Poison I.V. - Evaluation

Looking at our project as a completed piece, there are many factors that we are really pleased with - accompanied by things that, in hindsight, we maybe would have changed or done differently.

To begin with, it is our view that the social/political angle we took through the use of our 'being chased by the media' theme turned out to be successful, as during our audience feedback session, 8/10 people said that the point came across well, and was easily understandable. However, for the sake of the 2 out of the 10, we could have made our point clearer.

The use of the paparazzi shots in quick succession of each other was also successful in portraying our idea of being chased by the media, along with helping to achieve the vintage feel we were aiming for (combined with the use of the old film effect) - which also shows influence from the vintage feeling created by our mood board.

Originally, we planned to use the old film effect in black and white, however, when we applied it to the video, it ruined the symbolic red ribbon in Alice's hair, so we kept the old film effect, but did it in vivid colour instead, to capture the symbolism of the colour red. Consequently, the paparazzi pictures were more striking as they were in black and white.

The music tied in well with certain parts of the music video, for example, when the tempo was slow, 'Alice' was wandering carelessly through the woods, picking up flowers and so on. When the tempo picked up, she began to run as though she was being chased by someone...or something.

The use of our voyeuristic camera shots and angles made it clear that 'Alice' was being watched by someone. This, along with our obstructed shots such as canted angles and shots obstructed by trees gave the video an eerie feel - but at certain points, for example when Alice is looking around, gives the impression that she knows she is being watched, however, this could just be percieved as her being lost.

Poison I.V. music video.

Music Video Moodboard.

Our moodboard is representative of the theme we consequently want our video to emanate. By using an image of a clock, we drew the idea of using the prospect of time within our video, but in a subtle way that is hidden behind different meanings. This was taken from the Alice in Wonderland storyline, more specifically, the white rabbit, who's catchphrase is "I'm late...for a very important date!" We also used images from not only the modern versions of Alice in Wonderland, but also the more dated ones. This represents the vintage feel we want to achieve through the use of editing and effects - for example, using an old movie effect throughout. After a fair amount of discussion we have decided that our music video will consist of a girl running in woods, as though she is being chased, combined with the use of voyeuristic camera shots and angles, which will achieve the feeling of being watched that we want from our music video. We also plan to include some well known paparazzi shots of Hollywood stars from the 50's and 60's such as Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn in a flashing sequence, in order to make the implication of someone being chased by the media - which was a political issue inspired by our research into Banksy and his art. The use of the mask portrays the idea of mystery, which is something else that we plan to replicate in our video. We intend to do this by taking inspiration from our AS Opening To a Thriller, by repeating the idea of never seeing the main protagonist's face - by only being filmed from behind, only filming the legs or only filming 'Alice' from a distance, so her features are undefinable. This creates a real sense of mystery whereby the audience are held in suspense and want to find out more about her - therefore holding their attention throughout the video.

The Gallows - Magazine Advertisement

The magazine advertisement for the Gallows' new single uses dark, gothic fonts which implies that the band's genre is rock. This idea is expanded by the song name, 'The Vulture (Act II) whick constructs an almost gothic idea - vultures traditionally symbolise the dark side of human nature - death and so on. This gives hints about the target audience. The colour scheme of the advertisement is limited to black, white and blood red. Something noticeable about the artwork is that it doesn't include a photo of the band - which shows that they're serious about their music and don't necessarily care whether or not they are recognisable to the public. This would imply that they aren't overly bothered with their overall image and are more concerned with the portrayal of their music. The image used is some sort of crest, which relates to the band's identity, as their album features a black background with a different, white crest as opposed to a white background with a black crest.
At the bottom of the advert is a black box, encompassing a range of information about the single, including places where the music can be purchased, information about limited edition versions of the album and the band's website. The target audience for this band is people who enjoy rock music, most likely mid-late teens and predominantly male. I suggest this niche audience after researching more thoroughly into the band, and found that their artwork tends to contain dark, gruesome images, which most females wouldn't instantly be drawn to. This label was also influenced by the fact that their music is extremely heavy and 'hardcore'.

Promotional Package

Ideas for promotional package

Features may include:-

-Alice in a gas mask
-White rabbit's pocket watch
-'Drink me' bottle
-Playing cards
-Chequered floor
-Small door
-The concept of confined spaces
-Rabbit hole
-Alice with a weapon
-Tea party (tea cups)
-Woods
-The idea of another world (like a learning curve - similar to Dorothy travelling to Oz)
-The idea that wonderland is a test of character
-The question - is it reality or a figment of Alice's imagination?
-Is Alice the crazy one?

Characters:-

-Alice (the idea of her journey through Wonderland)
-White rabbit (emphasis the time)
-Mad Hatter (not what he seems)
-Caterpillar (and his fantasies)
-Cheshire cat (harsh guidance - a nuisance?)
-Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum (the idea of two sides to a personality)


PROMOTIONAL PACKAGE

The creation of our digipack went extremely smoothly - we completed it in 2 weeks as opposed to the 4 that we had planned. This was good as it meant that we could get a head start on researching into existing magazine adverts for bands, and also make a start on our own. We stuck well to our initial draft of the digipack, only changing the colour scheme as we felt that everything else was as we wanted it. Our final design consisted of each pane being one of the house's of cards (e.g hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades.) The front pane has an image of Alice from Alice in Wonderland from the front, with her hands behind her back. And on the last pane, there is in an image of her from the back with handcuffs on.

Research - Banksy

This piece of art by Banksy could be interpreted in many ways, but in our eyes it is highlighting the idea of government repression, and living in a society which is poisoned by authority. We feel that this picture is highly similar to how we want to portray Alice in our depiction. We like the idea of the gas mask as it is surreal and contradicts the innocence that is usually related to Alice, and the fact that we are unable to see her face adds to the mystery and the idea that we do not know the real Alice.





This picture of a police officer inspecting Dorothy's basket is easy to relate to our planned interpretation of Alice. Wizard of Oz is another famous fantasy tale that is also far-fetched from reality. Firstly, it shows a mix of seemingly innocent fantasy being combined with a more brutal figure of the real world that usually deals with the seedy underbelly of society. The fact that he is inspecting her basket, implies the idea of a lack of trust even in the most unexpected of people. This blends in with our idea of how we want to pick apart the themes from Alice in Wonderland to uncover the true forms behind the symbolism.

From our point of view, this image is either potraying the police officer as mistakenly interrogative towards a misdirected person, or that he is rightfully suspicious of Dorothy, impying that she is scheming and vindictive, in the same way as we want our alternative version of Alice to be.

Research - Alice in Wonderland

Alice - In terms of costume, Alice is typically shown wearing a pale blue dress, a pristine white pinafore and a large black bow in her long blond hair. In common depictions, Alice is portrayed as an innocent and vulnerable young girl who enjoys life, but due to the surrealist feel of our music, video and promotional package, we want to make her almost malicious - innocence gone wrong. Our aim is to make the themes and characters obvious, but with our own stamp on them.

"The tale plays with logic in ways that have given the story lasting popularity"

"It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense"

Although we want to capture the essence of the story and themes, we don't want our project to end up a complete copy of it. We plan to do this by inputting our own feel to it, by using the inspiration as a starting point. An example of this is the recent movie 'Malice in Wonderland' which is a London gangster movie with a twist - all of the people in it are representative of different characters from Alice in Wonderland, for example, the white rabbit is a man in a drug deal, and the Queen of Hearts is the owner of a strip club. This is an extremely clever film, and has recieved gleaming reviews for its imaginative perception of the timeless classic.

Final promotional package plan for the 7 weeks commencing Thursday 6th January and ending Thursday 24th February.

Thursday 6th - Thursday 13th (Week one)
All research completed, plus a rough plan and ideas for the digipack, written up onto blogs.
Research must include:
-Banksy's art and surrealism
-Alice in Wonderland - characters and themes.
-Music genres; dub step and rock.

Thursday 13th - Thursday 20th (Week two)
Begin rough draft of digipack:
-Sketch ideas
-Draw out roughly, scan and upload to blog
-Gather any ideas (using a mood board etc)

Thursday 20th - Thursday 27th (Week three)
Finish rough draft of digipack. Critique, analyse and comment on how to improve and move forward.
Start actual digipack design as a result of analysis of the rough version.

Thursday 27th - Thursday 3rd (Week four)
Continue digipack design, uploading progress to blog.

Thursday 3rd - Thursday 10th (Week five)
Similar to week four, proceed with the final design for the digipack.

Thursday 10th - Thursday 17th (Week six)
Finish off the digipack, making sure that it is uploaded fully to the blog, along with a brief analysis of the progress made, what we are satisfied with, and what we intend to carry through to our music video.

Thrusday 17th - Thursday 24th (Week seven)
Poster (heavily based on digipack, therefore some images will be drawn out from it and used in the poster)
Scanned onto the blog so that in the new term, the plan for the video will begin.