This is the CD place holder, where the CD will go inside the case. I think this works well as a case because the fisheye effect from the lens will look great behind the circular Compact Disc.

This is the final product I made for my media coursework. I used a wide variety of shots of the band recording music and practicing, shots of them having fun (I used both a Canon 18-55mm lens and a fisheye wise angle lens for these shots) and mixed those with shots of the band playing in a field.



CD back-cover

This is my CD back-cover. The back features a picture of the drummer, on the set of the music video, looking into the distance. The picture's taken on the set of the music video, linking it to the song. He's looking into the distance, but it looks like he's looking at the track-listing.

The Adventures of Kyle and Joe from Kyle McGurk on Vimeo.

I wanted to practice my camera and filming skills, as well as improve my editing on iMovie. One of my friends was about to model as 'Edward Scissorhands' for a show that was to conclude a degree-level course in makeup artistry. We talked about it, and agreed it would be good practice and good fun to film the whole thing and try to create a small piece of film from the day.

For the band I'm using for my media coursework, I made a studio-diary to document the recording process. I edited this on Final Cut Pro and filmed using a Canon 550D.

This is my final draft of my media coursework magazine article. The magazine includes photography from the album art-work and the picture is taken on the set of the music video. By using photography that ties in with my music video, I think the audience will identify that the album and music video almost come as a 'package deal' and will make them more likely to want to buy the album if they like the look of the music video.

This is what I'm consdering as a 'first/practice draft' for my magazine article. This is definitely not up to the standard I expect for my final draft, but helped me practice with what I want to put on my poster, text positioning and what kind of photography I want to use. There are currently many problems with it, such as the fonts and the photograph not being completely representive of the band.

I'm going to begin working on a newer and better draft as soon as possible.

This is my final draft of my CD cover. I think it works a lot better than the previously posted drafts. The photography is taken at the filming of the music video, so ties in well with my entire project. The picture shows them talking and they look like they're just 'hanging out' like friends, which fits into the pop-punk genre, because it's a genre filled with lyrics about the importance of having fun and friendship.

This is a promotional video for my upcoming video. I thought the band could use this to build anticipation for their music video and to show their fans what to expect from the band in the future.

I've recently spent a lot of time on my ancillaries, and created some drafts to see what kind of direction I want to go in. While originally I liked the idea of having the album art as a stand-alone piece of photography with the band-name over, I'm beginning to think that the album art should have the band on. Having the band on the cover will help make them recognisable, and seem more 'real' to the audience. They'll feel like they're closer to the band. With a particularly "arty" album cover, people may think the band are pretentious, so I have to try and make the art good while avoiding making the band look bad.

Album Artwork Draft #1

Now that I've finished filming the band recording, practicing and having fun, it's time to edit a couple hours worth of footage into a music video that lasts a few minutes. Importing almost 20GB of footage onto iMovie for mac takes a lot of time, so while waiting I began drafting my ancillaries. I took a picture of a 'ship in a bottle' with my Canon 550D camera. I took two pictures, one with my Macro Lens and one with my standard 18-50mm lens, with the latter giving the best result. I took it using a deep focus with the sun-setting in the background. Even though the sun-set is out of shot and out of focus, the lighting was perfect for the picture I wanted. I wanted the photography to be incredibly distinctive and unique. I wanted it to be the kind of cover you see and think "Wow", before you even know who the band are. I drew inspiration from Nirvana's "Nevermind" album artwork. I think it works better having the photography as the main attraction to the album art because the band are relatively obscure, and this way the album will attract the attention of people that haven't heard their music before.

This is only an early draft, and I hope to improve it thoroughly. I hope to acquire more photography so I can hopefully make the cover look even more distinctive. I also think a weakness of this first draft is the fonts used for the album title and the band name. They're not distinctive enough, and I want this album art to be unforgettable like 'The Dark Side of The Moon' by Pink Floyd.

Today, I joined the band 'We Say When' while they recorded their upcoming debut EP. I filmed the band for the entire day (between 10am and 7pm) today and I'm doing the same tomorrow. I now have a lot of footage I can use in my music video. I filmed the band playing instruments, talking, planning, mixing the music and I got lots of shots of them having fun that will hopefully fit in with my music video really well. When not filming, I took some pictures. Lots of band pictures will prove useful when I'm making my ancillaries.

Filming for my music video is almost ready.

I've decided to work with the band 'We Say When' and create a music video for them. I intend to include a mixture of shots, from them in the studio recording and practicising, to them actually playing live. I will get the shots of them playing live and then sync them in time with the music.
We're going to carry all the equipment into a field, and film the band performing. The equipment will include guitars, amplifiers, a drumkit and a microphone and all cables to make the performance look as authentic as possible.
We discussed locations, and went to three of them to decide the best place to film. We went to a field in Heald Green, but it was too busy and disruptions were likely. We also thought about filming the performance in a 'practice room', but it seemed too boring and uninspired. Eventually, we went to a field in Poynton, near the band's bassist's house. The field was large and at the time we were going to be filming, wouldn't be very busy. We walked round the whole area, looking for the best place to film. We eventually decided on one spot, near the path (Therefore making it easier for us to transport the equipment) and with a great view behind us. The field can often be very busy, so we'll have to film at a time when it's not that busy, to avoid the music annoying people. However, it may make for interesting mise en scene to have people walking past and seeing the band playing.