Music Money and Hip Hop Honeys

One media lesson Jamie came in and told us about this documentary about music videos 'Music Money and Hip Hop Honeys' which was shown on BBC3. This documentary delves into the lives of women wanting to be a 'Hip Hop Honey' and how they are exploited in music videos and what lengths they will go to, to be in a R'N'B video. The video has no relevance to our music video as it is not the music genre we are producing, however it highlights the conventions of music videos and the sexual exploitation of women in them, for example Lady GaGa in her 'Telephone' video. 

Evaluation- Filming Sunday 6th Febuary

On the following Monday in our Media Lesson we watched back all that we had filmed the day before. Jamie being so organised had catergorised all the clips into named folders making it easier to edit and watch back as we can identify the scenes. Overall the clips show a good day of hard work as we had filmed the following scenes successfully:

• The suicide in the bathroom- this included the act in the bath; this meant that I had to get in a bath fully clothed and go under the water many of times which was not fun but I took one for the team!
• 'Adventures in Claybury'- what we filmed here can be used as snippits to show the characters fight for freedom. This involved me running around the open fields and sitting in the forest looking glum which was very hard for me!
• Taking 'Drugs'- putting paracetamol in my mouth numerous amounts of time resulted in the taste lingering in my mouth the rest of the day, not nice.
• Bedroom Scenes- this involved the three of us (Jamie, Elliot and Myself) cramming into my very small room and filming myself on the bed and in the mirror.

As a group I feel that we worked very well together getting this filmed and that we incorporated everyones ideas, which will hopefully mean a good end product of a music video. 

Sunday 6th Feb- Filming

Today Jamie and Elliot are coming round to film the following parts of the narrative:

• Bathroom Scene
• Make-Up/ Self Identity Scene
• Depressed in the Bedroom Scene
• Argument with a family member
• Taking Anti-Depressants
• Some shots in the forest running
• Running down the street

All of these shots will build up a sort of montage/narative reflecting the main characters depression. To show that these scenes have occured over a long period of time, in each scene the character will be wearing a different costume however not in the bathroom scene as this is in the present time.

Filiming- Class Room Shots

Today, as a group we decided to make a start of filming for our narrative. To start it off we filmed the scenes in a classroom when the character in the narrative is shown to be alone and unhappy at school. This was a successful filming session and achieved alot in this. 

Album Covers-Preliminary Ideas

Before I begin to create my album cover for the new single 'Bring Me To Life' by our band 'Forgetting Last Friday', I have created some preliminary ideas which will act as plans for my final cover. Hopefully from this I will learn how to apply the codes and conventions of album covers which I have learnt from from the analysis. 

Album Cover #1

This album cover uses the contrasting colours black and white, which are also a convention of the Rock genre, to create a strong stiking impact on the audience, an example of this being used on current album covers in the 'XX' and their simple black background and white cross concept. The image being created by the lines reflects the title of the single 'Bring Me To Life' as it is an attempt to replicate a heart monitor machiene found in hospitals. The font reflects the calligraphy used when in rebellion associated with the genre, as it is in another colour of the rock genre red this shows the thought behind the conventions and codes as it represents death and anger, which is obvious in the singles name.

Album Cover #2

Many album covers consist of the artist being on the front cover, this allows the audience to make an imediate connection to the singer, as they can identify that their new single/album is being released. The photo used on this cover was not purposely taken, however by making this preliminary idea reflects my understanding of how when the artist is on the front cover that the shot taken is usually a mid-shot or a close-up, entirely depending on their facial expressions and make-up to sell the single. However in this idea by making the lips red and over laying a tear drop on the cheek reflects the famous american pop artist Litchenstein, and his ways on cartooning. This concept also includes the analysis of famous artwork used on 'Sgt Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band' album and applying this to my own work.

Album Cover #3

The whole idea behind this design was a play on the title 'Bring Me to Life' by using the famous character Little Red Riding, who dies in her fairy tale, and a ghosting effect to create the conventions of the gothic genre. Also this design is very different as it does not typically uses the codes and conventions of the gothic rock genre, and that no picture of the band or members is used, this makes the cover original and gives it credit as it is more like a piece of artwork than a album cover. However the distorted font codes the fantasy/fairy tale aspect of the artwork which is far from reality which is reflected in the title 'Bring Me To Life'.

Album Cover #4

This last design is very minimalist but achieves a lot through the use of codes, colours and conventions. The colours black, white and red are all colours of the rock genre and code the youth, and simplicity as in this importance of the band and their instruments. The silhouette is a clear representation of the guitarist in the band also reflecting the importance of the instruments in the band. 

CD cover collage

After analysing current CD/Album covers I have made this collage of inspiration; a collage of current covers that I like and would like to include some of the codes and conventions in my own cover.

Fom here I am going to create some preliminary album covers for my band 'Forgetting Last Friday' and thier new single 'Bring Me To Life'.

Planning- Lyrics

Through this planning process I have been able to estblish when the band will be performing and there will be a narrative.