CD Cover Influences

The inspiration of the album cover has come from other rap artists, such this one from JAY-Z. We like the black and white theme as it shows simplicity, but yet it's still classy and is very powerful.

The Second album cover, from NE-YO shows a urban theme that we also like, as we feel that it shows a common environment for a lot of people, and the buildings and the city its self dominates the sky line, so having this on an album cover may make it stand out from the rest on a shelf. Also another thing that we liked was having the name of the artist lower down as this was less common, and may once again make the album stand out.

CD Covers

Front Cover

This is the front cover of the album for the digipack. The image is of a rich New York city sky line, and we have edited it so that it is black and white, to add simplicity. We have also chosen to use a rich area as it is probably somewhere that most artists aspire be in later life.

The effects were added in 'Photoshop', and this program enabled us to add very fine detail. The two sections of writing that have been added are in separate 'Layers' which meant that they could be moved around the page easily and individually.

Back Cover

This is the back cover of the CD, for the digipack. We have chosen to make this image black and white as well, so that it fits in with the theme that the front cover starts. The images may be similar in colour but they are very different in affluence. The front cover is of a rich part New York city and the back cover is a picture of a block of flats in London. We have chosen to do this as it shows where a lot of artists start out and where they aspire to be, and we feel that the pictures we have chosen illustrate the vast differences between the two.

CD Cover (In A Case)

This is the CD once the front and back images had been printed off (to the right dimensions [11.74x11.74cm])

Draft Magazine Ad

This is a rough draft of the magazine add that I have created. It is only a rough cut and improvements still need to be made. Jack has also created an add so we will be combining ideas to make a better final draft.

Positives:

-Good font

-Shows the CD cover so people know what they will need to look for

-There is a picture that shows who that artist is which is eye catching

-There is sufficient information about when it is coming out

-There are reviews

Negatives:

-The background needs to be a different colour as the white is boring and unlikely to catch the eye

-The star rating looks a bit out of place at the top of the page

-There is a bit to much empty space round the edges

-The writing that says 'SJDJ' productions needs to be moved as at the moment it clashes with the picture

This is the advert that Jack has designed and we will combining it with my image.

Positives:

-Good font that is in the header

-The background is dramatic and stands out, giving it a professional look

-The fading of the image means it fits in with the background

-The lights add emphasis to the photo

-The background image also fits in with where we end the video

Negatives:

-The colour of some of the font makes it hard to read

-The lower half is a bit crowded making it harder to read

Final Magazine Advert

Group/task delegation

Whilst having a group discussion about the filming and preparation of the task, we decided to split up the eight key areas from the mark scheme between the four members of the group. Splitting the areas up would not mean that others would not have to look at them, it would just mean that the production would be more detailed as each individual could add greater detail on their aspect.

We decided that i would take the points;

holding a shot steady, where appropriate, and framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate.

David would do; Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate and using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task

Jenny would do; Shooting material appropriate for the task set and selecting the mise en scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects, and setting

And Jack would do; Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and using varied shot transitions, captions and other effects selectively and appropriately

I have chosen to focus on some of the camera work as i feel that it is something that I have more experience in, meaning that the filming of the work can be as good as possible.

Holding the shot steady

One of the main objects that will help me do this is a tripod. If someone were to hold the camera then there would inevitably be some shaking, making the production look amateurish. A tripod is a simple way to get steady shots, and it will always give a secure base for the camera. Also it can be raised, lowered, tilted and rotated, which gives us a huge variety of shots, such as; high angles, low angles and panning shots. A shot that will be difficult to keep steady would be a tracking shot as we don't have the tracks to move the camera that the professionals do, so I am currently thinking of alternatives like using a shopping trolley or the boot of a car.

Framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate

In order to get more emphasis into the video, something like a framing shot could be used emphasise and object or person, so we could look through a window and peoples attention would be drawn to something inside, or we could film a mirror from an angle so that people focus on the person looking in the mirror. We may also need to avoid filming certain things, for example any thing with the time or date on, as after the editing the time may not match up, however if we chose to film the time of the date for added effect, it will need to be the same or similar, so that our continuity systems are in order.

Filming Site Recce

In Preparation for the filming we went to a local park, to see if it is a suitable location for part of the filming to take place. The section that we want to film here is only short but it still needs to look good as it could ruin the whole video if it looks poor. The shots we take here will simply be establishing shots to set the scene, and the actor may be shown walking along the path to show the start of his journey to success. But the shots in the richer area will see him towards the end of his journey and it is here that we will try to add a tracking shot.

To assess the location of the more affluent area I took advantage of 'Google Street View' and this was very useful as we were able to view all of the streets from ground level use the camera to pan around the streets.

Location Shots

These are some establishing shots of the drama room that we hope to use for the live performance, which takes place in the last third of the clip. The room looks quite good as it's dark, has lighting and a stage can easily be made. Also to comply with the mise en scene we will add to the set to make it look good.

Call Sheet

This is a call sheet that I have created so that everyone knows where and what time they need to be at places for the filming of our work

Location Shots and Practice

Jack, David, Jenni and I - Report to garden city park with a tripod, stills camera and video camera. No Costumes needed. Length 1hr

Filming Day 1

Jack, David and I - Report to school drive at 10am for opening shots and then movement to garden city park for progression shots. Camera, tripod and costumes needed (For Jack).

At 12pm go to David's house and meet Jenni with her car.

Filming Day 2

All including extras report to drama studio at 3pm, see notes on mise en scene on the Facebook page. Equipment needed - Camera, tripod, lighting and mic

(Filming day 2 was in fact cancelled due to several reasons such as not being able to obtain lighting so that the mise en scene looked accurate)

Filming Day 3

Jack, David, Jenni and I report to back stage in the hall at 10am for filming of the backstage events. Equipment needed - 'HB' clothing for Jack, camera, tripod, paper, pens and clothing for the extras. After the filming of this we will move onto the media room where the filming of the lips and the scene where Jack is seen recording the song in a studio. All equipment to be handed back, except the tapes (for editing purposes).

Opening Sequence Storyboard

This is the storyboard showing the first sequence of shots that we plan to use in the music video

Timeline