Album Covers

    Having previously looked at Newton Faulkner as another pop-folk artist I figured it would make sense to also look at his album artwork. He certainly seems to use a recurring house style of blue and white and also the same font. They vary in their themes though. I like how they're quite simple, bold and interesting. 

Also, whilst searching Google for Faulkner album artwork I came across this image:

The Magic Numbers are a slightly more rocky group in comparison to Brooke Annibale. Their appearance is quite similar and I really like their album artwork. It looks like vintage, like they've used traditional photography and that is something I'd certainly like to consider using. I like how the print is split into 4 different tones as well. I think the typography compliments the image as well. I'd quite like to see what it would look like if I edited the same image in 4 different ways and then ripped it into 4 different quarters and then re-assembled it. This would make it look a bit different and interesting but if done effectively would look really cool I think. certainly something to consider...

Footage so far...

This is the footage Katherine & I have captured so far and feel is going to work:





We feel we will need to shoot more footage, especially of Molly, and also some of inside shots so we can create the memory scenes we were hoping to.
We found that when we filmed last time it got dark a lot sooner than we had expected so we found ourselves using night-vision just so we could see what was happening. We found the footage was very green so then had to correct the colour of a lot of footage.
We've made quite a promising start though.

Digipak Planning

Over the Christmas period I did some rough planning of potential ideas for my digipak front cover.

I'll scan these sketches in properly at some point but for now I've just taken a photo... I do realise it's backwards but you can kind of get the idea. My first idea was a collage of photos that consist of either:
Layered photos that all form one big image like of a streetlight or of the characters in the video.
OR
Layered photos of different things that have relevance to the characters (e.g. a small part of one characters face or of someone picking a flower e.t.c)
My second idea was just of a photograph of the main female under a streetlight with different textures and shadowing.


Previously when planning CD cases in other subjects I have found it useful to draw images from the lyrics. So, that's the plan for this blog post...

i can’t help but wonder why

you can’t help but cross my mind

and i’m thinking of you (thinking of you)

hope one day it all be clear

i’ll be there or you’ll be here <-- like in out footage, have split screen of walking towards and back

i’ll be talking with you (long talks with you)

under streetlights

on long car rides <-- like in Del Rey video, long distance shot of car under streetlights perhaps?

i can’t forget your eyes

through the dark nights

two hours till sunrise

i can’t forget your eyes

through the years and through the miles <-- like in Del Rey video, POV shot of road

i just want to see you smile

and be happy with you (happy with you)

i think somehow we could always see

it’d end up being you and me <-- holding hands, you can see couple but not fully.

me and you (just me and you)

So possible ideas to consider now are:

Images of cars/ car lights/ car under streetlights.

More solid images instead of just layering many.

Split images of same place but different people (like in out video, hopefully).

Born To Die.

I just watched this video (Lana Del Rey - Born To Die) for the first time and I felt it was incredibly deserving of a blog post.
I'd like to draw attention to this section:
1:56 - 2:58

Del Rey is alone, she looks pained and lonely.

Del Rey is now with the male character  but she still has the sae pained look. It's unclear if he is causing this pain or if he is a figment of her imagination and her missing his is causing this pain.

Here Del Rey looks like a bride who has been stood up. The flashes of light seem nostalgic and like flashbacks/memories. She continually looks incredibly upset. At this stage the male character moves his finger across his neck to imply slitting his throat.

Del Rey and the male character are now in a car, the bright lights and travelling aspect are highlighted. The car looks very isolated from anywhere else.

As Del Rey clears the window here it is also unclear as to whether she is just clearing the window or trying to make herself more apparent, by placing her palm on the window is looks as if she is trying to escape.

The male character is mainly in darkness but the light flickers continue in the car scene. He looks very intimidating and powerful. The red lights behind him could instigate danger.

Once again, making the car look remote. Shows the distance.

Del Ray is lighted by a red light here. Once again, looking pained and distressed. 

Del Rey looks at the male character and as he turns to return her gaze she turns away looking quite panicked.






Lyrics:
Feet don't fail me now
Take me to the finish line
All my heart, it breaks every step that I take
But I'm hoping that the gates,
They'll tell me that you're mine
Walking through the city streets
Is it by mistake or design?
I feel so alone on a Friday night
Can you make it feel like home, if I tell you you're mine
It's like I told you honey
Don't make me sad, don't make me cry
Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough
I don't know why
Keep making me laugh,
Let's go get high
The road is long, we carry on
Try to have fun in the meantime
Come and take a walk on the wild side
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain
You like your girls insane
Choose your last words
This is the last time
Cause you and I, we were born to die
Lost but now I am found
I can see but once I was blind
I was so confused as a little child
Tried to take what I could get
Scared that I couldn't find
All the answers, honey
Don't make me sad, don't make me cry
Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough
I don't know why
Keep making me laugh,
Let's go get high
The road is long, we carry on
Try to have fun in the meantime
Come and take a walk on the wild side
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain
You like your girls insane
Choose your last words,
This is the last time
Cause you and I
We were born to die
We were born to die
We were born to die
Come and take a walk on the wild side
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain
You like your girls insane
Don't make me sad, don't make me cry
Sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough
I don't know why
Keep making me laugh,
Let's go get high
The road is long, we carry on
Try to have fun in the meantime
Come and take a walk on the wild side
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain
You like your girls insane
Choose your last words
This is the last time
Cause You and I
We were born to die We were born to die


I feel that the lyrics tell a story of a couple that are trying to stay together but are not succeeding, maybe it's unrequited love? The lyrics "sometimes love is not enough and the road gets tough I don't know why" says to me that their relationship just isn't going anywhere. I feel the lyrics tell a very painful story and sometimes there are lyrics that could be associated with death like "choose your last words, this is the last time", "I'm hoping that the gates they'll tell me that you're mine" and of course "we were born to die". Last words, this reference is pretty obvious.. there's also the phrase "famous last words". "The gates" could refer to the gates of heaven and just before that she sings "take me to the finish line" which could refer to the end of life. I think the video tells a similar story, the relationship looks good at the start of the video but they seem to be very distant and cold towards one another as the video progresses. The male character takes his hands of the steering-wheel at one point to kiss Del Rey and the next time you see them the car is on fire and he is standing beside it carrying a lifeless Del Rey. Prior to this you see Del Rey in a white dress in a building that looks a lot like a Cathedral wearing a crown of roses, this has a lot of religious connotations (crown of thorns, white for purity and angelic and of course the Cathedral is a religious building). She also walks down a corridor and opens two large doors which has a bright white light pouring out of them and then you see her in the male characters arms, lifeless. The visuals fit very well with the lyrics and the video is emotive and powerful.
I think that me and Katherine could use notions in this video in our video possibly. I think the fact that she is alone and then with the male character is something we definitely want to show in our video. I also like the singular car part where the shots of them together and alone in the car and the lights change. We tried filming in a car and found it quite difficult but I think if we tried different techniques, angles and effects we could achieve some interesting and unique effects like in this video. 

Rockers.

The 60's Rockers were a huge part of British Youth Culture, here is my presentaion giving more information on them, their style and the theories behind youth sub-cultures.

Rockers Presentation

View more presentations from hannahwintermedia

Pop Folk Artists.

Brooke Annibale is an accoustic pop-folk artist. This genre is more successful than some people may know. I thought I'd pick out a few popular pop-folk artists and the videos they've produced for their videos. I thought this may give us some inspiration for our own video (even though we've made a detailed plan and are filming it in a few hours...) and may help with the editing and how we put it together. So, the first artists I've picked is Newton Faulkner who is very popular and I'm sure many people know...

The video for 'Dream Catch Me' focuses on the artist. We can obviously not go this but we are focusing on the representation of the artist we have made in Molly's character. The video focuses on memories and it travels through situations which is very similar to what we are doing and I really love how they've layered the lights over his face... it could be something we could try and do whilst editing as it would also fit with our 'Under Streetlights' theme and the lights at night.





This is probably the most stereotypical song I could have chosen for 'The Pogues' but hey ho. It's a HUGELY successful Christmas song and The Pogues are classed as 'pop-folk'. The video centres around a couple... it also deals with the past and memories and difficulties in a relationship. Our song is similar but the problems in Annibale's song aren't as apparent as in 'Fairytale of New York'. The video is largely set at night and their are some beautiful shots of lights at night... such as the trees draped with lights and the night sky.

Tuesday 6th December.

So, here are mine and Katherine's plans for our filming which is being done today! We wanted to use a whiteboard so we could doodle and plan our ideas and add and erase as we needed to.

So for our opening musical into (which last aprox 23 seconds) we are hoping to get quite a few different shots of our main person (Molly) walking around a countryside location and then make various split screens that will change in time to the music.


"Well I can't help but wonder why you can't help but cross my mind..."

Showing Molly walking alone, different angles, POV's e.t.c. Really zoning in on the fact she's alone and wondering... searching/lost.


(To be completed v soon)