Tuesday, 5 April 2016
Tuesday, 8 March 2016
Record Label Logo and Band Logo
Record Label Logo
The above image is of an idea for a record company logo. I have chosen to go with the initials EMP which would stand for 'Entertainment and Music Purposes.'
For this logo I have gone for big, bold white lettering on a red background. I have gone for this idea as it has an professional, modern aesthetic - however still maintains a bold, bright appeal which is reflective of the buzzing music and entertainment industry.
The record company name also works for our artist as it states Entertainment and Music. Not only is Ike an music artist but as stated on his digipak he is a Poet.
Although this logo would be printed on other artists work in colour, for my digipak the logo will just be shown as grey lettering, this means the logo will not distract from the predominantly dark tones of the album artwork
Band Logo
We will not have a band Logo as such however much like the record label logo, Ike's logo would be his name in block lettering. This is also seen amongst my digipak and magazine as his name is stated boldly on the works. Another idea may be for Ike's name to always be published in block capitals amongst articles etc... This would emphasise his brand and act almost as a trademark rather than simply his name.
Tuesday, 1 March 2016
DigiPak and Magazine Advert Conclusion
In conclusion we have decided to have my Digipak as the final draft and Emily's Magazine Advert.
Various feedback informed this decision. We decided to go with my digipak due to the intricate yet minimalistic design. The tones run seamlessly throughout the product and work with the theme of the music/music video. I like the mature design used and think this would be a successful digipak for sales and promotion.
A favourite touch of mine within the DigiPak is the typed note by artist IKE. I think this is an important touch because it emphasises the humble and grateful character that he is.
Emily's final poster also works well alongside the music video and my DigiPak. Emily's poster is seemingly a lot clearer than my own, making it more easily identifiable and readable for audience's. Emily has made use of a bold record logo for the company 'Death Road Records.' To the right of this is two five star ratings via very popular press/magazine companies. These ratings would give the artist a sort of platform - People that would not already know of Ike would now have the expectation of him being a good artist and therefore go on to buy his Digipak.
Monday, 29 February 2016
Magazine Advert
On my magazine advert I have kept to the
same dark tones and themes. Not only will this work aesthetically but it will
also make the Digipak more identifiable in drawing similarities with this
advertisement.
On the album cover we see Ike with a face
that is entirely painted black, whereas on the magazine advert he is only
slightly dusted by the black paint – this is used metaphorically, reflecting
his written pieces about racism and being ‘tainted black.’ Themes that run
strongly throughout his digipak content.
I kept the album cover relatively
minimalistic, with monotone like colours and simple bold font – this makes for
easy reading. Having the biggest text, in white, being the album title so it is
easily remembered. Followed by the artist name in black and only slightly
smaller to fit the aesthetic, minimalist appeal.
I have clearly stated the release date on
the top right corner. Below is the Digipak title - ‘Waters’, artist name -
‘Ike’, a five star rating and a title of an award the artist is up for. This
should work in boosting attention and sales – In being nominated for Best
Upcoming Artist and having this stated on the advert, it gives the artist a
certain platform. Allowing viewers to assume his music must be of a certain
standard and therefore increasing their interest in having a listen.
Sunday, 28 February 2016
Tuesday, 19 January 2016
Monday, 18 January 2016
1st Draft DigiPak
This is the first draft of my Digipak for the rapper IKE.
I decided to keep to darker tones much like the video, working predominantly with black and greys. This adds a minimalistic appeal popular amongst Underground artists.
I have applied Typical conventions such as having the artist's self-image on the front cover, alongside his artist name and album title - This makes his album easily recognisable by his fans.
However I have changed some other conventions - I have decided to have the track list on the inner leaf of the Digipak and replaced usual placement with a quote from an article written about the album. This means that in order for his fans to know of his track list they have to buy the album first - Not only did I think this looks more aesthetically pleasing but it also adds to the mysterious, minimalistic look and adds and element of excitement for purchasing the album.
In the image's of Ike I had him painted black - This added some emphasis to the racial elements of his album, being tainted black as a metaphorical representation of the pollution within society. This also somewhat works ironically with the title of the album 'The Waters', with water being a source of purity and cleanliness, the imagery reflects almost the opposite.
Also I decided to have a small passage written and signed by Ike on the inner leaf of the Digipak. Underground artists always have deep appreciation for their smaller fan bases, so in having a personal passage written by Ike it further accentuates his appreciation for his buyers and audience. Finally artists like Ike would usually start by releasing their music online using platforms such as YouTube and SoundCloud, therefore in this passage Ike is thanking his fans for being so patient in waiting for his first, long-awaited project.
Again the back of the case is a quote from the Pitchfork article about his album followed by a five star rating. This works on the back of the album as for artists like Ike it is a huge deal to have your work mentioned by a publisher like Pitchfork and therefore this may attract attention from audiences that have not heard of Ike before but rather appreciate Pitchfork's accurate reviews, gaining some more media attention. Also on the back of the case is a barcode and Ike's record company logo (EMP) The reason why the record company logo is so small, is because much like Kendrick Lamar's Mad Dog Entertainment, the company are not using the artists work for exposure - therefore there is not a requirement for a huge, really visible company logo which other companies may request in the release of their artists work.
Sunday, 17 January 2016
Wednesday, 6 January 2016
Thursday, 19 November 2015
Audience Feedback
I conducted a survey with my own questions and posted it to my social media pages. Surprisingly I received a lot more feedback and praise than I initially thought I would. However I found that some of the results were somewhat contradicting.
3rd Draft Music Video and Feedback
Finally in this video we decided to keep the original footage with the added concert scenes. This video has a really cool and calm feel which applies to conventions of Underground Hip Hop. It really works with the mood of the song and accompanies it well.
2nd Draft Music Video and Feedback
This is our second draft of our Music Video. In this edit we have made use of diegetic lip sync - we decided to do this as we felt as though we had to explore making use of audio and video sync after the feedback we received.
In doing this we used a female actress (myself) to mime the lyrics of the chorus - We used a female character due to the chorus also having female vocals, this breaks away from the male character adding some depth to the visuals.
I didn't want to take away from the already good visuals by cutting in clips of the female so I layered the female visuals on top of the already cut imagery. I did this by lowering the opacity of the female clips and adding them to the film - This you can see above.
I also filled gaps within the video using concert footage of a male artist called Barney Artist. Due to being quite a distance away we can allow the audience to assume this artist performing is indeed IKE on stage.
Whilst initially we thought lip sync would be effective within the music video, I feel as though it takes away from the organic, minimalist feel. Distracting from the calm, cool tone of the original visuals.
Wednesday, 18 November 2015
1st Draft of Music Video and Audience Feedback
Below is our first draft of our music video. In creating this first edit I used a simple editing software I had found online - a free trial. This software luckily had some detailed features which enabled me to edit the filter, speed and transitions of clips.
As this is the first cut it is still in need of some tidying up in terms of missing frames and slightly out of time cross-cutting.
I am really pleased with the way in which the cut has turned out, especially with the restricted time frame our actor could work in - Our entire piece was shot in one afternoon/evening and I continued to edit it immediately in order to get some audience feedback as soon as possible to move forward with the project.
Mick Jenkins - Drink More Water (DIRECTED by Ella McLeod)
After creating a first cut of my film I started showing it to my peers, family and teachers in order to get some feedback - I began by asking specific questions and then letting them elaborate in the end.
An example of questions and feedback I got from my dad are below.
What is your overall opinion of the video?
I really like the video, I think it works really well with the feel of the music. The minimalist appeal works quite well however more could be added as it felt quite repetitive.
What do you think the mood of the video is?
I don't think its a dark mood however its somewhat neutral, not really happy nor sad.
What do you think works?
The simplistic video shots and home made approach really works. Looks really effortless yet professional.
What do you think could be improved?
I think there should be a bigger variation of shots also I feel like I'm waiting for the artist to arrive somewhere however he doesn't.
What do you think could be added?
More studio based shots to break away from the natural shots. Also some more miming shots from the artist and maybe adding a second character - a female character for example that he could be meeting up with and having conversation with.
Do you think this is a good representation of Underground Hip Hop visuals?
I think the simple visuals, and monotone filter really works in creating simple smoother rap visuals.
If you could rate the current project out of ten, what would you rate it?
Currently without the use of variation a strong 7
Do you think this has the potential to be a successful promo?
I think this type of promo would really appeal to younger people who are involved in the creative generation - in itself it is almost like a fashion and music piece of work. For a mainstream audience I think it is too simple but mainstream isn't your target audience anyway!
In learning this we have decided to add some studio based shots to our film - Including miming, abstract visuals and some form of conversation. This will add a lot more variation to the piece and stop the audience from getting bored because of the repetitive feel. We also may add an ending in which the character feels as though they have actually arrived somewhere but as it stands we personally like how the character becomes engulfed in the crowd as he walks away from the camera and enters the station.
As this is the first cut it is still in need of some tidying up in terms of missing frames and slightly out of time cross-cutting.
I am really pleased with the way in which the cut has turned out, especially with the restricted time frame our actor could work in - Our entire piece was shot in one afternoon/evening and I continued to edit it immediately in order to get some audience feedback as soon as possible to move forward with the project.
Mick Jenkins - Drink More Water (DIRECTED by Ella McLeod)
After creating a first cut of my film I started showing it to my peers, family and teachers in order to get some feedback - I began by asking specific questions and then letting them elaborate in the end.
An example of questions and feedback I got from my dad are below.
What is your overall opinion of the video?
I really like the video, I think it works really well with the feel of the music. The minimalist appeal works quite well however more could be added as it felt quite repetitive.
What do you think the mood of the video is?
I don't think its a dark mood however its somewhat neutral, not really happy nor sad.
What do you think works?
The simplistic video shots and home made approach really works. Looks really effortless yet professional.
What do you think could be improved?
I think there should be a bigger variation of shots also I feel like I'm waiting for the artist to arrive somewhere however he doesn't.
What do you think could be added?
More studio based shots to break away from the natural shots. Also some more miming shots from the artist and maybe adding a second character - a female character for example that he could be meeting up with and having conversation with.
Do you think this is a good representation of Underground Hip Hop visuals?
I think the simple visuals, and monotone filter really works in creating simple smoother rap visuals.
If you could rate the current project out of ten, what would you rate it?
Currently without the use of variation a strong 7
Do you think this has the potential to be a successful promo?
I think this type of promo would really appeal to younger people who are involved in the creative generation - in itself it is almost like a fashion and music piece of work. For a mainstream audience I think it is too simple but mainstream isn't your target audience anyway!
In learning this we have decided to add some studio based shots to our film - Including miming, abstract visuals and some form of conversation. This will add a lot more variation to the piece and stop the audience from getting bored because of the repetitive feel. We also may add an ending in which the character feels as though they have actually arrived somewhere but as it stands we personally like how the character becomes engulfed in the crowd as he walks away from the camera and enters the station.
Sunday, 4 October 1998
My Creative Process and Production
In starting this project I took on a strong directorial role. With a passion and love for Underground Hip Hop, I wanted to create a music video which embodied the typical conventions of such a genre. I did a lot of personal research into videos that I favoured within this culture and soon started drawing ideas and inspiration from them.
We decided to go with a very relaxed, London based theme to suit the track choice. I could envision my style of video so easily alongside the track 'Drink More Water' by Mick Jenkins who in contrast is an American Underground artist. This worked with the general footage of the film - following a young male as he seems to aimlessly stroll London - almost as though it is Mick Jenkins himself in London as he is on tour.
Prior to heading out and filming we actually did not have a set shot list, I wanted the film to be rather organic and almost have a sort of 'home-made' feel. I think in having too much of a direction, the film would almost have come across forced or even staged.
Whilst filming I used my Nikon D5200, in having such a portable camera it allowed me to take rather spontaneous shots at any time. The first place we travelled to was Southbank, here I could use the tall London buildings to take location-based shots over the Thames, I then began to explore altering the manual focus in order to create a nice focus pull effect which we ended up starting the film with.
Here I also had our actor do some walking shots as I paced alongside him, this proved somewhat difficult without a tracking device but again added to the natural feel of the film.
We also had a second camera with us in which my peer used - this camera would be used to take shots from different angles. It was a bonus having this extra camera, just in case we needed any further footage allowing us to explore angles etc...
We then continued to travel to different areas of London in which I could again collect more shots. I would film the actor as we walked to the station/get time-lapses of passing trains/escalators and even film the actor whilst we sat on the train - ensuring we left the location with enough footage to use later.
A big chunk of our time was spent creating a time-lapse which appears more than once in our film. My peer set up a tripod and filmed the actor as he stood still in Leicester Square for almost ten minutes. This gave us a nice lengthy time-lapse to experiment with. I also took a time-lapse whilst we had our lunch break, this gave us nice footage of candid pedestrians and traffic as they passed the window. I wanted to make use of the time-lapses with the alter of music tempo that comes with the chorus. This worked incredibly well and we wrapped up filming around 9pm.
After arriving home I began editing the video on a downloadable site which took quite a while. Not using the clips in any specific order I began feeding them onto the editing site to see what would fit/work where. This was successful and created a very well-flowing piece of work. A bit that I was particularly pleased with was the ending of the video. I had not quite realised it whilst filming but only when watching it back - When I filmed the artist going down steps, entering the underground station a crowd seems to follow behind and surround him until he is no longer seen. This was perfect for fading out the audio with as he disappears from view - I then decided to bring the natural sound back into the clip as though the music has stopped and normality of the world surrounding him returns.
If I could do anything better I would most certainly ensure the actor knows the lyrics of the song as I feel like that would have added greatly to the music video, and provided a bit of a diversion from the typical tempo and direction of the film. I also would have thought more about lighting - the shots within the well-lit areas looked brilliant however some of the shots on the bridges/pathways took away from imaging that could have been better with more efficient lighting. I would have also used a RODE microphone in order to capture the atmospheric sound better at the end, although this isn't a huge problem due to the muffled sound somewhat working with the footage. Finally I would not have edited the film using the programme I had - Simply because I wanted to make a draft, I used this editing software so I could start editing immediately at home and not wait to arrive at school. Whilst I did indeed get a draft, this process took up a lot of time and resulted in a draft which had a 'Free trial' banner appear throughout the clip. I will now have to re-upload and cut every single clip, in order, to Premier-Pro in order to recreate my final piece.
We decided to go with a very relaxed, London based theme to suit the track choice. I could envision my style of video so easily alongside the track 'Drink More Water' by Mick Jenkins who in contrast is an American Underground artist. This worked with the general footage of the film - following a young male as he seems to aimlessly stroll London - almost as though it is Mick Jenkins himself in London as he is on tour.
Prior to heading out and filming we actually did not have a set shot list, I wanted the film to be rather organic and almost have a sort of 'home-made' feel. I think in having too much of a direction, the film would almost have come across forced or even staged.
Whilst filming I used my Nikon D5200, in having such a portable camera it allowed me to take rather spontaneous shots at any time. The first place we travelled to was Southbank, here I could use the tall London buildings to take location-based shots over the Thames, I then began to explore altering the manual focus in order to create a nice focus pull effect which we ended up starting the film with.
Here I also had our actor do some walking shots as I paced alongside him, this proved somewhat difficult without a tracking device but again added to the natural feel of the film.
We also had a second camera with us in which my peer used - this camera would be used to take shots from different angles. It was a bonus having this extra camera, just in case we needed any further footage allowing us to explore angles etc...
We then continued to travel to different areas of London in which I could again collect more shots. I would film the actor as we walked to the station/get time-lapses of passing trains/escalators and even film the actor whilst we sat on the train - ensuring we left the location with enough footage to use later.
A big chunk of our time was spent creating a time-lapse which appears more than once in our film. My peer set up a tripod and filmed the actor as he stood still in Leicester Square for almost ten minutes. This gave us a nice lengthy time-lapse to experiment with. I also took a time-lapse whilst we had our lunch break, this gave us nice footage of candid pedestrians and traffic as they passed the window. I wanted to make use of the time-lapses with the alter of music tempo that comes with the chorus. This worked incredibly well and we wrapped up filming around 9pm.
After arriving home I began editing the video on a downloadable site which took quite a while. Not using the clips in any specific order I began feeding them onto the editing site to see what would fit/work where. This was successful and created a very well-flowing piece of work. A bit that I was particularly pleased with was the ending of the video. I had not quite realised it whilst filming but only when watching it back - When I filmed the artist going down steps, entering the underground station a crowd seems to follow behind and surround him until he is no longer seen. This was perfect for fading out the audio with as he disappears from view - I then decided to bring the natural sound back into the clip as though the music has stopped and normality of the world surrounding him returns.
If I could do anything better I would most certainly ensure the actor knows the lyrics of the song as I feel like that would have added greatly to the music video, and provided a bit of a diversion from the typical tempo and direction of the film. I also would have thought more about lighting - the shots within the well-lit areas looked brilliant however some of the shots on the bridges/pathways took away from imaging that could have been better with more efficient lighting. I would have also used a RODE microphone in order to capture the atmospheric sound better at the end, although this isn't a huge problem due to the muffled sound somewhat working with the footage. Finally I would not have edited the film using the programme I had - Simply because I wanted to make a draft, I used this editing software so I could start editing immediately at home and not wait to arrive at school. Whilst I did indeed get a draft, this process took up a lot of time and resulted in a draft which had a 'Free trial' banner appear throughout the clip. I will now have to re-upload and cut every single clip, in order, to Premier-Pro in order to recreate my final piece.
Location Recce
London Euston
Waterloo Station
Leicester Square Station
Northern Line Train
National Rail Train
Leicester Square (central)
Leicester Square Side Street (timelapse)
Southbank Centre (Lift)
Southbank Centre (Balcony Floor)
Southbank Bridge
Southbank Christmas Market
Waterloo Station
Leicester Square Station
Northern Line Train
National Rail Train
Leicester Square (central)
Leicester Square Side Street (timelapse)
Southbank Centre (Lift)
Southbank Centre (Balcony Floor)
Southbank Bridge
Southbank Christmas Market
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