Digi Pack Parts

Software

This is a list of the Software I have used to complete the Music Video, Digi Pack, Inlay Booklet and Magazine Advert.

-Blogger is the software I have used most as it has been my diary for all my work and research I have. 

-YouTube has been used for updating the work I have produced, but it has also enabled me to searched into other music videos.

 -For varied posts I have used Prezi to help my blog appear more professional, I have used Prezi.

-Final Cut Express is a editing software program which I used throughout my editing this year’s A2 Levels and last year throughout my AS Media Studies.




-Adobe Photoshop was the software I used to edit the images for the Digi Pack, Inlay Booklet, and Magazine Advert, and it has proven to be very useful.

-Survey Monkey was a website we used to create a questionnaire to gain information and increase our research from an online audience.

-We used the music websites SoundCloud and Spotify to research earlier into our artist, as was Twitter and Facebook.

Editing Day

We were given the opportunity to spend a whole day editing our music video as a group together. Throughout the day we had the chance to look and analyse our footage we filmed previously and start piecing it together to match Mike Dignam’s song ‘I’ll lie here’. After editing at the beginning of the day we found we had not filmed enough footage in order to complete the video, this then meant that we had to go out and film some more shots to give a bit of background story to the song, therefore we headed tour locations to film some shots which we were able to successful add in to complete 80% of our video. We then took time out of this day to complete our final shots and add in our filters. Overall I feel the editing day and final filming was really successful as we have competed it.

Inlay Photo Edits

Magazine Advert Editing

<-- 1. I firstly put the selected image, that we used on the back of our Digi Pack.



2. I then added a blue filter and a cream filter onto it to make it have a vintage effect. -->

<-- 3. After placing the filter over the top, I increased the contrast and brightness of the image and created two orange/red gradients. One coming from the corner and the other a line down the center.

4. I then created a soft tones border and placed the Digi Pack Front Cover in it.-->

<-- 5. I then added the text, 'Mike Dignam' is in the same font as the song list on the back of the Album; 'Debut Album' and 'Out Now' is also but it has been put in a linear light. 'i'll lie here' is in the same font as the same title that is on the album cover.

6. An iTunes logo has been added but faded slightly and a new border created.-->

 <-- 7. Inside the border, star ratings have been added in the linear light again.





8. To finish the Music Magazine ratings have been added to the stars, creating an attraction. Mike Dignam's website and Twitter has also be written underneath.

Magazine Advert

For our magazine advert to look as professional and authentic as it could be our group decided that we need to incorporate the following into it; the title of the album, the image of the album, reviews, the Artists website, a design similar to the Album, links to purchases places, ratings, an image of the artist, CD logo and a selection of cross media platforms. These are the common features of all magazine adverts.

The common conventions of Indie Adverts are normally that they have the appearance of being designed with a vintage feel and artistically which overall tends to be quite simple but creative. I believe that an image such as a photo of the artist with a vintage tint would really show that it is from this genre, which is used mostly in Indie. There is often a link to the Artists website or their twitter accounts so they can be easily connected with the artist.

The two types of magazine advert are either artist or album focused adverts; meaning as our artist is still not hugely well known and is still very independently run, our advert will be artist focused. Our advert must link with the Digi pack and relate to each other, at best they can.When choosing the right image, font and content for our magazine advert, it is important I include and take into account the content above.

Filming- Progress Post

Filming is Done!

Music Video Changes

During our filming we have used our storyboard as a guideline although through some reconsideration, we discovered more professional ideas for some of the scenes. This occurred when editing as we found that the footage we filmed was not enough, therefore we had to rearrange scenes in order to fit the music successfully and follow a realistic story-line.

 - We have not included the scenes at the train station, instead we have added in some POV shots (http://aimeekmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/camera-techniques-pov.html ) and more scenes of the singer (Danny) singing with the guitar. I believe by doing this it will introduce the female to the audience well, and early enough in time for the chorus, and to understand the music video.
- The photo of the couple is also included in the video, although we have used a print out in which we can show it burning later on in the video, which is different to our first idea of it in a photo in the frame. Danny takes the print out from the bin instead from under the bed where the audience will see that the photo has been scrunched up out of anger and sorrow.
- Although we filmed Danny putting his coat on and tying his shoes up, we decided to not include these scenes as they took too long, wasted time and we didn't think they were necessarily needed.
- We were thinking of ending the video with Danny burning the photo of him and the girl, but we put this clip further back as we thought ending with sun shining through would be more appropriate.
-Another change that we made was the actress playing the girl. As we were running out of time and it was hard to get hold of our original actress, we all decided that it would be more ideal to use a member of the group, therefore I, myself am playing the role of the female.
- We also decided not to do the compilation of images at the end as we felt there was enough of the couple happy in the music video so give the audience the impression that their relationship was loving and strong.

Equipment

To film the music video at the best quality and standard and as professionally as we could, we used the best equipment available to us.

This camera shown is the one we used to film, as the footage it films is of a HD quality, which we allow us to capture close ups and the scenery we wanted to include in the scene. The camera we used was provided by the media department at school and was a handheld canon camera. It was extremely useful to us as we had decided to create some POV shots, which due to the handheld would make is much easier to complete. This camera can be easily attached to the tripod to make sure it captures a steady shot and it will film the necessary shots needed for our music video with ease.

The tripod we used was useful as it allowed us to film a steady and unshaken shot. We could additionally be able to film at different heights, as the legs can be adjusted.

To start our editing the last piece of equipment needed was the Apple iMac, which due to last years experience I know that is has all the software, and applications we need to complete the Editing.

Props List

In relation to our genre we need to make sure we have the appropriate props to fit in to the scenes and make it seem as if it is the artist environment, these will consist of props with a vintage or retro feel. Additionally we need to incorporate the main props that can link into the lyrics and narrative of our Music Video, therefore putting an image to the words to make it clearer to the audience.

The props that we will need relating to our narrative...
+ A lounger or bed in which the Artist can lay on.. "So I'll Lie Here"
+ A pillow.. "With your eyes closed, and me as your Pillow"
+ Bed Sheets and accessories.. "I know i've found contentment in these sheets"


Other props...

+ Acoustic Guitar... This is one of the main props that will appear more than once. This will feature as an important piece due to the guitar being a typical convention to indie acoustic genre, and will additionally help the narrator and artist be identified by the audience. This will act as the narrator's master shot which will include shots of him and the acoustic guitar in various different locations.

-Here is an image of Ben Howard with an acoustic guitar








+ Bench... We will need to use a bench near the end of the video to add a climax to the storyline; the artist will see his lover (the one he has been singing about) and see she has moved on. This bench and scene will symbolise the end of the relationship.

+ Bag... For the female scene's a handbag will be an obvious and reoccurring item in the music video, this is as it is an everyday item, and will show the age of the girl. This will represent her as an everyday female.

We also had an idea of the male carrying a male bag in some scenes as this will add to the male carrying his own 'weight' and troubles now he is no longer with her.


+ Sofa... In addition to the bed we needed a place in which the artist and his lover could be together, indoors to show the warmth and comfort of their old relationship. We will then contrast this to the male being alone.

+ Stereo Player for the opening scene...

+ Clock
+ Photo Table
+ Coffee
+ Leaves
+ Swings
+ Photo Booth/ Photos

Weather Forecast

Our outdoor locations are Cambridge and the Saffron Walden/Newport area. We were hoping to be able to have the past flashbacks in a more sunny setting as we tend to give them a happy and positive vibe, that the Artist wants back. On the present scenes luckily we do not need to have bright, warm weather; as it is late Autumn in England we are expecting, grey, foggy and rainy weather, which would be ideal for the overall feel of these scenes. So far I can only see Monday's weather report, but both days look rainy, so I feel we should film the more present scenes then because that weather would be perfect for this, hopefully Tuesday will be sunny so we can film the contrasting scenes, if not we will probably film indoors, and have to go out for one more sunny day for filming. Although this, you will never know how right the weather report is until the day. Below are screen shots of the Weather Reports from BBC Weather for our two locations.

Overlay Editing - Inlay Booklet Front Cover

To improve our images to make them seem more professional and artistic our group decided to experiment with overlaying the image for the front cover of the inlay booklet. This added depth to the images and I have found the technique added a unique and different feel to it.

Here I will show the process of how we did it-

 We put our image we wanted to use as the base image onto Photoshop.

 We then created a copy of this layer, which also enhanced the colour slightly.

 We then selected the image we wanted to overlay onto the image and placed it on top of the original image and we selected the soft overlay option.

 We put a blue filter onto it.

Then an additional creamy filter.

Then adjusted the brightness and contrast.
















I am very impressed with how the overlay effect on the inlay booklet front cover worked out.

Editing Photos

The photos that were taken that I edited in the previous posts(http://aimeekmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/digi-pack-photo-edits.html)(http://aimeekmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/digi-pack-photo-edits-2.html) were the most successful and professional of the ones we had taken that day and all of the images stood out to me. The way that all of the images capture Mike Dignam, the artist, playing this guitar or with his guitar gives an impression that it wasn't a planned shot or composition I was really pleased that we were able to capture it, it also creates a happy feeling that he is doing what he loves. The way the background represents nature really incorporates the Indie Genre into the images, but with the filters and editing it has given the overall image the effect that it is vintage, and old, but a happy memory so the image has been kept; this makes the image soft and draws all the attention to the artists figure. Over all I really like the way these images have turned out! I started to edit it on the editing software Adobe Photoshop, something I become to be familiar with over the years. I like the composition of the shots with the use of the guitar within the shot for our digipack is important as it emphasises the relation to the artist.

Digi Pack Photo Edits 2

Digi Pack Photo Edits