Evaluation 1

Poster and Album Art Analysis

 Unbreakable by Fearless Vampire Killers
This is the artwork for the Fearless Vampire Killers album, Unbreakable Hearts. Both the album and poster share the same design so that the viewers can easily link the two. I have decided not to do this as I would like to show a variety of photography as opposed the having a series of similar promotional artworks.
The artwork was created by Cyrus Barrone, one of the guitar players within the band. I would like to do something similar to this such as perhaps creating a photoshop drawing based within the cave for my album artwork.

The artwork is dark in colour and so it is relevant to the band, had the artwork been bright and colourful, it may have been less obvious that it was for a rock band. The scene depicted is of Grandomina, the setting of the book which FVK's music is based upon. This is why I feel it would be best that I base my artwork on the story which Haunted is based upon so the video and promotional materials are easily linked. The scene depicted also seems to pull the viewer in as it is intricate and detailed and so you want to take a closer look and spot different things such as the peculiar creatures depicted. In addition, the scene appears to disappear into the distance and so the depth of the artwork also pulls you in.

Wretched and Divine by Black Veil Brides
Again, here we see that the artwork matches the poster exactly. This is a good idea as there is a clear link between both poster and artwork however, I feel that this also causes the artwork to become repetitive and so I would like to keep similarities between both my poster and album artwork but not have them as exact copies of each other.
This album artwork is also based on the story behind the album and so this suggests that graphic art of the album narrative is a convention of most rock bands. This is most likely because it is easier to draw something fictional than to take photos of it if it is something that doesn't really exist in the physical world. This therefore gives me good reasoning as to why I should create graphic art of my own album cover.

MAD by GOT7
This is the album artwork and promotional poster for Korean band Got7. Here we can see that while the album art and poster hold clear similarities. They are not the same image which shows more creativity and suggests there was an entire photoshoot dedicated to this album release, something else which will draw the audience in as there is the possibility of extra promotional material.
I will likely do something similar as this is another useful technique that will convince my audience to buy my album. The use of similar locations and models clearly link these two pieces while marketing the band as the models used are actually the members of Got7 and so it is successfully marketing them and their musical talent.
I would have to incorporate my photoshoot within my album contents rather than on the cover if I were to try and use the suggestion of a new photoshoot to market my band as I am also considering a piece of graphic art for the cover.

Heart by Kamijo
This is the promotional poster and album for Japanese artist Kamijo. Again, like the art for Got7, the poster and album are similar yet not the same. This again depicts a fantasy scene shown through the theatrical clothing of the model which has majestic connotations due to the use of gold and red. In addition, the low angle shot of both creates the idea that the model is superior. This creates the idea that like a lot of Gothic/Rock artists, the model/artist is superior which portrays him as a kingly figure, therefore evoking ideas within the audience as to what the fantasy narrative of this album may be about.
The location of both the poster and album are similar in appearance yet also appear to be different, however, both are stereotypically Gothic in appearance. This creates an obvious appearance of the Gothic genre as each building in the background has the gothic architecture of a Church which has connotations of graveyards and other stereotypical Goth 'hideouts'.
Both the album artwork and promotional poster use the same costume and similar background in order to connect them as part of one promotion. This will be an important thing I need to do in my own artwork however, in order to also promote my music video as well as the artist, I will likely use the cave and colour theme as the connection while my models vary. This will most likely be that I choose to use my artist in my poster as that is advertising the artists new album and therefore music while I use the younger model from the narrative combined with my artist in order to promote the music video. However, that's not to say I won't be advertising my music video within my poster, this will just be done on a more subtle level through the use of my music video's location.

Actors

For my music video, I will need 2-3 different actors/actresses such as someone to play the little girl in the beginning, someone similar in appearance yet older to act her ten years later and a possible ghost/stalker.

Little Girl
Due to a lacking choice in actresses of the correct age, I only have one choice of actress to play the little girl in my music video. This means I will have to choose my second actress carefully in order to find someone who looks like the younger girl.
Olivia
Ollie is an appropriate choice for a number of reasons, for example, she is pale which gives her a ghostly appearance. In addition, almost white skin can work to my advantage on the symbolism side of things due to white being symbolic of purity which is exactly the kind of image I am trying to create for the young girl. She also has large eyes which gives an appearance of being younger and more innocent than she actually is. Innocence is an important thing to portray in my younger actress because she is meant to contrast the horror movie theme of the music video. This contrast will make the frightful aspect stand out more as a whole and will also evoke a feeling of fear in the audience for the young girl.

Girl Ten Years Later
My older actress will have to look similar to Olivia due to my lack of other actors to play the young girl. For example, dark hair and pale skin will be some main features I need to match up.

Monaya
Monaya could be a good actress for my video for a multitude of reasons, for example, she does Theatre Studies, therefore meaning she will be a more talented actress than someone who has never acted before. This would be useful in giving my video a more professional feel as opposed to seeming amateurish due to a lack of talented actresses.
Although Monaya has the appropriate dark hair, there are a number of reasons she wouldn't work as the actress for the older girl. For example, her darker skin does not suggest she has been trapped in a haunted house for ten years. In addition, her facial features do match or look similar to that of Olivia and therefore she does not look like an older version of her.

Emelia
I originally began considering Millie because she is Olivia's sister and therefore I felt they should have at least a little resemblance, however, I feel that the slight resemblance is not enough. There will need to be a closer similarity between the two in order for the audience to easily assume that both are the same person.

Eleanor
Originally I wanted to avoid using myself as an actress for my video, however, due to lacking other options, I found I was the only person who looked similar to Olivia. The main points of similarity are our hair length/colour and pale skin, these are important aspects because they will be the most noticeable and therefore make us appear more like the same person to the audience.
If I use myself as an actress I will have to do a large amount of my filming on a tripod as I won't be able to hold the camera myself. This will still work to my advantage because a tripod will keep my camera still, something necessary if I am to make it look as though the younger girl is becoming (transitioning into) the older version of herself (a switch between actresses).

Preliminary

This is my preliminary project which is approximately 32 seconds of lip syncing to the song 'Never Look Back' by The Nearly Deads.
While this is acceptable for a first try, there are a number of aspects which could be improved. For example, although extremely close, the lip syncing is off by perhaps a millisecond which causes a slightly more fake aspect about the whole video as the video becomes a lot less convincing. I would have to be extremely careful when doing lip syncing for my main product as I now have a clear example of how even a slightly off audio can kill the believability of the video as a whole.

Music Video Location

For the location of my video, I have considered several places which are appropriate to my storyline. The short story which the video is based on is supposed to be located in an old or abandoned house and so I have considered a number of old/abandoned buildings.

Gothic Cottage - Stourhead
This would be a good location choice for the outside scenes of my music video due to its gothic architecture. Such a style of architecture is relevant because my chosen band fit into the genre of Goth Rock and in addition to this, the majority of videos I analysed were largely based in buildings which were Gothic in appearance and so this is an important convention to fit in order to make my video obviously in relation to Rock music.
The beginning of my video is mainly based on the door because it is meant to foreshadow and symbolise the idea of being trapped behind that very door and so a large, Gothic door such as the one displayed would be a good choice in order to display the most relevant and visually pleasing imagery possible. For example, a plain door such as your average house door would not be nearly as appropriate to the video as it would have no visual impact and would not appear quite so intimidating.

Abandoned House - Zeals
This house could be appropriate for a number of reasons, for example, the story of which the song is based on specifies an abandoned house. This house also appears intimidating due to the overgrown foliage and boarded up windows/doors. However, as I said earlier, an average in appearance door would be less appropriate due to the lacking impact it would have on the viewer, therefore perhaps making this house a second option as opposed to a first.

 Cycling Tunnel - Bath
In my video, I will need a multitude of long tunnels to film my actor running through. This is because the main theme, once inside the house, is escape and so the idea of an endless tunnel to run down implies that escape is impossible and also implies an abnormality in the house as most houses do not stretch on for so far. Although long and dark, this tunnel would also be a bad choice for a number of reasons. For example, the unnatural lighting would disrupt my atmosphere of abadonment as most abandoned houses do not have working lights all the way down the hallways. In addition, the paved road/pathway would also give the video a modern appearance which is not the intention of this video.

Grotto - Stourhead
The grotto would be a perfect place to film the inside of my music video due to its abandoned appearance. The combination of darkness and old stone would create the perfect image of a haunted house similar to that of horror movies such as The Descent, although not based in a house, the caves of which the movie are based in are similar to that of the grotto, both of which have a chilling effect with the intention of provoking fear within the audience.
In addition, the grotto has a tunnel running through it and so I could also film my running scenes here.
The only problem with the grotto is the natural light which comes through some of the openings in the tunnels, however, this could easily be used to my advantage, for example, I will be less likely to need unnatural lights to light up my actors if there is already a natural light which illuminates them. This will seem less harsh than false lighting and so the video will seem more natural in appearance.

Due to my chosen locations, there will now be holes in my plan. For example, I will be anable to open the doors to either house and so I will have to use careful editing to make it appear as though the actress has gone through the door. In addition, at the end of my music video, I wanted to pan out through the hallways and out the door of the house, however, this will no longer be possible due to the inside shots of the video and the outside shots will be separate locations. However, with careful editing, this could be something I try and experiment with.

Response To Survey Results

After analysing my survey results, I decided to look into the suggestions of my respondents because these would be the sorts of people I would be aiming my music video at.



In this music video, to create the storyline which the respondent is interested in, the story is kept going instead of repeating the same scenes. This gives the video a narrative. For example, a number of different shots are used to create variation and within each shot is a new narrative scene. Certain scenes are repeated to create emphisis on that scene, however, the story in general does continue to change. In addition, scenes of the band playing their song are used to relate the video back to the band so that there is an almost equal focus on both the narrative on the band.




Similar to the last music video, the kind of music video that the respondent is interested in has a narrative. However, unlike the last video, this one relies on changing shots/camera angles to create a video which is not heavily repeated. This also gives the impression of there being a narrative because the shots make an unchanging location appear as though it is changing and as though a lot more is happening than there actually is. Because my music video will be based in the same location throughout, it will be important that I also have varying shots/camera angles so that my video does not appear heavily repeated.




While analysing the previous videos for their narrative quality, I noticed that scenes of band performance were also an important aspect and so I decided to analyse a performance video to give me a better idea of what sorts of things are included when filming a performance scene. In this video, The Robelets by Japanese band The Bohemians, the focus is not only to show the band's musical talent but could also be said to be to show each member's personality. For example, there are multiple close up shots which show the lead singer's upbeat personality through his excited facial expressions, in addition, long shots are used to show the ways in which the singer dances while singing, this creates an impression that he is an upbeat and somewhat excited person. On the other hand, the bass player (shown on the left) appears to have a far more serious personality as there are multiple close up shots of him using very serious facial expressions which contrast that of the lead singer, this might have been done to draw attention to the lead singer and market his personality over the other band members.

Pitch