Adding a third element

After a conversation with the media department, they explained to my group and myself that they liked our idea, however they felt after watching it for a minute it would start to become repetitive and tedious, to which we agreed. 

The media department suggested that on our shoot day before going to the hotel to shoot that we could spend the morning in the studio and create another scene in there which would link to the concept of our idea but it would give the video that bit extra. The media department's idea was to have several red light sticks which acted as an almost 'jail' figure as the artist walked around them but could not get out. 

(Here is an example of what the red light sticks would look like, however they would be in the studio)

Unfortunately, although this is a great idea after a meeting with my group we decided we did not like this idea as we felt it didn't exactly link to our idea and we couldn't see where it would fit in the video. However we have decided to shoot it anyway just incase when we get to the post production stage we realise we don't have enough footage in the hotel we could then use some of this footage. 

When having this meeting with my group we realised that although we were still going to do the third element idea that our media department suggested to us, we felt that we should come up with an idea of our own. 

From searching online and looking at various artists music videos that are similar to our idea we came across the producer 'RUFFMERCY' who's works are of a raw style and have a distinct approach as they have sketches of animation over the video. My group and myself loved this producer and felt that we could take on this idea in order to create a third element. 

Our third element idea consisted of us shooting in the studio. The the backdrop would be black and the artist would be lit in red. We would then adopt RUFFMERCY'S work and create animated sketches around the movement that our artist does in the post production stage. 

Overall as a group we felt this idea would work well as it fits in with conventions of our artist and the video, this idea is also very simple to shoot on the day as we do not have much time as we will need to get the main footage in the hotel. 

Below our some examples of RUFFMERCY'S work: 

Final Draft of our Album Artwork Design

As a group we felt that Lucas's album artwork design would best suit our artist and his style of music.  Although there is no link between the album cover and our music video idea the concept does link. For example in this design we can only see the artists reflection and his shoes; which ties in with the name of the song - Without U. 

Our idea for this design is to give the audience a cold atmosphere, by using colours such as greys and blues.  The use of an 'explicit content tag' is necessary as the song we will be using has a swear word in it. However, this tag also portrays the artist to be rebellious which will attract our target audience.

In order to create this album artwork, my group and myself are going to arrange a photo shoot with our artist. For this we will need to make sure he has the correct trainers that my group member has drawn; Adidas Shell Toes and we will need to make sure that we our able to find a swimming pool so we can do the photo shoot. 

When telling one of our class members our idea she explained to us that she had a swimming pool at her house and we would be able to use it it. However If we are unable to get the swimming pool for the photo shoot we have decided as a group we will use a puddle as our main objective is to get a reflection of the artist.

On the photo shoot we will need to take a photograph of the artist standing above the swimming pool/puddle and a then another shot with the artists shoes where they were before in the first shot but just take the artist our of the shot. To make the artist and his shoes visible in the water we will need to merge these two photographs together on 'photoshop'.

I personally feel our target audience will love this album artwork just like my group and myself do. It is mysterious which leaves un answered questions for the audience. The use of a popular trainer I feel will also appeal to our target audience as they will be will able to recognise them and may even have them; which creates a more personal relationship between the audience and the artist. 

Album Artwork Feedback

My Design 

Kai's Design

Lucas's Design

Gustavo's Design

As we wanted to make sure we choice the best album artwork for our artist we spoke as a group and gave our individual thoughts about each of the different designs. We started with Kai's design, then Gustavo's, then myself's and then Lucas's, which you can see in the video below. After we had done this we came to the decision of which one we wanted to go forward with. 

Album Artwork

My Design

• Reflection: I chose to do a reflection of the artist as it mirrors him. This allows the audience to know that it is his album as you cannot see his face clearly. 

• Silhouette: I decided to make the artist a silhouette to show the audience that the focus is on him, but to make the album artwork seem mysterious. 

• Font: I chose to make the colour of the font black as it would contrast with the blues of the water. I chose to make the font as simple as possible and I used capital letters so the artists name and album name is easily recognisable to the audience. 

• Water: The water will be a range of dark blues and light blues, however it will need to be fairly clean in order to see the reflection of the silhouette clearly. 

• The Floor: The floor that the artist is sat down on will be a neutral grey, which doesn't take the attention away from the artist himself. 

As our artist is very unique/individual in that he doesn't conduct himself in a stereotypical 'normal' manner for a celebrity. I have chosen to keep the album artwork I have designed for him very simplistic as I felt this was best suited to the conventions he entails as an artist and his low key style. 

I decided to put our artist in the centre of the shot as the focus is about him and he is the one who the audience are interested in. However as I have made him into a silhouette you cannot see him clearly. I feel this makes the album more mysterious as the audience will question why this has been done as it not something that is usually done when trying to sell an album. For example when looking at similar artists to ours I have noticed there album artworks all show the artists face evidently. This convention I believe works well for these album covers. However I feel with ours it would create more excitement as the audience will not be aware what the album is going to be about. 

The Weekend's Album Artwork

Drake's Album Artwork

PartyNextDoors Album Artwork

The colours that will be used for the album artwork will be a mixture of greys, dark blues and light blues. The silhouette will be in black and the writing will be in black as these are the most essential elements that need to stand out to the audience. 

Below is an example of what colour I would like the water to be: 

Our artist in the album artwork I have designed is sat down, I have chose to position him in this position as I want to reflect to the audience that he is thinking; which is what this album will be about.. His personal thoughts. 

There is not a link between the album artwork and our music video idea as I feel that an album is about all of the tracks our artist has created not just the track we have decided to use. Overall I feel the album artwork I have created will attract current fans of the artist as this album is allowing the audience into more of his personal life. However I also feel it will attract those that have not yet heard of the artist as they will be able to relate to the realism of lyrics within the different tracks. 

From looking at Frank Oceans album artwork I have noticed that in the same way as my artwork it is very unexplainable and does not give anything away. Frank Ocean is an alternative RnB artist who is very similar to our artist so I feel adopting this convention of not giving too much away will help fit our artist into the same alternative RnB category, however my artwork still has an edge to it which I feel would stand out against others. 

Frank Oceans Album Artwork

Production Schedule

Above is a production schedule I have created which I will give to my other group members and the cast so everyone knows what we are doing and when we are doing it.

My Role

Today I have been given the role of 'Art Director' for our shoot day on Tuesday. As I want to do this role correctly and be as best help as I can to my group I have decided to do some research about what this job entails.

Art directors facilitate the production designer's creative vision for all the locations and sets that eventually give the film its unique visual identity. Art Directors are responsible for the art department budget and schedule of work, and help the production designer to maximize the money allocated to the department.  Art Directors must find practical solutions to creative problems while simultaneously monitoring the budget, this is highly skilled work. 

To be an Art Director you must have many of these skills:

• a good all-round knowledge of interior design and architecture and the history of both

• a practical understanding of building and construction

• good knowledge of design history to select props of the correct vintage

• a good working knowledge of computer drawing software packages

• have excellent free-hand drawing, perspective and technical drawing skills

• have good prop-making skills and an understanding of the prop hire market

• possess a good eye for decoration and detail

• be able to conceptualise ideas

• be able to think visually

• have good communication skills and show diplomacy and sensitivity when working with artists and crew

• be able to troubleshoot and respond to unexpected situations, dealing with stressful circumstances in a calm and effective manner

• be willing to work long and irregular hours

• understand the requirements of the relevant health and safety legislation and procedures

This year, François Rousselet and Jason Fijal were awarded Best Art Direction from MTV for there creativity for Snoop Dogg's music video 'So many pros'.

Filming Roles

Below are four filming roles that my group and myself need to divide between the four of and become one of these roles on the shoot day. Although we will all help out as much as we can with whatever needs to be done, if we have set roles then it causes no arguments and every knows what they should be doing which will hopefully make the day run smoothly. 

ART DESIGNER 

CAMERA MAN 

PRODUCER

DIRECTOR

Roles: 

Gustavo: Producer
Lucas: Camera Man
Kai: Director
Me: Art Director 

SHOT LIST

Today I have created a shot list for my group so our shoot day runs smoothly and we are able to tick off what shots we have done and what we haven't done, making sure we get everything we need for the post production. When I created this shot list our shoot was scheduled to be shot in the studio at our college, however since then it has changed and now we will be going on location to a hotel which is why I have crossed out 'studio'.

CALL LIST

Today I have created a call list of everyone involved in the shoot day incase we need to get hold of anyone for any last minute details or to see where they are etc.  It is important to have a call list in case anyone involved in the shoot can't make it. They can let us know by ringing or texting one of us as we will not have internet access to check our emails. 

Meeting with the Lighting Designer

Today we met with the lighting designer, where my group and myself explained to him exactly what kind of lighting we wanted for our music video and where we wanted it to be. This meeting went well as there seemed to be no problems and he said he could pretty much do anything we asked for. 

In our music video we planed to have a light box filled with red lighting which acts as a headboard to the bed; this element was essential to our music video as this is what originally helped to create our idea. When we explained this feature to the lighting designer he said there would be no problems in doing this and he thinks it will look great, which we were really happy about. 

As we told our lighting designer we wanted manly blue lighting for when we shooted our artist outside he suggested we also added a tone of purple which we agreed with as this would make this scene seem more cold which is the effect we are going for. 

The lighting for inside the hotel room is going to be red which the lighting designer said would work well and he is able to do. The lighting designer also told us that we would be able to have the dancer lit as a silhouette at some points, which we were really pleased about. 

Overall this meeting went really well and made us even more excited for the shoot day.

As my group and myself want our video to be of the RnB genre we feel that lighting is a key convention. When we met the lighting designer we showed him an RnB music video that we have found that used similar lighting to what we want in our video. By showing something visually to our designer we felt would help him so he completely understands what we want.

Meeting with the set designer

Today we had a meeting with our set designer where we explained how we wanted our set to look like a modern hotel room. This meeting went well in some aspects as our designer really liked our idea, however, she told us it is going to be difficult to get the set to look like what we have pictured in out minds; as we do not have the budgets. The main things we need for our set is a modern bed, bed side table and an arm chair but unfortunately our college does not have any of these items. 

The set designer explained that if she could even get her hands on any of these items we need for our set they most defiantly wouldn't be modern, which is a problem as that is what we imagined our 'hotel room' to look like. 

As our budget is low this also doesn't make it easy but to help our set desighner my group and myself are going to try and help get some cheap furniture by looking at websites such as gumtree and free cycle, so hopefully we will be able to find some things on there as we not have any other choices.