What's Your Favourite Genre? Poll Results!

Near the start of the year I put a couple of polls on the side bar of my blog, the first of which was asking people what was their favourite genre of music. I got a good response to this poll with thirteen people responding showing it's a good tool for basic audience feedback. The top result surprised me as five votes for Smooth Jazz. Whether this was peoples actually opinion or they just put it down as a joke I don't know, however many of the other results where interesting to note. There where two votes for Classical music which possible shows an older audience viewing my blog as well as two votes for death metal a sub genre we have looked at this year. One vote was for Dubstep, a sub genre related to house/electronic music we are looking at for our own project. Also one music was cast for the genre of Rock. This choice I thought would be more popular along with genres like Pop music and Hip-Hop. I feel these results show a less mainstream audience for our blogs and music video which would fit with our targeted audience. 

Shooting Schedule #9

This is going to be a small shoot in Leeds filming misc footage with busy streets and cut away shots to be used in our video. This footage is going to be filmed in the city centre and using some industrial locations.
Footage to get:

• Miscellaneous shots
• Cut away shots

Location: Leeds city centre

Equipment: HD camera

Group member: Tom

Shooting Schedule #8

Tom is going into Leeds this week to get footage at the airport as well as getting footage of planes landing and taxi footage. This will involve filming in Leeds Bradford airport as well as filming in an area for plane spotters. Hopefully we can get some footage, however filming inside the airport could be an issue with security. This footage can be used in a rough cut.
Footage to get:

• Footage inside the Airport
• Aeroplane landing
• Taxi footage

Location: Leeds Bradford Airport

Equipment: Tripod, HD camera

Group Members: Tom

Rough Cut 2

Podcast 5

Podcast on this weeks activities, enjoy!

Contacting Record Label - Virgin Records

Podcast 4 - Update

This is our 4th podcast which goes over the filming session last week-end and the creative arts evening as well as plans for the future.


 

Time Sheet

Timesheet TC Version 1

Daft Punk - Online Footprint

Daft Punk Fan Forum

As well as having their own website there are many way to connect with Daft Punk through social media and other fan made sites. The official site includes exclusive news, songs and downloads for fans of the band. They also have a Facebook, Twitter and Youtube for connecting with their audience and uploading videos and content. They have articles in Mixmag as well as IMDB due to their work on the Tron soundtrack. 

The main fan forum I found was 'Thedaftclub' which advertises itself as the number one fansite for the french house band Daft Punk, featuring news, music, discussion and more. We also found this site very useful for gaining audience feedback from like-minded Daft Punk fans. There are also many other smaller independent sites and Facebook pages. On Youtube there are many different remixes and downloads all increasing the buzz around Daft Punk.

Daft Punk - Record Label Research

Daft Punk have produced music under the record labels for Soma, Virgin Records and more recently Walt Disney. Soma Quality Recordings (more commonly known as Soma Records) is a Scottish techno and house label co-founded in 1991 by the electronic music duo Slam. The label is known for releasing Daft Punk's first tracks from their 1997 album Homework. 

Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Simple Minds,Lenny Kravitz, The Smashing Pumpkins, Mike Oldfield, and more on their list of artists. It was later sold to Thorn EMI in 1992. Its American operations were merged with Capitol Records in 2007 to create the Capitol Music Group. 

Walt Disney Records is the flagship record label of the Disney Music Group and is owned by the Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Records was formed in 1956 as Disneyland Records. Before that time, Disney recordings were licensed out to a variety of other labels such as (RCA, Decca, Capitol, and ABC-Paramount Records). As you can see from the progression of the record labels Daft Punk have attempted to appeal to a more mainstream audience with a broader appeal. They have gained recognition through their work on the Tron soundtrack through signing with Disney Records. It is also important to note these labels when it comes to making the Digipak and knowing which logos to include in the packaging. 

Daft Punk - Appearances in Media

Appearance In Interstella 5555

Daft punk's popularity certainly owes itself to the many appearances in different media products and intertexuality. They have appeared on television multiple times through adverts and have been reference a lot in films and programs. In 2001 they appeared in a commercial for GAP clothing as well as on Cartoon network promoting the Toonami website. Anime influenced music videos from the discovery album also have featured in the feature length  Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem in which Daft Punk appears in their robot alter ego costume. In 2005 they also appeared in adverts for Sony Ericsson as well as Adidas. 

Daft Punk Featured On DJ Hero

In 2011, Coca-Cola distributed Limited Edition Coca-Cola bottles designed by Daft Punk (called Daft Coke). They were only sold in France. A newer version of these themed bottles now exist as collectors items, some parts of the bottles such as the cap and Coke logo being plated in gold. Daft Punk provided eleven new mixes featuring their music for the video game DJ Hero. They also appear in the game as playable characters, along with their own venue. The duo appear wearing their Discovery-era helmets and Human After All-era leather attire. In the 2012 episode of The Simpsons entitled The Day The Earth Stood Cool, recurring character Disco Stu, wears an outfit which is similar in design to the one's used by the band.

Reference In The Simsons

GAP Advert

Daft Punk have also been widely featured in other artists music. The duo has also been acknowledged in  'Losing My Edge', the first single by LCD Soundsystem, bragged about being the first to "play Daft Punk to the rock kids." LCD Soundsystem also recorded the song "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House", which reached #29 in the UK and was nominated for the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. The Soulwax remix of the song also contains samples of many Daft Punk tracks as well as tracks by Thomas Bangalter. The song "Number 1 Girl" by the Dutch music project Le Le mentions the names Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo among other producers and artists. Numerous other artists have remixed and sampled Daft Punks songs, probably most notably Kanye West's 2007 song 'Stronger'.

More recently the tune to Daft punk's 'Technologic' has appeared on a pizza hut advert. The lyrics have been changed to reference the pizza company instead of the original lyrics. This is a good way to get people to watch the original song as well as making a catchy advert. 

Digipak Design

Here is the initial design for the digipak, we based the design on the suitcase used in the video and took the pictures when shooting on saturday. For the digipak it's important to note the small details such as record labels and copyright information. I used the emboss tool in photoshop to create the text and the globe in the centre. I think the design is simple yet eye catching and will work especially well when it come to the final product on cardboard. We used a template from the musividz blog and downloaded the 'Daft Font' from dafont.com. As you can see also the front cover relates to the back.

Front Cover With Spine

Back Cover

Rough Cut 1

This is the first rough cut for our video idea edited by Tom. Some improvements to be made however we have filmed new footage which is currently being edited and will be out soon.

Artist Research - Daft Punk

Daft Punk is an electronic music duo consisting of french artists  Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and  Thomas Bangalter forming in 1993. They gained popularity and success in the 1990's house movement in France and produced their first single 'The New Wave' in 1994. The duo has been credited with producing songs essential to the french house scene. In 1997 they achieved success with the critically acclaimed album homework. Since then they have produced multiple albums and have had many successful singles appealing to a range of audiences. 

Bangalter and de Homem-Christo were originally in a band called Darlin', which disbanded after a short period of time, leaving the two to experiment musically on their own. The duo became Daft Punk, releasing their critically acclaimed debut album Homework in 1997. The 2001 release Discovery was even more successful, driven by the club singles "One More Time", "Digital Love" and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". In March 2005, the duo released the album Human After All to mixed reviews. However, the singles "Robot Rock" and "Technologic" achieved success in the United Kingdom. Daft Punk toured throughout 2006 and 2007 and released the live album Alive 2007, which won a Grammy award for Best Electronic/Dance Album. The duo composed the score of the film Tron: Legacy and in 2010 released the soundtrack album of the film.

 Years before producing electronic music as a duo, they were stated to have shared tastes for Elton John, MC5, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys and The Stooges. Their outward personae have also changed over time. During their Homework years, the duo would usually wear masks to hide their appearance.When not wearing disguises, they occasionally preferred to be replaced by animation or have their faces digitally obscured for press kits. Very few official photos of the duo's faces exist, including a blurry one found in the Homework liner notes. This relates to our own music video as it is essential that we maintain a narrative enigma for our own main character too make the video effective.

Digipak Layout

Shooting Schedule #7

This weekend we are going film scenes with the traveller as well as two encounters. First of all we are going to film the encounter with Tom doing magic in outside bluebell woods. This will involve a sequence of shots with card tricks and the dance incorporated. We will also film the traveller around the woods walking and then the interaction between the biker and the traveller. This should give us some valuable footage towards a first rough cut, however we still need more encounters for our final product.
Footage to get:

• Card trick encounter
• Miscellaneous walking
• Biker encounter 
• Woods footage
• Directing footage

Location: Bluebell Woods, Ilkley

Equipment: HD cameras, Tripod, Figrig

Group Members: tom, Will, Andy

Shooting Schedule #6

We hope to get some good footage at the creative arts evening of different people replicating our dance moves with instruction for different group members. We also hope to show of things like the initial digipak design and magazine ad/poster. The video made from this footage can be used to try and extend our audience.
Footage we hope to achieve:

• A variety of people taking part in the dance
• Instructing people how to do the dance

Location: Ilkley Grammar School
Equipment: HD Cameras, Figrig, Tripod, Macbook
Group Members: Tom, Will, Andy

DIGIPAK Eg. 6: Madeon - The City

The digipak for Madeon's 'The City' follows a simple design which I have seen in a few of the digipaks I have analysed. The front of the digipak include the title of the album and the artists name which is in fitting with the common conventions. The artist and album name is also repeated behind the text on the front which is a nice idea and something I could see incorporating into the final design of our own digipak for around the world. 

The back cover is very simple with the track listed with a florescent glow around the outside of the text which would appeal to fans of the genre. The design company and record company also feature in the bottom two corners of the design. The blue and black theme runs throughout which looks very appealing. The inside cover has the same repeated pattern on the back with the outline of a city skyline in the top and bottom. The CD itself has text around the outside of it in the blue font with a large 'M' in the centre for Madeon. The design is aesthetically pleasing and features things we could use for our own design. 

Shooting Schedule #5

We have extended our idea to include a dance which can be replicated in order to help extend our products audience appeal. For this are going to do an instruction video for the dance using students in the 6th form centre in the hope we can show this at creative arts evening and get people to take part in the dance and replicate it.
Footage we hope to get:

• Tom instructing the dance
• Students replicating the moves

Location: Ilkley Grammar School
Equipment: HD Camera, Tripod
Group Members: Tom, Will, Andy

Podcast 3 - Delegating Responsibilities/Creative Arts Evening

DIGIPAK Eg.5: Deadmau5 - For Lack of a Better Name

From this digipak for Deadmau5's 'lack of a better name' we can see many of the conventions commonly found in digipaks of this type. We can see the front cover has a worn cardboard texture with the Deadmau5 mask spray painted onto the front. We see the artists name and the album name on the front as we have on every digipak I've looked at. The text on the front stands out on the card background and the simplicity of this design makes it very effective in my opinion. 

The back cover of this digipak relates to the front as it is in the same style with the same simple font and image of the head. The artist and album title are again featured at the top and on either spine there is the album name however no record labels which is uncommon. The copyright information is in white at the bottom of the back which applies the conventions of digipaks. There is a barcode in the bottom right hand corner which normally feature on digipaks as well as the record label/distributor EMI. Overall I think this design works well however for our own digipak we would need to use more variety of fonts and colours to make the album stand out. 

Shooting Schedule #4

Tom is going to a club this weekend in order to try and get some very rough club/ party scene footage. This is going to hopefully be used in a initial rough cut. Oviously we will film the proper party scene at a later date to be used in our final cut, however this footage should give us an idea of editing styles and shot types which we can use for the final cut. Tom is using his phone camera as it would be a problem if his camera got lost or stolen etc.
What we hope to film:

• Club/Dance footage
• Misc club footage

Location - The Beaver Works, Leeds
Equipment - 720p phone camera
Group member - Tom