petalblossom

Artifact 2

2012-02-13T09:11:00.002-08:00

Go Iceland!

I am still quite skeptic about my findings that contradict my previous guess about the death of the album as we know it. My first artifact/ interview proved me completely wrong so I decided to turn around and find out what is behind the album and what is the value in different formats of music.
Was trying to compare the pros and cons of the tradition album and the App version.
What different features they offer?

I honestly do not think my tutor allows me to use the same examples again BUT what if the good examples have become PERFECT since I have checked them? This is an album or at least Sigur Ros thinks it is. It costs around £50 but you get everything from the concert CD, Vinyl and DVD to a piece of garment that Sigur Ros wore during the tour.
I would not mind getting such thing as a gift but don't think I would purchase the album in this form. The whole message behind this specific design is really evoking and innovative as well as allowing people to get closer to the artist they adore. Let's look at the idea of collecting autographs, taking pictures with your favourite artists at gigs etc. It's all about the relationship with your music. That is the purpose of such items that look unnecessary at the first glance.

A total opposite to the traditional form of the album is the App.
Bjork is the first artist to release an album in a form of the App. Why would somebody go for such an unusual format? Because of its inventiveness and the experience of interaction that the regular album is not able to offer.

In my artifact I tried to compare the two and find the similarities between them. What is the format of tomorrow? We'll find out.

'My dissertation was about religious rap' Artefact 1

2012-01-28T11:14:00.001-08:00

So today I went out and did my interviews. Manage to get 11 people to talk about music, record stores, collecting and consuming music, Buddhism, cover art and life in general. The only music store that allowed me to come, hang around and talk to the customers was this beautiful Classical Music Shop in Hockley. So I made a pie the night before, packed a voice recorder, my camera and just went there to see what happens.
My guess about the current trend of switching from the physical record to the digital equivalent was right.

Will listen to the recordings again (something around 2 hours in total) and get the results from there.

Three different age groups: check
Variety of opinions: check
Unexpected findings: check
Joy: definitely check!!!

p.s. the name for this post is taken from my last interview, the guy I talked to did a music course years ago.

Love, friendships, relationships and others ships. Artifact 1.

2012-01-21T11:41:00.000-08:00

Save the music

In my research document that has already been marked I spoke about where the world is now in terms of music entertainment. What is the relationship between people and their entertainment?

The record as we know it (or, more likely as our parents knew it) is dying. It's an interesting subject or even an issue to discuss that is why I am conducting this particular research.
After having heard many different opinions and looking into the findings that others made it is time for me to go and look for my own results. This is going to happen during my search for the five artifacts.
What role does the record have now? Is it a form of art/ symbol of the past couple of decades/ portrait of an artist?

ARTIFACT 1

How do people access their music? What is the role of the human factor in the life of the record as a medium?
I am sure there are people out there who still use their old record players but in the reality they are exceptions.
My generation remembers cassette tapes, the CD era and then, finally the mighty mp3 and iTunes and its relatives. Today we are witnessing a huge transition from the physical record to the virtual online product that is easily accessible and shared.
The first artifact is going to observe people and their actions at a specific environment, in this case that will be a record store. I plan to go and interview people while they are shopping to see what is the current trend of acquiring music.

Possible questions for the record store shoppers:

AREAS:

1. Emotion
2. Tradition
3. Technology

EMOTION:

The record as a symbol/metaphor.

1. What is the first association you could point out when hearing the word 'record'?
2. Is this record store the only place you buy your music? If no, what are the other ways you purchase tracks?

TRADITION:

The medium that the world is used to.

1. What devices do you use for your music experience?
2. Is it important for you to have a physical version of an album? Does it feel more reliable than just an mp3 file?

TECHNOLOGY
How do we listen to our music today?

1. How do you feel about the record being replaced by online shopping and digital music consumption?

2. Do you think the world will be willing to adapt the new forms of the record?

3. What about YouTube and Vevo? Do you find these websites useful for finding and listening to music?

Research Progress

2011-11-20T15:47:00.000-08:00

Trying to get to the discussion part before the draft hand in.

The books that I've read reshaped my research concept a little bit or at least helped me to structure the document in a more coherent order. I'm working on different parts at the moment but it's now clear what is missing and what needs rethinking and rewriting.

INTRODUCTION

I'm going to start with an overview of the current state of the music world. Starting from afar with the definition of The Millennials, the new generation. Their characteristics, habits, needs, ambitions.

This will lead to the worldwide indie culture concentrating on music in the first place.

Then I'll incorporate MTV and explain what role it has today. Will mention that this medium is slowly dying and this will lead me to the background.

BACKGROUND

As I understand, background is all about what's going on at the moment.
I'll try to be as up-to-date as possible.
2011, what's going on RIGHT NOW? Here I'm going to introduce YouTube, why is it important to look into this platform and what power and impact it has.

DISCUSSION
Where is the best place for an artist to appear?
Music marketing, stealth marketing. Music in advertising.
Types of music promotion.
The latest trends, biggest acts.
The use of the newest technology in music advertising.

Discussion about the world going digital.

CONCLUSION

Still a long way to get here!

Primary research.

Struggling with this little bit. Can't decide which method to use etc. Is a survey appropriate?

Concept for the Client Project

2011-11-18T04:34:00.000-08:00

After discussing my ideas with several different people, I've made some amends.
At the very beginning, my plan was to make two different products:

Music Documentary
Home sessions

But after actually trying to imagine how these two very different types of video are going to work, I realised they won't. So I did my research. The plan was to find if somebody had done a similar project before.
Deborah, my client project supervisor expressed her opinion about my strengths and skills and she thinks that my calling card is narrative.
Had a similar conversation with Jools, he mentioned atmosphere as the main feature that describes my work. This made me think about how I actually approach all my projects. Don't really know if it's a positive thing but I do a lot of things instinctively e.g. on shoot I tend to do a lot of spontaneous decisions which later turn out to be the best bits of my work.

But anyhow, this post is about my client project.
My chosen client is a gypsy jazz band Maniere Des Bohemiens.

The band is quite new,they've been playing for the last couple of years together. They're not signed to any label but as the violinist Rob mentioned, they're not aiming for a contract, there's not much money in this type of music in the industry. Instead, they prefer doing live cozy gigs that attract their certain audience.
My plan was to represent the band for the first time, to make a music documentary explaining where this band comes from, who are the band members, how they came together to play their music etc. Also, the whole concept of a gypsy jazz band means (in my opinion) that these people are constantly traveling from place to place, 'home is where the heart is'. This led me to the idea of 'Home sessions', a series of live performances taking place at different locations such like Hand & Heart pub, one of the member's actual house where they rehearse, theatre , outdoors, etc.
Having rethought my idea, now I want to mix the live performance with some content and narrative. The viewer would have two different experiences:

1.If you watch only one segment of the series, you get the flavor of the band and their music but your don't get the whole story behind it.
2.If you watch the whole thing, you then have a full understanding about this particular band.

I seek for narrowing the distance between the band and its audience. Knowing how the music you like was born, puts you on the whole new level of connecting with the band.
As I see the structure of one of the home sessions it would go like this:

1. Create a 20-30s opening sequence for the whole documentary and use it at the beginning of each separate home session.

2. A short interview. Three main keypoints:
The origin of the band.
The present of the band
The future of the band

3. Live performance

4. Closing interview (I'm after some authentic stories, e.g. from their childhood, when and how they were first influenced by music.

Some examples of such documentaries:

Mumford & Sons Gentlemen of the Road series:

trailer:

Adele Live in her own home:

Jonsi Go Quiet acoustic version of his new album filmed in his own home:

The bottom line of this, of course, is promotion and introducing the band to the viral YouTube and Vimeo world.

Jim Shorthose & Neil Maycroft: New Spectacles for Juliette

2011-11-15T12:46:00.000-08:00

Just got back from the book launch event. I red the previous two books by Jim Shorthose, really like his way of thinking. That was the first time I've ever been to Antenna, what a wonderful place! The atmosphere of the event was really warm and nice, there were around 15-20 people working within creative industries. had a nice chat with a lady that does PR for charity organizations.
The book is available at: jimshorthose.co.uk

Life (coursework) saver

2011-11-11T16:58:00.000-08:00

http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/

I find this tiny piece of software incredibly useful. You create your own 'black list' (mine includes facebook, youtube, pininterest and other procrastination friendly sites) and set up your own timer. After pressing START there's no way to access the bad sites until the timer stops.
My roomate calls me irresponsible and immature because I can't resist wasting time doing absolutely nothing online. The sad thing is she's right. So I installed selfcontrol and things are about to (hopefully) change around here.

Music Advertising (Research)

2011-11-11T16:29:00.000-08:00

Currently reading books on marketing and advertising as well as conceptual art.
Thinking of changing my research topic to 'Confusion: read more, understand less'.

The main areas I'll be focusing on:

HISTORY OF MUSIC VIDEOS. That will also include documenting music.

CONTEMPORARY ADVERTISING AND MARKETING.

MUSIC TV SHOWS.

YOUTUBE SENSATIONS. The new generation of celebrities.

LITERAL VISUAL PRESENCE. Denying 'seeing is believing'. Virtual bands. Gorillaz.

Today's rhetoric question:
What's the difference between a music video where you have product replacement and an advert where there's some iconic song in the background?

Post-deadline update

2011-11-07T14:21:00.000-08:00

Last week I handed in my simulated client project and startUP factory report. Gave myself a word not to lament about it anymore even though I know I could have done it better.
But just like one wise man said 'it's done and dusted' so it's time to move on to my next projects.

RESEARCH

What impact does the visual presence of music have on its promotion and marketing?

Submit your answers via dropbox.

There's a pile of books next to my bed, a red-labeled document file on my desktop and constant stress in my head. It's almost impossible to understand how important these 3000-4000 words are. Currently reading stuff about the types of music marketing that I am not going to investigate. Did you know that Michael Jackson owns (well, used to) the copyright of every single song The Beatles have ever written? I didn't. That's the kind of stuff I'm digging in now just to get the flavor of the industry and the way things work there.

EXHIBITION PACKAGE

What happens when after two years of quite intense academic life you realise that your portfolio is basically empty? In my case, a panic attack. But then I started thinking about what could I possibly get done in this tight schedule and now I've got a little plan for some shorts that would go on my portfolio.

LIVE CLIENT PROJECT

Had a meeting with my clients before their gig. We discussed possible ideas and locations for the documentary and Home Sessions. I'm really excited but have to work on my brief and proposal.

So far so good.

Thank You video final edit

2011-10-24T17:33:00.000-07:00

72 hours till the deadline and luckily there isn't a lot to be stressed about.
The only bit that's left to do is the paperwork.

Here's the final edit of my thank you video.
I managed to shrink the thing to 1:20s. Will see what the first responses sound like tomorrow at the tutorial.

Thank You video production

2011-10-20T13:17:00.000-07:00

After the numerous times of changing my idea and the initial script, I finally settled down and decided on my final Thank You video concept.

As I mentioned before, my video is like a demonstration of a part of the three piece scheme.

The Storyboard:

The location I chose (the conservatoire) was perfect! Apart from the light that kept on changing every three minutes.
My actress Natalia came to see me at 1pm that way we had 2 hours of rehearsing before the DOP came to shoot. I'd like to thank Tom Pykett again, he basically saved my project. Tom joined our course this year, came from Confetti Studios. I had only heard about the technical abilities people at that school have. Yesterday I had a chance to see it with my own eyes. I'd never worked with somebody that knows so much about film production before, was amazing. He understood my vision right away and made it work. Thank you Tom!!!

I looked at the footage on Premiere today, looks good! It's one minute long tracking shot, all I am going to do is colour grading and synchronising the sound because we recorded it on Tom's camera (my Rebel doesn't have a whole lot of audio options).

Still working on the paperwork, the plan is to get EVERYTHING done tomorrow!

This short video taught me that you just can't be a 'one man band' when it comes to shooting. I had a hard time finding help (everybody I knew were mega busy that wednesday). To be honest, that was the first time I directed something, now I feel I was a little bit too picky and fussy about some shots, but that happens when you stand aside and watch the whole thing instead of staring at the camera screen. You start seeing tiny flaws and want to fix them right away. It was fun and great experience no matter what.

Thank You video for the Alumni Fund

2011-10-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

PROPOSAL

The package

My product is a 30s video for Nottingham Trent Universities Alumni Fund. The purpose of this video is to say thank you to donors that have donated money for the University. The main goal of my product is to show where directly the donated money went and how life changing the donation was. The initial structure of this project is a three-step package:

PLEASE DONATE
DONATION
THANK YOU

Each step provides visual presence of the fund. In the first stage a potential donor would receive a letter in his mail asking to donate for university.
The second stage includes having the donor giving money to University whether online, by check or making a standing order if preferred.
This proposal focuses on the third stage where University is thanking for the donation.

The final product would consist of three different videos depending on to which area the money has been donated to.
The three areas are:

Arts (fine arts, music, drama)
Sports
Science research

If a donor decides to donate money online, he or she would immediately see the video after the donation has been conformed. If the donation has been made by cheque, the donor would receive a DVD in mail.

The video

My final product will represent the video that would be shown after a donation for the art section.
It is a 30s video showing an art student with a particular interest for drama and explaining how the Alumni fund helped her get closer to her dream of becoming an actress. Even though she is interested in drama, but she mentions that the Alumni Fund also helps other students with interests in different art areas.
The location I chose is a Conservatory where different art disciplines take place so that the audience could make the connection between different art forms. The girl would be slowly approaching the camera as she is talking about the fund and her experience.
In this short video we would also see a transition between a regular art classroom and a 'home made stage'.

StartUP factory

2011-10-16T11:47:00.000-07:00

It's business, it's business time!

This assignment is about coming up with a business plan for your own creative company. And it's not as simple as it sounds, especially for a person like me that has never had an actual interaction with the inside of that kind of business.
Anyway. The reading list:

Soul food and music By Kim. Errington, Neil Maycroft and Jim Shorthose

Fish, Horses and other Animals by Jim Shorthose

Advertising Creative by Tim Altstiel and Jean Grow

How to do better creative work by Steve Harrison

My business idea is about starting up a company that would provide advertising service which would be based on traditional understanding of art & design. That would involve practitioners from different art backgrounds coming together and collaborating. The startUP company would specialise in advertising on three different platforms: print media, web and video.
In terms of the team, I would be looking for people that specialise in areas I'm not familiar with: web and graphics. If I'm lucky, I'd find a person that specialises in both in order to keep the crew as small as possible.
My client would be someone starting out his own career (mainly in art or creativity related businesses such as hairstyling/make up, architecture, publishing, gardening, etc) and in need of branding and self - advertising. The main goal of my company would be providing people with simple, creative and effective advertising material that would be comprehensible in the first place.

And NOW- the fun part where I have to figure out business values, business plan, sustainability and all those things I'm not aware of.
Two intense weeks ahead.

Final Year

2011-10-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

After the most incredible summer in Alaska - I'm back!

And now it's a full-time activity.
University greeted me with deadlines and confusion. It's been two weeks and I'm currently working on these things:

Simulated Client Project
StartUP Factory Business Plan
Research Project

SIMULATED CLIENT PROJECT

We've got to make a product for the Alumni Association. I chose to make a 30s 'Thank You' video that would be shown to people after they make a donation.
The shoot is next week, I'm now working on pre production which is not my piece of cake. Anyway, regardless to all the obstacles (the machine that I ordered two weeks ago is still not here), I have high expectations for this short video. The first project of the year. Scary.

StartUP FACTORY

When did I enrol on a business course? Reading all the marketing - related material makes me dread the real world even more. Not too long before we all sell our souls to the big mighty industry of advertising! Trying to find the right combination of practitioners and come up with the greatest business plan.

RESEARCH

After many many confused days I'm finally starting to understand what my research project is going to be about.
Been trying to find a connection between the visual and the sonic aspects of moving image for the last 2 years. So naturally it led to something like this:'

The visual aspect of music.Selling music using visuals (NOT selling something else using music visuals).

There's always room for improvement and I still need to turn that pile of research papers into one sophisticated question.

Wish me luck!