Ancillary text - Digipak Cover research

 I really like this album cover. It's simplistic background and text reflects the simple nature of the genre whilst the colours reflect the text 'yellow//gold' and also are quite common, earthy, tonal colours that are conventional of the genre. The thing I like best about this album is the blurred faces. This effect has been achieved by taking a still photo while the subjects are shaking their head with the camera having a slow shutter. I think this adds a really nice effect to the album, creating a soothing, slow feel to the cover. The subjects in the album are naked, this reinforces the 'natural' element that is conventional in the indie folk genre.

 This album is nice, creating a fun, happy theme with the subject smiling. The use of a sea side background reinforces the convention of nature in the indie folk genre. Water also connotes purity and its flowing resembles a journey; which most indie song's lyrics reflect. The house in the water is a nice touch. I would quite like to use an abstract idea like the house in my album cover, it gives the audience something to think about as well as being different, which is what most 'indie' listeners pride themselves on being.

 This album cover looks quite ghostly with the image being in black and white and her face quite blurred. I like this as it implies a bit of mystery and will draw in an audience. I really like the font that is used for the text. It looks classy and mature whilst the added colour gives the album a 'fun' element. I also like the use of underlining the text as it adds definition and adds structure to the text.

 This album for Jeff Buckley in 1994 still could be applied to modern day albums. I like the microphone prop used as it shows performance. Most indie artists pride themselves on their talent than their image and using a musical prop in the album cover shows that they are trying to sell their talent and their music instead of just trying to sell their face and become as famous as possible. however, the use of a mid-close up still achieves this by making the face easily recognisable to the audience.

 I like the simplistic yet effective cover for this album. I like the depth of field used, making the background slightly blurry and grainy. I think this gives the picture more of an old fashioned look to it which is reflected by the prop (old fashioned film camera) used. The fact that the subject is filming will also appeal to their target audience as a lot of 'indie' listeners think themselves to be very creative and arty which includes many photographers and artists. This link between the band and their audience will encourage more people with similar interests to buy the album.

This is a brilliant album cover. The image for this cover is very good as the bright colours will stand out to the audience on the shelves and make it more aesthetically pleasing. Again, the use of water symbolises nature and connotes peace and calm. The large text is very eye catching and easy to read while also making it easily recognisable.

I like the use of contrast used in this image. The black and white is intensified so that the image looks a lot harsher and edgy. However I don't like the text in this cover. I think it is very simplistic, which can sometimes look good if done correctly however I think this text just looks quite amature, especially 'the boatman's call' part. In my image I would probably change the colouring to a lighter red and a different font.

This is another great album cover. The image of the girl looks like it has been painted, which again reflects the link to their target audience who like art and creative things. The font and colour of the text looks really good juxaposed to the image. The font looks quite playful which contrasts the deflated mood of the subject, which gives very little away to the audience about the intended mood and tone of the album. This will make the audience more interested in buying the album.

Filming Problem

The deadline for our first draft was on 16th of december 2013. Unfortunately, due to my main character being ill, I have not yet filmed. I hope to do so this weekend.

Poll Results

Risk assessment and Health and Safety

Risk	Why is it a risk?	How to prevent	In the case of an emergency	Risk rating
Woodland	In the running scene there is a risk of Lily falling over	Check the running space prior to shooting to make sure there is a clear path	In order to prevent any minor injuries I will keep a first aid kit at hand while on location	Low
Lighter	In the smoking scene lily uses a lighter to light a cigarette, the flame will be close to her face	Check the lighter before shooting to ensure that it is not faulty	A fire extinguisher was already in the location ready to use and a first aid kit was at hand. If burns were serious I would call an ambulance	Low/medium
Glass bottles	A glass vodka bottle was used when filming, this could have been dropped and broken	Make sure there is a soft surface underneath the bottle so it is less likely it will smash	Clear the area of any glass and warn others glass may be around	Low
Water	Lily has a shot under water in the bath and she could accidently swallow some or drown	Shoot in small intervals under water so there is very little chance she will run out of breath	Place her in the recovery position and call the ambulance if necessary.	Low/medium

Shooting Plan

Date	Day of shooting	What I plan to shoot
9/12/13	Test Shot	Make up and hair
16/12/13	Test shot	Miming and ‘running in the woods’ scene (practise tracking feet)
21/12/13	First Shooting Day	Flash back – Band room scene
22/12/13	Second Shooting Day	Woodland Scene/ Flash back Woodland Scene/ Bathroom Scene

Technical Equipment

The camera I will be using to film my video is a Sony HD Handycam provided by college. The camera films in HD to ensure a good quality video which is essential in making the video look professional.

I will be purchasing my own memory card so that I can use it for future projects. It is important to have a memory card with at least 8GB to ensure that you can film thoroughly without having the misfortune of having to stop filming due to lack of space on the memory card which would waste filming time and is just generally annoying.

 The software I will be using to edit and assemble my video will be the latest Adobe Premiere Pro. This will ensure that I will be learning how to use software at industry level and create a quality product as efficiently a possible.

 A simple but very important piece of equipment I will be using is a tripod. this will enable me to keep the camera steady when filming and also make sure I am framing the shot correctly and more easily. The tripod is also good for moving shots as the weight of the tripod will counter balance the weight of the camera, making the shot considerably less shaky than if it was just hand held.

Thanks to Wes, he has let me use his Canon DSLR to take pictures behind the scenes while filming and also to take the pictures of Lily for my ancillary texts. I would prefer to use this camera for the pictures over the Sony HD Handycam as this camera has different lenses I can use in order to get the best photos I can get in respect to lighting and balance. It is a professional camera therefore the images should also look professional and make my product more realistic.

Hair and Make up test day

I decided to hold a make up and hair test day on the 9/12 on my two main characters in order to look at some different ideas and styles to see what suited them, the character and what looked good on camera. I found this very helpful as we decided on make up and hair for the main shot in the woods. As a major section of my video, the make up and hair needs to look right and fit in with the style and genre of the music as well as the ideologies people have of the indie folk genre.

Make up

for Lily's make up, we tried out three different looks, all inspired by grunge/indie models and recreated by myself.

the first look is quite simple, consisting of foundation, blusher, eye liner and mascara.

I really liked this look because it was simple yet effective. it reinforces the idea of natural beauty that is presented a lot in the indie folk genre. As the song is entitles 'Youth' it is also good that the make up isn't too heavy and doesn't make Lily look much older than she is, which is important as the character should be in her mid-teens. I think this make up compliments Lily, there isn't a lot, yet there is enough to cover any unexpected imperfections. I like the fact that Lily is quite pale as again it reinforces the 'natural' look that is fashionable at the moment

the second look is slightly heavier, using dark brown, smoky eye make up.

I thought this make up looked nice but I wasn't sure about it for the woodland scene. I liked the smoky eye effect as it is quite grungy and the earthy brown colours reflected the natural theme I was going for however I think it is just a little too heavy for a scene that is meant to reflect natural beauty and innocence. I do think I will use this type of make up for the swing rope flash back scene though as it would fit quite well for an 'every day' make up look.

This make up is the heaviest out of the three, with simple eye make up but dark brown/red lipstick.


I didn't like this make up look at all. It is definitely too heavy for the scene and it didn't compliment Lily either. It made her look a lot older than intended for the music video and makes it seem less realistic. It also definitely took away the idea of a 'natural' look and doesn't make the character seem innocent and a protagonist. Lipstick will probably be used in the band room flash back scene but that will be a bit lighter and less harsh.

Hair

Like the make up, I found three ideas for hair as well which again, were recreated by me.

The first hair style is already a lot like Lily's hair, dark blonde and long so I thought this would be an easy hairstyle to achieve.

I liked this style on Lily as it is her natural hair, also the straighter it is, the longer it looks and long hair is very fashionable among young people today.

The second style is slightly wavy yet still natural looking.

I really like this hair style on Lily, the few curls just add definition to her hair and makes it look more multi-tonal which looks really nice on camera and also it is not too curly so that it shortens the look of her hair.

The last hair style is quite curly and looks fairly 'greek goddess' like.

This hairstyle on Lily is very similar to the last one. I like that the curls are quite loose and start about half way down her hair. The curls also make her hair look shinier and will look better messed up in later scenes.

I have decided on the first make up look for lily along with the second hair style. I think these looks are the most natural and look the nicest on Lily and on camera. It promotes the idea of natural beauty which links to my specific story line and also the genre of the song.

For Wes, I wanted to recreate an Alex Turner hair style which is quite messy and popular with the indie audience.

The left picture is before and the right picture is after. In the after picture, the lighting is quite bad, however you can see that I have messed it up by back combing sections and using a wax to make it look messy. By making his fringe bigger and hiding more of his face (connoting that he has something to hide), he looks more like an antagonist which is precisely the look I am going for. This will be the type of hair used through out the woodland scenes.

Casting

I chose my friends Lily Dobson and Wesley Foster to star in my music video for many reasons. Firstly, they are young and fit into the same age bracket as the intended target audience of late teens/young adult. This will appeal to the audience as they will feel more connected to the video and this will make the song more relatable to them. The song is entitled ‘youth’ so my actors should preferably be in their teens as it reflects the song’s true purpose and will make more sense to the audience.

Lily and Wes’ looks also played a vital part in their casting. Lily’s looks go very well with the genre of indie folk. Her long, naturally wavy hair is a common style for people who listen to this genre. She also suited the simplistic, natural fashion well which is also associated with the genre and didn’t look out of place or uncomfortable in this type of clothing and make up. Lily is also very pretty, and in reference to Laura Mulvey’s theory of the ‘Male Gaze’ this will attract the viewers, especially the opposite sex and will make people subconsciously be more inclined to watch the video. She has a very slim physique which seems to be very fashionable at the moment to have the ‘thigh gap’ etc. so she is someone most viewers would aspire to be like.

Wes also looks very conventional of the genre with dark, big hair and normally dresses in clothes considered to be ‘indie’ like Parkas and Doc Martens, therefore is very comfortable and familiar with the clothes worn in the video. Along with Wes’ looks I also chose him as he is Lily’s boyfriend. As the song is about a young relationship, it is essential for the actors to have chemistry and them being an actual couple will help their acting and make the video a lot more realistic and created verisimilitude. This makes the video a lot better on the whole.

Animatic - Youth by Daughter

Story Board