Evaluation

This is our finished evaluation from our music video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InSHQjR8Vn0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTbp-4q6eqw&feature=related

Within this we have answered the questions:

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?


In the end we were both happy with our evaluation. And feel that we have shown everything which we have learnt within this project.

Link to Website

www.wix.com/goldentongue/mumfordandsons

Video Posts

To create the best chance of getting the most comments we could on the video, we have placed the video on this blog, our website, YouTube and Facebook. Because of this we have receieved lots of comments from friends and fans. Which we have taken in to account for our evaluation, some have been simple compliments though we have also recieved interesting feedback from other media students and encouragment from our teachers.

Website Changes

Atfer looking at other student Website designs I felt that I had not designed the site to a high enough standard. With this in mind I did some more research into other student work and looked at more tutorials through YouTube into the workings of Wix. I also asked some members of the Hopeful Youths catagory what they thought of the site. Many commented that the picture as a background was good but it was distracting when on the Photos page. I also found that many websites have symbols for the band, and I remembered that Louis had used a embelem on the digi-pak. I decided to use this as the main focus rather than the picture. This gave a the site a much simpler and effectice look, making it easier for the fans to focus on the important details we had created and it was easier for them to navagate around the site.

Evaluation so far

At the moments myself and Roisin are in the process of editing our evaluation. We both feel that we have got all of the filming which we want. And now have just got the editing to do now. We are not sure how long this is going to take sure. But are very pleased that we have been given two more lessons to work on it. This will be time when we are making sure that we have included everything what we want to and that our video is at the best it could possible be.

Within our evaluation we have decided that we want to include as many of the elements which we have been using within our video into our evaluation. This will then also help show what we have learnt within this process. Within this we have decided to use a number of different effects. Some of these are:
• Layering different images on top of each other – mainly images and screen grabs which we have taken.
• Sections of film layered over the top of us speaking and audience feedback
• Moving images around screen
• Voiceover – this comes through the step by step guide which we have added on areas which we used for this process.
• Speeding up and slowing down clips
• Using live type – this was to give our tittles and extra interest
We hope that all of these will then help us to get the best out of our evaluation, as we are going to be showing all of the skills which both myself and Roisin have gained on working on this video.

Finished video.

This is a copy of our final edited version of our video. Both myself and Roisin we are both very happy with the outcome.

Enjoy :)

Digi-pack prototype on finished Digi-pack

After finishing my digi-pack I thought that it would be best to make a smaller version of what I had designed. This was done so that I could see if anything did not work or if I had placed any images in the wrong place and did not fit the dimensions in the end.

As I did not want to do this wrong I decided to make a tester one. Within this I decided that it was best to keep the outlines on the top. Then I would be able to follow this and see where I was folding, and then what kind of sections they would look like.

From doing this I found that it seemed to be quite easy, and decided to go for the final digi-pack. On this I had moved the template to the back so that I could only just see certain lines which I had to follow. With this one it was a lot more tricky to makes sure that I was folding each the sections in the correct place and also making sure everything was even.

In the end I found that it was all fine, and turned out really well. Here are some pictures which I took of the Digi-pack.

Front

Inside

Back

Side panel

I did not realise this when creating the digi-pack that the black writing for our web address was not as clear as I had intended. From seeing this I know now that if I wanted to re-create or edit any of the sections and then re-print and make the digi-pack I would know that I would have to change this to make sure it is readable.
This may of had something to do with the printer that I used as not all of the images were as clear and crisp as I wanted. But they were all still clear.

Labour Division

During the planning process of designing our music video, we never officially assigned jobs, simply because both of us wanted to do a bit of everything ourselves.

Through the filming of the Auditorium scenes we chose the lighting states together and chose where and how we would set up the camera for different scenes. I enjoyed this personally as it gave me a chance to have some control over the camera action and learn how to work the lighting system, which I had never done before. This was done through the skills which Louis had on working with the lighting desk. This was very helpful as it meant that we were both doing everything and had complete control of what was going on. This also meant that Louis controlled the lights when we needed them. And I had a more control of filming. Until it came to the tracking when we worked together to make sure that the camera stayed still.
Louis – I really enjoyed working in the auditorium as it was our first chance when we got to do what we wanted with the camera. Both myself and Roisin took it in turns working with the camera. But I really enjoyed that fact that I was able to use the lighting desk. And work the lights which we wanted. This was given to me to do as I have had past experience of working with the lights and understand what to do. for the scenes when the lights changed this meant that I was working in the box while Roisin was filming which I did not mind.

When filming the Wood scenes, the filming and directing was split between us, I had alot of fun with the directing however I feel that we should have taken control of the situation more. For example after the filming when it came to the editing we found that there some shots we needed but because we had let the ours actors become so free with their movements we had to work around some mishaps.
Louis – like Roisin I feel that splitting the directing and filming was the best way at the time as it meant that we could get individual style within the piece. There were some shots which we wanted to get but were unable to as our female fell over. And would then not match our continuity. I did not think that this would of effected anything. But wished we could have got some more shows before this. As like Roisin said we were struggling in the editing.

Nonetheless throughout the editing stages of our piece myself and Louis learnt alot about the technologies which we had to use. Final Cut was new to both of us as we had only used iMovie before. Both of us expanded our knowledge and skills, we found these through looking tutorials up on YouTube and trial-and-error in class. For myself personally I found it was more satisfying when we found some effects ourselves as it seemed we had done the job on our own and relied on others. Within the editing Louis did take more of a leadershiop role. This was mainly when it came down to looking at the more complex areas. This was mainly because he had gone off and research how to do these and felt more confident doing this. Throughout the whole process we both made sure that we put as much impute as possible, and thinking about different ideas.
Louis – I feel that I have been able to learn and develop a number of new skills and apply them to other work which I might do. I do not feel that I would of learnt how to do most of this if we had not used final cut, or If I looked into what was what within final cut.


Below is a table of how our "labour" during the whole piece went:

Final digi-pack design

This is my final design which I have come up with for our digi-pack for the song ‘The cave’. I have gone through a number of different photos. And tried them round a number of different ways. In the end I found that this was the best possible result.



There were some areas which I had to change. Like I was unable to include the lyrics onto the digi-pack. This was because it looked messy, and overcrowded which is not what we wanted. For this reason I chose to move this and if I was to make a booklet to go alongside the digi-pack I would have include this in that. Along with other pictures and screen grabs. I would also thin about include pictures of myself and Roisin when we were filming.



1. This is the front cover. On this I have taken an image from the video. And edited it so that the artist has been highlighted and is then at the centre of attention on the front cover. As it is all black. I have chosen to have the writing in white. This is because it helps it to stand out more. This is very simple but I feel is very effect.
2. The back cover. Like the front it is simple again. Again using a screen grab from the video. This time it is of the artist but further away. I have again chosen to highlight the artist so that he is at the centre of attention. I have kept it single with having as little on there as possible only having what is needed.
3. This was added as I feel it was needed. As a lot of cds and placed with the edge facing out and it is important that our audience are able to find the cd in a hurry. Without going through their whole collection.
4. This is the image which is behind the cd. I have chosen to include an image of the guitar as I feel that this is very important, as the song and artist do focus a lot around the guitar. For this I have highlighted the guitar and added more of a golden colour to it, to make it stand out.
5. This is a double panel. Which I originally wanted to include an image and then have the lyrics on. But could not get them to fit and have them at a readable size. Instead I have decided to add the link to our website here. This is so that it is very clear and will catch the eye of our audience. For this I have selected our female and our artist and made them stay the same colour while changing the background to become black and white. This is done to make them standout. I have also made the guitar lighter to help make it stand out more.
6. This was an extra panel which I have chosen to add a single image of the artist playing in our second location. Like the previous image I have selected the artist, and kept him in colour while changing the background into black and white. This was done to help highlight him as the centre point.

This is one of the trials which I had looked with the lyrics. But as it seemed to go on, I found that it was going to look very clumsy if there was too much pushed onto one page, so decided to leave it out.

Over all I feel that this really works. If I had thought out it, I would have chosen to make a booklet to go alongside the digi-pack as it would then have made it possible to add other elements within. This is something which I have learnt from and will remember for future experience.

Digi-pack Analysis – Cee Lo Green. The Lady Killer

I have chosen to look at this digi-pack as the bases of it, is based around Cee Lo green. We know this as from on the front cover we are able to see an image of him, which takes up a large percentage of the pack. And we also have his name. Which they helps the audience to clarify who he is. If people are unsure.

I feel that it is very effective having Cee Lo Green on the front of the digi-pack. This is because a couple of reasons. 1. Is because it means that as an audience we are able to see who the artist is. We are also able to gather a kind of style which he may have. This is due to what he is wearing. Also the colours used on to highlight him. As the centre point. 2. It means that the audience may be able to relate his image to a song which they may have heard either on the radio, internet or on a music channel. This is also helped by having his name as a centre point of the front cover, as it means that the audience may be remember some of his work.
These elements must all stand out as it is going to be the front cover of an album which will help to see the single or album if the audience member does not know this person may be or what songs they have released.

This is very similar to the album by Mumford and sons. As they had a huge centre on drawing attention to them and their name. because of this I have chosen to make sure that these are key things which are included on the front cover. I have also thought about using images from the video. This way an audience member might recognise the artist from the video.



The back cover of this album is very simple. With just a simple natural colour, with a list of songs on the album. This is something which must be considered. Is the back going to be very simple or have a number of different elements to it? I feel that keeping it simple works best as it means that an audience member is going to be able to understand and navigate themselves around the digi-pack. It is also important that they are able to see what songs are included on the album. As this is what could see the product.

This is something which I need to make sure I include. And make the back as simple as possible. but still making sure that it is as clear as possible. This will then help to sell the product which is what we want to do.

Digi-pack ideas

In the process of looking at digi-pack designs and examples I have found that the original template which we wanted to use. Was going to be two complex with the time little which we have as we only have got a couple of weeks to make sure that we get this finished. Because of this I have shown to work with a 6 panel digi-pack. This is something which is a lot easier to understand and work on.

In the process of thinking about what I could do with the digi-pack for the single of the cave. I managed to come up with a couple of ideas. These are:

In all of the ideas I have I want to make sure that I try and include the lyrics of the song somewhere within the digi-pack. This is something which I will have to look at and find the best possible place for this. As I am not quite sure what picture and where it will fit best.

Also I want to make sure that I include a link to our website. This is so we can make that link between the three products. It is very important to include this so that our fans would be able to follow Mumford and sons and look out for any latest news.

Having screen grabs of the artist, playing the guitar, mainly taken from sections when are artist is in the auditorium. This will be very simple and have as little as possible on it, keeping it simple but as clear as possible. This runs throughout as all of the other images which would be selected are very simple. Looking at the artist, some with our female character.



This is very similar as before, but just using the screen grabs with the artist where he is in the auditorium. With some of the other shots I am going to look at them and edit them so that the artist in highlighted or the guitar is highlighted so that it stands out. This is because the main focus is based on the artist and guitar.

My final idea is that have a mixture of different screen grabs of both the artist and the female character. And layer them over the top, using different colour films to make different elements stand out. This would be to make sure that we could show as much from the video as possible. making it now to the audience what our video includes.

In the end I have managed to come up with a mixture of my first two ideas. This is because I feel that I can do a lot more and this will be able to show my skills which I have on Photoshop. In this I have chosen a mixture of shots of our artist and female character these are both in the two locations which we filmed. I feel that is going to work the best. But will all come down to trial and error to see what look best.

Audience feedback on Finished video

Now that we have finished our video. And to go along with our evaluation we have got together a group of male and female students who all fit within our target audience which we have been planning to aim our video at.

We have chosen to film our audience feedback. This way it will become easier to adding into to our evaluation. It will also help us to use a multiple styles of media context within our evaluation to make it as interesting as possible.

Within this we chose to ask a number of different questions. These questions where made to help us get as much positive feedback. And also help to try and gain some constructive criticism as well. This would help us to then maybe work on our video for the final deadline. Making it the best it could possibly be.

Some of our group which we asked to help us with the audience feedback, had seen parts of the video and had been giving us different points for us to work on, and make our video the best it could possibly be. The group watching had all seen different versions. And elements had changed from when they had all watched it last.

Below is the questions which we asked our audience:

1. How smooth was the editing? E.g. transitions cut on beat, lip syncing.
2. What did you think of the video?
3. What did you think of the effects used in the video? Did they work within the context? Was there any effects that did not work?
4. What did you think of the casting? Did they people we chose fit the roles?
5. Was there anything that you did not like? Or would change?
6. Did you understand the narrative?
7. Other comments

I found that these selections gave us enough feedback to help us with our evaluation. We have also decided that from this there is not really anything that we now want to change within our video. And we are both 100% happy with the outcome of it.

Video analysis - The white strips – The hardest button to button.

Within this video i have been looking at the different editing styles which Gondry has added to this video to help give it that unique touch. From this we have thought about what we could do to our video to help make it have a different edge to it, which is just not the normal straight cut which we normal use. Hopefully this will give us some ideas about what we could possible do.

This video is both performance and concept base. We can see this as we have the two members being shown throughout the whole video. But then it has got the different elements which then make it a concept video and give it that Gondry style to it.
A common thing throughout is the use of rough cuts, this is due to the way that they use visual echoes for the instruments, this is shown by having the two move on to a new instrument in a different position, normal leading in a path or travelling in a certain direction. But through this we still have the old instrument in its place. This has been done by a mixture of real instruments and edits to help create a larger number of instruments. This works very well and shows the clear link between music and visuals from Goodwin’s 6. This process is also helped by the way in which the volume of instruments included grows along with the music. Creating more and more and using a number of different effects and creating different patterns. These are all different and unique as they all are slightly different. This is due to the lighting and background movement, as in some shots it would be lighter and other darker. We also see a one point a car appear and then disappear straight away. This is something which comes with the rough cuts and the way which this was created. All together it works very well and has a stylized feel to it.

Something which helps to show the link between music and visuals is the way which each time the instruments move we can see how they are cut on the beat. Giving it that faster pace and also helping to show the link which it has. This becomes a lot clearer as we go through the speed of the piece changes. And we then see that the movement speeds up and slows down. Giving it different dynamics to different sections and different instruments. Giving it again a unique touch.

This idea of having different instruments appear and move on to different points and showing the travelling. Is something which we would like to include in our video. We know that we would not be able to do it to the extent which Gondry has used within the video. We have decided to take the idea of having a person appear in different points of the screen and perform something at the same time. When the character comes into the shot, we will use cut on the beat to revile her. This will hopeful then show a link between the music and the visuals within our video. Which we want to include.

We have seen this in previous student work. And have been working on a way in which we could do this in our video. We have tried a couple of practices, but found that it has been a struggle to get this looking its best.



Now having finished our video I feel that we have managed to do this, and hope that it has been as effective as we want it to be. I feel that we need to look back at this and make sure that it is looking its best, and looks like one image and not a number of different clips put together in a rush.

Directors study – Michel Gondry

Michel Gondry was born on the 8th May 1963; he was born in Versailles, France. He is the grandson of the inventor Constant Martin. Constant martin was a French engineer and inventor who perfected a successfully commercialised different radio sets, these were most famously known as the Clavioline. Michel’s filmmaking career started when he was creating music videos for the French rock band call Oui Oui, where he was also the drummer for the band. From these videos Michel was approached to do other music videos for French bands, from there on he went on to work with a number of different artists some of these include are

• Daft punk
• The White Strips
• The Chemical Brothers
• The Vines
• Steriogram
• Radiohead
• Rolling stone
• BjÖrk

Instead of Gondry approaching different bands, the bands would have approached Gondry and asked him to create a video for them. This would have been for his unique style which he has.

Not only working for artists to create their music video he also created a numerous television commercials, one of these was the “bullet time” (advert – 1998) which was said to of had the technique later adapted in The Matrix.

In Eternal sunshine which was released in 2004, you are able to see how Michel Gondry has used a number of his image manipulation techniques which were experimented throughout his use of creating music videos. Michel Gondry also won an Academy Award alongside Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth, this was all for the screenplay of Eternal Sunshine.

The style of Michel Gondry’s music videos are often relies on videography and camera tricks which play with frames of reference.

He also uses digital manipulation changing certain areas to create the best effect possible. This would have all been done during the post-production stages. This is where we would be able to apply some of his unique touch which you can see in all of his videos.

He also uses theatrical elements within these videos. These include props, costumes, sets etc.

We can see a lot of these elements within his video for the white strips “the hardest button to button.”

Digi-pack images

Within our digi-pack and website we both had decided that we wanted to use some of the stills from our music video, and these then would help to see the artists single.
Now that we have finished our video I have gone through and taken a number of different screens grabs of our video. I have taken a number of different images of the artist as well as some of our female/dancer. Hopefully I will be able to use these throughout the digi-pack.

With the images which we have chosen to use, we will then have to work with using Photoshop to edit the pictures to make sure that they are all fitting in within our digi-pack and on our website. This would then make the whole thing have a constant theme and link throughout.

While looking at the screen grabs I have been playing around on Photoshop, which what I could possible to help enhance the pictures and make them the best thing which we could possible get. One thing which I have been looking at is adding highlights to certain parts of the image as if it has been placed in a spot light



I think that this works really well as it then helps to focus on that part of the screen and what is going on, even though it is a very small image of the artist. I will also look about applying this to the front cover image so that it has a constant link between them all. It could also help on the cd or in other sections of the digi-pack. This will have to come through a trial and error process.
Another thing which I have been looking at is what I can do with the title and making the most of this. This is because it will be one of the first things that the audience see.


For this I have looked at adding a second layer to the text giving it a red highlight around the edge. This then brings the text forward and makes it bolder. I am not sure if this is going to work and will link into piece of the website and will have to check with rosin. I chose to add red as within a lot of the dance sequences we have got a red light on the back of the images. I felt that this would then have a link and a purpose for using it.

These will all most probably change as I carry on playing around with what I could do on Photoshop and what is going to work for our digi-pack. This will also depend on what images I chose to look at. And what images and screen grabs I chose to use.

Finished Editing.

Over the past couple of weeks both myself and Roisin have been working very hard to make sure that our video was finished by the deadline of Friday 4th February. We were lucky enough to be able to come in during our free periods to make sure that we got the video completed.

With our first draft of our video, both myself and Roisin are very pleased with what we have come up with. There have been a number of different clips which we have spent a lot of time worrying about as they did not seem to fit in. but once going through and sorting these out. We both feel that we have got the best out of what we both could do.

This process we very challenging as we had different ideas about parts of the video which we had to work through and make sure that we were both happy with what we were working with. In the end I have found that we have managed to include a number of different sections which we had both thought of throughout, which complement each other throughout.

After watching back the video I have been able to see a couple of points which we need to work on and make sure that these are corrected before we forget. Otherwise we will have a final video done. We also have decided to make sure that we get as much audience feedback as possible so we can see what our target audience feel. This should then help us to see if anything drastic sticks out for them and needs to be changed while we still have time.

Over the next couple of days we are going to be grabbing as many people as possible and showing them the video to see what they think. hopeful this will then help with how we could improve our video to the best possible slandered. During the process we looked at doing this with a couple of people and found that this helped a lot. As we found areas which we had not really looked at as much. The audience feedback then brought this to our attention, helping us to improve different sections.

Previous Student Work - Sweet Disposition (James Madison University)

This video caught my interest as many of the elements of Goodwin's 6, which we had discussed alot in class, had been avoided. The video was completely narrative based. There was no sign of any members of the band or even any references to music, appart from when the blonde girl is listening to her CD player, though it is not made clear if she is listening to the song presently beginning or another song entirely. A record label would not have agreed with this look as it does not sell the band or their image. It is something different which artist personally may have gone for but not those representing them.

There are some interesting effects used such as the split screen which ties the beginning and end together, leading the audience to believe the couple will make it back together, only to be disappointed. Though itis an interesting effect, myself and Louis have not used it in our own piece as we feel it does not fit anywhere, since most of the effects we have used have some metaphor with them or they link with the lyrics on some level.

Furthermore the students editing skills have been shown to a great effect, the video flows well from one shot to another. This something Louis and I hope to achieve in our own work. One particular moment which caught my eye was when the male character faded from the bed. This is something me and Louis were hoping to use, it seems to be a clear motif for when couples are breaking up or one has left the other. Unfortunately circumstances have led us to feel we may not be able to achieve this. Yet these students have shown it can be done, and to great effect.

Photo-Shoot for the Website

For the final stages of our video I felt that we needed to have a variety of shots included in our video, so using my own knowledge of photography me and Louis agreed to shoot Jazz in a different andmore controlled enviroment to give a proffessional look to the website. We would also use screen-grabs from the video as another source for images.

For this part of project I took personal interest an researched some positions which Jazz might like to use. I felt that his guitar was a key piece for this so we used it as prop, plus with the guitar in his hands Jazz seemed to relax more and it was easier for me to get the shots i was looking for.

However to add something abit different we also did shots without his guitar to create variety. I also chose to use a high angle for his face, as this helped the light shine into his eyes making them more clear and pulled back the skin along his cheeks and nech giving him more definition.

Back at school I used Photoshop to edit and create different styles with the photos, with this I was able to expand my knowledge and use of the tool. Personally I liked the back-and-white pictures better as I feel they look more proffessional and clean-cut. Whereas though the colour ones were fun to do, I feel they look amateur and could be much improved.

Trailing & Layering In Video

To add something special to our video, myself and Louis have decided to use special effects to give our video a more polished and proffessional look. We felt that during her dancing Daisy's character should have something added to her, since at that point in the narrative she wasn't sure of herself. We found an effect called "Trailing" which created the effect shown below:





As well as this during the scene in which the male character looks at a photo of him and the female character, we layered another image of the two laughing on top, this was to show how their relationship had once been good.





Orginally in this scene we wanted to have the couple together and for the male to faid from the screen to show the group growing apart. However due to time issues and other personal difficulties this unfortunatly was not possible. Nonetheless the scene works with the male character as we had only scene him shortly before some this creates a story for him and developes the audiences understanding that the couple are breaking up, and the female character has found someone else in the artist.

Editing so far

Over the past couple of week both myself and Roisin have been busy editing away at our music video. So far we have managed to do a lot of the video but have still got the last section to finish putting together. We have also got a small piece at the beginning which we had not yet filmed which needs to be done in the next week, so we can finishing the first draft.

One of the problems which we have found during the editing process is that some of our clips, mainly the ones which we filmed in location 2. Have all been letterboxed creating a smaller viewing area. This is a problem which we have been looking into resolving as we did not want our video to have something which distracts the audience. Which this might do.

We have both tried a number of different techniques which we both thought might help, but they both seem to be having the same affect when it comes to editing them in the clips. One of these was to edit the scale of the clip, so we would be zooming in on certain parts of the action. This then got rid of the litter boxing but we found that the image was not a clear as originally and also our artist looked as if he had just been stretched. Which is not good.

Because of this we have chosen to look at another way of doing this. This is by exporting each individual clip out as a QuickTime format in the format 4:3 which is what we need. And then having in important them all back in again to re-edit what we have done.

We tried this with a couple of clips and they seemed to be working. But as we tried it with other clips which had more detail in, we started to see how they clips quality was not as good and also in a couple we had the same problem as before, and having are artist being stretched.

In the end we have both decided that it will most probable be best to keep it as having this letter boxed affect added on. And if we feel that some of the other clips which are not focused on the artist in location 1 may have to have this effect added on. We do not think that this is a huge problem. The only thing which we are worried about is how the change is quite big and we do not want this to distract our audience and be talking about that instead of the content within.

Filming 24th January

Unfortunately Louis could not be there, and neither could Daisy, which meant that the scene me and Louis had planned before could not go through.

What we had wanted to happen was for the scene to show more about the relationship between Ainsley and Daisy. There was going to be a bedroom scene where from a high angle the camera would see the couple lying in bed together, the angle of the camera would then come down low to view the side of Daisy's face to see a tear falling down her face which would link to the lyrics "I can see widows and orphans through my tears". The camera would then go back to a high angle to see to see the couple turn away from each other so they are back to back. we would then take one shot of then couple in bed together, then we would remove Ainsley and lated on in the editing process we would hope to create an effect where Ainsley would fade from the bed, showing through the narrative that he had left Daisy.

However with Daisy unavailable we chose to have a diiferent scene. We decided that Ainsley should enter the room, walk over to a picture and cry himself, to keep the visuals and lyrics linked. Then within the picture we should show Ainsley and Daisy beng happing and laughing. We could not decide whether we would do this by layering the screens on top on each other or by green-screen. With this in mind I placed a green piece of paper in the frame just in case. However in the editing process we decided to go with layering effect as we had become more at ease with this effect due to using it before in Daisy's feild scene, whereas with green-screen though we had research it we had no experimented with it ourselves.

With the moving photograph clip, we chose a clip from where Daisy and Ainsley had had a lapse in concentration and giggled during their scene. We the turned it black-and-white to show it was from the past, and slowed it down to create the dramatic effect of them laughing together and being happy. We then put it down to size and put in position.

Digi-pack analysis – Munford and sons.

I have chosen to look at the digi-pack for the Mumford and son’s album cover for Sigh no more. I have chosen to look at this cover so I will be able to get some ideas about what I am going to need to include on a digi-pack. It also should hopefully give me some more ideas about what I could possible do with our CD cover for the son ‘the cave’ by Munford and sons.

Front cover:

The front cover of any CD has to be eye catching so that they are able to see this to a wide range of audience. On this cover they have used a very simple image which is very affective and eye catching to an audience. In the image it shows the band /group and takes over large percentage of the cover but help to see who they are. It is also laid out in a way which has not got too much on it to make it too busy for the audience to be able to understand or navigate.
On the front cover they have not got too much on it as it then makes it very easy to understand what and who the album is by and what it is called.

1. Image of band/group. From having an image of the band within the front cover we as an audience are then able to see who they are. It then helps to give an impression about what kind of style this group may be performing. From an image of the band we can get a lot from what they are going to be like, this can come from their fashion, as a lot of people look into what people they aspire or look up to wear. – This is something which I think I am going to look into adding onto our front cover as it then makes it a clear link to who our artist is and what they song is going to be like.
2. Band/groups name and name of the album. This is something which we are going to have to make sure that we include on the front cover as it is very important that the audience know who the band/group are. It is also very common to add the name of the album or the single which they are selling. On this cover it is very clear and stands out, which is important to get the audience’s attention. – This is something which I have to make sure that we include as it is very important to let the audience know what we are going to selling or what their latest single is.

Back cover:

Again like the front the back is laid out in a very simple way with a very clear image that links to the front cover. On this it has little information but all of what is included is going to be important and will the help to see the album to their target audience and other audience members. To make it clearer they have used the space in a way so that they have everything that is important in the centre to grab the attention of the audience.

3. Track numbers of the album or the single. This is a track list and the order which the tracks will be played in when listening to the single or album. This then could have some impact on the audience as they may chose or not chose to buy the album or single if they either do not like the songs or have already brought them in some form or another. Either brought downloads or CD purchases. – we should defiantly include this on or digi-pack as it will then make it clear to our audience what is going to be on or single or album.
4. Barcode. This is something which needs to be include to be able to sell the album or single. They also often have the price somewhere around this area. This is going to be important for an audience to know how much the album or single is going to be – I think we should consider this on our digi-pack as it will show if we decide to display it on our website that it is a general item which could be for sale.

Inside digi-pack/CD album:

In the inside cover where the CD is placed we are able to see how they have used a number of different things. We can see again how they have used images of the band. This time we can see how they are all doing something which relates to their personal part in the band. On the last part we have the CD.
The CD is plan and blank with just the band’s name and the album name on it. This is very simple but effective as it makes it very clear about what the CD is of and will not be able to get confused as it has the band’s name on it. – this is something which I feel we are going to have to do as we want it to be very clear about what we are going to be listening to.

Digi-Pack

I have been made in charge of looking at what I might be able to do when working with our digi-pack for our music video. Both myself and Roisin have decided that we do not want to go for the conventional case which you normally get with a cd. We have been looking at different possible cases which we could possible use. And have looked at a number of different possible designs. There is one which we both fond we really liked and would be different; we also found that we would be able to work with and create an eye-catching cd cover. The case design is called the muitse cross digi-pack. With this case it has a number of different flaps which we will be able to apply pictures and maybe some writing, linking both to the song and to the website.



Just from thinking about what is possible with this case I have had a number of different ideas about what we could use and what might work for our cd cover. These will on depend on what i get from stills from our video. Unless we chose to go and get some more shots for the cover of both our artist and dancer, but this will on depend on what kind of stills we have in our video. There are a number of possible shots which I think we could possible use but this will all depend on what looks right.
So far I have thought about a couple of design which we might be able to include within our front cover, cd cover and for the back of the cd. These are just in the beginning stages or development, and will change in the process as we want to use some stills from the video as images on the cd. Some images may have to be taken afterwards as we have not got these anywhere within our video.

Previous Student Work - I Will Remeber You 2009

The opening of the video shows that the editing of the piece is strong as the stums of the guitar are in time with the music, this is something we hope to achieve within our own video. However the actor singing mouth movements are very small which makes it unbelieveable and less realistic that he is actually singing, something we will try to avoide.

Some of the camera movements appeal to me nonetheless the hand-held camera is sometimes very unstable and could have been smoother. For the viewers it is sometimes difficult to see whether the actor really is singing along with the words.

Unfortunately in my personal oppinion I find the video not very engaging as there does not seem to be much going on. I have found that many popular video's have some narrative within them, which helps appeal and draw in some audiences. It also helps the artist a it seems they are trying to get over some important message to their fans.

In terms of editing there are many straight cuts, which are all in time and very effective in some places however I feel I would like to create some variety to create some individuality within our video.

Website

My self and Louis have begun the creation of our Website for the band of our video "Mumford & Sons", though I have only begun o play around with the tools and applications I feel we are making sufficient progress.

I have looked at other band websites, mostly those of Mumford & Sons, All American Rejects and Lady GaGa as I felt these were the bands that have influenced us the most. Looking at their design many have links which connect to Twitter and Facebook, this will be a key part to our own website as we want it to appeal the Hopeful Youths who are frequent users of these social networks. Many of the bands use their websites personally as their own kind of blogs. This is a very personal trade mark and helps viewers to communicate on a more personal level, myself and Louis have decided we won't go for this idea as we feel it will distract our viewers from thinking they can try to talk to the real Mumford & Sons.

Many of the websites have simply layouts, though some are more cluttered, but all have proven to be easy to use and have simple menu bars running along the top to make things easier to use. After disscussing Louis and I have decided we would also like a simple design but with lots of pictures.

Another feature we have chosen to use will be the store where we will publish our digi-pak and other such merchendise which will appeal to our viewers. Louis has already begun the process of looking into Digi-pak promotion and how best to advertise it on the website. I will research into t-shirts and other items which appear popular on other band websites.

Filming Monday 3rd January

The rest of the filming was to be done in a wood near Roisin's house in High Rougham, we chose several key places where we felt our scenes would be most suited. As the filming began it became very apparent that our actor/actress would get very cold very quickly, so we brought along blankets and hot dinks, the blankets also provided a place to put our equipment whe we weren't using it.



As Jazz (our artist) had to leave early we started by filming all of his sequences first, then we moved on to the ones which included Daisy as well. There were some key shots we were very focussed on getting, however there were a number of shots that came to us in the moment which were inspired by our surroundings. Such as when Daisy runs to the tree and Jazz stands on the opposite side playing, but she doesn't see him.

We soon became tired and very cold so we stopped for a break and then when we returned without Jazz we filmed Daisy's running sequences, we tried a number of different angles and shots with a locked camera and a handheld camera. The difficulty with the handheld was when Daisy would come across an obstical on the forest floor, meaning she couldn't run in a straight direction like we wanted, she had to work her way around it. This did provide some problems but also some interesting shots which we included later on.

When Ainsley arrived we shot our final scenes of the day with him, though it was a short time to film it was a key moment in the narrative as it clearly showed Daisy leaving Ainsley, for our video this would tye in with the lyrics "the sun it rises slowly as you walk, away from all the fears and all the faults you left behind" This is why we chose for Daisy to wear white as it shows her innocence and purity contrasting with Ainsley black atire, which shows him to be dark and cruel. For the narrative this was a key moment where Daisy is walking away from her "fears and faults". When filming this scene Daisy and Ainsley worked well together however there were moments when their concentration lacked and they would lapse into giggles. However this provided the scene in which Ainsley looks into the picture frame and sees the image of them laughing together. This signifies how the couple once enjoyed each others company and loved each other.

With this filming complete we only had one more scene to film, the bedroom.

Filming on Monday 13th December

Monday 13th December.

This was our first date filming, where we had chosen to film sections which take place within the auditorium. We chose to do this then as we knew that we would be able to use the space after school and would most probably be able to use some of the lights which were already set up.

We had original set that we would be working between 4-6, and were aiming to have everything done within that time, so that if we needed to re shot anything we would still have time. As it was very hard to get started and we had a lot of things which needed to go through with the people we were working with. And also working out what lights we could have. This meant that we did not start filming till about 4:45.

Within the time we managed to get most of the shots done with our artist so he was able to go, but we had to stay an extra half an hour with our dancers so that we could make sure we got all of the shots which we needed from this location. We found that we managed to get most of these shots done, with a couple which we were not sure whether to film inside or in or location outside. At the end of the shot we were both feeling very happy with what we had recorded and felt that we had managed to get a large amount done.

When watching the footage back within the next lesson we found that some of the shots mainly with the dance did not look quite right or we had to get the shot which we had original intended. For these reason we are re-organising another day once we have come back from the Christmas holiday to make sure that we get this done.

Hopeful when we next go filming we will be more organised and be able to get straight on with the shooting and not waste any time like we did this time.

Questionnaire

Questionnaire results

In the preparation for creating our music video we decided to create a questionnaire which we were going to ask our target audience the “hopeful youths” we chose to create a questionnaire as it meant that we would be able to find out which kind of ideas people had about videos, and what is seen at the moment. Some of the information which we have used has influenced what we are going to do within our video. Hopefully this will all be for the better.
For our questionnaire we chose to ask around 50 people aged between 15 and 18 we also wanted to try and get a mixture of male and female. We ended up with a larger percentage of them being female. We wanted a mixture as we would be able to get different results from each gender. We did not manage to get all of the questionnaires back so in the end we ended up asking a total of 46.
Within our questionnaire we ended up asking

Male
Aged 15 – 3
Aged 16 – 2
Aged 17 – 3
Aged 18 – 1
Female
Aged 15 – 8
Aged 16 – 5
Aged 17 – 18
Aged 18 – 6

Witihn the questionnaire we chose to ask people what kind of genre they profered. We asked them all to tick 3, in some fo the questionnaires people only ticked one ore two bpxes. Here are the results about the profered genre.

From this we are able to see how that there is a varied interested in music. With only alternative standing out with having a much higher level of interest than others. I feel that this is because there are so many different genres about and also a number of different songs which fit to different genres within the charts at the moment which create an interest in a number of genres. I am expecting this to be similar within the results for the females.

This is kind of what I expected as we are able to see that there are a wide variety of genres selected through the genres. It is very clear that within the female results we can see how indie is very popular throughout the age groups. Other than this I was expecting this to have an average level for each genre with a couple which had much higher numbers.

The next question which we asked was. Who is your favourite artist? From this question we have found that there are a very wide range of artistes which are very popular within the hopeful youths. These are all artists which people would look up to and maybe aspire to be like in the future. Through the feedback there are only a couple out of the whole 46 people that we asked who have said the same artist. Which there proves how many different artists are around at the moment.

What type of video do you prefer? We chose to ask within our questionnaire what people would prefer to see whether it be performance, narrative or concert based. We chose to ask this question as we were struggling with how much narrative we wanted to put within our piece. As we had an idea of what we wanted to use but did not want this to take over the piece. This is the feedback which we got:

From this I am able to see how people prefer to see elements of narrative within a music video that they are watching. From this we have decide to keep the narrative aspects within our video but make sure that they are all relevant for the video and for the song. I feel that this will all change and we will find something extra after filming and when we get into editing. This is when we could add more narrative elements or take some out.

Do you prefer music videos which have links between lyrics and visuals or music and visuals? We struggled with this as we knew we wanted to have this connection within our piece somewhere. We have been thinking of a couple of ideas about what we could possible do for each, but it all depends on what the audience feel should be included:

From this it is clear that people would rather have a link between the lyrics and visuals. Because of this we have found some elements where we are able to add this within our piece, we struggled with trying to make some of these elements as clear as possible. we have also decided to include elements of links between music and visuals and both myself and Roisin feel that this works very well.

How do you think the artist to look? I do not thin many people took this question seriously as we had a lot of answers saying that they think they should be “hot” or “good look” we had a couple of answers which did help. These were saying how they think “the artist should link to the song and the genre” which is what we were thinking of doing.

Do you think special effects work within music videos? If yes what effects work? I do not think that many people understand what kind of effects we meant as a lot of people left this question blank. Some of the answers which we had where that the use of
• black and white
• enhanced colours
• slow motion
• fading
we are hoping to be able to use these within our piece as both myself and Roisin feel that these would work and fit within or music video.
Have you heard of the song “The cave” by Mumford and sons?

Most of the people within our questionnaire have heard of the song, which is a good thing as it means we can get more feedback if we need about what kind of narrative they think we should possible have or what elements do you think would work.
Our next question was. What do you think of it? Overall most people said that really liked it or loved that song. It is also a song which the find very relaxing and could listen to for a long time. This is good as it means that people may want to watch the video as they like the song. It also means that we have to do a good job to make sure we create a video which will link to the song.

All of the feedback which we got from our questionnaire has been very helpful and has given us a lot of ideas. Now that we are in the process of starting to edit, some more of the points which we asked our audience will come into action more, as we can chose how much of certain elements we show.

Props

For the most part of our video we will being using the scenery and the people featured in our video to draw the audience in, however there are a few props that will be needed to make the video more effective;

Guitar: for the artist to show the music basis of the video, we have chosen someone who has the skills to play this instrument to make the finger movement and strumming in time and more realistic

Stool: we decided that the artist should be sitting when in the spotlight to connote the connection to other astist many of whom sit whilst playing, it seems a very "humble" position

Pictures: in the bedroom scene between the male and female character we thought to personalise the bedroom with pictures of the couple to show their affection and that the room is really there's