Magazine Advert Planning

The main purpose of the magazine advert is to raise awareness of it's release. Fans are going to be dying to find out when the album comes out and so the advert is there to inform all the fans of this information. Also the advert has to promote the artist and so these are the things which we have to bear in mind before constructing our advert.

We plan to put on the advert a rating from an album review from a respected brand in music so the public know that it is worth buying and also the date in which the album is available to buy. We are also going to place Fenech Soler's web address on the advert so the public can find out more about them and promote them even further.

Regarding the design, we need to make it similar to our Digipak's house style so the public can quickly link the two together. Therefore we will stick to the same dark colour scheme and use same fonts we created. The first thing the reader of the magazine is going to notice is the picture, we are going to use the same picture we used in the digipak. This picture of Taylor is clearly from the video so a customer will quickly be able to recognise him from the video and hopefully want to buy the album because of this.

We will create the advert using Photoshop. Firstly, we will import the picture into Photoshop and we can have this as our fixed base layer. We can then work on all the text layers over this.

Digipak planning

The digipak is vitally important for our band's promotion because the design represents the whole of their work. To maintain a consistent house style in all three of our products we are going to use dark colours for our digipak, relating to the 'Demons'...the name of the album and the single from our music video.


It's also important to get a picture of our artist in the digipak and so we're unsure at the moment as to whether we are going to do a photoshoot with Taylor or simply take a shot out of our video of Taylor which is suitable. Where the album 'Demons' is about Taylor's past drug addiction we are going to make the digipak gloomy and melancholic, so the target audience can relate to the dark place Taylor (lead vocalist of Fenech Soler) once was.


We need to find ourselves a 'Fenech Soler font' which is going to feature on both the digipak and the magazine advert. We will use the dafont website which we used for our magazine front covers last year to find a distinctive font which is suitable for Fenech Soler's style.


To ensure that our digipak looks as professional as possible we must include every single detail in which we've seen on exemplary products. On the back cover we are going to place a barcode and also the production details to make it look realistic.


The best way to construct our digipak is going to be by doing it a panel at a time. Firstly, we'll work on the front cover, then both inside panels and then lastly the back cover. The front cover is going to be done first so that once we have completed that we can use ideas from the front ocver to complete the rest of the digipak.

Plan of Action

After receiving our feedback Ellis, Bethan and myself have had a brainstorm as to how we can make big improvements to our video. The thing that really hit home for us was that we need to add something a bit different to the middle part of our video. We think we've come up with just the right idea to really bring the 'Demons' out in our video...

Brainstorm

The whole boyfriend girlfriend break-up is still the main idea in our video but we've added this evil infant character to the story to really spice things up. Where before the middle part just consisted of Taylor walking around emotionally being all sad, we're now going to add hallucinations into it. This time Taylor is going to visualise a small and evil child leading him somewhere to show him what he thinks is his girlfriend with another boy. This is really going to trip him out and he only comes back to reality when he receives the 'it's over' text from his girlfriend. Like before he is going to run back home and knock on the door for his girlfriend. However, this time we'll see the girlfriend look out the window at him and then turn back in disgust, then following this the demon child will look through the curtains in the same spot. Is the demon child real or is it just a figure of the boyfriend's imagination??

The Demon

We plan to use Ellis's younger sister Gracie to play the evil infant and will have to come up with props and make up to make her look a bit twisted. This character is now the 'demon' which is constantly referred to throughout the song. This time round we're going to use a park in daylight to film the hallucinations in response to the comment that there was a lack of light in our rough cut.

Editing: Final Cut Express HD

Now we've started filming we need to start converting the footage into a video. The programme we are going to use to edit is 'Final Cut Express HD'.

Before this school year none of us had used 'Final Cut' and so it's going to be a gradual process and there's bound to be many mistakes made. However, when we made our Animatics we used 'Final Cut' to put our pictures into a video and it gave us a bit of practice before doing the real thing.

'Final Cut' is going to allow us to add filters to our shots for effects and play around with the speed of the footage for fast forward or slow motion effects. Also if any of our footage is unneeded or poor quality we can always cut it out. The layout of the programme allows us to to view the timeline of our audio file at the same time as our visuals timeline, this helps us with timing and placing shots in time with the beat.

Firstly, we felt it was important to name each clip of our footage so it was easy for us to distinguish which bit was which when dragging clips into the timeline. After this we had to import our track 'Demons' into 'Final Cut' and then lock the audio layer. Locking the audio layer was important because without doing so the audio file would split when we started to drop clips into the timeline. After these preparation stages we were ready to start editing.

As shown in the image above, all our clips of footage were kept on the left hand side of the screen and the timeline of the video just below. If we needed to use a clip to add to our video you just simply drag the thumbnail down onto the timeline to add to the rest of the video. However, our clips were quite long and shots in music videos last seconds, not minutes. To overcome this we could simply cut out any unwanted footage. This was done by simply highlighting the section of footage we wanted to cut out from the clip and selecting delete. This is an important part of editing because it keeps the video flowing and stops it from becoming boring, I mean we don't need to show every single footstep the actor takes....it isn't necessary. Below is a photo showing how the length of a clip is trimmed/cut. The area of clip highlighted with the border is the part needed, the rest is cut away.

To the left is a grab shot from the drug-taking scene in our music video. This actually took a few minutes for Taylor to do because sniffing flour isn't the most pleasant thing to do! However, we managed to cut it down into about 4 quick cuts lasting a few seconds. This allows the viewer a chance to understand what is happening in this scene without showing every single tiny detail.

This technique is also used when Sarah shows Taylor out the door. When filming Taylor had to get up from the table, argue, make his way into the hall, get his coat and eventually exit the house, a lenghty process. So again, we split the footage into about 6 cuts by trimming away the parts we didn't need. 

We decided to film the majority of our video outside in the dark because darkness relates to the song title 'Demons'. Drugs and relationships breakdowns are quite upsetting topics so we decided to create a gloomy atmosphere about the video by filming in dark. However, when we began editing we noticed that some of the footage was unclear because of lighting issues, to overcome this we had to adjust the lighting and colouring using the tool below.

To make our video look professional and keep it flowing we added transitions inbetween shots. Rather than just using straight cuts in every transition we used properties like dissolve to more gradually take the viewer from one place to another. In our video Taylor keeps on having flashbacks of his argument with his girlfriend, so rather than just cutting from his face to the argument we used dissolves. This fades out Taylors face gradually and fades in their argument they had earlier that evening, the picture below gives you an idea of this.

Locations

So the different settings we have in our video are a house, a low lit street, a beach and a pier. We decided that an ideal filming destination would be Brighton because it fitted the requirments perfectly, it has dark streets, it has a beach and a pier. The fun fair on the pier is going to be perfect when the character becomes overwhlemed as the effect of the drugs sets in. The scene of the argument and the drug-taking will be filmed at Ellis' house, we felt that the size and destination of Ellis' house is realistic for a house of a young couple.

Brighton

Brighton is known for it's quirky culture and extravagant fashion. The surroundings, people and sights are going to be pefect for our quite abstract music genre and target audience. The main attraction of Brighton though is it's brightly lit and famous pier. When dark the pier is going to look amazing and the viewer will really be able to relate to the character in the video as he squints and shields his eyes from the flashing lights.The fact that he's on drugs is only going to add to his confusion and dizziness.

On the pier is the well known fun fair, this is going to come in so handy as the character walks from one ride to the next looking in bewilderment. We'll also use one of the rides for filming on. We plan to use the Waltzer because this ride is going to throw our character about making him feel more nauseous and dizzy. The spinning motion is going to give us that blurred affect which we are aiming for to create a sense of madness.

As our character's anger turns into sadness he'll make his way down to Brighton beach. This is mainly a stony beach and we're going to make the most of this as our character will be throwing stones into the sea in frustration. He'll then roll around in emotion in the stones. The scenery is going to be beautiful as the sea, the beach and the pier fits into one shot.

Bethan went to Brighton last weekend to take some photos of the area and location to give us an even clearer idea as to what Brighton is all about. Here are a few of her best, we're going to take some more photos of specific settings (e.g the Waltzer) on our next visit to Brighton...

Ellis' House

Choosing a house wasn't as easy as it sounds. It had to be a house which fits the storyline and that is realistic. Bearing in mind that its a young couple's house and that they're living in Brighton it can't be filmed at like a cottage or mansion. So Ellis' townhouse fits into the plot perfectly.

For the video we'll be using the majority of the house, it'll be used at the beginning and end so it is an important set for the video. The video will open with him coming through the front door and searching around the house checking no one is around. Then he'll make his way up into one of the bedrooms of the house to start taking his drugs.

Pitch

The lyrics to the song 'Demons' really helped us to come up with a storyline for our video. We decided to use a drug addiction to be the character's 'demons' and because there's a continuous reference to running away in the song we decided to link that to him trying to escape his addiction.

• To open the video we'll have him sneaking into his house and then making sure that his girlfriend isn't around checking every room. He'll then rush upstairs towards his bedroom where he keeps his stash of drugs.
• Here his addiction continues as he gets high in his bedroom. Meanwhile, his girlfriend returns home and repeats the same actions as he did, and eventually catches him in his bedroom red-handed. This is when a heated argument occurs and the boy storms out the house in anger.
• Next we see him walking down the street endlessly and neither us as a viewer or him know where he's going. We'll use a range of close up shots here to convey his fury and eventually his confusion as the effects of the drugs kick in.
• He'll then eventually find himself at Brighton Pier where he'll come across completely unstable and perplexed. It will now be dark and the bright lights from the fun fair will be exaggerated to confuse him more and make things into a bit of a blur for him. The flashing lights are almost going to be unbearable for him.
• He'll then be filmed on a ride, from his perspective and for us to watch him. The footage here won't be crystal clear but blurry to portray the madness he's going through. He'll then come off this ride feeling really dizzy and rocky.
• He'll stumble to the edge of the pier and grab onto the railings to steady himself. At this point he'll receive a text confirming that there relationship is over.
• To reflect on what he's done he'll make his way down to the beach where he'll begin throwing stones in the sea and rolling about in anger. He decides to start making his way home.
• He makes the same journey home only this time the close up shots will show a more emotional and upset side to him. The walk becomes fast-paced as he desperately wants to reach home to hi girlfriend.
• When he reaches home he knocks on the door but there's no answer, so he begins to thump the door. He gradually slides down the door distraught and ends up sitting by the door, head in hands in tears as the music fades.

Inspiration/Ideas

To really develop our original ideas we've been going through some of our favourite music videos to see if we can gain any inspiration from them so we can put real artists' work into our own video. Firstly we found Emeli Sande's video 'Heaven' and we were enthused by the effects she used whilst filming it. As you can see in the collage below there are orbs of sunlight on the lens of the camera, this gives it a natural look making it look like real life. Also the picture looks slightly blurred and crackled all the way through, this is achieved by using sub focus or filtering the footage. Again this makes the video look like real life because it gives you the impression that it's barely been edited. 







Example's and Laidback Luke's 'Natural Disaster' gave us some fantastic shot ideas. As we found the video we realised that the character in the video fits the role of our main character perfectly. The actor character seems to b high as if on some form of drug and this is really emphasised in the close up shots in the video. The close up shots in this video allow the viewer to access what thoughts are running through the boy's head and visualise how he's feeling. These close up shots make his eyes look really big and bold, making them the vocal points of each shot.

Copyright Permission Letter

In this day and age you can't just use people's work for your own use without any permission. Therefore we decided to compose a short email to the record label company of our band 'Fenech Soler' to ask via their website. The record label companies are usually fine with this efficient use of copyright so we are expecting a response of acceptance or just no response at all showing they do not object. The record label name is 'Moda Music'.

Choice Made

After brainstorming ideas from each song we ended up with two spider diagrams to compare. This helped us to come to our final choice which is 'Demons - Fenech Soler'.

Looking at both sets of ideas we decided that this was the best option because the ideas which sprung to mind were more unique opposed to our 'I Found You' ideas. With 'I Found You' a typical boy meets girl story came to mind but this is so common and so we wanted to do something different, like we always wanted to. Also we wouldn't have been able to film a club scene very well because it would be so hard to control.

'Demons' falls into the genre of Indie-pop and so now to fill in the gaps of our plan and research we need to do some research on our target audience.

Choice of Song - 'I Found U'

Click to enlarge

Choice of Song - 'Demons'

Click to enlarge

Choice of Song

After assessment of our three final candidates we decided to eliminate 'The Great Unknown' leaving us with 'Demons' and 'I Found You'. We decided on this because we struggled to bring together any ideas for a song so mysterious.

With just two songs left now we decided to listen to both tracks over and over and put together brainstorms illustrating the ideas we were getting from the songs. This way we can put both brainstorms next to one another and see what song will be apt to work with.

Choice of Song

After listening to lots of Axwell and Fenech Soler material we narrowed our preferences down to three songs:

• Axwell - I Found You
• Fenech Soler - Demons
• Fenech Soler - The Great Unknown

When deciding on our final choice we had to consider many things, we started off by researching the popularity of the songs. We found that Axwell evidently had the most successful hit with 'I Found You' peaking at 6# in the UK charts. Fenech Soler's material isn't as popular because they're not as established as Axwell are. 'Demons' was 162# in the UK charts in 2011 and 'The Great Unknown' hasn't even been released as of yet. Reminding ourselves that we didn't want a song too well known we were put off slightly by Axwell's track. Then again the fact that 'The Great Unknown' wasn't even released suggests that it wasn't a very successful track off Fenech Soler's album so that wasn't looking too promising either. So at this stage 'Demons' is the favourite.

Next to assess were the lyrics of the songs. 'I Found You's' lyrics appeared to be fun to work with, the idea of an extreme hide and seek came into mind with the man being the seeker and eventually finding his dream girl. However, the fact that it was too well known still put us off. When we looked through the lyrics of 'Demons' there was also stuff to work with, lines such as 'I keep running and I don't know why' and 'Say no! I wanna let go!' we feel we can create things out of. '...and I don't know why' could suggest that the character in our video could be on some form of drugs. Lastly, 'The Great Unknown' is a very abstract song and is hard to find the meaning behind it and therefore ideas aren't easy to come by when listening to this song. Also the music isn't as fast paced as the other two which wasn't to our liking.

Lyrics | Fenech Soler lyrics - Demons lyrics

Choice of Song

As a team we decided that we can't choose a song which is too well known to the public as the most popular songs are already known for their videos. So therefore we have to find a song which is slightly less known and one which would grow on the public every time they hear it. This way we can try to convince the public that our video is the original music video to the song.

In terms of genre of music we didn't want too go for to much of a common sound but more of a diverse and different sort of music to engage the target audience. So we began looking at techno music - techno pop and techno indie in particular. Whilst doing research on this genre type we saw group names like Fenech Soler and Axwell keep propping up so we chose to look into those groups in more depth.