Photoshoot images

With some spare times on my hands today I decided to bring together all of the images taken at our photoshoot to show the range that were taken. Many of them did not get used in the digipack as we picked out the ones with the best focus and that best suited the image we were trying to give.
Below is a slideshow containing all of the images.

Digipack

Made the final alterations to our digipack so it is finally done. Among the suggestions we made we have managed to use different ideas (images, texts, fonts and effects) that we each came up with. One idea of mine that we agreed on was using the grass texture image as a neutral background throughout the inlays. This is relevant to the rest of the digipack as grass is on both the front and back covers as well as the image that would be under the CD housing (reverse side of the back cover, which was a collaborative idea between Grace and I). It gives more feel to the inlay itself without overwhelming the consumer with intense imagery as well as being a nice background to read the lyrics off. It also ties in well with  video as 'nature' is a theme that occurs frequently and the blend between natural and artificial.

In the process I learned to use photoshop for apple mac to a reasonable ability. I wouldn't say I'm an expert but I can manipulate enough of an image to give good effect, learning how to:

• Select and move layers
• Select specific parts of a layer using the 'magnetic select' tool (confirm name)
• Make alterations to the image size, colour, contrast, sharpness
• Add text and alter text there after

Final Digipack and Magazine Advert

FRONT COVER - CD and Inlay

First Double page spread of Inlay

Second Double Page Spread of Inlay

Thrid Double Page Spread of inlay

Back Cover of Inlay

CD Holder

BACK COVER - CD case

Magazine Advert

Next Time

When we next meet I feel that we need to discuss the following:

1. Photoshoot date and time for digipack
2. Insert for digipack (including fonts and sizes)
3. Photos that we need to take to include in digipack other than those from the video
4. Magazine advert - layout and design and images which are going to be used

Digipack Designing

We have come up with a couple of images which we would like to try and create for our front and back cover. This has been done through much research and thought.
When looking we found that the front cover tends to be busy and have a lot going on partly to attract the audience through the use of the particular image and partly to give a message of whats to come inside. The back cover we found was much more simplistic in most cases, generally using the same location as the front however with only the use of one or two props (maybe the same as the front cover) but making them look less like the main feature. Partly the reason for this is because on the back the track names must be readable.
As we have the album name 'Out of a Hat' we wanted to make this image stand out and thought that by visually displaying it it would become more interesting to the audience. We have also taken the theme that has been running throughout our video of the artificial in a natural environment and tried to continue this on the front and back cover.


FRONT COVER
The connotations of this are that there is alot going on. The hat and band dominate the image. It gives the message that there is a lot that has gone into it and that there is a lot to come from the album. This links with the theme of the 'Mad Hatter'.
The sightlines in the image will all be different. A couple of the artists will be looking at the camera and the others will be looking at each other or at what they are holding/doing. The artists should be fairly straight faced as this is what creates mood and atmosphere in the image.
The colours in the image will be natural to link with the theme of artificial in a natural environment. They may be enhanced slightly to make them look bolder and to sharpen the edges slightly more.
The hat and artist are positioned centre of the image and fill more of the page to link with the connotations and to make the image stand out.
The image may be cropped slightly to ensure that the hat and artists are centre and fill the image.
Within the image there is some instruments and a radio. This are to add to the 'busyness' of the image and to generally make the image more interesting to look at. The objects also link to the music video and what was included in it.
Dress will be similar or the same of that used in the music video to keep a constant theme and to ensure that the indie genre is kept.

BACK COVER
This contrasts the front cover. It displays to the audience that the album is finished. They have listened and watched the business of the band and now it has come to an end - this is done through the use of an empty image. There is still the hat left to signify that there is still something left of the band.
The majority of the image will be similar to that of the front cover however as said above the content is reduced and the 'busyness' is reduced to wind down the album - this then links with the music and the video in that they both reduce in hype and 'busyness' towards the end. The hat is positioned off centre and is relatively small in comparison to the rest of the image to show the reduction. It is the only prop in the image, so the audiences attention is drawn to it.

Digipack

These are just some rough sketches of some possible digipack ideas.
As our video contains many images of artifical objects in a natural surrounding I have built on this idea.

The following image gave me some inspriration on an image.

This image takes the idea of artificial in a natural envrionment. I have taken this image and built on it, adding the band members to it to show the audience who they are.

Paramore have used the image I had imagined for our front cover on their back cover. This therefore linkes with the front cover as it displays them as a band on the back cover. However, for our front cover as stated above I imagined the band members at different positions on the sofa.

This image takes the sof idea in a natural environment as shown in the Paramore image but places the band members around the sofa i.e. member sitting in front, member standing next to it, member sitting on back of sofa and member sitting on the sofa.

This image takes the 'Out of a Hat' idea and this is an example of the band members sitting on the hat. However the band member in front I don't think will be possible because of the illusion that is created on the following image:

This image is a possible back cover. I have had the thought of placing the band members in the skate park at the top of the ramp either with their legs hanging over and the track names written down the ramp or them standing at the top and facing over the back and the image taken from the back.

Progress

I have spent some time going through the video and taking stills.
I have now upoladed them to the our facebook profile and also the website.
I have also uploaded the video to both the website and facebook and requested feedback on the video from friends and made a discussion board to post the feedback. Following this i sent a message to the artists of the track to find out what their opinion is of the video and how they think it could be improved.

Meeting, Editing and Audience Feedback

This is a final copy of our video which we are now showing to audiences which will enable us to gain feedback so that we can polish it.

This video shows some of what we achieved yesterday. We had already got all shots into some sort of chronological order on Thursday and Friday, so our focus was to edit any shots which either didn't fit in the sequence or any camera shot which weren't great i.e. the steadiness of the shot or the framing.

We also managed to continue to look in to and make decisions on our digipak work. For instance, we had an idea for the front cover of the album so we tested this an took some photos. Our aim here was to get the depth of field right otherwise it won't work. Also at the time of taking the images there was not enough light, so the turn out was not exactly as we wanted it.

The photos below are some test shots for our digipack. We decided to test this idea as one of the suggestiong for the album name was 'Out of a hat' and the front cover was suggested to have the band members sitting on a hat. Unfortunatly we only has a Trillby to hand at the time but if we were to develop this further we would use a top hat.

This shot is too far away to create the illusion of the person sitting on the hat

This shot shows another postition and how more than one person could be placed on the hat

This image is the best that we have. If we have we have a shot in the field were there is only the hat then this shot should be successful.

This shot is slightly too far away to make it look as though the hat is being sat on

Website

Finally got round to having a detailed look at the website which Henry has started. From what I've seen and played with it seems to be a good idea though filling a website for a band with relevant information when the band is fictional may prove difficult.
This is though an option for the digipack/ancillary texts as we have to produce a CD pack and Magazine advert and/or website.

The basis for making a website and the principle behind it is sound. The majority of our demographic will be internet 'savvy' either due to work or life style and will use it regularly enough to make a website worth while. In an ideal situation the information that would be on the website should we choose to continue down that path would include:

band biography
individual information
songs/lyrics
albums
tour dates
release dates
merchandise

A couple of different band websites that I am looking into for ideas include Paramore, Arctic Monkeys and Coldplay.

Editing

Yesterday we had a whole day editing and almost finished the video.
We have included many different effects into it that we didn't account for as we felt it added effect to keep the audience interested.

Today we are finishing our first final copy to burn and check that it works. This is also to allow us to show it to our audience to gain feedback for polishing.

Rough Cut 1 Comments

I have just been checking the Facebook Discussions board for anymore comments as here is another that has been posted:

'Really like it! As I told Grace, my favourite shot is the one of Emily dropping the money onto the floor, really artistic, makes it a bit quirky almost. Anyway as for improvements, I'm going against the other comments a bit and saying that I think the silent part at the start is a bit too long; makes it look like that bit's unfinished. I'd personally alter it so that in each of the different shots of her walking, you only show her taking two steps (e.g. step, step, change shot, step, step, change, etc.) to shorten it, but you might have other ideas on it. Once it gets going it's really good though, well done'

This comment is good feedback. We have already adjusted the opening slightly from another comment that was made but this information on the silent part and how our audience think that it should go should be taken into account. I also like the comment about the money falling to the floor and it being artistic and quirky because this helps justify and link images in our video to our artist name 'Said the Hatter'.

Website

Today Henry showed Jonny and I what he had started on the website.
I am very impressed with his design and today have chatted with him and had a play around with the features available. It is very simple and easy to use.

I like the fonts the Henry has picked and agree with the reasons for the choices in that the soft flowing font for 'Said The Hatter' communicates the individuality and the indie genre and then the hard font underneath shows the solidarity of the band and also helps to ensure to the audience that the website is trustworthy. It creates a bond between the official and truthfulness of the website with the audience.

I have linked the band Facebook page to the to the homepage of the website using HTML code.

As Henry has said we are only able to use it at a basic level so unable to upload videos and audio clips to it. However I have overcome this problem by using the custom HTML tool and using the videos from our YouTube account and embeded the code into the box. This works just as well as uploading the video straight onto the website because it communicates to the fans that the artist also has a YouTube channel, where they may be able to view more footage.

I also thought it would be good to include videos and images of the video in progress and so during the lesson today added the Video in Progress Page. One reason for this is it is often interesting to the fans to see the stages of production and how the finished outcome has been improved from the original rough cuts. It also brings the fans closer to the artist as it can make the feel involved in the decision process.

Henry showed me what he had accomplished on the band members page for two of the band members in terms of dragging and dropping the layout, and also what he had used to create the layout. I agreed that the layout worked well and I then completed it by adding the other two band members to make it a complete page in terms of layout.

We need to take stills from the video to put onto this website to help add more content and to bulk out the text.
As of yet we have not published it because it is unfinished and does not contain much content.

Website Design

Yesterday,  realised that to further promote the artist, a website is usually available to view information on news, band members, photos and tours. This is why I put forward to the rest of my group the idea of creating a website for our artist. This enhances the authenticity of the artist and may also give us some handy market research information from our audience.

I initially used "Moonfruit" to build our website. I created a "draft" account to test the different layouts and effects available, then I started to input some information. After I did this I soon realised that to use the website I had to pay a monthly fee. It was only because it had offered a "14 day trial" that I was able to start it up free of charge.

So I turned my attention to other alternatives and soon found "Weebly.com". This is a free website builder (but it only allows you at a more basic level - so unfortunately video and audio content are not available).  It is very simple to use: just 'drag and drop' the items you want and you can start looking at the design and then the content.

For example: These are the options it gives you under the 'basic' tab, you have more technical options under the multimedia tab.

I started to edit it yesterday - once I had notified and got the 'go-ahead' from my group. This is what I managed to accomplish:

• I edited the heading banner i.e. the name of the artist for the website using different fonts and colours. For the moment I chose a 'ready-made' background of headphones due to the obvious link to music (this may be changed to an image of our band or something similar in the near future if the right images can be obtained from our footage so far). Firstly, I chose a soft flowing font for the name "Said the Hatter" as I believe this represents the band and indie genre quite well; as the this style seems similar to the bands attitudes and characteristics (i.e. free, relaxed, artistic/creative). Underneath, I chose a second font, one which is strong and bold to illustrate the second side of the band - showing the strong characters within the band aswell as the solidarity and commitment they show and represent. For example:

• I added pages to the website under certain headings to give information on: band members, tour dates, photos of the band (in action/performing) and music (any songs they "produce", or even music and artists that inspire them). The creation of these pages should help gain further publicity after the artist's official album release, as fans will search for more information on the band. This should consolidate fan's interest in the band as they learn more and will allow the band to have a certain "fanbase", from this they can continue to grow.  This in turn will help to increase the sales revenue of the band's (debut) album and help give the band longevity - as information about tour dates is shown. For example:

•  I edited the 'band' tab and set this out so that it will contain the name of the band member and their role, a photo and further information (possibly something about their personality and individuality and messages to fans or visitors to the site). This same layout was used for all four band members. I 'dragged and dropped' different 'elements' within the website to create the initial framework for these pages. Grace then finished this process off today. For example:

 

Storyboard

I have finally put together the rest of our storyboard and uploaded it to YouTube.

Email Test

Today I have worked out how to post to the blog via email so it is possible to post when in the study centre at school where the blogs are not accessible.
However, I have had to go onto the blog to tag my name.

Filming and Editing

Yesterday during our media lesson I continued to edit our video with the rest of the group. We polished up a bit at the beginning from feedback I had gained and then started on a new sequence of the video.
I also filmed the storyboard, which needs to be uploaded and added to the rest of it.

Afterschool we filmed some of the performance scene focusing on the closeups and some of the long shots. We realised that we had too much to film in the time we had given ourselves and so will have to do the rest of that scene next week. Unfortunatly I had a feeling this was going to happen however did not want to be too pessimistic and therefore didn't say anything to the rest of the group, as it could have possibly impacted on the motivation to get done what we did.

On Sunday morning we are going to film the street scene and also the shot right at the end where they are chatting and playing cards. This is less demanding and therefore should not take too long to film - at the most I think just the morning.

Although it has taken us a while I feel that we are not behind and that we are working well together to get the final piece done.

Evaluation of Progress

I believe up to this point we have worked well as a group as we have all contributed to the planning by doing our own research and putting different ideas forward for our music video. We have managed to find different ways around the problems that we've faced such as several changes in cast and location and feel that, I personally, have adapted well to whatever the situations demands i.e. finding an alternative solution to our problems.
I am aware however, that due to these problems our progress is slower than intended. Today, this seems to have been rectified as we have met as a group and decided that a session of media filming on Friday afternoon / evening should get us back on track. We have though been capturing and editing our footage as we film (for instance when we have time between filming), this will save us some time as we begin the editing process.

A positive for me so far would be the research I have done into the indie genre: the conventions, the mise en scene and general music video analysis.
I also feel have done well with the interpretation of the lyrics and genre to help create convincing narrative and performance storylines.

However, I believe I still have work to do on my practical (technology) skills such as my camerawork. Even though I have managed to use a "wheelchair" shot to act as a stedicam, as yet my shots have been less than perfect. Personally, I aim to have more time to do editing during this phase of production as I need to familiarise myself with the more intrecate available affects on the Final Cut Express software.

I have learned to use the HD cameras effectively and upload the footage we have filmed so far.

 As a whole group, we still need to finish the very end of our storyboard and therefore film these parts of the music video. Also, to film the sections of our video that require both the lead singer and other band members (but this has already been planned for friday this week and possibly going into the weekend to complete the filming. During our filming we need to consider (and gain further) audience feedback (through our facebook page/group, youtube comments, twitter for example) to make sure our product is very much suitable for our audience and genre.

Filming

With regards to filming we have organised to film the street scene on Wednesday afterschool and the shilouette section and performance on Friday afterschool. As we need a teacher with us when we record in the drama studio we have consulted Miss Menzies and she is happy to be with us while we film this last section of our storyboard.

Organisation

Since filming during half term I feel that our group have become a bit separate. We still have a little bit to do in terms of finishing the storyboard and also finishing the filming and this needs to be done this week to complete everything and give ourselves time to work on editing and our digipack.
We need to get focused and complete these small tasks to get ourselves back on track to editing and also digipack designing.

Evaluation of Progress

As a group we have had our ups and downs with the issues with locations and cast. However I feel that we have worked through this powering along and keeping focused. Although still a little behind with our filming I feel (as the rest of the group do) that we have been successful so far with the filming that we have carried out. We have captured at least an hours worth of footage and have began editing this to create our final video.
A personal positive for me I feel has been keeping the group on track and focused. Once we have decided on a task I keep the others focused and motivated to complete that task - as once this is complete then we can move onto the next.
Another personal positive for me has been coming up with both location ideas and also mise en scene ideas to help us to get the best for our music video as well as indepth analysis of other artist's music videos.
A personal negative for me within the group has been having a full understanding of the meaning and the imagry within the track, however with the request of the meaning from the artists and also help from both Jonny and Henry I feel that I am gaining a better understanding everytime I listen to the track.

So far in this project I have personally progressed with the use of Final Cut Express. I have experimented with it and have learnt both how to use split screen and also the 'Bad TV' effect to create the CCTV camera image.
I have also learned how to use the new HD cameras and how to upload the footage onto final cut express.

As a group we still need to finish filming and also gain audience feedback. We have the very ending of our storyboard to write down, however we know what is going to happen, so for filming purposes the end of the storyboard is not required. - this will be finished in due course.