Final Designs

The Ancillary Tasks

CD COVER:

This is an image of me (Enes) facing a wall of graffiti in Southbank with my hood up. We wanted to keep the figure hidden to increase a sense of enigma and create a feeling of neglect with the graffiti. Another reason as to why we wanted the identity hidden to allow the audience to identify themselves with the person if they consider themselves a fan of this genre. The graffiti is in the image because we felt it was part of the skateboarding culture and needed it to be in at least one CD cover to fit some of the forms and conventions of a skateboarding CD cover. We did however, blur the graffiti to keep the figure as the focal point of the cover. The font is also partly see through as we thought this looked more effecticve, compared to solid blocks of wording, especially when we could use the graffiti in the background. From looking at other poster and CD covers, the colours black and white seems more dominate and therefore we decided to include this to follow these conventions. We then added a 'Parental Guidance' sticker to keep a sense of realism, as some of the lyrics are considered offensive.

This was considered our second best attempt to create  a CD Cover. There are many similarities and differences with the this CD Cover to previous one as they both are quite dark, however the identities of the characters that are filmed in the music video appear on the front of the cover selling the artist instantly. Again as mentioned above we added a 'Parental Guidance' sticker to keep a sense of realism, as some of the lyrics are considered offensive. In this CD Cover we decided to go against what we have previously seen with the use of black and white titles. We decided to go with purple which symbolizes calm and  which is reflected in the image. Also, purple is the colour which are most favored by artists. The font of the title was also created in a different way quite different from what other CD Covers which we have looked at, we wanted to make our CD Cover more playful and attractive reflecting the personalities of skateboarders in our music video.We kept the graffti in the CD Cover as it relates well with skateboarding and skateboarders.

This is our final CD cover for OPM'S album "Menace To Sobriety". I chose this image because it depicts the tile of the album as the figure has his middle fingers up and is also looking down at the camera to show both power and mischief. I used the filter Dark strokes to give the photo more edge and create a gritty feeling. The background shows graffiti which is synonymous to the skateboarding scene as is the attitude from the gesture. The figure is wearing convention adhering clothing through the checkered shirt and vans. I decided to pixelate the middle fingers for several reasons. Firstly, I didn't want to keep them in because they are obviously offensive but, also through pixelating them it makes them the focus of the image which is ironic. This works for me and my promotion because it would interest audiences as to why the artist is gesturing like that. The gesture compliments the tile which is also something I was aware of. I kept the font fairly simply and bold to show a stark contrast in colour to make it clear to read. The font is somewhat untidy to add to the sense of menace I have already created through the photo and filter. I then added a 'Parental Advisory' label to give it a more authentic feel as a CD cover.


MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENT:

This is our final Magazine Cover. We opted to include the identity of the artist to further promote him along with his music. The location of the photo was taken at the public skate park in Sothbank ,where some of our filming had been taken place. The location was also near to the London Eye and other iconic landmarks,  meaning we had the opportunity to create a juxtaposition with the neglect and gaffiti of the skatepark in contrast to the beautiful lights and visuals of the city on the left of the image.We followed the conventions of  most avertising prints of our chosen hybrid genre, by having a bold white title with a black background which allows the information to stand out. It makes the text clear and concise to read, clearly promoting the artist, his album and his new track. We chose a very bold and smooth font to make the text easy to read and to also make it aesthtically pleasing, attracting the attention of the audience. We did however, change the font on the track title to make it stand out more, thus further selling the single. The red and black checkered shirt represents the idea that skateboarders have personalities from two ends of the spectrum. For example the red represents passion, happiness, energy towards skateboarding whereas the black represents remorse, anger fear and sadness of the way that they are being represented in the media. These are the interpretations that we were trying to portray in the Magazine Cover. The figure is also following the forms and conventions through mise-en-scene as he is typically wearing skateboard attire including; a chequred shirt, jeans and vans (trainers).

This was another attempt we had made of the Magazine Cover. Again the artists images appear on the front of the cover to promote the music video. What you would typically expect to see in a magazine cover for a skate-punk music video is presented, for example the graffiti, a group of youths and the font in which 'OPM' is written in. This was done purposefully to reflect the message the cover is trying to portray and therefore keeping a sense of constancy and professional, attracting and promoting the music video further to the audience. The use of purple in the title reflects the calmness of the skateboarders which is definitely seen in the  magazine cover. However from our previous research on magazine cover of our chosen genre, we realized that the majority use black or white for their titles. The use of colour was done intentionally breaking the convention to add more life to the cover. Furthermore, we wanted to present a friendly and fun loving side to the skateboarders which we were attempting in our music video. This is done by having the characters smiling.

 This is another design for the Magazine Cover. One trouble we had with this piece was the font. This is because the wall for this image had too much graffiti so when we put the see through font over it it, it made it slightly hard to read. We solved this by using a white brush to add the white behind the wording to make it easier to read which we had learnt from looking at previous examples. Adding colour however was very important to us as we wanted to reflect the fun and lively side of the skateboarders which the public don't get the chance to see. Nevertheless we kept to the conventional use of black and white in the title to give the magazine cover abit of edge to it. This magazine advertisement however, does not display all of the necessary information you would typically find in others, for example, we do not have a date for the album or where the track is available.

BACK OF CD COVER:

This is the final design for the back of the CD cover. I decided not to use an effect or filter on the actual image to give the piece a sense of realism. I didn't want the image to look too worked on on photoshop. All I did to the image itself was add colour burn at 25% opacity and 25% flow so you could still see parts of the image behind the shaded areas on the left side. I then added  normal 50% airbrush to the areas I wanted even darker so you could clearly see the text. The left side is darker than the right because we wanted to use the pictured skatepark as a metaphor for the skateboarding culture and how it is perceived by the general public. The skatepark is the dark side and anything away from it becomes the bright side. The text I made white to create a stark contrast between the text and background so it is easily read and the font I kept simple for the same reason, to make it easier to read but, also to not take anything away from the image. I then added some text on the bottom left corner which is text I saw on several other CD covers, a compact disc logo, the record label and a barcode to make the image seem more realistic.

Experimentation of lightning:

The last two images were experiments on changing the lighting and to investigate whether this would effect the way in which the lighting would influence the interpretations made. We also wanted to see if using a dark stroke filter looked too worked on in terms of the final image. We decided to make the left side of the image darker to show the publics negative perspective of the skateboarders and the light pathway was done to symbolise the pathway to Heaven. We used this image to create the back of our CD Cover, however we decided to not use any effect on the image as we thought the sense of realism that were trying to portray will be lost.

Planning of Music Video:- Storyboard, Timeline, Shooting Schedule and Analysis Table

Planning is considered a vital part in preparing a music video, though it may be considered time consuming it's has proven to be very helpful as it not only allowed us to manage our time efficiently, but take steps that are not unnecessary or inefficient. 

Storyboard:

Our process of planning came in different stages, the first stage is the storyboard and this is where we put our ideas of what our music video would look like on a piece of paper. This is our primitive idea. 

The first scene is of Central London. The camera will be panning from the London Eye to Big Ben, setting the scene, before the intro music is played.

After panning the camera will tilt down to the sea which will be glistening against the sunlight. To make a smooth transition to the next scene we was going to dissolve the scene.

This scene is of the main artist who is skating his way to the skate park. Were focusing on just filming his legs to hide his identity of the character a little longer. An extreme-close up is used here.

The scene then cuts to the main artist at the skate park and he's singing the first verse of the song. This would be a wide shot to allow skateboarders to be seen in the background adding a sense of realism. 

Another cut is used to show skateboarders skating, however the main artist will still be singing the song. We thought this was appropriate as using alot of cuts will allow the music video to be upbeat and more exciting for the audience. 

The next scene is then returned to the main artist singing but its a close-up shot of him singing to give the audience a sense of connection with the artist. 

The scene is the cut again to the skateboarders skating and in the background the song is still playing. 

Here it the side view of the main artist singing, this allows the audience to see other members of the group and this is where the scene disappears and the chorus begins.

This scene is of the group members that were shown in the previous scene singing together in the chorus. 

There is a cut and a close-up used of each of the group members singing the chorus. This again was done to engage the audience and give an insight of what the characters are feeling.

Another cut is used and the scene shows the rapper (the supporting artist) with the group members that were previously singing the chorus. He would move forward and start singing his verse.  

The scene then cuts a shot of just the rapper singing alone in a different location. Again this is done to engage the audience with the new character presented. 

The scene is the cut again to the skateboarders. In the background the rapper is still heard singing his verse. 

The scene is then cut to a skateboarder skating with the general public having a negative viewpoint on them. This scene will show this by writing their negative viewpoints; Aggressive, Drug addicts, Alcohol abuse and Waste of space. An extreme close-up of the character that represents the general public will be used to show the audience their expression of disgust. 

The scene is then cut back to the rapper singing his verse and when he reaches the line "think i really care that i miss biology" a bubble would appear and within the bubble would have another scene of him ripping a biology paper that he had done for getting a U grade.

The scene then cuts to the main artist skating and while he's skating he drops and this is done in the eye of the general public.

The scene cuts instantly to a two shot of the general public. The scene would shows their concern towards the skateboarder and this would be the beginning of their change in view towards skateboarders in which they had previously.

The scene then cuts to the main artist getting up after his drop and continuing to skate showing determination and his passion towards skating.

The scene cuts again to the general public and this time their viewpoints have changed and this time their ideologies have changed. This is an important part of the music video as the music video is about changing peoples minds on skateboarders again in reference to OPM meaning 'Opening People's Mind'.  

The scene is cut again to everybody singing the chorus in unison. The scene would occasionally be cut to skateboarders skating.







Now that we had all the ideas on paper, we placed all the still drawings together animated them and added music in the background to make a music video from it. This was very helpful as it really did help in our decisions of how our music video would turn out.

The second stage of our planning was to add or remove any idea that we didn't like in the animated music video or we thought would work well. We made quite a few changes and here is our final idea of how our music video is supposed to be in much more detail.

This scene is of the main artist who is skating his way to the skate park. Were focusing on just filming his legs to hide his identity of the character a little longer. An extreme-close up shot is used here

The scene then cuts to the main artist getting off his skateboard and walking to the skate park. Here his identity is revealed. A mid-shot is used here. Its also an establishing shot as the setting is being revealed.

The scene then cuts to the main artist singing the first verse. A mid-shot is  used here and this is where the audience are now able to see the main artist properly for the first time.

A cut is used and the scene presents skateboarders skating. Whilst this is being presented the main artist will still be singing in the background.

Another cut is used and the main artist is seen singing the song in a different location. This keeps the music video lively and entertaining for the audience.

The scene then cuts again to the main artist still singing but from the side. This is to add a variety of angles of the main artist.

There is another cut of a low angle of the main artist singing. in the same location though.

The scene then cuts to four characters, three are part of the group and one of them would include the supporting artist. This is done to add more characters to the music video as the main character is shown mostly and this could bore the audience.

A close up is used on the main artist who is still seen singing his part.

The scene then cuts with both the main artist and supporting artist singing the chorus together. A two shot is used here.

A pan of the London eye and Big Ben is added here to establish the scenery and location. However, the main and supporting artists are heard singing in the background.

The scene then cuts back to the main and supporting artists singing together however a low angel shot is used here.

The scene cuts to skateboarders skating at the skate park whilst the music is being played in th background.

A side view is shown of one of the members that was shown earlier singing a part of the chorus.

The scene then goes back to the skateboarders skating whilst the music is being played in the background.

Another cut is used to a point of view shot of the supporting artist spray painting the bands name on a wall. Still the music is being played in the background.

A low angle shot is used here of two of the group members that were presented earlier and the supporting artist.

Again the scene goes back to the skateboarders skating.

Another cut back to the three characters singing with a low angle shot.

Here the supporting artist is seen rapping alone in a different location.

Another cut of the supporting artist singing in a different location.

The scene goes back to the first setting in which the supporting artist is seen rapping his part.

Here is where we are presented with the point of view of the general public on skateboarders. A mid-shot of them is used here.

This scene is where the main artist is skating but drops and hurts himself in the process. This highlights the risks that skateboarders go through to do a sport or hobby that they enjoy.

This is where the perpective of the general public change after witnessing the drop. This vital as it reflects the band's name 'OPM' meaning 'Opening People's Minds' and this is what our music video is about.

Here the general public have gone down to the skate park to see if the main artist is okay. A two shot is used here.

This is the scene where negative opinions on skateboarders change. Here the main artist is getting up after being injured from a drop and continuing his skating showing his passion and determination.

Here is cut of the side view of the group member. This cut will be done three times as we would like all three of our members to be on screen alone.

Here is the chorus in which everyone sings alone too. Its consists of the supporting artist and the group members.

 Another cut to skateboarders.

 Another panning of Central London is used, again establish the setting in which the music video is taking place.

Skateboarders are seen skateboarding again. This is how our music video is going to end. It beings with skateboarding and will end in the same method.

This is the final idea and we used this in our music video. Now that we had all the ideas on paper, we placed all the still drawings together animated them and added music in the background to make a music video from it. This was very helpful as it really did help in our decisions of how our music video would turn out. 

Timeline:

The second stage of our planning process was making a timeline. This has been an excellent way on focusing on the structure of our music video. 

Analysis Table: 

Another stage in our planning focuses solemnly on the musical side of the music video. Here we counted the beats in each verse, chorus, bridge and middle 8 and stated any particular parts in the music video that we thought we could add any obvious links from the lyrics to the music video. 

Shooting schedule:

This planning stage has been extremely helpful for us as we were able to record the scenes that we will or have recorded. This enabled us to manage our time efficiently.