Thursday, 25 March 2010
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Saturday, 20 February 2010
Friday, 19 February 2010
Album CD Cover Review
Most of the top album covers over the past 50 years have used either an image of the artist/ band or a cartoon image of some sort. The first real use of the two together came from the Sgt. Pepper album by The Beatles in 1967.
The key to good album covers lies with how the images portray: the band, their feelings, their genre and what they think you, the audience, will get out of it.
Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue
Jazz
Album CD Cover Review
Album covers usually project the mood of the album/genre/artist such as Miles Davis’s kind of blue uses dark colours to portray the slow mood of the jazz played on this album the high contrast shows his importance, they also use a spot light to show this is his ‘moment to shine’ there is hope connotated by the use of the light. The on stage organic sound can almost be heard from just looking at this cover; through the symbolism in the trumpet. The image used could also relate to the way that he is multitalented. Not only can he sing, but can also play an instrument, this could represent that he is a good live performer. This could reflect upon his success. This album was produced in 1959 so in terms of covers it was quite an early one hence the use of the artist rather than a cartoon. The clothing of the artist also suggests his individual style as well as helping the audience to identify the kind of person he is. The suit suggest he is a professional and smart character who takes care of his appearance this could then allow the audience to assume that this will be reflected in his music it also perfectly shows of the time in which this album was released as that was very 50’s. The fact that it is his face on the cover is conventional for this genre of music and helps the audience to identify him
The use of darkness behind the artists could connote a number of things including the level of emotion put into an album such as this, perhaps some slow and almost sad/moving music but it could also reflect the hardship he could have been through in his past that he is now able to use in his music.
Muse – The Resistance
ALTERNATIVE
Another one being muse’s the resistance cover which is an illustration of their album, Audience should expect the unexpected
The bright colours show the ‘the mood and the alternative feel which shows what the target audience should expect from their music. This cover suggests that the band is of the alternative genre, and that the music they make maybe synthesised and manipulated, a complete contrast to the album cover from Miles Davis. This is because we don’t see an image of the band. Orange and yellow spotlight coming away from the earth connotes a stage with a representation of the band by one man in the middle of it. This could suggest the importance of one person’s involvement in the album. It could also reflect upon society’s current issues of one person impacting the world. The earth in the background shows that they are bigger than it, however the fact that it is at the centre of the album connotes that the world is the centre and every thing around it all revolves around it. Holes in their tunnel show vulnerability and the gaps in their knowledge, they are not perfect but seeing the stars shows that they still want to aim for them. Sharp shapes of the pentagons are targeting the male audience and the circular shapes could be targeting the women. The variety of the colours could reflect a number of things such as audience’s personalities; their music is ‘for everyone’ or it could reflect the alternative style of music; be ready for the unexpected.
Simplicity of the writing shows neatness, confidence and strength, so even though they are an unusual band they still have some sense of normality. This also shows that Muse are an established band that don’t need there name to sell them records, as the font is not in a large size. This could also mean that they have a big enough fan base already that they would recognize the album cover as their work.
This one was released in 2006, in that year there was another wave of cartoon themes media this was mainly due to artist like Gorillaz also the sound of synthesised strings to mind with this theme which does come up in a lot of their music.
Machine Head- The Blackening
METAL/THRASH METAL
Machine head released this album called the darkening. The genres that machine head base themselves on is one of metal/heavy metal/thrash metal this is portrayed very well through their choice of album cover. The obvious portrayals of it are things such as the black and white which shows ‘the blackening’ of the world around them. The skeleton sitting on a throne of bones with smoke pouring from behind him refers to the thought of death and oblivion which creates panic and fear within. This is either a connotation of how they felt while writing the album, how they want you to feel while listening to it or both. The uncomfortable feeling you get when merely looking at this promotes their views, music and genre perfectly.
The Walrus’- Welcome To The Playground
what we decided to do for our own album is convey the feeling that we thought went best with the music/ music video we have produced, something that connotes the 60’s psychedelic feel and fun and energy that was almost uplifting.
What i took from this was a huge variety of bright colours that stood out, it also had to have abnormalities to take it away from reality and make it look as if it was a dream world.
The image itself is taken from the ‘magazine photo shoot’ it shows all the band in a close group. The men looking down at the camera and also being on the end may show their control (is that the right word to use :S ) in the band and the two girls looking at each other knits the band together showing how tight they are and also the friendship that has been built.
The text chosen was seen as a very 60’s styles text type as it represents the ‘bell-bottomed jeans’ of the era, this proved in keeping with the album. The name of the band is much larger than the name of the album as this is very common though out the album art i have been researching it also shows dominance of the group who are not afraid of who they are.
The key to good album covers lies with how the images portray: the band, their feelings, their genre and what they think you, the audience, will get out of it.
Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue
Jazz
Album CD Cover Review
Album covers usually project the mood of the album/genre/artist such as Miles Davis’s kind of blue uses dark colours to portray the slow mood of the jazz played on this album the high contrast shows his importance, they also use a spot light to show this is his ‘moment to shine’ there is hope connotated by the use of the light. The on stage organic sound can almost be heard from just looking at this cover; through the symbolism in the trumpet. The image used could also relate to the way that he is multitalented. Not only can he sing, but can also play an instrument, this could represent that he is a good live performer. This could reflect upon his success. This album was produced in 1959 so in terms of covers it was quite an early one hence the use of the artist rather than a cartoon. The clothing of the artist also suggests his individual style as well as helping the audience to identify the kind of person he is. The suit suggest he is a professional and smart character who takes care of his appearance this could then allow the audience to assume that this will be reflected in his music it also perfectly shows of the time in which this album was released as that was very 50’s. The fact that it is his face on the cover is conventional for this genre of music and helps the audience to identify him
The use of darkness behind the artists could connote a number of things including the level of emotion put into an album such as this, perhaps some slow and almost sad/moving music but it could also reflect the hardship he could have been through in his past that he is now able to use in his music.
Muse – The Resistance
ALTERNATIVE
Another one being muse’s the resistance cover which is an illustration of their album, Audience should expect the unexpected
The bright colours show the ‘the mood and the alternative feel which shows what the target audience should expect from their music. This cover suggests that the band is of the alternative genre, and that the music they make maybe synthesised and manipulated, a complete contrast to the album cover from Miles Davis. This is because we don’t see an image of the band. Orange and yellow spotlight coming away from the earth connotes a stage with a representation of the band by one man in the middle of it. This could suggest the importance of one person’s involvement in the album. It could also reflect upon society’s current issues of one person impacting the world. The earth in the background shows that they are bigger than it, however the fact that it is at the centre of the album connotes that the world is the centre and every thing around it all revolves around it. Holes in their tunnel show vulnerability and the gaps in their knowledge, they are not perfect but seeing the stars shows that they still want to aim for them. Sharp shapes of the pentagons are targeting the male audience and the circular shapes could be targeting the women. The variety of the colours could reflect a number of things such as audience’s personalities; their music is ‘for everyone’ or it could reflect the alternative style of music; be ready for the unexpected.
Simplicity of the writing shows neatness, confidence and strength, so even though they are an unusual band they still have some sense of normality. This also shows that Muse are an established band that don’t need there name to sell them records, as the font is not in a large size. This could also mean that they have a big enough fan base already that they would recognize the album cover as their work.
This one was released in 2006, in that year there was another wave of cartoon themes media this was mainly due to artist like Gorillaz also the sound of synthesised strings to mind with this theme which does come up in a lot of their music.
Machine Head- The Blackening
METAL/THRASH METAL
Machine head released this album called the darkening. The genres that machine head base themselves on is one of metal/heavy metal/thrash metal this is portrayed very well through their choice of album cover. The obvious portrayals of it are things such as the black and white which shows ‘the blackening’ of the world around them. The skeleton sitting on a throne of bones with smoke pouring from behind him refers to the thought of death and oblivion which creates panic and fear within. This is either a connotation of how they felt while writing the album, how they want you to feel while listening to it or both. The uncomfortable feeling you get when merely looking at this promotes their views, music and genre perfectly.
The Walrus’- Welcome To The Playground
what we decided to do for our own album is convey the feeling that we thought went best with the music/ music video we have produced, something that connotes the 60’s psychedelic feel and fun and energy that was almost uplifting.
What i took from this was a huge variety of bright colours that stood out, it also had to have abnormalities to take it away from reality and make it look as if it was a dream world.
The image itself is taken from the ‘magazine photo shoot’ it shows all the band in a close group. The men looking down at the camera and also being on the end may show their control (is that the right word to use :S ) in the band and the two girls looking at each other knits the band together showing how tight they are and also the friendship that has been built.
The text chosen was seen as a very 60’s styles text type as it represents the ‘bell-bottomed jeans’ of the era, this proved in keeping with the album. The name of the band is much larger than the name of the album as this is very common though out the album art i have been researching it also shows dominance of the group who are not afraid of who they are.
Lyrics
The Beatles
"I Am The Walrus" Song Lyrics
Songwriters: Lennon/McCartney
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.
See how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly.
I'm crying.
Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come.
Corporation tee-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday.
Man, you been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob.
Mister City Policeman sitting
Pretty little policemen in a row.
See how they fly like Lucy in the Sky, see how they run.
I'm crying, I'm crying.
I'm crying, I'm crying.
Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog's eye.
Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess,
Boy, you been a naughty girl you let your knickers down.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob.
Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun.
If the sun don't come, you get a tan
From standing in the English rain.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob g'goo goo g'joob.
Expert textpert choking smokers,
Don't you thing the joker laughs at you?
See how they smile like pigs in a sty,
See how they snied.
I'm crying.
Semolina pilchard, climbing up the Eiffel Tower.
Elementary penguin singing Hari Krishna.
Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob g'goo goo g'joob.
Goo goo g'joob g'goo goo g'joob g'goo.
"I Am The Walrus" Song Lyrics
Songwriters: Lennon/McCartney
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.
See how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly.
I'm crying.
Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come.
Corporation tee-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday.
Man, you been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob.
Mister City Policeman sitting
Pretty little policemen in a row.
See how they fly like Lucy in the Sky, see how they run.
I'm crying, I'm crying.
I'm crying, I'm crying.
Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog's eye.
Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess,
Boy, you been a naughty girl you let your knickers down.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob.
Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun.
If the sun don't come, you get a tan
From standing in the English rain.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob g'goo goo g'joob.
Expert textpert choking smokers,
Don't you thing the joker laughs at you?
See how they smile like pigs in a sty,
See how they snied.
I'm crying.
Semolina pilchard, climbing up the Eiffel Tower.
Elementary penguin singing Hari Krishna.
Man, you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob g'goo goo g'joob.
Goo goo g'joob g'goo goo g'joob g'goo.
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Production Meeting Diary
3rd November 2009 - First Production Meeting - Media Room:
Production Team:
Courtenay Argyle
Sophie Boyce
Will Smith
Owen Livett
Production Roles:
Courtenay Argyle – Cinematographer, actor, article creator
Sophie Boyce - Director, Editor, actor, article creator
Will Smith - Sound Supervisor, actor, album cover designer
Owen Livett - Costume Supervisor, actor, feedback organiser
During this production meeting, we have briefly discussed each of our stories, and we have decided on each of our roles for this production, as shown above. At the moment, we are considering doing a music video of “I Am The Walrus” by The Beatles.if this is possible
5th November 2009 - Second Production Meeting - Media Room:
In this production meeting, we finalised our decisions on what we were going to choose to film and use for our coursework production. In the end we all decided to do a music video of The Beatles song “I Am The Walrus”, as we were all in agreement that this would be a very interesting choice seeing as it would allow us a lot of abstract and experimental shots and a music video would be both new and very interesting.
With this underway, we could now decide on actors, locations for shooting and were able to discuss our own thoughts on how the end product should look. We all put our own inputs on to paper to improve and change the film. In this production meeting, we clarified and finalised our choices for this production.
Music Video title:
“I Am The Walrus
Actors for production:
Sophie Boyce
Courtenay Argyle
William Smith
Owen Livett
(and other any others featuring as background actors)
Place(s) of shooting:
We will shoot in various places as we are going to use a variety of random and mixed shots. We will be shooting in London for external shots, Henley (within the college premises) and at our own houses for internal shots.
12th November 2009 - Fifth Production Meeting - Media Room:
As we are doing a music video, the sound is obviously a very important part of our production. As we have to create an album cover and a magazine article, we have decided to create this music video as a debut single of our band “The Walrus’”. This allows us to write a magazine article about “the band” and make an album cover also for “The Walrus’”.
In today’s production meeting, we are going to analyse the shots, camera angles and describe the meanings we want to convey, we will then set it out on our shooting script
In today’s production meeting we agreed on the band name and the concept in general.
13th November 2009 - Sixth Production Meeting - Media Room:
In today’s meeting, we discussed how we used research as inspiration in this project. Below are the ideas we came up with which we can use later to show what research we used. We talked about some questions we could use in order to do a group audience survey, to get a response from the people who are watching our production. This will help gage their reactions to our product.
RESEARCH:
Narrative - We have researched and looked at various narrative ideas and structures from various people. E.g. Todorov, Levi
Sound - How it helps create meaning, Francis Ford Coppola: "Sound is at least 50% of a movie... and maybe more."
How to Create Meaning through Shots - Sound, variety of shots and mise-en-scene
Album poster research – By other artists
Magazine review’s –
• Rolling Stone
• Mojo
• Kerrang!
• NME
Audience Survey - Ten People, Ten Questions
- We are thinking of making a music video for a Beatles song, do you think this would be the sort of film people your age would watch?
- Have you watched the original “I Am The Walrus” music video before?
- If so, what was your reaction?
- If not, why not, was there a particular reason?
- What do you think about music videos that lack a linear narrative?
- Do you prefer music videos that are plot driven or character driven?
17th November 2009 - Seventh Production Meeting - Media Room:
Today the three of us discussed when we are going to film. We are hoping to film on the 2nd to then begin editing on the 4th. We then went on to shoot some rushes in the woods to practise various shots, such as running in the fields with masks on.
19th November 2009 – Eighth Production Meeting – Media Room:
In today’s production meeting, we discussed our plan for the 2nd, deciding on various shot angles and choices we could use for music on editing that evening. We also began thinking of questions for our pre and post production surveys Owen is going to produce to help us gage the response from our audiences.
20th November 2009 – Ninth Production Meeting – Media Room:
We have organised to shoot the film this afternoon, and to bring it in fully edited tomorrow for this week dedicated to editing. As we had organised to do it later, we decided to practise shooting during this editing session and we practised various shots and ideas so we were in agreement for that evening.
26th November 2009 – Tenth Production Meeting – Media Room:
Today we all contributed to editing the work we have done so far; yesterday we managed to film lots of footage of us in the field which we edited together in this meeting.
1st – 17th December 2009:
During these production meetings, we used the time to film the majority of our shots such as:
• Scenes in the snow – external – Henley college
• Various odd shots – internal and external – Henley College and our own houses
• London shots – mainly external, some internal – London Westminster, London Underground etc.
The shots we filmed were done both during college lessons, such as the ones filmed on the college grounds in the snow, and also during our Christmas holidays at our homes.
We will still need to shoot some more footage in London before our deadline.
5th January 2010 – Twentieth Production Meeting – Media Room:
All attended and we began editing the footage we shot in December over our holidays. Today we discussed what we were aiming for with the snow scene footage and began editing it, preparing to finish it tomorrow.
12th January 2010 – Twenty-second Production Meeting- Media Room:
Today we finished editing the snow footage together, making sure we were all happy with the finished product. In our next meeting we plan to edit some of the odd shots we took over the Christmas holidays.
21st January 2010 Twenty-sixth Production Meeting – Media Room:
Today we uploaded any other work that we had not already put onto our blogs. Our Media teacher, Zoe scanned in our storyboard so were able to also show this on our blogsites.
22nd January 2010 – Twenty-seventh Production Meeting – Media Room:
All attended. We created a list of work that we had to include and began ticking off the checklist to see how much we had left to do before handing in our work on the 28th.
26th January 2010 – Twenty-eighth Production Meeting – Media Room:
Due to groups struggling to meet the deadline, our media teacher has given us a two week extension. Our new deadline is 12th February, the last day of term before half term begins. This allows our group to make sure all work is uploaded and correctly formatted and edited while also giving us time to perfect our music video and continue any last minute touch-up editing that we wish to do.
28th January 2010 – Original Deadline
(My birthday)
Production Team:
Courtenay Argyle
Sophie Boyce
Will Smith
Owen Livett
Production Roles:
Courtenay Argyle – Cinematographer, actor, article creator
Sophie Boyce - Director, Editor, actor, article creator
Will Smith - Sound Supervisor, actor, album cover designer
Owen Livett - Costume Supervisor, actor, feedback organiser
During this production meeting, we have briefly discussed each of our stories, and we have decided on each of our roles for this production, as shown above. At the moment, we are considering doing a music video of “I Am The Walrus” by The Beatles.if this is possible
5th November 2009 - Second Production Meeting - Media Room:
In this production meeting, we finalised our decisions on what we were going to choose to film and use for our coursework production. In the end we all decided to do a music video of The Beatles song “I Am The Walrus”, as we were all in agreement that this would be a very interesting choice seeing as it would allow us a lot of abstract and experimental shots and a music video would be both new and very interesting.
With this underway, we could now decide on actors, locations for shooting and were able to discuss our own thoughts on how the end product should look. We all put our own inputs on to paper to improve and change the film. In this production meeting, we clarified and finalised our choices for this production.
Music Video title:
“I Am The Walrus
Actors for production:
Sophie Boyce
Courtenay Argyle
William Smith
Owen Livett
(and other any others featuring as background actors)
Place(s) of shooting:
We will shoot in various places as we are going to use a variety of random and mixed shots. We will be shooting in London for external shots, Henley (within the college premises) and at our own houses for internal shots.
12th November 2009 - Fifth Production Meeting - Media Room:
As we are doing a music video, the sound is obviously a very important part of our production. As we have to create an album cover and a magazine article, we have decided to create this music video as a debut single of our band “The Walrus’”. This allows us to write a magazine article about “the band” and make an album cover also for “The Walrus’”.
In today’s production meeting, we are going to analyse the shots, camera angles and describe the meanings we want to convey, we will then set it out on our shooting script
In today’s production meeting we agreed on the band name and the concept in general.
13th November 2009 - Sixth Production Meeting - Media Room:
In today’s meeting, we discussed how we used research as inspiration in this project. Below are the ideas we came up with which we can use later to show what research we used. We talked about some questions we could use in order to do a group audience survey, to get a response from the people who are watching our production. This will help gage their reactions to our product.
RESEARCH:
Narrative - We have researched and looked at various narrative ideas and structures from various people. E.g. Todorov, Levi
Sound - How it helps create meaning, Francis Ford Coppola: "Sound is at least 50% of a movie... and maybe more."
How to Create Meaning through Shots - Sound, variety of shots and mise-en-scene
Album poster research – By other artists
Magazine review’s –
• Rolling Stone
• Mojo
• Kerrang!
• NME
Audience Survey - Ten People, Ten Questions
- We are thinking of making a music video for a Beatles song, do you think this would be the sort of film people your age would watch?
- Have you watched the original “I Am The Walrus” music video before?
- If so, what was your reaction?
- If not, why not, was there a particular reason?
- What do you think about music videos that lack a linear narrative?
- Do you prefer music videos that are plot driven or character driven?
17th November 2009 - Seventh Production Meeting - Media Room:
Today the three of us discussed when we are going to film. We are hoping to film on the 2nd to then begin editing on the 4th. We then went on to shoot some rushes in the woods to practise various shots, such as running in the fields with masks on.
19th November 2009 – Eighth Production Meeting – Media Room:
In today’s production meeting, we discussed our plan for the 2nd, deciding on various shot angles and choices we could use for music on editing that evening. We also began thinking of questions for our pre and post production surveys Owen is going to produce to help us gage the response from our audiences.
20th November 2009 – Ninth Production Meeting – Media Room:
We have organised to shoot the film this afternoon, and to bring it in fully edited tomorrow for this week dedicated to editing. As we had organised to do it later, we decided to practise shooting during this editing session and we practised various shots and ideas so we were in agreement for that evening.
26th November 2009 – Tenth Production Meeting – Media Room:
Today we all contributed to editing the work we have done so far; yesterday we managed to film lots of footage of us in the field which we edited together in this meeting.
1st – 17th December 2009:
During these production meetings, we used the time to film the majority of our shots such as:
• Scenes in the snow – external – Henley college
• Various odd shots – internal and external – Henley College and our own houses
• London shots – mainly external, some internal – London Westminster, London Underground etc.
The shots we filmed were done both during college lessons, such as the ones filmed on the college grounds in the snow, and also during our Christmas holidays at our homes.
We will still need to shoot some more footage in London before our deadline.
5th January 2010 – Twentieth Production Meeting – Media Room:
All attended and we began editing the footage we shot in December over our holidays. Today we discussed what we were aiming for with the snow scene footage and began editing it, preparing to finish it tomorrow.
12th January 2010 – Twenty-second Production Meeting- Media Room:
Today we finished editing the snow footage together, making sure we were all happy with the finished product. In our next meeting we plan to edit some of the odd shots we took over the Christmas holidays.
21st January 2010 Twenty-sixth Production Meeting – Media Room:
Today we uploaded any other work that we had not already put onto our blogs. Our Media teacher, Zoe scanned in our storyboard so were able to also show this on our blogsites.
22nd January 2010 – Twenty-seventh Production Meeting – Media Room:
All attended. We created a list of work that we had to include and began ticking off the checklist to see how much we had left to do before handing in our work on the 28th.
26th January 2010 – Twenty-eighth Production Meeting – Media Room:
Due to groups struggling to meet the deadline, our media teacher has given us a two week extension. Our new deadline is 12th February, the last day of term before half term begins. This allows our group to make sure all work is uploaded and correctly formatted and edited while also giving us time to perfect our music video and continue any last minute touch-up editing that we wish to do.
28th January 2010 – Original Deadline
(My birthday)
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