Friday 22nd Jan

I've just come back from Berlin and I met the group to discuss where things were up to. They explained that they had a meeting with Ian and he bashed their idea for 'forest/trees' images which I was a bit confused about as I was sure that a week earlier we had already ditched having trees.

Anyway, Lauren explained that we needed to have a theme and based on what we already know about Laura Groves and the Blue Roses Lauren, Jade and Sarah decided that we should have 'secrets' as our theme which I was happy with.

My initial ideas/thoughts based on Secrecy were: things that we hidden, skin deep, white lies, near surface, childhood things,

Lauren mentioned the film The Secret Garden. I haven't seen it but I intend to. I thought of the Lion, the witch and the Wardrobe which although isn't primarily about secrets i just liked the idea of having something secret that you find as a child and it opens up this magical place that only you and your friends know about.

Also, I recall the film 'In the Mood for Love' where the film ends in Cambodia and the lead character Chow is seen visiting the Angkor Wat. He whispers several years worth of secrets into a hole in a wall, before plugging the hole with mud - a method he states a secret can be kept, whilst once dining with a friend in Singapore.

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The film is also full of sublime imagery and is gorgeous to watch and is also quite quirky in places.

I found the trailer for the film:

Folk Coves I Like

Here are a collection of 'folky' album covers that I like. I like them because they are different from what you would expect from classic folk styles and aren't just imitating the style of old: having a picture of the singer/songwriter looking innocent in the forest or by a lake, or having them holding a guitar, or have the imagery looking old and retro with over saturated colours or torn edges, folds, worn corner, etc.

GRIZZLY BEAR

Other

Friday 15th January 2010

Lauren brought in a diarama that she had made for a previous project and we all loved it and thought it'd be a great idea for perhaps a CD or vinyl. As it extends outward we could possibly incorporate a story or a variety of images and styles and perhaps not be so restricted.

Yesterday we talked about CD covers, materials, etc and today we thought it would be more important to talk about the actual style we want to achieve for The Blue Roses.

We looked at other folk singers, images we liked and thought would be relevant, etc.

I talked about the 2009 film Antichrist. It is set in a forest and has some truly beautiful imagery that is mysterious, dark, melancholy.

I showed the group excerts from the film and they seemed to be impressed with what they saw front a visual perspective.

At first we talked about myself and Jade going out and finding woodland and forests and taking pictures Sarah and I talked about how we didn't want to put all of the focus on a 'forest scene'. Sarah had an idea for having a 'stage' with puppets/strings, etc and I wanted to explore the darker side of the 'white picket fence'.

The opening scene from David Lycch's Blue Velvet was something I was inspired by and I wanted to capture the mood and feel of it in our work:





I think Lauren wants to create a forest scene out of paper and various materials and I think this would work great with Sarah's stage idea and the theme/style that I want to explore. It'll be interesting exploring and combining different media and materials.

Blue Roses Music Videos

First Team Meeting

We met today and shared our initial ideas. Jade and Lauren brought books in: PAPERCRAFT & MUSIKRAPHICS.

The Papercraft books was all about making things out of paper like trees, typography, characters, etc and how you can use them effectively making the most of their characteristics. Paper is bendy, thin, can easily be manipulated, etc. We discussed how we could make trees and forests using similar techniques.

I showed the group some images of the limited edition DVD of The Wicker Man. The DVD is housed inside a wooden box and on the box cover is the title and image that has been 'burnt' in. Inside the box set as well as the DVD is a booklet, collector's cards, etc. I thought this would be a great idea for The Blue Roses as I think that many of the Wicker Man themes and the styles of the Wicker Man are present in the band. The film has has a lot of traditional/folk music.

Initial Ideas and Research

I met with Jade in the Mac suite wit Jade and we began some research into Laura Groves and her band The Blue Roses. Jade said that she had watched the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me the previous night based on Laura's thoughts and ideas. I too have seen the film and Jade and I discussed how the film was weird, surreal, bizarre, etc. For me certain elements of the film reminded me of David Lynch's earlier film Blue Velvet in that the story was set in this peaceful, idyllic little town where everyone knows everyone and people help their neighbours. But a horrid event takes place that exposes a dark side that lies just beneath this glossy surface. In Blue Velvet we had the white picket fences and in Twin Peaks we have the tall pine trees.

Introductions

Today I met the team for the project: JADE, LAUREN & SARAH.

I already knew Jade quite well as we were both in Vis Com and had worked together on previous projects so for me it was about getting to know Lauren and Sarah. I was really pleased to hear that we all had different styles and techniques. Sarah's work was very illustrative, Lauren liked to make things/models and Jade enjoyed being a more decorative style. And myself, I like to use photography in my work. So we have a good rounded team.

We quickly researched both Blue Roses and The HIVE and our first thoughts were that we wanted to do the Blue Roses. I was keen on the idea because I have actually worked with bands in the past and designed artwork for their posters, EPs, etc. I was a bit concerned that designing another band album cover wouldn't be something fresh and new to me but I then thought that I could perhaps bring my experience to the table and explore new paths.