We looked at various real artists merchandise pages as inspiration for our own.
We realised that T-Shirts were the main product that artists used, as there are multiple combinations that can be used to promote the artist. As a result, we decided to create one t-shirt with the name 'Carter James' on and then one with the name and an image. Additionally, we created a hoodie and cap, in black and white, with the name 'Carter James' on. We used the same font for each in order to establish a link between the products. We decided to stick with the colours black and white, as they matched the bands star image and linked with the websites colour scheme.
We used Vistaprint to create the merchandise, and then created a store on the website.
http://www.vistaprint.co.uk/?GP=2%2f7%2f2015+2%3a25%3a31+PM&GPS=3425795771&GNF=1
Having completed the majority of the pages on the website, we began to concentrate on the front page, as this would be the most important. We wanted the website to be instantly striking and convey the bands star image, thus we began to research images of interesting light bulb photography. Here is some images that we took for inspiration:
We really liked the sharpness of these images, thus we knew that we wanted a close up of a single bulb as the image of our front cover. Having decided this, we began to brainstorm ideas of incorporating both thematic elements together in one image. Therefore, we decided to play around with an an image of a light bulb and a tree, and then photo shop the tree into the light bulb. We hoped that this would provide an enticing image that would immediately drawn in the audience. Here is some of the images we are looking at merging together:
For the background for the rest of our website, we chose an image of multiple light bulbs and recreated it, so that we had a variety of light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. We decided to keep the website in black and white as it made it look more clean and professional, and added to the 'mysterious' star image of the band.
We wanted our website to be accessible to our target demographic (males aged 17-25), thus we wanted to involve other social media websites where we could promote the band. Having done some basic research, we knew that Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were the mostly widely used by our target audience, thus we set about creating pages for our band. We created a 'Carter James' Facebook and Twitter page, and then linked them to the website. We used the same images and colour palette, thus ensuring that the 3 websites were connected together. As a result, we combined images of the woods and light-bulbs in order to emphasise these thematic elements. In the bio sections, we used information similar to the details on the ABOUT page, thus we began to build up the bands star image and promotional campaign. We connected the YouTube page to the video, so that when you click on it, the video immediately begins to play. Again this was about building up a promotional campaign for the band. In relation to this, we created a SIGN UP page for the website, so that we could gain 'feedback' or 'fan mail' from potential audiences. To do this we created a Gmail account for the band and added it as a footer to every page of the website. We hoped that this would encourage audiences to become involved with the artist and thus benefit promotion.
Having done our initial brainstorming session, we began to develop our ideas for the website and digi-pak. We knew that we wanted to centre the two products around the images of woods and light-bulbs, thus we began to channel our creativity into incorporating these themes into an actual product.
Firstly, we undertook a photo shoot with the lead singer, as although we had taken a lot of photos on the shoot day, we needed more images for the website. Equally, we wanted these images to focus solely on the lead singer, in order to emphasise the image of him as the front man. We chose to locate the photo shoot in the woods around our school, thus they were easily accessibly but provided a variety of interesting shots. Here are a few that we particularly liked:
Having done the photo shoot, we decided that we wanted to use the images of the lead singer in the woods on the digi-pak, as establishes a mental image in potential consumers minds. We wanted to promote the lead singer on the digi-pak, but the band on the website, therefore we decided to use the theme of the woods on the digi-pak and the light-bulb theme on the website. This would provide a distinction between the products, but ensure that they were still linked to the video. Yet, we uploaded all the pictures we had onto the GALLERY page of our website, as we wanted the website to look authentic and professional, thus wanted to use a variety of photos. We edited the images carefully before we uploaded them, as we wanted them to be sharp and clear, but of more muted colours, as we decided that our colour palette would involve, blues, greys, blacks and whites. This links with the colour palette of our video, thus we were creating a link between the three products.
Having created the GALLERY paged, we focused on the ABOUT page of the website. We looked at similar artists websites, such as The Script, Elbow and Kodaline for inspiration, as we wanted to know what generic information we should provide. Thus, we centred the ABOUT page around where the band comes from, and introduced the lead singer as the front man and then the rest of the band members. We did not want the text to be too long, as audiences would lose interest, thus we created a concise summary that explained the bands background. We also decided that this would be a good page to portray the video, thus we embedded it into the website so that when someone clicked on the ABOUT page, the video automatically began to play. This is a good way to promote the band, as it forces the audience into watching the video without them being aware of the advertising.
We then focused on the TOUR page of our website, as we needed to create a variety of locations where our band would play. We researched various venues that coincided with the star image of the band and then added them to the website. We linked the website with Ticketmaster, as we decided that they were a suitable site that would sell tickets.
Having already filmed the performance element of our band, we set about arranging the shoot for the narrative element of the video. This involved creating a rough story boards of key shots that we wanted, but as wanted the footage to be mainly hand held and jumpy, we did not need to plan rigorously. Therefore, our main purpose was to ensure that the actors looked realistic in shooting the guns, in an attempt to remove any potential comic elements.
We had prepared for the shoot quite well, as we had made sure that the actors were familiar with each other and the guns, so that their interactions would look more fluid and realistic. Before we started shooting, we dressed the actors in their outfits and made sure that they looked how we wanted them too. After this, we walked around the woods we had chosen to film out, in order to get an idea of the key locations we would use. As we had already researched the woods (as it was at my house), it was easy to find the best areas to use thus the preparation before the shoot did not take long. The main thing we did was to check how slippery the ground was, as we did not want the actors to trip and fall, thus we had to re-think some of our shots as the ground was just too wet to have the actors running. However, this was only a minor set back and we began to film reasonably quickly after arriving at the location.
We had divided the roles on the previous shoot, therefore we re-divided them, so that we all got to do something different. I mainly worked on the camera, which was great fun, as the majority of the shots were running tracking shots. The improvisation of the actors actions was fun to work with, as it gave me freedom to use a variety of shots to capture different elements. As we already had a strong performance element, we only needed a minute or so of footage to edit in, thus we did not shoot in specific sequences but more general actions. Thus, we got numerous tracking shots from different positions of the two actors running at each other with guns, as this could be cut in anywhere. The main element we wanted to convey through the narrative, was an escalation of anger as the song progressed, thus we wanted to incorporate the actors changing their gun, for an even bigger, fiercer one. As a resulted, we constructed mini sequences that we would be able to easily add to the performance video, thus showed the two actors becoming more aggressive. This worked really well on the day, as each actor sold their anger well and made the action look more realistic. The only area I wish had gone better, was when the girl actor changed her small pistol for a larger gun. As the ground was really wet, we had her changing the gun behind a tree, yet it did not look that realistic and began to look more comical. Hopefully though, we will be able to cut between these shots in order to present the best part of the action. The most successful part of the shoot, was the use of the smoke grenades. They really added to the atmosphere of the piece and provided another alternative form of weaponry. The smoke looked really good against the autumnal background, and heightened the sense of warfare.
Overall, the shoot was a great success as we quickly and efficiently filmed what we needed, as each member of the group new what role they had to do. We worked well as a team and as a result the footage we acquired was good, and should hopefully work well with the performance element.
After editing a rough cut of our performance element, we showed our work to some of our friends in order to gain an insight into what our potential audience might think of the video. We knew that the video was not perfect, thus the audience feedback will be very useful in ascertaining which parts we need to alter.
The audience generally responded well to the video, and many were surprised by how good it looked, considering we had a limited time to plan. This boosted our confidence in the video, and assured us that we were meeting our audiences approval.
STRENGTHS:
- The audience really liked the hand held elements of the video, as they said it brought a good atmosphere to the piece and reflected the music well. As a result of this feedback, we might try to incorporate more of the hand held camera work, especially in the chorus sections. However, we still want the shots to vary through out the piece, thus might leave the hand held footage until near the end, as it will have a bigger impact when the song reaches its crescendo.
- The focus pull shot of the guitarist and bassist met our audience's approval, as they commented that it added another dramatic edge to the video. As we were not entirely sure on the effectiveness of this shot, we were pleased that it had a good response, thus will try and incorporate it when we add the narrative element of the video.
- The audience thoroughly enjoyed the band as well, and thought that each member looked realistic and engaging. The audience particularly liked the drummer and singer, and as this coincided with our view, we were really pleased that this had been translated to the audience through the video. The audience liked the variations of shots on the drummer as well, especially the close ups. As we had worked on the drummer's elements for a long while, we were happy that the hard work had paid off.
- The set also met with the audiences approval, especially the ripped mattress and feathers raining down from the ceiling. Although many said that the concept was a bit obscure, they still enjoyed the atmosphere of the set and thought it worked well with the song. Hopefully, when we add in the narrative element the concept will be more apparent and will reflect the set more.
WEAKNESSES:
- Although the audience understood that it was a band performing, they commented that we focused to much on the lead singer and thus the other members were shown to be slightly less important. As our aim is to promote a band we need to address this problem, therefore will probably remove some close ups of the singer and replace them with wide shots of the whole band, or mid shots of the guitarist and bassist.
- Some of the audience did not like the bassist, and thought that his expression was quite "comical and weird". However, as they were friends with the bassist this could be due to their familiarity with him, but nevertheless, we will try and see if there are similar shots we can use that have a more 'normal' expression.
Overall therefore, our band was really happy with the audience feedback, and will use it to improve elements of the video.
Having filmed our performance element, we began to create a rough cut of our video. This will be really useful once we have filmed the narrative element, as it will be far easier to incorporate the other footage if we already have a video to work with. We first familiarised ourselves again with Premiere (the editing software), and then began to sink each clip to the song. This involved linking the right time sequence that appeared on the clapper board, with each the song, so that the clip would always be in time. This was a long process as we have numerous clips, but will be ensure that our video looks right, as the singers lip syncing will only look realistic if it is in time. As we synced each clip, we renamed it, so that when we came to properly editing, we would know exactly which shot was which.
Having synced each shot, and removed the audio for each clip and replaced it with the track, we began to edit the clips together. We worked in 10 seconds chunks, so that we were not overwhelmed with the amount of shots we would have to piece together. As the beginning was the most important part, we decided to leave it until the end, so that when we had finished it would be easier to introduce the video with the right shots.
Our group decided to work in pairs, so that one pair would work on editing whilst the other would work on the website and album. This meant that we all had a go at editing, but also were involved with the creative tasks of constructing a proper band website and album.
As we began to edit the video, we started work on the website as well. We researched bands with a similar star image in order to gain inspiration for our own website. We really liked the black and white theme that The 1975 uses in their website, and how the front page is a mixture of striking images. However, we equally liked the bold image on The Scripts opening webpage. We noticed how both bands had their name in big letters in the opening page, and how it was in the same place on all the other pages as well. We compared the different sub pages of artists webpages, and came to the conclusion that we needed to involve an ABOUT, GALLERY, MERCHANDISE, TOUR pages, as these were all communally featured.
Having done some initial research, we decided that we wanted to have a bold image on the front page of website, in order to entice potential consumers. We therefore began to think of a symbol that embodied the nature of the band, and one that we could use to link our three products together. Having discussed our options, we decided that the two key thematic elements of the video were the 'woods' and the 'light-bulb'. Both these elements reflect the star image of the band, as the woods link with the 'rebellious' and 'bad-boy' image we want our front man to embody, and the 'light-bulb' represents the authenticity of the band. As a result, we decided that we would use these two themes in the website and digi-pak in order to establish a link between our three products, that an audience could identify with. Therefore, we decided to do a photo shoot of the lead singer, as we wanted to picture him in the woods so that we could develop this thematic element. Equally, we began to play around with images of trees in light bulbs, as we though this would be a striking image for the front cover of the website.
Before our shoot day,
we constructed the set in the studio, so that it would be ready for us to film
first thing in the morning. Firstly, we created a room like shape using seven
boards so that it formed an open box shape. We then began cutting, numbering and
placing the wallpaper on these walls so that it began to resemble a real
bedroom. After this, we moved the furniture into the room, starting with the
mattress and parts of the broken bed frame. After this, we put the drum kit into
the room, and then place the chest of drawers next to it. Having stuffed the
drawers with overflowing clothes, we then put some of the broken photo frames
on top of the drawers. After this, we set up the light bulb hanging from the
ceiling as well as the light bulb and fairy lights. This involved draping or
sticking the wire over the walls, so that we could connect them to the power
source. As we did not want to ruin the illusion of a real room, we worked hard
to ensure that the wires were hardly visible. We then drilled holes in the
walls, and placed a light behind the walls so that it shone through the holes
in order to give the impression of bullet holes. We added to this destroyed
effect, by having some of the picture frames on the wall crooked or partially
falling down. We were pleased with how the set look, and as we had ensured that
the band knew what to wear and what the actors needed, we were happy with what
we had to do the next day.
Before we could start
shooting, we had to dress the band and make sure that they looked exactly how
we wanted them too. Having done this, we applied a small amount of make up to
the band members so that their faces wouldn’t appear shiny under the harsh
lights. Moreover, we tied back the drummer’s long hair, as we did not want it
to obstruct his face while filming. We were happy with how the band looked, and
as we had prepared the studio and set the day before, we were ready to start
filming. However, there was a gas leak in the studio and as there are numerous
cables and equipment, we had to wait for the green light before we filmed. This
pushed back our schedule, so we decided (after a short scout around our school
grounds for a location that resembled my house) that it would be better to wait
until we would have longer to shoot the narrative section of the video.
Finally, we managed to
begin filming thus made the last few adjustments to the set. We filled the set
with feathers from the ripped pillows and duvet, and then scattered them around
the room. We also tore pieces of the wall paper, and stuffed some of the
feathers into the cracks shown. Having placed the drummer in the set, we then
put feathers on top of the largest symbol so that they would rain down every
time he smashed it. We used a crane just outside the line of the camera, and
placed a bucket and a fan up there so that we could scatter feathers onto the
band when they were playing, to give the effect that the room really had been
destroyed.We gave the lead singer a microphone on a stand, as it drew more attention to him as the 'front man' of the band and helped to centre the camera in the room.
During the shoot, we
divided the roles so that we all got a chance to do something and we decided
that we would change the roles on the next shoot, so that everyone got to do
something different. I was the director, therefore was in charge of the keeping
the shoot on schedule, deciding what shots to film and encouraging the band. As
we were running late, I had to ensure that we keep the shoot moving, thus we
could not take too much time in between takes. Quickly a routine appeared
though, that involved sweeping up the used feathers, placing them back in the
bucket ready to use next time and making a comment on the band. I knew that the
band would get quite tired as the shoot progressed, thus I tried to encourage
them as much as possible so that they would continue to be excited and look
alive in the shots. Also, I found that the best way to change something was to
first use a compliment and then criticize, so that the band felt comfortable
but also meant that we filmed what we wanted too.
We did have a few
problems, such as the base player’s strap breaking, and then breaking again so
that we had to re-film the wide shot 4 times, as the continuity would have been
affected due to us changing the strap each time. Also, the guitarist began the
shoot as quite awkward and timid, and this came across on camera. However,
after a few takes and encouragement he soon settled into it, and in the end
interacted well with other members of the band.
Overall, the shoot day,
despite being very stressful was a success, as the footage we achieved was
exactly what we wanted too. The set looked amazing on camera and the band
really worked together, so that they gave a group performance instead of
individual ones. We worked well together as a group, as we each knew what we
had to do and this enabled us to shoot all that we wanted too. I do wish that
we had had more time to film the performance element, as it would have taken
away some of the pressure to shoot things well the first time, but I think we
did well despite this unforeseen event. I was especially happy with how the
shoot went, considering that we only had 2 weeks to prepare for the shoot and
did not really have a formal story board. Luckily, everything came to together,
and I think this is due to us working well as a team.
Having taken numerous
still images of the band during the shoot, we decided to focus the website and
artwork around some of these images, as it will promote them more than a piece
of abstract art.
Having seen the band interact together, we decided that we wanted to promote the band via a 'front man' and we chose the lead singer for this part. The lead singer had the most charisma, and as he was to star in both the performance and narrative element, we decided that he would be the best choice. As a result, we created the idea of 'Carter James', thus our product would centre around a lead singer, but would also include the other band members. We took inspiration from bands such as The Script and the Kaiser Chiefs, who are bands but also use front men to promote the group. Due to this, we have decided that the website and digi-pak will centre on the lead singer, and we will film and edit the video in a way to ensure that he gains maximum publicity.
Today, we planned what
we needed for the band, and the performance element so that when we came to
shooting it would run more smoothly. Having written a list of props, we began
collecting the items we needed in order to ensure that we would have them all and
they would look right in the set. We picked out the wallpaper and carpet we
were going to use, and then also the lamp and chest of drawers. We already had
the duvet, pillows and mattress but we decided to leave them un-slashed, so
that we would not waste any of the feathers. Having done this, we decided to
take the photos of the couple so that we could print them out and put them into
frames. We asked the two actors to pose in various positions so that the
audience would really believe that they were a loving couple.
Having completed all we
needed to for the performance set, we began rehearsing the band so that we
could begin to get a feel of what it would look lie, as well as removing any
potential problems. As the drummer, guitarist, and singer all knew the song,
this made our job easier as it already looked realistic. The base played did
not know the song, nor could actually play the base, but he suited the start
image we had created and had a lot of enthusiasm. Therefore, we spent the time
helping him get used to the instrument, and he soon looked as if he could play
the base. We encouraged all the members of the band to get into the song, and
interact with each other as chemistry between band members is very easily
noticed on screen. They quickly picked this idea up and were playing and
interacting together in a way that suggested they were a real band.
The band were very easy
to work with, and helped us a lot by providing ideas on how they should
interact. After the rehearsal, we began to look at outfits, as we wanted the
style to incorporate our star image. Therefore, we decided that all members of
the band should wear black jeans, and that we want them to either wear a dark
coloured shirt buttoned all the way up, or a t-shirt. We also want the guitarist
to wear a denim jacket, to ensure that they did not all look the same. By
dressing the band like this, we have kept their look simple, yet still
appealing in the hopes of attracting a similar audience.
Unfortunately, we did
another smoke test but with a few smoke bombs at the same time, and the result
was that our school kitchen was filled with smoke. As a result, we will not be
able to use the smoke bombs as it would be a hazard to us and those around us.
Having discussed our options as a group, we have decided to start afresh, and
pick a whole new song and idea.
We firstly began by
narrowing the genre of music down. We decided to have a ‘rock type band’, as if the worst comes to the worst we can always rely on having a good performance
element for our video. Having contemplated numerous songs, we finally decided
on Elbow’s song, ‘Grounds for Divorce’. The song has a good solid beat, and
numerous instrumental interludes which will enable us to have a good
performance element and a narrative element.
As we did not have a
lot of time to come up with an idea, we immediately fixated upon the idea of
‘divorce’, and heightening it into something dramatic and visually exciting.
Therefore, we decided to use a couple in our narrative section who are
having a physical fight that progresses into a gun fight. By having the couple
running through a woods, we will be able to use a variety of shots, especially
fast paced hand held ones, thus will add an edgier side to the video. We do not
want the video to be realistic, but instead we want it to be an exaggerated
form of a love fight, so that it portrays the link between passion and
violence. In keeping with this idea, we decided to place the band in a torn apart
bedroom, in order to convey to the impression that the couple had just had a
fight in the bedroom and then had taken it outside. We decided that the lead
singer of the band should also play the boy’s part in the narrative, as it will
create an intimate link between the actors and the song.
We are focusing on the
stereotypical image of a rock band, but using inspirations from bands like
Kodaline and The 1975 to make the band more current and ‘indie’. Therefore, our
star image is one that is slightly absent from audiences, but provides a cool
edgy look that many of the audience members will aspire too. We want the band
to infer a ‘bad-boy’ type look, thus we picked the members of the band who had
a different style and look but were also attractive.
Here is some images that we took for inspiration:
As smoke is such a large part of our video, we needed to ensure that the smoke bombs that we had bought were effective. Therefore, we tested them in the studio that we are going to use so that we can see if there are any complications that we need to sort out before the shoot day. Also, we found a tube that we could use to see if the smoke would travel through it effectively, however we will use transparent tubes in the real video.
Through testing the smoke bombs, we learnt several things. Firstly, that at the start the smoke is thin and wispy, therefore we will need to cut out the beginning in editing, so that it looks thick throughout. However, it looks good coming through the tube, and will look even better when we use transparent tubes. Also, we realised that we would need to have multiple fans next to the tubes in order to bring the smoke through the tubes more effectively. Similarly, we will need fans to clear the studio, as the smoke lingers for around 10-15 minutes per bomb and we will need to ensure that there is no residue from the previous bomb when we start filming again. This may prove a problem, as we have a tight time schedule and may not have time to wait for the smoke to clear. As a result, we will have to organise the shoot, so that we do all the sections without smoke beforehand and then do the smoke filled ones as it will be less noticeable if there is a tiny bit of smoke left over. Moreover, we are going to need to buy some gas masks as the smoke produces a rather noxious smell that in an enclosed space will become horrible to work in. Overall, we were really happy with the smoke bombs and look forward to using them in the video.
We decided to screen test the boy we are going to use, in order to ensure that he fitted the part. We needed to make sure that he could lip sync effectively, as well as perform on camera. The boy in our video needs to ooze confidence and arrogance, therefore his performance needs to reflect his cool cocky star image.
We picked this actor (Ben), as he embodied this look and we knew that he had a background in singing/dancing/acting. These combined will hopefully mean that his performance will be interesting, and he will embody the star image we have created.
We had not previously rehearsed with our actor (Ben), but he quickly picked up the lyrics. However, his performance seems rather awkward, but we put this down to the circumstances - not really knowing the song and performing without the location/atmosphere. Overall though, we believe that he will do the job well.
Also, as we want the boy in the video to do various tricks, we asked him to showcase one of them so we could see how it would look on camera. We were very happy with the result and hopefully it will look as good when combined with the coloured smoke and song.
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