Tuesday 26 April 2011

Final CD design and Print Ad

As we approach the finishing line of our complete music video, we began to work on our final design for our CD cover and Print Ad. We decided to leave working on this near the end of the music video because we wanted to make sure we knew what the overall feeling and presentation of the band is and then make sure we can apply it to the print production.Each member of my group collected images and fonts off the Internet individually and then we pitched our ideas to one another. We all had varying ideas regarding the CD cover and print ad, and one of the images I found was a soft, artistically styled image of a couple just about to kiss, I thought this image was fitting as the song was called 'Kiss Me'. The original image can be seen on the right -->
My group, and other members of my media class approved of this idea and we all agreed we could base our own idea on this one. However, we all agreed complete imitation of this image would represent something far too soft for the image our band HOUSE, so we began to think of ideas in which we could make a similar image more dark and fitting.
Firstly, we needed to take our own picture that is inspired by the one above. For this we asked two members of our media class if they could be our models, we then went down to the studio so we could manipulate the lighting and setting to get our perfect picture. We used the same black curtain for the background as we did for the music video, to make sure we had a running theme of dark background, and then we staged the two models using 3 point lighting to get an effective picture. We played around with the positions of the lights and focus of the camera and came out with a picture we were all pleased with, this picture is on the left hand side of this page.

Once we got the picture we were happy with, we uploaded it onto a photoshop software on the mac computers. Whilst Josh continued editing the music video, I began to play around with effects, colours and lights on photoshop, just to get comfortable with the software and see whats possible. I really like the effect of the smudge tool as it distorted the image slightly but was still recognisable, so I applied this effect to the final image. I also added in extra spot light in the middle where the heads nearly joined to show connection and just to get in extra light pin points, I then darkened the image so only blacks and reds were the predominant colours, the colour of the font is a colour sample taken from the reds evident in the original image . I done this because I always had to bare in mind that our band belonged in the Rock genre and it was important this was portrayed. Rita then started to work upon the image I had already made, and found the ripple effect which ultimately completed our desired effect. I love the distortion and colours used in our final design, it fits well with our song, our band and the genre of the song. To make the CD cover look as realistic as possible, we added in barcodes, company labels and track listings.
Not only did we have to design the outside of the CD cover, we also had to design the inside. For this we decided we needed to have images of our band HOUSE and decided to get a still from our music video as we thought it would look good to show the band in their stage gear and with their instruments. We also added in a band commentary to make the design more realistic.  

Once we had finished this we began to concentrate on our Print Ad, the print ad needs to hold a strong resemblance of the CD cover as the purpose of the Print Ad is to effectively sell and promote the band and CD. Using the same image, we thought it would be effected if we expanded it slightly by having four 'reflection' instead of two. The effect we ended up with reminded us of a kaleidoscope, which then inspired us to name the album Kaleidoscope instead of Kiss Me as we felt it suited our band more. To ensure the Print Ad looks as realistic as possible, we involved tour dates, facebook and twitter promotions, quotes from Zane Lowe and RollingStone. As a group, we are very happy with our final designs of the CD cover and Print Ad, and although they don't particularly promote the band by using their picture, it promotes the song, the genre and would attract attention of passers by and potential buyers.
 

Powerpoint presentation

Risk assessment

Locations, props, costumes

Group diary through the pre-production stage

January 2011 has begun and in doing so so has the planning for the filming of our music video ‘kiss me’ performed by house. So far the ideas from myself, Rita and Emily are being scanned through and an overall agreement will be made very soon as to which ideas will be used. First things are to correlate the whole pop promo making sure aspects that are to be used will have a matching style throughout. This will therefore make the overall pop package themed towards HOUSE making it easier to be made aware who and what your looking for.

Mid January:- After much deliberating we have decided to use Emily’s idea as the narrative. It follows a young couple through their relationship from the beginning through to the near end, transitioning between young couple and old. We will be including my idea of filming this via a split screen technique. This way we can focus on certain affections such as holding hands in one half of the screen and a sexual gaze/kiss from either male or female in the other side of the screen. Rita’s idea of mise-en-scene such as dress attire and locations were taken into account and an overall agreement on location was achieved. The location would be within a park and using a stand out object in the park such as a tree would be where our couple in love would continually go back to. This would also help show the transition from the young aged couple to old aged couple.

February:- The bands live performance has been shot!!! HOORAH The cogs have finally begun moving as the music video has moved in the production phase. We used the studio in the media department at 6th form and darkened in with black cloth. We then used lighting to develop shadows upon our band members faces and body and back lights to allow light to shine upon the groups figures. This gave out a nice effect especially on the lead guitarist. The only problem we seemed to have was that the studio was quite small therefore we couldn’t help but shoot some of the ceiling as well as some of the members of the band were extremely camera shy whilst others weren’t. This then made some of the shots of the awkward band members hard to use as it was quite dull to be seen!

Mid February:- Editing has been underway for a while now and the main cause for concern was that we hadn’t shot enough different shots of the bands performance. This wouldn’t have been such a problem if I song wasn’t so fast pace. This therefore needs constant cuts to the music especially when it speeds up during the chorus. This would therefore keep a continuous flow of music:visual, which would also be pleasing aesthetically. this in mind, we are still awaiting our couple of actors who will be playing the part of the narrative which means that more shot sequences will be on the way.

March:- Disaster has occurred! The narrative contained flaws to the overall plan. This therefore has caused we, the group to rethink the whole narrative and approach it at a different perspective. The problems we had firstly were the technicalities of what we were trying to achieve in the sense of a split screen styled music video. Secondly we couldn’t find ANY actors young and or old willing to act romantically in front of the camera. Thirdly, we were running out of time fast. The final deadline for coursework isn’t too far away so our previous idea for a narrative had to be scrapped. The new idea is to collect a vast amount of shots of kissing couples from the general public. This will give the video a more natural feeling. Though the possibility of getting some very negative feedback from the general public is a given!

Mid march:- Ok. Finally we have all the necessary shots that are required to finish of this music video production. With the inclusion of our kissing couples, the video not only will have this natural, comfortable feeling of seeing happy couples kissing but it will also contain a live performance of the band which should make it seem to the viewer that they are there watching this occur. that’s the idea anyway. After the editing is finally finished I will post an overview of what was good/what was bad and what needs to be changed after receiving feedback from the panel of viewers.

(Work done by Joshua Featherstone)

Crew Roles

My group consisted of myself and another two A2 media students, although our teach chose our groups for us we was all happy to be working together as we each have our strong points within media studies and could take control of our specialized areas to produce our best possible final piece.
As a group we did all take turns in all areas of pre and post production, however for the bulk of it we stuck to our individual roles.

Josh Featherstone: Editor...Camera...Set designer
Ana Rita: Producer...Music control...Set designer
Emily Stansfield (myself): Cinematographer..Camera...Set designer

Description of my role: As cinematographer my main role was to make sure everything on-screen was exactly how we wanted it; this varied from lighting positions, crew and band positions and camera angles (we used three cameras and done three takes with all of them in different positions, ultimatly leaving us with nine takes). I also had to make sure the band was up-to-scratch in performance (although they didn't need much encouragement) and to ensure we have all our desired shots before wrapping up. I enjoyed taking on this role because when I have an image in my head, I will try my hardest to make sure it becomes reality to the best possible standard. During the editing stage, when group member Josh went through our various shots I helped choose what footage is usable and works well.
I also worked behind the cameras during filming, for this I had to ensure we had as many interesting shots as possible. I used zoom ins and outs, tracking and panning in various positions of the room to make sure we cover all areas of the band, I was aware that some moments of my filming was wobboly or just a general bad angle but I knew we had and would get many more shots - although I would still correct my areas to ensure all shots we did get was of a high standard.

Description of Joshuas role: Josh felt the most comfortable when it came to editing, and he really was brilliant at it. For this he used final cut pro on the mac computers and was knowledgable when it came to this software. After we all looked through every take from all cameras and chose which ones we prefferd and what would work best, Josh began to cut takes and put together a rough sequence. I think the hardest bit was trying to make the music and the footage in sync, and after many trials and errors he managed to do this well. Finding the best footage from nine different takes to go in the right space took a fairly long time, but once we was all happy with the rough edit - Josh then began to polish the edit by making cuts sharper and more in tune with the music.
Josh also controled some of the cameras whilst filming to make sure he got shots he was happy with and also helped ensure we were happy with the set.

Description of Ritas role: Rita took on the role as a producer, she helped ensure the rough edit turned into the final edit and that we were all happy with the final production. She also came up with the idea of a montage of couples kissing and went out to get some shots of this from her family. Rita was good during the research stage as she enjoys this genre of music more than the rest of us, so when discussing target audiences and audience profile, her knowledge helped. She also knew the general feel simular music has to offer - so we tryed to portray this throughout our own production. Rita also helped during the filming by working one of the cameras, but what she done more of was the music control - making sure the band knew exactly when to start playing at the right point of the start of the music.

(Group work by Emily Stansfield)

First audience viewing and feedback

First viewing of our rough edit to an audience received many good reviews which helped increase the groups confidence as a whole due to our previous ‘scrapping’ of our original narrative idea. Once we had to re-think an idea for more of a performance based narrative and not a conceptual type, the confidence we had had before was beginning to waver due to the music video beginning to feel not as strong as it had been. Therefore our first screening definitely helped to boost it back up to previous levels.


Firstly the overall belief was that it faired well with the genre of pop-punk. That the band was definitely performing to their fullest, such is seen from previous pop-punk bands such as blink 182 and sum 41 (bands that have been analyzed in previous posts) Also an overall sense of achievement was felt once the audience likened it to ‘Newfound Glory’ and the type of music videos they made. This was excellent due to ‘Newfound Glory’ were the band that our band were covering!
There was also agreement that the clothes worn helped to convey a more comfortable approach to a band performance instead of having them wear matching tops or accessories etc which was good to hear, especially as the band had wanted this also. The production values were favoured. The shots used especially the zoom into and out of certain band members performing was enjoyed as again it helped to convey a more comfortable perception of the video as well as creating a point of view approach to the music video and also helped to compete against standard conventions of music videos that are seen today. Due to zooming in and out of band performances is a rarity now.

Mise-en-scene such as location used was favoured throughout. The fact that lighting had been used from the top of the studio and from the back of the performers helped to cast a shadow upon aspects of the bands face as well as giving of a slightly angelic effect upon their skin, causing it to glow.
One piece of cinematography that truly stood out to many was the handheld shot of the lead singer. This was created by giving the camera to the lead singer to hold when performing as if to express the feeling that he is singing to you the viewer and you only.
The chosen narrative to replace our previous idea was to collect a large amount of shots of kissing couples from the general public. This again was to convey a more comfortable/natural approach to the music video which was agreed as a whole from the audience. This certain aspect was considered one of the best parts of the music video.


Editing was suggested as good overall and that the pace of which it was being cut too helped to make the music video a success. Specific parts of the video the audience favoured due to the editing is when the chorus of the song begins to end. In this we chose to cut between the different shots that we had of the band to the quickened beat of the song as the chorus ends and the next verse of the song continues.


Specific improvements that were advised to take were as follows. It wasn’t necessarily the band performance that was required to change but the performance based narrative that we had chosen. Firstly a blur into the shots of our kissing couples was believed to be felt a good idea as this would soften the transition from band performance to kissing couples. Secondly, the colour of the kisses should be different. This was due to the colour of the band performance was mainly of a black backdrop with lighting involved to add character to the shoot. This added a more black and white approach to the performance.
These shots of our kissing couples were full of colour and it was criticised by the audience as creating a slight juxtapositioning to the two different shoots. And lastly there was a desire by all to add more shots of kissing couples as it was felt that there wasn’t enough in the music video.


Overall, not too bad a review for a first viewing of our rough edit!

( Group work by Joshua Featherstone