Signing out

I have finished my coursework now and I think it was a great experience and I have had a lot of fun making it even though I have found some bits quite hard but I guess thats what have made it interesting for me. I have learned a lot of new things and I hope that I will be able to use these skills in future!
Byeeee! :)

Evaluation Task 1

Before actually starting filming and creating the digipak and the advert, I have done a lot of research and did a lot of thinking so that I could make sure that everything went according to plan. I have done things like looking at the history of the music video which helped me discover different genre of music and what kind of music videos would be suitable for the genre of the song. Also I have done the genre analysis which helped me to see how female and male are represented in a different kind of genre of music. As well as that I have researched on how male and female are represented in different music videos and did a lot of thinking on that because it was important for me as I had ideas in my head about my video and the song. I have done a textual analysis of Katy Perry's music video "Fireworks" which helped me see how you create a narrative in a video, also I have looked at other videos so that I could know different types of narrative so it would be easier for me to decide what kind of a narrative I wanted to do. Also all of this research helped me to make a final decision on what song I want to use and find a suitable actress for my music vide, the digipak and the advert. 
As I did research on other digipaks and adverts before actually doing something I though that the actress that I'm going to choose has to be photogenic and she couldn't have a camera fear because this would be harder for me to film my music video and take pictures for the digipak and the advert. The advert and the digipak research was much easier because it was easier to find a lot of different examples and I knew what kind of idea I had so it wasn't hard. I have looked at a lot of different examples before I have made my mind because as the digipaks were so different and some of them don't even match the genre of the artist but the advert was much easier because most of the adverts had the same picture so that helped with my choice as I had a lot of different ideas going on in my head. 
To make sure that everything went according to the plan and the research that I have done I had to go back to all the research that I have done so that it could be all the way I planned. I wanted my video matching my digipak and my advert too and I think this worked quite well becausIe it kind of looks depressing but I think in this kind of way it matches the music also it looks mysterious and I think all of those three products linked together. I have also kept the mystery of the music video with the digipak and the advert because I wanted it to be like this so that it could be kind of mysterious even though the narrative was pretty straight forward. Also I kept it quite simple so that again it could be mysterious, therefore the font was very simple and the colours were quite neutral. As I'm a border I had plenty of outside space so that I could film on the fields. Also the school I'm in is very old so the building gave the video a little bit more mystery and a bit of a scary look. I have used places like hockey pitch and the quad. I think it was very helpful for my video as I had this kind of space and I think I used it quite well.
I think my narrative was pretty straight forward as I have used good props and appropriate outfits so that it could match the narrative. The genre of this music video isn't really obvious, you would,'t understand it by only looking at the album cover or the advert. Also I think the actress that I have used was very easy going and she followed everything I have asked her to do. I think that she suited this kind of genre because she is actually a bit of mysterious person that is not very open to people and I think the fact the she helped me in a way to create the narrative of this video. I'm sure I have passed on the narrative message to the audience and they have understood what I meant or at least have created something similar in their minds. I don't think that my music video, my advert and the digipak is something that every single person form my target audience would buy because it all depends on what people like and what their interest is. 

Evaluation Task 2

I think that all of the three products of mine work really well together, also I think that they link together quite well. The image could give a different expression to different people because it looks like something more of a rock genre because of the front cover but then when you see the video its more of a calm music video, I would call this "depressing" but there are a lot different genres so it all depends on what the audience like. 

                                      

This is my final front album cover and I think tarts it links with the video, as she has the masks in the video  , I show the narrative on the picture on the front cover because I have used this effect it looks like her face is a mask which shows the real face and the fake face. Also it has a quite depressive look as the video has it too it makes the audience know that this kind of music is not very that type of music that you can hear in a club, its more of a relaxing type. I could look like something crazy too but if you watch the video it looks completely opposite to crazy. 

I think that the back cover link to the video a lot because of the mask. I have decided to include the white mask because I wanted to use the black background so this is the way that I linked it with the front cover, the advert and the video. When I was looking at the other magazine adverts I saw that they use the same picture for the advert as the one that they have used for the front cover so I did the same thing. I think its better for it to be the same because people will memorize the picture so that they could see what would be on the front cover and recognize it. 

It links really well to all of the other products. 

All of those three products have a mystery in them and I think this is what is the most attractive part about it. This is what my target audience want to see, so I had to make a decision on what I wanted to do to keep my audience happy. I have shown those to a couple of people and they have given me feedback and they have said that these three product link to each other really well and they are quite mysterious but also eye-catchy but obviously not everyone would want to buy it from my target audience but I think I have made the message about this being quite mysterious quite clear and this was to make sure that my target audience know what I want to show them linking those three products together.

Evaluation Task 3

Audience feedback was very important for me to help me to create this music video. Long before starting filming I have been doing research so that I could decide who would my target audience would be because its not easy to make a music video and not know who it would suit. When I was doing my research I have made a questionnaire on who would be my target audience so that I knew who they will be. I have asked about 10 questions and I asked about 20 people and a all of them had a different opinion on what they liked but what was the most important thing for me is if they like to see narrative and no dance routine as I was planning to do something that had a narrative but no dance routine and a lot of people said that narrative was very important for them because it made them watch the video and it was about 50/50 on people liking dance routine and people who preferred no dance routine. 
When I was doing my video I would ask people around what they thought worked well and what didn't so they have told me to change something and I would listen because this is all about the audience opinion. I have also showed my video to several people I know to find out what they like and they didn't like so I could change something. Also I have listened to my teacher and I got a lot of help from her. 
For this task I have filmed a little interview with a friend of mine, her name is Connie Yaneva and she wants to be an actress in future so I think she is the right person to talk to. Also she is 18 years old and she is the same age group as my target audience which I think is very good because I could find out what she thinks about my video. These are the questions that I have asked her:
-The first time you heard the song what would you expect to see in a music video?
-What do you think of the music video overall?
-Do you think the actress suits the song?
-What do you think about her outfits?
-What do you think about the shots?
-Which one is your favorite?
-Is there something you didn't like about the video?
-Do you think it has a narrative?
-Did you understand the narrative?
-Because you were there when the music video was filmed, was everything organized for filming?
-What do you think about the digipak overall?
-Which picture would be your favorite?
-If you saw this kind of an album would you buy it?
-What do you think of the magazine advert?
-Do you think you would buy this album if you saw the advert?
-Was there something you didn't like about the digipak or the advert?

Evaluation Task 4

There are a lot of different things that I have used to make this project work.

Final Cut Pro X: is a non-linear video editing software developed by Macromedia Inc. and then Apple Inc. The most recent version, Final Cut Pro X, runs on Mac personal computers powered by Mac OS X version 10.6.7 or later and using Intel processors. The software allows users to log and transfer video onto a hard drive (internal or external), where it can be edited, processed, and output to a wide variety of formats. I think that this is a really useful program and it is very easy to use. It helped me get all the shots together and create my final video. It has a lot of different functions such as inserting text into the video, special effects and changing the colours of the clips. As I have a macbook it wasn't hard for me to use the final cut pro x because I knew most of the short cuts and it wasn't as hard for me then the others. Also I have found a lot of new functions that I could use through out creating my music video. I think this program is very useful and it made it easier for me in creating my project.

Blogger: is a blog-publishing service that allows private or multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. It was created by Pyra Labs, which was bought by Google in 2003. Generally, the blogs are hosted by Google at a subdomain of blogspot.com. Blogger has helped me to do all the research and as I have used it before it was as easy as last time. I think it is an easy way to record all the information that I wanted to be captured through out the time I was given to do this project. It is easy because you can upload things like, picture and videos so not all of it has to be text.

Photoshop: is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated. This has helped me to create my magazine advert and my digipak. As I an an art student I was familiar with this program and I have worked on it before and learned a lot of skills. As we had to create a digipak, I have discovered new thing that will be useful for me in future. I think Photoshop helped me a lot because in this way I have created a really nice digipak and a magazine advert.

Panasonic Video Camera: is a camera used for electronic motion picture acquisition, initially developed by the television industry but now common in other applications as well. With my camera I did all the filming and it wasn't hard to use because I have used it in my previous year making a opening sequence, so I had no trouble this time. It was very helpful when I was filming in the dark because it has a little light that is attached to it. Also it is an HD camera so it made the quality of my video much better.

Youtube: is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos. Through youtube I have found all the videos that I needed for my research and I think it was very helpful. It is easy to find anything on it and all it takes is to type it up in a search box.

Vimeo: is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share and view videos. It was founded by Jake Lodwick and Zach Klein in November 2004. They left the company in 2007 and 2008 respectively. The name Vimeo was created by co-founder Jake Lodwick and is a play on the word video, inserting the word "me" as a reference to the site's dedication to user-made video and is also an anagram of the word, "movie." This is the website that my music videos were uploaded to and it kept the quality of my video exactly the same which I think is really good because I think that the quality of the product that you are watching is very important. The only thing that I didn't like  about it is that I could upload only a certain amount of mb on it per week but otherwise it is a really good website to upload your videos to.

Sony Camera: is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the word camera obscura (Latin for "dark chamber"), an early mechanism for projecting images. The modern camera evolved from the camera obscura. This was used for all the pictures that I have taken to use for my digipak and to prove that I have filmed my music video. I had no trouble using it as I have used it before because I've had it for ages now. 

Tripod: s a portable three-legged frame, used as a platform for supporting the weight and maintaining the stability of some other object. A tripod provides stability against downward forces, horizontal forces and moments about the vertical axis. The positioning of the three feet away from the vertical centre allows the tripod better leverage for resisting lateral forces. Tripods have the disadvantage of being heavy and bulky although they can be used with large equipment. I have borrowed my tripod from media studies department and it was really easy to use. It is very useful when you have to film something because it keeps that camera in one place and makes sure it doesn't move or shake. 

Decision made! Final cut

Comments

Second cut:

-I think that the the shot that is different to the other video doesn't suit the storyline 

-It doesn't go with the flow and I don't like the way Xenia moves her head

-This sot is kind of out of order and doesn't suit the scene

-I don't think it looks good because the mask doesn't look good on Xenia's face and it is too much of a close up, also I thought that Xenia supposedly should be standing in the same place but the shot with the mask on is closer so it doesn't match the previous shot.

-I don't think it links with the previous or the next shot

Third cut:

-I think this looks better because it links with the shot that comes after this one

-After watching the other video this shot makes more sense, if you know what I mean

-I think that this shot is much better and Xenia looks so much better like this too, also I like the movements 

-This shot is much more interesting

-Gives a better atmosphere to the video 

After I got this feedback it is quite obvious what audience like so I have decided to listen to people who saw both of my videos and my decision would be to make the third cut my final video. 

Final Cut?

In this post I want to show what is the difference between the two different cuts that I have previously posted. These are the screenshots from the video:

Second cut

I like this one because it shows her face and it is a different shot compared to the others but the reason I'm concerned about it, is because I don't like the way this mask is fitted on Xenia's face so I'm not sure if I like this shot.

Third cut

I think that this one looks better because the mask is fitted properly, also I like the way she moves in this exact shot. I think that I would prefer this one because it looks better with the rest of the other shots that are in the video. I still want to know what people this about those two videos.

Which one to choose?

Second Cut

Third Cut

These are the two videos that I am concerned about at the moment because I'm not sure which one should be my final cut. I have decided that I'm going to create a questionnaire for the audience and those audience will be couple of my friends so they can see and make some comments on my video and tell me which one looks better and then I will make a decision on what video should be my final cut. 

Magazine Advert

It didn't take me too long to make the magazine advert for my album. As I did the research about the other magazine adverts I have discovered that all the other magazine adverts have the same pictures on it as they have on their album covers so that made it a little bit easier for me to decide which picture I'm going to use for my advert. I have decided to use the same writing for it too because it would make people memorize the way this advert looks like and when the audience and costumers will see this kind of a picture in a CD store they will be able to recognize it. The writing that I have used was taken and combined from the other magazine adverts that I have looked at and it gave me a rough idea of what could be said on my advert. 

Final Digipak

Front Cover

This is the fink front cover and I think it is quite a matching cover for the type of music that would be played from this album. 

Inside Front

Inside Back



Back

Sides

Photoshop

This is a post about me explaining how I worked on my digipak on photoshop.

1. First of all I have chosen a picture and put it into photoshop, then I have decided thaat I didn'y like the background so I thought I will try a black back ground.In order to make the background black I used a brush and painted, also so I could only paint the background I has to cut out xenia at first. After that I though I could give Xenia a little make over, so using differenet brushes I put more eye and lip make up on so that she could look more fresh.

Them I decided that I wanted to add text but because this picture looks quite simple I didn't want anything too niticable, I just wanted simple writing, so I chose Lucida Sans Typewriter because it looked interesting but at the same time very simple.

2. When I finished doing the picture and the text, I have decided that it looked boring when it has only writing and the picture. So I thought I could make it look a little bit more interesting and unique by adding a piece of contrast on Xenia's face. This also represents the white and black masks so this makes it quite mysterious.

3. This is the way I have made the little piece of contrast on Xenia's face and I have tried different colours to see if maybe other will suit but at the end I have made the decision to leave it like this.

4. This is the way I have used all the brushes tools to make the background black and do a make over for Xenia so she could look a little better. 

5.When I have chosen the other image I though I needed the theme to be matching so that it looked like it was meant to be like this. So I have selected Xenia with a magic wound, which is a tool, so that I could play with changing settings and colours. Also I have adjusted the picture itself to another color, if you look at my previous post you would be able to see the difference.

6. So then I made a new layer and played with colours as such and made her in purpely and orange color. Then I thought it doesn't really match the theme, so I have decided I want to see what else I could do to it. Then I changed it to black and white but you could see that it was Xenia and then I have decided that this was too simple and changed it to the contrast black and white where you could only see the outline of Xenia's body. 

7. On this picture at first I have changed the brightness and made the tree shadows more visible. 

8. Here I have changed the colour of the picture so that it could be a bit more darker and could give the picture an even more dramatic look. 

Front Cover

This is the first front cover that I have made using photoshop. Because I wanted to show the contrast between white and black I have chosed the back ground to be black because Xenia is wearing white. Also half of writing is white and the other half in the little quadratic part is black the title of the album is also in black. In this picture she isn't doing anything just standing and looking on the floor. To do all of this I have used a lot of different tools but I'm going to talk about this in another post.

On this picture all I did was crop it and made it smalle, now there is less empty space and I think this will be my final one to put on my digipak.

Decision

These are the pictures I have chosen for the  album art work:

Choosing Photos For the Digipak

These are the photos that I have taken to use 4 of them for the digipak now I just have to make a decision on which photo I would like to use.

Photoshop

Potoshop is the programm I', going to use for creatinb the albun cover and the other4 pictures on the digipak.

Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Adobe's 2003 "Creative Suite" rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS5 is the 12th major release of Adobe Photoshop. The CS rebranding also resulted in Adobe offering numerous software packages containing multiple Adobe programs for a reduced price. Adobe Photoshop is released in two editions: Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Photoshop Extended, with the Extended having extra 3D image creation, motion graphics editing, and advanced image analysis features.

Blue Foundation Album Cover

The album cover that the Blue Foundation has is not the same idea that I was thinking to do, the album is called "Life Of a Ghost" and this is how the album
cover is:



The albun cover is a little bit oposite to the name of the album it is very colourful and looks very attractive to me and I would buy something like this if I was in a shop. The house look a bit doggy and that matches the name of the album. I think that my album cover wouldn't be as colourful as this album cover.

Digipak

This is what I want my digipak to look like and what pictures I want it to have:

Digipak examples

These are the Shakari Album which has 2 CD's inside and the way it has been put is very different to other CD albums it is a 6 pannel cardboard desihgn that has pockets to insert the CDs

Enter Shikari - A Flash Flood Of Colour

A Day To Remember - For Those Who Have Heart 

This is a 4 pane digipak with foldout case, jewel case inside it has 2 disks one of them is a DVD and another one is a CD. It has 4 images on the digipack and it has a little booklet on the inside of the front of the digipak.

Pink - Funhouse: The Tour Edition

This is a 4 pane digipak with foldout case, jewel case inside it has 2 disks one of them is a DVD and another one is a CD as well as the previous one. It also has 4 pictures on this digipak and it has a little booklet on the inside of the front.