The Professional Audience Feedback I received was mostly positive.
They seemed to like the fact i had used a large range of shots, and that i used the overlays to give it more character. They also enjoyed the idea that it was in the same setting and that i was creating my work for an already established artist. They also thought that it was good that the lighting was low key and so it maintained that sense of darkness throughout.
They did however think i should of started the video much before hand, as in not making it start going straight into the song. They also said that the shots toward the beginning of the video were maybe too long for the conventional music video however he did say that it worked with the overlays, which kept it interesting.
He mentioned that the target audience could be anything from 15-30 stating that the music its quite versatile and could attract many audiences.
He also said that the type for the type of music suited the artists style, and it looked professional and mature.
Overall he scored the video the highest scores of 6/6
I also got feedback from the artist herself, who was very impressed with the video and thought that the overlays of the teardrops and the words was her favourite part
Thursday, 23 December 2010
Audience Feedback
Audience feedback for the ancillary tasks was fairly positive, people seemed to like the idea of the ribbon being wrapped around the chess piece and how it related to the album title.
However people did agree that I could of used the ribbon again in pieces of the album artwork.
For the main task, people seemed to particularly like the use of the drawings/overlays on the video, others commented on the fact that the action seemed to match the beats and the tempo of the song, which was good. Others however thought it may have been better to start with another image rather than jumping straight into the song.
If i were to change something about this now, i would most probably have to change the beginning of the video to give it some time to wind into the song, however i didn't think the opening was too bad, i liked the idea of it being straight into the song as it accompanied the artists sense of style with that upfront sort of attitude.
People seemed to also enjoy the use of scenery in the video, which weren't used often but it made it seem less dark, but still maintained that sense of mystery about the artist. If i knew i was going to intend on using these clips i would of gone about filming them in a more constructive way.
One of my teachers influenced me to add more of the overlays into the video, and make them frequent throughout it, which i did - in the end it turned out well, it added more character and interest to the artist.
However people did agree that I could of used the ribbon again in pieces of the album artwork.
For the main task, people seemed to particularly like the use of the drawings/overlays on the video, others commented on the fact that the action seemed to match the beats and the tempo of the song, which was good. Others however thought it may have been better to start with another image rather than jumping straight into the song.
If i were to change something about this now, i would most probably have to change the beginning of the video to give it some time to wind into the song, however i didn't think the opening was too bad, i liked the idea of it being straight into the song as it accompanied the artists sense of style with that upfront sort of attitude.
People seemed to also enjoy the use of scenery in the video, which weren't used often but it made it seem less dark, but still maintained that sense of mystery about the artist. If i knew i was going to intend on using these clips i would of gone about filming them in a more constructive way.
One of my teachers influenced me to add more of the overlays into the video, and make them frequent throughout it, which i did - in the end it turned out well, it added more character and interest to the artist.
Building The Image
This is the finished part of the top of the chess piece, i created this simply by using different blocks of black to make up the basis of the image, the same with all the other images and then added in the finer detail in photoshop by magnifying the image and cutting out irrelevant parts and making it look convincing.
This is the second to top piece of the chess piece, again this was taken from a black square, the detail was added in afterwards, originally i had drawn the chess piece and so i was able to structure this graphic on the drawing i had.
This being the simplest of the images, I took a simple square block and made it the right size to fit with the rest of the chess piece.
This is the bottom of the chess piece, the bottom I changed because this version looks warped, so i made the base at the bottom look rounder. Again this was a case of taking each block and making it look smooth, the curves were made using photoshop.
Friday, 10 December 2010
Final Magazine Advert
I have designed the magazine advertisement around the same image as the album art, to give a relatable, professional feel.
I have also included a quote that is often used to express NLX, it is shown on her website and other websties.
By including the date I have given a professional appraoch to showing when the album will be released.
Complete Album Cover Layout
Front Cover
I have decided to use a chess peice design for the front cover of the album, my main reasons for doing this is because it ties in with the idea of the album name 'The Games That Play Us' It still maintains having a dark eseence to it, that NLX has. I decided to make the image bold, and stand out in the middle of the page as it gives the essence that the artist somewhat stands alone from other artists, even of her own style.
I have decided to use a chess peice design for the front cover of the album, my main reasons for doing this is because it ties in with the idea of the album name 'The Games That Play Us' It still maintains having a dark eseence to it, that NLX has. I decided to make the image bold, and stand out in the middle of the page as it gives the essence that the artist somewhat stands alone from other artists, even of her own style.
I have remained using the same text as NLX uses for her logo to give a sense of authenticity to the artist, and so it looks more familiar to the artist.
Back Cover:
I have remained using the same chess peices but merged them together to make it look more unique.Although I have made another name for the album I have still used the same track listing as the NLX album. I have also included a bar code to make it look more realistic/authentic.
CD Design:
The disc design still uses the same writing as the album cover and same chess peice print, however I have inverted the image and dragged it out and changed the colours so it has a psychadelic feel to it, however it still maintains that 'dark' image that NLX promotes.
This is the inside pages, i composed the thank you notes from previous thank you's NLX has done to show professionalism.
I included the checker board to continue with the theme of the chess piece.
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
Music/Genre/Choices
Why: I have decided to investigate the music and genre that the artist to get a better understanding of who she has worked with and similar artist's to NLX
The artist I am promoting is NLX : Natasha Alexandra, as I have already said, her music is coined as 'dark pop/dark wave/electronic/ballad' genre.
Other artists that are associated or related to the type of music that this artist creates are : From Last FM website, their linked artists are Chris Koster, Amy Campbell, Emily Fennel Band, Jonathan Gallivan and The Lonely. These type of artist seem to focus and bring a lot of their talent into lyrics. Amy Campbell for example is also an independent canadian artist like natasha; she is explained in her biography as “...Simply put, Campbell is well poised to one day inherit Joni Mitchell’s place as Canada’s quintessential female singer-songwriter...” As we already know that NLX is a fan of Joni Mitchell we can draw more links to the musical relation there. Emily Fennel Band is also a canadian rock/pop band who are true to their roots in the fact that after the birth of Fennel's daughter they stuck to playing around their hometown, Ontario. Fennel does not have a label or grant funding which is suprisingly like NLX also. Jonathon Gallivan was also born in Toronto, Ontanrio, already giving him another link to the likes of artist's like NLX, he is a musician, producer and multi media developer. He has had mild success in the fact that he has won a SOCAN pop music award for the song 'The Music' by David Usher and a Juno award nominee for pop album of the year - co-producer/performer on the David Usher album 'Wake me up and say goodbye' He has also worked with My Brilliant Beast, The Crystal Method, David Usher, Roger Mooking, The Clear and NLX.
Dark pop music often feautres strong piano undertones and electronic pulses, not so much familiar with the sounds of general pop or mainstream music, it often features sounds that may be heard in house music or dupstep, however NLX has differentiated her sound by adding an essence of ballad and classical to the mix, originally her music was mostly focused on piano melodies, rather than having the electronic sound added, however with her new album 'Bitch Get Fit' it has become a lot more focused on the electonic sides. The sound that NLX has created is unique, and not many other artists sound like her. Artists that hit close to her personal sound would be, A Fine Frenzy, who i also featured on the tour poster as i knew they sounded alike, so i could imagine them touring together. A Fine Frenzy have a similar piano driven sound, especially from their first album 'One Cell In The Sea' songs such as 'Almost Lover' are particularly similar to the sound of NLX's 'So Far Apart' in terms of slow, haunting sounds and lyrics.
Another artist that links to NLX's sound is Everly, who are a new and upcoming band, that features Bethany Joy Galleoti, who is an actress/singer/songwriter. Galleoti was also a solo artist before she started working with Everly. The song 'Maybe' is especially similar to NLX's sound as it features dark lyrics and a strong sense of electronic music throughout it, it's quite slow yet powerful in the singing and music, which is what a lot of NLX songs tend to do.
In linking this to my music video and album cover and magazine ad, NLX's signiture tone is that of dark lyrics and music, which seems strong and feminely driven, therefore the album cover i have created links to this as it shows the darkness of the music yet the brightness of what the songs appeal may be, it's a minimalist approach and therefore shows the mystery to NLX, which is what she likes to keep so well.
In linking it to the music video - the video is going to mostly focused on the artist because of the song title and what the song is about, it would be strange to have the artist shying away from the camera and being mysterious in this video as the song is so bold and straight up, so i gained the approach of just featuring the artist in this video, as it reflects the song clearly and gives it a more proffesional look.
How this will help with my studies: This will help with my studies as it could help with other written work about the artist and shows how i have linked my music video to other works.
The artist I am promoting is NLX : Natasha Alexandra, as I have already said, her music is coined as 'dark pop/dark wave/electronic/ballad' genre.
Other artists that are associated or related to the type of music that this artist creates are : From Last FM website, their linked artists are Chris Koster, Amy Campbell, Emily Fennel Band, Jonathan Gallivan and The Lonely. These type of artist seem to focus and bring a lot of their talent into lyrics. Amy Campbell for example is also an independent canadian artist like natasha; she is explained in her biography as “...Simply put, Campbell is well poised to one day inherit Joni Mitchell’s place as Canada’s quintessential female singer-songwriter...” As we already know that NLX is a fan of Joni Mitchell we can draw more links to the musical relation there. Emily Fennel Band is also a canadian rock/pop band who are true to their roots in the fact that after the birth of Fennel's daughter they stuck to playing around their hometown, Ontario. Fennel does not have a label or grant funding which is suprisingly like NLX also. Jonathon Gallivan was also born in Toronto, Ontanrio, already giving him another link to the likes of artist's like NLX, he is a musician, producer and multi media developer. He has had mild success in the fact that he has won a SOCAN pop music award for the song 'The Music' by David Usher and a Juno award nominee for pop album of the year - co-producer/performer on the David Usher album 'Wake me up and say goodbye' He has also worked with My Brilliant Beast, The Crystal Method, David Usher, Roger Mooking, The Clear and NLX.
Dark pop music often feautres strong piano undertones and electronic pulses, not so much familiar with the sounds of general pop or mainstream music, it often features sounds that may be heard in house music or dupstep, however NLX has differentiated her sound by adding an essence of ballad and classical to the mix, originally her music was mostly focused on piano melodies, rather than having the electronic sound added, however with her new album 'Bitch Get Fit' it has become a lot more focused on the electonic sides. The sound that NLX has created is unique, and not many other artists sound like her. Artists that hit close to her personal sound would be, A Fine Frenzy, who i also featured on the tour poster as i knew they sounded alike, so i could imagine them touring together. A Fine Frenzy have a similar piano driven sound, especially from their first album 'One Cell In The Sea' songs such as 'Almost Lover' are particularly similar to the sound of NLX's 'So Far Apart' in terms of slow, haunting sounds and lyrics.
Another artist that links to NLX's sound is Everly, who are a new and upcoming band, that features Bethany Joy Galleoti, who is an actress/singer/songwriter. Galleoti was also a solo artist before she started working with Everly. The song 'Maybe' is especially similar to NLX's sound as it features dark lyrics and a strong sense of electronic music throughout it, it's quite slow yet powerful in the singing and music, which is what a lot of NLX songs tend to do.
In linking this to my music video and album cover and magazine ad, NLX's signiture tone is that of dark lyrics and music, which seems strong and feminely driven, therefore the album cover i have created links to this as it shows the darkness of the music yet the brightness of what the songs appeal may be, it's a minimalist approach and therefore shows the mystery to NLX, which is what she likes to keep so well.
In linking it to the music video - the video is going to mostly focused on the artist because of the song title and what the song is about, it would be strange to have the artist shying away from the camera and being mysterious in this video as the song is so bold and straight up, so i gained the approach of just featuring the artist in this video, as it reflects the song clearly and gives it a more proffesional look.
How this will help with my studies: This will help with my studies as it could help with other written work about the artist and shows how i have linked my music video to other works.
Monday, 1 November 2010
Changing the idea
After the fisrt filming attempt i have decied to change my idea, i have realised that it's probably more beneficial and easier to focus mostly on the artist. I am mostly going to focus on close ups (especially of the face) and tie in the movement of the character with the beats of the song, so it obviously and clearly flows.
I have one major location that I am using and I will upload photos of soon, it is an abandoned barn, and has a rustic look to it, with broken peices around the place and broken windows, i like the use of lighting in the barn too, it is dark but with the light coming through the windows and large open area the character face still seems to light up when being filmed.
Previously i had filmed in the school hall, and the lighting made the shots look quite red and blurry, which didn't seem to match with the rest of the video, i also tried to incorporate images of the previous parts i have filmed, of images of trees, and flowers etc, not only that but from my very first time filming i have tried to incorporate parts of filming i managed to get from that.
It doesn't look awful so far but i would like it to look more professional by keeping the lighting all the same and keeping it to one location, i also think that the idea of keeping it one place links somewhat to the song, and how it reflects the song.
The basis of the song is about a girl who has had a relationship or liked a person and they have treated them with disrespect etc in return, so the girl is still confused as to whether she loves him still or doesn't but the impression the song also gives is that the girl loves and hates this person at once, so the idea of keeping it one place could represent the effect of being stuck in a circle of this feeling, also with the fact that the place is rather dark mixed with light gives it a good sense of feeling dark and confused etc.
I have one major location that I am using and I will upload photos of soon, it is an abandoned barn, and has a rustic look to it, with broken peices around the place and broken windows, i like the use of lighting in the barn too, it is dark but with the light coming through the windows and large open area the character face still seems to light up when being filmed.
Previously i had filmed in the school hall, and the lighting made the shots look quite red and blurry, which didn't seem to match with the rest of the video, i also tried to incorporate images of the previous parts i have filmed, of images of trees, and flowers etc, not only that but from my very first time filming i have tried to incorporate parts of filming i managed to get from that.
It doesn't look awful so far but i would like it to look more professional by keeping the lighting all the same and keeping it to one location, i also think that the idea of keeping it one place links somewhat to the song, and how it reflects the song.
The basis of the song is about a girl who has had a relationship or liked a person and they have treated them with disrespect etc in return, so the girl is still confused as to whether she loves him still or doesn't but the impression the song also gives is that the girl loves and hates this person at once, so the idea of keeping it one place could represent the effect of being stuck in a circle of this feeling, also with the fact that the place is rather dark mixed with light gives it a good sense of feeling dark and confused etc.
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