Album Cover Research

After we'd started filming the video, i started to conduct research into album covers for the digi-pack, i started to gather images of different band's covers that remained within the same genres/sub genres that Biffy Clyro sit within and got some Biffy Clyro covers too. I gathered all of the images and put them into a collage to display the range of styles we can take ideas from.

I then went on to pick individual covers and analyse them, and make annotations on the covers. All of the album covers fitted within the rule of thirds, which helps sections of the cover stand out and shine through. So when we would set up the shots for the cover, we knew that we were going to stick to rule of thirds and stand where the lines would be. Then when we layer up the titles and other logos, they would stand out on the cover and not be in random unnecessary places.

From analysing the covers, i gathered ideas on house styles and how the cover needs to have some common theme to it, that exists between adverts, front and back cover. This is evident on pretty much any album cover ever created so we need to have a house style. We will be sure to establish this over all the segments of the project including the titles in the video too.

Here are the images of the physical planning i did for this section.

Filming Lists/Plans

During the film-making process we wrote out lists and revised lists for the filming sessions. Here is one that summarises what we intended to include, following condensing the questionnaires and our own ideas, this helped us with drawing the story board and as a checklist during filming and editing sessions.

Story Board Evaluation

During the process of filming the video, lots of changes happened in our overall outlook on the video, we felt that we didn't need a story line, we purposely did this because we wanted to fit with the conventions of the genre more and also, videos with story lines can sometimes fell quite rigid and a little restrained, this allowed us to make a video that showcased the band more and it gave it more of a 'feel good' vibe to it. Although we changed some of the story board, we kept some of the same shots in there too, for example the slo-mo water cymbal shot and doing vocal shots in front of the poster wall.

As i said previously, it was important we put together the storyboard as it helped us stick to an outline and schedule for the video, and gave us the room also to roam free and do as we wished.

Story Board

Following researching the various videos and gathering information from the audience, we started to plan our video out in story board form. We drew up a story board that left gaps open for us to flow behind the camera and add some spontaneity in there. We felt like this was important following the questionnaires saying that randomness should be included in the video, this is the best way to get it, by improvising. We initially planned a healthy mix of story line and band shots, following what was suggested in the questionnaire. We conducted the storyboard to help us have a plan of what shot types to use and a rough outline of what we wanted, to keep the project on a schedule.

*flows from bottom of page to top*

Questionnaire Evaluation

We conducted the questionnaire in order to find out what we needed to include in the video, it's vitally important to the overall success of the video that we did this because in the end, theres no point making a video that no-one's going to feel interested by or captivated by it's content.

Following conducting and analysing the questionnaires, we have been lucky in the fact that a lot of the suggestions made by the audience were ideas that were fresh in our brains before planning the video in full. We will be sure to use some of the ideas suggested that fit with our concept of the video and this in turn should all being well captivate and interest the audience.

Questionnaires & Analysis

We composed a questionnaire for students in the lower school and the sixth form to complete, this was to get a very clear idea of what our target audience was interested in.

we established that our target audience was from the ages of 14-19, male and female.

The Questionnaire
1. Gender?
2. Age?
3. Favourite band?
4. Can you name your favourite music video?
5. What do you like to see in music videos?
6. What has impressed you in music videos recently?
7. Do you prefer performance based videos, narrative based videos or a mixture of both?
8. What sort of setting, mise en scene and lighting do you like to see in music videos?

summary of results:
Males seem to like.

Performance based videos/live videos. Dark lighting/club vibe. Randomness in videos. Lights/atmosphere. Band Shots. Mise en Scene, Warehouses, rural/urban settings. Hand-held cam shots. Black and white effect. Quick successive shots. Frequent Jump-cuts. Narrative/Easy to follow
Females seem to like.

Band performance. Mixtures of narrative & performance. Strobe Lights. Band shots. Narrative. Mise en Scene = Everyday situations. Storyline, ''Mini Drama''. Mood lighting to reflect the song

As me and my partner play in bands and have a big knowlage in the genre of music we are doing, i feel that we should do the video from a more band perspective, with lots of band shots, live shots and make the video funny and light hearted.


All of this information provides a wide pool of ideas to use that will meet the demands of the audience, i can be certain in saying that some of the above are certainly going to be utilised in the video, such as the hand held cam shots, the rural mise en scene, the warehouse vibe, and it feeling like a scruffy teenage setting. This links back to the conventions of the genre and the image surrounding alternative rock, grunge and Biffy Clyro.

In addition, i think we will try and incorporate a mixture of story line and band content, although i feel more inclined to base it round the band in the video only. We will also try and include a healthy dose of randomness into the video, to make it more fun and easy to enjoy. we will also try and use frequent jump cuts and a fast paced selection of camera angles/shots.

Music Video Evaluation

I conducted research and analysed my findings in order to gather the most important aspects of each videos, for example, the use of frequent jump cuts to add variation and keep the audience captivated is something we must include if we decide to only include band shots in the video, although the varying shots would work equally well for a narrative too, in order add tension and build up suspense and pace in the video. Through conduction this research i have also gathered information on what sorts of mise en scene to use. To match the song we're using, and the target audience and the scene, the mise en scene should be quite rural and industrial. We will definitely follow this route in our video's setting.

In addition the use of panning shots and hand held cam shots are influential in the planning of our video, and will most certainly be used, i feel that help re-iterate the fact we're having a rural/industrial mise en scene, which gives the feeling of a scruffy teenager, which is what we wanted and the hand held cams really slot in with this theme.

Overall i have gathered a lot of info from the three videos and a lot of which will be included in our planning at least, and most probably in the final product