CD

This is our final CD. The front and the back are the top two, and the inside sleeve and cd are the bottom two.

Final Website

I have posted these print-screens on our blog because it seems everytime we try and open our website up it rearranges  itself so things don't look right and how they should be. This is how our website should look now it is finished. The only difference is the background scrolls with the foreground so you wouldn't see the two circle images, just the one.

Confirmation

These emails are to confirm what we have agreed with Richard -

Illuminaria booking procedure

On 12/11/2012, Richard Spiby from Architects of Air got back to us through email and suggested an arrangement that we both will be benefited:

They will come to college on 29/11/2012 (Thursday) for a test of their lighting structure,

we will be allowed to film there for an hour during the period.

We do not have to pay for the whole thing as long as college is willing to provide them our sports hall to do the test.

We understood we needed permission from college, so we first spoke to Julie, the head of Media department and asked for advice. We took Julie's advice and went to see Karen Lowe, a lady in student support to ask for details about booking out everything we need.

Karen asked us to see the college Estates Team & Katy Honeyman, the manager of sports centre, and we were told to ask for risk assessment etc.

We've spoken to many people about this issue and we finally get it sorted.

Richard and the French designer of the illuminaria are definitely coming to college on 29/11/2012(Thursday) between 11.30 am - 2.30 pm.

Illuminaria

The Illuminaria is coming!

Thursday 29th November
11.30 - 2.30
Bilborough College Sports Hall

Test Shots - Lights

Test Shots

Equipment List

Release Forms

Location Test Shots

Test Shots

Recee 3

Recee 2

Recee 1

Music video album covers

Activity One - The iconography of the Album Cover

This article is about an agency called The Intro Partnership, and they design cd covers for artists. Julian House is the designer of the The Intro and he gives us an understanding of what the agency is about and how it works. They firstly give alot of flexibility letting the client have alot of input into the design, not just the record company. There is less demand for cd cover designs as their is new technology such as ipods and itunes, however there is still demand for visual accompaniment.

When they have a client they will first find out from the record company key things to be on the cover. They will then sit down with the client and find out the ideas they have for the cover, and sketch ideas. The album is not only premotion for the cd album it tells us about the music and the artist themself.

Activity Two - Online research - This weeks album chart

1. Calvin Harris - 18 months

Thia albums is very simplistic with its image being in a plain setting with the artist in the picture. This can let the audience to relate to the artist on what his appearance and image looks like. The colours of the cd cover are very sunny and bright which could connote that the album is lively and fun.



2. Kylie Minogue - The Abbey road sessions

This album is in black and white and has the artist on the front cover with the iconography of a microphone to signify she is the artist. The black and white of the album could also suggest the album is a classic.

3. Emeli Sande - Our version of events

The artist is on the front cover of this cd, with a rose outfit to signify the prettiness and clarity of the album. The background is unclear what is is, with a slightly misty/galaxy feel to it, which could signify the album having a slight twist to it with a rocky feel.

4. Fun. - Some nights

This album is very intreging as it is difficult to work out what it is about from the image. The bold font of the title represents the abum is quite a loud album with a quirky indie twist, as the images give that sense of genre off.

5. Taylor Swift - Red

This album is very like the artists music, being very pretty and sweet. Using the artist in the album cover connotes she suits her style of music being quite country pop, and she seems a very femine girl which this cover is very girly.

6. Mick Hucknall - American Soul

The most effective part of this cd cover is the artist on the front cover. As the artist is in the studio it shows he is a very classic artist, with the title of the album maybe signifying what the music genre is. He seems like he has a twist with the hippy style he has with the bracelets and rings.

7. Mumford and Sons - Babel

This album is very bright and colourful with the flags around the building in the image. The band is sat at the front of the image and they connote a quirky indie style which could suggest their type of music. The album looks very british and old fashioned.

8. Matt Cardle - The fire

The image of the artist is him looking towards the title of the album, but also looks like hes looking into the fire, from the red, yellow and orange colours. He looks very laid back with no smart clothes and messy hair which could make an everyday audience relate to him easily.

9. Paloma Faith - Fall to grace

This is a very bright and colourful album, with the artist being in a costume very much like a parrot as their is a parrot in the album cover. The strong red colours could connote the album is very firery and loud. The album seems very graceful and so does the artist, which connotes the title.

10. Madness - oui oui si si ja ja da da

This front cover is very confusing and i'm not sure what it is about, but I do think its in another language. I also think because its so confusing and slightly weird, it signifies the bands name.

Activity three - Textual analysis

 This album cover is The xx's first album, it is very plain and simplistic. The cover of the album doesn't connote a lot about the genre of the music. The first point that could connote the genre of music is the black and white colours. These black and white colours connote an indie style of genre and the colours are seen as   classical and vintage. The album has X on the front cover, which instantly represents the band and the audience would recognise the artist straight away.

The cover is very simplistic and this could signify the music inside is very simplistic and calm. The black and white colours could represent a depressing, sad type of music. The colour, image and font don't seem to construct the artists image as their is nothing to see apart from bold colouring and a letter X.

In albums you usually find an image of the artist on the front cover of the album. However in the xx's album you dont as this could construct the indie image of being different and individual. Also they want to get the message across the music is more important than the image. 

Activity four - the best and worse album covers in the world

Best album cover

I really like this album cover because of the way its arty features come across. I like the symmetry between the two metal built heads as i think it is very different and unique. The heads seem to look like real people with the characteristics and their facial expressions. I also like the distance of the image with the scenery of the skyscrapers in the background.

Worst album cover

I think this album is just hilarious and awful all at the same time. First theres nudity which is definitely not suitable for all audiences and no one except men want to see this on a cd cover, they just want to listen to music. Secondly 'My pussy belongs to daddy' gives a very wrong impression of what it actually means. She means her cat but people will automatically think of a totally different meaning and it wrong and disgusting, no one wants to hear this. The fact she is posing topless with a cat sat on her lap is just awkward and embarrassing for her because she needs to get another day job..

 

 

Homework:Activity five - collecting images

 

The xx

 

 



Step Outline

Production Schedule

Storyboard

Music Video Storyboard

Activity One - The Iconography of the Album Cover

·      The Intro Partnership is an agency that creates artistic designs for clients such as album covers for artists.

·      The artists are quite involved in the decision of what to do on the album cover, with small input from the record company.

·      Demand for album covers has lessened as people are into technological devices, e.g ipods, but there is still a demand for a visual accompaniment, even if its only a on a small screen.

·      “As the image is a construction, everything has been put there deliberately and for a reason. This includes all text, graphics and logos.”

·      Denotation – Identifying the elements in the image

·      Connotation – examining what the elements meanings and associations are. 

The company “The Intro Partnership” designs album covers! They design them for various artists who are interested in their work. They first consider the requirements of the record company, for example whether the artist needs to be on the cover, they then sit down and talk with the artist about the direction the artist wants to go and then sketch several different visuals based on their research and finally hone it down to one. They believe each design is unique to the artist and not conventional to the genre of music. Although the demand for physical albums has decreased, there is still need for a visual accompaniment for the music, such as for iPods and phones. The target audience, for the artist, is an important consideration. The album art is not only a promotion tool but it also tells us about the musician and the music. 

Activity Two - This Weeks Album Chart

1. Calvin Harris - 18 Months

The pathetic fallacy of this album cover shows a very happy atmosphere as the sun is shining and the sky is blue. The title and artist are written across the wall in white, so they stand out, you also have Calvin Harris sat by the road. he looks like he is waiting for a lift. Overall the mise en scene shows me that this artist is quite laid back and his music is likely to reflect that.

2. Kylie Minogue - The Abbey Road Sessions

This cover portrays Kylie Minogue as quite classy and sophisticated. the black and white colours represent her as quite old fashioned. The active prop, the microphone, is an old product, what they used to use back in the day which also conforms to the old fashioned image. The title is in pink and across the top, which says she is quite girly, pink is a girly colour.

3. Emeli Sande - Our version of events

From her album cover you can imagine th music inside to be very soulful. I think this because although if you saw her picture because of her punk styled hair you would probably think that she is a rapper but because of the juxtaposition of her we can see she is quite classy. Also her costume, a very flowery dress, also shows sophistication, compared to the usual pop artists usual attire, skimpy clothing. The choice of black and white also gives it a aged look, perhaps saying that her music is quite basic, not the usual modern tunes.

4. fun - Some Nights

Their cover lacks the artists title so clearly the artists expect you to know them and it is directly aimed at their target audience and fans. The image takes up only two thirds of the page, which is unusual because usually the ahole album cover is a picture. The image on the front is of people smoking and doing drugs so the music will probably be quite indie because of the rebeliious manor. I expect the music inside to be quite indie because of the attempt to break out of mainstream conventions but from listening to fun I would say they were more pop artists.

5. Taylor Swift - Red

From this album cover you imagine the music to be pop. This cover conforms to the usual mainstream, pop convention of having the artist on the front cover. Also the title of the album is red and her face is in shadow apart from her lips, which have red lipstick on, matching the title of the album.

6. Mick Hucknall - American Soul

I think that the music on this album will be quite soulful and even rock. The image os of him in a recording booth singing, this makes me think that his voice will be very raw on his album with an american accent, kind of like nickelback. The jewellery he is wearing is quite heavy and gives him a grungey look.The circle around his head could also represent that he is in his own world, so his lyrics will be very personal to him.

7. Mumford and Sons - Babel

This album cover suggests that the music will be indie. The props, the suitcasesand other props, look very vintage, which is typically indie. Their outfits are quite oldfashioned and unusual, again breaking the main stream conventions and not following the latest fashion trends. This cover almost suggests that you can chill out with it as the band are in focus and everyone is behind them blurred, they are busy doing something but the band are just chilling out making music.

8. Matt Cardle - The Fire

The title of the album is The Fire and the image hints that there is fire around him. This could mean that the lyrics will be very deep and personal, usually when you have these kind of lyrics the music is acoustic. His hair is tousled like the lapping flames of an unpredictable fire and his beard suggests that he has spent time on this album.

9. Paloma Faith - Fall To Grace

Paloma Faiths album cover is quite random but alse very Paloma, like Florence and the Machine she also comes into her own category. Her large red flowing dress suggests that she is very soulful, her hand is on her heart and she is looking back, the music could be spoken from her heart? She is also flying with the parrots, perhaps now her lyrics are down on paper she feels free? The blue and red are very contrasting and make her album stand out. Her name is in white in the usual font she uses, creating iconography for herself.

10. Madness - Oui Oui Si Si Ja Ja Da Da

The front of their album resembles a list, a strange list containing ver random things. Perhaps its a list of what is included in the CD. The name of their album is yes in four different languages which is also quite random. Their entire cover relates to their name...cos its complete madness!

Activity Three - Textual Analysis

The album cover is very bare and simple, it is also very recognisable. The artist has used their logo upon the cover, so people will instantly know who it is. There are two colours on this album cover, black and white. These colours conform to the indie genre, as these colours give off a very classical look and indie is all about being vintage. The artists have only used their logo on their front cover, this also conforms to the indie genre because often on indie albums they don't really have pictures of themselves because the idea is that the music is the only thing matters. The tracklist on the back is a simple downward, left sided list with all the tracks in capital letters, this could suggest that each song is equally as important. 

Activity Four - The Best and Worst Album Covers in the World

DJ Shaow - Entroducing

This is my favourite album cover from the best album covers list. I like it because it fits in perfectly with the artists name. I think it is clever that the figure on the covers face is blurred and the artists name is DJ Shadow because it poses many questions, is that DJ Shadow? Also it seems like such a laid back photo, people are in their comfortable clothes, definitely not dressed for a shoot and the other figure doesn't even look as if he knows the picture is being taken.

Millie Jackson - Back to the seat

This is the most foulest thing ever...who cares who she is! I really don't want to see someone having a shit.

Her costume makes her look really trashy and the fact she is having a picture on the toilet just makes her seem really cheap. Although the bathroom is quite nice and white and clean. The images also match the title of the album as she is on the toilet seat and the title is Back to the Seat. 

Our Album Cover

Our album cover must contain this X somewhere on it as this is the bands logo. We could put our own design behind the X, to fill it, such as what they have done for the X on their website. We can use images from our music video for this.