Album covers

Below is a compilation of cd covers and cases of bands all from the indie genre.



This is a front cover of the kook's album "The inside in the outside out". We will be aiming to replicate something similar to this as it is plain simple and easy to do aswell as being effective. It has a group photo of all of the band members together with a plain white background. This could be done easily in the photography suite that is available to use in school.








This is The Fray's album cover. I found this to be a really artistic album cover using light and different techniqes to spell out the bands name. I don't think that we would be able to do this but i was interested to see that the indie genre has the connotations of being a slightly artistic genre and this album cover fully represents that image.








This is Franz ferdinand's album cover. I feel that this once again follows the conventions of the indie (indie rock) genre being artistic. Once again this is something that we could within school with the resources that are available to us. I am also fond of this album cover so i think that this is a real possibility to do something similar to this.

Post production questions.

How much of your text was created in post-production?

There was several parts of the text that were significantly bettered after the production element of our practical. This was mostly acheived through editing. This gave the production stability and a feeling of continuity. Additionally we changed a few elements of our practical piece as we did audience feedback through our evaluation and this menat we were able to meet the demands of the consumer at a more precise level.

What technologies did you use to modify your original material? How did this change the meaning of your work?

We used several technologies in order to change the meaning of our practical piece. To begin with i would like to comment on adobe premier pro. This is where we did the editing to our practical piece and we were able to meet the conventions of indie as we could edit our film such as the 4 way effect to give it a fast flowing feel and tempo. This could also be said for final cut. Additionally we were able to add in very intricate and small spounds to areas such as the opening using garage band on the mac books. Additionally in creating the logo we used photo shop and this was a vital element to changing the meaning of our tezx

Adobe prmeier pro
final cut
garage band
photo shop
adobe photo shop + in design

Film log

We filmed the performance element of our practical production piece recently. I personally beleived that it went well as we managed our time well and got at least a third of our filming done in one session. Through managing our time well i met one of my targets for the year.
We filmed the shots of the geeky guy in full costume (glasses, scarve and books) from several different angles, doing a full recording of each one to gain maximum amount of footage to work with when we edit.
The positives to come out of the session were that we finally got some filming done. The footage we produced was all useable and it had a very positive outcome. Additionally we have gained alot of ideas to further our production whilst we were recording such as how we can base the narrative around the performance shots.
There were few negatives to take away from the session but these would be that it may be hard to get the same props again the next time we film, and also that possibly the singing was slightly out in places, this however can be changed de to the mass amounts of footage that we have obtained.
The next part of the film that we need to film are the narrative shots and we will be doing this as soon as possible. We do still need top think of ideas around this area so that we cna get maximum marks.

Video analysis 3

The Fray - How to save a life

Mise-en-scene. - The lighting in this video is very consistant. The only light source is from car head lights or strip lights (in the performance shots only) This creates a blend of shadows and silouets which works well with the song. The head lights create a lot of glare and a high contrast between light and dark. It also seems to wash out any colours that exsist in the house or forest. This is done on purpose to create an atmosphere and help the audience feel involved within the song.

Camera Shots - The video begins with several close up's during the performance shots. This is used to establish who the lead singer of the band is, there is also the use of an extreme close up on the eye. Additionally there is still a wide range of other shots used in this video. For example low angle, close up and establishing shots are all used a number of times in the video, all of which make the video more dramatic.

Editing - The first thing i noticed about the editing is the regular interchange between the performance shots and the narrative shots. the use of quick cuts establishes a relationship between the narrative and the song. There is also several uses of elipsis, i found one moment particularly interesting. There is a girl that is shown several times with the use of close ups and panning camera movement at the start and she seems dull and possibly ill, this links in with the title of the song "How to save a life". This is shown through the use of plain clothing and background. There is a moment during the middle of the video where the girl is then shown wearing a red dress and throwing roses in the air. This represents change and adds to the narrative and shows that the person may be getting better. This idea is furthered due to the tempo of the song also quickening.

Video analysis 2

Video analysis 2
The Kooks- "She Moves In Her Own Way"

Camera work - The performance shots used at the start of the video are all close ups of the band members. This is done to establish the members of the band. The narrative shots however vary in shot type. There are shots of the bands coach driving to establish the location that they are on the move. Then they arrive in a desolate area and the camera pans across to give emphasis on the poorness of the area around them. This is repeated throughout as there is establishing shots looking out across the city and then a close up of a man pulling some shoes out of a bin.

Editing - Similarily to the previous clip i have analysed there is a constant interchange at the beginning of the video between narrative and performance shots. Additionally there is another similarity with the fact that elipsis is used again, however this time elipsis is used to show a change of location rather than emotion. This again though is used to show a development within the narrative section of the video. I found that fact that similar ways of making the video are demonstrated within several different songs but all from the same genre.

Mise-en-scene - Indie music is typified as going against the mainstream. This is shown at the start as they are in an empty area and then the next shot is a guitar followed by the band. I interpreted this as shwoing that despite being in a desolate waste land they still have their guitars and are willing to make music.

Video analysis 1

Scouting for Girls - " This aint a love song"

Camera work - The opening sequence are all narrative shots. It begins with a close up of a passport being handed over at an airport followed by a close up that follows into the distance of a mans feet with a suitcase next to it. The first performance shot used is a close up of the frontman on the microphone with all the other band members in the background. this could possibly have beend one to show his authority and status among the band.

Editing - What i have noticed has become a common theme among all the videos i have analysed at random. Similar to the others this has an interchange of performance and narrative shots. However there is no use of elipsis during this clip possibly because the narrative dosn't need it. There is however the use of juxtapostions in order to show a development within the narrative.

Mise-en-scene - To go against the mainstream an element of the indie genre is that it often contains odd/strange things that could be described as spontaneous. This is shown by the same shot of a man holding a goldfish in complete darkness re-occurring throughout the media with no apparrent or direct link to the performance or the narrative. Additionally the fact that it is in an airport depicts change. The clothing is all sterotypical of the indie genre and there are no sterotypes that are challenged.

Genre theory and how it applies to my project

Genre theory

John Fiske - "Any one programme will bear the main charachteristics of it's genre, but is likely to include some from others: ascribing it to one genre or another involves deciding which set of charachteristics are most important"

This applies to our project as we are doing a music video to the kooks. The problem we had was that it was hard to define one genre that they would fall into as they could have gone into acoustic, indie, indie rock or rock. However we decided that it suited the indie genre to having the highest amount of charachteristics.

Richard Maltby and Ian Craven claimed that "The success of Hollywood is reliant on the combination of predictable elements with variation." What they were saying is that the only reason Hollywood is a global success is because we as the audience go into a film with an idea of what to expect and prefer to to be able to predict what is going to happen. There theory suggest that the audience don't like surprises in regards to not knowing what to expect. Personally I disagree with this theory because over time, as we watch more and more films, we build a natural bank of information containing repetitive aspects of genres. For example if you go to see a film which you know nothing about, 9/10 you will be able to tell what genre of film it is within the title sequence.

Auteurs and Iconography-
Auteurs are a group of film makers that were considered to be particularly influential and artistic. What this means is that particular names within all platforms of media incorporate certain personal techniques into the majority of there workings as a sort of signature to show that audience that its there film or music track. An example of this is this Steven Spielberg films there is normally a hue on screen which helps give a better sense of atmosphere. This is how a lot of people identify Spielberg films from others.

Rick Altman was a strong believer in that people shouldn't categorise films or another platform of media into genres. He said that;
"Genre theory's presumes that viewers pre-read text." "Viewers become passive voyeurs" "Genres are therefore restrictive" "I do not acknowledge of allow for the hybrid"
What he means by this is that by putting media into genres they go in with an assumption of what to expect. He also claims that because of this we as an audience don't fully engage with the media but do nothing more than drift in and out making it impossible to have a proper story line.