Trip To The Cinema

Before Christmas all Media students went to the cinema to watch our videos on a big screen. Watching our video on the big screen was very beneficial and enabled me to realise what we could've done different to our video given another chance.

After the screening had finished, we asked fellow students to answer a few questions about our video. Some questions included 'favourite part of the video?' and 'what would you improve?' to which we had some great answers.

This is the cinema we went to:

Planning: Mock-up of digipak

Considered fonts for front/back panels (Artist name + Album title)

Front/back panels

Inside Panels

Ancillary: Do's and Don'ts powerpoint

A list of things to include and what to avoid when making a successful digipack.

Ancillary: Do's And Don'ts Of Design Work

Planning - Ancillary products

Brief overview of 'Do's' and 'Don'ts' of design work

Ancillary products are useful to promote artist but in or order for them to work successfully they should follow conventions so that they appeal to the intended audience. The following is a brief overview of the do's and don'ts' of ancillary products. 

Do's:

1. Clear font
2. Appropriate sizes for images and fonts
3. follow genre conventions
4. be clear from a distance
5. 3 colour rules for images, fonts and background
6. Appropriate barcode, date, copyright, titles, artist name

Don'ts:

1. Stretch images so they don't come out of focus
2. Use unnecessary effects. Effect must suit the genre
3. Place texts across the artist's face
4. Use a font because the individual likes it

Personally I do not like this digipak of Olly Murs because the back panel has a font which is hard to read however the front panel is effectively attractive. Though it's busy and have lots going on, i can clearly see the artist's name and the album title. Using a clear black colour fonts really brought attention to the texts and the positioning of Olly Murs is also effective. This medium shot of him would stand out in shops and attract his audience. 

Ancillary: Class Discussion

In class we had a thorough conversation on 'the importance and function of digipaks to the music industry' and what popped up was very helpful indeed.

We started off with the question - 'what is a digipak?' and within discussion we came up with two good answers to sum it up. These were:
- A modern approach to CD packaging.
- Allows for inclusion of more information about a band/artist.

We then moved on to the question - 'why are digipak cases still used, given the drop in sales?' to which we came up with the answers:
- Makes the fans feel a lot more special.
- Gives fans a chance to remember why they liked the artist in years to come.
- The artwork is needed for downloads.
- The artwork can be used as an advertisement.

Finally, we encountered the question: 'how important are the ancillary products to the artist and the industry?' to which we answered:
- Promotes the music and image of the artist.
- Makes money.
- A way of connecting with the fans.
- Helps sell the label (which in turn makes revenue).

Doing this activity in class was extremely benificial in my thought process behind my owm digipak. It made me think more about my artist and who her fan base would be, in turn allowing me to base it on atteacting them. 

Experimenting with colors

In today's lesson I started working on the inside panel for my digipak. Since I had a limited amount of pictures, my mock up was not up to standards or how I wanted it to be like at least. After going through pictures and selecting the two pictures below I received feedback from my teacher saying it doesn't work as the inside panels does not connect with the outside panels. The reason why I chose those pictures was because I though they were good shots for the CD to go over however I did not take into consideration that the colors did not match with the colors on the outside panels (Picture above)

After hitting this bump, I decided to experiment and change with the colors of the outside panels. So I played around with the 'hue' setting and made the color blue. At first this looked weird and strange but for my real digipak I want the font color to be in blue. Now, I just need to find a different picture to go in the inside panel and change the hue again so that it is blue. However,  bear in mind that this is just an experiment and I might not go through with this and stick with my original idea. This all depends on how the pictures turn out when I get more photos taken of Sylvie.  

Ancillary: Inside Panels Mock Up

Digipack Mock Up

For our ancillary work we were asked to create a mock up of our Digipak before we went on to make the real thing. Here you will see the mock up of the front and back of mine:

Front (right) and back (left) -

Front on it's own -

Back on it's own -

I've decided to keep it relatively simple so it's easy to replicate on my final product. However, with it being simple doesn't mean it won't look good, it enables me to make certain aspects stand out (such as the artist name) whilst also making it look extremely neat and tidy so customers are attracted to it right away.

Mock up

This is the mock up of the front and back panel of my digipak

Final Video

28. Katie Kensit, Mark Mouna, Sylvie Wilcock, Zubier Bheekharry from 283goswell on Vimeo.

PhotoShop and Quark Express

 In order to create my digipak, I will be using two editing packages, Photoshop Elements and Quark Xpress.

With Photo Elemnts I will be able to manipulate my images so that they fit the digipak panel templates. The effects and colour filters that is at my disposal in Photoshop will allow me to edit my photos so that it looks more professional. Thus making my artist appeal to her audience more.

Quark Xpress is another software which will help me construct my digipak by allowing me to create and edit page layout. For instance, adding texts such as the artist's name, the album title, the songs title on the back panel and so on. 

DO's & DONT's of creating digipaks

Digipak Thoughts

I have been thinking what type of Digipak I'd be better off making.

The two options I've got are a six panel, or a four panel.

The six panel looks as follows:














There are many advantages in a six panel Digipak, and means I can add more information in middle slots, or even extra pictures of our artist. However, the four panel Digipak (as seen below) means I'd be able to pay a lot more attention to detail. It means I'd be able to spend more time on each particular aspect, instead of worrying about what I want to add in the final two panels.

Also, I believe a four panel Digipak looks a lot nicer than a six panel one. It requires a lot more attention to detail, and whilst it has less in it than a six panel, it creates a great sense of belonging to any fan who would be buying it.

Ancillary Planning - Digipak Mock Up (outside panels)

For my mock of the actual digipak, I decided to keep everything simple. The front panel would be of a close up of Sylvie looking straight at the camera or her fans with her name in a signature like font. The colour of the font will be in grey and every other writing will be in blue. 

The back panel would be a medium shot of Sylvie with her looking to the upper right corner of the panel as if towards the title of the songs. 

                                       Back Panel                                               Front Panel

Above the barcode, there will be information such as record label name, date of release and other relevant information needed on the panel. The front panel however will only have the artist's name, album name and nothing else. The background colour will be a lighter shade of grey so that her name which will be in a darker shade of grey stands out more.

Practice Attempt for Digipak

Unfortunately I didn't end up finishing my practice attempt to make the front and back panel of a digipak however this was a good exercise and I familiarized myself with Quark Express. On the left of the titles of the songs in the album I was going to cover up the empty space with a long shot of Michael Buble.

Practice for ancillary album artwork

Before I plan and create my digipak, it is important to note how to conduct a digipak beforehand as a way of practise and development of skills.

Below is the outcome although not completely done, of a cover alternative from Lana Del Rey's 'Born To Die'. I chose this image (above) as it uses a mid close up of her which is acceptable in terms of an album cover. Taking on board her previous album covers, many of them have a basic colour scheme and I wanted to keep her image by sticking to colours of black, grey and white depicted initially from the original image. Overlaying this onto Photoshop, I extended the background to fit onto the digipak template and then imported it into Quark Express.

Using text, I chose 'A series of unfortunate events' to keep it bold and edgy which is based on her trademark image as an artist. As well as this, I wanted the tattoo displayed in the picture to resemble the font used to make it consist. In regards to the song titles, I moved some left/right to make the album artwork more dynamic as the background is plain and simple but through the font style, I wanted to achieve a sharp but clear text which ultimately stands out to the consumer.

Ancillary practice

Here is a quick practice album cover I made using Photoshop Elements and Quark Express. I took a picture of the actor James Franco from the internet and made it black and white in Photoshop. Then I changed the size to fit the screen. I then exported it to Quark Express where I added the artist name, album name and track list. I used titles of films he's been in as track names. This will be the basic layout for my real product.

Overall summary on class discussion with Ancillary products

In today's lesson, we were introduced to our ancillary product work, having a brief discussion on why digipaks and created i.e. purpose by having group discussions on two major questions:

Research - Ancillary and the Music Industry

Why are digipaks still used despite the drop in sales?

Although there has been a massive drop in sales for digipaks, record labels are still creating digipaks for albums. There a several reason for this. For instance, the artwork is needed for download. Also digipaks are a keepsake for serious fans. This makes fans feel more 'special'

How important are the ancillary products to the artist and the industry?

These ancillary products are important as they help make the artist more revenue. Since they artist have to pay back the record label for producing the video, a lot is taken from what they make from tours and other public interactions, so these artwork helps them to increase their income. These are also crucial as they help sell the record label itself. 

Research - Digipak analysis

This digipak cover is for the the album Turn It Up by the original artist Pixie Lott. I really like this because it is very simple yet so effective. The front panel has a medium close up Pixie's face which automatically attracts the fans' attention. The font is in white and at the bottom of the screen and not obstructing her face, following conventions of a digipak already. To add to her personality and style, they've used mise en scene carefully here by adding a rose necklace and also played with hair and make up. Her blonde hair stands out which is what fans would want, Pixie Lott looking her best.

The back panel corresponds to the front one in terms of colour. They've kept the grey-ish white colour and but changed the font colour. I think this works well as it doesn't make the front and back panel look the same. The shot used here is of a slanted stylish yet seductive position of Pixie. This is effective as it will attract both males and females audience. 

Ancillary Planning: Digipak Analysis

Here are three example of digipaks:

Katy Perry

This digipak follows the codes and conventions necessary to create a successful product. It has the artist as the main focus on the front panel. This image can also be linked to Katy Perry's music video for 'California Gurls' which appears on the album. The name of the artist is the largest, most obvious piece of text on the cover, with the album name appearing slightly smaller. One down side of this digipak in my opinion is the difficult to read font used for the album name. Only three colours are used throughout the artwork which works well. The inside panel includes more photos of the artist with the ongoing theme of clouds and heaven. The appearance of sweets also links back to the video for 'California Gurls' which was in it's own right a successful product. The back panel includes the track list which is written fairly clearly. The record label and other companies involved would be mentioned on the back and a bar code is visible. All in all, this digipak follows the codes and conventions for a pop genre digipak fairly closely.

Ke$ha

I am less fond of this example. Some conventions are followed with the artist appearing most prominently, and the name of the artist being the clearest thing on the cover. However, the inside panels are extremely busy with several different pictures of the artist on what appears to be different occasions being paired with very small wording of which is most likely lyrics. However, the nebula theme is consistant throughout, as is the ripped quality. On the back panel, yet another picture of the artists can be seen. In my opinion, it's overkill and I would like to avoid this when making my own product.

Rihanna

This is an example of how a digipak and advert link closely with each other. Rihanna's 'Loud' digipak features a close up of the singer, with red being the prominent colour and roses featuring heavily (linking to her 'Only Girl In The World' video). The font is clear and simple and the same throughout. This is mirrored in the advert as the image used is the same as the image on the album cover. The font is also the same. This essentially morphs the album into an advert to be used in magazines and on public transport etc. The release date is clear and previously released songs are mentioned on the advert alerting existing fans and fans of the song of when it is available to buy. This links the album, advert and music video as a single product. This is what I must aim to do during my ancillary work.

Cutaway Shots

In our video, we had a limited amount of cutaway shots which mainly consisted of our artist walking away from the camera or merely messing around. After showing the video to peers and teachers, it was recommended to us that we take out the cutaway shots or add more in. It was said that with the limited cutaway shots, it could be seen as a mistake, but with more added in, it would look a lot more purposeful. After much deliberation, we decided to take away the cutaway shots. There were numerous advantages of this:

- We were able to add more of our base tracks into the video.

- It contributed to the idea of the projector footage having a more prominent role in our video.

- We were able to make clearer the idea that our artist is the last person in a club.

- It looked a lot more professional. 

Baring all this in mind - I believe we were right to listen to the advice and take out these cutaway shots. It leaves me feeling a lot more confident in our video, and the meaning it conveys.

Editing Our Video

Editing our video required lots of time, and a lot more patience. Now we've finished I'd like to take a look back at it, and these pictures help me to do this - 

The below photo gives you an idea of how we got this particular clip to a lighter shade. Doing this ensured it would be a lot more visible.

The below picture shows how we were able to 'mirror' parts of a certain base track. Doing this added a different type of visual aspect to our video - one which may not be expected.

Below is a shot of the above picture in it's 'mirror' form. We thought this was very successful, and is visible in our video from an early stage. However, when we watched our video back after the rough cut, it was clear to see we had used it too much, which meant we had to take some out, and in turn gave us the idea to use the projector.

Below is a cutaway shot which we used in our video. We changed the speed of the clip to make it slower, and by doing this it meant the clip was a perfect clip. When the balloon explodes, the beat drops and we change our base track. 

This picture below is simply showing how we changed the speed of the clip. All in all it was extremely easy to do this.

Editing: process of editing

Using special effects on Final Cut Pro

(Mirror + Speed Alternater)

Using the 'mirror' effect

An overview of the step by step guide to achieve the mirror effect

 

As some of us in my group weren't too familiar with adding special effects in Final Cut Pro, we each took turns to experiment with the effects in 'video filters' and upon our findings we all agreed on choosing the mirror effect in one particular segment in our song. It follows another voice (presumably male) and we interpreted this through adding this effect and it worked out well!

Speed Alternater

 

Editing: process through screenshots

Cutting and importing base tracks

After importing all of our base tracks via the video drive, my group watched over each base track carefully and kept note of the good shots in accordance to the lyrics and beat of the song.

Below is an overview screenshot of our process of cutting and deleting shots as a form of experimentation for our final cut. 

The screenshot (above) displays my group's process of cutting up our basetracks into fragments in accordance to the beat of the song (2/4)

 Shortly after experimentation, we cut shots where our artist (Sylvie) looks away from the camera or doesn't sing in order to get rid of clips that made our video look unprofessional or sloppy.

Editing

Our Thoughts

Final Editing Day

A small video of the final hours editing our music video.

Finally Finished!

Our music video Vs. Laura Mulvey

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO LAURA MULVEY'S THEORY?

Since I have previously analysed Laura Mulvey's theory on representation of both men and women, I thought it would be interesting to then analyse our own music video (rough cut) to see if her theory applies. Upon analysis, I discovered that in fact, my group and I have successfully appealed to a wider audience being male through the use of mise en scene particularly through choice of costume which consistents of dresses and applies to the 'glammed up' look. It is fair to say, the body language mainly speaks towards the male audience conveying the female sexuality as seductive and admiring.

Skills Development: Editing skills

Just to gather my thoughts, I feel like I have gained a lot of skills through the editing process within my A2 year in comparison to AS. The main highlights I would like to point out is the importance of using markers and the cutting tool. Without these tools, establishing this music video would be ridiculously challenging, although it is now, it would make things 100% more difficult.

As well as this, I feel like the editing techniques that I have now gained and understood has help me work to my own initiative and the independent learning has strengthened and motivated me to do better to make this music video the best it can be. In addition, even though it was a stressful period, the finished product will hopefully look better than we expected and reach a higher level of interest than aimed for.

My Rough Cut Thoughts

Projector Shooting

During the process of editing, we realised that our green screen footage could not be used. We had various reasons for this - our main one being that our artist was very ill on the day, meaning the footage wasn't up to good standards. After a long process of editing, we, as a group realised we needed some new footage, and immediately. What sprung to our minds straight away, was the use of a 'projector' which produces moving images behind our artist whilst we film.

There are many advantages of using the projector to film:
- Quick and easy to use.
- Various backgrounds can be used.
- Quick to find a suitable backdrop which relates to your video.
- Easy to film (projector screens in most classrooms in college).

Due to this, we decided to film right away. The lyrics in our song have strong hints towards a party atmosphere, so we decided to try and find a laser type background, which could represent some sort of club/fun scene.

Below is the sort of background we were looking for (these will be still images) -

Improvements for final music video

Based on the feedback from our rough cut from fellow peers, me and my group pointed out the main issues that were wrong in our video. I have listed them below with a short explanation for how and why we have done so.

IMPROVEMENT 1:

The GIF above displays the particular base track of Sylvie lying down which is evidently used too much in comparison to the rest of the base tracks and slowly started to becoming irritating. Our solution is to cut down the use of this base track to a minimum of 3 from 0:36-1:36

IMPROVEMENT 2: (Teacher Feedback)

 

The feedback given back from our teacher was intially to change the track of our song. Upon the first screening of our rough cuts, there was a fault in the music from 2:32-2:33 which had a slight glitch proving a problem for our song. In result of this, we will be adding a cleaner version to the music video after editing is finished just to make sure the sound is correct without any faults.

IMPROVEMENT 3:

 

During the last section of this clip follows 7 very fast beats which then enters the second verse, my group and I want to add our polaroid photo layering here in time with the beats to add the effect of being 'in the moment' which we have planned to achieve. Whereby this will be slotted into our final music video.

IMPROVEMENT 4:

The last improvement was depicted from our peer feed back from our rough cut screening, this particular base track had said to be lacking in movement and sense of 'fun' which stands out as a disadvantage in terms of the music video as a whole. Taking on board this feed back, my group have made the decision to take away this base track as it does not fulfill it's purpose and makes the music video lose it's sense of vibrancy which is a key concept we aim to achieve.

Rough Cut Feedback - Negative/Improvements

Other Locations

During planning, we came up with various location for our music video. These were great because we had a rough idea what we wanted to shoot while we're there. However, we did not take into account where it would work with our main location. 

Because the song connotes a party scene as we learnt from our audience research we realised that shooting at the other locations would be a waste of time. The footage we recorded at Platform was strong and it kept everything in one place. 

                  

 

I think this was a positive thing because after our rough cut, we had a decent music video which worked well even though it was only at one location. Despite this, we will still have to re-shoot Sylvie in front of a projector for extra material to work with.