Website Development

After we researched many websites for bands of the pop-punk genre we decided to create our own using inspiration from these various websites. From using the layout and colour scheme and social media integration of the Paramore website and the interactivity and tabs of the Foo Fighters website, the scrolling style and contact information present in the Rise against website and the font style and simplicity Blink-182's website.

After trying out many, many website creating interfaces we decided to use Wix's services. After choosing an acceptable template we began by creating new tabs for contact details, tour dates, music, store and more. From the inspiration gained from our researched bands we were able to integrate these ideas the best we could, from social media integration to the information provided about tour dates.

It was at this point when we decided we wanted the website to look as professional as possible. We decided to create our own font, header, title, images, links and items available in the store( for this particular part we used Photoshop to create a selection of t-shirts and wrist bands for both male and female and are available in various colours. It was for this reason that we wanted our website to function as best as possible. We decided that the store would function, totals will be tallied, PayPal would be integrated, links will bring the user to the desired URL and that the use of Soundcloud and YouTube would further promote the band and the music video and album art we are producing.

Punk bands influences

Stiff little fingers
the damned
sex pistols
the clash
the bank robbers
black flag
misfits
rancid
the dead kennedy's
minor threat
descendants
the exploited
the stooges
sham 69

Voodoo

Conceptual Planning (Genre)

We initially had a wide range of genres to choose from: pop, indie, rock and all the way to more hardcore styled bands, but a few genres really stood out for us, pop, punk, indie and classical rock.

What made this decision easier for us is that we knew local bands with these as their desired genre. I personally have a penchant for these genres in particular and as a combination of interest and accessibility we had narrowed our choices quite considerably.

Through rigorous contacts, multiple band inquiries and internet scouting we had a choice of two bands to choose from, a punk band and a punk styled alternative artist.

We came to a decision, we chose the punk band as our focus and desired subject for our coursework.

The band itself is called City Car Chase and is a punk band taking elements from pop-punk, grunge and alternative rock, all very post punk.

Set Dressing

To make the practice stage more dynamic we decided to procure a set of changing stage coloured lights and a smoke machine and further dress up up the stage to make it appropriate for filming and appropriate for a venue in which the band would perform in front of an audience as well.

The address of this practice venue is:

The Blackstaff Mill,
Belfast Rd,
BT12 7AB.

Shooting Schedule

February 27th - Live performance gig filmed. (Postponed)
March 13th - Live gig performance filmed.
March 14th - Photoshoot.
April 30th - Second Live gig performance filmed.

Album Cover Ideas

This is our second draft of our cover idea. We prefer this to the last as the more alternative feel suits the song more than the previous cover. The image captured the romantic feel with the urban edge whilst the font we believe, captured the California suburb where the genre began, fitting in with the mainstream take on pop punk.

The first of our album cover ideas. We liked the idea of this cover as a colourful, bright and light hearted one to reflect the pop side of the genre and mirror the recent trends in pop punk cover culture.

We decided to also include some of our less successful cover ideas in order to show the creative and technical advancements we made whilst preparing our ideas. These covers we felt did not comply with our creative intentions and were not correct for the band or the song. 

Animatic

Below is our Animatic of our final storyboard design:

Stereotypes

Stereotypes

• Clothing typically dark (emphasises the dark narrative/mood present and further expresses the emotions that the band intends to convey) as evident by Greenday in the likes of American Idiot and Blink-182 in I Miss You.
• Clothing also can be vibrant (this is to create a more humorous atmosphere and similarly to the use of dark clothing can be used to express the various emotions that the song wishes to portray) as shown in Basket case and All the small things.
• Cultural interests are often expressed in great and explicit detail through lyrics and set design such as the burning flag in American Idiot.
• Eccentric or hard hitting narratives are fairly common, from toilet humour parody videos to videos about bullying, drug addiction and social problems, these wish to attract the attention of social groups who typically experience these problems.
• Strong emotions are also shown by the band members in various ways from their choice of close ups to over-exaggerated facial expressions combined typically with a close up of various band members faces.
• Both live performances in derelict environments and narrative stories are fairly common and are typically used together to further emphasise the meaning and emotive nature of the song.
• Make-up and tattoos are usually on display by the band, this is to further express the bands uniqueness in terms of aesthetic style (their look) in hopes to attract an audience or to capture ones attention.

Green day background

Part of the northern Californian underground punk rock scene, Green Day was formed by childhood friends Billie Joe Armstrong (lead guitar, lead vocals) and Mike Dirnt (bass guitar, backing vocals). They built a cult following during the early 1990s and are credited, along with bands The Offspring and Rancid, for reviving mainstream interest in the punk rock scene. In 1994 Green Day  signed with Reprise Records, who released the band's first major-label album, 'Dookie' , which they had recorded in a mere three weeks. The album received much critical acclaim and sold over 15 million copies worldwide, winning the 1994 Grammy for Best Alternative Album 

The videos for the singles 'Longview' and 'Basket Case' were nominated for numerous awards at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards. Rolling Stone Magazine placed 'Dookie' at number 193 in their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, beating Black Sabbath's eponymous album and Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here'.

The band's next album, 'Insomniac' (1995), was much darker than the more melodic 'Dookie' and won them award nominations for Favourite Artist, Favourite Hard Rock Artist and Favourite Alternative Artist at the 1996 American Music Awards. The video for the single 'Walking Contradiction' received a Grammy nomination for Best Video, Short Film and an MTV nomination for Best Special Effects. Green Day then cancelled their European tour, claiming they were exhausted, and took a break from making music. 

Following their break, they released the experimental album 'Nimrod' (1997), which was a break from their usual music and more in the style of laid-back surfer rock, silly ska, upbeat pop/punk and acoustic ballads. The surprise hit from this album 'Good Riddance (Time of your Life)' once again won them an MTV Award for Best Alternative Video

Green Day released Warning, proud that it was their strongest work together. The album received mixed reactions, with some fans believing the band was losing its relevance, despite the album producing the number one hit Minority. The album sales were not as successful as previous albums and Green Day's popularity declined somewhat.

Releasing a greatest hits compilation, 'International Superhits!' (2001), followed by a collection of B-sides called 'Shenanigans' (2002), gave impetus to the theory that Green Day's superstar days were over. The band then co-headlined The Pop Disaster Tour, with Blink-182, in an effort to restore some of their popularity. Once more, following the tour, Green Day took some time off to spend with their families.

A new album, with the working title of 'Cigarettes and Valentines', was meant for release in 2002 but after 20 tracks had been recorded, the master tapes were stolen from the studios. The band was devastated and decided not to try and recreate the album but do something better instead.

The resulting album, 'American Idiot' (2004), proved their biggest hit to date, with some referring to it as "punk rock opera". It sold 1.5 million units in its first week and went straight to number one in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Japan, following the single of the same name, which entered the UK singles charts at number three.

 In 2004 the band was nominated for six Grammy Awards, with 'American Idiot' winning a Grammy for Best Rock Album. it was at this time  The band had also began to  changed their image. They stopped dyeing their hair vibrant colours, and began wearing eyeliner and black clothes with red ties onstage.

Album Cover Research

When looking at album covers of pop punk bands, there appear to be noticeable trends that have developed over the years, reflecting the trends in the genre as well as a few distinctive grouping characterises. 

1. The beginnings of pop punk had a larger focus on the punk side of the genre, leading to dark colours and artistic images reflective of the earlier punk albums.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. As time progressed, a trend in the artist appearing on the cover seemed to be common.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Another feature is the use of animals, often powerful animals that represent the powerful message of the bands music.
   
   
   
   
   
4. The use of powerful images that represented the concept of the album was another prominent theme.
   
   
   
   
   
5. When coming into the late 2000s and early 2010s, pop punk moved more towards the pop side of the genre, reflected in the use of bright colours and pop designs on their covers.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   we believe that due to the modern dating of the band, a similar approach to the modern cover would be better suited. using bright colours and interesting cartoon shapes would be a potential feature of our album cover for Car Chase City.

The band’s previous covers tend to fit in with the theme of modern pop punk and use bright colours in a creative, way typical of pop.

Album Research

Below are some of the various bands album art that we used to inform our final piece:

This album art inspired us with regards to the layout of the front cover and the cover itself being posterised. The logo as well was also a great inspiration for our entire digipak.

Blink 182's font and use of colour scheme greatly influenced our album art design, as did the inclusion of a logo and the parental advisory sticker at the bottom right.

Paramores album inspired us to include a desaturation effect on the arm of one of the band members on the back cover and to use a similar font for the band logo on the inside covers.

Rise Against's ''Appeal to Reason'' album has a cartoonish style and punk styled images on the front including a gas mask, this inclusion of such items influenced our decision to include the likes of the gas mask on the front cover and the broken glass effect throughout.

Punk Background (Summary)

Punk, the genre itself has a plethora of subcultures with an abundance of ideologies, fashion, expressionism, visual aesthetics and are considered to be very ''anti-establishment''.

Emerging from the United Kingdom, United States and Australia in the mid-1970's, with early influences from artistic, visual and audible arts, philosophical, political and literary movements. In the late 1970's the subculture began to diversify leading to the proliferation of sub-genres such as pop-punk, hardcore punk, street punk, New Wave, No Wave, Oi! and 2 Tone. This further influenced the underground music scene such as alternative rock, indie and many more. Later attempting a revive in the mid 1990's to revive the punk movement and as a result losing many hardcore elements commonly found in the art.

Musically the acoustics appear loud and aggressive while retaining this concept of anti- establishment. The use of singers, back up singers, electric guitars, distortion, drummers and many elements influenced from other genres and sub genres from metal and hard rock to pop and even to reggae.

Most songs typically being short with simple arrangements and lyrics representing punk ideologies. Many bands choose to associate themselves with a particular sub culture or sub genre to differentiate themselves both in aesthetics and in their music creating a unique selling point for them and a sub culture surrounding themselves, yet not all punk rock bands choose to associate themselves to create a more indie styled self unique image. While many have their own style of punk others may not, the genre itself is very, very diverse and as such its difficult to isolate a single style or ideology common to any or all bands under this genre.

Ideas

These are some ideas that follow the codes and conventions of the Pop Punk genre. It is our intention to follow these codes and conventions when making our music video and so we must provide examples of what we think we will use in our own video.

• An original storyline that fits the theme of the song well and provides a message that the band is aiming to be promoted in their music.
  
  
• Action match that represents a certain object or shape paralleling the focus of the song.
  
  
  
  
• The use of shadows to make a powerful image symbolising the inner darkness felt by the artist during the song.
  
  
  
• Shots of the band playing in a dark, poorly lit place. 
  
  
  
  
  
• The use of interesting and creative locations.
  
  
  
  
  
• Dark clothes and makeup.
  
  
  
  
• Close ups of the artists playing their music.
  
  
  
  
  
• Use of black, white, red, dark green and grey.
  
  
  
• Ironic humor to contrast with the darkness of the song and make a powerful statement on a view of the artist.
  
  
  
• Clever use of framing.