Final Music Video

Final Album and Tour Poster Analysis - Michael Hickey

I am really pleased with the outcome of my album and tour poster, i feel that throughout my blog i have shown a lot of development to how i have constructed these final products. I have made around 3 drafts for the album and tour poster to ensure that they are good as possible. From each draft i would take advice from my teachers and people in my group on what i should change on each draft. This process was vital for me as it allowed me to go ahead and experiment with some photoshop skills that where new to me, an example of this would be the 3D text i had initially used on the first draft for the album and tour poster. After speaking to my group we realised that this wasn't very relevant to the genre and that we wanted to stick to a black and white colour scheme.

As i developed on the black and white colour scheme i felt that uses some aspects of colour works best and is shown in my album cover where it has hints of colour. I also wanted to stay with a simple design for my album cover as i felt that it would suit this genre of music best. The two logos i had created are a reflection of the classic layout and structure i had chosen for my album. With the tour poster i wanted to make it a little more modern and relatable to a lot of other tour posters of this genre. i feel that the black and white colour scheme works really well on the tour poster as it gets a good message of the actual album.

Final Album and Tour Poster - Michael Hickey

Mock Album Case For Group (Michael Hickey, Nathan Kearns, Connor Burgess)

We printed out an album case for our CD. Michael was responsible for creating this. I think the overall case looks very good. This is only a mock up so it is not the real and final design. I think its good that all the pages are black and white because it relates back to the music video. The page designs were all from Michael and we decided to go with his because it looks simple, it is black and white and all the pictures are relevant.

Album (Nathan Kearns)

My Music Video (Connor Burgess)

E-Safety - Connor Burgess

As I have created social media accounts and a Youtube account for my group I needed to consider E-safety in order to keep the personal details of myself and the rest of my group private.

The first thing that we need to consider is the content of what we are posting on the internet, we need to represent our group in a respectable manner. This means that we need to read over a post or look over a product before posting it on the internet for the world to see.

The second think I need to consider is privacy. I have created a group email address that is connected to each of the accounts we have created, this ensures that nobody can access any of our personal email accounts. 

I have also included an answer that only my group would know to the security question making it pretty much impossible for anyone to guess the password, and that is the same with the password to the accounts.

The privacy settings on the social media accounts are secure as you can see somebody's personal phone number and people who you don't know can contact you. I have made up a fake phone number so people will not be able to contact us through the number, protecting the privacy of my group.

Anti-virus software is on the computer/laptop of each group member so when we all try to post something from home, there will be nothing that can damage the computers.

Logo designs (Nathan Kearns)

I have created two logos that are possibilities for the logo we will use. On both logos I tried to keep them simple but a kind of logo you will be able to remember when you see it. The first one is the more simple one but I think easier to remember. I really like it due to the fact it looks really good and it only took about 5 minutes to make. I like the shadow of the 'H' in the background because it relates to the dark and mystery of the genre.

The second one took a lot longer to make. The main thing that stands out is the cross in the background. I wanted to give the idea that the 'H' is nailed to the cross. Even if people don't see that, they will see a cross in the background which will make them think of the Hozier song. The cross also relates to the song because it relates to church. I personally like the first one the best so I will be hoping the rest of my group also likes it enough to use.

Tour Poster (Nathan Kearns)

I had another go at making a tour poster. I think this is personally the best so far because I really like the darkness of the picture and how it relates with the song and the artist. The cross on the right hand side was edited in. I wanted this because it relates to 'church' which is a main lyric in the song. I like the effect with the text on the water and its reflection. I was a bit worried about how the writing might look but now I feel it was a good choice because it suits the mis en scene of the poster. 

Inspiration behind potential CD cover and Tour poster images

 These are the three images that as a group we decided to narrow down as the images we are going to use for our CD cover and tour poster.

This is the first image that we chose. There is no influence that we have taken when we took this picture. We decided to use this image because this is a pose that is used in the music video.

Also the River mersey over powers the artist and this relates to the music video. As the artist is an isolated figure in the music video and the contrast between him and the river emphasises his isolation. Whilst also leaving a lot of room for text if we use this for one of our products.

This is the second image that we decided to use. This is the image that I would personally not use, I understand the concept as the look of contemplation on the artists face directly relates to theme of isolation in the music video.

However I don't think that the pose is good enough and there is too much space on the image, I don't think that using this image would benefit the group; personally.






I like this image as this has been taken in one of the main locations of the music video. In most of the CD covers and tour posters that I have researched they are (more often than not) looking at the target audience.

I also think that this is a good image because there is enough space for text to fit and once again the loose frame around the artist emphasises his isolation.

I think this image has editing potential, and this helps us as we can manipulate this image to help us create a professional product.

My First Logo Designs (Connor Burgess)

As a group we need to design a logo for our artist and use it for our CD cover and our tour poster. There is a design that I have been playing round with and have narrowed it down to two designs, as we all have to present a design.


This is the first design, I have stayed with the black and white theme that we are using for all our products.

I decided to put something in the middle of the circle to try and make it look more creative. Once I added the 'H' I decided to make the line through the middle go right across the logo.
I think that this makes the logo look better and makes it look a bit more eye catching. However I think that the logo isn't the best but is a good effort for a first attempt (due to my lack of skills in Photoshop).


This is the second of the same design. I added the line going through the centre of the logo, I am undecided which will be the one that I decide to continue to edit.

I think that the line is good for symbolic purposes as Hozier is a religious man and so is the song that we are using for our music video. So the line going through the middle makes it look like a crucifix in the centre of the logo. 

However because of this, the 'H' doesn't look clear enough for the audience to know and could be seen as a letter 'O'.

Album Cover 2 - Michael Hickey

After making the 3rd tour poster i felt that i had to create another album cover that compares to this and has a similar outlook. The simple design and layout for the third tour poster was very effective and i wanted to see how it would transfer into an album cover.

The album cover is very simple but i feel that the black and white theme is very useful. In comparison to the other album cover i feel that this one is more solid as the logo i have created makes it a lot stronger although i feel that the layout for the first album cover is better. I also stayed with the same image as i feel it works really well with the black and white theme and it gives room to add text.

Contacting the Record Label (Connor Burgess)

I personally emailed the record label who represents Hozier (Rubyworks) in order to acquire their permission for my group to use "Take me to church" for our music video.

This is the email that I sent to the label manager. I told him that I was creating an A level music video as well as the school I go to.

Then I asked him permission to use the song for our music video.

The record label replied the next day giving us permission to use the song for our music video.

He said that "this is fine if it is for school use only". So know we can continue to create our music video knowing that Rubyworks have give us permission to use "Take me to church".

Tour Poster 3 - Michael Hickey

Logo and Tour Poster 3 Analysis - Michael Hickey

I am very happy with the outcome for the 2 logos i have created, i kept to a very simple design that i feel works very well in reflection to hoziers music and the black and white theme of our music video. I kept this black and white theme to my new tour poster that i have created. The poster is very successful in my opinion because of the strong layout and simpleness. In comparison to the other tour posters that i have created this one has a much stronger design that is a lot easier to read. The text in this poster is a big improvement because of the black and white theme.

I feel that the logos are very simple but extremely effective for hoziers style of music, i feel that the font used is classic but it is designed to suit the genre and tone of Hoziers music. I took some influence from swedish house mafias font as it uses a black and white theme and classical and simple fonts.

Logo 2 - Michael Hickey

Logo 1 - Michael Hickey

Music Video first draft (Nathan Kearns) (2)

From looking at the first draft of the music video I can see that it has all come together very nicely. I didn't expect the shots I took to look so affective in our music video. The black and white really works because it replicates Hoziers original music video and we have took that idea from there.

I think some of the shots I took would have been pointless but they have been used very well like the tracking shot of the birds flying in the sky. Connor and Michael done most of the video and guided me on what to do for about 30 seconds of it because my iMovie skills were useless.

I really like how the video has been made into a story but I think if I had to fault anything it would be the way the actor goes from being beat up to singing normally. I would have personally ended the video with him being beat up and then the camera moving towards the skyline. I'm not blaming Connor and Michael because I haven't been able to let them know but I will mention it to them in the second draft.

Overall I am extremely happy with how the video turned out and the majority of the credit has to go to Connor and Michael for working even harder in my absence. I think some of the lip sync is out of sync but maybe we can fix it in the second draft. I think the best shots are from the Docks when the water is in the background.

Music video draft 1 analysis (Nathan Kearns)

We have finished our first draft of the music video but we will be making improvements on it. I have analysed it a lot and picked up on the good and bad things. I think some of the shots in the video are very good. I think the black and white effect looks very good because it relates to the genre of the song itself. There is a number off different camera angles which I done that look really good like medium shots, long shots, low angles, crab shots, establishing shots, and high angles. I needed to be very steady with the camera all the way through which was very hard but I don't think it looks too bad in the video.

I think a good few parts in the video, the lip sync is out of time. This is the main thing we will be looking to improve over the next couple of weeks. Connor knew the sync wouldn't be perfect but he thought himself it would be better than it is now. The locations of the video were all very good because they are all just simple everyday locations. I think we got the best shots in the park like the slow motion medium shot of him walking in the first few seconds. 

Summing up I really like how the video has come together and how it looks. Some of the shots look very professional but others don't. We will be looking to improve on this. Also as I said before the lip sync needs to be fixed for the second draft.

Music Video First Draft - Analysis (Connor Burgess)

Looking back at the first draft of our music video I think that the first draft puts our group in a good position to edit it further and get a good grade. I think that the black and white effect added to the bleak atmosphere of the music video and helped make our video unique and stand out from the rest of the music videos.

Looking at other music videos it is not the best in terms of unique ideas, however I think we have managed to make a narrative music video that makes the reader want to continue to watch until the end.  I also stand by my decision to make the video ambiguous, this helps engage the target audience and makes them think about the message behind the music video as well as entertain the audience.

There are a few changes that need to be made but I think that we are in a great position to aim for the highest grades. There are some shots that I am personally not happy with and will look to see how we can either adapt them to make them better or look for a shot that will replace it.

I would class our music video as an ambiguous narrative and with these type of videos it is either a hit or miss. I think that we have balanced the music video perfectly so that the music video will want to continue to watch and engage them through individual perception. 

I think that sometimes it is hard to help the audience understand the meaning behind a music video. So through making the meaning ambiguous it makes it easier for us as the audience will be finding their own meaning. The audience will have to take what is being shown to them and create their own perception and connote their own meaning.

Music Video Draft 1 Analysis - Michael Hickey

I feel that our music video is very successful so far. I feel that because we have followed our story board step by step it has allowed us to create a stable and consistent music video. As the director of the music video i wanted us to be as prepared as possible for filming and editing. When on location i would  make sure that we had followed the story board and got more than enough shots. The more shots we had when filming the more options we have when editing.

The story board was merely a guideline for me to what shots and camera movements we would be using. I then developed shots and movements on location when we had the necessary shots. A good example of this is the church scenes where we would go to the loft area of the church to get a much better shot. In the end these types of shots make the difference in my opinion and give our video an added dynamic approach to give it a much more professional outcome.

I feel that our music video is nearly complete, we now just have to go over some of the simple and basic errors within the video. Some clips are not exactly in time with the song and we may want to replace some shots with others, experimenting with what shots work best where and how they all come together as a whole.

Music Video First Draft (Michael Hickey))

We have completed the first draft of our music video and we have presented this to our class. As a group we are happy with the way that the first draft has turned out.

We have received feedback from the other groups and we will review the feedback and act upon it if we feel necessary. We know that there are changes that we need to be made in order to raise our grade.

We have a week to make the changes we want to the video to make it better, we are going to have a lot of work to do to ensure that the music video improves from this first draft.

Questionnaire Results (Connor Burgess)

Questionnaire (Connor Burgess)

I have produced a questionnaire to help our group develop our concept for our music video or even perhaps change our idea. This is so get an identify a potential target audience and see how they respond to our current ideas and see if they match the genre of music video we are creating.

Editing Process - 3 (Connor Burgess)

I have just completed editing the music video and it is now ready to present for tomorrow. This was the most crucial part of the video as the most important scenes are in the closing minute of the song. I worked hard on continuing to ensure that the transitions change from shot to shot in beat with the song. The music video now that it is all together looks really good, I think that we did a great job in editing the music video.

Editing Process - 2 (Connor Burgess)

Due to the fact that Nathan is absent as he is doing jury duty, I have taken over his part of the editing. I have just completed the middle section of the song in preparation for presenting out first draft. I think that I have done a good job in using appropriate shots and the transitions match the beat in the song. I will know have to edit my part of the music video which is the final minute of the song, I think that the music video is looking great so far as we have included relevant shots and done the best we can despite lack of equipment.

Album Cover - Michael Hickey

I am happy with the outcome for this album cover, i wanted to keep the cover as simple as possible and i feel i have done that effectively. I also retained the 3D text effect from the tour poster as i feel that it looks very professional and relatable to other professional album covers and tour posters.

The black and white theme works very well in contrast to the coloured character and the 3D text effect. I feel that it links to the song and music video, portraying isolation and fear.

Tour Poster 1 - Michael Hickey

I am really pleased with this tour poster, i feel that the design is very nice and looks very professional. I experimented a lot with the techniques and edits. I really like the edit i have made with the title and image which gives a good 3d effect.

One major flaw of this is the image, i feel that it really brings the poster quality down due to the blurred image. The text is also pretty basic in comparison to the rest of the poster and is something i am going to touch on when making other drafts.

Tour poster Updates and Experimentation - Michael Hickey

I feel that the 1st tour poster is a lot more successful and professional in comparison to the other poster. I feel that it is very relatable to other real posters. When re-constructing this new tour poster i considered a lot, after speaking to my teachers and group members about it, i realised what could be improved.

The original text was very plain and bland and i feel that i have improved on this by changing fonts and centring the text. By centring
the text it is a lot more relatable to other posters and looks a lot more professional.  I have also experimented with some adjustments to make the artist stand out. I also took away the 3D effect on the artist as it takes away focus from the image and it didn't really work.

For the other tour poster i have created i wanted to experiment with the colour for the most part and see what other effect i could use. I feel that it didn't work well but shows experimentation. I wanted to stick to the same design and layout as i feel that the layout is really effective and looks very professional.

My editing process so far... - Michael Hickey

I am very pleased with my editing so far. Editing like this is very new to me and has been very fun to experiment with. For me i have been using trial and error effectively to create the best possible clips that mesh well together. I have also been following the storyboard to ensure that all of the correct clips are in the right place.

I am pleased with the clips we have, i knew when recording which clips would work well when editing and i think my editing so far has shown that. All the clips seem to work well with the song and mood. Right now i have to add some more clips to follow the storyboard correctly and add finishing touches to the clip as a whole.

Some small effects can make all the difference when editing and i am going to make sure that i am 100% happy with my section of the edit before i hand it over to nathan to complete the mid section of the song. As i edited the introduction of the song it was essential for me to make the video appeal to the audience straight away and i feel that i have done that by making it look as professional as possible and relating to the genre.

Filming Locations - Michael Hickey

 It was very important that i specifically zoned out the area in which we would be filming at to ensure that we are as prepared as possible. We also went to some of the locations before hand to visually picture what our shots would be like and if there was anything we had to know before filming.

We had to visit the church before hand to get permission and to make sure that the church was suitable for our storyboard. We could also look at these pictures when filming to recap our ideas and locations for each shot.

Possible Album Cover Images - Michael Hickey

My Album Cover 1 - Michael Hickey

I am very happy with this album cover, i feel that it portrays the genre, artist and song very well. It is relatable to other professional album covers of this genre due to the dramatic effect of the black and white image and text.

I feel that this cover well reflects the music video we have made as it features the artist and similar effects. I feel that it is very important that your album cover reflects the music video as it emits similar emotions and feelings to the audience.

The basic black and white theme is simple but effective for an album cover and our cover in particular due to the theme and edits in the music video.

Filming Day 4 - Review (Connor Burgess)

This was the final (full) day of filming, we still need to film the scene in Michael's bedroom but this will take no longer than 10 minutes to do so we are not counting this as a film day. We got all the footage we needed from the church and filmed some of the main scenes in the music video as the church is the most important location in the music video.

We gave the woman in the church the letter of permission (shown in blog post: Film Day 4 - Preparations) and then she let us into the church so that we could film. We did encounter some technical difficulties because the video camera ran out of battery whilst we was filming so we had to use my phone for the rest of the footage.

I think that we dealt with this problem well and not let it damage our productivity as we went on to film the remaining scenes quickly. I think as a group we have worked very well over the past week to get all the footage we have needed for our music video, I am confident that we will keep this work rate up whilst we are editing and produce a professional music video.

Album Cover attempt (Nathan Kearns)

After seeing all of our pictures we took from inside the church, I decided to have a go at making an album cover that we will need to do in the coming weeks. This isn't official it is just an attempt because I thought the picture would look really good. Using photoshop I messed around with the colours, filters and sharpness of the picture and then come up with the idea to put the Writing "Hozier, Take me to church" on the table cloth on the alter. I also decided to do this because it looks like he is looking down at the writing so it would be messing with the audiences minds.

Shooting Day 4 Review - Michael Hickey

As this was our final shooting day for our music video i wanted to make sure that we had everything completed and had every storyboard shot. The church we had was perfect for our music video as it pretty much matched the storyboard we had, it wasn't to far either of what i initially visually pictured the church to look like. We got a lot of extra shots to help with editing, some of the shots are just outside shots and shots around the church. These short fasted paced clips will work well with the chorus of the song and pacing of the music video if we edit them all together correctly.

Filming Day 4 - Preparations (Connor Burgess)

St. Andrews church

There has been a change of plan as the churches that we previously received permission from to film are not available. Church of St. John the baptist have not returned my phone calls so we have assumed that we are no longer allowed to film in their church which is disappointing. Also the second church that we recieved permission to film in, St. Cecilias said to me that Friday is not a suitable day to film in as they have events going on in the church that makes it impossible for us to film there.

So I visited St. Andrew's church (Clubmoor) which is only a five minute walk from the other two churches that we visited. They said to us that we needed a letter from the school to confirm that we are producing an A level music video and that we could film Friday at 2pm.

Letter of permission

So then we got our equipment together so that we could film on the Friday, this was our final (full) day of filming as we have already filmed in our other locations. We also need to film in Michael's bedroom for one of the scenes but this will take no longer than 10 minutes so I am not counting it as an official filming day.

This is the letter of permission for the priest as confirmation we are filming an A level music video. This was the only condition in giving my group permission, a part from the fact that the video could not be a "horror video or a video that is any way satanic". This was what the woman said to us that the priest was concerned about and we assured her that it is just a music video that we are filming.