Filming Day 1- Rochester

26/7/2015 - Rochester

 

We began our filming on our visit to Rochester. we felt that it would be a great place to film as it is a town full of history which will add an authentic look to our video. As the weather was rather dull on the day, we thought that it would be the perfect opportunity for us to film the breakup scenes that we had planned as it set the mood. We wanted the outfit to look very casual to match the relaxed/sad feel.

We tried a variety of camera shots, such as in the cafe. They were mainly wide shots as you are able to see the background which is very unique and colourful, very suiting to our more creative video. The fact that the coffee shop has an alternative vibe in itself matches our alternative genre in our music video.  We also made sure that we filmed lots of close-up shots of Nova as it emphasised the glum expressions on her face. The close ups exaggerated the intense heartbreak that Nova was clearly feeling and this was able to be presented to the audience with ease due to this.
The mid shots presented an overview of her body language without giving too much away- this would further intrigue the audience yet still make them aware of how distraught she is.

We filmed in a cafe called 'The Deaf Cat' which is a very unique building providing you books to read as you sip at your coffee. It definitely fit in with the 'edgy' look we were going for, also providing us continuity as the edginess of the location matches the artist's individual style.

As seen in the pictures, you can see how colourful the brightly patterned walls are, this gave us a lot to work with and we could see ourselves putting a subtle wash over the imagery during the editing process to make it stand out even further and catch the audience's attention.

Whilst in the castle grounds, we shot a range of long shots, close ups and mid shots of the artist as well as establishing shots of the castle/cathedral to set the scene and give the audience some variety. Evie climbed up to the top of a castle wall to get an extreme high angle shot- these shots are not present in many existing music videos therefore we will have broken the typical conventions and set us apart from the rest.

Our trip to Rochester allowed us to film a lot of break up scenes which was our ultimate aim. On our next filming day to Whitstable we plan on filming more of the flashbacks and memory scenes which will convey a happy, nostalgic mood.

Overall this trip to Rochester has been a success. Although the weather was not great it really ended up complimenting the sad mood that we are trying to convey. We worked together well as a team as our ideas naturally bounced off each other, also using our analytical skills to discuss what looks good and what doesn't.

Outfit: We chose to go with the relaxed, casual, 90's vibe outfit for the breakup scene. It fits in with the location of the filming as it is quite edgy. I think the outfit is successful because it matches the mood that the artist would be feeling after a breakup- the dark colours represent sadness.

Reviewing footage from filming day:

In this medium camera shot, it shows Nova sitting at the table in the coffee shop. We wanted her to clearly look like she is unhappy (as it is a breakup scene) and in the video she laughs a little which makes it look unconvincing- this could take away how professional our video turns out to be which is why we won't be using this shot.

This medium wide shot shows the artist sitting on a wall with trees and a bridge seen in the background. I think that the shot is quite picturesque which will fit in well within our music video however not everyone in our group is 100% sure about it- we are concerned that this clip will look too different amongst the shots later in the video where she is happier (before the breakup) as although we want to show that this is a breakup scene, we are unsure whether it will be clear enough. The artist is seen with a glum look on her face which clearly suggests she is unhappy- in that sense it is successful and she has portrayed the emotions she is feeling very well.

Within the camera work, this is a little bit of tracking and the artist tended to follow it by moving her head. I think this looks successful as it naturally occurred without me directing her to do so, this therefore means that it appears effortless to the viewer which I believe is very comforting to watch.

After much discussion, we decided that the clip that we think we would really want to use is when the artist is looking down and her hair is blowing in the wind. We think that it would look particularly good in slow motion as this is quite a conventional element of a music video.

This is a low angle shot of the artist walking around Rochester's iconic cathedral. We thought that it would be a successful place to film as it is filled with beautiful stained glass windows which would really suit the bold colours that we plan to put later in our video. The cathedral would link in well too as it is obviously associated with religion and that is something that people turn to when going through a tough time- in this case it would be Nova's break-up. Overall, I am not too much of a fan of the low angle camera shot as we are not planning on using this anywhere else in our music video which means we risk inconsistency. Saying this however, I do think that the low angle shot makes Nova look like the star of the show as the shot makes her appear larger and more powerful. The shot also gets a lot of the cathedral's surrounding décor in it which looks visually successful so I'm sure there will be a bit of a debate between our group when deciding whether to actually use this clip during the editing process. 

Possible Digipak images

These images are the result of our photo shoot for the digipak. It is important that we select the correct ones to use as it will be the first thing our target audience see and therefore give them a first impression of what the album will be all about.

I feel that the image (above) that I've taken works very successfully.
It is relatively simple however still conveys a lot of emotion due to the direct eye contact with the camera. I think that she portrays a rather innocent image which would represent the character we have created. Saying this, I do think that there isn't very much a pose and that is maybe something we were aiming more for. Although the top our artist is wearing looks aesthetically pleasing, I also think that Nova (our artist) is more about darker colours to represent her more mysterious side which is a reason for why we are rejecting this image for album front cover- we could still however use this in our digipak booklet.

This is another photograph taken for the digipak. A different pose was tried this time with Nova's head tilted back yet with the direct eye contact remaining. I feel that direct eye contact is quite essential for our front cover due to the fact that it creates more of a personal connection between the viewer and the artist. The clothing in this picture was changed to something dark and bold which creates a statement- this is what we were hoping for and therefore something we bared in mind for next time. Nova appears to have a lot of status and maturity in this stance which on one hand is a success however I feel that her head is positioned slightly oddly which will make quite a difference in how effective our front cover is perceived. From taking this picture, we learned that the pose is very important and is therefore something we should focus on and become more experimental with to ultimately find the best outcome.

In this next image, our artist changed their clothing to an off the shoulder black top. I personally love this image, I think that the pose is just right and especially flattering to the artist. I also surprisingly like the fact that there is no direct eye contact and she is staring into the distance despite previously stating that i thought this was not an essential factor to have on our digipak. One slightly negative aspect of the photograph however is the fact that the whole top is not completely in shot. This means that you can only see a bit of the clothing on one side which to me would not be an issue as I know what she is wearing however the viewer doesn't- this may take away how professional it appears.

We tried a different look in this photograph by having our artists hair up in a messy, effortless bun rather than it be styled down. The artist is in a tilted pose whilst staring directly into the lens. I believe that the hair gives a much more slick appearance whilst the hair down images can seem more laid back which I think we prefer. Saying that, I like the fact that Nova creates quite a statement in this photograph, with the black higher neck top adding to the business like style- I feel that this photo would create a big statement on the front cover which is a positive because it will reel and audience in. This pose was able to emphasise her sombre facial expression which could provoke more emotion in the viewer. We thought that Nova's pose seemed a little unnatural and slightly awkward which is what we were trying to avoid. We are aiming for our artist to look calm and comfortable to therefore create more of a friendly connection with her fan base.

We decided that this would be our final image for our digipak. We think that it would fit perfectly on our front cover as the type of stance with the artist running her hands through her hair emphasises her very natural, comfortable and tranquil pose- this shows that she is comfortable in the music industry despite it being her slightly daunting debut album.The tranquility is supported by the white top she is wearing where it does not just act as a simple piece of clothing to prevent distraction but symbolise peace itself. This can show her relaxed state of mind and the fact that she has been able to gather all of the 'Fragments' from her heartbreak and come out of the other side as a stronger person- not only would this be a visual representation of our album name 'Fragments' but also inspire a mass audience similar to that of our target.  This makes her appear extremely friendly, attracting a fan base at this early stage based solely on that alone. Her facial expression is the most successful as she looks innocent and slightly vulnerable which is how we branded our artist based on the fact that she has just experienced a break-up. Saying this, I also think that her expression has the ability to tell a story which could intrigue an audience and is not so emphasised that it gives too much away- still allowing the viewer to decipher Nova's emotions for themselves.

Now that we have selected our image, we plan on editing it on Photoshop to give it that professional quality. As we are still pleased with these rejected photographs, we hopefully plan on using them elsewhere in the digipak such as the booklet or back cover.

Tour Poster Research

We decided to research into different tour posters which would inspire our own. For this reason, we looked into Lana Del Rey posters as she is our own inspired artists therefore it would be most appropriate. 

This is Lana's poster for her 'Open Road Tour' which took place in January 2013. This was Lana Del Rey's first album therefore I believe the reason for this particular layout is largely based around it in order for the audience to be able to familiarise themselves with the artist herself and the tour- it is able to stand out further to them as it looks so much like her original album. The same album artwork has been used which is an interesting approach because, again, it looks so familiar to what her fans would already own (her music) and it would therefore strike them much easier than if it were another completely different picture of her where she was more unfamiliar. As well as this, the exact same font and her logo have been repeated too, with strong links to her album, again, meaning that there is a lot of continuity. I like that fact that 'THE OPEN ROAD TOUR' is in the colour red as it stands out from the rest of the poster which is important otherwise the audience may think that the poster is just promoting her album on first glance. The red font is much more striking as well as the fact that it is written in capital letters, almost like it is screaming at the audience to read it. I feel that the image selected is successful as it is predominantly the artists face therefore an audience is able to get to know it. Also the fact that she is wearing a plain white shirt means that no attention is drawn away from her face- the clothing that we are going to dress Nova in needs to be considered as we also do not want this to be the main feature of our album meaning that we need to plan what we want the audience to mainly have their attention on. Having an element of our album cover on our tour poster is something that this will inspire as i think continuity is key across our whole promotional content (digipak, posters etc).

This first poster is promoting Lana's new 'Endless Summer Tour 2015'. I feel that the visuals strongly represent the text (name of the tour)as there are palm trees in the background which, to me, symbolise the season of summer. I also associate them with relaxation and peace, possibly promoting that her concerts are a fun and stress free experience, encouraging people to attend. Lana Del Rey seems to have used the 'double exposure' technique multiple times throughout the poster  this appears to be extremely successful due to the fact that it means that the composition is thoroughly busy which is more entertaining for the viewer. Not only this but a variety of colour is used, mainly primary and secondary colours- therefore creating more diversity and interest. A factor of this poster that I particularly enjoy is the fact that the special guest support artist is featured in text as well as on the actual poster. Conventionally, I have noticed that the support act is never visually seen on the main tour poster. Here, Courtney Love has quite a main feature (visually) on the poster which is quite unconventional as the main artist is almost always the main feature and no attention is taken away from them. Saying this, the special guest is featured slightly smaller and layered behind the predominant image of Lana Del Rey therefore they are not retracting any attention away from her entirely. A positive of having the support act featured on the poster is that it may encourage people to attend the gig if they are fans of them already. The tour dates are written on the right hand side in a list form which I think is quite a successful layout as it means that the viewer can easily find their local city in a short space of time. Saying this, the font is in a bright yellow colour which although matches with the rest of the poster and stands out to the viewer, it makes it quite difficult to read as the background is lighter in places- this may also be a positive thing though because it may make the viewer take a more in depth look at it and observe greater details. 

I like the fact that the main title (the artist's name) is written as Lana Del Rey's logo as it means that the same font gets applied to all different types of media be it her album artwork or posters- this means that her style remains consistent throughout. 

The type of images selected are the same pose repeated behind each other. I feel that this appears to be very successful due to the fact that it creates more of a structured, uniformed look which means that the poster itself appears organised, which is vital for a tour poster advertising lots of different events. I feel that we will take inspiration from the layout of the poster, with the artists name appearing large at the top and the dates in a list at the side. I think this because it will have more structure and the artists name will jump out straight away which is important as it will stand out to the audience. Colour wise, we will also take inspiration as she has used a wide range which we would like to do too so that we don't focus too much on one main colour- gender roles may play a part in the sale of our artists concert as our target audience is both boys and girls and we wouldn't therefore want to have a poster which is predominantly pink as it is highly associated with femininity so we should stick to unisex colours like Lana has. 

This tour poster is advertising another of Lana Del Rey's single events (rather than a whole tour) therefore it just has the name of the event/venue written amongst another list of information such as the date of it, when the tickets go on sale and the artists name. These are all elements that we would need to include on our own poster. I like the fact that a different photograph of Lana has been used on  this poster in place of her regular album cover artwork on 'Born to Die'. This is although the audience would be most familiar with that image, I feel that mixing things up a bit can have more success as the audience are kept excited. This could be another reason for us not to use the same photograph that we will use on our album front cover. I also like the fact that the artists title, despite still being large and being her trademark logo for continuity, is positioned on the bottom second half of the poster as it is almost always conventionally placed right at the top. This adds a bit more of a range to it and leads the viewers eye all around the image which is essential as there are lots of key details that the audience cannot miss. Another element of this poster that i particularly like is the fact that her debut album is also advertised below all of her other information about her upcoming concert. A mention of her album means that people may recognise the album artwork (featured as a thumbnail picture in the bottom corner of the poster) or name and then possibly realised they have the album and want to attend her gig.  

The image itself is heavily edited, there is mist which adds a mysterious effect, potentially enticing the audience to watch the show.

We will definitely consider advertising the album on our tour poster ourselves as I feel that it is a great way of promoting two different products/events in one place. It means that an audience will have a better chance at seeing both and consequently increasing sales. I also think that heavily editing Nova on our tour poster will make it appear more creative and enticing- this would also represent our more alternative genre.

Photo Shoot for Album Cover

After planning the type of imagery we would like on our album cover, we went to the studio to start shooting.

We decided to take a range of different photographs so that we would have a wide variety of different poses- this would give us more to choose from during the editing process. A reason for this is as we were still not 100% certain on what our final decision would be for the photo that will make our final front cover. We also still had to consider whether we would use these photographs on our back cover too and would therefore need slightly more of a range of shots so that the pictures don't look too similar.

We used studio lighting so that the photos would look as professional as possible with accurate colour and sharpness. I think this worked very successfully as they appeared clear and crisp in the end so therefore looks a professional quality.

Shooting in the studio also meant that we were able to use a white backdrop. I think that this was a good idea because it meant that there wasn't a distracting background which could potentially detract the audiences attention away from what we want them to focus on (Nova's face).

To conclude, I think that this photo shoot was very successful as a large number of pictures were taken that we thoroughly liked and even if they don't make the digipak, they will definitely make it onto other means of artist promotion such as the tour poster.

This is our artists makeup being done, we planned for Nova to have a bold look with statement eyes and a nude lip. Our reasoning behind this was that we wanted her eyes to have a brightening pop in order to capture the audience straight away.

Album Name Ideas

Within this Prezi attached below we explain the different names that we could have possibly named our album and the reasoning behind selecting them. We also explained why our final album title 'Fragments' was chosen.

Conventions of a CD Case

To continue on from our research into digipaks, we looked at the typical conventions of a CD case so that we were able to familiarise ourselves with the key aspects of one in order to apply it to our own.

Front Cover: We noticed that many front covers generally have the artists name in a large font clearly displayed on the cover, this could be because the record label need to make it obvious who the artist is in order to attract their fans and/or potential buyers straight away. We also noted that most text fonts are very unique, this therefore makes it more personal and so much more recognisable to the public. Another factor that can have a huge impact on the quality/professionalism of the album is how well the artwork visually represents the genre of the music- for example, if an indie album were to have bubbly pop artwork it would not be taken seriously. Front covers almost always feature the artist's name in the top third of the cover to signify importance- as well as this, the artists name and album title are often in different fonts and sizes (album name typically smaller) to differentiate the two and show which has most power.

Back Cover: The back cover on the other hand features the track list predominantly of which the font is very clear for the viewers to read and also typically links to the front cover font, showing a strong sense of continuity. It also always features elements such as the label's name, catalog number, barcode, website URL, social media sites, production credits and producers name. This is all information that we feel is important to go on our own album as attention to detail is most effective to me.

Disc: The disc, realistically, is the most important feature of an album however, to me, not visually as it is inside and the album artwork on the front cover needs to jump out in order to be picked up off the shelf in the first place. The artists name is normally on the disc alongside the album title but not always. Sometimes there is no feature of any titles or artist name and just visual imagery that ties in conceptually with the album artwork so that there is, at least, a link. Some artists leave their disk blank to seem artistic, but not many.

Inside: The inserts in a CD case are normally thank you letters, lyrics or pictures of the artist on their album cover themed shoot. This needs to show a clear link to the rest of the album's artwork on both the front and back covers in order for it to seem continuous and as one.

Spine: The spine conventionally includes both the artists and album name alongside the record labels logo. This information is always kept to a minimum so that only the important details stand out to the viewer.

This research has been very beneficial to us when knowing what to include when designing our own digipak later in the process.

Choosing our 'Star' / Lip Syncing Auditions

Lip Syncing Auditions

Firstly, we came to the conclusion that we would like a group member as our artist. This is as we know that a member of our group is 100% reliable and willing to come out filming at a variety of locations over multiple days- also we all agreed that it would allow us to be brutally honest with each other. This is, therefore, why we chose to volunteer ourselves as the artist- both Millie and Evie carried out a lip-syncing audition where they both selected a song of their choice (by a female artist we had researched one way or another). After filming, we were then able to put the song track behind the video so that it was in time with their lip syncing.

This is Evie's lip syncing audition to the song 'Dog Days are Over' by Florence + the Machine. From the video, you can very clearly see that she lip synced the video very well as she was in time and didn't get a single word wrong. Despite this, I would say that the song was slightly over sang in some areas and under-sang in others which can give quite a fake appearance for an artist with a very powerful voice. This slightly unrealistic appearance meant that it was a downfall to her audition.
In terms of branding, Evie has an independent style which would be perfect for our own video- therefore, image wise, this could definitely make her a possible contender.

In Millie's lip-syncing audition, she sang to the song 'Love Me Harder' by Ariana Grande. A positive of this video is that she got all of the lyrics correct and was very in time, meaning it looked believable that she was singing it in real life. We did however find a flaw in it which was that her facial expressions were not very convincing in a way that made her appear like she wasn't really enjoying herself or feeling the music. Having discussed this as a group, Millie has taken this constructive criticism on board and is very willing to work on it. 

Just like Evie, her fashion is also alternative meaning that she would fit our artist's character branding very well. Not only this, but her style is also versatile meaning that she can also pull off very bohemian looks- something that we could use to our advantage when it comes to the fashion side of our music video. Millie is a very strong contender.

Our Chosen Star

To conclude, we decided to choose Millie as our chosen artist. For the most part, this is due to her strong ability and confidence to lip sync which is very important when it comes to filming in public places as we wouldn't want our artist to appear timid in our final product. We also believe that her style is very versatile therefore the costume running throughout the video would be strong. Millie's acting and dancing experience means that she will be able to pull off a more believable act and also means that she has a lot of rhythm which is essential in creating a realistic appearance. Millie has said that she is going to work on improving her  facial expressions whilst lip syncing so that she will be able to convey and variety of emotions by relying solely on her eyes and face.