Studio Photoshoot for Album Cover

The photoshoot went very well and I managed to get photos of all the ideas that I had thought of as well as some new ideas that sprung to mind in the studio.

I have gathered all of the photos together and have begun editing on Adobe Photoshop at home. I have only begun cropping at the moment and will continue to edit in school.

Album Cover Most Recent Idea

Just before Nick and I went into the studio to take photos for the album cover, I came up with another idea.

I thought this idea could be very effective on the album cover as it will immediately draw the audience's attention and also state the name of the album which would be edited onto mine and Nick's T-Shirts.

Todays Photo Shoot for Album Cover

Today Nick and I will use my mums photography studio and set up a camera on a timer and take some shots from the idea I have drawn up.

After getting these particular shots, I will then take shots of Nick in a tuxedo and myself in a matching tracksuit to create an effect of which is 'unorthodox'. From here on we will simply be using any idea that springs to mind and getting a lot of photos so we have a lot to work with in the editing suite.

Album Cover Initial Idea

I came up with a potential idea for mine and Jame's album cover and decided to draw it, despite my less-than-perfect ability to draw. I thought that it would be good to draw what I was thinking so I would not forget the idea.

Here it is.

Since drawing this idea, I have come up with a few more ideas and changes to this drawing. This idea will just consist of Nick (singer in video) standing next to each other wearing the same coloured t-shirt. We will take one photo of Nick facing the camera and me with my back turned and then take another picture of the opposite to this. This will enable us to bring both images together during editing as well as editing the text onto our t-shirts. This was the initial idea; however, I now think that we will use a crazy colour effect on the right side of the cover and a black and white effect on the right hand side of the album cover.

We need to consider audience needs and what the song title and lyrics represent which is why I believe that the album cover should be 'unorthodox' and different. 

Album Cover Ideas - Lupe Fiasco

This is an album cover by Lupe Fiasco which caught my attention. I like the idea behind it and the editing effects used. I think James and I will aim to use some form of obvious editing to appeal to our target audience as this is clearly what a lot of Hip-Hop album covers do.

Inputting Text into the Video

Due to the fact a lot of Hip-Hop videos use texts during the video, James and I decided to include the word 'Unorthodox' during our video.

For example, 'All of the Lights' by Kanye West and Rihanna uses text throughout the video.

This is what we included in our video. I felt this worked really well in our video and makes the  clip look a lot more aesthetically pleasing.

Editing Effects

James and I did some research into effects for a specific clip in our video which we thought needed something more so it appealed to our target audience more successfully as it felt a bit long winded.

As a result, we decided to use the Sin City effect which would change the colours seen in the shot to make everything black and white but make chosen colours stand out. As I was wearing a purple polo and purple glasses, James and I decided to make these items of clothing to stand out.

Album Cover Ideas - The Game

It is important to consider the various Hip-Hop genre album covers so James and I can design our album cover to meet the genre conventions and audience needs and expectations.

This is an example of an album cover by The Game. I took a liking to this album cover because of the colour coordinated  aspect of the image and title. This appeals to the Hip-Hop target audience due to the fact The Game member is seen dressed in typical Hip-Hop clothing.

James and I will use a similar idea to this but with myself and Nick in shot with a colour coordinated aspect to the shot through editing.

Editing So Far

So far, James and I have edited the first verse completely and are happy with how it looks. We will obviously think of different ideas and therefore are likely to change the editing techniques used but so far we are comfortable with how the verse looks.

We have used letterboxing in the first verse and feel it really meets our audience needs as it fits with the tempo of the song and engages the audience.

Rough Cut

Other than working on our rough cut in lessons. James and I have stayed after school today in order to try and complete the rough cut. We have planned it well so that we complete the rough cut tonight and therefore have an hour in the lesson tomorrow to make changes and act on our teachers' feedback. 

So far we have edited two minutes worth of footage and so far it is looking good. We have more than enough footage for the length of the song and so far none has gone to waste. Framing is looking good and in order to meet our audience's needs, we are currently focusing on using specific cuts such as jump cuts to engage the reader into the tempo of the song.