sketch of magazine advert

This is the sketch for our magazine advert. We used the examples to help create a suitable image to fit with the conventions of our genre. This advert will have several parts to it. Firstly, the Background Image will be blue lightning, this is to make the cover look more appealing. Secondly, an image of The lead singer. we have already taken the picture and will apply it to the poster with darkening effects and some distortion techniques. Next is the logo, the blue Circle with an 'M' in the centre. Malaney records. Then the Titles and slogans for example "out now" and " available from Amazon.co.uk". All of these will make our cover look different and appeal to the target market. Whilst giving the information they need and conforming to the genre.

examples of existing magazine adverts

These are examples of other album magazine adverts. We needed to see what everyone else had done so we could figure out how to structure our own piece.


Our three product bands..

We wanted to keep to one colour theme as made evident by our digi packs. The reason we decided to do this was because it exemplified the product as a whole and as a brand. In terms of the iconographic, we stuck to the genres conventions where by illustrating the instruments and the bands.

Audience Feedback

We showed our music video to our class for some feedback, which would enable us to explore the positives and negatives and apply them in any future projects. Therefore, giving us the opportunity to learn and most importantly to improve.

"Good video with good fluent transitions between shots. one slightly out of synch line. good effect to outline storyline within video, slightly blurred on certain shots. like the changes from band to storyline."

' It was a really good video, although the lip sync was a bit out of time at the beginning. However the video was overall very well thought through and highly entertaining'

"I really like the location, lighting and acting. however, some parts were out of sync."

"Great use of cutting and different shots as it was very coherent with the lyrics"

"well edited. very professional as the ending was very well edited. lip sync was 95% of the time."

" The video was really good. I thought there were a really good wide range of shots with added edge to the video. The narrative was easy to follow and go along with. In particular I liked the lighting effects and the timing of the bands movement with the music."


Referring back to the feedback, we are happy with the comments and do agree that the lip sync was out on one small bit during the start. However, the majority was in sync through out the video. The editing process was extremely good as made evident from the statements above from the audiences. overall a very satisfied piece of work.

from bears to cartoons...

Our original idea was to create an imaginary friend in the image of a bear.
However when it came to editing and creating the interactive bear we realised how difficult it would be. Firstly we would need to animate the bear on top of the footage with Jasmine. secondly the bear would change positions and it's actions would vary. The most difficult thing of all was keeping the bear in the right place, with every tiny movement of the camera the bear that we put over the footage would move inches. So instead, we decided to leave out the bear and leave it up to the imagination of our audience. Which we actually prefered, because it's more imaginary then.
After watching it several times we discussed if there was something else we could do instead, and decided to turn all of the parts with jasmine (the narrative) into a cartoon like picture. This would simply involve adding the cartoon effect to the video. Using the software after effects we imported the footage and attempted to add the cartoon effect. However this was not easy, the rendering took over an hour and then didn't work.
So then our plan was to use Sony Vegas to try and create the cartoon effect, it still didn't work the way we wanted. So we attempted one final try with after affects. It finally managed to render so we exported the file and swapped it with the original files finally giving it a look like this.

The pair of us are very pleased with the final result.

Researching the theories...

To what extent are voyeurism and the male gaze still relevant to a music video?

Laura Mulvey, a theorist, who in 1975 constructed the argument around mainstream cinema. The male gaze is structured by the concepts of voyeurism; to look at someone beauty and fetishistic; to look at someone sexually, a constitution towards scopophilia– visual pleasure provided for men. Mulvey argues how women have objectified themselves to such a greater level, becoming fragmented into culture. She suggests whether or not a woman welcomes the ‘gaze’ they are merely conforming to the hegemonic norms established to benefit the interests of men.

As Laura Mulvey argues that men look at women in a festishistic way, Ariel levy echoes this however, demands woman recognise how they are in fact objectifying themselves in the attempt to being notice. For example; Fergie, from the Black Eye Pea’s sings ‘My Humps’ seeking to gain the ‘male gaze’. It seems to be the more attention we, as woman receive from different men, the more successful we become, therefore the rise of insecurities in woman is much greater, as described in the ‘ beauty myth’ by Naomi Wolf. She argues how the male gaze is alive, however hegemonic and woman are being exploited into thinking that they need to objectify themselves for popularity, as clearly shown in music videos to this very day and age. Furthermore, as there are only 7% of directors in which are females; the control of the industry lies within the hands of men, linking to patriarchy.

In addition, using a narrative freeze also shows the ‘objectifying’ of women in a music video. On the other hand, in the music industry artist’s like Katie Melua and Adele are just a few of many representatives, who actually go against the idea to ‘objectify’ themselves for the short cut easy fame. But yet it seems, it does come to a disadvantage as their popularity in the industry isn’t as recognised, such as artists like Beyonce.

Having researched this theory, we believe that 'the male gaze' doesn't conform to the goo goo dolls. Many reasons to suggest this for example, the band itself doesn't perhaps feel the need to replicate other genres sterotypical style, of objectifying woman in music videos. Through our research, we have found that pop and rnb tend to project woman in the way Mulvey argues. Whereas the Goo goo dolls are alternative rock. This genre does not really project women in this way as it would not conform to the ideas of the genre. In our music video our central character was a young girl (a child) so we felt that constructing her in a voyeuristic way would be highly inappropriate. This would cross boundaries that would not conform to our song or artist.

Analysing music videos...

One of the music videos we have chosen to analyse is "an honest mistake" by the bravery.
we have picked it because we really enjoy there music, and think it's really different and the music video is stunning. It is so clever and the sort of video you can watch again and again. The bravery are a punk rock band from America, very similar to the goo goo dolls. So this video is set in a studio. The band perform the song whilst all around them a domino effect is taking place. An inventive idea where one thing hits into the next causing something new to happen. And it's also a very clever metaphor for the message i think they are trying to get across. One small mistake can turn into another and it can get worse and worse, just like the video, it starts off with dominoes knocking each other over but then things are destroyed, there is fire, decapitation and other consequences.

This is the link to the music video " an honest mistake"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8vzbezVru4


The band is from an independent record label, which gives them a lot more freedom to do what they want. They don't have to conform to a formula or specific expectations. The video is all in black and white however by using a colour splashing effect they've kept the golden yellow colour from some of the objects. This makes it look very arty and so cool as an effect.

It begins with the domino bouncing in rhythm with the music, this is used throughout the video and all of the editing cuts work with the music. The visuals will cut to a new shot in time with the rhythm of the music, this is fundamental with a music video and without doing this the video doesn't work as well with the song. It sounds simple enough but without the synchronisation it will not give as good of a feel to the video. I think the video also uses sex appeal to attract the specific audience of this genre. The intention is to draw in the women of the audience, and show off the lead singer. This works well because it fit's with the band however when it comes to making our film I don't think we will do the same.

This shot also draws attention to the coloured belt. In the video the golden yellow colours are kept whilst everything else is black and white. And the camera zooms in on the belt to show this colour effect.

I think the reason the band decided to use the domino effect in their song is to create a unique and inventive style to their music videos. Such as "fearless" where they play on boats or "time wont let me go" where they build a world out of playing cards. The inventive ideas are what the target audience are looking for. it will also help to sell the video through viral advertising. People will see it and send a link or email to their friends. The band members also where the expected cloths for this genre. Leather jackets, dark clothing and extreme hair styles.

The themes and style complement the genre and song it self. It is quite dark, black and white but it is perfect for the song. The rest of the song continues in the same way, domino's hit things which hits bigger things and the consequences get more destructive. The editing and smashing of things work in time with the music and truly makes this video superb and one of the best in it's genre.

We want to apply this kind of rock and roll theme but soften it a bit, as we both have different tastes in music we had to compromise.

Discussion of progress...

How do you feel your production has been processing?

We as a pair feel very positive towards our progress as we have been producng good quality work throughout the working project. We feel that by the time we reach the deadline given we will have all of the work completed along with supplementary tasks to support our ideas.

What are the challenges you have faced?

during the early stages we have initial planned to create an animation of a teddy bear character to interact with jasmine. however, when it came to editing and animating the character, logistically we would have struggled to construct the animation in the time we had. The bear moved when the screen moved meaning that pulling him in sync would have taken many hours of editing which we did not feel was justified for the look created.

Have you made changes to your ideas?

yes. we did decide to make a few changes as stated above to why we did this. we decided instead of creating the animation bear we would take the Jasmine bits and apply a cartoon effect. one the reasons we did this was too create a more story look form. we also made the band scenes more darker as we wanted to create a more 'rock n roll' look.

What have you still got left to do? how are you going to make sure this achieved?

within the next two final weeks we will finish any other unfinished work for our project. we will also screen our music video for audience feedback. we will also do a few extra tasks that we feel will enable us to achieve a higher grade. we will set our self personal dealines amongst the two final weeks in order to achieve or aims.

Digi pack - album sketch (draft)

These are the plans for our digi-packs, during the filming process we took Lot's of pictures that we could use in our coursework. When we discussed the style of album cover we wanted to make sure we decided on sticking with the band theme. For one of several reasons, firstly the goo goo dolls often have pictures of themselves on the cover and we wanted to replicate this style. Secondly we had a lot of really superb pictures of band members. It also fit's in with the stereo typical genre. Here is an example.






Kasabian uses this as their album cover to show the band off. It is also to stand out on the shelf. When people go to buy a CD or download the album the first thing they see is the cover, so kasabian have tried to make theirs very different, Which we think they've done very well. We also wanted to do this, to stand out from the crowd.

Digi pack - Magazine cover

We decided to use the same colour scheme to anchor the product enabling us to keep the running theme, showing that its not just a music video but yet, a developing brand in process.

We asked a few members of another group for feedback on our products as its sometimes difficult not to be biased towards your own working project.

'The colour scheme is incredibly good as its a running theme colour throughout your project, however I would personally in my opinion use a wide range of colours for contrast. I like the imagery of the album digipack itself which enables to sell the product further'

Exploring star construction

Michael Jackson


'Annie Are You OK?
So, Annie Are You Ok
Are You OK, Annie'











From a musical boy wonder to a global pop superstar, The King Of Pop, Michael Jackson electrified the plant with his never duplicated creative vision.

'Smooth criminal’ was first formed in 1987, by producer Quincy Jones and co- producer Michael Jackson- The musical genius. Smooth criminal was created in the 1930’s, constructing a nightclub style.

At the beginning we see a mid - shot of the king of pop, catching the sights of just ONE of the iconic images of Michael Jackson (as shown on the left). Just as the introducing begins to kick in, MJ tosses a coin into the music juke box, enabling the audience to catch on the 1930's setting.

Mise-en-scene: lighting in such videos like Michael Jackson is essential in conforming to its whole genre as it applies to the whole theme i.e nightclub style. whereas, per harps other videos its not so vital. Also, spot lights main focus is on Jackson catching and pin pointing his signature moves. Again his iconic image becomes coherent with the lighting for emphasis on his vision.
As the instrumental starts we see a range of shots from close up shot, mid shot and to long shot of dancers. The dancing conforms highly to the genre as it enable to develop the narrative of the story. Also, as Michael is the choreographer it truly captures the pure creativity of one of pop cultures amazing entertainments.

The smooth criminal music video is part of Promotional package in which uses synergy to promote the film, ,Moon walker. this video is actually seen in the film conforming to dyers view that star uses a range of materials to promote themselves.

Richard Dyer, a theorist who examines the historical, ideological and aesthetic significance of musical stars performers, both within and beyond the cinema screen. Dyer suggests how the 'stars' images are created through a combination of 'filmic' - the exact image, vision and creativity of the video itself and 'extra filmic' - the constructed myth of the represented image of the stars. for example, the ways in which they present themselves on perhaps social networks such as; twitter, face book and chat shows.

Whilst the 'stars' informs the consumers that 'a star image is made out of media texts that can be grouped together as promotions, publicity,films, criticism and commentaries' Dyer takes this further as the reader is informed that a star ' consists of everything that is publicly available' about a performer. In the final analysis, Dyer argues that an iconic image of a star isn't just constituted by those films he or she appears in, but rather, is made up by 'the promotion of those films videos and but also through pin - ups and public appearances/hype. As well as interviews, biographies and coverage in the press of the stars doings and 'private' life.'

I would argue that Dyers argument would apply to Michael Jackson's status at this point in his career. He still retained a mythical status, and at this point stories about his private life hyped his career to more an extent. However, it is unfortunate that iconic artists such as MJ are reduced to media commodities.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11499628

Our Digi - pack...

When making our digi pack, we decided to make the CD cover from pictures we had taken during the shoot. We got loads of different pictures. Some intial ideas were to put pictures of the band on it and also get pictures of Jasmine, with her imaginary friend. In previous projects i have made a couple of Dvd covers before. So when it came to creating this new cd cover we decided to incorporate a theme that we could use through out our music video. However, we also wanted to conform to the genre in which the goo goo dolls belong to. So we used similar themes to there album cover, "The Goo Goo Dolls Greatest hits". For example the band in the album cover are all one the front with their instruments and are in black and white. We decided to create something similar, the band members Haydn, Mat and Cameron are stood playing our guitars and drums. We've wanted to keep a theme going throughout the project, the blue and gold lights will be throughout much of our project. We then created these two designes after lot's of experimenting.

story boards...

storyboards twice, firstly a rough draft and then more detailed. The primary purpose of storyboarding the whole music video is for reference. When we go out to film it, having storyboards to go by will make the whole process a lot more easier. We know what we are filming, for how long and what sort of angles and cinematography to use. This will make a considerable difference and we shall save a lot of time when we come to the filming.

On each story board we have included the image that we want to capture, the lyrics that go with that part. and the direction. For example, it may say "I'll stay with you" it'll have the timing from the song, the stage direction "Cameron sings, close up on face" and sketching.

Sheeva Malakouti and Cameron David Lisney Media Project...

Lyrics...

"Stay With You"

These streets
Turn me inside out
Everything shines
But leaves me empty still
And I'll, burn this lonely house down
If you run with me
If you run with me

I'll stay with you
The walls will fall before we do
Take my hand now
We'll run forever
I can feel the storm inside you
I'll stay with you

Fooled by my own desires
I twist my fate
Just to feel you
But you, turn me toward the light
And you're one with me
Will you run with me?

I'll stay with you
The walls will fall before we do
Take my hand now
We'll run forever
I can feel the storm inside you
I'll stay with you

Now come in from this storm
I taste you sweet and warm
Take what you need
Take what you need
From me

Wake up this world
Wake up tonight
And run with me
Run to me now

I'll stay with you
The walls will fall before we do
Take my hand now
We'll run forever
I can feel the storm inside you
I'll stay with you
I'll stay with you


The lyrics play an extreme importance in creating the music video. We used the lyrics to come up with what themes we should be exploring for the music video. When it comes to music videos it is very important to link the sounds, rhythms and beats to the visuals. Having the lyrics has enable us to do so. For example, the chorus is always faster paced than the verses and on one particular verse( starting with Now come in) It is slower so when we edit the video, the editing will be slower, therefore limited cuts.

The Goo Goo Dolls...

Goo goo dolls conforms to the punk rock, alternative rock genre.
They are a 90's rock band so we am going to talk about what the rock genre was like back in the days, as we believe it's changed since then.

Punk rock kicked off in the mid 1970's from America, Australia and the United Kingdom. It was based on garage rock, and they were all about going against the crowds, the big record labels and mainstream music. They distributed their music through the independent record labels or by self directing . Stiff records were one of these small indie labels who specialised in punk. In 1976 bands like the sex pistols and the clash were recognised as the leaders in this new musical rebellion. A year later the industry saw punk rock spreading across the globe. Soon after creating a whole new punk culture, expressing youthful rebellion and showing off very distinctive styles of clothing. At the turn of the century we saw the birth of alternative rock and pop punk, which soon after was adopted by the mainstream. With bands like green day bringing the genre to

an all time widespread popularity.

initial Idea..

We initially wanted to do a quick paced video from the start, a couple of ideas we had were electric feel by MGMT. We had a plan to make a video containing a band and lot's of animated characters dancing around. We decided against this as it would be too difficult to gather a wide number of people, therefore we found another song that we much preferred and to be more suitable.

We was listening to a band that we thoroughly enjoy, The Goo Goo Dolls. An american rock band. One of our favourite songs is Stay with you. So this is the one we picked. Our first idea was for a young child to be badly treated by her parents, however he imagery friend come to support and help her.

The Imaginary Friend will be an animated character, And using all manner of tricks of the trade we will Make it look as if the animated friend is really there. Playing ball games and Activities. It’ll look as if the character is moving objects and they move because of him.
we also had lots of ideas on what the digipack will look like. The two of them walking away towards some light or nice place.
In the music video we will have a band that will sing the song and play along to it, Using lip syncs. The two parts will integrate together, Band for a line, story for a line.

Early planning stages...

The music video is four minutes long, we are going to Mix animation with live footage. The software we will use is called Anime Debut 6. The video will contain a band Lip syncing to the song, playing to the song with guitars and a drum Kit. We already have all the equipment so will just use what we have. Cameron will be The Lead singer and we will ask some friends if they can be the Bass and drummer. We would also like to incorporate a story line to the Video. The song is about Staying together, One of the lines is "the world will fall before we will" and this inspired us to make a story on unity. One of the initial ideas was a small child being abused by her parents and feeling that she is all alone. We plan to portray this in the opening verse, the only friend this little Girl has is her imaginary friend. To create this, we will use the animation software. However we plan to make this character as real as possible, as it will interact with objects and people. Making the Imaginary Friend feel real to our audience. The Band will mix in with scenes of the little girl, and we will cut between the two. The child will be protected by her Friend. We have also designed a rough version of the friend.

The journey of filming...

The Beginning for Sheeva & Cameron...

Cameron is explaining to Jasmine where she needs to come from, and how she needs to portray her character by her use of body language and positioning...

Jasmine expressing her freedom...

Cameron and I explaining to Jasmine how to interact with the bear...

Cameron and I adjusting the gate, with consultation over how we wanted to film it, hoping to capture the specific angle shots...

Cameron and I figuring out the timing of the shot..

Cameron explaining to Haydn ( our helper) how to film from above...

cast list

Sheeva Malakouti - Director/camera - woman/photographer

Cameron David Lisney- Director/Camera- man/member of the band

Jasmine - 11 years old

She has been brought up in a well off background, however her father is Horrible to her and violent towards Jasmine, making her a quite little girl.

(Jasmine is played by Cameron's sister) (permission given)

Haydn- 13 years old

drummer for the band

contributed towards the production

(Cameron's brother)