Filming Shots

I took some photographs while filming for my music video to provide me with an overview of still shots and to use as evidence of filming. Filming went very well as I was able to use all of my locations, my actor and my costume.

Filming Equipment

The camera I am going to be using for my filming is a Canon 550D. I will also be using a tripod to achieve professional still shots for my video. The benefits of using a camera like this are that it can achieve crisp and clear pictures and video, a realistic expectation of industry music videos. The videos are almost always expected to be of the highest quality production these days as good music videos are an excellent source of advertisement and publicity for an artist. HD music videos that are well framed and steadily shot will gain more respect and be treated more seriously within the industry.

Character Profile

I decided the theme my actor's costume around the western theme of the song. My character is described as the "hero" in my plans so I wanted a cowboy inspired outfit. I borrowed a genuine stetson from a friend and then used jeans, a plaid shirt and a leather-look coat that I already. I chose black Converse high-tops for the shoes to give the cowboy image a quirky, childish twist as my actor is a child. The cowboy outfit mixed with Converse shoes make for an entertaining juxtaposition. 

Final Digipak Design

The first step I took to designing my digipak was to get a final design idea down in Photoshop using my hand-drawn draft for inspiration. I got my text down and chose a font that I found on DaFont.com and used my scanned in drawings to edit and place on my digipak.

My final design idea in Photoshop

I then looked for a template to put my design on to ensure that it would be functional when printed. I found a template on the internet on a website called UltraDisc.com  and placed my template with the panels all in the correct place, ready for printing.

My final design on a digipak template



My digipak as a mock-up print

Final Website Design

I designed a website using the online program Wix for my chosen band, theming it around the design of my digipak and filling the website with relevant content to the band. I wrote text using my reseach on band website conventions for inspiration and took my own photographs for the gallery page. Some of my photographs were from my sessions filming for my music video and some photos are from a concert of The Heavy that I went to recently.

My website: http://jessicatheaowen.wix.com/theheavy

Home page

Info page

Contact page

Gallery page

Music page

Tour page

Call Sheet

I have made a call sheet, a filming schedule document, for my music video's filming shoot. In industry, these documents would be used to hand out to cast and crew to tell them when and where they are needed on set. The call sheet template I used is similar to a call sheet of industry standard as it includes lots of details about exactly who is required to be on set and contact information in case of emergency. Call sheets improve the organisation of a film shoot and are very vital to ensure that everything that is needed to be done is done.

Risk Assessment

I filled in a risk assessment form for my music video production. This is legally required to be completed by production companies to ensure the safety of the cast and crew on set.

Also, because I have a child on set I must fill in a Child on Set form by acquiring the parent's permission to use the child as an actor in my music video. I wrote a letter to the parents asking for their permission.

Location Shots

I plan on using multiple locations for my music video. The first of which is a forest and lake in my local area. I have taken some location shots of this below. I want to film in this location during the autumn and winter seasons. 

I also plan on filming in another location in my local area. It is a country lane and a housing estate. I want to use the long roads in my shots and experiment with the lighting from the lamp posts if I get the chance to film in the dark.

Band Website Conventions

I have looked at the websites of other bands of the same genre as The Heavy to gain some inspiration for the making of my own website. All band websites will tend to have been designed cohesively with their latest album. This aids customers in associating all products to one band, such as the album cover, single covers, merchandise and the website all together under one theme. I have also noticed that a lot of indie and rock bands do not have images of the band on the front page of their websites or on the covers of their albums. These features are most noticeable in these examples that I have looked at:

The Vaccines website homepage

The Vaccines latest album

The Black Keys website homepage

The Black Keys latest album

Kings of Leon website homepage

Kings of Leon latest album

Band websites will follow specific conventions to make them easily usable and look professional despite all looking entirely different. Bands can be very creative with their branding but will always include some important features. The features that all three of these websites have in common are:

• name of the band - at the top of the page in large lettering matching the exact style of the bands name on the album cover
• decorative images - used to decorate the homepage and go with the theme or image is straight off the album cover
• news tab - page of news from the band similar to a blog of what they're up to, what's new and what's next
• shows/tour tab - page of tour dates and venues and links to booking tickets for the shows
• photos/images/media/video tab - page of photos and videos of the band from shows or behind the scenes
• merch/store/musicstore tab - page that links to merchandise and how to purchase it online
• social networking links - buttons to the band's twitter, facebook, myspace, youtube pages

Initial Draft Idea For Digipak

This is an idea for my digipak that I have drafted onto a digipak template. This digipak would have just two panels and a disk inside held in by a disc tray. My design consists of skyscraper illustrations and a paint dripping effect to add an indie/rock feel and a creative twist.

Digipak Forms and Conventions

Digipaks do not stick to one certain structure and so they come in a range of different forms. They will always have a gatefold, a fold style similar to a book and will be made out of paperboard or card. They can range in how many panels they have; most will have two or three. Inside, they can contain a plastic tray, a sleeve or corner pockets to hold a CD. Digipaks can contain more than one CD and can also contain a leaflet of lyrics or even a poster.

Front: title of album, name of band, image of band, cover design
Back: track list, barcode, copyright info, website, production company logo, band photo, legal info
Inside: sleeve for disc, band images, pocket for leaflet, leaflet of lyrics, photos and history of

Front: title of album, name of artist, image of artist, cover design
Back: track list, cover design, barcode, website, legal info, production company log
Inside: plastic tray for disc, pocket for leaflet, leaflet of lyrics and photos

Front: title of album, name of band, image of band, cover design
Back: track list, barcode, legal info, website, production company logo, cover design
Inside: artist photos, trays for two discs, sleeve for leaflet, leaflet of lyrics and photos, poster

Front: title of album, name of band, image of band, cover design
Back: track list, barcode, legal info, website, production company logos, photo, cover design
Inside: band logo, photos, sleeve for leaflet, leaflet of lyrics and photos, sleeve for disc

Digipack Research

What is a Digipak?
A digipak is a CD case/holder that is made out of card or paper that folds in two or more ways in a gatefold. It is different to a jewel case which is made from plastic and is hinged.

What are the Pros and Cons of Digipaks
Pros:

• cheaper to produce
• easier and quicker to produce
• allow for more creative freedom and design methods, do not follow a strict frame
• lighter and thinner
• easier to ship/deliver
• are not easily broken
• can hold more than 2 CDs
• has a more personal feel
• usually look more attractive and home-made
• more eco-friendly
• can include more goodies (posters, bonus CDs)

Cons:

• can be damaged (ripped, water damage, bent, squashed)
• usually doesn't include a lyrics booklet
• CDs in a sleeve holder are hard to get out
• artwork and CD aren't separate and so must be kept together to complete the piece, cannot be stored separately like a CD and a booklet in a jewel case

Why are they increasingly popular?

Digipaks are the more economically friendly method of CD packaging today, a feature which makes them all the more appealing to the modern consumer. It is easier to produce and ship due to its size and material and is overall more creatively designed and has a more personal feel.

What genres of music do not seem to favour them?

Genres like heavy metal do not seem to favour them very often due to them looking rather quaint and homemade and this not fitting with the style of the musical genre and would not resonate with the target audience. Also, classical music seems to rarely use them and this is probably due to them not needing to spend as much on CD packaging production.

Magazine Advert Conventions

We looked at the forms and conventions of magazine adverts for albums and digipaks in well-known music magazines. We found a range of adverts, some advertising the same album in different ways, and looked at the features they shared and differed in.

Kerrang Magazine - Blitz Kids album - full back page advert

Conventions: album cover, band name, album name, tour dates, album release date, record label website, stores the album is available in, singles included on album, record label logos, store/advert sponsor logo (HMV)

Rocksound Magazine - Blitz Kids album - full back page advert

Conventions: album cover, band name, album name, album release date, deluxe album cover, singles included on album, stores the album is available in, record label website, record label logos, store/advert sponsor logo (Amazon)

Rocksound Magazine - Decade album - full inside page advert

Conventions: album cover, band photo, twitter username, band website, album release date, singles included on album, review, record label logo, available in iTunes logo, style of album cover used in advert design

Rocksound Magazine - Protest The Hero album - half inside page advert

Conventions: band name, album name, album available now, singles included, tour dates, record label website, album cover used for background

Mojo Magazine - Billy Joe and Norah album - full inside page advert

Conventions: band name, album name, album cover (as a square digipak cover and as the background photo), inspiration, 'out now', band website

Animatic

This is the animatic for my music video. I took each frame from my storyboard and edited them together in Final Cut Pro to my song, in my desired order and timing. I even added some fade effects that I plan to include in my music video. Creating an animatic like this helps me visualise how my final product could look. It helps me realise what will look good and what will be the best way to shoot it.

Storyboard

Contacting The Band

I messaged the band using a contact form I found on the band 'Contact' page of their website to ask permission to use their song in my music video. I hope to get a reply so that I can say the song is used with permission in my coursework.

Audience Research

I will be researching the band The Heavy and their demographic and fans.

The Heavy are from Bath, England and their musical genre is considered indie rock, neo-soul, funk and blues. They were influenced by Prince and The Sonics. They currently have three released albums:

   Great Vengeance and Furious Fire             The House That Dirt Built                     The Glorious Dead

                        (2007)                                              (2009)                                                (2012)

My chosen song "Short Change Hero" is from their second album.

The band has a Facebook page. Liking it causes a list of siumilar artists to drop down. This gives an idea of the kind of music they make and whether or not someone would like them based on whether they like the similar artists. It also helps fans of The Heavy discover new similar music that they may like. Currently, they have 85,257 likes.

There is also a Twitter page that the band personally uses to update fans on gigs and other news. They also frequently use to to retweet what fans thought of songs, albums and concerts. Currently, they have 8,958 followers.

The Heavy's YouTube channel is used to upload their official music videos and some live footage from concerts. Currently, they have 8,525 subscribers.

Of these three social networking sites that The Heavy are present on, they have the highest number of fans on Facebook by a large amount. This tells me that the majority of their fanbase is present on Facebook and not so much on Twitter and YouTube. Online users that are present on Twitter and YouTube tend to be younger ages such as teenagers. All ages, including adults, have Facebook and so this tells me that the majority of The Heavy's audience are adults.

I also searched the band on Last.fm to see what results would come up for similar bands to The Heavy. This website is popularly used by music lovers to find bands that are similar to their favourites. The results I found when searching The Heavy helped me find bands that I could use to base my media products off. I am able to follow the conventions used by these similar bands to create a music video, website and digipak design that fits into this genre of music.

When buying their album 'The House That Dirt Built' on Amazon, a list of items that are often bought buy people who buy this album is also on the page. It also shows what else is frequently bought with the album, in this case it is The Heavy's other two albums. Other items The Heavy's fan's bought on Amazon include albums by other rock and blues artists.

The same thing can be found on the iTunes store, where users can see what other listeners of The Heavy have bought. The screenshot below shows that music rock and blues artists are often bought by this audience.

A video of The Heavy playing at a festival give a real life example of what their audience is like as we can see the crowd in the video. From this, it appears that the majority of their fans are adult males.

I have also recently been to a concert of The Heavy. Initially, I thought that the audience at the concert would be mainly males aged 25 - 40 and over due to their genre and musical sound being very reminiscent of older rock/soul music. However, at the concert I found that the audience consisted of a rather equal ratio of males and females of a range of ages, from around 18 - 50. This may be due to the genre of The Heavy appealing to younger audiences with their unique style or perhaps even through their well-known songs featured in television and video games. One song in particular, "Short Change Hero", is well-known for being used in the opening sequence of a video game (Borderlands 2) and I noticed that this was the song that received the most feedback from the audience at the concert (cheering and singing along). This could suggest that lots of the fans at the concert discovered the band through this, opening up a new audience of video game players (typically males aged 15 - 21).