Digi-Pak;

After completing some research into Eminem, we found the most common factors that Eminem includes in his album and single covers. This made it easier for us to them plan for the pictures that we need to take.
Most of Eminem's singles have bold writing in black, white and red rather than including images. This means that we only have to take photos to go on the back page and a photo to go inside on the centre page. We have draw up some ideas which we can work from and see what the images look like before deciding on the final images that we are going to use.
Once we had drawn up our plans, we then went out and took some potential photos for us to use, below you can see the photo that we took to use for the back of the album.

 I am going to edit this picture to make it look like an image that Eminem would want to be associated with his personal image. This will mean that i am going to need a add effects such as a crack in the wall, make the image darker and add a font which is similar to ones that have been used on previous album covers by Eminem.

From the picture above, this is what we created when using Photoshop. We used a number of effects including changing the saturation and the overlay feature to add a crack into the wall. This helped to make it look like 'Eminem' punched the wall and cracked it rather than just him clenching his fist and looking like he is punching the wall.


After editing the picture once, we decided to do it a second time to see what effect we could create. This time we decided to add more effects and try and create an image which looks different again. This time we left the colour quiet dull and just put an overall darker colour so that it looked more like a cover Eminem would use.


Before deciding which image to use as the actual cover, we made sure that we tried out a number of different fonts in different colours on each background to see which ones showed up and which ones didn't look as good. 

Eminem's Albums;

This album by Eminem is called Relapse and was released in May of 2009. As you can see, this cover is different to singles that Eminem has released mainly because it contains an image of his self but also due to the fact that it doesn't include any large writing telling you the name of the album.Also, the writing which is normally used on the single covers of Eminem's is big, bold and either black or white. From this cover you can see that there is hardly any writing and what there is, it is very small.

This album cover is very similar to the single cover for the song 3AM. The only thing which has changed is the colours that are used. These colours are a lot less harsh and make the cover look less like any of the other Eminem covers.

This album cover looks like single cover for 'Old Time's Sake' showing that Eminem sometimes has some silimarities between album and single covers that he produces. This was released on 18th May 2009, which was only a few weeks after the Old Time's Sake single was released which may have something to do with the fact that they look similar.

Recovery is the most recent album that Eminem has released. This cover is nothing like anything Eminem has released before and the only thing that Eminem fans may recongise from this cover is the backwards 'E' in the title Recovery. This album was released 22nd June 2010 and is very different to anything Eminem has released before.

Comparing Recovery which is Eminem's most recent album to the first album that he released in 1999 which is called The Slim Shady LP, shows how much he has changed over the years. This album cover doesn't include Eminem's name at all and would be hard to identify who the artist of the album is.

Eminem's Singles;

This single was released on 2nd February 2009 and is called 'Crack a Bottle'. As you can see from this cover, the artwork that is used is very dark and bold. This is the same as most of Eminem's other album covers meaning that we will need to produce something which along the same lines. Most of the covers that Eminem releases have just the artists name and the title of the song rather than having images on them.

This was the cover of the single 'We Make You' that Eminem released 13th April 2009. From the cover we have noticed that it is yet another cover which uses bright colours and bold writing. Also, from this cover i have noticed that within his name the second 'E' is back to front which is something that we may be able to use within our production.


3AM was a single that Eminem released on 28th April 2009. Yet again, he has used the same colour scheme which is very bold. This is a good way to get customers attention as they will instantly recognise that it is an Eminem single. After looking at these covers, we have decided as a group that it would be appropriate for us to use Black, White & Red within the production of our album cover.

Old Time's Sake was released on 5th May 2009. This is the first single cover of Eminem's most recent singles that has a picture on it rather than just writing. It also uses Blue within its colour scheme which makes it look different to the other covers.

Ancillary Tasks;

Along with the Music Video that we have to produce, we also have be told that we have to produce a Digi-Pak, a Magazine Advert or a Website. The two that we have chosen are a Digi-Pak and a Magazine Advert.
Before designing the Digi-Pak for our Production to the song Love the Way You Lie. We thought it would be worth while taking the time to research into previous single and album covers that Eminem has released, to see what they looked like and what they included so that we would be able to make one which is authentic.
We also had to look into previous magazine adverts that have been made to promote Eminem's album releases, so that we were able to create one which looked realistic and if people saw it would know straight away what we were trying to advertise.

Final Production;

We have spent a lot of time tweaking this film and making sure that it is just right. We like to think that we have incorporated a number of factors that Eminem has previously used and we hope we have done him justice. Hope you enjoy our production.

Digital Story Board;

After creating our inital story board, we went out and took a range of the shots that we were planning to use so that we were able to create a digital story board. This was a lot easier to follow and meant that we got to see what shots looked like before we went out probably so we had time to change things.

Above you can see a copy of the digital story board we created. This was the rough guide that we had to follow when going out filming. However, this isn't how our actual production turned out due to people not being able to film and circumstances that were out of our control such as members leaving the group and the weather.

Production Log;

Tuesday 28th September;
This was the first day that we decided to go out filming and get the shots for the first verse of our song. These shots were taken in Stephen's house and garden to follow the lyrics of the song. The most effective shot that we created during this day of filming was a conversation, in which we used a range of different shots such as over the shoulder shots. We took this shot numerous times so that we would have alot of footage to play around with and create an imaginative shot with. Despite the fact it rained, we still managed to get some good footage.

Friday 1st October;

We used this day to edit the footage that we had shot on the Tuesday before. This took us longer than we thought it would as we had new software that we were advised to use. However, to overcome this we went to ask out media technician for help on how to get the best out of iMovie '09.
Monday 4th October;
This was the second day that we went out filming. Today we used two different actors to take part, and then shot our footage at the lakegrouds. This afternoon of filming went well and we were able to get the shots we wanted relatively quickly due to both of our actors studying Drama, and therefore were able to get into character and do what we asked of them. The weather today was really bright and sunny which helped reflect the atmosphere that we were trying to create, which was when the couple were happy before their relationship turned argressive and abusive.
Monday 11th October;
The day was used to edit the footage that we had taken from the second couple that we filmed. We didn't get many shots due to a limited time that we had to shot with both actors being free. This meant that the next time that we shot this couple we had a lot of work to do. 
We were able to put our shots together pretty fast and get a good amount of editing done because we were all becoming more familiar with the software. 
Tuesday 12th October;
This day was used to film the third couple that we are using. Luckily it was a nice day which meant that we were able to get a lot of filming done outdoors. We had the whole of the afternoon of this day free so we managed to get a lot of filming fog this couple done. Both actors knew each other well which made things a lot easier for us and meant that they felt comfortable acting with each other.
Friday 15th October;
Like two weeks previously, we used this lesson to edit the footage that we had shot on Tuesday. This took us longer than we thought as we had a large amount of footage due to the nice weather we had on Tuesday. After this lesson we planned to meet up in the evening to get the rest of the editing done before shooting anymore.
Wednesday 20th October;
As a group we all met up in the evening to get some more editing done. This took a few hours but then meant that we were up to date with all of the editing and allowed us to go out and get some more footage for our production.
Friday 22nd October;
This day was meant to be used for filming, but the weather turned against us so therefore meant that we were unable to film and then left us having to find another day that our actors were both free again.
Saturday 30th October;
This was the next day that we were able to have both of our actors free due to the fact it was half term and everyone was busy at different times. Due to the fact that this was such a long time from the last time we filmed we had a lot footage to film in a short period of time. The fact that we chose to film on a Saturday was an advantage as it meant that we had the whole day rather than a few hours in the evening before it started to get dark. After this days shooting we had almost all of the footage that we needed of couple 1.
Monday 1st November;
After collecting more footage on Saturday, this enabled us to put together the whole of verse one with the song and chose which shots worked well and which didn't work so well. Once this editing session was over, we were left over with a large of shots that we hadn't used. However, this was good because if we decided at a later date that something didn't work we had other shots that we could incorporate.
Tuesday 2nd November;
None of the male actors were avaliable on this day so we thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to film the chorus' of the song. This would include all 3 girls, singing the chorus and then us cutting the shots so it looked like each girl was singing a line. All of this filming didn't take us very long as we had the iPod with us which meant that they could all hear the song that they were singing and were able to keep in time with the song, making life a lot easier for us when it comes to editing the shots.
Wednesday 3rd November;
We were able to get couple 3 together which meant that we could shoot some more footage of them and make our film come together. Not alot of footage was shot due to the weather changing as we were on set.
Thursday 4th November;
Luckily, the weather today was nicer which meant that we were able to shoot the shots that we planned to complete yesterday. Once this was done, we headed to Layla's house where we uploaded the footage and then started to edit the shots.
Sunday 7th November;
We were able to get all 3 of our couples avaliable on this day which meant that we sorted out different time slots and different locations for each couple. This allowed us to get alot of the filming done that we needed to fill any gaps that we had after reviewing the footage we had already shot.
Wednesday 10th November;
Due to the weather being bad on this day, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take the time and shoot Eminem. For this we e-mailed the head of drama to see when the drama studio would be free for us to use it as our location. Our reasoning for using this as our set was so we could make it look like a rehersing studio which we could flick back to throughout the production.

Sunday 14th November;

After reviewing the filming that we had already completed, we found the final shots that we needed to complete and used this day to do so. As we had the whole day, it meant that we were able to get hold of all of our actors and complete our filming.
Wednesday 18th November;
As we spent all day filming previously, this meant that we had a lot of editing to do which meant that we were unable to complete it all in one afternoon.
Friday 20th November;
Only Becky and Layla were available to edit this day, but rather than waiting for Sophie to be free, we too it upon ourselves to get as much work done as possible so that we don't fall behind schedule.  

Location Shots;

Within our production we need to use a number of different locations so show that a range of couples suffer from being in abusive relationships. Each couple that we are shooting will be in a different location which means that we need at least three different locations, then with another set location for the man who is playing eminem. The locations that we are going to use are;

Stephen's House and Garden - Couple 1

Lake Grounds and Layla's House - Couple 2

Sophie's Garage and Sophie's House - Couple 3

Urban areas; walking the streets while singing - Eminem

Although we had planned to use these locations it was important for us to go out and take some pictures of the locations that we are were planning to use to make sure that they are appropriate.

Stephen's House;

This is the location that we were planning to use for couple 1. We went here in the middle of the day when it was light to see if there would be good enough for what we wanted to use it for. We decided that this was okay due to the front garden being open and allowing us to film from a number of different angles.

Lake Grounds;

The lighthouse at the lake grounds is where we were going to film the second couple in the film. This was a nice open area with a wide range of different scenary which allowed us to change the look of the location almost instantly.

Clevedon Sea Front;

Due to the fact that this is on a main road and is sometimes quite busy, we thought that this would be a suitable place to film part of Eminem walking along rapping the lyrics. However, at night this location wouldn't be suitable to film in as the lighting is poor so we went against using this location.

Most of the locations that we thought about using for our production when we were planning were suitable and we were able to film there. It was important that we went to check whether the location would fit what we wanted to film or not because if we had not been to the location and then just turned up we could of ended up wasting a lot of time in which we could have been filiming.

Shooting Schedule;

It was important for us to make sure that we had a detailed shooting schedule before we actually went out filming. All of us had different commitments on different days such as work, this meant that on some days only a few of us could go out filming rather than the whole group.

We are planning to use a range of different locations which means that when it requires driving it is alot more difficult as only one member of our group is able to drive and it is more important for the actors/actresses which are featuring in our film to be able to get them to the location rather than having all 4 members of our group there.

 

Inital Story Board;

This was the single most important thing that we needed to complete within the planning stages. Once we had our story board created we were able to go out and shoot our production.
As you can see from the drawings below, this is very basic but was just to give us a rough idea of what we thought would look good in certain areas of the film. Although we aren't likely to follow the story board completely, it is a good idea to have one ready so that we had a rough idea of what we needed to film.

After creating our initial story board, we then went to take some shots so that we were able to create a digital story board. 

Casting;

After producing a intial story board we decided as a group that it would be a good idea to have three different couples to act within our film. This would help to portray the image that a range of different people end up in agressive and abusive relationships.



Couple 1;

Stephen Hook

Sophie Davies

The reason that we chose these two people are because we know that they are close friends so therefore would be happy to act with eachother. Also, Sophie is an A Level drama student so is comfortable acting infront of a camera.

Couple 2;

Kyle McMeechen
Ella Taswell
These were the actors that we chose for the second verse in the song. Both of these students have done GCSE Drama, and Ella has continued Drama into A Level.

Couple 3;
Zoe Coates
Oscar Buchanan
Both of these actors know eachother well which meant that they would feel comfortable being intimate with each other. This allowed us to being creative and make the scenes look more realistic.

Eminem;

The person that we have chosen to play Eminem in our video needs to be capable of learning the lyrics and acting to camera so that it looks realistic. It is important for them to learn a large proportion of the lyrics so we can use them when we need to within out film.

Approval;

After making our decision on Love the Way You Lie, first of all we had to e-mail Eminem's recording company to ask for permission to use the song in our music video. 

This was important to show that we weren't copyrighting the song, and to let them know that the song will only be used for educational purposes and no money would be involved, aswell as being told at the start of our course if we would be able to use the song, rather than being told half way through that we are unable to.

Shot List;

Close up x3 (Girls Faces)
--> Fade..
Medium Shot x2 (Boy)
Long Shot x2 (Boy)
Establishing long shot (Boy)
BLACK OUT!
Extra Long Shot
Close Up (Door Handle)
Long Shot (Girl with Suitcase)
Medium Shot (Girl; Shouting)
Medium Shot (Boy standing at the door)
Extra Long Shot (Girl Leaving)
Long Shot (Girl)
--> Fade..
Long Shot (Boy and Girl; Happy)
Close Up (Boy and Girl; Happy)
Close Up (Boy and Girl; Sad)
Long Shot
Medium Shot (Arguing)
.. Dance Scene ..
Medium/Long Shot x8
Long Shot (Couple on Bench)
Arc Shot (Hugging)
Arc Shot; (Reversed)
Long Shot
Extra Long Shot x2
Long Shot
Close Up x2
Split Screen
Close Up x6
P.O.V (Boy)
P.O.V/Close Up (Boy)
Close Up x3 (CHORUS)
Over the Shoulder Shot
Close Up (Photo)
Close Up (Slow Motion, Photo)
Medium Shot
.. BRIGHT LIGHT ..
Long Shot
P.O.V Shot
Arc Shot
Mirror Shot (Over the Shoulder)

Equipment;

Due to use filming at different times during the day and in a range of different locations there are numerous pieces of equipment that we will need to use to make our production look professional;
Video Camera;
This is the most important peice of equipment that i will be using throughout the production of our music video. This will be used at all times to capture a range of footage that we will then look at and decide what we are going to use.
Lighting;
We will be using lighting alot with in the production of our Music Video as we need to make sure that all of our shots are lite properly. It is important that we do this as most of our shooting will be done at night to create the correct atmosphere which is created by the lyrics of the song.
iPod;
This won't be used very much but it is just so that when we are acting, people can listen to the lyrics which will hopefully help the actors get into character. Also, this will help when aksing the person acting as Eminem to sing the lyrics for us.

Lyrics;

Below, you will see the lyrics to the song 'Love the Way You Lie'. The reason that we have incorporated the lyrics into our blog is due to the fact that we are using the lyrics as a narrative for our production. This means that we need to analyse the lyrics and decide what we are going to do in each shot to reflect the lyrics.
[Chorus - Rihanna]
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
Well that's all right because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
Well that's all right because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie

[Eminem - Verse 1]
I can't tell you what it really is, I can only tell you what it feels like
And right now it's a steel knife in my windpipe
I can't breathe but I still fight while I can fight
As long as the wrong feels right it's like I'm in flight
High off her love, drunk from my hate, it's like I'm huffin' pain
And I love it the more I suffer, I suffocate
And right before I'm about to drown, she resuscitates me, she f**kin' hates me
And I love it, "wait, where you goin'?"
"I'm leavin' you," "no you ain't come back"
We're runnin' right back, here we go again
So insane, cause when it's goin' good it's goin' great
I'm superman with the wind at his back, she's Lois Lane
But when it's bad it's awful, I feel so ashamed I snap
Whose that dude? I don't even know his name
I laid hands on her
I'll never stoop so low again
I guess I don't know my own strength

[Chorus]
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
Well that's all right because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
Well that's all right because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie
[Eminem - Verse 2]
You ever love somebody so much you can barely breathe
When you with em you meet and neither one of you even know what hit em
Got that warm fuzzy feeling
Yeah them chills used to get em
Now you're getting f**kin' sick of lookin' at em
You swore you'd never hit em, never do nothin' to hurt em
Now you're in each other's face spewin' venom in your words when you spit em
You push pull each other's hair
Scratch claw hit em throw em down pin em
So lost in the moments when you're in em
It's the rage that's the culprit, controls you both
So they say it's best to go your seperate ways
Guess that they don't know ya
Cause today that was yesterday
Yesterday is over, it's a different day
Sound like broken records playin' over
But you promised her next time you'll show restraint
You don't get another chance
Life is no nintendo game, but you lied again
Now you get to watch her leave out the window
Guess that's why they call it window pane

[Chorus]
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
Well that's all right because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
Well that's all right because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie
[Eminem - Verse 3]
Now I know we said things, did things, that we didn't mean
And we fall back into the same patterns, same routine
But your temper's just as bad as mine is, you're the same as me
When it comes to love you're just as blinded
Baby please come back, it wasn't you, baby it was me
Maybe our relationship isn't as crazy as it seems
Maybe that's what happens when a tornado meets a volcano
All I know is I love you too much to walk away though
Come inside, pick up the bags off the sidewalk
Don't you hear sincerity in my voice when I talk?
Told you this is my fault, look me in the eyeball
Next time I'm pissed I'll aim my fist at the drywall
Next time there won't be no next time
I apologize even though I know it's lies
I'm tired of the games I just want her back
I know I'm a liar if she ever tries to f**kin' leave again
I'ma tie her to the bed and set this house on fire

[Chorus]
Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
Well that's all right because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
Well that's all right because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie

Final Song Choice;

After a discussion we made a final decision of song and this is Love The Way You Lie by Eminem featuring Rihanna.

Our main reason for choosing this song was because there isn't yet a music video which has been created for this song, this gives us chance to interpret the lyrics of the song in our own way rather than relying on a video which has already been made. Also, after studying the lyrics we realised that the song had a narrative and meant that we would be able to use the lyrics to perform a story in our music video. We already have a number of actors and actresses in mind which we can ask to perform within our video, along with a number of different locations that we can use to film in and around. 
The main issues that this song deals with is violence and abuse which is what we will be focusing on throughout our video. To get this point across we will be using a range of different shots and locations of couples arguing and being abusive towards each other. Most of the filming we are planning will be in the evenings so that it is dark and sets a more damped atmosphere and will fit the song well. We are planning to use lots of different couples to show that everyone argues at some point in their relationships. At certain points in the song the lyrics change to when the couples were happy and when everything was fine in their relationship, when this happens we are going to use the same couples but we shoot during the day to make it a 'calmer' setting. 

Inspiration;

To get ideas for our Music Video we watched a large number of different videos by artists who perform the same or similar genre of music. This then helped us to decide which conventions we were going to include in our Music Video. After a while we decided that there was 5 main videos that we each liked different aspects of, these were..

- Nothin' On You - B.O.B featuring Bruno Mars

- Not Afraid - Eminem

- California Gurls - Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg

- Love The Way You Love - Eminem featuring Rihanna

- The Boy Who Murdered Love - Diana Vickers
- Kickstarts - Example
There were certain things about each Music Video that we each liked and thought would be good to try and incorporate into the Video that we will be making.

Nothin' On You - B.O.B featuring Bruno Mars;

The main effect that we liked from this video that we thought made it stand out from other videos that we watched was the way that everyone looked like they were made out of paper. This created a really different effect and made us think about what we could do to make our video stand out. 

I think the main effect that we would take from this video if any would be all of the girls faces at the beginning of the video, changing at regular intervals. We think that we will be incorporate this into our Music Video some way, maybe using men or body parts such as feet so that it is something different to the B.O.B video. If we did use this we would get the people to be miming the lyrics of the song rather than just having pictures of their faces.

Not Afraid - Eminem;

The reason that we decided to keep this video as one of our final choices was the range of different shots that were used within this video, because although a lot of them are simple shots they make the video look very different. One shot in particular that we liked was the establishing shot used to open the video, we would really like to try and incorporate a shot like this into our Music Video. 

Also, the fact that there are only two or three main locations that are used throughout the video made us think that we would still be able to create a good video even though we don't have access to lots of different locations like the professionals do. This video just proves that we don't have to have lots of different locations to create an affective video.

California Gurls - Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg;
The main feature of this video that made it stand out was the large range of colours and shapes that were used. All of the props and costumes used within the video make it stand out from other videos. We knew straight away that we would never be able to create a video like this which is why we decided to keep it as one of our final few songs as this would give us chance to make a completely different video rather than thinking 'oh, that looks good, lets do that!' because there isn't anything in the video that we would be able to copy apart from some shots which have been used.
Another thing that we liked about this video is that the song is a narrative so we would be able to make the video tell a story rather than just making up a story that we think fits in with the lyrics. 





Love The Way You Love - Eminem featuring Rihanna;
This song currently doesn't have a music video for it, which is why we thought it would be a good idea to think about producing a video for as it would give us chance to do what we wanted rather than using the official video for ideas. 
This song was a joint decision between the whole group so it meant that it was already one of our top choices. We also liked the fact that there was a girl and boy singing and the song had a clear narrative. This meant that we would be able to follow the story of the song and create the video around the lyrics. 


The Boy Who Murdered Love - Diana Vickers;
The was my song choice when we were originally discussing songs in which we could use for our music video. The video which has been produced for this song was the first one which sprung to mind when i thought of interesting music videos that i had seen lately.
The main reason in which i liked this video was because of the animation which has been included into the video. This made it look more fun and also interpreted the lyrics of the song well. If i could take anything from this video, that is what it would be. However, we don't have enough equipment to allow us to make animation look good within the music video that we are producing.
All of the bright colours used within the video almost makes it look like it if filmed in a fantasy world. One thing that we as a group wanted to include in our video was bright colours to make it stand out from other videos.





Kickstarts - Example;
This is one of the most simple videos that we have looked at, yet is one of the most effective. This was my favourite video that we looked at and it was all because of the different ways in which the shots have been put together. Most of the shots that have been used in this video we could do well enough to make them look professional but it is just the way in which they have been used which makes it stand out and look better than other videos we looked at.
The best thing about this video that my whole group liked was the way in which they used 'split screen'. It works really well even though it is just the same shot filmed in a different location. Another thing which we thought was good was that the whole video was only filmed in 2-3 locations which made us think about where we can film our video to keep it simple.

Introduction;

For our A2 Media Project there were 3 options that we had to choose from. These were either a Music Video, a Film Trailer or a Newspaper. Straight away as a group we decided that we would be able to do the best production in the form of a Music Video. Also, being in a group of 4 this gives us the chance to all put in our individual input to create the best production we can.
Once we had decided to produce a Music Video the next thing we did is talked about songs that we each liked. After we had a list of potential songs we looked at the music videos that had been created for each of the songs. There were different things about each video that we each liked which then made it much harder when we had to come to a final decision about what song we were going to produce a video for. This decision was made harder by the fact that we all liked different songs, but finally we chose a different song that we all liked.