CD Cover - PANDA HERO

Someplace on the outskirts of town

Wires and lead pipes and junk all around

Yellow dartboards decorated with syringes

And a crappy glove on a makeshift home-base

If you're in a jam you can call him any time

Out there in the field circled by power lines

Chaotic vigilante, he answers to no man

Here to save the land with a metal bat in hand

Radios that spit out static and white noise

Flashing neon lights of Playboy bunny girls

For his help he'll ask for a collateral

Opium from a poppy will be all

Go up to him and say "I ask this of you please"

Take a step back and present the opium seed

There's his voice in an easy going rumble

And there's nowhere for you to go now

Pa-pa-pa-ra-pa-pa-pa-ra-pa!

That smokey haze and bags under his eyes

Pa-pa-pa-ra-pa-pa-pa-ra-pa!

Let's all make way for our pinch-hitter!

Pa-pa-pa-ra-pa-pa-pa-ra-pa!

It's really him, the Panda Hero!

Pa-pa-pa-ra-pa-pa-pa-ra-pa!

So long to our opponent's killer liner!

Well then.

First original images:

Lineart for the image focal. A character of mine named Drake Locke-Romero from a long ongoing set of stories I've written... Also, the artist/band name is fictional.

Giant rubber duck and a shot of a lion. They're png files to preserve transparency.

And our floor plan from the background. The buildings were done via photoshop brushes.

I really enjoyed doing this assignment; it was something that felt like it was really in our personal interests (us an in the students) and not something that wouldn't be in our general interest (voting poster...). I was aiming for a somewhat indie rock feel for the album, but something with it's own unique flare. The actual song PANDA HERO (composed by a amateur composer whose net handle I can't quite remember, and the vocals were done by a synthesizer program called VOCALOID) is about a star local baseball player who is known as a hero to other players. However, as good as he is his choices and personal interests aren't exactly the best. In the literal translation for the lyrics it really says "black and white hero". This is supposed to mean a hero who is neither good nor evil. That explains why the album/single title is black and white, as are the character's colour palatte (white/near white skin, dark circles under his eyes... Like a panda!).

Since the song's setting is also in a junkyard of sorts in an urban environment I went with a very grunge-like theme. At the same time it's sort of like a battleground or wild place, which explains the lion and rubber duck (lion for dominance of the hero, rubber duck the inferior players asking for help). The floor plans were used to attribute to the grunge theme as were the buildings to the urban setting. All around our hero are rays of light shooting forth to emphasize he is our hero as well as our focal point. The beaten up rag tied around his neck and rough looking clothes are also to emphasize the fact that although he is a hero, he isn't exactly overflowing with rainbows and goodness.