap/Hip-Hop to this relatively unchanged music genre. From this artists such as Beyonce, Nelly, Black Eyed Peas and Alicia Keys were created and now some critics are calling this the golden age of contemporary R'n'B because its huge effect on chart music in America and Britain.

Music Video Analysis. Bon Jovi music video - Have a Nice Day

This video has a very fast cut rate and all the different scenes cut to the sound of the beat, an aspect which is similar to the black eyed peas video. The use of lip singing is very well synced in this video, which is another technical aspect which these videos share. Both the videos share similar locations, they are performed in a big city- New York city.

However the videos are of a different genre, therefore the costumes are different. In black eyed peas the costumes are very urban and fit in with the RnB style, whereas the Bon Jovi video the costumes are much more dressed down and slightly scruffy to fit in with the rock genre of music. With both videos being set in New York the lighting is similar, in the Bon Jovi video they use real sunlight to give a more realistic theme to the music video.

The Bon Jovi music video has lots of close ups and extreme close up throughout the video, which cut to the beat of the song.

There is a wide range of camera shots including mid-shots, long shots, extreme long shot and an over the shoulder shot.



There is lots of hand held camera work used in the Bon Jovi music video, this makes the video look more realistic and helps with the fast pace rate.

I think the use of extreme close ups is very effective in this video, it makes the beat seem much more dramatic and speeds up the pace of the video with out using editing. Also the over the shoulder shot during the performance in the video very effective because it gives the viewer a chance to see the audience from the artists point of view and exaggerates the capacity of the performance used in the music video.

Also this music video shares some narrative similarities to the Black eyed peas- where is the love music video.

For example in the Black Eyed Peas video, Fergie is sticking posters with a question mark printed on to illustrate to the public that the 'love' in the world has been lost. In the Bon Jovi video members of the public are handing out leaflets with a smiley face printed on to illustrate the song title- 'Have a Nice Day'.

However the genre of music differs in these two songs, Black Eyed Peas is R'n'B themed music whereas Bon Jovi is rock themed music.

Both videos show what is going on in everyday life in NewYork and how some of the values in society have been lost. However each video shows this in different ways, the Black eyed peas video uses peoples situations in life and how people want to express that the 'love' in the world has been lost, either through music or through criminal damage. Whereas the Bon Jovi video focuses on using music to express their feelings to the world today, the video shows members of the public of all varieties passing on the expression to have a nice day. There is a performance used in the Bon Jovi music video, but no performance is used in the Black eyed peas music video, this shows that a music video can be effective with or without a performance. The performance used in Bon Jovi is towards the middle/end of the video, it is used to show how many fans agree with what he is talking about in the song by them wearing the smiley face logo.

Overall I think that there are multiple aspects need in order to create an effective music video. One of the main ones is having a fast cut rate to match the cutting of the beat. Also locations are a very key aspect too because the location says a lot to what the song is really trying to say through the lyrics.

Here is the link to the Bon Jovi video:

Https://www.muzu.tv/bonjovi/have-a-nice-day-music-video/196911?country=gb

Information about music video

The music video for "Where Is the Love?" was shot in New York. It features The Black Eyed Peas and various other people including children from around the world asking the world where the love really is. It follows the lives of four very different people. Fergie appears as a peacemaker who sticks stickers with question marks on them all over the place to ask people where is the love in the word. Will. I.am and Taboo act as a soul road duo who try to use music to tell people the truth. Meanwhile apl.de.ap is a criminal who is arrested for using criminal offenses to tell people the truth. The video is similar to a 2002 UK television advertisement for T-Mobile, in which a face of a young baby is presented in various forms around a large city, much like how the question mark is in this video. The Bon Jovi music video "Have a Nice Day" is also similar to both the advertisement and this music video.

The original music video has a lot of symbolism within it especially for the ? that is seen all the way through the video. The ? is used by all different types of people who are all asking the same question Where is the Love? We plan to do something similar to this in our video.

Music Video We Choose

Black Eyed Peas- Where is the Love?

This is the official music video to the song we have chosen to do.

http://www.muzu.tv/blackeyedpeas/where-is-the-love-music-video/252386?country=gb

Music Video Ideas

The Killers- Mr Brightside.

Black Eyed Peas- Where is the Love?

Beyonce- If I Were a Boy.

Katy Perry- Hot 'N' Cold.

Black Eyed Peas- I Got a Feeling.

The Streets- Dry Your Eyes.

Snow Patrol- Run.