Information included on the digipak.

Album Name: City & Colour

Song List:

• New Day
• Riding The Storm
• Good Life
• Chaos
• Endless Traffic
• Falling Leaves
• Cold Touch
• Transmission
• Lonely Road
• These City Lights
• Sore Eyes

Red Rose Records

Acknowledgements and band information - The Empty Crowd:

• Tom Ledger - vocals, guitar, piano
• Zach Brown - bass
• Charlie Fletcher - drums

Playing with the Layout.

After deciding on the best photo composition I have been playing around with the layout to find the best place for the title and band name. I am still not sure on the colour and fonts though.

Digipak Concept

I will be using the same concept for my Digipak as we did for our group music video, Country Vs. City. I want to carry on this concept because I thought that it would be more artistic and imaginative instead of just having an image of the band on the cover. I definitely admire the editing techniques used on Kings Of Leons 'Come Around Sundown' because it emphasises the beauty of nature with the colours of the sun faded out the picture.

For the front cover, I am thinking of incorporating the model we used for our music video. This inspiration came from Vampire Weekend's 'Contra', which featured a female model on the front cover and I think that this was very effective in attracting audiences to look at it even though the woman on the front had no relation to the band or their music. I am only going to be inspired by this cover, I will not be making a replica or copy of it for my band.

What I was actually thinking of doing is having a split screen on the cover, Country on one side and the City on the other. Then I want to have our model Katie shot from the back standing in the middle of the pictures, so it looks like she is in two different worlds. I will be keeping the City shot in black & white as this will emphasise the dull grey atmosphere of it and for the Country shot, I am going to take influences from the King's Of Leon 'Come Around Sundown' by editing the picture so it looks very hazy and less saturated.

Practising edits for the digipak.

For my digipak mock-up I am thinking of using photography from our country and city locations to bring across the city vs country concept. So I have decided to experiment with the effects and enhancing techniques in photoshop.

I think the darker black and white shot is more effective because it's feels more threatening which will show the contrast with the lighter country shots.

Although I like the colour of this edit I think it is too bright to portray the big imposing city image that is part of our concept. 

I really like the effect on this edit however I think it is too abstract and would take the digipak away from the simple concept of nature. Also it makes the city look too appealing but it might fit our concept more if I make the colours darker.

I tried editing the colours to make the shadows and highlights darker but I still think it looks too abstract and bright. I also tried creating a black and white edit which would fit in better with the concept but I think it still doesn't look natural enough to fit next to the style of the country photos.

Country Road Planning - Twitter

Conversation starts from the bottom then up.

This particular conversation we had on twitter was about planning when we should start doing our Country Road Shots, we decided that next week would be a good time to do this as both of us are free. But we don't know the if our model Katie is free so we are going to have to check up on that.

Animatic.

From our storyboard we created an animatic which has shown us exactly where the cuts need to be made to link with the beats in the music. It has also shown that some shots could be longer and some could be shorter. It has given us quite a good idea of how our final video is going to look however it has not shown us the camera movement which would bring the video to life. It also doesn't show any post-production editing that we are planning to use for example, slowm motion, double speed and black & white. However it has been quite useful to learn how many shots and cuts we need to make it look interesting to the audience.

Storyboard.

  

While making our storyboard we printed off the lyrics and wrote down the times of the start and end of each line and rhythm change. From this and listening to the music we could decide when we needed to make cuts so that it fitted with the music and lyrics.

This is our storyboard, we have 100 shots. On the shots we have written the times of the cuts and how long they are going to be which will help us when editing. We have also briefly described what is happening in the shot, what the camera angle should be and what post-production editing we are planning to use on the shots which will give as a clear idea of what we want when filming and editing. 

Schedule List

Schedule List

We have completed our story boards, to make sure that our time in London is used effectively as we only have a limited amount of it. We have also decided that we are going to be filming at night, the reason for this is because we thought that the city would be more vibrant and colourful in the night. Even though we're doing it in black & white, we think that we by having the bright lights of the city in the night would be more effective with this particular effect unlike shooting it in the day.

We haven't finished out animatic yet, but I don't think that this will be a problem because our story boards pretty much tells us what is going to be happening in the song, and by maaking a Schedule list we can make sure that we are keeping up with time.

Styling Ideas for The Empty Crowd.

 
Although we are not going to have any of the band feature in the music video we are going to have to create a band for photos in the CD digipac and magazine advert because the audience will want to identify the band and get an image of who they are.

As OneRepublic are quite mainstream and have a wide appeal, our band would also have to fit into the mainstream image. We would dress them in smart casual clothing to create the image of a fashion-conscious group, who want to look good and follow trends. This would appeal to a mainstream audience as they would be showing their star image and look fashionable which would attract more people.

The people in our band, The Empty Crowd, would be a bit younger than the band members of OneRepublic who are all around 30, which we would have to think about when dressing our band members. For example they would have to look smart and "chic" but not dressed to old for their age because they might look a bit out of place or odd.

Parachute are an example of a younger band who have a smart casual style so we would take ideas from them as well as OneRepublic.

Story Board Update

Our story board is taking longer than we have expected, after watching a few music videos we have learnt that there a quite a lot of different shots in a small amount of time. The reason for this is because it makes the audience more engaged and connected with the video, if it was just taken in one take and there wasn't any cutting in the video, it would be very boring to watch. But on the other hand, there are a few one shot videos which are quite interesting and enjoyable to watch. For example with Snow Patrol's 'Open Your Eyes', this video featured a camera attached to a car driving around Paris, of course the setting of where the video is shot plays a very important role because if we were to try and duplicate this where we live or the city that is closest to us, it would seem tacky and amateur as we do not have the landscape and beautiful buildings.So far we have drawn about 48 shots and we're not even half way through the song, we are trying our best to complete it as fast as possible although at the same time making sure that we are able to recognise the shots in the pictures that we drew.

We know that we have got to finish this before the weekend as we are going to start shooting in London, but before we go we have to make sure that we have also done our: Schedule list, to make sure that we film the shots that are in the same location at that time because it wouldn't be time effective at all if we had to keep going back and fourth to the same place to shoot a scene when we could've done it earlier; we also have to create a risk assessment so we can prevent any accidents or be prepared for any accidents that could arise when we're shooting. *Knock wood.

Typical Conventions in Music Videos.

Cutting/ editing in time and to the rhythm of the beat.


Cross-cutting shots of the story part of the video to shots of the band singing the song. This creates a strong visual link between the lyrics, music and visuals and gives the audience an idea of the band - usually used to show the band members, particularly focusing on the lead singer, to give off the image of star personalities. This is even more evident in mainstream solo artists music videos who are nearly always the main focus in the video.


(Parachute - She Is Love)


(OneRepublic - Say All I Need)


(The Script - Before The Worst)

Sometimes there is an introduction before the music starts that gives the context of the story and sets the scene for the video. It also lets the audience connect to the action in the video and makes it seem more like a film which encourages the audience to watch it to the end to follow the story and find out what happens.
However unlike in film as Carol Vernallis points out the editing in music videos can join two shots which have the same composition, shape or colour but are not in the same context.

The continuity does not have to flow like it would in a film for the audience to understand the change, they also wouldn't question if cuts showing the same action jumped to a different location. Like in Coldplay's Fix You the clip shows Chris Martin running in three different locations but not in the order he would have had to have travelled to get to the stage at the end - it cuts from the side of the road, to in the tunnel, to the main street again. The cuts and changing angles makes it more interesting to watch and is faster than earlier in the song which was slower - therefore the cuts were slower.



The most interesting aspects of music videos that draw in the audience are usually done in post-production during the editing whether it is speeding up scenes, slow motion, cutting the shots to the beats in the music or split screens.


Carol Vernallis also points out that a key convention of music video is the use of dolly shots to keep continuous movement for panning, 360˚ and following while walking or running.



We are planning on using some of the typical conventions in our video - the cutting and editing to the fit with the music, the movement in shots (however we can't use a dolly so we will have to use panning and other techniques to keep the video moving) and the cutting between actions to shots with the same action but in a different location (e.g. Katie walking in the same frame in the shot in the country then in the city). However we are breaking the typical convention for having the band performing mixed in with the narrative. We have chosen to not follow this convention because we think the video would be more effective if it is not linked to the music through the visuals of instruments and lip syncing. We also think it fits in better with our overall concept of isolation - Katie will seem more detached if she is the main focus and the video doesn't cut to other people.

Applying Narrative Theorists.

Our music video follows a narrative story therefore narrative theorists would apply to our video. Levi-Strauss' theory of binary opposites applies because our story is all about contrasts between happy and depressed through the character's surroundings. The city and country are opposites and so are Katie's emotions in the two different places.

Todorov's theory about equilibrium that is disrupted but then restored by the end of the story applies to our video as the Katie is taken away from her comfort zone of her normal surroundings of the country and becomes depressed when she is in the city. At the end of the video she is seen back in her natural setting, the countryside which suggests the equilibrium has been restored.


As Katie is the only real character in the video, Propp's theory of character roles does not really apply to our story. However she would be the hero as she is the main character, but could also be see as the "damsel-in-distress" as in some aspects of the story she seems helpless and alone.

According to Andrew Goodwin's theory on typical conventions in music videos we are following some on the typical conventions. In our video there is a connection between the lyrics/music and visuals. We are amplifying the meaning of the lyrics through the narrative and the tone of our visuals and the effects and editing techniques we use will connect to the music. However, we contradict Goodwin's theory by not including the band either performing or acting in our video

Possible outfits for Katie.

We went shopping at the weekend with Katie who is acting in our video to find an outfit that suited her and we thought best represented the boho style that we are going for. We browsed in H&M, Dorthoy Perkins, New Look, Primark, Miss Selfridge and a couple of charity shops to find the most suitable dress.

This is the sort of style dress we are after but the colours are too harsh to give across a soft country look. The busy pattern as well distracts from the flowing skirt and sleeves.

Although this dress was more flowing and lightweight than the others, we felt the colours were still too bright to create the right effect. 

Although this printed dress has more subtle colours we had to think of the practicality of Katie riding a horse, the maxi would give her restricted movement and it is not as flowing and lightweight as we want.

We found this in New Look but we thought this looked too lively and busy to create the simple effect that we want.

This dress was flowing and lightweight and the colours were not too strong. The flowery pattern is quite simple and country while not being too overpowering. However the skirt was quite short on Katie which would have been a problem on the horse and looked a bit strange.

This is the dress we went for in the end. It is very flowing and lightweight which looks really effective in the wind. The sleeves are slit-sides which creates an even more flowing effect. We chose to go with a creamy white coloured dress because it is very simple, pure and natural. We chose tan shoes because they are also earthy and very natural. To create an added flowing "free" feel to the dress, we have made a train which goes under the dress and flows out behind her. It is quite long and looks quite effective in the wind. However we are not sure yet if we want to use the train for the shots in London or whether it will just be for the country shots. We are planning to keep Katie's make-up very natural and hair down and loose to add to this pure, natural beauty concept.

Boho Concept.

From the idea of a concept album, with a theme running through the music video, album artwork, styling of the band and songs, we are going to have a boho concept in our video and artwork. We will show this through the clothing and props in the music video. For the artwork we will use handwritten style fonts and soft photography style to show the simplicity and natural style of boho.

This is a moodboard of our concept - it will include quite natural and earthy colours. The dress Katie will be wearing in the video will be quite long and flowing with a floral or nature inspired pattern.

With this style of dress, Katie will look at home and fit in with her surroundings in the country shots but it will make her stand out in the city which will add to the idea that she doesn't belong there. For footwear we are thinking flat-heeled sandals.

We are going into Leicester tonight to get Katie's outift, she's coming along as well so we can see how it looks on her and make sure she feels comfortable and confident in it. 

Planning our trip to London.

When thinking about our trip to shoot in London, we have to consider where we are going to stay, when and how we are going to get there and how much it is all going to cost. As well as how we are going to travel around London once we are there.

We are planning to stay in London for two days, trying to keep the expenses of the trip down we are going to stay in a Travelodge and get an off-peak train to London on Friday. We are going to have to go further out and travel by tube into central London.

We are planning to go at an off-peak time on Friday so that the train to London is cheaper. We're going to get TrainLine in Standard Class.

Going on Friday at 8:20 staying at London City Airport for just Friday night and leaving at 21:55 on Saturday on the TrainLine should be around £110 for all 3 of us, which divided by Bank, Katie and me would be around £36 each.

Considering the amount of time we would have filming over the two days we are thinking about staying for two nights which would mean we have three whole days filming.

The other option would to go on Friday at 8:20 and stay in the Travelodge at Wembley which is £96.80 for two nights, with the added cost of the train it total for the weekend will be around £160 divided by 3 is around £53.

We think it would be better to go for longer as it gives us room for mistakes and eventualities.

These prices excludes the cost of living and transport around London. We are going to plan the last points and book the hotel and train this weekend.

 

Places In London To Shoot

We have come up with a list of places where we can go and shoot our video, we think that it would be really effective and interesting for the audience watching that we visit and include the iconic places in London. The reason that we chose to shoot the city shots in London instead of some other city like Leicester or Birmingham was because we wanted the audience to know where the girl was instantly as they saw the famous landmarks.

 The London Eye is one of the most modern places to visit in London, this popular tourist location greets 3.5 million people a year which is more than the Taj Mahal which only gets 2.4 million people a year. The London Eye is the tallest Ferris wheel  in Europe and having the most popular visits in the United Kingdom.When we actually go and shoot here, we want the mis-en-scene to be very simple, just the girl in the shot and the London Eye. This is going to be very hard to achieve, but we think that we can do it if we go there really early, preferably before 7am then there wont be as many people there.We are looking to create a very isolated picture, and this relates to the idea of the country having so much space. Even though the area which the London Eye sits is very big and spacious, it is nothing compared to having the fresh air and the sun beaming on your skin in the countryside.

The Clock Tower or commonly known was Big Ben is the largest four faced chiming clock and the third-tallest free-standing clock tower in the world. The clock tower has become one of the most prominent symbols of both London and England, often in the establishing shot of films set in the city and being the focus of New Year celebrations in the United Kingdom, with radio and TV stations tuning to its chimes to welcome the start of the year. This is one of the reasons that came to mind when we thought about doing some shots here, when the audience sees this particular iconic landmark, they will instinctively know that the shot is set in London. The problem we have here again is with the tourists and how busy its going to be,especially as we are going to film this on a weekend, a few problems could arise like someone might walk in front of the camera and ruin the shot, or it may look too touristy and it wouldn't fit with the concept we're going for.

Other Places we're considering going to.

Location Test Shots - Country

Today we took a walk down a country road to test out the location for our music video, we found this country road that led down to a big field. We really liked this road, it was isolated, filled with trees and greenery on both sides and we though that this would be the perfect location to shoot our country shots for our concept. This gave us the perfect image of how 'Good Life' can be without all the man made things like cars, buildings etc. You can really see the true beauty of what mother nature has created.




We think that this particular photo we have taken really emphasises the good isolation that we wanted to create, the character is surrounded by such beautiful things like trees, greens and nature's plants. Even though she isn't in her 'Boho' outfit, I think that this gives us a clear idea of what we want from the shot when we get to actually shooting it. We just hope that when we actually get down to shooting, the sun is out so it creates the emphasis of appreciating the natural and beautiful things in life.