After researching possible solutions for my two music tracks, I have decided to create a slideshow for each track. I will use various mediums, possibly a mixture of type and photography, much like a montage, but my main focal point will be illustrations which I will create using mainly acrylics. In my slideshow I will have things overlapping, fading out etc and also have my music track in the background. I could also make my slideshow so the step by step of one illustration and the end slide being the end result of my illustration. The idea behind my slideshow is when a fan of Lacuna Coil downloads any of their tracks or albums they will receive this slideshow for free. Here are a few slideshows below that I thought might give me some inspiration when designing mine:
The above link is a Slideshow to the Lacuna Coil track The Ghost Woman and The Hunter including artwork from Luis Royo and Victoria Frances who happen to be two of my favourite artists.
This slideshow is for the Lacuna Coil track Unspoken and shows Photographs of the band throughout
I think I am going to design one track as a montage using several images and do the other track as a progression of one illustration.
The first song that I have chosen to illustrate is the song Spellbound. I have looked at the lyrics for this song and images that relate to it. I want my work to have a gothic look to it and something I thought could be quite interesting to look at is Salvador Dali's Work for the 1945 Alfred Hitchcock's film, Spellbound, which is about a female psychiatrist who protects the identity of an amnesia patient accused of murder while attempting to recover his memory. The film features a famous dream sequence designed by Salvador Dali that includes some astonishing images, including huge floating eyes, twisted landscapes, and a faceless man in a tuxedo.
Kyle Cooper who is an acclaimed modern designer of motion picture title sequences created the title sequence for the 1995 American crime film Se7en, a seminal work which received critical acclaim and inspired a number of younger designers. According to Cooper, at the time he made the title sequence for Seven, main title sequences were behind of what was happening in print, music videos and commercials. He wanted to create main titles that were raising the bar creatively.
Below is the opening credits for the film Memento, a 2000 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film is about a man suffering from short-term memory loss, that uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife. It is presented as two different sequences of scenes, a series in black and white that are shown chronologically, and a series of color sequences shown in reverse order. The two sequences "meet" at the end of the film, producing one common story.During the opening credits of the film, the only sequence to be played backwards is shown. It starts with the developed polaroid photograph of a man shot in the head. As the sequence plays backwards we are shown the photo undeveloping, entering the camera, being taken, etc. As the credits end, we see the protagonist shoot a man in the head.
I like the above videos and although it would be a good idea to create something like this, I don't really have the knowledge to produce a short animation, so instead I may create still versions which could illustrate parts of the song in order. I am going to do some more research into what type of solutions I could create and what may help to interact with Lacuna Coil's fan base. I am going to try and contact Lacuna Coil by emailing their website and their pages on myspace and Facebook to see if I can gain a response from them and maybe some more ideas. I also like the idea of using polaroids, a few other ideas, even obvious ones could be:
Storyboards, comic - strip book/concert programme
Poster, scratch cards, badges, t -shirts
cd/cover covers - booklet
sticker book, flip-book, adult colouring book
step by step drawing
montage, typography etc
crime report folders
scrapbooks
fan mail etc
Even though i am not going to create a title sequence I have still looked at others for possible styling for my illustration work, there are a few videos that I like below and also a link to the website as there are far too many good ones to put up on here!
Since I own most of Lacuna Coil's music already, I know which songs are the most popular to their fan base. Below I have narrowed it down to the tracks that I think I could illustrate well to and that I enjoy listening to the most. I think listening to the songs along side reading the lyrics and watching the music videos that the band have produced, may help to give me some inspiration for my work.
Heavens a lie- is the first single by Lacuna Coil off their album Comalies. Although frequently labeled as an anti-religion song, such an interpretation is mistaken. In an interview with HighWireDaze.com, leading vocalist Cristina Scabbia explained the meaning of the song; the word "heaven" is a metaphor for a "perfect life". When the phrase "your heaven's a lie" is used, it is referring to people who try to force their opinions on others. Co-vocalist Andrea Ferro refers to this theme at their concerts as a song about freedom of ideas.
Heaven's A Lie Lyrics
Oh no,
here it is again
I need to know
when I will fall in decay
Something wrong
with every plan of my life
I didn't really notice that you've been here
Dolefully desired
Destiny of a lie
Set me free
your heaven's a lie
set me free with your love
set me free, yeah
Oh no,
here it is again
I need to know
why did I choose to betray you
Something wrong
with all the plans of my life
I didn't realize that you've been here
Dolefully desired
Destiny of a lie
Set me free
your heaven's a lie
set me free with your love
set me free, yeah
x 2
Dolefully desired
Set me free
your heaven's a lie
set me free with your love
set me free, yeah x 3
Our Truth & Within Me- were released from the album Karmacode, Our Truth was the first single released and the song was featured in the Underworld: Revolution Soundtrack and entered the top forty on the U.S. mainstream rock charts.
Our Truth Lyrics
Clock is ticking while I’m killing time
Spinning all around
Nothing else that you can do
To turn it back
Wicked partnership
In this crime
Ripping off the best
Condescending smile
Trying to forget
- Wasting my time
We’re falling right through
Lying to forget
- Telling more lies
We’re raising our truth
Go on and tease me
Clock is ticking while I’m stealing time
Can’t you turn it back?
Stop the cycle
Set it free
Run away
Silent Sneaking
Along my Path
Rugged the Road
But we feel it
Like we’re flying
Trying to Forget
- Wasting my time
We’re falling right through
Lying to forget
- Telling more lies
We’re raising our truth
Within Me Lyrics
Something about you
That makes me feel bad
I wasn't there when a thin line
Destroyed your soul
I search every corner
There's nowhere to hide
How I feel ignorance
Sacrifice some days it's harder
Let's face it, it's all about me
Deeply into your own
Deep within me
Life's crawling and wasting my days
Another night gone and I know there will be another way
I'm leading myself to be free in this eternal goodbye
Something about you
Will make me stronger
Now I'm aware when a man falls
Rebound, my fault
I search every corner
There's nowhere to hide
How I feel ignorance
Sacrifice some days it's harder
Let's face it, it's all about me
Deeply into your own
Deep within me
Life's crawling and wasting my days
Another night gone and I know there will be another way
I'm leading myself to be free in this eternal goodbye, goodbye
Here I wanna be (no more lies)
Here I wanna be (no more lies)
Here I wanna be, here I wanna be (no more lies)
Here I wanna be (no more lies)
Here I wanna be
Deep within me
Life's crawling and wasting my days
Another night gone and I know there will be another way
I'm leading myself to be free in this eternal goodbye, goodbye
x 2
I Like It Lyrics
Everything is different today
I like it, like it
I feel very different today
I like it, like it
I'm not gonna be in your parade
'cause I don't like it
You think I'm a dirty little game
You think I like it
You made up this fantasy with me
But I don't like it
I want you to get away from me
That's how I like it
How do you like it?
Today I'm gonna fly
There's nothing that can keep me on the ground
Touch the sky
I'm free inside
You think you're the master, I'm the slave
You think I like it
You don't even know me anyway
That's how I like it
I'm getting ready to move on
But you don't like it
You can kiss your fairy tale away
I like it, like it
How do you like it?
Today I'm gonna fly
There's nothing that can keep me on the ground
Touch the sky
I'm free inside
x 2
I'm free to do what I like
I'm celebrating my life
I'm free to be what I like
I'm celebrating my life
I'm gonna get what I like
I'm gonna celebrate 'till I die
I'm celebrating my life
Today I'm gonna fly
There's nothing that can keep me on the ground
Touch the sky
I'm free inside
x 2
Spellbound Lyrics
Burning here, in the room
Feeling that the walls are moving closer
Silent scene the dark takes me
Leads me to the ending of another day
I'm haunted
Tell me who you are. I am spellbound
You cannot have this control on me
Everywhere I go I am spellbound
I will break the spell you put on me
Velvet drapes, glowing candles
Silent whispers of words inside of my head
The night that comes, it waits for me
Lift me to the ending of another day
I'm haunted
Tell me who you are. I am spellbound
You cannot have this control on me
Everywhere I go I am spellbound
I will break the spell you put on me
Break the spell...
Tell me who you are. I am spellbound
You cannot have this control on me
Everywhere I go I am spellbound
I will break the spell you put on me
Everywhere I go I am spellbound
Everywhere I go I am spellbound
Everywhere I go I am spellbound
I will break the spell you put on me
Here are some illustrations by Matthew Hollings and Paul Holland that I have found that might be helpful when deciding what type of style to adopt for my work.
Jonathan Allardyce's work
I am considering doing one of my song choices on a canvas or a set of canvases/mdf panels to illustrate my chosen song. I could use acrylics or a mixture of typography and other things to create a montage. I could also design my work in a storyboard type style or comic book/strip to show different stages of my chosen music track. I will first pick my two songs before I decide on my illustration style.
Below are a few artists and bands that I like and that I feel could work well for this project:
Deftones
No Doubt
Jimi Hendrix
La Roux
N.E.R.D
Lady Gaga
A Perfect Circle
Lily Allen
The Prodigy
Bat For Lashes
Nicki Minaj
Animal Alpha
Rihanna
Gwen Stefani
Lacuna Coil
Katy Perry
After narrowing it down to the above artists and bands I have now decided that I am going to illustrate two tracks from the band Lacuna Coil. Lacuna Coil is an Italian gothic metal band from Milan formed in 1994. "Lacuna" means "empty" in Italian. When the band first formed, they were called "Ethereal" but there was another band from Greece who already had that name. Since they had to change the band name, they thought they would come up with something that still had the same meaning as Ethereal but with no chance of someone else having the same name. The band was inspired by the combination of gothic imagery and music, and the members have been known, musically, for composing mid-tempo songs consisting of prominent guitar lines and contrasting dual female/male vocal harmonies to help create a melodic, detached sound. Much of the band's recent material, however, sees a heavier and more down-tuned style, featuring a more distinct bass line and a higher mixing of the guitars within the songs. The band's 2006 release, Karmacode, peaked at number 28 in the American charts. Their latest release, Shallow Life, debuted at number 16. The album marks the band diverging their sound from gothic metal to straightforward alternative metal. As of August 2010, Lacuna Coil has sold nearly 2 million records.
Below are some photographs I took when at a Lacuna Coil gig last year:
