DVD cover research

I have annotated a DVD case to see what basic conventions they have. The cover I have annotated has many similar conventions to other DVDs I looked at.

DVD cover research

For my second ancillary product I have chosen to make a DVD cover for my music video. I have researched some existing products to see the kind of things I should include on my own DVD cover. I looked at a variety of DVD cover images on Google and found that they all had very similar things in common. 

• Many of the DVDs include a variety of Videos for a whole album
• They all include a photo that either links to the band/artist or the album/songs
• Most have an age rating attached though a few don't
• A bar code 
• Some logos for companies/bands/advertisement
• Information about the production (director/editor etc)
  
  
  
  

  

Song Choice

After deciding that I wanted to create a hard hitting music video I started to look at different genres and artists; I then started to narrow down what style of music I wanted to use. I decided I didn't want anything with overpowering instrumentals, I felt that by choosing a track with only one or two instruments in the background it would take the focus away from the music and the audience would concentrate more on the lyrics which will help to convey the message.

When listening to the tracks on YouTube I also made sure I didn't look at the videos because I wanted to make sure I interpreted the songs in my own way and wasn't influenced by the artists video; this has resulted in me taking a different approach to the song I have chosen compared to the artist.

To try to find my song I searched for 'controversial songs' and 'songs with a message'; although it came up with some suggestions the only result that I found useful was the VMA best social message nominees. 'Same Love' by Macklemore would have been a perfect example of controversial song with a hard impact on it's audience however, I have already seen the video many times and I would have been influenced too much by the original music video when planning my own production.

I then asked people in my class if they had any recomendations for songs I could use. This resulted in me listening to songs such as Daughter by 'Medicine', The Temper Trap 'Rabbit Hole' and concrete gold wu lyf. whilst all these songs had a sad feel to them wehn listening I couldn't imagine a video that had the right feel to compliment the songs.

Finally, Mr Buckmaster told me to look at the song Ellie Goulding sang for Children In Need 2013; 'How Long Will I Love You'. I listended to the song twice in a row and immediately I began to imagine the kind of music video I could create to go with the song. After brainstorming I told Mr Buckmaster and we both developed my idea and he helped me to expand on what I was thinking of. This is the song I have chosen to use for my production.

Looking into Similar Products

After deciding I wanted to shoot a video that was a bit more true to life and more about the harsh reality of the society we live in I decided to start looking at music videos with similar story lines. Not only would these videos give me ideas for shooting styles and themes for my own video but they may also lead to to artists who produce music with the right feel that I'm looking for.

The first video I looked at was 'The A Team' by Ed Sheeran. It follows the life of a homeless female that turns to prostituion to make money; when she gets the money she then spends it on drugs leading her into a downwards spiral. The video starts with a young girl crying over a dead body the end is poignaint because the audience realise that the girl lying on the floor at the begining, dead is the girl we follow through the video and it is her spirit that is looking over the body after she dies of a drug overdose.

Another song I looked at was You're Too Young by Lucy Spraggan. The song is about a young girl who takes the wrong path in life, getting kicked out of shcool, involved in crime and getting into a relationship with a 'bad boy' who is into drugs and has many relationships at one time. The song is about the journey to her death after she gets into a fight with another female and ends up getting stabbed by her. The girl that stabs her is actually her dates girlfriend. The video visits the harsh reality of choosing the wrong path in life.  

Shooting Styles

At the weekend I saw the Sainsburys 2013 Christmas advert; 'Christmas in a Day' The advert, like the music videos I have been watching, had a big emotional impact on it's audience. The advert was directed by Oscar-winning Kevin Macdonald.He created a 45 minute festive film for Sainsbury's to be released on YouTube week comensing 18.11.13. Macdonald collected various christmas home videos from across the UK and collated them to create a short film - he also created a 3 minute teaser advert before the film was released.

The 3 minute teaser includes emotive footage; including, a man eating Christmas dinner alone and a dad coming home from Afgahnistan to surprise his children on Christmas day. This realtes to the theme I want for my music video becuase it has a hard hitting, realistic, emotional impact on the audience.
 

It wasn't just the theme and the impact of the advert that attracted me but also the style, I like that they were home videos included in the filming and clearly not set up situations; this gave it a much more realistic feel increasing the emotional impact.
Read more: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-sainsburys-christmas-day-will-bring-tears-your-eyes-153935