Storm ThorgersonBy Chester Hercock

Who was Storm Thorgerson?

• Born 28th February 1944

• Died 18th April 2013 at the age of 69

• He was an English graphic designer and music video director

• Designed over 250 famous single and album covers

• Most famous for designing the cover for ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’ by Pink Floyd

The brief

• The designer (Storm Thorgerson) would listen so a demo of the song before it has been released and gets a general idea from the band to see if they have any input. This can create ideas which can form the brief.

Roughs

• Over a number of days, numerous meetings will take place between the designer and the band/singer to try and identify a key theme and idea for the music video. This stage uses lots of creativity by the use of word-play, scribbling and general thoughts from everyone involved.

Tests

• After a rough idea is formed and a budget is agreed for the music video, prototypes are created to test out the idea and make sure that its going to work. Scale models are created out of polystyrene and clay for the prototype. If the idea works, then the project will go ahead.

Shoot

• It can take a long time to look for the perfect location, especially if it is to be shot outside as you also need to wait for the perfect weather. The props are then set up by the crew and the set is prepared. Many photographs are then taken to take light, weather conditions and filters into consideration.

Editing

• This is in post production where all of the best shots are chosen. This is a very long process are many similar shots need to be compared. Filters can be added here and this is also the stage where the actual song is placed in the music video.

Artwork

• After finally choosing all the shots to be used, any final editing and cleaning up is performed before eventually handing out to the public.