After looking over the lyrics and their meaning, and after listening to the song several times we have came up with a few possible ideas that we could incorporate in our music production. We as a group have decided as an early concept to incorporate the use of a bear representative of the girlfriend that he has lost. Also due to the name of the song being 'Remember this, Remember that' we want to portray the sense of the man remembering the happy times he had with his girlfriend (bear), we hope to achieve this by capturing flashback scenes where the main character (man) is reminiscing over old photo's that contain him and the bear representative of the girlfriend.
The song however is quite up beat and contains a fast tempo we therefore have chosen to include the bear as we believe it reflects the song more, so as a result we have chosen to include the addition of the bear as this adds more of a light hearted, almost comical side to our video therefore creating a more effective video that coincides well with the song.
Our final idea is that we want to include the main character lip syncing as the video progresses.
We will now move on with this idea and produce a rough storyboard where we will listen to the song further and look over the lyrics in more detail as to generate more ideas and create rough, storyboarded version of the whole music video.
Friday, 30 October 2009
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Planning - Lyrics for song
Remember this remember that
The place's that you've been
seems loves a losing game
when things break at the seam
Where did it all go wrong
Your love can be a curse
Don't play with my emotions
But losing you is worse
Don't lock heart
I might need the key
Only youuuuuuuu
Only you can set me free
There's no substitute for it would seem
There's something in the way she moves
Something about the thing you do to me
Things you do to meeeeeeee.
Remember this remember that
But please don't go away
Seems loves a losing game
I wish that you was dead
Everything that's been and gone
Seems so far in the past
Don't play with my emotions
But good things never last
Don't stay please don't go
Is love a losing game
The answer no one knows
No one knoooooooooooooooooooooooooooows.
This doesn't have to be goodbye
Never forget the look in her eyes
In her eyeeeeeeeeeed
Don't lock my heart in might need the key
Only youuuuuuu
Only you can set me free
There's no substitute for love it would seem
There's something in the way she moves
Something about the things you do to me
Things you do to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
To meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
(meeeeeeeee)
Leave me beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Ohhhhhhhh please don't go.
As a group we have interpreted the song to be of a man who has lost his girlfriend. The man in the song we believe is reminiscing over the past time that they have had together and he doesn't want the relationship to end he doesn't want her to leave him.
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Green screen - Practice
As a group we decided we would try out and practice the green screen technique as it was something that neither of us had explored in our previous media productions. To acheive the effect we first filmed one of our group members acting against a green background, once we had filmed the short clip we then imported it to the mac where we proceeded to edit. For the editing we selected many different backgrounds that took the place of the previouis green background to give a computerised effect, he are our results;
- The background being still removed a sense of reality
- There was alot of distortion of out acting group member
- The overall look seemed uneat and un proffesional
To try and over come these we experimented with different settings these were to have more light shining on the actor and also when editing to chose a darker coloured background, once we tried these two it was clear to us the improvement that was achieved.
After practicing the green screen technique we have collectively as a group decided against the use of green screen as the production becomes messy, therefore resulting in a unproffesional finished peice.
- The background being still removed a sense of reality
- There was alot of distortion of out acting group member
- The overall look seemed uneat and un proffesional
To try and over come these we experimented with different settings these were to have more light shining on the actor and also when editing to chose a darker coloured background, once we tried these two it was clear to us the improvement that was achieved.
After practicing the green screen technique we have collectively as a group decided against the use of green screen as the production becomes messy, therefore resulting in a unproffesional finished peice.
Saturday, 17 October 2009
Intial reactions to the song
We felt it would benefit us to conduct some primary research with the target audience of our band to see what they felt about the song once they had listened to it. With the feedback generated we can use it to help us when we plan and produce our music production. Here are a few examples of feedback we recieved:
- Upbeat, fast paced
- A love story
- Memories
- As though something has been lost
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
Planning - Song choice for our final production
An important factor to our brief is that we must chose music that does not have a copyright therefore in order to find music we searched many different websites looking at as many unsigned bands as we felt needed.
Websites used:
http://www.podsafe.com/
http://www.myspace.com/
www.creativecommons.org.uk
These websites offered alot of different genre's of music and there were many potential tracks in which we felt we could impelement into our final piece. However as a group we were able to find a song that we could all agree on as being a song that could be shot as a video production successfully. We have chosen the song 'Remember this, remeber that' by a sheffield born unsigned band from the indie genre, the style of the song is quite up beat and fast paced therefore this may influence us in having fast cutting short shots in order to comply with editing-on the-beat. We have collected the lyrics to the song and now will move on and start to generate ideas for our production and draw up a story board of our final idea for our music video.
We will also look at more relevant imformation relating to the band as for help when creating the poster and digipak album cover.
Websites used:
http://www.podsafe.com/
http://www.myspace.com/
www.creativecommons.org.uk
These websites offered alot of different genre's of music and there were many potential tracks in which we felt we could impelement into our final piece. However as a group we were able to find a song that we could all agree on as being a song that could be shot as a video production successfully. We have chosen the song 'Remember this, remeber that' by a sheffield born unsigned band from the indie genre, the style of the song is quite up beat and fast paced therefore this may influence us in having fast cutting short shots in order to comply with editing-on the-beat. We have collected the lyrics to the song and now will move on and start to generate ideas for our production and draw up a story board of our final idea for our music video.
We will also look at more relevant imformation relating to the band as for help when creating the poster and digipak album cover.
Friday, 9 October 2009
Research Conclusion
After completing my research on 3 different promotional campaigns which included a; digipak album, a poster advertising the release of the album and a music video of a track relating to the album, it has helped show me the factors required for the creation of a sucessful promtional campaign.
The main factor is synergy, this is the link between the three pieces of media they must include a reoccuring factors in each of them. All of the ones i looked at generally followed this, for example in the promtional campaign for Humbug by the arctic monkeys, they included the album cover on the advertising poster this was also apparent for the other two. However for the oasis single 'Rock 'n' Roll star' and the arctic monkeys single 'Crying Lightning' they broke away from this idea of synergy as the two videos had no link and gave me no clear indication that they were linked to the album cover or the relevant poster.
This was however different for the release of the album 'Empire' by kasabian, looking at this video there were clear indications that the video related to album, one indication being the time period in which it was set and the location, in this instance it being a battle field, this shows clear synergy between the music video and the Cd cover as there is a direct link between the style in which the video is shot and the style and design of the album cover and the images which it uses for example the image of a soldier liking to the battlefield location. Another indication is the name of the song 'Empire' in which the video was created for, this links directly to the album name that too being 'Empire'.
Therefore when creating our promotional campaign we as a group will make sure that there is clear synergy between the 3 promotional products.
The main factor is synergy, this is the link between the three pieces of media they must include a reoccuring factors in each of them. All of the ones i looked at generally followed this, for example in the promtional campaign for Humbug by the arctic monkeys, they included the album cover on the advertising poster this was also apparent for the other two. However for the oasis single 'Rock 'n' Roll star' and the arctic monkeys single 'Crying Lightning' they broke away from this idea of synergy as the two videos had no link and gave me no clear indication that they were linked to the album cover or the relevant poster.
This was however different for the release of the album 'Empire' by kasabian, looking at this video there were clear indications that the video related to album, one indication being the time period in which it was set and the location, in this instance it being a battle field, this shows clear synergy between the music video and the Cd cover as there is a direct link between the style in which the video is shot and the style and design of the album cover and the images which it uses for example the image of a soldier liking to the battlefield location. Another indication is the name of the song 'Empire' in which the video was created for, this links directly to the album name that too being 'Empire'.
Therefore when creating our promotional campaign we as a group will make sure that there is clear synergy between the 3 promotional products.
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Kasabian - Advertising Poster
The poster to the right was for the tour of the album from kasabian called 'Empire' the poster is a very basic one and contains the 4 band members as the centrepiece, from looking at the photo of the 4 it gives off clues to the sort of music you can expect, this would be if you were not already aware of kasabian. From looking at the clothes you can see that they are wearing clothes see in many indie bands of today, the way in which the image has been captures appears almost as a low angle shot representing to me that the music you expect will be quite powerful and contain quite an agresseive emotion. The band's name also features and this is positioned at the top is sharp, large and in the reacurring font used for the band's name, the colour of it being white, the two combined help to work as the drawing point as white against black is very eye-catching. At the bottom of the poster are the words 'Empire Tour' this is important as it tells the viewer what the poster is advertising however it is a little to breif as it doesn't highlight tour venues or date meaning that the viewer would have to look into it independently. The background colour to the poster works well as it is in black which empahasises the colours of the band and the band name more and gives all attention to them.
Kasabian - Music Video - Empire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSKxXu05aOE
The third and final video i have chosen to look at is 'Empire' by kasabian filmed in the form of a narrative based on the 'Crimean war'.
Outline- The video begins very differently from the majority of music videos i have seen, it starts with a film like opening where we see a women roaming dressed in old victorian style clothing. The camera then cuts to a young boy recieving a letter off a man which he must deliver, the camera contiues to follow the boy as he runs across a battle field where he delivers the letter to a group of men these being the band members. The boy is then shot signalling the start of the music, the following shots then consist of the band marching back to where the letter had come abandoining the front line and disregarding an order, resulting in the eventual the death of all the band.
Camerawork- The opening seen is a medium shot of a lady raoming in a grass plain, the camera then cut in to the ladys hand where we see her pick up a dandelion. The camera then cuts to a new scene, to an over the shoulder shot of a young boy recieving a letter from what appears to be a general type figure, cuttin away from this we then follow the boy running in the form of a tracking shot through an abandoned battlefield we know this with the camera cutting away to a establishing shot where we contiue to see the boy run , the unsteadyness of the camera helps represent the form of movement. The Band are then introduced in the form of a long shot, where the camera cuts in to a close up of one of the band members, as one band member is singled out i believe it help represents there importance therefore him being the lead singer. As the camera cuts away to a close up of the young boy the speed of the shot slowens to an action shot where the boy is shot. As the boy begins to fall all background music stops and the song is finally introduced a minute into the video. The following shots are close up reaction shots of the band members helping to create empathy and portray emotion one shot did this really well, this was where the blood of the child is seen running into muddy water. The scene then changes to be back where the boy started with the army general acting as though nothing has happened this helps represent him as the 'bad' guy. The follwing shots are all edited on the beat , the camera cuts away to a cannon firing to start the chorus and as the song hits it's peak there is an influx of tightly cut shots that help portray the battlefield atmosphere and the adreniline and emotions felt by the soldiers. One important shot in which i piked up on was the close up of the worn torn Union Jack flag which i believe could signify the end of the British Empire. The following shots is a medium shot consisting of all the band members marching amongst a full blown battle bring defining the sense of a music video over a narative as it breaks away from the sense of realism, the camera then cuts to a point of view shot from the genereal peering dwon his telescope again like in the first video the shot is reduced to a circular shape representing the telescope. The follwoing shots highlight the death of each band member, this is shown beofre they actually die therefore giving us an insight of what is to come. The way in which this is done is that the camera focuses in on a specific band member in the form of a close up of their face followed by their instrument, the camera then cuts in to a shot of the band member dead; in serge the guitarist's case we see his outstreched arm in the shot of him presumebly lying down with the instrument in his hand, the camera continues to do this until we are left with the main character played by the lead singer as he is the forefront of the band. The next shot highlights the characters rebeling shot as a long shot we see the band members marching the opposite way to the rest of the soldiers. The scene now chages back to where it begin with the women holding the dandelion, the camera cuts away from this to an army officer giving the signal to fire and then cuts back in the the women blowing the dandelion representing the members of the band being 'blown away' by the cannon fire a cross dissolve transistion is used showing both the women and each member of the band being 'blown away'. The lead singer is now the only man left and there are several side on, close up, long, point of view shots of him and from his perspective, thjis particuarly works well when the camera is shot from a point of view shot at first there is a deep depth of field with the soldier's face holding the gun in focus this then changes however to a shallow depth of field where only the gun that the soldier is holding is in focus. The next shot is an extreme close up of the lead singer lip-syncing the end to the song, attention is given to the lyrics as when the camera cuts away to a extreme close up of the soldiers aiming at the lead singer they begin to think about what he is saying. As the song has picked up tempo again the rate in which the shot chages are made increases, and the message of the British empire coming to end is made again when the lead singer drops the Unoin jack representing his lack of belief in the army which as a result lads to him being shot, before he is shot the camera cuts away to the recent memories is which he has encountered these two combined help bring the video to an end.
Editing- To help portary the music video as a film, editing plays quite a vital role. With the inclusion of gun fire,cannon fire and shouting of other soldiers that surrounded the band and the slow motion explosions that happen during the instrumental of the song, like that seen in films, together it help create that battlefield atmosphere and help create a greater sense of realism. Editing on the beat was used for example the soldiers that are featured marching march to the tempo of the track and another editing factor also was the lip-syncing of the lead singer.
Mise-en-scene- All of the characters that feature in the video are dressed in very old emperial period clothing this helps fit in with the genre and inspiration for the song and the song/album name. As the band are featured as soldiers they feature in emperial army attire, with whihc one member carrying the 'Unoin jack' wich i believe may represent the end of the british empire. The video has been shot at early dusk therefore the majority of the lighitng is very bright, although there are several shadows cast either by the objects hindering the the lightflow or in the instance where the band are covered in smoke. There is alot of detail gone into the making of this video and due to the inclusion of many props i would say that the production cost of this video was very high.
The third and final video i have chosen to look at is 'Empire' by kasabian filmed in the form of a narrative based on the 'Crimean war'.
Outline- The video begins very differently from the majority of music videos i have seen, it starts with a film like opening where we see a women roaming dressed in old victorian style clothing. The camera then cuts to a young boy recieving a letter off a man which he must deliver, the camera contiues to follow the boy as he runs across a battle field where he delivers the letter to a group of men these being the band members. The boy is then shot signalling the start of the music, the following shots then consist of the band marching back to where the letter had come abandoining the front line and disregarding an order, resulting in the eventual the death of all the band.
Camerawork- The opening seen is a medium shot of a lady raoming in a grass plain, the camera then cut in to the ladys hand where we see her pick up a dandelion. The camera then cuts to a new scene, to an over the shoulder shot of a young boy recieving a letter from what appears to be a general type figure, cuttin away from this we then follow the boy running in the form of a tracking shot through an abandoned battlefield we know this with the camera cutting away to a establishing shot where we contiue to see the boy run , the unsteadyness of the camera helps represent the form of movement. The Band are then introduced in the form of a long shot, where the camera cuts in to a close up of one of the band members, as one band member is singled out i believe it help represents there importance therefore him being the lead singer. As the camera cuts away to a close up of the young boy the speed of the shot slowens to an action shot where the boy is shot. As the boy begins to fall all background music stops and the song is finally introduced a minute into the video. The following shots are close up reaction shots of the band members helping to create empathy and portray emotion one shot did this really well, this was where the blood of the child is seen running into muddy water. The scene then changes to be back where the boy started with the army general acting as though nothing has happened this helps represent him as the 'bad' guy. The follwing shots are all edited on the beat , the camera cuts away to a cannon firing to start the chorus and as the song hits it's peak there is an influx of tightly cut shots that help portray the battlefield atmosphere and the adreniline and emotions felt by the soldiers. One important shot in which i piked up on was the close up of the worn torn Union Jack flag which i believe could signify the end of the British Empire. The following shots is a medium shot consisting of all the band members marching amongst a full blown battle bring defining the sense of a music video over a narative as it breaks away from the sense of realism, the camera then cuts to a point of view shot from the genereal peering dwon his telescope again like in the first video the shot is reduced to a circular shape representing the telescope. The follwoing shots highlight the death of each band member, this is shown beofre they actually die therefore giving us an insight of what is to come. The way in which this is done is that the camera focuses in on a specific band member in the form of a close up of their face followed by their instrument, the camera then cuts in to a shot of the band member dead; in serge the guitarist's case we see his outstreched arm in the shot of him presumebly lying down with the instrument in his hand, the camera continues to do this until we are left with the main character played by the lead singer as he is the forefront of the band. The next shot highlights the characters rebeling shot as a long shot we see the band members marching the opposite way to the rest of the soldiers. The scene now chages back to where it begin with the women holding the dandelion, the camera cuts away from this to an army officer giving the signal to fire and then cuts back in the the women blowing the dandelion representing the members of the band being 'blown away' by the cannon fire a cross dissolve transistion is used showing both the women and each member of the band being 'blown away'. The lead singer is now the only man left and there are several side on, close up, long, point of view shots of him and from his perspective, thjis particuarly works well when the camera is shot from a point of view shot at first there is a deep depth of field with the soldier's face holding the gun in focus this then changes however to a shallow depth of field where only the gun that the soldier is holding is in focus. The next shot is an extreme close up of the lead singer lip-syncing the end to the song, attention is given to the lyrics as when the camera cuts away to a extreme close up of the soldiers aiming at the lead singer they begin to think about what he is saying. As the song has picked up tempo again the rate in which the shot chages are made increases, and the message of the British empire coming to end is made again when the lead singer drops the Unoin jack representing his lack of belief in the army which as a result lads to him being shot, before he is shot the camera cuts away to the recent memories is which he has encountered these two combined help bring the video to an end.
Editing- To help portary the music video as a film, editing plays quite a vital role. With the inclusion of gun fire,cannon fire and shouting of other soldiers that surrounded the band and the slow motion explosions that happen during the instrumental of the song, like that seen in films, together it help create that battlefield atmosphere and help create a greater sense of realism. Editing on the beat was used for example the soldiers that are featured marching march to the tempo of the track and another editing factor also was the lip-syncing of the lead singer.
Mise-en-scene- All of the characters that feature in the video are dressed in very old emperial period clothing this helps fit in with the genre and inspiration for the song and the song/album name. As the band are featured as soldiers they feature in emperial army attire, with whihc one member carrying the 'Unoin jack' wich i believe may represent the end of the british empire. The video has been shot at early dusk therefore the majority of the lighitng is very bright, although there are several shadows cast either by the objects hindering the the lightflow or in the instance where the band are covered in smoke. There is alot of detail gone into the making of this video and due to the inclusion of many props i would say that the production cost of this video was very high.
Kasabian - Empire - Digipak Album Cover / Case
As i will have to create a Digipak case for my a2 production i thought it would 
be best to look into an already existing digipak, i have chosen to look at Empire by kasabian which includes: the Cd, a Dvd and some overly large playing cards containg images of all the band memebers.
The main centre piece of the album cover is a piece of fine artwork containing a king like figure holding a naked women, the way in which is presented is in the form of a playing card this is highlighted clearly with the inclusion of the K of clubs sign in the top left hand corner of the fine art piece and then mirroed also to the bottom right, the K featured above the clubs sign is in the same font as the band's name on the front cover therefore i beleive that this K represents the bands name Kasabian. Also the image of the King and naked women is mirrored top to bottom with the two halfs joining to complete the image, this image ties in well with the alb
um name Empire, as when you think of this word the time period of the british empire comes to mind, therefore the two join to give an insight into what inspiration the band have thought of and have implemented to help create their music. The font used for the name of the band is the same of that seen on the previous album that Kasabian have released, the font is very sharp, basic and covers the majority of the middle of the front cover this would be great when on shelf as people familiar with the band would instantly recognise who the album was created by. As this is the limited edition digipak version of the album, the font's colour is gold as opposed to the black that is seen on the ordinary version this gives it it's own unque feature and the gold fits together well with the existing colours that are already there. The second piece of text that is featured is the name of the album 'Empire' this is featured in a much smaller white, olden day font and is printed on a red ribbon
that is tied around the bottom half of he mirrored images highlighting unity and togetherness, the white font on the red background works well as it helps the albums name stand out away from the image. the font in which the text appears is a very olden day style of wrting where each letter is joined up this conicides brilliantly with the name of the album as again if you think of the time period of the british empire you would epect to see text wrote in this way. The Background colour in which the image sits is a beige colour this allows the rest of the images and text to really stand out more eye-catching.
Once the digipak is opened up it contins a carboard wallet containing the Cd and Dvd, the front cover of the wallet is identical to that of the main front cover however with the name of the band being in black rather than gold. Opening the wallet there is the K of clubs sign like that featured on the front cover witht the K representing Kasabian this section of the wallet containing the Cd. To the right of this there is text containg thankyou messages and who
created the songs and the lyrics, also there are mentions to some of the people that helped produce to Single for the album 'Empire', this test is featured in black so that it is readable to the beige background as is featured in a very small font, this section of the walllet containing the Dvd.
On the back of the wallet it contains the same design as that featured on the original box in which the wallet is contained. The name of the songs are featured in a small red font similar to that used for the album name on the front cover highlighting a clear reacurring theme, and surrounding the names is an old fashioned victorian styled design which helps bring the back cover alive, making it look more appealing.
be best to look into an already existing digipak, i have chosen to look at Empire by kasabian which includes: the Cd, a Dvd and some overly large playing cards containg images of all the band memebers.The main centre piece of the album cover is a piece of fine artwork containing a king like figure holding a naked women, the way in which is presented is in the form of a playing card this is highlighted clearly with the inclusion of the K of clubs sign in the top left hand corner of the fine art piece and then mirroed also to the bottom right, the K featured above the clubs sign is in the same font as the band's name on the front cover therefore i beleive that this K represents the bands name Kasabian. Also the image of the King and naked women is mirrored top to bottom with the two halfs joining to complete the image, this image ties in well with the alb
um name Empire, as when you think of this word the time period of the british empire comes to mind, therefore the two join to give an insight into what inspiration the band have thought of and have implemented to help create their music. The font used for the name of the band is the same of that seen on the previous album that Kasabian have released, the font is very sharp, basic and covers the majority of the middle of the front cover this would be great when on shelf as people familiar with the band would instantly recognise who the album was created by. As this is the limited edition digipak version of the album, the font's colour is gold as opposed to the black that is seen on the ordinary version this gives it it's own unque feature and the gold fits together well with the existing colours that are already there. The second piece of text that is featured is the name of the album 'Empire' this is featured in a much smaller white, olden day font and is printed on a red ribbon
that is tied around the bottom half of he mirrored images highlighting unity and togetherness, the white font on the red background works well as it helps the albums name stand out away from the image. the font in which the text appears is a very olden day style of wrting where each letter is joined up this conicides brilliantly with the name of the album as again if you think of the time period of the british empire you would epect to see text wrote in this way. The Background colour in which the image sits is a beige colour this allows the rest of the images and text to really stand out more eye-catching.Once the digipak is opened up it contins a carboard wallet containing the Cd and Dvd, the front cover of the wallet is identical to that of the main front cover however with the name of the band being in black rather than gold. Opening the wallet there is the K of clubs sign like that featured on the front cover witht the K representing Kasabian this section of the wallet containing the Cd. To the right of this there is text containg thankyou messages and who
created the songs and the lyrics, also there are mentions to some of the people that helped produce to Single for the album 'Empire', this test is featured in black so that it is readable to the beige background as is featured in a very small font, this section of the walllet containing the Dvd.On the back of the wallet it contains the same design as that featured on the original box in which the wallet is contained. The name of the songs are featured in a small red font similar to that used for the album name on the front cover highlighting a clear reacurring theme, and surrounding the names is an old fashioned victorian styled design which helps bring the back cover alive, making it look more appealing.
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Oasis - Advertising Poster
The poster to your right was for the promotional campaign for the album 'definitely maybe' by OASIS, as this album was released in 1994, digipacking hadn't really been introduced and wasn't until the early 2000's, therfore this poster was for the re-release of the album in 2004.At the top of the poster is the name of the band featured in a reacurring theme they used, it features the name of the band 'OASIS' in it's own unique, white font that when featured on the black box, stands out to the audience. The name of the band is almost the largest feature on the poster, this was because by 2004 OASIS had a huge fanbase and just by the name they could easily attract the already established target audience they had created and also any music lover of the rock / alternative genre in England at the time would have been able to recognise the band's logo / name.
The next image down is the largest, it is the album cover itself with a few alterations, it is the largest image as the album is the main selling point of the poster. Having the name along side the album cover large and bold is a good inclusion as due to this album being re released after almost 10 years the newer genereation may not recognise the album cover however they can relate to the band itself.
After this we then have the information of when the album is available on sale, along with a almost review like statement below. The text appears in a very simple, white font although it is easily readable due to the size. I think that overall the poster works well, the black backdrop allows for the text and image to stand out as the centerpiece therefore looking more attractive, and the inclusion of all relevant information makes the poster very effective in what it is trying to achieve which is to sell.
Oasis - Rock 'n' Roll star - Music video
http://www.contactmusic.com/videos.nsf/stream/oasis-rock-n-roll-star//
I have chosen to look at the video 'Rock 'n' Roll star' by Oasis off the album 'Definitely Maybe', above is a link to the video. The way in which the production is filmed is that of the performing style, the video features oasis playin on stage at one of their gig's although there is also an inclusion of clips that are not to do with the perforemance however do relate to the life of the band the clips shown help to form a narrative that coinicides with the lyrics.
Camerawork- Camerawork is a very important aspect of a performance video as it helps the video to be more interesting and enjoyable and in this particular video there is the use of a vast amount of different camera shots that help give the performance more depth. The Video begins with a wide array of different images that flicker across the screen almost unrecognisable, the camera then cuts to a close up of each member of the band, the camera however does feature longer on the lead singer of the band and it is him along with the guiatrist that are featured in most of the shots as they are the unique and recognisable feature of the band and it is them two that most people recognise from the band. There is then an onslaught of a range of different unconventional camera shots including; zooming in and out, the camera paning through the crowd, we are introduced to band at this point as each member of the crowed that is captured are wearing an OASIS t-shirt, also the camera moves as though it is on a piece of string. These shots put together is such away helps portray the sense of movement as though you are a member of the crowd, I think this is a strong requirement when filming a music video based on performance. . Throughout the whole performance piece the camera is constantly moving again highlighting the sense of movement felt by the crowd, it draws you in a one of the crowd members. As the camera cuts to another scene one that is not on stage the image shown on screen in supported by the lyrics of the song for example 'i live in the city, and there's no easy way out' images shown screen support these lyrics there a flash shot of a city and there is a shot of 'noel on a go-kart' representing no easy way out also the shot of the go-kart is re-used again to support the lyrics of the song this time though to coincide with the line 'and the days are to fast for me'. The title of the song 'Rock 'n' Roll star' is also supported by the images shown, whilst the band are performing the camera cuts to a variety of close-ups, long shots, extreme close-ups, and paning shots giving you an insight into their life into the life of a 'Rock 'n' Roll star'.
Mise-en-scene- From the start of the performance you immediately recognise mise-en-scene conventions. From the start of the band's performance they are surrounded by dark lighting the only visible lighting is that from the strobe lighting that features on stage. Clothes worn by the band are generally the same sort of style jeans, a jacket and shirt, this helps represent the bands image and also can help portray thier genre of music.
Editing - With the range of different shots used the colour in which the camera shots are filmed varies this would have been done using editing, there is a shot of the crowd filmed in black and white, this represents a memory as though you would be able to remember the performance for the rest of your life, it portrays the memory of the crowd. When the image on screen cuts from the band performing to what look like home video movies there is the use of fade transitions which help to keep the video flowing. Editing on the beat is a general convetion for a music video, and for a performance genre it helps to keep the video flowing as there is no narrative therefore it helps keep the video structured, in this video the fast paced cuts to the different camera shots helps link in with the tempo of the song and when it slows so to do the camera shots and how quick they cut from one shot to another.
I have chosen to look at the video 'Rock 'n' Roll star' by Oasis off the album 'Definitely Maybe', above is a link to the video. The way in which the production is filmed is that of the performing style, the video features oasis playin on stage at one of their gig's although there is also an inclusion of clips that are not to do with the perforemance however do relate to the life of the band the clips shown help to form a narrative that coinicides with the lyrics.
Camerawork- Camerawork is a very important aspect of a performance video as it helps the video to be more interesting and enjoyable and in this particular video there is the use of a vast amount of different camera shots that help give the performance more depth. The Video begins with a wide array of different images that flicker across the screen almost unrecognisable, the camera then cuts to a close up of each member of the band, the camera however does feature longer on the lead singer of the band and it is him along with the guiatrist that are featured in most of the shots as they are the unique and recognisable feature of the band and it is them two that most people recognise from the band. There is then an onslaught of a range of different unconventional camera shots including; zooming in and out, the camera paning through the crowd, we are introduced to band at this point as each member of the crowed that is captured are wearing an OASIS t-shirt, also the camera moves as though it is on a piece of string. These shots put together is such away helps portray the sense of movement as though you are a member of the crowd, I think this is a strong requirement when filming a music video based on performance. . Throughout the whole performance piece the camera is constantly moving again highlighting the sense of movement felt by the crowd, it draws you in a one of the crowd members. As the camera cuts to another scene one that is not on stage the image shown on screen in supported by the lyrics of the song for example 'i live in the city, and there's no easy way out' images shown screen support these lyrics there a flash shot of a city and there is a shot of 'noel on a go-kart' representing no easy way out also the shot of the go-kart is re-used again to support the lyrics of the song this time though to coincide with the line 'and the days are to fast for me'. The title of the song 'Rock 'n' Roll star' is also supported by the images shown, whilst the band are performing the camera cuts to a variety of close-ups, long shots, extreme close-ups, and paning shots giving you an insight into their life into the life of a 'Rock 'n' Roll star'.
Mise-en-scene- From the start of the performance you immediately recognise mise-en-scene conventions. From the start of the band's performance they are surrounded by dark lighting the only visible lighting is that from the strobe lighting that features on stage. Clothes worn by the band are generally the same sort of style jeans, a jacket and shirt, this helps represent the bands image and also can help portray thier genre of music.
Editing - With the range of different shots used the colour in which the camera shots are filmed varies this would have been done using editing, there is a shot of the crowd filmed in black and white, this represents a memory as though you would be able to remember the performance for the rest of your life, it portrays the memory of the crowd. When the image on screen cuts from the band performing to what look like home video movies there is the use of fade transitions which help to keep the video flowing. Editing on the beat is a general convetion for a music video, and for a performance genre it helps to keep the video flowing as there is no narrative therefore it helps keep the video structured, in this video the fast paced cuts to the different camera shots helps link in with the tempo of the song and when it slows so to do the camera shots and how quick they cut from one shot to another.
Oasis - Definitely Maybe - Album Cover / Case
The next album cover i have chosen to look at is the 1994, Definitely Maybe by OASIS, a manchester born band that have had a great amount of success.The main feature to the cover is of the band sitting, relaxing in the comfort of their own home, the image represents the band to be like any other group of friends it portays them as everyday normal people, not an extravagent band that wants showing off their famous status. However we know from the use of instruments featured i.e. the guitars, on the cover that it is music related and that the genre is from the rock/alternative category which is important as it would help entise the rock / alternative target audience and help to draw them to the CD. Each member of the band have been captured living a day, you have one band member playing the guitar, three are watching t.v and one is lying down relaxing to maybe the sound of his friend playing the guitar and they are all accompanied by a drink, this really gives a sense of a chilled, friendly atmosphere. The simplicity of this album cover maybe due to the fact that they wanted to show the message that they were ordinary people from an ordinary town as a way of gaining respect from potential fans as at this point OASIS were very early in their career. An interesting point also is the way in which the apparent ordinary backdrop includes very abstract objects, for example there are many photo's, a poster and the tv that have very little relvence to the band however are positioned so that they attract the audience, the tv is actually moved so that it is on view, these i belive could be there as a clue and an insight into the bands inspiration and if you combine this with the way in which the band are postioned they look as though they may be in the proccess of generating new material.
The colour scheme featured is very bright the image seems as though it was captured with alot of natural and artifical light this is helped portayed even more with the use of the light wooden floor, soft coloured couch and the white walls, these together help make the album stand out and as a result draw in your attention to then look at the smaller more coloured objects in detail. Also the band members are easily recognised as they are in darker attire therefore they stand out against the lighter background and then viewer is easily able to recognise who they are.
Text used on the front cover is very simple but effective, the front cover conatins both the name of the band and the name of the album. Th bands name is featured in what is now the famous OASIS logo where the white text of Oasis is featured on its own black square helping it to stand out. The name of the album 'Definitely Maybe' is featured as a seperate font, it's a very stylish font type and is white, i don't think the way in which the album name is done it very effective as it doesn't pull away from the image and also the text doesn't make the name of the album appear as clear as it could be.
As this was an early version of the jewel plastic case there is no pattern or image inside just the black plastic from which it is made. On the back however there is an image and text in simple, small white font showing you the song titles. The image is of the band in the same setting like the front it contains most of the same elements as mentioned, although there is one different one of the members is standing up looking directly at the camera holding a ball shaped object, this could be a representation of a globe, 'their world' and after listening to the album you have had a taste of 'their world'.
Monday, 5 October 2009
Artic Monkeys - Music video - Crying lightning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_G9RRY7SS0
The video i chose to look at that ties in with the release of the album humbug by the arctic monkeys was 'Crying Lightning' the first song to be released from the new album.
Outline- The video is a mixture of the 3 genere's of music video i studied previously for my mini A2 production it contains elements of narrative, abstract and performance. The video along with the lyrics tell the story of strange events and occurances and it features the band performing on a boat in the middle of the sea.
Camerawork- At the start of the video the camera immediately pans upwards after the revealing of the song name to reveal the band, the camera then zooms to the face of the lead singer and contiues as one shot to then pan along the following band members. The camera then cuts in to an extreme close up of the band memeber standing at the back signing the chorus, this shows us that he is the lead singer of the band. From the lead singers face the camera then pans upwards revealing the rest of the band once more, as it continues to pan the camera cuts in to a close up of the guitarists. The camera then cuts away back to the original panning shot in the exact place it was left and then it cuts in again to another close up of the second guitarist and then out again to the panning postion of which it was left, where it then proceeds to zoom to a section of the drum, match on action has been used in this case as we haven't missed any of the panning out when the camera cuts in to the guitarists. Emphasises is then back onto the lead singer as he complete's the rest of the chrourus where the camera then cuts in to the drums highlighting the drum beat that is heard in the background. From the drums the camera pans out to reveal the band once again. The band are not then included in the next shot instead the camera has cut to a panning shot of the bird that then flying towards the band thus revealing them once more, and the camera contiues to pan until the whole band have been covered. The camera then cuts away to a long shot of the band establishing there new lighting environment, it then cuts into a close up of the lead singer and then zooms out from him to another long shot of the band. As the song then progresses to another chorus the faced paced cuts in and away from the different band members in the form of close ups and extreme close ups helps entensify the video and help it link with the beat of the song. There are a vast amount of close ups of the lead singer this helps portray his importance and that it is him singing the song and it helps show his emotions. The camera then fades from the shot being in day light to night light. The next shots are then close ups and paning shots of the band performing the chrous, showing there individual roles in the band an how they compliment the song. then as the song comes to it's insturmental stage the camera cuts away from a close up of the lead singer to a close up of the sea revealing him in a hollographic giant form, the camera cuts away to a longs shot establishing the new character as this character drops the camera cuts into a paning shot of the boat where th band members have all be knocked down unconcious. They are then re-revealed by a cut away to a low angled shot of them all emerging form the sea in giant form. The final shots of the video are cuts in to the re awoken band mebers, to cuts away in the form of point of view shots of the band looking back at the giant figures sinking. The final clever shot is from the point of view of the drumer looking through a telescope therefore the view is restricted to a small circular shape where we see the final moments of the giant figures representing the end of the song.
Editing- At the begining of the video there is the inclusion of text, this is of the name of the song, having this element gives the sense as though it is a film as they appear like film credits that then make use of a fade transition to start the performance of the band. The video would have been filmed using green screen as the band have been super imposed onto a small ship out at sea. As the song hits it's chorus and becomes more up beat the colour of the shot changes to a very deep red highlighting a change in emotion. Editing on the beat has been used is this video and is a very consistant convention that i have seen in many other videos i have looked at, it helps add a 3 dimension to a video and keeps the attention of the audience due to the fast paced cuts in and out that flow alongside the temp to the track. The dark red lighting in which the band are filmed at first changes to a more fresh blue colour as it starts to rain this again helps to portray a sense of change in emotion, it represents the change of tempo to a now more up beat, fast paced tempo . A cross dissolve transition is used to change the scene from the emphasis being on the band to it then being of the bird. The final change in the lighting come with the fade transition where the band are flimed at nighttime. Green screen is used again with the introducion of the giant form of the lead singer playing the instrumental of the song
Mise-en-scene- the band are filmed what looks as though it is out at sea, there is very low-key lightning that helps fit in with the genre of the song as the track contains a very dark and eerie atmosphere this lightining then chnages to a brighter fresher blue representing the change in song emotion to a more face paced tempo. Finally the band are then shot at night where the only lightis that from the stars and the lights on the boat this helps the band to really become the centerpeice. The band appear in similar clothing of jeans, top and coat, a style fitting of the indie genre, they are all however in black clothing this blends them with the bakground to add to the errieness and mysterious atmosphere. As the giant form of one the members of the band emerge from the sea in the sky background there is lighning and there is also lighning coming off the giant tieing in with the lyrics of the song lyrics and name 'Crying lightning'.
The video i chose to look at that ties in with the release of the album humbug by the arctic monkeys was 'Crying Lightning' the first song to be released from the new album.
Outline- The video is a mixture of the 3 genere's of music video i studied previously for my mini A2 production it contains elements of narrative, abstract and performance. The video along with the lyrics tell the story of strange events and occurances and it features the band performing on a boat in the middle of the sea.
Camerawork- At the start of the video the camera immediately pans upwards after the revealing of the song name to reveal the band, the camera then zooms to the face of the lead singer and contiues as one shot to then pan along the following band members. The camera then cuts in to an extreme close up of the band memeber standing at the back signing the chorus, this shows us that he is the lead singer of the band. From the lead singers face the camera then pans upwards revealing the rest of the band once more, as it continues to pan the camera cuts in to a close up of the guitarists. The camera then cuts away back to the original panning shot in the exact place it was left and then it cuts in again to another close up of the second guitarist and then out again to the panning postion of which it was left, where it then proceeds to zoom to a section of the drum, match on action has been used in this case as we haven't missed any of the panning out when the camera cuts in to the guitarists. Emphasises is then back onto the lead singer as he complete's the rest of the chrourus where the camera then cuts in to the drums highlighting the drum beat that is heard in the background. From the drums the camera pans out to reveal the band once again. The band are not then included in the next shot instead the camera has cut to a panning shot of the bird that then flying towards the band thus revealing them once more, and the camera contiues to pan until the whole band have been covered. The camera then cuts away to a long shot of the band establishing there new lighting environment, it then cuts into a close up of the lead singer and then zooms out from him to another long shot of the band. As the song then progresses to another chorus the faced paced cuts in and away from the different band members in the form of close ups and extreme close ups helps entensify the video and help it link with the beat of the song. There are a vast amount of close ups of the lead singer this helps portray his importance and that it is him singing the song and it helps show his emotions. The camera then fades from the shot being in day light to night light. The next shots are then close ups and paning shots of the band performing the chrous, showing there individual roles in the band an how they compliment the song. then as the song comes to it's insturmental stage the camera cuts away from a close up of the lead singer to a close up of the sea revealing him in a hollographic giant form, the camera cuts away to a longs shot establishing the new character as this character drops the camera cuts into a paning shot of the boat where th band members have all be knocked down unconcious. They are then re-revealed by a cut away to a low angled shot of them all emerging form the sea in giant form. The final shots of the video are cuts in to the re awoken band mebers, to cuts away in the form of point of view shots of the band looking back at the giant figures sinking. The final clever shot is from the point of view of the drumer looking through a telescope therefore the view is restricted to a small circular shape where we see the final moments of the giant figures representing the end of the song.
Editing- At the begining of the video there is the inclusion of text, this is of the name of the song, having this element gives the sense as though it is a film as they appear like film credits that then make use of a fade transition to start the performance of the band. The video would have been filmed using green screen as the band have been super imposed onto a small ship out at sea. As the song hits it's chorus and becomes more up beat the colour of the shot changes to a very deep red highlighting a change in emotion. Editing on the beat has been used is this video and is a very consistant convention that i have seen in many other videos i have looked at, it helps add a 3 dimension to a video and keeps the attention of the audience due to the fast paced cuts in and out that flow alongside the temp to the track. The dark red lighting in which the band are filmed at first changes to a more fresh blue colour as it starts to rain this again helps to portray a sense of change in emotion, it represents the change of tempo to a now more up beat, fast paced tempo . A cross dissolve transition is used to change the scene from the emphasis being on the band to it then being of the bird. The final change in the lighting come with the fade transition where the band are flimed at nighttime. Green screen is used again with the introducion of the giant form of the lead singer playing the instrumental of the song
Mise-en-scene- the band are filmed what looks as though it is out at sea, there is very low-key lightning that helps fit in with the genre of the song as the track contains a very dark and eerie atmosphere this lightining then chnages to a brighter fresher blue representing the change in song emotion to a more face paced tempo. Finally the band are then shot at night where the only lightis that from the stars and the lights on the boat this helps the band to really become the centerpeice. The band appear in similar clothing of jeans, top and coat, a style fitting of the indie genre, they are all however in black clothing this blends them with the bakground to add to the errieness and mysterious atmosphere. As the giant form of one the members of the band emerge from the sea in the sky background there is lighning and there is also lighning coming off the giant tieing in with the lyrics of the song lyrics and name 'Crying lightning'.
Sunday, 4 October 2009
Artic Monkeys - Advertising Poster
This is the promotional poster for the album Humbug by Artic Monkeys. The poster background is a reacurring cut down version of the image that is featured on the Cd cover however this is not lost as the Cd itself appears on the poster as though it has been placed on top, with how the band are represented they seem relaxed and look like any other indie band that i am familiar with therefore the genre of indie is brought across to the viewer, however as i am a fan i know this if i wasn't then i do belive that to specify a genre would be quite difficult. The majority of the colours used are bright colours although they are in a matte form which dullens the brightness effect. However i think this works well as the background is a tea stained, cream colour therefore the other more colourful colours are able to stand out more and act as the centre piece of the poster drawing you to it. The text used on the poster features only the name of the band 'Artic monkeys', the font used on the poster is the same of that on the Cd cover the dark red colour in which the font appears stands out well on the creamier beige background, therefore you can recognise who the poster is advertising for, but i do believe the text is very limited as if a person was to look at this and were not familiar with the band then yes they would find out who the band were, however as the poster doesn't highlight that it is advertising the bands latest album release, then the unfamiliar viewer wouldn't know what the poster was for.
Artic Monkeys - Humbug - Album Cover / Case
The first album cover and case i have decided to look at is the new, just released Humbug, by the Sheffield band Artic monkeys.The main element to the album cover is a photo in colour of what appears to be the 4 members of the band, in the photo the band members are not posing it appears as a natural 'unready' shot of them waiting to go out for a gig, therefore welcoming their audience to a relaxed atmosphere. The fact that they are waiting to play a gig represents the cd itself, if you picture it opened with the cd playing the band have walked onto the stage and have begun to perform therefore representing the sense that you are at there gig with them. To me there is not a specific genre highlighted therefore they maybe trying to gain interst of a wider audience, only the clothing in which the band are featured in, gives you some incline that the genre maybe indie. The Image on the front cover also makes use of mirrors, this enlarges the overall look of the cover it gives the image of the band more depth, it lightens up the image as a result immediately drawing you and any audience/ target audience straight to it. With the use of the large and plentyfull mirrors it leaves little room for colour although the colours that do feature such as; the reds, greens, whites and blues are all bold, sharp and vibrant compared to the dark backdrop of where they stand, this works well as they really stand out and are eye-catching which as a result draw your attention. There is not alot of text featured on the front cover of humbug, unlike other album covers where you would expect to see the band and album name in striking, large letters so that it is easily recognisable to new and previous fans. The album name isn't feature at all on the front cover art instead it only contains the name of the band in a very small font size, it almost looks as though it has been stamped this maybe due to the fact that the band are onto their third album now and they have become well known to the public therefore they have an established target audience that can easily recognise there work. However i think it works in a clever way, as the black font used for the name of the band is featured on a white jumper of one of the band members, and due to the white being the most vibrant and eye catching colour you are drawn to that and it is then when you see the band name.
The inside and back cover make use of the same coloured background, inside there is no graphics just the tea stained coloured background. The back of the cover is similar however the name of the band Artic monkeys features in large striking size to the other text on there and the font is in the house style font that they have used for their two previous albums. The name of the album is featured for the first time as well along with the titles for the songs that are on the album these are in a much more smaller, basic and simple font, the use of the dark red like featured on the front works well against the light tea stained background as the text stands out and is easily readable.
Saturday, 3 October 2009
Alan Goodwin and Alf Bjornberg - Video analysis theorists
I have chosen to look at two theorists that specialise in the analysis of music videos, i will be able to consider some of their conventions and see if they can implemented into our final piece.
The frist person i have chosen to look at is Alf Bjornberg, who completed his analysis on the 'semiotics of music video'. with the music video being short, usually 3-4 minutes in length creates a need for narrative ellipses. As an average there will 8-9 sections to a pop song (intro,verse,chorus,solo, etc) and the visuals are dictated by this structure. There is usually a fragmented narrative therefore breaking away from the usual convention of a narrative it has does not contain a begining,middle and end, and he says that the this can be seen during the verses, and this will then be backed up by the band being filmed / shot performing during the chorus.
The second is Alan Goodwin, he has wrote a book analysing the combination of both the music itself and the images. One of Alan Goodwin's theories is that some music videos will tend to contain 'conflicting vocals and rhythm' meaning that there will be different shots of the performer singing or there will be the inclusion of a narrative that ties in with the lyrics or beat of the music, and it is both of these that are competing to be the most important feature of the video. His idea is that the tempo of the music combines with the speed of the images that are featured in the video, this is what he calls this the 'visual parallels' between the sound and images. when there is a fast tempo to a song there are many Different techniques that will keep the images up to speed these include fast camera cuts, and editing on the beat this is a general convention with many music video regardless of the genre and it this that allows the video images to keep up with the tempo of te music.
The frist person i have chosen to look at is Alf Bjornberg, who completed his analysis on the 'semiotics of music video'. with the music video being short, usually 3-4 minutes in length creates a need for narrative ellipses. As an average there will 8-9 sections to a pop song (intro,verse,chorus,solo, etc) and the visuals are dictated by this structure. There is usually a fragmented narrative therefore breaking away from the usual convention of a narrative it has does not contain a begining,middle and end, and he says that the this can be seen during the verses, and this will then be backed up by the band being filmed / shot performing during the chorus.
The second is Alan Goodwin, he has wrote a book analysing the combination of both the music itself and the images. One of Alan Goodwin's theories is that some music videos will tend to contain 'conflicting vocals and rhythm' meaning that there will be different shots of the performer singing or there will be the inclusion of a narrative that ties in with the lyrics or beat of the music, and it is both of these that are competing to be the most important feature of the video. His idea is that the tempo of the music combines with the speed of the images that are featured in the video, this is what he calls this the 'visual parallels' between the sound and images. when there is a fast tempo to a song there are many Different techniques that will keep the images up to speed these include fast camera cuts, and editing on the beat this is a general convention with many music video regardless of the genre and it this that allows the video images to keep up with the tempo of te music.
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Digipaks
For our A2 music production we are also required to make a Digipak case for the band and the bands song we have chose to do, therefore i have decided to compile some research about digipaks and why they are used.
Digpaking is a patented form of a packaging for a cd or dvd. Digipaks Normally consists of a book like opening with a thick card or card stock outer spine, once opened up there is usually one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD, from examples i have seen, bands that make use of digipak usually include either a CD and a DVD or in some cases there will just be two CD's. Since 2000, Digipaks have been the new alternative to the plastic jewel case, they are used by major recored companies as they are a great way of adding potential to their promotional campaigns for their representative band.
In terms of protection and vunerability, Digipaking allows for a lesser chance that the case will crack and break although as they are made from card they do tend to wear alot more quicker, and as the digipak's are made from card material it offers the chance for the manufacturers of them to create a digipak that has less impact on the environment.
Digipaks are usually use by bands as a form of a promotional campaign, they generally link in with the advertising posters, digipaks offer the customer more; such as a dvd and other alternative goodies, for example in the Digipak Empire by kasabian that i looked at, there was the inclusion of cards conatining images of the band members.
Digpaking is a patented form of a packaging for a cd or dvd. Digipaks Normally consists of a book like opening with a thick card or card stock outer spine, once opened up there is usually one or more plastic trays capable of holding a CD or DVD, from examples i have seen, bands that make use of digipak usually include either a CD and a DVD or in some cases there will just be two CD's. Since 2000, Digipaks have been the new alternative to the plastic jewel case, they are used by major recored companies as they are a great way of adding potential to their promotional campaigns for their representative band.
In terms of protection and vunerability, Digipaking allows for a lesser chance that the case will crack and break although as they are made from card they do tend to wear alot more quicker, and as the digipak's are made from card material it offers the chance for the manufacturers of them to create a digipak that has less impact on the environment.
Digipaks are usually use by bands as a form of a promotional campaign, they generally link in with the advertising posters, digipaks offer the customer more; such as a dvd and other alternative goodies, for example in the Digipak Empire by kasabian that i looked at, there was the inclusion of cards conatining images of the band members.
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