Digipak and Promotional Poster - Second Edit

Promotional Poster - Final Edit

Audience Feedback:

Phoebe: "The finished product looks really good and like it would fit into a magazine. All the features incorporated work and are in sync with traditional conventions of promotional posters."

James: "The text is clear and the colours are really cool. I like the reflectiveness of the expressions and it fits with the music video. The brand is recognisable as there is a connection between the products. The use of the logos is really good as it shows it to be in professional setting.

Alex: "This is a cool poster and I like that the writing is clear and in a large font. It fits the conventional features of a promotional poster. It looks better now that the sizing is correct."

Scarlett: "I think the poster picture and the picture on the album cover work well together as they're obviously at the same location. There is a clear link between the products which is good for the audience and the artist as the brand is recognisable."

Ben: "It's really important to make a link between the products for the audience and the girls have achieved this really well. I like that all the logos are incorporated and the text is clear which is also important. It all works really well, even better now it's the same size."

Teacher Feedback:

Mr Kerrigan: "The images you have used are very effective. There is something striking about the difference between the image used for the body of your magazine poster and the image used for your digipak; I like the contrast between your performer facing away from the camera in one image and being side-on in the other. There is a clear sense of interconnectivity between your three products."

Personal Reflection:

"I like the poster a lot more now it is the right size. I think the connection between the products works well and the brand is recognisable. The logos and text work well around the side of the image as it shares attention with the image itself. The album cover being closely centred shows the audience what the actual product looks like and it is next to the text which shows when it is released. I really like the font used on the text as well as the size and colour."

Digipak and Promotional Poster - First Edit

Here are the images of our first edits including some audience feedback as well as personal reflection.

Front Outside

Audience Feedback:

Phoebe: "I really love the simplicity and the shot itself. The text is clear and shows what is necessary and I think blurry background really works and expresses the video. I think the connection between digipak and video is clear and obvious."

James: "I think the colours on the front album cover are really distinct and effective, especially as it is blurry. I like that Phoebe's face is clearly shown to the audience and her mood is reflective on the song itself."

Personal Reflection:

"Personally, I love the simplicity of this front album cover. I think the text is clear and simple but effective in being open to the audience in terms of expressing the album name and the artist. The image itself is a reflection of the music video we made and I think it suits the album title and the skyline is very apt to what we are trying to portray through the vibe of the music video and our characters facial and body expressions. I think the front album cover follows the conventions of traditional album covers and fits quite well into the contemporary industry."

Back Outside

Audience Feedback:

Alex: "I think the text isn't clear as the lights are interfering with it. I like the colours and I think it meets all the traditional conventions. However, it obviously isn't finished therefore I cannot make a proper judgement."

Scarlett: "You can see where the product is going and I like how the information is around the outside so not to interfere with the picture. I think the colours in the picture are really cool and I love that they don't look fake or manipulated."

Personal Reflection:

"I think it is a cool idea for a back cover and I like that all the different logos have been incorporated. I think the text needs to be moved as it is not clear to the audience but other than that I like the product. Of course it needs to be finished as not all of the logos are incorporated however it is heading in the right direction. I really like the colours in the picture and I think it really works in coordination with the music video itself and the themes of the music video."

Side Outside 

Audience Feedback:

Ben: "The lamppost is really cool and it works as a side panel. It fits with the front and back cover and doesn't stand out in a good way."

Phoebe: "I really like the incorporation of the lamppost and it works really well as a side panel. The colours match the front and back panels and it all fits together really well."

Personal Reflection:

"This is my favourite shot and I am really glad it got to be incorporated into the digipak. I love the simplicity of the shot and I like how it fits with the rest of the pictures. The colours are really cool and they fit into the themes of the music video. I think the colours are quite reflective on the emotions which are present throughout."

Front Inside

Audience Feedback:

James: "Originally the front inside panel was plain and didn't have the text but I really like that it has been added in. It fits really well in the space its in and is clear to the audience in what is says. I like that the shot is really fresh and unedited as it looks more effective this way."

Alex: "The shot itself is so cool. I love how clear and focused it is. Everything about it is sharp and collected and it works really well with the actual music video itself."

Personal Reflection:

"Personally, I like the added effect the lyrics bring to the front inside panel. The picture itself is really cool and sharp and I love how it all works and is united in being effective. I really like the ripples in the water as well. As this is only a draft, the underlining on the text wouldn't actually be there in the real product."

Back Inside

Audience Feedback:

Scarlett: "The simplicity and unedited atmosphere of this shot kinda links with the music video itself and how relaxed it is. It works well with the rest of the digipak and I like that the template of the CD is included so it shows the true effect."

Ben: "By keeping the template it shows exactly how the back inside is meant to work. The colours are consistent with the rest of the inside, however I don't like that the shot is off centre."

Personal Reflection:

"Personally, I don't think this shot brings much to the digipak, however at the same time I feel like it wouldn't be complete without it. The shot itself represents a certain part of the music video and I really like the correlation in that respect. However, the shot is off centre and I think the colours could've been made sharper. The template being included helps to show exactly how it would look if built like a conventional digipak."

Side Inside 

Audience Feedback:

Phoebe: "This side panel is boring. It doesn't bring anything to the digipak and I think it could've been something more creative. With that being said, it does work in terms of the colour scheme but it isn't anything special."

James: "As Phoebe said, this side panel is boring and nothing special. It fits with the colour scheme and doesn't look out of place but it isn't very creative."

Personal Reflection:

"I agree with the feedback our focus group gave in the sense that this is a boring side panel, however it is on the inside and would be covered with internal packaging so therefore making it something more out there and creative would be a waste as it would draw people's attention away from the more important inside panels."

Promotional Poster

Audience Feedback:

Alex: "This is a cool poster and I like that the writing is clear and in a large font. It fits the conventional features of a promotional poster. It does however look a little stretched out and not the shape of A4 paper."

Scarlett: "I think the poster picture and the picture on the album cover work well together as they're obviously at the same location. There is a clear link between the products which is good for the audience and the artist as the brand is recognisable."

Ben: "It's really important to make a link between the products for the audience and the girls have achieved this really well. I like that all the logos are incorporated and the text is clear which is also important. It all works really well, however isn't the right size."

Personal Reflection:

"Personally I really like the promotional poster. I like that features of the digipak have been included in the poster as it creates a link for the audience. The words are clear and work with the lights on the back pictures. It is too big and not the right size so it is likely we will have to change somethings to make all the features work."

Teacher Feedback:

Mr Kerrigan: "The image you have used is very striking. I like the use of the tall, lit-up buildings in the background of the image; it is very appropriate given the title of the song. There is something about the use of soft-focus that makes the urban setting seem enigmatic. It is, however, fitting that the focus is on your performer. There is something interesting about the way she is looking ‘across’ the camera as opposed to away from or into it; again, it is very enigmatic. The type-font you have employed is simple but clear, meaning that it is easy to read and doesn’t distract from your image."

Overall Reflection:

As a group we decided that there wasn't a large amount we wanted to change therefore we didn't really change them for the second edit. The poster however faced the most significant changes. We really like the overall look of the digipak and are proud of the outcome.

Production Journal + Reflection

Day 1:

Our first day of editing and producing the digipak was really simple as all we did was select the photos we want to use for the CD casing aka the front, side and back outside as well as the front, side and back inside. As well as choosing a picture to use for the magazine poster.

   

Day 2:

On day two of filming we found and copied all the logos we needed to use for the back cover and poster. The logos were all for music streaming sites such as YouTube and Spotify. We then tried to figure out how to fit the images to the sizes of the correct dimensions, something which we couldn't figure out. Therefore we googled it but still came up with nothing. It was very frustrating because we had hit an obstacle before we even had really begun. We then asked our teacher and ICT technician to come and help us and get them to walk us through the process so that we would know what to do for the next images.
We created a folder to show editing photos which we were going to take throughout the process and eventually fit every picture to the dimensional template. We did this by inserting the template into photoshop and manually fit the pictures to scale.
  

Day 3:

Today we edited the back outside cover of the album as well as completing the front. We wanted to keep the front cover as simple as possible and not clutter the cover. The Chainsmokers keep their covers clean and neat so we wanted to do the same thing. The back cover would be more complex as we had to insert logos, a copyright paragraph and the song's text. Everything was straightforward, the only issues we had was deciding what sizes the logos were to be and where to put the text. Other than that we stuck to our original plan.

Day 4:

On day 4 we tidied up the outside covers before moving onto the inside. We had decided we didn't want to change the picture where the CD was intended to go and had the idea to insert lyrics onto the front inside picture in order to change the picture and include some more elements which may be found on a conventional album. 

Day 5:

Day five was one of our final days editing and was focused completely on the poster as we were happy with the outcome of the album artwork itself. We got up the planning posts on our blog and tried to stick to it as much as possible. Then, we inserted the edited album cover and initially placed in in the top right corner, something we eventually changed. The text was inserted next. Grace had the idea of inserting a star rating but after not finding one we liked on google we changed our mind and didn't include it. The logos were then inserted for both music streaming sites and the record labels for The Chainsmokers to ensure they gained recognition, much like they would on any other album.

Day 6:

Our final day of editing allowed us to make the poster the correct dimensions and changed around a couple of things as a result of this, images of which can be found in second edit. Then I emailed all the editing pictures we took during the process so that we could put them into our blogs. After that was done we were happy to say we had completed our ancillary task and the digipak and promotional poster were done.

   

Reflection:

The editing process for our ancillary tasks was quite long and frustrating. We encountered a lot of problems as none of us were familiar with photoshop therefore we had to rely heavily on google and our teachers help in learning how everything worked. This also resulted in a lot of trial and error as we had to use different techniques in order to produce a product we were proud of and happy with. If I could've done anything differently it would've involved learning how photoshop worked before hand as it would've saved a lot of time and stress in the editing process. 

Final Production

Here is a copy of our final production for our music video to the song "New York City" by The Chainsmokers:

Focus Group Feedback:

Phoebe: "I think the girls have made this video look really cool! The corrections which were needed after the first and second drafts have been made, the final product looks really refined the concept is definitely there."

James: "The quality of the final product is understandably a lot higher than the first two drafts. I really like the transitions used and the reversed sequences. I like the fact they've gone off path from their plans in order to avoid continuity issues as I think is shows how versatile they are as a group."

Alex: "This is still completely different to the storyboard but it works. The girls have obviously worked hard and spent time on fixing the issues and I like that they kept putting new ideas in there. I really understand the concept and storyline of the music video and it fits well with the song."

Scarlett: "It was a promising first draft and an even better second draft, this final product is an even better outcome. The audio goes with the visuals and you can see that links are being made. I am really glad the jumpy cuts have been fixed and the music video is more visually enjoyable now."

Ben: "I really love the emotions Phoebe is portraying in the music video and it goes really well with the song. The whole concept works really well and I can easily understand what is going on. I like the use of different shots and angles to portray different messages and meanings and I really like the underlying messages which have connections with the song."

Teacher Feedback: 

Mr Kerrigan: "I like the idea behind your narrative; there is a clear sense of progression, and it ties-in well with the song. The idea of a literal journey that parallels an emotional journal is a well-established convention of story-telling, and it works well here. I particularly like the night-time shots; they match the tone and mood of the song. There is a nice transition between the day-time and night-time scenes; the use of speeding up the footage in post-production editing works well and is an effective way of time-shifting. I like that there is a sense repeatability in your video; whilst the story makes sense after the first viewing, subsequent viewings allow the viewer to pick up on subtle details, which allow for a more developed understanding."

Personal Reflection:

"I really love how the final product has turned out. I think the storyline and concept is there and the different shots show the meaning and messages really well throughout. I like the colour throughout as it is really natural and un-manipulated. I like that when we encountered issues such as the lip-syncing not linking up we used different editing skills to fix the issue. The transitions have been fixed in some parts and other shots have been recut in order to make the video appear more fluid and natural. I am really proud of Phoebe, our actress, as her emotions both facially and bodily were expressed successfully throughout and really fit with the song. I am proud of the links made between the visual and audio as it was something we considered really important when planning the video. Overall I am extraordinarily happy with how the video has turned out and how our editing skills have developed as the process went on."

Second Draft of Final Music Video

Here is a copy of our second draft for our music video to the song "New York City" by The Chainsmokers:

https://youtu.be/XLgVNqtle_4 

Focus Group Feedback:

Phoebe: "I think the girls have made this video look really cool and it is getting better and better! The corrections which were needed after the first draft have been made, there is some refining to go but the concept is definitely there."

James: "The quality of the second draft is a lot higher than the first. I really like the transitions used and the reversed sequences. I like the fact they've gone off path from their plans in order to avoid continuity issues as I think is shows how versatile they are as a group."

Alex: "This is still completely different to the storyboard but it works. The girls have obviously worked hard and spent time on fixing the issues and I like that they keep putting new ideas in there. I think it is almost at completion but will look even better with refinement."

Scarlett: "It was a promising first draft and an even better second draft. The audio goes with the visuals and you can see that links are being made. I am really glad the jumpy cuts have been fixed and the music video is more visually enjoyable now."

Ben: "I really love the emotions Phoebe is portraying in the music video and it goes really well with the song. The whole concept works really well and I really look forward to seeing how the final product turns out."

Personal Reflection:

"I like this draft even better as we have fixed a lot of the issues we faced and were left with in the first draft. I like that the transitions make viewing a lot smoother and more enjoyable. I really like the reversed footage as I think it successfully shows a reflective theme which occurs in the video. We still have to fix a couple of issues and make the overall quality a lot more refined, but it is definitely near completion and is on the right track."

First Draft of Final Music Video

Here is a copy of our first draft for our music video to the song "New York City" by The Chainsmokers:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go-g_XZ1o40

Focus Group Feedback:

Phoebe: "I think the girls have made this video look really cool and as its first draft there are obviously corrections which need to be made and the shots are all quite jumpy but you can see the concept is coming together."

James: "You can tell it is still only a draft as there is a lot of refining to be done. None the less I think the sequencing is cool and works. The lighting also works well and I like the fact they've gone off path from their plans."

Alex: "This is completely different to the storyboard but it works. It is obvious the girls ran into a few problems and have solved them well. I like that they have new ideas in there and I think it is coming together nicely and will look even better with refinement."

Scarlett: "It's a promising first draft. The audio goes with the visuals and you can see that links are trying to be made. As the work progresses hopefully you will be able to see them more clearly and hopefully the jump cuts will be fixed."

Ben: "Phoebe looks awesome as the actress in this music video and I think that the instruction from the group during filming has really payed off because it has resulted in a strong product. There is more work to be done which is quite clear but none the less it looks awesome so far!"

Personal Reflection:

"For a first draft and considering we were thrown into the deep end with a new editing software, I think it turner out quite well. There is a lot of refining to do but I think it is on the right track. When we first started editing we faced a lot of problems and had to recreate a plan as we had to flip our storyboard to avoid continuity issues. We need to fix a couple of visual parts so that they sync with the audio and we can make the lyric-visual connection. However, I am very pleased with the direction in which our music video is taking."

Editing Journal + Reflection

DAY 1:

Day one of editing was actually quite stressful. We had initially wanted to use Final Cut Pro 7 as our editing software however the computer we were using didn't have it downloaded, therefore instead of moving computers we chose to use Adobe Premier Pro as our editing software. We started off by uploading all of our footage to a folder on the desktop and then proceeded to transfer our footage to Adobe. We spent a long time going through all of the different takes before coming to a decision over which shots we were going to use. When inserting the clips onto the timeline in our initial planned order we realised we had a lot of lighting issues and this would have an impact on the consistency. Therefore we came to the decision to flip our storyboard and work with the lighting we had instead of panicking and refilling - something we didn't want to do unless it was an ultimate necessary. We did try to link up the lyrics and visuals in the lip-syncing in the forest however it didn't work as Phoebe's mouthing of the lyrics wasn't clear. Therefore we decided to just leave it for now and come back to it another day where we had a fresh head. We also finished constructing a preliminary timeline, with no clips cut, just so that they were in order.

 

DAY 2:
During our second day of editing which consisted of two hours, we were a lot more optimistic regardless of the issues we were bound to encounter. We started off by cutting the rest of the clips in the timeline to the time in which we wanted them and filled in any gaps we had in the timeline. In order to stick to our plan and not just throw footage in to kill time we manipulated the speed of the clips to either go faster or slower, depending on the clip and the context in which it was. It was also important that the visuals fit with the lyrics and audio.
When we came back to the lip-syncing we decided to use the longer clip we had twice and reverse it the second up.
An idea we had from the very beginning was that we wanted a time-lapse included at some point in the video because we thought it was a cool feature and would fit in the song. The time-lapse was relatively difficult to make because we had to edit the length and figure out a way to jump the shot type without it looking weird on the screen. We did have a mini-freakout as a group because we were worried be didn't have enough footage, but by going back and manipulating the speed again, our worries were unnecessary. When we were filming we did have brainstorming sessions where we came up with new ideas to go in the video. As our theme was all about Phoebe (our main character) getting over her breakup and going on a journey of self-discovery and her trying to get back to being independent we came up with the concept to do a reverse recap which was roughly 25-30 seconds long and it showed the significant parts of her journey throughout the video, however we manipulated the clips to be shown in reverse in order to make it clear to the audience it was a reflection not just a repeat.
As a group we came to an agreement regarding the ending shot and cut the music because it had unnecessary silence at the end and just didn't work in relation to the visuals. Once we did this we came to the decision that we had completed our first draft, which can be viewed here:
http://katiehowarda2mediastudies.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/first-draft-of-final-music-video.html

We received feedback from our teachers and focus group as well which can be viewed on the link above.

DAY 3:
Still feeling happy that we had completed our first draft we went into day three of editing and decided it was time to tidy up the shots and not make it as jumpy or hard to watch because of the lack of consistency. Therefore we inserted a transition shot in response to feedback from our media teacher Miss Pierce. The transitions were inserted in between shots we decided had a too jumpy a cut and
Inserted the video transition shots in between the shots we decided were too jumpy a cut, the lip-syncing had to be fixed again because we inserted another shot before it and therefore messed up the timing of the video. We quickly resolved the issues and went on to fix the timing during the rest of the video, especially in the "saw your face in my rearview" line as it was really important for us to make a visual-lyric connection.
Once we did this we came to the decision that we had completed our second draft, which can be viewed here:
http://katiehowarda2mediastudies.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/second-draft-of-final-music-video.html

We received feedback from our teachers and focus group as well which can be viewed on the link above.

We also decided to pause the editing process for our music video after the completion of our second draft as we needed to focus on producing the digipak and poster.

Day 4:
What turned out to be our final day of editing we came to with fresh eyes and and a clean approach to fix the issues we had. We decided to fix the issues straight away and also fix or change anything that we didn't like. Sometimes when we cut a shot it left a gap in the footage so we had to manipulate the speed once again in order to to fill the gap. We tried to make the video as neat, tidy and professional as possible before declaring our project finished.


     

Filming Journal + Reflection

Filming Journal:

DAY 1

Filming our music video was not as planned as we first thought it would be. We had to change our filming schedule due to time constraints, however this could not be avoided and luckily we worked around it.
Day 1 of filming for me began at 7:30am! I had to go and pick up the camera from the group that had it the day before and as it was half-term and the other group had work it was either get up early to get the camera or miss filming that day altogether. Obviously the latter was not possible. The next stage was arranging time to film that all members of our group could do including our actress Phoebe. Whilst I was waiting to start filming I set up the Facebook page for the guy we wanted to use in our music video. As his presence was solely virtual it was important this page got set up as soon as possible.
Once we arrived at Guard's Park and Island we started to take test shots whiles waiting for the second half of our group. This was to ensure we could get straight into filming and not mess around setting up and then changing our minds.

  

We decided to film as much footage as we could regardless if it was in our initial plans or not this was to ensure we had as much footage as possible to work with in the editing process.

                                                 

Day 2

Day 2 of our filming was just as hectic and unplanned as day 1. However, it was a lot of fun as it always is. We started off by collecting the camera equipment from school. We then drove to Phoebe's house and set up the camera equipment and took test shots whilst waiting for Bonnie to arrive. We filmed the make-up scene which we wanted to be a time-lapse and filmed over 3 minutes of footage at different angles. We had to get as much footage as possible. We also filmed in different lights and like on the first day we filmed as much footage as possible to give us freedom during the editing process.
The, we drove to the next location which was the top of a car park to film and take shots for our digipak. We repeated the process of setting up the camera and took test shots.
We did actually try and take the photos for the digipak as close to the plan as possible - however this was not always achieved. We then moved onto our final location which was an underground walkway and we had the issue of people walking past and messing up the shot so we had to rush the filming process as well as film a lot of footage so we could get it all done and have the right amount of footage for editing.

                                                                     

Reflection:

When reflecting the filming process of our music video I focused on the good, the bad and what could've gone better. In hindsight, it was successful in the sense that we got a lot of good quality footage which we would have the opportunity to pick from in the editing process. Also, everyone turned up on time and we used the time we had efficiently considering the amount of time restraints we had. Unfortunately we didn't stick to our storyboard which meant that when we go to edit it is going to be harder to stick all the clips together, however we did come up with some awesome new ideas on the day of filming which would allow us some more freedom in the editing process. It also meant we would have a lot of excess footage to get through and it is likely to make editing harder. The time restraints were also an issue. If we were to film again I would push the importance of sticking to the storyboard when filming. We would also aim to film in one day to avoid having issues with lighting and consistency and make our shots longer so we could have more freedom with the shots.

Filming Schedule

Here is our filming schedule including details of the equipment, props, characters needed, and the scenes in which they will be used. 

The date included above was a provisional date, we chose to film earlier than stated.