Magaine Front Covers

This magazine coverv follows the codes and conventions of many music magazine covers; it has the main image of the band and the band name, the title of the magazine is at the top and other magzine stories are around the sides, this give the band a lot of attention and it is the first thing that someone will see when they look at the magazine, for our magazine front cover we will do something similar to this, and follow the codes and conventions by having the image of the band in the middle. This magazine cover will be similar to the one we will produce as the 'Kings of Leon' have 4 people and so does 'Pulled apart by Horses' however the way in which the band is portrayed may be slightly different as both bands make slightly different genre music; Kings of Leon's genre is Alternative Rock and Pulled Apart by Horses is mainly post-hardcore indie rock and experimental rock.

This magazine advert is also good and the bands personalities are portrayed; we like this idea as Pulled Apart by Horses do have a very strong personality which is shown in many of their songs, we also like the idea of the band name being at the top but we feel that it being over the picture it will be more effective and noticable. The other stories in the magazine are still around the sides which is a good technique that we will definately use.  The background of Take Thats image is white; this may be because Take That are a pop band which aren't really shown to be wild and controversial. For this reason we will use a darker background which will reinforce the controversial personalital portrayal of Pulled Apart by Horses

We found this cover very good as the effects used look like the man is smashing the sign; this man is linked with one of the smaller stories which goes against the codes and conventions as the main image is usually linked with the main story which seems to be Muse. The background of the image is dark, rather than white which makes it representative of the bands usually shown in 'Q' magazine, it also makes the bands seem more associated with the genre of music as it is sometimes dark.

This magazine front cover is very good, I especially like the use of the panthers as it creates and edgy effect, it gives the idea that Lily Allen is very cool and not scared of anything. Something like this would be very good in our frot cover, however it wouldn't be feasible to get panthers! This advert has the title in the middle which we will use; and the other stories that are included at the top bullet pointed, this looks good however I feel like it will make our magazine seem and look better as we will be following the codes and conventions and many people will immediately realise our magazine is a music magazine as they will be used to seeing a similar layout.

This magazine is 'Kerrang' magazine which focuses more on rock bands, this follows the codes and conventions by having a main image of the band but has different images at the bottom which would usually take attention away from the main story but the effective typography and the fact that they are pulling faces attracts the audiences attention to the image.

The photo used in this magazine cover is very effective; the fact that the band have their legs crossing around eachother could connote that they are very close, also the stance is effective as it makes them seem 'ready for anything'. The red typography used to write 'AAARRRGH!' is effective is it is eye catching, also the colour red connotes danger which is good as suggests that the albums will be dangerously 'loud' which the demographic in which the magazine is aimed at will find interesting.

We have also been looking at front covers on album packs, similarly to album adverts these often have similar structures, they have the picture of the band in the middle, the band name in the middle and other stories included in the magazine around the edges, this gives the band the main attention. It is important that the image of the band is good and represents them well because this could be the first time that a new audience sees the band and they should make a good impression; in terms of what they want to portray themselves as.

We have found that the genre of the music is very important when making the magazine cover and album pack, the ideas portrayed in the songs will have to link with the ideas on the front covers.  

Magazine Album Covers

This album advert is quite random as it has images of ballerinas, it goes against the codes and conventions as typically a album cover would include an image of the band. It includes ratings by 'Q' magazine and by 'NME' magazine which will make people want to go and see it as this makes people realise it is good. the words 'new album' are in a simplistic typgraphy and in capitals which is effective as it catches peoples eye. The black background would connote evil and death but the darkeness is counteracted by a simple, innocent looking photo. The band name is very large which will attract alot of attention.

I like this album cover as it looks like it is metal, this is effective as it makes it seem edgy and different, where normal album covers are just on paper, it has all the information needed on an album advert such as date and what it is available on, such as CD and download etc. It also doesnt follow the codes and conventions by not having an image, instead it has the bands logo which is also an idea me and Greg like, the logo is well known by many people and so it is easily recognised that the poster is for the Foo Fighters. This album poster also has on what songs are included in the albums which will get more people to buy the album as they will want to listen to the pre relseased songs.

I find this album cover quite boring as it is just plain black which connotes death and evil, it also has fire which connotates hell and pain, the fire is effective as it portrays the band to be wild and not afraid. The image of the electric guitar is good as it shows immediately that the band is a rock band, similarly the band logo is in black typography with white around which makes it stand out, the black writing and background tells us that the band is quite dark.

I especially like this album poster as it is very simple but detailed. I like the cream background which gives a calm sense, this band usually make indie rock music which is a lot more calm than hard rock that Pulled Apart by Horses make, this is why i feel that we couldnt use a similar background colour as it would take away the craziness away from our band. The image is very good and again goes against the stereotypical album poster as it does not include an image of the band, the image is old fashioned and looks liek a playing card as it has the king of clubs sign; this may of been used to give the impression that the band takes risks. The image is very effective as it will stick with the audience as it will makes them remember it as it is unusual.

This stereophonics is very good as the image is the whole background, it does not have a background colour but the sea is a main part, this is good as it gives a peaceful image, the band are sitting at a table which is unusual as album adverts usually have the band standing up. This album cover is good as it includes all of the usual information such as the release date etc. The Band name and album name typography is very simple which is still effective as it is noticeable, the keep calm and carry on is well known so people will remember this as it is a well known phrase.

We have been looking at magazine album adverts, we have found that many of them are quite similar; with a picture or image either of the band or of a symbol that will be recognised as the band. Stereophonics have a picture of the band and the band name above them, the typography is quite simple but the picture is effective as it is unusual. Kasabian on the other hand have an old fashioned image and the band name in the middle, this is effective as the band name is the first thing we see when we see their advert. Many album covers follow the same codes and conventions e.g. image, band name at the top or in the middle and the album name and details are often smaller which is why it is essential to have an eye catching image and a good band name so that people look at the advert for longer and actually read the information.

Our treatment

Music video

Me and Greg have discussed our storyline for the video, we are now discussing the storyline and creating our treatment.

New plan

Unfortunately hannah has decided to drop media, so she has left me with a big decision on what to do next, it would be very hard to do this task without hannah as it was a house that she knew etc. Therefore I am going to join Gregs who is doing a music video to a song by the band 'pulled apart by horses', he is still in the process of making up his narrative so we are thinking of integrating some aspects of  horror into his music video. I am going to look at gregs research and do some myself so I fully understand the ideas that he wants to portray. Many thanks to greg for letting me join. This is exciting news and i am pleased to be working with someone new, So in the words of PABH this is truly "Awesome, Radical and Totally Bodacious!"

Band Profile

Name: Pulled Apart by Horses

Origin: Leeds, England

Years Active: 2007 – Current
Labels: Transgressive Records
BSM Records
On The Bone Records
Dance To The Radio

Genres: Alternative Rock, Post – Hardcore, Indie Rock, Experimental Rock

Associated Acts: Concentration Champ, Mother Vulpine, It Takes Bridges, Monster Killed by Laser, Dinosaur Pile – Up

Members: Tom Hudson – lead vocals, rhythm guitar

James Brown – lead guitar

Robert John Lee – bass, backing vocals

Lee Vincent – drums

The band was formed in 2008 and played at pubs and some festivals, they then bagan to recieve good press and got many gig offers. On 17 May 2008, they headlined Nastyfest IX in Leeds to a packed audience of onlookers where a chaotic and injury stricken performance took place involving members of the band being sent to hospital. Their music is a combination of heavy riff based guitar work infused with disco licks and pounding drum rhythms. They then released songs on the website and realeased their 'Tour Traxx EP'. On 21 March, Transgressive Records announced the release of a strictly limited 12" vinyl release titled 'Live At Leeds' to be released on Record Store Day 17 April in the UK. The record would appear to borrow the idea from The Who classic album with artwork and packaging being similar.

DiscographyStudio Albums: . Pulled Apart by Horses (2010)
. Currently working on new album with rumored title “Papa Lulus Home Juice Bar” for possible release of late 2011
Singles: . Meat Ballon / Super Hang-On (2008)
. I Punched a Lion in the Throat / The Crapsons (2009)
. Back to the F**k Yeah (2010)
. High Five, Swan Dive, Nose Dive (2010)
. Yeah Buddy (2010)
. I Punched a Lion in the Throat (re-release) (2011)

Compilation Appearances: .  On The Bone Vol.2 (2008) (On The Bone Records)

E.P.’s: . Tour Traxxx (2009)
. Live At Leeds 12" Vinyl (2010)

Split Single's: .Pulled Apart By Horses/Holy State (2009)
. DTTR 4x12" Vol 1 (2009)

Location

This is where we are going to film our trailer, it is the same place that we shot our opening sequence last year. We are usuing the same location because we feel that it will be good as the already established audience will recognise it. Also we feel like it will be more effective than using a different location.

Magazine

This is one of the photos we we were thinking of using for the magazine front cover, we also thought of having a photo of just the clown. We felt that this photo was good as it showed the clown in the background of the film with the girl looking very scared, the fact the the clown is infront of the door signifies that there is no-where for her to go. Similarly the clown in the background gives the idea that he is always there and she cant escape him.

This was the other route we were going to take, the photo of the clown by himself, we also thought this was good as it showed the clown very close up which is quite scary, the shot is a low angle shot which connotes that the clown is superior to everyone viewing it. The clown also has the keys which gives him the characteristics of being sneaky and always there. We feel like this image will ;eave the audience suspicious and wanting to know what the clown does.

These are our practice ideas, we liked these but thought that our final one fits better with the ideas we are trying to show 
   

Logo 1:

•Didn’t like the white background as it signifies purity and we did not want to connote that as it is a typical horror film.

The clown picture is not the same style as that is in the film so we did not want to use this in our logo as it is more of a jester type clown, and the clown in our film is more horrific scary clown.

•We liked the horror drippy font that we used for our final logo better as it links more, however we did like this font as it had a clown carnival feel to it, but we did not feel as if it connoted horror.

Logo 2:

•We found a different image that we stuck with through out the process of the designing of the logo.  We found that this image provokes more of a reaction to the audience as it is generally more scarier.

•This logo has the carnival typography but we have decided we like the other typogrqaphy.

Logo 3:

• We like this typography however we feel that we like the red one better than white as red connotes danger which is more effective than the white which has opposite connotations.

Logo 4:

•We like this logo however in our research we found out that many film logos have a small slogan or tagline, this logo doesn’t have one and we decided we wanted to use one

Logo 5:

•We thought up the slogan ‘where the fun begins’ which we think is good as clowns are supposed to be fun and in circuses etc, our slogan is ironic as our film is scary not fun.

•The slogan on this logo is big and we felt that it needed to be smaller although we like this one.

•The writing is white however we feel that it works because it brings out the white in the clowns face and brings attention to the image of the clown in the logo too.

Branding ideas

This was our final decision for our logo. We used this font as it has drips of blood coming off which gives a scary feel to it, we also found that quite a lot of horror films use a similar font. This typography fits into the codes and conventions of a horror film typography. We choose red as it connotes danger and blood. The font is in capitals, we chose to do this as they make the font and theme seem more serious, as bold and in your face. We chose white for the slogan as it brings out the white in the clowns face and draws attention to it which makes it look scary as when someone is very white it looks different which reinforces the idea of the clown not being like a human. The slogan is 'where the fun begins' we thought this would fit well as clowns are usually in circuses which are meant to be fun, this is ironic as we know that the clown is evil, not fun.

Pitch

Hannah and Chloe's pitch from Chris Earl on Vimeo.

This is mine and hannah's pitch where we go through our branding ideas and show our final decision.