Audience response to the original mock-up

I showed the original cover mock-up to my classmates, during a presentation in class, telling them of the album's themes,central concept and imagery of the album. Thery verified that the cover was inkeeping with the album's imagery and confirmed that the cover positively portrayed the idea's of 'earthly desires'. I asked them if they had any ideas and they suggested that the red typeface should be maintained and that a hand-drawn font would only look good if it managed to maintain a level of professionalism within the font and in keeping with the ideas of animalism. They agreed that the red type face worked well against black and white photos, in a similar style to Sin City,and that the black and white images should be maintained amongst all the photography I take as it maintains the dark edge of the campaign.

Filming - Changes to original plan

During the filming process, there were a number of complications. When first envisioning the video, I had hoped for the two outdoor scenes to be filmed at night, to keep with the dark themes of the imagery itself, yet when I first attempted this, the footage was barely viewable, as lighting is sparse in the area in which I filmed, and although many of my classmates told me that the footage would be better quality upon reviewing it, on the computer screen, it was far too hard for me to visualise what angling and transitions would be effective without seeing it through the camera perspective. This forced me to have to film the footage during the middle of the day, potentially changing the overall tone and theme of the video, yet it is still to be judged whether editing software can create the night-time effect and keep with the original video idea.

Inspiration for the cover image

The above image, from Lana Del Rey's Born To Die music video is an interpretation of the image I wish to represent the campaign, on the album cover (and, slightly varied for the magazine promo). Not only is the standalone image reflective of the blood and torture which underpins my own album and artist style but the song and entire video , as well as Lana's mysterientire aesthetic, are reflective of an the themes evident in my own artists campaign. Although the man in the image and the background images will not be evident in my album cover the positioning and theme of the above image, as well as what it represents, were highly inspiration for the making of my album cover design.

Choice of imagery and album title

The image for the album cover and album advertisement depicts a half naked woman on a bed. Much like the campaign which I researched I feel that this is highly in keeping with the imagery of the music video and the album title of 'Unearthly desires', and in turn it's single "Flesh". However, I feel that in all aspects of the album and it's counterparts the dark themes and imagery are evident with the lyrics of flesh, regarding the want of human desires being evident in the album title.

The mock-up displays the typical conventions of an album advertisement, includng highlighting singles which are evident within the album and showcasing positive reviews of the album, also. The font colour will be replaced with a darker red than the more conventional colour evident in the mock-up and not only will the picture be very similar yet one that I will have taken myself, but the blocking, in which, the words are written upon will be far more polished.

Mock-Ups

Research in to 'Album Campaigns'

Many critics argue that for an artist to have a successful album campaign, and in turn for my coursework to reflect a professional and formulated example of such a campaign, that consistency is key within all aspects of the era, particularly those which underpin my own coursework; the album title, the album artwork and the music videos.

When choosing an example which I thought best exemplified this idea of consistency, I thought it best to choose a concept album from the last few years, within pop music, as these often have the strongest ties within the imagery of their individual parts. The most successful and relevant example of this was 'Circus', the 2008 comeback album of popstar Britney Spears. Below are three examples of the counterparts, from this campaign, that are needed for my own coursework project.

The album artwork.



The music video for 2nd single, Circus.

The single artwork for 2nd single Circus.

 

As is evident from the three images above the connotations which go with a title like Circus are all evident in the album. The font and stars on both the album and single cover showcase Circus environments and encapsulate the fun and bizarre sensibilities of the circus, whilst the music video is literally set within a Circus environment, showcasing the stereotypical circus acts such as lions and clowns with Britney as the circus ringleader.

Researching into this album campaign has highlighted the importance of consistency in maintaining a strong theme within these different aspects of the album, and hope the emulate the success of this campaign in creating such strong imagery, with my own "album" and its components.

Light filtering in music videos

An essential feature of my music video and the tone of the video is the red filter in the bedroom scenes. To ensure that this was utilised in a professional manner, I researched how full filtering has been used in other pop videos. The example I looked into was Ash's Girl From Mars.

The video above showcases abstract colourisation to create a sense of otherworldliness and a "trippy" atmosphere, in keeping with the title of the song and the theme of 'Mars'. Although this achieved through a highly different means than in my music video and the effect is vastly different in it's intention, this video successfully showcases the way in which colour filtering can be used, within pop promos, to create an intense atmosphere within a music video and hopefully the effect will maintain it's impact when applied, through sharp red lighting, in my own music video.

Set Photos: Bedroom & Table scene

The following photos were taken from the remaining two locations. The photos within the bedroom have been stripped of the red filter, which defines the scene, yet the look and props are still wholly evident.

The above photo showcases the location, devoid of it's props, however.

In-depth audience research

Before beginning the actual filming process we were advised by our teacher to partake in one more session of audience feedback. This would be similar to the questionnaire earlier although this time we would recieve far more rounded answers from the participant whom the questions were asked to. It was essential, in this process, to ensure that the person interviewed was a member of the intended target audience and that their feedback was used constructively to make my video as 'on-point' as possible.

The person used for my interview was a seventeeen year old girl, who was also from my media class (which I felt was needed as they would better comprehend the conventions of such a form of media) and so the participant was definately within the target demographic of a pop video.

The questions and answers were as follows:

1) What connotations come to mind with a song title like 'Flesh'?
"Hahaha, it sounds like the title to a slasher movie. It makes me think of blood and guts and dead animals. You should set it in one of those back rooms in the butchers!"

2) So you feel that this title would lend itself entirely to a music video with dark imagery?
"Yeah totally. I don't see how you can deal with flesh - even if it's not literal - in a light way. It sounds proper dark and edgy, like the sort of thing you'd see in a Marilyn Manson video"

3) You talk abour Marilyn Manson, but who do you think would be the template to follow, direction-wise, when it comes to pop?
"Lady GaGa is the only person, in pop, I can even think of that would make a song with a title like Flesh, haha. She does "push the boundaries" though and if you're going for an edgy, gritty style of video then looking at the way she has pushed the boundaries in her videos might be good"

4) Do you think that for an edgy video to be successful it needs to contain controversial images?
"It doesn't necessarily need to but it would need to possess some moments of complete shock factor; stuff that doesn't even make sense within the context of the video -like when Lady GaGa bull***** about a lot her stuff having meaning when it's just done for dramatic effect - it just sometimes provokes a strong reaction from the audience that makes them interested, which is probably more important than actually trying to get a psychological message across".

5) What reaction would the following idea, within the context of my video, provoke from you?:
- Eating raw meat and drinking the blood.
"Hahaha, that actually makes sense within the context of the song title so I guess it's at least relevant. It's not the sort of thing I'd choose to watch but if it's not shoved down my face for an entire four minute music video then I would at least not be throwing up. Do you actually see, like, teeth going in to the meat and stuff?"
- No not really but the implied sentiment is there and blood is the most prevelant image throughout.
"Blood is one of those things that would either gauge complete interest in the video, as it implies a sense of excitement and action or people just think it's too awful and turn it off straight away. Who's it aimed at exactly?"
- The target demographic of pop music is mainly the teenage buying public, with around 55-58% predicted to be girls and the rest boys, all aged from about fourteen to twenty.
"Girls would hate it, haha. But if Lady GaGa can make stuff like that work then clearly people must have some sort of investment in that sort of depraved imagery".

Thank You, Hannah.
You're welcome.

Pre filming preperation: 30th November

The filming for my music video will take place on Sunday 1st December and Tuesday 3rd December. The first day of shooting shall concern filming the scenes within the bedroom setting and the scenes filmed at the gate. The second day of filming requires more preperation, in terms of setting and filming methods, and so shall be shot on a seperate day. The props for my second day of filming also require far more work and preservation,with the setting itself taking far more care to construct, in terms of lighting and props.

The costumes for these two scenes have also been prepared,and the setting of the room has been deteriorated in a manner that is inkeeping with the tension and edginess of the video, complete with the disarray curtains, red mood lighting and bare landscape, aside from the plates and the matress.