Cyanide Final products

Rough cuts

Positives

• The costumes of the band members  - e.g.. dark colours, leather jackets – fits the stereotype of the punk rock genre ( as seen in bands such as Greenday and Kasabian ).
• Some very original shots included – The clinking of the wine glasses where the boy ‘s face is seen in the gap is very telling and makes the viewer empathise with the characters. Also the shot of the girl behind the bar on her own emphasises her isolation.
• Lovely shot of the cyanide being put into the glass – this is a good close up shot which is held for some time showing the importance of this action
• Good use of setting – the pub where the action takes place
• Both band members have been shown playing and singing so the viewer is drawn into the group
• This fits in well with the style of music videos of the punk rock genre where there are shots of the musicians and their instruments

Areas that could be improved

• The camera is a little shaky and leads to some shots being a little rocky
• The balance is weighted to performance shots rather than narrative shots – this makes the story a little hard to understand
• A big drawback is that the second girl who steals the boyfriend is not in the video which again makes the storyline a little tenuous
• Some of the editing needs to have better connections from the scenes 

Positives

• Very good establishing shot to open the music video – sets the scene immediately and we realise that this pub is going to play an important part in the storyline
• Very good shot of the girl staring down at the boyfriend – the scene is set for her future actions
• Very good shot of the boy staring at the poisoned glass – this adds to the tension and shows a sense of foreboding about what is going to happen
• Lovely shot of the top of the champagne glass showing the cyanide dissolving
• Like the shot of the glass rolling to the floor – relates to the boy falling to the floor – connects the two occurrences in our mind
• The girl is singing with real expression and emotion
• Lovely shot of the end of the subway with daylight at the end – connotes to the boy dyeing and going into eternity
• Like the empty shot of the bar – connotes to the empty place in the girl’s heart
• The closing of the door denotes the closing of that chapter of the girl’s life and perhaps the closing of a prison cell door as she is convicted of murder.

Areas that could be improved

• Lip syncing out of time with the visuals at the opening of the scene
• Like the graffiti – gives the video an urban feel – but could the graffiti relate to the storyline of the video?
• Could be a little brighter, some scenes are a bit too dark to see what's going on

• The lip synching is so much better, however the brightness could be improved as some scenes are a bit too dark.

Design ideas for magazine advertisement

These are my designs for the magazine advert, they have allowed me to design the adverts and link them to digipak designs.It will also allow the group to pick and choose the ideas that we find are the best and follow the codes and conventions of the genre.

Analysis of magazine advert in Rock genre

The page is composed of a bold colour scheme. The predominant colours are black, white, red and yellow. Black is a colour traditionally associated with the rock genre and is used effectively on this page, particularly in the black, leather, fingerless gloves on his hand. The title of the band, My Chemical Romance, is in white with a black background. It is in a large, simple font and is in capitals, which makes it stand out from the page and grabs the audience’s attention. It is in a similar font and colour to the title of the magazine – Kerrang – forming a link between the two. The masthead – Kerrang – is in a scratched and cracked font. It is not neat and perfect and this style would appeal to people who enjoy the rock genre. The fonts overall are quite aggressive and intense and add to the overall effect of the page, making it stand out and “in your face”. The headline - Danger Days – is in white font on a red background. Red is a colour that traditionally signifies danger and so draws our attention to the word danger. It is followed by the phrase – the inside story – which gives a sense of intrigue and encourages the reader to pursue the story inside the magazine.

The text is large and dominant on the page, drawing the reader to the titles and encouraging them to go on and read into the magazine. This would encourage sales of the magazine.

The red of the headline is emphasised by the red colour of the singer’s hair – a colour of excitement, rebellion and danger.

The two yellow oval shapes are drawn in a rather random, chaotic fashion which fits the image of the rock genre. They make the beginning of the title and the shot of the hand of the singer stand out. The singer has a black leather glove on his hand, and has his hand shaped into a gun. This fits with the traditional hard image of a rock band and would fit with the image of Kerrang as a rock magazine. Guns and weapons are traditionally associated with the rock genre.

The main picture is a mid-shot picture of the singer. The record company promoting the singer would want to use the article to promote the singer and bring him to the forefront of the audience’s attention. The magazine would want to show that they are featuring such a well-known artist in order to sell copies of their magazine. The shot is an eye-level shot. This encourages the audience to connect with the singer and become personally involved with him. As the image of the singer is so large, we realise that this is the main article of the magazine. This shows that the band is famous and well-known in the rock genre.

His hair is tousled and unkempt, quite long and over his face. Again this is a traditional image of a rock star. The red colour gives a sense of rebellion that we would associate with a rock star. This is further accentuated by the blue leather jacket. Again this is clothing which you would associate with the rock genre where leather is extensively used in clothing. The leather and the studs on the jacket are associated with the rebellion of the rock genre.

The image of the singer is dark on a very brightly lit white background. This serves to give a real contrast and makes the singer stand out.

Overall there is a great deal happening on this page – it is very busy – which makes us believe there is a lot happening inside the magazine. 

This magazine advert will help me when i am creating my own advert as I will be able to use some of the designs and styles in my own advert. It also allows me to see what is typically used in a magazine advert for a punk/rock band and so will allow me to follow these codes and conventions. 

Digipak designs

These are my two ideas for a digipak, I have taken into consideration the genre of music and have followed the generic conventions of the punk rock genre.
These designs will help me to create my final digipak as they use ideas that are unique to me and so will allow my group to discuss whether to

Analysis of digipak in chosen genre

This digipak is by the punk rock band Green Day.

The front features the title of the band and the album name in a large black font which makes it stand out from the bright colours in the background. This contrast in colours allows the digipak to be easily identified by fans.

The digipak is brightly coloured with a picture of the band members on the back. This easily identifies each of the band members for the fans. It also makes it stand out from the other digipaks as the bright colours would attract the attention of the audience.  There is also a tracklist on the back which gives the audience details about what is on the CD allowing the audience to decide whether they want to buy the digipak or not.

On the inside of the digipak there are details of the band and the producing label company. This will advertise the record company and producers to the audience. There is another image of the band on the inside of the band members in random positions which links to the genre as they don’t follow the rules and do their own thing.  

Pitch idea based on lyrics

I have analysed the lyrics of Madonna's 'This Used To Be My Playground', and I have annotated the piece as to what I would have pictured the music video to be like. I then compared my ideas to the actual music video and I learnt that the music video can be a lot deeper and have a more impacting meaning to it rather than link to the lyrics directly.














I have also based an idea on the lyrics from TFI which I intend to use. From the lyrics I have created an idea for a music video. It begins off with a teenage boy walking into an inn where his ex-girlfriend works who due to him cheating on her decides to poison his drink with cyanide (the name of the song) which inevitably kills him, and the girlfriend gets her revenge.

CYANIDE

Intro: Bm, G, F, E

Welcome to the holiday inn for broken hearts

Leave your feelings on the check inn table

Hush your mouth honey, no crying round here

Neck that drink watch them all disappear

Ohhhhhhhh

 Welcome to the holiday inn for broken hearts

Would you like to see our specialty?

Couple having dinner but to his surprise

In his drink was just a drop of cyanide

He couldn't hide

F,E

This is an anthem to show them we're not defeated

Stand tall and stand proud, in the face of evil

Bm, G, F, E, G

Baby, why can't you see,

You mean nothing to me

You had your chance when you walked out the door

And left me begging on my knees

 

Baby, why can't you see

You mean nothing to me,

There ain't no second chance,

You have danced your last dance,

Because baby, baby, I'm free!

 

Bm, G, F, E

Yes indeed.

Welcome to the holiday inn for reformed hearts

Leave that knife upon the check in table

I know she dragged it up and down your back

But what goes around, comes around, how about that?!

Ohhhhhh.

 

F,E

This is an anthem to show them we're not defeated

Stand tall and stand proud, in the face of evil

 

Bm, G, F, E, G

Baby, why can't you see,

You mean nothing to me

You had your chance when you walked out the door

And left me begging on my knees

 

Baby, why can't you see

You mean nothing to me,

There ain't no second chance,

You have danced your last dance,

Because baby, baby, I'm free

Yes indeed.

 

SOLO

Bm, G, F, E, G x2

Baby, why can't you see

You mean nothing to me,

There ain't no second chance,

You have danced your last dance,

Because baby, baby, I'm free!

Yes indeed.

I'm free

Oohhh- oh