Roadblocks?

Dean's been trying to contact Saving Herald, unsuccessfully. He's been messaging them through their Instagram page, which's run by Mackenzi. Our plan, for now, is to contact one of the band members, specifically Maxx, asking if the band is still interested in working with us.

I don't want to jump to conclusions- but in the case that they're not interested or available to work with us anymore, Dean and I are going to come up with back-up plans for project ideas. We're contemplating doing a film promo or short film promo package if we can't do the music promo package for this project. I'll be including brainstorming ideas that we came up with in my next blog posting, but hopefully, we won't be resorted to changing our project entirely. 

Update: Maxx confirmed that we can call the group Wednesday. I still want to brainstorm ideas in the case that we must change the premise of our project. I'll have my next blog post entail any ideas that Dean and I come up with. 

Teams Group Meeting

In class today, our teacher assigned us in groups to discuss and get advice on our projects so far. I discovered that none of us have started the actual production process yet (as we're only two weeks into the project so far). However, we were able to help each other figure out more concrete ideas about the looks and premises of our productions, gave advice to each other, brainstorming our projects to make our ideas more solidified.

Annika is doing a music promo as well. She's starring a Peruvian artist (the song the music video will be on is called zoo lion). She knows the artist from when she lived in Peru. She plans on doing an artsy look for the video, including animation and collage elements (which she'll make through Procreate). She showed us a snippet of the song, which will work perfectly with an artsy vibe in my opinion. His music sounds like Glass Animals; I feel like if I start listening seriously to his music, I'd be hooked. 

Shreya (and her partner Colin who was not in the meeting with us) are doing a documentary about the deprivation of culture of kids who are born in the US, and in what ways they're connected to their culture. We suggested that Shreya can unify the idea of the project and be inclusive of different cultures by having the font in the documentary switch between different languages, country flags, etc.

Ryan is doing a short film. He wants it to be postmodernist and dream-like. He had no idea for what he wanted to make the premise about other than knowing the vibe he wants. We suggested that he does something that warps with time, and the presence of self, which he ate up. I had no ideas to give him really, but it was nice to see the members of the group help each other out with really innovative ideas.

Janey is doing a documentary about a dance group at UM, where she's in connections with the people there who are part of the group. She's waiting to hear from the group's coach if they'd have the time or be willing to be a part of the process. 

I was able to find some inspiration by talking with Annika, considering she's also going the music promotional route. Animating through Procreate sounds like something I want to get into. I've always been into the idea of animating, the issue is that I'm fairly new at it, and art (especially when getting used to a new art form) takes a lot of time, effort, and energy that I'm not sure I will have when going farther into this production process. But I'll talk to Dean about it when the time comes, and see what happens with that. Regardless of whether or not I animate, I could always use Procreate to draw cover art for the digipak amongst other things.

Game Plan

My partner and I talked to our teacher in a Teams meeting together about what course of action we should choose. She recommended that we either see if they'll allow us to "take over" and re-construct one of their established social media pages, or create a new website for them. 

One platform that she suggested we make for them is bandcamp.com. It appears that they don't have a profile on this site, which is fortunate for us; it seems that creating a whole new site altogether would be more complex than making them a Bandcamp profile. 

Dean and I established that this week is going to be our planning stage. Storyboarding, script-writing, talking with Maxx and the band in order to gauge their visions for a website, a digipak/cd, and music video. 

I'm an artist, and Dean is a filmer/cinematographer, so he suggested that I create cover art for the digipak. I'll need to discuss this with Saving Herald of course. I'll need to get a grasp on their vibe, listen to their music, take note of their favorite tracks and the meaning behind such songs. I'm hoping that this will inspire me to create something really cool for them. Whether it's simply an art piece or I end up drawing on top of a photo of the band, or whatever else. I want to make something that they're happy with. 

Contemplating

For the music promotional package, my group is required to make a music video (our major task), a social media page, and a digipak for the album's release (our minor tasks).

However, as outlined in my last blog post, Saving Herald already has several social media accounts- so Dean and I are unsure of what to do. We don't know if we're required to make them another social media account for the sake of our project.

I'm writing this post over the course of the weekend, but next class I plan to ask our teacher about our current circumstances. I would send her a message via inbox over Canvas, but teachers tend to not reply on weekends- and for good reason, because they have lives too. I don't blame them.

Once I'm sure of our next course of action, I'll make a new post discussing what my teacher recommended we do. This will probably be around Tuesday (the next B-day) when I have Aice Media Studies.

Band Research

The band member that my partner is friends with is Maxx (the bassist). I've yet to meet them, but the other members are Madisyn (the lead singer), Mackenzi (the drummer), and Nick (the guitarist). They're an alternative/grunge band based in Broward County FL, formed in 2018. I'm pretty excited to get to know them and their band as we progress in this portfolio project. 

The band has made quite a name for themselves despite still being in high school, and they have a verified Spotify, Youtube, and Facebook account with a sizeable and growing fanbase. They even have an article discussing them in a Voyage MIA article, uncovering the hidden gems of South Florida. 

http://voyagemia.com/interview/meet-maxx-nunn-saving-herald-fort-lauderdale/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/7aEsOSEsqdnyoBNHoQdmhT

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMrcvBxtmixJVCoRQtsWhnQ

https://www.facebook.com/SoFLRockBands/

I'm back, baby!

Hey there! It's me again. A lot has changed since I last posted on this blog. We're nearly a year into the pandemic, and senior year is almost over. Finally, it's time for our end-of-the-year Aice Media project. 

My partner, Dean (who's also my significant other), and I decided we're going to go the music promotional route. I wanted to do the short film package, however, my partner has a friend who's in a band called Saving Herald. This is convenient for both of us and hopefully, that means it will be less stressful- but I'm not counting on it. 

Dean talked to his friend who's in the band and he confirmed that he'd be down to be a part of our production. I'm sure he's happy to be included. Free promos and all these band members have to do is sit there and look pretty while we film them. Sounds like a good deal if there ever was one.