Album cover research - Similar bands

Here is a Prezi covering some of the album covers relating to our rock genre and "The Defiance" which we looked at before we started planning our own.




Through this research, we were able to decide the basic conventions of rock album covers, which we then wanted to incorporate into our own album cover.

Album Cover Research

Examples of album covers that are targeted at a similar audience to us

Fall Out Boy-Save Rock and Roll

This is an example of an album cover that has chosen to include characters in the picture who are not in the band, however the name if the band and album is a bold white font in the centre of the cover.

Kasabian-Velociraptor

This album has a dark coloured simple design, the four faces could be to represent the four members of the band and again the name of the band and album is shown in bold at the centre of the cover.  

Paramore- Riot

This album includes all of the band members in a sketchy interesting style. The name of the album is shown in a large orange font near the top of the cover, and is also repeatedly written in the background. The name of the band is not shown on the cover, however as the band is shown on the cover it isn't necessary.

Conclusion

For our album cover we should make sure the name if our album is clearly shown in a large or bold font on the cover. We should also represent our band on the front cover such as having the name of our band in a bold/large font on the cover or including the band on the front cover.

Font research for Band Logo

The font is crucial in creating synergy across our entire brand and also in connoting our band identity and genre.  "dafont.com" allows us to browse through countless fonts in order to find one best suited to our band "The Defiance".

Here are some possible font choices:

These fonts are similar to the fonts used for the band logos that we researched into. They are all bold yet simple to read. However, what we noticed is that a band's logo often changes as they release more and more albums and get more recognition. The logos become more stylised and unique to their identity. As our band is releasing their debut album it would make sense to start off quite simple. But, that does not mean the logo cannot be striking as shown by our selection of fonts.

Below are the logos of some bands similar to ours:

Shoot schedule - Outdoor shoots

This is the shoot schedule for our first outdoor shoot. Everything went according to the timings, and we only required a few shots to be re-done.

The second shoot also went to plan, however we had some prop issues therefore couldn't get everything we needed. We do luckily, have another shoot, and probably will finish early enough for any pick-up shots.

In the end, we required a final shoot to film any re-shots, and the last shots we did not manage to get. This is the final shoot schedule:

The timing estimates were accurate and we worked according to the times set out, and therefore managed to finish without over-running on shoot days.

The advantages of shoot schedule was that it gave us clear set timings for all of our shooting. It also meant we always knew what we had to do and whether we were on schedule or not. Once we finished the first day of shooting we would know if our predicted timings were accurate or not and then adjust our next days timings accordingly. Fortunately, due to our prior knowledge of shoots in previous years we had quite accurate shooting times. The shoot schedule also solved problems about getting all the shots done. Being able to tick off each shot once it's done means we don't end up with the issue of a missing shot while we are editing. 

While filming we time how long each shot takes and how long we have planned it to be. We then write this down so we can change if this is different to what we have put on our video timing shot sequence. We then adjusted to length that we used of other shots so we included all of our narrative, then we also had to cut out some shots of the narrative to keep in our required length of the whole video.  

Shot list - Narrative sequences

Here is a shot list for our narrative sequences. As there are 3 characters, the shots are split accordingly to which character each sequence follows. 

Similarly, we wanted a 3-part narrative for each of them: 

1. Introduction of the character/ Establishment
2. Disruption/ problem/ conflict
3. Resolution

We will then transfer these shots into a shoot schedule to work from on shoots.

Shooting dates

After discussing our availability and the best time to shoot within our group, here are our final shoot dates: (These cover both our outdoor and studio shoots)

Studio shoots:

Friday 8th Nov: 09:30 - 10:50, 12:30 - 13:30, 14:25-15:45

Wednesday 13th Nov: 17:30 - 21:00

Thursday 14th Nov: 11:10 - 14:25

Friday 15th Nov: 11:10 - 13:30, 15:45 - 17:45

Wednesday 20th Nov: 08:50 - 13:30

Thursday 21st Nov: 15:45 - 20:00

Friday 22nd Nov: 15:45 - 20:00

These will be held in our school studio, which we have to book in advance.

On-location shoot:

Saturday 9th Nov: 09:30 - 16:00

Sunday 17th Nov: 09:30 - 16:00

Saturday 23rd Nov: 09:30 - 16:00

These will be held at the locations shown on a previous post. These are already booked and available for use.

Outdoor shoot locations

For our outdoor shoots, we decided to use Aidan's bedroom for the teenage boy character's room, and a nearby sidewalk/ alley for the busker. 

Locations for the Narrative

This is the bedroom location used for scenes involving the drummer. We plan to scatter clothes and paste movie, game and music posters on the wall to connote a typical teenager's bedroom.

This is the office location used for the scenes involving the singer. The desk lamp can be used to convey a "late night working" image.

This is the street location for where posters could be found. The street is not very busy and we will therefore be able to film without passers-by.

This is the busking location for scenes involving the guitarist. Again, this spot is quiet and unused and therefore filming will be easier than on a busy road.

The following are pictures I took to show the group to the group, and we decided that they were both practical and suitable for our shoots.