Group Research, Ideas and Notes

Group Blog reflection 1

So far i am very pleased with the progress with the group blog and how quickly we are moving through the work. I feel as though each of our team and individual work is up to standard for us to achieve at least a B grade although we need to keep this pace up and not slow down and get distracted.

I have completed a proposal sheet to narrow down my ideas and opinions on the song and the variations of music videos we could possibly make. I also noted how we could either create a literal, metaphorical or abstract video and all of the options we actually have with this music video.

So far we have agreed on our song (Take me to Church) and discussed our personal thoughts and opinions on the song and what we could do fo
r the music video. We are currently discussing the direction of our music video and creating a story board. This story board is quite detailed with specific time periods for each scene and what the scene would consist of. There are also small images that help give a visual image of what the scene would look like.

Photoshop Tutorial: Dispersion Pixel Effect

Poster Research

Poster Research

Looking into the tour and magazine posters of Hozier, there are several distinctive qualities that link to the qualities of indie rock.

Mise En Scene

Indie rock artists are stereotypically pictured wearing casual clothing and Hozier fits the criteria in the various posters. In this image, he is wearing a plain white t-shirt and a denim jacket this is considered causal clothing.

This shows us that in order to look the part in the music video and for the tour poster we have to create, we will have to wear similar clothing in order to fit the correct mise en scene.

Layout

The style of the font used for his name (Hozier) is unique in this poster. The font is unique as it is very imposing on the page as the bright yellow contrasts with the black and white imagery, which is directly relatable to the music video ‘Take me to church’ as the video is shot in black and white.

The tour poster is relatable to the genre of indie rock as there is a good balance between text and the image of the artist on the poster.

Props

The props used in this tour poster are relatable to the indie rock genre. Most of the artists like to be photographed with their instruments, as Hozier is here with his guitar.

From the microphone you can see that this image was taking whilst he was performing which is another recurring motif in the genre of indie rock (most artists who belong to the indie rock genre are photographed whilst performing).

Photoshop Tutorial - Defining text as a brush

I am happy with this photoshop effect. I have learnt a lot from this tutorial and how i can create my own custom brushes. This can be effective for a lot of other things i may do on photoshop and is something to consider when making a poster or album cover.

I feel that by the more photoshop techniques i learn the more options i will have when creating my final poster or cover.

Group Album Cover Research

Indie/Rock Music Album Covers

For our music video that we are going to make we are looking at the song  “Take me to Church” by artist Hozier. Here are a few example of the type of Album Cover that are used for his music and I feel that they well elaborate on the mood and emotions from either the song or album.

I really like the style of these album covers and they well represent this style of music. I feel that it is important that the album cover relates to both the artist and music and I feel that hoziers does this well by linking his music and his background.

After researching into other album covers of a similar style and genre to Hozier I have found other album covers that can link to this. The album covers that I have found also relate to hoziers album covers and the vibes they create.

 The American Folk Band “Bon Iver” uses similar techniques throughout there album covers to create an effective album cover to link the music and message behind the music. I also feel that the album covers from Bon Iver link well to Hoziers artistically as there are clear similarities.

I have also found a very low-key indie/rock band called “Sing for me Sandra” from Iceland. I feel that this album cover would link bon ivers and hoziers album covers well and leads for many possibilities for our album cover.

The final artist I have looked at is “All the luck in the world” who is an indie/folk band originating from Ireland. This is very relatable to Hozier and his style of music. I can also see how the cultural aspect of Ireland within their music has had an effect on the album covers and genre of music.

Throughout each of these artists and their style of music we can see how each of their album cover is very individual to their music although there are some clear similarities. You can see how most of these covers contain some form of life whether if it is the nature or animals. Most of the album covers focus on landscape, which heavily links to the origin of the artist and where they are from.

My Group Blog and Research

My group blog consists of Connor Burgess, Nathan Kearns and Me. We initially focused on 4 genres of music, Pop, Rock, Indie and Singer/Songwriter although we ended up looking at the indie/rock genre.

We then branched away and started looking at artists that we can relate to and find music that we all enjoy listening to. As a group we all made sure that we focus on a song that each of us would enjoy making a music video out of.

We ended up with two songs "Take me to Church" by Hozier and "Lego house" by Ed Sheeran. Overall we outlined the pros and cons of each of the songs and ended up using Take me to church although decided to take a lot of the aspects from lego house to influence our music video.

From the Lego house music video we are looking into the theme within the music video and how we could possibly use a similar technique. The locations used are also something we could take influence from as they seem pretty familiar location such as a lake or inside a house and i feel that these locations would link towards our music video for take me to church.

My 3 Music Video Songs

The three song that i would like to do for my music video are, "Here with me" by the killers, "Give me love" by ed sheeran and "i cant make you love me" by bon iver.

I feel that a slow paced song would be the best fit for my music video and each of these songs are pretty slow paced, each song is very individual and i could see myself doing some interesting and dynamic things with our music video if we chose one of these songs.

 I am very open to the song we do for our music video as i already have multiple ideas for the video although i feel that it would be better if we were to choose a slower and more emotional song as it would be difficult, technically to edit and prepare a fast paced song.

My group have also agreed that a slow paced song would be a better fit personally for us to do and that it would be more enjoyable. Personally i feel that the more we enjoy making this music video the better the outcome would be. This is why i find it especially important that we all find a song which we can all find a connection to and relate with.

Progress Update 13/10/14

So far i am happy with my blog progress throughout A2 i feel that i have kept up with all of the blogs that we are supposed to do and also some individual posts. I am pleased with how i have reflected my thoughts and ideas through the year so far as well as how i have learned new things such as how to use imovie and other editing software.

I have also developed skills with more practical equipment as i have properly used the cameras and green screen room more so far this year than i did in the whole of AS. I have also shown development and how i have learnt from mistakes this year, an example of this would be when i had shadows on my lip sync and was unable to add something onto the screen.

This year i have been a lot more motivated to be independent and make sure that i have the work completed by the deadlines. Apart from some slight technical issues i am happy with how i have progressed through the year and when i get more comfortable with the equipment and software i will be looking towards a better grade than last year.

My notes on peoples lip sync

My experiences so far editing with imovie

So far i am happy with my editing skills with imovie and i feel that i have adapted well and quickly considering this is a whole new software to me that i have never used before. Right now i just feel that i need to experiment more with imovie and this will be shown through my next two lip sync videos. In these next 2 lip syncs i am looking on trying out new ways to make my video more creative and interesting through imovie. I feel that my initial lip sync was very plain and simple and i am looking on expanding through imovie in my new lip syncs.

My notes on peoples Music Video Presentation

My Lip Sync Feedback Analysis

The main factor within my lip sync that was criticized was that the green screen wasn't used and made my lip sync boring and very plain. Since then i have now recorded 2 new lip syncs and i just have to now edit them and import audio. I have also used better lighting so that i can now import images and videos onto the green screen to make the lip sync a lot more dynamic and interesting because in my first lip sync i was unable to import the video i had onto the screen due to the lighting, this is something i have learnt and will be aware of in my next lip sync. My video was also lacking a range of camera movements and angles which is something that i will try out in my next lip sync or at least edit in some zoom in or zoom outs etc. In my Lip Sync i am happy that i shown movement and i feel that the video and audio was in sync, from here i just have to improve on how i can make it more interesting.

My first attempt editing with Green Screening

This is my very first attempt editing myself with green screen, i thought it went really well and this is a very interesting technique. I tried to have some fun with this and i feel that it worked well. Also i learned how to insert audio to my video and it has a good outcome. I used some strange soundtrack clips but i feel that it worked. Now that i have learned the basics of editing with i movie through green-screening and audio i can now look onto bigger and better things this year with this software.