Final Cut Feedback

On Friday, we showed our video to our media class in order to gain some feedback which would evidently help us to improve our Final Cut even further. Showing it to our media class meant that we got the perspective of a media student so they would be able to notice more mistakes such as errors in continuity editing, as well as this, we are going to show the video to non-media students and see how the feedback differs

A lot of the feedback that we got generally said that we need to focus on our continuity editing, and make some of the shots a bit shorter because there wasn't a huge variety of angles and camera shots, we plan to change the editing and put some more shots in to make it look more authentic as well as making sure that is editing is continuous and the transition between shots is smooth.

As well as getting feedback from our classmates, we also got feedback and comments from our teacher, this allowed us to imrpove our work even further because we can combine the feedback from all three outlets and hopefully come out with a product that looks authentic and improved.

Album Cover Plan

This is a plan for the cover of our album that I have drawn. The album is called Torches so I wanted to make the picture thats on the cover relevant to this title but also want it to look artistic and original. We plan to take a picture of my friend, Laura Bennett, in designer shoes, wearing nice clothes, however, using photoshop we are going to replace her head with a lit lightbulb. I was inspired by this idea when looking at the 'Beacon' cover by Two Door Cinema Club. I plan to have the background of the cover black, and then place the picture in a square in the middle of the cover. The name of the band will then be printed above the picture in either orange or white and underneath the picture will be the title of the album in the same font and colour. Like most bands' albums, our album cover will not feature a photograph of the band on the front, instead we want it to feature artwork, this also applies to the rest of the CD elements.

This is my drawing/plan for the back of the case, like the front, the background will be black and the colour/font of the writing will be the same of that which is featured on the front of the album, which creates a house style. At the bottom of the tracklist will be a barcode - obviously for purchasing the album. We also need to feature the logo for the publisher of the music and we will also write the foster the people website at the bottom of the back cover. The back of a CD case has less detail that what is on the front, this is because its purpose is to simply show the audience what songs are featured on the CD, where as the front cover of the album needs to entice the potential buyer into looking at the CD and turning into a buyer.

This is what the spine of the album will look like, it is perhaps the simplest element of the case that we have to create; the majority of CD's only have the name of the band/artist on the spine as well as the catalogue number at the bottom of the spine. Sometimes the name of the album is also featured on it - this is because when the CD's are stacked up, people can easily look down the CD's and see which album is which because it is marked on the spine.





Our actual CD is going to have a print on it that makes it look like a vinyl, I like this idea because it goes with the genre of music that the album belongs to; vinyl's are not sold in many places but the clothes shop Urban Outfitters sells vinyls of not only old records, but new albums aswell for display - they sell frames with them so that the vinyls can be framed and put on the wall. It is for this reason that we have chosen to make our CD looklike a vinyl; our target audience shops in urban outfitters and so would also be the target audience for our album.


Final Cut

Music Magazine Research

Firstly, I am going to do some research on NME magazine, the New Musical Express has featured countless iconic bands and artists on its cover over the years and I am going to look at how the bands are portrayed, what coverlines are used which makes the potential buyer want to read the article and what kind of photography is used. One thing that I noticed about NME, is that when it features a band on its cover, it tends to photograph only the members of the band that are recognised and the most famous.

On this cover of NME, all members of the Foo Fighters are featured in the photograph, however the lead singer, Dave Grohl, is featured in the foreground and allowed more space than the other members which establishes him as the front man. All of the members are featured on the cover because of the history of the band, they are infamous for having changed not only the number of members but firing and hiring new members on a regular occasion, the members that are on this cover are established as the final Foo Fighters group and have been this specific band for years, it is for this reason that they are all featured on the cover. The coverlines on the magazine make references to Grohl's previous band, Nirvana and Kurt Cobain, this would intrigue the reader about what Grohl would say about the late Cobain.

similarly to the Foo Fighters cover, all of the members of The Wombats are featured on this NME cover. Because there are only three members in the band, it is easy for them to be remembered and established as the whole band, however, also like the Foo Fighters cover, the lead singer of the band is given the central space in the photograph. The coverlines are illustrated by the picture, "why britains gone silly for the lords of the indie dancefloor," the photograph shows this by having a 'silly' picture to show that the band is spreading their infectious immaturity through their music.



Unlike the last two covers, this Oasis cover follows the conventions of most magazine covers that feature bands. NME have photographed the two members of the band that are recognised by the public and featured just them as opposed to featuring the whole band in the photograph. This would suggest to the reader that the interview is going to centre around the Gallagher's specfically as opposed to the whole band; the other members arent there to contribute to the discussion. The Gallagher brothers gained a lot of media attention for their antics on stage, the arguments they had and their famous disputes, it is also for this reason that they have been chosen to feature on the cover; people are more likely to pick up the magazine if they recognise the people on the cover and are interested in the news that surrounds them.

Similarly to the Oasis cover, this Kasabian cover also has the two easily recognised members of the band on the front. Like all of the covers that I have looked at, the singer is given the foreground space to establish him as the front man. Although Serge Pizzorno isnt the singer or  the front man of the band, he is easily recognised by the public because he writes all of the songs and is recognised for his stage presence. The coverlines on the magazine and the profanity that is used "little sh*ts" establishes them as a rock band, similarly to the way that profanity is used in the coverlines of the Oasis magazine cover.





 As well as looking at the covers of the New Musical Express, I am going to look at some covers of Q magazine, more so than the magazine NME, Q magazine tends to feature only the front man of bands on its cover almost all the time. On this cover featuring the Foo Fighters, the main picture is of Dave Grohl, it is only at a closer look that you see the rest of the band - featured really small - in the front man's mouth.
The coverlines of this particular cover are red because this compliments the image of the fire and adds more to the element of rock and roll about the page.

Similarly to the Foo FIghters cover that we just looked at, the lead singer and front man of the band Muse - Matt Bellamy -  is the only member of the band that is actually photographed for the front cover of the magazine. This is because it is the front man of the band that is the person that is recognised the most by the public, not only this, but Matt Bellamy is married to Kate Hudson, and their relationship is high profile, this means that people who dont even know the band, but might be fans of Hudson, may be attracted to buying the magazine to read the interview.

Equipment

Album Cover Research

I looked at album covers from the same genre that our song is from and found a range of different ideas in the artwork. Some artists take the 'simple and effective' route - such as the album cover for The XX's album, xx - where as some artists, like Florence Welch, make the album cover look more like a piece of artwork.

The simple black background with the white X allows the cross to stand out which would mean that people would easily remember the name of the band. The simplicity of the album cover contrasts with the type of music that th band produces, the songs that feature on the album have a unique sound which adds to the bands success. The black and white continues throughout the entire CD cover with the tracklist being in white writing and there being no other images on the back of the CD so there is a lot of just black space.


 Similarly to the album cover of the XX, the album 'What Did You Expect' by the Vaccines also has a simple album cover. The black background with the image in the centre and typing above it shows only the bands name, it doesnt show the name of the album. This compels the buyer to pick up the CD and look at the back, this makes them look at the tracks - some of which they may recognise - and could lead to a purchase. It is rare that a band actually features a picture of them on their cover, it usually is some form of artwork, however artists that perform solo, such as Florence Welch, tend to have photos of themselves on the cover, because their persona as well as their music attracts buyers.

The back of the album cover, unlike that by the xx, features a picture in the centre. Both the picture on the front and the picture on the back conceal the faces of those in it, this has been done to show that it is artwork, its not a photo of the band. The same font is used on both the front and the back of the CD cover which maintains the house style. The album is named 'What Did You Expect,' this is a lyric from the song 'Post Break-up Sex' which features on the album. It is common for bands to title their album after a lyric featured in one of their songs, for example, 'Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace' by the Foo Fighters.

The cover of the album 'Beacon' by the Vaccines features quite strange artwork on its album cover. The legs dangling from what appears to be a ceiling with a light between the legs suggests that the girl is the beacon. The fact that the legs are hanging in a mundane room makes the audience look straight at the image in the centre which is the legs.

The album 'Lungs' by Florence and the Machine takes the literal meaning of the album name and incorporates it into the cover artwork. The image of Florence wearing a necklace that actually shows the lungs on the outside of her body, this not only compliments the name of the album but also takes the literal meaning of it. Florence is featured on the cover of her album because people may recognise her face but not know her name, this would compel them to pick up the album and perhaps buy it.

Similarly to the front cover, the back of the CD shows a literal diagram of lungs, this again links to the name of the album. It is perhaps named lungs because of the power that the lungs of a singer has, people would usually associate the word lungs with someone who could sing, perhaps operatic singers. The font of the writing on the back of the album is dainty and elegant - words which people would usually associate with Florence herself. Three out of the four album covers that I have looked at here are based mainly around black backgrounds with a white font, that would suggest that this is the most popular decision for album artwork which can help us with our decisions and ideas.

The album cover for 'Torches' by Foster the People follows the general pattern of the covers that I have looked at from other bands, it does not feature an actual picture of the band - unlike the covers from solo artists - but features artwork. The picture illustrates the name of the band by having the creatures hold all kinds of torches, both battery torches and fire. We plan to link the artwork on our album cover to the name of the album aswell.

The back of the album is simple, it follows the font and colours that are featured on the front of the cover which ties the whole cover together. The house style of the band and the cover needs to be consistent and make sense to any audience. Any photographs used also need to match the tone and genre of the band so that it could look authentic in the real media world.

The artwork that is printed on the actual CD is equally as important as the artwork on the cover and track list. When an album has 2 CD's in it, it's conventional and important that the two CD's have different designs on them, in the case of the Oasis 'best hits' album, the only difference between the two CD's is that they are different colours, one Pink and one Blue but with the same writing on. The different colours/artwork allows the audience to distinguish easily between CD 1 and CD 2 and decide which side they want to listen to. On this Oasis album, the 'Time Flies... 1994 - 2009' title features on the cover, and both the CD's which adds a house style to the album. Interestingly, the colours of the CD's do not tie in, in any way with the cover and tracklist artwork on the album.


It is common for the Artist's name and the title of the album to be written on the CD, and it is always in the same font and colours as that which is featured on the front of the album. The brown, black and white colour scheme that is featured on this CD is exactly the same as the colours that are on the front. The CD's have to be easily associated with the album cover so that, for example, if people accidentally mix up their CD's which they often do, they can easily place the correct CD in the correct case.

A lot of albums also feature a tracklist on their CD, like the disc for the album 'Contra' by Vampire Weekend. The artwork for this album is very geometrical. All of the lines are straight and it is all very precise. The colours that feature on the disc of the album are very mundane and normal which contrasts completely with the sound of the band which is original and upbeat.

Final Cut Filming Schedule

  We learnt from the filming of our rough cut, that when we filmed our final cut we needed to be more organised in order to get the shots that we needed quickly and easily. We have made a list so that we can tick off when we have filmed certain shots so that we leave knowing that we have all the shots that we need and havent forgotten anything. We have given a copy of this list to our actors so that everyone knows what we will be shooting and when, we have two cameras so that we can film more than one person at the same time.

This is what we plan to do and when, we have borrowed lighting from our friend so that our video will be professionally lit. We have allowed time for our band to practice what they are going to do, get dressed and look over the lyrics again so that the miming is perfect, this allows us to go into our location and get filming straight away.


I have planned how our video is going to be edited exactly so that we can go into the filming knowing exactly what our video is going to look like from the footage that we gain, this also allows me to make sure that we get all the shots that we need.

The schedule and editing list has allowed us to be more organised with our filming - which admittedly we weren't when filming our rough cut. The list of where all our footage is going to go in our video and how long the shot will be will allow us to put all the footage on the timeline easily, almost like knowing where all the pieces of the puzzle go, and just having to actually fit them together.