Semiotics (EP Cover + Music Video)

Reflective Comment
This has given me knowledge on what objects symbolise. How including these items in my music video and EP cover, what sort of feeling will it create.

Indie Rock Music Video Conventions

Reflective Comment
This post has helped my find the typical features of a Indie Rock Music Video, to either stick with and use some of these typical conventions in my music video or 'bend' them to create a slightly different look.

Update 18/11/16 EP "Pieces" Released

Today was the day which our Debut EP "Pieces" was released, which means I have a bit more flexibility with releasing the songs and including the audio of the song "Pieces". I have no uploaded the animatic for "Pieces" which will be used to get a rough idea of the shots used and how they link with video itself. We wanted the title of the EP to be the music video we are going to create, as it is meant to be a trailer for the EP, so I think that if we use this song it will promote the EP well cause it will be the actual song.
Reflective Comment
Even though we've has now released the EP, we will still, use the music video we are making for this song, to promote the EP, even if its going to be done around December / January time.

Animatic: Pieces (With Audio)

This the animatic for "Pieces" with the audio included. You can now properly see how, everything will be edited, I will still have some flexibility with the editing process, and the order of shots. I am still looking up editing techniques. Within the next week or 2, we will be recording some test footage of the band playing the song in the location we want, I probably won't get the right set up, with the black background, But will use different cameras, to see which one gets the best look and position the band in the correct place.
Reflective Comment
This is the first release of the song "Pieces". So I can now include the audio for the song on my media blog, and not having take it out whenever is post anything that is meant to include it. This is the final version of the song, I think it suits the indie/alternative rock genre, so that's what sort stylised look we are going to go for when producing the music video.

EP Promotion

This was tweeted by THE MEEKS official twitter,It is to let the audience know when and where it will be released. The date in which the EP will be released is the 18/11/16. And this means that I will be able to release the animatic with the audio from a previous post.
Reflective Comment
Now that, the song will be release, I am now able to complete, some of the things I needed to do. Also the EP cover design has been created by one of our friends, who is really good at art, so as a group, we think that because we want it to look good, so I will use my EP cover design for everything I do for my media product.

Update With Location For Shots of Band Performing

So I have had a talk with Jack (Lead Singer and Rhythm), about a location we could use for the music video. And he says would could possible use Earth Studios which is where his Dad works, so we can see if we are allowed to put a sheet of some sort to hide the things on the walls. Also, we are going to have to see if we can fit all of the band in, from a wide shot. so during the week, we will record ourselves playing/miming to the track.
Reflective Comment
So Earth Studios will be our location for the shots with the band, we can add things on the walls and take some stuff out of the rooms to get close the look that I want.

Possible Locations For Shots of Band Performing

Earth Studios

Website:http://www.earthstudios.co.uk/

Location:Unit 9 Caston Ind Est, Salhouse Road, Norwich, Norfolk. NR7 9AQ

We always go here for rehearsals, and we are kinda of used to being in the rooms. We also get to use the rooms for free as one of our band member's dad owns the studio, and we would have a bit more control and flexibility on what we could do in the rehearsal rooms. As for looks, the color doesn't quite suit the look that I want as it is very green and I would prefer more blue colors. Even though, it can fit the whole band in I don't know if it would have enough room to actually record the band as a whole.

Epic Studios

Website:http://www.epic-tv.com/studios/studio-2/

Location:112-114 Magdalen St, Norwich, Norfolk. NR3 1JD
Recording here would be nice however it is very expensive and they record everything for you, and the whole project is to be done by yourself. If there's any way we could solve these problems, I think it would a good place to record as it would have the exact look we wanted, created quite easily. I have never been here before so I don't know exactly how it would look, so I don't really want to take my chances.
Reflective Comment
From the looks of it the first location seems like the ideal place to record, as I have to put perspective on how much things will cost and even, it will be difficult to get the right look, I think that Earth Studios, will be the best location, based on money and what we will be able to film there. I looked at other rehearsal studios, cause I couldn't find a plain-ish room where noise cancelling wouldn't be a problem. 

EP Cover (Developed)

I have developed my EP cover idea, by editing the EP Cover on a piece of software called 2D Design. I thought this was very helpful as I could edit the design easier as I wouldn't have to redo everything over and over again. I have changed the colours of the design so it is just black and white, I didn't really like the old EP cover, as the colours contrasted a lot with the red and purple, and then you could really see the text.

Reflective Comment
I think there are still things that need changing for example the lines where the puzzle pieces are, make it it kind of hard to see the image on the EP cover, so why I could do is get rid of the extra puzzle pieces and keep the black pieces, which are missing. I think this will look better as, at the moment it looks quite cluttered.

Props (What We Need & What We Have)

Reflective Comment
In this post I looked at the props that I need to get and a what I already have. I found this post quite helpful, as it allowed me to take control of all the things I need in the music video and take along with us when recording.

EP Cover (Rough Sketch)

This is a very rough version of the EP cover, I just wanted to get a rough look of the idea I had. We had a little discussion on how we want it to look, and as the EP is called 'Pieces' we thought we could have the cover in the style of a puzzle. There are 5 pieces missing (6 if you count, where the band logo will be). One of the things, I think will say which I don't like is the colours of the EP, I'm not too keen on the Red and Blue colours, I think what I will do is have the colours Black and White instead. The objects in the design link to lyrics in the songs (Like the Birdcage and the 2 Chairs) I like this idea as it shows people, kind of what's in the EP before they actually listen to it.
Reflective Comment
I think I will develop this idea, as I think it represents the EP quite well, I've shown it to the band, and they like this design, so I will develop and perfect this design as much as possible to that it looks good as and EP design and stand out / look interesting.

New Animatic: Pieces (Without Audio)

This is the song we're going to use instead of the one previous, as we could get the other song to work properly, and we were basing our music video, form a rough version of the song, instead of an actual recorded and mixed version, whereas this song, is all ready of release so it was easier to put images to  as I could get the right atmosphere for the song.
Reflective Comment
This did take some more of my time to recreate an animatic, however I already had the shots, so all I had to do is make sure the structure of the song so that is fits with the shots. Even though this took me more time, we all thought the other idea wasn't working, and we wouldn't of recorded the song, until like next year, so it would of been too late, at least with this song, it has already been recorded, so its a weight off our shoulders.