Friday, November 12, 2010

Props.

I've decided to post the making and development of my props to show the effort that has been put in, and what type of props i'll be using. I had a lot of fun in the making of these props. Here are some of my props and how I made them and how I will be using them:


My signs:
As I've mentioned before, I will use large signs as part of the comical effect of my music video, linking them intertextually to my music song lyrics. I used some simple cardboard, plain black poster paint and printed pictures of the directors Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino to spell out and show the title "Kill The Director" and the bands name, "The Wombats". These resources came from my school's art room and could have been obtained readily. I hope that this will be effective, as the large black words stand out enough for a camera. As an added bonus, I created the words to look similar to my chosen font, and in that way the video will have a direct link to my album cover, creating authenticity. I hope this is something my audience will pick up when watching my music video and evaluating my album cover.




Soup:
As strange as it sounds, I will use soup in the lyric "I've met someone that makes me feel sea sick" with the intention of creating the soup to look like sick and to further link the lyrics to the music video, thus creating intertextuality. Once again, the soup/sick idea will be to create a comical effect to my music video, appealing to my teenage target audience with the comically gross effect it could create.

Guitar:
I'm not too sure if i'm using this prop yet, but its a definite possibility. The guitar will add to the music in the song (which is primarily made up of guitar beats) and also relate to the indie, teenage, target audience. From my knowledge, I know one of the actors I am using has a guitar (as does a relative of mine), and there would be a few to borrow from the music area of my school meaning guitars would be readily available. However, the guitars would run the risk of being damaged, and something so valuable would result in my paying out a lot to compensate the losses. Thats why most of my props so far have been simple, cheap and easily broken/thrown away. This will be something I will have to consider when deciding whether or not I use a guitar as a prop in my music video.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Filming Schedule.

I thought it would be in my best interests to post my previous filming schedule for my music video. So far, everything is almost wrapped up though I need to film small bits here and there that need perfecting. I've decided to post my filming schedule to demonstrate the organisation that has been put into my filming process, and for myself to get into perspective my filming times and dates. Here is my following schedule:
  • 30th September 12:00pm - Meeting with my actors at lunch time to discuss the filming process, what I want from them and what they need to bring.


  • 2nd October 11:00am - Equiptment, props, actors, scenery checking - running through to see if everything is okay.


  • 3rd October 9:00am - First lot of filming is started. I have decided to individually film all three of the actors to then conglomerate them together in editing. My first actor to be filmed is Actor 2 - Jamie Adams.


  • 14th October 2:00pm - After taking a look at the first lot of filming, i've taken the second lot with Actor 1 -Phil Hawkings.


  • 25th October 1:00pm - Next I have begun filming with Actor 3 - Tom Winship. I have also reviewed the previous filming to make amends on what needs to happen next.

  • 2nd November 10:00am - In my free, I have begun to discuss the extras filming with my extra Rachel Hilton. We set up a later date for filming together.

  • 8th November 9:00am - I started to film small bits of the extras scenes, and bits in which actors aren't included.

So whats next? After the small ends are tied up, I should start my editing by mid-late November, leaving me enough time to make small amends if necessary.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Colour Scheme Feedback.

I wanted to explore whether or not the colour scheme idea (that being completely black and white with only one fundemental colour) was a good idea and whether or not my audience would prefer this idea over the ones of my general colour scheme ideas. I conducted a short survery in my class and will post the results as follows;


My bar chart was created using Microsoft Excel, I did not want to use the previous website as I wanted a more diverse range of software. As you can see, the black and white idea gained more popularity once i'd explained the kind of idea i'd be going with. Below is some feedback from my classmates;

Chris B - I really liked the idea of the black and white colour scheme with the one colour as, having watched Schindlers List, I saw for myself the impact it can create in any forms of media. However, it might be a challenge to keep the album cover looking interesting and alive.

Ashleigh - Though the idea of black and white being the central theme to the album cover sounds artistic, I much prefer the idea of colour because I think it will link much better to the theme of the music song and video, that being because its much more fun and upbeat. I also think if its colour it will attract an audience more.

Lance - The black and white colour scheme will work well in my opinion. This is because it seems to be more male targeted and therefore would suit the male target more. The colour schemes look good, but seem a bit too girly.

Jack - The colour schemes seem to me too bright and busy. I prefer the black and white idea much more as I think it will create an intense impact that will draw the reader in and it relates to the indie theme of The Wombats.

Rachel - I really like the idea of the Black and White theme because it seems alluring and a bit romantic, something that would suit well in terms of the theme of the music song and video.

Sarah - Personally, I am more of a colour person and because of this, I prefer the colour scheme. Though I do appreciate the effect of the black and white colour scheme, this is just a personal preference.

Amy P - Though the colour scheme seems interesting, my personal preference is the black and white scheme because it seems a classic technique that has worked for lots of other media mediums.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Colour Schemes - Black and White?

I now have to figure out the kind of colour schemes will be needed for my overall album cover. Thinking about this, i've had an idea for a black and white theme but with one central item or aspect of the album cover having colour. I have gained this inspiration from different mediums, as it creates a dramatic impact and draws the reader in with its one singular colour. By having one singular colour, I can easily symbolise my music video and album because the colour has no other colour to clash or contrast with. For example, different colours are often said to symbolise different themes; red = anger, passion, love, romance; yellow = happiness; purple = royalty; pink = sexuality, feminine.

Steven Spielberg's Schindlers List:


Though the context within the film is serious, and I have interpreted it to be so, this is still my most fundemental inspiration for the colour scheme of my album cover. Here, you can quite clearly see the little girls coat is red, drawing the audience into her image and giving off the sense of love and a mothers' love when put in relation to the context of the film. This one coloured image presents a singular idea with another dimension to it, and in the case of Schindlers list, it shows a sign of hope, in a film that depicts the horrors of the Jewish Holocaust in Nazi Germany.

Bart Busschots' photography blog:

I found this on the photography blog of a man named Bart Busschots entitled www.bartbusschots.ie/blog/?p=536. Once again, I picked this for the strong impact it makes and the message it sends out to an audience. In this picture, the idea of nature is highlighted through the orange presented on the butterfly. Consequently, the colour orange presents the idea of happiness, and thus provokes the feeling out of the audience meaning overall this image is seen as a happy and positive one - something I would like to create in my album cover.


GIMP - Selective Colourization Tutorial:

This is less of an intense photo, as it is not fully in black and white but sepia. I obtained this photo from a tutorial website that specialised in teaching you how to place only one colour onto a black and white photo named http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Selective_Color/. I used this photo as I felt that once again, the impact of keeping the eyes colours intact whilst everything else was in sepia was both clever and symbolic to the idea of the beauty of children. Therefore, once again this is a positive image with an artistic dimension to it - something that inspired me further in my ideas of an album cover.
Other colour schemes:
Failing I cannot create such a thing as above, or that I decided to opt out from this idea, I have deliberated three colour schemes I could use in my album cover design and, with explanations, have placed them in the form of a powerpoint presentation.