Review and Week 3

Last week worked out great - I stuck to my plan and everything I had planned for this week to happen did. However, I feel that I allocated myself too much time to edit - I don't necessarily have to use my lesson time to edit, as it doesn't take too long. 

This week, I'd like to get a digipak plan up on my blog, and also to record some more footage. I've added a new box for other activities, which is the first week I've planned to do something else. However, in my Wednesday lesson I'd like to learn to use the drone so when I go to film with it little setup is required. 

What would be most ideal is if I could film in the same lesson some test shots, but I don't think this is likely to happen, hence why I've allocated Thursday if I need it to film. Then, I will edit this footage into the test video on Friday.

Editing Progress 1

I have begun editing my music video, using the test shots to make some sort of example video. From about two minutes into the video, all acting is an animated character, hence why no footage exists towards the end of the video.

I put my anamatic below all my footage so I knew the exact timing alongside the song, as shown below. I've found this really helps me edit at a much faster pace.



Also, as this is the first time I've ever used Premiere Pro, I learnt how to cut, speed up clips and unlink clips from their audio. As I'm only using the song as audio, this is necessary for all my clips. Premiere is actually an extremely easy program to learn once you've got the hang of it, so editing didn't take me too long.

The only thing I struggled with whilst editing was lip syncing, but this was solved with adjusting the speed of the clip and messing around with the placement.

Review and Week 2

Last week went well - some filming took place, which can be used as test shots. The filming schedule slightly changed, as I didn't end up filming Thursday due to other subjects needing attention. 

This week is relatively simple, with editing taking place most of the week. I have lots of test shots that need editing in sequence to gain an idea of the music video, which I am to be done by Christmas break starts. However, some test shot filming may be done in spare moments during the week, as I can have more footage for my test music video, but no footage that can be even considered for the final music video.

Editing is becoming important, as I need to learn how to use Adobe Premier quickly to make my music video in quick succession. Throughout the week, it's likely I'll do blog posts showing the progress I've made with my music video, and what I have learnt whilst using Premier.

Filming session - Whitescreen 2

After reviewing the footage originally shot on the white screen, the backdrop was poorly lit and needed more blinding light to level it out and create a more professional look. The props used were the same as last time, but the setup was different. Using four lights, 2 with soft filters, we ended up creating a very professional look: 



Below is a picture taken with the lighting finalised:

It's likely however that these will have to be re-shot because of the crease in the paper. These can still be used as test shots AND as final shots if time runs out, but I don't think this'll be the case. Here are some examples of the footage shot:

Ultimately, this shooting sequence was very successful even if only a small amount of footage was gained (not all of it is seen in the clip above). Whilst some could be salvaged past the crease for the final video, I will still expect to re-shoot and allocate myself extra time just in case. 

Review and Week Plan

Last week majority went to plan, however I was unable to shoot on Wednesday because of a lesson being planned. I'm pleased that the week plan worked out as it will encourage me to keep planning, keeping my project organised.

I changed my plans for this week because of how the footage from the shoots last week turned out. It's likely I will film again to maybe get some final shots for the music video, considering I haven't started editing at all. I have marked all my lessons for editing, but this is extremely likely to change to accommodate blog updates.

Poster Ideas

These are some poster ideas, that I have to make alongside the digipak. I wanted them to be relatively simple, and these are just some thumbnail ideas before I decide which one I want to finalise:



Poster one was my original idea. I would take a picture of me and a picture of the ground where i was, without me. Then, in Photoshop, I would splice myself in half and draw the other half of me as a cartoon, like illustrated above. I like this idea a lot, as it is simple but effective. The text placement also seems the most effective way, with what I have drawn being roughly size representative.



This was my second idea, which has a very similar idea to the first one, where the original image with me would be taken and one without, spliced in half and draw the other half. The text placement is also similar, using the space between cartoon and real me to give extra information.

I personally prefer the first one as I feel it is a much more solid idea than the second one, but I will do a poll to gain an opinion from my classmates.

Album covers analysis

Here is a video that covers album covers of the pop rock genre, which is my genre of song. I wanted the video to have the visuals to go along with my speech, making it easier for anyone who is viewing my video to follow along.

Digipak Introduction

Consistency and branding are important with Digipaks, as this is what will ultimately attract the customer. A successful digipak includes:

- Unification with the content and message that you wish to portray to the audience. With this connection, the audience can feel a sense of belonging to the artist, forming a relationship. This could be said to be stronger with fangirls, but it can be formed with anyone if the branding directs an audience member directly.

- Information and visual hierarchy: the main image is the first thing that the audience will focus on, therefore it should be impactful. After this has attracted the attention of the audience member, they will look over the rest of the graphic and take in the connotations and feelings portrayed by the artist.

- Your graphic needs to have impact so it is important. As your CD will be competing alongside many other CDs, yours needs to have something special and original to make it stand out so record labels will take an interest in your music and style.

- The CD needs to be appropriate for the audience and the environment. Not reaching your target audience will mean that sale targets and recognition will not be achieved.

The golden era of cover art spans the early/mid 60s to the early 80s, just before the music video was introduced. 12 inch, Long play (Now commonly known as vinyl) and LPs all featured cover art. The cover art should display the artist's intent musically and artistically.

Some bands were so recognisable to only have a logo. A good example is The Rolling Stones, with the cheeky tongue logo. This key piece of iconography enabled them to be recognised even without the band's name being there. This worked well for The Rolling Stones considering their widespread success.

There was a re-birth in the 1990s for CD covers, however towards the end of the century digital downloads were starting to be introduced, which has ultimately lead to the death of the CD.

Filming session - white screen

I am now starting to film the scenes shot on the white screen for my music video. These, as seen within the anamatic, will generally be mid or close shots, in pajama costumes and natural makeup with some props.

The set up is same as my lip sync filming, however at a longer range as I need more space to move around. After filming, we found out that there wasn't enough lights, hence the shadows in the video below. I didn't take a picture of the set up, as it wouldn't be used again.


Here is the footage filmed, uploaded onto YouTube and unedited:

I feel that I will need more time to shoot as planned on my schedule, therefore I've made sure that I will be able to film tomorrow to hopefully get most, if not all, of the shooting done. After reviewing the footage, we found that the shadows in the background were distracting, and not the desired affect. However, I wasn't worried as these could be used as test shots if needed.

Filming session - Lip sync

This week as I started filming, I began with the lip scenes. These are extreme close ups, lip syncing one or two words to the film. This is film behind a lip screen with bright lights - this is in my opinion the cleanest and easiest way to film this sequences. Little makeup is needed to be worn during this sequence as my whole face is not in the scene.

As the 2/3rd is going to be animated, I decided to continue to film the rest of the scenes with my lips. However, I also took a picture of the white screen perfectly illuminated which I could use for all animated white screens. I may end up filming all sequences and animating over it, but just in case I did it frame-by-frame, I wanted this for convenience.

Week Plan

This week, I will be attempting to film some more white screen scenes. I cannot currently film on location due to time constraints and other priorities. My planned filming days are Wednesday for two hours, and Thursday for two hours as I am not available Friday for my planned lesson. No editing is planned, but I will attempt to edit together all the footage I have early the week starting the 27th.

And whilst on the weekend, I will have uploaded all footage onto platforms I can access. Therefore, I'll attempt to do a massive blog update, preparing blog posts for the next week also to keep the blog current.

Pitch Video

Here is the video of me doing my pitch. I was very nervous to do it at first, but ultimately this makes me a much better public speaker the more I practice. I tried to do some sort of interaction with the class on what logo I should go with, which was helpful, but it may not be clear in the video. Overall, I'm pleased that I did this as it will enable me to present my ideas better in the future.

Production Call Sheet

This is the production call sheet, outlining duties within a group, props needed and so on. It creates a point of reference whenever filming just in case it is needed. As I am doing my music video alone, it is my responsibility for everything. Listing all the props and kit needed is very helpful, as I can now look before I go to film on what I need to take. 

Feedback

From my teacher's feedback, I will ensure all these blog posts are done, and improvements will be made to the problematic posts pointed out. I will also ensure that in my future blog posts, I keep up the variety of blog posts I have, as it is important to show consistency throughout.

Font/Logo developments

Within this blog post, I will show the progress made with finalising my fonts. After collecting the results of my poll, I looked for 80s colour palettes online to use with my font. Here are three favourites I found:

With these colour schemes, i can only use a maximum of three colours, with slight variation. Colour palette one consists of complimentary colours, colour palette two is analogous and colour palette three is also analogous. Out of all three palettes, I prefer the last two, and like the combination of green/blue/pink. Below are the examples of all three colour palettes with the font.

My favourite is number three, and it will appear at the start of the music video at some point, before the lyrics start. I'm not too worried about the placement of this, as it is a final detail in my music video.

Storyboard

This is my storyboard of my video which consists of 101 frames, some of which have been repeated. Now I have a final plan of my music video, I am able to start filming my music video. I'm proud of the storyboard as it is very clear of how my video will be constructed, similar to the anamatic. 

Font/Logo polls

With my font/logo not seeming 80s enough, I did some research on 80s fonts and chose 5 that I liked, which are below:

With this, I have made a chart letting people vote on which one they liked best, and a separate chart letting people vote on which one felt most 80s to them. The poll used and results for these are below:

Which font face is most sutiable for my artist?

Flower Kingdom

Advert

Pincoya Black

Bubbleboddy

Discotheque St

built here

I showed people the fonts at the same time as this poll, so people had the fonts in front of them. This worked well as people didn't forget what the fonts were, being able to look at any time as well as looking at the question again to make the best informed choice possible.

With this now, I can finalise my logo which I will do. I will most likely add bright colours that correspond to an 80s colour palette. However, this may be changed in my actual videos for contrast.

Costume and Makeup tests

In this blog post, I have finalised the costumes and makeup that I will be wearing in all the scenes in my music video. As it is important that I spend most of my time filming, I don't want makeup to take forever; it will waste too much time overall with my production.



I wanted the makeup for the white screen and field scenes to be quite plain. I feel this is important for the field scene as I do not want the audience's focus to be drawn to the face only, but rather to the person overall. That is why I am wearing a white dress and nothing else, not even shoes. The lack of shoes could connote that she is free, and isn't constricted by rules. I feel that my target audience would like to be rebellious, and would relate to this carefree attitude.

The outfit on the white screen involves a much more relaxed environment, hence the pyjamas and hair rollers. It is meant to be an insight into her personal life, and I feel that the white screen makes the contrast impactful (again focusing on her) and makes it feel more professional, like a real music video. Important props in this scene will be a cigarette, however since I don't smoke this may be improvised. Cigarettes are also a sign of rebellion, which will appeal to my target audience.

This is the outfit that will be seen in the street. The party look is some sort of homage to Blondie, with the bold makeup, red lip and little black dress. The heavier makeup doesn't take too long which is important to me so it doesn't eat into filming time. The outfit is also relatively simple too, but the motive is obvious that she is heading to a party.