DVD Cover Research

Another part of the post production that needed to be completed was to make a DVD cover for our music video. We decided that looking at the bands influences again would also give us an idea of what the band wanted from the DVD as well as looking at other bands from the same genre.

Greenday released a DVD of a live performance and from their DVD cover we can see that they have based it on two main colours, black and red. The band name is in their logo style that its presented in for most of their CD's, and the white contrasts against the background. The front cover (the right) shows a low angle of the main singer showing he is more the leader of the band and also shows the crowd beneath him. On the back cover we can see a small group picture, so that the audience establishes the band if they've not known them before. There is also the list of songs the band performed as well as screen captures from the concert itself which I would like to incorporate into ours. The images and colours of the cover really portray the rock genre the band fit into, so its important to bear in mind some of the colours and styles for our own portrayal.

Mcfly are more the pop genre, which our band are also classed under, so we decided to look at their DVD concert cover. They used the base colour of black with white writing to contrast with this. The images shown on both the front and back cover are all in black and white which could suggest the band want to be portrayed in more of a rock genre way. The songlist is also listed, as well as some of the cast and crew that took part. Finally the Mcfly logo is shown in purple to really stand out from the whole DVD cover as it's the only thing that is seen in colour which really promotes the band.

The DVD cover of Avril Lavigne's live concert was one when she was seen as a rock artist rather than her current pop status. The front cover immediately introduces the artist in black and white to show the rock genre and the name 'Avril Lavigne' is seen in red which stands out from the background. These colours are the used in the same way as Greenday's. The backcover shows what the DVD features and a bit of information about Avril as an artist. There are some screen shots of her performing live as well which are seen in colour and show the audience what to expect. Theres also a significant difference between this DVD and the others i've looked at, and thats that this DVD is classified as a 15, showing that it contains explicit content. This is something to bare in mind whilst making our DVD, to see if we need a classification. The spine is also a vital part of the DVD as it is what you're most likely to see on the shelf. Here they have the name of the artist and the DVD as well as a small picture at the bottom which is good for promotion, however with our DVD being a band this might be more difficult to do.

The final DVD I looked at was All Time Low's which is slightly similar sound to our own band. The name of the band is centred, so that it's the first thing seen to publicise the band. The front cover is then made up of 5 pictures, the centre one showing a crowd and stage shot of the live performance and the other 4 featuring all the members of the band whilst in live performance. I'd like to include some of the pictures from our band performance that we went to see so that people get an idea of what a Starfish gig is like. The back of the DVD then features more images of the live performance on the DVD, a mini biography of the band and the songs featured on the DVD. The cover is very different to the others as the background is featured mainly from images, but there is a use of a grey colour however this doesn't contrast with the background as much as other covers had.

Band Poster Research

I decided to have a look at some of our bands influences when we came on to doing the band poster task to see what conventions were used and gather some ideas for our own poster.

Foo Fighters

The band photo for the Foo Fighters shows the bands rock genre through the location and the use of editing to an almost serpia, black and white. Even though the band perform with instruments, here it doesnt show them with them. Despite this, we don't get the impression that they are a boyband because of their attire the way the group are positioned.










Stereophonics

The stereophonics also follow a quite similar convention to the Foo Fighters. The location in which the photograph was taken is quite derelict and urban which suggests an edgy band that follows the rock genre. The band members are positioned in a way that shows the audience who the main singer, and leader of the band is through the position closest to the camera. The lighting here is very dark as well, typically known for rock genre's and I think the use of the darkened black edges is also very effective in the representation of the band.


Billy Talent

I decided to look at a newer, more modern band to take some ideas from for our band poster. In Billy Talent you can see they're all lined up against a wall which is quite jaded, and their attire is all black which suggests the rock genre. This is also another band which perform with their own individual instruments but the poster does not show this, suggesting its not required.

Other Band Posters

I looked at a few examples of how bands had used the posters to promote themselves and also what text was used. In this example of a pop rock band called The Maine, the band picture is used to acknowledge the band so they become familiar with the audience followed by having the band name in the centre of the poster to contrast with the background. I think this is very effective because we instantly see the name of the band which is the most effective way to promote them. Under the picture and name of the band there is also an image of the bands album, and the name of it as well as saying it's 'available now'.

In the band poster for Paramore, the band are also stood almost in a line, however this is one of the first band posters where the band have been seen with their instruments (except the drummer who just has his drum sticks). The band follows the rock genre convention through their attire of casual jeans and band tshirts and the pose of the band shows they're down to earth, which is something that we also wanted to create. The name of the band also really stands out from the background, and the bottom right corner shows the words 'riot' which is in the style of their album cover and also the name of the album.

This band poster shows the name of the band straight away with the text at the top. The text is very simple, and in some ways could show the simplicity of the band trying to show their down-to-earth nature. The band are stood in a line again, with the lead singer stood stightly forward and the setting of the photograph is quite unclear but shows an edgy genre of rock. The band attire also justifies this and with the lead singer wearing red, it also confirms that he's the main focus.