Video Final Edit

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Digipak Final Draft

Outside

Inside

Advert Final Draft

Evaluation

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I think that I have used, developed and challenged forms and conventions of real media products as I have used some obvious conventions but I have also gone deeper into this and used some lesser known conventions. The main conventions of my music video are the: quick cutting and cutting on the beat.

I have also used conventions that have been mentioned by Dyer. One of these is: Rebellion and going against society. I do this by showing the individuals of the band playing their instruments outside which goes against what society would class as “normal”.

Another convention that is mentioned by Dyer that I used is the continued consumption of the star.

I use this by having lots of shots of the whole band and even more of the vocalist which therefore gives the audience lots of consumption of the lead vocalist in the band and the whole band as a group and they are all the main stars of the video.

 

I have also used a convention that was said by Goodwin. This convention that I have used shows a relationship between the lyrics and visuals (with visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics) this is done by the visuals of my video illustrating the song meaning and what the song is about.  For example, I think this song is a summary of what the band is all about. As their band name (Shinedown) suggests, sometimes you shine, and sometimes you are down, and you don't know how to get throught it, but you do. Some of the most important lines in the sond are: "I found a way to steal the sun from the sky. Long live that day that I decided to fly from the inside." As when you "steal the sun from the sky", you are being yourself, you have your own thoughts, actions, and words and they are coming straight from your heart and soul and you are no one else but you. I think that the lyrics "I am focused on what I am after. The key to the next open chapter" are relatable to what I have also said above as it is all about being yourself and doing what you want to do and focusing on what it is you yourself want to say and do and have your own choices in life and not other peoples as it is your own life and no one elses as you are focused on what you want from yourself in the future and not what other people want for you.

This is shown in the way that I show individuals of the band playing their instruments outside and wearing whatever they want show the rebellion and going against what is classed as “normal” by society as shown in the images above. And when I show the band playing together there is a complete contrast by showing the band wearing similar clothing with the same colour top and bottoms on which show a uniform and also show the band playing inside which both show the band meeting the requirements of what society would want as shown in the image below.

 

The main conventions I have used in my ancillary texts are things such as: Name of the band, album name, track listing, a credit block, a barcode, website links and company logos as shown below.

Included within these items on my ancillary texts I have thought about many different things that I could do with them about their positioning and colouring etc. For example, I made the constructive decision to put the band name above the album name on the front of the Digipak as it will then get the audience familiar with the band before they become familiar with the actual album. I also made the constructive decision to put the track listing on the back of the Digipak in the centre instead of the left hand side. To help me make a decision on this I asked a variety of friends and family which they preferred and the majority of people I asked thought it would look better in the centre and they thought this because it made the text easier to read and it made the Digipak look a bit fuller as the right hand side of the back looked bare and empty when the track listing was on the left of the back.

Another constructive decision I made about my ancillary texts was on my magazine advertisement. The decision I made was to have the “rock horns”

instead of the stars in the ratings like the popular magazines would do as this image relates and relays to the genre of the music and the audience more than what a star would do. I also made a constructive decision to use ratings from TV programmes and magazines within the genre of the music as the ratings from “Kerrang” and “Scuzz” relate to the audience more than a rating from popular magazines such as “NME”, “Uncut” and other magazines such as these.

 

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

With my ancillary texts and my music video, there are similarities between the three. The reason for this is because having some similarities between the three will make the audience of the texts and video familiar with not just one of the three but all of them at once. An example of where I have used a similarity between my video and my ancillary texts is the use of the forest.

In my video I used the forest when recording the individuals of the band to represent the rebellion and going against what society would want and class as normal and I have also used the forest as the continuous image on the Digipak which goes from the front cover to the back cover with the track listing. This forest is also used as the background image of the whole page for the magazine advert. I have used the images of the forest repeatedly as this creates the similarities between the video and the two ancillary texts which then therefore familiarises the audience with all three items and not just one. Another use of similarities between my ancillary two texts is the use of the album cover. With this I have used the exact front album cover from my Digipak to then use on my magazine advert which also makes the audience familiar with the album at the same time as the advert.

Also within tow of my products, (the Digipak and the music video) I have created another similarity and some cohesiveness between the two. I have done this by using the same guitar and bass that have been used in the video in the inside of the Digipak as well.

I have done this as it will familiarise the audience with both products when looking at either of them.

The question "How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?" can be related to what Dyer has said. Dyer said that: "The incoherence of the star image that audiences continually strive to 'complete' or to 'make sence of' of the image. this is achieved by continued consumption of the star through his or her products." these two relate with my products as I have used the star image in all three products to create an effective combination between them. the star image I have created in my three priducts is one of a band. I have pushed this star image through my three products as my video shows only the band and the members of the band without a narrative and other people in it to then further show the audience the band and star image. I have also used the star image of the band on my Digipak as they are on the front cover of the Digipak which then gives the audience an instant knowlage of the star image and the band. I have also used the image of the front of the DIgipak in my advert to familiarise the audience with the the star image and the band as this will give them further consumption of the star image that has been created in all three products by the band. From what Dyer has said I have achieved "the incoherence of the star image that audiences continually strive to 'complete' or to 'make sence of' of the image" I have done this with a continued consumption of the star through the three products I have created.

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Positive Digipak feedback:
Good quality images, Good fonts, good use of the cohesive forest, good continuity.

Negative Digipak feedback:
Could be a six panel Digipak and not just 4, could get some matching costumes/clothing for the front image, could have some writing on the inside.

Positive Advert feedback:
Nice and focused, good use of the CD cover, writing stands out, use of the "rock horns" or "devil horns" instead of stars for the rating is a good idea to fit with the genre, "Out Now" stands out

Negative Advert feedback:
"Out Now" is distracting

Positive Music Video feedback:
Good use of close ups, video matches the genre, good use of lots of different shots, in perfect sync with the music, good shadows when performing inside, Guitars link with the Digipak (Cohesive)

Negative Music Video feedback:
Could have recorded the band in the woods together, drummers clothes don't match the genre when performing on his own.


Analysis of the Digipak feedback:
With the possitive feedback I have been given about my Digipak, I can take this away and use similar ideas and conventions for any future projects and tasks I may have.
But with the negative feedback I have been given, I can now use this to be able to improve on all the things that other people do not like. For example, with my Digipak i could have mad it into a six panel Digipak and not just 4 so that then i could get more image of the band and the band image arounf the album to help connect the audience with the band themselves and their music. I could also have got some matching costumes/clothing for the members of the band for the front image so that they all match within the exact clothes or style in which they wear so that they look more like a band and have the same views, likes and dislike in music and the music scene. Finally, within my Digipak I could have put some writing on the inside of it so that it din't look so empty and bare. This could include things such as a booklet, leaflet or some information from or about the band.

Analysis of the Advert feedback:
With the possitive feedback I have been given about my advert, I can take this away and use similar ideas and conventions for any future projects and tasks I may have.
But with the negative feedback I have been given, I can now use this to be able to improve on all the things that other people do not like. For example, on my advert, the "Out Now" is distracting to some people. With this, I could have made it a bit smaller or a bit less bold so that it is no so much in the audiences faces. But with this point that has been made about the "Out Now" being distracting, some people liked it and some people didn't so it was a bit of a mix and match of likes and dislikes so if were to do this again I would put out a survey to the main audience with some questions that they could answer to help me design parts of it so that it fits in with what the audience wants.

Analysis of the Music Video feedback:
With the possitive feedback I have been given about my music video, I can take this away and use similar ideas and conventions for any future projects and tasks I may have.
But with the negative feedback I have been given, I can now use this to be able to improve on all the things that other people do not like. For example, with my music video, some one said that it would have been good to have recorded the band in the woods together to then put that in with them performing inside. This would then give more of a veriety of the scenery and locations within the video to keep it a bit more interesting and different to see the band performing in both different locations. I was also told that the drummers clothes don't match the genre when performing on his own. If I were to do this again, I would have given the drummer some different clothes which would match the genre of the music that people would expect band mempers and people involved with this genre of music to wear as this would give the band and the music genre more of an image that is relatable to the audience as it would match with the sort of thing that they would wear.

With all this feedback I have gathered from various different places, I have learnt that even after my improvements I have made from my first draft, things can still not be perfect to everybody's taste. There will always be something that someone will not like and not everything can be exactly perfect. There will always be something that someone will not like and there's nothing you can do about that as if you make it to their tastes then someone else will not like the changes that the other person will have done.
For example, the way in which one person said that the "out now" on the advert stood out and someone else said it was distracting shows this as if I make it smaller and less distracting then the person who said they liked it, will not like it any more. I have also learnt that in future projects i will have to manage my time a bit better to be able to get all the shots I want in time for the deadline so I can use them and not have to use the bare minimum. This is because I didn't manage my time well enough to be able to get the drummer outside on his own where I wanted him to be filmed so therefore I had to do the best with what I had at the time and record him in a studio rather than outside like I got everyone else individually. 

4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

As part of my research, my class were put into groups with other people within our class and were given a short clip of a song that we had never heard before and we had to create a short music video to go with this song that included everyone within the group to lip sync along to the song. Everyone in the group also had to do part of the camera work equally which challenged us all to come up with our own ideas for different camera shots, camera angles and camera movements. This also came up in the editing stage when we all had to contribute to the editing of the video. What this preliminary task taught me was that I can do a lot more and a lot better work than what I originally thought I could which then made me try lots of new and different things in my final music video within the camera work and editing.

With choosing my song to create a video for, it was very difficult as I had a lot of things to consider before I could defiantly say I could and would use that track. For example, some of the things I had to consider in my choice of song for the video included things like: being able to play the song as a band and individually. This was relatively easy to do as the performers I got to feature in my video have all been playing their instruments for a number of years so we were all remarkably skilled to be able to play most songs on our instruments and as a band. With the vocalist I just needed to find a male performer who fitted the role of a rock vocalist and was willing to be extravagant and not get easily embarrassed from their performance and just get on with performing at their best. And with luck of having friends that were willing I managed to get someone who fitted the part as I wanted. Another thing that I needed to consider for my song choice was that the performers were easily accessible to get to if I needed to film or re-film parts of the video. This was not a challenge as all the performers in my video are all from the same college as me and we are all friends anyway so we were able to work together well without arguing about decisions and they just got on with what I wanted to do for my video. One more thing that I needed to consider within my song choice was that it didn’t already have a music video to it that had already been made. This was a challenge as most songs that have something good to them that makes and has made other people to make a music video to them will already be used. It was a challenge to find a song that didn’t already have a music video to it that I enjoyed and had a good idea to make one for it. But in the end I found a song from a band that I really enjoy listening to and went through and listened to every single one of their songs that didn’t already have a video to it and I came across the song “Fly From The Inside” and while I was listening to it, I thought up some really good ideas that I liked and I decided that it would be the perfect song for me to create a music video for as I enjoy listening to the track and had lots of ideas for the video to the track as soon as I started listening to it.

During the construction stages of my project with making my video, editing my video and creating my Digipak and advert there wasn’t much media technology that I hadn’t already used in previous times of making media products as I have already used the Cannon 550D Premier Pro is AS Level Media and with Adobe Fireworks I am already proficient with working with that programme due to my skills developed in my ICT AS and A2 course.

But there was also a new media technology programme that was new to me that used was Photoshop. This was new to me as I once tried it before and I really didn’t like anything about it so I never used it again and began to use Fireworks instead but with certain things on my Digipak and Advert that I wanted to do, I could not or did not know how to do these things in Fireworks so I had to learn how to do them in Photoshop which made me a bit more useful with the software and maybe it will allow me to use my new developed skills in this software in future tasks.

During the editing of my construction stage, I undertook a huge challaenge with the way in which I edited my project and put it all together. With my editing, i firstly filmed everything that i needed and wanted to put into my video as shown with the pictures below.

 

 

Once I had filmed everything, I then put it all the shots onto Premiere Pro and syniced them up so that i didn't have to keep finding the bits that I wanted as I went through it, and then I cut to the beat and at the points I wanted it to cut on and then cut in exactly the same places on every single other shots I had so that then I didn't the sync mixed up and out and by the stage I go to when putting it all together, it looked like the image below.

 

Once this was all together on my project, I had the single track at the bottom on the audio and dragged the parts from the shots that I wanted in order onto the video track 1 and because they were all cut at the same points and in order, then I could not get them all mixed up and muddled in the process of putting them all together to make the video. So by the end of the editing stage, it looked like this with only one video and one audio track.

With editing my video in this way, it made it easier for me to edit and change it for my second draft as all I had to do was click and drag the different shots to where I wanted them rather then having to go through all the different shots and re-sync the shots to make it all work together. So with my second draft, all I had to do was choose the shots I didn't want anymore for video track one and then moved them back into their position in their original shot and choose a different one to replace it. By cutting all the different video tracks and shots at the same place, it also made it easier for me to add in the extra shots that I filmed for my second draft as all I had to do was sync them to the song and then cut in the same place as every other shot and video track on the project.

Also during my construction, there was another piece of media technology that was new to me that I used and that was a new and different camera. This camera was a Sony EX1R. There were two different reasons i decided to use this camera in my construction and these were that when I wanted to film, the Cannon 550D was already booked out by another media student so i was limited to a different choice of camera but that turned out well for me as for my second reason I thought it would be a good idea for me to use a new and different camera at this stage to be able to further develop my camera skills as then I will be able to use more than one camera so that my camera skills were more varied and not limmited to the use of one certain camera.

 

 



During the evaluation stage of my project I there also wasn’t much media technology I hadn’t already used in previous tasks in A2 or AS. For example, with my “xtranormal” video for my answer to question 2, I had already used “xtranormal” at some point during my AS Media. So I was already capable of using this technology as I had already used it before in AS and I knew everything I needed to know about it.

1st Draft Advert

1st Draft Digipak

Outside

Inside

1st Draft Video

Advert sketch

 

 

For the magazine advert I have decided to use a similar structure to the advert I analysed from "FRONT" magazine for the band "Of Mice & Men". I have chosen to use a similar structure to this advert as out of the two I analysed it was alot more relatable to the audience and it also introduced the style and look of the band with the colours and style of the advert to possible new fans that might be persuaded to check out their music or maybe go and see them on tour.

(Also to be noted for the image above, my first draft advert will not be exactly structured like it is shown on the image. Some things may be moved round a bit)

Digipak sketch

I have chosen to use a similar structure to my digipak as the "Yashin" album digipak that i analysed as i think that with four faces, it is alot more simple for me to create and also it isn't too much for the audience to take in. I also did not decide to do six faces on my digipak as i did not want it to end up with nearly black faces like the "Bullet For My Valentine" one. So i chose to do the four face digipak to keep theraudience interested in the look and design of the album as it will have more detail than one with black faces onit.

Video storyboard

 



With this storyboard I can use these images as a guidline to what type of shots i can use for the different people that are going to be in the shots. This storyboard includes lots of different shot types and angles which I can repeate in different places within the video as i will need to do alot of quick editing for the video as the chorus is fast paced where i can do lots of quick and short edits to match the pace of the song and then during the calmer verse i can use slower and longer edits to match the slower pace of that part of the song. and as the chorus is repeated about 2 or 3 times i can re-use the whole first edit of the chorus of the video in the other choruses to match the repetition of the music with the repetition of the images.

Constructive Decisions

With all this planning i have also taken the questionnaire into concideration to help the video connect with the audience more than it would do with just my own ideas.

Performers/Characters:
A band consisting of: Me (Bass), Bobby (Guitar), Daniel (Vocals) and Matt (Drums)
I have chosen these people to do these roles of "The Band" as we can all actually play the instruments given to each person and Daniel is willing to sing as i found no singer that was actually up for the job or was available for this video.

Settings:
Band performace will be in a black room, and the solo performances will be outside in a woody area.
The reasons i have picked to use these locations are that both seperate locations represent different things withing the meaning of the song. Id you read below in the last post, i have written about the song meaning and the song is representing the band and their thoughts they they want to give across to the audience and the meaning of this song is about being yourself and being you you want to be and not what other people or socioty want you to be. So things that i am going to put in within the setting to represent this is the outside area for the solos parts which will represent the singular people doing what they want to do by playing their instruments outside and also with a more literal meaning to the name of the song i will add in shots of a bird watching the outside performances from the different people getting ready to fly away and they finally flying at the end as the song has inspired the bird to do so.
The setting i have chosen for inside is to help represent part of the band name in a way. The name "Shinedown" implies that sometimes you shine out and stand out and sometimes you are down and depressed and sut away from everything. I will represent the "down" part of the name with the indoor setting by using a dark room which will indicate the depression of being alone and down.

Costumes:
While in the black room we will perform in dark coloured bottoms with light coloured tops to act as sort of uniform that socioty wants us to wear as it is plain black and white to make other people happy and not yourself which is what this clothing, lighting and setting will represent in the song/video. when i am recording outside I am going to get averyone to wear whatever they want to wear to represent being yourself which is also what the setting and lighting will represent in the video.
Inside costume example                                     Outside costume example
                                                 

 Camera work:
These are some of the camera shots/angles that i am going to include within my video. With these I will also include features such as: push/pull focus, tilts and pans. I will use lots and lots of different shot types and angles as the pace of the song is quite fast in parts so when i get to the editing stage of the video i will be able to choose from lots of different shots to go with the fast pace by putting in fast editing to match the pace of the song.

Props:
The only props that i will need for my video are the band instruments like the guitar, bass, mic and drum kit. I will only need these props for my video as it is all performace with representations and there will be no narrative just a pure performance.

Lighting:
When recording in the dark room i will have pure darkness everywhere (or as close to that as i can get) to represent the depression i spoke about earlier in the post with only lights shining on the band while they are performing just so you are able to see the performance and when recording outside i am going to use natural sunlight as it will give a more nature/real feel to the shots rather than artificial light that will be used in the dark room to represent naturally being yourself like the natural outdoor light.

Questionnaire

I have costructed a questionnaire for my friends to answer so that i can use the answers given in a constructive way that can help me in what i can do in my video recording to suit the audience. I have chosen my friends to answer these questions as they like the same styles of music and videos that i do so with the answers i can make my video to suit the audience of people like me and my friends. These are the questions i asked and within that are the most popular answers given by my friends that took part in the questionnaire.

Question 1: Performance, narrative or mixed music videos?
Answer 1: Mixed

Qustion 2: Colour or black and white?
Answer 2: Colour

Question 3: Fast, slow or mixed paced?
Answer 3: Mixed

Question 4: Indoor, outdoor or mixed?
Answer 4: Mixed

Question 5: Direct or in-direct representation to the lyrics?
Answer 5: In-direct

Question 6: Direct or in-direct representation to the song meaning?
Answer 6: Direct

Question 7: Band, solo or mixed performance?
Answer 7: Mixed

About The Song

Song:

 

Permission:

Song lyrics:
"Here's the weight of the world on my shoulders
Here's the weight of the world on my shoulders
On my shoulders

All alone I pierce the chain
And on and on the sting remains
And dying eyes consume me now
The voice inside screams out loud

I am focused on what I am after
The key to the next open chapter
Cause I found a way to steal the sun from the sky
Long live that day that I decided to fly from the inside

Every day a new deception
Pick your scene and take direction
And on and on I search to connect
But I don't wear a mask and I have no regrets

I am focused on what I am after
The key to the next open chapter
Cause I found a way to steal the sun from the sky
Long live that day that I decided to fly from the inside

I can't escape the pain
I can't control the rage
Sometimes I think that I'm gonna go insane
I'm not against what's right
I'm not for what's wrong
I'm just making my way and I'm gone

Here's the weight of the world on my shoulders

Cause I found a way to steal the sun from the sky
Long live that day that I decided to fly from the inside

That I decided to fly from the inside
That I decided to fly from the inside

Song Meaning:
Personally, I think this song is a summary of what the band is all about. As their band name (Shinedown) suggests, sometimes you shine, and sometimes you are down, and you don't know how to get throught it, but you do. Some of the most important lines in the sond are: "I found a way to steal the sun from the sky. Long live that day that I decided to fly from the inside." As when you "steal the sun from the sky", you are being yourself, you have your own thoughts, actions, and words and they are coming straight from your heart and soul and you are no one else but you. I think that the lyrics "I am focused on what I am after. The key to the next open chapter" are relatable to what i have also said above as it is all about being yourself and doing what you want to do and focusing on what it is you yourself want to say and do and have your own choices in life and not other peoples as it is your own life and no one elses as you are focused on what you want from yourself in the future and not what other people want for you.

With this song meaning and the lyrics of the song I can create shots and parts of the video that are related to the meaning of the song about being yourself and thinking what you want to think and doing what you want to do and not what other people tell you to think, say or do.

Mood board

Mind Map

30 Second video storyboard

Video

 Storyboard

 

 

 

With this story board, I now have a much better idea of how many different shots, shot types and edits go into just 30 seconds of a video of the style that I am looking to re-create within my own video. With this 30 second story board I also now know that for my video I will probably need a different shot around every second so I will probably end up with around 240 shots in my 3 minute 55 second long video if I stick to the idea of quick editing and lots of different shots.  

Album Digipak Analysis

"Yashin" - "We Created A Monster" - Outside

Yashin are a post-hardcore band where the whole band are from Glasgow in Scotland but then they replaced the vocalist (Michael Rice) with two separate vocalists who are Kevin Miles who does the screaming and any keyboard parts and is also from Glasgow. The second vocalist they got to replace the original singer is Harry Radford who is the clean vocalist and is from America. The band have five releases, the first two where EPs named "Pay To Play" in 2007 and "Miles Away But Getting Closer" in 2008. These two where done with Michael Rice. Following these two EPs, Michael was replaced by Harry and Kevin (as explained above) and then once the two new vocalists came in they recorded an album in 2010 named "Put Your Hands Where I Can See Them" which got them noticed by a lot of people and therefore gained them lots of new fans. Now two years on in early 2012, the band released another EP named "Revolution" which contains songs from the first two EPs but with new vocals from Harry and Kevin to make the songs their own and the EP also contains acoustic versions of songs from the first album. Finally, the band released a brand new album in late June of 2012 named "We Created A Monster" which was available of a certain site the band had put the album on for sale in different ways with all sorts of different bundles including the one I got which was: a signed version of the album with a Yashin wristband and my name in the "thanks" section in the booklet that is included with the album. This is the album you can above and below.

Firstly, looking at the front cover of the album, they have an image of a heart with a time bomb attached to it with veins coming out all over the place. this has been continued onto the back cover with the veins all  around the outside boarder the stay in keeping with the front of the album. With this album, they have kept it very simple with text by only including the band and album name on both the front cover and the spine of the album and then only other text on the outside of the album is the track listing on the back. Looking at the text they have used for the band name, they have created their own image for the band name Yashin which has also been used at the top of the spine to stay in keeping with the band logo rather than using normal typed text like they have for the album name and the track listing. With the  outside of the album they have kept it all simple and easy to read so that the main points of the album get across the potential buyer instantly so they know the band name, album name and song names.

"Yashin" - "We Created A Monster" - Inside

Now looking at the inside of the album the CD of the album on the right hand side has the same image of the heart that is on the front of the album. this is so that the band can keep the use familiar with the image of the album so that it is memorable. on the left there is a booklet containing the lyrics to all the songs on the album and added information and special thanks from the band them selves. with the same image on again but on the other side there is an image of the band. (which is the way I have it) this image of the band is to get the consumer or user familiar with the band and what they look like to keep them familiar so that they can be recognised to gain them more popularity.

"Bullet For My Valentine" - "Scream Aim Fire" - Outside

Bullet For My Valentine are a metal core band from Bridgend in Wales. The band currently have Four releases and are working on a fifth in Thailand now. The first of their releases was a self titled EP which they released in late 2004. Then in 2005, the released their debut album called "The Poison". then due to the lead vocalist (Matt Tuck) having medical problems with his vocals and his throat, it took them 3 years to record and release their second album "Scream Aim Fire" in 2008. and finally in 2010 the band released their third album named "Fever" and due to Matt Tuck having a side project of another band (Axe Wound) with some other friends who are also in different bands, then another album from Bullet For My Valentine is now anticipated around maybe late 2012 or in 2013. The album digipak I will be analysing is their third release and second album "Scream Aim Fire"
As you can see, this album has six faces instead of four like the album above and most albums you will see. The reason for this is because this particular CD is a special edition one with a bonus DVD which includes feature of the making of the album and other bits from the band. The reason for the six faces is so that the extra DVD and the CD can fit into the case without taking up two faces. On the outside front cover of this album there is an image of a castle, and then on outside back cover of the album there is an image of a stair case from within the castle which looks like it would be there as soon as you enter the front door of the castle that is shown on the front cover. This is done so that the album keeps the same setting so that it is not random pictures of slightly related locations. (this is also continued on the inside cover below with an image of the band inside the castle) Looking at the colours on this album, they are all consistant with the front cover of the album so that nothing within the album looks out of place. So all over the album there are constant dark colours such as black, grey and dark yellows. loking at the third face of the album, it is a plain black colour keeping consistant with the colour theme and thereis a dark image of the band logo (which includes the band name) and there is also the album name to keep the person lookiing at the album familiar with the band and album.

"Bullet For My Valentine" - "Scream Aim Fire" - Inside

Looking at this inside of the album, there are three faces which include two blank faces which are plain black with nothing on them. in these two faces with nothing on them, there is the CD inside one of them and the bonus DVD inside the other.

Album Advert Analysis

"Of Mice & Men" - "The Flood"

Of Mice & Men are an American metalcore band from Costa Mesa, California. The group was founded by Austin Carlile and Jaxin Hall during mid-2009 after Carlile's departure from Attack Attack!. The name of the band is derived from John Steinbeck's novel of the same title. The band techically have three releases, the first is their self titled album they released in 2010 and then following that, in 2011 they released an new album named "The Flood" and the third was released late July in 2012 which was a re-issue of their second album "The Flood" with an extra disc containing new tracks and a new and different track listing.

 

The advert above is a double page spread from "FRONT" magazine which includes lots of alternative/metal band information and other things. This particular advert advertises the new re-issue of "The Flood" by "Of Mice & Men". I think that this advert is very good due to qute a few different reasons. First of all, the first thing you see when you look at this advert is the band name. It is a very clear and readable font which is reconisable to fans of the band and also makes it eacy for people have not heard of the band before to become familiar with the band and maybe get them to listen to their music. Another thing about this advert is the way they have used the phrase "The Flood is coming again..." This is clever in different ways. First of all saying that "The Flood is coming" grabs the readers attention and makes them think about what it is suppost to mean in relation to the band and the music and then it says "again" which will thenm make the reader think even more about it and make them read on in the advert to find out what they mean by "The Flood is coming again" it is also clever using this phrase as it is a re-issue of the album "The Flood" so therefore the album is being re-released and "coming again". this will also get the fans of the band excited and interested as they will be familiar with the album and then seeing that it is "coming again" will make them read on to find out what the advert is talking about.

Another way in which this advert is constructed well is the way that it is clear in saying that the band are releasing a re-issue of their latest album, When it comes out and what it will look like with the image of the album cover on the bottom left hand side of the advert.

One more way in which this is a good adverty is that it also doubles up as an advert for their latest tour they are going to be doing which informs the reader on when and where they will be performing. This is clever that they have doubled up both the album and the tour advert as this will make the reader look at the band and then wonder what they sound like and then see the tour advert and then maybe think about going to see them perform to find out.

The layout of this advert is very well constructed aswell as they have put something to grab the readers attention at the top and in big writing and that gives the reader the first bit of information they will want to know about thet band (the name) then after they metion a new album re-release and then show what it will look like and then advertise their tour. this is good as the reader will find out what they need to know from the advert in the order they need to, to be able to understand it.

 

"Architects" - "Daybreaker"

Architects are a British metalcore band from Brighton, England, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Sam Carter, drummer Dan Searle and his twin brother, guitarist and keyboardist Tom Searle and Alex Dean on bass guitar. The band went through several name changes before they decided upon Architects. Their first name was Inharmonic, which was swiftly changed to Counting the Days. After a couple of years this was in turn changed to Architects. They have released five studio albums and one split ep with Dead Swans.

They released their debut album Nightmares in 2006 on In At The Deep End records. After their original vocalist, Matt Johnson, left Carter joined and made his first appearance on Architects second album Ruin released in 2007 through United By Fate records. In 2009 the band released Hollow Crown through their current record label Century Media. They then released their fourth album The Here And Now in 2011, which showed the band step in a more melodic "clean-cut post-hardcore" direction. Upon its release the album received critical acclaim but was panned by their fanbase. The next year Architects returned to their original style with their fifth album Daybreaker, with more politicised lyrics as opposed to the violent and comedic lyrics that can be heard throughout their older work. The album advert i will be anaylsing is for their latest release named "Daybreaker" 

The advert above is from the same issue of "FRONT" magazine as the advert for "Of Mice & Men" and is an advert for the new album that has been released by the band "Arcihtects" named "Daybreaker".
Decpite the simplicity of the advert, i do quite like it. It informs the reader on all they will need to know in just one image and four words. It does this by showing the name of the band: "Architects", then the album name: "Daybreaker", and then shows an image of the album to familiarise the reader of what the album looks like and then finally infiorms the reader that it is "out now" and avilable to be bought. This advert does the exact same job and informs the reader of the same information as the "Of Mice & Men" advert but this one does it in alot more of a simple way so that it is quicker for the reader to look at and then if they are familiar with the band they now know it is available to buy and then because of the simplicity of the album, it will keep the people who are un-familiar with the band curious of what the band sound like and because the advert informs the reader that the album is available for purchase so they might be so curious that they go out and buy the album to find out.

Overall, both albums are very clear and clever on what they are trying to give across to the reader but do them in different ways. "Architects" decided they will make it as simple as possible and inform everyone with what they need to know about the new album in four words and an image and "Of Mice & Men" did the exact same job with their advert but in a differnt way and added more information but also without giving away to much information to keep the reader curious. Therefore, both adverts do their job and advertise the albums to the audience/reaer to help persuade the reader to either buy the albums or get into their music so that they will become more popular and become more recognisable to the generl public.

Music Video Analysis

Bullet For My Valentine are a metal core band from Bridgend in Wales. The band currently have Four releases and are working on a fifth in Singapore now. The first of their releases was a self titled EP which they released in late 2004. Then in 2005, the released their debut album called "The Poison". then due to the main vocalist (Matt Tuck) having medical problems with his vocals and his throat, it took them 3 years to record and release their second album "Scream Aim Fire" in 2008. and finally in 2010 the band released their third album named "Fever" and due to Matt Tuck having a side project of another band (Axe Wound) with some other friends who are also in different bands, then another album from Bullet For My Valentine is not anticipated until maybe late 2012 or in 2013. The video I will be analysing is "Hearts Burst Into Fire" from their third release and second album "Scream Aim Fire"



Alter Bridge are an American rock band that were formed in 2004 in Orlando, Florida. It consists of lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips, all of whom are also members of Creed, alongside lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, formerly of The Mayfield Four and the frontman of Slash's current solo project. Tremonti named the group after an actual bridge that used to be located in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, near his former home on Alter Road.
The band currently have three releases consisting of the first album named "One Day Remains" in 2004, the second album named "Blackbird" in 2007 and finally their latest release that they named "AB III" in 2010. The song i will be analysing is from their third album and is the second track named "Isolation"



Rise to Remain are a London based metal band. The band have made appearances at Download Festival, Sonisphere Festival and have extensively toured the UK and Europe. The band have released three EP's, the majority of which have been "viral" releases, via their Myspace. The band have been praised by magazines, such as Metal Hammer and Kerrang!, with the former releasing a scaled-down version of their first nationwide-release EP, "Bridges Will Burn". They have received radioplay through the likes of BBC Radio One and Total Rock, as well as having their music videos regularly rotated on Scuzz and Kerrang! TV. The band was voted "Best New Band" at the 2010 Metal Hammer "Golden God Awards", an award decided by 400,000 votes across the globe, and the 2010 Kerrang! Award for "Best British Newcomer". On 16 March 2011 they signed their first major recording contract with EMI records, which was accompanied by the launch of their website and a free single download entitled "The Serpent". Their debut album, City Of Vultures, was released on the 5th September 2011, nearly a year after they had started work on recording the album. It was produced by revered metal producer Colin Richardson and Carl Bown.
The video i will be analysing is the third song on their full length album "City Of Vultures" and is named "This Day Is Mine"

In these videos, the first few seconds and clips are images of the bands setting up and getting prepared for a performance and then once the song properly kicks in, they show clips of the bands performing at a show/gig they have just been shown setting up for in the first few seconds/clips. Within these videos, they include lots of different clips of the bands performing in lots of different angles and shots including close ups, long shots, two shots, mid shots, groups shots and lots of other different shot types. They all include a lot of differnt shot types due to having loads of cameras set up everywhere in the stadium/gig that are no noticable by the other cameras so that they are able to get this wide veriety of shots to keep the videos less repetitive and more interesting. and keeping with the theme of the videos, they have shown the setting up, then the performances and then at the end of the songs, they have shown themselves thanking the crowd for their support and them walking off stage etc. So they have all kept with a kind of story line of coming to perform, setting up, performing to the crowd and then leaving. In this video, they also include a lot of mini home made clips/videos that show the life style of the band while they are on tour including clips of them with fans, getting tattoos, practicing, exploring the different places they go to while on tour, them with friends/girlfriends and all other different personal/home made clips.
These music videos are relevent as i am thinking about doing one just like these, that will show a band consisting of me, and some friends setting up to play a song together, then perform it to the camera and then show us leaving the room just like these videos show. I also like the idea of putting the whole video in black and white for either the whole video like Bullet For My Valentine do or just put the home made clips as black and white like the other two videos by Rise To Remain and Alter Bridge.

History Of Music Videos

A music video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos date back much further, they came into prominence in the 1980s, when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip" or "film clip".
Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques, including animation, live action filming, documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation and live action. Many music videos do not interpret images from the song's lyrics, making it less literal than expected. Other music videos may be without a set concept, being merely a filmed version of the song's live performance.

The song "Bohemian Rhapsody" by "Queen" is considered to be the first music video ever created. this is the video below

Music Video Director - Scott Hansen

Scott Hansen

In 2000 Scott suffered a Highschool career ending football injury. His american football dreams withered away as Scott was looking to attend ECU in the Fall of 2000. On his back for 7 months with his leg in a machine Scott turned to what he knew best. Art. For years Scott had been drawing comics and paintings. After a year of drawing non stop, he applied to Savannah College of Art & Design, receiving a half scholarship for his skill in drawing and painting. 
Scott then later pursued interests to become either a comic book artist for Marvel one day or to work at KNBFX in La making monsters. Three years later on Scott's senior year he was looking to graduate with a degree in Motion Graphics when 5 months before graduation he decided to change his major at the last minute. Working with his roomate Rob Vose, Scott got a huge life turning interest, film. He helped Rob make a short film and was so enthralled by the process that he quickly changed his major to Broadcast Design.
After his graduation, Scott returned back to his native Virginia Beach and quickly experimented in many short film techniques and joined New Dominion Pictures as a creature fx artist for the Discovery Channel Show "A Haunting". Working full time at Home Depot and at nights on the TV show Scott trained and watched other professionals and took notes on how to do everything he could.
New Dominion then closed down due to the show being cancelled. Taking the money he earned there he was able to buy his first camera and shoot his first music video. Being in a band in college he knew music was his calling. Not playing it but filming it. He then decided to pursue being a music video director.

4 years later Scott has had over 65 music videos on MTV, BET and CMT.
In 2008 Scott's video for Carnifex was the runner up for Metal video of the year losing to Slipknot and Disturbed.
In 2009 Scott's video for A Day To Remember set a record for the longest run time on MTV2 and VH1 for 8 months on the countdown.
Also in 2009 Scott got hired to direct the infamous Willie Nelson.
In 2010 Scott's short for BOYZ was honored with best comedy by the Las Vegas film festival.
In 2011 Scott and his wife Elisa Meri (www.elismeri.com) moved to Sherman Oaks to play with the big boys.
in 2012 Scott is set to make the jump to feature films with two films already set. Follow as we climb to new heights in 2012.


Here are a few of the videos that Scott has directed.

A Day To Remember - "The Downfall Of Us All"

Vampires Everywhere! - "Imortal Love"

We Came As Romans - "To Plant A Seed"