Creating the Advert Template

When looking at the advert for the digipak, I have decided to create a template to hold the imagery and hold the overall theme. The font used will create a sense of continuity between the film, digipak and potentially the vinyl that I will be looking into creating for a more authentic feeling collection of products.

The use of the logo as well holds true to the rest of the products and ties the entire selection together.

Plans for Overal Final Piece

For my final piece I will be creating a finished film, which will include the green screened titles mentioned earlier in the Blog and demonstrated in my 1st cut. As well as these titles, I will be working on some final touches to the colour and brightness of the video, as this is one of the only areas I feel slightly disappointed with. I feel the use of oranges/reds is great, however some shots need some more work to achieve a beautiful colour grade throughout the entire video.

As well as this work on the overall video, I need to create a successful looking set of images with a strong set of graphics, outlining the overall theme of the album. From this set of images I will be compiling a magazine advert and a digipak. For the digipak I have already set up the template for the overall finished product and created the titles, so all I need to do now is drop the images into the template. With regards to the magazine advert, I need to create an outside image, to create a reference to the album artwork, however with a different feel, to create some variety, but still standing for the same meaning.

Once this has been completed, I will be able to create the final part to my work by looking at the evaluation tasks. I have already worked on a plan, which my subject teacher believes to be of a high standard, meaning that I am clear with how I will be working on the rest of my project. I will be working to attempt to complete this between the 18th December - 4th January as this will be a fairly free time where I will be able to work on the overall evaluation and complete this task.

The plan is to ideally be able to complete the entire Project by January 5th.

Second Cut

My second cut has added movement and added mise-en-scene with a new location. This second cut creates a more professional looking video and allows for the feedback from my previous cut to all be addressed to achieve top marks. This will overall allow me to have a positive impact on my marks and overall grade. This cut doesn't contain the titles or my final colour correction as this cut was mainly just to demonstrate the overall composition of the new footage. I will create a final edit with the new footage soon which will contain my revised colour correction, contrast and titles.

Animatic

I decided to create an animatic to help me when editing the video. To achieve this, I screenshot the sequences and placed them in order in Photoshop. 

Evaluation Planning

The questions for the evaluation are as follows

These questions need to be answered with the use of IT, for example a green screen over the film or a presentation through Prezzi. I will need to show these uses of IT to demonstrate my full understanding of technology but also an evaluative stance. This evaluative outcome will work alongside my final pieces to create a completed feel to the overall project.

1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Potentially using a presentation to demonstrate the crossovers between my media product and a 'real' media product. This will include discussing theorists including Andrew Goodwin. This will be useful as I can show elements of the video within my presentation and highlight these with different forms of feedback from both my 1st cut and my second cut. This will demonstrate how people interpret an indie music video and how mine compares. I will also show my influences and demonstrate where mine compares and contrasts.

2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

I will probably make a graphic teardown on Photoshop displaying aspects of each product side by side. This will allow me to be able to display the digipak in context with the music video and this can then be analysed within the photoshop to create an immersive looking document displaying the use of technology. This will compliment my work due to the side by side comparison between my own ancillary work and my film as this creates a finalised project. The overall design of the ancillary products will compliment the video and this can be displayed through a side by side comparison.

3) What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I will create a vlog with my film in the background or a picture in picture edit, and overlay myself talking about the film and how I used audience feedback to develop my initial ideas and then my second cut and final cut. This will allow me to demonstrate the aspects of my film that I have influenced based upon market research.

4) How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

I will hopefully be making a small vlog talking about the different aspects of my music video, including the software, the camera, the lighting and the gear I used. 

Filming Directions for Saturday 14th

On saturday I would like to achieve a finished film, holding the new areas of the video, for example some new lip sync in the outside set, giving more set variety. This will be achieved with the Steadicam and an assistant resulting in an overall high quality production with added interest. These added areas of detail will push my music video even further. I will also be needing to create some artwork for the digipak. I will be using a sofa on set to create a reference to the music video but not lifted from the video itself. Once I have completed this section I will be able to progress through to the evaluation.

In terms of the filming directions for the Steadicam shots I would like to create some shots of the star performing the song with the lip sync. This will be added to by the use of a slow pan going over the stars performance to create movement. I will be using the same lens, filters and camera as the 1st cut of the music video to create a continuous feel, In terms of lighting I will probably be using external lighting as previously mentioned in my weather check, this is due to the continued poor lighting conditions outside. I will be hoping to create a warm, californian vibe to these new shots and I will need to work heavily into colour correction when I place these new bits of footage into the project.

Working on the Titles

I decided to add in the track list and the spine area of the album cover. Once this had been created, I began working on the extra elements to the digipak, for example, including using a barcode and the logo of the record label. This creates an overall professional look, and will work well as a final product when combined with the photographs themselves.

Planning for Saturday's Shoot

As I will be shooting outside on Saturday, I needed to check the weather to see if it will be raining. Also because it is cloudy I will probably have to shoot the video with the use of external lighting. This will mean I am able to achieve the best quality image even with the lack of natural light.

Digipak Template and Text Design

To create the beginnings of the digipak I downloaded an appropriate PSD file, containing all of the necessary sizes, designs and overall guides to create the most professional looking product possible.  

Then I began by taking PSD file into Photoshop and cropping the areas where the guides weren't needed to create a cleaner look and to begin the text input. I used the same text on the digipak as I had used in the music video itself, creating a link of continuity between the two. For the actual images in the digipak, I will be taking a photoshoot on set of the music video, however this will be in a slightly different looking area to create more diversity. To create the shoot I will be leaving my camera to film myself, then with this film I will put it into a blank Sony Vegas project and use the save screen tool to take an accurate frame from the video to create a photographic look without actually having to take the photo myself.

2nd Shoot Organisation

For my 2nd shoot I will be using Ben to help me out with some of my shooting as I will need to feature in the video whilst there is still movement. This will also be shot in my garden to allow for more of a variety of shots as mentioned in my previous feedback.

Vimeo

After uploading my initial YouTube video for the 1st cut I decided the quality was not up to full standard when compared to the original.

The YouTube upload has more grain and less detail in the blacks with more noise.

Feedback

From this feedback I have decided to take on some more filming dates for redoing some of the lipsync shots in greater detail as well as the use set, potentially filming in my garden or a field. For the movement I will need to enlist the help of a friend to help create realistic movement and potentially the use of a steadicam to create smooth motion.

Speed Edit

A video I created during the editing process of my video, showing the editing techniques used and my workflow.

1st Cut

The first cut of my video I recorded and edited during the half term. I displayed the video in a showing on the first day back and received overall very positive feedback. I feel the only major advance I can make on my video is to record some footage on a separate set, potentially outside to add some dynamic to my video .

Rendering

When rendering a video, checking the project properties is vital to make sure the outputted video is of the correct size and frame rate. This is shown in the highlighted box as well as the file type .mp4, the video codec most recommended for YouTube video uploads by Google themselves. Also recommended by Google is the use of 1920 x 1080 for 1080p video playback.