In our lesson on 14th December we took a trip to the City Learning Centre to make use of their iMac equipment. The purpose of the morning was to receive help in the editing of our music video from a proffesional user of the iMovie programme and to gain progress in the final stages of the editing.
We encountered many problems on the day though. We had agreed earlier on that we wanted to use the transition applied in Blink 182's music video "Always", but it was not included in the iMovie software and so this would not be achieved which we were disappointed about. Instead we will use the "wipe" transition in it's place.
Our shot transitions we were told, were too slow and we were adviced that the transitions should occur on the sharp beat. This was achieved using a technique on the keyboard that cut each clip with precise timings for the beat by adding time markers.
The album cover for The Velvet Underground & Nico is recognizable for featuring an Andy Warhol print of a banana on the cover. Early copies of the album invited the buyer to "peel slowly and see"; peeling back the banana skin revealed a flesh-coloured banana underneath. A special machine was needed to manufacture these covers, but record label MGM paid for the costs, figuring that any ties to Warhol would boost sales of the album. The reissued vinyl editions of the album don't feature the peel-off sticker and so the original copies of the album with the peel-sticker feature are extremely rare collector's items. It is also notable that the original release featured Warhol's signature.
Nirvana's Nevermind album cover shows a baby swimming towards a US dollar bill on a fish hook. According to lead singer Kurt Cobain, he conceived the idea while watching a programme on water births with drummer Dave Grohl. It was mentioned to art director Robert Fisher who found stock footage of underwater births, but were deemed too graphic for the record company. Also, the stock house that controlled the photo of a swimming baby wanted $7,500 a year for its use. Instead Fisher sent a photographer to a pool for babies to take pictures. Many shot's were taken and the band settled on the image of a three-month-old boy. The image is one of the most iconic in rock history and caused controversy where supermarkets refused to sell it. Cobain compromised by allowing a sticker to cover the baby's genitals.
The Grammy Award-winning album packaging for The Beatle's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band features a colourful collage of life-sized cardboard models of famous people on the front of the album cover. The Beatle's themselves, in the guise of the Sgt. Pepper band, are dressed in custom-made military style outfits. According to designer Peter Blake the original concept was to create a scene that showed the Sgt. Pepper band performing in a park, but gradually evolved into it's final form as shown. In keeping with the park concept, the foreground of the scene is of a floral display incorparating the word "Beatles" spelt out in flowers. There are also several affectations from the Beatles' homes such as small statues belonging to John Lennon. The collage itself depicted more than 70 famous people, including Edgar Allen Poe, Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe and Bob Dylan.
The lesson on the 11th December was our first where we were able to make process in editing of our music video. Clips had to be cropped as the group noticed the white background was visible in some shots and not others. So in order for there to not be any mistakes with continuity it was vital this is was done. The music was then to be added to the iMovie programme from iTunes in order for us to apply it to the correct timing in the music. This was quite difficult as the song has strong. sharp beats and our transitions had to take effect at the timing of the beat. We managed to complete the introduction of the song.
As mentioned before, on the main day of our filming, due to time-keeping we were not able to complete our day's shoot as thought. Reena therefore took the camera on a free weekend and filmed the last remaining scenes to our music video. It was also noted that we didn't have enough material for the requied minimum time of 3 minutes.
Reena was able to film "superman" played by Krishna and the female character played by herself, together enjoying themselves in the setting of a bedroom. Domestic settings like this give the audience a sense of familiarity and comfort. In terms of the narrative, it shows the relationship between the two "blossoming".
We began our first and only day of shooting on Saturday 5th December. We had arranged to film at my house due to the setting for the speed dating scene as we felt my living room would be an ideal venue. However on the morning of filming we realised that my living room was infact too small and moving furniture around proved to be too difficult, and so relocated to Reena's house instead. The group agreed with this decision and we felt that we would be able to shoot the majority of our music video in one whole day. We had around 6 hours to film, but problems surrounding time keeping meant that filiming the rest of the scenes would have to occur at a later date.
Our first shots of the music video that we filmed involved shooting the characters walking from a distance towards the camera. This would create a jump cut effect between the characters. We wanted to use this shot not only to show that the three male characters making their way to the speed dating but to also reveal the different personalites through their style, walk and other actions.
We filmed the speed dating scenes which were originally meant to be shot at my house in my living, but due to the last minute set change we filmed them in Reena's bedroom. The lighting became a problem as it was quite dark and led to the shots looking quite grainy. The main shot used for these scenes was the Two shot not only to emphasise that the characters are "couples" but to highlight the connection or lack of between them.
Extreme close ups were used to emphasise certain aspects of the male character's attire. Such as the bow tie of the "geek", the lip piercing of the "punk" and the muscular physique of the "hunk". This technique would allow the audience's ideas to be influenced about the characters and their characteristics.
Our final shots of the day's filming were of our male characters, using a medium long shot. It is supposed to mimick a dream sequence used in many other Pop videos. It was to show the female protagonist comparing her three dates in their style and body language. It also allows the audience to compare them aswell.
In the Media lesson today, we uploaded all our footage from filming to begin editing on the iMac. We only began to experiment with transitions and effects as the software had recently been updated and the production team didn't feel as comfortable using it and so we did this to gain knowledge in more detail. We realised we were not able to apply a colour effect, in this case a red tint to make the scene appear more romantic, but we soon discovered other effects in replace of this.
As mentioned in a previous blog, it is currently becoming more common for record labels to create merchandise to promote their artist. This is no different with Lily Allen. In May 2007, she launched a line of dresses, shoes, and accessories entitled Lily Loves.
Synergy is used as customers who may not have orignally brought Lily's music, but enjoy the range of clothes she is promoting may be influenced by this to then explore Lily's music and find out more about the artist. Therefore this promotes the artist even more.
Since Lily Allen's rise to fame, she has appeared on the cover of many magazines both music and gossip themed due to her musical talent and sometimes controversial personal life. Her portrayal in magazines and the tabloid newspapers has not always been positive but nonetheless is still media attention for the artist, keeping them in the spotlight. Lily in Heat Magazine - Focuses on the personal side of her, in this case her differing hair styles. Although not hugely negative press, the article focuses on a small issue (Lily's hair) to maybe try and demoralise her and have the public judge her.
Lily Allen on the cover of NME- Focuses on the musical AND personal side of her.
Lily on Later With Jools Holland
Allen was included on the NME Cool List for 2006. She was voted the third coolest person of the year in NME Magazine She ranked "Number One Reason to Love '07" and "Hottest Woman of Pop/R&B." in Blender magazine. Evening Standard columnist Nick Cutis wrote that "Lily Allen and Madonna have arguably done more for female equality with their 'unladylike' swearing in public than with their singing careers." In 2009 she was the subject of cover stories for both Spin Magazine and Q Magazine. MTV said in February 2009 "She seems less like the model of a 21st century pop star and more like the kind of girlfriend you'd have when you're 22 – the awesome kind you'd go backpacking around Europe with, wear a sarong with. She is perfectly imperfect. Which is why she's probably also the most interesting pop star ever created." Allen's album It's Not Me, It's You has been praised for trying to define the times. Allen said that she does not write songs with a big picture in mind. Allen was on Esquire Magazine's list of 60 "Brilliant Brits 2009".
On Monday 23rd November, the group finally completed the storyboarding to our music video. The drawings and annotations for each frame were completed and were annotated with camera angles, instuctions and transitions.
I'm April McKay, 17 years old and currently in my final year at Enfield County School 6th Form where I am studying English Literature, Sociology and Media Studies.
