Experiment 2 for visuals

Using a projector (similar to this one in the picture) was our next experiment to see if the white light was stronger, to create a stronger and crisper shadow.

The second image shows how our stencils/cut-outs have to be a certain distance for the shadow to be crisp enough, especially for the writing to be legible. As you can see, this isn't the case from further away, so once we moved it closer to the screen, you could read "The Wild Wolves" and see the stars, like below.

This shadow was our most successful I think, as you can see the letters better than the others. As we took a photograph showing more of the whole stencil you get more of a realistic and accurate image- to what we will be using for our final film.

The second time of trying this particular stencil, we added another one above which was the "star" stencil. It was to try a larger stencil with more sky area...

The sky scene...

From this view, the shadow looks very crisp and bold, whereas the bottom two versions seem to have a fuzzy edge to them.

The final image shows a much finer image than the first experiment.

Overall, this experiment in some areas was more successful. On the other hand, I think the light is a lot harsher than the desk lamp with its sepia light... Even more, on the plain white screen, you can see the thin lines which aren't that attractive.

Initial Character Profiles

Our first initial character profiles shows the Wolf's head, with his ragged and dark fur. When it comes to seeing the Wolf in the "magical" world a.k.a the shadow puppetry part, he will be shown as a black silhoeutte. We will have to make sure he looks like a Wolf because that it is the whole point. By researching what wolves look like in general we can then apply a similar image to create our own.






























Below the wolf is a rough sketch of the The Wild Wolves with some tweeks of my own.
The band are wearing common styles for folkie/indie/ska bands: trilby hats, shirts, jeans, cardigans, dresses, shorts and leggings, with messy hair...
As we are intending to use the band or actors to play the band in part of the music video, we will use similar clothes and props to what the band have.

Some images from secondary sources...suggesting what- if we use actors- kind of clothing we want them to wear:

Initial Ideas and Experiment 1 for visuals

For the "magical" world, we are going to be creating shadow puppetry to show the Wolf in its environment. It involves a cut out image to form a shadow onto a plain surface- like a sheet of paper or card.
Below is a quick sketch of what a shot in the forest would look like...




The equipment used to make the cut-outs: paper, scissors and pairs of compasses, a blank surface and a light (in this case, a white wall and desk lamp).
The first experiment of the cut-outs was to see how the technique works and how we can improve it. I think we will need to have a stronger light source and thicker cut-outs as the paper wasn't crisp and black. Our next experiment will have to include a stronger light perhaps with a darker room and thicker paper or card to see if it improves the image.

To begin the experiment, I cut out a simple circle out to represent a moon at night, you can see the piece of paper with the shape cut out and the lamp casting a shadow onto the wall.








My next step was to add some stars into the sky, which was easy enough to do with a pair of compasses.

I liked the way that the paper gave the moon a ring of misty light, this may be lost when we replace the paper with thicker paper/card.

In our storyboards, we had the idea to have the name of the band to be created out of the stars in the sky.

If not stars, perhaps fire flies.

Again, I used a pair of compasses to punch holes into the paper, but closer together so you can make out the words.

When it comes to editing, we will most likely have to adjust the contrast and brightness so the viewer can see the writing better.

The song's name would then be shown but with another feature being how the Moon is the "O" in 'Song'. I thought this was a creative touch to the shot. When it comes to producing the final cut-out, there would be stars around, as it would be similar to the shot before- with the band's name.

This next image is to show how we could make the trees. It will be time consuming to cut the trees out but I may ask my Technology teacher to use the Laser Cutter. It will depend on whether we want the trees to be complicated or simple as we may be able to make them by hand.

To give the effect of more trees, we could make copies of layers, to make the location appear more woody.

The final image shows the Wolf amongst the trees. The shape of the Wolf does look quite blurry because of the way I cut its ragged fur and probably because of the paper not being thick enough.

Inspirational advert

http://www.surf.com/twilight-vid.php

Above is a link to the advert for Surf's Twilight Sensations, which has given us ideas about using a similar technique rather than animation. Our initial idea for the "magical" world was to have it shown as a modelling animation but having seen this advert we thought shadow puppetry would look more professional.

Below are some screen-shots of the advert which we want to recreate with our own visuals, for instance the wood/forest.

We need to think about how much movement we want to create, as in the advert the main character moves smoothly amongst the trees which slowly change to new scenes and shots.
The scale in which this advert made their imagery must have been very large as a woman walks across as the main character.

[M.I.I] "Spotify launches mobile service"

This Monday, Spotify launched an application for particular mobiles including the Apple iPhone, iPod touch or any mobile that has Google’s Android system (software) or another wireless broadband connection. Now, users can search and listen to the millions of tracks on the database. However, the application can only stream music which means that the user only listens to them and cannot keep the tracks.



Unlike on the website which you can listen for free, the mobile application does not have the adverts popping up but instead you have to pay a premium of £9.99 per month. The adverts are not necessarily a problem for some users however, as they can be paid to be taken off.Radio one asked what John Scott (26, from Leeds) thought: "I like the idea, it's good… I do like to keep all my music so it's alright but I might stick with iTunes instead." This suggests that users prefer to keep the music, whether downloading illegally or legally.



David Curly from Acton, said that it would depend on how often you listen to music. “I listen to quite a lot so I reckon it would be worth it". This is a true point, as for some people it would be more beneficial for regular and music lovers than those who do not listen often.It is difficult to say whether it will help combat the problem of illegal downloading. The music industry has claimed that illegal downloading costs millions of pounds every year.He added: "As far as cutting out illegal downloading, with illegal downloading you get to keep the song and so just being able to listen to it isn't good enough."

A disadvantage of playing music on a mobile is that it is a mobile phone, so the quality won’t be great compared to a proper music player- although- this has been overcome by advancing technology allowing phones to be plugged into speakers.
Even more, the application is only restricted to some mobiles, so other users will not be able to get it on theirs- perhaps Spotify should make it available to other phone companies. Lastly, on some phones and internet connections, it's likely to betime-consuming and have problems with connections.
On the other hand, the user can create a playlist of their favourite or wanted tracks, which is useful for social gatherings and parties.

Is Spotify going to be iTunes competitor?


Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/technology/newsid_10000000/newsid_10001400/10001456.stm

Music Industry Investigation proposal

What was your topic?
My main question is:
In what ways has the online age affected music in the pop genre? (Music and the online age area)
To begin this investigation I have thought what kind of questions I will be asking myself. Firstly, finding how pop music is consumed and by who. I will be aiming my investigation at a specific age range however, from fifteen to twenty five year olds as I think it ranges from young teenagers to young adults. By focusing on young audiences I could investigate how age differences may affect the pop artists' music, whether they produce music to appeal to a certain age range. Hence me asking myself if the artist or band is influenced by the audience.
I thought by looking at what kind of record labels pop artists are signed to I would be able to see how they may influence their music, if it is the artists choice or if the record label pushes them to creating particular music. This may be difficult to research without contacting some record labels but I will see later in the investigation. I will continue to look at how pop artists produce, distribute, market their music (with the lovely help of their record label) and how it is consumed.
I think an important aspect of my investigation and a main theme I should look at is how downloading and file sharing has affected the music industry.

Why have I chosen this topic?
Pop is a genre which I haven’t explored in detail before so it will be interesting to research it in detail. I think that pop music will be affected like all music genres due to online age. As it is ever-advancing and new technology is made it is bound to have some affect. Because of the many genres, it will be interesting to focus on one and see if it has had any major changes and problems. Artists such as Britney Spears and Katy Perry with their major record labels will be the dominating artists in the genre. They will have more experienced music producers and a work team which will have access to money to get the artists music noticed and therefore liked.
The topic I have chosen is relevant to my learning of the music industry because it will allow me to research and gain knowledge about a specific genre. It also seems to have relevance in the music industry as the TV music channel, 4Music, is having a competition of Rimmel's "World's Greatest Pop Stars" which includes ten pop artists (i.e. Beyonce, La Roux, Take That), the result is on the Sunday 29th November. This could suggest how pop music is regularly listened to and enjoyed by audiences.

What have you done so far?
My investigation began with planning what it would include exploring and my main aims for the investigation. One of my aims is to gather a sample of participants to complete my questionnaire. When they have I will analyse and evaluate what their responses could mean and generalize them for the age range. This will include researching technologies and methods the sample use to consume music, whether it is listening or actually buying the music.
A next step could be to research pop music artists and bands to gain knowledge of what the genre is made up of - what kind of artists are in this genre. My prediction is that many artists are mainstream with a major record company supporting them, for example, Britney Spears. Further more, I think many females have more dominance over the pop genre and have done other the years. It would be interesting to research previous pop artists and bands, to look at their success (or failures) at having a pop career.My next step will be to carry out primary research creating a questionnaire. I will read articles, research technologies and internet websites.