Deadline for Album Cover

I have had further discussion with Jack in regards to the project and it appears that he is more concerned with the digipak work as opposed to the actual video, however I have since explained to him that the process - according to my teacher's supervision - is best done with the video first. I really want to produce content of a high enough standard and so Jack's deadline for January seems a little unrealistic given how my shoot for the video will likely occur within such a time-frame, in an effort to not fall behind.

It is with regret that I now have to decline Jack's requests for a finished digipak however I will see about producing some concepts around this time if possible.

Change of Title

Jack requested that the name be changed from Under the Weird Sky to simply Weird Sky

Just a simple update: Jack has requested that I change the album title - and thus the project - to just Weird Sky as opposed to Under the Weird Sky. Although no official reason for this was given, I can only assume it was a decision made as to associate the leading song to the album.

Pre-Plan - Under the Weird Sky Music Video

Planning Process:

Firstly, I'd like to open this post by establishing my planning method for the final music video within this project:

I used to Scout, create a Script, Storyboard and then focus on Audio in my AS project but that wasn't a really efficient process. The issue is that Scouting would effect everything else and I was rather restricted in my genre as to where I could shoot, which is why it took first priority. However this tailoring meant that everything else occurred at a slower rate.

As the current project is music-orientated, it makes sense for me to assess the Audio first and create not a Script but Concept and see how I am inspired by the music. This can then translate into an Animatic, I used a Storyboard during my AS project but a music video is focused a lot heavier around beats and the changes occurring on them. Scouting should be easier given that I can perhaps choose more available locations in my planning process and perhaps make changes to my original plans following the new discoveries made during Scouting.
After all of this is organised I'll be able to shoot, edit and evaluate - making improvements where necessary - no different really from before but hopefully my method of planning will be more efficient now.

Solo or Band?

In order to clarify, this is a solo project for Jack as an artist. He originally worked under the name of Jack DC and would often switch to Jack Calvesbert - linking into the names of his YouTube channels. However, I was unsure at first if Jack wanted to include members of his other bands into the project: he is part of the Acid Tsunamis, is part of a duo in the Completed Series and also has worked with some other friends on a band called Surf Girl.
Jack told me, when questioned what I would put on the album cover (Jack DC or Jack Calvesbert), to instead use the stage name 'Elsewhere Head'; as I have stated, I have decided to focus in on Ty Segall as he too is a psychedelic solo artist. I did run into some issue with whether or not this is a band project recently following my conversation with Jack via text. I'd been discussing the idea of framing the video with a scene beforehand in which he is smoking, however Jack made reference to involving some others in the scene along with involving them in the performance. This is something I'm not too keen on as it is difficult to organise multiple people, which is something I'll have to explain more to Jack at a later date.

Notably in the conversation, Jack mentioned Ty Segall's the Singer and its music video. He suggested I do something along those lines for the rest of the video however it is only filmed with a single wide shot of the artist on stage. While it is something I'd consider, it isn't something I could necessarily feature too heavily as I need to include a range of shots, as part of the project's specification.
Although, I could see about including a few interspersed wide shots of Jack and 'clone' him like in my Preliminary Video, in an effort to pay homage to Ty Segall's video. This'd only really require me to make Jack's clones more opaque.

Experimental - Psychedelic Clips

In the following video, with music from YouTube, I filmed various physical objects around my house to create psychedelic imagery - intense colours, kaleidoscopic, patterned or paisley and otherwise abstract imagery. Each came back with varying results and notably the zoom is rather slow in many of the clips, forcing me to physically move the camera closer and therefore looking more amateur and shaky - which isn't bad, however I wish to still film to a high standard.

I used a Canon PowerShot for the filming of these clips, along with a standard travel tripod.

Experimental from Eughan Wooding on Vimeo.

1) A thin black and white blanket found downstairs:
With a repeating pattern that includes quite equilateral or kaleidoscopic shapes, this blanket would've been ideal for creating a psychedelic clip or background to use in my final video. The downside being my inability to zoom effectively along with the focus of the camera (which is auto-matic) along with the poor lighting, it could be difficult to ensure the blanket is adequately flat or in good enough light, as it is too big to hang in direct light.

The rotation of the camera could be quite effective when generally applied to my final video; creating a dutch-angle could reflect the distortion and disorientation in reality in order to replicate the feelings of drug use - or at least indicate them to the viewer, for them to better empathise with Jack on screen.

2/3) The alternating sides of my duvet cover:
I very much like the patterns used on the duvet: the first being ideal for camera movement in the direction of the pattern while the second is rather kaleidoscopic and therefore more suited to zooms. Notably, the same issues as previously mentioned plague these two shots; the lighting and focus is way off and would be difficult to correct especially given my lack of equipment. It might be worth looking into stock footage, or generating footage, of patterns fitting the psychedelic conventions of paisley, fractal, kaleidoscopic and so on.

4) A Hoberman sphere toy:
Using a very 90s toy, I tried to create a moving psychedelic subject such as expanding colours but noticeably the background isn't particularly immersive or blank and my fingers can be seen in most shots. I don't believe it is particularly worth the time to film such visuals as the effects are obviously low-budget and don't look visually entertaining. This is one of my least favourite shots in terms of mise-en-scene however I certainly like the vibrancy of the colours and their blurred movement only adds to this.

5) My DVD collection:
In the first portion, the light was too low and I decided to reshoot with an extra torch - that of my iPhone. The second portion is clearer however there is too much glare from the torch and you can see the shadow of the camera for a second, furthermore the use of the collection would require a more vibrant and extensive range of films as the current set look rather dull; I tried fast camera movements to again generate my own psychedelic imagery of patterns or colours but I don't think this is a particularly easy way of doing it.

6) A lightbulb:
Strangely the imagery is further made abstract by the lack of focus, which I liked. It's just subtle enough to perhaps have the colours edited and overlaid onto another clip or even as an isolated clip itself, certainly something to consider when filming - plus there's no shortage of lighting! I also like the zoom out here, while the zoom on the camera is rather slow; the rotation included in the zoom out is what really makes it aesthetic and disorientating, as previously stated.


In conclusion, I think that the experiments have proven rather lackluster however it has only reaffirmed my idea of using stock footage, in fact I have an app called SoundColour which is supposed to react to sounds recorded - producing visuals accordingly. It is worth noting that the app has been suggested to replicate synaesthesia, the condition of the previously mentioned artist Jack B Coulter, which can directly link sounds/music to visuals; using this to create visuals for my final psychedelic video could enhance or replicate the 'trip' that psychedelia aims to enhance or replicate.

Experimental - Skittles

Again in an attempt to use practical effects to generate psychedelic imagery, I decided to use Skittles in a puddle of water in order to timelapse with an iPhone 7 the colouring dissipation. I compiled a video below explaining the process and used a sped up version of this YouTube song that I found. Additionally, I was inspired by a YouTube video in which a young boy and his father timelapse some Skittles too.
There are a few videos out there with the same concept and I noticed perhaps the reason why my Skittles took so long to dissipate and why the areas around aren't as clean - with very gross and faded bits of water around some Skittles. Essentially I used cold water despite many videos saying 'warm water', which could have resulted in a quicker and smoother clip. Additionally, I failed to use a plate in my video which might have given more shape to the pattern.
The timelapse is very shaky and the lighting is quite poor, as a result it is difficult to clearly see the pattern emerging; potentially, a tripod of sorts may have been useful however the fact that the timelapse occurred on an iPhone would make this difficult. Additionally, the inclusion of the Skittles in the frame make it obvious what is occurring so I would need to ensure they weren't shown - focusing mainly on the pattern - if I decided to include the effect in my final video.


Skittles from Eughan Wooding on Vimeo.

I do like the effect but it lacks a degree of movement I think would be best achieved through the use of digitally generated stock kaleidoscopic footage; the practical effects seem to have been a let down and the only feasible way to get the footage I need seems to be through previously generated means.

Overview of Brand Identity

I have made a few decisions on my focus for brand identity for Jack and my project surrounding the production of a digipak and video for his new music. I believe it is also worth noting how I can refer to Jack's work on either notrightrecords or bandcamp for help with working off of his previous works. Moving on, the decisions I've already come to are as follows:

Inspiration
I've decided to focus on Ty Segall's style mainly for Jack as Ty Segall is also a solo psychedelic artist, and a favourite of Jack's. I've decided to include some aspects of his Dada art style and animations in my work on the project, as well as hand-draw some designs and fonts.
Additionally, I will need to analyse some of his videos in further detail - particularly when focusing on the animation side of my project. These videos will also offer me better insight into the style I aim to replicate to an extent.

I also intend to analyse some more psychedelic artists, such as King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Tame Impala, the Dandy Warhols and Django Django.

Merchandise and Logo
I've decided to create a circular logo for Jack's solo band name 'Elsewhere Head', drawing inspiration from the Who, the Neighbourhood Watch, a YouTuber called Northlander and an artist called Dave Giles; stylistically it will likely include a stamp version of Jack's most definable identity features such as his distinct hair and glasses, taking inspiration from artists like Elvis Costello and Buddy Holly who used glasses to distinguish themselves. This decision is made as I believe it'll be stylistically well received but also a circular design would easily fit onto a badge for merchandise. Badges being usable on most attire and even bags, to further advertise the brand of Elsewhere Head.

Furthermore, T-shirts seem to be a universally viable option for merchandise as a range of artists sell shirts: Ty Segall, Iron Maiden and the Ramones being some that I looked at. I will likely include the logo or some album covers (previously made and the new one for this project) on the shirts.
Plus, I noted how Iron Maiden and the Ramones have become mainstream clothing options that are warn by people who aren't even fans of the music, as a result I wished to tap into this idea and perhaps include some merchandise specifically targeted at the mainstream youth - printing onto sweatshirts, tapered jogging bottoms and perhaps even hats.

Costume
Most psychedelic artists dress rather unassuming in casual clothes, therefore I would have no problem in allowing Jack to wear whatever he wanted. However, I would like to note that he does own Pretty Green clothes which typically feature a paisley design - conforming to psychedelic imagery - so it'd be an option for his costume in the material being used, certainly. Additionally, Pretty Green is run by Liam Gallagher from Oasis, who Jack has claimed have been an influence on his music and him as an artist.

Target Audience
Jack will likely be adhering to a demographic of the same age, specifically teens and young adults. There's been a notable resurgence of youths who are interested in indie culture, which has had a notable throwback to older genres and subcultures. Many young people, at least who I've interacted with and generally seen, have adopted a liking for old rock and psychedelic music and fashion - often wearing 90s clothes or leather and denim.
Additionally, many youths like trance music which some believe is linked to a branch in psychedelic music - with some similarities in rave culture's drug use being enhanced by music or vibrant colours and UV-esque designs or clothing. The vibrant colours I use will likely attract this younger demographic.

However, in focusing on Jack's musical ability I can perhaps tap into the nostalgia of older psychedelia fans, similar to how many older fans of rock have mixed with younger fans of the Strypes. The Strypes are a similar age to Jack and so their musical prowess is played in the promotional material to attract fans to the concept of 'revival of real rock'.

Palette
Palette is exceptionally important in brand identity and I believe that focusing on vibrant primary colours is the way forward. Additionally, vibrant and contrasting colours play a large role in Pop Art which has inspired much of psychedelic art, as I found in my research.
I will particularly use blue, linking to the sky imagery due to the project being 'Under the Weird Sky'; another set of colours I like and aim to use are pink and green as I feel they stand out the most, drawing inspiration mainly from an Instagram artist I found called Jack B Coulter - who has synesthesia).

Palette - Brand Identity

What is the point?

The colours associated with a band or a particular project of theirs can help make it more iconic and distinguishable, allowing the demographic to easily access products of the artist by associating certain colours with them. Deciding a palette is a key aspect of a promotional project as it really determines the colour of all advertisements and merch, perhaps even the music video.

A key example of a consistent and effective palette is the White Stripes who use the colours white, black and red; the colours chosen are good at contrasting against one another and don't really clash. The continued use of the same palette has helped to form the band's iconic style and even dictates their performance costumes and other promotional material - the example on the right solely consisting of album covers.


It is difficult to point to a particular psychedelic pattern as bands don't usually seem to have a themed palette surrounding their band, unlike the White Stripes.

There are some examples within album covers that I could point to such as the vibrant use (and contrast) of pink and yellow in Thee Oh Sees' album cover for Carrion Crawler/The Dream. While this suggests it would be difficult to decide on a palette for Jack's Elsewhere Head stage name, I could still use a degree of consistent colour across the digipak material and even the video.


Deciding a palette!

I have researched into what typically makes something psychedelic in its colour use, I have discovered that the art style is at least acceptable to have Dada and Pop Art influences, extremely helpful as I intend to use Dada in my video but the Pop Art is interesting. For starters the Dandy Warhols, a neo-psychedelia band, are named after Andy Warhol - the famous American pop artist. Pop art has its place within the psychedelic genre as the art style typically uses vibrant colours and demands contrast between various layers of the piece.

The famous Marilyn Monroe piece showcases a variety of the repeated image but with swapped palettes. From this I can conclude that the palette should certainly be vibrant as to be visually appealing and adhere to convention, it might even help attract the attention of consumers and other psychedelic fans.


I also found from this website a brief summary of the history behind colour within psychedelic art, along with a segment with listed examples of palettes. I like the vibrancy of the colours used in the Glow and Fissionable Material examples but I don't necessarily agree with the use of black within the Glow palette.
Additionally I chose the Dance Lights for the consistent use of blue or blue-hued colours, the same with the Fun Kind as it has the blue larger than the other colours to show its significance over the other colours, blue is important to the project as it is titled Under the Weird Sky therefore I think there should be some saturation of the blue in order for the audience to still recognise the sky imagery used.

In short I like the vibrancy of Fissionable Material overall, plus I've previously used pink and yellow and green within my Psychedelic Head animations; I very much like how they contrast off of one another and the blue used is equally important for the inclusion within the sky imagery, however I will likely include some other shades of blue.
I also have an artist that I follow on Instagram called Jack B Coulter (who has synesthesia) and he included a piece, as shown below, which heavily features use of pink, purple and green. I really like the general vibrancy in the use of these colours but also the design of the piece itself, the ripples of colour could be something I choose to feature and perhaps overlay onto my sky imagery. While I would have to recreate such art myself, it might be worth looking into - as to achieve that 'weird sky' effect.

Target Audience - Brand Identity

Given that Jack's main audience currently is an assortment of friends and acquaintances, it would make sense to target young people around the same age. The Strypes are around the same age as Jack and have impressed a demographic of the same age by their sheer talent, their older fans are seem impressed too but also buy the music for a degree of nostalgia as supported by many YouTube comments preaching of the band as "bringing back real rock music".

I believe that since Jack has many friends of the same age - teenagers from 16 to 18 - a teen or young adult demographic is logical; many young people have begun to enjoy psychedelia given a sub-culture resurgence of rock music, especially from indie groups. Additionally, some sources argue that the gradual increase of electronic effects and sounds within psychedelic songs, along with heavy drug use and colourful light-up clothes, has greatly led to the creation of rave music and its culture. There is especially a growth in the psychedelic trance sub-genre to highlight this trend. Whilst Jack doesn't produce music of such a genre, I believe that interest in the rave community from young people clearly shows an interest into psychedelic culture. Pop artists such as Miley Cyrus have also begun to foray into psychedelic music, as noted by her production of the Floyd Song (below) which many online argue adheres to psychedelic conventions - likely through the trance movement previously mentioned. Within this, it is clear that psychedelia is making some return to the social consciousness - especially within the younger demographic i.e. teens and young adults.




It is important to note how, similarly within the Strypes' alleged 'revival of real rock' interesting an older demographic who were fans of the genre during its conception, an older demographic would likely be interested in Jack's music too. Through his inspiration with older artists, it's clear that Jack has taken on some degree of 'older sound' with his music; I will likely have to focus on Jack's ability as a musician - as previously stated - in order to draw in older psychedelia fans.

Costume - Brand Identity

Jack's costume in videos and promotional material should reflect the psychedelic genre and conventions he wishes to adhere to. With this in mind, it is important to note how Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, Pink Floyd and Django Django (all psychedelic bands) dress rather unassuming with casual shirts and jeans.

With this in mind, Jack wore a shirt with a detailed pattern in the Summer Nites video I made for him; I am aware that he also owns some Pretty Green clothing. Pretty Green is a brand created by Liam Gallagher, from Oasis, and is one of Jack's inspirations - making inclusion of the brand logical in Jack's image. While Gallagher isn't necessarily a psychedelic artist and the name of the brand comes from a song by the Jam (who also aren't psychedelic), his clothing brand and some of the products are quite paisley.

Interestingly, they too use a circular logo design for the clothing which merely reaffirms my belief in creating a circular logo for Jack as an artist. Moving on, the intricate patterns showcased in the images shows how they fit within psychedelia as it usually contains kaleidoscopic or intricate patterns and imagery.

I am aware that I am treating my approach to this product as if Jack is a real client however, as this project is for educational purposes, I do not need to seek out permission or necessarily a sponsorship for the use of Pretty Green. Additionally, Jack might feel more comfortable in casual clothes and therefore we may just shoot with Jack in more 'normal' clothes just like the previously mentioned psychedelic artists.

Merchandise - Brand Identity

Most artists focus on T-shirts, they're extremely popular in displaying logos or album work. The Ramones have been eternalised in the mainstream use of their logo on shirts, even by non-fans, but the detailed album art and iconic logo/name for Iron Maiden has made their shirts also very popular.

This shows how even detailed or simple designs can work. Due to this I would most likely work with producing a shirt with album work on and another with the circular logo I plan to work on.

Segall's Shirts
Ty Segall seems to be where I'm going to aim for with representation of Jack as a solo artist, especially given Jack's adamence on working within psychedelic convention. Interestingly, Segall also seems to work on the same level as artists within other genres in how he has released mainly T-shirts when it comes to merchandise, showing that they are an effective and accessible product to produce for a wide demographic.


What might be interesting is working on some clothing such as sweatshirts or tapered jogging bottoms and even hats.

These products have proven to be quite fashionable with both teenagers and young adults who might consider buying Jack's merchandise.


This would also set Jack apart as a psychedelic artist in how he produces a range of clothing merch, the fashion style pictured on the left is commonly associated with mainstream fashion but obviously we could tap into that market as demonstrated by the Ramones.

Last note: the circular design of a logo for Jack as Elsewhere Head could - as mentioned in previous posts - be used in merchandise through the production of badges. Badges are very easily bought and many bands produce badges. They can be worn on jeans, denim or leather jackets, bags and many other places making them versatile but also helping to get the brand name out. This is especially important with a small independent artist like Jack.

Logo Concept and Design

I decided that what might prove useful is creating a logo for Jack, or Elsewhere Head.

I was really inspired firstly by my friend posting an artistic picture of the Neighbourhood Watch logo, I also saw a YouTuber known as the Northlander use a circular logo, due to both of these designs I believe the logo would look best as a circular design. Plus the design is perfect for including on a badge, and therefore band merch.

Existing Circular Logos and Merch:

A circular design would be a good choice as it helps provide me a basic layout of the logo in that I will presumably include the text 'Elsewhere Head' around the outside. Additionally, inclusion of Jack's name would help with establishing the brand as fans could wear badges and help identify/associate the logo with the brand.

• The Who also are evidence of a circular logo being effective in distinguishing the band; while the Who include their text on the inside, they have a very distinct font and I don't wish to necessarily imitate the band.
  Additionally, their use of an RAF roundel has made them synonymous with Mods, which quickly became a large part of their demographic - often adorning the roundel as a symbol of Mod culture, which the Who brought into pop culture/public consciousness.

• Dave Giles is a rather unknown artist, at least in reference to major record labels and companies, however he has also sought out the use of badges to sell his name and brand. The badge shown above includes his website url and therefore is useful in directing people to his work and therefore broadening his fanbase. I personally don't think it'd be worth putting a url on the logo, despite Jack's work mainly being online, simply due to the aesthetic being lost; I think that integrating the artist's name as opposed to a url looks better, as seen in the Who's logo.
  I would like to note how I do like Dave's minimalist approach with the 'stamp' design. He focuses particularly on his beard as a source of identity or distinguishing himself from others, however he has since shaved it off which makes the design shown obsolete; with Jack having glasses, it might be worth simply including them despite his newly formed and trimmed facial hair - as beards tend to be easier to remove or change unlike glasses which can be quite iconic as seen by artists like Elvis Costello or Buddy Holly or even John Lennon.

As a result I am likely to create a 'stamp' design of Jack's hair and iconic glasses for the logo, drawing on inspiration from Dave Giles and the Neighbourhood Watch. Although text will probably be simply Jack's stage name like the Who's design but placed along the circumference like in the Northlander design.

Bonus:

In Durham, I happened to come across a pizza place using a circular logo, I find it is quite relevant given my desire to create a circular logo. Notably it is just black and white, much like the Dave Giles badge, which likely saves money on printing. Whilst Jack is aiming to establish himself as a psychedelic artist, I think a black and white logo might be more fitting and certainly establish a professional brand identity; such a palette choice makes the logo versatile as well, clearly being fit for any choice of merchandise. On another note, the text follows the rim of the circle here, much like in the other logos above, and therefore reinforces my choice to place the text around the outside.

Elsewhere Head - Brand Identity

Jack revealed to me that he would like to produce his new album under the name 'Elsewhere Head', as can be seen by his inclusion of the name on his BandCamp. This came about during a conversation in which I tried to clarify whether or not he wanted to keep it as a solo project or produce the work with a band - something which would dictate a lot of my work as I'd have to focus heavily on how to present a band but also it'd be harder to organise more than one person.

I was potentially thinking of working on some of Ty Segall's stuff as he is a solo psychedelic artist. Ty Segall also has some stop motion animation within some of his videos which I could use for inspiration, namely Manipulator which uses photographs (like my Psychedelic Head work) in order to create the motion with some background changes that go along with the beat. I particularly find this image to be striking in how the opening head clearly links to psychedelia, this is something I could potentially work with for Jack's album cover.

It is important to note the abstract and otherwise unrelated use of imagery, the background images are quite random but there seems to be a degree of cohesion in how the images are relatively evenly distributed and (as seen above) the video includes some kaleidoscopic imagery. The images also come into the video on the beat which could be an effective way of editing to the beat.

Ty Segall?

I started listening to Ty Segall because Jack was suggesting good music for me to listen to a while back, so clearly Jack is a fan of his work. When I showed Niamh some of his music, she said it sounds a bit like Jack's work. This more than proves to me how Ty Segall is a great source of inspiration that I can draw from for ideas on branding and music video, especially given that he is a psychedelic musician.

Firstly he includes some stop motion in Manipulator and California Hills has animation (which I can't tell if it's done in Flash or MS Paint). Manipulator links to the more Dada art style from my Psychedelic Head work but obviously California Hills' use of a more illustrative design links to my animations in the past, already having a cartoony style, along with my work on Shit Music.

His use of text is interesting in his work as it is clearly illustrated and has a significant amount of detail.

Such designs being extremely different to my sans-seriff font in Summer Nites.
It is likely that I will have to illustrate the text for Jack's products in order to replicate the complexity, which typical digital fonts lack.

Experimental - Psychedelic Head Idea

Being inspired by my own work, both within my study of Art and my work with Jack in the past - on his EP for Shit Music - I've planned and created a small concept which is quite psychedelic. I storyboarded out my idea and animated it using Flash.

To the right I have clearly given evidence of both my own Art, which used various inks and acrylic paints layered over different pieces of paper, along with the cover for Shit Music which was illustrated using Illustrator.





I only managed to animate roughly this section of the plan in which I indicate how I wish to have some miscellaneous liquid - which I would presumably make vibrant in order to adhere to psychedelic convention, as it is visually entertaining to watch - to pour from Jack's mouth and perhaps other parts of the screen or his eyes. This design is again inspired by my own art and work on Shit Music.

















These last parts of the storyboard just link to how I could either transition to Jack playing music with a whip pan transition (right) or create a psychedelic spiral animation (left). I didn't wish to waste time doing these in the test footage as I might not need them.


Video of Ideas



I tried to animate the head but it took quite a long time as seen in the first idea's footage, since I had to redraw the head for every frame. I personally prefer the second and third ideas in their use of my friend Max's head; in the second and third ideas, I used various images of Max that were cut out in Photoshop and given a transparent background, in order to overlay into Flash.

The second clip was quicker to do as I took different pictures of Max in order to achieve the stop motion effect, and while the quality of the image was poor (due to resizing) I believe it worked in my favour stylistically - it seems quite like Dada art or perhaps Monty Python or the early Mortal Kombat games. The third idea was done in an effort to experiment with whether or not I can simply manipulate an image into doing certain actions, such as a static closed mouth picture opening its mouth with a puppet-like mechanism. While the technique could prove useful, the Photoshop on it took longer than necessary as I could just take different pictures to create a stop motion video.

"Black Lines"

In my time I've seen a variety of different music videos and I've noticed that a lot have recently started to include black lines around the top and bottom of the video. I'm aware that this is to do with aspect ratio but I was considering the reason behind it - obviously the music videos have enough of a budget to be shot in a wider screen.
It appears that the videos look more cinematic with the use of these black borders which seem to focus the audience's attention more to the performance on screen. Additionally, as films typically are shot in a similar fashion, it makes the video seem more artistic or professional as it tries to copy the features of major cinematic releases.

Here is a number of examples I've found:




It is important to note the sheer difference in the genres which use this feature. The range of genres clearly indicates how popular the technique has become and this is especially interesting within the indie genre. Major artists such as Katy Perry and Usher (Panic! At the Disco being a very well known pop-punk band with a large teen following) or those typically in the charts seem to use the aspect ratio within the video for aesthetic purposes, they can shoot in full screen but choose not to as it appears more (as previously stated) cinematic and professional. Bands and artists who aren't as 'popular', or as tied to major record labels - such as Watsky or Rat Boy - tend to need to produce lower-end budget videos; as if to appear more professional, these artists have included these "black lines" within some of their videos.

I doubt that I have the equipment to shoot in the correct ratio, the school Canon Power Shot cameras don't support the format - which would need to stretch the video when shooting for it to look detailed enough when re-scaling in the final edit. As such, I could perhaps see about simply adding in black lines to act as borders in post production - either using Flash or the shapes option in Premiere Pro. This could make my final video appear as if it had a higher budget when in actuality is was quite low, like many in the indie genre.
While the more 'professional' and cinematic look might undermine the conventions of the indie genre, which typically has an amateur aesthetic when it comes to the quality of the equipment used, I have seen a few indie artists such as Twenty One Pilots (as listed above) use this same technique - possibly to compensate for the inexpensive equipment used, but in some cases these major indie artists have high camera quality.

Conventions of Psychedelic Genre

Well firstly I researched into the genre myself, there are various other types of psychedelic music such as neo-psychedelia (Django Django), psychedelic rock (Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall) or even psychedelic pop (Tame Impala, who also fits into the other two genres) but covers a range of other sub-genres. However, they all seem to be influenced by the 1960s psychedelic culture in which many used psychedelic drugs such as LSD and mushrooms to experience visual and auditory hallucinations while listening to music; the psychedelic music attempted to recreate the experience or at least enhance it, this perhaps explains the visual aspects of psychedelia. The music has spread from influence of Western rock and folk bands - especially in the US and UK - and some bands incorporate many other aspects of different genres, most commonly electronic sounds and effects.

Visually there is a lot of use of kaleidoscopic imagery, along with intricate illustrative patterns and often abstract or surreal art - not typically based within realism ; this again is done to enhance the experience while under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs.

The art often includes:

• Vibrant and/or contrasting colours within the palette 
• Surrealistic or otherwise whimsical imagery that isn't necessarily realistic
• Often extreme detail within the illustrations
• Kaleidoscopic, fractal and paisley patterns (which can be moving within videos)
• Specific focus on colour and shapes - often using spirals, circles or other recurring imagery/motifs
• The typography for the art is often warps or hand-drawn/lettered, the font is also usually extremely serif or complex in its design

To confirm my research, I sought out Jack's opinion on what psychedelia means. I was also worried because from the research, it seemed that performance wasn't the main focus of visuals which is the opposite within my project. I'm thinking that I will need to somehow make the performance clips more colourful or psychedelic in convention. Moving on, this is what Jack said:

Base Music Video Analysis (2/2)

Music video analysis thee oh sees from Eughan Wooding

Music video analysis django django from Eughan Wooding

Base Music Video Analysis (1/2)

Within my analysis of the Beatles, I was actually looking at Eleanor Rigby but had to look into some other videos (namely Don't Let Me Down and Twist And Shout). One point I forgot to raise was their presentation within their videos as initially a smartly dressed band and then a more unique and abstract style, as such I might consider having Jack dress in such a manner since he often does dress reasonably smart - with chelsea boots and a button up shirt. The smartly dressed trend even continues into analysis of the Kinks although my analysis of other bands suggests there may not be a requirement to conform to a 'star image'.

Music video analysis beatles from Eughan Wooding

Music video analysis oasis from Eughan Wooding

Music video analysis kinks from Eughan Wooding

Music Video Theories: Subvert or Adhere?

It would appear that Carlsson believes music videos fall into two categories of performance and conceptual; I disagree and believe it is possible to incorporate ideas from both the performance and conceptual conventions Carlsson describes. There are many videos which incorporate artists' performances into the video alongside some narrative or artistic visuals. As is the case in many videos for Fall Out Boy, Panic! At the Disco, Eminem/Slim Shady, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, and the Strypes among many other artists. While Carlsson argues that sometimes the artist acts as a 'bard' to tell the story, the lyrics and music don't always fit the story being told.
I would certainly like to focus in on Jack's identity as an artist and showcase his musical skills in using performance clips however I would also like to make the video visually entertaining and appealing to the audience for maximum re-watchability, as such I will probably combine conventions from both of Carlsson's categories which - while subverting the theoretical 'rules' Carlsson has noted - enables me to remove any restrictions I may have come across when focusing solely on either performance or conceptual, although I will likely need to find a way of balancing the conventions of each category.

Goodwin argues that there are certain conventions and stereotypes within music genres which often appear within that genre's music videos. This is an idea that I had noticed long before my research, with rock, punk and metal songs often including performance clips of the whole band or focusing mainly on the main singer, while pop songs and rap songs often had one artist to focus on allowing them to produce more dance or narrative orientated music videos - as seen best in Katy Perry's videos which have very elaborate themes throughout the video such as the candy theme in her California Gurls video. It is likely that I will have to focus on and adhere to conventions of the indie and psychedelic rock genres given that Jack creates such music, we both like such music and Jack is especially interested in the psychedelic aspect of videos and music. As I have often produced very abstract art, I believe this wont be difficult to adhere to, especially given Jack's expertise on the genre.

Carlsson and Goodwin note how the singer is typically the main focus and the video tries to sell their best attributes by focusing on them. With this in mind, I will say that I disagree with Goodwin's idea that the artist becomes an erotic symbol or that the video is for almost voyeuristic intent; while women are often sexualised in the music genre, it is sometimes a marketing choice in order to attract consumers however I wish to focus on Jack's ability to perform and help clearly display his musical identity - which is why I have and will choose to focus on him for the videos.
Moving on with Goodwin, he has suggested that lyrics and music often amplify or contradict the video's visuals which I have clearly adhered to in my Summer Nites video (showing bottles when "smashed" is said or the sun when mentioning the weather). I don't see any way to argue for or against this belief as it covers both the amplification or contradiction of the visuals to lyrics.

So in short, I have clearly researched and understand Carlsson and Goodwin but wish to subvert some ideas they have put forward in order to avoid restrictions and focus on what I believe to be important and best for my client, Jack.

Research - Music Video Theory

Below is a Prezi detailing the research I've done into Music Video Theory, focusing on Carlsson and Goodwin.




Here are the Fall Out Boy and Bowling for Soup videos mentioned in the last bubble of my prezi.

Video - Summer Nites

Below is the final Summer Nites video, it contains a mix of performance shots along with some shots arranged in a summer montage. It is fairly close to the storyboard I planned however the beginning and end I changed at Jack's request - he is a film student and so he helped come up with the idea at the beginning with the fade to white transition. I personally like the idea but was unable to make it work well enough because the clouds were rather grey during the shot I used.
In general, I quite like the concept and feel that I've really captured the fleeting essence of summer and its fun, the montage adequately shows the variety in activities during our teenage days. It's all rather positive in its imagery which adheres to the happy upbeat sound of the acoustic guitar.

It was difficult to film the candid shots as my friends were rather aware that I was shooting on the day, given that I notified them before hand. I have mixed feelings about the handheld camera, on the one hand I believe it fits the video nicely however on the other hand I think that it is too shaky in some parts which might not work in other types of videos with different concepts - which may need to be more still or clear in order to appear professional. I considered changing the colour of the montage clips or slowing them down, like in the Strypes' Hard to Say No, to differentiate between the performance clips better - further showing that the handheld filming was intentional.

Notably, light is very important in creating a good video, I especially learned this last year during one of my AS project videos (see my evaluation of the video). It seems that the lighting during Jack's performance isn't very clear but it does look fine outside - leading me to realise again that natural lighting, though temperamental, is the best for videos; perhaps artificial lighting would work if the bulbs produced very white light, as opposed to orangey light. The lighting is especially good at 0:44 in the video so perhaps shooting outside or with another camera could help make my videos look more visually appealing.
I edited the shots with hard cuts and little transitions, thus this video is quite different form my preliminary. I felt that the transitions wouldn't be necessary given that I wanted to create a montage, additionally since I was working from footage sent by friends it'd be difficult to include zoom or whip-pan transitions as I had no control over how the clips were shot.

I'm quite fond of how the font looks, it's quite reminiscent of the sans-serif font of the Strypes and the Vaccines. The Strypes use their font at the beginning of a lot of their music videos:

This choice to include the band name in the video, despite it being titled online, helps reinforce further the brand identity - something I should look into. It's quite memorable, which I suppose is why the Strypes used it given that they are a newly 'major' band. As I wish to focus in on Jack's identity as an artist, I believed it important to include his name on the video as he is a rather unknown artist. With this in mind, I understand how Jack can fit into the indie genre and will need to further look into the conventions of the indie genre. With this in mind, I am aware that most psychedelic bands include very serif fonts and will perhaps include such text on the album cover; it's important that the audience is able to read the text but should the text fit well as serif in the video then I might deviate from my choice here.
The Strypes are quite a large influence for me in my work, my preliminary video even had some whip-pan transitions which can be seen in a few of their videos. While Jack also shares my love for their music (and he likely admires them given that they are of similar age to use yet very successful), I do not believe they are a direct inspiration to his work. It may help for me to look into bands that Jack particularly associates with his music, thus I will ask for a list in the near future.



Summer Nites from Eughan Wooding on Vimeo.

In the end, it doesn't necessarily matter how I feel about the video as long as my client (Jack) is happy. I asked for feedback and while his response was brief, it is a clearly positive comment. Perhaps in the future I will ask for a more detailed response, maybe even choosing to question some friends as they are teenagers - likely to be the target audience, however I will need to look into the demographic at a later date.

Shooting - Summer Nites

I planned to shoot with Jack today, the whole shoot being rather inpromptu. It was difficult to get in contact with him as his phone wasn't working but in his absence I managed to film various other shots of the others in town. Additionally, the band members for the Acid Tsunamis all had other commitments so they couldn't come back to Jack's for the shoot. With this in mind, I was going to make Jack the main focus anyway which I essentially have to do now.

I was in charge of filming and chose to use a Canon Powershot SX510, it is a school-owned camera but it is quite light and easy to use which was great for the shoot - given how much walking around town we had done, this is also why I chose to not use a tripod as it might have been difficult to create the home-made and amateur shots while on the move. Filming was therefore handheld and this helped to make the shots more friendly to adhere to the theme of friends and summer with the 'home footage' aesthetic.

Once in contact with Jack, we eventually went back to his so that I could film him playing the guitar. The shoot at his was a lot of fun but it took a while for him to get comfortable with the lip-syncing, with this in mind I am quite happy with the shots as Jack's performance was well done.
Jack requested some additional shots be added such as the shot of him walking up the hill as well as him jumping onto the grass with his guitar in the shot. Due to the addition of these new shots, I have decided to include them in the final cut as Jack requested; the shot of him jumping onto the grass could be included at the end of the song too.

Rough Time Plan:

10:00am - Meet in town with the friends and Jack, possibly buy some food and refreshments before the shoot.
10:20am to 3:00pm - Film various shots around Durham city, capturing the 'summer fun' for the montage.
3:00pm - Walk up to Gilesgate to film at Jack's house.
3:30pm - Start filming the singing pieces and Jack playing the guitar, possibly get him to transfer over a cleaner sounding version of Summer Nites.
5:00pm - Go to Niamh's to get a few 'summer clips' for the video, then contact the group chat on Facebook asking friends to send some random clips from the summer.

Storyboard - Summer Nites

Below is a short video animatic plan for Summer Nites. I felt that making an animatic as opposed to a conventional storyboard would better help me indicate where I would include shots within the video - thus refining my editing for the final video. Overall I am pleased with how the video turned out, it is quite basic but I believe my ideas come across accurately.

I included a few segments with just [Montage] as to indicate where I will be inserting the summer clips which will assemble into a montage. This is just to better indicate roughly what I will fill the space with as I am unaware of what those shots will necessarily be, since I have yet to contact the group for clips.

I also used red lines and text to indicate notes for the camera or explain what is going on, such as the arrows indicating the camera's movement. Generally the images contain a mix of candid summery shots with performance clips, this is to fully capture the upbeat nature of the song which in turn requires some positive imagery of people having fun. The use of the performance clips helps to break the montage apart and still focus in on Jack as a performer - something I believe is important, especially given that he isn't a major artist.

Summer Nites - Animatic from Eughan Wooding on Vimeo.

Summer Video (Nites)

I approached Jack about the idea of me helping to create some music videos and a digipak for the new songs he is making and he accepted my offer. While I would love to get to filming, Jack will be away in Brighton and possibly London for a lot of the summer holidays, organising a time to film with Jack may be difficult but could certainly happen in the last week of the holidays or so.

While he is away, I could still film some stock summery footage of parties or generally the good weather (if there is much). Since I can't be present for all of the time that our friends go out, I think I could ask them to all get various clips over the summer which I could include in the music video; Niamh may also have some footage as I know she is planning a July video.

The song I plan on using is Summer Nites which Jack made himself; I feel that it'll be appropriate to film the video in summer given its title and it'll help keep my practical skills fresh over the holidays. Additionally, I could reuse some of the ideas in my final product.

Jack's Channel

The song's few drug references along with the effects pedal used for the electric guitar certainly give it the psychedelic sound that I expect from the genre, with experience only with a few artists such as Pink Floyd - their album the Piper at the Gates of Dawn in particular includes a lot of electric guitar effects. Jack even has the album on vinyl which is perhaps evidence of the use of effects correlating to his music and at least mainstream psychedelia.

Editing to the Beat

My girlfriend, Niamh, has a Youtube channel and she has been editing a few video montages along to some songs, while it is for personal use I think she has done well with editing to the beat. It may be worth my time to ask her for some tips on how to edit along to the beat, or for some shots to use.


It is important to edit to the beat in order for the video to be appealing to watch, it might be off-putting for the audience if the video doesn't match up with the beat of the music. Additionally, as I wish to focus on Jack's music it'd make sense to edit in a way that highlights his music through the beat.

I believe I could include mini-montages within some of my videos, in fact I was considering making a video for Jack's Summer Nites song - a summer montage would be perfect and quite easy to film, not relying on continuity too much.

Video - Preliminary Music Video

I created a short music video using Creepin' Up the Backstairs by the Fratellis. The video was an attempt to demonstrate my initial understandings of music video conventions as well as my ability to plan and edit a video. In order to avoid copyright issues I also cut the song down, which also meant I didn't have to edit as much.

I tried to include some rough video ideas that I got from other music videos: the speeding up of the footage was done to match the song's fast tempo and is quite reminiscent of the Vampire Weekend music video for A-Punk; the use of the low and high angles as well as the fish eye lens are from many Punk and Hip-Hop videos such as Blink 182's Rock Show; similar use of transitions by zooming the camera on a subject have been done by the Strypes and Django Django.

I tried to create a visual contrast using different coloured shirts as well as the pig mask - most of the high-octane shots are done with the red shirt and pig mask, this was done to show that character was the guitarist. In many bands, the guitarist is very distinct and often accompanies the main singer at the front of posters and merchandise, additionally they tend to have distinct styles or gimmicks such as Slash's signature guitar and hat and hair or Angus Young's schoolboy outfit or Dominic Young's hat.

                                                                                                             

I managed to shoot and edit my video rather quickly, across two days. Despite what could be seen as a rushed job - given the poor lighting and perhaps how notably flushed I was - overall I think the video was quite well done, I think that the concept could be stronger and perhaps have more of a correlation to the lyrics though - the idea that the pig represents the person 'creepin' in the title seems like quite a stretch. Additionally, the shot with the red shirt playing the 'guitar' may be an issue; I intended to film the shot using a real guitar and while I don't know how to play one I thought I could fake it pretty well, however I discovered that the guitar had been thrown away and improvised using a BB gun AK-47. The use of the prop makes the shot seem more violent given the connotations of the gun and therefore add to the fast pace of the song, on the other hand it is such a random and abstract situation for a pig masked guitarist to play the gun and thus adds a degree of humour to the video. This humour can also be seen through my generally light-hearted performance in the video, which I intended to put across given how light-hearted the song's speed makes it.

The shot of me singing the chorus at 0:49 is done to help practice my ability to lip-sync or at least match up video and while there are bits to my lip-syncing that seem off, that isn't due to timing and more just my performance; the shots were filmed with the song playing in the background which helped with the syncing however the song is quite fast in places and I didn't know the words.

In terms of actual editing skill, I am quite proud of my editing. The video features me squatting in time with the beat of the song and I managed to do this 3 times - editing in 'clones' and speeding up footage to match the beat. In order to create the clones I had to seek advise from a Youtube video but essentially used Adobe Premiere Pro's Linear Wipe to create the first shot.

I feel that I adopted some features from the original music video such as the speeding up of the footage but the original includes more random close up and establishing shots of the band and their surroundings to edit to the beat. This creates a feeling of restlessness that comes with the quick pace of the song, in fact the handheld aspect also seems to carry the same tone which I included in my video too - although mine contains more use of the tripod for the various angled shots.

Preliminary Music Video from Eughan Wooding on Vimeo.

Storyboard - Preliminary Music Video

This is a short storyboard detailing my plans for my preliminary music video, within it I am mainly trying to demonstrate conventions and features of music video and I'm also trying to experiment with the various angles as seen in certain music genres - specifically indie, alternative rock, and punk. The song I've chosen is Creepin' Up the Backstairs by the Fratellis which fits into the same genre and would likely have similar features. 

I also aim to include various transitions through editing to keep the pace of the video and further demonstrate my editing abilities, through the use of whip-pan transitions and even zoom transitions. The storyboard is quite basic and I will probably include other shots that aren't detailed below in order to fill the rest of the song.

The storyboard 

In the first panel I have indicated some tally lines which are to represent the pattern of the 'clones' I wish to appear in post. I intend to match their appearance along with the beat in a series of one then two then three; the last 'clone' is facing the opposite way as I want him to be different and reveal himself to be a guitarist potentially leading into a solo with the same angle as the second panel - which shows a close up of guitar strings. I am sure that I have a guitar at home which I can use to film this shot.

However, I am unsure as to whether or not I can turn fast enough for that transition. So I may not have the person facing backwards but rather distinguished some other way and use a simple jump cut to the guitar solo in order to surprise the viewer with the solo.

I doubt I can organise to film anyone nor could I organise for someone to film me, at least currently. Therefore most of the other shots simply use a static camera on a tripod - allowing me to perform - or are handheld shots of me with the camera focusing on me, in a vlog style shot. This will allow me to focus on lip syncing, as will the alternating shot of half my face on either side of the screen.

Lastly I include a whip-pan transition from a flag of mine to my face, this is just so that I can experiment with the practical transition. I learned this technique from Edgar Wright's Cornetto Trilogy and developed it during my AS project (here is the post).

My A2 Project Decision

For my  A2 Media project, I have chosen to create a music video along with a digipak containing a poster and album design. Within this project I will be researching the music industry as well as theories and conventions in the industry.

I have chosen to base my project around music given the fact that I thoroughly enjoy music, it is a big part of me and in turn I am more likely to be interested and engaged with the subject. Additionally, I focused on film for my AS project, and while I am certainly interested in film too, I believe that it'll be more interesting to study a new topic rather than creating a film trailer - plus I believe I would have difficulty in finding good actors which would certainly boost the quality of my final product.

I am a fan of Indie, Rock, Punk, Alternative and Hip-Hop music. With this in mind I will try to combine various conventions from each genre into my final product. My project will focus mainly around my friend Jack Calvesbert who produces his own music and is also part of a band; I will try approaching the project with Jack as my client, as he is currently working on some music now. In working with a friend who has his own music, it removes the issues of copyright when using music owned by a major record label.
Jack is interested in similar music to me, however he is also a fan of psychedelic Rock - which I could incorporate into my work if he requested me to.

Eughan's pitch from Chris Earl on Vimeo.