Evaluation

QUESTION ONE: In what ways does your video use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?



QUESTION TWO: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?



QUESTION THREE: Feeed back, see post above

QUESTION FOUR: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages of all your products?

Here is the link to my PowerPoint presentation on the final question:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B2Xzmm6bQJK-MTZkZGU2MTItY2ZhMi00ZTM4LTlmNGUtMTk4YTk4ZTY5MWMz&hl=en

Creative Camera Use

Blog 18 – Creative camera use
This should include clips of any interesting techniques or special effects you have used in the video. Explain how you created the effect and whether you think it has the desired effect.
Due W/C 28/03/11
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B2Xzmm6bQJK-MzkyZjE5NTItMDFiOS00ZWU0LTg2MzAtMmM2NDVjNjQ3OWVl&hl=en

Rejected Footage

Clips from the video shoot that you are not using with explanations of why you have rejected them Due W/C 21/03/11
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B2Xzmm6bQJK-YjRhZDliZjMtNjFmZC00MGRiLWFiZDMtYWUyMjQwYWFiN2I4&hl=en

Advert

I like that this advert seems to fade in from the black at the top, and it really draws attention down, while the white writing on black background stands out and is easy to read. The line accross the top emphasisises the importance of the title, while the capitals give the rest of the text an impact. The image is really eye-catching, while the symmetry is aesthetically pleasing; the thick black eyeliner around their eyes make them stand out and contrast to the paleness of the faces and shirts. I also like that the image is framed by the shape of the curtain in the background.


Again, I think the white text on black background is really effective, while the bright image also gives a good impact. This Advert was only half a magazine page in size, so I think the restricted amount of text is essential otherwise it would look to cluttered. The text that is there is pretty much the bare essentials, the name and statement 'OUT NOW'. The stars and marks out of ten are helpful with the 'advertising' aspect as it really bigs up the album, as does mentioning the 'Q Awards' nomination.


For my first flat plan, I went for a similar idea as ones explored in my digipack, inspired by existing images of Ellie Goulding:

I included a release date and star rating which i've found is included in a lot of album adverts and I've attempted to keep the same font and general brand identity.

My second advert took more inspiration from the other adverts i'd looked at, again I've added a release date and extra information. I've taken more of a graphic design approach to this as i'd like the eye to really attract attention so I'd enhance the blue colour while the rest of the image would be black and white, this way it stands out completely.

My third flat plan uses a double page spread design, rather than one magazine page. I used a background that would show a lot of open space and reflect the imagery we're creating in our music video. I've included a release date, star ratings, a quote and a small image of the front of my digipak because this format allows me more space than there would be on a single page advert.

I decided to use my second design as a base, but incorporated the star ratings I'd included in my other flat plans, I also changed around the text slightly and added a smaller picture of the front of the Digipak similar to what I'd suggested on the 3rd flat plan. I'm pleased with the outcome of the blue eye, and I think it stands out against the greyscale really well; I also like the text, it's the same font as I used for the Digipak and I wanted to keep the brand identity running accross.

FEEDBACK:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=102067&id=1093674123&l=16657d2943

Along with the Digipak, I uploaded my advert into an album on facebook in order to recieve feedback, this is draft the version of my advert which I added with the idea that I had time to change anything that really didnt go down well. The general response I got was that the advert was better than either of the Digipak images. A few people suggested that the 'Bright Lights' title was a little lost and the text would benefit from being different colour which I do agree with, but I didnt want to be just using black for all of the text. A couple of people felt the eye could've been more centered which is something that hadn't occured to me, but i can understand that from a audiences point of view that would be more attractive to look at. After posting the ad online I then edited it slightly because I'd missed a few details and this gave me the oppertunity to respond to some specifics raised in the feedback; I aligned the text better as was suggested and I slightly rearranged the layout in a way that I thought would be a bit better.

CHANGES...

As you can see, I changed the advert slightly to fit with some suggestions I recieved in the feedback, while I also added the 'Polydor' logo and the website which I'd forgotten previously. I did two versions of this and then asked around and uploaded to facebook to find which one was prefered.

Option One:

This one is very similar to the one I originally put on Facebook for feeedback, in reponse I aligned the text more acurately so that the lines were directly underneath eachother.

Option Two:

In this second one, I changed the colour of the 'BRIGHT LIGHTS' text to make it more readable making the web address white and placing it underneath. I also followed the suggestiong that the eye should be bigger, and in Photoshop, instead of making the whole image bigger I just increased the size of the eye area. I moved around a few of the peices of text to help it fit.

I'd only asked the people who had already commented on the other advert and digipaks to vote because I knew I was more likely to get a response from these people. Overall, I found that my second final version was the most well recieved, with almost all the responses being that it was preffered, I stopped the voting on Sunday 13th March and thanked everyone for their comments.

Digipack

A promo pack is any promotional material for a song or artist, it can include posters, adverts and CD/DVD cases. In our promo pack we're including a Digipak. A digipak is a card caseing that can hold a CD or DVD and lists the songs and videos included, these are usually the same amount of tracks as an average album and can include both music videos and other related media. Our digipack should be related to the video, using similar imagery and themes so that they follow Ellie's style.

Madonna:

Digipaks are becoming more popular in recent times, however it is still difficult to find many mainstream examples. There was very little choice so I couldnt necessarily analyse ones from the exact genre of 'Folktronica' but I have chosen two which are by well-known artists and therefore popular music. This one, by madonna is very similar to her video for 'Music'(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdz2oW0NMFk). This shows that whoever designed the digipak had a certain image in mind, and made sure they were all linked and had a strong association with the artist. This pack is very colourful and would be effective at standing out in a store. The text on the back is quite small but very clear as it is white on a darker background. There isnt really any track/video listings so i dont think it would be the best one to base my design ideas on, but i do like the way it keeps it's identity.


The White Stripes:

The White Stripes have created a Digipak using only red, white and black which is the same conventions set by many of their other products. For example, when you type in "white stripes" on google images (below), you get results that predominantly feature these colours; making it clear that this is part of the band identity.

The white writing on the black background means that the text is clear and easy to read, while the main heading on the front is the focus, making the image the second thing you look at. I think the repetition of the image rotated from the front on the back cover looks really effective and helps the imagery flow from cover to cover.


We're required to create not only the front and back covers for our Digipaks but also the inside, this presents a slight problem where research is concerned as it seems pretty much impossible to find these kind of images (particuarly as I don't own any digipaks myself). This requires me to be slightly more creative as I have to think about what I would expect to find on the inside.

In order for my digipak to fit with the 'identity' we've created with our video, we need to use the same locations and styling as planned in our story boards. These flat plans mean i know which pictures to take (and use) for the final one.

This one copies the same image for both the front and the inside, I've done this because I would like to emphasise her as the central part of this pack.

This one looks a bit too busy for the front part and then too empty on the inside, so i would have to maybe spread some features out a bit and move to the inside if it was to be produced.

I put together the bits of my flat plans that i wanted to be my final plan in order to give myself a better idea of what i'm doing:

I think the idea of using the same images for both the front and behind the disc helps to repeat her 'brand image' which highlights her identity.

Main image I'm using on my Digipak

I decided to change the background on the front to a shot of the clouds because that way it emphasises the 'dreamy' aspect of her music. I copyed the sky onto the back to give an easy base for the track listing.

The inside cover is a repition of the front image and the track listing is also reflected in a different colour. I made the images on the inside seem more 'washed out' because it doesnt need to stand out to attract attention, and once again emphasises the 'dreamy' style we're looking to create in our music video.

Evaluation and Feedback...

I think my final edited digipack is succesful in the repetition of the main image and I am happy with the outcome of the front and back, while I think the inside could look a little more profesional. I made a photo album on facebook with my advert and digpak images on to collect feedback from my target audience, I tagged people in the pictures to get their attention and explained what it was all about.

The general feedback from the outside cover is that the sky background accross both the front and back is effective, although it was mentioned that its clear that there is two seperate images of clouds, which I was aware of but I couldnt get another image of clouds that was large enough to spread accross because of the time of year and lack of blue sky. Someone also mentioned that there are too many colours for the text, which to be honest i hadnt thought about until it was brought up. I think its a valid point and maybe it is a bit to many when the image is view in flat plan form, however i think if it was folded as it would be, then that wouldnt be as noticeable.

My feedback shows that the bottom song on the inside is unreadable because of the text colour against the background image; but as this is the inside of the pack it doesnt need to be entirely legible as the information is already on the front.

Shooting Diaries

Week One: On our first shoot in Seaford, our filming seemed to go well, shooting the scenes outside the house, in the playground and some of the beach ones. We shot over 2 days, staying at Jess's to maximise the amount of filming time we had, as the hours of daylight were significantly reduced at this time of year. I did most of the filming on these days, while Jenny was the director and Jess was the star, on the establishing shots, Jess filmed; while me and Jenny occasionally passed by in the background. After looking back at our footage we realised that we would have to reshoot outside the house and in the playground due to something being on the lens of the camera. While at Jess' we also took some of the pictures that we would be needing for the advert and digipak.



Week Two: Our second week of shooting, in Eastbourne, was slightly more succesful and we ended up with more footage that we could use. Once again, we did filming over two days; staying at my house to give us plenty of time to film. We filmed dance scenes in a playing field near my house which was a bit tricky because we didn't have very much choreography and we're not very good dancers so were limited with what we could do; in the end we succesfully filmed enough to give us something to work with. I did a lot less filming here and more directing and 'dancing' in the scenes that didn't involve the singer. We also filmed scenes on Eastbourne Peir and beach which can be interchangable with the shots from Seaford beach.

Inbetween the first and the second shoot we uploaded what footage we had to look back on using final cut pro and cut down some of the scenes in to fit our storyboard time scale. From this we could also see that there was a slight problem on the playground shots (from week one) that ideally should be reshot at another time.

Week Three: The third shoot in Lewes town was a relatively short one, as we only needed to film three or four scenes. This was quite quick and we managed to get each shot in only two or three takes each.

Picture taken from the same angle as one of our shots in Lewes Town

Week Four: The fourth shoot was back in Seaford to redo some of the very fist scenes we shot as well as completeing footage in the graveyard which we'd run out of time to do previously.

Week Five: We had a little bit of trouble finding another person to be in the scene as we'd already used each of our group in previous shots; Jess as the central character and Me and Jenny as Dancers. For the bedroom scenes we went back to Seaford and set up a 'bed' at Jess' house on the floor so that I could set up the tripod to film from above. I was setting up the scene while Jess was Acting with Jack and Jenny was being director and sorting the music. I think in the end this was very succesful and we managed to get all the scenes we needed. By the following week we'd managed to upload everything we'd filmed and were happy with it all; this meant we didnt need to film anything else.

Also, one week during lesson; we used the cameras to film a time lapse as a whole class; this helped us with more techiniques that we could potentially incorporate into our video; here's the link:
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B2Xzmm6bQJK-M2U2YTA3NmQtOTFhMy00OTMzLTljYzYtYjY1OTg0ZTU0YWY2&hl=en

Shooting Schedule

We're planning on having the majority of our shooting done before February Half Term, and most of that will be shot outside in different locations so we need to devide our time effectively. Because of our college timetables, we've found that the best time to film will be on monday afternoons and tuesday mornings, and we will need to seperate our time between Eastbourne and Seaford depeding on what needs shooting. For each shoot we'll need both a camera and tripod to ensure the scenes are as steady as possible.

Health and Safety

A lot of the Health and Safety involved in a project like this comes from the filming part; The camera and other equipment needs to be used correctly to prevent both damage to it and us.

One of the most important things we have to do before going out is to complete a risk assesment as they not only highlight what could go wrong with the production but also what could be potentially dangerous. Our filming involves visiting a lot of different places outside so we have to carry the camera and a tripod along with whatever else is required for the shoot.

The camera equipment is heavy so needs to be carried correctly and we make sure to take it in turns in order to not injure ourselves. When it comes to using the camera and tripod, its essential that they are fitted correctly because otherwise the camera could fall and the same goes for setting up the tripod, if its not fully fixed it could cause an accident.

A lot of our filming is at the beach, so safety precautions need to be taken when we're there, including not getting swept away by the waves, or falling over on the pebbles.

Storyboard

I made a mini film showing our storyboard with a few extra notes, and part of the sing playing in the background.
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B2Xzmm6bQJK-YjM5MjU4MjAtZGQ3MC00ZGE1LWIxZmItMzVlMjA3Yjg5MjE3&hl=en